*******

Commander Holmes walked along the corridor with the small sealed case under his arm. He took care of the 'special' deliveries for the crew of the Enterprise. In the last year these small cases had come more often for Captain Kirk than in the past. He had been instructed to hand deliver any of them that showed up. He also held the usual diplomatic pouch that came for Commander Spock every forty-eight days and over time Holmes had learned they were letters from his parents.

He stopped in front of the first officer's quarters, touched the call button and waited. Spock came to the door, accepted the case and thanked him. Holmes nodded and added the 'no problem, Mr. Spock' as he always did and carried on to Kirk's quarters. He touched the call button.

"Who is it?" Came the inquiry.

"Commander Holmes, Captain."

"Hang on."

Holmes waited a moment or two, then the door opened and he stepped in.

"Sorry Gord. I was just getting out of the shower." He accepted the package then placed it on the desk. He finished drying his hair then left the towel around his neck. "How's things?"

"Not bad, sir. Just going off duty and this came for you."

"Thank you for delivering it."

"Welcome sir." He nodded his head and then left.

Kirk looked to the case and debated opening it before he finished dressing or wait until after. He grinned then opened the case as he sat down. The second the case was open, he breathed in the lilac scented stationary. Michelle may have given him the habit of reading hand-bound books but he had given her the interest in stationary. He thought about it, was it on her birthday or was it for some other silly celebration that he had bought that first box?

He remembered her tackling him into the pile of hay totally pleased with the gift and covering his face with kisses until he had hollered to come up for air. He grinned as he remembered. It was after the opening of the play they were in at school. He had teased her more than usual about her accent while they were rehearsing. They had been 'hanging around' together for about three months. Doing homework and spending time together. Michelle had even managed to make his brother smile. He shook his head as he recalled the fact that even his mom liked her.

"I should have known I was in trouble then." He opened the envelope with the antique fleurs-de-lyse letter opener that she had given to him and was tucked between his books on the shelf. He leaned back in the chair, pulled the towel from his neck and left it in a heap on the desktop. He stretched out his legs, pulled his robe closed and tucked the edges between his knees.

He opened the letter and read the first few sentences quickly. It was the usual hello, how are you, I am doing fine. Then it started to get interesting. She had found a place to live. She was settling into her new position at Command Headquarters. Her new 'boss' was Admiral Rominov and she was having a few tiny difficulties.

Kirk started to laugh. "Hard to understand?" He dropped his head back as he tried to picture Michelle with her accent and Admiral Rominov with his accent and anyone coming between them. He wiped his eyes then continued to read the letter.

'He is most annoying, Cherie, that 'e has this accent. I do not always understand him. Why do they allow people with accents to hold positions of importance?

'I have also decided on a pet. A dog, Bouvier de Flandres. I thought of calling him Tiberius or Francois. But non-, I changed my mind. So I have decided on Shakespeare."

Kirk put the letter down to answer the intercom. "Kirk here."

"McCoy here. I have some cards and brandy that need to be shared."

Kirk grinned. "Give me an hour. Just received a letter and I want to get through it."

"Is it a letter from that French girl that teaches kissing?"

Kirk chuckled. "Remembering her name would be easier than all that."

"But not as interesting."

Kirk nodded. "Okay I'll give you that."

"Okay, then I'll give you an hour and a half. McCoy out."

Kirk picked up the letter and moved into his bedroom. He laughed over the commands that she has taught Shakespeare, in French, and a few in English. Then again she considered 'non' to be English.

He put the letter down on his bed and slipped on his uniform pants then stretched out on the bed to finish the letter.

"Shakespeare?" He tried to figure out how it would sound if she said it. "What's wrong with something simple like 'Spot'?"

His thoughts drifted back to the day that they were rehearsing, Shakespeare, in the hayloft. It was raining out and he had closed up the barn and they had sat back to listen to the rain hitting the roof. The play was "A Midsummer Night's Dream" and they were having a hard time getting through the first scene. They had it memorized. The problem was that he would start laughing at her accent and she would start teasing him through his last bit that he had to say.

She looked at him over the top of the reader. "Four days will quickly steep demselves in night. Four will quickly dream away de time. And den de moon, like to a silver bow, New-bent in heaven shall behold the night of our solemnities." She stuck her tongue out at him. He had been teasing her all day about her accent and so she decided to force herself not to have an accent. It almost worked.

