I woke up with Tom curled into my side, his head on my shoulder and his hand on my stomach with one leg slung over mine. Grinning at the claim of ownership he'd unconsciously staked in his sleep, I took a deep breath and inhaled him like I would a Denabian rose. He smelled of soap and shampoo but underneath it all was just ... Tom, my very favorite bouquet.

Suddenly I had to fight the urge to lay my own claim to the man who nestled so calmly beside me. His words from the shower last night came back to me. I've never been in love before but if this is what it feels like, then I'm ready. For anything. I wanted that to be true but I was still feeling my way, unsure of what might spook him into shutting down again.

He stirred and stretched a little, making a sleepy murmur that might have been my name. I held my breath, waiting to see if he was really awake or just ready to sink back into sleep. When I felt his tongue rasping over my skin, I hoped he was aware of what he was doing.

"Hm-m-m, you taste good." The husky voice did something severely dangerous to my libido as did the wandering hand that stroked the skin above my groin. Sleepy blue eyes opened and peered up at me with such a look of wonder in them, I had to take a deep breath and rein in my quickening pulse. Wonder changed to mischief and he grinned at the same moment his fingers tangled in my pubic hair, sliding down to lightly stroke my hardening cock. "Good morning, Gregor. I see you're already ... up."

I think I growled his name but he was already slipping down over my body, dragging his skin over every inch of mine he could reach and settling between my splaying thighs. His hand was warm on my shaft, frictioning up and down with a gentle rhythm that made me groan. I couldn't take my eyes off of him, the tousled blond hair standing up every which way and the look of awe in the sparkling blue eyes as he gazed at my hardening cock where it lifted towards him.

"You don't have to do anymore than you're already doing, Tom. The way you make me feel, it won't take much." I managed to try and reassure him as his grip tightened until I could feel each individual finger.

"Oh, I don't know. He looks like he'd enjoy a little more stimulation." His grin was devilish to say the least and I had to grip the sheets on either side of my body at the first touch of his tongue.

That maddening, teasing, ever so agile tongue. Alternately tender then rasping, raising my temperature along with my arousal, I was as hard as durilium by the time he'd flicked that little spot under the flaring head twice. I never once let my eyes close although my brain wanted to shut down completely. I had to keep watching him drive me mad as he took me into his warm wet mouth and gently sucked. I needed to move but I was afraid to thrust up and risk gagging him.

Slowly, ever so slowly, he engulfed me in warmth until he'd taken me right down to the root. My whole body was trembling and I had a death grip on the sheets that they might not survive. Tom's eyes had locked on mine and when he hummed, the vibration broke me into little pieces. I shuddered and arched, coming deep into his throat. His swallowing milked me of everything I had while his strong arms held my hips down.

And our eyes never once left each other.

I have never seen anything so erotic in my life as Tom delicately cat-licking away any stray drops of my seed from around my sensitized groin. It was almost enough to harden me again except for the complete totality of my climax. Letting go of the sheets, I brought one hand up to touch his cheek with trembling fingers. I have never loved anyone as much in my life as I did Tom at that moment.

"You taste better than good, Gregor." He pulled himself higher until he could reach my mouth, sharing my seed with his slow kiss. When he pulled away, he rested his head over my heart. "Addicting."

I'd caught my breath by now and I pressed another kiss onto the soft hair under my chin. "Protein builds strong muscles and I think I'll indulge myself this morning."

Feathering little caresses to the ticklish skin of his sides, I made him convulse with laughter as he mock fought me off. Then our positions reversed and I found myself on top of his squirming body. Fearful of making him feel constrained, I started to slide off but Tom stopped me with a gentle shake of his head.

"You make me feel safe, Gregor. I'm here because I want to be ... not because I have to be." His gaze turned far away, his blue eyes pensive. "I'm trying to remember the last time I felt like this. Strong ... sure ... capable of making my own decisions." He shrugged and came back to me with a wondering look. "Loved . . ." His hand came up and stroked my cheek. "Never. No one's ever made me feel like this. Thank you."

I couldn't catch my breath. The gift of his trust was almost too much to comprehend. So rarely given and so often abused by those he should have been able to trust, I was humbled by his words and unable to come up with any of my own. So, I kissed him, putting all of my own feelings of love and trust into the slide of lip against lip.

But this kiss was gentle, more a sealing of our pact to love and care for each other rather than an incitement to lust. His mouth should be declared a lethal weapon since he destroyed all my defenses with just a tender slide of his tongue against mine. I shaped him with my hands, moving lower and lower until I'd grasped his hard heat.

