Disclaimer: Yeah, yeah, like we all don't know this by rote! I don't own them. They would've been doing this LOOOONG ago if I did!
Author's Note: In answer to the Mood Killer Challenge.
It was a beautiful night. Dinner on the terrace had been delicious and romantic. The dancing afterwards had put both Jean Luc and Beverly Picard in the right mood. The past week had been taxing, but now they were together and happy, basking in the glow of a shared love that had finally been acted upon. Although they had been married for five years now, the spark and excitement had not faded one iota. They wanted each other with a ferocity neither had ever experienced with anyone else. The added joy of a daughter, Elizabeth, completed the family picture, but she was safely tucked into bed at this late hour, leaving her parents free to indulge themselves.
The couple sat in front of the living room fireplace 'necking' for a while before retiring to the master bedroom. Jean Luc had thoughtfully brought in more wood for the bedroom's fireplace that afternoon and now lit a small blaze as Beverly changed into something a bit more revealing.
He grinned at her as she exited the bathroom. She grinned back and sidled up to him, then began removing his clothing. His grin turned lecherous as did hers until he was stripped to his briefs. Their lips met in a searing kiss that left them both breathless.
Not wanting to take the time to move to the bed, Jean Luc eased Beverly onto the rug in front of the fireplace. It was certainly warm enough, and they would be generating more heat themselves VERY soon. The carpet wasn't as comfortable as the bed, but hell, variety was the spice of life and Jean Luc might not like variety in his breakfast, but he certainly didn't mind it in his sex life.
Beverly's hair fanned out beneath her and reflected the glow from the fire, causing her red tresses to shimmer and dance as if they had a life of their own. Jean Luc simply gazed at the beauty before him for a moment before proceeding with the business at hand. He took his time, making sure he caressed every inch of Beverly's skin, tasting, exploring and discovering her anew. He had her negligee up around her neck when she unceremoniously shoved him off her with a rather loud expletive.
"What!" He jumped up as she scrambled into a sitting position, flailing at her hair. "What the hell is wrong?"
"Something is crawling around in my hair!" She was practically yelling at the top of her voice, but did not stop her frantic movements. Beverly stood rapidly, turned to face the fireplace, bent over at the waist and ran her hands quickly through her hair, while shaking her head, obviously trying to dislodge the intruder.
After a few moments of this activity a rather large spider dropped to the carpet below. Beverly saw it immediately and leapt back as it crawled towards her. She tripped over the ottoman that was right behind her, falling ungracefully to the floor once more.
"Good God," she exclaimed as her butt hit the floor. "That is the biggest damned spider I have EVER seen! How the hell did it get in here and how the hell did it get in my HAIR?"
Jean Luc had watched this procedure with open-mouthed astonishment. He'd never seen her move so fast in his life and had no idea she was so intimidated by spiders. Once the intrepid explorer had been removed from his wife's hair, the grin that spread across Jean Luc's face was unstoppable. He chuckled lightly then gently scooped up the arachnid, walked to the balcony doors, opened them and threw their 'guest' out.
"This is NOT funny, Jean Luc! It scared the hell out of me!" Beverly was apparently not amused by his mirth at her predicament.
"I know, I'm sorry," he replied unconvincingly, still grinning broadly, "I had no idea you were so frightened of spiders. It must've come in on the wood for the fireplace. No harm done though." He offered his hand to help her up but she batted it away angrily.
"No harm done? Not to YOU! That thing was in my HAIR! It could've bitten me!" Beverly shivered at the recollection. "And I'm NOT afraid of them. I just don't like things crawling in my hair! Not that YOU would understand that! I have to take a shower now." And with that statement, she stormed into the bathroom, slamming the door after her.
Jean Luc stood with his mouth hanging open, but finally closed it and decided to wait. She probably wouldn't take too long. Then he thought better of that idea. It would be much more amusing to join her instead. He strode to the bathroom door, not pausing as he turned the handle, and ran his nose smack into the wood. She'd locked the door!
