My Cyptain, My Mistress, My Love: The Beginning

by romansilence

As Voyager faces new challenges due to substandard parts B'Elanna Torrres and her Captain form a special bond as lovers, wives, friends and lst but not least as Mistress and Slave. AU without Chuckles. Warning: consensualsex between two women, elements of BDSM, like obedience, didcipline, spanking..

My Captain, My Mistress, My Love:
The Beginning

by

romansilence
(romansilence )

Disclaimer: You all know it, the characters and background story don't belong to me but to Paramount, unfortunately. No copyright infringement is intended, no profit will be made. I also like to give credit to Novad and her "Secret Logs of Mistress Janeway"-series who inspired me to start these stories. I'm deeply indebted to her.

Language Disclaimer: English is not my first language. So, please be lenient.

This is an alternate universe story. It contains strong elements of kink and BDSM (consensual, of course). If this is not your cup of tea please go and read one of my other Star Trek stories "It's a Good Day… to Get Married" (DS9) and "There's None So Blind…" (Voyager) at the Athenaeum's site. The timeline is set at the start of season three, a couple of months after Seska and the Kazon took over Voyager. Since this is an alternate universe I changed the background stories of the Seska/Chakotay sub-plot, and the personal background of B'Elanna Torres, and Kathryn Janeway

Oh, and this is story takes same-sex relationship for granted and contains graphic descriptions of consensual sex. So, if you're not of legal age, please come back later, and if it's illegal where you live, rent an U-haul and move somewhere else.

Prologue

My name is Lieutenant B'Elanna Torres, daughter of Miral of the House of Katal, chief engineer on board of the Federation Starship USS Voyager, intrepid class, stranded in the Delta Quadrant under the command of Captain Kathryn Janeway. This is my story.

My name is B'El. I am a slave and Kathryn Janeway is my Mistress. Mistress Kathryn is kind and firm, stern and loving. She knows how to keep me in line and how to give me untold pleasure. She owns me, body, heart and soul. This is her story.

My name is B'Elanna and Kathryn is my lover. She is the love of my life and should there be a life after death I will love her in all eternity. This is our story.

-x-x-x-x-x-

Chapter One: The First Time

"Janeway to Torres."

"Torres here, Captain."

"I want you in my Ready Room in fifteen minutes. Janeway out."

Captain Kathryn Janeway, personal log: Commander Tuvok just informed me about another incident in Engineering. Lieutenant Torres apparently lost her temper and almost hit Lieutenant Nicoletti. It was the third such incident in the last ten days and they seem to get more violent every time. She apologised and no one pressed charges but I have the feeling that things are escalating. Until now I have let B'Elanna off the hook. The last couple of months have been extremely difficult for all of us, and up until four days ago the whole engineering staff and the senior staff had to pull double shifts, but now that things are back to normal I can no longer afford to be lenient. I will have to get to the bottom of this.

The door chimed.

"End log. Come."

B'Elanna Torres strode confidently in Captain Janeway's Ready Room. She stopped two paces from the desk and stood with her feet almost shoulder wide apart and her hands behind her back. She was the picture of calm confidence, except for the fact that her eyes were focused on a point on the wall to the right of her captain's ear.

"You wanted to see me, Captain?"

"Lieutenant Torres, it has come to my attention that lately your behaviour was not becoming of a senior officer of this crew. I've cut you a lot of slack due to the circumstances, but you simply have to get a better grip on your temper. If it happens again I will have no choice but to put a reprimand in your file, Lieutenant. Am I understood?"

"Yes, Captain, I understand." B'Elanna's eyes didn't move from the wall.

"I know that Seska and Chakotay were your friends, B'Elanna, and that their betrayal hit you hard, but they already paid the ultimate price. It's time to leave it where it belongs; in the past. Talk to me, B'Elanna."

"There is nothing to talk about, Captain. I'm sorry that I lost it, and I already apologised to Lieutenant Nicoletti." B'Elanna answered.

"What happened in Engineering today? Why did you lose your temper?"

"This morning I came in early to do some paperwork. The whole Gamma shift was in disarray. They were chasing sensor shadows that had appeared shortly after the start of the shift. It was like chasing a damned electronic ghost. Alpha shift took over but half of Gamma stayed to help me track it down. We finally managed to isolate it and I was about to transfer it to an isolated area for studying.

"At the same time Lieutenants Carey and Nicoletti were about to start their morning break. They were in an extremely good mood and bantered and poked each other. Susan evaded John's fingers and stumbled over an open tool kit. She lost her balance and landed on a console. That activated a few things and the sensor shadow or whatever it was self-destructed.

"Part of me had observed their banter with a smile. It was good to see them this relaxed after the last couple of weeks. Then I saw what had happened and I lost it. I shouted at Susan and she didn't even understand why. I almost hit her. I already had my fist raised but then I saw Lieutenant Carey's horrified face and in my mind's eye I went back to the day I had broken his nose. I stopped and fled to my office."

B'Elanna still refused to look her captain in the eyes.

"And there was no security involved?"

"No, Captain."

"Then why did I get a security report?" Janeway asked.

"After I had calmed down I wrote a report for security, Captain."

"You turned yourself in?"

"In a manner of speaking. It seemed like the right thing to do. I'm sorry I disappointed you, Captain."

For the first time since entering B'Elanna looked at the woman seated behind the desk. Kathryn was startled by her dull and tired brown eyes. So, she called up the duty roster and studied it for a moment.

"B'Elanna, you're still working double shifts and more. According to your own reports Voyager is in the best condition she can be under the circumstances and in certain areas clearly above specs. Is there something you didn't mention?"

"No, Captain, but I have this feeling. I know Seska and Chakotay are dead but just like this unexplained sensor shadow this morning I just can't shed the feeling that they have a few more surprises left for us. So, I started to check our systems manually. Baring any emergencies it will be done in about five months."

For a moment Kathryn stared at the young woman with something akin to awe, then her captain's mask reasserted itself.

"Janeway to Tuvok."

"Tuvok here, Captain."

"Lieutenant Torres just brought a security concern to my attention. I'd like your input. Report to my Ready Room."

Moments later the door chime sounded and Tuvok took a position to the left of B'Elanna. Captain Janeway explained the chief engineer's concerns.

Tuvok thought for a moment. After Chakotay's betrayal he had taken over as first officer but he had yet to name a successor as Chief of Security. The three shift leaders still reported to him.

"As your first officer I'll have to point out that all the key systems have already been checked, and that the probability of anything happening there is negligible. It also would not be logical for Seska or Chakotay to sabotage a ship they wanted to use to dominate the Kazon. As chief of security, however, I agree with Lieutenant Torres. Ensign Seska's paranoia could have brought her to do something ill-advised. We can't afford not to check all of our systems. I suggest asking for volunteers from Engineering. If only half of them add an hour or two to their workday it should all be done in a month."

"That's a good idea, Commander. Thank you." Janeway said. "Lieutenant Torres, by the end of Alpha Shift I want a complete listing of the systems that still need to be checked and a flexible work schedule, and you can put me down as your first volunteer. I'll send out a memo about it then. Thank you, Tuvok, you may return to the bridge."

"Captain, Lieutenant." He turned around and left the Ready Room.

"Lieutenant, I know it would be asked too much of you to limit your extracurricular efforts to two hours a day, but I'll keep an eye on you and should I find out that you log more than four additional hours I'll send you on forced leave with no access to a holodeck or computer. Understood?"

"Yes Captain."

"And B'Elanna, try to keep your temper better in check."

"Yes Captain."

"Dismissed."

The young engineer turned around and walked towards the door. Kathryn saw the bloody knuckles on her right hand and called her back.

"What happened? Didn't you say that you did not hit Lieutenant Nicoletti?"

"I hit a wall panel in my office, Ma'am." B'Elanna answered.

Kathryn stared at the younger woman in astonishment; B'Elanna, however, refused to look her in the eyes. "You injured yourself? Why?"

"I felt better right after. I promise I'll replace the wall panel with a new one using my own replicator rations."

"You will do no such thing, Lieutenant. You will go to sickbay and let the doctor treat your hand, then you will put the wall panel through a repair cycle in the industrial replicator. Everything else would be a waste of energy."

"Yes Captain." B'Elanna still didn't look at her captain. "It's just a scratch."

Kathryn walked around her desk and grabbed B'Elanna's hand. The skin was broken and her knuckles swollen.

"It's more than just a scratch. You could have broken your fingers. You could have seriously injured yourself."

Kathryn led B'Elanna to the other side and pulled a dermal regenerator out of one of her desk drawers. She quickly treated the injury but didn't let go of the hand after she had finished.

"Look at me B'Elanna. I want to see your eyes."

B'Elanna slowly looked up. She didn't want to, but there was no way that she could not obey the tone of Kathryn's voice.

"This was not the first time that you deliberately injured yourself, right?"

"No, Mi… Captain."

Kathryn studied the expression on B'Elanna's face and she didn't like what she was seeing, but now and in her Ready Room was not the right time and place to do something about it.

"We'll talk about this tonight. You can't just go and hurt yourself. I expect you in my quarters at exactly 1900 hours, B'El. The Mistress has been absent from your life for too long. I want you to wait for me in the corner at kneeling rest."

B'Elanna's face lit up in a brilliant smile, Kathryn had not seen in far too long.

"Yes, Mistress, thank you, Mistress." She left the Ready Room with a much lighter step than she had entered it.

Kathryn sank back in her seat and stared sightlessly at the closed door. Finally she decided that a fresh cup of coffee would help her to get her mind back to work. The steaming brew in hand she took a seat on her couch and looked out of her windows at the distorted star field streaming by.

Unbidden B'Elanna's bright smile came back to her and her thoughts took a walk along memory lane to the evening about eighteen months ago when her relationship with the young Human-Klingon-Hybrid changed. It had been about two months after B'Elanna had been promoted to Chief Engineer.

Kathryn entered her quarters after a long, exhausting and aggravating day between paperwork and bridge duty. She had spent the better part of the afternoon going over personnel reports with her first officer, and if she had not had to fend off his clumsy and increasingly insistent advances they would have been able to finish at least an hour earlier.

All she wanted was a whiskey and soda and to put her feet up. She knew she should get something to eat, but she was just not in the mood to brave Neelix' newest creation. She threw her uniform jacket on a chair and was about to replicate her drink when she saw something out of the corner of her eyes.

Kathryn abruptly turned around and studied the figure kneeling to the right of the door. The young woman was naked, her knees were spread and her hands rested on her thighs with the palms up. Her head was slightly bent and her eyes seemed focused on the floor. It was a perfect posture and something Kathryn had not seen in a long time. She knew that B'Elanna was offering herself to be used. Some Dominants might have seen such a display of initiative by a submissive or slave as insubordination; Kathryn was just intrigued.

"Miss Torres, what do you think you're doing in my quarters?" She asked.

"I apologise for the intrusion, Mistress Kathryn, and for the breach of protocol. I know I should have presented myself outside of your quarters but I didn't want to arouse any attention, Mistress. If you were so kind to have a look at the padd on the couch table and everything will be explained." B'Elanna didn't look up and her voice was soft, nothing reminded of her volatile, belligerent Chief of Engineering.

Kathryn cast a short glance at the activated padd. It showed a very familiar logo, the sign for eternity turning around itself. She picked it up and then put it down again. B'Elanna had not moved an inch and there was no sign that she was aware of the scrutiny of Kathryn's eyes.

Kathryn took a seat on the couch and said, "Use your own words, Miss Torres. And for now, you may call me 'Ma'am'. Come here, I want to look into your eyes."

B'Elanna rose fluidly to her feet, took a few steps around the couch table and knelt down again. Her brown eyes made contact with her captain's blue grey orbs but she didn't say anything.

"You may speak, B'Elanna."

"Thank you, Ma'am. When I left Starfleet Academy to join the Maquis my Mistresses gave me free. For a time I even tried to convince myself that I was better off without a Mistress. When I accepted that I was only deluding myself I tried to find someone within the Maquis but it did not work out. I learned to live without feeling owned and cared for, but it has the side effect of making me very ill tempered and hard to get along with. But now, here on Voyager, I have another chance, and not with just any Mistress. At Eternal Pleasure you have the reputation to be one of the best Mistresses ever trained there, Ma'am.

"I know that it's preposterous of me to think that you would accept someone as wilful and stubborn as I have proved to be in the past but I promise that I will do my utmost to be a good submissive and that I even have the potential to be a good slave to you, Ma'am." B'Elanna said.

"If your Mistress gave you free why are you still wearing a mark of ownership?" Kathryn asked with a pointed look at the tattoo the young woman had on the upper part of her left breast.

"When I left for the Maquis I begged to be allowed to keep it but I don't wear it as a mark of ownership. I wear it to remember two women who saved my life and gave me a home when I needed it most. When I was fifteen I ran away from home and ended up on Mordan IV. I was living on the streets and after four decades of civil war the only rule there was the survival of the strongest, and as the new kid I didn't stand a chance. The USS Enterprise came to Mordan to clean up some sort of diplomatic incident. Two senior officers of the Enterprise came just in time to save me from being raped by some thugs. They took me with them and gave me a new life. The Y of the mark stands for Lieutenant Commander Tasha Yar and the T for Councillor Deanna Troi. I lived with them for two and a half years until I was accepted at Starfleet Academy."

"When did you receive the slave mark, B'Elanna?" Kathryn asked and promised herself that she would learn more about that later. When she had last seen Deanna… No, there were other more important things to think about now.

"The day before I was due to start at the Academy, after I had graduated at Eternal Pleasure. You'll find all the details in the padd, Ma'am."

"Did you read the padd, B'Elanna?"

"No Ma'am. Mistress Tasha and Mistress Deanna told me what's on it but they also said that it was for my new Mistress. It was not my place to read it, Ma'am."

Kathryn searched B'Elanna's face but she didn't find any sign of insecurity.

"I understand." She said finally. "So far I like what I see. So, I will give you the chance to show me what you remember from your training, B'Elanna. I want you to prepare something to eat for me, and a drink while I take a shower. I hope you don't have forgotten how to do a pedicure because that will be your next task."

"Yes Ma'am. Do you have any preferences for your meal?" B'Elanna asked.

"Well, I'm more in the mood for a snack than for a real dinner. Surprise me, B'Elanna."

"I'll do my best, Ma'am."

"I expect nothing less." Kathryn added sternly while she disappeared towards the bedroom.

Less than twenty minutes later she re-entered her living room clad in a simple silk robe and a pair of soft slippers. Under the shower she had debated with herself if she should put one of her leather outfits on to ease into this role she had not played in too many months. Seeing B'Elanna's willing and naked body had shown her how much she had missed this part of her life. Accepting the young woman's offer might just be what she needed to keep her sanity this far from home, and as a bonus it would allow her to get to know the young engineer better. To put B'Elanna's abilities to the test, however, it would be better not to rely on the insignias of her status at the exclusive hedonist club Eternal Pleasure. So, she decided against it.

