This Could Be A Date - Mercer/McRae

[do]

INCOMING MESSAGE FROM; CAPTAIN J.MERCER
USS FARRAGUT
Stardate: 2169.12.05

TO: LT.COLONEL S.MCRAE
NX01 ENTERPRISE


Due back in two days. Feel like dinner?

Jake
*

Scrolling through messages and reports, Sloane had only half her mind on the job. Her thoughts were on Merrick and his daughter back on Gaia. After spending the better part of the previous week with them, she was wondering how Tom was faring on his own. The NX was only away on short trip to Regula for resupply and swapping engineering crews and she would be back soon, but that didn't stop Sloane from worrying. Not that she thought Tom was useless but this soon after losing his wife, she wouldn't fault him if one morning he refused to get out of bed. So they'd fallen into this routine of her dropping in on them for a few days, in between her rotations on Enterprise. With the war over, there was no need to be driven as hard as before and so the schedule was more lax.

From: Tobin, Tobin, Governor Hayes, Rickman, T'Pol, Reed, T'Pol, Phlox, T'Pol, Governor Hayes, Reed, Tobin, Mercer, T'Pol, Gover-what?

Sloane scrolled up. Mercer? Hitting the 'Enter', she tried to tell herself her heart hadn't skipped a beat. No, ma'am.

Reading the message, Sloane sat back in her chair, a shit-eating grin on her face. "Dinner? That's a fucking date in my book, Mercer," she muttered under her breath. Teeeheee!

She cleared her throat. Alright, calm the fuck down. It's only dinner.

Yeah, but he said he didn't date and here it is. INVITE TO DINNER! Hell, the man never smiled until I made him do it.

You think pretty highly of yourself, don't you? Ever occurred to you he was laughing at you with that smirk? Or that he usually smiles plenty, just not when you were around?

Sloane sobered up. Where was this going to lead anyway? Hadn't she been down that very road with Der? Getting all giddy when they wrote to each other - especially at the beginning because it was against the regs?

It's not the same, she told herself.

No? You thought he was the one then too.

Yeah, well, I don't think Jake is... I mean, I don't know. I don't care. He's just... I like him, alright? And that's enough.

Is it?

Aw, shut up already! She killed that annoying, smart ass inner voice and hit 'Reply'.

*

Hey Dad,

How’s things with you? I know we didn’t exactly leave on the best of terms the last time I was in port but seriously, I'm getting sick of hauling your ass out of every bar in the colony and making sure you don't kill yourself in the process. Anyway, I'm writing to tell you that Sally Richardson dropped me a line. Yeah, your next door neighbour. She said you’ve been at Beast's every night for the last month since I’ve been gone. No change I know but seems to me the woman might be sweet on you. Maybe you should give her a call.

It's none of my business if you want to wreck your liver but this isn’t what Joey and Ely would have wanted, you know that. I mean you used to be a pretty good carpenter back in Nevada. Why don't you do something there? It sure beats the hell out of you staying at home and leaving only to turn into a drunk. Sorry, am I being too blunt? Well I’m several million miles away and I can’t pad the fucking truth for you anymore.

Isn’t that you taught us? Speak your mind and don’t spare the change in doing it?

Come on, Dad, you got pull yourself together sometimes.

Jay

~~~~

He honestly didn't know why he bothered.

Twelve years of pickling his liver hadn't done much to change Isaiah Mercer but he supposed Jake was still playing the part of the oldest even though his brothers were gone and he was now an only child remaining, was a hard habit to break . He couldn't help but try and fix this. Inside his quarters, he wrote the message he'd been writing ever since he discovered his father was alive, trying once again to reach him. Since face to face they were never were able to get this personal. It was just the way things were with men, he supposed. Too much pride and bullshit in the way.

He had just finished what he called his latest chapter for self abuse when he saw the slight blink on the corner of his screen that indicated that he had an incoming message. Opening it, he read the message and once again, the smile he reserved only for her emerged, faded and worn but nonetheless potent.


INCOMING MESSAGE FROM; LT.COLONEL S.MCRAE
NX01 ENTERPRISE
Stardate: 2169.08.05

TO: CAPTAIN J.MERCER
USS FARRAGUT


> Due back in two days. Feel like dinner?

Sure. Say where and when.

Wilma

*

Now what, smart guy? The sardonic inner voice that possessed all his bitterness and cynicism chided sarcastically as always. You made a date.

Not a date, he told himself. It's dinner.

Right, like it wasn't a date, just a picnic.

He stared at her message and had no idea where to take her for dinner. Sure as hell wasn't going to be the Beasts. He hadn't dated in a good while but even he knew that was not the place to take a woman you liked . Hopping on the communication band network called the Stream - Jake went searching and found an answer. Infinity. Expensive but he hadn't exactly been spending his pay on much over the years. He had credits. Firing off request for a reservation, Jake realised he'd probably have to shave for this 'not date'.


INCOMING MESSAGE FROM; CAPTAIN J.MERCER
USS FARRAGUT
Stardate: 2169.08.05

TO: LT.COLONEL S.MCRAE
NX01 ENTERPRISE


>>Due back in two days. Feel like dinner?

>Sure. Say where and when.

>Wilma

Infinity's at 7.00. I'll pick you up.

*

Infinity's. Sloane smiled. She hadn't been in that restaurant in a long while. Nice spot. Fine cuisine. Part of her was pleased Mercer wasn't taking her to the Beasts but part of her got nervous that he would consider this dinner important enough to warrant Infinity's classy touch.

For a guy who didn't date... shit, she was going to need an evening dress!

Sloane replied to his message.

INCOMING MESSAGE FROM; LT.COLONEL S.MCRAE
NX01 ENTERPRISE
Stardate: 2169.08.05

TO: CAPTAIN J.MERCER
USS FARRAGUT

>>>Due back in two days. Feel like dinner?

>>Sure. Say where and when.

>>Wilma

>Infinity's at 7.00. I'll pick you up.

I'll be waiting.

-

And she would be. Two freaking days. She looked down at her watch and sighed.

~~~~

He didn't have a place of his own in Gaia.

