Reconciliation

"I'm sorry..." he said, "I didn't know."

Instinctively, he got up moved round the table to sit beside her on the couch. Debem's lip was quivering, as she struggled to hold back tears. Without even realising what he was doing, he put his arm around her shoulders, giving her a comforting squeeze.

The Jem'Hadar. He hadn't even thought about them.

"I know that what we did to your people was wrong," she was saying, "but we were as much victims of Central Command as you were. We didn't vote to invade Bajor, and we didn't vote to join the Dominion. But we still died because of it. 800 million of us."

"I know. I'm sorry," he said, hugging her, forgetting for the moment who they both were, seeking only to comfort another sentient being in distress. "We've both lost people. I understand that now."

She turned her face towards him, and he saw that her dark eyes were moist with tears she was doing her best not to shed. She sniffed, trying her best to regain her composure, but not moving from the comfort of his arms.

"I didn't mean to blame you. Working together has been difficult. I'd like that to be behind us now."

She was so close to him now, faces nearly touching, his eyes staring into hers. In that moment of sharing, he finally understood.

He had avoided her, and been rude to her, not just because of what she represented, but because he had felt conflicted. Here was a woman who should have been everything he hated, who visibly reminded him of the cruel faces of the Cardassian soldiers taking his father away. And yet, not only was she was here to help him, but, by the Prophets, she was attractive.

He had done everything he could not to let anyone - himself included - know how damnably attracted to her he was. How he both wanted to get parsecs away from her and the memories she dredged up, and, at the same time, wanted to ravish and possess her.

Unthinking, he pressed his lips to hers.

Debem gasped, her body stiffening as she suddenly pulled back, eyes wide and mouth open in shock.

"I..." he began, flushing furiously as he pulled himself away from her, horrified with himself for what he'd just done.

"Oh, shut up!" snapped the Cardassian woman, lips curling into a near snarl.

Then, with a growl of pure lust, she threw herself at him, pushing him back on the couch, grabbing his head in both hands and planting the most passionate kiss he had ever experienced on his mouth.

Tynoc was momentarily overcome with surprise, allowing himself to fall onto his back, Debem on top of him. But it was only for a moment, and then he responded in kind, kissing her, lips and tongues entwined, one arm wrapped around her slender back, one foot on the floor to balance himself.

It seemed an eternity later that they broke apart, panting for breath, and he gazed up into her eyes, with irises so dark it was hard to tell where they ended and her widening pupils began. Then he pulled her head back to his, fingers stroking her tightly bound hair, and they kissed again.

Ral Tynoc was, like most Bajorans, a religious individual, and he had always been taught to restrain, although not entirely to repress, his more physical desires. In this moment, he had forgotten entirely about that, consumed by an overwhelming lust that would have horrified most of his teachers. If his actions had not already told Debem that, they were pressed so close, hips grinding into one another through their clothing, she could hardly have failed to notice the almost instantaneous effect that her actions had had upon him.

As they writhed upon the couch, their hands were far from idle. Tynoc felt the Cardassian caressing his flanks, her left hand pulling his uniform vest away from his trousers, then slipping up underneath, towards his chest. He felt her fingernails running along his skin, before she trapped his right nipple between thumb and forefinger, giving it a sharp tweak that made him gasp, but did nothing to dampen his ardour.

His own free hand slid down her back, feeling a bony, rather skinny, frame through the fabric, although not so much that she seemed malnourished. He squeezed her ass, digging his fingers firmly in, responding to her own rough ministrations. Then he reached lower, hitching her skirt up almost to her waist, gripping the bare skin of her thighs.

With a light growl at the back of her throat, Debem moved up, shifting her leg forward to allow him better access. As she did so, it tangled briefly with his own, and, a moment later, their passionate movements unbalanced him, and they both crashed off the couch, landing in an undignified heap, he rolling under the table, banging his hip against the central leg.

He scrambled to get free, a difficult task with Debem still clinging to him, locked at the lips, one hand still beneath his shirt. They rolled over twice across the carpeted floor, leaving her on top of him again, skirt hitched up to reveal a flash of black knickers, but her hair still hardly out of place - they must have been really tight braids.

