Pulse3

“I knew from the beginning, even before your little ‘Angry Warrior’ speech. The way you looked at me sometimes, and spoke to me, and touched me. I knew.”
He leant forward. ”And you feel the same?”
“I didn’t always, but gradually I found you were always in my thoughts. I began thinking about you in a way that I knew I shouldn’t be, there was no going back to Mark, you had replaced him in my heart. And I have learnt that there simply is no escaping these feelings, trying to move on and find somebody else doesn’t work.”
“You’ve also discovered that? Nobody quite hits the mark.”
“Nobody even comes close.” She locked his eyes with hers.
“But you said it won’t work.”
“It won’t, not out here. I’ve resigned myself to the fact that as long as were confined to Voyager, and facing all the problems that we do there is no way we could ever sustain a meaningful relationship. We would just let the command structure get in the way, we aren’t like any other ship, we just never seem to be out of danger. I fear that if one of us was ever in a dangerous situation the other would be too devastated to cope. I mean just look at all the problems Tom and B’lanna are having.”
“So there really is no hope for me, I’m destined to spend my life suffering and pining for you?”
She laughed. “I didn’t say that. If you’re willing to wait.”
“For as long as it takes.”
She smiled warmly. “Thankyou. I would kiss you but I’m afraid I wouldn’t be able to stop.”
“So kiss me, I won’t mind.”
“Chakotay!” She playfully slapped his arm. “You have to promise that nothing will change now that you know the truth.”
“I can’t do that. The very least I can do is promise to never tell anybody, never look at you in a certain way in front of the crew, and try not to panic too much when you’re in danger.”
“Oh and how deeply grateful I am.”
“Now, that’s one problem, what’s next?”
“No, no more problems, not tonight. Tell me more about your latest ‘adventure’.” She slipped down from the table onto the couch next to him.
“Isn’t it a little late? We both have to be on the bridge in a few hours.”
“What, you’ve never pulled an all-nighter before?”
“Well, if you insist. But first I have to do something just this once and after that I promise I will not try it again until you ask me to.”
She knew exactly what his intention was but for some reason she couldn’t think of one reason to stop him. She had concocted a thousand scenarios in her head about what their first kiss would be like, but when his lips touched hers she completely abandoned all her dreams and expectations and dissolved into him. Her arms instinctively went around his neck, her lips molded themselves to his and she found she was lost. Travelling along some invisible path toward the one thing she had always wanted but never quite been able to reach. One of his hands was heavy and warm in her hair, his tongue was assaulting hers, and his other hand was touching places she really shouldn’t have allowed him to, but it felt far too good to stop. When he finally slowed it down, gently kissing her open mouth until he completely stopped, she found she didn’t want to open her eyes. She took a deep breath. “Mmm, I do hope we get home soon.”
Chakotay laughed and brushed his hand down her arched neck, her pulse was beating hard and fast underneath her pale skin, he had the urge to taste the skin at the very base of her neck but resisted, reminding himself of his promise. “Yes. I’m not sure how long I can resist your temptation.”
She opened her eyes and pushed him away. “You better resist, every single woman we might encounter, and when we do get back to Earth I will make a promise to reward you for your hard work, dedication, and patience.”
“How?” He said innocently.
“Well, in a way Starfleet never does.”