By Thirds (Part 2 of 3)

Act III

Janeway returned to her quarters a little after 2300 hours, relieved to see that Seven had already left.

Kathryn was reading from a padd as she lounged on the couch, which she had fitted with sheets for the night. "Welcome back," she greeted cheerily. "How was dinner with Chakotay?"

"Productive," the captain responded curtly. "We got through the engineering department evaluations."

Kathryn frowned. "Only engineering?"

"Yup."

Spiteful bitch, Kathryn thought to herself.

And then she remembered the plans she and Seven had devised over dinner. They had decided that Seven would begin to spend more time with Janeway, trying to get the captain to let down her guard more. Kathryn, for her part, would start dropping hints that Seven wasn't adapting well to having two Janeways because she cared deeply for both of them. Then, when the time was right, they were going to seduce Janeway. The one issue Seven had insisted upon, however, was that if they were going to try making a life together, all three of them, Kathryn had to stop quarreling with Janeway.

"No problem," Kathryn said. "I'll handle the rest tomorrow."

Janeway frowned but shrugged it off after a moment. "I thought you had the bed tonight."

"That's okay. Consider it a thank you for letting me hog the cabin this evening."

Janeway frowned again, wondering why Kathryn was being so nice. And then she decided she was too tired to care. "Well, good night then."

"Uh, I still have to brush my teeth. Mind if I pop in there shortly?"

"No, I'll just be a few minutes getting ready for bed. Then you can come in."

Janeway entered her bedroom and crossed into the bathroom, peeling off her uniform as she went. She put on her nightgown and had just finished using the facilities when Kathryn came in.

"I seem to remember that we used to knock before entering a bathroom," Janeway said with a smirk.

Kathryn chuckled. "You just reminded me of Phoebe. Remember how upset she used to get when we barged in on her in the bathroom."

Janeway couldn't help returning a smile as the warm memory flowed through her. "And we'd always say the same thing--"

"It's not like you've got anything worth looking at!" Kathryn and Janeway recited in unison. Then they began to laugh, and once they started they couldn't stop.

"The look on her face," Kathryn continued.

"She always took us so seriously," Janeway added, laughing some more. She washed up and then shared the sink with Kathryn as they both brushed their teeth between chuckles. "I haven't thought about that in a long time," Janeway commented as they finished up.

"Me either." The comment suddenly struck them as absurd given that they had shared the same body until just a few weeks before. They looked at each other and broke down laughing again.

"Oh! Oh, God!" Janeway said gasping. "I think I'd better stop before I rupture something."

"That's okay," Kathryn shot back, "I've got spares of everything!" That started them up again.

By the time the laughter subsided, they found themselves on the floor with tears streaming down their faces.

"Ah, I guess we needed that," Janeway suggested, still amused.

Kathryn agreed. "It felt good, didn't it?"

Janeway nodded. "Come on," she said with a smile as she rose from the floor, "let's have some hot chocolate."

*****

Sometime later, Kathryn and Janeway sat together on their couch huddled over the holovid display on their laps.

"Geez, you looked dorky back then," Kathryn accused, pointing at the image of a gawky, teenaged Janeway accepting her valedictorian certificate.

Janeway smirked. "I looked dorky? Look at you with all those curls in your hair. What were you thinking?!"

"Hey, you're the one who let Phoebe talk us into that."

It had been a running joke with them all evening as they reminisced, each one accepting credit for a good look or a deed well done and alternately blaming the other one for anything in Kathryn Janeway's past that had gone awry, like the unfortunate perm she had allowed Phoebe to coax her into trying the day before her high school graduation.

"Poor Phoebe," Janeway lamented. "She paid dearly for that one."

The laughter began to bubble up again as they remembered the stunt they had pulled on their younger sister as payback.

"Oh, ouch," Kathryn cried. "I can't laugh any more."

"We should probably call it a night, anyway," Janeway said with a chuckle.

As they caught their breath, they studied each other, realizing that something had changed between them.

"You know," Kathryn began cautiously, "I think maybe we're going to be all right."

Janeway considered that as she watched Kathryn set the holovid display aside. "If we're going to really make a go of this, I need to start by offering you an apology."

"What for?"

"For being an idiot about Seven."

Kathryn's eyes widen.

Janeway laughed. "Don't look so stunned. I have been known to make an apology....once or twice," she added wryly.

"I'm not sure I understand. Have you had a change of heart about me and Seven?"

Janeway considered that. "Maybe a little. I'm still not sure dating a crew member is prudent, but I.....I want Seven to be happy," she admitted quietly. "She's been through so much. Losing her family, her childhood, having to relearn what it means to be human. If you're really what she wants, I can't stand in the way of that."

Kathryn studied her lap as she thought over her plan with Seven. She realized that dropping hints was no longer necessary. In fact, she now wondered if helping Seven seduce Janeway was even appropriate. Their relationship was going to be complicated enough. If what they wanted was a true partnership, all three of them had to go into it with their eyes wide open. She suddenly felt the need to be honest with her counterpart.

"What Seven really wants is.....more complicated," she began carefully.

"Things aren't going well?" Janeway asked with sincere concern.

"Seven almost walked out of here just before dinner, ready to call the whole thing off."

"Why?"

"She didn't put it in quite these terms, but I think she felt that she was cheating on you," Kathryn summarized, suddenly realizing that this was very likely what Seven was feeling given her demeanor.

"I don't understand. What did she say exactly?" Janeway asked.

"She said that she thought you were probably jealous of my relationship with her. And when I asked her point blank where that left us, she said, 'When I'm with you, I miss the captain. And when I'm with the captain, I miss you'. She wants us both, Janeway."

"And when you told her that was impossible, she was heartbroken and started to leave," Janeway guessed sadly.

"No. She started to leave because she already assumed it was impossible. She decided to stay when I convinced her she could have us both."

"What did you say?" Janeway demanded with a mix of confusion, disbelief and alarm.

"I told her she could have us both," Kathryn repeated, internally bracing herself for the coming storm. "In fact, we spent the rest of the evening figuring out how Seven was going to, uhm, seduce you."

"Are you crazy?!" Janeway blurted. She got up off the couch and began to pace, suddenly remembering why she found her counterpart so insufferable. "I knew it. I just knew it! I knew Seven would wind up hurt! She was already upset that things weren't working out between the two of you, an experience which, by the way, she wouldn't have had to suffer through if you hadn't been so hell bent on pursuing this. And now, by convincing her she can have a relationship with me too, you've managed to set her up for an even bigger disappointment!"

"Don't flatter yourself!" Kathryn shot back angrily. "Trust me, she was already disappointed enough. She's been disappointed since the first moment she realized she had feelings for us, and we wouldn't even touch her! Not even a hug just to say 'Welcome back' when we rescued her from the Borg Queen or to say 'Gee, I'm glad you're still alive, Seven,' when that goddamned Borg vinculum nearly tore her mind apart. How can you be so blind? Seven's been hurting all along!"

"It's worse now. Don't you see that it's worse?" Janeway asked, her anger turning into entreaty, willing Kathryn to understand.

"It's not worse," Kathryn countered, calming down herself. "It's....it's hope."

Janeway shook her head. "It's false hope. Seven's going to get hurt," she insisted.

"You know, there's something you haven't realized in all this, and it's about time you did."

"What?"

"The only way Seven's going to get hurt is if you say 'no'."

*****

Kathryn walked onto the bridge the following morning and hesitated when she saw Janeway already seated in the command chair. She also noticed that Seven was stationed on the bridge for this shift, and when they made eye contact, she saw the hopeful look in the Borg's eyes. That made her feel worse.

