The BLTS Archive - Nightmares
#1: The Kiss
by Leone (tarrashenna@yahoo.com)

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Disclaimer: Paramounts, not mine. No infringement intended. No money
is made.

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The kiss had been an accident.

They were on an away mission, just the two of them. They were
gathering food on an uninhabited planet, while Voyager was being
repaired. They'd had to take a shuttle because of atmospheric
disturbances.

The planet was beautiful. Tom had been slightly distracted, so he
didn't see where he was going as he walked over to talk to the
Commander. That was why he stumbled when he reached him, falling into
the other man. Chakotay caught him and had taken a step back to
prevent them from falling to the ground. The Commander supported the
younger man until he'd regained his balance.

When Tom straightened, his lips had brushed over the Commander's. Both
men stiffened and pulled apart to look at each other. They'd both been
surprised at the impact of that brief contact. Then the Commander
turned around and walked away without a word.

Now, several hours later, Tom sat outside the shuttle, watching the
lake nearby and thinking about the kiss. He'd felt a spark of
electricity when his lips brushed the Commander's and arousal had
kicked him in the stomach, swift and shockingly strong. The Commander
apparently hadn't noticed, thank the gods. It was bad enough that he'd
accidentally kissed the man. He didn't want to think about what would
have happened if the Commander had discovered how that kiss had
affected him.

Not that Tom had been surprised by his reaction. Hell, just the sound
of the Commander's voice was enough to arouse him.  Tom could usually
control his physical attraction to the Commander when they were on
duty. He just had to concentrate on something else. Like flying
Voyager. It was a lot harder to control when he was off duty, or alone
with the man. Like now.

Tom cursed silently. How the hell he was going to keep control over
his attraction towards the handsome First Officer for the three days
they were going to stay on this planet, he didn't know. He cursed
again. It was going to be damn near impossible.

---

Chakotay stood between the trees by the lake, thinking about the kiss.
He knew that it had been an accident. But he couldn't seem to forget
the feeling of Tom's lips brushing against his own. Or the heat of
Tom's body under his hands where they'd flown to steady the younger
man as he stumbled. It had taken all of Chakotay's self control not to
deepen the kiss. Even the brief contact with Tom's lips had been
electrical.

Chakotay groaned when his body reacted to the memory of that kiss.
Spirits, he had it bad. He'd had to turn away from Tom, otherwise he'd
have done what they both wanted and made love to the man. He'd seen
the arousal in Tom's eyes before he turned away.

Chakotay cursed audibly. It was apparent that Tom was as attracted to
him as he was to Tom, but a relationship between them would be a bad
idea. He was the First Officer. He couldn't have a relationship with a
member of the crew, especially a member of the bridge crew. No matter
how much he wanted to.

Chakotay sighed. He very much wanted to have a relationship with Tom
Paris, but since he couldn't, he might as well stop thinking about it
and get back to work. Chakotay sighed again, then turned and headed
back to the shuttle.

---

Tom looked up when he heard Chakotay approach. He'd managed to get his
emotions and his body under control while the older man was gone, and
now he rose calmly as his XO returned.

"We better get back to work. It'll be dark in a few hours," Chakotay
said.

Tom nodded wordlessly and the two men began to gather food.         A
few hours later they'd finished and were sitting at the fire they'd
made outside the shuttle. Both were quiet, lost in their own thoughts,
until Chakotay got up. "I'll turn in. Don't stay up too long. We'll
start early tomorrow. I'll wake you at 0600," he said as he moved to
the shuttle.

Tom looked up. "All right. Good night, Commander," he said quietly.

"Good night, Lieutenant," Chakotay said and entered the shuttle.

Tom watched his Commander enter the shuttle and sighed quietly. He
knew that he wasn't going to get much sleep tonight. It was gonna be
hell with the Commander so close. *Hmm.  Maybe I should just sleep out
here,* Tom thought. *Gotta be easier if we're not in the same room.*
With that in mind, Tom went into the shuttle and grabbed a blanket.
When he turned to go outside again he was stopped by the Commander,
who asked, "What are you doing?"

Tom looked over at the Commander, who was lying on the only bed in the
shuttle. "I move around in my sleep a lot, so I'm gonna sleep outside.
I don't want to disturb you."

Chakotay looked at Tom. "You wouldn't disturb me. I sleep like the
dead."

Tom sighed quietly. "Yeah, well. I've also been told that I talk in my
sleep," he said smoothly.

Chakotay lifted an eyebrow, clearly amused. "I see. You don't want me
to hear any secrets."

*You don't know how right you are,* Tom thought, but all he said was,
"That's right. I prefer to keep my secrets to myself. Good night,
Commander."

Chakotay laughed quietly. "Good night, Lieutenant."

Tom walked out and lay down beside the fire. Soon he was fast asleep.

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The End