Tender Touch -- Tannith's Awakening

Tender Touch -- Tannith's Awakening

Author : Rhylo

Author's e-mail : _idic_ted2trip@tiscali.co.uk

Genre : Plenty of Romance. Lots of angst, with a fair bit of violence thrown in, too!

Rating : NC-17

Summary : Er...Trip awakens Tannith's desire for......well, read on and see for yourself!

Feed Back : Yes, please. Comments always welcome!

Archive : By all means ~ if you think fit.

Disclaimer : No violation of copyright intended. Paramount owns the characters, so I guess there's not even the slightest chance of ever 'borrowing' a certain drop dead gorgeous Chief Engineer. I'm not doing this out of any desire for profit.....just out of pure desire!

A/N : I've never written this kind of thing before ~ and most likely will never do it again. Please don't blame this idea on me. It's entirely the fault of one Commander Trip Tucker who blows my mind and makes my heart, soul and all of my senses melt into blissful oblivion ~ and who has completely screwed with every shred of sanity I had left ~ rendering me no longer responsible for my actions!

It helps if you're already familiar with 'Catch Me When I Fall -- Tannith's Story' as this is 'what happens next', but it's not completely necessary as you'll soon get my drift!

Timeline : Season One - Stardate 2151

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PART ONE

"Issues unresolved....."

*"Make love to me, Trip.....make the pain go away."

........Their mouths and bodies entwining once again he took hold of her slim waist and lifted her effortlessly up. As she wrapped her legs tightly around him he carried her slowly over to the bed..........*

Setting Tannith down gently on top of the sheets, Trip reached upwards and turned the overhead lighting down to a muted amber glow. Shadowy silhouettes flickered off the walls, Tannith's eyes watching his every movement as he silently undressed and came to lie down beside her. In the dim light Trip thought she looked even smaller and more delicate as she gazed up at him with a bewildering expression of wide-eyed innocence tinged with yearning needfulness. It took his breath away.

He slid one arm around her, drawing her closer to him.

"God, you're beautiful," he whispered, fearing his voice would splinter from the intensity of emotion erupting within him.

Smiling softly he brushed back a stray strand of silky hair that had fallen over her eyes. Unable to resist, he lightly touched her full lips, tracing their outline with the tip of his finger, feeling the soft skin part as she opened her mouth in quiet submission. He almost gasped in surprise as her moist tongue discreetly enveloped his finger and drew it inwards with a gloriously glistening sucking sensation that caught him completely off guard. The sudden unexpected warmth of her mouth and the sensual swirling movements of her tongue against his skin combined to heighten his arousal tenfold. Holy shit! How could such a simple gesture turn him on so much ~ make his entire being ignite?! His subliminal thoughts somersaulted ~ his finger was surely not the only part of his anatomy burning to be taken between her sweet wet lips. He felt her teeth gently nibbling and nipping and sucking and the conscious association his mind was now making only served to make him harder, almost painfully so. The exquisite intensity almost tipped him over the edge.

He closed his eyes for a second.....not now.....not so soon ~ stepping back, taking control of himself, calming his breathing, settling his pounding heart.

Mercifully Tannith gently released him.

"Do you have any idea what yer doin' to me?" he gasped swallowing hard, his mouth suddenly dry.

Her eyes flashed him a shy smile as tiny beads of perspiration sprang up on his brow from the sheer mental exertion of keeping his eager racing body in check.

Steadying her face with his hand, Trip placed lingering weightless kisses on her forehead, her cheeks, sidetracking to gently nuzzle her earlobes, his warm breath causing delicious tickling sensations as the kisses spread to her upturned throat and neck, coming back full circle to her mouth. Their lips met and parted, their tongues joyously reacquainting themselves ~ tentatively at first, then harder, more insistent, exploring ever deeper, seeming to swell in eachother's mouths as they became increasingly hungry, drinking in eachother's fluids, consuming eachother's very breath.

Trip could hardly think.

Tannith's hands splayed against the smoothness of his chest rising and falling in time with his breathing. Her fingers pressed into his firm muscles with tiny scratchy sensations from her short nails that slowly spiralled outwards, trailing fire over his ribs and stomach to blaze his entire lower abdomen.

Trip's right hand followed hers downwards, pausing to cup her small pert breasts, lovingly fondling the delicate flesh and stroking her nipples until they became erect little buds. They reminded him of tiny juicy strawberries just ripe for picking. Dropping his head he licked both in turn with incredibly light darting flicks of his tongue, then took each one into his mouth, gently nibbling and sucking until he heard her gasp and her breathing quicken. Her soft sigh floated across the back of his neck and the fine downy hairs immediately sprang up in response, sending a tingle down his spine. He stroked her flat belly, caressing the taut pale skin, saw the goosebumps shoot up along her forearms. Tender kisses followed ~ all the way down ~ his lips dancing across her in subtle whispers of heavenly bliss.

Unchecked, Trip's hand slowly continued its descending journey across her pelvis, past the low rise of her pubic mound, down along the milky smoothness of her inner thighs, finally coming to rest between her parted legs. He felt her quiver as his fingers sought out her secret places, cautiously exploring. So kind and gentle with her. Not wanting to rush her. Giving her plenty of time to adjust. She was so hot. So wet. So ready for him. He probed deeper, making her shudder and gasp out loud.

"It's okay," he murmured, sliding one dripping finger forwards to latch onto the most sensitive part of her femininity where it lingered in sticky feather-light circular motions. Tannith uttered a tiny whimpering sound and felt her breath catch and her legs tremble.

Trip was watching her intently. Pressed up against her he was so damn hard he was nearly bursting. His sparkling eyes silently pleaded with her to take hold of him.....do *something* with him. He wanted to be patient. To wait for her to take the initiative, even though he was almost crying out for her touch. But she seemed to have frozen. His love for her gave him the fortitude for restraint, yet the fragile mechanism of his body couldn't endure it another second longer. He needed her to give him some blessed relief, however small, before he went out of his mind. In desperation he gently took hold of Tannith's hand which was still burning a smouldering imprint on his abdomen and guided it down, encouraging her to ease his relentless throbbing desire.

"Your turn, sweetheart."

As her tiny fingers took hold of him he couldn't help but moan aloud, acutely aware he was on the edge and stiffening even more. He closed his hand around hers, sliding it in rhythmic strokes backwards and forwards along the length of his erect shaft. He couldn't give her any more obvious proof of his absolute arousal and downright desire for her.

<< Your turn >>

Tannith felt Trip's grasp on her hand tighten, squeezing her fingers against and around him. He was so huge and rigid. Her glittering eyes took in his body, his potentially dominant physical strength and sheer overwhelming muscular power. She smelled the sharp musky aroma of his sex and suddenly her mind flipped and she panicked ~ feeling a familiar fear welling up in the pit of her stomach. Her head reeled. All this time ~ since the very first time she'd laid eyes on him back on her homeworld when he was injured and vulnerable ~ she'd yearned for him. Longed to feel his kind and loving touch. Even secretly imagined what it would be like to feel him inside her ~ and now it was about to happen she was scared to death. She was trapped with no way of escape past him. The dreadful terror she'd known of old was rising up inside her, threatening to engulf her, gripping her in a tight, suffocating knot. She shuddered involuntarily as Trip released her hand and moved closer to edge on top of her.

