You Set Me Free- Chapter 6: "Touching"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Sleep was not Jacen Solo's friend that night. It seemed he couldn't get
comfortable despite how many times he switched sides or fluffed his pillow,
and it was all because of Danni. For some reason, she wouldn't stop
haunting his every thought, and the few times he did drift off, she had the
nerve to show up in his dreams.
Part of it was that he felt guilty about acting so ridiculous in front of her. If she didn't think of him as a man, then he could understand why after reflecting on his childish behavior with Dr. Ambross. And the last thing he wanted was for her to think he didn't respect her. Out of all the people he knew, she was right at the top of the list of those he admired most.
He had to make it right.
He waited until it was a more acceptable time before venturing out of his room, but as soon as he could, he took off to prove to her he was no child. He knew just where his uncle kept some extra supplies, so he picked up what he needed plus a couple cups of stimcaf and headed for Danni's room.
Jacen pressed the buzzer to her room and heard her muffled reply from the other side of the door.
"Just a minute," she called. In a few seconds, the door slid open and Jacen's jaw nearly dropped to the floor. There stood Danni, her long hair hanging loose in damp curls wearing nothing but a short, shimmering, silky looking robe. "Oh! Jacen, I didn't know it was you," she remarked as she gripped the top of her robe together. "Um, I, uh, just got out of the shower." She averted her eyes and looked nervously around the room, but Jacen could only stare straight ahead--- at her. "I guess you can come on in. Give me just a second and I'll be presentable," she called over her shoulder as she trotted back to the refresher.
She continued talking to him from the other room, but Jacen was still standing in the doorway dumbstruck, two cups of stimcaf growing colder by the minute. Finally, he snapped out of it and walked inside her room. He quickly found a place to set the hot drinks down and wiped a few beads of sweat from his forehead. Surely, the caf hadn't been that hot.
Soon enough she returned, to Jacen's dismay, fully clothed. Her hair was pulled back into a long braid and she wore a big smile on her face.
"Well, good morning!" she declared. "You're up and about early today."
"I, uh, brought you some stimcaf," he stated, pointing to the lukewarm cups of liquid sitting on a shelf, "only it might not be so hot anymore."
She laughed. "Oh, that's okay. I don't think I need it anyway. I slept great last night! How about you?" She was way too perky.
"So-so," he replied. It figured that she had gotten plenty of sleep while he had been lying in bed staring wide-eyed at the ceiling. Fate was a fickle master, he mused.
"But bringing you a cup of stimcaf was not my only reason for stopping by. I, uh, came to apologize for my behavior yesterday and to offer you a peace offering."
Danni stepped closer and touched his arm. "You don't have to apologize. We already figured this out last night. It's over now, and you don't have to give me anything."
"I don't have to do anything, but I want to anyway. I promised I'd give you some saber lessons, and I thought we might have our first one before we head back over to the Widowmaker later. What do you say?"
He didn't think it was possible for her face to look more radiant than it already did, but somehow it happened. She jumped into his arms and hugged him tightly. "I'd say that sounds wonderful!" Stepping back she held out her hand for him to take. "Lead the way, Master," she joked.
He looped her arm through his and patted her hand. "Master, huh? I could get used to hearing you say that," he winked and then wriggled his eyebrows suggestively.
"Oh, yeah?" she added, a glimmer of mischief in her twinkling green eyes. "Well, teach me something good and you might be hearing it more often."
Jacen laughed out loud. This should prove to be an interesting undertaking, he hoped. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "All right! All right! I give up!"
Jacen powered down his lightsaber and clutched the burn on his left bicep. It wasn't too painful in and of itself, but mixed with the five other burns he'd suffered at the hands of his new trainee, it was the final straw.
"Oh, Jacen! I'm so sorry!" Danni apologized, shutting off her training saber and rushing to his side. "I'm absolutely atrocious at this saber stuff." He winced as she gently checked out the most recent injury she had inflicted upon her teacher.
"I'm okay," he assured her, then added, "but I'm afraid I'm going to have to confiscate your weapon for a while, Miss." He smiled teasingly as he took the lightsaber out of her hands. Her shoulders sagged in self-defeat.