She leaned back on her knees, pulling his vest up to reveal his belly, which her grey fingers began to knead. Tynoc scrambled free, getting to his feet, pulling at the blue-and-black tunic that lay over his vest. He wanted her badly, as he had wanted no one else, and there was no doubt that she reciprocated that desire.

He made to grab her, planning to sweep the plates from the table, bend Debem over it, and take her from behind with all the urgency that his body could muster. But the Cardassian woman, it seemed, had other ideas. She climbed to her feet, evaded his lunge, and took a few steps back to the door at the far side of the room.

His second lunge reached its target, and he forced her up against the unyielding metal of the door, kissing her again. There had been a zip of some kind along the back of her dress, and he wanted to reach it, but suddenly realised that with her pressed up so close against the door, he could not do so.

Before he could formulate another plan, Debem's hand had found the door control, and it slid open, pitching them both into what was clearly the bedroom. The room was dark, lit only by the starlight from a window, the glittering band of the Galactic disc spread across it, unhindered by the muting and twinkling effect of an atmosphere.

Not that Tynoc noticed that at the time. He simply saw the bed. He had been willing to use the table, the wall, a desk, frankly anything that had come to hand. But if Debem wanted to use the bed, he was not going to argue.

As they caught their balance after pitching into the room, the Bajoran's hand fortuitously found the zipper he sought, and yanked it down. Debem took a few steps backwards, dress loose around her shoulders and the flaring scaled cords of her neck, but not yet entirely free. He looked again into those deep-set eyes, seeing them focussed entirely on him, grabbed her about the waist with both hands, and half threw her onto the bed.

With what he later regarded as a surprising amount of forethought, Tynoc banged the button of the door control that would leave it open. He wanted to be able to see her, and the starlight was not enough. He looked down, seeing the Cardassian woman, sprawled across the bed, legs akimbo, skirt still hitched up, admiring again the slender grey curves of her thighs. He had seen some Cardassians with a pale tan hue to their skin, the greyness only hinted at, but Debem was definitely more towards the darker, colourless end of the spectrum. As he gazed at her, she lifted herself up on her hands, and top of the dress slid off one shoulder, revealing a bra strap still more or less in place.

Almost desperately, Tynoc began to pull his clothes off. His underwear, however, was the traditional Bajoran style, not designed for rapid removal, and, as he grappled with the ties, Debem lost patience, grabbed for him, and pulled him down to the bed on top of her.

They were kissing again, the Cardassian's hands seemingly running over every inch of his upper torso, sliding on the sweat that the warmth of the room was already making him produce. Tynoc abandoned his quest to undo his breeches, and instead focussed on getting Debem out of her dress.

It would definitely have been easier had she not been so determined to grapple and kiss him, but eventually he managed, pulling it down over her legs as she kicked her shoes off. Now his hands could really wander over her body, and he lost no time in doing so, as they rolled on the bed, limbs entwined, overcome with their mutual passion.

At last, with some difficulty, Tynoc reluctantly pulled himself free from her grasp, rolling back onto his knees as the bed creaked in response. Debem gave a cry of frustration, reaching out to pull him back down again, but, this time, he was able to swat her hands away long enough to reach again for the ties on his breeches.

Realising his intent, the Cardassian woman stopped struggling, her eyes flicking down with fascination to what he was doing. Soon, he was out of the constraining garment, his cock swinging free, feeling - although it was probably just his imagination - harder and more swollen than it had ever had before in his life.

Debem let out a little gasp of shock at the sight of it, before looking up to his face with a delighted grin.

He would later discover, and only slightly to his disappointment, that his length had nothing to do with her reaction. Apparently, at 17 cm, he was pretty much exactly the average for a Cardassian, even if somewhat above so for a Bajoran. No, what had surprised her was his girth, which was nothing at all like those of the slender, tapering manhoods of her own species.

At that moment, however, the light in the main room suddenly dimmed, as the automatic system detected that nobody remained within. From Tynoc's perspective, Debem's body was suddenly cast into deeper shadow, his own frame now blocking the fainter light from the doorway. He didn't care, especially when the Cardassian pulled him back down towards her on the bed again.

