Chapter 30

"You know you're a better cook than I am," Star said later as she finished off the last of the omelet Theo had made for brunch. Neither of them had realized it was almost noon when the mechanic called to tell them Star's car was fine except for a small ding in the front fender and some scratches in the paint. After the car had been dropped off, they'd decided to finish eating before testing her ability to leave the cabin.
Theo had to admit, part of him hoped the spell, or whatever it was, wasn't over yet. He and Star had been growing closer in the last eighteen or so hours, but they hadn't had enough chance to talk yet, to sort out the issues that had driven them apart last summer.
"Theo?" Star set her fork down and reached across the table to take his hand. "Is something wrong?"
"No." He shook his head and smiled. "Just thinking a little too hard, I guess."
Her lips twisted into a wry grin. "I doubt it. Me not thinking enough was probably most of our problem. You seemed so grown-up and stable, and I was trying in vain to retain my youth - have the fling I didn't get around to when I was twenty-two."
"Hard to call it a fling when I'd been trying so hard not to hit on you since you were sixteen," he responded. "Star, honey, you were jailbait when I met you, and your brother is my best friend. When we finally hooked up, I'd been thinking about it for half your damn life. I should have been arrested for the things I thought about when you were still in high school."
"But you never acted on them," she pointed out. "And I was such a horrible flirt. You know I had a crush on you from the first time Sam brought you home, right? If I'd had any idea you were interested, I'd have jumped your bones the day I turned eighteen."
"I'm kind of glad you didn't," he said. "Fun though that would have been, neither of us was ready. Even last summer, we weren't quite there, were we?"
"No," she admitted. "But now - are we a couple, Theo? Are we going to give what's between us a real chance this time? Two adults, no games?"
"Yeah," he said, joy and hope suffusing his heart. "As long as this time we get to tell our families that we're together."
"You know Sam's going to be pissy."
"I can take it," he assured her. Sam would be grumpy more for form's sake than because he was really upset, as long as Theo was treating her well. "You're worth it."
"That may be the sweetest thing you've ever said to me. What about when I want to go out and you want to stay in?"
Theo smiled and tapped her nose. "We'll work it out. I'll make an effort to be social every other weekend or so, and you'll understand when I'm just too physically beat to go dancing. But no other guys this time, even if we fight. Does that sound fair?"
"More than." With a brilliant grin, she stood and took her empty plate over to the sink, limping just slightly as she did. He'd rewrapped her ankle, though the swelling was almost gone. She'd be fine in a couple of days, thank goodness. "Now are you ready to see if we can leave this place today?"
"You want to go somewhere?" He took his own dishes to the sink and followed her to the side door, the one not visible to the road or any other houses.
"No. I just want to know if we can." She gave him a quick one-armed hug before opening the door. "Here goes nothing."
She stepped outside and stood in a shaft of sunlight. Somewhere during the night, the rain had stopped and the clouds had rolled away.
"Looks like we're in the clear. No more were-bunny."
"Aww, I'm going to kind of miss your floppy ears," he teased, stepping out to join her. The decking was cold on his bare feet.
Then he twitched his nose as he stared into Star's ankles, his jeans and T-shirt billowing around his face.
Oh hell! He could hear a bird flapping overhead and feel his whiskers twitch. This could not - absolutely could not be happening! His heart pounded in his chest - his fur-covered chest.
Star's laugh rang out, pure and musical. "Oh Theo, we are in sooo much trouble." She picked him up out of his clothing, and scooted him toward the door.
Theo took two hops on his big rabbit feet then crossed the threshold. Instantly, he was back in his own body, naked as a jaybird. Star picked up his clothes and stepped in behind him.
"I'm so, so sorry, Theo." Her apology was undermined by the laughter that still danced in her eyes. "If we're lucky, this just means one more day here."
His stomach still roiling as he tried to process what had just happened, he pulled her into his arms. He waited a minute or two while he caught his breath and stopped shaking. "Actually, I think I know what the magic wants," he told her finally. He put all teasing aside as he looked down into her beautiful, beloved face.
