Batteries Not Included

Life on board Serenity pleases Kaylee. In fact it pleases her so much that most of the time she could squeal with happiness. She loves everything about the ship, from that beautiful thrumming engine to the cozy little bunk that she’s made her own with all manner of trinkets -- mementos of every planet she’s ever visited.

Sometimes though, when Mal’s out of sorts and poor little River’s out of her head, Kaylee wants nothing more than to be alone someplace quiet. An open space where she can run and run and run ‘til her legs are too tired to go any longer and her lungs are bursting in her chest. Serenity may have given her a brand new life out in the black, but on bad days it’s more restricting than her home world ever was.

“We gonna be dirtside any time soon?” she asks as she scoops up mushed veggies on her fork and glares at them balefully.

“Ain’t like you to be scowling, Li’l Kaylee.” Mal looks at her over the top of his mug, the lines on his forehead drawn down into a worried frown.

Kaylee bites her lip and wills away the tears. She don’t like to be a concern to anyone. Most of the time she’s more’n happy with her lot.

“Reckon her best friend’s run out of batteries.” Jayne guffaws and when Kaylee throws the plate full of bread at him the only person looking the least bit surprised is the mercenary.

“I just wanted to see something different for a change. Ain’t much to ask to have a few hours away from you folks once in a while,” Kaylee says, getting up and heading over to the hatch. “Not that you ain’t all good people,” she adds before ducking through the exit.

The last thing she sees is Jayne pushing his half-full plate away from him and staring down at the table.

~~~

They finally hit dirt on a middle-of-nowhere planetoid that goes by the name of Bracken. There’s nothing here except for a couple of podunk towns and a distribution warehouse run by a notorious friend of Patience, but as far as Kaylee’s concerned it’s real and solid and the emptiness is a bonus.

“Reckon we can spare a few days for some rest and relaxation if that suits you all,” says Mal after the deal is complete and the flesh wound in his arm has been bandaged by Simon. Seems like friends of Patience are about as trustworthy as the lady herself.

There’s a certain amount of reluctance in the air at his words.

“Ain’t seen a brothel nor a bar nowhere,” grumbles Jayne.

“As long as I can still make my appointment on Osiris.” Inara peers dubiously out of the open airlock at an endless vista of trees and fields.

But Kaylee ain’t up for listening to no more grouchiness. Stepping outside, her bare feet speed up across the dusty ground until she’s running as fast as her legs can carry her and when she can’t run no more she collapses down into long strands of coarse grass that are sprouting in thick clumps from the banks of a slow moving river.

“Beautiful, just beautiful,” she says, rolling over and over and coming to a halt just before she falls into the lazy water.

After an hour spent baking in the sun her face begins to burn and, not wanting to end up looking like she's been roasted alive, she bounces to her feet and skips over to a sprawling tree which has leaves that shine like burnished copper. It’s been years since she climbed one, but the branches are fat and smooth and the rustling sound offers her the promise of some restful shade.

Pulling her small frame up onto the lowest limb, she looks around and spies a good place to settle, choosing her footholds carefully as she slowly makes her way upward. The branch she’s chosen is almost as wide as her mattress and has a natural dip along its uppermost side allowing her to nestle safely in the crook of its arm.

The peace she discovers here is only a fraction short of perfect. Some sweet stuff to munch on and a book to read would make this idyllic, but even without those extra pleasures she’s happy enough to settle herself into the curve of her makeshift bed and doze.

Sometime later her solitude is disturbed by the sound of splashing and she opens her eyes to see Jayne sitting on the river bank, wearing nothing but a pair of shorts as he dangles his feet in the water. She’s about to call to him when a small voice inside her whispers how much more fun it’d be to spy on the big man, getting him back for some of his mean comments.

Hitching in a breath, Kaylee stares intently as Jayne gets to his feet, looking around as if to make sure he’s alone. Maybe this is gonna get a whole lot more interesting. Chewing on a knuckle, she prays silently that Jayne’ll decide it’s quiet enough for some skinny dipping and, sure enough, he unfastens the catch on his shorts and pulls down the zipper. Kaylee makes certain to keep her breathing as quiet as possible as she waits impatiently for him to strip down to naked.

The pants fall to his ankles and Kaylee’s kind of shocked to discover that he’s wearing nothing underneath them. She thinks of all the times she's been pressed up close against that body when they’ve been playing ball and wonders whether he was commando then too.

Jayne has a gorgeous, muscular backside, just the perfect size for groping, and Kaylee wills him to turn around so she can ogle his other parts too, but then he takes a running jump into the river and it seems as if she ain’t destined to see his ji ba just yet. She can wait. He has to come out of the water sometime.

Kaylee ain’t a swimmer. She can just about manage a few feet with some furious flailing strokes before sinking beneath the surface. Jayne, however, is beautiful when he swims. He’s all muscle and power, exactly like he is on dry land, but there’s an added elegance when he’s in the water which makes Kaylee ache a little between her legs. This is new to her; she’s never wanted Jayne for sex before, but now… She gulps. Now it’s all she can think of.

Rolling over as silently as she can mange, she lays on her belly, the thickness and the undulating ridges of the branch resting against her as she watches the show. Jayne’s fully warmed up now, his body ripping through the water as he swims hard against the sluggish current, then diving down he flips over like a fish, coming back to the surface to do a stretch of backstroke, this time going with the flow of the river. Kaylee watches, mesmerised by his movements, examining the area between his legs and trying to get a good view of his cock as it swings from side to side -- an enticing hint of dark pink flesh. Gorramit, she wants to see more.

Finally, she gets her wish as he climbs out into the long grass, shaking water droplets off him like a dog. He’s a beautiful mass of curved muscle and solid bone. All animal, all male -- sleek and tanned and big where it counts most. His cock and balls hang heavy, jiggling provocatively as he brushes off the remainder of the water and Kaylee licks dry lips, watching his penis thicken a little as his body acclimatises to the warmth of the sun.

He flattens out a bed of grass and lies down slightly to one side, his genitals flopping luxuriantly against a backdrop of hairy skin, and as he runs a hand down his flank, that cock stiffens just a small amount.

Kaylee pushes down with her hands until she’s resting astride the branch then swings a leg around until she’s seated properly, feet dangling like a little girl. Searching through the twigs she picks a few prickly half-formed fruits from where they’re hiding beneath the leaves and drops them into her lap. Once she has a fair number piled up, she begins to toss them at Jayne. The first one lands a few feet short of its target and her brow furrows in concentration, then when the second one misses by a mile, that frown turns to a pout of frustration. It doesn't take long for her to get her aim in, though, and she smiles when Jayne opens his eyes and swats away the missiles which have landed on his belly. A few hits later she laughs as the prickled hooks of one of the fruits gets caught up on the thick pelt of hair that covers his body. Untangling the small object, he looks around in consternation at the unexpected sound coming from the trees.

“Reckon the sight of you spread naked is making me wish I’d brought along my battery powered friend.”

“Aiya!” Jayne jumps to his feet. “Kaylee? Where the gorram hell are you?”

He still hasn’t spotted her and she laughs again. “Up here, you big lunk.”

His eyes wander a path through the branches and she can tell immediately from his expression when he discovers her hiding place.

“You are one bad girl, Kaywinnit. Spying on a man when he’s taking a quiet swim.”

She loves the way Jayne stands there so proud. His cock has filled out a little more at the idea of being watched and Kaylee clenches tight, feeling that delicious ache between her legs as this new found desire burns through her. She laughs again at Jayne’s ticked off face.

“If’n you don’t get down here right now then I’m coming up to fetch you.”

“Better do just that then,” she says. “Not that you’ll be able to manage it with that big old body of yours,” she adds teasingly.

“Big, yeah well that’s a given, but old? I’ll show you how old I am.”

Swinging up into the tree, the first thing Jayne succeeds in doing is banging his head on the underside of a branch. Kaylee winces sympathetically, but his sad puppy look makes her giggle more than ever.

“You’d laugh at a man when he’s hurt, girl? You’re a cruel one for sure.”

All the time Jayne’s talking he’s making his way through the tree and the closer he gets, the more Kaylee’s body begins to hum with anticipation.

“I only laugh at big old exhibitionist lunks.” She tucks her feet up under her, just out of reach of Jayne’s grabbing hand then a moment later looks around in confusion. “Hey! Where you gone? You ain’t fallen out, have you?”

There’s a rustling sound coming from all around her then she squeals in surprise as a naked man drops down from above and catches her in his arms.

“’M right here, baobei.”

Kaylee turns to melted mush at the feel of that sun-warmed body surrounding her. She’d like to tease him some more, but right now every part of her is in danger of spontaneously combusting.

“Ain’t you gonna kiss me, Jayne Cobb?” she asks and he answers with a tongue that presses against her lips, opening her up and exploring every part of her mouth with determined swipes.

His cock, which had been at half-mast last time she looked, now stands full and hard, rubbing up against her as he leans in for more of those kisses. She can’t wait to touch him, wants to know how good it’ll feel with that big prick teasing at her clit and then pushing inside her. How come she’s never thought about sex with Jayne before?

“Seems to me like you’re wearing way too many clothes, pretty girl.”

Jayne's words are punctuated with more kisses and she melts a whole lot more when he unzips her coveralls and pulls them off her shoulders. His hand squirms its way under her tee-shirt and as he cups her left breast she lets out this sigh of delight.

“Want you so gorram bad,” he says pinching the swollen nipple between finger and thumb.

“Jayne,” she murmurs, pushing greedily into his touch and wriggling out of her coveralls. The clothing falls unwanted to the ground as he kisses her again, running a finger under the waistband of her panties then dipping lower and pressing the tip against her aching clit.

“So wet and horny for me, ain’t you,” he says as she cants her hips and lets him have his way with her. “Want to hear you come.”

She lays back, legs dangling down, tee-shirt hiked up, and sighs with happiness as Jayne sits astride the branch, fingering her with one hand and stroking his cock with the other.

“Come for me,” he says a few minutes later, his voice all gravelly with need and, giving in to her pleasure, she does just that, riding his fingers as he circles her clitoris with his thumb and drags her to a sudden climax. Swooping down, he rips off those panties and buries his face in pussy, tongue busy inside her, licking up her juices and drawing out that orgasm to a blissfully long conclusion.

Allowing herself a few moments to recover she then sits up. “Lean against the trunk of the tree,” she says and when he obeys she shrugs off her tee-shirt and climbs into his lap. She can feel him trembling with need as his ji ba presses thick and warm against her.

“Can’t rut here,” he says in between more of those hungry kisses. “Too dangerous.”

“Can’t rut anywhere without rubbers,” smiles Kaylee, taking Jayne in hand and stroking him slow and smooth. “Don’t want no little ‘un filling up my belly,” she says and the kicker is that soft inner voice of hers which adds an unexpected ‘not yet,’ to the end of the sentence.

“Gonna screw you good when we get back to the ship, baobei,” groans Jayne as he rests his head against the tree and watches her jack him off with a spit-wet hand. “Gonna screw you and lick you and make you come for me over and over again.”

Kaylee’s ready for more and she takes his hand and presses it against her pussy, letting him feel how much she’s enjoying this sexing of theirs. “Want to come again now,” she murmurs, licking a pathway of kisses up his neck.

Jayne’s moaning; fucking her with his hand, fucking her with his eyes and his mouth and she’s giving as good as she gets, fist flying as she strokes him off hard and rocks against his fingers. When he yells out she draws every drop of spunk out of him then kneels up and works herself to climax with the heel of his hand pressed firm against her pussy and his mouth sucking fiercely at her nipple.

After they’re both done she curls up against him and wonders, despite Jayne’s earlier words, whether this is a one time only thing. She hopes it’s not. She can see a future for herself and for once it doesn’t involve a whole load of batteries.

~~~

Kaylee and Jayne arrive back at Serenity in a fluster of arousal. Having had a taste of how much fun is on offer, both of them are eager for more and barely make it as far as Jayne’s bunk before getting naked.

