Fic: "Except the North-East Wind", for Pesha

[inathunderstorm]

Title: Except the North-East Wind
Author: Sionnain
Pairing: Mal/Simon/River
Rating: As this is a kink-a-thon, adult, obviously.
Warnings: Incest, fisting, dub-con, daddy!kink, slight d/s undertones (really slight)
Summary: Mal can’t sleep with River causing such a ruckus. Maybe it’s time he has Simon calm her down.

AN: Written for pesha for the FF_Kink Kinkathon, who requested: Simon/River/ANYONE where the "other person" in the CSI incident was controlling the scene and deliberating playing on the fact that Simon and River are siblings. I hope that you enjoy this, Pesha!

Thanks to srichard for the beta, as well as the title suggestion, which is a quote from Richard II.



Except the North-East Wind

It was the third time this week her screaming had woken him up. A man needed his sleep, and how was he expected to get any with River carrying on and causing such a fuss all night?

He got out of bed and pulled on a shirt, angrily making his way to their bunk. Mal threw the door open with rather more force than was strictly necessary, hoping his scowl made him look intimidating since his hair was sticking up six ways to Sunday.

“You people have any clue what time it is?”

River looked up at him, that wild-eyed stare that made him want to sort of shake her into not being crazy. He wondered if maybe Simon had tried that yet. Maybe he’d suggest it. Mal was no doctor, but he knew all about shutting people up.

“Terribly sorry, Captain, we’re just having a bit of an issue, here, we didn’t mean-”

As usual, Simon’s voice made him want to punch something. Like Simon. Right in the mouth. Mal held up his hand. “Quiet. Only issue I care about is that I ain’t gettin’ any sleep.”

Simon, who was sitting next to River on the bed, closed his eyes as if seeking some sort of momentary peace. Mal hoped he didn’t find any. Wouldn’t be fair, the Doc getting it if the gorram Captain couldn’t. “Captain, I assure you-”

“Beg pardon, Doc, but of all the things you do to me, assurin’ ain’t the word I’d go for first.” Mal shut the door behind him and went to stand directly in front of the two of them on the bed, his arms crossed.

“What’s the matter with you, girl? Besides the usual, I mean?”

River stared up at him, her mouth slightly parted. One hand was gently wrapped around Simon’s forearm, and the other was pressed gently to the delicate bones of her head. “Think-sometimes I think, yes, in my head-and it’s like it’s a book, you can read it.” Her voice was thin and reedy, words fast and frantic. “When I’m screaming-caught up, like a dam-it’ll break- maybe you’ll see the picture, and know...”

“I’m sure that I won’t,” Mal said with a sigh. “Ain’t got a clue what you’re talkin’ about when you act like this.” His eyes flicked to Simon, who was staring at him and River both with something very close to desperation on his face.

“Captain, I don’t think your chastising River is going to help,” Simon said firmly as River began shivering, her eyes rapidly shifting focus from her brother to Mal, then back again. She was writhing lightly on the bed, and her face was flushed.

“Yeah? Not so sure it won’t. Seems to me you two grew up in some spoiled house where no one ever told you how to behave. I’m the Captain, so I guess it falls to me to teach you some manners.” Mal moved across the room and sat on the other bed, smiling coldly at the Tam siblings, who were now both watching him as if he were slightly mad. “Just think of me as Daddy.”

“Captain, I really must protest-” Simon began, and Mal held up a hand again.

“No, you really don’t have to,” he assured him. “Don’t want to hear any more noise from you. You, either,” he said firmly to River, pointing a finger at her.

She smiled at him, then, a small little smile full of something Mal couldn’t quite put his finger on, but there was something close to amusement beneath the usual lunacy. “Yes, Daddy,” she said, giggling.

“River,” Simon gasped, sounding affronted. “You can’t-”

“Oh, but she can,” Mal ordered, raising his voice just a little. “She can and she will. She’ll obey me, and so will you. And I’ll get some sleep if it’s the last thing I ever do, and if I don’t, keepin’ me awake will be the last thing either of you ever do.” Mal regarded them carefully. “Simon, tell me what River’s cryin’ about.”

“She’s not crying,” Simon bit out, looking at his sister. “She’s just…tense.”

“Then can’t you do anything to make her relax, you bein’ a doctor and all?” Mal narrowed his eyes thoughtfully. “Rub her shoulders.”

A faint blush spilled on Simon’s cheeks; he lowered his eyes downward. “Wh-what?”

