Disclaimer/A.N.: Woo-hoo, chapter 10! I've now gone double digits. Next stop, chapter 100 (maybe). We also hit 170 reviews. Thank you my loyal readers for such wonderful people. 200 is our next goal. Moving on, I must apologize for the extreme delay. I started working on this two weeks after the last chapter, but school forced it onto the back burner. But it's over now. I just have a couple of tests to finish and then I'm free(ish) for the summer. I also have to say I overall enjoyed the response from last chapter. But I also had further threats against me telling me to not do a cliff hanger like chapter 8's again. With that, I must tell you that I have an army of Master Chief/Chuck Norris/Bruce Lee hybrids in Mark C (100) Mjolnir Armor. So try to get to me, Hunters, Noble Team, snipers, Oumpa Loumpas, and others, because trust me, I have something much worse install for later in the story, much, MUCH, worse. But I'm not telling. *Evil grin* And yes, this is the lemon chapter. *takes a bow* This chapter is also the longest one yet, 7,374 words, so please, enjoy.
Chapter 10
1337 hours, February 27, 2559 (Military Calendar)/ Home of Doctor Catherine Elizabeth Halsey
The kitchen of Dr. Halsey's home was packed with titans amongst men. The resident Spartan IIs and IIIs, save for Mike and John, were gathered there for one reason and one reason alone.
Maria's cooking.
No one knows how she learned to cook so well. Then again, they had been living off MREs and spaceship food throughout the Human-Covenant War, so anything would taste like heaven in comparison. However, Maria's cooking went beyond that. She did it so well that the rest of them tried to cook themselves, wanting to try to top Maria. That ended with several large pieces food-turned-projectiles through the ceiling, creating holes in the floor of Tom and Lucy's bedroom. The former was unfortunate enough to fall through one of them after hearing an explosion, and crashed onto the epicenter of the blast zone that was once the kitchen. When he came to, he was covered in food stuffs that sent everyone else into a laughing fit. Even Lucy let out a silent giggle when she saw what happened to her partner. It was from then on agreed amongst them and Halley, the house A.I., that the other Spartans would not try to compete with Maria in the kitchen, for there was where she ruled. Also, Tom did not want to have to watch his step every time he was in his room.
Today's lunch was an old American dish that originated in the North-East, specifically from the City of Buffalo.
Yep, you guessed it: buffalo wings. Really spicy buffalo wings. She made a very special batch for Fred, Mike, and Jai. Still miffed about last night's occurrence at the pastry shop she made their sauce from the infamous Ghost Chili Pepper. Hell hath no fury like that of a woman scorned. And when that woman is a Spartan, you're screwed over.
She started to dole out the wings, taking extra care to ensure that the male IIs got their "special" wings. She also put two plates aside for Mike and John. She held off killing John with the sauce, however, because he wasn't part of the game, so she set a regular plate aside for him.
Just as they were about to dig in, Maria ready to relish the guys' torture, Mike entered the room. He'd have been there sooner, but he had wanted to see why John and Cortana hadn't followed him, but quickly left after he found out.
"Where've you been?" Jai asked just as he was about to bite into one of the death wings.
"Halsey called. Needed a Pelican to fly by her lab to get John and a 'friend'," he said, drawing out the word friend a little bit, arousing curiosity in some of the Spartans.
"Well, where is he?" Kelly asked.
"In the hanger with his friend. The two of them needed a little more time to catch up on things before he introduces his friend to you guys. What'd I miss while I was gone?" He asked curtly. Maria's curiosity was further aroused towards this friend of John's. Putting that aside for now, though, she prepared for the fruition of her revenge.
"Nothing. You almost missed lunch though," Maria said with a small grin.
"Well it's a good thing I didn't. I have a need to feed," he said, earning a groan from everyone at his feeble attempt at a joke. He saw the two plates of wings on the edge of the counter and grabbed one. Maria had realized her slip up too late when she saw that he had taken John's plate.
'Oh well,' she thought, 'it was nice knowing him.' She had to stifle a giggle at this thought.
10 seconds after that thought, everyone else started to dig in. 20 seconds later, Fred and Jai started to tear up. 30 seconds later they had hopped over the counter with tears in their eyes. If one looked carefully, they might've seen the tears evaporating off their faces. They then proceeded to fight over the extending nozzle of the sink to ease the sheer hell they're mouths were undergoing, pulling it off in the process.
