"Sit." Her single word left no room for argument, so Sturges meekly planted himself on one of the kitchen chairs. He knew he was in trouble; she'd caught him pulling an all-nighter again, and he had to admit that she made her opinion on this habit very clear. What he didn't understand was why she'd instructed him to change out of his coveralls and into a simple undershirt and jeans before their confrontation.

Taking in his penitent form, she clicked her tongue. "Sturges, you just can't help yourself, can you? Always have to be working around the clock on your projects for everyone else."

"I'm sorry, Vera, I don't know where the time goes," he mumbled, ducking his head. "Before I know it, the sun's comin' up…"

She ran a hand along the stubble of his sideburn before cupping under his chin, forcing him to meet her gaze. It surprised him when he caught a mischievous glint in her pale green eyes. "Clearly, I'm going to have to teach you a lesson about relaxing, seeing as you have failed to learn it from my lectures. Of course, if at any point you don't like what I do, you need to tell me, do you understand?"

Sturges furrowed his brow in confusion. "What's that supposed to mean? I thought I was gettin' a scolding."

She trailed her hand down to his shoulder, now mirrored by her other hand, and they began to massage the corded muscles at the base of his neck. "Well, one way or another, I plan on making your head spin…"

He had to admit, the massage delivered by her purposeful fingers felt good. The tightness in his shoulders that he didn't even realize he was carrying gradually faded away as she worked. "So far, this doesn't seem like punishment."

"Like I said, I plan on teaching you a lesson. I never said it was going to be punishment," she breathed in his ear. His eyes widened, but before he could respond, she began gently sucking at his pulse-point. A soft moan from her throat, and much to his surprise, he felt something stir within him. Her hands were now tracing down burly biceps, feather light and more suggestive than actually massaging. All the while, he couldn't decide what he should be doing in response. Was he supposed to kiss her back? Hold her? Was he even allowed to touch, or was he supposed to be still as she dispensed her 'lesson'?

This meditation was interrupted as her thumbs brushed over his nipples. While he wasn't sensitive enough for this to make him shudder, it certainly got his attention. It also made her direction pretty clear. "You want to know why I had you change into those jeans?"

"I…umm…" He had a pretty good idea, but it was impossible to answer as she lowered herself to her knees before him, hands resting on his hips. Something about seeing her looking up at him from this position affected him more than any touch she'd given thus far.

"Your coveralls are a pain in the ass to get off." Vera lazily ran her thumbs along the waistband of his jeans, stopping at the button. "This is not something we've done before. Make sure you tell me 'no' if you truly don't want it, if it makes you uncomfortable. However, I don't want you saying 'no' because you think you don't deserve it. The first is completely your call, but the latter is mine, and I know exactly what I want to do to you." Slowly, she unfastened the button, never taking her eyes off of his face as she worked. Then, she tugged the zipper down at an excruciating speed.

She was greeted by a tent in his underwear. Sturges flushed in embarrassment. Arousal was still something foreign to him, something he hadn't dealt with in years until Vera began to affect him. Hell, even still, he didn't experience it without her. Was it bad for him to have responded this way already?

A pleased smile from Vera put that fear to rest. "Good to see you are looking forward to the lesson." She traced the outline of the bulge with the tip of her thumb, causing him to huff in surprise. "Let's free you so we can begin. Lift your hips for me." It was all Sturges could do to brace himself and lift himself off the seat of the chair so she could slide jeans and underwear down to his ankles. Was it the chill in the air or the feeling of being exposed before her that made him shiver?

The chill didn't last long, as her lips began to trail up and down the length of him, ultimately parting to take him. It was warm and wet and heavenly, though it once again perplexed him behind the haze why he could have sworn he'd experienced this without remembering any names or faces of girls in his past. And just like before, it ceased to matter the more intense her ministrations became.

"Fuck!" he gasped, clenching his jaw at the flick of her tongue. Both hands were firmly gripping the seat of the chair. It took all his strength not to buck into her face.

