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Kathryn scrubbed a hand over her face as if she could wipe away her own exhaustion. Her arm was bleeding, but that hardly seemed worthy of concern after the last few weeks of brutality at the hands of the hirogen. They were gone, but her ship was in tatters and she couldn’t shift the feeling like the ceasefire was just part of the hunt somehow, a plot to lure difficult prey into a false sense of security before striking again.
She desperately needed a good night's sleep and knew there was no chance of her getting it for a while with how wired she was.
“You’re bleeding,” said a familiar, concerned - and familiarly concerned - voice. Chakotay’s finger ghosted over her bicep as he came to sit beside her, he handed her a mug of coffee and used her distraction to inspect her arm. It was a testament to how tired she was that she didn’t even mind, and just took burning gulps of burnt coffee instead. “I’ll find a dermal regenerator.”
“If you do then see to the crew before me,” Kathryn replied, taking another bracing gulp of coffee - it wasn’t even real coffee, the replicators were down, it was Neelix’s Delta Quadrant answer to coffee, a poor substitute, but she would take what she could get. Beside her, Chakotay let out a frustrated huff.
“The crew is already being treated, and frankly captain we’d be hard pressed to find anyone who suffered worse injuries than you these past few weeks,” he argued, and Kathryn turned, offering him a wry smile.
“Oh don’t worry, the hirogen fixed me up every time. Favoured prey and all that.” She had a headache that wouldn’t go away, and hoped when everyone else was pieced back together that The Doctor might be able to do something about it. But resources were low, especially with the replicators offline, and Kathryn was never going to use something one of her crew might need.
For all his attempts, Chakotay knew her well, and she heard the tear of fabric as Chakotay ripped a strip of fabric from the arm of his turtleneck, and wrapped it around the cut on her arm, like a crude old-age bandage. She smiled at him.
“Well thank you Captain Miller,” she teased, and Chakotay assaulted her with his dimples. Any other day she would have found an excuse to look away, but she was tired and couldn’t quite find the will. There had been a lot of moments, fighting for control of her ship back from the hirogen, that she had thought she was about to die, trapped, hunted and hurt, and every time, she had thought about those dimples.
Then she would survive, because it felt like the only thing she knew how to do, and she would think of Mark’s letter to her, her safety net gone, the parameters she put down after New Earth, and how unfairly annoyed she had been when Chakotay told her she had plenty of time. Before she had any time to analyse any of it, she was running for her life again and drawing fire so her people could get to safety - a habit Chakotay had the gall to simultaneously disapprove of and practice himself.
“Katrine would take better care of herself,” Chakotay replied, knocking his knee into hers as he sat beside her on a fallen bulkhead.
“Katrine would run into a burning building to save the good liquor,” Kathryn snorted, shaking her head as she thought about the persona that had been given to her, how confusing it was to try and pick apart the pieces that were her, and the pieces that weren’t. Kathryn would never run into a burning building to save the good liquor.
“Maybe, but only because good liquor makes better molotov cocktails,” Chakotay grinned and Kathryn groaned. She couldn’t deny that part did sound like her, not just Katrine.
“What was it you called me? A ‘gung-ho gal’?” She asked, remembering Miller, regretting her words - but only a little - when she remembered his blushing and dimples and almost brazenly open interest in her.
“Something like that,” he agreed, “still seems apt,” he added cheekily, and they both laughed for a moment, enjoying a final moment of levity before they had to face the wreckage around them.
“Half the ship is broken,” Kathryn sighed, kicking a bit of debris with her foot.
“Yeah,” Chakotay said, nodding his head and picking up a bit of metal, spinning it between his fingers. “But the people aren’t broken, and the ship can be fixed. If anything they’re high off victory,” he said, because he always knew what to say.
The crew did seem a little giddy with it. They had come through scrapes and battles before, but usually it was Voyager that did the fighting, this had felt different; a drawn out weeks long war between them and a hunting sect of hirogen, they saw their enemy, went hand to hand to claw back their ship. There had been something far more feral about it than other altercations they had been in, and she was sure that was what had given the atmosphere such a buzz.
Where before they might limp away to hide in a nebula and fix their systems, everyone seeming bone weary and deflated, now she could hear laughter, mugs clinking, even some singing.
“You’re right, as always,” she sighed, patting Chakotay’s knee and finishing off her almost-coffee.
“I’ll remind you of that the next time you disagree with me,” he quipped, standing up when she did and tossing aside the metal scrap. “Where should we start?” He asked, looking around and instinctively knowing that what she wanted - what she needed - was to get to work on repairs.
