The trip back was essentially uneventful. Kira had to go get their shuttle as the doctor’s had left as soon as they’d dropped him off on Bajor, but they transferred the patient easily and DS9 loomed into view in about twenty minutes. As soon as Kira stepped out of the locks, she was met by Dukat’s Glinn, Tella, with the message that Captain Sisko wanted to see her straight away, and who was obviously dying to hear what had happened. He followed her into Sisko’s office where she gave a verbal report. Amusement grew on her, though, when it became clear from his questions that he was trying to find out if she was responsible for the accident somehow, without being too obvious. She decided to take the direct approach.

‘Captain, if you think I deliberately engineered it so he was injured…I just wouldn’t do that.’

‘You’ve made your feelings pretty plain in the past, Colonel.’

‘But that was in the past. This is now. I have no desire to see him killed.’

‘Alright, Colonel. At this stage, I’ll take your word for it. But if hear one breath of suspicion…’

‘Excuse me, Captain.’ To her surprise, Tella interrupted.

‘We don’t doubt the Colonel at all. We know the Colonel would be the last person to want to see our commander incapacitated.’

Benjamin Sisko sat up, clearly astonished.

‘How can you be so sure? You * do * know the Colonel’s background, I believe?’

‘Yes, sir, and the present situation as well. That’s why we know that your accusation is totally unfounded and quite ridiculous. I am absolutely confident Legate Dukat will back me on this. ‘

Sisko looked at them all, unhappy that he was being left out of the loop somehow, then finally nodded.

‘Alright. Let’s leave it at that, then. You’ll submit your formal report shortly, Colonel?’ He dismissed them.

~

She looked at Tella as they left Sisko’s office together. He spread his hands in a gesture reminiscent of Dukat himself, and said, somewhat lamely, ‘I couldn’t stand by and let that utter nonsense go on, Colonel.’

She grinned.

‘That’s alright, Tella. Thanks for that.’

He fell in step with her, clearly intending to escort her to her destination.

‘It seems he’s not really aware of the nature of your relationship with the Legate?’

She shot an amused glance at him.

‘Is anyone? I’m not sure I am.’

‘Oh, I think Legate Dukat is…*very* sure.’

She laughed outright at that.

‘But he would be, wouldn’t he? So what has he said to you, then?’

‘Colonel, he hasn’t actually *said * anything. We don’t need to discuss it. I’m his Glinn. I *know *. I’m with him nearly round the clock when we’re on our ship, how could I not know?’

Kira shook her head, smiling, then turned and laid a light finger on his arm.

‘Enough. You don’t need to escort me. Off you go. I’ll check on him after I’m settled, I don’t need to be mothered by you.’

He recoiled, looking mortified.

‘I’m sorry if I was presumptuous, ma’am.’

‘No, I don’t mean that. But I do mean you don’t need to protect me, alright? See you later.’

She turned on her heel, refusing to look back at him, and set off just as Dax caught up with her.

‘Trouble?’ she sympathised.

‘Not really. But I do wish they wouldn’t go all protective just because he’s out of action. At least he knows not to do that, but…’

‘It’s that Cardassian male thing,’ Ezri smiled, knowingly. ‘Worse than Klingons, because they get so damned patronising….Care to talk about what happened?’

Nerys shook her head. ‘Not now, Ezri. Thanks, anyway.’

‘Anytime. You know where to find me if you want me.’

‘Thanks, I think,’ she mumbled.

~

She went to see him after she’d freshened up, and was relieved she could tell his colour looked better. Bashir nodded to her as she lingered a moment to touch his wrist, then looked up at one of the biobed readings and smiled.

‘You sure got a response there,’ he said lightly.

Kira stared. ‘I didn’t see anything?’

Bashir started to say something, when the doors slid open, and Sisko walked in.

‘How’s the patient, doctor?’ he enquired, looking first at Kira, then at Bashir, then at Dukat.

‘He’s doing fine,’ smiled Bashir, then added, ‘Thanks to the Colonel.’

‘How’s that?’

