Chapter 10



He couldn't believe his eyes, well technically, he couldn't believe his mind. Here he was, sitting with his hands on T'Pol's face, hearing her thoughts echo in his brain.



'You are necessary to me.' What a weighty response. It was possibly the closest acknowledgement to love that a Vulcan could ever express. He choked back the tears that were threatening to well up in his eyes. This was a happy moment, one which shouldn't be spoiled by tears.



Her eyes shut, almost as if she could no longer meet his gaze. Realizing that he had been sitting there holding her face for at least 5 minutes and not spoken or done anything, he moved until he had captured her lips with his.



This kiss held so much more than the previous ones they had shared. It held a promise, a vow of things to come.



As the kiss turned more passionate, he lowered her to the ground. Once all the barriers had been removed from between them, he gathered her up once more in his arms. Her eyes shone with what appeared to be fear.



"Are you alright," he asked, worrying what she had to be fearful about.



"Yes. I am just trying to prepare myself for this," she whispered in response.



It was then that a light bulb went off in his head, and their previous conversation hit him full force. If Vulcans mate for life, and she obviously didn't have a mate, that meant that she had never…oh …



"T'Pol, we can wait. I understand. I would never hurt you; I don't want to hurt you."



"I am acceptable, Jonathan," she said. She moved her hand down to his and raised her first two fingers, gesturing for him to do the same. He imitated the sign, and she pressed her fingers to his. Suddenly, he felt her fully in his mind. He felt her love and nervousness over their situation. But more importantly, he felt the acknowledgement of forever.



Looking into her eyes, he knew that she was his, and he was hers until the end of time. As he saw her gazing back, he knew she felt the same way, even though, he knew she'd argue she didn't feel.



"I'm yours, forever," he whispered, using his free hand to caress her cheek.



"And I am yours," she replied.



He smiled and kissed her again, each drowning in the moment, in forever.









Hoshi sighed into the kiss, relaxing and pulling herself closer to Trip. He tightened his arms around her. His warmth enveloped her and she wrapped her arms around his neck.



Rolling over, she pulled him on top of her.



She groaned when he pulled back.



"Hey, hey, come on now, don't rush," he whispered, his voice huskier than normal.



He traced an invisible line from her ear to her lips and back.



She swallowed and nodded.



He pulled away, but not so far that he couldn't hold her.



Hoshi kicked herself mentally. She had finally gotten Trip to notice her, and she had practically ruined it by being too eager. Of course, she had thought that he would have liked her enthusiasm.



She sighed loudly. Trip looked down at her.



"What's wrong?" he asked, tilting his face down to hers.



She shook her head and looked away, embarrassed.



"Hey, don't pull away. What's wrong?" He placed a finger under her chin and angled her face until her gaze met his.



"It's nothing. I'm sorry I went too fast. I ruined it."



He grinned and then surprised her when he laughed loudly.



Embarrassed even more, she moved to sit up and get away. He stopped her, tightening his grip around her.



"You didn't ruin anything, Hoshi. I just, it's just…"he paused.



She raised her eyebrows in curiosity.



He sighed. "It's just that, I don't wanna screw this up. I've had plenty of women that I thought were special and I ruined it by letting things go so far, so fast. You are too special, and I don't want that to happen." He looked down at her sheepishly. "I just kinda wanna take it slow with you. See where things go, before we go the distance."



She blushed and smiled shyly. She certainly had lucked out with him. "Alright, I'm still a little embarrassed, but I don't know what to say."



"You don't have to say anything. Lets just get some sleep; it's late. We'll see where things take us. Tonight, we just sleep," he said, suppressing a yawn.



"I couldn't agree more," she concurred and buried herself further into his warm embrace.



She leaned her head against his chest, hearing the thump-de-dump of his heart.



Raising her hand, she grabbed his, entwining their fingers.



It wasn't long before she was lulled to sleep by the steady rhythm of his heartbeat, and the comforting knowledge that they were together: just them and starlight.











T'Pol closed her eyes as Jonathan pulled her closer to him. She shivered and pulled the sleeping bag up more around her naked shoulders.



Thinking back on the day, she was almost unable to perceive how things had progressed so far. When they had arrived on the planet, all the sentiments she had had towards Jonathan, had been so deeply repressed, that she had thought they would not interfere with her actions anymore. However, he had changed everything with that first kiss. She would be fooling herself if she said that she wished he had never kissed her, but the subsequent reactions and activities will undoubtedly have consequences further on.



As his breath tickled the nape of her neck she realized just how little she actually cared about the consequences. It was totally illogical for her not to care about them, but right now, she didn't want to be logical, she just wanted to be T'Pol.



Consequences would come later, and they would deal with them, together, just as always.



Here on out, they were together, no matter what the implications of that meant. She was his, and he was hers, from here on out.

And that's just the way she wanted it.

Continued in Chapter 11