"Mmmph…" Her back hit the wall with a thud.
"Ahhh…" He shifted his weight as she wrapped her legs around his hips.
"Jean-Luc," Beverly gasped as he trailed kisses along her jaw.
"Mmmm?" His rumbling baritone sent shivers down her spine.
"We're going to be late for the morning briefing," she whispered against his throat.
Pausing in his assault on her collarbone, he looked into her eyes and smiled. Tilting his head slightly to the side, he addressed the ceiling, "Computer, inform all senior staff that the morning briefing will begin thirty minutes later than scheduled."
Beverly was shocked to see how readily the captain flaunted his own policies when it suited his needs.
Noticing the look on her face, Jean-Luc winked and said, "Rank has its privileges, and it's about time I used some of them."
He quickly returned to his earlier endeavour and, given what he was doing with his lips and tongue, Beverly thought she couldn't agree more.
Just then her communicator chirped, "Computer to Doctor Crusher."
Groaning, Beverly replied, "Crusher here."
"Priority message from Captain Picard. The morning briefing has been postponed by thirty minutes."
Beverly stifled a giggle as Jean-Luc rolled his eyes. "Thank you."
"Do you wish to send a reply?"
"No, that will be all. Crusher out." Running her fingers through the fringe of hair on the back of his head, she purred, "Now where were we?"
"I believe I was right about here." Jean-Luc moved his head toward her breasts as she let out a small moan of pleasure.
"Computer to Captain Picard."
Jean-Luc leaned his forehead against hers as he said, "Go ahead."
"Priority reply from Commander Riker. He has acknowledged the schedule change."
"Thank you. Picard out."
Neither had time to speak before his communicator chirped again.
"Computer to Captain Picard."
"Yes?" he asked, mildly frustrated.
"Priority reply from Lieutenant Commander LaForge. He has acknowledged the schedule change and notes the extra time will permit him to run another test on the phase inducers prior to submitting his report."
"Thank you."
"Do you wish to reply to Lieutenant Commander LaForge's note?"
"No. Picard out."
Seeking to rekindle the passion that was quickly dissipating, Beverly slowly rocked her hips to regain Jean-Luc's full attention. Watching his eyes darken with desire, she was about to speak when his communicator chirped for a third time. Sighing, Beverly slowly unwound her legs and leaned her head against the wall.
"Computer to Captain Picard."
"Picard here."
"Priority reply from Counselor Troi. She has acknowledged the schedule change."
"Picard out."
Jean-Luc groaned as he watched Beverly slip from his arms, straighten her uniform, don her lab coat, and prepare to depart for her duty shift in sickbay. He opened his mouth to stop her, but the now thoroughly unwelcome sound of his communicator cut him off.
"Computer to Captain Picard."
Gritting his teeth, and resisting the urge to toss his communicator down the nearest disposal chute, he said, "Beverly, we'll finish this later. I promise."
"I'm looking forward to it," Beverly replied with a smile as she disappeared into the corridor.
Dissatisfied with his slow response, the computer called again, "Computer to Captain Picard."
"Yes, dammit!"
"Priority reply from Lieutenant Commander Data. He has acknowledged the schedule change and offers his assistance with whatever has caused the delay."
"Thank you. Picard out," he growled as he paced his quarters trying to remove all thoughts of what had 'caused the delay' from his mind.
"Do you wish to reply to Lieutenant Commander Data's offer?"
"Tell him that won't be necessary," he sighed as he ran a hand over his scalp. "Picard out."
Left with significantly more free time prior to the morning briefing than needed, the captain decided to make a cursory inspection of several departments throughout the ship. I've got the time, he thought wryly, I may as well use it to good effect.
***
Entering the observation lounge after completing his tour, Captain Picard was pleased to see his senior staff present and prepared to begin the briefing. As he took his seat he explained, "I apologize for the delay, but I decided to conduct an unannounced inspection of astrophysics, the internal couplings in the port warp nacelle, and engineering lab two." Looking around at his crew, he added, "And I am pleased to report that all sections are demonstrating exceptionally high levels of performance."
Beverly noticed Jean-Luc refused to meet her eyes as he gave his reason for delaying the meeting. She thought, Damn, he's good. I know the truth, yet I could swear he really had planned those surprise inspections.
