After being herded into the basement, Scott took Jess’s chin in his hand and gently turned her face from side to side. The left side was swelling, her lip split and puffy, and her shirt in tatters, not to mention the fact that she was also dirty, had leaves and twigs in her hair, and was covered in faint bruises and welts. In short, she looked like hell, but to him, she had never been more beautiful.

 

“I’ll kill Val for this.”

 

Jess smiled, as everyone stood around her, waiting to hear the tail of her ordeal. “This?” she asked, with a dismissive wave at her face. “Val didn’t do this. This was Karen.”

 

Scott looked to Ed, then Angela. “Karen Reaves. Marc Reaves’ wife,” Ed explained. Scott hadn’t been in Detroit long enough before the shit hit the fan to have met, much less remember, all the old ladies and who went with whom.

 

“Your Vice President?” Scott asked and then he looked back to Jess.

 

“I stabbed him with a piece of glass. She took exception to that.”

 

“I hope you kicked her ass!” Angela crowed.

 

“She was lying in the floor when I kneed Greg and escaped.”

 

“Wait! There were two of them?” Angela asked, impressed in spite of herself. She knew Jess was a tough cookie, but she didn’t realize just how tough. To have taken down Karen was feat enough, but to have taken out Greg, as well…

 

“Greg and Karen. The sick bastard just stood there with a hard-on and watched us try to kill each other.” Jess smiled as she remembers how much she enjoyed kneeing that asshole in the plums. “I told him I was horny from the fight and I wanted to fuck him. Then I kneed him and ran.”

 

“And you broke all this stuff in the fight?” Randy asked incredulously. He would never admit it, but that must have been one a hell of a fight and he wouldn’t have minded seeing that himself.

 

Jess smiled. “No. I did this all by myself. I was so pissed off I just went nuts.”

 

“But you’re okay now?” Scott asked.

 

She melted into his arms. “Better than okay,” she murmured as they held each other. All her aches and pains paled in comparison to the warmth she felt from being in Scott’s arms again. He had come to her rescue, once again, her eyes closing as she snuggled into his chest.

 

“I knew you would come for me,” she whispered, the rest of the Angels disappearing as his cheek rested against her head.

 

“I will go anywhere, do anything, for you, Jess,” he murmured. They stood like that for many long moments, the rest of the Angels huddling together on the other side of the room to give them some privacy. “I love you, Jess.”

 

She swallowed her tears. At that moment she realized that she was falling in love with him. He was everything she wanted in a man, kind, gentle, protective and understanding. “I love you, too,” she murmured, looking into his eyes until he brought his lips to hers to kiss her softly. Her lip hurt, but the discomfort was drowned out by the feelings of warmth and belonging that were pouring through her.

 

***

 

“Do you think Scott can take him?” Angela asked after Ed explained what had happened outside.

 

“I don’t know,” Ed admitted. “But we were really pinned in. We didn’t have a lot of options.”

 

“Scott is a tough son-of-a-bitch.”

 

“I know,” Ed agreed. “But Val is a brawler from way back. He fights dirty and has size and reach on him. I hope Scott can take him, but I don’t know.”

 

“What happens to us?”

 

“I don’t know that either,” Ed admitted. “If Val wins, it’s going to go hard for us, that much is certain. But even if Scott wins, I don’t know. But I had to do this, babe. This was wrong on so many levels.”

 

Angela pulled her man to her for a slow, lingering kiss. “I know. Thank you.” Angela looked at Ed and smiled. If it was all going to end tonight, then there was something she had to take care of first. “Ed and I have some business, alone, in the sauna,” she said as she began to walk backwards toward the small wooden room tucked into the corner. “Ignore the noise.”

 

The rest of the Angels laughed and ignored them as Angela led Ed into the room and closed the door.

 

***

 

“Let’s get you cleaned up and changed,” Scott said after taking a deep breath, relaxing his embrace on his lover. “Do you have any extra clothes?”

 

“Yeah. Mom brought me some.”

 

“Where?” Scott asked, looking around the room.

 

Jess stepped out of his embrace and picked up a paper bag from beside the couch. She pulled the last pair of clean pants, shirt, and panties from the bag. She would have to continue to go braless because she didn’t have another one. “There’s a shower in the bathroom.”

 

Even though there was no place for her to go, he didn’t want her out of his sight, even for a moment, so he followed her into the bathroom. It was irrational, and he knew it, but he had just gotten her back and he would be damned if he lost her again.

