Its that time again: The Joss man created these characters. I do this all for lovin’ and fun. So no suing ya hear.

Thank yous. Washie as always, you have helped so much with support and ideas, you remain very near and dear to my heart. Pride and Glory once again, thanks for the hand with the title, i promiss this will be the last title takn from them for a while.

Finally for all you out there who have been following me, sorry for the wait, its been a might peculiar these last couple weeks, but the verse seems to have retained a balance. Thank ya all kindly. Thanks to Haken for fixin the sight too!

…

Lovin’ Woman

Inara woke to a warm body snuggled into her, it had mussed brown hair and smelt faintly of strawberries. Inara closed her eyes. Mmmmm, I have a nice warm Kaylee in my bed, she thought, idly stroking Kaylee’s head. It was comforting waking up with someone warm to snuggle into. She dozed a little, enjoying Kaylee’s presence, wondering as to the future and the beauty of what she never truly thought she would have. She had true love, or as far as she understood this is what she had, with sweet adorable, beautiful Kaylee. She mulled on this, wondering if this was the same kind of feeling her clients nurtured for her. She knew she could be content being a good person's permanent companion, a 'dhana' as they were called in the ancient ways. But she now found she understood more the difference, contentment was just that. A static state, love was…love didn’t really need to be anything other than what it was, and currently it was the wonderful feeling of a sleeping Kaylee.

Inara’s mind fluttered like a stray feather on the wind, contemplating the wonders of her new position on life. However worries slowly started to creep back into her mind.

I’m a companion, any relationship is going to be difficult, but more importantly…how would Kaylee feel about this? I see clients, and though it is not always so, physical romance is implied. She wondered if there was a clause in the great unwritten tome about relationships that perhaps was lenient on someone of her position... but surly, Kaylee loved Inara, so as Book had said, the rest could be left up to the powers that prevail. Secondly she knew Mal would make this difficult, be it out of some jealous ulterior motive or by quoting her own words to the effect that she would be no companion to any of the crew, in a business sense at any rate.

Technically she hadn’t broken her most stringent regulation she'd stated to Malcolm long ago. And this was not a business arrangement…this was something else…this was something entirely new and unheard of in the book of Inara's life. She froze, what was she going to do…she suddenly found herself oddly cold.

Kaylee started to make waking up noises which brought Inara crashing back to reality. "Mmmm….last night was nice." Kaylee said in her adorably clipped kind of way.

"Mmmm," was all Inara could come up with, paranoia gripping at her like the hand of the reaper. Kaylee snuggled a little further into Inara at this, mumbled something about wanting every night to be like that, then she became silent. Inara concentrated on not being tense or appearing worried, her companion training taking over like her speaking a first language, and she relaxed while still managing to worry on the inside.

Time slowly passed, Inara was listening to Kaylee’s breathing, when the charmingly tousled brown head popped up from her chest.

"So?" She said quietly looking into Inara’s eyes, messy hair hanging awkwardly about her face.

"What is it Kaylee?" Inara smiled, as relaxed as she could, whether Kaylee could see her or not. Inara somehow felt that the act was more for her than anyone else.

"Was waitin' for you to tell me what was worryin' ya, is all." Inara was stumped. She felt like she had crashed Serenity into a runway, or into a docking valve, in spite of Wash’s expert flying.

"Wh…h…" Inara stopped and blinked. "Sweetie, I’m not worried…how…what makes you say that?" Inara knew this was half-hearted, she didn’t want to deceive Kaylee any more than she had enjoyed deceiving herself as she had over these last few days.

" 'Nara, lets be startin’ like we mean to finish, and I don’t want that ta feature untruths." Kaylee’s eyes spoke volumes about what she was trying to tell Inara, it was heart-breakingly honest, "I want this to work as best it can. Let's not be crashing before we’ve even broke atmo." Inara swallowed hard, took a deep breath.

"I…know Kaylee, bao bai. I’m sorry it's just…" the normally eloquent companion found herself at a loss for words.

Time passed like seasons in the abyss.

"Scared…"

"Yes bao bai…about, so many things…I…" Inara felt burning tears. She forced her eyes together and sharply inhaled. All she could think about was losing what it had taken her far too long to realize she wanted.

She felt Kaylee press her body closer, pulling Inara into a crushing hold. Then she pulled away and placed a soft soothing kiss on Inara’s forehead.

"Shuuu…," Kaylee said curling around the companion, pulling her into a warm hold. " ‘Nara I know one thing you don’t have ta’ be scared about," she whispered quietly in her ear. Inara felt lightning creep over her body.

"W…what’s that?" Inara pushed out with a significant amount of effort.

"Me ever not lovin' you 'Nara. You, of all people in the 'verse, should be able ta’ figure that out…unless…," Kaylee trailed off lost on realization.

