They spent a week at the farm, resting and rehabilitating. After a couple days, Pablo, Sam, and Holly departed for Portland, leaving Luke, Maggie, Roxi, and Gwen. Pablo promised to watch over the giant dog and bring him by the house along with Roxi’s rudis after Luke returned to his house and felt settled.
By the end of the week, Roxi felt well enough to make the walk down to The Birk for their last dinner before heading to Portland, though they had to go slowly not to tire her weak leg.
Still, the long walk back and forth wore her out, so she went to bed after a game of cribbage. Gwen took her book upstairs, leaving Maggie and Luke.
“You wait here, Luke.” Maggie disappeared into the kitchen and reappeared with a bottle of whiskey and a couple glasses. She held them up and tipped her head to the side, silently asking the question.
Luke stood, took the bottle from her, and replaced it with his hand, leading her out to their favorite couch. She’d already taken a blanket out. When they got their drinks situated, they curled into each other sharing touches and soft kisses. After a week of the farm’s peace, Luke finally felt a bit more human, the numbness that had settled in after their rescue starting to warm.
“Maggie, I love you,” Luke said.
“I love you, too.” She caressed his cheek and beard-covered jaw before giving him a kiss, then deepening it.
Luke’s heart fluttered, as warmth surged through his veins. He took a moment to look into Maggie’s blue eyes, the intensity of her gaze doubling the feelings he’d not felt in months and months. He’d kept them bottled up to preserve himself. He pulled her in tightly, hungry for her lips and affection.
When they pulled back, Luke grabbed his glass. “Maggie. If you’re amenable, I’d like to take some time on this couch and finish this glass. And while we work on it, I’d like to make out with you. Then, I want to take you upstairs to your bed and renew our physical intimacy?”
“Renew our physical intimacy?” Maggie chuckled teasingly.
Luke smiled at the vibrant sound. “I want to make love to you, have sex. I want you, Magdalena.”
“I want you too, Luke.” She struggled to erase her smile and affect a serious expression. “I find your proposal acceptable.”
After more than a year’s worth of deprivation, Luke felt positively decadent sipping a wonderful whiskey in between moments of kissing with his girlfriend. When their glasses were empty and Maggie’s eyes burned into his, he grew nervous about what would come next. It had been so long since he’d been intimate with Maggie and considered asking for another glass. Sensing his anxiety, Maggie stood up and offered her hand, leading him upstairs to her room. Smiling his relieved thanks, he took her hand and followed, pulling her into a passionate kiss as soon as the door closed.
* * *
After a long night, Luke stayed in bed late into the morning, dozing. It wasn’t until a gentle knock at the door and Gwen’s voice informing him breakfast was ready that he crawled out of bed and pulled on a robe over his pajama bottoms.
When he arrived downstairs, he heard laughter from the kitchen and the voices of Maggie, Roxi, and Gwen. As soon as he stepped through the entry of the kitchen, Gwen brought a cup of coffee for him as he sat at the table. Soon, a plate of pancakes and chicken sausages joined his cup of coffee. As he shook off the last of his sleep and enjoyed his breakfast, he listened to the banter between his ward, his girlfriend, and Roxi. When they finished, all four joined in cleaning up the kitchen and picking up the house so as not to leave a mess for the cleaning crew and whoever from the pack might be up that way next.
Luke wasn’t sure if he was ready for life in Portland after being absent, especially considering how he’d been dragged away from it. But he wanted to see his cat Alfred and be in his home once again, though he was afraid it might not feel like his home anymore. Feeling quiet, Luke let Gwen sit in the front with Maggie and control the radio of the pretty Polish doctor’s car. Stealing quick glances at Roxi, he watched as her tension rose, her hands fidgeting as she picked at her nails and cuticles absentmindedly. Her eyes flicked about the landscape, the wooded hills of the Coastal mountains turning into towns and then Portland.
“Hey, Maggie. Do we have to go pick up Alfred from somewhere?” Luke asked.
“No. Zel dropped him off this morning and set him up. He’s been with us since… You know.”
