Chapter Thirteen

Wesley paced nervously up and down the floor, gripping his notebook tightly in his hand and gazing at the notes he was taking. He dabbed his quill into the bottle of ink and wrote on his pad. If any one were to glance at the page Wes was so intent upon, they would not believe it, because for once in his life, Wes was not taking scientific notations but diligently working upon a poem so that he might present it to the love of his life. He looked to the center of the room where Fred reclined on the bed. Just one look at her made him quiver from head to toe.

The silver moonlight cascading upon you
Makes you look like a Goddess,
So unreachable and untouchable,
And yet you set my soul afire.
The candle's light flickers
Against your ivory skin,
And my fingers ache to trace its path.

He knew it didn't rhyme, but it was all his mind could think of. He couldn't remember a time of ever feeling this way about one woman. Like many of his friends, he had paid for it but never had it freely given. Fred still had not given him an answer. He guessed she wouldn't. He had embarrassed her too much.

He flipped the page he had been writing on and began to take notes, chastising himself for being so sentimental. "Fred, we really must go after these dinosaurs! We have been given a gift to have the privilege of studying them! They were supposed to be extinct. How did they manage to survive?" He looked at her with light shining in his eyes and anticipation almost radiating from him.

Though Wesley had not noticed it, Fred had audibly sighed as he had flipped his page and continued scribbling madly away, yet when he looked at her in such a way, she felt herself melt. "Wesley, Ah know it's a privilege an' Ah'm excited that they're still alive too, but aren't ya tired any at all?"

"Tired? No! Why? I've never felt so alive!"

Fred looked at him from over the rim of her glasses which had slid down her nose. "Over dinosaurs?" she couldn't help asking as she pushed her spectacles back up.

"It's the discovery of a lifetime!" He bounced on to the bed. "And we have the opportunity to study them and learn about them firsthand!"

Fred's heart had leapt when he had bounced on to the bed, but still all he was studying was those dinosaurs. Didn't he even remember the question he'd asked her? Wasn't he at all curious as to her answer? She ran a frustrated hand through her hair. "Wesley . . . " She paused, looking at him and gathering her courage, before asking, "Is that really all that's on your mind?"

"No, I need to go to the bathroom," he said. "I'll be back in a minute." He laid his notebook back on the bed with his quill beside it and almost ran for the bathroom. He had put it off far too long!

With a loud groan, Fred dropped backwards onto the bed. The man was impossible tonight! She was excited over the dinosaurs and the chance to study them and discover how they were still living and had not died when the others had, but something far more important weighed on her mind. She had known the answer to his question all along but just hadn't known how to tell him.

Fred sighed again as she reclined in the bed. Just what was she going to do about the dashing Mister Wesley Wyndham-Pryce? She was a girl with no experience and had always thought that no one would want to look upon her, let alone actually wish to court her, but he did or, at least, he had. Had the dinosaurs made him forget about all that? Her heart faltered at that thought. What if he had?

Well, she decided almost as quickly as the question had come to her, if he had, she'd just have to find a way to reignite the spark though she still didn't know how she'd ignited it the first time. Perhaps if she could share his excitement with the dinosaurs? To do that fully, she would first have to understand where he was coming from. Sitting up, Fred reached for his notebook.

Her hand froze as she touched the notebook, and she glanced up to make sure that he wasn't coming out of the bathroom yet. When she was satisfied that he wasn't, she picked up the notebook and began to read. The first page did not hold many notes at all, so she flipped back to the page before it. Her mouth fell open in shock at the drawings she was met with, and a deep crimson stained her cheeks. She could not believe that the page was full of illustrations of hearts and herself! There were words beneath the pictures, and her heart soared as she read the poem he'd written.

Fred could not believe her eyes, and she trembled in delight. He had not forgotten about her! He still wanted her, and oh, how she ached for him! She sat, staring at the notebook, her heart beating wildly in her throat.

Wes didn't think he was ever going to get through in the bathroom, but finally he did. He hated to leave it, but he didn't know where he could dump it yet. He put the lid on it and sat it in the corner. It had been dark in there, and he wasn't sure he was clean but hoped that he was as he didn't want Fred smelling anything. He knew about the running water and washed his hands with soap. They still needed to work up a plan for getting rid of bi-products, but the only thing they had come up with would have flushed the products straight out to the floor beneath. That would never do!

He opened the door, expecting to find Fred asleep on the bed. Instead, she had his notebook clutched against her heart! "Fred, are you okay?" he asked. "Sorry it took so long."

"Wesley!" she gasped out, her eyes flying back open. Her flustered hands dropped the notebook. "Ah -- Ah -- Ah didn't mean to invade."