‘Well, if Kira hadn’t kept him warm the way she did, he probably wouldn’t have made it. You know, field technique, shared body heat, that sort of thing.’

Kira gulped, and Sisko stared accusingly at her.

‘I didn’t see that mentioned in your report, Colonel?’

‘Well, ah, I didn’t see that it was relevant to the mission.’

‘Alright. I…Could I talk to you for a moment, doctor?’

Bashir led Sisko away to his office. After a while, he left, and Bashir returned, to sit down next to her, looking at nothing in particular.

‘He seemed quite certain you might have tried to harm him, so I told him in no uncertain words that that would be nearly impossible. He seemed a little confused that I’d be so sure, though.’

‘Why were you so sure?’

‘You think I haven’t noticed? Colonel, come on. Every time you so much as go near him, or touch him, his endorphin and dopamine levels reach for the stars, and his brainwaves go into modified alpha. Only one thing does that in Cardassians, as far as I am aware. You’re talking to possibly the only human who’s had personal experience of this, after all.’

She looked at him, awareness rushing in on her. She had thought he’d looked oddly at her, over his tricorder, when they were down in that village on Bajor, and she understood what it was about, now.

Julian would probably call it pheromone receptor modification phenomenon. Others called it physiological bonding, some, the `urge’. Whatever it was called, it produced physiological responses, it was very real, and Julian had noticed it.

‘It’s not dependent on an individual being conscious, you know.’

‘Obviously,’ she said, drily.

Tella had known, probably seen the signs, and accepted the fact, which was why he’d felt compelled to try to refute Sisko’s accusations. So now there were three people out there who knew - Ezri, as counsellor, with whom she’d confided in the past, Bashir, and Tella. And if Tella knew, it was highly likely most of the senior staff of Dukat’s ship were aware. Then again, if Bashir knew, then eventually Garak would find out…or did he know, anyway? Did it matter?

Well, it did matter – a little. She found it confusing enough dealing with her emotions, which seemed to have needed to do an about turn somehow, to match her body’s responses. Except that those emotions had been changing over the years, anyway.

Time had gone by, and made them both older. The events of the last few years had given her and, seemingly, Dukat, the courage to step into new shoes, onto a new path. He also seemed to have developed a roundness to his personality, a tolerance and patience of situations and others, and the ability to sometimes set aside, at least temporarily, his ruthless pursuit of his own goals, to accommodate the needs of others. He didn’t seem to posture as much. They’d both changed.

As she thought, she became aware that his eyes had opened and were looking at her, and a hand had slid off the bed and was inviting her. She reached over and captured his fingers, while Bashir bounced up and fussed and hovered. Finally, he let up and announced he was leaving them alone for five minutes ‘and not a second more’.

They smiled shyly at eachother, like two children being reintroduced after a time apart. She held his hand in both of hers, and he lifted it to kiss them, and broke the awkwardness.

‘You saved my life,’ he whispered. ‘I am grateful.’

‘You saved me first. Besides, I wasn’t going to let you die.’

‘You certainly weren’t. I vividly remember wishing you’d leave me alone to let me go to sleep, several times, in fact.’

‘I know. I was so angry at you for even implying you might die.’

‘Why was that? Was it love?’

‘Of course not, I just wanted to have the satisfaction of saying "I told you so"’, she replied, tartly.

‘But *I * was the one who told you I always use experts…and look how right I was to do so!’

Remembering her experiences with trying to get the last word in with him, she shut up.

He raised an eye ridge at her.

‘Ah, now I know I’m still sick. You’ve quit arguing with me.’

<It wasn’t an argument> she muttered to herself, but said nothing.

His fingers sought out the bracelet and fingered each facet. His eyes closed and his hand stilled. She leaned over, and kissed him on the lips, and without opening his eyes, he smiled. She decided he was nearly asleep, and left.

«:*´`³¤³´`*:»§«:*´`³¤³´`*:»§«:*´`³¤³´`*:»§«:*´`³¤³´`*:»

PART FOUR

A week later, Bashir discharged him. Kira came to accompany him to his quarters.

