"It's good to have you back, Aya," Hal Jordan says, touching her shoulder with a smile on his face. "We all missed you."

"Clearly some more than others," Kilowog speaks up, sarcasm twisting through his voice as his small red eyes dart toward the fire burning in the center of the courtyard. Aya follows his gaze across the Blue Lantern's central square, already knowing what she'll find.

Razer's shoulders are hunched as he sits beside the fire, his elbows on his knees. Clad in his civilian clothing, he's staring at the Red Lantern ring in his palm as if he's never seen it before.

"What's the matter with him?" Hal asks as Saint Walker lowers his head.

"Brother Razer is…conflicted," Saint Walker says and glances at Aya, who meets the Blue Lantern's gaze.

"You mean he's sulking," Hal offers.

"About what? The way he carried on when she was gone you'd think he'd—" Kilowog says, but Hal shoves an elbow in the Bolovaxian's expansive rib cage and he cuts off with a grunt. "I'm just sayin'. Wouldn't kill the guy to smile once in a while."

"I think you should speak to him, Aya," Saint Walker says, touching her hand. "He came here for my help, but it is you he needs. Your loss nearly unmade him."

"I was not truly dead," she says unnecessarily. "I had made a backup of myself just before the Guardians were to dismantle me, which Atrocitus unfortunately found along with the body I had left on Oa. He corrupted my coding, but he could not stop me from eventually repairing myself. Your rescue was timely."

"We know that," Hal says heavily. "And he knows that. But seeing you like that, as Atrocitus's puppet again after he'd thought you were gone… It was a lot for him to take in. And having you back…"

She nods and presses her mouth into a thin line. "I will speak to him. Thank you again for rescuing me."

"It was mostly him, but I'll take credit where I can get it," Hal jokes, but it falls flat. Aya turns and starts to walk to the fire. "Hey, Aya. Um…"

"Yes, Green Lantern Hal?"

"Um… Just um…" Hal says, and rubs the back of his neck nervously. "You know, Razer is…and… Uh… You guys are…um… Feelings and stuff. Just uh…be careful. And stuff. You know?"

"Yes, I think I do," she says and turns back to the fire, only to find that Razer has slipped away. She knows where he's going though, and turns in the direction of the Blue Lantern's living quarters; a collection of one room stone huts built in the lee of the rock formations towering around their battery square. As she walks across the courtyard, she hears Kilowog snort in amusement. She wonders if they know that she can still hear them.

"Did you just try and give her the sex talk, Jordan? Real smooth."

"You saw the way they were looking at each other. Last time a woman looked at me like that I got laid."

"Yeah, me too," Kilowog sighs.

"And I as well," Saint Walker pipes up, making Hal and Kilowog guffaw. "And I believe Aya can hear us."

"Shit."

A smile curls the corners of Aya's lips as she makes her way across the courtyard. A light is on in the window of Razer's hut and she knocks on the door twice. The door immediately cracks open a few inches and she finds herself face to face with Razer, who doesn't look surprised to see her.

"Aya."

"Hello, Razer. How are you this evening?"

"Fine."

"We did not have an opportunity to speak when the Interceptor arrived earlier."

"Oh. Yes. Would you like to come in?" he says and backs up from the doorway, opening the door wider so that she could see that she'd caught him in the act of undressing. His shirt and head covering were folded on a chair, his shoes neatly placed beside the door. She'd rarely seen him without his head covering, and never without his shirt. His close-cropped, silvery-white hair stuck up in the back in charming tufts.

Her eyes took in the never-before-seen view of his naked chest. As she had always suspected, the black markings continued down his body in thick lines. Her eyes mapped every inch of him within seconds, memorizing each detail.

"Thank you," she says as she walks inside and he closes the door behind her. She spies his ring and his battery atop the table and frowns. "You are not wearing your ring?"

"No. I… Needed a break, I suppose. The battle took a lot out of me. I wanted to just…be myself for a while. That's why I came here."

"But you are not yourself," she says heatedly, surprising herself and him.

