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Jacen barely slept through the early morning hours. Instead, he'd been content to lay there holding London as she snored. After they'd finally settled down to rest, he'd told her all about Pan and Dionysus, the curse, and his life as a veritable bodyguard for Vander on the island of Dia. She had listened intently, asking questions where questions made the most sense. London then told him about her classes at SCAD, her job in the library, and her love of the horror genre and how it brought her to The Aegean Inn. When she finally drifting off, Jacen let her sleep. She needed her rest after all they'd done together.
Shortly after sunrise, Jacen rolled out of bed and collected his panpipes. A simple little instrument, but enchanted by magic. He blew into them, playing the cords to make him appear as a human during the day. When he heard a knock at the door, he donned his robe and slid the panpipes into the pocket. He had to keep them close at hand to retain the glamour. Vander stood in the hall. His former prince was always astute, and his gaze narrowed on the sleeping mortal in Jacen's bed. Vander motioned for him to follow, so Jacen shut the door behind him and obeyed.
"What are you doing? We heard you for hours. Calix had to entertain Beatrice while Orestes watched the lobby, wearing a hoodie. Which doesn't hide horns very well, by the way. Luckily no guests came downstairs."
"I'm keeping her, Vander."
"Excuse me?"
"I'm keeping her."
Calix came down the stairs in time to hear the exchange. "What's this then? Jacen gets to have a girlfriend?"
"Keeping her will only make it worse when we have to wipe her memory in a few years. She's not immortal. She will form a dependency." Vander ignored Calix.
"I need her. It's strange, but I wonder if...I wonder if it's love. There is something between us I've not felt with anyone."
Vander's lips formed a hard line across his face. He wasn't impressed. Jacen was asking to go against everything they put into place to avoid attachments for a relationship with an expiration date attached. But what use was immortality if he didn't allow himself to live, to feel things, to mourn people when time caught up with them?
"Um...what?" London was in the doorway, eyes as big as a frightened doe.
"I felt it the moment we met yesterday." Jacen faced her. "I brushed it off as desire, but after last night..." When she rode him slowly, so sweetly, she bound his heart to hers. He couldn't wipe her memory. He couldn't let her go.
"She's not a nymph, Jay." Calix mumbled, "It's infatuation."
Jacen glared at him." I know she isn't a nymph! I could give a rat's ass about a nymph for all the good they have done me. I don't want one, I want her. It's more than lust, but I need more than a weekend to know. I've never asked for anything from any of you, but I am asking for this. That is, of course, if she wants the same."
London had wrapped herself in one of his bed sheets, the dark blue bringing out the color of her eyes: the precise color of the Aegean. Of the ocean surrounding his home. She brought him back to a time when he was human, being with her. She exited the bedroom and strolled over to him, stopping once she was at his side. Jacen wrapped his arms around her, the delicate treasure that was too good for him to keep.
"I would like to see where things can go from here," she said, barely above a whisper.
"Are you sure? You're not just saying it because you are afraid of your memories being tampered with?"
London shuddered, but she shook her head. "I admit the memory thing does freak me out. But no, if I didn't want this I wouldn't have slept with you, and having my memories changed would be welcome. Also, it would seem you are in need of a new receptionist..." She let the last part linger.
Vander stared at her, mouth agape. "Well, we are, but..." He looked to Jacen and then back to London. "Fine."
"Pardon?" Jacen asked.
"Keep her. But the moment, I mean the moment, this goes south...she's getting wiped. We have to protect ourselves here." To London he added, "It's nothing personal."
She nodded. "Thank you for giving us a chance."
Calix perked up. "He's gonna share her, right?"
"I'm not sharing her." Jacen bit out.
"Aww."
"Shut up, idiot." Vander knocked Calix in the back of the head. "Let's leave them to discuss this decision and ensure it is mutual."
When it was just the two of them alone in his room again, London asked, "Do you really want me here, or was it because you didn't want to wipe my memory of last night?"
"London," he swooped her up into his arms and took her back in his room, "I have never wished more that I was an ordinary man than I did the moment I met you. If you think you can handle a lover who can only go out on the town with you during the day, it would be an honor to see where these feelings lead." He placed her back in his bed and joined her there, amazed he'd been given more time with her.
"But how do I know I am safe, my memories..."
"I won't let them. None of us has ever tried keeping a permanent lover before. It's new to them and there will be adjustments. We have time to figure it out—what we have."
"But, the dependency..."
"That was more of an issue because they were employees we slept with, but we weren't in a relationship. They functioned away from us fine, but around us only cared about sex. In a relationship, I don't think it will be a horrible problem to have. And who knows, maybe we can find a solution in the meantime."
London sucked on her lower lip and was silent for several minutes. "You could go out on Halloween. I bet you'd win all the costume contests."
"Does that mean you will stay with me?"
"I think I might try it." Then the corner of her mouth quirked up in a grin. "I kind of miss your horns in your human form. I almost didn't notice the difference."
"I can bring them back at any time. It's a mere glamour. I'm always horny."
She giggled. "It doesn't matter to me which form you take. Truth be told, I felt an instant attraction to you as well. I can't say if it is lust or love or curiosity. Not yet, though it makes me really happy to know I'm not the only one experiencing it." London arched her back and stretched, reminding him she was naked under the sheet. "But until we figure it out, ride me hard, satyr."
Jacen could scarcely believe he had her to himself, for however long it was.
It was enough. Nymphs, be damned.