by C. M. King
"I suppose.” Stuart gave a sigh.
She felt his eyes run over her back. Rieko turned to face him, and found his glorious blue eyes filled with desire. “Just because you don't like dancing.” She gave a teasing smile.
"Who said I didn't like dancing?"
"Do you?” she asked.
"I do with you.” Stuart gave a thin smile. He let a finger touch a jade earring. Then his hand drifted down to her waist and gently ran down to her hips. “How many dresses do you have?"
She shook her head and stepped closer to him. “That's a trade secret."
His smile deepened. Those intense eyes of his drank her in. His hand gripped her waist as the other ran a finger over her cheek and lips. “We need to be going.” He swallowed harshly.
"Do we?” Rieko took another step toward him until she leaned up against his chest.
He rubbed her neck and pulled her even closer. “We do if we want to get there."
"Then let's get going.” She disentangled herself from his arms and stepped toward the door. Stuart followed far enough behind she walked out of his reach.
* * * *
Rieko and Stuart's bodies seemed almost embedded in each other. It surprised her how Stuart's every little touch, a brush of his hand on her hand, her waist, or her shoulder, weakened her knees and made her shiver. Or how just the look in his intense eyes when she stood across the room making small talk with Taylor and Shawn made her struggle to not blush a glorious color of pink. She could just imagine the thoughts that stare meant ran through Stuart's head.
Right now they danced together. One of his hands flattened on the small of her back and held her close. His other hand ran delicate lines across her cheek and down her neck and over her ear lobe. Their feet shuffled on the deck of the rec hall, their pace slower than the soft romantic music playing.
Rieko held Stuart close with one arm around his waist and the other his shoulder. The sides of their faces touched. She swirled in his embrace as the darkness behind her closed eyes made her even more aware of her other senses. She felt his body hot against hers. The fabric of his clothes didn't fully mask the muscles that lay beneath. She heard his breath shallow and yet full of unreleased energy. The air around them felt ten degrees hotter, stifling and full of pheromones and his musky cologne and her jasmine perfume.
"Do you want to get out of here?” she whispered into his ear.
He swallowed loudly. “Do you know where that will lead?” Against her ear, his voice cracked.
Rieko just nodded her head, knowing he would feel the movement. Oh, to feel his body against hers without the impediment of clothing, his lips on hers, his hands places it wasn't polite in public to put them.
"Is that alright?” she asked.
"Lead on,” he told her. It gave her the answer without answering. If she wasn't in the state she was currently in, she'd be a little upset about that.
Rieko leaned back in his embrace and opened her dark eyes to look into his of blue. She searched his eyes to make sure he was certain about their next actions. His intense gaze was very sure of his intended actions. For a moment, she saw confusion in his eyes, then he raised his eyebrows and widened his eyes and then nodded his head. This time she removed herself from his now loose embrace and moved toward the door. Stuart gently reached out and clasp her hand to pull himself to her side so that they left together.
* * * *
[Back to Table of Contents]
Chapter Seven
* * * *
By the time they got to the door of Rieko's quarters they could barely contain themselves. Rieko tried to punch in the code to her room. Stuart's hand, which had been on her waist, moved to grip her butt. His chest pushed against her back. All that distraction and she mistyped the code. Stuart ran a finger over her lips, and she took it into her mouth and sucked on it.
"Open the door, Rieko,” Stuart spoke in a husky whisper.
"I'm trying.” Rieko released his finger from her mouth. She struggled to get the code right this time. He used a hand to push their hips together, and she felt his hardened excitement against her backside.
"There.” Rieko sighed as she made the door slide open.
Their next moves were fast, blurred, frenzied. They were in the door, across the room, and falling onto the bed. His hands tightened in her hair, delved under her dress top to get at her breasts. She grabbed at the material of his shirt back, and ran her fingers through his hair. Their mouths met, their tongues dueled.
