they danced by the light of the moon

"You're late." River's tone was low and he frowned at the phone in his hand, wondering why he'd answered it again. Possibly because the TARDIS had let it ring on and on, without pause, never letting it go to his answer phone. Evil old girl – she was still upset with him for rewiring the cooling systems, and hadn't been flying right since.

"How can I be late? Might not even be this me that's late could be a future me, River, so technically-"

"Technically it could be any you, therefore every you is to be held responsible. You just happen to be the you I got a hold of first, sweetie. And you're late." She spoke calmly, her voice smug and he could just picture her with her all-knowing grin, arms crossed and her head tilted, all that magnificent hair- he growled in frustration and she laughed softly, as if enjoying the very sound of it. Which she probably was, the bad girl.

"Well what am I late for?" He exclaimed, stretching the phone cord around the time rotor until he was below the screen.

"Your nightly visit, of course." She paused, and he could hear the whoosh of air escaping her lungs. "Unless you're – when are you?"

"Far enough along, dear." He grinned as he spoke in a teasing tone and heard her sigh of relief.

"Excellent." She all but purred the word in his ear and he felt a funny sort of ache as he listened. "Are you alone?"

"What? Of course I'm alone-"

"So no one is on board at all then?" She questioned him quickly and he frowned.

"No. What has that got to do with anything?" He heard her laughter in response and the sound seemed to crawl under his skin, slipping and sliding around inside of him until he exhaled harshly, irritation rising.

"Oh early days for you then. Dress code sweetie. That's all. Now hurry up." She rattled off coordinates before hanging up with even a goodbye and he blinked at the phone in shock. She hung up on him. She couldn't just hang up on him! There were – were rules about this sort of thing and those rules seemed to multiply once one was in a relationship.

Which - he hated to define their... themness as a relationship, but still. Honestly. A goodbye. An endearment. Something. He threw the phone down with a huff, before crawling under the console and pulling out the cooling system wiring again.

Well. She could just wait.

He got slightly electrocuted by the TARDIS four times, and somehow managed to completely bollocks up the entire cooling system in the meantime before one final shower of sparks and surge of electricity arcing along his bones had him scrambling out from under the console. "Well fine then if you want to take sides about it, Sexy!" He huffed, yanking his tweed off and tossing it on the chair before he rolled his neck and huffily typed in the coordinates River had given him, adding on two hours. Which the TARDIS naturally changed as soon as they were in flight. "You know, I was here first, I should be the one getting preferential treatment." He grumbled to the time rotor, but his ship simply whirred in a high pitch tone before landing with her usual noise.

The panel he'd just been working on burst into a shower of smoke and sparks and he cursed under his breath in Gallifreyan, pulling out his sonic and waving it at wires, causing them to emit even more smoke. "Oh come on!" He shouted up at the time rotor, hearing the doors open and close, but he knew it was River, so he didn't bother to look up. Instead he jury-rigged some wiring, piggybacking the cooling system with the internal sensors and the TARDIS shook with irritation, but finally stopped raining a shower of sparks everywhere.

He crawled out from under the console, standing up with a sigh. He turned to see River leaning against the console, smoke clinging around her legs as she arched a brow at him. "It's her fault." He jabbed his sonic at the console and the TARDIS gave a short, sharp hum. "Well it is! If you'd just let me finish the job in the first place," he muttered before glancing at River once more.

Her hair was pulled up and back and he frowned, he didn't like that. As his eyes drifted lower he felt the air leave his lungs in a whoosh. "Oh. Dress code." He managed to squeak the words out and River smiled, standing upright and moving toward him. Well, more like stalking. Or like... gliding stealthily, he thought. She definitely was not merely walking, because her hips were – and in that outfit she – he squeaked again, swallowing heavily.