Having their nearest source of relief busted, Fred and Jai rushed to the freezer, opened it, and stuck their heads into the box of ice, leaving the rest of the dining Spartans between staring at the two incapacitated Spartans and the possibly hazardous wings in front of them, wondering what just happened. They then turned towards Maria, who was attempting to, yet failing at, holding back a giggle, with a half questioning, half worried gazes.
"Don't worry. If yours were tainted then you'd have your heads in the freezer with them. That was payback for yesterday," she said, pointing at Jai and Fred. The Spartans visibly calmed, the female II's laughing Fred and Jai's suffering, but still cast questioning eyes at the food below them. Mike was extremely careful, knowing that he had crossed her as well and would have vengeance taken on himself sooner or later by Maria.
Several minutes later and the Spartans had finished and cleaned up, save for Fred and Jai, who's heads were being frozen stiff as they attempted to alleviate the worst torture they've ever felt from their mouths. The rest had headed off to the gym in the basement. It was at this point that the door that Mike had previously opened to allow two people to enter. Maria recognized the first right off the bat as John. There was no way she couldn't recognize him. The second person must've been his friend. She didn't recognize her; though she did have a striking resemblance to Dr. Halsey when they were training, save for the electric blue hair and eyes. Maria had to admit though, she was definitely very pretty. Her eyes then travelled down to see that their hands were interlocked. 'That must be what Mike meant when he said friend that way. But then what did he mean by them being…' She was pulled from her thoughts as the duo in question approached.
"Hey Maria," John said.
"Hey John, nice of you to rejoin us. What did Halsey need you for? And who's your lady friend here?" Maria asked, turning her head to the person at John's right.
"Cortana. It's a pleasure to meet you Maria. John's told me a lot about you and his fellow Spartans," Cortana responded, extending her free arm which Maria grasped and shook with a smile.
The name seemed familiar, and after a moment it clicked. The blue hair and eyes, the familiar face, and the name, all led to one conclusion. "Wait, Cortana as in John's A.I. Cortana?"
"The one and only," she replied with a smile.
"But you're…"
"Halsey," both John and Cortana, answering the question they both knew she was going to ask.
Maria just stood there shocked. She had never heard of an A.I. becoming human before. That would explain why the dear doctor had been so busy lately. Whatever she did to make Cortana must have required a lot of work.
A loud grumbling pulled Maria out of her reverie and glare at John. "Really John?"
All he did in response was point his left index finger at Cortana who was sporting a blush of embarrassment. A slightly quieter, but still loud one was heard. "That would be me."
"I see that large breakfast this morning wasn't enough for you John. I left a plate of wings for you on the counter for when you returned. Now that I need to feed two now I'll have to make more. Just start with those and I should be finished in a few minutes." With that, Maria began to prepare another large batch of wings. After the way he inhaled the bacon this morning she needed to make sure there'd be enough for John and Cortana, though she doubted that their new friend would eat much.
John grabbed the plate of wings from the counter and placed it between two seats that he and Cortana soon settled into.
"So, how'd do you eat these? Do I need a fork and knife or something?" Cortana asked.
Stifling a laugh at Cortana's lack of know-how, John replied, "No, you just pick them up with your hands and dig in." He demonstrated by picking up one of the wings and bringing it to his mouth. Before he could eat it, he remembered that they needed drinks. So he put his wing down as Cortana started on hers. As he approached the fridge, he felt a chill by his legs. Looking down he saw that the freezer was open, with Fred and Jai sticking their heads in it.
"Maria, care to explain why Fred and Jai are sticking their heads in the freezer?" Maria stopped what she was doing and turned to face John, then glanced at Cortana.
'Shit' was the one thought in her mind as she saw Cortana starting to tear up. "Hehehe, funny thing that you mention that. I was still kind of angry at the guys for their escapade at the pastry shop, so I…"
"You, what?" John asked, arms crossed and eyebrow raised.
"I kinda, sorta, gave them wings with some "special" sauce."
"Special sauce?" John's eyebrow rose even higher, if that was even possible.
"Ghost chili pepper sauce." Now both of John's eyebrows were almost at his hairline. Ghost chili peppers were used against early Innie riots as crowd dispersal weapons because they were so hot. "And Mike had taken your plate during lunch, so you have his and, well…" She nodded her head towards Cortana.
