Hello lovelies - here is one of the chapters that got the story its M-rating...enjoy!

When he arrived back at his quarters, Bones pulled up short to see Christine sitting at his modest kitchen table; she was enjoying what appeared to be some type of noddles with a sauce that smelled richly of sugar and toasted sesame seeds while she read from her PADD.

'Nurse Chapel, to what do I owe the honour?'

Christine glanced over, gave him a grin as she swallowed down her mouthful of dinner. 'Taking my meal break in here, I cannot stand to listen to one more ounce of Picardo being an insufferable know it all right now.'

'Oh?'

'I'm using my slow night to get my charting done so it's up to date before we go on shore leave next week and he's insisting we use a slow night for inventory, even though we don't have to do inventory for another five weeks.'

'Well he is a thorough sort,' Bones pointed out, 'it's what makes him a good doctor.'

'He's a fastidious little ponce,' Christine retorted as Bones opened the take-away container from the mess hall she'd put on the counter for him, 'it's what makes him a pain in the ass.'

'Thought you liked him.'

'Yeah as my physician when he's treating my well-being, but as a shift colleague that's a whole other kettle of fish. Plus every time I make mention of any type of off shift plans, he gets this little sneer on his face and obliquely asks if it's going to be with you.'

Now Bones' radar pinged. 'Is he being inappropriate, harassing you?'

'No, it's more like he's trying to find a way to get me to trip myself up so he can report me for violating Star Fleet code.' Christine waved it off, gestured for him to join her. 'Right now I wanna know why you've got your thinking face on.'

'My thinking face?'

'That look you're wearing right now is the one you always where when you're wrestling with a decision. What's on your mind? Are you thinking that you need to talk to Mel again about the custody issue of Joanna living with her grandparents?'

'No…well, not entirely.' Bones picked up his fork and sighed happily when he saw that while she'd had Tyrollean shrimp added to her noodles, she'd got him good old fashioned grilled chicken in a sticky spicy sauce. 'The captain wants to bring Joanna on board for a school thing for a few weeks.'

He outlined the conversation he'd had with Kirk, saw Christine's eyes go bright with interest while her face stayed neutral. 'I think she'd love it, but there's a lot of factors to consider.'

'Yes there are, but I think ultimately you have to look at one key question - is this what is best for Joanna's education and life experience?'

'Of course it is,' Bones replied, stabbing what appeared to be a large chunk of sautéed celery. 'I want her to experience things. Melanie kept cutting her off from doing stuff because Mel wanted to keep the money she'd spend on Joanna's fun for herself. It's a big part of the reason why Jo's now living with Mel's parents.'

'I still can't tell if that's made it easier or harder for you,' Christine sighed as she twirled noodles into a neat little nest.

'Easier, no question. Helen and Arnold are great people, they love Joanna and they don't like how lazy a mother Mel turned out to be so they are doing everything they can to give Joanna the experiences she deserves. Did I show you the California tech expo photos with her robotics club?'

'Twice.' Christine tiled her head, looked at him. 'You're not worried about Joanna coming out here for school, you're worried about what it'll do to our power balance.'

'Jesus woman, you're positively clairvoyant somedays.'

'Or I have a woman's intuition combined with a vested interest in understanding how you work. Recall if you will one of the main reasons you were initially against us getting together-'

'I was never against getting together with you, I was worried my interest was one sided and I had too many strikes against me,' he corrected her, absently playing with her fingers resting on the table.

'One of the reasons for your rock-headed stubborn hesitation was that you were worried you were only seen by me as a dad. Somedays you don't understand how appealing it is to see you in dad mode.'

Bones arched his eyebrow, gave her a look as Christine nonchalantly continued twirling noodles with her chopsticks. 'Really.'

'Women like a man who is good with kids because it usually means he is in touch with his emotions and not thinking he has to be Mister Macho all the time. He is comfortable enough in his own skin to be silly or sensitive or strict as the situation demands.' Christine grinned around a mouthful of shrimp. 'Plus, you know, any time you smile it melts my heart.'

'Same goes, darlin',' Bones replied, picking up her hand and grazing her knuckles with his lips. 'Tell you what, how about once I'm off shift and I come over for dessert, I can tell you more about it.'

'Oh, I don't know if I'll be in the mood for-'

'Barilkian merlot, cheesecake ice cream and a back rub?'

Bones felt his defences melt. 'Oh you do fight dirty,' he sighed, 'but just know I'm still overtired so I'm setting myself to rights tonight with an early bedtime.'

'Then we'll make it a quick snack all the way around.' Christine winked, finishing off the last of her noodles when her communicator signalled. 'Picardo, I'm on my way.'

'Good to hear, Nurse Chapel, we have a few patients that need attending to.'

'What- oh fuck off,' she groused when the line went dead, then looked at her man. 'Let's skip the ice cream and go straight for the wine, and if the rubbing doesn't get to be too much we can talk more about Joanna's school trip here.'

'Great plan.'

By the time Christine made it the few feet from Medical back into Bones' quarters at the end of her shift, she was ready to weep. They'd just finished attending to the flux of patients - apparently there had been a minor mishap in Engineering on the warp core deck and there were a few burns and cuts in need of attention - when Kirk dragged a semi-conscious Sulu through the door himself. It seemed the unflappable helmsman had been complaining of a horrible blinding pain in his side when he all but passed out at his post, and after a few quick tests Picardo had had to perform an emergency appendectomy on the poor chap.

Yawning, stretching as she reached to the back of her neck to unzipped her surgical tunic, Christine stopped short when she saw the single hothouse gardenia blossom on the table along with all of Bones' neatly folded clothes and a note cube blinking green with one unread message.