Her hand reached for his erection, gripping and stroking it as they kissed furiously, lost to desire. Tynoc gripped the hem of her knickers, pulling them down around her knees before again becoming entangled in her arms and legs. With both of them reluctant to let each other go, even for a moment, there was some awkward wrestling as he tried to get them down further, but eventually one of her feet came free, she released his cock, and wrapped one leg around his, thighs apart.

The Bajoran did not waste a second, thrusting himself deep inside the Cardassian woman to her evident delight. He grunted with pleasure, his pent up frustration and passion at last finding a proper outlet. His hips slammed into hers over and over, taking her hard, his groans mingling with her sharp cries as he penetrated her alien body.

Her left hand gripped his shoulder, nails digging in, scratching his flesh as the bed creaked in protest at the force of his exertions. He pulled the hand away, holding her wrist, the arm above her head, as he tried to find an angle to push himself in even deeper. He wanted to possess her, perhaps exorcising the demons of his past by making this Cardassian woman scream, to have her experience the greatest pleasure of her life at the hands of one that her people had so oppressed.

Her free hand, though, ran down his back, and gripped his heaving buttocks even as she adjusted her thighs to his raised position. She slapped him, at first almost playfully, but then with greater force. With a cry, he pulled her hips up off the bed, still not letting up his motion, making it easier to press down into her with the weight of his body.

He could not last much longer, and judging by Debem's cries, neither could she. With a drawn out, deep-throated groan of exertion, Tynoc increased his pace, sweat dribbling down his back as he fucked her hard, over and over, using her every ounce of energy that his body could muster.

The release, when it came, was incredible in its intensity, flooding the alien woman's body with his cum. And the Cardassian did scream, arching her back, clawing at him as she threw her head back and gave voice to her feelings, her body writhing beneath his.

They collapsed, gasping, sucking in deep breaths. It had been a long time since Tynoc had last had sex, and perhaps the same was true of Debem, too. But it had never been like that before, the sheer animal intensity of it beyond anything he had previously experienced.

They clung to one another for a while afterward, before at last he rolled free and over onto his back. That had been incredible, and something he realised that he had long needed. A catharsis, in a way, made all the more potent by the nature - and evident enthusiasm - of his partner.

It was a while before he regained his breath, and he knew that the sweat was rolling off him, soaking the sheets beneath his body. It was hot in here, and his recent exertions had only amplified that. They didn't speak - hadn't in fact, spoken almost since he first kissed her - just lying there in contended silence.

After a while, Debem reached over to run a finger down the middle of his chest, slipping in the slick sweat that covered his body. He turned his head towards her, and watched her lying on her side, dark eyes gazing into his. He wondered what thoughts were running through her head, behind those mysterious black orbs, but he didn't want to break the mood by speaking.

Instead, he rolled over to face her properly, eyes still locked onto those of his partner. She began to gently stroke his flank, her fingertips soft and comforting against his skin. He had never slept with anyone that wasn't Bajoran before, and had certainly never thought of Cardassians as attractive, yet here he was, seeing their exotic, alien, looks in quite a different way .

Silently, almost gingerly, he moved his free hand up to her face, and ran his index finger up her cheek, and along the narrow scaled ridge around her deep-set eyes. Debem's expression didn't change, and neither did she stop stroking his own body.

Feeling emboldened, he traced the scales across her face, noting their difference from the physiognomy of his own people. They were warm to the touch, of course, for so was her body. (Some humans, he had heard, seemed to think that Cardassians were reptiles. He had never understood that, since their hair and the form of their women so clearly indicated otherwise. The scales meant nothing... he'd even heard of an Earth mammal with scales. Armour-dillo or something).

His finger moved to the ridge on the near side of her forehead. The scales were more prominent there, but not harsh in any way, like the calluses he had half expected. Instead, they were smooth, a little like ivory or horn, contrasting with the softer skin around them with its fine, almost invisible, hairs.

