Sequel To Changes
Strong Sexual Content
Making Changes
"I'm not camping out with you another night, Shannon."
"If I told you once, I've told you a hundred times, I'm not standing in for Taylor."
"You're dead."
In spite of the good natured kidding, both wanted home, shower and sex, and not necessarily in that order. "Remind me again, what are we looking for?"
"Shannon, WE ARE LOOKING FOR COPPER," Wash spoke slowly and very loudly, pronouncing each word like she was talking to someone slow and hard of hearing.
"Ahhhh, that's why this rock is green, and the strata bands are so pretty," he played his part of the dumb act as he scanned the information into his plexpad.
"We're done, Shannon, let's book." They loaded up their camp and pulled into the colony as the sun was setting.
Nathaniel and Elizabeth stood together just inside the gate as the rover came in fast and skidded to a halt, tires locking up. Taylor grinned, only his partner would drive like him, and headed to the driver's side. He roughly pulled her out into a bear hug, kissing her neck, growling he sank his teeth into the soft flesh. Wash, returned the response with a hard twisting motion, spinning him into the side of the rover, pinning him with her body while she grabbed his head in a both hands, fingers entangled in his short hair. She plastered her lips roughly against his, mimicking his growls.
The Shannon's hugged and kissed normally, then turned to watch the show, still embracing and laughing at the antics of the other two. "I kind of miss the days when he would brush her off with 'I'm fine Wash'." Elizabeth would never get used to them playing so roughly with each other. They were still in a lip lock when the Shannon's grabbed Jim's gear and headed home.
"You told me, Taylor, if I found a diamond deposit, I would get a large rock from you. Well, buddy boy, she stepped back and poked him with a forefinger in the chest. Malcolm is going to make me the largest, gaudiest ring ever," she hadn't told him when calling in every night, that the first findings were diamonds, and she made Shannon promise not to tell. They both agreed they wanted to see the expressions of their significant other when told.
"Really, you beast, you held out on me. What else do you have for me?" He spoke the last into her ear, placing a kiss under her lobe, "Let's go home."
Taylor grabbed Wash's pack and duffle. "Dunham," he bellowed, "move the rover."
They didn't stop to chat, home and sex foremost on their minds. Wash was coming to think of it as home after Taylor moved her in forcibly three months before and wouldn't let her move out. He told her he didn't care what people thought. It was a far cry from a man who used to be worried about his image. It surprised her that he was so open now, holding her hand with ease, kissing her whenever he entered a room after being parted for part of the day. Returns from OTG were much more satisfactory now; she loved the touching, but was still hesitant to show him how much in public. She preferred their intimacy to be exhibited behind closed doors, where she didn't have to watch where her wayward hands were prone to wander, usually down to grope him. A couple times she had to stop herself in public, forgetting. He knew and laughed, telling her to continue, earning him a punch.
Dropping bags inside the door, Nathaniel made the sex or shower choice for her. After six days apart on their first major separation, his tripping took them both to the floor. Rolling on top, he struggled to get her armor off, while his tongue battled hers. She pushed his jacket off his shoulders, but couldn't get them out of his sleeves.
"This is not working, let me up," she was given just enough room for his jacket and her upper clothing to be pulled off. He stripped his t-shirt off and pulled her sports bra over her head, "I'm dirty, Nathaniel," she protested as his mouth descended to suck on her breast, tongue hardening her nipple as it circled.
"Clean now," he moved and repeated the action to the other one.
"Uuummmmm, I'll make it worth your while if we can take this to the shower," she pleaded. She wanted to be clean and enjoy his considerable offering with a clean gift for him in return.
As quickly as he took them to the floor, he rose, pulling her up with him. Grabbing her gun belt, it joined the growing pile. Quickly they divested themselves of everything belt level downward. She couldn't resist a pull toy as she led to the shower. Pre-cum slimed her wrist as they entered.
Short work was made of washing for both partners, "Happy?" a sharp poke to her stomach, a visible reminder he was still waiting.
