Destiny Upheld

by Fliss Carthew

As far as kisses go, it wasn't especially dramatic or impressive. And there was certainly nothing new about people kissing on the Promenade.

As far as fate was concerned, it ranked in the top ten kisses of all time.

When they finally managed to let go of each other again, Kira felt the blush start at her toes and work its way up. She also couldn't seem to look around, knowing that everyone who could see them was staring, so she stayed looking at the deck. Amazing stuff, deck plating, she thought. She really would have to get the name of the supplier from Starfleet.

Odo, on the other hand, was looking at their gawking audience with a challenging and imperious gaze, one that Kira would have been surprised to have recognised as belonging to the alternate universe Odo. The effect it had on the onlookers was amazing, as every single being suddenly decided they urgently needed to be somewhere - anywhere! - else, rather than where they were.

As the crowd hurriedly dissipated, the only people on whom Odo's look had failed to have any impression whatsoever appeared beside the couple. Quark, who was fighting to keep a large grin from crossing his face, didn't bother with words. He simply winked at Kira and handed her a bottle of her favourite spring wine, waggled his eyeridges conspiratorially at Odo, then turned and strolled back to the bar, hands clasped behind his back.

Dax didn't even bother trying not to smile. In fact, the grin on her face was threatening to take the top of her head off. Tucking their arms in hers, she gently turned them towards the turbolift and headed purposely towards it, chatting gaily all the way. "Now, I don't think either of you have taken a holiday since this war started, and I know you certainly haven't since we retook the station." Reaching the waiting lift, she gave them both a gently shove into it and quickly programmed it's destination. "So, I think it's beyond time you both had a little time off, and I think you both need to have a talk about what just happened. A LONG talk." The look on Dax's face told both that declining her 'suggestion' at this point was not an option. "So, you just take all the time you need. I'll arrange things with Benjamin. And I've programmed the lift to go to your quarters, Nerys, you'll be more relaxed there. Besides, I'm not sure if Odo still has a bed."

Kira managed not to drop her jaw in disbelief as Dax winked at her as the lift doors closed and it hummed towards the habitat ring. She did managed a small, nervous smile at Odo. "I promise I'll kill her tomorrow."

"Ah." Odo folded his arms nervously but refused to meet her eyes. "If . . . . if you would rather--"

"No." Kira having learnt long before that regret was a waste of time and spirit, took the few steps to Odo's side and laid a careful hand on his arm. "Jadzia might be unfamiliar with subtlety, but she has a good heart and nearly always gets it right." As Odo risked a glance in Kira's direction and a small smile of his own, she nodded slowly. "I think my quarters will be fine."

Odo relaxed. So far, so good.

Odo sat on the edge of Kira's lounge looking so tense that Nerys had an itching desire to shout 'boo!', just to see how high he would jump. Instead, she settled for replicating a glass, some ice, and a wine bucket for Quarks 'gift'. She knew there was a more than decent chance the 'gift' would show up on her monthly bar tab, but for now she was willing to take the risk. Besides, no sensible Bajoran would ever look a gift vole in the snout. Placing the bucket on the low table near the lounge, she took a swallow of the wine and decided on a harmless course of conversation to try and relax Odo. Setting down the glass, she tucked herself up in the corner opposite her friend. "So, what made you see Vic?"

Odo found himself with a mental blank; this was not how he envisaged the conversation going. On the other hand, as he'd never really thought any further than telling Nerys he loved her, he had no idea what conversation could be had. Turning to face her, he relaxed a little and settled himself further onto the seat. "It was Bashir. After you left the bar the night he introduced us to Vic, I overheard him telling Miles how Vic had given him some advice on asking an ensign out. Since Dax had suggested you were visiting Minister Shakaar, I thought I had nothing to lose. And he seemed to know things about the others, but when he came to us . . . " Odo's courage failed him and he could only look helplessly at her.

Nerys grinned and nodded. "I think I understand." She sipped her wine and smiled. "I was so worried that night that he would say something about us." Seeing Odo's expression fall, she hurried to reassure him. "Oh, not because I was embarrassed. I just know that you're very protective of your feelings, and I knew you wouldn't want the whole universe to know when we . . . ." Now it was her turn to be unsure. "I wasn't even sure there was an 'us', then. After the last six months, it all seemed so complicated . . . . "

Odo carefully took her hand in his, gently running his thumb across her knuckles. "Vic threw me in what Humans call 'the deep end', I think." He smiled again. "After about a minute listening to me tell him how brave, and handsome, and charismatic Shakaar is, he told me to forget about him and worry about how I appeared. Then he sits me at the piano, an audience appears, and he starts singing!"

