Who is my Husband

Chapter 7 Conflicted Goodbye

            Kailee woke up as she felt the warmth slowly slide away from her. She instinctively reached for the arm that was keeping her warm. He paused and laid there. She was half asleep and wasn’t sure what she was doing. But now she felt a wave of embarrassment wash over her as she realized what it looked like. She opened her eyes to the darkness and was once again glad there wasn’t light. She released her hold on his arm.

            “Sorry.” She whispered out and bit her bottom lip. She knew it looked like a traditional scene where the husband is going away so the wife reaches out to him because she is going to miss him. Ugh, she felt so embarrassed. She just knew the warmth that had her cocooned was leaving her and she grabbed to keep it there.

            She felt his body lean close to her. His hand brushed over her cheek and she could feel the heat of his breath fan against her face. It continued to draw closer until she felt him brush his lips against hers. It didn’t stop there though. He pressed against hers. His warm lips moved against her own gently and intimately.

            “I’m sorry I have to leave you already. But I won’t be gone long.” His hand brushed through her hair. “I hate leaving you.”

            She could hear how conflicted he was in his voice. She smiled in the darkness. She thought it was strange. That was only their second night together and he was acting like he was leaving his beloved wife of years.

            “I’m used to taking care of myself. I’ll be fine.” She felt his forehead lean up against hers.

            “I’m the one who won’t be fine.”

            Her chest squeezed when she heard this. Was he saying he was going to miss her already?

            “I’m going to ask Reggie to stay close to you. Just in case the burning comes back.”

            He was worried about her. But she did not know this Reggie guy. Why him? She already knew Grum and Lance. And what could he do about it anyways.

            “I’ll be okay. It isn’t like anyone can do anything to stop it if it does come back.” She said with a light tone. Trey stilled beside her and then let out a sigh.

           “Reggie is… well he is… he is someone I trust with my life. I trust him with your life.”

            “What about Lance and Grum?”

            Trey chuckled. “I trust them too. But Reggie is someone special. He might be able to help if something happens again… and lets just leave it at that.”

            “More secrets?” Kailee asked curiously. She had a small smile on her face though she felt confused.

            “There won’t always be secrets between us. I don’t want there to be any.” Trey traced over the side of her face with his finger.

            “Well. When you tell me your secrets then I’ll tell you mine.” Kailee smiled as she listened to his soft chuckle.

            “You have secrets from me?”

            “Mmmm maybe.” She listened as a low protest reverberated in his chest.

            “I don’t want you keeping secrets from me.”

            “Well now you know how I feel.” Kailee smiled in triumph.

            She felt his lips brush against her forehead and then once more against her lips. His hand rested on her cheek. “I can’t risk any mistakes happening. Not now when it’s almost over…” His lips brushed against her ear as he whispered softly to her. He leaned his face into hers and breathed in against her face and neck. “I’ll see you soon. No more getting hurt, okay? At least with your injuries that should slow you down for a day.”

            “What, these injuries? Things like this never slowed me down before. And those were unstitched.”

            His lips landed on hers roughly. He pushed against her lips and then nipped at her bottom lip. “It’s not like before anymore. Your life will be different now.” He let out a loud sigh. “The sun will be rising soon. I have to go.”

            She felt his hand slowly slide away from her face and his weight disappeared from the bed. She listened as he slowly got dressed. His rough kiss had her heart trumpeting loudly and she was missing his heat from the bed. She reached her hand up to her lips that felt tender from the way he kissed her. It was rough but she felt something stir within her. A desire for her husband crept through her body. This time she was the one feeling conflicted.

            This was only her second day there and he was leaving her? Or was he really leaving her? Maybe it was his way to spy on her without the hassle of wearing his mask?

            She eased herself upwards more, the pain in her side and leg bit at her and her body protested at her movements. She didn’t realize she had made any noise, but she soon felt his presence near her side.

            “Hey. It’s still early. What are you doing?” She felt his arms land on her shoulders as he helped her adjust. “You shouldn’t be moving around so much.”

            “I’m okay. It’s not like I plan to sit around all day anyways.”

            “I’d rather you take it easy today.”

            “Maybe just a walk out into the garden. I wanted to see the fountain up close. It looks really pretty.”

            “You should still get some more rest first.” Trey protested.

            “I wanted to see you off.” Kailee whispered out quietly.

