Belle finished tying up her hair and stretched, easing the stiffness in her arms. She smirked to herself, still feeling the lazy, loose-limbed contentment that came from a powerful orgasm. She felt a little bad for Rush. She had not planned to jump him; actually, she hadn't even planned on kissing him, but he had wound her up so much it had seemed the only thing to do in the circumstances. Still, leaving him in that state was a little unfair, she reasoned. It had seemed like fun at the time, sauntering from the room with her head held high and him naked and desperate, but in her nature Belle was not a selfish person. She was interested to see how he would react to her. Which would be in about three minutes. She pulled on the short jacket she had been wearing since she came aboard, nodded to herself, and set off down the corridor to where she knew he'd be.


Rush stared at the screen in front of him, taking nothing in. He had been awake for hours, his eyes grainy with tiredness, but he was damned if he'd take a bloody break. To do so would only mean that he had nothing to distract him from thoughts of the delectable Miss French – pardon – Doctor French. He was still unsure whether the whole experience had been some elaborate dream, perhaps some after-effects of using the chair, for example. His lip curled as he recalled the state she had left him in, her juices all over him, sticky and fragrant, coating his hand. For the first time in years he had contemplated taking care of himself, tugging at his hard flesh and remembering the feel of her around him until he spilled his seed on his flat stomach like a bloody teenager. Her parting words had stayed his hand; he was nothing if not a stubborn bastard, and he would be damned if he would do as she thought.

He wished he could stop thinking about her. He could picture her in his mind at every turn, her face, her scent, the way the light had shone on her breasts and how tight and wet she had felt surrounding him. The sight of her coming would stay with him for years. And then she had left. No staying until he was finished, no explanations, nothing. He had laughed when she left the room, but it was the reaction of one who had long believed that his intimate relations with the opposite sex were over. He had never claimed to understand women, and Belle French was no exception, it appeared. The experience had left him feeling used, slightly humiliated and distinctly unsatisfied, and he had not seen her since. He wasn't sure what would happen when he did. She was due on shift at any moment.

He had tried to sleep afterwards, had given up, and had shuffled along to the bridge to look over the scanned images of the stone tablets that they had retrieved the last time Destiny had dropped out of FTL. At least that way he could try to take his mind off her scent and her eyes and the feel of her…

Rush told himself to get a grip, muttering under his breath. Eli and Brody shot him curious looks, but they were used to him talking to himself, and wisely said nothing.

The door swished open as they were engrossed in monitoring the ship's systems, and in she walked. Rush looked up, eyes narrowing as she locked her gaze with his. She had pulled her hair up on top of her head in a loose bun, a few tendrils snaking down to curl around her face. She looked beautiful, which he thought was vastly unfair, since he was unshaven and looked like what he was – a workaholic scientist with raging insomnia who didn't eat enough. She waited. He waited. He realised that she wouldn't speak before he did, as though this was some sort of battle. Told himself he didn't care.

"Doctor French," he said coldly, and a tiny smile flitted across her face, as though she'd won a point. He supposed she had.

"Doctor Rush," she acknowledged, sauntering into the room and swinging her hips in the way that only a woman who had recently ridden her way to a screaming climax could. "I thought you were off shift for a few hours. I trust you slept well?"

"Perfectly well, thank you," he lied. "I had a thought about the tablets we collected, that was all." Shit. Why was he feeling the need to explain his presence to her? Defensive. Imbecile!

"Oh?" Belle seemed interested, and leaned in close to look at his screen. He could smell her scent, and was instantly reminded of how it had filled his head when he was inside her, when she was bared to his sight, with her perfect breasts bouncing in front of him and her hair flowing around her shoulders, and… Get a grip, you idiot!

"Hmm," she was saying. "I should probably take another look at these." She pulled away, tugging off her jacket and draping it over a chair, and he missed her presence immediately. She started talking to Eli and Brody, and he shut the conversation out as he concentrated on his work. If the others noticed that Doctors Rush and French were being strangely polite with one another, they were wise enough not to say anything.

The hours passed with little of interest to report. Eli had had an idea about controlling the countdown, which Rush shot down in flames with a snarl on his face. His comments left Eli dejected, but he soon perked up when Belle talked over his idea and suggested an alteration which might just work, damn her to hell. Eli and Brody put their heads together over a computer simulation, Belle interjecting every now and then, and Rush stewed in his own misery and wished they would all just bugger off. It felt as though he had been there for days when someone speaking his name pierced through his consciousness, and he briefly raised his head to catch Eli's eye.

