RAPTURE (Sequel to SEEK)
ST: VOY - C/P
By Layla V. v_layla@hotmail.com

Rating: R to NC-17, Angst
Post: Cha_Club, ATPS, CPSG, Paris Nights, TPDorm, CKOS. Anywhere else,please ask.
Posting date: 13-May-2001

Disclaimer: All characters owned by Paramount. I am merely playing with them. No copyright infringement is intended.

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Story note: This follows the events of FIRE, DAZE, HOPE, and SEEK. Tom is running but he finds that it's not that easy to evade the Commander when he sets his mind, and his eyes, on something.

Conclusion of the FIRE series. This story takes some hints from events that took place in Equinox I & II, makes it's own assumptions and moves on from there in it's own new direction.

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Author's note: Alright, I've done it. Part five is here and it's the final chapter in the Fire series. :-)

This chapter is slightly different in the sense that, it's not a one person POV only. It's BOTH Tom and Chakotay's POV, alternatively. You should be able to tell who you are reading when you start a section. :D

Major thanks go out to Morticia for all her help, support and encouragement to me while I was writing this story. I learnt a great deal from you, girl and I wanna learn more! :-)

Feedback is craved for and always welcome at v_layla@hotmail.com! Thanks. :-)

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I approach the doors stealthily, my feet light, my eyes darting from left to right, as if I am on a secret reconnaissance mission on an enemy ship, instead of treading across my own deck, reaching for my own quarters' entrance.

There's noise behind me and I freeze for a second, almost certain that it's Chakotay who has been lurking outside my quarters, waiting for my arrival. But it's only a couple of ensigns from Science who give me a puzzled look, undoubtedly noticing my tense shoulders, and keep walking without stopping. I take a deep breath, trying to calm my galloping heart. This is ridiculous. These are my quarters. I have no reason to feel apprehensive about entering my own quarters, dammit.

I reach for the side panel with my slightly shaking hand and carefully punch in my codes. The doors open and I crane my neck to look into the living room inside.

The couch is empty.

I say a little nondescript prayer, something I had never felt the need for before, and step inside. The living room is deserted. With a suspicious frown creasing my brow, I look at my closed bedroom door. For all I know, he may be inside my bedroom right this minute. Sprawled across my bed, naked, with his legs parted at a delectable angle or something.

I swallow hard at the disturbing images my catatonic brain keeps throwing at me.

Tentatively, I walk to the bedroom door and it opens. The bed is unoccupied. I step through the door and find the rest of the room empty as well. Nothing seems touched in here. In fact, nothing seems touched anywhere else either. I check the bathroom and they are vacant as well. It's almost as if he were never here. I wonder if it had all been a figment of my imagination.

For some reason, an unbearable emptiness pulls at my heart and I softly curse myself at my swinging moods. Did I want to find Chakotay inside my quarters or not? I ask myself. I close my eyes and sigh. Of course I didn't. I don't want to talk to him. I don't want to hear what he wants to say. I don't want some pitiful discourse about him understanding how I feel about the whole situation, how I feel about him, because he can't possibly understand how I feel. He can't. He didn't when I tried to explain and he couldn't have changed his mind in one day.

Shrugging my misguided sense of disappointment aside, I walk back to the living room and put the three new privacy locks, that Harry had helped me program yesterday, on the main door. I keep my fingers crossed that Chakotay won't go to the trouble of trying to break all three of them. I really don't want to deal with him right now. I really don't.

Pulling off my uniform jacket, I get a cup of coffee from the replicator and settle down at the couch. One hand running through my hair, I sip the drink and think over the events of the unbelievably dull and tedious shift I have spent on the bridge today. As I go over everything, the interesting little talk I had with the Captain when she called me in her ready room comes back to me.

She had wanted to know why the security and the transporter logs from yesterday showed a 'silent' site-to-site transportation record from my quarters yesterday evening? A record that could not be tracked to a clear destination.

I, of course, had been ready for that one. I had steeled my face and calmly replied that it had been a harmless game I was playing with Harry and had just wanted to surprise him with a gift. I apologized to her and relayed that if the transport had caused any problems with security issues, I was ready to pay the penalty.

That had obviously not been all that she had wanted to discuss. At this point, she had taken a deep breath and asked me if I had had a disagreement with Commander Chakotay over something? I had been more than slightly taken aback at this. Why would she ask something like that? Unless he had mentioned something to her. After all, it was the Captain who had commed me yesterday while I was 'out of it'. She was the one who had probably sent Chakotay after me as well.

As I thought about it some more, things really started making sense to me. Why else would he come to see me otherwise? He himself had thrown me out of his quarters in the morning. There was no way that he would have wanted to get anywhere near me on his own. Yes, it was only on the Captain's specific orders that the Commander had shown up. He was probably pissed as hell that he had to go to all the trouble of cleaning me up and getting me detoxed and all.

However, what had really made me wonder was the obvious concern I saw in the Captain's eyes for me. She had wanted to know if there was something bothering me. She had suggested I speak to Chakotay, in his capacity as de facto ship's counselor, if I thought it could settle things down. I had nearly choked at that. Then she had offered herself to hear me out if I couldn't talk to the Commander.

What was I supposed to say to her? /---Captain, I am in love with the First Officer but I think he hates me, or should hate me, but I am kind of confused. Perhaps you can shed some light on my predicament?---/

I had tried to assure her that nothing was wrong but I don't think I succeeded all that well. She had that look on her face that showed me she knew more than she was giving away. Finally, as if sensing my distress, she had decided not to push me any more and had surprisingly let me go back to the bridge without further ado.

I hastily gulp down the rest of the rapidly cooling beverage and dumping the cup into the recycler, walk into the bedroom. What I need is a nice long hot shower and then I can climb into my bed and go to sleep. I have no appetite. I really don't feel like doing much of anything. Peeling the rest of my clothes off, I step into the bathroom and move to stand in front of the mirror to stare at my reflection.

I still can't get over my meeting with Janeway though. I can't imagine what the Captain could have meant by giving me that knowing look? She doesn't know what was going on with me, does she? Did Chakotay tell her that I took the site-to-site transport from my quarters to escape from him? There are so many questions and so few answers. I wonder what exactly Chakotay has told her.

Well, it couldn't have been much since he also has no idea what's going on with me, right?

I cup my hands under the tap and the sensors turn the water on. The cool water trickles into the pool formed by my folded fingers and I splash it gratefully over my tired face. It suddenly feel like heaven so I do it again, and again, until I am drenched from head to chest and the water travels down in rivulets to my navel, sliding down between my thighs. I watch as a drop or two slither down my flaccid cock, from where they finally drip down to the tiled floor.

I raise my eyes to the mirror again and wetting my dry lips with my tongue, try to force the memories to stay away, to keep them from overwhelming me, to not smother me as they did at the helm all day, but fail again.

I feel emphatically exasperated that all I had to do was see Chakotay sleeping once in my life and my brain captured that sweet image for future fodder immediately.

Chakotay sleeping: On the couch. On the floor. On the bed.

That's all I thought of at the helm today; and I don't know whether to feel relieved that it was a distraction on an otherwise uneventful day at the helm, or feel alarmed by it.

On the other hand, it's not all that different from all those other times the guy's presence has distracted me over the years. Right?
 

I still can't believe he fell asleep on my couch. It was a heck of a surprise walking in my quarters at three in the morning and finding him asleep there. His hard body curled up uncomfortably in a fetal position, a tired frown pinching his brow; he looked so vulnerable and tightly wound that I felt something turn inside me. The couch was too damn small for him. What the hell was he doing lying there when he should have been taking rest in his own bed in his quarters? I swear he does not take care of himself at all. Somebody ought to report him to the Doctor; I don't think the EMH would be pleased.

Somebody ought to give him a muscle relaxant and a tranquilizer, and let him sleep for a few hours, I decided.

So that was exactly what I did. The effect was instantaneous. The frown dissolved and the breathing evened out. And he didn't even wake up. Not that it was surprising. His body required lots of rest after the ordeal he went through, chasing rogue ensigns who really didn't deserve someone like him should not have been on his agenda.

Sighing, I touch my cheek with the tips of my fingers and can't help being reminded of Chakotay doing the same yesterday. So much tenderness in that feather-light touch that my heart does somersaults for a split second. I squeeze my eyes shut and let the memory wash over me.

Those warm, thick fingers running through my hair, rubbing over my scalp, making the pain go away, slowly and gently. A lump forms in my throat as a welcome heat rears its head somewhere in the pit of my stomach. I open my eyes and stare at my reflection in the mirror as I feel a familiar stirring in my groin. A deep groan escapes my throat as waves of conflict and confusion bury me.

No. He can't possibly know what makes me tick. He's clueless. He only came on the Captain's orders, and even if she had told him to come, he shouldn't have. He should've told her he was on leave, which was the truth. He was supposed to be resting, not checking on me.

