Title: Never The Same
Fandom: SG:A/Firefly-Serenity
Pairing: John Sheppard/Inara Serra
Rating: NC-17 for smut
Het/Slash/Both: Het

Warning: Spoilers for SG:A Season One finale, THE SIEGE

Timeline: Somewhere in Season Two

A/N: Done for Medie's Porn Battle (prompt: silk), and will not be the only fic I write for this little foofooraw. Beta'd by the illustrious rogueapprentice, but I finagled it so all mistakes and general suckiness are still mine alone.

For rogueapprentice. She wanted it. She got it.

XTEENA, WE'RE TIED AGAIN. I THINK. I WILL STILL WIN.

The Reavers were almost upon them when the massive ship appeared in a blinding flash of light.

It resembled an Alliance cruiser, but didn’t attempt to hail them. It did destroy the Reaver ship at the first sign of aggression, however, which made them all nervous.

Something called ‘beaming’ brought them onto Serenity…a small group of men claiming to be from Earth That Was. Among them were a colonel, a lieutenant colonel, and a doctor of sciences, at least by Simon’s best guess, as his medical knowledge was limited at best.

Their explanation made little sense…talk of a time travel device from people calling themselves Ancients…in the end, their ship, called the Daedelus, was stranded until their Dr. McKay could repair it. In the interim, they offered aid for assistance in navigating, having little idea where they were in the ‘verse.

They had an abundance of supplies…medicine, food, and the loan of technology they’d never even seen, such as their transporter. Their gifts were generous…too generous. Yet it wasn’t simply compensation that motivated Inara to make her offer when she caught the looks she was getting from Dr. McKay and the lieutenant colonel after her role as a Companion was explained to them.

“Your generosity surely begs further payment, Colonel Caldwell…if you, or any of the men and women in your party would care to engage my services while you’re here, I’d be more than happy to screen them for a potential session.”

“Men *and* women?” Dr. McKay asked with a skittish flick of his head and keen interest in his dark eyes. Inara knew right away she would *not* be contracting with him.

Two days later, however, Lieutenant Colonel Sheppard beamed to Serenity in order to see her.

So he stood, staring up at the silk hangings across the shuttle. “That’s a lot of…red.” He paused, looking away and back at her with a small smile. “Matches your dress, too…very nice.”

Inara couldn’t help but smile. “Are you here to take me up on my offer, Colonel Sheppard?”

“John…please, call me John.”

“John, then.”

“Thank you…and no…well, not really. McKay kind of…well, he dared me to come over here. For that…but I’m not. Here for that, I mean.” He got out, just shy of flat-out stammering. He was a somewhat nervous man, but he hid it well…much better than his friend, Dr. McKay. He carried himself with a grace…a tranquility befitting a real warrior, but at the same time, Inara caught his inflections, the way he spoke…he was a very intelligent man.

She was fairly sure he wanted this to happen…but Inara knew a few things about the history of Earth That Was…enough to know that back then, there *were* no Companions, only whores. She also recalled mention that he was a pilot.

“Colonel…I’m sorry, John,” she drawled with a small smile, “would you like to see the cockpit of my shuttle?”

Pulling aside the silk curtain was like pulling aside the barrier of his own inhibition. Perfectly courteous and civil, yet real passion shone in his eyes as he sat in the pilot’s seat, and for the first time Inara thought he just might be able to fly the pretty little vessel as well as she did.

It was easy from there…to stand behind him, lay a hand on his shoulder as she answered his questions and pointed things out…he *wanted* to be seduced. Or rather, he needed to be, because he simply wasn’t able to do it himself. Oh, he could…but his code of honor wouldn’t allow it. So she did it for him.

The first kiss was soft, the second sweet…but the third was electric, and Inara hadn’t been expecting that.

His confidence grew with surprising speed as he pulled her into his arms, deepening the kiss of his own accord. Perhaps it helped that it felt good…better than it probably should have…and with the dark hair and eyes, the lean but solid build she saw so often and refused to really look at…

She let him sweep her off her feet and carry her to bed, let him remove her dress at his own pace. She found she enjoyed removing his, admiring his strong body…the dark hair covering his chest, the definition of his arms and his broad shoulders.

“You are so beautiful.” He seemed almost shocked by the fact as he gently pressed her back into the bed.

“So are you.” She replied softly, meaning every word as her hands roamed his body, slipping down to curl her fingers around his shaft.

He cut her off by reaching down to catch her wrist with a groan of pleasure before lightly pinning her wrists down as he began to explore her body. He took his time, eventually releasing her hands without relinquishing the rest of her. It was a new thing, being with a client who didn’t treat her time as if he’d paid for it. He was enjoying her body…the taste of her breasts, the feel of her belly as he nuzzled and nipped at her skin, and then gave her that greatest of all pleasures…oh, rarely did she find a client who would do that and so *well*…

She fought her climax, but he demanded obedience from her body and received it as she shook with release, his tongue teasing and invading at turns…and before she knew it, she was coming a second time, even harder than the first.

Still he continued…teasing and awakening every nerve ending with soft touches and tender attentions from his lips, teeth, and tongue. The way John Sheppard kissed her breasts, teased her sex with his fingers and stroked her thighs with such feather-light brushes of his hands made her feel as though control had never existed in the world.

She was ready for him as he finally did enter her, making her moan in very real need. Her body was like an open, aching nerve, nothing but animal sensation and need, one he met with an equal sort of desperation.

Inara imagined his hair was dark brown and shorter when she came, another name in her mind and heart as his sprang to her lips.

Finally they lay together, bodies slick with sweat and hearts hammering. Inara thought she might fall asleep before she was meant to.

“Y’know,” John finally drawled after a long while, staring at the roof of the shuttle, “I don’t think I’m ever going to be able to look at silks the same way ever again.”

And as she laughed, hiding her face in his shoulder, Inara knew that her own lost control, her own spin into blissful oblivion was her own fault, and in its own way, forgiven.

Because she knew if Mal really *were* in her bed, he’d have said the same thing.