A/N: Just a bit more fluff as an early holiday treat. This is a sequel to Leather.

Thanks to Leiasky for the beta ... a while ago now ... and thanks to all of you shiny Browncoats who keep reading and commenting on my stuff!

I hope everyone has the happiest of holidays and the best new year!

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09. Massage

Kaylee groaned, loud and long, making the small smile already present on Simon’s features widen. With another pass of his hands over her bare skin, he managed to cause another exquisite sound to escape her mouth and again, his smile, as well as his desire for her, deepened.

“Oh, wo de ma, Simon,” she breathed, her eyes closed as he kneaded her skin with unbelievable talent. “That’s … so … good …” Her voice trailed off again, as Simon’s nimble and dexterous fingers worked her muscles, finding her most sensitive spot and releasing any and all tension dwelling there.

Leaning down to place a kiss to her right cheek, as it was the only one he could see in her present position, his breath was hot against her skin. “I’m glad you’re enjoying it, bao bei.” His voice was husky and it made Kaylee tingle in all the right places.

Her eyes remained closed, her body floating in that indeterminate place between absolute relaxation and sleep. But Kaylee was determined not to drift off; she was enjoying herself way too much. As Simon’s hands continued to work over her bare shoulders and back, finding every muscle she had ever stressed and turning them into putty, she sighed contentedly and lifted her head. Pulling her arms up from her sides, she rested her chin on them in front of her and again closed her eyes as Simon’s touch made it almost impossible for her to keep them open.

“Kaylee?” His voice was soft and warm and Kaylee could not believe how comfortable she felt.

“Hmmm,” was all she could manage to get out, the time for thoughts or complete sentences having left her the minute Simon had begun his massage.

Unable to see his face, she could not register the wide grin that was present there, his unmitigated delight at being able to do something for her that could bring her such joy coloring his features. “Why didn’t you ever tell me your muscles got so strained, working in the engine room?”

Unable to shrug as that would require her shoulders to move, all she could mumble was, “Jus’ like any job, sweetie. Sometimes you get aches an’ pains.”

Leaning down again, Kaylee felt his bare chest come into contact with her bare back and she rolled her head to the side to meet his face. “I don’t like you having aches and pains,” he whispered to her, an undeniable light dancing in his eyes.

Smiling at him, she brought their mouths within inches of each other and murmured, “Well, then it’s a good thing you’re a doctor, ain’t it?”

With a slight chuckle, he pressed his mouth to hers, working her lips with his own just as assuredly and completely as he had worked the muscles in her back. Sighing against him, Kaylee was certain that she had died and gone to a very special heaven by the time their lips parted. Her head again dropping onto her arms, she watched him lean back and continue to rub her lovingly.

Once she was certain his attention was again refocused, Kaylee shifted her head to face back towards the head of her bunk and gingerly, moving as little as possible, she reached down between her bed and the wall and closed her hand around the soft book she had hidden there.

Pulling it up and resting it under where her hands were folded she waited another minute and then, biting her lip as she feared he might hear something, flipped through its pages as quietly as she could. Finding the one she wanted, she scanned it for a minute, noting the few places that had given her pause a couple of days before. Smiling, she rested her chin down on the open book, and asked in the same sleepy tone from before, “Simon?”

“Yes.”

“What’s ‘resplendent’ mean?” Kaylee still could not see his face, but she felt his hands pause for a moment as he considered her question.

Not at all sure where Kaylee had plucked that word from, Simon continued to work her muscles and told her, “It means something that is almost too bright, too beautiful to behold. Something that shines brilliantly.”

Her own grin widening at this definition, Kaylee again allowed her eyes to drop to the open page before her, and then asked again, “Simon?”

With the slightest of sighs, he regarded the back of her head, wondering what exactly she was up to. “Yes?”

Glancing again to the next word, Kaylee hoped she pronounced it right. “What does ‘cynicism’ mean?”

Frowning, Simon’s hands again stopped as he considered just why exactly a word like cynicism would ever enter Kaylee’s vocabulary. It wasn’t at all within her nature. Clearing his throat, he again allowed his fingers to rub along the small of her back, eliciting a small moan from her as he explained, “Well, it means believing that everyone is motivated by their own selfish needs. Someone who is considered cynical will have a hard time trusting the motives or actions of others. That person would always think that other people are out to get them.”