Nothing had been resolved between her and Janeway the previous night. After telling Janeway that Seven would be hurt only if the captain refused her, she had watched her counterpart escape to the bedroom without another word. Kathryn hoped that meant that she was thinking very hard about her statement, and from the sounds of pillow punching she could hear coming from the bedroom long into the wee hours of morning, she figured that was exactly what Janeway was doing. She doubted, however, that the captain had come to any kind of resolution yet. No matter. Kathryn would try again.....when the dust had settled a little. In the meantime, she had a couple of promises to keep.

"Good morning, Chakotay," she greeted as she approached the starboard engineering station her first officer was currently occupying.

"Good morning, Kathryn," he greeted back.

"Would you care to join me in the Ready Room? I believe we have some work to do."

He seemed surprised that she was being so proactive about getting the evaluations done, but he didn't comment. "Of course," he said simply, rising and following Kathryn into the Ready Room.

Janeway noticed the exchange, subtly pleased, despite her other concerns, that Kathryn was making good on their deal. Too bad she can't make good on all her promises, Janeway thought wryly. Then she stopped herself, thinking about Kathryn's final comment the night before. She sighed, admitting to herself that Kathryn was right; it wasn't up to her to make good on that promise because the ball was squarely in Janeway's court.

She had spent what was left of the night lying awake in bed thinking about the situation. And any way she looked at it, she realized that Kathryn's and Seven's expectations weren't as unrealistic as she'd insisted. She--the captain--was the only thing standing in the way of Seven's happiness. And maybe that's the way it's been from the start, she considered ruefully.

Frustrated with herself, she shot up from her chair restlessly and decided to make a circuit of some of the bridge stations.

"What've you got, Ensign?" she asked Harry Kim as she approached the ops station.

There was nothing of note to report that wasn't already in the data logs posted earlier that morning, but Starfleet personnel quickly learned how inadvisable it was to tell a superior officer what was and wasn't noteworthy without letting said officer determine that for herself. The truth was that until one passed the rank of ensign, one wasn't considered seasoned enough to use one's judgment in determining noteworthiness. And since it looked as though Harry was going to be an ensign for the long haul, he dutifully reported his findings, no matter how mundane.

"The solar systems in this region continue to exhibit the same characteristics as the Eukarid system, Captain. Since the solar rings are having a filtering effect throughout this sector, we've compensated by increasing power to the Bussard collectors."

"Seven," Janeway called, "have you determined how far these ringed solar systems run?"

"I believe so, Captain."

Janeway approached the Borg's console, trying to ignore the butterflies in her stomach.

The young woman brought up a sector map and pointed to a quadrant just a few days ahead of them. "Long range sensors detect an increase to near-normal levels of solar radiation as we approach this system. We're still too far away to determine the exact characteristics of its sun, but preliminary readings indicate that it either has no ring or else has one far less dense than we have been encountering."

Janeway tapped the display to indicate the system in question. "Is there any information about that system in the Astrometrics data we got from the Eukarids?"

"No, Captain. For whatever reason, the Eukarids do not appear to have explored very much beyond this point," Seven replied indicating an area a few light years shy of the system.

As Seven pointed, her hand brushed against the captain's who hastened to move away from the accidental contact. When she looked at Seven, however, she saw a glimmer of anticipation suggesting that the contact may not have been accidental. She was caught a moment by the hint of longing she also saw there. Looking intently in Seven's eyes, she asked softly, "How long before we reach that system?"

Seven seemed equally mesmerized by the eye contact. "Approximately 2.5 days, Captain," she droned.

Janeway blinked. She recognized Seven's look. It wasn't some fanciful desire that Kathryn's exaggerated promises had put there; it was the same familiar gaze Seven had often given her in the past several months, before the accident. Janeway had agonized all night over what to do about Seven, certain that Kathryn had put ideas into her head that the young woman wouldn't have had otherwise. But as she stared into her eyes now, she realized that Kathryn's input only gave her hope, not the underlying sentiment. The longing would still have been there, in Seven's eyes. Janeway shook her head slightly wondering why she had never before recognized that look for what it was. "Thank you, Seven," she said, still more softly. Then she nodded and crossed the bridge to her Ready Room.

"Commander Chakotay," she called from the doorway, "would you take over the bridge? I need to have a word with Kathryn."

"Of course, Captain," Chakotay called from inside the Ready Room.

She stepped aside moments later to let Chakotay onto the bridge, then she entered the Ready Room and let the door slip shut behind her. Janeway stopped in front of the desk and looked at Kathryn.

"Okay. I'll try it," she said simply.

The frown on Kathryn's face as she looked up at Janeway dissolved slowly into a brilliant smile. "Whew!" she said, as she slumped back in the chair. "How about dinner tonight? Just the three of us?"

Janeway nodded. "Fine. You arrange it with Seven. We'll.....we'll just take it slow."

"Okay. So am I off the hook?"

"Provisionally."

"Great. Believe it or not, I don't much enjoy fighting with you all the time. Plus I really liked what we were starting to share yesterday, Janeway. It's been a long time since we've had an equally ranked counterpart to talk with, and in our case, we have our whole history in common. I really don't want to squander that opportunity by bickering with you constantly."

Janeway nodded. "I agree. Last night was nice for me, too."

Kathryn looked down at her desktop, noting the large amount of work that still had to be done. "I don't suppose this truce means you're willing to go halfsies on the evals?"

"Fat chance!" Janeway said sternly. Then she turned and left.

"Well, you can't blame a person for trying," Kathryn told the air.

*****

"That was acceptable," Seven said politely, as Kathryn picked up the dinner plates.

"Glad you liked it," the blue-eyed captain answered warmly, amused by the young woman's way of putting things.

"Yes, it was very good," Janeway chimed in. "We usually burn the pot roast. How did you manage it?"

"She did not," Seven blurted.

"Tattle-tale!"

Seven ignored the comment. "Kathryn was completing the replication of the meal as I arrived, while you were still in your bedroom changing. Her first attempt at the 'pot roast' failed miserably. As she put it through the recycler, I ran a short diagnostic on the replicator and discovered that one of you had increased the temperature output by 22 percent."

"Coffee's never hot enough," both Janeways explained. They then laughed in unison as Seven quirked her brow.

"Perhaps you should remember to reset the temperature protocols before replicating other nutritional supplements," she suggested.

Both captains nodded, duly chastised.

"Well," Janeway continued, "thank you for rescuing dinner, Seven."

The meal and the conversation accompanying it had been a surprisingly pleasant affair for all three of them. Seven had calmed considerably when Kathryn had greeted her at the door and whispered a soft "Relax, it's just dinner" in the young woman's ear as she pulled away from the welcoming hug. Kathryn had also managed to distract her counterpart by prompting her to share bits of their childhood with Seven. That plan, too, had worked, as the two captains reminisced, enjoying more of the wonderful memories of home and family they'd shared the night before and simultaneously indulging the Borg's curiosity about her captain. The young woman was enormously gratified, in the process, to see a side of her captain she relished: a calm and happy Captain Janeway.

"I hope you two left room for dessert," Kathryn announced, as she placed a small, round, and delicious looking confection in the center of the table.

"Is that chocolate-caramel torte?" Janeway asked with evident anticipation.

"Yup. Mother's recipe."

"I'll cut the cake," both captains offered simultaneously, and then both blurted, "Oh, no you don't."

Seven blinked. "Would you like to 'draw straws'?" she suggested.

The two women stared at her.

"It is a technique Neelix taught me for handling disputes among Naomi, Mezoti, and the twins," she explained unnecessarily.

Kathryn snorted.

"Sorry, Seven," Janeway said. "Mother's torte was always such a treat at our house that Phoebe and I would fight over who got to dole out the portions since whoever cut it always kept the biggest piece for herself."

"That is unnecessary. It is possible to share the dessert equally among the three of us by cutting it into thirds at precise angles of 120 degrees."

