50 Shades of Drake 1 and 2

50SOD II: Chapter Seventy-Six

    The television and the lights were turned off. Aubrey sat in the dark, alone with his thoughts until the sound of the door opening snapped him out of his reverie. He polished off the last of his champagne...he'd been working on his fourth glass. The sound of jingling keys reached his ears. He ran a hand across his forehead and looked expectantly towards the entrance.

    Destiny walked into view and stopped when she saw him.

    They stared at each other, both feeling the weight of the world on their shoulders, but not wanting the other to see it. Aubrey's gaze lingered on her a long moment before he said, "Hello."

    "Hi." She remained standing where she was and didn't move one step closer to him.

    "You were out for quite a long time. I started to worry."

    "I texted you back as soon as I saw the message," she told him.

    "I received it." He spun the champagne glass stem between his middle and ring fingers.

    She lowered her eyes. "I'm sorry I was out so long."

    "You and Carlos enjoyed yourselves that much?"

    Her eyes remained lowered as she told him," You were right. The Baton is a lot better than Topz."

    "I'm glad you enjoyed yourself," he said softly.

    She lifted her eyes and said, "I missed you every minute that I was gone."

    Sadness touched his eyes and his throat grew tight. "I missed you, too," he returned.

    Her movements were slow as she walked over to him.

    He watched her while twirling the champagne glass stem between his fingers. For nearly an hour, he'd sat in the dark trying to think of exactly what he would tell her once she got here. He had to protect her, at all costs. That was his job as her Dominant, and it was his duty as the man who loved her with every breath that he expelled out into the air. But what does a man do when he doesn't know how to protect the woman that he loves? What does he do when he doesn't even know where to even begin in his role as protector? After all, Palmer had people watching him. Aubrey didn't even know who those people were. The way he talked about Destiny, it was as if she's just some sex toy for me. So that is one plus. He doesn't know how much I care about her. He doesn't know that I love her. And that is something I have to use to my advantage. That is something I have to prevent him from ever finding out. And how did he do that?

    She came to stand before him, then wordlessly sank down to her knees with her eyes still lowered.

    His eyes filled with emotion as she leaned forward and kissed the top of his bare knee, which poked out from between the lapels of his robe.

    "I would have rather stayed here with you all night," she whispered. "I kind of wish I had."

    He smiled down at her and reached out to stroke her hair with his free hand. With a sigh, he set the champagne glass on the end table. No coaster. No napkin beneath it. The bottom of the champagne glass touching the glass of the end table. For a neat freak, an absolute no-no. But he didn't care one bit. All he cared about was kneeling before him, expressing her love and affection for him. "Let's go to bed," he suggested. "It's late."

    She raised her head, peered up at him, and nodded.

    He helped her to stand and escorted her to the bedroom, leaving the neglected champagne glass in his wake.

~~~~~~

    The lovemaking was tender. Gentle. He's touching me as if I'm a fragile piece of glass, she thought to herself while lying beneath him. She framed his face between her hands and stared up at him. He had tears in his eyes. The sight of that frightened her. Is he worried about me because of the message I got? she wondered.

    He lowered his head and kissed her, silencing all of her thoughts. There was enough passion in his kiss to bring tears to her own eyes.

    She hated keeping things from him. The last time she'd withheld information from him, it hadn't gone well. But she didn't know how to tell him what she needed to tell him. If she were being completely honest with herself, she didn't want to tell him what she needed to tell him. Look how worried he was already, and that was just from an instant message. If he knew that Carlos had been hired to spy on her? He would probably keep her locked up in the cage so no one could get to her. He'd definitely send Carlos packing in a heartbeat without taking the time to listen to Carlos's reasoning behind his actions. She'd come very close to dismissing Carlos herself. If it weren't for Brian, she would have walked right out of the restaurant.

    "Are you here with me?" Aubrey asked her.

    She blinked her eyes and nodded. "Just...thinking. Worried."

    "Me too."

    "I'm worried about you," she admitted hesitantly.

    "And I'm worried about you," he told her.

    She stroked the line of his jaw, admiring the perfectly groomed stubble that graced it. "But we'll both be fine," she promised him. "Because I've got you, and you've got me."

    His jaw tensed beneath her fingers.

    She searched his eyes. "Don't we?" she asked him, all of a sudden not so sure, because of his reaction. As small as it was, it spoke volumes.

    He stared at her for a long moment, then replied carefully, "Yes."

    Relief washed over her face. She raised her head off the pillow and kissed him, wrapping her arms around him.

~~~~~~

    Aubrey kissed Destiny's shoulder and stroked her hair, unable to stop the tears from sliding down his cheeks. She slept peacefully in front of him with her arms stretched out in front of her. He embraced her from behind, his arms tight around her. Never wanting to let her go. But not feeling like he had a choice.