‘Too much?’ Mare said, suddenly afraid.

‘No,’ Crash said. ‘Well, a lot Not too much.’ He looked over at her and smiled. ‘We’re bolting the bed down. This one and the one in Italy. You’re coming to Italy, right?’

Mare relaxed. ‘I have to talk to Dee and Lizzie first. If it’s okay-’

He shook his head, and she leaned forward and put her hand on his arm.

‘Crash, they’re like me, they’re magic, they can’t be alone. I think Elric is okay, but I don’t know about Danny, he doesn’t like magic, and if my sisters haven’t found anybody like you, I can’t leave them alone. You know? I just can’t. They need me.’

He kissed her forehead. ‘I know. But then they come with us. Honest to God, Mare, they’d love Italy. And I’ll help. Dee turns into birds, right? And Lizzie turns stuff into…’ He frowned, trying to remember.

‘Bunnies and shoes, mostly.’

He shrugged. ‘It’s Tuscany, it’s a country town. Nobody will notice birds and bunnies. And shoes, well, hell, it’s Italy. Dee can paint there. I’ll build her a studio and Lizzie a workshop. They’ll be safe. I’ll keep them safe.’

‘Oh.’ Mare felt heat behind her eyes and tried to blink it back, but it was too late.

‘Hey,’ he said as she picked up the sheet to wipe the tears away.

‘I’ve loved you forever,’ she told him, sniffing. ‘I’m going to love you forever.’

‘I know,’ he said. ‘I’ll love you forever, too.’

‘There’s just one thing,’ she said, blinking back tears.

He closed his eyes and nodded. ‘Whatever it is, I’ll fix it,’ he said, patience incarnate.

‘The footboard.’

‘What?’ He looked around.

‘I was holding on to the headboard when I came,’ Mare said. ‘That’s why it got rearranged and it looks so beautiful now. So I was thinking if I held onto the footboard and you-’

‘It’s just one damn thing after another with you,’ Crash said, and reached for her.


Dee woke to see the sky in turmoil. A broad bank of roiling clouds allowed only brief glimpses of the setting moon. The trees on the mountain writhed and whispered, making Dee think of those witches dancing in the dark, and far down in the valley a train whistle blew. Within the stone circle, it was curiously quiet. Dee was absolutely content, tucked close to her lover after their second bout of lovemaking, this one involving the pop beads.

Dee decided that she definitely had a preference for a man with an imagination. Who knew what pleasure pink pop beads could incite when pulled across some of the more sensitive areas of the body. Then again, they were also a great hit wrapped around a rousing erect penis. She couldn’t wait to see what Danny had in mind for the boa.

‘You’ll marry me, of course,’ Danny murmured, pulling her more snugly into his arms. ‘After all, I’ve stolen your virtue.’

Busy running her fingers through the curiously soft hair that traced Danny’s sternum, Dee chuckled. ‘You can’t steal something that was offered on a silver platter.’

He yawned. ‘Nevertheless, my honor demands it.’

‘Consider your honor upheld. Right now I can’t think past what we’re going to do next. I have to say that I’m sorry it took so long to find out what fun this is.’

‘I’m not. If you’d found out sooner, it wouldn’t have been with me.’

‘It was meant to be, I think.’

‘True. After all, the first person you failed to shift with just happens to be your one true love.’

‘It might also be because he’s the first one who tried to make sure I had an orgasm first. Maybe it was a protective mechanism.’

‘Nah. I prefer the true love idea.’

‘If you must.’ She could hear his heart, and it soothed her. She’d never been this close to a human before. Oh, she’d held Lizzie and Mare, but she’d never been given the gift of a lover’s comfort.

‘I really do want to marry you,’ he said, lazily stroking her hair. ‘Did I tell you I love you?’

‘Better than that,’ she said, spreading her hand over his heart. ‘You showed me. I am honored by your offer.’

‘You’re not allowed to say no.’

‘I have two sisters to think of, Danny.’

‘Let ‘em get their own husbands.’

‘Until they do, we need to stick together just to survive.’

‘I work, too, ya know.’

Dee lifted her head so she could face him. ‘Could you work from Salem’s Fork? We could live here to save money. I could stay in the bank. That way I could be here for the girls.’

He stroked her cheek with his thumb. ‘What if I can’t? What if you need to come to Chicago with me?’

She frowned. ‘I don’t think we’d have the money to commute. Could you wait? The situation here can’t last that much longer. Especially if we can finally take care of Xan.’

