Disclaimer: Firefly is still and always will be Joss Whedon's.

--------------------------------------------------------------

The flickering candlelight in the room made the air seem thick and hazy. Incense swirled around the lovers, tickling their senses, giving each a feeling of lightheaded passion. The scent of lavender and eucalyptus mingled with the scent of the lovers' bodies, with each of their individual scents. Silk hangings around the opulent bed they lay in hid them from the eyes of the effigies and portraits placed around the room. It was warm, like Dante's proverbial inferno, the heat clinging to the couples’ skin as it weighed in the air surrounding them. It was an atmosphere of love, of desire, passion and lust.

A silver chalice engraved with the symbols of fruition and fertility stood on the carved cherry wood table at the bedside, brimming with ice; clear, pure, silver and cold. Small droplets of condensation formed on the sides of the chalice and slowly slipped over the curvature, down to the stem, spreading out around the bottom, adding a glistening sheen to the wood of the table.

Simon kissed Inara deeply, his tongue tracing her lips, tangling with her tongue, massaging it, caressing. His hands roamed over her body, her sides, stroking, tickling. He heard a gasp from the companion as his lips left hers to brush over her cheek, over the curve of her jaw, the line of her neck. He stopped at the nape of her neck to suckle at the delicate flesh of her throat, leaving his mark. He continued lower down her body, teeth and tongue working their magic, bringing more nerve endings to life with each and every brush.

Inara was a goddess and Simon would treat her as such, coaxing her with careless whispers into relaxing, into letting him do all of the work. Her purr of approval reached his ears and increased his frenzy to make her writhe and moan a thousand-fold. Simon's kisses reached her breasts and he paused to pay attention to Inara's nipples, peaked from his ministrations. He suckled gently; lips, teeth and tongue all working in tandem to bring her to her fall. Simon worked to the rhythm of Inara’s breathing, quick and sharp. Simon took pride in being able to cause this kind of a fervent reaction in someone so experienced in the art of lovemaking.

As he continued his suckling, Simon could feel Inara's skin heating up quickly beneath his lips. He knew he was warming as well. The passion coursing through their bodies was creating a tension, a heat that neither could fight. Simon stopped his suckling and leaned back a little so that he could meet Inara's gaze. Their eyes locked and held for a long moment as Simon caught his breath, the breath which frenzy had stolen from him.

Simon shifted his weight a little, his arousal pressing against Inara's lower abdomen as he straddled her, leaning over to reach for a piece of ice, the topmost piece adorning the heap of ice cubes in the silver chalice on the bedside table. The heat had caused some of the ice to melt and Simon watched a few droplets fall from the slick surface of the chip as he brought it to hover over Inara. The droplets landed on the skin of her chest, gleaming in the lamplight. Simon reached out with his spare hand and brushed the droplets, quickly warmed by the heat of Inara's skin, from her chest.

Simon leaned forward, the hand holding the ice chip slowly creeping down closer to Inara until the tip of the piece of ice was touching the skin at the hollow of her throat. He heard her moan softly and he reached up with his free hand, running it through her beautiful, dark hair as he slowly began to trail the tip of the ice chip from the hollow of her throat down, over her collarbone, barely touching her, leaving a shimmering trail of water everywhere he traced. Simon slid the ice chip down between Inara's breasts, curving it to the left, tracing the lower curve of her breast with it, around the outside and then across to her nipple. Simon circled her nipple with the ice chip very slowly, luxuriously, watching it perk up even more, seeing gooseflesh arise on Inara’s arms and chest. The reaction pleased him and he smiled mischievously, slowly sliding the tip of the ice chip across her chest to the other nipple, eliciting the same response.

Simon's eyes followed the trail of water that the ice chip left behind. It was evaporating quickly in the heat of the room and he could no longer see where it had begun at the hollow of Inara's throat. He brought his attention back to where his hand was now, tracing the ice around her nipple, and he slipped down lower, his arousal now pressing into Inara's inner thigh as he slipped the ice chip down over her rib cage. The piece had practically melted already and Simon let it go, leaving it to liquefy from Inara's body heat on her stomach. He reached over and picked up another piece of ice, bringing it back and starting the trail over where the old one had left off.

Simon slipped the ice downward, tracing a wide zigzagging pattern over Inara's abdomen, feeling her muscles contract as he tickled her gently with the chip. She was whimpering now, moaning pleasantly and Simon knew it wouldn't take much more to bring her to her fall. He knew that it wouldn’t even take a coupling to bring Inara to a climax. He smiled, just a small curving of his lips, and slowly slipped the ice down further until he reached her navel. Simon traced wide circles over her lower abdomen at first and slowly started to narrow his strokes, zeroing in on her navel. When he finally reached the dip of her belly button, Simon let the ice chip rest there over her navel and he leaned in.

