The comforter slid down from my shoulders when I moved, allowing a shaft of sunlight to hit my face and causing me to squint with a sudden awareness of morning. Incredibly groggy, I pulled the blanket back over my head with a groan. The piercing light combined with the color of the fabric to cast the underside of my eyelids a dark blue and, mumbling, I complained about being way too hot and the sun being way too bright. Yeah, some mornings I could be quite the tragic grump.

My disjointed stream of consciousness regrouped when a voice tried to persuade me away from sleep. I rolled over to bury my face as the blankets were smoothed down again.

"Is this better?" he asked. Fingers with a light, cooling touch of wind made a few sweeping passes through my sweat-damp hair.

"Mmm," I mumbled, wrapping my arms around Micah's waist.

His shirtless state was more than pleasant against my pressing cheek, even though he was the "something" that had gotten me too hot. He stayed with me all night, and I didn't have a single bad dream. I was...completely rested.

"You better get up. You've only got a half hour to get ready before school."

"Don't wanna," I whined around a hidden grin.

Twisting in protest, I squirmed with a high-pitched squeak when I found myself being dragged out from under the warm covers into a burst of cold air. The abrupt temperature difference left me shivering. His arm around my waist kept me pinned while he sent his free hand roaming across my stomach with the intent to tickle.

"Cut it out!" I squealed, tossing hair into his face as the only act of retaliation I could manage with my arms pinned.

Seriously, was he overlooking the fact that humans needed to pee after sleeping all night? I might only be half human, but still, my bladder wasn't going to take much before I dumped him off the bed and ran straight for the bathroom.

Grinning with mischief, Micah unburied himself from a torrent of black hair to come at me from the side, pressing his lips politely to my cheek.

"You're running late," he reminded me again, then added, "and you're incredibly sexy when you're barely clothed and flustered."

I shivered again, but not from the chilly room.

"Oh yeah?" I frowned, but a roll of my eyes hinted at amusement.

Me and sexy in the same sentence? Now there was a new one. I squirmed again, and this time he let me go. Freed from my hot bondage, I made a beeline for the bathroom, calling back, "Like you're really one to talk about being barely clothed, Shirtless Guy."

* * *

A day of complete normalcy, an entire day during which nothing dire happened-I hadn't had one of those days in quite a while.

"Ouch!" I jerked my hand from the notebook I was pulling out of my book bag. It was early afternoon, and I tossed the notebook on top of the rest of the homework piled a foot high on the kitchen table. We had just gotten home from school, arriving to a quiet, Indy-free house. I ignored the blood seeping from my cut finger as I hunted for something to wipe it off with.

"Let me see," Micah said, shutting the dishwasher he'd just loaded.

He paced across the kitchen with the taut motion of a big cat, his appearance nothing short of scrumptious in his tailored school uniform. He took my hand in his before I could spot anything useful to wipe it on besides what seemed to be a note quickly scratched on the back of a gas station receipt. Indy's hurried handwriting.

I picked up the note while I watched with interest as he brought the cut to his mouth and sucked on it. My finger in somebody else's mouth really wasn't something I was accustomed to, and while my first reaction was to pull away, I forced myself to be still. I couldn't help the laughter that bubbled up the longer he prolonged the act. Sort of tickled, I guess.

"Are you serious?" I brought my hand back to see the cut was gone, healed. Amazing.

His saliva still tingled as it cooled, the dampness electrified with a higher pitch of power he had never used with me before. I wondered if it was the frequency itself rather than the saliva that caused the cut to heal. Curious, I gingerly pressed the dampness of the healed cut to my lips, testing, and discovered the tingling to be...strangely enjoyable.

"Serious as a snowstorm in Tahiti." Micah grabbed me from behind and lifted me off the floor where my squirming would be useless, the gas receipt/note crinkling in my other hand.

Now that I was doing better, he had made it a habit to tease me whenever the opportunity presented itself, which was almost constantly. Today's good-natured ribbing had exposed me to another side of his personality: relaxed and lighthearted. A constant smile had been plastered to my face all day; his happiness was that contagious.

