Chapter 9: Where's the KABOOM?

He woke up to a completely empty bed. The sun had just risen and he couldn't hear anyone in the house. The side of the bed where's she'd stayed sequestrated was made, which in itself was unusual as he never made his bed unless he was staying at his childhood home. He could smell something delicious and warm brewing outside his door.

He stood up and didn't bother pulling on anything other than his briefs—his wife would have to deal with his usual appearance if she was in his house. She'd have to get used to his house, his rules, and especially himself.

Charlie walked into his kitchen to a surprising sight—his wife in those short running pants again, a tanktop on underneath a white robe. She was reading what looked like a newspaper except there were no moving pictures on it. Everything was stationary.

On the counter sat a to-go coffee cup and a small brown bag. He didn't recognize the brand.

She didn't even glance up when he came in. "I got you some coffee. And a breakfast sandwich."

So, she was going to play the 'it didn't happen' game. They didn't need to be friendly, just needed to get the job done and have some fun along the way. He could respect that. "I'll live. Thanks, though."

Remington licked her finger to get a better grip on the page. He felt a small bit of heat shoot to his cheeks at the innocent action. "...Right. Well, in any case, I'll be going for my morning run soon. Do I need to be told where I'm allowed to jog or can I just put my headphones on and go?"

Charlie didn't know what 'headphones' were (he could only think of his father putting two of those strange telephones muggles used on her head) but he did know what jogging was. "Jogging...is that good for making a baby? Y'know, you don't want to overexert yourself or anything." He could tell you about hundreds of magical creature pregnancy traits and what was healthy, but bullocks if he couldn't tell you what a human pregnancy was like.

Those bright green eyes finally acknowledged him. None of the passion or vulnerability was there anymore—now, she was a tightly-locked, cold-hearted doctor again. "Exercise is good—great, even—for the uterus and for ovulating. If you expect me to sit in this kitchen with bare feet and not lift a finger...well, you've got another thing coming."

He couldn't help but stare at her in awe. She tossed about words like uterus and ovulating in a too-detached way. Merlin, though, how she blushed when she wasn't in control. During sex the night before, she hadn't even been able to utter a word. That cold, collected doctor became a hot and bubbling mess with the right push. Eventually, he might be able to soften her up when they weren't in the sheets too.

Instead of reacting to her coldness, he grabbed the map that was hanging on a knob next to the doorway and laid it out on the table next to her. As he leaned over, he saw a creamy view of her chest down her tank top. That was one thing he hadn't gotten to see the night before but he loved it when a woman wore clothes while he was fucking them. It made him feel like they could be caught at any point, like he'd pulled her pants down at the last moment in public and was fucking her where anyone could see.

The map, he thought, clearing his throat. The map was made out of a worn erumpet hide, colored with ink bled from crushed billywigs. The different colors came from the tempering of the ink, creating a map that was almost impossible to destroy—even by dragon fire. Harsh red lines drew out each and every dragon enclosure, showing where they crossed and where they didn't. Elevation levels and heights of magical domes were also marked in his chicken scratch in a harsh black on the brown leather. There weren't many places that the dragons couldn't roam, which meant that she wouldn't have much room to run.

"There's a ten-by-ten kilometer area for housing and recreation for the tamers marked here in blue. The pathways are marked in green but they aren't really pathways anymore—and if you break an ankle or something out there, it'll be days before someone finds you. We usually fly to each enclosure. Stay out of the red areas."

"Got it. Just leave the map out for one moment..." She took out some large rectangle and opened it. A flash of light blinded him for a moment.

"What the bloody hell was that?" he asked, snatching the erumpet hide away. He didn't want her ruining his handmade map with some muggle thing!

She turned the rectangle around and, in a smaller rectangle inside it, was a lightened image of his map. "I took a picture of the map so it will be on my person at all times. This is a cell phone, a Nokia."

Charlie looked at the rectangle and snatched it out of her hand. She gave an angry 'hey!' but he didn't pay her any mind. Rather, he looked at the small numbers on the bottom half and up at the picture that still stayed there. "This is not a phone." Was that a shortened form of 'telephone?' "Phones are big and bulky and have wires. This..."

She stood up and snatched it back from him. Charlie wasn't all that tall, but her shortness made her appear very unthreatening. "It's a cellular phone.* Regular phones use cables. Cellular phones use frequencies in the air that send and receive sound waves."

Charlie just blinked a few times and sighed. Muggle studies hadn't exactly been his best class, and the contraptions his father brought home had been more annoying than interesting. "Whatever you say, Rem."

She looked just as frustrated. She put her newspaper down and stood up, shedding the white house robe she'd been wearing. Bruises covered her thighs and her neck was red and love-marked. It made him stir in his shorts and a smile appear on his face. "I'm going out now."

Coughing to hide his laugh, he leaned against the doorframe to keep her from passing. "You're a little banged up to be going out in that outfit." He gestured to the mirror next to the door.

He'd never studied her blush outside of sex before but it was rather becoming. Her shoulders and ears flushed as much as her cheeks. "I'm aware of the marks. I'll put a disillusionment charm on them when I get back to my office." At his raised eyebrow, she said, "And my wand."

He found it interesting that she couldn't do wandless magic. Still, he didn't want her to feel more uncomfortable than she already visibly looked. "Come here, I'll hide them for you." Remi took a step back, looking rather like a skittish rabbit near a fox. He sighed and held his arms out. "I'm not going to attack you. We both have work to do and I'd rather you not get to the clinic looking like I beat you up."

Her eyes were hesitant as she came closer. She held her breath as he placed his fingertips against her neck first. He could feel her shaking and feel her vocal cords move as she asked, "You said…"

He'd said a lot the night before. He knew what she was thinking, though, and wanted to tease her about it. "I said what, love?" The healing magic came from his fingertips as he moved his hands down her neck and over her shoulders and collarbone where dozens of bites and bruises lay. Then he covered what couldn't be healed with his meager knowledge.

Her cheeks were scarlet. "N-nothing."

Charlie knelt down and ran his hands up under her top, sending the healing magic to her waist where he knew his hands had left imprints. She gasped and took deep breaths through her nose as he continued lower, to her thighs. Her hands grasped his shoulders and she was tense like he was going to take her any second.

"Relax, Rem," he said with a soft kiss to a rather pretty bruise on the inside of her thigh. "If I wanted you, you'd know." Although her fingers in his hair was giving him rather beautiful flashbacks of the night before. She'd been very responsive, even if she hadn't been able to speak. He'd have to fix that because he needed her to tell him if she didn't like something. She hadn't even been able to answer when he'd asked what she liked and wanted him to do.

The last of the bruises were healed and/or covered so he stood up, towering over her puny little frame. She was definitely in shape though. He'd especially noticed it in her thighs and ass which he watched turn and move towards the front door.

"Thanks," she said flatly, still obviously on edge. She grabbed her phone and put it in a pocket inside those little silk shorts before turning back to look at him. "I'll be staying at the clinic tonight."

Not that he was complaining about having the bed to himself but...his deflating pride made him stupid. "Aren't we supposed to keep trying?" He wanted to teach her some new things. The only time he could really get a commanding word in was when he was fucking her senseless anyway.

Sharp green glared at him, marred by an obvious lust on round cheekbones. "Once every three days, I'm yours. Elsewise...I want nothing to do with you." She turned and left before he could get a word in edgewise.

Charlie hit one set of knuckles against the palm of his other hand and grunted, "Bollocks."


* I took liberty on when the first picture phone comes out. I don't think it's until a year or two later, but I wanted her to have a picture phone Nokia because that's the 2000's, baby!