Jim shook his head then lifted his reader. "Stir up the Athenian youth to merriments; awake the pert nimble spirit of mirth; turn melancholy forth to funerals; the pale companion is not for our pomp." He met her dark eyes and softened his voice for the beginning of the next part. "Hippolyta, I woo'd thee with my sword. And won thy love, doing thee injuries; but I will wed thee in another key, with pomp, with triumph and with revelling."

She was giggling and trying to hide it. It wasn't working.

Jim put the reader aside. He was grinning as well. They had a hard time getting through this part every since someone in the cast had made the remark about which sword he was doing injury to her with. She had not understood all the laughter then on the way home asked about it. He had tried to explain it as tactfully as he could.

"Are you going to stop giggling?"

She shook her head and continued to giggle only less quietly. Jim moved closer to her and placed his hands on her waist; that was her undoing, she was ticklish!

Jim couldn't help but laugh, her laugh was infectious, and he continued tickling her. She pulled him down and then pushed him away into a pile of loose hay. He was laughing just as hard as she was at the moment and both of them were trying to catch their breath. Jim crawled over to her side then brushed her hair out of her face and the invading straw.

"Didn't know you were that ticklish."

"Now you know." She reached up and pulled some hay from his hair. "I will never be hable to keep a straight face now dat I know what dey tink."

He stretched out beside her, propping his head up and staring at her eyes. He had been attracted to her from the start but had not really even kissed her. Oh, a kiss good-bye the kind you give to almost anyone. A light peck on the cheek or occasionally on her mouth. But, not a full kiss. But he wanted to and so he did. A full hard, totally for her kiss... and she pushed him away.

He lay back in the hay. "Sorry." He kept his eyes closed. He felt so embarrassed; he had obviously read all the signals wrong.

"About what?" She moved closer to him.

"Kissing you." Well, he wasn't really sorry he tried, just sorry, that she didn't want it.

"If you did not want to kiss me, den why did you do it?" She asked.

"I did want to." He opened one eye. "You pushed me away."

"Yes." She ran a fingertip across his mouth. "You do not attack someone to kiss tem."

He grinned just a little. "Then what are you supposed to do?"

"You do it gradually." She ran two fingertips across his mouth then along his jaw. "You tease."

"I thought girls hated it when you teased."

"When you tease with not doing something, yes." She brushed back his hair slowly.

"And who made you an expert on kissing?"

"I am French." She leaned forward and brushed his lips with hers. He reached to pull her to him. "Slow down, Mon Cheri." She ran her hand down his arm then slipped her hand into his. She leaned down to kiss him but only to touch his mouth briefly. "Learn to enjoy."

"Oh I enjoy it." He tried using his free arm to pull her down.

"Non, you rush." She ran her hand down his arm then lifted both of his arms up over his head. "Put dem under your 'ead." She sat back until he did then she stretched out beside him but leaned against him. "You do not move dem or we stop."

She had his interest. "Okay." He said cautiously. And she began this slow delicious torture. Her lips brushed his and would only accept a brief kiss from him. She ran the tip of her tongue along his lips and backed away when he tried to kiss her. "Not fair." He whispered.

"But you will get your turn.." She smiled then tossed a length of her hair back.

He felt his breath catch when she kissed then gently pulled on his bottom lip. Then her tongue ran along his lip. He lifted his head, to move his arms out but her palm touched his chest reminding him of their agreement. He sighed then relaxed. His jeans were getting uncomfortable and he shifted a little then tried to concentrate on just what she was doing. And what she was doing was fine with him! Through this haze that he seemed to be in he vaguely heard his name being called.

"Jim." She ran the back of her hand along his cheek. "Jim. Your maman calls you.."

He sat up fast.

"Yeah, Mom?" He shouted to her. The rain had stopped. He heard her footsteps in the puddles and the mud as she crossed the yard. He moved to the ladder then started down. "Be right back."

Michelle nodded. She reached for her schoolbag then pulled out a brush and worked on her hair.

Jim made it to the ground as his mom opened the small door within the larger doors. "Yeah?" He cleared his throat.

"Are you two coming in for dinner?" She glanced up into the loft then back at her son. "Still working on the play?"

Jim grinned. "Yeah. Trying to get rid of her speech impediment." He said it loud enough for Michelle to hear.

His mom shook her head. "You two are quite a pair." She knew that Jim would tease Michelle about this and she wondered how she put up with it. "It will keep if you want to finish and eat later." She pulled a piece of hay from her son's shirt. She spoke in a lowered tone to him. "Are you driving her home?"

"Don't I always?" He grinned. "Mind if we eat just before we leave?"

"An hour. No more." She studied her son for a moment. No use asking or even mentioning the numerous talks they had over dating and sex, he'd deny everything while he was blushing. She looked around at the stalls. "Before you come in, fill the stalls, please."

