Abode

Abode

By Sue

E-Mail: susieqla@yahoo.com
Website: None.
Category: Romance/Het
Rating: PG-13
Summary: Missing scenes...
Archive: All Enterprise archives are fine.
Disclaimer: Star Trek Enterprise is the property of Paramount and its subsidiaries. I am not making any profit from this.
Spoiler(s): Divergence, "Bound."

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Concentrating, T'Pol closed her eyes and found centering herself was proving no simple task. As though stuck, her mind kept looping back to the exchange she'd had with Trip. *Meditate,* her mind admonished, but what she did was rise, snuff out the candle and for as many moments, relived the thrill of Trip's lips parting and his tongue cozying up with hers after she'd pressed her mouth into his. A warmth she welcomed radiated through her and she sighed a second time. Kissing him in dreams paled in comparison. The reality of his touch coupled with his ardor gave new meaning to the word sensuality, and she craved both equally.

She would never forget the look on his boyish face when they'd left off kissing one another. There had been no trace of anger. Nor even any tinge of dismay as there had been in Engineering when she'd disclosed they were
bonded. She had hesitated telling him about the bond, and after she'd informed him, she judged her misgivings as being justified. His snippy reaction hadn't been what she'd expected, or maybe she had and only now was admitting it to herself.

In fact, all of his subsequent reactions had done more to confuse than convince her that he felt for her what she felt for him. She didn't understand what he had meant by his being, 'really worried,' and why was he under the impression that their having 'this thing' between them wasn't that "big a deal?" How little he knew. She had rearranged her whole life, and her attitudes grappling with trying to understand him.

His parting words had been: "We've got a lot of work to do..." After he'd said that, she had reached out with her mind to him, but had come away mystified. Trip certainly was a complexity of contradictions, she realizing that as never before.

Loving this Human the way she did, wasn't a run-of-the-mill that happened every day. "Son-of-a-bitch," she adopted, not batting an eye. She felt her temperature rise higher. It *was* a big deal. A *very* big deal. How could he be this unmindful of how big a deal their *thing* was?

She was being the most illogical she'd ever been in her life, and it was 'no big deal' to him. As though telling him domesticated sehlats made wonderful pets...no big deal, indeed.

Unless...and it was then she blinked. He did not feel the same, never had, never would. Her affection...her love for him ran deep, but he felt nothing like that for her. The love--hers--was all...T'Pol searched her mind for the correct phrase she had once questioned Hoshi on in the context of learning more about Human romantic relationships. The correct phrase just popped into her mind and she repeated it out loud, feeling lost and alone.

"One-sided."

When she blinked this time, tears fell from her eyes like flecks. She blinked rapidly to curtail their fall, and as she curled herself up into a ball upon her bunk she sniffled too. She reached for her pillow so she could snuggle up with it, wedging it between her legs. Tremulously, she wished it was Trip who filled her embrace and not Starfleet issue.

Trip...

And she stopped breathing, holding her breath, fearing that if she took another, what she had just thought would burst like a bubble.

*I wanted you to come back...and you are back...he requested his transfer before I told him that...*

T'Pol wrestled with her emotions, letting go a breath as her chime sounded. She sat bolt upright, casting her pillow away, with her eyes riveted to her door, her focal point. Internal turmoil surged through her like an indomitable tide.

The soft scent of the aromatic candle still hung heavily in the air. The more she pondered its strong odor, the more she realized she should have stuck with meditation. Her chime sounded again, and she struggled to gain the mastery over her emotions, force them to bow to her will or be at their mercy. Indecision, stronger than she'd ever experienced before, nearly vanquished her.

Her feelings possessed a chaotic quality, and it jarred her. Reasons were clear, but they taxed her command of logic to a crushing degree. The more she thought about who was standing on the other side of that door, the less
rational she felt.

Oddly enough, her mind wrapped around the upgraded warp core schematics. When Trip had handed the PADD which contained the data off to her, his skin had touched hers for the briefest of moments. Inhaling deeply, she relived
the sensation, the electric jolt that had shot through her hand clear up her arm.

Trip had exclaimed..."Damn--what the hell was that?"

When she ventured an explanation, his reaction left her cold. There in Engineering, in the thick of orchestrating crucial repairs, he had managed to turn her aside from tending *his engines* to thoroughly upsetting her. What had possessed her to initiate the mating bond with this man?

Her lustrous eyes widened and she listened to her heart which had been trying to reason with her all along. Finally the figurative seat of emotions had her ear. 'Do as Surak counsels. Cast out fear.' And she challenged herself with, 'Let Trip in. The start has already been made...' The 'why?' came soon after.

*Because you love him.*

"T'Pol...are ya in there? I've got a surprise. Shame lettin' it go to waste. Though on second thought with me it won't--"

"Come in."