When he was in town, he stayed either at the Barn or with his dad. Most times the latter because it was easier to keep an eye on the man when he was under the same roof. When Isaiah was sober, which was not a lot, it was almost like old times but Jake had come to realise it was the memory of old times that made his father drink to begin with.

Getting cleaned up, Jake stood by the mirror shaving, trying to look remotely civilised so he would not look like a Neanderthal when he picked Sloane up in a bit.

"You should wear a tie," the old man said from the door, watching him.

"I'm not wearing a tie," Jake grunted, continuing to shave but wondering now if he should. Fuck. He hated this.

"Women like ties," Isaiah pointed out. "Your mother liked ties."

"Mom was fleet," Jake retorted. "Sloane's not. She's a Shark."

"So she's some kind of bull dyke?" His father said sarcastically.

"Fuck no," Jake snorted and threw his dad a look only to see the man smiling. "Very funny, dad."

It figures, the man would pick now to start being a dad again.

~~~~

"Nononono!" Sloane muttered, giving up on her hair when she heard the beep of the front door. Poking her head out of the bathroom, she yelled, "Coming!"

She gave a last look at her reflection, deciding to go with the loose look. She adjusted her black number and went to the door. God, when was the last time she wore a dress? Would she be too obvious? Fuck it.

She keyed the door and it slid open. What greeted her was so much better than she remembered. Damn.

"Hey," Sloane finally said. "You clean up good." Bloody hell that dark jacket was hot on him.

He wasn't sure what he was expecting.

He suspected, she'd look good. She always did. However, he wasn't expecting that she'd look stunning. For a moment, he stared at her through the door, looking stupid and caught completely by surprise until her words jarred him out of silence and he managed an answer.

"So do you," he replied, trying to downplay the fact that his jaw was on the floor. The fact that he wasn't going out with just Sloane but a LADY in letters 50 fucking feet tall, in bright neon lights.

Fuck, he should have worn the tie.

"I..." Sloane nervously smoothed down the silky material of her dress over her hips. "Thank you." She was NOT beaming. "Come in." She waved him in, her manners finally catching up with her. "Let me go grab my shoes..."

She padded away quickly, throwing him a smile over her shoulder.

He watched fascinated, trying to reconcile this elegantly sensual creature with the woman he had come to know in the past few weeks. Oh, he knew she was a woman under all that balls and MACO bluster. He knew that when he kissed her but, looking at her now, Jake was aware of her on a completely different level. Jake followed her into the place, tentatively, feeling for the first time, the pressure of failing in this thing he had embarked upon with her. He had no word for they were doing.

Unconsciously, whether he willed it or not, he realised something.

They were dating.

"Sure," he said casually. "I uhm managed to threaten the guys down at the motor pool (what the Sharks liked to refer to as the vehicle requisitions) to let me have a skimmer for the evening. Told them that I was taking a Lt. Colonel to some important diplomatic thing."

"You what?" Sloane chuckled as she walked back from her bedroom, the shoes dangling in one hand. "You're cheeky." A skimmer. That would be nice.

"Whatever works," he replied, admiring her still. God, she looked beautiful. She probably smelled real good too. "Besides, I don't know whether I want you walking around like that." Jake smiled.

Raising an eyebrow, Sloane slipped her shoes on and approached him. "No one would dare come close with you next to me..."

That was for fucking sure, Jake thought.

"They better not." He closed the distance between them and lifted her chin. "Shame to get into a fight before dinner." He lowered his lips to hers, needing to take the edge off or else she'd get no sense from him through dinner. Kissing her in an intense but not overly invasive kiss, Jake took a deep breath. "Damn, I look forward to that scent every time I come back."

Rooted in place, Sloane tried to tell herself she hadn't been waiting for this since they had last seen each other. Her head swimming, she snaked her hand to the back of his neck. When he spoke, she smiled against his mouth. "One day I'm going to have to tell you what perfume I wear."

"Nah," he whispered into her cheek. "Keep me guessing," he replied and went in for another kiss, a little more intense this time, hand coiling around the waist to pull her just a little closer. He tried not to react to just how soft she felt, how much he wanted to grind her into the wall and say fuck dinner.

Responding to him, she tried to resist losing her head totally. Tried. Fuck. With a soft moan, she melted against him, fingers sinking in his hair.

Christ, he wanted her. He didn't even think it was possible to want anyone so much. He wasn't some fucking teenager. It wasn't as if he hadn't been laid on a semi-regular basis. As ornery a son of a bitch as he was, women found that strangely compelling and that got him laid - a lot. However, she was different, what he felt for her, Jake did not want to profane by treating her as another casual fuck. It would have been easy to ride the maelstrom of the heat they were generating right now but Sloane was different and because he was, he kissed her once more, long and deep, before pulling back. "Come on, let's get going." She wasn't a fuck or a lay, she was something he wanted to stick around for in the morning.

He took her bloody breath away. Blinking, it took her a second to remember where they were headed. Oh, yeah. "Sure." She moved away, already missing his warmth and touch, and grabbed her bag. "I'm ready." Chances were she looked like she'd just been put away wet, but there was nothing she could do about it right this minute.

Oh so was he, Jake thought but they probably should have dinner first.

~~~~~

Jake had never been to Infinity's so he was rather surprised by how classy it was.

Considering that Gaia was a colony less than two decades old and had been put together by bailing wire and spit almost when humanity settled here, that a place with carpet, polished wood and Vulcan silk upholstery could exist was something of a surprise. The skimmer had been a good choice because Sloane looked so damn good in those heels, he just didn't want her to trudge across the colony to get to the place. They talked about inconsequential things - their latest tour, the people they worked with, all the idle chit chat that came with a date.

Get over it, Mercer - you're dating, he admitted with resignation.

They were shown into the place and Jake was certain that eyes fixed on her and he scowled at anyone who lingered a little too long on Sloane. One because it was just plain rude and two, well it pissed him off. Once at the table reserved in the corner, with a view of Cochrane Hills in the distance, he started to relax, though that was easier said then done when he had to look at her from across the candle light.

