Bride of Arachnia

Act III

Kathryn Janeway gazed fondly at the peaceful features of her young charge, the former Borg drone she had snatched from the obscurity of the Collective, grateful to discover in the blossoming human female a wit and charm and innocence and humor and mile-long streak of pride that made her so unique, and impossibly more beautiful, especially now with that hint of satisfaction sweetly curling her full, red lips. Kathryn pressed a kiss into the corner of those lips.

"Seven?" she whispered gently, still wary of the recorders.

The young woman did not stir, so Kathryn kissed her again, this time pressing her lips gently against the blonde temple, encouraging her into consciousness.

"Seven," she called again softly, "you need to wake up now."

The young woman inhaled.

"That's it. Quietly now. The imagizers are still running."

Seven's lids fluttered open, her lashes casting long shadows on her ruddy cheeks as the skylight shined from her eyes. Framed by her golden hair, her face, at that moment, appeared more colorful than Kathryn could ever remember seeing it, and it made her heart clutch in response. She wanted desperately to wrap her arms around the young woman, who was still recovering from her experience, but Chaotica would be back soon, and she wanted Seven alert--and dressed--by then.

Having already disabled the cradle gadgetry and restraints, she urged the young woman into a sitting position and then, regretfully, became Arachnia again.

"You were lovely, my dear, but I need a little rest now. Go put on a little something alluring but a tad more discreet--I want the pleasure of unwrapping you all over again."

"Yes, Majesty," Seven responded half-heartedly. She was weary of the role-playing, especially when at the moment all she wanted was to grab Kathryn, take that ridiculous wig and dress off of her, and make that small, delicate body of hers shake with the same ecstasy she had just given Seven. Since Kathryn had become Arachnia again with such facility, however, the young woman began to wonder if Kathryn hadn't just been role-playing all along. And then she felt certain that that was exactly what Kathryn had been doing. She wondered if these were the "emotional repercussions" Kathryn had warned her about. The thought depressed her.

Head fallen, she crossed to the dressing area to which Kathryn had directed her, tidied herself up, and began inspecting the garments she found there, slightly distracted from her misery as she tried to decipher how they were supposed to be worn.

"Majesty?"

"Yes?"

Seven poked her head around the dressing screen and wiggled her index finger at Kathryn in a "come here" gesture. The captain obliged. When she was near enough, the young woman whispered, "I am uncertain how this attire is worn."

Kathryn smiled and whispered back. "It's a harem outfit," she explained, "That goes on your bottom, of course," she said, indicating the flimsy, panty-like sheath, which the Borg promptly pulled on.

"And those are your leggings," she explained, pointing to the sheer lengths of fabric. "Straddle it at the crotch and tie the top around the sides of your hips."

Seven complied.

"Yes, like that......Now tie off the cuffs at your ankles."

"Ah," Seven responded, pleased to have that part of the puzzle solved. "And this is the top?" she guessed, picking up a bra-like portion of the garment.

"That's right."

Seven tried to fasten it around herself. "It is too small," she declared.

"Of course it is," Kathryn complimented, unable to keep from smiling. "Try this one."

As Seven looped her arms into the straps, Kathryn ducked around behind her, grabbing the ends and fastening the top for her. She meant it as an offer of assistance but quickly recognized it for the indulgence it was, enjoying the intimacy of dressing the young woman she had just introduced to the throes of human sexuality. She smiled to herself as Seven turned back, and then she openly admired as the young woman reached into the tight-fitting top and adjusted herself into each cup.

Seven caught the inspection and blushed. And then she remembered she was upset with Kathryn. "Is this sufficient....my queen?" She asked.

For both their sakes, Kathryn ignored the subtle sarcasm in Seven's weary tone and bantered back with a bit of flirtation. "Hardly 'sufficient', my sweet.....but then, that's its appeal." She graced Seven with a winning grin that showed all of her teeth, a rare blessing that warmed Seven to her core and made her smile back with her own rare blessing.

