[Fic] Kink Bingo - Confined - Sousuke/Kaname
I apologize for the long, LONG pause between stories and chapters. My health took a turn for the weird, and I just haven't been up to writing for several months now. Things are improving, so I'm slowly clearing out the backlog of unfinished projects.
Kink: Confined
Series: Full Metal Panic
Pairing: Sagara Sousuke/Chidori Kaname
Rating: NC-17
Warnings: It's a fic for Kink Bingo. It's kinky, and X-rated. 'Nuff said.
Chapter length: 5364
When space gets tight, tempers get heated... among other things.
The Arbalest was a big machine, half again as large as most arm slaves. That didn't mean the cockpit was particularly roomy. It was designed to be a close fit, so that the pilot would be able to easily reach all of the controls.
It definitely was not designed for the pilot to have a high school girl sitting sideways in his lap, legs jammed up against the console on one side and breasts dangerously close to his face. Sousuke kept his eyes glued to the tactical readout screen, focusing on the little blips that meant the enemy was still searching for them.
He already knew from experience that being caught and tortured by the enemy was probably preferable to what would happen if Kaname suspected he was looking down her shirt, after all.
"Sousuke! Why did you yank me in here?" She sounded like she was already preparing to smack him. That angry tone of voice never boded well for his medical expenses.
"They're too close, and there are too many of them," he explained quickly, trying to head off the coming explosion. "We can't outmanoeuvre them; our only hope is to stay hidden until they pass by. The camouflage system can't bend light around your body the way it can around the metal, so if you'd remained outside you'd have been visible and at risk."
"Oh." That seemed to subdue her a little. "But there's no room in here," she complained, wriggling around on his lap in a futile effort to try to find a comfortable position.
Sweating hard, Sousuke swallowed before answering so his voice wouldn't crack. "This is not a dual-operation machine," he explained patiently, though he thought that should have been obvious from the fact that there was only one seat. "It's not intended to carry passengers."
"I know that," she replied, sounding cross. Or maybe just upset, which was understandable considering the danger they were in. But then, she rarely reacted to dangerous situations in the way he expected a civilian to. "Are you sure there's enough air in here?"
"The life support systems are fully functional," he assured her. If only she'd stop moving. This was a serious situation, but... certain natural responses were difficult to suppress even for someone with his level of discipline. Their relationship, as strange and startling as it sometimes seemed to him, had progressed beyond merely kissing, but he still doubted she'd appreciate the reaction if she noticed it.
Maybe when she noticed it would be a more accurate statement. He bit his lip to stop a groan as she wiggled again. "Perhaps if you remain still, it would seem less confining?" he suggested, hoping he didn't sound as desperate as he felt.
"What are you talking about? I'm not moving," she replied, even as she continued to squirm. They were tiny movements, true, the sort of natural adjusting the body attempted when placed in an uncomfortable position, but you didn't need to be a sniper of Weber's level to know there was a difference between 'not moving' and 'holding still'.
Of course, Kaname had no sniper training at all, and perhaps that was the root of the difficulty. Gritting his teeth, Sousuke reminded himself once more that just because Kaname had proved to be capable of handling dangerous situations, he couldn't expect her to react like a trained professional.
Not that he was reacting much like a professional at the moment. What was it about Kaname that made it so hard for him - a soldier since childhood and veteran of so many battles he'd lost count - to keep the control and focus that had once come so naturally to him?
Sometimes he wondered if it was really worth it to compromise himself this way, all for the sake of having a girlfriend. Then he would contemplate what life would be like without her, and he knew it didn't matter. The thought of losing her was crushing.
The HUD gave a quiet triple bleep as some of the enemy arm slaves approached, and Sousuke went tense. For a moment he forgot about his traitorous body, focused on the much more immediate threat. If the enemy got close enough, they might be able to pierce the Arbalest's ECM system. At the very least, if they ran straight into him, they were going to notice there was something solid where nothing solid should be.
Manoeuvring with Kaname blocking his view and effectively trapping his arms was not going to be fun. Not for the first time in his life, Sousuke wished he understood what it was about religion that gave others comfort when they prayed. He could quote the Koran from memory, but prayer had never seemed to have much effect to him. He'd rather spend the concentration on fighting.
Finally the squad of arm slaves passed by, and he relaxed again and let out a breath. Only then did he realize that Kaname had also gone silent and still, doing her best to keep from distracting him in the critical moment.
Not that she wouldn't yell and smack him if she thought he was doing something stupid, but he did appreciate the attempt.
"You're really worried," she noted, and there was a slight quiver in her voice. She could be frightened as easily as anyone, she was just better than many professionals at not letting it control her or keep her from doing what needed to be done. "I mean, you're always obsessing over threats to me, but you're really worried."
"I... don't like being forced into a place where the only option is to hide and hope they don't find me," Sousuke admitted grudgingly. Not to anyone else would he have said such a thing, but for some reason it seemed easier to open up to her in small ways. "If they do find us, we'll be at a severe disadvantage. It will be difficult to fight like this."
Her mouth firmed, and she got that glittering look of determination in her eyes that he both admired and feared. "You mean it's handicapping you to have me in here," she said, shaking her head. "Then I shouldn't be here. I'll just... hide behind the Arbalest or something..." Only the tiniest catch in her voice betrayed her nervousness as she started to climb out of his lap, reaching for the hatch control.
"No," he nearly shouted, lunging forward and wrapping his arms around her waist, tugging her firmly back against him. She squeaked and lost her balance, and wound up even more curled around him than before. Sousuke forced himself to take a calming breath, knowing that he needed to seem calm and strong so she wouldn't think there was any need to put herself in danger.
She would sacrifice herself to protect him in a heartbeat, he already knew that. That was just the kind of person she was. It made it incredibly frustrating to be her bodyguard, but it also made him warm inside in a way nothing else ever had.
"No," he repeated more calmly once he'd regained control after his moment of panic. "Putting yourself at risk will only increase our chances of being found. If they have heat sensors they'll see you no matter how well you hide, and there are too many of them for me to fight even without you in here." The stubborn look in her eye wasn't fading, and he softened his voice. "I need to know you're safe, or it will be a much greater handicap."
