Beyond Midnight

|16|

     His dark gray hair is tousled from sleep. It only makes him more handsome.

     "Nothing, I'm fine, everything is fine...." I trail off, feeling awkward.

      This isn't me. I'm not one to be a shy little dove by any means, not even around Fray. But our kiss kind of shook me. He didn't speak to me much after, and it has me second guessing myself a little bit. I've never been faced with a situation like this before.

     "I can't sleep, and I was wondering if you would want to..."

     Fray's dark eyebrows lift. A small smile grows on his lips. All I want to do is kiss him all over again.

      "You wish to share my nest with me?" He offers, and now it's my turn to be confused. I cock my head to the side.

     "Nest?"

     His face furrows.

     "Where I sleep? What do you call it?" His explanation makes me giggle. Fray's smile broadens at my reaction. He has yet to release my shoulders, but I don't mind. His touch warms me.

     "A bed." I supply, and he laughs, a loud bark of a noise.

     "How odd." He quips, and now that he mentions it, it is kind of weird. Nest makes more sense. That's what we call where animals sleep, so why not call our own beds that?

     Fray let's go of me, and my disappointment is replaced with excitement when he steps back into his room and moves to the side so I can come in.

     I grin, stepping inside and surveying the new room. The commander's suite, I suppose, is the best room on board.

     The room is simple enough, and similar to mine in color. But it's much larger, and so is the bed. Or nest, I guess. It has to be enormous to fit such a big guy. And enormous it is. It's larger than any bed I've ever seen.

     "Why is your nest so much bigger than mine?" I wonder out loud. If they don't have women on their planet, why would they have beds that are my size?

     Fray stalks over to his dark gray bed sheets, fluffing one of the pillows.

     "We brought some smaller beds built for kits. We have plenty, since there aren't any kits any more. Our young are about your size when they are 7 rotations. We assumed it would be more comfortable." He gives me a pointed look. "I guess we were wrong."

     I chuckle, moving closer to the bed that looks so enticing. Despite the odd words he uses, I understand what he's saying. I'm the size as a child on his planet. I knew I was short, but I can't imagine a 7 year old being as big as me.

     Fray let's me hop on the bed before him. I snuggle under the heavy covers, taking a deep breath in and moaning. The scent of Fray is overwhelming. I love it.

     The bed remains still, and I flutter my eyes open expectantly up at my companion. His eyes are wide, his silver hair glints in the dim lighting. But I can see his expression loud and clear. His adam's apple bobs as he swallows.

     For a moment I wonder why he's acting like this, and then I remember the sound I just made. I blush.

     "Sorry about that." I say, embarrassed. I just feel so comfortable around him, so uninhibited. I enjoy it. I can finally be myself.

     Fray simply nods. He climbs under the covers and scoots close to me, but not close enough for my liking. I crawl towards him like a tiny predator, wrapping my arms around him and squeezing.