Fourth Vector Ch. 04

"You're only going to kill this guy if he's got a big ass head," said Greg with a grin. "Concentrate and steady your hands. You have to do better."

Jack looked up at the Marine. "It's a little hard with that boat bouncing in the waves like it's been doing all morning."

"Only losers make excuses. Good shooters find a way to adjust to hit the target," said Greg with a stern look. "Which one are you?"

Jack grumbled under his breath and tried to concentrate harder. The rocking of the waves always seemed to send the small boat upward and he found himself having to wait until the target drifted lower in the sights before firing off a short burst. However, a few times he found himself firing way off because he didn't compensate for an incoming wave.

"You always have to pay attention to your surroundings, Jack. What is near the target that could fuck you?"

Jack dialed the scope back a bit to watch the general vicinity for a few moments. Since the boat followed the wake of the ship, the waves were a bit more unpredictable than the steady, unending procession that made its way to the coast. Yet after a while, he was able to pick up a small pattern with the waves and began to predict when the boat would go soaring upwards.

It became more of a game at that point. Jack would fix his sights just above the head and wait for the wave to hit. Once it did, he would follow the target with his eyes until the center of the head just pierced the bullseye and fire off a burst. Once he began to get the timing down, he consistently started to pepper the same area of the target.

"Now that's good shooting," said Greg with a smile as he put his binoculars down. "A few more rounds of practice like that, and you'll be about equal with the worst guy on my team."

Jack scoffed and fixed his friend with a friendly grin. "Fuck off," he said playfully.

The marine let loose a large belly laugh and then held out his hand. "Hand over that rifle. Let me show you how a major shoots."

Jack raised from the deck and quickly handed over the NT-12 rifle to Greg. Grabbing the man's binoculars, Jack watched as the marine set himself prone and adjusted the sights. For several moments, Jack waited for him to begin firing and soon became impatient.

"What are you waiting for? Not as easy as it looks is it—"

At that moment, Greg let slip a steady burst of ammunition. Jack settled on the target and was surprised to find a cluster of holes neatly packed around the nose of the target which had clearly not been there when he was firing.

Greg looked up and gave him a cheeky look. "Any questions?"

Jack grinned. "Fuck you," he repeated with a heavy chuckle.

Greg settled back on the sights again. "We should do this more often. I forget how fun it is to get some practice shooting in."

"I'm with you on that one," said Jack. "I want to be better prepared the next time we find ourselves in a bad situation. You never know when good shooting will come in handy."

"If you want, we can make this a daily thing as long as we're out to sea. We can't go nuts with our current constraint on ammunition but as long as we get regular resupplies of bullets, we'll be fine," offered Greg.

"Let's do it," agreed Jack. "This kind of training will only pay off in the long run."

Greg nodded his head and then pointed over to the starboard side of the ship. "It looks like you weren't the only one who wanted to have a little shooting practice today."

Jack looked over in that direction and watched as a launch boat made its way over from theValiant. Inside the boat was Luke holding his own rifle off his back. A lip-piercing grin filled his face as the small boat drifted closer to theDestiny. What was even more apparent was that the sling was now off of his arm.

"Didn't feel like missing all the fun?" Jack called out as Luke made his way up the small ladder from the boat.

"Not if you guys are doing target practice! I haven't fired my weapon since the day we took theTiger back," said Luke excitedly.

"That's way too long," said Greg with a chuckle. "But it sounds like with where we're going now, we won't need these rifles."

"Damn straight," said Jack. "Our mission is to make allies, not enemies. We have enough of those at home."

"Spoilsport," muttered Luke.

Jack watched as Luke began to pull his rifle off of his back. He used his one hand carefully to rotate the gun on the strap, taking extra precaution as he did it. At one point, Luke's mouth opened and his face grimaced as his arm contorted into an unusual position.

"Who said you could take the sling off?" asked Jack, wondering if Luke had been cleared by theValiant's resident doctor. "Was it Dr. Whitman?"

Luke quickly nodded his head. "Sure did. Clean bill of health and ready to roll." Luke kneeled down to get into position and gave a small yelp of pain as more pressure went into his arm.

"You sure about that? It looks to still be bothering you," said Jack with a chuckle.

