I Choose You

To say she was angry had to be the understatement of the year, Rachel thought, as she

stalked down the corridor towards Tom's office. She'd just about had it with the men in her life making decisions, "for her own good", without ONCE asking her what that was! Tonight had been the crowning glory, when she'd gone out for what Rachel had thought was a romantic meal for two with Tom, only to find Michael waiting for her! Tom had decided to be "noble" and concede the field, according to Michael, who'd been shocked, not to mention soaked, when Rachel had upended the contents of the water jug over him at the end of the meal. She'd endured his company at dinner simply because she'd been hungry, not to mention to show good manners.

All the evening had served to do was remind Rachel exactly WHY she'd been intending to end the relationship, until the Red Flu had re-directed her attention elsewhere. After listening to him talk about himself for nearly an hour, Rachel had just about had enough. She'd grabbed the water jug and dumped it over Michael, laughing in delight at his shocked expression, holding her hand up as he started to protest.

"Michael, I have had just about enough of you tonight - and quite frankly, you're the last person on earth I wanted to spend this evening, or indeed, any evening with!" Rachel said forcefully.

"Consider yourself officially dumped - I never want to see you or spend time with you ever again!" she snapped.

With that, she stormed out of the restaurant and marched over to the Old Courthouse that now served as the new White House and the headquarters of Michener's new administration. Kara looked up at the sound of angry footsteps pounding up the hallway, surprised to see a very angry Rachel. She'd known what her CO had planned and had tried in vain to point out to the Captain what a humongous mistake his well meaning intentions were. Kara knew full well how her friend felt about her ex, Michael. They had become friends during Rachel's convalescence and had discussed the issue, along with Rachel's feelings for Tom at length. The Captain had been convinced he was doing the right thing, despite the fact he was head over heels in love with Rachel himself. Kara had thrown her hands up in exasperation, when barreling down the hallway came the consequences of his good intentions.

"No wonder the road to hell was paved with them "she thought. "Is he in, Kara?" Rachel growled, as her hand reached out for the door to Tom's office.

"He's in all right - Commander Alexander is with him but he asked me to interrupt them after about half an hour. I think Sasha's worn out her welcome." Kara replied "Want to do the honors?"

"With pleasure!" Rachel snarled. The naval attaché's behavior towards Tom had infuriated her. Time to deal with the treacherous little bitch once and for all!

Furiously, Rachel stormed into the office and spotted a startled Tom trying to evade the

Commander's wandering hands. Sasha looked up in annoyance, only to find Dr Rachel Scott charging toward her at a fast pace. Before the Commander could react, Rachel had grabbed her (using the techniques Wolf and Danny had taught her - she'd been an excellent pupil) and frog marched her out of the office. As they reached the doorway, Rachel ensured the Commander's swift departure with a well placed foot planted firmly on Sasha's backside, shoving her forcefully out of Tom's office. She slammed the office door shut, locked it, and stalked over to a stunned Tom.

"Rachel, I can't thank you ... mmph" he said before she sat down on his lap and pulled him in for a fierce, heated kiss. It took a few seconds for Tom to react, but he swiftly got up to speed, deepening the kiss, making love to her mouth the way he wanted to with his body.

Rachel ground down on his rapidly hardening member, rocking her hips back and forth,

generating a delicious friction, causing Tom to moan loudly and necessitating Rachel's hand over his mouth, silencing him.

Outside the office door, Sasha Alexander was shaking in fury, livid that she, a trained naval operative had been so swiftly ejected from the room by an egghead scientist! She hadn't rated Dr Rachel Scott as a serious rival for Tom Chandler's affections, completely unable to see or appreciate the bond between the two. It was rapidly becoming clear that she had totally underestimated the British doctor, because not only did the woman appear to have some wicked skills in the fighting department (Sasha hadn't missed the power behind the kick that had so forcefully propelled her out of Chandler's office), the moan of pleasure that had been heard coming out of the office would indicate that the Captain and the Doctor were much closer than she'd realised.

Time to set the lady doctor straight about a thing or two Sasha thought to herself, stepping towards the office door, only to find her path blocked by Chandler's pregnant assistant.

"I really, really wouldn't do that Commander" Kara advised."Not only have you outstayed your welcome, but if you think you're any sort of rival to Rachel Scott for the Captain's affections – think again ma'am!"

"Excuse me? Who do you think you're talking to?" Sasha shot back, outraged at the young woman's effrontery.

"I think I'm the Lieutenant who knows those two better than you, and trust me when I tell you ,you're no rival to Rachel – that woman has saved the world a million times over, and quite frankly, has more genuine love and affection for that man than you ever will!" Kara snapped.

