Page 44 of Raise Up, Heart
Cole shoves you back until your legs hit the sofa.
“He’s kind of a jerk,” Cole says. “Uses criminals and their drug money to get his own way.”
“I like it,” you whisper.
“Suck me,” Cole says, grabbing your hair and pulling you toward his crotch.
You grin and open his pants fast, taking his cock out and jerking it slowly. “Like this?” you ask, giving him a hot look.
“No,” he says, and grips your jaw, forcing your mouth open enough to press his dick inside. “Likethis.”
You chuckle and suck him in, and, okay, you think Dr. Red Alistair can love Cole Hart. Though when Cole comes, his dark brown eyes staring down at you with love and devotion, you’re still Damon Black all the way through.
Appalachian Rainbows andHardiest Hearts are the easy parts. Cole’s been grooming Michael for a while for the work, and he’s ready, willing, and completely competent. After signing a few legal documents that his lawyers drafted, Cole hands the reins over effective immediately.
The family is the hard part. Rosanna is the hardest. She stares him down with eyes like darts and she tells him, “Don’t think I believe you. Something’s not right.”
“Maybe once I’ve sent you some presents the fish in Denmark won’t be so foul?” Cole asks.
Rosanna shakes her head and then hugs him. “Just be happy, okay? If you’re happy, then that’s all that matters.”
“I will be. I promise. Plus there’s the internet, and email, and I really will come visit.” If he can make himself leave Damon. Though, admittedly, that’s a very big if.
The goodbye with his sister is emotional, but somehow it isn’t as difficult as saying goodbye to his father; maybe it’s because Cole sees Rosanna as the biggest threats to his happiness. If she tries to investigate, or check in, then operation conservative plan must become operation aggressive plan, and losing Damon’s face could be just the beginning. Because there isnothingCole won’t sacrifice to protect Damon now that he has him again.
Speaking of, there’s one other phone call to make before he can consider himself free. He waits until he’s alone by the waterfall, ostensibly saying goodbye to Damon, to call his mother.
The conversation is short and sweet. When he’s done, Cole hangs up the phone and then pitches it into the lake. He has a new number that he’ll give to his family when he gets to where he’s going.
He takes the stone from his pocket, and he kneels down by the place where he’d buried Damon’s ashes once upon a time.
“Damon,” he says to the waterfall, like he’s done for the last two years. “It’s time to say goodbye. I have a new life to begin. I love you.”
He places the heart-shaped rock on the dirt where he sometimes leaves flowers. Then he gathers himself and turns back up the trail.
It’s time.
When Cole reaches the Knoxville airport, with most of his family in tow, he gives them all one last hug and climbs aboard a private jet funded with money from the trucking business. John, the pilot, will take them as far as Atlanta, where they’ll exchange John for a pilot Grandpa has arranged.
Sitting next to John in the cockpit, watching Maryville fade away below him, Cole feels unexpectedly free. He thought he’d feel loss, sadness, or fear, but he doesn’t. All he feels is sky—an open, limitless horizon.
Cole feels like a man. He’s found a reason to change his world, and he licks his lips, wanting to see Damon, to take courage in him the way that he always can now.
Once they reach cruising altitude, Cole excuses himself to the sleeping quarters. He closes the door behind him and locks it. He rakes his eyes over Damon resting recumbent on the bed, taking in every bit of him. Damon stares back, silent and calm.
“Hungry?” Cole whispers.
Damon pats his stomach and points at the duffle of snacks Cole had stowed along with Damon himself the night before. It’s odd for Damon to be so silent, but they don’t want to draw any attention or suspicion onto themselves.
Cole crawls on top of Damon’s body, kisses his mouth, and shares an intimate smile, needing to feel him close. As the plane mounts higher to rise above a cloud bank, Damon threads his fingers into Cole’s hair, and holds Cole’s head against his chest. And Cole closes his eyes, falling asleep listening to the powerful drum of Damon’s heart.
EPILOGUE
Old San Juanis sunshine and wind, fort ruins and historical buildings. At first, it’s a rush of freedom. The home that Grandpa’s former drug-running contacts helped arrange for them is spacious, freestanding, and private with a view of the sea. They make love for days, in every position, and every way imaginable. It takes a while, but it gradually dawns on them that this life isn’t going to disappear. They’re both here for good. With that understanding, they cut the sex back to two, sometimes three times a day, and actually leave their new home to explore the markets and restaurants.
Despite his complaints about the sun, and the tendency for his skin to burn, Damon clearly has a thing for the water. Cole’s never imagined that Damon could be as peaceful as he is when he’s standing on the balcony in the morning, looking at the sunrise on the ocean, sipping coffee, and saying nothing at all. After an even longer while, their life is rich and busy, full of each other and their work, and these moments in the morning are often the most peaceful of the day.
Sometimes, Damon grumbles about the loss of his career as a doctor, but in the end he accepts the role that Grandpa and Cole have arranged for him: he takes a teaching position at the Universidad de Puerto Rico, Recinto de Ciencias Médicas. He uses it as an endless source of stories to fuel his life. Cole loves it. He can listen to Damon recount the horrors of dealing with students for the rest of his days and be happy. Because it’s Damon, and he’s not dead, so it’s pure bliss.
