Disclaimer: The characters in this story, apart from those that I invented, belong to Paramount/Viacom. No copyright violation was intended. This was written in fun, the author doesn't get paid for this in the least. This story includes sex between consenting adults of different sexes (a first of mine and probably my last, too). So if you're not of age yet, please come back later, ok?

Thank you: I admit to l.n. james as having been my inspiration to parts of this story. I can't help it, the woman just writes great food scenes. Thank you! Jen, thank you for beta-reading this plotless piece of drivel! <g>

Comments: All comments are very welcome! Write to jtd

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INSPIRATION
by jtd

A B'Elanna/Tom Paris Story

What a day!

B'Elanna growled. She was really, really trying to be the officer her Captain expected her to be, but sometimes, sometimes...

"Lieutenant..." a voice from the right asked her for what seemed to be the umpteenth time.

B'Elanna drew another breath that she seemed to have to take from almost at around her knees so she wouldn't give in to her urges to kick the young Ensign in his face, right now, and shut up his incessant questions once and for all. Toris was a nice guy, usually, but his over eagerness paired with an unusually high, almost nauseating voice had her temper on the edge.

Just fifteen more minutes, just until this experiment is over, she told herself. B'Elanna closed her eyes and let out that breath until she slowly and deliberately turned her head to the right and regarded the Ensign with a smile that tried, without much success, to be friendly. It turned out to be a sardonic grimace that hinted a bit of danger.

Toris took a step back, unconsciously saving himself into a range that agreed much better with B'Elanna's sense of personal space. With round eyes, he regarded the half-Klingon woman. The tales of her temper were legendary, yet he had only joined the crew of the Voyager a few months ago and had been spared so far. Actually, he had thought she was over it. Now, he wasn't so sure anymore.

"Lieutenant, everything's set up, we're ready to go." her reported.

"The Naim's shield boosters are online?"

"Online, Sir."

B'Elanna punched her communicator. "Torres to bridge."

"Bridge here." she heard the crisp voice of her Captain.

B'Elanna straightened up. Somehow, Janeway's cool, businesslike manner and the expectation in her voice calmed her. It always reminded her that she was B'Elanna Torres, Chief Engineer of the USS Voyager. Her Captain put expectations on her that she loved to meet. Nobody had ever believed in her that way, had demanded as much of her. Thinking of it, not even Chakotay had, back in the old days of the Maquis.

Instead, he had given her way too much leeway to waste her energy on temper tantrums. Only here, on this ship, under the determined guidance of her Captain, had she learned to use all this pent-up-energy in a productive way and regain control of herself . She felt more in control and that made her feel better about herself, which also showed in her performance. Janeway, as much as she had hated her in the beginning, had given her that. She had earned B'Elanna's unwavering loyalty for that. And later, when she had found out that there was actually not only a Captain inside that red uniform but also a very private Kathryn, she had also grown to become a friend.

"Captain, we're ready to go."

"Very good. Lieutenant Baker, engage at a quarter impulse."

It took B'Elanna a second to realize that Tom wasn't on the bridge before she remembered that he had asked for the afternoon off. He had asked her out to dinner that night, so she suspected he was preparing some kind of surprise. A small smile tugged on the edges of her mouth.

Tom. The most unrealistic choice for a lover. How had he ever...

Before she could even finish her thought, suddenly, all hell broke loose. A panel on her left blew out of the clamps that had been holding it and skittered across the floor until it hit the encasing of the warp core. It was followed by a dark, foul smelling smoke that made her gag. Then the same thing happened to her right.

B'Elanna cursed loudly and hit the communicator again. "Captain, take the ship to a halt! We have a problem down here!"

Instantly, she heard Janeway issue the all halt command, then come back to her. "What is it, B'Elanna?"

"Someone must have confused a couple of relays. Nothing serious, but it is a mess." B'Elanna tried unsuccessfully to mask how furious she was. Why hadn't she checked the experiment layout again? Her brain was already working on what could've gone wrong.

"How long will it take to clear it up?"

B'Elanna took a look around. All around her, green-faced officers were trying frantically to find out what went wrong, at the same time trying to tie down the interface that had acted up. B'Elanna took a deep breath which she regretted right away. "Actually, Captain, we could start the experiment again in half an hour, however, some of the waste pipes have burst and it will take about five hours for the smell to clean out - everybody looks like they could really use some fresh air."

Silence on the other end. B'Elanna could almost hear Captain Janeway's thoughts. "I'll be down in a second. Janeway out."

* * *

Tom was in an extremely good mood.

For hours now he had been cutting, filleting, sizzling, boiling and altogether having a great afternoon preparing B'Elanna's and his third month anniversary dinner. Three months! Tom grinned to himself. He and the half-Klingon Chief Engineer had looked like the unlikeliest match in the world.

