By Sadie Maxwell

Lieutenant Jadzia Dax rushed toward the closing turbo, the heels of her boots clicking a swift staccato against the deck floor as she squeezed safely through the doors. Drawing in a deep breath, she pushed out the command, "Ops," before noticing the lift's other occupant. "Good morning, Chief."

Miles O'Brien muttered something unintelligible, then leaned back against the wall.

"Something wrong?"

The Starfleet officer shook his head, pulling at the base of his slightly-rumpled uniform tunic with a yawn. "Nightmares."

"Excuse me?"

"Molly's been having nightmares. She kept me and Keiko up half the night."

Dax turned back toward the door with a sympathetic sigh. Although her parenting days were years behind her, she could still remember the surrealistic sensation of watching the precious sleep cycle ticking away as each story failed to put the distressed child to sleep. As the lift halted with a slight lurch, she made a mental note not to ask O'Brien for anything difficult until well after lunch.

She stepped into Ops briskly. Despite the fact that Dax was a full ten minutes early for shift change, Major Kira Nerys was already there, trying to pull a few more minutes of valuable work out of the bleary-eyed night shift. Dax smothered a grin, knowing that the Bajoran would not take kindly to the idea that the Trill found her youthful zeal increasingly amusing. Pasting on her most professional demeanor, she addressed Kira. "Major, has the Borgaz completed docking yet?"

Kira rolled her eyes, matching the science officer's step as she headed to her station. "Barely. There were so many infringements on the customs procedures that I thought we'd have to send them back into space to try it again." The first officer took her place in front of the science station, hands on hips as she stretched tightly backwards. "If it wasn't for the Federation mail run they were carrying--"

"Along with Romulan ale, contraband holo-sex programs, and tribbles..." Dax inserted.

"Sisko would have sent them back out. Oh, that reminds me." She spun on her heels, retrieving a small infodisk from the round conference table which took up the bulk of Ops. "It came in the mail."

Dax took the disk with a bemused expression. "It's from Trill. I wonder who it's from."

Kira grinned. "You have ten minutes to find out. Why don't you use Sisko's office? He never gets here until shift change." She gestured towards the vacant command office.

Turning the disk in her hands, Dax nodded and climbed the stairs to Sisko's office.

"...and it'll be held at Starbase 72 in six weeks. I know that with the lag time, this won't give you much time to prepare," the man on the screen said with an apologetic sigh. "But I hope you'll be able to make it. Tiiza is looking forward to meeting you, and it's been way too long since we've had a chance to talk. I'll see you there, I hope."

Dax clicked off the transmission just as Benjamin Sisko stepped through the office doors. The Starfleet commander smiled broadly over the cup of coffee he was blowing into. "I always knew you were after my job, Old Man."

"Benjamin, Qeran's getting married."

"Qeran?" Sisko took a quick sip of the steaming liquid. "It's a little early in the morning to be playing guessing games, Dax."

"Qeran! You remember Qeran. My son?"

"You have a...?" There was a momentary frown, then faint comprehension. "Oh, Curzon's son. Oh, yes, I remember. He had a son...who's getting married." Sisko eased into his desk, the expression on his dark face evidence that he was not awake enough to figure out Dax's convoluted family tree. Even after all this time, he still hadn't completely adjusted yet to the fact that Dax, his aged mentor, now had the body of a 28-year-old woman, much less that she had children old enough to be Jake's grandparents.

"He's Curzon's son with Tyla. You remember Tyla?" Another blank look. "Tyla Mirren, his second wife? Curzon used to talk about her all the time."

"Of course. How could I forget Tyla?" Sisko didn't even try to stifle the yawn which widened his face.

But Dax was oblivious to his early-morning confusion. A wave of nostalgia swept over her features as she leaned against Sisko's desk. "Mirren. I hadn't thought about her in years. Curzon was so much in love with her. She used to drive him crazy with those roses of hers--she was an agricultural geneticist, but her passion was roses--anyway, she had this one strain she'd been trying to perfect for about seventy years which--"

"Excuse me, Commander, I hope I'm not interrupting." Kira entered the office haltingly, noting the dreamy expression which Dax quickly wiped away from her face. "The Borgaz has final clearance for docking, although I think Odo would like to put it through another security sweep if he thought he could justify it."

"Inform Captain Cozaar that his crew is cleared for leave."

"Aye, sir."

Dax caught her arm as she turned to leave. "Kira, my son Qeran is getting married."

"Congratulations," Kira murmured a second before the words registered clearly in her brain. By the time she turned a puzzled gaze to the science officer, Dax had already moved on to the next subject.

"Benjamin, why don't you come with me? I'd love the company, and I don't know how long it's been since you've had a vacation."

