Rated: NC-17 E-mail: Send feedback to me at astarte@uia.net, and I will forward it to the author. Pairings: Garak/Bashir, Bashir/Kira/Odo. Summary: Garak is jealous of Odo and Bashir's relationship. What lengths will he go to in order to make Julian his slave? Can Odo and Kira stop him? Disclaimer: The principal characters in the stories listed on this page are the property of Paramount/Viacom. No copyright infringement is intended, and no financial profit is anticipated. Warning: Rough sex, nonconsensual sex, bondage, domination, some pain. Garak's Revenge By Vesuvia (c) 1994 Chapter One: Julian at the Gates of Hell Bashir was not looking forward to this lunch. Ever since the day a few weeks before when Garak had tried to rape him in the dressing room of his shop, the doctor had been avoiding him. But now Garak had apologized, and had asked that they continue their relationship on its old footing. Bashir had felt compelled to try, so here he was in the replimat--in public, where nothing could possibly happen, he reminded himself--waiting for the tailor to arrive. A voice came from behind him, making him jump. "Hello, doctor. Thank you for responding to my plea." "Hello, Garak. I decided to consider it all a mistake," Julian said generously. Then he saw Garak's eyes. "It was a mistake, wasn't it?" Garak cocked his head strangely as he sat down with his tray. "From your point of view, I suppose it was. From mine..." He trailed off, shrugging his massive shoulders. Julian decided not to pursue the subject. He had another sip of his tea. They sat in silence. Uncomfortable silence. "Don't you want to know what I think about it?" Garak ventured. "I suppose that means you're going to tell me." Bashir's smile was more like a grimace. Garak chuckled. "Oh, doctor, I always forget how very young you are. As beings age they can't always pick and choose their partners for gratification. Which is my case exactly, at the moment." Julian's eyes widened. "What are you trying to say, Garak?" "Only that there isn't much opportunity for me to get satisfaction on this station, as you would realize if you ever stopped to think about anyone but yourself." Julian flushed angrily. "I'm sorry, Garak. I'm sorry that you're lonely. But it isn't my fault. You can get satisfaction in a holosuite. And just because I don't want to sleep with you doesn't mean that I'm self centered." Garak laughed, but not with humor. His eyes flashed in a way that sent a chill down Julian's spine. "Sleep with you? What a comfortable euphemism. I have no desire to sleep with you, doctor. What I want to do is fuck you." As fear struck at Julian's heart, arousal struck at his groin. He leapt up from the table in a rage. "Oh, do sit down, doctor," Garak whispered, leaning back in his chair. "I'm not going to throw you down right here and take you. And don't try to tell me that you've never had a sexual thought about me, because I won't believe it." A few people at other tables had glanced in their direction, their eyes attracted more by Bashir's abrupt movements than by Garak's soft voice. Julian thought of one or two passing fantasies he'd had about Garak. Revolted, he pushed them to the back of his mind. He sat down slowly. "Look, Garak," he said reasonably, trying to still his beating heart, "to be perfectly honest, I'm not attracted to you. I'd hate to lose our friendship, but if you keep talking to me like that, I won't meet you any more." Garak sighed. "How tedious," he said brightly, "but I never really expected another answer. Before we drop the subject, doctor, just promise me that if you change your mind you'll let me know." "I certainly will, Garak. You'll be the first to know," Julian said wryly. "That's settled then," Garak said with apparent relief. "Now, on to other things." A few weeks later, Julian was practicing racquetball in one of Quark's holosuites. He had worked up quite a sweat, and was completely lost in the rhythm of the game, when the door slid open and Garak walked in, carrying a small exercise bag very much like the one standing by the door that held Julian's clean uniform. "Good afternoon, doctor," Garak said courteously. "I was gratified to find that you finally left the door unsecured." Bashir didn't stop playing. "Hello, Garak," he said breathlessly. "It was an oversight. Anyway, I didn't know you played racquetball." "I don't," smiled the tailor. Julian missed a shot and turned to stare at him. "Then what are you doing here?" "Ah," Garak said mysteriously, "you are just about to find out. Computer," he said loudly, "override current program. Run Garak, gamma dash 25 with personal voice print override only." Julian gaped as the scene changed around him. Suddenly, he stood in a sumptuous bedroom hung everywhere with tapestries and fine fabrics. A large, square bed occupied the middle of the room, covered simply in white linen sheets. "What is this?" Julian asked angrily. "Bring back my program--I'm not finished practicing." "Oh, yes you are," Garak countered. He zipped open the bag and dumped its contents on the bed. Julian briefly saw a tangle of leather straps and steel rings as he stalked to the door. "Computer, end program," he said firmly. Nothing happened. "Computer, emergency exit, Bashir 2, alpha, sigma, 3." "Access denied," the computer voice said simply. "Security to holosuite 2!" Julian yelled. "Garak voice print not confirmed," the computer said neutrally. "How did you override my code?" Julian asked in horror. "A bit of latinum did the trick," Garak said, busily untangling whatever he had dumped out of the bag. "What is that?" Julian asked, fascinated in spite of himself. "Something you will soon become intimately acquainted with," Garak said pleasantly. "No," Julian said vehemently, "you're not putting that thing on me." "You can't get out of here," Garak observed. "I'll fight you. You'll have to hurt me to do it. You don't want to hurt me, do you, Garak?" he coaxed. "We're friends, after all. Just let me out." Garak shook his head. "I was afraid you'd feel that way," he said with mock sadness. Dropping the tangle of thongs and rings, he clapped his hands four times. Out of thin air materialized four young men. All were naked save for a black pouch holding their genitals. All were Bajoran, but one had Julian's own face. "Garak, really!" Julian exclaimed, staring at his reflection as he backed up against the wall. "Did you have to go that far?" "I have to amuse myself when you aren't around," Garak shrugged. The good doctor put up a decent fight, Garak thought admiringly, but holosuite people, whatever their size, could be as strong as you liked, short of crushing your bones. And these young specters were strong. Soon, Julian was spread-eagled on the bed with one slave holding each limb. His skintight exercise outfit was stretched taut over his crotch, and the outline of his genitals stood out in relief. Garak stood at the foot of the bed and observed him carefully. "Too bad, doctor. No erection yet. We'll soon take care of that." "You can't make me want you, Garak," Julian said defiantly. Sweat dripped from his forehead and his limbs trembled slightly. Garak laughed. "We'll see about that. I'm going to give you an incentive to want me," he said. "Believe me, you'll come around. Willingly, even. Cover his eyes," he ordered the phantom servants. Julian's hands came together suddenly and were held in the vice-like grasp of one slave, while another held a cloth over his eyes. He didn't have much leisure to contemplate that change, however, as a more alarming one occurred at another part of his anatomy. The sound of ripping fabric coincided with a cool breeze over his genitals. "Sorry, doctor," Garak sighed, "it was a nice outfit. Come by the shop any time and I'll give you a new one. Free of charge, of course." Cool hands picked up Julian's penis, which had now retracted to its smallest size. He had the feeling that it was being inserted repeatedly into something cold and hard. After about the third insertion, it started to grow erect. The hands thrust it quickly through twice more, and then the tip was pinched in something small and cold. His balls were gently squeezed into some sort of container, and then seemed to dangle free. The cloth was removed from his eyes. "There you are, doctor. What do you think?" Julian looked down at himself. He was still dressed in his exercise uniform, but his genitals protruded through a neat slit in the front. His penis was tightly encased in six metal hoops of graduated sizes, with the smallest at the tip, connected by a hard piece of leather about seven inches long. The largest hoop held his scrotum in its cool grip. Garak knelt on the bed between his legs and engulfed Julian's captive penis in his mouth. Julian gasped at the pain as the blood rushed into his hardening organ, pulling the lower ring taut against his scrotum. "I think it's dangerous," he exclaimed. "Why doesn't the holosuite safety override kick in?" An awful thought hit him. "Garak! Have you disabled it?" "No, no, even I wouldn't be so daring. But you haven't actually been hurt... yet. And besides, this device wasn't generated by the holosuite; it's very real." Garak watched Julian's face as he continued to caress and lick the doctor's penis. One of the slaves rolled Julian's nipples hard between his fingers. Julian groaned as more and more blood was trapped in his erection, quickly making it rock hard. The sensations ranged from delightful to excruciating. "How do I get out of this thing?" he cried. "Simple, doctor. You have to come. But it won't be easy." For once in his life, Bashir was at a loss for words. Garak clapped his hands once and the simulated slaves released Bashir's limbs. His hands flew to his tortured penis, clawing at the rings. At a nod of Garak's head, two of the slaves grabbed his arms again, holding them away from his erection. "Garak, have a heart," Julian pleaded. Garak laughed and shook his head. "Oh, how you malign me, doctor. Trying to remove the device in your present state could cause you permanent injury. I'm simply protecting you from yourself." "All right, I see your point," Julian conceded. "Let me go, and I won't touch it." Garak nodded again and Bashir's unreal captors released him. Julian sat up and examined the device with as much rational attention as he could spare from his present dilemma: he desperately wanted to have an orgasm, and yet the very thought of coming sent him into spasms of pain. "What do you want me to do?" he asked at last. "What! Defeated already?" Garak exclaimed. "I thought you had more fight in you than that." "When I get out of this, you'll see how much fight I have in me," Julian said through clenched teeth. "But, for right now, I'm willing to play along with you since you seem to hold all the cards." His hands strayed to his afflicted organ. "I just want out of this, Garak. Tell me what to do." "And you'll do it?" Garak asked with delight. "That depends," Julian answered warily. "No, no, no. On the contrary--your choice is simple." Garak treated him to an oily smile. "The only issue is whether you want to get out of that device badly enough. That's all you have to consider." "What if I refuse the choice?" Julian said furiously. "Fine. Right now you have me stuck in a barbaric device. But eventually someone will come looking for me, and there won't be anything you can do about it." Garak's eyes flashed with excitement and anger, and he pointed to the bag. "Right now," he said quietly, "you may not think that things could get any worse. But they can. Believe me, my dear doctor, they can get much worse." Julian believed him. He choked back his response and looked silently at Garak. It would be better if he tried not to show his anger and invite new torments, the thought of which visibly excited the Cardassian. He tried to breathe evenly and be patient; he stared down at his reddening cock, wondering how much harder it could get. Veins stood out starkly in the shaft where the rings bit red marks into his flesh. Garak waited. "I'll do what you want," Julian said finally. "Splendid, doctor," he said enthusiastically. "Soon we won't be able to tell the difference between you and your alter ego here"--he indicated the simulated slave--"except for the nose ridges." Now Julian waited, feigning submission. Rage built inside him as the aching of his cock and balls began to exceed anything in his experience. "All right, doctor," said Garak finally, a bit disappointed, "let's see how well you've learned your lesson. Take off what's left of your clothes." Bashir complied instantly without saying a word. "So far, so good," Garak remarked. "Now for the second test." He opened his pants and pulled out his own erect member. "Kneel down and satisfy me," he ordered simply. "How?" Julian asked without looking at his face. Garak shrugged. "However you wish." Feeling light-headed from pain and arousal, Julian knelt before Garak and took the Cardassian's member into his hands. It was shaped much like a Terran penis, especially at the head, which was partially hidden by a smooth foreskin much like Julian's own. The major difference was that the shaft of Garak's organ was covered in leathery, gray skin, rough to the touch, with three bulky ridges running down its length. The thing was large, as well, and too thick to fit comfortably in Julian's hand. "Can you feel anything through this thick skin?" he asked. "Ah! Such concern for my pleasure! I commend you, doctor. Yes, I can feel more than you'd think. But the head is the site of my most exquisite sensations, so I would advise you to concentrate on that." Julian began to stroke Garak's member with one hand, exploring with the other the space between Garak's legs, where he seemed to keep a very well-protected, solid bulge that must be his scrotum. "Not much sensation there, doctor," Garak said regretfully, "unlike you Terrans. But then it makes you vulnerable, too, doesn't it?" Julian didn't answer, but continued to stroke him without much enthusiasm. "We'll never get there at this rate, doctor," Garak said with annoyance, "and that means you'll never get out of your fix." He thought a moment. "But why am I continuing to call you doctor, while you call me plain Garak? Hurry, slave, take your master's cock in your mouth." Julian would rather have done anything else, but he fearfully complied. He realized with horror that he was starting to feel like a slave. Was pain all it took to enslave a free person? As he sucked Garak's cock, he sincerely hoped not. His own cock seemed to be at the point of bursting, and when one of the simulations knelt and took it into his hand, Julian gasped and doubled over, leaving Garak's member hanging in mid air. "Don't forget what you were doing, slave," Garak warned. Julian again started sucking Garak's erection, realizing as he did so that the simulated slave was taking his own strapped penis into his mouth. He ventured a glance down. It was the slave with his own face, of course. As he grimaced in fury, his teeth closed hard on the head of Garak's cock, and the Cardassian came, releasing spurts of hot liquid down Julian's throat. It tasted strong and alkaline. Julian swallowed it as quickly as possible. The simulation let go of his penis and withdrew. _Now what's he going to do to me?_ Julian wondered silently. And then he noticed with horror that Garak's erection hadn't gone down. Not a bit. He withdrew the organ from his mouth and looked at it incredulously. Garak laughed. "That's right, doctor. It takes three or four orgasms to make a Cardassian lose his erection. But, if you like, we can do something else now." Guessing with dread what that might be, Bashir started sucking on Garak's member again, trying to bring him off at least once more this way. "Oh, no, slave," Garak said, "I have something else in mind for you. Something I've heard you like. Lie there," he ordered. "Legs apart." Julian lay over the side of the bed with his legs spread wide. With terror, he discovered that his hard-on was growing, making the rings bite still more painfully into his tender flesh, pulling his scrotum ever tighter against the lower ring. Garak quickly stood between his legs, placing his cock at Julian's opening. A slave handed him something that turned out to be lubricant. Julian waited, trying to relax. One finger, then two entered him, spreading a slippery substance inside and out. "Although your impertinence doesn't merit it," Garak commented, "this will keep my skin from tearing you apart inside. Aren't you glad to hear that?" Julian most certainly was. The fingers were retracted, and Garak's thick erection started to press him open. Although it wasn't as large as Odo's, it was less pliable, and Julian felt stretched to the breaking point. He tried to relax and open himself to the invader. Garak slid all the way in and stayed that way, throbbing inside him in a second orgasm. Julian felt the rough skin of Garak's belly abrade his tender ass. To his own disgust, Julian felt incredibly aroused. He bit his lip and clenched his fists to keep from crying out as Garak started to move in him. His prostate ached terribly, and, each time Garak's member pressed into it, Julian felt a bolt of pleasure that increased the agony in his penis and balls. The conflicting sensations overwhelmed him, emptying his mind of everything else. He began to writhe under the Cardassian, gasping and moaning with arousal in spite of himself, blushing in rage when he heard Garak's laughter. He had no idea how long Garak continued to thrust into him before the Cardassian came again. Julian stayed as he had been placed even after Garak withdrew. His agony seemed to fill the universe. He wondered dully how much vascular damage might have been done to his member. As if reading the doctor's mind, Garak commented, "It isn't as bad as it feels, doctor. You're young. You'll recover quickly." It took Julian three tries to find enough voice to answer. "Just tell me what to do," he whispered hoarsely. "I want to get this over with." "Poor slave," Garak said, shaking his head. "We didn't know we had such a powerful effect on you. Let's end it quickly, then, shall we? Get up." Julian obeyed, standing on unsteady legs, staring at his tormented penis and wondering if it was really half again as thick as he'd ever seen it. "Here you are," Garak said cordially, lowering his pants and bending over the side of the bed where Julian had just been. "All I can advise is to move slowly and persevere. Don't be discouraged if it doesn't happen for a long while." Julian stood wavering, feeling dazed. "Let me out of here," he said dully. "Why certainly, doctor," Garak replied. "I'll open the door right away if that's what you really want. But I advise you to think it over first." Sensing a trick, Julian forced his mind to plod slowly through the logical consequences of leaving the holosuite. First, he'd have to stuff his swollen member into his clothes and stagger to the infirmary. When he got there, he'd get the thing off--but how? Did he want an orderly to help him? And how would he do it, with a laser cutter? He looked at his penis; he looked at Garak, who still lay observing him with interest. "Would you like to leave, doctor?" Julian swayed a bit as he stood there. "No." "Are you sure? I can give you the code right now." Julian swallowed hard, realizing the full extent of the bind Garak had him trapped in. "No. I'll stay." "Well, then, don't you want to fuck me?" Garak looked around at him expectantly. "Of course I want to," Julian roared furiously, coming suddenly to life. "I want to get out of this contraption, don't I?" He slapped some lubricant on Garak's cleft and, with his aching erection, started to apply steady pressure against the opening. The first ring popped in. "Ah," Garak sighed, "I told you I could make you want me." Julian was concentrating too hard to answer, leaning into Garak's tough orifice. The second ring popped in, then the third and fourth. Julian was breathing hard, pushing against the pain, feeling as if there were two warring factions in his body that fought for control of his movements. Pleasure and pain, pain and pleasure. Each move that he made caused one or the other, or both, arbitrarily. His body sang with sensation like a plucked string. The fifth ring popped in. Garak's leathery backside was flat against his belly as the sixth ring moved flush with the opening. Cautiously, Julian started pumping in and out, finding as he went on that, as long as he kept moving, he could actually bear the pain and make some progress towards release. As he moved, Garak moved under him, making no attempt to stifle the sounds of satisfaction that Julian was eliciting from him. "Harder, if you can, doctor," he said breathlessly, "don't be afraid of hurting me." "The thought never crossed my mind," Julian snapped, emboldened by the position he now occupied. "I'm just trying not to do myself permanent harm. Now, if you could just be quiet so I could concentrate?" "Don't press your luck, slave," Garak retorted. "You're in my control until you've done your job." "Or until Quark needs the holosuite for his next customer," Julian remarked. "Not to worry. I extended your rental for another two hours. At my own expense, I might add." "Thanks," Julian said glumly, wincing as he gave an especially hard thrust that made Garak moan. "You're quite welcome," Garak said expansively. "What are friends for?" Julian didn't think friends were for using, but he stifled the comment and drove on, forcing himself towards orgasm. Sometimes he made great progress, only to lose it all when Garak clenched his anus and sent a spasm of pain through Bashir's body. The Cardassian obviously knew what was involved here, and was toying with him, dragging his torment out as long as possible. Julian clenched his teeth against the pain and plodded on. When he finally thought he might be getting close, he dared to increase the frequency of his thrusts. Garak got the signal, and took his own cock into his hand, rubbing it vigorously. He no longer bothered to torture Julian by clenching his buns, but concentrated on his own pleasure. Julian thought of Odo, of how the shapeshifter had never caused him physical pain, even when he had held him down to fuck him. He tried to imagine extensions of Odo's substance winding gently around his injured member, soothing away all its misery. A few strokes later, he began to come. At first, he was overtaken by such an intense wave of agony that he nearly lost his balance. The agony transmuted itself into bliss and back again, and his mind strayed lost between them, almost unable to tell the difference during an extended moment. When his penis began to pulsate, he screamed and pressed his belly as hard as he could against Garak's ass. Pulling out of Garak's cleft with difficulty, he fell away panting onto the bed, where he lost no time in squeezing his slightly softened penis through the hoops, aided by the slippery lubrication provided by his own semen. His member was ringed by red grooves that, upon inspection, looked superficial. He threw the device viciously into a corner. Garak rearranged his clothes and went over to retrieve the object. "Thank you, doctor, for a most enjoyable time." "As far as I'm concerned, Garak, this was rape, and I intend to report it to the station Security Chief." Julian glanced involuntarily at the slaves, who regarded him insolently. His look-alike was leering and waving a large erection at him. "Get rid of them," he ordered. "As you wish," Garak sighed. "They serve no purpose now." He snapped his fingers and they disappeared. "As I was saying, I intend to report this..." "To your lover, Odo. I know, I know. Go right ahead. But just think for a moment about who's been fucking whom for the last hour and a half." Julian opened his mouth and then closed it. "An hour and a half?" he asked incredulously. "That isn't bad," Garak consoled him. "My first time, it took two." "This is my first and last time," Julian returned. "Don't try this again, I'm warning you." "Oh, how tiresome," Garak yawned. "You're going to tell Odo and Kira, and they're both going to be glaring at me for the next few months. How ridiculous." He stood and packed the device away, along with another leather item that looked like a tangle of straps. Julian realized it was a multi-headed whip, covered with heavy, knotted straps. He shuddered briefly, wondering if Garak had actually planned to do him more injury and then restrained himself. "At any rate, my young friend," Garak continued, moving towards the door, "if you don't want me in here, then remember to secure the door. And I mean that," he added with a smile that was sinister and flirtatious at the same time. "Computer, end program Garak gamma dash 25. Open door." "Voice identification confirmed. Program ended." The door slid closed on the blank holosuite. Julian looked at the timer. He had another hour. He glanced at his bag, which held a clean uniform, and then down at his penis, on which the angry red grooves had grown shallower, but no lighter. "Computer, place a security lock on the door. Voice print override only. Authorization Bashir 2, alpha, sigma, 3." "Security lock complete." "Run program Bashir dash 5." "Program complete." In the middle of the room, a shower stall materialized, complete with running water. A pile of thick towels lay nearby. Bashir walked in and dropped straight to the floor, letting the hot water run over him. Chapter Two: A Brief Vacation "I'd like to kill him," Kira said angrily as she watched Bashir run the medilyzer over his own genitals. "I know," Julian said, wincing, "but then Odo would have to arrest you." "We can't let him get away with this." "Odo's talking to him now. What else can we do?" Julian was finally starting to feel some relief. He moved the tissue regenerator over the very tip of his penis, which had been trapped in the tiniest ring of all. He lifted his scrotum and saw an angry red bruise behind it. "It's been over an hour," Kira said in frustration. "Why isn't Odo back yet?" "I don't know," said Julian, concentrating. "How can you just sit there?" Nerys paced back and forth in the small convalescent room. "I'm trying to heal myself," Julian said in exasperation. "I hope Odo arrests Garak, but, if he doesn't, what am I going to do about it?" He shuddered. "I certainly don't want to torture Garak in return. He'd probably love it, anyway." Kira threw herself in a chair and covered her face with her hands. "Nerys?" he said anxiously. "I'm all right. But that just reminded me of the old joke about the sadist and the masochist. The masochist said 'hurt me,' and the sadist said, 'no.'" She glanced up at Bashir, who had a pained expression on his face. "I'm sorry," she said quickly. "I don't think I'm a masochist," Julian said somberly, "and I'm certainly not a sadist, but I have to admit that I was excited in a perverse sort of way. If I'd had the choice, I wouldn't have chosen to go through that in a million years. But, dammit, you know, if my cock hadn't been hard, then the thing wouldn't have hurt me." "It wasn't your fault," Kira said sympathetically. "Some things are just physically arousing. As a doctor you should know that." "I do know it, but still..." "No buts. He forced you to get an erection, and then he told you that the only way out was to fuck him. You were in pain, and you were in his power. So you did it." Julian turned off the instrument and felt himself experimentally. "I took an hour-long shower afterwards." "I believe it," Nerys agreed sincerely. They sat in silence for a few moments. "Nerys," Julian said carefully, pulling on his pants, "I hope this won't bother you." "Of course it bothers me," she said, "but not that way," she added quickly. "I still love you, Julian." She sat next to him on the table and pressed her mouth to his. Julian returned her kiss eagerly. She hadn't told him that so directly before, although he'd known that she felt that way. His penis started to rise. It ached quite a bit, although less than before. Nerys broke away from their kiss. "I was just wondering, Julian," she began, "not