"I am satisfied, Doctor," I smile; this is high praise coming from a Vulcan. "According to scans you have regained 87% functionality in your lower limbs."

"Yes, thank you," but I'm itching to know, "When can I get back to work?"

"That depends on you. I would like you to take another day off just to be sure, but you may return tomorrow if you wish."

"Thank you, Selar." She nods her head and turns away as I make my way out of Sickbay. It's late and I want to meet Jean Luc to tell him the good news. I haven't seen much of him over the past two days.

We received a distress beacon coming from the gamma sector. When the Enterprise arrived at the location, we found an abandoned Federation shuttlecraft. Data ran a full analysis and scanned the surrounding area of space for aberrant warp signatures. After subsequent investigation and after contacting other Starfleet vessels in the vicinity, it was determined that the occupants of the craft – 4th year Academy Cadets on a routine away mission- had been kidnapped by Pravian Pirates. What we know about the Pravians is very little other than that they are a roguish group of wanderers. They have no real home world, living their entire lives out on spacecrafts. The Enterprise followed the warp trail into the epsilon sector one light year away and easily located the Pravian vessel. To everyone's relief, the Pravian ship was severely outclassed by the Enterprise. Their shields were easily penetrable and the two cadets had thankfully not been harmed. When the cadets were questioned about why they were in the gamma sector, they reported that the navigational array on the shuttle had been malfunctioning. Before they could fix the problem, however, they had been taken by the Pravians who had intended to use them as hostages.

Suffice it to say that in all the hullaballoo with the Pravians coupled with my rigorous physical therapy schedule, Jean Luc and I haven't spoken or seen one another since we got engaged two nights ago.

We're engaged now. I have to keep reminding myself that. But even still, I have butterflies in my stomach on the way to his quarters for dinner. The door slides open easily as I finish entering his code, "Beverly?" I don't think I'll ever get tired of hearing his voice. It's so distinctly Jean Luc and I can never seem to place it. Is it truly English? Is it French? Is it Scottish? It's a wonderful amalgam and every word he says sounds like poetry. For a moment I let myself think about how that voice will sound when he's whispering to our children as he says goodnight.

"Beverly?" I'm snapped from my reverie as his arm slides around my waist. I smile, welcoming myself into his arms.

"Where are you?"

"I'm thinking."

"About?"

"You."

"What about me?"

"Your voice. How it will sound when you're reading Goodnight Moon to our children before you tuck them in."

"Goodnight Moon?"

"An old Earth children's book."

He smiles, "I can't wait." Our eyes lock and we mold into each other, our lips fitting together in a glorious kiss. Unlike the first time I kissed him, I'm nearly healed now. Now I am able to stand next to him and to hold him properly against me. I'm able to feel every inch of his body as he cradles me into him. I start to deepen the embrace, but he pulls away and I let out a small moan at the loss of contact.

"I have something for you." He takes my hand in his and leads me to the sofa. "Wait," he tells me. I see him disappear into the darkness of his bedroom before coming back out with something cradled in his palm.

I'm curious and I don't like surprises, "what is it, Jean Luc?"

He kneels on one knee in front of me and opens what I now discern to be the familiar shape of a box. In that moment my breath catches in my chest. I've never seen anything so exquisite before. It's a ring. The band is made of a beautiful yellow gold and cradled on top is a large diamond flanked by two medium and similarly cut diamonds. On the periphery of the all the stones lie tiny delicately cut emeralds. In the dimmed light of the quarters, the whole ensemble sparkles and reflects prisms that dance along the bulkheads.

Words don't seem to come to me as I marvel at it's splendor, "I..I..it's…"

He's entertained by my speechlessness as he removes the ring from the soft box, "I..uh.. this is going to sound a little foolish…" he trails off and looks down, almost embarrassed.

I tilt his head up to mine, "what is it, Jean?"

There's that crooked smile, "I bought this ring a long time ago."

"Oh?" I raise my eyebrow suggestively, "another woman?"

"No. I bought it after I received my first commission. It's horribly sentimental and sort of pathetic, but I bought it for you."

"For me? But I was with Jack." I'm terribly confused.

"Yes, but you weren't engaged to Jack at the time that I bought it."

"What are you saying, Jean Luc?" He raises himself from his knees to sit close to me on the couch.

"I always hoped that maybe you and Jack would have broken up and then we could have had a chance. I can't even believe that I thought that or that I'm even admitting this! It sounds so scheming looking back on it…"

I'm taken aback. I knew that Jean Luc had been in love with me. He's told me that. But, I had no idea he was that serious back then. We hadn't even been on a date or even kissed at that stage and he'd already bought a ring!

"Well... I thought that the green emeralds would offset your hair… Uh but then you and Jack got engaged and I didn't want to come in the way of that. So, I put this in the back of my drawer and tried to forget about it."

Every time I learn more about Jean Luc's love for me, I can't help but tear up. This wonderful man has loved me with such ferocity since we were young and although we've changed as individuals, his love for me has remained constant. It's so incredibly romantic.

"Well," I goad him and hold out my left hand, "put it on then!"

A broad smile spreads across his face, "it has an inscription on the inside." He says as the ring slides on with a perfect ease.

"What does it say?" I whisper, marveling at how perfect the piece of jewelry looks on my finger. In that moment I am struck and humbled by the symbolism that this ring carries with it. It's an outward expression of something special between two souls.

"It says: Beverly, Mine to Love."

"Yes," is the only word that comes to me in that moment. Yes to him. Yes to a life with him. Yes to loving him. Suddenly, dinner becomes a forgotten entity and my fatigue ebbs away. The love that I have for him is overwhelming. The need to touch him and show him how much I have wanted him is overpowering. In that instant I tear my gaze away from my hand and I climb on to his lap. I said I didn't want heated and frantic, but all of a sudden I can't help it. Greedily I bring my mouth to his and the force with which I kiss him is enough to leave a bruise. I want him.