Kathryn carried the nail kit under her arm and was greeted by the scent of fresh cookies and molten chocolate. To the right of the plate with visibly still warm cookies stood a tall glass with cold milk and the container with liquefied chocolate stood on a small tripod that would keep it hot, next to a bowl with sliced pears and another one with strawberries. Kathryn was pleasantly surprised but did not show it.

She retook her seat, let the slippers slide from her feet and stretched them towards B'Elanna who looked as if she had not moved even a quarter of an inch the whole time. Kathryn handed her the nail kit and ordered mother of pearl as nail colour.

"Yes Ma'am."

Kathryn started to nibble one of the cookies and took a sip of the milk. She didn't know if the young woman had somehow found out about her favourite comfort food or if she had just acted on instinct, but the milk had just the right amount of fat in it and the cookies held a hint of cinnamon.

Initially she had intended to at least have a look at the padd but then she felt B'Elanna's gentle ministrations to her feet. She could feel the slight calluses on the younger woman's hands but she made it up with soft kisses to the same spot shortly after. Once Kathryn had been used to be catered to this way but even for the high standards of Eternal Pleasure B'Elanna was extremely skilled at what she did, and it translated into a strange feeling of comfort to which she definitively was not accustomed.

Kathryn had eaten most of the cookies when B'Elanna's voice snapped her out of her unconscious musings. "Ma'am, while the nail polish dries, would you like a foot massage?"

"A massage sounds good, B'Elanna."

"Thank you, Ma'am. Would you like the massage to be relaxing, arousing or both?" B'Elanna asked.

"Surprise me." Kathryn answered and dipped one of the pear slices in the hot chocolate.

There was a hint of pepper or chilli in the dark chocolate that contrasted nicely with the sweetness of the pear, a perfect combination. She then dipped a plumb strawberry into the steaming liquid and let her head sink on the back rest of the couch. The natural flavour of the fruit emphasised the chilli that had been added. Part of Kathryn wanted to ask B'Elanna how she had convinced her replicator to produce something as delicious as this but the better part of her brain felt just too relaxed to bother.

Kathryn even might have fallen asleep if not for the slight tingling that had started to rise from the soles of her feet up through her shins and calves. It travelled through her thighs and sent a sensuous jolt to her centre. The sensation spread through her abdomen and torso. She felt her nipples growing hard and her eyes closed of their own accord. She knew she was slowly getting wet.

Kathryn could almost smell her own arousal but despite the fact that it had been a long time since she even had thought of pleasuring herself there was not the slightest sense of urgency. It was more like lying in the sun on a warm summer's day, being simultaneously caressed and tickled by the sun rays.

She knew she should think about testing B'Elanna's abilities some more, but this felt just too good to be interrupted. So, Kathryn let go of her defences, curious if B'Elanna would take advantage of the situation. But for long minutes the young woman's ministration left her suspended in this state of relaxed arousal.

Finally Kathryn felt how the silky fabric of the robe was pulled apart. She didn't order B'Elanna to stop and she didn't protest when her feet were gently set aside and the younger woman scooted closer. A new scent reached Kathryn's nostrils. It was musky and sweet, stronger than the scent of her own arousal. She smiled when B'Elanna's intentions became obvious, but then nothing happened and Kathryn thought that she might have been mistaken. Until soft lips started to kiss the sensitive skin of her thighs and she spread her legs a bit further. The lips came closer to her centre and soon kissed her nether hair.

At the edge of her consciousness she heard how B'Elanna breathed in the scent of her arousal which only served to make her even wetter than she already was. The tip of a tongue travelled the length of her sex, softly as if sketching a landscape. It stopped a hair's breath from her clit and wandered back down, this time exploring more deeply, lapping up her juices along the way. She wanted, she needed more, but before Kathryn could bring herself to give an order the tongue was back and pressed hard against her throbbing clit.

Kathryn almost jumped from her seat when it suddenly speared deep into her. B'Elanna didn't try to push inside all the way but used the slightly rough texture of her tongue to massage the entrance of Kathryn's inner walls. It was different from everything she had ever experienced before and she knew that she could easily get addicted to the feeling.

She moaned in disappointment when the tongue was gone again and moaned again when its tip began to flick her clit. Lips closed around it and suckled as if it were a nipple and the whole process started again:

A languorous lick along the length of her sex, stopping just short of her clitoris, back down lapping up juices; the tongue pressed against the clit and then deep inside of her folds, the tip of the tongue flicking her clit, the mouth sucking her. The sequence never changed but the intensity did. The combination brought her higher and higher, and when she heard B'Elanna's murmured "So beautiful!" it pushed her over the edge.

The young woman must have felt the tremors running through her because she changed her rhythm. Her focus now was on soothing and calming instead of further arousal. She cleaned every nook and cranny of Kathryn's sex, soft lips caressed her clit, a few lingering kisses were put on the inside of her thighs further and further away from her centre. Despite her orgasm she still felt relaxed; so, it took her a few moments to react when no further contact was made.

Kathryn opened her eyes and looked down when she felt how B'Elanna scooted backwards. Instead of retaking her former position B'Elanna bent forward with her arms at a forty-five degree angle, palms up and her forehead on the floor. Kathryn left her robe open when she sat up and studied the young woman's position. The position was called 'supplication'. It usually was assumed by a slave when he or she thought they had done something that warranted punishment.

"Rise, B'Elanna," Kathryn ordered, "look at me and tell me what you think you did wrong. By they way, you did very well. I enjoyed your tender care very much, the massage as well."

There was a hint of a blush on B'Elanna's face when she looked up and her eyes were wide in astonishment.

"So, why do you think you should be punished?" Kathryn insisted when the young woman didn't speak up immediately.

"I acted without permission after the massage, Ma'am."

"And in your eyes this is a punishable offence?"

"According to the rules of conduct a slave should not be allowed to act on his or her own, only on the orders of a Mistress or a Master. A slave is never to show initiative and in the strictest sense they should not even move without explicit permission. You would be well within your right to punish me hard for such a blatant show of independence." B'Elanna answered.

"And how would your former Mistresses have punished you?"

"I would not have been punished. Mistress Tasha and Mistress Deanna did not adhere to such a strict interpretation of the rules of conduct, Ma'am. I was trained to exacting standards but I was never punished when I showed initiative trying to please them."

"You did exactly what I eventually would have ordered you to do; and though you didn't use any words your actions still asked for permission. I will not punish you. I find your initiative commendable, though a punishment would give me an excuse to see how you react to pain. No, I rather think a reward for your skilful service is in order. Come, it's time to take this to the bedroom."

Kathryn stretched her hand out and pulled B'Elanna to her feet. The dark-haired woman looked her in the eyes and said softly, "You don't need an excuse. You don't need any other reason to give me pain than the fact that you want to see me suffer, Ma'am. I'm yours."

"All in good time, B'Elanna; besides, I already know that you have a high pain threshold. My mind is on other things right now."

The entered the bedroom and Kathryn ordered, "Get in the middle of the bed, B'Elanna, on your back. Spread your arms and legs as if they were shackled to the corners of the bed. As your reward I will make you come, eventually, but first I will test your self control. From now on you are not allowed to speak. Do you understand?"

B'Elanna nodded.

Kathryn sat down on the side of her bed and let her fingers gently trail up and down B'Elanna's right arm. The simple contact could as well have had a soothing effect but instead it heightened B'Elanna's anticipation and made her skin break out in goosebumps.

"So responsive." Kathryn murmured while her fingers slid deeper and gently touched the side of the other woman's breast.

She felt how B'Elanna's muscles tensed under her fingertips and for a moment wondered about the power this compact body might contain. She stroked her side and began to move in circles over the taut abdomen. Her fingers then slowly climbed up B'Elanna's left side. Her eyes were locked with deep brown orbs. B'Elanna's breathing got faster and when Kathryn finally cupped the left breast in her hand B'Elanna's upper body arched into the touch.

"Don't move, ma belle." Kathryn ordered.

B'Elanna's reaction was immediate but not what she had expected. Her body sacked back on the bed, her eyes abruptly closed and she swallowed hard. A shiver ran through her whole body. To Kathryn the way her muscles tensed was indicative of fear not anticipation.

Despite her surprise Kathryn didn't stop her ministrations. She had to stretch over B'Elanna's body to reach her left arm and hand. Her fingers closed around B'Elanna's fist while her robe slid over the torso. She put her left hand on top of B'Elanna's right that had also been closed to a fist.

Kathryn whispered in her ear. "Open your eyes, B'Elanna. I want you to know who is touching you. I want you to look at me. I will not hurt you except when you ask me to. Look into my eyes."

It took a few minutes to coax the young woman back to her former level of arousal, but when after what to both of them felt like an eternity Kathryn's lips closed around her left nipple and the right one was rolled between Kathryn's thumb and index finger. B'Elanna's whole body went rigid with the effort not to arch into the touch.

Kathryn's right hand slid down to the apex of B'Elanna's legs. She had seen that the young woman was shaved clean and enjoyed the feeling of the smooth, soft skin. She was looking forward to explore the area with her eyes and tongue but for now her fingers would do. She stayed clear of the clitoris and felt her way along the outer lips until she reached the perineum. Kathryn caressed the smooth skin without touching the sphincter or the soft folds.

B'Elanna pressed her hips hard into the mattress to keep herself under control. Kathryn's tongue flicked the hard nipple while her fingers found the inner lips of B'Elanna's sex. She teased her by gliding halfway in, wriggle her digits erratically and sliding out again. B'Elanna moaned and Kathryn smiled around the nipple. It was almost time for the next step, almost.

Kathryn's index finger found B'Elanna's clit. It was as hard as a pebble and seemed to be proudly erect. Moments later she let go of both breasts and scooted back to see with her own eyes what her fingers had just found. A fraction of an inch higher up than the first clitoris was a second, smaller nub. Kathryn's curiosity was picked. She positioned herself between B'Elanna's legs and stroked first the lower and then the higher bundle.

There was a clear difference in size and compared to the lower clitoris the higher one was softer and pulsing with energy like a healthy warp drive. It also seemed to be more touch sensitive. As a born scientist Kathryn decided this needed a more thorough exploration. B'Elanna's moans and gasps were her guideline and she quickly found out that rubbing both clits together elicited the loudest response.

B'Elanna's eyes were now closed. Her whole body was rigid with tension. The muscles in her arms, legs and abdomen were clearly visible as was the strain to hold her position. The sight alone pushed Kathryn close to the edge of her own climax. She slipped out of her robe and crawled upwards. When she was nose to nose with the other woman she finally allowed her nether region to touch B'Elanna's.

She said, "Claim your reward, B'Elanna. Come for me," and rubbed her clit against B'Elanna's. Kathryn's body weight was all that kept B'Elanna from levitating. She cried out to Kahless with every movement of Kathryn's hips. Kathryn was impressed. Such a strong reaction and she hadn't even had to use a dildo on her. That practically begged the question how long it had been since B'Elanna's last real orgasm.

"Look at me, B'El!" Kathryn said softly and the younger woman obeyed.

B'Elanna's pupils were extremely large and of the iris only a tiny frame was left. B'Elanna tried to raise her head to deepen the eye contact. Her whispered "Mistress Kathryn" pushed the other woman over the edge and her right into another wave of orgasm. This time she swallowed the first half of her call to Kahless and despite her still bucking hips and arching back her arms and legs had stayed in their spread-eagled position the whole time.

Kathryn rolled to the side and gave her a passionate kiss. B'Elanna's lips were parched. She sat up.

"I'll get us something to drink. You're allowed to move now, B'Elanna. I'm very proud of you."

She left for the replicator and when she returned less than a minute later with two tall glasses with mineralised water in her hands she found B'Elanna on her knees next to the bed in full supplication position. Kathryn put their drinks to the side and knelt down in front of her.

"Look at me, B'Elanna, and tell me what is it this time?" She asked and tried to keep her voice neutral, though she was a bit taken aback by B'Elanna's apparent need to be punished.

"I froze and almost panicked when you caressed me, Mis… Ma'am, and I disobeyed you when I called upon Kahless and called you Mistress Kathryn. Please punish me for my lack of control."

"I'm sure that there was a good reason why you froze, B'El." The young woman visibly blanched. "But now is not the time to talk about that. We'll just put it down to the fact that we still have to get to know each other. And for future references: you can be sure that I will let you know if you do anything to displease me, don't just assume. Ask if you're not sure about something."

Kathryn could see the relief on B'Elanna's face. She smiled reassuringly and said, "With the other point, however, you are right. You disobeyed and you have to be punished. Go back to the main room and take punishment position one."

Kathryn knew that probably not even the omnipotent Q would have been able to control themselves to such an extent and she had no intention to really punish her.

B'Elanna was in the middle of the room bent over at the waist. Her hands had grabbed her ankles and her legs were two feet apart. Kathryn busied herself with recycling the remnants of her snack. She straightened the couch cushions and made sure that her uniform was ready for the next day.

"B'Elanna, what did you wear when you came here?"

"My uniform, Ma'am. I wanted to make sure that I arrived before you and didn't take the time to change. I put my things in a bag under the couch."

Kathryn pulled the bag out, recycled the slightly wrinkled uniform and put it next to hers in the bedroom. She stepped next to B'Elanna and put her left hand on the small of her back.

"And now for your due punishment." Kathryn said and slapped B'Elanna's left buttock with the palm of her hand, followed by a second slap to the right cheek. The slaps were barely more than symbolical. "You are forgiven, B'Elanna. Rise and go to kneeling attention."

B'Elanna quickly knelt down with her knees shoulder wide apart, her ankles were crossed and she folded her hands behind her neck. Her elbows were pressed to the side, forming one line with her ears. Her eyes looked straight ahead. Once again a perfect posture, Kathryn thought.

"Look at me, B'Elanna. B'Elanna Torres, I claim you as mine for a trial period of two months. Tonight you showed great self-control, willingness to serve and to obey. But to be really good for each other we have to get to know each other much better. I will have to find out if you can be the submissive, the slave I want and need, and you will have to find out if I am the Mistress you want and need."

B'Elanna's eyes shone in gratitude. "Thank you for giving me a chance, Mistress." She bent down and kissed Kathryn's feet.

"That's enough, B'Elanna. Stand up. We'll take a shower before going to bed. I want to hold you tonight."

The sound of the computer announcing an incoming message or report pulled Kathryn out of her memories but before she returned to her desk she got herself another coffee and thought back to the next morning.

