Posted by Captain Calvin Marius (Captain) in Captain’s Quarters

Posted by Lieutenant Junior Grade Vanessa Slade (CNS) in Captain’s Quarters

Posted by Captain Calvin Marius (Captain) in Captain’s Quarters
Posted by… suppressed (1) by the Post Ghost! 👻
(SNIP)
Sometime later.....

Lying on her back, she wiggled slightly into the typical position of her head nestled against his shoulder with his arm around her shoulders looking up. Even if they were holographic stars, it was better than the typical view of ceiling tiles. “Impress me,” she said after a sigh rolling her head to look him in the eyes. “This only becomes a nude beach when I see how good you are at this and if you can impress me. For the record what was what I was trying to say when you were working particularly hard to not let me finish my sentence.” Vanessa let out a small laugh and let out a deep contented sigh.

“Well,” He paused. “I hope I made muster.” He said in an uniquely marine sort of way.

“I am not one hundred percent clear on what that means,” Vanessa admitted turning her face up to his, “but if it has anything to do with your ability to snap to attention and present arms then you not only made muster but are running the whole darn thing.” Stretching she placed a soft kiss on his lips before setting back into her spot.

“I hope you aren’t too tired.” Marius could be energetic normally, but he had gone quite a while without adult recreation so he was less restrained than normal.

“Nah you did most of the heavy lifting,” she let out a chuckle looking around their small spot on the beach. The myriad of foot prints and body part impressions on the once pristine sand showed they had stopped worrying about sand getting everywhere and only focused on the task at hand somewhere between leaving the water and finding their current position on the blanket.

“Although there are enough footprints around us it looks like we were storming the beach at Normandy.”

It would have been a pure lie if she stated that what had occurred was not somewhere on the list of things to do tonight with Calvin Marius since they left the lounge. It wasn’t however the only thing that had been on the list. Thinking about her mental list of things to do with the captain, she let the chuckle turn into a small bubble of laughter that shook her body slightly and plastered a goofy smile onto her face. She felt too good and too relaxed to try and keep up the mysterious persona of whether or not she was interested in carnal recreation. That ship had sailed the second she and Marius left the bar, booze pail in hand and fielding a conversation from her mother.

Vanessa Slade CNS

Marius was very alert to their whereabouts. “I’m sure we’ve overshot our holodeck allotment.” He slightly rocked her off of him as he collected both of their clothes.

“It’s 2 am so I wasn’t too worried about anyone just strolling in,” Vanessa leaned back on her elbows watching Marius move around the small space picking up what he needed.

He did a confirmation scan of the area. He reached out and grasped her hand, then pursed his lips,

Vanessa took his hand and felt the tingle starting in her tummy as they slipped into the see you around the portion of the night. This was always the most awkward part where you had to manage the goodbye it was fun or the overly excited rush to schedule a second rendezvous because it was amazing. Seeing him purse his lips, Vanessa closed her eyes and rose to her toes. Their encounter was definitely worth a kiss goodbye laced with the promise she wanted to do this again sometime. Unfortunately, the kiss did not happen the way she expected.

=^=Computer execute Marius E.T. 411.=^= The transporter caught them both quickly and in a sparkle they appeared in the Captain’s quarters. Well she had to assume it was his quarters, but the marine awards on the wall and the standing bar tipped it off.

“Oh…okay wow that was different,” Vanessa lowered herself off her tiptoes looking around. It would be a complete understatement to say Slade wasn’t impressed. Normally she and her partner left separately to ensure the tongue-wagging was at a minimum. Using the transporters was far easier and far more discrete. Glancing around the room, her eyes fell on the medals and awards adorning the walls.

“Privileges of being a Captain and a former security chief. I have a half a dozen of these pre-programed protocols. E.T. is for the extraterrestrial who always wanted to phone home.” He gestured about… “Home.”

“So is that in reference to you being an alien or an introvert,” she let out a laugh that was far more vivacious than a semi-witty comment. Running her fingers through her hair and avoiding his eye contact for a second, Vanessa composed herself. “Sorry I just had this image of,” she grew serious for a half a heart beat before continuing. “I had this image of six months from now where we are at some social event. I leave to get us drinks and you ET your butt out and back to your quarters where I find youtwo hours later in sweats, with a beer, watching some sporting event.” It was clear she found the idea amusing somewhere in her subconscious. The moment of uneasiness about if he would read to much into her random comment was gone. She had already jumped hip-deep into the pool of not caring about if Marius thought she was sane or not.

