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Exhaustion took control of my muscles and I made it to the bedroom upstairs, stripping down to my underwear before climbing into bed. It was already half past three and my eyelids wouldn’t stay open. For the first time since we met, we didn’t spend the night together.
Brightness and warmth woke me from a sound sleep and I gasped, my heart thundering in my chest as I pressed my back against the headboard. Sunshine painted the end of the bed and it took me a few breaths to remember the sun wouldn’t turn me to dust.
When that realization settled into my skin and my heartbeat returned to normal, I actually chuckled. I don’t remember dreaming, but the covers were crumpled and twisted like I had been fighting with the fabric.
I glanced at the clock and my eyebrows rose. It was a little after one in the afternoon and the house was very quiet. A bout of melancholy hit and I ran my fingers over the pillow next to me. The one that Damian should have occupied if it weren’t for the damn sun.
My stomach growled, interrupting my little pity party and I swung my feet over the side of the bed. Instead of addressing my stomach, I decided to clean up first. The prior evening left me feeling like my skin had a hefty layer of dirt and sweat. The hot water in the shower felt like heaven and I scrubbed my body clean and donned a pair of sweats and a torn t-shirt that Damian was partial to and headed to the kitchen to find something to quell the stomach pangs.
Once my appetite was satiated, I headed down to Damian’s lair, finding it dark and empty and a moment of icy panic bit at my skin before I took a deep breath, calming my nerves. I headed down the tunnel and the sounds of hammering calmed any remnants of worry.
Light filtered from where he was working making the need for the cell phone light obsolete and I followed the path easily. I stopped and leaned against the concrete and watched the sweat trickle down Damian’s back as he hammered nails into a fancy trellis designed to keep the pathway from collapsing. The muscles in his back rippled and I smiled.
The hammer stopped halfway from hitting the nail and Damian shot a glance back at me. Dimples lining his cheek gave away his lighthearted mood and I’m sure my carnal thoughts fueled his playful grin.
“It’s about time you got your lazy ass out of bed.”
“Give me a break, I’m just getting used to being human again.”
“Well, if being human means sleeping for days at a time, then I’ll pass,” he mumbled and returned to the task he started. As soon as he set the nail, he stepped back next to me and scanned his work. With a satisfied nod, he said, “That ought to do it.”
He gathered up the scraps on the floor and dumped them into a wheelbarrow. The hammer, nails and spotlights followed. With a light leading the way, he strolled toward the underground apartment.
“How far did you get with the cars?”
Without missing a step, he reached into his back pocket and handed me a folded piece of paper. “I need a couple of batteries before I can do any further assessment of the cars. They’ll all need one eventually, along with tires, but if you could have someone pick up the things on the list for starters, I should have at least a couple of vehicles working by the end of the night.”
“Really?”
“I put the batteries in the basement so you could trade them up for new ones. If you go to Napa, they’ll give you a credit on the purchase for these.”
The fact that Damian even thought about discounts made me want to laugh, especially with his accumulation of wealth. His job provided what he called petty cash, but most people would consider his six figure income a damn good living.
“What?” he asked as I mulled over this contradiction.
“Nothing. I’ll give Ted the list once he gets home. I think he’s at work.”
“I need a shower,” Damian said as we rolled the barrow through the living area. He parked it at the entrance and glanced at me. “Do you mind parking this by the hatch and I’ll get it up to the garage after sunset?”
“Sure,” I said and started out the door.
“Can you grab my bag too?” he called as he headed back toward the hallway.
“Sure,” I called and deposited the wheelbarrow where he asked before heading upstairs to retrieve his duffel bag. I left the list on the kitchen table before trotting back downstairs.
When I stepped into the bedroom downstairs, I wondered why they bothered building the bedroom upstairs. The only distinct difference between the two rooms was the room upstairs actually had windows that allowed the sun to light the room. Down here, the decor was similar to upstairs but the mural on the back wall was as breathtaking as the beach scene in the living room. Here it showcased a large picture window that looked out over a spring meadow with the bright sunshine painting the array of colorful wildflowers. The rest of the walls were a mix of white and brown and black with green speckled in and after a couple of blinks I realized it was a forest of birch trees. The ceiling was a canopy of leaves with a bright blue sky filtering through.
Valerie and Michael had amazing painting skills. I dropped Damian’s duffel bag on the small ottoman and headed toward the bathroom, curious to what type of decor that held. A tropical underwater world met me when I pushed open the door and my gaze landed on Damian wrapping a towel around his waist. His gaze scanned the walls and landed on me.
“Amazing, isn’t it?” he asked and ran his hand through his wet hair, hand combing it into less of a disheveled mess.
“Yes.” I know he meant the artwork, but his sculpted form always left me speechless.
“The walls,” he answered my less than subtle inspection.
“I know what you were referring to. This should be in highlighted in Architectural Digest.”
“Have you looked at the details? This must have taken years to do.” He ran his fingers over the school of rainbow fish, and their scales shimmered against the trail of light.
“The bedroom is just as incredible.”
“If I had taken the time to look at this last night, I never would have made it to the garage,” he said and passed by me.
I took a few minutes to inspect the artwork and I couldn’t find a flaw in anything, from the coral reef to the seahorses to the array of fish. Even the sinks and shower were in the aquamarine motifs. Valerie must have missed her calling. Interior design came naturally to her based on the designs throughout the house.
“Valerie has quite a bit of talent,” I said when I stepped into the bedroom.
Damian laughed. “Valerie didn’t do this.” He waved at the room. “It might have been her idea, but her talent ends with drawing stick figures.”
“Then her uncle?”
His eyebrows rose and he shook his head.
“No way,” I whispered and scanned the art. “I just assumed...”
“I know. It may have been her idea, but Michael painted these scenes just for us.” Damian’s smile faded and he sighed. “As amazing as it is, it just makes me miss the sunshine even more.” He finished buttoning his shirt and walked to the light switches near the door. “Want to see something cool?”
I nodded.
He flipped the main switch off, dropping the room into darkness. Little by little my eyes adjusted and then I realized light was filtering in the window like it would right after sunrise. It brightened to that of mid-day and then faded like a sunset and I turned to him. The longing in his face forced a lump into my throat.
When his gaze dropped from the window just before the last of the light faded, I saw the mist of unshed tears shimmering over his bright blue eyes. I never knew just how much he ached for the sun and my feet shuffled across the floor, finding the fabric of his shirt after a few paces. I wrapped my arms around his waist and tucked my head against the breast of his shirt, careful to not to connect with his skin in any way.
His arms wrapped around me and we stood still, embracing in the dark.