Off The Beaten Path

by Mana and Kat

NC-17

Author's notes: 

Kat:  Plot? What plot? We don't need no stinkin' plot! Kat was feeling frisky and Mana encouraged it so we decided to play. This is what you get because of it.

Mana:  Yea thats right! I mean, come on, there's only so much you can watch on TV before breaking down and writing one of these babies.  Enjoy our toys

Summary: A nature trail leads to interesting discoveries.

T'Pol was...restless. The meeting with the Zenki had gone well and the crew was situated. They had insisted their guests stay and enjoy a little shore leave, and Captain Archer had been more than willing to agree. The planet was so Earth-like that the humans aboard Enterprise were quite taken with it. The summer sun beat down on her as she walked the forest trail. The Zenki had assigned the crew cabins in a wonderfully wooded area. Mountains towered to the south of the cabins and fed a huge sparkling green lake. The heat was chased around by a steady breeze, which kept it from being too stifling. The sun was hot though, perpetuating the type of dry heat uncommon in a forested area. If she stood under it with her eyes closed, she could almost imagine herself back on Vulcan.

The crew was enjoying their shore leave. Many of them frolicked in the lake like children. The icy runoff from the mountains a wonderful treat from the heat. Neither their antics, however, nor the heat, were responsible for her restlessness. It centered around one man, one who wasn't answering his communicator. Captain Archer had gone for a walk nearly two hours before. After the meetings had wound down and they had gotten settled in their cabins, the Captain had told her he wanted to be alone for a bit. He was going to follow one of the trails and just enjoy the gifts of nature. Because he had made a point of requesting some time to himself, she was reluctant to bother him. She certainly didn't want to let the crew or their hosts know the Captain was missing, and yet she was a little concerned. It wasn't like the Captain to be reclusive, and he was alone. He could possibly even be hurt.

She paused on the trail, looking around to see if there were any clues to his location. The trail itself was pretty simple. A plain dirt track leading through the forest. The Zenki had even encouraged the growth of flowering brush along the edges of it to keep people from wandering off track. Like the trail itself, the brush was neat enough to keep from obstructing the path, but not too groomed as to make it look out of place in the wilderness. Another thing the Zenki had done was request their guests not stray from the paths. Like all nature trails and preserves, the forests contained a vast array of wildlife. A person might very well become prey if they wandered too far a field. It was also one of the reasons Porthos had been left behind with Doctor Phlox. The little dog, though well behaved, was still a dog. All he needed to do was chase something to become food himself.

Shaking away the disturbing thoughts, she continued down the path. It was most unlikely the Captain had left the trail, despite his natural curiosity. She would follow it a while longer and see where she ended up. Fifteen minutes later, she was a bit more than restless. She was hot and the forest was smothering her. If she didn't find the Captain soon, she was going to hurt him herself. She flipped open her communicator in an attempt to contact him once more. She stared at it in disbelief as the tool gave her a beep equivalent to a no signal. How could there not be a signal in the middle of the forest? The device was designed to communicate across thousands of miles, through atmospheres and clouds, and yet, it was telling her there was no signal. With a deep sigh, she closed the communicator and jammed it in her pocket. She was giving him five more minutes, and then to hell with his privacy. She would head back to the cabins and call out a search party. Shaking her head again, she acknowledged the unusual flow of reaction she was showing. Her control seemed off today and it was spilling through. With an uncharacteristic twist of logic, she decided to blame it on the heat and continued down the path.

It was the sound of water that caught her attention first. The muted roar of it suggested a waterfall. The sound seemed to surround her, echoing from all angles. The path however seemed to curve away from the sound as she continued on. The bubbling spill of water as it traveled rapidly over rocks and vegetation was appealing and she closed her eyes, imaging how refreshing it would be against her skin. A voice in song caught her ear. It was strong and fluid, with the Captain's tones and inflections, and she could imagine no one else singing the bawdy tale of an English barmaid.

As she turned toward the voice, she noticed a break in the hedge. Since the song was coming from the area beyond the break, which also led back toward the waterfall, it was only logical that she go in that direction. Her logic proved faultless, for within minutes she stumbled into a clearing.

A small waterfall spilled down a hill about 15 feet high, cascading into a gleaming pool. The pool seemed shallow, no more than four or five feet in depth, and was so clear she could see the bottom. Rock supported the edge of the pool, offering a slippery bank to the rippling surface. The bottom too seemed made up of rock. The whole of it was only about forty feet in diameter. Then, it spilled over yet another fall of rocks to a stream that continue to weave its way through the forest.