I am no good for him. He's too kind, too gentle, and too honorable. Surely, he deserves someone better.

Swallowing hard, I straighten up and stiffly walk to the shower stall where I flick the knobs and the water comes pouring down. It turns instantly cold as per my instructions.

That hot shower is definitely out of the question.

Minutes later, as I shiver my way out of the stall, dripping from head to toe in freezing water, I decide that my tactics definitely served their purpose. The fires have been effectively doused. Relieved, I get out of the bathroom and fumble for the bathrobe, at the same time ordering the temperature increased in my quarters by several degrees.

I am still deciding what to wear to bed when the door chimes. I frown in the general direction of the living room. Oh please, don't let it be Chakotay. I pull the nearly drenched robe closer to my body. "Who is it?"

"It's me Tom, open the door," Harry answers from the other side.

I heave a sigh of relief and give the order for the doors to open. I pull a towel from the rack and am rubbing my hair and face dry when Harry walks through the bedroom door.

"I looked for you in the messhall, but you weren't there," he says.

"I wasn't hungry," I mumble through the towel.

"What are you doing now?"

"I am drying myself, Harry."

A snort and then, "I meant, what are you planning to do for the evening?"

I set the towel aside and look at him. "I am gonna go to bed."

Harry raises both eyebrows in amazement, and then a smile breaks out on his face. "Here?" He asks, sounding both incredulous and amused.

I frown at him. "Well, from the last time I checked," I wave my hands, pointing around the room. "These are my quarters."

Harry chuckles. "Right, Tom. Your quarters." He seems to be enjoying a private joke at my expense and I grit my teeth when I realize that I haven't yet understood what it is. "You should stay here but I doubt you will be sleeping."

I turn towards the closet and continue rummaging through my clothes. "What are you talking about?"

"Well, judging from past experiences," Harry drawls. "Pretty soon the Commander will have broken through your door locks and then you won't be thinking about sleeping."

For a moment, I freeze in mid-movement, gripping the closet doorframe tightly with one hand, and then I turn towards Harry. "But you gave me those new locks saying they'd be hard to break through."

"Not for the big bad Maquis Mauler, Tom," he smirks. "Torres told me he's always been pretty good at hacking and figuring his way around security systems. But you are right. You should stay here. It'd be best if you two sat down and talked like you should have done yesterday."

I glare at him. "Why did you program the locks when you knew they would be no good?"

"Because you asked me to," Harry shrugs. "You were literally hyperventilating at the time. It seemed the most reassuring thing to do at the moment."

Reassuring? Bullshit. It's more like a false sense of security. Thanks Harry. "You spoke with B'Elanna?" My voice turns colder at this point.

He blinks as he realizes what I am thinking. "Not recently, Tom," he insists. "Chakotay has always been good at these things." He runs his hand through his hair. "I haven't spoken to B'Elanna since you two broke up."

I take a deep breath, trying to center myself as I turn back to the clothes. "Alright." I shouldn't mind if Harry wants to talk to B'Elanna. After all, he's her friend too. I grab a pair of sleeping pants and take a step back.

I look up when I hear a noise and watch Harry sniggering at the pants. "This is what you're gonna be wearing when the Commander breaks through your door?"

I throw the pants down on the bed and collapse on it myself. "Dammit, I don't wanna talk to him, Harry." This is not fair. I want to sleep in my own bed tonight. It's true that Harry did let me sleep on his couch last evening when I transported to his quarters, and that six hours nap helped me a lot. Now I want things to return to normal. I want to be able to come back to my quarters without the fear that Chakotay will be breaking through my door locks and demanding to speak to me. I can't handle this at the moment. Call me in two years time. Maybe I would have calmed down by then.

"Why don't you wanna speak to the Commander?" Harry asks, sitting next to me on the bed.

I look up at him. "Because it's futile. Every time I have tried to speak to him, he has gotten upset and clammed up and told me to get lost."

"But right now, he's the one who wants to speak with you," Harry says softly. "Maybe now he's ready to hear what you want to say."

A not so distant memory of warm fingers running through my hair stirs my senses once more and all of a sudden, I feel my insides getting warm again. I bite my lower lip in frustration and jump up from the bed. My back to Harry, I reach out for any clothes that would do for an evening out. "No, he's not Harry," I gulp, trying to quell my rising hormones. "You were right. It's never gonna work." I am pissed that all I need is an image of Chakotay running his fingers through my hair and I can get aroused.

"You told me you loved him."
 

His words send a pang of sadness through me. I squeeze my eyes shut for a second, the feeling of loss overwhelming me, and then I slowly open them. I finish rummaging through my clothes and take out a pair of jeans and a black tee-shirt out as I turn around to face my best friend.

"Yes, I do," I swallow through the lump forming in my throat again. "I love him. But he doesn't return my feelings, Harry. You were right." Saying that, I head towards the bathroom. "I am getting dressed now. We're going out. We can go to the resort or something."

I get dressed quickly and when I come out of the bathroom, Harry is still sitting on my bed, looking forlorn. He looks up at me.

"I shouldn't have come here," He looks at me sadly. "I should have let you stay here and let the Commander break through your locks and force you to talk to him."

"It wouldn't have worked." I brush my hair with my fingers, trying to breathe normally. "I wouldn't have talked to him. It's a waste of time." I grab a hairbrush from the dresser and finish the job with that.

"I think you are making a big mistake, Tom." Harry looks seriously troubled.

"Right." I throw down the hairbrush. "Are we going out or what?" I ignore his last comment. "Resort or some other program?"

Resigned, he gets up from my bed. "We could go to Sandrine's."

"Sandrine's?" I freeze for a second. I haven't been there in months.

"Yeah," Harry walks out of the bedroom as I follow him. "Someone opened that tonight. A pretty good crowd is there too."

Crowd? Yes, I need to be in a crowd. Chakotay won't come after me in public. He's too private a person. It'd be a nice change to visit Chez Sandrine again. I miss that place so much.

"Fine," I give Harry a small grin as we walk out of my quarters. "Let's go to Sandrine's."

"Yeah but first we get something to eat," Harry replies, as we make our way towards the turbolift. "I am starving."

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"Target has entered Deck 2, Section 25, the messhall."

I blow over the cinnamon scented beverage and take a tentative sip. Hmm, not bad at all. This tea tastes very nice. Strong and heady, just like my mood at the moment. Certainly, a good find in the ship database. Doesn't even cost that many replicator rations. I breathe in the aroma of the cinnamon cloves and take in another swallow. Sweet and spicy, it has a determined kick that gives me a nice little boost that is certainly not unwelcome. Every little bit counts.

I wonder if Tom would like cinnamon scented tea. I turn that idea around in my head a couple of times and then decide against it. Tom looks more like a coffee person to me. Perhaps hot chocolate?

How about hot chocolate decorated with mint leaves?

Hot chocolate with a dash of cinnamon?

Hot chocolate with whipped cream decorated with mint leaves?

Chocolate sauce?

Or perhaps just whipped cream, slathered all over his lean, naked form, ready to be licked clean in long, lazy strokes of my tongue?

I chuckle to myself at the direction my thoughts take, yet again. In another day, in another time perhaps, I would have been frustrated, flustered and flabbergasted at my inability to focus on anything beyond Tom Paris.

But not tonight.

Tonight, I have all my energies, all my senses and my nerve endings perked up and aimed at the beauty and magnificence of the man I pursue.

Tonight I am not the First Officer of Voyager. I am merely a man on a mission. I have a personal goal to reach, and I am determined to reach it tonight. Tomorrow I may be going back on duty full time, so I have to make use of whatever free time I have left before then.

I think I can stop being the stoic, unapproachable Second in Command for one night and do the approaching myself this time. Spirits know I have been planning the whole damn day.

"Target has left the messhall," the proximity detection program informs me as it has done so for the past five hours.

"Hmm, that was quick," I mutter. "Weren't too hungry now, were you Tom?"

I drain the cup and getting up, dump it in the recycler. It's always good to have a few tricks up your sleeve. I've had this program lying with me since the Maquis days and I can't believe I had completely forgotten about it. It had come in very handy while capturing a Cardassian spy many years ago and I honestly hadn't thought it would have come to such good use again. I sure am glad I didn't get rid of it.

All it had required was a tuft of hair from the hairbrush found on Tom's dresser and I was ready to go. No more depending on Starfleet combadges that can lure and evade you so damn easily. I now had my very own Tom Paris DNA recognition pattern.

"Target has entered the turbolift."

I pause a moment in the doorway of my bedroom, waiting for the signal that would ensure me that my hunches were right. I look at the chronometer. It's 1935 hours. I take a deep breath and wait for the announcement. Why is it taking so long? Where the heck could he be headed? It shouldn't take that long for the lift to travel four decks. Unless he's not headed four decks down.

Impatient, I can wait no longer. "Computer, is the target still in the turbolift?"

"Affirmative," comes the reply.

