Chapter 7

In his own bed, Joe tossed himself back and forth, his rest disturbed by thoughts of the Swan.

In his mind, he saw the look of ecstasy on her face as he touched her, heard her soft moans, recalled the taste of her… but it wasn't enough.

He needed more.

Dr. Nambu had been able to remove most of whatever Gel Sadra had administered into of his system, but Joe still felt some aftereffects of the Galactor drug. His body burned, and while he could control himself now, it took some effort to do so.

He tried to think of someone else… anyone else, but it was Jun who kept returning to his mind. She was intoxicating, and in a way, as addictive as whatever Gel Sadra had given him.

Jun hadn't expected his advances, and Joe felt slightly guilty that he had coerced her into satisfying his rampaging desires. Had he taken advantage of her? But then he recalled the look on her face as she had agreed, that breathy 'Yes…' passing her lips. He had been as shocked as she to hear it, but not in a position to question his good fortune. Even more, he had been surprised at how quickly and completely she had followed his lead.

But how did she feel now… now that she had had some time to think about it?

Joe found himself desperately wishing that she didn't regret their encounter. Even more, he hoped that she was sorry that they had been interrupted. The Condor knew exactly what he would have done, had they had unlimited time available to them, and he hoped that he knew what her reaction would have been.

Joe groaned in frustration, unable to come to terms with these feelings still coursing through his body.

Almost of their own volition, his legs fell out of the bed, his feet touching the floor. Clad only in a pair of shorts, he padded across the floor, opening his door and looking out into the empty hallway.

He crossed the few feet of corridor, approaching Jun's quarters. Pausing only for a moment, he knocked lightly.

Barely two seconds later, she opened the door, a look of surprise on her face.

The bright artificial light of the corridor spilled into her darkened room, illuminating rumpled bedclothes, and an equally rumpled Swan. Clad only in her pink nightie, her hair was in charming disarray, as if she too had been haunted by the memory of what they had shared.

"Can I come in?" he asked her.

Quietly, Jun nodded, stepping aside so that he could enter, and closing the door behind him. The only illumination came from her computer console, giving everything a soft bluish glow.

Awkwardly, Jun sat down on the bed, then looked up at him expectantly.

Now that he was here, Joe wasn't sure if he should have come. How could he approach this subject, without offending her more than he likely already had this afternoon?

But he was here, and they had to broach this sometime, so he plunged in with his usual direct style.

"Jun, about what happened today… I just… wanted to make sure you were okay with it."

The Swan looked embarrassed, twisting her hands together in her lap, and staring at the floor before she raised her face to answer him.

"Actually," she whispered, "I had been wondering the same thing about you."

"Oh, I'm okay with it." he said, his words coming out in a rush. "In fact, I'm more than okay with it… I'd…" he stopped, not sure if he was scaring her.

"You'd… what?" she asked, her eyes focused intently on his face.

"I'd like to finish what we started." he said.

A soft smile played at the corners of her mouth, and her body language instantly relaxed.

"Oh!" she giggled, her hand coming to her mouth. "I was worried that you'd be angry…"

"I'm not angry." he said, sitting carefully beside her on the bed. "In fact, I'm grateful…"

She raised a quizzical eyebrow at him.

"I'm grateful that you agreed to… well, you don't know what it was like. I needed… I wanted…"

"The drugs." she interrupted quietly, a look of comprehension coming over her face. "It was a side effect of the drugs."

"Yes," he confirmed, "but all they did was enhance desires I already had."

Jun didn't say anything, but seemed taken aback by his words.

"Didn't you know?" he grinned at her, "I've been fantasizing about you since I was thirteen years old. But I never imagined how good it would feel to actually be with you."

"It was more than good." Jun protested, looking shyly up at him from underneath her eyelashes. "It was incredible, Joe. I've never felt that way, before."

"I can make you feel that way again." he drawled.

"I have no doubt that you can." she replied coquettishly, a brief smile crossing her face, before she became serious again. "But I have to wonder if it's the right thing to do. The residual effects of that drug are still in your system."

"You're right, I can still feel some of it." Joe admitted, "But that isn't the only reason I'm here."

"I find that a little hard to believe." Jun confessed, "You've been so cold and distant lately. Why would you want to be close to me now?"

"I was trying to distance myself from all of you." Joe replied, ashamed of how he had made Jun feel. "I was wrong. The team is my strength. You are my strength, Jun. I'm at least grateful that this afternoon, I had the opportunity to bridge the gap between us, and see that for myself."

"I think you saw a lot more than that." Jun whispered, a flush spreading across her cheeks.

"I did." Joe replied softly, taking her face in his hands. "I saw a woman who is capable of incredible passion… a woman I care about very much."

"I care about you too, Joe." Jun said quietly, as if divulging a secret. "I don't know why you've been pulling away from us these last few weeks, but it hurt that you didn't want to be with us… with me… anymore."

