Chakotay parked the hover car in the drive and turned it off. He placed his hand over Kathryn's on his thigh and they sat in the quiet for a moment looking at their home. She turned her head to him and squeezed his leg, and the corner of his mouth curled into a smile. He got out and went around to open Kathryn's door. They walked hand in hand up the steps, and on the top one he pulled her to him and kissed her. Her hand ran through his short hair and when she tipped her head back, he picked her up in his powerful arms, opened the door to the house, and carried her inside. She pushed the door closed and he crossed to the sofa. He sat down with her legs over his lap and pulled his hand from under her knees to slide over her thighs and around her hip. Her fingertips traced the tattoo over his brow to his temple then down his jaw. "Was it what you wanted?" he asked softly.

"It was perfect," she said with a smile. "The decorations were beautiful, and I think everyone had a good time." Her finger trailed across his bottom lip.

He reached up and gently pulled the pins from her hair, releasing the fiery tresses to flow around her face. He glided his fingers across her temples and through the lengths, watching the light and shadow dance over the strands. "Kathryn, you are so beautiful."

She reached to his uniform jacket and unfastened it, slowly sliding it from his shoulders and down his arms. She tossed it to the chair and breathed deeply as he did the same with hers. He pulled the hem of her tank from her waistband and over her head then raised his arms for her to remove his tee. Her soft fingers trailed over the heated skin of his chest as he cradled the back of her head and pulled her lips to his. He kissed her tenderly, gradually increasing the pressure and parting his lips to dart his tongue over hers. His other hand slid from her hip up to the silk of her bra and back down to continue over her leg. He gently massaged the inside of her thigh until she moaned and broke the kiss.

Her husky voice said, "You don't know what your touch does to me."

"We were made to be together, love. Never in my life have I felt what I feel when I am with you." He leaned her back in his arm as he planted kisses down her cleavage. One of her hands twined through his hair while the other held to the back of his bicep. She gasped as his mouth and warm breath moved over her skin, leaving a trail of lingering sensation. His lips traveled up the center of her chest to her throat and over her chin to her mouth. When he straightened her back up, she slid her legs to the floor and stood, tugging him by the hand to follow her upstairs.

When they reached the top of the staircase, he pulled her back to him and picked her up, cradling her in his arms as he carried her to the bedroom. He climbed onto the bed on his knees and laid her down, taking her mouth again with his. Her hands roamed over his bare chest and sides while he slid an arm under her shoulders and lifted her to unfasten and remove her bra. His tongue continued to dance and slide with hers as he pulled his arm from under her and his palm slipped over her breast. She moaned into his mouth and pushed up into his hand. He drove his tongue between her lips once more, then raised his head to gaze into her face. Her long auburn hair was fanned over the pillow, her blue eyes darkened and face flushed with desire, and a building heat stole through his body at the sight of her.

He moved down the bed and took off her boots and socks, massaging his way back up her legs to the button of her pants. He pulled those off and kissed his way back up, pausing just below her black panties. His tongue licked along the line where black silk met pale skin at the bend of her leg and she sucked in her breath. He gently blew along the wet trail and her thigh quivered. His hands reached to the waistband and slid the silk down her legs to drop to the floor. He sat up on his knees and his eyes traveled over her nude body. When his gaze reached hers, he whispered, "My Kathryn. My wife."

He slipped off his own boots and socks, then stood beside the bed to take off his slacks. As he stepped out of them, she slid to the edge of the bed and sat with her legs spread open in front of him. She grabbed his hips and pulled him closer, tugging his boxers over his erection and to the floor where he kicked them to the side. Her hands returned to his firm buttocks as her lips kissed over the sensitive skin of his stomach and pelvis. When she turned her head slightly to kiss her way across to his hip bone, her hair slipped over her shoulder and brushed across his hardened sex. She felt him twitch with the sensation and heard him groan. She reached up and swept all of her thick hair to the side and tilted her head to slide the auburn strands over and around him. His buttock clenched in her grasp and he gasped. She gathered the ends of her hair and pooled the lengths around his erection, barely closing her fingers around him as her hand slowly stroked the soft tresses up and down his length. "Sweet heavens!"

"Do you like that, my husband?" That word spoken in her husky voice so dear to him sent electric tingles washing over him and his legs trembled.

"Yes," he groaned. She continued to gently stroke him with her hair and he raised his hand to her cheek. She grasped his fingers and pulled them to her lips, sucking his forefinger into the wet heat of her mouth. His knees weakened and his spine stiffened as his hips thrust forward in her hand. She stroked him twice more from base to tip and then let the ends of her hair drop as she slid his finger from her lips.

She clasped his hands and scooted back on the bed, pulling him with her. She rose up on her knees, her legs spread apart slightly, and he matched her position. They faced each other and their eyes roamed over the naked body of the other. They began to lightly caress each other, beginning with cheeks and necks, shoulders and arms. His fingertips trailed from the concave of her throat down between her breasts to her navel, while hers travelled down his sides, over his hips and across his taught thighs. She ran the back of her nails up his body again, and he slipped a thumb over her hardened nipple as he cupped her breast in his palm. His gaze dropped to the folds between her legs and he felt himself twitch with the jolt of desire through his center. She saw the movement and scratched her nails along the insides of his thighs. He leaned forward and circled his tongue around her lips before darting into her mouth. A soft moan escaped her as his fingers squeezed her nipple and then dropped down her ribs to her stomach. He teased her, tracing an arch just above the top of her mound but not quite touching it. Her back arched and she moaned again until she broke the kiss to breathe deeply at the same time her hand closed around his shaft. He reached between her legs and with the barest touch followed the line of her moist sex up to brush over her button. Her legs quivered and her hips thrust forward, her hand sliding along his length.