What is going on? I feel a frown creasing my brow.

"Target has entered Deck 4."

Deck 4? Oh shit. He's going back to his quarters. Oh no, not now. I have planned for this all day. I turn around and start pacing in my living room. What to do now? He can't go back to his quarters. That would ruin it all. What about the clothes I have picked out?

"Target has entered the turbolift."

Again? I scratch my head and frown at the ceiling. What is Tom up to? He sure can make proximity detection a tough game to play.

"Target has entered Deck 6."

I take in a deep breath and close my eyes. Come on, come on, get there already. What is taking you so long? It's not that long a walk from the turbolift to the...

"Target has entered Holodeck 2."

Yes. I exhale and feel a smile tugging at the corners my mouth as I walk through the bedroom door. I take in the clothes I had laid out on my bed four hours ago and reach down to touch the soft, sensuous material.

It's definitely time to break out of the by-the-book First Officer mould. Definitely time to go out and make my ceremonious, and very public claim on the one that belongs to me.

I knew it was the right thing to turn on Sandrine's tonight.
 

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"Monsieur Thomas, it has been ages since I last saw you here," Sandrine purrs seductively. "Are you deliberately avoiding me?" Her holographic eyes shine brightly as she places an arm around my right bicep.

I can't help but give her one of my more endearing smiles. "You know I'd never do that. Ship duties have kept me so occupied but I too have missed you terribly, I swear."

It is the truth. I love Sandrine. I love this program. Of all the holoprograms I have ever made, Sandrine remains my most beloved creation. And this love goes way back to the real Sandrine, on Marseilles, Earth; the woman who remained a true friend in those low times when no one else wanted to have anything to do with me. This creation can never match the authenticity of the real thing, but it sure gives me a taste of home thirty five thousand light years away.

"Oh you mustn't swear, mon cheri," she mock scolds me, wagging a finger in front of my nose. "This is a respectable establishment, after all."

I smile and lean in to kiss her right cheek. "My apologies, Sandrine." I squeeze her hand affectionately. "Can you please get me a beer?"

She stops frowning and gives me a smile, disentangling herself from me. "Of course." She moves behind the bar to get the drink.

"One beer for me too, Sandrine." Harry hops on a stool next to me, placing his elbows on the bar. I see him giving me an appraising look from the corner of my eye as we wait for our beers, but I keep my gaze locked on the holographic patron.

Sandrine places two frothy mugs of synth-beer in front of us and raises a brow at us. "Be good, boys."

"Always." I give her a jaunty grin as I take a deep swallow of the cool beverage. It's not like real alcohol of course. Doesn't have that kick, won't get you drunk, even tastes pretty weak when you think about it, but that's all you can get on a Starfleet starship bar. Especially if it's a holographic establishment, as respectable as it may be. Although, weak or not, I like synthehol. It gives a false though delightful sense of perfection, as if everything you ever hoped for is within your reach. Even if that perfection leaves a stale synthetic taste at the back of your mouth.

"So you think you can evade her, huh, Tom?" I take my time swallowing the bittersweet froth, smacking my lips, before I turn my head to look at Harry giving me a bemused look. So, it's a joke to him, is it?

"You think it's funny, Harry?"

"Well," He grins. "It was quiet a scene, watching you trying to climb off the turbolift mid-deck, while B'Elanna fought with your leg trying to pull you back in." His grin dissolves into a low chuckle as the memory of our interlude with the half-Klingon hits him again.

He does think it's funny. I feel like emptying the beer mug over the head of my cackling friend. He is supposed to be on my side. At least I thought he would be, since he is supposed to be my best friend. However, ever since my problems have begun, all I have gotten from him is a tangled web of disbelief, incredulity and confusion. Instead of throwing the beer in his face though, I find myself sulking at him. "It's not my fault that she kept hassling me. I told her I was not in the mood to talk to her, but she kept getting in my way."

"Hassling you?" The grin leaves his face and he frowns at me as if frustrated. "All I saw was a woman trying to TALK to you, Tom. She just wanted to talk, in a civilized manner, even for a Klingon. And what did you do? Stopped the damned 'lift in the MIDDLE of Deck 4 and 5, opened the emergency hatch and attempted to climb off the lift." He grits his teeth. "That was the most stupid thing to do, Tom. You could have gotten hurt if someone had called for the lift at that point. B'Elanna probably saved your life when she pulled you back into the lift."

What the hell does Harry think I am? Stupid? Even Naomi Wildman can tell you that the turbolift won't operate if the emergency hatch is open. But I let this slight 'infraction' slide for now. Instead, I drain my beer mug and slam it on the bar, as I hop off the stool.

"Well, I don't WANNA talk to her," I snarl at him. "Is that such a difficult thing to understand?" It seems everyone has gone absolutely crazy. Can't they take a fucking hint? I want to be left alone. That is the best thing anyone can do for me right now. Just leave me alone, for Godsake.

I watch a couple of Engineering guys leaving a pool table and head that way. Yeah, I'll just play a game by myself and not think about anyone else bothering me.

Though it seems Harry has other ideas. He follows me to the table and grabs the second pool cue as I start racking the balls up. I glower at him but refrain from saying anything.

"You don't wanna talk to anyone, do you?" He shakes his head at me.
 

"Got it in one, Har." I chalk my cue and lean forward, aiming with the cue ball. I break the balls and frown as not even a single one of them sinks. My concentration is way off but I am not going to let it get to me. I won't let the turmoil in my mind ruin this evening for me. I have to maintain this semblance of normality, as much as I can.

"Why the sudden denial, Tom?" Harry bends forward and takes aim at a ball. "You talk to Chakotay when you are ready and he apparently is not, and end up making a mess of things. But now that he is ready and wants to talk to you, you run off like a scared rabbit." He sinks two balls in one easy stroke and looks up at me. "Same with B'Elanna. It's alright to screw things up with her, but when she wants to straighten them out, you won't give her the time of the day." He quirks his eyebrows at me. "Tell me, Paris, do you LIKE living your life with this mental anguish?"

"As far as I remember B'Elanna was the one who screwed things up with me." I scowl at him. "She cheated on me, remember?"

Harry heaves a sigh and rolls his eyes at me. "As far as I remember, B'Elanna was NOT trying to talk to you about your breakup with HER. She said she wanted to talk to you about Chakotay!"

I feel my breath catching in my throat and have to actually struggle to take in oxygen, blinking back the wetness that suddenly and unbelievably creeps up beneath my lashes. The one subject I want to avoid keeps sneaking up on me, from every possible direction.

Before I can give him a reply, though, I find myself in a full body embrace with a very enthusiastic Megan Delaney, who seems to have appeared out of thin air.

Where the heck did she come from?

"Oh Tom, are you alright, honey?" She murmurs in my ear, hugging me tightly, her curves pressed along my full length as the scent of her sweet perfume fills my nostrils. "Is it true you broke up with B'Elanna?"

I sigh deeply and attempt to free myself from her hug. Megan can be very eager at times; eager to please, eager to sway, eager to swoon; and not quite as sympathetic as Jenny, even though they are both identical twins. I give her a soft smile. "Yes, Megan, B'Elanna and I are no longer seeing each other." In the past, I would have jumped at any opportunity to hang out with one of the twins but not anymore. My mind is hardly on curves and sweet smelling perfumes these days.

"Oh poor baby." She pouts at me, fluttering her eyelashes at me for 2.67 seconds and then gives me a wide smile. "If you need company or a good laugh to cheer you up, you know where to find me."

I mentally shake my head and give her a sweet smile. I can't possibly feel mad at Megan for this. She does mean well in her own charming little way. "I sure will, Meg." I say to her as I unsuccessfully attempt to pull myself out of her arms.

Suddenly, a full beer mug is slammed down on the pool table, splattering the drink on the smooth surface. "I should have known." This all-too-familiar growl is our only greeting.
 

I wince and squeeze my eyes shut for a second. When I open them, B'Elanna is standing in front of me giving me a disgusted look and Megan is looking in confusion from my face to the Chief Engineer's, apparently waiting for some kind of response from me.

"I told you, B'Elanna, to leave me the fuck alone." I hear myself snap before my brain has a chance to figure out a more appropriate response in front of an obvious audience. Megan gasps and looks at me in feigned shock. I can almost feel the excitement bubbling inside her. This is her big chance to view a conflagration between the two biggest hotshots of Voyager, namely the Chief Flyboy, Tom Paris, and the resident Klingon, B'Elanna Torres.

There is no way in hell she is going to miss this opportunity to spread some juicy gossip.

"Have you got nothing important to do, Delaney?" B'Elanna growls. "Maybe I can send you off to scrub the Jeffries tube in sub-junction 34 with your fucking tooth brush."

Or maybe not.

Megan swiftly extricates herself from her self-initiated embrace with me, and disappears into the crowd before I can do much of anything.

"Getting over Chakotay already, Paris?" B'Elanna's eyes shoot daggers at me.

