Kittul got to within sight of Zed’s apartment before she remembered she didn't have a key. For a moment she considered trying to find another place to crash. Allie chose that moment to whine piteously in her sleep, her stomach rumbling ominously. Kittul shook her head and crept closer, Allie cradled protectively in the crook of her arm.

When she reached to try the handle, she heard the door unlock. She leapt away, landing behind the ornamental bushes in front of the building. In midair she heard another faint click. Hidden in the bushes, she waited for Zed's door to open. After five minutes frozen in the shadow of the shrubbery, she crept forward once more.

As she reached for the handle, she heard the lock click again. This time she froze. She stared at the peephole set in the door, but it remained dark. Forcing herself to stillness, she listened. The only heartbeats she heard were her own and Allie's thready pulse. Trembling, she grasped the handle and turned. The door swung open silently on hinges that smelled faintly of oil. She stepped inside, peering intently into the darkened interior.

She let the door swing closed behind her as she crept through the apartment. The moment it closed, she heard the muted sound of a solenoid, followed by the click of the lock securing the door. She oozed along the hall to the bathroom, every sense alert for the slightest sound, the tiniest hint of movement. Nothing jumped out at her. A faint smell of old cologne lingered in the bathroom. The nest of blankets Zed left her in remained in its place, so she tucked Allie in and continued her search of the apartment.

Without turning on the lights or making a sound, Kittul crept through the bedroom. Ignoring the growling in her stomach she shifted down to cat and checked under the bed. When she was sure nothing was hiding there, she shifted back to Neko to check the closet. Her exaggerated feline senses heard nothing but Allie's slow, even breathing and her own carefully controlled panting. Blessing the fact that for whatever reason Zed's bedroom had no windows, she crept back down the hallway toward the kitchen. As she passed the front door, her neck tingled, and the front door unlocked.

Kittul leapt for the counter. She landed in her cat form, claws scratching at the countertop as she stared at the door. It stayed stubbornly shut. A brief eternity of waiting later, the lock secured itself. A suspicion formed in her mind. Forcing her body to obey, she shifted back to Neko form as she leapt for the floor. The moment she got within arm's reach, she felt a now familiar tingle in her neck and the door unlocked itself.

Kittul slipped backward, padded feet still noiseless. She counted quietly. Just as she hit thirty, the lock clicked again. A grin split her face at her discovery. Before Kittul could play with her new electronic find, her stomach cramped painfully. She scrabbled at the tuna cabinet, pulling out a can and ripping it open with her bare claws. She gulped down the tuna, tongue rasping at the interior of the can to capture every last drop of oil.

The fish slipped down her throat, the oil kept her from choking on it. It hit Kittul's stomach, and fatigue washed over her. She leaned on the counter, forcing herself to stay upright as her body stripped the nutrition from the tuna with frightening speed. When the fatigue passed, hunger still tugged at her. She pulled down three more cans of tuna. This time she carefully used her claws to slice the tops off the cans, sipping down the excess oil before it could spill.

Savoring every bite, she worked her way through two of the cans. The third she carried to the bathroom and tucked into the blankets with Allie. The kitten's nose twitched at the smell. One eye slipped open a slit, and she lapped at the fish before settling back to sleep. Kittul breathed a quiet sigh of relief. If the little Neko were still in danger of starving, her body would have forced her to gobble down the food. By her reaction, she needed rest more than calories.

Kittul's sigh shifted her shoulders, and in the silence of the apartment she heard the distinctive ring of metal on metal, muffled only slightly by her fur. She shifted to human and her back tensed, wringing another musical chime from her tag. Before she could panic, she forced herself to breathe, slow and deep. In and out, over and over, until her spine straightened. She looked her mirror self in the eye and stared, searching out any remaining terror and banishing it.

Karin had lived through being a plaything. She didn't want to do that again, but if the other option was the death of an innocent little abused kitten, she would show Zed what playing meant. The moment she thought that Zed's face floated before her inner eye. His smile, his warm hands, his kindness, all those things pushed her panic back. She realized with a start that if Zed really wanted her, she might not have to force herself. After Kent, she doubted she would ever be interested again, but her interest wasn't really the important part.

Another sigh shifted her shoulders. The metal in her neck didn't care if she sighed in satisfaction or melancholy, it shifted and rang. Seized by a sudden desire to see how Zed had marked her, she flicked the bathroom light on and twisted around until she could see the piercing. Working with painstaking care, she unscrewed one end of the barbell and pulled it out. The little square was metal, but Kittul had no idea what kind. The barbell had the same silvery rainbow sheen, and when she toyed with either of them, she found that the metal was flexible, but always sprang back to the same shape. The tag had a simple inscription, sparkling rainbow silver on the shiny surface.

