Hector cracked open another can of soda as he balanced his feet on the table, sitting back with a snack in his lap.
Available food wasn't something he was ever going to turn down. Fresh from yet another shower when the water had
run cold before they were done, yet again, he was letting the warm after noon sun dry him as he sat on the porch in
a pair of shorts. Having finally run out of towels.
They were drying in the sun, along with the rest of their clothes. His own tan was coming along quite nicely, and even
Andi wasn't as pink as he had expected her to be.
Then again, bayou/shore sun in Louisiana wasn't as strong as African sun on a savannah.
"We'll have to remember this place, and hope next time the fishing season is just as bad."
Andi, coming back out with an orange in her hands, leaned down to drop a kiss against his lips before settling down
in the sun bleached rocking chair next to him and putting her own long legs up next to his.
"Maybe if we ask really, really nicely - and put down a down payment - he might let us hold one to come back to." She
agreed, settling in with a sigh and tipping her head back to close her eyes and just enjoy the smell of the ocean wind
and a clean Hector. Absent, without her having to pay attention, her fingers worked at picking the skin off the orange.
She was tired but in the nicest way. Not exhausted or worn out. Just - complete. Full. The way you felt after a good
meal. Only it was her soul that felt content and full. She rolled her head and cracked open an eye to watch Hector.
He had the most handsome profile. All male and she thought his nose was easily the most handsome, masculine
nose she'd ever seen. Right now his hair, halfway between needing a hair cut and needing a hair styling, was damp
and waving and had hints of lighter brown too in streaks from the sun and salt water. She reached over with the hand
she hadn't managed to get covered in orange juices yet and gently tucked a curling strand behind his ear.
"I would like to be able to come back." She added, voice softer. There was - a lot to plan around in their future. Not
the least of which was how long until he got leave again and where she'd be for it. They hadn't really talked about
that yet. "If we can promise not to tell anyone where we're going and we can try to spend a week while we're here."
"Well, that won't be that hard." He said. "After all, I'm the only one who knows how to get here. What are you going
tell Suzette? I've stranded you in a fishing cabin in the bayou? Like there's not a million and a half of them." He
chuckled at the image of Suzette searching every single fishing cabin in Louisiana to try and rescue her friend.
"Don't even think about giving me 'that' look. Told you you'd be coming to Louisiana, didn't I? And you didn't quite
believe me. Told you I'd always find you, again, proven right. Told you you'd love gumbo...I've got a helluva track
record so far."
She chuckled at the thought of Suzette hunting them down. The picture in her mind matching the one in his
surprisingly closely unless you knew Suz. Then she leaned over and pressed a kiss to his temple.
"A wonderful track record." She agreed. Meaning it. Because - he had. He'd kept his promises to her. Every single
one of them. And that thought always sent roots of warmth tunneling deeper into her heart. His cheekbone got
another kiss and then she settled back in her chair.
"And Suz likes you now, remember?" She asked lighter. "You're that one male in millions that restored her faith. Poor
Swan" she added with another chuckle. "And if I tell anyone you've kidnapped me and hauled me off to some
deserted cabin in the middle of the woods and on the beach and are holding me for your nefarious desires, it would
be Molly." She decided. "She's been deprived of her usually soap opera now that we're not around anymore."
"Watch it." He said with a raised eyebrow. "This pedestal gets any higher, it's really going to hurt when I fall off." He
said. Restored Suz's faith in men? Co star of Molly's sappy personal soap opera (which, if he remembered right from
Cassie's secret addiction, relegated him to the role of the 'stud' that takes his shirt off a lot)?
He had clay feet. He knew that. And knew, strangely enough, that she knew that too. He'd make mistakes just as sure
as any other mortal person on the world. Had his own brand of arrogance and needing to be right. His own self
realization about that (take that, Army shrinks!) probably made the idea of being held up so high so uncomfortable.
She chuckled and slipped her hand under his where it was resting empty on the arm of his chair. Brushing his palm
with the tips of her fingers.
"I wouldn't worry." She told him comfortably. "The only one that has to live up to Suz's expectations of you is whatever
poor man she decides is going to marry her. Not even you have to worry about living up to what he will." She should
really see about calling Suz. She'd sent letters but there hadn't been a reply yet with the mail being as tricky as it was
overseas. Though it was merited, silence from Suz was usually a dangerous sign. "And all you have to do to distract
Molly is take your shirt off." Her eyes slipped sideways and looked at him as the edge of her lips started to quirk.
"Which is - I'll account - very distracting anyway." She'd claimed his last dry shirt for herself and was wearing just that
now. The hem of it was actually further down her thighs than the black dress had been. Her fingers laced with his and
she shut her eyes, tipping her head back slightly, half peeled orange comfortably forgotten in her other hand. "For
myself, I don't need you on any pedestal. That's too far away and I much prefer you closer. Though I still do intend to
tell Molly." She warned now that she'd gotten the idea. Curious herself now to see what the other woman made up
from the bones of detail Andi would give her. "It will keep her happy for weeks. I think she's going to miss you more
than she's even going to miss me."