"Which is precisely why you should do the honors," Kathryn smiled, handing Seven the server.

The young woman bit her tongue slightly in concentration as she began partitioning the torte into three exact pieces, not noticing the way that both Kathryn and the captain were resting their cheeks in their hands as they gazed at her fondly.

"There," the young woman announced, evidently pleased with herself.

"Thank you, Seven," both captains purred warmly.

*****

In yet another repetition of the previous night, Kathryn and Janeway pulled out the holovid display and sat on the couch reviewing old family images, this time with Seven seated between them and holding the display in her lap. At first, the young woman didn't know which way to turn, but she quickly settled back and was pleased when the two captains positioned themselves on either side of her and huddled close to point and explain what they were viewing. It made Seven feel warm and protected in a way she had never felt before.

"It is difficult to imagine you that young," Seven commented as she watched a six year old Kathryn Janeway opening Christmas presents.

"Thanks a lot," the two captains burred in her ears.

Seven laughed, looking first at Kathryn and then at the captain. She was pleased at the evident amusement she found in both their demeanors.

They pulled up another holovid, this one of Kathryn Janeway at thirteen, delivering a school speech of some sort.

"Ooooo!" both captains cried.

"Look at those stringy legs of yours, Kathryn," Janeway called.

"Goes with that stringy hair of yours, Janeway," Kathryn shot back.

Seven rolled her eyes, by now thoroughly used to and secretly amused at the way the two women bantered playfully with each other. She then turned to Kathryn curiously. "Why do you call the captain 'Janeway' instead of by her first name."

"She doesn't like us using her first name, remember?"

Janeway snorted. "Actually, it's just Kathryn's way of reminding me that I'm so Starfleet."

"Do you object?"

"Not really. All of my instructors called me 'Janeway' when I was at the Academy."

"See what I mean?" Kathryn chimed in. "She's Starfleet through and through."

"There's nothing wrong with being called 'Janeway'. It's what a lot of people called Dad when they spoke of him."

"And when they were being nice," Kathryn added with a wink.

Seven seemed quiet, as if she was puzzling through something.

Kathryn noticed first. "What is it, Seven?"

"I believe that I should use a designation less formal than 'Captain Janeway' to address the captain when we are in a personal setting like this one," she said, addressing Kathryn. Then turning to the captain, she added, "but I would not feel comfortable calling you 'Janeway'. The Borg Queen addressed you that way," she explained with distaste.

"Well you could always follow Q's lead and call her 'Kathy'," Kathryn suggested unhelpfully.

Janeway looked past Seven to cast daggers at her counterpart. "You're the one who acts more like a 'Kathy', Kathy," she shot back.

"No, thanks!" Kathryn retorted. "But, you know, it's going to get pretty confusing if she calls us both 'Kathryn'," the blue-eyed captain offered in her defense.

"We'll adapt," Janeway insisted.

"Hey, that gives me an idea," Kathryn suggested, still addressing Janeway. "How about we take the Borgs' lead and adopt the designations 'One of Kathryn' and 'Two of Kathryn'? You can be number two."

"Listen, you--" Janeway began.

"Please," Seven requested, placing a restraining hand sweetly on each captains' hand.

The entreaty and the contact immediately softened both women. "I will call you both 'Kathryn'. My Kathryns," she said decisively.

The two captains sighed as Seven made eye contact with each in turn and intertwined her fingers with the ones she held gently in each hand.

Kathryn picked up the holovid display and set it aside then returned her attention to Seven. The young woman was gazing into the grey eyes of her captain, who swallowed hard at the intensity of that look. Then she watched as Seven moved her face closer to her counterpart's and pressed her lips delicately against the captain's. Grey eyes closed at the contact as Janeway melted into the kiss, her first kiss from Seven.

As Seven turned her head more into the contact, Kathryn spotted an irresistible spot just behind Seven's left ear. She gave into the urge to nuzzle the spot and began depositing kisses there. All three women moaned. Without skipping a beat, Seven turned her head the other way to find Kathryn's lips as Janeway kissed her way across Seven's right cheek and found a matching spot behind the young woman's right ear to nuzzle and love.

Seven's body was overwhelmed with sensations as she felt her two captains simultaneously kissing her lips and cheeks and neck. She still held Kathryn's right hand in her left and the captain's left hand in her right, giving each a slight squeeze as the kisses continued. Then she felt each captain bring her free hand into play, starting at her knees and each caressing upwards to stroke the insides of her thighs. The contact was so intimate and so perfect that Seven felt the area between her legs flood with desire. She let her head drop back, exposing more of her neck to the delicate kisses from her two Kathryns. Then she felt their teeth nibbling lightly on her skin, followed by the tickle of their tongues retracing the same areas. Her own mouth hungered for a similar taste of flesh, so she turned her head first to Kathryn, meeting her lips again and then nibbling down to her neck to sample it for long, exquisite moments. She worked her way back up slowly and then turned to pay the same homage to the captain's lips and neck, finding them just as sweet.

As the kisses and caresses continued, Seven felt her nipples harden against her clothes, suddenly aching for attention. She was not yet ready, however, for that more intimate contact. As if by unanimous agreement, she felt the other two women pulling back to catch their respective breaths.

"Are you okay?" Janeway asked her, desire and concern mingling together in her tone.

"Yessss," Seven hissed emphatically. "I have never been more 'okay'."

Kathryn chuckled provocatively, making Seven's toes curl. "I guess we've still got it, old girl," she joked, addressing her counterpart.

Janeway couldn't help laughing.

"I would like to be 'okay' again tomorrow evening?" Seven asked awkwardly.

Kathryn and Janeway laughed tenderly at the hesitant request.

"That would be acceptable to me," Kathryn said. "How about you, Janeway?"

The captain looked back and forth between her counterpart and her.....her heart. "Yes," she said simply.

Seven smiled.

Act IV

Captain Janeway entered her quarters and immediately froze, surveying the suddenly transformed surroundings. The artificial lights had been dimmed and replaced by the warm, yellow glow of candles placed strategically throughout the living area. In addition, the coffee table had been moved out of the way, and in its place was a smaller and shorter round table surrounded by cushions. She could smell sweets and spices mingling with the scent of burning wax. Rounding out the look and smells were the sounds of a sultry jazz piano melody accompanied by the lilting tones of saxophones and clarinets.

"Hiya," Kathryn called, as she entered from the bedroom wearing a soft white blouse and slacks. "Seven'll be here soon. Don't you want to shower and change before she gets here?"

"I thought we were going to take it slow?"

"We are. But there's nothing wrong with setting the right mood to make sure we eventually get there. Know what I mean?"

"Too well," Janeway smirked. "But did you have to make the place look like an oversexed bachelor's den?"

"Well you're half right," Kathryn shot back. "Anyway, what are you complaining about? It's not like I replicated a bear-skin rug or anything," she added, making it sound more like a warning.

Janeway caught on immediately. "Uhm. Right. Shower." She escaped to the bedroom, hoping Kathryn wouldn't follow through with her threat just to spite her.

*****

As she showered, Janeway thought over the day's events. She'd been grinning like a Cheshire cat in her Ready Room as she listened distractedly to Chakotay's personnel report when the first officer had interrupted his speech to ask the captain what was going on. Janeway had frowned wondering if she should tell him and then realized that, at some point, the crew would find out about the new developments in the two captains' personal lives. Repressing the urge to maintain that distance she so cherished, she confided in her first officer, watching closely for his reaction. To her surprise, Chakotay smiled from ear to ear and said simply, "It's about time." And then he frowned wondering if Seven would now start calling the captain "Kathryn," too, and asking if that wouldn't get confusing. "We'll work it out," Janeway had said simply. And as she thought about her response now, she decided that working it all out was exactly what they would try to do from now on.....all three of them.

