Total pages in book: 138
Estimated words: 128260 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 641(@200wpm)___ 513(@250wpm)___ 428(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 128260 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 641(@200wpm)___ 513(@250wpm)___ 428(@300wpm)
“It’s only noon. You slept five hours or so.”
I turned back around in his arms, looking out the large windows again. “It’s so beautiful here,” I said.
“I know. I love it. Someday I’d like to buy a place here.” He brought his chin down to my shoulder. “Are you gonna let me take you snowboarding? Maybe tomorrow?” He nuzzled his nose along my neck.
I laughed softly and moved away from him, sitting down on the leather sofa and pulling a throw over my bare legs. “Sure. I just hope I don’t show you up. I hear you’re decent but…”
He laughed. “Well, now I’m nervous. Maybe I’ll just save my pride and keep you in bed for the next couple days.”
He sat next to me and pulled me into his arms so that my head was resting on his chest. I laughed. “Hmmm…you are good at that. It’s not a bad idea actually.”
He chuckled and we were quiet for a minute as he played with my hair gently and I watched the snow fall.
“Are you hungry? I have coffee made.”
“Coffee sounds great. And I’m starving.” I couldn’t even remember the last time I’d eaten.
“Okay. Oh, I went and got Dylan’s SUV while you were sleeping. There was a can of gasoline in the garage. I brought your suitcase in.” He indicated with his head toward my suitcase sitting by the door, the one I’d packed for Dayton what seemed like a hundred years ago.
“Thanks. That was pretty dumb of me to run out of gas. I’m usually slightly more competent than that.”
“Nah, your mind was just preoccupied with other things,” he said. “Like my hands and my mouth and my… indoor plumbing.”
I laughed. “Is that a euphemism?”
“Not one that sounds very sexy.”
I made a face and he pretended to bite me to which I laughed.
Carson got up and went to the kitchen and I watched the fire contentedly and listened to him preparing the food behind me for ten minutes before he came back into the room with a cup of coffee and a plate of scrambled eggs and toast.
“I remembered how you like your coffee,” he said, “but I don’t know how you like your eggs. I hope that’s okay.”
“This is how I like my eggs,” I said with a smile. “Thank you.”
I dug into the food and Carson took a seat on the couch. When I looked up, he was sipping his cup of coffee and watching me with a small smile.
I finished eating and set the plate on the coffee table. Carson scooted down slightly and I sighed, leaning my head on his shoulder as I sipped at my coffee.
“What are you thinking about?” he asked.
“Umm, you, me, us.”
“I like that topic,” he said. “What about us?”
“I was just thinking how right this feels. I was thinking how sorry I am that it took me so long to realize it.”
Carson chuckled. “It took you a week, Grace.”
I smiled, turning my head and kissing the crook of his neck. “Too long.”
“You had a few things going on. It was normal that you got spooked by me. I came on sort of strong.”
“I like when you come on strong.”
“I know you do, buttercup,” he said with a smile.
I lifted my head and looked up at him, warmth filling me now that I knew the meaning of my nickname. “Just don’t get carried away,” I warned.
He laughed. “Please. You’re the real boss here. You think I don’t know that?” He looked down at me tenderly. “I’d do anything for you, Grace. I’d slay a dragon for you.”
I kissed him softly and then we cuddled for a few minutes before I remembered being pulled from sleep by his dream. I leaned back so I could look at him. “You said a name in your sleep this morning,” I told him.
He seemed to still. “I did?”
“Yes.” I paused. “Carson, who is Ara?”
_________
Carson
My heart gave a strong knock. Who is Ara? I leaned back and ran my hand over my short hair.
Grace studied me, obviously seeing the heaviness in my expression as she frowned and then sat up to look more directly at me.
I was silent for a minute, getting my thoughts straight as she waited me out. I was ready to tell her about this. If we were together now, then she needed to know. This was part of my life.
“Ara was a fourteen-year-old girl who was raped and beaten by a high-value target we had been sent in to kill in Afghanistan. We found her, half-dead from her injuries, and we stayed with her as she died.”
Grace brought her hand up to her mouth for a second. “Oh, Carson. I’m so sorry.” She paused. “When you say we, you mean your unit?”
“Yeah. We had gone in on the mission and we were successful pretty immediately. But when we went into the warehouse the target had been hiding in, we found some things we weren’t expecting, including a whole room of women and girls in the most deplorable conditions you could imagine.” I was silent for another minute, picturing opening that door, the smell hitting us immediately as we all recoiled and then shined our flashlights in to see terrified eyes staring back at us. They hadn’t given them access to toilets or water. They were being held like cattle, worse than cattle.