He arched up with a breathy little moan that destroyed the last of my fears of taking him too far, too fast. Moving down his body, following my hands with my mouth, was a voyage of hedonistic discovery. His navel was ticklish and he squirmed when I lapped at it with my tongue.

"Gregor!" He chortled under his breath and I grinned up at him, never stopping the little flutter of my tongue against his sweat slick skin. "No fair, lover. I didn't tickle you."

I grabbed his hands with mine so he couldn't pull my hair again. "Not my fault your skin is so sensitive, Tom. I've got a hide like a rhinoceros, so I doubt you could find a ticklish spot on me."

His eyes gleamed and he flexed his fingers in mine. "Be fun to try. Why I might have to taste and touch every inch of your body."

My blood heated at his teasing words. "Why, so you would."

But for now, I decided that the bobbing hardness beneath my chin deserved the same careful attention I'd just given his stomach. At the first touch of my bristling chin, he went still, shivering with suppressed need. I moved slowly up one side, across the velvet tip and down the other side. He was making little mewling sounds in between his panting groans. Going back to the leaking slit, I lapped the clear fluid before settling in to tongue wash his whole cock.

He was shivering now with the need to have more of me and I slowly obliged him. Protecting his tender skin from my teeth, I engulfed just the head, running my tongue round and round in warm, wet circles. He was chanting my name now in a soft mantra of sound that was music to my ears. Adjusting my angle, I continued on down until my nose was buried in the soft red-gold curls of his groin.

Risking a look up at him, I exulted in his heated gaze. It was his turn to grasp the sheets while I teased him with a slight suction and small tongue movements. I swear I could see steam rising from his torso and when I used my free hand to play with his balls, he began to undulate beneath me, not quite thrusting up. He was leaking copiously now and I didn't want our play to become a torment so I began a swallowing motion that acted on him as his humming had worked on me.

He thrust up once before releasing in jerky spasms down my waiting throat. I backed off enough so I could taste him better and applied just enough suction to be sure that I got every drop of his bittersweet essence. He came to a shuddering halt and lay limp beneath me, little tremors still racing over his damp skin. We were going to need a shower after this, I thought to myself. Smiling, I slid up over his body and delicately nuzzled under his chin.

"You're going to kill me with pleasure, Gregor." His whisper sounded right by my ear.

"Ah, but what a way to go, Tom." I rolled over and pulled him atop my body like a blanket. "You have no room to talk after giving me a heart attack with that wicked tongue of yours."

I felt his grin against my throat. "We'll go together then?"

"Always." I kissed the damp hair beneath my cheek and ran my hands down his back. "But until we do, I think it's time we shower and face the world."

He stilled the soft moist kisses beneath my ear and raised up high enough to show me his frown. "Do we have to?"

I understood his reluctance. "Aren't you the least bit curious if B'Elanna decided to link to the Crystal? And if we never leave these rooms then somebody is going to notice."

He grinned a little but I could see his mind racing ahead to all the problems that might occur. I could see them too but it was worth it. He was worth it. Maybe I should let him know that? But before I could open my mouth, he beat me to it.

"This Pollyanna streak of yours would be really annoying except for the fact that you really believe that." Sighing, he kissed me gently. "And you're worth everything, Gregor. I just don't want you to regret this."

"I could never regret loving you. I'm going to remind you of this conversation about fifty years from now." Part of me wondered how he'd known what I was thinking while the rest of me just wanted to reassure him. "And we'll laugh at our fears and celebrate our lives together."

"Goodness, I've fallen in love with a romantic." He joked but I saw the glint of tears in his eyes. And his statement struck me dumb.

He'd said it out loud. It was all I could do to keep my elation contained inside so I hugged him hard and took his mouth in a searing kiss that melted us both into a puddle of boneless contentment. Luckily, the comm chime distracted us or we might never have gotten out of bed.

"Ayala, here."

"Gregor, are you free for breakfast?" Geron's voice came over the speaker.

I exchanged a quick look with Tom and waited for his nod before answering. "Sure. How about you give me half an hour and then stop by to get me?"

"Okay. Geron out."

"Do you think he'll be okay with us?" Tom rolled out of bed and strolled towards the bathroom.

I followed him with my eyes first, enjoying the rippling effect of muscles in motion down that long back, over the taut buttocks and on down the long legs. A beautiful sight indeed. A glance from laughing eyes reminded me of his question and I sprang from bed to follow him.

"I think he'll be insufferably pleased that he's the one who brought us together." I said over the spurting water jets.

Tom stepped under the steaming water and held out a hand to draw me in. "Well, I'm more than willing to give him the credit. He's a good kid."

