round 1 Velana & Bale: Necessary Roughness

[Alexander Matthews]

((OOC: Just to warn everyone...this one gets romantical;) Nothing excessive or over the ratings code, but you have been notified.))

((Junior officer's quarters, USS Mercury))

::Velana wanted to turn around and flee the second she touched the chime on his door, but she grabbed onto the wall and held her ground. The fire raging through her body needed to be extinguished in order for her to live and Isaac Bale was the only man on the ship who she could even imagine approaching to help her with such a...delicate problem.::

::Isaac sat cross legged on the floor of his quarters with the back of his hands resting on his knees and his palms facing upwards. The shower had done wonders to relieve the aches in his muscles, and he was finally able to meditate. Each deep inhalation brought him that much closer to centering his thoughts. Each exhale took with it another sliver of the anger built up in him from the recent mission. When his door chimed, he ignored it at first with only a very slight annoyance at the interruption. In through the nose, out through the mouth.::

::A bead of perspiration tickled her neck as it slid down to the collar of her uniform. Her jaw clenched. Why wasn't he answering? The computer had said he was in his quarters. Were there still glitches in the system--little, annoying reminders of their recent troubles?::

::Isaac took several more deep relaxing breaths before slowly, calmly opening his eyes.::

::She could have screamed. It had only been a matter of seconds, but she was ready to tear her hair out. The wait was killing her. Finally...finally!!...he answered.::

Bale: Enter.

::Velana didn't want to imagine what kind of picture she presented when the door slid open and she rushed inside. She knew her hair had to look wild; she hadn't taken a brush to it since they'd returned from the planet. There was still blood on her uniform that belonged to both Alexander Matthews and Kael Thomas. Her face, no doubt, was flushed bronze all over and her skin was damp with sweat. She must have looked feral. Maybe even wanton. Certainly nothing like the woman he was used to.::

::The door opened, and Isaac was flooded with alarm as Velana hurried through it. She was a mess. Her uniform showed blood all over it, though thank the gods it wasn't green! Her cheeks were flushed, and he could see her skin glistening with sweat. To top it all off, when she said his name her tone was almost pleading.::

Velana: Isaac...

::Suddenly, Velana had no idea what to say. How had she approached Cade seven years earlier? She couldn't remember what she had said to him, how she had told him what she needed...what she wanted. But Cade and Isaac were two very different men. What had worked with Cade might not work with Isaac.::

::Isaac's body uncoiled like a viper, and he was already two paces forward by the time he fully regained his feet.::

Bale: What happened? Are you alright?

::It was a foolish question, and he wished he could take it back as soon as it left his lips. Of course she wasn't alright. It would take a blind man not to see that.::

Velana: ::shaking her head:: I'm not. ::She bit her lip.:: I need help.

Bale: What's wrong?

::He took several steps towards her as he watched her face. Her eyes darted around as if she were desperately trying to find a way to put her thoughts into words.::

::As he moved closer, his scent grew stronger. She drew in a ragged breath, savoring the smell of soap and clean skin and the warm blood that flowed just beneath it. Her whole body throbbed. Full of longing, her eyes darted from his lips to his throat to his shoulders and back up to meet his black-in-black gaze.::

Velana: You're a smart man. ::Without blinking to break their stare, she closed the distance between them, pressing her chest to his and speaking her next words with their lips almost touching.:: I think you already know what I want. ::whispering:: Don't you want the same thing?

::Isaac's eyes flew wide as Velana pressed against him. She tilted her head back slightly, and moved so close that he could feel her breath on his lips as she whispered. Everything about her was inviting him in, but this was definitely not the Velana that he had come to know.::

Bale: I... ::shaking his head slightly in disbelief::

::He was at a complete loss for words, and he had never been more grateful for anything in his life than he was at that moment for his recent chance to meditate and regain full use of his telepathy. He sent his mind into hers, searching for something... anything... that he could make sense of. Even her mind was inviting him in. As he was trying to sort through her thoughts, her mind was teasing him... seducing him... with gentle waves of passion and desire. He had opened the door, but her mind was the one tickling his with seeking tendrils of emotion. His eyes fluttered as she, knowingly or not, touched something in his mind that sent a kind of pleasure through him which had nothing to do with the physical body. He had never felt anything like it.::

::She felt him seeking access to her thoughts. Even if she'd been in a state of mind to keep him out, Velana would have let him in. Anything to keep from having to say the humiliating words out loud.::

Velana: See? ::Her mouth brushed across his.:: I need you, Isaac.

::Her voice, and the sensation of her lips brushing across his, brought him back to his senses. Against every instinct that he was feeling, every fiber of his being, he pulled his mind back from hers. Were they even his instincts that he'd been feeling? As he had broken their telepathic link, however, he had managed to come away with two words taken from her thoughts.::

Bale: ::through ragged breaths:: Pon farr...