Up close he could see the tall black boots, fitted up to her knee over black – well they couldn't possibly be jodhpurs because that would indicate she'd somehow managed to sew herself into them. Or paint them on – he wasn't quite sure which but he certainly appreciated the effect. Her black utility belt sat low on her hips, accentuating the smallness of her waist above it. The black blouse was encased in a black corset, with a row of tiny silver buttons marching up the front and his fingers twitched, wondering if they actually unbuttoned or if there was some other hidden access point to the item in question. Either way they framed her – he swallowed and licked his lips as she grinned at him when he finally managed to drag his gaze back up to her face.

"Hello, sweetie."

"Hi. Hey. Hello. Um, River." He stuttered, and she smiled even more brightly, reaching up to touch his bowtie gently as he flung his hands out to the sides in an oddly spastic gesture. Really, he was 1100 years old, and he couldn't believe he was reacting like this around her. Again. It's not like they hadn't – she hadn't – and oh he most definitely had – he was quite the expert now, he thought with a grin as he gripped his own hands behind his back.

"No kiss hello?" She teased him gently and simply stepped forward, not waiting for his permission or agreement or offer. He'd really mind it a bit more, but there was all this River pressed against him and he could feel the boning in her corset poking into his ribs but above that she was soft and lovely and her mouth was warm against his, so he actually found that he really couldn't be bothered to mind it at all. He hummed against her mouth, drawing her bottom lip in between his own as he scraped his teeth against it and she wrapped her arms around his neck, pressing herself into him even further as she moaned. She did like that, he knew. Which was why he did it so often. He quite loved the sounds she made, indescribable really, and he needn't describe them anyway because they were all his.

His hands had just released each other and he was reaching for her waist – no, no, lower, but he'd call it her waist because he could – when she stepped back, her tongue darting across her lips as she smiled up at him, her eyes darkening to that lovely green he particularly adored. Usually because it meant she was- well. He flushed and stepped forward, reaching for her but she danced backwards with a smile. "So where are we off to tonight?"

"Off to?" He repeated the words stupidly, his mind leaping ahead and thinking of planets but all of them were inhabited and she looked like that and that wasn't a good plan.

"Yes. Off to. As in you pick me up, we have adventures, then we come back to the TARDIS, have more... adventures," she winked with a grin and he flushed – he did quite like those adventures, "you drop me off again? How early are you?" She frowned and he shrugged.

"I've done loads – all the stars in all the universe, space Atlantis, that time we rescued the Queen. Well, sort of. Area 52 and the Elysian Arches – that was a fun one." He insisted and she smiled indulgently.

"How long has it been since you've seen me? I mean this me – older me." She clarified and he frowned in concentration before peering at her intently.

"Have you done Demon's Run?" She nodded, and he smiled. "I don't think I've seen this you since then. River." He breathed her name out and stepped in closer and she smiled genuinely, her nose crinkling slightly as she did so. "Hello."

"Hello." She smiled at him warmly and he brushed his fingers along her jaw line, before pressing a soft kiss to her lips.

"How about we just skip the adventures and get to the adventures?" He murmured the words against her throat and she hummed in appreciation.

"My, my Doctor. A night in?" She laughed, the sound low in her throat as she pulled him against her once more. "You're going to have to convince me." She purred the words in his ear and his hands tightened on her hips as he surged forward, pressing her against the console.

"I think I can do that." His own voice was low and rough, and she pulled his head back up to hers, kissing him fiercely. Her teeth scraped along his tongue and he reached up, burying his hands in her hair, working his fingers through until he found the covered elastic that held it back. He unwound it with ease, still kissing her all the while, moaning into her mouth as she licked at the roof of his.

Once her hair was released, he pushed his fingers back into it, delighting in the softness of it against his hands. He loved her – well all her other bits, because she did have plenty of gorgeous bits to love – but her hair – oh her hair was something else. He was almost purely convinced it was magical. She laughed every time he told her that, but blushed because she loved it too. He pulled back, kissing her softly one more time before gazing at her flushed skin, and her hair in disarray, falling down to her shoulders. His hands brushed it back softly and she smiled at him, all warm and languid. It made his feel like his insides were melty and gooey. She did that to him a lot – often with a single look, or certain sound she made. Sometimes it was just how she bit her own tongue when she was rewiring the TARDIS. He hummed in appreciation and her smile grew.