“You heard me,” Mal commanded, leaving no room for argument. “Her shoulders. Put your hands on them and rub them. Now.”

Glaring at him, Simon placed his hands on River’s shoulders and began to rub rather unenthusiastically. River looked at him, askance. “Ow, Simon. Too hard.” She wriggled a bit and looked at Mal unhappily. “Make him do it right, Daddy.”

Mal smiled at her. “You heard the girl, Simon. Rub nicer, now.”

Simon looked like he was torn between wanting to get up and knock Mal in the jaw with his fist, or chastise River for continuing to call Mal “Daddy”. Instead, he lightened his grip and began to rub River’s shoulders a bit more thoroughly.

River’s eyes slid closed a little, and her breathing sped up. “Mmm. That’s-yes, that, like a breeze-better.”

Mal smiled, pleased. “Is it? See, I’m right. Always right, because I’m the Captain.”

This continued for several more moments, and it looked as if River might be relaxing. Even Simon appeared less tense, and he was murmuring quietly to River as he continued to massage her shoulders.

“Good, that’s good,” Mal said quietly, nodding his approval. He was just about to get up and make for the door when River started gasping.

“What is it, mei mei?” Simon asked, concerned, stopping his movements to stare into her wild eyes. “Did I hurt you?”

“No,” River moaned, squirming. Her face was flushed, her eyes bright. She looked like she maybe had a fever. “Too full, dam wants to break-can’t…” She reached down and pulled at her dress, twisting the fabric in her hands. She looked-to Mal, anyway-like she was going to get hysterical again.

“River,” Simon began, sounding frightened, “What needs out-”

Mal spoke quickly, cutting Simon off mid-sentence. “Listen to me, Doc. Told you I was in charge of this, and you just trust me that I know what I’m doing. Now you listen up,” he said to River, eyes narrowed. “You got a problem, you speak it plain. Don’t need all these funny analogies you’re comin’ up with, when proper English’ll do just fine.” He waited patiently.

“She doesn’t respond to-” Simon began huffily, and Mal growled a warning low in his throat.

“She’ll respond to whatever I say, Doc, if you’d just be quiet for a minute. Kept you alive and well this long, ain’t I?” Mal asked, arms crossed.

Simon nodded, though a bit reluctantly.

River gave a soft, vaguely musical littlet laugh. “Daddy’ll give you the belt,” she sing-songed. She gazed seriously at Mal. “He won’t, won’t do it, we share a mother. Maybe if if Daddy tells him it’s okay…” She laughed again. “Daddy’s boy, Simon’s always been…”

If Mal believed in Book’s God, he was surely buying himself a ticket to hell by what he was about to do. “Take her dress off,” Mal ordered, his voice low.

“Are you crazy-”

Mal stood up. “Not. Another. Word.”

Simon must have seen the seriousness on Mal’s face, because he reached over and yanked River’s dress off, baring her body, which was naked except for a pair of white cotton panties.

Mal smiled at River. “That better?”

River stretched, her muscles pulling, her body arching slightly as she did so. “Outside-not as-need the inside cooler, now.”

That sounded like a yes, so Mal took it as such and continued. “Simon, keep rubbing her shoulders.”

Simon looked up at him, and there was a terrible sort of look on his face; caught between desire and horror, he nevertheless had a look about him of curious desperation to do what he was told. “Gonna be okay,” Mal said gruffly, meeting Simon’s eyes. “Promise.”

River ran her tongue over her bottom lip and gave Simon a doe-eyed look. “Please, Simon. Inside…so hot, so full. Need to break--break,” she murmured, frantic.

“God, River,” Simon choked, but his hands slowly went back to her shoulders, his long fingers rubbing and pushing rhythmically.

“Lower,” Mal ordered him, his eyes on Simon.

“No. No…” Simon raised his eyes to Mal’s, and there was that look again, wounded and yet oddly hungry, desperate to make this okay by having the choice taken away. Mal was going to have to make him do what River so obviously wanted.

“Yes. Lower, Simon.” Mal watched him intently, waiting. “Do as I say.”

Simon closed his eyes and slid his hands down, covering River’s breasts, and Mal could see his hands trembling slightly as he did so. He choked something out that might have been a curse, might have been a prayer, or maybe it was both.

River’s head fell back, her eyes sliding closed. She shivered delicately, her hands resting lightly on Simon’s shoulders.

“That’s it,” Mal encouraged, returning to take his seat on the bed. “Does that feel better, River?”

“Yes, Daddy,” she murmured, her lips curved upward in a smile.

