As always: Paramount owns all the marbles. We just have a lot more fun playing with them.  This story was written for the monthly challenge on the Trekbbs, but this is an extended version since that challenge limited the story to 2500 words and PG-13 rating.  This particular BBS challenge was to write an alternate universe story.  The episode 'Captain's Holiday' was written by Ira Steven Behr. This story was originally posted to ASC on September 14, 2006.

Feedback is always appreciated - posted or e-mail.

Whoa Nellie's Picard/Vash Romance Fanfiction website:
http://geocities.datacellar.net/TimesSquare/Galaxy/7926/

Whoa Nellie's Sci-Fi Romance Fan Fiction Website is at:
http://geocities.datacellar.net/whoa_nellies2000

CAPTAIN'S DESIRE

 On the poolside patio at the Risan resort, Vash rested comfortably in a chaise lounge.  As far as the other patrons were concerned, she was engrossed in a book on her lap, but she was well aware of the Ferengi who casually strolled past and loitered near her.

 Sovak discreetly scanned the area while clandestinely speaking to the human female.  "The Vorgons were concerned after speaking with you.  They got the impression that you weren't going to allow them to destroy it."

 "Smart and perceptive, those Vorgons."

 Sovak closed his eyes and shook his head in silent frustration with the intractable female.  "The item is dangerous.  You should give serious thought to its destruction."

 "I'd rather give serious thought to finding and studying it," she calmly retorted.

 "Consider what I've said.  It's not worth the risk," Sovak warned before wandering off.

 From across the patio, Imperial Captain Jean-Luc Picard watched the woman and decided that her dossier image didn't do her justice.  Her brunette hair gently cascaded to her shoulders, framing her delicate features.  Her swimsuit accentuated the perfect curves of her silhouette and perfectly set off her long, shapely legs.  He demanded quietly into the communicator he held in his hand, "have you found the disk?"

 "Not yet, captain.  If it's here, we'll find it"

 "Find it or answer for it," he ordered curtly before cutting off the channel.  Returning the communicator to his pocket, he purposefully strode over to the woman.  "Hello."

 "Look, I don't mean to appear rude, but I am not seeking Jamaharon," Vash responded in a weary tone without even looking up to see who had approached her.

 "I don't recall suggesting the search."

 The powerfully-masculine timbre of the voice caused Vash to look up.  The man standing over her had a sleek, muscular build and handsome, chiseled features.  The corded muscles of his well-defined arms were displayed by a sleeveless, leather vest while tight leather pants conformed impressively to his lower body.  She found herself flustered, "I'm sorry . . . It's just that I've already been approached by five different men."

 "I find that quite understandable." Picard sat down and raised her hand to brush a courtly kiss across the back of it.  "I'm Jean-Luc Picard, and you lovely lady?"

 The brush of his lips felt like a lightning strike, causing a shiver to race through her.  "Vash"

 "Tell me about yourself, Vash." He gave her a small predatorial smile, his eyes hungrily raking over her every curve.  "When it comes to such a beautiful woman I can be rather tenacious."

 "I'm a member of the archaeology council," she managed, held captive by his penetrating gaze.  Her senses overwhelmed by the passionate charge between them, she retreated using the only route open to her and slipped off the other side of the lounge to leave.  "If you'll excuse me."

 "Of course," he watched her head into the resort.

.......................................

 Reaching her suite of rooms, Vash activated the door and walked in.  She gasped in shock at the sight of her ransacked room.  The furnishings had been upended and her belongings strewn over the room.  She was suddenly grabbed from behind by a large human male and hauled back against him.  As he held her immobile, she could feel his breath on the side of her face.

 "What a sweet little morsel."

 "Come on, pretty thing.  Hand over the goods and the three of us will have a little fun together," his cohort leered.  He trailed a grubby finger down her neck, following the plunging neckline of her swimsuit to trace the swell of her breasts.  Those were his last words before being vaporized by a single shot from a phaser on its highest setting.

 "Let her go."

 The voice of icy steel resonated with authority.  Vash turned her head to see Picard standing there with a phaser in his hand.  The man holding her glanced at the scorch mark where his companion had stood moments ago and abruptly released her, stepping aside.  With a sharp cry, Vash involuntarily jumped as a second phaser shot flew past her, instantly vaporizing the second assailant.

 "You all right?" He slid the phaser back into his vest.

 "Yes," she nodded, quickly composing herself.

  "Whatever they were looking for must be valuable," he remarked casually while nonchalantly looking around the room.  "Possibly the disk Professor Samuel Estragon left you containing his research notes and maps pinpointing the location of the Tox Uthat."

