Disclaimer: I apologise to the actors for the abuse I put their characters through, and to Joss Whedon for using his ideas. I make no money from this and did not intend to infringe upon copyright, but well, when the muse comes a-knocking...
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The first time it had happened, Inara thought maybe she had imagined it. Common sense overruled companion training. Sure, he had shown signs of it in the past, but she had never thought he would ever act on his urges.
So the next time it happened was when the real realisation hit. Malcolm Reynolds was flirting with her. And despite her training- to be aware of every movement she made towards a person- she found herself flirting back. Oh, there was their usual banter, which always bordered upon the sexual, but this was something else. A touch to the small of her back as he walked around her in the mess, a sensual comment, aimed only at her. And that look. Like he was undressing her with his eyes.
She felt like a giddy school girl. No man had been able to do this to her since before she enrolled in the guild. Every time someone approached her shuttle, she found herself hoping to see those twinkling blue eyes. And then there were the dreams...
Inara smiled dreamily where she sat at the mess table, her lunch set out before her. 'You look happy' came the deep voice. She managed to avoid jumping, but only just. 'Mal' Inara greeted him, a little breathlessly, as she was jerked from her reverie. 'Are your daydreams just for one?' he inquired.
'Yes' she told him firmly, colouring slightly at the thought of him finding out about the images in her head. He raised an eyebrow at her faintly flustered state. The companion was so rarely ever anything but the picture of perfect control. Something was getting to her. He could wager he knew what it was.
'You remember all the fun times we had when Saffron was on board?' asked the captain with mock wistfulness and a teasing smile on his face. 'Why?' asked Inara cautiously, knowing he was probably leading up to some crass statement.
'You know, the good doctor corrected me on a few facts about that whole situation just before. More specifically, where they found you after the whole poison kisses shenanigan. On the fact that you were unconscious in my quarters.'
'I never said otherwise' replied the companion coolly, however much she felt like squirming on the inside. She knew exactly where this was leading, and although at the time she had cursed him to high heaven for not seeing the obvious, now was not a good time for him to discover that she had kissed him full on the mouth.
'Well...?'
'Well what?' she asked brusquely, bordering on rudely. Mal withdrew a little, realising he was treading on thin ice, but also realising that he had been exactly right about what had been getting the companion so flustered. 'It just gives your 'fell and hit the head' story a little more credibility is all' he remarked, taking the coward's way out. So saying, he lifted the last apple from the bowl and hightailed it out of the kitchen, although not before catching her expression. It had been a mixture of relief, annoyance and regret.
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That night, after the rest of the crew had gone to bed, the captain went in search of Inara, deciding he wanted to talk to her a little more about their earlier conversation. She wasn't in her shuttle, but he found her in the corridor that ran between the engine room and the bridge.
'Inara'
'Yes?' asked the companion, stopping to allow the captain to catch up with her. Standing facing her in the corridor, looking into her dark chocolate brown eyes, Mal found himself suddenly lost for words.
The ship jerked just at that moment, and Mal was thrown forward into Inara. With his well muscled body pinning her to the wall, he didn't move as quickly as he should have. His hands placed on the corridor wall, either side of her shoulders, he looked down at her face and shifted slightly against her. The companion's lips parted with her breathy exhalation as she felt his sheer masculine power, separated from her by only thin layers of cloth.
'I was just...' he trailed off, lost in the smell of her. 'Uh huh' she murmured, pretty lost herself. Their eyes locked and on a sudden impulse, Mal bent his head down, capturing her full lips in a sweet, soft kiss. Her warm body pressed against him became a little too much, and the captain ground forward, letting her feel how he felt about her. She in turn undulated against him, causing him to groan into her mouth. Mal made a mental note to thank Kaylee for not completely stamping out the judders that Serenity was prone to now and again.
'Do you think we should be doing this in the corridor?' he managed breathlessly, finally breaking the kiss as her hands began to wander to more intimate places. 'Your place or mine?' panted Inara- having taken the first step, there was no going back. They both pictured his quarters for a moment; 'yours' said Mal, simultaneous to Inara's 'mine.'
With a soft laugh, the captain released her. Before she could move though, in a smooth, easy moment, he swept her off her feet, holding her against his chest. Effortlessly carrying her small frame, he headed for her shuttle. She stole another kiss as he walked, and somehow Mal miraculously managed to make it without crashing. Putting her down to open the door, he backed her into the shuttle, stalking her like a tiger. Eyes flashing a challenge, she placed both hands on his chest and stopped his advance. He raised an eyebrow, an expression that almost turned her knees to jelly, but she managed to resist, and with a fluid movement, slid his suspenders off his shoulders and began on the buttons of his shirt.
