DiSCLAIMER: So not mine

NOTES: Well ..took me forever…again! But I am still writing! I just have a job that gives me very little spare time sooo. Forgive me! Hope anyone out there ist still reading this! THANKS!

Control

Before he knew it, she had smacked him one in the mouth. He had moved too close to the railing, he noticed. Close enough for her to reach him. Her tiny frame uncoiled like a snake attacking without warning, her small foot lashing out and it's toes connecting sharply with his face.

The impact made his teeth rattle. It didn't exactly hurt, because he could tell that had not been her aim. One of his hands came up, touching his lip as he moved his jaw from side to side, giving her an assessing once over looked. She did not sit curled up on her self anymore, but in an almost animalistic crouch, watching him with wide eyes, still shiny from tears that she would not allow herself to cry. But she would not let him taunt her about her apparent humanity either.

She had not meant to hurt him, just to show him what she could do …remind him …knock him down a peg.

"Ow …." He said.

"Not hardly …" she hissed, giving him a mocking grin.

Jayne grinned back at her, chuckling. The girl had some tricks up her sleeve; he had to admit….he liked it. Ever since he'd seen her take out her assailant without breaking a sweat, he'd wondered about what she could do.

"Bein' a little testy tonight?"

"Bein' an ass as usual?" she returned, lifting an eyebrow as she copied his mode of speaking exactly.

"You wanna piss me off?" he asked with an annoyed glance.

"I think you did that first…."

He could see her muscles working under her smooth skin as she shifted her balance very subtly. It made him grin again. Jayne stepped back from the crates so he could overlook the terrain better.

"You wanna play, baby?" he drawled in a suggestive manner, realising that he had made her angry with his remark about crying , but that she was probably more angry at herself ….and needed to vent….

"Let's play…." She whispered, her eyes never leaving, before she spun around and jumped off the crate into the darkness that lay beneath.

Jayne tried to oversee the terrain as he slowly descended the stairs into the freight-room, but the stacked crates had created a labyrinth of small corridors that were hard to overlook. He walked by the first one, eyes carefully scanning the darkness. He caught her fist in his much bigger hand the second before it would have squarely connected with his jaw and pulled, her small weight crashed into him. She gave a sound between a grunt and a laugh, but never lost a beat, using the momentum against him, spinning and delivering two firm kicks into his gut. Jayne ground his teeth, trying to throw an arm around her. She was fast, but he was stronger and his reach wider.

He felt the air hiss out of her lungs as he slammed her back against another wall of crates, lifting her clean off the ground. He could make out her delicate face in the dark while her whole dainty body squirmed against his hold. He had hurt her, but she didn't mind. She wanted him too. She wanted to feel something other than …wanted to feel something other than sadness and wariness. He was not above hitting women, not above hitting her and she needed that now. The gloves were off …

"Let's try not too make too much of a ruckus ….wouldn't wanna wake anybody up now, do we?" he growled at her, his voice low.

Her smile was fierce, her voice nothing more than a hiss. "Wouldn't dream of it…" River answered, kneeing him into the groin. Jayne doubled over, suppressing a curse. Quick like a cat she slipped from his grasp, cart wheeling out of the way.

Jayne ground his teeth, forcing himself to stand up straight. The ruttin' girl had learned to play dirty…

She came out of nowhere at him, just launching herself on him, but this time he was ready. He kicked the feet from under her, trying to pin her to the ground, but again …somehow she was faster, more evasive….a body should not be able to bend that way, Jayne thought to himself as they rolled across the dirty floor. He tried to get a good hold of her…yet somehow she ended up on top, straddling him…and Jayne stopped fighting for two very simple, very different reasons.

First ….she had one hand braced on his chest, the other expertly digging into his throat, her slender fingers encroaching on his windpipe. The pressure was there…subtle, but firm enough to let him know that she could crunch his larynx without much effort. Hell …from how fiercely she fought, he didn't doubt she'd be able to tear out his throat with her bare hands. Jayne knew this should worry him …and later, maybe …he would spend some time thinking about what exactly they had taught her at that place she hated so much. But just then ….there was this other thing…that had nothing to do with her fighting skills and everything to do with the fact that she was straddling him, leaning over him with her eyes staring straight into his, breathing heavily.