His lips started kissing over where the trail now began, having evaporated down to her mid-ribcage. He kissed downward, his tongue gently tracing the trail still left by the ice until he reached her navel, kissing around it teasingly. Simon's hands went to Inara's hips and he grasped them gently as Inara began to writhe beneath him from the sensation of his lips kissing the sensitive skin of her abdomen. Simon teased her mercilessly, his tongue tracing just around her navel, dipping in to tease at the small chip of ice left there, causing a pleasant, sensual tickling sensation.

Simon could see Inara's hands out of the corner of his eyes as he nipped at the flesh of her navel. He could see her fingers digging into the Egyptian cotton sheets they lay on, trying to find purchase, holding on desperately, clinging to the sensations, trying to make them last just a little longer before a climax. He continued to touch, to kiss, to taste ceaselessly, wanting to bring her there, wanting to hear her breathe his name in a maelstrom of passion.

The heat of Inara's skin combined with the friction of Simon's tongue had completely melted the ice chip which had rested in her navel. Simon nuzzled into the soft skin of Inara's abdomen, causing the water to stream forth from where it had pooled in the curve of her belly button and cascade over the gentle curve of her hip before finally dripping onto the sheets they lay on and becoming lost in the fibers of the fabric. Simon sensuously lapped up the trail that the water had left behind; nipping down firmly on the skin of Inara's hip, causing a new, more forceful sensation to shoot through her body.

Simon pulled back once more, reaching for a third chip of ice. Moving upward once more, Simon leaned in until his and Inara's lips were merely inches apart. Her eyes had fluttered closed to block out all sight, allowing more energy to be channeled into simply feeling. Simon brought the tip of the ice chip to the center of Inara's forehead and gently traced it to the right, over her temple, down across her cheekbone until he reached her lips. Simon trailed the ice chip over Inara’s full lips, slicking them with water, coaxing her to part her lips.

And part them she did. Simon teased Inara's lower lip with the ice for a moment before her tongue slipped from her mouth to lick lightly at the ice chip. Simon placed the ice chip on the tip of Inara's tongue, watching as she closed her lips once more, closing her mouth around the ice and sucking on it for a long moment. He gave her a moment to swallow the small amount of water the ice had released before leaning in and placing a delicate kiss on her lips. The kiss quickly became deeper, much more heated and their tongues were clashing once more like they had only minutes before.

As they kissed, Simon's hands ran over Inara's sides, massaging firmly, caressing, touching, feeling. He could feel her breasts brush against his chest each time Inara took a quick, frenzied breath. She was so close, he could feel it in the way she moved, the way she writhed and kissed. Simon stopped his caressing, his hands resting on Inara’s sides. In one quick movement, one short thrust of his hips, he touched all the right places, all the pleasure points that littered Inara’s abdomen, his arousal pressing into her thigh, so close and yet so far, and Inara went rigid in his arms.

Simon held onto Inara, anchoring her to reality as she let go and came moaning with reckless abandon. His name tumbled off of her lips with such passion that it was almost enough to bring Simon to his own fall. He breathed in sharply as Inara writhed beneath him, riding out the last few waves of her climax, breathing quickly, heart racing. The soft skin of her inner thigh rubbed against his arousal and made him feel lightheaded.

They hadn't even coupled, and yet it had been such a passionate union. They'd kissed, they'd touched, they'd felt, they'd tasted, but they hadn't become one. They hadn't needed to. All of the pent up love and passion they'd built up over the prior several days had been enough to spend them both.

As Inara's breathing slowed, Simon slipped off of her and came to lay at her side, pulling her into his arms. He glanced down and kissed the top of her head gently as she nuzzled into his neck. He could feel her warm breath brush over his collarbone as she relaxed in his embrace after the perfect encounter. A delicate sheen of perspiration covered Inara's body, shining in the flickering candlelight. He felt her shiver and pulled the silk sheets up higher around their bodies. The heat of the desire was being replaced by the chill of the ice Simon had used to bring Inara to her fall.

As much as Simon wanted to warm Inara, to keep her comfortable and content, he loved how the afterglow of her skin sparkled in the light. He loved how refreshingly cool her flesh felt against hers as gooseflesh rose on her arms from the chill. He loved the silver and cold.