"You sentimental old fool." She chastised him softly, but her hands were sliding along his braces, pulling them away from his chest gently before easing them back in place, her nails tapping the metal with tiny clicks.

"Only for you, River." He confessed and she nodded in understanding. "So beautiful," his hands brushed down through her hair, over her neck and shoulders. "And I do love the outfit." He added, his eyes dropping further down along her body as he traced the neckline of her outfit with a single finger. Her breath caught and he smiled at the sight of it, her chest raised and his fingers skating around the edge of her blouse.

"I know you do." She leaned forward at the waist, only her upper body leaning toward him until his hand slipped, skirting over the swell of her breasts and they both hummed in pleasure at that. She pushed forward until her mouth was by his ear, her lips just brushing against the shell. He shivered as she licked her lips, her tongue brushing against his skin and his hands slid lower between them, moulding her breasts in his palms. "It's your favourite." She whispered the words breathily in his ear and he felt everything within him tighten at her words. "If it's just you and I – I wear it more often than not."

He was torn between absolute delight at the thought, and absolute terror at the image of her gallivanting around the galaxy with him in it. "How do I even manage that?" He wondered out loud, his hands sliding lower to grip her waist and she laughed, low and warm in his ear.

"Oh sweetie, you know very well that anyone can look, but only you touch." His grip increased as he hauled her against him, he fumbled with the clasp on her belt before it dropped away under his hands, landing on the glass floor with a clatter.

"Quite right." He muttered as his hands slid over the curve of her hips and down and around behind her until he was squeezing her bottom and pulling her into him even further. He bent his neck, until he burrowed his way past her hair and pressed tiny kisses down her throat. She moaned, her head tilting back and her hair falling away as he licked and nipped at the soft skin there. "Only I touch."

She hummed in agreement, her hands yanking on the end of his bowtie and sliding it out from under his collar. "Mutual." She murmured as her hands slid under his braces and yanked them down over his shoulders. The loss of tension was a sweet relief and he rocked into her, his hips rising as he pressed her back into the console once more.

"Entirely." He agreed in a whisper, as he licked along her clavicle, before pressing a string of kisses down her sternum. He burrowed his tongue in the valley of her breasts, and he could feel the faint vibration of her heart beats there. His hands slid to the buttons of her corset and he smiled at the realization that they were indeed practical and not decorative. Each button slipped through with ease and he grinned as his hands eased under the stiff fabric, reach up to catch her breasts as they fell into his waiting hands as the corset joined her belt on the floor.

His thumbs brushed over her stiff nipples and she moaned, her hands clutching his shoulders as her head fell further back. He lowered his head taking the stiff peak into his mouth, his tongue wetting the black silk of her blouse as he suckled and bit at her. Her hands dropped to his waist, hauling him in until his hips were pressed to hers. She lifted one leg, wrapping it around his upper thigh as he moved to the other breast, paying equal attention to it too. His hands tugged her blouse out of her waistband, so he could slide his hands underneath, marvelling at the soft warm skin of her stomach. "Doctor." She breathed out his name, her voice catching halfway through as he released her breast and slide down to his knees in front of her. She whimpered as she looked down at him, her cheeks flushed and her eyes dark. Her hair fell around her face and he looked up at her, wondering if she looked lovelier from any other angle. He didn't think it was actually possible, really.

He slid the zip down on her right boot, pulling it off and setting it aside before moving to the left. Once they were gone he slid his hands up over her calves, tickled behind her knees and smiled as she giggled, squirming above him. He continued up her thighs, fingers trailing along the inner seam of her jodhpurs and she squirmed for entirely different reasons then. His hands skated over her hips, pausing to slide behind and squeeze her bum as he rose on his knees, biting the top of her thigh playfully through the fabric. "Oh god." She moaned at that, sliding back onto the edge of the console so it could support her weight a bit. He reached for the button and zip on her jodhpurs and deftly unbuttoned it and eased the zipper down. He peeled her jodhpurs slowly away, his breathing uneven as he eyed the black knickers underneath. He could smell her, rich and tantalizing as his hands took the same path as before, but this time his fingertips were dragging along bare skin instead of fabric.