They were grinning at each other like that when Chaotica and his men sauntered in, loud and sweaty and grunting with triumph.

"Well, my dear, our campaign was a success."

"Naturally, Majesty," Janeway responded, veiling her disappointment at his return and feigning cloying regard for him.

"But what's this?" the villain inquired. "Have you finished with your prisoner already?" he said surprised.

"Only with the 'first course'."

"Ah," he said approvingly. "And was she every bit as delicious as she looks."

"Yes," Kathryn answered sincerely, making Seven blush again.

"I see you've dressed her in one of my harem costumes."

Seven willfully misunderstood the evil fiend. "This apparel is for females; it would not suit you."

Kathryn bit back her laughter; Chaotica's men did not.

"What?! I will not be ridiculed by you, woman!" Seething with anger that Seven should mock him, particularly in front of his men, the villain became menacing: "Proton or no Proton, you are my slave now."

"No!" Kathryn yelled, stepping in front of Seven and trying to shield her, which Seven considered was a rather illogical maneuver since the Borg was far more capable of protecting herself than the diminutive captain was.

"Out of my way, Arachnia," Chaotica spat, no longer charming as he shoved the small woman aside.

Kathryn lost her balance and stumbled into a pedestal. As if in slow motion, she watched its crystal contents slip off the surface and begin to tumble to the floor. With a quick-flash reflex, Kathryn miraculously snatched it up in her hand before it hit bottom. When she opened her fingers, she found a small, brown vial containing a viscous liquid......Arachnia's pheromones!

She returned her attention to Chaotica and his men, noticing that they had subdued Seven and were once again shackling her wrists to the restraints on the wall.

Kathryn caught Seven's eye and held up the vial behind the men's backs. The Borg gave a short nod that went unnoticed by everyone but Kathryn. Then the captain made broad gestures with her hands, as if pleading, and then motioned to Seven, indicating that she wanted the Borg to resume her role-playing and beg for mercy.

Seven understood and complied. "Noooooo!!! Let go of me!!! Somebody help me!!! Please!!!"

Kathryn was stunned. There were actual tears in Seven's eyes and in her heartfelt cries. And the realism made the captain's own eyes sting with tears. She swallowed hard and tried to focus on her mission.

According to Paris, one whiff from Arachnia's pheromones was supposed to make Chaotica her pawn, but the last time she used it, Chaotica wasn't near enough . Consequently, the potion took effect on one of his henchmen instead. Kathryn intended to get it right this time. So while Seven distracted the men with her cries for help, Janeway sidled closer to Chaotica. Then, when she was barely a meter away, she removed the stopper and liberally doused herself with the intoxicating liquid, fanning herself to drive the wafting scent towards Chaotica.

The evil fiend sniffed noisily. "My queen!" he exclaimed, clearly under the influence. He opened his arms in anticipation of an embrace and made a move towards Arachnia.

"No," Seven blurted. "She is mine!"

Kathryn snapped her head in the Borg's direction.

She was looking at the captain intently, nostrils flaring in deep intakes of air, and Janeway considered that Seven's acting had vastly improved in the last hour, though she wondered what Seven's plan was in pretending to be affected, too, by Arachnia's pheromones.

Chaotica bristled visibly at the young woman's pronouncement and then shook the mood off, donning an imperious sort of sneer. "Pity you can't claim her, my dear, not while you're in those shackles."

Seven turned and gazed at Chaotica with a combination of tedium and annoyance. Then she huffed indignantly as she pulled her wrists almost effortlessly from the restraints, snapping the shackles into pieces.

Chaotica balked. "Guards, seize her!"

The Borg stepped forward and backhanded the first, oncoming guard in one smooth stroke, sending him flying some ten meters in one direction. In the next instant, she balanced herself gracefully on her left leg as she quickly dispatched the second guard with a swift sidekick of her right leg, sending him ten meters in the other direction. Then she grabbed the third and fourth guards and pounded them together, rendering both immediately unconscious.