Nodding to Data to deliver his summary of the gamma shift reports, Picard leaned back in his chair and steepled his fingers on his chest, ready to listen.
The last to present, Beverly made her report as succinctly as possible. Jean-Luc's proximity was forcefully reminding her body of their unfinished business from earlier in the morning, and she was finding it hard to remain focused on the task at hand.
She rose with the rest of the senior staff, but stopped before exiting the lounge when the captain called, "Doctor, if I might have a word." Smiling at Deanna, Beverly walked back to the large conference table where Jean-Luc was still sitting.
"Yes, Captain?" she asked as the last of the crew filed out.
"Beverly," as he spoke he swivelled his chair around to face her, "I have been thinking about my promise to you this morning."
She smiled and tried to control the butterflies that flooded her stomach as she thought about their breakfast together. Moving closer to him, she nodded for him to continue.
"I would like it if you would join me for dinner this evening. I fully plan on making up for the time we missed earlier," he grinned as he spoke.
Knowing she was walking a fine line between teasing and complete loss of self-control, Beverly gave in to her impulse and promptly straddled his lap. "But Jean-Luc," she purred into his ear as she ran her fingers across his head, "what if I can't wait that long?"
She felt him tense in surprise and she expected him to say or do something to put a stop to her outrageous behaviour. Smiling in anticipation, she was shocked when he began to run his hands up her back and into her hair.
"We haven't much time," he whispered huskily, "but I suppose I can give you a taste of what I have planned for this evening."
Blissfully jumping off the line and sinking into total loss of self-control, Beverly let herself be swept away by the torrent of passion Jean-Luc was generating.
They were so consumed with their efforts that neither heard the doors to the lounge swoosh open.
"Alright you two," said Guinan in a mock stern voice, "break it up."
Startled by the sudden voice in the darkened room, Jean-Luc leapt to his feet, unceremoniously allowing Beverly to fall to the floor. After quickly standing and poking Jean-Luc in the ribs, Beverly tried to straighten her hair, fix her uniform, and retrieve her lab coat simultaneously. Jean-Luc shot Beverly an apologetic look, adjusted his uniform, and prepared to meet their uninvited guest head-on.
"Guinan!" he exclaimed. "What is the meaning of this?"
"I think I could ask the same of you, Captain. Acting like a couple of teenagers," she smiled to take the sting out of her words. "I have to admit, you two were the last couple I would expect to find engaging in—"
"Yes," Picard harrumphed, "we weren't—"
Guinan's eyes widened. Beverly blushed a deep crimson.
"I mean, it wasn't planned."
Guinan chuckled, "I should hope not, Captain. Or have you forgotten the children's tea you agreed to host here this morning? I know I asked you to consider presenting yourself in a more relaxed manner, but even I can't imagine you would think this a proper way to greet the top student from each class as they filed into the lounge."
Jean-Luc groaned as Beverly slipped out the door and darted toward the safety of her office in sickbay.
***
I can't believe she told us to 'break it up,' Beverly thought as she continued her rounds in sickbay. If the computer hadn't 'broken things up' this morning we wouldn't have even considered—
Her own thoughts were interrupted by memories of the touch, scent, and taste of their earlier activities. Suddenly feeling very warm, Beverly checked the chronometer and wished away the intervening hours of her shift.
Shortly after returning from her lunch break Beverly was intrigued to find a note blinking on her computer monitor. It read, "Very distracted. Cannot wait for dinner. Go for a walk. I'll find you." She acknowledged receipt of the message and went into sickbay to leave her capable head nurse in charge while she stepped out for awhile.
***
Geordi LaForge was angry. Ever since the announcement that five of the children on board had been accepted into the Academy the number of practical jokes being played on the ship's personnel had quintupled. He was growing angrier with each step he took towards the storage room on deck twenty-three. Didn't these kids have anything better to do than trigger random alarms around the ship?
He stopped outside the door to the storage room and addressed the computer. "Computer, is storage room 2349B occupied?"
"Affirmative."
"How many occupants are there?"
"There are two occupants in the room."
"Thank you."