"Oh Odo!" Kira laughed quietly and squeezed his hand gently. "You must have hated it."

"I was mortified!" He smiled again and picked up her other hand, this time his fingers making lazy circles on the palm. "When I told him I didn't know how to play, he set the piano playing by itself. So I told him he obviously didn't need me. He told me to sell it with 'style, baby, style'!"

Nerys let her forehead drop onto Odo's shoulder as her shoulders shook with quiet laughter. Odo waited a moment, then lowered his head to tentatively rub his cheek against her hair. He heard her breath catch a little as he did so, but she didn't pull away. Instead, as her laughter slowed, she seemed to snuggle into his shoulder a little more, then turned her head slightly away from him and asked "What happened then?"

"After we finished the set, as he called it, he took me back to his rooms. We chatted about the night, then two women arrived. Apparently, Vic had arranged for the four of us to have dinner at another casino then go and see another singer."

Kira sat up straight and narrowed her eyes. "Let me get this straight; you go to ask advice on me, and Vic arranges for you to go on a date with some holographic bimbo!"

Odo frowned slightly. "Bimbo?"

Nerys shook her head with fierce intent. "Don't change the subject."

She tried to tug her hands out of his, but Odo refused to let them go. "I think you're missing the point. How many dates do you think I've ever been on?"

"Ah." Commonness overtook Kira's indignation and she relaxed again. "I think I see what Vic was doing." She wrinkled her forehead in confusion. "But what about Arissa and Lwaxana? You must have had dates of some kind with them."

"Not really." He relaxed his grip on her hands and looked down to stare at the cushions. "My relationship with Arissa just . . . happened. It was unexpected and totally unplanned." His expression turned rueful as he looked up catch Kira's sympathetic smile. "Lwaxana was desperate to keep her baby, it was only fair that I do everything I could to help her keep him." He shook his head sadly, "Neither one could be called a date as such, so I was still as in the dark as ever." Kira nodded. "There I was, wanting advice on how to ask you out, without the slightest idea on what to do if you actually accepted. Oh, I knew the basic idea, dinner, flowers, that sort of thing, but beyond that, I had no idea."

"I can remember when I was like that, too." Nerys remember back to when she was a young resistance fighter dating for the first time. She smiled mischievously."So, how much practice did he organise for you?"

Odo chuckled self-consciously."I'm afraid I wasn't a very good student. They were lovely ladies but . . ." He looked up to see Kira blushing lightly, "But they weren't you."

"Ah." Her blush deepening, Nerys tried to distract the situation by finishing off her glass of wine. Pouring herself a second glass with a shaking hand, she asked "So, where were we?"

Odo slid over beside her and, laying a gentle hand on her cheek, turned her face to his. "Right here, I think," and lowered his lips to hers.

It has to be said that Nerys had never considered herself much of a kisser. This isn't to say that she didn't enjoy it; far from it. But bitter experience had taught her that such activities couldn't compare with more intimate actions when each day brought the reasonable chance that you or your partner could be dead by sunset. So the two kisses she had so far shared with Odo were about average in her experience before she would normally pass on to more involve matters. Which is why the third took her so much by surprise.

The first thought that managed to make itself heard was how fluid he was. A moment later, she wondered why she'd ever thought he could be otherwise. She'd watched Odo walk and shift often enough to recognise he had a certain grace in his movement, a fluidity of motion that she could never hope to emulate. And his mouth was proving to be just as mobile as the rest of him.

The second thought was how crisp and clean he tasted. Like a warm mineral mountain stream, she thought, and smiled.

Odo drew his head back a little and whispered. "What?"

"Nothing." Nerys gazed thoughtfully into his eyes. "Just realising something I hadn't thought about before."

"Oh." Confident that she wasn't laughing at him, Odo continued, this time trailing kisses along her jaw. At the same time, one hand crept up to tangle itself in her red curls, while the other slipped down to her waist and undid her belt. As the strap of leather fell away, Nerys gave a faint sigh and Odo allowed himself a small smile of his own as he nuzzled his way around her neck, occasionally flicking his tongue out to give her small licks. His lower hand meanwhile, had found its way to the zipper down the front of her uniform and was idly tracing it up to the catch at her throat.

