I know I am way behind in updates guys. I'm sorry! ;-; Writer's block is such a jerk.
Summer's coming to an end around here, so I am going to be busy since school is starting back up, but I'll update as often as I can ;)
All the characters belong to their respective creators, ect.
That night I dreamed of his lips on my neck, of him whispering my name in my ear. "It's time to wake up my lass." Hm, YOUR lass. I like the sound of that. Butterflies started to flutter in my lower stomach as John started nibbling in my ear. I arched my back and moaned out his name, then he placed his cool metal hand on my hip and gave a light squeeze. This is a damn good dream. Don't wake up. But my eyes didn't listen, as I peeked them open to realize I wasn't dreaming.
I relished in the warmth of John's body as slowly I started to come to. By now he had moved from my ear, down my neck, and was now placing love bites on my shoulder. I accidentally moaned a little too loud when he found a secret sweet spot, making him chuckle.
"Shh," he whispered "t'e crew's gonna wake up if you get much louder."
"Quit making me moan and we won't have to worry about them," I whispered back, snuggling even deeper into his arms. It feels like a huge weight has been lifted off my chest now that neither of us is holding back our feelings. For the first time since leaving home, I feel like I can truly breathe.
We laid there for a few minutes not wanting to get out of bed, and soon John's lips were on mine sending sparks through all of my nerves. Our kiss started out slow and sweet, then built up until we were breathless and clinging onto each other. I hooked my leg over John's hip, brought him as close to me as I could while placing a love bite on my own on his shoulder. When he growled out my full name I about lost control, but I couldn't help but giggle.
"Somethin' funny lass?" He ground out through a clenched jaw.
"Didn't you just say I needed to be quiet before the crew heard me?" I laughed.
"Aye, but I can't help it when you push my buttons." He shifted his weight to where he was on top of me. I ran my fingers through his auburn hair, wrapped my legs around him and pulled him in for another kiss.
"John, we have to get up and make breakfast." I giggled.
"Jimbo can do it," he whispered against my lips while moving against me. I couldn't help but arch my back and roll my hips with his.
"John!" I breathed, "we can't do this right now."
"And why not?" I could tell by the desperation in his voice that his own self control was about to shatter.
"Because you said yourself the crew is going to hear us!" As if to make a point, John bit my shoulder and made me cry out again.
"So, let 'em hear," he growled as he kissed me deeply. I pushed on his chest until he finally looked down at me, taking his hand and brushing a curl away from my face. He knew deep down that now was definitely not the time to cross that line.
"You know you don't mean that." With the restraint of the Etherium I kissed him on the cheek, reluctantly he rolled off of me and let me up. As I sat on the side of the bed he took his hand and rubbed my back. "You just want to make it impossible to get up don't you?"
"Yup." he muttered with a smug look on his face.
"I'm gonna go take a shower," I leaned over and gave him a quick kiss. "We really do need to get up before everyone else does." Thankfully he didn't follow to tease me even more, instead, he stretched out in front of the fire to get a few more minutes of sleep. Fighting the urge to join him again, I ran off to get started getting ready. I made sure not to take too much time in case John wanted to shower too. I was surprised to see that by the time I was done he was walking back in with a cup of steaming coffee.
"Figured ya needed t'is after such a late night last night." he whispered, leaning down to give me a kiss.
"Thank you," I breathed deep letting the scent of caffeine naturally wake me up. "Are you usually this affectionate in the morning?"
"Well I have to practically ignore ya once t'e crew wakes up." he carefully wrapped his arms around me and whispered in my ear "I need to get my fill of ya while I have a chance to." I stood there for a few minutes not wanting to move, between the warmth from being in John's arms and the warmth from my fresh coffee I was in my own personal heaven.
A brisk knock on the door made us grudgingly separate, thankfully it was only Jim and not any of the other crew members. Judging by the look on Jim's face he could tell that something had been going on, but he thankfully didn't comment on it. Instead, he took a seat on the couch in the office, as I took a seat next to him he gave me a side eye before turning his attention to John.
"I just spoke with the harbormaster about our supplies, he said everything should be loaded up by lunch time."
"Lunch time? Why in blue blazes is it goin' to take t'at long, we only needed a few t'ings." John asked.
