Interlude 1

She continued to glare at him, but the expression was softening. They had gotten to know each other over these three months and matters had altered somewhat.

"No, I wasn't ready for you," she admitted, "though I knew you were going to change things for me. Hoped it, actually. I just didn't want you to make this kind of change."

"What change?" he demanded, closing the distance between them.

She jerked the sheet from around his waist, leaving him naked. "Wanting you more than once. I never want a man more than once. Just gets you a black eye in the end."

He stepped forward. "I'd never hurt you intentionally." His arms came around her small form and she melted into his embrace.

"I know," she sighed. "Just don't use those three words, Qui-Gon, and things will be fine."

"Can't face the truth," he stated.

"No, I don't want the truth. I have lived lies all my life. What's one more?"

"A broken heart."

"That has already happened, lover. It's just never mended. You can't break something already broken."

Qui-Gon brushed his lips against her silky black hair. "No, but I have some glue that will put it back together again." He swept her up in his arms, jerking her hands away from his chest when she attempted to push away. "You've been in control this whole time. I think it's time that control was lost momentarily."

He was determined and she was terrified. Give up control? Was he mad? Didn't he know what that would do to her? Yes, he knew and he reveled in it. She smiled a small smile. Her Jedi was slowly becoming less and less himself.

She frowned suddenly. The drug...could the drug have done this?

All thoughts went out the window when his lips crushed hers and he tossed her on the bed, following in her wake. She tried to roll away but he was having none of it. He was in control now and she was the submissive, he the dominant.

"You stay there," he ordered harshly. "It's my turn now."

Shania froze at the cold tone. She'd heard that before, whorehouse after whorehouse. "NO!" she shouted and bolted right out of his arms. "I will never be a man's toy! Get off me!"

Qui-Gon advanced on her, the residual of the drug left in his system, plus his mental tiredness of being the peon in their little love games, made his normal personality of gentle sensuality erode. Qui-Gon was known as a patient and giving lover, and roughness wasn't even in his vocabulary.

Shania sensed the seriousness of the situaton and wished to the heavens she'd never injected him with that damned drug. It was amusing at first, then definitely pleasurable for them both when his inhibitions melted away and he became free with her. Though she would not have used it on a regular basis, she'd caught him sniffing around the fine red powder. From then on, the stash they'd discovered on a foray underground for information was carefully concealed where he wouldn't find it again. Once was all she needed to break him down.

Mistake Number One.

His large hand found purchase on her upper arm and she struggled. They wrestled around for a moment, he blocking every move she made. She soon found herself flying through the air to the bed and she landed in a heap, unable to move.

"You are mine, Shania, so no more running," he murmured in her ear. His lips nibbled at her earlobe and spasms of pleasure shot through her system. She still struggled. "Stop it!" he growled, letting his lips trail down her throat and over to her other ear.

"Please," she whimpered, using the old damsel in distress standard, "you're hurting me."

He didn't let up his weight from her lithe body, his own muscular body crushing her into the mattress. His arm swept up and grasped the tight jumpsuit top and pulled downward. The snaps exploded open, as he'd known they would, revealing her to him. His head quickly descended to a pert breast and she gasped at the sensation.

It wasn't an unfamiliar sensation, but right now, it wasn't welcome.

Or was it?

Qui-Gon released her hands he held above her head when she began to moan his name. He trailed down, tasting the residual light sheen of sweat from her morning activities and the scent of her desire wafted to his nose. It was heady and oh so seductive. He had to have more.

He towered over her suddenly and she blinked to focus on him. He was gloriously naked and she just didn't think a human male could get much better. His muscles were trim, his waist long, shoulders broad. His hair, a chesnut brown, hung to his shoulders. He was lightly tanned, a phenomenon that fascinated Shania because the only time she ever saw him out of his tunic was in the shower or in bed with her.

His thighs were taut and his calves perfectly shaped for a runner. Even for a Jedi, he was in fine physical condition.

His manhood was impressive too. Without thinking, she sat up, her own hair brushing down her back. Her mouth closed over him and he jerked in surprise. He'd expected another fight. Her mouth moved around him, her tongue rubbing against him playfully. He pulled her away when he began to get dizzy.

"Wait," he said, "I'm the one in charge, remember?" The voice was teasing but he was serious.

Tossing her back against the pillow again he laid down full-body on her, then changed his mind after a minute or two of deep kissing. He sat back up and tugged the tunic off the rest of the way, exposing her fully now. It amused him that she wore no underwear. She had told him the first time they made love that she found them constricting and bitterly said it probably had something to do with the fact that she never had any to wear before.

"Qui-Gon," she cried softly, "please don't do this to me."