She remained stiff for a moment, then sighed and sagged against him, winding her arms around his neck in turn and resting her head on his shoulder. "Have I mentioned lately how annoyingly over-protective you are?" she asked wryly. "Or how much of an idiot you can be?"
"Roughly fifteen minutes for the latter, and a little over an hour for the former," he informed her. She seemed to ask that question quite frequently, so he'd started keeping careful track.
For some reason it always made her snort with amusement - sometimes it even made her laugh, though not in a situation this serious. She smacked him on the back of the head, not quite hard enough to sting. "Idiot."
"Yes, ma'am," he said with a sigh. He'd learned that it was just easier to agree than to argue his competence. It always made her more irritated with him when he tried.
They both sat quietly for a few minutes, just watching the blips moving around. Sousuke tried not to frown, not wanting to show how concerned he was that the enemy wasn't moving away. They definitely knew the Arbalest was somewhere in the area, and they didn't seem to be inclined to give up. The little rock shelf he'd squeezed under would protect them from casual sweeps, but not from a truly intensive grid search. So far they hadn't gotten that organized. Hopefully that meant their commanders weren't actually in the area.
"Is it always this hot in here?" Kaname asked, a little plaintively. "How do you stand it?"
"I've shut down all unnecessary systems," he explained. It was stifling; small wonder she'd asked earlier if there was enough air. Even he, raised in a sweltering desert region, found it overly warm. "There's plenty of airflow, but it's not being cooled before it's drawn into the cockpit. It would probably be safe to run the temperature regulator, but..."
"But there's no point in taking chances in a bad situation, I get it," she said. "I'd rather be overheated than tortured, thanks." She squirmed again and reached up to tug at the bow at her throat, undoing the ribbon and pulling it free. Sousuke's breath caught in his throat and he found his attention abruptly riveted on something other than the screen as she opened the first two buttons of her blouse. "At least we've already started wearing summer uniforms," she continued, oblivious to his reaction.
"I... yes. At least," he agreed, a little incoherently. He hoped he didn't sound quite as strangled as he felt, but it was hard not to be distracted by the glimpse of the curve of flesh through the opening in her blouse, the very top of the swell of her breasts exposed. He'd only recently - very recently - gotten his first good look at her topless in a situation that did not end with her pounding him into the nearest solid surface, but the image was burned into his mind. He found it incredibly difficult to suppress the memory, and it was making it hard to look away.
Then she pulled the shirt out away from her chest and flapped it to try to fan herself a little, and he had to fight to stifle a groan. He half expected his body to stop functioning - surely between the painful flush he could feel creeping over his cheeks and the distracting ache in his groin, there wasn't enough blood left to go around elsewhere.
"You look pretty overheated yourself," she commented, dashing his hopes that she wouldn't notice. "Are you okay? That flight suit must be really hot."
"I'm fine," he assured her. It took an effort to keep his voice steady. "I'm accustomed to more extreme conditions than you are." And he was, just not this kind of 'extreme'. How did she manage to have this effect on him? She wasn't even trying to be seductive.
For the first time, he had some sympathy for Weber's continuous complaints about the torment of being surrounded by pretty women and unable to do anything about it because he was on duty. This was surely as bad as any torture the enemy could devise.
She was still flapping her blouse, trying to cool herself by creating air movement. Finally he had to catch her hand and physically stop her. It was that, or give in to the rapidly growing temptation to suggest she might be cooler if she simply removed it entirely. A suggestion like that was likely to earn him a punch hard enough to lay him out flat, and they couldn't afford for him to be incapacitated right now.
"Sousuke?" she asked, startled. She tugged at his hold on her wrist, but it was more of a reflexive reaction than a real attempt to get away.
"Please, stop," he begged, closing his eyes and drawing a deep breath. "I can't... you're very... it's distracting," he finally settled on. He still might get punched, if she realized what he was implying, but hopefully she would think he was just talking about the distraction of the movement.
"Oh," she said, her voice very quiet but with an odd note in it. For a moment he thought he'd gotten lucky and she'd taken his words at face value, but when he opened his eyes again he found her looking pointedly away from him, her own cheeks flushed bright enough to rival his.
Usually embarrassing her that much was a precursor to getting smacked, but this time she only fidgeted again, her free hand playing with the edge of her skirt. That was nearly as bad for his self-control as her fussing with her blouse, drawing his attention to the way having her knees raised over the chair arm made her skirt puddle in her lap and exposed more of the smooth length of her legs than usual.
It took every bit of will he had not to stop her by covering that hand with his as well, but he was fairly certain if he did he wouldn't be able to resist the temptation to find out if the skin of her inner thighs was as silky as it looked. "Kaname," he said instead, and this time he couldn't stop the word from emerging as a groan.
"Um." She sounded unusually hesitant, and then her words tumbled out in a self-conscious rush. "This sounds really bad and I know I should be letting you concentrate, but it seems like maybe you're having trouble too and I would really, really like you to kiss me right now." She swallowed, and her voice trembled. "Oh gods, that sounds even more depraved than I thought it would. Never mind, I don't even know what's wrong with me, I..."
He cut her off with his mouth on hers, releasing her wrist so he could put his hand behind her head and pull her closer. She squeaked and fisted her hand in the front of his flight suit, but didn't protest or try to pull away. Far from it, she opened her mouth beneath his and welcomed him eagerly, allowing him to rub his tongue against hers in a way that made it feel far more than just 'hot' in the tiny space.
It was nothing like their usual awkward and hesitant kisses. Neither of them held anything back, kissing with the desperation of lovers who thought they might never get to kiss again. Sousuke had never felt anything like it, electric and needy and almost terrifying. In moments he was harder than he'd ever been in his life, and he knew she'd noticed when she gasped against his mouth and squirmed again.
He groaned and closed his arms around her, and somehow managed to find the strength to tear his mouth away. Leaning his forehead against her shoulder, he panted for air, vaguely aware that she'd draped her arms over his shoulders and was clinging for dear life.
"Oh. Oh. Oh, gods," she said faintly, sounding torn between shame and desire. "I'm so sorry, I don't... I don't know what's wrong with me. You must think I'm, I'm totally shameless or something..."
