Page 10 of Inescapable Gravity

She knew that the mask and its many sisters were in the storage room. A black domino mask created to fit perfectly over her face, from the tip of her nose to her temples.

It was too far away to do any good.

"Heather?"

Even though she knew that he'd already seen her face, she lifted her hands to cover it, struggling to hold her sanity together.

Out of sight? Out of mind?

Certainly not.

Not with Marius.

Oh god.

Hadn't she suffered enough?

She felt his hands on her wrists, trying to draw her hands away from her face.

She was stronger now.

Older.

Wiser... no.

Sadder.

An aching emptiness inside of her.

She kept her face covered as if she could shut him out and push him back into the past where he belonged.

"Go away."

"Not happening." His tone brooked no argument, but she wasn't used to the deeper timbre.

She splayed her fingers apart and looked at him. "Your voice."

His expression didn't change. Not a bit.

But his chest expanded like a bellows and she found herself mimicking him. Filling her lungs with air that she'd been struggling for just minutes ago.

"It's been forever."

Startled, she took a step back. They'd spoken the same words at the same time.

It felt like the time that had passed disappeared for just that moment and the man who stood before her had a dark shock of hair falling over his forehead and a boyish grin on his face.

"Mars."

The name echoed inside of her.

Her head.

Her heart.

His name filled her with endless memories that she'd tried to forget, but they were still there. They welled up as though she'd punctured a hole in the top of a pressurized capsule and suddenly she was drowning in them.

Drowning in the love that she'd shared with him years ago.

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