Epilogue

“So, Commander, do tell; why him?” The question earned him a poke between the ribs from the woman sitting next to him.

Deanna’s smile grew wider as she sensed a ripple of annoyance from Worf and amused interest from the others at the table. “I thought you said you had him under control?” she directed her question to the Trill sitting across her.

Ezri Dax shrugged and petted her husband’s arm. “I do…most of the time.” Worf grunted in approval while Kira bellowed loudly, drawing surprised glances from pretty much everyone within hearing distance.

Like Kira, most of them were at least slightly affected by the alcohol and synthehol they’d ingested. The reception had ended nearly two hours ago, but after disembarking from the Enterprise the DS Nine officers had invited them to a little after party in Quark’s. The little Ferengi had been more than pleased to accommodate them, of course and judging by the number of beverages they had consumed already he would not regret it either.

“Well?” Julian prodded.

With a side long glance to Worf, Deanna stood up and rounded the table. She leaned over so that she could whisper in Julian’s ear “I guess you could say I was drawn to him like a moth to a flame. I knew he would be hazardous for my health, but that it would be worth the risk.” A mixture of emotions flickered through the minds of her friends and she couldn’t help but grin at Julian’s obvious discomfort.

After she and Worf had rekindled things slightly after Jadzia’s death, she had accepted Sisko’s offer to stay on DS Nine for a couple of months. It gave her and Worf the chance to get to know each other on an intimate level again without hurrying things.

Before their relationship had become public, Doctor Bashir had tried to court her, much to the amusement of everyone else. After three months on DS Nine she and Worf had returned to the Enterprise where they’d served for eight months until, twelve hours ago, they had gotten married. Finally. Now they were on their way to Earth for a well deserved honeymoon.

Deanna moved back to Worf and rested her hand on his shoulder. {Let’s call it a night, shall we?} Her suggestion almost made him smile; he had long since had enough of socializing and wished nothing but her squirming underneath his touch. It was a good thing that Alexander had been assigned separate quarters. “If you’ll excuse us, we have a wedding to celebrate.”

She leaned her head against Worf’s shoulder and snuggled as close to him as she could, content with letting him lead her away from the crowd. She didn’t even notice it when he directed the turbolift to the upper pylon instead of the habitat ring, but when she exited the small cabin the sight of the vast expanse of space took care of that.

Worf said nothing and continued to pull her along until he’d reached a door that sealed off the rest of the corridor. He punched in a code in the panel next to it and the door slid open; revealing a large, typical Klingon made bed. Candles and stars were the only illumination in the small secluded room. “How did you do this?” Troi asked, surprised she could talk at all. Worf could be very romantic if he wanted, but never could she have dreamed of anything like this.

The bed itself was huge; nearly making up all of the space in the small cabin. The covers were deep red and the frame made of ebony wood. Golden symbols were crafted into the headboard and red drapes with golden edges hung from each of the four pylons. “Chief O’Brien owed me a favor.” Worf said as he led her inside. “I wished to thank you, for giving me another chance.”

“I never had a choice Worf and even if I had it wouldn’t have made a difference.” Without taking her eyes of his Troi crawled onto the bed. “HlghoS!” She ordered, exerting the only show of authority for the night. The emotions he radiated told her that he wished this night to be tender, rather than aggressive and she had no problem with that whatsoever.

He obeyed her command and joined her on the bed. “’lHg” He told her, tracing her face with two fingers. “You make me happy, Deanna.” The genuine statement –one she’d heard before- nearly brought tears to her eyes. She could remember a time when Worf would never admit to anyone how he felt, and that he now told her as husband only made her feel more precious than she already did.

The last few weeks had been harrowing on both of them; the preparations for the wedding had been tough enough, having two cultures that clashed on just about every turn. In fact, negotiating between their cultures had made her wonder how she and Worf had ever managed to build such a loving and happy relationship.

And then there had been their heritage. With Worf having been accepted into the House of Martok and his honor restored he was now a rather important person within Klingon politics and military; without having a position in either. For those reasons, as his mate, she had a number of obligations to the Klingon Empire.

The reverse was true as well; she being a Daughter of the Fifth House meant an important role in Betazed society, especially when her mother would step down as matriarch. And because Worf was married to her, he too had an important position.

She forced the thoughts out her conscious, determined to make full use of the wonderful gift he’d given her and bit his cheek hard enough to break the skin. Years ago she would never have believed that such an act could be so wonderfully erotic, but it was and the taste of his blood made her skin crawl with pleasure.

When she reclined onto the bed, surrendering herself completely to her husband of a few hours, he did nothing. “You are so beautiful.”

“You already told me that” she returned playfully while feeling the same way he did. They were looking at each other through new eyes; mates, husband and wife. It just hadn’t fully kicked into until now, here in a small, temporal cabin at the exact place where they had found each other again.

{Love me} she nearly begged of him, needing his touch now more than ever before.

Her heart soared with passion as his lips finally claimed hers, attacking her with such hunger it felt as if he was trying to draw her into his body. It was everything she had ever wanted, everything she had ever needed…it was simply perfect. For both of them.

It’s finished! Whoehoe!!!

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