Tom stirred the soup some more. Some Klingon recipe he had found in the computer library.

I won't tell B'Elanna it's Klingon, though, before she tries it, he thought wistfully. He knew about B'Elanna's resentment regarding anything even remotely Klingon. His face took on a comical expression when he remembered how he had tried to surprise her with a Bat'thel Holodeck program. She had positively hated it. However, his thoughts resumed while he was adding some basil to the soup, it was one step in us becoming... closer.

Not only had they been an unlikely pair, it had also been a highly unlikely situation that made them profess - well, actually, it was more like admitting, he amended his own thoughts - their love for each other. Being in space in only their space suits and a limited supply of air that they even had to share could actually be put down as "special circumstances". Maybe it had taken exact those extreme measures to melt the ice around the heart of the fiery Half-Klingon. If you don't love yourself you can't allow anybody else to love you, either. Tom remembered and then nodded to himself. How true that is. I had to go through a lot of shit to realize that myself. And now here I am and maybe it was worth it because I know what is going on with B'Elanna. Tom used the back of his hand to wipe away some sweat from his forehead. He chuckled to himself. Then maybe, maybe, we're not so unlikely a pair after all...

Tom checked the time. "Just ten minutes left. It's about time I laid out the table." he told noone in particular and set out to do just that.

* * *

It took Janeway less than a minute to travel all the way from the bridge to engineering. Maybe, B'Elanna thought to herself with a wry smile, even the turbolifts respect her rank. That wouldn't surprise me at all.

Janeway's purposeful stride sent all officers scattering in different directions. Her gaze did the rest. She wasn't upset, just determined. Everyone felt x-rayed about his or her performance as soon as she stepped into the room. Not even the stench seemed to touch her. B'Elanna met her questioning gaze long before the Captain reached her. "Captain."

"Report, Lieutenant."

"Everything was going as planned. We set up the experiment, checked the routines and initiated. Then all hell broke loose as the waste pipes burst."

"Did you find out why?"

B'Elanna shook her head while she punched a couple of buttons at her workstation that dutifully displayed the setup of their experiment. Janeway stepped closer to be able to follow B'Elanna's explanations. "I looked through the experiment setup again. Every step checks out ok. The Naim's boosters were inserted here," her finger indicated the spots on the screen, "and here. I really thought they had told us everything we needed to know about those things. But then I also thought we had figured them out, too." Unconsciously, she lifted a hand in a tired gesture to wipe her face. "Obviously, there seem to be a couple of features that they... forgot to mention. Like what their kind of magnetic field does to our waste pipes in engineering that are all of 50 meters and a force field away."

Janeway nodded. "You know, I would leave it at that for a while if it weren't so important to get the boosters online. We don't stand a snoflake's chance in hell to get through that starfield in front of us if we don't use their technology to boost our shields. And with the Trikh breathing down our necks to leave their part of space we don't have a lot of time left."

B'Elanna felt the heat rise in her body. Did that mean her dinner date was off?

Janeway looked at her with a curious expression. "Is something wrong, Lieutenant?"

"Uh, no, Captain, not at all. What do you suggest?"

Janeway took a look around her. "Let engineering air out. Only two crewmen and one officer at a time will stay inside to clean up. Get them oxygen masks." Janeway's face actually displayed mild disgust at the stench for a second. "Or whatever kind of gas they need to survive. You and Lt. Delaney will brief me on the experiment setup in Holodeck 2. We'll create a second engineering there and test different setups. We'll meet in engineering again in 4 hours - and if necessary, with oxygen masks again. We need to figure out what went wrong before we start this all over again." She looked at B'Elanna, then gave her a little pat on her upper arm. "You go and relax. We'll let you know if anything goes wrong."

B'Elanna was too surprised to reply right away. "B-b-but Captain, I'm the only one who followed the experiment all the way through. How can you work with Delaney on that?"

Janeway gave her "the look", including her famous stance with her fists to her hips and her elbows poking out. She definitely meant business. "Lieutenant, if I'm not mistaken, you have been up and about on a double shift of 18 hours. This is important, but not THAT important. Brief me on what you were working on, then go and get some sleep. You'll be much more valuable after that."

B'Elanna was furious. How could Janeway not give her the chance to redeem her mistake? And her working with Delaney, of all people. Despite knowing they had to get along and work side by side, she and Delaney had very much just a working relationship, spiced with a lot of competition. He now had the chance to set something right that she had let come out wrong - that wasn't exactly fair.

"Captain, I..." she tried again.

"Don't let me make that an order, Lieutenant."

B'Elanna glared at her, and for a moment, her Klingon temper surfaced. But this woman wouldn't back off. On the contrary, her stance and the look on her face definitely told her to drop it, raising a brow. The half-Klingon let out an angry little snort and succumbed.

