cooled. Despite the heat they produced, the wet liquid turned tepid far too soon. Charley’s wet hair reached her butt and tickled as it flitted against Wyatt’s skin. He curled a lock around his finger, twisted it into the water as she snuggled against the crook of his arm.
Wyatt chuckled as he pulled his hand out of the water. “We’re getting pruney.”
Charley didn’t budge. “I’m not.”
“Seriously?” He shifted her away from him, got a pout with a full bottom lip in return. “You don’t get all wrinkly?”
“Nope.”
“Well, damn. That’s probably the freakiest-”
Charley threw her head back and laughed. The water jostled around them, sprayed him with errant splashes.
“You don’t wig at the purple eyes, but you think the fact I don’t get all ‘pruney’, as you call it, isn’t right.” She nearly tweaked his nose, stopped at the sight of the colors, and laid a soft kiss upon the side instead. “Now that, Mr. Moreland, is a classic.” A huge yawn followed.
“You gotta have something wrong with you, right?”
She added a frown to her otherwise perfect face. “Do you need me to not be perfect?”
“Are you being sarcastic?”
The slight grin that peeked out and disappeared suggested the latter. “Think we should exit our quickly cooling pond here?”
“I’m so sorry.” She slipped off him and all but jumped from the tub.
Wyatt shook his head like a wet dog as he dripped his way out. “What? You didn’t have to rush.”
She nodded, shook and nodded her head again.
“Perhaps an explanation would be better than all the head movements?” He circled a finger in her direction.
“I’m sorry, I just. Oh. Wyatt, see?” She stood without a towel.
“You’re not temperature sensitive?” He grabbed one of the Egyptian cotton wraps and tossed it to her.
“I’m not.” She rubbed at her eyes with the butt of her hand.
He moved to her. “Are you… um… cold blooded?”
She whipped her head in his direction. “No. I’m not a serpent if that’s where you’re going, but my body temperature changes sometimes or in the heat of the moment I can’t feel… whatever. Heat, though, is just the opposite. Heat wears me out because it’s what allows us to change.”
“What’s your ‘species’ again?” He rubbed at his legs, finishing out his toweling, and caught Charley’s gaze.
She smiled as he did.
“Mimic.” She staggered as she brought her head straight up. “Whoa. Head rush.”
Wyatt winged her into his arms. He laid his lips against her, and naked, walked them into his room. With Charley still in his grasp, he yanked the comforter away, laid her on the bed, and snuck in behind her where his muscles relaxed against hers. Warm or cool, he didn’t care.
“I’m fine with mammal or reptile, by the way.” He spoke into her hair. “I’m just glad I have you in my arms again-where I’ve wanted you for sixteen years.”
Her body tensed before it calmed.
“Nothing you could ever say or do will change the way I feel.”
Light streamed through stained-glass windows, teasing Charley’s senses awake. She stretched under the warmth of the covers, tucked against Wyatt’s body, and pushed her arms high over her head. The reds and blues, oranges and greens blended with the sunshine to wake her with a beauty that reflected her mood.
He groaned at her nudged.
“Wyatt.”
“Huh?”
“We should get up. Gotta go back home. Need to think about Friday.” Charley rolled over to face him, nuzzled his nose. The colors, a sickly green and blue, reminded her of the pretty light that shone upon them.
He opened his eyes one by one. “Time is it?”
Charley rose up on her elbow, peered over his shoulder. “Seven ten.”
“’K.”
“Um, Wyatt?” she asked while she yanked sheets and blankets to fit the mattress.
He stood in front of a chest in mid-clothes-selection. “Yeah?” he said without turning.
“I’m going to need a shirt that doesn’t contain… blood, please.” Charley moved around to the other side, tugged the spread to align it to the bed’s frame.
Wyatt opened a drawer, pulled out a red shirt and threw it to her. “Red… In case you opt to slug me again, it won’t show as much.” He chuckled and went back to his search.
Charley grimaced. He’d taken her complete overreaction in stride, but she’d broken one of her cardinal rules: no force when not in a life or death situation. He’d shrugged it off as if it happened every day.
She pulled the edge of the blanket and smoothed it out but stretched it again.
“Shower?” He strolled back to the bathroom as well dressed as a new born baby.
Charley patted the edge once more, looked over the space where she’d lain curled into him and listened to his heartbeat. His breath against her neck had warmed and soothed, his arms had protected and his presence had filled her with a light the stained glass window didn’t come close to in comparison.
He started the shower but leaned over the counter when she caught up to him. Charley noted the two heads at opposite sides went along well with the dual sinks.
“Penny for your thoughts?” Wyatt said.
Charley turned to him and smiled. “You know you said that to me way back when?”
“Probably. It’s a favorite cliche of mine. Do I need to offer you a quarter?”
She walked to him where he’d stood, razor in hand, and wrapped her arms around his waist. Her cheek against his back, she listened to the thump-thump within. He moved his arm around her after he set the razor down, turned and kissed the top of her head.
“Your eyes are that funky purple again.” He trailed the kisses down to her lips.
Wyatt’s thumb trailed along her jaw. “You have a question but don’t want to ask it. Why?”
She laid her forehead against his chest. “I just-”
“I’m not mad at you, Charley. Quite the opposite, in fact. I feel like we’ve known each other forever, that it’s like time never separated us.” He pushed her hair behind her shoulder. “Do you want more than that?”
She moved her head against him, unsure if he’d pick up that the movement meant to relay a solid ‘yes’.
He tilted her head up with one finger under her chin. “Do you love me, Charley?”
She tensed, her gaze on his. “I never stopped loving you, Wyatt.”
He hiked his butt up onto the counter and pulled her up to him so her knees rested on top of it. Their bodies fit together again with a simplicity and ease.
Wyatt cupped her cheeks with both hands. “I have loved you since the day I met you. And not some stupid high-school love everyone knows is fleeting. A love so deep-down painful, I never thought I’d find a way to make it go away. Everything I have done for nearly sixteen years has been because of that.”
Tears threatened to spill as his words hit her in the most tender of spots and filled the void she’d forced upon them both.
“No, no. Don’t do that. I’m not unhappy, and I can see your perspective… now. I have you, here in my house, in my life, and if I’m lucky enough to keep you for another forty or maybe even fifty years, that’s enough for me.”
She tried to move from his grasp, to lean against him and soak up his warmth, but he forced her to remain at