Her pale skin was nicely flushed from the fight, her hair falling down onto his chest and her skirt had ridden up, so that his hands were steadily touching the warm, supple skin of her thighs. For a moment, they were completely still, only their ragged breaths echoed into the silence of the room. Then something in her face changed …and Jayne thought it wiser to get his hands off her, seeing as to how she was still in a position to crush his windpipe. He carefully lifted his hands, fingers spread apart. He could see her brows knit together….

"Don't …" she said breathily. She closed her eyes, her mouth opening in a little gasp as she let the sensation of his big hands siding up her skin wash over her. The numbness she had felt just moments ago was gone, erased, blown away by something much more complicated and much more basic at the same time. Gone was the rage, the fear, the guilt …

Jayne stared at her in confusion. Was she for real?

"Are you kiddin' me?" he asked, his voice raw from the pressure her hand was exuding on his throat …and other things he did not want to ponder right about now.

River watched his face with a curious expression, then slowly let her hand on his neck relax. Jayne was not sure what do or think …if she'd been any other woman, he'd have gone for it all guns blazing. But this was River Tam sitting on his lap. He had lived quite happily thinking she was utterly nuts, and knowing the truth …how completely sane she was, had in fact made matters so much worse …being the one person who knew. He was not one for keeping secrets like that. Being forced to be her confidant, her ally had put him in a mighty uncomfortable position. Then again …Jayne thought, right now his position was not all that bad. Not at all. If he could only figure out where she was going with this …

Slowly, Jayne brought his hands back down on her knees, sliding his palms upward onto her thighs. She didn't move, just watched him intensely with those big brown eyes, her face unreadable. Slowly she took her hand from his throat, putting it next to her other hand on his chest, sliding over tense muscles, feeling the warmth and his accelerating heartbeat. She moved her body slightly; angling it differently and the movement made Jayne suppress a groan and grab her hips to keep her from moving. River gave a startled yelp, staring into his face.

He looked angry again, surly and surprised. She leaned down, bringing her face closer to his to stare into his blue eyes that had started burning with some intense, dangerous fire.

"Playing a dangerous game there…lil' girl." He ground out. River couldn't help but smile …this was most unexpected. "I thought you liked to play …rough" she answered, her lips so close that they brushed his mouth when she spoke. This was new …this was tantalizing and wild and unpredictable. This was as far removed from the dangerous plotting, from the careful manoeuvring and playing her part as the ship's loon as possible.

"Oh you've gotta be …"
River was fascinated …wondering. What would it feel like to …she dipped her head forward, her breath mingling with his.
"Gorram kiddin' mm…." Her lips cut him off.

Had they taught her how to kiss too? She pressed her lips to his, her tongue slipping into his mouth without hesitation, exploring, teasing….there was nothing clumsy or awkward about it. The thought shot through Jayne's mind as their tongues met almost automatically. Reciprocating without thought. What else had they uploaded into this girl's brain? It made Jayne wonder what else they had taught her …

Well …two could play this game. He sat up, throwing his arms around her in a bear hug, pulling her tight against his body. She didn't struggle, didn't squirm …all she did was lean into him. Molding her whole body to his in all the right places. Damn …

Inside, River laughed …elated. This was a wild thing, unpredictable, dangerous and uncontrollable and she liked it. She wanted it …to let it go….to give control over to something…someone else…

She felt small, fragile …and suddenly, that was alright. It felt good to let go, to let herself be surrounded and held by the walls of muscle and brawn that was Jayne Cobb. It felt good, it felt right ….she could be weak here. She could allow herself to be soft and relenting …

She could feel his stubble on her neck, his lips wandering about, just like his hands …and that was okay too. No more numbness, no more control…

His hair was short, always so short …military buzz cut, even if he was miles away from being military…still she managed to yank his head back by his hair, to stare into his eyes. His blue ones, locking with her brown depths. "You know I am using you, right?" she asked, her voice hitched in her chest, somewhere between a gasp and a whisper. For the first time, Jayne gave her a broad, almost naughty smile. "Right now…" he rasped, moving his hands up her upper thighs in a circular kneading motion. "…I don't much care!"

She laughed, grabbing his face between her hands to kiss him again, hard and deep.

"Didn't think you'd have this in mind when you wanted to play though …" he told her, his voice deep and raw next to her ear. River pushed her hands under his shirt. "Shut up, Jayne!"