“Sorry. Listen, give it your best shot, and if it doesn’t work out, this can be the closure you needed.”
“How’d you know I needed closure?”
“Kinda obvious.” Brett kissed his cheek and then left him to wait for Lee.
It had been twenty-eight hours since he heard the speech, and it may be hours before Lee arrived. Eli went looking for a slave or Ryan and Brett to get coffee and food in him. Not that he was very hungry, no, but he did want to put something on his nervous stomach that matched the rest of him.
As he left his room, he jumped as Brett yelled, “Eli!”
“What? You scared the shit out of me!”
“Sorry! He’s here. He called to have the chopper pick him up from the border.”
Eli looked over himself and he felt his stomach jump around his insides. “He’s here. He’s here.”
“Eli don’t be so nervous. I mean, of course you’re nervous, shit, I’m nervous.”
“Brett, I like you and appreciate everything, but you’re making me more nervous!”
“Sorry,” he said, smiling weakly. “I just want the best for you guys. I mean, you made him turn a corner no one does! That’s big.”
“It’s okay.”
A slave knocked on the door and Brett called for him to enter. “High slave, the guest you asked me to look out for, well, he says he wants to bathe and then sleep. Do you still want me to watch him?”
“No, Edward, I think his own slave can take care of him now. Thank you.”
He rushed out and Brett turned to Eli. “It’s now or never. Well, maybe not never, but you know.”
“I know.” He hugged Brett in thanks and then asked him, “Where’s his room?” Once he had that information he headed to Lee’s room.
Letting himself in, he cautiously looked around and didn’t see Lee, but he did hear a quiet splash in the connecting bathroom. Eli crept to the open doorway and looked in to see Lee in the sunken tub, his back to the door.
“Is that you, Edward?”
Changing his voice as much as he could without it sounding too faked, Eli answered, “No, Sir. Edward had a chore, so they sent me.”
“Fine, whatever. Can you get me a towel? I’m ready to sleep now.”
“Of course, Sir.”
There was a stack of fluffy white towels on a shelf, so Eli took one and stood close to the tub. Again, without looking, Lee used the three steps to climb out of the tub and Eli moved behind him to wrap the towel around his waist.
With his own voice, Eli asked, “Is there anything else I can do for you, Lee?”
Lee turned around with his brows drawn tight, like he couldn’t believe one of the slaves would dare to use his given name. Then he saw Eli and took a step backward, letting the towel fall to the tiled floor. “What…?”
“Hi, Lee.”
It was a long moment where Lee just stared at him, disbelieving his own eyes. “Eli?”
“It’s me. I heard your speech and tracked you down. Hope that’s okay.”
“Okay?” Lee surprised him by lunging at him, grabbing his face with both hands. “Okay? Eli…Eli, god, I can’t believe it’s you.”
Before Eli could say another word, Lee pressed their mouths together and Eli melted into the kiss, letting Lee wrap him in his arms and hold him there, dripping water all over Eli’s clothes.
Not that he cared. He could be dripping tar all over him, and Eli would want to be right there, in his arms.