Laura extinguished the lamp, not wanting to present a shadow on the walls of her tent during what was about to happen. She heard Tom curse in the sudden dark as he tripped over something.
"Be careful."
"Don't want to explain what I'm doing here if I get hurt?" He teased, voice drawing closer. One hand went to her hip, while the other slid under her jacket, working her sweaters from her pants so that he could make it to her bare skin.
His hands were cold, and she could still feel her palm burning in contrast from when she'd slapped him earlier. Laura leaned back into his chest, and he he buried his nose in her hair.
"I would drag you outside and let someone else deal with you," she informed him tartly.
"That would just raise more questions." He bit her ear, both of his hands now trailing across her stomach.
"After earlier, they would come to unfavorable conclusions about you."
"Mm, yes, care to remind me why that is?"
Laura reached back and grasped his hair, her other hand holding his arm to keep herself stable as she twisted to bring him down into a rough kiss. His fingers slid into the waistband of her jeans, burrowing into her panties as the kiss continued. She yanked his mouth away with a forceful tug at his hair, sucking in a much needed breath of oxygen.
"I remember doing that," he panted, "mind telling me why it warranted a slap to the face?"
Because he'd just supported Baltar's newest most ridiculous bill. Because they'd been in public. Because sometimes it felt good to remind him-
He curled a finger into her, causing her to moan and lose her train of thought. She pressed herself back into him, feeling his growing erection through his jeans. Tom pressed awkward, sideways kisses onto her hair and cheek, slowly building a rhythm with his hand to match the rolling response of her hips.
"Nothing to say? That's unlike you." He sucked at her neck, no doubt intending to leave a mark to match her red hand print on his cheek.
"You don't seem interested in dissuading me from doing it again." She reached down to undo her jeans, giving him more room to maneuver. He disappointed her by stopping his assault on her neck, fingers stilling as well. "Do you need me to hit you again?"
When he pulled his hand from her panties she almost grabbed his wrist to stop the retreat. Tom pushed her forward and she stumbled, catching herself on the edge of her table. Laura didn't turn, just listened to the hurried sounds of him removing his pants. Anticipating him, she pushed her jeans down. He caught her wrists when she was done, stretching them forward onto the table and transferring them to one hand. It would have been easy enough to pull herself free from his sloppy grip, but she let him keep it as he began thrusting into her.
He was angry, and wouldn't last long. Laura was never fond of the reminders of the ways she could actually cause this man upset, genuinely hurt him, even if he would deny it to his grave.
"Frak." His breath was hot on her neck, and she could feel the hand on her hip leaving bruises. "This is all we're after, isn't it?" Tom panted. His hand let go of her wrists, leaving her to grasp the edge of the table. His free fingers began to work her, sending a jolt through her body, and quickening the growing tension in her low belly.
"Gods," she moaned.
He responded with another harsh "frak!', muffled by her hair.
Tom was trying to get her off before he came, and judging the by the erratic motion of his hips, he wasn't about to succeed. He bit into her shoulder, slamming into her one final time. He held himself against her, and she could feel the staccato rhythm of his heart against her back. His fingers moved against the bundle of nerves at her center as he emerged from his post-orgasm stupor, and Laura bit her lip to hold back any particularly vocal responses.
Heat crawled across her skin and she could feel her whole body tighten as she neared release.
"All we're after," Tom repeated.
That was the answer both of them were willing to accept. It made the lying easier.
He held her when she came, her knees having stopped supporting her.
She rarely walked by Colonial One, so she knew her appearance on the ship would throw him. The pleased expression that threatened to take over once his shock wore off grated her nerves.
Laura drew him into a kiss before Tom could comment. He tasted like blood, the cut on his lip breaking with the force of her attack on his mouth. She felt the bruises on his face as she brought her hands to his cheeks, could feel him wince. His hands gripped her hips, and he refused to back down despite the discomfort she knew she must be putting him through.
They stumbled back until they hit the edge of his desk. His 'office' was a cluttered compartment towards the rear of the ship, near where the quorum met. She was unsure if he chose it for convenience, or if Baltar appointed it to keep him out of sight.
She laced her fingers behind his neck as she broke the kiss, resting her forehead against his.
"Nice to know you care," he gasped, still recovering from her assault.
Laura dug her nails into his skin.
"Oh, right." His mouth worked its way across the line of her jaw. "You just like to see me abused."
She closed her eyes, shaking her head. What the frak was wrong with her? What did it matter to her what this man did to make himself a target to the citizens of New Caprica?
