Chapter Sixteen
Bari
For the first time since Ahearn’s accident, I woke not just refreshed but satiated as well. It didn’t take long for my damp, sticky briefs to explainwhyI felt so good. With Ahearn still sleeping behind me, his arm resting over my middle, I should have been mortified, but, truthfully, I just felt too good to let myself worry. After all, if I changed before he noticed my soiled underwear, he’d never even know that just being in bed with him again had seemingly been enough to bring me to orgasm.
Struggling to a sitting position, I kept the blanket over my waist as I gently nudged Ahearn’s shoulder. “Ahearn? Can you please let me up?”
“Mm?” Ahearn yawned, revealing the oversized fangs and forked tongue common to dragons. “What?”
“Can you please let me up?” I repeated nervously. “I, ah, need the facilities.”
Ahearn grumbled something I didn’t catch, but he sat up, swinging his legs to the floor to make room for me to climb off the bed. Grabbing my pants and tugging them into place quickly, I managed a small smile. “Thank you.”
Unable to grab clean underwear from my bag with him watching, I settled for scrubbing myself clean with wet paper towels in the lavatory and then stuffing the dirty shorts into my pocket until I had the privacy to switch them out for a clean pair. Hopefully, I thought with a sigh, after a hot shower, but one look at the miniscule shower stall had me doubtful I could be shoehorned out of it if I made my way in.
Back in the roomette I found that Ahearn had not been idle during my absence. The bed was once again two chairs with a foldout table between them. On the table were several bottles of water and an assortment of packaged snacks he’d purchase in the lounge car that morning.
“You should be hungry,” he greeted with a frown. “Unfortunately, we slept through the lunch service.”
“This is fine,” I assured him, taking my seat and accepting the open bottle of water he handed me. I bit into a fruit-stuffed snack bar with a pleased hum. “Did you sleep well?”
To my surprise, Ahearn choked on a bite of cheese. When he finally was able to clear it and stopped coughing, he couldn’t seem to meet my eyes. “Yes, very.”
“Is something wrong?” I couldn’t help but ask as a dull red flush rose in his cheeks. “Do you need the doctor?”
“No,” he coughed again before clearing his throat. “That is, I’m fine,” he clarified. “I slept very well.” Still not meeting my eyes, he cleared his throat again. “We still have a few hours before dinner, so why don’t we stroll up to the observation car? The sun should be setting in an hour or so and that will give us a pleasant view.”
“Okay,” I agreed. “I believe I have a puzzle book here somewhere.” When I leaned into my bag to search for it, I heard the rustling of fabric and then Ahearn was dressed and kneeling to put on his boots.
The rest of the day was much more pleasant than I could have hoped for. We watched the early sunset and I oohed and aahed over the spectacular colors. When the last of the light streaking the sky began to dim, our code was announced over the loudspeaker for dinner service.
The night before, Roderick had brought me a meal in the medical car and I’d missed both breakfast and lunch service, so when Ahearn led me into the dining car, it was a new experience for me. The bustling atmosphere full of clanking dishes and dozens of voices was far from the sedate dining experience I’d anticipated.
I was still gawking at the people packed into tables like sardines when Ahearn nudged me with his shoulder. “Yes?”
He nodded to where a large woman stood next to a table with a harried expression. “She’s waiting for us.”
“But there are already people at the table,” I disputed.
Ahearn snickered, something I hadn’t heard in a very long time. “Yes, Bari. If you think back, they fill the tables completely. We will have to share the table.”
As he said the words, I flashed back to our last train trip and, yes, he was right that I should have remembered. “Of course, silly of me.”
I moved cautiously down the aisle, careful not to lose my balance as the train swayed back and forth until I finally squeezed into the open bench seat. Ahearn slid in beside me and I offered an apologetic smile. “I’m afraid I’m not as compact as I used to be.”
“We’ll make do,” Ahearn said dismissively, passing me one of the two menus the server had left.
With the left side of Ahearn’s body pressed firmly against mine, it was all I could do to concentrate enough to read it. When Ahearn mused aloud that he was going to have the wine braised beef, I promptly agreed that that sounded very good and dropped my menu back to the table.
Our companions at the table were pleasant and we conversed easily as we ate. It wasn’t until I was again tucked against Ahearn’s mostly nude body in the lower bunk waiting for sleep that it occurred to me what he had said.
“Yes, Bari. If you think back, they fill the tables completely. We will have to share the table.”
It was almost more than I could hope, but was it possible that Ahearn was starting to remember?