"Sure Mom." He grinned, then headed back up as she headed out. He stopped near the top and looked over at Michelle. "How's your mom doing?"

"Not well." She sighed; she did not really want to talk about this. "But not any worse." She loved hiding out here with Jim. They talked about everything and steered clear of parents and family life. She was sitting cross-legged in the hay then her head went back and she sighed.

Jim scrambled up the remaining rungs then sat down beside her but facing her. "Didn't want to make you cry." He brushed the tear that ran down her cheek then kissed her eye. She smiled at him. He followed the trail the tear had made on her face with small light kisses. Then brushed her lips with his, softly, the way she had done to him earlier. He moved closer to her, brushed her hair back then kissed her neck. He heard her sigh and it made him want to please her. He brushed his lips against the place just under her ear. "I love you." He whispered.

She smiled then took his face in her hands. "You love how I make you feel." She whispered back. "But you do not love... I do not love..." She let him kiss her neck, then just under her chin. "But I love dis..." She was surprised when he moved away from her. "What is it?"

"How do you know so much?" He grinned at her.

She couldn't help but smile back. His eyes were bright and had a life to them she had not seen before. "Because I talk to my Papa and maman about such tings. You talk to de oder gauche ones." She ran her fingers down his shirt feeling the warmth under it, she felt him take in a deep breath. "Even de girls talk to heach oder. Not to anyone dat knows of dese tings." Her hand slowly moved back up his chest then wrapped around his neck then pulled him close.

He lifted her chin with just his fingertips then turned her head and kissed her cheek then her jaw along to her ear. "I can't even imagine talking to my mom about this." He spoke softly and surprised that the conversation was not ruining the mood.

"Dat is because you talk about sex, not passion or making love. Or being in love."

"There's a difference?" He met her eyes and grinned. He was teasing her. He knew there was a difference, just not sure exactly what it was.

"Mais oui, dere is." She stood and moved away from him. She stood near the loft doors and leaned against the frame. She brushed back her hair then closed her eyes. She heard his movements then felt his hand against her back. She felt his warmth through her flannel shirt as he rubbed her back.

"Okay?" He kissed the back of her neck after moving her hair.

She nodded.

"Want to go home?"

She shook her head.

He stood beside her and continued to rub her back for a few minutes more. He combed her hair back with his fingers then down the length. "Where's your brush?"

"In my bag."

He bent down and dug it out then stood in back of her and began to brush her hair, taking his time as he drew the brush through the length. He loved having Michelle for a friend. They would talk for hours some days. Listen to music and do homework. Not quite what he pictured himself doing with a girl. "Want it in a braid?"

"If you know 'ow." She smiled at him.

"Sure I groom the horses all the time." He grinned when she poked him in the side. He brushed her hair back with her brush then leaned forward to kiss her. Softly. Barely touching her lips. "I like your hair like this." He buried his face in her hair then kissed her neck. He tossed the brush over towards her bag. He felt her arm wrap around his waist and he moved closer to her. His lips brushed hers as he pulled her closer. He kissed her then as he pulled away pulled gently at her bottom lip. He tilted his head the opposite way then kissed her again. Lightly then brushed his lips against hers. He started when the tip of her tongue touched his lip. He pulled back slightly then kissed her neck, close to her ear. His hands clenched in her hair.

Her hands clenched into the fabric on the back of his shirt, and began to pull it out of his waistband. "I want to feel 'ow warm you hare." She whispered then brushed her lips against his neck.

He held her as she caressed his back. He suggested with a slight pull at her waist that they sit down. They knelt together, his legs on either side of hers, and still kissing. Her kisses seemed hot against his skin. Her fingers opened the first few fasteners on his shirt as she continued down onto his chest.

She nipped his skin, surprising him. The second time she nipped, he moaned softly. She opened his shirt a little more then slipped it off his shoulder, warming his skin with kisses. She made a return path to his neck then to his lips. She tasted, licked and gently pulled at his lips until he moaned. She moved the fabric of his shirt from the other shoulder then mirrored her treatment on the other side.

He drew in a deep breath, he felt it had been the first in hours; but he knew that it wasn't. She had moved his arms from around her and rested his hands on his thighs and he did not want to move. She continued to open his shirt then slipped it off his shoulders but did not take it off of him. She continued to touch, kiss and taste his skin and as far as he was concerned managed to cover every inch of him.

