Posted by Ensign Jessica Lemann (Doctor) in Ten Forward - Nash After Hours

Posted by Lieutenant Commander Ethan Nash (Chief Tactical Officer) in Ten Forward - Nash After Hours

Snip

With a slow and wide smile, Nash palmed the control to his room and his door slid open. He immediately led Jessica through, letting the doors slide almost silently shut behind them. His quarters were quiet and low lit, this seemed to be their natural state with just enough light to see and relax by, nothing bright. The reason for that might have been clear in the size of the room, larger than a normal Officers by half again, more fitting for a Senior Officer of some kind. On the wall ahead of them was a large window, and the view of the stars beyond it gave reason to Nash’s preference of scenery over bright light. The centre of the room was filled with a large and comfortable sofa, facing the window with a low coffee table in front of it and a plush rug set before them. “Computer, a little warmer in here,” he said, and within seconds the environmentals had adjusted a few degrees warmer.

Off to the left, the doorway to the bedroom lay open with the large double bed visible, neatly made with darker toned sheets and blankets. As per most quarters the bathroom would be off that. To their right, was a small dining table and work station with a replicator set on the wall. The walls were sparsely spread with pictures, and there were a number of shelves holding what looked to be trophy’s, awards and a number of books. A liquor cabinet sat beside the dining table and on the workstation an old, antique wooden box with gold hinges and latch. There were no curtains on the window, making the room look a little larger than it was and the space was far from cluttered. The only visible mess in this room was a red uniform shirt slung neatly but lazily over the workstation chair, from this point only the color visible, not the collar.

Once in the room Nash turned on Jessica, raised both hands and softly but firmly placed them either side of her cheeks, his thumbs following her jawline to her chin and he drew her to him, lowering his head to hers and his lips searching for hers urgently for a few moments, pressing against hers before he broke the kiss softly, smiling as their lips still brushed and he looked deeply into her jewel green eyes, his fingers brushing against her wet hair, moving his fingers through it. Nash took a step back, taking her hands and pulling her with him further into the room nearer the sofa then he turned and let her hands go, giving her a slow wink. “Let’s get you warm,” he grinned before he moved through the door to his bedroom, fully undoing his jacket so it hung loose as he moved out of sight, and moments later reappeared holding a large, warm looking robe.

Walking back to Jessica, he held out the robe and draped it over her shoulders. It smelled faintly of him, and as the robe settled around her shoulders his hands slipped around her waist once more, his jacket loose and collar slightly crooked, giving him a roguish look to go with the hair she had messed on the beach. His hands softly caressed her waist as he dropped his head to her lips again, his lips softly brushing hers. Then his right hand gently followed the curve of her back up to her shoulder where his fingers played with the wet strap of cloth at her shoulder as he pressed his body close to her. “Computer, a little music please.”

Softly, the first bars of a song started playing and as they stood together, words began to play in their background.

Do you feel the same when I’m away from you?
Do you know the line that I’d walk for you?

Lt Cmdr Nash, CTO

As the door to Nash’s quarters slid open, Jessica looked inside curiously and then allowed him to tug her inside. The sheer size of the room made her want to grumble something about unfairness in Starfleet since she could barely make it across her own quarters without tripping over a sofa. As the room warmed, she smiled her thanks at Ethan and let the increased heat soak into her bones. That was one negative to being small and slender - there wasn’t much to stay warm… especially after getting completely soaked, she giggled to herself.

Before she could think too much about her surroundings, she felt Ethan’s hands cradling her face and his lips touching hers. Her body melted against his, enjoying the feel of his much larger and warmer frame as the kiss deepened and then ended way too soon. She was about to protest when it ended, although she allowed herself to be pulled more to the center of the room. She watched Ethan disappear after his comment and, moving her hands back to rub her upper arms, she took a few minutes to glance around the room. Her eyes flicked across the wall decorations, the beautiful scene beyond the window… they narrowed slightly as she identified the box on his desk and made a mental note to mention that later. Then, the flash of slightly out of place red color caught her eye and she found herself staring at his uniform top. Red… command… that was interesting. She glanced around the quarters again, again noting the surprising size, before she was interrupted by Ethan’s return with the robe.

