Free The Cherished One by Carolyn Faulkner Page B

said, wishing he could bring them back.
    In his surprise at her enchanting gift, he had lowered her onto him, and she lay, almost snuggled but not quite that relaxed around him yet, on his chest.  “Mmm-hmmmm.”
    “You have wings?”
    “I’m a faerie.  When there’s room – when I’m on top, they come out.”
    “Half a faerie,” he seemed to enjoy pointing out.
    He felt how much his reminding her of that fact hurt her, and resolved to stop saying it.  She didn’t say anything to him about it, but he could feel her withdrawal, and he wished he could have retracted that comment, because it seemed to have destroyed the fragile intimacy that had existed between them.  She gave him a hard look, one that didn’t seem to take into account – or, maybe, rather, it did take that into account – what they had just experienced together – gathered her clothes, and left him.  Although he couldn’t see them, he could feel the tears she was crying on her way to what had always been her bedroom in this place.  She closed the door and locked it, knowing full well it was a futile gesture, but it said what she wanted to say to him, none the less.
    He let her go.  It just didn’t feel right to him to stop her.  Max stood.  It was near dawn.  She was apparently on a nocturnal schedule, which wasn’t surprising, considering her relationship with Dag.  He’d learned a trick or two that Dag hadn’t, apparently, and could sleep anywhere, any time, he wanted to.
    And right now, that meant nowhere other than with Fawna.  He gave her some time to fall asleep herself, figuring that joining her right now would only serve to upset her.  After conducting a thorough search of the place for telecommunications equipment, and finding none, he tuned the television into a special on what the Earth might be like after humans, which he found extremely interesting, and after one episode, he could feel that she’d fallen asleep, whether she really wanted to or not, as she was exhausted, mentally and physically.
    After grabbing the ruler from the coffee table on the spur of the moment, just in case, he joined her in the room – the lock was not a deterrent, considering his strength - which he spent a certain amount of time exploring while she wasn’t going to hassle him about doing so.  There were pictures of her when she was younger, with her family and her friends, almost always looking radiantly happy, the occasional award – all of them scholastic, he noted, not a one of them athletic – lots of books and games, and more shoes than he thought a hundred women would own.  The way the room was decorated was a wonderful reflection of who she was now, even thought it was probably decorated when she was younger.  It was done in pastel pinks and purples, with a lot of flowers – mostly roses – and ribbons.  Her bedspread looked like expensive wallpaper, with bouquets of pink and purple roses held together with complimentary ribbons.  There were tons of pillows and frilly decorations... it was so feminine it made him itch, but if it was where she was sleeping, it was where he was sleeping. 
    Max stealthily lifted the corner of the comforter and sheet and slipped under them, wishing he had some sort of power that would allow him to do so without waking her, but he didn’t know of one.  Luckily, she was pretty much dead to the world.  She didn’t even wake up when he tugged her up against him, stroked her hair and fell asleep himself.
     
    ***
     
    Fawna awoke before he did, and she would have sworn that she had gone to bed alone, but it didn’t appear that locking the door against him had done her any good what so ever.  She’d remember that in the future to save the cost of door repair.  She needed to get out of bed.  If she didn’t do it now, she never would.  When she thought about the wreck her life had become in such a short time, she just wanted to crawl under the covers and never come out.  She didn’t