Editing Story:ROAD TRIP! (Warhammer High)/Part Five (section)

===Sleeping Together===


The next morning, after the poker game broke up and the group bedded down, Jake stirred to wakefulness.  Something hot and soft was touching his wrist and moving the sheets.  “Venus?” he slurred, looking around in the darkness.

She winced.  “Sorry,” she whispered, as she slid back into bed.  “I didn’t want to wake you.”

Jake sighed.  She had just been in the head.  One of the few drawbacks of sharing a bed.  He glanced at the clock and groaned to himself.  He wasn’t supposed to get up for another hour, and Venus wasn’t going to for another half an hour.  The winter days of Fenris had thrown their schedules for a loop.  “Well, I’m not going to fall back to sleep,” he said, sitting up in the bed.

“My bad,” Venus said.  She opened her eyes, adding a second set of red lights to the room, which had previously been lit only by the clock.

Jake looked away, blinking afterimages out of his vision.  “Not a problem.”  He sat still, feeling the cool air of the room on his bare arms.  The thin shirt he was wearing still had a little of her heat in it.  The cold wood headboard against his back chilled him.  Wood on the Fang.  He wondered how much that had cost.

“Something wrong?” Venus asked.

“No, just thinking about stuff.”  Jake crossed his arms over his chest and stared into the inky darkness.  “You looking forward to school?”

“Absolutely,” Venus said with quiet happiness.  “I can’t wait.”

“I’ll be an employee, not a student, so it may take a while to get a degree, but…me too,” Jake said.  She reached over and gently stroked the back of his hand with one fingertip, leaving a trail of heat behind it.  He smiled and he knew she could see it, even with her eyes narrowed to slits.

He looked down at her face, seeing the two tiny red lines in the complete darkness.  He slowly moved one hand over to her chin and tilted her head, looking at her eyes.  One of the slits narrowed a bit and the other expanded slightly as she raised an eyebrow, but she didn’t move.  “You know, I can’t get over how cool that is,” Jake said faintly, tracing his hand over her cheek.  “I can’t even see you except these two little red parts.”

Venus laughed under her breath and caught his hand.  He leaned over her and continued.  “I hope whatever apartment we get on campus at Kouthry has a really high-end air conditioner, so we can keep this up,” he said, gesturing at their sleeping arrangements.  She smiled and flicked her fingers in the darkness.  The infrared sensors in the thermostat caught the movement and plunged the temperature of the room down thirty degrees.  Jake slid back down under the covers and entwined himself with Venus.

“If you don’t mind?” she asked sleepily.

“Why would I?” he said quietly, resting his head on her shoulder.  He closed his eyes and relaxed, letting her fiery heat push back the room’s chill.  She slid one hand back behind his head and ran her fingers through his tight curls, then gently held him to her chest.

“All right…” she said.  His body always felt so cool to her.

“I’m glad you smell good,” he said blearily.

Venus slowly tilted her head down to look at where his face was buried against her.  “Come again?”

“My second girlfriend never took care of herself, or used bad soap, or whatever, but she always smelled like sweat.”  He draped one arm over her flank to wrap around her back.  “You just smell good.”

Venus nodded.  “Ah.”  She set her head back down.  “What was her name?”

“My ex?  Fais Calet,” Jake said.

“The Tallarn exchange student?” Venus asked.  “Didn’t know you two were an item.”

“For a few months.  I wasn’t going anywhere long-term with her,” Jake said tiredly, “but I was rebounding from Hana and she put out and she didn’t hate hivers, so…yeah.”

“Mmm.”  Venus considered that.  “I knew I wasn’t your first, I just didn’t know her name.”

“I got…you know…” Jake yawned.

“Yeah, you showed me,” Venus said.  After their first night had been unprotected, Jake had discreetly provided her with his chart from the doctor he had visited after getting dumped by Fais.  Venus, of course, had been a virgin.

Jake closed his eyes and held still against her until his breath slowed a little.  Venus relaxed and listened to the faint sound of his watch in the box on the nightstand mingle with the regular sound of his heart and breaths in a quiet rhythm.  The two of them just lay there, dozing in each other's arms, until the alarm sounded.  Venus rose to bathe before going to the gym, and after a moment’s thought, Jake did too.  As fun as it was to snuggle with his girlfriend, it was always a bit sweaty, and he certainly wasn’t going to sleep again.