Into the Sweetening Dark

Radek swallowed, and raised his hand to knock. Then he lowered it again. He was expected. Elizabeth had asked him to her quarters, asked to speak to him privately in a private place.

He was fairly certain they were not going to spend much time speaking.

Following their rain-drenched kiss on the damaged pier, Elizabeth had apologized, had told him she shouldn't have kissed him. He wasn't really surprised, hurt but not surprised. "Believe me, it isn't you," she had said, and the tone of her voice, the warmth in her eyes, had convinced him, at least for the moment. Later, he'd had doubts. Then she had told him about Simon. Radek had swallowed his jealousy and his resentment and wished her a good trip when she had departed for Earth.

But once she had returned, he had not been able to stay away. Especially since he had checked the roster of new staff coming to Atlantis. There hadn't been a Simon on the list.

The feeling of potential that arose every time they were alone together couldn’t last. It had to be either acted upon or allowed to whither away. Radek knew this. He was not, however, certain that acting upon it was the best course of action. With a deep breath, he straightened his shirt and raised his hand to knock.

The door opened. Elizabeth was on the other side. She smiled at him and his breath caught. She was wearing jeans and a blue tank top and somehow managed to look lovelier than most women looked in a ball gown. "You should come in."

"Yes, of course." He stepped into the room, absently pushing up his glasses.

"I'm sorry there isn't much in the way of accommodations." Elizabeth gestured at the bed.

Radek assumed that meant he was supposed to sit on the bed rather in the chair next to the table that Elizabeth was clearly using as a desk. "It is not a problem." He sat, resisting the urge to push up his glasses again. They had not slipped, but it felt as if they had.

Elizabeth said beside him, a couple of inches between them. "Do we need to talk?" she asked, looking at her hands.

"Only if you wish to," he answered, unable to take his eyes off her.

She tilted her head, looking up at him. "I don't."

He nodded once, feeling his heart rate increase, because if they weren’t going to talk...

Elizabeth kissed him. It was a small kiss, but it made him smile. "Is that what we are going to do instead of talking?"

She smiled back. "Yes, unless you have a problem with that?"

"No, no problem." Radek lifted a hand to her face, cupping her cheek in his hand and stroking it with his thumb. Her skin was warm this time, not cold with rain the way it had been the first time he touched her.

Her lips were warm too, warm and soft and giving. They shared light, teasing kisses, ignoring for the moment the hunger at the edges. Even light kisses were enough to make him achingly hard, because this was Elizabeth. He was kissing Elizabeth.

She groaned softly, resting her hand on the back of his neck, and parted her lips. It wasn't an invitation Radek could resist, any more than he had resisted her invitation to come her tonight. She tasted vaguely of coffee. He liked coffee.

He liked the taste of coffee on her lips and tongue even more.

It was becoming harder and harder to keep the hunger at bay. Elizabeth was pressed up against him and he could feel the swell of her breasts, the slender curve of her, all beauty and strength and the thought of her naked, of seeing her naked, made him groan.

Elizabeth lay back on the bed, pulling him with her. Her hands slid under his shirt. She was touching him, touching bare skin. He had expected her touch to be delicate. He should have known better. Elizabeth wasn't delicate. She was strong and willful and smart, and that's how she touched with strength and will and brains.

Radek kissed his way to her neck, and then down along it, tasting, sucking lightly. Elizabeth encouraged him, arching her head back, making soft, willing sounds. He made his way along the neckline of her shirt to the edge of her breast. He sucked lightly on the exposed skin and she whispered his name.

When he lifted his head, she sat up enough to pull her shirt over her head. She wasn't wearing a bra and Radek stared. Her breasts weren't large, but they were perfectly shaped, and he knew exactly how they'd feel in his hand, a hardened pink nipple pressing into his palm. Reaching up, he traced the gentle curve of her breast with his fingers. He could feel her eyes on him, watching him as he touched her.

"Maybe we should lose these," Elizabeth said softly, reaching for his glasses.

"Yes, that would be," he paused to smile at her as she removed them, "that would be good."

Elizabeth placed his glasses on the small stand beside the bed and then kissed him, slow and sweet, a kiss that promised all kinds of things, some of which Radek wasn't sure he remembered how to do.

When the kiss ended, she began unbuttoning his shirt. "I think you should lose this, too."

"If you wish me to."

Elizabeth kissed him before whispering, "I wish you to" against his lips.

Not bothering with the remaining buttons, he tugged the shirt over his head. Elizabeth apparently approved because she kissed him again and placed a hand in the center of his chest, carding her fingers through his hair. "I have a thing for hairy chests," she said in a confiding tone.

"I approve of such things."

Elizabeth laughed and the sound did wonderful, warm things inside him. Things that made him need to kiss her and take her in his arms and feel her skin against his.

They touched as they kissed. Her breast did fit perfectly in his palm. He'd been right about that, and it felt perfect beneath his lips and tongue.

When she lifted her hips, rubbing herself against him, he groaned into her neck. Arms tightening around his neck, she whispered, "I think we're overdressed."

"Possibly."