B'Elanna had woken her with soft kisses that had started at her finger tips, travelled up the length of her arms, had lingered on her shoulder, and after having asked permission with her eyes had ended on her lips. She then had led her to the living room where a breakfast of cereal, fresh fruit and coffee had been waiting, coffee that tasted better than anything she would have been able to coax out of the replicator.

There had been no second place setting and it had taken her still sleepy brain some time to understand what B'Elanna was doing when she had knelt on the floor next to her, at kneeling rest but with a hopeful expression on her face. The slave being fed by the Mistress, it had been so ridiculously old-school, Kathryn remembered having thought that that alone would make for interesting discoveries, and she had been right.

Yes, she had been trained following all the old rules and traditions, but she also had been lucky. Her Mistress had trained young Kathryn Janeway to become a Mistress herself and even during the training she had never been treated like a possession instead of like a human being. She later had turned her back on the old ways, because she was convinced that humankind had evolved further than that.

In her eyes a slave gave his or her Mistress a gift and treating them like property, not more important than a couch or a pair of shoes meant disregarding this gift. That had made for interesting and heated discussions with other Maters and Mistresses of Eternal Pleasure who put the notion of the slave as property to a new high by using their slaves as an outlet for their sadism. Well, here in the Delta Quadrant she would probably never find out who would win the power struggle that had been in the making during her last visit there.

Since this first morning when she only had indulged the young woman by feeding her every other bite, the sessions with B'Elanna had taught her that some elements of the old ways, some traditions and rituals could be fun for both parties involved.

-x-x-x-x-x-

Chapter Two: Everything Changes

The sound of another message brought her finally back to her desk. The first message had been from the doctor. She put it aside when she saw that the second was from her chief engineer. As ordered it contained a list of systems yet to be checked, together with a clear schedule that made sure that the security check did not interfere with normal operations and that people would not be in each other's way. It was very thorough. It also held a note that asked her not to announce her own participation in the endeavour. B'Elanna had a point. It would prompt people to participate, not because they cared for the security of the ship but because they wanted to impress the captain. Janeway quickly composed a memo for her senior staff, the engineering crew and selected members of the science department with engineering experience, and then turned her attention to the doctor's message.

The doctor's report was unusually straightforward. It contained a long list of work related accidents since their arrival at the Delta Quadrant. According to the doctor the vast majority of those accidents had been avoidable, and put Voyager twenty percent about the Fleet average. The list with off-duty accidents was even longer, forty-two percent above the average to be exact, and from the doctor's point of view all of them had been due to insufficient safety precautions.

Not only was his report less verbose than usual, he also proposed counter measures. He wanted to hold interactive seminars on first aid and general safety measures on the holodeck, mandatory for the whole crew, combined with specialised seminars for the different departments.

In the Alpha Quadrant with trained councillors the seminars would have been a good idea; in their current situation, however, alone, a situation closer to wartime or the decades when Starfleet really was focused on exploring the unknown, things were not as straightforward or easy. For the fraction of a heartbeat Kathryn wished that Chakotay were still with them. He had loved dealing with such problems. Janeway berated herself for the thought.

Chakotay, he had betrayed them all, in the worst possible way. He went to the Kazon, not because he disagreed with her stand on them and her refusal to break with Startfleet regulations, not because it was for the best of the crew, many of which his friends; no, he had betrayed them for a woman, and not for any woman, for a Cardassian spy. In the end it had only been thanks to B'Elanna's paranoia that Seska's plan to use Voyager's beaming technology to gain dominance among the Kazon sects had not worked. It had been by her initiative that they had been able to destroy the shuttle and the transporter module.

Chakotay had taken a shuttle to get the stolen transporter module back while Voyager's chief engineer still worked on removing the Kazon shuttle from their hull. He probably even had had the best intentions when he had left the ship, but apparently as soon as he had been back with Seska, as soon as he had been under her influence again…

In her more generous moments she admitted that the two of them had made a good team. After challenging Maach Kullah Chakotay had taken over his position as the head of the Kazon Nistrim. They had convinced a couple of smaller sects to join them in their quest to get Voyager's technology…. Spilled milk… But still, she should have listened to B'Elanna when she had warned the senior staff that Chakotay could not be trusted when Seska was concerned.

In retrospect, Janeway thought while she got herself another cup of coffee, she should have seen the signs, but the sad truth was that she had wanted to believe her former first officer. She had wanted to believe the man who had given up a distinguished Starfleet career out of moral obligations to his tribe, his family. She had wanted to believe it when this buoy contacted them and Chakotay had told them that Seska had gone insane and was threatening the life of his newborn son. She had wanted to believe it when he had told them that he wanted to come back and raise his son on Voyager.

She had wanted to believe, and it had cost the life of two of her people, not to speak of the death of Crewman Rogers and the four people who were still on medical leave after being injured during the subsequent attacks by other Kazon sects just after they had been back on Voyager. The ship had been badly damaged and they had just now recovered from it. None of them had had a chance to work through everything that had happened. Kathryn tried to keep her fingers on the pulse of her crew, but she had to admit to herself that she had no idea what they thought about their current situation.

And perhaps that was part of the problem. Her coffee had gone cold and Captain Janeway decided to do something she had never done before. She decided to go and talk with the doctor. Rationally she knew that he was only a hologram, nothing more than a collection of photons, but he had changed much since his first activation, especially since his part in getting the ship back from Chakotay and the Kazon Nistrim. In her eyes he had earned the right to be treated like what he was, her chief medical officer.

After sending a copy of both reports to Tuvok and letting him know that she would be in sickbay to deal with it, Janeway stepped into the turbolift. She hoped that it would not be too difficult to convince the doctor that seminars would do more harm than good.

-x-x-x-x-

"Please state the nature of the medical emergency."

"No emergency, Doctor, but I'd like to speak about your proposal."

"Fantastic, Captain. I can have the first seminar ready for tomorrow. I have already a whole series of seminars planned out with some very graphic pictures to show the crew the error of their ways."

"Let's talk in your office, Doctor."

The doctor visibly deflated. He apparently expected to be shot down, and in a way that was exactly what she had in mind. To soften the blow she took a seat on the visitor's side of the doctor's desk.

"First of all, Doctor, let me thank you for bringing this matter to my attention. You are right, we have to do something, but I'm not so sure that seminars on safety precautions are the right way."

"But, Captain, you sure have to agree with me that it's the easiest way to reach the whole crew." The doctor protested.

"Yes, Doctor, I agree. However, I doubt that we need to address the whole crew. You see, the accidents having occurred on-duty, they are not this unusual compared to deep space explorers or war times. Every single one of our departments already has very effective safety protocols and they adhere to them whenever possible." Janeway explained and hoped that he would get the hint.

"But, Captain, we can't let this situation go on unchecked." He once again protested. "I have a responsibility for the health of this crew."

"I'm open for suggestions, Doctor. I admit that seminars seem to be the most logical and straightforward solution, and were we in the Alpha Quadrant I would agree with you. Here, however, mandatory seminars would give out the message that we, that I as their captain don't trust the crew. They are just now stopping to see themselves as Starfleet or Maquis only but as one crew with one goal. We all are still trying to find our way and our place in all of this."

"I think I understand, Captain. What I had in mind would give the impression that their best efforts were not enough, are not enough. I should have listened to Kes' advice. She told me that seminars would only make the crew more stubborn."

"Kes?"

"Yes, Kes and Neelix to be exact. They told me that people either would be insulted for not being trusted or would feel singled out even without being named." The doctor answered.

"That's precisely what I'm concerned about, Doctor. Why don't we call them to this meeting? We might profit from their insight."

Kes and Neelix did really have interesting points to make and Kathryn promised herself that she would get to know her crew better, not only the senior staff but all of them. Kes had even suggested that she should speak with those crew members who were repeat guests of sickbay due to some accident or the other. The doctor, however, protested that it would be a breach of doctor-patient-confidentiality, and she had to agree with him. Though those injuries were a case for concern, they did not endanger the ship or individual lives, just yet. So, they had to find another solution.

In the end Captain Janeway agreed to send out a memo to the different departments asking for ideas to improve the existing safety protocols. The doctor would give short first aid courses as part of "A briefing with Neelix" in the hope that it would incite people to be more careful, a modified version of his initially proposed safety seminars, so to speak.

When the meeting ended it was already half an hour after the end of her shift and instead of returning to her Ready Room she decided to choose an assignment from B'Elanna's list and get a bit overtime in. She decided on checking the EPS conduit controls on deck 14. It was probably not the kind of job a captain should do, it was dirty and tedious work, but someone had to do it and it would be a welcome change from her never ending fight with the paperwork. It also allowed her mind to wander, and she was surprised at the direction it took.

Her memories led her back to the day she had transferred her command codes to Tuvok and Voyager had resumed course to the Alpha Quadrant, leaving her on that nameless planet where she had been infected with some sort of virus by an insect. She had feverishly worked at finding the insect to develop a cure but deep down she had feared that she would have to spend the rest of her life there. There had not a day gone by she hadn't wished that she had taken B'Elanna up on her offer.

The young woman had begged her to be allowed to stay with her. They could work together on a cure and finally indulge in long play sessions for which they never had had time before. She had been in the infirmary, behind a force field and B'Elanna had knelt in front of her and made the offer after having disabled the doctor. It had been more a plea than an offer and she had been tempted, so tempted… But as much as it had hurt her, the needs of her crew were more important than her wishes. Voyager could go on under another captain, especially one as conscientious as Tuvok, but they would not stand a chance with another Chief of Engineering. B'Elanna's ingenuity and fast thinking had saved her ship more than once. She had had to consider the Greater Good.

It had not taken her long to start dreaming about what B'Elanna had offered, and by the time her crew had come back for her with a cure, after four months, her desire to have B'Elanna at her beck and call 24/7 had been overwhelming.

Kathryn stopped her work for a moment. She had never been in the habit of lying to herself, and so she admitted that she still felt the burning need to make B'Elanna completely hers. But was that what B'Elanna wanted? Ever since her return about two months ago one crisis had been chasing the other and the limited time left for them had been spent as lovers rather than as Mistress and slave – and B'Elanna seemed to be completely content with that. But then there had been the expression on her face when she had told her that the Mistress wanted her. It had been full of joy and anticipation. Perhaps, just perhaps B'Elanna had missed her Mistress as much as Kathryn had missed her slave.

-x-x-x-x-

Captain Kathryn Janeway, personal log, coded entry, code level confidential: B'Elanna is asleep now. This evening has been very exhausting for her… what am I saying, not only for her but I just feel too light-hearted to sleep. Tonight we finally talked and the outcome was… But it might be better to start at the beginning.

I entered my quarters at 1942 hours, half an hour later than I had initially planned because I had a talk with a couple of crewmen who were surprised to find me on deck 14 doing simple maintenance work. I explained the situation and they immediately volunteered their help. None of them has any engineering background but I still told them to contact Lieutenant Torres tomorrow and ask for an assignment. I'm sure that she will find something to do for them.

As ordered B'Elanna was kneeling in the corner but instead of at kneeling rest she was at kneeling attention. The cane on the couch table told me that she expected to be punished for some misdeed or other. I knew she expected me to ask her about the cane or berate her for presuming about my choice of punishment, but I decided that both would have to wait.

I stepped behind her and bent over to study her face. Her eyes were focused on the floor, her heartbeat had picked up a bit but all in all she was the picture perfect of the contrite slave. I put my index finger on her lips and ordered her to attend to me in the bathroom.

B'Elanna undressed me and led me under the shower spray. She created some lather and kissed my shoulder before she began to soap me up. I took her chin in my hand and forced her to meet my eyes. "Attend, not serve, B'Elanna." I gently chided. She nodded but the disappointment in her eyes almost made me change my mind, almost…

I should have remembered that B'Elanna didn't need her lips to turn a shower into something extremely sensual and arousing, and I allowed myself to enjoy her ministrations for a while. When my hair was washed she wanted to step out of the tub but I ordered her to stay. "It's my turn, B'Elanna," I said.

I soaped her up and started to caress her lather covered breasts. I could smell her arousal and felt how she pressed further into my touch. "Don't move, B'El. I want you to answer my questions." I continued to massage her firm breasts and her nipples turned hard even without being touched. The duranium ring with my initials on it she wears on her right nipple stood out and I started to play with it.

"Why the cane?" I asked. She answered that she had been twenty-two minutes late and to my question "Why?" she answered,

"Susan and I checked the magnetic couplings on turbolift one." B'Elanna answered. "We found no sign of sabotage but two of them had to be replaced. They showed more signs of wear than they should have. I have them in the lab to be analysed tomorrow and if I find something checking the other lifts will become a priority. Changing the couplings took longer that I had expected."

"So you're being late was work related?" I asked.

"Yes, Mistress, but Lieutenant Nicoletti and I were already off-duty at the time."

I smiled but didn't answer; instead I stepped behind her and pressed my front against her back. As ordered she didn't move but her breathing became slightly faster. I reached around her, stroked her abdomen and let my fingers glide lower. I knew that her clits would be hard and that she would be wet, but I only intended to tease her a little bit. It had been too long since I had felt her soft folds that contrasted so nicely with the rock hard secondary clit.

As always I felt the urge to squeeze and pinch the stony nub but early in our relationship I had learned that all it gave B'Elanna was pain, and not the good kind of pain. I caressed her nether lips without entering her and my hand would have been drenched even without the water cascading over our bodies.

"Tell me, my B'El, is this wetness all for me?" I asked.

"Yes, Mistress, for you only." She answered. "Just being near you makes me wet, Mistress. I'm used to it and I even learned to ignore it, but when you told me that the Mistress wanted her slave this evening it got much stronger, too strong to ignore."

"Did you masturbate, B'El?" I asked.

"I wanted to, but I didn't. It didn't feel right, Mistress. Your hands feel so much better on me than my own."

"Flattery will get you nowhere, B'Elanna Torres." I answered with a laugh and returned to my task of washing her. I deliberately refrained from too sensual movements and touches because I didn't want her tethering too close to the edge for the next part of this evening.

I ordered her to clean the bathroom and recycle my uniform and to do the same with hers. In the meantime I changed into one of my leather outfits. I chose a skirt, the sleeveless leather vest and a pair of high-heeled boots that made me four inches taller than B'Elanna. I pulled the chair from behind my desk and put it in the middle of the room.

"Put the cane back where it belongs and bring me the wooden paddle with the holes." I ordered. She quickly obeyed and I told her to go over my lap.

"For being late you will receive twenty-two strokes with the paddle. I want you to count and ask for more every second stroke, and to make it more interesting you will thank me after every third stroke."