Chaotica's second-in-command stood his ground--although just barely--in front of his master, which brought him up short since Seven was headed in that direction. Once she had him within arm's length, of course, he was quickly dispatched with one decisive blow of the Borg-enhanced hand. That left nothing between the bodacious Borg and the cowardly Chaotica, a circumstance that vexed the evil villain enormously.

"Stay away, you!" he cried out futilely, as he backed away from Seven. He tried to elicit Janeway's aid. "My queen, I implore you, use your influence over this female to call her off."

Janeway had to smother a laugh. But because it was in her nature to protect obviously defenseless creatures from harm--even if they were the Scourge of the Cosmos--she called for a measure of restraint: "Seven, don't hurt him.....much."

The Borg's lips curled slightly, which made Chaotica recoil. He suddenly felt the wall against his back and groped pointlessly for any means of escape. Eyes wide with fright as Seven approached, he sank to the floor and curled up in a ball, trying to shield himself. The few centimeters of exposed vulnerability at the nape of his neck, however, were all Seven needed to render him unconscious with one efficient chop.

The blonde turned away from the crumpled form and eyed the captain triumphantly.....looking remarkably fetching in her suggestive attire.

Janeway was pleased. "Come here, Seven," she called, wanting to give the young woman a congratulatory pat on the back......well, possibly also a hug. She felt a little nervous, however, as she watched the Borg saunter towards her with a glint of something uncharacteristically animalistic in her eyes. "Seven? Are you are right?"

The young woman stopped a mere breath away before answering. "Oh, yes......my queen."

Kathryn had barely finished swallowing in nervous apprehension at the lustful tones when the young woman pulled her into a tight embrace, bent her backwards, and kissed Kathryn Janeway possessively on the lips, igniting a passion that the older woman had been smothering for six long years.

Janeway the captain tried to resist this temptation as well, but Kathryn the woman surrendered to her heart, explaining to her two selves that resistance truly is futile. Despite the aggressiveness of the Borg's gesture, moreover, Seven's kiss was soft and sweet, intense in its devotion, and so electric that Kathryn could feel herself frizzle and curl from head to toe.

She moaned helplessly against Seven's hungry lips, which seemed to inflame the young woman all the more. "My queen," she breathed, "I have wanted you for so long. Undress for me. Let my eyes absorb every millimeter of your naked beauty. Let my lips smear adoration across your body. Let my hands knead devotion into every gram of your flesh......I need to copulate with you."

While the last phrase was quintessentially Seven, the uncharacteristic poetry in the rest of the plea alerted Kathryn that something was awry. The young woman was clearly affected by the pheromones. Perhaps something in her partly Borg physiology made her susceptible to the scent, even if it was photonic. Given that Seven was under the influence of a drug-like substance, therefore, part of Kathryn sensed that she should be driving the young woman off. Kathryn's own starved libido, however, instead drove away all rational thought.

And Seven was almost beyond control at this point, anyway, groping and kissing the captain with a blind intensity that seemed to brook no resistance. She snatched the wig off Kathryn and fluffed the auburn tresses, tangling her fingers in their silk as she kissed Kathryn still more deeply. In the next instant, she began reaching for a fastening at the back of Kathryn's dress, fingers fumbling underneath the enormous, spider-web collar.

"It's on the side," Kathryn murmured against full lips.

Seven continued to grope at the nape of Kathryn's neck.

"It's on the side," Kathryn tried again between breath-sapping kisses.

"Hmm?" Seven asked through her frustration. Then she yanked viciously at the dress until the fabric was rent in two.

Kathryn pulled away from the Borg's muffling lips. "I was trying to explain that the zipper was on the side," she elaborated belatedly.

"What zipper?" Seven queried disinterestedly, smashing her lips against Kathryn's again.

The captain felt the remaining tatters of her clothing slink off her frame until she was naked. Then she felt herself being lowered onto the smattering of silk-covered, down pillows and bolts of satin that made up the bedding in Chaotica's chamber. It was impossibly cool and soothing to the touch, like lying on a cloud. And when, in the next moment, Seven let her thinly-clad body settle gently over Kathryn's, it was impossibly warm and comforting, like lying under a sun with gold-spun hair. Kathryn moaned in simple bliss, luxuriating between the layers of cool heat that were silk and satin and Seven.