* * *

Tom was losing his patience. Just a little. A little more.

Their time fort their date had long passed and B'Elanna had still not shown up. Tom had had to do things with his food that he had never wanted to do, like putting them on hold on a hot plate. Surely, most of the food would have lost its desired consistency when they could finally, finally eat. Fortunately, at least the cooling unit in Tom's quarters was working properly, so he was able to save the salad. Still - he wasn't happy at all.

It was 30 min after their designated time when B'Elanna burst through the door.

Tom always wondered how exactly she managed to do that with an automatically opening door that didn't even give you the chance of banging it into the next wall or, when you were inside, slamming it closed with a bang. But she did manage.

"B'Elanna, what happened? Where have you been? I'm waiting for you for..."

"That bastard Delaney!" The chief engineer exclaimed with a ferocity that made Tom jump back a bit.

"What happened?" he dared ask again, regretting it instantly when B'Elanna practically jumped in his face to make her point.

"Janeway kicked me out of engineering!"

"Wow." Tom was startled and ran a hand through his short blond hair. "What did you do?"

That was obviously the wrong question to ask. The young woman glared at him with an expression that made it pretty clear what kind of ancestry she had on her mother's side. All I need now is for her to tell me Janeway doesn't have any honor, Tom thought wryly. That'd fit the glare.

"I", he heard her growl, "didn't do anything. Those stupid Naim and their damn boosters and Toris and... and... Delaney!" B'Elanna was practically at a loss for words to express exactly how angry she was, pacing to and fro in front of the dazzled looking helmsman. She looked at him accusingly. "And then she kicked me out, telling me I needed rest - me! Need rest! Ha!" she exclaimed, throwing both hands in the air, before resuming her frantic pacing again.

Tom watched his lover's stomping with a deep crease in his brow. This evening wasn't going as he had expected. Not at all. All he had wanted was some nice dinner, a bit of conversation, Which she can actually be good at, he thought wistfully, and then... well, see what the later evening would bring.

"B'Elanna..." he ventured, "maybe she sent you home because she knew we had a date."

The effect was startling. B'Elanna stopped her pacing at once and almost in mid-move. If Tom had not feared for vital body parts, he might have chuckled at the sight. He knew better and held his tongue, one eyebrow raising in question at the uniform clad woman turning to face him. "You - told - her - we - had - a - date?" Her voice, coming close to menacing, actually gave Tom cold shivers down his spine, and his voice didn't sound very self-confident when it almost squeaked: "Yeah..."

"Oh, man..." B'Elanna sighed in resignation and slumped down on Tom's couch.

The sight of the dark haired woman, crouching forward on his sofa, made Tom's heart weak and he threw aside all fear of being jumped at and pounded and sat down beside her gently. They both sat there for a while, B'Elanna tiredly massaging her cramped neck muscles with one hand, and Tom watching her deal with the stress of her busy day, waiting for her to give him a signal that she had calmed down.

It took her a while, and some massaging, before she turned her head and regarded him with a mild glare.

He looked back, a rueful grin on his face. "I messed this up, huh?" he offered.

His prize was a tiny smile tugging at the corners of the young woman's mouth that was, even better, mirrored in her eyes. She looked so beautiful in those rare moments that Tom had vowed what seemed to be a long time ago to make them happen as often as he could. "I'm sorry." he added, just for good measure.

She kept looking at him, her expression changing into a serious one before she started to speak. "I can't let Delaney find a solution for a problem that I couldn't solve." she stated, very matter-of-factly. "There just isn't a way."

Tom nodded at that. He knew of the fiercely competitive nature of the ex-Maquis. To admit that, though, was a big step for her, and his mind raced for a way to show her that he understood. "Sometimes..." he said thoughtfully, "people have trouble thinking of new ways to approach a problem when they've thought about it all day." Her attentive face told him that she was listening, really listening, to him. "Maybe if you tried taking your mind off it for a couple of hours, it would help you seet it with a fresh perspective."

B'Elanna let that sink in. "Couple of hours..." she thought out loud. "That should work. Janeway said we would meet again in engineering in four hours. If I had a solution before then, that would be good." She turned her gaze at Tom again. "Do you think it will work?"

Tom thought about his well-prepared dinner, and his ideas for the evening, and how much he had looked forward to it, and the half day he had taken off to prepare for it. The question of whether he should tell her about it, to make her see his point, appeared for a nanosecond in his mind and vanished just as quickly. This proud woman, the one he loved fiercely for whatever reason, had asked for his help. And he wasn't about to disappoint her, even though he had to smile a bit at her taking his suggestion a little too literally but with a fierce determination that was so much her own.

"Yeah," he said, with an encouraging smile, "I think that could work. But only..." and he looked at her as sternly as he could manage, "if you do exactly as I tell you and promise me not to think about engineering for the next two hours. Promise?"

