Mercury whined, Mars barked a protest, but both obeyed. She put out a bucket of clean water when they were done. “Wash those muddy paws before you come inside.”
One at a time, they dunked their feet in the water, shaking off most of the wet and carefully setting clean feet on the cement slab in front of the door.
“Good boys.” She smiled. She wouldn’t have to scrub floors before sleeping, so she opened the door and followed them inside.
They all trooped upstairs. When she entered her bedroom, Luc was at her desk, paging through the log book. The music box sat at his side on the desktop.
“You’re here?” she exclaimed.
Mars and Mercury settled by the door after a few tail wags for the man she loved.
“Indeed I am. I arrived while you spoke with your land manager.”
“You heard that?” Grace asked.
“I’ve been listening for it. DeLille is acting faster than expected.”
“Why didn’t you tell me you were here?”
“It wasn’t necessary.”
She frowned. “You heard me.”
“I did. You were concerned, as you should be. However, the land manager and crew will still be here tomorrow afternoon. So DeLille won’t act before then. You knew that, and you continued with your normal activities. You were neither panicked, nor careless. The danger is real but not imminent.”
“Nonetheless, I’m glad you’re here.”
He pushed to his feet and closed the distance to her, taking her in his arms.
“Knowing the peril that looms, did you think I would desert you, especially after what we shared last night?”
Meeting his gaze, Grace beamed at him. “I believed you meant what you said, but with your curse apparently in flux, I could only hope.”
The words felt nearly as strange as the hope itself. She’d lacked hope for so very long.
“Good.”
“Good?” she asked.
“If you hoped I’d come, you are unlikely to throw me out.”
She slapped his shoulder. “I couldn’t throw you out. You’re ephem… Wait. I’m pretty sure it isn’t a full moon, yet you are holding me. I can touch you. You’re corporeal, and we are not aboard theOnly Love.”
Luc nodded, grinning.
“However, you aren’t wet, and it’s been raining to beat the bands for hours. How did you get here?”
“I ran.”
“Fast enough to dodge raindrops?”
“Not quite. I’ve been waiting a while, so whatever was wet has dried, mostly.”
Grace combed fingers through his black hair, finding a damp tendril or two. She rested her forehead against his chest, and soaked in the safe secure sensation of being in his arms. “I want to know what you were looking for in that book,” she whispered. “I’ll tell you. However, first I’d like you to do something for me.”
Grace looked up at him. “Anything.”
“Oh, what I could do with a promise like that. However, I’ll not take advantage,” he teased, wearing the sexy pout she loved.