"I don't even want to know what you're going to tell Molly. If it's anything close to the lies you told the nurses back at
base, I might not be able to show my face at the Red Cross camp ever again." He said with a laugh. "I feel bad for
whoever marries Suz, her moods, her temper....the only one worse than her is Swan. But he's a complete player."
"We do have odd friends." She agreed with a grin. "And I did not lie to the nurses at your camp." She protested with a
laugh. "I simply told them what kind of a kisser you were and they very cheerfully came up with all kinds of other
things to go with it. Your brother's the one that wanted to know what sleeping with you was like." She cracked an eye
open to silently laugh at him over that. "Molly will be much more interested in the romantic nature of your abduction of
me. The motorcycle will no doubt be a big feature." She pressed her lips together. Silent for a moment as her thumb
moved gently against his hand. "I'm not going back to the Red Cross camp." She added after a moment. Voice soft.
"You do know that, don't you?"
"I pretty much figured." Hector said. "So any thoughts what you're going to do now?"
There was no question on his future plans. His question was 'when' not 'if' he was returning to being a Delta. But she
had so many more options, but after what had happened the last time she was at the Red Cross camp, simply doing
her job, he couldn't blame her.
It was always a possibility, but she still didn't sign up for that.
She opened her eyes and turned her head to look at him. Thinking... how difficult so many people had it in their
relationships. Arguing over money or which relatives to visit for the holidays or where to live. They really didn't have
those options to argue over given their jobs didn't slow down because it was a holiday and where they lived really
took second place to when they would simply be able to see each other. Her thumb brushed against the outside of
his hand again.
"I'm going back to Mum and Da." She told him softly. "To my tribe. They've needed me there for a long time. When I
go back, I need to go there."
Her father had warned him of that. And he'd taken a peek at CNN at one point. Zaire was really not the safest place
to be, especially if you were a British missionary, or somehow related to them. That wasn't even the 'correct' name for
it, he remembered that it had been changed back to Congo at some point.
He never felt the need to learn all the names of the African countries, they were always changing and
interchangeable, like their borders, depending on who was in charge at any given time. His unit never paid much
attention to borders anyway, or political leaders unless it was their job to remove them from power.
He met her eyes. "The same deal applies to you." He said. "About the whole not throwing yourself in harm's way on
purpose. On being careful."
"I know." She said it softly and she gave him a fleeting, sad smile. Knowing what the thought of her going back to
Africa, worse still going somewhere that didn't have the protection of an international camp, must do to him. Mostly
likely the same thing the thought of him going out and putting himself back in danger on a daily basis did to her.
She stood up long enough to move his snacks to the table at his elbow and settle in his lap. Resting her head
against his shoulder. She didn't want to make him worry. Didn't want to feed the fear inside him that people he loved
died. But she needed to go back. That, after this, that was the next step. She could feel it inside. And it was what she
had always known was her place. Everything she had done worked back to being able to do some good for her
people.
Things had changed in the past few years. And not for the better. She knew it wasn't a safe place to be. But it was
where her family, her tribe, was. And they'd needed a doctor in that area for so many, many years. She rested the
hand that wasn't still holding the orange over his heart. Feeling that reassuring beat against her palm.
"I'll be careful." She promised. "No foolish risks. I promise. But it's where I need to be. It's not just Mum and Da. It's the
people. My people. They need me."
"I can understand that." He said. And he really could. It was why he did what he did where he did. Because he knew
he could and he knew it was needed. He was needed. So he did what he did, and went where he went doing the job
he knew how the best way he knew how.
The difference between their two jobs, was that his came with inherent danger. One didn't even need to be told.
When someone mentioned 'doctor,' danger usually wasn't the first thing that came to mind. Though in her native part
of the world, everything went hand in hand with 'danger' and 'life endangering.' And he hated that, but he wouldn't
change it anymore than he'd change anything else about her.
Just gave him something to worry about he supposed.
"Really, I can." He said.
Oh. The light in his eyes was changing. And she was so sorry for it. Gentle, she cupped the side of his face with her
hand. Turning him toward her so she could look at him. At his face. His dark, dark eyes.
A part of her wanted to stay here. Stay in his house while he was gone overseas and wait for him to come back. To
be safe and have the worst thing she worried about was if she could find the proper ingredients for a proper rhubarb
crumble. It would be safe. And quiet. And all she would ever have to do was live in constant fear that he wouldn't be
coming home again...
But that didn't - feel right. Deep down in the core of her she couldn't see herself sitting in his empty house month
after month. Year after year. Never really alive except when he came home. Even if she volunteered at a clinic or
school here - she would always be doing it knowing she could be replaced by dozens of other doctors while her
people were dying of simple, easily fixed problems that no one else cared about. That she cared about...
