“I’m happy to meet you, Dr. Cassidy,” he said, taking her hand and bowing forward. He sounded respectful, but she saw a lively curiosity in his eyes. Despite her nervousness, she had a feeling she would like him.
He turned to Clive and gripped his shoulders, looking with earnest affection into his eyes. “You have exceeded all my expectations, Officer Winslow, by returning to us alive. I am delighted to say so.”
“Thank you, sir. I’m happy to oblige,” Clive replied, dipping his head forward.
“My news affects you both. The Council has been in session, taking up my appeal to their ruling restricting the duties of Portal Enforcement employees.” Raison folded his hands together at his waist. “I’m happy to report the new ruling is in our favor. I really had no doubt about it, as the Council is forbidden by law to interfere in departmental operations. Still, it was necessary for the formalities to be met.”
Next to Tina, Clive breathed a sigh. Kasia, standing behind Raison, watched Clive with a satisfied smile that looked almost smug.
“So Clive gets to keep his job?” Tina asked.
“If he wants it,” Raison said. “However, Kasia and I have been discussing a new position for him, which I’d like to offer for your consideration.”
“What position is that?” Clive asked warily.
Raison deferred to Kasia, who seemed about to burst with the news.
“Keeper,” she announced. She continued as Clive’s jaw dropped. “We want you to be the new Keeper at Green Roads.”
Tina heard Shandari gasp behind her. Clive seemed incapable of saying anything. Tina grabbed Clive’s hand. “You mean to live there?” she asked excitedly. “Like Mr. Ruth? He’ll be there all the time?”
Raison grinned at her, while Kasia nodded and laughed at each question. Then Raison held up a finger, serious again as he looked at Clive.
“You will, of course, have to return to Kaarmanesh for each full moon, probably for three full days on either side of it. We’ll work out the details later. For now, the Council wants to nudge society toward a more tolerant view of werewolves. They hope that placing you in the position of Keeper will send a strong message to the people that we believe you to be an honorable person. We hope that this, along with the news of a possible cure, will help us loosen the restrictions werewolves face.”
Raison placed a hand on Clive’s and Tina’s shoulders, his gaze earnest. “The two of you need to talk about this. You both must be in agreement, as Clive’s permanent presence in Green Roads will greatly affect your relationship. Take your time to decide. Shandari says you’ll need at least a week to heal. Kasia has a roster of temporary Keepers in place at the moment.”
He glanced at Kasia and jerked his head to the door. Kasia winked at them as she followed him out.
Clive sank onto the sofa, running a hand over his face. Tina noted that he was looking pale. He stared ahead at nothing. She sat next to him and took his hand in hers, counting his pulse. It was faster than normal, but not dangerously so.
“I’ll leave you two alone,” Shandari said, touching Clive’s shoulder. “This is amazing news. Don’t try to assimilate it all at once.” Shandari waited a moment more. Tina saw the spark in her eyes that revealed she was healing. When Clive sat up straighter and nodded, Shandari smiled and stepped toward the door.
“I’ll send up some food for you both. Tina, see to it that Clive rests afterward.” She turned to regard Tina with a slight frown. “You rest, too.”
“I will.” Tina gripped Clive’s hand as she said it.
The door closed behind Shandari. Tina stared at the floor, too nervous to look at Clive. He held her hand but didn’t say anything. Was he waiting for her to speak? She couldn’t find the courage to ask.
“I never imagined such a possibility.” He spoke in a gruff whisper as he gently stroked her fingers. “It’s the perfect answer, if…” He turned toward her and she lifted her head to meet his gaze. His eyes were wide with hope and fear. “Do you want me there, Tina? Or is it too much, too soon?”
She clasped both hands around his. “I wondered the same thing about you. I do want you there, Clive. I’d stay here with you if I had to, but I’d much rather stay in Green Roads. I want to be with you, wherever that is.”
He claimed her lips, his kiss rough and desperate.
His kiss banished the last of her doubt. Her own passion flared in response, and she swung onto his lap to straddle him, prolonging the kiss as she rubbed against him. He gripped her bottom, keeping her close.