B'Elanna looked confused at that for a moment, as if she had to think about the fact that she was about to give two hours of her life to someone else, then met Tom's steady gaze with two deeply brown eyes. "Promise."

A smile lit up his face as he took B'Elanna's left hand with his own and squeezed it lightly. "Great." he said, trying to ease her wary expression. "Then what I prescribe for you first is one long, wonderful bubble bath. Are you hungry?"

The half-Klingon woman thought about that for a second. Her stomach still felt tight like a knot and remembering the ugly smell in engineering almost made her gag, so she shook her head. "No."

He nodded at that. "Maybe later." he told her, before standing up and drawing her up with him. "Come on. Let's get that bath started."

* * *

B'Elanna sighed loudly when she finally drowned her tense muscles in hot, wonderfully scented, very bubbly water.

Tom had been careful to give her some privacy to get into the tub and disappear beneath white lather, but now he stood in the doorway, dressed in a loosely fitting leisure outfit, and looked at her relaxed form with a satisfied smile. That expression on her face warmed him all the way through, and he didn't even think twice about the missed dinner opportunity. B'Elanna really looked exhausted, and vulnerable, and that was a greater gift to Tom than he had ever expected to get from her, at least this early in their relationship.

He padded forward on bare feet, until he kneeled beside the tub, careful not to disturb the peace he saw before him. He was drinking in every line of B'Elanna's face so he wouldn't forget what it looked like when she was relaxed. Her eyes were closed, and her head rested on a water-proof pillow at the end of the tub, her arms propped up on its sides.

He leaned back against the nearby wall and relaxed himself, drowsy by the humid warmth in his bathroom and the deliciously scented air that reminded him of cinnamon, when a loud splashing noise woke him up to his surroundings again.

"I can't do this!" the woman in his tub exclaimed, with an annoyed face. "I keep thinking of the experiment and running setup possibilities in my head!" She turned to the blond man, sitting right beside her. "This won't work." she pouted.

Oh, well. What had he been thinking. "This will work, B'Elanna, believe me." He assured her. "Let me help you." He got up to retrieve a huge bath sponge from a rack beside the tub and wet it in the water. "Let me wash your back, mhm?"

B'Elanna's face clearly told him If you think so, although she didn't say it out loud, and she obediently leaned forward to give her friend access to her well muscled back.

Tom rolled up his sleeves and gave the sponge another good dunk before he lifted it up and let the water rain upon B'Elanna's round shoulders. The water splashed and dripped and drew a sheet of moisture down the tanned back that Tom followed with his eyes, fascinated. "Think only of the water, B'Elanna." he instructed gently. "And how it feels when it hits your back." There had to be a way to draw her thoughts away from engineering and her duties, there just had to be. Gently, he applied the sponge to her left shoulder blade, drawing circles and expanding the area to its counterpart on the right side, before he drew it all the way up, and then down her spine.

B'Elanna followed the sponge as it made its way along the expanse of her ribs on both sides, then bathed her shoulders and neck, with water dripping down her front, catching at her breasts and dripping down from there. This was pleasant, she had to admit, and without her really thinking about it, she raised her left arm, only using her shoulder muscles. And there the sponge was again, gently wiping away the stress in circles until the day seemed to drop off her shoulders in time with the water droplets falling from her fingertips. The sponge took another detour over her right arm, and the young woman let out a sigh that spoke of the pressure she'd been under this day and let her head fall back. She knew that if she opened her eyes now, she'd see Tom standing there, towering over her with that sponge in his hand, a gentle expression on his face. But she didn't want to see, only to feel how the water hit her hairline and wet her hair, and feel the spray of water freshen her face.

Tom carefully soaked the sponge once more before letting it unload its wet contents over the dark hair of his lover, then ran it gently over her face, and her neck and collarbone. The temptation to include B'Elanna's firm breasts in his ministrations was almost unbearable, but Tom wanted to do this for B'Elanna, not to satisfy his own needs. Still, he drew more water and let it run down B'Elanna's front, watching with fascination when it parted at those two mounds and rushed through the valley between them.

Tom dropped the sponge to the side and reached for the shampoo. He heard B'Elanna mew a complaint at the end of his ministrations and had to smile, satisfying her soon after by working up a lather between his hands and starting to knead it into her hair. His fingertips drew circles on her scalp, massaging it. If he had not felt muscles go noticeably slack under his ministrations, B'Elanna's moan would have told him that he did something right. He drew the lather off her hair, spreading it on her shoulders and gently massaging them and the tight muscles he found there. He really knew better than to ask the half-Klingon if she enjoyed this. She could be very ungrateful when she felt she was asked to be grateful, so he let her reactions guide him, and they were very clear. B'Elanna felt like hot wax in his hands, melting into his massaging fingers and letting out a low moan of well-being every now and then.