“Six months from now,” Marius started. She was doing some planning. It wasn’t quite out of line of what he wanted. He wasn’t really a one night stand sort of guy, even less so with his own crew and someone so junior to him. So he was pleased and nervous at the same time.

“Yeah six months is a good solid number for arriving at social events together. At six months you can play off the friend card without anyone being suspicious but at six months if you haven’t killed the person you are with it means there is potential. Anything before that is rushing things and anything after that is poop or get of the pot time.”

“Six months,” Marius thought is should take less time than that, but it in their situation it could be a little more awkward than a normal relationship.

“I just mean,” she let out a small laugh, “if you can’t or choose not to be seen in public with someone at the year mark it’s probably time to move on.” It wasn’t an ultimatum but more a statement of fact. A year was a long time to figure things out but Vanessa was quite happy being his little slice of heaven on the down low for the time being.

“Now a year,” Marius raised an eyebrow. “You must have a couple of indecisive boyfriends.. or girlfriends.. I don’t judge.” He certainly wouldn’t take a year to decide if he would be seen with a woman under normal situations. “I might take pictures if she was cute enough.”

“Oh they were indecisive alright but it was more if they could handle the Irish Battleship and its crew for the rest of their life. It was never about me. I am a gem,” she winked at him.

=^=Computer overwrite the transport as ‘Captain Ordered to His Quarters, plus one,’ “=^= Marius didn’t remove the data of the transport, which security protocols and just hard data recording altering would be near impossible for good science officers and impossible for the captain to do. He could however overwrite to easily accessed record to something less obvious than Marius and Slade to the Captains Quarters, which almost screamed… ‘The Captain slept with the ship counselor.’ =^=Notify me if this data file is accessed… oh and deactivate holodeck one.=^=

Still not dressed, Marius walked to his bar and pulled out two rocks glasses - he poured a brown liquor into both. He moved to the couch in the room and sat, holding out the second glass to her. “Now there is no need to rush off… unless you want to.”

Marius

“I don’t have anywhere to be and I don’t have to call my mom unless I am staying out all night.” She cast him a flirty glance making light of his earlier comment about having to call her mommy earlier in the evening. Vanessa grabbed Marius’s t-shirt and slipped it over her shoulders. The shirt hung long enough to barely cover the parts that were the most interesting. She didn’t bother to put on anything but the t-shirt. It would be a waste. Moving across the room, Vanessa moved with the practiced precision to ensure Marius had to pick what was going to hold his attention the most: The pace of her stride, the sway of her hips, the flirty smile on her face, the mop of disheveled hair falling around her face that required it to be placed repeatedly behind on ear or the sound of her barefeet softly stepping in the silent room.

“I guess then it good that you got your call off before the evening started.”

If Marius were a normal man he would have shirts that were more ‘comfortable’ cuts for his oversized frame, but his shirts were taut. Even so, they were clearly spacious enough for a normal sized woman to pretty much wear as a dress. He thought to himself, well I’m not getting that one back. On the other hand, since he hadn’t had a new partner in nearly a decade, one shirt every 10 years was a small price to pay. Not to mention, it did look good on her. He made no effort to conceal his appreciative looks as he scanned her from foot to the top of her head.

“Pfft,” she waved a hand. “I just put them on mute or we would still be standing in knee deep water wondering if my mother would ever come up for a breath of air as she chattered away.”

“That’s a lot of tough talk when your mother can’t hear you.”

“That woman has bat ears and sooner rather than later you too will experience Valerie Slade. Tony, the bartender in the Lounge, has banned my personal communicator from coming out when I belly up to the bar. He made the mistake of saying hello one time…as a joke. Don’t worry though,” she continued to walk towards him. “You will be the best kept secret in the Federation.”

“I fear no mother. That being said, I respect all of them anyways so, Mrs Valerie Slade will get a lot of yes ma’ams and no ma’ams from me.”

