Cyar'ika Ch. 02

Chapter Two: Darman

"It's so quiet I can hear / My thoughts touching every second / That I spent waiting for you."

VNV Nation

"Beloved"

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Darman had lived his entire life reading the smallest shift in body language - it was often the only way to tell apart men who shared the same faces, the same bodies, and quite frequently, the same armor. So, Etain's sudden stillness underneath his hands drew him up short.

"Did I do something wrong?" Dar reached out, suddenly tentative.

He smoothed his hand down her torso, in the space between her breasts. The feel of his skin on hers seemed to shake Etain out of her sudden paralysis and she reluctantly lowered her eyes from the ceiling to his face.

"That was just...very sudden," something crossed her face and Dar tried to place the expression.

Baffled, he rested his hand on her belly, just above her navel, and glanced down at the floor. Her pants and undergarments puddled at his feet and it slowly dawned on him that maybe he had moved a bit too fast.

"Oh," he looked back up at her and couldn't help but enjoy the sight of the blush that flushed her skin from head to toe.

His eyes lingered longingly on her breasts and then on the neatly-trimmed patch of curls that nestled in between her thighs. He tried to sound contrite, but when he glanced up at her face, the expression he saw shifting across her face told him that he'd failed. He didn't need to know women, to recognize the look of annoyance.

"You could be a little more subtle, Dar," Etain's light-green eyes seemed to flash at him.

But, instead of being put in his place, Darman just grinned and slowly bent over her again. He pressed his hands flat against the table, on each side of her head, and lowered his elbows just enough so that he was practically hovering over her, their torsos just-touching-but-not-quite.

"I'm a demolitions expert. Subtle's not exactly my style, cyar'ika. If you wanted subtle, you should have gone for Fi," he kissed her lightly on the forehead and heard her huff indignantly against the underside of his chin. "And don't forget," he moved his mouth down toward her ear and nuzzled a gentle warning against her warm skin. "We don't exactly have much time for 'subtle'."

This seemed to change her sudden hesitancy and Etain reached up, wrapped her arms around Darman's neck, and pulled him down for an agonizingly thorough kiss. Dar lowered himself down on top of her again and tangled his fingers into her red-and-blond-streaked brunette hair. This time, though, he rocked his hips gently against her and was rewarded by a soft gasp as she tightened her grip around his neck.

"Dar," Etain practically panted, as they broke their kiss.

The virile young clone immediately missed the taste of mouth and the feel of her tongue against his. He moved in to steal another kiss, when she arched her back underneath him, took an urgent fistful of the back of his tunic, and tugged.

"Dar," she hissed, her eyes narrowing slightly. "You're wearing far too many clothes."

This stopped him short in mild surprise. He'd been so intent on tasting her, and touching her, and baring her to his gaze, that he hadn't spared a thought for his own state of dress. Darman pushed himself off of Etain for a second time and it was his turn to feel a little awkward, as he glanced down at his red fatigues.

Etain pushed herself up off of the table as well and Dar frowned a bit as she crossed her arms almost unconsciously over her naked breasts. She crossed her legs tightly at the ankle, too, and he suddenly realized that whatever embarrassment he was feeling, was practically doubled for her.

He searched desperately for a way to make her more at ease, to make her less self-conscious, but the only thing he could offer was his own body.

"Here," he reached out impulsively and grasped her hand.

He gently pulled her arms apart, freeing her breasts to his gaze and the cool air. The sight of her suddenly pert nipples was almost enough to derail his intentions, but Darman tore his eyes away and met hers as he placed her hand flat against the buttoned collar of his fatigues.

"Your turn," he held her hand against him for a minute, as if to encourage her, and then let his hands fall to his side.

If he'd stripped her bare in seconds without a thought, then it was only fair that she got the chance to return the favor. Darman didn't know much about women and "Papa Kal" hadn't shared much wisdom much when it came to sexual intimacy, but Darman had certainly been instructed in the principles of fair play.

One didn't get to employ such principles in war, but he figured it was only right to offer a chance to the woman he wanted to take as his lover.

Etain fingered the small buttons for half a second, as she searched his face. Her body language was hesitant, but the amber flecks in her eyes deepened slowly as her eyelashes lowered in coy response to his suggestion.

"No time for subtle?" her voice was suddenly low and husky; Dar felt himself ache in response to the sound and he clenched his jaw against the sudden urge to push her back, open up his pants, and take her right then and there.

It was absolutely amazing how quickly lust could overcome inexperience. He had no earthly clue what he was doing, but when he stepped back and let his urges rise to the occasion, the potential escalation of their situation was...encouraging.

"No time for subtle," he shook his head slowly and was amazed at how quickly her fingers could move.