Alicia kissed her way down, licking water off his mid-line from chest to groin until she was kneeling. She used her tongue to lick up his shaft like he was an ice cream cone, running her tongue around the tip, she sucked and kissed the shaft on every side never taking him in her mouth all the way. Her efforts repeated, totally preoccupied fulfilling her promise to him, teasing with her tongue before finally sucking all of him in her mouth. His ragged breathing told her he appreciated her being home.
"Alicia, unless you want a mouthful, my turn," he pulled her up and turned off the water.
He led her naked and wet to their bed. Not stopping for towels, he pushed her on her back and delved between her legs, sucking, kissing and licking all around her nerve bundle, occasionally licking a swipe and withdrawing. "Nathaniel, please," she grounded against his mouth until he settled down and finished her off. She had just started her spasms when he moved rapidly up and with force impaled himself in her.
It was over in a few shoves. "Been too long," he collapsed on top of her. "I've changed. Now I want you all the time."
"Before we started living together, you didn't want me all the time?" she pushed his weight off and reversed positions smiling at his admission.
"I did, but not like this. Now I don't have to hide our relationship and damn, I'm reverting to a horny teenager, I swear. You and Shannon OTG, all I could think about was doing this, not good. I used to prioritize."
"Maybe you're still prioritizing, just moved this to the top of your list," she leaned down and they kissed, a slow melding of lips and then tongues, he pulled her flush on top of him.
"Mmmmno, I moved you to the top of my list. I want a pedestal for you, a shrine. I never want you in harm's way again. I love you too much. You know how hard it was for me to let you go, especially with that imbecile, Shannon."
"As I remember, you forced that imbecile to go with me. Something about wanting me to come home and you trusted him with that job."
"Talking about Shannon has deflated me and I'm hungry."
"Throw the cover in the dryer, I'm washing off again," with a quick kiss Wash headed back to the shower.
Wash pulled a small pouch from her backpack and settled on the couch beside Taylor after supper. "I'm looking forward to seeing what Malcolm can do with these," she poured a handful of hard rocks into his open palm.
"I haven't seen anything like these since we liberated that diamond mine in South Africa. You were with me when we got a tour weren't you?"
"That's why I knew what I was looking at. Shannon had never seen diamond rock and would have stepped right over them." The diamond wars of 2049 made owning any form of diamond illegal and all were confiscated, real and fake. Most of the colonist had never seen a diamond outside pictures or old movies. Diamonds were still mined, but used for industrial uses like cutting the hard metal for the support structures in the domes and delicate work the lazars couldn't handle. The sentence for possessing any form of diamond without a permit was life in prison. Any jewelry sporting anything close to a diamond was illegal, they disappeared within twenty years the worldwide law went into effect.
"This one looks blue," Taylor held one under the lamp for a closer look. "You'll have the first engagement ring anyone can remember," he leaned over for a kiss.
"I know Malcolm will need some for replacement cutters, but I hope there is enough for earrings and maybe a necklace," Alicia didn't request often.
"We'll have to see what Malcolm says," he knew he had to make it happen. "We'll be sending teams out to the places you and Shannon marked. I'm sure we'll find more diamonds."
"I gave some to Jim for Elizabeth."
His communicator chose that untimely moment to blare. "Damn," he grabbed it off the coffee table, "Taylor."
"Sorry to bother you, Sir. Post ten reports that Mira and her people were seen in the area."
"Did they get a direction on her?"
"Maybe back towards the colony."
"Okay, Guzman, double the patrols along the perimeter. Call if you get more contact, don't matter what time," he had plans that didn't include Mira.
Wash suggested, "Let's go to bed. We still have tonight before it heats up, unless she attacks an outpost." Going to the dryer located in bathroom, Wash pulled a dry comforter and spread it with Nathaniel going to the other side to help.
Holding her in the dark, he murmured, "I love you, Alicia." After seeing her shot and regretting not doing so except in rare instances. One of his resolves after her brush with death, he wanted her to hear the words and often.
"When did you start loving me?" She pressed her lips to his chest, contented to be home and in his arms tonight.