"I'm horrible, aren't I?"
"No.no.," he paused. "Well, okay, maybe you're just not cut out for using a lightsaber. I mean, even though your IQ is higher than nearly every other sentient in the universe, that doesn't guarantee you'll be an expert with a lightsaber. And besides, there are other ways to defend yourself without using a weapon."
Dejectedly, she looked up at him and questioned, "Like what?"
For the next hour, Jacen proceeded to teach her several defensive moves that she could use on a person even twice her size. These she picked up on very quickly. It seemed Danni Quee had a knack for hand to hand combat.
"Okay, I think you've had enough," Danni joked, wiping the beads of sweat from her forehead. She offered him a hand up, which he hesitated to accept.
"This isn't another trick, is it?" he questioned suspiciously. His backside was nearly numb from her other 'offers of assistance'.
"I promise," she crossed her heart. "No more tricks." As he took her hand he mused to himself that it wouldn't matter if she did lay him out again. He'd gladly keep falling on his butt just to spend more time with her.
"I should have known you'd be good at hand to hand combat," he announced as he stood up and stretched out the kinks in his back.
"And why is that?" she asked with a raise of her eyebrow.
"Because you love to touch so much," he stated matter of factly.
"What?!"
He halted and looked at her. Several tendrils of hair had come loose from her long braid and delicately framed her flushed face. "You-you like to touch.other. people," he stammered, now realizing how awkward his statement must have sounded.
"I think you'd better explain yourself, Jacen Solo." Danni stepped back, a slight scowl on her face and arms folded across her ample chest.
"I only meant that you're a very touchy-feely kind of person. You like to pat and hug. That's all."
Danni took a moment to ponder his explanation, and Jacen held his breath, not wanting to offend her. "I guess you're right," she finally conceded, and he exhaled audibly. "Is that bad?"
"No! No, I think it's great! Not enough people let themselves be so openly affectionate."
Danni smiled and let her arms drop to her sides. "You know, there have been scientific studies done on physical contact and its effects."
"Is that right?"
"Yes, and the researchers came to several interesting conclusions."
"Go on," Jacen encouraged with half a grin. He enjoyed hearing her revert to scientist mode. Smart women were very appealing to him.sexy even.
"Well, first they concluded that there are different types of physical contact and that each type elicits a particular response. For example, if I were to slap your face or punch you in the stomach that would be considered 'negative touch'. You would instantly become defensive, with your main goal being self-preservation."
"They spent money to figure that out?" Jacen teased.
"Hush," she scolded playfully swatting him in the gut. "I'm not finished." Taking a step toward him, she continued to expound. "Now, if I patted your back or rumpled your hair," both of which she proceeded to do with a slight smile, "well, that would be considered the first level of 'positive touch'. It's friendly without being too threatening, and has established a connection between us. You're no longer focused solely on yourself and your problems. It calms you down. releases stress. So a friendly pat or hug is actually good for you."
Jacen chuckled and nodded. "Okay, I'll buy that."
Danni smiled demurely and then moved in even closer to Jacen. "Then there's the next level of 'positive touch', which would be a bit more. intimate." She took his large hand in hers and looked back up at him. "Just holding your hand like so would still be considered friendly. However, if we put our hands palm to palm like this," she manipulated their hands into position, "and if I moved in closer."
Jacen's eyes widened in surprise when she continued to come forward. And before he knew it, her body was lightly pressed against his. ". Well, then, that changes things a little, doesn't it?"
He swallowed hard and nodded silently, unable to utter a single sound. His mind was completely focused on the feel of her warm, pliant body molding to his own. She pulled her hands from his, placed them on his chest and gazed up into his rich, brown eyes. Sliding her palms upward, she finally rested them in the hair at the nape of his neck. His own hands wrapped around her waist and pulled her more tightly against him.
Danni glanced down at his arms and then back up into his face. "See, that was an instantaneous reaction. As our physical contact becomes more intimate, so does our psychological connection. Only instead of being calming, this kind of touch has quite the opposite effect."
Jacen couldn't agree more. He couldn't take his eyes off of her, and as his gaze ravished her face, his mind was having thoughts about ravishing the rest of her.
