Disclaimer: Star Trek and its characters are the property of Viacom/Paramount. I am just borrowing them for fun, no profit intended. Synopsis: This is the sequel to "Halt Turbolift" in that it is B'Elanna's fantasy holoprogram she promised Tom in that story. The tone of this story is a little different, however, in that there is some sentiment involved. This is set sometime after the episode "One", and it is most definitely rated NC-17 for sexual content. *^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^* "Spring Fling" by Julie Evans (Juli17@aol.com) Tom Paris strode into Holodeck One and stopped short. Although the room was reserved under B'Elanna's name and listed on active program status, there was no program actually running and B'Elanna was nowhere in sight. He was even ten minutes late, since he'd been detained on the Bridge for an hour after his shift. But after the month long trip through the Mutara class nebula, everyone had once again been working extra hours to repair the damage done to the ship's systems by the radiation. He didn't mind at all, since he found the extra work far preferable to being trapped unconscious in a stasis tube. Tom shuddered slightly at the memory, and shrugged his shoulders, readjusting his wheat colored linen jacket. B'Elanna had been working the hardest of everyone, as usual, even double shifting in Engineering last night to get the damaged bioneural gel paks reintegrated. But she'd left a message in his mail this morning, presumably before she'd gotten some much needed sleep, telling him to meet her here at 1930, and to wear something "casually dressy". He'd worked on what she meant by "casually dressy" and what it might imply about her holoprogram, which he assumed was her answer to his turbolift fantasy they had played out on this holodeck several weeks ago. He'd finally chosen the only suit he'd replicated for permanent use, other than his formal black suit that he wore to Voyager's occasional dress up parties. He fingered the collar of his white cotton dress shirt, which he'd left unbuttoned since he assumed "casually dressy" meant he could forgo the annoyance of a tie. He was still completely in the dark about what B'Elanna's fantasy might be. Well, whatever his imagination had failed to conjure up, it certainly included his standing alone, dressed in a suit, and surrounded by the black and yellow grid of the holodeck. Just as he considered calling Engineering to see if B'Elanna had been delayed by some new emergency only the overworked Chief Engineer could handle, he heard the holodeck doors swish open. Tom turned as B'Elanna walked in, mouth open to speak, but for several moments he could only stare. B'Elanna was dressed in...a dress. Something she rarely wore, generally when the dress code of the more formal crew parties called for it. And this dress... It was sleeveless, the low V neck revealing the soft swell of her breasts, and the clinging material molding itself to her body like a second skin until it flared out past the curve of her hips to fall in soft folds along her thighs. The brilliant blue cobalt color set off the warm glow of her bronzed skin. And as she took several steps toward him the shimmery material of her dress glittered as it caught the soft lighting of the holodeck and swooshed softly as it danced sinuously along and between her thighs. Tom glanced down at her slender, bare calves and ankles, made even more shapely by the slingback high heeled sandals she wore. B'Elanna in heels... Tom's gaze finally moved to B'Elanna's face as she stopped half a meter in front of him. Her own eyes wandered briefly down his body, then darted back up to meet his gaze, and he saw in their dark depths the same quick flash of desire he always felt when he looked at her. And he saw something else. He thought he caught a brief glimpse of...apprehension. ""Don't tell me this is your fantasy, B'Elanna," Tom teased, his mouth quirking as he indicated the hologrid design surrounding them with a quick jerk of his head. He lowered his voice. "Not that I wouldn't be willing to make love to you anywhere..." B'Elanna's only reaction was a frown. "No, of course not. I have a program. It's something a little...different. Something I wanted to see...to do...once..." "Different's fine," Tom said, sensing her hesitation. She gave him an unsure look, and Tom added reassuringly, "If you're worried I'll be shocked or something, B'Elanna, don't be." "I don't think-" "Remember," Tom interrupted her, grinning slyly, "I'm not intimidated by your Klingon side." B'Elanna gave him an odd look, almost as if she was disappointed. Or hurt. Tom wondered what he'd said. "B'Elanna..." B'Elanna shook her head. "Never mind. This program was probably a bad idea. I strayed from our original...objective-" "Original objective?" Tom echoed. Would that be dreaming up how many different ways they could find to have sex? Not that he had a particular problem with that but he asked anyway, "We have an objective?" B'Elanna gave him a frustrated look, then she shrugged and dropped a light hand on Tom's chest. "It's ridiculous that I even still think about it. So forget it. I programmed something else also, something that I'm sure will interest you more..." "Anything you program will interest me, but right now I'd rather see the program we're dressed for." The one she hesitated sharing with him for some reason. He caught B'Elanna's hand as she started to pull it away. "And there's no objective other than enjoying ourselves, and learning something about what we each like." B'Elanna returned Tom's sincere look with a cautious look. "I doubt it's what your expecting, Tom." "Something unexpected from you, B'Elanna?" Tom teased again. "I think I'm getting used to that." He pressed her hand tighter against his chest. "I'm only expecting that you show me what you want, B'Elanna. You don't have to keep it a secret. Whatever it is, if it's about you, I'll like it, too." Tom and B'Elanna stared at each other for several moments. Then B'Elanna nodded once and addressed the computer. "Computer, activate program Torres 12B, Spring Fling." The hologrid disappeared and was immediately replaced by a beach setting. Turquoise blue water, taking on an deeper hue in the light of the setting sun, washed gently up the shore of the