He was warm and smelled so good. He smelled of the rain and the soap he used. His hair was curly from the dampness in the air and his body was firm. And she realized with a start that he was leaving to attend the Academy at the end of the summer. Five months away. A lifetime away and yet she could not get enough of him to satisfy her for a lifetime. She brushed her mouth across his shoulder then tasted his skin. She decided at the moment that he would be her first.

Jim drew in a deep breath as he felt the need to finally move. He held her face gently then brushed his lips against hers. He licked her lips then pressed his lips against hers as he pulled her closer. He pushed his tongue against her lips and was surprised when she opened her mouth. He pulled her with him as he tilted back into the hay. He wrapped his arms around her and held her tightly to him. She lay between his legs and pressed against him just enough to make him moan.

She lifted her head to breathe. His eyes were still closed, he was flushed and his mouth was inviting. He ran his hand down her side then lifted her leg wrapping it around his waist as he rolled her onto her back. She wrapped her leg tight around him and pulled his hips against hers. She felt the warmth and the hardness even through the denim they wore. He kissed her throat and began to open her shirt continuing his path of moist touches. She shivered from his touches. She combed through his hair, her fingers clenched in his hair when he marked her skin.

Jim rested his head on her breasts and tried to find some control. He listened to her rapid heartbeat and her deep breathing. This was not what he had intended on happening. He wasn't sure how this had happened and he wasn't sure about how far to go. She shifted slightly, her hip and thigh pressed against him. He closed his eyes and drew in a deep breath then let it out slowly. Did she want to do this? He lifted his head. She was gorgeous!

Someone started banging on the barn door.

Jim felt her body tense and her hands covered the squeal that had started. He was positive that he had jumped out of his skin and fell back in as well! He rested his head on her shoulder then swore under his breath. He took a breath then looked towards the door. "Go away Sam!"

"Mom says it's time. Stop shutting off the intercom and we won't have to come out!" His brother hollered back. "So get dressed, Kid and drive her home." Sam laughed.

"Drop dead." Jim shouted back. He was going to kill Sam; at least five different ways. He looked to Michelle for a moment then kissed her. He rolled slowly and reluctantly from her. He covered his face with his hands and groaned. "Didn't even realize the time passing."

"Neider did I." She sat up slowly and fastened her shirt. "I will walk home. You don't have to drive me."

"Are you crazy?" Jim smiled at her. "The highlight of my time with you is driving you home. I love talking to your mom and dad." He looked over to her. "I'll braid your hair for you."

Michelle grinned. "Dat is 'ow dis started."

Jim shook his head. "No, it was you showing me how to kiss." He was looking for the brush then started pulling the hay from it. "Come here."

She wasn't sure she wanted to be that close to him right now. She shook her head. "Not now."

Jim smiled at her. He tucked the brush handle into his back pocket. "Okay." He started down the ladder then reached for her bag and slipped the strap over one shoulder. He moved down a few rungs then waited for her. She hated going up and down the ladder; he always stayed close to her. He looked to her. "Coming?"

She finished tucking in her shirt. "Oui." She crawled over to the edge then slipped into the space between Jim and the ladder. She pulled her hair over one shoulder then looked back to him. She noted the blush that was still on his face and she kissed him softly. "Demain."

Jim frowned.

"Tomorrow."

"Tomorrow?" He wasn't sure if she meant what he thought she did.

She nodded then turned to climb down the ladder with him.

Jim Kirk remembered that the next day her mother was rushed to the hospital and between visits to her mom, the school play, exams to finish school and the last of the entrance exams for the Academy... there had never been time to be together. Not in that way. And then came the opening night for the play and the cast party afterwards. He remembered being in the loft and telling her that he had bought her something.

He gave her the stationary and she squealed and dove at him with kisses and whispered 'merci, Mon cher's' in between. And then he told her that he had to leave for the Academy in a few days... right on schedule.

Jim rolled off the bed as he finished the letter. He poured himself some coffee as he flipped to the last page. She was telling him about some of the interesting people she had met.

'And there was this one officer, a capitaine that was so nice and understanding about being new to the position and then I found out that this capitaine knows of you... small world, no? Anyway, so we talked and we even went to lunch that day.... Oh, I forgot to tell you the name...... it is Capitaine Suzanne Brandt.'

He choked on the coffee and sputtered the name. He sat in the nearest chair he could find. He covered his face with one hand and chuckled. "Oh, God, am I in trouble now!" He grinned as he read the last bit again then started laughing, almost hysterically.

******

And Letters & Lilacs continue....

Translation of the title: "Michelle's Kissing 101"

Feedback cheerfully accepted, send to Gayle




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