I look at her in shock, feeling shaken up by the look of contempt in her eyes. "What? Megan is just a friend. Nothing more. What are you..." I stop in mid-sentence. What the hell am I doing? Am I trying to justify my actions to my ex-girlfriend? Why do I feel the need to do that? I am not answerable to her. I am not answerable to anyone. I grit my teeth, my nostrils flaring. "What the hell do you care? I can do anything I fucking feel like. Who the hell are you?"

Her eyes narrow down to mere slits and she growls. "You are going to fuck CHAKOTAY over?" For some reason she sounds incredulous.

I take a staggering breath and make an attempt to think over what she is saying. Fuck Chakotay over? What the hell is she talking about? Chakotay doesn't want anything to do with me.

Does he?

"I can't believe what I ever saw in you." She continues, her breathing ragged. "I can't believe what Chakotay sees in you. I can't believe he's falling all over himself trying to work things out with you." What? She is seething, her volume increasing by the nanosecond. People are starting to notice but I am lost in the intensity of her words. I am lost and at the same time, I seem to be finding answers to so many questions, but that doesn't alleviate my confusion, my utter and total bafflement. She keeps talking. "I can't believe he actually is upset over supposedly screwing things up with you. I can't believe....."

What the hell is she talking about? My ears hurt at the unending clamor.

"B'Elanna!" Harry interjects, reaching out to grab one of her flailing arms. "You've got it all wrong, Tom was not flirting with Megan, he was only trying to...."

"Gentlemen. Lieutenant."

We all freeze as the Captain steps into our lines of vision. B'Elanna abruptly stops her tirade.

The Captain looks at all of us closely. "Is everything alright?"

It takes me a moment to realize that the Captain must have observed B'Elanna's agitated behavior and is now here to make sure everything is fine between us. I see Seven standing a short distance away looking slightly perturbed, but somehow still unaffected, in her own Borg way. She probably accompanied the captain here, as she does sometimes.

"Sure, Captain." Harry is the first one to recover. "Everything is fine." He gives her a nervous grin.

"Yes," B'Elanna follows. "Everything's okay, Captain."

The Captain looks at me with the same concerned expression on her face. "Tom?"

"Yes, ma'am." I give her a small smile and nod at her. "Nothing to worry about."

She pats me on my arm, giving me that long, knowing look again. "If you say so." Then she turns around and gestures at Seven to follow her, as she makes her way towards a table in the corner.

"I can't believe you did that," B'Elanna hisses at me as soon as the Captain is out of earshot.

I look at her incredulously. "Me? What did I do? You're the one who was going on like an Andorian fog horn."

"Well if you had listened to what I was trying to tell you about Chakotay," she grits her teeth. "It wouldn't have come to this."

I clench my hands and turn bodily towards her. "How can I get through your skull, B'Elanna, that is one subject I don't want to discuss with you?"

She narrows her eyes at me, opens her mouth to say something else and then I watch her gaze shift from me to somewhere behind me. Her expression changes from anger to shock to incredulity to amusement, all in the space of a few moments. She tears her eyes from whatever spectacle has caught her fancy to look at me for a second, then looks behind me again, and keeping her eyes locked there, she breaks into a wide, strange grin.

"Well, Tom, I guess there is no need for me to push you anymore."

What? Oh, okay. That is good, isn't it?

I take in a breath, look at Harry and suddenly feel a wave of uneasiness go through me. His mouth is dropped open in apparent amazement, his eyes are locked somewhere behind me, as were B'Elanna's. What the hell? I slowly turn around to face Sandrine's entrance and my heart leaps inside my chest as my brain registers the incredible image my eyes send its way.

Silk. There's so much silk.

Smooth bronzed skin clad in shimmering white silk. Chakotay. Clad in a button down, collar-less white shirt that seems like monolithic silk poured over his body. Hard chest muscles that ripple through the silky material, brown nipples that I can see poking through it even at this distance. White silk pants that hug his muscled thighs and legs.

I don't think I have ever seen a more erotic sight in my whole damn life.

As my eyes inadvertently lock with Chakotay's, I feel other parts of my body responding to the display before me. The heat in his eyes melts me from the inside and I feel my knees turn to jelly. I gulp at the predatory look in his eyes and the slow seductive smile that spreads over his handsome face. A sound of surprise somewhere from the vicinity of the bar pulls me out of my trance and I blink repeatedly, still unable to tear my eyes from Chakotay's burning gaze.

I watch him lock onto my position, as a hawk locks onto its prey, and realize he's moving towards me. For a second, I am frozen. My suddenly hard cock straining against jeans that feel way too tight all of a sudden, I am unable to move, unable to breathe. Then, all at once, I have found mobility in my limbs, as I drop the pool cue on the table and sprint for the exit, determined to make my escape before I make a complete fool of myself.

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I sense the heat of Tom's cerulean gaze raking my body, sliding from my face down to my chest, pausing at my groin, moving onto my legs till it has taken a complete sweep of my entire anatomy from my head down to my toes. I feel a shiver run through me as the same gaze glides back up the territory in another drawn out, languorous caress and watch pure unfettered desire flush his beautiful face. At this point, I know that I have achieved my initial objective and I throw him an alluring smile for good measure.

Feeling the need to make the move, I rub my hands down my thighs and take the first step towards him. I watch him swallow a lump at this point as a shadow of panic passes over his face and I increase my speed. I watch him come to a decision and hear a curse roll out of my tongue as he drops the pool cue he had in his hand onto the table, and moves away from my path.

He's going to make a run for it. He feels he's not up to it. This is my chance to get rid of all his doubts once and for all.

He's moving faster now, attempting to take a random route between a cluster of pool tables and chairs to escape me, as I rush up to circumvent his decided trajectory. He looks at me in alarm, but I am almost onto him and before he can reach the bar's exit, I am there, blocking his path. As he makes one last attempt to bolt from the scene, I take a small leap, landing directly in front of him and reach out to encircle his waist in my arms, effectively trapping him in place.

As our bodies touch, I hear a small whimper escape his throat and I grab his flailing arms with my hands, pulling them behind him, thus hindering his movements.

"Going somewhere, Poocuh?" I whisper huskily into his ear.

His eyes are wide with surprise yet glazed with undoubted desire, and he pants as beads of sweat appear on his forehead and trickle down the side of his face. "Ch... Chakotay," He stutters as I take this opportunity to walk us backwards, carefully, manipulatively, until his back is flush with the edge of a pool table. As his brain registers this fact, he gulps and looks into my eyes. "Chakotay, what are you doing?"

I press my body into him, letting go of his arms and lock my arms around his waist instead. I nuzzle the side of his face, as my tongue snakes out to lick at a drop of sweat under his right ear, and murmur. "What does it look like I am doing?"

I feel a shiver go through his body as he struggles against me, trying to gain some kind of control. "There're people watching, Cha." He tries to push me back. "I don't think this is right."

Alright. Enough of this.

"You don't think so?" I ask as I slide my right hand up his back to cradle his neck, and just as he starts to answer, I tilt his face down and seize his lips in a hot, open-mouthed kiss. I can tell he's shocked into quietude since he freezes in motion, his soft lips open in some unvoiced protest, so I make good on the situation and slip my tongue inside, deepening the kiss.

I move my left hand to touch his face, my thumb tracing his jaw, as I kiss him long and hard, trying to put my heart into it, to show him all that I feel with that one kiss. His sweet, lush tang breaks onto my taste buds and I feel like sobbing at the delightful sensations. He tastes so good that I could kiss him forever, locked in this embrace, tasting the nectar of his honeyed lips until the end of time. Yet, as his shuddering breath reverberates into my mouth as a soft moan, I realize its time for a small break unless I want either of us to pass out from oxygen deprivation.

I reluctantly let go of his lips and pull back slightly to look at his face and find his eyes closed, his skin flushed a beautiful pink and his breathing delightfully hitched. He makes such a gorgeous sight that I can't help but drop a rain of kisses on his nose, from the bridge down to the tip, until he sighs and opens his sea-blue eyes to look at me.

He bites his lower lip in deep thought, staring at me in wonder. "You kissed me."

I cup the side of his face with one hand, my thumb tracing his kiss-bruised bottom lip, as I look deep into his eyes. "Yes."

"In front of everyone." Somehow he sounds awed, amazed.

I softly murmur. "That's right."

He shuts his eyes for a second, a slight frown forming between his brows. My heart thumps wildly inside my chest. Then he opens his eyes again and asks. "Why, Chakotay?"

I take a deep breath and realize now is the time.

I gently tilt his chin forward with my thumb and index finger, my other hand moving to hold his head in place, as I gently brush his hair off his face and lean forward to softly kiss his upper lip. "Because..." My lips sinuously move sideways to brush my lips tenderly to his left cheek. "...I love you." Moving on to caress his right cheek in the same velvet kiss. "And I am sorry... " And delicately capturing his lower lip in the lightest of kisses. "... that I hurt you like that, that I didn't believe you when you said you loved me." I pull back again to watch his eyes, and find a stunned, dazed expression on his face. I kiss the tip of his nose again and lower my voice further until it's a mere whisper in his ear. "You do love me, don't you, Poocuh?"

