Blossom

Seven of Nine, former tertiary adjunct to unimatrix 01 and member of the Borg collective, was late, something she hated on the rare occasions she was guilty of it. She wasn't any happier when others were late for meetings with her. Waiting was an inefficient and unproductive use of time.

Her Captain, Kathryn Janeway, had asked Seven to join her for a meal in the mess hall after they completed their duty shifts and Seven had been glad to accept.

However, just as she had shut down her console in Astrometrics, the department she headed on the Federation Starship USS Voyager, the doors opened and Lieutenant B'Elanna Torres, the Chief Engineer, burst through them as if she'd been shot from a cannon.

Seven took a deep breath. She knew what this was about - she had made some corrections to B'Elanna's calculations for modifications to the hull integrity field and Torres was not a happy Klingon.

Seven knew that B'Elanna hated to be wrong and that she hated it even more when it was Seven who proved her wrong. This knowledge did not come from any deep perception or empathy on her part, she had simply overheard Torres say as much to Tom Paris, an occasion on which Torres had also described her as "little miss Borg perfection".

Their clashes were frequent and although Torres had been talking, well shouting really, since the doors opened, Seven's experience of previous tirades made her realise that there was no way Torres would finish airing her objections and complaints about the matter in the 8.35 minutes which remained until Seven was due to meet the Captain.

Seven thought glumly how much she would rather be sitting opposite her striking commanding officer than facing an irate half Klingon who possessed a wide ranging and multi-species vocabulary of obscenity and wasn't afraid to use it.

Still, her participation wasn't really required; Torres didn't pause for any response from her and so she let her mind drift to thoughts of Kathryn, something that had been happening more and more often lately.

She recalled that Kathryn had looked particularly beautiful after their Velocity game last night- slightly flushed and breathing more quickly after her exertions, her eyes brilliant with yet another victory.

It was then that Kathryn had initiated a most unusual conversation with her Astrometrics officer. Mentally replaying that conversation had occupied a good proportion of Seven's duty shift today, and she fully intended to escort Kathryn back to her quarters after dinner tonight and ask her to explain just what the discussion meant.

Seven was anxious to understand because Kathryn's words of the previous night had caused a tremulous hope to take root within her. After their game, Kathryn had asked her to sit on a bench beside her and had initiated a discussion about how fluid relationships between people could be. She said that sometimes relationships evolved, changed and became more than they had been. She had referred to the fact that sometimes a working relationship could turn into a friendship and used the relationship she had with Seven as an example.

But what had the former Borg really intrigued was that Kathryn had then turned the discussion to how a friendship could sometimes "blossom", yes that had been her word "blossom", into something more. Janeway had been looking intensely at Seven as her voice trailed off after the "something more". Seven had decided to take matters into her own hands by asking Kathryn what a friendship could blossom into and she took a deep breath preparatory to doing just that.

Just then, the computer announced their time was up. Seven almost screamed with frustration and, as the doors opened to reveal Tom Paris and Harry Kim dressed for Paris' Captain Proton simulation, she couldn't help but wonder unkindly if they realised how truly ridiculous they looked.

Back in Astrometrics, Seven eventually, and despite her preoccupation, noticed that B'Elanna had stopped speaking and so moved to step around her, assuming she was finished.

The half Klingon gripped her upper arm hard and glared even more ferociously at her: "I asked you if you were listening to me, you half-assed hunk of machinery."

"I believe my gluteus conforms to the norms of my species, Lieutenant," Seven responded in a matter of fact way, "but I am afraid I have been unable to devote my full attention to your remarks as I am late for a meeting with the Captain. Will you excuse me?"

And with that, she stepped around a spluttering Torres and headed for the mess hall. ********************************************************************

She moved quickly through the corridors, happy that she wouldn't be too late for Kathryn and anticipating their discussion more than she could ever recall anticipating anything.

As the doors of the mess hall slid open, Seven was greeted by a sight which literally stopped her in her tracks. Her Captain, her Kathryn, stood with her back to the door, her hands resting lightly on Commander Chakotay's shoulders, and he leaned down and kissed her for what seemed like hours, but was in reality only 30 seconds.