"Mess hall?" Eli was saying, looking at him uncertainly. He shook his head, and Eli practically let out a sigh of relief as he turned away. "Belle? You coming?"

"No, I think I might stay here for a while. You go ahead."

Eli and Brody made their way out of the door, and there was silence for a moment. Rush stared determinedly at his screen, not taking in a bloody word of it, ignoring the woman that he knew was standing behind him. The prickle at the back of his neck told him that.

"You know, you should get some rest, you look like hell," she observed, and he stiffened. It might be true, but he didn't appreciate hearing it. Certainly not from her.

"I'm busy," he said curtly.

"No, you're not." She sounded amused. "You've been staring at that same screen for the past half hour. I bet you've done nothing since you got here."

"Thank you for your opinion, Doctor French, but I assure you I have no need of your input on this particular task," he said acerbically. "Why don't you take a break, go to the mess hall? Go and do whatever it is you do when you're not annoying the hell out of me."

There was silence for a moment. He pressed a couple of buttons to give his hands something to do, but it didn't change the image on screen. She was right about his ability to focus, of course. Damn her.

"Are you mad at me?" Her voice, clear as a bell, with a hint of mischief in it, cut through his lack of concentration.

"Why would I be mad at you?" he asked dismissively, not answering her question.

"Maybe because I left when we had unfinished business," she suggested, and his jaw clenched.

"Oh, I think it was certainly finished as far as you were concerned," he said sourly, and heard her soft chuckle.

"You are mad at me," she observed.

"No, I simply have no wish to continue this conversation," he snapped, pushing away from the console, and turned on his heel.

"Rush, wait." He didn't know why he stopped. His shift (not that he paid any attention to the rosters that were arranged) had technically ended hours ago. He certainly didn't have to stay. Not in the presence of this woman who was currently turning his brain inside out. He sighed, placing his hands on his hips and letting his head drop. He was too tired for this.

"I'm sorry," said Belle, and it sounded genuine. "I was just…" She trailed off, and he turned to face her. She was looking at the floor, biting her lip, and she looked adorable. He waited for her to speak.

"Look, it was a crappy thing to do, okay?" she said. "But you were just being such an arse! I had to teach you a lesson."

"Really?" he said dryly. "And what exactly was I supposed to be learning?"

Belle took a step closer. "I don't know," she said, locking her eyes onto his. He was finding it hard to look away. "Maybe patience," she added, and stopped within a few inches of him. Her hands raised up, one on his chest, the other touching the soft stubble of his cheek. His breath hitched at the feel of her, at the look of understanding in her eyes. He wanted to pull away, to storm out of the room, to run from her, but she held him with her gaze, her blue eyes boring into his. She was so beautiful it made his mouth go dry. He put his hands on her arms and pushed her back, away from him, so that he could breathe again.

"If you wish to stay, Doctor French, then get to work," he said roughly. "I'm in no mood for this. Whatever may or may not have been going through your mind earlier, I assure you that I harbour no ill-feeling towards you, and you may work in here without worrying that I'll touch you. Will you extend the same courtesy to me?"

Belle looked affronted. "I was just trying to apologise for hurting your feelings, there's no need to be an arsehole about it."

"I'm not sure what planet you left your brain on last time you visited, Doctor French, but I can assure you of one thing," said Rush, with a hint of a sneer. "If you think our little tryst has left me feeling in the least bit uncomfortable, you overestimate your charms."

Belle folded her arms across her chest and raised an eyebrow. "Oh, really?" she asked softly, and he straightened up, smirking a little.

"Indeed," he said, mirroring her pose. "You see, it's all about the pursuit of knowledge for me. You understand that, I'm sure."

Belle's eyes narrowed. "Go on."

"Simple." Rush raised a hand, spreading his fingers. "I have to confess to having wondered, on occasion, what you would look like naked. And now I know." He shrugged. "You should be aware, Doctor French, that once the mystery is solved, I generally lose interest." His smile widened nastily. "Particularly when the information that I have been searching for is rather less exciting than I hoped."

"You're a bastard!" Belle was flushed, only partly from anger, her arms by her sides, fists clenching and unclenching.

"I've never denied it," he growled, and she glared at him, before she put her head to the side, her gaze suddenly calculating. He waited for it.

