Angelle is mine....all else is Joss'. _________________________________________________

Embarrassment....the act of turning all shades of red as the man who you may or may not be falling for, oh, alright, may.....dumps the entire contents of your Aunt's homemade sex drawer on the bed and proceeds to investigate each one. Now, if that ain't enough, try imagining the sounds that are being heard over the very loud music is not what you think it is. Damn it, Aunt Lou Lou!

So, I stood pacing, ignoring the groans and screams that seemed to echo off my walls as well as the hallway and silently remembered why I hated staying here. Don't get me wrong, I love my aunt and her hospitality is second to none, but one can only take so much thumpin' and hallorin' before they go insane. I wasn't there quite yet, but Mal show my another of the thousands of products my aunt kept for me to try and I just might.

A buzzing from the bed made me turn as Mal held up a bright purple vibrator. "Tell me you never..."

"I like my pleasure to come from the real thing, thanks." I shook my head and threw a punch into the hanging bag. "Sure your little mechanic would get a charge out of it."

He glared at me for a moment before shutting it off and tossing it back into the drawer. "That ain't a bit funny, Ange."

"Kind of like a father hearin' 'bout what his daughter likes in the sack, huh?" I swung again with a little more force and the chains that kept it suspended creaked.

"So, you ever use any of this stuff on...others?" I could hear the hesitation in his voice like Mal wanted to know, but wasn't quite sure he wanted to know.

"You sure you want to know that answer?" I asked him, though in all honesty, I had never slept with anyone in my aunt's little room for me. Mostly, I wasn't a tramp and I didn't let just anyone in my pants. Hero worship of a certain Browncoat Sarge and a very hard headed untrusting nature kept me from developing much of those kind of relationships.

"Wouldn't have asked if I didn't."

"Well, are you wanted to know if I used any of those toys on a man or are you askin' how many I've been with in a Biblical sense?"

"I forget how blunt your family is." He smiled at me and then spoke again. "The latter?"

"Including our little meeting in the swamp, three and no, Captain Reynolds, I have never used those things on anyone...including myself, though the fizzle rocks can help with acid indigestion." I grinned at him and looked up as silence seemed to come over the room.

"She done?"

"You kidding. Lou will get her second wind in about...three two one." Again the thudding and the screams began. "It will be a very long night."

"Tried to tell you bringin' Jayne here was a bad idea. Man's got the stamina of three dozen horny jack rabbits."

I laughed at it and then looked at him. "Are you afraid of heights?"

"I'm the captain of a space transport."

"So what? Don't mean anything. Being in space and swingin' from the top of a hundred foot tree is a completely different sensation. I don't get space legs from heights."

"Trust me, whatever will get us away from Jayne and your aunt sounds like heaven to me."

"Funny you should mention heaven?"

******************

"Ain't step in a church in more years than I can count." Mal spoke at my side, his legs dangling off the steeple with the large bell behind us swaying gently in the wind that howled around us. Persephone lay below us still a bustle, but its lights seemed to add a sense of magic to her atmosphere.

“You and me both.” I laughed and then spotted Serenity docked. “There's your girl and over there, that big building with the almost mirror like dome roof, well, that's where we're headed to the ball tomorrow night. Kaylee will love it. The ceiling is actually a hologram projector that displays the night's sky usually.”

I could see he was more staring at the bell tower, both where we sat and the small room behind us. It was complete with an extra rope and a few other bell parts."Use to play poker with the alter boys when I stayed with Lou. I was maybe nine or ten." I handed him a bottle of beer I had brought and he shook his head.

"And I thought I was a bad boy."

"Hey, it was a good racket until the High priest caught me. Still let me do it as long as I gave half my profits back to the church and he showed me how to get up here. Even gave me a key to unlock the door if the church was closed."

"Sounds like a good man."

"Reminded me of my dad without the drinkin', cussin', and temper." I laughed and took a swig of my bottle. "Well, he lectured me like dad did, anyhow."

“Still haven't ask me.”

“Asked you what?”

“How many? Seems only fair since I asked you.” He took a swig of the beer.

“Ain't matter much as far as I'm concerned. Deed's already been done and way I figure, you can tell me, but it ain't gonna change the way I feel. Besides, you can't change what's already been done.”

“Don't make me feel any better for askin' ya. My mom always said that you can tell a woman's beauty by how many men undress her with their eyes and her character by the number who have done so with their hands. Guess it's hard to break free of that.”

“Smart woman.” I grinned. “Ever ask Inara?”

His hand moved a hair from my face as he shook his head. “Never had a need to. We might have waltz around that idea once or twice, but she's got a job to do and it's one I want no business in.”

My lips touched his before I could answer and I let him kiss me the way he had done a few times before, soft and then with a little more force. “God will strike us down with lightnin' we have sex in this tower and we're at a good smiting height I might add, too.”:

“Just kissin' you, Ange.” He whispered, but when I let me eyes travel down, I cleared my throat at the slightly unbuttoned shirt with his fingers working on the next. “Felt like you were getting a mite warm.”

“Funny.” I grinned as he let go of my shirt and reached for his beer.

“So is that priest still livin'?

“No. He went to be with the Lord about seven years ago. It was the last time I came here. Tossed several flowers off this roost and then drank myself to sleep. The bell ringer found me in the morning and reported it to the new High priest, Father Anthony. Thankfully, he was one of the alter boys I use to gamble with. We were lovers as well, long before, he decided to continue with the work of the Lord.”

“Was he one of the three?”

“Yes, but we were young and stupid. My first time as well as his and he was so afraid that Father Thomas would catch him, it definitely wasn't a really great experience. To this day, the church still thinks he's a virgin.” I raised my bottle to the full moon as it shone on the brown colored glass.

Mal was quiet for a second and then looked at me. “I honestly can't tell you how many I've been with. War was hell and when we got a minute of peace, it was drinking and women. Grown up a bit since then and learned it ain't enough.”

“Dad told me some of what happened to you all.”

“Your father stayed faithful to your mom.”

“Of course, he did. Dad loved her more than he loved anything else in his life. Took him several years before he would even look at another woman. I took him to Whitefall just to get away and he met Patience. Long distance, though, took its toll.”

“Reason you're still alone?”

“Dad says it's cuz most smart men can't take my hard head and, well, the other part...” I took a swig of my beer. My eyes looked to the building we would infiltrate tomorrow to save a woman I might not be quite ready to rescue.

“Ain't nothing you say gonna change the way I feel.”

“None could add up to you.” I looked at him and his steel blue eyes, the very ones I was ready to be lost in forever.

“God, Angelle, make me sound like something I'm not.”

“So you're not a Browncoat, not my father's friend and the reason I'm not completely an orphan...” “Those are true, though you were more to blame for the latter.”

“And here you are on top of the world sort of speak and could completely take advantage of me without anyone hearing and you haven't.” I smiled at him with that statement.

“Well, now see if I knew that.” He scooted closer to me and grinned. “'Course there is that whole smitin' thing you talked about earlier.”

“True and if one would make a wrong move here, well, the fall could be a mite harsh.” I glanced downward and then back at him.

“Think they're done back at your aunt's place?”

“Depends on how long Jayne can go for.”

“How many bottles of beer did you bring again?” I laughed at his statement and reached for another one as we watched the stars twinkling across the moon soaked sky, his arm around my shoulders.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ =Hope everyone had a happy Easter.