‘You’d give me up for your sisters?’

‘Give up is not the idea. Postpone at most. I have a responsibility to them, Danny. I mean, right now Lizzie hasn’t even been able to hold down a job.’

‘Why?’

She shrugged. ‘She’s distracted by trying to change straw into gold. She thinks it would save us all. I think Lizzie’s greatest gift is that she loves us enough to try.’

‘And Mare?’

‘Mare will be okay. But if I could stay, I could help out.’

‘So if I could base my activities out of Salem’s Fork, you’d marry me?’

‘Before you could get the question out. I know it wouldn’t be easy. Neither of us makes a lot of money, and you’d need to travel. But we could make it work.’ She knew her smile was anxious. She wasn’t sure her heart could stand a rejection.

‘What about me?’ he asked very quietly.

‘If you’re close,’ she said, ‘we’d have more time for impulse activity. I mean, we’re not really far from anywhere. And I get three weeks’ vacation at the bank.’

‘And your art?’

She briefly closed her eyes. ‘I don’t want to lose my anonymity.’

‘If I could guarantee you that you won’t?’

She frowned. ‘There is no artist protection program, Danny.’

‘I know people.’

She considered it. ‘I’ve always wanted to share my vision. I just can’t bear the idea of intrusion. Do you understand?’

Danny pulled her down to him for a brief, searing kiss. ‘Better than you know, sweetheart. So if I move here and promise to keep you anonymous, you’d live off my less than stellar salary until you can sell paintings?’

‘I’d hope we’d share all the responsibility. But of course. Although I think you’re setting too high a store on those paintings.’

‘And I think I’m not.’ He kissed her again. ‘Okay, missy. You have a deal. When do we ask your sisters’ permission?’

‘When Mare wears a gray suit. Don’t worry. They love you already. Mare will offer to have your babies if you take my attention away from her. Hey, I don’t suppose you could help me talk her into college.’

Danny laughed. ‘Mare? Oh, Dee, don’t waste your breath. Mare’s going to end up creating something wonderfully bizarre, like, oh, an interactive movie-watching game that everybody’s going to want, and she’s going to become a cultural phenomenon.’

Dee sighed and settled back on Danny’s chest. ‘Fine. Outvoted again.’

‘I will do one thing for you.’

‘What’s that?’

‘Show you why I bought the feather boa.’ She was up again and smiling. ‘Boas make me hot.’ Danny James could look very smug when he wanted to. ‘I thought they would.’


Lizzie opened her eyes, slowly letting them adjust to the predawn light. She was lying sprawled across Elric’s perfect body, exhausted and deliciously, perfectly happy. She had no idea where, or when, or how she’d gone – at some point the arcs of color had speared through her body, turning it into tiny shards of crimson, blue, and gold, fairy dust spread across the universe until it settled back into lavender and then into flesh once more. It had been endless, glorious, and instinctively she tightened her grip on Elric’s shoulder, afraid he’d gone.

He murmured something sleepily, but his arm was locked around her back, and there was no way she could escape. No way she wanted to.

The door to her room was open. Someone must have come in to check on her during the night and she could only guess they’d found nothing. Lizzie and her phantom lover had vanished, at least for the time being, which was probably just as well. She wasn’t sure either of her sisters could have withstood the shock of seeing peaceful little Lizzie turning into…

What had she turned into? A raging sex addict? If you considered exactly what she’d done, what he’d gotten her to do with nothing more than a gentle tug, then she was the most wanton creature on the face of this earth. Except that she wanted no one but him.

The bastard was right after all. They were in love, bonded, and there was no breaking away. No safe life in the suburbs with a mini-van and two children. There’d be children all right, but the thought of what they might produce was enough to send chills through the heart of any prospective mother. A child with both their gifts would be something to reckon with, indeed.

She turned her face to look at him. He looked so young, so beautiful. And most astonishing of all, he was hers.

The door closed and locked again, and he opened his eyes to meet hers. ‘Has someone been snooping around?’ he murmured.

‘Probably my sisters. Are you ready to meet them officially?’

‘God, no,’ he said, sliding his hand up the smooth line of her back. ‘I can think of much better ways to spend our time. Even if we have more than our fair share I don’t want to waste a minute of it.’

She slid back down in the bed, back on the purple sheets, and smiled at him. ‘Don’t you think the next fifty years will be enough?’