"What? No," he blurted out, pulling back to stare at her. She met his eyes only briefly before flushing harder and looking away, but he saw the real distress behind her embarrassment. Once again he reminded himself that she was not a professional, and didn't know about things like the possible reactions to a life-or-death situation. Wasn't that the whole reason he'd been worried about her noticing his reaction?
"Kaname, it's a natural response," he assured her. He paused, struggling to find words to explain something he'd simply understood since childhood, growing up in a war zone as he had. "Sometimes, in a dangerous situation or after a near-death experience, human instinct is to find a way to reaffirm life in as concrete a way as possible. People often reach out to each other, even if there's no previous connection or desire to form one. Sometimes even if there's no one available that would normally be attractive to the person. I've seen men go off together who would normally never look at anyone but a woman. If the connection is already there, the instinct is just that much stronger."
She was looking at him with a very wide-eyed expression, and he wasn't quite sure what he'd said that astonished her that much. It wasn't that hard a concept to understand, was it? Not when she was feeling it for herself, surely.
"Um. H-have you ever...?" she trailed off, as if not certain how to finish the sentence, blushing bright enough that it looked like her face was on fire.
He sputtered briefly as he realized what she was asking. "No! No, never." At first he'd been too young for such considerations, and later when his body had matured enough for it to be an issue, he'd - rather smugly, he realized now - simply assumed that his discipline was better than the common mercenaries around him. "I've never had to deal with it... until now. Perhaps it was simply that I never had the right person nearby at the right moment," he mused.
For some reason that made her eyes go soft, and she sighed and leaned into him. "Idiot," she muttered under her breath. "I must be getting used to you. That actually sounded sweet."
Sweet? He'd just been stating a fact. Then again when he actually tried to do something romantic for her, he usually ended up offending her somehow, so he decided not to argue the point.
"But we should be paying attention to what's going on, right?" she said, sighing a little. "Not, um, distracting ourselves." Despite her words, she tightened her arms around his neck, her grip implying he might well have to pry her off with a crowbar if he wanted to get free.
Sousuke's heart pounded a little harder. Was she actually offering...? Surely he was misunderstanding. He usually was, no matter how certain he was that he understood her in any given moment. "There's not really much to pay attention to at the moment," he said carefully, feeling rather like he was inching his way across a minefield. "We just have to sit here and hope they don't find us until reinforcements arrive."
She shifted again, the action rubbing her bottom against his now rather painful erection, and he choked on a gasp. "Well, then maybe distracting ourselves is a good idea," she said, her voice trembling a little but her expression determined. "Right?"
"Sure," he said, not even completely certain what he was saying yes to, only knowing that he'd have agreed to just about anything in that moment if it meant he could kiss her again. So he did, and she moaned faintly and melted against him, and it was even better than the first kiss.
He slid his hands up her back and pulled her closer still. She made a helpless little sound against his mouth and pressed against him, her breasts rubbing against his chest through their clothes. Hesitantly, still half expecting to get slapped at any moment, he traced one hand along her ribs to the front, then cupped his palm around the soft mound of her breast. Through her clothes and his glove he couldn't really feel anything but the weight of it, but she moaned again and arched into the touch, shivering.
Daring to be a little bolder, he tugged her blouse out of her skirt and slid his hand up inside, the leather of his glove gliding against her skin. She shivered again but made no protest; on the contrary, the needy little noises she made drove him half crazy and spurred him on. It took him a moment of awkward fumbling to get the catch on her bra undone, but that loosened it enough for him to be able to push it up out of the way.
He broke the kiss and she cried out in soft protest, only to moan again when he lowered his mouth to her tightly peaked nipple, teasing with lips and teeth through the fabric of her blouse. They'd gone this far before, a few times, and he knew she was sensitive here. She liked it when he tormented her with an onslaught of stimulation here - though she sometimes showed it with breathless death threats. The first time he'd thought she was upset and pulled back, only to discover the dire threats had been the promise of what she'd do if he stopped.
Today she only gasped and squirmed beneath him, twisting awkwardly in his lap to try to give him more access. Vaguely aware that she couldn't possibly be comfortable in that position, he dropped his hands to her hips and urged her up. She tried to obey, but the cramped confines made it awkward to move and even more difficult to find a comfortable position. After a flurry of movement that unfortunately involved the necessity of removing his mouth from her breast, they resettled so that she was perched on his lap facing him, her knees hooked over the arms of the chair on either side of him.
Still awkward, but worth it for the feel of her grinding down against him. Now only his flight suit and her thin panties were between them, her skirt spread between her knees and the flush on her cheeks saying she felt as exposed as she looked. Sousuke had to bite his lip again, fighting for control, but he managed to move slowly and keep his eyes locked on hers, asking silently for permission as he slid one hand up the inside of her leg.
She moaned and her eyes fluttered closed, tilting her head back in a way that exposed her slender neck invitingly. He paused just long enough to tug the glove off his hand with his teeth, then leaned in and ran his mouth over the smooth column of her neck even as his fingers slid up the equally soft skin of her thigh. It was just as silky as it had looked, and when he reached the fabric of her panties it almost felt rough in comparison.
At least, until he moved a little further and encountered the moisture soaking the silk. His breath left him in a hissing rush, and the groan that escaped him felt like it rattled his whole body. He wasn't an innocent, no matter what he knew some of his teammates thought of him. Just because he'd never seen the need to indulge in sex before didn't mean he was ignorant, and he knew what that wetness meant. If nothing else, he'd heard enough crude jokes about it to leave him with a thorough - if somewhat biased - education on the subject.
Her throat vibrated against his lips, and it took him a moment to gather his wits enough to realize she was moaning "Please, please, please," over and over again. That was all the encouragement he needed to slide his fingers beneath the panties, and when he touched heated flesh she cried out sharply.
It only took a moment of searching to find the place that was most sensitive, a small little nub of flesh that made her tremble every time he touched it. She arched into the touch, hands clutching at his shoulders hard enough to dig her nails in even through the flight suit.