::Now he understood. While he had never witnessed a Vulcan going through pon farr before, part of his training with SFI had included the mating rituals of many of the humanoid species of the Alpha Quadrant... including Vulcans. Seduction could be a very useful tool in the world of espionage. In any case, Isaac knew that Velana had only three choices... mate, kill, or die. She wouldn't likely kill anyone to save her own life, especially after being forced to take two lives on Vador III, and he would not allow her to die. She meant too much to him for that. So she was left with one choice.::

::Nodding desperately, Velana put her hands on his chest, but there was a layer of fabric between her palms and his skin. She quickly moved them up to touch his clean-shaven cheeks. It wasn't enough contact. Every part of her body ached to feel more of his.::

Bale: ::shaking his head as he moved back to arms length:: This is insane! Is there no other way to get through this?

::Panic sliced through her, followed by the cold stab that came with rejection. Was Isaac refusing to help? Did that mean he didn't want her? Her heart pounded faster and each breath she took felt short and tight. If not Isaac...then who?::

Velana: There isn't. Not for me. ::Even though it hurt to separate herself from the heat of his body, she took a step back.:: But if you don't want to help me... there's someone else who will.

::That thought had him back on his heels. If he went through with this, he felt like he would be taking advantage of her condition. The thought of her going to someone else, though...::

Bale: No!

::He blinked several times in surprise at the urgency and desperation in that simple one word answer. His eyes darted across her face, across the room, at the ceiling... searching for some solution that neither of them had thought of yet. When his eyes reached hers again, she refused to let them go. He didn't back away when she moved forward to press into his chest once more.::

Velana: So... you do want me...

::Isaac could feel his pulse racing, his heart trying to pound its way through his ribcage. Everything about her was enticing... her eyes, her scent, the way she swayed ever so gently as a reminder of how close they were... all of it.::

Bale: ::lowering his voice:: You know that I do.

::She closed her eyes, partially in relief and partially because she could feel the emotion behind his admission. It wasn't love, but she didn't need love right then. Desire, raw and powerful, would be enough to see her through the plak tow.::

Velana: Please, Isaac. ::She pawed at his collar, wanting nothing more than to rip his uniform away with her bare hands.:: Please...

::He wouldn't let her die, and she wouldn't kill. There was no other choice. He didn't want there to be.::

Bale: Are you sure?

::The look of wanting on her face and the tiny nod she gave were all he needed. Isaac sent his mind out to hers again, even as he leaned forward into a kiss that started slow, but quickly intensified. He felt her mind inviting him in as her lips parted to do the same. He didn't even try to resist this time. All of his walls came crumbling down. He felt everything she felt, knew everything she knew. He took all of her passion and desire into himself, where it was magnified and sent back to her. She, in turn, did the same. On it went like that, back and forth. As their physical passion intensified, so too did their mental connection. Eventually Isaac could no longer tell the two apart. Nor could he tell his own mind from hers, so fully were they blending. Each one knew what brought pleasure to the other, and they shared in the experience of that pleasure. They were far beyond rational thought or self control. This was the definition of ecstasy.::

::Velana was so lost to the fever raging inside her that later, when it subsided, she could barely remember the individual moments. Those small, but so important firsts were lost to her, as they had been with Cade. It was only when they came together for a second time that she was able to take note of everything. The feel of his hair between her fingers, the movement of his muscles, the taste of his mouth. As he knew what she wanted, she knew what he wanted...and neither one of them asked for permission or even hesitated before acting on each unspoken desire.::

::He left her wanting for nothing. Although the fire was still there, and she would need him again to put it out completely, it was contained enough to let her fall asleep draped across his chest, mindless of the scratches and bruises that she had inflicted on his already-scarred body.::

::Isaac lay on his back with one arm wrapped around Velana as she slept on his chest. He lifted his head slightly, just enough to look down across his body and see the various bruises already forming. Vulcans were strong, and in Velana's altered state she had been many times stronger than him. With both of their inhibitions gone, she had been somewhat less than gentle, but that didn't matter. He had been so caught in the moment, so taken, that he had hardly registered any of the pain as it happened. He had felt nothing but the pleasure. Besides, they were only bruises. He would be starving in the morning, but his body would heal quickly. He hesitated to move at all to find out what else may be injured. As he looked down to her, Velana shifted in her sleep, and the motion brought with it a sharp pain in his ribs. At least one of them was fractured, possibly broken. That would take more time to heal than the bruises, but again... that didn't matter. The only thing that he could think about at this moment was the fact that, for the first time in more than twenty years, he knew peace. For this all too brief moment in time, he forgot about the pain and death that had so filled his life. He could feel the exhaustion coming to claim him, but he fought it off as long as he could manage. Because what he was feeling right then was sweeter than any dream he could remember.::

TBC...

Lt. Commander Velana

Chief Medical Officer

USS Mercury

NCC-99812

&

Lt. Isaac Bale

Starfleet Intelligence

USS Mercury

NCC-99812