The tears that started to appear in Cortana's eyes were now flowing like faucets. She was waving her hands in front of her mouth as she was screaming, "Hothothothothot! Why does my mouth feel like it's on fire!"
John gave Maria a quick glare before asking how to help Cortana.
"Milk."
"Milk?"
"Yes, milk. There's something in it that cools your mouth down you eat something spicy," Maria said.
"But these are really spicy and-"
"Just grab the milk!" Doing as Maria said, John grabbed the milk from the fridge, taking care not to hit Fred and Jai's prone forms with the door. With the skills of a professional bartender, Maria grabbed a glass from one of the cabinets and slid it across the counter to John, who quickly poured the white liquid, then slid back to Maria, and handed it to the suffering blue head. "Drink this Cortana, it'll-," before she could finish that sentence the glass was in Cortana's hand and the liquid inside was gone.
Putting the glass back on the table, Cortana grabbed a napkin and wiped her face of the tears that had been pouring down moments ago. "Thanks," she said breathlessly.
"You okay?" John asked.
"Yeah, just don't ever let me eat these again."
"Don't worry, Maria won't make them that spicy again. Right Maria," he stated instead of asked, sending a death glare in her direction.
"Yeah, yeah don't worry, I won't do THAT again," she said, waving her hands in front of her and letting out a forced laugh.
"So, can we have something that won't feel like a plasma grenade exploded in our mouths?" John asked, earning a giggle from Cortana.
"Well, there are some waffles leftover from breakfast, some bacon too. That sound good?"
"Brunch for lunch sounds good to me. Cortana?"
"As long as we don't repeat this incident."
"Okay then, two orders of waffles and bacon, coming right up." She walked over to the fridge to get said left-overs. Before she did, however, she gave Fred and Jai a nudge. When neither responded, she proceeded to remove their heads from the now unfrozen freezer. Upon their removal, Maria, broke into hysterics, with John and Cortana following soon after seeing what she saw.
Both of the unconscious male Spartans had icicles facing forwards from the tip of their noses and cheeks and their hair was frozen upwards in a frill like fashion. Their lips were also pretty big from the death wings and were pushing away from their faces like a beak. One could say they looked like frozen triceratops' from the way their faces froze.
After calming down a bit, Maria, with her super human strength, lifted the two "men" and brought them upstairs, where she deposited them on one of the couches, then returned downstairs to prepare lunch for John and his lady friend, but not before taking pictures, with an instant develop camera, of the two triceraspartans for black-mail purposes.
After a couple of minutes the duo were happily eating while Maria had left to join the other, conscious Spartans in the gym. John happily ate his bacon before moving to his waffles. But first he snagged a couple of pieces from Cortana, earning a small glare from her, but not much else. She was too enthralled with the fluffy squares of goodness, especially with the sweet syrup on top. She enjoyed them so much that she ended up stealing John's waffles as well. When he tried to recapture them with his fork she threatened his hand with her knife. Taking it as a challenge, John started to make blows at Cortana's knife. Cortana didn't take that sitting down, literally. She stood up, grabbed her fork, and engaged John in a duel for the waffles. John stood as well, and soon they were circling the island counter top they were eating at, exchanging blows to their silverware. Occasionally John would sneak a bite of waffle in with a grin when Cortana was far enough away, but then she would come back full force. Unfortunately, she was dealing with a professional soldier, and was beginning to tire out. Seeing an opening, John caught her knife between the teeth of his fork and pulled from her grasp, throwing it into the sink. Now it was just fork on fork, and Cortana was clearly losing ground. Soon their forks were locked like Cortana's knife was previously. But before John could disarm her completely, she grasped the fork with both hands, and pushed, with all her might, to the right to where her plate, and in turn, the last piece of waffle, was. John didn't try to stop, but even so she had a hard time pushing the entwined forks. Stabbing the last piece, she moved to capture the bite sized morsel with her mouth.
Just as she grabbed it with her teeth she felt a pressure on her lips. John had done the same as her.
Withdrawing their now useless utensils from their mouths, the two continued their fight for the waffle. Cortana struck first, sliding her tongue from between her teeth to capture the fluffy morsel, with John following suit almost immediately after. The bit went back and forth between the two. Not only were their tongues used, but other parts as well. John trailed his hands along Cortana's back, under her shirt, while Cortana had hers on his chest, each trying to make the other moan and break their concentration.