Still, it was more than long enough for Seven, who felt like she had just been punched hard in the stomach. All the breath rushed out of her and she thought she might be sick. Had it not been for years of self discipline and control, plus a little Borg physiology, she might have been. Instead, clutching one hand to her throat, she spun on her heel and fled as the Commander started to straighten up. *********************************************************************

Commander Chakotay straightened up just in time to catch a glimpse of the retreating form of Seven of Nine.

"Got it."

"Thanks Chakotay. I know it was only an eyelash, but it felt like one of Volgian stones in there."

"Didn't you say you were meeting Seven here?" he asked in a puzzled tone.

"Yes. She's running late."

"She's running out you mean."

"What are you talking about Chakotay?" Kathryn queried, taking her Starfleet-issue handkerchief back from him.

"Well, she just ran out of here as if species 8472 and a mass Hirogen hunting party had just declared Seven of Nine season open. I doubt that she'll be back."

Janeway tapped her comm badge: "Janeway to Seven of Nine."

Silence.

"Seven, please respond."

Silence.

"This is Captain Janeway to Seven of Nine. Seven please respond."

And silence.

Janeway ran her hand through her hair in an exasperated fashion, nodded to her first officer, and left the mess hall.

"Happy hunting," he called after her with a grin.

She shot him an Ensign-incinerating glare and ordered: "Computer, locate Seven of Nine."

The computer informed her that Seven was in Astrometrics so she headed there, but found the section deserted. Seven's comm badge lay on the top of a console and Janeway began to get a very bad feeling.

She asked the computer to scan for Seven's biosignature and was horrified when it responded that Seven's life signs were not detectable on Voyager. Her heart rate slowed somewhat when she discovered that there had been no shuttle launches or beam outs in the last hour and that no alien vessels were in the vicinity.

Even if someone had finally succumbed to their frustration and strangled Seven (Kathryn thought B'Elanna Torres might be a candidate for this, although she had to admit she was beginning to feel some sympathy for that approach herself), sensors could still detect her Borg implants. So it seemed that Seven was still on board somewhere, but that she had encrypted her bioreadings so that she was invisible to the computer's sensors.

Kathryn sighed in frustration and decided to head for her quarters. As she waited for a turbolift, she was struck by a sudden inspiration and directed the computer to open a ship-wide channel: "This is Captain Janeway to Seven of Nine. Seven, I will be available to talk to you when you are ready to do so. Janeway out."

Far away from the Captain's quarters, Seven of Nine hunched in a little-used Jefferies tube on Deck 14, the Captain's voice reverberating around her as she lowered her head to her bent knees and sobbed. She felt like a fool, not a common or comfortable experience for the brilliant young woman, as she realised that Kathryn had been talking about him. *********************************************************************

Days passed and Janeway neither saw nor heard from her Astrometrics officer. She had not organised any official searches for her, but had taken to wandering down to Astrometrics and Cargo Bay 2 hoping that Seven would come back of her own accord. She found that she missed the tall blonde woman more than she would have expected and much more than she would like to admit.

Finally, six days after her aborted dinner meeting with Seven, the Doctor hailed Janeway late at night to say that Seven had come into sick bay exhausted, dehydrated and desperately needing to regenerate. Janeway rushed down to Cargo Bay 2 and felt her heart lurch when she saw how pale and thin Seven looked as she stood in the flickering green light of her alcove.

The Doctor had told Janeway that Seven would need to regenerate for at least 24 hours, so after standing and watching the ex-Borg for an hour or so, Janeway went back to her quarters. *********************************************************************

Her next shift was occupied almost entirely with preparing and checking the monthly staff performance reports, a job she detested but felt duty bound to force herself to do. She sighed as she wished for something a bit more testing to distract her from thoughts of Seven and from the feelings of guilt which had begun to bedevil her.

She had planned to tell Seven how she felt about her that night after their Velocity game and would have done so had not Paris and Kim interrupted her. At the time, she had felt pretty confident about Seven's response; she was sure Seven reciprocated her feelings. Now, she was both profoundly grateful she had not said more then she had and intensely shocked at how Seven had reacted to the little that she had said.