Moments later, Janeway emerged from her bedroom dressed in a simple black silk blouse over deep blue leggings that managed to look at once casual and elegant. She was happy to see that Seven had arrived, looking every bit as fetching as the day before, this time wearing a teal blouse-and-slacks set that enhanced the blue of her eyes.

"Ah, there you are," Kathryn greeted. "You clean up nice....if I do say so myself," she joked.

"Indeed she does," Seven agreed, sounding far more sincere.

Janeway blushed despite herself and immediately shot a look at her counterpart, daring her to comment.

Kathryn pursed her lips, pointedly indicating that she'd try to play nice this evening. She silently handed Janeway a glass of wine.

As the captain sipped it delicately, Kathryn continued. "I thought we'd have a little 'smorgas-borg' tonight."

Janeway choked on her wine.

"Ah, I mean smorgasbord," she corrected in mock innocence.

"What is a 'smorgasbord'?" Seven asked.

"A buffet of different cuisines, so we can sample a little of this....a little of that," she said seductively.

To Janeway's surprise and Kathryn's delight, Seven picked up on her blue-eyed companion's innuendo and responded in kind. "And will we indulge in this smorgasbord before or after dinner, Kathryn?" she asked suggestively.

Kathryn laughed, and even her grey-eyed counterpart smiled at their date. "Why don't we have dinner first?" Janeway suggested after a few moments.

"Fine with me," Kathryn chuckled.

*****

The dinner was a surprisingly quick and forgettable affair, shy smiles and suggestive glances passing between them with as much frequency as the dishes of savory meats and vegetables.

The conversation was even spicier, as Kathryn continued in the same vein, peppering her comments with innuendos that became decidedly saucier as she became more sauced. She was careful, however, not to imbibe to the point of drunkenness. If they wound up on the couch kissing and petting, as they had the night before, Kathryn intended to remember every moment.

"Does anyone want dessert?" she asked in a manner that made it clear she hoped the answer was no. To her utter relief, both her companions declined.

She was surprised, however, when Janeway turned to their date and asked her to dance. Kathryn liked the idea but noticed Seven blanching at the request.

"I have not been able to master that particular activity. In fact, my previous attempts resulted in injury," Seven explained.

"Don't worry, Seven, we Janeways are pretty sturdy," Kathryn encouraged, already starting to move the furniture aside. "Come on, it'll be fun."

"I don't know," the young woman hesitated.

"What if we teach you?" Janeway suggested. "You could watch us awhile as we explain the steps and then join in when you're ready."

"Yes, how does that sound?" Kathryn added.

Seven enjoyed seeing her two captains evidently happy and agreeing on something, since that happened so seldomly. She also admitted to herself that the idea of watching them dance appealed to her. "Very well," she relented with a smile.

The bickering began again, however, when Janeway suggested they start with something simple.

"The box-step?" Kathryn objected. "That's so boring. How about the cha-cha?"

Before Janeway could respond, Kathryn ordered the computer to play a Latin dance selection and started demonstrating the moves, wiggling her hips suggestively as she chanted "cha-cha-cha."

Seven was instantly enchanted with those hips.

Kathryn held her arms out to Janeway. "Come on, let's show her. I'll even let you lead," she quipped.

Janeway snorted but relented, her own hips already responding to the seductive rhythm of the music.

The young woman was enthralled by the sight of the two women before her. She began at their feet, carefully noting the precise placement that perfectly matched the three beats repeating themselves throughout the music selection. Her gaze moved up their legs to their hips, momentarily transfixed there as the rounded globes of her dates' respective bottoms repeated the tempo of the music. Despite all that movement, however, she noticed how their bellies and breasts stayed firmly pressed together, helping them move as one. The captain's right arm encircled Kathryn's waist as Kathryn's left hand and forearm encircled the captain's right shoulder. Their other hands were joined and held up a little away from their bodies at about shoulder level. And as Seven's eyes finally moved up to their faces, she saw a giddy kind of enjoyment there as they traded off saying "cha-cha-cha." They were having fun.

"You're turn," Kathryn called, as the two captains released each other. They reached out and each grabbed the nearest hand to pull Seven to her feet. "Come on, we'll do it as a line dance first," Kathryn suggested, as she and Janeway continued holding hands with Seven, on either side of her, and demonstrated the moves.

"That's it," Janeway encouraged, as the young woman began moving her feet and then her hips to the beat of the music.

They continued in the same vein for several minutes, the three of them laughing at Seven's missteps, and then marveling at how quickly she perfected her technique.

"Yes, Seven. Wiggle those hips," Kathryn cried, cheering her on. "Okay, now try dancing with Janeway. Just follow her movements," she coached.

The captain embraced the young woman with her right arm and pulled her in close. "Just relax, Seven, and feel the way I move."

Seven nodded and paid attention to the cues the captain's body gave her. "Oh, sorry," she said, as she took a misstep and bumped Janeway's left foot.

"That's okay," Janeway assured her. "I've got you."

After a few circuits around the living room, Janeway released Seven and twirled her expertly into Kathryn's waiting arms. The young woman was momentarily surprised but recovered instantly as she picked up the tempo with her new partner, who kept the same rhythm but exaggerated her movements just a little more.

"You're doing wonderfully," Kathryn complimented her. "Now all we have to do is add the cha-cha-cha's. Ready?"

Seven nodded and when, in the next moment, the three beats repeated themselves, she sang out, "cha-cha-cha!"

Kathryn and Janeway laughed and began chanting along happily.

On the next cha-cha-cha, Kathryn twirled Seven back into Janeway's arms, and again Seven picked up her new partner's technique without missing a beat. As the captain pulled her in close, Seven felt Kathryn pressing herself against her back, and joining the other two in the dance. Seven couldn't have been happier, feeling her two captains' bodies molding themselves to her as the three of them moved in rhythm.

During the next refrain, however, Kathryn began to grind her hips more firmly into Seven, pushing her into Janeway and causing a contact that was far more intimate than any they had shared so far. The added closeness made all three women falter and then begin to slow down their movements.

Kathryn was the first to act on the change in mood, ordering the computer to play a slow, seductive dance melody as the three women continued grinding their hips provocatively against each other.

Seven heard Kathryn's breathing become more heavy as she felt her lean in close and begin to nuzzle behind her ear. Meanwhile, Janeway matched the gesture from the front, dropping her head to kiss and nibble a tender spot along the young woman's neck. Seven gasped at the double contact, and then she felt hands, lots of hands, stroking the gentle curves of her hips and waist, down the outside of her thighs, back up and past her waist, along her arms, down the slope of her shoulders, along the swell of her hip again, until finally, one of those hands, she wasn't sure whose, began intimately stroking the outer curve of her right breast.

Seven moaned into Janeway's mouth, deepening the kiss. She then reached out for that one bold hand and grabbed it before it could move away. In the next moment, she tilted slightly to her right and brought the palm of that hand firmly over the top of her breast.

"Oh, Seven," she heard Kathryn whisper from behind.

The young woman's nipples hardened further, more from the desire in Kathryn's voice than from the way she was being petted. She felt her need to be touched begin to burn painfully in her lower belly and move hotly up to her nipples, making her feel suddenly as if her skin was on fire. She pulled away slightly from the two women and began pawing at her own clothes, desperate to remove them. To her utter relief, her two Kathryns sensed her urgency and began helping her disrobe, Kathryn working on her pants as the captain unfastened her blouse. Within moments, she was standing naked before the two women, the cool air of the cabin doing nothing to counteract the searing heat of their gazes.

"I need to see you, too," Seven begged, addressing both of her partners.

"Yes," they answered in unison, as they ripped off their own clothing.