As if on cue, a disheveled T'Pol dragged herself up off her bunk when Trip entered her dim quarters. (Wow) he thought, seeing she wore a tank top of an indeterminate shade. (Looks real nice on her though) he immediately processed and (such form-fitting shortie shorts) which were a shade darker. (She's one gorgeous gal. For all our differences, we make one hell of a team. I hope I'm not second guessin' what she really feels here. If I am, like I said, we have a lot of work to do. Who's afraid of hard work? I'm back, right?)

"Evenin'." Through several rapid heartbeats a million things he wanted to say bombarded his brain, but what he chose to tell her made T'Pol draw nearer to him. "I was in the Mess hall, and out of the blue it hit me you might be in the mood for some."

He saw her luminous eyes widen more than they already had when T'Pol said, "I was analyzing the recommendations you proposed in Engineering, encompassing the upgrades and...oddly, how a piece of pecan pie would be nice."

He couldn't help chuckling and flourished what he'd brought her. "And abracadabra, here ya are..."

T'Pol nodded and sounded cryptic when she replied, "Yes. Here you are."

"Missed ya at the captain's table earlier." (Has she been cryin'? Sure looks it.) He thought better about what he was on the verge of saying, and said instead, "Have ya eaten?"

"I wasn't hungry."

"And now?"

"Pecan pie..."

Trip, without, waiting to be invited, got comfortable on the cushions and lowered the clear plate that held the slice of pie on the low table. He patted the plush complement of cushions next to him. "Help yourself, darlin'. It's all for you." He smiled genially at her, knowing how much he wanted her close to him.

Hearing his term of endearment for her was encouraging. T'Pol hesitated, however, being torn as she was, and though the lapse had been momentary, it bothered Trip. His brush with feeling letdown didn't stop him from patting the cushions until he had coaxed her and she sat beside him.

"Somethin' on your mind?" he accurately read. "I've got this feelin' I'm not sure is all mine. I can't explain it but it's like hunches and second- guessin' rolled into one. This thing between us...how big a deal is it?"

There was no hesitation when she acknowledged, "If our being bonded is disagreeable to you, it can be severed. We can go to Vulcan and have the *Ktorr T' Tel* performed."

"Sounds painful," Trip said, mugging being in great physical pain, hiding how wounded he felt in that instant.

"I assure you it is not, but once undergone, we will no longer be bonded."

(Aw, crap!) Working around the sizeable lump in his throat, Trip managed to keep his voice level, just barely. He heard it crack slightly when he induced, "Eat your pie."

"Is it what you want?"

"Eat," he insisted again with a heart that screamed at his mind, demanding to know what prevented him from pouring all that was in it out to her. He loved her beyond all reason. Didn't she know that, and then his heart chided him for as many times. How could she? He'd never told her. All the daydreaming and fantasizing didn't count. (Eat some for me) he urged wordlessly. (And forget about bond-breakin'. The connection's really growin' on me...)

As though she read his mind, T'Pol picked up the fork and sheared off a healthy slice. No sooner had the morsel disappeared into her mouth, the sight of her chewing rounded out his satisfied grin.

She finished swallowing and Trip truckled, "Is it what you want? Bustin' us up like that?"

"I asked you first," T'Pol said barely above a whisper. She toyed with the idea of dispensing with so much talk. Her heart rallied for her kissing him into mindless submission, and kissing him was always profoundly sweeter. Sweeter than even the pie he loved so much and she had developed something akin to a rabid taste for.

She had groveled at his feet in that corridor, admitting she wanted him, no! It was imperative he stay. What further convincing did he require? Struggling to 'play it cool,' as Sato had also once advised her a girl must do if her guy was being *difficult*, T'Pol helped herself to more pie.

His favorite dessert was the quintessence of everything that had subsequently developed, the beginning of this unprecedented relationship. Over time, she, had given herself permission to experience the unknown, and Trip, falling over himself to get her to. Their bond was alive and well and she was almost regretting she had ever inducted it...almost. Regret dissipated whenever Trip's eyes flashed the way they couldn't help but do, and made her lightheaded, as though out of her body.

Her swallowing mesmerized him as never before. His lips felt clumsy as he edged nearer to the face he never tired of searching. "Let's not be hasty, darlin'."

"But if you don't wa--"

Trip held nothing back, pressing his lips firmly against T'Pol's, turning the tables for a change. Her tender lips irresistibly gave way when his tongue gently nudged and she disarmingly granted admittance. (Home, sweet home) he blissfully thought.

"Don't want this?" he slavishly spilled into her mouth which was devouring his. "I'd have to be crazy." Her succulence combined with that of the pie he tasted overpowered any coherent thought he might have had. He had his two favorite things at once, and he was a man spinning way out in space, a far cry from when he'd been suspended between Enterprise and Columbia, praying Malcolm hauled him up faster.

