Originally written Feb 1999
Title: Holodeck Date: Tahiti
Rating: M
Summary: Takes place after the episode "Waking Moments." Tom and B'Elanna go on a date in Tahiti. Part of my "Holodeck Date" series. P/T.
B'Elanna sighed contentedly as she settled into her oversized, plush-cushioned lounge chair. The warm tropical breeze felt wonderful on her bare skin. From where she was sitting, all she could see was the expanse of white sand beaches that stretched for miles, and sparkling aqua waters perfect for swimming and waterskiing...
Tahiti was one of her favorite holoprograms. She had even added those three holographic hunks that she had originally programmed for the Paxau resort program to wait on her. Holograms that existed only to serve her tropical drinks, and bring her beach towels, sunscreen and anything else that she wanted.
I could definitely get used to this, she thought lazily.
Some distance away, she spotted Tom headed in her direction. He was soaking wet from having fallen into the water while waterskiing. Even so, he looked gorgeous. Little droplets of seawater trickled down his face and neck, only to collect in the red-gold hair on his broad, muscular chest. The wet fabric of his swim trunks clung provocatively to his equally wet skin, accentuating the outline of his masculine body as he moved. B'Elanna took off her sunglasses for a better view.
"Hi," she greeted him with a smile.
"Hi." His eyes ran over her appreciatively, drinking her in. She had splurged her replicator rations on a new outfit, a cream-colored string bikini that emphasized her golden tan and svelte figure. It left very little to the imagination. Not that Tom needed to use his imagination, since he was intimately familiar with every delectable curve of her shapely form. She looks absolutely stunning, he thought as he continued to admire her. He was glad that this was a private holoprogram. Whenever they were at the Paxau resort, the male crewmembers always stared at her. He couldn't really blame them. B'Elanna was immensely beautiful and had no shortage of male admirers, but it still irked him. But right now, here she was, and she was all his.
B'Elanna smiled, knowing exactly what kind of effect her new bikini was having on him. Her taste in clothing was usually more conservative, even for swimsuits, but this was a special occasion. They hadn't been able to spend much time together lately. And they had an anniversary to celebrate.
"What's a beautiful woman like you doing here all by yourself?"
One of the smiling holographic hunks arrived with a frosty Rekari Starburst, complete with a little red paper umbrella, and coconut-scented sunscreen. Another hologram delivered their towels.
"As you can see, I'm not exactly alone." She gestured to the holograms.
"They're holograms; they don't count," he said dismissively.
B'Elanna raised an eyebrow. "Wouldn't the Doctor love to hear that."
Another hologram appeared with a fan and began to fan her, to Tom's dismay. This was getting ridiculous. Just when he'd thought he would finally get to spend some time alone with B'Elanna, he had to share her with a trio of holographic male swimsuit models. They were an unwelcome distraction. Tom glared pointedly at the hologram, but the hologram paid no attention, continuing to fan them vigorously.
"Is that really necessary?" Tom asked, pained.
"No, but they like making themselves useful. I programmed them that way." She motioned for the hologram to stop fanning, and he immediately complied, still smiling. He stood attentively at her side, awaiting her next command while Tom gave him a skeptical look. She couldn't resist teasing Tom a little. "I love having them around. What could be better than a trio of gorgeous guys whose sole purpose for existing is to fulfill my every whim?"
She had to laugh at his incredulous look. "Besides, I'm not the only one with holographic servants," she reminded him. "As I recall, you and Harry programmed all those scantily clad holowaitresses to wait on you in the Paxau resort."
"Do you see any of them around here?" he asked, gesturing to the beach for emphasis. "I don't."
The other hologram began to apply the coconut-scented sunscreen to B'Elanna's bare back. Tom frowned. He'd had just about enough. Quickly taking the sunscreen out of the hologram's hands, he ordered the three of them to leave. B'Elanna smothered a laugh.
"They're just holograms, Tom. No reason to be jealous," she said mildly.
"I'm not jealous," he informed her. "I just think I can do a better job, that's all." He began rubbing the sunscreen on her back.