Laughing, Christine picked up the cube no bigger than a strawberry and press the button; the message flashed in a text hologram rather than voice recording.

Seems your dessert is already unwrapped xoxo

'What a guy,' she muttered, then obliging him since she knew this game well by now, stripped to her panties and took the flower with her into his bedroom where she wanted to weep. Bones was laying in bed on his stomach as he read on his PADD, two bottles of Delta Colony beer on the bedside table; only one was open, while the other sat beside a tube of thin green gel. Christine knew if she opened it, she'd get a whiff of lemon-lime and shea butter.

'Hey there bookworm.'

Bones glanced up, grinned when he saw her mostly naked. 'Now there's a sight that can stop traffic on any planet. Come on over here.'

Christine fell gracelessly face-first onto the bed, inched her way over her him. 'Picardo is a dumbass,' she muttered into the pillow, making Bones chuckle. 'Do you know what it's like to work with someone who makes you feel like they're out to get you at nearly every turn?'

'Yes, yes I do, they're called droids.'

'Har har. Perhaps let's get to that drink and back rub now?'

'Absolutely.'

Bones put his PADD on the bedside table, picked up the bottle of massage gel and warmed a little in his hands. He glided them over her smooth skin and grew aroused as she moaned lightly under his touch.

'Feels so good, baby,' she sighed, flexing her fingers and toes as the long day began to drift away. 'Especially after that last patient.'

'Yeah?'

'Poor Hikaru, his appendix burst like a water balloon midway through his own shift and Kirk pretty much had to throw him through the door.'

'Ouch.'

'He's lucky the captain brought him in time, before he….oh, God that feels good.' Christine lost her train of thought almost instantly the moment that Bones pressed the heels of his good strong hands into the small of her back. She knew she carried a lot of tension in that part of her body, and it was why she liked to make use of the wet shower for the pulsing laser-like quality the various jets of water offered. 'Leo?'

'Yeah?'

'Move your right hand around to the front, would you?'

'Where?' Bones pressed his palm against her lower belly as Christine lifted her hips ever so slightly. 'Here?'

'Lower.'

'Here?'

'A little lower, and turn your hand so your fingers point down.'

Bones pursed his lips as his palm reached her mons and turning his wrist meant his fingers now rested between her thighs where she was already going wet for him. 'Here?'

'Yup, that's the one.'

'Very well.'

Obliging his beloved, Bones stroked his fingers over her; his own annoyance at feeling a little manipulated by a beautiful woman was greatly outweighed by the way Christine's body responded to his touch, her hips rising and falling in rhythm as he stroked her. His own arousal grew when Christine rolled to her back and circle her fingers around his wrist so as to lift his hand to her lips and kiss it.

'God damn, Chris, that's hot,' he managed to get out before she reached down and began to stroke him. He let himself shudder just a little, tried to keep his brain clear. 'Darlin', tonight it's my turn to help you unwind.'

'Then maybe instead of using this for talking-' she traced her fingertips over the outline of his mouth, nipped at his lower lip '-you could use it for exactly that.'

'You betcha, my love.' Bones rocked back on his heels, ran his hands up and down her thighs. 'Open wide.'

'Bad line, Doctor, you've got better than that in you.'

'And you will have the best in you in very short order.'

He kissed her once more, his hands gently squeezing her breasts; he felt Christine shudder in delight when his thumbs stroked over her nipples. He wanted to stay there and taste them, feeling the way she went slick with desire as his tongue slid over those beautiful dark pink pebbles. But he knew this was not about the long way home, this would be the quick dirty shagging that just hit the spot. Trailing kisses down her body, Bones planted a single one on the inside of each of her thighs before burying his face against her honeypot and tasting every last crevice of her lust-slickened vault.

Christine closed her eyes, her libido evaporating every thought in her mind except those of her love - she loved the way his sole purpose right now was only making her feel good. Her fingers combed through his hair, pausing every so often to grip him tight against her while his hands found her hips to keep her steady. She wanted to moan his name, tell him how good he was making her feel and had opened her mouth to do so when she felt two of Bones' fingers slip between her body and his mouth and gently open her so she felt his tongue dart in and out of her, quick and blinding as a lightning strike.

'Oh yes,' she moaned, head turning to the side as the orgasm overtook her, 'that's it right there, my love, oh god I want you to fuck me right now.'

'Same,' Bones growled lightly, and knowing she was ready enough for him, he slipped into her in one smooth motion. He adjusted his position so his weight rested on his elbows, her knees bracketing his hips while their hands twined together above her head; his lips slowly dotted hot lingering kisses over her neck and cheeks. He grinned when he saw the light in her eyes as she tightened around him, trembling as the orgasm flowed wordlessly through her body, then fused his mouth to hers when he emptied himself into her on a low moan.

Collapsing on top of her, Bones found energy enough to laugh. 'God I love when we get to fuck dirty, Christine.'

'I wouldn't call that dirty, but it was definitely fucking,' she chuckled, 'question is, who did it to whom?'

'Me to you, I was the one making you feel better, after all.'

'Fair point.' Christine stretched her arms over her head, then relaxed and let them fall onto his shoulders. 'The night Joanna leaves for home, I'll fuck your brains out to keep you from being a wreck, okay?'

'You know it, darlin'.'

'And speaking of her trip-'

'Oh, goodness not tonight, Chris,' Bones moaned, 'I'm not procrastinating, I'm just exhausted. Breakfast?'

'You spill your guts over pancakes or else I'll make you eat Kinney's experimental wheat pasta again.'

'Deal.'