Stuart ran a hand up under her dress and along her leg. He moaned as he grabbed the naked flesh of her butt from the thong panties she wore. Her fingers fumbled with his belt buckle and the zipper of his pants. Finally she grasped his erection firmly in her hand.
Stuart shifted to be on top of her. Rieko parted her legs. He ran his fingers over her clit and then into her folds. Then with one thrust he entered her, filling her. Their bodies moved together in erotic pleasure. Their hips bucked against each other.
Her hands gripped his naked ass, scratched his back. His tongue lapped at her neck, his lips sucked her ear. Their mouths met and moved against each other as swiftly as their bodies. Rieko felt herself climaxing. She pulled his hips closer as the strength of her orgasm washed over her. Stuart thrust his hips against hers one last time, then he reached his own release and spilled himself into her.
Stuart collapsed on top of her, both struggling for breath. “That didn't go the way I intended,” he managed to say through gasps for air. He rolled off of her and lay on his back beside her. “Sorry, Rieko."
Rieko lie beside him and let her breath calm. Her body felt numbingly spent and gloriously exhilarated at the same time. She rolled over and laid her head on his chest. His rumbled blue shirt now wet still covered his muscles.
"That was great, Stuart,” she mumbled into the soft fabric of his shirt. She felt him wrap an arm around her. They had been peaking to this for hours, ever since he had dropped by to pick her up earlier.
"Give me a bit, I can do better.” His quiet words rumbled through his chest. He ran a hand through her hair.
Head still lying on his chest, Rieko began slowly unbuttoning his shirt. She opened it to reveal a white undershirt stretched tight against his skin. Rieko realized that even though he wasn't shy about his body, both of their sexual encounters involved him being dressed. Even in the ‘might have gone there’ moment interrupted by Taylor, he was clothed. She wanted to see him totally bare to her eyes.
Rieko sat up. Her hands ran along his chest.
"What?” he asked her.
She slightly shook her head and placed a finger to his lips to silence him. Stuart smiled lightly under her finger, then softly kissed it. She ran her fingers down his face, his neck, and his chest. She let her eyes follow her movements as she traced a path over this navel and lower. She noticed his pants were still undone, but made herself stick to above the waist for now.
She ran a hand along each of his arms out to his wrist and undid the cuffs of his shirt. Then with his help, she removed it and tossed it to the floor. She planted her hands on the soft cotton of his undershirt. Her hands ran down to the hem, and then back up on his bare flesh beneath, pulling the fabric with them.
Stuart raised his arms and allowed her to pull off his undershirt. She traced the muscles of his bare chest with her hands and then her lips. She felt him twist a hand through her hair.
He sat up and pulled her into a deep gentle kiss, slow and calm, the raw energy of before transformed into exploratory passion. Stuart reached behind her and undid the zipper to her dress. She helped him pull it over her head and off. His eyes took her in fully, and washed over her bra and matching panties, bare flesh.
"Do you like?” she asked in a soft voice.
His smile just barely tugged the edges of his lips up. His eyes almost spoke the thoughts running through his head. Stuart grazed a hand over a fabric covered breast, and she realized he'd once again gotten her less dressed than him.
&nb
sp; Rieko turned and removed his shoes and socks. She ran a hand over his bare toes finding them ticklish. Stuart's fingers combed through her hair, his hands slid down her back and over her bare ass. She turned back to face him, glad his arms were just loosely on her.
While his hands explored every inch of her flesh, she tugged his belt loose from his pants and threw it to the floor. With his pants undone, Rieko saw the tautness at the front of his boxers. She removed his pants and ran her hands down the flesh of his beautifully sculptured thighs and calves as she went. His pants joined the rest of their clothing on the floor.
Stuart pulled her closer and reached behind her to unfasten and remove her bra. He drew her into a kiss and his lips played over hers with increasing passion. He lowered his lips to kiss and suck her breasts. His hands slipped under the waist of her thong and glided it over her hips and down her legs.