“The crew is on a high right now, but they’re going to crash soon, and when they do they need somewhere to sleep.”
“And decks seven through ten have no life support right now,” Chakotay replied, and she could see him doing the maths on how many quarters were livable right now. “Everyone is going to have to double up.”
“Do you want to deliver the news to the happy troops, or do I have to?”
“I don’t think they’re going to mind that much, they’re just going to be glad for beds and unthreatened sleep for a change,” Chakotay reasoned. “Want to delegate pairing people up to Neelix?”
“On one condition,” Kathryn replied, poking him playfully with the empty coffee mug.
“Hmm?”
“You’re bunking with me. I don’t think I could survive anyone else, at least I know we can cohabit without killing each other,” she laughed, trying not to regret mentioning their shelter on New Earth, but Chakotay just dimpled at her again.
“Captain, no one is going to make you bunk with anyone if you don’t want to.”
“As if I would ask my crew to do something I wasn’t willing to do myself,” Kathryn replied, shaking her head, and Chakotay smiled at her, raising an eyebrow at the way she had planted her hands on her hips. “Unless you have a better roommate in mind,” she added, trying not to suddenly feel self conscious, given that she was a grown woman and the captain of a starship, and not a bespeckled teen anymore.
“Oh alright then,” Chakotay sighed dramatically, making it clear with his teasing that it was no real hardship. “I do have one condition though?”
“Oh?”
“I get to choose who gets my quarters, some of the crew on this ship are absolute slobs,” he said, and Kathryn couldn’t help her laugh, which had no doubt been his intention. Half the ship was rubble, Chakotay’s usually neat quarters would already be in disarray.
“Alright, it’s a deal,” she agreed, checking the makeshift bandage on her arm. “Come on, let’s go find Neelix, I’m sure he would be glad of something to do beyond handing out rations. Although, we should probably tell him he can’t put himself with Tuvok.”
“Oh I don’t know, might be kind of funny,” Chakotay replied, and he offered her his elbow. She took it, knowing there was too much on her mind to agonise over the action now anyway.
“He wouldn’t sleep until he could have his privacy back.”
“Might be an interesting way of increasing efficiency; round the clock vulcan diligence,” Chakotay grinned, and Kathryn smacked him on the chest as they laughed and headed towards the mess hall.
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The Doctor wasn’t very impressed with her bandage, and Chakotay gave her a smug ‘I told you so’ look as The Doctor griped and unwound it, holding her arm under a dermal regenerator.
“I thought it was a very good bandage,” Kathryn said, and watched as Chakotay’s face softened, both of them ignoring The Doctor as he expounded on why strips of unwashed clothing shouldn’t be used as sterile medical dressing. Kathryn tried not to think about what might have happened if she had met Chakotay - Miller, that is - while she still believed she was Katrine.
“There, I don’t see why you couldn’t have come to me sooner,” The Doctor huffed when her arm was good as new - albeit somewhat dirtier than new.
“Will I live?” Kathryn asked drily, smiling as The Doctor rolled his eyes at her and stalked off to see to other remaining minor injuries.
The crew took the news about sharing quarters easily just as Chakotay had predicted, and as everyone was dead on their feet they only took volunteers for the first shift while everyone else slept. With Voyager’s crew being the stalwart lot that they were - a trait that she was certain was the only reason they were still standing - there were plenty of crew hauling themselves to attention and offering to help.
“I don’t suppose I can convince you to take a rest?” Chakotay said, clearly already knowing the answer as he followed her to the bridge, easily the area of the ship most intact, though the bar was not high.
“I can’t ask exhausted crewmen to man the ship and then go to bed,” she replied, echoing her earlier sentiment about room sharing. Chakotay’s hands came up to steady her as she swayed on her feet with weariness, much to her own annoyance.
“Most of the crew haven’t been up as long as you, they were able to snatch some rest here and there over the last week. I’m almost scared to ask how long you’ve been awake,” Chakotay replied, but he was handing her a hyperspanner.
“Long enough that another few hours doesn’t feel like it matters,” Kathryn said, she also had no idea how she had been awake.
“Well, don’t collapse on me Kathryn,” Chakotay murmured, and proceeded to stay by her side throughout the shift, keeping her on her feet as they got to work on the major bridge systems.
She managed to stay upright, but as the sixth hour rolled around and the second duty repair shift started to wake up it was touch and go. She kept having to shake her head to clear the fatigue from it, lest she drop off mid repairs - that would hardly constitute leading by example - and it had her almost regretting taking her hair so much shorter as she couldn’t scrape it back into a bun any more - perhaps a middle ground was needed.