Not allowing her to completely take the upper hand, Mal reached gentle fingers into her hair and began to remove the pins that held it up, freeing the silky black curls. Even as she ran her hands over his bared chest, Inara marvelled at how he could go from aggressive to heartbreakingly tender in an instant. Moving down from her hair, Mal began undoing the exotic wrap she wore, even as her hands were at his belt. Their movements were hurried; eager to remove the barriers that kept them apart, but when he couldn't stand not touching her for a moment longer, Mal pulled her strongly towards him for a long and heated kiss.
The rest of their clothes were thrown off in a kind of frenzy, before Mal managed to back her the rest of the way across the shuttle onto the luxurious double bed. Lips and hands running over heated skin, the two of them explored each other, allowing the outside world to disappear, revelling in what they found in that bed. Inara forgot her careful training about consideration for her partner, and made love to him from somewhere deep inside, finding primal energy that none of her clients had ever brought her to.
Breathing heavily, Mal looked down on Inara's face as they moved together. Her eyes were closed and her expression one of ecstasy. Soft cries emanated from her lips and his eyes rolled back in his head with his own pleasure. Burying his head in the curve of her neck, he licked a line up to her ear as she moaned louder and climaxed, shuddering. With one last thrust he spent himself, and collapsed against her.
'Whoa' he said after a moment, lifting his head to look at her face. She opened her eyes to stare deep into his, and felt a connection that she had not felt with a partner before. 'Trust you to know how to satisfy a women' she mumbled shakily. He laughed and rolled onto his back, surprised yet pleased when she moved to lie with the top half of her body across his chest, her ear resting over his heart. 'We left the door open' Mal told her, trailing light fingers across her bare back. 'Mmf' Inara dismissed it, already drifting into sleep. He smiled and then closed his eyes as well.
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'Hey 'Nara, we should be docking in Phobic in a coupla days, so... whoa!' Wash stopped abruptly, standing in the open doorway to Inara's shuttle. The sheet covered any indecencies, but it was still very much apparent that the captain and Inara were sleeping naked in one another's arms. As the pilot was about to hurriedly back out of the shuttle, Mal raised his head and sleepily regarded Wash, seemingly unperturbed by the man's discovery.
'Hey, I, er, didn't realise you two were, um...' he trailed off, embarrassed. Mal glanced down at the naked woman in his arms, who appeared not to have been awoken by any of this. 'I must have tired her out' he thought with a twinge of pride. 'What is it?' he asked the stuttering pilot, doing his best to keep the 'cat with the canary' smugness out of his voice.
'Oh, nothing important. Inara just wanted to know when she should book her appointments for.' Wash did his best to talk to the captain as though the man wasn't nude and in bed with a woman.
'I'll tell her' replied Mal dryly, amused at Wash's discomfort. The pilot nodded and ducked out of the shuttle, shutting the door behind him. Mal smiled, and then looked again at the one he held in his arms. She really was a beauty. He couldn't believe that he had managed to hold off as long as he had. Running his fingers over her smooth brown skin he hummed in contentment.
'He'll tell Zoe now,' murmured Inara without moving from where she lay across his chest, 'and Kaylee too, and Kaylee'll tell Simon. Jayne will find out from one of them and then he'll tell Book.' A slight smile graced Mal's lips as he continued to trace the curves of her back. 'You forgot River'
'I'm almost certain that she already knows- with what I've been dreaming about.' Inara knew this would inflate his ego no end, but she didn't particularly care. The captain's eyebrows did rise at the comment. 'Dreams huh?' At the curious and devilish tone in his voice, Inara opened her eyes and raised her head to shoot him a defiant yet cheeky stare. He returned it, then slowly and deliberately licked his lips, his eyes burning into her. It had the desired effect. The companion blushed, images shooting into her mind.
Having achieved his intended aim, Mal tenderly kissed her forehead, allowing her grace. 'It's a small ship, they were bound to find out one way or another.'
'Well, since keeping this secret will be a lost cause, does that mean you can ravish me on the bridge?' she asked, remembering what she had been thinking about when he had confronted her with that conversation in the kitchen yesterday afternoon. Mal laughed softly, then drew her closer to him for a kiss.
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Simon, Book and Kaylee sat on the stairs up to the bridge, watching where Inara and the captain sat in the kitchen. More specifically, the way Inara was sitting on Mal's lap in the kitchen. 'I just never thought they'd actually get together' commented Simon in a sort of bewildered amusement. 'Well sure,' replied Kaylee. 'Hain't you seen the way he's bin mooning o'er her for the past coupla weeks?'
'And she hasn't been completely oblivious to his attentions' added the preacher. As they spoke, none of them took their eyes off the spectacle in the kitchen. Mal and Inara were staring deep into each other's eyes, her hands clasped behind his neck, and his gently stroking her hair. They were completely oblivious to the world around them.
''S just, well, she's Inara. A companion. She should be long past being able to be wooed by a crusty old war veteran. And I always pictured the captain as more of a lone wolf' argued Simon.
'He ain't crusty.' Kaylee smilingly defended the captain, although her tone belied her belief just slightly.
'I suppose they are just good for each other,' said Book. The other two had to nod at that.
The End