when they took me home."
"And?" He didn't dare say more or he'd be demanding names and
wanting to know how their kisses rated---when compared to his.
"This sounds awful," she mumbled. "Remember I told you about the
shivery feeling that wasn't cold?"
"Uh-huh." He bit his lip, not sure he wanted to hear this. So
much for craving honesty.
"Well, when they kissed me, it was shivery---but not warm. More
like shivery and---Ewww!" She shook her shoulders as if throwing
something off. "I didn't like it at all. Why do you think that was,
Harry? Wouldn't that mean that with you---it wasn't only physical?
Or does that mean I didn't like kissing them, but I might like kissing
other men?"
Harry released her fingers before he squeezed them into paste.
"Malista, you ask the most---I may not be the best person to ask. I'm
biased. You're tempting me to be dishonest. I think you liked kissing
me because you're physically attracted to me and you also feel some
affection for me. Right?" He tried not to hold his breath as he
waited for her answer.
She beamed a radiant smile at him. "Right. But I thought you
said it could be just a physical---"
"Don't quote me at myself!" Harry reproved. "Malista, some
people can have lots of physical relationships without getting
emotionally involved. Some people can't. I fall into the second
category. I think you do, too. I think you wouldn't enjoy having sex-
--or any kind of intimacy---unless your emotions are involved."
She nodded. "You may be right."
"Lord, woman, you scramble my brain. I don't know how you expect
me to have any coherent thoughts when you look so---and say such---"
As if he couldn't help himself, he leaned over and kissed her, his
hands framing her face, then tracing her neck and shoulders. He
pulled back for a moment. "And I don't want to think about you
kissing other men, so don't ask me this kind of stuff. You're making
me crazy."
"Sorry, Harry." She chuckled.
Harry put a little distance between them to lessen the
temptation to forget about talking. "Now, as long as we're being open
and honest---let's talk about what you said a few minutes ago. Games?
Flirting? Making me jealous?"
She winced. "I'm sorry, Harry. It seemed harmless at the time.
Except for George. On the dance floor, I was afraid you were going to
hit him. We---I never meant for it to go that far. It got out of
hand."
Kim smiled ruefully. "That's why those kind of games are
dangerous. Not everyone plays by the rules." His curiosity got the
better of him. "And what do you think would have happened---if I had
hit him?"
"You'd get thrown in the brig for fighting," she said, stating
the obvious. "You know it wouldn't be just one punch. The two of you
would make a mess of each other."
He grinned. He was relieved to know she didn't think he would
have been an easy victim for the much larger man. "True. I'm glad
Natwick backed off. I'd rather be here with you than in Sickbay or in
the brig. But, let's get back to the point. I know why you wanted to
make me jealous. It's because of what I said when we talked in your
quarters. That I wanted to be friends. What did you think I meant?"
She gazed down at their joined hands. "I thought you were trying
to tell me in a nice way that you weren't interested in me---
romantically. I thought you meant that you enjoyed kissing me before-
--but you weren't interested in doing it again. I thought---you lied
about being attracted to me."
Harry sighed deeply. He put his arm around her, pulling her to
his side as they reclined against the back of the love seat. "I
didn't mean any of those things. I'm sorry, Malista. We could have
saved ourselves a lot of trouble if I'd bothered to think about what
I was going to say." She settled her head on his shoulder. "Now,
let's try this again. In your quarters that evening, I said I wanted
to be friends, because I didn't want to rush you. I told you I felt
guilty about kissing you---and about taking advantage of your
innocence. I thought we should slow down. I didn't
mean I---never wanted to kiss you again. Being near you---Help! I'm
getting incoherent."
She giggled, muffling the sound in his neck, as her fingers
stroked the smooth muscles of his chest revealed by the vee-necked
shirt. "Go on, Harry. You're doing fine. So you do want to kiss me
again?"
"Repeatedly," he affirmed. "But when I was talking to you that
night, I wasn't sure what I meant either. I was confused. Malista,
there's something I have to tell you. There's a girl back home---"
"Libby." She braced herself for something she'd rather not hear.
She could tell by his tone.
Harry wasn't surprised she knew the name. He'd talked about
Libby all over the ship. "Yes. The truth is I love her," he said
simply. "If Voyager wasn't in the Delta Quadrant, we'd probably be
married by now. But as things are---" He paused.
She waited, patiently, breathlessly. "When I visited the
alternate time stream, Libby said there'd been a memorial service for
all those lost on Voyager. I'm sure that's true in our reality as
well. We've been missing for three years. That's a long time to wait
for someone that everyone tells you is dead," he murmured. "Malista,
I've been---lonely without her. I've missed her, but I can't go on
waiting alone---on the chance that we'll get home. I'm an old-
fashioned kind of guy. I don't rush into relationships. It took me
three weeks to get up the nerve to ask Libby for our first date. But
what I want to tell you is---""
"You don't have to say it, Harry," she interrupted. "If you
don't want to---"
He put a finger over her lips to hush her. "I said we were going
to communicate openly and honestly---no more misunderstandings. Let
me finish." He waited to make sure he had her complete attention.