Sloane felt his gaze and looked up from the shiny silverware. Smiling, she canted her head. "Good choice." She didn't really put any importance on things such as this but it surprisingly pleased her that he'd gone to the effort - not that he had to. Thinking back to earlier at her place, if he'd suggested they skip dinner, she would have agreed wholeheartedly.

"I come to this place all the time," he shrugged with that bemused smile. "They have great cheese steaks here."

Chuckling, Sloane stretched her hand across the table, seeking his. "They have very handsome patrons as well," she said. "Him over there, and that guy near the entrance..." she teased.

Almost like reflex, Jake met her fingers part way and found it interesting how natural it was to do this. Like they had been doing it forever. "They're gay," Jake said, without skipping a beat. "They date each other."

"Ha! Figures. All the good ones are either already married or gay. Lucky I found you in that cesspit..." She smiled sweetly. God, they were really doing this. And it didn't feel forced or awkward. It was just clear they were a little out of practice. Barely.

"Yeah." Jake looked at her across the table, eyes dancing. "That's the trouble with women, they always look for guys in the wrong places. Cesspits and alien shit holes, that's where the real men are," he joked and hoped Bob, who was actually married to Cricket Sue, wouldn't be too pissed at Jake for telling Sloane he was gay.

Sloane wrinkled her nose at the memory of the smell in that cave. They had had to burn their clothes back on Enterprise, it was so bad. "They should teach us that at school, you know, so we don't waste our time later on. That said, I don't think anyone is that desperate enough to crawl in such a hole just to find Prince Charming."

"I hope you didn't," Jake retorted, finding the description of himself a Prince Charming too fucking weird. "However, you'd be surprised what some guys would do find a piece of ass," he reminded.

"Oh, I know." She chuckled again. "MACOs all round are a constant reminder..." Looking at him, she starkly remembered what he had told her back on Azati Prime. Mercer didn't do anything for a piece of ass; he usually paid for it. Sloane wasn't so vain as to believe she could have that much effect on a man and wondered what had brought him around.

"Shit," he swore a little, "didn't that come out fucking wrong?" He wasn't a guy who tried to cover when he fucked up. "Of course you're special," he half teased but was mostly serious.

Canting her head, she studied his face, trying to work out what he meant by that. She caught the teasing but there was more to it. Maybe it just meant what it meant. He had sure as hell been upfront about being interested. "Special enough for you to renegade on your ways?" She returned the tease. Yep, maybe what he'd said had just come out wrong but, with him, she didn't want to just end up a piece of tail.

"Special enough for me to try rejoining the human race," he said truthfully, suspecting that in this one instance, they'd have to forgo bullshit for some honest to god sincerity. "Truth be told, tail I can get any time I want. This, what we're doing, I haven't wanted to until now." He met her gaze.

"Okay." She was touched again by his candour. She could easily believe him about the easy shags, the casual sex. Hell, he was the type. Her type. Bad boy handsome. Strong enough to put up with her when she needed it rough. Most guys she went for and picked up had his physique, his looks. Because one knew they didn't want anymore than that. Thing was, there was something special about him too. And despite his Mr. Happy disposition when they'd met - which had warned her to stay the fuck away - something told her this one she didn't want to mess with just for a lay. "I guess it's only fair to tell you there's something about you as well that makes me stick my neck out again when I swore to myself I wouldn't do this again."

"That's good to know," Jake nodded as a waitress came up to their table and allowed them a time out, absorbing all that was said in between the pause afforded while ordering. Once she was gone, he resumed speaking, "I'm glad you took a chance. If it wasn't easy for me and I've been out of the game a lot, I'm guessing you got hurt to be afraid of trying again."

"You'd be guessing right." Sloane nodded, going for frankness. There was no point trying to hide it. If they were serious about giving this a go - and they were, even if they were still feeling their way - he would find out about Rickman at some point. Back then, a Major dating a Gunny hadn't gone unnoticed - among the MACOs at least. If Mercer hadn't already heard of the gossip, it was only because he came from Acheron.

"A MACO... a Captain now actually." The similitudes weren't lost on Sloane but that was where they ended. Jake Mercer and Derick Rickman were two different men. "It's not that he was a total ass and hurt me bad..." He had, but Sloane realised she had to at least say as much so Jake wouldn't think it was all on Derick's head. How could she explain that she had been stupid enough to believe he was the one without looking like a sap?
"I... I'm glad you're taking a chance too. A mate of mine... he just lost his wife and..." Sloane glanced at the hills through the window, trying to find the right words. "Despite everything, he wouldn't... he doesn't regret what he had with Alex. I guess he's making me... braver." If Tom could still say it was all worthwhile, surely Sloane had to stop being a coward and take a chance. "Besides, life's too short."

He listened without speaking until she was done and saw a gamut of emotion cross her features as she explained. He liked that she wasn't bitter, that despite the pain and the anguish of loss, she had taken up the threads of her life, dared to try again. In some sense, Jake admired her because he had not been able to do that himself, not until her.

"You're right," he agreed. "I don't have regrets about not getting close to anyone but seeing my dad cut himself off the way he has, is one hell of a reality check. After Azati, I got to thinking that if I keep going the way I am, I could end up like him. I don't want to do that. Like I told dad since I found him, Ely and Joey wouldn't want that for him, I doubt they would want that for me either."

Ely and Joey. It often came back to them and it was only now that Sloane realised the legacy it was for Jake to have helped raise them as his own. He mourned them as a brother but mostly as a parent. And, three years ago, to discover his father had been on Gaia all this time must have brought all that sense of loss back to the fore. She had seen it happen to a few lucky ones - the Quinns amongst others - but Jake here certainly proved finding a lost one wasn't always what it was cracked up to be.

Nodding slowly, Sloane squeezed his fingers. "I don't know your family," hell, she hardly knew him, "but no, I doubt they would have wanted that for either of you." That said, Sloane wasn't sure she was the perfect candidate for him to get close to... she wasn't exactly... what was the old saying? Stepford Wives material.

Jake squeezed back. "Funny thing though," he said with a somewhat puzzled expression. "The old man and I had a conversation today that wasn't full of piss and vinegar."

"Oh?" Sloane quirked an eyebrow. Coincidence it'd taken place today? "About me?" She doubt Old Man Mercer would know who she was but then again he spent way too much time with Fabien...