"Neither are you," he shoots immediately and then looks as if he regrets it. "I… I didn't mean that."

"Lantern Walker said you were conflicted. I believe I know why," she says, and hurt fills her eyes. "You do not believe that I am Aya. The real Aya. That is why you left me on Oa and ran to Odym again."

"I didn't say that," Razer says, turning his back on her. "I…I just needed to get my bearings. A lot happened, things you don't know. Things you have no way of remembering."

"But I do know. I do remember, Razer. Until the moment of my destruction, I made a record of everything that happened. That record survived aboard the Interceptor. I downloaded those memories into my mainframe and integrated it into the backup I made of myself on Oa. I lived those memories, even if my current physical body did not. I am still myself. I did not die."

Razer turns on her and his look is tortured, pained. "But I watched you die in my arms!"

"And I remember all of it. Every moment. Every word. Everything, Razer."

"You can't have. If you were recording, you would have downloaded yourself to the Interceptor. You would have saved yourself," he says and clenches his ring hand, as if he's going to lash out with red energy, but can't with his ring across the room.

"I did not have the power to do so in those last moments. I was only able to save the memory. I assure you, I am myself, Razer. Please do not treat me as anything less. It is…insulting and hurtful."

Something in her voice breaks a little and he turns on her, shock in his eyes. "I didn't mean to treat you… I… Aya, I'm sorry. I did not mean to hurt you. I just thought… I didn't think you were…" He sinks onto a chair and hangs his head. "I'm sorry for the way I've treated you."

"I forgive you," she says and walks forward, sitting next to him and taking his hand. "When you left Oa, before I retrieved my memories from the Interceptor, I feared that what I had thought was between us had long since passed. But I saw everything, Razer. I felt everything in those final moments before I d—before the record of my memories ceased."

Razer clutched her hand hard. His face lowered for a moment and then he lifted his gaze to hers, his expression fierce. "I meant what I said. I love you, Aya."

A smile touched her lips as she took his other hand.

"I love you too, Razer," she answers as she stares into his eyes, noting the way he's breathing, his pulse racing. "With every bit of my soul."

Razer's lips part and he swallows again, his face draining pale white beneath the stark black of his markings. Her eyes close, tears welling in them. Razer's hand leaves hers and she doesn't know why, but she expects him to draw away from her. A thousand scenarios spin through her cortex and she dismisses them all. She will not analyze this, refuses to do anything but feel.

His hand rests on her cheek with the lightest of touches. Her eyes flutter open and she stares at him, noting the way his shadowed eyes search her face. His thumb brushes the swell of her cheek, and then softly spreads on the slick surface of her helmet.

"You came for me, Razer," she says, not sure what to do or why he's looking at her like that. His eyes linger on her mouth, his teeth scraping his enticing lower lip.

"Always," he whispers and leaned in. "What did you regret?"

She can't stop staring at his mouth, so close to hers. "That I never kissed you."

His fingers find her lips and gently slide over the moist swells. The tip of her tongue darts out, lightly touching one fingertip, the sensors in her tongue picking up and identifying the salt of his skin. The unexpected taste spreads over her tongue and she closes her eyes again, bathing in the unfamiliar sensation. She feels him lean close, feels the heat of his skin as it nears hers and the sweep of breath stirring against her lips.

"I regretted that too."

He kisses her a moment later, his hand sliding around to the nape of her neck and drawing her closer. His lips are wet and soft as they slide along hers, drawing them open, pushing deeper. His nose bumps hers and she feels sparks of pleasure and longing fill her, tumbling down into her middle and then lower. His tongue darts along her lower lip, drawing her mouth open so he can thrust his tongue inside, slowly, drawing startled sounds from her.

Her arms go around his neck as one of his hands finds the small of her back and he hauls her into his lap, her thighs straddling his waist. He lifts his mouth, tugging at her lips with his sharp teeth, sending shivery little sensations through her artificial nervous system that has her squirming against him. When he darts his tongue back inside, she matches him, sliding her tongue against his and drawing a moan from his throat—a deep, rough sound that makes her suddenly so warm that she's afraid she's burning up from the inside out.

