“What are you doing here?” Chackney asked the seemingly empty room. She didn’t need to see him. She could smell him. That mixture of salt-water and peppermint was unmistakable. She turned around to face the tall, menacingly attractive man that had found his way back in front of her.
“Hello there, my dear,” he said in that clear, smooth voice of his. He smiled wickedly, “it’s been a while hasn’t it?”
“Not long enough,” she replied shortly. “How did you find me?”
“It wasn’t easy,” he said, taking a step closer, “I’m just that good.” His grin widened.
“Don’t play games,” she spat, “You have way too much of an ego to spend all of this time hunting for me. You just happened across me didn’t you? You’ve always been unnaturally lucky.”
He took another step. “It fits doesn’t it?” After all, neither one of us is what a mortal would call ‘natural’ are we Reginleif?” he was toe to toe with her now, looking down at her from his near-foot-high advantage.
She didn’t budge. “Don’t call me that,” she growled between her teeth.
“Oh yea,” he snickered, “What is it they call you here? Shelly?”
“Not even close. Now leave.” She said firmly.
“But I won,” he argued, “I found you.” He reached up to touch her face.
She jerked away and yelled, “It was never a contest! I didn’t want you to find me. I didn’t want anyone to find me!”
He reached out to her and firmly, but gently pulled her to him in a hug, her face buried in his chest. “You should stop yelling,” he said, “You’ll make yourself upset.”
“You make me upset,” she said, her voice muffled by his shirt. “Why did you come here?”
“If I tell you, do I get to call you Chackney?”
She looked up at him, “Why would you want to call me that?” she asked.
“Because it’s the name that you adopted when you became human. That’s the life that you live now and as much as I disagree with your secision, I want to be in your life again. Everyone in your life calls you Chackney.”
She could believe it. She stood there in the circle of his arms staring up at him and absorbing what he was saying to her. Before she knew it, he had leaned down over her so that they were almost nose to nose. “Can I?” he whispered. She could smell his sweet breath on her face as he spoke.
Since when do you need permission?” she asked and their lips met gently for the first time in fifteen hundred years.
