Florrum

 

Florrum

 

It was definitely worth the wait.

 

The hatch of their shuttle closed behind them with a hiss, effectively sealing out the rest of the world, and the Jedi, Kalinda Halcyon, took a moment to extend her awareness once more to the rest of the newly-christened “Shadow Squad” from their celebration inside the Weequay pirates' hold. From them, she sensed happiness, exuberance, and...well. Suffice it to say that not all of Hondo's ale had gone to the destruction of the droids and the clones were enjoying a rare – and well-deserved – moment of indulgence. The leader of the pirates himself was also in a pleasant mood, and she relaxed, knowing that her men would not come to any harm while she and Captain Stonewall were otherwise occupied.

 

“Everything okay?” The voice of her captain brought her attention back to the present, to the interior of the shuttle, where he'd lit a few of the softer lights along the lower edge of the bulkhead. She blinked up at Stonewall as he came to a halt before her, and noted the trails of nervousness that were edging off of him.

 

So she smiled and nodded, reaching her hand up to cup his cheek – noting the scrape of stubble – and leaned up to him, sighing when he bent and embraced her. The kiss was deep, immersive. His hands moved from the small of her back to her hips, tracing the curve with a smooth, albeit tentative motion. Pressed as she was against his chest, she could feel the tempo of his heart even through the armored plating, increasing with each moment. He's nervous, she realized even as she let out a soft sigh. It's his first time, after all.

 

When they broke apart she tilted her head, indicating the officer's cabin that she now called home. He took a breath and her hand, and they made their way to the small room. Though he kept his steps measured, the Force indicated to her that he was only growing more tense, the feeling interspersed with shots of anticipation, flashes of anxiety, but overshadowed by a heady desire that matched her own.

 

The cabin was small, cluttered. Besides her sleeping-pallet in the center of the room, against the bulkhead, there was a desk filled with datapads and bits of flimsi with notes scribbled across the pages. A few holo-vids added to the jumble, and she gave a mental wince when she noted the presence of several articles of clothing she'd carelessly left out. There were normally instruments in one corner and she dimly remembered that they'd left the cases they were supposed to be returning in the ship's midsection.

 

Again, she cast her mind back to the others in their squad to ascertain that all was well, and gave a sigh of relief when she realized it was.

 

Stonewall stood at parade rest just inside the closed door, eyes ahead, white-armored chest lifting and falling in a too-steady rhythm, and she was again struck by his agitation. But it was similar for me, I guess, she thought, remembering her “first time,” two decades ago, at this point. It's natural, and to be expected. So it's my job to make sure it's a good first.

 

“The guys are fine,” she said, stepping over a discarded tunic to stand before him. “If you're concerned about them.”

 

The captain nodded and took a deep breath, as if steeling himself for something, then he looked down at her. “I don't know what to do.” The words came out in a rush and his voice was uncertain.

 

Kali shrugged. “I think you'll figure it out before too long, but in the meantime, I can give you some hints.”

 

After the battle, her traditional Jedi garb had been too soiled to keep, so Hondo had given her a simple, purple tunic that fell to her knees, with her boots beneath. Leaning forward to steady herself against Stonewall's solid form, Kali pulled off one boot, then the other, tossing them in the corner and out of the way. She glanced up at the captain, who was watching her with interest, and turned her back to him. “Help me with the zipper, please?”

 

Nodding, he reached up, pausing to brush her hair out of the way so that it fell forward over her shoulder. After a moment she felt the cooler air inside the ship hit her bare skin and heard the soft noise as he drew the zipper down its length, pausing at the small of her back. His hand lifted; she turned and shifted out of the tunic, stepping out of the material to kick it out of the way and stood before him wearing only her small-clothes.

 

That was when she realized that he was looking away, his entire body very still and self-contained, as if he was trying desperately to not loose control. The tension radiated off of him in palpable waves, the nerves and anxiousness still present, but she could feel them gradually starting to fade beneath his overwhelming desire. The arches of her feet lifted as she leaned up to kiss him again, wrapping her right arm around his neck and running her left hand through the close-cropped hair. There was stubble on his chin that he'd not yet had a chance to shave, and it scratched against her skin in an enticing way. Beneath her stomach, the plastoid was cool and she was peripherally glad that he'd cleaned it after the battle.

