Chapter 71

The next time Mari woke it was to the sound of an elephant seal bellowing in her ear. Her lids popped open and she immediately looked around for the threat. Elephant seals were a lot bigger and tougher than the little harbor seal she turned into. For a second she thought she must have fallen asleep on the wrong beach.
Oh. She was once again under the covers on the lumpy motel room bed, with her head pillowed on Remy's arm. He slept on his side this time, his wings behind him. A snore escaped his lips and ruffled the hair on the top of her head. Mari giggled. Nope not an elephant seal. Just a sleepy gargoyle.
Then the noise erupted again, and she laughed harder. It wasn't the snoring, it was his stomach. This time either her laughter or the noise of his own rumbling tummy woke him and Remy opened his eyes with a start.
"Mari?"
"Hmmm, you remembered my name first thing," she teased. "That's a good sign."
"I remember a lot more than that, little seal," he growled playfully, then pulled her against his chest and kissed her. Mari made a little hum of pleasure and went with it. She wound her arms around his neck and kissed him back. She didn't resist at all when he rolled, taking her beneath him. She just instinctively opened her legs to make room for his morning erection. Lost in the moment she totally forgot about their size differential.
Another loud rumble interrupted the moment of passion. Remy pulled his face back with a little jump that told her he was as startled by the sound as she. Then she saw his face tint to a darker shade of gray and she couldn't resist a chuckle.
"Who knew gargoyles could blush?" She ran a hand along the ridge of one of his bat-like leathery wings. "I take it you're hungry - and not just for me."
He nodded with a rueful grin. Odd how quickly she'd learned to interpret the expressions on his craggy face.
"I used up a lot of energy last night, between the healing and the..." His voice trailed off, as he searched for the word.
"Fun?" she supplied. It had been more than fun on her side. How much more it might be was a scary thought indeed. But she didn't want to get clingy or maudlin and she didn't want to scare him away.
Her heart warmed when Remy shook his head and tapped her nose with one very long finger. "That is not what I was going to say, cherie." Her breath caught. His expression was so serious, almost stern. Then his stomach growled again and he shook his head and laughed. "But it will do for the moment. How do you feel about pizza?"
Just the thought had her own tummy clenching. She'd used up a lot of energy too. "I could eat," she agreed. "Delivery, I'm guessing?"
"Unless you want to explain the 'costume' to a maitre d'." He rubbed his lower body against hers, as if letting her know he didn't want to think about food. Then he heaved himself to a sitting position by her side. He was lithe and fast in this form as well as strong. She couldn't resist the urge to drop a kiss on the point of his wing as she sat up.
"Well we could say it was for a new show at one of the casinos," she suggested. "But I really wouldn't object to staying holed up in here until dark. I'm sure we can come up with some way to occupy our time." She absently rubbed the slightly pale spot on the back of his shoulder, where just last night a bullet had torn into his flesh.
"So what's the best place for pizza delivery?"
She rattled off the name of her favorite place and the number, then stood. "You order while I take a shower, then I can answer the door when the delivery guy comes. She picked up the sweats she'd borrowed the night before then stood and headed toward the bathroom.
"Fine," Remy pushed the buttons on the phone. "What do you like on your pizza?"
She winked at him. "Anything but anchovies." She heard his answering chuckle as she ducked around the corner into the bathroom and winced.
Dry towels were going to be a problem.
Sometime during the night while she'd slept, Remy had come back in and done some work. Her dress was on a hanger from the closet drip-drying from the shower head. Her undies were clean and damn near dry, draped over a towel rod. But the only towel that wasn't damp and tinged with mostly-washed-out blood was a small hand-towel.
Well, given the situation, she supposed she could manage. She moved the clothes, turned on the water, then gratefully stepped into the warm spray. Her body ached in a dozen places, most of which she'd be embarrassed to mention in public. Remy had certainly given her a workout.
The hotel bottle of shampoo had all apparently gone into cleaning the towels, so she helped herself to Remy's. The woodsy scent reminded her of him and she smiled to herself. Every time her hair fell in front of her face today she'd get a whiff of him. Yum.
"Don't you have to work this evening?" They sat cross-legged across from each other on top of the bedspread, the pizza box open between them. Remy wore a stretchy pair of athletic shorts - the only clothing that would fit him in this shape. Mari was still dressed in his hockey jersey and cut-off sweatpants, and she still looked adorable.
"Nope. It's actually my turn in the rotation to have the whole weekend off. First time in over a month. No classes until Monday morning, either."
"Classes?"
She nodded and took a sip of her diet cola. While they waited for the pizza delivery, she'd made a foray out to the lobby for the soda machine and ice dispenser. She'd also dumped a load of clothing and towels into the coin operated washing machine.
"In addition to being a glamorous casino employee, I'm also a graduate student."
He smiled and gave her an appraising look. "Brains as well as beauty, huh? What are you studying?"
"Library science, believe it or not."
He choked on a mouthful of pizza. "You? You're studying to become a librarian?"