white sandy beach, a beach surrounded by tropical bushes, palm trees and outcroppings of blue gray rocks, and sheltered by an uneven cliffside. The white sand was dotted with tall torches, their flames adding light as dusk rapidly approached, and with rock edged firepits, where food was sizzling on grills. And the beach was crowded with people. They were hunkered around the firepits, strolling in the surf, sitting on the rocks, and gathered in front of the band set up against the wall of the cliff dancing on the sand already worn smooth by the movement of many feet. Tom watched several people pass by where he and B'Elanna stood, in the middle of it all a few meters away from the edge of the surf. Young people, in their twenties, or younger. And he had to admit that this was definitely unexpected. He looked at B'Elanna, who pulled her own gaze from their surroundings to meet his eyes. "The Academy's Spring Fling?" Tom asked, his expression puzzled, and only curiosity in his voice. B'Elanna sighed. "I told you it was ridiculous-" "No, it's not," Tom said. He kept his grip on her hand as she tried to pull it away again, interlocking his fingers with hers. "Just a little surprising." He glanced around again, taking in the tropical setting, the rocks and beach, and on the cliff above them the stones of the ancient Mayan ruins that had stood sentinel over the Caribbean for more than a thousand years. The setting of the Academy's most anticipated yearly social event since the days before his own father had been a cadet. "Not that this isn't a stunning setting," Tom said, and he knew the warm tropical breezes fit right into B'Elanna's temperature comfort zone, "I just didn't think you were overly eager to revisit your Academy days." "I bet you came here every year when you were at the Academy, Tom," B'Elanna said, giving him a small smile. "Who, me?" Tom smiled back teasingly. "I never missed any of the Academy's social events. Especially this one, since my father considered it a "frivolous expenditure of Academy funds". Which made it all the more appealing, of course," Tom added wryly. And he would never have refused to spend an afternoon and evening frolicking on a beach with whatever girl he'd been currently dating, even if most of those relationships had been more of the casual variety. His brutal course load at the Academy hadn't left time for much else. B'Elanna scanned their surroundings again, taking in the activity on the beach, and then turning her gaze to the turquoise waters of the Caribbean, which was taking on an orange glow in the fading light. Then she looked up, where the few high wispy clouds were beginning to paint the sky with streaks of red and orange as the sun disappeared behind the cliff. The warm, slightly humid breeze ruffled her hair, and the smells of the salty sea, the wood fires, and cooking food mixed with the murmurs of conversation, occasional shouts of laughter and the strains of Latin jazz coming from the band. "I guess this is what I thought it would look like." "You never went to the Spring Fling." It was a statement, since Tom realized that was the case. As much as he'd been at home with the social scene at the Academy, and craved the respite from his studies, he knew B'Elanna had very much kept her focus trained on her studies. She'd as much as told him so. B'Elanna shook her head. She edged closer to Tom as a couple attentive only to each other nearly bumped her as they passed by. Tom took the opportunity to drop his arm around B'Elanna's waist and leave it there, as the young man apologized quickly and the couple bounded away. Tom watched B'Elanna watch the couple as they approached the surf. He wasn't really surprised that B'Elanna hadn't taken time to mix with the social scene, while he'd spent far to much time socializing, at least in his father's eyes. He could picture her then, intensely involved in her studies, focusing on learning all about starship engines with the same furious dedication she gave to her Engineering duties now. He found the image of that younger B'Elanna, impassioned by her desire to become a Starfleet engineer to the exclusion of all else, somehow endearing. But it still didn't explain why they were here, unless she still regretted that she hadn't take the opportunity back then to come here. "If you were this curious about the Spring Fling, B'Elanna, why didn't you just put aside those warp theories for a day and come here once?" B'Elanna didn't pull her gaze from the couple now splashing into the surf. "No one asked me." Tom was a little taken back at B'Elanna's blunt admission. She'd told him once that she'd fielded constant invitations from the male cadets at the Academy. She'd said it dismissively, and he'd gotten the impression that she'd refused most, if not all of them. He'd gotten the impression that dating hadn't interested her at all. "And here I always thought you were turning down over eager cadets left and right." B'Elanna turned her gaze back to Tom. He was smiling gently at her, but she saw the perplexity in his eyes. "I was. They were constantly inviting me to come to their house when their parents were away, or to meet them in Golden Gate Park after dark, or to go to the beach, one they knew would be deserted..." But not to attend public social events, like Academy parties. Tom got the picture. And he felt a sense of helpless anger. "They weren't interested in being seen dating a half Klingon girl," B'Elanna supplied for him before he could speak. "They were afraid I might do something to...embarrass them. They were just interested in finding out if what they'd heard about Klingon sex was true. As if I knew the textbook version." She smiled wryly, but her eyes remained somber. "One cadet even stated his invitation in those terms, as if he thought his honestly would sway me." "I hope you broke his jaw," Tom said tightly. "I was in enough trouble at the Academy. I actually exercised amazing restraint that time and walked away." B'Elanna shrugged. "I'd gotten used to it anyway." Tom frowned. "B'Elanna, I'm-" B'Elanna pressed a finger to his lips. "Don't say it, Tom. It had nothing to do with you." Tom pulled B'Elanna into his arms and she came willingly, wrapping her arms around his neck. They didn't say anything for several moments as B'Elanna's