"The bond between them is something to behold, and you're deluding yourself if you think he's even looked at you that way and trust me, he hasn't! I was under orders, from the Captain, to interrupt your little tete-a-tete under any pretext, just to get rid of you! So do us all a favour Commander – scuttle back to China, they're bloody welcome to you!"

Sasha stared at Kara Foster in shock, but she didn't doubt the truth of her words – the young Lieutenant was Chandler's eyes and ears. Everyone in the Michener administration knew if you wanted to speak with the Chief of Naval Affairs, you had to go through Kara Foster; she knew all of Chandler's doings, and more importantly, his views on any given subject. Burning with shame, Sasha Alexander did what she'd rarely ever done, and retreated from the field of battle. If Chandler's assistant said the Captain wanted nothing to do with her on a personal level, Sasha believed her, there was little Lieutenant Foster didn't know about her CO's opinions.

Inside the office, Rachel had snaked a hand between their bodies and was busy unzipping Tom's trousers, hell bent on releasing his straining erection. She gave a breathless cry of triumph as she slid to her knees in front of him, taking him into her mouth and sucked hard.

Tom was seeing stars, such was her technique – the woman had a hidden talent the way she used that lush mouth of hers! He watched as she licked him from balls to tip, tasting him, as if he were her own X-rated lollipop, making Tom feel as if he were drowning in pleasure, the blood roaring in his ears. Tom's hands were buried in Rachel's thick locks, holding her gently as she pleasured him thoroughly, eagerly.

"Rachel, sweet mother of god, don't stop baby, please don't stop!" He begged, the sensations of pleasure crackling up and down his spine.

Rachel looked up at him as she continued to caress his cock with both hands and mouth, hollowing her cheeks to increase the friction and causing Tom to feel light headed with arousal. Her own arousal was building by the minute as she watched her lover's growing desire, listening to the animalistic sounds of pleasure filling the room, knowing she was the cause. Rachel dropped a hand between her legs and began stroking her clit slowly, moaning around Tom's hardened shaft as she did so. Watching her pleasure both herself and him made Tom feel even harder than he already was, he'd never seen anything quite so erotic!

"Rachel, baby, please... I want to see you touch yourself, please baby...please!" He pleaded, not caring about how desperate his voice sounded.

The request caused Rachel to stop her ministrations, and Tom growled in displeasure at the sudden loss of her caresses. She stood eyeing him for a moment thoughtfully, then teasingly began to hitch her skirts up and then began to inch her panties down her legs in a torturously slow fashion, making Tom howl softly at the beautiful body she was revealing to him an inch at a time.

"If I let you watch me touch myself Tom, there's a condition attached" Rachel purred, delighted that his eyes hadn't stopped watching her. She could feel his gaze burning her skin even from here.

"Name it Rach, anything!" Tom gasped, whatever it was he'd do it, anything just so she didn't stop.

"Your hands stay right there, on the arm rests, one move towards me and its over" Rachel murmured softly, her eyes never leaving his.

Tom nodded wordlessly, watching as she backed up to his desk and sat herself on it. Rachel smiled seductively as she undid the buttons on the front of her dress, allowing it to fall away from her shoulders, revealing two perfect breasts tipped by a pair of dusky nipples that made Tom itch to suckle them and listen to Rachel's moans as he did so.

Noting the focus of Tom's smouldering gaze, Rachel cupped her breasts and began rubbing the nipples slowly with her thumbs, whimpering softly in pleasure as she did so. Keeping her gaze firmly locked with his, Rachel began to run her hands languidly down her body, undoing more of her dress as she did so. Tom continued to watch hungrily as Rachel hiked her skirt up further and spread her legs, causing him to groan as his erection hardened to the point of pain. He really wasn't sure just how much more he could take, he'd asked for this erotic striptease but watching Rachel touching herself the way he wanted to was sheer torture. Rachel was wondering exactly the same thing, she knew she'd set him an impossible challenge and was quite frankly impressed at his self control. It was when she began stroking her clit, mewling in satisfaction, her fingers glistening with her own juices as she stroked herself lazily, that made him snap.

Before Rachel could object, Tom shot forward and sank to his knees between her thighs and quickly seized the hand that had been stroking her clit, sucking the juices from her fingers. Rachel gasped loudly, her breath hitching as his tongue rasped over her fingertips, savouring the delicious sensations coursing through her body. Tom then pinned Rachel's hands to the desk and lowered his mouth to her core, parting her lips with his tongue, watching with savage glee as her head fell back and she cried out with bliss. When Tom began to lap her clit with excruciatingly slow strokes, Rachel keened with desire; she was so damn close to coming just from the sensual torture he was wreaking on her.