to say that it was your fault, but couldn't you just have waited until the time in the holosuite was up?" "Just think what he might have done to me instead," Julian said evasively. "He had a whip in that bag, Nerys." She shuddered. "I'm sorry. I just thought that if I'd been in your place..." "You would have died before you did what he wanted," Julian finished. "Something like that." Julian considered. "In a way, you're right. Something strange happened to my mind in there. I forgot about the rest of the station. I felt helpless and alone. The pain took over everything until I felt as if I had to do what he said. But it wasn't just that. The pain was mixed with pleasure, too, pleasure so intense it was unbearable." He looked at her with anguish in his face. "Remember that vision you had of me as a slave? Maybe you were on to something then. Maybe Garak saw it, too. He made me think like a slave. And it didn't really take much. Even though I was answering him back, I felt compelled to obey him." Julian paused. "He gave me the chance to leave just before I fucked him, but... I couldn't," he finished helplessly. They sat silently for a few moments. Nerys put her hand comfortingly on his thigh, rubbing it gently up and down. The door chime rang, and Bashir answered. It was Odo. "What happened?" Nerys asked quickly, seeing his angry expression. "It wasn't pretty," Odo growled. "Is he in custody?" she insisted. "No, he isn't in custody. And I think you'll agree with me when I tell you why not." "Try me," Nerys said angrily. "He admitted to everything. He even had it all recorded." Bashir's eyes opened wide. "Odo, did you..." "Yes, Julian, I confiscated his copy and erased the one in the holosuite. But he claims he has some others in a safe place, and that he'll show them around the station if I take any action against him at all." "I expected something like that," Julian groaned. "Blackmail," Kira exclaimed indignantly. "We can't let him get away with it." "What do you suggest?" Julian asked in an irritated tone. "You might not mind if my humiliation were shown all over the quadrant--and maybe even the next quadrant--but I certainly would." "I agree," Odo said. "As much as it pains me to give in to a blackmailer, I don't think he'd hesitate to do what he threatened." Kira was silent for a moment, clenching her fists in her lap. "Dammit," she exclaimed, "we'll have to find some other way of getting back at him." "Unofficially, of ourse," Odo said, "I was thinking the same thing." "Where's the datachip?" Julian asked suddenly. Odo held it up. "Right here. Why?" "I want it." Julian spoke quietly with a set to his jaw. "No, Julian," Nerys coaxed, "let Odo destroy it. You don't want to watch it, do you?" "That's exactly what I want to do," he said firmly. "The whole thing was so... immediate while it was happening. I was so wrapped up in my own sensations, I'm not sure what really happened. I need to get some distance on it. This will help me. Really," he added, seeing their faces. "If you like, you can watch it with me. But I have to see it." "Are you sure you want us to watch it with you?" Nerys asked, looking pained. "Yes, actually. If you wouldn't mind." Nerys eased herself off the table. "All right. After dinner." They went to the replimat and sat together. Odo sat still with his hands folded and watched the others eat. When Garak arrived and greeted them cheerfully, they all ignored him. "Humph," Garak snorted loudly, "so that's how things stand. Your pants are ready, doctor. Come by the shop and pick them up at your convenience." He leaned in closer. "I've made a fe extra cuts to give you more room in front." He licked his lips and smiled wickedly. Julian's face flushed scarlet as the tailor walked away. The three tried to talk normally about station business until their meal was over, but none of them could stop thinking about the Cardassian across the room, or the recording they were about to watch. Bashir slipped the datachip into the clip on his desk. "Computer, project image on large screen." He slid the cover off a viewscreen on the wall and gestured to the bed. "We can sit there, or I can move some chairs over." "The bed is fine," Nerys answered. Her heart was beating fast, pumping adrenaline through her body. She wasn't looking forward to this. Julian pulled off his boots and sat in the center of the bed. Odo looked pained as he took his place next to him. Nerys sat on his other side. They leaned against comfortable pillows. "Ready?" Julian asked. He looked pale. "Computer, run recording. No sound." The screen came alive with an image of Julian playing racquetball. "He had the recording going before he even started his program," Julian said indignantly. "And then there's the little matter of how he overrode my security code." "I'll have a talk with Quark," Odo assured him. On the screen, the door opened and Garak walked in carrying his bag. "I actually thought for a moment that he wanted to challenge me to a game," Julian said ruefully. "I couldn't believe he'd have the nerve." Garak had locked the doors and changed the scene now, and Julian was trying to override his commands. The contents of the exercise bag were dumped on the bed. "What is that thing?" Kira asked, peering at the image. Julian sighed. "It's the thing he used on me, but it was tangled up with a whip when it came out of the bag." "A whip?" Odo asked in horror. He shrugged. "I suppose he would have used it on me if I'd been more defiant." "The monster," Kira murmured. On the screen, Julian was struggling with the four simulations. "Why did he have to make them Bajorans?" she asked angrily. "For the same reason that he had to make one with my face," Julian replied. "You defended yourself well," Odo remarked appraisingly. "It didn't help. It just tired me out," Julian said, his eyes glued to the screen. "If they had been real, they might not have been able to overpower you completely," Odo said. "You would have put two of them out of commission, anyway." "If they were real they probably would have hurt me more, too," Julian argued. "The holosuite safeguards were still in place." They looked on in silence while Garak slit Julian's uniform neatly using a small pair of scissors from his pocket. "So that's how he did it," Julian breathed. Garak expertly threaded Julian's member through the hoops of the device. The on-screen Julian appraised it, looking appalled. Garak and a slave stimulated his cock and nipples. A look of absolute horror came over Julian's screen face as he felt his hard-on growing. When the slaves released him, he tried to remove the device and was again restrained. The apparitions released him again, and he spoke angrily. Then he stood submissively, head bowed. He removed his outfit, then quickly knelt and started sucking Garak's cock. "Haven't you seen enough?" Nerys asked. She turned her head away when Garak's member had slipped into Julian's mouth. "No. But you don't have to watch it." Julian's attention was riveted to the image as the simulation grabbed his penis. He winced when his screen twin doubled over in agony and then painfully lifted himself up to take Garak's penis back into his mouth. A few seconds later, he was pulling the organ out to look at it in surprise, and Garak was laughing. "I bit him hard, and it made him come," Julian explained. "Then I realized he wasn't going soft at all. It takes several orgasms to make a Cardassian lose his erection." "I've heard that," contributed Kira. "Then what?" Odo asked. "What did he do?" "Just what you'd think," Julian said in a choked voice. "This is the worst part." On the screen, Julian was laying himself down over the edge of the bed. "Oh, no," Kira said, appalled. "Oh, yes," answered Julian. "That's how he got me to do what I did later." Garak had slid into Julian's crevice, and was thrusting against him vigorously. "Computer, fast forward." Suddenly Garak's ass bounced up and down as fast as the needle of a sewing machine. "Stop. Resume normal speed. Time elapsed during fast-forwarded sequence?" "Forty-six minutes," the computer droned. Julian let his breath out hard. "I had no idea at the time. But I knew I could hardly move when he was done. I could hardly even speak. And my erection had grown so much that the rings were really biting into me. It was..." "Julian?" came Kira's quietest voice. As she edged closer to him her warmth suddenly washed over his skin. He stopped talking abruptly and turned to her. "You have an erection." She looked at him questioningly as she rubbed a hand along his thigh. "Now, you mean?" He looked at his crotch. "I know," he whispered. "I'm ashamed to say so, but, now that it's over, the thought of what I went through is really arousing." "I'm excited, too," she admitted, pressing closer to him. "I hate to say it, but the idea of exciting you in spite of yourself, the idea that you're so turned on by being taken from behind that even great pain didn't keep your erection from growing, and growing..." She stopped, suddenly appalled. "This is awful, Julian. I'm so sorry. We shouldn't be watching this." She threw Odo a look of appeal. "I was just wondering whether I'd been around humans too long," Odo suddenly put in, "and--how interesting--I find I have." He dissolved into a golden pool and surrounded them both with his shimmering substance. Julian introduced both hands deep into the gelatinous mass and scooped up two large handfuls. As he held it, Odo's substance moved around his shoulders and neck, entwining him in a liquid embrace. "We have to admit it," Julian said, as he brushed his lips across Odo's molten body. "That's what I went back to look for. I thought I must be sick, or crazy, to have gotten so aroused. But it worked on both of you, too." On the screen Julian had entered Garak's orifice and was carefully moving in and out. Nerys watched for a moment. "Did you feel more in control when you were doing that?" she asked curiously. "Of course," Julian said, removing his shirt. "At least I was doing something active, instead of just submitting. I finally felt that I was going to get release. Until then, I really wasn't sure what he intended to do." "Maybe he wasn't sure, either," came Odo's voice, sounding like an echo. "That's not a comforting thought," Julian snorted, "but it might be close to the truth. When I think back on it, he sounded desperate when I last saw him in the replimat. And that was a few weeks ago." On the screen, his image grimaced in pain and grabbed at the tough skin over Garak's hips. "You're not saying that he had an excuse?" Kira asked, stopping halfway towards lifting off her shirt. "No. Not that. But I've often wondered why I didn't ever recognize that he was coming on to me." Both shirtless, Julian and Kira were encasing their arms and chests in Odo and letting him run playfully up and down them in rivulets. A small tendril pushed into Bashir's pants. "Were you attracted to him?" Julian searched Kira's face before answering. "A little," he admitted, "I might have been, anyway. Now I'm furious at him for what he did to me." Kira removed her pants and lay on Odo, rolling her body around on him. He began to materialize under her, penis first. "You must have read my mind!" she exclaimed, and mounted him immediately. Julian watched them, touching their different substances tenderly and thinking disconnected thoughts. On the screen, his nearly forgotten image worked through its passion play. The young man up there was sweaty and pale and had dark circles under his eyes. Julian wondered for a second if that was really himself. He placed his hand between Nerys's legs from behind and felt Odo's erection as she plunged down upon it over and over again. He grabbed the shaft and felt their combined wetness moisten his hand. Running his hand up Nerys's cleft, he entered her with one finger, and then two. He knelt and pushed his erection against her cleft, sliding up and down through the crevice between her cheeks without actually entering her. His hands moved over her ass and thighs, and his penis moved down to rub against Odo's shaft and be trapped between their bellies by their energetic movements. He gently touched her clit. When she came, he felt her throbbing through both his hand and his cock that touched Odo's. When Nerys and Odo started to roll over, he moved out of their way, and then returned to his position between their legs. His penis was still a little sore, but the marks left by the rings had faded to a light red. Kneeling, he pushed into Odo from behind, feeling as he did so the fascinating sensations that, in imagination, had finally made him come despite Garak's torture device. He ought to tell Odo, but he knew that the shape shifter would be embarrassed. On the screen, his former self was entering the last stages of his torment. Julian watched with fascination as he trembled and nearly lost his balance. He looked like a man on the edge of collapse. "Garak did that to me," he murmured, "but how did it make him feel?" It struck him as incredibly strange to be watching himself push into Garak's leathery orifice while actually thrusting into Odo's delicious one. He felt extremely excited and, at the same time, he was fixated on the image of his screen self. He plunged harder into Odo, driving himself closer and closer to explosion, but somehow he felt constrained. Finally, when he saw his image shake, and stagger, and mouth a silent scream, his own release completed itself in a rush of pleasure. He closed his eyes. Suddenly he thought of the perfect way to get his revenge on Garak. He wouldn't ask Odo or Kira to help him; it was something he needed to do alone. With his whole body still throbbing, he rolled off Odo and lay by Nerys's side, kissing her as she came one final time. Odo sighed in pleasure and relaxed his form, lying lightly on them both. Julian slipped his arms around them. Odo's body was pliant, giving at his touch, while Nerys's was firm. "I love you both," he said, deeply moved by the feel of them. "And I have to tell you what I'm going to do to Garak." Julian walked confidently into the dress shop. Garak was concentrating, looking through a rack, and didn't hear him enter. "Garak," Julian began seriously, "I've come to ask you for an appointment." The tailor looked up with an expression of smug delight on his face. "Now, why doesn't that surprise me?" he asked rhetorically. "Never say never." "On my terms," Julian continued. "Holosuite 2, but with my program this time. No overrides, no tricks." "Certainly, doctor. What have you in store for me?" "Mr. Garak!" came an annoyed voice from the dressing room. "Where is that dress you promised to bring me?" "Coming, Madam," Garak responded obsequiously. He turned to Julian and asked tersely, "When?" Bashir smiled a nasty and superior smile. "Tonight at 1900 hours." He turned as if to go and then stopped. "And, Garak?" "Yes?" "You won't need your bag. Everything will be taken care of." He stalked out the door before the Cardassian could answer. "How intriguing," Garak mused, feeling that his anticipation was pleasantly tinged with an indefinable sense of unease. "Something to look forward to at the end of a dreary day." Garak turned up right on the hour, having learned that promptness is never out of season if you expect to put yourself at someone else's mercy. He announced himself and was left standing outside for a few moments. Finally, the doors slid open on a large, light bedroom, the focus of which was clearly the enormous, square bed in the center. Garak walked in, looking around himself in puzzlement. "I know where we are," he said finally. "It's Risa, isn't it?" "That's right," said Julian. He ordered the computer to place a security lock on the door. Garak tried to exit and was rebuffed. "Just checking your thoroughness, my good doctor," he said with a twinkle in his eye. "Now, what am I in for tonight?" "Whatever you like, Garak," Julian said, walking up to him. "Whatever I like?" echoed Garak. "All right. I want you kneeling before me in chains, naked of course. And I want a whip." Julian laughed. "But I don't want to be in chains. And this is Risa, remember." "No torture," Garak said glumly. "No torture," Bashir repeated, "and no non-consensual acts." Garak sighed. "Then what's the point?" Julian walked over to the bed. "I'm surprised at you, Garak. Here I am, telling you that I'll do anything with you except let you hurt me, and you're telling me you aren't interested?" "I wouldn't go that far, doctor. But it does reduce the stakes." Julian walked over to the bed and pulled something up from the corner. It was a handcuff. "They do allow bondage on Risa," he remarked with a smile. Garak walked quickly over. "As long as you consent? I see. So, are you consenting?" "No. You are. Remove your clothes and lie down. I'll do the rest." "I can't do that," Garak said uncomfortably. "Why not? Don't you enjoy being tied down?" "Of course," Garak said impatiently, "but I have to be forced to submit to it. Or convinced. The way I convinced you. I still think that was masterfully done, by the way," he commented slyly. "I've seldom enjoyed myself more." Julian flushed in spite of his resolution to stay cool. "And I've seldom suffered so much," he blurted out. "The more you excited me, the more I hurt, and the more humiliated I was. I'll admit that I'm attracted to you, but I'm not attracted to that much pain. If you're not capable of giving yourself to me without the pain, then I'll open the door and you can walk out of here right now." Garak looked at him in astonishment. "I didn't think you were capable of getting around me like that," he said. "Congratulations, doctor. I have no choice but to submit." He pulled off his boots and started removing his pants. "But you're next," he said warningly. "If I put my hands in these cuffs, then you'll do it after me." "I'll do better than that, Garak," Julian said boldly. "I'll go first." Garak gaped at him for a moment. "My dear doctor, your courage takes my breath away. Please feel free." He gestured at the bed and pulled his pants back on. Julian stripped quickly and lay on the bed. Garak elevated his ass with some pillows, and then buckled on the restraints, attaching each limb to a corner of the bed. "There's some lubricant on the table," Julian said. "So there is," Garak agreed, going to get it. The cold wetness of the lubricant splashed on him and inside him. Nothing happened for a few moments. Just as he had made Odo do once, Julian waited with his forehead against the sheets, looking as though he was trying not to let his mind dwell on what was to come. But anticipation seemed to get the better of him, and his erection rose at a mere hint of Garak's rough touch. Garak did not fail to notice. "What a tribute to my technique, doctor," he gloated, "that you'd put yourself in my power like this again." "You're next," Julian said, sounding afraid. "Ah, yes, I'm next. But it's your turn now." Without warning, Julian felt a rush of air and then Garak was sliding into him. He cried out as the hard, Cardassian penis filled his tender cleft and started driving forcefully into him, making him squirm and buck. "Is this what you wanted from me, doctor?" Garak asked arrogantly, suddenly pulling out. "I'm not afraid to admit you arouse me," Julian gasped, "but you won't make me grovel. If you're done fucking me already, then take my place." "I'm not done, doctor. I'll decide when I'm done." Garak sounded angry. He plunged back in, making Julian yell and throw back his head. For what seemed like an hour, Garak thrust steadily into Julian while the doctor sighed and moaned. Once, at the beginning, Garak came, and he was building steadily to his second climax when he heard Julian cry out and felt him tremble, and realized that the Terran had come. The thought of making Julian come without touching his erection sent Garak over the edge, and he shouted as he pushed in hard and came. They lay for a moment with Garak's penis still rigid in Julian's orifice. Then Garak rolled off him and Julian heard the restraints click open. When Julian rose, Garak stripped and silently took his place, and the doctor fastened the restraints firmly over his wrists and ankles. His broad backside was elevated, and his leathery buttocks were spread. A pair of hands inserted itself into him, spreading lubricant around his cleft. Suddenly Garak realized that there were too many hands on him, rubbing over, through, and under him. "What's going on?" he said indignantly. "Who else is here?" Two figures moved around to face him. Both were naked, and both were Dr. Bashir. "I know you like to have two of me around," one said insolently. "Which one is really you?" Garak asked. "I am," they chorused. "Which one did I fuck?" Garak wondered angrily. The Julians looked at each other. "Not me," one said. "It must have been him," said the other. "But now we're both going to fuck you." Garak growled deep in his throat and seriously tried the restraints. They held. One Julian disappeared behind him, while the other knelt by his head. "Here you are, Garak," he said, pushing his hard-on against the Cardassian's teeth. Garak opened his mouth and took the organ inside, sucking it so vigorously that Julian gasped and grabbed at his head. At the same moment, he felt Julian's erection slide into his anal orifice so hard that the doctor's belly hit Garak's ass with an audible smack. Garak sucked hard at Julian's cock, feeling the same organ slide into him from behind. He felt frustrated and yet terribly aroused by the doctor's cleverness. He was off-balance, feeling a fool, his sense of sexual triumph fading fast. And yet, this was a problem he could solve if he tried. One of them was the real Dr. Bashir. The trick was to figure out which one and regain the upper hand. Garak thought of a way. Without actually clamping down, he brought his teeth together so that they squeezed Julian's erection tight, but he had miscalculated. With a groan, Julian came, spurting hot liquid down Garak's throat. Instead of releasing him, Garak tried to hold him tight with his teeth. Julian put a thumb on either side of Garak's jaw and pushed. With a yelp of pain, Garak released him. "You forget that I'm a doctor," Julian said with amusement, "so I know where your pressure points are." Could a holosuite build such sophistication into its characters? Garak wondered. If Julian had foreseen that Garak might bite him, he could have programmed it in. But wasn't that unlikely? Meanwhile, the other Julian was still pounding into his backside. "Don't you ever get tired, doctor?" Garak called to him. "Had enough already, Garak?" Julian challenged. Garak's erection remained stiff and was getting painful. He still had two, or even three, good orgasms left in him. "Not at all, doctor. I was just wondering when you were going to pay some attention to me." "Later." Bashir didn't miss a beat. His thrusts became more frequent until he moaned and fell forward onto Garak's back. After a minute, he withdrew. Then nothing happened. "Where are you, doctor?" Garak said angrily, trying his restraints. This was really getting tiresome. "Right here." A cool hand reached around and stroked Garak's hot member. "You didn't think we'd forgotten you, did you?" "I hoped not," Garak complained. "You may hope so soon enough," Julian said neutrally. A bolt of excitement shot through Garak's groin. At last, he thought, Bashir was going to put him in pain. Maybe he had a whip hidden somewhere. If the doctor exacted a painful revenge, then Garak would be justified in severely punishing him later, although for the moment he would refrain from securing the doctor's definitive submission. Garak had never met a Bajoran who relished sexual contests the way a Cardassian would, but it was starting to seem as if Terrans did. Still, Garak wondered if Bashir understood how likely he was to lose this one. He licked his lips in anticipation. To Garak's astonishment, Julian's touch was feather-light on his erection, sometimes fading out altogether until Garak moved frantically, searching for it, trying to rub himself against anything he could find. Time and time again, the four-handed Julian led him to the brink of orgasm, only to leave him at the last moment wildly flailing against the sheets. Garak yelled abuse at him, struggling against his bonds. "You'll be sorry about this later," he threatened. "No one treats me this way." "Except when you're tied up," said one doctor with a smirk. "You said you liked to be tied up, Garak." "Not like this!" he yelled, and bellowed his displeasure inarticulately as he yanked at the restraints. "What other way is there?" teased the other. When Garak finally came, no hand touched him. He poured his ejaculate out on the sheets, rubbing against them for his only comfort. "Bashir! Bashir!" he yelled, still furious and still very much erect. "Let me out of these restraints. Let me go!" "Are you sure you're ready?" Looking unperturbed, Julian walked around in front of Garak. He was fully dressed in his uniform, and not a hair was out of place. "How did you get dressed so fast?" Garak asked suspiciously. "Easily. I never got undressed," Julian said smugly. He beckoned with both hands, and his two naked look-alikes came to stand beside him. "You tricked me," Garak said incredulously, too overcome by the shame of it to hold on to his usual superiority. "I did," Julian said happily. "End program." "Bashir voiceprint confirmed," said the computer. The room faded out, as did everything except the bed where Garak lay. The restraints were gone. The Cardassian rose slowly and faced his opponent, who now stood alone. Garak's erection stood up between them. "I owe you an apology, doctor. I seriously underestimated you." "Which one of me?" Bashir asked carelessly. Garak shook his head. "You're making a mistake, doctor, to treat me so lightly. I won't forget this." "I thought we could just call it even, Garak. One for one." "And go back to having lunch together?" "Why not?" Bashir shrugged. "Maybe after this we can figure out a real friendship. Either that, or we'll never speak again." "Oh, we'll speak," Garak said grimly, "and someday I will have you again. Not a simulation. You." He laughed a forced laugh and shook his head. "At least I know one thing. You didn't have the courage to lie down and let me take you." Julian shrugged again, refusing to be provoked. "If you'll recall, I've already done that once," he said. "I just didn't feel like it today." He turned and walked to the door. "You have another half hour in here if you want it." The door slid open and he left. Garak stood staring at the door for a long time after Bashir had left. Although his erection burned with need, he felt elated and alive. The humiliation had not been pleasant, but he had deserved it for underestimating his opponent. The game was just beginning, he thought ecstatically. Finally, a truly intriguing puzzle to occupy him on this pit of a station. Garak liked games. And he usually made sure he won them. Bashir walked down the stairs towards Quark's feeling jubilant. His plan had worked. Odo sprang up before him suddenly. Julian paused to let the shape shifter reform and then walked with him down the Promenade towards the habitat ring. "Well, Julian?" Odo asked anxiously. "It worked." He smiled involuntarily. "Are you all right?" "A little sore. But fine." "Which one was you?" Odo asked in perplexity. "I listened to nearly the whole thing, but I got confused." "I submitted to him," Julian said soberly, not meeting Odo's eyes. "I was the one who lay down in the restraints and let him take me." "But he thinks it was a simulation?" "Yes." "Why?" Odo asked painfully. "That's what this was all about, wasn't it? That he made you submit to him? Why did you do it?" "On Risa who knows what I would or wouldn't do?" Julian smiled strangely and walked on towards his quarters with Odo following slowly behind. Chapter Three: The Contest Julian strolled along the Promenade, heading slowly home for bed. Odo was working late tonight, and Kira was at Quark's entertaining a friend from Bajor. She had asked him to join