"You are amazing." He pressed his face by her hip, breathing in deeply as she pushed a hand into his hair, her nails scratching against his scalp and he felt everything within him still and then twitch. He pressed his head into her hand and she laughed, the sound low and throaty and sliding all across his skin, leaving chills in its wake. He moved his head left, burying his nose against the soft silky fabric of her knickers and inhaling sharply as she gasped, her hand tightening in his hair.

He smiled against the satin, pressing a soft kiss there before he opened his mouth and licked along the already damp fabric, stopping to tease his tongue back and forth over just the right spot and listening to the music of her moans above him. "Doctor-" She pulled his hair, none too gently and he reprimanded her by scraping his teeth over the bundle of nerves underneath the wet satin and she cried out incoherently at that. He licked over the material again, soothing her as his hands slid up the backs of her thighs to grip her bum, squeezing and pulling her in closer as he buried his face between her thighs. He hummed in content – it was, after all, one of his very favourite places to be – and she shook above him, one leg lifting to wrap around his shoulders, giving him much better access.

"Oh, you good girl." He breathed the words against her and she whimpered, pressing her hips forward, seeking friction mindlessly.

"I thought you liked me bad?" He could hear the grin in her breathy question, and he released one hand from her bottom, hooking his fingers under the elastic of her knickers and easing it to one side, exposing her to the air. His fingers slid along the slick folds and he glanced up at her with a grin.

"Oh I love you all the ways, River." He slid two fingers inside her as he spoke and she gasped, her eyes locked with his. "Every single way you choose to be." He sank a touch lower on his knees, his fingers still curled within her, searching and mapping the silken walls of muscle until he found that overly sensitized roughness. He rubbed against it, pressing his fingertips into it and up as he leaned forward and drew her clit into his mouth, suckling and scraping lightly with his teeth. The noises that came out of her seemed inhuman, and he smiled against her slick skin, the taste of her blooming across his tongue, salt and musk and tangy with time.

She writhed above him and he pulled his other hand from behind her to press it across her hips, pinning her in place against the console as his fingers curled within her, over and over and his tongue circled around and against that little nub. Her hand in his hair was pulling quite hard now, pressing him closer and closer as she still managed to move enough to grind her hips against him. He looked up, his eyes catching hers just as he bit down on her clit and his fingers pressed higher than they had before and she flew apart above him, muscles shaking and undulating around his fingers as he eased off with his mouth, switching to softer licks as she rode out her orgasm. When he pulled his hand from between her thighs, even the cuff of his shirt was soaked and he licked his fingers with a grin. He pulled her knickers down over her hips and she stepped out of them shakily. "You smug bastard." Her voice was affectionate as she hauled him up against her, kissing him as soon as he was within comfortable distance to do so. She licked at the inside of his mouth and he moaned – he loved that, her tasting herself on him afterward, and she knew it.

He was more than half convinced she actually loved it too. When she released him he grinned at her, taking in her wide eyes and flushed skin. He reached a hand down to stroke along the silk of her blouse and she shivered at the touch. "Well, it's not being smug if its fact is it?"

"I'm pretty sure that still makes you smug, sweetie, just justifiably so." She smiled and he laughed as she slid off the console, pushing him backward.

"You like it." He spoke surely and she shook her head.

"I love it." Her hands were unbuttoning his shirt as she walked him backwards. She didn't bother removing it, leaving it open as she moved immediately to his trousers, unbuttoning them and easing her hand under his pants to slide it along his erection. The breath stuttered out of his lungs as her fingers skated along the length of him, twirling along the head and scraping nails across his testicles as he dropped his head against her shoulder with a moan.