With his other hand he pushed her blouse up until her breasts were exposed to the heated air of the cockpit, and she moaned. Moving his arm around to support her back, he lowered his mouth to her breasts and tasted her directly. That won him an even better reaction than when he'd been teasing her through the cloth, and she squirmed and writhed against him.
At the same time he rocked his hips up, rubbing his aching erection against her through the stiff material of his flight suit. Unfortunately - despite the protests of a significant portion of the enlisted men - the suits were not designed with easy access in mind, and it would require more effort than he was willing to go to right now to get out of it. Not to mention he would have to let go of Kaname first, and from the urgent noises she was making, he was fairly certain she would kill him if he tried.
That was fine. Well, he'd make it be fine, no matter what his body was begging for at the moment. Just getting to touch and taste her like this was more than he'd imagined he would get to do any time soon. Any more would probably put him firmly in the doghouse when she came back to her senses.
The quivering tension he could feel in her body changed subtly, and then she convulsed against him, pushing frantically against his hand, screaming loud enough that he was grateful the cockpit was soundproof.
He'd heard her scream before, in fear or pain, but never like this. This was a sound that went straight to his cock, and he definitely wouldn't mind hearing it again in the future. Preferably frequently.
The scream faded and turned to whimpers, and finally she reached down and grabbed at his wrist, stopping him from teasing her further. "Enough, Sousuke, oh gods," she begged breathlessly. "You're going to kill me, I can't take any more."
Reluctantly he let her pull his hand away, and lifted his head from her breast. The sight of her, dishevelled and wanton and spread out on his lap, nearly pushed him over the edge then and there. He groaned and shuddered, rocking his hips against her a little harder, and buried his face in the hollow between her throat and shoulder.
Then she released his wrist to drop her hand between them, pressing the heel of her palm firmly against his length through the flight suit. The sudden shock of it sent orgasm crashing over him with no warning, and it was his turn to test the quality of the soundproofing.
It was true that you lost track of the world if you came hard enough, apparently. When he returned to reality, Sousuke found he was gasping and trembling, his arms wrapped around Kaname tightly enough that he was surprised she wasn't protesting.
Then again, she was holding him just as tightly in return, arms wound around his neck and head resting on his shoulder. He could hear her panting as well, and feel the pounding of her hear racing in time with his.
"Are..." His voice caught, and he coughed and cleared his throat before trying again. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah," she said, sounding embarrassed but... satisfied. And not like she was about to smack him for taking advantage, thank Allah. "That was... really... amazing."
"Yes," he agreed softly, unable to help the tone of wonder that crept into his voice. "It was."
"Next time, maybe we can try it somewhere a little less cramped, though?" she suggested, and he snorted a laugh before he could stop himself. She did hit him then, but just a light smack on the shoulder, not enough to hurt.
Just hearing her talk about a 'next time' was more than he'd hoped for. He'd have been happy even if this had been entirely due to battle stress reaction, but he was absolutely not going to complain if she was willing to move their relationship forward more as a result. "Next time," he agreed, and turned his face so he could kiss her.
The triple bleep of an incoming communication from an ally interrupted them, and Sousuke's eyes widened. He lunged for the console, nearly tipping Kaname off the seat as he hastily slapped at the button that would restrict the communication to voice only.
"Urzu-7, are you there?" It was Kruz Weber's familiar voice, and Sousuke was torn between gratitude for the rescue and ire that he hadn't waited just a few more minutes to let them recover. At least he'd gotten the camera before it turned on, or she'd have gotten a good eyeful of Kaname in his lap. There would have been absolutely no doubt what they'd been up to - and he'd never have heard the end of it.
"I'm here, Urzu-6," he responded, careful to keep his voice steady and even out his breathing. "We're safe for the moment, but we're pinned under a rock formation and I can't manoeuvre with both of us in the cockpit."
"Stay where you are, Urzu-7," Melissa Mao ordered firmly. "Don't risk breaking cover. ETA for reinforcements is five minutes and counting."
"Roger that, Urzu-2," Sousuke answered. "We'll stay put."
"You're both in there?" Kruz sounded wickedly delighted. "Taking the chance to get up close and friendly? I was starting to think you didn't have it in you."
He saw the flush sweep over Kaname's cheeks and heard her draw in a breath to protest, and that was just enough warning to let him clamp a hand over her mouth before she could say anything. "The design of the cockpit is such that we can't help getting close, chance has nothing to do with it," he said, long years of discipline letting him keep his tone even and not betray the flush he could feel burning on his cheeks. "And we have been on friendly terms for quite some time, as you know very well. Didn't have what in me?"
A long, drawn-out sigh was his first answer. "I give up, you're hopeless," Kruz said in an exaggerated mournful tone. "If being pinned down in tight quarters under enemy fire wasn't enough, I don't know what will be."
Kaname made a sound of outraged embarrassment, but it was muffled enough against his hand that he didn't think the others had heard it. Then she bit him, hard enough that he yelped and let go without meaning to. "I can hear you, you know," she said crossly.
"Uhhh... shit, right, 'cause you're in the cockpit too," Kruz said, and he had the grace to sound shamed. "Sorry 'bout that. I didn't mean to imply..."
"Cut the chatter and keep your minds on the job, gentlemen," Melissa snapped. "Urzu-6, I want a word with you after this."
"Yes, ma'am," Kruz answered, and Sousuke could picture his wince from the sound of his voice.
Cautiously Sousuke glanced at Kaname, but though her face was a brilliant shade of red, there was a resigned sort of smile playing over her lips. She'd fixed her clothes and shifted to a slightly more comfortable position, draped sideways over his lap again, and now she rested her head on his shoulder once more.
"Thank you," she murmured into his ear, quiet enough that the microphone wouldn't catch it. "Nice rescue. Does that mean your obliviousness is an act the rest of the time, too?"
"Believe me, when it comes to dealing with you, I am always out of my depth," he told her, equally softly, though he couldn't stop himself from sighing. "If it seems like I have no clue what's going on around you, it's probably because I don't. But, that's half of what makes life with you so interesting."
