Title:
Propositions
Author: Whoa Nellie ([email protected])
Series: TNG
Rating:
NC-17
Codes:
P/V
Summary:
After the destruction of the Enterprise E, the Picards must make choices about
their future. This story is a follow-up
to the Whoa Nellie TNG story Mithras.
This story was originally posted to ASC August 7, 2008 and occurs in the
Whoa Nellie universe "Reasons of the Heart" timeline, accepting all
TNG canon through the movie "Insurrection" while adding Vash (from
the TNG episodes 'Captain's Holiday' and 'Qpid') onboard as the ship's chief
archaeologist and a post Endgame Chakotay onboard the Enterprise as ship's
anthropologist.
As
always: Paramount owns all the marbles. We just have a lot more fun playing
with them.
Feedback
is always appreciated, posted or e-mail.
Whoa
Nellie's Romance Star Trek Fan Fiction Stories
http://whoanellie.fortunecity.com
Propositions
In the social science building at
Starfleet Academy, Archaeology Councilmember Vash Picard sat behind the desk of
her office. It had only been three
months since she and Jean-Luc had returned to Earth after the destruction of
the Enterprise. Her office was crammed
with half-unpacked boxes and it had taken her nearly an hour to find the
references she wanted for the lecture on pictographic languages that she was
preparing. She paused for a moment at
the unexpected ping against the window behind her. Hearing it again, she got up from the chair and went to open the
window. The sight of Jean-Luc in full
uniform standing below her window casually leaning against a tree bouncing a
few pebbles in his open palm caused her to laugh. "There's this new-fangled invention called a door."
"I wasn't in the mood to
run the gauntlet of cadets I'd have to go through to get to Professor Legs'
office door," he offered in explanation.
Vash rolled her eyes at his use
of a moniker bestowed on her by a couple of male students while she was guest
lecturing for Professor Switzer at The Hawking Institute for Interstellar
Sciences. Unbeknownst to the two young
knaves, Jean-Luc had overheard the remark and had taken great delight in
teasing her with it ever since. "I
have not heard of any Starfleet cadet calling me that and I guarantee they
wouldn't dare say it with you in earshot."
"No, they certainly would
not." Picard bounced the small
pebbles in his hand. Vash was a
beautiful and vivacious woman. He knew
well the effect his wife's presence had on men of all ages. "But, they don't have to. Having once been a cadet myself, one of the
more undisciplined, loud-mouthed, cocky ones, I can guarantee you the sobriquet
has been used for you and more than likely preceded by the words 'hot
damn'."
"Since you're standing amid
the flowers and shrubs throwing rocks at my office window in a very uncaptainly
display of delinquency, I'm going to assume that your next posting is not the
commandant of Starfleet Academy," she quipped before chiding. "And be careful, Boothby let me pick
out the exact color of impatiens I wanted around that tree."
"They don't compare to you,
the most beautiful flower on the planet," he bantered suavely while openly
appraising her.
The adulation was completely
over the top; still her heart skipped a beat at the glint in his eyes, his
barely-there smile and the sound of his bedroom baritone. "So, is there a reason for your
regression to randy cadet?"
"Why don't you climb down
from your ivory tower and find out?"
The dare was delivered with a decidedly wolfish undertone.
"I have a lecture on
deciphering pictographic languages I have to finish." She leaned out the window a little further
looking down and then back at him.
"And it's a good ten feet from the window ledge to the ground."
"You could give that
lecture in your sleep and I'm sure it's not the first time you've climbed out a
window," he taunted playfully.
Dropping the pebbles, he dusted his hands. "I'll catch you."
"The last time I snuck out
a window I wasn't wearing a couture silk dress suit with Rigelian leather
pumps," she gestured to the sapphire blue silk suit that she was wearing.
"I'm the fellow who paid
for the couture suit and Rigelian leather pumps. Come on down, we're going to play hooky for the afternoon. I have something I want to show you."
"I've already seen that,
Johnny," she retorted impishly as she slipped out of her shoes.
