'Sup amigos!
I've been thinking about the requests you have been sending my way, and I'm trying my best to make chapters based upon them, but I've got some older ideas that I'm trying to hammer out first. Don't worry, I'm not like many other writers: I actually LISTEN to my fans! (grin!)
By the way, TheWolfHourx, I think that you and I might have seen the exact same documentary. Yeah, I do remember that woman and her 2-suit thing that she and her husband tested on the zero-g simulator flight. When I saw that, I thought that it had a lot of practical potential, but it seemed to lack that passionate edge that I was looking for. And you know me: this particular fic is all about the passion. The hot, steamy, sweaty, sensual passion!
Anyway, here's the next chapter, which as you can probably tell, is a repeat of one of my previous ideas, but done a little differently.
On the Desk Again
John hated bureaucracy. He was not a politician or diplomat, who preferred to do battle with words in a board room against individuals who may or may not have been hiding their own agenda behind well-meaning words and fake smiles. No, he was a soldier, a warrior whose home was on a battlefield. Sure, many of his personal combat experiences may have left scars on him, both physical and emotional, but at the same time, he still much rather preferred that than being forced to play nice in a board room with a bunch of politicians who, in all likelihood, would have constantly been looking for the opportunity to stab him in the back.
Also, it was kind of hard to differentiate between friend and foe in these situations. In combat, his enemies were always easy to identify, either because they were an alien race, or they were humans who wore different kinds of uniform. Whatever the case, they were easy to spot, and easy to take out. A quick burst from an assault rifle, or a tossed hand grenade, and they went down, and stayed down.
Not here though. Here they were mostly humans with the occasional Sangheili interspersed, all wearing different uniforms or outfits, and they were all meant to be on the same side, each one doing their part to keep diplomacy going between the disparate factions now that the war between the UNSC and the Covenant was long over. Here he was, wearing cargo pants with the traditional camouflage pattern on them and a simple olive T-shirt with 'Spartan-117' stencilled on it in black, doing his best to keep his attention focused on the proceedings, but the long and repetitive talks had quickly begun to wear him down and cause his mind to wander. And he was a Spartan; trained to keep his mind sharp at the best and worst of times. So the fact that he was drifting off definitely said something.
A sharp kick to his leg brought John's mind back on task, and he turned to see Cortana glaring at him with her bright blue eyes. Usually they shone with mirth, but now they had a look on them that clearly said 'pay attention, will you!'.
Being a former Artificial Intelligence, Cortana had naturally been gifted with large amounts of patience, as she had often been forced to wait for long periods of time between tasks. Sure, she had the ability to carry out many tasks simultaneously, but even then there would be long periods when she would have nothing to do. And it would be in those instances that she would get bored and try to find something to occupy her time. The years that she had spent watching over John while they floated through space on the remains of the Forward Unto Dawn were a testament to that.
Even after becoming a human, Cortana still managed to largely retain the gift of patience, and so she was naturally more capable of dealing with long, arduous and boring situations better than John was. But even she would have to admit that being forced to sit in on these seemingly endless negotiations drained her of that precious patience, and now she had no chance to find something else to occupy her mind. She was unable to multitask the way she used to when she was a computer program, and these limits often meant that she had to focus entirely on whatever it was that she was meant to be doing, no matter how boring it might be. This current situation was no exception.
Cortana would never admit it out loud to anyone, but she also wished that she and John were back in some kind of combat situation; something that they were familiar with and knew how to handle. If anything, she probably wished it more than he did.
Yes, politics and bureaucracy were two things that definitely sucked.
After the meeting finally came to an end, John and Cortana breathed a massive sigh of relief. As the delegates shuffled out of the room, the two of them sat back and let their bodies relax, neither of them realising that they had let themselves get to any such stage where they had gotten so tense.
It was only after the last of the delegates – a tall, lumbering Sangheili – was heading out the door that John finally spoke to Cortana. "I really hate this," he said simply, choosing not to dance around the subject.
