CHAPTER 17

Hoshi had taken out her anger at herself on Kleth. He was a convenient target, and so she had berated him about minor infractions by the crew, sloppy repair work on the navigational console, and the quality of the gagh in the mess hall.

Kleth had stood stoically through the entire tirade. When she finished, he opened his mouth for the first time since he had entered her cabin. "Where is Ma'Com?" he asked.

Instead of answering, she had screamed at him, picking up a flagon of blood wine on the table and hurling it at him. Kleth had made a tactical retreat and went in search of Reed. He found him at the first place he had checked -- the scout ship.

Now standing outside her cabin with Reed, Kleth said warningly, "You are to share these quarters with her each evening. Do not make me hunt you down again."

Reed had no choice but to push the chime and wonder if what sounded like rattling chains was Kleth laughing at him as the Klingon walked away down the corridor.

There was no answer to the chime. She must really be in a bad mood. Kleth had told him that she had been yelling, but now there was utter silence. With every woman he'd known, from his mother and his sister to a string of female acquaintances, the silent treatment was an indication of displeasure of monumental proportions.

Maybe he'd be lucky and find she had locked the door. That way he could honestly tell Kleth that she wouldn't let him in.

Thumbing the button, he was surprised when the door slid open. He took a cautious step into the cabin, looking around for Hoshi. She wasn't behind the desk, which was still covered with padds, and the bed was empty, not that he expected to find her there.

Then he heard the sound of running water from beyond the closed bathroom door.

Moving quietly, he went to the door and opened it. Klingons were much less modest than Humans, and the bathroom reflected that. When Reed looked in, he was greeted by the sight of a totally naked Hoshi. Her back was to him as she stood in the shower, which was only a sunken area on the floor where two bulkheads formed a corner.

Her hair was in an untidy bun on top of her head, a few strands falling free to trail down her neck. He held his breath, watching the play of muscles on her back as she raised one arm to drag a washcloth over it, and his desire kindled immediately.

Congratulating himself on taking off his outer armor the last time he was in the cabin, Reed quietly removed the rest of his clothing as Hoshi, unaware of him, continued lathering soap on her body. Her eyes were shut as he silently crossed the distance between them and stopped close enough for her to feel the heat of his body. His head tilted to one side, he saw her eyes fly open as she registered the unexpected presence.

She spun around to face him. "How dare--" she started to say, but her foot slid out from under her, and only his quick reflexes kept her from falling. He grabbed her arms and pulled her up, his mouth dropping down forcefully on hers.

He felt her struggle, trying to pull away, and he pinned her arms between them. He ran one of his hands around her back, caressing her waist before pulling her closer to him as he continued to kiss her.

Her struggles abruptly ceased, and he felt her body voluntarily mold against his as she moaned against his lips. No longer fighting him, she urged him even closer, lifting one leg to wrap around his upper thigh.

He moved so that her back was against a bulkhead. His consuming urgency to fill her left no room for finesse. But between the slippery floor and the need to hold her in place, he couldn't get enough friction to satisify either of them.

He carried her unprotesting out of the bathroom to the bed. They fell together, and he was careful not to crush her underneath him. Burying his face in her neck, he took her wildly, and she responded.

He wondered vaguely if he was hurting her, but she started to keen, urging him on with her legs wrapped around him. He was transfixed by her expression of rapture as she met her release, and it pushed him over the edge.

Hoshi was in a subdued mood as they ate dinner in her cabin. They were having what the mess hall was serving, and neither she nor Reed seemed to have much of an appetite, despite the fact that none of the food was moving.

She toyed with her fork, pushing stray pieces of Klingon stew around her plate, as she gave only half her attention to Reed's description of Tucker's appalled reaction to the state of the Falcon's engine.

"I think I can talk him into lending a hand in engineering tomorrow," Reed said before he took a bite of the tough bread that accompanied the stew.

"That would be good," Hoshi said dispiritedly, her thoughts elsewhere as he continued to talk.

The interlude in the shower and later the bed had only served to reinforce the differences between Matthew and Reed. And she really should stop thinking of him by his last name, she told herself snidely. They'd shared her bed, not to mention the shower.

Matthew had never taken her like that. He'd always been gentle, almost worshipful of her body. He had respected her and her wishes.

She had been surprised by Malcolm's unexpectedly appearance in her shower, and had been shocked by his aggressiveness. She had instinctively started to fight him, but his unrestrained ardor had quickly quelled her opposition. She had wanted him.

She still wanted him, physically, but she also wanted something more.

Once again her mind took up its unwelcome comparisons. Matthew would find some way, every day, to tell her he loved her. She doubted the word "love" was in Malcolm's vocabulary.

"What?" she asked, aware that Malcolm had asked her something and was waiting for an answer.

"I said, 'Are you all right?'"

She looked up to meet his eyes, and was startled to see the concern there.

"I'm fine. Just not very hungry," she said, looking back down at her plate.

"I wasn't asking about your appetite," he said softly.

She put down the fork she'd been toying with. "I'm fine," she said again.

"Hoshi..."

She could hear the uncertainty in his voice and refused to look at him.

"Hoshi, I didn't...when we...I didn't hurt you, did I?"

Her head shot up at that question and she stared at him where he sat across the table from her. He was leaning forward, the concern she had seen moments before magnified. But there was something else -- regret, perhaps?

"Why?" she asked

He shook his head slightly. "I didn't mean to hurt you," he began to apologize, and she realized he didn't understand what she was asking.

"You didn't hurt me," she said softly and saw the tension in his face start to fade. She forced herself to keep going, to ask about what she really wanted to know. "Why are you concerned that you might have hurt me?"

When Malcolm tore his gaze away, her heart dropped. Her mind supplied a number of cruel reasons why he didn't want to hurt her. Maybe he was having a hard time reconciling his intimacy with her in relation to his duty to Starfleet, or maybe he believed Kleth might come after him if he hurt her. Or maybe he just thought she wouldn't give in so easily next time.

With these ideas chasing each other around in her head, the words that did come out of his mouth weren't the ones she expected him to say.

"Hoshi," he said, "I don't ever want to do anything to hurt you."

She watched as he lifted his eyes to hers, and the intensity in those blue-grey orbs was a brilliant, all-consuming cold fire. She was barely aware of him moving, coming to kneel by her side, as she kept her eyes locked on his.

"I don't think I could bear it if anything ever happened to you," he said, "least of all if I were the one responsible. I care about you, Hoshi."

That was probably as close to love as he could come, she thought resignedly, and couldn't think of anything to say. When his lips came to possess hers, she didn't struggle at all.