Her obvious fear gave him pause. "I'm not going to hurt you, Shania. This is nothing we haven't done before."

"My control is all I have in my life. Don't take that away, Qui-Gon, it's all I am." Her green eyes were wide and shiny with tears, strengthening his resolve.

"No, it's time you belonged to someone. Control makes one weak if you always have it, Shania," Qui-Gon told her lovingly. He slipped a finger into her wetness and she arched involuntarily. "And you are not weak. You can handle this. It will make you stronger, I promise."

He pushed a second finger in and his thumb flicked the little nub of her arousal. "Let me make you happy, Shania," he whispered. "That would make me happy. You told me once you wanted me to be happy, that you wanted to give someone joy. Here's your chance."

She was confused and desire had to be clouding her judgement, she thought. Would losing her control make him happy? Would her losing her grip on herself make her stronger?

"Trust me, baby, trust me. I can make you happy," he murmured, and he lowered his head to where his hand continued its sweet torture. His heated breath warmed her skin, sending her mind off planet.

"Please," she begged. Qui-Gon smiled. Obviously he wasn't the only one who could lose inhibitions. She'd never begged before.

His tongue gently traced patterns on her inner thighs and gradually worked its way in. Between the two netherlips his tongue pressed and soon he was lapping at the moisture he found there. Her whimpers of pleasure turned to groans as her excitement built. The more she groaned, the gentler he went.

His own excitement was building and just as she began to stiffen he raised up and thrust himself deep within her. Her climax caused the muscles around his shaft to contract, causing the friction he needed. He moved in and out a few times and the world exploded around them. He rode the waves of her climax more than his own. His time would come he knew.

He continued to move, thrusting deeper each time it seemed. Her climax ended and another built. She raked at his back, their lips met hungrily and they began to move in synch with each other. The pressure built and Qui-Gon watched her eyes glaze over.

"Now, Shania," he ordered. "Let go now!" As if perfectly timed, they both orgasmed, the waves washing over them both. Their eyes went blind by the explosion within them. For a moment, time stopped and then restarted.

Qui-Gon collapsed on top of her, both panting heavily. He brushed her sweaty brow with his lips and rolled off her, dragging her with him as he moved. They remained joined, something new for them both. She stretched and little pleasure waves shot through them at the movement.

"Stop." He playfully swatted her rear. She couldn't look him in the eye.

"I love you." She stiffened again and her eyes narrowed. "I'm in control, remember? You didn't seem to mind a few minutes ago."

Her hand flashed up but he caught it before the slap could happen. "Bastard!" she hissed, trying to get off him.

"Maybe," he agreed, "but you know, I'm the bastard in charge, and you liked it." If she got any stiffer she'd be a block of wood, he thought. His hand slipped between them and began to rub the little knot between her thighs.

She sighed before she could stop herself. He lifted his head to hers and their lips met again. The kiss was carnal and open-mouthed. Qui-Gon had never had sex with a woman like this before. This carnality certainly had it's benefits. Though candlelight and softness was still nice, he was finding he preferred this raw passion.

Once she'd climaxed on top of him, still with his shaft inside her, she collapsed in a heap of unmovable human limbs. He brushed his lips repeatedly over her nose, lips, cheeks and eyes. "I have an alternative that may be appealing to us both on getting you out of circulation and still do the job you love."

She stirred. "I hate being a thief."

"No, you don't. It thrills you. Until me, it was the only thing that made you feel alive. Will you hear me out?"

She raised her head to look at him and then shook her head. "A deal is a deal. It's been decided upon and it's time to deliver." She vaulted from his arms and was across the room in a blink. "When do we leave?"

"When are you going to tell me how you do that?" he grumbled, stirring as well.

Her eyes narrowed. "Do what?"

"Move like that." He sat up and yawned. "That's not normal for a human. Are you full human, or is there something alien in your heritage?"

She looked at him still, her green eyes narrowed suspiciously. He rolled his eyes, got up and walked into the shower room, grabbing her hand as he went by. "Come on, Little Miss Suspicious."

They showered, washing each other very thoroughly. She dressed in a gray, lightweight jumpsuit of fine material, while he dressed in his usual tunic and pants, obi, belt and boots. He slung the brown robe over his shoulders and placed his hand on his lightsaber to double-check it's presence.

She packed three outfits and her work gear. He followed her into the study again where she had left the information that she had stolen. Shania packed it carefully, double-checking the contents and then she gestured for him to remain here.

"I have to get some other things," she told him. "Then I'll be ready."

Qui-Gon nodded and admired her form as she left the room, heading to one of the outer areas he had been banned from entering. He pondered the past few moments, the past couple of months with a crooked smile.

Why couldn't she just trust him?