Nyla jabbered away as they cleaned up their mess, intent on keeping the conversation flowing so there would be no need to fill lapses with physical things—things easier said with bodies. She had slept less than the time it took one to blink last night and had come to the conclusion that love was not healthy. She could not think when she was around those brown eyes, eyes that just melted every time she offered him a smile. It was dangerous holding all that power.

She jolted when he reached for the blanket she methodically folded. The soft material fluttered to the ground between them, leaving a deafening void in its aftermath. Her hands fisted, her eyes squeezed shut. Sleeping beside him had not been the mistake; her error had been in ever leaving his grip the first time. Now, it was all she could think about. Not the mission or her friends, or even the fact that the shitty wooden hut did not even boast a lock. Uhura had come all the way down here to save their asses and gotten herself stranded as well in the attempt. Nyla wished for her presence now more now than even when she was imprisoned with the captain, though she doubted an extra body would dissuade the unquestionable heat in her stomach from trickling slowly further south.

"Are you ok?" Bones asked her, the crook of his index finger reaching out to trace down her cheekbone and rest under her chin, forcing her eyes up to those which she had been studying only moments prior. The question was routinely directed from her to just about every other person in her life. She couldn't remember the last time someone had turned it on her. She could read everything on his face: a determination in the set of his brow, a tenderness in the touch of his hands, a hesitation behind his lips that made her heart ache to assure him of their mutual feelings.

"Ny?" When he spoke her name, she realized she still hadn't responded. "I'm not psychic like you. You have a little bit of an advantage here with your Doctor Phil gig. Mind helping me out?"

She ducked to retrieve the blanket, maneuvering around him to tuck it safely back in waterproof emergency backpack. She braced her hands on her knees, steeling her nerves. She needed his hands off her while she pieced together her frazzled thoughts.

"Hell, or you could ignore me. That works too. I always find that option very mature." Bones sighed, massaging at the bridge of his nose. "I mean we only work together. It's not like leaving things unsaid ever gets awkward."

She could be brave; she could take a risk. Nyla reached out to take his hand, lacing her fingers between his long nimble ones just like she had last night. Before another exasperated sigh could fight past his lips, she tugged him closer with a quick pull, her chest a breath away from his, her nose tilted up to be in line with his jaw. Her life was a carefully constructed house of cards and with one wrong breath she would knock it down. With a release of her baited breath, she grinned with abandon as she watched it all tumble down.

"Ok, you being quiet this long is freaking me out. You know what they say when the demons stop causing trouble, that's when you should worry."

"You're comparing me to a demon now?"

He smiled in relief at her voice, free hand pushing back the wild strands of hair from her face. His fingers scraped against her scalp gently, sending shivers fleeing from his touch, taking up their hiding place directly between her legs. She had the most exceptionally unhelpful thought that if he insisted on touching her, that it at least be the place that required it most.

"Well you are rather tempting," he murmured.

"Like a Danish? Cheese Danish? Those are the best? Have you ever been to this little bakery in downtown New York called Cupcakes and Things? They have the absolute best…"

He was kissing her, brief and burning from her lips all the way down her chest and settling with a tremulous flutter like a shot of well-aged whiskey. Bones pulled back, blinked in disbelief at his actions, hands poised framing, though not touching her face, mouth slack.

"Shit, I didn't mean to cut you off. I was just watching your lips and I had to kiss you. I'm so sorry. Can…"

"Shut up," Nyla said. Exhaustion boiled her down, leaving only the most primitive instinct: want. Because he always smiled at her in the hallway, and he let her vent when no one else cared to listen, and if she had to shove down the feelings that bubbled up from even his chaste glance one more moment, she felt she might burst with them. She craved Bones, needed to recreate the breathless moan that had escaped his lips when he kissed her. She needed everything he would give her propriety and regulations be damned—she would have him.

"You're telling me to shut up?" He laughed in incredulity.

