Disclaimer: Paramount owns everything but I doubt they want this.
Rated NC-17
Thank you my wonder-betas, Mary S. and Brianna!
Feedback? Shayenne
Would this heat ever end?
Janeway's focus had narrowed to the broad back of her first officer as they traversed the wide desert plain of Teramus IV. Her tank top clung to her skin, and a trickle of sweat ran between her breasts, soaking into her bra. Her eyes seemed welded in a permanent squint against the heat and glare, and her feet squished uncomfortably in her boots.
When Chakotay stopped abruptly, she cannoned into the back of him. Suddenly her nose was full of damp Starfleet uniform and the grassy scent of Chakotay's fresh sweat.
"Sorry." Her first officer sounded all too cheerful for their predicament. "I didn't realize you were so close behind me."
Janeway rubbed her nose; it seemed bent out of shape from colliding with his solid back. "Getting what shade I can."
"It is rather warm," he agreed.
Sweat beaded on the lines of his tattoo, and there was a damp patch on his own tank top. His well-defined muscles gleamed golden in the brassy light. By unspoken agreement, both of them had taken off their uniform jackets a couple of miles back, tying them around their waists .
Chakotay lifted the tricorder. "I'm picking up a Starfleet signature, but it's still approximately twenty-three kilometers away." He took a deep draft from his water bottle, wiped the top, and handed it to her.
She set her lips where his had been and drank deeply. "I doubt we're covering more than five kilometers an hour in this heat and in the deep sand. That means we've probably five more hours to go."
"At least," said Chakotay cheerfully. "If the terrain doesn't become more rugged, that is."
Janeway eyed the glassy landscape balefully. "I don't mind rugged. It's the sand in my boots I hate."
His gaze flicked to her booted feet, half buried in the loose sand. "As long as you don't get blisters."
"If I do, I'll order you to carry me."
His smile spread, eclipsing the sunshine. "You won't need to order me!"
She'd walked into that one. Kathryn turned slightly away, so that he wouldn't see her blush. "Obviously you need more conditioning. I'll have Tuvok put you through his marathon training program on the holodeck when we return. You and one of Neelix's barrels of leola root."
"I doubt that leola root could run a marathon, no matter how Neelix cooked it."
"It could, if it were in your backpack."
"I'll challenge you when we get back," he said. "We'll see who's marathon fit then!"
She took a final draught from the water bottle to avoid answering him, and handed it back.
He accepted it, and stowed it in his belt. "Guess we better press on."
Kathryn sighed, and turned into the sunlight again, resuming the trek. The sand dragged at her ankles and each step felt as if she had weights on her feet. Chakotay seemed to find it easier than her; he set a steady pace, never flagging, even as the ground started to rise more sharply. Her breathing increased, until it seemed like the only sound on this forsaken planet was her harsh breath rasping in her ears.
"Whose stupid idea was this anyway?" she muttered, as the sand shifted underneath her feet, causing her to slide back a couple of paces.
"Yours!" Chakotay said cheerfully.
Damn him and his hearing. "I wasn't supposed to be doing this! Tuvok said it was a fitness program for the lower decks crew. For the likes of Mortimer Harren and Billy Telfer. The great unfit of Voyager."
"The senior staff needs to set an example."
"By completing the exercise ahead of the lower deck crew?"
"Exactly." Chakotay's feet didn't falter, carrying him relentlessly up and over the sand dune, as Kathryn floundered in his wake.
"I think we've done enough. I'll contact Tuvok and ask him to beam us up. I'm sure he needs to spend time on security drills, rather than on the bridge."
"We don't have comm badges, remember? Part of the exercise is self-sufficiency. It's just you, me, our rations, and this desert. And we have to make the beam out coordinates before Tom and B'Elanna or else they'll never let us live it down."
"I bet Tom is carrying B'Elanna." Kathryn spat sand out of her mouth.
"More likely the other way around."
"Well, only another five hours and then I'll be soaking in a hot bath, a glass of wine by the edge, and some soft music. And Tuvok will be-"
"In the brig? And can I wash your back?"
"You'll be occupied getting the sand out of your hair."
"I could do that in your bath."
