Ch. 21 – I didn't know I was starving until I tasted you. – Starving, Hailee Steinfeld

x

"Is this it?" Kara was slightly surprised by the traditional two-story house where Danny apparently lived. She had always imagined him in a generic apartment close to the base like most of the single guys on the James, who saw no point to finding something nicer when they spent six months a year out to sea.

"Yes." Danny's tone was clipped, but Kara didn't take offense, suspecting that returning to the home he used to share with Frankie was harder than Danny was admitting. "Frankie and I rented the second floor along with a couple guys on another team. Since we were on different rotations, someone was usually around to keep an eye on the place."

Kara trailed behind Danny as they approached the front door, following him as he took an immediate right to climb the stairs. She waited at the entrance to the apartment while Danny cleared it, knowing that he would argue with her if she offered to help. Less than a minute passed before Danny reappeared.

"Are we good?" Kara asked.

"Yup. Make yourself comfortable while I grab the gear." And with that Danny disappeared back down the stairs.

Kara stepped over the threshold, her first impression that the place was messier than she would have expected. In the moonlight Kara could see that the kitchen counters were strewn with containers and the couch was piled with what looked to be someone's wardrobe. Although, to be fair, Kara's own apartment did not reflect her normal standards of cleanliness either. Kara followed Halsey down the hall towards one of the bedrooms, assuming it was Danny's until she pushed the door open and noticed the framed picture of the Benz family sitting on the wardrobe.

"Halsey, come," Kara ordered, without luck, as Halsey curled up in the middle of the large bed that took up more than half of the room.

"Halsey, ici!"

The firm command startled Kara, and she spun around. "Damn you're quiet."

Danny's teeth flashed. "Benefit of being special ops, sweetheart." But his grin faded as he glanced into the room Halsey was vacating, pulling the door closed behind the German Shepard. "Frankie always let the dog sleep in his bed. It used to drive his girlfriends nuts."

"I can understand why. Bad enough sharing with anyone, but a guy and his dog?" Kara joked. She turned, moving further down the hall. "So, Mr. Green, tell me, are you a blanket hog?"

"Nobody has ever complained before," Danny replied. Kara rolled her eyes. Of course nobody complained. Even if Danny did hog the covers or let the dog sleep with him or do something else equally obnoxious, he had other skills which more than made up for those failings. "Last door on the right."

Kara allowed Halsey to precede her into Danny's bedroom, taking the time to glance around. Again there were piles of clothes and camping gear covering most of the surfaces. Kara tried to think of something polite to say. "It smells better here."

"Less musty?" Danny sounded amused.

"If musty is a polite way of saying like shit," Kara retorted just as Danny entered the room.

"Holy fuck!" He stared at the disaster in his bedroom. "What were they doing here? Having an orgy?"

Kara didn't know whether to be relieved that Danny wasn't actually this much of a slob or scared that his first though was to wonder if his roommates had an orgy in his bedroom.

"Thank god I brought clean bedding," Danny muttered as he set up the camp light and began pulling the blue quilted comforter off the bed.

"You brought bedding?" Kara repeated, floored that he had even thought about it. She certainly had not.

"Figured we didn't want to sleep on eight month old sheets," Danny explained. "If you're hungry, Bacon gave me some snacks. They're in the duffel."

A smile played around Kara's mouth as she rummaged through the bag, her mind more on the benefits of clean sheets than the snack options, grabbing a package of nuts and cubed cheese. Kara made a mental note to thank Bacon the next time she saw him. The snacks in Danny's duffel were definitely a step up from the MREs she was expecting.

Leaving Danny to remake the bed himself, Kara pulled off her vest, realizing only after she removed it that there was nowhere to set her gear. Not bothering to ask, Kara moved the stack of Fish & Game magazines from the desk to the floor, setting her vest and service weapon down on the newly cleared space before cleaning off the chair and sitting down to remove her shoes. When she was done, Kara looked up to see Danny was done making the bed and was now removing his own gear, a much more involved process as he carried quite a bit of additional equipment and an extra gun. While she waited, Kara pulled the bobby pins from her hair, combing out the knots with her fingers as she finished the nuts.