His teeth nipped at one of Rieko's nipples and then the other. She gently pushed him down onto his back. Her hands moved under his boxers and removed them as she had his pants. She returned and slid a hand over his hard erection. She played with the tip and then stroked down the length of the shaft. His hands searched out her intimate places and found her moist and receptive. Her body longed for the satisfaction she knew he could again give her.
Rieko straddled his waist and then slowly sank herself down onto him. He wrapped his hands around her waist and he softly moved beneath her. She leaned back and set the pace. She moved slowly and calmly so that this time their actions would be prolonged. One of his hands caressed a breast, while the other dipped forward on her hips and gently rubbed at her clit.
They continued that way as their movements and actions increased in pace and intensity until their hips roughly thrashed against each other. Their hands gripped and tugged. Rieko arched her back and pushed him deeper into her.
She felt herself rising to her climax. She called out his name to the sounds of his insistent moans. With a thrust that lifted them from the bed and one last growl-like moan, Stuart joined in her orgasm as he emptied himself deep within her. Rieko collapsed on top of him spent. Their naked flesh was now slick with sweat.
"Better?” he asked when he regained his breath.
Rieko mumbled a response as she smiled against his cheek. She slid off him and cuddled at his side.
"Do you know all these people?” he asked.
Rieko sleepily followed his gaze to the pictures on her walls, desk, and shelves. “Yeah.” She thought about all the memories and good friends those pictures held for her. He'd been in her quarter's dozens of times, why was it now that he asked about this?
"Taylor said I could use his camera to add some of the people from Resolution,” she told him.
"Is that all I am?” he asked. Hurt showed in his voice. “An addition to the collection?"
Rieko propped her chin on his chest. “No. Of course not.” She met his blue eyes with hers of black. How could he even think that? “I love you, Stuart."
His stormy eyes looked at her with questions. “You've loved others on that wall."
"A few.” She remembered that loving someone and getting a relationship to form and grow between two people were very different things. “Don't try to tell me I'm the first girl you've ever been with."
A small crooked smile tugged at his lips and then quickly faded, leaving his face solid and his eyes intense. “I do care about you, Rieko. I've never let anyone this close before,” he said in a soft whisper.
"I know.” She kept her voice quiet. “You're much more than a picture on a wall. You always will be.” How was it she had let this man get so deeply into her soul?
"I wish I could give you more,” he whispered. His eyes held the pain that his inability caused him. Maybe that was it, this man had such a depth to him if he'd only let her see all of it.
"Give me what you can, and that will be enough.” She tried to make her voice sound assuring. She looked deep into those blue eyes of his. Oh Stuart, I'm going to make you whole again, I promise, she told herself. He smiled gently at her, and Rieko lowered her head to his chest. “Will you stay the night?” she asked.
She felt him shake his head. “I can't,” he answered. “I'll stay as long as you want."
"Can I request all night?” She smiled as her eyes closed. She felt a gentle chuckle rumble though his chest. He wrapped her tighter in his embrace. The beating of his heart and soft raise and fall of his breath quickly lulled her into sleep.
* * * *
Rieko stirred from sleep at what she thought was the sound of the door opening to the lit hallway. She reached out to find the bed beside her still warm from Stuart's heat. Eyes half closed with sleep, she looked over to find her jade dress neatly draped over the back of a chair, and her shoes and underwear on the seat. She would heal all those wounds of his she promised herself as she fell back into a gentle sleep.
* * * *
[Back to Table of Contents]
Chapter Eight
* * * *
Rieko glanced across the bridge at Stuart and tried to suppress the blush that threatened to spread across her fair cheeks. Part of her wished she could retreat to the safety of the astronomy lab. This certainly wasn't the first time she and Stuart had returned to their afternoon shifts after lunchtime sex. One would think she'd have gotten used to it by now.
When she could feel his eyes on her, she forced her eyes to remain on the screen before her, while she fought to calm the butterflies in her stomach. When Rieko finally looked up, the intense stare of his clear blue eyes pulled her in. He lowered his eyes back to his work and she tried to do the same.