 "Who are you?" Vash demanded.  She had spent the last five years as Estragon's personal assistant helping him search for the Uthat, a quantum phase inhibitor capable of halting all nuclear reaction within a star.  The artifact was developed by a scientist named Kal Dano in the mid-twenty-seventh century and hidden in the past.  When Estragon had disappeared, a box with all of his research on the Uthat had been delivered to her at her apartment with no explanation at all.  He had never been heard from again.  "How do you know about Dr. Estragon's research?"

 With admiration, he realized this belle was no shrinking violet.  The fire in her blue eyes as she dared to challenge him had an aphrodisiac-like effect.  He moved to stand directly in front of her leaving only an inch of space between them.  "I'm the captain of an Imperial Starship and the man who just saved your lovely neck.  As for how I know about it, I'm the captain of an Imperial Starship, I have my sources."

 "I'm not looking for a partner," she stated flatly.

 "Your two friends had already finished searching your room and were about to start searching you next," he reminded her.  "Give me the disk, I'll go in your place and whomever hired your friends will follow me.  You will remain here, safe."

 "I don't follow orders, captain," Vash countered brazenly.  "Besides, you'll never find it without me; the professor's notes are in code."

 He studied her and when he spoke, his baritone voice was low and husky.  "From the moment we met I knew you were going to be trouble."

 "You're obviously  a man who can handle trouble," she purred seductively, all of her attention riveted on the man in front of her.

 He decided to get back to the business at hand.  "How far is it to our destination?"

 "A  series of subterranean caves lie twenty-nine kilometers due east. That's where we'll find the Uthat."

.............................

 Picard cautiously peered around the cave they had entered, checking for any possible threats.  "Have you calculated how much further we have to go?"

 Vash checked her tricorder and answered, "another eleven kilometers."

 He set down the backpack he had been carrying, this looked like the best place he'd seen in the past hour to make camp.  "We'll remain here for the night."

 "I was hoping you'd say that."  Vash began laying out the bedroll.

 "We made better time than I expected," he noted as he helped her.

 "I'll take that as a compliment," she gave a smile of flirtation with a tinge of smugness.  A night in a cave sleeping next to such a virile man lent a whole new dimension to this adventure.  His handsome features along with the strong square line of his jaw framed his penetrating eyes and the firm set of his mouth.  The thought of those lips on hers gave rise to butterflies in her stomach.

 "As it was intended."  He laid down on his side next to her propped up on one elbow.  The Tox Uthat was no longer the only treasure on Risa he was interested in plundering.  Vash's khaki workshirt and shorts accentuated the feminine curves of her lithe silhouette.  His eyes greedily drank in the way the undone buttons of her shirt exposed a hint of the curves beneath while the simple khaki shorts conformed the slimness of her waist, outlining the flare of her hips.  "I'll never forget that look on your face when you thought I was offering you Jamaharon."

 "That was a simple misunderstanding," Vash whispered, a blush creeping over her features.  She felt like a tiny robin that had fallen under the spell of a king cobra's stare.  The carnal heat from his intense gaze coursed over her entire body like it were an actual physical caress.

 "When I offer a woman Jamaharon, I make sure there is no misunderstanding my intentions," he assured her, his deep, resonating voice taking on a decidedly wolfish tone.  He reached out with one hand to entangle his fingers in her silky hair and forced her face to his, powerfully crushing her lips beneath his own.  His tongue plunged past her parted lips, decisively staking claim to everything in its path.  Lust surged through him unchecked when she acquiesced easily to him, even responding to him in kind.  He rolled her onto her back and settled himself between her supple thighs, growling his pleasure when she shifted her legs further apart to accommodate him.  His body tightened, his hard arousal throbbing in response to the supple feminine curves yielding so easily beneath him.  His hand moved to wrap around the back of one of her knees and draw it toward him.  Reaching down, he expertly removed her boot and then repeated the movement on her other leg.

 With his mouth taking command of hers, Vash felt her pulse and breathing quicken.  Her breasts swelled and the peaks stiffened to attention, demanding in their need.  She barely knew him, but his commanding presence and soft, baritone voice were captivating; she couldn't have said no to his pure, masculinity virility even if she wanted to.  The weight of his body pressed down on her, crushing her breasts against the expanse of his chest, the tingling nipples grazing solid muscle.  The butterflies in her stomach hardened into a knot of desire, anticipation flooding through her body.   Releasing her mouth, he forced his hips tighter against hers.  She shivered from the erotic pressure of his hard length pushing against her through the leather of his trousers.  "Oh God, I can feel you .  . . "

 "Like what you feel?" the Imperial captain murmured against the curve of her neck.  He nuzzled the delicate skin of her neck, savoring the alluring scent of her perfume.  She was his for the taking, her body already responding to him.  He heard her inhale sharply when his mouth found the pulse point just below her ear.  He flicked this tongue quickly against the sensitive spot while surreptitiously beginning to unbutton her shirt.