Inara shrank back into Kaylee, she felt like a child again, scared about her first dulcimer recital, or clumsily socializing with the other children on her first day at the Guild house.

"K,…I,…the…crew…," she trailed off. Kaylee kissed her head.

" ‘Nara…I’m not ta be worried 'bout…'less its somethin’ like a bullet wound, cross fingers that never happens again." Inara sighed. Love, she had finally settled on, was a sweet thing. Even though her thoughts raged on in an infinite war, she felt safe and whole sitting in Kaylee’s arms. She let her head fall back onto Kaylee’s shoulder.

"Thank you bao bai."

"As for the crew, the time will come, as my grand-momma used to say, 'Sometimes ya just gotta bite down on that chewy ol’ bit of wood.'

"She really used to say that?," Inara smiled to herself.

"Well yeah…she kinda was a little loopy…um… never mind."

"Humm…," Inara sang softly to herself, enjoying the serenity. "I guess your grandmother was right…sometimes you do have to do things you don’t wish to." Inara frowned. She wasn’t looking forward to it, but then again life in the big wide verse was never going to be easy. She wondered if that was why she chose this ship, and the ever difficult Malcolm Raynolds. She felt Kaylee curl a little tighter around her, her soft lips kiss her neck.

"I aint gonna rush ya." This conveyed about as much love and attentiveness as Inara had ever felt by a mere four words. She pressed into Kaylee, wanting to feel the warmth and love ever closer to her soul. Kaylee giggled, kissing her once again.

"I was thinking. If we get held up on Persephone, I mean if ya’ wanted…to…um." Kaylee paused, wondering if this was perhaps a little too much to suggest just yet. She knew Inara was still settling into the idea of being in a relationship. Kaylee wondered how much Inara’s upbringing, which had once seemed glamorous but no longer did, had caused the Companion to lose in normal experience.

"What is it?"

"Well…if you wanna, I mean, we could maybe go somewhere. Ya know, more, um…just us." Inara looked deeply into Kaylee’s face now visible, her smile washing away the formerly somewhat pained expression on the mechanic's face. "I would love to, sweetie." She kissed Kaylee. "If only dear Malcolm can spare you for a night…or perhaps two." Inara's eyebrow arched, eliciting what could only be described as an impish grin from Kaylee. "Surely our dear Captain couldn’t bear to have you away from his boat for more than a few hours."

"Shuu. Last time the Cap'n got drunk with Jayne, he let slip he was gonna give the crew some R an' R the very next time he got a chance. I think Zoë may have…persuaded him some…" Kaylee’s smile told of more than subtle persuasion.

"Well then, I think a little bit of rest and relaxation is in order then, Miss Frye." The two kissed, shallowly at first, then deeper.

Kaylee’s tongue pressed further into Inara’s mouth, tasting the hot moisture. Inara closed her eyes, feeling her passions inflame deeper and hotter than before. She almost didn’t know if she could wait till Persephone, and it was a mere two days journey left, still destined to be all the sweeter when they arrived. She knew her time with Kaylee would be different than being with a client.

She was careful about who she picked as clientele, but if the mere press of the younger woman’s’ body was anything to judge by, heaven, she decided, couldn’t be so sweet.

Inara moaned into Kaylee’s mouth as she felt a warm hand slide to the base of her neck, and firm warm breasts press against her. Inara felt lost once again in the sweet sensation, lying amongst soft coverings and being touched by such a beautiful creature as Kaylee.

"Mmmm…," Inara purred as Kaylee’s hand pulled her deeper into the kiss.

*"Kaylee, darlin’ be a damn fine day if I hired ya to be a disaperin’ act, but I hired ya as a mechanic. So if ya wouldn’t mind, it'd be nice ta see ya in the engine room ,pronto, dong ma?* Mal’s voice cut like a scalpel through the ether.

"Well…that figures." Kaylee said with an ironic smile, hauling herself reluctantly off Inara.

"Shuu… Persephone, bao bai." Inara smiled again, as Kaylee pulled on her coveralls and hit the button for the intercom.

*"Comin', Cap'n. Just got a little held up, is all".*

*"Well NOW you aint’, so you be gettin’ down there."*

Inara watched from the bed lying on her side. She breathed heavily as Kaylee turned. "Will you come visit me tonight?" Inara fluttered her long lashes, Kaylee smiled again with her impish tomboy smile Inara was more used to seeing directed at Simon, but now was all hers.

"Oh, I dunno," she grinned, then turned to slip out. "Maybe I will, just 'cos it's you." She blew a quick kiss, then opened the shuttle's door and left, leaving Inara to herself, smiling at how much she adored the other woman.