He felt her smile against his neck. "Idiot," she said, and he automatically glanced at the chronometer to make a note of it for the next time she asked how long it had been. "Life hasn't been boring since you came along, that's for sure. I wouldn't have it any other way."
Kink: Confined
Series: Full Metal Panic
Pairing: Sagara Sousuke/Chidori Kaname
Rating: NC-17
Warnings: It's a fic for Kink Bingo. It's kinky, and X-rated. 'Nuff said.
Chapter length: 5364
When space gets tight, tempers get heated... among other things.
The Arbalest was a big machine, half again as large as most arm slaves. That didn't mean the cockpit was particularly roomy. It was designed to be a close fit, so that the pilot would be able to easily reach all of the controls.
It definitely was not designed for the pilot to have a high school girl sitting sideways in his lap, legs jammed up against the console on one side and breasts dangerously close to his face. Sousuke kept his eyes glued to the tactical readout screen, focusing on the little blips that meant the enemy was still searching for them.
He already knew from experience that being caught and tortured by the enemy was probably preferable to what would happen if Kaname suspected he was looking down her shirt, after all.
"Sousuke! Why did you yank me in here?" She sounded like she was already preparing to smack him. That angry tone of voice never boded well for his medical expenses.
"They're too close, and there are too many of them," he explained quickly, trying to head off the coming explosion. "We can't outmanoeuvre them; our only hope is to stay hidden until they pass by. The camouflage system can't bend light around your body the way it can around the metal, so if you'd remained outside you'd have been visible and at risk."
"Oh." That seemed to subdue her a little. "But there's no room in here," she complained, wriggling around on his lap in a futile effort to try to find a comfortable position.
Sweating hard, Sousuke swallowed before answering so his voice wouldn't crack. "This is not a dual-operation machine," he explained patiently, though he thought that should have been obvious from the fact that there was only one seat. "It's not intended to carry passengers."
"I know that," she replied, sounding cross. Or maybe just upset, which was understandable considering the danger they were in. But then, she rarely reacted to dangerous situations in the way he expected a civilian to. "Are you sure there's enough air in here?"
"The life support systems are fully functional," he assured her. If only she'd stop moving. This was a serious situation, but... certain natural responses were difficult to suppress even for someone with his level of discipline. Their relationship, as strange and startling as it sometimes seemed to him, had progressed beyond merely kissing, but he still doubted she'd appreciate the reaction if she noticed it.
Maybe when she noticed it would be a more accurate statement. He bit his lip to stop a groan as she wiggled again. "Perhaps if you remain still, it would seem less confining?" he suggested, hoping he didn't sound as desperate as he felt.
"What are you talking about? I'm not moving," she replied, even as she continued to squirm. They were tiny movements, true, the sort of natural adjusting the body attempted when placed in an uncomfortable position, but you didn't need to be a sniper of Weber's level to know there was a difference between 'not moving' and 'holding still'.
Of course, Kaname had no sniper training at all, and perhaps that was the root of the difficulty. Gritting his teeth, Sousuke reminded himself once more that just because Kaname had proved to be capable of handling dangerous situations, he couldn't expect her to react like a trained professional.
Not that he was reacting much like a professional at the moment. What was it about Kaname that made it so hard for him - a soldier since childhood and veteran of so many battles he'd lost count - to keep the control and focus that had once come so naturally to him?
Sometimes he wondered if it was really worth it to compromise himself this way, all for the sake of having a girlfriend. Then he would contemplate what life would be like without her, and he knew it didn't matter. The thought of losing her was crushing.
The HUD gave a quiet triple bleep as some of the enemy arm slaves approached, and Sousuke went tense. For a moment he forgot about his traitorous body, focused on the much more immediate threat. If the enemy got close enough, they might be able to pierce the Arbalest's ECM system. At the very least, if they ran straight into him, they were going to notice there was something solid where nothing solid should be.
Manoeuvring with Kaname blocking his view and effectively trapping his arms was not going to be fun. Not for the first time in his life, Sousuke wished he understood what it was about religion that gave others comfort when they prayed. He could quote the Koran from memory, but prayer had never seemed to have much effect to him. He'd rather spend the concentration on fighting.
Finally the squad of arm slaves passed by, and he relaxed again and let out a breath. Only then did he realize that Kaname had also gone silent and still, doing her best to keep from distracting him in the critical moment.
Not that she wouldn't yell and smack him if she thought he was doing something stupid, but he did appreciate the attempt.
"You're really worried," she noted, and there was a slight quiver in her voice. She could be frightened as easily as anyone, she was just better than many professionals at not letting it control her or keep her from doing what needed to be done. "I mean, you're always obsessing over threats to me, but you're really worried."
"I... don't like being forced into a place where the only option is to hide and hope they don't find me," Sousuke admitted grudgingly. Not to anyone else would he have said such a thing, but for some reason it seemed easier to open up to her in small ways. "If they do find us, we'll be at a severe disadvantage. It will be difficult to fight like this."
Her mouth firmed, and she got that glittering look of determination in her eyes that he both admired and feared. "You mean it's handicapping you to have me in here," she said, shaking her head. "Then I shouldn't be here. I'll just... hide behind the Arbalest or something..." Only the tiniest catch in her voice betrayed her nervousness as she started to climb out of his lap, reaching for the hatch control.
"No," he nearly shouted, lunging forward and wrapping his arms around her waist, tugging her firmly back against him. She squeaked and lost her balance, and wound up even more curled around him than before. Sousuke forced himself to take a calming breath, knowing that he needed to seem calm and strong so she wouldn't think there was any need to put herself in danger.
She would sacrifice herself to protect him in a heartbeat, he already knew that. That was just the kind of person she was. It made it incredibly frustrating to be her bodyguard, but it also made him warm inside in a way nothing else ever had.
"No," he repeated more calmly once he'd regained control after his moment of panic. "Putting yourself at risk will only increase our chances of being found. If they have heat sensors they'll see you no matter how well you hide, and there are too many of them for me to fight even without you in here." The stubborn look in her eye wasn't fading, and he softened his voice. "I need to know you're safe, or it will be a much greater handicap."