She wasn't quite as quick as he was - then again, her clothing hadn't required much more than a confident pull up and a determined pull down. But, she worried the buttons at his neck out of their holes in the space of a breadth and her hands pushed the front of his tunic-like fatigues open. Two quick tugs pulled the bottom of his tunic up and over his belt and she grabbed the red fabric at his shoulders and pushed it quickly down his arms.

His fatigue tunic fell the floor with a quick shake of his wrists and Etain made surprisingly short work of his utility belt, and the light armor he'd worn as a precaution underneath the fatigues. That still left the black expanse of his skin-tight bodysuit and Etain made a very non-Jedi sound of disapproval.

"You wear more layers than a woman!" Her impatience made him laugh.

"Would you like some help?" he lifted a hand casually, but she batted it away with another impatient huff.

"No."

The look in her eyes was...inspiring. She had transformed from hesitant and meek, to sharply focused, in just a matter of moments. It wasn't the first time Darman had seen that transformation take place in her - he wondered absently if she realized just how often it happened. But, this was certainly the first time that he'd been the focal point of her attention and this was certainly the first time her focus had ever been expressed in sheer sexual need.

It took her a moment or two, but she figured out how to pull the gription seams in his bodysuit apart. Etain pulled it open neatly in the front, from the top of his collar to the top of his pants. Her soft, strong hands shimmied the tight fabric off of his shoulders and down his arms, until he stood with his upper torso completely naked to her gaze and touch.

She trailed her fingers slowly down the length of his chest and stomach; Darman shivered slightly underneath her touch. It was the first time in his life that he had ever been touched so intimately - her fingers found a thin scar along the side of his abs and he sucked in a breath as she followed it down to waist of his pants.

Etain lingered there, for just a moment, her fingers brushing lightly against sharp angle of his hip. The next half of his disrobing was a much slower process than hers had been, or his so far.

She bent gracefully to her knees and Dar had to close his eyes for a moment. The sight of her kneeling at his feet triggered another primal response, and he fought the urge to grab her by the back of her head and guide her face toward the painful bulge that pressed against the armor between his legs.

A memory flickered across the back of his eyelids.

Just shortly after Quiilura, Darman had stumbled across a rather...educational...holovid, which he'd uploaded into the privacy of his HUD. He'd quickly discovered just how restricting full armor could actually be, especially when surrounded by his fellow squad members in the back of a troop transport, during a several-hour flight, without a 'fresher in sight.

He'd turned the 'vid off almost immediately, flustered in a way he'd never experienced before in his short life. But, the image from those few minutes had replayed in his mind at night, ever since. And, without even really meaning to, he'd quickly replaced the anonymous actors with more familiar faces and bodies.

He thought of that image, now - of Etain on her knees in front of him. Of her hand, her mouth, wrapped around him. Of his hand tangled in her hair. Of him roughly encouraging the rapidly quickening pace toward his release.

He felt his boots come undone and Darman snapped back to the present - which wasn't all that far-off from his private fantasy. He bit back a groan and fought the urge to take matters into his own hand. Things would certainly progress quicker if he helped her undress him, but the still rationally functioning part of him knew that this small intimacy was important for her.

For both of them.

He helped her kick off his boots, though. Next went his socks and then she was back at the top of his waistband. Etain hesitated, again, and she lifted shy eyes up at him. This time, Dar groaned and tangled his hand in hair at the back of her head.

"You've got to get me out of this armor," he gritted his teeth and swore mentally at the di'kut circumstances that forced him to wear groin protection underneath his fatigues.

The implication of his words brought another fresh blush to Etain's cheeks and Darman decided it was best for the situation if he looked somewhere other than her for the next few minutes. He groaned and lifted his head - it was his turn to stare at the ceiling and he gritted his teeth as his pants fell down around his ankles.

He didn't dare look down at her, as her fingers moved across his legs and his pelvis, catching at all the hooks and puling the armor free. Dar's resolve to keep looking up, dissolved, when he heard her breath catch. He knew immediately what had caught her surprise, as his groin armor clattered to the floor.

The bodysuit didn't leave much to the imagination. He was hard - achingly so - and he strained painfully against the restricting fabric of the 'suit. It didn't take much for her to figure out that he was...well-endowed...and the look on her face look suddenly apprehensive.

"Et'ika," he managed a rough whisper and moved strangely shaking fingers across her cheek.

Odd. He could handle high explosives without a single qualm, but the sight of a beautiful woman kneeling at his feet was enough to jangle his every last resolve.

She just shook her head and that steely determination he admired in her flashed back across her face. As his fingers touched her cheek, she glanced up at him and her eyes were fierce underneath coyly lowered lashes.

He watched, as she bit her lip, and then pulled apart the seams along the length of his left leg and then along his right leg. His bodysuit fell to the floor and Darman stood over her, completely naked. And, he felt the heat rising underneath his skin, as she lifted her eyes and took in the sight of him, from toe to ear.