Zoë bumps into the new couple making out beside the hatch and raises an inquisitive eyebrow, but neither of them have the time or the inclination to respond to her wordless question. Tumbling down the ladder, they strip out of their clothes then Kaylee locks her arms around Jayne’s neck, leaning in for soft nipping kisses and shoving at him with her hips until he falls backward onto his bed, taking her down with him.

Crouched between Jayne’s legs Kaylee licks a stripe of saliva up his cock and listens to the throaty rumbles of encouragement as he lies there spread-eagled, fingers hooked behind his neck as he watches her go down on him.

“That’s it, girl. Suck my ji ba. Suck me with that pretty mouth of yours.”

Kaylee loves that Jayne’s a talker; nothing turns her on more than a man with a dirty mouth and an honest enjoyment of sex. Doing as he asks she leans in, taking that fat knob between her lips and then teasing the slit with the tip of her tongue.

“Rutting hell,” he mutters, arching up from the mattress, “You got more than just mechanical skills, that’s for sure.”

She giggles and sucks harder at his prick, taking in more of the shaft, inch by velvety inch, and mouthing at it with soft lips until he’s thrashing and near on pushing her away in desperation.

“Don’t wanna come yet,” he breathes then, pulling her upwards so that she’s kneeling astride his face, he suckles at her clitoris until once again she’s on the point of climax, the roughness of his beard stimulating her and making her whine with ever increasing delight.

Ignoring his wishes she twists around, reclaiming her territory until that thick cock is right back where it belongs, sliding in and out between her lips. Hips bucking frantically Jayne sucks and licks at her until she’s coming--coming like nothing on earth--taking him deep down into her throat and breathing in sun and sweat and sex. He’s squirming and she can feel how hard he has to work to restrain himself, but despite this he concentrates on her pleasure, bringing her off in rolling waves of bliss with his tongue. Finally, when she’s convinced that she’s gonna pass out from sensual overload, her orgasm is over and she turns into a quivering heap of bonelessness, sprawled over him with his hard on resting heavy between her open lips.

“Shiny,” she murmurs, her mouth muffled by cock.

Kaylee’s always been suspicious of Jayne’s obsession with whores, but now she understands it fully. The big man has an uninhibited need for sex and has learned a whole lot from his time spent in brothels. He knows women, understands how to please them, and Kaylee can’t keep the smile off her face as she watches him reach in his drawer for condoms.

“Can’t wait to rut with you.” he says matter-of-factly, passing her the unwrapped rubber.

Shaking with excitement she takes hold of his ji ba, feeling it twitch at her touch then having rolled the sheath down the length of his shaft, she gives his balls a quick squeeze and crawls cat-like over him, smiling at his impatient expression. Taking the base of his cock loosely in her right hand, she nudges the head between the lips of her pussy, hips gyrating enough to tease her new lover to a state of craziness.

“Hell, Kaylee. Fuck. Oh fuck.” Jayne groans, his eyes fixed on hers as she sinks lower, both of them moaning with excitement as the walls of her pussy are stretched in delicious fashion. “Ain’t gonna…”

Kaylee can see how close to coming Jayne is and takes pity. She’s the lucky one, relaxed as hell from her orgasm, all dripping wet and ready to enjoy him. “Too much?” she asks and when he gulps and nods she slides off his body, laying down on that narrow bunk and letting him lead the play at a rate he can deal with.

Licking a pattern of kisses over her body and neck, he lingers at her ear, teasing her lobe with his teeth. “Too good,” he whispers as his cock nudges at her pussy, entering her inch by torturous inch. “Too good for me.”

“Not so, Jayne Cobb,” she answers, taking his mouth in a long, tongue-heavy kiss. “Reckon you’re just right.”

As a result of those words the sexual tension in the confined space of Jayne’s bunk becomes almost palpable and their rutting takes on a will of its own. Talking, even dirty talk, stops happening and soon there’s just the slap and slide of eager sexing that feels so great Kaylee can’t even think straight. Her body reacts of its own accord as Jayne fucks her, pulling all the way out to tease at her clit then slamming back in until she’s yelling out like a feng le whore all dosed up on poppers.

“So good, so good,” she murmurs over and over and when Jayne kneels up she raises her legs automatically so allow him easier access to all of her. He leans forward and begins screwing her with these intense strokes that melt her from the inside out until she can’t get enough of this -- of him.

“Play with yourself,” he says. “Wanna watch you frig that pretty ji bai of yours.”

Kaylee licks dry lips then pops two sex-scented fingers into her mouth, smiling a little as Jayne’s eyes widen with excitement. Reaching down she begins to circle her swollen clit with the tips of those fingers, feeling the excitement building inside both of them as she clenches tight, first wave of pre-orgasm rippling through her then bucking into his thrusts she hollers out his name, “Jayne. Jayne.” And she don’t give a rut who hears her because this ain’t about anyone else but them.

In contrast Jayne comes quietly, letting out this slow sigh of absolute pleasure as his body goes rigid, sweat pouring off him in glistening trails, and the way he looks at her after he’s done is more special than the sex.

Pulling the condom off his softening ji ba, Kaylee knots it then tosses it into a corner amongst a pile of dirty laundry and curls back around her new lover, filled with satisfaction at the strange turn of events that have led her to be sharing his bunk. Things are good, she thinks. Jayne sure knows how to fuck. Now all she has to do is persuade him to remove some of the ugly old guns that are decorating his wall space.

“Wanted you so long,” he mumbles, on the point of fading away to sleep.

Hell, she thinks, maybe she can deal with them guns after all.

~~~

The next day Kaylee overhears a conversation that makes her smile from ear to ear.

“She’s gotta be young enough to be your daughter,” says Mal. “Gorramit, Jayne, she’s almost young enough to be mine.”

“Don’t see what age has got to do with it.” Jayne shoves the cargo into the smugglers' chambers. “Kaylee’s something special, but she ain’t no sweet little virgin. That girl can suck the-”

“Tianna!” Mal sounds so horrified that Kaylee has to clap a hand over her mouth to stop the laughter from escaping. “I don’t wanna hear nothing about what you to get up to in the sack. Just make sure this don’t cause problems with the rest of the crew… and treat her right, dong ma?”

“Ain’t intending to do anything but that, Cap’n,” says Jayne and he sounds so sincere that Kaylee’s smile grows wide enough for it to hurt. Not wanting to be caught listening in to their private conversation she heads quietly up the steps to the galley to start preparing food for supper, smile fading a little as she thinks about her and Jayne’s first family meal together as a couple.

The news about their new found status has circulated fast and Kaylee’s expecting to receive a few strange looks. Despite her happiness, she’s actually kind of nervous when it comes to sharing a table with everyone, but this isn’t the case with Jayne who makes sure he gets to sit next to her and passes her bowls of food with a gloriously content expression on his face. Loosening up, she stops gazing shyly at her plate and begins to join in with the conversation and when Jayne slides a hand into her lap she inclines toward him, resting her head against his shoulder. This is a sight easier than she imagined; they have Mal’s permission to be together, the rest of the crew appear to be unfazed and only Simon looks a little irked. Maybe he does have feelings for her after all.

After supper’s over and the doctor’s helping her clear away the dishes, Kaylee decides it’s a good idea to clear the air at the same time.

“You ain’t upset about me and Jayne, are you?” she says as she wipes down the counter. “Only it didn’t seem as if you and I were ever gonna get around to having sex.”

Simon blushes from his hairline to his toes. “Kaylee, do you have to be…”

His sentence tapers out to a long sigh and the way his eyes turn to Jayne who’s sitting puzzling over a weapons manual makes Kaylee think that maybe it wasn’t her he was taken with after all.

“You’re always so forthright about things,” he finishes helplessly.

“Ain’t no point in being anything else,” she says with a shrug. “If’n things need saying then the best idea is to say ‘em.”

“Well then,” Simon looks at Jayne again and there’s a hint of wistfulness there that leaves Kaylee feeling guilty. “I wish you both well.”

They finish the cleaning amidst a long lasting silence which as far as Kaylee’s concerned is less about the awkward moment they just shared and more to do with the idea of Simon being a little sly over her man. Her dirty imagination is working overtime.

Once everything’s tidy and Simon’s hurried off to hide out in the infirmary, Kaylee stealthily approaches Jayne, wrapping her arms around him and kissing his neck. “Got some work for you,” she says, snatching the book out of his hands and tossing it to one side. Tugging him to his feet she leads him away from the dining area through hatchways and along the fore passage.

“What in the name of di yu needs doing in here?” asks Jayne, looking around in confusion when they end up in Kaylee’s tiny bunk.

Kaylee laughs because he is such a sweet dolt. He may be loud and crude and insulting but, honest to god, he’s as guileless as a baby at times. What you see with Jayne Cobb is what you get and Kaylee likes what she sees very much indeed.

“Only me,” she answers, unzipping her coveralls and stepping out of them.

Jayne’s eyes grow dark and he swipes at his lower lip with a wet slip of tongue. Kaylee watches transfixed as his cock thickens to a solid bar, distending the material of his pants as it rises to a full hard on. Next thing she knows, another pair of panties bite the dust as he tears them off her with greedy fingers.

~~~

Sometimes the only time to really hear Serenity is when the ship is in sleep mode and everyone’s bedded down for the night. Kaylee loves these quiet moments; just her and her girl wiling away the hours together as she tweaks the G-line and listens to how Serenity responds.

“What you doing down here at this kind of hour, baobei?” asks a sleep-roughened voice that echoes along the corridor.

Kaylee smiles at Jayne who’s standing there in the hatchway wearing nothing more than a pair of blue cotton boxers which are hanging at a precarious angle off his hips.

“Got work to do,” she answers, leaning over the open casing and peering inside at Serenity’s working parts.

She’s wearing this real skimpy shirt and can hear that slight intake of breath as Jayne gets a good view of her behind.

“What you do to me,” he groans, stepping forward and pressing up against her. “You’re gonna kill me with all this rutting.”

“Ain’t doing a thing to you,” she says innocently, rocking a little and enjoying the feel of his erection resting solid against her backside. “Just getting on with my work. Fact is you’re the one disturbing me, mister.”

She stands upright and then turns around speedily, shoving at him with palms and hips, and just for a second there’s a worried look on Jayne’s face.

Oh, but he’s shuai, thinks Kaylee as she eyes him up and down. That thick carpet of hair, a barrel chest and firm belly, sensitive dark nipples and muscles to die for -- all of this makes Jayne Cobb the most desirable man she’s ever bedded. After three months of togetherness she’s as greedy for him as always and the way his cock is arching defiantly out of the slit in his shorts makes her hungrier and wetter than ever.

“You’re a bad man,” she says. “Now drop those skivvies and go stand with your face to the wall.

His ji ba twitches with excitement as the shorts slip to the floor, thin material pooling around his ankles, and Kaylee’s mouth floods with saliva.

“Do as I say,” she says, watching with increasing excitement as Jayne steps out of his underwear and strides naked over to the bulkhead, arms raised, palms placed flat on the metal surface. Bridging the distance between them, Kaylee dips a finger into her wet pussy, hips bucking with excitement, then with her other hand she reaches around and grips his cock.

“Spread your legs,” she mutters.

“Xingan, please,” he groans as her hand remains still on his parts.

“I’m touching myself,” she murmurs, “I’m all sticky wet, just ‘cause of you.” She begins to frig, the sound of her masturbation echoing around the metal chamber of the engine room. “Want me to finger you instead?”

“Fuck, yes.”

Wetting herself up with spit, she pushes her hand into the crack of his butt then, searching for the tiny indent, she begins teasing the muscle ring open whilst running a dry palm loosely up his diao.

“You like them whores doing this to you?” she asks, wicked dirty images of Jayne being serviced by a whole brothel of girls filling up her head.

“Hell yes,” he answers, pushing back against her.

“Take more’n one at a time?”

“Took as many as I could afford,” he grunts.