"River." Her name was groaned into her neck and she laughed before easing his trousers and pants down, allowing gravity to take them to the floor as she pushed him into the jumpseat. She gripped him tightly, easing her hand up once, twice and it felt so amazing, the taste of her still in his mouth and her hair brushing against his face as she looked down between them. She knelt before him and his frame tightened in anticipation. She moved past his erection though, pressing a soft kiss to his hipbone. He jumped in surprise as her hair brushed over the head, and he moaned out loud at the sensation of it. He buried his hands in her hair, wrapping the silky curls around his fingers. "Do that again."

She seemed to know what he meant, because she chuckled indulgently before lifting her head just enough to let the ends of her curls brush along his length and he watched in fascination as she eased her hand up along behind them, stroking him firmly. "Oh – oh my."

"You know sweetie, you have a serious hair kink."

"Look at it!" He choked the words out as she moved her head back down, stopping to drop kisses against his abdomen, her tongue dipping into his belly button as her curls brushed against his groin and thighs. "How could I not?" She smiled, and moved further down, her tongue twirling over the head as her hair fell against his thighs and he jerked his hips underneath her, sliding her tongue along the length of him as she hummed in approval. "Oh god River, I don't think you can – I can't." He released her hair, sliding one hand along the nape of her neck and the other under her shoulder as he hauled her up against him, kissing her, all teeth and tongues. He bit at her bottom lip and she moaned as he smiled against her mouth. He loved her mouth – he did. Full and soft and – it was just – how had he ever looked at that mouth and not wanted to kiss it?

She settled herself into his lap, her knees pressing against his waist as she slid against him, wet and hot and he released her mouth in order to drag a lungful of air in. "Mmmm." She hummed in delight, sliding along the length of him, her hips circling tightly over his as she gripped his shoulders. She looked down at him and he felt his hearts speed up at the look on her face, flushed with need, her mouth slightly open – she was gorgeous. His hands moved around behind her, gripping her by the arse and lifting her so that he slid within her."Oh, god."

"Yes." She felt amazing – like she was built for just this purpose – to fit him, the way her hips fit into the cradle of his own, the way she wrapped around him, her inner muscles still fluttering softly as she moved up and over him, rising and receding like water."Oh god River." He kept one hand on her backside, still gripping tightly as he encouraged her to move faster and faster, and the other hand smoothed up along her back until his hand was back in her hair. "You feel – amazing." He choked the words out on a gasp and she smiled down at him, hair falling in a curtain around their faces as she sped up her pace, grinding against him and dropping her forehead to rest against his.

Any position where they were face to face were his favourites, because she would always, always do this – press her skin to his and let him sink his mind into hers. It was something he couldn't quite describe – at those moments he wasn't even sure himself what he felt most – the sensation of her wet heat wrapped around him or the sense of her building orgasm washing over him through their shared connection. Maybe it was neither, but instead the symphony of their hearts and sense of utter completion between them at that moment. A circle forged between them, joined mentally and physically – it was the most amazing thing he'd ever felt. Ever.

Sudden pleasure crashed over him and he gripped her to him, everything tightening and then releasing just as she rose above him and came apart, their bodies pressed together and their breathing harsh in the quiet hum of the console room. She slid her face into his neck, pressing soft kisses there as her hips still circled slowly over him, both of their bodies shaking from the release as they wound down. He turned his head, burying his face in her hair as he pressed a kiss to the top of her head.

"Okay you've convinced me." She spoke breathlessly and he laughed, his arms wrapping around her, smoothing the silk of her shirt against her back. "We can stay in tonight."

"And I am going to make sure you have as many opportunities to wear this as possible." He grinned as she laughed above him, tilting her head up so she could kiss him quickly.

"Oh you did, sweetie." She smiled smugly and he brushed her hair back, looking down at her.

"And I will." He promised, kissing the tip of her nose, causing her to smile fully enough that it crinkled in the way that he loved. "Am I forgiven for being late?"

"Oh I don't know," she sighed softly and looked up at him expectantly. "You may need to apologise a few more times."

"Luckily I'm good at apologising then." He grinned.

"Very, very good." She agreed with a smile. He returned it, looking at the flush of her skin and feeling the beat of her hearts over his. He licked his lips, kissing her once more, softly, before pulling back with an affectionate smile.

"And very, very lucky."