A/N In case you didn't heed the warnings on the summary, this is a missing scene that follows the end of chapter 17 that I've excluded from the story proper because the graphic nature of the content makes it for adults only, and Yield Strength on a whole can be read by anyone. I don't want to change the rating of the entire novel to M, but this scene is significant. It's difficult to describe a change in sexual dynamics outside of the context of sex. So, apologies for not drawing the curtain, and welcome to my first M story.

Data got to his feet in one supple movement with Tasha in his arms. "There are many things that you can teach me."

Something stirred inside Tasha whenever Data picked her up. He was the strongest, yet the gentlest person she'd ever met. He had a way of making her feel secure in a physical sense – his light touch on her body did not conceal the underlying power. "Like what?"

The bedroom doors parted for them. "Like how to please you. How to awaken feelings in you that I cannot myself feel." Data put her down on her feet and smoothed the back of her uniform. The motion turned into caresses, sweeping down her back and over the curve of her backside, where he took her in both hands and clenched her hips to his. A soft sound escaped her. The days she'd spent angry, first with him and then at herself, seemed like wasted time now, days apart from him that she would never get back. She buried her hands in his hair and pulled him into a kiss, hungry for him, pushing her tongue into his mouth and grinding her pelvis against him. He burrowed his hands between the two of them, pulled her uniform open and off her shoulders, peeled it down to her hips and thrust his hands under the undershirt, worming his fingers under her bra and catching her nipples between them. She gave a sharp gasp. She'd been avoiding him – now she wanted to devour him, and wished he would just take her quickly against the wall, just gratify her need for him without any delicacy. She pushed her uniform down her legs and got her boots and underclothes off quickly. Data took the same moment to rapidly undress.

"Missed you," Tasha said, running her hands over his pale skin.

"I missed you, too." He bent and put his head down on her bosom, and she hugged him close. She sighed as she felt first his lips on her breasts, and then his tongue, a warm, wet swipe over one taut nipple. Then the scrape of his bottom teeth – she moaned and her toes curled. He licked a wet path to the other breast, sucking the pink nipple until it hardened to a little nub. He supported her hips with hands, and she arched her pubis against his thigh, wet but not yet ready, aching to take him in. He brushed a hand over the thatch of hair at the center of her body, and she sighed. His fingers probed lower, teasing her open, sliding through the secret folds. She shuddered and squirmed.

"Lay me down and fuck me," she growled, her lips against his ear. "Please."

"Not yet." He laid his palm over her engorged clit and sank two fingers inside her.

She let out a cry. "God! Don't make me beg!"

He kept on nonetheless, pressing the heel of his hand into her mound, thrusting with his fingers.

"No, no, I want you inside me, no, no, oh…." She threw one leg over his hip and bucked against his hand. The orgasm ripped through her, wild cries in time to the spasms in her body.

Her knees felt weak when she brought her leg back to the floor. "You bastard," she whispered. "You never listen to me." Her blue eyes were dark with arousal. She took his jaw in her teeth and bit him half-seriously, then turned it into a kiss.

"I always listen to you," Data corrected. "I do not always obey you." He didn't mention that she sometimes fell asleep right after coitus. This night felt special somehow – he intended to prolong the experience. He had always taken his cues from her, following her directions like an obedient pupil, but they had been together long enough for him to know what made her feel good, and he had built up a store of definite ideas for pleasing her. Yes, there was much she could teach him. But there were things he could teach her about herself as well.

He turned her around and cradled her against him. She could feel him, curved and rigid, nudging the small of her back. She reached back to draw him between her legs; he gently batted her hands away. "I will do as you ask. In time." He ran flat hands over her body and gathered up her breasts, thumbs roaming over her nipples. She lolled her head back into his neck. He dropped one hand down her belly, lower, teasing the sensitive little nub of flesh again.

She crumpled against him. "Please. Please!" He kissed the back of her neck, nuzzled her ear with his nose. She stretched up her chin and he kissed the length of her neck to her jaw, all the while working her with his fingers, slick and hot, saturated with her scent. He caught her earlobe between his teeth and then touched the tip of his tongue to it. She squirmed at the thrust of his tongue on the opening of her ear – it almost tickled, and sent a shiver down her neck. She was writhing under his fingers. "Please take me. I can't –" She twisted around in his arms, quick, on her toes to kiss him, reaching between them and grasping him firmly. She walked backwards to the bed, receiving a raised eyebrow in return.

"That is not a handle."

She grinned and dropped back on the blanket, pulling him down on top of her. She spread her legs wide and arched to meet him. He tried to slide against her, but she was relaxed, open, and sopping wet, and he slid into her without resistance. She groaned as he buried himself in her. They rocked against each other, hips in lockstep, and then he wrapped one arm around her back, angling up into her, thrusting against her with the powerful strokes she'd been craving. He moved strong and steady, pulling a deep moan out of her that intensified as inexorably as the rising sensation inside her.

"Do it faster, love."

He sped his movements and tucked the word away into his memory cells where no one could take it from him, not even Tasha. The wave of sensation inside her crested and crashed; she grabbed his ass and pounded him against her, her body and voice vibrating with the force of her orgasm. He rode it out with steady, deep strokes, until he felt her climax again, her fingers like claws on him, her head twisting on the bolster. When her cries had died down to whimpers he finished, the sensation of pent-up fluid ejecting from his body a relief, but nothing more. He rolled onto his back with her, and felt her full weight collapsed on him.

"You're precious," she whispered. "You know that? You're a precious jewel. There's no one like you in the universe." She hid her face in his neck. "I'm sorry I got so jealous. The thought of someone else wanting you . . . it threw me. I want you for myself. It's selfish . . . I'm sorry." She lifted her face to look in his eyes. "Can you forgive me?"

"Of course," he replied unhesitatingly.

She leaned up to kiss him and mussed his hair with her fingers. A wall had broken down between them. Tasha felt it – more than ever, she knew he was on her side. To admit her fear, her faults, and escape unharmed – he'd given her an unmatched gift by accepting her without question.

Data knew they had turned a corner and started down a new path in their relationship. He realized fully how fragile she was, and he silently vowed to protect her, even from herself. Here was a person like no other in his life. The hole in her heart, the damage her past had inflicted on her, somehow created a space that he could fill. They were together now; the bond he had hoped for was real, if unspoken. He would do everything in his power to preserve it.