“Next shift is here, come on, we can sleep,” Chakotay said, standing from where he was kneeling next to her, arms buried in a plasma relay as the jefferies tube opened and Harry, Tom and some junior crewmen spilled onto the bridge.
For an - admittedly insane - moment, Kathryn considered trying to push through, but as if reading her mind Chakotay’s hand came to her elbow and urged her to her feet, and she was too tired to fight it.
“Don’t even think about it,” he muttered. “You still need to get through the jefferies tube crawl without falling asleep, or no one will be able to reach the bridge,” he teased, but Kathryn groaned, and moved returning power to the turbo lifts further up her list.
Tom gave her a tired salute as they passed each other, and the jefferies tubes felt ten times the length as they ever had before - and they weren’t the easiest thing to traverse in the first place. She didn’t even complain when crawling out the other end Chakotay wrapped an arm around her waist and helped her the rest of the way back to her quarters; their quarters?
“We should eat something,” Chakotay sighed, practically pouring Kathryn into one of the chairs at her table.
“I’m too tired to chew,” Kathryn replied, her eyes shut, head resting in her hand, but then her stomach growled reproachfully, and Chakotay went to his duffle bag full of salvaged items from his quarters.
“Dinner is served,” he muttered, collapsing down in the seat opposite and tossing a ration bar to her, which she didn’t catch. Their feet had tangled together under the table, and she couldn’t even remember why she was supposed to detangle them.
They ate in silence, the ration bars chewy and unappetising but giving them what they needed. Chewing felt like a herculean task, and Kathryn was relieved when the bar was gone. They both swayed when they got back to their feet, and Chakotay steadied himself on the table while reaching a hand out to her shoulder.
“All the camp beds we have were in use, I’ll sleep on the couch,” Chakotay groaned, scrubbing a hand across his face as they regained balance.
“No,” Kathryn sighed, grabbing a weak hold on Chakotay’s unzipped jacket and pulling him with her towards the bed. “We both need a good night’s rest and I’m too tired to argue about it.”
Any other day Chakotay would have checked and double checked that she was comfortable, today they just both crumpled onto her bed with twin groans of relief.
Kathryn managed to find the wherewithal to toe off her boots and wiggle out of her jacket and heard Chakotay doing the same. She got stuck halfway out her turtleneck, and Chakotay’s hands found the fabric and helped her out of it. There were comfier things to sleep in than her starfleet issue pants and undershirt - far comfier things just a few feet away - but in that moment she couldn’t have cared less, and with one final heave of effort she wormed her way under the covers, Chakotay joining her on the other side of the bed.
Silence fell between them and Chakotay was, in fact, already snoring. A tiny part of Kathryn that seemed unhampered by fatigue was screeching at her that Chakotay was in her bed , but she didn’t have the energy to pay it any attention.
She had expected sleep to be hard, no matter how tired she was, with the fear of the hirogen reneging on their word and coming back to finish them off buzzing around her mind. But then Chakotay turned over in his sleep, his fingers reaching out and just brushing the skin of her bicep, and she was out within seconds.
----------
As her mind groggily dragged itself back to consciousness, Kathryn could feel a body close to hers. For a moment she thought they were still on the holodeck, still at war, and beside her was whoever she had fallen asleep against - probably Chakotay - pressed into whatever small safeish space they had found. But then she remembered, she had always been alert quickly, for all she hated mornings; or at least, the Delta Quadrant had forced her to learn to be alert quickly.
Kathryn assessed the damage. A few metal panels had fallen from the ceiling of her quarters, and Chakotay was curled up behind her. Her potted plant had smashed on the floor and there was dirt all over the carpet, and Chakotay had his arm around her waist. A control panel on her wall was whirring in and out of power, and she could feel Chakotay’s breath tickling in her hair with every exhale. The doors to her bedroom were broken and jammed open, and their legs were tangled together.
Her quarters were in pretty bad shape but Chakotay curled around her back felt good. It was a mixed bag to wake up to. She also couldn’t deny that that had been the best night sleep she’d had in nearly four years.
But this was not what they were, and Kathryn couldn’t help but feel like she had too many things to worry about without adding this old wound to the list right now. ‘Plenty of time’, Chakotay had said, and for all it had annoyed her, she had to admit that now was not the time.
