Playing Doctor

by Bratling

Disclaimer: Not Mine. I hugged them, squeezed them, called them George, then gave them back like a good girl. Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman belongs to Beth Sullivan, CBS, and A&E.

Author's Note: This story falls into the missing enthusiasm category, and takes place after Sully's and Michaela's marriage. Which means that it's not for kiddies. If you're under 18, there's a little back arrow you should be clicking on right now. This has no plot. It is an unabashed Enthusiasm Cookie.

Just a warning: I am a history nut and in love with fashion history, especially the Victorian period. While Dr. Quinn was accurate with quite a bit, they get an D - for period-correct or even period-possible clothing when it came to what Michaela (and her mother and sisters) wore. Some were correct, but they mixed periods and decades and got it wrong more often than they got it right. I tend to have her clothing as correct to the period as possible. Audrey and Linda, you can cross "first time at the clinic" off the list! My thanks to Wendy for beta reading.

Happy Birthday, GeneaLady. This one's for you.

"The arms of love encompass you with your present, your past, your future. The arms of love gather you together. "

-Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

Late June, 1870

Michaela sat at her desk in the clinic, a dreamy smile on her face. She should have been updating charts, but as the heat of the summer afternoon settled like a heavy blanket over Colorado Springs, her mind drifted far from its appointed task and settled on her new husband. She drifted back to memories of evenings spent in unhurried, leisurely lovemaking. Of soft kisses and gentle touches that inflamed the senses. Of exploration and discovering new places that brought a thrill of pleasure. And most of all, the moments when they were together in the age-old dance of lovers, giving and receiving pleasure, reaffirming the bonds of love and lust and the union between their two souls. During her abduction the year before, he had called her his heartsong, and so it was. He was the pieces of herself she hadn't known were missing until she met him.

Her thoughts brought a warmth to her that had nothing to do with the weather. She knew her face was bright crimson and the slow burn of arousal had began low in her belly in response to her thoughts. Briefly, she considered going to look for him, but she'd done that enough lately that she was sure people had started to talk. She was on display enough as it was, as the only female doctor most had ever met, and didn't want to incite talk by continually going to find her new husband. Since they were still newlyweds, she was certain that talk would include exactly what they were doing. The idea was more than tempting, though. After all, the children were occupied with other activities, she had no appointments for the afternoon, and there were beds upstairs, newly made up with fresh linens.

Perhaps her examination table needed to be fixed? She thought she had detected a slight wobble when Mrs. Farnsworth had come in that morning. That would make a legitimate excuse to go find him. If asked, she could tell them that and it would forestall any gossip. But before she could turn thought into action, the bell rang. With a soft sigh, she went to open the door. Sully was standing there, a grimace of pain on his face. "Sully? What's wrong?"

"Mo'éhno'ha threw me," he said. He hobbled into the clinic, wincing in pain. "I don't think anything's broke, but I wanted ta make sure."

Thoughts of seducing her husband, or being seduced by him, fled out of concern for him. Quickly, she secured the doors, drew the curtains, and put up screens to ensure that nobody could see inside. "Let me see," she ordered. "Where did you land?"

"My backside and back," he said with a grimace as he took off his shirt and undid the fastenings on his buckskins.

"Up on the table and on your side," she ordered, trying not be distracted by his bare chest. Michaela tried reminding herself she'd seen him shirtless long before they'd married, but somehow the sight stirred her more now since she was allowed to touch.

Obligingly, he climbed on to the table and laid on his side, exposing his injured back. She pulled his buckskins down to reveal a large bruise covering the left side of his bottom and lower back. With gentle fingers, Michaela probed the area. "Any numbness?" she asked.

"No," he said, wincing as she touched a particularly deep part of the bruise.

Internally, she grimaced for him. The bruise covered a large area, black and blue and deep purple. Sitting down would not be comfortable until it healed, but there didn't seem to be any other injuries. She checked for broken bones to be sure, but he had been lucky. She had treated a man in Boston who had broken his spine from such a fall. "You're just bruised," she said softly as she came back around the table.

Sully lay there for a few minutes, watching her, and made no move to get dressed. His eyes never left her for a second.

She was startled when she noticed his... reaction to what she had assumed had been her examination of his injuries. "Sully?" she couldn't help herself - she reached out and ran her hand down his side.

"You were touchin' me, 'Chaela," he murmured. "I'd have ta be three days dead for your touch not ta affect me."

Michaela dropped her eyes briefly, and then looked at him through her eyelashes with a slight smile on her face. "If you weren't hurt..."

"Maybe it don't hurt as much have I've let on," he said huskily. "Maybe I just wanted ta see ya." Sully leaned forward and kissed her, his arms coming around her to hold her close to him, despite the awkward position. "Maybe I wanted some holdin'."

