Summary: Early in their relationship, Tom tries to figure out B'Elanna and gets what he deserves.

Written for the P/T exchange for AlphaFlyer's prompt: "Captain Janeway puts her hand on Tom's shoulder one time too many for B'Elanna's Klingon instincts. (Your choice as to whether it means something - and that - or not.)

A Helping Hand

Tom hurried down the corridor of Deck Nine, nodding politely as he passed fellow crewman, but making it clear that he was in a rush to be somewhere, and had no time to stop and chat. As B'Elanna had left the bridge, she'd told him in no uncertain terms to meet her there as soon as he was off and he had no intention of letting her down.

All in all, Tom mused, it really was turning out to be a pretty good day. The breakfast Neelix had prepared actually tasted like a southwestern scramble, and had caused no gastrointestinal distress. Then he'd managed some pretty fancy piloting through an asteroid field, causing Captain Janeway to thank him rather gratuitously for his hard work, her small hands resting on his shoulders as she spoke from behind him at the conn. He smiled at the thought. In the years he'd been in the Delta Quadrant, there were few things that made him feel quite as good as gaining the approval of the one captain willing to give him a second chance.

But right now, he was on his way of one of those other things and he pushed the captain from his mind. The doors to B'Elanna's quarters slid open quietly. As he entered, he saw that the lights had been adjusted low.

"B'Elanna?" he questioned, looking around.

Then he saw her, coming towards him from the sleeping area and smiling at him. There was a fire in her eyes that filled him with a sudden rush of anticipation.

"Hey there." He smiled and started to move towards her but she was faster. Before Tom knew what was happening, he was being slammed against the wall. B'Elanna's fingers held his upper arms tightly. He pulled instinctively against her grip, but she didn't let go.

She leaned into him, raising herself up on her toes and Tom felt the push of her firm breasts against his chest. He pulled against her grip again, longing to touch her. Her breath tickled against his skin, and he felt her nuzzle into his neck.

"I need you," she whispered. His pulse quickened. B'Elanna breathed in his scent, and he heard a soft growl in the back of her throat.

"B'Elanna…" he groaned.

She moved to press her nose into his cheek, and she breathed him in again, nostrils flaring against his skin. He suddenly knew what was coming, images of Sakari flashing through his mind. But she was drawing it out, teasing him, and he was surprised by how much it affected him. He suspected the anticipation might just kill him.

"B'Elanna, please…"

She bit down hard onto his jaw and he cried out, whether in pain or in pleasure, he couldn't quite tell. The right side of his face felt like it was on fire, and every inch of his skin came alive. Every touch was magnified, intensified until it threatened to overwhelm him. The first time she'd bitten him like this, he'd been caught off guard, shocked by the sudden act of violence. But this time, it was thrilling, it was heady, and all he wanted was for her to do it again.

Suddenly her hands were off of his arms, and he sprung into action, tugging desperately at her uniform. She helped him remove her jacket and her pants before he got impatient and picked her up and carried her straight to the bed.

This really was turning out to be a great day.

After that night, Tom was desperate for more time alone with B'Elanna. He had always thought that being with her was amazing. But that night… that had really been something special. Something almost… Klingon. He wasn't quite sure what had changed that night. Tom had been waiting since before they'd even gotten together for B'Elanna to really let him in, to show him that side of her. But maybe this was the next step to their relationship, a sign that she was starting to trust him.

But now he was finally relaxing on her couch, with B'Elanna in his arms and wearing nothing but a silky blue nightie. He'd been waiting for this opportunity for nearly a week. First their shifts hadn't lined up well, then there'd been an "emergency" in Engineering. Tom wasn't sure why Vorik or Joe couldn't have dealt with it, but apparently only B'Elanna could be trusted to get the anodyne relays back online. But looking at her now, he decided the wait was worth it.

His fingers grazed her upper arm and he leaned in, eyes traveling over the swell of pale cleavage peaking out over the top of dark blue silk and finally landing on plump lips. She smiled and he kissed her softly, savoring the plush slide of her lips against his.

But right now he wanted more. He bit down softly on her bottom lip and growled.

B'Elanna giggled and Tom pulled back. "What?"

She attempted, not completely successfully, to smother her grin. "What was that, Tom?"

"What do you mean?" he responded defensively.

She smiled at him and shook her head. "Nothing. Just kiss me." He leaned back in and kissed her gently, trying not to be thrown off by her response. She certainly seemed to enjoy that the other night… He moved from her lips to her neck and continued down until he reached her collarbone. He remembered how he'd bitten her there the other night, and how passionately she'd responded. He felt himself reacting to the very thought of it. With a groan, he bit down again on her collarbone.