"Hmmmm, as a friend since early thirties, as a woman, about two years after Ayani. Remember that function where the leaders from the Western Pact Countries met after their boring meetings, and we provided security? You had to dress up and showed up in that white dress with your shoulders bare and a slit in the side clear up to heaven. That's when I fell in love. You were the most beautiful thing I had ever seen. I didn't remember my duties; I watched you all evening. I watched you break three fingers and slip out of one slimeball's grasp after another, and I was stuck in that monitoring room. I swore never again would I ask my second to do that hazardous of duty without me by her side. I stayed away from you that night. I didn't want to be the fourth finger broken after you'd been pawed all evening, and I hadn't given you any indication I wanted more from you."
"I should have Cheryl make me that dress," she remembered the event very well.
"I would never allow you out of the house with it. I'd be forced to kill any man who looked at you."
"That's when you fell in love with me?" He could feel her smile into his chest.
"I fantasized only you after that, biding my time, trying to get up the nerve to ask you to wear that dress for me. What happened to it?"
"It was rented. The military paid the equivalent of five thousand terra's for that dress for just that function."
"Best money they ever spent."
"Then why did you wait over a year to make a play?" She sucked and lightly bit his nipple, making him shiver.
"Took me that long to realize I was free to do so. I'm not the type to fool around. Ayani was my first woman and you're my second, and will be the last. My military father and grandfather drummed not sleeping around into me, Taylor pride and honor. I knew I was going to devote the rest of my life to you by the time I brought that bottle for your birthday. Once that was settled in my mind, you were considered mine as far as I was concerned. Military rules prevented me from marrying you, a subordinate, but you know that. You'll always belong to me." He leaned down and kissed the top of her head so happy she was back where she belonged, "When did you fall in love with me?" His hands rubbed softly over her naked back.
"I loved you when you came and got me out of the hospital after Somalia. I figured I'd been forgotten after three months, and then you came and wanted me back with your unit and on top of that, promoted me to Lieutenant and made me your second. I would never have let you seduce me on my birthday if I wasn't in love with you. I found out you were now available, but needed time to mourn your wife. I was willing to give you what time you needed. My biggest fear was that you would find somebody else. That would have killed me."
"You had no fear there." He kissed her head again, "Continue, and how come we never talked about this before?"
"I don't think this type of opening up was high on our list of things to talk about. See, some good did come out of Lucas shooting me. I knew how deep my love for you went when you stepped through the portal and everything went to hell. I spent three months, literally living at the console while they tried to figure what went wrong. We had just gotten together and I wasn't ready to lose you. That's when I knew, I wanted to be with you forever, and why when we finally got together my favorite memory was our first time together here. I was making love with the man I was in love with and you were so forceful and made me feel wanted as a woman and not just your second."
"Want that man tonight?"
"No, I want a gentle lover, if you can."
He took her hand and put it over his arousal. She stroked up and down until he rolled her over and slid down to her spot, placing his tongue softly over her. Nobody who saw them greet at the gate that afternoon would believe the gentleness they were both capable of. When he moved up and entered her deepness, they whispered words of love until he came. Falling asleep in her arms he thanked God once again for his second chance.
"Here's the info on the possible metals we found," Wash handed Malcolm her plexpad. He activated the pad and transferred it with a flick of his wrist to his own. "We also found these," she handed him pouch and took great delight in his surprised expression.
"Nobody can stop us from succeeding with these. You did very good, Lieutenant."
"If possible, I would like at least half for jewelry," she picked out various pieces and set them aside.
He picked up the largest, "Looks like a blue. What do you want done with it?"
For the next hour they looked at outlawed jewelry from the future. Alicia chose a choker made from gold with the blue diamond cut and placed in the center. It would sit around the base of her neck with the large diamond a focal point in the front. Two smaller blues would be cut for earrings. A large white rock was to be the solitaire of her soon to be engagement ring. "I understand, Malcolm, if this is just a dream and we need the diamonds for practical matters, but it's been fun wishing."
"We will find more. These are yours. You've earned them," he meant that, besides he wasn't going to face Taylor if he couldn't deliver. She was not the demanding type, so any request from her, he took seriously.
"I can hardly wait," she left.
Entering the Command Center, she saw the Commander with Guzman, Shannon and Reilly. Motioning for her to join them at his desk, Nathaniel filled her in, "Mira was spotted thirty clicks out, too close, then we lost her. I'm thinking she's getting meteoric rock from the quarry. Guzman, take a scout team and check the quarry, don't engage, stay out of sight."