It seemed John had won, knowing more of Cortana's sweet spots and all, but in a last ditch effort Cortana stole the bit and hit it between her back teeth and cheek, then swallowed.
Knowing he had lost, John groaned in defeat, but instead of halting his caresses of Cortana's body, he continued even more fervently. He removed his hands from Cortana's back and spun her around so that her back was to his chest. He then backed the two of them into one of the kitchen chairs, not for a second breaking the kiss between the two of them, and sat her down in his lap with his arms around her stomach. They didn't stay there for long, however, and soon started to travel under her shirt again northward to the two beautiful orbs that reside upon her chest. As their tongues continued to do battle, John's hands began to knead her breasts through her bra, causing her to moan into his mouth. The moan sent a shiver of pleasure down his spine, causing his (not so) mini-Spartan to rise into Cortana's sex, making her moan even more.
For a moment she broke the kiss and slipped one of her hands into John's shorts, grabbing his hardened member. "Someone seems excited," she said playfully as she started to stroke it. His only response to her was him latching back onto her kiss abused lips.
John's hands started to become bolder. They stopped kneading from outside the bra, and slipped under the cups to continue. The feel of John's hands on her breasts, his sex prodding hers, and his mouth on hers was driving Cortana crazy. When John's right hand decided to pinch one of her hardened buds, she broke the kiss and let out a throaty moan that could be heard through-out the house. Had John not been enraptured in the pleasure he was receiving himself, he would've heard the sound of steps approaching him. It wasn't until the couple heard the sound of someone clearing their throat that the two stopped in their ministration.
"Looks like someone got their hand caught in the cookie jar," a male voice said.
"More like sometwo," a female voice.
The two turned to see Adriana, Mike, Maria, Linda, and Kelly in the kitchen doorway staring right at them. The two of them immediately removed their hands from their *ahem* current positions and jumped apart out of the chair, sporting tomato red blushes of embarrassment at being caught in the act.
"I see what you meant by John and his "friend" being "busy" now Mike," Adriana said, putting air quotes around friend and busy. This just caused their blushed to turn even redder.
"Come here," Mike said grabbing John in a headlock and gave him a noogie. "You sly dog you." This did not help John at all. Eventually they relented.
"So Cortana," Kelly started, trying to break the awkward tension that filled the air, "Maria told us that you're human now. How does it feel?"
"*cough* aside from John *cough*," Mike mumbled but was still heard, earning a hard punch to his arm. That statement caused Cortana to turn so red that her hair seemed to be turning purple.
"It is amazing," she stated, standing up. "It's just all so amazing, being able to experience all this that you do every day. The sights, the smells, the tastes-"
"The touches," Mike said, getting a punch on each arm by Maria and Adriana.
Cortana giggled at Mikes antics. "Yes, that too, and the sou-"
Screaming from upstairs cut Cortana off. All the Spartans rushed up the stairs, with Cortana pulling up the rear. When they reached the lounge they saw Fred and Jai, now defrosted, standing in opposite sides of the couch with fingers pointed accusingly ay each other.
"Why were you sleeping next to me?" Fred yelled at Jai.
"Why did you have your arm over me?" He retorted.
"I have no clue. I'm not gay though."
"Yeah, well neither am I. I'm with Adriana."
"Hey, offense taken!" Kelly yelled at the screaming guys as she wrapped her arm around Linda.
"Sorry," the two male Spartans said.
"What happened?" John asked.
"We have no idea. One moment our mouths were burning and our heads were in the freezer because of Maria-"
"We're going to get back at you for that," Jai interrupted.
"And the next thing we know, we wake up from sleeping next to each other!" Fred exclaimed.
"Maria, care to explain?" John asked.
Had said person not have been a Spartan as well, she would have cringed under the glare of Fred and Jai. Instead she just had a sheepish expression on her face with one of her hands rubbing the back of her head. "Sorry guys. You kind of passed out in the freezer, so I moved you guys out of the way up here. I didn't think you'd flip out from it." As a Spartan, if glares could kill, Maria would be M.I.A. ten times over with the glare Fred and Jai were giving her. "Before you guys try anything to get back at me though, I should warn you, I've got pictures of you two passed out, and I'm more than willing to release them to the public."