I alternated between her right and left buttock and made sure that every stroke hit her straight on. The holes make a whistling sound when the paddle swishes through the air and they allow for harder strokes than with a standard wooden paddle, however, if the stroke does not hit straight on it can create blisters and break the skin. That's not what I wanted. I only wanted to change the colour of her behind to a niche, uniform red.

After stroke twenty-two was counted, B'Elanna dutifully asked, "May I please have more, Mistress?"

"In a moment, my B'El. First I want you to answer a few more questions." I put the paddle on her back to remind her that it still was there and caressed her buttocks which were not yet as red as I wanted them to be.

"Who are you?" I asked her.

She answered, "I am B'El, I am a slave and Kathryn Janeway is my Mistress."

"What is the primary duty of a slave?" I asked further.

"To obey her Mistress."

"And?"

"To anticipate her wishes without trying to manipulate her. I'm sorry, Mistress, I should never have taken the cane out of the cabinet."

"That's right, my B'El. What should you have done instead?"

"I should have opened the cabinet with the disciplinarian tools and I should have written a note telling you of my misdemeanour, Mistress."

"Why didn't you?" I asked.

"I… I'm sorry, Mistress. I don't…"

"Hush, my B'El, it's alright," I said while I continued to gently caress her reddened buttocks. "We'll talk later. For now you will receive at least twelve more strokes with the paddle to pay for being out of line with the cane. If your behind does not have the colour I want you will get additional strokes until I have reached my goal. I want you to count and thank me."

The tension running through B'Elanna's body during our short talk vanished with the first stroke. She relaxed and there was something akin to relief in the way she counted the strokes and thanked me. It took six additional strokes to reach the particular hue of red I wanted. It guaranteed that her ass cheeks would be burning for at least the rest of the evening. In about an hour it would no longer be real pain to her since B'Elanna's pain threshold is incredibly high, but it would remind her of my authority and of the fact that someone cared enough about her to make her feel the consequences of her actions.

I ordered her to stand up. The paddle still in hand I said, "Your transgressions are forgiven, B'Elanna."

"Thank you for disciplining me, Mistress." She answered softly.

"Get us two glasses and a pitcher of bitter lemon, B'Elanna. I'll be right back."

I put the paddle back in the wall cabinet and pulled an off-white tunic out of my closet. B'Elanna reluctantly put it on and as I had expected it fell just short of her mid-thigh, with her olive skin and that dark hair she looked like a mural of a roman slave girl come alive. She looked a bit apprehensive because the only covering I usually allow during a session with the Mistress are wrist and ankle cuffs or other restraints.

I took my customary seat on the couch and patted the space next to me, "Come, sit down, we have to talk."

"Please, allow me to kneel, Mistress."

"Not this time, my B'El. For this conversation I want us eye to eye." She cautiously sat down and made sure to flick the tunic aside to sit bare-bottomed on the simulated leather. Her hands were resting in her lap and she looked decidedly uncomfortable. I closed my hands around hers and searched her eyes.

"Now that you have been punished and forgiven, can you tell me why you put the cane on display?" She tried to look down but I didn't allow it, but still she didn't answer.

"Let's look at it from a different angle, B'Elanna. I punished you for overstepping your bounds, but I could as well have seen your actions not as a sign of playful uppity but as the attempt to top from the bottom, in other words as crass insubordination. What would have been your punishment then?"

B'Elanna's eyes widened, and she would have slid back to the floor had my hands not held her in place. Tears suddenly burst from her eyes and I pulled her into my arms. Within seconds her whole body was shaking. I had never seen her so vulnerable, and frankly, I had not expected such a violent reaction.

I manoeuvred us around until we were lying side by side; with my arms still holding her torso, my legs entwined with hers I gave her as much body contact as possible. I stroked her hair and her back and whispered to her that she should let it all go and that there was no shame in tears.

I told her that I was proud of her and that I loved her – and a new wave of tears came, accompanied by muffled sobs. I allowed my right hand to travel down to her buttocks. I gently caressed and kneaded first one and then the other and told her that I would always be there to hold her and to love her, to bind her and to punish her. These words seemed to calm her down. The tears were replaced by sniffles and when I sat us up again I kissed the last of the drops away.

"Do you now have an answer, B'El?"

"I think I wanted you to punish me for trying to top from the bottom, Mistress. It has been so long since I felt the discipline of the Mistress. It seemed like an easy way to get what I wanted. I wanted to feel that I belong to you, really belong to you. I wanted to force you to make me feel owned."

Her eyes suddenly widened and her expression showed fear. "My manipulation was even worse than I thought, Mistress. Perhaps you should consider punishing me according to the rules."

The last sentence had been spoken so softly that I almost didn't catch it. What she just had asked of me would mean months of pain and humiliation, complete retraining and in the annals of Eternal Pleasure there was rarely a slave who went through retraining without being completely and utterly broken; and that's the last thing I would want for her.

"B'Elanna, please, look at me. Look into my eyes. I want you to see that I'm telling you the truth. Even if we were not at the other end of the galaxy and I had the means to do it, I would never subject you to the punishments the rules of conduct proscribe, B'Elanna. I respect you as an intelligent, self-confident individual. I love you as a beautiful, passionate and giving woman. I adore you as my slave, wilful and obedient at once, independent and in need of a firm hand. I will always be there for you and together we'll figure it all out."

B'Elanna looked at me with an expression as if I had just opened up a completely new world to her.

Computer insert security tape 7471…

-x-x-x-x-

"You love me? But I'm just a slave. Slaves are supposed to be used, not loved. I don't deserve this." She said.

"Tell me, B'Elanna, did Troi and Yar love you?" Kathryn asked.

"They cared about me very much. Yes, they loved me, each in her own way, but it was a different kind of love than what they feel for each other." B'Elanna answered with the hint of a smile gracing her face.

"So, why do you think that you don't deserve to be loved? B'Elanna, you are much more to me than just a slave, someone I allow to serve me. You have been much more from the very beginning. I thought you knew that. I'm sorry that I didn't tell you sooner, that I didn't make it clear to you, but I hope that telling you now will be enough.

"You are right, B'El, there's no rule demanding that a mistress or master loves their slaves. The old rules even encourage them to treat their slaves as nothing more than property to be discarded at a whim. It was a major point of contention between some of the other Dominants at Eternal Pleasure and me the last time I was there. At the time I only saw fear instead of trust in the eyes of the slaves when they looked at their masters and mistresses. That's something I could not accept and I created a near riot, but I'm getting off-topic here. The point is that I'm convinced that if there is love between a slave and her mistress they both get more out of the relationship."

B'Elanna's eyes were as wide as saucers at Kathryn's words. She was literally hanging on the older woman's lips.

"You intrigued me from the first moment on, B'Elanna, on my bridge when you basically told me that I was nuts. I was drawn in by your temper and your passion for everything you do, the way you fight for your convictions. It was refreshing and I found myself more fascinated each day. That might be why I was so reluctant to name you chief engineer. I was not sure that I was entirely objective about it, about you.

"At the time Starfleet regulations and the unwritten rule that captains should refrain from intimate relationships with crewmembers held me back. But then you came to me and asked to become my slave. At first I only saw it as the perfect opportunity to get to know you better, because in my mind Eternal Pleasure had nothing to do with Starfleet. It was a game, but then you swept me away by being so damned good and giving me exactly what I needed.

"You never were just a slave to me, B'Elanna. I never before allowed a slave to spend the night in my bed. I never before allowed a slave to wear my mark. I was content with short time arrangements because I thought that it would interfere with my career and the rest of my life. Then I didn't know that I had only been waiting for my perfect match. You are my perfect match, B'Elanna Torres, daughter of Miral of the House of Katal, and this will still be true, even if I never gave you an order again. I love you even if you decide you never again want to kneel in front of me, or care for my nails or massage my feet or my neck. If there's one thing I learned on that planet it's that I don't care about all of that as long as you stay with me and continue to tell me that you love me."

Once again tears were running down B'Elanna's face and her expression wavered between fear, relief and hope. Kathryn tried to kiss her but B'Elanna held her back.

"Would you also still love me if you had to give more orders instead of less? Would you still love me if you had to punish me for things I do wrong as your crewmember, like I did today? Would you still love me if I asked you to be both, my lover and my mistress, not only during our time off, but always?" B'Elanna asked.

"To be your lover and your mistress would be a dream come true for me, my B'El, but is this really what you want? Are you sure that you don't just react to my desires?" Kathryn asked. "Are you aware of the consequences? You would have to learn to control your temper much better, in the engine room, at staff meetings, at Sandrine's, always. Until now we always made sure that our private life does not compromise our work. Do you really want to risk that, B'El?"

"Yes Mistress, that's what I want. I want to feel owned by you every moment of my life. I want to be sure that you'll punish me if I act out on duty. It will make me a better officer. I want to look at you during a staff meeting and read in your eyes that you will blister my behind or won't allow me sexual release for days if I don't stop my antics. I know you'll have to come up with a set of rules for public behaviour but I'm sure that it can be done. You are the only one who is strong enough to be everything, lover and Mistress and captain."

"What makes you think that, B'El?"

"I just know, Mistress." Pure trust was radiating from B'Elanna's face while she tried to explain herself further, "I would have been content to be just your slave but while you were gone, when we had to leave you on that planet I learned that I not only missed your orders and your discipline. I missed your uncanny sense of knowing when I just needed to cuddle. I missed your smile and the way your eyes always seem to find me even in a room full of people. After your return, after the doctor cleared you for duty you began to treat me more like a lover would then like a mistress should. I liked it, especially since you still allowed me to do things for you. I would have said something then but then there was the trouble with Chakotay and Seska and the attacks and there never was time. And I began to fear that you no longer wanted to be my mistress but I didn't know how to ask without risking to lose even the possibility of us being together. And then today, I was so overwhelmed with the thought of getting my Mistress back. And now with what you said…"

Kathryn kissed the younger woman with all the tenderness and passion she felt for her. "Everything will be alright, my B'El. It might take us some time to adapt to the new situation, to learn when the lover has to step back to make place for the Mistress and vice versa. I don't think that we'll need many new rules. The difference lies in the extent of my power over you. Until now you were not answerable to the Mistress for things that happened while on duty and now you will be. We'll need some sign or signal to use when you need the Mistress during duty."

"I could call you 'ma'am'. No one would think twice about it. They would only think that I like to goad you because everyone knows that you don't particularly like to be called that."

"That would be one possibility, B'Elanna, and I could call you 'Miss Torres' when I think that an intervention by the Mistress is needed, but let's not go into detail just now. Tomorrow you will move your belongings to my quarter and we can give yours to one of the couples who petitioned to move in together. The crew will just have to adapt to the fact that this Starfleet captain has a very intimate relationship with a member of her crew."

B'Elanna looked startled, "Are you sure you want to do this, Mistress? Make it all official? The Starfleet members of the crew might not approve of a former member of the Maquis at your side."

"I'm tired of hiding, B'Elanna. I know I was the one who insisted that we be as discreet as possible, that has not stopped the rumours and the gossip though you did your best to redirect it elsewhere. We won't make out in public, but I'd like to put my arm around your waist every now and then when we're at Sandrine's playing pool. I'd like to have dinner or lunch with you in the messhall without the pretext of talking about one engineering problem or the other. So, no, B'Elanna, we will not hide our relationship, except for the Mistress-slave part. That's something that only belongs to us and I intent to keep it that way. Or do you feel uncomfortable to be seen as the captain's girlfriend, the captain's partner, love?"

"You called me 'love'!" B'Elanna's voice was full of wonder.

Their lips met, their tongues played with each other without fighting for dominance. Kathryn's hand sneaked under B'Elanna's tunic and played with her right breast. When they had to stop to breathe Kathryn pulled them to the bedroom.

"Get used to it, my B'El, and now come. Tonight I want to make love to my lover."

-x-x-x-x-

Resume log: And we did, and though we know every intimate detail of the other's body in many aspects it was as if we were making love for the first time. I allowed B'Elanna to lead and did my best to get her wilder side out to play. She usually keeps such a tight rein on her Klingon instincts and only allows them to roam free when she is sufficiently restraint to do no harm to anyone. So, I knew that teasing her like I did was playing with fire but tonight I wanted all of her.

This night I had seen her as vulnerable and emotionally fragile as never before, and though I didn't really think about it at the time I wanted to show her that I loved all of her, the Klingon and the Human, the warrior and the slave, the soft and the hard.

I can't exactly tell when it happened. I only know that three of my fingers were buried deep inside of B'Elanna. Her inner muscles squeezed them at the apex of her climax while her thumb on my clit and all of her fingers wriggling inside of me simultaneously pushed me over the edge. Her mouth came down on my left breast. Her teeth were breaking my skin but I didn't feel any pain. My own teeth reflexively sank into her neck just over the collarbone and I bit down as hard as I could.

I could hear how she sniffed the wound she just had made on my breast and felt how her tongue licked it clean. I did the same with her neck. Her blood tasted like liquid fire. It alone gave me another orgasm but somehow it was not enough. I needed more and it seemed as if B'Elanna felt the same need because seconds later she had turned around and was lapping up my juices. I squirmed a bit to get into a better position to return the favour and suddenly the taste of her arousal that I loved so much was much stronger than it ever had been before.

We made each other come two more times before the rest of our reserves were depleted. I coaxed her back into my arms and she immediately fell asleep, well after retracing the bite mark on my breast with her tongue.

For B'Elanna this day, this evening had been marked with emotional turmoil. For me it had been the liberation from a great burden. I finally had had the courage to tell my beloved how I really felt and that she shares my feelings is the icing on the cake. So, instead of feeling exhausted I feel energised, full of life and hope. End log.

-x-x-x-x-

Kathryn's awakening very early the next morning was rather rude. Instead of the soft kisses she had become used to whenever B'Elanna spend the night she heard the loud exclamation, "Great Kahless, what have I done?"

Starfleet training and too many red alerts to count made sure that Kathryn was instantly alert. B'Elanna's eyes were wide with horror and when she saw that Kathryn was awake she immediately tried to scramble backwards to take the supplication position.

"No, my love, you did nothing wrong. You marked me and I didn't stop you. If it scares you the dermal regenerator will take care of it, but I'd rather keep it, B'Elanna."

"You don't understand. I didn't just mark you. I bit you and I drew blood and I licked the wound clean. I can still feel your blood singing in my veins. I did the one thing I promised myself I would never do, the one thing a slave has not the right to do, the one thing for which a slave would once have forfeited her life. This bite claimed you as mine, Mistress. I'm sorry, Mistress. I lost control and I never wanted you to see this side of me."

B'Elanna refused to look at Kathryn. A gentle hand trying to push up her head didn't work, only when Kathryn used her command voice did she look up. Tears were clinging in the corner of her eyes.