The young woman reached down with her right hand and pulled the sheer fabric of her leggings aside so she could nestle the bare flesh of her right thigh between Kathryn's legs. The area was impossibly wet, and though she couldn't understand what was driving her to do these things, something in her cortical implant, some distant memory, explained to her that this wetness indicated that Kathryn was aroused. This knowledge made her still more desperate to excite this intimate region of Kathryn's warm, beautiful body.

Instinctively, Seven began to press her thigh in slow lunges against Kathryn's wetness, making the smaller woman moan in delight. All the while, Seven kept kissing Kathryn passionately, unable to detach herself from the sweet taste of those thin, red lips, especially when they parted and admitted Seven's tongue.

It was then that Seven came to her senses, momentarily disoriented but feeling, despite that, unaccountably safe, anchored to the sweet taste of rough, wet, heat inside her mouth. And when she pulled back and saw Kathryn's face, and the ardent expression, she knew she was home.

"Kathryn," she exhaled.

Kathryn smiled in return, understanding that Seven was no longer under the influence of the pheromones and pleased to have her back.....and lying in her arms.

"Seven," she breathed against full Borg lips. Then she captured them again, luxuriating in the taste and electricity of the contact.

After another short while, the young woman became aware of the two hard nubs pressing intrusively against her chest.....Kathryn's breasts, she remembered. She finally tore herself away from the sweet sensation of lips to bring her mouth down to Kathryn's surprisingly plump nipples. Seven kissed them fondly and licked them gently, swirling her tongue around one of the tips. Then she kissed across the captain's chest and pulled the other nipple forcefully into her mouth, marveling at how much it filled her.

Kathryn's nipples were stiff with arousal but also remarkably pliant, seeming to alter their size and shape to mold themselves into Seven's caresses, whether she was pinching them tightly between her fingers or sucking them hungrily into her mouth. She liked sucking them best of all, enjoying the slightly salty flavor of Kathryn's flesh and how the taste made her salivate. And the pliancy of Kathryn's nipples made her want to chew on them, a reflex that she did not repress, gently pressing her molars into the sensitive tips until Kathryn was writhing from the ecstasy of the stimulation.

Seven spent long moments sucking noisily on Kathryn's nipples until they were a very deep red and deliciously sore. Then she pulled back a little to look at them. She gently squeezed Kathryn's breasts, making the peaks more pronounced. Looking up, she caught Kathryn watching her intently and smiled sweetly.

"I like this," she said.

"I know. I like this, too," Kathryn admitted.

Seven stared intently into Kathryn's eyes.

"I like you," she said.

Kathryn swallowed down the intensity of her emotions. "I know," she managed after a moment. "I like you, too."

They smiled again at each other, warmed by their mutual affection, no longer masking their emotions, no longer role-playing.

Then, eyes locked on Kathryn's, Seven resumed groping her breasts again, squeezing them tightly and rubbing her thumbs over the tips, all the while watching Kathryn's reactions. Kathryn arched up into the fondling fingers and invited still more contact. Seven complied, wrapping her lips around the entire peak of Kathryn's breast, taking in both the nipple and the dark pink ring around it. She sucked forcefully on the mouthful with languorous intent, giving no indication that she intended ever to stop feasting, even though the nipple was becoming quite sore from the hungry attention.

Kathryn was past the point of caring. She looked down, excited by the site of her nipple and areola disappearing completely into Seven's hot, wet mouth. She loved watching Seven's jaw flex rhythmically around the fleshy peak, lips making moist, smacking noises as they tried to maintain enough suction to keep so much of Kathryn's tit inside. Seven moaned into the flesh, an expression of quiet contentment slightly curling her lips. She was clearly enjoying herself, and Kathryn was delighting in the tableau before her. She brought her hands up and linked her fingers together under her own head, tilting it up in casual comfort so she could spend long moments looking down at her bosom, patiently watching Seven gorge herself there.