His only answer is a deep groan and a breathy; "Oh Cha..." before he slides his arms around my waist and brings his lips down to meet mine in a bruising kiss. He runs one hand up my back, holding my shoulders with it, and grips my hips with the other, pulling me closer, and I can't help but moan into his open, hot mouth, holding his head in place with my hands. I let myself fall into his kiss, reveling in the heady taste of his soft lips moving against mine, his tongue stroking the roof of my mouth, dancing with my own tongue, his arms tightly holding me close. His hands slide down to grip my ass-cheeks, pulling me impossibly closer to his body, his hips deliciously grinding against mine and I feel my cock harden. With a moan, I pull away from his mouth but keep holding him in an embrace.

"Easy, baby." I murmur, very well aware of his own growing erection jutting against my hip.

He rubs his cheek against mine and sobs. "Oh Cha, I love you."

I smile at him. "Does that mean, you will no longer make me chase you all over the ship?"

A slow, impish smile breaks on his face. "It depends on how far you are willing to go."

I chuckle at him. "Hmm.... Lets see." I stroke his cheek with my hand and point to the table I have him trapped against. "How about you letting me take you right here, right now, on top of this pool table?"

As if coming out of a trance, he blinks and looks around himself, seemingly noticing for the first time the crowd that is apparently stunned into silence by our performance. I watch a deep blush spread over his cheeks and smile at his reaction to our obviously very public display of affection in front of an astonished audience.
 

"Umm... Cha?" He asks, keeping his eyes determinedly locked onto my face.

"Yes?"

"I promise, I won't make you chase me all over the ship."

I chuckle. "Does that mean, we should take our show to some place more private now?"

He gulps, biting his lower lip in surrender. "Yes."

I nod and as I step back from him, my eyes lock with Kathryn's, who is sitting at a corner table to my right. She looks at me with an amused look on her face and chuckling, gives a slight nod in my direction. I feel a blush creeping over my face and acknowledging her gesture with my eyes, I look away from her face. The second person I notice is B'Elanna who is still standing at the same pool table where Tom had left her earlier. She stares at me unblinking, neither smiling nor frowning, but her eyes are soft with understanding and I feel a weight lift off my shoulders.

I know now that she will be alright.

I don't pay attention to anyone else after that. I simply grab Tom's hands and pulling him after me, I turn around. "Let's go."

We walk out of Sandrine's as gracefully as possible and just before the holodeck doors close behind us, we hear the whole bar erupt into a commotion. The doors shut behind us; we both look at each other and break into matching grins. Undoubtedly, we have provided the whole gang with the kind of gossip that will keep them busy for weeks.

The trip back to my quarters is unique to say the least. Sharing a turbolift filled with five crewmembers, with my hard cock sensuously rubbing against the silk of my pants, is too much to take. Knowing that Tom is facing the same dilemma, and being forced to keep my hands to myself, is absolutely mind-blowing. My straining erection screams for physical contact and I have to bite my lips to keep from groaning in front of the crewmen. I am panting with need by the time we reach my doors.

I punch in the codes and just as the doors open I grab Tom and pull him inside my quarters. Before the doors have even closed, I have pinned him against the sidewall, and am kissing him hungrily, running my hands possessively over his back. He throws his arms around my shoulders, pulling me into him, and eagerly responds to my fevered kisses. He thrusts his tongue inside my mouth and moans deliciously, grinding his hips rhythmically against mine in pure delirium.

It is amidst that delirium that a mechanical voice suddenly interrupts our frenzied union.

"Target has entered Deck 3, Section 25, First Officer's Quarters."

There's a moment of silence when we both freeze, and then Tom tears his mouth away from mine and looks about the room in confusion. He rests his questioning eyes on mine and asks. "What was that, Cha?"

I feel mortified at having been caught red-handed. I was supposed to have turned off the program before I left my quarters and in all the excitement, it complete slipped from my mind.

For a moment, I contemplate making up an excuse, but realize I can't go through with it. "Umm...." I feel the corners of my mouth twitching. "Oh, what the hell," I finally relent. "Computer, deactivate Chakotay Proximity Detection Program Paris One."

"Program deactivated," the computer affirms.

Tom stares at me for several seconds, blinking his eyes, and then I see his left eyebrow cock up as realization dawns. "Proximity Detection Program Paris One?" he smirks. "How could you, Commander?"

Relieved that he sees the humor in the situation, I find myself chuckling. "Well, you are a hard one to track, Tom." I gently poke at his tee-shirt clad chest, at the spot where the combadge is normally attached, which is vacant at the moment. "You have made a habit of not wearing your combadge in your attempts to evade me. I had to find other ways to track you, you know."

"What other ways?" he asks, genuinely curious. "How did you track me without my combadge? Some ol' Maquis trick from days of yore?"

"It's a classified secret, Tom," I grin at him. "I can't tell you." I lean forward to kiss him again.

He chuckles against my lips. "So I am your target, huh?"

"That's right." I nuzzle his neck, pulling him tighter against me, as my hands grasp his firm ass, squeezing hard.

He sighs against the side of my face, hugging me back. "So you got anymore surprises lying around your quarters tonight?"

I grin. "Maybe." I walk us to the middle of the living room, maintaining our embrace, relishing the feel of his lithe body against mine.

I feel his hands running up and down my back and set my head down on his shoulder with a sigh, kissing the side of his neck. "That your bedroom, Commander?" I hear the mischief in his tone, as he points to the closed door to my left.

"Umm-Hmm." I taste the salt on his glowing skin with a swipe of my tongue.

"Good," he drawls, as he turns me towards the door and I find myself maneuvered in its direction, being lead through as it swishes open to admit us into my bedroom.
 

"Nice bed, Commander." I feel him grinning against the side of my face as he leads me right to the foot of my bed. Before I can react, he has shoved me backwards and surprised, I land over the bed with a bounce. A wide, triumphant smile on his face, Tom crawls over and drops right on top of me, pulling my breath away.

"Tom," I gasp, before his mouth dips and claims mine in a languid kiss, his hands at work instantly, pulling at my clothes, rubbing and caressing any and all body parts he can reach. I rub his back with both my hands, frantically reaching for the hem of his tee-shirt, pulling it out of his jeans and sliding my hands inside, aching to reach bare skin.

At the first touch of my fingers on his bare back, he groans and rubs his hips harder against my groin. Oh Spirits, he feels so hot, I need more. I yank his tee-shirt up his back, desperately tugging it upward and he immediately sits up and pulls the shirt up and off his torso, throwing it somewhere around the room. I grab his shoulders and pull him back down, burying my face into his sweat-soaked neck, inhaling his scent, and kissing his throbbing pulse.

"Oh God, what are you wearing?" he keens, rubbing his hard body against my silk clad chest and thighs. He moans. "It feels so hot!" I feel his soft tawny chest hair sliding against my chest, scraping through the silk, making me groan into his neck at the exquisite sensations. He pulls up slightly with his elbows placed on both my sides, and reaches down to rub his nose, his cheeks over my silk clad chest, creating unbearable friction. I watch as he reaches for my pectorals with his mouth and licks at a nipple through the silk, thoroughly wetting the cloth and then clamps down on it with his teeth, making me cry out in ecstasy.

He tugs at the nipple, hardening the flat tit into a taut point, making me gasp with arousal. My synapses are fired up, my each breath ragged as he moves onto the other nipple, sucking it into his mouth and laving it with the same finesse. His fingers move down my sides, his short nails tracing my ribs delicately through the silken fabric. I drown in the sweet sensation of his teeth nipping at my skin, his tongue stroking me through my shirt, his nose and cheekbone rubbing into my navel, and I am helplessly thrusting into his touch as he reaches up to undo the buttons of my shirt.

The air in my room feels chilly to my heated skin, as it is unraveled one button at a time, until his fingers slowly travel down and are pulling the tails of my shirt out of my silk pants. I am so submerged in the rough feel of his mouth against my silk clad skin that I scream out in surprise at the first touch of his tongue to my bare abdomen. He wounds his arms around my waist and pays homage to my body with his mouth, his teeth nipping at the now over-sensitized flesh around my navel, his expert tongue dipping into the indentation and I throw my head back and arch into his body.

He is driving me crazy, his mouth hovering up and down my torso, making me feel delirious, his teeth raking over every single rib, while his tongue randomly flicks out to taste a nipple or two. Feeling his erection poking into the side of my thigh, fueling my own arousal, I realize I am losing it fast.

Sensing the need to take charge before I have completely come undone, I grab hold of his shoulders and with strength borne out of pure desperation, pull him up and flip him over thus reversing our positions. Covering his writhing body with mine, I seize his hands, trapping them over his head and retake his mouth in a sizzling kiss, sucking his breath in.

