"Well," said Captain Pearce, once they were all gathered at the table in the galley. "Time for introductions."

There were ten crew members in the room besides the captain. There were five seats at the table, at which sat the Doctor, Rose, Mickey, Jake, and an unknown woman. A brunette in a ponytail. The other crew members stood at attention around the small room.

"You've already met Frank O'Malley," said the Captain, gesturing to the man on his left. O'Malley waved. "He's my first mate. You get an order from him, you should take it the same as if it came straight from me own mouth."

He moved to a man in his forties wearing a sweater, khakis and timberland boots. "This is Chris McCullough. He's our bowman. He makes sure everything stays ship-shape so to speak," he laughed at his own joke.

"Hello," said Chris, revealing a Scottish brogue.

"That's Rick Jensen. He's our cook," said Captain Pearce, pointing to a large man behind the counter, wearing a stained white apron.

"Pay no attention to the man behind the counter," said Rick with a smile. He would look quite threatening, if it weren't for his light demeanor.

"And then there's my general crew," continued Pearce, pointing to a group of men toward the back of the room. "That's Bobby, Dean, Colin, and Spencer."

The Doctor and Rose already knew Spencer. Rose gave him a little wave. Then Pete stepped up. "I suppose I'd better introduce my lot," he said. "I'm Pete Tyler. That's Rose, the Doctor, Mickey, and Jake." He pointed to each of them in turn and they all waved hello. "And this is the rest of our research team," he added moving to the three unaccounted for, including the brunette in the ponytail. "Rachel Harris, our alien cultures expert," the ponytailed woman gave a shy wave. Perhaps it was a bit pointless to have her on board now that the Doctor was here, but the team was assembled before Pete was notified of the Doctor's arrival. He continued introducing the remaining two. "Ron Warren, our oceanographer," Ron was a tall man with strawberry blond hair, and he seemed pretty young for his position. He was maybe in his mid-twenties, not much older than Rose. "And Aaron Novier, our sonar specialist." Aaron Novier was an Indian man in his early thirties and had a mop of black hair and a goatee.

"Hi," said Aaron with a smile and a wave.

"Right," said Captain Pearce, clapping his hands together, "Now that that's out of the way, we can get to work! Meals are served at 7:30am, noon, and 8:00pm. It's first come, first served, so don't be late!"

The rest of the day went quite smoothly. The Doctor spoke with Rachel about alien cultures. She seemed quite eager to learn, but every time she inquired about the origin of the hatch he deftly sidestepped the question. Rose saw some dolphins swimming along the side of the boat and smiled fondly when she saw the Doctor's face light up like a little boy at the sight of them. He was so easily excited. Mickey spent much of the time trying to convince each man at the helm to let him have a turn at the wheel using the argument that he once flew a zeppelin and 'how different could it be'. Jake, more sensibly, spent his time learning sailing skills from the crew.

After dinner, the men of the crew invited Jake, Mickey, and the Doctor to drink and play cards in the galley. Jake and Mickey accepted, but the Doctor declined saying he had plans with Rose. He received a couple of hearty chuckles and a friendly slap on the back for this information, which he found rather crude, but there was a natural undercurrent of male pride as well.

Rose was lying on the bed, reading. She'd discovered that the top bunk could be folded up into the wall, letting her feel less enclosed while she lay down. She knew the men were going to have a card game that night and they'd probably invite the Doctor to join. Just then, the door opened and the Doctor slipped inside.

"I thought you would be joining the other blokes," said Rose.

"I've got better things to do," he said, walking to the bed and sitting beside her.

Rose put her book down on the night stand. "Yeah? What are you doing here then?" she asked teasingly, as the Doctor leaned forward, hovering his face close to hers.

"Better things," he said, and he kissed her slowly, seductively, catching her bottom lip lightly in his teeth as he pulled away.

"Mmm, I'll say," said Rose with a shaky breath.

The Doctor smiled confidently. He loved her voice like that. So full of lust. Heavy and silky, like chocolate mousse, but with a twinge of something tart and mischievous, like raspberry. He leaned forward, kissing her again. Deeper this time, letting her know how much he wanted her. He levered one hand under her waist, scooting them down the bed so they lay flat. He pulled away, hovering over her for a moment, just to look at her. Memorize the curve of her full, supple lips, the rise and fall of her chest, the love in her eyes as she gazed up at him, anticipating. He felt his hearts swell to bursting with his love for her, and the thought found it's way in again. The thought that one day, this would all be gone. She would wither and die, like all roses do. She would be gone and there really would be no way to bring her back. He pushed it out of his mind. She was here now, and he would make every second last as long as he could. He would etch it all into his memory so it would stay crisp and clear forever.

