"You look tired," Cleo commented as she saw John Carter slowly lower himself
into a chair. He had seemed fine the day before, when they had heatedly
discussed his previous diabetic patient.

"I hate physical therapy," he said. "I know I still need it, but I hate it."

"What are you doing?" she perched her hip on the edge of the desk and looked
down at him.

"They are torturing me, Cleo. That's what they're doing." He sighed; running
his hand through his closely cropped hair. "Lots of leg lifts and back exercises."

"What about massage therapy or time in the whirlpool?"

"I don't have time for that. I have to push it to make time for the physical therapy as is. I don't want anyone else having to cover my shifts."

"Tell you what, why don't we go into one of the exam rooms and I'll give you a
massage? It'll make you feel a lot better."

"That sounds great, but I think I'll pass. Besides, I don't think Benton would be too understanding if he walked in on that."

Cleo slowly smiled. "I really don't care what Peter Benton thinks. You need a
medical procedure and I'm offering to help. It's nothing more than that. Things are slow, come on."

John shook his head. "As good as it sounds, I'm going to have to pass."

Cleo looked as if she was about to argue, but an incoming trauma caught their
attention and the subject was dropped.

It was just after midnight and John was finally leaving the lounge to go home.
Cleo met him outside the door.

"I thought you went home already," he said.

"Not yet. I need your help in Exam Six."

John followed her down the hallway to the isolated exam room. He stepped
inside behind her, but didn't see anyone else there.

A look of confusion on his face, he turned to face Cleo. "There's not a patient in here."

"There is now. We're off duty now so there's no reason you can't have that
massage, is there? I'll step out while you undress and get on the bed. There's a blanket so you won't get cold. Just call out for me when you're ready."

"Cleo, I don't think..." he began, but she ignored him and walked out.

John stepped over to the bed and saw that Cleo had an array of massage oils on
the instrument tray. The idea of having his sore muscles massaged did have
some appeal and he found himself undressing before he formally acknowledged
the fact that he was going to let Cleo get her way. He folded his clothes carefully and placed them in the chair, then climbed up onto the bed and snuggled under the blanket. He wasn't sure if he should stay on his back or roll over onto his stomach, so he finally figured that Cleo could make that decision. He called out for her and she quickly came back in, taking the time to lock the door. She switched on one of the task lights, then turned off the overhead switch. The room felt more relaxed then.

"Okay, I want you to close your eyes and relax. I'm going to start with your head."

John closed his eyes and took a deep breath, letting it out slowly as he willed his body to relax. It wasn't an easy task since all of his muscles were screaming at him. But, as Cleo began to run her fingers in circles on his temples, he found himself relaxing. By the time she moved to his shoulders, he was approaching the consistency of putty. Not only was the stroking calming, but the scent of the oil was pleasant and he liked the way it felt on his skin.

"Roll over slowly," she commanded and he obeyed her, looking forward to the
relief that his back would soon feel. He felt cool air on his skin as she pulled back the blanket, exposing his back from the hips up. She began with his
shoulders, kneading them slowly for minutes. She then ran her hands down
his sides firmly, and then toward his spine and back up his back. He felt his
face redden as those motions created a reaction in a part of his body that was
no longer relaxed. He hoped that she wouldn't ask him to roll over again
because there was no way he could hide his erection under the blanket. He
tried his best to concentrate on how loose his back was feeling as her hands
worked magic on his body. With his eyes closed, he was nearly asleep when
he felt the blanket being pulled back up.

"Thanks, Cleo. I feel a lot better," he said.

"I'm not done with you yet, so you can just stay relaxed," she replied as she
moved the lower part of the blanket aside, totally baring his left leg. He couldn't keep from jumping as her hand touched his inner thigh - way too high for comfort. If she noticed, she kept quiet about it as she ran her hands up and down the back of his thigh. Each time that those hands made an upward trip
they came closer to his buttock - and other parts of his anatomy. John felt
relieved when her hands moved down to his calf, but then the things she was
doing to his foot began to feel pretty good. At this rate, his erection would
never abate, he thought. Belatedly, he noticed that she was no longer touching
him.

"You keep getting tense, Carter. You need to relax to get the full benefit of the massage. Roll back over."

"Um, that's okay, Cleo. I've had enough. This was great and I feel a lot
better." He kept his face averted from her, not wanting her to see his
embarrassment.

"I'll let you know when you've had enough. Now, roll over." The tone of her
voice let him know that she didn't want to hear any more argument from him.
So, he slowly rolled over, making sure he lifted the blanket to tent it, hoping
that it would settle in such a way as to not come anywhere close to his painful
erection. Strange that not even arguing with her had lessened it. Then again, he had a soft spot in his heart for strong, forceful women. Cleo was certainly that. He kept his eyes closed and his hands tightly on the top edge of the blanket.