small lithe body swayed softly against his, unconsciously moving to the soft rhythm of the music. He thought of B'Elanna as a young woman at the Academy, half human as well as half Klingon, who wanted to belong as much as anyone, despite what her protective outward demeanor might have indicated. He wished again that he'd known her then, but he'd graduated the year before she entered the Academy. Even as he thought that, he wondered if it would have mattered. If he'd crossed paths with a prickly, passionate, beautiful, wild eyed half Klingon girl when he'd been a callow cadet, he doubted he would have taken time to look past her desirable exterior to see the real, vulnerable person inside, much as he'd like to believe he would have. "Haven't you always said men are pigs, B'Elanna," he whispered lightly into her hair, his voice tinged with faint regret. B'Elanna chuckled softly against his shoulder. "Some. And some of them get over it." Her arms tightened fractionally around his neck. "They didn't know what they were missing, B'Elanna. They'd be kicking themselves today if they had a clue what they gave up." The movement of B'Elanna's body stilled, then she pulled back and looked into Tom's sincere blue eyes. "Thanks, Tom," she whispered softly. He smiled and reached up to stroke her jaw with one hand, sending soft shivers down her spine. She pressed a hand lightly over his and dropped a light kiss on his wrist. "But it was a long time ago. It's not important anymore. I was just curious about this place after all the talk I heard from my roommates about how beautiful it was. Nothing else." "Nothing else?" Tom echoed. He looked into her dark eyes, that had flashed briefly with old, imperfectly concealed hurt when she'd spoken of the cadets who'd pursued her, but hadn't been at all interested in knowing her. "You sure it's not a little more than that, B'Elanna, if you've remembered for all these years?" B'Elanna shrugged dismissively and pulled away but Tom locked his arms around her waist. She rested her hands on his biceps but she didn't try and break his hold. "You know, there's nothing wrong with wishing you'd experienced this," Tom said quietly, his gaze scanning their surroundings in emphasis. He looked toward the surf where the couple who'd passed by them now stood with water splashing around their calves. The man laughed at something the woman said, then their lips met in a brief kiss and they hugged each other. Tom saw that B'Elanna had followed his gaze, and was now watching the couple holding each other. "Any of it." Their eyes met, then Tom smiled again. "Besides, it's never too late. And now that we're here, we might as well take advantage of our surroundings. Take off your shoes." "My shoes?" "Yep." Tom was already pulling off his shoes and socks, and a moment later he dropped them on the sand. "It's ludicrous enough that everyone dresses semi-formally for this, but no one wears their shoes once they're here." B'Elanna looked around and noted that everyone was indeed barefoot, and pairs of shoes were discarded in various spots in the sand. She hadn't thought about it but she now realized that it would have been impossible to walk even a few meters in the sand in heels. "Why does everyone dress like this when it's a beach party?" she asked, slipping off her sandals as she watched Tom lean over and roll up his pants to his calves. "Some romantic gesture of an unknown Academy professor half a century ago. Now it's tradition, which is always sacrosanct to Starfleet, all considerations of practicality aside." Tom straightened and took the sandals B'Elanna held dangling in her hand and tossed them next to his shoes, after a quick appreciative look at them. Then his gaze traveled down her body, from her head to her bare toes. He gave her a lascivious grin. "Although seeing the way you look in that dress, B'Elanna, gives me a whole new appreciation for the sentiment." "It does?" B'Elanna asked archly, hands on hips. She ran her hands slowly along her hips and thighs, smoothing the folds of the dress and emphasizing the curves of her body. Tom knew those curves intimately, but there was never a moment when he didn't want to get to know them all over again. And again. He just held out a hand as B'Elanna gave him a sultry smile, striving to appear unaffected. As if B'Elanna bought that. "Come on. There are better places to hang around than the main beach during the Spring Fling." B'Elanna took his hand and they walked along the edge of the surf, with the water lapping over their feet and swirling between their toes. It was nearly the same temperature as the warm air around them. B'Elanna dug her toes into the sand which felt cooler as the water receded. "The only ocean I saw when I attended the Academy was the Pacific. My roommate told me that the surf was calm and the water was warm here, but I didn't completely believe her at the time." Tom laughed. "The Pacific Ocean off California is the furthest thing from calm, or warm," he agreed. "It is great for surfing though." They reached the end of the beach and Tom's grip tightened on B'Elanna's hand as they started to clamber up on the rocks that separated two of the sandy beaches that were strung like white pearls along Mexico's Caribbean coastline. He glanced back as B'Elanna climbed behind him. He had a well honed sense of balance, but the rocks were wet and he was worried that B'Elanna might slip. He immediately had to admire her sure-footed gracefulness, not to mention the great view he had of her legs, not only her lovely well toned calves, but the smooth taut lines of her thighs as the breeze wrapped the skirt of her dress around them like a- "Shit!" B'Elanna careful scrutiny of the rocks beneath her as she tried to avoid making a misstep was interrupted and she jerked her head up just in time to see Tom lose his footing and slip hard down the edge of the rock they were climbing. He didn't go far because there were other rocks right below, and because she was holding his hand. She dug her toes into the hard irregular surface of the rock and clasped her free hand tightly around Tom's wrist. Tom used his other hand to help pull himself up, and with their combined efforts he was quickly back in a sitting position on the rock. "Are you all right?" Tom winced slightly. "Yeah, I'm