Kathryn stopped, hands on hips, and glared at him. "Look, mister. I don't know exactly what I've done to encourage you in this, but it has to stop."
He appeared genuinely puzzled. "What has to stop? There's no way out of this drill unless there's a red alert."
"I could call one. I will call one unless you stop flirting with me. Grievous bodily harm to my first officer would probably be enough to call off this drill."
"Tuvok would know you'd only done it to escape this heat; he'd never fall for it. And I am not flirting!"
"We can pretend we're under attack by the native wildlife. And I know flirting when I see it."
"Tuvok already knows this is an uninhabited planet with no wildlife; that's why he picked it. And I'm only trying to pass the time."
She tamped down the irrational feeling of disappointment. So he only flirted to pass the time; it wasn't as if he meant it. Well, it was what she wanted, wasn't it? For him to stop? She pasted a smile on her face. "Always the perfect first officer. I didn't realize flirting with the captain was in your job description."
"It wasn't when I served under Hikaru Sulu."
She suppressed a smile. "I won't tell him. But Chakotay, you don't need to cheer me up. I'm a Starfleet captain, I'm used to discomfort and endurance exercises. You don't have to distract me like a first year cadet. I think we'd make better use of our energy if we concentrate on making the coordinates. How much further?"
Chakotay pulled out his tricorder and peered at it, but not before she'd seen the quickly-suppressed smile. Obviously he saw straight through her 'officious captain' act. "Another 19 kilometers," he said. "But-"
The whine of the transporter made her look up, just in time to see the tricorder disappear. "What the-?"
Whatever Chakotay was going to say was interrupted by the transporter noise again. Instead of the tricorder, a PADD fell at his feet. He bent and picked it up. "Why do I think we're not going to like this?
"Team Blue," he read. "Your tricorder has been beamed back to Voyager. You will navigate the rest of the way to the beam out coordinates using what you have observed about Teramus IV's suns and planetary rotation. "
"I thought the exercise was too easy," observed Kathryn. "Still, it's not too bad. So, what have you observed about Teramus IV's suns and planetary rotation?"
Chakotay tugged on his ear. "It has two suns. And I'm sure it rotates. What have you observed?"
"I thought it had three suns. That's why there's no damn shade!"
"That and the fact there's no damn trees."
"How's that going to help us navigate?"
"No idea. I guess we just keep going in a straight line. After all, we were heading in the correct direction." Kathryn set off in determined fashion toward the crest of the dune. "We can look back and see our footprints from here. We're continuing in the same direction."
It seemed like hours later, but was probably only a scant hour when Chakotay called for a stop.
"I think we should take a break," he suggested. "Besides, have you noticed the suns? Both of them are low on the horizon. We could be in darkness soon, when it will be cooler and better suitable for walking."
Kathryn didn't argue; the terrain had leveled out, but was still heavy going in soft, clinging sand. "With any luck Tom and B'Elanna have it worse than this."
Chakotay snorted softly, and pulled her down to sit beside him. "I thought you cared for your crew?"
"I do, but I hope Tuvok gave some consideration to rank and gave us the easier route."
"Knowing Tuvok, he gave every consideration to rank and gave us the harder one."
Kathryn tugged her water bottle from her belt and took a deep pull before handing it across to Chakotay. Digging in her waist belt, she pulled out a ration bar and broke it in half. "Tuvok only gave us two each so he can't be expecting it to take too long. Starving your captain is a bad route to promotion."
"It could be an easy one if he succeeds."
"He won't. I need less food than you, so you'd die first. Then I could eat you."
A long pause, then Chakotay said softly, "Now that could be worth dying for."
Sudden heat leaped into her cheeks that had nothing to do with Teramus' sinking suns. A swift mental image of her devouring him, starting at the lips, in slow, soft nibbles. She fiddled with her belt. "I doubt that it would be," she said wryly.
"I think I should be the judge of that!" Laughter threaded his voice.
The devil; he knew exactly what he was saying. Kathryn stood, and brushed sand from her damp tank. "The suns have set," she observed. "All three of them."
"Two. And set they have, it gets dark very quickly around here. I can't see far around us at all."