His senses heightened beyond belief and poised on the brink of a cascading avalanche of pure passion, Trip's deep blue eyes looked straight into Tannith's and saw something.....something not right. His heart and head pounded and thudded along with the rest of him, but he stopped just outside her threshold and pulled back, making no attempt to enter her.

Incredulously he saw tears well up in her eyes and spill out onto her face.

Breathing hard and fighting back his throbbing imminence for the second time, he half-collapsed down next to her, groaning in painful frustration, his body practically screaming in pent-up unreleased agony. He'd been so unbelievably close, verging towards the point of no return, only to be wrenched back, his whole being stabbing and burning, assaulted by a thousand relentless red hot needles jabbing him all over. He couldn't think. Couldn't breathe. Couldn't move. A helpless, jellified heap of inner shrieking torment. Completely wrecked. Jeeez, this was killing him ~ pure torture beyond belief.

It took him a while to come out of it, but when his befuddled senses eventually cleared and he realised Tannith was actually sobbing now, he heaved himself up onto one elbow, concern overtaking desire.

"Darlin', what's wrong?" he croaked, his voice coming out in a husky breathless rasp. When she didn't respond he pressed, "Did I hurt ya?....Please....tell me."

Tannith shook her head vehemently, making the tears spread across her cheeks. She seemed unable or unwilling to speak and Trip was shocked when she turned away from him to face the wall of the bulkhead, curling herself up, childlike, into a tight foetal position ~ full of fear and tension. He couldn't believe it when he heard her give a low stifled wail like some caged wild animal.

Trip wiped a faltering hand across his sweating face and tried to clear his thoughts. Tried to figure out what had just happened. He hadn't a clue what was going on with her. She wouldn't speak to him. She wouldn't even look at him. What the hell was wrong with her? Dammit, she was the one who'd asked him ~ practically begged him ~ to make love to her and Lord knows he'd tried. He'd thought about nothing else for weeks. He couldn't have been more patient and gentle with her. At least he thought he couldn't have. He hadn't even really *done* anything yet.....only just gotten started.....but it was like someone had pressed an invisible button and switched her off. And that *someone* had to have been him.

Shit, he didn't usually have this effect.........!

He wasn't annoyed by her behaviour ~ not even mildly irritated ~ just completely baffled, confused and utterly frustrated. In every sense of the word. But it wasn't merely the sex ~ or lack of it ~ that was tearing him up inside. That wasn't the issue. Wasn't what really mattered here. What mattered was the fact that he'd never seen her like this before. It was so out of character. She was like a different person ~ a stranger to him. And it cut him to the quick to think he might have hurt her in any way. Sadly he wasn't a mind reader.

"Tannith," he whispered, gently stroking her back. "Talk to me."

Her whole body was shivering and she felt cold to his touch. He reached behind him and grabbed hold of a spare sheet which he draped over them both. Tannith clung to it gratefully. Less than five minutes ago she'd been clinging to him just as tightly. Trip was at a total loss. He didn't know what the hell to do ~ never having been in this situation before. He felt suddenly awkward and uncomfortable ~ not even knowing if she wanted him there or not. He didn't want to leave her like this ~ something was obviously very wrong ~ but she'd just totally blanked him, cut herself off from him physically and emotionally. Mentally he formed the words ~ *please, let me help you* ~ repeating them over and over in his head only to have them fall on deaf ears, blocked just as surely by his lack of voice as the wall of silence that had risen up between them.

He rubbed her shoulder with troubled affection. Perhaps this whole thing had been a dreadful mistake. He should never have allowed himself to get so close to her. It hurt him too much to see her like this and not be able to do anything about it. "You want me to go?" His voice was breaking as he tried to keep himself together. When he got no reply he made to get up, not really wanting to, but afraid of pushing it further. "Maybe.....I should.....just go........"

He slowly shook his head with a bewildered unhappy sigh.

"No.....Please, Trip.....Don't leave me."

The desperation and hurting in Tannith's voice stopped him dead in his tracks. Trip's heart went out to her.

"Okay.....I won't.....I'm here."

He settled back down beside her. At least he'd established one thing ~ he was still welcome and it sure came as a relief. His hand hovered over her, uncertain whether to touch her. He wanted to so badly.

"Ya know....if you'd just talk to me. Maybe we could work....."

"I'm sorry, Trip.....I'm so....sorry."

He stared at her back, screwing up his eyes in perplexion. Now she'd really lost him. "Sorry?....What in the world for?"

Her small voice came back muffled. "For disappointing you."

Trip ran his fingers through his hair and rubbed his eyes in exasperation. "What are you talkin' about?"

He knew one thing. He was tired of trying to hold a conversation with her rear end. This was not the person he'd known the last few months and it was freaking him out. Taking hold of her arm he rolled her over, not even loosening his grip when she offered a token resistance. He sat her up next to him, meeting her flushed tear stained gaze.

"Look," he said softly. "Let's get this straight.....You think you've disappointed me in some way. I promise ya, you haven't. Why would you even think that anyway?" His tone was calm, but firm.

"Because I haven't....."

Tannith swallowed, her voice trailing off. Her fingers picked anxiously at the sheet that still partially covered them.

"Because I didn't know....how......"

And then it hit him ~ smacked him right between the eyes like a whirling dervish of a funnelling tornado whipping in off the Florida Keys that picked him up, flipped him inside out and spat him right out again. How could he have been so bloody blind.....so unreceptive to what was going on with her?

"Wait a minute," he intoned gently. "You've.....never actually done this before.....Is that what you're tryin' to tell me?"

She looked down and nodded, tears still brimming. The moment she'd been inwardly dreading and avoiding had finally come. She had no choice, she was going to have to tell him.....and risk losing the one person she adored more than life itself. What his response would be she could only hazard a guess, but she loved him so much he deserved to know the truth ~ if only to stop him from thinking he was somehow to blame for her reaction. When she looked up at Trip again, the Tannith he knew and loved was back with him once more. He was so thankful his heart sang.....and then the ground gave way beneath him and his whole world fell apart.

"I've been raped, Trip," she said simply, her voice low and wavering. "But I've never made love."

Trip's mouth fell open as his brain registered what she'd just told him. He was numb, speechless, overloaded with a myriad of churning emotions all rolled into one. Jesus! No wonder he'd provoked such a reaction, however unintentional on his part. He looked into her eyes and saw all the familiar pain and sadness he'd first noticed down on the planet, but to be honest he'd forgotten some of what she'd told him as at the time he'd been distracted by his own pain from his injury as well as being in the grip of a drug-induced haze from the medication she'd given him. Yet that still didn't excuse him from blanking out how that bastard, Valsar, had openly taunted him on the Bridge with his crude and disgusting inferences. Now he was consumed by an overwhelming remorse that he hadn't thought this through more clearly with his rational brain instead of the irrational one in his pants.