Glancing up, Kara found Danny watching her, looking mesmerized by her fingers moving through her hair. Kara stood, crossing the room to slide her arms around his waist, studying his expression in the dim light.

"Clean sheets, huh?"

A flush crossed Danny's face. "Not that I'm expecting…I know we can't….I just thought…."

Kara arched an eyebrow at him, finally deciding to put him out of his misery, pulling his head down so she could brush her lips across hers. "It was a good idea. Thank you."

Danny's arms slipped around her waist and he leaned in to give her an equally soft kiss. "We should probably talk."

"Mmmm-hmmm," Kara murmured, one hand running down his back until she found the hem of his shirt, tugging at it until she reached warm skin, running her fingers along his waistband.

Danny shifted to kiss the soft underside of her chin, his voice low and husky. "So, what would you like to talk about?"

There were a thousand things that they needed to discuss, a thousand unresolved issues, but right now all Kara wanted to do was stand here with Danny's arms around her, to forget about the virus and the mission and the state of the world, to focus on this moment, this man. "Did I tell you about my conversation with Rachel?"

"No, is everything okay?" Danny leaned back slightly, his forehead wrinkling. He shook his head before answering his own question. "It is, right? Otherwise you wouldn't be here."

Kara took advantage of the space between their bodies to pull the front of Danny's shirt from his pants. "She lifted the no sex restriction."

That got Danny's attention, and in a moment later Kara was backed up until her knees hit the edge of the bed, causing her to sit, Danny's arms caging her to the bed as he bent to kiss her, stopping at the last second. "What exactly did she say? Just that sex is okay? Are there things we shouldn't do?"

Kara recalled her rather awkward conversation with Rachel that morning.

"Kara!"

Kara sneaked a peak at her watch as she turned towards Rachel. She was running late due to an unfortunately timed bout of morning sickness and had been hoping to make a quick stop at the officer's mess for a snack before her shift started, something that seemed more unlikely by the second. "Yes?"

"I understand that Captain Chandler is giving the crew shore leave and allowing you to return to you homes while we are in Norfolk," Rachel began.

Heart sinking, Kara hoped Rachel wasn't going to restrict her to the ship after all. "He did."

"I imagine that you and Danny will be spending some time together. I wanted to catch you alone so I could..."

Flushing, Kara quickly cut Rachel off, glancing around to make sure nobody was close enough to overhear, wondering if Rachel had somehow figured out what she and Danny were up to in storage closet. "Don't worry we won't be…breaking any more frat rule."

Rachel chuckled. "Actually, what I was going to say is that I am willing to lift that particular restriction so long as you promise to use common sense and stop if anything hurts or you have any bleeding and return to the ship immediately. It's your decision, of course - what you feel comfortable with. I won't say anything to Danny."

Kara wasn't sure her cheeks could get any redder. "I understand."

Rachel smiled indulgently as she began walking towards her lab. "Oh, and Kara?"

"Yes?"

"Good luck."

"No S&M," Kara replied cheekily, seeing no need to fill Danny in on all the details. She captured his face between her hands, her tongue stroking his bottom lip until he stopped trying to talk and began kissing her back, one hand tangling in her loose hair.

"I think I can handle that," Danny murmured when they finally parted, both breathing heavily. Kara returned to pushing his shirt up until Danny straightened, pulling it over his head. "Slow and steady wins the game."

Kara scooted back on the bed while Danny sat to remove his boots. Reaching forward, she ran a hand through his hair, which was longer and more unkempt than usual, and down the thick column of his back, enjoying the way the muscles shifted under her fingers. Free of his boots, Danny caught Kara's hand, pressing a kiss to the sensitive inside of her wrist, his eyes never leaving hers. Pushing up her sleeve, Danny kissed his way to her elbow before grinning suggestively. "Pretty sure you don't need that shirt."

Shivering under the intensity of his gaze, Kara slowly lifted the shirt over her head and slid her bra down her arms, suddenly feeling very vulnerable. Although Danny had seen the bruising and scars on her abdomen during her daily ultrasounds, there was something about being here, half naked, away from Rachel and the hospital bay, that made her more aware of the marks that now marred her mid-section.