Cortana rolled her electric blue eyes. "I am well aware of that, John," she said. "I could tell by your demeanour that you were bored out of your mind and it was taking every ounce of strength that you had to keep it on task here."
"So were you," John pointed out.
Cortana hesitated for a second before trying to come up with a response. Or at least an excuse. "Well, yes, but I was… uh, I… um…" she struggled for an answer and John could not stop the grin that was spreading across his face. Whether it had been now when she was a human, or back when she was still an AI, Cortana never seemed to be at a loss for words, or an explanation for something. She always had a response ready, and it almost always had a grain of truth to it. The very fact that she was struggling with just such an answer at this point meant that she could not honestly say that she had not been as bored as him. If not more so. And he found that to be quite amusing.
"Okay John," she finally admitted with a sigh. "I will admit that I was bored too. But unfortunately, we are required to occasionally play nice at meetings such as this."
"Yes, but I'm a Spartan," John pointed out, trying his best not to sound like an indignant child. "Politics is not my strong point. Shooting people and blowing shit up is. Why should I have to do stuff like this?"
"Because apparently, the UNSC brass feels as though that, since you are one of the greatest living legends of the human race, you should be here to keep the peace."
"Uh-huh," John said dubiously. "What about any of the other Spartans?"
"Apparently they were unavailable at the time."
"Unavailable or just chose to duck their responsibilities?"
"Okay, maybe a bit of both. Last I heard, you got this job because Fred, Kelly and Linda all called 'not it' on this one."
"Figures," John grumbled. "Now I'm going to have to kill them." This last comment naturally brought out a laugh from Cortana, and this put a smile on John's face. No matter how crappy his life might get – or at least, how crappy he thought it was getting – just hearing his lover laugh or seeing her smile was more than enough to make it all seem worth it and put him in a good frame of mind once again.
The Spartan pushed himself out of his chair, bringing himself to his full height. "Well," he said, "looks like that little grind is done, so I think we can take some time out."
As he said this, Cortana stood up herself, then paused and reached into her pocket to pull out her slim PDA. Scanning over the screen, she held up one finger. "Hold that thought," she told him. "I just got a message from Lord Hood. Apparently, he wants us to report to his office as soon as possible. For what, I don't know."
John leaned his head back and let off a frustrated groan. "It just never ends, does it?"
Things did not improve when they actually got to Lord Hood's office. If anything, they actually got worse. They went there, hoping that they would be welcomed in by the venerable old officer, and he would proceed to tell them the nature of their meeting. Instead, John and Cortana were informed by the secretary that something completely unexpected had come up at the last second, and that Lord Hood had been forced to step out in order to deal with it, not knowing exactly when he would be back.
For all her calm demeanour that she exhibited earlier, Cortana was now on the verge of losing it and taking it out on the poor secretary. For the most part, John simply sat back and watched for a while as the former AI vented her frustrations vocally.
"Listen, we have been forced to sit in on boring negotiations for hours now, missy!" Cortana ranted. "We have done everything that was asked of us! And now, Lord Hood requests our presence here, and now he doesn't even have the common decency to show up? Would someone please tell me what the hell is going on here? Because right now, it feels like we're getting the royal screw-job!"
The secretary was a woman in her early twenties, and seemed like someone who had dealt with upstarts and blowhards on a regular basis. But this woman standing before her, with her fiery determination and electric blue eyes, was perhaps the one individual who had managed to unnerve her. But to her credit, she managed to hold on and make the best attempt she could at placating her.
"Ma'am, I do not wish for anything to go wrong for you, but unfortunately, these events are out of my control. Lord Hood was called away just a few minutes ago on what he said was urgent business, and that your meeting with him would have to wait until then."
John stepped forward, hoping to take control of the conversation from Cortana, if only to help ease her current level of stress. "It's okay, miss, we can wait. Did Lord Hood say what his urgent business was?"
