<USS Avalon> "Can I Keep You?"

Can I Keep You?
by Lts Patrick McEntire and Sussanna Jameson
 
His soft lips left hers and Anna pulled back.  Her heart was pounding and she 
felt her knees go weak.  Instead of showing the weakness, she stepped back, 
blushing.
 
"Want to climb now?"
 
Mac smiled, holding her gently as she got her feet back underneath her, loving 
that reaction. Noting the blush as she stepped back and trying not to laugh, he 
answered gamely, "Sure. Love to."
 
Leading him to a steep path with a guide rope for people who found the going 
hard.  Tossing a grin over her shoulder, Anna used her long legs to carry her 
up the slope quickly.  "First one to the top gets a prize!"


Mac laughed merrily. He loved a good challenge. Years of climbing on Earth and 
Barracus III let him catch up to her reasonably quickly, but he found 
overtaking her more difficult as slopes got steeper. At last he ventured the 
question, "What if we get there at the same time? Do we both win?"

"Well, I don't know about that.  We'll have to see when we get there."  
Laughing gleefully, Anna found herself slowing too but refused to let him catch 
her. 
 
Mac took note of her slowing and sped up until they were neck and neck 
approaching the top, laughing as well.
 
Cheating, she thought, narrowing her eyes.  The top grew nearer but her burst 
of speed wasn't enough.  Mac overtook and got there first.  "You won," she 
panted, disbelieving.  "No one's ever beaten me before."
 
"Yeah, well...we McEntire's are hard to beat." He laughted, drawing her close 
to him as he flopped backward on the dirt. "So...how about my prize?"
 
Leaning over him, Anna ran her fingertips over his cheeks.  Kissing him, softly 
at first and then deeper, she curled into him.  As she drew back, she said, 
"Good prize or d'you want something better?"
 
"See now, that depends," he said rolling over so that he was above her. "Do I 
get to keep it?"
 
Her eyes flittered around his face, unsure if he was serious or not.  "If you 
want to..."  Strengthening her resolve, she said, "If you want to, kiss me 
again."
 
"If I want...." shaking his head in disbelief that she thought she even had to 
ask, he leaned down gently and kissed her again. When at last he shifted above 
her again, looking down into her eyes, and brushing his hand gently against her 
cheek, he asked quietly. "So...how about it? Do I get to keep you?"
 
She wanted to say yes, desperately, completely give herself.  Don't hurt me...  
Maybe I should say no, be alone, stay safe.  "Only if I get to keep you too."
 
Mac smiled. "Well okay, but I have to tell you, I really think I'm getting the 
better end of this deal," he responded before kissing her yet again. Rolling 
back onto his back, he drew her onto his shoulder and held her, sighing 
contentedly. 
 
"Oh, I don't know, I've just got myself a sweet, funny, interesting man who 
seems, for some unknown reason, to like me just as much as I like him."  
Kissing his cheek, she wrapped her arm over his chest and snuggled down.  "Why 
are you interested in me?"
 
Mac laughed heartily. What the hell? "Come on! No insecurities allowed, lady. 
Think about it. You're sweet, smart, sexy, thoughtful, funny...and just a 
little bit of a nut..."  Holding her close to him, he kissed her on the top of 
the head and asked her, "What kind of a dumbass wouldn't be interested in you?"
 
She closed her eyes, trying to shut things out but one face kept popping back 
up into her mind.  Into his chest, she whispered, "Lissi."
 
Not expecting that one, he did the only thing he could think of to do. 
"No...Mac.." he responded teasingly. Realizing that whatever had prompted the 
name was no joke to her, he wrapped his arms more tightly around her and asked 
gently, "What about Lissi?"
 
"You don't know?" she said incredulously.  "We, that is she and I, slept 
together once.  I knew at the time it was nothing, I thought I could handle it 
but..."  Shrugging, she turned to stare out across the desert.  "I guess I 
liked her a whole lot more than she did me.  I'm the kind of girl that's not 
worth the risk, you know?"
 
Again, Mac fell back on his pat answer. "Bullshit," he responded. "You're worth 
it to me." Holding onto her, he admitted. "No, I didn't know, and before you 
ask no it doesn't matter. I'm not worried about who you were with before me 
unless you still plan to be with them after me. Okay?"
 
"Okay."  Surprising herself, she believed him.  Lifting herself up on one 
elbow, she kissed his nose playfully.  "What shall we do now?  I think I 
remember something about a picnic."  A brilliant idea struck her.  "How hungry 
are you?"
 
"Starving," He admitted with a grin. "Absolutely freaking famished."
 
"I'm going to treat you to a good old fashioned Australian barby."  Jumping to 
her feet, she offered her hand down to him.  "Computer, create a two person 
barbeque, replicating steaks, sausages, a large bowl of chips, a salad bowl 
with caeser dressing and lots of fresh bread."
 
A gas-powered grill appeared before them, already sizzling.  Alongside it a 
table materialised with her requested food.  Grabbing hold of a set of tongs, 
Anna threw the meat onto the grill and stood back as the fat hit the coals.
 
"How well done d'you like your steak?"
 
Mac grinned, thinking he could get really spoiled by this. "Well done. Very 
well done."
 
"Wimp!"  Her laughter made her cheeks hurt.  She quickly pulled one off and 
then upped the heat.  "I like mine practically blue.  You know, show it to the 
grill from across the room and it's perfect."  The smell of roasting beef hung 
in the still air over Uluru.  "I wonder how many people have ever had a 
barbeque on the rock before.  It's gotta be unusual, right?"  
 
Grabbing a roll, she dropped his piece of leather previously known as a steak 
into it and handed it to Mac.  "It's as well done as I can make it, honey."  
She smirked at the name before returning her own steak to the grill.
 
Mac accepted it, setting it aside and drawing her back into his arms. "It's 
perfect," he murmered softly. "And so are you."
 
Brushing her lips over his, she sank into his warm arms and sighed gently.  
"Lovely man, my lovely man."

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