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his.
    After only five days, Beau knew Lafayette had to return to the fields. He didn’t like it, but he knew there would be hell to pay if the man didn’t go back to work.
    “You shouldn’t risk yourself for me. I am fine.” Lafayette’s eyes met Beau’s for a breathless moment before he lowered his head. “But I do thank you for your kindness.” As an afterthought, he added, “Sir.”
    In that moment, Beau saw everything the dark-skinned man didn’t want him to see. He saw desire, want, and heartbreak. Even though Beau didn’t mean to say what he did, the truth came spilling out of his mouth. “I love you, Lafayette.” Beau launched himself at the slave who was still weak. The healing man fell back under Beau’s body.
    Beau’s lips pressed into the man’s plump lips as he had seen the servants do when they thought no one was looking. There was a small pause; a hesitation, the man almost accepted the kiss. For one breathless heart stopping seconds, he thought Lafayette would kiss him back.
    “Stop. Boy. Sir. Stop!” Pushing Beau off him, the reclining man struggled to sit up.
    “No, I won’t. I don’t know how, but we are going to be together,” Beau said with all the passion in his young heart.
    Lafayette held his hands up in front of him as if to protect himself from Beau’s unwanted advances. “You must not say such impossible things.”
    “But I love you… with all my heart. I do.” He wanted to make him understand the depths of his feelings. Lafayette was everything to him. “I know you felt something. I saw it.”
    “No sir. You are my master, and I am but a low slave. There is no love between us. You command. I carry out.” Desperation mixed with sadness tinged Lafayette’s deep, rich voice.
    Beau bit back the command for Lafayette to love him. He felt the connection. He knew it was there.
    The slave reached out with a trembling hand. “You are young, Master. You have confusing feelings. It will pass.”
    It felt worse than a slap in the face. How could he say that? Beau wasn’t just a handsome piece of fluff like everyone seemed to think. He knew his own mind. Fifteen wasn’t that young. He was a man. He would show Lafayette. He would prove to them all, he was no child.
    The talk of war was upon them, and he would fight. He would fight for his right to keep Lafayette with him. Liberation would force him to throw the love of his life off his land. Freedom to those who have nothing is not independence, but a sentence of poverty. Beau didn’t believe in slavery, but he would go fight to keep his love with him. When he got back Lafayette’s mind would be changed. He would somehow free him, and Lafayette would admit they were meant to be together.
    Beau stared at the man, his family had claimed as a slave and tried to memorize his beloved’s face. He refused to let the tears that were gathering in his eyes fall. He gently picked up Lafayette’s hand and kissed it tenderly with all the love in his heart. “I won’t force you. But I will always be enslaved to you and you will always be the Master of my heart.”
    Lafayette’s mouth opened in surprise, but nothing came out.
    Beau bowed and without another word left for the war. He didn’t tell his family because they would only try to stop him. They would tell him he was too young.
    It was 1861; the War Between the States had just begun. The war wasn’t what he was expecting. It was dirty, loud and not the noble endeavor everyone back home thought it was. He learned not to make friends among the other soldiers after losing a number of men in his company. It hurt too much to lose a friend, so he kept to himself.
    When he was injured, they returned him home. It was right before his nineteenth birthday. The first thing he did as soon as he could straddle a horse was ride out to see Lafayette. Even though the slaves had been freed most chose to stay and work for food and shelter. They had nowhere else to go.
    His heart pounded in