ENGORGED

"What's wrong, Kathryn?"

"I don't know, but I feel all hot and…I don't know…odd." She swept a hand over her forehead wiping sweat from her brow even though the cave they sheltered in was cool and clammy.

Chakotay reached out from where he sat directly in front of her and felt of the back of her neck. "You're warm, but not feverish as far as I can tell. Maybe it's from the escape. We ran a good piece."

"But that was nearly an hour ago. And I've had water and-" She stopped mid-sentence. "Maybe there's something in the water."

"Sorry, but they took my tricorder about two hours ago. I can't read anything. Besides, I'm feeling okay."

Kathryn shucked out of her jacket and in doing so, brushed her hand across her chest and winced. "I'm sore, too."

"Sore? Where?"

"Here…" The side of her arm rubbed softly against her breast. "My…chest…is sore…"

"Where exactly?"

Kathryn flushed when she realized that her breasts were aching. It wasn't something she wanted to discuss in detail with her first officer, no matter how close friends they'd become over the past two years.

"Can I help in any way?"

Something about the way his voice sounded made her insides turn to jelly and then to liquid. She felt a heat and then a wetness and looked down. There, on the gray knit of her uniform shirt, were two undeniable circles of wetness, gradually growing larger by increments. Kathryn gawked down at her own chest. "What the hell?"

She saw Chakotay's eyes grow wide as they watched the odd spectacle.

Her hands cupped her breasts and she pulled them back in a groan. "My breasts! They're…they're leaking!"

She pushed her elbows together at the odd, creeping sensation that ran through the skin on her chest. Kathryn had no frame of reference except for what she'd read in medical journals over the years, but she could tell that she was undeniably, lactating.

Horrified at her own lack of control over her body, she looked up at Chakotay. His eyes had gone dark.

"I think I'm making milk!"

His face cleared of the worried frown and the lines of his forehead cleared, smoothing the lines of his tribal marking. "I think I know what's going on. You remember the high levels of hormones that we read in the environment? I'm going to bet that it's in the ground water and that you're reacting to them."

"But I'm not even pregnant! How the hell can I be producing breast milk?!"

Chakotay shrugged. "Weirder things have happened, you know. After all, lactation is just the result of certain hormones in the blood stream. I'm sure the doctor will be able to counter affect this when we're back on Voyager."

"Whenever that will be. They don't even know which planet in the system we're on. It's not as if we planned to get abducted by a warring faction. And here I am, leaking all over my uniform!" Kathryn didn't know where to put her hands…Putting them on her breasts seemed to quell the creeping flesh sensation, but it wasn't possible to stay that way for hours.

"I'm guessing that if you lay off the water, it'll subside."

She could tell from his face that he was as clueless as she was.

"Easy for you to say. This sort of…hurts."

Chakotay busied himself with the small fire he'd managed to light for them once they'd made it safely away from the city. "That's probably because you're full…engorged. Once your milk's let down, you'll be more comfortable until the hormones are out of your system."

"And how do you know so much…Have you spent much time lactating, Commander?"

Chakotay looked up at her, acknowledging the smart ass remark. "No. But I have three older sisters and I had two of them living with me while they had newborns. You pick up a lot even if you're 13 and don't want to." He grinned. "Sekaya once hit me in the face with a stream of breast milk over breakfast while she tried to nurse my 3-week old nephew. He latched onto one, and the other shot me from more than six feet away!"

Kathryn massaged her breasts lightly. "And it felt better for her after she'd nurse?"

Chakotay added small twigs to the fire. "I don't know, but she couldn't wait to feed him in the morning. When he started sleeping the night, she'd wake him up to relieve her." He kept his eyes averted to give her privacy to rub at her tender breasts.

"I can't be that bad off. But my tunic's drenched." She carefully peeled the wet fabric off, leaving her tank on. Her bra felt extremely uncomfortable, so she unsnapped it and pulled a strap out of her tank sleeve, snaking it off.

She saw Chakotay look up. "Sorry, but I can't take it anymore. Besides, it seems the milk makes them grow."

They both looked at her chest. No doubt, her breasts were at least a size or two larger. And very round and full. The wet fabric of the tank stuck to her tender nipples and the thought of Chakotay looking so candidly at her caused another rush of wet that dribbled down her stomach. She pressed her breasts together again, quelling the odd sensation.

Chakotay watched her. "You ought to not do that. It's just suppressing the let-down. You need to allow it to happen so you won't be so uncomfortable."

Carefully, Kathryn pulled her elbows away from her sides.

"What we really need is a crying baby. That always causes let-down. Just think about whatever it was that made it happen before."