"Now, what I want to say is that I'll always love Libby and have
feelings for her, but I think I'm ready to let her go. I
don't know if I'm ready for a new relationship. I don't know if
you're ready for your first relationship. In spite of the Delaneys'
tutoring and your sudden rash of dating, you have a lot to learn.
You're an innocent, Malista. I don't think we should rush
into anything. Do you understand what I mean?"
She lifted her head and met his gaze directly. "I'm not sure.
Are you saying you don't want to rush into a relationship with me?"
"I'm saying there is no rush. Period. We're going to be on this
ship for a long time. We have time to let our feelings for each
other---friendship, romantic---whatever---we have time to let them
grow and develop naturally. We don't need to hurry along." He stroked
her from neck to bare shoulder, as if he couldn't resist touching
her.
"You think I was trying to rush you? By making you jealous?" Her
hand came up to caress his cheek, her thumb following the line of his
&nb
sp; cheekbone.
"I think you were rushing both of us. You've never had a romance
before. I know this week you've had several dates, but I feel a
certain responsibility to watch out for you. I was the first man who
ever kissed you. "
"But you aren't the only man who's kissed me," she reminded him,
sliding her eyes up to tease him.
"You let all your dates kiss you?" he growled
" No. Just two of them. Isn't that proper protocol? I mean Megan
and Jenny said that when a man takes you out---"
"Never mind that," he snapped. The green-eyed imp was back and
doing a war dance. "I can't believe you'd take advice on men from the
Delaney sisters. They're notorious flirts and teases. Just because
you date a man doesn't mean you have to kiss him!" He did not look
happy.
Malista almost regretted teasing him---almost. "The Delaneys do
have kind of a---liberal outlook, don't they? I appreciated their
help and advice, but my style and their styles---may not be
compatible. It was kind of them to help me get past my fear of men. I
needed someone to teach me how to act with men. If you don't want
them teaching me, do you want to teach me?" she whispered hopefully.
"Yes, please. I think I can handle the responsibility that goes
with that assignment," Harry said, smiling into her eyes. "But we can
take things at our own, old-fashioned, slow pace."
Malista giggled and kissed his forehead. "Harry, you're so
sweet. You make us sound like turtles. Can I ask you a question?" Her
hands were outlining his shoulders and chest as she reveled in the
silkiness of the shirt material and the warmth and smooth musculature
of his skin beneath it.
"Sure." His voice sounded strained. They needed to get out of
this private love nest before things got out of hand.
"Could we continue the kissing lessons? And when can we start?"
she asked with a twinkle in her green eyes.
"Whoa! Malista, when you ask me questions like that---" He
released his hold on her and flung himself back onto the love seat.
"Sometimes, when I'm holding you or kissing you---I forget how
innocent you are---"
"I'm really getting tired of that word!" Malista snapped,
flouncing away from him to sit as far away as the love seat
permitted.
"Okay," Harry said reasonably. "Let's make a deal. I won't call
you innocent, if you don't call me cute."
"Cute? You aren't cute. Puppies are cute," she explained.
"You're good-looking. You're handsome. Why would anyone call you
cute?"
Harry bounced forward on the love seat, latched onto her arms
and kissed her fiercely. "You are a beautiful and wise woman." He
kissed her again.
She pushed him away gently. "But Harry, you haven't answered the
question I asked before. Why do I like kissing you, but not other
men?"
"Other men like who?" he asked suspiciously.
"I don't think you need to know which ones. Are you jealous?
Really?"
"Yes," Harry admitted. "You can tell your coconspirators that
their plan worked very well. I was jealous. I felt stupid for feeling
jealous. We didn't have any kind of commitment to each other. I just
knew I didn't want to think of you with other men---even innocently--
-on double-dates. But, in a way, I think it was good for you. I think
you learned some things by dating all those men."
"All those men?" she echoed. "Harry, there were only three."
"And you kissed two of them!"
"But I didn't enjoy it!"
But you kissed them anyway!" he said indignantly.
She smiled. "I take it back. You are cute---when you're
jealous."
"Argh! You admitted you kissed them!"
She caressed his cheek soothingly. "Just once. Each of them
kissed me goodnight at my door. It was very--- platonic. And you're
right. I did learn a few things during my week as a social butterfly.
I found out that men are people too. That I shouldn't be afraid of
all of them, just because some of them are rats."