them, but Dabo held little appeal for him. He never felt as if he got into the spirit of the game. He was tired, anyway. The events of the last week must be catching up with him. He yawned. That trick he played on Garak had been deeply satisfying. He'd stopped feeling angry all the time, and had actually started coming to terms with what Garak had done to him, now that he'd watched the recording three or four times. Julian spent a few minutes peering into the window of a new jewelry store, and wondering if his mother would like one of the bracelets he saw there. Deciding that its lines weren't simple enough for her taste, he had just turned to move on when he realized that someone was blocking his way. "Garak," he said cautiously, "I haven't seen you in a few days." The tailor laughed. "No, you haven't. And that has been intentional on my part, my dear doctor." They fell into step together. "I've been making some plans," Garak continued, "and you'll begin to appreciate their effect almost immediately." Fear and disbelief warred in Julian's breast. "What do you mean?" he asked, on the edge of anger. "What kind of plans?" "I think we both know what kind of plans I might be making," Garak said without meeting his eyes. "I told you the other day that I would have you again, and I will." Julian hesitated. Garak still thought that he had taken an image of Julian in the holosuite. At the thought of lying helpless on that bed while the Cardassian pounded into him, a beat of arousal filled his groin. Even more exciting was the thought that Garak didn't know it had been him. "But we're even now, Garak," he said finally. "I don't want to go on with this." "You have no choice, doctor. It's my turn to make the choices now. And I will have you, never doubt it. You'll have proof of that tonight." He turned suddenly and walked the other way, leaving Julian standing confused at the entrance to the habitat ring. As he continued to his quarters he wondered if Garak intended to attack him. He'd tell Odo as soon as he reached his quarters. Relief flooded him as he tapped in the access code and walked into the familiar room. At any rate, Odo and Kira would be here in a few hours. He could keep watch until then. He got a book and walked over to the bed, kicking off his boots as he went. An unfamiliar object sat on his pillow. He picked it up and discovered to his horror that it was a g-string like the ones worn by the simulated slaves in Garak's holosuite program. The door chime buzzed. "Who is it?" Julian asked cautiously, leaving the sleeping alcove. "Who do you think it is?" came Garak's voice. "Were you expecting anyone else?" Instinctively, Julian took a step back from the door, the g- string still in his hand. "I don't find this amusing, Garak. I'm reporting it to Odo right away." "Can I come in to discuss it first?" Garak coaxed. "No," Julian said firmly. The door slid open and Garak strode purposefully in, heading right for Julian. The doctor hit his comm badge and started to call for help, but the stronger male was on him in seconds, pinning his arms at his sides. "Would you care to reconsider that decision, doctor?" "I don't have anything to say to you," Julian cried. "What do you want?" "Not much, for right now. Later, everything. For tonight all I want you to do is put that garment on." He let go of one of Julian's hands to pull his comm badge off and pocket it. "Pick it up, please, doctor." Julian complied, finding that his knees were beginning to feel weak. "Now, take off your clothes, put it on, and let me admire you." Julian hesitated. "Now, doctor, or I'll do it for you. And that might not be pleasant." He took his hands off the doctor and took a few steps back. "Proceed." With fumbling fingers, Julian removed his shirt, then his pants and socks, finally standing before Garak in his black briefs. "Those, too, doctor. Hurry, now, I have some alterations to do tonight." Julian pulled off his briefs, and Garak handed him the g-string. Clumsily, he tried to fit it over his genitals. "No, no, doctor," Garak said impatiently. "Allow me." He tied two of the ribbons together around Julian's slim waist and fit the black satin cup over his penis and balls. The other ribbon he threaded taut through Julian's cleft and then retied all three together. He pulled on it from behind as if testing to see if it would hold. The sensation of the ribbon pressing against Julian's opening started to give him an erection. Garak laughed appreciatively. "How becoming," he remarked with a smile. "I think you'll find that wearing this garment will keep you in an aroused state much of the time. I would like you to wear it always under your uniform while you're waiting for me, although I don't suppose you'll comply." He ran his hands softy over Julian's ass. Julian's cock stiffened and grew inside the pouch. Garak caressed it gently. "Splendid," exclaimed Garak. "You'll be ready for me when I come back. Good evening, doctor." Placing Julian's comm badge on the table, he walked out. Julian stood paralyzed for a few moments. So, he wasn't going to be raped. Not tonight, anyway. He took a deep breath, and then fetched the communicator pin from the table. After putting in a quick call to Odo, he picked up his clothes and headed to the bathroom for a shower. Catching a glimpse of himself in the mirror sent a shock wave through his body. There was the simulated slave from the other day in every detail save the nose ridges. And his cock was still erect, making a large bulge in the black satin pouch. "No," he whispered, "that isn't me." He struggled to untie the strings, breathing hard. "Garak!" Julian sat up suddenly in the dark, trembling and covered with sweat. "Lights!" Kira yelled, feeling frantically for him in the bed. When the lights came up, Julian was panting, holding his tousled head in his hands. Nerys tried to still her beating heart. "Another nightmare?" she asked, running her hands through her hair. "Yes. An awful one. Garak again." Julian spoke thickly, as if fighting to get the words out. Kira moved over to put her arms around him. "We have to do something about him," she said gently. "You can't go on like this." "I know," Julian said, returning her embrace. "I had no idea what I'd started. I didn't know how important it would be to him to get me back." "It's not your fault he's been stalking you for a week," Nerys pointed out sensibly. "And if Odo catches him at it tonight, he'll end up in the brig." "I know." Julian held her closer. "But he's caught me off guard three times in just a few days. I'm almost starting to feel that there's no escape. I'm still afraid that he'll show around that datachip of me in the holosuite if Odo arrests him, but right now I just want him to leave me alone." They lay down and began to stroke one another's skin. "Julian," Nerys said hesitantly, "I know I've asked you this before, but why don't you just tell him that he's already had you again? He still thinks he was doing it with a simulation." Julian laughed. "After all my careful plans, he probably wouldn't believe me anyway. He'd think I was grovelling, trying to get out of whatever he's planning to do to me. And, anyway, I don't want to tell him." He paused. "You're still wondering why I did it, aren't you?" She nodded, and he sighed. "I'm not sure how to explain it without sounding like a fool. I wanted him. Badly, I'm ashamed to admit, but I didn't want him to know, and I still don't. I know I took a risk, and I'm paying for it now, but I was incredibly aroused by the idea of letting him have me at his mercy and then fooling him into thinking he really didn't. I wanted to have my cake and eat it, too. It was my joke on him, and, whatever happens, at least I'll still have that." "Nothing's going to happen," Nerys said firmly. "Odo is going to catch him stalking you tonight and then you'll be safe. Remember, I reconfigured my comm badge so that he'd think you were alone in here." She placed her mouth over his and kept him from saying any more. They kissed slowly for a long time, their lips and tongues moving over each other's mouths and faces. Their hands strayed around each other's bodies. Julian pulled away from Nerys's kiss and bent to take a nipple into his mouth. Her breasts were firm, each tipped by a small aureole and a large brown nipple that stood up satisfactorily when he tongued or ran his fingers across them. He moved from one to the other and back again. Nerys made sounds of arousal and took his nipples between her fingers. As Julian compressed each of her nipples between his tongue and teeth, she felt a hard throb of pleasure in her groin. She started reaching for him, trying to draw his erection to her, but Julian slid down instead and buried his tongue in her opening labia. Her musky smell of arousal always made him ache with desire, and he drove his tongue deep into her, feeling her open and rise to meet him. Nerys never tired of Julian's tongue. Somehow he, even more than Odo, understood exactly what she wanted, and how that changed as her arousal progressed towards orgasm. His alertness to her needs now made him shift the tip of his tongue from her clit, down through her labia, to her vagina, where he probed as deeply as he could before moving back to tease the area around her clit. She was ready to come now, and he knew it; he helped her hold off and build to a spectacular climax. When he finally moved back to her clit, she cried out and grabbed at his head, squeezing him with her thighs until her spasms ended. He got up and smiled at her, his face shining with her juices. She pulled him down to her chest, where he rubbed his face all over her breasts, feeling her erect nipples against his cheeks, and then licked the juices up. She brought his mouth to hers and tasted herself on his slightly swollen lips. His cheeks and hair were damp with her oceanic smell. He entered her slowly and took her into his arms. After a few strokes, she came again, grabbing his waist with both hands and crying out. She felt him grow hot inside her, and began to squeeze her muscles rhythmically around him, gradually building the intensity of her grip until he was moaning with delight. He raised himself on his hands and pushed deep inside her when he came, making small cries of joy and throwing back his head. She welcomed him back into her arms, feeling the spasms die away throughout his body. "Julian," she said contentedly, rubbing her face in his hair. "I love you," he said simply, and reached up his mouth for a kiss. They lay dozing, side by side. Quark wiped the bar studiously. He knew that Odo was waiting to have a talk with him, but he kept hoping that he'd manage somehow to avoid it. "Quark?" came Odo's voice from a few feet away. "I've always been a dreamer," Quark sighed. "What's that?" "Nothing," Quark answered sullenly. "Good, because I have some questions to ask you." "Let me guess. They're the same questions you've been asking me for days. Well, I've already answered them, and I have nothing else to say. Why do you keep asking them over and over?" "Because I keep hoping you'll tell the truth," Odo said loudly. A few patrons turned and laughed at the barkeep's predicament. "So, did you override Dr. Bashir's security code for Garak?" "I already told you." "Tell me again." "All right. No," Quark said emphatically. "Then why did I find traces of a contraband security override protocol in the holosuite computer?" "I don't know," Quark shrugged. "Maybe Garak left it there." Quark had no qualms about implicating his employer once the latinum had changed hands. "With that protocol," Odo continued, "he could have overridden the holosuite safety lock. He could have put Dr. Bashir in danger." "Danger!" Quark snorted. "The only danger the doctor faced was having to spend the night in harness." "Which brings me to another question: why did you watch what was going on in there? Aren't your clients entitled to privacy?" "Usually," Quark said cautiously, "but Garak had told me he was going to play racquetball with Dr. Bashir. I wanted to see Bashir wipe the floor with him, but I was treated to a completely different spectacle." He rolled his eyes and leered disgracefully at the memory, making Odo grimace with impatience and disgust. "When you figured out what was going on, why didn't you call Security?" "Garak paid me well not to disturb him. I kept watching so I'd know if anything really dangerous happened. Then I would have called you. But you must admit that Dr. Bashir was never in any real danger." "Just in pain," Odo remarked. "Oh, pain," scoffed Quark, waving his hand dismissively, "a little pain builds character, especially for a self-centered young man like the doctor. It was probably good for him." He looked slyly at Odo. "Besides, from the exalted position he was in, I thought he was enjoying himself. Garak certainly was." Realizing that Quark was just toying with him, Odo turned to go. "On more thing, Quark. If I find out that you helped Garak, or if I find out that you're helping him now, I'll throw you in the brig. I'll charge you with harassment, assault, rape, kidnapping, and intent to do bodily harm, and you'll stand trial right beside Garak. Understand?" "Yes," Quark said, rubbing the counter vigorously again. "I also understood the other three times you said it." Odo growled in frustration and stalked away. Quark raised his eyes briefly at the shape shifter's back and smiled. "But I've seen that tape," he murmured softly. Julian heard his own sharp intake of breath as he awakened with a start. "Again?" Nerys asked, tightening her arms around him. "Yes." He felt too exhausted to say any more. "Why don't you take something for it?" "Good idea," he said. "I've been afraid to before, but with Odo out after Garak tonight, I guess it would be all right." He rose and got his medical kit, removing a small box that opened into a V. "I'll place this on my forehead and activate it," he instructed her. "Wait until the green light goes off and then remove it. I ought to be nearly comatose for an hour or more, so don't be afraid if you can't wake me." Nerys did as she was asked, placing the device back into the medikit, and putting the whole thing on the desk. Julian seemed unconscious. His breathing was shallow and so quiet she had to bend over him to hear it. Her communicator came alive. "Odo to Nerys." She pulled her uniform off the back of a chair. "Nerys here." "I've found Garak. He's trying to go through the maintenance tunnels to Julian's room, and I need you to cover his back while I head him off." She glanced at Julian. "I can't, Odo. Julian used a somnifer, and I can't leave him." Odo's voice sounded impatient. "You have to. What harm can he come to if we have Garak trapped in the tunnels?" "All right. Tell me where to meet you." Odo mentioned a section on the other side of the station. Kira grabbed her clothes and dressed quickly. Before leaving, she shook Julian tentatively, but got no response. On an impulse, she pulled back one of his eyelids. He didn't move a muscle. "Sorry, love," she whispered, and kissed his forehead. A moment later she was gone. Very shortly afterwards, the door slid open, having failed to chime first. Garak slipped in, walking silently over to where Julian lay helpless. He put his hand over Bashir's mouth, but felt no responding tension. "You really did use a somnifer," he murmured. He shook the doctor's body, getting no response. Pulling the covers back, he looked critically at Julian's naked body. The smell of sex wafted out at him. He swore softly. "I wanted you awake, doctor," he said angrily, "but the best-laid plans of voles and men sometimes go awry." It would be too risky to carry Julian to the hiding place he had fitted with everything they would have needed, including an expensive sensor scrambler purchased from Quark that would hide their lifesigns. He would have been able to keep the doctor all to himself for a full day or more before anyone found him. "Our next tryst will have to wait, doctor. I'll just leave you a message." He reached into his pocket. "Kira to Odo," Kira signaled impatiently. She'd been waiting in this access tunnel for ten minutes, and there was still no sign of the shapeshifter. "Odo here." "Where are you, Odo? I'm waiting." "I'm still at the stakeout point waiting for Garak." Kira's mind raced as fear grabbed her gut. "Odo, didn't you ask me to meet you in section twelve?" "No, Major. Someone must be impersonating me." "I bet I know who it is," Kira said grimly. "Odo, get back to Julian as fast as possible. I'll get there as soon as I can." "Understood." The shape shifter turned into a cheetah and sprinted down the nearly empty Promenade as fast as he could go. Kira held her chest and tried to catch her breath as she hit the comm panel outside Julian's door. "Odo," she gasped, "let me in." The door slid open and she saw the shape shifter squatting beside the bed. "Julian," she said, reaching for him with both hands. He was warm. He had a pulse. She breathed again, and her throat stopped feeling as if she had swallowed a bone. She looked around. "Was he here?" Odo nodded. "Probably. The Security lock was compromised, but I don't know what he did yet." Kira prowled around the room, looking for signs of the intruder. As she circled back to the bed, Julian groaned and opened his eyes. "What's happening to me?" he gasped, throwing back the covers. Kira looked at his erection in horror. It was large, rock-hard, and red at the tip, and it was firmly encompassed by six small metal rings. Kneeling on the bed, Kira took his penis in her hands. She heard his sharp intake of breath and realized that she had caused him pain. She dropped it as if it had burned her hand. "How do we get it off, Odo? What about a laser cutter?" Odo had picked up Julian's tricorder and was scanning the device. "No possibility of cutting the rings, I'm afraid. They're digging into him. What about the transporter?" Kira thought. "The transporter won't work for the same reason." She swallowed her anguish, and tried to keep her voice even. "I can't think of any other way to do it." Julian laughed with a choking sound. "I can. The way Garak wants us to get it off. And it isn't easy." "I can't do that to you, Julian," Nerys said. "I need your help," he cried, sitting up. His face changed as more blood coursed into his genitals. "Please, start now, do anything you can. I have to get out of this." Odo approached and took Julian's cock into his mouth, running his tongue soothingly over the flesh and avoiding the places where the rings bit in. Julian tried not to show how intense the sensations were, but when Nerys took his nipples into her hands, he cried out, and then grabbed her hands to keep her from withdrawing them. "It's all right, Nerys," he said hoarsely, trying to smile. "I'm finding it's easier the second time." In fact, it wasn't easier--it was worse knowing what each new stage of torment was going to feel like as it arrived. "Talk to me, Nerys," he whispered, trying to concentrate on the excitement of their touch. "What should I talk about?" she asked, surprised. "About this. Or anything." "If I mention something you don't want to hear, tell me, all right?" She paused to reflect. "I was thinking about when we watched the film of Garak tormenting you. We all got excited and started making love. Now that the device is actually on you again, I can't believe I thought it was exciting." "Actually, it is," Julian moaned. "I'd do anything to get out of it right now, but..." He drifted off, eyes closed. While his body was racked with pain and delight, his mind grappled with another problem. The idea of being caught like this, of being forced to come to find his way out of agony, was suddenly arousing in itself. Was Garak toying with him, training him for some future game? "I can't explain it," he said with an effort. "I'm in such pain it's terrifying, but I've never felt... I feel..." He fell silent again, overwhelmed by the conflicting sensations he was trying to sort out. Nerys fell silent, too, unsure of what he had just tried to tell her. "Odo," Julian said suddenly, opening his eyes wide, "would you mind letting me thrust into you? I need to push against something." "Of course," said the shape shifter, suddenly forming a compact pool of himself over Julian's penis. Julian plunged up into Odo's substance, pacing his thrusts to maximize his arousal, so that the pain of each stroke had not quite passed before he made the next one. "Nerys," he called, "please come here. I want to lick you." She complied willingly, and he inserted his tongue once again into her labia, holding her bottom with one hand and mouthing her like a starving man. With the other hand, he stroked through Odo as he pushed his member into the shape shifter's gelatinous mass. Nerys had never felt his mouth so voracious on her. His tongue moved powerfully into her as his lips sucked up her juices and his teeth bit her nether lips and thighs. Nerys came three times in succession, and then moved around to kiss his mouth and nipples, licking her own scent off his face. When she went to fetch the dildo, Julian gave her a wan smile as he turned to lie on top of the shape shifter's pliant mass and thrust down into him. This time, he was drawing close to orgasm much faster, not having Garak's tough conduit to work against. As he had imagined the other time, Odo's material soothed instead of irritating his sore organ, and it fed back Odo's pleasure directly to his swollen flesh. Attaching the dildo to herself, Nerys entered him quickly. The warm, vibrating object felt soothing against his insides, gently stimulating his prostate. As he rose slowly to his climax, his organ became more engorged and painful. His balls were pulled taut against their ring. Nerys moved in him slowly, trying not to hurt him any more than necessary. She felt truly strange being in the position of having to hurt someone in such an intimate way to help him. All the things she usually did to cause him pleasure had a double edge tonight. Her sensations were skewed by the presence of that thing on his cock. What usually excited her a great deal wasn't very interesting, while things she had never allowed herself to think went coursing through her mind, leaving a trail of electricity in their wake. As she thrust into him, the idea that he was helpless with pain, trapped under her thrusting body, started to arouse her. She felt confused and out of control, wishing this would end soon, but savoring every second. Her thrusts became harder and more frequent, and each gasp or cry she drew out of him sent a thrill of pleasure through her being. She came repeatedly, feeling him tremble in excitement and suffering. Reaching around through Odo to take Julian's crucified member into her hand, she realized that she was extremely aroused by the thought of Garak wanting him. Not that she found Garak exciting, but she suddenly identified with him. The dream-image of Julian as a slave that she had long ago tried to discard came unbidden to her mind. She shoved into him still more forcefully and came so hard she shouted. Soon Julian moaned distressingly as his climax began. When his penis finally throbbed and spurted he nearly sobbed, dropping on Odo in exhaustion. Nerys turned him over quickly and started taking him out of the device. He let her do it, almost too overwhelmed to care. He winced as the blood flowed back into the pinched places. Finally, she held the thing up gingerly by the edge of its leather strap. "I'd like to see this monstrosity on that Cardassian monster." Her recent thoughts were quickly put away into the back of her mind; she no longer found them arousing, but appalling. "He likes it," Julian remarked in a husky voice without opening his eyes. "He'd be eternally grateful. A summons went off at Julian's terminal. "What's that?" Odo asked. "I don't know," Julian replied, wincing as he sat up too quickly. He walked over to the terminal and found that a timed message was waiting for him. He pushed the release button and Garak's face filled the screen. "Hello, my young friend," Garak said briskly. "By now, you've probably awakened from a nightmare that turned out to be true. I doubt you're still embroiled in it by this time; after all, you have friends to help you out." He laughed. "I did it mainly for them, you know. I thought they should also have the experience of knowing how pleasurable it is to torment you. It's your move, my dear doctor, the next time we meet." The screen went blank. Nerys slammed her hand down on the desk. "This has to stop!" she exclaimed harshly. She turned to the Security Chief. "Now you have to arrest him. You have proof that he broke into Julian's quarters and assaulted him in his sleep." Odo sat at the terminal and examined the message's documentation. "You're right," he said, "I can prove that Garak was here." He rose. "I'm going to find him." Chapter Four: Power Play Julian lay back in exhaustion, still too agitated to sleep. His mind worked fast, going over the events of the last few days. Nerys was awake as well, wondering when Odo would announce that he had arrested Garak. "Odo won't be able to keep him in the brig for long," Julian said suddenly. "He didn't really do anything." "He assaulted you while you slept," Nerys snorted. "That counts for something. We might even be able to deport him, depending on what Sisko thinks." "Does he know what happened?" "Not yet." "Don't tell him," Julian said earnestly. Nerys sat up and looked him in the eyes. "Julian, that's our only chance of getting Garak off this station." Bashir met her gaze squarely. "Maybe I don't want him off the station." "What? If it's the datachip you're worried about, remember that Odo promised to negotiate with him to get it back." Julian shook his head. "Not that it will do any good. Besides, that's not what I mean." Nerys looked more horrified and disgusted than Julian had ever seen her. His heart constricted in his chest. "Nerys, this is going to be hard for you to understand." "I think it might," she agreed expectantly. Julian paused, trying to gather the thoughts in his tired mind. "Everything that happened between Garak and myself might have been a misunderstanding." "I'm not sure I know what you mean," she said, taking deep breaths and trying to stay calm. Julian knew he had only a limited amount of time to explain himself before she exploded at him. "First, he thought that I was interested in him, that I always had been, and was trying to send him signals." "True. But why did he have to try to rape you?" "That's what he thought I wanted. He forgot that I might not have the same responses as a Cardassian. Then he must have taken my leaving the door of the holosuite unsecured as a signal that I was ready to have him." Nerys considered briefly. He noted with relief that he had grabbed her attention. "Why would he think that you wanted to be put into a torture device?" "He didn't know what I wanted. But when I refused sex after sending him what he thought was a clear signal, he must have concluded that I wanted to play rough. And, for him, that included the slaves, the torture device, and even the whip, if things had gone far enough." He took a deep breath, hoping that Nerys would be willing to leap to his conclusion with him. "Remember that when I invited him into the holosuite, he played by my rules. He didn't know Odo was listening; he could have tried any number of unpleasant things, but he didn't." "He wasn't exactly gentle with you when you were bound to the bed." Julian shrugged. "He didn't do me any permanent damage, although he could have. I asked him to use lubrication and he did, but I didn't ask him to be gentle with me, did I? And don't forget, I asked for it. I can't deny that I enjoyed what he did. That's the whole idea of being bound--feeling the other person's desire play itself out on you." Nerys didn't answer; she seemed a bit withdrawn. Julian felt a tug at his heart, but he kept on talking. "Nerys, I know it's hard for you to fathom, but I wanted him to do what he did. I could have used a simulation to take it, but I didn't. For