Tannith was trembling and blinking up at him, so close he could feel her breath.....and now he was the one who was frozen to the spot. His senses slapped him and he snapped out of it. Pulling her to him he encircled her in his arms, their foreheads meeting in a tender touch. He felt her need for him reaching out now more than ever. The need for his understanding. His compassion.

"Forgive me," he whispered. "I had no idea."

He felt more silent tears falling. This time they were his own. He cradled her in his arms as she clung to him, rocking her gently, making little soothing noises to quieten her. In time he felt her relax into the comforting cocoon of his embrace. He stroked her hair, her neck, her arms ~ all the *safe* places where he knew she wouldn't feel threatened ~ thoughtfully keeping the sheet draped around them so she wouldn't feel quite so exposed.

Tannith held onto him as though her sanity depended on it.

"There's.....something you need to know, Trip."

He kissed the top of her head. Half of him didn't want to hear this. The other half knew he must.

"Tell me......"

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PART TWO

Rating : NC-17
Disclaimer : Characters belong to Paramount. No infringement of copyright intended. Not for profit or gain.

"The stuff of nightmares....."

Tannith could not believe what she was seeing. All around her was destruction, carnage and death. Mayhem and chaos engulfed what had once been calm and serenity. In a matter of a few terrifying days her whole world had been shattered and blown apart. Explosions erupted all around her showering lethal chunks of shrapnel in their wake. Flaming sparks and shards of broken glass glanced off her skin making her flinch. She was disorientated. The settlement was already destroyed yet still it was being targeted by torpedoes and molten plasma fire from above.

Her attention momentarily diverted she twisted her ankle and stumbled, falling head first into the dirt and debris. Something cushioned her landing. She pushed herself up onto all fours to come face to face with the bloodied mangled remains of someone she didn't or could no longer recognise. She wasn't even sure if it was male or female. A scream of pure horror rose in her throat, but was stifled by the simultaneous desire to vomit. She gulped it down and forced herself upright only to be blown off balance again by a shockwave from another horrendous explosion close by.

Staggering to her feet, dazed and partially deafened by the ear-splitting blast she turned and ran straight into a towering militia guard armed with a plasma rifle. Before she had time to react he had grabbed her roughly by the arm.

"Another one for Valsar," he chuckled, handing her over none too gently to his companion. "Here, Darga.....Take her to the compound."

The other guard scruffed her tightly and marched her through the burning ruins, dragging her over the grisly tangle of bodies littering their path. Tannith coughed as the choking acrid smoke drenched her lungs and stung her eyes. She struggled, trying to kick herself free, but was instantly rewarded with a vicious side slap that made her see stars. The guard named Darga propelled her face down so that she hung over a smouldering mutilated corpse that had almost been sliced in half. She could smell the pungent stench of burnt flesh, see the vacant glazed stare of agony in the contorted death mask. Unable to help herself she threw up over it.

"Do as you are told.....or you'll end up like that," she heard Darga say.

Tannith was too stunned to offer further resistance.

When they reached the compound she was hauled into the main building and taken down several corridors, stopping outside one particular room on the left. The door was only partially open so she couldn't quite see inside. Darga gave a single loud rap and a rough impatient voice from within growled, "Enter!"

Tannith was pulled inside as the voice commanded, "What is the meaning of this? I thought I said no interruptions. Can't you see I'm.....busy?"

"Vejar thought you might be interested in this one, Lord Valsar," the guard replied gruffly, head bowed in subservience to this grotesquely deformed hulk of a creature who was obviously their leader.

Tannith's frightened eyes had only just adapted to the gloomy interior, but her heart almost stopped when she saw who else was in the room ~ although at first he was barely recognisable to her.

"Father!?!"

He was hanging from the ceiling, suspended by restraints tied to his wrists. Covered in fresh open wounds and vivid bruises he was barely conscious. Tannith had been frantically searching for him since he'd gone missing two days ago ~ hoping against hope he was hiding out somewhere and hadn't been captured. She'd had no idea if he were alive or dead.

Now she knew.

"Tannith?" His voice was weak, devoid of all hope.

Someone or something else was in the room with them ~ a ghastly malformed creature with a drooping, drooling mouth.

"Continue, Torg!" Valsar instructed.

Tannith couldn't comprehend what he meant until the one named Torg lashed out at her father, the blow glancing off his jaw and rendering him senseless. Tannith screamed and clawed out at the guard, Darga, who held her in an iron grasp, her ragged nails raking the side of his face and drawing deep tramlines of blood.

Valsar watched all this with lazy amusement, but his cruel, hooded eyes took in every detail, missing nothing.....So...he finally had the daughter........

Trailing one leg, he hobbled over to her and took hold of her flailing wrists, pinning them down by her sides. Tannith shook in a mixture of anger, fear and loathing for this vile monster who stank of everything rotten and loathsome. She cringed, straining to pull herself as far away from the reeking stench of his putrid breath as possible.

His laugh was low and gutteral as he held her firmly. "Stop your struggling, my sweet," he growled. "It will do you no good......You belong to me now."

He turned his attention to the guard.

"Put her with the others....I'll deal with her later."

Darga stood to attention. "Yes, my Lord."

As Tannith was dragged out of the room she tried desperately to get one last glimpse of her father. He was motionless, hanging limply. She couldn't even see if he was still breathing ~ it was too dark ~ and the mutant called Torg was standing in the way, blocking her field of vision.

She was hauled down another corridor at the end of which was a padlocked door. Darga turned the key, unlocking it, but just before it swung open he remembered the scratches on his face. He touched his cheek and felt the blood already congealing there. This little vixen would need a lot of taming.

"You will pay for this.....in ways you cannot begin to imagine," he threatened with ominous portent and struck her such a blinding blow it sent her crashing through the doorway to end up sprawled out on the filthy damp floor.

********************

Tannith felt hands tugging and pulling at her. Still dazed from the blow the guard had dealt her she tried to fight them off, frenziedly pushing them away, only to come to her senses seconds later to realise they were helping hands. She sat up shakily. Her own hand went straight to the swollen bruise already forming on her cheekbone, wincing at the dull throb at her temple.

The hands that had helped her belonged to two other women, both of whom she recognised. The taller, dark haired one, Leah, was older than Tannith. She'd visited her father's apothecary several times for various herbs and had a quiet mature beauty and dignity that Tannith had always admired. The other girl was called Felicia. She was younger than Tannith, little more than a child really, with long braided hair the colour of burnished copper and a splash of tiny freckles on her nose. She was the daughter of the settlement's ironmonger.

They bonded immediately, thrown together in such dire circumstances. But it was to be a short-lived bond. Two days later, after Tannith's senses had been bombarded and tortured with deliberate cruelty beyond all endurance through being forced to listen to the unmistakable screams of her father as he suffered at the hands of Torg, the three women had their hands tightly bound behind their backs and were brought before Valsar. Two armed sentries stood behind them blocking any means of escape. One of them Tannith remembered by the festering scabs on his cheek.....Darga. She could feel his burning look of loathing drilling into her.