Kira's hands were sliding themselves along the outside of Odo's thighs to his hips and around to that backside that had, on more than one occasion, attracted her undivided attention. Digging her fingers in slightly, she was pleased to discover his substance was as pliant as she'd suspected. Kneading it gently, it felt like Odo's form warmed and softened beneath her touch like clay. But unlike the clay she had once tried to bring to form, she suddenly thought that she'd at last found a responsive outlet for her latent creativity. A few moments later, she felt Odo's fingers flicking the catch to her uniform with maddening slowness, and managed a whispered "don't tease", before his mouth closed over ear and all coherent thought became a temporary impossibility.

Odo's small smile became an inward grin as he heard Kira give an even longer whimper as his fingers played with the fastening to her uniform, before giving a gentle tug on the clan denotation of her earring. As she tilted her head back, he let his hand slide down to caress her neck, before finally lifting his head to whisper in her ear, "I'm sorry, what did you say?" There was no answer, just an added urgency as Kira's hands travelled up his back, pulling him closer to her. Resting his other hand on the small of her back, Odo slowly turned out of her grasp and lowered her to lay down on the lounge, kneeling beside it, before once more capturing her mouth with his.

Odo found he was hurriedly starting to loose himself in their actions, and he didn't care. His hands closed over the zipper to her uniform and gently began to draw it down, slowly parting the cloth, while his mouth continued to tango with hers, his other hand kneading the back of her neck. Kira's hands weren't still themselves, and while one of her hands was tousling his hair, the other had slid around his hand on her jacket and was trying to encourage it to undo the jacket faster. Odo shook his head and refused to move faster than he already was. Finally, he raised his mouth from her and murmured "I've spent years loving you, Nerys, I'm not about to rush tonight. Tonight is our night, for however long it lasts."

Nerys nodded, slightly breathlessly, and left Odo to get on with removing her jacket, while she worked on his clothes. Had she been able to think a little deeper, she would have realised she was attempting the impossible. As it was, rational thought had long left the room. Odo finished undoing her uniform and sat back on his heels slightly, while reaching up to gently hold her clutching hands, as Nerys gazed at him in slight frustration. "I forgot, you don't wear a uniform, do you."

"No." Odo leant over to whisper in her ear as he placed her hands on his shoulders. "But there is a way for you to 'undress' me as well."

Kira was intrigued. "How?"

"Well," Odo lifted her up and eased her arms out of her uniform sleeves and carefully removed her white undershirt, before laying her gently back down and tweaking the pillow under her head. "What you can do is run your hands over my form, and wherever you touch me, I'll fade the uniform and take the form I had as a Human." He smiled nervously. "How does that sound?"

Nerys wrapped her arms around his neck and smiled. "It sounds like a wonderful idea." Her smile because impish. "I wish I'd thought of it." She gently ran her hands along his shoulders, across his chest, and down his arms, watching in amazement as the usual, severe security uniform was smoothed away to reveal the wiry but muscular body Odo had possessed during his short period of Humanity. As the 'skin' tingled away beneath her hands, Kira gasped a little with delight. Using all her latent talent, she shaped and moulded the living golden clay, until finally there was only Odo left, and the only uniform left was from the waist down, as it was with her.

"Sit up, let me look at you." Odo sat on the edge of the lounge and watched Nerys sit up and run a palm down his chest, brushing away the last of the uniform. She smiled a little and nodded slowly as her eyes roved over his chest. "Not bad." The smile flickered towards his own eyes and Odo began a tentative grin as well. "The Founders at least were generous. They didn't make you a child or an old man, or deformed."

"I doubt those Humanoid faults crossed their minds, Nerys." She flinched a little at the words, but, to her credit, didn't move. "To them, being made Human was the most terrible punishment they could inflict. To not be able to link with others . . . . " His voice trailed off and Kira knew her friend was as distant as he ever would be. His eyes trailed back to hers, and the look on is face suddenly became horrified. "I didn't mean . . . Nerys, I wasn't saying . . . " He closed his eyes as if to blot out the pain he felt. "I'm doing this all wrong."

