The Plume: The Second Anthology by Ella Ardent

question what he was going to
do.
    “I’m sorry,” Joanna said softly, pleating the
ribbon between her fingers. “I didn’t remember, Reginald.”
    Rex frowned and looked away, not comfortable
with the reminder of his past. “It doesn’t matter.”
    “I think it does.” She looked straight at him
then. “Isn’t that what this is about? Getting my attention, one way
or another?”
    “No!” Rex couldn’t look at her. He surveyed
the room, even though it was a completely generic hotel room and
held no surprises. He couldn’t stand the sight of her sadness. He
took a shaking breath and strode to the window, looking out at the
snow that fell over the city. “It’s about making dreams come true.”
He heard the defensiveness in his tone.
    Joanna rose to her feet. She walked toward
him, the ribbon trailing behind her in all its lustrous glory. She
stopped in front of him, her breasts nearly against his chest, then
reached up to frame his face in her hands. “Then all your dreams
are coming true, aren’t they? You have your new name. You have your
photography show. And you have this.”
    Rex couldn’t have said a word. What was the
cost of his dream? What was he doing to Joanna’s happiness? Was his
dream worth the sacrifice of hers?
    “Congratulations on the show, Reginald.”
Joanna spoke with a sincerity that shocked him. “I might not have
remembered you right away, but I remember every word of that
interview now. I remember your passion and your ambition and I
remember that I knew you would succeed.” She reached up and touched
her lips to his, giving him a gentle kiss.
    At her touch, Rex’s heart shattered into a
thousand pieces.
    Joanna stepped back, then offered him the
fifth coil of ribbon. “So, let’s get started.”
    Rex considered her, the sadness in her eyes,
the acceptance in the line of her shoulders, and he knew with
sudden clarity what he would do.
    But he didn’t want her to guess. Not yet.
    This gift would be a surprise.
    He smiled for her and took the ribbon, then
shook it out. He found the middle of the length of ribbon, then
wrapped it over her eyes. He sensed the tension in her, the
agitation and the fear.
    That was new.
    That was because she really didn’t want to do
this. Rex blindfolded her, knotting the ribbon behind her head with
a force that wasn’t required. Then he repeated the move, over and
over again, wrapping Joanna’s eyes so securely that she wouldn’t be
able to see a thing.
    He watched as she struggled against her urge
to defy him. He wanted the resistance to leave her. He wanted her
to be soft and pliable, as irresistable as ever. Even as her mouth
worked, he couldn’t refrain from sliding his thumb across her lips
to soothe her. She shuddered but didn’t settle.
    His Joanna.
    No. She was Mike’s Joanna.
    That was the problem. He couldn’t have her,
no matter how much he tried or how much he wanted her. She wasn’t a
possession – she was a person, and she’d given her heart to
Mike.
    It was time Rex not only faced the truth but
did something right.
     
    * * *
     
    Something changed in the air between Joanna
and Rex when he stared at her in the hotel room. She knew she
shouldn’t have taken the initiative of speaking to him, but it
seemed ridiculous to play this game without saying what had to be
said. She owed him an apology and she would make it before she was
gagged to silence.
    Even if it meant that he would punish her for
her audacity.
    But instead of improving the atmosphere, her
apology prompted a change in Rex. He looked so lost that Joanna
forgot her own dismay. She had to reassure him, though she was
puzzled to feel him melting at her kiss.
    She had no time to consider his mood, though.
He was abruptly filled with purpose, determined and resolute. His
doubt was gone, which was reassuring. She was used to Rex moving
with purpose. He blindfolded her so thoroughly that she knew he was
his usual self once more.
    In fact, he knotted the ribbon with