"Okay," she said, trying to contain her mirth. She hadn't expected him to react that way and found it tremendously amusing. She knew that Tom could get rather possessive at times, as she recalled what had happened the last time Freddie Bristow had offered to rub sunscreen on her back during the last resort party... but over a hologram (or three, rather)? Especially after his earlier comment that holograms didn't count. But she didn't mind. She rather enjoyed his attentiveness.
He shook the water out of his hair, sprinkling her with tiny water droplets.
"You're getting me all wet," she grumbled.
He smirked. "So?"
She glared at him, refusing to be baited. "The water's cold!"
"Sorry." He didn't sound very sorry at all. "Maybe I can warm you up," he murmured seductively in her ear.
"Tom!" She squirmed as he suddenly wrapped his arms around her bare midriff. "I think I prefer the holograms."
"Are you sure about that?" he asked mischievously as he gently brushed her hair aside and kissed the nape of her neck.
"Well... not if you keep that up."
"Yes, ma'am." Arms tightening around her, he kissed her again. She sighed as his lips trailed their way down her neck and bare shoulders. The delicious sensation of his cool, damp skin against hers sent shivers throughout her body.
"Still cold?"
"No, I'm feeling much warmer now, thank you."
"Good. So am I. I could use a drink." He took a sip of the Rekari Starburst that the holographic waiter had just brought over for her.
She scowled at him. "You could get your own, you know."
"I know." He smiled winningly at her as she shook her head at him in exasperation. She didn't understand it, but he liked to swipe food off of her plate in the Mess Hall, too. He said it tasted better that way.
But her irritation faded as his strong hands began to knead her shoulder muscles. She was growing drowsy, with the soothing sound of the waves lulling her to sleep...
"Want to go hydrosailing, B'Elanna?"
B'Elanna smiled but shook her head. "I don't think so."
"Then how 'bout a game of beach volleyball?"
"Tom." She eyed him patiently. "I spend all day, every day, on my feet in Main Engineering, running around the ship, crawling through Jefferies tubes... and I just want to sit here and enjoy my time off, okay?"
He instantly looked contrite. "I know. I'm sorry. It's just that... I sit around all day at the helm. Either that, or I'm cooped up working in Sickbay. I just want to do something."
"Well, I don't mind if you want to go hydrosailing or play volleyball. Go ahead."
Tom shook his head. "I came here to spend time with you," he said firmly. "It's our two month anniversary, and we're here to celebrate that together." That said, he plopped down on a nearby lounge chair.
They lounged serenely for several peaceful minutes before Tom became restless again. Amused, B'Elanna watched as he tried to get comfortable. The man could not sit still.
"B'Elanna."
"Hmm?"
"Want to go swimming?"
She shook her head. "Tom, you are incorrigible."
"You don't want to go swimming?"
He looked so disappointed that she took pity on him. "Tell you what. Let's go for a walk, Tom."
Eagerly, he jumped out of his chair. "Okay." He held out his hand to help her to her feet. "Let's go."
Holding hands, they strolled along the shoreline, the waves lapping at their feet. Nearby, cheerful holographic beachgoers were frolicking in the water, and young children were building sandcastles everywhere.
"This is much better than skiing in below-freezing temperatures, don't you think?"
"I have to admit, I'm glad we decided to 'compromise.' Tahiti is a great place to relax. Perfect waters, incredible weather, beautiful women..." Tom waved as a group of holographic giggling young women passed by.
B'Elanna made a face at him. "And devastatingly handsome men," she added as a young man retrieved a frisbee that had landed in her path, giving her a charming smile.
Tom frowned. "Now that I think about it, it'd be better if we had more privacy. Computer, remove all holographic people in the area." The holograms instantly vanished. "Much better," he murmured, pulling her closer.
They continued walking at a leisurely pace, arms around each other.
"Seriously, though, I'm glad that we came here to relax. I still haven't recovered from our adventure with those sleeping aliens."
"It's kind of strange that we're so exhausted even though we were sleeping that whole time."
"Yeah. Weird."
They lingered at the water's edge as the sun began its descent towards the horizon.