"So, you don't think there's anything more to learn about me, is that it?" she asked. He didn't respond. He imagined the question was rhetorical anyway. She took a step towards him, her hips swaying.

"Strange," she said. "Because there's a hell of a lot about you that makes me curious."

"Oh yes?" he asked softly, a dangerous light in his eyes. She bit her lip, white teeth sinking into the dusky pink softness, a gleam in her eyes. It made his cock twitch, and he cursed his feeble body's reactions to her.

"I sometimes wonder what it would feel like to take you in my mouth." She was speaking softly, her voice at a lower register than usual. "I wonder how you'd taste, if I sucked you until you came. If I drank you down like you were a cold beer on a hot day, how would you taste?"

Rush tried not to groan, hardening with only her words. She stepped closer, until she was inches from him, reaching out, her fingers sliding into the waistband of his jeans. Her eyes were enormous: huge blue pools a man could drown in. He hadn't realised her eyelashes were so long. She let her head roll back so that she could look him in the eyes. She raised a hand, cupping his cheek, her thumb stroking over his stubble.

"I wonder how it would feel to have your head buried between my legs," she whispered. "To have you licking me until I beg for mercy, your stubble scraping against my skin. Do you ever think about that, Rush?"

He had, of course, but he wasn't about to admit it. Not to her.

"What are you doing?" he asked softly, and she smiled, a swift curl of her lips.

"I think it's your turn," she said gently, and pulled his head down on hers to kiss him.

He hadn't realised until that point how much he fucking wanted her, but the taste of her and the softness of her tongue in his mouth made him moan aloud and pull her against him. Belle's fingers slid into his hair, twisting it, pulling at it, and his hands gripped her waist and held her close against him as his tongue explored her mouth. She pulled her mouth away, her breath heaving, pressing herself against him as he kissed down her neck.

"I think about how it would feel if you just took me," she gasped. "Took me hard, shoving me down on your bed and fucking me into the mattress. Do you ever think about that, Rush?"

He groaned, incapable of answering if he tried, his hands cupping her breasts through her vest. Belle let her fingers run through his hair, rubbing against his groin, feeling the hardness of him against her, and suddenly pulled back, putting her hands on his shoulders and pushing him back against the console. She pulled the pins from her hair, shaking it out and letting it tumble around her shoulders, and his mouth went slack in the face of her beauty. She kissed him hard as her hands dropped to his belt, pulling it open and unfastening his jeans. He tried to kiss her back, but she pulled away, reaching into his underwear and grasping his cock in her small hand. She dropped to her knees and he gripped the edge of the console as she took him into her mouth in one swift movement.

"Fuck!" he gasped, his eyes rolling back in his head as her mouth closed around him. She was hot and wet, the contrast of her tongue and the edge of her teeth was incredible, and he moaned as he hit the back of her throat and felt her close up around him. Some of the tension went out of his legs as she sucked him, and he relaxed back against the console, his hands lifting up to stroke through Belle's hair. She felt incredible, and he opened his eyes to watch her, to watch this beautiful woman sucking his cock like it was the most amazing thing she'd ever had in her mouth. The movements were hollowing her cheeks, her big blue eyes gazing up at him, and he touched her face reverently as she made a small sound of enjoyment. He could feel himself nearing his peak, and he tugged at her shoulders, trying to let her know.

"Belle!" he said desperately, and she locked eyes with him, her gaze all-knowing, and smiled.

It was too much, and he came hard, with a shout of triumph, stars bursting behind his eyes, feeling as though he was exploding, spurting into her waiting mouth. Belle sucked harder, one hand on him, the other stroking his balls, milking him for every drop. His legs gave out and he fell back, gasping for air, her head still pressed into his crotch. Her hands left him, slid around to grip the backs of his thighs as she slowly sucked the last of him, and drew back. Her mouth slipped off the end of his softening cock, and she placed a kiss to the tip before sitting back on her heels and then slowly straightening up.

Rush was a mess, his eyes staring at her, his breath ragged. She had a tiny droplet of whitish fluid on the side of her mouth, and as he watched her she swiped a finger across her swollen lips and scooped it up, licking it off her fingertip as she stared at him. For once in his life he was speechless, and Belle smiled.

"I think we're even," she announced, and straightened her vest, winking at him. "I'm going to get some dinner. See you later, Rush."

She picked up her jacket, shouldering it on, and tossed him a bright smile as she left the room. Rush put his face in his hands with a groan of despair. He was so fucking screwed.