They'd been dancing. First one way, then the other, moving around each other to the beat of unheard music that caught them in its rhythm and took them into tight turns and fancy pirouettes. Months long waltzes, polkas, jigs … only now the jig was up.

She was here, standing in his bunk, pressed against his naked chest, feeling his arousal getting harder between them. Just the closeness of her body was making it hard to think, and he resorted to falling back on the usual.

"You gonna compare me to all those other men who've been in your bed?"

She looked up at him, her eyes huge and dark. "Do you want me to?"

"Darlin' I want them to not exist."

Her hand was on his belly, fingers splayed out across his flesh, nearly touching him. "Then they don't."

"'Nara …"

"There's been no-one else, Mal. Not like this. Not … love." It still caught in her throat, but it was a fine catch, and she didn't want to let it go. "This is our first time. You and me."

"Like being a virgin?"

"Yes." She licked her lips, and he wanted to do the same.

"Been a long while since I had me one of them. Or been one myself."

"Tonight we are." She shivered slightly, opening herself up to him.

"Cold?" he asked, wrapping his arms around her, making her breath quicken at his scent.

"Scared."

"Of me?"

"Of me. Of the feelings you've awoken in me. Of my desires." She pulled back enough to look up into his face, seeing his desire, his need … his love. "Oh, Mal, for the first time … my desires. What I want you to do to me."

He smiled, the slow lazy grin that went straight from his eyes to between her legs. "You just tell me, 'Nara. Tonight. Hell, every night. You just tell me."

"Make love to me."

The grin widened. "Now that I can do." He stepped back, enjoying the look of confusion on her face. "But turn about is fair play. You seen me naked. I ain't had the pleasure."

"Not even in that little red nightie of mine?" she teased.

He blushed, something she had never seen before. "Uh …" He was also tongue-tied. Another first.

"I thought you liked that."

"I … uh …" Damn it, she'd done it on purpose, leaving her shuttle door open so he could see in. So anyone could've … "Nara, anyone could've been outside!" he blustered. "Simon, Wash … gorramit, Jayne!"

"Then I won't wear it for anyone else."

His eyes narrowed a little. "What's that mean?"

She reached up, doing something complicated to the shoulders of her dress. "All of it … only for you now, Mal." The fabric slithered down her skin, falling to a liquid heap at her feet.

Mal's breath stopped. "'Nara …"

She stood still, naked, unashamed, although there was the tinge of pink across her bare breasts. "Do I come up to your expectations?"

He swallowed. "Girl, you surely do."

She smiled. "I've not been a girl for a long time, Mal."

"Always will be. The girl underneath all the paint."

She seemed to come over coy at his words, because she hurried past him to the bed, the cast on her ankle making her a little clumsy, before sliding under the sheet. "Cold," she explained, pulling it up to her shoulders.

That amused him. "So that'll be why you're kinda … perky."

She glanced down, and could see the twin hard peaks of her nipples showing against the linen. "Um. Yes."

He laughed softly. "Seems like maybe that's my fault too."

"Well, you are still almost dressed."

"Prob'ly." He undid the buttons on his pants. "But that's easily remedied."

"Oh."

His hands stopped. "What?"

"I wanted to undress you."

"Next time."

"Is there going to be a next time?"

"After all this dancing around, making me hard from wanting you, there damn well better be."

Finally she smiled again. "I love you, Mal."

He groaned slightly and glanced down at his straining groin. "See, there you go, making me even harder."

"Perhaps we'd better do something about that, then." She lay back, letting the sheet slide down enough to uncover her breasts, swollen from her own arousal.

"Permaybehaps we should." He continued his unbuttoning, pulling his pants down and kicking them off before standing straight. He wore boxers, and his cock was clearly outlined.

"Mal …" She bit her lip, just looking at him.

"So, do I come up to your expectations?"

"You've not finished yet." Her voice was throaty.

"True." Bending he pushed his shorts off his hips, stepping out of them. "Better?"

"Oh. Better." She couldn't stop looking at him, the way he jutted proudly, heavy and hard, bigger than she had imagined.

"Now I feel like I'm on display," he said softly. "Move over."

She scuttled away from the edge, and he lay down next to her. Immediately she touched his chest, his face, keeping away from his manhood. They kissed tenderly, tongues touching, passion kept in check for a moment.

"I do love you, Mal. And I'm sorry for not saying it earlier."

He pulled her head to rest on his shoulder. "When? Lots of times I shoulda said it, and I didn't. I love you. See? Easy now, even though I mean every single word. Seems we were our own worst enemies."

