A Simple Thank You

Posted on Fri Mar 4th, 2011 @ 3:22am by Lieutenant Alessandro Reynaldi & Lieutenant Cedric Shepherd

1,057 words; about a 5 minute read

Mission: Triad
Location: USS Ranger, Deck 10, Shuttlebay, EV Locker
Timeline: QAR defeat +7 minutes

Karra Telana stepped back onto Ranger for the first time in a few hours, followed closely by Cedric Shepherd. The day had been quite long and she'd just had a very traumatic experience. She thought for sure she was going to die out there floating in a nebula, but he'd rescued her. This meant a lot where she was from and she realized that. She'd never had a lot of people who would risk their lives to save her.

She pulled off her suit quickly, worrying slightly about the Orion pheromones that had built up in the suit while she was in it. Any man would have trouble resisting, and that was a fact. She waited for Cedric to be done before she spoke again.

Shepherd keyed the hard clamshell of the upper suit open and replaced it in the rack. That done, he shucked out of the soft main suit and stretched, breathing deeply of Ranger's internal air, exhaling with a sigh. "That was the scariest thing I've ever done. Remind me never to jump off the ship again," he finished with a smile.

"Thanks again for saving my life," she said. She knew there was no way she could ever repay him for risking himself for her.

"You're welcome," he replied. "It's why I was out there."

She approached the man with a smile. She knew that getting close to him with such high pheromone levels was a bad idea, but for some reason she decided to ignore it. "It's your job, yes. But still, I don't know how I could ever repay you. Not many people would have done what you did."

"Oh, you certainly don't owe me anything," he nodded, unfastening the collar of the sleek undersuit and working his neck while the autofitters relaxed. "As to who'd do it, well, in a situation like that you have to just act. Thinking about it will only paralyze you." He was in mid shoulder-roll when he quirked his head to the side, his nostrils flaring momentarily. "I--hmm," he took a half step back, trailing off and blinking hard, and steadied himself with a hand against the bulkhead.

"It's not like you did a small thing, though. I would have died if you hadn't come to my rescue," she said, taking another dangerous step toward him. "Is there anything you need? I could ... I don't know ... make you breakfast in the morning for a while or something. It was very heroic of you and I don't want that to go unpaid."

"It," he seemed to have trouble with the rest of the sentence. He simply stood and eyed her in her skintight undersuit. She could read the hunger clearly now. "You," he started again, and faltered.

This wasn't the first time something like this had happened to her. It was a reality, and human males were especially susceptible to the Orion pheromones. It was almost absent minded the way she crossed the distance left between them in a few small steps and pressed her black painted lips against his. A bit of the typical animal hunger of her kind coming out.

He responded fiercely, crushing her to him and returning the kiss, moving from her mouth to her neck, his desire plain. She broke the kiss long enough to push him into a seat on the locker's bench, and wordlessly unzipped her bodysuit to her pelvis before straddling his lap. His kisses returned to her throat and feathered down her cleavage as she ground her hips into him and kissed the top of his head. The breathing in the room grew heavier as their tangle deepened and their hands roamed.

"Halliwell to Shepherd," chirped the com. Shepherd's head snapped away from Telana's skin and he banged it against the bulkhead. He gasped, partly at the pain and partly as the interruption forced him to refocus on something other than Telana's silken curves.

"Halliwell to Shepherd?" the com chirped again.

"Sir!" he replied, a little too loud. "Yes, sir. I'm--I'm here, sir." He placed a hand on Telana's chest above her breasts, seeking a few centimeters of distance so he could think. Staring at her navel didn't appear to help. He switched to staring at the bench.

"Once you've changed, please report to the bridge," said the captain. "We need to coordinate with the boarding parties securing the QAR vessel."

"Yes, sir," Shepherd replied, continuing the shake off the fog. "I'm, uh, I'll be with you in just a few minutes, sir."

"ASAP, Lieutenant," Halliwell was crisp on the com. "We have work to do."

"Yes, sir."

He took a deep breath as he and Telana eyed each other.

She'd been trained in situations like this. The reality of her childhood would surprise most. She could turn her desires on and off when it was appropriate. However, she'd never known any male she was with to be able to do the same. Most would have simply ignored the comm. She moved off of him and stood up, the wide open suit leaving her close to nude. "We've both got places to be."

Shepherd chuckled darkly. "We'll talk. Later."

Just then, the doors opened to reveal a successful looking Reynaldi. When he sighted the two from across the room, he removed his helmet and raised an eyebrow, but didn't say a word. He simply started taking off his suit.

"What are you looking at?" challenged Shepherd.

Alex raised an eyebrow and continued with what he was doing. "I'm looking at you, Lieutenant." He watched as Karra gathered her things and left.

"Don't give me that look," Shepherd rose quickly, bucking up in classic alpha-male challenge behavior. "What do you think you're playing at?"

"Easy, Cedric," Reynaldi held up a neutral hand. "It looks like Karra hit you with a pheromone or two. Hundred. Relax."

Shepherd froze, his eyes narrowing as he thought. After a long few moments, he inhaled sharply and shook his head as if to clear it, placing one palm against his forehead. "Sorry," he said simply.

"Don't mention it," Reynaldi replied simply, turning to the rack and starting out of his suit.

"I, um, need to get to the bridge," Shepherd said a little lamely as he pulled on his uniform trousers. Reynaldi simply nodded, and Shepherd chuckled ruefully.

 

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