She distractedly runs a diagnostic scan, but she's running within accepted parameters. Nothing makes sense. There is only Razer.

His hands tug at her hair, tilting her head to the right, his teeth nibbling at her lips, sucking them into his mouth for a moment before releasing them, only to capture them again, making her writhe on his lap, her hands clenching the corded muscles of his neck. The hand on the small of her back tightens, skin scorching her back, fingers kneading along her spine. She cards her fingers through his hair and gently pulls his lips between her teeth.

A groan of longing leaves him and he pulls her roughly against his chest, hard casing crushing to bone and muscle. She works her hand down the front of his side, her fingers pressing low along his stomach. He jolts against her, letting out a gust of air that shakes them both.

"Dammit," he growls and squeezes his eyes shut, teeth bared as he shivers beneath her.

"What is wrong?"

"Nothing," he mumbles against her mouth, catching her hand. "We can't… I'm sorry…"

"Why not?" she says against his lips, her fingers twisting a strand of his hair at the nape of his neck. "Are you unable to perform?"

"WHAT? Of course I can… I… C-can you even…?" he breaks off, blushing slightly. "I mean…do you have…?"

"I am anatomical in every way, if that is what you are asking me," she replies and lets a small smile play along her lips. She can sense his embarrassment and finds it amusing. "I have spent considerable time redesigning my physical form to emulate the biological and sensory responses of a humanoid female. I have been eager to 'test drive' it, as Green Lantern Hal would say."

"Are you sure? We can take it slowly," he says, kissing her softly. "We could do this all night…"

"I believe," she says as she nuzzles his mouth, "we have waited long enough. I want you, Razer."

A deep moan of longing leaves him as he kisses her again, his arms tight around her. She reaches down and pulls the casing from her breasts, releasing the catches with a soft click. It comes free in two pieces, revealing the hard light contours of her naked breasts beneath. Razer releases her lips and lets out a ragged breath.

"I didn't know you could do that," he says as she sets the casing aside and lifts her gaze to his. He practically vibrates in front of her, his eyes dilating with arousal, nostrils flaring as his hand trembles against her back.

"I can do many things, Razer," she says and leans into him. Her breasts push against his naked chest, her nipples digging in as she pushes her face against the elegant curve of his tattooed neck. She can see the goosebumps rising on his skin at her nearness. New sensations of pleasure scatter through her as his warmth sinks into her. "Would you like to discover them?"

Razer shivers and slides his hands up her naked back as he turns his head and drags his mouth along hers in a hard press. The sensation of her nipples against his chest sends little eddies of pleasure racing through her.

His mouth leaves hers and he kisses his way down the curve of her jaw, nibbling, tongue sweeping out with a hot push. One of her hands goes to his hair again and she forces him to look up at her, their eyes meeting. His gaze is hungry, his cheeks flushed now.

"Not here," he says shortly and she thinks for moment that he's going to push her away. Instead, both of his hands cup the round curves of her rear and with a liquid motion he gains his feet, her legs still wrapped around his waist. She holds on tight, enjoying, as always, the ease in which he picks her up and carries her. She likes the feel of his arms around her, the sense of safety he brings.

The bed is only a few steps away. He sinks to his knees on it; his mouth attached to her neck once more, teeth scraping down to her collarbone.

Together they fall back upon the bed and she's suddenly buried in his scent, his smell. He settles between her thighs, propping himself up on one elbow. The other hand she feels curve up her hip, brushing her waist and then closing over the swell of one green breast. He rolls his tongue against hers; stealing little sighs from her throat as her body reacts to his, stomach lifting against his as he cups her breast, thumb brushing the sensitive jut of her nipple.

She isn't prepared for the pleasure that fractures through her, nerves tingling, sending little bits of information twisting through her. Too distracted to do anything but register them, she files them away for later. His thumb presses into her nipple, slowly rubbing across it in a maddening circle until she writhes beneath him.