"I'm afraid not, sir."
"Did he say how long he would be?"
The secretary bit her lip nervously, as if she felt giving the answer would not ease the problem, or even make it worse. "About forty or fifty minutes," she said tentatively.
"Forty or fifty minutes?" Cortana repeated incredulously.
Well, John thought, that didn't exactly make things easier.
Attempting to placate Cortana before she let loose with another outburst, the secretary gestured to the wooden door of Lord Hood's office. "You can wait in his office, if you wish." She plastered a strained smile on her face, hoping that would also help ease things.
Cortana began to verbalise a response. "That is – "
"A good idea," John cut in. He gently grabbed her by the arm and pulled her in the direction of the office, ignoring her blustered cries. "Thank you, miss," he directed politely to the secretary. "Don't worry, we won't touch anything." Keeping one hand around Cortana's arm, he pushed open the door with the other one and proceeded to drag her inside.
Lord Hood's new office was one of those ones where you had to pass through two sets of doors, as there was an extra room in between it and the one housing the secretary's desk. Opening up the second door, he pulled the still-fuming woman into the room and guided her towards one of the two chairs surrounding the oak desk positioned at the opposite end of the room. Desks made of wood were something of a rarity nowadays, reserved mainly for the highest ranking officers, whereas lower people usually made do with ones made of other materials. Lord Hood had often stated that he preferred the feel of wood for his desk, saying that it felt much more natural. Right now, there were only a few papers on it, but nothing more.
John sat down in the other chair, glancing sideways at Cortana. "You know," he said, "I actually find it ironic that you were just telling me to remain calm and be patient with the meeting, and now I was the one who had to reel you in." He grinned.
"Knock it off, John," Cortana muttered sulkily.
"I'm not kidding, Cortana," he continued with a light chuckle. "You were about ready to tear that poor woman's head off! I thought that someone who used to be an AI would have lots of patience."
The woman turned her piercing blue eyes on him, frowning in annoyance. This only lasted for a few seconds, however, and her facial expression softened to one that was more frustration than anything else. She let out a long sigh. "Usually I am, John, but lately, I've just been under so much stress. My mother has been depending upon me so much lately." Here, she was referring to her creator, Dr Catherine Halsey, who had also been the template for her cloned body. "She's constantly busy, so I've been trying to ease her stress levels, and that unfortunately means that I have to deal with those stress levels too."
"I'm sure she appreciates the help that you're giving her," John said.
"She does," Cortana responded. "She has told me that many times. Unfortunately, I've also gotten other things to do for the UNSC, and that eats up much of my time, which in turn also saps me of my usually high levels of patience. Today, I was just barely holding together, and that little incident there," she jerked her thumb towards the door and the secretary outside, "was simply the proverbial final straw for me."
John listened to her weary confession intently, and when she finished, he gave her a look that managed to be both firm and gentle at the same time. "You know, maybe you need to take some time off. Have you ever thought of that?"
"Sometimes," Cortana admitted. "I've often considered just taking a few days off to catch up on some lost sleep, unwind a little." She reached up with one of her hands and began massaging her neck.
John watched these actions. "I don't suppose you want me to do the job of rubbing your neck for you?" he asked with some levity, raising one of his eyebrows suggestively.
Cortana stopped her movements and gave him something of a sideways glance for a few seconds. Afterwards, she smiled. "Well, my neck's not that bad, but if you don't mind…" she lifted her legs and placed her feet firmly in the Spartan's lap, "I could do for a nice foot rub right about now."
Rolling his eyes with a smile, John nonetheless pulled off the woman's shoes, and then proceeded to give her that which she currently desired. Those calloused Spartan hands had expertly handled every kind of weapon or explosive device that the human race or the former Covenant knew about, and had been instrumental in ending so many lives and causing massive amounts of destruction. And yet they just as easily massaged and kneading those knotted and sore areas on Cortana's feet. The former AI let out a low moan of appreciation. "Thank you, John, I really need this."