I started laughing when gentle teeth playfully met my shoulder. He was being merciless until the phone in his back pocket vibrated, vying for his attention. Wild ash bangs covering his eyes, he set me down. I spun to give him a good-humored shove, which barely moved him an inch, before I backed away to leave him to his incoming text. I leaned against the table and scanned Indy's crinkled note. It said she was out meeting with the lady she was in talks with about partnering on the nightclub rehab. She wouldn't be back until later tonight.

"Indy's out for most of the evening," I announced, handing the note over to Micah after he sent a reply to his message.

With an abrupt switch of emotion, anger passed hotly through his eyes as he scanned the note. He then promptly crinkled and tossed it in the general direction of the wastebasket. I bit my lower lip. Oh yeah. What had I been thinking about prior to slicing my finger? About the day being "uneventful?" I suppose it had gone okay, if you didn't count the big argument the two of them had gotten into this morning. I'd accidentally let it slip that Micah spent the night in my bedroom holding me.

Though brief, the argument had been their nastiest one yet. My gaze wandered over to the garbage can, taking in Indy's note which had landed short. A broken piece of ceramic lay a few inches to the right, having evaded the earlier dustpan and broom. Indy had been holding a mug of coffee at the time of their "exchange." The lingering smell of coffee hastily mopped up still hung around the back door where the mug shattered after being hurled at Micah's head.

Even though I was old enough now-according to devvi standards-to be considering who I wanted to be "mated to," I wasn't supposed to allow him into the running. Despite the fact this was a struggle for dominance between the two of them, I was certain a big part of Indy's defensiveness was due to her genuine worry about me, a delicate half human, getting involved with Micah, an electrified devvi type. It wasn't simply a matter of "me spending the night with a boy," which seemed parentally irresponsible by human standards.

But then again, Indy had never really been the one to play the part of mother to me since my own died. She was all basic necessities and no-nonsense protection. Nevertheless, I was certain that if it had been Alex who'd spent the night in my bed, she would probably be ecstatic. I could hang out with guys, as long as I wasn't spending the night with Micah. His responsibility was keeping me safe, and that was that.

But beyond being simply my protector, he was just so good for me. I was happy whenever I was with him. All this off-limits nonsense between us seemed so unfair.

"It's the out-of-whack Alpha ranking thing, isn't it?" I asked with a troubled sigh, and he admitted that it was. "Micah?" I touched his arm, wanting to be able to do more.

Despite the alpha-male front he was putting on, all I could see in him was someone who really needed a hug. At least the hardness in his face softened at my lingering touch.

"You shouldn't let her bullheadedness get to you like this."

Briefly closing his eyes, he made a quiet sound in the back of his throat. "I don't like that you are caught in the middle of our struggle for dominance. Aurora, you shouldn't be worried about this." He handed over my book bag. His hold lingered on the handle as I reached for it, and his gaze on me became pensive before letting go. "Things will work themselves out. In the meanwhile, all you need to be thinking about is homework and smiling." At this his face opened into a wide, honest grin, as if setting an example.

I smiled back, though a lingering uneasiness had settled thick on the back of my tongue. Things were going to get a lot worse before they got better.

Trying to appear unconcerned for his benefit, I sorted through the pile of this weekend's assignments. Reese had caught up with me

after lunch to postpone our scrapbook making plans. Trevor's hockey practice was tonight, and Mr. and Mrs. Dillenger were going away to celebrate their anniversary, so Reese had been asked to baby-sit Trevor's four-year old twin sisters. She decided to wait until next Friday to put the scrapbook together.

Taking a moment to scoop up Indy's note and toss it into the wastebasket, Micah announced, "I'm going out to make a circuit around the valley."

"Oh? Another security run?" He had just received a text. Was that what prompted him to go on patrol?

"Mmm, something of the sort. You were going to get a shower?"

"That is the plan." I slipped into a teasing tone, my mood still aglow from having woken in his arms despite the Indy debacle. "Since somebody waited until the very last minute to wake me and I didn't have time for one this morning." I yanked the zipper up on the book bag and slung it over my shoulder. The Sex Guide to the Elements was still inside. I planned to stuff it into a drawer as soon as I had a minute alone. Seemed like I was going to get the opportunity now.

"It's not my fault you're a snuggler when you're asleep." He offered me an innocent, sideways smile. "You had me pinned."