"You need to put your arms above your head so I can reach your side."

"You mean like this?" he asked as he moved as she directed.

"Exactly."

Despite the blanket, he felt exposed to her in that position, even more so when
she folded the top half of the blanket back. He kept telling his body to calm
down; to quit responding, but when her oil slickened hands touched his belly,
he knew the cause was lost. She gently ran her hand over his scars, then firmly
massaged his chest. He knew that she was dating Benton. Knew that Benton
was very interested in her. Hell, they were probably already doing the wild
thing after hours. Why then did he imagine that her hands were purposely
rubbing over his nipples? He had to stop that train of thought before he got in
trouble with her.

"You know that Peter thinks the world of you, don't you?" Cleo said, her voice
so low that he almost didn't hear her. "He's been so worried about your recovery."

John tried to reply, but his mouth was dry and he had to lick his lips first. "I know."

"He wants you to be happy. Are you happy, Carter?"

"Probably about as happy as anyone else, Cleo. I certainly feel better, thank
you."

"Open your eyes and look at me, Carter," she said, her voice once more
demanding.

And once more he obeyed her without question. Her hands were lightly resting
on his stomach and he was so very much aware of how close they were to his
penis. And how much he wanted her hands to go lower to touch him. To bring
him to climax. It had been a long time since he was last with a woman, and
while he had gone for long periods of time without sex before, he never had to
endure a massage during that time.

"Are you relaxed?" she asked.

"Yeah," he replied with a choked voice.

"Good." And then her hands quickly slid under the blanket and he gasped as
she grasped him firmly. "You've been hard for so long now. I think it's time
that you relaxed completely, don't you?"

"Cleo, I can't do this. Benton..."

"Doesn't mind."

John's eyes grew wide as Benton stepped into view from the head of the bed. Had
he been there the whole time? No. John was sure the room was empty when he
had followed Cleo into it. So, he must have entered sometime later, although
John was sure Cleo had locked the door.

"I don't think..." John started to sit up, but Cleo was moving at the same time,
pulling the blanket off of him and then his hard penis was engulfed in a warm
mouth. He slowly fell back, unable to resist, even though his brain was screaming at him because the mouth on his body belonged to Peter Benton and not to Cleo. Cleo was caressing him once more.

"Peter and I have done a lot of talking about you. I pointed out to him that his feelings for you went beyond friendship, Carter. Way beyond friendship. I don't think that we should have any problem sharing him. Or sharing you. Or me. Whatever you feel comfortable with."

When John opened his mouth to try to reply, the only sound that they heard was
a moan. John had always enjoyed being the recipient of oral sex, but this was
so much more intense than anything he had experienced before. He didn't know
if it was because Peter Benton was sucking him off or because Cleo was
watching. All John knew was that it felt so good that it hurt. He made a noise
of protest as Peter's mouth left him, but he heard Peter ask Cleo for a condom
and as soon as it was in place, Peter's mouth returned to the job of pleasing
him. John only lasted a few more minutes after that, coming with a loud cry
that Cleo cut off with a passionate kiss.

John felt totally spent as he tried to catch his breath. He didn't want to think about what had just happened, but it was difficult to ignore the fact that he was lying there on the bed, sated and naked in front of Benton and Cleo.

"Carter, would you like to come to my house with us? I know that Peter got
an eyeful as he watched you strip, but I'd like the chance to undress you."

"So you were here the whole time," John said.

Benton grinned. "I was hiding behind the screen. Well? Are you going to
come with us?"

"Help me up," John replied.

"I already did that," Cleo deadpanned, but she helped him sit up.

"And just what will happen if I do go home with the two of you?"

"Only things you want to have happen, Carter. Nothing more," Benton said.

John looked from Benton to Cleo, and she nodded. "I do hope that what
you want will include me."

"Really? After yesterday, I thought..."

"You thought wrong."

"Oh." John sat there thinking, then he finally nodded. "Let's get out of here."

Benton helped him get dressed while Cleo gathered the massage supplies. Five
minutes later, the three were ready to leave and they managed to sneak out of the ER without being noticed. Or so they thought. There was one pair of dark
brown eyes that noted their exit. And the owner of those eyes began to
have some very wayward and erotic thoughts about John Carter. If Cleo Finch
and Peter Benton could get away with seducing Carter after hours, then someone
else certainly had a good chance at a successful seduction. It wouldn't be the
next night - there wasn't enough time to plan a proper seduction between now
and then. But, it would be soon. A smile lit up those dark eyes as the owner
returned to work. It would be very soon.

The end.