This definition caused tears to pool in Kaylee’s eyes. Turning her head to regard him again, she asked in a quiet voice. “Really? That’s what it means?”

Glancing to her, Simon saw her sorrow and his heart instantly swelled with pain for her. Laying down on his side next to her on the narrow bunk, Simon placed a hand to her cheek and said, “Yes, bao bei, that’s what it means.” Still studying her sad expression with a truly curious one of his own, he asked her quietly, “What made you ask?”

With a bit of a sheepish grin, Kaylee pulled out the book she had been concealing so Simon could see it, his eyes widening a bit with shock. “I wanted to make sure I could understand all your fancy words.”

Sighing, Simon slid the book out from her hand and placed it between them. Kissing her again, Kaylee again lost all conscious thought as she could only think of the incredibly swai and loving man holding her close. When they again parted, Kaylee snuggled up into his chest and she watched as Simon rolled onto his back, taking the book with him and holding it over his eyes with one hand.

Looking at the page she had been studying, he realized it was the same one he had encouraged her to read just a few days before. Re-reading it for about the tenth time since he’d written it, Simon felt his cheeks flush a bit at the unabashed emotion he had displayed. It had been so much easier to write it all down, but as he turned his head to regard Kaylee’s smiling face, he realized the difficulty in actually voicing his desires brought an end result that was much more satisfying than unrequited love.

“There’s one more word I don’t know.” Kaylee’s soft voice pulled his thoughts from the writing in front of him and Simon turned his head to regard her, letting her know she could ask. Clearing her throat, Kaylee asked him, “What’s ‘exuberant’ mean?”

Smiling at her, Simon again rolled onto his side and wrapped an arm around her shoulders. Cuddling into him, she laid an arm across his waist, pulling him tight and laying her head on his shoulder, she sighed a bit as he ran his fingers through her hair. “It means unrestrained, joyous.” Leaning in and kissing her lightly, he whispered against her mouth, “It means you.”

Giving him one of her famous grins, Kaylee again leaned into him and pressed her mouth against his. With her body blissfully light and her mind all ready for sleep, she pulled away and could feel the pull of dreams. “Read it to me,” she whispered, unable to keep her eyes open for a second longer, but unwilling to drift off just yet.

Kissing her lightly once more, Simon picked up the book, and swallowing back his own nervousness, started to read in a soft voice.

“I have no idea when I began to fall in love with her. Maybe it was the first time she smiled at me, that exuberant grin easily lighting up the whole ship. Or maybe it was the first time she asked if I was all right. Or maybe it was during one of River’s particularly bad days. It’s hard to remember, because Kaylee is always there, smiling. She seems to know, she seems to feel when I need her, when I can’t take another breath without her closeness, without gazing at her resplendent beauty.

"She has no reason to return my affections, I haven’t given her one. And I’ve given her so many reasons to walk away. And each time she goes, and her face falls, I feel my old cynicism start to overwhelm me and I hate it. Every time, I pray she’ll come back. I pray that if she does I won’t say something wrong again. I pray that I will never again cause her to lose that unbelievable smile; her undeniable light. Because if I am the cause of Kaylee losing those qualities than I truly don’t deserve her.

"I love River, so much – there’s nothing I wouldn’t do, haven’t done for her, but Kaylee … it hurts, at times, my love for her. It shouldn’t, I am not that big of an idiot to miss how she smiles at me or laughs at my bad jokes or reaches for my hand, but I still don’t know if what she feels is love. Maybe it’s just friendship, maybe it’s just longing, maybe it’s my own lovesick brain playing tricks on me, but I hope – God, I hope – that it’s love.

"I also hope, that if Kaylee … well, really it’s really me: my insecurities, my fears that have kept us apart. So I also hope that if I’m ever able to tell her how I feel she will want and accept my love, because it will be all I have to give. It isn’t enough, not for her, but I have to hope she will accept it, because her love will always be more than enough for me.”

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