It had been nearly two weeks since they’d had any time together, and as a consequence, she was uncomfortably aware of his body’s presence even walking along the corridors with him. She could hardly wait to get inside his quarters with him while waiting for him to key his door open. She was conscious that they had both been silent as they walked, perhaps both unable to trust to words.

She was grateful, then, when once inside, he drew her to him by the upper arms, sighed, held her face in his hands, gazing into her eyes, then began to kiss every part of her face gently but insistently.

‘Ah, but it feels good to let go!’ he whispered.

She closed her eyes and leaned against him in response. It *was * good to let go. She became aware of the increasing sensitivity of her skin, the ache in her lower pelvis, and the sense of moisture down below. She could taste his arousal being broadcast to the air. It heightened her awareness of the scent of him, and her excitement.

After a while, he stopped to check her expression. The shadow of her heavy lashes on her flushed cheeks, the part-opened lips, and the upturned, vulnerable throat reassured him.

‘You look so sexy…Do you know that arouses me more?’

He began to kiss her deeply, his tongue and lips inviting her first to part hers, then to engage her tongue with his, then explore every part of her mouth. She purred in delight, slowly moving her hands against the prominent scales on his back. She was conscious of the stiffening in his neck ridges as well as in his groin, and her desire was becoming heightened by the evidence of his increasing passion, so she was astonished when he suddenly pulled away. She looked up at him, asking him.

‘I must shower first. Then, love. Then, perhaps we could eat.’

She smiled, ran her hands slowly up his chest and then, to his neck ridges.

‘Please, no,’ she smiled at him. ‘I’d like that in another order.’

His eyes shone with laughter.

‘You’re hungry?’

‘No! I mean, yes, but in another sense. I’d like love, first, then shower, then eat.’ She’d begun already to run her fingers slowly up each segment of his ridges, pausing each time to trace a nail round its accompanying enlarged scale. He closed his eyes, let his head fall back, and allowed the sensations to claim him.

‘I smell of the sickroom…’he murmured.

She nibbled under his chin where the highest concentration of glands were located. The room spun round her and her body was doing strange things as he let his pheromones flood the air.

‘You smell just fine to me,’ she murmured back.

His hands moved down her back now, holding her to him as he caressed, tantalisingly slowly, then she felt herself lifted up into the air and carried through to the bed. Felt him undress her slowly, while he gently kissed and caressed each new part that was being revealed. She shivered each time he touched a new area. He lingered over her breasts, teasing her nipples, then down her abdomen and pubic area; then slowly moved down one inside thigh, having completely and deliberately ignored her wetness and the engorged, hypersensitive button at the core of her sensations. She moaned in frustration, and tried to raise her hips against something – anything – only to fall back onto the bed again. She tried to grind her thighs together, but he kept firm pressure on the inside of each knee and prevented her. He continued to lick and kiss his way down, now at the inside of her calves and making her giggle with the ticklish sensations he was eliciting. It delighted him when he saw her increasing frustration, evident in the rising pitch of her voice and the movements of her hips. His already-hardening cock jerked with each groan, and he felt constricted by his trousers. He sat up at that point and began to remove his top clothing, as she watched, lips parted. His chest and neck scales were nearly black with desire. When he began to unfasten his trousers, she sat up and held his arms.

‘May I do that?’

She pretended to be intent on her task, lowering his trousers over his hips, deliberately caressing the firm muscles of his buttocks as she did so, glancing up at him every few seconds to see his reaction. She let him disentangle his legs himself, and as he sat up to do so, she pressed as much of herself as she could against him, whilst hooking her fingers in the waist of his underpants, so she could feel the hard length of him. He stopped, closing his eyes, and then slowly began thrusting against her pressure. The sensations as she dragged his underwear down slowly over his erection made him groan in anticipation, thinking she was going to draw out this ceremony, but as soon as she got them down to his knees, she lost all interest in behaving tantalisingly and she impulsively threw one arm round his neck, and began biting up his neck ridges, while with the other hand, she grasped his erection firmly and worked her hand up and down over it with long strokes.