"I was neither afraid nor repulsed by what I saw, by what we did, my B'El. I liked the way you took control and overpowered me because whenever I started to get uncomfortable you backed off. You may not see it that way but you never lost control. You didn't hurt me and I don't think that you ever will. You said that you claimed me as yours. Are we talking about the Oath, the Klingon marriage vows?"

B'Elanna nodded dejectedly.

"If I remember my Klingon 101 from the Academy right there usually are some ritual words involved, but we didn't speak. We were both too busy with our orgasms and with biting each other."

"You bit me too, during an orgasm?"

"Yes, B'El, touch your neck on your left side, above the collarbone." Kathryn said.

B'Elanna touched the spot, hopped out of the bed and hurried into the bathroom. Kathryn's instincts told her to follow her lover but the patient mistress in her insisted on giving B'Elanna the space she obviously needed.

A few minutes later she was back wearing a short robe and held a dermal regenerator in her hand. She sat down on the edge of the bed and put the medical tool on the night stand. The horror in her eyes had been replaced by determination.

"There are a few things you should know before you decide to keep the bite mark, Kathryn. At the Academy they teach that Klingons mate for life and that the Oath is their version of marriage vows. They also tell you that the Oath consists of the ritual bite to the cheek for everyone to see, proceeded by ritual words and followed by mind-blowing but violent sex. That's true and at the same time it's not true because there is more than one form of the Oath.

"The bite once was a permanent mark proclaiming to everyone that a person was in a monogamous relationship, but even then the mates could decide to go separate ways and choose new mates. With the invention of dermal regenerators it became practically obsolete. Something this easily removed simply no longer held as much symbolic value – though there are people who say that agreeing to wear the mark of one's mate today holds more significance than it did in the past because now it is a choice. So, on Qo'nos, for the average Klingon the Oath can be something you do to be together for a night or a week or a month or however long the relationship lasts.

"Only very traditional Klingons still see it as a bond for life. What we did was different, however. Usually the bite is part of foreplay, it initiates the mating fire. To mark one's mate during orgasm is as close to a permanent bond as one can get nowadays, as close to the bond Kahless and Lukara shared."

"Even without words?" Kathryn asked.

"Especially without words, Mistress, Kathryn. The words only came much later when my ancestors started to forget how to listen to the call of their blood, at a time when arranged marriages were the norm. Words can be deceiving but the blood does not lie.

"I better just tell it the way it is: in the eyes of Klingon law and Klingon custom we now are mated for life." Kathryn wanted to say something but B'Elanna silenced her with a single look from her still determined but now also sad face. "There is more; I don't know if it's true because I never met someone bonded this way… It is said that mates who taste each other's blood during a climax gain a new awareness of each other, that their sense of taste and smell, even their hearing and eye sight is enhanced when their mate is concerned. In other words something in the blood chemistry of both mates changes as soon as they have tasted the blood of their true mate. If it's true it might be impossible for us, for you to forget or ignore what we did last night."

B'Elanna fell silent and tried to escape the scrutiny of Kathryn's blue-grey eyes.

"B'Elanna, I already know when you enter a room without having to watch. I even know if you're ten, twenty or only three feet away. I guess we will see if it gets stronger now."

"You're not appalled, Mistress?" B'Elanna asked.

"Get out of the robe, B'El, and come here. I want to feel you, your skin on mine. And no, I'm not appalled, why would I? It only means that we will be more attuned to each other, and in my eyes that's a good thing."

Kathryn pulled B'Elanna close enough to embrace her and the younger woman snuggled willingly in her arms. One hand stroked her hair while the other played with the duranium nipple ring.

"Do you want to know when I knew that I had hopelessly fallen in love with you?"

It was a rhetorical question but B'Elanna answered anyway, "Yes, please."

"It was after our second run-in with the Vidiians, when these bastards split you in two. You were so vulnerable but didn't want to admit it. I knew that I was in love with you when I agreed to beat you beyond anything I would usually consent to when you begged me to. I knew that I was in love with you when I came from licking the blood from your back during this session. I knew I was in love with you when I waited two hours before using the dermal regenerator on your back despite my better judgement just because you asked me to. I knew I was in love with you when all I could think about while I tortured you was how beautiful and noble you looked in the throes of passion and pain."

B'Elanna had turned her head during this, to her, very surprising confession. "That was more than a year ago, Mistress, why did you never say anything?"

"Because then I was not ready to let you know. I was not ready to admit that Captain Kathryn Janeway was in love and as my slave you gave me everything I needed and more. It seemed perfect how it was but then there was the stay on that planet." Kathryn decided to be completely honest with B'Elanna. "I dreamed about what I could do to you had I let you stay with me. I saw you serving me 24/7, naked, my eyes free to roam over your perfect body whenever I wanted, my hands free to fondle you whenever I wanted. I dreamed of stringing you up between two trees and of torturing you with a feather. I dreamed about you begging to feel my whip, about making you walk on all fours and leading you around on a leash as my fierce and loving little bitch. I dreamed of holding you at night and soon all I wanted was to return to you and make my dreams come true. I wanted to throw you on the bed face first and sodomise you with the biggest dildo in our collection. I wanted to make you beg me for more…"

"Please do it, Mistress. Fuck my ass. It's been so long, and your words have made me so hot. Fulfil your dreams. I'm yours to command, my beloved." B'Elanna begged.

Kathryn let the tip of her tongue retrace the outline of the barely scabbed over wound at B'Elanna's neck, and B'Elanna did the same with the tip of her index finger on Kathryn's breast.

"Please, bite me again, Mistress, renew your mark of ownership."

Without any rational thought Kathryn did exactly that, and suddenly it was as if all her senses were heightened. The taste of B'Elanna's lavender blood rushed to her head and her groin. Her nipples turned rock hard in an instant. The smell of B'Elanna's arousal filled her nostrils.

"Inside, now, I need you inside, B'El."

The younger woman immediately complied and entered her with three fingers. Kathryn was so wet that a forth finger inadvertently also slipped in.

Kathryn ordered, "More, I need more!" and bit down a second time.

B'Elanna's whole hand had slipped in and the feeling of her Mistress' strong inner muscles clenching around her hand, squeezing it, was enough to bring her to the brink of an orgasm. At the last moment she remembered her training and asked for permission.

"Bite me, mark me, come with me!"

Deep down B'Elanna knew that a slave should not be allowed to mark her Mistress but she was not able not to obey. So, she bent her head as best as she could given the fact that Kathryn's mouth was still latched to her neck. She found the bite mark and let her sharp teeth sink in.

The taste of the first drop of blood on her tongue brought out the Klingon in her. With pure strength she reversed their positions without removing her hand and hovered over her Mistress, a predatory expression on her face. B'Elanna played Kathryn's body as if it were Voyager's warp core and brought her to incredible orgasmic heights. She dominated her completely and just like earlier that night before Kathryn enjoyed every minute of it.

B'Elanna didn't hurt her. In fact but for the bite mark, a welcome soreness and a few hickeys it would leave no trace, not physically at least. When they both finally collapsed in each others arms, their passion spent for the moment, Kathryn had the nagging suspicion that she easily could get addicted to the feeling of being dominated by her slave, every once in a while. She also knew that in order to make their new arrangement work she had to reassert her authority as Mistress as soon as possible; she just didn't have the energy to do that right now.

"Thank you, Mistress."

"I should thank you, my B'El. That was absolutely incredible."

"Thank you for not being afraid of my Klingon side." B'Elanna whispered.

"Why should I be, my love? You're half Klingon, not half wild beast. I know you never would hurt me. I can feel your power but whatever you do it's still contained."

"When I ran from my mother and her constant nagging that I was not Klingon enough, I wanted nothing to do with my Klingon heritage. I even feared it. Mistress Tasha and Lieutenant Worf taught me to accept and to respect my Klingon half. It was part of my training to become a slave. Worf has been raised by Humans, you know, but they taught him more about Klingon history and traditions than I ever wanted to know. Mistress Tasha taught me moq'bara, Klingon martial arts, to give me the physical discipline I needed and Worf helped me to understand my reactions better. Among others I learned that not all of my temper is Klingon. I forgot what I had learned when I was with the Maquis because most of the time no one cared about my temper. That changed when you made me an officer. Their teachings came back, but Mistress, without the security it gave me to be your slave I would not have succeeded. Thank you."

Kathryn was sure that her beloved slave could have done it without her, but she didn't want a discussion right now. So, she simply said, "Thank you for telling me," and kissed B'Elanna's forehead ridges.

For a few minutes they were silent and enjoyed the feeling of the other's body touching their skin. Kathryn started to massage the ridges on the small of B'Elanna's back. They were extremely sensitive to the touch and touching them never failed to arouse B'Elanna. Kathryn could even make her come just by handling them expertly; but that was not what she had in mind just now.

They didn't have enough time for another bout of lovemaking before the start of their shifts, but that did not mean that she could not have some fun with her lovely slave and reassert her authority. She kept her touches on the back ridges light but began to play with the nipple ring. B'Elanna reacted with a deep guttural moan. She brought her lips close to B'Elanna's ear and whispered,

"Listen to the order of your Mistress, my lover." B'Elanna's eyes widened and her body tensed. "You are not allowed to come until I give you permission, and you won't get permission until you are all moved in."

"I can be moved in within the hour, Mistress," B'Elanna answered.

"I only teased you a little bit, B'El, are you so desperate already? You usually can stand more." Kathryn asked with a mischievous smile.

"I can still feel your blood singing through my veins, Mistress. Our combined smells are heavy in the air. I hold the most beautiful woman of the galaxy in my arms and she just made me her wife for the second time in less than twelve hours – how could I not be excited?"

"That's too bad, my B'El, because in an hour we both will be on duty. So, after your shift, you'll do three hours of overtime on your project, not one minute more. You'll pack your things and come to our quarters, put them away, prepare dinner, something we both like. Then call me. I'll make some space in my closet during lunch."

"I don't have much, Mistress, except for a few clothes and books and my weapons. Do you want me to prepare breakfast now?" B'Elanna asked, resigned to the fact that all she could do was to hope that her arousal would abate on its own, the sooner the better. She would have to wait.

"No, my B'El. I want you to clean the bedroom, put new sheets on while I'm in the shower. I'll make breakfast while you're in the bathroom." Kathryn said while she rose from the bed, "Oh, and I don't want you to get dressed."

Kathryn was already in full uniform when B'Elanna entered the living room. There was only one place setting and the Hybrid quickly knelt at her Mistress' side. The scent of banana pancakes wafted through the room, banana pancakes with chocolate syrup – her all-time favourite.

"Am I allowed to speak, Mistress?"

"Yes, my B'El. You're not allowed to come, but you're allowed to speak and to ask questions. But first, let me ask you: what kind of shower did you take?"

"A sonic shower, Mistress," B'Elanna answered.

"I didn't order you to take a sonic shower, B'El. So, why did you? I know you prefer real water."

"You forbid me to come, Mistress. I wanted avoid the temptation."

"Well done, my love. I think that deserves a reward. Let's take this to the couch and lie down on my lap. I'll feed you."

"Thank you, Mistress." B'Elanna smiled up into the blue-grey eyes of her Mistress.

-x-x-x-x-

Chapter Three: A Night to Remember

B'Elanna entered Engineering and sent one of her crew to check the turbolift coupling on a molecular level. He was relatively new in her department and thus rather inexperienced but it should not take him too long to get it done; it wasn't exactly warp core theory.

Her clitoris was still throbbing, since her Mistress had teased her mercilessly while feeding her the pancakes. She ached to come and with a bit of luck she would, but first she had to get through the whole day. When she sat down at her desk to read the reports from Beta and Gamma shift she felt an almost imperceptible sting, a remnant from yesterday's punishment. Combined with her still burning arousal it should have been hard for her to concentrate on her work, but to her own surprise it was easier than usual to immerse herself in the minutiae of Starfleet regulations; easier than it had ever been before when she had still been feeling the effects of her Mistress' discipline.

When midday rolled around she cancelled the lunch date she had with Tom and Harry and went to her quarters to pack. As she had told her Mistress earlier, she didn't have many possessions and aside from her weapons and the Klingon armour her grandmother had sent her when she had heard that she had joined the Maquis, the only things she really cared for were two framed pictures she had on her nightstand. One dated back to her childhood and showed her with her mother. The other showed her with Mistress Tasha and Mistress Deanna, kneeling at their feet. It had been taken shortly after her graduation, with the slave mark still fresh on her skin. Her belongings fit into two containers. All she would have to do in the evening was to beam them into the captain's quarters.

B'Elanna returned to Engineering with a light heart. It had been a good day so far. She found the report on the turbolift couplings on her desk and read it immediately; and according to the report there was absolutely nothing wrong with it, not even signs of wear. And suddenly her good mood was gone. It took her less than two minutes to find out from where the data had been downloaded. She left her office and looked for the crewman she had ordered to make the analysis, but didn't see him.

"Joe, where's Crewman Morrison?"

"He just went to lunch, Chief. Is something wrong?" Lieutenant Joe Carey easily recognised the signs of the growing anger of his superior officer.

"He screwed up the assignment I gave him. Get him back here, ASAP. I want to know what the hell he was thinking before I charge him with dereliction of duty. I'll be in the lab."

It took B'Elanna over an hour to run the analysis and double-check her results. On a molecular level the material used for the couplings was clearly substandard, and it could not be explained away by two years of use alone. B'Elanna had the nagging feeling that she would find the same substandard material with the reserve couplings they had in storage. She sent Vorik to fetch one, performed a molecular analysis and subjected the new and the old coupling to a stress test. The old one broke after only three and a half minutes.

Now there was only one thing left to do. She had to tell the captain. And it had not been a pleasant conversation. She reorganised the work schedule of her crew to free enough people to check all the turbolift couplings, every single one of them. It was a long drawn out process: remove the couplings, check them for structural integrity, replace them if need be – and except for one single coupling all of them were substandard.

B'Elanna's mind was focused on the repairs and, as usual, everything else faded away. The turbolifts, except for the one B'Elanna and Susan Nicoletti had repaired the night before, were off-line. The work crews had been assigned, including a double-shift for the chief engineer. An hour before the end of Alpha shift she remembered that not only Crewman Morrison had not done his duty, he also had refused to follow her orders; he had not reported back to her.

"Computer, locate Crewman Morrison," she demanded.

"Crewman Morrison is in the mess hall."

According to Carey, Morrison had called in sick shortly after the end of his lunch break and thus long before most the turbolifts had had to be disabled; so, what was he still doing at the mess hall? He at least should have checked in with the doctor.

"Torres to the doctor."

"What can I do for you, Lieutenant Torres?" the hologram asked.