Seven's breathing became even heavier as she saw two perfect sets of breasts pop free from their confines and bounce provocatively in the air. Moving entirely on instinct, she reached out and immediately grasped each captain's right nipple, eliciting simultaneous moans. She then bent her legs slowly and sunk down to the carpeted deck of the captain's quarters, gently pulling on the nipples she had captured to draw the two women down with her.

As soon as all three women were on the floor, with Seven on her back and the two captains propped up on either side of her, Kathryn immediately brought her right hand to Seven's right breast and began fondling it as Janeway mirrored her gesture perfectly with its partner, each content to have her own breast to play with. Seven threw her arms up over her head and arched lithely into the double contact, moaning almost constantly now.

"My Kathryns," she called, her face a study in rapture as she watched them fondling her breasts through eyes heavy-lidded with desire. She simultaneously saw and felt them pinch and roll her nipples, releasing them and then plucking them up progressively harder each time until they ached sweetly and turned an even deeper red.

The two captains escalated their gestures in perfect unison, as if by some silent compact they had agreed to share each new experience of Seven at exactly the same time. That innate instinct drove them now to grab the young woman's breasts and squeeze gently, pushing the tips up further. And when the two nipples were straining upward, poised at attention, each captain brought her hot, wet mouth down around the entire tip of the breast she held in place and began consuming it noisily.

Seven cried out at the contact, immediately bringing her hands down to stroke and encourage the heads she held to herself.

Kathryn and Janeway responded to those caresses, sucking up harder on Seven's nipples and then bringing their teeth into play. They bit down gingerly and then licked the soreness away, repeating the gesture over and over again.

"Oh!" Seven called out, surprised at how wonderful it felt to have her nipples consumed with such fervor. She couldn't imagine a more perfect sensation until both women turned their heads slightly and began chewing the tender tips, first gingerly and then more hungrily in a feast that persisted for several long moments.

The pleasurable ache in Seven's nipples was constant now, forcing her to writhe uncontrollably. The two women held her down, however, and continued indulging their hunger, spurred on by Seven's moans and the "yeses" she couldn't resist blurting out.

Swallowing against the hoarseness in her throat, Seven looked down and grew still more titillated by the sight of her two nipples and their surrounding rings being engulfed almost entirely by her Kathryns' sweet mouths. It was too much.

Just when she thought she couldn't take any more, she felt the two women begin to lick and suck her nipples tenderly as if to soothe away the ache. Gentle kisses followed and then the flat of each woman's tongue pressed wetly against each nipple and paused there, the strong muscles vibrating slightly. Seven then felt those hot, rough, wet tongues lap across her nipples and along the sides and bottoms of her breasts until their entire surfaces glistened with moisture. She then watched as the two captains pulled back and blew cool air on her nipples to soothe them further.

At that moment, both women looked up at Seven, smiling seductively when they caught her looking. And when they were sure they had her full attention, they descended again on her sore red nipples, beginning to suck and bite and chew in a repetition of the hungry feast they had just enjoyed.

Seven wasn't sure why her partners were so fixated on her breasts, but she couldn't help responding to the relentless attention they were being given. Kathryn and the captain repeated the rhythms of their feast another four times, pulling back finally to pinch and fondle her sore nipples, all the while studying the young woman's face.

"How are you doing, Seven?" Kathryn rasped, the concern only marginally evident underneath a voice heavily laced with desire.

"Are we doing this too much?" Janeway followed up, her own tone also dripping with desire.

Seven swallowed. "They are tender," she admitted. "But I do not want it to stop."

Kathryn lifted up briefly and reached behind her, returning with the ice bucket that held their wine. "This will help," she said, handing Janeway a piece of ice and then grabbing one for herself. They then began smoothing the cubes over the young woman's nipples as she gasped from the sudden cold.

"Here, take a sip of this," Kathryn suggested, handing Seven the wine bottle.

The young woman rose up on one elbow as she tipped the bottle and took three long swallows of liquid, feeling instantly refreshed. She then returned the bottle to Kathryn and sank back into position, throwing her arms over her head and jutting her large breasts upward to signal her readiness to be fondled some more. She was pleased when she felt the two women resume the gentle soothing of her nipples with more cubes of ice from the bucket.

"Better now?" Janeway asked, bringing her face up close to Seven's.

The young woman nodded. Then they kissed deeply as she felt Kathryn nuzzling and kissing her neck.

Her lovers' mouths moved slowly down her chest again until they were fastened once more around a plump nipple and sucking up the soothing chill. This time, however, their hands released her breasts and started trailing down her abdomen. Seven's stomach twitched at the new contact, and she was surprised to feel her thighs lurch apart a little, as if spreading themselves open was a natural reaction to this new stimulus.

As the two women began chewing her nipples again, Seven felt their hands move down her thighs and pull them apart even further, guiding her knees upward and to the sides. She then felt her right thigh being positioned between Kathryn's legs until it was pressed against her sex, which was dripping with moisture. In a perfect symmetry of motion, her left thigh was pulled up the same way simultaneously until it, too, was pressed up against the captain's dripping sex. Before she knew it, Seven's own wet sex was completely splayed open with her thighs effectively trapped in place between her two captains' legs as they continued sucking and biting her nipples.

"Yes!" she cried out.

"Seven," the two Kathryns purred back.

Seven imagined what she must look like, opened up and vulnerable, the folds of her sex naturally spread apart by and for her two Kathryns. The image she saw in her mind's eye caused a fresh flood of excitement to leak from her womanhood. She inhaled sharply at the sensation and was surprised to find the air thick with the scent of her own excitement. She hoped the two women would notice how ready she was because she wasn't sure she could wait any longer. She wanted them to look at her, to inspect her, to touch her.

She felt them begin to stroke her inner thighs, moving closer to their mark but with deliberate slowness. No longer able to tolerate their pace, however, she voiced her need: "Please, touch me," she rasped.

Seven watched with anticipation as Kathryn and the captain pulled back from her bosom and looked at her. Then they sat back a little more and began to gaze at Seven's sex.

"Poor darling," Kathryn sympathized when she saw how engorged Seven's lips and clitoris had become from all their attentions.

The young woman continued staring back at them as she saw them reach down and begin to pull back the folds of her sex.

She gasp as the cool air hit her.

"Oh, Seven," Janeway called.

In the next moment, she felt their hands begin a very private petting of her sex, fingers stroking around her opening, along her folds, and just to the sides of the sensitive nub at the top. She moaned then as Kathryn and the captain's thumbs took turns gliding in circles around and across her clitoris. Then she watched as the two women made eye contact with each other and intertwined their fingers, looking down at the mouth of Seven's sex to insert just the tips of their index fingers inside. When their digits were properly poised, they snuggled back down alongside Seven and alternately kissed and watched her as, together, they slowly penetrated her sex.

Seven cried out as she felt herself being filled by her two Kathryns, pulling them into a tight embrace as the penetration deepened. Her mouth found the nearest one and pressed against it, her tongue rolling against one of her partners' tongues as she felt one of her nipples being sucked again by her other partner. The thumbs continued teasing her nub as the two fingers began stroking her deep inside.

When she pulled away from the kiss she was enjoying to take in fresh gulps of air, she was surprised to hear herself call out for more. The index fingers withdrew and then she felt her opening being stretched further as two sets of intertwined index and middle fingers pressed slowly back into her. Her thighs trembled at the sudden girth of the extra fingers, which paused themselves inside her just past the first knuckle so that she could get accustomed to them.

"All right, darling?" Janeway asked.

"Yes, yes," Seven repeated impatiently. She was so close.

Janeway smiled and Kathryn chuckled. Then Seven felt them each descend on a nipple again as their fingers pressed themselves slowly but firmly past the opening until they were deep inside, stretching her fully and strumming her to ecstasy.

