Awakenings
by Kari Robinson
(karirob@yahoo.com)
Original Story Ideas 81998, Kari
Robinson. All rights reserved.
Preview: After many trials and tribulations, Boone and Da'an steal some time to
take their relationship to another level.
Rating: NC-17 for sexual content
Disclaimer: Earth Final Conflict and all characters and story elements therein are the property of the Tribune Entertainment Company. No infringement intended.
Author's Notes: This is all Tina Price's fault. <G> At the end of The Hidden, she left Boone and Da'an asleep in his room, and while waiting for her to post her next story, I found myself writing my own version of a sequel. While this story is set within Tina's universe, it is not part of her series. Many thanks to her for graciously allowing me to post this. I also want to thank my beta reader, Jan White, for all her help and input on this story. As always, comments are most welcome.
Awakenings
Lili Marquette was dragging the
remains of the main security control panel down the corridor when she bumped into someone.
"For crying out loud," she snapped as she straightened up, "watch where
you're . . . Jonathan!"
The billionaire looked her up and down.
"What are you doing lugging something that big, Captain? Get Boone to help you. Let
him carry his weight around here for a change."
"He's been back less than a day, Jonathan,
and he collapsed from exhaustion last night. He's going to need time, and food, and rest
to regain his strength."
Doors glanced down the hall toward the closed
doors of Boone's chamber. "Are they still in there? It's nearly noon.
"Let it go, Jonathan."
He scowled at her in response. "What could
they possibly be doing in there?"
Lili had briefly wondered about that herself,
but there was no way she was going to admit that to the Liberation leader. "Sleeping,
Jonathan, sleeping," she muttered as she pushed him down the corridor. Maybe if she
said it often enough, she'd come to believe it.
Da'an woke slowly, gradually
becoming aware of her physical surroundings as she regained full consciousness. She was
lying on her right side, with something warm pressing against her back. The strangeness of
that brought her fully awake, and after a moment she remembered where she was. In bed . .
. in her new chamber at Resistance Headquarters.
And that warmth pressed so tightly against her
was William Boone. He hadn't moved since they had fallen asleep together in the middle of
the previous night; his arm was still draped over her and his face was pressed into the
hollow between her neck and shoulder. As if to reassure herself this was not just another
dream of him, she reached up to lightly stroke his arm through the fabric of his
shirtsleeve. It was still difficult to believe that they had finally come to this moment
of peace after all the danger and pain of the past few months. Even if this peace proved
to be transitory--which it well might--she would have the memory of this moment to sustain
her.
Apparently, her touch on his arm was urging him
toward wakefulness. He muttered indistinctly and pressed his lips to her shoulder before
drifting back to sleep. The touch of his lips, however, caused what felt like an electric
current to pass through her, disrupting every pathway in her body. That sensation recalled
the ecstatic memory of the day before when, oblivious to the presence of all the
Resistance members around them, Boone had taken her in his arms and claimed her as his
own. Fortunately, Augur's comment had brought them back to reality and restored their
decorum, but there was still unfinished business between them. Suddenly Da'an was
unwilling to wait any longer. Boone had slept for long enough. He could sleep more later
if necessary.
Being careful not to extricate herself from his
embrace, Da'an rolled onto her left side to face him. Freeing up her right hand, she
stroked his cheek. "Good morning, William," she whispered softly and pressed her
lips to Boone's. After a few seconds, he began to respond, and their link opened, blazing
with desire. Boone deepened the kiss as he pulled the Taelon even closer against him. When
he finally broke it, she could hear his heart pounding and he was breathing hard. Da'an
felt a tremor of fear. "William? Are you all right?"
His smile lit his entire face. "Never
better." He leaned forward and kissed her again. "But are you sure you want to
do this yet? You've been through an awful lot in the past few weeks. I can wait until
you're ready."
The emotions Da'an felt coming from him through
the link belied his words. Unsure of exactly what to do next, she pushed him onto his back
and ran her hand down the front of his shirt. "Do you normally wear so many garments
to sleep?"
His laughter was a joy to hear. "I was so
tired last night, I'm lucky I got my shoes off."
"Then perhaps you should remove the rest
of your clothing now."
Boone sat up and planted a quick kiss on the
tip of the Taelon's nose before he got out of the bed, unbuttoning his shirt as he did.
Da'an rose to her knees, mesmerized by the sight, and he laughed at the expression of
wonder on her face. "Come on now, Da'an, you've seen me naked before. And why am I
doing this alone? I don't see your true form."