"I love you, Star. I probably have for years, but I've definitely loved you since last summer. I should have told you that then, but..."
"But I was being a chicken," she said. "I love you too, Theo. But I didn't want to admit it. I was afraid of growing up and afraid of letting myself make too much out of a teenage crush that finally came true."
"But it isn't a crush. Not anymore anyway," he said. "Marry me, Star."
"I'm not going to say yes just to placate some crazy family magic," she said, tears welling in her aqua eyes. "I don't want you because you think you have to propose to make the transformations stop. According to Noel and Shelby, that isn't the way it worked for them. Noel didn't even tell her he loved her until after they got home. All we have to do is wait it out."
"And I would never do that," he assured her. "If the magic is on a timeline, that's okay too - I won't regret telling you how I feel. I mean this with all my heart. I love you. I don't want to be your boyfriend, though I'll take that if it's all I can get. I want to wake up beside you every day of my life. I want to sit next to you on a porch swing someday and watch our grandchildren play."
"As long as none of them have fluffy white tails," she said, gazing up at him with an expression that warmed his heart. "Yes, Theo. I'd love to be your wife."
Their kiss was hot and deep, a sealing of their promise, an expression of the love they'd just confessed. While their lips tangled, Theo's fingers were busy unfastening her jeans and shoving them down to her ankles along with her yellow lace panties. Then he picked her up and set her down on the edge of the butcher-block counter, bringing her up to just the right height. As soon as she was seated, Star pulled her shirt and bra off over her head and leaned back on her hands.
"Hurry," she urged. "I want you now, Theo."
"I'm right here, sugar." Neither of them needed preliminaries. When he tested her wetness with two fingers, he wasn't surprised to find her already drenched. He positioned himself at her entrance and slid home then leaned in to take her lips as well.
His tongue fucked her mouth while his cock pounded in and out of her tight sheath. Her legs wrapped around his waist, squeezing him tight.
She loved him! Theo had never been happier in his life. He was going to get to keep her this time - keep her with him for the rest of his life. That knowledge was the biggest turn-on of his life, and he felt his balls tighten impossibly fast, impossibly full. When she squealed into his mouth and her pussy shuddered around him, he let go, pouring himself into her over and over again.
When they were both done, he gathered her close to his chest, dropping tender kisses onto her silky hair. He'd never have admitted it, but there was a suspicious bit of moisture pricking at his eyelids.
"I love you," he repeated. "Always and forever."
"Mm, love you too," she murmured against his chest. "So, assuming we get free sometime today, do we head back to town and tell everyone, or do we stay here all weekend and go at it - like bunnies?"
Theo laughed and hugged her close. "How about this? We drive up to Greenville and have dinner with my folks. You've only met them once or twice, but I know you'll get along great and they'll be thrilled about our engagement. Plus, there's this great little jewelry shop in downtown Greenville - we can stop on the way and pick up a ring. Then we come back here for the night and make like rabbits. Tomorrow, we go home to Charleston and break the news to your family."
"I like the way you think, Dr. Morgan. Think the magic will let us leave?" She glanced up at the clock, glad she'd memorized the time for today's celestial event. She'd meant to do a short ritual outside right about now to welcome spring, but what they'd just done, she decided, was celebration enough. "I'm pretty sure that the actual equinox passed a few minutes ago.
He grinned. "If not, I guess we'd better send for a preacher and settle in for a long honeymoon."
Star couldn't help smiling back. "Sounds like a good plan to me."
At that, Theo picked her up in his arms and strode over to the door. After a quick check through the window to make sure no one was outside, he set her down, and hand in hand, they stepped through the door.
"Nothing," she said as they ducked back inside. "I guess the magic is gone."
"No," Theo assured her, gathering both her hands in his and bringing them up for a kiss on her knuckles. "The magic, my shining Star, is just beginning."

End Part 2