Her off-colored innuendo
signaled his victory even before she tossed her shoes down to the ground next
to him. With the swift assurance that
comes only from practice, she climbed out the window to gracefully perch
herself on the edge of the sill. Seeing
her expectant expression, he moved to stand directly under her and she began to
climb down. "Hot damn,
indeed," he marveled quietly to himself his current position offering him
a delightful view. Enjoying the way her
skirt molded itself to her and the perfect roundness of her backside, he
reached up to span her waist with his hands and gently lower her to the
ground. When she turned in his arms to
face him he dropped a quick kiss on her lips before she could say
anything. Retrieving her shoes, he
knelt in front of her and slipped the first elegant pump on her foot. The shapely length of leg proved too much of
an irresistible lure. After placing the
second shoe on her foot his fingertips slid from her ankle up the curve of her
calf to the back of her knee.
Inhaling sharply, Vash clutched
Jean-Luc's shoulder for balance as a shiver ran through her at his teasing
touch. "I'm sure there are more
secluded spots on campus much better suited for a tryst."
"Yes, there are," he
chuckled. He stood and reached for her
hand, guiding her onto the sidewalk.
"But we're actually headed for the Kirk."
..
Sitting comfortably in her chair
onboard the Kirk, Vash watched Jean-Luc's hands expertly move over the
controls, smoothly piloting the Delta Flyer-class shuttle. "So, where are we running off to?"
"Utopia Planitia Fleet
Yards," he answered. "You're
aware that Starfleet has been planning an expedition toward the Delta Quadrant,
a convoy of at least three ships, a large one like a Galaxy-class, a science
vessel and a military escort."
From her position behind and to the left of him, she
looked out over his shoulder at the stars racing by the window. "Beverly seemed very intrigued by the
idea when Deanna and she talked about it before. She referenced a generational ship that Voyager encountered in
the Delta Quadrant. Starfleet brass
felt that several ships of mostly married couples and families could set out on
an expedition of infinite length. From
what I recall, the focus would be on pure exploration and first contacts. She called it an interstellar Federation
colony that would stay in touch using the data stream transmissions that they
used to communicate with Voyager."
"Beverly has accepted
command of the research/medical ship."
Carefully navigating his way into the shipyards, he pointed to the ship
directly in front of them. "Captain
Beverly Crusher's ship the USS Pasteur."
Thrilled for her good friend,
she couldn't help but quip, "Chakotay has always seemed to covet the role
of captain's wife."
"He can only hope to revel
in it the way you do, chere," he teased.
The next ship to come into view was
slightly larger than the Pasteur with a harder edge to her. Vash surmised, "I take it that is the
military escort."
"The USS Titan under the
command of Captain William T. Riker."
Picard was unable keep the pride in his former first officer out of his
voice. He deliberately piloted the
flyer alongside the ship to keep her windows full with the Titan until the last
possible moment.
"Mother pussbucket," Vash gasped at the
sight of the enormous ship emerging from behind the Titan. The ship was easily one of the largest
Starfleet vessels Vash had ever seen, combining the size and grandeur of the
galaxy class with the sleek lines of a sovereign class. Standing up from her chair, she moved down
to stand beside Jean-Luc, her hand resting on his shoulder. She inhaled sharply when she read the name
and registry number across the saucer section NCC-1701-F USS Enterprise.
"The Enterprise F the first
of the Enterprise class designed for deep space exploration, to boldly go where
no one has gone before," Picard announced, delighting in his wife's
obvious astonishment. "I keep
telling people there are plenty of letters in the alphabet."
Vash knew it wasn't their home
yet she felt a rush of elation to see the Enterprise rise like a phoenix from
the ashes. "Is it possible for us to go aboard?"
"She's still a number of
months away from launch but all life support and environmental controls are up
and running so a limited tour is possible." With her reaction being exactly what he had hoped for, he opened
a channel and hailed the vessel, "Enterprise, this is the Kirk requesting
permission to dock."
"Enterprise to Kirk,
permission granted to dock in shuttlebay four.
Welcome aboard."
..
The decks and corridors of the
vast ship seemed uninhabited except for the occasional small group of engineers
working on various ship systems. Picard
led Vash onto the deserted bridge, which was illuminated only by the emergency
working lights. "It seems no one
is working up here at the moment."
"It looks like a much
larger version of the bridge on the Enterprise E." Vash surveyed the surrounding stations while
making her way down to the command chair.
"In consideration of this
ship's emphasis on deep space exploration, more room was allotted for science
stations on the bridge," he explained.
He noticed the way she cautiously regarded the command chair. It gave him the perfect opening to discuss
why he brought her here. With a chuckle
he teased, "now you've never been shy about making yourself at home in my
command chair before."
Had she heard him right? Startled, she turned to face him. "Your command chair?"