Tom sighed, bringing up his hands to hold onto her arms. Laura resisted the distance he was trying to place between them, pressing herself close and laying a soft, open mouthed kiss against his neck. She could feel his heartbeat against her tongue.
She felt his shiver when she stepped back, and quickly moved for the door.
His soft exclamation of 'coward' followed her out, and Laura was unsure which of them he was referring to.
Tom's finger trailed down her arm, and she couldn't tell if he was passing through sweat, or water from their swim. The heat wave that had struck the city had driven her from her tent and into the hills. He had followed; or maybe he'd been invited. Laura didn't particularly remember at that moment, laying naked with him on the rocky beech, water lapping at their heels. The stones were hot underneath them, but it was nothing compared to the sun.
His finger went from tracing her arm, to tracing her side.
She did not like his silence. It was too comfortable.
Laura shifted onto her side, dislodging his idly wandering hand. She grimaced when the stones bit into her body.
He looked at her, questioning, but not asking. She ignored the silent query, taking in the paleness of his skin, the smattering of gold and gray hairs on his chest. Eyes moving down to the trail of hair leading to his groin. She caught the flash of his teeth when he smiled at where her gaze was. The coarse hair was still damp from their swim, and his penis lay flaccid against his thigh.
Laura looked back to his face and arched an eyebrow.
"What? You want me to get hard on demand, instantly?"
"What," she retorted, "you expect me to have sex every time you visit?"
"Oh, come the day." He reached towards her, tucking her hair behind her ear. "Until the time I keel over from a heart attack, you think we could both keep that up?"
"I think that solely relies on you keeping it up."
"That's a lot of responsibility."
"Oh, I'd be willing to help some." She pushed herself up, moving to straddle his thighs.
"Your breasts are very motivational." Tom reached up, cupping them in his hands and brushing his thumbs over her nipples.
"I like to think more of me can be inspirational." Laura laid her hands on his chest, starting a slow rocking rhythm again his thigh.
"Definitely. Your hands on approach is a model everyone should follow."
She hummed, leaning forward so that her hair fell against him. "I think its your hands that are important right now."
Taking the hint, he moved one down to begin stroking himself.
"Slow and steady Tom," she reminded him, sitting back up. The remaining hand on her breast went to her hip.
"This is a race now?"
Laura arched her back, looking up to the sky. The sun had just passed its zenith. Gathering her hair up on a whim, she watched the clouds a moment, damp curls spilling from her fingers. Tom's hand on her side dug into her skin, and she could hear the harsh change in his breath as he kept stroking himself.
"If we're going to get back before it's dark," she finally spoke. Everyone was always in a race against time. Letting her hair fall, she kept herself steady against his chest while lowering herself over him, the hand he used to help guide himself to her traveling up to her hip. Her knees scraped against the rocks under them, but she ignored the fleeting feeling of pain.
Tom bucked under her, and she dug her fingers into his chest, making him smirk.
"You're the one who gave us a timetable."
She rose slowly, lowering herself and beginning a languid rhythm despite his reminder. His eyes trailed across her, taking in the rising flush on her chest, the sway of her breasts and the beads of water still rolling down her skin. Laura closed her eyes against his scrutiny, hoping to lose herself in the base sensations their coupling offered.
"Stunning."
He thrust up to meet her when she shifted down, and Laura imagined the rocks under him dug painfully into his back whenever he moved.
"Frakking stunning."
She opened her eyes to stare down at him, wanting to know where his gaze was as he spoke. His focus was locked on her and she felt herself falter in the rhythm their bodies had built together.
One hand came up to her face, fingers resting lightly against her jaw, and his thumb brushed the edge of her parted lips. Her tongue made a tentative swipe towards him, but he barely seemed to notice.
"Stunning."
Laura wasn't sure if he was summarizing his opinion of her behavior like some half-baked scientist, or if he was simply unaware he was chanting out his opinion of her person. Whatever reason her mind tried to grasp at, there was a strange sincerity to his eyes that made her want to say 'thank you'.
She kept her words tucked away and sped up her lost tempo against him, closing her eyes in an effort to break away from the impulse to speak. The hands on her sides encouraged her movement with soft caresses and light pressure against her straining muscles. Foregoing his earlier description, he picked up a ragged litany of her name. Laura was unsure if the heat in her body was from the sun, his eyes, or her impending orgasm.
"Frak."
Finally, a noise from him that she understood. She leaned forward, feeling him shift his legs so he could plant his feet on the rocks, giving himself more leverage to thrust. The next low moaned 'frak' came from her, the angle of his penetration making her toes curl.
"Laura.."
