Sanctity

Chapter 25

It was three days later before we were ready to leave. Michael contacted Margaret and had her arrange for a contractor to convert one of the bedrooms in his house into a darkroom. It was painful to watch him tell her how important the work was and that it needed to be done to his exact specifications. Though he never said it outright, I'm sure it was understood that he wasn't picking up a new hobby and that the room was for me. I felt a great deal of uneasiness and regret and hoped that she wouldn't blame Michael for how things had turned out as I watched him pacing the floor and relaying his instructions.

I knew he would have preferred to go himself and oversee the work but he refused to leave me alone. "It's too soon, Elayna, it could be dangerous for you. We don't know how this is going to go for you; whether you will have the self-control to live within certain..." he took a deep breath, "boundaries."

I started to interject, "But we will never know if we never try."

"No!" he insisted. "I will take care of you. I won't let you make the kinds of mistakes that I have made. I couldn't live with myself if anything so...so regrettable should happen."

I knew what he meant; that he didn't want me to risk hurting anyone especially since in his mind it was completely avoidable. He carefully kept me from knowing the full truth but I suspected that he went out before I would wake and take care of this unfortunate necessity. He seemed determined to keep me from witnessing it or being a part of it in any way. It was always very personal and very intimate when he shared himself with me afterwards.

I sometimes felt a pang of guilt when I had to use him this way but he wouldn't budge on the matter. I tried not to let it bother me and I was so overwhelmed with being able to love one another openly that I was, for the most part, able to push it to the corner of my mind.

Over the nights that were wholly ours before we took our flight home Michael and I were like any other new lovers. We went to the movies and strolled hand in hand; he brought me flowers and whispered sweet-nothings to me whenever the mood struck him. He was hopelessly romantic and told me on our first night together that he had always dreamed of courting me.

"Courting," I teased him, "how old fashioned!"

"Not the way I'll do it. I am going to spend every night from now until forever winning your heart."

Though I was sure he knew he already had it, I ran a skeptical eye over him and he responded to the challenge in my expression.

I had just woken up and he held his hand out to me and tugged me to standing. He gently stripped me from my clothes and scooped me up. He carried me from the panic room and down the hallway to the bathroom. It was shimmering in the soft glow of a hundred candles; all notably enclosed in glass. There was a soft symphony playing in the background and the bath was drawn; it beckoned with a glossy coating of bubbles and scented oil.

Michael set me on the edge of the tub and kissed me. He drew his t-shirt over his head and shimmied out of his pants before picking me back up and gently settling me into the heady water. He glided in opposite me and sighed.

"Ah," he whispered. "This is one of my favorite imaginings," he gathered up one of my feet and massaged it with smooth, firm strokes. After a few minutes he kissed my big toe and put that foot aside before gathering up the other.

I was grinning from ear to ear as he finished up with the second foot, "You'd better be careful, I could get used to this. Think of all the years you're indenturing yourself to."