Each time Seven drew her in, Kathryn could feel the delicious tugging at the tip of her nipple and the sharp edge of teeth encircling her further up. And in-between, Seven's tongue kept lavishing wet heat against the pink flesh as it tasted the breast over and over.

"That feels so good, Seven," she encouraged.

The Borg moaned and began sucking a little harder and louder.

Kathryn inhaled sharply through her teeth. "Oh, yes, my love. Like that. It feels exquisite."

Seven was concentrating completely on Kathryn's right nipple, and as the left one began demanding attention, Kathryn reached down and started to pinch herself, roughly tweaking that nipple, too, to try to match the delicious torment to which its partner was being subjected. Seven caught the movement and brought up her free hand to replace Kathryn's, which allowed Kathryn to link her fingers together again under her head and resume her casual monitoring of Seven's generous attention.

The Borg was pinching her left nipple so tightly that it was reduced to a thin sliver as it was rolled back and forth between thumb and forefinger. And now Seven had started to bite down on the right nipple and pull up, so that Kathryn could clearly see the sore nub trapped almost painfully between the sharp teeth. Then she alternated the sucking and the biting, taking in the entire peak with hungry intensity and then using her teeth to pull up on just the nipple. After several repetitions, she pulled up and paused in one of her bites to rake her tongue across the tip of the nipple as it was caught between her teeth. The sensation made Kathryn shudder.

"Do you know how much I'm enjoying this?"

Seven pulled her mouth away momentarily to answer, making a loud, smacking sound as the nipple released itself from the suction and bounced back to position. "Only if you tell me," she said, before devouring the nipple again with renewed intensity.

"I love what you're doing to me."

"I'm not doing this too much?" Seven asked with concern but pausing only for a moment between mouthfuls.

"No.....never. I love the way it almost hurts."

Seven used her molars to chew a little on the nipple.

"Yes.....that's nice. I love watching you do this. I love seeing my nipples disappear inside your mouth--it's so intimate."

Seven sucked in the entire peak again, still more forcefully.

"I love the indelicate noises."

Seven laughed around her mouthful and got intentionally noisier, slurping the pliant peak in even more. She was visibly salivating around the nipple, taking in Kathryn's taste, which gave Kathryn the arousing sense that she was being consumed by Seven. The intense physical sensation of suction at her sore nipple, coupled with the site and sound and sense of being eaten by Seven, sent Kathryn into another frenzy. It was then she realized how completely she wanted to be consumed by her.

"Seven," Kathryn rasped, "Please! I want you to feast on me."

Seven understood the meaning and excitedly remembered that Kathryn had other intoxicating flavors to offer.

"Oh, Kathryn.....Yes!"

The Borg descended, stealing nips and kisses along the way as if to leave a trail for her to follow home. Except home was where she was headed. She reached the juncture between Kathryn's legs and parted the smaller woman's limbs, fluffing up the surrounding pillows so that Kathryn could rest her legs comfortably as she opened up wide to let Seven inside.

Once she had prepared Kathryn, Seven did not hesitate, the scent of Kathryn's arousal too delicious to resist. So she bent down, spread the lips of Kathryn's auburn-haired sex, and pressed her hungry lips into the sticky wetness, taking in the flavor in several long, titillating strokes with her rough, wet tongue.

"Oh, Seven!" Kathryn gasped at the contact.

Kathryn was impossibly hot and wet, like lava flowing from some massive, geological event. And the way Kathryn's sex was already quaking, Seven guessed that a major eruption was imminent. She did not want to delay Kathryn's climax, but nor did she wish to rush through this experience. After all, this was the most intimate part of Kathryn's body, a part that was only ever shared with a doctor--out of necessity--and a lover--out of desire. As Kathryn's new lover, Seven wanted to study and explore this area, to learn everything there was to know about it, to discover its secrets.

