amberfocus | You're What?: Chapter Thirty-Six

Chapter Thirty-six: Ingredients of Bonding

“Comfortable?” Rose asked once the Doctor was settled in bed again.

“As I can be,” he grumbled, “what with you clear over there.”

“Do you really think I’m in the mood for snuggle time?” she asked him acerbically.

“Please, Rose? I just want to hold you,” he said.

“Fine,” she said giving in to the sad look he gave her. It was replaced by a wide grin and she shook her head at him. “Honestly, for the life of me I don’t know why it’s impossible for me to stay mad at you.”

“I didn’t do it,” he said.

“No. It’s been like this for awhile.” She settled into the curve of his arm. “You sure this doesn’t hurt your skin?”

“It’s worth it,” he said. He settled one big hand on her belly and Charlie kicked him. They both laughed as her stomach and his hand jumped. “Think he’s giving me what for because I upset his mummy.”

“Good instincts, this one,” Rose said with a soft grin. She rubbed her hand across the very small portion of her belly that the Doctor’s hand wasn’t already covering. “So tell me about the life bonding, Doctor.”

“Well, it’s…it takes place on several dimensional levels even though you’ll only be aware of twelve of them. So that makes it complicated, but really, it’s fairly simple. It involves the four directions, the four elements and four items that we’re on our way to collect now.”

“You were pretty sure I’d say yes, weren’t you?”

“I hoped you would. I would never take it for granted that you would. But I thought…it’s us, Rose. I believe in us.” He leaned closer and kissed her hair. “I believe in you,” he added softly.

Rose turned into him and her lips met his in a gentle kiss that turned into a rain of many tender little kisses. When the Doctor finally stroked his tongue against her bottom lip she allowed him in. He took careful inventory of her mouth as he turned towards her, molding his body into hers. He brought his hand up to tangle in her hair and she sighed into his mouth as his fingers splayed through the golden strands.

He felt himself harden against her thigh and pulled his lower body back away from her, wanting to respect her wishes in regards to not making love until she wasn’t irritated with him anymore. Rose made a small noise of protest and he felt her hand in the small of his back pulling him back towards her.

The Doctor broke the kiss. “Rose, did you change your mind?” he asked softly, stroking her hair back from her face.

She looked at him through heavy eyes and got her breathing back under control. “It’s these stupid pregnancy hormones making me randy. And the fact that you’re just so damn sexy.”

“It’s a curse,” he said deadpan and she giggled.

“Curse of the Time Lords?” she teased.

“Just this Time Lord. The one head over heels in love with you.”

“You’re making it awful hard to stay annoyed at you.”

“I’m supposed to make it easy for you?” he asked. He dipped his head towards hers and caught her bottom lip in his mouth briefly before backing away again.

Rose settled back into the crook of his arm again. “So the four elements we need for this ritual are what? Metals? Gases?”

“No, nothing so complex. Earth, air, fire, and water.”

Rose frowned. “How will you get air?”

“There will be wind where we go,” he said.

“Is that safe with fire?” she wanted to know.

“Yes, the way I’ll set it up, it is. The fire will burn on a transdimensional level, slightly out of phase but all around us at the same time, so we can stand within it.”

“Weird,” said Rose. “And the four items we need?”

“A flower encased in amber from the Trillium forests of Mastraginus Five, honey from Melissa Majora, a piece of bitter root from the moonlet Sori, and a bloodstone ruby from Sandoval,” he told her. “But I already have the bloodstone ruby in my possession. I just need to get the other item. We’re en route to Sori right now and it orbits Melissa Majora, so it’s just a hop, skip and a jump away. So just the two trips really.”

“When do you want to do this?” Rose asked. “The ritual, I mean.”

“Before the wedding, definitely. I’d prefer as soon as possible, though.”

“Do we need witnesses to it?” she asked.

“No. Part of the life bonding is making love,” he told her. “And despite the fact that we have done that in public once before, I really don’t fancy an audience.”

“Nor I,” said Rose.

“So once you get everything we need, how long does it take to prepare for it?” she wanted to know.

“About a day. I could have the supplies needed and be ready to bond with you in three days,” he told her. “Unless that’s too soon for you?”

“It’s not too soon,” she told him. “Is there anything I could read about it so I’m aware of what’ll be happening?”

“The only book I have on it is in Gallifreyan. The concepts are a little hard even for me, and I've done it before. They are very complex and I have training in them,” he told her. “But I will explain every step as we go along as best I can. Really, it’s part of the bonding anyway, the speaking aloud of what each thing represents.”

Rose nodded against his arm. He noticed that his skin was no longer sore as she moved against him. “Hey, think I’ve healed up now.” She sat up and looked him over.