"I'm sorry." She whispered, sad eyes finding his. Not for her choice but for what it did to him. What it did inside him to
him. She couldn't promise to wait somewhere safe and distant for him and it wasn't fair to him. No one had ever
worried about what loving her would cost him, always so busy with what it might cost her instead. And she'd been
unfair. Because she'd never given him the chance to run the way he had her. Her lips twisted upward painfully. "Still
love me?" She asked softly.
"Hey..." He said, reaching up with his free hand to cup the side of her face, tangling long fingers in long dark hair.
"Don't ever ask me that question again." He said seriously. "Takes more than relocation for me to ever stop. Got it?"
He'd watched his sister go from useless relationship to useless relationship, always looking for that someone,
believing empty promises that were never even close to being fulfilled. And he didn't want her to ever think he was an
empty promise.
She nodded against his hand. Heart in her eyes. Offered him a real smile, as shaky as it was. Because - oh God...
how he wrecked her inside... and she was so thankful for it.
"I love you." She told him. Fingers light as she slipped them down his cheek. "I do."
"Good." He said with a grin, lightening a far too heavy moment. Far too heavy a moment to resemble one that was
supposed to be on vacation at any rate. "Remember, we're on vacation, so all we're supposed to think about is us
right now. Isn't that what you've constantly reminded me of this entire time?"
She leaned up and kissed him lightly. Better. He always made everything better. With the deep love and the light
laughter too. This wasn't ignoring what they'd just talked about. It was simply - facing it, accepting it, and moving on
now. If it came up again, they'd deal with it than. But not now.
"Well." She agreed, settling back down against him and rested her head on his shoulder. "We are such fascinating
and interesting people. Who else would we want to think about?" She crossed her legs and rested them over the arm
of his chair. Starting on her orange again. "For instance, I was thinking how nice a nap with you in the hammock
would be eventually. And wondering at our sand castle building abilities too." She laughed softly. "Except if we get
these clothes wet we're really going to have to stay indoors until something gets dry."
"Every time I've tried to make a sand castle, it ends up looking more like a fortress from some fantasy horror movie."
He said with a chuckle as she settled back down against him on his lap, his hand casually on her crossed knee.
He'd last built a sand castle with Josh in his backyard sandbox (Josh's, not Hector's), and the results were comical to
say the least.
"But a nap in the hammock...that sounds nice. Warm, shade, breeze, you...I think I can handle a nap."
"Good." She hummed it, finishing with the orange peel and managing to keep from getting any of the juice on him.
Not that it wasn't tempting... but these really were their last set of dry clothes. She held up one of the sections for him
and then peeled off her own, leaving the rest of the orange in her open hand in her lap so he could help himself if he
wanted to.
Besides, if he thought he might be able to nap she wasn't going to do anything to change that. She didn't know how
his nightmares went. Whether they came in battalions or single spies. So she simply followed his lead. She hoped
that the difference between being outdoors and in the daylight, the sheer change of situation, might help him sleep
without them. Maybe sleep lighter but still - it would be sleep. This was their vacation, especially for him. And she
wanted it to be restful and peaceful. Let him have time to 'recharge his batteries' as they were.
A place away from everyone and everything else. Somewhere just for him.
Her lips curved.
"We'll just save your 'scary' sand castle for later, yeah?"
He took the offered orange and popped a wedge into his mouth. "Fresh air is always a nice sleep inducer I think."
And they'd definitely gotten plenty of it lately. He did love the fresh air, probably why he couldn't imagine doing
anything but what he did for a living, no way he'd be stuck inside a cubicle pushing papers.
He couldn't take that, he was far too restless for that. But get him in the fresh open air, with space, and sky, and he
could feign calmness and collectedness like the best of them. He didn't have to fake it too hard this time around
though, he was at peace here with her with no distractions or people shoving on them for their time and thoughts and
actions and everything else that the wold did to them. Which was a lot. All the time.
It was a nice break.
"I like sleeping with you." She tipped her face to look up at him with a smile. "That way too" she added, eyes dancing.
She touched his cheek with her fingertips. "But you're warm. And real. I like your weight. And the way you smell. And
the way you hold me. I like feeling you breathing against me. I like feeling you laugh." She slipped a finger down the
bridge of his nose and then offered him another orange slice. Smile softening. "Since the first time I smelled you on
my pillow. Soap and - you. I was afraid you'd think I was loose that night before the helicopters came. But I was more
afraid of never knowing what sleeping in your arms would feel like."
"I would never have thought you loose." He said. He had had her on a pedestal from day one, and she deserved to
be on a pedestal. She was definitely slumming with him, but he was too selfish to point that out. And far too selfish to
give her up for some Swiss banker or French aristocrat.
"Mm." She made the humming noise and raised her eyes to look up at him, lips twisting in a stifled smile. Hauling a
man you'd known less than a week, but already shared some heavy snogging with, down into your bed just because
he was leaving in the morning... she wasn't sure what you'd call it if it wasn't 'loose'. And it warmed her and pleased
her and made her feel like laughing inside that that simple fact hadn't apparently crossed Hector's mind. Especially
considering the women she'd met here who would have done all that and a whole lot more if he'd simply blinked
wrong at them.