"Yup, don't worry about me. I'm all set. The muscles just need warmed up is all," said Luke reassuringly as he worked to position his older NT-11. The commander of theValiant quickly lined up the target in the waters below and fired off several quick bursts of fire.

Greg pulled the binoculars back up to his face. "Here I thought Jack was a bad shot. Looks like you need some practice."

Luke looked up only mildly insulted. "Hey, I'm on the paper at least."

"Yeah, but you missed the outline of the bad guy entirely. You would have shot the air around him in combat," argued Greg.

"It's a little tougher when it's getting hit by waves all the time," grumbled Luke before looking back into the sights. His next burst of fire was a lot closer to the mark.

"Now that's better," said Jack with a grin. "At least you lightly wounded that one."

"Glad I could come out here to entertain you both," said Luke with a huff.

Both of the other men started to chuckle and for the next half hour, they swapped turns peppering the targets and generally practicing their shot. It had been a great day, and Jack was thankful for the time spent working on his skills. One could never tell just when the skill might come in handy.

*****

After their shooting practice, Luke Ravencross made his way back to his own ship and opened the latch to his headquarters. Formally Jack's headquarters, Luke had requisitioned it once the Commander had moved over to theDestiny. While the quarters were still a little on the tight side, it was still better than the cramped officer's cabin he had before.

Luke had just crossed to the other end of the cabin to put his rifle away when there was the sound of a small cough behind him. Turning around, he wasn't surprised to see Kim Cross leaning against the doorframe. Her arms were crossed, and she was giving him a look that told him she had plenty to say.

"Oh, hey, Kim," he started in a nonchalant manner.

"Oh, hey, yourself," she said flatly. "Why is your sling off?"

Luke set the rifle back into the gun safe, only grimacing once the weight passed over his arm. "Can't shoot a gun with my arm in a sling. That wouldn't work out too well."

She closed the door behind her. "Why would you need to shoot your gun? You don't need to practice while your arm is still healing."

Luke grabbed the sling that was on his desk and started to maneuver it back onto his arm. Kim quickly crossed the distance between them and helped slide the strap over his head. "I can only imagine what Jack had to say about you taking your arm out so early."

Luke gave her an embarrassed look. "Actually, I told him it was fine for me to have it out. I told him the doctor cleared me."

Kim's face went from a look of confusion to anger in about two seconds. "Luke! What is wrong with you? Do you want to get reinjured? What would Jack say if he knew you lied to him?"

Luke grabbed her hands. "Kim, I'm fine. Seriously. I know my own body and it was time for the sling to come off."

She cocked her head to one side. "So you can honestly tell me you felt no pain at all while shooting?"

Luke's eyes rolled up in thought. "Umm, no?"

She reached out and swatted his good arm. "You're lying. I know you and you can't lie to me."

"Honestly, Kim, it's not hurting me."

All it took was Kim to feint a hit to his bad arm. Luke grimaced as if she'd already struck him and pulled away quickly. "Okay, okay, it still hurts! Happy now?"

"No, I'm not," she said while crossing her arms. "I just want you to heal. You're of no use to us when your arm is still like this."

"Don't you think I know that?" asked Luke with a raised voice. "I'm sick of this damn sling! I can't do a damn thing! I feel helpless."

Kim softened her tone and approached him, putting her hand on his back. "You know I didn't mean it that way."

"Well, that's the way I took it," he answered while looking at the floor.

Kim moved to stand right in front of him. "Luke, look at me."

It took a moment but finally his light-brown eyes fixed on hers.

"We need you better. We need you to be yourself again. I know it sucks not being able to properly take care of yourself but if you try to do too much too soon, you're just going to end up being hurt for longer. No one wants that."

Luke began to nod. "I know. It was so good though just to get back out again. To just fire a weapon and forget about this damn sling. I feel like everyone looks at me different with it on. Like I'm not the same guy I used to be."

"You are the same man. The best of men," reassured Kim.

Luke caught her eyes again. "I feel like I owe it to Jack as well. He deserves to have me at one hundred percent for this mission. Every day that I spend down is one more I'm taking away from him. I guess I just don't want to be cast aside as not good enough or less of a man than I used to be."

