Mal was almost usually the first one up in the morning at six am. First up, last to bed, except possibly for River who kept to some sort of schedule only her genius brain could fathom.

He did not think that Inara was the sort to do mornings. Back on Sihnon, girl was prolly the sort to lounge abed on satin sheets until at least 10 am. Her job required night hours anyways. So he was surprised to see her leaning over the railing, staring down at the cargo bay just outside her shuttle. Even more so to see her in just a silk kimono and bare feet, hair loosely knotted atop her head.

Mal had a sudden desire to undo that knot of curls. He stood a mere two feet behind her, admiring how the silk flowed over her backside. “Hey there. You’re up early.”

She turned her head to smile a bit at him. “Learning to keep Serenity’s hours, I guess.”

“Don’t mean much out here in the black. Morning or night, I mean. So why are you up at the rooster crow of dawn anyway?”

“Waiting for you.”

Mal blushed and stammered a bit. “For…me?”

Inara turned to look back out at the cargo bay. “Yes, Mal. for you. I don’t get up this early for just anyone, you know.”

OK, Reynolds, now would be a good time to tell her she looks nice.

“Well, all things considered, you look a helluva lot better’n I do at this hour.”

She smiled again, a bit sadly. “And me not even in my working clothes.”

Mal shuffled his feet. “Like you better this way.”

“And why is that?” She stretched backward from the railing, making the fabric of her kimono do even more sinful things than it had before.

He stepped closer. “You look like you’re real and whole. Not some doll that might break.”

She laughed. “I assure you, I won’t break.”

Another step closer. He could smell the jasmine in her hair. “I’m the sort of man who likes to find these things out first hand.”

“You intend to see if I will break?”

Mal came up right behind her. He could feel her backside against him and it was having a definite effect on how his pants were fitting. “Reckon so.”

Inara didn’t fail to notice. She shifted just a bit against him. “Do your worst, Captain.”

He’d spent far more nights in his bunk than he cared to say dreaming about this, playing it through in his head as he worked himself to release. If he suddenly woke up alone with a raging hard-on, he was gonna be pissed as hell.

Mal braced himself against the railing, pinning her in place “I always did love a challenge.”

He fisted his hands in her hair, leaned down and breathed a line of kissed down her neck. She arched back into him in response, causing him to harden even more. “This ain’t gonna wait for a bed, you know that?”

“Why do you think I was up this early waiting for you?”

Mal didn’t need to bother with a reply. He reached down and gently pulled upward on the kimono until the fabric rode around her waist, revealing a pair of sheer black panties. He gently slid them down to her knees, and then she did something else sinful with her backside until they pooled around her ankles and she stepped out of them.

He unbuttoned his pants and carefully eased them down over that raging hard-on. Under any other circumstance, with any other woman, he would have slowed down, taken his time and savored the moment. Here and now, he couldn’t. They couldn't. Too much pent-up lust and desire and want. He took ahold of her on either hip and buried himself inside her.

She gasped and tightened around him, ripping a groan from his throat. He was no gorram teen-ager and he was surely not going to spill right away if he could help it. “Easy there, darlin’. Don’t want this over before it barely gets started.”

Mal couldn’t remember any other woman he’d been with feeling this good around him, and he didn’t want to test that theory. He reached around to gently tease her breasts, causing her to rock back into him even more. Kisses were trailed down her neck as he thrust in and out, building the tension in both of them.

When she tightened around him again, in response to his caressing between her legs, it was his undoing. He came so hard that it was only his deathgrip on the railing that kept him anchored.

When his breathing finally slowed enough for him to speak, he leaned over and whispered in her ear. “Broken yet?”

“No, I don’t think so.”

“Guess I’ll just have to try harder the next time.”