Change in plans

They had descended a few steps when Torin grabbed Sunshine around the waist with one arm. “Plug your nose!”

“What?”

Torin’s free hand covered her mouth, his finger and thumb pinching her nose shut. His other arm tightened around her, drawing her close against him. Before she could react, he made a half-turn and fell backwards into the water, taking her with him.

The resulting wave sloshed water over the edges of the bath pool. They surfaced immediately. Torin pushed his hair back. Sunshine sputtered and flailed, getting her feet beneath her.

“Oh! Oh! Oh!” She spit water at him and tried to glare. He laughed aloud. “Oh, you! I’ll get you one day, Torin Invanusson.” She was laughing now, herself. “One day. It might take me years, but some day when you least expect it.” She struck the surface of the pool with her hand and sent a sheet of water at him. He splashed back with both hands, turning his face away and laughing harder. While she wiped water from his eyes, he submerged and grabbed her by the knees, toppling her under once more. She had time to give a little shriek of surprise before the water closed over her head. He grinned and fled to the other side of the pool where he hooked his elbows over the edge. She swam after him, although the water was only a bit more than waist deep. As she neared him, she Changed.

“Hey, no fair!” He turned to make his escape, but she flung herself through the water and nipped his buttock. He yelped and grabbed at her, but she evaded his grasp and he fell into the water yet again. As he swam to the surface, he aimed for her and came up with his arms around her neck and shoulders.

“Got you, Miss Wolf,” he said. She snapped her teeth at him and grinned. He grinned back, scritching her ears and neck. He pressed his cheek to the top of her head. “You’ll have to Change back, you know,” he said. “There won’t be any way for me to explain how I came in with a woman and left with a wolf.”

She snuffed at him and flowed into human form in his arms. “How’s this?” She leaned against him, sliding her arms around his ribs.

“Very nice,” he said. He held her and kissed her forehead. “Very, very nice.”

She returned the kiss. “Now, about that after-bath thing you mentioned–“

He smiled one of his slow smiles. “I’ve been thinking about that. We’re going to save it for another night.”

“What? That’s not very nice; offering me untold pleasures and then taking them away.”

“A mere delay, dearest. And I promise it will be worth the wait.”

“So what else do we do tonight, then? Beyond the obvious, I mean.”

He stroked her hair with one hand. “We’ll think of something. We could just go to bed and snuggle and sleep. It has been a rather long day.”

“I suppose it has at that,” she agreed. “And I do like snuggling and sleeping with you.” She kissed his chest.

“Then, now that we’re all cooled off, why don’t we do that?” He led the way up the steps and helped her into one of the thick towelly robes. They donned soft slippers and Torin led her to his room, avoiding any of the places where they might run into Ranid or Rojer.