"Right." I smirked before turning to head up to my room. "Like I would ever be able to pin you down."

"Hey, I'm not going to be the one to push you off if you're enjoying yourself on top."

I spun from under the archway to stick out my tongue at him, but the serious, almost heady set of his expression made me pause.

"Um, I'm not going to be too long," I stammered with cheeks suddenly ablaze. I ducked out of the room, still mumbling incoherently, something about being starved enough to eat an entire peach tree. Dang high metabolism was finally kicking in. Yeah. Hunger had me flustered. That was it.

* * *

The curtains lifted high in the breeze, brushing the bathroom ceiling when I shoved open the window after stepping from the shower. The sound of the trees out back rose from a rustling to a roar, and with the window open, I could clearly hear the throaty rumble of the Ford Thunderbird backing down the driveway. I leaned on the windowsill in my bath towel, gaze tracking the teal car until its great backend disappeared below the embankment. Its throaty rumble accelerated down the road, and I frowned. The gas receipt note Indy left said she wasn't due back until after dark. Huh, she must have forgotten something.

The sunshine-warm air had been a constant swirl of red and yellow leaves throughout the day, and as I unwound the towel from my wet hair to further enjoy the play of wind on my damp person, I wondered if this was a naturally wind-filled day. Or maybe Alex's wind devvis were increasing the frequency of their valley patrol?

Yesterday, Micah had insisted there was nothing to worry about. He labeled his frequent security sweeps with Alex's personnel as "paranoia" and nothing more. But in working with the water devvi's people, my guardian had also shifted from his once rigid: "She is my little female to protect" stance, to now working with the very water devvi he had warned off. Sure, paranoia could be a powerful motivator, but Alex had extended an olive branch of sorts, saying that he wanted to work with Micah. However in Micah's case, his unexplained willingness to accept offered help would take something more. Something real.

What is he not telling me? I wondered as I peered into the bathroom mirror to inspect my face, bare of any makeup. No dark circles. They were gone. During my haste this morning to make it to school on time I hadn't taken any notice.

I ran a finger under one well-rested eye, rejoicing in the fact that I didn't need to cake on concealer. Hopefully I won't need mass quantities of the stuff ever again, I thought as I rummaged around in my book bag to pull out the oversized bottle of liquid foundation from an inner pocket. I hesitated before throwing the loathsome thing, representative of my former frail state of being, into the trash. I'd pick up a travel-sized tube when I needed touch-up for blemishes.

Plunging my hand back into the bag, I brought out the elemental sex guide next. I needed to put the text in a private location. There was nothing more personal than a girl's underwear drawer.

What's this piece of paper? A bookmark? I ran my thumb along the bottom of the book to open it to the place where a small white square poked out. Another gas station receipt, I identified, noticing that the date printed on it was from the day Indy had given me the guide. I guess the receipt had slipped down between the pages before I realized she put it there. The lengthy ride in my bag had finally jostled it out.

She'd bookmarked a section with the paper. There was a note written on the back that simply said: Aurora, read this.

Curious, my gaze went to the title at the top of the page, taking in the unfamiliar term: Queendom. Attention shifting lower, I began skimming the contents, and I dropped my mouth open into a silent o. Holy Swiss cheese, devvi-culture was largely polygamous?

The bedroom curtains were askew when I padded into my room to dress. The sex guide was tucked under my arm with a finger inserted in the queendom section. The sound of rustling forest followed from the bathroom. The afternoon sunshine was bright against the walls when the smell of butter hit me, the aroma rising on a draft. My gaze went to the nightstand, where a silver mixing bowl sat, heaped full of the fluffy, peach-coated popcorn. Although it wasn't the snack that put the smile on my face, it was the glass filled to the brim with white liquid. Micah had gotten back from his circuit of the valley while I was in the shower. He must have stopped at the store to get me my lactose-free moo juice.

With a soft brush of falling fabric, I allowed the towel to puddle to the floor and I smiled again, enjoying the bliss of warm wind hitting moist skin unhindered as I lifted the book to flip it open and balance it on my forearm. I walked over to pick up the glass of milk as I read on.

--------------------------

VOTE if you'd like to look through Aurora's "new manual." ;)