Fandom: War of the Worlds

Rating: R

Warnings/Categories: Romance - M/F

Main character: Colonel Ironhorse and original female character.

Disclaimer: These characters don't belong to me and I don't intend to make any money with them. There are no intentions to infringe the rights of the legal owners.

By Marqaisa McAdams.

Paul walked into the hotel tavern and took a seat at the bar. He wondered how Norton ever talked him into coming here alone. It wasn't his birthday, which was several months away and Paul was pretty sure the civilians still didn't know his birth date, even after a year with him, and that suited Paul just fine. There were no special holidays that were coming up to Paul's knowledge.

"You must be Paul," a female voice came from his side.

Paul glanced over to his left to see a striking young woman with jet-black hair, pale complexion, and a slim, but built body. Her emerald green eyes twinkled as brightly as her smile. Though she was extremely attractive, Paul, being the skeptical man that he was, was reluctant to confirm this lovely woman's assumption.

She saw his hesitation, so she added softly, "I'm a friend of Norton Drake's, Colonel."

Paul had to smile. This woman set out to put him at ease with her. He gestured for her to sit down in the empty chair to his immediate left, which she gladly accepted. Ironhorse smelt the briefest hint of perfume on her. Or was it soap? Paul couldn't tell, but he knew he liked it.

"I'm afraid you have me at a disadvantage, Ms. -?"

"Darby. Just call me Darby. It's my first name."

Paul was a little surprised by her name.

"Interesting name. Do you happen to know what it means?"

"Yes, it's Irish for free. Both of my parents are Irish. It's a family name."

Ironhorse smiled softly at Darby. The name did suit her, he thought. Darby seemed free to him ...a free spirit.

"And your name is Latin for small," Darby's eyes took in Paul's frame and build, then continued, "but from the looks of you I can tell that that's not true."

Paul almost choked on his drink, his face turning the slightest shade of red.

"I'm sorry," Darby apologized, grimacing.

Damn! The young woman said to herself. Wonderful, Darby, you really did it this time. You're suppose to relax this gorgeous man, not make him tense up more, Darby cursed to herself.

"I have a fondness for names and their meanings, considering mine is so odd. I didn't mean to embarrass you, Paul. I'm sorry," Darby said, trying to make amends.

"Don't worry about it, Darby," Paul grinned at her, making him that much more handsome to her.

"You just caught me off guard that's all."

"I seem to have that effect on men. I can't imagine why," she mused, grinning back at Paul.

He laughed at her quip.

"Can I buy you a drink?" the Colonel asked, remembering his manners.

"Sure," Darby answered, giving the bartender her order.

"Never heard of that one," Ironhorse commented on her drink.

"It's a specialty drink." Darby eyed Paul, wondering if he knew what she was and thus, why she sought him out.

"How well do you know Norton, Darby?" Paul asked, curious.

"He's a good friend of mine, Paul," she answered, glancing over at an empty secluded booth. There, there would be a less chance of their conversation be heard by anyone close by.

"Do you want to move to a more comfortable area where we're least likely to be overheard?"

"Lead the way," Paul gestured, enjoying the full sight of his companion in her burgundy colored short dress. She was several inches shorter than he was, but Darby held herself high, making her seem taller than she actually was. Darby led him to the empty booth and sat down opposite of him. For a few minutes, the two attractive people talked over a safe topic until Darby couldn't stand it anymore.

"Paul, I have to ask."

"Yes?" he asked, looking at her over his cup of coffee.

"Do you know why Norton asked me to come here to meet you? Do you know what I am?"

Paul put his cup down and gazed at her intently, causing her to flush with embarrassment.

"I had a strong suspicion as to why Mr. Drake sent you to meet me. You're a hooker-"

"I prefer 'call girl', Paul. If you don't mind."

Paul acknowledged her choice of title for her profession.

"Let me guess. You entertain VPs, execs, and other white collar business types?"

"Yes, and a few high ranking military officers like yourself, as well." Darby tried to make Paul comfortable with her profession, but he still seemed ill at ease with her.

"What's wrong, Paul?" Darby asked, watching Paul's facial expressions very closely. "You hold the fact that I'm a call girl against me, don't you?" she stated.