Valsar was in an excited mood. He went from girl to girl, scrutinizing each one in turn, his filthy hands poking and prodding, invading every part of their bodies. Crimson with embarrassment and cowering in humiliation, Leah and Felicia both started to shake and cry.

Tannith bit back her own fear and distress and stood, head erect, eyes smouldering as Valsar stopped in front of her.

"Where's my father?.....Where have you taken him?" she demanded to know.

Valsar's mean feral eyes glared back at her. "Your father is dead. Surely you must have heard his screams?" Then, closer, "He asked to die.....so I granted his request."

Tannith spat in his face with all the force her hatred could muster. Darga stepped forwards, the butt of his rifle already raised.....all too willing to use it. Valsar waived him still, randomly dabbing at the spittle trickling down him.

"Tell me." He nodded towards Leah and Felicia. "Your new found friends here.....If you could choose between them.....which one would you let live.....and which one would you let die?"

Tannith stared back at him trying to gulp down her rising dread. Surely he couldn't possibly be serious? Valsar grabbed her by the throat.

"Lost your tongue, little one? Not quite so talkative now, are you?"

He roughly pushed her back, letting go so she could gasp in air.

"Come on, speak up!....Which one lives.....which one dies? It can't be that difficult.....You have ten seconds or I'll decide for you!"

Tannith looked helplessly towards her companions, fear and dread giving rise to sickening panic. Leah and Felicia were both sobbing, begging for mercy.....for freedom. Tannith's eyes bulged in unspeakable horror yet no sound would come out of her mouth.

"Very well.....Tannith.....You will take full responsibility for my choice.....Then again.....maybe I'll kill you instead. These two would be much less trouble."

Valsar signalled the guards who came forwards and forced all three of them onto the floor in a kneeling position, Tannith in the middle. She felt her breathing quicken, her heartbeat pounding in her ears and was certain she was going to die. She forced herself not to cry. She would not give this despicable inhuman beast the satisfaction of hearing her plead or beg. Her eyes darted sideways to her two friends, trying to give them support, but they were both completely out of it, their eyes shut tight. So instead she fixed Valsar with every shred of defiance she could summon up. She saw him nod silently to the guards and held her breath.........

Seconds later, both Leah and Felicia lay slumped at her side, each showing a single smouldering gaping wound from a plasma rifle. Wounds that were indisputably fatal.

Tannith gasped in terrified shock. She struggled to help them, but her hands were too tightly bound.....and reason told her they were way beyond any help she could have given them. The guards dragged their lifeless bodies out through the doorway. Smeared bloody trails were all that was left of their existence.

Tannith and Valsar were temporarily alone.

"You may be wondering why I chose to let you live," he smirked, then qualified it by adding, "Because it will be so much more amusing for me to keep you alive.....to break your spirit.....little by little.....day by day."

He ran his disgusting hands all over her upper body making her flesh crawl. As the guards returned he grabbed hold of her chin and held her as if in a vice.

He said two words.

"Your turn."

He motioned to the guards who hauled her to her feet. Darga untied her bonds freeing her wrists. But not for long. Holding her firmly again she was roughly carried by her arms to a long narrow table at one end of the room. Valsar swept away a pitcher of water and other assorted utensils so they could lift her up, positioning her so that she was on her back, her legs dangling over the edge. They pinned her limbs down so tightly she could barely move save to arch her back against the harsh wooden surface of the table.

In one ruthless barbaric move, Valsar ripped open the front of her loose-fitting shirt, exposing her breasts which he proceeded to consume with sickening lustful slurping sounds, biting down hard on the tender purity of her young flesh. Tannith struggled violently against the raw pain, but it was useless. It only made Valsar's ministrations more frenzied. At the same time she felt herself being roughly stripped of her long skirt and undergarments. Practically naked she writhed and bucked in terror, but their grip only increased. She gasped, realising too late what was going to happen.

<< Your turn >>

A strangled cry formed in her throat as she prayed for help ~ but none came. The guards savagely forced her legs apart, burly arms callously wrapping around her bent knees, pushing them upwards and outwards with superhuman strength, opening her wide. The next thing she knew Valsar was between them ramming hard all the way inside her without any warning whatsoever. The agony was indescribable as her virginity was callously ripped from her in an act so vicious and violent it was almost bestial in its ferocity. The searing pain was white hot and blistering ~ like nothing Tannith thought could ever exist. Bitter bile rose in her throat. She felt herself passing out ~ the room spinning, her head swimming, vision dimming ~ then sharply belted back to a hazy consciousness in which Valsar was still hammering pitilessly into her, tearing her apart. Her entire body spasmed in a rictus of tortured suffering. She couldn't so much as scream ~ Valsar had one suffocating paw gagging her mouth almost completely cutting off her air. The other stampeded freely over her, randomly pummelling and twisting her sensitive skin. His cold blooded perversion seemed to know no bounds. All she could hear ~ intensified out of all proportion ~ were his atrocious lustful grunts of deviant gratification, sickening sadistic laughter from the guards and some insane chattering that could only have come from Torg as he witnessed the brutal assault from the sidelines. Powerless to resist physically, Tannith's mind drifted off to a borderland where life and death hung poised in parity......

When finally it was over and Valsar pulled out of her, sated, she was thrown semi-conscious into a foul cramped adjoining cell, battered, bruised and bleeding ~ so sore inside she could barely move let alone stand. She felt like she'd been cleaved in two, sullied and degraded. Violated. Shamed.

In the days and weeks that followed she came to learn there would have been little point in pleading for mercy. Valsar and his men had no concept of the word. In any case, Valsar was only interested in two things ~ pleasure and pain. His pleasure. Her pain. Breaking her will to survive became his goal. His pastime. Somehow she found the strength within herself. To save herself. To stay alive. Succumbing to Valsar would have meant instant death. Once he'd succeeded in destroying the single stubborn streak left in her that refused to yield to him, her continued existence would have been irrelevant. That would have been the end of her. He'd have thrown her to the wolves.....and there was already an abundance of them ~ sniffing around ~ all eager to get a taste of her.

And so this continued. Endless hours spent huddled alone in a corner of her holding cell, fighting off the rats that plagued her constantly, weakened from starvation and shivering from lack of warmth, willing herself to get through another day, whimpering to herself when no-one could hear.....inwardly terrified of every sound.....until dusk came when her nightmare would begin all over again. That was a good day comparatively. On a bad day ~ a really bad day ~ the guards would pay her a call, giving a whole new meaning to *visiting time.* Darga in particular was especially perverse in his desire for gratuitous violence and depravity towards her. It still made her physically sick to think back on what she'd had to do the night she managed to escape.............

********************

PART THREE

Rating : PG-13
Disclaimer : Characters belong to Paramount. No infringement of copyright intended. Not for profit or gain.

"Affirmations of trust....."