Seven nudged her thighs against her partners' own damp patches to try spreading herself further. Perceiving her intent, the two women left off sucking her nipples and scooted their other legs around and inside Seven's so that their hips now pushed up against the backs of her thighs, spreading her open as much as they could. With the extra room and leverage, they were able to begin pumping their fingers into Seven more deeply, the force making the young woman's massive breasts quake from the impact.

Since the two women had pulled away from her upper body, Seven found herself yearning for some contact. As she groped blindly, she accidently rubbed against the damp surfaces of her own thighs, feeling the remnants of the two women's own excitement. The sensation titillated Seven even more, knowing her lovers were experiencing the same passion she felt. Soon, she thought. Soon her own passion would be sated and she'd be able to turn her attentions toward driving her two captains to the same ecstasy she'd been feeling all evening. Soon....but not yet.

She bit her lower lip as the pumping became more forceful. She could hear her Kathryns joined hands slapping wetly against her sex, a softer sound of suction as they withdrew interspersing itself with the louder noise of contact as they plunged back in. She was sure she should have reached her peak by now given the way she was being pressed upward with each thrust, but orgasm seemed to elude her. Then she felt the two women angle themselves and lean over her so that they could reach her sex with their other hands. Seven welcomed the weight pressing down on her hips, feeling loved and protected by their bodies as they continued pounding into her with more force. Then she felt the thumbs of their free hands press along either side of her engorged nub, stroking it deliberately as if to milk it. Her thighs began to tremble, mimicking the rhythm of that stroking. After several more exquisite minutes of having her sex pumped and milked, Seven's body arched and erupted. She cried out in climax, feeling her passion overflow and leak out of her in shuddering spasms of liquid ecstasy.

"Seven, oh, Seven!" Janeway rasped, further dampening the young woman's lower body with wet kisses as the last tides of her climax ebbed out of her.

"So beautiful!" Kathryn added, mimicking her counterpart's own rapture.

Before Seven realized quite what was happening, the two women lifted her hips up and brought their faces to her sex, taking turns lapping her thoroughly.

Seven cried out at the new sensation of those rough, wet tongues insinuating themselves in places she never imagined a tongue would go. It was so incredibly private and sexy and exciting that, before she knew it, her lower body was beginning to shudder from the onset of a second climax. As she began to peak, she felt one of the women latch onto her clitoris and begin sucking vigorously while the other one pressed her tongue inside her sex and licked her deeply.

That orgasm came and went barely noticed by the two women except for the new flood of juices that flowed out of Seven's sex. They lapped that up, too, and continued feasting on the young woman in a desperate need to feed their own sexual appetites now. Seven caught her breath, mildly enjoying the continuous licking and sucking as her lower body shuddered through a few aftershocks.

She then raised herself up on her elbows and watched her two partners, suddenly wondering if they'd forgotten about her. They were moaning in evident enjoyment, making indelicate smacking sounds as they continued indulging their hunger for her juices. She realized that with all that noise between them, they couldn't tell that she wasn't one of the ones they heard moaning. Perhaps this was one of those 'logistical issues' of being a threesome that Kathryn told her they'd have to work out. With couples, one could always tell who was moaning. In their case, they'd have to rely on other forms of communication.

Seven started to call out to them, but stopped abruptly when she saw how happy they were. As she looked on fondly, she realized that she didn't have the heart to tell them she was done.

Sighing quietly to herself, she settled back down and decided to let them indulge. She was enjoying her climaxes anyway and considered that their relentless attentions might yet bring on a third one. And Seven suddenly found that she had a real affinity for things that come in threes.

*****

Janeway was the first to notice that things had gotten a little quieter among them. When she looked up, she saw Seven lying back with her hands cupped under her head. Instead of rapture, she saw a look of consternation on her face.

"Seven?"

The young woman looked down surprised and then smiled. "Kathryn?" she greeted back.

"What?" Kathryn said, popping her head up thinking she had been called.

"She was talking to me," Janeway explained with a smirk.

"Told you that would get confusing."

Janeway ignored her, sensing that in their enthusiasm, they'd missed noticing their partner was no longer responding. "Seven," she began embarrassed, as she moved up to join the young woman, "oh, Seven....where was my head?" she lamented.

"Want me to draw you a map?" Kathryn shot back, as she joined them.

"Shut up, you," Janeway warned. Then returning her attentions to the young woman, she said, "Seven, I'm sorry."

"I am not," she replied sincerely.

"Still, I should have been paying attention." Janeway turned an accusing look on her counterpart. "Why didn't you say something?"

"It's not polite to talk with your mouth f--"

Janeway's hand to Kathryn's mouth interrupted the latter's comment before she could finished.

"In your case, it's not polite to talk at all!" Janeway concluded.

"I am not upset, Kathryn," Seven said, trying to assuage her grey-eyed partner. "On the contrary, I am very 'okay'," she countered with an uncharacteristically silly grin.

Kathryn chuckled, and even Janeway couldn't help smiling.

"I'm glad you're 'okay', my love," Janeway said.

Seven frowned. "I do, however, have a 'logistical issue' I am hoping you and Kathryn can help me resolve."

"What is it, darling?" Kathryn asked.

"While you were finishing, I was lying here thinking how much I wish to reciprocate what you just did for me. But despite all the time I had, I was not able to determine how best to accomplish my goal so that both of you will be satisfied."

"Seven, there's nothing that says you have to make love to both of us at the same time," Janeway suggested gently.

"Perhaps not always," Seven allowed, "but this first time..." she fumbled for a way to explain herself.

Kathryn smiled. "It's okay, Seven. You can do it if we help."

Kathryn demonstrated by turning to lie along Seven's right side and straddling her right leg. She then brought her sex into contact with Seven's thigh and began slowly grinding her hips against her.

"Yes," Seven called. Then she turned to her other lover and reached out for her with her left arm.

Janeway surrendered immediately to her sweet invitation, straddling Seven's left leg and bracing herself with one arm on the floor and the other along Seven's strong shoulder and chest.

Both women began riding Seven's thighs with rapidly increasing excitement, rekindling the fire that making love to Seven earlier had already ignited. Within moments, they were moaning.

At one point, Kathryn arched, and Seven took the opportunity to seize one of her nipples and begin rolling it roughly between her fingers. As Kathryn cried out in appreciation, Seven turned and found one of Janeway's nipples, treating it to the same delicious abuse. After a few minutes, she had both her captains crying out in pleasure.

Janeway leaned into the contact and suddenly found her other nipple being pulled into the most exquisitely silky wetness she had ever experienced. She felt her blood pulsing at the tip, drawn there by the tight suction of Seven's hot mouth.

"Oh, yessss," she hissed.

Seven played with the nipple for long moments, sucking with as much force as she could manage as she tweaked its partner tightly between her fingers in a grip that was at once painful and exciting. Janeway's nipples began to ache wonderfully, her pleasure smearing itself copiously along the young woman's thigh.

Unable yet to treat both of her other Kathryn's breasts to the simultaneous attentions of a hand and a mouth, Seven used her free hand to alternate back and forth between Kathryn's nipples, pinching and rolling them more severely to make up for the lesser contact. After several long minutes, Seven pulled back to scrutinize her handiwork and was gratified to see both women writhing rapturously against her, their nipples plump and red and straining outward for more attention. Satisfied that her grey-eyed Kathryn's breasts would make do with just a hand for awhile, Seven turned her head and sucked one of her blue-eyed lover's nipples into her mouth.

Kathryn responded to the new sensation with a jolt. "Oh! Oh, Seven!" she cried out.

