**************************Chapter 15 **************************************

I woke up slowly, savouring the way my body felt. The sound of the shower was the first thing I heard. I smiled as the memories of last night floated up into my mind. I turned and grimaced, glancing down at my arm. The wound I had taken was bright pink. Kahlen had run a dermal regenerator over it, fusing the skin back together. She had done the same to the few other injuries I had received. Only the one on my arm was still visible.

The water turned off and the washroom door slid open. *She must have used the sink to wash her hair.* I thought lazily to myself.

"Good morning sleepy head." Kahlen called as she stepped in to the outer room. "I was wondering if you would ever wake up." She leaned up against the doorframe, a thick woolen robe wrapped around her.

"Good morning yourself." I said, sitting up on the bed. Sometime during the night, we had lowered it into a human position. "Since you're still here, wearing MY bathrobe, I guess last night wasn't a dream."

She grinned and sauntered over to the foot of the bed. She climbed up until her face was only inches away before she answered. "Not unless it was the most realistic dream ever." She leaned in and kissed me. I happily kissed her back. She slid her arms around my neck, while I wrapped mine around her waist. We stayed that way for a long time.

"Then we both agree that it really happened." I stated when I pulled away so that we could breath. I fell back into the bed and she fell with me, snuggling up to my side like it was the most natural place in the world for her.

"You'd better believe it." she said, as she used my shoulder for a pillow. Her wet hair was still dripping, but I didn't mind. Quite the opposite in fact. "So what now?" she asked.

"What do you mean?" I countered, confused.

She giggled. "What do we do now? Do we tell the others about last night? Was it a one time thing because of all the energy left over from the fight?

Or is there something more between us?"

"Well, I for one certainly don't want it to be a one time thing." I stated, kissing the top of her head. "As for telling the others, do you honestly think they don't already know? They MUST have seen the way we were looking at each other after the fight."

She sighed and pushed herself closer against me, tossing one leg over my legs so that she was half-laying on me. I felt my body begin to react to her presence. "What about the other thing? Do you WANT more?"

"I don't know. It's kind of a shock, really. I never in my life expected this to happen." I smiled down at her. "I'm having trouble believing that it really happened. That WE happened."

She turned her face up towards mine and pouted. "Don't you find me attractive?"

"In Valen's Name, yes!!" I replied. "Never doubt that, Kahlen. You are the most beautiful person I have ever known. What I'm having trouble believing is that YOU were attracted to me."

She looked me up and down speculatively. "What do you mean were? I find you

very attractive." Her eyes met mine and I noticed the same smouldering haze

in them that had been there the night before. "In fact, right now, I find you incredibly attractive." She kissed me again, more passionately this time and shrugged off the robe. I reacted and soon, neither of us were speaking.

Some time later, I opened my eyes to see her step into the washroom again. "What're you doing?" I asked, as I watched her naked form gliding away from me.

"Taking another shower." she replied, fiddling with the old fashioned controls until the sonics reached a comfortable level. "You sort of messed up the reason for my taking one in the first place."

I propped myself up on the bed so that I could watch her better. "Me? If I remember correctly, it was you who -"

"That's not the point." she insisted. She glanced over her shoulder in my direction. "Well?"

I sighed. Now what? "Well what?" I asked.

"Are you joining me or not? There's plenty of room for two in this stall."

I didn't bother to answer. I hoped out of bed and made my way to the washroom just in time to see her slip under the steady sonic vibrations. Grinning, I closed the washroom door and joined her.