 "Ohhh yes," she moaned softly rolling her head back baring her throat to him, scarcely cognizant of the fact that he was peeling her shirt from her.  Her mouth was seized by his in another demanding kiss even more voracious than the one before.  His tongue ravaged every corner of the warm, moist cavern.  This time she met his intensity, forcing her tongue past his in her own erotic exploration of his mouth.

 With every breath, the curves of her breasts rose and fell, threatening to spill over the lace edging of the delicate white lace brassiere.  He found the clasp and freed the lush mounds from their restraint.  He  impatiently swept the flimsy material aside to reveal her breasts, beautiful ivory skin tipped with deep rosy peaks.  Murmuring mostly to himself, "Mon Dieu, tu es parfait."

 When he raised up to strip off his vest, her breath caught in her throat at the sight of his lean, hard body naked to the waist.  Almost tentatively, she reached out to touch the gleaming flesh, the light sheen of sweat making him seem to glow in the dim light.  Her eyes followed her hands as they glided down the masculine slope of his shoulders to linger on the bulging biceps of his upper arms.  The play of the strong muscles beneath her fingertips sent a wave of arousal washing over her.

 "You want me almost as much as I want you," he observed smugly, catching her wide-eyed gaze travel over him.  He cupped her breasts in his hands and caressed them possessively as she bit her lower lip in response.  Sounding like a pleased lion, he growled, "tell me, ma belle, does your body ache for me?"

 "Yes," she gasped.  She was reeling from the exquisite sensations of his hot and powerful hands kneading her breasts.

 Once again he lowered his head, his mouth blazing a heated trail of searing kisses down the silken expanse of her skin toward the full curves in his hands.  Sucking strongly at the sensitive skin along the side of her throat, he left lovebites at the tender junction between Vash's neck and shoulders.  He traced the swell of her breasts with his tongue before placing an open mouth kiss at the center of her cleavage.  His lips imprisoned the nipple of one of her breasts and he leisurely swirled his tongue over the taut peak.  He nipped lightly at the hardened crest then began suckling strongly.  His body wanted to possess her, but not until he had her total, unconditional surrender, not until she begged him to take her.

 Vash's fingers tangled themselves in the fringe of grey hair at the nape of his neck, the sharp ache growing as he suckled first one breast, then the other.  The coarse rasp of his tongue dragging roughly against her sensitive skin along with the pull of his mouth and the occasional scrape of his teeth had her entire body thrumming.

 "You're wet, aren't you, kitten?"  He skimmed his hand down her midriff, her taut muscles contracting beneath his palm when he stopped at the waistband of her shorts.

 "Oh please, Jean-Luc," Vash whimpered, the heat of his hand laying flat against her bare stomach causing her hips to arch in a silent invitation.

 "Rest assured, ma petite, pleasure is my sole objective," came his throaty answer.  Moving to kneel next to her, he unfastened the waistband of her shorts and slid them from her body to reveal her lace-trimmed, white satin panties.  He slipped his hand past the flimsy scrap of fabric, using only a fingertip to penetrate the damp folds of flesh with a very light, teasing caress.  The evidence of her excitement bathing his fingertip drove his own lust up an another notch. "You're very wet, indeed."

 "I want you now," she urged in wanton abandon.  With the skill of a maestro, his fingertip lightly brushed against her with tantalizing strokes that, instead of giving her any relief, only served to leave her pulsing uncontrollably and dripping wet with unsatisfied need. The sensation suddenly stopped and she realized that he was slipping her panties off.  She reached for the fastening of his trousers to help him only to feel him easily capture her hands and hold them over her head with one of his hands.
 
 "Such impatience, mademoiselle.  Only through the most thorough exploration can one find Jamaharon," he cajoled in a smooth, honeyed baritone while renewing his erotic attentions.

 The faint touch of his finger barely grazing her tingling flesh sent waves of intense sensations flooding over her.  With the exquisite torment driving her to near insanity, she writhed helplessly in a futile attempt to increase the pressure of his hand. "please, Jean-Luc . . . I need -- "

 "Is this what you need?"  He increased the pressure, dipping into the dripping wet depths of her body before returning to manipulate the swollen bud of her arousal.  Finding her body's rhythm, he growled with masculine satisfaction, "That's it, isn't it?  Right there, chere." The way her body tightly clenched against his finger with each caress and her frenzied movements silently told him she was nearing the threshold.  He stared down into her lovely face, seeing her eyes closed and her face contorted with desperate need.  He had never seen anything as erotically compelling and was now determined to stake his claim on her. "Surrender, kitten.  Give yourself to me."