Oh, dear God in Heaven! How Trip wished with all his heart he'd never asked Tannith to relive that. Now he knew the truth he couldn't stand it. Couldn't cope with the knowledge that he'd been responsible for bringing that horrendous flashback into her memory. He was breathing hard from a deep unremitting rage at how her sweet young innocence had been defiled by that vile bastard. He ached for renewed vengeance ~ to have the chance to kill that sick sonofabitch Valsar a thousand times over again.....only slower.....limb by limb.....piece by rancid piece.

He looked down at his hands. They were shaking uncontrollably.

He buried his head in Tannith's hair, still holding her, rocking her, giving her every shred of the comfort she craved. His heart sobbed. His soul wept. Would his grief for her never end?

All he'd ever wanted to do was make her happy. To make blissful mind-blowing love to her.....give her body such sweet pleasure.....take her to places she'd never been. And now everything had come crashing down around them.

She'd already been to far too many places ~ terrifyingly obscene places ~ on her own.

Maybe it was too soon. Or maybe she'd never come back from those places. Maybe he was only making things worse. This whole bloody mess was tearing him apart and the irony was that now he knew what she'd suffered and shared her horrific memories.....he wasn't even sure he was the one who should be helping her.

He looked down at her with such tenderness, his tears rapidly overflowing in uninterrupted rivulets.

"You know, hon.....ah....." He was having trouble simply forming words, let alone getting them out. "D'ya think you should try talkin' to Phlox? Maybe he can....."

"The doctor already knows, Trip."

Trip's mouth formed a silent, "Oh."

He was dumbstruck. How come Phlox had known and he hadn't? His fogged, overburdened brain hadn't engaged and now he felt really stupid. Of course Phlox wouldn't have said anything. He couldn't. There was that little thing called *patient confidentiality.*

"When I was in sickbay.....sometimes I'd have nightmares," Tannith went on. "I'd wake up thinking I could hear the guards coming for me."

Trip's mind screamed in torment. Why hadn't she told him for crying out loud? Why hadn't she said anything? Worse still.....why had he never thought to ask?

Uncannily she was on the same wavelength.

"I wanted to tell you so many times.....I really did. But it just never felt right.....and you've gotta understand there are some things that are just too difficult to talk about.....to someone you care for. I didn't want to spoil what we had. I thought if you knew the truth maybe you wouldn't come see me any more."

Trip couldn't believe it. After all they'd shared.

"Don'tcha know me better than that?" He hugged her close.

"I couldn't bear to lose you, Trip. You're my best friend.....more than a friend. Please don't think ill of me."

Trip blinked back more imminent hot tears. He lifted her troubled face, his eyes liquid pools of sky blue intensity.

"You're talkin' like this is your fault.....Sweetheart.....none of this is your fault. You're not responsible for any of it.....You could no more have prevented what happened to your father or your friends than stopped Valsar from....." His voice folded, unable to bring himself to say the word 'rape'. "It's not your fault....." he repeated, his voice trailing off.

He felt her touch on his trembling hand.

"I'm sorry for earlier.....I didn't mean to shut you out.....I meant no offence."

Trip wished so badly she'd stop apologising. Hell, after everything she'd been through he was amazed she even wanted to be touched anymore. He swallowed the lump in his throat and rubbed her hand. Squeezed it reassuringly.

"None taken," he said softly.

Tannith knew she'd caused him pain. She'd only had to look at his stunned stare of impotent sadness as she recounted her story ~ to feel his hands shake as he held her. She'd never meant to reject him. That was the last thing she'd ever wanted to do. He meant the world to her. Was her world. But just for those few seconds the living nightmare she'd struggled so hard to suppress had fought and clawed its way to the surface of her consciousness and taken her hostage again, just as surely as Valsar had kept her prisoner. But Valsar was gone. He was dead. Trip had seen to that. There was still a way out of this barren labyrinth of emotional darkness.....and he was lying right next to her. Trip was her lifeline. Without him she knew she would plunge back into the chasm that had almost destroyed her sanity. Despite her anguish she was overjoyed her constant nagging dread he might reject her had been groundless. She knew now he would stand by her. With his help and understanding ~ and his love ~ she was convinced she could get through this.

Tannith snuggled up closer to Trip, spooning herself into his body, lulled by his soothing caresses and the rhythmic beat of his heart. She was emotionally drained, yet it spoke volumes of her complete faith in him that she knew without any shadow of a doubt he would do nothing to jeopardize that trust. She could feel herself letting go.....drifting off to a safe warm place where only he and she existed.

"Stay with me, Trip," she implored him. "Please be here when I wake up."

Trip held her tightly to him ~ his silent reassurance that he would always be there for her.

"Go to sleep," he whispered as she gave herself up into his care.....knowing full well sleep would not come to him that night.

********************

PART FOUR

Rating : PG-13
Disclaimer : Characters belong to Paramount. No infringement of copyright intended. Not for profit or gain.

"Sound advice....."

The doors to sickbay swooshed open. It was still early and only Doctor Phlox was up and about doing his morning rounds, feeding his menagerie of exotic creatures in their various cages and tanks.

Phlox looked up to see Commander Tucker hesitating in the doorway.

"Good morning, Commander.....Please.....come in.....come in."

Trip took a few dubious steps forwards, tentatively eyeing the place up.

"It's all right. No-one else is here.....just the two of us."

Trip smiled. "Yeah.....you.....me.....an' a few dozen assorted blood suckin' bugs!"

Phlox beamed. He knew how much the Commander loathed his infamous collection of plants, insects, mammals and other miscellaneous unmentionables. How did he so succinctly put it.....they gave him the creeps!

"There's no cause for alarm. They've already eaten.....Oh, except for Ingrid.....I almost forgot!"

He came over to one of the computer terminals close to where Trip was standing and peered into a sturdy glass tank. Something black and hairy with thick spiky legs was sulking in one corner. Phlox went to a nearby jar, unscrewed the lid and took out a cricket type insect, deftly dropping it into the tank and swiftly replacing the protective cover. Within seconds the creature so affectionately referred to as Ingrid had pierced the cricket and was sucking it dry.

Trip turned green and leapt away from the tank. "Shit, was that thing alive?"

Phlox nodded, looking relieved. "She only eats live food, Commander. The last time I forgot to feed her she refused to produce venom for a week. It caused all manner of problems with my remedy for headaches.....I had to substitute....."

Trip held up his hands. "Whoa.....I don't think I wanna know.....if it's all the same to you."

Phlox just smiled. Humans. Sometimes they were so easy to wind up! But it was obvious there was a more pressing reason for the Commander's visit so early in the morning. He was edgy. Restless. And it had nothing to do with Ingrid.

"Is there something I can do for you, Commander?"

Trip's brow was deeply furrowed. "I gotta talk to ya, doc.....about Tannith."

"What about her?"

Trip hesitated. "I think you know what about."

"Ah."

Phlox caught on straightaway. The only thing that surprised him was that it had taken this long for the Commander to bring the subject up. He knew how close he'd become to Tannith in the last few weeks. Knew that the feeling was reciprocated. It was only a matter of time before they took things a step further.