She remained stiff for a moment, then sighed and sagged against him, winding her arms around his neck in turn and resting her head on his shoulder. "Have I mentioned lately how annoyingly over-protective you are?" she asked wryly. "Or how much of an idiot you can be?"
"Roughly fifteen minutes for the latter, and a little over an hour for the former," he informed her. She seemed to ask that question quite frequently, so he'd started keeping careful track.
For some reason it always made her snort with amusement - sometimes it even made her laugh, though not in a situation this serious. She smacked him on the back of the head, not quite hard enough to sting. "Idiot."
"Yes, ma'am," he said with a sigh. He'd learned that it was just easier to agree than to argue his competence. It always made her more irritated with him when he tried.
They both sat quietly for a few minutes, just watching the blips moving around. Sousuke tried not to frown, not wanting to show how concerned he was that the enemy wasn't moving away. They definitely knew the Arbalest was somewhere in the area, and they didn't seem to be inclined to give up. The little rock shelf he'd squeezed under would protect them from casual sweeps, but not from a truly intensive grid search. So far they hadn't gotten that organized. Hopefully that meant their commanders weren't actually in the area.
"Is it always this hot in here?" Kaname asked, a little plaintively. "How do you stand it?"
"I've shut down all unnecessary systems," he explained. It was stifling; small wonder she'd asked earlier if there was enough air. Even he, raised in a sweltering desert region, found it overly warm. "There's plenty of airflow, but it's not being cooled before it's drawn into the cockpit. It would probably be safe to run the temperature regulator, but..."
"But there's no point in taking chances in a bad situation, I get it," she said. "I'd rather be overheated than tortured, thanks." She squirmed again and reached up to tug at the bow at her throat, undoing the ribbon and pulling it free. Sousuke's breath caught in his throat and he found his attention abruptly riveted on something other than the screen as she opened the first two buttons of her blouse. "At least we've already started wearing summer uniforms," she continued, oblivious to his reaction.
"I... yes. At least," he agreed, a little incoherently. He hoped he didn't sound quite as strangled as he felt, but it was hard not to be distracted by the glimpse of the curve of flesh through the opening in her blouse, the very top of the swell of her breasts exposed. He'd only recently - very recently - gotten his first good look at her topless in a situation that did not end with her pounding him into the nearest solid surface, but the image was burned into his mind. He found it incredibly difficult to suppress the memory, and it was making it hard to look away.
Then she pulled the shirt out away from her chest and flapped it to try to fan herself a little, and he had to fight to stifle a groan. He half expected his body to stop functioning - surely between the painful flush he could feel creeping over his cheeks and the distracting ache in his groin, there wasn't enough blood left to go around elsewhere.
"You look pretty overheated yourself," she commented, dashing his hopes that she wouldn't notice. "Are you okay? That flight suit must be really hot."
"I'm fine," he assured her. It took an effort to keep his voice steady. "I'm accustomed to more extreme conditions than you are." And he was, just not this kind of 'extreme'. How did she manage to have this effect on him? She wasn't even trying to be seductive.
For the first time, he had some sympathy for Weber's continuous complaints about the torment of being surrounded by pretty women and unable to do anything about it because he was on duty. This was surely as bad as any torture the enemy could devise.
She was still flapping her blouse, trying to cool herself by creating air movement. Finally he had to catch her hand and physically stop her. It was that, or give in to the rapidly growing temptation to suggest she might be cooler if she simply removed it entirely. A suggestion like that was likely to earn him a punch hard enough to lay him out flat, and they couldn't afford for him to be incapacitated right now.
"Sousuke?" she asked, startled. She tugged at his hold on her wrist, but it was more of a reflexive reaction than a real attempt to get away.
"Please, stop," he begged, closing his eyes and drawing a deep breath. "I can't... you're very... it's distracting," he finally settled on. He still might get punched, if she realized what he was implying, but hopefully she would think he was just talking about the distraction of the movement.
"Oh," she said, her voice very quiet but with an odd note in it. For a moment he thought he'd gotten lucky and she'd taken his words at face value, but when he opened his eyes again he found her looking pointedly away from him, her own cheeks flushed bright enough to rival his.
Usually embarrassing her that much was a precursor to getting smacked, but this time she only fidgeted again, her free hand playing with the edge of her skirt. That was nearly as bad for his self-control as her fussing with her blouse, drawing his attention to the way having her knees raised over the chair arm made her skirt puddle in her lap and exposed more of the smooth length of her legs than usual.
It took every bit of will he had not to stop her by covering that hand with his as well, but he was fairly certain if he did he wouldn't be able to resist the temptation to find out if the skin of her inner thighs was as silky as it looked. "Kaname," he said instead, and this time he couldn't stop the word from emerging as a groan.
"Um." She sounded unusually hesitant, and then her words tumbled out in a self-conscious rush. "This sounds really bad and I know I should be letting you concentrate, but it seems like maybe you're having trouble too and I would really, really like you to kiss me right now." She swallowed, and her voice trembled. "Oh gods, that sounds even more depraved than I thought it would. Never mind, I don't even know what's wrong with me, I..."
He cut her off with his mouth on hers, releasing her wrist so he could put his hand behind her head and pull her closer. She squeaked and fisted her hand in the front of his flight suit, but didn't protest or try to pull away. Far from it, she opened her mouth beneath his and welcomed him eagerly, allowing him to rub his tongue against hers in a way that made it feel far more than just 'hot' in the tiny space.
It was nothing like their usual awkward and hesitant kisses. Neither of them held anything back, kissing with the desperation of lovers who thought they might never get to kiss again. Sousuke had never felt anything like it, electric and needy and almost terrifying. In moments he was harder than he'd ever been in his life, and he knew she'd noticed when she gasped against his mouth and squirmed again.
He groaned and closed his arms around her, and somehow managed to find the strength to tear his mouth away. Leaning his forehead against her shoulder, he panted for air, vaguely aware that she'd draped her arms over his shoulders and was clinging for dear life.
"Oh. Oh. Oh, gods," she said faintly, sounding torn between shame and desire. "I'm so sorry, I don't... I don't know what's wrong with me. You must think I'm, I'm totally shameless or something..."