But that was what he did to her. Even then. Woke up a physical need inside her that she'd never felt before and
certainly not for anyone else. That need to be as close to him as physically possible. For as long as possible. He'd
intrigued her mind, tugged on her heart, and brought out the laughter forgotten in her soul. He'd woken her up, made
her alive again. Reminded her who she really was. Who she had been made to be. But that didn't discount that his
touch made her skin hum and her soul purr. And filled her with the need to be closer.
She popped the seeds out of the last slice of orange and gave it to him before setting the peels aside and licking off
her fingertips. Thinking she might try for some fresh squeezed juice if they went back to the store this week and she
could buy more oranges. She hadn't even realized there were different kinds of oranges until they'd been shopping
here.
"Well, I'm glad you took me up on the offer." She clarified. Still thinking of how far they'd come since that dark African
night so long ago. And yet how everything had already known how it wanted to go even that far back. She gave him a
smile. "Even over the threat of Mr. Snuffles." Her face softened and she pressed a light kiss to the edge of his jaw,
voice softer. "The hard part wasn't trusting you. It was working up the nerve to ask in the first place in case you said
no."
"Mr. Snuffles was nearly the deal breaker." He agreed solemnly. "Especially since I swear he was giving me an evil
eye all night and waiting to smother me when you weren't looking. Don't laugh! I'm serious! That elephant is the devil
incarnate. God only knows what he's doing to my house, left there to his own devices..."
He finished the orange and got up, transferring her easily from his lap to his arms. "So hammock before something
happens. Like, god, who knows? But I ain't chancing it."
Andi laughed when he picked her up, both at his Mr. Snuffles idea and the fact he was picking her up. At her height it
was still a new experience and she always felt so - perfectly sized when he did.
"Tromping through the empty halls on his little mismatched feet. Leaving tiny elephant footprints in the peanut butter
in the ice box. Making little nose marks on the windows at tiny elephant level." She pressed a kiss to Hector's throat.
"No doubt plotting places to hide so that he can jump out to - uh, 'greet' you when you get home." She was really
laughing by that point. "And he can only watch you with one evil eye." She squinted one of her own shut and looked
up at him. "They're kind of sewn on a bit too crooked for him to manage both at the same time."
"Keep that up and we're going home to save my beloved grandparents' house." He said with a chuckle as he headed
back to the hammock which was strung up between two solid thick weeping willow trees, sun filtering through the long
swaying branches. He had to put her down, though, when he reached it, for the hammock had gotten all twisted and
tangled around itself.
"There we go." He said when he got it untwisted and laid down in it. That was a matter of physics, he weighed more
than she did, so if he got in it first, less chance of it tipping over.
She looked down at him, long, lean form stretched out and relaxed on the hammock and thought - she was easily the
most blessed woman the world had ever seen. And - she wished she had a camera. Because she wanted to
remember this - him - everything. For always...
This was hers. Always hers. For no reason better than - because she was loved...
"I'll go in the door first when we do go home." She offered. Sitting down on the edge and than shifting herself around
to settle against his side. Snuggling in and relaxing as the sun and leaves shifted patterns across both of their skin.
One of her hands found the steady beat of his heart and rested contentedly at home over it. "Just in case he's laid a
cunning trap for you.”
"He's probably with cahoots with the rabid poodle." Hector said as she climbed into the hammock beside him.
"Surprised he hasn't been keeping me up with his annoying yelping." Or had he, until this past night, just slept
exceptionally well? That was always a possibility.
"Okay screw the cabin, I like the hammock." He said with a chuckle as he drew her closer to him.
She exhaled, a pleased, content sigh and slipped a leg over his. Body relaxing the way it only did when she was in
his arms.
"All right." She agreed, voice content as she rested her head on his shoulder. Shutting her eyes and peacefully
adding: "We nick the hammock when we go."
Hector chuckled. "Obviously it's the language barrier again." He said. "Because I know you didn't just suggest
stealing the hammock." Knowing full well that's what she suggested just make him laugh harder.
"That could be a funny story when people ask when I put a hammock in the back yard. Well, you see, my foreign
girlfriend suggested we take it, and I can't refuse her anything, so we did."
"We could pull a runner." She suggested, voice properly conspiratorially, lips curving against him. "The bluebottles
would never catch us." She managed to get that much out at least before the laughter came out again and she had
to give up, turning her face into his throat. Finally she sighed as the laughter started to relax. "Or, I suppose, we
could just purchase one ourselves and leave this one for the next time we come back."
"That would probably be the best way to do it." He said with a chuckle. "After all, the old man has my license number,
and through that he could find out where I live...believe me, you really don't want a handful of Cajun red necks at the
doorstep demanding their hammock back! Though that could shake up the neighborhood...they are all under the
impression that I'm remarkably well behaved."