"Jack needs you to be a good leader. To be a good leader doesn't mean you have to be completely able-bodied. What he needs is your mind, Luke. And nobody can take that away from you."

Luke started to grin. "Why are you so good to me?"

Kim gave him a half-cocked smile. "I have no idea but I really shouldn't be. You never listen to me, and I always have to repeat myself with you."

Luke used his good hand to wrap around her body and pull her in closer to him. "You're so good to me because you kind of like me, that's why."

"Only kind of?" asked Kim with a turn of the head.

"More than kind of."

She raised an eyebrow. "You're right, I do like you. So try not to get hurt again, you hear me?"

"I hear you," said Luke with a chuckle, before using his hand to pull her closer still. Their mouths quickly closed the distance and before she could react, his lips pressed gently to hers.

Kim eagerly pressed into his kiss and her hands quickly wrapped around his shoulders. It wasn't long before her tongue sought entry to his mouth and when permission was easily given, they dueled tenderly as they had many times before.

Kim was the first to pull away. "You're so bad. Why do we always end up in the same position?"

"Position? You mean like missionary style?"

She swatted him. "No, I mean why do we always end up having sex when we're alone in your quarters?"

Luke raised his arm to gesture to the small room. "Like there's anything else we could do in this tiny ass space."

Kim giggled. "Okay, okay. Shut up and kiss me."

He answered her request with a more passionate kiss. She sighed complacently against his lips and before long her hands were quickly shedding his body of his entire uniform. Careful with his wounded arm, she delicately pulled the sleeve of his jacket through it and tossed the garment carelessly onto the floor. Once he was topless, she began to litter his torso with tender, sucking kisses, bathing his flesh with her mouth.

Luke was far from idle as well. He gripped her bottom with his strong hand and helped her climb on top of his desk while waiting for her legs to wrap around his waist. After having her right where he wanted her, his hand crept north and grabbed a fistful of her red hair, gently yanking it back to lay kisses against the exposed flesh of her neck.

"I love when you kiss me right there," cooed Kim while pressing her lower half against his own.

"Good thing for you that I have plenty more kisses coming your way," he teased in return. His fingers began to undo the buttons on her jacket, quickly exposing the plain, white shirt underneath which contained her plentiful bosom. Starting with the hem, he raised her shirt above her head, and watched as it gave way to a white bra underneath.

Luke bit his lip at the pain of raising his arm too far, a fact that didn't escape her notice.

"Here, let me help," she said with a giggle, reaching behind her back and unclasping her bra. It fell without warning, revealing her topless body in all its glory. Luke was especially pleased to see her nipples were stiff and erect, begging for attention from his body.

He couldn't resist having a little fun with her. "Are you cold or just really happy you're with me?"

Kim rolled her eyes and then pretended to shut her legs. "Another bad joke like that and I'm going back to my quarters."

Luke put his hands back on her legs and pushed them apart. "I'd normally say that I'll behave but you rather like me when I'm being bad." He finished that sentence with a passionate lip lock and felt her whimper against his lips. During the kiss, his hands moved to slip under her waistband, and he deftly worked her trousers down her long, slender legs.

All that remained was an intricate, white thong and Luke made quick work of that as well. Kim spread her legs once more before him, showing off her patch of red-tinged pubic hair and glistening lips.

"I love seeing you like this. You're so fucking sexy," said Luke while looking up into her dark eyes.

Kim smiled shyly. "You wouldn't happen to be saying that just to get in my pants, would you, sir?"

Luke took one look up at her and then back down to her pants. "I'd say we're way past that stage."

Kim giggled as he laid a kiss against her stomach and tenderly worked his way down. Brushing his lips across her small thatch of hair, he didn't stop until he reached her slick opening. Kim laid back further against his desk and spread her legs wider, giving him easy access to her wet entrance.

"You're not going to tease me now, are you?" Kim asked, watching him eye her most private part.

Luke responded by taking a long, gentle lick of her labia and then swirling his tongue around the opening.

"I like your answer," she said with a smile and a shudder.

Luke grinned up at her. "I figured you might."

Returning back to her, he began to tease her with his tongue in just the way she liked. It hadn't been particularly hard to figure out, especially given how long they'd been sleeping together. First, Luke teased all around her entrance, laying sucking kisses and giving tender licks to get her to the point where she squirmed with anticipation. When she could no longer stand it, he would slide his tongue inside her wet channel and flick it against her walls in such a way that produced the sexiest moans he'd ever heard.