But Danny didn't even seem to notice the scars, stretching out next to her and recapturing her lips, a thumb tracing her jawline while he plundered her mouth. Kara gripped his shoulders as the kiss stretched on and on, until, agonizingly slowly, Danny's hands moved to her waist, tracing patterns up and down her abdomen. When his hand grazed against the sensitive underside of her breast, Kara gasped, and Danny immediately pulled away.

"Too sore?" He asked, nibbling his way from her mouth to her chin, hand settling on her hip.

In response, Kara brought his hand back to her chest, her hand cradling his against her aching breast. "Just be gentle."

And he was, his touch feather light as he tormented one breast and then the other, drawing gasp after gasp from Kara until she was twisting against him, an unbearable tension building in her core. Determined to move things along, she dropped a hand to Danny's belt, only to have him stop her.

"Slow, remember?" He breathed the words against her neck before bypassing her breasts to press a kiss to her stomach. Letting out a surprised hiss, Kara jerked. Danny's head rose. "Did that hurt?"

"No." Kara muttered, taking advantage of his distraction to begin wiggling out of her own pants, since she could no longer reach Danny's belt. "Just not my most attractive feature."

"Kara." His quiet, serious tone forced her to give him her full attention. He rested a hand on her stomach, the heat from his body pouring into her. "You are beautiful. With or without these marks. All they do is show how fierce of a warrior you are. How hard you fought for our baby."

Tears pricking at her eyes, Kara smiled at him almost tentatively. "If I agree to take you at your word, will you agree to take off your pants?"

Stunned silence was followed by a bark of laughter, and then Danny rolled over, sliding his pants and boxers off in a single motion before returning to help Kara wiggle out of her remaining clothing.

"Who says I can't be accommodating?"

Kara intertwined their fingers as Danny settled in the cradle of her hips, keeping most of his weight on his elbows, bending down to capture her lips. Wrapping her legs around his waist, she pulled him closer, feeling him nudge against her entrance. By the time Danny broke the kiss to bury his head in her shoulder, they were both panting, bodies rocking against each other. Kara twisted against him, her entire focus on Danny, on the arousal pulsing through her veins.

"I need you inside me. Please."

She had expected him to tease her further, to drag it out, maybe even to make her beg, but instead he did as requested, pressing into her agonizingly slowly until, finally, she was holding him deep inside her. The sensation of being connected to Danny so intimately brought an overwhelming rush of emotion, and tears began to roll down Kara's face.

"Does it hurt? Do you want me to stop?" His voice was ragged, as though he was feeling the sane explosion of emotion.

"It's perfect." Forcing her eyes open, Kara stared at Danny, holding his gaze as she clenched her internal muscles around him, watching the way his mouth parted on a groan at the unexpected sensation.

"God you're amazing." He peppered her face with kisses as he slowly pulled out, only to slide back just as carefully, over and over again until Kara buried her face in his neck, biting down on his shoulder to keep from crying out. She shifted, one hand dropping to Danny's ass for leverage, allowing her to rise up to meet his thrusts, driving him deeper inside as the familiar sense of anticipation coiled within her. She was so close, so very close.

It was only when Danny hooked an arm under her knee, changing the angle of his thrusts that she realized she had spoken the words out loud. "That's it baby. That's it. Just like that."

And that was it, her body shattering, Kara barely noticing as Danny followed her over the edge two strokes later, rolling them both over rather than collapsing on top of her, their bodies still connected, limbs still tangled. "I love you."

Despite her exhaustion, Kara found her lips curling into a smile as she drifted to sleep. "I love you too."

She wasn't sure how long she slept before she woke to the blaring of her alarm, throwing out an arm to silence it, only to run into a solid male body. Confusion quickly turned to alertness as Kara realized that the sound wasn't her alarm and the body in her bed was Danny, who was already getting to his feet, weapon in hand.

"What is that?" Kara asked, sitting up and pulling on the first piece of clothing that she located – Danny's shirt.

"I set up an alarm on the front door. Someone just came in," Danny explained grimly as he handed her a weapon and the radio. "There's a fire escape out the window. If this sounds like it's going south get the hell out of here. Find somewhere to hide and call it in."

"What are you…"

Danny stopped her with a hard kiss to the mouth. "I won't let anyone hurt you ever again."