Part 4

Seeing those eyes, she knows it is time to tell all. No quips. No jibes. No jokes. He is deadly serious. Maybe that has been her mistake all along… trying to jolly him. This man didn't 'jolly'. He didn't have the inner confidence to understand that sometimes teasing isn't bullying. Not for the last time, she wishes she could fire-storm the people from his past… blast them to hell for what they'd put him through. They're damned lucky she can't time travel, step through a gate of some kind and appear in their midst! She'd have a huge gun in her hands and she would…

She is brought back to the present with a gentle shake, "Earth to Camille. Where were you just now? You led me to a frightful precipice then left me there all by myself."

"I was in the past, murdering everyone at Croydon."

He looks a bit lost, "Oh? Why?"

She strikes his chest with a sudden fist that makes them both jump, "Because they were MEAN to you!"

He takes the last step and folds her into his arms, "Oh."

She rests her cheek over his heart, finally hears his heartbeat, slow and steady. His chin comes down to rest atop her head. He sighs. She hardly dares believe it.

She snuggles into him. He takes her. Her hands are slipping up the back of his jacket. She has to take it slow. She feels like she has a half-wild animal here. He wants to trust but it is hard, so hard. She stops her hands, puts them behind her back.

He steps back, holding her shoulders, "What's wrong? Why did you pull away?"

"I haven't told you that I love you. You asked but I got side-tracked. You can side-track me like nobody else I know. How do you always do that?" She is rattling on, nervous, hopes he's heard her confession and that he won't refuse it.

His whole face lights up with a huge grin. He actually laughs, "You do? You really do?" Then his brows came down and he gives her another small shake, "The truth? Really, the truth?" She nods. He folds her back into his embrace, "Well, that's fine then. I love you too." He says it so nonchalantly… as if it doesn't change the world forever. "Please put your arms around me again. It was heavenly."

She does. They hold each other in the moonlight, happy together… at the same time… at last.

"Richard. Dearest. Are you there?"

"Mmmmmmm, yes, I'm here. I'm over the moon but here. What is it?"

"You never gave me that second kiss."

"Oh, right. Coming right up." He leans in then pauses, "And you're absolutely, completely, 100%, cross-your-heart-and-hope-to-die SURE? I don't think my heart can survive a reversal of fortune here."

Breathing in his scent, feeling him SO CLOSE, the image of the half-wild creature flashes across her mind again, "Richard, your heart will be my dearest possession if only you will give it to me at LONG last."

Just before their lips meet, he whispers, "Technically, I did not give you a first kiss. You stole that one."

END part 4