“Oh no sir,” she played off the terms of rank and file. “My family is loud, obnoxious, and into your business the moment you step into a room. I am not going to subject you to that besides you are exactly the type of guy my mother goes to St. Anthony’s for and prays will show up out of thin air. Intelligent, handsome, and most importantly employed,” she ticked off her fingers. “The last thing I need is Vanessa what did you evah do to the nice young man Calv’n. He was so polite and handsome.” The tone of her voice instantly showed she was imitating someone.

“I’m at least employed.” Star-Fleet Captain is generally considered a good and honorable job throughout the entire Federation. “I haven’t met too many mothers but I definitely would do my best to make your mother love me more than you. Next year, she’ll be inviting me to Thanksgiving and telling me to avoid the awkwardness you weren’t coming.”

Vanessa raised an eyebrow and for the first time was scrutinizing his face instead of his south forty as she thought about his comment. “You know Hobbs,” she threw out his made-up last name, “I am not sure what I am attracted to more right now your extreme confidence you can survive my family or your ability to salute while sitting however I think the whole confidence thing is winning.” Letting her eyes drift down, she let a flirty smirk fill her face. “Forty-nine fifty-one,” she threw out not exactly fifty fifty odds but enough to make Marius wonder which one was winning. “In fact, I am ready to make you put your money where your mouth is. I have my brother’s wedding in six months. You play your cards right…and survive that event and I will see about you getting an invitation to turkey.”

Taking the drink from his hand, Vanessa proceeded to sit on his lap with her knees tucked tight around his hips so she could face him. “So per the pre-set rules we established at the bar, my only question is after the second round of calisthenics is there breakfast involved? Normally I am sleeping and not working out all night so I will be ravenous.” Taking a slow sip of her drink, she kept rapt attention on the man in front of her. Vanessa loved toying with the man in front of her because every once in a while his familiar neutral expression slipped into a smile.

“Absolutely, it would be the neighborly thing. Not that I ever did that to my neighbor.” Calvin glanced at her, very close, particularly warm, but not showing too much as the shirt was an unremarkable tee that wasn’t form fitting for her. He shimmed a little underneath her to make himself comfortable. It was inevitable nature would take its course, but both she and he had to know what would eventually occur.

“That is so sad for your neighbor,” Vanessa shot back letting Marius’ hands settle her into a less obvious position. “Although,” she let the word hand in the air, “I am pretty sure you would either run out of replicator credits or money as she came over daily looking for a cup of milk for her morning coffee.”

“Flatterer. I don’t have women knocking down my door for a slice of Marius.” He rolled his shoulders which caused his entire upper body to ripple. It was a visual effect. “I’m certain your football team of brothers had to work much harder than anything I’ve ever experienced to keep your honor intact.”

His comment let a genuine ripple of laughter escape her lips causing her to shake slightly on his lap. Half of it was directed to the chest ripple. It was playful, flirty, and fun. Three adjectives that unit this night, Vanessa wasn’t sure the always seemingly serious captain could demonstrate; however, something inside told her she only needed to do was get him into a more relaxed position to let it show. Making a mental note that frisky Calvin came out when she was clad only in one of his t-shirts and sitting on his lap meant this side would probably only be seen during off duty hours. It also meant she would need to make sure she spent a lot more time with him off duty. Vanessa liked this side. It felt secretive and special. People only got silly when they were comfortable with those they were spending time with and it wasn’t hard to see Marius kept most people probably at a distance.

Settling back to a more still position she looked at Marius. “You are so going to have to do that again,” she pointed a finger at his chest twirling it, “but I think we were talking about food and I was looking for an answer to a specific question.”

“Now the question is who makes breakfast… which is a question of the interpretation of the situation. You invited me, so by that theory breakfast should be on you. This happens to be my quarters so then it should be on me, on the other hand I did all the hard work,” He pursed his lips, “but… it was all over that body…” He took a sip of his whiskey and rested the glass on the armrest of his couch. Had he know she’d be sitting on his lap he would have chosen the chair as the armrests would have been closer and forced her legs to be tighter about him.

Leaning forward, Vanessa kissed him softly on the lips. It wasn’t the type of kiss to incite a round of stretching before diving into high aerobic activity. It was more the type to make you start thinking about grabbing your towel and heading towards the gym. Whatever this thing was with Marius, it was easy and comfortable. The awkward after did not seem to be rearing its ugly head; however, it really never had stopped from the fun and flirty banter about the promises of exciting things about to occur. From Vanessa’s vantage point, she did not need to flip to page twenty of the Kama Sutra to know they would be facing off sooner rather than later. The kiss was broken fast enough that Marius would be able to remain at a controlled at ease for the moment. “Don’t worry. She can handle it captain,” Vanessa said softly quoting the famous line of any engineering chief.

