Janeway couldn’t sleep; she had awoke after an hour with strange dreams fading to the back of her memory. Pushing the covers aside, she arose and pulled on the matching robe to her nightdress. It was her favourite; the one Mark had given her as a going away gift. The silk was as soft as its peach colour, and she found it comforting against her skin in the darkness.

Picking up the com-pad from her nightstand, that held the Jane Austin novel she had paused at chapter three, Janeway moved to the living area of her quarters.

“Lamplight,” She called before taking a seat on the room’s lounger and tapping the novels page back to life. Tucking her feet underneath the throw rug she was soon lost in the words from another time in another quadrant of space and eventually fell back to sleep with the com-pad novel nestled in her lap. But the dreams returned and her sleep was restless otherwise the noise from the corridor outside her quarters probably would not have disturbed her.

A shaft of light fell across the room, then a footstep...

Immediately alert, Janeway called out, “Who’s there?” No answer came, but she heard breathing. Rising to her feet, ready for a fight, Janeway turned towards the sound. Ignoring the com-pad as it fell to the floor by her bare feet.

“Who’s there?” she called again, making out a dark shape by the door recess, where the lamplight didn’t reach.

As the figure stepped forward into the lamps glow, the light bounced off sandy coloured hair and two blue eyes twinkled.

“Tom!” gasped Janeway, recognising her intruder. “How….?” she began to ask, then shaking her head changed the question, “No why! Have you broken into my quarters, in the middle of the night?”

“I was just looking for someone to talk to,” replied Paris, innocently. “Everyone else is either asleep or on duty.”

“What was wrong with knocking?” Janeway asked sternly.

“I……….I didn’t want to disturb you,” Paris danced from foot to foot nervously. He was out off uniform in shirt and pants and was conscious of Janeway’s flimsy attire.

“So you just sneaked in to what? See if I was asleep.” Janeway folded her arms. “What if I had been?”

“I don’t know, I hadn’t thought that far ahead.” Paris was turning bright pink with embarrassment.

 “Do you do this often, break into peoples quarters while they are asleep?”

“Eh, no……yes, well never your quarters before.” Paris wished the deck would open up and swallow him, or better still an emergency call from Chakotay, anything to get him out of his captains room ‘ell pronto’. “Maybe I should go….”

“Not so fast ensign, now you’re here and I’m awake, you might as well stay. Come!” Janeway beckoned for Paris to follow her, then lead him to the seat beneath her living quarters window. “Sit down and tell me what’s got you prowling Voyagers corridors at night.”

Paris sat gingerly at the edge of the seat, while Janeway sat angled towards him, with one arm across the back of the seat behind his head.

Paris took a deep breath before he spoke. “Nightmares, or at least one nightmare, the same one I’ve had every night since you woke me in sickbay a week ago.”

“I’ve had a few of those myself since our frozen escapade, but recurring dreams usually are an indication that something is wrong. So sit back Mr Paris and tell me all.

As she spoke Janeway gently pushed Paris backwards until he was resting against the seats cushions. Beneath her hand she could feel the tension in Paris shoulders and in his eyes she saw the tiredness he was hiding.

Keeping his eyes averted from Janeway’s, Paris recant his nightmare tail. “It starts with me waking up and finding myself in a photon torpedo coffin. I can hear you giving some kind of a eulogy about me. Realising you think I’m dead I try to move, call out, sit up anything to let you know I’m ok, but I can’t. I can’t move, I’m paralysed. One by one you file past my coffin, saying your goodbyes. I try to, blink my eyes, or breath heavy, something to get your attention, but I can’t. Chakotay puts the lid on my coffin and in the dark I can feel it being moved then shot out into space.

“Tom that’s awful!” Janeway moved closer to Paris, resting a hand on his trembling knee.

“It doesn’t stop there, as I’m floating in space in my coffin, I start to get warmer, as I do, I find I can move again. First my eyes then my head, slowly I move my arm across my chest until I can press my combadge. But it doesn’t work it’s a fake. Panicking I start to scream, and yell. All the time it’s getting hotter in the torpedo tube. Suddenly the coffin starts to fill with smoke, it’s then that I realise the heat is from a sun. A sun you’ve sent my body into to burn up. I start screaming louder, frantically clawing at the coffin’s lid. It’s at that point I wake up. I wake up screaming but for 30 seconds I can’t move. I’m frozen just like back on the moon.”