Sisko scowled, placing his mug down on the desk with a dull thud. "You know I hate that sort of thing, Old Man."

"Oh, it'll be fun..." Jadzia Dax, successor to Curzon Dax, who in his day had gotten Benjamin Sisko into more uncomfortable situations than any other person before or since, got that old gleam in her eyes. "Food, music..."

"Why not, sir?" Kira piped in, noting the sour expression on Sisko's face and enjoying it immensely. "We can run things around here while you're gone. The vacation will do you good," she added helpfully, rocking on her heels slightly in order to keep the laughter out of her voice.

"You stay out of this," Sisko responded.

"Come on, Benjamin, you could use a vacation. And Starbase 72 is just a few days away at warp--" She bit off her words as soon as she said them.

"Starbase 72? Now I know you're kidding."

"Benjamin, that was almost twenty years ago--"

"What's the matter with Starbase 72?" Kira asked.

Sisko ignored the question, motioning both officers out of his office. "Twenty centuries would not be long enough to get me back on Starbase 72."

"What's the matter with Starbase 72?" Kira repeated, only to be cut off by Dax.

"You're being ridiculous. Just because you couldn't handle a Dirrinei Surprise--"

Sisko turned slightly purple. "I told you twenty years ago never to say those words to me--"

"What's a Dirrinei Surprise?"

"You're being foolish," Dax responded, finally turning to a very puzzled Kira. "Don't you think he's being foolish?"

"Well, I--" Kira blanched, finding herself suddenly in the middle of something she profoundly regretted being in the middle of.

"If you think I'm being foolish, Major, why don't you go to the wedding with her? Don't worry; we'll keep an eye on things while you're gone."

"I--"

For some reason, this idea struck Dax as brilliant. "Of course. Kira, why don't you come with me? Benjamin is becoming so geriatric these days--"

Kira slowly caught up to the two Federation officers. "Uh, I really don't have time--"

"Nonsense, Major," Sisko assured with exaggerated compliance. "I'll personally see to it that your schedule is cleared for a few days."

"But--"

"In fact, I'll arrange for your transport there. I think the Borgaz will be heading in the general direction of Starbase 72. Why don't you ladies take off early today to pack?" His face spread into a huge smile, his first real smile of the day, as Benjamin Sisko waved Dax and the bewildered Kira out of his office. As they hurried out of the door, he leaned back in his chair, chuckling. "I certainly hope she doesn't try the Dirrinei Surprise."

"And then he said, `But of course you couldn't. It's a potato!'" Dax joined in the laughter as the Oooilitian crewman doubled over at the punchline. Granted, an old joke, but considering she was telling it to an Oooilitian, it didn't really matter.

"I don't get it." Kira screwed up her already distorted nose, peering over the computerized reader that she was only partially paying attention to. At least the Trill had stopped droning on about Mirren. Dax had blathered on and on about her...Curzon's former wife ever since Kira had been conned into..., er, had agreed to this little jaunt. And judging from Dax's description, Tyla Mirren was a combination of Kai Opaka, Marie Curie, and the Cardassian triple-breasted fertility goddess--rolled into the body of a Deltan beauty queen.

A mountain of green and purple flesh leaned over to her. Kira recognized it as the Borgaz's chief security officer. He wiped the drool from his pinkish lips with one hand as the other two placed themselves firmly on her knees. "Mazhor, tah potaytow meansh--"

Kira smiled wanly, removing the hands with one smooth motion. "That's okay, Lko. I'll figure it out later."

"How long until we reach Starbase 72, Lko?"

The Oooilitian swung his thick orange braid over his shoulders, turning his attention to the other humanoid female. "Jush under a hower, Daksh."

"Thank you," `Daksh' said sweetly, ignoring the look on Kira's face which suggested the Bajoran's opinion of her taste kept going steadily downward as they got to know each other better.

"Zhyou ever been to shtarbashe before, Mazhor?"

"Uh...no, I haven't."

"Whatever zhyou do, don't try tah Dirrinei Surprishe." And with that, the mobile mountain of drool and flesh nodded, reluctantly abandoning his guests to return to his duties.

When he'd finally shuffled through the hatch, Kira turned an impatient glance to Dax. "What is with you? Tonga games with Ferengis, flirting with Oooilitians... what's next? A game of `Find the Pickle' with carnivorous ramplipods?"

"You can be so provincial, Kira." Dax adjusted her hair slightly as she leaned over to retrieve her travel bag. "You need to expand your horizons."

"With drooling Oooilitians? I don't think so."

"Have you ever seen a Trillian symbiont?" Dax smiled as the Bajoran shook her head, flustered. "There really isn't all that much difference."