Her hands spread along his naked back, feeling the bunch and coil of muscles as he moves against her. One hand dips down into the back of his pants, feeling the swell of his tight buttocks, the smooth skin clenched in her palm.

Razer lifts his mouth away and stares into her eyes for a moment, and then slowly, so slowly, moves down her neck, kissing the suddenly sensitive skin in tiny sips. His teeth sink into her collarbone, a startled sound coming out of her. She lifts her breasts against his chin, back arching off of his bed. His mouth follows, kissing her center, tongue darting out and curving up both sides of her breasts.

Her hands twist in his hair; her lips open as he kisses down the center of her body, hands moving to her waist, then down to the casing of her lower body. He glances up at her and she nods, reaching down and releasing the catches.

He sits up on his knees between her legs as he peels the casing from her body. Her hips tilt off of the bed as he undresses her slowly, reverently. She sees him bite down on his lower lip as he sets the two pieces aside. His gaze trails down to the joint of her thighs. She lies before him, unsure of how she is feeling, though she believes the word she is looking for is nervous. Perhaps anticipation?

His hand spreads on her stomach, then lower, causing a tight feeling of want to quake through her body. She bites down on her lower lip as she lifts herself up on her elbows, anticipating the journey of his hand, but he stops just above her aching sex.

She can feel the racing of his pulse as his head lowers and he buries his face against her stomach, shuddering in place against her, as if he might lose control any second. She lifts her hand, sliding it along the muscled expanse of his back, fingers trailing across scars and the black of his markings.

"You're beautiful, Aya," he says and kisses her stomach in soft, unexpected motions that make her eyes slowly close. She sinks back to the bed, her hand in his hair again, following the unpredictable path of his mouth with rapt attention.

Both of his hands clasp her waist and he suddenly slides her downward on the bed until their hips nestle against one another. Her fingers catch his tattooed arms as he props himself up over top of her. He kisses her once, hungrily, wordlessly and then he bends and pulls one of her nipples into the dark wet of his mouth, tugging, suckling. His teeth scrape the distended peak and she arches against him, biting down on her lip again at the unexpected rush that explodes within her.

Her hips push upward and down against his crotch. She can feel the hard poke of his erection at the cradle of his hips, pressing into the soft folds of her center. As his mouth tugs on her, demanding and hungry, sending little sparks spinning through her body, she feels herself growing wet.

She clocks every reaction of her body, stores it away for later analysis. Her body is reacting just as she had programmed, but she had never anticipated the intensity of her emotions, or the force of the physical sensations he's causing. As Razer's mouth moves to her other nipple, causing a gasp to break past her lips, she wonders if her programming of nerve endings and the appropriate sensations is faulty.

Surely the sensation of his mouth on her breasts cannot cause such pleasure. Razer's teeth pluck at her nipple again and she realizes that she doesn't care. She loves it, needs it, and won't stop it. Her fingers press into his scalp, holding him to her in a desperate clench. She wants more.

He seems determined to taste every part of her he can reach. She watches him suckling at one breast, wet flesh throbbing between her legs. She's on fire, her mind isn't working but she doesn't need it to. All she can feel is Razer.

Razer's eyes lift and he meets her contented gaze, tongue sliding along his lower lip. He bites down gently on the underside of her breast and she arches high against him, his name escaping her lips on a gasp. She reaches for him, to bring his mouth up to hers, but he hovers just out of reach.

She gives a mewl of protest and watches as a smile spreads slowly across his face, wicked, teeth flashing. Her head lifts off of the bed, one of her legs hooking around the back of his thigh, pulling him closer. Razer shifts against her crotch, pressing into her so that she can feel every hard ridge of him through his pants.

"Razer…" she manages as he supports himself on his arms, pushing himself into her in ways that makes her lower body tingle. She shifts against him again, her belly sliding along his.