 Her small hands clutched at the grip he held her in as a breathtaking release crashed over her in wave after wave of ecstasy.  Spasms and tremors raced through her body as she struggled to catch her breath.  He allowed her no respite.  The coil of pleasure began to rebuild and her hips rubbed frantically against his hand.  She whimpered, "Oh I can't . . . It's too much . . . I can't."

 "Again, ma belle, again."  He wanted to see the fire in her eyes as she abandoned herself to the pleasure she was experiencing at his hands.  He wanted her to know who was mastering her lovely body.  "Open your eyes, Vash.  Look at me."

 His commanding, demanding tone compelled her to meet his gaze.  With great effort, her eyes fluttered open and locked with his.  The fierce, carnal heat from his steely gaze ignited a second orgasm rocking her whole body.  Still held captive by his gaze and his grip, she arched up and cried out, "Oh God . . . Oh Jean-Luc!"

 "Magnifique, your body is incredibly responsive," he marveled, the very provocative sight fueling his own burning need.  He moved so that he was now kneeling between her supple thighs, letting his hands slowly skim up the smooth length of her legs.  She was trembling beneath his hands, every muscle in her body rippling from the aftershocks of the ecstasy that he had given her.  His eyes hungrily traversed the length of her nude body before coming to rest on the glistening juncture of her thighs.  He grasped the gentle flare of her hips, holding her still and lowered his mouth to suckle her very core.  Intoxicated by her ambrosial essence, his tongue flicked and stroked her, alternately plunging inside to caress the trembling depths.   Her whimpers increased in their intensity as she mindlessly twisted in his grasp.  His hard arousal throbbed painfully; his lust for her rising to an almost excruciating level.  Now that she had given herself totally to him, his body demanded satisfaction of its own, urging him to claim and possess her for himself.  Kissing his way back up her taut, sweat-dampened body, he felt her muscles contract under his questing mouth.  With his arms braced on either side of her shoulders, he hovered over her.

 With her entire body highly sensitized and pulsating erotically, Vash stared up at the imperial captain.   Every muscle of the man's sleek powerful frame was tautly coiled giving the him the appearance of a jungle cat waiting to pounce.  Her hands slid down firm planes of his stomach to the waistband of his trousers.  This time he allowed her to open his trousers and she wrapped her hand around the firm length, savoring his sharp gasp.  God, he was so hot and hard, pulsating in her hands.  She took up a teasing rhythm, enjoying the contrast in textures of rock-solid hardness covered by soft, velvety skin.  She used his own words back at him.  "Que magnifique."

 Once again capturing both of her small wrists in his large hands, he pinned them on either side of her shoulders.   Impatiently, his knees urged her supple thighs farther apart to impale her with a single, powerful thrust.  The cadence he set was a furious rhythm of primal hunger, his body taking total possession of hers.  Her hips rocked under him, welcoming every forceful thrust.  He drove himself deep inside her with long, hard strokes, fiercely pounding into her over and over. The slick depths of her body were so hot and tight, gripping him with each thrust, frantically clutching at him in uncontrolled passion.  Hearing her repeatedly cry out his name in sweet surrender fueled his own unbridled lust.  Even when her body shuddered violently around him, he didn't stop, driving into her even harder and faster.  He could feel her spasming ceaselessly, her body racked by the throes of continuous orgasms before her entire body collapsed, overcome with ecstasy.  With one, last, powerful thrust, he held himself buried inside her as his own explosive release ripped through him.  "Oui, Vash!"

.....................................

 Late the next afternoon, an exhausted Vash and Picard stood in the deep pit they'd spent the better part of the day digging.  A whining noise drew their attention to an outcropping higher up in the cave chamber just in time to see Sovak and two Vorgons materializing.

 "A bit early, aren't you?" Vash asked Sovak while wiping her brow.

 The Ferengi tried again to reason with the scholar.  "I know how badly you want to study the Uthat, Vash, but you cannot trust this man.  He will turn it into a weapon.  You must allow the Vorgons to destroy it."

 "Who the hell are they?" the imperial captain demanded.  His arm flung out in a wild gesture  toward the intruders.

 "They're Vorgon security officers from the twenty-seventh century. They're here to destroy the Uthat," Sovak replied.

