Disclaimer: Star Trek and all associated characters are not mine.

Thank you spocklovescats for beta assistance. All mistakes are mine.

Chapter 8

"God, I've missed your mouth on me."

Kirk, on his knees, smiled against Mara's smooth thigh and bit lightly. She was sitting in her usual spot aboard Delilah's bridge, but with her splayed legs resting atop his shoulders. Her shirt hung open and her bra was pushed upward, spilling her full, heavy breasts forward. Her pants and panties lay on the floor where he had tossed them. With her eyes closed, lips parted and head thrown back she presented a delectable picture.

After his confession to her, Kirk had needed to withdraw from Mara. He did not shut her out. Instead, he had told her he needed to find personal closure for that incident and to do so he required some solitude. Bless her; she did as he asked. This morning when he had woken with his body curved into hers, he knew that he was truly ready to move forward.

If she'd missed having his mouth on her, Kirk had missed having it there. Until today, he had never considered that he could miss the taste of Mara. He knew he longed for her companionship, and the many facets of her personality. He loved how she could run hot and then cold within seconds. Kissing her this morning had opened this new awareness. He wondered if his newly lessened emotional baggage was the cause—he had not felt this way when they kissed on Deneva.

With less than an half hour to their destination, Kirk decided he wanted to satisfy his desire, an impulsive want to say the least. He had run his lips over much of her body with the exception of one place. It was driving her crazy. "Have I ever told you how hot you look when you're this desperate, Mara?"

"No," she gasped out as his fingers stroked her wet neither lips.

"Then let me rectify that mistake right now." He slipped two fingers into the hot slick opening and she shuddered. "Your eyes when open become bands of liquid gold, your skin flushes with the merest hint of colour and your voice turns into a sexy purr."

Mara gripped the arms of her chair and lifted her hips to match the thrusting of his fingers. "Please," she pleaded. "I need your mouth on me."

He placed his lips against her thigh and licked the straight line to the very edge of her pussy.

"Jim," she demanded, taking a fistful of his hair between her fingers.

"I have my mouth on you, Mara. You're gonna have to be more specific."

"Damn you!"

Nibbling on her skin, he added a third finger into her. "The longer you delay, the more you run the risk of arriving at our location before coming. Do you really want to be cranky and frustrated when you see Kali?"

"On... my...clit," she bit out and then moaned as his fourth finger found its way into her body.

Kirk dove headfirst and ran his tongue across the swollen bundle of nerves. He looked up into her face and saw that she was watching him. He smirked and lifted a bit. "Was that so hard?"

"Asshole."

"Your asshole." This time when his mouth fastened on to her, Kirk made sure to nibble, lick and suck at every sensitive spot. As he luxuriated in the taste and scent of her, he promised himself never to let work or life come between them. She came, screaming his name with seven minutes left on the clock.

***SUSU***

Dressed and presentable, Mara was the epitome of professional calm. On the inside, she felt happy and relaxed, a far cry from the tense woman who'd woken up this morning...thanks to Jim and his talented mouth. She had just taken the ship out of warp. On the viewscreen, they could see the binary stars and nothing else. She had never seen anything like it before. Beautiful and deadly, tendrils of energy passed between them, each feeding the other in a dance towards nova.

"I don't think they're here, Jim."

"Just keep heading along the path I plotted, we'll see them eventually."

Mara sighed. Just as she predicted, the gravitational eddies were havoc on Delilah. She had switched to manual piloting, as it was easier for her to avoid the worst of them. They had to shut down non-essential systems and routed all spare power to shields. An even bigger worry for her, were the electromagnetic discharges. They could scramble all systems, leaving them dead and drifting. If she weren't so desperate, she would have recommended turning back.

"There." Jim highlighted a small section of the screen and enlarged it. Two ships, roughly a third of the size of what Enterprise had been, hung in space, their overall shape and sharp edges reminiscent of predatory birds. "Now that we know they're in the area, I'm going to send out my code."

After ten minutes of silence, Mara asked, "What if there's been a regime change?"

Jim looked at her with narrowed eyes. "Don't even think about it!"

"Sorry." He might want to pretend a change could not have occurred, but Mara had met Kali and that was enough to put the thought into her mind.

It was not until their shield integrity dropped by thirty percent that a static-filled answer came. "Follow us," it said.

"Acknowledged," Jim replied.

Mara immediately moved to follow, slightly increasing speed. "This doesn't make sense, where are the other ships?"

"Cloaked."

Startled, she turned to Jim. "When did they implement cloaking tech?"

"A year ago–Kali thought it was prudent."

She thought back to the months when he'd disappeared. "You were with them, weren't you? That's why we couldn't find you?"

He caught her gaze and gave a half-smile. "Can you blame me?"