The Lieutenant took the sponge again, and let its water load rain on B'Elanna's hair until all the shampoo was washed out. He then let her go and watched as she turned and raised a questioning eyebrow at him. "Why did you stop?"

"There are other things I want to do with you. Your relaxing exercise isn't over yet." he explained to her, pleased at her obvious dismay. "If you could dry off and meet me in the other room?"

B'Elanna nodded, surprised at how much she disliked him stopping what he had been doing. And now he had left her alone - very strange. But she did as he asked her, drying her warm and wet body off with a warm towel that Tom had given her and wrapping herself in one of his dressing gowns. She noticed that his smell was still clinging to the light fabric and found herself snuggling into it and inhaling deeply. She realized that she had not thought about engineering for the last ten minutes at all and smiled at that, curious as to what Tom had in store for her next.

* * *

The main room was lit only by soft candlelight when she entered it, and scented by some kind of incense that reminded her of her Klingon ancestry. Since they had started pursuing a relationship, Tom's interest in Klingon customs and traditions had been perked, and every now and then, he would surprise her with something. B'Elanna didn't really want to have to do anything with her heritage, but sometimes Tom would just weave it in so she hardly noticed if he didn't tell her. That way, he had introduced her to several Klingon dishes she liked and one or two exercises on the holodeck that she found took the edge off her stress wonderfully.

"You're here." she heard his voice from a dark corner, as if he were surprised by the fact. "Go and lie down on the sofa, please."

His voice held unseen promises, so she did as he bid her, and when he approached her, his hands were filled with two flacons of scented massaging oil. Her eyes widened, and he smiled at her, asking her to take off the gown and turn onto her stomach. "If you want me to, I can get you some underwear..." he offered, but she declined.

Her stomach and breasts were teased by the satiny feel of the sheets Tom had used to cover the sofa, and she felt her breath quickening in anticipation of his hands.

Tom Paris wore a smile as he watched the young woman lying prone on his sofa. His eyes ravished her well muscled back and buttocks, and her firm thighs and well formed calves. He was aroused just by the look of her, and thinking about feeling her body under his hands didn't help much, either. Pensively, he picked up one of the flacons and opened it, checking to make sure it was the right one by waving it under his nose. Yup. If that won't work, nothing will, he smiled to himself, before he held one hand over B'Elanna's back and let a generous amount of oil hit it.

Droplets of warm oil impacted on B'Elanna's skin and she couldn't help but inhaling sharply. She had expected Tom's hands, not the slippery feel of single droplets running down her ribs. As if this weren't teasing enough, she felt a steady trickle going all the way from her neck down to the end of her spine. Her skin was in flames, waiting to be touched, and still, it was teased by fingertips caressing her, causing goosebumps to rise up all over her body.

She heard Tom's low chuckle and found herself angry in her at him for teasing her like that. But before she could comment on it, she finally, finally had his hands on her body.

It felt divine.

His caress was slow, but powerful, and seemed to cast out the lingering traces of the bad day she had had. She was his, body and mind, at this moment, pressing into his hands and daring him to grip harder, which he did. He alternated with an almost shy caress, and B'Elanna couldn't think of anything besides the presence of Tom's hands on her body. The liquid fire that seemed to course through her veins finally settled between her legs when he started to sensuously massage her buttocks and thighs and she couldn't surpress a low moan building up in her. It was answered with a pleased hum by the man who knelt by her side, and their voices mingled as he drew his hands all the way down to her calves and feet. How could it feel so good to have his hands on her feet?

But B'Elanna didn't really ask anymore, instead concentrating on the sensations in her body and Tom's presence.

She was abruptly jerked out of her warm cocoon when suddenly, something really cold slid down her spine and settled on top of the cleft between her buttocks, where it dripped its cold contents annoyingly into that very cleft. Combined with Tom's hands, now sliding down her ribs and teasing the sides of her breasts, it made for an interesting contrast. She was about to protest, when suddenly, she heard Tom's voice very close to her ear: "Is that too much for you to take, warrior?", which made her bite her tongue and answer with a low growl.

His hands danced a tantalizing dance on her flesh, making her want to gasp and squirm, because he had the impudence to touch her in all the right places, with a timing that was beyond belief. He was alternating the ice cube with the tip of his hands, and B'Elanna tingled all over with sensations.

"Will you spread your legs for me a bit, B'Elanna?" he asked her, very seriously, and she didn't even think twice about it and just did as he bid her. She was rewarded with the sensation of warm oil running down from her anus to where she was all fire and heat, igniting her even more. Her fingernails locked themselves into the armrests of the sofa and she held her breath until her fear of passing out from sheer pleasures subsided.