"You know me," John responded, glancing up slightly but never once ceasing his actions. "I would do anything for you, Cortana, and you know it."
Cortana thought about adding another statement, but then decided to simply lean back and let the light pleasure radiate from her feet and wash all across her body. She closed her eyes and felt a smile cross her face, just forgetting all of her usual cares and worries.
In her former life as an Artificial Intelligence, her job had been easy, as she could carry out many tasks in the space of time it took her to click her fingers, but humans were a bit more limited in those areas. Regardless, she had not hesitated to pitch in and do her part for the greater good. The downside, she quickly discovered, was the slow pace, along with the fatigue and weariness. They were just some of the negative aspects that she had to get used to. Others included long hours, dealing with annoying personnel, and the like.
She could definitely understand why John had much preferred being at war and he could simply shoot his enemies or blow them up. Similarly, Cortana would have to admit that it was easier for her when she had been an Artificial Intelligence serving on board a UNSC ship. In combat situations, she could partake in cyber-warfare, even going so far as to infiltrate an enemy vessel's systems and sabotage it in some way, like trapping many enemies in one room and then opening it up into the vacuum of space. That was not really something that she could do while at the negotiation table.
John was right about one thing: bureaucracy and politics definitely sucked.
John. Now there was one thing that Cortana was definitely grateful for; the one person who could be considered the single most important aspect of her life. There was Dr Halsey, of course, but their relationship was that of a mother and daughter. No, her relationship with John was different, and had gone much deeper and more intimate than ones typically shared between two individuals, be they human, AI, or whatever. They had looked after each other, cared for each other, and been there for each other in the very best and very worst of situations, and neither one of them would have it any other way.
And how they expressed their physical relationship was, without a doubt, one of Cortana's favourite things in existence. Hell, maybe even the most favourite. They made love so often, it almost seemed like every day, not that either of them were complaining about it. In all likelihood, if it weren't for the birth control measures that Cortana was using, she was willing to bet that she might have gotten knocked up quite a while ago.
Actually, Cortana would have to admit that the foot rub that John was giving her, and the way his hands and fingers worked over her sensitive spots, was more than just a little comforting. It was actually kind of… erotic. Especially in the way that it sent ripples of pleasure radiating throughout her body. Involuntarily, she let out a moan of ecstasy that was a bit louder than she would have intended. It was not too loud, but it still caused her to flash a quick glance at the door, wondering if the secretary had perhaps heard it. Looking back at John, she saw him giving her a reassuring smile.
"Don't worry, Cortana," he said. "She can't hear anything going on in this room."
The former AI furrowed her brow in confusion. "What do you mean?"
"Many of these offices," John explained, "are built upon a design that provides them with total secrecy, even from the people in the next room, and that includes state-of-the-art soundproofing." He nodded towards the door. "And since there's not one, but two doors between us and her, it's highly likely that a gun battle could go off in this room, and she'd be none the wiser."
Cortana raised an eyebrow. "So we could make as much noise as we want, and nobody would have a clue?"
"Pretty much, yes." As he said this, the Spartan continued his foot massage, and Cortana once again found little tendrils of pleasure reaching up from her feet and coursing lightly through her body. These began to stoke the fires of desire in her being, and she felt her breath begin to quicken a small amount. Even after all this time, it simply amazed her how the man known as the Master Chief could bring about such a reaction in her physical being. Almost without realising it, she moved one of her feet in John's lap, and began slow and sensual stroking of his groin area with her toes.
This sudden act by Cortana made John falter in his movements, and he stopped the foot massage in order to glance at his lover in surprise. Not a negative kind of surprise though. Quite the opposite, in fact; it was a positive and appreciative type of surprise. As much as he could invoke amorous reactions in her body, she was more than capable of doing the same to his. As a Spartan, he had undergone augmentations that had the unintentional side effect of stunting his sex drive, but it had obviously taken a woman like Cortana to bring them out again.