“Good. You like your nipples twisted, a little?” Mal watched the way she was pushing her breasts into Simon’s hands, seeking something more.

“Yes,” she gasped again, her face brightening at the suggestion. “To break it, have to…have to put pressure, on the cracks, weaken-”

“You heard your sister, Simon. Twist her nipples like she wants.”

Simon gave another choked sort of sobbing sound, but his long fingers (so like his sister’s) pulled almost desperately at her nipples. River moaned, her long hair falling away from her face, her profile stark and lovely in the soft light.

“Inside, where it’s dark, Daddy,” River told him, staring up at the ceiling. Her eyes drifted closed and her hips moved in a slow circle as Simon continued to twist her tender nipples. “Hurts there. Empty.”

“I know. Simon, move your hand down,” Mal instructed, swallowing. This was…well, it probably wasn’t supposed to turn a man on, and maybe that meant he was heading for that special hell Book always told him about, but Mal figured it was probably already a given he wasn’t going anywhere there were fluffy clouds and angels singing.

He had a few angels, here. They were a little tarnished, maybe more your fallen sort, but it was about as close as he’d likely get. “Lower, Simon. Trust me.”

Simon wasn’t looking at him, but he was breathing too fast. Mal wondered if that was healthy, but he didn’t give it much mind. Simon was a doctor, and if he thought breathing like that was bad for his health, likely he’d stop.

Simon’s fingers drifted down over River’s stomach, back and forth, while his other hand continued to tug and twist her nipple lightly. River was undulating underneath his hands, gasping and shuddering in a way that made Mal feel a little too warm.

“Hot, so hot, have to make it stop…”

“Lower, Simon,” Mal instructed, his voice tight. “Don’t make me tell you twice, now.” His voice had just a little edge to it; not to frighten, but stern enough to command like Mal knew Simon needed.

Simon said something else Mal didn’t quite catch, and his fingers pressed, just lightly, on the fabric of River’s panties right over her cunt. River’s legs spread open and she gave a little excited laugh; Simon was shaking his head and muttering, “My sister, she’s my sister,” over and over…

“Yes, and that’s why you have to take care of her. Who else are you going to trust to do this, Simon? Jayne?”

Simon’s eyes opened at that; his face twisted with intense dislike. “No, never. He’ll never put his dirty hands on her, not River…”

“Besides, you’re the doctor. You have to heal her. She’s your responsibility, Simon. Not mine, not anyone else’s. Take off her panties.”

Simon’s eyes closed again. He did as Mal said with a quick, jerking movement of fabric between his fingers, sliding innocent cotton panties down River’s long, slim legs. He tossed them to floor.

“Good. Push her down, Simon. You’re supposed to make her feel better, supposed to take charge. You’re the doctor, you’re her big brother.” Mal looked at River, who was watching him with eager eyes. “Ain’t that right, little girl?”

“Yes, Daddy,” she answered, nodding, her hair shifting like a silken curtain over her shoulders and across her face. She smiled gently at Simon, her fingers rubbing over his lips. “Simon...”

Simon searched her eyes, his hands tight on her shoulders. “River, I-”

“Do it, Simon,” Mal interrupted, his voice hard. “You do it or I will.”

Simon shoved her down, hard, his hand between her legs again. He shifted his weight so he was half-sprawled on top of her, and his fingers lightly stroked her cunt, his eyes on River’s face.

“That’s it. You just watch your sister, now, you just let me tell you what needs to be done. You understand me?”

“Yes,” Simon answered, and despite his acquiescence Mal could still see the self-loathing burned like a brand onto Simon’s stark features.

River’s head tossed on the pillow; she turned her head and regarded Mal solemnly. “Need all, every last one, so much it hurts,” she murmured, one hand twining in Simon’s dark hair. “Make him. He won’t, he’ll see and stop…can’t, can’t stop…” she sounded frantic again.

“I know, little one. He won’t stop, I promise.” Mal soothed her, gifting her with a small smile. She settled back, her eyes once again on Simon, her face expectant. Her body was splayed open and yet he could sense the tension in her muscles, could see the faint sheen of sweat on her skin.

“You need to do exactly what I say, Simon, to make this work.” Mal leaned forward a little, watching carefully. “Do it real gentle to make her relax. Just for a minute. Go on.”

Simon looked at him and his eyes looked destroyed. Mal made his tone both firm and even, to try and put the other man at ease. “It’s what she wants. You have to give it to her. No one else can.”