"Well, not really. I'm just wondering why a seemingly intelligent and beautiful woman would want to do this for a living, even if you do get a better pick of men than the girls on the street do."

The young woman smiled, "I will accept that as a compliment, Paul, and I thank you for it. However, this is not my chosen profession by any stretch of the imagination. I do it to pay my bills and for school."

"School?"

"Med. school to be exact. I'm in my last year of residency at an area hospital."

Paul smiled and said, "The military would've paid for your education you know?"

"Are you an Army recruiter on the side, Paul?" Darby joked.

Chuckling, Paul shook his head. "No, but I don't think it was a bad idea though...about you joining the Army. We could always use more doctors on base."

"Yeah, well, it's not an option at this point in time, Paul. I know too many military officers in my line of work to even consider being shipped off to OTC or whatever the hell you call boot camp for officers. And I know I'd be an officer when I'd come out of training. I'm just not Army material...nor Navy, Air Force, or Marines. I like some of the officers I've 'entertained', as you so put it, but it's just not in the cards for me. I wouldn't be taken seriously. Especially by those who know about my past. Why tempt fate?"

"You have a point," Paul conceded, staring at her with his dark soulful eyes.

"Would you take me seriously if I were in the military and you had more, shall we say, intimate knowledge of me?"

"Considering it would be highly unlikely that you'd be in the same type of job situations I'm in? Yes, I would. Providing, of course, you were a good doctor."

"I've had no complaints from my patients so far, Paul. And I'm, as far as I know, in the top 10% of my class. I have less than a month of residency to go before I graduate. You, Paul, are essentially my last guy. I'm retiring from being a call girl tomorrow."

"Tomorrow? Doesn't that put your boss, should you have one, in a bind?"

"Not really. I gave her my notice a while back. She understands. She has worked with me and my residency schedule, not to mention the fact that I helped her with the finances more than I entertain."

Paul's eyes focused on Darby's lips, full, red, and a little pouty, wondering how they tasted in a kiss.

"I guess I should feel honored to be your last trick," Paul said, in his straight-faced, deadpan humor, wondering if Darby would get his joke or not.

"You should be," she laughed, seeing Paul sigh with genuine relief. "But only if you're willing, Paul. Norton told me that you might not be willing to do this."

Surprise reflected on Paul's face then he blushed. "I am, but I still can't believe Norton hired you for me. I mean, it's not my birthday or anything. But he has told me straight out, more than once, that I need to get laid," Paul confided, blushing harder at his own words.

Darby laughed and said, "That's Norton all right. Tell it like it is. He told me the same thing about you. He said that you needed to relax big time and that I was the cure for your tension. That I was your type- whatever your type may be."

Ironhorse smiled, almost shyly at the young resident, and admitted, "Yes, you are."

Darby finished her drink quickly; noticing Paul was finished with his already. She eagerly waited for what this man had to offer her sexually. Darby, from her vast experience as a call girl, knew a sensual man when she saw one and Paul was, she knew a sensual man. She wanted to kiss the handsome Colonel on the lips, an act she didn't allow herself to do with her other guys. But Paul was different. The fact that he was a friend and colleague of Norton's put Paul on Darby's extremely short list of men she could trust not to hurt her. Paul intrigued her with his mixture of shyness, intense masculinity, and a heavy dose of modesty. Paul didn't realize the effect he had on women, Darby decided. She noticed that the women in the bar, who were both with and without male company, were eyeing Paul with lust, trying to catch his eye. Darby felt lucky that she had a chance with the gorgeous young military officer, though she regretted the fact that she was a call girl on a mission, rather than a woman that Paul was simply attracted to.

"Read to go?" the woman asked Paul, trying hard to conceal her disappointment.

"Sure, but first, what's wrong? Do you not want to do this?" Paul asked, trying to conceal his disappointment. He wanted this lovely woman in front of him. He didn't care if she was a call girl. He wanted to feel her skin under his hands, smell and touch her soft hair. He wanted to gaze at her in her natural form. To hear her lovely, slightly accented, voice telling him that she liked what he was doing to her. Finally, he wanted to taste her lips in a powerful kiss along with tasting her quick tongue.

Paul grew more excited, hoping he could help Darby overcome her problem, whatever it might be.

"I'll tell you upstairs," she said.

"Darby," Paul put his hand on hers before she could leave the booth.