He slipped and arm around her shoulders and guided her to lie down, moving his body with hers to stretch out alongside her. He rose up on his elbow and bent forward to take her nipple between his teeth as his fingers still teased along her folds to flick against her clit. Each time he did, her hand gripped him tighter as her muscles spasmed under his touch. He felt the fire in his center growing and he stilled her hand, pulling himself from her and pushing his hips back to lie at an angle to her. His lips moved to take her other nipple as he circled his fingers over the top of her sex and gently increased the pressure. She slid her arm from under him and gripped the back of his head, tiny noises escaping her throat. Her breathing grew shallower and he raised his head watch her face. Her lips were parted, her blue eyes glazed as they turned to him, the reds and golds of her hair shimmering as her neck arched against the pillow. She moaned louder as his fingertips slipped through her wet heat and played against the bundle of nerves. "Yes, my love," he whispered.

Her fingers dug into his neck as her other hand fisted in the sheet beneath her and her hips writhed against him. He watched as her eyes closed and her stomach tightened, her breath halted and her thigh muscles hardened. He saw the first wave of her orgasm wash over her and pushed his finger inside her, feeling the juices flow from her. Her body quivered and a sharp cry rang out as he slowly eased his finger in and out of her clenching sex. Her head curled forward and her knees pulled upward when he pushed against the flesh just inside her opening. As her muscles began to release one by one, she collapsed back to the pillow. He eased his finger from her and nuzzled her neck, feeling her rapid pulse under the skin and her heavy breathing.

He lightly caressed her breasts and torso until she regained control and her hands pulled him into a kiss. She gripped his shoulder and turned onto her side, then sat up as she pushed him down to the pillow on his back. He straightened his body and ran his fingers through her hair as she knelt over him. She nipped and teethed her way down his neck and chest as his hand trailed over her back and buttocks. She turned her head and swept her hair to the side to slide the ends across the strong muscles of his chest and his nipples. He sucked in his breath and his stomach clenched as the tresses tickled over his skin and she slowly moved lower and lower. He groaned when her hair slipped over his erection and between his legs. She turned and twisted her head, the strands leaving him raging for her touch as she flipped it back over her shoulder.

His body spasmed when her tongue snaked out against the tip of his sex. "Oh, god." She licked him again and his head pushed into the pillow, the third slide of her tongue bringing his hand up to tangle in her hair against the back of her head. She wrapped her lips over him and sucked the tip of his erection into the heat of her mouth. She teased him, barely gliding over him and darting her tongue around him. He felt her take a deep breath and suddenly he was pushing against the back of her throat as she took all of him into her mouth. His hips thrust forward and a growl escaped him as the surge through his body threatened to overwhelm him before he felt her breath blowing over the length now released from her lips.

With his fingers locked in her hair, he gently tugged her head up to his and drove his tongue against hers as his other arm wrapped over back. His hand slid to her buttocks, then around her hip and between her legs. She gasped as his fingers grazed across her still sensitive nub. She laid her hand over his and guided him down to her opening where he inserted a finger in her. She kept her fingers over his hand and showed him the slow and gentle rhythm that would ready her to take him. He kept the pace sliding in and out of her and soon she pulled from the kiss to breathe. He felt her walls relax and he inserted a second finger, a flood of moisture accompanying her moan. "Take me, Chakotay," she whispered in his ear.

He wrapped her tightly in his arm and flipped her over onto her back, his lips finding the little spot below her ear that drove her wild. He moved his body over hers and guided himself to her, entering slowly until his full length was deep inside of her. He braced his hands beside her shoulders and kept his hips still as he let the warmth and moist heat of her engulf him. She gripped the strong muscles across his back as his lips pressed to hers. When he raised his head again, his dark chocolate eyes sought the sea of her gaze. "Kathryn," he said softly.

"I am yours, love," she said as his hips began to rock against her. Soon, his slides lengthened as his gentle motions stimulated her more and she grew wetter around him. His arms flexed and tensed and she scraped her nails down the muscles then slid her palms back up to his shoulders. The force of his thrusts increased, her knees spread wider, and he groaned with the changed sensation. His dance in and out of her wet heat flushed his cheeks and she watched the building storm in his eyes. He was beautiful, sensual, masculine and primal; her friend, her protector, her lover, her husband. His eyes closed and his back bowed under her hands and she could feel him slowing his rhythm. "Don't stop," she said.

"Not yet," he growled.

"Don't fight it."

"Kathryn," he gasped.

"Yes, love" she hissed. "Let me feel you."

He was lost with her voice. He drove into her once, twice, then again, and his head buried in her neck as his arms collapsed, his cries rising with the white flash behind his eyes that thrust him deep inside her. His climax seared through him and she held him tightly to her as she contracted her walls around him, reveling in the writhing of his body against hers and his staff pumping inside of her. She kissed his shoulder and softly caressed his neck as gradually his spasms quieted and his breathing slowed. He rose up on his elbows and his hands cradled her face as his lips pressed to hers tenderly, soft kisses interrupted by words of love before he at last slid his body from hers to pull her into his arms.

The night, their wedding night, was young still, and they held to each other as they whispered of memories, hopes, and dreams. Their love would rise to a crescendo and sweetly descend to a whisper twice more before the rose of the new dawn glowed through the bedroom window. He pulled her robe around her and belted it as she did the same for him, and they descended the stairs for their first morning coffee as husband and wife on the patio of their Earthly home.

***V*V***

And where Spirit and Soul and Love collide,
Lies that place where the galaxies abide
As were meant to be from Time's beginning,
When the Star of Fate first set its spinning.