"Crewman Morrison took the afternoon off for medical reasons. I don't want to know why, but I need to know if he stopped by," B'Elanna asked.

"Even that falls under doctor-patient privilege, Lieutenant."

"I can find out by checking the entrance logs to sickbay, Doctor, and I don't have the time to play any games with you."

"Crewman Morrison has not sought my professional advice today, Lieutenant Torres. You, on the other hand, you are a week late for your regular…."

"Thank you, Doctor, Torres, out."

B'Elanna looked at the clock and strode out of the engine room. It was dinner time, time to go to the mess hall and cool her temper by reprimanding a negligent crewman. She took the Jeffries tubes and the ladders to get to the mess hall, not only because she had not wanted to wait for the single turbolift still active to come. The exertion also helped her to get some of her anger out of her system. It wouldn't do to provoke her Mistress' wrath the first day of their new arrangement.

Crewman Morrison was regaling three men from the lower decks with the skilful way he had outmanoeuvred everyone and successfully ditched his duties. One of the other men saw her come in and tried to get the bragging man to stop, to no avail.

"… and that stupid half-breed is none the wiser."

"Morrison, get off your ass and follow me to Engineering. I don't necessarily want to ream you a new one in front of your buddies." When he didn't budge she added, "Tell me, did you stupid moron really think you could get away with not doing your work, with trying to fool me?"

Morrison turned around and B'Elanna would not have needed superior Klingon senses to recognise that he was drunk.

"Oh, the Maquis bitch! I'll come with you if you promise to jump into the warp core. We'll all be better off without bastards such as you."

It took an enormous effort for B'Elanna not to slap him right across the face.

"Watch your tongue, asshole. You don't want to make me any angrier than I already am. It could be hazardous for your health, and you already are in enough trouble as it is." She said as calmly as she could, but couldn't help the deep growl following her words.

"Trouble, I'll show you trouble, turtlehead."

Before his friends could stop him he had jumped off his seat and grabbed B'Elanna's uniform jacket with both hands. Almost a foot taller than B'Elanna he tried to shake her but the half-Klingon didn't budge. Instead she pushed him back with enough force to rip her jacket and let him crash into the table. The collection of bottles that had littered its surface fell down and shattered on the deck.

Morrison grabbed one by the neck and attacked B'Elanna. She stepped out of the way but he still reached her and grazed her ribcage with the jagged edge of the bottle. B'Elanna smelled her own blood and roared in anger, "Chech nuch! [Drunken coward!]"

B'Elanna ducked under his outstretched arms, jabbed her knee hard against his groin and grabbed his right arm at wrist level. She pressed hard against the inside of his wrist and the bottle fell from his suddenly numb fingers. B'Elanna forced his arm on his back in what once would have been called a police hold and kicked at the hollow of his knees to bring him down. In the position they were in now it would have been so easy to break his neck and be done with the threat once and for all, but before she had a chance to finish that thought Tuvok and a couple of security officers who had been sitting at the other end of the room had reached her and took Morrison off her hands.

Tuvok ordered two of them to escort Crewman Morrison to the brig for assault on a superior officer. The third man would take the witness statements and he guided an unresisting and still bleeding B'Elanna to sickbay. She was still fighting the urge to kill Morrison and Tuvok was wise enough not to press her and allow her to come to her senses on her own. She gave him a short version of the events while the doctor treated her and promised him a more thorough report within the hour. Then she fled to the privacy of her office; there was still too much adrenaline running through her veins. It took her almost half an hour to regain a semblance of calm by using one of the meditation techniques Mistress Deanna had taught her; only then could she focus on the report and the half dozen other things that had come up while she was gone.

-x-x-x-

Beta shift was already in its third hour when she emerged from her office but the better part of her Alpha shift personnel was also still working. About half an hour later a security officer came in with a message from Morrison. It seemed as if he had started to sober up and wanted to apologise.

"I'm not interested in his apologies. He's just afraid to lose his plush job in Engineering, but I'll be damned if I let him set foot in my engine room ever again." She said with a deep growl.

"Technically, Miss Torres, it's my engine room since it's my ship." Captain Janeway said calmly.

"Ma'am."

"Your office, now," Kathryn ordered.

"Yes Ma'am."

B'Elanna closed the door as soon as she had followed her Mistress into the small room. Before she had a chance to get on her knees, Kathryn's arms had closed around her torso.

"Are you alright, my B'El?"

"Yes, Mistress, I'm fine. It was just a scratch. The doctor took care of it, just a few passes with the regenerator."

Kathryn looked sceptically at her but let it go, "Have you sufficiently calmed down to talk about the incident?"

"Yes, Mistress, but I already put everything in my report."

"Your report was thorough and well rounded. Tuvok considers it adequate work, but the first thing one learns at command school is to read between the lines. So, tell me, Miss Torres, did you go to the mess hall to pick a fight with him?"

"Yes, Ma'am, I guess I did, but I didn't plan it. I know he attacked me but I should not have provoked him in the first place. I should have left him alone and used official channels to deal with him."

"That's right, B'Elanna, you should have done that but you didn't. Officially you acted within your right as his department head; unofficially I expect more self-control of you."

B'Elanna's big brown eyes showed sadness and remorse, "I'm sorry I disappointed you, Mistress. Please, punish me."

"No, love, that won't be necessary. We're both still adapting to the new situation. So, I'm ready to cut you some slack, but I brought a little reminder for you to wear. Pull down your trousers and panties and bent over your desk. I want you to wear the butt plug at least until the turbolift repairs are finished. It's small enough not to hurt and big enough to be felt even when not sitting. You're allowed to remove it to go to the toilet but afterwards it goes back in. You're allowed to clean it in the sink."

Kathryn had lubed up the plug and inserted it slowly in B'Elanna's anus. B'Elanna obediently relaxed her muscles as much as possible and the intruder easily slipped in. She thanked her Mistress and redressed. Then the captain and her chief engineer talked about the repairs for about half an hour.

B'Elanna escorted her captain out who now would have to deal with Crewman Morrison. Captain Janeway had sentenced him to thirty days of solitary confinement for dereliction of duty and assault of a superior officer as well as no holodeck privileges for six months. B'Elanna went to help with the replacement work. It wasn't difficult but physically demanding and needed two people working seamlessly together.

At the end of Beta shift and after having dropped her spanner twice B'Elanna finally called it a night. She was so tired she didn't remember to go to the captain's quarters, her new quarters but walked on autopilot to her own. The two cargo containers still stood in the middle of the room and she let herself fall on the stripped off bed without bothering to undress.

-x-x-x-

Three hours later her comm. badge jostled her out of a dreamless sleep. Ensign Vorik and his team had found something he wanted her to see. She grimaced in discomfort when the butt plug made itself felt but quickly hurried off to the cross-section where Vorik was waiting. All thoughts of sleep or anything more pleasurable were forgotten when she saw what exactly they had found.

She had seen such bombs before; it was Seska's favourite design. It sat deep inside of a control hatch. Under normal circumstances no one would have had reason to even open the panel housing the intersection, but today's work, amounting to a grand scale refit had made it necessary. The irony was that in the Alpha Quadrant their turbolift problem would have called for repairs at a ship yard, and during repairs the yard provided all the energy needed for maintenance and repairs; at a ship yard they never would have found the bomb.

It only had a small charge, but, as B'Elanna quickly found out, that had been wired into the automated self-destruct. She didn't know what it would have done in case it had been triggered; that would have to wait until she had time to analyse it more closely – after disarming it, but experience had taught her how Seska had been thinking and she doubted that it would be the only one of its kind. The bomb was protected by a motion detector and other measures; so, it took her almost two hours to remove it securely.

B'Elanna took the now inoffensive device to her office and analysed it. She hated to admit it, but Seska had been good, damned good. The bomb would have activated the auto-destruct sequence and within two minutes Voyager would have been destroyed, no warning, no chance to turn it off, not even with the captain's command codes. She also found out that its casing had been made of an alloy not in use on Voyager. It had to be of Kazon origin. Its molecular structure made it very solid, harder than duranium, to be exact, but also extremely light. The molecular signature also was rather distinct, but easy to overlook if one was not specifically searching for it.

The next Alpha shift was already in full swing when she had finished her analysis. She saw with satisfaction that yesterday's rescheduling had worked out. The replacement personnel was well in place, the members of her crew having worked through the night were on an extended off-duty schedule, and the turbolifts were all back in working order. She reassigned Lieutenant Carey who had been in charge of the shift so far to head and form the team to search for other bombs, but B'Elanna made it clear that she would have to be called in should they find something. At first he had protested that he was good enough of an engineer to disarm a simple bomb, but she had reasoned that she knew better than anyone else how Seska's thought processes had worked. He didn't seem totally convinced but B'Elanna also knew that he would follow her orders.

-x-x-x-

B'Elanna sent the reports on the turbolifts and the bomb to the captain and predictably was called to the Ready Room about half an hour later.

"We will have to start looking for duranium 472 to build us some new couplings, Captain. The old couplings lasted less than two years and the ones we just put in won't make it much longer. It's not a priority, just yet, but I'd like to be prepared."

"Acknowledged Lieutenant. I'll put it on Tuvok's to-do list. I want you to check the inventory, random checks. I need to know if the lift couplings were the only substandard items on board."

"Of course, Captain, Su… Lieutenant Nicoletti is already on it."

"Good. Now for something completely different, Miss Torres. According to those logs you had about three hours of sleep during the last thirty-six hours and more. As of now you're off duty. Go to our quarters and get some shut-eye. I expect you for lunch at 1230 in the mess hall. I had an idea last night while I was alone in our bed, hoping you would come home."

"I'm sorry, Ma'am. I was so tired last night, I was on autopilot and ended in my own quarters," B'Elanna answered apologetically.

"It's alright, B'Elanna. It takes some getting used to, and we didn't get a full night's sleep the day before yesterday either. There was no harm done. So, now, I want you to take a nice long shower and go to bed; and that's an order, Miss Torres."

"Yes Ma'am."

If B'Elanna was honest with herself she was tired and with a bit of sleep she might even stop beating herself up on not having found Seska's bombs earlier.

"Dismissed, Lieutenant."

"Captain." B'Elanna about-faced and left the Ready Room.

She took the turbolift to Deck three and entered the captain's quarters, their quarters. Even the thought sounded strange in her mind.

"Our quarters," she said, just to try it out.

Yes, it definitively would take some getting used to.

B'Elanna decided to postpone her shower until after her nap and ordered the computer to wake her at 1130. She curled up on the couch and pulled a blanket over her body. Moments later she was fast asleep.

-x-x-x-

The computer woke B'Elanna, but it took her a few moments before she had reoriented herself.

"Our quarters!" She repeated her earlier words. It still sounded strange to her but not as strange as it had earlier.

She looked around. In the time since she had started serving her Mistress those quarters had become as familiar to her as her engine room. She had always felt more at home here than in her own quarters, her former quarters, she corrected herself.

She stripped and recycled her uniform before going into the bathroom. Only then B'Elanna remembered the butt plug still lodged between her ass cheeks. It was not that she no longer felt it; she very much did, with every breath she took, but didn't feel like an intruder anymore. She somehow felt grounded by the feeling.

B'Elanna had reached the mirror in the en suite and looked at the bite mark at her neck. She touched it. She could still feel her Mistress' blood singing in her veins. It made her wet and she decided that at least part of her shower would be with cold water, very cold water.

Before she stepped into the shower stall she removed the plug, cleaned it and relieved herself. Even shivering under the jets of icy water her arousal didn't really abate. She wished her Mistress were with her, so that she could smell her in person instead of the faint remnants of the intoxicating mixture of her Mistress' perfume and her personal, inimitable scent that were still lingering in the air.

B'Elanna decided to give herself an enema. In the beginning she had hated being cleaned out that way. It had made her feel helpless and humiliated, especially when she first had been ordered to do it to herself. Over tine she had learned to enjoy the feeling, somehow clean and light and pure, despite the discomfort of having her belly distended by the hot and cold water. She had learned to enjoy that feeling as well, at least most of the time.

She dried herself and stared at the butt plug. Should she put it back in? Her Mistress had ordered her to wear it until the turbolifts had been repaired, and that had been accomplished hours ago. No, she had said to wear it 'at least' 'til then. She had not said that she would be allowed to remove it for more than reasons of hygiene on her own. So, B'Elanna lubricated the plug, put it in and quickly got dressed.

She still had a few minutes before she had to meet her Mistress, her lover. A part of her wanted to stop by Engineering to check on her crew but she also knew that she probably would get distracted by one thing or the other – and that meant that she would be late; something she definitively didn't want to risk, especially not today. She had a feeling that this evening would be very special.

-x-x-x-

Lunch with her Mistress, with her lover had been interesting on more than one level. It had not been the first time that Captain Janeway and her chief engineer had had lunch together, but from the first moment the doors to the mess hall had slid open B'Elanna had felt as if they were the centre of everyone's attention. She had felt as if every pair of eyes in the room had been focused on her and her alone and as if everyone knew that one of her greatest dreams had just been fulfilled.

The thought had almost made her lose her step and that had made her keenly feel the presence of the anal plug deep inside of her, and it had made her proud to be owned by a Mistress as formidable as Kathryn Janeway. The insight had been accompanied by the deep feeling of also being loved.

When Kathryn had turned around to gesture towards a table next to one of the view ports B'Elanna had seen the love in her eyes and it had let her feel two feet taller and walking on air.

It had not been the first time that the two women had eaten quickly and then hunched over some padds, sometimes loudly discussing their different points of view. It had, however, been a first that they had not invited Lieutenant Paris and Ensign Kim to join them when they had passed by with their own trays. It had also been a first that they, though visibly engaged in a lively discussion, had kept their voices too low to be overheard, even from a neighbouring table. It had also been a first that Kathryn had squeezed her thigh a couple of times and that B'Elanna had blushed over a padd that contained nothing but simple schmematics.

That padd was also the reason she was now sitting in her office, staring sightlessly at the wall, unable to focus on her work while her mind was busy rushing through the endless possibilities her lover's idea could offer them. A play room, built to both of their specifications, a room filled with all the parapharnelia they until then had had to improvise: a real spanking horse, a St. Andrew's cross, a system of pulleys and sliding chains to allow bondage in every conceivable position, maybe even a rack. Even on the Enterprise B'Elanna and her Mistresses had had to rely on the holodecks. Yes, the possibilities were endless, and with Chakotay's quarters standing empty because Tuvok steadfastedly refused to move in they even had the necessary space.

The almost painful twitching in her groin finally propelled her into action. She had to do something productive if she didn't want to come any moment now; reprimand a crewman, do some repairs, crawl through a couple of Jefferies tubes. No, she couldn't come, not after her Mistress' parting words in the turbolift.