The Doctor leaned down and kissed her forehead lovingly. He then placed light kisses along her hairline, until he reached her ear, where he ran his tongue along the edge and sucked gently on the lobe, eliciting a little gasp and a sigh from Rose. He continued kissing his path downward, along her jaw line, down her neck where the kisses became wetter, more insistent and she started to moan. He stopped just at the hollow of her throat, where he played his tongue as he slowly unzipped her hoodie. He removed the hoodie and she sat up for a moment to slip her arms out of the sleeves. Rose lay back down and the Doctor removed his jacket and tie before continuing.

The Doctor caught her gaze and held it as he slid his hands up her denim covered legs. He dipped his head and kissed the patch of her belly peeking between her jeans and the hem of her t-shirt. Sliding his hands under the shirt, in a feather-light touch, he pushed it up as he kissed up her abdomen, dragging his tongue and bottom lip a little between each kiss.

Rose moaned and shivered slightly as he moved up her body. He seemed to be paying extra attention to detail tonight. Her body wasn't weighted down with the same heat of lust that it usually was. Tonight it seemed a shivering coolness had overtaken the surface of her skin, a desire to be touched everywhere at once, while a fire grew slowly in her stomach spreading ever outward under the skin. She was breaking out in goosepimples by the time he had pushed the shirt above her breasts, and was running his tongue over the flesh just inside the left cup of her bra. She ran her hands up his back and tried to pull him closer. Much to her disappointment, he pulled away and sat up a bit to remove her t-shirt. She raised her arms and lifted her back as he pulled it off over her head.

When she lay back down, he descended on her lips again, thrusting his tongue in as she worked hers into his mouth and they danced against each other in perfectly choreographed passion. He worked his hands behind her back and unhooked her bra, then slid it off her arms and went to kiss her breasts, but she was going to even the score. She reached up and went for the buttons on his shirt, but he caught her hands and pushed them back over her head, lowering his lips to her ear. "Lie back," he breathed, and pulled away just enough to look her in the eyes. "Let me do the work."

Rose's eyes widened. He'd never done anything like this before. He was planning to be dominant. A shot of heat exploded in her chest and rushed to pool between her thighs. "Alright, Doctor," she said breathlessly. "I submit to your will," she joked as she gained a bit of composure.

He chuckled slightly, as he rose one of her hands to kiss the pulse point on her wrist. "No, Rose," he corrected gently and kissed a little further down her arm. "You're not submitting." He lay his hand on her face and gazed deeply into her eyes. "I'm worshiping you." His voice was full of love and awe.

Her eyes widened further and her mouth fell open slightly. Her heart was thudding in her chest and the heat previously residing in her loins exploded out of her fingers and toes. Worshiping her? Her heart swelled with his words. She'd never felt so cherished. She tried to speak and couldn't find the words, but she realized there was no need when he smiled and kissed her, gently swirling his tongue with hers.

The Doctor kissed down her neck to her breasts where he lifted his lips so they were just barely touching the surface of her skin and moved them over the soft flesh of her breast, encircling the nipple, but never actually touching it.

Rose's nerves were straining against the skin. Her nipples were so hard, aching for touch. It was a beautiful sort of torture. His breath was gentle and warm, tickling her skin as he moved his mouth slowly over her chest. Finally, he closed his mouth over her right nipple and she arched into him, whimpering, begging for more. She felt him grin against her, the cocky bastard.

He planted butterfly kisses down her torso until he reached the waistline of her jeans and undid them slowly. He was careful to put as little pressure as possible on her skin as he slid them down her legs. He wanted this to build, wanted the need for release to be so great that the explosion would be blinding. He lifted her foot to his mouth and kissed her ankle.

"Doctor?" said Rose, in a breathy voice.

"Hm?"

"S'not fair." He looked at her questioningly. "Lose the clothes."

The Doctor flashed her a grin. "As you wish," he said, and she giggled because it reminded her of a movie she once saw.

He quickly shed his shirt and trousers, but left his pants on. She wasn't getting the whole deal yet. It was quite a bit more comfortable, though, without the pressure of his trousers on his growing erection. He crawled back up her body and kissed her. "Better?" he asked.

"Mmm, much," she said running her hands over his chest. Again, though, he grabbed her wrists and guided her hands away, holding them down on the bed.