She found that he had waited with her, one of his hands resting on her back, and when he heard her breathing again, he dared to ask her to turn around.

Surprisingly, she did so without even arguing any kind of point. She turned, hip first and he felt her brushing against his erection as she did so. Closing his eyes for a second to gather himself and not start rubbing against her in urgent need of release, he opened them again to a smug grin on the face of his lover, who presented her delicious front to him almost as an open invitation. He drew a ragged breath, but suddenly found her smile to be a genuine one. "Maybe you should try one of those ice cubes," she suggested, her eyes dark with arousal, and he had a mental image of himself stuffing said pieces down the front of his bulging pants to be able to get any relief from the need he had.

He shook his head with a smile and proceeded to coat his hands with the other oil, this time, to start massaging her feet and working his way up. Her dark eyes followed his every move and the exotic woman even allowed herself to gasp and hum at his ministrations.

He felt heady when he picked up her musky scent as he worked his way around her pubic hair and over her hipbones. The dark curls were slick with the oil and her own juices and he had to swallow hard to hold back. He gently massaged the oil into the skin on her deliciously soft belly, then worked his way around and between her breasts, which got him another gasp, until he reached her collarbone and shoulders and met her eyes face-to-face for what seemed to be the first time.

Tom drew a deep breath, trying to slow down his racing hormones and get back to what he really wanted to do. He dipped his head until it was on one level with B'Elanna's ear. "Do you trust me?" he whispered. He could practically see her ears prick, and how the thoughts raced behind that beautiful forehead of hers. He patiently caressed her hair until she was finished thinking, and still, he heard that bit of fear in her voice when she said: "Yes."

"Good." He smiled at her. "Whenever you want me to stop, you say stop and that's it, ok?"

She nodded, her eyes not leaving his.

He gazed at her lovingly again, before he got up and moved around the sofa to retrieve a silk scarf. He showed it to her. "I will blindfold you now. You can rip it off whenever you want, all right? But try to relax and see if you like what I'm doing, ok?"

Seemingly having lost the power of speech, she could only nod again, and so he proceeded, placing the scarf over her eyes, and then tying it at the back of her head. She let out a ragged breath when he was done, and her tense muscles showed Tom plainly that she wasn't entirely comfortable with this situation. He registered it but couldn't really do anything about it at this point, and just felt honored she trusted him enough to let him do what he was about to do. "Wait for me." he whispered in her ear again, before he retreated to the cooking area to retrieve what he needed to make that next half hour a very special one.

He came back to her side, arm loaded with food, and set it down gently on the table beside him. "I'm sure you're hungry by now." he told her with a honey-covered voice. B'Elanna frowned, and then nodded meekly. This was a strange position she felt herself in, and surprisingly, she found it stimulating in a way she'd never have expected. She was so used to having the upper hand that finding herself in the opposite position made her uncomfortable. For a while now, B'Elanna had realized that the reason she acted brusque or even cold with most people around her, was that she didn't want them to have a chance to get close to her. It was an automatism by now, and she didn't know how to change it anymore. To be honest, it filled her with fear just to think about it, because she would be vulnerable. To be vulnerable would mean she could get hurt, and boy, did she have had her share of that in her life! But Tom, he had been different. Very early in their relationship, he had realized her innermost fear and tried to make her feel more comfortable about opening up. And he could be just as stubborn as she was once he had set himself an aim to strive for. She shouldn't really be that surprised about him succeeding in his mission, should she?

She accepted that first bit of food carefully, feeling the round shape of an olive and enjoyed its salty taste exploding on her tongue. Another round shape followed, this time the sweet taste of a grape. B'Elanna moved it around in her mouth for a while before letting its taste hit her. She willingly opened her mouth for the next bit, and her eyes flew open at the taste of a very spicy piece of meat. Of course, she couldn't see anything, but she heard Tom's low chuckle beside her. "Do you like that?"

"Yes." she said. "Can I have more?"

He proceeded feeding her with tidbits, satisfied that his food found some appreciation after all. "Are you thirsty?" he asked her.

"Yes." she husked, anticipating. She wasn't disappointed when she felt a mug on her lips and gulped down some hot Klingon blood wine that dripped down her chin.

"Let me." he intercepted her hand, and proceeded to clean up the wine with little licks of his tongue. Suddenly, the room temperature seemed to rise a few degrees. "Which reminds me," Tom added. "I haven't eaten yet. Would you mind?"

She shook her head, not sure what to expect. She had to smile at the sensation of what seemed to be an entire meal being spread on her. Colder bits of vegetable on her stomach, warm pieces of meat beside that, the very weird feeling of warm soup pooling in her belly button.

"Now don't move," the man beside her instructed her, "until I've had that soup."