"I take it she's confided in you about her.....experiences."

"Yeah," Trip replied. "A coupla nights ago we.....er.....we....." His voice caught as he held his arms out to the side and shrugged in a gesture of abject helplessness.

"I presume by that things didn't go entirely as planned?"

Trip gave a little woeful smile. "You got that right." Then, "Doc, I swear.....I had no idea....."

"Of course you hadn't. Why would you? She asked me not to mention it to you. She said she would tell you when she was ready."

Trip nodded. "I understand what you're sayin', but....."

"If you're concerned, I think I can safely put your mind at rest, Commander."

"Huh?" Trip's expression was one of puzzlement.

"You were never at any risk. She had not contracted anything contagious."

Trip's eyes went wide. He hadn't even given it any thought. Right now that was the last thing on his mind.

"No.....no.....That's not what I mean.....It's just....." He hesitated again, his hands on his hips as he started to pace up and down. "Hell, I don't even know what I mean any more. I can't seem to think straight lately."

He stopped pacing and leaned his elbows on one of the biobeds, facing Phlox.

"I just wanted to help her, ya know?....And now I.....don't think I can anymore."

The doctor frowned. "Really? What's changed?"

"What's changed?!....Hell, everythin's changed!"

"Are you saying you no longer have feelings for her?"

Trip looked up at him aghast. "Are you kiddin'? Of course I still have feelings for her.....That's the whole problem.....I just can't....."

Phlox stopped what he was doing, instantly serious. "She needs you, Commander."

"I know that....."

The doctor shook his head. "No, I don't believe you do. Tannith *needs* you.....if you get my drift."

Trip understood him completely. "I can't, doc......not now."

"I believe you can and you must......She's been through a terrible ordeal and yet she trusts you implicitly. If you can't get her past this.....no-one can. Her physical wounds have healed well. Her emotional ones however run much deeper. She's haunted by the past. She needs to move on."

"But it's different now." Trip lamented.

Phlox frowned. "Different?"

"I feel more.....like a brother to her."

"She doesn't need a brother, Commander. She needs a lover.....Someone she feels safe with.....Someone with a certain passion and.....sensitivity."

Trip narrowed his eyes and tilted his head in that boyishly charming manner of his that sometimes unwittingly escaped. What he wouldn't have given right at that moment to see the look on Sub-Commander T'Pol's haughty face if she'd heard Phlox say that. He felt certain the doctor's choice of words were not the qualities the Vulcan dragon lady would ever have attributed to him.

He shook his head with a wry grin. "I'm not exactly the world's expert myself, ya know?"

"Nonsense, you are the perfect choice.....Just what the doctor ordered."

Trip gawped back at him. Never before had a doctor actually ordered him to ~ for want of a better phrase ~ *get his rocks off!*

"I dunno, doc." He still wasn't completely convinced. "What if I can't.....ya know.....get it up!?" He sighed heavily. Why did everything have to be so goddam complicated? "That would really screw things up." He saw Phlox's bemused look and quickly added, "Sorry.....poor choice of words!"

Phlox disappeared for a moment and came back with a small hypospray which he offered to Trip.

"What's that?"

"I believe you call it an aphrodisiac. Inject it subcutaneously half an hour before you need it."

Trip's eyebrows shot up, astonished. "An aphrodisiac!?!"

"Mmm," Plox nodded. "It's made from a Denobulan plant extract.....extremely potent, if I do say so myself."

Trip shook his head. "You sly old dog!"

"Well, I do have three wives to satisfy, you know. Feezal in particular can be very demanding.....Perhaps I'll introduce you to her one day."

Trip considered the hypospray ~ for about five seconds. "Ya know.....I think maybe I'll pass.....if it's all the same to you." He'd had enough mind altering drugs to last a lifetime thanks to Tannith. Maybe he should give it to her.....on second thoughts maybe not!

Phlox shrugged. "The choice is yours, Commander. If you change your mind you know where to find me."

He turned to go back to the dispenser as Trip headed for the door. Glancing back over his shoulder the Chief Engineer smiled to himself. There was obviously more to the good doctor than met the eye.

********************

PART FIVE

Rating : NC-17
Disclaimer : Characters owned by Paramount. No infringement of copyright intended. Not for profit or gain.

"Culminations...."

Later that evening......

Trip stopped outside Tannith's quarters on G-Deck, juggling a balancing act of two trays laden with *happy* food, one for him, one for Tannith ~ two humungous pieces of Pecan Pie, Rocky Road ice cream with extra marshmallows, strawberry milkshake and coffee.

This was ridiculous! He was so nervous ~ all jittery inside ~ like it was a first date or something....although a first date would never usually pan out the way he hoped this one would. The doc had said Tannith needed him. He was her one chance of her ever hoping to make an emotional recovery. Right.....no pressure then.....absolutely no pressure at all! He'd almost called in to sickbay for the hypospray, but chickened out at the last moment. Besides, he had no way of knowing what effect it might have on him ~ and tonight he was going to need to be in complete control. More so than ever. Most red-blooded males he knew would have jumped at the chance.....*For God's sake, Tucker, no more word associations and whatever you do with your big mouth do not, under any circumstances, let the words << your turn >> escape from your lips!*

He pressed Tannith's door chime with his nose.

********************

Tannith opened the door from the inside and burst out laughing at the sight of Trip fighting to keep control of the trays and their contents. He was losing the battle, made worse by the fact that her infectious giggle immediately spread to him. He registered the fact this was the first time he'd ever heard her laugh.....really laugh.....and it bowled him over.

"What's so funny?!" he asked her in mock offence as he steadied one of the trays with his chin, narrowly preventing the plate of melting Rocky Road from crashing to the floor. "Gimme a hand, unless ya want coffee in yer milkshake!"

Tannith was still in helpless fits of giggles.

"What!?!"

"You've got ice cream on your nose!"

"Oh.....I do, huh?" He made to wipe it off with his shirt sleeve, but she beat him to it.

"Here. Let me."

Standing on tiptoe she reached up and in a playful flash the tip of her darting tongue had removed it. Trip nearly dropped both trays there and then. Did he just see right? She'd licked the ice cream off.....with her tongue?! The gesture instantly conjured up lurid visions of the naked alien 'butterfly girls' Lieutenant Reed and Travis had encountered on Rigel Ten a while back.....One helluva floor show by all accounts! He just about made it over to the small table with everything more or less intact ~ apart from his senses.

He gave her a quizzical look. "You feelin' okay, tonight?"

"Uh-huh," she grinned, spying what was on the trays. "Oh, great! My favourites!....Thanks, Trip." Scooping everything onto one tray she looked up at him. "So.....where's yours?"

Trip was speechless, mesmerized. As she sat down to eat he asked, "Are ya *sure* you're okay?"

Swallowing a less than dainty mouthful of Pecan Pie she savoured it, nodding vigorously. "You know, you really should've brought some of this for yourself.....It's delicious!"

Trip just stood there with his mouth open like a fish out of water.

Tannith broke off a corner of pie and stabbed it with her fork, offering it up to him. "Want some?"