Jim waved him off, "Something about they had to fill last minute orders for Melody's birthday party, it's taking them some time to restock their stores."
Taking a break from inhaling my drink, I asked John, "So does this mean that we're going to be late for the ball tonight?" I tried to keep the panic out of my voice, but judging by the way John quirked his eyebrow at me I didn't do a very good job of it.
"No, I just didn't expect it to take t'at long to load our supplies. It's only a few hours sailin' away," he looked down at his maps calculating the distance I assumed. "We should get to t'e dock about an hour before it starts."
I rolled my eyes inwardly, "Great, that means I'm going to have to start getting ready right after we leave here."
Jim looked at me confused, "And that's a problem because?"
"Because it's hard enough getting ready for a ball on land, much less out in space." I took another sip of my coffee, "John you're going to have to get ready early too. If we're going to make it on time we'll have to leave as soon as we get there."
"Yeah I figured as much when Jimbo mentioned how long t'ings would take here." He mumbled standing up at his desk. "Well, we all better get a move on. We're gonna have to fit a whole day's work into a single mornin'"
Excitement and anticipation rolled around in my stomach as my thoughts wandered to that evening. I wonder what exactly John's uniform is going to look like. He said the main colors were emerald, cream and gold. I was in such a fog while helping with breakfast that when John whispered in my ear I nearly jumped out of my skin.
"Are ya excited about the ball?" He asked, a mischievous glint in his eye. He had placed a hand on either side of me and was glancing over my shoulder to see what I was doing. He had snuck a hand on either side of me and was leaning over my shoulder watching me prepare some vegetables for breakfast.
"I am actually." I confessed, instinctively leaning back against his chest "I'm more excited to see you put on that fancy outfit of yours."
"Hm, what a coincidence," he growled, pushing me up against the counter. I instantly became hyper aware of how well our bodies melded together. "I'm more excited to see t'at fancy dress of yers on my stateroom floor."
The brashness of his words nearly took my breath away. Up until this point, John had been overly cautious to keep up a front for the crew, but the way he was pushed up against me whispering in my ear I could tell his self-control was starting to slip away. He just drove that point home when he started to kiss me on my neck. Immediately I pushed us both off of the counter and turned around to face him while still in his arms.
"John, what has gotten into you today?" I asked, trying to ignore the lust that filled his eyes. "Do you want someone to hear you?" I tried to lean around him to make sure that no one was peeking when all of a sudden he tilted my chin to where I was looking back at him. The look in his eyes was a mix of apprehension and fear, with a spark of lust here and there. Fear? What does he have to be afraid of? My breath caught in my throat as the words I was about to say disappeared.
"I have Jimbo keepin' watch outside," he reassured, placing his cool robotic hand on my flushed cheek. When I didn't flinch away like I knew he expected, he grinned. "I don't t'ink I'll ever get used to ya not bein' afraid of me."
"Do I have a reason to fear you, John?" I asked, leaning into his touch and covering his hand with my own.
Fiery protectiveness flashed over his features as he fiercely replied, "Not a bit."
I leaned on my tip toes to give him a quick kiss. "Well, then you're going to have to get used to me not being afraid of you." Before things got too heated, I turned back to the task I was working on before he came to distract me. "Now let's get this stuff done, you said yourself that we have a lot to do before we get ready."
"Aye Cap'n" he whispered, snuck in another kiss on my neck before going off to start on breakfast. For the rest of the morning my stomach was a pit of nerves and excitement. The heated looks that kept being passed between me and John didn't help at all, you could almost see the tension shimmer between us. At first I was worried that the crew would notice, but judging by how smoothly breakfast went I highly doubt that the men noticed anything changed between the captain and I.
After everything was cleaned up, John went off towards the helm while Jim and I went to scrape space barnacles. Might as well get the dirtiest job done first. I could tell by the looks Jim shot my way that I was in for an interesting conversation once we got below deck. In fact, as soon as we reached the ends of our ropes, Jim started in on his questions.
"What's going on between you two?" he asked coolly.
"Between who?" I answered, playing stupid.
"Damn it Ana you know who!" he yelled, feigning anger. "I already know who sleeps where," he whispered.
