“Come. You are soaking, let’s get you inside and dry.” He stands and pulls me up.
“So are you,” I point out. “And you have no clothes.”
He looks at the pile of shredded clothes several feet from where we are standing and chuckles, “Well it’s a good thing that I can do this…” He wraps his arms around me and Teleports us back into his bedroom. “So, that we don’t run the risk of bumping into anyone on the way back.”
“Isn’t it just? I want a bath. Will you run me one?”
“Anything for you,” he says but then hesitates.
“Don’t worry, I am not about to go all murderous on you again. You were right and thank you for saying no.”
He nods and disappears into the bathroom. I check my phone, which I left on the bedside cabinet hours ago. A dozen missed calls and about as many messages. I check the messages, a couple from each of my boys but nothing that can’t wait so I ignore them and turn to the bathroom.
“They just can’t live without you, can they?” he says from the doorway.
“Can you?” I ask vainly.
“Think quite highly of yourself, don’t you? But no, I cannot.”
“I trust that today has appeased your need to erase our time together in the elevator?”
“Oh, most definitely,” he says as he helps me into the huge bathtub before he climbs in himself. “I have been thinking about something quite a bit this last day or so,” he says conversationally.
“Oh, what is that then?” I ask as I lean back against him comfortably.
“When we get married, what will our surname be?”
I turn to face him. “You have thought about that?”
“Of course. It won’t be D’Arcangelo, so what will it be?”
“Aquila,” I say straight away.
He starts. “What?”
“It seems obvious to me. That is your name. That is what I want my name to be.”
“You want my name? My original name?”
“Yes.”
He blinks at me. “Oh, fuck, Aefre. I honestly don’t think I could love you any more right now if I tried.”
I am touched by his sincerity.
He clearly loves the idea of us taking his first name, as do I. I snuggle into his chest suddenly very, very tired.
“Don’t go to sleep,” I hear him say before I doze off.
Chapter 9
“Aefre! Aefre!” I hear my name being shouted but it is the Old English version, not the Latin version that Constantine uses. “Wake up!”
I blink and I am staring straight into the cold black eyes of Lance. “There, that’s better,” he says as he strokes my face. “I was too ambitious to start you off with something so different. You are too strong and too clever. How about we try this instead…”
“Emily! Emily!” I hear my name being shouted and I wake up. “Sweetheart, the baby is crying,” Fraser says and bursts into the room as I sit up in shock.
“Baby? Fraser?” I say at a loss.