Page 108 of Tamiko and the Two Janitors
True huffed, and Doon-wen grunted his agreement.
From his seat near the door, Rook said, “You admire thesettings. We see the star.”
She probably made for a very spiky, violent, biting sort ofstar. Nevertheless, Melissa blushed under the compliment.
“Maybe I’ll catch a glimpse.” Jiminy carefully—almostreverently—set aside her wards and resumed his place. “It might not work atall, but I’d still like to try. If you’re willing.”
Melissa didn’t want to make this a big production. Itwouldn’t work.
Jiminy tentatively extended his hand. “I doubt it’ll work ifyou don’t trust me at least a little.”
She gripped his hand firmly and asked, “Will this takelong?”
“No idea.” Shutting his eyes, he repeated, “Relax. And trustme.”
It wasn’t as if shedidn’ttrust him. He made senseonce you took his upbringing into account. Jiminy had a wolf’s perspectives anda wolf’s ideology. Admirable things. Useful insights. If only he weren’t so ….
She struggled to find a word that fit. Cheerful. Talkative.Relaxed. Persistent. But those weren’t necessarily bad qualities. In fact,those were some of the things she loved most about Magda, who never minded thatMother was everything she wasn’t. Reserved. Focused. Direct. Competitive. Theirskills were a complement to each other’s both on the battlefield and at home.
Melissa refused to follow that line of thinking any further.
Her plans may have undergone a slight shift, but the essenceremained. She neither wanted nor needed a man to size up her pedigree andschedule a paternity visit. Her partner would be fiercely faithful, a steadyand equal companion, accepting her silences, understanding her shortcomings,and choosing to remain.
She would accept nothing less.
If only her inner debate didn’t keep cycling back to Jiminyand his ridiculous assertion.“I can give you those things.”
What a thing to say.
What a nice thing to say.
“Are you all right?” Jiminy’s urgent whisper tickled herhair. When had he moved closer?
Her confusion doubled when it occurred to her that somehow,somewhere, a boundary had gone missing. This man for whom the wind danced andstones sang had infiltrated the hidden place at her heart.
Reavers had long been hospitable to the Amaranthine, butthis wolf bore little resemblance to Kith or Kindred. They had been describedas a vast and formless darkness, longing to be lit by stars. Yet here wasbrilliance. A star without its setting. A soul in all its splendor. And thebrush of a personality that could only be Jiminy.
“Boundaries,” she whispered. For there were none. Should shebe afraid of this?
“Shh, shh. It’s okay.” His hands moved, cradling her head,her cheek. “My fault, all my fault. But we’ve gotten tangled. Can you let mego?”
Melissa lifted her hands to show they were empty. She darednot open her eyes. There was too much light behind her eyelids.
Jiminy threaded his fingers with hers and whispered, “Thisis beautiful.Youare beautiful. But if this continues, I’ll give in,and you’ll be angry.”
She couldn’t make sense of his words. Why would she be angrywhen everything about this was luminous and lovely?
“Please, Melissa.” Jiminy’s lips brushed hers with eachword. “It was you all along, and I didn’t know this would happen, and I think weneed some help, Rook.”
A shadow billowed over them, settling like the blanketaround Melissa’s shoulders—warm and safe and familiar. In reaching for Rook,she lost touch with Jiminy.
Her hand tightened, and Jiminy squeezed back.
“Here I am. Right here.” His voice wavered. “Please, don’tbe angry.”
Melissa kept her eyes firmly shut, like a child who doesn’twant a particularly good dream to end. “I’m not angry.”
“But I …”