Elizabeth laughed again, and Radek tightened his hold on her, liking the feel of her laughter against his chest.

With a slight nip, she kissed his neck and then his lips, before pushing at him. He reluctantly let go, and sat back, watching as Elizabeth undid her jeans, lifted her hips and pushed them down. She pushed her underwear with them and in a few moments she was lying naked in front of him. She was beautiful, all lean, pale elegance. But she was warm too, warm and human and real.

"Radek." He raised his eyes to her face and she smiled at him. Tugging on his pant leg, she said, "Your turn."

"Yes, yes of course." He stood, painfully aware of her eyes watching him, and unbuttoned his pants. He pushed them to the floor, along with his underwear, only to discover that he'd forgotten his shoes. Squatting, he untied them, and then stood to toe them off. Shoes gone, he removed his pants, only to discover that he still had his socks on. Raising one leg at a time, he removed his socks, then, with a deep breath, he looked back at the bed.

Elizabeth was sitting on the edge of the bed. She smiled at him, warm and affectionate, and his heart went out to her, just like it did every time she smiled at him. She held out a hand and he took it. With a gentle tug, Elizabeth pulled him towards her and Radek went.

"Beautiful," he whispered when they were lying together on the bed. "You're beautiful."

"You aren't so bad yourself." Elizabeth was smiling again, a brilliant, happy smile. He made her happy. Feeling amazingly proud, Radek kissed her, sliding a hand along her hip, his erection nestled against her belly.

After a few kisses, Elizabeth rolled him onto his back. Then she sat up on her knees, straddling him. There was a hint of triumph in her smile and a lot of naughty. Elizabeth had a naughty smile, and he, Radek Zelenka, was the one who got to see it.

She touched his chest and shoulders and arms. She kissed his neck, sucked on his nipples, and nuzzled his belly. Radek let her, because her touch felt better than anything he could remember feeling in a very long time, and because she was so clearly enjoying herself.

Then she shifted so that she was kneeling between his legs and Radek almost said something, but didn't because she gave him her authoritative look. He had never imagined that an authoritative look could be a turn on, but hers made his dick twitch.

She touched his legs the same way she had his chest, but her kisses fell on the inside of his thighs, and her hair brushed his dick, making him bite his lip to keep from groaning.

Her lips brushed his balls, and he did groan. Then her hand curled around his shaft, stroking lightly, as she took one of his balls into her mouth and sucked oh-so-gently.

He panted her name, but she didn't answer, instead giving the other side the same treatment.

Her touch left him breathless and shaky and wanting more. She touched the head of his dick with her lips and Radek stared at her, wide-eyed, unable to believe that Elizabeth was doing this to him. Then she began to suck.

He had never let himself imagine her like this. It had seemed wrong somehow, to picture her pleasuring him. In his fantasies, he made love to her, made her feel good, and that was all he needed for himself.

But this…

That was Elizabeth's mouth sliding up and down his cock, warm and wet, sucking him in a way that made the pleasure feed back in on itself, growing stronger with every suck.

He slid a hand into her hair, wanting to caress her in return.

Close, he tried to stop her. "Elizabeth." He tried to tell her with the hand in her hair that she should stop now, but she ignored him. In fact, she sucked a little harder.

He came fighting against it, but she pulled it from him anyway. Pleasure and release, and he pulsed helplessly in her mouth, the feel of her swallowing around him, giving him aftershocks, making him shake.

She didn't let go of him until he was staring up at the ceiling, a boneless, breathless heap. Elizabeth stretched out beside him, resting her head in her hand and smiling down at him, clearly pleased with herself.

"You are amazing."

"Thank you."

Her smile and tone made him laugh.

Then he wrapped his arms around her, rolled her onto her back, and kissed her until she groaned. He doesn’t stop kissing her, his hands moving over her at the same time, learning the feel of her, finding the sensitive places.

There are lots of sensitive places, judging by the way she arched against him, encouraging him to touch her.

His slid a hand up the inside of her thigh and she parted her legs. His fingers brushed against coarse curls and she parted them still more, inviting his fingers inside. He moved his fingers back and forth along the space between her lips, letting them slide deeper each time, until he was all the way inside. She was warm and very wet. Radek began to explore, learning the texture of her, satisfying his curiosity about what lie beneath that fold and this bit of skin.

When he brushed the edge of her clit, her hands tightened on his shoulders. "There," she whispered. "Please."

Radek doesn’t need to be asked. He is willing to touch her anywhere. Stroking gently, he watches her. She looks at him, eyes wide, breath coming in short gasps. She is the most beautiful thing he has ever seen. He is pretty sure that she is the most beautiful thing he ever will see.

Then she comes, shaking, his name on her lips. Radek continues to touch her, but lighter, softer, not stopping until she's done, until she's resting against the pillow, smiling up at him.

Needing to hold her, he lies down beside her and she shifts easily into his arms, her head on his shoulder. Pressing his cheek to her hair, he takes a long moment to just enjoy the feel of her. "I am glad we did not talk."

Elizabeth laughs again, and Radek presses his lips to her forehead.