Dawn was breaking when Indiana Jones finally
awoke. He blinked a few times, trying to orient himself. "The Ark!" he thought with a start; then he remembered. Safe; they
were finally safe and on their way to England. Other memories were returning
now, too. Marion. He turned his head and saw her sleeping peacefully, her head pillowed
on his right shoulder, one arm flung across his ribs. The last thing he remembered
last night was kissing her. He cursed violently for a few moments, furious at himself. Of all the damn lousy times to fall
asleep! She'd sure never let him forget this.
As he thought, he noticed that his right arm
was numb. Shifting gingerly, so as not to wake the sleeping woman, he freed it from underneath her. He winced as overtaxed muscles protested the motion. She stirred slightly at his movement, then, still asleep, settled
back into the pillow.
He smiled affectionately at her, pushing her
tumbled hair back from her face. The little girl of ten years before had certainly turned into a remarkable woman. He wondered
just how she would react to him when she awoke. At least
she no longer seemed to resent him the way she had at first. If she did, he was sure he would have awakened very uncomfortably on the floor. To be honest, he had to admit that she'd
had cause for her resentment. He wasn't very proud of what he'd done back then, to her or to Abner. His thoughts pulled away
from that painful subject and back to a far more pleasant matter. Marion's interest in him last night had definitely
been genuine. Despite his independence, his reluctance to get involved, this pleased Indy. He liked her very much. She was one spunky, determined lady--nothing stopped her
for very long. Definitely not a helpless, hysterical, clinging female. But definitely a female; and a beautiful one, he thought
as his eyes traveled down her body, clearly outlined by the thin, clinging dress.
Falling asleep on a gal like that--Jones, you
must be slipping. During these thoughts, he felt the return of the desire he'd felt for her in Cairo. His hand slipped from her hair to her neck, then down her shoulder to her back, his fingertips lightly tracing her backbone.
She
stirred slightly. "Wha.... Oh," she muttered,
propping herself up
on one forearm to look at Indy. They stared silently at each other for a few moments, searching each others' faces for clues
to where they stood. They were both too proud to risk being rejected--again. An unspoken question passed between them--and
was answered.
Marion spoke first. "Now
you're acting like the man I knew ten years ago. You sure weren't last night," she teased affectionately. "I was starting
to think you'd turned into an old relic yourself.
"Old relic, huh?" he replied, drawing her tightly into his
arms, his hands roaming slowly. "Now where were we
last night? About here?" he asked, starting to kiss
her, gingerly at first (despite what he'd told -. last night, his lip was still a bit sore!), but gradually deeper and more passionately.
As their embrace became more intense--and
more awkward--Indy attempted to lean over Marion. The sudden shift of weight
onto his wounded arm made him yelp involuntarily, breaking their romantic mood.
Worry showed in Marion's eyes. She caressed
the sore arm gently. "Relax," she said in a low suggestive whisper. "I can manage this." Matching action to words, she suddenly threw her weight against Indy, pushing him onto his back and
resuming their kiss aggressively.
Indy felt a strange mix of desire and intellectual curiositybeing so thoroughly controlled by a woman was definitely a new
and interesting experience for
him -- as he responded eagerly
to her kiss and her suggestion, his fingers twining themselves in her long hair.
When they finally
parted, their eyes were glazed and they were both breathing heavily. "MMM. You're sure not an old relic," Marion muttered breathlessly. "Now where ELSE doesn't it hurt?"
Indy grinned devilishly at
her. "I can think of some places. Let me show you." He pointed. "Here..."
A long time later, Marion lay sleeping against the wall, with Indy snuggled close
to her in the narrow cot. He was
dozing, being slowly lulled to sleep by the gentle motion of the ship and the slow steady throb of its
engines. Just as he was drifting off, the throb of the engines
slowed, then came to a stop. He lay for a while on the edge of
sleep before identifying the problem. Thoroughly awake now, he thought a moment, then slid cautiously from the cot. He considered
waking Marion then decided against it. "Let her sleep," he thought, smiling gently, remembering. He quickly began to dress, finally loading his gun and removing the
safety before sticking it in his belt.
"What is it?" Marion was awake.
He turned toward the bed. "Engines have stopped. I'm gonna go check..."