The Taelon immediately dropped her facade as
Boone draped his folded pants over the back of the chair. "While it is technically
true that I have seen you unclothed before, William, it has always been under
circumstances which were less than optimal. You were always unconscious, or injured,
or," she flashed one of her rare smiles up at him, "considerably too
young."
Boone came back and stood motionless by the
side of the bed, his arms at his sides, apparently willing to allow the Taelon to examine
him. Tentatively, Da'an reached out and rested her hand on his abdomen. Slowly, she drew
her hand across the flat smoothness of his stomach, smiling at the memory of his 'birth'
as her fingers contacted his navel. Warming to the task, she let her hands drift upwards,
savoring the differing textures of his skin.
Focusing her senses, she gauged his
reactions--as well as her own--to each change in pressure and direction. She ran her
fingers over the small hairs on his chest, enjoying the subtle differences in the texture
of each, and felt his amusement at her enjoyment. Lili and Augur had both teased William
about having less muscle mass, but as her hands slid over them, it seemed to Da'an that
his Pectoralis major muscles were quite well formed.
As she continued to explore his chest with her
right hand, her left moved up over his shoulder and slid down his arm, feeling the shape
of his bicep beneath the skin. As it moved lower, her hand encountered his skrill and she
pulled away, expecting it to hiss at the contact with a hated Taelon. But the creature
Boone called 'Condor' did not react. Carefully, she placed her hand on the skrill's
abdomen, but it remained quiescent, clearly accepting that this Taelon was now a part of
its human host.
Abandoning her examination of his chest and
arms, she moved off the bed and around to stand behind him. His shoulders were broad, and
his back tapered down to a narrow waist and hips. As she traced the outline of his back
with her hands, the memory of him as he was in the stasis tank, with left side of his body
ripped and torn, returned to her unbidden, and she shuddered in horror. Surprising
herself, she yielded to a sudden impulse and reached around him with both arms, wrapping
him in a tight hug and resting her palms on his chest and her head against his back.
"Whole," she whispered.
"Yes, whole again," he said, covering
both her hands with his. "Thanks to you." He paused for a moment, and she could
sense his arousal at her touch warring with his need to touch her. "Are you done
yet?"
She shook her head, turning it into a caress
against his skin. She pulled her left hand free of his and slid it down to his hip. She
knew that Lili was of the opinion that 'Boone has a great ass,' but she didn't understand
the attraction. Her hand slipped down from his hip to his thigh, tracing random patterns
on it as she rained light kisses on his back.
"Da'an," he whispered. "I can't
touch you back there."
Running her hand back up his flank, she moved
back around to kneel on the bed in front of him, noting with satisfaction the changes
which had taken place. Curious, she ran a finger along the length of the swollen organ
and, remarkably, it seemed to grow even larger at her touch. Boone drew in a sharp breath,
and she looked up for an instant. "Have I hurt you, William?" she asked, already
knowing the answer. He shook his head once, sharply.
Drawing on a memory she had
acquired during one of her sharings with Lili, she gently drew back the foreskin, and
leaning down, rubbed her cheek along the length of him. The texture of his skin here was
different--smoother--than anywhere else on his body, and warmer to the touch. On a sudden
impulse, she briefly pressed her lips to the tip in a soft kiss.
"Da'an." His voice was rough, and
when she looked up, she saw that his eyes were tightly closed. "If you keep that up,
I won't be much good to you for very long."
"Good to me? William, you do realize that
all my physical sensation will simply be a reflection of what you feel?"
His eyes opened at that and he grinned down at
her. "Liar." He knelt on the bed and pulled her to him. "You responded to
me last night in front of everyone. And you definitely reacted when I kissed you
before," his mouth moved to the base of her neck, "right about here."
Once again, the touch of his lips against her
skin sent shockwaves of sensation through her, and she let her head fall to one side,
fully exposing the sensitive area and silently inviting him to continue. Part of her began
to wonder if these physical sensations--so new to her--would overwhelm her completely. She
clung to William's shoulders as if to a lifeline, and felt his lips curve upward in a
smile even as they continued to move across her skin.
He lifted his head. "Are you all right,
Da'an?"
Never again would she be anything other than
completely honest with him. "I am not certain."
His smile grew. "Good."
He reclaimed her mouth, and she was amazed by
the myriad of differences possible in so simple an action. She mused vaguely that her
other must be quite an expert in such matters. Her attention was diverted, however, as he
pulled her hips toward him and the pressure of his erection against her midsection grew
more insistent. She broke the kiss.
"William," she whispered.
"William, I think we should . . ."