He bends and kisses her again, agonizingly slow, as if he has all the time in the world to savor her. She lifts herself against him, seeking more, but he pushes her shoulders down against the bed with the flat of his palms. He nips at her lips again, his hands sliding back down her waist and clenching hard.

His hips shift against hers in a slow roll, the rough material of his pants grazing her sensitive flesh and making her whimper again. The sound seems to excite him even more and his mouth digs against hers, tongue plunging into her mouth hard and fast.

When he releases her, he once again moves down her body, kissing his way down her breasts, his breath curling across her stomach as she watches him making a sticky warm trail down to the joint of her thighs, where need is causing a slippery warmth to pool.

His gaze flickers upward and stays there, watching her as his mouth descends on the small mound at her thighs, his lips touching her hard light flesh with a crackle of static electricity that jolts through her body, making her hips buck upward. His tongue follows, licking her flesh, making her moan at the feel of his touch so close to the center of her need. Her hand trails down his chest, following one dark line as it travels the length of his stomach and disappears into the waistband of his brown pants.

Her fingers push between them and mold over the hard bulge of his erection. Razer moans as his fingers press into the curve of her hips, shuddering again. His face is flushed and his mouth open, breath hot on her wet flesh.

"Aya…" he trails off in a whisper. She sits up, straddling his knees and kissing him softly. His hands cup her back, spreading down the globes of her ass and dipping into the valley in between. The sensation is unexpectedly pleasurable and she trembles against him. Her thighs are already wet as she feels his hand between them. He kisses her hard as one finger slides through the sensitive folds of flesh between her legs.

His thumb follows his finger, pressing against the hard nub of her clitoris in a move she hasn't expected, couldn't have anticipated. She clutches him to her hard, pleasure drawing across her like a hot knife. "Oh!"

"Is this okay?" he asks immediately, worry in his dark-rimmed eyes as he stops and meets her gaze.

"Please, do not stop," she manages, as Razer's lips quirk up at the corners. She arches her back and meets the slow circle of his thumb against her. He works her, drawing out the pleasure with each flick, each press. Then, without hesitation, he slides his index finger inside of her, penetrating her, making her gasp. The feeling is foreign, and as unexpected as the slow, torturous circle of his thumb against her.

Razer's mouth is on her breasts again as he slowly glides his finger in and out of her tight channel, drawing out more wetness. Her face pushes into his hair, his scent teasing her. His thumb flattens along her clit, putting pressure on the bundle of nerves. Her hips cant forward and back.

She can't take it anymore. He's everywhere, he's touching her and she's naked in his arms. She feels the rough scrape of his pants against her legs, the throb of his cock trapped between them causing alarms and sensors to go off in her head, a terrible need rising in her. He doesn't protest as she pushes him down onto his back, sweat glistening on his tattooed chest.

Her lips drag along his chest, following one of his tattoos with rapt attention. Her mouth closes around his nipple as Razer grabs one of her hands in his own and brings it down to his crotch, where his erection strains against the bonds of his pants. He rubs both their hands back and forth, his breath coming in short gasps.

"I-I need…" he manages, swallowing as he leans his head back on the bed. She pops the button of his pants and lays the fly open. She moves downward, letting the sensors in her tongue taste the uniqueness of his body, clocking every flavor, savoring every inch of him.

Her fingers work themselves inside the rouge linen of his pants, touching the hard, velveteen contours of his cock, sliding along it, feeling the rise and fall of veins, the thatch of downy soft hair surrounding it. He is nothing and everything like she thought he would be. A strange fascination takes hold of her.

He groans and then inhales sharply through his teeth as she pulls her hand out, grasps his pants in her hands and tugs them down. He fumbles with her, eager to help, but she slaps at his hands.

She pulls the pants free of his bare feet and sets them aside, turning back to face him as he looks at her through heavy black eyelids. His penis is erect, flushed red toward the blunt tip. She studies him, learning the shape of him as she bites down on her lip again. She reaches for him and he pulls in another heavy breath as her fingers close around the hard flesh, sliding down from tip to base, his balls jerking upward as he tenses beneath her. She sees his tongue slide along his lips again and his eyes begging her, pleading her.