"Ow!"

Tom pulled back, surprised. "What?"

B'Elanna's eyebrows furrowed. "What do you mean 'what'? I said 'ow'! That's pretty self-explanatory."

Tom frowned. "Sorry." Leaning back in more hesitantly, he kissed the spot he'd bitten apologetically. Moving up a little, he kept the kisses gentle, hand sliding around B'Elanna's waist and holding her close.

B'Elanna sighed and shifted to give him better access to her neck. After several more minutes of kisses and gentle caresses, she was writhing under his touch and Tom felt emboldened. He was just about to try to bite her again, on the ear this time, when he felt her hand on his shoulder, pushing him down.

He pulled back and looked at her questioningly. B'Elanna bit down on her lip and she pushed down on his shoulder again. Tom let her guide him this time, and he knelt down on the floor in front of her. She tugged on her nightgown, pulling it up her thighs to show him that she wasn't wearing any underwear.

Tom licked his lips. This is okay too.

When Tuvok finally finished his security report, Tom fought the impulse to stand up and cheer.

He'd been sitting in this damn staff meeting for what seemed like hours. There was no particular reason why the senior staff's usual morning briefing was taking so long. They hadn't encountered anything too out of the ordinary or had any run-ins with any particularly aggressive alien races recently. He really was trying to focus, but there was only so much Tom could take.

Then Janeway stood up. Oh, thank god, it's finally over. Tom was starting to stand up himself when he felt the captain's hands on his shoulders. She gave him a squeeze, and he couldn't help noting how strong her hands were. I bet she gives great massages…

"Before we leave this morning, I wanted to take a minute to thank Lieutenant Paris for his excellent piloting recently. Rescuing that away team before the solar flare hit saved multiple lives." Her hands squeezed down on his shoulders again, and Tom couldn't help blushing faintly at her praise.

"It was nothing, Captain. Anyone would have done the same."

She squeezed down on his shoulders again briefly, then patted him on the shoulder with one hand before letting go and moving on around the conference table. "Oh, Mister Paris, don't be so modest."

Tom felt the flush rising again in his cheeks. "Well, thank you, Captain." Across the table, B'Elanna gave him a look. He suspected she was struggling not to roll her eyes at Janeway's praise. She's just mad Janeway's still pissed the warp core is acting up and she hasn't figured out why yet.

The meeting finally dismissed and Tom's PADD buzzed. He picked it up and saw a message from B'Elanna. There were only three words. "Lunch. Your quarters."

Tom smiled.

When B'Elanna arrived at his quarters, however, he found that she didn't have lunch on her mind. Her hands were on him immediately, stripping off his uniform jacket and pulling his undershirt out of his pants. He groaned as she nipped at his collarbone.

"B'Elanna…" He pushed her away regretfully and she pulled back. "We don't have time for that! Besides, I'm hungry… I'm not going to have any time to eat for hours."

B'Elanna grinned. "I know, I'm hungry too." She pulled his undershirt over his head. "Besides," she continued, "we've been so busy recently, and now I'm on Beta shift for a week." She began to lead him over to the couch. "But right now, we are both here, and I think we need to take advantage of that."

Her hands slid back around him and he shivered. Hitting the sofa with the back of his legs, he fell back onto it and B'Elanna climbed on top of him. His hands settled on her thighs and she leaned forward, kissing him deeply. He groaned and returned the kiss. B'Elanna bit down on his lower lip and growled, pulling back just enough to be able to look him.

"What… " he paused, trying to find his breath, "what if I'm late?" Even as he questioned her however, he was already sliding his hands up and around to squeeze her bottom. He leaned back in for another kiss.

She grinned. "The captain isn't going to punish her favorite helmsman."

Tom straightened his jacket then reattached his com badge as he hurried through the corridors. Damn it. He had really tried to keep things… brief, with B'Elanna. But she'd been… quite insatiable, and he'd been powerless to deny her what she wanted.

And now he was late. Just when he'd been doing so well, now he was risking the captain's disapproval. He called the turbolift and tugged at his sleeves as he waited impatiently for it to arrive. The fabric of his uniform burned against the bite marks B'Elanna had left on his shoulders.

As he waited, his mind began to wander. B'Elanna had been so unpredictable recently. He'd thought he'd made at least a little progress in coming to understand the beautifully complicated equation of his girlfriend's moods in the months they'd been together. But now he was doubting himself. One day she seemed completely normal – or at least normal for B'Elanna. But then other days, it was almost like she was going through the pon farr again.