 

Amusement flickered through her mind when she realized that his arms were still at his sides, the desire still not quite strong enough to overpower the fact that his entire body was rigid. After a moment, though, he made a soft sound in the back of his throat and his hands lifted to rest on her hips once more, and the kiss deepened.

 

However, she could still feel him holding back. It was as if he'd erected a wall of some kind – his namesake coming into play again, she reckoned – and was keeping himself in check. Cautious. Uncertain, despite the fact that she knew he was strung taut with desire.

 

So Kalinda pulled back. “Stonewall,” she said in a soft voice, watching as his almost-golden eyes met hers. “I'm here. You're here. Right now, that's all that matters, okay? Let everything else fall away.”

 

“I know, but...” His jaw tensed as he glanced away, then looked back at her. “I want it to be special for you, too. I want to...please you.” There was earnestness in his gaze, mixed with frustration. “But I don't know how. According to the Holo-Net...” He trailed off at this and she watched color rise to his cheeks.

 

Don't laugh, she told herself as she nodded. Don't laugh, don't laugh. “You've done...research?”

 

Stonewall gave a sharp exhale and seemed resigned as his shoulders moved into a shrug. “Well, like I said: I wanted to know what I was doing.” He skimmed his hands along her shoulders, a faint but wry smile coming over his face. “No regs for this kind of scenario, you know.”

 

The action sent a shiver across her skin, drawing her back into the moment. She nodded and began to tug at his gauntlets. “Learn anything interesting?”

 

“Maybe,” he replied in an amused voice as she removed the gloves and set them aside with a gentle brush of the Force before turning her attention to his arms. After watching her fumble for a few moments he cleared his throat. “I think I can help with that.”

 

“Be my guest,” she replied, stepping back. He smiled again and she felt more of his tension ebb away, replaced by elevating desire. Off came the spaulders, the vambraces, and the rest of the pieces whose names she could never remember even in less distracting moments. He stacked everything in a neat pile – a sharp contrast to her own hasty disrobing – and bent to remove the leg-armor. Here, Kali stepped in. “Let me try.” Before he could stop her, she knelt before him and worked at the fastenings on the pieces that covered his upper-thighs, then his knees, then his calves; she stacked them with the others and bade him lift his feet, one after the other to step out of the boots.

 

Kali sat back on her heels and looked up at him, taking in the sight. The black body-glove that the clones wore beneath their armor was tight-fitting, almost like a second skin, but he'd shucked it in a fluid movement so that he was now wearing only his dark shorts, and she couldn't help but run her eyes appreciatively across his muscular frame. A lifetime of physical activity had given his body definition without unnecessary bulk, and his skin was a shade or two darker than hers, looking nearly golden in the dim light of the cabin. Beneath her gaze, his back straightened a little as if on reflex, and she was transfixed by the sight of Stonewall as his head tilted down to regard her, waiting for the next move.

 

“It's better now, isn't it?” Kali noted the pitch of her voice had dropped, tinted with desire. “We're not 'Captain' and 'General,' anymore,” she added as his hand lowered and she took it, getting to her feet in a single, smooth motion. “We're not even 'Kali' and 'Stone.' We're just you and me.”

 

“I can handle that,” he replied, taking a breath. For a moment he was still tense, but she watched the anxiety fade from his face as he studied her, his gaze resting on her chest and hips, his hands following after a moment. Her eyes closed as he ran his fingertips along the length of her arm, ending at her own fingers, which he laced with his before leaning down to kiss her again. As he did so, she felt his hands lift from hers, one of which moved to cup her jaw, the other meandering its way to the small of her back, still tentative.

 

“So, what did the Holo-Net tell you?” she asked, her voice a little breathless when they parted. While she asked the question, Kali rested her cheek against his chest and felt that his heartbeat was increasing, and his skin was growing more warm than usual.