His touch warmed the young Irish-American woman throughout her whole body.

"What?"

"Do you want to go through with this? If not, I'm okay with your decision. No need to do it if you are not willing. And I wouldn't force you."

His gaze and words made her smile.

"I know you wouldn't, Paul. That's one reason why I like you. You're a gentleman. Anyway, I want to. Really I do."

"Then what's wrong?"

"I'll tell you when we get upstairs to my place."

"Your place?"

"Yeah, I live in a penthouse of this hotel. My boss pays for it. The manager here thinks I'm some sort of Wall Street whiz kid on a business trip or something. I never bring my 'guys' up to my room."

"Why me then?" Paul asked, curious.

"I can trust you, Paul. Norton said so and I sensed it, also. I wouldn't have even told you about it if I didn't."

Darby took Paul's hand and led him to the hotel elevator. She depressed the P3 button and leaned against the elevator wall, closing her eyes.

Paul took the opportunity to look more closely at Darby. She was slim, but had hints of muscles in her shapely legs and slender arms. Paul was growing more aroused by the moment as he assessed her apparent charms.

Even though he was going to have words with Norton when he got back to the Cottage, Paul silently thanked the communications expert for this opportunity that he gave him.

"What's wrong?" Paul asked, noticing that Darby was doing a breathing exercise with her eyes still closed.

"I'm claustrophobic. I hate riding in elevators," Darby answered, looking at him through half closed eyes.

"I could take your mind off of your fears," the young Colonel said, smiling seductively at her as he walked over to her.

"I bet you could, too, Paul. But alas, we are at the desired floor. It'll have to wait till later."

The doors slid open and Darby led Paul to her penthouse. Ironhorse whistled low at her living arrangements. Darby didn't seem like the kind of person to care much for expensive name brand furniture and accessories. This must be more of her boss' taste, not Darby's, Paul reasoned.

Closing the door behind them, the young woman stepped from around Paul slowly, admiring his physical features as she did. Muscles from chest to toe, no doubt, but not to the excess. She admired that in a man. Darby would bet all of her med. school tuition that Paul looked breathtaking without clothes on as he did with them on.

"Now will you tell me what's wrong?" Paul asked, remembering the look on her face down in the bar.

"It's really nothing, Paul," Darby breathed huskily, as he moved closer to her and reached out to touch her face.

"Tell me," he gently commanded her with a strong, but low voice. His hand pulled out the pins in her hair, allowing it to fall down on her shoulders in a cascade of ebony. Her hair stopped just below her shoulders in waves. It felt like silk to Paul as he ran his fingers through her hair.

"I-I just wished I wasn't...well, you know, a call girl. That we met through Norton on a blind date or something. That you didn't feel obligated to-," Darby was silenced by Paul's fingers touching her lips.

"Shh," he said softly, closing the gap between them in a kiss.

His lips were powerful and took full possession of hers while his arms instinctively went around Darby's small waist. Darby pressed her body to his as her fingers lightly raked his shirt-covered back. Paul found the zipper that held Darby's beautiful dress up. With expert hands, Paul slowly unzipped it and pushed the straps down over her shoulders, baring more of her flesh to his gaze.

Darby put her hands over his, which were fastened on her hips. She pulled the dress down, letting it fall down in a dark red puddle around her feet. Paul stepped back for a moment and admired the view. Her body proved to be better looking than what his imagination gave him. Even with her bra and panties on, Darby was extravagantly beautiful to behold. She stepped out of her fallen dress and moved up to Paul in order to begin to nimbly unbutton his starched white shirt as he easily unfastened her silk bra. Not a minute later, both of them were totally naked, with their hands exploring one another. Every touch Paul made on Darby's soft skin made her blood boil with intense excitement. The couples made sweet and slow love that night.

Darby couldn't believe this was happening to her. Before, with her other men, Darby's responses to the men's actions were automatic and unfeeling, but not with Paul. She felt and meant everything she said and did in response to his loving. It was incredible to believe, the call girl thought to herself, that Paul didn't have a woman in his company every night of his life. He was an incredible lover and she fervently wished she could be with Paul more than just this one night.