Kittul

42A University Blvd

(856) 555-1792

Her breath caught in her throat, and for a few moments she stood torn between terror and affection. In the end, one thing kept her from running out the door and never coming back. Only one name on the tag. Hers. Zed hadn’t claimed ownership of her, he told the world she had a home. The moment she put words to her nameless fears and hopes, her fright vanished, overcome completely by a feeling of contentment.

Another thought struck her almost immediately. The tag wasn’t cheap base metal. Neither was the barbell. They were obviously expensive, but they weren’t precious metals. Karin remembered from a login screen ‘tip’ that many supernatural creatures, Shifters included, were allergic to silver and gold. With his experience at the Agency, Zed would know that too.

He knew. He knew or he suspected, and he didn’t care; he’d invited her into his home, told her without words that she had a place here, no matter who or what she was.

Carefully, reverently, she picked up her new piercing and maneuvered it back into place. She felt a lump there, under the skin. She suspected it was an RFID and suspected that it said much the same as the tag. Kittul smiled at the thought of Zed agonizing over the wording. A sudden desire to help her benefactor seized her and she wandered to the kitchen looking for something she could do for him.

Before she did anything else she shifted back to Neko and demolished three more cans of tuna. Fortified, she turned on the lights and poked through the pantry. Within a few minutes she realized by the state of his larder that Zed was a committed bachelor. There were two beef franks, half a carton of orange juice, and some milk that was more than half cheese in the refrigerator. The cupboards held four mostly empty boxes of cereal, a loaf of what used to be bread, a half empty package of matzo crackers…

And case after case of tuna.

Shaking her head with affection, Kittul started on the kitchen. In short order, using a few hand towels and a roll of paper ones, she had the dirt mostly gone, the garbage in a can, and some coffee from a hidden stash brewing. She also had a handful of loose change. She wanted to buy some food for Zed, but even at a bodega she would need at least a little money. She stacked her loot up on the counter and moved down the hall toward the living room.

Halfway there she stopped, looking at the front door. Centered on the bottom of the door was a small cat door. When she left, she'd been in too much of a panic to notice. When she returned, it was too dark to notice the small, almost concealed door. She leaned over to look at it and felt a tingle in the nape of her neck. The cat door swung free with a click as the door unlocked. She leaned back, and the moment she was a few feet from the door it clicked shut again, the sound of a small motor locking the flap back in place loud in her enhanced ears. The tingle in her neck went away as quickly as it started.

Karin grinned at the thought. Implants were ubiquitous where she was from, but she hadn’t seen them here. This one was primitive but did the job it was designed for nicely.

Kittul turned and, wishing she could purr in her human form, attacked the living room.

***

Sue was heavy for being so thin. I lay, spent, on the broad bench in the sleeper cab of her truck. She draped herself over me, the weight of her limbs pinning me in place. I probably could have wiggled my way out from under her, but I certainly couldn't do it without waking her up. Her elbow jabbed my side, making it tough to get to sleep. Her faint snores vibrated through my chest, slowly but surely draining whatever tension remained in my body.

I suppose it says something about Sue's bedroom skills that even with her snoring and pointy elbows, I still drifted slowly towards sleep myself. I was completely sated; I'd lost track of how many times she'd gotten a rise out of me. She seemed as satisfied as I was. Just before the last time I'd climaxed, Sue clamped her thighs around me so hard my sides still ached. As I spent myself inside her, her whole body clenched and shuddered hard enough to make the big truck beneath us rock on its springs. After that, she'd rolled me over so she could lay on me and fallen asleep with a small, smug smile on her face.

Despite my over-heavy, pokey, Sue blanket, I was about to follow suit. Then a sound from my nightmares filled the tiny sleeper cab. Sue's stomach growled. I froze, not daring to even breathe. Her guts rumbled again, and she snuggled in closer to me, burrowing her face into my chest.

Her mouth started to move, and adrenaline shot through me. I pushed her away and dove through the curtain separating the sleeper cab from the front seat of the truck. A surprised yelp sounded from the bed as the blankets followed me. False dawn lit the sky, and in the dim morning light I could just make out the other truckers moving around their rigs. I scrabbled for my slacks, trying to put them on without making it obvious to anyone outside what I was doing.

"Hey Zed?"