Garak, that was closeness. First he took me, and then he really put himself in my hands. When he found out that I used simulations, he thought I had cheated. In his own culture, he'd have a right to hate me, to track me down and take revenge on me." Kira looked angry again. "On Cardassia, trials are decided before they take place. Conquered people are given the death penalty for stealing food, or for one act of disobedience." "Garak will be put to death by torture if he's deported," Julian finished, "What he did to me wasn't always pleasant, but it doesn't merit death." "I suppose you're right about that, anyway," Nerys agreed grudgingly. "What do you want to do?" "I want to talk to him," Julian said, searching around for his clothes. "I want to find out if I'm right about him. And I have to talk to him before Odo talks to Sisko." They dressed quickly, and Kira hit her comm badge. "Kira to Odo." "Odo here. Major, I was just about to call you. I've finally run Garak to earth." "Where?" "He's in his quarters, but he won't come out. He insists on speaking to Dr. Bashir before surrendering, but I told him that wasn't very likely." Kira and Bashir exchanged glances as both realized that Odo was putting on a performance for Garak's benefit; the comm line to his quarters must be open. "Odo, this is Julian," the doctor interrupted. "Tell Garak I will speak to him." "But, doctor..." "I'll be right there." Julian pulled on his boots and ran a hand through his hair, which stayed rumpled. "What are you going to do, Julian?" Nerys asked as they hurried around the habitat ring. "For a week now you've been terrified of being alone with him. What if he hurts you?" "I'll have to take that chance," Julian answered. "I owe him something for the way I treated him." "The way _you_ treated _him_?" Nerys exclaimed angrily, pulling Julian by the arm until he stopped. "I understand your theory about his misinterpretation of your signals, and you're probably right. But don't forget that the man tortured you, forced you to have sex with him, and treated you like a slave." "For him it was a game, Nerys," Bashir said, standing impatiently. "He thought I understood that." Kira set her jaw and took him by both arms, giving him a shake. "Listen to me. I understand that you feel you have to do this. All right, go ahead. But at the first sign of trouble, I'm getting you out of there. I don't care what he thinks he's doing. If he hurts you again, I'll kill him." Her voice rang loudly through the deserted corridor. "Nerys..." Julian said, touching her face. "Let me go." She turned and ran with him down the corridor, still holding his arm. "Odo," Julian said breathlessly as they arrived, "is he still in there?" "I'm here," came Garak's voice over the comm panel. "When I open the door, I want Dr. Bashir to come in alone." "Understood," Julian answered quickly. Odo looked annoyed. "We're keeping a comm line open while you're in there," he warned. "Fine," said Garak indignantly, "go ahead and listen to our private conversation. I hope it's exciting enough for you." The door slid open suddenly on a darkened room, and Garak was nowhere to be seen. Julian walked in, and it slid shut after him. There was a long silence. "Julian?" Nerys said finally. "I'm here," he answered quickly. "I can't see, Garak. It's too dark in here." "Lights up twenty percent," Garak said. "Is that better, doctor? I forgot that your Terran eyes cannot use available light as efficiently as mine." When the lights came up, Julian discovered Garak standing not ten feet in front of him. "That's not all you overlooked about me, Garak," Julian interjected. "I have something to tell you." "I think I know what it is. And, yes, you're right that I overlooked some things." He paused, and Julian stepped closer to him. "Aren't you afraid of getting too close?" Garak asked sardonically. "Your friends might..." "Garak," Julian interrupted, "that's what I wanted to tell you. I'm not afraid of getting close to you. In fact, I..." "You're the one I fucked into a frenzy in the holosuite," Garak said huskily. "You did have the courage to put yourself in my hands. But you didn't want me to know." Julian gaped at him. "When did you find out?" "Tonight. I left a listening device in your room when I left you my little message. I listened in on your conversation with Major Kira. That's when I found out that you had no idea it was all a contest." "What was a contest?" Although Garak's words confirmed his guesses, Julian wanted him to explain it for the benefit of the two listeners outside. "My pursuit of you. The chase. The 'message' I left on your body." Julian breathed out hard. "Garak, what do you want from me?" he said in frustration. "If you want to torment me, if you want to fuck me senseless, then I give you permission to make a holo simulation of me to get it out of your system." Garak looked intrigued. "What do I want from you?" he asked thoughtfully. "There's your body, of course. That goes without saying, and I've paid homage to that in my own way, haven't I?" His eyes ran up and down Bashir in a way that made a tingle pass through him. "But there's more," he continued expansively. "Your soulful eyes, your serious face. The way you volunteered to put yourself in those restraints, the way you cried out when I entered you and then told me you wouldn't grovel to get me back inside you." He shook his head ruefully. "I spent many hours in a holosuite trying to simulate that particular personality. I wondered how you'd captured those piquant contradictions. But now I find out that it was you all the time." He shook his massive head and smiled. "What I want from you is you." Julian stared. His body had started to tremble, and he realized that this near declaration of love had excited him. "Why did you want to torture me?" he asked, trying to keep his mind clear. "Why didn't you take my refusal seriously?" "As you guessed, it was because you left the door unsecured. That meant everything to me, but now I realize I was wrong. When you refused me, I thought you were issuing me a challenge, and I had to meet it with a problem worthy of you." He laughed. "You didn't disappoint me. That device was a test of survival, and you faced it bravely." He paused and took a step closer to Julian. The doctor felt rooted to the spot. His mouth was growing dry. "On Cardassia," Garak continued seductively, "we think that lust and its conflicts represent the struggles of life, and that if an individual vanquishes in love, he or she will conquer in living, too." His eyes seemed to glow in the dimness. "But one must learn to be conquered as well, to submit to desire as to the inevitable. So submitting to you was necessary to me, as necessary as it was to dominate you." He shook his head. "I thought you understood that when you submitted to me. And maybe now it turns out that you did. Still, I don't understand why you wanted me to think I had fucked a simulation." "I wanted to humiliate you." "Then why didn't you really use a simulation?" Julian took a deep breath. "For exactly the reason I gave you at the time. Because I wanted to know what you would be like without the pain." They were both silent so long that Kira's heart was pounding when Garak finally spoke slowly. "What did you find out? Did I disappoint you?" Julian swallowed hard. "No. But I think you knew that." "And I'd like to know again. Would you?" Garak looked at him intently. "Without the Cardassian torture device and the whip, I might want to," Julian agreed hesitantly. Garak laughed out loud. "A _Cardassian_ torture device? Oh, doctor, how wrong you are! That happens to be a twentieth- century Terran device--the Seven Gates of Hell. I got the idea from an old book, and I replicated one exactly your size." Julian frowned. "How did you know my size? You're a tailor, but you've never taken that particular measurement on me." Garak shrugged. "You'd be surprised at the amount of information that can be obtained from Quark for a price." "He knows the length of my erection?" Julian asked incredulously. "He helped you with everything, didn't he?" "I couldn't have done it without him." Julian paused, thinking. "Garak, you seem so bored with sex that isn't painful--painful for me, anyway. Don't you really want to know what I'm like when I'm not your slave?" Garak sighed in a way that made Nerys's stomach clench in anger as a thread of excitement travelled through her groin. "You make such an attractive slave," he said, "but I suppose I can forgo that pleasure if you can." "Will you come out with me now to talk to Odo?" Garak shrugged. "I might as well. He'll arrest me the next time he sees me, whenever that may be." "No, he won't," Julian said firmly. "I won't?" Odo asked Kira peevishly. The door slid open and Julian and Garak stood there together. "Odo," Julian began, "I don't want you to pursue the investigation against Garak. Everything that happened was based on a misunderstanding." "I gathered that," Odo said dryly. "What evidence I have isn't worth much without your testimony, is it?" He walked away angrily, unable to understand Julian's changed attitude. Kira looked from Julian to Garak. "You're not staying here, are you?" she asked, visibly upset. "Yes," Julian answered softly. "You trust him? After what he did to you?" "Yes." "Call me if you need me." She turned abruptly and stalked down the corridor after Odo. Her mind whirled with conflicting emotions. The door to Garak's quarters slid closed. "Your friends aren't very pleased with your decision," he remarked. Julian didn't answer. His body was trembling with anticipation, and he realized that he both craved and dreaded Garak's touch. "I understand what you just told me," Garak said slowly, "but I feel compelled to tell you what I desire." He held up a hand. "I promise I won't force you to do this, but I'd like to see you in that g-string again, and I'd like to..." He trailed off. "Yes?" Julian asked. "I don't know why I should ask. You won't want it. I keep thinking of taking you when you were bound to the bed. I want to do it again." "You're making progress, Garak: you're asking me instead of threatening me." Garak looked offended. "I don't threaten. I order," he said haughtily. Julian looked uncomfortable. "That's a problem. There's another problem, too. I'm still in pain from certain events earlier this evening." Garak looked surprised. "I suppose you are. I have some herbal ointment that will relieve your symptoms in a few moments, but it has to be applied correctly." He searched in a drawer for a small vial. "Here we are. Now, sit down." "Garak..." "Go on. I won't hurt you." Julian complied. When Garak loosened his pants and pulled out his sore member, he felt terribly exposed. The red marks stood out angrily from the tip to the base. Garak knelt on the floor between his legs and carefully applied a light coating of ointment on Julian's penis and balls. "It doesn't really feel any better yet," Julian commented, wincing at his touch. "It will, doctor, it will." In a sudden motion, Garak plunged Julian's penis into his mouth, swirling it with strong sucking motions of his tongue and jaws. Julian's hands grabbed at the air in surprise before he lay back and surrendered to the intense sensations in his cock. Never before had Garak simply given him pleasure without pain. And he was quite skilled at it. His mouth seemed to have muscles that could stroke while his tongue careened madly everywhere. When he suddenly let go, Julian moaned in surprise. His cock was rock hard, but no longer painful, except that it ached to be back in Garak's gifted mouth. "Now," Garak asked, "are you ready to have me inside you?" Julian felt a wave of something powerful rising up within him. "No," he ordered, sitting up on the bed, "I want you sucking me. Now. Keep doing it." "I was hoping you'd say that, doctor." Garak smiled and took his erection back into his mouth. The ointment must have had a slightly anaesthetic effect, because Julian couldn't recall remaining so hard for so long without coming, except with the torture device. Even after he came, his hard-on didn't fade. Garak looked at it speculatively. "What shall we do with that?" he asked. "Of course, my preference would be to tie you to the bed and..." Again, Julian felt an emotion as strong as anger well up inside him, but it wasn't all anger. He sat up again and put his face to Garak's. The Cardassian still knelt between his legs. "I want to stay dressed while you're naked," he said through clenched teeth. "Take your clothes off now, and lie down." Garak, who could have broken Julian's neck with his bare hands, meekly stripped and lay over the bed where Julian showed him. "There's a selection of restraints in the box under the bed," he suggested. Julian pulled it out and looked inside. "Never mind those," he said dismissively. "You're going to stay there because you like it, not because you're tied down." He grabbed a jar of lubricant from the box and pressed some into Garak with his hand. "Remember, doctor," Garak said with a villainous smile, "as we say on Cardassia, the pinch worm can turn." "Call me Julian," Julian said in annoyance, looking into the box again and pulling out something that looked suspiciously like a Starfleet-issue restraint. "I can't do that," Garak replied. "It just wouldn't feel right." "Where did you get this restraint?" Julian asked. "It was a gift." Julian didn't ask. He pushed the restraint through a swiveling ring set in the wall above the bed and put Garak's unresisting hands through it. "Changed your mind?" Garak asked, amused. "I thought you didn't like these little power games." "I don't know what I like any more," Julian said, to his own surprise. "Or maybe what I like is changing, thanks to you." Snapping the restraint shut, he surveyed his captive, running his nails across the leathery skin. Garak shivered with pleasure. He raked his nails across Garak's ass, and ran them up his cleft; from behind, he teased the Cardassian's erection. Garak growled and pulled at the restraint. Without it, Julian suddenly realized, he might suddenly find himself taking Garak's place. He pulled his cock back out of his uniform and teased Garak's opening with it before pushing in hard, making the Cardassian jump. His uniform made a rasping sound when it rubbed against Garak's leathery ass. For a while he contented himself by fucking Garak with all his might, realizing that he was more likely to scrape his own skin off than to do the Cardassian any harm. When Garak's breathing was beginning to get shallow, he withdrew. He rolled Garak over and looked at his fiery red erection. Stroking just the shaft without touching the more sensitive head, he made Garak squirm satisfactorily in his efforts to get more stimulation. "That's what your simulations did to me," Garak said in annoyance. Julian dug his nails into various parts of Garak's skin, from his shaft to his chest and thighs, eliciting gasps of pleasure from his captive. "That's why you Cardassians are partial to torture devices," he observed suddenly. "You have so little sensation in your skins that you need hard stimulation to feel anything. But, think about it, Garak--I have sensitive skin everywhere. It hurts me much more than it hurts you." "I hadn't really considered that, doctor, although your smooth skin is one of the most attractive things about you. How sensitive is it?" Julian looked around Garak's body for an unarmored place. "Open your mouth," he said. When Garak complied, he touched the inside of his cheek. "The shaft of my penis is that sensitive." "I see. Then the seven gates would indeed have caused you more pain than I intended." Looking into Garak's eyes, Julian saw that he looked mildly interested, but not especially contrite. Julian snorted. "To say the least." He ran his fingers along the bony ridge that stretched in a shallow 'v' across Garak's chest from one shoulder to another. Hiding under the ridge on each side, he suddenly discovered two pink nipples. He put his fingers into the space under the bone and stimulated them lightly. "No!" Garak cried, lunging against the restraint. "Why not?" Julian asked, startled. "They're too sensitive, it's too intense," Garak gasped as Julian's fingers barely touched him. Bashir glanced at the Cardassian's erection, which was now even redder and harder than before. "Somehow I think you've been hiding something from me, Garak," he said with a smug smile. "Does that make you feel vulnerable?" He rummaged in the restraint box until he found some cuffs that would secure Garak's legs to the corners of the bed. "Now, I think I've found a way to show you something of what I felt," he said, kneeling between Garak's legs and reaching again for his nipples. No matter how Garak bucked and cursed, Julian never stopped rubbing his nipples gently. "How would you like me to pinch them?" he teased cruelly. "No, please. Please don't, Julian." Garak's face showed anger, humiliation, and even fear. "Oh, it's Julian now, is it? You're wrong, slave," he said with a hard edge to his voice. "It's sir." "Please don't, sir," Garak said through clenched teeth. Julian rolled the firm pink points of flesh softly between his thumb and forefinger. Garak screamed in agony and bliss as his cock exploded into orgasm, shooting burst after burst of semen against Julian's chest. He released Garak's nipples, which had swollen up so far that they protruded out from under the bony ridge. "I'd say that's approximately what I experienced," Julian said quietly, sitting back on his heels. "Let me go," Garak said angrily. "And let you get back at me?" Julian grinned. "Not yet. You'll have your chance." "Doctor, I promise I won't use the seven gates on you again." "Or the whip?" "Or the whip," Garak added grudgingly. "You still have an erection," Julian observed, "and you've only come once. Let's see what I can do about that." Releasing Garak's legs, he rolled him on his stomach again. Julian undressed quickly and grabbed an item out of the box of restraints. He put on the g-string and walked around where Garak could see him, standing with his hands on his hips. Garak looked for a long moment and then closed his eyes. "Now who's torturing whom?" he asked gruffly. "If I wasn't in this restraint..." "But you are, Garak, you are. And even if you weren't, you'd stay where you were and let me fuck you." "Don't be so sure," Garak snapped. "Let's see." He went back and shoved his cock into Garak's opening, thrusting vigorously until the Cardassian was again at the point of orgasm. Julian reached quickly up towards Garak's hands and released the restraint, which fell off as Julian grabbed Garak's erection and pumped it hard. Ignoring the fact that his hands were free, Garak continued to push back into Julian. At last, he shook violently, moaning in delight. Julian thrust in a few more times before he came, too. Garak lay still for a moment before he moved a hand and remembered he was free. Rolling over quickly, he dumped Julian on the bed and pinned him down. "Please excuse me, doctor, if I once again enslave you," he said with flashing eyes. "I'll keep my promise about the seven gates, but you're dressed like a slave"--he looked down at the satin pouch, now pushed to one side--"and I'm going to make sure you feel like a slave." He pushed Julian roughly on his stomach and pulled his arms behind his back, cuffing them together. Another pair of cuffs snapped closed around his ankles. When Garak rolled the doctor onto his back, he readjusted the g-string to cover Julian's flaccid member. Taking him by the shoulders, Garak pulled him off the bed and left him on his knees before stepping back to admire his handiwork. "How do you feel, slave?" he asked smugly. "Helpless," Julian admitted, looking up at him defiantly, "but I'm still not a slave." "Good," Garak laughed. "I wouldn't want you to submit right away. Where would the challenge be in that?" Garak stood considering him for a few moments. "What shall I do with my slave?" he asked rhetorically. "I could have him suck my cock, but I've already done that. I could fuck him, but he likes that. I've promised not to beat him--he has such sensitive skin," Garak sneered, "but I'm sorely tempted." He grabbed Julian under the arms and pulled him easily up until his feet barely touched the ground. "What shall I do with you?" he asked in Julian's face. "I'll do the worst thing I can think of." "What's that?" Julian asked through dry lips. A bolt of real fear coursed through him. "This." Garak laid Julian over the bed. The ribbons holding his g-string in place were suddenly tugged away. He braced himself for an onslaught, but nothing happened for a few moments. The ribbons were retied, tighter this time. Then the cuffs clicked open. Cautiously, Julian pushed himself up from the bed, turning to face Garak, who stood quietly watching him. "What are you doing?" he asked incredulously. "The worst thing I can think of," Garak repeated. "Sending you away to make you wait." Julian reached back to untie the g- string. "Don't touch that," ordered Garak. "You're going to wear it to remind you of your narrow escape. Put on your uniform." As Julian complied, his heart still beat wildly. When he was dressed, he reached for his briefs. "I'll keep these," Garak said quickly, picking them up. "You keep the g-string. You never know when you might want to wear it." He smiled without a hint of the anger he had just shown, and Julian knew the contest was over for now. Chapter Five: Revelations Julian stumbled back to his quarters, only to realize that it was morning on Deep Space Nine. He'd had a little sleep earlier in the night, but right now he felt as if he hadn't had a bit. Garak must have stopped things partly because he knew Julian would be late for work. He had an appointment to give a physical in a quarter of an hour. After splashing some cool water on his face and combing his hair, he rushed to the infirmary, still wearing the g-string under his uniform. His patient was on time, and he managed to be alert and competent by taking a stimulant, something he usually disapproved of. He worked straight through lunch, examining patients, fixing minor injuries, and catching up on reports. At about 1600 in the afternoon, a technical report began to swim before his eyes, and he realized he hadn't eaten since the night before. He went to the replicator and ordered a sandwich and tea, taking them back with him to the terminal and finishing the report as he ate. Feeling much better, he allowed himself to think about the night before and wonder how far this contest was going to go. As he sat there, he felt the g-string pulled tight through his cleft, and his cock stirred slightly. Just then, someone walked in behind him. "Nerys," he said, turning quickly, "you startled me." She laughed humorlessly. "I'm not surprised, considering the kind of company you keep. Computer, close door." Julian looked at her apprehensively as the door slid shut. Kira waited impatiently for it to close and then started scolding him. "Are you crazy, Julian? Why did you let him continue his insane contest? Do you want him to keep torturing you?" "He promised not to," Julian argued. "I know," she snapped. "I heard him. But it sounded as if he came close to breaking that promise." "You heard that?" Julian echoed. "Odo never closed the comm line. We wanted to make sure you'd be all right." Julian noticed that Nerys looked as wan as he felt. She must have stayed up to listen while Odo rested. "I was all right, as it turned out." Nerys ran a hand through her hair. "Right at the end, when he cuffed you and dragged you around, I thought, this is it, I'm going down there to stun that torturer and haul him to the brig. But then it turned out he was just toying with you." She paused and went closer to him, squatting down next to his chair. "Why did you stand for it, Julian? Why aren't Odo and I enough for you?" Bashir felt a stab of remorse. "I'm sorry, Nerys," he said. "I've been wondering those same things myself." He finished his tea, grimacing slightly when the bitter dregs hit the back of his tongue. "It has something to do with the thrill I get from being with him." Nerys looked impatient. "It seems frightening to me." "Partly. But there's an excitement to it that I have trouble explaining. The thought that maybe he'll lose control and really hurt me." She rolled her eyes. "That sounds wonderful." Julian closed his eyes and rubbed the bridge of his nose. "That's not what I meant to say. I mean that I never know what he's going to do next. And overpowering him is even more exciting." "I have two observations to make, Julian," Nerys said as she rose and started pacing around the room. "One, you haven't really overpowered Garak; he's let you have temporary control. But when he wants to dominate you, he throws you around as if you're weightless. Two, you're speaking in disconnected sentences--you're not making a lot of sense." "I'm sorry. I'm trying, but I didn't get much sleep last night." "Neither did I!" she spat. "I was too busy looking out for you because you don't have the sense to stay away from Garak. When I think that Odo could have had him in the brig by now, it makes me furious." Julian sighed. "If Odo had him in the brig, that datachip of me would probably be playing in Quark's right now." He got up and returned his plate and cup to the replicator. "Look, Nerys," he said, setting the resorb cycle, "I appreciate your concern, but I'm really confused myself, and I can't take any more criticism right now. Can we discuss it later? I need to sleep." "Are you going back to your quarters?" she asked. "No. I'm going to sleep in the quarantine room. Someone might drop by here in the next couple of hours." "Can I come with you?" Nerys asked unexpectedly. "Of course," he said, "but I hope you won't keep..." "Not a word," she promised. Without undressing, they lay together on the bed and fell asleep almost instantly, holding each other. Garak was discontented with himself. "Why did I let him go?" he murmured as he arranged a new display of belts and scarves. "Did you say something, Mr. Garak?" asked a customer looking through the racks. "Just talking to myself, Madam," Garak said with a false smile. He must be going soft. He had promised Bashir not to torture or beat him, and then he let him go. Now, to top it off, he was mumbling about his private affairs in front of a customer. What could he do that would truly surprise the good doctor? He had a sudden flash of inspiration that made him smile. When his customer glanced over and happened to see his face, she shuddered and left without choosing a gown. Nerys stroked Julian's hair until he woke. "Julian," she whispered, "we've been asleep for over three hours. Are you hungry?" "Always," he murmured, nuzzling his face against her breasts. He raised her uniform top. She laughed and grabbed his head affectionately, and he kissed and nibbled her breasts for a while, finally working his way up to her face. He kissed and licked her all over, settling for a few moments on her nose ridges. She gasped and grabbed his shoulders as he dabbed his tongue rhythmically across them. "You're such a sweet man, Julian, so why do I want to hurt you?" she murmured. He stopped his caresses. "You want to hurt me?" he asked, confused. "No, of course not. I said 'Garak,' didn't I?" "No. You said that _you_ wanted to." As she turned her face away, he noticed with surprise that her eyes had filled with tears. "Nerys? Why don't you tell me what's wrong?" She sighed. "I hadn't intended to tell you this, but I guess my subconscious did. And maybe I will feel better if I get it off my mind." Kira paused to remove Julian's shirt and stroke his chest before continuing. "The other night, when Garak put that device on you again... When I went inside you with the dildo, I enjoyed the thought that you were so excited, but also in pain, that you couldn't stop me, that every stroke hurt you and took you closer to coming." Julian looked at her strangely. "I think I knew that," he said. "You started out gently and then got much rougher, and you kept coming over and