Not that he minded… Tom felt a self-satisfied smile spreading across his face as he remembered the way that B'Elanna had writhed on top of him.

But something was tickling at the back of his mind. The turbolift finally arrived and he stepped on, calling for the bridge. Hopefully the captain isn't too upset…

The tickle came back with a vengeance. The captain… The turbolift began to move and Tom rubbed absent-mindedly at the back of his head, ruffling his short blond hair. That morning Captain Janeway had been particularly… effusive with her praise. And B'Elanna had said something… it was hard to quite remember, as he'd been a little distracted at the time. But she'd made some snarky remark about the captain's "favorite helmsman." What was that about?

And now that he thought about it, he remembered the last time that B'Elanna had been a little… extra Klingon, Janeway had gotten a little "handsy" that day too. And before that…

The turbolift doors opened, wrenching Tom suddenly from his thoughts.

Tom tried to pull himself together as he walked to his station to relieve Baytart. He risked a glance to his left as he entered the bridge, and saw that Janeway seemed to be almost deliberately not looking at him. Her disappointment stung. It's only five minutes! he thought somewhat petulantly. Chakotay glared openly from Janeway's side, but Tom met his gaze unflinchingly, a grin on his face. His disapproval Tom could handle.

"Sorry, Commander. Got held up, I guess."

Chakotay's lips formed a hard line and Tom smiled. Turning away from his commander and captain, he rubbed at his wrists and pondered just how literally true that statement was. He tapped Baytart on the shoulder. The ensign stood and gave Tom his seat at the conn.

Back in his seat, his mind jumped back to B'Elanna. He was trying to remember what had happened the time before that. It had been maybe a month ago, but all Tom was remembering were there angry red lines B'Elanna had carved into his back. They hadn't healed for days. But he thought something had happened before that.

That's it! It had been right after his last away mission. B'Elanna had gone too, and during their mission debriefing, the captain had put her hands on him. Just like today. Just like last time.

He really hadn't noticed how often Janeway did that. But if this was how B'Elanna responded, he knew he wanted it to happen again.

"Tom, we're seeing a subspace fracture within the eddy dissipation front. Do you think you can navigate it?"

Tom turned, about to tell the Captain that it would not be a problem, just in time to watch as Janeway placed her hand on Tuvok's shoulder. A shiver traveled through his body as he thought about all the delightful consequences that might have been, if only that had been his shoulder… and B'Elanna had been there to witness it. Too bad, Tom thought. It had been a few weeks since the captain had touched him, much less in front of B'Elanna.

"Mister Paris?"

Janeway's voice brought him pack to attention. "It shouldn't be a problem, ma'am."

"Okay, Tom, take us in." Janeway's husky voice was full of unmistakable enthusiasm. Only that woman could make collecting data on stellar phenomena sound sensual…

He smiled. "Yes, ma'am!" His fingers danced over the controls, giving the ship the precise calculations he'd been fine-tuning all day.

Things seemed to be going smoothly as he wove them in between the strong gravitational eddies that surrounded the diffusive protoplasmic singularity. Then suddenly the ship began to lurch, the inertial dampeners unable to completely counteract the gravitational forces pulling on the ship. Tom held on and managed to stay in his seat, but the thumps and grunts behind him told him that the rest of the bridge crew hadn't been so lucky.

"Sorry!" he called over his shoulder. "We're almost through!" They'd detected a ring of relatively stable space encircling the singularity and it was from there that they hoped to take readings on it.

Just moments later, they were finally through, and the lurching came to an abrupt stop.

"Well done, Mister Paris!" He turned around at the sound of the captain's voice.

"Thank you, Captain. We should be safe here for at least an hour. But after that, I can't predict how the eddies might shift." She smiled at him, then looked down at Commander Chakotay, seated next to her. She had one hand on her hip, and she rested the other on Chakotay's shoulder.

Wow, trust science to put Janeway in a mood... She hadn't been this excited in weeks.

Tom looked thoughtful for a moment, but his thoughts were not on stellar phenomena, nor gravitational eddies, nor any other topic appropriate for the bridge.

"Captain, maybe we should have Lieutenant Torres come up to the bridge to take the readings." The captain looked at him in justifiable confusion at the suggestion. "I can react to what I see. But she'll be looking at the hard data. She might be able to see problems before they form, allowing me to react much faster. And if so, it would be much easier if she were here on the bridge."

