At the End of the Road

Chapter 7

Jane woke to the feeling of warm arms still holding her, another's heat pressed against her naked body. Groggily, she opened her eyes. In the dim light of the Temple, she could make out a broad shoulder, the line of a jaw, tight locks of hair; could feel Ulysses' hot breath against her face-

Ah. Of course.

A flush spread across her cheeks as the memories of last night came rushing back. She felt Ulysses stir against her, the hard muscles of his torso shifting against her bare chest.

His piercing eyes snapped open and met hers, took in her reddened face, her dishevelled hair, her nudity to match his own. He made a contented noise in the back of his throat and tightened his arms around her, pulling her flush against him, burying his face into the crook of her neck.

"Hm. Not a dream, then," he murmured, planting a line of lazy kisses down her throat, the stubble on his cheeks rasping pleasantly against her skin.

An unexpected wave of relief overcame her; the death of a buried fear that he would reject her, come morning; find himself regretting what they'd shared. It was no small comfort to find that this was not the case.

"Seems pretty damn real to me." Jane wrapped her arms around him in kind, kissing his jaw line before twisting her head to claim his lips. "Often have dreams like this?" She grinned against his mouth.

"Have no idea, Cou-" He paused at her glare. "Gentle Rain," he amended, and she had to admit, it still made her feel tingly to hear the name from his lips. His rough hands stroked her shoulders, her back, her flanks. Part of her wanted to stay there forever, let him kiss and touch her until she was near begging him to enter her again. They were well-fortified in the Temple, she thought, had plenty of supplies; a day in bed surely wouldn't be so bad. Even so, she was still rather... tender, from last night's exertions.

"Guess I better fix us some breakfast." She untangled herself from his arms with a sigh, turning away from him to scrabble around the bedside for her clothes. "Can make some wasteland coffee, if you got a pot in here."

Ulysses didn't respond; just reached out an arm, trailed his fingers down the long scar on her back, and she shivered.

"Still curious about that one?" she asked, her search for clothes halted.

"Clean lines, straight," he frowned. "Seen its like before. Scalpel, not enemy blade or claw. Said you got it in the Big Empty?"

Jane looked back over her shoulder, shot Ulysses a glance. They really were alike, she thought. Once they got a question in their heads, they'd never give up until they found an answer.

He lounged on the mattress as he brushed her long hair aside, the better to examine the scar. He seemed utterly unembarrassed by his own nudity; though, she supposed, man with a body like his didn't have much to be self-conscious about.

"Yeah," she replied at last. "Woulda seen similar tendin' to Christine, no doubt. Dunno what they used, some kinda high-tech surgery machine like an Auto-Doc, maybe."

She sat where she was, unwilling to move; not with his fingers still ghosting over her skin, making her tremble as she leaned into his touch.

"Another experiment... more of the Gods' madness?"

"Ha. What else, in the Empty? Got kidnapped investigatin' some kinda downed satellite outside Nipton. Guess I hadn't learned my lesson from the Madre." She smiled bitterly. "Next thing I know, I'm wakin' up with some crazy brain bots tellin' me they've cut me open and ripped out my spine and brain and heart, just like that."