Rocking back she settled into the new spot Marius had shifted her into. “I suggest a compromise about breakfast,” Vanessa took a sip of her drink and rested it in the middle of her chest.

“There is a negotiation theory is a compromise is a situation where both parties are unhappy, but what did you have in mind?” Breakfast making was over-rated the replicator could make anything on request so it would not be a difficult process no matter how it turned out.

“Suprised but definitely not unhappy,” she smiled at Marius. “So the compromise is this.”

“I make you breakfast and you make me breakfast. Breakfast is the most important meal of the day plus,” she pointed an index finger at his chest indicating what she was about to say held importance. “It will tell us a lot about the other person. What we need to figure out that is more important than what we eat is how we are going to make it.” Shifting slight, she wiggled purposefully on his lap. The evil part of Vanessa wanted to torture Marius just a little. She wanted to see how long he could retain the relaxed calm he was attempting to show relaxing back in the chair with a drink in one hand. Reaching over her head with her arms, she shifted and wiggled again slightly on his lap pretending to stretch. The smile was sly showing she knew exactly what she was doing when she looked back at Marius. “If we use the replicators it will take a whole lot less time than if we bust out the pots and pans....unless you don’t have a pot or a pan?” Vanessa hadn’t even thought about replicating breakfast until this second. “It really doesn’t matter except for the time involved.”

He shook his head, “Cooking, cooking?” He questioned. “Not in my quarters. I have to go to the mess to do anything like that without preparation.” He had cooked in his quarters but that had been a planned event. “I guess if you wanted to really put this to the test. We could go to the Captain’s Yacht.” Which he always kind of thought of as his secret space, that everyone knew about but no one went. “But its an easy task for you, I generally have an omelet, egg white usually, but not always. Sometimes a protein shake, or yogurt. Calvin likes yogurt.”

“Calvin likes yogurt,” Vanessa let out another full bodied laugh and gave him a playful kiss on the lips. “I will make a mental note but that will be for tomorrow’s breakfast. Today’s breakfast was supposed to be an exercise in what you think the person likes. You sir are now at a disadvantage however I think there is a Marine saying that accomplishing a mission is always your top priority and you will bend or break any rule to achieve that mission. Just know I am going to be the toughest job you will ever love.” She let the moment linger for a long second letting Marius process her statements in any manner he chose. The longer she spent with the skipper, the more she was realizing a slap on the rump and a nod at the mess hall might not be enough. Only time would tell but as much as Vanessa was enjoying the extra curricular, she was also enjoying spending time with the man whose lap she was occupying.

“Your expectations weren’t clear,” Marius groused. “Although I said what I eat, I only told you that I liked yogurt.” He did actually like omlets too, but they weren’t his favorite breakfast food. He paused for a moment as he thought. “I think you like fruits, strawberries and the like and that is what you commonly eat, but your favorite breakfast is he paused, oatmeal.” He nodded, “But not healthy oatmeal, you put fruits, and flavoring, honey and syrup and a whole bunch of other stuff that turn it into something less than good for you.”

Her forehead wrinkled up in confusion for a second letting Marius get a good look at what people that knew her called the thinking crease. It was a small wrinkle that formed between her eyes as she scrunched up her nose slightly and narrowed her eyes. It disappeared almost as fast as it was replaced with a smile. “How did you know that? Are you replicator stalking me,” she leaned back slightly feigning surprise. The more she thought about it Vanessa did start to wonder and repeated the question in a slightly more inquisitive tone. “How did you know that?” The obvious answer was he had been checking her out before this. Slade would absolutely fail an interrogation if someone ever asked if she hadn’t oogled the Captain a few times before this. How could she not? While her mother had standards, so did Vanessa. Unfortunately, hers were far more base and carnal. If given a clip of men in uniform walking away from their middle of the back to their knees, Vanessa would down money she could spot the Captain’s swagger.

“I only ask because I have this boss with a hard-line rule about calling out sick after drinking all night. There is no way I am going to be late. I plan on being on duty ten minutes before he shows so I need to account for time so I can be on time.”