fine." "Weren't you paying attention?" "Yes..." Well, he was paying attention to something anyway. Tom grimaced again as he shifted position. "I just banged my hip-" "And cut yourself," B'Elanna said, resting her hand on the inside of his thigh. There was a small tear in his pants and a tiny trickle of blood stained the linen material. "There must have been a jagged edge on the rock," Tom said. He watched as B'Elanna rubbed her thumb slowly around the area of the cut. "It doesn't hurt." The minor sting was nothing compared to the reaction the movement of B'Elanna's hand on his thigh was causing to certain parts of his anatomy. He stood up quickly, dislodging her hand. "Let's go." B'Elanna smiled up at him, knowingly, and stood. "Okay." She took his hand again in a hard grip. "This time I'll lead." Tom grinned at her. "Is that part of your fantasy, B'Elanna? You get to lead?" B'Elanna smiled back sweetly. "It seems to be safer for that way, doesn't it." B'Elanna turned away then, missing the calculating look Tom gave her. It took only a couple more minutes to traverse the rest of the rocks. As they reached the final rock, Tom let go of her hand and jumped to the sand ahead of her, the brief throb in his hip barely noticeable now. He held his arms up and she stared down at him, eyes narrowed. He simply waited, and after a momentary pause, B'Elanna moved her hands from her hips and leaned over enough to place them on Tom's shoulders. Tom put his hands on her waist and swung her down, but not all the way to the ground. Instead she landed flush against his body with her feet several centimeters above the ground, and Tom locked one arm completely and tightly around her waist, while the other dropped to rest under the shapely swell of her rear end. Tom's lips quirked into a smug smile as they looked directly into each other's eyes. "I win." B'Elanna's own lips turned up in response, into not just a smug smile but a full fledged smirk worthy of Tom's best. "I let you." Tom smile widened and he chuckled. These brief mini wars of will that erupted between them frequently because of their competitive natures, and admittedly his own need to feel that B'Elanna needed him, had somehow become a part of their relationship that they both found perversely enjoyable. Most of the time. "Tom." "Hmmm?" "Let me down." Tom saw the fire flash in her eyes, warning him not to push it. He was tempted to push it anyway, but instead he just loosened his grip and let her slip slowly to the ground. Slowly enough so that their bodies slid closely, intimately against each other's. B'Elanna's dress, which had already rucked up some when he had pulled her into his arms off the rocks, and was now gripped loosely in his hands, stayed where it was and by the time her feet hit the soft sand, the shimmery skirt was bunched completely around her waist, leaving the entire length of her bare legs exposed. Tom knew because as he gave her a thoroughly insufferable grin his hands repositioned themselves at the exact spot where the warm smooth skin of her softly rounded derriere met with an equally smooth but cooler silky wisp of material- "Ouch!" B'Elanna's grip on Tom's hands as she jerked them away and slapped them against his thighs was tight enough to make him wince. Then with a quick thrust of her hips that seemed aimed right at him she shook the soft folds of her dress back down along her legs. With one last long look at him, which he was sure was intentionally provocative, she strode away. Tom watched the sway of her hips for several moments as she approached the surf, until she stopped suddenly and dropped down on her haunches. He followed her, and stopped a meter behind her, watching her turning a small spiral shell over and over in her hand, her thumb stroking the smooth swirling contours. She glanced up at Tom, a rapt expression on her face, then something caught her attention and she looked past him. Tom followed her gaze up the cliff that overlooked the two beaches. Now that it was completely dark the glow of artificial lighting lit the ancient stone buildings and temples of the Mayan city as it sat a timeless vigil overlooking the sea. The lighting was purposely low, just enough so that anyone wandering among the ruins could see where they were going, and the very dimness shadowed the buildings, giving them a haunted, illusory look of something not quite real. "Chakotay once mentioned the ruins of the Mayan city up there..." "Tulum," Tom supplied the name for her "It is as beautiful as I heard," B'Elanna said quietly. She was glancing down the beach when Tom looked back at her, at the sand glowing a deep gold in the light of the scattered torches and the half moon, and the inky blackness of the night enveloped sea giving way to the foamy, iridescent white glow of the surf as it rolled up along the shore and then retreated back again into darkness, repeating the cycle over and over. "This whole place is sort of...timeless." Tom nodded at B'Elanna's observation. "I take it you like it?" "Yes." A small smile crossed B'Elanna's lips, then she looked at the shell in her hand again and turned it, her brow suddenly furrowed in concentration. Tom watched her studying the shell, with the edge of her dress trailing in the surf, and her head bowed so that her hair half hid her face, and her slender upraised hand cupping the shell carefully. And he couldn't imagine how those idiot cadets at the Academy could have looked at her and not seen the incredible, warm, soulful woman who lurked inside. Or how he had managed so recently to let himself forget what he had, what she so willingly gave him, even for a minute. "You know, Tom," B'Elanna held the shell a little higher, "this shell is shaped exactly like an warp induction coil. The dimensions between the swirls are the same, inversely proportional to the width of the band. Nature is a pretty incredible engineer-" Tom laughed, then shrugged his jacket off and tossed it on the sand, and dropped down on his haunches next to her. "What's so funny?" B'Elanna asked, looking at him suspiciously. Tom shook his head, his blue eyes still mirthful. "Nothing. I was just thinking that you're a pretty...incredible engineer." "Oh." A smile crossed B'Elanna's lips again. "And I've never known anyone who can switch from aesthetic