"There are three suns, Chakotay. I distinctly remember counting them earlier. And no stars; the planet's atmosphere blocks out the fainter starlight, only letting in the stronger sunlight."
"Whatever it is, I think I've seldom seen darkness fall so quickly. It's colder too."
She shrugged back into her jacket. "We were supposed to be back on Voyager before now! Damn Tuvok and his fitness drills."
"Let's get going; it will be warmer that way."
They set off again, but progress was slower in the darkness. The minutes crept along. Kathryn marched determinedly behind her first officer's broad back. She could make out the lines of his shoulders and the light gray of his tank. Her breath rasped in her ears and her thighs burned with the effort of keeping pace with his longer stride. Another two hours should do it, she thought. Anyone can do that! She distracted herself from her aching legs by planning her meal, right down to the last cup of coffee. Black, with a shot of Irish whisky and a dash of-
Her musing was cut short by an abrupt collision with that same broad back now wearing its uniform jacket. The jacket wasn't any softer than the tank. She rubbed her nose again. "Why did you stop?"
Chakotay's bulk was a solider area of dark than the blackness that engulfed them. "Look down," he said.
"I can't see anything."
"Here." He pulled her arm until she bent down to peer at the sand.
"Oh…. Damn!"
"Damn is it all right. These are our footprints. We've gone around in a circle in the dark."
"Maybe they're Tom's and B'Elanna's?"
"No chance. B'Elanna doesn't wear boots like yours, and my feet are bigger than Tom's."
"So our two hour trek is probably still a three hour one."
"More like four. At least we'll use less water now that the suns have set."
Kathryn shivered suddenly. "Maybe, but it's getting colder by the minute."
Chakotay moved closer and his large hands closed warmly over her upper arms and began a brisk rubbing action. "You're freezing."
"You don't have to remind me. We were supposed to-"
"I know. We were supposed to be back on Voyager by now, enjoying a glass of wine and a hot bath."
"I'm the only one with a bathtub. I didn't say you could share it."
"A man can dream, Kathryn." And he added in a low voice, "Sometimes, I think it's all I have."
His hands were still rubbing her arms, but their movement had slowed. Now, it was close to a caress. His fingers moved in gentle circles, warming her flesh, warming her heart. Dangerous territory.
"Chakotay, don't do this." Her voice matched his: low, quiet, barely there. They were venturing onto new ground, one soft word at a time.
He gripped her shoulders and she felt every burning finger print, even through the jacket. "You want me to retreat? Make a joke and slide back from this precipice? Well, Kathryn, I don't know how we've got here now but I'm not going to let you off the hook. Not this time."
She forced a laugh, as if she were unmoved by this. As if it didn't matter. "Don't think because I'm cold I'll let you get away with this. We need to finish this damn exercise of Tuvok's and get back to the ship." With an effort, she shook off his fingers and marched off purposefully.
His amused voice floated after her. "Kathryn? I don't think you're going the right way!"
She stopped and turned around to face him. In the darkness she could barely see him. "Yes, I am!"
"How do you know?" he challenged.
"I'm the captain; captains know these things."
He caught up to her. "Look at the footprints. You've veered off to the right of our original set. We need to veer to the left of them."
Hands on hips, she retorted, "and how, exactly, do you figure that?"
"We're both right-handed, correct? Well, that makes us predisposed to going to the right. So as we've gone in a circle, it must have been a clockwise circle. So now, we need to veer left."
She stared. "How do you know that?"
"I'm an Indian; we're supposed to know these things. Besides, it's in the Starfleet cadet's manual."
"And you remember that? From what, twenty-two years ago?"
"Twenty-four. I was a prodigy. Besides, it was in the latest lesson I gave to Naomi."
The blackness swallowed up her soft snort of laughter. "Okay, I know when to defer to my junior officer!" Deliberately she turned to the left and resumed walking.
The soft whine of the transporter made her look up, and a bundle appeared at her feet. A PADD was balanced on the top.
"Now why do I sense a sneaky Vulcan hand in this?" She picked up the PADD and thumbed it on. "As you have completed less than half the distance to the beam out coordinates, it is advisable that you stop for the night. You will find additional rations and a survival blanket in the pack. Should you not make the coordinates by 10:00 tomorrow, your position will be recorded, and the exercise terminated." She threw the PADD down in disgust. "He could just beam us back to the ship for the night and back to this location in the morning."