"You wouldn't," Fred said.
"I would," she replied, handing a photo to Fred. "Here's one of the pictures. Do what you want with it, I've got plenty more."
Fred's eyes twitched upon seeing the photo. Seeing this, Jai circled the couch and peered over Fred's shoulder, his eyes began doing the same as Fred's. The picture showed Fred and Jai's heads frozen with icicles on certain points and their lips three times their normal size. But that was only half of it. The two were also in a rather compromising position with Fred's arm around Jai's waist and their faces just an inch apart.
And then Fred ripped it to shreds so no one could ever see it again.
"Like I said, I have a million others, so don't try anything funny," Maria said. And with that, she headed back down the stairs.
Jai and Fred stared at each other, and realized they now had a mission: They had to destroy the photos before Maria could release them. They too headed downstairs to spy on Maria and see if they could find where she's hiding the photos. Well, at least they were going, until Adriana grabbed hold of Jai and pulled him in for a quick kiss for "reassurance", then pushed him back to follow Fred down the stairs.
Unfortunately, his foot caught a rug in front of the stairs, tripping him, and sending him tumbling down the stairs. Fred was unfortunate enough to be caught in the tumble, and when the two stopped at the bottom, they were in yet another compromising position.
"Another one for my collection," Maria said as she pulled out her camera and captured the moment, before walking off to store the photo.
The other II's plus Cortana were looking down as this unfolded. Maria's nonchalant attitude at getting the two in such a position caused them to have to stifle a giggle for Jai and Fred's sakes.
"Does this kind of stuff happen here often?" Cortana asked.
"Kinda, yeah," Linda said.
"I could get used to this," Cortana said with a grin as Fred and Jai scrambled apart. They started to try to quietly follow Maria, but from where everyone else stood that was near impossible. If they could hear them make the floorboards creak from up there, then Maria would definitely hear them. They turned away from the stairs after the duo left their line of sight. Before they got half-way, though, there was a crash, followed by yelling and the click of a camera, earning giggles and laughs from everyone present, save Adriana who just face-palmed at her boyfriend's antics.
1724 hours, February 27, 2559 (Military Calendar)/ Inside UNSC lab outside Nairobi
'Where the hell is he,' was the thought raging through Dr. Halsey's head at the moment as she marched on a war path to one of the other labs.. She had reviewed the data from Cortana's transfer, and by some miracle, everything was as it was supposed to be. That didn't mean she was any less angry at Stein for nearly fucking up the entire procedure with his "accident".
"Sandler!" Halsey yelled upon entering the lab. At a computer on the far side of the lab, next to a holotank, was a tall brunette woman in a sterile white lab coat. Her name was Elizabeth Sandler and she, along with the labs resident dumb A.I. Kaumātua, was the lab's data keeper, so she'd know everything on everyone that worked there.
"Y-yes D-doctor," she said with a stutter, afraid of the Doctor's tone, turning from her work on the computer.
"Do you know where Stein is?" She asked in almost a growl.
"Ah, g-give me a second," she said as she turned back towards the computer and entered several commands. "Video feed shows him sneaking to the rear of the lab, then getting picked up by an unmarked Pelican heading in the direction of the Cairo platform."
"Hm, that's strange," Halsey said.
"If you think that's strange, you should see this," Kaumātua said as he suddenly appeared on the holotank, startling Sandler. Kaumātua's avatar was that of an elderly Māori man in traditional garb. "According to the records, there are no records. Of Robert Stein that is, at least until he was put on your payroll three years ago. And aside from the basic name and contact number, we have nothing on him. No place of residency, no previous place of work, no school, nothing."
"How'd he get the job then?" Halsey asked.
"I… do not know," he said. "That information is heavily encoded, beyond the means you have provided me with my programming."
"Very well Kaumātua. Thank you for revealing this bit of information. I'll have to investigate more on this revelation on Stein." With that, Dr. Halsey left the room.
'Who are you Stein?' was the new thought that now raged through her mind.
2237 hours, February 27, 2559 (Military Calendar)/ Home of Doctor Catherine Elizabeth Halsey
John, Cortana, Kelly, Linda, Mike, and Adriana had taken to the lounge area after the escapades that occurred after lunch. Both John and Kelly had their respective partners sitting in their laps as they sat in two of the large armchairs, while Mika and Adriana took to a couch.
