Title: BY THE DAWN'S EARLY LIGHT
Author/pseudonym: Candy Apple 
 Rating:  NC-27* ;-)
 Pairings: J/B

 Status: NEW
 Date: 7-30-98 
 Series/Sequel: Story 9 in the "New Beginnings" Series


 Disclaimers:   The beautiful men belong to Pet Fly and Paramount. 
I'm just letting them cut loose a little while the censors aren't looking. 
;-) No infringements intended.

 Notes: *The NC-27 started as a typo for #N#C#-1#7#.  Pumpkin, being the
sweet, shy lady she is, suggested I not correct it and go ahead and write
a story to fit the rating.  I did my best. ;-)

 Summary:   The morning after his first time, Blair wakes up with a
voracious appetite.

 Warnings: Love, romance, sticky stuff.  Some graphic m/m between
two guys who love each other.




BY THE DAWN'S EARLY LIGHT

by

Candy Apple



     Jim opened his eyes and smiled at the sight that greeted him. 
Curled on his side, facing away, Blair was still sleeping soundly.  They
had moved apart at some point during the night, though his lover's back
was still close enough to brush against the skin of Jim's shoulder each
time he breathed.

     The blanket had slid down to Blair's hip, probably his
subconscious attempt to cool down and dry off after their passionate
lovemaking the night before.  Unable to resist the temptation, Jim
carefully lifted the covers and moved them down past Blair's knees. 
While soft hair dusted his chest, stomach, groin and legs, the skin of
Blair's back, shoulders and buttocks was soft, satiny and smooth.  

     Jim smiled at the sight of a couple of passion marks on Blair's
neck.  Lifting the curls aside, he began kissing his way down the side of
Blair's neck and over his shoulder, his tongue snaking out to taste his
lover's skin.

     "Morning," Blair said sleepily, a smile in his voice.

     "Morning, sweetheart," Jim said softly, continuing to kiss his
way from Blair's shoulder to his side.  Abandoning his project for a
moment, he moved up near Blair's ear and whispered, "I love you."

     "Love you too," Blair responded, still smiling, but not moving.

     "How do you feel this morning?"  Jim asked, running his hand
gently up and down Blair's upper arm.

     "Like I had something enormous inside me last night," he
responded, his smile not fading.  

     "It doesn't hurt?"  Jim persisted.

     "I didn't say that," Blair admitted, laughing a little.   "But I kind
of...uh...like it."  Blair's face flushed hotly at the statement, and Jim
kissed a pink cheek.

     "You like feeling it in the morning, huh?  I'll have to keep that
in mind."  Jim was surprised at the aroused little groan and wriggle that
drew from Blair.  He took the cue and reached down to caress Blair's
ass. 

     "Jim...want you again."  Blair let his body lean back to chest
with Jim, trapping his lover's hand on his ass, long fingers teasing the
valley between his cheeks.  His whole body ached dully from their sex
the night before, and he knew his passage was tender and well-used
from the first encounter.  Still, the sensitivity made him tingle, and
there was something so delicious in the sensation that his cock was
hard and throbbing at the thought of Jim taking him again, making him
feel it for a good long time.

     "It's too soon," Jim objected weakly as Blair continued to writhe
on the bed in a decidedly erotic way, trying to impale himself on Jim's
teasing fingers.

     "Please?"  Rolling on his stomach, pulled his knees up under
himself and raised his ass high.  "I wanna try it this way."

     "God, me too, Chief," Jim responded, fumbling for the lube that
had ended up partially under the bed the night before.  He paused
briefly to inspect the opening to Blair's body.  He saw no trace of
blood, though the skin seemed a bit too pink.  "Tell me if it hurts.  Just
say the word and we stop."   Knowing Blair might be a little more sore
than he realized, Jim wanted his lover to feel free to back out of his
offer if the pain was serious and moved out of the realm of pleasure.

     Jim started coating Blair again, feeling a certain residual
slickness from the night before.  

     "Mmmmm, sensitive," Blair sighed.

     "Sensitive good or sensitive bad?"  Jim asked, concern evident
in his voice.

     "Sensitive like it sort of hurts, but it's so *intense*."  Blair thrust
back against the invading fingers.  "Come on, Jim.  Make me ride
home sitting on a pillow."  

     Something about Blair's words sent a shock of desire and need
through Jim's body.  He coated himself quickly and in one long, smooth
stroke, sank into Blair's body to the hilt.  Blair let out a broken moan
that was both pleasure and pain, but soon wriggled his ass and thrust
against Jim to get him moving.

     Beyond much capability for logical thought, Jim took the cue,
thrusting deeply into the waiting body, angling to hit Blair's prostate. 
The younger man screamed and raised up to hold onto the headboard
of the bed.  

     "Come on, Jim, hard...fuck me *hard*."

