My eyelids crack open against my will and the blinding sunlight streaming through the window has me snapping them shut again. “Fucking Christ,” I mutter under my breath. Where the hell am I and why do I feel as if my head is being pounded with a sledgehammer?
“It’s about time you woke. I don’t have an eternity to wait for you and neither does the country.” Ian’s voice drawls.
“Are you still here?” I ask sitting up, my eyes still tightly closed against the morning light.
“Yes I am.” Ian replies matter-of-factly before shoving a steaming mug of coffee into my hands. “I was pondering the information you gave me while you slept. I suppose it is possible. We are going to need to run a few experiments though. Testing is required to see if your energy levels will rise enough to recharge the crystal.”
“Testing? What kind of testing?” I hastily gulp a mouthful of the strong black coffee and am rewarded with a scalded tongue. “I think I need to wake up a bit more before we talk testing and science and such.”
“No. It can’t wait another moment. I have already sent a telegram to Tesla. He is currently in his home in Colorado Springs, but he promises to hop the next steam speeder headed this way.” Ian throws a pile of clothing down beside me on the faded quilt. “I don’t have much in the way of women’s clothing, but you can help yourself.” Ian shoves his hands into the pockets of his coffee-brown trousers and looks oddly shy at being in the presence of a woman.
Glancing down, I realize I am completely nude from the waist up. “Oh, come on, Ian. It isn’t like you haven’t become intimately acquainted with my breasts already.”
“Dreams and reality are two different things, ma’am.” Ian clarifies, studying the toe of his boot with extraordinary interest.
“Dear God, you weren’t a virgin, were you?”
“Of course not, but working in the lab for weeks on end doesn’t afford much time to study matters of the flesh.” Ian confesses.
Great, my soul mate is inexperienced in the sex department. Lucky me. “I guess we will just have to play teacher and student to catch you up. Although you seemed perfectly adequate yesterday as I recall.”
“Yes, well something tells me adequate isn’t going to generate the power we need to recharge the crystal.” With a serious furrow in his brow Ian holds up a small voltage meter. “We need to figure out exactly what brings your energy forth and what makes it the strongest.”
“You are saying that we need to fuck for your little experiment?” With a clatter of china I set my coffee mug on a small wooden bedside table. “Why didn’t you say so? Fucking just happens to be a specialty of mine.”
“Just wait a minute, woman.” Ian demands impatiently. “I need to set up a bit, and I don’t mean to be picky here, but you could use a bath. I took the liberty of heating one for you. It is in the room just down the hall and to the left.”
“Well aren’t you a gentleman?” I ask with a sneer. After a quick perusal of my mud-smeared body, I decide that maybe Ian has a point. I slide out of bed and stretch, working the kinks out of my back and neck. I smile a bit when I catch Ian staring at me in all my nude glory. “I’ll be back in a jiff, darling, don’t start without me.” My bare feet make muted thuds as I traverse the carpeted hallway. This is definitely a man’s house. It is all dark wood and sparsely decorated. I prefer this to the decadence exhibited by the aristocratic circle.
The simple washroom, with steaming water in an enormous white claw-footed tub, is the most beautiful room I have ever seen in my life to this point,. Just for me. That is a commodity hard to find and a welcome treat. The ache in my chest has eased to a dull annoyance. I still think it should be completely better; that old woman must have lied to me. Oh well, I guess everyone has to die eventually. The deliciously hot water envelops me, lapping over my body in seductive strokes. An overactive libido is one of the drawbacks of being half-succubus. Even the gentle caress of the water starts an ache of epic proportions in my core.
My body slides beneath the surface, my head following. I lie here in the liquid haven of the bath and contemplate my options. I can run off and live what little life I have left as I always have. Or I can stay here with a man I don’t even know and see if we can save each other. I let my head break the surface of the water, each bead of liquid trailing a path over my skin igniting a fire. Rising from the tub, I grab a large sheet of fluffy cloth and wrap myself in it. I guess I should go see what Ian is up to. We have work to do.