He moved the finger away, running it around the shape of her earlobe. It was slightly different from his own, two ridges lined with tiny scales running from the base towards her jaw. From there, he moved to her jaw, and to her narrowp chin. There were two slight ridges there, but with soft skin, lacking the scales. Debem pressed her lips to the tip of his finger as he moved up, and then changed the position of her own hand to caress his cheek. Did she luxuriate in his lack of scales, the smoothness of his skin, just as he was beginning to appreciate her own differences? It seemed likely.

To her nose now... an odd shape, with a narrow ridge down the centre, also lacking scales until he got to the bridge. It was curved inwards there, as it was on humans, with no horizontal grooves, unless you counted the slight dip between each scale. She had no eyebrows, of course - perhaps Cardassians didn't need them, with their prominent brow ridges.

Further up, to trace the outline of that strange spoon shape on her forehead. A slight smudge of blue makeup came away when he touched the inside... well, that answered that one. But she smiled then, pulled his face in to hers, and they kissed again. This time it was long and lingering, a kiss of gentle affection, not the raging passion of before. Tynoc found that he liked it even better that way, and pulled her body into his, arm wrapped round her back as they tasted one another's mouths.

He stroked the scales along her neck-ridges, much larger and more prominent than those on her face. Debem sighed as he did so, breaking off the kiss, but with eyes still locked on his face. She seemed to like the sensation, so he continued for a little while, before eventually moving lower.

The wide flaring cords of her neck reached almost to the ends of her collar bone, making her actual shoulders more slender than they would be on a Bajoran. The scaled ridges, he noted, split into three at the base, one short and pointed spur running along to just over her shoulder, a second one curving round behind her back, along the inner surface of her shoulder blades.

The third branch led his finger along her clavicle - from what he could tell by external touch alone, her skeletal structure was much the same as his own. The scales here were flatter and more numerous, spreading out to either side, yet still larger over the bone itself. He found a small oval dip where the central line of scales met that from the other side, another line of fine scales emerging from the base to run between her breasts.

Debem was still wearing her bra; such was the immediacy of their passion that he hadn't thought to remove it. He ceased his exploration of her scales to deal with that, taking the opportunity to pull her in for another slow kiss as he unhooked the clasp at the back, then letting her wriggle out of it, and toss it casually to over the side of the bed.

He glanced downwards, and, as he did so, the Cardassian woman shifted a little on the bed, moving up to kiss him on the forehead. Her tongue flicked out, probing the grooves on the bridge of his nose, exploring him as he investigated her own body.

The line of scales ran down along her sternum, but no further. With her skinny frame, he could easily feel each of the ribs beneath her grey skin. (Perhaps there was a skeletal difference there, in the number of them, but he was a scientist, not a doctor, and couldn't remember the number there was supposed to be.) Another scaled ridge ran along her flank, ending a little short of the armpit, but his attention was currently elsewhere.

Debem's breasts were small, flatter than was average for Bajorans, although not unusually so. Tynoc ran his questing finger between them, down the ridge, noting how small scales ran up the inner surfaces. It was only a little way, but enough to make the sensation of stroking her skin there a slightly odd one. He spread his hand out, moving beyond the scales at last, using all of his fingers to stroke the soft pliable flesh of her slight mounds.

The Cardassian woman's nipples were a dark charcoal grey, almost black against the paler shade of the rest of her skin. Her aureoles were tiny, little more than a narrow rim around the base of a decidedly perky teat. She let out another soft sigh as he gently rubbed one between finger and thumb, noting as he did so that it was noticeably longer than those on Bajoran women.

Debem suddenly rolled onto her back, out of his immediate reach, and for a second Tynoc wondered if he'd done something wrong. Who knew where an alien woman's erogenous zones were, after all? His momentary doubt was silenced as she pulled his head down towards her chest. Rather than obliging her immediately, the Bajoran clambered over her body to get better access, his cock fully erect once more.

He massaged both of her breasts with his hands, stroking her long nipples with his thumbs as he watched her reaction. Debem was breathing deeply, mouth slightly parted and dark eyes wide as she followed his every move. Without letting up his motions with his right hand, Tynoc ran his tongue along the lightly scaled skin between her breasts, feeling the alien texture, and then began to kiss her free breast.