"I'm proud of you, my B'El. I know I wasn't very specific with my orders yesterday, but by still wearing the plug you followed my wishes. I think that deserves a reward. Come home to our quarters at 1900 hours, not sooner, not later."

B'Elanna had not even had the chance to say as much as "Yes Mistress" before the captain had been gone. No, she would not jeopardise her reward by having an orgasm without permission, regardless of how much her body screamed for it.

-x-x-x-

Captain Kathryn Janeway, personal log, coded entry, code level confidential: B'El is asleep on the couch. The last couple of days have finally caught up with her. I'll give her some time to rest by making this log of our perfect evening before I have to wake her to come to bed with me. That we have admitted our feelings for each other has changed more than just the way we interact in public.

I could feel her presence even before the door to our quarters had opened and I could smell her.

I had moved the low table to the side and stood in front of the couch, dressed in my black corset, a black leather string and black four and a half inch stiletto heels. It was one of her favourites among my outfits. Her eyes widened and it looked as if she wanted to breathe me in with her eyes and nostrils. She took two quick steps towards me, the door closed, and before I had the chance to say anything B'El was on her knees, worshipping my feet. Not that the gesture of devotion was not appreciated, but it was not what I had had in mind for this evening.

So, I bent down, grabbed her by the shoulders and pulled her back on her feet. She looked like a puppy dog whose toy had been taken away. I just had to kiss her.

"Another time, my B'El, for now: let's get you undressed. I know the doctor healed your side but I have to see for myself that you are unharmed."

I opened the uniform jacket and threw it on the couch table; her turtleneck followed and my eyes fell on the bite mark at her neck. Thanks to her Klingon metabolism the wound had already closed and would soon be completely healed. I bent my head and kissed it, then I licked it. I wanted to bite down again, to taste her sweet blood. I surprised myself with the thought of wanting it to leave a scar. B'El bent her head to the side to give me better access, and that brought me back to my game plan for the night.

I pulled back and dragged the tank top over her head, revealing her already erect nipples. Her skin was covered in goosebumps and she shivered a bit. I ordered the computer to increase the room temperature by three degrees, though I knew that this wasn't why she shivered; it was anticipation, pure and simple. I let my hands roam over her sides but she didn't flinch when I reached the spot where the bottle had hurt her.

"I'm alright, Mistress," she said.

"Let me be the judge of that," I replied. "Put your hands behind your head, elbows out."

She smiled at my command and I stepped behind her. My fingertips ran over the defined muscles of her back. I heart her intake of breath, the shivering increased. I pressed my corseted front against her back and squeezed her breasts. My left hand played with the nipple ring while my right slid down her firm stomach. I opened the Velcro fastening at her waist and pulled down the zipper of her fly. Her uniform slacks slipped down to just below mid-thigh. I put my hand into her panties and found them soaked. I grinned and whispered in her ear,

"All this wetness is mine, to ignore it, to lap it up, to make it flow more abundantly." I stroked her labia but was careful not to touch her clitoris.

I knew she wanted to press her centre against my hand. She wanted me to give her relief right here and now, but she was too well trained to even ask for it. One day, when we're back in the Alpha quadrant I'll have to thank Deanna and her slave for the good job they did with her. She was so wet, so beautiful. I had to force myself not to succumb to my own desires.

It was time for the next step in my plan. So, I pulled down her panties and helped her out of her boots. I wanted her completely naked. She stood motionlessly, like an ancient statue. I would love to see Maestro Leonardo work on a statue with her as a model. I kissed her again, deeply, passionately. I felt the minute shifting of her back muscles under my splayed fingers and was glad that I had not ordered to stay completely still. I didn't want to punish her, not tonight. This night was supposed to be about endurance and abandon, not about pain. And when I had planned it, last night in bed, little did I know that it would also become a test of self-control and patience for me.

Her breathing had increased considerably but she still didn't move, "Turn around and take a big step forward. Put your hands on the wall and spread your legs. Wider. That's better. Make sure that your position is comfortable; what I have in mind may take a while. Brace yourself. For now I don't want your hands, your feet or your hips to move."

I fastened a thin silk scarf around her head as a blindfold. It was thin enough to still allow her to see the outlines of things. I knew B'El would rather take a harsh and lengthy beating than wear a real blindfold for even a few minutes. She has begged me more than once to be spared that particular restraint, and since I love to look into her expressive brown eyes I'm not too keen on working to overcome this hang-up of hers. Besides, it would have been enough to just order her to keep her eyes shut and she would have done it without hesitation.

I put on white mink gloves and caressed her back and arms, her sides and her stomach, her muscular thighs and the sensitive flesh on the inside of her legs, everywhere but the breasts and the pussy. She had started to shiver again. I felt the tension in her body and her accelerated breathing. She was trying so hard to stay in control, to stay still. Her eyes were probably squeezed shut under the blindfold. I decided that it was time to give my lovely slave her first reward of the evening.

I shock the right glove off my hand, my left hand began to massage her breast and I entered her vagina with my right index and middle finger. I wriggled them in a random pattern. She shock with the effort to hold her orgasm back. I praised her what a good slave she was and allowed her to come. Her inner muscles clenched and pressed against my fingers; energy was running through her in waves, but she still obeyed my initial order not to move her hands or hips. Once again I pressed my front against her back and stilled my fingers, not only to ground her but also because I badly needed to feel her.

A fine sheen of sweat covered her skin. My caresses turned soothing. I slowly removed my fingers from her centre and offered them to her to lick them clean. She put all of her considerable skill in it and suddenly I had to try to keep my breathing under control. Her breathing began to slow down, but I knew that it still would not need more than a whispered order to make her come again. I was close to come too, I just would have had to let myself go, to give to myself what my body craved – but I also had been trained well and at that stage of the game I was not ready to allow myself the relief. I had decided to focus on B'El and that's what I intended to do, come hell or high water.

I ordered her to stay in position while I got us something to drink. She thanked me and I asked her for what and her response alone would have made me fall in love with her if I had not already been.

"For allowing me to come, for putting on my favourite outfit, for making me feel cherished and loved and owned, for being who you are, for being my captain, my Mistress, and my love. Thank you for always knowing what I need and for giving it to me. Thank you for allowing me to love you, my Mistress."

Her words shock me to the core, I felt tears stinging in my eyes, and this time the surge of arousal was too strong to hold it back any longer. So, I ordered her to turn around and kiss me. As soon as her lips touched mine I was propelled over the edge. I must have lost my balance at the force of my orgasm and found myself securely held in B'El's arms.

She scooped me up and carried me to the couch, but I needed more than just her arms on my back and under my knees. Unable to speak I just looked at her and she changed her hold enough to reach my clitoris and nether lips with her fingers. I probably would have teased her had our roles be reversed, but she didn't. She gave me what I needed. She flicked my clit and brought me to a quick climax before the first had completely run out. She then stroked my outer labia until I had calmed down. I pulled her hand up to my lips and licked her fingers clean of my juices.

Her low moans and groans told me that I was doing a good job and as a bonus was already well on the way to retake control. I turned to the side and let my tongue run up her arm 'til I reached her shoulder. I paid special attention to the wound at her neck and by then had pressed her down on her back. I ordered her to release the slip knot at my back that was holding my string in place and grabbed the dildo I had put there earlier. I had already programmed it to the length and girth I knew she liked and attached itself immediately at my pubic area, right over my still enlarged clitoris. I entered her quickly and started to fuck her with quick, short thrusts to make sure that my artificial member would always stay in contact with her love centre.

The phallus transmitted the clenching of her inner muscles to my nerve endings and I ordered her to come. Her hips bucked and I had a hard time not to slip out. It forced me to keep myself under control. It was just as well because it made it easier to stick to my original plan. I stayed motionless inside of her until her breathing once again had returned to a more normal rhythm and she was coherent enough to listen to my orders.

B'El obediently pulled her knees to her chest, once again shivering slightly in anticipation. I waited; I wanted her to beg for it and she soon did.

"Please, my Mistress, could you please fuck my ass. Please, be generous and claim all that is yours, all of me."

It was almost impossible to resist her pleading voice and her begging brown eyes. I silenced her by putting a finger on her lips but her eyes were still glued to mine. So, I stayed motionless inside of her and returned the begging in her eyes with a look of determination of my own. B'El quickly cast down her eyes and pulled her knees even closer to her chest. She held them at the knees and pressed them apart as far as possible,

I pulled out of her vagina, my cock dripping with her juices. I gently removed the butt plug and praised her for her foresight when I saw that it was mostly clean. I filled her again with the considerably bigger phallus. She groaned. I guided her legs against my shoulders to get a better angle for my thrusts. This time I used long, slow, deep thrusts and gyrated my hips just enough to touch all of her. Her inner muscles contracted and massaged my cock and consequently my clitoris. I went with the flow and ordered B'El to come with me, but despite my own release I didn't stop fucking her.

"Look at me, my pretty slave."

Her usually brown eyes had turned black and she kept on coming. I flicked her soft clit and she exploded again. We were both panting when I finally deactivated the phallus. It immediately detached itself from my groin but stayed deep inside of her.

When the warm air of the room hit my clitoris it felt as if it had been touched by a block of ice. The sudden feeling made me come again and I entered B'El with three fingers, my thumb pressing against both of her clits. She came again; the contraction pushed the dildo out of her anus. Her release came in waves. I continued to rub her and wriggled my fingers deep inside of her while I let her legs slide off my shoulders.

I lay down on top of her 'til my body was covering hers and claimed her lips in a passionate kiss. My tongue explored her mouth as if for the first time and she responded in kind. I removed my hand from her centre and focused on kissing her. I used the kiss to calm her down and soon was rewarded by her eyes regaining their normal colour. We rolled over and I pulled her in my arms.

"Sleep, my love. I'll hold you."

"Thank you, Mistress," she answered and moments later she was asleep.

I can really call myself lucky that she offered herself to me all those months ago; and I can call myself even more blessed by the love I see shining in her eyes. One day I will give her this log entry as a present to prove to her that I love her as much as she loves me and that I'm as much hers as she is mine. End log.

"I don't need proof, I see it in your eyes, my beloved." B'Elanna pulled Kathryn closer and smiled up at the older woman. "I love you, Kathryn Janeway."

"Since when have you been awake?"

"Just for the last couple of sentences, and just for the record, I'm the one who can call herself lucky. Do you know just how special you are, my Mistress? How rare what we have really is? I'm the one who's lucky to have found a Mistress who does more than just give orders, a Mistress who is also a lover and protects me from harm, even if she has to protect me from myself, a Mistress who guides me and helps me to grow as a slave and as a person. With you I have found what I have always been looking for, a relationship just like the one Mistress Tasha and Mistress Deanna have."

"One moment Mistress and slave and the next equal partners. Lawxana once told me that even among her people, with their ability to read the other persons mind the relationship between Deanna and Tasha is so rare that Betazoid scientists would do almost anything to test and observe them." Kathryn said.

"They wanted to find out how they could be so close without Mistress Deanna being in Mistress Tasha's head all the time. They tried that once under the disguise of a diplomatic delegation coming to Enterprise to talk with the inhabitants of a planet that had just applied for membership in the Federation. They asked questions but were quickly introduced to the inside of the brig when they tried to influence Mistress Tasha's thoughts and actions. They wanted to make her believe that Mistress Deanna had been killed on a routine away mission, swallowed up by some sore of black blob of evil energy." B'Elanna answered. "But Mistress Tasha knew that they were lying. She could feel it."

"Just like I knew that you were in front of the door even before it opened." Kathryn said softly.

B'Elanna's only answer was a deep passionate kiss.

-x-x-x-x-x-

Chapter Four: As Goes the Captain…

The next morning Kathryn woke from soft lips trailing up her arm and the smell of fresh coffee. B'Elanna was kneeling next to the bed, gloriously naked, and asked what she wanted for breakfast.

"You know I usually just take some coffee," she answered.

"But that was before, my Kathryn. With me moving in you now not only have a lover and a wife but also a live-in slave whose highest priority is your wellbeing, and breakfast, my grandmother always says, is the most important meal of the day. So, what will it be? Cereals with fruit? Pancakes? Toast?" B'Elanna asked and handed her a steaming mug.

"Cereals are fine, my cheeky slave, and B'El, put out two place settings. We still have a bit of planning to do concerning the details of our new room. Also from now on we should take all of our meals in the mess hall. We have to save as many replicator rations as we can to have enough for all the equipment we need."

"Every meal but breakfast, please; I'd like to start out the day having my Mistress and my lover to myself but in the mess hall you will always also be my captain."

Kathryn smiled at the kneeling woman. She was glad that B'Elanna had grown confident enough in her reactions to speak up about her needs and wishes without fear of censure or punishment. Even weeks after the two months of probation, after she had accepted B'Elanna as her slave the young hybrid had often been unsure about how far she could go and what would be appropriate to say. Now she knew that she never would be punished for being honest.

"Alright, every meal but breakfast, after all there's no need to get the furniture and equipment we want all at once."

"I have about a month's worth of replicator rations saved up, Mistress, that should get us good basic equipment for the play room." B'Elanna said with a smile.

"Do I want to know how you managed to do that, young lady?"

The question sounded very serious, but B'Elanna also saw the smile in Kathryn's eyes, but still it would not do to just ignore the tone of her voice.

"You always insisted on using your rations when I stayed with you and I also won quite a few off Tom and Harry playing pool and poker. I know you don't condone of gambling, Mistress, and I accept any punishment you deem fit, but please let us use those rations for something positive." B'Elanna said and directed her eyes to the floor.

"We will, bang'wI, but not for the play room. Neelix and you will take the rations you won, and only those, and use them to organise the best party this ship has ever seen during which we will announce our marriage to the rest of the crew. Let's say about a month from now. That should leave the rumour mill enough time to calm down about us sharing quarters. And talking about sharing, my love; want to share a shower with me?"

"It would be my pleasure, my Mistress."

-x-x-x-

Despite a joined shower and the distracting fact that B'Elanna had only dressed after she had cleaned up the breakfast supplies and straightened the bed Captain Janeway was right on time for her shift. Her lips were still tingling from the kiss they had shared just outside of their quarters, completely oblivious to the crewman giving them more than just a passing glance. Just like the last couple of days there was a certain spring in her steps when she descended the two steps towards her command chair. Instead of taking her seat she handed Tuvok a padd and went to her Ready Room.