"The heart rate increases," she observed as he leaned in closer. "Breathing becomes heavy, and--- and adrenaline starts to. surge. through your veins, stimulating other.kinds of. responses." Her voice was down to barely a whisper. He began nibbling her earlobe and could feel her warm breath on his neck. "You-you can let go now," she suggested without an ounce of conviction. Jacen almost growled in pleasure when he heard her whimper.
Lifting his head to look her in the eye, he replied, "I don't think I want to." Then he flashed her the lopsided grin he had inherited from his rogue of a father. "In fact, I'm pretty sure I'd like to keep touching." One of his hands cupped her velvet soft face, and before she had time to protest, his mouth claimed hers in a very passionate, very intimate kiss, one she willingly melted into.
"Jacen? Are you there?" Luke's voice sounded from Jacen's personal comm. unit lying on his bed, and Danni's lips stopped their tender movements.
Jacen rested his forehead against hers and struggled between laughing out loud or punching the wall. "You've got to be kidding me," he muttered in disbelief. Danni chuckled softly and traced his lips with her finger. Tearing himself away from the beautiful woman nestled in his arms, he answered the call. "Yeah, Uncle Luke. I'm here."
"Good. I need you up on the bridge right away," Luke declared. "And do you know where Danni is? I can't seem to find her."
The two exchanged amused and embarrassed glances. "She's-um-here. with me," Jacen said.
"Oh," was all they heard Luke say at first. Then realization must have dawned on him. "Oh. oohh!! I-I'm really sorry, Jace. I didn't know--."
"It's okay, Master Skywalker," Danni interjected. "We were just finishing up my training."
Luckily, they couldn't see the shocked expression on Luke's face or hear the snide comment Mara made in the background.
"We'll be right there," Jacen added and then turned his back from Danni to whisper into the comm. "And Uncle Luke?"
"Yeah?"
"You really need to work on your timing." The older man laughed and then clicked off his comm. Jacen laid down his unit, then turned back around expecting to pick up where he left off, or at least sneak in a quick kiss before leaving to go to the bridge.
But when he spun around, he was surprised to find that he was completely alone. Danni had apparently slipped away, and all she'd left behind was a very disappointed, very frustrated Jacen Solo.
Part of it was that he felt guilty about acting so ridiculous in front of her. If she didn't think of him as a man, then he could understand why after reflecting on his childish behavior with Dr. Ambross. And the last thing he wanted was for her to think he didn't respect her. Out of all the people he knew, she was right at the top of the list of those he admired most.
He had to make it right.
He waited until it was a more acceptable time before venturing out of his room, but as soon as he could, he took off to prove to her he was no child. He knew just where his uncle kept some extra supplies, so he picked up what he needed plus a couple cups of stimcaf and headed for Danni's room.
Jacen pressed the buzzer to her room and heard her muffled reply from the other side of the door.
"Just a minute," she called. In a few seconds, the door slid open and Jacen's jaw nearly dropped to the floor. There stood Danni, her long hair hanging loose in damp curls wearing nothing but a short, shimmering, silky looking robe. "Oh! Jacen, I didn't know it was you," she remarked as she gripped the top of her robe together. "Um, I, uh, just got out of the shower." She averted her eyes and looked nervously around the room, but Jacen could only stare straight ahead--- at her. "I guess you can come on in. Give me just a second and I'll be presentable," she called over her shoulder as she trotted back to the refresher.
She continued talking to him from the other room, but Jacen was still standing in the doorway dumbstruck, two cups of stimcaf growing colder by the minute. Finally, he snapped out of it and walked inside her room. He quickly found a place to set the hot drinks down and wiped a few beads of sweat from his forehead. Surely, the caf hadn't been that hot.
Soon enough she returned, to Jacen's dismay, fully clothed. Her hair was pulled back into a long braid and she wore a big smile on her face.
"Well, good morning!" she declared. "You're up and about early today."
"I, uh, brought you some stimcaf," he stated, pointing to the lukewarm cups of liquid sitting on a shelf, "only it might not be so hot anymore."
She laughed. "Oh, that's okay. I don't think I need it anyway. I slept great last night! How about you?" She was way too perky.