"Good idea." Janeway nodded and tapped her combadge. "Janeway to Torres. Tom thinks you'll be able to collaborate more effectively from the bridge. We'll take the readings from here."

"On my way, Captain."

As soon as his "plan" – if it could be called that – was initiated, Tom began to feel anxious. It felt like it took forever for B'Elanna to reach the bridge, even though he knew it was eleven decks away. As he waited, holding the ship steady, he fought the niggling seeds of guilt taking root in the back of his mind. My suggestion was entirely reasonable and will likely make things slightly easier, he reassured himself. And if B'Elanna just happens to see her captain getting handsy with the helmsman… well then, all the better.

The doors to the bridge swished open and Tom forced himself not to look at B'Elanna as she took her seat at the engineering station, behind and to the right of him. He could hear the rhythmic tapping as her fingers flew over the console.

"Captain," B'Elanna said. "We're ready."

"Initiate the scan," Janeway ordered.

There was silence for several minutes, as they all waited for the preliminary data to come in. Janeway had already been standing, but now she moved closer to the viewscreen, as though being closer would allow her to absorb the data directly.

"Captain, I'm starting to receive data. We've already collected more than I'd even hoped for. Being closer cut down on the distortion much more than we anticipated."

Janeway looked at B'Elanna. "That's wonderful, Lieutenant." Looking back to the viewscreen, she smiled broadly. That's when she did it.

She reached out, laid her hand on Tom's shoulder, and squeezed.

Tom coughed in surprise and flushed a little. He felt a rush of triumph and couldn't help looking back at B'Elanna.

Something flashed behind her eyes, and then he thought he saw the barest hint of a smile slide across her lips. He tried to keep his face neutral. He couldn't risk B'Elanna realizing what he had done. She'd kill me. But he wasn't entirely sure he was successful.

Now he just had to wait.

Tom entered his quarters gratefully that night. His shift had seemed to go on forever, and he was beyond relieved to be done for the day. He began to strip off his uniform, dropping the jacket in the fresher, and slipping his shoes off before he called for the lights.

When they came on, he saw her.

"B'Elanna!"

She was perched on his bed, clad only in her panties and Starfleet issue tank top. The gray fabric was snug around her breasts and Tom swallowed. He could see clearly that there wasn't anything underneath.

He felt a little off-balance. Less by her appearance than by the nature of it. This wasn't like B'Elanna. She wasn't really the sort to set things up, to wait, to… present herself like this. Smiling, he licked his lips and slowly approached her.

Finally reaching the bed, he slid his hand into her hair, pulling her lips to his as he lowered her body down onto the bed underneath him. B'Elanna let herself be led, returning the kiss tenderly and reaching up to grasp his hand in hers. Tom found himself more and more confused. This really wasn't the way she'd been before, after the captain put her hands on him. Maybe she didn't actually see it… maybe I was completely wrong... maybe…

He wasn't sure. But he found it increasingly hard to care. This gentle, soft B'Elanna wasn't what he'd been hoping for that night. But it was intoxicating all the same. As they continued to kiss, B'Elanna entwined her fingers in his and Tom decided that this would do just fine.

He would gladly explore every newly discovered layer to B'Elanna. In delightfully intimate detail.

Tom tried to pull his hand gently out of her grasp, idly imagining what her skin would feel like under his fingers as he slid them up under the edge of her tank top. He was startled to find that B'Elanna held on tightly. She tightened down on his wrist, and he pulled back.

"B'Elanna… " he began. Then he heard a click. He looked up to see his hand chained to her bed. "B'Elanna! What—"

She grabbed his other hand and flipped him over roughly, binding that one as well. Tom laid still, now on his back, frozen in shock. B'Elanna sat up, settling herself across Tom's hips, and she grinned down at him devilishly.

Tom pulled himself away from B'Elanna's gaze, looking to his wrists and tugging experimentally. It didn't take much to conclude that he wasn't going anywhere. He felt her shift about him and looked back up at her.

She leaned forward, hands on either side of his head, face only inches from his.

"I know what you did."

Tom choked. "What? Me!" He swallowed. "No, that… I didn't do anything." He groaned internally. Come on Paris, you used to be good at lying.

B'Elanna sneered. "I know you set it up, Tom. Calling me to the bridge for no reason…" He tensed underneath her, not knowing what to expect. He opened his mouth to speak, but she put a finger to his lips, silencing him. "Now," she continued, "I think it's time you learned a lesson."

Then she grinned again and her eyes burned with desire. And Tom knew he was going to enjoy himself. Tremendously.