"I wonder what everyone dreamt about before we all started dreaming the same dream," Tom said thoughtfully. "Those aliens seemed to know a lot about us. Our deepest fears, our most important goals..."
"Neelix said that he dreamt he was boiled alive in a pot of his leola root stew."
"Ugh. I always said that stuff could kill you."
She shook her head at him. "And Harry wouldn't tell me what his dream was about, except that it involved the 'woman of his dreams.'"
Tom laughed. "He probably dreamt about Seven, then."
Wrinkling her nose in distaste, she agreed. "Probably."
"That doesn't sound too bad. I wish my dream had been like that."
"About Seven?!"
"No! No... about the woman of my dreams. That'd be you, of course," he said hastily.
She was still glaring at him.
"B'Elanna. I'm not the slightest bit interested in Seven. You know that, right?" He tried to put his arms around her, but she pulled away, turning her back on him and walking off rapidly. Sighing, he ran to catch up with her. "B'Elanna!"
He caught a hold of her wrist, tugging on it so she would face him. "I just meant... I guess I was just making a joke about it because I didn't want to think about the nightmare I actually had. It was pretty bad."
Startled by his sudden seriousness, she looked up into his eyes again. He was clearly troubled, and she felt guilty. "Oh," she said in a small voice. "I'm sorry, Tom." She took both his hands in hers. "Do you want to talk about it?"
He looked away, deep in thought. "I was in a shuttle by myself," he said at last. "On a survey mission. But then, there was an explosion, and I lost helm control. The shuttle started losing altitude... so I tried contacting Voyager for an emergency beam-out, but there was a problem with the communications system. I was stuck out there, completely helpless and isolated." He shrugged. "That's when the alien appeared..."
She sensed that he wasn't finished, so she merely nodded, encouraging him to continue.
He took a deep breath. "After Caldik Prime, I used to have nightmares like that just about every night..." His voice was barely audible.
"I'm so sorry, Tom."
He shrugged again, regaining his composure. "Anyway, compared to my nightmare, Harry's doesn't sound that bad," he said, trying to lighten their somber mood.
Apparently, he wasn't entirely ready to tell her the whole story. She wondered if he ever would be. But she didn't press the matter. Instead, she muttered, "I don't know what Harry sees in Seven, anyway. She may be beautiful, but her personality needs work."
"Harry just has a crush on her, that's all. He has a tendency to fall for women who are out of his league and aren't really interested in him. Remember when he fell in love with that holographic hydrosailing instructor in the Paxau resort program?"
"How could I forget? He moped around for days after we found out that she was actually an alien woman who was in love with Tuvok." She shook her head. "Poor Harry. Imagine losing out to a Vulcan!"
"He wasn't the only one, if I remember correctly," Tom said with a wry smile. "You went off with Vorik at the luau... and just when I thought I was making such progress!"
B'Elanna smiled at the memory. "I thought Vorik was... safer."
"Safer," he repeated. "What do you mean, 'safer?' Were you afraid that I was going to lose control and ravish you, even with all those people around?"
"No, I was more afraid that I was going to lose control and ravish you," she teased.
He smirked. "I see. Well, that's a legitimate concern."
"It still is." She growled at him playfully.
That prompted him to raise an eyebrow. "I don't mind if you want to ravish me now, B'Elanna..."
"Maybe later." She had to laugh at the look of disappointment on his face.
"Promise?" he asked hopefully.
"I promise. But right now, I just want to sit down and watch the sunset."
"All right, we'll watch the sunset," he said with an exaggerated sigh.
Grinning at each other, they sat down on the soft sand.
It suddenly occurred to Tom that she hadn't told him anything about her nightmare yet.
"So what did you dream about, B'Elanna?"
"The man of my dreams," she said flippantly.
He stared at her, uncertain as to how to respond to that.
She shrugged uncomfortably. "Considering that I had all of thirty minutes to sleep before the captain called for a senior staff meeting –"
"So you didn't have any nightmares?"
"I didn't say that."
He persisted. "Well, what happened in your nightmare?"
"Do we really have to talk about this?"
"I was just curious, that's all."