He moans against my mouth, opening his legs wider and throwing them around my butt, the heel of his shoes rubbing sensuously against the back of my thighs.

Shoes. Oh God, he still has his shoes on. I let go of his mouth and prop up on my elbows, looking down my body.

And so do I.

He lies panting below me, watching me, as I slide my shirt off my shoulders and grabbing hold of his feet, pull off his shoes one by one. I pull his socks off as well and tug at the buttons of his jeans, yanking them open as he lifts his hips up, letting me slide them off. My cock jumps at the sight of his beautiful erection as it springs free and bobs against his stomach, drooling at the slit. I impatiently kick my moccasins off and am struggling with the opening of my pants when he places his hands on mine, and takes over from there.

His long, slender fingers expertly undo the fastenings on my pants and slide them over my hips, his eyes widening at the sight of my briefs, a white sensuous silk of the same material as my outfit. A radiant, awed expression etched on his beautiful face, he reaches out to stroke my erection outlined against the soft texture, drawing deliciously fiery paths on my heated flesh with his nails, making it jump inside the garment. I can't help but moan at the glorious torture as I arch into his touch.

"Oh God, this is so fucking hot, Chakotay," he moans, his hands reaching around to trace my ass-cheeks through the silk, as he arches up to tongue my chest some more.

So, he likes the silk, eh? Perhaps its time I let him feel it more up close. I grab his wrists and pinning them on both sides of his face, I lower myself onto his twisting frame, settling between his legs. At the first touch of my silk clad groin to his throbbing erection, he groans deeply and throws his legs around mine, the back of his thighs rubbing deliberately against mine, and I capture his lips in a ravenous kiss. I languidly rub our erections through the satiny smoothness, the feel of the cool silk on our hard, hot cocks absolutely maddening. Soon, I am biting and kissing and licking his lips, wrenching sobs from his mouth as he bucks and heaves, his cock pulsing and hot against my thighs. Spirits, I need to feel more of him, taste more of him.

With a long suck on his soft lips I let go of his mouth and crawl between his legs, holding them wide open with my hands. The sight of his beautiful, long cock weeping at the slit, jolting against his belly too hard to ignore, I lower my mouth and lick a teasing path from his throbbing vein up to his drooling slit.
 

"Oh Chaaaaa........." He cries out beautifully and I decide I love the sound of his helpless cries and would do whatever it takes to hear them again and again. I settle between his shaking thighs, as my tongue hungrily strokes his length over and over, tasting his heady, sweet essence, my teeth gently nipping the hardness, my lips dropping butterfly kisses up and down his shaft, his musky smell intoxicating me. He is going wild, his cries guttural and husky with need, and his hands settle on my head, his fingers winding around my hair as he undulates his hips with every stroke of my tongue over his cock.

"Oh Cha, fuck me, please," he sobs wantonly and I know it's almost time. I take the crown of his thick cock in my mouth for a taste and after giving it one long suck, his scent and taste making me lightheaded with arousal, I let go of him and prop myself up his frame. I trail a path over his hot, flushed skin with my lips and mouth and tongue, and as I reach his chest, I can't help but comb his fine chest hair with my tongue, bathing his dark pink nipples with saliva, tugging at them with my teeth.

The masculine smell of his sweat makes me feel drunk, as I rub my face into his chest hair, the texture of it raspy yet softly sensuous on my skin. He pulls at my shoulders, moaning, urging me to proceed, so I get up and move up his body, reaching for his mouth with mine. He welcomes my tongue into his mouth, instantly sucking it with his lips, lapping at his own taste within my mouth, as I reach out under the pillow for a tube of lube that I know is there.

His fingers tug at the hem of my silk briefs and he slides them over my hips just as my own fingers encounter the tube I was searching for. I help him slide the briefs off my thighs, toeing them off, just as I reach behind the back of his thighs, urging him to bend his knees against his chest.

"I am gonna prepare you now, Tom." I look into his azure eyes and he nods, doing as I ask. I open the tube and squeeze a copious amount of the cool gel onto my fingers, rub my hands together to warm the lube, and reach between his thighs. As my gelled fingers touch his scrotum, he moans and opens his legs wider, giving me complete access to the most intimate part of his lithe body. Transfixed by the sight of beautiful Tom splayed before me like this, I trace the edge of his puckered opening with a finger and he hisses in approval.

"Yes, Cha, more."

Encouraged, I carefully slide the finger inside the tight ring, the muscle inside contracting against the invading digit, as my other hand rubs soothingly over his abdomen, asking him to relax and slowly the muscle loosens a bit, allowing my finger to move in deeper. I gently move it inside his sphincter, carefully loosening the tight muscle as much as I can. I then take it out, hearing him groan at the loss of contact, and spreading more gel over my fingers, push two of them inside. As I scissor the two fingers inside his tight channel, preparing him for my use, he throws his head back and moans, pushing down on the digits, his cock jerking with the internal stimulation.

"Now, Cha, nowwwwwwwwwww," he sobs.

I take out the fingers and grease three of them this time. "Just a little more, baby, " I croon, stroking his thighs, asking him to hold on. I slide the fingers inside his sphincter and prepare his opening with as much care as I can, considering the urgent need of stimulation my own cock is crying out for. When all is done, I disengage my fingers from his ass and squeeze out a liberal amount of lube over my cock, the gel feeling cool on the heated flesh and briskly grease my erection, feeling Tom's eyes on my every move. As I throw the tube away, he raises his long legs up and over my shoulders, locking his ankles around my neck.

"Now, fuck me, oh fuck me, Chaaaa," he groans and that is all the invitation I need. My hands holding his hips in place, I place the head of my throbbing cock against his glistening hole, and slowly, exquisitely push into the tight ring of muscle. As the crown budges through the sphincter, Tom moans deeply, tightly clutching the bed sheets, as I keep pushing the shaft down his well-greased channel, not stopping until I am buried to the hilt, my balls resting against his ass-cheeks. Sighing at the exquisite feel of his tight heat, I rub his thighs soothingly, watch his head thrown back in rapture, slowly pull out until only the head of my cock is left inside and then ram back into him, making him scream with ecstasy.

"Oh, so good, Tom, so good." My voice is husky as I groan at the blissful heat, his muscles squeezing my shaft, and he raises his head and looks straight into my eyes, his crystal blue eyes filled with a burning passion that drives me wild. As I pull myself up and drive back into him, his hands grab at my hips, settling on my ass-cheeks, as he meets me halfway, pushing me deeper into him.

"Yes, Cha... Oh yesssssss, fuck me harder..." His cries drive me mad with lust as my fingers grip his hips tightly and I pull out and ram into him over and again, long pushes and short strokes that scrape against his tiny gland inside, making him whimper and shudder. My cock drives into his hot, tight, satiny tunnel, wrenching sobs out of his mouth, the squeezing muscles milking my cock, making me groan.

"Oh please, Chaaaaaaa," he moans, as I wrap my fingers around his neglected cock and using the grease left on my fingers, start stroking him in synch with my own drives into him. It doesn't take long though, as he has been ready for a long time. And after a few more strokes of my hand around his thickness, I watch entranced, as he throws back his head and with a hoarse scream he comes, spraying thick ropes of cum all over his chest and abdomen, my hand and wrist.

The sight of his beautiful flushed face fuels my own passion, and I pummel into his thrashing body again and again, his tightening muscles bringing me exquisitely closer and closer, until with a ragged, throaty scream, I erupt into a white hot orgasm, emptying myself into his body. I pound into him over and over until I am utterly spent and replete with satiation, and my arms and legs giving out with exhaustion, I collapse on top of his pliant form.

It takes me a while to come out of the sexual fog and when I do, I find myself sprawled over my Tom, my softening cock still imbedded in his ass, joining us together. I wind my arms around his svelte, sated form, and roll us over so that we lie on our sides, facing each other, our legs entangled, our breathing still ragged. He whimpers with loss as my cock slips out of him, and I bury my face in his neck, kissing his fluttering pulse, murmuring soothing words of contentment.

I run my arms over his sides and back, brushing my lips to his chin, his neck, raining soft kisses over his face, his lips and with a sigh, he opens his eyes. As his sparkling eyes smile at me through a curtain of fluttering lashes, I feel myself drown in a smoky sapphire magic potion.

"Hmmm, that was... wonderful, Cha..." He softly intones as he leans forward to brush my lips with his, his hand reaching up to trace my cheekbone, his fingers running through my tousled hair.

I kiss him tenderly over his lips and smile, "You were wonderful, Tom." I hug him gently, too worn out to do much else, and he throws one leg over my hip, hugging me back, making my heart thump wildly.

"Mmm...I love you, Chakotay," he mumbles, burying his face in the crook of my neck and sighs wearily, closing his eyes.