Vanessa Slade

Marius shook his head. “I certainly can’t write a sick note for this.” Now with both hands he shifted her to an even more comfortable position. She certainly had him at a disadvantage.

“Oh you are the Captain and you can do whatever you want. We both know that.” Vanessa bit her lip and slowly dragged her teeth over it. The comment was more of an invitation than a request.

“But at your age with enough coffee you should be able to deal with a couple hours loss of sleep. Especially, if you burn enough energy to put you into deep REM.” He thought of an Ice Cube Song, ‘It was a good.’

Marius

“My age,” Vanessa let out a laugh. “You know I am not that young. I just act young and reckless.” Taking her cup she leaned back knowing it would force Marius to put his hands on her waist to prevent her from falling off his lap.

“Thirty is young,” Marius didn’t quite do as planned. One hand went to her waist/lower back, but the second went to her buttocks, both hands pulled her closer to his body. The pressure against her grew. He closed he’s eyes for a moment. The action was strangely pleasurable for him… perhaps a little invasive for her.

“There is a rule that, you are only as old as the girls you feel, so I’m about thirty too.”

“For the record, this rump feels like the rump of a twenty-one-year-old. That means we are both in academy graduation prime. If you are a good boy I might let you bounce a penny off it if you are lucky,” she let out a laugh knowing the exact position Marius was holding her proved her statement. They had had so much to drink that it was probably unfair of her to focus on a slip of grammar and verbiage. It just gave her such a warm, happy rush seeing Marius as a normal guy instead of the always in control and guarded captain.

Righting herself, she reached over and took the glass from his hand on the armrest and downed the last swallow of his drink. “Maybe you should take an attempt at putting me on the straight and narrow path as the saying goes.” Vanessa leaned down setting his cup on the floor. “Fair warning,” she leaned in kissing his neck until she moved her lips to his ear and whispered, “I am a slow learner. It might take a while.”

Vanessa Slade CNS

He looked hurt as she drank both his drink and hers. “Its a little early in our relationship to show you how insolence is dealt with in the Captain’s quarters. However, taking my drink is something that could lead to severe consequences.” Marius wasn’t joking when he said he had a couple of flags that she would be surprised at. Now to be fair he suspected that she would be more surprised that he had it, not surprised about what it was.

“Promises promises,” she replied in a sultry tone.

She quite the little provocateur. She was biting off more than he thought she was ready to chew. On the other hand she was an adult and had the ability to make her own decisions… perhaps a little gesture.

To test the waters, he raised his hand from the middle of her back to her hair. He was fairly sensual about it but got a grasped a handful of hair after a while, as he pulled on it slowly, but firmly. “I have ways to teach lessons.” He in turn held her in place as he kissed deeply on her neck. The teasing could go both ways.

Marius

“Good because junior officers need a lot of supervision and attention.” Vanessa let out a deep moan and sunk deeper into his lap leaning back to give him all the access both of them wanted to be explored. Her fingertips reached out not looking for purchase to balance her but to trace the muscles of his chest. Vanessa knew whatever was going to happen, she was safe with him even if his actions were meant to feel more dangerous and thrilling. Everything about Calvin Marius and this night caused her heart to beat a little faster, to make her feel a little less in control, and a little less alone.

The feeling of his hands in her hair electrified her extremities making any contact against him tingle like static electricity. Like on the beach, Marius was making it hard for her to think. All she could do, wanted to do was react to him. “For the record after this,” she raised her head so that the tension on her hair was increased by her actions. The words she wanted to say caught in her throat as she looked into his eyes. Vanessa felt intoxicated but not by the liquor. That had been burned off in the previous round of recreation. She felt drunk from the look meeting her gaze from his eyes. Vanessa shook as a ripple of energy coursed through her body from excitement and anticipation to discover everything behind the way Marius was looking at her. “I am never again calling you Sir on duty but only when we are here and like this.” Closing her eyes she leaned back farther following Marius’s lead letting her nails run down his chest.

Vanessa Slade

Interesting, he thought to himself. She was very aggressive and accepting at the same time. Calvin smiled slightly with one side of his face turning upward. He didn’t quite know where it was going but it was starting with with a bang and then the promise of what was coming in the future was even more inviting. “We’ll see.” Marius thought, there were many options that he found attractive.