 

“Jesus, you really wrecked the place,” he said dryly as she sat her clothes on the toilet seat and he closed the door behind them.

 

“This? Karen and I did this. I ran in here and tried to lock the door, but I wasn’t fast enough.” She hissed in pain as she tried to get her shirt off. “I think I nearly broke my elbow when we were in the tub.”

 

“Jesus…you two were in the tub? Fighting?”

 

“Yeah. She was trying to kill me.” Jess paused a moment as she began to skin out of her pants. “Of course, to be fair, I was trying to kill her, too.”

 

Scott picked up the curtain and looked at it, but then tossed it aside. The bracket was broken, but considering all the damage in the basement, a little water in the floor was going to be the least of the Val’s problems.

 

“Jesus,” Scott muttered again as Jess continued to undress. She was covered in bruises and, though not dark yet, they were everywhere. “Are you sure you’re okay?”

 

“To be honest…I’m starting to hurt. But, yeah, I’m okay now.” She stepped under the shower and let the water pour over her for several minutes, the warmth of it soothing the aches away.

 

After a moment, Jess picked up the shampoo and, after squirting a healthy dollop into her hand, began to scrub her hair, her face twisting in discomfort as she did.

 

“Here, let me help. Turn around,” Scott said, stepping up to the tub. She stepped out from under the water and put her hands down as he lathered her hair for her, picking bits of forest and trash out of it as he did. “Rinse,” he said when he had finished.

 

Jess stepped under the nozzle, allowing the cascading water to sluice away the shampoo, but made a face when she reached for her hair again. She didn’t know what she did to her shoulder, but every time she reached over her head, it hurt.

 

“Don’t,” Scott said softly. “Hand me the shampoo and I will wash your hair again, then I will help you rinse it out.”

 

“You’ll get wet,” she said as she handed him the bottle.

 

“It’s all right.” When she stepped out from under the water, he lathered her hair again, still picking out the occasional bit of leaf. Saying nothing, he nudged her back under the water. The water was going everywhere, wetting him down as it splattered off his hands and ran down his arms, but he didn’t care.

 

“There you go,” he said when he was confident all the soap was gone.

 

“Do the rest of me?”

 

“You want me to wash the rest of you?”

 

“Do you mind?”

 

“No, of course not. Hand me the soap.”

 

She handed him the soap and stood still as his hands roamed her body, his touch gentle as he cleaned her. She was going to be sore as hell tomorrow, but for the moment, the warm water had eased her pains. “Did you hear that?” she asked as his hands slid slowly down her legs.

 

“Hear what?”

 

“Listen.”

 

They were quiet for a moment, Scott straining to hear anything other than the hiss of the shower, then he heard it. A moan of a woman in great pleasure, followed by a man’s muttering voice. He couldn’t understand the words, but it had to be Ed and Angela in the sauna that shared a wall with the bathroom.

 

Scott snickered as he returned to his task. “I would never have picked them as a couple.”

 

“She loves him.”

 

“I think he loves her, too. His face just lights up when she’s around. Did you notice?”

 

“Yeah,” Jess murmured.

 

“Rinse.”

 

Jess stepped back under the water, thinking about everything that had happened to her as Scott’s hands glided over her body with soft touches. His coming for her, his willingness to risk his life for her, and, most especially, his admission of love had brought her feelings to the front. She now realized that she had been falling for him ever since they had settled into their new life, but her feelings for him before paled in comparison to the way she felt now. If it was all going to end tonight, if he was going to be ripped from her life forever, then she wanted to share her last moments with him in the most intimate way possible. Angela had it right, and she wanted him make love to her while there was still time. She stepped out from under the shower and wiped her eyes. Scott was soaked, his shirt clinging to him like a second skin as she felt a warmth spreading over her, a warmth that warmed her at a much deeper level than the water ever could.

 

“There’s another word that starts with ‘F’ that is much more fun to do in the tub than fight,” she said softly.

 

“What?” he asked, his tone indicating his confusion.

 

“Fuck.”

 

Scott shook his head at her intentional misunderstanding. “No, I meant what are you talking about?”

 

“That is what I’m talking about. I want you to make love to me. This may be our last chance.”

 

“Jess, it’s going to be all right. We’re going to get out of this. I promise.”

 

“I know, but I still want you. I need you. I need you to make me forget about what is about to happen, even if for only a little while.”

 

His eyes roamed her body, cataloging all of her hurts. “Jess…are you sure you are up for it? I mean…”

 

She pulled him close to her and began to unbutton his shirt. “I’m sure.”