She raised her head to gaze into his eyes, amazed at the love and hope she saw there. If she did nothing else for the rest of her life, providing such joy to this man would be enough.
His lips moved into a slow smile. He lifted a hand to tuck her hair behind her ear, his thumb caressing her cheek. “Then I will be there with you.” His smile turned into a chuckle of wonder. “I can’t believe this is happening.”
“You keep saying that,” she teased.
“I’ll probably say it a lot more. It’s going to take a while to get used to it.”
“We’ll get used to it together.” She brushed a kiss on his forehead, then sought his lips again, teasing him with her tongue as her hands dropped to his belt.
He stopped the kiss and grabbed her hands. His brows lowered in stern rebuke as he glared at her. “I am not spanking a pregnant woman. Don’t even ask.”
She laughed, surprised at his vehemence. “Okay, I can’t argue with that. I won’t always be pregnant, though.”
His lips twitched. “No, you won’t.”
She heard the promise in his voice and lifted his hands to kiss them. “I think it will be a while before I’m ready for rough treatment, anyway,” she said, realizing it was true even as she said it. “This is a time for TLC.”
“TLC?”
“Tender, loving, care.”
“Ah. Like this?” He cupped her face in his hands and pressed a kiss to her lips. It was indeed tender and he took his time with it, his soft lips and tongue sending shivers through her body and claiming her complete attention.
He ended the kiss and waited, his lips a feather’s width away from hers.
She remembered he had asked a question. “Yes. Like that,” she said. Her voice was shaky. It occurred to her that they didn’t need to rush anything. All their future days offered opportunity to explore their love.
He seemed to have the same thought, for he lifted her from his lap to sit at his side again. He held her close and watched her with gentle regard before speaking with some hesitation.
“I want you to know… that first morning, when you asked me to stay… I wanted to say yes. I wanted it more than anything in my life.”
He let go of her and moved his hands to his lap, his face serious as he watched her. She almost gave in to an impulse to brush off his apology and assure him that she understood. She did understand, but something in his eyes kept her silent. He needed to say this. Perhaps she needed to hear it.
“After I left, I thought about you all the time,” he continued. “Everything I did or said, everything I learned about the investigation… my first thoughts were of you. I made up a hundred fantasies of how I could go back, how I could work it out.
“I knew it was foolish. The only way I could stay with you was if I lied to you about who I am. About what I am.” His eyes narrowed as he shook his head. “I couldn’t do that. But I wanted to come back to you. Please believe me.”
“I do believe you. We can do this, Clive. We can live in Green Roads. You watch the portal and I’ll practice medicine. We’ll work with Shandari to find the cure.”
Clive lifted her hands to his lips and her heart swelled with confidence as he nodded. “We’ll find it,” he said. “With both magic and medicine at our disposal, we’ll find it.”
Tina took a long, deep breath, letting his words fill her. She realized that this was part of how the magic worked. She could see it between them, an ethereal blueprint of their hopes.
Magic.
She didn’t know what to make of this new ability to see the magical dimension, but her medical training also allowed her to see the science behind the spell. Shandari would have to explain this as well.
Tina blinked and the spell left her sight, although she knew it was still there. She smiled into Clive’s warm golden eyes and leaned fosrward to lose herself again in his kiss.
About the Author
Born in Tucson, Arizona, Marlene Dotterer lived there until the day she loaded her five children into her station wagon, and drove north-west to the San Francisco Bay Area. Since then, she has earned a degree in geology, worked in nuclear waste, run her own business as a personal chef, and now teaches natural childbirth classes. She says she writes, “to silence the voices,” obsessed with the possibilities of other worlds and other times.
Marlene blogs at marlenedotterer.wordpress.com
Also by Marlene Dotterer
Novels
The Time Travel Journals: Shipbuilder
The Time Travel Journals: Bridgebuilders
Moon Over Donamorgh
Short Stories
The Farm
Anthologies
Pagan Writers Presents Samhain: “Webs”
All of Marlene’s novels are also available in print
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