Gale Force Page 0,3

what to say. Deny everything. They won't have proof. They never do. And even if they do have something, refer them to the government and the U.N. It'll go away."

"What if it doesn't?" I chewed my lip in agitation, tasting tangerine gloss. Great. Now I was destroying my makeup, too, and the whole purpose of lip gloss was to stay interestingly kissable. "Look, it's the Times. This is different. I'm worried."

David cocked his head, looking bemused now. "I've seen you face down monsters, hurricanes, and tornadoes, and you're scared of a phone call?"

"It's bigger than that." I felt it in my guts. "There was a reporter a few months ago. When I was on my way to Sedona with Venna. She knew things. It was just a matter of time, I guess, that word got around and people got to digging. Dammit! I should have known this was coming."

He leaned forward and took my hands. His felt warm, strong, calming. "I have a question that will scare you even more, if you want to change the subject" he said, after a long moment.

I frowned at him. "No games."

"No. This is a serious question." He slipped off the deck chair, and one knee touched the concrete balcony floor. He never looked away from my face, and he never let go of my hands. "This is a question that's going to need a serious answer."

My heart froze, then skipped to catch up on its beats. "I -- " I couldn't begin to think of what to say. I just waited. I probably had it all wrong anyway.

"Will you marry me?" he asked.

Oh. I didn't have it wrong at all.

My lips parted, and nothing, absolutely nothing, came out. Was he serious? He couldn't be serious. We were comfortable together, we had love, we had partnership, we had -- everything.

Everything except ... well, this. An official kind of commitment.

Not possible, some part of my brain reported briskly. David was a supernatural Djinn, only partly tied to the mortal world. I might have been a Warden, with extra powers over wind, water, air, earth, living things ... but I was just human, when it came down to brass tacks. He was immortal, I wasn't, and I was achingly aware of that, every day that passed between us.

"David ... " I came up against an absolute blank wall, inspirationally speaking. "I -- can we talk about this later?"

"Why? So you can come up with reasons to justify your fears about me leaving you?" He wasn't angry; he didn't mean it to hurt. It was matter of fact and strangely even gentle. "Jo, I need to know that you feel as I do. I need to have you with me. And -- it's mortal custom." He was clearly reaching on that last one.

"Have you been married before?" There, I'd asked it. We didn't go into his past a lot, but I knew it was ancient, and there had been plenty of relationships. Djinn as well as human.

He raised my hands to his lips, and I shivered at the warm, intimate kiss. "Yes," he said. "Ages ago. Before I knew what I was waiting to feel."

I stared at him. "And now you know."

"Of course I know," he said. His eyes had taken on the burning purity of newly minted copper. "I was waiting for you."

The phone rang. My gaze went to it, startled, but I didn't move to pick up. One ring, and it cut off. I wasn't sure if the caller had thought better of it, or David had severed the connection.

"If you say no, it's all right. I will stay with you as long as you want me to stay," he said. "You won't lose me. You don't have to agree if this doesn't feel right to you."

"But it's important to you."

"Yes. Or I wouldn't have brought it up." David looked troubled for a second, as if he was unsure of how much -- or little -- to say. Then he plunged ahead. "When humans make their vows to each other, it's the closest they can come to the