Excerpt from
Inferno

"What is it?" she asked uneasily. Dray looked down and then slowly expelled the breath she'd been holding since the sensitive flesh of her inner arms had been caressed.

"I just... I'm not really comfortable with anyone touching me there. It doesn't hurt, it just brings back some bad memories."

Abby slowly moved her hands back up to touch the faint pink lines of the old burns. Dray flinched again and Abby could tell it was taking all her willpower not to push her away.

"I've seen scars before and they don't bother me, okay? I think you have the most beautiful body I've ever seen in my life. Nothing could ever detract from that. 'Sides, these are a part of you and I wanna know all of you, Dray. I don't know how to say this without sounding like some sort of... dork," she paused, biting her lip.

Abby's reluctance to continue peaked Dray's curiosity. "What is it?" she asked with a cock of her head.

"I... well, I felt this connection between us the first time I saw you but I thought it was your..." She cleared her throat, "...your shoulders and your smile. And, well, there was some sexual attraction going on. At least I sure felt it."

Abby saw the beginnings of a smile play over the decidedly luscious lips of her soon to be lover. Encouraged, she went on. "I don't know if you realize it but you have this animal magnetism thing working for you; it just exudes from every pore. And so I wondered what making love to you would be like. But I was also a bit...um...my life is kinda complicated right now. I don't...I'm not working, I don't really have a place to stay and, well, I don't need someone feeling sorry for me," she tucked a strand of hair behind an ear, "and getting involved didn't feel like the right thing to do right now."

"What changed?"

"You. I've seen the things you've done. Not just for me but for other people and I'd be a fool to throw that chance away. You know where I come from Ð no place special Ð but still you see something here in me. I gotta admit I like that feeling, too."

Dray felt the woman's soft fingers tracing her lips and smiled crookedly in acknowledgement. "Kinda scary, huh? But kinda nice."

Abby nodded, somewhat side tracked by the softness of the woman's lips. "I know it sounds strange...but it feels like I've been given a second chance to find something I didn't even know was missing. Like I found..."

Dray kissed the fingers covering her mouth and finished the sentence. "...The missing piece of the puzzle?"

Abby nodded softly.

Dray watched, as Abby's face seemed to light up, then the petite woman hugged her close again and Dray felt as if her heart was going to burst; this simple acknowledgement of their connection seemed to free them both from the latest tendrils of uncertainty.

"Hey you," murmured the firefighter, "you're turning blue. I'm sorry about the hot water. Maybe a bit later..."

Abby smiled and boldly took the woman's hands, leading her back into the main room towards the rumpled bed. "I think I have a way better idea for warming me up," she smirked.

---