Maybe not Mrs Johnson. She might be on to him, but that was different. As she liked to mention, a lot, she changed
his diapers. And he wasn't sure he had Jo convinced either...
Andi chuckled at the notion of Hector being 'well behaved'. She didn't know that was a mistake anyone in the Red
Cross camp would make and she doubted anyone in his chalk would believe it either. Hector could play it laid back
and quiet but she knew better. He got too much gleeful enjoyment out of things like irritating Sam and surprising her
to be considered 'well behaved'. For that matter -
"Well, we'll have to be sure Cara and Potter never come by for a visit." She commented, shutting her eyes again with
a smile. There was a light breeze coming off the water and it set the leaves rustling softly. "Hate to have them telling
stories out of hand and ruining your pristine image."
"Hush." He admonished. "They might come with the restraints just for shits and giggles, and that wouldn't be fun. At
least not with them. I don't think Potter ever finished his book after all...."
But he was working real hard on not getting put in that position again. One, because he wasn't big on pain, tried to
avoid it at all costs. Two, he had promised her, and keeping every promise he had made to her was important to him.
Her hand shifted from over his heart so that she could slip her arm all the way across him in a hug.
"They did seem far too interested." She agreed with a smile. "Though that might have had something to do with the
fact one of us had threatened to flee the area starkers the second anyone's back was turned." Her slim fingers
slipped gently down his side to rest protectively over the still pink scar near his hip. Paused for a moment before
thoughtfully adding, lips quirking against his skin:
"I could always just ask Cara to ship the restraints."
"When did you threaten to streak the camp?" He teased. "I was an angel. Absolutely an angel." Okay, far from the
truth. Even he couldn't say it without laughing. "I think Cara's saving the restraints for the next time I need a physical.
Or when they think I need a physical at least."
She tucked into him, laughing. Angel - maybe but she was never going to mistake him for the sweet, innocent, cherub
kind.
"Well, I hope they remember to bring a tranquilizer gun when they decide such a sweet, fluffy little lamb like yourself
needs his next check up."
Hector laughed and the hammock swayed with it. "Don't give them any ideas." He said. "Or they will. And I'm not
supposed to get shot again, remember? That was your rule." A nice rule, one he agreed with, but one she thought
up. "So don't forget to tell them that. Think maybe you can just assure them that my stamina and endurance are
good and that I'm otherwise healthy?"
She was laughing hard against him. Enough so that she had to tip her head back.
"Stamina and endurance, yeah?" She finally managed to ask, eyes positively bright with the laughter. "Well," she
gave it the appropriate serious thought, "that would mean a very -very- thorough examination." She agreed. Touched
the tip of her tongue to her top lip to keep from laughing. "Though I'm not sure a hammock is the best place for that
kind of thing."
"Could use it as a test of balance. I think that's important." He said, laughing at the image of the hammock over
turning and dumping them both on the ground as he kissed her.
And it did. Overturn that is. At what to others might be an inopportune moment, but they weren't others.
"Okay, I at least get bonus points for concentration." He said, still laughing, afterwards.
She pressed her face into his throat. Laughing as well. It wasn't that far to the ground after all and he'd tucked her so
she was safe. Delighted she wrapped her arms around his shoulders, eyes dancing as they met his. Warm at the
center of her soul. Because... yes... yes, this was what she wanted for him. This freedom and this happiness. And it
made her world perfect in this moment to see that look on his face.
"So we won't mention the balance test." She teased with a bright grin. "But highest marks for concentration." She
approved wholeheartedly, leaning in to kiss him with an easy laugh.
"I'll have to work on that balance thing." He said with a chuckle. The ground underneath had a thick carpet of green
grass, so combined with not being far off the ground to start with, it worked out well. "Come on, let's get something to
eat before you distract me again." He teased her, as if that were her whole intention and he was a complete innocent,
like the fluffy lamb she had compared him to before.
She made a noise, halfway between a laugh and a hum and leaned down again. Pressing a soft kiss to the laugh
lines at the edge of one of his eyes. Slipped another down his cheek to whisper one against the edge of his ear.
"You just ate." She reminded him with a whispered laugh. Another kiss at his jaw line, a tickling one just under it
against his throat. "You're supposed to be relaxing, remember?" The soft teasing voice as she worked her way
slowly, lightly, down his neck. "Sleeping?" Hollow of his throat. Light, loving touches. "That was the plan for the
hammock, wasn't it?" She asked innocently as her lips brushed his collar bone. "The soft, fluffy lamb was going to
take a nap?"
"Yeah and look how well we adhered to THAT plan." He said with a chuckle, playing with strands of her soft hair,
running and twirling them around his fingers. "And I am relaxing, you don't need to be unconscious to relax." Though
sometimes it helped, certainly.
"Good." She agreed against his skin. Hands spreading against his chest to give her better balance as she paid
attention to where his throat melted into his shoulder. Teasing kisses there before her lips shifted to the hollow of his
shoulder. "Relaxed is good." Her voice was a low hum. Conversational and mild as her mouth started to slip down the
side of his chest. To make up for the attention one side of him was receiving her hand slipped over to the other side
of him, nails trailing lightly, alternating with gentle brushes from the backs of her slim fingers.