As he placed it around her shoulders, Jessica snuggled back into the warmth and immediately turned her face to sniff it with a smile. Quickly, though, her attention was back on Ethan as she slipped her arms around his waist as well, the open jacket allowing her to reach them inside his jacket as her lips connected with his again. The music started and she felt warm all over as she pressed up against him.

The music played, and as they kissed the music kept playing.

Oh, the storm is raging against us now
If you’re afraid of falling, then don’t look down
But we took the step, and we took the leap
And we’ll take what comes, take what comes

A few minutes of deepening kissing later and she noticed she felt plenty warm. She nibbles on his lower lip for a moment and then leaned back slightly, giving him an impish grin.

We’re walking the wire, love
We’re walking the wire, love
We’re gonna be higher, up
We’re walking the wire, wire, wire

“I think the next step in my recovery is to get these wet clothes off,” she commented, feeling his fingers brushing against the drenched material at her shoulder and desperately wanting him to help her out of them. “But first…”

“First?” Nash said softly while he smiled and brushed his lips on hers, “I think getting those wet clothes off should be the first priority, we don’t want to go into survival mode to keep warm, or do we?”

She turned their bodies slightly such that Ethan’s back was to the couch and took a step back, making a show of turning around slowly in his quarters, the robe dropping off her shoulders to reveal her small form once again. As she turned back to Ethan, her small hands went to his chest and she gave him a firm shove, knocking him back until he was seated on the sofa. Before he could react, she was straddling his lap and her lips had descended on his once again as she fisted his shirt in her hands. Eagerly kissing him for a few beats, she finally stopped, leaning back just enough to look into his blue eyes. Her pale skin was flushed, her hair still wet, and her green eyes flashed.

Nash looked up at her and bit his lip gently while he looked into her eyes, reaching up and running his fingers lightly through her wet hair and pushing it back from her face, his head raised slightly and he kissed her again, finally letting their lips part and his head drop back to the couch, his own eyes now an intense blue in the soft light of the room and the glow of the stars outside. He let his thumb rub gently over her cheek, feeling her soft skin. His other hand followed her jaw to her chin with his fingertips, following her soft curves with an intimate intensity of a man wanting to explore every inch of a woman and get to know her and what made her giggle, shiver and bite her own lip with a shortness of breath.

“But first… just who the heck are you?” She demanded, wiggling in his lap as if to entice an answer out of him. She continued as a way of explaining, “these quarters look a heck of a lot like my brother’s and he’s a department chief on the…” Her voice trailed off on the irrelevant detail as she punctuated her interrogation with another kiss and lower lip nibble. “Red uniform, big quarters…” she summarized, glancing again at the uniform top and then resting her hands on her hips in a playful, indignant manner as she balanced on her knees across his lap.

Ensign Lemann

Oh, I’ll take your hand when thunder roars
And I’ll hold you close, I’ll stay the course
I promise you from up above
That we’ll take what comes, take what comes, love

He groaned lightly and laughed as Jessica wiggled in his lap, it was a tactical move by her to weaken his defences and in the position he found himself, Nash had no desire to put up much of a fight. The way he was feeling and the reaction her wiggling had caused, he could feel that resistance melting by the second but he wasn’t going to go down without a fight. If she really wanted to know who he was Nash was going to make her work for it.

“Oh that,” Nash said and shrugged, but his eyes flashed with mischief. “This was the last room left on the ship, but to have it I had to wear that red shirt and pretend I know what I’m doing.” His fingers returned to her chin, but one went over her mouth in a ‘shush’ motion and he grinned. “We can talk about your brothers another time, right now, Jessica, I want to know about you.” His fingers returned to following the curves of her jaw and neck back to her shoulders and he slipped one thin strap of fabric off her shoulder, raising his head and turning it so his lips could find the soft skin running to her neck and he ran his lips lightly across that spot while his hands moved to her waist under the robe, slipping around her smooth and firm figure under the damp top she wore still. “I want to know quite a lot about you.”

He raised his head and looked into her eyes, pausing from exploring the tender and delicate skin around her neck. “My name is Ethan Nash, and now you have my last name, it’s only fair to tell me yours. Who exactly are you?” He asked her, turning the question back around at her.

Lt Cmdr Ethan Nash, CTO