Kira digested that for a moment, then changed the subject. "Why wouldn't Sisko come to Starbase 72 with you?"

"Oh, that. It's nothing really. Curzon and Benjamin kind of got arrested there when Benjamin was just starting out."

"Kind of arrested? How do you get `kind of' arrested?"

"Starbase 72 is famous for its recreational facilities." The Trill shrugged nonchalantly. "Benjamin sort of...overindulged."

"Overindulged?"

The lieutenant smiled enigmatically, shrugging her shoulders. "You know how it is on shore-leave. Things just sort of...happen."

"What sort of things?"

Dax ignored the question, her porcelain features twisting slightly as a vague memory surfaced. "Technically, neither of us is allowed to return, but I don't think anybody will remember..."

"Oh, great." Kira sunk deeper in her seat. "Any more surprises?"

"Just the Dirrinei Surprise," Dax quipped. "But I don't suggest you try it."

Kira was on her third Arcturian fizz by the time she finally located Dax. Perhaps it was the heavy troffe accumulation in her system, perhaps just cock-eyed Trillian genealogy, but when she saw the dark-haired woman standing arm-in-arm with the middle-aged Qeran, it suddenly dawned on her that Dax was the father of the groom. A groom old enough to be Jadzia's father. Kira choked down the last bit of fizz as she tried in vain to make sense of the logistics, then resigned herself to eternal confusion and sauntered up to the conversation in progress.

"...and he said, `But of course you couldn't. It's a potato!'"

"Dax, that joke was old the first time you told it to me..." Qeran winked at his new bride conspiratorially. "...when I was six. I'd hoped that you'd have picked up some new material by now."

"Are you kidding?" a masculine voice piped in from the crowd. A dark-haired young man of about thirty years stepped through the throng of well-wishers, hands on hips as he grinned hugely. "Dax learned that joke in his first lifetime, and never has gotten better at telling it."

"Mirren!" Qeran whooped, easily slipping through the crowd to wrap the young man in an enormous bear-hug. "You made it!"

Kira moved closer to Dax, admiring the newcomer. Tall and broad-shouldered, Mirren wore a doe-colored tunic which did nothing to hide the muscular body beneath, tight black trousers, and black boots. His thick black hair was pulled into a heavy ponytail behind him, tanned face gleaming against brilliant white teeth and dazzling green eyes. Kira nudged Dax, who was staring, somewhat dumbfounded, at Mirren. "I take it," she murmured, "that this is the mother of the groom."

"Mirren!" Dax finally managed to sputter. "Mirren, I had no idea..."

The young man looked momentarily surprised, then his face eased into a wide grin. "Dax! Didn't you know...?" As she shook her head enthusiastically, he squeezed her into an enormous bear hug, actually lifting her off the floor. "I thought Qeran told you. You look wonderful. Starfleet must agree with you. I had no idea you could make it--"

"I really had no idea--" Dax repeated, a dazed look on her face.

"Oh, that Trillian wit," Kira muttered into her empty glass.

Suddenly oblivious to every other life form within a twenty-parsec radius, Mirren and Dax walked off together towards the dance floor. Kira shook her head in amazement, then turned to the waiter next to her. "Interesting family," she said dryly.

The waiter paused a long moment before asking, "Is there anything I can get for you, Madam?"

"Uh..." Kira shook her head, trying to clear it. "What's good?"

"Well, our Dirrinei Surprise is quite popular with tourists..."

"Dirrinei Surprise?" She wrinkled her brow. "I've heard of it. Yeah, I'll try that."

Dax pressed closer into Mirren's arms. As he eased her into the second dance, she pressed her cheek against his chest. How many years had it been? Thirty? Thirty-five? She couldn't remember what had happened between Curzon and Tyla - some foolishness about careers, some foolishness about freedom. It didn't matter now. All that mattered is that Dax and Mirren were together again--two symbionts who had survived the foolishness of their host bodies. She breathed deeply, moving in time to the intoxicating music...or was it Mirren who was intoxicating?

"Curzon," Mirren murmured into the top of her head.

"Jadzia." With only the slightest nudge of her chin, Dax turned a questioning gaze up at the young man who now held the symbiont of the only woman Curzon had ever truly worshipped.

"Brynn," he said sheepishly. "I'm sure we're supposed to be doing something official, but--"

"It's their wedding; we've had ours," Dax countered without opening her eyes. "Just dance."

Kira followed with a wobbly step as the waiter led her past the rows of tables. Carefully focusing on the neatly-combed hair on his head, she managed to keep up with his purposeful stride. "Where are we going?"

"The Surprise must be prepared according to the customer's exact specifications," he said politely as he tapped instructions into a held-held data padd. "Would you care for the regular, the specialty, or the deluxe?"

