Page 25 of Submit
The winter song of a cardinal perched on a branch outside the window wakes me just as the sun is coming up over the rooftops of the houses adjacent to mine. Gently climbing out of bed so I don’t disturb the still sleeping Millie, I walk to the window gloriously naked, my morning wood leading the way.
The bike should be arriving to the hotel in Miami at any minute, and as I look at the watch on my wrist, I see that if I don’t get a move on, I’m going to be late for my flight. Even though I own the jet, and the pilot flies when I tell him to, the airport has our flight itinerary, and we need to stay within that window to not lose our spot on the runway.
I take a few minutes though to enjoy the vision out the window, along with some fresh fallen snow that came after I drifted off. Everything is white and pretty again with the morning sun making the surface of the new powder shimmer and twinkle.
Winter really is beautiful, but it’s just not for a bike addict who wants to ride every day. The fresh snow, the song birds that contrast the whiteness, the darkness of the night sky, the freshness of the air after a new snowfall, it really is almost perfect, minus the fucking cold.
“Where am I?” Millie asks behind me, and I see her reflection move in the window beside me as she sits up and rubs her sleep filled eyes.
“My place. You’re safe.” I say without turning around, letting her have her privacy from my eyes on her naked body if she chooses to get up.
“I have to go. He’ll be looking for me.” She says, grabbing the sheet and wrapping it around her as she slides off the bed.
“No he won’t. He knows where you are, and he would never dare come in here to get to you.”
I can’t just stay here forever.”
“You sure as hell can.” I say, finally turning around, staring her down so she can see the seriousness in my eyes. “You’re mine now. He can’t have you back.”
“Just like that?”
“Yeah bunny, just like that.”
“That’s not how things work.” She sighs, toiling with the edge of the sheet with her fingers while biting her lower lip.
Striding across the room, I pull that pinched lip from under her teeth with my thumb and tilt her face up to mine. “It is when you can afford it, and baby, I can.”
I can see the fogginess of sleep lift from her emerald eyes, and the realization of my words take its place. Her eyelids pull up, and her pupils dilate to the point where the green of her irises almost disappears behind their blackness.
“Just like that?”
“Just like that.”
“That’s insane.” She says, quietly pulling her face from my grasp and looking anywhere but in my eyes. “Stuff like that doesn’t happen to me.”
“It does now.”
“And how can I trust you? How can I just stay here with someone I don’t even know?”
“Well, for the next few days we won’t be here. We’re heading to Miami in about an hour, so I suggest you shower and get yourself cleaned up.”
“Excuse me?” She questions, freezing in place with her face turned away from me and towards the door.
“I have had this trip planned for months. I’m going, and since you’re mine now, you’re going too.”
“Just like that?”
“Yep. Just like that. We’ve already established that.”
“You’re insane.” She chuckles, shaking her head in disbelief.
“I think we established that already too. I mean I did break and enter, then kidnap you.”
“You did.”
Looking around the room again and finally taking it all in, she runs her hand through her hair and shrugs her shoulders.
“Bathroom is in there.” I say, pointing towards the door to the ensuite master bath. “My walk in is over there.” I add, pointing to the closet. “And the kitchen is downstairs. You shower first and I’ll make breakfast.”