over. And you shouted when you came the last time, didn't you?" "Yes," Nerys admitted miserably. "I felt your cock in that thing and it put me over the edge." "Don't worry about it," Julian said. "I think I tried to tell you at the time, but it excited me in a perverse way, too, although I honestly never want to see that thing again. I'm not sure what I think of all this--Odo, Garak, and now you. What is it about me that makes you all want to use me?" Kira stiffened. "I don't want to use you, Julian. I just found it exciting to fuck you when your feelings were so... intense. Do you have thoughts like that about me?" she added hesitantly. "No," Julian replied honestly, "I think seeing you helpless would upset me too much. Just like with Odo. I had to be out of my mind with rage to do what I did to him. It's exciting with Garak because the things he does to me free me from responsibility for tormenting him. If that makes any sense..." Nerys looked distraught and stopped fondling Julian's nipples. "I can't help feeling that it makes me too much like Garak. He and I want the same thing." She shuddered. He stroked her face. "Don't take it too seriously," he said gently. "Just because Garak finds something arousing, it doesn't mean you shouldn't. You're not thinking of taking me to a holosuite, are you?" She laughed when she looked in his eyes and saw amusement there. Kneeling over him, she started to remove his pants. The g-string soon appeared. Kira paused in surprise. "I'd forgotten that he made you wear this," she said. "Actually, I put it on myself, and then he wouldn't give me my underwear back. What do you think?" he asked slyly. "You said you kept seeing me as a slave. Well, this is what Garak's slaves look like." "Let's see." She pulled his pants all the way off and gestured for him to stand. He turned slowly for her inspection, feeling his penis harden under her gaze. Pulling off her own pants, she lunged for him, pushing him down on the bed and straddling him. He ran his hands down her back to her ass and squeezed it hard. Reaching back, she grabbed his hands and pushed them above his head. "Hold your hands there," she said. "Pretend you can't move them." "I don't know if I can stop myself," he said, moving them over her body. "I want to touch you." She rolled him halfway over and untied the knots in the g- string, whipping it off and using it to tie his wrists to the bed. Although he could have torn the thin ribbons easily, the slight pressure they exerted on his wrists reminded him that he was supposed to be bound and helpless. His body warmed immediately as he started playing the part. One thing he didn't have to simulate was his extreme arousal. Nerys had mouthed a trail of kisses down to his erection, which she engulfed in her hot mouth. "Let me go, Nerys," he gasped as she sucked him hard. "Let me touch you." "No," she said firmly, "but I might let you lick me." She sprang to his head, holding her vulva invitingly over his mouth. Each time he reached for it, she swiveled her hips and withdrew the prize. "Please," he breathed, almost forgetting that he could have broken free if he'd wanted to. "Since you really want it," she conceded, lowering herself on his mouth. His tongue swirled up inside her as his lips were pressed to her labia. He almost felt smothered by her body, her juices, her scent. As she came, her heat made him feel that she was a tropical climate he never wanted to leave. He suddenly had a vision of going with her for a vacation on Risa--the actual Risa, not the bogus one where Garak had really tied him down. She withdrew herself from his mouth. He didn't want to let her go, and nearly tore the ribbons just thinking about reaching out to pull her back to him. Keeping her eyes on his face, she moved slowly back until she sat on his erection, rubbing it around her hot labia without letting it inside. He thrust his hips up at her as she reached behind herself to tease his balls. Finally she took him into her hand and guided him inside. As always, her heat made him shiver. He groaned and closed his eyes. Nerys lay on him and kissed him on the mouth. Their faces slipped against each other, lubricated by their combined juices. She gasped and came, lifting herself on her hands to thrust hard against him while rotating her hips. He held his climax off while she came three more times in succession, and then he couldn't stop the explosion of light that started in his cock and ended behind his eyelids. As they lay quietly, he realized that his hands had come free, but he didn't know when. The g-string hung in tatters from the headboard. "I'll have to get rid of that before I let a patient stay in here," he joked. "How about a shower?" Nerys laughed and then looked at him seriously. "You liked that." It was a statement, not a question. "Yes." "So did I," she said thoughtfully. "A shower is a good idea." As they were dressing, an automated call came in for Julian. "Someone's waiting for me in the examining room," he said. "Computer, acknowledge. I'll be there right away. Maybe you ought to say here for a few minutes," he suggested, pulling on his other boot. "All right," she agreed. Julian reached for her as she reached for him. They embraced silently for a moment. "I'm sorry I've been so confused," he said. "You're confused?" she laughed. "I yell at you about playing bondage games with Garak, and then I start one with you. Now that's confused." "No, Nerys, I don't think so. It was different; we were just playing. I don't think I'd mind doing something like that with you, if I knew you could escape any time you needed to. We should talk more about it later, but right now I have to go." She released him and settled down at the terminal to check her messages. Nothing urgent seemed to demand her attention. After about ten minutes, she thought it would be safe to leave. Either the patient would be gone or so involved in an examination that he or she wouldn't notice that Nerys came through the same door as Julian. The examining room was empty. "Julian?" she called. She looked in his office, but no one was there, either; she was alone in the infirmary. "Computer," she said, feeling a sudden spurt of panic, "locate Dr. Bashir." "Dr. Bashir is not on board the station." "If you're sure that Julian hasn't left the station, then he's still here," Kira said in frustration, "and Garak must be keeping him hidden somewhere." "Of course, Major," Odo said formally. "What I'm worried about right now is whether or not I should notify Commander Sisko. Instead of sexual assault--which is bad enough, but clearly under my jurisdiction--we have the kidnapping of a Star Fleet officer, perhaps even something worse, which I ought to report to the station commander." "Not yet, Odo," Kira pleaded. "Don't forget that Garak still has that datachip. Give me an hour to see if I can find them." "We've been searching for two hours," Odo said indignantly. "We've tried everything. Now you think you can find him in an hour?" Kira shrugged. "I have an idea." "What?" Odo asked suspiciously. "Quark," said Kira. "He's clearly the key to this whole thing. He helped Garak prepare for the episode in the holosuite, and he probably helped him with the security overrides and communications bugs, too. And who else might have a contraband sensor screen for sale? If anyone besides Garak knows where they are, it's Quark." "If he does know anything," Odo said impatiently, "he's keeping it to himself. No matter what I threaten him with, I can't get anything out of him." "He's afraid of Garak. Let me try. I might be able to promise him something he's even more afraid of missing." "What?" Odo asked, even more suspiciously. "Oo-mox," she said glumly. Kira straddled a barstool, trying to look as if she had all the time in the world, and felt Quark's lustful eyes upon her. She suppressed a shudder. "What can I get for you, Major?" he asked, leaning on the bar with his eyes at breast level. "A stardrifter," she replied, restraining the urge to box his ears. After a moment's pause that made her heart pound with anxiety, he poured her drink. As she put it to her lips, her throat constricted, so she pretended to sip it and put it down on the bar, willing her hand not to tremble. He turned as if to go, and she spoke, not knowing what to say. "So, Quark, what's new?" She tried to sound bright and casual, but it didn't work. He turned to her in surprise. "Since when have you tried to make conversation with me, Major? What do you want from me?" Nerys changed tack easily. "There is something you can do for me, Quark. You can tell me where Julian is." "Dr. Bashir?" he asked, looking honestly puzzled. "Try the infirmary. Maybe he's working late." She frowned and leaned towards him. "No, _you_ try this: the computer can't locate him, and I think Garak has hidden him somewhere." "I wouldn't know about that," Quark said smoothly, starting to move away as she grasped his lapels with both hands. "Uh, Major, I have another customer." "You have lots of customers, Quark, but maybe I have something more important than customers to give you." "Give? I'm all ears." "Trade," she corrected. "You tell me where Garak has taken Bashir, and I'll..." "Presuming I possess that bit of information, you'll do what, specifically?" Kira grabbed his left lobe a bit too hard. "Oww," he complained, putting his hand up to rub it. Calming herself with an effort, steeling herself against her disgust at touching his skin, she started caressing his ear as she had seen Dabo girls do it countless times. The waxy feel of his lobe and the tiny, spiky hairs that pricked her fingers nearly made her retch; the oily smell that rose off him nearly brought her to her knees. She willed herself not to gag, and established a steady rhythm. Quark was moaning with delight. A couple of people had turned to watch, and Kira blushed with anger and embarrassment. "Where is Bashir?" She slackened her rhythm a bit. "Oooo, don't stop," Quark whined. "Tell me, or I will." She removed her hand from his ear altogether and he jerked towards her, as if trying to nuzzle against her body. She recoiled in horror. "I'll tell you if you start again. Just a little more, and I'll..." _He'll what?_ Nerys thought in a panic. Cautiously, she ran one finger down the inside of his lobe. "There are some empty guest quarters. Not renovated..." Quark closed his eyes. "Why can't we find them on internal sensors?" Kira snapped quickly. He seemed to be getting close to ecstacy. "Garak has a sensor screen." He opened his eyes briefly to observe her face. "Don't ask me where he got it. Ahhhhhh!" As Kira took her hands off him, Quark relaxed across the bar in bliss. "Ah! Major, you have talented hands. Unfortunately, as I was saying, I can't help you find Dr. Bashir." He shrugged and picked up his tray. As Kira sprinted to the unused part of the habitat ring, she wondered whether Quark was pretending that he hadn't told her anything or whether oo-mox caused an actual memory lapse. That information might be useful some day, she thought. Chapter Six: Intervention "Welcome to Risa, rose of the galaxy!" Garak announced expansively. "But this Risa, not being in a holosuite, has thorns." As Julian struggled against Garak's grip, the door slid closed, and he knew he was caught. Garak didn't release him until he had put a security voice lock on the door. He watched Bashir try to open it for a moment with an amused expression on his grey face. Julian kicked the door in frustration. "Now, now, doctor, keep your temper. Anyone would think you didn't want to be here." "I don't want to be here, Garak. I'd rather be almost anywhere else." "Almost, doctor? Then there's some hope for me yet?" Garak spoke so sarcastically that Julian knew nothing he could say would make any difference. He remained silent, waiting. "No questions, doctor? Don't you want to know what I'm going to do with you this time?" "Probably just what you did last time," Julian said insolently, standing with his back to the wall. Before him was a bed equipped with handcuffs at the corners; another pair of cuffs hung from a pulley attached to the ceiling, and a box of restraints and other equipment stood on the floor by the bed. He didn't relish being attached to any of them. Although he had less than a ghost of a chance in a struggle with Garak, maybe he could inflict some damage if he used the wall to brace himself. Garak was thinking the same thing. "Come here, my slave," Garak ordered coldly. "I want to see you in your outfit." "I don't have it on anymore," Julian said without moving. He didn't relish the moment when Garak found out he was wearing no underwear at all. "And I'm not a slave." "Are you sure?" Garak asked, approaching him. "Perfectly," Bashir snapped. Garak's attack came so quickly that Julian had time for only one good kick before he was pinned in the tailor's strong arms. Garak wrestled him to the bed and cuffed his hands behind his back. Julian was glad to see Garak bend to rub his knee where the doctor had kicked it, but he wasn't glad to remark that the Cardassian looked even angrier than before. Garak pulled Julian's boots and pants off with little ceremony, pausing to laugh when he noticed the absence of underwear. "You'd rather wear nothing than my little concoction, I see," he said. "Very well, this time you get to wear nothing. See how indulgent I am despite your disobedience?" Julian certainly didn't want to tell him the true fate of his g-string, so he kept silent until Garak grabbed him by the ankles. When he tried to lash out with his feet, Garak twisted one so severely that he grunted in pain and abruptly gave up the struggle. When his ankles were cuffed to the corners of the bed, he felt his hands being released, but that did him little good. Soon his shirt had been removed and his arms were also spread and bound. Julian looked around as much as he could. The room certainly did resemble his holo simulation of Risa. Amazingly, this wasn't a holosuite, but a disused room in the habitat ring. Garak must have gone to a lot of trouble to create this scene. The very ostentatiousness of it was frightening; if Garak had worked so long and hard to set this scene, he must expect quite a bit of satisfaction from it. Julian had thought he was waiting for Garak to come to the infirmary or his room and demand his favors. That thought had been rather exciting. But what Garak had actually been planning was another elaborate drama like those played out in the holosuite, in which Julian was unlikely to have any say about what went on. At least Garak had promised not to use the whip or the seven gates of hell. Something tickled his buttocks and travelled up his back to his shoulder. He turned his head, trying to get a look at it, and when he saw the knotted strands of the whip, he gasped aloud. "Garak, you said you wouldn't beat me!" Garak's laugh came from somewhere behind him. "I changed my mind. You do have a choice, however. You can invite me to fuck you senseless first, and then maybe your punishment won't be so severe." Julian repented of having punished Garak's nipples so mercilessly the night before. He grasped at the straw that was offered him. "Yes, Garak, fuck me." "How do we ask our master to fuck us?" Garak asked, jiggling the whip across his backside. Julian tried not to hear his own frightened voice. "Please fuck me, master." "Very well," Garak said generously, as if he were granting a great boon, "I will." Relieved to feel Garak applying lubrication, Julian tried to relax and remember how excited he had felt the last time Garak had done this. No matter how he tried, he felt miserable; this was not his idea. When Garak spread him and pushed slowly in, Julian felt a sudden bolt of pleasure rush through his insides. His cock started to stand up. He felt humiliated; all Garak had to do was tie him down and rape him and his body responded with arousal, even if his mind didn't. But something was different: Garak's hands caressed him this time, firmly stroking his back and sides, reaching underneath to slide along his shaft and brush against his nipples. He felt the Cardassian's hot breath against his shoulder, and then his tongue. When Garak's lips touched Julian's neck, nibbling a trail to his ear, a thrill passed through him, warming him all over. Without ceasing to touch him tenderly, Garak thrust in faster and deeper, and before long, Julian was writhing in ecstacy, long past worrying about his pride. Julian had come and was stiff again by the time Garak had come once. He wondered why Garak had been so gentle with him, like a lover instead of a would-be master--was this the only way a Cardassian could show affection, when his lover was bound and helpless to respond? Was Garak starting to feel something for him? Despite his apprehension about the whip, Julian felt almost affectionate towards his captor. He wondered if Garak felt that way, too. Would he release Julian from his bonds so that they could make love like two equals instead of as master and slave? Abruptly, Garak reached around and felt Julian's hardness. "Splendid, doctor--or should I say slave? You really are responding beautifully." "You should say Julian," said Julian automatically, wishing immediately that he'd kept his mouth shut when he heard Garak's changed tone. "Oh, I don't think you're really in any position to insist on being treated with respect. Here you are, a doctor and a Star Fleet officer--lieutenant, junior grade, isn't it?--and you're mine. You're utterly at my mercy, and I can toy with you as I please. Think about that the next time you're in the infirmary playing god. Think about being helpless under me, wondering if I'll let you come, wondering if I'll whip you--which I am about to do, never fear. And you're going to remember this beating for a long, long time." Julian's stomach clenched in anxiety. He was shocked that Garak would still beat him after what had just passed between them. He was angry, too, and the more he tried to hold his anger in, the stiffer his perverse cock became, just when he thought it ought to shrink. The whip's knotted strands played over his buttocks and up his back, dancing teasingly back and forth. When they were suddenly withdrawn, he gulped air in his fear and heard them whistle down to spatter lightly across the small of his back. They withdrew again and tapped his ass before smacking quickly down on it, harder this time, leaving a slight sting in their wake. "You can see that I'm giving you a chance to get used to it, slave, instead of starting out like this." Garak illustrated that comment with a cruel blow to Julian's back that seemed to light his skin on fire. His erection finally withered. Another blow to his buttocks wrested a groan out of him, and he was sure that Garak must finally have drawn blood. "Garak, stop," he gasped. "I'm begging you to stop." "After only two real blows? Come now, let's see if you can take a bit more." "No!" Julian writhed pitifully as the lashes raked like claws across his upper thighs and then his buttocks again. The lashes came down against his shoulders and back, driving the air out of his lungs. There was a pause while he gasped for breath. With his face buried in the sheets, Julian didn't bother wondering why Garak had stopped: he knew it could only be to torment him with uncertainty. Then he heard a familiar voice. "I'm so glad I've finally found you, Garak," Nerys said furiously. "I don't care about your threats anymore--I'm going to make you pay for everything you've done to Julian." "Now, Major, the doctor and I are only playing a little game." He backed up slowly, moving into Bashir's sight. As Julian raised his exhausted head and tried to protest, he heard Kira's hard-edged laughter. "A game?" she cried. "He's covered with welts! He's bleeding! He can hardly lift his head. You call that a game? I call it torture, and if you give me the least excuse, I'll gladly stun you and carry you to the brig on an antigrav like a piece of cargo. Now, drop the whip." "All right, Major," Garak said with palpable disappointment. "Here it is. You can try it on him yourself. Who knows? You might enjoy it." Julian cringed as he heard a phaser whir behind him. Garak cried out in pain and fell to his knees. "I did what you asked," he said angrily, "so why did you stun me? Luckily a phaser set on level one doesn't have much effect on a Cardassian." "I have a better idea, Garak," she snapped. "Put your hands in those cuffs before I set it on level two." Julian watched Garak pull the cuffs down from the ceiling and snap them around his own wrists. He saw Kira go over to grab the rope on the pulley, cinching it tighter and tighter until Garak stood uncomfortably on the balls of his feet with his arms stretched taut over his head. "So, you're going to have him whip me," Garak said conversationally. "That's what I was just about to do." Julian realized that this was probably true. The Cardassian had planned to let Julian have a turn when he was angry and in pain. That was his only chance of getting the doctor to wield a weapon against him. "No," Kira said smugly, clipping her phaser to her belt. "Guess again." She picked up the whip, trying its weight in her hand. "No," Garak said flatly. "You can't." "Oh, can't I?" she asked, swaggering up to him. "I knew you'd like it if Julian did it, but if you were to be beaten by a Bajoran female? I suspect you'll enjoy it less." She loosened Garak's shirt and found that she could remove it completely while his arms were bound. "How convenient!" she exclaimed. Touching him only with the thumb and forefinger of each hand, she pulled his pants down to his ankles, exposing his thick erection. "Unfortunately, I don't suppose this will flay your skin the way it did Julian's," said Kira thoughtfully. "Nerys," the doctor pleaded hoarsely, "let me out of these restraints." "Not yet, Julian," she said brusquely. "You'd only stop me." It was true. Julian had hated being beaten so much that he wouldn't have let Nerys do it to Garak. He suddenly realized that she had almost completely neglected him since she entered. Although Nerys had come to rescue him, she was concentrating so steadily on her rage at Garak that Julian occupied only a small fraction of her attention. Standing behind him, legs apart, she looked him up and down, making the whip whistle through the air at her side. Without warning, the lashes snaked around Garak's back and chest. Garak closed his eyes. "Surely you can do better than that, Major?" he taunted. "I'm just getting the feel of it," Kira replied. "Not that you have anything to say about how I whip you." She leaned back further this time, aiming at his buttocks. He flinched when the blow connected. "Better that time," he said, and his voice revealed a bit of strain. "Nerys, stop it," Julian said, trying his bonds. "That's enough. Let him go." She didn't even answer him, but aimed another blow at the back of Garak's thighs, then another lower, giving him little time to recover. Establishing a rhythm now, she worked her way up and down Garak's body several times. Except for a few grunts and gasps, he was silent, but Julian could read the pain in his face. Finally, Kira changed her stance, aiming from higher up. The lashes seemed to move faster, bounce harder. Garak groaned with every blow. Julian watched, fascinated and repelled. He noticed that Garak's erection was as stiff as he had ever seen it. Kira readjusted her stance and increased the pace, moving the whip so that the lashes wrapped around the insides of his thighs. Garak struggled and began to pant. Kira slowed down now, putting much more force behind each stroke. After ten more blows, Garak's legs buckled as he ejaculated powerfully into the center of the room. Kira had a look of revulsion on her face. She dropped the whip and walked over to release Bashir. Rising stiffly, he rubbed the feeling back into his wrists. "I'm sorry, Julian," she said. "I wanted to humiliate him. I just had to get back at him for all he's put us through in the last few weeks." "I wish you hadn't," Julian said earnestly. "Rescuing me would have been enough." "So he could do it again?" Kira asked angrily. Julian shrugged. "He might anyway, especially after what you've done. And he'll probably start showing that datachip around." "He'll try to do that in any case. We're taking him to the brig." "You know, you gave him a much worse beating than he gave me." "He has thicker skin," she answered indifferently. That comment unexpectedly resonated in the doctor's mind. "Nerys," Julian said slowly, feeling utterly exhausted and sore, "give me a few minutes alone with him. I think I can convince him to end this here. Would that satisfy you? Would you consider not going to Sisko then?" "What are you going to do to him?" "Something he doesn't expect." "Promise me one thing," Nerys said seriously. "Don't let him out of those cuffs." "I promise." Kira shook her head. "Odo isn't going to like this. Remember, I'll be right outside." She threw him a worried glance as she left. Julian went over to face Garak, who was still balanced uncomfortably on the balls of his feet. A few flecks of blood stood out against his grey back, and his cock was still rock hard. Julian realized that his own back would have been laid open by such a whipping, while Garak only bled where the knots had nicked him especially hard. "Well, doctor," Garak said sardonically, "it looks as if you got the last word after all." Julian didn't answer. "I want you to see something." He turned slowly and displayed his welt-crossed back. "Why does my back look worse than yours after the beating you got?" "You know why," Garak said impatiently, "I have thicker skin." "If it had been my choice, I wouldn't have beaten you at all, Garak," Julian said quietly, turning back to face him, "but I do owe you something, and then we'll be even. I'm going to get under that thick skin of yours, and after that I hope you'll agree not to abuse me again." "Ah, this should be good, Doctor. How will you justify whatever abuse you're about to heap on me if you're not willing to take your share?" "I've been guilty of tormenting you, too," Julian admitted, "but what I'm going to do to you now will frighten you more than anything else I can think of." He relaxed the rope so that Garak was standing more comfortably, and then knelt before him. "You're going to suck my cock? I'll look at the stripes on your back and remember putting them there," Garak said triumphantly. "I see that you do enjoy being my slave." "I'm not doing this as your slave," Julian spat. "I hate being your slave. I'm doing this as your lover. The same way you took me just before you whipped me." "I just did that to heighten your humiliation," Garak insisted nervously, backing away as far as he could. Julian went back to the rope and tightened it until Garak once again stood unsteadily on the balls of his feet with his arms taut over his head. Garak's pants, still lying around his ankles, kept his legs together. When Julian returned to his position at Garak's feet, the Cardassian was helpless to move away from him. Glancing up at Garak's face, Julian took hold of his erection and slipped it into his mouth. Garak looked at him ironically, trying not to show his arousal. "Why don't you let me go, Doctor?" he whispered. Julian laughed. "Because I don't trust you. In a minute I'd be bound to that bed again. You're going to have to stay as you are until I'm done." He replaced the tough organ in his mouth and slid it in and out a few times. Garak still looked as if he felt nothing. Smiling to himself, Julian slowly started going through the techniques he'd learned with Odo, raking Garak's erection through his teeth, dancing his tongue on the sensitive head, swirling and sucking and squeezing and pumping, even digging in his nails, until the Cardassian was yelling louder than he ever did during Kira's beating. Julian held Garak's shaft with both hands as he ran his tongue around under the foreskin. When the Cardassian seemed close to coming, Julian bit and kissed the less sensitive shaft, neglecting the head completely. Finally it seemed