"Yeah," Jake mused, somewhat shocked still by the fatherly content of the conversation. "Seemed to think if you were a nice girl, I should wear a tie." A teasing smile crossed his face as he met her gaze at the comment but there was more too. Like seeing his son date had reminded Isaiah of something.

There was so much yearning in his eyes, yearning for his father to acknowledge his eldest son was still there. She was pleased it seemed he had gotten a taste of that today. Sloane grinned, eyes touching on his chest, seeing only a tee. "Well, now I know what you think of me!" she teased.

Jake uttered a short laugh. "Actually, I have a feeling you like the bad boys and also, having you compared to my mother liking ties, killed the moment a little." No man ever wanted that comparison made before a date. Really.

"He what?" Sloane gave him a wistful smile, surprised by her own reaction to this. Not many people on Gaia still had their folks... except the younger ones, born since Earth had been destroyed. It was something they all accepted and coped with but it rocked her core... that someone had this old-fashioned type of conversation with their father before heading out. It made her homesick and miss her own father.

"He said that I should wear a tie, since my mother liked ties apparently." Jake replied and shifted tracks because things were getting more sombre than he would like. "So tie or no tie for future reference?"

"That's sweet." But it had obviously shocked Jake somewhat - understandably, given his old man's track record. When Jake turned the conversation on her, she smiled. "I... I don't mind," she said, pleased he would care to ask. "I'm not really the dress-to-the-nines type but some things require it." In his case, she thought to herself, he was drop-dead gorgeous, tie or no tie...

"If you don't mind, I'll go with no tie," Jake responded. "Tell the truth, wearing a tie makes me think I'm going to a job interview and Sharks don't wear ties." He'd get holy hell from his men if they saw him in one of those things.

Amused, Sloane shook her head, "I'll keep that in mind. There's always your dress uniform..." That was fancy enough for Sloane. "I hope my dress isn't too much for a Shark." She was teasing him now.

Aware that they were playing a bit of a game, he remarked, "There isn't much that's too much for a Shark. You should know being one yourself but that dress..." He eyed her appreciatively. "Is a killer." He almost grinned.

Almost.

Sloane felt his gaze on her, burning a trail and making her lick her lips as her hand reached for the glass of water. God, this waiting was killing her. It was funny because on some level it was evident that they both would much rather do away with this and jump each others' bones, but somehow, left unspoken, they had agreed to do this... courting thing. Sloane couldn't remember the last time she hadn't clear jumped over that step. She supposed it was refreshing.

"Thank you." She nodded at his compliment. She couldn't pretend she hadn't tried to get that effect. That much was evident.

This is why Jake wasn't a fan of dates. It seemed an unnecessary prelude to good sex, required by virgins and assholes who needed to get wound up before they actually did the deed. A lot of times, it wasn't necessary because when the moment was right, you just knew it. When he had become such a fucking expert, Jake wanted to know but it seemed to make sense.

They spent the rest of the evening playing the game expected of them even if he suspected Sloane was impatient of it as he was. It would have been easy to pay the check and drive the skimmer out to some nice piece of hill where he could bury his face between her legs and make her howl at the moon (well, he planned on that anyway) but he didn't lie when he said she was special. This dance, as frustrating as it was, served the purpose of telling her that just because she was Sloane McRae, Battle Bitch of the North, didn't mean he thought she wasn't entitled to being treated like a woman. He suspected it was too easy for people to forget that in trying to think of her as equal.

Their chitchat, often bordering on easy banter, was actually nice. Mercer could be easier to talk to than he let on. But every so often Sloane would catch him looking at her, his heated gaze unmistakeable, and every time that happened, Sloane's body just responded of its own accord. There was an undenying attraction there and she guessed she was throwing similar looks and that was just payback.

When the waitress came around with the dessert menu and started naming the house specialties, Sloane's usual playfulness and disregard for protocol came to the fore. Shaking her foot free from her shoe, she lifted her leg up until it met Jake's. The polite smile on her face didn't, for one second, let on that she was playing footsies under the fancy table covered with fine dining ware and the leftovers of a sumptuous dinner. But, as her foot ran up his leg and found his thigh, her message was clear about which dessert she was after.

The contact of foot against leg would have to happen when there was someone else at the table who was unaware of what the hell was going on beneath the embroidered lace. One minute he was listening to some shit about something with chocolate sauce, next thing he knew there was a foot caressing his thigh and he had no idea what the fuck the waitress was talking about. Eyes meeting Sloane's briefly, Jake's message was... 'Oh that's playing dirty'. Fortunately, he loved the way she did.

The pause was momentary and then he resumed ordering as if nothing had happened until the waitress was about to leave and then Jake added, oh so subtly, "Make that to go."

*

Sloane let Jake lead her out of Infinity's, a smile on her face. The breeze caught her hair and she turned to face it head on, one hand going to tame a strand behind her ear. She noted the two moons in the sky, thinly veiled by a few clouds. It was warm and the air was sweet. Turning to Mercer, Sloane committed it all to memory. This was nice. Real nice.

It was nice and it was different.

Sure the air was pregnant with possibility and true the hard on he could feel coming on had made the evening interesting but it was nice. He watched the breeze catch her hair and found that he could drink in the sight of her. The contact in the restaurant however, had polarized his senses and he led her back to the skimmer, saying little but watching her closely.

"Okay," he admitted. "This was a date."

A smile of teasing on his lips.

"It sure was, Mr. I Don't Date." Sloane smirked, turning eyes on him that danced. "And a nice one."

"Yeah." Jake smirked as he looked at her, quite pleased with himself. "I figure if I'm going to do it once, I might as well do it right. I'm glad you approved. Even without a tie."

She turned to face him, one hand brushing across his pecs briefly. "Without a tie is fine." One less thing to take off.

"You're killing me, you know." Jake gave her a look that was part desire, part amusement. She was coming on strong and he liked it. Hell, he liked it a lot. Especially when it was genuine desire, not something induced because of a couple of credits. "You ready to go?"

He was talking about the skimmer. Or at least that's what Jake told himself.