The sensation was unlike any the older woman could ever remember having experienced before. She was sure her nipple had just doubled in size from the pulling pressure of Seven's forceful suction. It seemed to drain the blood in her brain, making her feel light-headed as the red liquid flowed hotly down her chest and into her breast to pool painfully at the peak. The rapid rhythm of Seven's firm lips made the blood ebb and flow quickly, thumping gloriously against the inner tip of her nipple in tempo with Seven's sucking.

"God! You have the most wonderful mouth!" Kathryn declared, vaguely dissatisfied with her understatement.

The comment was so emphatic, however, that Seven had to struggle to keep from laughing, not wanting to lose her grip on the delectable treat between her lips. Then, just to make sure she had a secure grip, she bit down on the nub. Within moments, Kathryn was riding her leg in a frenzied rhythm that signaled her ascent.

With one partner poised for climax, Seven turned her head quickly and bit down on her other partner's nearest nipple. That, too, did the trick, sending her grey-eyed Kathryn on the same road to ecstasy. Seven pulled back then, gazing from one lover to the other, marveling at the sight before her.

"Beautiful!" she gasped.

Both women had their heads thrown back, eyes closed against all distractions and faces enraptured, as if they'd been seized by a force they couldn't even imagine resisting. Seven was instantly wet with desire just looking at them. She reached around and gripped each of her lovers by a cheek, pressing them into her slick thighs to increase the friction. Both women whimpered and then began to quake. They stroked themselves against her thighs four more times and then cried out their climax partway into one final thrust.

Seven watched her Kathryns descend slowly into consciousness, but she couldn't bring herself to release them just yet since she, too, was now on the verge of another climax. Sensing her need, both captains reached for her sex with their nearest hands and plunged into her.

"Yes!" Seven yelled, feeling her own excitement begin to peak as her two lovers continued riding her toward more climaxes of their own.

Long moments later, Seven became vaguely aware that one of her partners had cried out again. She reached out blindly for contact and pulled when she felt flesh. It was her grey-eyed lover.

"What is it, my love?" Janeway asked.

Seven merely pulled her in for a searing kiss, unable to speak with words but needing to communicate her desperate need to taste, to use her mouth.

Janeway perceived her need, removing her hand from Seven's sex and letting the young woman plant kisses down her neck and torso, all the while feeling Seven nudging her upward. When she understood where Seven wanted her to wind up, Janeway took the lead, scooting up to the young woman's head and then turning to face her body. Having positioned herself in the right direction to be able to play with Seven's body while the young women indulged herself with hers, Janeway straddled her blond lover's face and then squatted down until she could feel warm breath on her intimate folds.

"Yessss," she heard and felt Seven say. And in the next instant, she felt her young lover's exquisite tongue take one long exploratory swipe through the entire length of her sex.

"Seven!" Janeway cried out. "Oh, yes!"

She leaned forward for support and immediately found the buoyant bounty of Seven's breasts. She grabbed the masses as her lower body shuddered through several more bold swipes of Seven's surprisingly skillful tongue until both body and tongue discovered a complementary rhythm. Then Janeway gripped Seven's nipples for support and began riding the young woman's hungry mouth.

Recovering from her own second climax, Kathryn immediately felt the empathetic pangs of a third one when she saw Seven's mouth loving her counterpart's sex. As she took in the tableau, it slowly donned on her that with Janeway tending to and being tended by Seven's upper body, Kathryn had Seven's lower body to play with all to herself. Scooting down quickly, she almost whistled to herself from the pure joy of not having to share her dessert this time. Then, with a smile, she pulled apart Seven's lips and took long moments to study what she hadn't had the opportunity to appreciate before.

Seven was slick and red again, the blond fuzz of her mound having grown dark and matted with the juices of her own excitement. Kathryn pinched each flap of her small inner lips, pulling gently to unfurl them, and then she began to lick their burnished, pebbly surfaces. Finding them too slick to get a good grip, she released one of them and sucked it for long moments, wiping it clean of Seven's more slippery juices. Then she pulled it open again to dry slightly in the cool air and repeated the maneuver with its partner until it, too, was clean. Able to grasp her inner lips more firmly now, she unfurled Seven's sex again, pulling harder to spread her completely open for inspection.

Having Seven's sex yawning open like that, so poised and so vulnerable, made Kathryn's mouth water. She nuzzled the area lovingly as she continued holding Seven open and then licked and nibbled on all the exposed surfaces, occasionally letting her nose nudge playfully against the little bundle at the top. Using just the tip of her tongue, she painted her intent around the distended rim of Seven's sex for long moments and then poked it partway inside the hole a few times to tease the young woman.

Kathryn pulled back to scrutinize the effects of her titillating probes, gratified to see a little more of Seven's excitement leaking out of the opening. She lapped at the small dribble of juice just underneath the hole and then moved away again to pull up a little harder on the lips. She began to tweak and wiggle them vigorously, knowing the sensitive nub at the top would feel the teasing vibrations. Then she let her tongue play itself hungrily all over Seven's wide-open sex, moving it roughly over her clitoris and lips and hole in a feeding frenzy designed to drive the young woman mad. When Seven's sex began to shudder, Kathryn withdrew again to inspect her work, smiling to herself as the young woman groaned. Pulling back a little more, she blew on the entire length of Seven's sopping sex, watching it twitch with anticipation.

Looking at her companions a moment, she noticed Janeway arching upward a bit and was surprised to see Seven's lips puckered and apparently blowing on her counterpart's sex in the same way she had just done to Seven's. Kathryn's brow quirked up, wondering if the young woman was mimicking her maneuvers. To test her theory, she poked just the tip of her tongue out and played it against Seven's tender nub. Sure enough, an instant later, Seven's tongue reached up toward Janeway's nub. Kathryn grinned to herself, sensing that a very interesting game was suddenly afoot, so to speak. Wiggling her brows with devilish delight, she wrapped her lips around Seven's clitoris and began sucking it noisily, gratified when she heard a similar sound echoing back to her from somewhere between Janeway's legs.

Time to get creative, Kathryn thought, deciding that this would be an efficient way to teach Seven a few new tricks while also teaching her rather stuffy, undersexed counterpart a lesson or two on the advantages of having such a willing and winsome partner as Seven for a lover.

Pulling back a moment, she brought her thumbs up to either side of Seven's nub and pushed down on the base until the delicate head poked out from under its little hood. Then she watched Janeway for a reaction as she nuzzled into Seven's sex, licked the sensitive head, blew against its exposed surface, and then began grazing her teeth across it in a show of force that caused the little bundle to lurch in fright. When Janeway's body jolted up from Seven's mouth, Kathryn smiled, knowing she'd hit her target.

Realizing Janeway could easily escape the ambush that Kathryn was setting for her by proxy, the blue-eyed woman released Seven's sex and brought her arms underneath and over her lover's hips and thighs, effectively trapping Seven's lower body in her grip. An unwitting accomplice now, Seven parodied the gesture, bringing her arms over Janeway's thighs and reaching around to hold her in place by gripping her two cheeks. Kathryn was satisfied that her counterpart wasn't going anywhere when she saw Janeway's eyes widen a bit at her apparent predicament. Then she leaned in and began gently biting the vulnerable nub before her, knowing from the way Janeway was also moaning and twitching that Seven was putting her own teeth to work against the fleshy center of her captain's sex.

Kathryn alternated nibbling and sucking until she felt the little bundle begin to shake with the onset of climax. Then she pulled away, not wanting to end the double lesson too soon. When both Janeway and Seven groaned in frustration, Kathryn had to fight hard to stifle her laughter, not wanting to give herself away before she'd had her fill. She then licked her way down to the dripping mouth of Seven's sex and plunged her tongue forcefully inside, making her partner and, by proxy, her counterpart both jolt from the force. Flexing and rolling her tongue, Kathryn spent long moments tasting every bit of Seven's inner flesh that her long, rough muscle could reach.