appreciation of scenery to a technical analysis of a seashell in a flat second." He had never known anyone quite as changeable as B'Elanna period. But the very unpredictability of her moods was one of the things he'd always found entrancing about her. A little unnerving occasionally, but entrancing. A crease formed between B'Elanna's eyebrows. "What's wrong with that?" "Nothing." Tom grinned at her. "I find it completely charming." B'Elanna stared at Tom, his blond hair ruffled by the breeze and shining in the dim torchlight, his white shirt pulled taut across his wide shoulders with the open collar revealing the strong column of his bare throat and the dusty scattering of gold hair on his chest, and his graceful long fingered hands clasped together between his knees. And the genuine smile on his face that lit up his blue eyes, glowing as cobalt as her dress in the dim light. Tom was the definition of charming, not her. Hardly her- "I mean it," Tom said softly, seeing the dismissal in her expression. He locked his eyes on hers, daring her to protest. He held her gaze for several moments, then he deliberately broke the mood. He flicked one hand behind her. "Did you know that your dress is getting wet, B'Elanna?" B'Elanna looked where Tom's hand brushed the edge of her dress. It was trailing in the water that swirled around their feet, then retreated back to the sea. She looked at Tom's legs where his pants were rolled far enough up his calves that they were beyond the water's reach. While she'd been examining the shell with one hand, her other hand had been trailing in the surf. Even now she felt the water swirl over her hand and wrist as a wave splashed up the beach. She raised her eyes to meet Tom's. "Don't do it," Tom said softly. He knew exactly what she was thinking. Their eyes locked, Tom's daring her, and hers unflinching as she stared back at him. He caught the quick movement of her wrist out of the corner of his eye right before the sea water she cupped in her hand splashed in his face, then dripped down his throat and neck into the collar of his shirt. "B'Elanna!" She was on her feet and off before he was halfway to a standing position. She ran very fast for someone her size, she was after all half Klingon, but Tom's much longer stride made it relatively easy for him to catch up to her quickly, before she'd gone more than a couple dozen meters down the shore. They both stumbled as Tom tackled her from behind, intent not on knocking her down but on getting a tight hold on her. He got his arms around her and started dragging her toward the water. B'Elanna realized immediately what Tom intended, and began to struggle in his arms. "Tom!" She managed to snake one arm out of his tight hold and tried to dig her toes into the sand as she felt the surf lapping over them. But Tom nixed that strategy by lifting her high enough so that her feet were off the ground. Damn, sometimes the man's height was really an annoyance. "I warned you, B'Elanna. You asked for it." B'Elanna's free hand gripped Tom's wrist as she felt the water sloshing around her calves. She'd asked for it. Uh huh. She waited for Tom to take another step and with precision timing she brought the heel of her foot against the knee of Tom's raised leg, eliciting a yelp from him and throwing him off balance. His tight grip loosened and she pushed herself easily out of his hold, and bounced around on her feet in the knee-deep water. Tom was teetering, trying to regain his balance and all it took one was modest shove to send him all the way down. She'd already backed away several steps when Tom got his feet, water running in rivulets down his face and streaming off his drenched shirt and pants. She stared at him then smiled sweetly. "Tom, you're wet." Tom shook his head, which caused droplets of water to spray around him. Then he shrugged good naturedly. "Okay, B'Elanna, you win. Again." He took a couple of steps forward as B'Elanna moved back out of his reach, then he winced and reached for his leg. "What's wrong?" She asked suspiciously. Tom walked out of the surf, rubbing his thigh. The salt water and the open cut he'd gotten from slipping on the rocks didn't mix well. "The cut on my thigh just stings from the salt water." B'Elanna moved next to him as he reached the dry edge of the sand beyond the water's reach. He stopped and winced again, and she looked down. "Maybe we should have the doctor check it out," she said, touching her hand to his torn pants and trying to see the extent of the damage in the dim light. She hadn't looked that closely on the rocks but it had seemed minor. "It hurts," Tom complained, bending over next to her. "It can't hurt that much-" B'Elanna stopped in mid sentence when she felt Tom's hands creep around her waist. "Okay, it doesn't hurt that much." Her reaction wasn't quick enough and before she could straighten and twist out of his reach Tom had hoisted her up and over his shoulder and was striding into the surf, giving her no time to put up more than a token struggle. "Tom!!" B'Elanna got out nothing more before she was unceremoniously dumped into the water. This time she reacted far more quickly than he had and she was on her feet almost immediately. Tom grinned at her as she sputtered and advanced toward him with a dangerous gleam in her eyes. He backed up a few steps but didn't make much effort to get out of her way. When she launched herself at him they both landed with a muted thump on the wet sand at the edge of the surf, Tom on his back, and B'Elanna on top of him. "I guess we're even," Tom said, his voice breathless from exertion and the effort he was making not to laugh as B'Elanna dripped water all over him. B'Elanna's reaction to his comment was to push herself up into a sitting position so that she was straddling his waist. "You think so, Tom?" she asked softly, her knees pressing meaningfully against his ribs. Tom was being assaulted by several different sensations. Besides B'Elanna's knees exerting just enough pressure to keep him from moving unless he wanted to be in serious pain, he felt water swirling against his head and around his body, splashing over his hands splayed in the sand, even trickling over his throat as the surf washed over them. And he felt his own unmistakable reaction to the feel of B'Elanna