"So-so," he replied. It figured that she had gotten plenty of sleep while he had been lying in bed staring wide-eyed at the ceiling. Fate was a fickle master, he mused.
"But bringing you a cup of stimcaf was not my only reason for stopping by. I, uh, came to apologize for my behavior yesterday and to offer you a peace offering."
Danni stepped closer and touched his arm. "You don't have to apologize. We already figured this out last night. It's over now, and you don't have to give me anything."
"I don't have to do anything, but I want to anyway. I promised I'd give you some saber lessons, and I thought we might have our first one before we head back over to the Widowmaker later. What do you say?"
He didn't think it was possible for her face to look more radiant than it already did, but somehow it happened. She jumped into his arms and hugged him tightly. "I'd say that sounds wonderful!" Stepping back she held out her hand for him to take. "Lead the way, Master," she joked.
He looped her arm through his and patted her hand. "Master, huh? I could get used to hearing you say that," he winked and then wriggled his eyebrows suggestively.
"Oh, yeah?" she added, a glimmer of mischief in her twinkling green eyes. "Well, teach me something good and you might be hearing it more often."
Jacen laughed out loud. This should prove to be an interesting undertaking, he hoped. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "All right! All right! I give up!"
Jacen powered down his lightsaber and clutched the burn on his left bicep. It wasn't too painful in and of itself, but mixed with the five other burns he'd suffered at the hands of his new trainee, it was the final straw.
"Oh, Jacen! I'm so sorry!" Danni apologized, shutting off her training saber and rushing to his side. "I'm absolutely atrocious at this saber stuff." He winced as she gently checked out the most recent injury she had inflicted upon her teacher.
"I'm okay," he assured her, then added, "but I'm afraid I'm going to have to confiscate your weapon for a while, Miss." He smiled teasingly as he took the lightsaber out of her hands. Her shoulders sagged in self-defeat.
"I'm horrible, aren't I?"
"No.no.," he paused. "Well, okay, maybe you're just not cut out for using a lightsaber. I mean, even though your IQ is higher than nearly every other sentient in the universe, that doesn't guarantee you'll be an expert with a lightsaber. And besides, there are other ways to defend yourself without using a weapon."
Dejectedly, she looked up at him and questioned, "Like what?"
For the next hour, Jacen proceeded to teach her several defensive moves that she could use on a person even twice her size. These she picked up on very quickly. It seemed Danni Quee had a knack for hand to hand combat.
"Okay, I think you've had enough," Danni joked, wiping the beads of sweat from her forehead. She offered him a hand up, which he hesitated to accept.
"This isn't another trick, is it?" he questioned suspiciously. His backside was nearly numb from her other 'offers of assistance'.
"I promise," she crossed her heart. "No more tricks." As he took her hand he mused to himself that it wouldn't matter if she did lay him out again. He'd gladly keep falling on his butt just to spend more time with her.
"I should have known you'd be good at hand to hand combat," he announced as he stood up and stretched out the kinks in his back.
"And why is that?" she asked with a raise of her eyebrow.
"Because you love to touch so much," he stated matter of factly.
"What?!"
He halted and looked at her. Several tendrils of hair had come loose from her long braid and delicately framed her flushed face. "You-you like to touch.other. people," he stammered, now realizing how awkward his statement must have sounded.
"I think you'd better explain yourself, Jacen Solo." Danni stepped back, a slight scowl on her face and arms folded across her ample chest.
"I only meant that you're a very touchy-feely kind of person. You like to pat and hug. That's all."
Danni took a moment to ponder his explanation, and Jacen held his breath, not wanting to offend her. "I guess you're right," she finally conceded, and he exhaled audibly. "Is that bad?"
"No! No, I think it's great! Not enough people let themselves be so openly affectionate."
Danni smiled and let her arms drop to her sides. "You know, there have been scientific studies done on physical contact and its effects."
"Is that right?"
"Yes, and the researchers came to several interesting conclusions."
"Go on," Jacen encouraged with half a grin. He enjoyed hearing her revert to scientist mode. Smart women were very appealing to him.sexy even.
