"Aeryn, wait, please…"

"I'm tired, Crichton. I want to go to bed. Alone."

"So you're not even going to give me a chance to explain?"

Explain? Explain what? Aeryn thought as she rounded the corner towards her quarters, wishing John would stop following her and leave her in peace for once. She knew what he was going to say and she didn't want to hear it.

Explain that I made an idiot out of myself by throwing myself at you? When you would obviously rather play with that little brat of a Nebari? I don't think so! Aeryn palmed the door controls to her quarters and stepped through, then quickly palmed the inside control, hoping to shut him out.

"Aeryn…Aahhh! Shit!" John was faster than she gave him credit for. He'd gotten in, although not without getting scraped by the closing door. A long angry gash welled up on his right arm just below his shirtsleeve. He touched his hand to his arm and grimaced when it came away bloody. He glared at Aeryn, his expression a mixture of anger and disbelief.

"Damn it, Aeryn! Are you trying to hurt me? I'm trying to tell you…"

"What? That you kissed Chiana?" Aeryn tried to keep her voice detached, unemotional, so he wouldn't know just how upset she was, but she knew that he could hear her pain and her anger. "You don't have to. I was there!"

Aeryn felt her pulse race as she re-played the scene. She had walked out to the terrace, looking for John, only to find him entwined with that little kilsa. She'd had to turn around and walk right back out before her instincts took over and she did them both serious damage.

Her face flamed as she thought about it. I'd wanted to talk to him about … the other night. They'd never had a chance to continue what they had begun. Pilot had interrupted them with one of Moya's pregnancy-related maintenance emergencies shortly after she had gotten through, what, seducing John? Having sex with him? More like attacking him! Hezmana, how could I have been so foolish?

"Aeryn, please listen to me." Aeryn looked up, surprised that John had gotten so close to her without her noticing. "I didn't kiss Chiana." She started to interrupt, but he stopped her by lightly touching a hand to her mouth. "She kissed me. I was about to tell her to get lost when you walked in and then ran off before I could say anything to stop you."

He paused quickly, needing to take a breath, but not wanting to give Aeryn time to interrupt again as the words tumbled out of him.

"After you left, though, I told her that I didn't want to have anything to do with her anymore. The next time she does something that pisses the rest of you off, she's on her own. I'm not going to stick up for her. I also told her that if she didn't quit chasing me, I'd vote against her the next time you or D'Argo want to space her without a suit!"

"I'm supposed to believe that…"

"If you don't believe me, believe Pilot." She saw the hurt flash through his eyes before he could conceal it. "There were a couple of DRDs hanging around, the way they always do. I'm sure he heard the entire conversation."

Aeryn opened her mouth, then closed it, unsure what to say. She looked at him, hurt, bleeding, and just looking thoroughly miserable, and a wave of remorse suddenly came over her, extinguishing her earlier anger as quickly as it had flared up in the first place.

"I'm sorry," she began. "I was so sure…"

"What?" he interrupted. "That I'd betray you?" This time his eyes clearly showed his hurt, his frustration. "Why, Aeryn? What'd I do to make you so ready to think that?"

Aeryn looked away, unable to meet the emotion in those clear blue eyes. The truth was he'd done nothing, nothing to cause the fear, the doubt, and the insecurity she now found lurking deep inside her. Emotions she wasn't used to feeling, much less understanding or comprehending, roiled and churned, making all of her reactions seem off-balance, off-center. She hated feeling this way, like she had lost control of a part of herself. The Peacekeeper inside her didn't understand why she couldn't just make the uneasy feelings deep within just go away.

"Aeryn," John laid a hand gently on her face, turning her back to look at him. "Listen. I'm not looking to bail on you." He stopped, seeing that she didn't understand what he had said. "Um, cut and run, jump ship, duck out….oh, Hell." John's eyes closed in frustration for a microt, hiding the desperation that Aeryn was starting to see build within him.