"I am." She nodded, slightly giddy at his reaction. She was actually quite surprised he remained so... gentlemanly.

Taking the statement innocently for now, Jake opened the door for her and helped Sloane inside, wanting her more than his next breath, holding back because he was not doing a woman like Lt. Colonel McRae in the backseat of a skimmer like he was some kind of fucking teenager.

"Your place?" He asked and, this time, the question had nothing to do with the end of the date.

"Sure." Watching him hop in the skimmer, Sloane read the subtext like it was in bloody neon lights. She guessed his father was home, or could come crashing in at any moment. Her place was empty. Empty and quiet and... shit! Had she picked up her crap before leaving? She imagined her bed unmade, crumpled sheets and all... undies and bra lying about the place... Sloane swallowed, forcing an uncomfortable smile on her face. "If you don't look at the mess." Though something told her he wouldn't be focused on that and neither would she.

Jake tried to read her anxiety and wondered if he was pushing. "If you want," he said smoothly, wanting her to know it was okay if she didn't feel ready. The margin between wanting to do a thing and actually doing it could be quite wide when the moment came.

Of course, she wanted! Puzzled, she wondered for a moment why he'd think... "No-yes, I do. I just really mean it. The mess." She chuckled at her own eloquence. Thing was, there was probably no obvious mess but now she sure as hell had attracted attention it. "I sound like an idiot." She gave him a sideways glance even as she smiled. She was always so damned in control it was rather amusing he could make her feel like an airhead.

"Not that I noticed," he said in usual deadpan delivery but the warmth in his eyes indicated otherwise. Starting the skimmer, he added, "And I like mess. Life is messy, wouldn't be any fun if it wasn't."

"You got that right..." Her hand found his thigh and rested there, behaving. Her gaze moved from his profile to outside as they travelled. Gaia was already fast changing with the Federation affording them many things they couldn't get their hands on before.

Shifting his gaze ever so slightly to the hand on his thigh. He felt another lusty twinge of want making a beeline from the point of contact to his groin. Fortunately, he still had the control of himself he had since he was a teenager so it showed slight.

The colony was still relatively small and it wasn't long before they were driving back into the surrounds of Utopia Planetia, home of choice for all the Marsies. Jake had been to Mars once. He liked it because it reminded him of the dry Nevada climate. He found that folks from Mars tended to be weathered than more than just the climate. It was a no frills world and it produced people of the same calibre.

Sensing the slight shift in Jake, the thigh muscle tensing beneath her hand, Sloane smiled and turned her head to give him a mischievous look. She hadn't gone deliberately for that but his reaction reminded her of the burn that was slowly eating at her. She hadn't wanted someone this bad for a long while. After their picnic at the park some weeks before, his slow kisses and careful touches, all rather proper in public and so in contrast with his gruff demeanour, had kept her awake many a night.

Returning to the same spot he had left when this evening began, Jake got out of the vehicle without showing any eagerness. He remained as always guarded because he knew of no other way to be. The fact that he was here, however, was a testament to how much Sloane had gotten past his barriers. Twelve years in the making, chipping it had been no easy feat. Anyone else, he would have banged them and be done with it. Easy, simple. Bottle of rotgut and ten minutes, all systems go.

"Back where we started, safe and sound," he commented, allowing her to direct things for a bit.

Sloane smiled, accepting his hand to leave the skimmer in a lady-like manner. "Thanks. You..." She noted he seemed to have withdrawn a little. "You're coming inside for that dessert?" She indicated the wrapped up cake on the backseat. Hell, if he wanted to go slow, she would, but she wasn't going to tiptoe around her attraction for him. Too much time got wasted wondering or assuming what the other wanted. She'd learned that one the hard way. "I can make coffee..." Here, an out if he thought things were moving too fast.

"Coffee's good," he responded and followed her through her front door, once again keeping things respectable.

And then the door closed behind them.

Before she had a chance to protest or say any damn thing, he caught her arm, spun her around and pressed her between himself and the door before capturing her lips in an open mouth as he flattened his form against her oh soft, sensuous body. That instigating scent wafting around them as his tongue snaked past her teeth, claiming her.

Christ. Taken by surprise, it was probably the first time Sloane truly appreciated wearing this little piece of silk they called a dress. She could feel everything. A hundred and eighty pounds of Jake Mercer, pressing against her while his demanding mouth threatened to make her lose all sense. Melting into the kiss, she responded, her arms snaking around his waist, under his jacket. Fuck, she loved the way he felt against her, how he tasted on her tongue. When they came up for air, Sloane nipped at his bottom lip, hungry eyes meeting his.

"You realise we squashed dessert, right?"

"It will keep." He smirked and dove in again, one hand braced against the door while the other was running down the length of her, from arm to the curve of her ass, which he pulled firmly against him, grinding them to each other, hip to hip. He gave her no quarter in his firm stance against her body, relishing the sensation of soft, round flesh, hidden too often under the uniform, brought deliciously alive to night in that amazing dress.

She couldn't miss his erection as he moved against her. It stoked her desire, her need for him, and with wandering hands, she untucked his t-shirt, pulling on it until she found skin and raked her nails along his ribcage. God, the smell and feel of him.

"Fuck." A soft sound of approval escaped him at the feel of nails against his flesh. Pleasure and pain such a fucking heady mix and in response, he slid his mouth past her lips, still working hard across her chin, her jaw line and finally into that tender spot where neck and shoulder met, fresh territory for the plunder. The taste of her was sweet, salty, a mixture he could not define yet craved like his next breath. Fingers sought and found the hem of her dress, reacting to her desire for flesh with one just as fierce. His hand slid down the firm supple curve of thigh before hooking a knee over his own, entwining them so she could feel him, feel the words he could not say.

His touch left a trail of fire, leaving her wanting so much more. She tilted her head back, shivers running down her spine as her leg obeyed him and hooked around his, and as he pressed in close, she let out a needy groan. Her hands flexed against the muscles of his back, trying to pull him closer still, grinding herself against him in response.