"And you found out you're pretty. And that lots of men would
like to be with you," Harry added. "That's what I meant when I said
you needed to take your time. I didn't want to be the man you were
with because I was the first man to kiss you. I
wanted you to choose me---knowing that you had a choice. I wanted to
be your first
choice---not your last chance."
"You are," she whispered. "You are so special. I can't think of
anyone I'd rather have as my---life lessons instructor."
Kim smiled and pulled her into a hug. "Some people can have lots
of relationships ---I'm not one of them. I'm monogamous by nature.
And for me, more than my hormones have to be involved. I want to be
sure you feel the same way."
"So, where do we go from here?" Malista asked, softly nibbling
on his ear lobe, enjoying the shudders of pleasure that rippled
through his body as his arms tightened around her.
"I've heard that somewhere before," Kim mused. He forced himself
to disentangle himself from her embrace and stand. He extended a hand
and pulled her to her feet. "How about if we take it slow and get to
know each other? We aren't in a hurry, you know. Neither of us is
going anywhere." He seemed to be reminding himself.
She pretended to frown thoughtfully. "Just one more honest
question? I want to be sure I know where we stand. Does this mean
we're dating other people?"
"No! Absolutely not," he said adamantly. "In fact, right now
would be a good time and downstairs would be a good place to let
people know that we are now officially a couple."
"A couple of what?" she asked mischievously.
He punished her with a quick, thorough kiss that left her
breathless. "Any more questions, Miss Shadow?"
"Just one more," she said, her smile dropping away for a moment
as she looked down at him. "Harry, does it bother you that I'm too
tall for you? I know Natwick kept making jokes---"
"That idiot!" he snorted. "Let me see." He peered up at her, as
if studying the height difference and its ramifications from a
scientific perspective. His hand snaked up and caught the nape of her
neck, urging her gently to bow her head two inches. He kissed her
again, first her mouth, then her chin. "What do you know? B'Elanna
was right. Tall people will bend down when given sufficient
motivation."
Malista smacked his arm lightly. "You better restrict your
experiments to this tall person---or else!"
"What have I gotten myself into?" Harry said. He glanced down at
the dance floor below and remembered the other thing he'd wanted to
say. "Oh, and Malista?"
"Yes, Harry?"
"You should tell Susan and the Delaneys that they should be less
obvious when they plan to trap a man. That jealousy ploy was a little
overworked."
"You knew it was a plot?"
"I'm an Operations Officer. My job is to see how systems work
together. I figured the whole thing out by your second date. I didn't
know what to do about it, but I knew what you were up to," he said.
"You knew it was a plot? But you still came tonight?" she
reiterated.
Harry put a protective arm around her. "When Sue told me George
Natwick was involved, I knew I had to be here. He can't be trusted
where women are concerned. Or are you telling me he was supposed to
maul you on the dance floor that way?"
"No. He was just supposed to dance with me and flirt with me.
Thank you for rescuing me," she said, bestowing another kiss, this
one on his forehead. "You're
a very good dancer, Mr. Kim," she added. "So, where do we go from
here?"
"How about downstairs to the party?"
"And then back to my quarters for another kissing lesson?" she
asked, smiling wickedly.
"I've created a monster!" Harry exclaimed. "If we start going
too fast, you need to help me resist temptation! Say no, woman!"
"That could be a problem," she teased. "Didn't Tom ever tell you
the meaning of my name?"
He shook his head warily.
"In Greek, Malista means 'Yes, indeed'. I may be a girl who
can't say no!"
Harry slapped his forehead. "Oh, I am in big trouble!" He
grinned at her, looped her arm through his, and led her down the
stairs.
"Maybe more than you know," she said, pointing down the stairs.
A slightly disheveled Paris and Torres were waiting at the foot
of the steps. It was apparent from their flushed faces and angry
expressions that Tom had been determined to go up to the balcony to
check on Malista and B'Elanna had been
equally determined that he would not.
As Kim and Shadow reached the last step, Tom's eyes were narrow
slits of suspicion. "What have you two been up to?"
Malista smiled at her 'big brother' kindly. "Talking."
"And kissing," Harry added defiantly, deliberately throwing
fuel on the flames. "Talking and kissing. And talking about kissing."
Paris stared at them. "What?"
"Get over it, Tom," Torres said. "I don't think they plan to
give it up if you don't approve."
"Harry, you and Malista? Really?"
"Yeah. So?" Kim asked, not sure what to expect from his friend
next.
They were all caught off guard when Tom grinned widely and
shouted, "All right!" He punched Harry lightly on the shoulder.
"Thank God! If you two are together, you can help me protect her."
"No, Tom," Harry corrected, "*You* can help *me* protect her."
Trials 02 Harry's Trial Page 13