Epilogue
The prophylactic antibiotics helped, and I never got pneumonia.
It still took a week before I felt well enough to take walks along the beach.
Auris walked right next to me and let me take as many photos of him as I wanted to, eyes dark and silver.
My neck healed. It took a while, and the bruises were colorful throughout it.
Auris had a bear claw delivered for breakfast every morning without fail.
One evening three weeks later, I sat down on the kitchen counter next to him. “I wanted to have a talk.”
He looked up from his laptop, closing it as he did. “What do you want to talk about?”
I played with some white flowers Gloria had brought unasked. She’d put them in a vase two days ago. Some of their heads were drooping.
“We can’t stay here forever. They might send more people after us.”
Auris nodded. “No, we cannot stay here. What happens next depends on what you want to do.”
I didn’t have to think very long or hard about that. “I want to be with you.”
“That’s what I want too.” He let out a breath, almost like he’d been afraid I’d tell him to leave me. “I meant, where do you want to live, what do you want to do about your photography, your family?”
“Those people, the clerics, know who I am, right?”
“Yes. They would approach you again, given the chance.”
“You mean assault me again.”
He put a hand on my knee, leaning in closer as if to protect me from the mere thought. “It’s possible. I can’t know for certain yet what conclusions they’ll come to in regard to you. My point is, a photographer who goes to events and meets clients in his studio is easy pickings.”
I watched his face. Sunset always gave his eyes a crystalline shimmer. “You really did research me, didn’t you? But I get the point. It feels like you have a plan in mind.” I pointed. “You’ve been doing something on your laptop all this time.”
He sighed. “I do, and I have, but I’m sure I can adapt that to what you want, and I’d like to hear what that is first.”
I stopped, hugged him. “I want you to tell me what your ideal path forward is, and then I’ll tell you what I can and can’t live with.”
Another sigh, from deep within his chest. “You can be frustrating, do you know that, my sweet? I would like to leave the country as soon as possible, which could be very soon. Think hours. I have a system and trusted individuals in place to pack up a place and lock it down until I need it, just like this beach house and all the people in town I know. I’d do the same for your home, your studio.
“Don’t get me wrong, you can still work.
I’m sure something can be arranged with your manager.
Tell her you’re going a different way. Nomadic artists are all the rage now that travel is possible again.
Say the pandemic made you long to travel.
If that doesn’t work with your manager, I know people who will handle it.
In fact, I would prefer it if you switched managers, but that’s a different discussion.
“You can tell your friends you’ll be traveling too, which will be the truth. You’d be able to visit home. I don’t see why not, so long as it’s planned well and never for too long. The same goes for your father and his fiancé.”
“Okay, that’s a lot. You really thought about it.”
He shrugged. “You wanted to hear.”
I nodded, got up, and walked around the counter to get the fixings for a PB gets them out of your system, so to speak. Sharing them is the best way to make sure they really will not be forgotten.”
“Sounds like I should read some of that.” I finished the first half of my PB&J. “Fine, fine, that all works for me.”
He looked at my face. “What, just like that? You’re okay with upending your life and starting fresh?”
I hesitated. I thought about it. “I guess I am. If it’s with you.”
He kissed me on the forehead. “I’m glad. I couldn’t bear… I’d miss you.” He huffed. “You are, after all, my prophecy come true.”
I snorted. “Don’t call me that.”
“Yes, my sweet.”
“And don’t call me that in public, maybe.”
“Okay, honey.”
“You know, that’s why no one in their right mind would go through with that vampire cult. It’s all the sappiness that comes out of your mouth.”
He chuckled. “I finally got you to give up on that, honeybun? This is a joyous day indeed.”
His eyes were now complete darkness, but bright with humor. And joy.
“You’re not to call me that either.”
He kissed my cheek. “Very well. Eat. I need to make a few calls.”
Gloria came by an hour later to cook dinner, and I ate while Auris was talking on the phone and typing away on his computer. I didn’t even ask what he was doing.
When I was done with dinner, he looked up from his screen. “Ethan, go pack your bag, please.”
“What, right now?”
“Yes, now. I told you this was going to happen fast.” A call came in, and he answered, so I went to the bedroom and started packing.