Simon’s head bowed briefly, like a penitent. He stroked River’s cunt, fingers light and gentle on her clit, and River writhed on the bed and moaned a little.

Mal watched for a few moments, then nodded. “Good. Now start with one finger, inside of her.”

Simon did as he was instructed, and River bucked up against his hand. “More,” she gasped, and Mal gave her a stern look.

“When I say,” he reprimanded her, and she bit her lip and turned away.

He waited a few more moments before telling Simon to add another finger, watching carefully as River shivered and tossed her head again. She didn’t seem to be too uncomfortable, not yet, which was good. She had to be very wet, or else it wouldn’t work.

“I can’t-Oh, God,” Simon breathed, pressing his free hand to his forehead. Mal saw that it was shaking wildly. “Please, I-”

“No need for this, Simon. Just do like I say. Another.”

“No, I-please it’s not-”

“Simon,” River moaned, biting her lip. Her face contorted. “Please, help me…”

“Do it, Simon,” Mal ordered, standing up. He walked over and grabbed Simon’s hair, pulling the man’s head up so he could look down at him. “Don’t make me angry. Do what I said.”

Simon stared wildly at him while he slid another finger into River, and the girl was shivering and bucking like a mad thing on the bed. “Burns-fire, inside-I-Daddy…”

“I know, little one,” Mal murmured, still staring intently down at Simon. “Your brother is going to make it all better. Another.”

“She can’t-” Simon choked, and Mal released his grip on Simon’s hair. He backhanded the other man, right against the mouth, only hard enough to be humiliating. He didn’t want to hurt Simon-he just wanted him to listen.

“Now, Simon.”

River gave a low, pained wail as Simon slid another finger into her, moving them gently in and out, stretching her with each movement. River’s fingers were clenched tightly in the sheets beneath her; her face was shadowed with pain and a terrible, terrible need.

“Look at her, Simon,” Mal coaxed, his voice soft but no less firm. “Look at her and see what she needs. Give it to her. Make her better.”

They held that way for a long moment; River, naked and aching, her face flushed and almost miserable with longing. Simon, gasping and quite obviously near tears, his body shaking, torn between a desire to give River what solace he could and rebelling against the form said solace was taking. Mal, implacable and commanding, stared down at them both with resolute, unshakable conviction.

“Burns, please,” River wailed, but her hips were pushing up, obviously wanting more. Simon rubbed at her clit with his thumb, making her wetter, stretching and pushing, in and out. River gasped and moaned and lost her breath; she stared at Simon, at Mal, almost worshipfully.

“All right,” Mal said gruffly, nodding at Simon.

Simon leaned forward and kissed her, very gently, on the lips. “Shhh, mei mei. I’ll give you what you want.” His voice was resigned, almost sad. With a very soft smile, he folded his thumb into his fist and slid it all inside of her, his free hand pushing the damp tendrils of hair off her forehead.

Mal watched with an approving nod as River bucked up one last time, mouth open in a soundless scream, broken at last. Her body bowed on the bed, heels digging into the mattress as she shuddered and came on Simon’s fist.

Tears ran down Simon’s face as he watched her, but his expression was one of pure love. “That’s a good girl, River.”

Mal smiled. “Yes. Good, both of you.” He reached down and ran his hand through Simon’s hair. Simon removed his fist, leaning back against Mal as they both watched River while she quieted, as her body shuddered one final time and then relaxed.

Mal removed his hand from Simon’s hair, took a step back towards the door. River gave a soft little sigh and smiled at him, her eyes opened. They were clear and focused. “Thank you,” she murmured, reaching a hand out to him. “You knew what I needed.”

“Daddy always knows,” Mal said with a wink, then kissed her hand. She tasted sweet, like some kind of lotion maybe Inara had given her, and a little salty from the sweat.

River gave a quiet laugh and stretched, then turned her eyes to Simon. “You’re a good brother,” she told him, and Simon smiled back at her.

“You can sleep now, Captain,” Simon said, and his voice was very direct, the tone of a doctor dismissing a patient’s over-worried family member from the operating room. “I’ll take it from here.”

“See that you do,” Mal said, giving them both a long look. “Don’t want to have to go though all this again twice in one week.”

Simon was helping River back into her dress, her little white panties still lying on the floor. “You won’t. Will he, River?”

“No,” River murmured, draping her arms around her brother’s neck. They smiled at each other. “He won’t.”

Mal shook his head and left the room, closing the door quietly behind him. He yawned, exhausted, and made his way back to his bunk.

He slept until morning without dreams.