While that was in progress, the Captain stayed away from Kent except for official business which they both conducted as briefly, and as formally as possible. The last thing Matthews wanted was a confrontation between Kent and Hardy. Eventually, after seemingly endless delays, David Hardy left the Kalar for his new berth on the Capricorn and Matthews felt he was now free to approach his Second Lieutenant again. He had absolutely no idea how he would be received. Kent had not made a single attempt to see him privately, although he had noticed the Lieutenant’s eyes following him a few times when he had thought himself unobserved.
He waited impatiently for a shift when he knew Kent was off duty. He had decided to put everything out on the line; he had nothing important left to lose. He took a quick shower then dressed deliberately in casual clothes rather than his uniform; black trousers, a soft white shirt and a dark blue jacket. He looked like a man going to meet his lover, rather than the Captain of a space ship. He took a deep breath and left his cabin—Kent was most likely to be in the common room but he quickly checked the man’s quarters just in case. Empty as expected.
Kent was playing a game of chess with Corporal Hamilton when he became aware that the soft murmuring around him was falling away to silence. He looked up and saw the Captain coming straight toward him and his heart jumped. He looked good enough to eat. He couldn’t tear his eyes away from the way the trousers clung to his legs and how his shirt just called for someone to stroke it, his black hair still damp as if he hadn’t taken the time to dry it, and he was coming straight for him. Corporal Hamilton turned to look over his shoulder to see what was happening, then hastily turned back to Kent and cleared his throat. “Ahh. Hmm.”
Matthews came right up to them and turned politely to Hamilton. “I’d like a few words with Richard, if you wouldn’t mind?”
“Of course, sir,” said Hamilton already scrambling to his feet.
Matthews didn’t sit down but spoke to Kent directly, “I was wondering if you might invite me to your quarters.” The men around them could hardly fail to overhear. Kent looked up at Matthews and saw the vulnerability in his eyes—he knew he was risking humiliation if Kent chose to inflict it. You could have heard a pin drop as the whole room waited for his answer. It was time to decide if he had forgiven Matthews or not. Kent rose to his feet and kissed him in front of the entire crew. “Let’s go.”
Kent strode out of the common room, ignoring the sigh of relief which escaped from more than a few of the men, and went straight to his quarters, hyper-aware of the Captain following closely behind him. He let them both in and set the privacy seal, then in less than a second, had Luke pushed up against the wall, pulling the soft shirt out of his trousers so he could run his hands up and down his bare stomach and chest, kissing him as if he could hardly get enough. Luke groaned and put his arms around him.
Richard slid his hands around behind Luke’s back then pushed them down inside the other man’s trousers, finding only warm smooth skin—Luke wasn’t wearing anything else. Richard pushed his hands down further, cupping his buttocks and pulling his hips against his own as tight as he could, angling his head so that he could get more of his tongue into Luke’s mouth. Luke groaned deep in his throat.
Suddenly Richard drew back a little and looked at the other man self-consciously, “This is going to sound really stupid, but I have absolutely no idea what to do now! What do two men do?”
Luke was so aroused he thought he was going to embarrass himself on the spot. He almost stopped breathing as images flooded into his head, himself pinning Richard to the bed underneath him, or maybe up against the wall or even bent over the desk in his office... hmm maybe not, he’d never be able to sit there again without a grin on his face. But he didn’t hesitate. “Whatever you feel comfortable with. Believe me you’re doing absolutely fine so far!” He smiled at him provocatively, “I can wait awhile for my turn.”
Richard’s heart was going like a hammer. He knew Luke thought he’d stick to something safe like kissing, then he smiled as he remembered thinking Luke looked good enough to eat. Perhaps he knew what to do after all. Leaving his hands inside the Captain’s pants, he began to lick and kiss his way down his chest.