Recovering from the painful encounter, Jean Luc returned to sit on the bed and await his wife's return. He hoped the shower would put her in a better mood.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Beverly recovered sufficiently after her ablutions to overcome the fright she had with the unexpected excitement of the spider. Once showered and robed, she returned to her husband and climbed into bed. Although his eyes were closed she was fairly sure he would not be asleep. She hadn't taken that long in the bathroom. She forgave his amusement at her expense quickly and snuggled up to him as she kissed his nose.
"Ow," he said softly.
"Ow?" Beverly had no idea how the soft touch of her lips could have caused that response.
"You locked the door," he said, eyes still closed, but his hand sliding up her hip.
"Oh," she replied and grinned. Beverly recalled hearing a soft thud at the door just as she stepped into the tub, but had ignored it, "Sorry, I was a bit upset."
"That's all right," he answered gallantly then pulled Beverly closer.
She ran her hands over his chest then let them travel to his tight little behind, which she squeezed gently, receiving a moan for her efforts. Her lips found his and the kiss lingered for several minutes until he moved to taste her neck instead. Beverly let her head fall back so he could kiss her throat without much effort. The sensations were making her tingle all over. She slowly let her hand sneak inside his briefs as he nudged her to lie on her back.
His hand reached for the belt of the robe and eased inside before he opened the robe completely. Her hands pulled down the briefs until they were within range of her toes. She had amazing grasping capabilities with the ten digits on her feet and had the underwear off and on the floor before he even knew what had happened. She grinned at his wicked smile when he realized he was completely naked, then pulled him in for another kiss.
His hands were roaming freely and were teasing her breasts to greater arousal when there was a barely audible knock on the bedroom door.
"Mommy? Daddy?"
Beverly quickly pushed Jean Luc off her and closed the robe securely. She jumped out of bed, and crossed to the door quickly. She made sure Jean Luc had donned his pants before she opened the door to the sleepy-eyed four-year old on the other side.
"What is it, Baby?" Beverly scooped up her daughter and brought her to the bed where she sat and cradled the child to her chest. Jean Luc joined them there and held out his arms to his daughter. Elizabeth immediately climbed onto his lap and snuggled up to him. Beverly moved closer to them and stroked their child's hair, before she received an answer to her question.
"I don't feel good." Elizabeth looked up at her father as she said it, her drowsy eyes begging him for some relief.
"Oh, Honey, what's wrong," Beverly asked as she rose from the bed to retrieve her tricorder and a hypospray from her medkit on the nearby chair. Just as she returned to the bed, medical instrument in hand, Elizabeth heaved all over Jean Luc. Her husband groaned loudly and swore in French. The look on his face was priceless. He was obviously appalled by the unexpected occurrence and just sat there with his arms outstretched looking at the mess as if he couldn't believe someone, least of all HIS child, had the AUDACITY to actually throw up on him.
"Oh no," Beverly said as she took Elizabeth from her father's arms and carried her to the bathroom. She told her daughter it was all right as the child apologized profusely. Beverly sat Elizabeth on the side of the tub, then scanned her to make sure it was simply an upset stomach and not something more serious. Most of the stuff her daughter's system rejected was apparently now on her husband and their bed. Elizabeth didn't have much on herself, but Beverly removed the soiled nightgown anyway and gave her baby a glass of water as she noticed Jean Luc entering the bathroom.
He had a truly horrified look on his face. Beverly had never seen him quite so offended. She could not stop the snicker that emerged from her lips, but quickly suppressed it. Leaving Elizabeth on the edge of the tub, she went to retrieve a clean nightgown for her daughter and let her laughter out as she got to the hall.
'You'd think the man had never seen anyone throw up before! Of course, I'm sure no one's ever actually thrown up ON him either!' she thought, chuckling to herself. She contained her mirth as she returned to her bathroom and saw that Elizabeth was crying again as well as apologizing profusely to her father. Jean Luc had a very stern expression on his face and was glaring at their daughter. Beverly had caught his last question to Elizabeth and was astounded that he could be so obtuse.