"It's a fitness and endurance exercise. It would hardly be either if you spent the intervening hours lolling in your bath with a three course meal and a hypospray for your aching muscles."
"You know I never eat more than two courses of Neelix's cooking. And how do you know my muscles are aching?"
"You'd replicate it. And you're limping. My guess is a pulled hamstring. Want me to massage it?"
Kathryn dropped to her knees and opened the pack. "Ration packs and bottled water. Hardly a gourmet meal. And my hamstring is just fine, thank you."
"If it's fine, why are you limping? And why is there only one survival blanket?"
"Because that's standard Starfleet issue. One blanket for every two people. And I'm only limping a little."
"It's more than a little. Let me massage it for you, Kathryn."
She stood up and looked him in the eye. "Commander, I'm fine. Do you think you can start a fire?"
Amusement colored his voice. "With what? You don't have that much hair, and there's no fuel here." He found her shoulders in the darkness, and let his hands follow down her arms until he gripped her hands. "Kathryn, relax. You don't have to put that officious captain's voice on for me. I'll massage your thigh; trust me, it will help. Then we will eat Tuvok's idea of a gourmet dinner and we will settle down together under that survival blanket. And we will sleep until dawn, when we will get up and hike to the beam out coordinates before the heat of the day, arriving just ahead of Tom and B'Elanna."
All he was doing was clasping her hands. A friendly reassurance for a colleague. He'd touched her hands a hundred times, a thousand times, and her stomach hadn't turned over at his touch. Her mouth was dry, and she swallowed nervously. They were colleagues and friends. And Starfleet regulations had very specific procedures for survival in the cold. She could trust Chakotay; he wouldn't take advantage of her in any way, or force her into lowering her defenses and letting him more fully into her life. No, in spite of what he had said earlier, he would joke, flirt, tease, but he would back away when it came to it and let her maintain her defense perimeter.
Even if it wasn't what she wanted. Even if he'd made it abundantly clear it wasn't what he wanted either.
His thumb moved briefly back and forth on her clenched fist. "Relax, Kathryn. It will be okay. And in the morning, you can demote Tuvok."
She smiled against her will, and disentangled their hands. Bending to the pack, she spread the survival blanket on the sand and placed the ration packs on top of it.
"Let's picnic, Commander."
He pulled her down with him onto the blanket. "Don't use rank now, Kathryn. You don't need another barrier against me. You have enough of your own, ones you've constructed to keep me out. Oh, I know you do it deliberately, and I know why." He kneeled in front of her and his warm fingers cupped her chin briefly, turning her to face him. "I'm a patient man, Kathryn."
She was silent, picking at the corner of the ration pack.
"And although you now know what I want, I won't use this scenario to further my aim." He turned away to open his own ration pack, but she distinctly heard the word, "much" float back over the air to her.
She could barely swallow the rations with her mouth as dry as it was.
It didn't get any better after they had eaten.
"Lie down," he said.
"What?"
"Lie down. I need to massage your thigh."
"It's fine, Chakotay."
He quirked an eyebrow. "It's not. And don't get stuffy on me. If I were B'Elanna, I'm sure you'd let me massage it."
"B'Elanna doesn't want to seduce me."
"I wouldn't be too sure about that. And it wouldn't be seduction."
"That's too much information. And why wouldn't it be seduction?"
"Seduction implies one party is unwilling." He moved closer and touched her arm.
She shivered.
"See what I mean? Now lie down and let me rub your leg."
"After that comment? You have to be dreaming."
He turned her chin with long fingers. "Kathryn. Lie. Down."
She complied, stretching out on the cool sand, her head on her folded arms. An indrawn breath behind her, and then his fingers were on her thigh, deftly massaging the taut muscle. He had skilful hands and he knew how to use them, pummeling the muscle to the point of pain, then backing off, soothing it with long sweeping strokes. Under his fingers, her thigh eased its painful spasm.
Kathryn shifted restlessly; his massage was doing more than ease her pulled hamstring, it was once again reminding her of all she suppressed. And his teasing, flirting conversation wasn't helping either. She took a breath, then another. When she was sure her voice would sound normal, she said, "Thank you. That's fine now."