"Well, first they concluded that there are different types of physical contact and that each type elicits a particular response. For example, if I were to slap your face or punch you in the stomach that would be considered 'negative touch'. You would instantly become defensive, with your main goal being self-preservation."
"They spent money to figure that out?" Jacen teased.
"Hush," she scolded playfully swatting him in the gut. "I'm not finished." Taking a step toward him, she continued to expound. "Now, if I patted your back or rumpled your hair," both of which she proceeded to do with a slight smile, "well, that would be considered the first level of 'positive touch'. It's friendly without being too threatening, and has established a connection between us. You're no longer focused solely on yourself and your problems. It calms you down. releases stress. So a friendly pat or hug is actually good for you."
Jacen chuckled and nodded. "Okay, I'll buy that."
Danni smiled demurely and then moved in even closer to Jacen. "Then there's the next level of 'positive touch', which would be a bit more. intimate." She took his large hand in hers and looked back up at him. "Just holding your hand like so would still be considered friendly. However, if we put our hands palm to palm like this," she manipulated their hands into position, "and if I moved in closer."
Jacen's eyes widened in surprise when she continued to come forward. And before he knew it, her body was lightly pressed against his. ". Well, then, that changes things a little, doesn't it?"
He swallowed hard and nodded silently, unable to utter a single sound. His mind was completely focused on the feel of her warm, pliant body molding to his own. She pulled her hands from his, placed them on his chest and gazed up into his rich, brown eyes. Sliding her palms upward, she finally rested them in the hair at the nape of his neck. His own hands wrapped around her waist and pulled her more tightly against him.
Danni glanced down at his arms and then back up into his face. "See, that was an instantaneous reaction. As our physical contact becomes more intimate, so does our psychological connection. Only instead of being calming, this kind of touch has quite the opposite effect."
Jacen couldn't agree more. He couldn't take his eyes off of her, and as his gaze ravished her face, his mind was having thoughts about ravishing the rest of her.
"The heart rate increases," she observed as he leaned in closer. "Breathing becomes heavy, and--- and adrenaline starts to. surge. through your veins, stimulating other.kinds of. responses." Her voice was down to barely a whisper. He began nibbling her earlobe and could feel her warm breath on his neck. "You-you can let go now," she suggested without an ounce of conviction. Jacen almost growled in pleasure when he heard her whimper.
Lifting his head to look her in the eye, he replied, "I don't think I want to." Then he flashed her the lopsided grin he had inherited from his rogue of a father. "In fact, I'm pretty sure I'd like to keep touching." One of his hands cupped her velvet soft face, and before she had time to protest, his mouth claimed hers in a very passionate, very intimate kiss, one she willingly melted into.
"Jacen? Are you there?" Luke's voice sounded from Jacen's personal comm. unit lying on his bed, and Danni's lips stopped their tender movements.
Jacen rested his forehead against hers and struggled between laughing out loud or punching the wall. "You've got to be kidding me," he muttered in disbelief. Danni chuckled softly and traced his lips with her finger. Tearing himself away from the beautiful woman nestled in his arms, he answered the call. "Yeah, Uncle Luke. I'm here."
"Good. I need you up on the bridge right away," Luke declared. "And do you know where Danni is? I can't seem to find her."
The two exchanged amused and embarrassed glances. "She's-um-here. with me," Jacen said.
"Oh," was all they heard Luke say at first. Then realization must have dawned on him. "Oh. oohh!! I-I'm really sorry, Jace. I didn't know--."
"It's okay, Master Skywalker," Danni interjected. "We were just finishing up my training."
Luckily, they couldn't see the shocked expression on Luke's face or hear the snide comment Mara made in the background.
"We'll be right there," Jacen added and then turned his back from Danni to whisper into the comm. "And Uncle Luke?"
"Yeah?"
"You really need to work on your timing." The older man laughed and then clicked off his comm. Jacen laid down his unit, then turned back around expecting to pick up where he left off, or at least sneak in a quick kiss before leaving to go to the bridge.
But when he spun around, he was surprised to find that he was completely alone. Danni had apparently slipped away, and all she'd left behind was a very disappointed, very frustrated Jacen Solo.