I tried to think of the best way to describe what exactly was going on between John and I. Hell, I don't even know where to start. "Well?" he insisted, interrupting my inner rambling.
"Jim, I don't even know how to begin to describe what is going on between us." I confessed.
"How in the Etherium are you in a relationship where you don't even know what's going on?" he asked in disbelief.
"I don't know!" I shouted. "I'm just as confused about my relationship with John as you are." He could tell by the flush on my face that I was getting frustrated with his questions.
"Ok," he pondered for a second, "Let's start with how does he make you feel?"
I sat there for a second deep in thought, then I blurted out the two words that came to mind when I thought of John. "Safe. Important." When I opened my eyes I busted out laughing at the incredulous look Jim gave me.
"You mean to tell me that being raised in a palace surrounded by guards twenty-four seven, you didn't ever feel safe or important?"
I started to scrape off the next section of barnacles, trying to carefully organize the next words that came out of my mouth. "In a literal sense, yes. I knew that no one was going to come and harm me. But the fact of the matter is I am being traded off to some planet that is forever and a day away, to some stranger that my parents have never met, all for the sake of somebody else's ambitions."
I turned to face him head on. "My parent's didn't even ask if this was the future I wanted. They have never even met a single member of this family that I am being married into. They have no idea if I am going to be safe or happy, and I really don't think deep down they even care. If you ask them this is my duty as a princess, a duty I should be proud to have."
"And John is the first person to really care about you for you, not your title?" he asked. It dawned on me that Jim hit the nail on the head. So that's why you've fallen so easily for him.
"Exactly." I grinned in self realization. "I know John wouldn't ever let me go into a dangerous situation, even if he was to gain anything from it."
We both sat in comfortable silence for a few moments, Jim seemed satisfied with my answer and I was at peace that I finally figured out why things were going the way they were with John. When Jim asked his next question, my peace shattered.
"So what are you going to do at the end of this trip Ana?"
"I don't want to think about that right now." I answered immediately, hoping that Jim would read the tone in my voice to drop the subject.
"You know you're going to have to face it, and it will be easier to do so sooner than later." he replied soothingly.
I knew deep down he was right. During this trip Jim had became a dear friend to me, and I knew in the end that he wanted what was best for me as well. I just didn't want to hear the truth right now, instead I wanted to enjoy the mounting excitement about tonight's party. Eventually we finished scraping every space barnacle off the bottom of the boat, but before we began to hoist ourselves up Jim put his hand on my shoulder.
"I only have one last thing to say about all of this and then I won't bring it up again." I tried to interrupt him, but he was having none of it. "No matter how hard it is, at the end of the day you have to do whatever it takes to make yourself happy. Don't worry about what anyone else thinks, or what anyone else wants you to do," he pointed a finger towards me and continued, "YOU are the one that has to live your life. Do whatever makes you happy, and the people that truly matter will be happy for you."
Relief washed over me as I gave Jim a hug. Finally I had someone tell me what I've been needing to hear, if I wasn't happy with this wedding then I didn't have to go through with it. "Thanks Jim, you have no idea how much you saying that means to me."
"No problem," he reassured, "You know neither John nor I will ever make you do something you didn't want to do. All we want is to make sure whatever decision you make it's one that you're happy with."
As we were climbing back onto the lower deck I knew that I was going to have to have a talk with John tonight. I knew my original plan was to wait until the end of the voyage, but Jim was right. The sooner we got it done the better. Once back on board, we cleaned our tools, put everything away then met up with John at the helm to see what else needed to be done. Scraping space barnacles had taken us a little longer than we thought, so when we met up with John everything else was done and it was already lunch time.
We headed down to the galley to eat, when all of a sudden John pulled me back and led me behind a stack of crates. Making sure we were well hidden from the others, he looked down at me with mischief as he kissed me deeply with a strange sense of urgency. As he pulled back, I couldn't help but give him a look of worry.
"John, what's wrong?" I whispered.
"What makes you t'ink somethin's wrong?"
"Because, I can just tell. You're acting like I'm about to disappear any second." I could tell how his eyes widened that I had struck a nerve. "Just tell me please?"