The encounter in the holodeck played relentlessly over and over in her mind all shift as she sat in her ready room cursing herself for being a fool, for giving in to her feelings about Seven. She should have said nothing, fallen back on her command reserve to keep a distance between them. Now it looked like she had lost the woman she loved and compromised her ability to command as well.

By the end of the shift, her thoughts on a treadmill of guilt and self-recrimination, she really didn't feel like being alone anymore. She persuaded Chakotay to join her for dinner in her quarters to complete the last twenty or so evaluations.

After the meal, they relaxed and passed the last evaluations between them, until Chakotay left at about 2300 hours. After he'd gone, Janeway noticed he'd left his command tunic on the back of his chair and when the chime to her quarters rang she fully expected it to be her first officer, sheepishly asking for his tunic.

"Come in Chakotay," she called from the bedroom. She emerged into the living area of her quarters to find Seven of Nine looking agitatedly from her to Chakotay's tunic and back again.

"You are expecting the Commander, I will speak to you another time." Seven said woodenly.

"No Seven, please stay I... we need to talk. I've missed you." Damn, Kathryn thought, I shouldn't have said that. Despite herself, she took a step toward Seven and was deeply shocked and hurt when the younger woman seemed to cringe away from her.

Just then, her announce chime sounded and she glanced away from Seven and bade her caller to enter. This time it was Chakotay and both he and Janeway were stunned when Seven shouldered him out of her way and shot out the door.

He rubbed his upper arm thoughtfully and looked shrewdly at Kathryn: "Well, I think it's time you told me what this is all about, Kathryn. You know as well as I do that we can't have our Borg enhanced friend getting physical with her merely human crew mates. She's just too damned strong and humans get broken way too easily."

His Captain looked at him through blue grey eyes that he suddenly realised were swimming in unshed tears.

When she turned from him to the replicator to offer him a drink, he accepted, conscious of the fact that she might need a moment to compose herself. *********************************************************************

Alpha shift was just about to finish and Commander Chakotay strode through Voyager's corridors on his way to the Astrometrics lab. Kathryn had told him everything last night and he had confessed himself truly puzzled when she was finished.

Anyone could see that Seven of Nine had feelings for Kathryn and anyone who knew Kathryn well could see that she returned those feelings, although she was more adept at hiding the fact than the young ex-Borg. It just didn't make sense that Kathryn hinting at her feelings should cause such an extreme reaction in Seven.

They had decided that he should speak with Seven, try to get her to discuss what was going on with her. Privately, he thought that he should also try to assess whether she was going to pose a danger to herself or anyone else. He rubbed his bruised upper arm ruefully as he strode along.

Once he arrived at Astrometrics things seemed to happen very quickly. Seven had been hostile from the start and she hadn't gotten any friendlier as he told her that she needed to accept that people's predilections, sexual and otherwise, varied. Not everyone wanted the same thing, he told her, and she needed to be mature enough to accept that fact and not reject people because their needs didn't coincide with hers. Who did she think she was to judge other people like that, he demanded.

It was then that she hit him. Not a slap and not a push like she had given him last night, but a real left cross to the jaw. She only thought at the last moment to pull the punch so she didn't kill him. He sailed backwards in a graceless parabola and landed with a crunch against the computer console, his jaw shattered.

She tapped her comm badge and summoned the Doctor to Astrometrics. As she turned to leave, she looked contemptuously down on the unconscious Commander and spat out her parting shot: "Maquis Mauler indeed." *********************************************************************

"Computer, locate Seven of Nine."

"Seven of Nine is in Holodeck 2."

Captain Janeway, her Chief of Security Lieutenant Commander Tuvok and a full security team armed with phaser compression rifles arrived at the door of the holodeck just as a resounding crash sounded through the duranium doors.

"Computer, what program is running?"

"The Fair Haven program is running," the computer responded in even tones.

"What is Seven of Nine doing in the program?"

"Seven of Nine is physically interacting with the hologram character Michael Sullivan."

Kathryn felt herself blush but did not know what to make of this last piece of information. She told Tuvok she was going in alone and asked him to stand by with his team.