Reluctantly, and with all the grace her weary body could muster, Kathryn started to wiggle out from under Chakotay’s arm. Her bedmate tightened his grip for a second, until she felt him wake, and he quickly released her.
“Sorry, forgot where I was,” he said, rough with sleep and rubbing at his eyes as he sat up.
“You’re in a crumbling ship that needs repairs, so better hop to it,” Kathryn replied, rummaging in her wardrobe for a clean uniform.
“Yes ma’am,” Chakotay responded, offering her a playful salute and heading to his duffle bag. “Did you sleep well? I didn’t, ah, smother you too much?” He asked, his brow furrowed, and Kathryn put her hand on his shoulder to ease the expression away.
“I had the best night sleep I’ve had in a very long time,” she answered, patting his chest and heading to her semi-functional fresher to change and see if any water could be coaxed from the taps. She moved the sonic showers up the list of systems to be repaired as well.
It was another day of gruelling work, but they weren’t attacked and by the end of it some secondary systems were back online, life support had been returned to all decks, and the gravity plating on deck eight had been repaired. B’Elanna reckoned warp drive would be a week off, and the ship still seemed to be made up of 70% rubble, but all in all things were progressing about as well as she could expect.
Chaktay frowned at her as she insisted on working a triple shift, but he kept working alongside her anyway, and she was glad of the company - not to mention the help with the heavy lifting.
By the time they got back to her quarters again, they were exhausted, and Kathryn wasn’t entirely sure if she would even be able to raise her arms if asked. Thankfully, no one was asking, and Chakotay was dragging his feet just as much as she was. The rations bars were just as uninspiring as the day before but Kathryn diligently worked her way through, knowing she would be no help to anyone if she fainted.
“I think I can manage pyjamas tonight,” Kathryn said around a yawn, dragging herself up from the table and pulling her pink negligee from her dresser before heading to the fresher to hop in the - thankfully fixed - sonic shower, change, and brush her teeth. When she came out, combing her hair for the first time in days, Chakotay raised an eyebrow at her.
“Now I don’t remember that when we were on New Earth,” he teased, and Kathryn was glad she was too tired to blush.
“I don’t have any of my more conservative nightwear replicated at the moment,” Kathryn shrugged. Given that there was never anyone else in her room she hadn’t felt the need to keep her sleepwear from their time in exile, with the way Chakotay was trying not to look at her, she couldn’t help but wonder if taking her usual nightwear might have changed things.
“I don’t actually have any pyjamas replicated at all,” Chakotay admitted, tugging at his ear and looking guiltily at his scant bag of clothes.
“Are you a ‘sleeping in your underwear’ kind of man commander?” She grinned, trying to ease the atmosphere even as some ridiculous part of her skipped inside.
“Usually yes, is that a problem?” He asked, and Kathryn thought about how Chakotay didn’t seem to be able to keep to his side of the bed, wondered if she would wake up to him wrapped around her again.
“No,” she replied, and the word felt heavy and loaded somehow, hanging in the air between them until Chakotay disappeared for his turn in the fresher.
Kathryn was in bed by the time he came out, and it felt safer not to turn around and look. She had seen Chakotay without a shirt, in sickbay, on New Earth, but in the dim light in her quarters, she couldn’t help but think it would be different somehow. The bed was big enough to comfortably fit two people, but Kathryn could still feel his body heat.
She was tired, but it was nothing compared to the absolute exhaustion of the previous night, and it was making her aware of all the little things she hadn’t had the energy to notice before. The way the bed dipped towards his heavier weight and she had to fight the urge to roll into him, the way his familiar scent was settling in around her, the way she felt hyper aware of every inch of her body, the cadence of his breathing.
Chakotay didn’t fall asleep as quickly as he had the night before, and she wondered if he was feeling as tense as she was, or if he was just not as tired. She wondered what she would do if he reached out for her, if he tested the barriers - parameters - she had put in place after their time on New Earth, and see if she was still clinging to them. She wasn’t. The letter from Mark had been the final straw, the last defence stripped away.
The room was dark but she could tell Chakotay wasn’t asleep by his breathing, he probably knew she was lying there awake as well. She wished she had the bravery to curl into him, but she was the captain, it couldn’t come from her. If only she could go back in time and shake some sense into her younger self on New Earth.
Kathryn tried to clear her mind, to find some tranquillity that would bring with it sleep, but shutting down her thoughts had never been her forte.
The weight on the mattress shifted slightly, and Chakotay fingertips brushed ever so slightly against the back of her hand. If she weren’t so hyper aware she might not have even noticed. Her inhale was audible, and she slowly turned her hand over, letting Chakotay tangle their fingers together. She was asleep in minutes.