B'Elanna really tried to lie still while Tom sipped the soup, then cleaned his "plate" using broad strokes of his tongue. A low moan escaped her when he dipped into the dent of her belly button to get a hold on even the last traces of food. He proceeded to pick up vegetables and meat, his lips diving into the "plate", picking up the food. For the last pieces, he even used his teeth, accidentally trapping some of the plate with it, and raking it, before he released it to chew and swallow. By the time he was done, both of them were breathing heavily and a light sheen of sweat covered their bodies.

"What about..." B'Elanna's voice sounded hoarse, and she had to start over to make herself understandable. "What about dessert?"

If her eyes had not been covered, she would have been treated to a rakish smile on Tom's face. This was much more fun than he had ever anticipated.

"Dessert." He said. "Sure." He got up again to retrieve some of the ice cream that he had been hoarding in his cooling unit, and let his eyes caress the beautiful body of his lover when he came back, not sure where exactly to apply dessert. He knelt at B'Elanna's side again, uncovering the frost-covered box, and dug in with one finger, then held it to her lips. "Try." he told her. He watched her tongue come out and to taste the vanilla scented cream, until a smile spread on her face. "This is nice." she commented. "Can I have more?"

Sure enough, Tom dug in with two fingers this time and held them up, so B'Elanna could reach them. But she had other plans, and caught his hand with her own, taking them into her mouth and sucking all the sweet tasting dessert away. With a swirl of her tongue between his fingers, she finished and released him. "More?" she asked again, and even in her "blind" state she was very aware of the fact that her sucking had had a certain impact on Tom. He had to clear his throat a couple of times before he squeaked something to the extent of "Sure" and delivered the next portion, which she cleaned away in the same manner as the first one.

B'Elanna was really getting the hang of this now, and clearly enjoyed herself. She wiggled her fingers. "Where is that box?" she asked, and Tom led her hand into the creamy cold mass. The young woman covered two fingers with the sticky mass. She made a quick decision and took off the blindfold. What came now she had to see for herself. She opened her eyes to the flushed face of the man she loved, who followed her hand with his eyes, and traded a smile with her.

B'Elanna's eyes never left his face when she slowly started spreading the cold mass around her left nipple. "Dessert." she said, slowly. "For you."

She had Tom's attention, all right. She could almost hear his heartbeat pick up when he leaned forward, and she was treated to the delicious sight of the blond man tracing a path around her nipple with his tongue. Her whole body felt hypersensitive, and she was sure the first contact between his tongue and her nipple drew sparks. He amiably licked away all the traces, and then looked up to her, all puppy eyed: "Can I have more?"

She groaned with frustration because she had not had what she wished for. So she retrieved a bigger dollop of ice cream this time, spreading it between both breasts, with an extra amount on top of her nipples. She shivered at her own touch, and frowned at the jolt of sensation it was causing.

Tom couldn't decide what he found more arousing: Seeing B'Elanna touch herself or knowing that he would be treated to another taste. He decided on a draw.

His blond head dove into the valley between her breasts, turning his head so he would be able to make contact with her breasts with both sides of his face, then traced up the paths she had painted with his tongue until he couldn't resist anymore, and took her open invitation. His lips covered her taut nipple, cleaning it of all the sweetness until all that remained was B'Elanna's own sweet taste, then drew it into his mouth and sucked it in. His body threatened to go limp at this overwhelming sensation and B'Elanna's groan.

Her body went rigid and she arched into his mouth. She was rewarded with him sucking harder, his hands clasping his prize. This surely was the greatest relaxing exercise she knew, she decided there and then. Her mind was completely free of all cares except the fear that Tom would stop what he was doing anytime soon. She felt more than saw that he had mounted the sofa as well, leaving the space by her side, and had spread his body on top of hers now. Her body welcomed him with another arch, and her legs spread without her consciously telling them to. She wanted to feel him close, feel his skin and his delicious weight on top of her and she surely didn't want him to stop what he was doing to her nipple.

His mind was blank now, driven only by his desire for the warm and soft body under him and his lover's moans and sighs. She wanted him to have her, that much was clear to him, so he threw his last doubts overboard and inhaled her scent, her feel, her taste. He bathed both her breasts before he moved on to her collarbone, and her neck, hearing her hissing indrawn breath and finally, finally, their mouths met for a soaring kiss.

Somehow, that kiss outranked everything else they had done so far, with their breaths and fluids mingling and skin touching.