"Well, I wouldn't say all wrong." Kira slid as close to him as she could and began idly tracing a fingernail over his chest, watching the tiny flashes of gold that followed it. "You're being honest and we're talking about things that are important to us. That's not wrong." Nerys seemed to get distracted then and laughed quietly as she dragged her fingers across Odo's chest in aimless patterns and the faint gold flashes chased after them. "It's like using a firestick to try and write your name in the air at night."

"That's nothing," Odo was relieved as the conversation turned back to other matters. Taking her hand gently, he placed her finger just below his simulated collarbone. "Push in a little and write your name." Nerys grinned as the Bajoran letters showed up in Odo's skin like cold fire and stayed as she moved on.

Sensing it was time for them to move on as well, her smile turned seductive. "So, are there any more names written on your heart?"

Odo's hands were on her waist as he moved to kneel on the lounge and draw her against him to kiss her once again. "That depends; are any more showing?"

Nerys decided that enough serious conversation had taken place for one evening. She stretched along Odo as close as she could and lowered her hands to his backside again, rubbing up and down as she pulled him to her, searching for that object that instinct told her should be there. However, even as she gently rubbed herself against Odo, Kira knew something was wrong. Raising her head from where she'd been kissing his neck, she saw fear in his eyes. "What's wrong?" The expression wasn't a stranger; on the contrary, it had been in her eyes many years before when she had gone to her first lovers bed. True, in that case it had been nothing more than a bundle of blankets near some scrubby bushes in a cave, and she had been rather drunk after a successful resistance operation. But none of that made the fear any less real; on the contrary, she could understand it all the better. Slowly she settled back on her heels, still holding his hands, her eyes never leaving his face. "Tell me, what's scaring you?"

Odo looked everywhere but at Nerys for a few moments, trying to gather his courage. Eventually, he dared to meet her gaze, to find nothing but concern for a friend in her expression. It helped a little. "I . . . . I'm not sure . . . "

Nerys nodded. "Ah. I see." She squeezed his hands gently. "Lwaxana?"

"Nothing like this." He was reluctant to give details, but she didn't seem to be asking for them, something he was eternally grateful for.

"Arrissa?"

"Yes, but," he paused, looking for the right word. Nerys was patient, knowing he'd move at his own pace eventually. "It was more spontaneous. We just seemed to get there." The fear came back into his eyes as he glanced at Kira again. "I'm sorry." He wasn't entirely sure what he was apologising for, but it seemed the done thing to do.

Nerys, apparently, disagreed. "What for? Because you don't know something?" A puzzled look was on her face, but there was still no sign of anger or resentment, something Odo was grateful for. "Odo, you won't be the first man I've ever known." He could see she was choosing her words with care, obviously unwilling to commit to a long term. "Do you want me to apologise for knowing them? For my past?"

"No." The words were quiet but emphatic, and for some reason, he felt like some sort of bridge had been crossed. Taking a chance, he tugged on her hands and pulled her up to lean against him again.

"Then I don't ever expect you to explain about yours."

Relaxing into Odo's kiss for the first time that evening, Nerys smiled to herself, then slowly moved her hands onto Odo's hips and began stroking them down his thighs, feeling the simulated fabric smooth under her palms to become the form he'd once had. As her breasts pressed into him, she felt a tingling begin at her nipples, then the sensation of a questing mouth slowly sucking at them. Her rapidly fleeting mind noted the sensations were rolling up her arms and down her chest. 'Odo must be shifting against me.' Some distant part of her mind, that had somehow managed to remain, was beating her over the head for not noticing Odo earlier if this was how a Changeling had sex with a Solid. 'Except we haven't even gotten that far yet!'

Managing a heroic regathering of her wits, against an overwhelming desire to cast all thoughts to the wind and just go with her feelings, she tore herself away from Odo's mouth. "We should go to the bedroom. While I can still find it." The words were muffled as they were being breathed against Odo's neck. "Unless you want to stay here."

"Well," Odo brought a hand up to caress her neck and shifted it slightly, smiling at the faint whimper he elicited and the increasing frantic behaviour of her hands. "This lounge does have some interesting textures."

"So do my sheets." Nerys was trying to move her hands to the front of Odos' trousers where she felt the gathers of his pants pressing through her own clothes, but was finding herself frustrated at every point. There seemed to be some barrier against her legs which she eventually decided was Odo, who must have allowed her to sink in to himself slightly. "You're cheating."

"Your uniform has interesting textures too." Odo's hands were running over her backside now. "I could do this all day."