When she was satisfied she'd licked Seven clean, she decided it was time for the final part of her provocative lesson. Better buckle up, Captain Janeway, she thought. This is going to be a bumpy ride.

Pulling her tongue out slowly, Kathryn began swiping it up to Seven's clitoris and then back down over the mouth of her sex. She repeated the languorous swipes several times until she was sure, from the expectant but calmer look on her counterpart's face, that Seven had settled into the pattern and was trying it out on Janeway's sex. Then, when Kathryn reached the mouth of Seven's sex on the next downward swipe, she moved quickly beyond it and immediately pushed her tongue past the tight ring of muscles in Seven's rear, not stopping until she was all the way inside. Seven gave a little yelp of delight, and then Kathryn heard a very surprised, "Sevvvennnn!!!"

The look of utter shock on Janeway's face almost made Kathryn gag on her own laughter, but she managed to stifle that, too, concentrating on snuggling her tongue into Seven's more private opening as the young woman's bottom wiggled with delight. Taking another look at her counterpart, Kathryn smirked when she noticed how Janeway, despite herself, was settling into the rhythm of a newfound ecstasy.

After long moments of indulging her impish nature, Kathryn finally gave herself over to the pure enjoyment of lovemaking, licking and probing and sucking every inch of Seven's sex, sure in the knowledge that Seven was giving as good as she got. A short while later, Janeway and Seven shuddered and climaxed with echoing wails of pure, unadulterated pleasure.

Finally spent, Janeway pulled herself off Seven's face and collapsed next to her blond lover, turning toward her as she caught her breath. "Seven," she gasped, "I never knew you could be so....inventive."

Seven smiled proudly but realized she couldn't take all the credit. Gazing down fondly at her other lover, she explained simply, "I was inspired."

Shocked grey eyes turned slowly to discover twinkling blue ones feigning innocence, but the way Kathryn unrepentantly licked her lips gave her away.

"Ugh!" Janeway cried, as she dropped her head back down to the floor in disgust. She felt as though she'd just been molested by her dirty old self.....and reluctantly realized that she loved every minute of it.

*****

The following morning was unlike any other Seven of Nine or Kathryn Janeway, in whatever form, had ever experienced. Having wound up together on the captain's bed with one Seven of Nine snuggled cozily between two adoring Kathryn Janeways, the threesome awoke feeling more loved and more sore than any of them could ever remember feeling. After the computer sounded their wake-up call, three plaintive sighs filled the silent air of the cabin.

Then Kathryn reached over blindly and began petting an exposed cheek.

"Do you mind?" Janeway groused.

Two sets of blue eyes looked down at Kathryn's hand to find it had inadvertently made contact with Janeway's and not Seven's bare bottom.

"Sorry," Kathryn sang insincerely, as she pulled her hand away and brought it to Seven's smooth belly. Then she scooted up and gave Seven a kiss on the lips. "Good morning," she said when it was over.

"Good morning," Seven purred back.

"Oh, and a good morning to you, too, Grumpy," Kathryn said playfully, reaching over to give Janeway a companionable peck on the cheek and to tousle her hair.

"Ugh, morning breath," Janeway complained, but she couldn't help smiling back at her counterpart's friendliness.

*****

During the morning briefing, those in the command crew who had not spent the previous night in the captain's quarters quickly surmised what had transpired there from certain facts that presented themselves as the meeting progressed. First, Seven of Nine, who seldom smiled, had a surprisingly silly grin on her face every time she looked at the captains. Second, the captains, who were usually bantering back and forth about something, were not only cordial with each other, but were actually cracking jokes between them. Third, all three women, typically the picture of poise and grace, kept wiggling and shifting uncomfortably in their seats and even winced a couple of times, though the pained looks disappeared instantly behind brilliant smiles whenever Seven and one of the Janeways made eye contact.

Despite her lapses, Captain Janeway struggled to maintain an air of professionalism, bringing the meeting to order and asking for the usual status reports. About the only issue of even passing interest was the fact that they would be entering a new solar system around mid-afternoon, but since it wasn't inhabited, there wouldn't be much to do except run some quick scans for any materials--ores, chemicals, plants, and so forth--that Voyager could use.

"Harry, let's not take any chances with those ramscoops. As soon as you start detecting an increase in solar emissions, bring power back down to normal levels."

"Yes, Captain."

"Anything else?"

When no one responded, Janeway dismissed the staff with a nod of her head. Kathryn hung back, and when the two women were alone, she addressed her counterpart.

"Buy you a cup of coffee, Captain?"

"I could use a whole carafe after last night," Janeway admitted, causing her counterpart to laugh and nod in agreement.

They exited the briefing room and crossed the bridge together until they reached their Ready Room. "You'd better check the replicator settings," Janeway warned. "Seven was in here yesterday running a diagnostic on it to make sure we didn't burn anything else."

"How nifty!"

"What?"

Kathryn turned to her counterpart smiling. "She reset the temperature protocols but corrected our specifications for coffee. Mmmm," she added, sampling her cup, "and she got it perfectly right."

Janeway accepted her cup of coffee. "She takes care of us," she commented unnecessarily.

"Yes, she does," Kathryn agreed, a fond look on her face as she thought about their Borg. "We should do something nice for her."

"Like?"

"I don't know. How about a little shore leave in this next system if it has anything hospitable to offer? A little romantic getaway.....just the three of us?"

"You make it all sound so normal."

"Are you having second thoughts, Janeway?"

"I just want to make sure we don't get carried away....like we did last night. There's two of us, after all. I think we need to be careful we don't place more demands on Seven than she can handle."

"You mean sexually."

"Well, yes, to put it frankly."

"Point taken, but may I remind you, old girl, we've got fifteen years on our twenty-six-year-old lover. And let's not forget those remarkable Borg nanoprobes of hers. Seven's got more stamina than both of us put together!"

Janeway smirked but couldn't help agreeing with her counterpart. She thought back to the previous night and smiled fondly when she remembered how, just before they went to sleep, Seven had tried initiating another round of lovemaking and had been vetoed by both of her overtired partners.

She sighed thinking about other things that weren't quite as pleasant. "It just looks so unseemly," she persisted after a moment. "Two Starfleet captains thumbing their noses at protocol and bedding not just any crew member, but an innocent who's never even had a romantic relationship before."

"Well, that's not really about Seven, is it?"

Janeway flushed a little, unable to deny the point. "No," she admitted, "I guess it's not."

Kathryn took a thoughtful breath before continuing. "Are you in love with Seven?"

Janeway looked up, her expression earnest. "Hopelessly."

"Do you remember when we realized we were in love with her?"

"I don't think I wanted to admit it to myself, but probably when the Borg queen came for her. I knew I felt something more than concern for a crew member when I went after her."

Kathryn nodded. "And do you think Seven's in love with us?"

Janeway studied her steaming cup of coffee, letting it remind her of all the little ways that Seven expressed her affection. "Yes."

"Then there's your answer, to Starfleet and protocol and anyone else who might ask why two Starfleet captains are romantically involved with their Borg crew member. We're involved because we're in love," she said softly.

"You make everything sound so simple."

"We're captains on a lone Federation starship stuck thousands of miles away from home in a quadrant full of Borg, Vidiians, Kazons, Hirogens and all manner of other nasties. Things are complicated enough without us inventing problems where they don't exist."

Janeway grinned. "I thought I was supposed to be the logical one."

"I may be right-brain dominant," Kathryn quipped. "Doesn't make me a half-wit."

Janeway laughed.

"So how about I venture down to Astrometrics and see if Seven can scare us up some nice little M-class planet? The crew would welcome a little shore leave, too. Don't you think?"

"Okay, but how is it you're the one who gets the plum assignment of visiting with our resident Borg?"

"I thought of it first," Kathryn retorted unrepentantly.