Trip didn’t know what had possessed him to lean down and kiss Hoshi. It was totally against all the regs. Ah hell, he knew what possessed him. She had started occupying his thoughts more than the warp reactor. He drank in her groan as he sipped from her lips, tasting the sweetness of the dessert. He had pulled back from the kiss, apologized and hot-footed it out of there.

That was the biggest mistake of his life, or was it? If he hadn’t left Hoshi sittin’ there dazed in the mess, he would have made love to her right there. He went in there to apologize for eavesdropping. That was some apology. Since then he barely saw her off duty. He didn’t trust himself.

Trip didn’t need to have a visit from Daniels telling him who he was going to wind up with happily ever after. Now that things had calmed down and they didn’t have the Tholians or the Suliban on their backs, his thoughts were keeping him up.

At first he thought he was just smitten with Hoshi, but after that conversation with Malcolm about true love he knew that wasn’t the case. He loved Hoshi Sato! It had happened gradually. He remembered her leaning over Sluggo and the wafting scent of her perfume. Her story about aliens trying to blow up the ship had him in stitches when she had been stuck in the pattern buffer, but the look of desperation and panic had troubled him. He wanted to kiss her then and make her forget all of her troubles.

He couldn’t help but feel a certain twang of jealously toward Malcolm. Yea, he would peak into the future to see his true love. What if that true love were Hoshi – his Hoshi?

The rational part of him knew he was being ridiculous, but the other part of him couldn’t help but wonder. After all, Malcolm was a red-blooded man. He had to do something now!

That kiss had made her toes curl, just like she thought they would. She touched her lips absently. Who the hell does he think he is? She had heard the rumors that he was a rounder. Then she heard rumors that he was the sensitive kind. With the stunt he just pulled, she was leaning more toward believing the rounder rumor.

Well it really didn’t matter what she thought or how she felt. Obviously Trip wasn’t interested in her. He had his taste and spit it out. What a jerk!

Hoshi finished her workout more frustrated than when she arrived. She just couldn’t stop thinking about Trip. The door to the lift opened. Think of the devil and there he was. Hoshi froze in her tracks then squared her shoulders away and entered the lift. “Commander.”

Trip hit the stop button and turned around.

“Um, Commander, is something wrong?” Hoshi looked at him coolly.

Trip ran his hand through his hair in exasperation. “You’re what’s wrong.” He regretted the words even before they passed his lips. He slapped his forehead in frustration. “That’s not what I meant. It came out wrong.”

Hoshi stood there with her mouth hanging open in disbelief.

“I – I …” Trip stammered.

Her patience paper thin, she poked a finger at his chest. “You’re the problem, Commander! You go around kissing women on the pretense of tasting pie, then you blow cold. You go around kissing women, making their toes curl and their heads swim! You go around kissing perfectly sane women, driving them crazy. You go around…”

Hoshi’s tirade was stopped as Trip grabbed her pointing finger and pulled her to him, crushing his lips to hers. He drank in her tyrannical murmurs, slipping his tongue past her lips and past her defenses. She melted in his arms and ran her fingers through his hair, holding his head to her.

Hoshi’s response encouraged Trip. He splayed his hands against her back, kneading the muscles there. She groaned and plunged her tongue into the recesses of his mouth. Her body was flush with his and he could feel the softness of her breasts crushed against his broad chest. His hands wandered lower of their own volition, grasping her buttocks and pulling her into his blatant arousal.

Hoshi tried wrapping one of her legs around him. She was whimpering, begging for closer contact. All reason was gone to her.

Whoa there, cowboy! Ya need to take a step back! Reluctantly, Trip moved his hands to her back then to her shoulders and finally her face. He lightened the kiss gradually and pulled away from her swollen lips.

Hoshi’s actions spoke louder than words, as her defensive posture returned.

Trip answered by raining light kisses on her forehead, her eyelids, along her jaw line and finally her lips. “Hoshi…”

“Don’t you dare apologize again. If you do…” Hoshi whispered to the ground as she was looking at her heart shattered on the floor in a million pieces.

“Will ya let me finish what I was gonna say? Dang it all, woman! You are insufferable!” Trip got hold of his temper. “Hoshi, would ya allow me to court ya? I have feelins’ for ya and … well I just think it best if we didn’t start off nailin’ one another in the lift. I am not sorry for what just happened.” He traced a path along her spine, willing himself to calm down yet reluctant to push her away.

Hoshi stared at Trip in shock. “Yes.” She rested her head on his chest along with one of her hands. “But you have to promise me one thing.”

Trip hadn’t realized he had been holding his breath for her answer. “Anything ya want darlin.”

“Promise me that we will nail one another in the lift eventually.” Hoshi giggled and pressed a kiss against his lips.

“That’s a promise I think I can keep.” Trip grinned and started the lift.

TBC

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