She kissed the knot gently and then pulled back to study the folds. She gently pulled one out until it was completely unfurled and then licked along its sensitive surface. Kathryn gasped. These little excitements seemed to bring a fresh flood of moisture from Kathryn's opening, which drew Seven's attention now, making her wonder what it would be like actually to be inside Kathryn. She did not hesitate to find out. Instead, she pulled the folds apart again and then gently slid two fingers inside the captain.

"Yes, Seven."

"You are so small, Kathryn," Seven marveled. "So delicate."

"Not so delicate," Kathryn countered.

The Borg understood her meaning and instantly pressed a third finger deep inside the tight opening.

"Yes. Like that. Deep inside me, my love."

Seven complied, shifting her weight onto her left elbow so she could have more freedom of movement with her right arm. She began by pushing deeply into Kathryn with the three fingers already inside her. Then she pulled out slowly until only her fingertips remained, just inside the sensitive rim. She stroked her fingers there languorously and then slowly penetrated Kathryn again, pushing in all the way once more. This time, she twisted her fingers inside Kathryn in gently insistent rotations, as if boring into her.

"Mmm," Kathryn cried, her body responding with yet another rush of moisture.

Seven pulled out again, this time only half way, and then penetrated more hurriedly than before. Kathryn gasped, apparently enjoying the less delicate thrust. So Seven began to pump in a rather more urgent rhythm, thumping against Kathryn's sex as she fondled her intimately with those three fingers.

Kathryn hitched her legs up more and pulled them farther apart, opening herself up as much as possible to Seven's delicious invasion. "More, Seven......Please," she cried urgently.

Seven did not hesitate. She had the index, middle, and fourth fingers of her right hand inside Kathryn. She now pulled them out and added her pinky finger, curling all four fingers tightly together and then pressing them into the opening of Kathryn's sex.

There was surprisingly little resistance, and when they were deep inside, almost up to the second knuckle, Seven felt Kathryn flexing herself around their girth as if trying to pull more in. Seven obliged, pressing in gently but letting Kathryn set the pace.

"Yes, my love. Like that. Slowly," she cautioned.

Seven had no problem complying. She was enthralled by the look of her hand disappearing inside Kathryn's sex. She enjoyed watching her fingers squeeze themselves languidly inside the hot, wet opening. And she desperately enjoyed the sensation, the tightness and intermittent flexing around her fingers that communicated when Kathryn was ready for more.

Kathryn paused for a moment, more to catch her breath than to accommodate herself to the girth of Seven's fingers. Seven took the opportunity to lap up more of Kathryn's juices from around her fingers, enjoying the salt-sweet taste. She then moved up and stroked along the tender knot, kissing it gently, over and over again.

Kathryn shuddered and flexed again, which let Seven press in another millimeter. Then Kathryn made herself relax around Seven, taking in a deep breath and letting it out slowly, some of the resistance around Seven's fingers leaving as well. Seven understood, and with one final push, pressed her fingers in passed the second knuckle and up to the middle of her palm, stopping only when the joint of her thumb abutted Kathryn's opening.

"Oh!"

It was said in pleasurable surprise, and Seven understood that, slowly kissing the hollows next to Kathryn's sex and nuzzling the down as she waited for Kathryn to adjust again to the new girth inside her.

Missing the sensation of Seven's mouth sucking her, Kathryn brought her hands up to her nipples and began tweaking them again. And when the renewed titillation sent another gush of moisture to her stretched sex, she felt ready once more for Seven.

The Borg picked up her cue from the way Kathryn had started flexing impatiently around her. With a fond kiss to the sensitive nub, she pulled back and began slowly pumping her hand. She did not pull out much at first. Since the girth of the second knuckles made it more difficult to squeeze them in again, she stopped short of pulling them out, pumping barely a centimeter out and back into Kathryn.

As Kathryn's sex responded with more moisture and less tightness, however, Seven was able to pull out past the knuckles and then push back in with increasing ease. Before she knew it, she was vigorously pumping the entire length of her hand, to the middle of her palm, in and out of Kathryn, the opening so well lubricated that there was only a little resistance, the kind that elicited ecstasy.....and made moist, sucking sounds.