----------
They woke up entwined again. Chakotay’s bare chest up against her back, the skin on skin contact making her wake up in more ways than one, and she silently berated herself for it; though, she would argue that with the hand innocently on her breast, having apparently wandered there in the night, she wasn’t entirely to blame.
Chakotay blushed as he woke up and moved his hand, but he didn’t apologise, and Kathryn was glad he didn't. She had slept well again, a deep sleep that she hadn’t been able to achieve since they found themselves in the Delta Quadrant. Besides, she would be a liar if she said she didn’t like how it had felt to have his hand on her, and she decided that his lack of apology suggested he had enjoyed it too.
A pattern emerged and they didn’t talk about it. They would work hard pulling a double or triple shift as repairs continued on the ship, they would lean on each other for support as they made their way back to their quarters, they would share an uninspiring meal of rations where they both talked about what they would have when the replicators were back in recreational use.
Then they would take turns in Kathryn’s fresher and slip into bed wearing less than they should have, Chakotay would reach out just before they both fell asleep, holding her hand or her hip or stomach, depending on how she was laying. They would fall asleep, and when they woke they would be pressed together one way or another; Chakotay against her back, his hand on her breast and his morning hardness pressing against her backside, or her curled into his side, her head on his chest and practically straddling his thigh.
They weren’t talking about it, but as the ship steadily made its way towards working order, Kathryn found that she wanted to. She wanted to ask Chakotay what it meant for him, if anything, if he wanted something more than a little comfort when he slept. But they had spent so long not talking about the attraction between them - her own fault - that Kathryn had no idea how to start the conversation now.
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It was different this time. They usually gravitated towards each other while they slept, always keeping that escape route open should one of them want to take it, but tonight Chakotay had climbed into bed right beside her, leaving no gap to be crossed while they slept. Kathryn held her breath as Chakotay carefully spooned up behind her, his arm around her waist, dipping his head to nose against the back of her neck.
“Okay?” He asked, voice barely a whisper in the quiet.
Perhaps it was the dark, or the quiet, or the fact that they had been cuddling in bed for the last ten days, but something made Kathryn feel bold, and instead of replying with words she placed her right arm over Chakotay’s, held his hand with her own and guided him up to her breast.
She felt Chakotay’s inhale as much as she heard it, and she couldn’t help her breathy moan as he squeezed her gently. He kissed the back of her neck, and Kathryn would be embarrassed by how wet she was already if it weren’t for the fact she could feel his cock thickening against her ass.
Chakotay slipped his hand under the silk of her negligee, massaging her breast and rubbing his thumb over her nipple, sending sparks through her body, and Kathryn decided that the lines she had foolishly drawn up were light years behind them already, and wantonly rolled her hips back against the hard line of his cock.
“Kathryn,” Chakotay growled, holding her tight against him, and his hand felt so good on her tits, alternating between the two of them, she thought of his mouth, of how good that would feel too, and squealed when he pinched at her sensitive nipple.
“Please,” she whimpered in response, and his hand was moving. She missed the sensation against her chest, but then he was pulling up her nightie just enough to get his hand between her legs, and she tried not to cry out too loudly as his clever fingers started to circle her clit.
It had been so long since someone else had touched her, years , and Chakotay felt like electricity on her skin, she wasn’t going to last long and she didn’t care. Her body had been craving his touch for years. She almost wanted to thank Mark for his letter, for chasing away any lingering guilt she might have had over doing this, leaving her free to simply enjoy the feeling of Chakotay’s firm fingers on her clit.
In their position she couldn’t reach his cock, she wanted to wrap her hand around him, betting her fingers wouldn’t be able to meet, she wanted to slide her lips down his shaft and feel the ache in her jaw from his girth; but with Chakotay’s hand pushing away her panties to better reach her clit, she knew she couldn’t move, paralysed under the attention. Instead she pushed her hips backwards, pressing her ass into his cock and giving him something to rut against.
Chakotay took the invitation with a growl, his lips on her shoulder, alternating between kissing and biting as he rubbed his cock against her ass and worked her clit. Kathryn felt dizzy with it, with the sudden onslaught of pleasure after so many years of denial, she spread her legs a little and Chakotay understood her without words, as he always had, and slowly pressed one of his fingers inside her slick pussy, his thumb still working her clit relentlessly.