"You know," Cortana began lightly, "that secretary did say that it would be quite a while before Lord Hood would come back."
"Yes, she did," John replied in that husky tone that he used when he felt his own desires being stimulated. It was a sure sign that she was definitely having an effect on him.
"And you also said that nobody would be able to hear through the doors…" she let the sentence hang, smiling lecherously.
"Also true." He raised an eyebrow suggestively. A few seconds passed with no further words being said between them. No words even needed to be said. Instead, Cortana slowly and deliberately took her feet back off John's lap, and then – in one swift movement – practically launched herself out of her chair and into his arms, the two of them immediately engaging in a passionate kiss, their lips and tongues practically swirling around together.
John wrapped his arms around the waist and back of former construct, holding her closer and tighter to him, and at the same time, Cortana responded by locking her arms around his head, urging him in to an even deeper kiss. The two moaned passionately into each other's mouths, breaking apart only when the need for oxygen started to become very noticeable.
"You do realise that it's not exactly right for us to be doing this in the office of our commanding officer?" John pointed out.
Cortana simply smiled in response. "Of course. But that's also what makes this all the more fun!" In response, he could only smile and pull her in for another kiss just as hot as the one they had just shared. It seemed as though all of these desires that had been a part of her mindset, both as a hologram and now as a human, had resulted in Cortana having developed a playful streak that was at least a kilometre wide, and she had no problem with acting upon it. Not that John was complaining. Not that he had any justifiable reason to be complaining, anyway.
While still locked in a passionate kiss, John stood up, picking up Cortana as he did so. While sitting, she had been straddling him, and now she had her legs wrapped around his waist as she persisted in assaulting his face and lips with kisses. Walking them over to the desk, he dropped her down onto the edge of it.
Cortana pulled away from him with a smile. "Looks like we're doing it on a desk again," she pointed out as her hands began to work on the fasteners of his belt.
"Yes, it looks like we are," John answered back eagerly. He could tell that this particular encounter between the two of them would be a hard and fast one, requiring little foreplay beforehand. Not that it mattered to either one of them; neither one could remember even a single one of their experiences that was negative or lacklustre in any way. Not that first one that resulted from a chance meeting on a beach, not that time they did it in the Warthog, or even when they had sex on Dr Halsey's desk.
And it looks like now we're breaking in Lord Hood's desk, John thought as he felt Cortana divest him of his belt before pulling his pants and briefs down, letting them gather around his ankles. His hardened manhood, all nine inches, sprung into view, and Cortana let out a moan of pure wanting at the simple sight of it.
She wanted it, and John was all too willing to give it to her.
Now it was his turn to take off her pants, and he obliged without complaint. John undid the belt and slid the fabric down Cortana's nice, firm and toned legs, pulling her panties down as he did so. He felt his own spike of excitement as her moistened womanhood came into view.
With her lower half of clothing now completely removed, Cortana perched herself back on the edge of the desk and spread her legs apart, licking her lips in a hungry anticipation. John responded in kind by positioning himself in between her toned limbs, rubbing the tip of his manhood against her opening before plunging it all the way in. Cortana's body jerked suddenly as a spasm of ecstasy rocked her being from the penetrating move, and then she wrapped her legs around the Spartan's waist, easing him in closer.
John groaned softly as he felt himself being enclosed within his lover's soft and firm warmth, and took a few moments to simply enjoy the amazing and head-spinning sensation. He began pulling out slowly, then easing back in, repeating the process over and over, starting off slow, but picking up pace as he did so.
Cortana leaned back as she felt the pleasure begin to wash over her, first in slow bursts followed by progressively larger ones. As she felt them course through her body, she was reminded of the simple fact that John never seemed to disappoint her when it came to pleasure. The foot rub was enjoyable, there could be no doubt about that. But that now seemed to pale in comparison to pure and passionate sex.
