Time and Again

fists identical to the one that clenched in his gut. She was no longer smiling. Despite the distance, he felt the power ricochet back to him, buckling his knees.
    If he could have reached out for her then, he would have taken her, regardless of the consequences. In that one look, past, present and future merged into one. He saw his destiny.
    Then she shifted, shaking the snow from her hair, and the spell shattered. He told himself she was only a woman, a foolish one, walking in a storm. She would have no lasting effect on him.
    But it was a long time after he heard her come inside before he went downstairs again.
    She was sleeping on the sofa, books piled at her feet and on the floor. One of the exquisite throws was tossed over her. Despite the volume of the stereo, she slept deeply. Nearby, the fire blazed.
    She didn't look invincible now, Jacob decided. She looked disconcertingly serene. He supposed it was foolish to notice how long her lashes were as they shadowed her cheeks. How soft her mouth was when relaxed in sleep. How her hair, mussed from the wind, shone in the firelight.
    They were only physical attributes, and in his time physical appearance could be altered simply and safely. It made life more pleasant, certainly, to look at a beautiful woman. But it was superficial. Totally superficial. Still, he looked for a long time.
    Sunny woke like a shot when the music cut off. The abrupt silence had her leaping out of sleep with eyes wide and curses on her tongue. Disoriented and irritable, as she always was upon waking, she stared around the darkened room. The fire had burned down to a soft glow and shed little light. Though she didn't think she had slept long, night had fallen. And so, she realized, had a power line.
    With a sigh, she pushed herself from the sofa and groped her way across the room looking for matches.
    With a candle in one hand and a pack of matches in the other, she turned and walked into Jacob.
    At her quick squeal, he brought his hands to her arms, both to steady and to reassure. "It's only me."
    "I know who it is," she snapped, infuriated that she'd jolted. "What are you doing?"
    "Before or after the lights went out?"
    She could see him well enough, silhouetted by the firelight, to make out the smile. "It's the storm."
    "What about it?" The muscles in her arms were tensed. He had to resist the urge to slip his hands up the sleeves of her sweater and soothe them and stroke her skin.
    "It knocked out the power."
    He hadn't let her go. He'd told himself to, but his hands hadn't listened. "Would you like me to fix it?"
    Her laugh was quick and a bit unsteady. She wished she could blame the power failure for her nerves, but she'd never been afraid of the dark. Until now. "It's a little more complicated than a toaster. The power company will get to it when they can."
    He was sure he could jury-rig something, but he didn't mind the dark. "All right."
    All right, she thought, letting out a long breath. In the meantime, she was alone with him. Added to the fact that she wasn't sure about his mental balance was the very real problem of being attracted to him.
    One thing at a time, she told herself, and took a deliberate step back.
    "We have plenty of candles." To prove it, she lit the one she held in her hand. It helped her confidence when she saw the flame hold steady. "And plenty of wood. If you'll put a couple of logs on the fire, I'll deal with getting us more light."
    He watched the way the small flame flickered in her eyes. She was nervous, he realized, and wished that didn't make her even more seductive. "Sure."
    Sunny gathered every candle she could put her hands on. Too late she realized that one or two would have seemed rustic. The dozen she had scattered through the room only added an impossibly romantic atmosphere. Stuffing the matches in her pocket, she reminded herself that she wasn't affected by things like atmosphere.
    "You wouldn't know what time it is, would you?" she asked him.
    "Not exactly. Around six."
    She sat on the arm of the sofa nearest the fire. "I slept longer than I thought." Now she was going to have to make the best of a bad situation. "So, did you entertain yourself this afternoon?"
    "I fixed the faucet." It had taken more time and given him more trouble than he'd anticipated, but he'd managed.
    "You're a regular Harry Homemaker, aren't you?"
    Because it sounded sarcastic, she smiled. They really did only have each other at this point, and alienating him wouldn't be