"Her center seat has been
offered to me in a proposal that also included you heading up the archaeology
department onboard," he replied as he made his way down to stand in front
of her.
"You told them yes
right?"
"I told them several
things, one of which was that I needed to discuss the different options with my
wife." He took her hand and kissed the back of it. "This is an extended deep space
mission."
"Explore places no human
has ever seen, now who can resist an offer like that?" She settled herself comfortably into the
command chair. "I must admit that
I'm surprised. I half-expected
Starfleet Command to hold you down and pin admiral insignia on you."
"They did attempt it; in
fact, the original proposal was for me to command this mission as Admiral
Picard. Of course that would put
someone else in the Enterprise's center seat and all I could hear was James Kirk
telling me 'don't let them promote you... don't let them transfer you... don't
let anything take you off the bridge of that ship'. I told them that I would only consider commanding the mission as
the captain of the Enterprise. They
acquiesced," he admitted with a wry smile.
"Speaking of James Kirk,
what about your favorite toy down in Shuttlebay Four?" she inquired,
letting her hands glide over the armrest panels.
"She'll be coming along,
but all of the shuttles will be Delta Flyer-class," he replied. He started making his way around the bridge
on an impromptu inspection of the progress made since his first visit several
days ago. "There's no reason to
take along shuttles that were completely insufficient for Voyager during her
time in the Delta Quadrant. The Delta
Flyer-class shuttles are going to be the standard for deep space exploration
missions and this expedition will be the first to carry a full complement of
the Delta Flyers on all of the ships."
"This chair is quite
comfortable and very spacious," she remarked off-handedly, recognizing
aspects of his 'Captain Picard' demeanor surfacing.
"Good to know since I will
being spending a great deal of time in it." He briefly checked several consoles, pleased with the ship's
progress.
The sight of him on the bridge,
the aura of power and masculine virility that were part of his commanding
presence never failed to create butterflies in her stomach. She murmured, "You're where you
belong."
"Hmmm?" he turned and
headed back toward her.
"You belong on the bridge
of a starship, on the bridge of the Enterprise," she reiterated. Her imagination began to wander through a
familiar and particularly favorite daydream.
His lips, firm but pliant take command of hers as the consummate
starship captain, Starfleet's legendary hero, kissed her passionately while
standing on the bridge of his ship. Her
tongue darted out of its own volition, to moisten her lips. "Seeing you here, I can't help but
think of "
"Of this," he cut her
off and reached out to pull her from his command chair and into his arms for a
deeply-impassioned kiss. He saw the
desire in her blue eyes and knew well her fascination with 'the man in
uniform,' as she called it, especially on the bridge. Coaxing her lips to open to him, he felt her arms slide around
his neck and her body melt against him.
He slipped his tongue past her parted lips to gently stroke and caress
every corner of her mouth, savoring the sweet taste. Gradually the kiss intensified until his tongue fiercely plundered
the depths of her mouth. She matched
his passion, her tongue eagerly meeting the demands of his.
Vash was reeling, being on the bridge with Jean-Luc
in uniform only served to magnify the overwhelming emotions this man always
ignited in her. It was one of those
kisses where his mouth made love to hers rather than simply kissing her. By the time he broke off the kiss, the heady
sensations had sent her pulse racing and her knees felt as if they were about
to buckle under her. She swallowed,
trying to regain her composure. With
her hands splayed her across his chest, she pushed herself back slightly. Her eyes fluttered open to gaze up at him
her voice still slightly breathless.
"Wow . . . Damn, that was " Finding herself at a loss for
words, she simply vowed, "someday, somehow, I will tempt you to do that
again."
He tenderly brushed the smooth
skin of her cheek with the back of his fingers. "I'm tempted to do that every time you walk onto my
bridge."
"I'll make sure to remember that," she quipped
impishly. Armed with that informative
tidbit, she made her way to the turbolift using just the perfect amount of sway
in her hips and bounce in her step.
"Of that I have no
doubt," he chuckled, following her onto the lift.
The doors closed behind them and
Vash leaned against the wall of the turbolift in a casual hip-hitched
pose. "So, where to next?"
"Deck 8," he answered
while tapping the destination into a nearby keypad. "I thought we'd take a
look at our quarters. They're only
half-finished but this way you can start thinking about the different amenities
you might want to add seeing as it will be home for a very long --" he
broke off when the turbolift suddenly stopped between decks and the lights went
out except for the soft red emergency lighting. He returned his attention to the keypad only to find it
unresponsive. He tried the voice
interface, "Picard to engineering."