She put a hand over his mouth, backing him into the hut wall. "Do it again." She said alluringly, desperately. "Please, if you don't mind. I want to kiss you. I want all of you actually."

"Oh, thank god."

This time she was prepared for his tantalizing lips. She grinned against him, relishing the sweet pull in her gut that anchored them together. The harsh stubble that had grown along his jaw scraped against her inquisitive hands and she vowed to never let him near a razor again; the sting was too delicious. All the bantering, the late nights, the civil meetings had added together to create this moment of absolute recklessness. Restraints and hesitations were not a thing of this planet. His hand pushed up her top to sample the skin heated just from the thought of what was to come.

"Do something for me," she murmured when he pulled back to undo the clasp at the top of her dress, letting the fabric fall to accumulate around her feet.

"What?" He hummed his response, focused on undoing the claps of her bra that kept her breasts from him.

"Me?"

A throaty chuckle fell from his lips along with her bra. "Yes ma'am." His hands traveled down her sides of her breasts and over her hips to grip the back of her thighs where he issued a firm squeeze. "Jump," he growled out the instruction and she had a hard time convincing her wobbly legs to comply, but then they were wrapped around his waist and she was the one plastered against the graciously cool wall.

She sought out his mouth again, delving into a kiss too long denied. His hand splayed against her back, pressing their chests together, one heart beat jumpstarting the other into high gear. She slid her fingers through his hair, gripping the short strands as best she could, rocking her body down to meet the ever growing need making an appearance in his pants. Her hands wandered down his back, under his shirt and shoved it up to claim his skin.

"Off?" he murmured, teeth catching her lower lip before she could reply.

"You can keep the cape if you want," she teased.

Bones replied by setting her down. She watched with rapt attention as inch by inch of his body was revealed to her: first that broad chest, then the hard on she'd felt prodding her previously. His eyebrow quirked up and he dipped a pointed nod to her stalled hands. He reached out to loop a finger through her thin underwear, and pull her against him through its means. The satin fabric threatened to give way at tug and Nyla knew she might fall to pieces as well if he insisted on looking down at her through those lust laden lashes. "As great as your ass looks in these…" He feathered a kiss to the side of her throat as he slid them down to join the rest of their clothes.

"Leo?" She murmured, lungs snagging when those need blown eyes snapped up to meet hers. He grinned with such wicked intentions she scarcely reminded herself to breathe.

"I like that on your lips. Want to scream it for me?" he purred, leaning to brush his lips against the shell of her ear as he spoke.

"The others," she managed to pant out between his incessant hands and her body's own demands.

"They call me doctor," he allowed.

And then there was the wall behind her and his body in front. She felt like she might be trapped in the heavy grip of her own want if he did not hurry the hell up. Feeling none too inclined to wait, her hand reached out to trace along his collar bones, down the center of his chest and over the lines of his hips. He fidgeted and rumbled a resonating low growl in his throat.

"Well, is the doctor ticklish?" she asked, mouth curving up in delight as he reacted to her touch.

"The psychologist is getting dangerously close to certain sensitive body parts."

Her hand found his length, wrapping around the base and beginning to pump without haste. "Am I?" she asked, earning only a groan in reply.

A catch of her knee drew one leg to wrap around his waist. Nyla grinned as the sunlight filtering through the blinds glowed against his rosy cheeks. He drew her hand away from his manhood, pressing it against the wall still chilled from the night prior as he formed a knot of their fingers. Breathing mingled as tumultuous as a tornado and hearts hammered away to keep pace. His eyes softened for a moment, the haze of desire forgotten as he watched Nyla's eyes flutter shut as the feeling of his need nudging away between her legs. "Ny…?" he asked, the rest of the question lost in his marveling of her bare and covetous before him.

"Haven't we waited long enough already?" Her free hand found his ass, aiding in his entrance.