"What I'm trying to say is…I care about you. Maybe I haven't said it in so many words, but I thought that….Well, I'm saying it now. I don't want anyone else, not Chiana, not Zhaan." He paused, smiling more to himself than to Aeryn, as if at a private joke. "And not any of these 'aliens of the week' we keep running into." He grinned at her and she found that she couldn't help smiling back at him.

"I thought, I thought I'd made a fool of myself…."

"Why? Because you, um, 'took the lead' the other night." She watched, amused at the color that flushed across his face. "Look, you may have jumped on me, but you didn't exactly rape me. I'd like to think I participated at least a little."

His eyes darkened, changing his expression from flustered to thoughtful. The hand on her face started tracing down along her cheek, down her neck, and back up again, leaving a light trail of sensation in its wake.

"Maybe I shouldn't be trying to tell you." He leaned in and kissed her lightly on the mouth, pulling back just enough that she could still feel his breath on her face.

"Maybe I should show you."

Aeryn gasped as the hand on her face was replaced by his mouth. Slowly he retraced his earlier path, running light kisses down her face, trailing down along her neck before coming back up to her brow and tracing it with kisses. His hands had moved to her back, running light patterns up and down her spine, sensitizing the skin and leaving her aching for more of his touch.

Slowly his lips moved back across her face, settling on her mouth lightly at first, then harder, his tongue tracing her parting lips before entering and dueling with hers, trying to claim her as thoroughly as she had claimed him the night before. His hands traveled lower, leaving trails across her back, bottom and thighs while pressing her body closer into his own.

Aeryn's own hands couldn't stay dormant for long. They ran over his back, under his shirt, along his neck, anywhere that she could feel the warmth of his skin as well as the heat of his touch.

She wasn't sure exactly how they got to the bed or when their clothes came off, but she was well aware of his hands and mouth on her upper body, exploring her neck, breasts, stomach. She felt her breath coming in ragged gasps with each touch and when one of his hands reached down and lightly traced her inner thigh, the shudder that embraced her caused her entire body to tremble.

John smiled up at her from where he was kissing her stomach, then repeated the touch which was rewarded by yet another shudder. The mischievous look he'd gotten when he'd asked if he could "touch her now" the other night had returned and Aeryn couldn't help thinking that it made him look like a little boy.

A little boy that was plotting something that was going to get him into trouble.

"John, what are you…"

"Shhh. You'll see." As he looked up at her, something in her face caused all the mischief to drain out of his eyes. There was no hint of teasing in his voice when he breathed, "Trust me, Aeryn."

His kisses began trailing lower, past her stomach, until he reached the patch of dark hair in-between her legs. Once there, he detoured, placing his mouth along her inner thigh, blowing lightly across the sensitive skin. Then he started laying soft kisses on the sensitized patch, before running his tongue up to the crease between thigh and pelvis, coming back and beginning again.

Aeryn shuddered. He was repeating the process on the other thigh, setting off small tremors that seemed to streak straight to her inner core. She felt herself getting wetter as an ache started to grow between her legs, filling her with a need that was building every time he touched her with lips or tongue, and left her somehow feeling incomplete.

She was developing a real appreciation for his talented mouth, but she found there were other places she wanted him to be concentrating those talents on.

"John…" she began, then halted, unsure of how to tell him what she wanted. Then she smiled to herself as the answer came to her.

"John," she began again as she lifted herself up onto her elbows. "Look at me."

He looked up, a questioning expression on his face. She had to smile. He looked so adorable, cheeks flushed, eyes wide, mouth moist from where he'd been licking and kissing her. It made her want to wrap her arms around him and pull him close while at the same time it made the ache within her want him even more.

The ache won as she sat up and placed both hands on either side of his head. Then she guided him to her core, stopping his face just short of touching her. "There," she said before releasing his head from her grasp and lying back down on the bed.

"Yes ma'am," he responded and she could hear the laughter in his voice. She wondered if human women were that direct with their men, but she couldn't ponder that line of thought for long. The touch of his tongue to her inner core soon drove all rational thought out of her head.