If Vulcans were given to smiling Tuvok would have as he read the padd. It contained a request to change the name of the captain's quarters to 'Janeway-Torres quarters'. Tuvok had known about their relationship and subsequently the return of Mistress Kathryn almost from the beginning. He appreciated the self-discipline and self control inherent in the D/s lifestyle, but they had spent whole nights talking about the power dynamics and the connection between pleasure and pain he had difficulties to accept. It certainly was not something he would want for himself though over the last two centuries quite a few Vulcans had been members of Eternal Pleasure. And from a neutral point of view he freely admitted that Captain Janeway was less tense and more grounded ever since Lieutenant Torres had started serving her.

The padd also contained an official request to have a maintenance crew do some renovations that would end in combining the captain's quarters with half of Chakotay's quarters. There was, however, no mention of what she intended to do with B'Elanna Torres' old quarters.

"Mister Kim, you have the bridge."

Tuvok entered the Ready Room and took his at ease stance in front of her desk. "Congratulations, Captain."

"Thank you, Tuvok."

"Maintenance will not be able to start work on your quarters before the day after tomorrow. Judging from the fact that the new room will not have a view port I deduct that you intent to create a play room. If that's the case I would suggest extra soundproofing."

Kathryn hid the smile that threatened to break through at her first officer's typical offhanded bluntness. With her captain's mask intact she answered, "There's no need for extra soundproofing in a walk-in closet, Tuvok. So, it can't come out of the energy supply allotted to maintenance. B'Elanna and I will do the rest of the renovation as time and rations allow on our own. But thank you for your concern, old friend."

"Do you plan to make an announcement to the crew about your change in status, Captain?"

"No, not at this time, Tuvok. Let them talk. It'll keep them occupied. About a month from now there will be a big party at the mess hall where Lieutenant Torres and I will announce our marriage. We took the oath two days ago. I was just about to enter it into the ship's log.

"Again, congratulations, Captain. May your union be long and fulfilling."

"Thank you, Tuvok."

"Do you have plans for Lieutenant Torres' former quarters or should I announce their availability on the ship's channel?"

"Belay that. Offer them to Ensign Wildman first. She and Naomi are still in her single occupancy quarters and the child will soon need her own room. B'Elanna's quarters are big enough to remodel accordingly, and they are closer to a life pod than her quarters are now."

-x-x-x-

Half an hour later Ensign Samantha Wildman knocked on the frame of B'Elanna's office in Engineering. B'Elanna looked up from her paperwork and motioned her in and to take a seat.

"How can I help you?" B'Elanna asked though she had a pretty good idea why the young mother was here.

"Commander Tuvok just offered me to move into your quarters, Lieutenant Torres."

"I thought we had dispensed with those formalities while we were on the planet of hell, Samantha?" B'Elanna asked.

"Off duty, yes, but we're both still on duty and you're still a lieutenant." Samantha answered with a shy smile.

B'Elanna walked over to her small replicator and ordered a raktajino and rooiboos tea. "Then consider this our mid-morning break, Sam. Here have a look at this. I did some doodling this morning and came up with two possibilities on how to adapt my old quarters for your needs."

B'Elanna handed the surprised woman a padd, and it turned out that her 'doodling' consisted of two three-D models, complete with technical specifications, work hours and energy needs.

Samantha's first reaction was, "Wow!" Her second reaction was, "That's too much, Lanna. I don't have enough replicator rations to afford even half of that stuff. And with Naomi I also won't be able to safe any."

"Wait, doesn't she have her own rations? She's a member of this crew and raising children on a starship means to see that their special nutritional and other needs are fulfilled. Hasn't the doctor spoken to you about the special UV lights and early exercises?"

"Now that you say it… When the doctor released us from sickbay he said something to that effect. He also said that he would put in a request with the captain, but nothing happened." Samantha answered.

"Let me check something." B'Elanna called up the crew complement of her desktop and found Naomi Wildman, daughter of Ensign Samantha Wildman, listed as deceased two hours after her birth, and of course there were no medical records in her name. "Samantha, the doctor should have checked her regularly, once a week at her age. Did he?"

"He checked her when we returned from the planet and told me to return in three months."

B'Elanna felt her temper bubbling up but reigned it in, just like Worf had taught her. "Samantha, I want you to grab Naomi and go to sickbay. I'll call the captain down and start a check of the doctor's subroutines. Something is not right. It's standard procedure and he's not programmed to forget such basics."

"How do you know so much about those things, Lanna?" Samantha asked while she rose from her seat without even thinking of questioning B'Elanna's order.

"I lived on a generational ship while I was a teenager. Bi-monthly health checks were mandatory for everyone under eighteen. Go, please, I call the captain."

Ten minutes later Kathryn entered sickbay to the sound of her chief medical officer objecting vocally to something Lieutenant Torres must have said.

"What's going on here? Lieutenant Torres, Doctor?"

B'Elanna immediately snapped to attention and the doctor started to complain about how delusional the chief of Engineering was and that he wouldn't allow her to mess with his photons, but Captain Janeway was obviously not in the mood to hear him out.

"Computer, deactivate EMH. Lieutenant Torres, when you called me down here you said that there was a problem with the doctor. He seems like his usual self to me."

"I spoke to Ensign Wildman about her new quarters and found out that she does not get rations for her daughter."

"What? How could that have been overlooked?" the captain asked surprised.

"I don't know, Captain, but there's more." B'Elanna filled Kathryn in on the rest. "The only logical explanation I can think of is that something is wrong with the doctor's subroutines. I was about to start a thorough diagnosis when you came in."

"Belay that, B'Elanna. First I want the doctor to check on Naomi. We have to make sure that she has not suffered from our neglect. Computer, activate the Emergency Medical Hologram."

After a nanosecond of surprise the doctor continued his rant, but what she had just learned had not made the captain more patient with the personality quirks of her CMO.

"Computer, deactivate all vocal subroutines of the EMH, authorisation: Janeway Alpha Phi Three Epsilon. – Now, Doctor, I want you to listen, and listen carefully to what I have to say, and when I reactivate your subroutines I want you to answer my questions the most concise way you know, short, precise answers, preferably with a simple yes or no. Did I make myself clear?"

The Doctor nodded and quickly had to admit that he had really screwed up this time, royally screwed up. The first thing he said when Captain Janeway gave him his voice back was, "I'm sorry, Ma'am. I don't know what happened. It might be better if you just rebooted my program."

"And lose everything you've learned over the last two years? No, Doctor. You will give our youngest crewmember a thorough physical, and then Lieutenant Torres will find out what's wrong with you. And speaking of the Devil, here's your patient."

Samantha Wildman put a still sleeping Naomi on the bio-bed and the Doctor immediately started to work. B'Elanna kept an eye on him but had at least one ear on the conversation between her wife and Ensign Wildman.

"Ensign Wildman, I have to apologise for this mess. As soon as I return to the Ready Room I'll authorise the transfer of the rations you should have received ever since Naomi was born. And everything you will need to remodel your new quarters will be taken care of by the maintenance budget."

The young ensign's eyes widened and she whispered an almost inaudible 'Thank you."

"And now, tell me, why didn't you say anything? You graduated at the top of your class and your academic teachers as well as your CO's say that you're not afraid to speak up if you deem it necessary. We could have worked this out months ago. Why didn't you say anything?" Kathryn asked.

Samantha looked down as if the answer to the captain's question could be found written on the deck plating. She suddenly looked much smaller than she did when going over new ideas for the hydroponics bays with Kes.

Kathryn took a step closer to her crewmember. Her right hand raised Samantha's chin but the eyes were still cast down, "Tell me, Samantha."

"I… I didn't want us to be a burden. I heard that you refused command of a generational ship and there's the restriction of having children and I thought that as long as Naomi would not blip up on your radar that we would not be a burden. It's hard enough that I can't pull my own weight as I used to before having my baby." Samantha's voice was still barely above a whisper.

"Look at me, Samantha."

The eyes stayed downcast.

"Look at me, Samantha." The softly spoken order was delivered in a commanding tone that had even B'Elanna turn her head to obey and Samantha's whole body snapped to attention and she looked at her captain who suddenly seemed to be much more than that.

"Miss Torres, keep an eye on Naomi. Ensign Wildman and I will be in the doctor's office."

"Yes Ma'am." B'Elanna acknowledged her Mistress' order.

She was curious about the direction their conversation would take, and if she was honest with herself also a bit worried. She was not ready to share her Mistress with another slave though she also knew that ultimately it wasn't her call and that her love was strong enough to win over her jealousy. Samantha was a beautiful woman, but B'Elanna trusted Kathryn.

-x-x-x-

It had taken B'Elanna the rest of Alpha and half of Beta shift to sort out the mess the doctor's memory engrams had been in. She had traced it back to a bug that had been introduced into his program when Voyager had been in the hands of Seska and Chakotay, a bug designed to slowly erode his ethical subroutines. As soon as it had been activated the virus had picked up on what with a Humanoid would have been called severe emotional trauma, the trauma of Samantha's baby dying during an attack of the Vidiians. So, instead of concentrating on the doctor's ethical subroutines the bug had interfered with a whole load of other subroutines and made sure that his memories of the baby ever been born were erased time and time again.

The doctor had been mortified and Captain Janeway had been more than just angry and had turned B'Elanna's project of checking every system on Voyager into a top priority, authorising double shifts for Engineering personnel and other qualified volunteers, including herself.

Once again B'Elanna was dead tired when she arrived in front of her quarters. The door, however, refused to open. She stared at it for a moment, blushed and then headed to the nearest turbolift to reach the 'Janeway-Torres-quarters'. She found her lover fast asleep on the couch, clad in nothing but an almost see-through silk robe and one slipper.

Her Mistress only wore those slippers when she intended to give her a warm-up spanking before making love to her, and somehow that made B'Elanna breathe a deep sigh of relief. She scooped Kathryn up in her arms and carried her to the bedroom, surprised that she even had not woken up when she had put her down on the bed. She made sure that their uniforms were ready for the next day, allowed herself a short sonic shower and slipped under the covers next to her beloved.

Kathryn instinctively snuggled up to her but instead of falling asleep B'Elanna's mind insisted on replaying the scenes in sickbay this morning: Samantha's downcast eyes, her Mistress' hand on the other woman's chin, the command to look at her Mistress, and then the happy smile and red-rimmed eyes on Samantha's face when they had disengaged the privacy lock and left the doctor's office. Try as she might, she couldn't shake the image of Samantha Wildman on her knees in front of her Mistress, her wife, offering her service.

The thought alone made her growl, and that in turn brought her Mistress out of her slumber, "Talk to me, my B'El."

B'Elanna took a deep breath as if to say something but stayed silent.

"Talk to me, my love."

"If we take over the rest of Chakotay's quarters and half of the bedroom of the VIP quarters Ensign Wildman and her daughter can reside next to her new Mistress." B'Elanna answered.

"What are you talking about?"

"I know, Samantha Wildman is a slave, and a slave needs a Mistress. She will want to serve you and I don't have the right to question your decisions."

Kathryn snapped up from her comfortable position against her wife's shoulder and stared at B'Elanna with wide, incredulous eyes. Her first impulse had been to berate B'Elanna for her assumptions, but when they made eye contact she saw the pain in her slave's eyes and the resignation.

"You have every right to question my decisions, B'Elanna. You are my mate, my wife. I would never bring someone else in our relationship without talking it through with you first, not even for a single play session. And besides, you, my love, are all the slave I can handle." Kathryn answered.

"But you are the Mistress. You can do whatever you want." B'Elanna protested.

"Yes, I'm your Mistress, and I love your dedication and your willingness to put your own desires last. And as your Mistress I will try not to take advantage of that, but I'm more than just your Mistress. I'm your lover and your wife, your mate, your partner. These," Kathryn touched the bite mark on her chest and the one at B'Elanna's throat, "these make us equals; and though the captain may order you around, the Mistress may punish you and give you pleasure, all you'll ever have to do to find the wife is to speak up, bang'wI."

Kathryn kissed B'Elanna gently and B'Elanna kissed back, her insecurities gone, at least for the moment.

When they had to come up for air she said, "I love you, my Kathryn."

Kathryn pulled her closer and whispered in her ear, "Make love to me, my parmaq'qay."

And that was already the beginning of ecstasy for both of them.

-x-x-x-

Over the next two weeks the seemingly new relationship between Captain Janeway and her chief of Engineering was the favourite, if not the only topic of the ship's gossip. They both kept an ear on the general tenor and attitude of the crew, and though she wouldn't admit to it, Captain Janeway was relieved when no one seemed to be too put out by the news. Not that she would have changed anything had that not been the case, deep down she couldn't care less.

The table next to one of the rear view ports were they took most of their meals quickly got nicknamed 'Captain's table'. By unspoken consent sitting there was by invitation only, but apart from the senior staff, many other people could be seen sharing their meal with the pair, a few of B'Elanna's Maquis friends, Neelix, Kes, most of the Engineering crew, the Delaney sisters and a few others.

B'El and her Mistress quickly found out that it wasn't as easy to balance the different aspects of their relationship as they both had hoped. Especially in the first week B'Elanna had more than once nursed a sore bottom when her temper had gotten the better of her. They finally had agreed that as long B'Elanna only insulted or attacked machinery and bulk heads, without deliberately injuring herself she would not be punished. It was an allowance to her Klingon as well as her Hispanic heritage and gave her an outlet for her temper and frustration that would not hurt anyone. This generosity, however, ended should she insult a crew member or berate them in a way not becoming of a Starfleet officer and member of the senior staff; then Mistress Kathryn would make sure that she felt the consequences of her loss of control at least the next day.

The party during which they announced their marriage, or to be more exact, their joining had been a great success. It also had had two remarkable side effects. The first one benefited the whole crew, because Neelix finally learned the fundamental difference between Human and Talaxian taste buds, and that knowledge quickly translated into much more palatable meals.

The second side effect had been the friendship that had developed between Samantha Wildman and B'Elanna. After B'Elanna had personally worked with the remodelling team to make her old quarters perfect for a single mom and her soon to be toddler, Samantha had insisted on returning the favour. And B'Elanna had not hesitated to recruit her for the party project. B'Elanna had made an effort to be honest with Samantha and in turn had learned a lot about the young woman and her history as a slave who's not a submissive.

Samantha and Naomi were frequent guests at the captain's table in the mess hall and the young Half-Katarian had instantly gravitated to B'Elanna, showing the whole crew that their fierce chief of Engineering could also be a big softy – not that anyone dared to say that out loud.

The new room of their quarters was slowly transformed in a perfect play room and every new piece of equipment was thoroughly tested. B'Elanna and Kathryn fell into an easy rhythm that, admittedly, included quite a few punishments for inappropriate behaviour, but all in all less than both of them had expected.

-x-x-x-

Life in the Delta Quadrant was rarely boring but on Voyager the old adage rang true: as goes the captain, so goes the ship – and Captain Kathryn Janeway, Mistress of B'El, lover and wife of B'Elanna was happy.

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