“Your skin’s not looking raw anymore. Good stuff the TARDIS gave you,” she said. She reached up above the headboard of their bed and stroked the wall. The ship hummed contentedly in acknowledgement of the gesture.

“Told you my superior physiology would kick in. I’m all better now. So the question is, are you over your irritation with me?” His voice sounded extremely hopeful even to his own ears and he dared to reach out and run his hand lightly over her nightgown clad breast.

“Not quite,” Rose said but he could hear a smile in her voice.

“Because you know, I can smell your arousal from here,” he continued in a darker voice.

“Not surprised with a nose like that,” she teased.

“Oi, I thought you said you liked my nose!”

Rose rolled towards him and kissed the feature in question. “I adore every inch of you, Doctor. Including your nose. It’s perfect for your face. Your beautiful face.” She ran her hand lightly across his cheekbone and eyelid and then over his forehead and up into his hair. When she brought her hand back down across his face and over his lips, he caught two of her fingers in his mouth.

“Oh, sod it,” Rose said. She pulled away from the Doctor, stripped off her nightgown and knickers and laid back down. “I’m just too horny. Have at it,” she said opening her thighs.

“Not the most romantic offer I’ve ever heard,” he said a bit disconcerted.

“Doctor, if you don’t get over here right now I’m going to start without you.” Her voice was deadly serious and as her hand drifted down her body, he decided that making love to Rose was making love to Rose, no matter how she presented herself to him.

He scrambled between her legs and lined himself up against her entrance. Despite her less than romantic attitude he chose to make love to her steadily and gently, driving her towards the edge at a slow and leisurely pace that had her cursing him to go faster and harder, but he refused. Instead he took his time, his lips kissing every inch of skin he could reach, his mouth whispering words of love and adoration, his arms holding her as closely as he could with each thrust in and out of her body.

The Doctor made love to her for an hour before he let her come, the last five minutes of which he spent with his gaze locked on hers. She was crying when she flew over the edge into her orgasm and she howled in triumph as the waves of completion filled her body. Finally he let himself go, his penis bathing her insides with his cool seed.

When he finally released her and rolled away from her body she immediately curled into him. “I’m not mad at you anymore,” she said softly.

“Couldn’t tell,” he said with a grin then added, “So you don’t really think I’m an evil bastard?”

“Oh, yes, I do. You wouldn’t let me come.” She was pouting.

“Oh, but Rose, the anticipation, the build up--.”

“Was agony!” she interrupted.

“But worth it.”

“Well, there is that,” she replied.

“I love you, Rose Tyler, and I wanted you to know. Body and soul,” he told her.

“I love you, too, Doctor,” she replied. They basked in the afterglow for several minutes before Rose announced that she needed a shower and then food and then more sleep. The Doctor joined her in the shower and Rose refused to let him wash himself after the way he’d hurt himself earlier. Far more time was spent in cleansing their bodies than was strictly necessary, but he wasn’t the least bit tempted to complain.

Afterwards she rubbed more cream into his skin, insisting they be on the safe side. Despite the fact that he knew he’d finished healing, he humored her. Who was he to protest Rose rubbing her hands over every inch of his body?

They went to the kitchen then and threw together sandwiches, fruit and vegetables to eat and they had a little picnic in the conservatory, the light from the Vortex shining in on them through the clear glass ceiling. Rose was so content laying on their picnic blanket, head in the Doctor's lap while he stroked her hair, that she fell asleep and the Doctor carried her back to their bed.

He smiled down happily at his sleeping wife and then headed for the console room as the TARDIS indicated they had left the Vortex by a change in the pitch of her humming. He brought the ship to a safe and relatively unbumpy landing on the desert moonlet of Sori. Then he went back to join Rose in bed. He pulled her against him with one arm and with the other hand he opened the book the TARDIS had given him and read over again the information about the bonding ceremony and waited for her to wake.

Rose woke up two hours later finally feeling fully rested. She was surprised to find the Doctor still by her side, especially since the ship was no longer in transit. “Did you carry me to bed?” she asked.

“Yeah. The ground in the conservatory can leave you with awful muscle stiffness if you sleep on it too long. Not to mention you’d end up smelling like apple grass for days. That stuff clings.”

“Thought you liked the smell of apple grass? Why have it if you don’t?” she asked.

“I do like the smell of apple grass. I just like the smell of Rose, better.”

Her womb tightened at the way he said his words and she had to take a deep, steadying breath. She wondered how long the randy portion of the pregnancy was going to last. Really, really made it hard to focus on the fact that she still ought to be sore with him, at least a little bit.

“Thought you’d be more comfortable in here, too” he explained nonchalantly but his nostrils flared. She knew he had scented her arousal again.

“I reckon so,” she said determined to ignore it. “How long since we landed?”

“Oh, a couple of hours.”