I froze with my pants halfway on. If she wanted to make an early breakfast out of me, there was damn all I could do about it. I wasn't anywhere near tough enough to fight her, and running from a hungry Shifter was just a sure way to die tired. My only hope was that she was sleepier than she was hungry. I figured talking was my only option. "Yeah Sue?"

"See if one of the food places has salad when you're done in the bathroom. If not, just pick me up some fries or hash browns, ok?"

She was awake now. I heard her moving around. A drawer slid open, and something rustled like a cheap grocery store bag. The smell of lemons permeated the cab.

"Uh, sure." Talking was my only option, and with smooth lines like that I was going to wind up as Sue's morning snack. She leaned out through the curtains. Her hands gripped the curtain rod, spreading her unbuttoned yellow oxford shirt open right in front of my face. Perfect, petite breasts captured my attention fully, making it hard for me to come up with a better answer.

"Not much of a morning person, are you?" She mocked me gently, but her eyes roamed over my naked chest. I managed to finish pulling on my pants. I had to be very careful to zip the fly without catching my erection; apparently, I wasn't as sated as I thought. Before I could stop it, my libido grabbed my vocal cords and started them going without intervention from my higher functions.

"I didn't get much sleep last night."

"Complaints?"

"Well, you're sort of bony. It makes it hard to sleep when you're poking me with your elbows."

She lunged forward, her arms going around my neck. I winced, but her lips locked to mine, and for a while passion overwhelmed terror. When she pulled back, one eyebrow arched, and her smile wicked. "Are you really gonna complain about that?"

"I couldn't think of anything else to complain about."

She snickered, and I started to smile in return, but her stomach chose that moment to complain again. She must have felt me tense, because her smile melted into a frown. "Zed, do you really think I'd hurt you?"

I hesitated, but I couldn't lie to the vulnerable look on her face. "I don't think you want to hurt me. I'm just not sure you'll always have a choice."

She pulled away, twisting herself around so she sat on the edge of the bed. Her bare legs bracketed my knees. When she realized what she was doing, she tucked them back under the bunk. "You thought I might kill you and eat you, but you still got in my truck with me?"

"My choices at the time were the woman who was coming on to me and the three bikers who wanted to kill me." I tried to keep my voice level, but the adrenaline was still coursing through me, making me shrill.

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She shook her head. "I hadn't even thought of that." She leaned back into the sleeper cab, and I heard her rummaging through a drawer. She leaned back with my shirt, my windbreaker, and a roll of cash nearly as thick around as my wrist.

"Okay. Tell you what. I wasn't kidding when I said I wanted some fries or something."

"I could tell."

She shot me a dirty look, and I bit my lip in an attempt to not annoy the superhumanly strong Shifter well within arm's reach. When she was satisfied I would stay quiet, she continued.

"Take this." She pressed the roll of bills into my hands. "I'm hungry. I want you to get me some fries, or some hash browns, or a salad if you can find it." She paused, and I could tell she didn't like saying what came next. "If you didn't… If I…" She stopped, unable to make herself finish a sentence. I waited in silence. I hated myself for my inability to comfort her, but I had no idea what she was trying to tell me.

"There's more than enough there for a cab. I'll tow your Leaf back to a garage near the college. I think there ought to be enough there to fix the damage. I'm sorry."

With that, she pulled her legs up, burying her face in her knees. While I finished dressing, I tried to figure out why she was trying to hide her quiet sobs from me. I wanted to put my arms around her, but I'd seen hungry Shifters go completely berserk when someone did that. I felt like a heel when I reached for the passenger door. My self-loathing got reinforced by my embarrassment when the door didn't budge in the slightest. The second time I tried, a tiny squeak sounded from the hinges.

Before I could try a third time, Sue's leg shot out, her foot connecting inches below the door handle. The door popped open with a scream of tortured metal, yanking me out of the truck as it slammed open. I managed to stay on my feet, but it was a near thing. Once I caught my balance, I tried to close the door. By putting my shoulder to it and heaving, I managed to force it mostly closed. In between shoves, Sue spoke up.

"Just leave it."

"I don't want to leave you here with the door unlocked."

Sue's snort was a gunshot, echoing out of the door. "I thought I was the scary one here. Go on. I'll be fine. You need to get back and get ready for class or something."

