"Let me make sure I've got this right, you called us together to let Trip and I know that you can't choose between the two of us, so you're not going to enter into a relationship with either of us?" Jonathan Archer sat forward in his chair, totally focused on the figure standing in front of him.

Malcolm Reed shifted uncomfortably, trying to maintain some semblance of calm authority but ending up looking like a schoolboy called to task. Perhaps it had been a mistake to remain standing while his two would-be suitors sat before him, but at the time, it had seemed like a good idea. Realizing that taking a seat at this point would only compound the problem, he clasped his hands behind his back and settled his weight equally on both feet, unconsciously assuming the classic military "at ease" position.

"Affirmative, sir—I mean, Jon," The lieutenant responded, correcting himself at the last moment. Archer had made it clear when he'd first approached Malcolm romantically, that in matters of the heart, the two men were equals. It had taken quite a few good-natured reminders, but Reed was slowly getting used to the familiarity. "It's nothing personal." He earnestly looked from one man to the other. "You've both given me a tremendous compliment. You have to understand, this situation is utterly unique for me. I've never had one such attractive person seeking a liaison with me, let alone two. Given that all three of us work together in a very contained environment and that I'm inexperienced in these matters, I thought it best to just put it aside."

"Wait a minute," Charles "Trip" Tucker interjected. "Are you sayin' that you find us both attractive?"

Two spots of color painted Malcolm's face, one on each check. Despite his embarrassment, however, the tactical officer was able to answer calmly. "Yes."

Trip grinned. "You find us attractive, we find you attractive. I don't see a problem here. Why not have your cake and eat it too?"

When Reed just looked at the engineer blankly, Archer spoke up. "I think what Trip's trying to say, Malcolm, is that if you can't choose between the two of us…why not just have both of us?"

"Sir?" In his confusion, Malcolm forgot to call the captain by his first name but Jonathon didn't bother to correct him.

"It's no secret that Trip and I have been friends for years," Jonathon explained. "What a lot of people don't know, is that there have been times when that friendship has been…intimate."

Malcolm shot a quick glance Tucker's way and Trip just winked at him, the engineer's smile becoming impossibly even wider.

"What you're suggesting…all three of us…in a relationship," Reed stammered, "A *physical* relationship…at the same time?"

The two senior officers shared a knowing glance. They'd managed to shock the younger man, but he wasn't running. Yet.

"Hell, yes," Trip answered. "Johnny and I have given it a go lots of times. We'd probably be married by now, but we usually end up getting on each other's nerves too much. Maybe what we need is a third person. You know, somebody to kind of fill in the gaps."

"A triangle is one of the most stable structures known to humans," Archer added. "Tripods, the faces of the pyramids, a three-legged stool…"

Reed's back stiffened. "I'm hardly a three-legged stool, Jon." He flicked a glance Tucker's way. "Or some sort of prize to be won in a competition between the two of you."

Archer got up and moved over to the smaller man, taking him by the shoulders in order to make Malcolm focus on him. "That's not what either of us meant. Look, I didn't plan for this to happen and neither did Trip, but now that it has, why not go with it? Give it a try and if it doesn't work out, we can still be friends."

"I'm not sure," Malcolm hesitated, "the ramifications if this goes badly…"

Trip snorted. "Three minutes ago, you'd never even guessed that Johnny and I'd ever hit the sheets together; we've managed an on-again/off-again relationship all right. We're all grown-ups here, we can handle things if it goes sour."

Jonathon slid one hand along Malcolm's shoulder, getting close enough so that he could stroke the Englishman's neck with his thumb. "You came on the Enterprise to help explore new territory. Is this really that much different?"

Malcolm began to relax at the caress. He'd made the decision to put off both Archer and Trip because it seemed like the wisest course of action. How could he be expected to choose between two such stellar specimens and, besides, what would happen to his working relationship with the man he *didn't* choose? His solution to the dilemma hadn't made him happy, although he'd shoved all of those feelings deep inside so that he could get the job done. This new choice, however, was slowly dissolving his resistance…

While Malcolm had been thinking, Trip had gotten up and moved to his other side, the engineer's warmth a welcome pressure against Reed's flank. "Come on, Mal, just relax and let us make you feel good. If it leads to something more, then great. If not, then there's no feelings hurt."

Slowly, as though his muscles were wading through syrup, Malcolm turned from the heat radiating from Archer's hands to face the second man. "Don't call me Mal."

Tucker grinned. Reed was a hard one to read, but this close, the flicker of lust in the tactical officer's eyes was easy enough to see. "Well, what should I call you?"

"I would rather," Reed murmured, breath catching as Jonathon's lips replaced his thumb in stroking Malcolm's neck. The caresses were driving him insane, it was the only explanation he could think of for the daring of the next words he uttered. "That you find something more useful to do with your mouth."