Slowly, pulling out of her mouth, he worshipped her face, every spot his lips caressed, and he murmured, "I was bein' one dumb smart-ass is what I was in the corridor." At the tip of her nose he freely admitted, "I've never loved like this ever, T'Pol. There's gotta be a better word for the way I have it for you. You confound the hell out of me and keep me comin' back for more, so much more. I left 'cause of you and I'm back for the same life-alterin' reason. You, you, darlin'. It's you. It's always gonna be you. I should have told ya long before this, but I was so sure you didn't want me, not how I want you. Rejection's a bitch. Which is why I left, way I always do when a relationship's over, and I have one sorry track record. But not this time, not with you. For you...blood, seat an' tears."

Her eyes teared again and if some fell, well, she doubted she could keep up the pretense of being unmoved forever. what were emotions for if not to express when a valid reason dictated? "I have missed you...truly missed you." T'Pol quaked inside, having underestimated yet again the deep-seated effect this man had on her. She had actually told him she missed him! A supremely private thought.

His love for her bottomed out with nowhere to go but deeper. "There was the reality of your marriage, and afterwards there was the 'no time for us anymore...please understand. And I tried to, but this love I have overruled what I had promised to ya. I had to go 'cause I--"

T'Pol stopped his deliberate flow of words with her mouth this time, what had inexorably become her norm. Her fingers dug into his scalp as though pushing them through it was her intent. She poured muffled words into his mouth. "I want our bond strengthened. I need to see you, feel you, breathe you."

"T'Pol..." Choked with feeling, his voice thickened while his vision fuzzed. "God--I dreamed so hard for this. You're the love of my life."

She opened up a bit more space between their lips to express, "Your dreams are...impressive, Trip. Our feelings for each other will strengthen through our bond, along with it. The 'Tel,' the mating bond is a *very* big deal."

"I'm gettin' a better idea all the time. So why'd you agree it wasn't, when it is?" Trip cupped her heartbreaker of a face which had fallen into the easy habit of looking less Stoic, with his hand. "You didn't do anythin' wrong. I don't want ya thinkin' that." His lips fondled hers briefly. "By now, in case you don't know, but ya should, and don't hate me. The scamp in me couldn't resist havin' a little fun with ya. Call me on it if ya want. I can be as cocky as hell, and a real dumb smart-ass, like I said, at the same time. I figured I'd give ya a taste of your own medicine. Mess with your head. Although, bein' in each other's puts a finer point on that."

"I have made mistakes," T'Pol solemnly owned up, her abuse of Trillium-D bearing down on her with all its might. She wanted to say something about it, and could not.

"And you're gonna spend the rest of your life beatin' yourself up." He shook his head, and T'Pol felt his sincerity which stilled her thoughts.. "But not about this, definitely not about us and what feels so right. Our belongin' together, darlin'. Don't ya dare. It's what I want for all times. So just forget about haulin' ass to Vulcan to undo anythin'. I want this--you--with all my heart. We're in this together and it couldn't be more wonderful if it were tied up with ribbons."

"Trip..."

He got a little louder. "We *mated*, like you said. And we're bonded to boot. And I say done is done--amen. You should've seen me after your kiss, giddy like a kid who gets to lick his momma's mixin' spoon covered with chocolate icin'. Once out of sight, I did a happy dance all the way back to Engineerin'. Even when I got there I didn't want to stop jiggin'. Only someone who's my girl would kiss me like that, turnin' me inside out, meanin' every bit of it."

T'Pol hung her head briefly and Trip raised it up with his finger beneath her chin. Taking a small breath, she advanced, "I was only going to say...if you are certain."

"I'm more than certain all right. I'm positive!"

"There will be difficulties..."

"Don't ya think it'd be kind of dull without 'em? My point is you're who I want. You make it interestin'."

"You make it interesting as well," T'Pol said, sounding as prim and proper as she could make it sound when she had that certain hone to her voice. "Are you still 'really worried?'"

"*Reeeally* worried. Worried I'll never get enough of this..." About to make his mouth one with hers again, Trip frowned when T'Pol stretched around him to help herself to another slice of pie. Bringing the fork to his lips, she encouraged in a husky voice, "Eat..."

"Don't start a habit you won't be able to break. Feedin' me like this." He nibbled her knuckles playfully.

"Eat," she said more firmly, trying hard not to smile.

Shrugging, Trip obeyed, barely feeling the fork enter his mouth as T'Pol looked on like a sentinel. Chewing contentedly with eyes closed, he reveled in bliss until, startled, he popped his eyes open, feeling T'Pol's tongue at his mouth where pie crumbs remained. She had her hands braced at the sides of his neck, and sating him further was all she had on her mind. Tasting the remains of pie in his mouth was enticing.