"Why didn't you tell me you were going to throw up, indeed! It isn't something she could control, Jean Luc!" Beverly immediately went to her child's defense and shot a look at her husband she knew he could not mistake.
"It wasn't her fault!" Beverly took Elizabeth in her arms and carried her back to the bedroom, throwing one last reproving look over her shoulder at Jean Luc before leaving the bathroom.
"It's all right, Baby, Daddy didn't mean it. He knows you didn't do it on purpose." Beverly dressed her daughter then held her close as she rocked her in the big rocking chair. She reached for the hypospray she'd placed on the bedside table earlier and gave Elizabeth the medication that would calm her stomach and allow her to fall asleep again. Beverly soothed her daughter back to sleep then gently took her back to her own room before returning to her husband.
When she entered the master bedroom once more, Jean Luc was emerging from the bathroom after cleaning himself up. There was still a slight scowl on his face and Beverly decided to make her point to him right now.
She walked up to him, hands on her hips and vented.
"How DARE you make her feel guilty! She could NOT help being sick and you just made her feel worse about it! Don't you have ANY feelings? How could you do that to your own daughter?" She was not going to let him get a word in yet, even though he was obviously going to attempt it.
"First you take her into La Barre, you let her eat whatever caught her fancy, INCLUDING an entire banana split and then you're angry with her because she chucked it all back on you? You've got a lot to learn about being a parent if you think that's appropriate behavior!" She crossed her arms after yelling at him and waited to see what he might say.
Jean Luc hung his head for a moment, then raised it again and looked Beverly in the eye. "You are absolutely right. I should never have allowed her to eat so much this afternoon and my anger towards her was completely misplaced and inappropriate. I will apologize to Elizabeth in the morning and I apologize to you now. I'm sorry. You are right. I was wrong."
His apology was so sincere Beverly couldn't help but smile at him and put her arms around his shoulders, hugging him tightly.
"I'm sorry she was sick all over you. I know you didn't mean to yell at her," she whispered in his ear.
"It was probably my fault anyway. I should never have let her eat that whole banana split by herself," he answered then let his lips travel from her ear to her neck.
"You don't think she really believes I'm mad at her do you," he asked suddenly, bringing his face up from her throat to look into her eyes. The expression on his face was one of serious concern.
"No, I told her you didn't mean it. Just tell her again in the morning and everything will be fine," Beverly leaned in to kiss him but pulled back suddenly with another thought.
"And no more over indulgent afternoons, Daddy!" She gave him a mock-stern glare with her warning then leaned in to kiss his neck once more.
"Yes, Sir!"
Before their intimacy could go much further Beverly pulled away from her husband. Jean Luc gave her a questioning look, which she answered.
"The bed. It's a mess," she said as she went to strip the soiled linens. Jean Luc helped her remove the sheets, then went down the hall to get clean ones.
Beverly sighed as she took the dirty linen downstairs and rinsed it out in the laundry room. She realized they probably wouldn't be able to recapture the mood now. She was still a bit annoyed with him and he was probably feeling guilty about reprimanding their daughter. Beverly had seen that look on his face before, whenever Jean Luc thought about his own father and their unpleasant relationship. He was constantly on guard trying not to repeat that behavior with their own child and would now feel guilty that he had.
Once the sheets were prepared for washing the next day, Beverly returned to her bedroom. She saw that the bed had been remade, but her husband was nowhere in sight. She tiptoed down the hall to Elizabeth's room and quietly opened the door. Sure enough, Jean Luc was curled up next to their child with his arm around her. Both were sound asleep.
Beverly planted a soft kiss on each brow before she went back to her own room. She would simply have crawled in beside them, but there wasn't enough room in Elizabeth's small bed.
"Oh well, maybe tomorrow night," she said quietly to herself and got into bed, hugging Jean Luc's pillows to her as she fell asleep.
The END.