He argued with her briefly and emotionlessly, but knew her too well to persist for long.

She told him to ensure that their rifles were set to stun in case anything happened and she needed to call for them.

As for Seven, she had felt a savage joy at striking the Commander but her enjoyment of the moment was not entirely undiluted by guilt. She realised as she headed for her Cargo Bay to wait for the inevitable confrontation with the Captain and her probable arrest by Security that there were other, less complicated, targets for her rage.

The Captain might be currently copulating with the Mauler, Seven thought sardonically (though of course he wouldn't be kissing her for a while), but Captain Janeway had also enjoyed sexual relations with the holographic character Michael Sullivan. Seven could vent her frustration on him with no guilt whatsoever - he wasn't real.

So she had turned off the holodeck safeties and descended on the Fair Haven pub like a wolf on the fold, spending a half hour or so vigorously pummelling Sullivan and any other holocharacters who tried to intervene. The crash Kathryn had heard through the doors occurred as she picked up an old upright piano and threw it at Sullivan, who had dived behind the bar to avoid it.

Kathryn slipped through the door of the pub and looked disbelievingly around her. It looked like a cyclone had gone through the place. There was scarcely a stick of furniture left in one piece and the bar top was festooned with wires and bits of timber that might once have conceivably belonged to a piano, had one inexplicably come to roost on top of the bar and then exploded.

The cause of all this cyclonic activity sat alone at one of the few remaining tables with her head in her hands. She stood as Kathryn entered, but kept her eyes focused on the floor.

"Computer, end program." Kathryn said softly. Seven looked up at her then, her eyes wide and misery-filled as the wreckage of the pub disappeared and the yellow lines of the holodeck appeared around them.

"Seven, I have to ask you - are you a danger to me or to yourself?"

The tears that had been welling in Seven's ice blue eyes immediately overflowed and trickled down her cheeks.

"Kathryn, I could never hurt you," she answered brokenly.

Kathryn moved toward her and then noticed that blood was flowing freely from Seven's fully human right hand.

"Are you badly hurt?"

"It is nothing, just some split knuckles."

"Good, we need to talk and we need to do it right now. You can have your hand seen to when we are finished. Here, wrap it in this." Kathryn handed her a Starfleet-issue handkerchief and as she did so she felt a vague glimmer of understanding. However, she was far too angry to follow her intuition, so she brushed it aside.

Seven answered tonelessly: "Very well, Captain."

Kathryn tapped her comm badge: "Tuvok, I need to speak with Seven. Please stand by."

"Acknowledged, Captain. Standing by."

"Computer, run program Janeway Epsilon Delta."

A long gravel path appeared before them, following the meanderings of a broad lazy river. A short distance away, a wooden bench sat under a huge oak. It was summer and the air was pulsing with warmth and scented with the green smell of growing things. Janeway started toward the bench and Seven followed mutely behind her.

"Sit down," Janeway ordered, pointing at the bench.

"Now," she growled when Seven hesitated, "I don't care if you would prefer to stand, I am not the slightest bit interested in your preferences right now."

Seven complied, but kept her eyes averted from Kathryn's. She didn't think she had ever seen the older woman quite as angry as she was now. When she had challenged the Captain's authority, even when she had disobeyed direct orders, Kathryn's voice had not had quite the chilled steel tone it now had. Seven was certain that Kathryn had never looked at her as bleakly as she did as Seven settled herself on the bench beside her.

"Very well Seven. Explain yourself." Janeway steeled herself for the younger woman to tell her that her inappropriate advances were to blame.

"Well, Captain, it is my preferences that are at issue. I had hoped that we shared those preferences, but the conversation we had after our last Velocity game and the things Commander Chakotay said to me before I hit him have made it clear to me that you and I want very different things."

"So it would seem Seven." Janeway said sadly. "But that does not explain why you absented yourself from duty without leave, why you felt obliged to strike and seriously injure my first officer or why you came down here to terrorise a group of holocharacters. The first two of those are probably going to land you in the brig for the foreseeable future and the last would get you some compulsory attention from the Ship's Counsellor, if we had one."

