His forearms pushed against her shoulders causing them to ache. His words weren’t a revelation, Claire knew she was his possession. He continued moving his face closer. “You are staying here tonight. You are not leaving me, my bed, or my presence.” The tears flowed. “Now it is time for you to respond appropriately.” His weight shifted slightly.

Claire remembered times in the past when she hadn’t replied quickly enough or to his liking. She focused her energy on keeping her body from trembling. However, she couldn’t concentrate on that and tears, so her words became muffled sobs. Swallowing hard, she tried to strengthen her voice. “I will not leave you. Even if I left your bed tonight it would have only been because I’m upset, not because I want our marriage to be over.” She took a ragged breath, imagined his dark eyes, and thanked God that the room was too dark to see them.

“Continue.”

“I will not leave your bed. I’ve agreed in the past, I agree now and forever to submit to your authority. I’m sorry if I’ve given you cause to break your promise.” Inhaling, she tried desperately to defuse his temper. “If you recall, this entire incident started because I asked if I could be with you when you went away. I don’t want to leave you. I want to be with you.”

“Your ability to respond appropriately has benefited you on multiple occasions.” He released her shoulders and laid his head on his pillow. She stopped sniffling and tried to regulate her breathing. “Now take off that robe.” As she obeyed he added, “I believe we will experiment with some other forms of response.” He rolled back toward her. “But you are my partner. I don’t want you to do anything you don’t want to. So perhaps you would you rather go to sleep?”

Claire knew this was one of those offers you can’t refuse her grandmother used to talk about. “No, I would rather respond to you.” She successfully avoided the trembling and had almost stopped the tears, but the end result was that her head pounded to the beat of her heart. Currently, that was too rapid.

“This time it will not be verbal.” His hands seized her petite frame as his domineering tone claimed her spirit. “As you may recall, this conversation is over.”

Claire closed her eyes and nodded. She did her best to ignore her headache and respond to her husband.

Just before they drifted to sleep, Tony offered more information. “Courtney and Sue have called multiple times, I will think about their invitations. Emily has called and e-mailed. John has called, he respectfully declined Tom’s offer. I believe Emily can wait.” Claire’s heart sank.

This new information no doubt influenced Tony’s temperament. She wanted to believe Tony’s offer was made in good faith based on John’s credentials. His refusal didn’t surprise Claire, even though she was sure it did Tony. He doesn’t often experience rejection. This wasn’t the first time she received the consequences of John’s actions. What concerned Claire the most was her relationship with her sister, would she be allowed to speak to or see Emily?

She kissed Tony and sounded as compliant as she could muster. “Thank you, I would really like to see Courtney and Sue.” Claire wanted to move away from him, to the far side of the king-sized bed, or better yet upstairs, but instead she rested her head on his chest. “And I promise my memory is better.”

“I am glad to hear that.” He slowly embraced her shoulder as his voice softened. “I need to be in Phoenix next week. It has been in the seventies there. Perhaps you can join me.”

She nodded her head. “Thank you, that would be nice.” They fell asleep.

The next day, using Tony’s iPhone, Claire was allowed to call both Courtney and Sue. She didn’t utilize the speaker phone, and although present Tony didn’t question the content. Both of the ladies wanted to catch up and hear all about married life. Claire said she would love to, would check her calendar, and get back to them. She also apologized for not returning their calls sooner, things were just so busy.

Much earlier than normal, the sound of Tony’s alarm woke them on February 1. Their flight to Phoenix was leaving at seven. The trip was only planned for one night, but Claire didn’t care. They were leaving the estate and that was enough to propel her from bed to the shower. She would stay at their apartment while Tony met with associates; if all went well they would dine out tonight. He described this apartment as one of their smaller ones, as she showered she wondered what small really meant.

Steam filled the bathroom with a muggy fog. She secured the luxurious lavender towel around her body as Tony entered. “We aren’t going to Phoenix.” Her shoulders slumped.

“Why? Did I do something?”

Tony hugged her warm body, her hair dripped onto her shoulders and the floor. “No. We can’t go anywhere. Eric just called. We should have looked out the window.” He took her to the tall French doors that led to her balcony. When he moved the drapes she could only see white. At least twelve inches of new snow had fallen on the ground, trees, balcony rail, everywhere. With the addition of the eight to ten inches of old snow, there was now almost two feet! And it was continuing to fall, accompanied by wind. Barely seeing beyond the balcony, she could make out drifts that transformed the backyard into an ocean of white waves. Heaven knows how deep the snow would be in the bigger drifts. Claire sat on the bed with large droplets gliding down her back, discouraged. She sighed.

Sitting next to her, Tony rubbed her leg. “Think of it as a snow day. Didn’t you like those when you were a kid?”

“Yeah, because I didn’t want to go to school, but now I want to go.”

He hugged her shoulder. “You want to go to school?”

Exhaling loudly, she said, “I want to go anywhere.”

Tony lifted some of her hair. “Well, I’m afraid you will catch pneumonia if you try to go somewhere.” She laid her head back on the bed, pressed her lips into a tight line, and looked up at the ceiling. If she opened her mouth she would scream. She was trapped!

Leaning over her, he said, “How about we celebrate our newfound free day?” She knew what he was thinking and didn’t want to celebrate. Telling him no was supposed to be her option. However, it hadn’t been tested and Claire didn’t think she was emotionally strong enough for the trial.

Despondently, she asked, “How do you want to celebrate?”

Still leaning over her, he said, “How about you take me to your lake?”

“What?” Claire’s thoughts spun. The lake would be frozen and was about five miles away. Would they freeze? It was out, out of the house! “Are you serious?” Her eyes sparkled as she tried to read her husband’s expression.

“If it makes that spark come back to your emerald eyes, I’m serious.” He kissed her forehead. “We have boots, coats, and gloves, everything needed to ski. It was one of our honeymoon options. So let’s get you dry, us fed, bundled, and find this lake that I’ve heard so much about.”

“It’s about five miles away. Don’t you need to talk to the Phoenix people, let them know what happened?”

“Are you trying to discourage me? I will contact the Phoenix office. We can communicate later in the day. It is still very early there. And I know I am older, but I really think I can make five miles.” He smiled with milk chocolate eyes. “Besides, we also have cross-country skis. Do you think you can get us there on skis?”

In the midst of a Midwest blizzard Claire was filled with more warmth and excitement than she’d felt in sometime. Their discussion a week ago had left her uneasy. She didn’t like the way he’d treated her or the way it made her feel, but once it was done she hesitated to revisit the subject. Now he wanted to go to her lake. “I bet it’s prettier in the summer, but I’d love to get out. I know I can find it.” They ate breakfast, and Catherine made them thermoses of coffee. She chided both of them for even thinking about going out in the snow. However, with Tony by her side Claire knew it didn’t matter. She was going to her lake, a place she hadn’t been since her accident.