The singing continued, though it seemed somewhat garbled. A flash of tan caught her attention and her eyes widened in surprise as she noted her Captain standing beneath the flow of the waterfall. His face was tilted up, the spray washing over him. His eyes were closed as he sang, his hands lifted as if in supplication. The song had changed from bawdy to reverent. She was captivated. For a moment he seemed as much a part of this place as the water and the trees, natural and so very male. Her senses were overwhelmed. This was a side of him she had never seen. He stood before her glorious and naked, full of life and obviously aroused. It was compelling and confusing, for he seemed to be alone, and yet, he didn't seem to be aware of his own sexuality.

T'Pol stood transfixed on him, unable to tear her eyes away for one moment. Unintentionally, her eyes traced the outlines of his body. He was beautiful, even T'Pol could admit to that. It wasn't often that she would call someone something so obviously emotional, but he was...breathtaking. She had seen men before, she had seen aroused men before, but never had she been drawn to one as she was to her captain.

Silently, she took a step forward, hoping to find a better view. However, her foot slid into a small dead branch on the ground and a resounding crack echoed through the area. She crouched down as Jonathan looked up.

"Who's there," he called out, unaware of her presence.

T'Pol mentally held her breath. Should she show herself? That would of course tell him she'd seen him, and the consequences of that could be intense. However, she didn't really want to stay hidden. She knew that was an irrational thought, but today she was feeling irrational. Standing up, she moved closer to him. His eyes grew wide, and his hands fell to his sides.

"T'Pol?" he breathed out a sigh of relief. For a moment, she knew he had believed that perhaps a wild animal had come into the area. She moved closer to him. It was then that he realized his state of undress, and she watched as his face reddened. His hands dropped in instinctive cover and he turned away from her. His face brightened even more as he realized she was getting as good a look at his posterior as she had the rest of him. He wasn't sure whether to be angry and indignant, or to just laugh. It was certainly an unusual situation for both of them. Deciding humor was his best option, he gave up trying to cover himself and jumped off the small ledge he was standing on and into the pool. It was his hope that the shadows and the ripples of the water would do a better job concealing him than his hands and the falls had. As his head pushed the surface, his eyes locked with hers and all humor fled. There was something there, something he had never acknowledged from her before, admiration, and desire.

His heart began to beat faster. It was a moment, a flash of awareness that sparked between the two of them, magic in the space of a heartbeat. His nostrils flared and his breath quickened as he watched her become aware of her own feelings, those very things he had read in her eyes.

T'Pol licked her lips, never breaking eye contact. She didn't seem able to. Her body seem heavy, almost full, and yet strangely empty. It was primitive, mate to mate, all instinct and hormones and emotion. Her logic was scattered and she didn't seem to care. Slowly she tried to make her mind function, to pull back to some semblance of control. Her voice was husky, almost unrecognizable as she spoke. "You strayed from the path..."

His smile was nearly feral, eyes gleaming. It was all male and possessive as he held up a hand.

"Join me?"

Her heart stopped, then kicked back on in a rapid tattoo. He was so compelling, she found herself moving forward. Her feet slid slightly on the rocks at the edge of the pool as she approached. That slight unsteadiness seemed more than just footing. She was in way over her head. For the briefest of instances she remembered the humans' biblical story of Eve and the Serpent. If the woman had felt any of what she was feeling now, it was no wonder she had sinned. Logic tried for the briefest of moments to reassert itself. Her hand came up to touch the V of her red body suit. She nearly stuttered as she formed the words. "I don't have anything to swim in."

Archer's grin slid toward mischievous, and he swam closer, his hand closing around her ankle. He tugged gently. "Join me anyway."

Sunlight sparkled in his eyes, fully enhancing the magic of the moment. Temptation won out, and she shimmied out of her clothes. She watched his eyes darken further at the site of her naked, and then she was in the water with his arms around her.

The weight of his hands on her was just what she had been craving.  As if they had been lovers for centuries, he knew just how to touch her.  Whether it was a fleeting caress, barely a whisper of there, or a firm squeeze and flick of the nipple, he knew what she wanted, instinctively, almost before she did.  Soon it wasn't enough though.  He seemed content to explore and arouse, and she wanted so much more.  Arching against him, she nearly sighed as his firm thigh slid between her own.  Pressure and friction exploded in her brain as he brushed her labia.  She moaned then, fingers tunneling into his hair.  Sensation raced along her nerve endings forcing her body to arch again, tautly strung as a bow.  As he leaned into her, she shifted against him, riding his thigh as it pressed further against her.  Her back came up against the smooth surface of the bordering rocks and Jonathan took advantage of the support by lifting her up so his mouth was even with her breasts.  Her legs wrapped around his waist.  One of his arms curled under her bottom for support as the other slid between their bodies to her hot center.  His mouth continued to feast on her breasts and she groaned helplessly.  His hands and mouth were driving her insane, and yet, she wanted, needed more.  Nature, primitive in its intent and uncompromising existence surrounded her, seemed to absorb her.  All that was civilized was stripped away in the need to mate, to be one with her mate.  It was survival at its deepest core.  Recognition and purpose found only in it truest sense.  Right, perfectly right, only with this one man.