Without a word, Guzman left.
"Shannon, you and I are going to check the outpost from here to ten. See if she caused any mischief in any of the buildings." He looked at Wash, "I'd ask you to stay, but won't," he left their first potential hostile situation up to her.
Unlike last time when he ordered and she resented it, now would accept her decision, even if he didn't like it. "Take half the troops with you."
He understood her sacrifice, "Reilly, gather A troop and tell them we're leaving in an hour," his eyes never left Wash's.
"Yes, Sir," she knew they would probably want to be alone by the way their eyes never strayed from each other; however, Shannon was oblivious so she slapped his shoulder, "Help me, Shannon."
"Uhh, sure," he finally got a clue, noticing that Taylor and Wash were staring at each other.
Alone, Nathaniel stalked up and stood close, but not touching, "You sure, Wash?"
"No, I want to be with you, but someone needs to be here. I didn't want this to come so soon. I'd be happy if we never heard from any of them again. I'll try and take care of the colony and hope we're not being led into another trap."
He reached and pulled her to him. She hugged him close, hating his pistol between them.
"Oh, God, Wash, I love you so much," he couldn't get her close enough to him. Finally, he moved his head and caught her lips with his, mouths slanted, tongues caressing. Pulling his head back, but keeping her pressed against his chest, he rumbled, "I won't go this time feeling like I'm protecting you. Experience taught us, you have the greater risk. This time if you need me, I'll be there. No hiding out and leaving you alone."
"Don't do anything stupid on my account, Nathaniel," with a last kiss, she parted to help get the troops ready. The sooner they left, the faster, hopefully, all would return.
All too soon, Alicia and Elizabeth stood at the head of the column. The troops mounted and waiting for their Commander and appointed second to say goodbye to their women. Jim kissed and hugged his wife again, and with, "Take care of the kids," he climbed in the passenger side. Taylor looked at Wash, squeezed her hand, without a word got behind the wheel. Soon all were out of sight.
It was three tense days before Taylor rolled back through the gate. Guzman and his men had joined up with him along with the soldiers stationed at the outposts. A stressed Washington met him, looking for wounds on Taylor. Elizabeth greeted her husband with more enthusiasm. Both men were beat and dead on their feet. "We haven't slept much, just wanted to get it done, so pushed everyone to the max," Taylor offered a short explanation. "We followed Mira back towards the badlands. Looks like she came back to retrieve Lucas. We think he may have been holed up recovering. Guzman got close enough to ID him. She didn't mess with the outpost, but I left fresh people. How are things here, Wash?"
"We've been on alert, no activity. This may be a trial run." She slipped an arm around his waist, "Smith," she called.
"Ma'am?" the private hustled up.
"Everyone who was OTG is relieved. Take care of the equipment."
"Right away, yes Ma'am," he ran off to get help.
"And you, Commander," he smiled at her through a bleary gaze, "bed"
"Come with me."
"You won't miss me. I'm needed here," but she walked with him to their quarters.
"I will know you're not in my bed," he kissed her temple and went to sleep alone.
Washington oversaw the putting away of all equipment. It took hours; then she tackled the daily paperwork. Sitting at his desk, she signed her name to the last report, put the plexpad in the safe, turned off the lights and headed through an empty market. Seeing it closed up, she looked at her watch, oh, that late. Slipping quietly into their quarters, she crept to the bedroom. Stopping in the doorway, she watched him sleep, lying on his back. He had been asleep for about nine hours. Sitting on the edge, she ran a feathered caress with her open palm over his bare chest. She heard his breathing change and his hand covered hers.
"You need to get up and eat, you've been sleeping for hours," she leaned over and gently kissed his lips.
He gripped her hand and pressed it to the center of his chest. "This isn't going to work. I panicked the further I got from you. I kept envisioning the Phoenix soldiers returning with Mira and Lucas. Because I couldn't sleep, I made everyone suffer. Next time, you're with me. I can't believe it took me leaving you twice to understand, your place is by my side," he pulled her into his embrace for a long kiss.
Ending the kiss, she ordered, "Come eat," got up and left him to dress.
"Come back here and I will eat," he heard her laugh as she kept moving.