I have just enough sense of mind left to pull up the covers over us. "I love you too, Tom," I murmur to him, kissing the top of his blond head. "Sleep now."

So, in the afterglow of this utter sexual contentedness, our arms and legs thrown around each other, we both fall into a deep, dreamless sleep.

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"So you are basically telling me that you can open any locks on this ship with your command override?" I drawl distractedly, my main focus settled on rubbing my feet to the long, brown leg folded around my right thigh and leaning back into the warm embrace.

Firm, muscled arms tighten around my waist and strong hands move up to rest on my chest. "Umm-Hmm." Chakotay mumbles at the back of my neck, his fingers twining themselves into my chest hair. "And the ones I can't open, I can break."

"Isn't that a breach of protocol aboard a starship, Commander?" I try to insert a mock sense of moderate aggressiveness in my tone but the fingers entwined in my chest hair give a slight tug and I fail in my conquest, a soft moan escaping my throat.

"Yeahhh..." I feel his tongue stroking the back of my right ear, his teeth lightly nipping my lobe, as his fingers close around an areola, tweaking and rolling the small tip around. "But then so is locking out and eluding a superior officer, isn't it?" His hot breath tickles the hair at the back of my neck as I feel his hard erection poking me in my ass. He moves his hips teasingly and I feel the blunt head press into the cleft of my ass and my own cock jerks in excitement.

With a growl, I pull myself up on my elbows and flip over, covering his hot undulating body with mine, my hands going around his waist. "And what about breaking into your junior officer's quarters," I breathe out, as my mouth comes down on his, hard and frantic.

He returns my kiss with the same fervor, pulling me closer, our hard bodies moving fast and furious, as I feel his hands clasp my ass-cheeks, pulling me tightly against him and I groan low and deep into his mouth as I feel his throbbing cock aligned with mine. Shivers runs through me as I groan and press down on him, hard and desperate, tugging my mouth off his hot lips, and bury my face into his neck, my teeth nipping at his sweat-slicked skin.

He cries out as I bite a little harder than he expected and his arms slide up my spine; as he drags his lips down to kiss my forehead, his tongue slipping out to trace my hairline. "Easy, baby," he croons softly. "Easy now," as his hands run up and down my back in a soothing caress, and we both slow down, our breathing still fast but more in control, as we move languorously against each other, reveling in the gentleness of the moment.

Hands closing around each other's erections, we slowly caress and stroke and nuzzle into each other's warmth and musk, our cries synchronous against our mouths locked together, our tongues dancing and mating to an ancient rhythm. As I feel the pressure start behind my eyelids, I wind my free arm tighter around him and feel him do the same to me, as I increase the speed of my stroking hand on his thick cock. With a beautifully ragged groan, he jerks and arches into my touch and I feel his hot sperm hit my hand, my chest, and his belly, and mingle with the sweat on my skin, his face contorting in indescribable pleasure. The sight of his beautiful face twisted in orgasm rips mine right out of my veins, as with a husky cry, I erupt in his hand, thrashing and shuddering with pleasure, and fall into his tightening embrace.

We hold onto each other through the haze and as we come down from the cloud, I feel his lips softly moving along my neck, rubbing over my jaw line, sliding over to tongue the insides of my left ear and I burrow deeper into his warmth. However, we are only able to stay in this blissful state of exhilaration for a few relaxed minutes when the alarm in Chakotay's bedroom snaps us out of our tranquility.

"Ah, just in time." Chakotay mumbles against my ear. I follow his eyes to the chronometer and groan at the display.

"Its 0600, Commander. What did you have the alarm on for this early in the morning?" I pout at my lover.

"I always get up this early," he replies and I look at him in dissimulated horror. "We have duty in two hours, Ensign." He raises a brow at me, a smile fighting to break on his face.

"Yeah, two hours," I stress, half-grinning, as I slip my arms around his waist. "We should stay in bed, Sir."

"Tom, we have to get cleaned up and have breakfast. I am starving since last night." He kisses me on my lips. "Aren't you?"

"Umm-Hmm." I mumble against his lips. "I am starving for you, baby."

He softly chuckles. "If we don't get out of here now, we will be stuck together for good." He slowly untangles himself from me and slides off the bed. Turning around, he stretches his arms and rolls his shoulders around, giving me a first class view of his wide, copper back. "I am so hungry, I could eat a horse."

Feeling a bit taken aback at this, I sit up on the bed and look at him moving towards the bathroom. "Cha?"

He stops and turns around to look at me. "Yes?"

"I thought you were vegetarian."

For a moment, he looks at me blankly and then slowly a wide grin appears on his face. "Well, I meant figuratively, Tom," and chuckling, he turns around and disappears into the bathroom.

"Oh." That is all I say as I slip my feet on the floor and get up from the bed.

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I lean across the bathroom doorframe and stare at the lithe, golden form of my lover, sheeted in the steamy water from the shower. It was my idea that we take showers separately, as I thought it would speed up things with minimal trouble. I couldn't resist taking a peak though and now I am paying the price, for Tom is putting on one hell of a show.

Bending forward, legs parted, he rubs the back of his thighs with his long, slender fingers giving me a titillating view of his beautiful ass. Then he straightens up and leans back into the wall, throwing his head back and slowly tantalizes me by running the same fingers on his chest, moaning dramatically for added effect.

I decide to distract myself by distracting him from his exhibitive tendencies.

"I thought Rexlin affected you slowly, putting you to sleep in twenty, twenty-five minutes, not immediately."

He stops rubbing himself and peers at me through the curtain of water. "Well, you were already asleep. You already had sleep endorphins released in your body and Rexlin affects differently in the presence of those." He shuts the water and steps out of the stall. "It just nudged you deeper into sleep and that's what I had aimed at." He walks, dripping water, towards me and I wrap him up in the robe I had kept waiting for him in my hand. He holds my face in his hands and leans forward to look deep into my eyes. "How are you now, Cha?"

My heart melts at the concern in his beautiful blue eyes and I rub my nose to his and smile. "I am just fine now, Tom," I sigh. "I feel... great." My heart swells with love as his soft lips close over mine in a sweet, tender kiss.

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"And here I was tethered between two decks, when the damn doors finally skidded open, only to find myself staring in the wide, shocked eyes of little Naomi Wildman." I drawl out the continuation of my long spiel of escape and evasion, and watch as Chakotay breaks into a wide grin, his dimples coming out at full force. Yet again, I find myself mesmerized at his effortless grace, his innate beauty.

"You mean," he chuckles. "That all the time I was getting worked up, pacing in here, wondering what was taking you so damn long in the turbolift, you were actually honing up your acrobatic skills?" He shakes his head in amusement as he lifts the cup of tea to his beautifully sculpted lips and takes a sip. "That must've been fun, Tom."

I lift a piece of fried egg set on a slice of toast with my fork. "Yeah, yeah, go on and laugh at me." I take the food inside my mouth and chew, watching the amusement play on Chakotay's chiseled features.

"Honestly, Tom," he asks. "What explanation did you give to Naomi for opening Deck 4's lift doors with the lift stuck between 4 and 5?"

I finish chewing and take a sip of my black coffee. "Oh, I didn't get a chance to explain. B'Elanna grabbed my leg and pulled me back down into the lift. I fell right on top of her and Harry."

"She did?" A frown appears between his brows. "You could've gotten hurt. She shouldn't have done that."

"Well, she apparently didn't think so." I look down into my coffee, suddenly feeling a shift in the mood. "And besides I am okay."

I feel his eyes on me, as I keep my head lowered and stare into the black swirl of the beverage. There is silence for a few seconds and then he asks softly.

"Did you listen to what she wanted to say, Tom?"

I take a deep breath. "No, I didn't."

"Why not?" He emphasizes.

"I didn't think she would have anything meaningful to say," I answer.

"Just like you thought I wouldn't have anything meaningful to say?"

My head shoots up and I look into his eyes, expecting to see anger, accusation, and disdain. However, there's only a sad, wariness in his dark eyes.

My heart pounds inside my chest. "It's not the same, Cha. I... I am sorry."

His eyes widen, and with lightening speed, he sets the cup of tea down and reaches out to hold my hand in a gentle but firm grip. "Oh Tom, please don't apologize," he speaks softly, biting his lower lip with apprehension. "It's not your fault."

I cover his hand with mine and look into his eyes. "But it is, Cha. I acted insensitively and hurt you with my malicious words." I take a deep breath and sigh. "I am so sorry. I didn't mean to ever cause you any pain but I don't know why I say some of the things I do."

His thumb rubs the back of my hand and he takes a deep breath. "You said it because I got you on the defensive, Tom. I knew, the words, they were a shielding, just meant to put an emotional distance between us, to give the impression that you were not hurting by all that was happening to us. But you did hurt..." He slowly exhales. "...And so did I."

I bring his hand to my mouth and softly kiss the knuckles. "I am sorry, Cha. I swear I'll make it up to you."