Michaela wrapped her arms around him and backed up a little so he could get down off the table. Slowly, leisurely, they explored each other's mouths and she reveled in the familiar taste and textures of his lips, mouth, and tongue. She broke away with a gasp. "Not here," she said softly. They'd never made love at the clinic before - they'd always gone home, or to his lean-to once...

"Why not?" he asked as he started to kiss his way down her neck, pushing her collar out of the way.

"Cot's too small, table is too hard and too small," she tilted her head to the side, granting him greater access. She didn't really notice when he started to unbutton her shirt, but moaned softly as he placed warm, wet kisses on her collar bone, above the lace of her chemise. She threaded her fingers through his hair, pushing t back from his face before moving her hands down to caress his shoulders and back.

Sully slid off the table and pulled her flush against him, before kissing her again, his tongue sweeping across her lips in a silent request.

Michaela opened her mouth under his and they tangled their tongues together. Helpless to resist the temptation, she pressed herself into him and let her hand explore every part of him she could reach, though carefully avoiding the bruising on his back and backside.

Sully broke off the kiss. "'Chaela," he moaned hoarsely. "Recovery room," he said with a gasp.

She kissed him one more time, hard. "I'll go lock the door and draw the curtains," she said breathlessly.

Quickly, she left the room, buttoning her shirt as she walked. When she reached the door, she drew the curtains across the window before she locked it, and then headed straight to the downstairs recovery room. She drew the curtains in the room and turned back the bed just as Sully came in. He'd pulled up his buckskins, but they hung low on his hips as he hadn't fastened them, and he was carrying his shirt in one hand and his boots in the other. He was barefoot, and she could see a bit of sock sticking out of his boots.

He dropped the boots on the floor along with the shirt and strode over to her, then wrapped his arms around her waist. "Where were we?" he murmured, a slow smile covering his face. He kissed her thoroughly, and she felt as if her bones were melting. Michaela kissed him back, impatiently pushing his buckskins off his hips as he unbuttoned her shirt and pushed it off her shoulders. As he untied and then loosened the laces of her corset, she unbuttoned the cuffs of her blouse and took it off, then unhooked the busk, removing the offending garment and dropping it to the ground. Reaching back, she undid the buttons of her skirt and petticoats, let them fall, and then kicked them out of the way.

In the meantime, Sully had finished taking his buckskins off, dropping them on the pile of clothing near the bed. She pulled off her chemise, discarding it with the rest and then sat on the bed to deal with her shoes. He stopped her, pulling her shoes and stockings off, and then rubbing her feet. She untied the drawstring of her pantaloons and assisted him by lifting her hips when he reached for the waistband to pull them off. Finally free of clothing, they lay together, skin to skin, as their hands and mouths roamed, touching and stroking and kissing every inch of skin in reach.

Sully kissed his way down her body, stopping at her belly button, inserting his tongue and moving in and out to mimic the lovemaking that would soon follow. He kissed downward more, skipping over the juncture of her thighs in favor of going down her leg, placing kisses on the sensitive backs of her knees before ending up at her feet, placing warm, moist kisses on her toes, arch, and instep. She opened her legs in invitation, and he moved back up, stopping to part her folds and press his thumb against the bundle of nerves there, before he inserted his middle finger into her, Slowly, he began to move it in and out, crooking it in a particular place that made her see stars. Grabbing his shoulders, she pulled him up, then glided her hand down his side, letting it linger on his hip before reaching out to stroke him gently. He splayed his hand over her stomach, then moved up, caressing her body.

As if it were the first time, she marveled at the soft skin covering his hardness, examining every texture she found there with her fingertips until his hand stilled her. "Gonna be over too soon if ya don't stop that, 'Chaela," he said hoarsely. He kissed her breasts, stopping to take one nipple in his mouth, while he palmed the other.

"Love me, Sully," she murmured.

He didn't answer. Instead, he leaned down and kissed her, then joined them together. He lifted her slightly, thrusting into her as they continued to kiss and touch and explore. With gentle pressure, he lifted her leg up to crook over his right hip and she moaned breathlessly as the motion took him deeper into her. The only sounds in the room were moans and sighs of pleasure until finally, they flew over the peak together. Afterward, they lay entwined together with him still inside her, so close it was impossible to tell where he left off and she began. He reached down and pulled the sheet over their rapidly cooling bodies. As they lay there with their arms wrapped around each other, Michaela marveled that she'd lived so long without Sully in her life. How could she have missed this for so long without knowing? She kissed him gently once more. "I love you," she murmured.

"I love you, too, 'Chaela.. so much." They lay there together quietly, content to be where they were, until they fell asleep for a short nap, convinced that as long as they were together, they could handle anything life could give them.

Never the end.