Page 75 of His to Take

I loved him and he loved me, and our life together here was happier and more fulfilling than anything I could ever hope for in New Englandia.

“I’m very happy here,” I answered softly.

“May I arrange for a meeting tomorrow?” Corinne asked hopefully.

“Yes. Tomorrow after work. I’ll show you and the emissary my new home,” I smiled.

She nodded quickly, her whole face lighting up.

“I’ll do arrange it with the emissary,” she replied. Then, before I could stop her, she slipped out the door. It was somewhat of a relief to be alone again in my office. I’d been expecting something terrible, to be honest. Now the workday was ending, and it was almost time for my call with Ryker, the high point of every day since he’d left on his latest trip. He’d gone off to the southeast about a week ago, to a place once known as Florida, and we’d set up a specific time to speak each day.

I finished up my work for the day and shut down my office. There was a car waiting outside for me that drove me home just in time for my comm to ring. I picked it up as I was walking through the front door.

“Good evening, my beautiful bride.”

His voice still caused shivers to go racing down my spine.

“Hello, my handsome husband,” I replied softly.

“It’s so nice to hear a woman’s voice,” he answered. “I’m surrounded by men and it’s exhausting.”

I laughed heartily as he broke into a story about his muddy, sweaty trek through bug and alligator infested swamps. A frightened jolt sank through me when he told me that he’d almost stepped on an apparently poisonous water snake but stumbled just in time to miss it. His ankle was a tad sore from the resulting twist he’d given it, but he insisted that it was nothing serious. When I told him about my day and the visit from Corinne, he grew strangely quiet.

“You will not meet with the emissary until I am home,” he finally said. His voice sounded deep and serious.

A stab of annoyance struck me at the dictatorial tone in his tone.

“It’s not a problem, Ryker. I’ll meet with him, hear what he has to say, and send him along. I have no intention of going anywhere,” I vowed.

“It’s not that, little girl. I don’t trust the New Englandia council. I want to be there to protect you,” he continued.

“I understand,” I huffed.

“You will delay the meeting and then we’ll deal with it together when I get home. We recovered the fusion reactor and are on our way back to the airstrip. It will only be a few more days. I promise,” he continued.

“Okay,” I replied.

“Be a good girl for me, Naomi,” he pressed, his voice a bit gentler this time.

“I will,” I answered.

I lied to him for the first time.

All night, I thought about whether to cancel the appointment. A big part of me wanted to prove that I could handle this on my own. I didn’t need him to deal with it for me. Another part of me was just annoyed that he was gone and not here to be by my side during the meeting.

Even though I was happy here and had no intention of leaving, New Englandia had been my home my whole life. I couldn’t turn my back on them completely, especially not when they had gone to such lengths as to send an emissary as well as someone who had once been my friend and colleague to make things right afterthey’d gone so terribly wrong. If anything, I deserved to hear their apology. This meeting had the potential to open the lines of communication between our two city states and I wanted to be the one to initiate that.

I didn’t delay the meeting.

The next evening, I came home from work and tidied up around the house. I prepared the sitting room for guests, dusted, and prepared a small tray of fruits, vegetables, cheese, and meats. I put on a fresh pot of coffee and poured a cup for myself before Corinne and the emissary arrived. I sipped it slowly and by the time I was done, there was a knock at my door. My heart skipped a little beat as I stood from my chair. Taking a deep breath, I pulled my shoulders back and lifted my chin before I went to answer it.

There was no one there.

Peering out into the darkness, my eyes searched the shadows. I stepped out onto the porch and turned my head side to side.

Nothing.

Had I been hearing things?

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