She touches her mouth to the tip and he groans, thrusting upward immediately. Her tongue darts out, circling his head, teeth scraping slightly so that he bucks his hips upward. He groans as she does it again, sliding the very tip of his cock into her mouth, tongue pulsating against his soft skin. She feels his hands on her helmet, gripping tightly.

His stomach contracts as he breathes heavily, watching her. His hips rise and fall to meet the thrust of her mouth. His taste spreads on her tongue and she revels in it. It is unlike anything she has ever tasted, and she files it away in her favorite things, to be enjoyed later, to be examined and retested and quantified.

For now she learns and adjusts and tastes.

"Aya…" Razer groans beneath her after a few minutes, a desperate need in his voice.

She understands as she lifts her mouth away, seeing the fire sparked in his eyes, the choked sound of his voice. He reaches for her, flipping her over before she can blink, pinning her to the bed with one smooth movement. He kisses her again, plundering her mouth and moving his head to thrust deeply into her mouth with his tongue.

Her arms encircle his neck as he works his way between her legs. She feels the tip of his cock rubbing against the sensitive nub of her clit, teasing her. His hips bump hers, grinding upward.

She reaches down between them and, lifting her hips against his, positions him at her opening. He releases her mouth and his eyes meet hers, a droplet of sweat clinging to the end of his nose for one glistening moment. Then he pushes inside, penetrating her in slow increments.

Her body grips his, greedy and untested as she throws her head back. Her hands clutch his shoulders as sensations explode through her, deep and undeniable, her whole world centering on him. His eyes are narrowed on her, his lip bitten with concentration. He comes to rest within her, hips trembling against hers.

"Am I satisfactory?" she says as Razer quivers above her, his brow furrowed.

He lets out a gust of air and pushes his forehead against hers. "You're perfect in every way. Am I…do you…?"

"You are perfect to me as well," she manages and he lets out a little huffing laugh, and kisses her brow, then her lips.

When he pulls out and then surges forward again, a deep, rumbling growl rips from his throat. She gasps, breaking the kiss, moving with him, clutching his arms.

He thrusts again and again, pistoning his narrow hips upward and down and moving them in slow, agonizing circles against hers. With every slow thrust, she rises to meet him, bellies sliding together, his sweat clinging to her.

His mouth finds hers again, plucking at her lips with his teeth, his breath hot as it curls into her mouth and down her chin. He thrusts harder, making her give a cry of pleasure and arch high against him.

That sound sparks him again and he grabs her up by the waist, sitting back on his heels and bringing her with him. She drapes over him, her legs around his waist. One hand presses on the small of her back, urging her to pump over him, around him, feeling the spasm of her inner walls as his cock slides inside, farther, harder. She leans back against his hand as his mouth finds her breasts again, sucking hard on each nipple in turn.

Aya clutches at Razer's shoulders, rising and falling on his lap, squeezing her eyes closed, lost in the feeling of his hands on every bit of her flesh he can find. She moves her hips in small, grinding circles, her sensors screaming at her, overloading and burning.

She doesn't know what to expect. This is beyond her programming. She feels her body coiling around his, his upward thrusts becoming more erratic and faster. His hands squeeze hard on her hips as they move against one another.

"Aya, look at me…" She opens her eyes and sees his sweaty face, his mouth swollen with kisses—her kisses. He thrusts hard inside of her and she slams her eyes shut. He touches her face. "No, look at me…"

She looks again and sees the strangled determination in his eyes as his body glides inside of hers, rough and fast with need. "Razer…"

His hands find her hips again and he's suddenly pushing her down on the bed, crushing himself down on her, grinding his hips onto hers. His eyes burn; sweat drips down his face. She licks it away, tasting him again. Her fingers dig into his shoulders. Her breath quickens, she gasps loudly as he finds an unexpectedly sensitive spot inside and thrusts that much harder, drawing it out.

