She blinks. "That's a joke, right?"

I shake my head.

Her face drains of color. "You're going to have to explain this in great detail."

We sit down on one of the porch steps, and I tell her the whole story, starting with my rejection of Maggie Hamilton's thesis proposal.

"I couldn't tell you," I say. "The OJA kept it confidential, and we weren't supposed to talk to anyone about it."

"Dean, this is totally fucked-up. You can't resign because some little bitch lied about you."

"I already did," I tell her. "And it wasn't just because of the lie. Edward Hamilton was going after Liv. I'd..."

There's no telling what I'd do. And Kelsey knows it.

She shakes her head. "Well, shit."

"Yeah."

"How's Liv?"

"Upset, but... she gets it. Hardest part was telling her and my students."

We sit in silence for a while. A few birds chirp in the trees. Finally Kelsey squeezes my arm and shoves off the step.

"Racquetball tomorrow afternoon?" she asks. "I guess you have plenty of time on your hands now."

I almost smile. "Yeah, sure."

"Okay." She takes a few steps before turning back to face me. "Hey, it's horrible. I'm sorry. I wish there was... well, it bites the big one."

"Yes, it does. But..." I rest my elbows on my knees and look past her to the view of downtown, the clear blue lake. "It's kind of okay, Kels, you know? Like I did the right thing. I protected Liv. My reputation is intact. I'll finish my work on the dig. I can still do independent study work, write my book. I'll get another job one day."

"But you still hate that you were forced into it."

"I hate that it's affecting my students, but it would have been worse if they'd had to deal with the investigation and been asked if I harassed them. My colleagues too. My whole reputation, my life, would have been shot to hell if this all went public, resignation or not. And then if Liv... well."

I stare at the lake. "I'd do anything for her, Kelsey. Anything. It's insane how much I love her. And losing my job is nothing compared to... to her."

"I know. She feels the same way about you." Kelsey studies me for a minute. "Hey, remember when I kissed you last fall?"

"How can I forget?" I mutter. "It's like a bad horror movie. The Attack of the Venomous Pit Viper."

A grin cracks her face. "You know, when I told Liv about it, she laughed."

"Of course she did. It was so bad it was funny."

"My point," Kelsey continues dryly, "is that she didn't freak out like most women would have. It wouldn't have occurred to her to be threatened by that. Even though she had a shitty time as a kid, and her mother is a head case, Liv just... she knows you. She knows me. It's kind of amazing that she has this... I don't know... total trust in the people she loves."

"Yeah. It is kind of amazing."

"I've always wished I was a little more like her." Kelsey backs up a few steps. "But don't tell her I said that. She'd start crying."

"She wouldn't... well, okay. She probably would."

Kelsey grins and gets into her car.

After she's gone, I work for another hour before heading home. Liv is making teriyaki chicken for dinner, and the sight of her bustling around our little kitchen is a reminder that everything is still the way it's supposed to be.

Over dinner, she tells me about the encounter she and Crystal had with Maggie Hamilton. I'm less concerned about Maggie than I am about Edward Hamilton, though I'm not surprised Louise Butler found a way to threaten Maggie.

"I guess Maggie learned a tough lesson," Liv says.

"Ironic that she might've learned it from your mother."

Liv shakes her head, a shadow passing across her face. "My mother did graduate from the school of hard knocks."

"Hey." I rub my hand down her back. "You've handled this whole situation with your mother beautifully."

Liv arches an eyebrow at me in amusement. "Is that your way of admitting you were wrong?"

"I'd never admit such a thing."

She leans over to kiss my chin. "Well, you are my Mr. Right."

After dinner, Liv settles in to watch TV, and I go into my office to work. Even having handed in my resignation, I'm still a scholar with papers to review and edit. Life changes, but history doesn't.

I study an article about Chaucer and the concept of fate as a wheel of fortune. The wheel appears throughout medieval literature and art, often in stained-glass windows and illuminated manuscripts. The wheel spins you into either luck or misfortune, all set beforehand.

And though I never believed in love as a predetermined fate, even I had to admit it was a stroke of luck when, five years ago, I happened to walk into the coffeehouse where Olivia R. Winter worked.

After the day we'd met at the registrar's office, I thought I'd never see her again.

And when I did, I knew I wouldn't let her go. Fate, luck, or nothing.

Liv has always been the one part of my life I got right. Everything fit with her, like sliding a button into a buttonhole. I knew I wanted her. Knew I'd wait for her as long as she needed me to. I knew it would be so easy to love her.

And even now, I have to wonder if fate, the medieval rota fortunae, was somehow involved.

I shut down my computer and put my books away. It's almost midnight. The noise of a comedy program comes from the TV. I push away from my desk and go into the living room.

All thoughts of medieval literature disappear at the sight of my pretty wife. Liv is curled up on the sofa, her hands tucked beneath her head. Her curved body moves with the rhythm of sleep. Her shirt has ridden up to expose the pale expanse of her stomach.

I turn off the TV, then pause to brush a few strands of hair away from Liv's forehead. On our second date, I'd been unable to stop myself from tugging her hair out of its ponytail so I could finally see it tumble over her shoulders. I wanted to touch her hair so badly my fingers hurt.

Now I get to touch it whenever I want, which is often. I slide my fingers through the thick strands, easing them away from her neck. She shifts. I realize she's not wearing a bra beneath her T-shirt. I move a hand down to her breast. She sighs and arches into my hand, her taut nipple poking against my palm. My prick twitches. Liv's tongue darts out to lick her lips. She shifts again, rubbing her legs together.

