I feel her hot breath on my face as our lips meet.

"Wait!" she says.

Did she just say wait?

Her body trembles as she pulls away from me. "I want to, Tyler, so badly. But Trinity says to wait until after the mission."

"Why?" I ask.

"She won't say," Rose replies.

"Come on, how's she gonna know?" I ask.

"She just will. Trinity knows everything. Do not try to trick her," she warns.

"I say we trick her. Look at you, in that sheer getup. I know what's on your mind," I say.

"I requested these clothes because they are comfortable!" she protests.

"It's like you're wearing flypaper," I tell her.

I make a buzzing noise and flap my hands as I crawl toward her.

She laughs. "Stop it. You will wake up Toto."

"I'll risk it. This is our last night together before the real work begins. Let's have some fun. We deserve it," I say.

Rose ponders it, then slowly nods, a playful smile on her face.

My stretch denim pants are doing little to hide my urgent erection. Rose runs her fingers over the fabric.

She whispers, glancing at the door. "Not here."

"Oh my God, you're killing me. You're literally killing me," I groan.

She pats me on the leg, then pulls a couple of condoms out of the little nightstand beside her bed.

My voice comes out louder than I intended. "You had those all along? What about Trinity?"

She shushes me. "I got them because I know how persistent you are."

She grabs a few blankets and leads me out of her room. I adjust my erection to be less prominent.

We exit our boxy little dormitory and head outside into the purple moonlight.

Rose leads us out of the settlement, passing a large glass dome that looks like a solar water still.

Somewhere in the distance behind us, I hear Toto growl.

"Should we be worried?" I ask.

Rose shakes her head. "He does that all the time."

"Then why do I feel like a gazelle on the savannah?" I ask.

Rose laughs. "You are a dragon. He will not touch you."

We approach a small pond surrounded by lush grass. The purple moon seems to float on the water like a disc of neon, and in the depths of the pond I see flashes of green.

I point into the water. "What is that?"

"Our aquatic farm. The fish have been genetically engineered to glow," she explains.

"Why?" I ask.

"It makes them reproduce faster. I do not understand the science," she admits.

Crickets chirp as Rose spreads the blankets on the grass. I can see why she chose this spot. It's beautiful and peaceful. The pond is in a depression, so when we stand beside it, the buildings behind us seem to disappear.

We sit on the blankets and Rose points up at the night sky. "Look. They are satellites. Before the end, space tourists used to visit there. They called them The Seven Angels."

Seven lights, spaced equally apart, slowly cross over us like a line of distant fireflies.

Rose nestles into my arms, distracting me from the spectacle. I kiss her soft lips and feel her warm breath against my face. My mouth tingles, and the feeling spreads down through my body, hardening me.

I discover my frantic urgency is gone. There's something about this place that makes me want to take my time.