"Oh, deluxe, absolutely," Kira said as she ducked through the gauze door covering behind him. "I'm on vacation, you know?"

"Excellent. And would you prefer Bajoran, Terran, or perhaps some other--"

"Bajoran, definitely. I don't know how Terrans eat some of the things they do, and, believe me, I've eaten some pretty disgusting things in my day." She shuddered, missing the puzzled look the waiter turned in her direction. "Have you ever seen a crawfish?"

"No, I haven't," the waiter responded stiffly. He paused for a moment as Kira got her bearings. They had entered a lavishly appointed apartment, walls lined with sheer autumn-colored gauze. Overstuffed pillows--mustard, tan, rust, and gold--lined the walls in every direction, and a huge canopied bed in the same hues claimed the better portion of floor space. On the far side of the room, an enormous window afforded them a view of the planetoid's exotic horizon. It, too, was draped in the same cornucopia colors. Kira looked down at her uniform, then at the room, then back at her clothing. "I match," she muttered.

"Of course." The waiter ignored her comment, concentrating on his padd. "Computer," he said finally, "Engage `Dirrinei Surprise--Kira, deluxe.'"

Kira, who had moved to the window and was admiring the view, turned at the familiar computerized hissing. Four holographic Bajoran men, each the personification of Bajoran ideals of masculine beauty, appeared before her, wrapped in the traditional robes of her people. Kira gulped as each holographic "god" smiled at her, expressions of undeniable desire adding to the almost unbearable lure of their appearances. Ignoring the lightning flash of desire in her stomach, she turned in a near panic to the waiter. "What is this?" she demanded, her voice carrying no more substance than the gauze draped throughout the apartment.

"Your order."

"My...order?" She raked a long gaze over each male. "I thought I ordered food."

The waiter perked up in an overwhelming show of deference. "My apologies, Major." He clicked frantically onto the padd, and along one wall appeared a buffet of every sort of exotic delicacy from every part of Bajor. "My fault completely. There will be no extra charge."

Kira gulped. "But--"

The waiter eased backwards towards the door, smiling courteously. "I've already stayed too long. Once the program has begun, it cannot be stopped until morning." He backed slowly through the gauze, adding, "If you need anything else, simply asked the computer and you will be accommodated." And as his voice trailed off, the ethereal draping shimmered into a solid wall.

Kira looked at the wall for a long moment before turning back to the waiting men. She smiled wanly as each leveled a look of knee-melting lust on her. "Well," she chirped thinly. "Let's eat."

Dax didn't care who was watching. She leaned against the wall just outside Mirren's quarters, pulling him against her with a possessive tug of his shirt. He smiled down at her as she reached up to wrap her arms around his shoulders, covering his mouth in a hungry kiss. Crushing even more tightly against him, she pried at his lips with the tip of her tongue, a low, throaty chuckle sounding deep in her chest as he opened to her. She wrapped her long fingers around the back of his neck, fumbling gamely with the elaborate clasp which held his hair, dropping it to the floor behind them when she finally got it open.

Mirren groaned as she scrunched her fingers in his shoulder-length tresses, reaching around her to access the room code without breaking the kiss. The door opened suddenly behind them, and they stumbled backwards into the room, laughing. Mirren caught Dax just before she fell. "You were always much better at door opening than me," he admitted, setting her solidly on the ground before stepping back into the hallway to kick the hair clasp into the room.

Dax grinned broadly. "We do seem to have our roles reversed, don't we?"

"Do you mind?"

She examined the picture he presented--tall and tanned, glorious black hair flaming wildly over broad shoulders, soft clothing only barely concealing the healthy body beneath--and laughed. "Trills have to be adaptable, Mirren," she lectured, affecting the tone of so many of her instructors back home. She closed the gap between them, leaning suggestively on the privacy lock. "Open-minded." With another grin, she unlaced the straps holding his tunic in place and watched it fall to the floor. "Open to new and unusual situations." She traced her fingernail down the fine line of black hair running from his navel to the top of his trousers. "It's an honor and a responsibility."

Mirren laughed, grabbing the stray hand and lifting to his lips. "You still remember those ridiculous lectures?" he murmured, kissing the inside of her wrist.

"I've been through them seven times," she whispered as a rush of adrenaline fired in her stomach and groin. She opened the hand Mirren held, cupping the square line of his jaw. With the other hand, she loosened the ties to his trousers.