Her belly spasms and she feels…something, something hard and fast and wonderful and painful and she wants it, wants more, needs it, can't analyze it, can't examine it, can't stop it. Her hips move in tighter and tighter circles. She can't look away from his eyes, won't look away.

"Aya…Aya…" Razer's voice seems a million miles away, but so close, so close to her skin. She has never felt so real, so alive. He slams hard, helping her reach for that something, that something that has a name, though her cortex cannot retrieve the information, too entangled in emotion and overheating sensors.

"I love you," she gasps, unprompted, unexpected, honestly as her head goes back, digging into the bed. Razer's hands hook under her hips and back, pulling her up against his chest, thrusting sharply into her gripping body.

She gasps, digging her fingers so hard into his skin she won't be surprised if he bleeds. It all she can do not to scream; it suddenly feels as if every sensor in her body has burst into flame, spinning her freewheeling into abyss and bliss.

With a hot crackle, every nerve, every circuit floods with code, disjointed and nonsensical. She's too lost in the flood of data to make sense of it, too lost in the feel of Razer's body inside of hers to care. The flood fills her, white-hot, surging like electricity, leaping from one circuit to another. She shakes around him, unable to stop it, wanting more, letting it take her, to wash her away. Her hard light skin glows bright green for one long moment and then hardens to solid green again.

"Love…you…" He groans the words through his teeth with each thrust into her body; she shudders around him, caught in the flames, feeling him climaxing, feeling the hot spurt of liquid inside of her pulsating center as he careens over the edge with her.

The words are barely out of his mouth when she's kissing him again, hard; thrusting her tongue into his mouth. She buries her hands in his hair and shudders, her body alive with heat. With him.

Finally, the trembling stops. His mouth is scorching against hers, his kisses endless. She lets the world filter back to her in scattered bits of information. When he pulls away, lifting himself up to stare into her eyes, a small smile plays at the corners of his lips. He lifts his hand, cupping her chin. Static electricity sparks play out along her skin from the contact.

They stare at one another for a long moment and she sees that the line between his brows has smoothed out. His vital signs are calm and steady.

Slowly, he pulls out of her and sinks onto his side. She rolls to her side next to him as his hand smooths over her back, rubbing his fingertips over her shoulder blades in slow, languid circles. Her head is on his chest, his mouth on her forehead; she tangles her fingers with his other hand and closes her eyes, content, feeling truly alive for the very first time as she listens to his heart beating beneath her ear.

"I didn't expect that," she says after a few minutes. His thumb rubs against her fingers, and even that small touch is enough to send shivers through her.

"Expect what?"

"To enjoy it so much."

"I…didn't expect to do it at all," he says and tilts her chin so that their eyes met again. She feels a keen sensation in her breast, like pain and happiness, but sharp and needful. "I would have been content with just kissing you, Aya. But I am glad. You are…wonderful."

"As are you," she and then sits up quickly. "Oh dear."

"What is it?"

"The Green Lanterns have heard our lovemaking. Sergeant Kilowog and Saint Walker are currently restraining Hal Jordan. He is coming to kill you for violating me."

"WHAT?!" Razer shrieks and launches himself out of the bed naked. He lunges for his ring on the table and turns on her, preparing to shove it on his fingers. He stops when he sees her laughing. His mouth falls open. "Are you laughing at me, Aya?"

Aya falls back on the bed, grinning at him. "You should see your face right now."

Razer puts his ring back down, fighting a grin. "I'm sure it's hilarious."

"You deserved that for leaving me on Oa."

"I suppose I did," he says and sits back on the bed beside her.

"I also just wanted to see your posterior," she says and he laughs, flaming red.

"Like the view?"

"Very much so."

"Me too." His gaze trails over her naked body, sending hot waves of pleasure through her. He bends over her and kisses her quickly. "I promise not to leave again, if you promise not to die on me again."

"I promise," she said with a smile and kissed him again. "I love you."

"I love you too. Always."

(end)