To his dismay, she pulled off at this outburst. Her grin was positively devilish as she brushed a loose strand of hair behind her ear. "Shh, Sturges, you don't want the others to wonder what's going on in here, do you?"

"No…"

"Then you'll have to be quieter, won't you?" With one last cheeky smile, she bowed her head and resumed her work, pulling him in even deeper than before as her hands latched onto his hips. Quiet? Easier said than done, especially given the sinful things she was doing to him! He managed to limit his outbursts to heavy breathing and the occasional hiss of pleasure until he was right on that precipice.

"Vera…" he pleaded through gritted teeth. Looking down to search for a sign that she would have mercy on him, he noticed for the first time the stunning image of her between his legs, mouth wrapped around him, and eyes looking up innocently. It was over whether she intended for it or not. Only his hand hastily pressed over his mouth kept him from making this widely known as white hot pleasure coursed through his body.

As he savored the aftershocks, it occurred to him that she hadn't released him even when he spilled. When she finally pulled off, he could see the hints of seed and saliva trickling at the corners of her mouth before she wiped it with the back of her hand. He may have gaped a little at that sight. "Holy shit, Vera! How the hell is that gonna get me to stop my bad behavior?"

"Are you relaxed now?" she inquired simply, slowly getting back on her feet.

Relaxed? His entire body felt like a limp noodle. In fact, the idea of getting up and pulling his pants back up seemed far too daunting at the moment. "Well, yeah…"

"Doesn't it feel good?"

"…yeah." He hated admitting that, because logic dictated that there was nothing necessary or practical about what she had just done to him. Instead of articulating this thought, he instead wondered "But how does that help you?"

"You'll just have to trust me when I say that I am well satisfied." Vera paused thoughtfully, tilting her head. "Like I said before, you need to be taken care of too. You are not a machine, you can't keep doing this to yourself. If you continue forgetting to sleep, I'm going to have to dedicate myself to wearing you out in other ways. You don't like being responsible for me throwing myself at you without thinking about my own needs, then you need to hold up your end of the deal. Do you understand?"

"Are you sure you don't want me to do somethin' for you?" he insisted, feeling the sharp pang of guilt just as she predicted.

"No time. You'd better get your pants back on before somebody catches you." Finally, he was feeling chastised. What a devious woman she was… Caught without any excuse, he dragged himself to his feet and did as she suggested. The last thing he needed was for someone to barge in and catch him naked from the waist down.

"I'm sorry," he attempted as he pulled up his fly. "Vera, this is too much! You told me to tell you when things got uncomfortable, and they've been amazing until this right here. I can't stand you using…that…as leverage. I'll try to do better, honest I will, but…"

Vera's face seemed to pale. "God, Sturges, I didn't mean for that to be manipulative! It's just that you make me worry about you. I wanted you to unwind, I wanted to help you unwind because I know you won't do it for yourself. The sex wasn't supposed to be part of a guilt trip, I swear!"

Wordlessly, he opened his arms, inviting her to his embrace. It was an invitation she took up immediately. "Thank you for takin' care of me, Vera darlin'. It felt amazing. I don't like not bein' able to reciprocate, but I'll just have to make it up to you another time, you got it?"

"Got it."

Before she could take her leave, he leaned down to kiss her. It was quite a surprise to get that particular taste when his mouth met hers, and when he startled, she broke away with a laugh. "Not used to that, huh? Do you want to go get some water to wash it out?"

He nodded quickly. "And, uh, one more thing."

"Yes?" She looked up at him, curious.

Sturges scratched the back of his head awkwardly. "I was thinkin' that maybe, when you are here in Sanctuary, it would be possible to…share a bed with you? I mean, you know, I'd definitely go to bed at a decent time if I knew you were waitin' for me. I understand if that's weird or you don't want people findin' out, or…"

Vera blushed, but a pleased smile made it clear that the idea was not offensive. "I'd like that, Sturges."

He exhaled. "Then we've got a date for your bed, ten o'clock sharp?"

She snorted in amusement. "I suppose we do." Vera reached out and linked her arm in his. "I look forward to it."