I feel him quickly respond to my touch and to the moment. I bring my body closer to his, perching myself over his growing arousal. I feel his hands, large and warm, move up from my thighs to my breast. I haven't been touched in a long time and I feel myself respond to him instantaneously.

He pulls away slightly enough to whisper, "not here". He pushes me up off his lap and stands with me. I can't help but be drawn back to him; every single second with my mouth not on his seems like a terrible waste. I've never actually done it before, but trying to walk, kiss, and shed clothing is quite an undertaking. It's messy and frustrating; we keep bumping into the bulkhead between the living room and his quarters.

I start to laugh and in doing so I break our kiss, "one thing at a time," I whisper breathlessly. I've already successfully undone his pants and his uniform jacket was the first casualty. I quickly tear off his undershirt when I stop. He's magnificent. I shouldn't be surprised. I've seen Jean Luc without his clothes on. But, that was always within the context of him being the patient and me being the doctor. Then, I hadn't been looking at him as a lover. But now, I really look at him. I admire the well defined muscles on his chest. I follow the contour of his body down to examine his torso, intrigued by the sharp lines and visible ridges in his rectus abdominis. I can tell he's impatient; I see the growing evidence of his arousal as my gaze follows the V of his hips. But I can't help but stare and admire. I make quick work of his trousers, letting them fall in a pool on the floor. He's looking at me. His gaze hasn't left me since I we got here.

I notice the small things. I notice how he's trembling. I notice his increased respiration rate. He walks towards me, now clad only his Starfleet issue boxers. His pupils are dilated, making his eyes almost completely black. He raises his hands and brushes them tentatively over my arms.

"Is this real?" he utters reverently.

"Yes," I whisper.

That one word is all the encouragement he needs. Before I see him do it, I feel his hands at the hem of my shirt and in an instant it's been pulled away. His touch is reverent as his hands skitter over my bra. I took care this evening to wear the black lace one that he handed me in the bathroom. He smiles in recognition, leaving no detail unnoticed. He's smiling, but only for a second before a higher sense of urgency takes over. The bra falls away, joining his trousers. And soon, my other clothes follow. I complete the act by removing his boxers and in a moment there is nothing between us.

We're standing at a slight distance and all I can do is stare at him. Everything about him is impressive. I can make out the bulging muscles on his thigh, but those aren't what I'm focusing on. Yes, I sigh happily and smile, Jean Luc is a very impressive man. I unconsciously lick my lips and in doing so I snap the last bit of his self control.

In one fluid movement I'm in his arms again and he's pushing me towards his bed. I know insentiently that I'm going to be taken for a wild ride. His body covers me and his arousal feels almost painful as it's pressed against my thigh. Any other man would have immediately gone for the gold. But Jean Luc wants to wait. He's trained himself to be controlled and his restraint in all other areas in his life is just as evident here in the bedroom. He wants me, but he wants this to be for me as well. That in itself is incredibly erotic. His hands are everywhere; he's memorizing every single centimeter of my skin with his fingertips.

His touch is soft and delicate as he moves over my breasts. His mouth follows and he moves to kiss down my chest and just then I feel his hands move further and further. I don't need any more preparation. I want to give him what he needs but I also need to receive what I need – which is him inside of me.

"Jean Luc!" I cry out. I try to tell him that I just want him and that I don't need anything more, but he's too fast and in a second I feel his mouth on me. I cry out and my back arches involuntarily. I've never felt anything like this before. His mouth is soft, but demanding as he drives me closer and closer to a state of nirvana. I keep trying to tell him to stop that I don't want to come without him, but I'm too late as my world fades to white and heat spreads throughout every cell in my body. I'm not even in control of my own senses as my frame sags against the mattress and all I can do is shake through the after currents. I feel my heart beat painfully in my chest. I sense his lips kissing up my thigh, over the soft skin of my stomach and back up to me, "Now!" I want him. I want to feel him. I want his body to be part of my own.

He doesn't need any more encouragement as he positions himself at my entrance. Every nerve in my body is hyper vigilant and every touch is erogenous. But when I feel him hovering before me, I shout out again and buck against him. The sensation reaches an otherworldly level as I feel him push through, thoroughly stretching long dormant tissues past their tested limit. I gasp and he stops for a moment, frightened that he's hurt me in some way. I quickly do away with his notion with a simple command, "move". It's all the impetus he needs as he drives into me again and again. I'm not usually this vocal, but tonight I can't help but whimper and groan. His breathing is erratic against my neck. The feeling of him being a part of me is something deeply transcendent. I catch a quick glimpse of the ring on my finger and I am reminded that this is not just the joining of two bodies, but it is the complete realization of something metaphysical and fated.

Our mutual climax takes us both by surprise. I feel myself contracting all around him. The muscles in my legs and torso mirror the undulations of those that surround that part of him. I feel a rush of heat as he deposits part of himself inside of me. I cry out, but the walls do not hear this cry as it is swallowed in his kiss.

His breathing and heart rate begin to normalize and I feel him soften and pull away. I am loathe to lose him, however, so I hold his body on top of my own until the urge to fully fill my lungs becomes unbearably strong. He senses my need and pulls away, but in doing so he keeps me against him and cradles me close.

It strikes me that this is going to be our life. The wetness evident between my thighs reminds me that he is now fully mine and that I am fully his. As I lay here, I can't help but be excited.

"I love you," I whisper as I kiss his chest.

Tomorrow we'll tell our staff that we're leaving. Tomorrow we will reach Earth and resign our commissions. Tomorrow brings it's own troubles and conflicts, but for tonight I am satisfied to bask in the sensation of being loved, desired, and fully satisfied.