“Did you get the bitter root?” she asked.

He looked at her surprised. “No. I thought we should get every item we need together.”

She smiled softly at him. “Is that part of the life bonding? Gathering the ingredients together?”

“No. I just…I wanted you to be a part of all of it, Rose. We’re a partnership.”

Rose stretched then rolled over and kissed his cheek. “Thank you,” she said. She crawled out of bed then and dressed in clothing suitable to the desert environment of Sori. Even the Doctor exchanged his usual jumper for a blue t-shirt that matched his eyes and the lightest weight pair of jeans he owned.

The Doctor sprayed the exposed parts of her body with a liquid that would block the sun’s harmful rays from her skin for several hours and then had her do him. The wave of heat that hit them as they stepped out of the TARDIS doors had Rose wishing that maybe the Doctor hadn’t been quite so romantic about gathering the bitter root. Fortunately they did not have to go far from the ship, but her skin was still sweat-slicked within minutes and perspiration was gathering between her breasts and pooling into the cups of her bra.

“That’s it,” said the Doctor pointing to a brilliant turquoise blue flower. Carefully the Doctor dug at the outermost edge of the plant to uncover one of the roots. He pulled out his sonic screwdriver and severed a piece of root that was four inches long, then cauterized the tip of the remaining root and gently covered it back up with soil. He switched settings on the screwdriver and then pointed it at the plant.

“What are you doing?” Rose asked.

“I’m infusing it with a burst of growth energy to replenish what I took from its rootstock.” He pulled a small pint jar out of the little bag he’d been carrying. It was full of water. He poured it into the root of the plant and then filled the jar with sandy dirt. He buried the piece of root in the dirt.

“This will count as both our bitter root and our earth element,” he told her.

“Why is it called bitter root?” Rose wanted to know. “It’s such a beautiful flower. Why isn’t it named for that?”

“Well, the roots are actually quite bitter. Sori was once inhabited and every bit of vegetation was a possible food source. The flower was useless as food, so it was named after the part of the plant they could eat, even if it was horribly bitter. It takes hours of boiling to get it down to a tolerable taste level and even then it is subsistence quality only.”

“What happened to the people who used to live here?” Rose asked.

“The poles reversed,” he explained as they walked back to the TARDIS. “It killed everyone who hadn’t heeded the warnings and migrated down to the planet. When the polar shift occurred it knocked the moonlet’s orbit slightly out of alignment and now it’s too hot for the descendants of those who did survive to ever return. But they’re happy down there on Melissa Majora with the bees.”

“Bees?”

“Yes. Best honey in the known universe on that planet.”

“But bees? Aren’t they indigenous to Earth?” she asked. “Don’t tell me they migrated to this planet.”

“Quite the opposite. Most of the hives on Earth came from here.”

“You’re telling me we have space bees on Earth?”

“Not space bees, Rose. Alien bees. There is a difference, you know,” he said pompously.

Rose giggled. “You know, the conversations I have with you are decidedly not normal.”

“You love it.”

“I love you,” she said grabbing him by the front of his shirt and pulling his head down for an aggressive kiss.

When they pulled away the Doctor asked, “What’s gotten into you?”

Rose sighed. “Your baby? I dunno. Mum says some women just get really randy in the second trimester of pregnancy. Since I’ve moved into that now it’s kind of obvious I’m one of them. You complaining?”

“No!” the Doctor said emphatically. “Just…I expected you to stay mad at me longer for the mind invasion.”

“Yeah, I expected it, too, but I’m not. And I don’t want to be. It feels good not to be living in fear that you’ll leave us.”

“I won’t,” he said pulling her tightly up against him and backing her into the doors of the TARDIS. He claimed her mouth, taking it thoroughly before releasing her and opening the ship. Once inside he set the ship in motion, making the quick space jump to Melissa Majora.

Rose watched him with heavy eyes. “Let’s get the honey,” he said quickly.

“Don’t you want to…?” Rose invited.

“After,” he said abruptly, reaching into his jeans and adjusting himself. “And quit looking at me like that right now.”

“Like what?” Rose asked innocently.

“Like you want to eat me alive.”

“You’ve never complained before,” she said.

“Not complaining now, but we need to do this. Once we collect the honey we can send the ship on its way to Mastraginus Five. And then I will make love to you until you’re senseless.”

“Promise?” she asked.

“Indeed. And I think,” he gave her a little smirk, “I’ll pick up some extra honey for extracurricular activities.”

She sat on the jumpseat a bit stunned at his remark as he strode out of the ship. Oh, she was looking forward to this. “Coming?” he called.

No, but she certainly would be soon enough. Rose scrambled to her feet and followed her husband onto the surface of a brand new planet.

Ch. 37: http://amberfocus.livejournal.com/164260.html