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“If you don’t take me back to town, I’ll call someone to come get me,” she said fiercely. “You can’t keep me locked up like this. Do you want me to remain some kind of prisoner until all the threats in the world are gone?”
She had not wanted to sound like she was mocking him. But she was.
“If that is what it takes to keep you safe, then yes,” Mars finally shouted.
His eyes were glassy with tears, and it seemed that Rhiannon had cracked something open inside him.
“Well, you’ll have to get a court order then,” Rhiannon said, turning away from him. “The world we live in is pretty fucked. And I think you need to learn to deal with that.”
“You’re my mate. This is my duty. To keep you safe,” he protested.
She rounded on him, her face and chest hot. Rhiannon knew she was probably bright red.
“Mars, I don’t care if you’re my guardian angel sent from the heavens. I can handle myself. You’ve spent your entire life in an ivory tower. I have spent my entire working career helping abused women. I know this world and its threats a lot better than you do.”
Rhiannon turned and walked into the room she had been using as a study. She wiped the hot tears spilling over her cheeks. Then she started packing her work bag. She made a sweep of the bedroom and quickly grabbed what she could.
Then she went out to the hallway.
Mars kept a car in the garage of the cabin that was kept ready for use at all times. She took the key that hung on the wall and went to face Mars.
When she spoke, she was a lot calmer.
“I can’t be with someone who thinks that the only way to keep me safe is to keep me locked up. I didn’t ask you to protect me, Mars,” she said softly.
“Rhi, I’m sorry ….”
She cut him off before he could continue.
The expression that crossed his face hurt her so badly that she could barely breathe for a second. It was an expression of hurt confusion as though he couldn’t quite believe what she was doing.
“I’m taking your car. I’ll arrange with Lenard to get it back to you safely.”
“Rhi, please don’t do this,” Mars spoke almost woodenly. His arms were crossed over his chest.
“Goodbye, Mars,” she said firmly.
Then she headed out to the garage. A storm shimmered in the sky overhead when she pulled out. It would be a summer storm. The kind that drowned the world for a few hours. The kind that flushed debris from the crevices in the streets. The kind that washed things clean.
It was certainly coming at the right time, Rhiannon thought drily.
The car was a sports car, and it purred beautifully when she put her foot on the gas. It did well on the dirt road outside the cabin gates, and she forced it to go as fast as it could within the speed limit.
Rhiannon was aware that she was crying as she drove away from the cabin. The roads away from Wichita Mountains were winding and narrow.
Her tears were hot and salty. She swallowed several times before pulling over. In the state she was in, she’d cause an accident in no time.
The purring ceased when the car came to a stop. And all Rhiannon could do was bury her head in her hands and cry.
He just wanted to protect you,a cold voice in her head said.
I didn’t ask him to. I didn’t need to be protected. I needed to be loved,she argued back.
Well, you’ve lost the chance of both. So how about that? Are you proud of yourself?
I didn’t mean what I said,Rhiannon said miserably.
The snide voice in her head snorted.It sure looked like it. That was a magnificent fight.