Kathryn had never felt herself so opened and stretched, so desperate for a lover to fill her. And that it was a hand filling her made it seem more intimate somehow--a very private petting with someone she trusted implicitly. That surprised her a little. She hadn't expected to feel quite so comfortable, so quickly with Seven of Nine. After all, quite apart from the whole issue of emotional repercussions--which they had both agreed to deal with later--Seven's inexperience and Borg strength could result in serious damage to Kathryn if they weren't sufficiently careful.

And in other ways, Seven had committed acts that directly challenged Kathryn's authority and called the young woman's trustworthiness into question. In fact, she had broken direct orders more than anyone else on Voyager. Had even made Kathryn feel abandoned by her--when she chose to remain behind on that Borg scout ship. Of course, she had done that--had in effect sacrificed herself--to save Voyager and its crew. In fact, except for the captain herself, Seven had been directly responsible for saving Voyager more times than anyone else on the starship.

Furthermore, Seven wasn't directly in Starfleet, and, as a former Borg drone, she was still working out the very complicated issue of her individuality. These two facts made her sacrifices for Voyager's sake all the more noteworthy--made her decisions to obey orders all the more precious.....because they were decisions, something the young woman chose to do, and often for Kathryn's sake. It was this profound change in the Borg's nature--these visible sacrifices--that had ultimately won Kathryn over, enabling her to trust Seven without hesitation where the ship was concerned. And there was no question that in their more personal exchange now, in these intimacies they were sharing, Seven, for all her inexperience, was gentle beyond words, infinitely patient, and amazingly attuned to Kathryn's rhythms and needs. She was loving in her attention.

"Seven," Kathryn called, groping for a more sublime contact.

Seven instinctively reached around Kathryn's right leg with her free arm--hugging the thigh to herself--and grabbed Kathryn's hand, holding it with gentle firmness. Kathryn squeezed back, anchoring herself. It was only then that Kathryn began to climax

At last, her body quivered with the long-rumbling eruption, hips bucking off the pillows in rhythm with Seven's pumping hand. And then in one final thrust upward, Kathryn froze in mid-air, body rigid with orgasm and voice calling out: "Oh, Seven!"

After that long, motionless moment of ecstasy, Kathryn Janeway's body went limp.......almost completely.

Seven of Nine looked up and frowned.

"Kathryn?" she called out experimentally.

Nothing.

"Kathryn?" she tried again.

Still nothing.

She looked down towards where her right hand was still nestled--actually trapped, Kathryn's muscles having constricted during her climax and still squeezing rather tightly.

Seven sighed.

"Kathryn?" she tried again. "Kathryn, please wake up."

She extricated her left hand, which Kathryn had been holding, and put it on the smaller woman's stomach, rubbing it gently to try to wake her and then shaking her progressively stronger.

"Kathryn, wake up!"

There was no response.

"Captain Kathryn Janeway of the U.S.S. Voyager," she called out formally, "this is Seven of Nine. I order you to wake up!"

Seven didn't mean to adopt that tone, but if Kathryn the woman wouldn't respond to a lover's call, she hoped that Janeway the Starfleet officer, at least, would break through the haze of unconsciousness to respond to a voice of command. Unfortunately, that tactic didn't work either.

Seven was starting to feel uncomfortable--the way young Naomi Wildman once described feeling when she had broken a toy she had been playing with. Similar pangs of guilt were fingering their way coldly through the pit of Seven's stomach. She felt "in trouble" herself, wondering if perhaps she had been a little reckless in the way she had played with Kathryn and had broken her.

Seven studied her trapped hand again, trying to determine the safest way to extricate it from the unconscious body of Voyager's captain. Feeling a little sorry for herself--and slightly lonely, too--she guessed that she would just have to wait for Kathryn to awaken. She regretted her predicament even more, however, when she heard the holodeck controls chirping back to life and saw the exit archway materializing.