Two hours later, Darby lay content in Paul's embrace, her fingers tickling the fur on his chest. Her fingers slid down his sides, trying to find his tickle spots. She succeeded when he squirmed and laughed at her assault. His fingers attacked Darby's body, trying to find her tickle spots. His mouth went down to nuzzle on her neck causing her to laugh and squeal with delight. Paul enjoyed this side of Darby. Her laughter lightened his heart and Paul felt better than he has been in months, thanks to Darby. Paul rolled over and pinned Darby beneath him, kissing her teasingly on the neck, forcing her arms above her head so she couldn't tickle him anymore. His kisses trailed up to her sweet and inviting lips. Paul kissed her fully on the mouth, enjoying the hide and seek game her tongue played with his. The Cherokee groaned with pleasure at her response to his kiss. It caused Paul and Darby to start yet another coupling that lasted for well over an hour. At last the couple fell asleep in each other's arms, exhausted from their bed sport.

Paul awoke to find Darby gone from the bed. His ears caught the sound of running water. He smiled at the thought of joining the young resident in "water games". To his disappointment, the shower was cut off before he could even get out of bed. A few minutes later Darby came out of the bathroom in a short silk sapphire blue robe. Her dark hair clung to her neck and shoulders. She looked absolutely stunning and delicious to Paul.

"The shower's all yours, Paul. Enjoy," she said, smiling prettily at the handsome Colonel. Disappointment touched Paul's well-chiseled face.

"I was about to come join you when you got out before I could even get out of bed."

"I'm glad," Darby laughed, "Or we would've never been able to get back to work for a week."

Ironhorse grinned at her joke.

He sighed and got out of bed and walked to the bathroom with his clothes in hand. Darby's heart started beating faster as Paul walked past her, giving her a quick kiss on the mouth before he went into the bathroom.

Darby sighed. If it wasn't for the fact that she was on duty at the hospital in less than 2 hours, Darby would've hopped into the shower with Paul and wash him from head to toe and do other pleasurable things to him.

Paul was disappointed that Darby didn't join him in the shower. He knew she wanted to, but she was probably getting ready for work. After Paul got dressed he went out into the living room to find Darby eating breakfast at the small dining room table set apart from the living room. Smiling up at him as he drew near her, Darby waved a hand at the empty seat directly in front of her. Paul complied and looked at the various trays of eggs, bacon, sausage, biscuits, and fruit salad.

"I didn't know what exactly you wanted for breakfast so I took the liberty of getting a few of the basics," Darby explained, fixing herself up with another bowl of fruit salad.

"A few? This could feed all of the people I work with including me."

She watched as Paul helped himself to scrambled eggs, a few strips of bacon, and two biscuits liberally spread with butter.

"Hungry?" Darby grinned, amused at Paul's healthy appetite.

Ironhorse smiled sheepishly and replied, "After our fun last night I need all the strength I can get for work. Obviously, you're not that hungry."

"Fun? You call that fun? I didn't think the word 'fun' was in your vocabulary from what Norton told me about you," Darby teased Paul, laughing. "Actually it was fun. No, it was more than that. It was great. But to clarify things, you were in the shower for a good 30 minutes while I was liberating the eggs from their silver jails only to be sacrificed on a plate."

Paul chuckled, glad that she enjoyed last night's love bout with him as much as he did with her. He noticed that she was already dressed in a black blouse and pinstripe dress slacks. Her hair was braided in a single plait and twisted into a small bun. She looked lovely and had a severe look of seriousness on her face.

"Is this your work face?" he asked.

"Yes," Darby said, smiling at him, putting an end to her work face. "I wear it at the hospital and also when I was a call girl. I remained emotionally detached from my 'guys' before..." you, she finished silently. She smiled at him in a shy way.

"What exactly did Norton tell you about me?" Paul asked, changing the subject, noticing her silence.

"What didn't he tell me?" Darby baited the young officer with a sly grin.

Ironhorse feigned shock.

"Should I worry?"

"It depends," she countered.

"Personal or professional?"

"A little of professional, but more of your speculated personal past. What he thought of your sex life or love life or lack there of your personality, etc. Some of your obvious likes and dislikes. That kind of stuff."

"When I get back to work I'm going to have a little talk with Mr. Norton Drake."

"And I hope to hear about it from him. Especially the part of what you thought about me," Darby replied with a mixture of shyness, self-consciousness, and forwardness. It was charming to Paul.