That was easy. She'd thought of Chakotay looking at her…watching her breasts. And it happened again, only this time, she closed her eyes and pictured herself lifting the tank so that he could see her. She leaned forward, allowing the milk to flow and kept the thought of him watching her, cupping her breasts and fondling them.

Several moments later, the sensation subsided and she reached for her tunic, wiping up the liquid that soaked her tank.

She did feel better. Her breasts weren't so taut.

"You could try to…you know, express some."

Kathryn looked back up at him. "You mean, squeeze it out manually?"

"I've heard it's tricky. Most women use a pump, but it's possible."

"How…"

He threw another twig on the fire. "Can't help you there. Never saw it done, but like I said, I heard about it enough when I was younger."

Kathryn turned away from him and lifted the wet fabric. She could smell the sweet milk and wondered for a moment what it tasted like. Then she lifted her hand to her breast and started to squeeze. It was more difficult than she thought. Once, on a school field trip, she'd had the opportunity to milk a cow and it had been easy. Pinch off the top and then squeeze down. But with her own breasts' shape, this was impossible. She tried to improvise with little success, but it did cause another mild let-down.

She mopped up the liquid and pulled up the tank, wishing that she had a drier shirt to put on. This one was slightly sticky with the natural sugars from her milk.

Feeling material on her shoulder, she looked over it and saw Chakotay handing her his tunic.

"Here. This one's dry."

"Thanks." She wiped up as best she could before pulling off her tank and putting on his shirt. The dry material felt good. Finally, she turned back to the fire.

"Did it help?"

"A little. Besides, the effects can't last forever. They're bound to wear off. Hey! Why aren't you affected by the hormones, too?"

"Maybe I am. Maybe I'll start growing breasts and be able to practice aim with you by morning." Chakotay's eyes twinkled.

But it was clear he only teased her, as his own chest was flat under the tight tank.

"Let's see what kind of rations they have in these packs we grabbed."

"Is there anything to drink?"

"A couple of bottles of water, but that may make things worse for you."

"I know, but I'm so thirsty."

They munched on a meal bar similar to Starfleet emergency rations. Finally, Kathryn grew sleepy and rolled her jacket into a tight ball and placed it under her head. Lying on her side, she watched the fire. "Would you take first watch? I'm so tired."

"Get some sleep. I'm sure Voyager will be here any time."

Hours later, Kathryn woke with the feeling of pressure at her chest. She'd evidently rolled over onto her stomach as she slept and the earth dug into her tender, swollen breasts. Chakotay lay next to her, his chest spooned against her side for warmth, but he wasn't asleep. She could tell by his breathing.

Rubbing her chest, she felt the rock-hard, hot sensation of her breast once again filled with milk. The material stuck to her nipples where she'd let down in her sleep. She must have groaned with the discomfort because Chakotay put his hand on her arm. "Are you okay?"

"No. I'm…it's engorged again."

"Try visualization to bring on the let-down as before."

Kathryn massaged her breasts and thought about Chakotay watching her rubbing at them. Milk leaked out and soaked the fabric, but the hardness didn't go away.

Sitting up, Kathryn kept her back to him and pulled the shirt up, trying to express some milk into the earth by the fire. But her awkward movements only made her chest ache more even though it continued to drip. "Damnit!"

Chakotay sat up, but stayed behind her, allowing her the privacy that she needed. "That bad?"

"If it didn't hurt so!"

He put his hand on her shoulder. "If you'd like, I could help. You know…just to relieve you a bit."

Kathryn looked over her shoulder while she held her dripping breast. "What? You mean…"

"If you're not comfortable with that, I'd understand…It's just that I'm certain I could manage to…"

"I couldn't ask you to do that, Chakotay."

Even in the dark, she could see his eyes glitter in the remaining firelight. "I can assure you, Kathryn, that it would be my pleasure."

Could she let him do this? One friend helping another? If there were a baby around…any baby, humanoid or beast, she'd let it suckle, but Chakotay? How could they do this and have it not mean…more than it did? "Maybe that's what I'm afraid of…"

"My pleasure?" His voice sounded hurt, tinged with a hint of anger. "Do you think I'd take advantage of the situation? If you think that about me, then I'm not comfortable helping you." He settled back on his side. "Your watch. I'll catch some sleep now." And he rolled over with his back to her.

She hadn't meant it like that. It wasn't that she didn't trust him, or think that his offer was anything more than a practical solution to an uncomfortable problem, but it felt so complicated. She looked down at her dripping shirt. It had been the last dry one besides the one that he currently wore. Mounds of flesh pushed out in front of her and her nipples distended unnaturally.