straddling him, and to the sight of her in that dress that was now thoroughly soaked and plastered to her skin so that every curve and hollow of her body was clearly defined. "Don't you have something to say, Tom?" B'Elanna asked in a quiet, deceptively silky voice. She leaned forward slightly and rested her hands on his chest. Tom couldn't help but notice how her action only served to stretch the material of her dress tighter across her breasts. He raised his eyes finally, holding her gaze. "You deserved that, B'Elanna." B'Elanna looked down at him, and her eyes narrowed. Her knees tightened fractionally against his ribs. "Well, you certainly are a brave man, Lieutenant, for someone who's in a very precarious position." Tom placed his hands on B'Elanna's knees, and, pushing the soaked skirt of her dress out of the way as he did so, slid them possessively up her bare, wet thighs. "Being caught between your strong, gorgeous thighs, Lieutenant, is my favorite position." B'Elanna squirmed as Tom's thumbs caressed the sensitive skin of her inner thighs. The man had no shame, but somehow she didn't mind. She was too busy noticing how the taut muscles of his shoulders and chest were completely defined by his soaked, clinging shirt. And she could feel the heat of him burning through the wet cotton where her palms were pressed flat against his chest. Her fingers clenched reflexively and she shivered. "Are you cold, B'Elanna?" Tom asked softly. His thumbs continued to stroke the soft skin of her thighs while he stared meaningfully at her breasts, where the outline of her nipples were so clearly defined through her wet dress. He lifted his eyes to meet hers again, catching his breath at the smoky look of desire he saw in their dark depths. Tom's thumbs flicked at the elastic inner edge of her panties and it was all B'Elanna could do not to lurch forward and press herself down on his hands. Her tongue darted out and moistened her upper lip, an unconscious gesture she wasn't aware of, but that was not lost on Tom. Then she glanced up and caught sight of the handful of people at various spots on the beach. One couple spared them a cursory, curious glance as they walked past several meters beyond the surf line. "It's your fantasy, B'Elanna," Tom said softly, recapturing her attention. His hands had stilled, and now rested lightly just below the juncture of her thighs. Her fantasy. Straddling Tom, his hands branding her skin, the look in his eyes stealing her breath away? Hell, yes it was. Whatever her dreams had been during her Academy days, the dreams she hadn't admitted even to herself, they'd never been this good. "Computer, remove the presence of people in this section of beach from the program." The computer acknowledged and the dozen or so people in sight disappeared in the blink of any eye. B'Elanna smiled down at Tom. "It looks like we're...alone." Tom watched as B'Elanna raised her arms and in one lithe sinuous movement pulled her wet dress over her head. With a quick flick of her wrist she flung it on the beach where it landed in a heap beyond the water's edge. Not that Tom saw that, because his eyes never left her. She was wearing a silky black bra and panties that he'd seen before, but never wetly plastered to her skin. Her nipples were clearly visible through the sheer wet material, and they were tight and hard, pushing against the confines of the clinging silk. He swallowed. B'Elanna reached for the front clasp of her bra, but Tom's hands skimmed quickly up the flat contours of her stomach and along the softly defined ridges of her ribs and caught her hands in mid motion. She willingly let her hands drop to her sides, and Tom cupped his hands around her small high breasts, feeling her nipples pressing against his palms as she instinctively thrust her chest forward. He easily undid the clasp with a quick flick of his thumb, then he used his palms to slowly push the cups across her breasts, watching as the inner edge of the silk lined underwire scraped across her nipples, then released the hard peaks with a small pop against the heels of his hands. He slid the straps of her shoulders and down her arms, all the while watching her breasts rising and falling as her breathing became harsher. Tom looked up at B'Elanna's flushed face, her eyes glittering down at him, and her lips slightly parted, and he smiled. He tossed the bra aside, and cupped her breasts again with his hands. He started to stroke her, gently squeezing her nipples, when she grasped his hands with her own and pressed them hard against her breasts, throwing her head back for a moment and closing her eyes as she held his hands possessively to her. Then, still holding his hands, she guided them slowly back down her body, pressing them tightly against her cool wet skin, letting his touch leave a scorching trail as she pushed downward until the heels of his hands were resting against the wet, but now heated material of her skimpy silk panties. Tom just watched her, captivated, as she pressed his hands harder against her mound, then slowly thrust against them once, then twice. When she paused, he quickly slid one hand out of her grip and slipped two fingers into the silky band of her panties. He jerked once and she raised her legs willingly so that he could pull them off. Then her hand closed over his again as he began to stroke her clitoris, his fingers sliding over her slick wetness. Her eyes darkened several more shades as she seared him with the heat of her look, then she began to thrust against his hands in earnest. Tom could feel the surf swirling around him, soaking his clothes further as another wave came in, and the splashing sound of it and the distant roar of the sea itself blended with B'Elanna's soft moans as she moved against his hands. He could also feel the throbbing of his own erection where her ass pressed against him as her rhythm intensified. Her breasts thrust forward as she threw her head back and began to buck hard while he stroked her more urgently. The circulation in his hands was almost gone from B'Elanna's vise- like grip as the moment of her release approached. But he was too busy watching her to notice, thinking he'd never seen anything as wildly, primitively beautiful as her naked body taut as a bowstring, straddled over him, framed by