A hollowness she had long since neglected was filled and overflowed with the sensation. The smirk on his lips was enough to make her truly want to scream but a quick press of his mouth on hers stifled the urge. The only sound that dripped from her was the moans the deep, deliberate roll of his hips elicited. Bones smelled like sweat and need and just fuck, it was all Nyla could do to keep a fast grip on his shoulders. His tongue swept out over hers, mimicking the explicit act they performed.

He lifted his head to meet her gaze and she was lost, simply so lost in everything that was this man she thought could come simply from looking at him. Their bodies slid together, a beautifully synchronized dance meant for no audience or judges. He kept one hand on the small of her back just like he had the first time they danced in the Drusian ballroom, guiding her hips up to meet each surging thrust he offered. The other remained at the side of her throat, over her pulse point, keeping her head tilted up just so. Again and again they met, each press urging her into that blinding bliss. His head fell to the crook of her neck, teeth bared as he drank in each drop of pleasure these sparse moments offered.

He might have said her name, he might have cursed or been praying; the only thing she knew was the accent that laced his voice sent her toppling head over heels into a paradise so fathomless she lost track of everything but the feel of him pulsing inside her. A few lazy thrusts finished him off as well and he braced his arms on either side of Nyla's head to catch his breath.

Nyla slid her leg to the floor, muscles burning from the exertion and still singing from release. A kiss was dusted against her hair as Bones said, "When I imagined this, there was a bed involved and a few less hostiles on our asses."

"Yours is the only ass I care about right now." Nyla smiled, raising on her toes to kiss his lips chastely. He caught her by the nape of the neck, refusing to relinquish the touch just yet.

"But next time we do it your way," she allowed once they parted.

A cautious grin stretched his cheeks, catching the warmth of the sun in his glowing brown eyes, turning them molten. "Next time?" he repeated. "Thought you didn't do relationships at work."

"Well, I just did you, so I think that ship has sailed. Also, my heart does weird stuff when you're around and I'm tired of ignoring it."

"Weird like butterflies or weird like I should break out my med kit?" he taunted.

She punched his arm weakly, leaning into the hug he caught her in. "You gonna let me take you on a proper date first?" he murmured against her temple.

"I think date spots aboard the Enterprise include Sulu's garden, the gym, and the bar."

"Whatever you want, darlin'."

It was the raucous voice of Max Whitney that jarred them back into the glaring present. Bones silently handed her one of the spare navy jumpsuits Uhura had brought along for them and reluctantly the pair redressed. Nyla spared one comment in absence of his famed cape and he retaliated by pulling the zipper in the front of her suit all the way up to her chin. "That cancels out the dress, right?" he teased.

"You don't get to be protective yet, Leonard." She rose on her toes to kiss his forehead before striding over to pull open the door just as Max Whitney about barreled into it with Uhura practically piggy backing him for the glowing rock he clutched in his hand.

"Hot potato?" Nyla guessed at the game.

Uhura threw an irritated sigh at Whitney. "This idiot claims that this rock, which is coated in the magma of the planet and mind you is highly unstable, will somehow cancel out the Drususian blocking signal instead of killing us all when he drops it and it blows up." Uhura paused to squint at Nyla. "Least some of us are dying happy," she commented on the prominent afterglow.

"I'm telling you, doll face. You just gotta have the right hands and know how to deal with this puppy. Now, where's that mechanic girl with the tight ass and sharp tongue? Not that I don't appreciate your irascible company, angel." He blew a kiss towards Uhura who appeared to be debating between vomiting and punching him so hard he would do just that.

"She's an engineer, you slimy bastard." Bones delicately plucked the stone from Whitney's hands in his distraction and Nyla quickly dove to retrieve a hazardous waste cylinder. Maybe the whole sex thing had linked up their minds as well as their hearts. "And we're putting this right back where you found it. We don't need to give them any more reason to want our asses."

Nyla blew Whitney a mocking kiss while he fumbled for fresh words. "We've already got a damn fine captain," she said.

With a glance towards where Bones swept up a backpack she wondered if she might also add a damn fine new boyfriend to that list.