Reaching behind her, she braced herself against the rocks, her legs tightening around his waist. He looked up from her breast, realization flashing in the depths of his eyes. Raising his hands, he braced them beneath hers, and moved ever so slowly to her center. T'Pol's breath quickened as she felt the head of his penis make contact with her. He stayed there for a moment, resting at her opening, waiting for permission. She nodded once and he slowly entered her in one languid motion.

She stiffened slightly at the intrusion, and he stopped once he was buried completely. He waited for her to adjust to his size, then began moving in an ancient rhythm, meant to drive each of them wild. She moaned and began thrusting in time, each meeting in the middle. He let go of the rocks behind her with one hand and moved it to where they were joined. Circling her clit, she felt a sudden tremor reverberate through her body. She threw her head back, moaning loudly, and increasing their rhythm. He followed in turn, their passion rising.

Jonathan was on fire.  The feel of her around him was like nothing he could remember.  She was hot and oh so tight.  With each thrust the water swirled around and between them, rinsing away her natural lubricant and increasing the friction between them, and yet, each time her returned to her, he was coated again.  Ripples of pleasure tingled down his spine, and he groaned at the sheer pleasure of it.  His muscles tightened, body preparing for final climax, but he couldn't let go.  She wasn't quite with him.  He slowed his thrusts, though the urge to take, to conquer, to mate, was all encompassing.  His hand increased its strokes, teasing and pinching at the sensitive nub, forcing her closer to completion.  

T'Pol nearly bucked him off her as a spasm of pleasure rocked her body.  One moment she was straining against him and the next she was flying, her body a mass of shudders and sensations.  She could feel her inner muscles fluttering around him, and then he was pounding into her with such force she thought she'd be crushed.  The weight of him, the pace and the subtle change of angle as he grasped her to him, brought her oversensitive flesh in direct contact with his.  A secondary round of shudders rocked her as she came again.  This time she held him just as tightly, barely able to breathe as his rhythm became erratic.  The heat of him coated her insides as he came and he slowed, he body moving in reflexive thrusts as he tried to catch his breath.

He looked up at her as his breathing returned to more of a normal pace. His eyes were shining brightly, his face dotted with perspiration. A gentle smile formed on his lips and he moved to kiss her once more. As their lips broke apart, so did they. He moved back, his now flaccid penis withdrawing from her as well. She let go of the rock behind her and sank slightly into the cold depth of the water.  Looking once more at him, she turned, kicking her leg up over the side of the spring. Standing, she gathered her clothes. He followed in suit.  Silence pervade the area with only the two of them, casting knowing glances at each other

Jonathan caught her shoulder as she started to dress.  Now that it was done, he was uncertain and concerned.  He didn't know what had come over him in that pool, or her for that matter.  He had always cared for her, been attracted to her, but he had never acted on it.  As her eyes met his once more, he knew she felt the same.  His fingers curled into her shoulder, comforting rather than restrictive.  "I'm not certain what happened, but I don't regret it... and I want very much for it to happen again."

Her mind turned over his words as she searched his eyes.  She couldn't understand her actions.  Never had she been driven beyond logic before, and yet, without a token of protest she had encouraged the erasure of all the barriers between them, professional as well as personal.  Despite her uncertainty for the future, she didn't regret her actions.  It was right as he had been right.  For once she was content to bypass logic, take the risk, and see how the cards fell.  "I am not certain either."  She broke his gaze to shimmy into her clothes.  As she secured the fastenings she glanced back at him.  He was still standing there, naked, his clothes before him like a shield, and his heart in his eyes.  She raised a brow.  "You should get dressed.  It is nearly dark, and I believe we are expected to meet with Premier Xu for dinner."  As she watched him scramble into his clothes, a smile tugged at the corner of her mouth.  She barely managed to control it.  "I would prefer the bed in your cabin for the next encounter.  After dinner?"

His head snapped up at her words and a grin bloomed across his face.  He nodded as he straightened his clothes.  Once finished he stalked up to her, caught her face in his hands, and planted a hard kiss on her mouth.  "Witch," he stated without any real heat.  Catching her hand, he held it tightly as he headed back to path.
 

Fin