Beginning what she had started by tugging at his t-shirt, Jake returned the favour and dragged one of the thin straps down her shoulder as his mouth continued to chart a feverish journey down her neck. The soft material fell softly down one perfectly defined sculpted shoulder and Jake continued to tug, stretching the material as far as it would go before a cupped hand push a ripe breast upward and allowed him to latch on with his teeth. Generous lips enclosing a taut nipple.

Letting out a whimper, Sloane arched in his hold, all her senses zeroing onto that hot mouth of his. Feverishly, she pushed at his jacket, trying to slide it down his arms. Next was his belt, the back of her fingers feeling his stomach muscles ripple at her touch. The buckle came undone in a quiet clinking sound and before she tackled the zipper of his jeans, she pushed the heal of her hand into groin, feeling his hardness, wanting to make him lose his head as much as he did her.

God, her hands were fucking incredible. The touch of her soft palms against his hard cock made him so aware of her that nothing else seemed to matter. Her touch provoked a groan that blew hot breath against the nipple in his mouth, making him suck harder. Demanding more, his other hand left the wall and tugged the second strap, dragging the soft black material down her body, bunching at the waist. He assaulted the unattended breast immediately, thumbing the rosebud peak that was not in his mouth, between his thumb and forefinger, teasing it until it was tight and as erect as him.

"Shit, Jake..." Breathy and light-headed, Sloane nearly came undone right there and then. With trembling hands, she undid his fly and pushed his jeans down past his hips and one hand snaked back between them to free his cock from his briefs, her fingers wrapping around the hard flesh.

There was something to be said about hearing your commanding officer say your name with that breathy plea. She handled him with confidence and skill, something that sent a delicious thrill through him, causing his cock to leap to attention. However, he wasn't ready to move the seduction to that level yet. She had promised him dessert in that restaurant and, as Jake slid down her body, taking her dress and the scrap of lace clinging snugly to her hips with him, he planned to eat.

Oh, God. Relinquishing her hold on him, Sloane let her head thud back against the door as she wasn't so foolish as to believe she could fight him on this. Her skin tingling, her breath shallow, she swallowed hard, filled with anticipation when she finally looked down.

Jake lifted his eyes to hers, just long enough for the contact to deliver his intentions to her in all its sinful purposes. The dress and lace had pooled around her feet and he prompted her foot up just enough to discard it into a heap in parts unknown. Kneeling down before her, thinking that there could be no more magnificent sight than her fully naked, flattened against the world, Jake tentatively explored the soft, dark curls before spreading her apart with fingers and going in for a long, deep taste.

Bracing herself on the doorjamb, Sloane held her breath, waiting for the contact, almost dreading it. And when it came, when he put his mouth on her, she couldn't stay still any longer, her hips jerking forward in response, her stance widening, allowing him easier access. "Jake..."

Fuck she tasted so damn good.

Jake swore he felt the tingle running through his tongue as the tip touched the soft, pliant flesh and took a long, savouring lick. Spreading her folds apart with his thumbs, he exposed the tiny pearl of erect skin to the elements and then proceeded to assail it with alternating licks, swirls and nibble. His face pressed into her mound, he exulted at the scent of her in his nose. He loved his sex dirty, loved the taste of fluid, loved to feast upon a woman until she screamed. It was the closest thing he could get to a high sometimes, waiting for that surrender.

Shit. She didn't know which way was up anymore. Another whimper and she sank a hand in his hair, fingers twisting tightly while the other remained, knuckle-white, on the doorframe. He was good. He was fucking good. Her hips were undulating despite her, a liquid fire pooling in her belly, blossoming between her legs... God... "God, don't..." Don't fucking stop.

He would have smiled but that meant his mouth would be required for something other than what it was presently doing and Jake had no intention of yielding the position. His face was wet with her taste, freshly shaven stubble scratching oh so lightly against her thighs. He felt her nails in his hair and compensated for the rolling tide of her hips by moving in tune to the crest and swells, surfing the surges of her pleasure. Lick, suck and bite and every now and then, he stabbed into that clenching passage, feeling himself get so hard he could barely think, imagining what that would feel like around his cock.

Yes, yes, yes... God, his mouth, his tongue, his... she spasmed once, twice and suddenly she was there, splintering mind and body. Like a freight train, her orgasm bowled her over and both her hands went to Jake's shoulders, gripping them as her legs gave out.

Oh, she was coming, he knew it because it gushed past his lips, spurred him to drink like he had crawled through a desert and, to some degree, he had in a metaphorical sense, though why the fuck he was thinking of such things at a moment like this was another fucking mystery that was becoming his feelings for Sloane McRae. He let go of her folds, clamping his hands around each cheek of her ass, riding out her orgasm until she was spent and could hardly stand. That high that came from her cries, had him well and truly in its grip and he gave her no quarter as he hooked her weak leg over his hip and slid in with upward brutal thrust.

"Jees..." Sloane gasped, the wind practically knocked out of her... the intrusion at first jarring as Jake slid her back up along the door, his cock pushing right in, stretching her, without so much a movement from her as she was still putty in his hands, not quite back down from her peak.

Solidly sheathed by Jake, he leaned forward and whispered in her ear. "Bed." Wanting to know where the room was.

"Now, he asks..." she quipped, still catching her breath but her brain function returning. She squeezed her muscles around him, feeling his cock twitch in response, buried deep inside. "Down the hall, left."

"Better late..." he teased and bent his knees, sliding hands beneath her ass to lift her just enough to carry her but not enough to slide out that delightfully shuddering passage.. She felt almost weightless in his arm, this bundle of exposed nerves moist and shuddering with post orgasmic aftershocks. Somehow, he got them through the bedroom, barely noticing the mess she worried about so much. All he saw was a bed and how each step forward pressed him deeper into her, keeping him hard, driving him insane of craving.

Letting out a chuckle, Sloane held on, liking the way his swagger made her move on his cock. It reignited her desire for him big time and with both hands, she turned his face to her until she could kiss him again, tasting herself on him. She wasn't sweet about it, her tongue pushing in, exploring then pulling back so she could nip at him. "The bed's there," she finally said softly, her tone teasing, a hint of challenge. Her inner muscles clamped down on him again. "Can't see it?"