"As long as you're relaxed..." She continued. Lips against his ribs as she smiled.
Teasing. She was teasing him. And worse yet, she was enjoying herself.
"Becoming distinctly UNrelaxed..." He said with a chuckle as she continued her teasing path along his skin. "But
relaxed is really overstated I think." It wasn't like he wanted her to stop. There were some aspects where it was fun to
be teased.
Her soft chuckle moved directly into his skin because she didn't raise her lips, but her eyes flicked up, dancing and
dark, to look at him from the tops.
"We're supposed to be sleeping." She murmured as her mouth trailed down his side, paused over his new scar.
Gentle but entirely aware of its sensitivity to touch, she exhaled a warm, moist breath and then let the breeze cool the
fresh skin. Her eyes met his and hers were dark and deep and momentarily free of laughter and teasing. Simply full
to overflowing with warm, fathomless love. Then her eyes lidded and she leaned back down over him to taste that
mark before pressing a tender kiss to it and moving on. Starting to trail slowly along his stomach. Hand a teasing
mimic on the other side.
"That was your idea...not mine." He said, letting out a low breath that sounded conspiciously like a moan as her lips
moved across his skin. "Somehow I don't see sleep too close on the horizon though..."
But the sleep was her idea, in her plan to 'relax' him.
"Mm." The hum soaked straight into the tight skin across his stomach as she made it. Feeling... hearing his reactions
to her was - heady. Pleasing. And addictive. Her mouth trailed, paused above the top button of his jeans.
Deliberately drew away to exhale that warm, damp breath against his skin right there and then lightly blew, cooling.
"The stamina." She remarked with studied seriousness and her nails trailed over the denim and then over his thigh.
Her dark eyes rose again. Found his face and what she did to him. What he loved and trusted her enough to let her
do to him. On her hands and knees above him she shifted. Leaned up to close her mouth over his. Hot and hungry
and slow. So slow. And then away to start on the other side of his throat. Starting slowly downward again.
"I'm trained to withstand torture, you know. But if you wanted my serial number, I would have just given it to you." He
said with a chuckle, his hands riding up under his shirt she was wearing along her back and shoulder blades as she
kissed on his throat.
Again the soft hum against his skin and the feel of her lips curving against his throat.
"Then I'm glad I didn't ask." She answered, voice soft and low. Her back curving automatically at the feel of his hands
moving against her back and sensitive shoulder blades. Another kiss at the base of his throat and she added: "And I
don't have a serial number to give." The feel of her smile as she slid a hot kiss along his collarbone. "And I'm keeping
this shirt on. It's my last bit of clean clothing."
"Then wouldn't it be beneficial to take it off and, say, drape it over the abandoned hammock to keep it nice and
pristine?" He offered. They were nicely secluded, they hadn't seen anyone since they'd arrived at the cabin. It was
nice, no one knew to bother them for once.
"Really?" Her slim eyebrows arched and she sat up slowly so that his hands slipped down. Resting her hands on his
chest where her nails traced light, flicking patterns. From the position above him, one leg on either side, she gave
him a look, one edge of her lips quirking upward. "And this is entirely motivated by concern for keeping my clothes
clean?"
"Absolutely." Hector said. "We're taught in the Army to have respect for our clothes after all." Mostly because the
aforementioned clothes were uniforms of some sort, and if you showed pride in uniform upkeep, you showed pride in
yourself and pride in the Army. Drilled into him since basic.
"Oh. Well then" Andi nodded at the logic. Reaching down to twist her long fingers into the hem of the shirt. Then she
paused. Arched her brows again at him. "What about the grass stains you're getting on your pants?" She asked.
Thin brows came down in thought. "I should probably help you out with those too." She commented seriously. Then
her lips curved into a smile and she slowly pulled the shirt off over her head and conscientiously draped it over the
hammock above them. Rested her hands on his chest and looked down at him, long hair falling over one of her
shoulders.
"Is that better?" She asked innocently.
She was perhaps the most beautiful creature he had ever seen, with or without clothes. The without part just brought
out some less than innocent thoughts in him as a grin spread across his face.
"Definitely." He said. "In the conservation of laundry and all, of course."
"Of course." She agreed promptly as her own smile slipped free and she leaned down to meet his lips with her own
again, skin brushing his. She liked dim light and darkness. But she loved being able to see him. See him and see his
face when he looked at her. Voice a whisper against his throat, she asked: "I'd better save those pants from grass
stains too now, yeah?"
"Probably should." He said with a chuckle as he moved her hair. "After all, we're trying to get out of doing laundry,
remember? And jeans take so long to dry." They'd come a ways since fumbling around each other trying not to
embarrass the other or push too hard or too fast, hadn't they?