He didn't let up, merely continued to work her muscles with slow, even movements. His area expanded outwards, around to her hip, up and over her buttock, kneading the tense muscle with what felt like his knuckles.
"Chakotay..."
"I'm ensuring the surrounding muscles are relaxed," he responded.
She rolled over in an abrupt movement which shook off his hands, but brought her nose to nose with him. Scrambling to her feet, she shook the sand off. "Thank you," she said briskly. "Now, do you think we can cover a few more kilometers?"
Chakotay regarded her with amusement from his sitting position. "Not a chance. Besides, Tuvok said we were to stop for the night. Now sit back down and we'll figure out where we're going to sleep."
She surveyed the surrounding desert. "I think that sand dune over there on the horizon looks comfortable."
"Don't be difficult, Kathryn."
"Okay, how about you sleep here, and I'll sleep over there?"
Another rumble of amusement. "You can't escape me., There's only one survival blanket, as you well know. Stop prevaricating, and stop going in circles. You're churning up the ground."
She sighed in defeat and sat down next to him.
"Right here will do us fine." He sat on his haunches and shook out the blanket, before lying down on one edge. "Now, come to bed."
She snorted; his choice of words was obviously deliberate. Lowering herself to the other edge of the blanket, she turned her back on him.
"Have it your way." He rolled closer, his arm around her waist, his knees bumping the backs of her legs. Reaching up, he grasped the other edge of the blanket and dragged it over them, tucking it in underneath her knees.
Kathryn struggled slightly. His chest against her back and his hips aligned with hers made her think of other, more compromising positions. And his closeness was having an effect on her. Against her will, she found her body softening, liquefying, melting against him. She summoned her willpower and wiggled to put some distance between them.
"Kathryn…" His voice penetrated her desperation. "I strongly suggest, for both of our sakes', that you stop wriggling around like that."
"Oh!" Abruptly she realized exactly what the growing press against her backside was and stilled her movements.
Behind her, she heard him take a deep breath, and his arm grew heavy across her waist as he relaxed. Shifting his hips so that he wasn't pressing against her, he found her hand where it curled in front of her and squeezed gently.
"Go to sleep. You're safe from me."
She swallowed hard. Dear Chakotay, always so considerate. Now if only she could get her treacherous body to relax as his was.
"Safe for now. Tomorrow is a different story."
Against her will she chuckled, and concentrated on breathing in slow, even rhythm. The warmth of his body was making her drowsy. In spite of the cold, hard ground, she was comfortable, held safely in his arms. Her eyes closed and she slept.
~ ^ ~ ^ ~ ^ ~ ^ ~
She woke shivering. Behind her, Chakotay snored gently. They had drawn closer together as they slept and now they were pressed tightly together. His breath tickled the back of her neck and his arm was heavy around her waist. The air was bitter, and the cold leeched from the frozen ground into her bones. Her hip ached, where it dug into the hard sand. She squirmed backward, even further into his embrace, trying to ease her stiff hip.
A slight change in his breathing told her he had woken.
"Kathryn?" He sounded very alert for someone just roused. "Go back to sleep."
"I'm frozen." She clenched her teeth to stop them chattering, but her voice quavered with the effort.
Chakotay groped around until he found her hands and rubbed them. "You are."
"It's the ground. I feel like ice."
"Turn around."
She was too cold to consider arguing, so she turned in his arms and burrowed her face into his chest. He smelled of sand and yesterday's sweat, and his own unique warm smell. His big hands rubbed briskly around her shoulders and back, trying to instill some heat. Still she shivered.
Chakotay grasped her firmly and rolled onto his back, settling her on top of him. "Try this," he said. "This will keep you off the ground."
The impropriety of their position didn't bother her; she merely curled gratefully onto his chest, pressing her face against his tank top. He radiated warmth, and security, and gradually her shivering eased. And when it did, once again she became aware of the hard ridge of his erection against her thigh. She quietened.
"I'm sorry," he said in a low voice. "Consider it a natural reaction and ignore it, if you can."