            Trey wrapped his arms around Kailee and pressed himself into her delicately, making sure not to aggravate her wounds. “How am I supposed to leave you now? Something as simple and sweet as that makes me want to crawl back in bed beside you.”

            She leaned her head into his chest while her hands also rested there. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to make things harder on you. I… Is it going to be a rough trip? Can you take a main road or-” She stopped talking as she heard him slightly chuckle.

            “You aren’t concerned about me, are you?” His coy voice rippled with laughter.

            “Well…no…yes…no…just you are going on this trip because of me and…” She felt him lean his chest away from her and soon his lips had covered hers again.

            “There is nothing for you to concern yourself about. I want you to relax and enjoy yourself. Indulge yourself with what will make you happy but take it easy. I don’t want you getting hurt especially while I am away.” His hand traced over hers once more. “I should be back tomorrow evening. Lance will be watching over you and so will Reggie once he gets here. I’ll be taking Grum with me.”

            He kissed her forehead and stood away from the bed. She heard the sound of him walking and then the sound of him grabbing his mask.

            “I’ll see you tomorrow, my adorable little wife. Oh… happy birthday. We will celebrate when I return.”

            Kailee felt the dreaded heat attack her cheeks again, but it was still dark. She listened as he quickly opened the door and exited the room. It was so fast she didn’t even have a chance to respond to him. As if he had to hurry before he changed his mind about leaving her. She leaned back and let out a sigh. It was still early but she didn’t feel very tired. Lance or Grum must have overheard her telling Cookie that today was her birthday. She smiled to herself. It was the first time someone had wished her happy birthday in a long time.

            Thoughts about the weird pain raced through her head. She wondered what it was about. She felt like she could feel the pressure building up but then suddenly it subsided. Like it was unable to break free? Or it decided not to break free… She didn’t know. She had no idea what had caused it. What she did know was that sleep was not going to come back to her. And if that was enough sleep for Trey, who would be traveling today, then it was enough for her as well.

            She eased herself to her feet and lit the candle next to the stand. She changed her dressing on her wounds and then managed to ease a dress over her. There was only one issue. The dress buttoned in the back and with her side wound she couldn’t manage it. She walked up to her door. Maybe she could catch a maid or Cookie to help her out. She creaked the door open and peaked out.

            “You are up incredibly early.”

            Kailee turned her head to the side to see Lance giving her a tired half smile.

            “Did Trey wake you up when he left?” She asked curiously. Or are you Trey pretending to be someone else…

            “I’m under strict orders to stay close to you at all times today.” Lance said with a small eye roll.

            “Well then I guess that means you aren’t in trouble after yesterday.”

            “I guess this is my chance to redeem myself.” Lance grinned and then raised a brow at how she was still standing in the doorway. “What are you doing?”

            “Well… um… the thing is…” She looked at him and gave him an embarrassed smile. There was no one else around and she could use some help. “Do you think you can button up the back of my dress? It pulls too much on my cut in the front when I try.” She watched his face turn three different shades of red. She thought she was the only one who could blush like that.

            “Fffff…. Man, Trey is going to kill me for sure.” Lance chuckled and let out a breath.

            “For helping me out?” Kailee bit her lip and smiled.

            “You don’t understand. That brat is possessive over what is his.” Lance leaned up from the wall. “Alright. Let’s see.”

            Kailee giggled quietly and then turned around pulling her hair to the front. “Thank you.”

            “Just don’t let him kill me.” Lance said as he fumbled with the buttons.

            “He doesn’t have to know.”

            “You are going to keep secrets from your husband?” Lance asked incredulously.

            Kailee shrugged. “He is keeping secrets from me. So, it’s fair.” She felt him slow down on the buttoning for a moment.

            “You may not know it but he really does care about you.” Lance said quietly as he finished up the remainder of the buttons.

            “I don’t know how. This is only my second night here. And I didn’t even see him during the day.” Kailee turned around and pushed her hair back behind her. “Thank you.” She could see his serious eyes looking back at her. He frowned a bit like there was more he wanted to say.

            “It’s alright. He has his secrets and I have mine. So it’s fair.” She smiled back at him with a small shrug. “So how about breakfast? I think one of those sweet rolls is calling my name.” Kailee smiled thinking about the sweet roll she had yesterday.

            A wide smile spread across Lance’s face. “Mine too.”