They were running drills, sneakers squeaking on the gym floor. She sprinted and he was right there with her. Five steps and she had dropped her shoulder, feinted to the left and suddenly it wasn't drills anymore. It was a real game, cutthroat, and she had gotten shockingly good at this in a short amount of time.

Mercenary. Thief. Great reflexes and coordination. A watchful eye; and a fast learner.

"They're not going to give you the funding," she said, breathing heavily.

"I know," he answered, dancing around in perfect step with her, trying to steal the ball.

"How did your planet make so many advances when your leadership is so stupid?" There was a challenge in her voice and a hint of anger.

She shot the ball and he let her do it. She let go of it as if it was a grenade. It missed, slammed against the backboard and they watched it bounce on the floor for a moment.

Vala moved to get it and he caught her wrist.

"If we can't get what we need here, we'll need to get it somewhere else," he said.

Their eyes, so similar in color and intensity, met and held.

"You think I can get it." She stated it with a satisfied purr in her voice and a flash of …something in her eyes.

"I know you can. In spite of the act. Daniel wants to turn you into a lap dog when you're a fox – in more ways than one, actually. But I need the cunning one."

She continued to watch him until a sly smile touched her lips and when she spoke her voice was different. "All right."

She leaned closer, like she was going to kiss him. Then she veered off at the last moment and danced past him to get the ball.

Cameron went after her. Their bodies collided, shoulders, chest and hip when he took the ball. Every muscle in his body alerted, tingled with awareness. He shot the ball, missed and let it go. Vala snagged it, vaulted past him and leapt for the basket.

"Two points," she said, smiling with smug triumph.

"It's early," Cameron pointed out.

"Right," she drawled. "Like you've got a chance. I think the student has surpassed the master.

Cameron danced with her again until he got the ball out of her hands. Then he charged down the court on legs he'd been told would never hold him up again. He grabbed the ring of the net and hung there for a moment just because he could.

When he dropped down she was just standing there, looking at him, one hip cocked with her balled fist resting on it. There was a lazy, sexy smile on her face.

The next thing he knew he had her face between his hands and he was kissing her.

He waited for her to tell him to stop, to give some sign that she wanted to know what the hell he thought he was doing and he couldn't just grab her and kiss her like that. Not like this, with his hands starting to go everywhere, on her hair, her arms, down her back, under her shirt. With his mouth invading hers, tongue seeking.

But all she did was kiss back as if her life depended on it, pushing forward, lips pressed to his, tongue in his mouth, groaning with a kind of pain. The kiss was wild; as if they were locked in a contest to conquer each other.

He propelled her backwards with the sheer force of his desire until they hit the wall. She stumbled and he caught her around the waist, supporting her and bringing her hips up against his. Trapped between him and the wall he pressed his full length forward, flattening her to the wall.

She still didn't resist.

"You can't," he brought his mouth off of hers to breathe, panting words, "keep doing this…teasing…driving me…nuts."

"Okay," she said, helplessly.

"You can't…" Cam was just about to kiss her again when her agreement penetrated his ear, made its way to his brain and made a connection, "What?"

She was sucking on his neck in a way that was going to leave a mark, arching against him for balance. She kissed his jaw and his cheek and it was so soft now that he had to concentrate to make sure he was feeling it.

"I said, 'Okay.'"

He jumped when she spoke. Then he ground his hips forward. "We're doing this?"

"Yes."

"We're so doing this and we're going to keep doing this," he said, demanding to be sure.

He was in full conquering-hero mode now and she seemed to find it breathtaking. It made him deliriously happy and more turned on than he had been in his life.

"Mitchell," she groaned.

"Cameron," he corrected.

Vala made an impatient sound and now she did push him back a little. "Fine, Cameron," she said, "I just don't think we should do this here."

A little shock went through him when he realized they were still on a basketball court, with the door open and if she had so much as touched him in a certain place he would have lost it. Gone off like a twenty-one gun salute. Like rockets on the Fourth of July.

Because that was how badly he wanted her.

He put his face against her neck and shoulder to catch his breath.

"Does a bed sound good to you?" He asked.

A tickle of laughter brushed past his cheek. Her smile was slow, honey-sweet.

"A bed sounds very good," she answered.

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