B'Elanna's moves became frantic when they parted. "Take that off." she commanded, tugging at the rubber band that held his pants. He got up to do so, wiggling his eyebrows at her and trying to transform the exercise into a strip tease. But B'Elanna didn't have time to be patient, and as soon as the annoying garment dropped to the floor, she pushed him back to an upright sitting position on the sofa, instantly straddling his lap. With her, she carried the box of ice cream that got creamier by the second, and applied it to his collarbone. "My turn," she hummed, before descending on him. The feeling was divine, to feel her surprisingly soft tongue and lips caress his tender flesh, and then her teeth, raking, and sending jolts of pleasure through Tom's body. His hands traced her ribs, massaged her breasts and slid along delicious curves before they met at the juncture of her legs, where she was all wet with need. He let his forefinger glide over her erect clitoris and was rewarded with a gasp and a shudder, before he felt her hand descend on his erection. "Uh-oh..." was the only comment he got out before he was washed away by delicious emotion.

"Payback..." B'Elanna panted, giving his satiny shaft another rub, then guiding it to her opening. She let him glide in a little, and both were rocked with the overwhelming feeling that produced. Slowly, she let herself glide lower onto his erection, until they couldn't hold on anymore and ground into each other with low moans.

"Oh god..." B'Elanna drew a ragged breath but couldn't hold on to herself and kept grinding into Tom. "This is going to be over real soon if we don't... whoaaaa..." Her comment was washed away by another wave of incredible sensation. This was her favorite position, when she was able to set the pace and was rubbed in all the right places. Not to mention that Tom had top level access to her succulent breasts, which he used thoroughly.

B'Elanna threw her head back and arched into his caresses, her knees digging deep into the soft cushions of the sofa. The incredible sensation between her legs kept building up, and spreading, until it threatened to burst her fragile shell. If she could only let her outer self disappear, she'd be able to hold on longer, and not to be shattered to pieces by this incredible, incredible wave of feeling...

The young woman's cries became louder, telling Tom that she was close. His eyes were glued to her face and although he was close to releasing himself, he wanted to watch her, he wanted to see the expression on her face when she went over the edge. He rocked his hips in an urgent beat, drawing her hips close to him, and just when he knew he couldn't hold on any longer, he felt the contracting spasms of B'Elanna's insides drawing out his own orgasm. It hit him with a force he hadn't expected, and he rode it until he was spent, enraptured by B'Elanna's expression of total release and the cry with which she announced it.

His lover slumped forward, sobbing, and buried her head in his shoulder. Tom was sure he had never loved her more than in this moment. She had totally given herself to him, trusting, and there was nothing that could ever touch that. He kept stroking her hair and her back, while she caught her breath on his shoulder. Finally, he was able to distinguish single words in between sobs, and they sounded very much like: "I got it, Tom, I really got it..."

"What did you get, B'Elanna?" he asked, and she finally pushed herself into an upright position that made it possible for her to look at him. She was radiating a very happy, spent glow that caused Tom's heart to skip a couple of beats. He raised a hand to push some stray strands of hair out of his lover's face, and repeated: "What did you get?"

She gesticulated with her right hand. "The solution. To the problem. In engineering." She felt she had to spell it out to her lover, who suddenly wore a very bewildered expression on his face. She raked a hand through his blond hair and kissed him, to ease that expression a bit, before she drew back again. "It was the forcefield. It made the wave more powerful instead of holding it back. If we turn it off, everything should be all right!"

"And you just thought about THAT?" Tom was actually hurt.

She smiled a smile that was aimed to ease his discomfort, and even succeeded partway. "I just felt this incredible wave move through me..." she tried to put the indescribable sensation into simple words. "And I felt that if I did not have this shell," she pinched her arm, "it would move right through me and I wouldn't have to be afraid that it would rip me apart."

Tom looked up at her unbelievingly, then finally caught himself and drew her head down for a long, loving kiss. "I love you." he said, in a gentle way, that still told her how heartfelt it was.

"And I love you." she added quietly, a shudder going through her muscular frame. To admit that she was dedicated to another human being, and be subjected to possible hurt, cost her a lot. But with this one, she had experienced so much happiness already, that it outweighed the small misunderstandings and squabbles they had had far and large.

She pulled herself up, feeling his limp member slide out of her, and sighed at the loss. She kissed him again, then got up to search for her communicator anyway.

Tom heard her rummaging in the bathroom, where she had left her uniform, and informing Janeway of her find. He heard them going back and forth for a while, until Janeway seemed to be satisfied.

He had dried himself off and put the ice cream box back on the table when he heard B'Elanna enter the main room again. Without looking at her, he tried to be nonchalant, very much belying his own feelings. "So, are you going back to engineering?"

The feel of her full breasts in his back made him gasp, and he felt her long legs fold around his midsection as a very familiar scarf suddenly covered his eyes. "No..." he heard her purr in his left ear, while she tied the silken band. "I asked the night off... and paybacks are a bitch, Tom." She chuckled way back in her throat. She turned him and pushed him back to lie prone on the sofa, much as she had been lying there not so long ago.

"And I'm still hungry..." she added, reaching for the ice cream box again.

Tom sighed with contentment. This promised to be a very long, delicious night...

THE END

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