He looked at her with hooded eyes, and his
thoughts, coming to her through the link, were increasingly disordered by their growing
desire. Wordlessly, he pushed her back onto the bed and eased his own body down to cover
hers.
His mouth found hers again, and his hips began
a rhythmic thrusting. Da'an freed her left leg and placed her foot flat against the
mattress to brace herself against the increasing speed of his motion. Reaching between
their bodies, she grasped his straining penis to provide the friction she knew he needed.
His kisses became increasingly frantic, and Da'an found herself drawn into the maelstrom
of emotion and sensation with him. Needing greater contact, she reached up with her free
hand and grasping the back of his neck, she guided his mouth back to hers, molding them
together in a passionate kiss.
Just when she thought the unrelieved pressure
would tear them both apart, she sensed the beginnings of change, and felt the organ in her
hand begin to convulse and deliver its precious contents. The force of his orgasm
reverberated along their link and shook her to the core as Boone screamed her name in his
mind. Da'an felt sure that every pathway in her body had ruptured at the same time,
shattering her very being into a million fragments.
Boone lay slumped over her, chest heaving with
the effort to breathe, his entire body beaded with perspiration and trembling from the
power of his release. Da'an clung to him in turn, stunned by the power of what they had
just shared. She had once termed it 'a moment of perfection' after having experienced it
secondhand through the Commonality, but that was a pale shadow when compared to this. And
she knew that no matter how long she lived, she would always cherish the memory of this
first physical union.
Boone shifted his weight slightly and, fearing
that he was going to move away from her, Da'an tightened her arms around him. He relaxed
into her embrace and she let her hands drift across his back. "With my body I thee
worship," she whispered.
That seemed to startle him. "What?"
"That is a part of one of your traditional
marriage ceremonies. I was confused by the words when I first read them--they seemed out
of place. But I believe I understand now. This joining is sacred to your people."
"To me, yes. But not to all of us."
"You are the only one who matters."
Da'an sighed and loosened her embrace.
He rolled onto his back, noticing for the first
time the sticky wetness covering both of them. "Oh God, Da'an. I made a real mess.
I'll go get something to clean us up."
She sensed his embarrassment and stopped him
with her hand on his arm. "No, William." She trailed her fingers through the
liquid pooled on her midsection, and rubbed them together, savoring the texture. "Not
a mess, a gift. The gift of life--or at least the promise of life." She looked down
at her fingers. "A promise which I cannot keep."
Boone settled himself on the bed next to the
Taelon and rested his head on her shoulder. Picking up her left hand, he began kissing
each finger in turn. "What are you talking about?"
She reclaimed her hand so she could
concentrate. "When Lili first saw you in your infant form, she thought that you were
our child. But we will not have a child--I cannot give you one. If you were female, I
could impregnate you through the joining, as Ha'gel did Lieutenant Beckett. Clearly,
however, that is not possible. And I cannot incubate a matter-based child."
He raised himself up on his elbow and looked
down at her with a serious look on his face. "Where is all this coming from,
Da'an?"
"The first time we spoke together, more
than a year ago, you told me that you and your Kaitlin were planning to start a family.
You want children, and because of me, you may now never have any," she stated
seriously.
He was silent for nearly a full minute.
"You're right. Katie and I did want children. And back then I was ready to be a
father. But now, knowing the things I know, and with us living the way we do . . . Right
now I'd rather not give another hostage to fate."
"Another? Who is the first?"
He rolled over and straddled her. Taking her
face in his hands, he leaned down and kissed her tenderly. "You, my love. You."
Da'an was enjoying the sensation of running her
fingers through William's hair--and considering the possibility of suggesting that he grow
it a bit longer--when his global beeped. He groaned, but got up to answer it.
It was Lili. She took one look at his rumpled
hair and naked chest and blushed a deep red. "Will, I'm sorry to interrupt your . . .
um . . . honeymoon, but Jonathan is on a rampage. He got an urgent message from a
Liberation group in Thailand a few minutes ago, and he wants us all assembled in the
conference room in ten minutes."
Boone sighed. "All right, Lili. Ten
minutes." Closing the global, he turned back to Da'an, who had already assumed her
human disguise, and was wearing a rather forlorn expression. "Duty calls."
Grinning, he gave her a quick kiss as he commented, "At least we'll never have to
fight about who gets the bathroom first," and went to dress.
Seven minutes later he returned, shaved,
cleaned and dressed. Taking her hand, he squeezed it lightly and asked, "Ready?"
She nodded once and he smiled at her again as
he opened the door.
"Okay then. Let's go mind the store."
Fin