The group talked mostly of what life has been like in the house with professional soldiers acting like children. Mike and Adriana did most of the talking, as John and Cortana had only just recently arrived, and, having heard experienced these stories firsthand, Kelly and Linda zoned out, paying attention only to each other.
Both John and Cortana were extremely intrigued, if not also slightly disturbed, by the antics the Spartans have been up to. The one the made them laugh the hardest was one that had to do with Ash's squad, handcuffs, duct tape, speedos, rope, a Falcon, and a camera. Mike said that Jai had pictures, but they had to be quiet about it or else Olivia would sneak up on him and Jai and strangle them in their sleep.
At some point in time, Fred and Jai were seen limping up the stairs. With just a quick look at the others, the message was conveyed that their mission was still in progress, but for now they needed some rack time. With that, the two headed to their respective rooms. The resounding thumps signified that the two had collapsed onto their beds. Maria came upstairs soon afterwards with a devious smirk on her face as she passed by the lounge and went to her room as well. After a little more talk of the insanity that occurs in the house with the different groups of Spartans, the group in the lounge decided to turn it in, just at the same time the III's returned. Each of them went to their respective rooms, either alone or with their "room-mate," save Cortana who had yet to be given a room, so she opted to follow John to his. Upon entering John turned his head to the side at the sight on his bed. Cortana slipped around his body to see what was holding him up. Looking straight ahead she saw what caused John to stop.
"Guess I'm bunking with you John," she said. On his bed were several sets of women's clothes, with the underwear on top. Cortana entered the room and moved the clothes to an empty drawer to save John from embarrassment. "Okay John, you can look now," she said in a half mocking/half playful tone.
John turned his head to face Cortana, whose face was in the "are you serious" expression. "Really John? After what happened during lunch I'd think you wouldn't make a big deal of this."
John's only response to this was another embarrassed smile and a hand behind his head. She just shook her head and entered the bathroom to get ready for bed. When she exited, John entered and took his turn at getting ready. Upon exiting he removed his shirt, shoes, socks, and shorts, tossing said items in a laundry hamper by the door. Turning to his bed, he saw that Cortana had already made herself comfortable under the covers in his- their bed. She patted the left side of the bed, inviting John to join her.
He accepted the invite and slipped into the bed. As soon as he was under Cortana grabbed hold of his arm and pulled it to her chest. Her bare chest. He could feel the soft orbs being squeezed against his arm.
Cortana moved her head so that her mouth was right in front of his ear and said, "Thank you John," then gave him a kiss on the cheek.
He turned to face her and asked, "For what?"
"For everything. For saving me from Guilty Spark, the Gravemind, myself." She paused for a moment. "You're the reason I'm here right now. You've given me a reason to go on, and a new adventure to go with it. I don't know if I'll ever be able to thank you enough." One of her hands started to snake up his arm and around his neck.
"If either of us should be thankful it should be me. If I didn't have you around, I probably would've been dead right now, along with the rest of the galaxy. Or worse," he said as her hand grazed a scar on the back of his neck, right where a flood form almost infected him on the first Halo, had it not been for Cortana's quick thinking. That was something they both knew he'd like to forget, so she moved her hand up, away from it.
"I guess we are a perfect match then," Cortana said as she inched her face closer to John's.
"I guess we are," he said in a hushed whisper, just before his lips latched onto hers. He tried to circle his arms around her, but was too difficult with Cortana lying on her side. Seeing his issue with her current position, she broke the kiss moved herself onto her knees and straddled John. To stay level with her, John shifted to more of sitting against the backboard of the bed. By now the blankets had fallen down the bed, covering only the lower parts of their legs. John could once again see Cortana's body in all its glory. Her gentle curves, her flat stomach, her well-endowed breasts. But the one part that got him were her eyes. An electric blue unlike that of anyone else. She could see into him with them, and he her in turn. They were something that he hoped he could see every day for the rest of his life.
Cortana re-engaged the kiss and ran her tongue along John's lower lip, asking for him to open. He complied and soon their tongues were engaged for the third time that day. This time, however, there was no fighting. It was just sweet, blissful caresses between the two, each taking turns exploring the other's mouth or mixing with the other.