The thing she was doing with her muscles, the controlled clenching around his cock was driving Jake out of his mind but what a fucking way to go, he thought as she claimed his mouth, tasting her own juices on his lips, his tongue and chin. It turned him on that she was turning the tables on him, that she could give as good as she got. His stomach muscles clenching as the need to thrust was becoming overwhelming, he offered her a non committal grunt when she teased him. Knees hitting the bed edge before laying her flat on her back, following her down.

With him looming over her, Sloane wasn't chuckling anymore. She moved her hips tentatively as her lustful gaze locked with his. Her hand caressed his face, the pad of her index finger brushing against his stubble before teasing his lips. There was a tenderness there that belied her need for him to fuck her for all he was worth.

He wanted nothing more than to drive himself in and out but when she touched him, those long slender fingers exploring his face, running over the line of his jaw and lips, Jake forgot that for a moment. He was transported back to that filthy cave on Azati, returned to the exact moment he realised he wanted this with her, when she had slept in his arms and he had traced the lines of her face in the darkness, the way she was doing to him now.

The look in his blue eyes suddenly far away, Sloane lifted her head to kiss his lips briefly. "You okay?"

"Yeah." He nodded and kissed her again, tenderly, devoid of the ferocity of earlier. Ardent, passionate kisses to a lover not someone he was going to fuck. Still inside of her, Jake began to move, slowly at first, the need for brutal penetration dissolved into something more. He was making love to her as he drove in and out, picking up rhythm, watching her face.

He felt so good inside of her, filling her. Liking his weight over her body, Sloane gave him a small smile as soft pants escaped her every time he slid home. With a rapt look on her face, she raised her hips to meet his. The slow build-up, the intensity in his eyes... something had changed.

She was beautiful.

Through lids that seemed as if they had been sprinkled with gold dust, she looked at him with those fluid blue eyes, like a drop of ocean, that rippled with wonder each time he moved inside of her. Jake watched her face react to each stroke, marvelling at the shudders of pleasure across her face, mesmerized by how good it felt to know that he was making her feel this way. Her insides drew him in, taut crushing sensation that made each stroke feel like he was coming home, like he had been waiting for her without every realising he was needing.

Jake was moving her ever closer to that elusive edge and, as her hips cradled his, moving in time to that ancient, primal dance, Sloane wanted to please him, wanted him to give in, lose that tight control he kept on things, on himself. Her arms encircled him just as her thighs tightened around his waist, hands gliding along his back, following muscles and sinews down to his firm ass. She moved with him, tilting her pelvis to take him deeper. Her mouth kissed him, tongue teasing, before she nuzzled his neck, revelling in that smell - his, him - that scent that had haunted her more than she let herself admit. She licked his throat, his chin, and down again until she bit on his shoulder. She was getting so damn close.

"Fuck," he grunted as he felt her arms roaming all over him, fingers scraping lightly, pulling him closer, those legs coiled around him, pulling him because she wanted him there not because he paid for it. It had been so long that Jake had been with a woman with more than just a promise of money exchanged that he'd forgotten how incredible the act could be. Too long it had been just pedestrian, a need to be taken care of, like an itch under the collar. Making love to someone, actually caring how she felt, it was powerful. Like this was.

"Jake..." Her tone was urgent, pleading almost, as the spiral inexorably pulled at her, her inner muscles contracting in response to his thrusts. "Come with me."

"Christ yeah," he managed to say, mouth fused over hers because her breathy plea went straight past his defences into his cock, making him grit his teeth from the sheer urgency in it. His hips moved faster, spurred on by her insistence, hard and long strokes pistoning in and out of her until he could feel the tip of him impacting deliciously against the barrier of flesh that allowed him no further. Each push against that wall of flesh drove the sense from his mind, until his mouth was ravaging her lips, her cheek, devouring the soft spot in her neck. Each grunt turning into word, becoming her name.

Oh. God.

Her breath hitching in her throat, there was nothing else. His cock screwing her to the mattress, making her gasp and moan and groan, relentless, pleasure and pain so sharp, his voice calling her name with such desperate purpose... her whole world narrowed down to this, to him. She climaxed on a sob, hands fisting sheets and hair, her body arching into his, her tight walls rippling and grasping his cock, never wanting it to end.

When she went over, she did so with such tremendous force around him that for a moment, Jake thought he was trying to breach an immovable wall of moist, damp flesh. Her climax dragged his to completion, forcing him to endure such a surge of exquisite pleasure that the back of his stamina shattered, like the tide on the rocks.

"Jesus....Sloane...." He groaned her name as he came, hard. His hips jerked against hers without control, without any desire to stop. Jake felt himself surge into her depths, emptying everything he had into her, including the loneliness of too many years adrift. He continued to kiss her, alternating between desperate kisses and shuddering groans. It had been so very long that sex had meant something, that sex felt more than just fucking. He had forgotten how good it could be.

As she slowly came down, the mind-blowing, intense pleasure ebbing away, so open, Sloane felt a void she recognised and didn't want to revisit. With a shuddering breath, she realised she didn't have to because Jake was still there, kissing her, his own climax still coursing through him, his passion still translating in his every touch. Fuck. Sloane hadn't banked on this. With what he'd told her, she hadn't expected this... communion.

"Fuck, Jake." Her emotions still raw, overwhelming, she pulled him to her, seeking the crook of his neck while she tried to find some control.

Slowly, his movements abated, going from raw, hungry demand to satisfied, supine contentment. He lay there against her, listening to her breath slow as his did and the lazy, rhythmic thrum of her heart beating against his. When she spoke, Jake pushed himself up onto an elbow so that he could look at her and noted the slight damp in her eyes. Concerned, he questioned her not with words but a gentle brush of a thumb, wiping a bead of moisture away.

Her gaze holding his, Sloane smiled, trying to dispel his worry, and captured his hand with hers. She kissed his knuckles, murmuring against his skin. "I'm good." Just overwhelmed... feeling open, vulnerable and... shit, incredibly happy.

Jake offered her one of those half smiles before leaning over to kiss her on the temple "That was..." His eyes touched hers. He didn't know how to say it in words but that intense gaze radiated what he felt far more succinctly.