Seven felt deeply ashamed at how she had failed Kathryn and was determined to be truthful now, she owed her that much.

"I absented myself from duty because I could not bear to see you, Kathryn." Janeway straightened her shoulders and prepared for the rejection she knew was coming.

Seven went on: "I attacked the Commander and Michael Sullivan because they had something from you I could never have."

"What did they have that you couldn't?" Janeway was genuinely puzzled, unable to identify what her first officer and the holocharacter had in common.

"Do not be coy with me Kathryn. They had your love. They enjoyed your kisses and your body as I am never to be permitted to do. I myself saw you kissing Chakotay in the mess hall and the whole ship knew about your involvement with the holocharacter."

"I've never kissed Chakotay in the mess hall or anywhere else," Kathryn said indignantly.

"Yes, Kathryn, you did at 17.12 hours eight days ago. I saw you."

Kathryn cast her mind back and it all started to fall into place. "Oh Seven, he was removing an eyelash from my eye, not kissing me."

Seven had been sitting with her customary perfect posture, but slumped back against the bench with shock as she replayed the scene she had witnessed and realised she could easily have misinterpreted it.

Her voice quavered as she looked into Kathryn's eyes for the first time: "So your relationship with him has not 'blossomed into something more'?"

"Heavens no. I was talking about my relationship with you, Seven. It's my relationship with you that has blossomed. It has blossomed from friendship into love. I love you, Seven - that's what I was trying to tell you after our Velocity match."

An immense happiness suffused Seven but her feelings of joy were quickly replaced by a dreadful fear. How could Kathryn still love her after the way she had behaved? To have happiness almost within her grasp and then to have it dashed from her because of her own foolish behaviour was an agony Seven did not know if she could bear. Still, she had to know.

Seven took Kathryn's hand in both of hers. "Can you still feel that way about me Kathryn," she asked tremulously, "even though I am obviously unworthy of your love and have made such a mess of things?"

Kathryn kissed her then, a kiss that perfectly conveyed to Seven the depth of Kathryn's feeling for her. It was many things all at once, that kiss - simple and complex at the same time; tender, loving, strengthening and with a hint of sensuality to come.

As Kathryn drew back, she once again squared her shoulders. "Seven, even though I love you, I am still Captain of this ship and it is my duty to put that responsibility above all else. As Captain, I must punish you for your infractions. You will report to your Cargo Bay and remain there until I contact you again. I will send the Doctor to attend to your hand."

"Yes, Captain." **********************************************************************

A month had passed. Seven had been permitted to leave her Cargo Bay only for duty shifts for that month. She was restricted from interacting with other members of the crew and had not spoken to Kathryn since Kathryn had informed her that Chakotay was refusing to press charges and that she would therefore be confined to quarters for a month rather being confined to the brig for six months, which would have been the penalty for committing an assault on a superior officer. Kathryn had reminded her of that last fact in the course of delivering a dressing down which Seven still shuddered to recall.

Even so, she would have found even the shorter separation from Kathryn intolerable except that she knew that she deserved to be punished. She also knew that Kathryn was thinking of her; every day when she went to start her shift in Astrometrics, she found a vase of blossom - apple or peach or orange, waiting for her on her console.

As the last hour of her restriction passed, her console beeped with an incoming message from Kathryn, asking her to dinner that evening in Kathryn's quarters.

She typed out her acceptance with trembling fingers, encrypted it for her Captain's eyes only and signed it "with all my love". **********************************************************************

Captain Kathryn Janeway, pride of the Starfleet Academy, felt unbelievably nervous as she paced her quarters. She had faced down the Borg, dealt with Kazon and Hirogen and every other villain the delta quadrant could throw up at her with scarcely a ripple in her composure, but the thought of spending time tonight with her delinquent ex-Borg had her stomach in knots.

She had changed out of her uniform and into tailored black trousers and a simple long sleeved cream silk shirt. She did not particularly want to remind either herself or Seven tonight that she was the Captain. Tonight she just wanted to be a woman, alone with the woman she loved. Kathryn glanced into her bedroom, toward her bed with its single, monastic, pillow and she swallowed hard.