It was there again, that urgent pulse of desire. It had never really gone away; from the night before, from all the close dinners in her quarters, from New Earth. It was still there, the attraction, the lust, the desire…. The love.
Suddenly, Kathryn didn't want to resist it any longer. Turning once again, this time onto her stomach so that she was lying chest to breast with him, she welcomed the press of him into her belly.
"Kathryn…" His voice sounded strained.
She couldn't think of anything she wanted to say right now. To explain seemed like a cumbersome idea. Were the words even necessary? She pressed her lips to the side of his neck.
"Kathryn…" he said again, and then whatever else he was going to say was silenced, as she moved her face up and kissed him full on the lips.
His body was slack with surprise; the moment had obviously taken him unawares. She kept her lips pressed to his, waiting for his response. After a few stunned moments, the tension in the arm around her back dissipated, and his lips opened and he was kissing her back.
Swiftly the kiss changed. No longer was she pressing unresponsive slack lips. He was devouring her - there was no other word for it. His tongue was in her mouth, he was inhaling her breath, subsuming her into his heat. It was fierce and hard and urgent. Desire thrummed, and she moved her thigh higher to press his erection, let him know it was welcomed and wanted. His hand shifted, down to her buttock to pull her tightly against his body, and she gasped. Her world turned to stars outside her closed eyelids, and passion raced red hot and urgent through her veins. She was weightless, a creature of air and starlight, her very being spinning off into the universe and taking him with her.
A discrete cough.
Sudden tension in Chakotay's body, and a dawning realization that something had changed.
Kathryn opened her eyes and found herself lying over her first officer on the transporter pad, staring at a large pair of black boots.
"Captain, Commander." If a Vulcan could sound embarrassed, then Tuvok was mortified. "Sensors indicated that night time temperatures had fallen to dangerous levels. I deemed it necessary to abort the drill."
Briefly, she closed her eyes again, wishing for a transporter malfunction to pull them both back to freeze to death on Teramus IV. At least it couldn't get any worse. But when she opened her eyes again and found herself staring at two more pairs of black boots, belonging to Paris and Torres she revised her opinion. It had indeed got significantly worse.
Scrambling to her feet and ignoring Chakotay's grunt of pain from the elbow in his ribs, Kathryn tried for some semblance of authority.
"Very good, Tuvok. I can't say I'm sorry you brought us back. It was colder than the Breen home world down there."
"At least you found some way of keeping warm." Tom's voice, sounding all too innocent. And smug.
She turned to him, and fixed him with a steady gaze. "I'm sure you know your survival drills, Lieutenant. I trust you and Torres employed similar tactics."
Tom had the grace to blush. "Yes, captain."
Behind him, Torres shuffled her feet, obviously keen to escape the uncomfortable situation.
"You're dismissed. Get some rest." She watched the lieutenants file out of the room. A shuffle of feet reminded her that Chakotay and Tuvok had remained.
"I suggest that this drill be aborted right now." She fixed her security chief with a cool stare. "You're dismissed."
Turning back to the transporter pad, she picked up the survival blanket that lay there. She sensed rather than heard his footsteps approaching. "You too, Commander. Go and get some rest."
"Kathryn-"
Turning to face him, she forced herself to meet his eyes. "Chakotay, not now. It's late, we both need to sleep." Without waiting for his answer, she left the room at a fast clip, heading for the sanctuary of her quarters.
At least she could now have that bath, glass of wine, and replicated meal. She pressed hands to burning cheeks. Better make it a bottle of wine. Tom Paris' amused, knowing gaze would stay with her for a long time. Maybe she could have him transferred to Deck 15. He could exchange jobs with Mortimer Harren - although she wasn't sure Mort could even fly a kite.
She left her clothes in a trail from bedroom to bathroom, and let her mind churn over events as she waited for the bath to fill. Chakotay wouldn't just let this drop. And, she acknowledged, she owed him an explanation, and an apology. If Tuvok hadn't taken climate readings when he did, they would be down there now. Making love. And she knew that once that happened, nothing she could do would sway Chakotay from his path. If they had become lovers, there would be no going back.