He came, sat down on the bed beside her, and took her hands. "Invade what, darling?" he asked.

"Your privacy," she replied. "Ah just couldn't help mahself."

"You didn't, sweetheart. I didn't hear you come in the bathroom."

"Wesley!" she exclaimed. Didn't he understand that she had invaded his private notes, not to mention the page that she knew she wasn't supposed to have found? "Wesley . . . " she spoke his name much softer the second time. Her eyes bashfully lifted to his. "There's . . . There's something we need ta talk about . . . "

"What's that, dear?" he asked even as he reached over and picked up his notebook. Seeing the page it was turned to did not surprise him. He expected her to jump all over him now since he had had the audacity to actually draw her and then write a poem to her. He was going to finish it and give it to her and had not expected that she would find it this way.

"The question."

"Yes? The answer . . . ?"

She remained silent while trying to catch his gaze away from his notebook. Once she'd succeeded in regaining eye contact, she told him in a rush, "The answer's yes."

"Sweet Aphrodite!" He brought her hands to his lips and kissed them. Thank you, Sweet Aphrodite! he prayed in his heart. Help me to take good care of her. "Fred, you just made me the happiest man in the world! I was working on a present for you, but you already saw it. I hope you don't mind?"

"Mind?" She could not believe that he thought she would be upset over such a beautiful gift! "Wesley, it's -- it's beautiful, an' so sweet! Nobody's ever thought that o' me before! You -- You just blew me away with it and . . . and when you asked me earlier! That's why Ah couldn't answer ya sooner! You just surprised me so much!"

"I hope that I'll be able to surprise you many more times, my darling. I never thought I'd get lucky enough to find some one like you, Fred, some one who can share my interests with me and help me with my life's work yet be my loving companion in the bed as well. I don't expect those privileges yet, but one day, when we get married, that is if you will marry me, you'll make me an even happier man." He leaned forward and kissed her on the lips.

Her shining eyes had been staring at him in surprised shock and her delighted brain had been frantically trying to figure out if that was indeed a proposal when Wesley took her lips with his own. Tingles shot through her at his touch, coiling back upwards, wrapping around her spine, and shooting through the top of her head. She returned his kiss timidly at first but then with growing passion.

At the first touch of her lips, Wes thought he had become a bottle rocket and was about to explode into a million colored lights. He already had his mind made up. He wanted to marry Fred, but he didn't want to rush her. Yet he didn't want to wait either! "Fred," he broke off kissing her, "what's on your mind?"

She blushed at his question. Gods, where should she start? And then it all came pouring out. "Ah just can't believe this is happening," she found herself admitting before she could stop her mouth. "Ah mean, to me, of all girls. I'm not one anybody'd ever want, but you do an' you're so handsome an' smart an' chivalrous -- even if you are a Pirate -- an' you actually want me. I mean, I'm nothing, just a wallflower at best, and you want me! An' then you started talking about marriage, an' mah mind really just flew. An' to just think that some one like you could want somebody like me! Gosh, Wesley, you say Ah made you the happiest man in the world, but you just made me happier than any other woman in the world an' happier than Ah evah thought Ah'd have any reason to be! An' you set my soul aflame! An' -- An' -- An' just feelin' you, havin' your lips on mine . . . Ah can't even describe it!" Though her words had spilled out, Fred now found herself completely speechless. Just how could she describe to him the million feelings that he sent soaring through her?

"Fred, I think you're the most beautiful woman I've ever known. I don't see why you think you're a wallflower, but if you are, then all I can say is that wallflowers are the most beautiful flowers in the world and I love you." He leaned forward and took her lips possessively again.

She cupped his face in her hands as she returned his kiss. Her fingers stroked his face as she poured all that she was feeling into the kiss she shared with him.


Shadowcat could not believe her luck! It was bad enough that she was trapped in a world of dinosaurs, trying to take care of the remainants of her crew that included an angry Irish man who was one of the biggest thorns she'd ever had in her side and a Priest who stirred feelings within her that she knew had no business being there, but some one had just dared to puke on her! Thank Gods, she'd phased in time before the awful stuff could actually hit her, but as the stench rose around her, so did her fury. Glaring upwards, Kitty shouted again, but no answer came. She knew whoever had done it was too scared to reveal themself, so she started walking upwards.

Lockheed shivered at his place on her shoulder. "I know, 'Heed. I can't believe it either! The audacity of some people!" Kitty stopped talking as she began to scan the windows for a clue as to who it had been. Lockheed nudged her and then pointed at a window. She looked at where he pointed and found a teary-eyed blonde staring at her with a mouth wide open and a scream coming out.

