Jim's Personal Quarters

He smiled, giving another silent chuckle. "I don't think anyone truly understands where it came from," he said thoughtfully.

He felt her shiver and smirked slightly. He continued to trail his hands up and down her back, this time purposefully catching his fingers on her bra. He was trying to gauge how far Pock would let him go at this point, and was curious.

Besides his nightmares that he'd always had, Jim had slept better with Pock by his side than he could ever remember having slept. How did she manage to sooth him so?

The third time Jim's fingers caught her bra strap, Pock propped herself up on her elbows, her face hovering just above his.

"If my undergarment is an obstruction to you, Jim," she purred, "I could always remove it."

Her face was stoic, but there was a glimmer of mischief in her eyes that hinted that perhaps she was not wholly ignorant of her innuendo. A playful smirk turned at the corner of her mouth.

Jim's breath hitched slightly. "Now, thats completely up to you, Pock," he murmured back, "but I don't mind either way." And as if to prove his point, he let his fingers catch on her bra again. He saw the glimmer of mischief and he realized she knew exactly what she was doing to him. Pock, you little minx! he thought, eyes bright with amusement and adoration.

Pock smirked at him.

She sat up straight, lifting the bottom of her shirt and rolling it up, exposing the black clasp of her bra to Jim. She arranged herself so that the front of her chest was obscured from view, both by her shirt and by her angle.

Her head cocked slightly, eying Jim over her shoulder.

"Would you mind unfastening it for me?"

Jim swallowed, sitting up behind her. He moved her braid out of the way, and pressed a kiss to the base of her neck as he unfastened the clasp of her bra slowly. "Wouldn't mind at all," he murmured, eyes roving over her back.

The clasps undone, he trailed his fingers down her spine teasingly as he pressed another kiss to the same spot on her neck.

Pock could feel his eyes taking in the slender slope of her back, muscles rippling gently beneath taut, pale white skin. Her smirk became a little more pronounced against her face, though it was obscured by the thick darkness that hung over the room.

"I appreciate it," she said breathily as he placed another kiss to her neck. The bra fell away.

She threw it to the side.

Jim watched as she tossed her bra to the side. Jesus... he thought, one hand going to Pock's shoulders and the other trailing down her back and side. She's going to be the death of me... He pressed another, more heated kiss to her neck and another on her shoulder.

But what a way to go.

Pock's lips parted slightly, and she gasped as he pressed a kiss to her shoulder. His lips set her skin on fire, and his hands had the same effect as they trailed up and down her skin. She let go of her shirt. With one of her hands, she reached up, burying her fingers in his hair.

Jim was slightly disappointed as the skin of her side and back disappeared. His good hand wrapped around her waist, hand splayed on her stomach, and he pressed an open mouth kiss to the junction between her neck and shoulder. Her hands gripped his hair, and he instinctively pulled her back into him. "Jesus, Pock," he murmured, before pressing heated kisses to her neck.

Pock gasped again. Her grip in his hair tightened, and her eyes fluttered shut as he placed hot, fevered kissed to the slope of her throat and shoulder.

"I do not believe this is the time for a discussion on human religious figures," she said breathlessly. How odd that he had attempted to initiate such a conversation during their present activities. Maybe he was more interested in theological debate than he let on?

Jim chuckled against the pale column of her throat. He pulled back slightly. Screw Bones and his orders to keep his arm in the sling. He had more important things to think about right now. He threw the sling off to the side and closed back in on her throat, laying open mouthed kisses to her pulse point. "That's not what I meant," he murmured against her throat.

His hand slipped beneath her shirt and he flattened his hand against her stomach. God, you're gorgeous, he thought to himself, her skin setting him on fire.

Pock's hand moved to lace itself over the top of Jim's, holding it and pressing it into her skin. Her fingers intertwined with his own, and the heat that radiated from their union was hotter than anything she'd come in contact with before.

His lips still moved against her throat, kissing and sucking on the point where her pulse thrummed quietly under the skin. Or maybe it was loudly. She felt like it should be deafening, with the way her heart was thrumming like a drum beat in her side.

She noticed as he discarded his sling, tossing it to the side of the bed.

"Jim," Pock said, still breathless, "perhaps it is best not to completely disregard the orders of your designated medical professional."

As she spoke, she arched back, pressing them together further.

"Yeah," he said, "Bones was just being a mother hen in the first place." His voice was just as breathless as hers. He bit off a moan with more body contact.