that Garak was about to explode. When he shouted madly for release, Julian nibbled his cock with his front teeth, then plunged it deep inside and gnawed it with his back teeth. Garak yelled as he came, squirting hot liquid down Julian's throat. His cock remained hard. "No more," he groaned, "no more." Julian stood and put his arms around Garak's chest, sticking his tongue into one of the hollows where his nipples hid beneath the bony 'v' on his chest. Garak threw his body back and forth, trying to resist, but Julian held on tight. "You made love to me today, Garak," Julian said, biting and pinching Garak's skin. "You set everything up for a rape, but you didn't rape me--you showed how you felt about me instead." His tongue wriggled around Garak's nipple, making him flinch and gasp. "You thought you'd be safe from my feelings if you hurt me badly enough. But it hasn't worked, Garak. You aren't safe from me." Julian switched nipples, sending Garak into another paroxysm of arousal. Soon Garak's normal grey color was tinged with pink; his nipples had swelled out from under the bone. His breathing was shallow; he stopped struggling. Reaching down with one hand, Julian grabbed Garak's hard erection and rubbed it against his own. As Julian bit Garak's neck and chest, the Cardassian went nearly limp in his arms. Judging his moment, Julian pressed his open mouth against Garak's and kissed him passionately, opening the Cardassian's lips with his own and pushing his tongue inside. Garak's tongue was surprising soft as it explored Julian's lips and slipped into his mouth. The doctor was moved to find that Garak's tongue was as vulnerable as his own when it could say such bitter things. He sucked it gently, increasing the pressure of his lips. Garak returned the pressure; their tongues danced together in harmony. Julian rubbed his erection against Garak's, thrusting steadily until they both cried out and ground their hips together. Their semen mixed as it gushed over their bellies. Keeping his arms around Garak, Julian slid slowly to the floor, mouthing him tenderly all the way down. He lay there for a moment with his arms wrapped tightly around Garak's knees and his face pressed against the leathery thighs. "You win, Doctor," breathed Garak, sounding shaken. "I'll leave you alone." Julian stood. "I didn't need to win, Garak. But I did need to hear you say that you'd stop persecuting me." He retrieved his communicator pin from the pocket of Garak's shirt. "Bashir to Kira," he said. "I'm releasing Garak. He won't do me any more harm." "Are you sure?" came her anxious voice. "Absolutely," answered Julian, looking Garak in the eye, "or he'll be forced to face his feelings for me. Or, worse yet, mine for him." He untied the rope and lowered Garak's hands until they were in front of him, then clicked open the cuffs. Garak immediately bent and pulled up his pants. Julian dressed quickly with his back to the tailor, wincing when the fabric touched his welts. Garak stood and watched him. "I don't understand you," he said finally. "What made you do that? Why would you want to kiss me? Why would you want me to know how you felt?" "What made you beat me after you promised not to?" Julian countered, his face clearly showing his pain. "And what made you fuck me as if you cared for me just now? Do you think I understand you? I still don't know what you want." "Nor I you," said Garak simply. Their eyes met. "You humans are certainly more resourceful than I gave you credit for," he grumbled, picking up his shirt. Chapter Seven: Recognitions Kira walked with Julian to the infirmary. He was moving more slowly than usual, obviously in pain. When she remembered how Garak had sauntered away without a trace of discomfort, it made her blood boil. A minute after they reached the infirmary, an emergency case came in. An engineer had been working on a conduit when a plasma discharge had badly burned his arm and shoulder. Knowing there was nothing she could do to help, Nerys slipped away to her quarters. Calling an orderly out of bed to assist him, Julian set to work immediately removing bits of charred uniform from the wounds, and before he finished it was the middle of the night. Leaving the orderly to finish healing the burns, he stumbled to Nerys's quarters. As he rang the chime, he wondered momentarily if she would let him in. "Come in, Julian," she said seriously. "Sit down." Nerys wore a long, simple shift of some rust-colored fabric that matched her hair. Even in his exhausted state, Julian admired it. "I can't," he said in frustration. "I was too embarrassed to let the orderly heal me, and I can't do it myself." He held out a medical kit to her. She took it silently and watched as he stripped and lay down on her bed. Following his instructions, she ran the medilyzer over each wound and then showed him the readout so he could set the tissue regenerator for the proper depth. Working that way, she had healed the major welts and cuts in about an hour. Julian still lay with his face buried in the sheets. "Thank you, Nerys," he sighed. "I feel much better now." "Good," she said briefly. "Then we can talk." "What about sleep?" he groaned. "I have a feeling I have to be back at work in a few hours." "Tomorrow's your day off. Did you forget?" He raised his head. "You know, I had. Did you manage to get the day off, too?" She nodded. "I thought we might go to Risa." "But Risa's--you mean in a holosuite?" "That's right." "I'm not sure I want to go to that Risa again." He shuddered. "But you haven't been to my Risa yet," she insisted. "Actually, I've never been to Risa, so this will be a Risa completely from my imagination." She traced with a finger the angry red scars that still crossed his buttocks, thighs, and back. "How long will these take to heal?" she asked idly. "They ought to fade in a few months," he said. "Then there will be white scars for quite a while. Garak will get his wish: I won't forget this beating for some time." Fascinated in spite of herself, Kira traced another line that went diagonally across his cleft. "Julian," she said. "What?" he replied, enjoying the feel of her hand, but ashamed to know what she was looking at. Remembering the shame of being beaten while he begged for mercy sent a warm blush coursing through his face and neck. As Kira continued to trace the scars of the lash, the warmth didn't fade. He realized that he was beginning to get aroused. He was glad to be lying on his stomach so that Kira couldn't tell. The whipping he had endured had been far from exciting, so why was the thought of the marks it had left on his body suddenly turning him on? "Julian," Kira said again, "I have to tell you something." "What?" he repeated. "This is embarrassing," she began. "When I was healing you, I just wanted to help you. I didn't feel at all excited by those bloody welts. But now, looking at these scars..." She trailed off, her voice faltering slightly. Without answering, Julian abruptly rolled over. For a second, she thought he was furious at her revelation, but then she saw his erection. He was smiling at her devilishly. "I don't understand this, either," he said, "but I don't see why we shouldn't take advantage of it." He pulled her on top of him. As Kira's lips met his voraciously, her hands found his arms and started stroking them as she urged them up above his head. He complied with her gestures, wondering what she would do. She reached between their bodies to untie the sash from around her waist. It was a long, multi-colored scarf. "You won't break out of this so easily," she said in a throaty voice. A burst of arousal lit Julian's groin as Nerys tied his hands firmly to the headboard. He tried his bonds and they held. Nerys inspected the knots critically and then went back to kissing him, scratching his sides and chest lightly with her nails. He trembled in response, and she ran the nails of both hands lightly around his aureoles, approaching his nipples in concentric circles. When her nails hit his sensitive nipples, he flinched and gasped, but he didn't ask her to stop. She watched his face. "Too hard?" she asked with concern. "Yes," he managed to say. "You should have told me." She ran her nails down his belly and grabbed his erection. He realized he had fallen into the slave mentality that Garak had tried to trap him in. Irrationally feeling that if he asked her to stop he would have been rebuffed, he had tried to suffer in silence. But Nerys wasn't out to torture him as Garak had been; she didn't want to hurt him, but she liked being in control. For some reason he liked giving up control. There it was. He relaxed and let his mind clear as her mouth engulfed his penis and her hands rubbed his balls. One hand pushed between his buttocks and touched his sensitive opening. He pulled involuntarily against his bonds, and, finding himself securely bound, nearly came. "Nerys," he whispered. "I know," she answered. "Let yourself go." When her mouth resumed its skillful stimulation of his cock, her finger started to penetrate him from behind and her other hand gently squeezed his balls. His wrists twisted against the scarf, but it didn't give. He could no longer stop himself from exploding into orgasm, groaning and tugging against the scarf. When Julian's throbbing had stopped, Nerys untied the scarf and put her arms around him, easing herself against his side. "Don't you want me to lick you?" he asked, surprised. "I want you to do whatever you want," she replied, holding up the scarf. She pulled the shift off over her head and lay on her back. Suddenly feeling energized again, Julian knelt over her and tied her hands where his had just been. "Too tight?" he asked in concern. "No." She watched him expectantly, and he watched himself as well. He surveyed her body, unsure of what to do first. Finally he realized that Nerys was excited by the anticipation. Placing his fingertips on her shoulders, he ran them lightly down her body, brushing her nipples and open labia on the way. She shook with pleasure at his touch. He made circles on her skin with his long fingers, touching everywhere equally, not dwelling on her most sensitive areas, but making her wait for his fingers to find them. He watched her eyes to gauge her responses. Normally not a patient person, Nerys suddenly enjoyed giving up responsibility for what happened next. Letting go of her desire to guide her own satisfaction, she gave herself up to the rhythm of his hands. She trusted those hands; she knew that they would give her everything she wanted. Julian increased the pressure of his fingers now, making the swirling touch almost a light massage. When he swept over her nipples or through her labia he started to dwell on them, picking up her moisture on his hands and rubbing it on her breasts. He bent to taste them, aroused by her excited scent. After thoroughly kissing and nibbling her breasts, he moved to her face. His lips sipped at her neck, biting a trail from her ear to her collarbone, then up her throat to her chin, finally to her hot mouth. She sucked at his tongue as if she wanted to drink him, straining and twisting hard against the scarf. Like him, she didn't want to get away, but just to feel the resistance against her wrists of the material that bound her to Julian's pleasure. Without warning, without removing his mouth from hers, he slipped inside her forcefully, nearly lifting her off the bed with his erection. She gasped into his mouth and then redoubled her attentions to his tongue and lips, nipping at them in her excitement. Julian thrust against her, swiveling his hips to rub her from every angle. Arching her body and pressing the back of her head hard into the sheets, Nerys came in a great burst that only trailed off minutes later. As she throbbed down from the first orgasm, a second one hit like a wave, throwing her back into a sea of delight. A third was less intense, but still staggering, and a fourth left her floating calmly at the surface as Julian cried out her name and pulsed deep inside her. He untied her hands, and they lay together quietly. When Julian nestled against her side with his mouth at her shoulder, she pulled the blankets over them both. They slept peacefully until morning. They rose late, got coffee and rolls from the replicator, and went back to bed. Julian felt almost euphoric. He had survived Garak's mistreatment of him the previous day; at night his lovemaking with Nerys had been amazingly intense. Although he still didn't understand their new attraction to bondage games, he was starting to accept it. But the fact that Garak had first made the idea exciting to them both disturbed him. Someday he would work out the balance of attraction and repulsion in that relationship, if it was still a relationship. He put those thoughts aside for the moment. "Only one thing worries me right now, Nerys," he said. "I know," she said simply. "Odo." "He's furious at me, isn't he?" Nerys spoke through a mouthful of roll. "That's putting it mildly. But he's willing to talk to you." "He is?" "That's why we're going to Risa today." Julian stopped with his coffee halfway to his lips. "Odo's going to a holosuite? Never!" "He's going to sneak in through the wall. Quark will never know because I've disabled his recording link." Julian took a large sip of coffee and made a face as the hot liquid coursed down his throat. "Why can't we just meet here? It would be easier for everyone." Nerys threw him a strange look. "But not as much fun." "Uh-oh," Julian said, feeling a spark of annoyance, "don't tell me there's going to be a surprise for me there. Why is everyone on the station bent on teaching me a lesson?" Nerys's eyes twinkled. "Maybe you need one," she said. "I haven't learned anything so far," he joked. Bashir made a quick stop in his quarters to change into civilian clothes. He wore tight black pants with a loose silk shirt in watery blue. Kira wore her shift of the night before. Julian felt strange strolling through the Promenade in the morning dressed so conspicuously. As the door to the holosuite shushed closed behind them, Julian realized that Kira had indeed taken great liberties with Risa. The room resembled one of the resort rooms he had replicated for his scene with Garak, but of a slightly different layout. The sun at the windows was brighter, and there were striking artifacts placed here and there around the room that looked like Bajoran art works and weaving. Even the cover on the large bed was Bajoran. He turned to Kira, who was waiting for his reaction. "Looks like home," he said, sitting down on the bed and gesturing for her to sit near him. She nodded, smiling. Her eyes were drawn to the translucent curtains that divided off part of the room. "We have a guest," she said quietly. Julian rose and turned, expecting to see Odo. The bulky shape he saw coming through the drapes made him take two steps back. "Garak," he breathed, "how did you get in here?" "I go where I please on this station," Garak said calmly. "My, my, doctor, you do look a little pale. Too much excitement lately?" Bashir glanced over at Kira. Her face revealed nothing, but he thought her silence did. "Odo?" he asked tentatively. "It must be you." Garak laughed. "How would you know?" "I'll figure it out," Julian said simply. "I know you." "Do you mean you'll know Odo by his manner? His touch? But what if Odo was angry at you, very angry? What if Odo looked exactly like me? Couldn't his touch be as painful as mine? And perhaps as exciting?" The Cardassian took a step towards him. "Nerys," Julian said, appealing to her, "did you know about this?" "No," she said, looking a bit pale herself, "I didn't know what shape he'd take, but I promised not to interfere." "But what if it's Garak? What if he broke in here to get at me again?" He thought a moment, and concluded that Garak just couldn't be here. "Listen to me, Odo," he began reasonably. The Cardassian bristled visibly. "Stop thinking I'm Odo," he hissed. "I knew Major Kira had a reservation for this suite, and I came in here to talk to you." "I have nothing to say to you, Garak. But I have a lot to say to Odo." Julian observed him closely, trying to see if anything about the man looked wrong, but everything looked like Garak. He shuddered involuntarily--whether with disgust or arousal he couldn't have said--at the memory of kissing that hard mouth with the softness inside. "Where's Odo?" he asked angrily. "He's the one I want to see, not you." "Here I am," said a voice, and another figure appeared through the diaphanous curtains. Julian groaned in exasperation. "One of you must be a holo simulation," he said angrily. "Now which one is it?" He walked around them. Garak turned with him, while Odo remained where he was, rolling his eyes and wearing a long-suffering expression. _Well, they're both in character,_ Julian thought, trying to find a method of telling them apart. He decided to throw it back to them--him? "So?" he said, trying to seem nonchalant when he really was terribly angry. "Now what do we do?" "Now we fuck you," Garak said, "and you guess who is who." Julian laughed sincerely and walked towards the door. "No," he said firmly, "that's not going to happen." "Julian," said Nerys from the corner, "you can't get out." "And you won't let me out?" He turned on her in anger. "I'm sorry, I promised Odo." "Is Odo even here?" he snapped. "Oh, he's here," said Odo. "Definitely," said Garak. Julian walked up to face them--first Garak and then the shape shifter. "You've lied to me before, Garak," he said, "and you, Odo, might be a simulation." His instincts told him that they couldn't both be here threatening him like this--Odo just wouldn't collaborate with Garak against him. One of them had to be a fake. "On the other hand," remarked Garak, "he's never lied to you--but there's always a first time--and I might be a simulation. Now where does that get you?" _Exactly nowhere,_ Julian thought glumly. "The method you describe won't get me anywhere, either," he said aloud. "You couldn't tell the difference between fucking me and a simulation, now could you?" he asked Garak. "No, not at first, but once I thought about it..." Julian snorted derisively. "Once I told you, you thought I had been a simulation, too, and that proves my point. Thank you, Garak." Garak looked seriously irritated. "You're quite welcome, doctor. I'm always willing to provide you with a laugh at my expense. But now it's time for our experiment." He took a step towards Julian, who backed up to the wall, looking around for possible weapons. "Wait," said Kira, looking worried, "I didn't think you were going to hurt him, or I never would have agreed to this. You said you were going to talk to him." The way she looked back and forth between them made Julian understand suddenly that she really had no idea who they were, either. "And so we are," said Odo. "Talking to him, I mean." Garak stalked over to Julian, who lashed out with his foot. The Cardassian took a step backwards. "That's enough," barked Kira. "Computer, end program." Nothing happened. Kira hit her comm badge, which turned out to be dead. Kira and Bashir stood looking at each other in horror. "Who did that?" Kira whispered. Odo and Garak exchanged a quick glance. "I put in a manual override before you entered," Garak explained. "Since I used my Cardassian security codes, yours didn't have a chance." "I thought O'Brien had deactivated all the old security codes," Bashir snapped. "You'd have to do a root canal on the computer to accomplish that," Odo said evenly. "Until then, Garak has access to all sorts of things he shouldn't." The two glared at each other in silence for a moment. Through his apprehension, Julian admired the verisimilitude of the simulation--simulations? Two such unlikely allies wouldn't see eye to eye for very long in real life, either. "Now, what was I doing when I was distracted?" Garak asked rhetorically as he lunged at Bashir. The struggle would have been longer if Julian hadn't made the fatal mistake of trying to punch Garak in the jaw, nearly breaking his hand in the process. Immobilized by the pain in his knuckles, he allowed Garak to drag him to the bed and throw him down on it. He lay cradling his hand for a few minutes while Garak watched him. "Julian, are you all right?" said Kira's anxious voice. He sat up and saw her sitting in the same chair she had occupied moments before, only this time her hands and feet were bound. "Odo!" he said angrily, looking from one to the other. "How could you?" Both continued to look at him impassively. "So, what happens now?" he asked, too furious to feel his fear, as waves of adrenaline poured through him. "You'll strip me, cuff me to the bed, take turns with me? Maybe use a torture device or two? Or a whip? Can't you even wait until the scars from my last beating fade out?" "Your... last beating?" Odo asked hesitantly, sending a fiery glance towards Garak. "Yesterday," Garak said calmly. "Didn't I mention it? Just a few blows, really, and then Major Kira gave me back more than my share." For whatever reason, the simulated or real figures were radiating aggravation with each other. Instinctively, Julian took advantage. "Look, Odo," he said quickly, pulling up his shirt. "They reach all the way down to the backs of my legs." The red stripes stood out plainly against his caramel skin. "You never mentioned that," Odo said, aghast. "You said you only wanted to give him a little scare, not that you'd already given him real cause to be frightened." As Garak turned angrily to answer Odo, Julian got up cautiously and went over to Kira. Garak followed him with his eyes, but didn't move to stop him. "Nerys," Julian whispered, "did you tell Odo about the whipping?" "Yes," she breathed, "but I made him promise not to go after Garak." "So it's Garak who's real, then, not Odo," Julian realized with a stab of fear. "What happened to Odo?" She shrugged. "Maybe he didn't come. He didn't want to, but he said he'd think about it." Julian hit his comm badge. Nothing happened. As Odo continued to harangue him, Garak laughed and stopped watching Julian. Immediately, the doctor started trying to undo the cuffs that bound Kira's hands behind her. "We have to get out of this," he said, "or he's going to rape me again." "I thought..." she said hesitantly. "You thought I liked it?" Julian said, blushing. "I explained that the other night. It arouses me in spite of myself. He arouses me. If he'd given me the choice, I'd willingly have gone with him. But until he stops hurting me and playing these stupid games, I'm not going near him anymore. In fact, if he succeeds in raping me this time," he continued wearily, "I'll go with you to Sisko, whether Garak has the data chip or not, and whether he gets sent back to Cardassia or not. I'm tired of being his toy." "Do you miss Odo?" Kira asked without warning. Julian looked up in surprise. "Yes. Yes, of course, I do. But I'm sure he'll never understand why I let this go so far. Damn these cuffs." He paused, concentrating. Kira glanced at him over her shoulder. "Why _did_ you let it go so far?" she asked quietly. "Because I think that Garak is just carrying on a Cardassian courtship." "A courtship!" Kira said, outraged. "I thought I explained this to you already," Julian said with a puzzled look. "On Cardassia, none of what he did to me would be considered especially abusive; it might even be considered pleasurable. And I must admit," he said, wincing as he tore a nail on the tough catch of the cuffs, "I did enjoy some of it, but I thought I could get him to see that he needed to restrain himself with me. Then we might have been able to find some common ground and each get part of what we wanted. I thought he was adaptable enough to grasp what I meant and try to meet me there. But he isn't. He can't let go of his desire to have total power over me." Kira made a sound of assent in her throat and nodded. "Hmmm. I still don't understand why you thought he was worth it." Julian glanced at her sharply with irritation showing in his eyes. She seemed much more interested in this conversation than in being released from the cuffs. "You sound like Odo," he remarked caustically. "I thought you agreed to stop arguing with me about it." "Odo worries about you," she replied with a catch in her voice. "I know I've alienated him, and I'm sorry. I should have kept talking to him. And I should have told him..." "What?" asked Kira, twisting around to look at him and nearly pulling the cuffs out of his hands. Julian blushed again. A thin film of sweat made his skin glow like honey. "I should have told him that the first time Garak trapped me in the seven gates of hell, the only way I finally made myself come was by thinking of him." Kira turned away before Julian could see her expression. He wondered what she thought, but filed the question away for later. "Anyway, this isn't the time to talk about it. We have to..." He trailed off as he heard Garak's voice rise over Odo's. "I've had enough of this! Computer, end Odo simulation." Odo faded out in mid-sentence as if he had never been there. Silence reigned in the room. "Ah, that's better," Garak said contentedly. "I wanted to maintain the illusion for a little while longer, doctor, but I made the mistake of programming him to be too contentious." Spurred by panic, Julian finally got Kira's hands free, but Garak was upon them in a few broad strides. Throwing Julian easily aside, he forced Kira down on her face and reattached the cuffs. Julian leapt on Garak's back, trying to throw him off balance. Staggering slightly, Garak reached around and twisted Julian's arm. As he yelled in pain, the doctor dug the fingers of his other hand into the sensitive pressure points around Garak's jaw. The Cardassian lost his grip and Bashir sprang free. "Now what, doctor?" Garak said grimly. "Why don't you accept the inevitable? You always have before. After all, you asked for this. You should have learned by now that I am very hard to dissuade from my desires." "I asked for it?" Julian exclaimed in disbelief. "You're deluding yourself, Garak. Why, after all this time, don't you understand that I have no desire to be your slave?" he shouted fiercely. "You can't deny your attraction to me," Garak countered in a dangerous tone. "I'm not trying to deny it," Julian snapped. "Then I don't understand why you fight me. If you don't want to be hurt, don't fight me." Garak moved slowly towards him. Julian edged away. "If you don't understand, it's because you don't listen. I've..." That was as far as Julian got before Garak pounced, knocking him to the floor and falling on him, pinning him face down with sheer weight. He raised Julian's shirt. "I want to look at these stripes while I take you," he said with satisfaction. "No, Garak!" Julian yelled furiously. "I don't want you this way, don't you understand? I don't want to be overpowered again!" He struggled with all his strength, and Garak had all he could do to hold Julian's arms behind him. "I'd hate to break something, doctor. I'd advise you to stop resisting." He squeezed Julian's wrists together painfully, making him fight even harder for release. "That's as far as you're going, Garak," said Kira warningly. He laughed, not even bothering to look at her as he worked to subdue Julian's struggling body. But, lying with his left cheek pressed into the rug and his arms stretched painfully behind him, Julian saw her dissolve into a golden, gelatinous mass. The cuffs fell to the floor with a soft plop. Odo literally sucked Garak off Julian's body, depositing him on the bed with his hands cuffed behind him. The shape shifter resumed his usual form. "He's all yours, doctor," he said dryly. "Thanks, Odo, but I don't want him," Bashir said sadly. "Garak, you promised just yesterday that you'd leave me alone." "Ah, but then my sources informed me that you were meeting with Kira and a holosuite simulation of me. I don't take kindly to that, doctor. I decided that if you craved me, then you ought to have me," he concluded. "I wasn't aware that Odo was invited." "How did you get into Kira's program file?" Odo asked angrily. Garak laughed. "I