He leaned down and kissed me until I was breathless, then whispered against my lips "That intuition of yers should be illegal." He pulled back to look me square in the face. "I promise lass, t'ere isn't anyt'ing wrong. Now let's go get some lunch,"
"Wait," I pulled him back to our hiding spot. "I've been wanting to talk to you."
"About what lass?" he asked, concern shadowing his face. When I hesitated to speak, he figured it out on his own. "Ah, THE talk."
"I know I said we should wait until the end of the trip but I-"
He interrupted me with a finger to my lips "I know lass, I was thinkin t'e same t'ing. Let's wait until tonight after t'e ball, when we can be alone."
The way he growled those last words warmed my heart and set my body abuzz. One last heated kiss and we were finally off to the galley to grab a bite to eat. Thankfully no one except Jim noticed that John and I were the last two people to come down for lunch, and as we took our place at our table no one gave us a second glance.
"Any news from the harbor master?" Jim asked casually.
"Aye Jimbo, everyt'ing is loaded and ready to go. Once everyone is done wit' lunch we'll get t'e launch underway." he answered, then looked my way and whispered, "Did ya wanna come help me launch t'e ship?"
I almost spit out my drink in surprise, when I wasn't in the galley or doing other jobs with Jim I was at the helm with John and Mr. Otis, leaning over their shoulders watching as they manned the different computers steering the ship.
"O-of course I do!" This is something I had wanted to try since stepping on board, but didn't think I'd ever get a chance to.
"Good," he smiled warmly. "We'll get someone to clean up once everyone's done so ya can follow me up t'ere."
It wasn't too long before everyone had finished and I was standing before the control panel with John behind my shoulder. I pretty much had our launch check list memorized, but John still tested me to make sure I could do it correctly.
"Now that you've got permission from t'e harbor master for cast off, what do you do?" he asked.
"Make sure all ropes are untied and on board, then coast us towards the end of the gravitational field." I answered confidently.
"Good," he beamed. "Give t'e orders then Cap'n."
"Prepare to cast off!" I shouted, excitement filled my veins as I watched the crew carry out my command. Granted, they didn't take too well to taking orders from a woman, but all it took was a red glare from John and everyone fell in line.
"All lines are aboard and secure your majesty!" Matthew hollered from the deck railing.
"Now, you don't have to give t'e engines any power just yet." John instructed, "Just push t'e throttle forward one notch and we'll coast wherever ya steer us."
"Don't we let loose the solar sails to collect power?" I asked.
"Usually, yes. But since we left 'em open all day yesterday all of our reserves are already filled. All we need is for you to give t'e command for blast off when yer ready."
"Ah, okay." I answered, as I focused on getting us towards the end of the gravitational field of the port. Surprisingly steering a ship of this size didn't look nearly as difficult as you would think. Only difficult part is keeping an eye on all the gauge levels while keeping from hitting anything. As we closed in on our take off point, I could feel the weightlessness of space start to lift me up.
"Mr. Matthew, engage artificial gravity."
"Aye, your majesty." he answered, as the familiar purple wave covered the boat bringing everyone back down to the deck.
John called down to the boiler room to make sure our energy capacitors were full. Seeing that they were, he turned back to me with an excited grin on his face.
"All right lass, here's t'e fun part." he came up behind me and covered my hands with his on the wheel. "Now this is goin' to be a bit difficult, but you're goin to brace yerself like ya did when we took off from yer home planet. Make sure ya don't grip too hard on t'e wheel, if ya do you'll jerk it and capsize us."
Doubt filtered into my mind as I realized just how dangerous this part could potentially be. Sensing my hesitation John immediately reassured me, "It's alright lass. I'll be right here, I'll make sure nothin' bad will happen." When he noticed my shoulders had relaxed, he asked if I was ready to give the order.
"Absolutely." I answered bravely.
"Go on t'en" he encouraged.
"Take her away!" As soon as the last word came out of my mouth, the wheel started to vibrate with the ship's true power. I was pushed back against John's chest, but thankfully I was able to follow his advice and not hang on too tight. As we rocketed into the Etherium the feeling of true freedom nearly took my breath away. Once our pace leveled out John stepped away and grinned at me triumphantly.
"Amazing job Ana, yer a complete natural," he said as he turned to type in the coordinates for our next stop.