The tender gesture to her hair had her softening and she leaned down slowly to press another kiss to his lips before
moving to the base of his throat and trailing slow kisses downward. Taking her time as her hands moved against his
sun and body warmed skin. Tasting the heat and salt of his skin until she finally reached his stomach again. Pausing
as she smiled against his skin before she sat back enough to watch his face while she let her nails start at his knees
and trail slowly along the inside of his thighs. The sound of long nails against denim until she finally reached the
button of his jeans. Paused again while one of her fingers moved lightly in a circle on his skin just above it. Her voice
was very low and soft as she asked innocently:
"It's supposed to be a thorough examination, isn't it?"
The look on his face... it was everything. And so she was slow as she slipped the button free and than the zipper.
And he let her. Let her take her time and tease when he could have just rolled her over and taken control of the
situation. But he didn't. And so she got to be very slow and very thorough. And afterward, their skin still trembling,
she simply laid forward on top of him, feeling weak and spent and wonderful inside. Resting her head on his
shoulder, she exhaled and her entire body relaxed almost bonelessly against his. Slightly overwhelmed, and feeling a
bit heady with power too, she murmured:
"Not sure how I"m supposed to write the report for this exam..."
"I'm sure Martinez would get a kick out of reading it." He said with a chuckle, stroking dampened hair. The last person
to give him a more official physical was Molly, actually, and he'd been too tired and emotionally worn out to protest
too much. And it was a quick once over than anything else. "Hell, I'd be interested in how you're going to write this
up!"
She laughed softly against him, eyes shut. Voice a content murmur as she pretended to mentally dock it up in her
head.
"Patient's stamina - above the norm. Reflexes - above the norm. Concentration - below average. Easily distracted
under specific situations. No." She 'thought' about it. "Change that 'easily' to 'cheerfully' distracted. Or perhaps
'enthusiastically' would be better."
"I thought I was getting bonus points for concentration when we fell off the hammock?" He asked with a chuckle. "Now
you're backtracking. But come on, let's go back in side. High sun is coming." Which meant the trees wouldn't provide
as much shade as they had previously, and her skin wasn't as used to long term sun exposure as his was.
"Mm." She gave it some thought without doing any moving. Finally squinted an eye open. Looked up through the
hammock. Looked at him. Shut her eye again. "Right." She agreed completely. Still not moving. Added after a minute:
"Because you're supposed to be taking a nap."
"Am I? Guess the vacation is rotting my brain." He said with a chuckle. "Come on." He said, getting carefully to his
feet without moving her much. "I haven't finished counting the freckles you've got. No fair adding more."
She made her humming noise, tucking in close to him with a smile, head on his shoulder so her hair fell down against
his back as he walked.
"But that's my evil plan." She protested. "If I keep adding freckles, then you'll never stop counting."
"Sneaky." He said with a mock solemn shake of his head. "Don’t worry, math was never my real strong suit, so I'd
have to start all over again anyway, to make sure I got it right the first time."
The cabin was nice and cool on the inside, the two windows it had were open. "Then I'd have to do it again to
recheck my figures."
The cooler air hit her damp skin causing a shiver but it was nice. Being held this way, being this close, being able to
feel him inhale and exhale and feel his voice against her own chest when he talked... it was all impossibly precious to
her. Everything he gave her, the little things he didn't even know he gave her... all so precious to her soul.
"Promise?" She asked with a smile, fingers gentle as they played with the curling hair at the back of his neck.
"As long as you promise to let me." He said with a smile as he settled on the bed, their clothes still nice and safe
hanging on the hammock outside. Well, it wasn't like they were going anywhere, they had enough food for a couple
of days, and eventually their other clothes would dry!
"Oh." She answered, gently shifting so she was tucked under him. She framed his face with her hands and looked up
at him, smile warm and his alone. "In that case, I'm going to promise forever." Her fingers brushed gently at his
cheeks. "Scruffy." She murmured fondly before winding her arms around his shoulders. Tucking in as close as she
could, she pressed a kiss to his jaw. "And I'm still going to cheat." She added against his skin. "I'm going to add
freckles when you're not looking. So you'd probably better count them often to catch me at it."
"Oh is that a challenge?" He asked with a laugh. "Looks like I might be able to convince you out of nap time yet.
Wouldn't that be a feat?" He thought sleep was over rated, and sleep didn't always mean relaxation by any means.
She hadn't unwrapped her legs from around his waist and she gave them a squeeze now to remind him. As if he'd
forget. She wasn't as tired as she was pretending to be. Relaxed...? Oh most completely so. But she was contently
aware and awake. It didn't mean she wasn't still going to go to sleep if given the opportunity.
And it didn't mean she didn't think he still might be able to use a nap too. Neither of them had gotten much sleep last
night but at least what little she'd gotten had been peaceful. His... there had been no rest in that. She thought it
would be healthier for him if he went to sleep because he was relaxed and drowsy instead of simply exhausted and
ready to drop but she wasn't going to try to push anything like that. He'd sleep eventually, he didn't have much
choice about that. How he wanted to get there she was comfortably content to let him choose.