"What? No," he blurted out, pulling back to stare at her. She met his eyes only briefly before flushing harder and looking away, but he saw the real distress behind her embarrassment. Once again he reminded himself that she was not a professional, and didn't know about things like the possible reactions to a life-or-death situation. Wasn't that the whole reason he'd been worried about her noticing his reaction?
"Kaname, it's a natural response," he assured her. He paused, struggling to find words to explain something he'd simply understood since childhood, growing up in a war zone as he had. "Sometimes, in a dangerous situation or after a near-death experience, human instinct is to find a way to reaffirm life in as concrete a way as possible. People often reach out to each other, even if there's no previous connection or desire to form one. Sometimes even if there's no one available that would normally be attractive to the person. I've seen men go off together who would normally never look at anyone but a woman. If the connection is already there, the instinct is just that much stronger."
She was looking at him with a very wide-eyed expression, and he wasn't quite sure what he'd said that astonished her that much. It wasn't that hard a concept to understand, was it? Not when she was feeling it for herself, surely.
"Um. H-have you ever...?" she trailed off, as if not certain how to finish the sentence, blushing bright enough that it looked like her face was on fire.
He sputtered briefly as he realized what she was asking. "No! No, never." At first he'd been too young for such considerations, and later when his body had matured enough for it to be an issue, he'd - rather smugly, he realized now - simply assumed that his discipline was better than the common mercenaries around him. "I've never had to deal with it... until now. Perhaps it was simply that I never had the right person nearby at the right moment," he mused.
For some reason that made her eyes go soft, and she sighed and leaned into him. "Idiot," she muttered under her breath. "I must be getting used to you. That actually sounded sweet."
Sweet? He'd just been stating a fact. Then again when he actually tried to do something romantic for her, he usually ended up offending her somehow, so he decided not to argue the point.
"But we should be paying attention to what's going on, right?" she said, sighing a little. "Not, um, distracting ourselves." Despite her words, she tightened her arms around his neck, her grip implying he might well have to pry her off with a crowbar if he wanted to get free.
Sousuke's heart pounded a little harder. Was she actually offering...? Surely he was misunderstanding. He usually was, no matter how certain he was that he understood her in any given moment. "There's not really much to pay attention to at the moment," he said carefully, feeling rather like he was inching his way across a minefield. "We just have to sit here and hope they don't find us until reinforcements arrive."
She shifted again, the action rubbing her bottom against his now rather painful erection, and he choked on a gasp. "Well, then maybe distracting ourselves is a good idea," she said, her voice trembling a little but her expression determined. "Right?"
"Sure," he said, not even completely certain what he was saying yes to, only knowing that he'd have agreed to just about anything in that moment if it meant he could kiss her again. So he did, and she moaned faintly and melted against him, and it was even better than the first kiss.
He slid his hands up her back and pulled her closer still. She made a helpless little sound against his mouth and pressed against him, her breasts rubbing against his chest through their clothes. Hesitantly, still half expecting to get slapped at any moment, he traced one hand along her ribs to the front, then cupped his palm around the soft mound of her breast. Through her clothes and his glove he couldn't really feel anything but the weight of it, but she moaned again and arched into the touch, shivering.
Daring to be a little bolder, he tugged her blouse out of her skirt and slid his hand up inside, the leather of his glove gliding against her skin. She shivered again but made no protest; on the contrary, the needy little noises she made drove him half crazy and spurred him on. It took him a moment of awkward fumbling to get the catch on her bra undone, but that loosened it enough for him to be able to push it up out of the way.
He broke the kiss and she cried out in soft protest, only to moan again when he lowered his mouth to her tightly peaked nipple, teasing with lips and teeth through the fabric of her blouse. They'd gone this far before, a few times, and he knew she was sensitive here. She liked it when he tormented her with an onslaught of stimulation here - though she sometimes showed it with breathless death threats. The first time he'd thought she was upset and pulled back, only to discover the dire threats had been the promise of what she'd do if he stopped.
Today she only gasped and squirmed beneath him, twisting awkwardly in his lap to try to give him more access. Vaguely aware that she couldn't possibly be comfortable in that position, he dropped his hands to her hips and urged her up. She tried to obey, but the cramped confines made it awkward to move and even more difficult to find a comfortable position. After a flurry of movement that unfortunately involved the necessity of removing his mouth from her breast, they resettled so that she was perched on his lap facing him, her knees hooked over the arms of the chair on either side of him.
Still awkward, but worth it for the feel of her grinding down against him. Now only his flight suit and her thin panties were between them, her skirt spread between her knees and the flush on her cheeks saying she felt as exposed as she looked. Sousuke had to bite his lip again, fighting for control, but he managed to move slowly and keep his eyes locked on hers, asking silently for permission as he slid one hand up the inside of her leg.
She moaned and her eyes fluttered closed, tilting her head back in a way that exposed her slender neck invitingly. He paused just long enough to tug the glove off his hand with his teeth, then leaned in and ran his mouth over the smooth column of her neck even as his fingers slid up the equally soft skin of her thigh. It was just as silky as it had looked, and when he reached the fabric of her panties it almost felt rough in comparison.
At least, until he moved a little further and encountered the moisture soaking the silk. His breath left him in a hissing rush, and the groan that escaped him felt like it rattled his whole body. He wasn't an innocent, no matter what he knew some of his teammates thought of him. Just because he'd never seen the need to indulge in sex before didn't mean he was ignorant, and he knew what that wetness meant. If nothing else, he'd heard enough crude jokes about it to leave him with a thorough - if somewhat biased - education on the subject.
Her throat vibrated against his lips, and it took him a moment to gather his wits enough to realize she was moaning "Please, please, please," over and over again. That was all the encouragement he needed to slide his fingers beneath the panties, and when he touched heated flesh she cried out sharply.
It only took a moment of searching to find the place that was most sensitive, a small little nub of flesh that made her tremble every time he touched it. She arched into the touch, hands clutching at his shoulders hard enough to dig her nails in even through the flight suit.
With his other hand he pushed her blouse up until her breasts were exposed to the heated air of the cockpit, and she moaned. Moving his arm around to support her back, he lowered his mouth to her breasts and tasted her directly. That won him an even better reaction than when he'd been teasing her through the cloth, and she squirmed and writhed against him.