"You already have, Tom." He smiles at me, his brown eyes gentle and his voice velvet soft. "You don't owe me anything. Besides, I need to make up for my actions to you as well. I also made you suffer unnecessarily and I want to apologize for my behavior."

"I made you act that way." I swallow hard at the memories of that morning. "You were simply reacting to our last encounter, Cha. And as for my actions after that, I know that getting drunk was a stupid thing to do."

"You gave me a scare, Tom," he says, his brows wrinkling in worry. "When I saw you lying on your living room's floor, I thought something had happened to you."
 

I lower my eyes to the table, remembering that bleak evening. "What did you say to the captain?" I look up into his eyes.

He looks at me thoughtfully. "Nothing. I just told her that you were not feeling well."

"You mean you didn't tell her about the drinking after I transported out of my quarters?" I ask him, incredulous.

"No, I didn't," he replies. "I knew you were somewhere on the ship and I figured you needed a little time by yourself and just decided to wait on you instead."

"But the captain had sent you after me," I say. "Didn't she want the details of what had happened to me?"

He looks at me steadily for a few seconds and then shakes his head. "The captain didn't send me after you, Tom." He gives a small smile. "I asked her to let me check up on you. I was worried about you. I knew I had hurt you and when you didn't answer your hails I got scared that something had happened to you."

So, he was with the Captain when she hailed me. And she did not send him after me. He came himself. He was worried about me. I feel instant relief and happiness come unshackled within my soul.

"Thank you for taking care of me." I smile at him and kiss his hand again.

"You're welcome, Tom. I would've had it no other way." He sighs and looks down into his teacup for a few moments and then looks up at me again. "Did you know B'Elanna came to see me that same day?"

I feel myself stiffen at her mention. What the hell was she trying to do? "I told her not to bother you anymore." I grit my teeth.

"Tom," he squeezes my hand in answer. "She came to apologize."

"She what?"

"Yes," he replies. "She said she was sorry for fighting with me that night, when the aliens attacked."

"On Deck 5," I think aloud.

"Yes," he says, looking at me closely. "You know about that?"

I nod at him. "Jenny told me she heard something about a fight B'Elanna had with you. I didn't get the details though." I square my shoulders. "What had B'Elanna fought with you about?"

He seems troubled but shakes his head no. "It doesn't matter now, Tom. It obviously concerned you but its over now and I would rather focus on the positive aspects of all these things than the negative."

I nod in agreement but there is still something nagging me at the back of my mind and when it comes to me, I look up at him in surprise. "You are not gonna ask me, are you?"
 

He looks at me with concern. "Ask you about what?"

I look at him silently for a few seconds and then continue. "About who she cheated on me with?"

He visibly swallows and blinks at me. "No, Tom, I won't. It's none of my business. If you feel comfortable enough to tell me, that's fine, but I won't ask you to."

But it is his business. It does concern him. His involvement with me has made it his business. And I do want him to know. So, I tell him.

His eyes widen in surprise and then he seems thoughtful for a moment, different emotions fleeting through the expressions on his face. "I am sorry, Tom," he says simply.

"You are?" I ask, a little surprised, a little awed.

"Yes."

"Why?"

"Because I know you and B'Elanna have always been very good friends," he states. "And I hope you can be friends again."

"I am sorry, Cha." I take a deep breath. "But it'll take a long time for me to start seeing B'Elanna in that light again. She hurt me very much with what she did."

He sighs but relents. "I understand, Tom."

There is one other thing left though. "Cha?"

He looks at me. "Yes?"

"If B'Elanna hadn't come to see you that day to apologize and make things right," I pause a second to take in a breath. "Wouldn't you have come after me?"

A wide smile instantly breaks on his face. "Of course I would have. Whether B'Elanna had come or not, I would definitely have come after you. I had already decided to make a go for you."

I chuckle. "Oh yeah?"

"Oh yeah," he laughs softly. "After the tongue-lashing I got from my spirit-guide over you, there was no other way."

What? "Your spirit-guide?" My brow lifts at that.

He smiles. "Yes, she let me have it. Called me all sorts of names, even scared the shit out of me. But I am glad she helped me see the light."

"She?" I can't help but grin at that.

Laughing, he gets up, pulls me up from the chair, and coming around the table, draws me into a hug. "Yep, my spirit guide is a she."

"Does she have lots of curves in all the right places?" I grin into the side of his neck.

"Oh, she's an absolute babe," he murmurs, holding my head and pulling me in for a wet, open-mouthed kiss. I taste the sweetness of his perfect mouth and feel awash in emotions no one has ever invoked in me before. I find my hands traveling down his hard chest, my fingers slipping inside the robe he wears to trace his ribs and his hands interject their path, his fingers closing around my wrists. "And you, Mr. Paris," he lets go of my mouth, pulling my hands back where he can hold them easily, and whispers into my ear, "have a one-track mind."

I pull back to see his eyes dancing with excitement and lean forward to kiss his lips once more. "I can't help it. You drive me crazy," I sigh. "I love you, Cha."

He holds me close, his arms wound around me. "I love you too, Poocuh." With a hug, he pulls away and smiles at me. "Dinner, tonight?"

"Yeah," I smile back. "My quarters. 2000 hours."

He nods and tugs me towards the bedroom. "Now get dressed, Ensign. We have to report for duty in less than twenty minutes."

I follow him obediently. "Aye, Sir."

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I walk into the Briefing Room and find Kathryn sitting at her seat, a cup of coffee in her hand and a spew of Data Padds lying in front of her. She looks up as the door closes behind me and a slow smile spreads over her face.

"Well, hello Commander," she drawls huskily. "How are you this morning?"

"Very fine, thank you, Captain," I smile innocently and slip into my seat across from her. "How about you?"

"Oh I am doing great," she replies, her eyes sparkling in apparent mischief. "Had some wonderful entertainment in Sandrine's last night."

I keep my face straight and inhale. "Oh? Too bad I missed it."

"Yeah, too bad," she chuckles. "Came here by yourself this morning?" She looks at me closely and I can't keep the grin off my face anymore.

"Why, who did you expect to see with me?"

She laughs softly, shaking her head. "You look so happy, Chakotay." She looks at me warmly. "I trust you had a good time?"

"A very good time, Kathryn," I sigh, contented, feeling sudden warmth spread over my face at her close scrutiny.

"And I suppose you deliberately came late so that you wouldn't have to give me any details." She looks at the chronometer. "Because if I am not wrong, in five seconds, Tuvok will walk through that door."

"Well," I smile. "It certainly wasn't intentional." Sure enough, before my sentence has trailed off, the door opens and the Vulcan Chief of Security walks inside.

He takes in our presence and nods at both of us. "Captain, Commander."

We both greet him.

As he slides in his usual seat, he turns to me and says. "It's good to see you back on duty, Commander."

I smile at him, feeling pleasantly surprised. "Thank you, Tuvok." I know he can be graciously tolerable at most times, if he doesn't fall into the logic-versus-illogic rut that he often does. In any case, I can't deny the impeccable standard he follows when on duty and his immaculate judgement has saved our lives countless times.

Yeah, Tuvok is alright, I guess.

I come out of my reverie as the door slides open again and Tom and Harry walk inside. Tom's eyes fly straight to my face and he gives me a small, private smile that instantly reaches the gorgeous blue of his eyes. I smile back at him, feeling my heart start its drumbeat inside my chest again. Greeting the Captain, they both settle down, Tom sliding down in the chair next to me.

A moment later, B'Elanna walks inside, Seven, Doctor and Neelix following her a short distance away and, almost comically, all of them skid to a stop inside the door to stare at the two of us. I feel Tom shuffle uncomfortably in his chair next to me and I smother a grin as I too feel a blush creeping on my face.

The Captain clears her throat and brings the room to order. Everyone settles down in their seats, and the briefing begins. I feel all eyes on Tom and me, and sigh as I try to focus on what the Captain is saying, who is all business immediately. It doesn't seem like anyone is paying much attention to her though. Everyone seems to be assessing either Tom or me, their eyes boring into our faces, and every once in a while, as I look up at their faces, one of them gives me a knowing smile.

B'Elanna is polite though. She just looks at both of us closely and says nothing. I can feel Tom's discomfort at her scrutiny. I know he's unhappy with her and my heart goes out to him. I just hope that with time they will learn to get past their differences.

As Tuvok starts on his tactical report for the morning, I turn my head to catch Tom's eyes, my hand sliding under the table to reach out and slip into his long fingers, and I smile at him in reassurance. My heart warms at his returned smile, and with a small, imperceptible nod, I turn my attention back to the briefing.

It's another day of our lives in the Delta Quadrant, my heart sings.

And our lives have all of a sudden taken a divinely intriguing turn, says the chorus.

As I feel Tom's strong hand gently squeeze mine under the briefing room table, I decide I agree with my heart wholeheartedly.

Life is beautiful.

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THE END