 

“I can't really remember, now.” The tone of his voice alerted her that his mouth had quirked into a smile, and she felt the reverberation of his baritone reply through his chest.

 

She turned her face up to him and began kissing his chest, before running her teeth and tongue across his nipples, one after the other as she spoke. “Ah. Well, it is kind of useless sometimes, isn't it?”

 

“Pretty much.” The words were accompanied by a hissing intake of breath and she smiled to herself just before she paused to look up at him again. The honey-brown of his eyes was nearly obscured by black pupils, and his face was flushed.

 

Kali indicated the pallet. Stonewall followed her, kneeling beside her as she settled on her knees on t top of the thick, padded cushion that served as her bed aboard the small ship. For a moment she regarded him, then took his hands in hers, bringing them around her back to the fastenings on her undergarment. To his credit, Stonewall manage to undo the article without much fumbling, and she gave a sigh of pleasure when he freed her breasts. They had never made it this far before; until now, they'd only been able to manage a few stolen kisses, though she'd always been left aching for more.

 

But still he held back; despite the urgency she could sense within him, despite the a longing to caress her, to touch her, to taste and smell her, he was motionless. Uncertainty rose from him again and she met his eyes, a question on the tip of her tongue even bared before him as she was.

 

“I want it to be right,” he murmured in a hoarse voice . “I know you've done this before, but I'm not used to...this kind of situation.”

 

“I'm here, Stone,” she replied, leaning forward to cup his cheek, the stubble scratching her palm in a way that sent shivers across her skin. “You're here. That's all that matters. Relax and let go.” As she spoke, she kissed the edges of his mouth, his cheekbones, his eyelids. It wasn't until her lips sought the hollow of his throat that she heard it: the soft, guttural noise rising up from deep within his chest to resonate within hers. It was the noise of anticipated pleasure, the sound of a man with a single intention, and it was accompanied by a heady rush of energy that she could only think of as masculine as his fingers gripped her waist.

 

Moments later he shifted his hands up her torso and pulled her as close as he could, the heat of his body seeming to consume her along with his eagerness and his insistence. His mouth left hers and made its way along her jawline, down her neck, to her chest, finally resting on her nipples, where he paused for one moment, as if casting his mind back to her earlier treatment of his own, then his tongue ran across her skin with a renewed determination. To ease his approach he angled her body back against the pallet, and she let out a quiet whimper as he nipped at the sensitive skin.

 

Both of his hands were supporting his weight, resting on either side of her abdomen; she nudged his right one forward to her other breast and he got the hint, caressing his fingertips across the raised nub of flesh. The whimper turned into a gasp, and her back arched as he moved to her other nipple, adjusting his position so that he could work her in a similar fashion.

 

Through the haze of her own desire, Kali ran her fingers through his hair, down his neck, and across his shoulder-blades, pausing when she came across a slice of broken skin just below the cap of his right shoulder; it felt as if it was a few days old, at least. It wasn't deep, but she thought that it must have hurt when he received it and wondered at the fact that his armor had not protected him. This thought made her pull his face up to hers, and kiss him with intensity. Naturally, he returned the action in kind, though she sensed his hesitation resurfacing from what he must have considered an interruption.

 

Rather than answer him, she smiled and shifted her body so that she could feel the insistent press of his hardness above her core. Glancing down, she watched him take in the sight and realize that there were only two rather flimsy pieces of cloth separating them. Stone looked back at her, his expression shaded with heavy desire. “What's next?”

 

Chuckling, Kali smoothed her hand along the side of his face. “What do you think?”

 

“I have few ideas,” he replied, leaning down to nuzzle her neck again, making her give an inhalation of pleasure. “But you're the one leading this expedition.”

 

In response, Kalinda sat up beneath the pillars of his arms and pushed his torso so that he was lying on his back, watching with fascination as she crept over him; she slid her fingertips beneath the elastic edges of his shorts, pulling them up and over the swell of his body and then carefully down his legs before chucking them over her shoulder.