Geordi took a deep breath as he thumbed the switch to open the door. Turning the lights on full, he bellowed in his sternest command voice, "Alright you two! You better break off whatever it is you're doing in here or I'll have you before the cap—"
For a split second Geordi thought his VISOR was playing tricks on him. He could read the waves of shock and embarrassment coming off the two in the room, and he felt his own cheeks begin to burn as well.
"Uh, Captain. Doctor," Geordi stammered. "I'm, uh, sorry. I didn't know." He wished he could crawl into the nearest Jeffries tube for the next decade or so. "There was an alarm. I, uh, thought it was some of our newest cadets. I, um, well, I, ah, yeah. I'm so sorry." His last words were delivered as he closed the door to the room and darted for his office in engineering.
"Not again," Beverly groaned as she lightly thumped her forehead against Jean-Luc's shoulder.
"This is turning out to be a highly embarrassing day," Jean-Luc agreed.
"I can deal with the embarrassment. It's the interruptions that are getting to me," she replied as she playfully nibbled on his earlobe.
"Indeed. They are certainly… constraining," he said with a slight grimace.
"Come on, you," Beverly said as she tugged on his hand and moved to the door, "duty calls."
***
They were off duty and alone in her quarters. Dinner lay cold and forgotten on the table as they frantically tried to divest each other of their clothing. Their three previously aborted attempts had served to only heighten the tension and need. This time, nothing was going to break up the moment.
The clatter of PADDs tumbling to the floor as they careened off her desk obscured the sound of the door chime. Their own heavy breathing, and the thump of the wall as it slammed into Beverly's back, masked the second door chime. There was no third chime as Data, fearing for Doctor Crusher's safety after hearing the commotion inside, used his security override to enter her quarters.
Standing with a replicated 20th century pizza box in his hand, Data quickly took in the scene before him. Frozen in the doorway between her living quarters and her bedroom stood two extremely dishevelled and cross Starfleet officers.
"Data?!" They shouted in unison.
"Captain. Doctor. I am sorry to intrude. You did not answer the door chime and I heard the sounds of a struggle. I did not mean to interrupt your activities. I was worried for your safety, doctor."
Beverly didn't bother to retrieve her discarded clothing, instead opting to quickly throw a blanket around her shoulders as she approached Data.
"It's alright, Data. We understand. I'm sorry I didn't hear the door." She smiled and gestured for him to fully enter the room. "What brought you here in the first place?"
Data seemed to suddenly remember the pizza box in his hand. "This," he replied.
"What is it?"
"It is a replication of a cardboard pizza storage device typically used by fast food delivery companies in the 20th century. I know you need one for your current production, and I thought you would like to see it."
He looked over at the captain, who had closed up his shirt and was pretending to admire the doctor's orchids.
"I can see this is a poor time." Data moved toward the door. "Captain. Doctor, I apologize. I did not mean to break up your evening. Please excuse me." He placed the pizza box on Beverly's desk and quickly exited her quarters.
"What is it with everyone trying to break us up?" Beverly wondered as watched Jean-Luc retrieve his clothing, preparing to leave.
"Where are you going?" she asked.
"To get us some uninterrupted time together," he answered as he strode to the door. "Pack a small bag and be ready to meet me in transporter room three in ten minutes." He winked as he disappeared down the corridor.
***
Thoroughly and blissfully exhausted, Jean-Luc and Beverly lay entwined in a sweaty heap on the bed reserved for the captain aboard the vessel. Cruising between the two warp nacelles of its parent ship, the captain's yacht was nestled safely within the Enterprise's warp bubble.
Jean-Luc sighed contentedly and said, "Rank certainly has its privileges."
"Why didn't we think of this earlier?" Beverly asked as she drew lazy circles on his chest.
"I didn't want to draw attention to our activities or our personal relationship," Jean-Luc chuckled in reply.
Laughing softly, Beverly quipped, "I don't think we could have made it much more public with the way we were keeping it a secret."
"Yes," Jean-Luc added, "Riker didn't even blink when I told him I wanted to spend some time on board the yacht."
"I'm surprised he didn't break out laughing," Beverly teased.
"I'm surprised he didn't break out the champagne."
The End.