Ah, Christ. Liv doesn't have discreet sex dreams. She gets into them, twisting and writhing and letting out little moans that make me hard in an instant. She fidgets again, slipping one hand between her legs. I tweak her nipple, then skim my fingers into the warm crevice beneath her breast. She's sweating a little, strands of hair sticking to her neck, her skin flushed pink.

I consider waking her up, telling her to push her gorgeous breasts together so I can press my cock between them because, fuck, I'm starting to hurt. I yank on the button-fly of my jeans to relieve some of the pressure.

At that instant, Liv opens her eyes. She jerks her gaze up to my bulging crotch. Then she sucks in a breath and looks at me. Her brown eyes are glazed with sleep and arousal. I pull on the remaining buttons and shove my jeans and boxers down.

"Oh, God, Dean." Liv groans and reaches for my erection. "Give it to me."

I grasp a fistful of her hair and nudge my cock past her parted lips. Hot tension floods me the instant her beautiful mouth closes around me. Her tongue swirls and licks in exactly the right way, her hand pumping up and down the shaft. The pressure starts to build hard and fast, and I have to pull away before I can't control it any longer.

I grab her T-shirt and yank it over her head. Her breasts bounce with the movement, the hard-tipped globes making my mouth water. She rubs her hands over them, her slender fingers twisting her nipples, then down to slither out of her sweatpants.

When she's naked and flushed all over, lust bolts through me at the sight of her rounded curves and damp skin. I push a hand between her thighs and almost come. She's so hot, so wet. I slide a finger into her and work it back and forth.

"Dean." Before I've thrust more than three times, she comes, her legs clamping around me, her fingers twisting into my shirt. "I can't get enough... please..."

She never has to beg, but it's sexy as hell when she does. I back away and sit in an easy chair. My cock juts upward, and I have to fight the urge to stroke it. Liv rises on her elbow and stares at me, her eyes hot.

"Come and fuck me," I tell her.

She lets out a little moan that goes straight to my blood. Pushing herself off the sofa, she walks over to straddle my lap. She reaches down to position us both and then with one, mind-blowing plunge, she sinks onto my shaft.

I clutch her hips when she starts to move. I won't last long, not with her tight as a glove and her muscles so pliable. Not with her breasts bouncing in front of me, moans streaming from her throat, her ass slamming down on my thighs.

She braces one hand on my shoulder and uses the other to play with her nipples. Her breath comes faster, her hair falling over her face with the increasing force of her movements.

"Dean," she gasps, digging her fingers into my shoulder. "Touch them."

I palm her breasts as she supports herself with her other hand. Her muscles tighten with strain, and I'm sweating with the effort of withholding my orgasm. One twist of her nipples and she comes again with a shriek, convulsing around my shaft.

Before I can thrust upward, she slides off and moves back on my thighs. She grasps my cock, her gaze rapt on the movement of her own hand. A few strokes in and I can't hold it anymore, pushing up into her grip as I shoot all over her hand.

"Oh, fuck." Still gasping, Liv rubs her palm over her belly and sinks against my heaving chest. "That was amazing."

I stroke her smooth, damp back as her breathing begins to slow. "So what was this dream about?"

She doesn't respond, which makes me grin.

"Come on, beauty," I cajole, moving my hands to her gorgeous ass. "Was I a pirate captain again?"

She presses her face against my shoulder and shakes her head. I squeeze her ass.

"A swashbuckler?" I ask. "A king? A superhero?"

She shakes her head again. I can almost feel her blush against my skin.

"What then?" I slip a finger into her pussy just to make her squirm. She does. And moans.

"A knight?" I ask.

"No."

"Then what?" I work my finger a little harder. She shifts her hips to accommodate me.

"None of your business," she mumbles.

"Uh huh. What do you do when I'm not around during one of your hot dreams?" I swear her blush gets warmer.

"Left to your own devices, aren't you?" I circle my thumb around her clit. She shivers. "Seems only fair that you should tell me what you're dreaming about when I'm around to help you get off."

"All right, fine." She pushes up to glower at me. "You were an elf."

I'm so surprised that I stop touching her. "An elf?"

Her cheeks redden again. "Yes."

"Like with pointy ears and a funny hat?" I can't help grinning. "That's what got you so hot?"

She shoves at my chest. "No, not with pointy ears and a funny hat."

"Then what?"

"You were like a Lord of the Rings elf. You know, with a leather vest and tight pants and a bow and arrow."

"What were you?" I ask.

"I was a... a fairy."

"A fairy." This is increasingly promising. "Like Tinker Bell?"

"Not exactly. I did have wings, though. Jeweled slippers. I was wearing a white gown with a golden belt." She pauses. "And nothing underneath."

Nice.

Even though it takes some persuading to get Liv to tell me about her erotic dreams, the result is well worth the effort. Not to mention that she always warms to the story after her initial reluctance, likely embellishing it with extra details.

"So what'd we do?" I ask.

"Well, there was a war going on between the elves and the fairies over possession of the forest," she says. "I lived in a peaceful village with my fairy brethren..."

"Your fairy brethren?"

She swats my shoulder. "Yes. And you were out marauding with a troop of warrior elves, trying to take over the forest district by district."

"Uh huh."

"You saw me one afternoon when you were out hunting. I was picking flowers next to a lake. It was a really hot day, so I waded into the water to cool off. You were hiding behind a tree when you saw me getting all wet."

"And I got hard."

"Not right away because you were watching my pet deer."