Ironically, he'd asked to meet Jonathon and Trip in Archer's quarters because it was the only utterly private and yet informal location on the ship that would hold all three of the comfortably. He'd never dreamed just *how* informal their meeting was destined to become. Malcolm Reed also was normally a very observant man, necessary in his chosen Starfleet specialty of tactical operations. For the life of him, however, he was unable to account for how he crossed the distance from being pressed up against the far wall of Jonathon's quarters, to being spread out across the captain's bed. What happened to his uniform was far from a mystery, however, as Trip made short work of their clothing. The engineer, it seemed, showed enthusiasm for more than just the Enterprise's warp drive.

"Ahhhh," Malcolm cried out as Tucker's tongue found and laved at his newly exposed nipple. Instinctively, he grabbed for the source of the pleasure, but found his hands caught up in Archer's strong grip.

"None of that, Malcolm," Jonathon chuckled into his ear. The captain was a strong presence behind him. "Trip's a real artist and, trust me on this one, the *last* thing you want to do is interrupt an artist at work."

"But, feels good, I want…oh, god," Malcolm's incoherent pleading was interrupted by a gasp as Tucker's mouth moved lower in order to tease the Englishman's navel.

Archer chuckled again as he shifted so that he could reach and then cover Malcolm's mouth with his own. Kissing the smaller man deeply, he steadied the junior officer as the third member of their coupling continued his oral exploration. Malcolm knelt on the bed and Jon pressed up behind him, one of his thighs separating Reed's. This gave the younger man added balance and a surface to thrust against while also making most of Malcolm's erogenous zones open and available for Trip to pleasure.

With Archer holding and stroking him, bestowing kisses on his face neck and shoulders all the time that was Tucker licking his way down his abdomen and in between his thighs, Malcolm thought he would pass out. It was by far the most incredible sensation he'd ever experienced…until Tucker's talented mouth reached his penis, then all comparisons faded in distinction.

Luckily, Trip had given Jon a warning glance before he'd engulfed their lover's cock into the warmth of his mouth and Archer was prepared for Malcolm's probable reaction. When Reed cried out in pleasure and his hips thrust forward instinctively, the captain's arms wrapped around his waist, holding the writhing tactical officer in place and keeping him from strangling the man that was pleasuring him orally.

"Shhhh," Jonathon crooned as his fingers stroked an arabesque pattern against Reed's flat belly, "just relax and let us help you fly." Malcolm closed his eyes in submission and arched his back, plastering his body back against that of the older man in a position of utter trust.

For several minutes, the only sounds heard in the small room were the moist murmurs of tongue against flesh, the soft moans of a man near completion, and the rasp of skin against skin.

Tucker drew back from Reed, his hand taking up the corkscrew stroking motion his mouth had left off. He smiled briefly at the sensual picture of Malcolm giving himself totally to Archer's embrace, then addressed a comment to the older man. "He's wound tighter than a…" the engineer struggled for an appropriate metaphor, then grinned as the perfect one occurred to him. "Tighter than a Vulcan on a ship full of humans. I could use a little help here…" Archer left off nibbling at the base of Reed's neck to answer Tucker's grin with a smile of his own. "Never thought I'd see the day where you asked for help giving a blow job, Trip."

The engineer cocked one eyebrow at the two men in front of him. "Don't know about you, Johnny, but this ain't exactly an everyday experience for me."

"You have a point,"Archer conceded, nodding at the other man in a silent promise of help.

Trip bent his head and returned to his task, Malcolm having been so lost in sensation that he'd either ignored or been oblivious to the conversation. Archer reached up and grasped the Englishman's chin, encouraging Reed to face him. Jonathon gently traced the curve of Malcolm's lips, coaxing the smaller man to open up and allow him to slip a finger in. Thrusting in and out with the digit, Archer mimicked the up and down action that Tucker was using on a different part of Reed's body. When he felt it was wet enough, Jonathon removed the digit and reclaimed Malcolm's lips with his own.

Tucker was right, Reed did feel so tightly wound up that it was a wonder that the Englishman hadn't flown apart by this time. Snaking his hand down Reed's trim body to the taught roundness of his ass, Archer realized it was time to help his new lover unwind.

Jonathon broke the kiss long enough to give their third partner a warning. "Hope you're ready, Trip, 'cause I think we're at the finish line," Jonathon growled, finger teasing at the opening hidden in the cleft of Reed's buttocks for a moment before plunging inside.

The added anal stimulation was too much sensation for Malcolm to take and his body jerked in a rictus of utter pleasure. Both of his lovers held on tight, Archer in support of the orgasming man and Tucker in an effort to swallow the liquid stream of Reed's release. Malcolm was beyond knowing which hand belonged to which partner, only aware as the blackness of sexual overload engulfed him that he was held and loved.