After Kim was thoroughly warmed up, he would replace his tongue with his fingers, rubbing in a vigorous motion as he began to tease her clit directly. It was after a few moments of sucking her clit that her body would begin to shake and her mouth would drop open into a heavy pant.

"Fuck, Luke. I'm going to cum!" she whimpered while pressing her mound against his face.

He applied just enough pressure against her clit to send her into orgasm and then released it as her body rocked and convulsed. If he knew anything after sleeping with her for so long, it was that she was too sensitive after an orgasm to keep up such treatment. Instead, he watched her beautiful face come down from her high, and soon enough her eyes opened to reveal a very content smile.

"You need to finish what you started," she said while blowing a stray strand of hair out of her face.

"With pleasure!" Luke stood up and positioned himself between her legs. Watching her orgasm on his tongue had turned him on to no end, and his cock was achingly stiff and erect. He eased the purplish head between her drenched lips and prepared to slide it in further.

Thrusting his hips forward, Luke slid the first few inches inside of her.

"Mmm fuck, I love that feeling," said Kim, throwing her head back.

"Me too," said Luke with a smile. He didn't try to slide deeper but instead just enjoyed the moment of being inside her.

Finally, Kim cocked her head to one side and looked at him with a smirk. "Are you going to fuck me or what, Luke?"

"Sorry, I was just enjoying the view," he said before fixing his gaze on her eyes. "You just look so damn beautiful."

Kim's lips split into a heart-stopping grin and she leaned forward to kiss him. The movement of her body helped to push him in deeper and soon enough, he was fully inside the sexy redhead.

Luke reached forward with both hands to grab her hips, holding her in place as his hips began to thrust in and out. Once they had established a steady rhythm, his eyes drifted to meet hers, and they watched each other as they coupled. At first, Luke felt content to just stare back into her eyes as he penetrated her and so was she. Eventually, Kim's smile became more demure and her cheeks filled with color at the intimate contact, and she then leaned forward to kiss him as his thrusting became more intense.

"There's no way I'm going to last long," panted Luke as the sounds of their flesh meeting echoed through the tiny cabin.

"Don't care," she panted in return. "Just keep fucking me!"

Luke unleashed his hips and began to really pound into the sexy redhead. Sweat started to slip off his brow as he focused on deep and powerful thrusts, making Kim whimper every time he completed a thrust.

"You have no idea how good this feels," she cooed, pulling his body into hers.

Luke grinned. "Yes, I do!"

Their rhythm continued for several more minutes as his cock drove deeper inside her. At one point, Luke looked down to find a shiny sheen of her juices coating his entire manhood, and he became entranced at watching it slide all the way inside her body. Soon enough, he reached the point of no return.

Burying himself inside her, Luke began to unload. Feeling several powerful spurts, he filled her with every single drop as she held his body tightly against his own. Once he was fully drained, he hazarded a look up to her worn-out yet content face.

"You got me all sticky," she said with a playful accusation.

He responded by kissing her deeply. "You're welcome."

Kim started to wipe the sweat off her chest and brow. "I needed that so badly. Sometimes nothing makes the day better than really good sex."

"Well, you know where to come next time your day needs a pick-me-up," said Luke with a cheeky grin.

Eventually, they managed to part and each of them reluctantly got dressed once again. With their always being a task that needed completed for the senior officers, Kim was soon off to a meeting with the mess cooks while Luke had to get to the bridge and relieve Cory. As Kim prepared to leave his cabin, she stopped right before exiting the door.

"See you on the bridge in a little bit?"

He smiled. "Of course."

She took a deep breath before returning his smile. "Back to reality." Kim then cracked the door.

"Thank you for meeting with me, sir," she said loudly, ending with a wink.

"Of course, Lieutenant," answered Luke with a grin. To anyone nearby, it would appear to be just a simple officer meeting, yet to the two of them, it was so much more.

Kim slipped out one last look of longing and closed the door behind her. Before he left for the bridge, Luke grabbed his service cap and then fixed his sling. The last thing he wanted to do was to give Kim one more reason to worry.