“Nothing, female,” he said, forcing himself to relax.“The tension of solving the puzzle is getting to me,” he joked.
“You can’t just bend the pieces to fit,” she scolded him.“You have to be patient and piece it all together, or it’ll be a hot mess.”
Arkas couldn’t resist reaching up to pull her hair out of the bun.It cascaded around her, spilling onto the table and covering the puzzle.“I’ll brush it for you,” he offered.
“It’s greasy,” she protested.“I need to wash it, but I don’t have enough spare water.”
“I can search the nearby homes for water,” Arkas said, putting his hands on the table to rise to his feet.
“Don’t worry about it,” she said in exasperation, reaching out to grab his forearm.“I’ll find a way to wash my hair later.”
“I still want to brush it for you,” he said stubbornly.
She heaved a sigh, then hiked her thumb over her shoulder.“My brush is in the duffle bag on the left,” she said.
He left the table long enough to retrieve her brush, then moved his chair until he was sitting behind her.“You’ll need to turn your chair sideways,” he said, voice already husky.She did as he requested, then allowed him to brush her long tresses.
It soothed them both as he stroked the brush and his hand down her back.Oaklie stopped trying to fit the puzzle together and her breathing became slightly ragged.“Are you feeling alright, female?”he asked silkily.
“Yeah, I’m just peachy,” she replied.“I feel like I’m going to combust if you keep that up for much longer,” she warned him.
“I could take care of your heat, my cambion,” the knight offered, knowing it would be a very bad idea.Like she’d said, it would break her heart when he had to leave.
“I can’t,” Oaklie said.“Not with Jesus and Mary staring at us from all angles.”
They burst into snickers, easing the sexual tension that had risen between them.He smoothed his hand down to her waist a final time before putting the brush away.Moving their chairs back to their original positions, he helped her solve the puzzle.Night fell just as they finished, making the house gloomy.Oaklie had eaten an early dinner at the table.
“We should turn in,” Arkas said.“I want to get moving soon after dawn, weather permitting.”Just as he’d predicted, it had started to snow.Knowing their luck, a foot of white powder would fall overnight.
“I’ll fuse the doors and windows shut, so no one can get in,” Oaklie offered.
“Leave the garage door unlocked, just in case,” he requested.He dimly felt her power rise, then the exits became sealed.He glanced at the door that led to the garage and could still see the outline of the frame.“We should sleep in separate beds tonight,” he said with great reluctance.“I’m not sure I’ll be able to keep my hands to myself this time.”
“Me, either,” Oaklie confessed.“I’ll take one of the kids’ bedrooms.You can have the master bed.”
Nodding his thanks, they retrieved their gear, then he followed her down the hall to the bedrooms.“Sleep well, my cambion,” he said.
“I intend to, Knight of Order,” she said over her shoulder, then stepped inside and shut the door.She didn’t fuse it to the frame as he’d expected.He stood there, having an internal battle about joining her, then common sense won.He trudged to the master bedroom, closed the door behind him, then lay down on the bed to stare up at the dark ceiling.