"I know better things to do all day." Kira managed to get a foot on the ground, unsteady as it was, and stood. "Come on, we can do this better in there." Her hands were still unable to get to Odo's front and she nuzzled his neck. "You're still cheating."

"Really?" Odo tried to sound surprised, and naturally failed. What did surprise him was a hitherto unknown talent for seduction. If Kira's physical reactions were anything to go by, as long as he pretended to be talking or thinking about something else, yet at the same time he upped his own actions, he was exciting her as much as her mere touch was him. "Were you looking for anything in particular, Major?"

Tugging Odo upright, Kira shook her head. "I'm sure I'll find it soon." A hazy recollection of the whereabouts of the majority of the furniture most likely to bruise shins and break a leg should she fall over it floated through her mind, and she made a determined, if backwards, strike for the bedroom door. A slight miscalculation however, brought the corner of a small, but tall, table into sharp contact with her backside, bringing reality back into firm, but painful, focus. "Ouch."

Odo decided that, as the only Being in the room who was able to see where they were going, it was time he took charge. Assuming the dance position, and before Nerys realised what was going only, he danced her into the bedroom and laid her gently on the bed. Stretching out beside her, he propped himself up with one hand tucked under his cheek, and slid the other down to her hip, slowly sliding her trousers and underwear off. "Can you find what you were looking for from here, Major?"

Nerys didn't look down, but simply slid her hand down his chest to Odo's approximated groin, then smiled. "I seem to have found the item in question, Constable." Closing her hand around the aforementioned item, she slid her palm up and down, interested to find a gliding sensation as she did so. "I take it this is the . . . the Human model?"

"Hmmm." Odo's head had slipped forward until it was resting against hers, and it took a moment for him to realise she'd asked a question. The sensations her hand was giving him were exquisite, to say the least. "Oh, yes. It's an easy form for me, since I was locked in it for eight months. My body seems to take it naturally since then, I suppose it remembers it." He lifted his head back and looked at her quizzically."Why? I can change it, if you . . ." His voice trailed off, leaving an unspoken volume. He was, after all, alien to her. And while he had no doubts about their friendship, one of the various excuses he'd used to himself over the years for not becoming involved with her, was that until recently, Bajorans had known few alien species other than Cardassians. Odo's records were thorough; probably even more thorough than Kira realised. He knew about the interrogation centre. And he knew, even if she didn't realise it, that to have an intimate relationship with him would be asking her to to take a leap of faith.

She slowly shook her head. "No, don't." Gently, she moved her hand further down to apparently inspect the rest of Odo's Human equipment, before seeming to realise what she was doing and quickly taking her hand away, blushing as she did. "Sorry, I didn't mean to be rude."

"You weren't." Taking her hand in his, Odo gently placed it back on his groin. "It's different to what you know. You're curious. And as far as I'm aware, you've never seen a naked Human before." He deferred to the possibility of there being gaps in his knowledge. "At least, if you have, you're never mentioned it to me."

The blush deepened as she restarted the inspection. "Once. A few years ago." At Odo's raised eyebrows, she detailed. "He was drunk, we locked him up." She gave a small shrug and seemed to be avoiding his eyes. "A drunk ensign, you might remember." She smiled ruefully. "He stripped and said he wanted to show me the whole package."

"I remember." Odo considered teasing her, but decided the offhand approach was best. "As you see, Humans and Bajorans are about the same size on average." As her hand moved down, he continued despite the rising sensations of pleasure. "Human males have something called a foreskin when they're born. It's a flap of skin that covers the top. As they become aroused, it moves to expose the head."

"Sensitive?" Nerys found the way the skin moved, the slickness of the whole shaft, and this unusual covering of skin more interesting than she'd thought.

"Very." Odo closed his eyes for a moment and swallowed. If she kept up what she was doing, he wasn't entirely sure he'd be able to concentrate for much longer. "They also have two --"

"So I see." Kira broke in before he could finish the sentence. "While Bajorans only have one. And smaller as well."

"Bajorans carry themselves higher in the body than Humans." Odo almost groaned as she gave him a final caress, then removed her hand and placed it on the coverlet between them.

"So, what do you think?" Odo gave her a look of complete bewilderment and she smiled. "About me. What do you think of me?"