At the sound of Elizabeth's scream, Autolycus was on his feet and at the window before he even had his eyes open. "What's wrong, 'Liz . . . Elizabeth?" he asked.

Elizabeth took one shaking hand away from her mouth to point at the girl who stood in the air directly outside her window. It was then that Shadowcat stuck her head in through the glass. "Just what's the idea of dumping puke out there!" Elizabeth, even more shocked now, stumbled back into Autolycus' arms.

"Huh?" Autolycus asked. "I don't know anything about that! I don't think any one was throwing it at you, miss! Won't you come in the rest of the way?"

"Don't mind if I do," Shadowcat murmured in reply as she, and thus the dragon on her shoulder, entered the room. "Now are you going to tell me that neither one of you had an accident tonight?"

Though she was quaking, Elizabeth slowly held up a single finger.

"That's what I thought." She could not continue to vent her anger on the frightened woman before her, however. "Look. Just next time, try not to throw it out without first making sure nobody's out there."

"But -- But I thought that Jack said that no one should go outside."

"He may be your Captain," Kitty replied, "but he's not mine. Besides, somebody's gotta get food."

"You mean there's no food in the house so you have to go out and hunt for it?"

Kitty paused. She hadn't thought that the house might have any food left in it, but she didn't let on to that fact. "Where do you think the food would come from?" she asked him. "Somebody's got to hunt it so that Chong can cook it."

"Well, this is Jack's house, and the last I knew he had fully stocked it. There should be some kind of food here."

"Maybe," Kitty finally relented. "I . . . We didn't stop to think that there might be anything left over from the dinosaurs. I guess we're just too used to having to kill our meals." Elizabeth paled even more at the brunette's choice of words.

"Well, we still might have to kill something. I think you should look in the pantry first, but it's time to retire. We'll eat tomorrow." He gave a huge yawn, hoping that she'd take the message and leave.

"You retire," Kitty told him. "Somebody's got to stay on the alert." Without another word, she walked past them and left out the door without ever bothering to open it.

Still shaking, Elizabeth looked nervously up at Autolycus.

"It's okay, honey. You need to go to bed now. You've had a rough night." Taking her by the hand, he led her toward the bed. "Let's try to get some sleep, shall we?" He waited for her to lay down.

Elizabeth was tired but doubted she would actually be able to sleep. Still, she laid down and covered up. "Thank you," she told him. It seemed she was thanking this man a lot.

"Dare I suggest . . . I hold you for a while? Maybe if you put your head on my shoulder, you might relax and fall asleep?"

She gazed at him for a long moment. She knew no other woman would trust this scoundrel, but the man himself had proven himself trust-worthy time and again to her. After all, had she not been the only one to breach the trust between them? Even that had been purely by accident. She nodded at last. "I . . . I'd like that. I tried to sleep earlier, but . . . I just couldn't stop thinking about my father," she admitted.

"I'm sorry about your father, Elizabeth, but you're not to blame for his death. I'm sure you did the best you could by him while you were with him. Now's a time for you to get used to being with you, to come to know yourself, and to leave your past behind." He smiled at her, got into the bed, and reached out, pulling her close until her head rested on his shoulder. "Sweet dreams, Elizabeth. If you need me, wake me."

She nodded against his shoulder. "Sweet dreams, Autolycus, and thank you for . . . for being such a good friend." She closed her eyes and let the reassuring feel of his body beside hers lull her guard. She slowly began to relax.

He felt the tenseness go out of her body and was glad. Her last words had not been what he'd wanted to hear, but he'd hold that as a small treasure until such time as something else stronger developed between them. Each second with her was a treasure in itself. He felt himself begin to relax even as she relaxed. Seconds later, he was asleep, dreaming of the woman he held in his arms.

Autolycus' scent and the feel of his body enveloped Elizabeth in a warm cocoon. His gentle breathing as he fell asleep and then his quiet snores played a lullaby on her ears until sleep at last conquered her too.


Lex looked at the sleeping children. Celina had been kind enough to put them to bed as Katrina was just as messy as Lex and Clark were and had instantly headed off with Tom in search of a way to get Salem's puke off of her. Lex was wishing for a nice hot bath but knew it was impossible to get one. He knew that Clark had worked something out with the water but wasn't sure what. He now looked at his partner. "Clark, we need baths."

"Well, that's not a problem . . . " Clark frowned as quickly as he had started. "But clothes are."

"Let's get the bath first and then we'll worry about clothes."

"What if the kids wake up?"

"Well, we'll leave the door open to the bathroom."