I tried to think of a reply, something to make up for how badly I'd screwed up, but the moment passed before I thought of anything. I turned, the roll of cash lying heavy in my pocket, and trudged to the main door of the rest stop. There weren't many customers in the place, just employees folding up big, plasticized sheets. The only places that looked ready to do business were the newsstand at one end of the building and the chicken place at the other. I wandered around for a few minutes, looking for a pay phone. Eventually I found one tucked into a corner. It wasn't set up to take calling cards, and when I tried to make a collect call, it insisted I plunk a quarter in before I could dial.

Of course, I didn't have a quarter. I had my 'night out' stash, which still had a half dozen twenties in it. I had Sue's roll of cash, which was a mix of twenties and hundreds. With a stifled sigh I turned and trudged toward the chicken place. I looked over the menu, trying to find something cheap I could buy to break a twenty.

Idly, I checked to see if they had salad. No luck. There was a salad bar in the middle of the seating area, but it was closed at the moment, aluminum covers in place of the vegetables. They didn't have French fries, either. I stared a while, wondering how they stayed in business without the staple of every other fast-food chain.

"Sir? Did you want something?"

The cashier stared across the counter. I hadn't even noticed her there before. Her eyes looked bruised; her head leaned to the side as if it was too much effort to hold it upright. Her nametag read 'Pat'. Between her accent, skin like old teak, and a faint almond shape to her eyes, I suspected that it wasn't short for Patricia.

I'd been awake since the prior afternoon. I could feel my thoughts wandering.

"Sir? Are you all right?"

"Yeah, no. I think it's been too long since I had anything to eat. Um… Do you have anything vegetarian?"

A wry smile twisted Pat's lips. "Other than my lunch? Not much. We've got some sides if you're not vegan?"

I smiled back at her. "I'm not sure. It's for my date, really. She asked for a salad, fries, or hash browns."

She shrugged, unconcerned with who would eat the food she dispensed. "If she's willing to eat fast-food French fries, she's probably not vegan. She might go for the potato wedges."

"What's the biggest size side you sell?"

"We've got the family size. There's enough for two people to make a meal of one of those."

By now I'd completely forgotten what I'd walked up to the counter for. I was trying to figure out what Sue would want to eat. Other than me. She'd done that in the carnal sense. I was hoping to avoid it in the literal sense. The roll of bills in my hand gave me a sudden inspiration. "Tell you what. I have no idea what she wants, but she looked kinda starving when I left. Give me one of each, family sized."

"One of each side, family size. Any chicken?"

"Yeah, give me a big thing of chicken, too."

"Mild or spicy?"

"Doesn't matter," I stopped myself, thinking about all the middle eastern food I'd ever eaten, "on second thought, make it spicy."

"Light or Dark?"

This time I thought about it. Shifters preferred the nutrient-rich dark meat, but I liked white meat. "Can you give me a mix?"

"Sure. Did you want an apple pie with that?"

I smiled at her, knowing the question was part of her script. "Sure, give me four of them."

"Okay. It's going to be a few minutes. That'll be sixty-six twenty-four."

I peeled four twenties off the stack and handed them over. After a few seconds trying to stuff the wad of cash into my pants pocket I realized there wasn't room for it. "Keep the change."

Pat looked up at me, her mouth half open, "Sir, we don't really accept tips."

I shrugged. "Give it to the next person in line."

"Whatever."

I stood there, idly toying with the roll of bills while I watched Pat pull my order together. I thought about how spendthrift I'd been over the past day. I'm normally pretty frugal, but I'm not a miser. I just don't pay attention to material things very much. In the end money is just a way of getting things. I tucked Sue's money into my windbreaker pocket as Pat stuffed the Styrofoam containers into bags. In the end, the order took up two huge bags. I thanked her and headed out of the rest stop.

I threaded my way through the parked semis to the spot where Sue and I had spent the night. I came around the last huge truck and came face to face with Al. He leaned against the front fender of his tow truck, hands in the pockets of his jeans. He wore the same kind of silk shirt Sue had been wearing earlier. On her it teased with glimpses of her breasts. On him it exposed his lean, muscled chest all the way down to his abs.

I stared, enthralled by the way the rumble of departing trucks made the silk of his shirt vibrate. At some point while I stared, I realized that Sue probably stole the shirt from him. I'd have given anything to hear the conversation when he took it back. The scent of gravy and spices wafted up and overwhelmed the odors of oil and rubber. Al's gaze came up slowly. His eyes were red, slightly puffy, and they stood out in stark contrast to the hard, thin angles of his face. When he saw me, his eyes narrowed. His chest tightened, and it was all I could do not to stare at it.

"What the hell are you doing here?"