One of the two ships came to a stop and then the largest ship Mara had ever seen shimmered in to view. The Wai-Shali called it Enkiro, home. Spherical in shape, it even resembled a small planetoid. It was a true work of genius.

After docking and exiting Delilah, two guards, one Tellarite, the other a species unknown to her, walked towards them with carefully measured steps. As she looked into their almost empty eyes, a shiver climbed up her spine. These were killers, plain and simple. Pay them the right amount and they would take out any target. Mara's only comfort—besides Jim of course—were the weapons she carried.

"Welcome to Enkiro, James Kirk and consort," greeted the Tellarite.

Mara fought hard not to roll her eyes. One unfortunate visit and she was relegated to being an extension of Jim.

"Your hospitality is graciously accepted," Jim replied.

"She is waiting for you."

"Thank you."

They walked through the gigantic metallic room, then entered a lift, which took them downward. As they travelled a security beam scanned their bodies. That too was a change from her last visit with the Wai-Shali.

Once the lift opened, they were greeted with a marvel in artificial engineering. This was not simply a massive ship; no, what stood before her was a city meant to mimic a planet-side setting. Buildings, large, small, plain and jewel-toned, were scattered along streets with hover cars and pedestrians. Fountains and trees added a touch of nature, while holographic technology provided the illusion of a sun and clouds. Sometimes when they were close to stable stars, the 'sunlight' was quite real. She had even seen and felt wisps of real rain and had been amazed. As with any city, there were places of commerce, medicine and government. And at the very edge of the city was a trail that lead to a small forest complete with genuine animals.

Built by the Malele race, Enkiro was a last-ditch effort to save their way of life. They knew their planet was dying and had spent over a century building this world-ship. In the hundreds of years that they had roamed the galaxy, their numbers declined and their core values changed. Instead of simply exploring new environments, they would provide exclusive services for a price. Eventually, they could no longer ignore the decline in birth-rate and that was when their then-leader decided to introduce new races into their society. Soon after, they became the Wai-Shali Circle.

Following Jim and attempting not to gawk at the many aliens, half of them unfamiliar, Mara smiled as she thought fleetingly of Nyota Uhura. With her thirst for languages and cultures, she would certainly like it here.

"How do they get so many races to work and live with each other?" she asked. A question she had been too awestruck and in-love to ask the last time she visited.

"Either get them very young and indoctrinate them or break them down to the point that they'll accept you. Though in many instances the people who come here are at the end of their hope, life even, then they end up here and it seems like paradise."

She glanced at her husband, registering the note of bitterness in his voice. She inhaled deeply and hoped he would be okay at the end of her bargaining with Kali.

Eventually, they entered a single-storied building that seemed carved from a gleaming, navy-blue limestone-like material. For such an ordinary building, it was the most important. This was where the Wai-Shali assembly met to create policy or judge a person's guilt. And hidden away from causal observation was an arena where barbaric fights of ascension took place. In some instances, the fights required minimum bloodshed, but for positions of power, only the tal'rok, killing dance, would do. Kali was not the only reason this place gave Mara pause.

At the end of a long hallway, guards stood on either side of an ornate bronze door, carved with Malele mythology. They looked at Mara and Jim but said nothing. Jim took her hand in his and squeezed gently. "Remember what I said about provoking Kali."

"Keep my cool, never give her an easy upper hand."

"And," he prompted.

"Don't threaten, hit, cut or shoot at her." Mara looked up at him with mild annoyance. "I'm not an idiot, you know."

He took a deep breath and asked, "Are you ready?"

"Do I have a choice?"

"There are always choices."

"Not this time."

Together they pushed opened the door, entering into an office filled with streaming light and pale walls. Bold rugs decorated the floor; the walls were dotted with images of nature in violent revolt. Elegantly designed furniture, arranged in a tasteful manner, complimented every aspect of the room.

In the centre of this simple sophistication stood Kali, unlike her surroundings, there was nothing simple about her. As Mara stared into a pair of blazing familiar blue eyes, she could not help but marvel at how one person could give off such an odd combination of self. Kali was beauty, femininity, menace and darkness. The stylish black bodysuit she wore emphasised every lithe muscle on her graceful physique. Blonde hair framed her face and hung along her back. She looked at peace with all that she was and that had to be the scariest thing about her. She lorded over thieves, assassins, and smugglers, but above all else, she was Mara's mother-in-law—because once upon a time Kali used to be Winona Kirk.

"Welcome my son." A tiny frown marred her tech-assisted young-looking face. "I see you haven't learnt your lesson and have resumed your relationship with this woman."

Mara ground her teeth and counted to ten. The last of those happy feelings Jim had invoked within her fled.

A/N: Next chapter will deal with Spock, Uhura, and the politics of Deneva.