He somehow maneuvered them so that Pock was laying on the bed, with him on top of her. He balanced on his elbows, keeping their hands linked as he dove in for a real kiss this time.

He realized that he was definitely getting addicted to the way she tasted.

Pock allowed him to move her, so that he was pressing her into the mattress, pinning her down as he kissed her fervently. His lips were white-hot and they moved against hers with a passion equal to her own. She snaked her arms up around his torso, worming their way under his shirt and moving up his chest, feeling the hard, rigid muscles beneath her palms.

She could get used to this.

She really could.

Jim balanced himself on his good elbow. Jesus fuck, he thought as she ran her hands over his chest. She really is going to be the death of me. He used his other hand sneak his hand underneath her shirt, feeling as much of her as he could.

Her heart raced underneath his palm, and he broke their kiss, breathing hard. He moved to her neck again.

He paused, sitting up, withdrawing his hands. "Shit. We shouldn't..." he said, chest heaving. He closed his eyes, tipping his head back so he wouldn't be tempted by seeing her there. "We shouldn't," he repeated.

Pock met his eyes, her own chest heaving as well. She gasped for breath. When his eyes closed, she flopped her head down on the pillow, letting her eyes drift shut too.

"You are correct," she said, out of breath. "We should not."

But god, did she want to.

She wanted him badly.

Jim finally got is body under control. He sighed. He really wanted to finish what they started. He wanted her.

Damn his inability to stop himself from teasing her.

He moved and laid back on the bed next to Pock. He'd let her choose their next move.

Shit, being responsible sucked. He wanted nothing more than to just pull her back into his arms, and just let himself hold her while they slept.

Pock felt the bed shift as Jim crawled off of her, lying down beside her on the mattress. It creaked softly beneath them.

As she laid there, she tried her best to regulate her breathing, just like she was trained to. She could do this. She could control herself around him. It really wasn't her fault that he unearthed desires inside of her that had laid dormant for all her life, slowly building up until this moment, near Jim, when they came roaring to the front of her mind like passionate hurricane shaking the foundations of her sanity.

Once her lungs seemed to be breathing normally, she trusted herself to curl back up to Jim's side. She wrapped herself around him once more, laying her head against his chest.

"We should sleep," she said softly.

Jim breathed slowly and wrapped his arms around his partner. Her head rested above his heart. One of his hands came up to play with the end of her braid while the other held her to him. He closed his eyes, smiling slightly. He adored this woman he held to no end. He knew he wanted to spend the rest of his life with her.

"We should," he murmured, voice equally soft.

She smiled softly against his chest, pressing a kiss just above his heart before laying her head back down.

"We shall continue this another day," she said softly. "I promise."

Her hand wrapped around his torso, and she pulled herself closer to him, comfortably sinking into the mattress. This felt good. It felt right.

Jim smiled tiredly. "I'll hold you to that," he murmured, voice drifting off.

He held her tightly to him, never wanting to let her go. He had never had someone sleep next to him who felt so right next to him. Like they were made for each other.

And with that thought, he drifted off.

When the morning came, Pock awoke in Jim's arms, wrapped tightly against his chest, her head hovering over the cavity that held his heart. Beneath her ear, she could hear the soft, rhythmic thudding of the organ as it kept him alive. She could hear the whispered exhalations that slipped through his lips. In the silence, she could hear everything.

A smile played against her lips. From deep in the chasms of her chest, almost unbeknownst to her, a soft, quiet humming could be heard, like the purr of a cat.

Jim woke up to a soft purring sound from somewhere near his heart. And given that his arms were wrapped around Pock and not a cat, he could only conclude that it was his bedmate. He squeezed a little tighter, a smirk playing his lips. "Good morning," he murmured, before pressing a kiss to the top of her head.

Pock pressed a kiss to his chest, just under her head, a lopsided smirk playing on her lips as well. There was a sleepy edge to Jim's voice that Pock thought she'd never get tired of. It was so raw and intimate, like it was just for her, and she loved it. "Good morning," she replied tiredly.

Jim smiled down at her, hand stroking lightly along her back. God, he adored her. He never wanted to leave this bed. Well, as long as she was in it. "How'd you sleep?" he asked, a rough edge to his voice.

Her voice when she was tired? Jesus, he could listen to it all day, and know that it was just for him and only for him, for when they woke up tangled together.