He hissed in surprise, but her lack of artifice delighted him. and he smiled as he bared his neck to her teeth and lips. After a few minutes, however, he put his hand over hers, and gently disengaged it from his cock.

‘You’ll make me come too soon,’ he whispered in her ear, as he pushed her back against the bed. He leant on his elbow next to her, his top leg hooked over hers, and while her hand still caressed his engorged neck ridges, he began to explore her breasts again with his hands and mouth. Her hand stilled on his neck as the sensations washed over her, but when the light touches began to bring forth echoing sparks in her pelvis and then her clitoris, she began to move against his leg, imploring him with her body.

He pretended not to understand, again – she was never very verbal in their lovemaking, and he hoped that one day she would trust him enough to ask for what she wanted from him. He wondered if he could bring her to ask him now. But when her small, warm hand again found his by-now well lubricated groin, and she began running a fingernail along his shaft, he hissed, and gave in - gently touched the petals of her vulva for a few minutes – then anointed her engorged hood with her own liberal moisture, and began lightly stroking alternately down first one side, then the other.

She lay quietly, then, though with shaking, tense limbs, not moving till he moved away, at which point her eyes flew open and she dug her fingers low into his ass, perilously close to the sensitive perineum. He had started to poise himself over her at this point, but her action made him instinctively drive himself against her, a movement which she’d anticipated by opening her thighs wide to meet him. She thrust up at him so positively, and their mutual lubrication made the sensations so exquisite. It had been far too long. He had intended to prolong this act, reserving himself so that she could enjoy him again, but when her muscles tightened round him hotly, he could not check himself, and instead of the slow, controlled movements he had planned, he found himself meeting her in her frenzy. When her moans became more erotic, more insistent, and louder, he could hear himself joining his voice to hers until finally he emptied himself totally into her in time with the contractions of her orgasm.

~

Had he fallen asleep a few seconds? A few minutes? He suddenly became conscious that he was probably crushing her with his weight, and pushed himself off her, noting that she, too, appeared to have drifted off. He smiled to himself, knowing this to be an indication of satiety in Bajorans, when he noticed the tears shining on her heavy eyelashes. Concerned, he bent over her, caressing her hair, then began to kiss the salty drops away. A veritable flood followed, and he lifted a hand to her cheeks to wipe them away.

‘What is it, my sweet?’

When there was still no answer, only more tears, he sat up, laying his cheek against hers, gathered up as much of her body as he could across his knees, and encircled her protectively. He waited.

Finally, her limbs relaxed a little, and she looked at him. Her lips parted, but she was obviously struggling with herself.

‘Tell me, my Nerys.’

The use of her given name broke her. She found his hand and slipped hers into it. Still unsure, she didn’t look at him as she whispered,

‘You nearly died.’

Silence.

‘Nerys, this is most uncharacteristic of you. Why has this made you so sad all of a sudden? It’s been a risk in both our professions over the years, and besides, I’m older than you, with less time ahead of me?’

She shook her head impatiently.

‘It’s not * that*. It’s just that…I’ve realised now…I couldn’t admit it to myself before. You know, don’t you, that I couldn’t bear to lose you. I couldn’t stand to live if you weren’t around.’

He closed his eyes at that, a sudden echo from longstanding disciplines sounding in his head. <Joy is vulnerability.>

She saw the imperceptible tightening of his lips, and a chill surrounded her heart.

‘I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to…’ didn’t mean to what? Whatever she’d said that made him withdraw from her?

But his eyes flew open, comprehension shining in them, and he gripped her to him even more protectively.

‘You misunderstand me. You have no idea how joyous you make me feel when you say that. It’s just…you know what we say about joy.’

She nodded.

He sat her up, then, and they knelt, knees to knees, in front of eachother, his hands cupping her face tenderly.

‘I’ve always known how you felt, but I didn’t know if you’d ever be able to let yourself live with that,’ he whispered.

Some time ago, she would have been angry at his presumptuousness, his arrogance. Since when had she begun to trust him, or them, enough that she could accept his statement?

