She used to be healthy, and had a pretty face until he ruined her. She sang in the shower and danced in the street. We all do until we come here. And in the end, we all come here.
In the corner, the big clock ticked the time so every second echoed.
They won’t come if it stops, she thought. Not if I stop it. They’ll sing in the shower and dance in the street, they’ll eat cupcakes and ride the train if I stop it.
But you haven’t. Corrine opened her eyes again. Do you see?
The faces and bodies changed, one melding into the next while the clock hammered the time. Hammered until her head pounded with it, until she pressed her hands to her ears to block it out.
Faster, faster, the faces flashed and merged while the seconds raced. So many voices, all the voices calling, coalescing into one, and the one cried out.
Can’t you hear us screaming?
She woke with a gasp, with that awful cry echoing in her head. The light was dim, warm with the fire simmering low in the hearth. The cat butted against her shoulder as if telling her, “Wake up, for God’s sake.”
“Yeah, I’m up. I’m awake. Jesus.” She rolled over, stared up at the ceiling as she got her breath back. With one hand she scratched Galahad between the ears, and checked the time on her wrist unit. “Oh, crap.”
She’d been out nearly three hours. Shoving off sleep, Eve pressed the heels of her hands to her eyes and began to push off the bed. She heard it then, the sizzle and pulse of the shower.
She laid a hand on the spread beside her, felt his warmth lingering there. So they’d both slept, she realized. Good for them.
Stripping as she went, she headed for the shower.
She wanted to wash away the fatigue, the grit, the ugliness of the past twenty-four hours. She wanted the beat of the water to push away the vague headache she’d woken with, and flood out the remnants of the dream.
Then, when she stepped to the wide opening of the glass that enclosed the generous shower, she knew she wanted more.
She wanted him.
He was facing away from her, his hands braced on the glass, letting the water from the multiple jets beat over him. His hair was seal-sleek with wet, his skin gleaming with it. Long back, she mused, a taut, bitable ass, and all those tough, toned muscles.
He hadn’t been up for long, she thought, and was likely as worn down as she.
The water would be too cold, she knew. But she’d fix that.
They’d fix each other.
She slipped in, wrapped her arms around his waist, pressed her body to his back. Nipped lightly at his shoulder. “Look what I found. Better than the toy surprise in the cereal box. Increase water temp to one hundred and one degrees.”
“Must you boil
us?”
“I must. Anyway, you won’t notice in a minute.” To prove it, she glided her hands down, found him. “See?”
“Is this how you behave with all the members of your task force?”
“They only wish.”
He turned, caught her face in his hands. “And look how my wishes come true.” He kissed her softly, brow, cheeks, lips. “I thought you might sleep a bit more.”
“I already took more than I meant to.” She pressed to him again, laying her head on his shoulder as the water flooded them. “This is better than sleep.”
As the steam began to rise she tipped her head back. She found his mouth with hers, soft again, soft so they could both sink deep.
His fingers skimmed up into her hair, combing through the sleek cap of it as he murmured something that tasted sweet against her lips. Even through the sweetness she recognized need.
Yes, they would fix each other.