Kaylee likes the past tense of that sentence. Whilst she loves the fantasy of Jayne rutting with a dog-pile of women she’s also very glad he’s showing no inclination to continue doing it.

“You got a fascination for me and whorehouses?” he asks his voice coming gritty with arousal as she continues to rub away at his entrance, her other hand beginning to glide up and down his ji ba.

“I like thinking of you in ‘em,” she says then adds sheepishly, “and I kinda like the idea of a being able to pay for a rut and get exactly what you want.” Rich women can buy time with Companions, but amongst poorer folk it still ain’t expected for girls to want some no-strings time with a man. “Anyway, I reckon most of the boys in the brothels are sly,” she adds speculatively.

“Should think there’s a few who ain’t.”

Jayne’s voice is little more than a growl and as he arches against her she knows he’s ready. Pressing carefully she enjoys the strangeness of the sensation as her finger is sucked inside that burning hot, silky-soft place. Not for the first time she wishes she had a cock rather than a pussy. It must be a shiny feeling to be able to fuck a lover and also get fucked when you want. Men are so gorram lucky it ain’t true.

Crooking her finger she finds the knot of tissue and begins to massage it, her right hand slicking that drizzle of pre-come over him and jerking him proper with slow, determined strokes.

“Kaylee, gorramit, I’m gonna shoot. Don’t wanna come yet. Please, girl.”

Clamping her hand around the base of Jayne’s dick, she squeezes tight and carries on fingering his prostate gently. “S’okay,” she says her lips resting against the skin of his back and after a few minutes of this delicate massage he shudders in her arms and she knows he’s come dry.

“How was that?” she asks.

“Good.” Jayne rests his head on the panelling. “Perfect maybe.”

Withdrawing her finger she lets go of his stiff dick and clasps both arms around his belly, letting him recover his senses some. She may be as horny as hell, but she can wait; it’s peaceful just resting close up together.

“Wanna fuck you,” he says eventually.

“There’s condoms in the bottom tray of my tool box.”

Turning, he gives her this look of surprise and admiration and she laughs with delight and goes to fetch the rubbers from her kit which, truth be told, is full of all kinds of stuff. Kaylee’s a highly charged girl and she never knows when she might feel like a little personal time in her hammock.

Jayne bends over examining the contents. “So this is why you come down here so often,” he says, fishing inside and fetching out a blue latex dildo then waving it at her.

Kaylee laughs. “You got your jianhuo and I got my toys,” she says with a cheeky grin as she tears a condom packet off the roll and springs to her feet.

“Don’t need either one of them now,” he says, tugging at the elastic of her panties with his teeth then peeling them down over her bum. “You got me to make you come whenever you want.”

Spreading her pussy with his fingers, he presses delicate little kisses all over the sensitive flesh until Kaylee’s hanging on tight to the metal framework of the ship and on the point of begging.

Too little can be amazing, she thinks as her body begins to hum with approval. “You telling me you don’t jerk off in the shower?” she asks to take her mind off coming.

“Not so much as I used to.” Jayne looks up with glossy lips and shiny eyes. “Tell me what you think about when you’re playing with yourself.” His mouth returns to her pussy, teasing it some more with soft licks and swipes of his tongue.

“Mostly I think about you and them whores,” she says honestly. Well honest to an extent because sometimes she thinks about Jayne and Simon together and it gets her from nought to climax in about ten seconds when she needs it quick. “I think about you and a bed full of women who you’ve paid to make you feel good.”

“Gorramit, girl. I gotta have you now,” declares Jayne urgently, getting to his feet and hefting her into his arms. “Condom,” he says as he pushes her up against the wall and, hanging on tight to his neck, she passes him the sheath. Tearing the packet open with teeth and fingers, he bucks at the sensation as the roll of rubber glides down over him and as his knob presses against her clit she feels an orgasm build rapidly inside her belly.

Writhing a little, Jayne adjusts the way Kaylee’s seated in his arms and then when his cock nudges at her entrance she makes these breathy sighs of delight that increase in volume as he begins to fill her up, inch by gorgeous inch. This whole session has been about teasing and delicacy, but now everything shifts up a gear. Jayne’s mouth closes over hers and kissing her deep and fucking her deeper, he slams his cock in and out of her pussy, setting every part of her on overdrive. His body hair rubs up against her clit, his fingers caress her breasts and she wonders from now on if every time she sees a wall she’s going to beg to be fucked hard against it. Seems likely.

“So good, wo ai ren,” she blurts out as she tumbles over into climax, gripping him tightly with her legs.

Looking at her, his eyes as wide as she’s ever seen them, Jayne comes with a shudder. “Wo ai ni,” he says uncertainly.

~~~

Jayne’s love becomes apparent to everyone when Kaylee gets injured during a job. It’s nothing major, just a broken ankle from falling off the mule, but the mercenary cusses the whole crew out and then carries Kaylee to the infirmary as if she’s made out of glass and is about to smash into tiny pieces.

After Simon fixes her up, Jayne fusses around like he’s her momma rather than her lover and although she might appear vexed with him at times it’s more than shiny to know how very safe she is this with this new man of hers.

“Am I happy you decided to go skinny dipping that day,” she says, snuggling up to Jayne as they lounge on the seats in the living area. Swallowing the final inch of her tea she hands the mug to him and he places it on the table for her.

“Never thought you’d look at me.” Jayne pulls her toward him until she’s resting with her head in his lap and as he strokes her hair she drifts on the boundaries of sleep.

“How could I not look at you when you was laying there all naked?” she murmurs. Memories of that day generate a flood of warmth and she peeks up at him though half-lidded eyes, expecting to see a matching look of desire on his face. That ain’t the case though. In fact Jayne looks solemn, thoughtful even, which has to be said is kind of unusual for him.

“Been looking at you for years, baobei,” he says and all of a sudden Kaylee knows that all those mean comments slung her way were only because he was shut out and hurting because of it.

“You could’ve said something.” Kaylee hoists herself up until she’s leaning against his shoulder, looking upward into dark blue eyes that are verging on frightened.

“I weren’t what you wanted,” he explains and Kaylee feels a knot of anguish tighten inside her chest. She’s wasted so much time.

“Maybe not then, but things are a whole lot different now, ai ren,” she says, wanting to add a chunk of words to the end of that sentence, but she ain’t quite ready to do that.

Even so Jayne’s looking a sight happier and when he pulls her in for a kiss she can feel the love and the lust and the need all jumbled up inside him. Things heat up the way they always do and it ain’t long before Kaylee has her hand in Jayne’s pants and Jayne has her coveralls pulled down and is shamelessly finger fucking her towards one of those lingering climaxes.

“Captain would say get a room,” says River’s voice.

“Too gorram right, captain would say that. Captain is saying that.”

When Kaylee looks up Mal’s there, arms folded, frowning at the pair of them with River standing just behind him, an inquisitive look on her face.

“Sorry, Cap’n,” Kaylee says, giving Jayne’s cock a final squeeze. Then, as she removes her hand from the open fly, Mal gets a perfect view of his mercenary’s erection and grimaces at the unwanted sight.

“I ain’t sorry,” says Jayne with a grin as Kaylee tucks him away safe.

“Can’t say as I thought you would be.” Mal’s full on glowering now. “Now by my reckoning you have two serviceable bunks between the pair of you, so be kind to the rest of us and go put one of them to good use.”

Kaylee don’t have a problem with this idea at all. Nothing feels better to her then being hauled up over Jayne’s shoulder and carried off somewhere to play.

~~~

For a while life is better than Kaylee could ever imagine and the only fly in the ointment is finding enough room to sleep. She’d love them to share a bed permanently, but neither of their bunks have enough space and more often than not, once Jayne is snoring away merrily, she ends up sneaking back to her own.

Then five months into their relationship things inexplicably begin to get frayed. Kaylee ain’t sure what’s up; all she does know is that closer they get to Santo the edgier Jayne becomes. At first she thinks he’s got himself mixed up in some trouble there and it’s gonna be Higgin’s Moon all over again, but for some reason she’s certain that ain’t it. They’ve been to Santo City and St Ives many a time and Jayne’s never had a problem before.

Tipped off about some stolen jewels being smuggled via an unusual carrier they swoop in and rustle the shipment away from the thieves, the only problem being that they now have a cargo hold full of sheep and have to check each one over to find the goods that have been sewn into a woolly coat.

“Smacking sheep ain’t as satisfying as smacking cattle then?” asks Mal as Jayne snarls and tries to keep hold of the violently wriggling beast while Wash checks it over.

“Sheep crap ain’t my favourite smell,” grunts the mercenary.

“And yet an improvement on your own.” Wash smirks and then finds out what it’s like to get soundly smacked on the butt by Jayne.

“Enough now, boys,” says Book who is paired up with the captain for sheep checking duties. “Sooner we get this done-“

“Sooner we can have roast lamb for dinner?” Wash interrupts with a grin.

“Now that I could go for if’n…” Jayne’s voice wanders away to nothingness as he makes a grab for another sheep. “Are you certain there’s diamonds in these here animals?”

Kaylee’s been watching all this from above and whilst it’s a pretty funny sight seeing the four men all at sea over a flock of sheep, in truth it only gets her more worked up over her own big dolt. They’ve been together for a long time now and though she hasn’t mentioned specific words to Jayne she’s getting fuller of feelings every day. Last thing she wants is him doing something dumb that’s gonna mess them up.

“Has Jayne said anything to you?” she asks Zoë who’s standing next to her at the railing, yelling encouragement to her husband.

“Is there a reason why this is a men only job?” shouts Wash from the hold.

“Women are allergic to sheep crap,” answers Zoë with a wide grin then she frowns and looks over at Kaylee. “What would Jayne be talking to me about?”

“Oh, guns and other kinds of stuff, you know.” Kaylee feels a blush rise. “It’s just he seems a mite out of sorts right now.”

“He ain’t his usual amicable self… oh wait now.” Zoë bursts into laughter.

Kaylee pouts and pokes the older woman in the ribs. “You’re starting to sound like your husband.”

Zoë laughs even more. “Wo de ma,” she snorts, “God help us all if that happens to you too.”

“Zoë, I ain’t funning,”

“I’m sorry, meimei. It’s just the notion of you turning into Jayne…” The woman dissolves into fits of laughter again and Kaylee gives up.

They go back to watching the antics, waiting for the culmination which happens when Wash hits jackpot and finds a small bag neatly stitched into the underside of a woolly belly and carefully cuts it free with his knife.

“These are top grade gems,” says Book, assaying each one carefully before tightening the drawstring and handing the leather sack back to the captain.

“Well that’s a relief,” Mal smiles at the preacher. “Don’t want to be going through all that for a bundle of paste. Now all we have to do is drop the sheep off at the Norland ranch,” Mal checks his timepiece, “and by the look of things we’ll easily be in time to meet up with our friendly jewel fence in St Ives.”

The captain sounds a very content man as he pockets the bag full of gemstones, but right now Kaylee ain’t concerned with Mal’s state of happiness. Instead she’s focusing on the mercenary who’s becoming more and more nervous as time goes on.

“Do we still get the night off like you said, Mal?” Jayne asks.

“Yep.” The captain pats him on the back. “Once the transaction’s been done you’re a free man for a whole day… ‘cepting of course that you have Li’l Kaylee up there to tell you what you’re gonna be doing.”

Jayne answers with an oddly apprehensive laugh. “Can I go get cleaned up?” he asks, looking down unhappily at his beige pants which are stained brown with muck.

“Not until we dump off them animals. For now you’d better get used to the stink.”

Kaylee leaves the men to it, fed up to the teeth with seeing Jayne all surly and mean. She takes the best kind of time out, keeping herself busy in the engine room, and the only thing that makes her aware of hours passing is the roll and yaw of Serenity as she takes off and lands a couple of times, never breaking atmo.

“Been looking for you, baobei,” says a familiar gruff voice. “Was wondering if you had a fancy to go somewhere tonight. St Ives ain’t exactly Core living, but it’s nice enough.”

