Note: Sorry for the delay. I was in the middle of a tornado Thursday.

Spock raised his eyebrow at me. "I did not expect this reaction from you."

I returned his eyebrow and raised him a grimace. "What? You didn't expect me to care about you?" When he inclined his head slightly, I sighed. "Then you have a lot to learn about me."

When he turned his head away, as if in shame, I groaned inside my head. Damnit, he had made some odd decisions, but he had nothing to be ashamed of. But I didn't think I knew him well enough to praise him for his success, in either business or his rather difficult personal life. So I did the next best thing.

"Finish your dinner." I waved at his plate like an overbearing mother. If his cycle was going to be rough on him, well, he needed to keep up his strength. And that I could talk to him about.

Yes, I know. This is part of who I am. I tend to order people around when I worry about them. I do it to help them help themselves. If that doesn't work, I usually end up doing the job for them. Yes, that was how I got into the situation with Gary. But knowing that didn't stop me from trying again.

Am I a glutton for punishment? Probably. But inaction would drive me crazy, especially when someone's life was on the line.

Luckily, Spock didn't seem offended when I started giving him commands. He just finished his dinner and stood up as soon as his plate was clean. In fact, as he looked down at me, his face had a hint of a smile on it. He was amused by my behavior.

I smiled back at him as I finished the last bite of my food. Then I stood up as well and followed him out the door. I didn't realize he had been nervous the whole time we had been together until now. It only dawned on me when he looked back at me and I saw serenity on his face. He trusted me.

That was something I didn't take lightly. Trust was hard to come by. And it was essential when you were trying to save that person's life.

Because I wasn't sure how to keep that trust, I was suddenly very nervous. Oh well. A few nerves usually helped me in a situation. So I payed them no mind as we headed upstairs.

When we got back to our room, I ushered Spock over to the couch. Then I sat down on the cherrywood coffee table and asked, "Now what haven't you told me? You can quit trying to protect me. I can take care of myself. Whatever I have to do, I will."

"I can also handle myself adequately at this time, Captain," Spock replied softly. "I still have time to find someone else. Your participation may not be necessary."

"It's absolutely necessary," I countered heatedly. "I owe it to you and I owe it to the galaxy. They need you and you need to move on. I can't leave that to just anyone. Even if you choose another at this point, I need to know that the person is able to help you. Your life is waiting for you."

"I have had an adequate life for the last four years." He said this with a hint of doubt, as if he were trying to convince himself.

"Oh yeah?" I looked at him critically. "Have you had a good time having sex with rich people and renting expensive hotel rooms?"

To my surprise, Spock bent his head and his face started to turn a dark green. "I have only had intercourse with four people, including yourself."

"What?" I nearly fell back as I tried to understand what he was saying. "You're a sex professional. How do you not have sex?"

Spock shook his head. "I have solicited meetings with potential persons. However, I did not have intercourse with them because they were not mentally compatible with me."

Now that made sense, in a rather twisted way. "So who did you have sex with?"

"Prostitutes," Spock said matter-of-factly.

"Prostitutes?" I repeated slowly. The being before me was getting stranger by the minute.

He nodded. "So I could learn their techniques. I needed to learn how to please another being sexually."

I thought about this for a moment. Not all people wanted their partners to have sexual experience beforehand. So why did he bother to learn without knowing who this partner would be?

Or did he know? I stared at him. I thought some more about him. Then my mind, without conscious direction, turned to remembering what I had been like before I dated Gary. Now, I understood. "You were preparing for me."

Spock raised his eyes to mine hesitantly. "Yes. After two years, I came to the conclusion that you were most likely the only being compatible with me."

"I was going to marry Gary," I protested. Then I shook my head and tried to clear it. I didn't want to think about the shape Spock and I would be in now if that had actually happened. It was too depressing.

But my companion put my mind at ease in his own Vulcan way. "There was a 75 percent chance that if you did, the marriage would not last a year. So I prepared even after hearing about your plans. At that point, it was best to do that and hope you would be free by the time my pon farr was upon me."

"And here we are. We both got lucky." I shook my head in amazement. "I'm sure your equations didn't account for my stubborn streak. I would have stuck by him if we were committed, no matter how bad the pain was. Hell, I considered it when I walked in on him and Rand."

"I prefer to believe that your sense of self preservation would have not allowed that to happen. But I agree, it is fortuitous that your discovery happened before your ceremony. It allowed for a quick separation, and for me to aid in your recovery." Spock examined my face and seemed satisfied that my 'recovery' was progressing adequately.

But after a few moments, his gaze felt too sharp. I began to worry that he'd see inside me, to the parts even I didn't like. So I changed the subject. "So if you aren't really a prostitute, what do you do for money and how did you build that reputation of yours?"

Spock turned green again. "I have been redesigning starship engine parts to make them more efficient and selling them to Starfleet. Since the admirals I sold the parts to wanted me back among them, they were willing to lie and say that I had had intercourse with them and that they had seen me with various media celebrities."

I whistled softly and then chuckled softly. "Now that sounds more like the boy I remember. But you just blew the rumor that Vulcans do not lie."

Spock inclined his head, acknowledging his reputation. "It was an adequate way to make the money I needed as well as keep my connections with Starfleet." Then he paused before sitting a little straighter. "And I did not lie. Admiral Nogura and Admiral Pike did."