"Thanks!" I replied breathlessly, still high on the adrenaline of the whole experience. Just then Jim came up the stairs and joined us at the controls.
"Good job on your first take off," he punched my shoulder playfully. "Before you know it you'll be drivin' this ship without anyone's help."
"I wish," I waved him off, "unless I can learn how to commandeer a ship within the next week I don't see many other opportunities for me to fly on my own."
John came and clapped a hand on our shoulders, "Ya never know lass, t'ings may change and ya could be zippin' around wherever you want," he winked.
"Yeah," Jim agreed, "Nothing is ever set in stone when it comes to the future."
Their words sent me in a whirlwind of confusion and emotion. Up until this point I had no other option than to get married at the end of this trip. What if you really didn't go through with it? Before I could think too much about it Jim started to usher me and John down the stairs.
"Alright you two," he said," I've got everything under control here. You two need to go and start getting ready for tonight."
"Now wait a sec Jimbo-" John tried to interject,
"I don't want to hear it you old scallywag." Jim teased, "You and I both know you're gonna need a bit of time to get cleaned up for tonight,"
"Oh, get away from me," John laughed, finally relenting and followed me down the staircase. When we finally made it into John's stateroom I was planning on asking him what he meant about how things may change. Only thing that could change is if John asked me to go with him, he wouldn't want to sign up for something so permanent would he?
I didn't get a chance to ask, before I knew it John was rushing about pulling garment bags out of closets. Eventually he went to his desk and picked up a garment box to hand to me.
"I'll let ya get ready in here lass while I go down to yer old room to get dressed." he said. He seemed obviously distracted about something.
"You don't have to leave," I pouted. I walked up behind him and took a hold of his metal hand. "Are you going to tell me what's on your mind now? And don't lie and say it's nothing."
"Anastasia," he turned and wrapped his arms around me. "I swear to ya there isn't anyt'ing goin' on in my head that ya need to worry 'bout." I looked deep into his eyes, after finding no trace of deceit I wrapped his arms around his neck and pulled him in for a kiss. As he rubbed my back leisurely, I couldn't help but melt against him.
"We better start gettin' ready lass. We'll be in port before ya know it." he whispered, but didn't pull away. If anything he held onto me tighter.
"Let's go take a nap. I'm too tired to even try any primping right now." I started pulling him towards the bedroom when he started to resist. Before I knew it John had pulled me back towards him and had me pinned up against the door. Immediately my face turned red as warmth bloomed throughout my body.
When he leaned down to kiss me, his eye burned a deep golden hue. "You know if we end up in t'at bed the last t'ing we're gonna be doin' is sleepin'" he whispered huskily, "I highly doubt we'd even make it to t'at party of yers, and I'd hate to waste and opportunity for ya to play dress up." My insides melted at his words, and when our lips met fireworks exploded.
This time he was the one that pulled back, and as I groaned in frustration he tried to hide a chuckle. "I'm getting tired of this telling each other no business" I muttered. By now I was coiled to the max ready to break down any second.
"Trust me lass, I am too." He growled, "I'm half tempted to give the crew the night off so we can have the ship to ourselves."
My eyes widened in surprise. I couldn't handle the tension between John and I anymore, I wanted him and I wanted him NOW. Besides, every time we were alone our hands were all over each other, and I had a feeling that next time things got heated neither one of us would be able to stop.
"Do it," I whispered.
Surprise flashed in his eyes as he asked "Do what?"
"Send everyone on shore for the night. That way when we come home from the ball we'll be all alone." Getting a surge of confidence, I grabbed John by the collar and pulled him close. When his hands went to my hips I made sure to move them in a suggestive way, which in turn caused him to growl in frustration.
"I can't take this anymore John," I moaned, "next time you're on me I'm not going to tell you to stop."
I could tell that John was shocked at my boldness but in a good way. "L-let me give t'e orders." he stuttered "Until then, we need to start gettin' ready. I'll meet ya at t'e helm when it's time to go."
"Okay," I pouted, as he started to pull away.
He chuckled and gave me a quick goodbye kiss. "Please be patient my lass, I'll make sure tonight is perfect." As he gathered the things he needed to get dressed, he shot me a wink and walked out the door.