the torchlit night, the surging sea and the ancient, shadowed ruins on the cliff. With one last strong thrust she came, letting out a long primeval wail. B'Elanna's grip on his hands became lax and Tom reached up to cup her face as the shudders racking her body began to subside. She slid her hands up to his wrists, and turned her face so that she could kiss his palm. He brushed his fingers, still slick with her juices, across her face, across her lips. She kissed them, then took them in her mouth for a moment and sucked them. "Tom." B'Elanna murmured his name softly as she pushed his arms aside and dropped down on top of him. She slipped her hands into his hair and brought her lips to his and kissed him thoroughly, her body pressed against the length of his, and the taste of her mingling on their probing tongues. Finally she raised up again and smiled down at him. "Your turn." B'Elanna grasped the edges of Tom's collar and pulled down hard, popping the buttons of his white shirt, something she'd done more than once, but wasn't that was what recyclers were for? Tom shifted upward enough for B'Elanna to pull the shirt out of his waistband and slip it off his arms. She tossed the shirt aside, then her hands slid caressingly over his strong shoulders and down his chest, her fingers curling in his golden hairs and following them like a trail to the spot where they disappeared into his pants. She slithered down, unstraddling him, and unzipped his pants while she avoided touching the obvious bulge there. "No." B'Elanna pushed his hands gently away as he started to pull his pants down. "I'll do it." She quickly slid the wet material to his hips, then forced the pants down his legs, squeezing and caressing his strong leg muscles as she did. She finally tossed the pants aside with the shirt, and resettled herself in a kneeling position between Tom's legs. She spared him a quick, steamy look. B'Elanna brushed a hand over his erection still encased in his briefs, but that didn't stop him from gasping at her touch. Then she touched the small cut high on his left thigh, where he'd lost the encounter with the rocks. It was not much more than a scratch but the blood still welled slightly, unable to completely coagulate on his wet skin. She touched her lips to the wound, then licked it, tasting the rusty hint of blood, and the salt of the seawater on his skin. Her tongue trailed up to the lower edge of his briefs as Tom moaned once. "B'Elanna..." B'Elanna heeded the pleading tone in his voice, and she quickly slid the briefs off, with minor assistance from the now nerveless Tom. She trailed her tongue up the underside of his erection, savoring not the strong, familiar taste of him, but the mingling again of the slightly different salty tang of seawater. An interesting combination. Her hands gently cupped his balls as her mouth slid over the head of his penis. Tom groaned deeply and his hands reflexively gripped her wet hair. Then, before she could take him all the way in, he pulled her head up. "I want to be inside you, B'Elanna." B'Elanna pulled herself up over Tom, then he grasped her shoulders and rolled with her, landing her gently on the wet sand. B'Elanna gasped a little at how cool the sand was at her back. She gasped again as the surf washed against her, swirling around and between her, while Tom's mouth descended to her breasts at the same time. "You taste like the sea," Tom said hoarsely, licking her breasts and the wet valley between them. His need for her was about to undo him, but he kept himself poised just above her, as his fingers gently parted her. "So do you," B'Elanna said, licking and then nipping at his shoulder. Then she pushed his hands away and grasped his erection firmly, her dark eyes on his startled blue ones. "Now, Tom. Now is good." Tom thrust deeply into her with a strangled groan. She raised her hips and met him thrust for thrust, her hands sliding down his back and holding him tightly. Her soft moans joined his harsher ones, and with the sucking sound that their heaving bodies made against the waterlogged sand as the surf receded then approached again. He shouted her name as he came quickly and explosively inside her, and she felt the waves of bliss rock her, if less intensely this time. Tom collapsed against her, cradling her head with his arms and murmuring her name caressingly against her ear. In her entire life no one had ever said her name the way Tom did after they made love. Reverently. Lovingly. She smiled and held him tightly. They lay together that way for several minutes, with the surf intermittently surging around them, and their bodies still joined intimately. "B'Elanna, I must be getting heavy," Tom finally said, pushing himself up on his elbows and sliding out of her. She just shook her head once and they looked at each other for a long moment. Then Tom dropped his mouth to hers, and they kissed, their lips caressing in slow, savoring, gentle movements, like two lovers very well satisfied. "So, this is what I missed," B'Elanna said softly as Tom lifted his mouth from hers. Tom chuckled when he realized what she meant. "I don't think this was one of the sanctioned activities at the Spring Fling, though I'm sure it happened." Though generally after a longer hike a kilometer or two down the coast to a beach that didn't require a computer command to make it deserted. "Hmmm...are you trying to tell me the young, rakish Tom Paris never took advantage of this opportunity?" B'Elanna asked lightly, flicking his chin with a fingertip. "Well, yes, I did," Tom admitted. He ran a gentle finger across the small lines that formed between B'Elanna's eyebrows. "I just took full and thoroughly enjoyable advantage of the opportunity." He kissed the tip of her nose. "And it was well worth the wait." Tom mouth moved down to touch B'Elanna's lips and they kissed again, until they were interrupted by a rush of seawater across their faces. B'Elanna, laying prone on the sand, got the worst of the it and she sputtered as Tom pulled them both up into a sitting position. "Looks like the tide's coming in. Are you okay?" B'Elanna nodded as Tom brush her dripping hair from her face, then grinned at her. "Then maybe we should move before one of us drowns." He hopped to his feet and held his hand out to her. "And since we're