 

The light in the cabin was dim but from this angle she could make out his scars easily enough. There were many, various sizes and depths, the largest of which being a jagged pink ribbon that ran around his left side and down to just past his hip-bone. “What's this from?” she asked as her hand smoothed over the shiny flesh.

 

“Teyr,” he whispered, his eyes half-open as he watched her.

 

Kali studied the broken patch of skin for a moment before she bent to kiss it, gently skimming her tongue across the area even as her right hand traced invisible patterns along his bare chest. In response he let out a groan, his body shifting underneath her lips, the pulse of his desire elevating all the more as her mouth made its way along his hips down his torso, nipping at his abdomen until she paused at his navel. “Exactly why do clones have belly-buttons?”

 

“What?” The word was a gasp and she felt confusion threading through his arousal.

 

Maybe now's not the best time to ask. Grinning, Kali shook her head, the motion of her head sending her hair to caress his hardness. “Never mind.” He made a wordless utterance from the back of his throat and she lowered her head again, flicking her tongue across his swollen skin for a moment before she took him in her mouth completely. However, she felt frustration emanating from the action and paused to look up at him again. “Is this okay?”

 

“Too...much,” he choked out, reaching his hand down to pull her up, towards his face. “I won't...make it.”

 

“We have all night, you know,” she replied as she settled beside him, stretching her body alongside his, again savoring the warm press of his skin to hers.

 

But he shook his head, his breathing still rapid. “I know, but...that's not what I want, right now.”

 

“Then what do you want, Stonewall?” she asked, kissing his chest.

 

Another soft growl escaped his throat and he was on top of her again, one hand slipping off her underwear while he kissed her jaw and throat, balancing on his knees. She reached around his neck and pulled his mouth to hers and for a few moments they were lost in the kiss. Finally they parted and he studied her, dark pupils ringed with gold. “I want to be inside of you,” he said at last. “Kali, I've wanted this for so long.”

 

She took his hand in hers and guided it to her core, to her soft folds that were slick with her own desire. “I'm here, Stone,” she replied, watching as his breath hitched. “I've been waiting for you, too.”

 

This appeared to be his undoing, as he groaned again and shifted his body so that he was aligned with her entrance. She whispered his name again and let out a gasp when he slid inside of her, the movement rippling her body with a sensation of fullness. He made a similar sound and looked down at her, one last trace of hesitation in his eyes before she tilted her head up to kiss him, murmuring his name once before the sound turned into a whimper, then a cry as he began to move in earnest.

 

Their world shrank to each other, everything else falling away as he thrust into her again and again; through the Force she reached out to him and touched her awareness to his, allowing the swell and strength of his overarching presence to fill her spirit as it did her body. There was the seeking of pleasure within his thoughts, but there was also desire, hope, affection, bewilderment and – to her surprise – a lingering kind of awe that extended far beyond either of them at this moment. It overlaid his perception of her, of the experience they were sharing, and of the time they'd spent together until now, as if he was still disbelieving of the path his life had taken.

 

It was a sentiment she shared.

 

Where her hands had been gripping his upper arms – her fingertips had brushed the healing cut – she could see the briefest flash of pale skin, instantly filled as blood rushed to paint the area beneath. The air was thick with the scent of their joining and when she leaned forward to kiss his neck, he tasted like the sweat that was starting to bead across their skin. He was burning hot to the touch as if someone had lit a fire within him, and his movements had become more erratic and potent. Realizing that an end was in sight, Kali concentrated on her own body, allowing her pleasure to increase and expand even as she felt her core tightening in anticipation of release.

 

His skin beneath her hands was a blaze even as her mouth on his was only the barest brush of parted lips. She wrapped them both within the Force and gave a gentle nudge, which was all that was needed to send him over the edge, and herself as well.