Kaylee looks up to see Jayne wearing his best pants and striped shirt. His goatee is trimmed neatly and he even has a smart jacket slung across his arm ready to put on.

“You look mighty shuai.” She appraises him, eyes shining brightly. “I’m thinking we should just stay in.”

When that edgy look returns to Jayne’s face Kaylee has a minor panic attack. The annoying little thought that’s been nagging away at her pops back into her brain and her belly rolls over in fear. He ain’t… He wouldn’t be thinking… It’s too soon.

“Put on that pretty blue dress of yours that I like,” he says, smoothing down the material of his shirt.

Kaylee pouts. “S’pose I don’t want to.” She pulls away when he leans in for a kiss.

“Kaywinnit, don’t be like that.”

Now he’s frowning and she’s sulking and it’s all because he’s being a gorram moonbrain with a tendency for taking things too far and too fast.

“Please,” he says. “I just wanna take my girl out somewhere for the night. Somewhere away from this gorram ship.”

Kaylee does a quick rethink. Maybe she’s on the wrong track. There’s most likely times when Jayne gets as sick of Serenity as she does. “Okay, xingan.” She kisses him on the lips and then withdraws before tongues get involved. “I’ll finish adjusting the power ratio of the fuel cells and then get to showering.”

“Be quick now,” he says, his gaze shifting from side to side in awkward fashion which does nothing to reassure Kaylee.

Once the sounds of his booted footsteps have faded to silence, Kaylee tightens the screws on the casing then crouches down on the floor, replacing all her tools and shutting the lid of the box. After the engine room has been made pristine, she wanders her way along Serenity’s passageways, taking the long way ‘round to the crew deck so as not to bump into Jayne. She’s so lost in thought that just outside the infirmary she crashes into Simon who’s on his way back from the stores, by the look of things, replenishing supplies of bandages and distilled water.

“Duibuqi,” she says, helping him pick up the packages.

“Are you okay, Kaylee?” The doctor cocks his head to one side and stares thoughtfully at her.

“I’m fine. Why wouldn’t I be?” Kaylee frowns and shoves an open box of dressings at him.

“Jayne’s not treating you badly, is he?” Simon’s gazing rather obviously at a bruise on her forearm which is the result of a memorable all nighter she and Jayne pulled down in the engine room. They always end up playing hard when they’re in there.

“No,” she snaps. “He’s treating me as good as gold. Not that it has anything to do with you.”

Simon would be happy enough for Jayne to treat him the same way, thinks Kaylee and then, all of a sudden, she ain’t sulking no more and the smile that’s been missing for a while sneaks back onto her face. She’s a fool that’s for sure, worrying about the little things so much they’re spoiling the goodness that’s right here.

“Can’t stand here talking all day,” she says, “I got me a date with a big handsome feller who’s all dressed up and waiting for me.”

Sluggish pace turning into a mad scurry, she leaves Simon to pick up the rest of the boxes and races through the cargo hold and up the steps in the direction of the crew deck. Showering as quickly as she can, she shaves away any excess body hair and her pussy lips puff with excitement as she runs the blade over them. She ain’t had a proper date with Jayne since they’ve been together.

Returning to her bunk to get dressed, she dries her hair and twists it up, securing the strands with painted chopsticks. Then tingling all over with fear-laced excitement she pulls on a pair of delicate blue panties and slips on her cheongsam, shivering when the silk slinks over her body as if it’s alive.

“I’m ready for you, Jayne Cobb,” she whispers into the mirror. “Reckon I’m ready for anything.” Stepping into some high heeled sandals she gives herself a final once over before dabbing on some lightly scented green tea fragrance. “Ready for anything,” she repeats and heads for the living area where Jayne’ll be sitting at the table pouring over weapons manuals and waiting impatiently for her.

Kaylee knows her man real well and smiles when she sees him sitting exactly where she expects him to be. Looking up, he puts down the book and casts an appreciative eye over her which makes her blush with happiness. She ain’t the sort for wearing dresses and such--how can you strip down a grav dampener wearing a skirt and high heels?--but that lustful look makes it all worthwhile. Just on occasion though.

“Coming then, Mr Cobb?” she asks, holding out her hand.

“Ain’t too far from it.” Jayne stands up, very obviously adjusting the lie of his cock which results in a huff of irritation from Mal.

“What I tell you, Jayne?” says the captain, not giving him time to answer. “Keep your crudeness to your ownself ‘til you’re in private.”

“Yeah, Mal,” says Jayne, tipping him a wink. “Best me and Kaylee get somewhere private quick then ‘fore my John Thomas grows any more excited.”

Kaylee giggles. “See y’all later,” she says, wondering again if her instincts are right. Things could be very different when they get back to the ship tomorrow, she thinks and a shiver of apprehension runs through her.

“Bye, meimei,” says Zoë and the last thing Kaylee hears as Jayne takes her arm and leading her down to the cargo hold is the first mate demanding a date night from her husband.

“Take me out dancing, zhangfu.”

Kaylee’s too far away to hear Wash’s response. Do things change when you’re married, she wonders as she steps delicately down the ramp and onto the quayside.

“Where’re we going then?” she asks as Jayne hails a taxi.

“S’for me to know,” he replies a mite brusquely and as she grabs his arm she can feel him shaking with nerves so much so that the western hat he’s wearing almost falls off his head.

“Everything okay, ai ren?” She takes hold of his hand as they sit in the backseat of the open top vehicle.

“Hope so,” he says in a sombre tone and Kaylee snuggles in to him.

What is the big lunk up to?

“Where to?” asks the driver and as Jayne reels off the address the man looks over his shoulder and grins at his passengers then puts his foot down and weaves the taxi through streets which are teeming with all kinds of folks.

“What the di yu is this place?” Kaylee asks when they stop outside a low sprawling building that’s built out of sandy coloured blocks of stone.

Jayne shrugs and pays the driver. “Patience, girl, you’ll see soon enough,” he says as he takes her hand and helps her out of the vehicle in gentlemanly manner.

Now Kaylee was expecting to be entertained in style. She was looking forward to some good food with luxury items to make her taste buds tingle with happiness. She was hoping for crystal chandeliers and soft music and a night spent dancing away with her sweetie. She wasn’t expecting to arrive all done up at the door of a place that looks more like the town jail than anything else.

Jayne keeps hold of her hand, squeezing her fingers so hard they’re on the point of being crushed to bone meal.

“Jayne,” she whispers urgently, trying to tug herself free from the vise-like force he’s exerting on her.

“’M sorry, baobei,” Raising her hand to his lips he kisses each finger. “Forget my own strength at times.”

“Don’t want you worrying about it ever,” says Kaylee, her eyes lighting up in memory of some of the ways he’s used that muscle power during their sexing. “Love the things you do to me.”

It ain’t really the thing to be kissing the breath out of each other on the doorstep of an unknown building in the backstreets of a rough and ready town, but Kaylee don’t care. Soon as her lips make contact with Jayne’s she’s lost, panties getting damper by the second as she curves up against his growing hard on. Even the rapping at the door doesn’t distract her and it’s only when there’s a creaking sound and a voice coming from inside the building that she pulls away from Jayne.

“Ni hao, Mr Cobb. It’s always a pleasure to see you.”

The tiny woman welcoming them inside looks refined enough to be Core, but her heavy accent sounds as if she originates from somewhere around the Georgia system.

“Zhufu ni, Madam,” says Jayne and Kaylee starts a little on hearing the mercenary using such formal language.

He continues speaking. “Did you get my wave?”

“Yes, Mr Cobb. All arrangements have been made. Please follow me.”

Covered in a whirl of confusion, Kaylee holds on tight to Jayne’s hand, wondering what in the name of Ye su is going on. At first she’s too nervous to look around, but then she glances up and seeing that the floors are covered in worn but pretty carpeting and the walls are decorated with an expanse of intricate paintings -- some of them very erotic in nature.

The small woman stops outside a set of carved wooden doors. “Your suite,” she says stepping aside and allowing them to enter.

“Jayne! You gonna tell me what’s going on or…?” Kaylee stops speaking and just looks around her in amazement.

In the centre of the room is a bed hung with colourful silks that must be the size of the whole of Serenity’s living area and off to the left is a carved table covered in plates of food. Kaylee races across the room, picking up chunks of fruit and popping them into her mouth then stuffing down two or three of the marzipan treats in quick succession.

All the time Jayne watches her his eyes are lit up with amusement and more than a hint of apprehension, although Kaylee is far too absorbed by the contents of the table to be able to think about anything else. Sipping mouthfuls of a sweet fruity drink that’s heady with alcohol she gorges on discs of bitter chocolate and it’s only when she’s passing Jayne a glass full of Canaan Brandy that she realises they’re not alone.

“I been thinking on what you said to me a few times,” stumbles Jayne the moment Kaylee’s eyes alight upon the newcomer. “’Bout how you was interested in the brothels.”

Kaylee looks around her and everything clicks into place. The security, the luxury, there’s even a display case of sex toys that she’s only just noticed. How could she miss something like that?

“Anyways, I looked into what you said,” Jayne continues as the stranger proceeds to check him over for weapons, removing the pair of pistols and his bowie knife and stowing them safely in a closet. “then I remembered this place from last time I was here and I knew that they had what you was looking for. Leastways, what you said you was looking for.”

Kaylee examines the stranger from head to toe and is intrigued as a pair of dark eyes gaze back her.

“This is Paulo,” says Jayne waving a nervous hand in the direction of the young man. “And… oh hell, girl. Just tell me if I done wrong.”

Kaylee continues to examine the boy. He looks younger than her, certainly older than a teenager though. He has silky dark hair which flops across his forehead and eyes which are closer to dark green than brown. He’s bare-chested, wearing just a pair of loose cotton pants and his skin is perfectly smooth and tanned to a soft nutty shade.

“You paid for him,” she says incredulously. “For me?”

“I did.” Jayne’s looking sorrowful to the point of desperate and as Kaylee feels a rush of warmth between her legs she steps closer to the pair of them and puts her man out of his misery.

“Shiny to meet you, Paulo,” she says, knowing that if she were a braver person she’d be stroking a finger across his chest and down that hairless belly.

“Ni hao, Miss,” the boy answers; his voice accented, but from a different part of the verse than the Madam. She can’t pin-point it yet, but she will given time. It’s a game she’s fond of playing.

“You can call me Kaylee,” she says, weighing up the differences between the two men standing in front of her. They’re a complete contrast to each other, but both of them equally gorgeous. If she wasn’t so gorram terrified this could turn out to be a fun evening.

“Are you mad at me?” asks Jayne and in answer Kaylee steps closer and locks her arms around his neck.

“Do I look mad?” She pulls his mouth to hers for a long, lingering kiss. “Just nervous is all.” Taking his hand she places it on her thigh then pushes his fingers towards her soaked panties. “And excited.”

“Would you like a massage, Kaylee?” asks Paulo, keeping a respectful distance from the two lovers.

“I don’t know.” Kaylee’s confused; she ain’t never been in this situation before and she looks to Jayne for guidance. “Maybe I would. Would I?”

Jayne takes her face in his hands and presses his lips against hers. “I bought time with him for you, baobei. Just for you. I can go if’n it’ll make things easier.”

Kaylee feels panic well in her chest. “No,” she whispers. “I want you with me all the way, y’understand?”

Jayne smiles and slides a hand up between her thighs. “Was hoping you’d say that.” He works a finger into her pussy and then pulls out and presses the tip against her clit. “Me and the boy’ll see that you have a good time.”

At first there’s just Jayne there filling her world, making her feel as if she’s about to explode with happiness, but then she can feel another body pressed against her back, arms snaking around her and unfastening the buttons of her dress. Terror builds inside and she’s on the point of running until she looks up into Jayne’s eyes and trusts that he’ll keep her safe.

“You’re very beautiful,” says Paulo and Kaylee feels him shiver with pleasure, his cock rising up and resting solid against her butt. She kisses Jayne feverishly, scared yet thrilled at the idea of having these two men here just to make love to her.