At the same time he rocked his hips up, rubbing his aching erection against her through the stiff material of his flight suit. Unfortunately - despite the protests of a significant portion of the enlisted men - the suits were not designed with easy access in mind, and it would require more effort than he was willing to go to right now to get out of it. Not to mention he would have to let go of Kaname first, and from the urgent noises she was making, he was fairly certain she would kill him if he tried.
That was fine. Well, he'd make it be fine, no matter what his body was begging for at the moment. Just getting to touch and taste her like this was more than he'd imagined he would get to do any time soon. Any more would probably put him firmly in the doghouse when she came back to her senses.
The quivering tension he could feel in her body changed subtly, and then she convulsed against him, pushing frantically against his hand, screaming loud enough that he was grateful the cockpit was soundproof.
He'd heard her scream before, in fear or pain, but never like this. This was a sound that went straight to his cock, and he definitely wouldn't mind hearing it again in the future. Preferably frequently.
The scream faded and turned to whimpers, and finally she reached down and grabbed at his wrist, stopping him from teasing her further. "Enough, Sousuke, oh gods," she begged breathlessly. "You're going to kill me, I can't take any more."
Reluctantly he let her pull his hand away, and lifted his head from her breast. The sight of her, dishevelled and wanton and spread out on his lap, nearly pushed him over the edge then and there. He groaned and shuddered, rocking his hips against her a little harder, and buried his face in the hollow between her throat and shoulder.
Then she released his wrist to drop her hand between them, pressing the heel of her palm firmly against his length through the flight suit. The sudden shock of it sent orgasm crashing over him with no warning, and it was his turn to test the quality of the soundproofing.
It was true that you lost track of the world if you came hard enough, apparently. When he returned to reality, Sousuke found he was gasping and trembling, his arms wrapped around Kaname tightly enough that he was surprised she wasn't protesting.
Then again, she was holding him just as tightly in return, arms wound around his neck and head resting on his shoulder. He could hear her panting as well, and feel the pounding of her hear racing in time with his.
"Are..." His voice caught, and he coughed and cleared his throat before trying again. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah," she said, sounding embarrassed but... satisfied. And not like she was about to smack him for taking advantage, thank Allah. "That was... really... amazing."
"Yes," he agreed softly, unable to help the tone of wonder that crept into his voice. "It was."
"Next time, maybe we can try it somewhere a little less cramped, though?" she suggested, and he snorted a laugh before he could stop himself. She did hit him then, but just a light smack on the shoulder, not enough to hurt.
Just hearing her talk about a 'next time' was more than he'd hoped for. He'd have been happy even if this had been entirely due to battle stress reaction, but he was absolutely not going to complain if she was willing to move their relationship forward more as a result. "Next time," he agreed, and turned his face so he could kiss her.
The triple bleep of an incoming communication from an ally interrupted them, and Sousuke's eyes widened. He lunged for the console, nearly tipping Kaname off the seat as he hastily slapped at the button that would restrict the communication to voice only.
"Urzu-7, are you there?" It was Kruz Weber's familiar voice, and Sousuke was torn between gratitude for the rescue and ire that he hadn't waited just a few more minutes to let them recover. At least he'd gotten the camera before it turned on, or she'd have gotten a good eyeful of Kaname in his lap. There would have been absolutely no doubt what they'd been up to - and he'd never have heard the end of it.
"I'm here, Urzu-6," he responded, careful to keep his voice steady and even out his breathing. "We're safe for the moment, but we're pinned under a rock formation and I can't manoeuvre with both of us in the cockpit."
"Stay where you are, Urzu-7," Melissa Mao ordered firmly. "Don't risk breaking cover. ETA for reinforcements is five minutes and counting."
"Roger that, Urzu-2," Sousuke answered. "We'll stay put."
"You're both in there?" Kruz sounded wickedly delighted. "Taking the chance to get up close and friendly? I was starting to think you didn't have it in you."
He saw the flush sweep over Kaname's cheeks and heard her draw in a breath to protest, and that was just enough warning to let him clamp a hand over her mouth before she could say anything. "The design of the cockpit is such that we can't help getting close, chance has nothing to do with it," he said, long years of discipline letting him keep his tone even and not betray the flush he could feel burning on his cheeks. "And we have been on friendly terms for quite some time, as you know very well. Didn't have what in me?"
A long, drawn-out sigh was his first answer. "I give up, you're hopeless," Kruz said in an exaggerated mournful tone. "If being pinned down in tight quarters under enemy fire wasn't enough, I don't know what will be."
Kaname made a sound of outraged embarrassment, but it was muffled enough against his hand that he didn't think the others had heard it. Then she bit him, hard enough that he yelped and let go without meaning to. "I can hear you, you know," she said crossly.
"Uhhh... shit, right, 'cause you're in the cockpit too," Kruz said, and he had the grace to sound shamed. "Sorry 'bout that. I didn't mean to imply..."
"Cut the chatter and keep your minds on the job, gentlemen," Melissa snapped. "Urzu-6, I want a word with you after this."
"Yes, ma'am," Kruz answered, and Sousuke could picture his wince from the sound of his voice.
Cautiously Sousuke glanced at Kaname, but though her face was a brilliant shade of red, there was a resigned sort of smile playing over her lips. She'd fixed her clothes and shifted to a slightly more comfortable position, draped sideways over his lap again, and now she rested her head on his shoulder once more.
"Thank you," she murmured into his ear, quiet enough that the microphone wouldn't catch it. "Nice rescue. Does that mean your obliviousness is an act the rest of the time, too?"
"Believe me, when it comes to dealing with you, I am always out of my depth," he told her, equally softly, though he couldn't stop himself from sighing. "If it seems like I have no clue what's going on around you, it's probably because I don't. But, that's half of what makes life with you so interesting."
He felt her smile against his neck. "Idiot," she said, and he automatically glanced at the chronometer to make a note of it for the next time she asked how long it had been. "Life hasn't been boring since you came along, that's for sure. I wouldn't have it any other way."