"Uh, guys, this wasn't quite what I meant," Kira said as the four holographic men converged on her, each reaching tentatively to touch her hair, her lips, the line of her jaw. When the first pressed her into a passionate kiss, she just gave up on protesting, deciding instead to go with the tug of lust pulling her towards things she might otherwise consider inappropriate. She wrapped her arms around God Number One's shoulders, responding enthusiastically to his probing tongue and wandering hands. This set off a flood of jealous groans from the other gods, who tugged impatiently at her, pulling her into a succession of kisses, each more searing than the one before. By the time God Number Four had put in his bid, Kira was practically swooning. And swooning was not exactly something she had a lot of experience with. She caught at Gods Number Two and Four wildly as she struggled for balance.

"You are hungry," God Number One scolded in a voice the Sirens would have been hard-pressed to match. He motioned to God Number Four, who lifted Kira easily in his arms, carrying her to the bed. The other three hurried to the buffet while God Number Four quickly and efficiently relieved Kira of the burden of her uniform. She made one faint show of protest, then decided, what the hell?

By the time she had gotten used to the idea of being naked in the presence of four gorgeous men, they had moved a rolling tray of food to her side. A large bowl of fruit graced the center of the tray, surrounded by everything from utaberry sauce to rolled spice-meats and steaming pies. God Number Two smiled down at her, plucking a round hunk from a Barevian bread ball, brushing it generously with utaberry sauce, and offering it to her. She took it eagerly in her mouth, a chill coursing through her as his fingers brushed her lips. The bread was still hot, the sticky-sweet utaberry juice tingling on her tongue. She smiled appreciatively, and each of the gods rushed to repeat the process--a chunk of cheese offered by one, a succulent ice plum by another. Each morsel was rewarded with a smile, each smile answered with a kiss.

Somewhere along the way, the gods began by-passing the morsels and going straight for the reward. During their brief moments out of favor, they amused themselves with other parts of Kira's anatomy. When God Number One finally refused to relinquish Kira's mouth to the others, they bowed to his superiority, turning their lips to her breasts, her stomach, the curve of her thighs. God Number Three took a brush from the utaberry sauce and began painting Bajoran religious symbols on her flat stomach. At the tickle of the brush, Kira tore herself from God Number One's kiss and looked down to see what the others were doing. The sight of the sticky religious symbols on her skin sent a guilty rush of scandal through her veins, then a wave of excitement. The tinge of sacrilege only added to the rush of sexual energy pounding within her. She watched, fascinated, as Gods Number Two and Four joined in, painting the swollen areolae of her breasts, the soft skin around her navel, the expanse of her collar bone. The tickle of the brushes became too much to bear, and she eased back down on the bed, moaning.

God Number One looked down at her, a long look of desire slowing his movements. With a final touch of his fingertip to her cheek, he was gone. Kira tried to lift herself to see where he was going, but the three gods had begun licking the utaberry sauce from her body and she suddenly didn't have the strength. She plunged back down on the bed, gasping, as three mouths nipping at her skin, sucking gently on her breasts, teeth grazing the hardened nipples. One of them kept making his way downward from her rib-cage to her navel to the flat hips. Gently spreading the her thighs, he didn't allow the fact that no one had painted her there to keep him from licking and biting the sensitive flesh of her inner thighs. When he touched the tip of his tongue to her engorged clit, she arched her back violently, the first waves of orgasm shocking her from her stupor.

Her unexpected motion shocked the gods from their vantage points, and she shuddered as she pulled herself slightly upright. God Number One had returned with a chilled plate of fruit, smiling curiously.

"What?" she panted, not having the energy or strength of mind for anything more eloquent.

"You have eaten," he murmured. Easing himself onto the bed between her long legs, he looked down at the fruit. "Now, we shall eat."

Kira closed her eyes tightly, then fell back onto the bed with a thud.

Dax had finally gotten Mirren's clothes off. Somehow, she felt obliged to take the aggressive role, revising their old patterns of seduction and gratification. It wasn't a matter of male or female--it was a matter of personality. Curzon had always been the dominant partner in their lovemaking, and Mirren showed no compulsion towards assuming the role. He allowed her to disrobe him, then eased backwards onto the bed, his toned body rippling with each movement. Dax crawled atop him, catlike, brushing her lips over the firm expanse of his chest with maddening slowness. She licked his nipples erect, gently scraping the sensitive flesh with her teeth. Slowly working her way downward, she licked and nibbled every bit of exposed skin which blocked her path to her goal. After a several tantalizing moments, she reached the tangle of hair at the line of his hips.

"Be gentle with me," Mirren teased as she took the head of his cock between her lips, nudging at the tiny opening with the tip of her tongue. He gasped, locking his fingers in her hair as she licked the entire head slowly. Dax blew cool air at sensitive region, flicking her tongue to deliberately harass him. "Cad," Mirren gasped, laughing.

"You're too easily aroused. How many times did you tell Curzon that?" Dax reminded him, enjoying his obvious discomfort. "Patience, my dear."