“Bed looks tempting,” says Jayne, cupping her naked breasts as her dress falls to the floor, “and a good sight bigger’n we’re used to. Reckon we should make the most of it.”

He takes both her hands and tugs her gently over to the huge four poster and when they tumble on to it the mattress is soft and springy -- a little piece of heaven set in a very strange world.

Stripping off his loose pants, Paulo follows Jayne’s beckoning finger and lies next to Kaylee, running his hands over her skin and massaging her tense muscles until she’s as molten hot as lava. Dressed only in that pair of high heeled sandals and a little lace thong she leans into the boy’s touch then, too aroused by now to think about anything but sexing, she turns to examine her present.

The boy is as pretty as a picture; his cock thrusts up proud from a nest of dark pubic hair, but the rest of him is as smooth as a new born baby, except for the thin treasure trail of delight. Wet beyond belief and barely able to stop her hips from canting with excitement she pinches his left nipple hard then leans in to kiss it better. Paulo responds with a throaty moan and Kaylee whimpers, her head full to bursting as she thinks about the kind of thrills this evening has in store for them.

She reaches down for Paulo’s cock and gives it a couple of delicate strokes then whispers in his ear. “I want you to undress Jayne for me.”

The young man nods and turns his attentions to Jayne, unfastening each button of the striped shirt then pulling it free and kneeling to remove the man’s boots and socks.

“Okay?” asks Kaylee and as Paulo tugs open the zipper of Jayne’s pants she presses kisses onto Jayne’s forehead and watches with mouth watering anticipation as his erection springs free .

“Sure am, darling.” Jayne and Kaylee wrap themselves up in each other, mouths pressed close together, tongues twining and it’s only when she feels hands rest on her shoulders that she remembers there’s three in their bed rather than two.

Kissing a path down her spine Paulo teases her ass crack with his tongue and then buries his face in her pussy and there aren’t words Kaylee can think of that would come any way close to describing the eroticism of this moment. Making these tiny breathless moans she sucks on Jayne’s tongue and reaches for his cock, wrapping her hand around it and jacking him at a slow pace.

“Jayne,” she cries as the sensation becomes too much and her body erupts into climax.

“Wo de ma, girl, I love seeing you come.” Jayne lies on his back on his back and pulls Kaylee around until her back’s resting against his chest. “I want to see him fuck you,” he says his eyes lock on to Paulo and as his lips press close against Kaylee’s ear he whispers, “Do want that, baobei? Want to feel his ji ba filling you up?”

“Hell yes,” she murmurs and it’s all she can think about. How good it’s gonna feel getting fucked while she’s laying in Jayne’s arms.

Paulo sheaths his cock and then crawls up the expanse of bed towards the two lovers. Jayne’s holding Kaylee’s legs wide open and playing with her clit and she can hear herself making these impatient sighs at the sight of this pretty boy whore with his pretty diao all stiff and ready for her. She can’t get over the fact that he’s there just for her to play with.

As Paulo covers her body and eases his cock eases inside, he dips his head for a sudden kiss and his mouth tastes of mint toothpaste and pussy juice. For some reason Kaylee becomes a little flummoxed; she can’t understand how sex with two men can make her feel more monogamous than ever. She’s done plenty of wayward things in the past, but she’s never once considered a ménage a trois. The three-way intimacy bothers her and, in fact, if Jayne had suggested this to her first instead of going in all heavy-handed as usual then she would have given him an emphatic ‘no’ as her answer. Right now, though, she’s mighty glad of her man’s impetuous nature because she’s having a whole lot of wicked fun from rutting with this stranger who’s been rented for the night solely for her pleasure.

“Lie on your back,” Jayne says to Paulo and their mouths end up so close that Kaylee swears they’re gonna kiss and her ovaries go into overload at the thought of so much prettiness.

“Kaylee.” Jayne looks at her. “If you lay on top of him and fuck him then I can play too.”

It’s a question as much as a statement and Kaylee understands what he’s asking for. She nods tentatively, shaking with nerves because she just knows she ain’t gonna be big enough for what Jayne has in mind.

“I’ll be careful,” he says, kissing her gently and firmly to seal the promise.

Nodding again she does as he asks and slides down onto Paulo’s cock, riding the boy good and steady and adjusting to the feel of rutting in this strange position -- normally if she’s on top then she’s kneeling over her man rather than laying on him. Slick fingers press into her asshole, opening her up gradually and instead of being painful it becomes an intense and glorious pressure to be filled from every direction.

“I can feel you through her,” Jayne says to Paulo and he sweeps the hair away form the boy’s sweaty forehead in an intimate gesture which makes Kaylee think very dirty thoughts.

“Ji tai yin jing nei wo,” she begs and when Jayne covers her and slides in one thick inch at a time she ends up gasping and yelling out every kind of phrase in every kind of language to try and explain how shockingly amazing this is.

Rutting this way is nothing like normal sexing. At the bottom of the pile Paulo’s eyes widen with bliss and as the filling in the sandwich Kaylee gets to feel everything. Jayne braces himself on both arms to keep his weight from squashing the two smaller bodies beneath him and begins to fuck Kaylee with firm strokes. Each arching motion sets off a responsive buck of the hips from Paulo and soon Kaylee’s on the point of exploding into a frenzied climax.

“Want to see you kiss him,” she whispers as Jayne leans in over her shoulder. “Will you do that for me, ai ren?”

She watches Jayne press his lips nervously against Paulo’s, giving the boy no more than little pecks to begin with, but then the yanse lang opens his mouth and Kaylee can see Jayne’s tongue darting inside.

It’s such an erotic sight that Kaylee comes hard with a loud yelp as every muscle in her body shifts into spasm. She ain’t never thought… she ain’t ever seen anything like it. This is so much better than those misty fantasies of Simon and Jayne rutting in the infirmary. All three of them absorbed by the kiss, Kaylee can feel both men pushing against each other inside her and she clenches tighter, urging them on, wanting to see what it looks like when they mouth fuck each other to orgasm.

Dirty, filthy, gorgeous, is the answer.

Rolling off them with an exhausted sigh, Jayne disposes of the rubber in the sealed medical trash can. “This weren’t supposed to be about me trying things,” he says awkwardly.

“No, it’s about me having fun,” Kaylee drags him down towards her, kissing the worry away from his face “And I’m having a whole lot of fun.” then she looks over at Paulo who’s just disposed of his own rubber and is lying there on his back, hand tucked behind his head.

“You look sore.” She brushes a fingertip over the reddened skin around the boy’s mouth. “Jayne playing too rough with you?”

“I enjoyed it,” he says with a smile. “I hope it was mutual.”

“Reckon so,” says Jayne, pecking the boy on the lips and then dragging Kaylee into his arms. “Sleep first play later.”

As Jayne drifts off into a nap Kaylee wriggles out of his clutches and nibbles her way through a plate full of delicacies while she enjoys the feel of the boy’s hands massaging her body.

“Why do you do this?” she asks quietly so as not to disturb her sleeping lover.

“Because I like it.” Paulo grins. “There’s nothing I love more in the world than sex and this way I get paid for it.”

“Do you sleep with more men than women?” says Kaylee.

“Yes, by far,” says the young man as he pops a cherry dipped in chocolate sauce into her mouth.

“And which do you prefer.”

“I just like to have sex,” says Paulo, a provocative smile following that diplomatic answer as he slides down the bed and inserts one of the chocolate dipped cherries into Kaylee’s pussy. Lapping gently he sucks the fruit out from between her labia then munches on it and spits out the pit.

When they first arrived Kaylee was so filled with nerves that she was barely even able to look at the boy let alone give him instruction, but now that they’ve fucked, the ice is well and truly broken and she can understand perfectly why Jayne enjoys this kind of impersonal sexing.

“Tongue my pussy,” she whispers to the yanse lang as Jayne mumbles in his sleep and rolls over onto his back, his head turned to one side and his breath rumbling against her ear. “That’s it. That’s a good boy. Now suck hard at my clit.”

Paulo works her up to a slow dreamy climax and after allowing herself a few minutes to recover Kaylee slips out of bed and goes to the bathroom for a pee and a wash. When she comes back Jayne’s still asleep and Paulo’s eyeing him speculatively.

“Shuai, ain’t he,” she says proudly as she climbs back into bed. “Reckon you can suck him off if’n you want.” After all this is her treat.

She watches Jayne’s eyelids flutter a little and knows, as she suspected all along, that he’s dozing rather than sleeping. Paulo nods then lies to one side of that big body, resting his head on Jayne’s belly and tonguing the slit of his semi-hard cock. It stiffens up immediately from the attention and Kaylee hitches in a breath and slides down onto her side, watching the boy take the knob of Jayne’s ji ba into his mouth and swirl his tongue around the spongy flesh.

Wriggling up the bed she rests her lips against Jayne’s ear. “Are you enjoying this, ai ren?”

Jayne nods, watching Paulo suck him off through half-lidded eyes.

Despite the fact she’s only just come, the sight of another man going down on her feller has Kaylee wet and ready for more. She loves how open Jayne is to everything; she ain’t never met a man like him before.

“Xiexie for this,” she whispers as his eyes open fully and taking his big hand in hers she places it over her bush. “Shi wo gao chao.” She writhes against his hand as his fingers begin to tease at her pussy.

Paulo climbs over one of Jayne’s sturdy thighs until he’s nestled in between the man’s legs, bobbing rhythmically up and down on Jayne’s cock. Raising his head Jayne watches intently, his fingers caressing Kaylee’s pussy, and Kaylee finds herself more transfixed by the expression on his face than by Paulo’s mouth.

“Have you done this before?” she whispers, arching up as Jayne’s thick fingers delve inside her.

He looks at her with a wicked grin on his face. “Finger fucked you? You gotta pay more attention, girl.”

Kaylee pouts. “Had sex with a man, I mean.”

“Nope.” He pauses. “Not so’s to speak of anyhow.”

The blood rushes through Kaylee as her imagination runs wild.

“Had a feller jack me off once,” Jayne glances at her then threads his fingers into Paulo’s shiny hair. “Did it back to him as well.”

“Did you like it?”

“Was something different.” Jayne’s voice is coming out strangled now as his arousal builds and he shoves Paulo’s head away from his cock and pulls him upwards. “Kiss her,” he says, watching as Paulo swipes his tongue delicately over Kaylee’s lips.

Kaylee makes out with the boy for a while, but the lingering taste of Jayne’s cock in his mouth fuels her hunger for more wish fulfillment. Pulling away a little, she sits up and runs her fingertips lasciviously down those two contrasting but extravagantly male bodies until she has a cock in each hand.

“Suck him,” she says quietly, jerking them both off with gentle flicks of her palms.

It’s Jayne that she’s asking and it’s obvious from his expression that he knows it too. Time freezes, the moment lasting too long for anyone’s comfort, and Kaylee begins to get scared. However next thing she knows Jayne’s pulling Paulo away from her and he’s kissing each hairless nipple then tonguing a path down that smooth concave belly and he’s… Oh god, he’s licking the fluid away from the tip of the boy’s cock and his lips are parting until little by little he’s taking him in.

Kaylee’s sure she’s stuck fast in a permanent state of arousal. It may happen that she’ll die from an overdose of sex inside this house of ill repute in St Ives, but honestly she doesn’t give a monkey’s pigu if she does.

“Suck him, Jayne. You look so pretty doing it. Yeah, suck him deep. Cock tastes so good, don’t it? Love the taste of your cock.”

Twisting around in the bed she goes down on Jayne, her pussy clenching with excitement as she hears the soft slurping noise from where Jayne is sucking away at Paulo. They stay like this for a long while, floating on the cusp of a three-way orgasm, and it’s only when Kaylee hears Jayne’s breathing change that she knows he’s too close. He won’t want to come again just yet.