“ Oh ,” Kathryn whimpered, bracing a hand on the bed so she could push back against his cock, she wanted to feel him inside her, but didn’t want their first time to be a rushed, desperate thing in the dark not even looking at one another, besides, his hand was more than satisfying her.
When Chakotay worked a second finger inside her and stroked against her front wall Kathryn knew she was close, feeling her crescendo building as he worked her clit and pussy fast and hard. She squeezed her own breast, playing with her nipple, and as Chakotay’s fingers pressed against that sweet spot inside her pussy she tried not to cry out too loudly as she came on his fingers.
She fluttered around him, her hips making stuttering little hitches to get more and less friction simultaneously as he worked her through her orgasm, Kathryn shaking with the power of it. When he carefully withdrew his fingers Kathryn whimpered, before pulling her mind back together and wiggling her ass back against her commander. Chakotay didn’t hesitate, gripping her hip and finishing himself almost as quickly as he had finished her, rubbing his clothed cock against her backside. Kathryn bit her lip with the naughtiness of it, feeling almost giddy as her brain flooded her with happy chemicals.
Chakotay groaned as he came, sucking a bruise into her shoulder as his hips lost their rhythm against her, and they collapsed together. After a few minutes of panting to regain their breath, Chakotay moved, working his underwear off his legs and cleaning himself off before discarding them over the side of the bed.
Kathryn wondered if she should say something, searching for the right words as her sated, tired mind just wanted to sink into the welcome arms of Chakotay and sleep. Chakotay relieved her of her efforts as he urged her to roll over, so that they were finally facing one another, and he placed a sleepy, lingering kiss against her lips, they were exactly as soft as she had always imagined and she could have kissed him forever.
“Go to sleep Kathryn,” he murmured, and she smiled, seeking out his lips again, and kissing him like she had wanted to for years, not stopping until she dropped off to sleep.
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They didn’t talk about it. At first Kathryn was glad for this, needing her head clear to focus on Voyager, every extra day they spent lurking in the nebula feeling more and more risky, the last thing she wanted was an extra distraction. But as the repairs came to an end and even most of the rubble had been moved and there was talk of setting off again soon, she started to want to talk about it more.
But how did you talk about something after five days of not doing so?
She imagined it in her head, walking up to Chakotay and saying ‘Commander, I wanted to talk about the sex we’re been having’, if only to check it wasn’t some kind of mad fever dream she was having - it wasn’t, she had a hickie on her shoulder to prove it. Kathryn groaned, knowing that - or any variation on it - was not a conversation she was going to find it easy to have.
And then Tuvok informed her, looking deeply relieved for a vulcan, that almost all the crew quarters were back in working order, and everyone could return to their rooms tonight.
Obviously, this should have been good news, but all Kathryn could think about was how dearly she did not want Chakotay to leave, a thought that was only compounded when she returned to their - her - quarters that evening, to a delicious smell as Cahkotay replicated the exact meal she had been dreaming of the week before.
“In celebration of almost all ships systems being pronounced working,” he said in greeting as she came through the doors and stopped in her tracks.
She had, of course, known for quite some time that she was in love with Chakotay - even if it had taken Mark’s letter for her to fully admit it to herself - but the feeling really was compounded in that moment, her heart quite literally aching with how badly she wanted to curl up in his arms and stay there forever.
“Smells divine,” she replied, a smile spreading out over her face to match Chakotay’s dimples.
They talked easily as they ate, like they always did, even with half of Kathryn’s mind racing with the things she wanted to say; are you staying here tonight? Will you please stay here tonight? Every night?
As always, Chakotay made everything easier.
“I have an observation,” he said, looking at her over his wine glass.
“How very scientific of you,” Kathryn teased, taking another bite of her desert.
“I thought you might like that,” he dimpled at her.
“So what is this observation?”
“That we both sleep much better together.”
“I see, and what would you like to do with this observation?” She asked, setting down her fork on her now empty plate and resting her chin on her hand as she leaned closer to him.
“Well, as this is a proper, scientific enquiry, I think I need to observe this phenomena a few more times before moving any further,” Chakotay reasoned before finishing off his wine.
“That would be prudent,” she nodded her head. “And how do you suggest we accomplish this?”
“I rather thought I might continue to stay here, if that is agreeable to you?”
“It only makes sense,” she replied, trying to keep a straight face and struggling as her lips fought to tick upwards.
“Well, I’m glad that’s settled then,” he said, standing from the table and holding out a hand, which Kathryn took with an ease that should have been born of long years together.