She touched his shoulder. "I'm sorry….Please? Will you help me?"

Chakotay rolled back over yet didn't move to sit up. "Are you sure? I mean…I might derive some pleasure from it…" She saw the pain in his eyes.

"It hurts too much." Kathryn tried to keep the desperation out of her voice, unsuccessfully. " I didn't mean to suggest that I didn't trust you. But I really, really need your help." She pulled the oversized shirt up, uncovering herself for him and then lifted it over her head. Kathryn rested back on her heels, bare to the waist, waiting for him.

He watched her face a moment longer than comfort allowed and then sat up, scooting closer to her while sitting in the dirt. His legs spread, one on other either side of hers as he worked his way closer. His face was even with her breasts and she saw him look down at her, his eyes darting from one breast to the other, suddenly oblivious to her scrutiny.

"Which one first?" He looked back up at her face.

Cupping them in her hands, she felt the fullest one. "This one."

Chakotay leaned in and closed his lips around the tender, hot breast. As if he knew what to expect, he used his hand to lightly cup the other one as her reflex unloaded the precious liquid cargo and shot warm, sweet fluid into his palm. He barely touched the very tip of her nipple, not wanting to stop the flow, only to encourage it.

His lips tickled the other breast and then his tongue darted out to flick across the nipple.

Kathryn sighed. The crawling, prickly sensation tingled through her as she gushed into his hand and his mouth, showering his lips and tongue with her milk. She felt him gulping and then the wet sucking sound of his lips, coaxing the fluid from her.

When at last her flow slowed, he sucked with a steady rhythm, mouth wide over her areola, pinching off the nipple deftly and rolling the rest of his mouth out toward the peak, squeezing the milk from her. His swallowing was loud and greedy and the other wet hand cupped and fondled the unattended breast, readying it for his mouth.

Shifting the angle of his head, his tilted lips pulled at a different set of ducts, the new sensation releasing more of her milk into his mouth.

Her breasts felt on fire. Both of them…the one he worked with his lips and tongue and the one he squeezed gently with his palm and fingers. Kathryn gasped into the cool air of the cave and felt her underwear becoming saturated with sticky liquid from a different source. Nothing had ever been quite so erotic as Chakotay's sucking and petting her this way.

When she thought she couldn't stand another moment, he pulled off with a final tug. Then he licked a drop of milk off the tip of her nipple. Kathryn watched in fascination as another drop appeared, begging him to taste it. He didn't disappoint her and licked it off as well, watching her face as he did.

She felt the warmth of his hand leave her other breast right before the wet heat of his mouth closed around it. Immediately sucking hard, she knew he was eager for the fresh flesh.

Without realizing it, her hand went to the back of his neck, fingers twisting in his thick hair. As she rose to her knees, she threw Chakotay's mouth into a new position, his neck tilting up, reaching for her. She pulled him against her, drowning him with her breast and the milk that flowed from it. The sticky sound of his gulps rang in her ears as he wriggled his fingers against the spent breast, kneading the now pliant skin and pinching the nipple.

Chakotay groaned between swallows. Kathryn imagined them sounds of passion as her milk rushed between his lips. She felt the pinch and squeeze of his suckling, working the sticky sweet juice from her freckled breast.

She didn't want it to end. With a rush, she realized that for her, in many ways, this was more intimate even than the piercing flesh of intercourse. In this exchange, she ejaculated. She gave something of herself to him. Throwing her head back, she ground his mouth into her, using both hands to reposition his suckle, rubbing all the parts of her breast with his teeth and his wide open mouth.

Sucking and then licking at her nipple, he cleaned up the last of the drops as they gathered on the pink, taut skin.

Chakotay tilted his head up to look at her. His eyes were ablaze, snapping and sparkling with his lust.

The warmth between Kathryn's thighs puddled in her panties and she was certain he could feel the heat and smell her.

Dumbly, she realized that she was still holding the back of his neck and unknowingly pulling at him, willing him back onto her chest.

She let go and sat back onto her feet.

Chakotay's mouth still hung open, gaping, hungry yet. He swallowed hard and closed it. "Better?" His voice creaked with the strain.

"Yes…thank you…"

Looking once again at her chest, he cupped her breasts with his hands and kissed each of the nipples tenderly before he looked at her through dark lashes. "I've always wondered what breast milk tasted like."

"And now you know." She couldn't help but smile at his sudden shyness.

"Yes, but it leaves another big question unanswered."

"Oh? What is that?"

"How is it that any baby ever gets the chance to breast feed?"

"What do you mean?"

"I would think that the daddies would have a difficult time sharing, that's all."

End.

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