Giving Jayne’s cock a final suck, Kaylee sits up to watch the intimate act between her lover and the boy whore draw out to a conclusion. Will Jayne let Paulo come in his mouth? She ain’t certain and when Jayne takes his mouth away she thinks that’s the end of it, but then--oh god--then Jayne’s jerking Paulo off hard and the tip of the boy’s prick is just a bare inch away from his lips.

Kaylee’s fingers drift over her body as she watches the men play, one hand absent-mindedly caressing her breast while the other wriggles down into her bush as she fingers her clit in delicate circles. She’s so ready to come.

“Tianna!” she gasps and as she rubs herself close to climax, Jayne’s hand speeds up. The boy’s hips buck helplessly then he cries out and shoots jerk after jerk of jing ye into Jayne’s open mouth.

This is the dirtiest night of her life, thinks Kaylee as she works a finger in and out of her sore pussy, leaning over to lick away the droplets of spunk from Jayne’s face.

“Need to fuck you,” he says as he pushes her down onto all fours then with shaking hands he skins a condom over his cock and with a lunge of his hips is fully embedded inside her. She understands; she knows that this sudden turn of aggression is all about reasserting his masculinity and, besides this, the tingle of pain adds an extra facet to the insane level of arousal she’s feeling. As Jayne fucks her with stabbing thrusts she watches Paulo laze on the bed and stare up at them. She ain’t sure she should ask this, but she wants to see it more than anything.

“Jayne, will you fuck him?” she asks tentatively. She wants it so very much. “For me?”

Jayne stills then there’s this heavy blanket of silence hanging over them and Kaylee knows she’s said the wrong thing and if’n she’s gone and thrown away a perfect gorram relationship over one humped up demand she’ll gorram space herself. “Only if you want to, I mean to say,” she adds quietly.

“Reckon I can,” he says warily. “If he don’t mind, that is.”

“I’d like it.” Paulo shifts around on the bed and Kaylee can hear soft words and quiet sucking sounds as the two men kiss.

She sits up, propping herself on pillows and as Paulo drops to all fours Kaylee’s heart is thundering in her chest. From where she’s sitting, with just that slim body and sleek dark head on display, it could be her most secret fantasy come to life. Jayne and Simon rutting like animals!

Jayne already has his fingers slicked up with lube and he’s murmuring to the boy as he presses inside, loosening him up. Kaylee’s own hand works at her pussy, tweaking and smacking at her clit until she’s cruising on the point of yet another orgasm and with her body on fire she’s growing desperate. Ye su! She needs to see the two men screw now. Removing her hand she tries to ignore the insistent throbbing of her cunt, wanting to come while she’s watching the show rather than the warm up act.

“Fuck him, Jayne. Please,” she urges, her hips arching up off the bed as she clenches every muscle and burns up inside. How can she be getting this hot just from the idea of her man having sex with a male whore? She reaches meltdown point the moment she watches Jayne unroll a rubber over his ji ba and as he edges closer to the boy she’s on her feet, running over to the cabinet and hunting frantically through the items that are for sale.

Dismissing the vibrators--the last thing she needs is anything too stimulating--she rips open the packaging of a thick latex dildo then slicks it up with cooling lube and lies back on the bed, inserting the dong into her pussy and fucking herself slowly as she watches Jayne slide his cock inside Paulo.

“Wo de ma,” she murmurs as she stills her hand and clenches her internal muscles around the dildo. “That looks so good.”

“Feels it,” Jayne mutters, running his fingers over Paulo’s tanned skin, but as he begins to hump the boy it’s Kaylee he’s looking at, every part of him visibly reverberating with excitement as he reaches beneath that slim body and begins to pump cock with slicked up fingers.

“Like what you see then?” Jayne asks. It might be Paulo he’s screwing but it’s Kaylee he’s making love to as his eyes rake over her and his breath comes in rapid gasps.

“Do I, baobei,” she moans, fucking herself with the toy.

This kind of sexing should be dirty and sordid, but it’s a world away from that and Kaylee knows she’ll never forget this night. Kneeling up she leans in toward Jayne, her mouth reaching for his, and as he fucks Paulo and she fucks herself with the dildo they bring each other to climax with hungry kisses.

As soon as this round of sex is over, Jayne dismisses Paulo. Counting out a handful of money he passes it to the boy as a tip and once they’re on their own he stares at Kaylee with a worried expression on his face.

“I need you all to myself,” he says. “You ain’t mad at me, are you?”

“Course I ain’t, you big dolt,” she says with a giggle of laughter that dissolves into a yawn. Her eyes close and she wraps her arms around Jayne’s big body, safe in the knowledge that she and him are better than good together and that all her worries were unfounded.

Later, after a long sleep and a whole lot of food, Jayne runs a bath and they lounge together in the sunken tub, drifting inside this moment of quiet contentment.

“Was it what you thought?” asks Jayne as he pulls Kaylee close up against him.

“It was shiny.” Kaylee’s eyes open wide as she recalls everything in detail. “Though I ain’t certain it’s something we should repeat too often.”

“Maybe not,” agrees Jayne. “Probably best for fantasies to stay where they belong.”

Kaylee leans back against his hairy chest and nods.

“Though I reckon sometimes they can turn out better than you can ever imagine.” Jayne’s voice is quiet and as he kisses the top of her head Kaylee feels this wealth of heat swell up inside her which for once isn’t about sex. She’s never thought of herself as fantasy material.

“So it was okay then?” he questions.

“Yeah.” She leans up to kiss him. “You know I reckoned you was planning on doing something way more crazy than this.”

He looks at her with bewildered blue eyes. “Like what now?”

“Oh I dunno, just thought you was thinking ‘bout asking me a question.”

The light slowly dawns on his face and he goes from confused to shocked in two seconds flat.

“So that’s why you was all ornery with me?”

She laughs and decorates his mouth with kisses.

There’s a long spell of silence and they Jayne speaks up, his voice more muted than usual. “So if’n I had asked that question.” There’s another long pause. “What would you have answered?”

Kaylee reaches out and turns on the faucet with her toes. She’s mulled this over many times in her head, thinking about how well marriage works for Wash and Zoë and how much better life has been with Jayne as her lover. But is she ready for more?

“Ain’t telling you a thing like that, am I?” she retorts with a giggle. “How much do you understand women, Jayne Cobb?”

“None at all.” The big man smiles. “But there’s a thing or two I have learned.”

Pulling her up into his lap, he kisses her hard and before long it isn’t just the bathwater that’s heating up.

~~~

How things can change in just a short time.

A couple of weeks ago, Kaylee was the happiest she could ever be, knowing that she’d found a man with whom she was able to share her most intimate fantasies to the point of making them real. Now she can’t think of anything like that, in fact she don’t even want to rut, because right now she’s scared beyond belief. Her period is a week late and if she’s pregnant she’s only got her ownself to blame. Along with Jayne of course. She knows when it happened, can remember how stupid they were that time in the bath at the brothel on Santo, both of them too desperate to make love to each other to care about the need for condoms and the result of that moment of carelessness is that she’s gonna have a baby.

She’s kicking herself, wishing she’d done what she’d first intended to and got Simon to fix her up with some proper contraception, but at the time she was too embarrassed to talk to him about it. Now she’s paying the price for that stupidity ten times over.

A baby! What is she gonna do with a baby on board ship? A baby ain’t gonna be happy to go hungry on half rations and wait ‘til they hit rock to re-supply. A baby ain’t gonna allow her to do her work and spend time with Jayne. A baby is gonna ruin her gorram life.

She ain’t told Jayne yet. All he knows is that she’s out of sorts with him and the rest of the world to boot. He’s tried to talk, but after so many times getting his head bitten off he’s learned to leave her be, looking at her with a sad expression across the dinner table as he shovels down his food.

The thing is Kaylee has no idea what Jayne’ll say about having a child. Before they hooked up on Bracken she would’ve reckoned the man would be the worst father imaginable, but now? Now she’s seen a different side of him and even when he’s angry with her there’s this gentleness about him. When she’s on the point of sleeping sometimes she imagines him holding their baby and tears roll down her cheeks. She wishes she was ready for this.

Another week passes and things have gone from bad to worse. They spend a few days on Beylix and its nothing like their last stops dirtside. There’s barely a moment goes by during which Kaylee isn’t been stomping around and when Jayne tries to fix things so that they get some quiet time together all Kaylee can think about is the unwanted child that’s growing inside of her.

“Get your paws off me,” she says wriggling away when Jayne tries to hug her. Then, to make matters worse, she goes to pick up a box of gear shafts that she’s acquired from the junker yards and the slight cramping in her belly makes her put it down quick. Aiya, she’s so messed up.

Willing away the tears she glares at Jayne. “I need help carrying them breaker parts to the engine room,” she snaps.

“If’n you’d ask nicer then maybe I would.” He ain’t frowning though and that makes everything worse somehow.

“Mo qing de yao guai.” Kaylee storms off up the steps and she knows she’s overreacted, but Jayne’s gentle accusation burns deep, mostly because he ain’t wrong in telling her off.

Curling up inside one of Serenity’s many nooks--this one situated just off the upper catwalk--she self-reflects and don’t like what she’s seeing. She can’t even look at Jayne without snarling like a rabid bitch and her anger’s starting off a chain reaction amongst the rest of the crew. It’s only now when she’s listening in to another conversation between the captain and Jayne--this time not such a happy making one--that she knows she’s got to stop acting so selfish.

“Can’t go on like this,” says Mal’s voice. “Gotta fix things ‘tween you and Kaylee or else we’re gonna have ourselves a major problem.”

Jayne grunts and Kaylee knows he’s lifting a stack of crates ready to carry through to the engine room for her.

“Can’t make it right if I don’t know what I done wrong,” he says and he sounds so miserable that Kaylee’s heart breaks.

Mal sighs. “And this is exactly why I ain’t fond of my crew getting cozy.” The voices get a little louder as the men make their way up the stairs. “Women are not the most predictable of creatures, Jayne. If you’re certain this ain’t about you then best advice I can give is just be there for her.”

They pass right by her hiding place and Kaylee holds her breath, terrified that she’s going to be discovered.

“I been thinking on it for weeks now and I ain’t done a thing that I can recall.”

“For what it’s worth I believe you,” says Mal. “Only that ain’t helping any of us none.”

The voices get quieter until Kaylee can’t make out any more of the words and she knows now that she’s either got to talk to Jayne or maybe discuss a way to get her problem sorted with Simon. The tears are becoming an inevitable part of her life.

Another week goes by and it seems as if more’n a year has passed since she and Jayne were happy. Kaylee’s still being a coward over this. She still sits in the john every day willing that flow of blood to appear even though she knows now it ain’t going to for a few months. It’s not that she don’t ever want a baby, it’s just that she don’t want one yet. Kinda like marriage really. She just ain’t ready.

Even Serenity is in a bad mood with her. The more she listens to the engine the more confused she gets by that slight lateral shift and the out of sync stutter. She’s adjusted everything she can think of and now the piece of space lese won’t even fit back together for her.

“Gorram coil rig,” she yells smashing at the housing with her wrench. “Tian xiz shou you de ren dou gai si!”

“Quiet down now, girl.” Jayne takes the tool from her hand and wraps her up tight in his arms. For a moment she relaxes and soaks up the affection that’s pouring out of him then she remembers the reason for her anger and shoves him away from her viciously.

“Qu di yu, Jayne and leave me alone.”

“Gorram right I’ll leave you alone,” he yells. “Ain’t gonna spend any more time around you than I have to.” Then his voice softens. “Kaylee, I gotta get ready for this job today, but when I get back you’re gonna tell me what’s up, dong ma?” She gives him a watery smile and he continues speaking, his voice getting quieter by the second. “Been thinking it must be ‘cause of what happened back in St Ives.”

Kaylee freezes for second. Has Jayne worked out what’s wrong with her?

“I ain’t sly if’n that’s what you been thinking. I don’t ever want another person ‘cept you -- man nor woman.”

Kaylee forces back more tears. She wants so very much to explain things to him--to reassure them both that everything’s gonna be alright--but by the time she’s made up her mind what to say he’s already turned tail and gone.

Six hours later she’s lying in her hammock reading one of Jayne’s old comic books when there’s a chorus of folk calling her. She’s too frightened to answer though because not one of them is her man’s voice and that ain’t right.

It’s Zoë who gets to her first. “Listen, meimei,” she says, taking Kaylee’s cold hand in her own. “Jayne’s been hurt, but I swear it looks a whole lot worse than it is.”

Kaylee don’t hang around to listen to no more of Zoë’s explanations, she’s already out of her hammock and racing through the ship down to the infirmary where Simon has Jayne laid out on the operating table.

“Keep her out of here.” Simon nods to Mal who takes Kaylee by the hand and slowly but steadily pulls her away from Jayne -- her Jayne who’s so big and strong and right now is lying on his back, all covered in blood. She wished for blood and here it is, a ton of the stuff dripping down onto the floor.

“He’s gonna be fine, Kaylee,” says Mal, slipping an arm around her shoulders. “I promise you.”

This can’t be happening. Why is fate such a hundan? Just laying there waiting for folks to mess up and say stupid things they don’t mean. Why hasn’t she ever told Jayne how she feels about him? Why did her last words have to be to tell him to go to hell?

The tears fall endlessly and she don’t even attempt to hold them in no longer. She’s having Jayne’s baby and he has no idea. Might never know. Mal’s arms offer her nothing but cold comfort which is fair because she don’t deserve anything more.

Two hours later she’s still sitting outside the infirmary waiting on some news. Her stomach cramps with fear when Simon emerges looking pale and drawn. Jayne’s dead. She knows it for certain from the look on the young man’s face.

“Simon?” she asks.

“It was a tougher procedure than I thought. The bullet was lodged close to his spine. I’ve removed it, but there was some internal bleeding.”

Her voice reduces in volume. “He’s dead, ain’t he?”

“What?” The doctor looks at her with a bemused expression on his face. “Dead? No, Kaylee. No. He’s fine. He’ll be as good as new soon enough. There’s no major damage at all.”

It’s then that the cramping gets worse and Kaylee feels a flow of wetness seeping out from between her legs. It what she’s been praying for and yet--she clutches her belly and peeks through the doorway at the unconscious body of Jayne--now it don’t seem good news in the slightest.

“I have to go to the bathroom,” she says in a monotone voice then she turns and makes her way up the stairs to the john.

The truth is crimson-coloured and stares up at her thick from the wad of toilet paper and as she’s attacked by more of those cramping pains she knows from the heaviness of the flow that it ain’t nowhere near to normal. “My baby,” she sobs. “I’m so sorry.”

Showered and changed Kaylee stares at her reflection in the mirror. She don’t look any different, but the happy-go-lucky person she used to be has lost some of that shininess. Ain’t time to think about her though. Pulling a brightly coloured sweater over her head to ward off a sudden attack of the chills she walks slowly back down to the lower level of the ship.

“How is he?” she asks when she enters the infirmary.

Simon and Book look at her, both of them full of unspoken questions that she has no intention of answering right now.

“He’s fine.” Book reassures her with a mile.

The doctor has much the same to say although he’s far more clinical in his analysis of the situation. “Jayne’s still under from the anesthetic, but he should be coming around fairly soon,” he says. “He’s dosed up on painkillers though so he won’t be his usual self.”

They’ll make a matching pair then, Kaylee reckons, ‘cause she ain’t her usual self neither. Taking a seat beside Jayne she can’t believe how still he is. It ain’t right. He’s always on the move even when he’s sleeping, rolling over from back to side and vice versa then mumbling away to himself. When he’s awake it’s even more of the same story. Kaylee never knew how busy his hands were until she got around to falling in love with him.

“You gotta wake up, wo ai ren,” she says leaning over and dropping a kiss onto his forehead. “I have so many things to tell you.”

Suddenly she remembers she’s not on her own and looks up at the two other occupants of the sick bay. “Can I have some time alone with him?” she asks.

“Not right now,” says Simon curtly, checking Jayne’s vitals on the monitor.

The coolness of his answer promotes a fiery response and Kaylee gets to her feet, her insides cramping in agony as a reminder of how much she’s lost.

“I ain’t asking for much,” she yells. “I never ask for anything from any of you, but I really need to talk with him now. Please.”

“Let the doctor do his work first, Kaylee,” says Book gently. “Once Jayne’s awake and we’re certain that he’s fine then you can have all the time in the world to be alone with him.”

Kaylee pushes the shepherd away and as she huddles down into a corner of the sick bay she falls into a bout of hysterical sobbing. “But there’s things I need to say and they can’t wait,” she gasps, struggling for breath.

Out of the corner of her eye she can see Simon loading the syringe with smoothers and that makes her cry more, tears of rage and pain pouring down her face.

“You don’t understand,” she wails. “None of you do.”

“Tell us then,” says Book, kneeling next to her and resting a hand over hers.

“I lost our baby.” It feels as if she’s breaking apart. “And he don’t even know we was having one.”