When he came back to himself, he was nose to nose with Trip Tucker.

The engineer smiled tenderly when he saw that Malcolm was conscious again. "Welcome back," the Southerner greeted him, bending in for a kiss.

Reed looked at him in amazement. "It wasn't a dream," he murmured. As he'd slowly come back to himself, the tactical officer had decided that the incident had been the fabrication of his lonely heart. There was no way that he was actually in the captain's quarters, with two lovers, both intent on his pleasure. But here he was, nestled on his side in Jonathon Archer's bed, Trip Tucker right before him—wearing nothing but a grin.

"No, Mal, not a dream at all," Trip said, capturing Reed's mouth for a more lingering kiss.

When the two broke apart, the Englishman automatically chided the other man, even as he traced the contours of Trip's face with disbelieving fingers. "Don't call me Mal…" His voice trailed off as something occurred to him. If it *wasn't* a dream and Trip Tucker was in front of him, where was Jonathon?

"Hey, remember me?" Archer's warm voice came from behind Malcolm, his hands stroking up and down Reed's back.

"As if I could forget," Malcolm gasped as the captain's strong hands began kneading his ass.

"Malcolm, are you all right? There's more if you're up to it."

Reed turned to look over his shoulder, touched to hear the concern in Jonathon's voice. "I'm ready for anything," he assured the older man.

Trip chuckled. "I do believe we've managed to corrupt the lieutenant, Cap."

"Not 'corrupt,'" Malcolm disagreed firmly, not liking that word used in connection with the evening's activities, not even in jest. "Rather, you've convinced me of the more favorable properties of triangles…"

"All right, lieutenant," the engineer agreed, pressing himself more firmly against Malcolm's body, "but if you're able to string together a sentence like that, then we need to get your mouth busy doin' something else." Trip proceeded to do just that, his tongue dancing around Reed's mouth with the same intensity that it had on his cock minutes earlier. If T'Pol could have witnessed the depth of Tucker's concentration, she would have been surprised that the man she considered flighty was capable of such focus.

That Tucker was this focused on sex, however, would not have surprised the Vulcan sub- commander in the least.

As it was, Trip's greedy mouth swallowed Reed's gasps of pleasure as Archer began to ready him for penetration. First one long finger and then another breached the entrance to Malcolm's body, the captain as careful with his lover's preparedness as he was solicitous of his crew's well being. Jonathon was so conscientious, in fact, that for once the obsessively careful Malcolm Reed threw caution to the wind and demanded his lover hurry up.

"Bloody hell," Malcolm finally grated out, "that's enough. You're not going to hurt me, Jon. Just do it." Despite his shattering orgasm just a short while previously, the combination of Archer's ministrations and Tucker's kisses had the Englishman rock hard again and aching with need.

"All right," Jonathon conceded and slapped Reed lightly on the ass. "On your stomach now."

Tucker obeyed before the tactical officer could move, rolling to his back and bringing Malcolm with him so that they fit together face to face, Reed's butt in the air. The startled Englishman looked down at the younger of his two lovers. "Trip, are you going to stay there during…" Now that the moment had arrived, some of Reed's shyness returned and he found he couldn't complete the sentence.

"Sure am, babe," The engineer assured him, brushing back the hair that had fallen into Malcolm's eyes. "I know what it's like to be on the receivin' end with Johnny and I want to see every expression on your face the first time he's inside you."

Malcolm didn't know what to say to that but was spared answering by the sensation of a hot length sliding between the cheeks of his ass. As the dark haired man gasped, Trip chuckled knowingly. "That's exactly what I mean."

Archer bent to bestow a kiss precisely in between Malcolm's shoulder blades. "Hang on to Trip, Malcolm, 'cause here I come."

At the first pressure of the blunt tip of Jonathon's cock at his hole, Reed did just that, grabbing at Trip's shoulder's in reflex. Even though the captain was being gentle, there was still a burning sensation as Archer slowly insisted that the tight ring of muscle guarding Malcolm's rectum accept the rather large intruder. Malcolm bit his lip to keep from crying out, his back instinctively arching away from the pain.

"You all right, Malcolm?" Tucker asked in concern, hands stroking up and down Reed's arms, which were taunt with stress.

"So big…" the younger man panted, "it feels like he's splitting me in two."

Trip chuckled in sympathy. "Just hang on, it'll be okay. Johnny'll put you right back together again…and then he'll send you into orbit."

Both Reed and Archer gave a small cry as the mushroom-shaped tip of Jonathon's penis popped through the sphincter. Jonathon rested his forehead against Malcolm's sweating back, careful to keep as much of his weight as possible off his lovers by bracing himself against the bed's metal headboard with his arms. "You're so tight, Malcolm, has it been a while?"

Reed panted out a laugh. "That's one way to put it."

Trip's eyes narrowed in suspicion. "You *have* done this before, haven't you, Mal?"