She raised one of her hands that had been resting against his back and shoulders and ran her fingers through his
thick hair. Tipped her head back into the pillow to look up at him with a smile.
"I don't know," she warned, mock serious, "I just might be developing new freckles as we speak. Who knows how
many more might show up if you let me sleep and I'm not paying attention?"
"The big plan is to wear me out until I pass out?" He asked with a chuckle. "That could be fun! We definitely should
have thought of that before!" He kissed her and moved to lay them both down, still holding her close.
"But if you want a nap, remember you're in the bayou. Have to get it before it gets too humid and sticky." Hopefully
they'd sleep through that part of the afternoon, after all, it got so humid and sticky, and there wasn't an air
conditioner, that the other choice was to be awake but too brought down by the humidity to do much else than
breathe.
She laughed, tucking in against him comfortably. Gently pulling the sheet over both of them haphazardly. It was
nicely cool now and as much as Hector, with his warmer body didn't need it, she didn't think it would be uncomfortable
for him. Besides, if they did sleep into the humid part of the day, he'd just kick it off in his sleep anyway. He had very
nice long legs...
"It does sound like a clever plan." She agreed with a murmur. Brushing a slow kiss against his jaw line. "They're not
called thoroughly exhaustive exams for nothing you know." She smiled against him and than drew back just enough
to look at his face without moving her body away from his at all. Gentle she traced the tip of her finger feather light
over his features, her own face softening. "Such a handsome man." She murmured. Leaning back in she kissed him
tenderly. The reasons he should try sleeping now, in daylight, were the same reasons she'd suggested the
hammock. Perhaps enough change to throw his mind off and let his body rest without dreams. Though she could
understand if he was leery about attempting it again. Hopefully she'd relaxed his body enough so it would help gang
up on his mind for a untroubled sleep. "Sleep now." She whispered. "Maybe by the time we wake up it'll be cool again
and we can think about dinner, yeah?"
"I'm funny looking." He corrected her with a chuckle. "Don't make me count the ways." He'd been up enough hours to
be nearing exhaustion. He hadn't slept especially well the night before the baptism, just knowing what was awaiting
him either at the church or the after party. And he hadn't even been wrong, that was the worst part.
Add in a long drive on a motorcycle, a bad (terrible) dream....the only good thing that had pushed him toward
exhaustion had to be their activities since his nightmare.
At least she'd 'forgiven' him for trying to 'set himself on fire.'
"Sleep sounds good." He agreed, cuddling into her and letting his drowsy eyes close.
Her face softened even more but she didn't argue with him about 'funny looking'. Mostly because she wanted him to
sleep. Not talk. Fingers gentle she stroked his curling, unruly hair. Her own breathing slow and soft to coax him into
his own. Shifting slightly so, for once, it was his body that was held safe against hers, his head that was cradled
against her shoulder so she could lower her own head to rest against his.
How a man that looked like Hector could think himself 'funny looking' should have been beyond her, she knew. All he
had to do was walk into a room to have every female's head turning. He could have carried it on looks alone but
there was so much more that walked into a room with him than just his body. Darkness and light, sweetness and
controlled violence, a sense of protection and yet vulnerability. And the body that contained it all... Hector was built
like a woman's dark fantasy. That he didn't seem to realize that just added to the attraction. Except... except. Andi
knew what it was like to have things planted in you from childhood. Thoughts about yourself and the way you looked
and your worth. Things that had nothing to do with how you looked now but that never left you. A body that grew too
fast for you to keep up with the suddenly long arms and legs and big feet and suddenly you were 'clumsy'. 'Awkward'.
'Gawky'. Facial features the rest of you hadn't grown into yet as a child like ears or a stubborn, dented chin. 'Odd'.
'Funny looking'. She wondered if he thought of his body the same way she thought of hers. Odd looking but
pleasantly efficient. Wondered if he thought, like her, that the other half of their pair was the attractive one.
Hector's breathing went slower and deeper and she smiled softly against him. Fingers still tender and caressive
against his hair. She was in quiet awe of him and would probably never be able to tell him so. That he had walked
through so many fires in his life and come out as straight and true as he had. Fire was supposed to temper steel but
she'd seen it break so many other people...
Soft, while he slept, she whispered quiet prayers into the listening air. Prayers for protection and healing but mostly
simple prayers of thanks and ggratitude. And eventually, she too, slept.
He did sleep. Deep and dreamless. He wasn't some psych case that was haunted non stop by visions or nightmares,
just once in a while. Usually it was in the privacy of his own bunk or room, since he wasn't one to call out or make any
noise. Barely move when sleeping in fact. Andi was just the unlucky one to get caught as close as possible next to
him without BEING him when he had the last one.
This time, just the deep dark comfort of unconsciousness. Nothing cropping up from his past or foretellings of
possible black futures to disrupt it. The only movement he did make was kicking the sheet off at one point, and that
was accomplished with an easy, unconscious move of his leg.