"Well, since I don't plan on having Norton know much about last night, I will tell you what I thought of you right now. I enjoyed being with you last night very much. If neither of us had to go back to work today I would like nothing better than to spend all day here with you in that bedroom...and other places in this penthouse," Paul complimented her, blushing beet red at his last words.

Darby put on her best smile and said, "By God that has to be the nicest compliment I've ever received from a man. And I want to return the compliment. I regret we couldn't engage in 'water sports', nor stay here all day in each other's arms. Duty calls. I'm as passionate in my work as a doctor as Norton tells me you are about the work you do in the Army."

Paul paled a shade, asking," What exactly has he told you about my work in the Army?"

Darby shrugged and said, "Nothing really. Just that you were in the Army and that you were a Lt. Colonel, I believe. He didn't tell me anything else, Paul, I assure you. He didn't even tell me your last name. However, I assumed you do very important work in order to work with civilians like Norton. The rest is none of my business, but that's not to say that I'm not curious...somewhat. You intrigue me, Paul. You intrigue me greatly, especially after last night."

Darby's beeper went off causing her to curse in another language, which made Paul smile. He relaxed. Darby wasn't aware that he was in Special Forces or what he was doing working with a civilian like Norton Drake. At least she'll be safe, Paul told himself, calmly. Darby rose up and headed toward the phone.

Two minutes later she got off and turned to Paul, who was walking up to her making her regret that she had to leave him.

"Sorry, Paul, but I have to leave now."

"No problem, Darby. I better go, too. I need to talk to Norton before the other's realize I'm not there first thing."

Darby grabbed her jacket and keys and opened the door.

"What about-?" Paul asked, indicating the remains of breakfast.

"The service will come and clean it up. I'll miss that when I leave," Darby joked, pushing the appropriate button in the elevator. She leaned back and closed her eyes again, reminding Paul of last night...not that he could forget it. It had to be the best night he's ever had with a woman. Norton certainly knew Paul better than he thought the man did. Former call girl or not, Paul wished he could get together with the young resident again.

"When you leave?" Paul asked, her last comment just occurring to him.

"Yeah. I'm moving into a real apartment in a few weeks. Somewhere closer to work," Darby answered her eyes still closed due to her fear.

Looking at her for a minute, Paul couldn't resist. He crossed over to her and gently kissed the woman on the mouth. His assault on her lips left Darby breathless with desire.

He disengaged from her and asked, "How old are you Darby?"

"I'll be 29 in a couple of months, Paul. Why?"

"Just wondering," he said, his fingers softly touching her cheek.

The elevator bell chimed and Paul stepped away from Darby before the door opened, letting people witness their closeness. The Lt. Colonel let his companion out first, following her to the hotel garage. Darby located her car, but was reluctant to get in.

Turning to Paul, she said, "If you ever need me for some reason Norton can assist you. I enjoyed last night immensely, Paul. More than you will ever know. Bye." With that Darby kissed Paul tenderly on the mouth and got into her car.

Paul watched her taillights fade into the darkness of the parking garage. He cursed himself for not asking her some things that were on his mind. Climbing into his Jeep, Paul drove out of the city and back to the Cottage. It was still too early for the rest of the Blackwood team to be up, so Paul quickly went to his room and changed into some new clothes. He'd forgo exercise this morning, having plenty of sexual exercise with the beauty, Darby, last night. He went to his office to work on some files piling up his desk. An hour into his work, Paul heard a soft knock on his door.

"Come in," Ironhorse said, wondering who if it was Norton or Harrison.

Sure enough Paul's little talk with Norton was going to take place sooner than he thought. The older man wheeled himself into Paul's office and shut the door.

"Good morning, big guy. Got in a little late from our date, didn't we?" Norton asked, grinning devilishly.

"A date? Is that what you call what you set me up on? A date is going out to dinner, watching a movie, perhaps, but that's not what last night was, Norton," Paul exclaimed.

"Whoa. You actually know what a date is, big guy? That's a shocker."

Paul Ironhorse just shook his head in exasperation, wondering if Norton told the others about what he did to Paul.

The black man's face became serious and he asked, "All kidding aside, Paul. Did you like Darby?"

Ironhorse pretended confusion.