Reed threw his head back. The pain was starting to lessen, bringing his attention to the growing pleasure beginning radiate from his rectum. "I did say I was inexperienced," He reminded his lovers primly, then added in an absentminded way, "and don't call me Mal."

"Shit, Malcolm," Archer panted, hard-pressed to hold back, even given Reed's surprising revelation, "Why didn't you say something?"

"I just did," Reed responded, silently adding to himself that he'd wanted to take advantage of the opportunity when it had been offered. He was under no illusions that there would be a repeat. "More, please."

Trip felt the hardness of Malcolm's renewed erection brushing against his own. "He's all right, Johnny. Just take it slow."

Malcolm reveled in every additional inch that Archer pressed inside him, sharing his joy with Trip in long, moan-filled kisses. The Englishman felt his body open ever wider to accommodate his lover, legs spreading of their own accord to encourage Jonathon deeper.

Finally, Archer was seated as deeply within Reed's body as humanly possible. Taking a moment to stroke Malcolm's back and to bend forward for an awkward but sweet kiss with Tucker, he grasped Reed's hips and managed to growl out a warning, "Hang on, boys."

Jonathon's thrusts were at first slow and gentle, the captain taking note of which type of motions garnered the more intense reactions from the lover he was buried in. Once he gained confidence that Reed was actually enjoying the experience, Archer lost some of his restraint, hips swiveling at the deepest point of his thrust, searching for the sweet spot sure to send Malcolm over the edge.

Trip kept his eyes glued to Malcolm's face, mapping out each new sensation his partner was experiencing by the other man's expression. The two younger lovers' erections were pressed tightly together, Tucker's pelvic thrusts pushing Reed back into Archer's surges forward. Malcolm could only hold on to Trip's shoulders and ride out the experience.

The end, when it came, was a cascade effect.

Sandwiched between the more experienced men, Reed thought there wasn't a single sensual pleasure that these two men hadn't shown him. He was wrong. Archer's thrusts finally located the smaller man's prostate, his cock banging against it with every plunge. Malcolm was beyond vocalizing his gratification, his eyes simply rolled back in his head and his mouth opened in a silent scream of ecstacy. As Reed's orgasm hit him, Archer felt the smaller man's body clench around him, adding delicious tightness to the already vice-like effect of his ass. Archer threw his head back and trumpeted his own completion, hips beating a rapid staccato against Reed's as he filled the lieutenant with his seed.

The three lovers ended up a tired, sweaty, but utterly satiated pile in the middle of the bed.

Archer roused first, immediately turning to check on Malcolm. Seeing that Reed was already deeply asleep, he smiled fondly and brushed back Malcolm's sweaty hair to bestow a kiss on the tactical officer's forehead. Moving on to Tucker, he wasn't surprised to see the Southerner's bright gaze locked on him.

"I think he's down for the count, Trip," Jonathon apologized. "I'm sorry that I monopolized him. If you'd like, I'd be happy to take care of you…"

The engineer rolled over lazily. Archer immediately saw that there was more semen on the bed than one man could account for and that his friend's body was limp. *Entirely* limp. "Trip? You came? But you didn't get any…"

Tucker chuckled. "Don't worry about it Johnny, there was more than enough friction to go around." He snuggled closer to Malcolm, "Besides, I think I could have cum from the look on his face alone."

Jonathon made a quick detour into the bathroom, coming back with a wet towel. "I know what you mean, that was incredible. I've never seen anyone open up like that before." The captain quickly cleaned all three of them off before returning to the bed to curl up to Reed's other side. "It's a good thing we all have a late shift tomorrow, looks like Malcolm's dead to the world."

Tucker yawned. "I know how he feels. Next time, though, *I* get to be in the middle."

Knowing he'd been neatly manipulated, Archer simply agreed. Trip had certainly earned it.

Malcolm lay quietly and let his lovers believe that he was already asleep. It wasn't a conscious deception, as if he were spying on them to hear what they said about him when they thought he wasn't aware. Rather, he was savoring the moment. Despite Archer and Tucker's reassurances that a three-way relationship could work successfully, Malcolm knew better. It was too perfect; their union felt too good. Such perfection simply didn't happen to Malcolm Reed. That they'd wanted him at all was miracle enough; he wouldn't tempt fate by assuming it would continue. He'd eventually do *some*thing to screw it up or they'd realize that the third man in their relationship was inferior and move on to someone else. It hadn't escaped his notice that Archer and Tucker had talked more between the two of them than with him during the lovemaking session. But, while it lasted, he intended to treasure every moment, saving each experience like a gem—a hoard of happy memories to ward off the loneliness that would undoubtedly soon return.

Long after his two lovers had fallen off into slumber, Malcolm Reed remained awake, committing each sleep-soft breath into memory.