Clark shook his head. "Lex, you're not following me. What if they wake up before we find clothes?"

"Oh! Well, we could wrap a towel around ourselves. I seem to recall a huge shipment of fluffy towels being sent here? There should be some in our bathroom."

Clark nodded. "That'll work." He picked up their candle and began to lead the way to the bathroom.

Lex eyed the bathroom. It was small with a wooden bathtub in the center. By the light of the candle, he could see a sink and a chamberpot. He needed to relieve himself and felt much better afterwards. "Why don't you draw us a bath, Clark?" He didn't want to approach the metal objects as he didn't know how they worked. He knew Clark had designed them.

"Sure," Clark answered with a knowing grin, "no problem." He set the candle down in a safe place, walked over to the tub, and sat on its side. Reaching over, he picked up a small, round object that waited on one of the tub's corners and stuck it into a hole in the tub. Then looking up at Lex with a waiting smile, Clark turned the handles, sending water rushing out.

Lex reached out and touched the water. It wasn't hot but luke warm, and he was thankful for it. He stripped the kilt off, let it fall to the floor, and eased himself into the tub. "You wash me, and I'll wash you," he grinned at Clark. He couldn't wait to run his hands over those muscles he had seen in action that day!

With his smile ever growing, Clark stood, walked over to the door, and closed it. He then dropped his kilt and kicked it so that it joined Lex's on the floor. Rejoining Lex, he lowered himself into the tub. He grabbed the soap as he descended behind Lex and then began to wash his back.

Lex relaxed as Clark's magic fingers began to wash him. "I'm proud of what you've done with the bathroom. I know there's several things that have to be worked out yet, but this bathtub is a true marvel! If we could just figure out how to get hot water in here, it'd be paradise!"

"Then we should try it during the daylight," Clark told his lover with a mischievous twinkle dancing in his blue eyes. If Lex liked this water, he couldn't wait to see his reaction to a bath with the sun up!

Lex had just began to lean backwards into Clark and Clark had barely taken his lips with his own when a strange noise erupted from the wall next to them and a hole began to appear. Clark's mouth left his beloved's as his widened blue eyes stared at the hole. "What the -- !"

"I have no idea," Lex said. "We need to find something to hit it with. Could it be a dinosaur?" He was about to climb out of the tub to get a weapon of some kind when Carl burst through the wall.

"Hi, guys!" the Gnome grinned at them. "Hope I'm not interrupting anything, but I guess I am."

"Carl, you're always interrupting! Every time you're interrupting! What do you want this time?" Lex asked him.

"This time I've got a good excuse!"

"Really?" Clark queried doubtfully. He'd have to see this one to believe it.

"Yup!" Carl grinned. He wriggled himself out of the tunnel, dropped to the bathroom floor, and then proceeded to pull clothes out of the tunnel. "I found these, and they look like they'll fit you."

Lex could not believe the thoughtfulness of the Gnome. For the first time, he'd actually done something good for them! "Thanks, Carl," he told him. "I really appreciate it. If I can do anything for you, let me know."

Clark had been just as surprised as Lex at Carl's gift. "The same goes for me," he told the Gnome with a smile.

Carl beamed. They actually appreciated him!

"Now, if you don't mind, Carl, Clark and I have a little unfinished . . . "

Lex was interrupted by Carl's, "I know; I know. Carl, get going! Bye, guys!" He disappeared down the tunnel with Lex peering after him.

Clark broke the ice. "So that's how he gets around the ship so quickly!"

"Gnomes dig tunnels, and apparently Carl digs a lot of them. That's how he keeps popping up all over the place." Lex turned around before settling back down into the water, grabbing the soap, and beginning to wash Clark.


Salem had been relishing every bite of his mouse and dining slowly as to make the meal last longer when he heard Faith and Dawson not only growing in passion but seeming to come closer. He looked up just in time to see them come stumbling into the room in a passionate fit so heated that he would have sworn they were already connected. They continued stumbling their way, heading straight for him and the bed. With a screech, Salem grabbed his mouse and ran for the closet. He shut its door just as the couple fell across the bed.


Ororo's eyes flashed open in the darkness. She had been sleeping very lightly, but Logan's snores had not managed to deter her worried dreams until they grew so loud that they rattled the door to the balcony. In their sleep, his arm had managed to find its way around her and she had become nestled into his chest. Now she gently and quietly wriggled her way out from underneath him and slipped out of the bed.

After a quick trip to the bathroom, 'Ro made her way outside to the balcony. She came to a stop at the railing and closed her eyes as her hands rested on it. Gentle night winds whipped at her clothes and whistled through her long, white hair. Despite all her worries and concerns, Mother Earth was still calling to her this night, but She called to a part of Ororo that she had covered up many years ago . . . a part that Logan threatened to bring back out.

