Page 36 of Etched in Stone
“Not as much as a human, but I can eat human food. I supplement it with other things.”
“Things.”
“I may have been snacking on your tile.”
“Seriously?”
“It's a helluva lot cheaper than the dumping fees in New York.” Jesse crossed her arm.
“Well, would you like a side of noodles with my bathtub?”
“Yes, please. Salty is great for my diet.”
Jesse rolled her eyes and headed back to her apartment. The water was ready so she made two noodle cups and two cups of tea.
When she got back to Ray's apartment, carrying the four mugs, he had the sigil in his hands. It was glowing brightly, brighter than when she had put it up to the window. The entire apartment was bathed in an eerie red light.
“They're here.”
“Oh that's not ominous at all,” Jesse said. “I thought you checked for bugs.”
“No, not them. My people, they are actually coming. We're being rescued.” Her chest tightened.
Jesse bit her lip to stop from panicking. If Ray left her, Pablo would find her for sure, with or without Giles help. She'd have nowhere to go. As secure as this apartment might be, there were no guarantees about what would happen if she stepped out the front door unprotected.
“Why did it take them this long?”
“Temporal mechanics is my guess. The message isn't any more than a pick up point and date and time.”
“You mean they can't just beam me up Scottie, any time they want?”
“No. It's complicated, but they have to find the least likely time for detection, and with the angles, certain pick up points make sense.” Ray put the sigil down on the table.
He sighed heavily and turned toward Jesse. She didn't exactly like that sigh. Ray looked sad and a bit forlorn. She doubted noodles and tea would make that sigh go away. But she knew something that might.
“C'mere.” Jesse grabbed his arm and led him into his bathroom. “Help me with this, would you?”
she said, turning around and lifting her hair. She was perfectly capable of undoing the knot in the scarf by herself, but she reveled in the intimacy of having Ray slowly untie and unwrap the scarf from her body. Once the scarf dropped to the floor, he took his time feeling the weight of her breasts in his hands before taunting each nipple into a puckered tip. Jesse guided his hands down to the buttons on her skirt. He managed those too, slipping the skirt past her hips, taking her panties with it.
Ray's fingers followed it down, and traced her pussy lips on the way back up.
“Don't you want to turn on the water?” Jesse asked as he teased her folds again.
“It's voice activated. Computer? Shower on, setting three.”
Sure enough, water began to pour from the many spouts. Ray decided to amuse himself until the water heated by pushing his finger further inside her. She was already wet and waiting for him. He urged her forward once the water began to steam.
“What about your pants? Shorts. Won't they get wet?”
“They can take the water.”
She pulled at his shorts. “I mean your tail. Surely you want to wash your tail?”
Ray laughed and nibbled on her ear.
“Oh, my tail, eh? You want my tail?”
“Only if you want to give it to me,” Jesse said with a smile. Ray was not smiling. He was removing his shorts. He picked her up and a few short steps later, they were being pelted with heated rain from all sides. Ray pushed her up against one of the walls. It should have been cold, but it wasn't.