“Please give Zel my thanks for taking care of Alfred and letting us have some time together.” Luke smiled at Maggie.
“Of course. When you get settled in, we’ll invite you all over for dinner and you can personally thank them. They prefer their thanks in the form of red wine,” Maggie replied.
Luke nodded. “That sounds excellent.”
They turned onto Luke’s street, then, after a few houses, pulled into his driveway. He’d missed his home. It’d always been a comfortable place to live but had truly become a home when he added Gwen and the constant stream of his friends coming and going.
“And we’re here,” Luke said quietly, more to himself than anyone else.
Maggie popped the trunk, then everyone piled out, grabbing their stuff, what little of it there was for Luke and Roxi, whose bag was filled with clothes borrowed from others and the pack. The gear they’d stripped from the museum in the arena had been taken somewhere else, at least that’s what Luke assumed. He hoped they hadn’t dumped it in his house.
Out of old habit, Luke reached into his pocket but came back empty, his keys most likely tossed by his captors. Maggie smiled and handed him a key on an empty ring.
“I had a copy of mine made for you,” Maggie said.
The sounds of eager meowing on the other side of the door drew a genuine smile to his face. Before he could get the door all the way open, Alfred ran out the door and wound his way around Luke’s legs, still meowing incessantly.
“Hey, Alfie!” He bent over and scooped up the cat, hugging him. “I missed you too, buddy.”
He stepped into the house, cat in his arms, to clear the doorway for everyone else. Once he stepped into the living room, he looked around, expecting layers of dust and cobwebs from the house’s lack of inhabitants.
“We hired a cleaner for the upstairs. Gwen, Zel, and I cleaned up your…office.” Maggie’s eyes momentarily flicked to Roxi when she called his basement lair an office.
“Thank you, Maggie. I can’t thank you enough for all you’ve done for me while I was gone.” Luke pulled her into a hug.
“It’s what we do for the people we love. I’m glad you’re back.” She pulled him in for a kiss. “If it’s OK, I need to get home. I miss Zel.”
“Of course. Please thank Zel for me. I’ll do it in person as well, but I appreciate them so much,” Luke replied, scratching Alfred’s neck as the giant orange tabby purred in his arms.
Maggie pulled Roxi into a friendly hug. “It’s really nice to meet you, Roxi. Welcome to Portland.”
“Thank you for making me feel welcome,” Roxi replied.
“Bye, Gwennie.” Maggie hugged Gwen, giving her a kiss on the forehead.
“Bye!”
After Maggie left and closed the door behind her, they stood around in the living room awkwardly until Gwen took matters into her own hands.
She grabbed Roxi’s hand and pulled her down the hall. “I’ll show you your room.”
Luke set Alfred down and searched through the kitchen. The cabinets were stocked with some of Luke’s favorite staples, as was the fridge, including some cans and bottles of beer. He pulled out his French press and found a canister of fresh beans.
“Coffee?” Luke asked when he heard Roxi shuffle into the kitchen.
“Yes, please.”
Gwen passed through the kitchen, heading into the office. “Hey, Luke, I’m going down to the gym.”
After he set the timer, he turned around and leaned up against the cabinet. Roxi stood on the other side of the kitchen, her hands nervously clutched in front of her.
“Thank you for letting me stay with you. I’ll try to figure out what to do next,” Roxi said, shuffling from foot to foot.
Luke pushed off the counter and walked up to her, running his hand down her arm. “You can stay here as long as you want to.”
Roxi took a tentative step toward him. “May I hug you?”
Luke nodded as Roxi closed the space before he’d even finished the affirmative gesture. “Are you doing OK, Roxi?”
“I’m…fine.” She sighed. “I’m not fine. I’m struggling.”
Luke kissed the top of her head, then pushed back when the alarm went off. “If you go into the room Gwen just went into, I’m guessing you’ll find the door open. Head downstairs, I’ll be down in a minute with coffee. We can put some music on and talk.”
Roxi gave him a weak smile. “Alright.”