have ways." Bashir turned to Odo. "What did you program the Garak simulation to do to me?" he asked in annoyance. "Just to talk. To say almost exactly the kinds of things he said, but he wasn't supposed to assault you. I wanted to show you how brutal he is." He paused, looking away from Julian's eyes. "I wanted to see what you'd do." "He's already shown me his brutality himself," Julian said vehemently. "This is partly your fault, Odo. You shouldn't have done it. And you should at least have stopped things as soon as you realized it was really Garak. Let him go." "What?" Odo asked indignantly. Julian didn't answer, but squatted down to face Garak. "None of this was my idea. I expect you to keep the promise you made yesterday," he said firmly. "I don't care if you have that data chip of me or not--if you bother me again, I'll tell Sisko everything and let him deport you." "It will be more embarrassing for you than me, doctor." "That may be. But it will be worth it to get you to stop harassing me. Besides, I'm not sure you'll enjoy your warm welcome on Cardassia. Will you stop?" Garak looked pained and angry. "Yes, but..." "No buts." Julian rose and walked to the far corner of the room, standing with his back to Garak. "Don't speak to me again, don't touch me," he said, biting off the words. "Just go." None too gently, Odo rolled Garak over and removed the cuffs. Garak spoke only to deactivate the security seal and walked straight out the door. Julian turned as the door slid closed. "Where's Kira?" "She's supposed to meet us here. When you went back to your quarters to get dressed, I switched places with her," Odo explained. Julian was quiet for a moment. "Odo, why did you do this to me?" "I needed to know how you felt." "Ask me," Julian said plaintively. "You didn't need to frighten me like that. Or to give Garak what he saw as an excuse to get at me again." "I was afraid that you really liked these holosuite scenes with Garak. After all, you designed one yourself so that he could have you without knowing it." "And it blew up in my face. I got what I wanted, and I paid much more than I had planned. I'll never put myself into his hands again." Julian suddenly felt discouraged looking at Odo's impassive face. "Did you know about the beating?" "Yes," Odo said. "Kira told me. I was horrified. But I wondered if you liked it. I wondered if you were going to start playing that kind of game with him." "I hated it," Julian said, "which is what you'd have found out if you'd asked me. But, wait--your simulation didn't know." He rubbed his forehead and laughed softly. "I'm confused. This is you, isn't it?" "It's me," Odo said reassuringly. "End program." Everything faded out, leaving Odo and Julian in the black and yellow holosuite grid. "Resume program," Odo said. The room reappeared. "That's a relief," said Julian sincerely. He turned towards Odo and reached for his hands. Slowly, Odo proffered them. "Odo," Julian said with the air of not knowing what he would say next, "I've made quite a few mistakes lately, but there's one I won't make again. I won't let you get so far away from me. If you think I'm going wrong, then talk to me instead of retreating. We need each other." Odo melted closer to him without even appearing to use muscles and bone. Julian pulled him close, and Odo's body gave as if it were made of rubber. Just as Julian had begun to caress the shapeshifter's pliant substance, the holosuite door slid open. Julian flinched in surprise. "Did everything work out all right?" Kira asked doubtfully, seeing them together. "Close the door," Julian replied. She walked over to them and looked at Julian's face. "Uh-oh," she said uneasily. "What happened?" "Garak and Odo threatened to rape me," he explained, "and you turned into Odo." "Odo," she said with irritation, "you didn't say you were going to threaten him." "I didn't," he said in a blurry voice as he melted in Julian's arms. "Garak was really here. We convinced him to leave." He massed on Julian's lap and chest, pushing under his shirt. Kira knelt and joined him in removing the doctor's clothing. When Julian was naked, he reached for Kira's shirt, but Odo had already pushed under it, raising it over her breasts. She lifted her arms and let them remove it together. Odo formed himself into a large ball that shoved them across the floor towards the bed. Taking the hint, they ran to the bed and fell together with their arms already around each other. Odo pushed insistently between them, moving restlessly over their bodies. When his substance swelled, it pushed them apart. Odo reformed between them, facing both of them, holding each with a pair of arms, and kissing each with a passionate mouth. There were limbs and genitals enough to go around. Kira felt that Odo had formed a vulva, and she eagerly turned and slipped her mouth against it as he lapped at her own. She felt a pang when she thought of Dax, who hadn't had a thought for anyone but Sisko in quite some time. She enjoyed immersing herself in Odo's substance, licking his clit and making him slippery inside. She slid her fingers into his vagina as he slid a firm tendril into hers. Julian sucked Odo's cock eagerly as it changed and moved inside his mouth, happy to have the shape shifter back. Odo enveloped Julian's organ into folds of warm liquid that also touched his back and backside soothingly, caressing each of the stripes from his recent beating. When Julian was close to coming, Odo slipped out of the middle and surrounded them, pushing their bodies together. Nerys mounted Julian and came almost immediately, while Odo clung all over her like a second skin, transmitting and receiving her pleasure. Julian moved his arms up and down through Odo, feeling him shudder in delight. He kneaded Odo's mass around on Kira's back, and she responded to the shape shifter's excitement with small sighs as he stimulated the nerve endings through her skin. Odo rolled them over and pushed hard into Julian's cleft, propelling him towards orgasm. As Julian warmed and thrust deeper and deeper into Nerys, she came again, floating on a cushion of rapture that sprang directly out of Odo's substance as he absorbed their pleasure into himself and enhanced it. The three of them lay together for a long while, playing and touching often, talking occasionally. The holosuite was occupied all day, and Quark was frustrated and confused when he discovered that his recording link suddenly wouldn't function at all. Unaccountably, O'Brien was too busy to fix it. Months later, Julian walked briskly across the Promenade, thinking about work and heading for the replimat to have a quick lunch. A large person fell into step beside him. He turned his head and walked a little faster. "Garak," he nodded formally. "Doctor, what a pleasure to see you," Garak said. Julian wasn't sure what to say. "How have you been?" was what he finally settled on. "Well enough, thank you, doctor, considering that I haven't been able to see you," Garak answered strangely. Julian stopped and threw him a sharp glance. "Please spare me the recriminations," he said, wishing he had been able to restrain himself. "Spare me the 'I've missed you' part, anyway." "No recriminations, doctor. You did what you had to do. But I have missed you." "Have you?" Julian said, emphasizing the first word sarcastically. "I have," Garak replied solemnly. "Much more than I would have thought possible." "Wonderful." Julian walked as fast as he could, wondering if he should just circle back to the infirmary and skip lunch. "I've not only missed you, but..." Garak stopped while Julian plowed ahead. "I'm sorry," he said loudly, as several people on the Promenade turned to stare. Julian stopped about three meters ahead of him and turned. "You're sorry?" he asked, ignoring the glances he drew from passers-by. "You're actually apologizing to me?" Garak slowly caught up with him. "I do apologize," he said, "sincerely. I misinterpreted your desires. I did only what I wanted to do. I hurt you when you didn't want to be hurt." "You did," Julian agreed. "Can you forgive me?" Garak smiled, and Julian still wondered about his sincerity. "I want to ask you one question, Garak," he said, feeling confused, "why did you beat me after you promised not to? After that I felt as if I could never trust you again." Garak sighed. "I know. It was a mistake. I needed to prove to myself that I wasn't getting soft. You see, it started to make a difference to me what you thought, what you felt. I found myself wondering what you wanted when I should have just taken what _I_ wanted. I know, I know," he interrupted Julian's protest, "that's not the way you humans do it. But I didn't want to believe it. You responded to me so strongly that I thought I could make you my slave. I couldn't. But I still... I hoped..." Suddenly Garak seemed to have trouble finding words. "I think I understand," Julian said quietly, entering the replimat and sitting at a table. "It must have seemed as if I kept coming back for more. But the reason I kept trying so hard with you--the reason I gave you so many chances to understand me- -was that I thought you'd finally see that I didn't want to be your slave." "But you wanted some of what I gave you," Garak put in. Julian blushed. "Some of it," he agreed grudgingly, "but not all the pain and humiliation. Mainly, I wanted to meet you as an equal and a lover instead of as an adversary. But that never happened." "It didn't," Garak acknowledged. There was a long silence between them. "This is for you," he said quietly, pushing a data chip across the table. Julian picked it up. "Now can we meet as equals?" Garak asked. Julian smiled and reached across the table to tap his hand. "Maybe," he said. "Let's start with lunch." Chapter Eight: The Taming Odo watched Julian sleep. The young man lay on his back with one arm across his chest, the other stretched above his head. He breathed quietly, and his mouth hung slightly slack. The covers had moved off him during the night--with Kira's help, Julian would have said. Bashir always complained that she stole the blankets, but she had left for her shift an hour ago. Now his body was completely exposed except for his left leg from the thigh down, which was wrapped in the sheet. His skin was the color of honey. Odo's glance travelled appreciatively up Julian's right leg from the shapely calf to the relaxed thigh, covered with downy hair. The same silky hair traced a thin trail up his belly towards his chest, which rose and fell with the gentle rhythm of his breath. Observing his companion's breathing was having a hypnotic effect on the shape shifter. His gaze skimmed over the smooth chest, with its chocolate nipples, before lingering on the hollow beneath the ribs and moving back down to the belly with its low thatch of dark, curly hair. The doctor had an erection. The shaft, bulging with blue veins, was slightly lighter than the rest of his caramel skin. His reddish glans peeked out of the foreskin, a drop of pre-ejaculate gleaming at its tip. The cold air had made his scrotum contract into a compact bundle, covered with wiry, black hairs. Julian's erection suddenly twitched and grew as he moaned softly in his sleep. Odo glanced quickly at his face. A slight flush had spread over his cheekbones as if he were overheated. Odo had materialized into his usual uniformed body, although there was no one awake to see him. Now he felt uncomfortable seeing Julian's vulnerable nakedness spread out before him. Odo's shape wavered slightly as if out of focus, and then he was naked, too. Still he watched the doctor sleep. Julian made a soft lament and turned his head. He pulled his arm down and moved it aimlessly over his own body as if searching for the lost covers. For a moment, Odo thought he was about to awaken until he settled back down with a low snore and was still again. As Odo's eyes moved once more over Julian's body, he let his thoughts wander, too, wondering for the thousandth time why Julian was attracted not only to himself, but to Garak as well. If he were Garak, he would have turned Julian over, spread his sensitive cleft, wet the puckered opening, and pushed unmercifully inside, using the slim body as a vehicle for his own pleasure. If he were Garak, he would have enjoyed Julian's startled cry when he awakened already impaled, stretched to capacity, unable to resist. He would have reveled in the futile struggles of that smooth, young body against the hardness that filled him, and think of taunts that would bring a blush to the high cheekbones and a shamed and angry grimace to the liquid eyes and the full lips. Garak would cruelly push his coarse skin against Bashir's lovely rounded ass, not caring if his steady thrusts abraded the tender skin. If he were Garak, he would take what he wanted and disregard Julian's revolt. And, if he were Garak, Julian would be under him right now, moaning with pleasure despite his anger and humiliation. But, although he wasn't Garak, when Odo had thoughts like those, he became aroused. Angry with himself, he pushed the thoughts away. Still the tingle remained in his substance, thrilling through his simulated limbs and dying away. And the question remained: what did Julian see in Garak? For that matter, what did he see in Odo? Garak, being a Cardassian, enjoyed domination games. Whether it was built into his genes or his conditioning, he hadn't been able to understand Julian's desire to meet him as an equal, but had assumed that he could discern the doctor's cravings, even when Julian denied them. At least Garak conformed to type. But what was Odo's type? How did his people, whoever they were, respond to desire? Was Odo alone in that, too? He supposed he was, for it was unlikely that any other shape shifter in the galaxy was sexually embroiled with a Bajoran female and a Terran male. His relationship with Kira was affectionate and strong. But, Julian, it was Julian who usually occupied his thoughts. Odo wouldn't take advantage of the doctor again. He had only done so before because someone had once taken advantage of him, and that memory had been so traumatic that he had pushed it away and only come back to it when he had been forced to by events. That memory of his rape by Gul Dukat explained why he had taken pleasure in holding Julian down to take him. Odo knew that Julian had every right to be enraged. What he couldn't explain was why Julian had also enjoyed it. Julian's ambivalence was a never-ending source of hurt and confusion to Odo. Two months before, Julian ended an adventure with Garak that had started out with a rape and ended with an attempted one. In the middle, Julian had actually approached the Cardassian willingly several times. Julian said later that he had wanted to meet Garak as an equal, as a lover. Odo saw nothing attractive about Garak: from the shape shifter's point of view, he was devious, cruel, and unscrupulous. At times, Odo thought he was the greatest security risk on the station. But Julian had been friends with the tailor for some time, and Odo tried to be tolerant. When Garak was mistreating Julian, Odo wanted to arrest and deport him, but was constrained by Garak's blackmail. Later he was constrained by Julian. Since Garak had given Julian back the embarrassing datachip, Odo had worried that Julian would once again be taken in thrall by the seductive Cardassian. Bashir said he just wanted to be friends again, and that he hadn't decided whether or not he wanted to resume sexual relations with the tailor. He said that Garak had just been confused by the human dislike for domination in sexual relationships. In this one instance, Odo had to agree with Garak, who thought that humans were hypocritical for being aroused by domination and not admitting it. Julian claimed he didn't want to be a slave. While that was certainly true, Odo knew he played bondage games with Kira when Odo wasn't there. Odo bent protectively over Julian as he thought these things through for the hundredth time. Where would this end? Why wouldn't Julian just listen to him about Garak? Odo looked at Julian's long eyelashes that brushed against his cheekbones. His eyelids fluttered suddenly. Quickly, Odo dissolved and flowed around the doctor's supple limbs, bathing them in warmth. "Odo," said Julian happily as he woke up. Feeling ashamed for his resentful thoughts, Odo started flowing over Julian's skin, caressing it gently. Julian responded by stroking Odo's substance with his hands. As he came closer to being really awake, he turned and caressed the shape shifter with his lips and face. One thing that always amazed Odo was Julian's capacity to be affectionate at almost any moment. As Odo had learned to read humanoid facial expressions, he had found that Julian's face was particularly expressive. Right now, the doctor's eyes were closed and his lips were curved into a vague smile as he mouthed Odo's body and rubbed it against his cheeks and hair. Odo thrilled to his touch. As the doctor lay cushioned in Odo's fluid body, his erection hardened. Odo felt a shudder of excitement pass from Julian to himself and back again. He warmed quickly to the doctor's arousal as if a current had passed through him and began to flow teasingly around Julian's penis and balls, lapping and sucking all over them. Odo felt Julian's muscles relax as the Terran let himself be surrounded by the shape shifter's caresses. As he always did, Odo surrendered to the unconscious seduction of Julian's beauty. He felt the Terran giving himself up to the lovely sensations of lying on Odo's pliant substance; he felt how deeply Julian trusted him. Odo suppressed a wave of anguish when he thought of Garak's betrayals. A grid of faint, white scars was barely visible on Julian's back, buttocks, and thighs. Odo stroked them discreetly, not wishing to remind Julian of that experience. Julian's arousal was at its peak now. He moaned softly as he pressed himself deep into Odo's fluid mass. Clinging to him like a second skin, Odo felt every flicker of every muscle and nerve. From long experience, he knew exactly how to stimulate the young doctor's body at each stage of his excitement. Now he found Julian's tender opening and carefully massaged it, wetting it as he pushed more and more urgently, seeking entrance. It unfolded suddenly and he plunged inside, stretching it wide, feeling Julian's whole body jerk as intense sensations flooded him. Now Julian thrust repeatedly into Odo as Odo drove firmly in and out of him in the same rhythm. Except for his head and shoulders, the young man was completely enveloped in the shape shifter's liquid coils. Julian's movements grew stronger and more sure as he approached his climax. The power of Julian's thrusts and the extent of his ravishment filled Odo with sensations that finally spilled into a great tremor of joy. It reverberated through both entwined bodies until neither could have distinguished his ecstacy from the other's. Julian's breathing slowed as he relaxed on Odo's body, though his fingers continued to knead the shape shifter's substance lightly. Odo flowed gently around him, caressing his skin and enjoying his feelings of satiety. But Odo himself wasn't completely satisfied. There was something unsettling about making love with a humanoid, something alien in the physical sensations he absorbed through his essence. When Kira and Julian made love, they met skin to skin. Their eyes looked at each other, their hands held each other, their mouths and their genitals fit together. When Odo simulated a humanoid, he and Julian or Kira seemed to fit together like that, but their ways of experiencing the sensations they shared were unimaginably different. Despite Odo's ability to transmit and receive Julian's and Nerys's nerve impulses, the way his body experienced those impulses was something he could not transmit, and they could never understand. Rather than concentrating feelings in his genitals, with a varied and peripheral involvement of skin, mouth, eyes, and ears, Odo felt everything everywhere. Despite how his lovers and friends might think of him, he had no head or limbs, no eyes or ears, and no skin--no unchanging inside or outside. He was all one, and what he thought or felt united his whole being. Sometimes Odo contented himself with thinking how far he had progressed in his friendships with humanoids; other times, he despaired of ever communicating what he was, or of ever understanding them. Julian and Kira were a source of inexhaustible fascination to him, with their discrete sensations, their detailed bodies, their specialized organs. But they were also just out of his conceptual reach, just beyond his understanding. Instinctively, Odo longed for a miscible lover: one who was not to him as water to oil, surface to surface, but whom he could take into himself and be taken into without a moment of complete withdrawal like the one he was experiencing now. That was his ideal of true equality, not this intense but confusing encounter between such different creatures. Julian was stirring, rolling over on his back to stretch and yawn. "We have to get to work, Odo," he said languorously. Odo started to pull himself together into a solid mass on the bed as Julian rose. Somehow the shapeshifter didn't want to let him go just yet. "What are you doing today?" he asked, as his body took humanoid form. Julian turned in surprise at the question. "I have some appointments this morning and some reports to write. Then lunch with Garak," he continued casually, but Odo thought he detected a catch in the doctor's voice, "and more appointments. A busy day." He shot Odo a smile over his shoulder and started again for the shower. "Lunch with Garak?" Odo heard himself saying. "That's right," Julian answered quietly, stopping and turning around with the air of one bracing himself. "What do you think he wants from you?" Odo persevered, wishing he could stop himself. Julian shrugged. "The same thing I want from him," he replied a bit defensively, "friendship." Odo ached to be able to tell Julian how some species differences could not be smoothed over, but still persisted even if the encounter of two disparate beings somehow managed to approximate love. But since he had never told the doctor about his own feelings of difference and alienation--and since Julian seemed to accept their differences without question, and even with love--Odo couldn't find a way. "Is that all?" Odo asked in a sonorous voice, hating the question. To his surprise, Julian blushed and paused, turning half away. Suddenly Odo was afraid. "No," he admitted, "that's not all. He wants me again, and he says it can be on my terms. I haven't given him an answer." "Do you want him?" Odo asked, fascinated in spite of himself. "I don't know," Julian mused softly. "I want the idea of him, but I'm not sure I really want him." "What?" Odo asked, confused. "I like to think about some of the things I did with him," Julian said, looking confused himself, "but I'm not sure I'll ever be ready to do them again. It's not really fair to ask him to do everything my way, and yet," he finished with a wry smile, "I don't really want to be kidnapped, or beaten, or raped." Julian suddenly blushed and looked down at his feet. "That's your right," Odo insisted angrily. "It doesn't matter what they do on Cardassia. This is Bajoran space, and he has to abide by Bajoran and Federation law." "Yes," said Julian slowly, "on Cardassia I'd be a slave. A piece of property. He wouldn't have to answer to anyone about what he did to me." The doctor's face was flushed; an indefinable expression flickered over it--one that Odo didn't recognize. "Do you like that idea?" he asked, shocked. "Not really," Julian said defensively. His tawny skin shone warmly with a thin coating of sweat, and the blush on his cheekbones had deepened. "Just as a fantasy that I'd never want him to know about. Are you jealous?" he countered. They stared at each other for a long time. "Yes," Odo finally said. The whole mass of his being shivered with fury against Garak and his presumptions. "Odo," Julian began uncertainly. He stopped, apparently not knowing how to continue. "You're right, I am jealous," said Odo, warming to the subject, "and I'm asking you not to go with him." If Odo had been a breathing creature, he would have held his breath for Julian's answer. "Odo, it's just lunch," Julian said nervously. "You've never asked me not to go before." "I'm asking you not to go now," replied Odo suddenly, lowering his eyes. Julian walked over to him and hesitated, finally reaching out to take Odo's hands. The shape shifter resisted his touch. "No, Julian," he said. "Not this time." Julian was silent, and Odo finally looked up to see the pain in his eyes. "Have I hurt you, Odo?" he asked. Odo's face looked anguished. "Of course you have," he groaned. "Every time you let Garak have you, every time he hurt you..." He stopped, unable to say more. "All right, Odo," Julian said quietly, "if it means that much to you, I won't see Garak for lunch today." His lip curled momentarily as if with a repressed remark. Despite his relief, Odo immediately regretted his request. "Julian," he said hesitantly, "I'm sorry. You don't have to do that for me. I don't have the right." "No, you don't," Bashir agreed, turning away and stopping again. "I won't see him today," he said without turning, "but I won't promise not to see him at all. We need to talk, Odo, but I'm due in the infirmary in fifteen minutes." He walked into the bathroom and started the water running. Odo stayed for a few moments staring after Julian before he finally left for the Security office. Julian spent the morning seeing patients and catching up on station business. One report he needed to write for Sisko was especially difficult, and it took him three drafts to hit the correct tone. As he read it through for the tenth time, he realized he was ravenous and got up, with his eyes still on the screen, to go into the next room and get something to eat. When he turned, he came face to face with someone standing just behind him. "Garak!" he exclaimed. Bashir's heart was pounding, and he couldn't keep his face from registering all the surprise he felt. "Hello, doctor," Garak said smoothly. "I just got your message. Why did you cancel our luncheon date?" "I told you," Julian said brusquely, annoyed with himself. "I had some work to catch up on." "So it seems I'm just in time, because you're just about to get something quick to eat," Garak said in mock surprise. "May I join you?" "No," Julian muttered, embarrassed. "I was going to keep working while I ate. Excuse me, Garak." Pushing past the Cardassian, Julian left his office, relieved to put some distance between them. Garak's close physical presence had recently started to make him feel as if there wasn't enough oxygen in the air he breathed. He panted slightly as he reached the infirmary replicator. "Caesar salad," he ordered, "and oolong tea, hot." Garak came up behind him. "It never ceases to amaze me that you humans can live on vegetables," he remarked. "Your metabolism requires more protein and less fiber than mine does," Julian replied automatically. "How many times have you told me that, doctor?" Garak's warm breath touched the back of Julian's neck. "Do you enjoy dwelling on the differences between us?" The doctor turned abruptly, bumping Garak's flat stomach with his elbow. "You brought it up, Garak," he pointed out angrily. "Now, what are you doing here?" Julian's heart started pounding again. He put his hands up to push Garak away. "I want you," Garak said simply, taking him by the wrists and pulling him forward. "I'll do anything you want. I won't cause you pain. But I need to have you right now." The Cardassian looked more desperate than Julian had ever seen him, but he also looked angry. Garak noticed the doctor's wary and frightened expression. "I don't like being in this position, doctor," he said irritably. "I'm used to taking what I want, when I want it. I don't like to beg." Julian smiled ironically. "I wonder why you weren't brought up on rape charges long ago, Garak." His legs suddenly felt unsteady. Garak's