~~~

When Jayne wakes up Kaylee’s there leaning over him, watching the way he smiles when his eyes finally focus on her.

“What happened?” he asks blearily.

“You went and got yourself shot,” she answers. “Don’t do it again.”

“I won’t, baobei,” he says. “I’m getting old. It hurts more every time.”

After kissing him goodnight she takes a deep breath then says, “I love you,” and the words come easier than she ever imagined they would. His eyes open wide with amazement as if he still don’t think he’s good enough for her and that makes her heart sink a little.

Six days later he moves back into his bunk and Kaylee’s with him every step of the way. Her bleeding’s almost stopped now and she’s promised Simon that as soon as she has time she’ll let him do an ultrasound to make sure everything’s okay. Now all she has to do is tell Jayne the sad news.

“I’m sorry I was so mean to you before.” She perches on the edge of Jayne’s bed looking down at the floor and when he tries to pull her in for a kiss she resists.

His mouth turns down and he looks so crestfallen that her heart lurches, but she has to get all this off her chest before the worry kills her stone dead. “Jayne, I love you and I want you to be with you always, but I have something to tell you first before we can move forward.” She chews at a nail. “The reason I was so mad at you was ‘cause I was pregnant.”

Those blue eyes shine with something that looks close to happiness, but then he recognises the past tense of those words. “Was?”

“I lost our baby.”

Hugging isn’t an easy thing to master on the narrow bed, especially when one half of the couple is still recovering from injury, but there’s times when it’s the only thing that can begin to make things right.

Clinging onto Jayne’s solid body she tells him the rest of the story in fits in between tears and kisses. “I didn’t want a baby.” “I wasn’t ready.” ”I was angry at you.” “I was scared enough to be sick.” “When I lost it I was so unhappy.” She finishes up with, “Jayne, I’m sorry, I’m a bad person,” and she’s never felt as small as she does right now.

“Everything’s okay, baobei.” There’s sadness in his voice but no hint of condemnation. “You’re a hell of a long away from being a bad person, Kaylee. Being scared ain’t a reason for shame. Gorramit, I know I’d be scared if’n I had a little person growing inside me.”

She’s crying harder than ever. “But now that the baby ain’t there I want it so bad. Feels like a part of me is missing.”

Jayne hitches in a breath. “There’ll be plenty of time for us to have babies… if that’s what you decide you want.”

Kaylee’s overwhelmed with love for this man. So much so she can hardly remember how to speak. “You don’t hate me?” she asks in a small voice that’s an exact match for how she feels.

There are tears in Jayne’s eyes, but he still manages to cuff her gently around the head. “Wo de ma, Kaywinnit. I love you and I always will and there ain’t nothing you can do that’ll make me stop. Don’t you know that already?”

As broken hearted as she is, Kaylee can’t keep the smile off her face nor can she keep from saying crazy things. “You know if’n you had asked me that question the answer would be yes.”

Just for a second it feels as if the verse has stopped moving as Jayne stares at her, looking as startled as a man could ever get. “You proposing to me, girl?” he says and Kaylee can’t do anything but nod.

~~~

There’s room in Jayne’s bunk for a bigger bed and as soon as he’s well enough he sets about fixing the space up good enough for two people. Kaylee don’t even have to ask him to take his guns off the wall. He keeps some of them safe in a lock box under the bed, but most of ‘em are stowed away in Kaylee’s old room which is now filled with all kinds of junk. It ain’t difficult to decide what’s in and what’s out; contrary to most expectations they find it easy to make compromises.

“D’you reckon Mal took the news okay?” Jayne traces a finger over Kaylee’s belly then slides his hand upward, circling each breast in turn.

“Better’n I expected, that’s for sure.” Kaylee giggles, remembering the look of absolute shock on the captain’s face on hearing that they’re planning on getting hitched in the near future. Everyone else is okay though and even Simon appears to be coming to terms with it. The thought of the doctor’s silent infatuation with her man still intrigues Kaylee.

Pushing Jayne over onto his side she examines the newest scar puckering his skin and kisses the healing flesh with a gentle press of the lips. “You got too many of these,” she says in a stern voice.

“You ain’t without them neither,” answers Jayne.

“Not got so many as you.” Kaylee gulps back the fear and the sorrow. It’s a good thing they ain’t having a baby. A child should have a father to learn from. “Did I ever tell you it was my daddy that taught me how to fix engines?” she says quietly.

“My pa mostly learned me how to drink and cuss.” Jayne grins. “’Though he did teach me how to weld too. Ain’t never forgotten neither. Was the only time the old feller ever showed any patience.”

Kaylee senses a story and stays quiet. Jayne don’t often talk about his past.

“Mind you I wasn’t of a mind to listen much,” he continues thoughtfully. “Too busy making trouble.”

“Now that I can imagine.” Kaylee can almost picture that overgrown grubby teenager raising hell all over the dead-in-the-water rock he hails from. “Where we gonna get married, Jayne?” she asks. It’s a question that has been bothering her ever since she popped the question.

“Been wondering that my ownself.”

Jayne takes her right nipple into his mouth and suckles on it until it swells against his tongue and Kaylee gasps softly. It’s the first time her body has reacted this way since she lost the baby.

“We could just get the preacher to marry us whenever we make a stop somewhere shiny,” he says, looking up at her and Kaylee’s heart grows heavy, “but I reckon my ma would give me a beating if I ever dared go back home.”

Kaylee laughs, imagining the big man getting a switch to his backside. “My folks too,” she says as she reaches down and takes hold of his cock, squeezing and stroking until it leaks out a dribble of fluid. “Reckon we’ll have to find a way to organize some kind of shindig.”

Jayne moans quietly in agreement ‘though Kaylee thinks he may have lost the thread of the conversation a little, not that she cares much ‘cause all she can think about is making love with him. It’s been too long.

Wriggling down the new bed, she lays her head on his belly and plants delicate kisses all over the smoothed out, taut skin of his ji ba, then lapping up the beads of pre-come she takes the swollen knob into her mouth and begins one of them leisurely sucks jobs they both enjoy so much. She don’t get to go down for as long as usual because in no time at all Jayne is tugging at her, eyes dark with need, breathing hitching in his throat.

“Love you, girl,” he mutters as he reaches out to the locker and skins on a rubber.

Simon’s fixed Kaylee up with contraceptive shots, but both she and Jayne have decided that they ain’t taking any chances. She never expected the big merc could be so considerate. In fact Jayne’s full of surprises all ‘round and when she wraps her legs around him and cants her hips sharply to take him inside her body, she vows silently never to mess things up again.

As far as Kaylee’s concerned she and Jayne are a forever kind of a deal that’s never going south and she’s gonna do her best to make certain that it stays that way. She had planned on doing some work on Serenity’s grav coils, but the look on Jayne’s face tells her that there’s other, more vital maintenance required and instead they make love for most of the night. Bed needs to be christened, bodies too for that matter. Both she and Jayne have changed a lot during these past few weeks and they have a fair amount of fixing that needs doing.

~~~

“I have an announcement to make,” says Mal over breakfast as he squeezes the bridge of his nose and then looks around at everyone with tired eyes.

