"I'd say this was pretty good. Any better and I'd be unconscious."
Annelie smiled and raised her eyebrows. "You play well, darling."
"And you make an excellent Erica, completely irresistible." Carolyn winked at Annelie. "I always knew playing Maddox would be rewarding. I just didn't know how right I was."
Annelie leaned down for a kiss. "How clever of you. Why don't we go home before the guards begin their rounds, and I'll show you just how many rewards you deserve?"
Returning the kiss with fervor, Carolyn hugged the woman she loved close. "You gorgeous woman, you. You're full of excellent ideas this evening. Yes, let's go home."
Epilogue
Carolyn stood motionless by the balcony railing, her hair the only thing moving in the wind.
Annelie stopped on the threshold, enjoying the view for a moment before walking up to her. "A penny for them?"
Impressed with how Carolyn didn't even flinch, Annelie encircled her lover's waist.
"Just listening to the city. So many lives, crammed into one tiny island."
"Why this philosophical mood?"
Turning, Carolyn cupped Annelie's cheek. "I came out here to get some air after a long day at the studio, and it hit me." She gestured toward the busy city below them. "Can these people possibly be as happy as I am right now?"
A warm glow started in the pit of Annelie's stomach, spreading toward her heart. "Some of them, surely."
"I don't know. I'm here with you. I love you more than anything or anyone. I've never felt like this in my life. Playing Maddox is the role of a lifetime, which will make me financially secure for the rest of my days. I called Beth earlier, and she's doing fine. She'll be home tomorrow. We're blessed with such good, loyal friends…" Tears rose in Carolyn's eyes. "The only cloud is…what if I lost you?"
Annelie took her by the hand. "You won't. Unless I fall under a bus, which I have no plans to do, you're stuck with me." She guided Carolyn into the living room, where a fire crackled in the fireplace. Looking expectantly at Carolyn, Annelie held her breath.
"Oh, my, when did you do this?"
On the floor in front of the fireplace, on a red wool blanket, lay an assortment of cheese and crackers, a bottle of chardonnay, and several large pillows. An Eva Cassidy CD played in the background, her clear voice filling the room.
"While you were deep in your reverie on the balcony. But I admit I planned it in advance. I thought we'd have a romantic evening together, now that we're alone again."
"You're a genius." Carolyn expressed her appreciation with a firm hug, which soon turned into a heated kiss. "Why don't we sit down, and you can pour me some of that wine."
They lounged in front of the fire, arranging the pillows so they could rest comfortably. After filling the rounded crystal glasses, Annelie raised hers. "To us."
"To us."
Sipping her wine, Annelie looked at the contented expression on Carolyn's face. She'd never seen her look this relaxed. Carolyn had changed her routine and now swam for half an hour every morning before heading to the studio. It seemed to lessen the unavoidable stress and pressure of playing Maddox.
"Carolyn, have I told you today how beautiful you are, inside and out?" Annelie smiled at her surprised look.
"Well, no, not today."
"Then let me tell you. I have a secret. When I wake up in the morning, I spend a few minutes just looking at your face and any part of you that's visible, absorbing how beautiful you are. Sometimes I have to pinch myself to realize this is true—you're here with me."
Carolyn's face softened, and she dropped her actor's mask completely as she put her glass on the floor. "You do?"
"Yes. If you're afraid of somehow losing me, then I'm just as afraid, if not more, of finding you gone one day. I know, it's an irrational fear—but it's there. I've gone from worshipping you for the work you do to loving you for the woman you are. You know I was nervous about us in the beginning. I was afraid you'd realize you weren't ready to be with a woman, with me, after all. I don't think like that any more, but in my darkest hours, the fear can reemerge."
Carolyn took a chocolate-covered strawberry and offered one to Annelie. "You're all I could ever want. If you watch me in the morning, I watch you during the day when you're not paying attention. I look at how you move, how your ponytail snuggles against your neck, and how you hold on to your left wrist with your right hand behind your back when you're nervous. I love how you eat with a knife and fork the
European way, and it excites me how your breasts move underneath your shirt when you're not wearing a bra. Most of all…" Carolyn leaned in and placed a soft kiss on Annelie's lips. "I love how I'm allowed to touch you, hug you, and make love to you."
"You do?" Annelie whispered. "I had no idea. I find you so extraordinary, so fascinating, and so divinely beautiful."
"No, you are." Carolyn smiled and sipped her wine. "You're exquisite. There's no better word to describe you."
Annelie felt a blush creep up her neck and color her cheeks. "I've been meaning to ask you something."
Carolyn waited, but when the words caught in Annelie's throat she leaned forward and kissed her. "Yes?"
"We decided you'd stay here with me during the filming, and I'd like to know how you think it's working out." It wasn't at all what she meant to say, but she couldn't think straight.
"I've loved every second of it. And you?" Carolyn gazed at her over the rim of her wineglass.
"I don't want to think about how it would feel when…" Annelie's voice faded and she cleared her throat. "I don't want to think about waking up and you not being here, darling. Do you think you could…I mean, can you see yourself…" Furious with herself for sounding completely lost, Annelie jumped when Carolyn took the glass from her fiddling fingers and placed it on the floor with her own.
"Are you asking me to stay on after the filming? To move in permanently?"
"You don't have to answer right away. Just think about it and—"
"Yes."
"What?"
"Annelie, I don't want to be away from you. I don't want to go back to my lonely apartment when you and I can be together, sharing our days, waking up and falling asleep in each other's arms. I never want to leave."
Suddenly Annelie lunged forward, threw her arms around Carolyn's neck, and buried her face in Carolyn's hair. As she inhaled the familiar scent of musk and sandalwood, she closed her eyes and felt her heart rate slow down.
"Do you know how amazing you are?" Carolyn murmured, her hands moving in soothing circles over Annelie's back. "You can drive me crazy with one look, one touch, and at the same time you evoke all these protective feelings in me. I love holding you, just like this, and yet I adore it when you take control and let me surrender to you." She softly kissed Annelie's cheek. "I love you."
Tipping her head back, Annelie looked up into Carolyn's eyes, surprised to see the usual streaks of gray drowned out by the clear blue. "Kiss me."
Lowering her head, Carolyn obliged, deepening the kiss as they clung to each other.
"I love you too," Annelie whispered. "I adore you."
As they shed their clothes into a growing pile, the fire warmed their naked flesh. Looking at Carolyn's body, watching the flames cast flickering shadows on her lover's pale skin, Annelie knew she would never grow tired of this sight.
"Mine to touch," she whispered, never averting her eyes.
"Yours to do with as you please."
"Then let me love you."
"Always."
The End
About the Author
Gun Brooke combines her lifelong love for science fiction and romance novels by writing both genres—always with romance at center stage. She resides in the Swedish countryside with her very patient family in a village displaying remnants from the Stone Age and Viking era.