My laptop and camera were first, along with my phone and notebook. There were still abandoned places here in the region I hadn’t seen. I’d either finish this particular series later or simply find other places in Europe. Europe! I was looking forward to all those opportunities.
Someone—probably Gloria—had unpacked my bag at some point and moved everything to the drawers in the bedroom. I hadn’t brought much though, and it took me maybe twenty minutes to gather everything together.
I zipped the luggage shut and looked at it somewhat triumphantly.
“All done?” Auris said from the doorway.
“Yeah. There’s just the stuff I have in the car, my equipment.”
He walked up and kissed me. “We’re taking the car to the airport. It can stay there. Do you mind if I drive fast?”
I looked up at him. “No, why?”
“Because if I drive fast, we’ll have some extra time. My sweet, I’d make love to you one more time before we leave here. Only if you want it, of course.”
Since I’d been back from the hospital, all he’d done was hold me or give me space, whichever I needed. Tonight felt like a fresh start though.
“You can drive fast.”
He put his arms around me, picking me up. “In that case…” Ever so gently, he put me down on the bed. “Look at me.”
I did, watching as he took off his shirt before he joined me.
I could almost feel the burn of his want where he touched me, and then he bent to kiss me.
Suddenly, all of it came rushing back. Desire, brighter than any pain.
Lust. Feeling safe because it was him with me.
The moment he rolled on top of me, it was like a match had been struck to ignite something in me that had been sleeping until now.
I unzipped my hoodie, and he pushed up on his knees to unzip his pants, which gave me enough time to throw the hoodie and T-shirt I was wearing into a corner. Auris pulled down my sweatpants, then he slid down on my legs and took me in his mouth.
“Fuck, Auris!” I arched my back.
He pulled off and looked up at me. “I love how you taste.” He crawled up my body again.
“Auris.” I couldn’t believe I was already that close. If he’d gone on, I’d have come in less than a minute.
“Tell me, Ethan.”
“I want you. I want this.”
And with his strong body covering mine once more, he took us in hand together, adding spit so the friction was just right.
We rutted against one another for several blissed-out minutes. There were sloppy kisses, heady moans, his mouth on mine, and his teeth grazing my throat with the utmost care.
In this moment, I was myself again. I was happy. I was looking forward to what was to come.
Things would get better. The realization bloomed with my orgasm. It was quick, over almost as soon as it had come, the pleasant bite of a sprint. It had been too long, but it was time to take all of this back into my life.
Auris followed close behind, his eyes on me, his breath warm against my skin. He lay on top of me, and time seemed to stop.
But it hadn’t, and too soon Auris moved.
“We really should leave now, although one night soon, I would love to do this until morning.”
“You’re ambitious. But I’m game.”
“I’m optimistic, my sweet.” He kissed me on the cheek and handed me my tee. “Boundlessly optimistic. And in love with you.”
I got to carry my bag to the car, but nothing else. Auris had been spoiling me hard over the past three weeks, and Gloria as well. Auris clearly wasn’t in a mood to stop now.
“Are you not going to lock it?” I asked when he pulled the door shut behind us. I remained standing in front of it.
“No. Gloria will hold on to the keys until we’re in the area again.” He put the bags in the car and held my door for me. “Do I have to carry you?”
“Come back here a moment.” He gave me a curious look but did as I’d asked. I put my arms around his neck, pulled my phone out, and took a selfie of us. “There. A memory made. I love you too, by the way.”
He threw his head back and laughed. It was a melody that flooded me with warmth. “Oh, my sweet.” He kissed me, hard and long. “I belong to you, always, Ethan, that I swear.”
I pulled back. “I don’t want to own you. I just want to be with you.”
“Yes. Yes, that’s fair. In that case, hold me, and I’ll hold you the same. Trust me, and I will trust you the same. Shield me, and I will shield you the same. Always.”
I could tell he was making a promise, one he would never break, come Armageddon or apocalypse.
“I’ll hold you, and trust you, and shield you. I promise.”
“As do I.”
We kissed once more to seal it, and I didn’t care if it meant he’d have to break any and all speed limits. A promise like this demanded the seal of a kiss.