"I'm not going to do that again." Joe promised, drawing her into a rough embrace. He buried his face in her hair, inhaling deeply. There it was again: her scent. It tantalized him, reminding him of what they had already shared.

Jun raised her face to look at him and he bent down, touching his lips to hers. One kiss became two, and two became more. They exchanged dozens of soft, feathery kisses, Joe cradling her tenderly in his arms as he gently reassured her that he had no intentions of ignoring her again.

Jun sighed, snuggling further into his embrace, as if there were no other place in the world she would rather be. She couldn't remember when she had last been shown any kind of affection. Joe was providing something she sorely needed, and something that she hadn't been aware was missing from her life, until now.

Joe gazed at Jun in wonderment. Suddenly, he felt complete, and the gaping hole in his life that he had been trying to come to terms with for the past two years was gone. And she had been here all along, under his nose.

But, hadn't Jun always been there for him? She had always been the one he came to, when he was feeling morose. She was the one who could be counted on to drag him out of his sour moods, opening his eyes to the happiness in his life. Of course, lately, he hadn't allowed her to do that, and Joe now realized that it was Jun's absence, more than anything, that had been fueling his depression.

She had been the one constant in his life, and without her, his life had been nothing.

For all of his charming reputation with women, Joe found it difficult to express these feelings. Not only had it been years since he had been with a woman, but the flowery compliments, the seductive phrases he was used to uttering, seemed incomplete and insincere, compared with what he wanted to express now.

Gently, he grazed his knuckles down the graceful line of her neck, and attempted to put his thoughts into words. But what came out was entirely different.

"Jun," he began slowly, "I would like to make love to you."

He couldn't believe that he had said that. Of course, he did want to make love to her, very badly, but he hadn't meant to express his feelings in quite that way.

"I'd like that, more than anything, Joe." Jun smiled at him. "But, I have to wonder… how much of this is you, and how much is the remnants of the drug in your system?"

"If you're asking, will I regret this tomorrow?" Joe said, "That won't happen. Yes, I can still feel some effects of whatever it was Galactor gave me, but that's not making my decisions for me, like it was this afternoon."

Jun's eyes searched his face for confirmation of his words, and she was apparently satisfied by what she saw.

"I guess, what I'm wondering is: would you regret this, tomorrow?" he asked her.

Jun appeared thoughtful, as if she were carefully composing her words.

"I could never regret what you bring to my life, Joe." she said. "And since our… time together… this afternoon, I can't deny that I've been wondering what it would be like..."

"I'm not going to have any regrets, Joe." Jun smiled. "In fact, I think I would regret not being with you."

Joe's heart raced, and Jun could see his pulse throbbing underneath his skin as she spoke. For a long moment, he gazed at her, as if in disbelief that they were both there, in each other's arms, admitting their desire for each other.

And then, the residue of Gel Sadra's serum came to the fore, and Joe was lost in the physical sensations her proximity engendered in him.

He had a sudden need to feel his bare skin against hers, and without warning he pulled her nightie over her head; so quickly that it nearly tore in two. Her underwear and his shorts immediately followed suit, as he laid her back on the bed and covered her body with his own.

He was aware of the full length of her form stretching out against him: her soft, smooth skin feeling like an intimate caress where it touched his rough, burning flesh. His hands buried themselves in her ebony hair, losing themselves in the silky strands as his mouth plundered hers for its innocent sweetness. He felt as if he could never get enough of her. Jun's scent, the feel of her skin, the taste of her mouth… they intoxicated Joe beyond belief, and he drowned in the pleasures they freely offered to his fiery desires.

Jun was taken aback by Joe's forwardness, but did not protest this delicious start to their passion. The Condor made love like he drove: zero to ninety in a bare second, moving along at breakneck speeds: embracing the thrill of the race and stretching out the path he followed, to prolong their enjoyment as long as possible. This was no hesitant, fumbling lover such as she was used to, but a man who knew what he wanted, took freely, and gave back in equal measure.

Equal measure? No… that wasn't right. It wasn't possible that Joe was feeling even half as much pleasure as Jun was experiencing, at that moment. The ecstasy of their encounter that afternoon was nothing compared to the rush of desire that now filled every fiber of her being. Her entire body ached for his touch, and Jun cried out in rapture as he moved against her. She was aware of every square inch of her skin and how it felt, crushed against his, yet at the same time it seemed as if she were melting and flowing into him, their bodies merging and acting as one.

Joe's hands slipped out of Jun's hair, past her shoulders and down her slim form. Every part of her was soft, and conformed to his muscular limbs, caressing him more intimately than he had ever imagined possible. The more he touched her, the more his ardor grew, until he felt as if he must surely expire from holding his passions within himself.