“A captain should sleep more,” says River helpfully. “Sleep is a restorative and regenerative process necessary for most higher level species.”

“Thanks for the advice, Albatross.” Mal frowns at the girl. “I’d love to take you up on your offer and I would if I didn’t have two sets of frustrated family waving me all hours and demanding to speak to their offspring.” The captain glares at Kaylee and Jayne. “From now on anyone who disables the internal comms channel in their bunk will be taking a space walk at the earliest opportunity.”

Kaylee flushes rosy red. She’s got into the habit of doing this whenever she and Jayne need some alone time and it’s never backfired on her before. “I’m sorry, Cap’n,” she says.

“I ain’t,” adds Jayne with a quirk of his eyebrow and Kaylee knows he’s recalling every detail of their sexing.

Mal huffs defiantly. “Well now that the point’s been well and truly raised can you both please go and fix things with your parents. Why they think I have anything to do with this gorram wedding party of yours I have no clue.”

“My ma sent a wave?” asks Jayne incredulously.

“With a little help from your brother, your pa, your uncles and various assorted nephews nieces and cousins, yep she did.” Mal looks more than a mite fed up. “I got to learn them all by name by the end of several very long conversations. Cobb folk number at least a million and sure love the sound of their voices.”

Jayne guffaws. “Ain’t that so,” he says pouring more cereal into his bowl.

“You say my folks waved too?” asks Kaylee nervously. She sent the news by mail same way Jayne did, mostly ‘cause she weren’t too sure how they’d react.

Mal nods. “You have one excited mother who’s already been talking to me about dresses. I ain’t interested in dresses, Kaylee. It best never happen again, or else…” He cards the fingers of both hands through his hair making it stand on end and Kaylee knows full well that spacing is likely to be mentioned again at some point.

“You haven’t mentioned the best part yet, Sir.” Zoë’s grinning from ear to ear.

“Huh?” Mal looks at his first mate in a befuddled way.

“The fact that to shut them up you gave them each other’s contact details,” says Zoë turning to look at the happy couple. “I think there’s some serious wedding planning going on as we speak.”

“Don’t much care as long as I get to marry my girl,” says Jayne, slinging his arm around Kaylee’s shoulders and Kaylee swells with pride, her sides aching she’s so full of happiness at being wanted this much.

After breakfast is over she decides to take the bull by the horns and contact her mother. It turns out that between Ma Cobb and Momma Frye most of the arrangements are already in hand and all she and Jayne have to do is to turn up and say their piece -- a thing that suits Kaylee down to the ground.

~~~

It’s been decided that the wedding will take place on Jayne’s home planet of Nova Six. He has a much bigger family who have more land available to accommodate visiting folk. Also none of the Cobbs seem that happy at the idea of traveling whereas Kaylee’s father, being a mechanic, has a passel of craft he can lay his hands on at short notice.

“We would’ve chosen you to perform the ceremony,” says Kaylee to Shepherd Book as they’re seasoning meat substitute with all kinds of spices. “Only…” her voice tails away to nothing.

“I understand what family can be like, Kaylee” says the preacher. “I have one of my own, you know.” His eyes sparkle with amusement as if he can tell she’s intrigued and then, predictably, he changes the subject. “How are you and Jayne coping with the loss of the baby?”

Kaylee’s eyes fill with tears. “Oh, you know, it’s gonna take me a while. Jayne too I reckon, even though he’s mostly quiet about it. He’s being so good to me.”

“No surprise to me,” says the man and Kaylee suddenly recalls the amount of time Jayne and Book spend together as friends, spotting each other for weights or just hanging out and chatting. Maybe the shepherd’s the only one on Serenity who always recognised Jayne’s true character shining through.

“He asked me to be witness at the ceremony,” continues Book, “but I refused. His brother Matthew will be there and it’s more fitting that he gets to stand up.”

“You folks bad talking me again?” says Jayne as he strides into the room with Mal following on just behind him. Both men are grimy and sweaty from where they’ve been carrying out minor repairs all day.

“Never.” Kaylee smiles, “’though I ain’t letting you near me all dirty like you are right now.”

“Thought you liked me as dirty as I can get,” leers Jayne, grabbing her in his arms and stealing a long kiss.

“’Nough of that.” Mal shuffles awkwardly. “This ain’t a break we’re on so you best be ready to get back to work now, Jayne, or I’m gonna have to take a wrench to your thick head as encouragement.”

“Y’ain’t gonna keep saying gou shi like that when we’re home for the wedding are you, Mal?”

Jayne looks nervous, twitchy kind of, and Kaylee suspects that he don’t wanna be shown up in front of his folks. He’s a proud man for sure and she gets distracted thinking about how proudly he showed himself off to her that day on Bracken. However the captain’s next few words soon put a dampener on her lustful feelings.

“Won’t be a problem, seeing as I won’t be there,” says Mal, pouring himself a mug of coffee. “I conjure you’ll have enough folks there without needing one extra.”

Kaylee feels a little sick inside. Mal’s become like a surrogate father to her and she knows how much Jayne respects the man. In fact the thought of him not being present at her special day makes it seems less special already.

“We’d both sure like it if’n you was there, Mal,” says Jayne and Kaylee loves him even more for speaking the words out loud.

“That’s as maybe.” The captain shrugs. “But seeing as I’m none too excitable about members of my crew getting hitched then it’d be a mite hypocritical, wouldn’t you say?”

Kaylee glares at the floor. Everyone else has been so happy for them. Inara, River and Zoë have all asked to be a part of the wedding. Wash has been writing a hilarious speech that he swears he’s gonna read out and even Simon has been adding some jokes to it -- some not so funny ones about man apes, but Jayne seems to laugh at them. It ain’t as if they’re asking for much from Mal. Not even time off for a honeymoon.

“Reckon it’s up to you.” Jayne scowls. “We got work to do so we best get on with it.” His footsteps echo as he ducks through the hatchway and heads out along the passageway in the direction of the cockpit.

“Was that really necessary, Mal?” Book looks quizzically at the captain.

“I ain’t used to family nor big occasions neither,” says Mal sheepishly, by way of explanation.

“Well, I still don’t see there was need to sound so tetchy over it,” Kaylee frowns. “If’n you don’t wanna come then, like Jayne says, it’s up to you. Stay on the ship and be miserable if that’s what you prefer, but was there any need to make out that it’s ‘cause you got a problem with us being together?”

Mal rubs his temples, smearing grease over his face in the process. “It’s never been a secret that I ain’t fond of crew getting fixed up.”

“Gou shi!” snaps Kaylee. “Anyone can see that’s just an excuse so you can keep from having to act on whatever feelings you have for ‘Nara.”

It’s pretty apparent that Mal is a whisker short of furious, but Kaylee don’t regret what she said. As far as she can see it’s the gorram truth and there’s nothing wrong with telling it as it is. That’s her way and she ain’t gonna change for no one.

~~~

There’s two weeks to go before the wedding and surprisingly the atmosphere on board Serenity isn’t the least bit strained. Mal’s been nothing but sweet to both Kaylee and Jayne, probably trying to make amends, and Kaylee’s taken advantage of this in a way that she hopes Jayne will enjoy very much.

“Who’s in charge of the bachelor party?” asks Wash. “I’m thinking it’s gonna be pretty difficult to find something dirty enough to shock Jayne.”

Kaylee smiles secretly to herself as she makes a list of her favourite foods to send to Jayne’s ma. “You ain’t gotta worry about that,” she says. “It’s all been taken care of.” Jayne ain’t the only one who can organize a surprise and this is something that she knows he’ll get a kick out of.

Inara has helped her fix everything; in fact they even discussed whether she should be the Companion of choice, but both decided early on it could lead to some problems. Kaylee’s a little sad over this because she’s long fancied the idea of having sex with Inara. They may be close friends, but that would only be a good thing as far as Kaylee’s concerned. There’d be none of the awkwardness of not knowing each other. Still that ain’t to be.

Right now Kaylee’s sitting in Inara’s shuttle sharing tea and talk with her friend while she laps up the heady atmosphere in here and thinks ‘bout how much fun she’s gonna have later. “I still wish it was going to be you,” she says, sighing happily as Inara massages her neck with deliciously scented oils.

“Truthfully, so do I.” Inara presses a delicate kiss on the shell of Kaylee’s ear. “But Elinae is wonderful and, trust me, you’ll both have the most wonderful time ever.”

“I can’t wait for Jayne to find out. A real registered Companion.” Kaylee’s face lights up.

“I envy you.” Inara pushes Kaylee forward and raises her tee-shirt, rubbing slow circles onto her back. “I think it must be wonderful to have the kind of relationship where you can share everything -- even your bachelor party.”

“Ain’t sure what Jayne thinks of the idea yet,” laughs Kaylee, ‘though she knows for certain he’ll love his surprise far more than a few beers, a stripper and a bar fight.

Later Kaylee kidnaps Jayne from the crew deck where Zoë’s trying to teach him to play chess. “Time to get dressed up, ai ren. I’m taking you on a mystery tour.”

Jayne looks confused and stares around at the rest of the folk who are present in the dining area, but they all look as blank as he does.

“All I know is that Kaylee wants to borrow you and my shuttle,” says Mal a mite quietly for him. “So you’d best make the most of it while I’m feeling generous.”

Kaylee can’t keep the grin off her face as she tugs at Jayne’s hand to get him to hurry up then almost bouncing with excitement she shoves him down the ladder and into their bunk. Still looking as puzzled as ever he collects his wash things and heads for the bathroom then while he’s showering she picks out some clothes for him, deep blue shirt and black pants, shiny black boots and a sharp looking vest. Once upon a time this was his best whoring outfit; now they’re going whoring higher class than Jayne would ever have thought possible.

Laying his clothes on the bed Kaylee slips out of her coveralls and into the dress she’s bought especially for tonight which is slinkily tight, a deep emerald green in colour and indecently short. Inara helped her pick it out and Kaylee wonders if the Companion would have chosen such a daring item if she was aware that Kaylee rarely wears panties anymore. It ain’t worth the effort of buying underwear when you have a man whose favourite hobby is tearing them off with his teeth.

Jayne emerges wrapped in a short towel, clean, dried his face smooth shaven except for the goatee which is trimmed to perfection. “Kaylee,” he groans as he sets eyes on her.

She slips into high heeled shoes, checking herself over in the mirror, then turns to look at him, smiling at the expression on his face and the impressive erection that’s pushing apart the folds of terrycloth.

Narrowing the gap between them Jayne takes Kaylee in his arms and lifts her, the knob of his cock searching out that wet cleft between her legs and, wo de ma, she wants to rut, she’s aching to rut so badly, but the thought of what’s on offer this evening makes her rein in her urges.

“Put me down and get dressed,” she says. “I got plans for you.”

Jayne almost does as he’s told, but at the last minute he kneels before her, brushing his mouth over her pussy and tonguing her clit until she’s breathing rapidly and coasting on the edge of a climax.

“D’you want to come now?” he asks, looking up at her and with his lips all wet from her juices and his ji ba rearing up slick and hard and ready to ride, Kaylee ain’t certain she has it in her to wait, but, gorramit, she’s going to.

“Not yet,” she breathes, but when he gives her clit one final swift suck she’s so close that she’s trembling.

Moving away from the danger zone Kaylee leans against the ladder, watching Jayne get dressed and imagining how handsome he’s gonna look on the day of their wedding. The closer it draws the more excited she gets. She’s never wanted anything as much as to become Mrs Jayne Cobb -- except maybe one chance to hold her lost baby, but tonight ain’t the night for sad thoughts like that.

Stepping aside to allow Jayne up the ladder, Kaylee smacks him on the butt and then ascends the rungs after him. She’s so thrilled by the idea of what lies ahead for them that the wetness spills out of her and trickles down her thighs and it’s a heck of an effort not to give in to temptation and rub herself off against the shaft of the ladder. One touch of that cold metal would have her reaching instant climax.

“Ca