The Symbiote

She clambered on top of him and he shuddered in a mixture of surprise and delight. He still felt weak, but it seemed that the more time he spent touching her, the stronger and warmer he felt. The images were now hovering at the edge of his mind, drifting lazily. They seemed to recede as he connected with her.

He pulled her forward into an awkward kiss and ran a hand through her dark hair, smelling the scent of lilac shampoo. It was so powerful that it seemed to intermingle with the taste of her lips and he felt his muscles clench, his back arching against the soft mattress. She smiled at him with flushed cheeks and wiggled her hips minutely. They shifted in silence and he trailed a finger down her spine, feeling the curve and relishing every sensation.

"I think I want to stay in this position forever," said Nathan.

Carla laughed and grunted, "I think my body would crush you eventually. I'm beginning to wonder if this is how bricks feel when they sit on top of each other."

Nathan responded by kissing her, "Bricks can't kiss like that."

"No, I suppose not," said Carla. She shifted and ground her hips against him. "Are you feeling that?"

"Yes," said Nathan slowly, "I'm definitely feeling it." He gave a sharp breath and gripped her sides. "Please, more of that."

She smiled and giggled, "Do you know what the bullies used to call me when I was a kid?"

"No, what?" said Nathan.

"The Grinder. Because my dad worked in a mill."

Nathan laughed, in a mixture of ecstasy and amusement. "If only they could see you now."

As he spoke, she seemed to grow more excited and she tugged on her lip, concentrating on the motion of their bodies. Her chest rose and fell, and a bead of sweat fell on his lips from god knows where.

"Do you like to be called The Grinder?" said Nathan softly.

She paused in mid-motion.

"Don't stop."

She giggled and continued, forcing out her answer breathlessly. "Try it."

"You're an amazing Grinder."

"I think it's working."

"Really?"

"No." She laughed. "But this is." She bit her lip and arched her back, riding him hard. He felt his body tighten and grabbed fistfuls of sheet. She was moving faster now and with each moment, it was becoming harder to concentrate on anything.

He thought back to the man who'd talked to couch cushions and it felt like he was looking back on a stranger from another world, or time. But the stranger in front of him was in this time and boy, was she... oh. She was... wow. He tried and failed to concentrate a few more times, before he lost all sense of rational thought and sunk into the mattress, feeling dazed, but blissfully happy in a way that he couldn't remember ever feeling before.

She rolled off of him and after turning off the light, she snuggled in close, laying an arm across his chest. When she spoke, he was surprised to hear that her voice was trembling. "Please don't leave in the morning."

Nathan felt the tug of an image at the edge of his conscious mind and rolled into her, kissing her on the forehead, "I'm homeless, remember? Where would I go?"

She laughed, "I don't know, back to the dumpster maybe."

"I like it better here."

She smiled and the image at the edge of his conscious receded.

"I love you," she mumbled in a sleepy haze.

Nathan frowned in the darkness and pushed away a sense of unease, snuggling into her as close as he could get. I love you too, he thought, but he couldn't make the words come out.