 Picard snarled.  "How did you find us, you little troll?"  He turned to eye Vash suspiciously.

 Vash threw her arms out and shrugged her shoulders.  "I made a back-up copy of the disk, but I burned it in my room before we left."

 "Only the outer casing was incinerated," Sovak explained.  "And she's not the only one who worked for Professor Estragon; she's also not the only one who knew his code."

 "It doesn't matter, the Uthat isn't here," Vash grumbled putting down her shovel.  She turned to  Picard sounding crestfallen.  "According to the disk we should have reached it hours ago."

 "Are you saying Estragon's findings were wrong?" Picard inquired.

 Vash didn't even try to hide her disappointment.  "It would appear so."

 "It is most puzzling," One of the Vorgons muttered to the other.  He pressed a button and they  disappeared, taking Sovak with them.

.................................................

 Back at the resort, cleaned up and changed into a soft, flowing dress of pink chiffon, Vash hurried across the deserted lobby toward the Horga'hn shrine.

 "Leaving so soon?" Picard asked from the secluded spot where he had been waiting for just this moment.

 "Jean-Luc -- I was just about to come say good-bye."  She was startled to see him in his uniform. The vest  made of a crimson fabric with gold epaulettes emphasized the masculine slope of his shoulders.  Glinting in the moonlight, a ceremonial dagger hung from the woven-gold sash that belted the waist of the short vest.   The tight black, uniform pants conformed to his body's every muscle as he crossed the patio toward her.  "I want to put all this behind me as soon as possible. You understand."

 "Of course." Moving to stand behind her, he reached around her to lightly trail his fingers up the arm and shoulder left bare by her dress. "However, there is one last thing you can do for me."

 "Anything," she breathed, her senses reeling from the warmth of his strong hand on her bare skin.

 "Show me where you've hidden the Tox Uthat."  Before she could respond, he roughly yanked her back against him.  "You never intended to burn that disk. If you had, you wouldn't have been so careless as to allow Sovak to salvage any of it. You wanted him and the Vorgons to follow us so they could see for themselves that the Uthat wasn't at the cave site.  It was the only way to convince them that your quest had been futile."

 "But how could I have known the Uthat wasn't there?" Vash's voice was raspy with apprehension.  He wouldn't--couldn't actually do anything to her in public, Imperial Captain or not.

 "Because you had gone there once before, probably the moment you  arrived on the planet. That's when you found it."

 She felt him release her but somehow she could still feel the hold he had over her.  Compelled by an unspoken command, she took a step forward toward the shrine and removed a Horga'hn.  Opening it, she showed Picard the crystal hidden inside.  Her voice was filled with wonder.  "A piece of the future."

 "A very powerful piece." He took the crystal from the Horga'hn.

 "Too powerful to be trusted to the likes of you."  Sovak walked out from the shadows training a weapon on Picard.

 "You are becoming quite an annoyance," Picard complained wearily.

 "As are you, human.  Perhaps I should kill you and then destroy the Uthat."

 "No, wait . . ." Vash interrupted, taking the Uthat from Picard.

 Picard rushed the Ferengi and slammed his shoulders into Sovak.  The force of his attack drove them both to the ground and sent the weapon flying across the patio.  Sovak tried to choke Picard with both hands around his neck.  The Imperial captain brought his arms up to break the hold and slammed Sovak's chin backward with his open palm.  The force of the blow caused the Ferengi 's head to snap back, hitting the ground with a sickening thud.  Picard looked over to see the Uthat on the ground and Vash standing a few meters back pointing Sovak's weapon at it.  Picard stood and moved toward her.  "Vash, the chance to study such a treasure will never come again."

 "He could use it as a weapon to kill billions, destroy it," Sovak urged from his spot on the ground.

 Closing her eyes and taking a deep breath, Vash fired the weapon destroying the Uthat.  The Vorgons appeared once again behind Sovak.

 "History recorded that you destroyed the Uthat.  You have fulfilled your destiny well, Vash."  The Vorgons disappeared again.

 Sovak scrambled to his feet, breathing hard.  He turned and headed toward the exit.  "All's well that ends well."

 "You're a resourceful and cunning woman," Picard walked over to her and, taking the weapon from her, he threw it into a nearby bush.  The Ferengi was forgotten the moment he left the lobby.  Brushing his fingers over her smooth cheek, his next words were emphasized by a tone of possessive pride. "The perfect captain's woman.  At least I won't be returning empty handed."

 He took her into his arms and activated his communicator.  "Picard to Enterprise, two to beam up."

***FINIS***