Somehow, that managed to knock Mirren out of his passive mood. He rolled Dax hard onto her back, easily catching her protesting hands. "Patience? How many quickies did I let you have, you bastard?"

Dax laughed aloud as he pulled her clothes roughly from her, forcing his mouth against hers. She offered no real resistance, her own passion easily matching his, but made enough of a show of fighting him to get Mirren's blood rushing. When he'd finally removed the last article of clothing from her burning skin, she was panting in earnest, her own body slick with perspiration and invitation. She plunged her teeth into his shoulder as he nudged the head of his cock against her sex, pushing slightly against the barrier she presented. As inch after inch of him penetrated her, she realized with a rush that it had been over a lifetime since she--Dax, the symbiont--had experienced lovemaking as a woman. It was one thing to relive the memories both of her earlier hosts and of Jadzia's life before their joining, but quite another to have her body, their body, opened and filled so intimately. She gasped in Mirren's ear, clinging tightly to him as he pumped steadily into her, impatience and excitement bringing him to the peak far too quickly for her taste. They collapsed together in a heap, hair puddled together, arms and legs in a tangle.

Mirren finally rolled off of her with a groan. "Oh, god," he murmured. "That felt good."

"I hope that isn't all of it," Dax scolded lightly, scraping her fingernails over his right nipple as she insinuated herself into his embrace.

"You know me better than that." He pulled a strand of dark hair from her slim face, smiling down at her. "I never left you wanting when I was a woman; I'm not about to start now." And with that, the game was once more afoot.

The first ice plum was like frozen fire between her legs. Kira bit hard on her lips as God Number One eased the small round fruit into the warm chasm between her thighs, then gasped as the most curious sensations overwhelmed her. A tantalizing mixture of discomfort and excitement filled her as he continued to press plum after plum into her. Mute words of protest died on her lips; the frozen invasion consumed all of her energy--she struggled to remain still.

As her own body began to warm the plums, Gods Number Two through Four smiled, caressing her face and hair and body. She began to relax under the massage of three pairs of hands, drifting into a surreal limbo as her senses fought between the conflicting stimulations at either end of her body. When God Number One began to flick at the opening of her sex with his tongue, she simply moaned, pressing more furiously into the kiss she was presently engaged in with God Number Four. Eventually, though, as he retrieved one succulent plum after another, God Number One became fairly impossible to ignore. Her blood pounded as his lips brushed her clit; by the time the last plum was consumed, she was desperate to be filled again.

God Number One smiled up at her, reading her mute pleas with complete understanding. Carefully lifting her legs and wrapping them around his slim hips, he eased his ready cock into her, meeting no resistance whatsoever. Kira gasped as he filled her, slowly, completely, every movement sending ripples of ecstacy through her. Her three other companions, eager to join in the fun, pressed heavy erections into her hands, her mouth. She tried to sort out the sensations in her mind, but the sensory input was simply too much to accommodate--the almost unbearable pressure in her sex, smooth, heavy flesh in her hands, salty-sweet taste of flesh between her lips. The four of them moved together like a heart beating, give and take, advance and retreat, each movement eliciting an equal and complementary movement from the next. A wave of excitement flowed between them like a quickening pulse, and all too soon Kira felt the shuddering contraction of her entire body. Her back arched stiffly as she took the entire length of God Number Two's cock in her mouth, nearly biting him in her furious orgasm. God Number One drove into her like lightning pounding the Northern Plains of Bajor, drawing her orgasm out of her like a magnet as he neared his own peak. A moment later, Kira felt the simultaneous release of male passion--in her mouth, in her hands, in her womb. She collapsed hard on the bed, eyes closing in exhaustion as the moment of satiation hung between them.

As she began to drift into a shallow sleep, the warmth of hands on her flat hips startled her half-alert. Gods Number Two and Four were easing her aside so that God Number Three could lay next to her on the bed. At the sight of his completely undiminished erection, Kira's eyes widened. She gasped as she was lifted carefully, easily, by three sets of hands and lowered gently onto God Number Three's hard shaft. As his length and thickness stretched her even wider than the first god's had, Kira got the overwhelming realization that she was in for a long night.

"Mirren, what are you doing in there?" Dax pillowed her head in her folded arms, leaning back with luxurious passivity as she stretched her toes just beyond the edge of the silky sheet.

"Still impatient," came the muffled response from the bathroom.

"Not impatient, just harder to arouse," she warned from her half-doze. "You let me cool off, it'll take a lot more than a spin around the dance floor to get me started again. I'm not as young as I used to be."

There was a rude laugh from bathroom. "You don't expect me to believe that, do you? After all, I was married to Curzon."