Soon, the use of his hands was not enough, and the Condor's mouth moved downward, tasting and pleasuring her as it explored the delicate curves of the Swan. Her neck, her breasts, her stomach, the soft skin of her inner thighs… each part of her body aroused him more than the last, and far beyond what he had ever thought possible.

When he found the coral flesh of her femininity exposed to his gaze, he could not resist. Remembering the honeyed taste of her that afternoon, he drank deeply of her passion, being rewarded for his actions as the very essence of her filled his mouth.

Jun's soft murmurs of delight gradually became frenzied cries, as her head thrashed on the pillow, her body succumbing to the Condor's insistent demands time and time again. Just as she felt that she could take no more he ceased, pulling himself up, so that their mouths came together in an explosion of delight. The mingling of her own pleasure and his tongue was more intoxicating than Jun had ever thought possible, and desperate moans escaped her throat as the Swan's body cried out for completion of the game she and the Condor had begun.

"Jun…"

His voice was harsh and ragged, the one word encompassing the enormity of his lust and emotion for this incredible woman. Her emerald eyes were glazed with desire, and at that moment, the world did not exist beyond the confines of their bodies.

"Joe…"

She ran her fingertips lovingly down his cheek, attempting to express her wonder and her gratitude for the passionate delights he was lavishing upon her. It was impossible to communicate the full extent of her feelings to him, but Joe sensed the bottomless depths of her passion, and was amazed at her generosity in sharing herself so fully with him.

It was only then that she became aware of his hardness between her legs, as it nestled against the entrance to her inner self. The Swan raised her hips, granting the Condor access to her most precious of treasures.

Joe crossed the threshold between two bodies and one, quickly losing himself in her soft embrace. Jun slipped her legs around him, pulling him into their intimacy with an aggressiveness that both surprised and pleased him. More than once he had to pull himself back from the edge, wanting to prolong this excruciating ecstasy for as long as humanly possible.

A tear slipped down Jun's cheek as her mind attempted to grasp the enormity of the physical pleasure she was experiencing at this moment. Whatever happened, she knew that she at last understood the true nature of passion between a man and a woman: something she had only guessed at before, without truly comprehending the full meaning behind such acts. With a sob, she cried out for the man who had shown her what true intimacy could be, begging him to complete what they had begun.

"Joe…. please…"

The naked desire in her voice was too much for the Condor, who found himself eagerly capitulating to her request, his body releasing its pent-up passions over and over again; each wave crashing over him with more force than the previous one. The Swan's soft flesh encased his hardness, rippling with her own pleasure as she soared with him.

"Jun!"

It seemed an eternity before his ardor subsided, and he was able to focus his gaze clearly upon the woman who had brought him there, sharing the experience with him in its fullest measure. Jun lay below him, her hair spilling over her pillow, her eyes closed, an expression of utter peace etched on her delicate features.

"Jun…" he said again, his voice full of tenderness and awe as he lay down beside her, caressing her face with his fingertips. Her eyelids fluttered and her breathing became less shallow as she recovered from her petit mort. The Condor had never before known a woman to react in such a fashion to his attentions. Certainly he had never been with a partner who didn't enjoy herself, but Jun's response to his touch spoke of passion on an entirely new level.

"Joe…" she whispered, regaining consciousness, "there are no words…"

"No." he agreed, gently tracing the outline of her nose with a fingertip, then kissing her softly. "There are no words to express my thanks, for sharing yourself with me."

"I never knew, that it could be this way." Jun struggled to explain what she was feeling. "Or that I was capable of…" Her hands fluttered helplessly at her sides, as she found her vocabulary entirely lacking.

"Neither did I." he replied, his eyes drinking in the sight of the Swan, exhausted by her passions and nestling within the crook of his arm. "I've never responded that way to anyone else."

"It's like… we were made for each other." Jun smiled. "I'm so grateful, Joe, that I was able to experience this. It's almost as if…"

Joe looked at her curiously, waiting for her to finish her thought.

"As if this is what we're fighting for." she said.

"Free love?" he asked her, amused.

"No." Jun shook her head slightly. "This… closeness: the ability to share this kind of intimacy in peace. To experience life to the fullest."

The Condor understood. An experience such as they had shared was only possible in an atmosphere of complete trust. Trust in each other, and trust in the future.

A trust he wasn't about to betray.

"It was certainly an experience to remember." he smiled.

"And to think: it nearly didn't happen." Jun sighed happily, snuggling against Joe's chest as he pulled the sheets up over them.

"Remind me to send Gel Sadra a thank you present." he murmured softly, pressing his lips to the top of Jun's head.

But the Swan did not hear him. She had fallen asleep.

Tired as he was, the Condor managed to keep his eyes open for a few moments longer, savoring the feeling of intimacy between them. But at last, he was able to fight his exhaustion no longer, and his head fell to the pillow, his mind filling with pleasant dreams of his graceful Swan.