"Oh." He gave a swift glance at her before his eyes returned helplessly to hers. "You look nice." As a look of reproach crossed her face, Odo decided some extra compliments were in order. "Very nice." This brought him a look indignation. 'Back-pedal and apologise like hell!' He shrugged. "I'm sorry Nerys, but I have no comparison. And to me, you've always been beautiful."

It was the right thing to say. "Oh Odo." She placed a hand on his cheek and lightly touched her forehead to his. "I haven't always felt it." After a moment, she leaned back and ran her hand down his arm seductively. "So, what do you want to do?" She blushed again. "I mean, what would you like?" The blush deepened and she tried to dig herself out of the metaphorical hole she was in. "I meant--"

Odo ended the discussion by kissing her. It seemed to work.

After a few moments of enjoying the way she hugged him to her, the way she wrapped her arms around him and how his body, without any thought from him, started to conform to her, softening to follow the curves of her body, he started kissing his way down her neck again, murmuring at the same time "We do whatever you like." Nerys sighed and pulled her head back to look Odo in the eye. "Whatever you're comfortable with." Odo used the hand that wasn't massaging her neck to run down her body, coming to rest on her backside. He swallowed tightly before continuing. There were some things that needed to be said, no matter what the cost to himself. "I'm alien to you, Nerys. That might mean you're afraid, and after the Cardassian Occupation, you have good reason to be."

Nerys trailed a finger along Odo's chin and gave his comments the serious consideration they deserved. On a certain level, she was also realising that in one evening, she'd had more pillow talk with a lover than possibly both her entire relationships with Bareil and Shakaar put together. Certainly Shakaar, who was never much of a talker outside the office. He seemed to regard the bedroom as a place to do, rather than discuss.

Both Bareil's had been more inclined to chat, although even with them it had been limited. And her mental jury was still out on whether the alternate Bareil had been more intimate than the Vedek. She suspected she'd eventually decide they had just been different, neither better than the other. Besides, the alternate Bareil had only been with her for a few days, so they hadn't exactly been lovers, more surprise friends that had enjoyed an intimate relationship.

She surfaced from her thoughts to find Odo's eyes as frightened as they had been earlier. Sighing, she moved away a little and propped her head in one hand. "No hair on your chest."

"No." Odo made the obvious comparison. "Cardassians don't either. Some Human males do, some don't."

"Bareil didn't." She began to feel frustrated with his fear of them moving on. "Odo, You've taken Human form. That's different, not alien." She put her arms back around him and pulled him into a tight hug fiercely."You're a Changeling, Odo. You can be anything! But you've always chosen to be this. This," she shivered with anticipation as Odo nodded slowly and gently rolled her onto her back, "this, I can live with. We'll deal with the rest as we go."

Gently, mindful of not wanting to frighten her in any way, Odo let a hand come to rest on one of her breasts, then shifted the palm of the hand, letting his substance sink into the nipple slightly. Nerys gasped at the sensations, then put a hand on his hip and tugged it towards hers. Odo refused to be rushed however, and shifted the palm again, this time into a form of a mouth and set it slowly sucking and tugging on the nipple.

Kira had to cough twice to clear her throat before she could even manage a hoarse voice. "You know what will please me." She watched him intently. "I need to know what pleases you."

A reasonable question, Odo thought. "Touching you. Being touched by you." Kira instantly began running her hands over his back, still trying to urge him to move over her. Odo closed his eyes and concentrated on making a small but important detail change to his simulated genitals.

Kira sensed something was different and glanced down, to find her gaze locked on his groin as she did so. Moving her hand off his hip, she once again caressed that very Human appearing groin, that now had a very Bajoran change made to it. "You've added ridges."

Odo didn't bother answering, but carefully moved to position himself above her, then moved to distract her with kisses as he gently lowered him down. His form needed no instruction from that point on, it seemed to instinctively know what was required of it. Nerys felt him move against her, then that wonderful tingle as he shifted form, and then a familiar, but in some ways totally alien, thrust into her. Slightly larger than she was used to, and certainly with more ridges than she'd met before, but excitingly wonderful, she decided. She had both hands on his backside now, and for a moment held him inside her, revelling in the warmth she felt, the way his rod seemed to fill her completely, not wanting to let him move from her for fear that he might not come back. Then he slowly pulled out of her before thrusting back in again, this time a little harder and faster than before. Her hands remembered their part in the scheme of things and began running over his back, her fingers digging into and trailing through his softened substance.