When no response was forthcoming, he tried again,
"computer." Nothing.
"It's like we're stuck in a
bad holonovel; our unplanned tour takes an unexpected turn."
Ignoring his wife's flippant
remark for the moment, Picard tapped his communicator, "Picard to
engineering"
"Lefler here, Captain. I wasn't aware that you were onboard. What can I do for you, sir?"
"My wife and I were taking
an unscheduled tour of the ship and at the moment, we seem to be stuck in
turbolift three after just having left the bridge."
"Uh-oh," the young
woman's reply came over his combadge.
It would be different if they
were in space, but in space dock, he couldn't help but see the humor in the
situation. "Lieutenant, uh-oh is
right there near the top of the list of things that a ship captain does not
want to hear from an engineer. Would
you kindly elaborate?"
"Sorry, sir. All but emergency power been shut down while
a team works on the main power coupling in that section. It's a good thing you had your communicator
with you otherwise we would never have known you were there. None of the security or communication
systems have been installed in those turbolifts yet."
Vash spoke up, "Robin, you
mean without his communicator you have no way of even detecting us let alone
communicating with us."
"Yes, ma'am. Captain, the power is going to be offline
for about ninety minutes. I can have
the team stop --"
"No, that will not be
necessary, Lieutenant." Picard cut her off knowing in the time it would
take the team to secure the power coupling and restore power they could be halfway
through the work they needed to do.
"We'll wait it out. Picard
out."
"Well isn't this just a
delightful turn of events?" Vash purred.
"The current situation, with the ship still being under
construction and all, quite conveniently presents a golden opportunity. I mean there is absolutely no way you could
be caught with your pants down -- literally." Vash emphasized her words by deliberately unfastening her suit
jacket and rolling her shoulders to allow the jacket to glide down her
arms. It dropped in a crumpled heap on
the deck of the lift.
"Mrs. Picard, you're trying
to seduce me," he noted in a rich, bedroom baritone. His face held a hint of a smile. His eyes were drawn to the way that the
delicate material of her blouse followed her body like a second skin, trailing
over the lush curves of her breasts and down her flat stomach to her slim
waist.
While sauntering over to stand in front of him, she
unbuttoned the top three buttons on her blouse, exposing a hint of the curves
beneath. "We both know you've
often entertained fantasies about being stuck in a turbolift with me."
"Having sex in a stalled
turbolift is a very common fantasy. That is why it's considered a clichι,
chere," he defended himself.
Although the situation had certainly not been intentional, his body
leapt at the very idea of fulfilling the illicit, if admittedly banal,
whimsy. Her playfully coy gaze while
she fingered the skin bared by the open buttons wasn't helping his internal
debate between wishes and professionalism.
"Let's embrace the
clichι," she cooed seductively as she leaned in to brush feathery kisses
along his strong jawline. Her
fingertips trailed down the front of his uniform jacket to his waistband. Deftly opening his trousers, she wrapped her
hand around the hardening length. She
took up a familiar rhythm, savoring the contrast in textures of rock-solid
hardness covered by soft, velvety skin as his arousal grew. God, he was becoming so hot and hard,
pulsating in her hand sending an answering rush of liquid heat flooding through
her. Brazenly meeting his gaze, she
slowly sank to her knees. "For
you, it focuses on a specific sex act." Breathing in his musky scent, she
took him completely into her mouth. Her
head began a slow tempo, pulling back to lick the very tip before slowly taking
its length all the way back in.
"Vash," he groaned,
overwhelmed by the sensations. His
hands wound themselves into her silky tresses, his own head falling back
against the wall of the turbolift. How
often had he indulged in this flight of fancy -- a stalled turbolift and this
woman's transformation from demure, erudite professor to sultry sex
goddess? She redoubled her efforts,
intensifying the fierce throbbing of his body.
With each passing moment, her tantalizing ministrations pushed at the
very limits of his restraint. Just on
the verge of a release, he forced himself to pull away from her. "Enough."
Vash suddenly found herself on her feet with her
back against the turbolift wall. Her
mouth was seized by his in a voracious kiss, the coarse rasp of his tongue
along the sensitive depths sending heated waves crashing over her. His hands moved up from her waist to
possessively cup her breasts and the peaks stiffened to press into his
palms. His thumb teasingly flicked a
taut nipple before his hand dropped to slide between her legs. The almost illicit nature of their tryst
added to the eroticism of the moment.