I chuckled, but that died quickly as he stopped speaking. The way he talked about all of this, the hope he had in his voice, drew me to him. I touched his face gently with the palm of my hand. Somehow, I had to reassure him that his hope wasn't in vain. I would help him in his crisis.

Yeah, I had the sneaking suspicion that it would change me for life. But still, here I was, getting to know him, and finding him...fascinating. And quite worthy of the attention I was paying him. At the moment, I would do anything to be able to watch him for the rest of my life.

And as far as how we had gotten to this point...I had just about forgiven him for the deception. Hell, he had tried to keep me out of the situation. But fate had other plans.

Hell, he was a unique being. Maybe, by some fluke of the universe, there was only one person he could mate with correctly.

It was certainly beginning to look that way. I could only hope he found me worth all his preparation.

Damn, I was beginning to feel like a nervous groom again. But this time, I ended up in some strange arranged marriage. Arranged by fate, arranged by genetics.

And, although part of me wanted it, I didn't know if it would work. But I had to try, for his sake.

But something still bothered me about how we had arrived at this point.

"Did you create the reputation to trick me?" I asked with a sharp tone. Disapproval. I didn't want him thinking I was only attracted to promiscuous beings. For everyone knew that Vulcans were not promiscuous-or they put up a good act. The separation rate for marriages was extremely low. Maybe the pon farr, and the mental compatibility issue had something to do with that.

Spock shook his head. "To draw people to me. Of course, pretending to be a prostitute created some difficulties. I drew some unwanted people. But it also drew beings I would not have considered otherwise. So I was able to search in diverse groups for the being who would allow me to let you be. But that person, if he or she exists, was not to be found."

I sighed empathetically. I might not know what pon farr was like, but I did understand the search for the right person. I had been looking all of my life with little success until I landed on the Enterprise and Gary started to look my way. Part of me had thought it ended with Gary.

Part of me knew better before I even proposed marriage.

But Spock was nothing like Gary. Or was he?

Not knowing why I did it, I leaned in to kiss him softly. As I did, I knew I was treading on dangerous ground. For some reason, I was willing to end my search right here, with this being.

If I could trust him.

In my gut, I knew this was the reason Spock had spent four years trying to find someone to replace me. It wasn't because he found me unacceptable. It was because I might find him so. He knew I needed someone by my side that I trusted.

He was Starfleet through and through, even without the patch on his shirt. It was drilled into the cadets from day one that the ship's well-being depended on the captain's well-being. He knew that being proposed to by a total stranger could threaten the relationship between me and the rest of the ship.

And then there was the rule that had been in place when Spock had started his search. The one that had recently changed. The one that had led me to consider marrying Gary, and nearly going through with it.

Was that the reason I was suddenly back on Spock's list of potential mates? Is that why he was willing to set aside all of his objections to mating with me? Because he could now join me on the ship and try to foster a relationship as well as a marriage?

But before I could consider that thought further, Spock kissed me back. His lips pulled gently at mine, and warmed them, warmed me in ways I didn't know existed before he walked into my life. I was instantly lost in the feel of him.

He took advantage of my distraction to give us both what we wanted. Before I knew what was happening, Spock pulled me off the coffee table and into his arms. He kissed me deeply as his hands caressed my body, setting fires across my skin. As I burned, my clothes disappeared. Then his were gone. And the fire he set off in me turned into an inferno as the feel of his hot skin stoked my lust.

Then, he pulled me up and before I could make sense of it, I was over him and inside him. Groaning, all I could do was thrust. I had no control. It felt as if I was a puppet and he was pulling the strings.

Not that I wanted anything else at that point. It felt too good to stop. And when I looked into his eyes, his intense gaze told me that he was also exactly where he wanted to be.

All too soon, I came in him with a roar. Our orgasms, within seconds of each other, shook the couch so hard that I thought it was going to tip over. But I couldn't bring myself to care as I collapsed on him and almost instantly fell asleep.

I woke up a couple hours later to find him still sleeping in his position half-beside, half-under me. He looked so serene, so young, that I could almost forget that he was on the verge of being rocked by a biological cycle that could kill him.

Unless he mated, both mentally and physically.

Hold it! Why didn't he?

I had told him that I was more than willing to help him out. But we had had ordinary sex. I was sure I'd have known if he touched the link between us. I had felt it when it formed. Hell, my hand had felt it for days afterward.

But I hadn't felt anything like it this time. He had done nothing to help calm that monster growing within him.

Why? I knew he had tried to do me the favor of finding someone else. But we both knew he no longer had that choice.

So what had made him push his needs aside when he could have satisfied me and helped himself at the same time? Was he being polite? Did he want to perform some ceremony? I shook my head as I stared at his face. After four years, I would have just wanted it all over with. And in his face, I had seen a tiredness that made me think he wanted the same.

It was then that Spock opened his eyes to my puzzled expession. After a moment, he reached up to touch my face and said, "You were nearly trapped in a trustless relationship with Mr. Mitchell. I will not do that to you. I would rather die than force you into a marriage where you are in constant doubt of your spouse."

Damnit, he had somehow read my mind! His invasion of my privacy was infuriating, but almost immediately, I pushed away my anger. I had to tell him that it was okay. I had to convince him to take what he needed from me.

But I couldn't reassure him. In fact, I couldn't say anything. Because he was right. All of his deceptions and all of his lies had made me suspicious of his every move.

I suddenly felt like I had escaped the frying pan that was Gary Mitchell, only to fall straight into Spock's fire.

end part 8