Their hands didn't lay idle in this exchange. John's hands had worked their way to Cortana's side and were heading south while hers laid on his battle scarred chest. John's hands reached Cortana's lower back and started to trace circles along the skin, while Cortana's had traveled to his abdominals. There was no stomach there, just muscle from 8 years of training and 27 years of war.
John's hands started to get adventurous; one of them traveling lower, over the curve and onto Cortana's left cheek. His hand started rub, causing Cortana to moan into the kiss and arch her chest forward in pleasure.
The feel of her soft body squirming under his hands, her fingers along his abdominals, the vibrations of her moans, and the taste of her kiss was driving John crazy. So crazy that he started to wonder what her soft body would taste like.
Abruptly, John broke the kiss, earning a mewl of disappointment from Cortana, but that was short lived as she felt John's lips and tongue latch onto a pulse point on her neck, introducing greater pleasure to her system than the kiss had, causing her to release a throaty moan. Then there was a brief moments of pain.
He'd bit her. Not enough to draw blood, but enough that it would leave a mark. John's mark on her. She decided to return the favor and latched onto to his thick neck with her lips. After a moment and a moan at this ministration, Cortana bit into John's neck, leaving her own, albeit smaller, mark on John. Then John's kisses started to descend, slowly going from her neck to her collar bone. Before going any further, John flipped them so that he was on top, straddling Cortana with his arms on either side of Cortana's head. His kisses continued southward, pausing to lick and nip the Cortana skin, until he reached the swells of her chest. Upon reaching those he stopped his kisses. Instead, he hovered his head over them with his nose just touching the porcelain skin of the mounds. His hot breath was driving Cortana crazy and she arched her chest forward to feel more of John, but he just pulled away.
When she finally set herself down John began his ministrations again, this time with his tongue. It would circle one breast several times around the nipple, then dip into the valley between her breasts before doing the same to the other, then head back to the first.
Cortana was squirming moaning under the feel of his tongue. 'Where did he learn to do this,' she wondered as she let out another moan. She would have to find out, but not now.
John had paused at Cortana's left breast, earning a mewl of dissatisfaction. Hearing this, John grinned as he enveloped the breast in his mouth and ran his tongue over the soft flesh as he grasped the other with his left hand, kneading it gently. Every time his tongue ran across her nipple she let off a small moan. Then, doing as he had done with her neck, her bit her nipple and pinched the other, earning an even loader moan then before. He then released it with a wet *plop* and switched his attention to her other breast as his right hand came down to play with her left. Doing the same he had done with her left breast, John got another loud moan from Cortana. He then started his south bound trail of kisses yet again.
Slowly, but steadily, he moved his mouth to her core, but not before sending his left hand in to explore while his right played with her breasts some more. Upon reaching her panties, he felt that they were soaking went. He looked up at her from his ministrations and flashed a devilish smile before returning his attention down south. He moved her underwear aside from her sex and inserted a finger into her warm, wet depths, earning a guttural groan of pleasure. He started to pump slowly in and out of her tight depths, each one earning a load moan from Cortana.
As he did this he continued his trail of kisses, giving pause at her navel to dip his tongue in, earning a short giggle from Cortana that quickly turned into another moan. He then re-continued his kisses until he reached her soaked panties. He paused for a moment, taking in the sweet, musky aroma of Cortana's arousal. He then removed finger from the core, earning him a whine in protest.
Cortana felt a tug at her underwear. She looked down to see John pulling at the elastic of her panties. Deciding to help him out, she pulled her leg from beneath him and stuck them in the air, allowing John to remove the offensive undergarment and toss it aside.
Cortana spread her legs open, baring her naked form to the world, so that John would have easier access to continue. He leaned back down and reinserted his finger into her along with a second one, causing her to moan again as they pumped in and out, in and out. John's tongue found itself on her hairless pubis area (courtesy of Halsey) and descended to little bump just above her lower lips. Upon touching it, Cortana squirmed and released a moan from deep within her lungs. Seeing how good this felt, John decided to play with tis bump, licking it this way and that and biting it every so often. At one point John had added a third finger to the two pumping into her core, and that was it.
Cortana felt something in her low stomach constrict and release. When it released, Cortana felt a wave of pleasure, then collapsed.