Seven was late. As she checked the time for the fifth time in as many minutes, Kathryn fervently hoped that her lateness wasn't a sign of some major problem. **********************************************************************

Seven of Nine, the "ice queen" some of the crew called her, was also incredibly nervous. Though she'd had a month to plan for this meeting with Kathryn, she was still undecided as to what to wear.

She finally settled on a knee length sleeveless navy silk sheath. The classic styling set off her long limbs and subtly emphasised her curves. She felt cool and elegant in it and she brushed out her masses of golden hair before pinning a small sprig of the orange blossom she had received that morning above her breast. Flat navy shoes completed her outfit and she realised she was ready. *********************************************************************

It wasn't until the chime rang announcing that Seven was outside her door that Kathryn realised she hadn't made any preparations for dinner and in fact had not even decided what they would eat, though she had opened one of her last precious bottles of red wine.

When Seven walked through the door, Kathryn was drawn to her as if magnetically. She did not recall consciously deciding to cross the room but there she was, embracing Seven and kissing her passionately, just inside the doorway.

"I'm sorry Seven," Janeway said sheepishly after several minutes of increasingly intense kisses, "I could at least let you get through the door before throwing myself at you."

"It is all right Kathryn," Seven said as she smiled radiantly. "It was a very much appreciated welcome. Please feel free to throw yourself at me at any time."

Seven sat on the couch and Kathryn handed her a glass of wine before seating herself close to her, so close that she could feel the heat radiating off Seven's body. She felt a throb of arousal as she noticed that Seven's nipples were hard beneath her dress.

Without thought and without conscious decision Kathryn once again swept the younger woman into her arms and began kissing her, lightly and fleetingly at first. Soon Kathryn began kissing her much more deeply, exploring the younger woman's hot mouth with her tongue as Seven unbuttoned Kathryn's blouse and reached around to unclasp her bra.

Seven broke off their kiss to watch as she lifted the bra away from Kathryn's breasts, careful not to touch them as she did so.

"I have always imagined that I would touch your breasts for the first time with my mouth," Seven informed her in a voice that caused Kathryn's sex to contract involuntarily, shooting a rush of pleasure through her. She felt another gush of moisture as Seven deliberately removed the blouse and bra before kneeling on the floor between her legs and lowering the mouth that Kathryn had fantasised about for months onto Kathryn's right breast.

Seven kissed every inch of the breast's surface in a concentric pattern, each circle moving her closer and closer to Kathryn's throbbing nipple. The suspense of waiting for Seven to suck her nipple was unbearable and Kathryn tangled her hands in Seven's hair and arched her back in an attempt to move her to it, but Seven was obdurate and merely continued her deliberate progress. When she finally did take Kathryn's nipple into her hot mouth, they both groaned with pleasure.

Once having got there, Seven seemed determined to enjoy Kathryn's nipple thoroughly, licking, sucking and biting it lightly for what seemed like hours.

Kathryn was panting for breath and just when she seriously began to think that she might orgasm just from Seven's attentions to her nipple, Seven released it and moved to her left breast, which she started kissing in the same concentric pattern.

Time passed without either of them really being aware of it as Seven devoted long and loving attention to Kathryn's left nipple while using her hand to stimulate her right. Kathryn was achingly aware of the seam of her trousers pressing into her and she throbbed against it.

Finally, Seven stood and put out her hand to Kathryn. "Come to bed," she said in a husky voice. When Kathryn tried to stand, her knees were weak and she swayed uncertainly until Seven swept her up into her arms and walked towards Kathryn's bedroom, kissing her as she went.

She kept kissing Kathryn as she laid her carefully on the bed and undid the fastening on her trousers. Kathryn felt weak and deliciously wanton as she lifted her hips to allow Seven to slide her trousers and panties off.

Seven would have gone right back to kissing Kathryn had Kathryn not demanded that she take off her own clothes, which Seven did with a minimum of fuss, anxious to get back to her meticulously planned campaign of making love to Kathryn. She may not have decided what to wear tonight in the month she had had to think about it, but she had spent many hours fantasising about making love to her Captain.