He guided her into the bedroom, where his things were already in her wardrobe, and kissed her on the threshold, her door now in working order. He had never kissed her out of bed before, and Kathryn sighed into it, going up on her tiptoes and wrapping her arms around Chakotay’s neck.
Chakotay deepened the kiss, his tongue pressing into her mouth as she yielded her lips easily, not trying to stop her satisfied noises as he licked into her, she could taste the synthenol on his tongue, and somehow, it tasted so much better than it had in her glass. One of Chakotay’s hands moved from her waist, slipping down to her ass and squeezing, sending her up to the very tips of her toes as her heart started beating faster. Her body was so quick to respond to him, arousal thrumming under her skin as soon as they were in her bedroom, the desire already conditioned into her.
“I did have one other observation,” Chakotay murmured, nipping at her lower lip until she was sure it was plump and red.
“Oh?” She asked, already breathless from his attention.
“You sleep even better after I make you come.”
“We should definitely re-ascertain that observation,” Kathryn managed, devolving into a yelp as Chakotay hoisted her up into his arms. She wrapped her legs around his waist and kissed him feverishly at his casul display of strength.
He carried her to the bed, kissing her once, twice more before dropping her on it, his eyes sparkling and hungry as she gave an undignified little bounce on impact. He looked at her for a moment, unabashedly, and Kathryn was reminded that this was the first time they had done this with the lights on, and she knew what she wanted, spreading her legs in invitation.
Chakotay started at her feet, removing her boots and socks and fastening his hand around her ankle for a moment. His hands moved up her legs, unfastening her pants and drawing them down her legs, and Kathryn knew she was blushing when he repeated the action with her panties, leaving her pussy completely bare.
Chakotay ran his hands up her legs again, urging them wide before finally kneeling on the bed between her legs, open and ready for him already, without a single touch to her core. She had lost her jacket at dinner, and Chakotay made short work of her turtleneck, undershirt and bra, his mouth falling to her tits as soon as she was naked.
Kathryn whimpered, her hand sinking into Chakotay’s soft black hair as his lips wrapped around her nipple and sucked, his tongue and teeth teasing the sensitive bud as his hand came up to pet the other. She felt desperate for him, rocking her hips up to rub against the tent in his pants, wrapping her legs around his waist to try and get him closer. She felt like all the times in the dark had just been foreplay, hands teasing what they both really wanted. She felt like the past three and a half years had been foreplay, and she was shocked with how forcefully she was burning for him.
Her hands fell to Chakotay’s uniform, pushing his jacket from his shoulders and tugging ineffectually at his shirts, giving up when Chakotay refused to relinquish her nipple and instead rubbing her hand against Chakotay’s hardness before working at the fastenings of his pants. She gasped when his teeth tightened on her sensitive nipple, but it wasn't enough to stop her hands, pushing his pants down his hips and reaching inside his underwear to wrap her hand around his cock.
“Kathryn,” Chakotay grunted, voice thick as she stroked him, desperate for more. “I wanted to take my time with you. I have plans .” His words were a promise - a dirty one - and she wondered what they might be, whether he would put his mouth on her pussy, toy with her for hours. She wanted it, but she needed to feel him inside her, she couldn’t wait.
“Next time. I need you. You can play with me tomorrow, tonight I just want to feel you,” she pleaded, running her thumb over the head of his cock, across the precome gathering there, and Chakotay buried his moan in the curve of her neck.
“Is that a promise? Because I plan to play with you for hours . I want to know your body better than I know my own,” he replied, rough and low as he sucked another mark into the ivory skin of her collarbone.
“Yes, please, anything. I just need you now,” she begged, relieved when Chakotay pulled back enough to quickly strip himself. Kathryn’s uncoordinated, lust-drunk hands were probably more a hindrance than a help, but she couldn’t stop touching him, her fingers splaying over his chest as soon as it was bare.
“Do you know how much I’ve thought of this?” Chakotay asked, covering her naked body with his own. She could feel every place they were touching, his cock in the hollow of her hip, her nipples rubbing against his chest, her arms and legs wrapped around him.
“Tell me,” she beseeched, rocking her pussy against Chakotay, moving his cock until she was rubbing along his shaft, getting him wet with her slick and whimpering as he bit hard on her lip.
“Every time I wrapped my hand around myself since I met you, I’ve been able to think of no one else,” he breathed, Kathryn whining as his hand snaked between them, two of his fingers sinking into her pussy and working her open, making sure she was ready for his thick cock. “You were so in control, so fearless, unflinching. And then you were so kind, so compassionate, it wasn’t fair. I’ve never met anyone who’s beautiful the way you are, inside and out.”