"'Ashal-veh, ashal...veh...ashal,'" she carelessly whimpered, over and over as though it were a litany recited by one who stumbled over words.

"'Asha? Ashal.' What does it mean?" Trip asked, breathing heavily at the corner of T'Pol's mouth.

Flicking her tongue so hers could stroke the underside of his, she breathlessly began to reply, "It means--"

"Wait, let me. I've got better than a good idea." He smiled, feeling delirious, full-on against her mouth. "Darlin'."

"Essentially..."

Gradually breaking the passionate kiss off, their emotions flowing freely from one to the other, they relaxed against each another as though catatonic. Time passed leisurely and having recovered sufficiently, Trip finally found it in himself to speak. "Don't blame me if you can't get me to eat pecan pie any other way. Sweetest mouth-to mouth there could ever be. So very sweet..." He looked at T'Pol, as though he looked in a mirror, for the longest time. Words were superfluous. Understanding shone in their eyes as they uttered no words and communion was touches and sighs. Peace of a fresher meaning flooded them through and through.

Gently, as though in slow-motion, Trip laid T'Pol down upon the cushions in a fluid movement. A strange but pleasant humming wended its way throughout his body, and she didn't have to tell him the same sensation pulsed through hers.

Letting wild waves crash over him, having a savage, churned up surf thrash his body every which way was never like this. Maybe one day he'd get her into the ocean and watch her surrender herself to the magic of the sea, on whatever world that sea might be. The spray in their faces and she clinging to him as though he were a life raft tantalized his mind.

"Show me the way, only you can," Trip breathlessly hushed against the side of her face that nearly seared the skin of his cheek, close to her ear. Raggedly, her heart beat against his chest and his heart beat in time with hers not long after. "You're so beautiful. Dreams don't do you justice, T'Pol. I should have fessed up about those dreams I was havin' right off. Just bein' too pigheaded. I'm sorry..."

"I'm sorry as well. I too am guilty of duplicity, Trip. You are the subject of my thoughts constantly, whether during the day or at night."

"Especially at night," Trip noted.

His wink caused T'Pol to close her eyes but they didn't stay closed for long. She was obliged to open them, hearing him clear his throat a time or two. "As you mentioned...we have a lot of work to do." To begin, she was prepared to confess to him her indiscretions with Trellium-D and her primary reason behind the substance's abuse. She wanted nothing coming between their being
honest with each other, and it started now.

But before she could open her mouth, Trip lost all control. Moments passed and so did she. He drove the logic from her and it was addictive. Kissing one another was well on its way to becoming one of their favorite pastimes. In a flash, reminiscent of all the time travel they'd been subjected to over the years, their universe expanded, never to shrink back to recognizable proportions. Sharing, caring took on startling new meanings as well and would forever remain redefined.

The love they felt for each other cascaded, urging them to the identical, vivid, ultimate conclusion...this was home as it was meant to be. Their home, their haven...each other.

End

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A whole mess of folks have made comments

I thought Trips favorite pie was key lime?

Fantastic! I love this! OMG - He kissed her! About damn time... ;) Tasty foreplay with the pie - yummi, yummi! I like how you let us see their thoughts - glad you had Trip come clean and vocalize his feelings.

Beautiful writing as always, Sue! I think the key word for this one is 'yummy'. Mmm. Pie. (BTW, Kablooie -- Key lime is Trip's favorite in Similtude, but I think it's pecan in other episodes.)

ooohhhh u shouldwrite more stories with same premise- (after 'Bound')

Very sensual, I could really feel the sexual electricity in the atmosphere. Smokin'!!

One lil ol thing......caught a few odd words and spelling ie "and Trip truckled, "Is it what you want? TRUCKLED??"" Blood, seat and tears?? SEAT??

Yep, I caught seat too after it was too late. Sweat, of course, which is what it should be. I hate when that happens! As for 'truckle.' The word exists, and means: to be servile, submissive. In short...fawn. Thanks for reading, everbody!

At last! It was beginning to drive me nuts how those two kept going in circles then back and forth until I was dizzy. I think Trip's favourite was always Pecan pie in most of the series but maybe when he was a bit younger it was Key Lime pie and with Sim growing to Trip's current age he could have reached the Key Lime pie stage just before hitting Pecan Pie! Or not. The main thing is this was excellent, thank you! Ali D :~)

AAHHHHHH... package it and send it to manny cotto...LOL

So great story you painted :) I can just imagine this playing out in my minds eye. Thanx for the read!

Holy cow... that pie scene... And I loved how Trip kissed her...

Very nice... Write more!!

Great story, love your take on what happened next.

Well written... Very vivid. I liked the shared intimacies.... Sequel.....T

Extremely cute!!

Extremely cute!!