She rolled Kathryn onto her stomach and seated herself astride the smaller woman's firm buttocks as Kathryn propped her chin on her folded arms. Kathryn could feel Seven's heat and wetness pressed against her as Seven began to caress and massage her back and shoulders, occasionally leaning forward and parting the curtain of Kathryn's hair to press a kiss to the back of her neck. Once again, her actions were deliberate and unhurried.

Sliding to the floor at the foot of the bed, Seven began to rub and kiss Kathryn's feet, before moving on to her ankles, then her knees. As Seven reached the top of her thighs, Kathryn began to flex her hips, pressing herself into the mattress in anticipation of Seven's next move. She groaned again, but with frustration this time, as Seven climbed back on the bed and lay beside her.

Seven began kissing her way down the planes of Kathryn's smooth back, cupping and squeezing her behind as she did so. She reached Kathryn's waist and this time she kept right on, lightly sucking and biting Kathryn's cheeks and running the tips of her fingers between them.

When she turned Kathryn over, the older woman was flushed with arousal, her breathing rapid.

Seven kissed her passionately on the lips before placing small delicate kisses on her eyes, her cheeks, her brow, her nose, her chin. She nibbled delicately at Kathryn's earlobes and returned to her mouth before beginning to kiss her throat, placing small bites and then soothing each bite with her tongue. Kissing her way along Kathryn's shoulders and then down her chest, Seven once again began to thoroughly stimulate her nipples.

Doing all this, and watching and hearing the effect her actions had on Kathryn, had Seven feeling extremely aroused herself. Her own breathing was rapid and her thighs were wet with her juices, but she was determined to carry through the program of lovemaking she had spent so long devising.

She had read, somewhere in the 60 gigaquads of information she had perused concerning human mating habits, that one could exponentially increase the pleasure enjoyed by one's lover by the simple expedient of engaging in thorough foreplay. She had also heard B'Elanna remark that the anticipation was half the event.

Seven was determined that Kathryn should derive every possible ounce of pleasure from their lovemaking - she deserved it and Seven wanted to make up for the pain her misconceived jealousy had caused Kathryn. It simply didn't occur to her that having a month to think about making love might have meant that Kathryn had been ready from the moment they first kissed.

As it was, Kathryn was utterly helpless with desire. She could not think of or focus on anything other than the delightful torture Seven was putting her through.

When Seven began to kiss her way down her firm abdomen, Kathryn thought she might explode with lust. Her hips rocked continuously and she writhed on the bed, panting for breath.

Seven pulled back as she reached the triangle of auburn curls. Kathryn almost came when Seven looked deeply into her eyes and said: "I have always imagined that I would touch you for the first time with my mouth."

"Oh, yes," Kathryn moaned. vSeven parted the wet, intricate folds with her tongue and then plunged it into Kathryn, kissing her pulsing opening over and over as if it were another mouth.

She then kissed and licked her way with agonising slowness from Kathryn's flooded opening to her taut clitoris, thoroughly enjoying the taste and texture of her lover as she worked first one and then two fingers inside her, thrusting strongly as Kathryn's muscles fluttered around her.

Kathryn could not remember ever being so aroused, her juices flooded from her and she felt as if her whole body was on fire as she thrust back against Seven's pumping hand, deepening the penetration with every thrust.

At some point, she stopped being able to keep track of exactly what Seven was doing to her. When she came it was with an unbelievable intensity and she sobbed out Seven's name over and over as she convulsed.

Still, Seven did not stop what she was doing and she pushed Kathryn to another, and then still one more, peak before slowly withdrawing her fingers and moving up to lay her head exhaustedly on Kathryn's shoulder.

When she finally caught her breath, Kathryn looked wonderingly at Seven. "Darling, that was unbelievable. You drove me crazy, but those were the most intense orgasms I have ever had."

Seven smiled a small smug smile.

"Now, let me torture and tease you before I let you come."

"You are too late Kathryn. I found what I was doing to you very arousing - the way you felt and tasted, how you looked and sounded. I reached climax every time you did."

"But Seven," Kathryn smiled wickedly as she rolled on top of Seven and began to slide down her body, "I have always imagined that I would touch you for the first time with my mouth."

The End