B'Elanna sighed, reluctant to discuss it. "It was kind of like that dream I had when the Enarans were on Voyager. Except that I was myself this time, and I was kissing you. But then..." She trailed off.
"What?"
She closed her eyes. "It was horrible..."
"Kissing me was horrible?" he asked, pretending to look wounded.
She gave him an exasperated look. "No, what happened after that was horrible. We were in each other's arms, when all of a sudden, you were dead... your face bloody and burned... and I started screaming." Shuddering at the memory, she turned to stare out at the ocean. "But when I turned to you again, that alien was standing there where you had been. I felt so lost and alone," she said with a slight quaver in her voice.
Silently, he wrapped his arms around her in a tight embrace. She hugged him back, taking comfort in his strength and closeness.
"B'Elanna," he murmured in her ear.
"I'm all right, Tom," she reassured him softly. "It just seemed too real, that's all."
"I know. But it was only a nightmare."
She nodded. "Only a nightmare. We should be thinking about happier things."
"Right. Like how we should be celebrating our two month anniversary..." he trailed off suggestively.
B'Elanna couldn't help but laugh at that. "You just want an excuse to 'celebrate.' Any excuse."
"Can you blame me?" It had been far too long since they had last had any quality time together. "Besides, you did promise to ravish me, remember?"
He didn't give her the chance to reply as he suddenly fell back on the sand, dragging her down with him. She landed on top of him, still laughing.
Stroking her back, he lifted his head to kiss her. He carefully loosened the lower strings of her bikini top, then slid his hand underneath to caress her breasts. She leaned into his touch, gasping as his fingers brushed her sensitive nipples.
Her hands began wandering over his broad chest and shoulders, which encouraged him to move his right hand to the back of her neck, untying the upper strings of her bikini and casting it aside.
His hands trailed along her sides, impatiently sliding her bikini bottom down her hips.
Still smothering her with searing kisses, he lifted his hips so she could remove his trunks.
He shifted slightly, re-positioning himself for entry. Almost immediately, she sank down on him, throwing her head back and gasping his name. He groaned as he was suddenly immersed in her wet heat.
They quickly found a rhythm, clinging to each other as they approached the brink together.
Moments later, they both cried out as fiery passion consumed them, tremors of pleasure coursing through them.
As their breathing returned to normal, the placid waves gently lapped at their intermingled bodies. The water was still fairly warm even though the sun had already dipped below the horizon.
He threaded his fingers through her wet hair as she smiled at him tenderly. She sighed blissfully, closing her eyes.
Thoroughly content, they remained intertwined for several moments, allowing the water to swirl around them until Tom realized that the tide was gradually increasing.
"B'Elanna..."
"Mmm?" She opened her eyes, still oblivious to everything except him. Stroking her fingers along the curve of his strong jaw, she noticed only the softness of his skin, the way his slightly wavy hair curled even more when it was damp, the love and warmth radiating from his beautiful blue eyes, the way he was covered with sand...
She giggled.
Startled, he stared at her, the tide momentarily forgotten. "What's so funny?"
"You have sand in your hair," she told him laughingly, trying to brush it out. "And everywhere else."
He chuckled. "So do you."
She gasped as he deftly flipped her onto her back, away from the water's edge. The damp sand felt surprisingly soft and smooth against her bare skin. She gazed up at him, savoring the feel of his body on top of her. His eyes had darkened with arousal, and they nearly matched the color of the sky, she thought dreamily just before he bent down to kiss her again.
They shared a few more tender kisses before B'Elanna realized that they were almost out of time.
"Our holodeck time is almost over," she said, regretfully disentangling herself from him.
"Why don't we go back to my quarters and 'celebrate' some more..."
She murmured her agreement as he bent down to lovingly kiss her once more.
Pausing only to retrieve and restore their discarded swimwear, Tom and B'Elanna headed back, leaving double tracks of footprints in the wet sand.
They walked down the beach in a warm, comfortable silence, secure in the knowledge that there would be no nightmares, no loneliness that night. That night, there would only be the sweetness and tenderness of their love.
The End