Logan turned over, and his hand reached out to grope for 'Ro. She was no longer in the bed. "Little darlin'?" he called. "Where are you?" When there was no answer, he came fully awake. He sniffed the night breezes and followed them until he found her. 'Ro was extremely beautiful under the moonlight. He stood and watched as the night breezes played with her hair. She looked like a Goddess to him. He was about to step out on the balcony when she made a movement with her hand, causing a small raincloud to appear over her. He decided to watch and not make his presence known yet.

Despite everything, Ororo could not help dwelling on Logan and the way a simple touch from him set her very soul on fire. She was not a complete stranger to the ways of the heart, but the feelings he invoked in her were unknown to her. They were stronger than anything she'd ever felt before, and as the night breezes played over her body, she could not help recalling his touches and kisses until her body cried out for release. It was then that she summoned the raincloud.

As the gentle rain fell on her upturned face, Ororo still thought of Logan. She knew she had to get these feelings out of her before she moved on him in a way that might well lead to only heartbreak. With another gesture of her hands, she rose a mist around the balcony but did not think about covering herself from behind. Then, with the rain still running down her body, she began to undress.

Logan almost had a heart attack! Part of him wanted to let 'Ro know that he was there, but the other part of him wouldn't move, let alone speak. The blood rushed straight to his loins, and he had a sudden erection. He couldn't just walk out there with her, or could he? While he pondered his dilemma, he watched 'Ro.

Ororo deposited her clothes into a single pool which she then used a slender foot to push out from under the rain. Then, fully naked in the sanctuary of night time, Ororo let herself dream. Where the rain fell onto her body, she imagined Logan's fingers first and then his mouth. She stretched higher, tilting her head further back, so that the water soaked her hardened breasts. The drops ran further downwards from there, and she whispered his name into the night.

He could stand still no longer! He was hard and ready for her, and she was ready for him, as well, and calling his name! He dropped his pants, leaving them behind. They had been the only piece of clothes he'd had on, and now he was naked. He stepped onto the balcony. "'Ro?" he replied, scarcely believing that she had actually called him.

The sound of Logan's voice startled her. She opened her eyes and turned to face him despite the embarrassment that rose within the lady part of her. What she saw made her ache even more for as handsome as he was clothed, he was even sexier with nothing standing between them. She could see his sword in all its massive glory and had to swallow the groan that rose in her throat. "Logan, I . . . I . . . " She flustered for words and finally ended up with, "I did not realize you were awake."

"Awake, willing, and able!" he said as he moved swiftly to stand in front of her. "Nothing is between us any more." He reached out, pulling her glorious naked body close to his. He kissed her even as his hands sought her luscious melons and stroked them.

Ororo's breasts arched in his hands as she returned his kiss in full. She knew the wise, ladylike thing would be to move away from him now, but she was tired of playing a part that she did not feel and of hiding her true self. Mother Nature had been calling to her all night to be herself and let her urges run freely, and Logan's presence made it impossible not to adhere. Still, her heart thundered in her chest not only of anticipation but of fear, as well, for she did not want to lose this man.

Although 'Ro was much taller than Logan, he was strong enough to lift her and bring her down upon his sword. It was hard and shot home immediately straight into her sheath which felt like a warm glove caressing him.

Ororo gasped and nearly screamed in pleasure. Thunder and lightning blasted across the sky. They shared another kiss before Logan began working his way downwards. He rained a trail of kisses down her arched neck before taking one of her breasts into his mouth. Her moans grew, and she lifted her legs, wrapping herself around him and pulling him deeper inside of her. Her hands roamed each inch of his body that she could reach, freely and lovingly caressing his muscles, and the breezes she conjured caressed the rest of him.

His body was more alive than he'd ever felt it in all of his many years! His every sense was tingling! When the breezes started caressing him, it was almost more than he could stand. He felt himself reaching the peak, but still she took him higher than he'd ever before climbed. He found completeness with 'Ro that he'd never had with any one and knew that this was the woman he wanted to spend the rest of his life with doing what they were doing now if possible. He felt her nails rake his back even as they shot over the top together.

Ororo had never thought that it was possible to feel the way Logan made her feel, but as he took her ever higher, all her fears fell away, leaving only the two of them and their passion in its wake. Her legs tightened around him as they shot over the last stars together and then began to slowly relax around him as they fell back to earth, still together.

Still inside her, Logan carried her back to their bed where he felt himself become immediately hard again, and so began the dance once more . . .

To Be Continued . . .