"And Curzon could get excited in a blink of an eye." Jadzia chuckled. "There have been a few changes in the equipment, dear."

At that, Mirren peeped his head out of the bathroom and leered appreciatively. "I noticed." He wrapped the complimentary bathrobe around him and walked the short distance across the room to stand by the bed where Dax posed languidly. With a huge grin, he leaned over and placed a warm kiss on her mouth, catching her lower lip between his teeth and tugging gently.

With a laugh, she tugged him down on top of her. "You certainly took your time. Preening again?"

Mirren affected an affronted pout. "I do not preen. I'm naturally beautiful, and you know it."

"Mmm, yes, you are." Dax was already loosening the ties of the robes, scraping her fingernails up his chest with appreciative slowness. "So what were you doing if not making yourself pretty for me?"

He lifted himself off her slightly to allow her to pull the robe from his muscled shoulders, then sank back down atop her, nudging his knee between her long legs. "I brought you a surprise," he whispered into her neck.

Dax felt her kneecaps melting as his hands pressed themselves between her legs and began gently massaging the folds of her labia. Despite her claims to the contrary, Mirren could get her hot with only the slightest touch, the barest suggestion of things to come. She whimpered softly and snuggled against him, increasing the friction of his rough skin on her flesh. "I love surprises," she flirted, flicking the tip of her tongue just slightly above his jawbone. "What--?"

"You'll see." Reluctantly, he pulled his hand from her, ignoring her soft, protesting moan, and reached behind her to open the storage compartment in the headboard of the king-sized bed. As his hand connected with whatever he'd hidden there, Mirren smiled enigmatically down at her. "Close your eyes," he whispered. Without a protest she did, and a moment later Mirren said, "You can open them now."

Dax slowly eased out of her contented half-doze, her eyes widening only slightly when she saw the box he held. A shimmering opalescent force field wavered around a rich mahogany base, protecting whatever precious possession with only the slightest energy hum. "What is that?" she murmured as Mirren touched the controls which disengaged the field and pulled out a single pink rose bud, the most perfect flower Dax had ever seen. Delicate tones of red, pink, and white mingled together, extending downward to a long, thornless stem. The opalescent sheen created by the shading gave the blossom the look of mother-of-pearl. Dax gasped slightly.

"I started working on this strain right after you... right after we decided to call it quits. It took years to get the genetics just right, and it's been breeding true for almost fifty generations." His green eyes clouded slightly, then he wrinkled his nose in a self-deprecating expression so painfully reminiscent of the woman Curzon had loved so much. "I named it after you, and brought it with me. I hoped you would be here. Silly romantic, huh?"

It took a moment for Jadzia Dax to realize she was holding her breath. "No. Not silly at all." Careful not to crush the extraordinary bud, she wrapped her arms around his shoulder, sinking quietly into his embrace. She smiled into his shoulders as he began to slowly trace the curve of her shoulder blades with the velvety smooth rose, its petals caressing with whisper-soft touches. She gasped harshly as he stroked it down her spine, pulling a deep draught of his scent into her lungs in that one reflexive moment. God, he even smelled like Mirren - the sweet musk lingered in her mind, evoking memories of long, delicate lovemaking, of crazy, heat-filled nights, of the tempestuous fights and eager reconciliations. Tyla Mirren had been the one true love of Curzon's life, yet Jadzia felt rekindled passion with a woman's reflexes. As he stroked the rose up the length of her torso, Brynn Mirren awakened instincts Dax she'd long thought dead in herself, more than just sexual, more than just physical. This reaching out between souls, this continuation of life, this was the true joy of symbiosis. Dax pulled slightly away from Mirren, her deep blue eyes just a slight shade darker than usual. "It's a beautiful gift, Mirren."

After only the slightest hesitation, her lips closed on his, a hungry, sensual gesture which spoke louder than any language ever conceived. As Mirren lay her gently on her back, pressing harder into the kiss, his hands abandoned the prized bloom, allowing it to fall onto the bed. Dax felt the blossom crush beneath her thigh as she slowly spread her slim legs to welcome him.

Mirren smiled ruefully as he reached for the broken flower. "At least it made it here in one piece." He lay the rose's remains on the nightstand, then leaned back on his knees to examine her. "You're beautiful," he whispered, cupping one breast in his huge tanned hand. His work-worn palms hovered over her taut nipple, teasing them into a more vibrant firmness. Carefully, easily, he shifted her hips slightly upwards, positioning her to receive him. Dax moaned as his cock slid into her, its thickness and length stretching her inner muscles with a sense of delicate hedonism. Slowly, ever so slowly, he hitched himself further into her until the bulbous head of his penis nudged her cervix.