Odo was almost mindless by now, his form entirely caught up in the pleasure shooting through it. The part of him inside Nerys was transmitting everything it felt through his body and her hands roving over his back were finishing the job. Keeping his form was proving harder by the second so he gave it up. Using the last of his fleeing sanity he ordered the lights off, then relinquished control over his shape. Melting away, he covered Nerys like a blanket.

By now, both of her breasts were alternately being sucked and tugged by what felt to her like mouths. Another mouth had latched on her nub and was apparently licking it although it also seemed to occasionally suck that as well. That firm part of him that was left was speeding up its thrusts into her as she began moaning, her hips now rising to meet every push. The ridges he'd created on it were thoroughly massaging her and as she expanded and contracted for him, his shape followed the changes. A mouth was still closed over hers, and what felt like a tongue was there as well. Some dim, distant part of her wondered if she'd miraculously learnt to breathe through her ears because she certainly couldn't be using her mouth. Her fingers dug harder into the gold gel covering her and her nails raked over him.

Already on the edge, Odo went into complete sensory overload and stopped moving. Not that it mattered because his form began to ripple everywhere, both inside and out. Gold light sparked off him as he shifted and writhed, and Kira drove straight over the edge of whatever cliff she'd been on, to soar through the stars in her mind. Neither knew how long they stayed like that, and indeed it seemed like eternity, when slowly, gently, the waters began to subside.

Odo had never felt so tired and yet so elated before. Reforming slowly, he stayed joined to Nerys, continuing to ripple within her. Finally lifting his mouth from hers, he ran a hand down her side as he propped himself up on the other elbow, before finally, carefully, he flowed out of her and waited for her to regain herself. Eventually she opened her eyes to see Odo's eyes fixed on hers, a slight frown of worry on his face. As his hand continued to caress her up and down her side, she raised a hand to cradle his cheek in her palm.

Odo spoke first, his voice a whisper in the dark room. "How are you?"

"Prophets." She struggled to put into words all she felt, all she had just experienced, and settled for a question of her own. "Is that how Changelings make love?"

"Something like that, yes." He nodded slightly, aware that details weren't important at this time. "Did you enjoy it?"

"I could enjoy that forever, Odo." Nerys smiled, her thumb running over his lips, while her other hand laced his fingers with hers than brought their hands up to sit between her breasts. "I never dreamed it could be that . . . . intense. But I never really let myself dream about us until last night either." She gave a quiet laugh, shaken but happy. "Did you enjoy it?"

"Do you know how many years I've dreamed of this?" Odo gave their locked hands a butterfly kiss before angling himself to lay beside her, allowing her to roll onto her side to face him, their locked hands coming to rest on the tousled sheet beneath them. "But even I never dreamed it would be like this."

"This is only the start, Odo." Her smile widened, her eyes laughing as well, not at Odo but with him, he decided and smiled back, to her delight. "Trust me, it will only get better from here."

"Prophets." At that moment Odo could almost believe in them himself. "After that it gets better? Where does it end?"

She shook her head, the joy inside her threatening to make her break into laughter. "It doesn't end, Odo. Just when you think it can't get better, that's when it'll get even better."

"Ah." A small but distracting thought occurred to Odo and he once again leaned down to kiss her hand. "The shapeshifting . . . it didn't frighten you?"

"It did a lot of things to me, Constable." Her voice became husky as a flush of arousal flashed through her again and her groin tightened in anticipation, as she moved to roll Odo onto his back and clasped his other hand in hers. Straddling his hips, she threw her head back shamelessly as she felt him shift and swell to once again fill her. Gathering her fleeing thoughts, she managed a last sentence before again throwing her cares to the wind. "Frightening me wasn't one of them. Trust me, this is just the beginning."

Odo was helpless before his own desire. "I love you, Nerys." He couldn't remember whether he'd said it before, but he had to say it now.

The words pierced the fog of pleasure in Kira's mind and she leaned down to capture his mouth with hers, murmuring as she did. "My joy and delight are in doing the will of the Prophets."

Odo finished off the phrase. "Blessed be the name of the Prophets."

In Ops, a puzzled Dax rechecked all her sensor, then shrugged at Sisko. "I don't know, it's just doing it."

Sisko looked back at the flaring wormhole and smiled. "Maybe the Prophets are just happy about something."

As he returned to his office, Dax had a thought and smiled to herself. "Or about someone."

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