"Mm-mm," the Doctor murmured, voice low and husky even through his closed lips. If he was going to last long enough to do this, he couldn't have her touching him. He licked a line up her neck to her ear and she squealed in surprise. "I'm going to memorize you," he said, kissing her shoulder.

"What?"

"Your body," he clarified, propping himself up to look in her eyes. She still looked unsure of what he meant. He raised his hand to her temple and brushed some hair behind her ear. "I was without you for so long. I thought I might never see you again. This time I got you back, but one day..." he tried to swallow the lump forming in his throat and realized he couldn't finish that sentence. "I just want to remember everything," he said and began kissing up her arm, lifting it as he went and speaking between kisses. "Every inch of your soft skin" - kiss - Every pore" -kiss- "Every freckle," -kiss- "Every mole, and birthmark" -kiss- "every little hair" -kiss. He was at her wrist now and he stopped momentarily to gaze down at her. "Everything."

Rose looked up into his eyes and saw so much love there. "Oh, Doctor."

He smiled down at her and she felt a warmth spread through her. He turned her hand over and licked over her palm. If anyone else had done that, it would have just been silly, but the way he did it was somehow sensual. It made her breath catch. It seemed to serve some purpose for him. The way he ran his tongue so slowly over her palm, eyes closed, like he was concentrating. He licked up her fingers one by one sucking each very carefully. "Can you scan my prints like that or something?" she teased, her voice coming out weaker and more yielding than intended.

"Would it surprise you if I said I could?" he baited, raising an eyebrow.

"No, not all," she giggled.

The Doctor chuckled and continued. And he wasn't lying. He didn't skip one little bit of her. He kissed and licked and traced every square inch. Every inch, but where she needed him most. Then, finally, he had worked his way, softly, up her legs and was peeling off her, now soaked, knickers. Rose was trembling in anticipation. Her clit was throbbing. Everything in her was screaming for release. He lowered his mouth to her opening and she could feel his breath on her. It sent a swift shiver up her spine.

The Doctor nuzzled his nose just above her clit and she gave a pleading moan. He smiled and finally gave her what she'd been waiting for. He ran his tongue over her slit, licking up the liquid heat of her arousal. Her hips gave little involuntary jolt at that, and he braced her with his hands on her thighs. He slipped his tongue between her folds and she moaned loudly, arching herself toward him. Working his tongue inside her, he slid his hands up her thighs to her hips and pulled her closer, covering her clit with his mouth and sucking gently.

Rose wasn't sure if the sounds spilling from her mouth were words anymore, and she really didn't care. With all the build up he had given her, this wasn't going to take long. Then she felt the wave of white hot pleasure rising in her and she couldn't hold on anymore. She gripped the sides of the bed, knuckles white, and screamed so loudly that, when she looked back on it later, she would be quite sure the whole ship must have heard her. When she came back to her senses the Doctor was leaning over her, smiling and gently stroking her hair.

"You okay?" he asked.

"Okay? I'm incredible!" she panted.

"Yes," said the Doctor seriously "You are."

Rose smiled at that and he kissed her soundly. She felt him settle his weight on top of her and noticed just how much all he'd done had affected him. His cock was impossibly hard against her thigh and she felt herself becoming aroused all over again. She slid her hands down his back and cupped his rear, pulling him to her.

He immediately got the message and was thankful she was up for more, because he did not want to finish off by himself. He hastily rid himself of his underwear and positioned himself back on top of her. He slid easily into her and groaned in relief as he felt her tight slick walls enveloping him. He surrendered himself completely to the sensation and started to move within her. She wrapped her legs tightly around him as she began to moan and cry his name urging him onward. "Rose," he moaned as he increased his speed. He soon lost all restraint and was pounding into her, gripping her hips and kissing anywhere he could reach, both of them crying out each other's names, swearing, panting, and muttering things incomprehensible. Finally, a blinding supernova of ecstasy swept over them both. He screamed her name to the heavens as he emptied himself into her and she cried out his as she gripped the backs of his shoulders so hard there would most certainly be marks the next morning.

As they came down from their high, the Doctor rolled off her to rest on his side, facing her, in the narrow bed. She rolled into his chest and he wrapped his arms around her. Words weren't needed. Their love filled the air on it's own. Both of them fell softly into a peaceful sleep as the ship rocked a gentle rhythm around them.

Thomas...

The Doctor's eyes snapped open. What the hell was that? He looked at the clock. 2:42am. He looked down at Rose. She was sound asleep. She looked so serene, he couldn't help but smile. Why had he woken up again? He shrugged it off and went back to sleep. Whatever it was, it must not have been important.