| B’Elanna stood in the middle of the alien street, trying to remember how long Tom had said he’d be. There were stalls to either side of her, and she held some kind of mutant purple teddy bear Tom had won in a contest. Carnivals were the same right across the galaxy.
Now, where the hell had Tom got to?
"Open your mouth and close your eyes," came the voice from behind, as if on cue.
B’Elanna obeyed, almost disappointed when all he slipped her was a piece of cotton candy, sweet and feathery against her tongue. She swallowed it and smiled up at him. "Trying to get me fat?"
"Hardly," Tom laughed. "Here, have another piece. And this time eat it properly."
"Properly?" she said with a raised eyebrow.
He put on a look of mock horror - at least, she thought it was mock. "You don’t know the right way to eat cotton candy? I’m *shocked*! Close your eyes again."
She complied, feeling self-conscious as he deposited the second, slightly larger piece of cotton candy in her mouth. It tasted different, a little… fiery?
"Don’t swallow," Tom cautioned her, voice low, "just let it rest there on your tongue." She could feel him moving closer towards her, then his quiet voice a little louder, his lips bare inches from her ear.
"Feel the sugar dissolving…" His voice lowered even further, a cotton candy purr. "The way it tingles…" almost skimming across the roof of her mouth as it dissolved, crystal by crystal. "…sparkles… brushes your tongue and slips away…" The faintest of touches, too brief to identify, along her cheek. "…teases you with spice and sweetness…"
She trembled slightly, conscious only of the sparks flying in her mouth and the warm voice whispering in her ear. "…dances like fire, and sherbet… thousands of sparking pinpricks… until all you want to do is *crush* it between your tongue and the roof of your mouth."
B’Elanna obeyed by reflex, almost moaning with frustration and delight as the cotton candy vanished into liquid sugar. She opened her eyes and mouth just in time to see a flash of blue - blue? - as he put in another piece.
"Close your eyes," he reminded her, eyes glinting with liquid mischief. She looked at him for a moment, then complied. A moment later his lips brushed across hers; his tongue slipping inside to dance with hers through a cotton candy ballroom. This must be what pure bliss tasted like.
He drew back when the last of the piece had melted. B’Elanna moaned softly to herself. "Mmm… Now that’s the way to eat cotton candy."
"I can think of better," Tom said, eyes sliding lazily over her body.
B’Elanna didn’t hesitate. "Let’s go."
Tom laughed as she drew him away. "I love shore leave." |