She opened her eyes, feeling her body tighten around him as he spilled inside of her. There was a frozen moment held together by their harsh breathing before Laura collapsed against his chest, turning her head so that his heartbeat echoed in her ear. She could feel his hand trace a line from her ass, down her thigh, before caressing the edge of her raw knee.
"You're bleeding," Tom informed her softly.
"It'll stop."
Laura woke to the feeling of a callused finger trailing along her spine. She stared at the light coming into her tent from the space that lived between her wall from the carpeted floors. Tom's hand reached the small of her back before traveling back up to between her shoulder blades. When he twirled a lock of hair around his finger, she rolled over to stare at her ceiling.
The blanket barely covered her chest, leaving her shoulders free. He had pushed the adornment down over himself, so that he was only covered from the waist below. He smirked at her sleepy expression, knowing he had woken her.
"You're still here."
"Even if they see me leave, I know the men on watch."
"Baltar isn't expecting you?" Their mad prince, too petulant a child to be considered a king.
"It's hours before our esteemed president wakes." His fingers danced across her collar bone before shifting down, pushing the blanket out of the way so he could trace the swell of her breasts. "Besides." Tom leaned down and kissed her. "I still owe you for last night."
He had never slept in her bed before. Laura was fairly sure she hadn't been too tired to kick him out last night. His presence hadn't been all that strange, and she had managed to find sleep despite the limited space on her cot. Was this a natural progression for them, or had she simply grown too bored with the task of making sure it never happened?
Tom pulled himself over her, kisses becoming more insistent so that she had to raise her head from the pillow to meet them. One of his hands ran up her thigh, bunching up the threadbare blanket over her stomach.
Fingers incapable of finding purchase on the mattress, she reached over her head to grab its edge as he began to work his kisses down her neck and chest. The cot protested as he shifted farther down, displacing the even placement of their weight from when they had slept. Cupping one hand under her knee, he drew it up, beginning with more kisses there before trailing down her thigh. Once he was low enough, she rested her leg over his shoulder, the coolness of the skin prompting her to shiver.
"You're slow at repaying your debts," she complained when his mouth skipped her sex and moved to her stomach.
His hands were at her hips, tongue doing cursory sweeps of her navel. "You're impatient."
"You have an unhealthy interest in bellybutton lint," she retorted.
Tom laughed, the feel of his breath on her center making her shift.
"Bellybutton, Laura? Really?" He rested his chin on her thigh, smiling.
Gods damn him for looking so relaxed, so happy; and for her smiling down at him.
"Navel?" She offered instead.
"That still leaves me with the uncanny interested in lint."
"You could redeem yourself."
"How?"
Taking one hand from the edge of the bed, she reached down to caress the side of his face before directing his attention back to her apex.
"I'm not sure.." Tom frowned, then rubbed his stubble against her thigh. "How about that?"
Laura couldn't help the giggle that escaped her, and her knee caught the side of his head, making her laugh harder.
"Alright Roslin, you've made your point." He blinked quickly, as if the blow had damaged his vision. Without anymore lead up, his tongue began to trace her folds.
A noise caught her throat, but he seemed to hear it regardless, if his smug burst of laughter was anything to go by. She scratched her nails along the back of his neck, reminding him he had an important task at hand. He sucked at her clit, making her arch of the bed. The blanket slid off of her and onto the floor, making her shudder. His retreat was as sudden as his assault, and he nipped at her thigh as he slowly shifted farther down the cot, tongue tracing her leg.
Tom then ran out of cot and promptly fell its edge and onto her floor.
Laura stared down her bed, propping herself up on her elbows, wondering if what she had just witnessed honestly happened. She tossed her head back and laughed when she caught sight of one of his hands grabbing onto the edge of the mattress as he tried to right himself.
She crept to the edge of the cot to make sure he was alright, body humming with arousal and laughter.
"Consider your debt paid in full," Laura informed him, smirking down at the embarrassed heap of vice-president on her floor.
He smiled at her, but it quickly faded into a grimace as he ran a hand through his hair. "And how do I keep you from using this against me in the future?"
"You don't."
Laura offered Tom her hand and he pulled her down with him; laughing at her startled shout. Landing on top of him wasn't nearly as uncomfortable as it could have been, and they managed to sort themselves without too many scrapes; most of which were deliberate. They settled with their legs twined together, one of his arms tucked around her, both on their backs and staring up at the ceiling of her tent. His free hand wandered from her shoulder down to the valley between her breasts.
She didn't turn to him when she asked, "what are you after?"
"Right now?" He shifted so that he was on his side, facing her. "I'm thinking a good cup of coffee. You?"
Laura's hands landed in the middle of his chest with a solid thwack.