I lathered the soap between my hands and began massaging the tempting back in front of me. "He's growing up and I worry that he'll never find someone to love. We're all so much older than he."

Arching under my hands, Tom turned around and squirted shampoo onto my head. His strong fingers soaped my hair and massaged my scalp until I could hear myself purring. "If I could find someone, Geron will have no trouble at all finding his other half."

I opened my eyes to gaze into his. "That's what it feels like. Finding the other half of my soul. Did we do this or is it some side effect of the Crystal?"

He smiled gently and nudged me under the jets to rinse my hair. "I think the Crystal just speeded up the process. We were already half way there. It seems like we've been courting for months. You were very patient with me, Gregor."

Blinking the water from my lashes, I grinned. "It has been months. Ever since you created that beautiful program with Geron's village in it."

His eyes went wide and his mouth kind of fell open. "That long?"

"That long." I soaped him well and turned him into the water jets. He went docilely and I could almost hear him thinking, remembering and sorting out my actions in the last four months. That was okay with me since he was so busy thinking that I was able to let my soapy hands roam where they wanted.

I was careful not to entice too much or caress too hard; we didn't have time for another session before Geron came to get us. He was still thinking when I turned off the water and handed him a clean towel. I was trying to decide what I should wear, no longer sure what shift I was on. A quick computer check told me that both Tom and I were off duty until further notice.

Captain's orders.

"Hey, Blue Eyes, we're off duty until the Captain says otherwise." I headed for the closet and my leisure wear.

"You're kidding." He ran his fingers through his hair. "I'll have to replicate something."

I slowed and watched him carefully. Had there been an uncertain note in his voice? "I was hoping that you might leave several something's here. It's probably too soon to move in together."

"Move in?" His gaze went from surprised to thoughtful in the space of a heartbeat. "That really would blow our cover, Gregor. You really want us to?"

"Yes, I do but only when you're ready. I've got experience with living with someone but I don't expect you do." I halted in front of him and cupped his cheek in my hand. "It can be heaven when everything is going well and hell when it isn't. That's something we can work up to."

He nodded and feathered a kiss into the palm of my hand. I never knew that those nerve endings were hard wired to my cock. The towel about my waist developed a tent in front. Tom grinned and shook his head, stepping over to the replicator for some clothes. I took a deep breath and pulled out the first thing that came to hand. Pulling on the jeans, I willed myself to calmly choose a white shirt.

By the time I turned around, Tom was dressed in a shirt the color of his eyes, tucked into an almost identical pair of jeans. We approved each other with just a glance that promised more to come. Later. When the door chimed, I saw him take a deep breath and nod to me.

Geron came in talking, much as Harry had done in Tom's quarters the night before. "It's so cool, Gregor. He can talk right to me and he showed me my village before it was destroyed. I've got to tell Tom about some things we missed in the program. Tom!"

"Hi, Geron. I take it you've interfaced with the Crystal?" Tom grinned at the gawking young man.

"Tom!" Geron seemed to be having trouble finding the words he needed. "You're here. With Gregor. It's about time."

"Excuse me, little one. About time?" I threw an arm around his shoulders and mock glared at him.

His grin was ear to ear. "Well, sure. You can be so slow sometimes, Gregor. I was afraid I'd have to lock you in the program and send Tom in after you."

Tom was laughing at us both and I didn't know whether to put them the pair of them over my knee or kiss them. "No more matchmaking, young man. You'll never be able to top the pair of us. So it's better if you retire as Cupid, right now."

He leaned into me and shook his head. "You may be right but I've still got a couple of people to go before I hang up my 'wings'. Everybody deserves to be as happy as the two of you look."

Tom came close and ruffled Geron's dark hair. "Thank you, Geron. I appreciate all your hard work but for now, would you be willing to keep this a secret? We're not quite ready to tell the whole ship just yet."

"Sure, Tom. Are you going to put it into the betting book at Sandrines?" Geron asked hopefully.

"Funny, that's what the Captain wanted to know." I snickered at Tom's expression.

"Ha-ha-ha. Very funny, big guy. Harry already put it in the book." Tom stuck out his tongue at me. "Let's go to breakfast. I could even eat one of Neelix's leola root omelets."

We all laughed at that and left my quarters side by side, heading towards a new day of discovery in the Delta Quadrant. I marveled at how well Geron had taken our relationship and wondered what the reaction would be once it leaked out to the rest of the ship. Good and bad probably, but for now, I was content to let events take their course.

Tom's eyes met mine over Geron's head. Together, we'd make it though. That was a sure bet.

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The end of part four