God, I love this man so much! Cortana thought as she leaned back, continuing to do so until she was lying flat on the desk, feeling the firm wood on her back. Looking up at the man known to so many as the Master Chief, she saw the intense and yet glazed look that he had whenever he was in the grips of pleasure; something that only seemed to happen when they were copulating. She continued to rove her gaze over his muscled form and handsome face. Many men would have possibly found themselves beginning to strain at this particular exertion, but not the Chief. No, John was a Spartan, and that strength always seemed to come through in moments of passion such as this.
Both she and John were naked from the waist down, while keeping their top halves on; John in his dark green T-shirt with his military title stencilled on it, and her in her usual zipped-up top of her UNSC uniform. The apparel usually clung to her curves, and right now, it was doing its best to contain the motions of her ample bosom as it bounced back and forward along with John's energetic thrusts.
Screw it, she thought through the haze of euphoria, and she reached up to the zipper. Grabbing it, she slowly brought it down to her navel.
John watched her do these movements as he continued to thrust in and out of Cortana. She pulled the zipper down to her belly button, but chose to stop there instead of going all the way down. Nonetheless, she pulled back the fabric on both sides, allowing the large mounds to spring free. Just seeing them excited John so much that he had to slow down for a moment, lest he reached his climax too soon. He did not want to blow it – so to speak – and so he allowed this sudden spike to recede before picking up the pace again.
This did not go unnoticed by Cortana. She knew exactly what kind of reactions she had could provoke from John, and her body was definitely an important factor in them. Just as seeing his well-muscled form and stiff manhood could make her go weak at the knees and stoke inside her a fire that could only be quenched by pure intimacy, she was aware that her own body had the potential to bring the mighty Spartan to his knees.
For several passion-filled minutes, John continued to stand over Cortana as she laid face-up on the desk, thrusting in and out of her and causing the former AI to moan in sheer ecstasy and bliss. She rolled her head side to side as the passion wrought havoc on her body and her exposed breasts continued to move in time with the thrusts.
Both of them were dimly aware that, even though there were two soundproof doors between them, there was still a slim possibility that the secretary outside could still hear them. In addition, there was the chance of Lord Hood returning from his errand a bit earlier than usual. Neither of them cared in the slightest though. In their own world, it was just them.
Cortana was so lost in this euphoria that she didn't realise that her orgasm was creeping up on her. By the time she noticed this, it was already too late to prevent it, and she bit her lip to keep herself from crying out too loud as the explosion of pure pleasure rolled over her body. Just as she was only starting to come down from this haze, she felt John thrust himself as deep inside her as he could, and experienced his own climax, emptying himself inside her as he did so. Cortana let out another moan as she felt the hot liquid fill her.
Time seemed to slow to a crawl as both of them simply remained there, him standing over her and she still lying back on the desk with her legs wrapped around his waist. The experience had sapped the strength out of her and so her legs were not holding on so tightly, instead being more relaxed. Neither of them said anything, not wanting to ruin the situation by talking or interrupting in any way, and so just remained where they were, simply enjoying the afterglow of their sex and the continued feeling of being joined so intimately.
Both of them found themselves being immensely grateful for the fact that Lord Hood had been called out. It had not been a waste of their time at all.
They just hoped that he would not find out what they did on his desk.
I think this one's a bit different than my other chapters. The others have a noticeable build-up to the act, but in this case, it's just hard and fast. Originally, I did not plan that, but then I thought, "Eh, screw it! Mix it up a little." Hope you guys like it.
When I did the desk one earlier, I was trying to decide if it should be Halsey or Hood's desk. In the end, I decided to do both of them in two different chapters. So, mission accomplished!
Is it just me, or are John and Cortana having a REALLY tough time keeping their hands of each other? (Big, sneaky grin)