Chapter 3

Linka gave a little cry and tried to sit up, struggling in her distress when she found she could not. Her heart was thumping violently whilst her sleep addled brain tried to make sense of her surroundings, even as the thunder that had awakened her rumbled around the mountains again.

Fortunately Wheeler didn't sleep deeply when they were away from home and it had woken him too. "Woah Babe, s'okay, s'just me!"

She shivered violently and clung to him for a moment before trying to distance herself, "I am sorry..."

"Hey, no." He pulled her back to him and held her tightly, "no apologies."

"It is childish, I need to learn to deal with it like an adult." Despite her words she cuddled back into him, burying her face in his neck.

Wheeler kissed her head, still trying to wake up properly, "someone say that to you?"

"...My brother."

"Didn't think it sounded like your Gram."

A smiled laced her voice, "Da, she would let me sleep with her and tell me that my father was like that as a small child. Papa once told me that my mother was the opposite, that she would be more likely to want to go out and watch the lightening and dance in the rain."

Wheeler chuckled, "I think there's some of that spirit in you too Babe, but you dance with the wind instead."

"I like that," she lifted her head and let her lips drift over his jaw until she found his mouth.

Wheeler kissed her back, ramping up the intensity tenfold, and when they parted he made her chuckle by replying, "I like that! I'm serious Babe, I don't just mean how it feels - which is epic by the way - I mean I like that you did it, that you're not just giving in to me, you know?"

She wasn't sure he realised that his hands were still roaming freely over her back and side even though their kiss had ended, but it was a gentle and loving caress so rather than stop him, she ran her own hands over his well sculpted bare chest, in the limited space between them.

"I have wanted to kiss you since we first met," she confessed in a whisper, "and to... do other things. But I... I am just not the sort of person who can let go and be heedless of the consequences."

"You don't have to be, we'll figure everything out together. You and me belong together, you know that, right?" He placed kisses on her neck, making her shiver as he found a sensitive spot.

Linka sighed, and turned her head to press a kiss to his head. "I want to believe you."

"You can Beautiful, I promise." His hands had found their way inside her top and we're driving her bare skin crazy, staying just short of where, in that moment, she most wanted them. "The super smart thing is sexy as hell but for once you need to stop over-analysing. Trust me, trust yourself."

His lips were still teasing her neck and shoulders in between words which made pushing him away extremely hard. He fell silent, his disappointment palpable even though he didn't voice it. He did however gasp in shock when instead of moving away, she wriggled out of her top and traced the length of his arm to bring his hand back to her breast.

She sought out his mouth once more, encouraging him to continue, and he quickly took the hint. The touch of his skin set hers on fire, the effect rippling throughout her whole body and coalescing in an ache at her core.

Linka wrapped a leg around his and pulled herself close in an effort to find some relief and Wheeler responded by pressing back into her, rolling her beneath him.

Each little step led to another, increasing the intensity of the encounter, but when her fingers found the zipper of his jeans, Wheeler rolled away, breathing hard.

"We need to cool this now Babe, or being a gentleman might actually kill me!"

His statement was met with giggles, and though she let him retreat, Linka moved close enough again to lay her head on shoulder and hold his hand.

They lay in silence for a few moments before Linka said, "You are going home straight after this mission, da? For your friend?"

"Damn! Trish's engagement party, I completely forgot!" He squeezed the Russian's hand, "it's not home though, home is where you are." He sighed, "I'm sorry Babe, this is terrible timing."

"There is never a good time for us, that is part of being a Planeteer, it is OK." She sounded a little troubled however and it prompted Wheeler to make another suggestion.

"Come with me?"

Linka kissed his shoulder, "Spasiba, but I do not want to intrude."

"Why would you be intruding?" He looped his arm so that he could hold her closer. "Ma would love to meet you, and Dad... actually Dad will probably say something completely inappropriate and racist but you could ignore that, right?"

She gave a small laugh, "Da... I was thinking that Trish might object more than your parents."

"Why should she?" Wheeler spoke quietly and seriously, "Babe, Trish is my friend, yeah we kinda dated for a while but that's been over a long time, for both of us."

Linka sighed, "for you perhaps, you have a big heart and can love easily. I do not think you would be that easy to get over."

He laughed, "I hope you're talking about yourself there and not Trish, for my sake and hers... and Bud's!"

"Who is Bud?"

"The guy she's marrying." His voice took on a teasing note and he tickled her side, making her squirm. When she stopped laughing, he said, "Honest Linka, Trish won't mind having you there, she knows I love you, she'll be happy that we're finally together."

When she didn't respond he prompted her, "Babe?"

Her voice was hushed, a breathless whisper. "You told Trish that you... you love me?"

"No, I'm telling you that I love you." He said, before the humour returned to his voice, "I talked about you so much to Trish she said, 'Ok Wheeler, I get it, the sun shines out of her ass!' And she knows me well enough to know it's not just some dumb crush, so yeah she knows."

"Oh."

"Don't go all quiet on me, it can't be that much of a shock. I kinda thought you knew me better than that too?" He sounded worried.

Linka lifted her head and pressed her lips to his neck in a gesture of comfort, "I knew, I think. I just was not sure that it was not wishful thinking." His arms wrapped tightly around her and she added, "I was not expecting you to say it tonight either."

"Do you remember what we did the last time we were alone?"

"We watched a football match and you explained the rules while we were waiting for the others to bring back dinner." She replied without hesitation.

He kissed her head, "it was a soccer game and you already knew the rules, you just didn't tell me. Gi did when they got back."

"You enjoyed telling me what was going on with the football match, so I let you," she shrugged. "Is there a point to this?"

"It was terrible game in a crappy motel, after a back-breaking day and I knew the burgers would taste like cardboard if we were lucky. But you curled up next to me on a tiny bed and listened to me talk about nothing and laughed at my jokes, and suddenly it was like the best day ever... and it's always like that with you." He shrugged. "We get maybe half an hour here and there and I live for those moments. If I haven't told you I love you before it's only because the others always come back too soon."

Linka pulled his head down so that she could kiss him, unable to put her feelings into words.

"Babe," he murmured against her lips, "I'm still kinda worked up over here..."

"Good," she smiled and kissed him again, wrapping herself around him. "So am I."

To be continued...