words and the iron grip on his wrists were starting to arouse him. "Because I never wanted anyone on this station except you. Oh, a few Bajorans caught my eye in the old days, of course. But this station was Terek Nor then. None of these liberated Bajorans appeal to me, nor do any of your oh-so-efficient Federation invaders. Except for you, my good doctor. Except for you." Garak reached for Julian's mouth with his own, opening his lips and entering him with his warm tongue. When the doctor's tongue returned the caress, Garak let go of Julian's wrists to hold him close, and Julian felt the warmth and hardness of Garak's erection through his clothes. Julian forgot that his food had materialized in the replicator slot. He forgot everything except Garak pressing into him and his own rising erection. He pulled his mouth away from their kiss. "We can go into the quarantine room," he said hoarsely. Garak took a step back to release him and followed silently to the airlock door. The doctor detoured briefly to a cabinet to get a jar of lubricant, which he slipped into Garak's pocket, flashing him an intimate smile. Julian's fingers fumbled so badly that he had to punch the code in twice to get it right. They entered, and the door slid closed behind them. Garak put his hands on Julian's shoulders. They were heavy, but Julian noticed a certain lack of force in the Cardassian's touch that he hadn't felt before. "Is this what you want, doctor?" Garak asked seriously. "Are you here with me willingly?" As they were of approximately the same height, they looked directly into each other's eyes. "Yes," Julian whispered in a cracked voice. Slowly, hesitantly, he stroked the line of Garak's rigid jaw and rubbed his fingers along the smooth, hard lips. They opened to allow his finger inside, where Garak's tongue darted across it. Garak's eyes closed and his breathing grew shallow. As he withdrew his finger, Julian brought his mouth up to Garak's and ran his tongue around the gray lips. Garak tilted his head back and opened his mouth to Julian, who explored it eagerly, marvelling that the Cardassian was letting him take the lead. Feeling Garak's hard body trembling against him, he began running his hands up and down the ridged back. Garak's strong arms wrapped themselves around him; one strayed down to fondle his ass, making Julian press his hard-on tight against Garak's. Soon they had moved the few steps to the bed. The Cardassian had his hand between the doctor's thighs, making his ass clench with arousal. Julian fumbled with the closing of Garak's shirt, then gave up and ran his hands up under it. His fingers went straight to Garak's sensitive nipples, touching them tentatively so as not to exceed a bearable level of sensation. Garak groaned but didn't try to stop him. It occurred dimly to Julian that the Cardassian was getting fond of that particular caress, which he might never have experienced before the doctor introduced him to it. Garak started pushing down Julian's pants, and the doctor kicked his boots off quickly and removed his shirt. The smooth material of Garak's clothes slid over his skin as the bumpy hardness of the Cardassian hide beneath pressed against his slender chest, making him ache with desire. Julian was completely naked now, while Garak was still clothed. The feel of Garak's hands taking possession of his body sent shivers of rapture through him. Garak pulled away from their kiss for a moment and smiled, holding Bashir's chin in one large hand. "Your body is telling me how much you want me, doctor," Garak said in a low voice. His expression was arrogant, and Julian wondered with a flash of anger if he had made a mistake by putting himself once again into the Cardassian's pitiless hands. With a twist of his head, the doctor pulled his face out of Garak's grasp. "And what is your body telling me?" he asked tauntingly, pushing down Garak's pants and digging his fingers hard into the stiff erection he had so abruptly exposed. Garak gasped and staggered, and Julian took the opportunity to push him down on the bed. Garak landed on his back with Julian on top of him. The young doctor resumed kissing him, thrusting his slender hips so that their erections bounced and rubbed together. Garak moaned into Julian's mouth as his cock began spurting hot semen against Julian's belly. Letting go of Garak's mouth, Julian turned quickly and rubbed the viscous gray liquid firmly into Garak's belly and chest, using it to lubricate his fingers as he slid them around Garak's nipples. The Cardassian bucked and squirmed under him; his hands grabbed the bars of the headboard that Nerys had once tied Julian to with the g-string. When Garak's nipples were sufficiently swollen and pink, Julian left off stimulating them to take Garak's penis into his mouth. He straddled Garak's head and swiveled his hips, allowing Garak's mouth access to his erection. As Julian relaxed his jaw to accommodate the broad, rock-hard Cardassian organ, his own hard-on throbbed as it was completely engulfed in Garak's warm mouth. Garak grabbed his ass, encouraging him to thrust hard. As Julian complied, he felt the stiff cock in his mouth grow suddenly hotter and spurt waves of ejaculate down his throat. Julian remembered the first time he had taken Garak this way, and how dismayed he had been to discover that the Cardassian could have several orgasms before growing soft. This time it gave him an idea. Withdrawing from Garak's mouth with difficulty--which meant breaking the hold Garak had on his ass--he grabbed the jar of lubricant and coated Garak's erection with it. Starting at the sensitive, red tip, he rubbed the slippery stuff gradually all the way down to the base. By the time he had finished, Garak clearly had to force himself to stay flat on the bed. He had a lustful gleam in his eye that Julian enjoyed seeing directed at himself--he enjoyed even more watching Garak restrain himself without being bound. Julian turned his back to Garak and eased the Cardassian's hard-on into his cleft, letting gravity instead of muscular force stretch him wide, pushing the slippery organ into him. He gave a series of small gasps as the hard, pulsing thing gradually filled him completely. When he had taken it all in, he squirmed from side to side, rubbing his ass and scrotum over Garak's belly and thighs. Garak stifled an inarticulate cry and pulled Julian down flat against him, shoving up into him as he reached around to pump the doctor's cock. Garak came violently, moaning as Julian had never heard him before. His arm muscles tensed around Julian's chest. With barely a pause, Garak rolled Julian onto his belly and continued to pound into him as he bit and sucked Julian's shoulders and neck in a frenzy. The pain of the bites and the hot wetness of Garak's mouth on his neck made him cry out in excitement. With each stroke, Garak pulled almost completely out, only to plunge deliberately back in, opening him wide and pinning him firmly to the bed. Although he gasped with arousal at every forceful thrust, Julian could hardly even squirm. With his legs spread wide and Garak's legs holding them down, he was as immobilized as if he had been bound, and his aching cock was trapped under him by Garak's weight. When Garak had finished with a howl of release and rolled off him, Julian got up quickly to get the jar of lubricant. His unsatisfied erection dangled before him as he pushed Garak back on his stomach and spread some lubricant over his opening. He pushed slowly inside until his belly was flat against Garak's ass. The tough Cardassian passageway held his throbbing erection in a grip so tight it was almost more painful than exciting. Gasping and moaning, Julian moved slowly in and out until Garak's muscles relaxed, then faster and faster until he was slamming into Garak with all his might. When he came he yelled his delight and dropped away onto the bed. The Cardassian took him roughly into his arms. "You're mine," he snarled huskily with his head buried against Julian's shoulder. "No," Julian protested, appalled, "I'm not yours." "I know, Julian," Garak said in a muffled but ironic voice, "but please leave me some small shred of my illusion." It took Julian a moment to realize what had just happened. After all their misunderstandings, the Cardassian had finally given up the struggle to dominate him--not the desire, but the will. Julian was deeply moved. "Garak," he exclaimed happily, "you called me by my first name." "Then why don't you call me by mine?" Garak countered in mock annoyance. Julian remembered. "Elim," he said. "I thought you didn't know I knew your name." Garak laughed. "I heard. And it's up to you to figure out where." Julian echoed his laugh and playfully grabbed a handful of Garak's coarse hair. "Elim," he said again softly. Odo stopped deluding himself around the time he reached the replimat. He didn't really have any business in this part of the Promenade--he had only come to see if Julian had honored his unreasonable request. In fact, Julian was nowhere in sight. But then neither was Garak. And that was a bad sign, since Garak almost always had lunch at this time, whether the doctor met him or not. Unable to restrain himself, Odo turned his steps towards the infirmary. It was empty. So was Bashir's office. Making a low growl in his throat, Odo hit his communicator. "Computer, locate Dr. Bash--" A sudden thought made him stop in mid-sentence. His eyes were drawn to the closed door of the quarantine airlock. He walked over to it slowly, straining to pick up any sound. He created a more sensitive inner ear and continued to listen. Nothing. Cautiously, he dissolved his upper body and flowed through the outer door, landing on his reformed feet in the small airlock. Again he listened, and, this time, a muffled sound that might have been a cry of distress reached his ears. The image of Garak's last attempt to rape Julian came unbidden to his mind. Once again he saw Julian struggling in Garak's grasp as the Cardassian spread his shapely derriere and prepared to push inside. Shivering through his entire substance, he dissolved again and pushed his head carefully through the inner door to the quarantine room, where he was completely unprepared for the sight that met his eyes. Julian lay on his back with his legs drawn up and spread as far as they would go. Garak lay between his legs, his muscular ass contracting powerfully as he steadily drove his erection deep into Julian's cleft. He held himself up on knees and elbows, so that Odo got a glimpse of Julian's erection just before each stroke squeezed it tight between his and Garak's bellies. Garak held Julian's wrists together firmly over his head as the doctor writhed and strained against the Cardassian's grip. Odo would have been sure that he was witnessing a rape had he not also noticed that Julian's head was slightly lifted from the mattress and his open mouth was pressed hard against Garak's. The tendons stood out in his neck, and his hips swiveled and rose as he opened himself completely to every thrust of Garak's cock. Odo was paralyzed with fear and jealousy. As he watched Garak thoroughly fuck Julian, his Julian, he found to his horror that he had involuntarily sprouted an erection of his own that reappeared each time he tried to merge it with the rest of his substance. Silently he screamed at himself to move--to either intervene or leave. But he could do nothing except watch as his body trembled with conflicting sensations. Garak tore his mouth from Julian's and buried his face in the doctor's neck, kissing and biting him hard enough to make him moan and writhe. He pulled out until only the tip of his cock remained in the doctor's opening. "Say that you belong to me," he said gruffly, "or I'll stop." Julian's laugh was almost a sob. His eyes were glazed over with lust. "Stop, then," he said hoarsely. "See if you can." Garak drove in slowly to the hilt and pulled out again. "Don't try me," he said dangerously, holding Julian's arms firmly against the bed as the doctor squirmed, desperate to impale himself completely on Garak's shaft. "Why shouldn't I?" Julian gasped. "I know you, Elim. You can't stop. Now, come here." He captured Garak's mouth with his own. With a muffled growl of frustration, the Cardassian plunged back into him over and over, harder and harder, driving Julian wild with excitement. Again Garak stopped, pulling nearly all the way out. "Say it," he said grimly. "I don't belong to you," Julian said slowly, panting between words. "You belong to me. You can't do without me. You can't stay away." Odo felt a small pulse of satisfaction when he saw Garak's appalled expression. "I can't help it," Garak cried. "I need to own you." He slammed back into Julian, making him cry out and close his eyes. Once again, Odo saw Garak's ass contract and his hips rotate as he opened Julian repeatedly with his hardness. The doctor threw back his head and moaned with abandon as he came, wrapping his legs tightly around Garak's shoulders. A few seconds later Garak released his arms, which Julian immediately entwined around Garak's neck to pull him down for an open-mouth kiss. He received Garak's muffled cries in his throat as Garak's semen spurted deep into his body. For a moment, they lay quietly until Garak rolled onto his back, taking Julian with him, and heaved a satiated sigh. "I'll never let you own me, Elim," Julian said softly. "I know, Julian," came the faint answer. As if their release had also set him free from his paralysis, Odo silently withdrew his head from the door and flowed back through the airlock into the infirmary. He took shape awkwardly, reeling with confusion at the scene he had just witnessed. For the first time he truly understood the depth of Julian's lust for Garak and Garak's for Julian, and it frightened him profoundly. But, while their bodies had pleasured each other, their minds and hearts had seemed to be at complete odds, futilely struggling for supremacy in a game that could never have a winner. Then, with a shiver of dread, Odo remembered hearing Julian call Garak "Elim." That could only mean that they'd reached some new degree of intimacy. Odo decided to wait for them. He knew that Julian had a busy afternoon ahead, and that he wouldn't shirk it even for Garak's sake. He would make one more try to get Julian to see how wrong this was. Standing in the center of the room to wait, he closed his eyes and spent the time trying to calm down and normalize his shape. If Julian saw these distortions, he'd know immediately just how anxious Odo felt. He could never tell anyone what he had just seen; in fact, he had trouble admitting to himself that he had actually stayed and watched as long as he had. The sound of a door hissing open made Odo look up in time to see Julian and Garak come out of the quarantine room together and stop in surprise. Even if Odo had not witnessed their coupling, there would have been no doubt about what they'd been doing. Bashir's face was flushed and his hair was wet as if he had just showered. Garak's usually impeccable suit looked wrinkled and damp. Odo stood with folded arms and a set expression on his face. "There's no need to ask whether you kept your promise," Odo said darkly. Julian walked up to him, looking pained. "Odo, you suddenly remind me of my father," he joked with a wan smile. "Can you come in my office so we can talk?" "Only if you're ready to promise me that you won't see Garak anymore," Odo spat, feeling that his demand was hopeless before it left his mouth. With a twinge of guilt, he remembered the passionate coupling he had just witnessed. Garak stepped quickly forward. "If you're going to discuss me, I think I have a right to be present," he said firmly. Julian looked helplessly from one to the other. "I don't really think there's anything for the three of us to discuss," he said, "but I do need to talk to Odo." As the doctor spoke, Odo and Garak glared at each other steadily. "Come on," Julian said, taking the shape shifter's arm. Odo let himself be pulled along towards the office. "Doctor," Garak called after them, "I just want you to know that I have no objections if you wish to continue seeing Odo. But I really have no idea why you'd want to after this display of temper. If you want to talk to me I'll be in my shop." He left quickly. "He has no objections!" Odo exclaimed indignantly. "Odo," Julian argued, "it took a lot of effort for him to say that." Odo turned a cold look on him. "Is that so?" "Yes. He's very possessive." "So am I!" Odo cried. "Maybe my mistake is that I haven't told you how badly I feel when you go with Garak." "You told me this morning. And, anyway, you don't object when I'm with Nerys." "That's because Nerys and I have a relationship, too. And, besides, I respect her," Odo continued, looking irritated. "Garak is an unknown. He's probably a spy, perhaps a former member of the Obsidian Order--" "There's no proof--" "Let me finish!" Julian was startled when Odo raised his voice. "Perhaps a former member of the Obsidian Order, definitely someone who has had too many dealings with Gul Dukat and the Cardassian High Command, and is occasionally privy to their thoughts. And, finally, he is someone who never tells the truth if a lie will do." "That's true," Julian admitted, "but he's starting to take my relationship with him seriously." "How do you know?" Odo asked triumphantly. "He could be lying about that, too." "Well, would that matter so very much?" Julian fumed. "What if I just get some pleasure out of seeing him?" Odo paused. "I don't want you to be hurt," he said. "But if I'm going to be, you can't protect me," Julian argued. "It's up to me whether or not I trust Garak to keep his promises." "He didn't before," remarked Odo sullenly. "I know," Julian replied. "I'll just have to see." "I'm going to talk to him," Odo said suddenly. Julian started to object and then changed his mind. "I don't know what to say to you anymore," he said with exasperation in his tone, "and I have no idea what you intend to say to him. If you want to talk to Garak, go ahead. But don't blame me if he leads you in circles." Not sure himself what he would say to his rival, Odo left without another word. He had nearly reached Garak's clothing shop when someone took him by the arm. "Odo, what's wrong?" Nerys was looking into his face with concern. Odo stopped his headlong rush and tried to collect his scattered thoughts. "I just came from the infirmary. Julian and Garak are meeting again." Nerys grew suddenly pale. "What happened? Did Garak hurt him?" "No, but they came out of the quarantine room together, and I..." To Odo's surprise, Nerys put a gentle finger to his lips. "Did Julian look happy?" Odo nodded, realizing it for the first time. "Then you'd better not think about it too much," she said quietly. "I don't intend to." "But what if he..." Kira's eyes darkened with feeling as she answered. "If that Cardassian's head is so thick that he hasn't learned to stop torturing Julian, then I'll make him sorry he ever came to this station." Realizing that she was digging her fingers into Odo's arm, she suddenly withdrew her hand. "But if they've worked something out, why should we interfere? I don't like the thought of it any more than you do, but..." Nerys trailed off with a shrug. "What are you going to do?" "I'm going to talk to Garak," Odo said harshly. "I'll find some way convince him to leave Julian alone." Nerys patted his arm. "Good luck," she said sympathetically. "But you know as well as I that it won't do any good." Garak had just started sorting moodily through a rack of suits when Odo arrived in the doorway. "Ah, come in, Constable," he said graciously. "I must say, I'm not very surprised to see you. So, what have you decided? What trumped-up charge will you use to throw me in the brig? I warn you, you won't destroy the good doctor's attraction for me that way. In fact, you'll only hurt your own cause by being unjust to me." "I know that," said Odo quietly. "I haven't come to arrest you." Garak looked up suddenly at something in the shape shifter's tone. "Splendid, Constable. Then what have you come to say to me?" "I want to know what you intend to do with Dr. Bashir," Odo said stiffly. "Do with him?" Garak scoffed. "Our young doctor has made it abundantly clear that I have no right to 'do' anything with him. Except, of course, to enjoy him occasionally, when he consents and on his terms." Garak picked a suit off the rack and tossed it over a chair. "That style hasn't sold in ages. I don't know what I was thinking of." He spared Odo a quick, amused glance that struck the shape shifter as almost rueful. "Of Dr. Bashir, most likely." To his own astonishment, Odo felt a sudden kinship with the Cardassian tailor. He couldn't think of a thing to say. "Tell me, Constable," Garak said confidentially, "you're involved with Dr. Bashir and Major Kira." He waved away Odo's gesture of objection with one large hand. "Don't be naive, Odo. The whole station knows, and you can blame your friend Quark, of course. What a gossip!" "Quark," Odo repeated angrily. "Why would he..." "Forget about Quark," Garak said impatiently. "I want to ask you something more important. I've been wondering how you deal with those impulsive creatures. How do you deal with their caprices, their obsessions, their insane objections to the least little thing?" "You mean their objection to little things like having their skin laid open with a knotted whip?" Odo asked sarcastically. Garak laughed. "I see. You want to change the subject. That's understandable. It's painful." He went back to rummaging through the rack and discarded two more suits. "I'm waiting for you to make your point, Garak," Odo said, realizing that he didn't want the conversation to end just yet. Garak's clever eyes flickered up at him for an instant. "My point is that we're both in the same situation. For whatever reason, here we are, each of us the only one of his kind on this forsaken station. We both suffer, every day, the glances of those who find our differences objectionable or frightening, or in my case only, Constable, who might wish to drive us off the station, or worse. "Again, for whatever reason, we've both grown attached to a certain young man, a sensual man of strong feelings. That's why I thought we might share our experiences and learn from each other. Whether you like it or not, we have something in common, Odo. Each of us in his own way has tried to understand Dr. Bashir, and to satisfy him, and possess him." "I haven't tried to possess him," Odo objected. Garak let his hands drop from the row of suits and turned to face Odo. "Then what are you doing here now, Constable?" When Odo didn't answer, Garak continued. "I thought our good doctor was worthy of me, and indeed he was worthier than even I imagined. Unfortunately, I was overconfident of my ultimate victory and so I lost. I am now little more than his slave." Garak's amused tone clashed with his words and made Odo's substance ripple with irritation. "So you see, Constable," Garak went on expansively, "the question is not, what am I going to do with the doctor, but what is he going to do with me?" Odo snorted, pushing away the still-vivid memory of Julian, lying helpless in Garak's grasp, declaring that he owned the Cardassian. "You're exaggerating. Julian couldn't enslave you-- he wouldn't!" Garak shook his head. "Not in the proper sense," he said with a little smile. "After all, we are not on Cardassia. However, my desires are now bound by his--if I give them free rein again, I'll lose him. I know that now." There was silence between them for a few moments. Odo realized that, despite his discomfort with Garak's feelings, he no longer wanted to threaten or berate the tailor. Something strange was happening to him. He almost thought he could understand, if not empathize with, Garak's point of view. "So, Constable," Garak continued, "I wondered how you managed to accept these human eccentricities, but perhaps you aren't much better at it than I am." "Perhaps not," Odo choked out. "I have a suggestion to make," Garak said confidentially. "Ignore me." "Ignore you?" Odo echoed, confused. "Pretend I'm not involved with Julian. Pretend he rejected me definitively. I won't be around much, and I won't interfere with you. You can go on spending nearly every night with him"-- the tailor's bright eyes flashed brighter for a second with anger--"go on feasting while I pick up the crumbs." "I don't pretend," said Odo, thinking he didn't quite understand. "All the worse for you," Garak shrugged. "Then you'll go on tormenting yourself about whether I'm with him or not instead of enjoying him yourself. And, sooner or later, you'll drive him away." "I see," said Odo, who was starting to. "But Major Kira..." Garak interrupted him with a laugh. "Major Kira? She's brilliant at ignoring me! You might take a lesson from her, Constable. As long as her precious Julian doesn't come home with welts down his back, as long as he hasn't been raped or scarred, she won't think about me any more than she has to." "But if he does..." "He won't. A few innocent bite marks, perhaps, but no stripes." Odo thought again about the alien feeling he had when he made love with Julian. Although Garak had a head, two hands, and stable sexual organs, maybe he experienced a sense of irreconcilable differences when he was with Julian, too. All this time, Garak had been trying to find a lover to help him keep his loneliness at bay. But, like Odo, he was surrounded by aliens, unable to choose one of his own kind. Perhaps Garak's mistreatment of Julian, and even his attempts to enslave him, had not been inspired by deliberate cruelty, but by desires that would have been acceptable if he were home on Cardassia. Odo himself had two humanoid lovers, and, although he had no tradition to follow in his relations with them, he did have instincts. Sometimes he had vague feelings of unease with things Julian and Nerys took for granted, while at other moments he had the urge to initiate things but often didn't, fearing that his partners would find them bizarre. Luckily, they had already accepted him as a partner in his liquid state, and that made him feel much more comfortable than always having to appear as a humanoid. Garak, born and bred in the Cardassian tradition, clinging to that tradition in his exile, had just been less hesitant to impose his habitual mating behavior on Julian. Maybe now he had truly realized that he either had to restrain himself with humans or do without their companionship. Realizing suddenly that Garak was scrutinizing him as he thought, Odo snapped back to the present. "Am I right in guessing that you and Julian shared some sort of emotional intimacy today?" he asked bluntly, feeling a new twinge of jealousy. "Yes," Garak replied, watching the shape shifter closely. "You can't tell me that you didn't get any enjoyment out of Julian's affection," Odo snapped. "No," Garak said solemnly, "I can't tell you that." "Would you still rather treat him like a slave and abuse him every time he refuses to submit to you?" Odo persisted. Garak looked thoughtful for a moment as if the question had piqued his interest. "The variety of sexual bonds on Cardassia is larger than you might think, Constable," he said finally. "Affection, as you put it, is not precluded by contention, or by what you call abuse. And, as for whether I would prefer to continue to enslave Dr. Bashir--I suppose not, now that you mention it. After all, he's not a Cardassian, and some of his reactions to my offerings have been rather different from what I expected. But I must admit to a strong desire to own him. At this stage of our relationship, it would certainly seem more...normal." Garak's face hardened suddenly. "I am fighting that desire, Constable, and incidentally accommodating you and Major Kira. I would ask for the same courtesy from you." Odo nodded once briefly, acknowledging Garak for the first time with something approaching respect. "If Dr. Bashir wants to see you, it's his business," he said as he turned to leave. "I couldn't agree more," Garak smiled. The End