Lowering herself into the steaming water, she mulled over the past few minutes. What was she really worried about? Twenty minutes ago, her mind had been made up. She was with him, every step and breath of the way. They were barreling down the path of love, and it had taken Tuvok and the transporter to stop them. She soaped her arms. No, if she was honest, her chilly reaction in the transporter room was one of embarrassment: that Paris, Torres, and her oldest, most disapproving friend, Tuvok, had witnessed something that should have been theirs alone. Something so new, that Tom's grin and Tuvok's disapproval had nearly killed it before it even had a chance to unfurl and grow.
Nearly killed it. Kathryn stilled her motions. Dammit, she was the captain. She wasn't accountable to anyone on this ship. If she and Chakotay wanted to explore this, they could. Before she could change her mind, she leaned out of the bath, groping around for her communicator. She and Chakotay could have that discussion now, this instant, right this second. The pin was nowhere in sight. With a sigh, she remembered it was on her dresser, left there on Tuvok's instructions before beaming down to Teramus IV..
"Looking for something?"
His tones were coffee and cream smooth, husky and teasing. She raised her eyes and he was there, leaning in the doorjamb, her communicator pin in his hand.
"I was trying to call you, but you weren't answering." His voice was low and his eyes intense.
The thrum started again, a muted buzz low down in her belly. "So you just let yourself in here?"
He met her eyes boldly. "Yes. Are you going to throw me out?"
She leveled her gaze at him. "No."
He had changed, and wore soft sweatpants and a dark tee shirt that showed off his muscled arms. "Want me to wash your back?"
"You need to get rid of the sand in your hair first." She'd said that to him on Teramus IV. His reply from then rose in her mind: "I can do that in your bath," he'd said.
His eyes darkened to black. "I can do that in your bath."
She stretched out a leg, tightening her muscles so that it gleamed taut and firm. She watched him watching it.
"You could," she agreed, and watched the way his eyes darkened to black. "But I hate to think what the grit would do to the environmental waste system."
He advanced to sit on the side of the bath, and his fingers trailed in the water. Kathryn subdued the urge to cover herself. It had been a long time since someone had studied her naked body, inch by inch. But when she looked back to his face, his eyes met hers.
"It's coping with your grit," he pointed out reasonably. He set her communicator on the edge of the tub and swiftly stripped off his tee shirt.
Her turn to suck in a breath. His muscles were defined, not overly bulky, simply lean and beautiful. She wanted to touch him, see if he felt as firm as he looked.
As if he sensed her scrutiny, he reached into the water, took her hand and placed it on his chest.
"Touch me."
She could feel his heartbeat underneath her hand and she watched mesmerized as the droplets of bath water ran slowly down his chest. Almost without her own volition, her fingers spread, caressed. She explored down over his chest, lingered on a nipple, watched it peak underneath her seeking hand.
Apart from a hitch in his breathing, Chakotay didn't react. But his eyes bored into her, silently encouraging her on. Her hand crept down, over his hard stomach until it rested at the waistband of his pants.
Kathryn hesitated, burningly aware that the time for teasing was gone.
As if he realized her hesitation, Chakotay stood and held out a hand. "Come with me."
She stood, the water streaming down her naked body and placed her hand in his, her trust in him. He led her out of the bathroom, into her bedroom. Turning her in his arms, he gathered her close, his arms holding her close to his heart. Then, lightly, his fingers ran down her arms, underneath, coaxing them up until she raised them and slid them around his neck. Slowly their bodies came together: her breasts flattened onto his muscled chest, imprinting her with his flesh. Her mouth raised for his kiss.
For the second time in only a few hours she felt the pressure of his lips on hers, his breath in her mouth, his hands on her body. This time, there was no hesitation, no wide-eyed wonder. Chakotay kissed with intent and possession leaving her no chance to shrink away into protocol and rank. Kathryn relished his assertiveness, meeting him with bruising kisses of her own, branding him as hers even as he sought to do the same. This time, when her hands sought the fastening of his pants, he eased enough away to allow her to work unencumbered. Her hands shook as she loosened them, the enormity of what she was doing penetrating her hazy mind, but there was no going back now, and she couldn't even contemplate it.
His pants fell to the floor, and she dragged his briefs down as far as she could reach. Chakotay lowered them the rest of the way, kicking off his shoes at the same time. Finally freed from his briefs, his cock reared up, hard and purple tipped.