I stared at him, shocked into speechlessness by the pain in his voice. I gestured weakly with my laden arms, but he wasn't looking at my arms. I don't think he was really seeing me.

"Just tell me, Zed. Did you plan this? To use me and leave me? Was I just a conquest for you? Well?"

His gaze pinned me in place, but his comments about using someone sparked pain I thought I'd buried too deep for anyone to touch. That pain flared into anger, and I found my voice. "What the hell? What the hell are you talking about?"

His eyes went wide, "Are you serious? You can stand there and ask me that after what you did to m… to my sister?"

"What I did to your sister? Seriously? I'm sorry, Al, last time we talked, you were setting me up with your 'sister'. A sister who apparently has about as much impulse control as I have… as I have sex appeal, really. So, I'm not really complaining about that. Shit." With that admission, the rage drained out of me. I have difficulty staying mad at people, mostly because I know how often I screw things up.

Al wasn't done. "I was talking about walking away from her like that. You fuck her all night long, then when she falls asleep you can't leave fast enough. I mean, I know I… I know she's not beautiful, but I didn't think she was coyote ugly." Al was so angry, talking so fast, that he stuttered. His mouth moved, but every other part of his body remained absolutely rigid. Oddly, even though he was furious with me, and fully capable of kicking my ass, I wasn't afraid of him. His last statement caught at me though.

"Coyote ugly? Huh?"

"So bad you would gnaw your own arm off rather than wake her up."

The reminder of how close I'd come to having my arms gnawed off annoyed me again. Before I could think about what I was saying, my words ripped themselves from my mouth. "Your 'sister' is a Shifter, Al. I was trapped in a tiny room with a hungry Shifter. I lo… I really like you, Al, and your sister is incredibly hot, but if I stayed, you'd be asking her why the interior of your truck was decorated with leftover gobbets of Zed."

I watched, fuming, as the fury seeped out of Al's face. He lifted a hand, cradling his forehead in long, thin fingers. After a few seconds he started shaking. It took me a little while to figure out why. It wasn’t until his stomach rumbled and his laughter redoubled that I knew his anger was gone, blown away by the wind of a passing truck, shattered by the humor he found in the image of his truck decorated by Zed pate.

I dropped the bags and turned to go. Before I'd taken a single step, his hand grasped my forearm.

"Wait. Please. I'm a dick for laughing, but it's not what you think."

I bowed my head. I can't help it. I can't resist a pretty face or someone in need. It's a weakness. I think I've heard it referred to as being a complete schmuck. "Explain. Fast. Or so help me I'm going to do my dead level best to shove your foot up your own ass."

For some reason that made him break down again. He forced words through peals of laughter, "I think Sue can do that, actually," he broke down again, but before I could take a swing at those square, white, oversized teeth of his he forced one more word through. "Vegetarian."

The sheer audacity of the lie stopped me completely. "That's impossible, Al. She's…" I stopped, suddenly aware that I'd never discussed Shifters with Al before. Our conversations had never ranged across any of the Others. That was one reason I was convinced he wasn't a spy. The existence of the Others was still, officially, Confidential information.

I talked about it on a regular basis with my cat. That was, technically, a breach, since I was doing it outside of a secure location. If my cat was a Neko, she knew already. If she wasn't, I didn't think she'd be telling anyone.

Now I'd just blurted it out to Al. The enormity of what I'd done struck home. I looked up at him, trying to see if he eagerly awaited a further breach, but he just wiped at his eyes with his free hand, completely oblivious to my sudden moment of satori. His gaze tracked from his hand to my face, and I saw the moment he realized I wasn't laughing.

"I'm sorry, Zed. I’m so very sorry. I thought… I never thought you would be afraid of Sue. I mean, you're not afraid of me."

"You're… you're not…" I couldn't bring myself to consciously say it. He might have missed my earlier comment or misunderstood it.

"I'm not a Shifter?" He smiled knowingly as he said it. I reached up to where his fingers encircled my arm. He stood there, motionless, as I wrapped my hand around his thumb and pulled. I managed to get my arm out of his grip, but only by wriggling out of it like a metal cuff. Even when I put my full weight on his hand it never moved. My gut clenched; my hands shivered. Al pulled me toward him, wrapped his arms around me gently, and I didn't resist. I couldn't. Fear, held in check for longer than I'd realized, paralyzed me.

He rocked me slowly, patting me on the back gently as he did. I'd almost come back to myself when his stomach growled at me. My whole body tensed. There was nothing I could do to stop him. He was going to drag me into his truck and make a snack out of me.