The release she had felt was her juices, which were now all along her inner thigh and John's hand. Curious, he decided to taste Cortana's essence. She tasted sweet, if not a little musky. Liking it, he lapped up the juices from his hands and Cortana's inner thighs.
He then moved back up to face the breathless Cortana and asked, "Are you ready?"
His answer came in a simple, weak nod. Getting his answer, John stood up off the bed and removed his final article of clothing, and returned to supporting himself over her.
"Are you sure you want this Cortana? It's going to hurt," he said in genuine concern. He was a forty something year old virgin, he could wait a little longer if he had too.
"Yes I'm sure I want this, because it's you doing it," she replied. John gave her a quick kiss on the lips before he positioned himself at her entrance. Slowly, but steadily, his Spartan pushed its way through Cortana's tight, warm, and moist cavern. Then it hit a barrier, causing Cortana to twitch in pain.
"Are you okay?" John asked.
"Yes, I'm fine, just let me…" She circled her arms around him so that her hands grasped his back. "Just do it quickly, please," she said.
Nodding, John leaned his head forward and caught her in a kiss that he hoped would lessen her attention towards the pain. He pulled his member out until the head was just inside her, then he rammed it into her, breaking the barrier. Tears formed in Cortana's eyes at this action and let off a scream muffled by John's kiss. John pulled his lips from hers and looked at her. Tears were flowing from her eyes which tugged at John's heart, wishing he hadn't caused her any pain. He leaned forward and kissed each tear that was running down her face away, attempting to make it up to her.
After a few minutes of remaining in that position, Cortana gave John a nod, signaling that he could start again.
He started slowly, bringing his length almost all the way out, and then pushing it all the way back in, causing Cortana to wince. He did this for a while until Cortana stopped wincing and started to moan again.
Becoming dissatisfied with the pace, Cortana started telling John, between moans, to go faster and harder, which he complied. Cortana's moans were becoming so load that had they not been intoxicated by bliss, they'd be worried that they might wake everyone else up. But they were, so they weren't. John was being pretty vocal too, letting out grunts of pleasure at every thrust as Cortana's sex seemed to suck him in every time.
John's hands travelled to her sides again for support while Cortana started to buck into his thrusts, increasing their pleasure. Soon she began to feel that same tightening in her lower stomach, and released.
However, John did not feel the same, due to his Spartan stamina, so when Cortana should've relaxed she was already being stimulated again by John's thrusts.
She started to moan John's name for the next several minutes as John continued to thrust into her. Then the familiar tightening occurred for the third time that night. This time she was not alone, as John started to pick up pace, nearing his own climax.
When the tightening finally released for the third time that night, Cortana screamed John's name. The feeling of the release around his member set him off, and after one last thrust, he released himself inside Cortana, screaming her name, and then collapsed to the side of her.
The two of them just stared with loving gazes at each other for a while. Whether it was for seconds, minutes, or hours, neither of them knew, but it ended with four little words.
"I love you Cortana."
"I love you too John."
And with that, John pilled the covers over them, and the two lovers united fell into a blissful sleep, knowing that there was a future for the two of them, away from war, in which they could be happy and in love with each other.
End Chapter
Māori- the indigenous Polynesian people of New Zealand.
Kaumātua- respected tribal elders of either gender in a Māori community appointed by their people who believe the chosen elders have the capacity to teach and guide both current and future generations. Kaumātua are referred to as being the "keepers of knowledge and traditions of the family, sub-tribe and tribe".
A.N.: Wow….. That was a doozy. That, my friends, was my first lemon ever written. I hope you guys enjoy it, because I got blue balls just from writing it. On a slightly unrelated note, did anyone see the Halo 4 trailer? The way Cortana called for John, I think I'm not so far off on her feelings for him. And the way he responded. Definite reciprocation. And Halo is being redone this fall. The bad news is that Halo 4 now throws the legitimacy of this story out the window, but then again that's why it's called fanfiction. Back to the story, I promised you guys a lemon, and you got it. And I threw in a little on Stein, which will help in the plot further down the line. Next chapter will be the tests on the new armor, and then I'll probably time skip to the invasion arc, though I may put filler chapters between if I get enough plot bunnies that fit. I'll put a poll on my profile for that. Well, now I need to go study. If I fuck up the Global Regents tomorrow, I blame you guys. Thanks for reading, please R&R (read and review). Spartan Ninja out.