"If you're sure ya can spare it!" He fought back the sudden budding arousal beginning to creep up on him already and let her feed him the pie. Tasting it he couldn't help but agree. "You're right. Chef's really excelled himself tonight."

She carried on eating as he took a seat next to her.

"You seen Phlox today?"

She nodded. "Yes, I was helping him earlier.....Did you know he has a pet bat? She almost escaped when I went to feed her."

"She did, huh?"

"Uh-huh.....You should see her, Trip. She's got huge wings and beady little eyes and teeth so sharp they'll take yer fingers off!"

Trip shook his head and chuckled. They'd spent so much time together she was sometimes beginning to sound like him. Every once in a while a tiny hint of a Southern drawl would unconsciously escape. Recently he couldn't help but notice she'd even started to mimic his mannerisms. Again he was sure she was totally unaware she was doing it. He found it incredibly endearing. Flattering. And more than a little sexy.....What the hell had gotten into her tonight anyway? She was like a completely different person.....again. He wondered just how many different personalities someone could feasibly have before being eligible for some medical textbook terminology!

Now it was her turn to give him a quizzical look. "What?"

Trip cleared his throat, a sudden thought flitting through his head. "Did...ah...did Phlox give ya anythin' today.....ya know.....like medication?"

Tannith shook her head. "Nope. He says I'm fine now."

Trip nodded. Just a thought. Obviously he was mistaken.

"Oh....." She swallowed down some of the milkshake leaving a mini arc of pink bubbles on her top lip. "He did make me some tea."

"Tea?" Trip repeated suspiciously. Since when had Phlox made tea?.....Strange.....Surely he hadn't.....no, he wouldn't have.....would he?.....Maybe a little something just to help relax her........

Trip's eyes were riveted to the rim of frothy milkshake still on Tannith's lip. He had an overwhelming urge to lick it off, taste the flavour mingled with her own.....Oh, shit.....he was getting turned on already! Just being with her tonight, watching her eat had been enough. And the way she was acting with him. All animated. Throwing little sideways glances at him. Innocent enough in themselves, but somehow.....different.....Kinda like she knew something he didn't.....Christ, she was driving him nuts.....And he'd told Phlox he thought he was going to have problems. Well, he was right enough there, but they weren't the problems he'd anticipated.

Tannith took another gulp of milkshake and glanced across at him. Those gorgeous blue eyes of his were watching her. Captivated. Enthralled. Blushing slightly, she passed him the other plate of pie. "Here.....I was only kiddin', ya know."

Trip was no longer interested in the pie.

"You've got milkshake on yer lip, " he said.

She went to wipe it off with her napkin, but Trip stopped her mid way. "Let me."

Standing up he gently took her arm, pulling her up close to him and before she knew it his lips were touching hers, his tongue licking away the froth. She smelt strawberries on his breath, tasted them in his mouth as his tongue caressed hers. It was such a wonderful sensation she felt herself relaxing against him. She wanted so badly to just let go, release herself into his control, to let him show her what it could be like. Should be like. He was the one person she trusted. The only one who made her feel like this.

She sensed Trip's passion intensifying. It was impossible to ignore ~ he was rock hard against her belly. Pressing up closer she gazed back at him and saw the love she had for him reflected in his eyes....along with something else....a silent desperate plea for her consent. With a slow deliberate blink of her eyelashes she gave it willingly. Revelling in the feel of him she started to unbutton his shirt. Trip felt her hands tremble. Let her take her time. As the last button came undone she slid the shirt down his arms and onto the floor.

Tannith was wearing a regulation issue Starfleet T-shirt, miles too big for her, so that it resembled more of a dress, hanging loose off one bare shoulder and reaching down nearly to her knees. As she began to pull it off Trip stopped her.

"Leave it on, sweetheart," he whispered. "It's kinda cute."

He tugged at a light padded quilt folded on top of the bed and spread it down on the floor, then arranged some big squashy cushions to form a cosy nest. They knelt down together, facing eachother. Trip placed a steady hand on either side of her shoulders.

"You sure you wanna do this?" he asked gently.

She looked back into his eyes. "More than you'll ever know."

He nodded, gazing at her with a tender smile. "If I do anythin'.....anythin' at all you're not comfortable with.....just tell me an' I'll stop, okay?"

She blinked back at him. " 'kay."

He brushed her cheek. "I won't hurt ya.....I promise.....just focus on me."

Breathing in her warm scent he bent down to kiss her throat and shoulders, feeling her lean into him, her slender neck outstretched, lips parted slightly, eyes half closed as she drank in the wonderful sensations he was provoking. Her full lips eagerly searched for his. Finding them she allowed his tongue complete access to her mouth, taking all of him in, wanting to hang on to the incredible feel of him. When at last he pulled out to draw breath she returned it with her own and felt him grip it almost frantically before seeming to take control again, instantly becoming less frenzied. Yet their incessant kisses were urgent. Growing in their appetite. Hungry to ravenous.

Trip noticed Tannith's face was flushed with an obvious arousal he'd never seen before.

Trip's hands travelled downwards over the light material of her T-shirt, gently kneading and caressing, his teeth nuzzling and nibbling her ears. He slid his hands around her back and down her spine coming to rest on her small rounded butt, pressing her to him. Tannith reciprocated, holding onto him, moving her hips into him, against him, both of them swaying in a gentle rhythm of unison, creating delicious eddies of friction. Tannith felt a strange fiercely intense ache welling up from deep within her ~ something she couldn't understand ~ hadn't ever before experienced. Desire. She'd never known what it was like to abandon the tension and pain, but this time she was determined it was going to be different. This was Trip and she was safe with him. She wasn't going to push him away again.

Tingling warm sensations began to rise in her belly, growing ever more feverish and inflamed. She let them wash over her with a whispered moan of surprised delight. Her hand moved slowly to Trip's groin, felt his hardness throbbing so close beneath the light material. Her fingers sought the waistband of his trousers, but he stopped her with a light press of his hand.

"Not yet."

He slid her down onto her back. Positioned cushions to support her comfortably. Keeping his eyes on her, he very carefully eased off her panties. Slowly lifting her legs so that her knees bent slightly he gently held them open and lowered his head. Tannith shuddered, trembling as she felt him thoroughly lick every part of her ~ long intimate tantalising strokes of pure bliss. Trip reached up and found her hands, his fingers linking hers, pulling her towards him. The gentle pressure served to intensify the bliss as his tongue probed deeper. She closed her eyes, remembering his words....<< focus on me >>....and that's exactly what she did, gasping in sheer wanton pleasure as she gave herself to him, pushing downwards and upwards to meet the powerful heavenly swirling sensations he was creating. His mouth left an incredible burning desire everywhere it touched. Soft sounds of blatant arousal escaped as her breathing quickened.