“Okay but captain my captain is a little to obvious even for the most vanilla crew,” she whispered in a breathy voice.

“That’s a line from a drinking game. Who in turn stole it from a Walt Whitman who was talking about the death of Abraham Lincoln.” In reality the line was far less fun than most people actually thought.

“Yes,” she said in a breathy tone, “and what is thy bidding my Master was said by Vader who was actually Anakin to the Emperor but would get far more eyebrows raised by the crew.” Calvin Marius was not just smart but highly intelligent. Right now that intelligence was a hinderance and not a help.

He licked his lips, it was a subconscious move that he only became aware as he was doing it. She was making him hungry… even though he was even though he was more than able he didn’t want to dive right back into activities that would force the thread to fade to black. He continued to hold her hair firmly as he picked up his now empty cup with his other hand.... he tipped the final drops into his lips.

Marius

Feeling his lips leave her neck, Vanessa slowly opened her eyes and looked at him with a bit more shock and confusion that would have made far more sense when he started the activity rather than when he ended it. “Your stopping. Why are you stopping?” Her heartfelt like it was going to pound out of her chest and she could barely hold a straight thought. Watching him take the last sip of his drink made her tummy flutter. It was a rather odd time to stop for a drink but Vanessa waited patiently and tried not to drum her fingers on his chest as she waited.

Marius looked with the continued hunger, but it was a little different, it was less like a starving man at a medium rare steak, but a poker player who had the nuts and his opponent had already gone all in. “Because, the more fuel you put on a fire the hotter it burns and that takes time.”

“Honey if I get any hotter I am not gonna need your help to come in first place.” Leaning forward she struggled to have her lips touch his. He was still holding her hair and not seeming to want her to add more fuel to the fire.

Her mind raced at why the race to the finish line seemed to have stalled for a stretch. It was clear he was still physically interested and yet mentally he had stopped the gun from starting the race. Marius had mentioned his freak flag hours ago so maybe it had something to do with that. Vanessa was as green as a first-year cadet in this arena but she knew a few of the basic principles. “Is this where we need to come up with a safe word like butternut or cinnamon? If so just pick one and I will run with it?” For as aggressive and forward as she had been, it would be abundantly clear, that Vanessa Daniella Slade, was an absolute novice in the arena Markus was giving her a glimpse into.

Dropping her head onto his chest she let out a long chuckle. “Calvin you are going to be the death of me right now. You know that don’t you?” Raising her face up to look in his eyes, Vanessa wore an easy smile but also a slightly pleading look. “You just threw a Porsche into neutral when the driver was flooring it. Please tell me that at some point we are going to stop at the station for more fuel?”

“I thought women thought men rushed things too much… and they needed time to warm up.”

“Only when you are not into it or the guy. It’s just a line we use. Kinda like ‘its not me its you.”

Leaning forward, she relaxed on his chest, placing her head into the nape of his neck. As nice as it was to run a marathon, there was something wonderful about just lying around and being lazy. “Tell me about that award,” she said pointing to one of the medals adorning his otherwise empty wall space. At this point in his career, Marius probably had shoe boxes filled with awards, medals, and commendations for exemplary service. That meant only the things he chose to display actually meant something to him. Right now Vanessa Slade wanted a peek into that world far more than she realized.

Vanessa Slade

Marius maneuvered her off of him for a moment and went to the bar and refilled both of their glasses. He placed her down so she was sideways on the couch… perhaps 90 degrees from her former position.

Vanessa sat on the couch leaning back against the arm as she watched Marius move across the room. This time she got to appreciate him like Marius did her. As he was turned towards the bar pouring their drinks, Vanessa let out a long cat whistle bitting her lip and smiling. “Work it. Work it, baby work it,” she said with all the enthusiasm of a construction worker on a job site as a hot woman walked past.

He returned handing one glass to her and he had his in his hand on the opposite side of his body.

Vanessa lifted her legs and placed them over his lap like a tent. It exposed more leg as the hem of the shirt slid to her upper thigh. All the exciting parts were still out of view but not out of reach. Lifting the drink to her lips, she took a long swallow. The amber liquid warmed her mouth as she held the sip on her tongue. The sweet and spicy notes of the drink relaxed her until it touched the back of her throat creating a slight burn exactly like the liquid was supposed to do. “So you were telling me about that medal,” she nodded with chin.