"Tom, sweet mother of god, don't you stop, oh Jesus yes there, right there!" she howled as he slipped two, then three fingers into her slit, pumping them in and out in time with the strokes of his tongue that had her body convulsing in pleasure, fire pooling in her abdomen.

Outside the office, Kara quickly packed her things away and hurried off down the corridor in search of home and Danny. Judging from the sounds coming out of Tom's office, neither of the two lovers would need much of anything except each other, and there were some things you really didn't need to know about your boss! Not to mention that the lovers wouldn't like to think she'd been voyeuristically listening to them make love, so home it was!

As Rachel came down from her high, Tom stood shakily and pulled Rachel off the desk and into a fiery kiss, sucking her lower lip into his mouth. Rachel slipped her hand into his hair and kissed him back hard, sucking on his tongue as she rubbed her body against his, delighting in the feel of his hardness pressed against her core. Before she could object, Tom roughly spun Rachel around and pushed her legs apart with his knee and slipped his still hardened cock inside her with agonising slowness, causing her to moan lustily. The feel of Rachel's silken walls squeezing his painfully hardened member had Tom thrusting into her hard and fast. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he'd always wanted their first time together to be somewhere romantic, taking his time to make love to her at a leisurely pace, slowly, the way she deserved. If he was honest with himself, Tom thought, the sexual tension between them had always been so strong, it was perhaps no surprise that it had happened this way, and from the mewls of pleasure Rachel was uttering, it would seem she wasn't objecting, far from it!

"Oh Jesus Tom yes! Don't stop, please!" Rachel growled, pushing back against him in an effort to take more of him inside her.

Tom's fingers were busily stroking her nipples, along with her clit, making her drown in sensual pleasure. Rachel could feel her release like a tight coil wound too tight gathering low in her belly, the friction produced by their sweat slicked bodies only served to heighten it. She truly hoped Kara had gone home, Rachel thought hazily as she moaned loudly, she wouldn't be able to face the younger woman after this if she hadn't! Tom's thrusts picked up speed and suddenly fire pooled low in her abdomen as Rachel's release roared through her body. Dimly, she could hear Tom howl with desire as he came hard within her, holding Rachel against him as they both came down from their mutual high.

Tom gently withdrew from Rachel's body, causing her to murmur a quiet protest at the loss of contact. He helped her dress, taking the opportunity to stroke her beautiful body, to kiss her tenderly as he did so; Tom knew now he couldn't hand her over to another man, and it would seem from tonight's events, Rachel had no intention of letting him do so! Rachel sighed softly, feeling utterly boneless after the blazing hot lovemaking she'd just experienced in Tom's arms. Wordlessly, he led her over to the chaise lounge he'd picked up at a local antique store, Tom lay down on it and tugged her into his arms, grumbling softly in satisfaction as she snuggled up against him, her body draped over his.

"I'm pretty sure I know why, but would you mind telling me what prompted you to seduce me like that? Not that I'm objecting, darling, not one bit!" Tom whispered, trailing kisses along her neck.

"I turned up to the restaurant tonight expecting you Tom, not Michael!" Rachel purred, sighing in satisfaction at the delicious sensations he was evoking, it was making it damn

hard to be angry with him!

"I LOVE YOU Tom, not Michael! I CHOOSE YOU!" Rachel whispered fiercely "Michael is a boy, I want a man ! The man who promised me a Bengal tiger if I asked for one, who stood by me when I was shot and promised he'd never leave my side, the man I love – you"

Tom kissed her fiercely, loosing himself in the sheer happiness her words made him feel, savouring the taste of her as she swirled her tongue around his. As he ended the kiss reluctantly, Rachel just tucked her head under his chin, resting her head on his chest, listening to the steady beat of his steadfast heart. In a world gone mad, he had become her friend, her rock, her immoveable object – the one person in this crazy world she could always rely on. It was one of the many things she loved about Tom Chandler, a man she was quickly realising she could happily spend her life with. Michael was not the kind of man she'd ever been able to see herself settling down with, not ever; Rachel doubted there was room for her next to his oversized ego even if she'd been interested, which she wasn't!

"Sweetheart? As much as I'd love to stay like this forever, I really want to sleep in a bed, a soft, comfy bed, and you are definitely coming with me" Tom said firmly, sitting up slowly and pulling them both to their feet. Rachel raised one eyebrow at him, they were back to orders were they?