Intense was most certainly the word for Stuart. Who knew under that reserved British exterior lurked a man of such passion. Loving Stuart felt like white water rafting. He pulled her in with such little effort, and took her roaring downstream at such a rapid pace she barely had time to think. Yet all in all it had so far been a rather fun ride.
Today's latest adventure had begun at lunch with Taylor. Sometimes she wondered if the engineer caught on to the unspoken energy between Stuart and herself. If he did he never let on, although he also didn't seem to mind being the third wheel. Stuart had given Rieko his particular look where those gray-blue eyes of his radiated passion and desire. Yet, the conversation continued on about the ship's latest explorations, the habitable planets in the last visited star system.
It wasn't until after lunch and Taylor had headed back to Engineering that Stuart took her hand and guided her to a not often used hallway. As Chief Armory Officer, Stuart knew every inch of the Resolution inside and out. It seemed it was his goal to have them christen each and every secluded nook and cranny of the entire ship. Today's particular location was a small storage closet well off the beaten path and empty of whatever it was built to be filled with.
Rieko replayed what had followed through her mind. As soon as the door had closed, she found herself pressed against the wall, Stuart's hands and lips and tongue seemingly everywhere at once. He quickly pulled enough of her uniform and underclothes off to have access to what he desired. He spread her legs and lifted her into his arms. Her legs straddled his waist. He used the bulkhead for leverage and quickly entered her, moving fast and swift.
"Ensign,” Commander Poloski's voice brought Rieko harshly back to reality and what she was supposed to be working on. “How are the modifications to the star chart coming?” Poloski folded her hands behind her back.
"Fine,” Rieko replied. Poloski peered over Rieko's shoulder to get a better look at her progress. Rieko wondered if the request for Rieko's project status was because the commander had noticed her wandering thoughts.
Poloski finished looking at Rieko's work and straightened herself back up. “Good job, Ensign,” she told Rieko before she returned to her station. Rieko tried to make her sigh of relief as soft as possible.
* * * *
"So, what is going on with you and Lieutenant Commander Tipton?” Rieko asked Leeza as they sat on the couch
and bed in Leeza's room, both decked out in pajamas for the night.
"Don't change the subject, Rieko.” Leeza smiled. “We were talking about you and one Lieutenant MacEwan.” The sole purpose for Rieko being here was to girl talk about that British Chief Armory Officer still at most times a mystery.
Rieko nodded her head in agreement on what the subject was supposed to be. Maybe she could dig a few details out of Leeza later.
"So, the last time the two of you really talked was the night he showed you the model ship?” Leeza asked.
"Yeah,” Rieko answered. “That was almost two weeks ago."
"He really opened up then, right?” Leeza leaned back against a pillow.
"Yeah.” Rieko had left out the information that Stuart had revealed. He would hate her if she broke his privacy.
"All you've been doing since is having sex?” Leeza asked.
Rieko nodded her head. “Really great sex, but yes."
"All over the ship from what I hear."
Rieko nodded and felt a blush creep over her cheeks.
Leeza shook her head. “He doesn't at all strike me as that type."
"Well, there's a lot more to him than would appear,” Rieko said. Leeza gave her an odd little look in reply. “Don't you even dare give him a look like that in public.” Rieko tried to make her voice sound threatening. She could just see his embarrassment if Leeza let on that she knew about Stuart's sexual prowess.
Leeza feigned surprise at Rieko thinking she would do such a thing. “You should sit down and talk to him. Just talk."
Rieko sighed with resignation. She had known all along it was what she needed to do, but she was glad Leeza had confirmed her thoughts on the matter.
* * * *
"Hi Rieko,” Stuart greeted as she entered his room the next evening.
"We need to talk.” She knew her voice sounded blunt, and rightly so. She strolled to the bed and sat down. He sat across from the bed at his desk strewn with pieces of his latest model.
"Why?” His attention remained on the assembly of his model.