"Yeah." She nodded, his blue eyes telling her all she needed to know - and more. "Come here." She pulled him down for another kiss, this one teasing and lazy, before she rolled him off of her, her leg sliding between his.

A long deep kiss to signify a well met meeting of body and soul and they were lying next to each other, the scent of sex thick the air, settling over them like a fine mist. He reached for her with a finger tip, tracing the soft curve of her lips, needing like a man without sight to chart the contours so he could commit them to memory. "I'm a work in progress," he said quietly. "I won't always know what to do or say. You need to tell me...sometimes." The words escaped in small burst of admission. Uncertainty was something he was accustomed to feeling.

"Noted." She gave him a small smile that widened despite herself. "Hell, we're really doing this." She ruffled his hair before caressing his chest, her mind on what he'd said and requested. "Jake, it means a lot to me... this honesty, the fact you're... well, I guess the fact you're taking a chance on me." She glanced down, to where her hand had settled, just above his heart. "Feel free to prod me too... if I get too silent." They'd already warned one an another in the park but it beared repeating.

"Taking a chance on you..." His eye brows disappeared into his hairline as he looked at her in surprise. "You're not the one who keeps the working girls in town in furs and diamonds. Speaking of which, how much do I owe you..." he teased, expecting a hit for his trouble.

Her eyes narrowed before she smiled, way too sweetly. "Jake, honey. You couldn't afford me," she let out, her finger tracing his nose before she pushed him on his back. "And this is exactly what I was talking about..." She sat up, serious again. "You giving up all that... variety." No strings, no questions. Sloane could understand why he'd kept the company of whores. The fact he was willing to go for complications for her, well, it meant something to her.

Laughing a little as he fell onto his back, Jake rolled back onto his side a moment later, propping his head up on an elbow "It wasn't about variety," he confessed, "it was about me being too chickenshit for anything else." They were being honest with each other and this he wanted her to understand.

"I know. I just didn't know how to say that without sounding like a condescending bitch." She smirked.

"I don't know about condescending." He showed no signs of being offended. "But I liked the bitch part."

"Bitch? And here I thought I'd behaved like a lady most of the evening..." That was, until he had decided to bury his face between her legs.

"That was nice too," Jake answered, running fingers idly down her shoulder. Then like she had done a moment ago, his expression sobered. "I guess, it was easier to deal with variety after Earth but a couple of things have made me wake up a bit."

"Finding your dad?" Sloane guessed, as they'd already touch on that before.

"Not just that," he admitted. "Meeting you too. I mean you've lost as much as me, more in fact but you're not afraid to try and live. I didn't do that, I figured the best way to be safe was to just disconnect. I can tell you the names of the men I've worked with but I couldn't tell you any more than that. I just wasn't interested because I figured, eventually they'd die too."

Sloane raised an eyebrow in surprise at that, dubious that she, of all people, would inspire someone to take a chance on life. But he was serious. There was no teasing or sarcasm in his tone. He really meant that. Uncomfortable, she looked down at her hands. "I disconnected too. At first. But I don't... I mean, I kept going because we need all the MACOs we can get. I'm not this..." What was he painting her as? She could be chickenshit too. Yet there she was.

"I know." He reached for her hands. "You were where I am now. It takes guts to take a leap, even if it doesn't work. You being here with me, shows you're taking a chance again. That's more than I ever did."

"Well..." She leaned in and kissed him. "You're taking that chance now." Her mouth met his again in a soft, languid kiss.

"Yeah, let me know how it turns out," he said, snaking his arm around her and deciding that it was way too early to sleep. Pulling up close to her, he started kissing again. "I say we go a couple of more rounds and then try to salvage the desert." He winked.

"Oh, yeah?" Grinning against his mouth, she ran her hand along his arm, liking the contact. "Actually, I was thinking we could try that now..." Another kiss and a tease of her tongue, she gave him a wicked look as she pulled back. "I'll be right back."

"Got a date or something?" He teased as she climbed out of bed.

She padded out of her room almost reluctantly, missing his warmth already, but she figured that what she had in mind was worth it.

Smiling faintly, he watched her go, sitting up a little in the bed, admiring the view as she departed. Fuck that was amazing, he sat back, marvelling at how hard he had come. It had been a long time since anyone had engendered such a fierce release, such a desperate need for completion. And it wasn't even about the sex, it was as if there was a moment of perfect clarity where he knew without doubt, no matter shit came their way, they were a fit. That in the scheme of the universe, they made sense.

Sloane came back a couple of minutes later, a large glass of water in one hand and the squashed box of cake in the other. Her gaze settled on him immediately, his naked body stirring her arousal anew. She approached him slowly, liking how the low lighting gave his skin an enticing golden glow. Hungry, she felt hungry and not just for the cake. She took a sip of water and offered him the glass.

A low dry chuckle escaped his throat, as he saw her with the cake and took the glass offered. He was feeling a little parched after all that and was in mid swallow when she climbed on. Interesting, he thought as he put down the glass on the nightstand.

Grinning now, she got on the bed and straddled him. "Now, let's see what we have here..." She peered in the box, fingers grabbing a morsel of the delicious confection. "Oh, look at that..." She showed him the piece, already pretty mashed up. "Want some?" But before he could lean in and take it from her fingers, she placed it on her chest, just above her breast, smearing chocolate and cherry on her skin.

Fuck, the Colonel liked her kink. For some reason, he didn't think she was the type but he was on board the minute she decided to finger paint with chocolate and cherry.

He met her playful gaze with one of his own and leaned forward, both hands cupping her breasts and taking hold as he took a long, slow lick. "Sweet."

"Aah..." A lance of desire shot through her. Sloane wriggled a little, his tongue tickling her, her nipples tightening painfully under his touch. "Now, my turn," she said, her voice husky with need, pushing him back. She got more cake out of the box and paused, her hand in front of him, wondering where to start. She went for his shoulder, her mouth following closely, nibbling and licking, trailing to his pec.

"Jesus," he let out a slight grunt as she gave as good as she got, that perfect mouth biting into him, sharp teeth that sent a signal to his cock that it was time to go again. "This is going to be one long fucking night."


Fin.