Not Looking

Jayne turned his back to the ladder when he heard his lock being overridden and his hatch opened. He was not gonna look. So he kept his eyes on the boot he was polishing, and his back to the girl sneaking down into his bunk.

When he heard the hatch close and the lock engage, Jayne jumped and nearly looked, but his fingers clenched around the warm leather and his bare toes curled on the cold floor. He was absolutely not gonna look.

"Ya ain't supposed to be here." He growled over his shoulder.

"Why not?" River laughingly inquired.

"Because it ain't right. It ain't how these things are done." Jayne responded gruffly as he felt her move closer to the bed on which he sat. He didn't like her being so near. Made him want to turn around and look. But he was absolutely, positively not gonna look.

"There are rules." Jayne squeaked and closed his eyes when the girl's hands slid enticingly around his shoulders as she crept up behind him on the bed.

River smiled at the mercenary’s reactions to her touch. Her left hand idled down his chest to brush against his stomach while her right hand slipped up his throat and over his jaw to tease his earlobe. When his whole body jerked and trembled in her arms and his breathing became quite labored, she purred into his unmolested ear, "Since when did you care about rules?"

Trying valiantly to ignore his body's ever-increasing demands to give into the girl, Jayne forced out, "Don't normally care. But this is one rule I aim to keep. So stop tryin’ to get me to break it."

"But I like it when you break the rules.” River licked the merc's cheek, enjoying his whimper. “And you like it when I break the rules, too.”

Jayne swallowed heavily as he attempted to prevent anymore wayward sounds from escaping his throat. When the girl's hand cupped his jaw and tried to turn his head to the open mouthed kisses she was spreading across his face, he whined, "It's only gonna be for a few more hours.”

"But I can't wait a few more hours," asserted River huskily.

Jayne didn't want to wait either, but, for once in his life, he was determined to do something right. So he was gonna force both of them to maintain control for a little while longer. Pushing his desire away for now, he stated firmly, "I ain't gonna break this rule. Dong ma?”

River's hands stop moving, and she dropped her chin onto his shoulder with a pout. She wasn't ready to give up yet, and she had never liked to be thwarted. So she wondered if perhaps there was a way around the rule. "Can we bend it a little?"

"Bend it?" Jayne's ears perked right up because he really didn't want to wait either.

"Rule only says you're not supposed to see me. It doesn't say hear me,” River whispered in his ear, "feel me," she flattened her breasts against his back, "or anything else." Her hand slid down to press against his lap as she came to the end of her observation.

Groaning, Jayne mumbled, "That's true."

The girl unexpectedly released him and he felt all lonely. When he heard the sound of ripping cloth, the mercenary, once more, nearly turned around to look and see what she was doing. But he held firm and waited with his eyes still closed for her next move.

Suddenly, Jayne felt some soft material being draped over his face, or, more to the point, over his eyes. He began grinning like a fool when he felt her knot the fabric behind his head.

He crowed as he opened his eyes to see absolutely nothing. "You really are the smartest person in the whole gorram ‘Verse.”

After tossing away the boot from his hand and pushing the merc to lie down on the bed, River cheekily responded, "I know."

When he felt her tug his T-shirt out of his pants, Jayne mused, "Maybe we can do this every anniversary."

River blew on his exposed skin, smiling at the quiver of his stomach. She laughed, "Maybe."