His free hand started on her knee as moved slowly towards her thigh disappearing behind the tee shirt she had stolen. Which put her at a slight advantage, since he was still entirely undressed.

Vanessa inhaled deeply trying to act like nothing was happening. She worked hard to keep a neutral expression, however the edges of her mouth struggled not to turn up. His hand on her knee caused a warm rush but the trajectory of his fingertip changed her soft, smooth skin into pebbled goose bumps. It was hard not to react to the casual way Marius was talking with the more sensual way he was touching her thigh. Vanessa however was stubborn. If this was a game of chicken, Slade was not going to be the one to pull out.

“That is the Navy Cross.” He sipped slowly from his glass. He was speaking in a very unemotional fashion but his hand seemed to be having a completely different tone, conversation and motive.

“Uh huh,” she replied feeling the need to say something but struggling to maintain her composure. Reclining a bit more, she stretched her leg out to create more surface area. The result of the positional change meant her head could now rest on the arm of the couch instead of the small of her back.

“I got that for a very stupid, frontal assault against a Cardassian armored turret. We got a unit citation for that action as well… I got the Navy Cross, because I made it first.” Meanwhile his hand was saying *I’m all for you getting to know me a little better, but I’m hear to do more tickling and teasing.”

“Are you sure it was a frontal assault against a Cardassian and not a woman from Bos,” she let out a small moan before blinking twice and running her fingers through her hair. “A woman from Boston?” While their time together had been negliable, Marius seemed to discover early on the ability to make her sound illiterate or at least like she had a speech impediment. It was so hard to concentrate as he talked. The words seemed to blur together much the thoughts in her head. The joke was a weak one but mimicked the way her legs felt. If they had been standing and having this conversation, her knees going to jelly would have caused her difficulty with standing upright.

“I spent two days crossing a swamp for the right to make that charge.” He said while scanning her neck and chest. His hand however was saying. I’m loving this tee shirt look it’s almost innocently seductive. It was also nice that there didn’t seem to be much of it.
He leaned slightly towards her but not nearly enough to make contact with her lips unless she leaned in… but that would force herself against him.

Marius

“Yes,” she murmured barely able to maintain single-syllable responses at this moment. Marius was not adding fuel to the fire right now. He was dumping a gallon of gasoline on it and striking a match. Instead of speaking, Vanessa concentrated on breathing creating a very obvious rise and fall to her chest. Seeing Marius lean in, Vanessa closed the space between them struggling to maintain her composure. Curling her drink to her chest, she settled between her ample nacelles and let her other hand begin to softly trail the firm oblique muscles of his side. I am going to make this as difficult for you as you are making it for me, she said to herself. The space between their lips was barely a hairsbreadth separation. Just short of pressing her lips to his, she held the position as a devilish smile crossed her face. Up and down she let her fingertips glide over his muscles at times feeling the definition and at times creating the sensation where he was not sure they were actually touching. With each lazy stroke, she moved closer and closer to her leg now dropped over his lap.

“And the one to the right of that medal. Not all the way right. Just like a millimeter right from the cross,” she asked before letting her gaze drift to his eyes. During the nights earlier calisthenics, Vanessa had no problem looking at Marius. Now however it caused a shiver to race down her spine and spread throughout her body. This close there was no way Marius could not feel it. There was something dangerous and exhilarating in the way he was looking at her. It was as if Marius wanted her muscles to go slack but also warning her not to give in to the sensation. Marius was not the first man she ever had a night cap with but he was the first man to edge the night along, doling out the experience so she never got to relax from one situation to the other. Most men Vanessa had spent time with didn’t care who was driving the night along. Calvin Marius however did not see like the type to be a passenger. Normally Vanessa was assertive but tonight she toyed with being authoritative. Whether Marius was going to take the conversation back made her head fuzzy and her breathing increase. Testing the waters Vanessa leaned it so that her lips brushed his as she spoke. “I said what is the medal next to the Navy cross.” Her tone was slow and controlled making her heart beat faster. This game of cat and mouse could only have one winner. Who that was going to be caused a fresh round of goosebumps to erupt on her skin as she waited for an answer.

Vanessa Slade.