She felt him trace the outer part of her inner self while his hands lightly caressed her inner thighs. She moaned as he completed the circuit over and over, causing her to grow wetter and start to push herself toward him.

He responded by licking straight up, across the area around her clit, but stopping short of touching the actual bundle of aching nerves. His fingers traced down along the boundary between leg and pubic area as he teased her with his tongue, coming close, but never actually making contact.

Aeryn gripped the bedsheets in her hands, as the teasing between her legs pushed her need higher and higher. She was enjoying what he was doing to her, but too much more and she would push his face exactly where she wanted him to go.

He seemed to sense that he'd pushed her as far as he dared. She felt his tongue move back down, licking the outer area one more time, and then diving in as deep as it possibly could.

Aeryn moaned as he moved inside her. It felt so good she almost didn't notice when one of his hands started tracing the area around her clit again. The motions came closer and closer to her nub as his tongue plundered her over and over. Finally, he touched her with the lightest of touches and Aeryn felt the need inside her start to crest, to crash, until she shook in the throes of her completion.

He continued teasing her as the tremors shuddered throughout her body. When they finally ceased, he withdrew his tongue and after laying a few more light kisses on her inner thigh, looked up at her.

Aeryn smiled as she locked eyes with him. There was no mistaking the continued desire in his eyes and she knew without asking just what he wanted. "Come here," she said, holding her arms out to him.

He needed no further invitation, climbing back up her body until he was able to kiss her as deeply as possible on her open mouth. She sighed as he entered her mouth, then moaned as she felt him enter her body.

The need started to build again as he moved within her. She began moving to meet him, trying to match her motions to his thrusts. The need crested higher and higher again until finally, feeling him come within her, her muscles tightened and the tremors shook her again.

When she came back to herself, she found she was looking into a pair of beautiful blue eyes just before he reached down and kissed her again. This time she was able to taste the change in his flavor, the subtle tinge that wasn't there before. She wondered at that for a microt, her tongue probing, trying to discern the cause for the change.

Finally she realized that she was the cause. It had to be herself that she was tasting on his tongue, in his mouth, intermingling with the taste of him that she had come to know so well.

They kissed until they were both gasping for air. John took advantage of the pause to roll off of Aeryn and then pull her toward him until she was lying with her head on his shoulder and one of her legs stretched partially across his body. Gently he reached down and turned her face up to his until she could see his eyes and the question inside them.

"So, was that better than my trying to tell you?" he asked, his hand caressing her face. She could see what he really wanted to ask, Do you trust me now?

Aeryn tested the emotions still churning within her. The fear, the doubt, and the uncertainty were still there, but now she saw them for what they were.

You won't betray me, she thought, but where in Hezmana are you taking me, John Crichton?

"Aeryn," he started to ask again.

"Much better," she responded truthfully. She would deal with the emotions he roused in her later. For now, she wanted to enjoy just lying still with him and enjoying his touch.

He had one arm wrapped around her, his hand absently caressing her shoulder. She reached up to rub along it when she encountered the gash he'd picked up earlier. She moved out from underneath his arm so that she could look at it better. It had closed up, but there was dried blood around the edges and the entire area had a bruised, ugly look to it.

"Aeryn, what are you doing?" he asked, wondering why she had moved away from him.

"Your arm, it's not bleeding, but you should go see Zhaan tomorrow just to make sure it's going to heal properly." She kissed him right above the gash, then moved to resume her place lying on his shoulder. "I am sorry about that. You wouldn't have gotten that if I'd just stopped and listened to you."

John shook his head, smiling at her before kissing her lightly on the forehead. "It's not a big deal." He grinned, one of his strange thoughts obviously just crossing his mind. "Besides, as they say, 'Love hurts.'"

"Who says that?"

"Uhhh, this band of musicians on Earth, called Nazareth…" He stopped when Aeryn leaned over and kissed him deeply on the mouth, pressing her tongue inside, enjoying the taste of him still mingled with her own.

"What was that for?" he asked when she came up for breath.

"I just thought of a much better use for your mouth."

Fin.