"Tom, my beloved Tom, I love you with every beat of my heart, but don't you think you ought to rephrase that statement?" Rachel replied, her soft, silky tone in total contrast to the steely look in her eyes. Tom looked down at her – tiny she might be but this woman was no weakling and his heart was doing back flips at hearing the words (") I love you"– rephrasing things was definitely in order!

"Rachel, beloved, I love you too, so would you please come to bed with me, a real bed so we can sleep and maybe a little more?" He murmured, trailing a series of gentle kisses along her cheek.

Rachel nodded her assent, she knew Jed was out with his poker buddies and both children were having a sleepover at Kelly Tophet's house, so they'd have the house to themselves.

They left the Old Courthouse, where the new administration had set up, and walked home as the late summer evenings were still warm enough to do so. Rachel didn't miss the shadow that dogged their every step, Wolf was very discreet and anyone else would've missed him so well did he blend in. Rachel however was used to the shadows that followed her everywhere, indeed she felt safer knowing they were there, and having lived through one assassination attempt, she wasn't keen on repeating the experience. Not only that, she also knew why Tom insisted on such levels of security for her, the poor man still partly blamed himself – she didn't, but if it made him rest easier then she'd accept it.

Tom proved to be as good as his word, making love to her in the gorgeous King sized bed he'd traded several doses of the cure for – a local craftsman had made it for him, and he'd long dreamed of having Rachel in it. As the morning sun drifted into the room the following morning, Tom watched the sun's rays travel over Rachel's beautiful body as she slept in his arms, and Tom knew he wanted to spend the rest of his life waking up to this sight. Waking her and then having to go back to the office was so not what he really wanted to do Tom mused, but he'd promised Michener he'd meet him for a final breakfast meeting to go over the final plans for recruitment to the new American armed forces. As he sat down at his desk to await Michener's arrival, a splash of red and blue caught his eye under his desk was that what he thought it was?

Oh my God! Tom thought to himself as he scooped up the offending item – Rachel's

knickers, which she'd merrily tossed to the floor during their heated lovemaking the night

before. He stared at the words written on the waistband and nearly choked on the mouthful of coffee when he read exactly what they said:

"Aye, Aye Captain!" in bright red letters!

Dear god but that woman was going to be the death of him, and damn if he wasn't going to enjoy every step of the way! It was then that Michener chose to arrive and Tom was forced to stuff the offending underwear into his trouser pocket, where they burned a hole in for the next two hours. Tom could barely wait for the wretched meeting to end and took the greatest of pleasure in telling Rachel about his little discovery at lunch, watching as she blushed rosily at the thought of her boss and his nearly discovering them!

The rest of the administration watched over the next 6 months as Tom courted his lady, their antics fuelling the gossip mill with speculation as to when exactly the two would marry. In the end, they opted for a quiet spring wedding, close friends and family only, with the exception of POTUS, the only high profile guest either bride or groom would entertain! Not wishing to call any further attention to themselves, Rachel and Tom developed a signaling system to tell the other to "Hurry home sweetheart, I'm waiting for you!". Rachel became ever more inventive with the locations she'd hide those knickers in, though she was careful never to leave them in locations that could be accessed by anyone other than Tom. Still, it was the possibility that someone could find them that gave a thrill to the gesture.

Tom, in return would leave his dress cover usually on her desk by the entrance to her lab – as it was a fairly innocuous object, it aroused little suspicion in anyone other than Rachel. Every time it appeared, Rachel would blush furiously as she remembered the first time he'd left the hat on her desk. She'd dashed home and sat on the bed, waiting for her husband to come home, wearing nothing but said cover. She remembered how Tom, in his eagerness to get naked and make love to her, had fallen onto the bed whilst trying to get his trousers off. The sight had sent Rachel into fits of laughter, whereupon Tom had threatened to take her over his knee.

"I'd like to see you try" she'd sassed back, only to find herself draped over his knee, just as he'd threatened and had tapped her lightly with the flat of his palm, something she'd found oddly erotic!

As Tom raised his hand to give her another light tap, Rachel swiftly turned the tables as she wrapped her lips around his cock and sucked hard. Tom moaned loudly, as he tried to breathe, dear god but she was oh so talented with that luscious mouth of hers. He made love to her that night with an intensity that had left them both breathless. Neither was particularly surprised when Rachel presented Tom with an 8 lb 10oz baby boy nine months later to the day, though Rachel swore blind as she'd pushed out their bundle of joy she'd castrate him if he ever dared touch her again - until the next time the cover reappeared.