So, had he waited, and hoped, but never pushed, watched her trying not to think about what she was doing with him, letting her raise her barriers after every encounter, taking what joy he could, when he could, and somehow never become embittered, never felt used, never gotten impatient? Was he so powerful, then? Did she mean so much to him? Her heart felt as though it would burst with emotion, and she felt ashamed for seeming to take what they had for granted, for treating what they had so lightly.

‘I’m so sorry…I feel such a fool for not admitting it till now.’

He had begun to shake his head while she spoke, dismissing her apology.

‘No – nothing to be sorry for. You’ve got so much more to lose by declaring your love, while I’ve everything to gain.’

Love.

Of course it was love, what else could it be?

She really hadn’t thought this out at all, while he, characteristically, seemed at least several steps ahead. She was dismayed at how much he had taken on himself, even more embarrassed at how callow she had been.

He tried to lighten the mood.

‘Can you imagine the shock and horror? The Cardassian and Bajoran liaison officers, liaising with eachother…’

‘Ha!’ she smiled.

‘Chief O’Brien will probably send you to Dr Bashir for psychiatric evaluation.’

‘Julian’s already worked it out. He said he realised when he saw your brainwave patterns every time I touched you.’

He looked at her, clearly slightly astonished.

‘He worked that out?’

She nodded.

‘Hmmm…It seems I’ve underestimated him.’

‘He did say something about being the only human to have direct experience,’ her glance was now mischievous.

‘I might have known. He and Garak.’

They looked at eachother and smiled at the shared knowledge.

‘I guess we just need to work this out slowly.’

‘Of course.’

They were holding hands now. She slipped hers out of his and stroked his chest, careful to avoid the sensitive ridges.

‘What were you saying about being hungry?’

He lunged at her playfully, knocking her backwards, and making her squeal.

‘Still hungry, then?’

She swatted at him half-heartedly, while crying out,

‘I meant the other, this time!’

‘Oh!’ he pretended to realise, then rolled over and let her sit up.

‘No, truly, I’m really hungry. How about we get dressed up, and go to a restaurant for dinner?’

He gaped at her, astonished that she was already determined to reveal themselves in public. But he’d never been slow at grasping at opportunities.

He leapt out of bed, and helped her up.

‘Shower?’

‘Sure.’

‘Together, or separately?’

A giggle, ‘I’d better go first, or we’ll never get there.’

~

When he came out, his hair still damp but otherwise immaculate, her heart jumped. She’d wanted to look her best tonight, so had put on a flowing, sleeveless, green gown which she thought suited her hair colour. She felt him sweep his eyes appreciatively over her, head to toe, then he came swiftly to her, lifted her hand with the bracelet, and kissed it in a courtly gesture. She smiled, thinking that was it; but instead of releasing it then, he turned her hand over, and began slowly brushing his lips over the prominence of her palm. She caught her breath, watching him watching her; then he dragged her wrist and palm along his jaw, from one set of auricular-mandibular ridges to the other, not missing his submandibular prominences from which the pheromones were already escaping past his control.

She laid her free hand against his chest, just below the neckline of his shirt, and the touch of her fingers seemed to bring him back to awareness.

‘If you want us to go…’ she said, gently, then added, slyly;

‘Your chest scales have gone a funny colour again…’ before she collected her hand and moved to the door, swaying her hips deliberately.

For once, he seemed at a loss of words, and within seconds he’d pulled his armour into place and followed her.

~

There didn’t seem to be many diners at the restaurant when they arrived, for which she was grateful. She’d walked with her arm in his along the Promenade, but they’d met no-one they actually knew, although she wasn’t sure if people hadn’t seen them walk past Quark’s. It wasn’t that she didn’t want to have people see them, but she wanted a little time before they became the number one topic for public gossip. They concentrated on the menu and the appetisers, lingering over their choices, and discussing foods. A discussion of Bajoran dishes led her to talk about their recent experience in the mountains, and of Lesha Falor. It was about then when a shadow fell across their table, and a familiar voice greeted them.