"So everyone keeps telling us."

"You noticed that too?" He lowered a hand to her breast, just cupping her, running his thumb across the taut aureole.

She didn't answer, just closed her eyes to enjoy the sensation.

He smiled and moved down the bed, making her lie back. With infinite care, he took her nipple into his mouth, licking, suckling, biting gently but not enough to hurt. She lifted up, pushing against his lips. "Like that?" he asked.

"Mal …"

"What do you want?" He looked up into her face. "Like I said, you tell me."

She didn't speak, but her thighs opened slightly, and he smiled. Nodding, he moved enough so that she could open her legs, and he lay between them, mindful of the cast on her ankle.

She could feel him, his breath on her skin, moving the trimmed hair around her cleft, and she tried hard not to buck up into him. She'd had this before, but it had always been for the Client's benefit, not hers. Except now this was. She felt him press her open with his fingers, imagining what he saw, the soft rose becoming darker with the increased blood flow, the swelling of her labia, the tightening of her … then she stopped the clinical list and just gave in as he nuzzled her.

So warm. That was what made him almost dizzy. She was so hot, and wet. For him. Neat and delicate, but hot. Moving her folds apart he saw the small nub of nerves waiting. Almost trembling. No, not almost. She was trembling, and she jolted in his embrace as he lowered his mouth onto her. Sweet. So sweet.

He wanted her. He wanted to do this for her, and she lost herself in the sensation, aware of him pressing a finger inside her, knowing she was wetter than she had ever been, that he was feeling her, touching her, even as he sucked and licked, pacing himself. She groaned and tangled her fingers in his hair, watching him between her thighs.

She was holding him close. He smiled, his lips not leaving her clit. Must be doing something right. He slid a second finger in with the first, feeling her muscles beginning to clench. It wouldn't take much. Not much to push her over, to make her come. He hummed his pleasure, and curved his fingers.

Her mouth opened, her eyes slammed shut, twisting her body as she pushed into him, her spine arching. Heat and tension were building in her lower back, through her buttocks, into her thighs … Suddenly there it was. The light. Rushing towards her, enveloping her. She screamed as she came, clutching at him, wanting it to last and last and last …

He kissed the tender nerves, barely touching them with his lips, and moved up as the last of her climax drained from her.

"Think they might've heard, darlin'," he whispered, covering her mouth with his.

Her arms came up, surrounded him, tasting them both on his tongue. "Probably."

"Don't doubt I'll make the same sound when I come." He kissed her neck, even as he positioned himself at her entrance.

She gazed into his blue eyes. Tremors were still firing through her body as she felt him slide into her, the intensity in his face the same as that when he went on a job. Only this wasn't a job. He wanted this to be right, to go smooth, but it wasn't a job. This was her, and she wrapped her uninjured leg around his waist, pulling him in closer.

So tight. Even after her climax, she was so tight around him, and he could feel every inch of her. He began to move, slowly, wanting to make it last, but the pressure of her breasts against his chest, her body holding him, her hands on his back …

"Ain't gonna last, 'Nara," he muttered regretfully.

"Bad boy," she murmured, lifting her hips up to him.

"Ain't a boy either …" He began to thrust, his hips snapping as he pushed deeper, watching her face as she neared a second orgasm. He stopped, holding his own back, keeping her on the brink.

"Bad, bad boy …" She reached down and grasped his buttocks, driving up hard against him, forcing the climax, mewing with the pleasure thrumming through her.

Too much. Three more quick, deep thrusts and he came, his body emptying into her, a groan forced from his lips as he called her name. "Inara." Still moving inside her, it felt like he was caught between heaven and hell, and it felt like home.

Finally his spasms ceased, and he fell onto her, his face in her neck, tasting the salt of her sweat.

She stroked his back, running her fingers through his wet hair. "Mal."

After what seemed an age, he slid out of her, leaving her feeling empty, then moved up, pulling her against him.

"Are you a snuggler?" she asked, wrapping an arm across his chest, fitting into him.

"Sure."

"I would never have guessed."

"Lots of things you don't know about me, 'Nara." His eyes began to close, but he dragged himself back. "You? You like to snuggle?"

She smiled, deeply relaxed, feeling at peace. "Only with you."

"Good. Seems kinda right. Kinda … fitting … some …" His voice trailed off and he drifted into sleep.

For a millennium she watched him, his long lashes fluttering on his cheek, the breath from his mouth moving her hair, then in a moment she joined him.