His fingers slipped past her satin panties to penetrate the damp folds
of her tingling flesh with light, teasing caresses. Her hips moved sinuously against his hand as the thought flashed
through her mind that if she'd known he was in the mood for sex in an
almost-public locale, she would have seduced him in his command chair. That image drew a groan from her throat,
which prompted him to increase the pressure, dipping into the dripping wet
depths of her body before manipulating the swollen bud of her arousal. The sensations abruptly stopped and through
the haze of heat and desire, she felt him slipping her panties off. After all the years they'd been together,
she knew his every move and had no doubt about what was coming next. She braced her hands on his shoulders and wrapped
her leg high around his waist to pull him tight to her. In the instant her leg found its place, he
followed with one swift stroke, burying himself deep inside her and forcing her
back against the wall. She gripped the
shoulders of his uniform jacket so tightly that her knuckles turned white as he
drove into her with rapid-fire thrusts.
Having her small body caught between the wall of the turbolift and the
tightly leashed power of his lean, muscular build fueled her own spiraling
desires. The pressure continued to
build and she pushed herself back against him desperately reaching for it.
He raised his head to look at her. Mon Dieu, she was breathtakingly beautiful
like this, the flush of desire highlighting her ivory skin and her lovely
features. This unexpected consummation
of a long-held fantasy had resulted in a swift unraveling of the tenuous rein
he held on his own needs. The carnal
ache in his hips sharpened with each stroke, inciting him to move faster and
faster and she kept pace, pushing him even further. The slick depths of her body were so hot and tight, gripping him
with each thrust, frantically clutching at him in uncontrolled passion. The pleasure was multiplying incrementally
and he wasn't sure if he could wait for her.
Suddenly she cried out his name in sweet surrender, her body arching up
and shuddering violently around him.
With one, last, powerful thrust, he tightly gripped her hips erupting
deep inside her with a shout of satisfaction.
Resting his forehead against the wall, he stood there enjoying the last
few tremors of pleasure while catching his breath.
"You know, earlierI would
have been quite content to keep going and bring to completion this specific
fantasy of yours," she murmured nuzzling his neck and drinking in the
clean, masculine scent of his aftershave.
"Yes, I realized
that." he replied chuckling softly at her play on words. "However, I changed my mind and decided
to go beyond the initial fantasy, Captain's prerogative."
"I think the 'Captain's
prerogative' had more to do with maintaining command over his legendary
self-control," she countered playfully.
"In all fairness, I have to admit testing the limits of your
control in that particular manner is such a delicious turn on."
"Then you'll be pleased to
know, chere, that you managed to completely obliterate my control," he
confessed, feeling her smile triumphantly against the skin of his neck.
After a long moment, she
prompted, "So, Johnny, are you going to let go of me or are you intent on
traumatizing some poor ensign who just happens to discover us when the power
comes back on?"
"Point taken," he
conceded. He released the grip he had
on her hips but steadied her until she was once again standing on her own two
feet. Taking a step back, he began to
straighten his uniform.
She slipped her panties back on and tugged the hem
of her skirt down to a respectable level.
With no mirror to do a quick check, she asked, "How do I
look?"
"Breathtaking," he answered simply. Her slightly tousled dark hair framed her
delicate features, passion-swollen lips and her vivid blue eyes.
Vash demurely averted her eyes
for a moment before rewording her question, "but am I presentable?"
After fastening a middle button
of her blouse that must have come undone during their earlier exertions, he
tenderly combed his fingers through her silky, brunette tresses smoothing them
into place. "There you go."
"Thank you."
"You're welcome." A thought occurred to him and he wiped a
thumb across his own mouth.
"Another good question would be do I have any of your lipstick
smeared on me?"
"I may have left a smear of
lipstick." She replied impishly,
her stare brazenly traveling to the front of his trousers before returning to
his face. "However, considering
where it would most likely be located no one should be seeing it but me so
we'll just consider it a very delectable way of marking territory."
"Merde," he sighed
sitting down on the floor of the lift his back against the wall. "so, what now?"
Taking immense gratification in
his plasma-leak sigh, she picked up her jacket from the floor folding it into a
pillow and placing it on his lap.
There was just enough room for her to lay down on the floor with her
head on her jacket nestled in his lap.
She cooed up at him, "You could spend the time in adoration of your
wonderful wife."
***FINIS***