"I told you, I'm a vegetarian."

"Not possible. You're an obligate carnivore."

"Really? I thought I'd seen bears eat fruit now and again."

I carefully considered how much to tell him. I had no idea how much he knew, how much he was guessing, and how much he wanted to find out. The Agency had one of the world's most extensive collections of data on the Others. The only ones that compared were in China and France. Each backwater had their own traditions, but only the major players had been able to study each and every type of Other scientifically.

Eventually, he tired of waiting. "It's ok. I'm not trying to grill you. I have no idea why you can't talk about the eating habits of Shifters, but I really am a vegetarian."

I tried to make myself shut up, but my response blurted its way out of my mouth, "Not enough calories."

"Oh. Well. That's actually why Sue was so stubborn about not eating in front of you, you know."

"Huh?" I swear, sometimes my eloquence knows no bounds.

"She has a tendency to overexert, then to make a pig of herself after. Not literally. "

I smiled at his feeble joke. "I'm sorry Al, but after last night, I don't care if she ate everything in these bags, or if she turned into a were-skunk."

Al looked at the bags like he'd only just realized they were there. His pupils narrowed to tiny dots, and he leaned down to grab up one of the Styrofoam containers. I couldn't tell which one it was, but he lifted it to his nose and sniffed it with apparent delight.

"Hey, why don’t you take the rest of these into the truck. Sue… I'll go get her."

"Where did she go, anyhow?"

"She had to take a leak."

I looked up at him as I gathered the bags. "Elegant, Al."

"Yeah, that's me. I'll go get her. If you're sure you want to talk to her?"

I paused for a moment, trying to decide how I felt about Sue. My feelings for her were all cluttered up with my fear and my affection for Al, so it wasn't as easy as it ought to have been. I looked down at the bags, and suddenly it slammed into me what I'd done. I'd gone into the rest stop to call a cab, and I wound up buying her breakfast. I smiled at my own lack of self-awareness, the smile still on my face when I looked at Al.

"Yeah. I'm sorry, Al, but yeah, I'd really like that."

His brow furrowed, "Why would you be sorry?"

"Because I think I'm falling for your sister."

His brow smoothed, and that fantastic smile shone through again. "Hey, I'm getting plenty of... what's that word? Starts with a 'v'?"

"Visuals? Voyeurism? Vixen? Vicar?"

"No… Vicarious! That's it. I'm getting plenty of vicarious thrills out of this."

"Right. You realize we're talking about your sister, right?"

"I wasn't thinking about her, dummy."

I felt the heat rush to my face as he openly leered at me. He kept it up as I walked over to the door of the truck. The passenger side door was still partway open, so I put the bags inside and clambered up. Halfway there I felt a hand on my ass, and he shoved me into the cab. The door shrieked its complaints as Al pushed it shut. My fear returned in an instant. I was stuck in a small space, waiting for the return of a hungry Shifter. I was a goddamned kosher MRE.

A moment before I started trying to break the glass in the window, the smell hit me. Sue was athletic, and we'd spent several hours in our little love nest in the sleeper cab, none of it sleeping. The confined space was filled with sweat and musk and ever so faintly with the spicy perfume Sue wore. My fear mingled with the sudden rush of lust. I was still sorting it out when the driver's door creaked open.

Sue stood backlit by the early morning light. She wore Al's shirt again; it hung loose on her. Her trench billowed out in the breeze of a passing car. She wore a pair of jeans that were an even worse fit than the shirt. She wouldn't meet my eyes, and I could see where she feared I would run away again if she climbed into the truck.

I wished I knew how to tell her how unlikely that was right now. I couldn't find the words. Everything was still too new, or too raw, or a strange amalgam of both. My traitorous libido came to my rescue, filling what should have been a touching moment with crass humor.

"Don't you own any clothes of your own?"

Luckily, Sue seemed to like my jokes. Her eyes met mine, and a smile quirked one corner of her lip up. I noticed a smear of white coleslaw dressing. Before she could think of a reply, I leaned over and wiped it away with my thumb. Her tongue darted out, licking my thumb clean. Lost in the sensation of her tongue against my skin, I didn't react when she sucked my thumb into her mouth. Some rational part of me screamed that I should be terrified, but I didn’t listen.

Sue's tongue worked around my thumb, her hands never leaving their place on the door and frame. After a few seconds of agonizing teasing, she pulled away, a smile on her face. "Nothing I can wear in public."

"Yeah, well. The sleeper's not public, is it?"