"Darby? She told me her name was Julia. Tall, slim, blonde, not very pretty. Definitely not my type at all."

"Julia? The woman I sent-" Norton's shocked reply was met with a sly smile from the Colonel.

Clapping the palm of his hand against his forehead, Norton groaned, "I can't believe I fell for that. Now, seriously, what did you think of Darby?"

Paul was reluctant to divulge any of his thoughts on Darby to Norton. Still, this wasn't Harrison with his loads of questions that went beyond normal curiosity. This was Norton who was, although, too forward at times, a man Paul considered a friend and one less likely to betray a secret from a friend.

"Paul?" Norton prompted.

"Sorry, Norton. I liked Darby. She's a great woman with a good head on her shoulders."

"With a great body to match, right, Paul?" Norton baited the younger man.

"Yes, that too," Paul admitted, flushing a pinkish color for a moment.

"And please tell me you two didn't just talk all night? Although Darby is a great conversationalist, I'm sure she has better and a whole hell lot more delightful things to do with that pretty mouth of hers then just talk."

Paul did his best not to blush with full-blown embarrassment, but failed miserably.

"You mean you don't know her-?" he asked the communications expert.

"No, Paul. Darby is not my type. She's always been my friend. That's all. So, did you have a great time with her or what?" Norton pressed on.

Paul looked thoughtful and said, "A gentleman never kisses and tells, Mr. Drake."

Norton's jaw dropped open noticeably as Paul got up and said, "If you'll excuse me, Norton, I have to leave my office for a while."

"For breakfast? I bet you're starving," Norton asked, grinning wickedly.

"No, I've already ate with Darby."

"I bet you have."

Paul reached for the door, but stopped, saying, "I just want to thank you, Norton. But understand this: I don't want you to do that again. That's the first and last time I will ever be with a paid woman. Are we clear on this?"

"Yes, but I have to tell you something first. I didn't pay Darby to go meet you. I just asked her to do it as a favor. If you two didn't like each other that was okay with me, but I knew that wasn't possible. Darby agreed to meet you. Beyond that, it was up to both of you where it went from there."

Relief washed over Paul's face at Norton's words. Paul knew that he wouldn't lie about something like that.

"I'm glad Darby could ease the tension you've built up all this time. She's quite a lady."

"That she is," Paul agreed. "Do you know she retired?"

"Yeah, I know. She's graduating from Med. school soon. I'm happy for her. No one deserves it more than she does."

With that Paul opened the door and let Norton out first.

A few hours later Paul joined the others down in the lab.

"I see the Colonel has finally decided to grace us with his presence," Harrison smiled, wondering if his assumptions on Paul were correct. Only one way to find out, Harrison thought.

"So, Colonel, I noticed that you were gone for several hours last night and upon returning you look very relaxed and content like a well fed cat. So who was it? Blonde? No, not really your type. Redhead? Perhaps. Brunette? That would definitely be my choice for you."

"Harrison, leave the big guy alone. Whatever he did last night is frankly none of your business," Norton said, coming to Paul's defense.

"Or whoever," Blackwood commented in a low voice, a smile creeping out of the corners of his mouth.

Paul fought the urge to laugh at the astrophysicist. Before his night with Darby, a comment like that coming from Harrison would land the scientist quickly on the ground by Paul's fists, but not now. Ironhorse felt better than he has in a very long time. Blackwood's accusations only amused him now.

"Blackwood, when will you come to realize that anytime I spend away from you is totally deliberate. There's only so much I can stand of you for a certain period of time and then I need a well-deserved break. You may think that you have something on me, but you don't. And you never will."

Paul left the lab, smiling secretly to himself.

Thanks, Norton, Paul said silently to himself. Paul's hopes were confirmed by Harrison's accusations: Norton didn't tell the head of the Blackwood Project about setting Paul up with Darby or any woman for that matter.

That night as Paul lay in bed, he thought of the lovely Irish-American doctor who pleasured him to no end the night before. He leaned over and picked up the business card that was on his bedside table. In black ink it gave Darby's phone number. Paul found the card in his jacket pocket before he went to bed. He wondered if he'd ever see Darby again without Norton finding out about it or Harrison either. He debated on whether or not to call her. Placing the card back on its table, Paul turned over onto his side and fell easily into a peaceful slumber.

End.