Page 35 of Married to My Master

“Because, despite what happened with the files, I think we still need to work together,” he said, after a moment's thought. “And that can't happen unless we trust each other.”

She closed her eyes and looked away, sighing as she settled into his strong arms. She seemed so tiny and powerless, nestled in like this. But, he knew better. She was the strongest woman he'd ever met.

“I want you to trust that I won't hurt you, in the end, and that we can make sure everything will work out the way it's supposed to.”

Emily turned back to him, her eyes misting a little from his words.

He licked his suddenly dry lips, smelling and tasting her still on him. “Emily, I just want to set you free. I want to unbind you from your obligations to this company, and your responsibility for what happened. By helping to cover for them, you're just as complicit. Even the courts will see that.” She nodded a little as he gave her a warm, comforting squeeze. “But you need to help me do that. Only you can unbind yourself.”

They lay there in silence for a minute or two after Dane had finished speaking, Emily just nestled against him like a longtime lover, her hands on his arms and chest, idly drawing patterns with her fingers. After a while, she spoke. “There are backups for what I deleted,” she whispered, almost too quietly for Dane to hear.

He perked up at the good news, like he'd just received word of the governor's pardon. “Backups? Where?”

“Back at the office,” she admitted, “on my work computer.”

He could barely contain his smile, and he leaned down to kiss her. It was a soft, light kiss, like two rose petals barely touching the other. Emily smiled up at him, like she knew she'd made his day. He beamed back at her, feeling for the first time like there actually was a bit of goodness left in the world.

She had the files still! God, he hadn't heard such good news since …well, he didn't know when.

“Get some more rest,” he whispered, then kissed her again. He settled her back down onto the mattress and slipped off the bed. He crossed her room and stopped at the door, glancing back at her for one long moment, taking in the beauty of her naked form.

As he watched her drift off to sleep, though, another thought entered his mind. It was one that caused his smile to fade for a moment.

The files were at BioSphere. That still meant he needed to figure out a way to get them.

# # #

Emily

The doorbell awoke them both the next morning.

They'd slept the whole night together, their bodies entwined like two serpents, their limbs pulling them close. She must have been out like a light after the evening of pampering Dane gave her, because she didn't even remember his joining her in the bed.

Her eyes fluttered open as Dane jerked awake and hopped from the bed. He busily pulled on his clothes as Emily, rubbing her wrists idly, watched him get ready.

“What are you doing?” Dane hissed, as he pulled his slacks on and buckled his belt. “Someone's at the door.”

“What?” Emily asked, forgetting for the moment that she'd been effectively kidnapped by this hunk of a psychopath, and that this wasn't some romantic weekend getaway like her body was suddenly insisting. “Oh!” she yelped. “Shit!”

“Who could it be?” he asked, as he pulled on his dress shirt and began to button it. “Edward?”

Emily shook her head as she searched through a dresser drawer and pulled out a fresh pair of panties. She shivered wonderfully at the memory of the last pair she'd had on, and how it was still in the pile with her other clothes, torn to shreds by Dane's hands. “No,” she said, as she stepped into a bikini cut, “Edward wouldn't ever come here. Not in a million years!”

“Who, then?” he insisted, finding his gun and strapping it on.

“Probably Jas,” Emily said, pointedly looking at the shoulder holster and the big, ugly piece of metal stuffed into it. “I haven't spoken to her in a couple days, and she's probably just worried.”

Dane glanced down at the gun under his arm, sighed, and shook his head.

“You can't wear a suit coat in the house, sir,” Emily said. “And, no matter who's at the door, they're going to think you're crazy for wearing a gun in the house. Besides, I thought we were trying to trust each other more, sir.”

“Shit,” he grumbled and went to take it off. “Guess you're right.” He stuffed it in the nightstand, on his side of the bed.

Emily shook her head as she realized that it had, in fact, become his de facto side of the bed. She'd officially come home from work with a pet psycho, and it didn't look like he was leaving anytime soon. She sighed, pulled on a pair of jeans, and began to find a t-shirt as the doorbell rang again.

Soon, they were both out in front entryway. Dane was tense, a bundle of frayed and raw nerves, and looked like he might jump out of his skin at any moment. Emily touched his arm as they approached the door, and he nearly leaped from his skin.

“Hey, hey,” Emily soothed. “It's going to be okay, all right? It's probably just Jas. I've already told her about you, right?”

---