Dax gasped as suddenly, he lifted her into a kneeling position, straddling him as her own body weight forced his cock even deeper into her. Their dark tresses puddled together around Mirren's shoulders as forced her tongue between his lips, enjoying the taste of him as her body swayed in a gentle rhythm above him, her strong legs lifting her slightly, then easing back down to take his entire length into her. Mirren leaned backwards onto his hands, his long hair tumbling backwards as her raised his gaze, eyes barely closed, to the ceiling. Dax lowered her lips to his muscled chest, grazing her teeth across the tight, tanned skin to take a single nipple between her lips. As she rolled the hard knob of flesh back and forth, she matched the simple movement with the rocking of her hips, a slow, rhythmic dance only their bodies understood.

Once again, Mirren shifted their positions, this time gently resting Dax on her back. She wrapped her arms around his shoulders, rising to meet his steady strokes, their bodies glistening as the first wave of orgasm crashed over their senses. Dax felt the tightening of her muscles, the electric current of excitement which permeated every nerve ending, every inch of her overheated flesh. With a single, hard thrust of her pelvis, she pushed herself over the edge, body shaking with the burst of sexual energy surging through her. She cried out, her head jerking backwards as her pelvis instinctively thrust upward again, and once more, until she could feel the spasming in Mirren's cock, the tight clutch of his hands on her buttocks that signalled impending orgasm. She held to him closely as he came, her muscles stiff and tense as she felt his essence flowing into her. They clung together fiercely for a long moment until the blessed release came, that sudden and intense liberation from one's body, that soothing exhalation of every ounce of tension that only comes with satiation.

Dax held onto Mirren's shoulders for a long time, her arms heavy and sluggish against his neck, his harsh breathing warm against her throat. Finally, he whispered into her skin, "So. Did you like my gift?"

Dax just chuckled.

"That's funny. Kira's never late." Dax stood with Mirren near the boarding ramp, her neatly combed hair and tidy uniform giving little evidence of their previous night's activities. After saying their private goodbyes that morning, she and Mirren had shared a quick brunch with Qeran and Tiiza, then had come here to catch the Andorian transport ship which was headed for DS9 and the wormhole. Dax scanned the assortment of individuals, mundane and exotic, which traversed the busy dock, but Kira was not among them. At ten minutes to take-off, Dax was beginning to get worried.

"You don't think she's in any trouble, do you?" Mirren asked.

"Kira? Straight-laced, `I'm-not-going-to-expand-my-horizons-life's-too-serious-to-have-fun' Kira?" Dax smirked. "I don't think so. She's probably off teaching a self-defense class to Klingon raiders--" The sight of her Bajoran crewmate shuffling up the corridor, uniform rumpled and disorderly, hair mussed, and eyes hidden behind a pair of geometrically-shaped dark glasses, halted Dax's words in her throat.

Mirren cleared his throat as Kira approached them. Under the best circumstances, the Bajoran was intimidating. These were not the best circumstances. "Uh, Dax. I think it's time for me to, uh, let you go." He leaned over to place an almost Victorian peck on her cheek. "See you on DS9 in a few months." With one hasty glance at the glowering redhead, he added, "Bye!" and was gone.

"One thing about Mirren," Dax murmured to no-one in particular. "Always knew when to cut and run." She waved to the major, who eased her way stiffly around a pair of Pakleds, who were at least smart enough not to talk to her. Kira looked drawn, her usual saunter syncopated by uncomfortable expressions and momentary pauses. Somehow, Dax didn't think the Bajoran was going to be terrific company on the way back to DS9. When Kira finally reached her, dropping her carry-on with an ungracious thud and a wince, Dax said brightly, "Rough night?"

Kira pulled off her shades, revealing a pair of eyes which, despite the heavy dark circles around them, looked like they could bore through the hull of a starship without even trying.

Dax hesitated only a beat, quickly surmising the situation and wondering yet again at the impetuosity of youth. "Rough night," she repeated, sotto voce.

"Must you yell?" Kira muttered, leaning over to pick up her bag.

A pale-haired Andorian stuck his antennaed head through the hatch, nodding to the DS9 officers and saying in a soft, raspy voice, "Ladies, please. Final boarding."

Kira winced visibly at the sound, but gamely began to trudge onto the ship. When the Andorian began to walk toward the recreation facilities, Dax asked, "Aren't you coming with us, Lieutenant?"

"No." He said, eyeing the bustling corridors with anticipation. "I have three days leave."

Kira, who had finally made it through the ship's portal, replaced her sunglasses, shaking her head with as much vigor as she could handle under the circumstances. "Whatever you do," she advised him in a quavering voice, "don't try the Dirrinei Surprise!"

The End