at the Spring Fling, there's one more thing we should do." "What's that?" B'Elanna asked curiously, taking his hand Tom pulled B'Elanna to her feet. "You'll see." B'Elanna looked at Tom's well toned, beautifully naked body, his water slicked skin glowing palely in the dim combination of torchlight and moonlight. Her voice was tinged with mild disappointment when she asked, "Should we get dressed first?" *^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^* B'Elanna head was nestled against Tom's shoulder and her hands were clasped lightly around his neck. His arms cradled her waist, holding her close. They both swayed to the music that drifted up from below, a soft mellow tune that wafted on the wind, and mingled with the distant sound of the sea and the nearby clicking and chirping of insects. They were barefoot, wearing their still wet clothes, except for Tom's jacket, which had remained dry and was now draped over B'Elanna's shoulders to block the cooler breeze on the cliff. They stood on a grassy, flat plateau, the site of the ancient Mayan city of Tulum, and scattered around them for hundreds of meters in every direction were the stone remains of the ancient buildings, some mere unrecognizable piles, and others nearly intact; square warehouses, administration buildings and step pyramids with the carved representations of gods and animals still recognizable in the huge stones. The dim glowlights, hidden by grass, kept the buildings shadowy and shrouded with an element of mystery. "It is kind of eerie," B'Elanna murmured against Tom's shoulder. She'd spotted a few other people walking among the ruins here and there, and every once in a while a voice drifted by, but mostly it was silent, except for the insects and the distant echo of the sea. And the just audible slow, haunting strains of the music from below that seemed appropriate for the setting. "I feel like someone else is here, watching, someone we can't see." "Ghosts," Tom whispered. "Abandoned cities always feel like that. Even more so here. It's like the souls of the people who lived here stayed behind to protect the place, to watch over it forever." B'Elanna leaned back in Tom's arms and looked up at him questioningly. He looked back at her, eyebrows raised. B'Elanna smiled. "Just checking. For a minute I thought I was dancing with Chakotay." "Hey, even I have a spiritual moment occasionally," Tom protested. "I never doubted it," B'Elanna said softly. Tom looked at her and smiled, one hand sliding in a slow caress along her hip. "Being with you, B'Elanna, definitely brings out the spiritual in me." B'Elanna smiled, then sobered. "Thank you, Tom." "For what?" "I know you expected something more...challenging than this. I hope you didn't mind-" "B'Elanna!" B'Elanna started at the sharpness in Tom's voice. "Yeah, I really hated rolling in the surf with you, making mind blowing love to you once again. Just like I hate feeling your body swaying- very provocatively I might note- against mine while we dance in some of the most beautiful surroundings in existence. The way I have to suffer for this relationship." B'Elanna stared at him. "Tom, I meant-" Tom touched her cheek. "I know what you meant. I'm not one of those shallow cadets, B'Elanna." Not anymore. He'd finally begun to move beyond that, and to see what was really worthwhile. "I'm also not your mother, or your father. I don't want you to be something you're not, or to feel you have to hide any part of yourself. I want to know you, the real you. All the facets of you, Klingon and human." B'Elanna closed her hand over his and rubbed her thumb against his palm. Then she raised her eyebrows in mock inquiry. "So you don't mind missing out on the black leather this time..." Tom raised his eyebrows, then grinned. "There's always next time. But you'd look equally beautiful in leather, or in a prom dress, B'Elanna," he added truthfully. Then he gave her a quick leer.. "Actually, I'd like anything you wear, as long as I can eventually take it off of you." B'Elanna smiled back provocatively. "That can always be arranged, as long as it's reciprocal." Tom laughed. "Absolutely." He hugged her to him again. "Warning: Your holodeck time is up in five minutes." "I think you should save this program, B'Elanna," Tom said, his breath ruffling her hair. "I now see this place in a whole new and much more...appealing light." B'Elanna chuckled against his shoulder. "Maybe I'll save it, without the people." "It won't exactly be the Spring Fling that way." "I didn't miss anything back then." Her arms tightened around his neck. "All I want is you and the beach, Tom." Tom pressed his lips to her hair. "Me, you, and the beach. I like that." They held each other for another minute, still moving together to the faint music. Then Tom pulled back slightly and looked down at her. "So, your place or mine?" "Mine. I definitely feel the need for a hot shower after being in these wet clothes, and my shower is bigger than yours." "By mere centimeters. Besides, I seem to recall that you had no complaints about my shower the last time we used it..." Tom ran a hand provocatively down her spine. B'Elanna shivered involuntarily at his touch, then her eyes narrowed. "Fine, whatever. Your place. And quit arguing just to argue, Tom." Tom chuckled. "Okay. And while we're...showering, we'll discuss this program where you're wearing black leather..." B'Elanna slid her hands down and cupped his ass. "Tom, who said I would be wearing it?" Tom's eyes widened at her lascivious grin. Then he shrugged, and smiled back. "For you, B'Elanna, I might be willing. If certain conditions were met..." "Warning: Your holodeck time is up in one minute." Tom and B'Elanna looked at each other. "What can we possibly do for one minute?" Tom asked. B'Elanna smiled at the guileless look on Tom's face, then she raised her hands to cup his jaw. "We will discuss this leather thing later," she promised. Then she raised up on her toes and pressed her lips to his. They kissed, their lips caressing in slow, savoring, gentle movements, like two lovers very well satisfied indeed. Then B'Elanna saved the program- without the people- just the beach, the cliff, the ruins and the sea, waiting patiently for their return. *^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^* the end.