Kathryn whimpered at the sudden soft sentiment, clinging onto him with a more intense, desperate need that he tried to soothe with deep, slow kisses. He parted from her only to kick off his pants and underwear, and Kathryn tried to savour the sight of his naked body, but she was distracted by the ache in her empty, dripping pussy, and pulled him back to her needily.
“Please,” she whimpered as he rubbed the head of his cock through her slick folds, Kathryn squeezing her legs around his waist, a long, dawn out moan falling from her lips as he finally pushed into her.
She was small, and Chakotay was big, his cock stretching her wide and setting a delicious ache deep in her pussy as she opened for him. She had never had anyone as long or thick inside her before and she felt every inch as he seated himself, the slow drag sending sparks skittering up her spine, her back arched and mouth hanging open by the time his hips met hers.
Chakotay was panting heavily, and she didn’t give him time to ask if she was alright before she was digging her heels into the small of his back, begging him with her body to move, to give her more, and Chakotay didn’t disappoint. He rolled his hips back and slammed back into her, the force of it shifting Kathryn up the bed and leaving her shaking with pleasure.
She braced a hand against the headboard and demanded more, and Chakotay followed that command enthusiastically. His grip on her hips was bruising as he thrust into her willing body, meeting her every cry for harder and faster as he fucked her into the mattress. She was obsessed with how strong he was, how deep his cock could reach inside her, her pussy screaming with pleasure every time he drove into her. She was sure her nails were leaving red marks on Chakotay’s back as she clung to him, something to match the finger shaped bruises she knew would be on her hips tomorrow.
They tried to kiss, their fast pace making them uncoordinated, but Kathryn loved breathing the same air as him, her body panting as he worked her exactly the way she liked, rough and desperate, but intense and intimate as they stayed curled so closely together. Chakotay kept himself up on one arm, the rhythm of his hips slowing slightly as he got a hand between the sweaty press of their bodies and pressed two fingers against her clit.
Kathryn shouted at the dual sensation, body alight as his cock drove into her and he stimulated her clit, her climax building in her bones. He fucked her deep to make up for the slight slowing in the pace of his thrusts, and as he bit down on her lip, Kathryn’s climax crashed over her.
Her pussy fluttered, her body tensing and then releasing as her orgasm roared through her with a cry of Chakotay’s name. Her pussy gripped his cock as she came, aftershocks flooding through her as Chakotay worked her body, wringing every drop of pleasure from her, and through her haze she could tell he was close, rhythm faltering, and she whimpered as he fucked into her deep, once, twice more and came with a shout, feeling his cock pumping her full of his seed.
Chakotay collapsed on top of her, and Kathryn shivered, delighting in the feeling of his weight one her, pressing her into the bed. They caught their breath, panting heavily, and Kathryn could feel the sleepiness that so often followed her climaxes washing over her, especially when they came after long, hard days of work.
She made a dissatisfied noise when Chakotay had recovered enough to move, missing his weight against her and whimpering when he carefully eased his softening cock from her used pussy. She was vaguely aware of him leaving the bed, her arm too slow to catch and keep him, her disgruntlement lessening when he returned with a wet cloth and gently cleaned the mess between her legs, the act somehow feeling more intimate than anything that had come before it.
He slipped back into bed, kissing her again, before tucking them both under the covers and pulling her into his chest. She was asleep within seconds.
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When Kathryn woke up, she snuggled back into Chakotay’s warmth for a moment, stretching when she felt his fingers dancing up her sides, belying that he was awake as well. She turned, smiling as he kissed her good morning, and lay on her side beside him. Needless to say, she’d had an immaculate night’s sleep.
“Satisfied with your observations?” Kathryn asked, propping herself up on her elbow, blushing as Chakotay shifted the sheet down to bear her chest, his index finger stroking over the curve of her breast.
“Very. I think I would like to continue this scientific experiment with a hypothesis.”
“Oh? And what would that hypothesis be?”
“That we are completely,” he punctuated the word with a kiss to her breast, “ridiculously,” his lips on her neck, “enviably,” kissing her jaw, “compatible with one another,” he finished, brushing his lips against hers in a kiss that she returned easily.
“Hmm, that’s quite the hypothesis. There are a lot of variables we will need to test, this experiment could take some time,” she teased, running a finger down his cheek and to his chin, nudging him back to her lips.
“I look forward to every second of it,” he grinned, rolling her back over in bed as he showered her with kisses.