 

For its duration the release blocked out everything from her vision but the memory of the golden circles of his eyes. All thoughts emptied from her mind as her body lost itself to the catharsis that had been building within her for so long. Stonewall's baritone cried her name once as she felt him thrust himself deeper into her, the power of his own release turning the sound into an exclamation rather than cogent speech. They were joined by the zenith of their shared pleasure for an instant before it ended, when he all but collapsed onto her, his breath short.

 

For a moment he rested on top of her, the close press of their skin allowing her to feel the furious cadence of his heart, though it started to slow after a few breaths. Finally he leaned up, resting his weight on his elbows at either side of her shoulders, and looked down at her with unabashed joy. She tried not to giggle as his mouth opened but no sound came out, then he shook his head and sighed, a grin spreading across his face.

 

Kali leaned up to kiss him on the mouth. “How's it going, Captain?”

 

He gave a helpless laugh and smoothed his hands along the side of her face, cupping her cheeks and kissing her forehead once. “Better than I ever imagined.”

 

“Was the Holo-Net's information accurate?”

 

Stonewall shook his head. “Nothing could have prepared me for this experience, Kalinda.” Abruptly, he slid out of her and moved to lie beside her, his hand still stroking her cheek. “I think I saw stars. Is that normal? It's never happened...before.”

 

“Before?”

 

He gave her a dry look and she grinned. “Only when it's really good, Stone. And I hope to repeat the experience many more times.”

 

At this he looked alarmed, but hopeful. “I'm game, though I think I may need a minute...” Words trailed off as she nestled into the crook of his shoulder, pressing her ear against his skin and inhaling his scent, the sound of his steadying heartbeat echoing in her mind. For a while they laid together in sated silence before his arm tightened around her shoulders. “Kali?”

 

“Hmm?”

 

The hesitation in his voice made her brows knit and she peered up at him as he spoke. “It was good for you too, right?”

 

Her laughter was bright and she kissed his chest. “It was wonderful, Stone.” At the words she sensed a flare of happiness from him and he gave a rather incongruously businesslike nod of satisfaction.

 

“Good.”

 

In response, she sat up and extricated herself from his embrace, indicating that he should do so as well. As he did, she scooted around behind him and then laid her hands on his upper chest, easing his head down so that it was in her lap, after which she began running her hands through the fine fringe of his hair. At first he was uncertain with the new development but he adjusted as she angled her nails downward and began to scratch his head.

 

“What's this for?” he murmured, tilting his head forward allow her better access and giving an exhale of pleasure.

 

Rather than answer him immediately, Kalinda increased the pressure and length of her strokes and watched the hairs on his arms raise and a shiver pass over his skin. Finally she smiled. “You looked like you needed it.”

 

A soft chuckle escaped him at this, but he said nothing else. Several minutes later, Kali switched tactics and smoothed her fingertips over the planes of his face before turning her attention to the curves and folds of his ears. Here, he let out another sigh and she watched his smile slack, his face transforming into a look of utter peace. There was silence as they sat like this, Kali alternately scratching his head and skimming her hands along his face, his jawline and throat.

 

It amazed her how this man who was bred to fight, to be an ideal warrior, could melt beneath a simple touch. She'd seen him tear droids apart with his bare hands, marveled at the way he seemed perfectly at ease being shot at in any number of hostile situations, but in her embrace he was pliable; his body was no longer a weapon, but an instrument of his own pleasure and hers as well, new as he was to the experience. He was, she realized, content. The knowledge was sealed when he gave another long exhale and she felt his body sink into complete repose. Kali couldn't help but let out a soft chuckle.

 

One honey-brown eye peeked up at her. “What?”

 

“I think this is the first time I've ever seen you so relaxed,” she replied as she brushed his eyelid closed and leaned down to kiss his forehead. Stonewall made an inarticulate noise and leaned into her touch further, contentment radiating off of him with enough strength to make her drowsy. He murmured something and she glanced down at his closed eyes. “Beg pardon?”

 

At first he said nothing, only gave another quiet sigh and reached his hand up to cover hers, resting it against the side of his face. Finally he cleared his throat. “I said, 'best mission ever.'”