“Tom!” Janeway moved her arm around Paris shoulders while squeezing his knee affectionately. “It all sounds so silly now,” said Paris, rubbing his hand across tired eyes.

“No Tom, not silly at all, in fact it sounds quite frightening. Have you told anyone else about these nightmares, the doctor, Belanna?”

“I tried to tell Belanna a couple of days ago, but her head was full of engineering problems and I couldn’t make my self heard over them. As for the doctor I don’t think I could talk to him right now.”

“Oh!” said Janeway, concerned. Paris and the doctor were always falling out.

“I think he suspects something about what went on between us down on that ice moon.”

“Dam! Has he said anything to you?”

“No it’s more like what he’s not saying.”

“Perhaps I should have a talk with the good doctor. Mean time what do I do about you. I can’t have you falling asleep at my helm because your tired from your night time rambles.”

“I’ll be ok, just being able to talk to you has helped,” said Paris but not sounding very convincing. “You know my door is always open,” Janeway glanced at the dark doorway to her quarters. “Even when it’s closed.”

Paris managed a small laugh and Janeway felt the heaviness in Paris shoulders ease a little.

“There something else other than the nightmares bothering you isn’t there?” She asked, tentatively, “something that brought you here to my quarters tonight.”

“It’s nothing,” Paris lied.

“I’ll be the judge of that,” said Janeway, her suspicion confirmed.

“It’s just…..I haven’t had a chance to apologise to you for what happened in that cave.”

“You did nothing you need to apologise for,” Janeway smiled and tousled the hair at the nape of Paris neck fondly.

“Yes I did and I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have taken things that far.”

“As I recall I was the one who told you not to stop.” Janeway could see it had been praying on Paris mind.

“Never the less, I’m an officer and a gentleman and I shouldn’t have……. I shouldn’t have taken advantage of you.”

“Nothing happened that I didn’t want to happen,” replied Janeway reassuringly, while reaching up to cup Paris chin in her hand and turn his face towards her. Janeway had always been able to read Paris emotions through his eyes. Right then she saw fear, confusion and pain.

Paris briefly held Janeways gaze before pulling away and standing up. “I think I had better go now,” he said, trying to sound official, then turning to leave. Paris had only taken 4 steps before Janeway’s voice brought him to a halt.

“Tom don’t go…….I’m cold.”

Tom Paris stopped and turned slowly, unsure as to the meaning of her words. As he did Janeway stood and let the dressing gown slip from her shoulders.

The night gown beneath, although long, clung to every sensuous cure and peak of Janeways body, leaving Paris in no doubt as to her intentions.

Moving swiftly Tom enveloped Kathryn in his arms and crushed his lips to her waiting mouth. A mouth that parted hungrily to his probing tongue.

Without words he lifted her off her feet and carried her to the bedroom area. The covers were still thrown back from where she had tried to sleep, but Tom was too busy caressing Kathryn to notice. As he lowered her to the floor again he unhooked the shoulder straps of her nightdress allowing it to drop free from her body, exposing the voluptuous flesh beneath.

Paris paused just long enough to remove his own clothing and reveal his un-tempered arousal before pressing Kathryn into the mattress and his throbbing manhood into her.

Memories of making love to keep warm in the cave arose in both their minds and older memories, of when mutated; Paris had taken Janeway for his mate. He hadn’t known exactly why he had chosen Kathryn until now.

Kathryn moaned deeper and her body shuddered, but Tom didn’t stop, neither did he need any encouragement to continue. The desire to fill Kathryn with his love was over whelming.

Tom rose up at arms length so he cold look down at Kathryn’s muscular, yet sensual body, beneath his. Then with each thrust of his hips, he drove deeper and harder into her. Shafts of ecstasy pulsing through both their body’s, as Tom moved.

“Tom …….Tom please!” Kathryn called out.

But Tom only moved faster in response, making Kathryn arch her back towards him and grip tighter on to his biceps.

Tears formed in Tom’s eyes as he reached the peak of his pleasure. Tears that fell on to Kathryn’s breasts, as his body surrendered to hers. Tears that he kissed away before taking her mouth to his again.

“Kay I love you,” Tom whispered.

“I know,” was all Kathryn said before drawing Tom into another kiss.

Sleep soon came for both of them. In the morning Janeway found Paris gone but she knew one night he would be back.

The End