‘Colonel…Legate Dukat… how nice to see you back safe after your recent escapade!’

Garak stood there, smiling from one to the other, clearly expecting to be invited to join them.

‘Thanks a lot, Garak’, responded Kira, without warmth.

‘Ah, but Legate Dukat, it must have been quite, quite terrible for you, nearly freezing to death down there. Was it worth it? Did you find what you were looking for?’

Kira saw, to her surprise, his guard go up. Had she become so close to him that she could read his expressions so easily?

‘Thank you, yes, we did find what we were looking for. Unfortunately, it became lost and crushed in the rockfall we were hit by.’ She schooled her face to be as still as she knew his was, despite her astonishment. But his pouch had been hanging at the front of his belt, and that hadn’t been…

‘What a terrible shame. Central Command will be so disappointed. Well, at least they know…’he paused a second, meaningfully – ‘that it’s not in the hands of some loose cannon, then.’

What was he saying? Typical Cardassian doublespeak…

‘No, that’s absolutely right,’ agreed Dukat, softly. The two stared at eachother for a second, apparently silently parrying and thrusting, then Garak dropped his gaze to Kira’s wrist.

‘Colonel!’ he drawled, then leant over. ‘What an absolutely beautiful bracelet. May I?’ he touched it before she had time to give or deny permission, and lifted its many facets, studying them.

‘A modern interpretation of a Pledge Bracelet?’

Kira stared, unable to answer.

‘Really, most unusual and special.’ He fingered the deep blue crystal with distinct markings in the surrounding setting. ‘This is most stunning. Blue Firestone. And so large. Cardassian origin? Perhaps from your family’s mines?’

he looked at Dukat.

Dukat, clearly now amused, shook his head.

‘I’m afraid not.’

‘So very interesting, having these figures in the setting. Doesn’t your family crest have the same elements as these?’

Dukat threw his head back and laughed.

‘I can see your ability to make real or imagined associations is still unsurpassed, Tailor,’ he commented.

Garak looked soberly at her, and then, him. Then, so softly that the Universal Translator could not pick it up other than that he had begun by uttering both their names, he spoke in Kardasi. Dukat frankly stared at him. Then Garak twinkled at her, and said, louder, ‘I see he’s marked you there, my dear. Well, I’ll be going. A good night to you both.’, turned on his heel, and left them.

She looked at Dukat, feeling like a child whose betters have discussed her above her head.

‘What was that about?’

He shook his head, slowly. ‘The old devil,’ he muttered.

‘The data…?’ she stopped when she saw him hushing her, shaking his head. ‘No. He used an old Cardassian phrase of blessing. It’s customarily reserved for bonded couples, and means something along the lines of "may you both be joyous in your union, now and forever". Well, I suppose it’s fairly obvious.’

‘What did he mean about the bracelet? And your mark?’

‘Oh, that…’He looked a little embarrassed. ‘Our family have mines. A large part of Cardassian origin Blue Firestone comes from there, so we’ve quite a collection in the family treasury. And I told you about our family crest, when I gave you the bracelet, of course. As for marking you…Don’t you remember me putting my scent on you before we left?’

Kira felt hot all over. Especially between her legs.

‘Is it…that obvious?’

‘To a Cardassian, up that close, it’s as clear as the nose on your face,’ he grinned, enjoying her discomfort. Not, I think, at all obvious to other species,’ he added, trying to be reassuring.

‘I guess there’s going to be a whole lot of things to think about, now’, she muttered.

He nodded, not releasing her eyes from his.

‘Like we said, we’ll take it slowly. I do need you to feel completely happy with what we’re doing.’ He took a sip from his glass, still looking at her. ‘You know, I’ve never been sure if you’ll let me be the father of your child.’

She closed her eyes, overcome.

‘I don’t know if I can deal with all of this, now.’

‘I know that. I’m used to waiting, as you know. And I will promise you, I’ll never push you into something you don’t want. I haven’t yet, and I don’t intend to start now.’

‘I think I’ve known that.’