The final chains of restraint dissolved, and suddenly, Kathryn wanted nothing more than to have him inside her. No more foreplay, no more delicacy. She simply wanted to feel his cock buried, needed to clench around his thickness and length, wanted him to come hard, and feel his wetness mix with her own.
She grasped his cock, squeezed slightly. "Now," she said. "I want you now. I don't want to wait another second."
He didn't demur. He pushed her down on the bed and grasped her thighs, spreading them far apart. For a moment he stared at her sex, still damp from the bath but soaked from her own arousal. Bending, he put his mouth to her for a moment, curling an agile tongue around her clit, then inside her.
Kathryn shuddered, teetering on the verge of climax from his attentions. But she wanted to come on his cock this first time. Chakotay must have felt the same as he didn't linger. With a final press of his lips on her sex he reared up, his hands pushing hard on her inner thighs so that she was spread for him. With one swift, sure movement, he buried himself within her. For a second the sensation was so overwhelming that she thought she would pass out. Everything was at its limit: her thighs stretched so wide the inner muscles burned, her sex throbbing with the unfamiliar intrusion, her nipples and lips tingling from his possession, her sex throbbing on the brink of orgasm. And then Chakotay started moving inside her, and she realized that some limits weren't even close. Her inner walls clenched around him, and the feeling of fullness, deep within her belly, started the spasms.
He was thrusting hard, his eyes wide open and unfocused. But when she touched his face, his gaze snapped back and he smiled down at her.
"I love you," he said, and as if the words had released the final barrier, her orgasm surged up, sweeping her away in its power. Her spasms sent him over the edge and his measured thrusts disintegrated into a series of jagged spurts as he came inside her.
Kathryn lay still, eyes closed. But when she opened them, he was smiling at her.
Putting a hand each side of his head, she drew his face down to hers. "I love you too."
He sighed, and his eyes closed briefly. When he opened them again, she saw they were wet with moisture.
"Thank you. I would hate this to be a one-sided passion."
"One-sided relationship," she corrected.
"Even better." He rolled to one side and propped himself up on an elbow. His eyes ran down her body, lingering on the damp patch of hair between her legs. "Do I have Tuvok to thank for this?"
"Maybe. Maybe we both do."
"He picked Teramus IV. He must have known it would get cold at night."
"He checked out the wildlife, I'm sure he checked the climate too."
"And he only beamed down one survival blanket. Hmmm." Chakotay paused in his appreciative scrutiny of Kathryn's body. "Computer. How many survival blankets are standard issue for two people?"
One survival blanket per person is standard issue.
Chakotay raised an eyebrow at Kathryn. "I thought you said that one blanket per two people was the standard issue?"
"I did." She frowned, and her attention moved from a slow burning examination of the expanse of golden skin in front of her to the question at hand. "But it was Tuvok who quoted that regulation at me not long ago."
"How long ago is 'not long ago'?"
"Now that you mention it, about two days ago."
"About the time he was preparing the survival exercise."
She dragged her gaze away from his chest to meet his eyes. "An unlikely matchmaker."
"Indeed."
"So, shall I discipline him?"
Chakotay moved over on top of her, his chest creating delicious friction on her nipples. His lips hovered a breath away from hers. "You could. After all, he's caused us immense discomfort."
"Distress. Pain and suffering."
He moved lower and tongued her nipple, sending golden rays down into her belly.
"Incredible hardship. Don't stop!"
Chakotay moved lower, his mouth creeping down her belly with agonizing slowness.
"Not to mention immense embarrassment when he finally beamed us back."
His hot breath warmed her mound, as he settled himself between her legs. One thick finger carefully parted her, exposing her to the warm air of her quarters. Swiftly, he bent his head and lapped at her sex.
"He needs…. Oh!" Convulsively she clutched at his ears, keeping his head anchored in place, although he was showing no inclination to move away. "Brig…. Time… for… Oh!"
When he finally raised his head, his mouth shining and wet, he said, "Or maybe you should give him a promotion."
(((FIN)))
© Shayenne, July 2006 Please email me to post/distribute elsewhere.