Title: Skin to Skin
Summary: Inspired by "Skin" by Seema. P/T. AU.
Rating: T

A/N: Inspired by "Skin" by Seema. Please read (and review!) that first or this won't make much sense. Takes place later that night. Assumes that Chakotay didn't throw Tom in the brig after all.

"Skin" by Seema:

archiveofourown –dot– org/works/17811776

He stopped outside her quarters, his heart pounding in his chest. Forcing himself to take a deep, steadying breath, he pressed the door chime.

"Come in."

"Hey."

"Hey. Looks like you're feeling better."

"I am. And I just wanted to stop by to say thanks for dragging my sorry ass back from the Wonderama."

"You're welcome."

"The Doctor said we came back right away after I passed out at the bar. But I remember differently."

"What do you remember?"

"I remember… We had a hotel room. You dragged me up there after I passed out. You took care of me until I woke up. And then… we had sex."

"You were drunk out of your mind, Tom. Are you sure you weren't dreaming?"

He gritted his teeth. "I wasn't dreaming. My shirt was misbuttoned."

"Maybe you misbuttoned it yourself," she countered.

He could feel the frustration and anger welling up inside him. It was as he'd feared. She was going to deny it had happened. Pretend that it had all been in his head.

And he couldn't prove otherwise. He didn't have any tangible evidence. A misbuttoned shirt wasn't proof –

And then it suddenly occurred to him.

"I came inside you, B'Elanna. A simple medical scan would show traces of my DNA inside you."

She went very, very still.

"And why would I need to be scanned?"

Her voice was even, controlled, but he thought he detected a slight tremor.

"Like you said, I was drunk out of my mind. I wasn't in any condition to consent."

The tension hung heavy between them as they stared at each other.

"Are you accusing me of something, Tom?" she asked, her voice dangerously soft.

He dropped the pretense.

"No, of course not. I wanted to be with you. I still want to be with you. I just need to know the truth. I need to know that it was real. That it really happened and wasn't just a figment of my imagination."

She gaped at him in astonishment.

"Of course it was real, Tom! Of course it really happened."

"Then why did you pull away from me in Sickbay? You ran out of there like you couldn't wait to get away from me."

"I didn't want the Doctor to see us like that! He's a notorious gossip. You know that."

"Oh."

That made sense. He didn't exactly want it to be known all over the ship either. Didn't want to think about what Chakotay would do to him if he found out.

"I was afraid you only did it because you felt sorry for me, and that you were having regrets now."

"No. Never. I was afraid you were having regrets."

"What? There's no way I could ever regret that."

"I'm sorry for taking advantage of you while you were drunk."

"It's okay. You can take advantage of me anytime you want, B'Elanna."

Her face lit up with a brilliant smile.

"I was kind of hoping you might say that. Because once was definitely not enough for me."

He felt a swell of happiness. She wanted him just as much as he wanted her.

"I'm glad to hear it. Because once was definitely not enough for me, either."

He pulled her into his arms and kissed her soundly.

"Want to take advantage of me again right now?" he whispered in her ear.

She chuckled. "You just got out of Sickbay. Are you sure you're up for it?"

"Oh, I'm up for it, all right."

He kissed her again and ground his hips against hers to show her just how up for it he was.

"I'm always up for it with you."

The End! (for now)