Luke found the carafe and filled it. Roxi was gone when he turned around. Grabbing a couple cups from the cabinet, he headed into the office and down into his secret lair. When he reached the last step of the metal spiral staircase, Roxi stood in the doorway looking into his training center. He set the cups down on the end table between the two mid-century Danish-style chairs and filled them up.
Roxi turned and sat down, picking up her cup. “How do you have all this hidden? It’s amazing.”
“I’ll show you which book triggers the door. You can come down here anytime you want.” He walked to the door and poked his head in. “Gwen, I’m going to shut this door so Roxi and I can talk. If it’s closed, please knock before entering.”
Gwen stretched in the middle of the giant room. “OK.”
Luke shut the door and sat down. “I’m struggling too, Roxi. Would you like some music?”
Roxi nodded, blowing over her coffee. Luke slid back the panel hiding his record collection and went to the B section, pulling down Beck’s Mourning Phase LP.
Roxi stared down at her coffee, finally looking up, her eyes filled with anxiety and fear. “Luke, I don’t know what I’m going to do. I don’t have any paperwork. I don’t have any way to access any of my money. I’m completely helpless. And…I don’t have a rudis anymore. It’s only a matter of time before…”
“The pack can make you a passport so you can get back to London. I have plenty of money to get you set up again. As far as the rudis, I don’t know, but I promise we’ll figure it out. When you’re feeling up to it, we’ll see if we can use my shrine to contact Mithras. You don’t have to do this alone. We can’t afford to fight this battle by ourselves anymore, Roxi.” He swallowed, and stared into her dark brown eyes, pouring his earnestness into his eyes. “I’m hoping you’ll move here. Together, we can fight this war better with my friends and the connections of the pack.”
Roxi swept her shaggy hair from her eyes. “Is that the only reason you want me to stay?”
He shook his head. “No. It isn’t. I want you to move here because I…I like you, and I want you to be part of my life. I’ve missed you the last several days since we’re not constantly close to each other.”
“I feel ashamed to say this, but I almost miss being in that cell where we could just talk and hold hands whenever we wanted. I’ve felt so scared and lonely, and you haven’t been there.”
Luke’s stomach dropped. “I’m sorry, Roxi.”
“It’s selfish of me to say that, but it’s also true. I’m so happy we’re free and you’ve got all your people, but I’m scared that now that you have your life back, you won’t need me in your life anymore.”
“Roxi.” He set his cup of coffee and leaned closer to her.
She set her cup down and moved closer.
Luke took both her hands in his, holding her gaze. “When you said if you found me, you wouldn’t leave and would stay by me. Now that we’ve found each other. I don’t want you to go. The last year and half were hell, but you weren’t. Roxi, I need you to stay.”
Staring into her eyes, he thought about her leaving. He didn’t want to fall down that pit. Still having trouble seeing through the confusion of being in the arena, he knew his feelings for Roxi were more than just friendly, but he didn’t want to leap when his thoughts and feelings were still shattered and jumbled from the hellish year and a half.
She slid to the floor. Luke joined her, pulling her into his arms. It felt good to have her body against his. Reaching down, he tipped her chin up. His breath caught in his throat when he saw the longing in her half-lidded eyes. Licking his lips, he swallowed and lowered his lips to hers.
The first two times they’d kissed, it was under the duress of the arena. When their lips touched, Luke melted a little inside. Her lips were warm and soft, and the electricity felt intoxicating, the intensity overwhelming as if all the longing and relief of being free merged and exploded into the kiss.
When they pulled back, Roxi rested her head on Luke’s shoulder. They sat in silence holding each other until she fell asleep in his arms. Setting her gently against the edge of the chair, he scooped her up and carefully took her upstairs and to her room. He laid her on top of the covers and pulled a blanket over her, then bent down, kissed her forehead, and left.
Attraction and confusion warred as he looked at her for a moment. He sighed and closed the door, walking across the hall to his room. Putting on his workout clothes, he went down to join Gwen, hoping exercise would help center his mind and bring clarity to what was happening with Roxi. Besides, he’d missed training with Gwen and was eager to see what new moves she’d learned while he’d been gone.
Despite the awkwardness and confusion, it felt good to be home.
* * *