Trip's ears drank in the sweet melody of her cries. They fed his own arousal only adding to his looming imminence. He lifted his head, knowing he was fast reaching the edge. His whole body screamed out for her. Quickly he slipped out of his pants and by the time he was back at her side Tannith had opened her eyes again. This time she reached for him without needing any encouragement, her hand closing round him, exploring, feeling, squeezing, stroking ~ eager to return the pleasure he'd just given her. Trip let out a moan of such complete ecstasy as her touch sent shooting sparks dancing down him, into him, through him. Sparks that turned to flames setting him completely alight.

Half dazed he sensed her shift position and the next thing he felt was the warm wetness of her mouth closing around the tip of his pulsing shaft. Paralysed through a molten haze of disbelief and unimaginable ecstasy he watched himself disappear inch by inch into her mouth, felt her tongue and lips squeeze and suck and play with the entire length of him.....teasing him.....damn near rendering him incapable of all coherent thought. His fingers dug into the quilt beneath him, his mind making a last desperate grab at recapturing his control before he lost it completely. As gloriously earth-shattering and exquisite the sensations were, if he didn't end it now he knew he'd explode right there, right then.

"Tannith.....please, darlin', stop." This was bizarre. Wasn't this supposed to be the other way round?

Tannith slid him out of her mouth and heard him gasp and groan. For a brief second a trace of concern crossed her flushed face. "Didn't I do it right?"

Trip regained just enough composure to take hold of her and slowly guide her upwards. "Sweetheart.....do it any more *right* an' I won't be able to walk for a week!"

His mouth fell on hers, tasting himself on her. Tannith gave herself back to him, doubly so. Pure excitement coursed through her very being, She had never felt anything like this before.

Trip got the weirdest feeling that the dynamics of the situation had suddenly changed. Tannith wanted him. Was hungry for him. It engulfed him in such a powerful wave of emotion and desire it threatened to tip him over the edge of the precipice on which he was already balancing precariously. He rolled her onto her back and gently rested on top of her, taking his weight on his arms and elbows, urgency taking him over. Tormenting him. Begging for release. Covering her mouth in soft kisses, he felt her move beneath him as she tilted her hips and opened herself completely to him. With Trip's whole being wonderfully pulsating, he held himself up to her and slowly.....gently.....slid all the way into her, penetrating her warm wetness to the hilt.

Tannith gasped in a smouldering mixture of surprise and pleasure. There had been no pain, no fear, just a pure euphoric rapture as he filled her body, her very soul. She felt his hands running so lovingly over her, slipping under her T-shirt, stroking her breasts and belly and she closed her eyes, the feelings intensifying. She trembled with the kindling heat of his breath, whimpering softly as he caressed her. Whimpers of pure exhilaration.

Unable to stay still any longer, Trip began to move inside her, his breathing increasingly rapid and ragged. Watching her eyes ~ heavy-lidded and half-glazed ~ and hearing her give soft moans of delight beneath him left him dizzy and heady. He felt her lift her hips, pushing against him in time to meet his gentle thrusts. Carefully he slid one arm around her rear, pulling her closer to him so he could push deeper inside her. He didn't think it possible to be more acutely sensitive ~ to have such intensity of feelings for her. He wished this moment would never end. Fought to hold on just that bit longer.

He felt Tannith's warm supple body quiver and spasm as he gripped her firmly to him. Suddenly she gave a muted drawn out strangled cry ~ more like a wail ~ digging her fingers so deeply into his arms that her nails left imprints on his skin.

"Trip....!?!"

He sensed a tinge of fear in her voice and realised she was about to come. He was certain she had never experienced the overwhelming sensations that were gripping her body, taking it over. Their intensity was scaring her.

"It's okay.....it's okay," he soothed. "Don't fight it.....Just let it come."

He held her tighter, still whispering soft, calming words to her. "Focus on me, darlin'."

Tannith felt her whole world exploding between her legs. She gasped for breath, every thread of her being utterly lit up by thrilling tingling sparks of electricity swiftly radiating upwards and outwards. Just for a fleeting second she'd felt afraid. Overwhelmed. Not knowing what to expect. But she'd held onto Trip's soothing voice as he tenderly brought her to an exquisite completion. The floodgates of her repressed emotions burst open and engulfed her in an orgasmic tidal wave unrelenting in its drowning intensity. It left her shaking and panting for air.

Trip's own glorious release followed almost immediately. When he came it was slow and insanely intense, building up to the final gushing climax that had been driving him silently wild for weeks. He sucked in air and bit his lip, moaning and shuddering as his senses spun him round in circles, taking him ever higher like being in zero gravity. He felt giddy and weightless. Light headed. His eyes saw a rainbow of multi-coloured flashes, even though he knew they were tightly shut. Tannith held onto him, her own soft cries of pure released passion melting and mingling with his own.

Withdrawing with such gentleness, completely emptied, Trip narrowly avoided collapsing on top of her, both of them experiencing the heavenly afterglow of combined rippling waves of ecstasy and euphoria. They held onto one another, neither wanting to be the first to let go, steeped in eachother's fluids, beads of perspiration glistening on their bodies, hearts pounding, senses overtaken by raw sensual exertion. Tannith's half-closed eyes looked drugged and dreamy. Trip thought how serene she looked. He gently placed a soft kiss on each eyelid. She moaned, her body still glowing from the embers smouldering deep within her ~ embers that still sparked where he touched her. The wonderful gift he had just bestowed on her was infinitely more precious and profound than merely a physical expression of love.

"Trip?" she uttered in a low voice a minute or two later.

"Yeah, darlin'?"

There was a moment's hesitation. "D'you think maybe we could.....do that again.....When you've rested."

*Oh, God!* Trip thought. She had to be kidding him! She was bloody insatiable now!....The tea.....it had to have been the tea Phlox gave her. He must have overdone the ingredients or something........

He gazed sideways at her with his lopsided smile. "Sure, sweetheart.....Just gimme a minute, okay?....And next time don't drink so much of Phlox's tea, huh?"

Tannith opened her eyes and lifted her head to look at him. Puzzled.

"I didn't."

"Huh?"

"I didn't drink it.....It looked foul and smelled even worse.....so I tipped it into one of his plants when he wasn't looking. Promise you won't tell him."

Trip was dumbstruck. So.....it wasn't the tea after all.....Then how had she....?"

Tannith snuggled back down against him with a deep sigh of pure contentment, adding almost casually, "Did ya know the doctor has a really extensive database?....Very.....educational. I spent all afternoon reading it."

Trip gave a little start. He was suddenly beginning to get the picture. Didn't need it spelling out for him.....Christ, had anyone ever told her she was a quick study? He listened transfixed as she went on, "I only got about half way through though, but Doctor Phlox said I could go back anytime.....if that's okay with you."

Trip covered his face with his hand to stop himself laughing.....crying.....at this point he wasn't sure which! What the hell had he gone and done now? Only gone and opened a whole Pandora's Box worth of trouble, that's what!

What was that old.....and very wise.....saying........

'BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU WISH FOR..........'

Heaven help him! He was going to need it!

THE END

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Three people have made comments

Very nice story! You did a great job. Keep writing.

I could see and hear him. Very lusterous, very sexy, very hot.

Well that would be one episode i would like to see.

Very good.