     "Hang on, baby," Jim growled into Blair's ear.  His next thrust
vibrated the other man's entire body, ending in a dizzying impact
against his prostate.  That was followed by another and another until
Blair was screaming with each one, sweat pouring down his back, his
hands clutching frantically at the headboard for support.  In the midst
of all the passion, Jim tuned every bit of his sensory attention to Blair's
tight passage, tempering the risks of a zone-out with his concentration
on Blair's internal tissue, gauging the force of his movements to give
Blair the stimulation he craved without tearing him.   As wonderful as
the feeling of complete abandonment was, it would be worth nothing if
it left Blair damaged when it was over.

     Jim changed his angle and drove deeper, making his thrusts
rapid and strong.  He couldn't remember ever cutting loose like this
during sex, and he gave in to a series of shouts and moans as he
claimed his mate with a primal lust he'd restrained during their first
time the night before...maybe it had been restrained all his life. 

     "Ugh...ugh...ugh...yeah...ooohhhh...ooooh...mmmm...yeah..." 
Blair kept moving with Jim, goading him with grunts of pleasure and
the occasional uncontrollable scream of ecstasy with the especially
hard strokes hitting his prostate. 

     "God...Blair...so good...love you," Jim managed, not really
thinking coherently, but wanting to thank his lover for the best sex he
could ever remember having in his life. 

     "Jim...I...I'm..."  was all Blair managed before spurting his seed
all over the headboard and the bed with a few wild screams.  Dragged
to the edge by Blair's spasming passage, Jim's pace became even more
rapid as he finished and hit a shattering climax, filling his lover as he
let out a cry of completion that was a half scream, half howl.

     He slumped bonelessly on top of Blair, flattening him to the
mattress.  Coming to his senses marginally, some part of his brain
suggested that perhaps he was crushing the air out of the smaller body
under him.

     "Blair?  Baby, can you breathe?"

     "Ungh."

     Jim found himself smiling at the inarticulate response.  He
thought of making some joke about doing this sooner if he'd known it
would leave Sandburg speechless, but decided jokes should wait for
another time.

     "What does 'ungh' mean, sweetheart?"  Jim asked, kissing
Blair's ear, which was the only thing he could reach without effort at
the moment.

     "Oh God," Blair breathed.

     "Are you okay, baby?"  Jim raised up a little, suddenly afraid
he'd done some damage he didn't detect by riding Blair that hard so
early in their sexual relationship.

     "I don't think I'll ever come again.  I used it all up," he opined,
breathless.

     "Did I hurt you?  God, Blair, I should have never cut loose with
you like that."

     "It was...so good," Blair responded, shocking Jim by contracting
his internal muscles to squeeze the softened cock still resting in the
tight passage.  "Oh man.  I won't be able to sit down for a week, but it
was *so good*.  So...*intense*.  Besides, I know you'd never do
anything that would really hurt me."

     "I'm just worried what you're going to feel like when the
euphoria wears off."

     "You said something to Simon about the euphoria being worth
the reality?  Well, I just have to pay the piper for a few days.  I love
having you in me."  Blair contracted his inner muscles again.

     "If you keep doing that, you're going to get more than you
bargained for, sweetheart."

     "You good to go again, man?"  Blair asked, laughing a little.

     "In a couple hours.  Right now, if a gang of armed felons broke
in, they'd have to just shoot me.  I couldn't move fast if I had to."  Jim
started shifting and began to pull out.

     "Ow."  It was a stifled little word.

     "Hold onto my hand, baby.  Squeeze tight and relax as much as
you can."  Jim pulled out slowly, drawing a little groan from Blair. 
They turned on their sides, facing each other, and Jim gathered his
lover tightly in his arms.  "That was the most incredible experience of
my life, Blair.  I never felt anything like it."

     "Feels good to let go sometimes, huh?"  Blair accurately
assessed, running his hand lightly up and down Jim's back.

     "How'd you know?"  Jim was referring to Blair's uncanny way
of knowing just what he felt, what drove his actions.  But he found and
impish grin on Blair's face when he looked down at his lover.

     "How do I *know*?  Uh, Jim, trust me, I know."

     "You loved it," Jim stated, grabbing two handfuls of Blair's ass
and rolling onto his back so Blair lay atop him.  He continued to
massage the soft flesh under his hands, smiling as Blair spread his legs
to straddle Jim's body, rising up and bracing his hands on the mattress
on either side of Jim's shoulders, rocking so that their cocks slid
together in the remnants of their sex.  "Oh, yeah, babe, move for me
like that," Jim gasped, watching the naked, sweat-sheened body
undulate as the friction brought his spent cock back to a new and
vigorous life.

     After such an explosive orgasm that morning, building to a
second one was a long project, but both men patiently rocked together,
unabashedly enjoying each other, grunting with the pleasurable
sensations.  The pace eventually became more frenzied, as Jim's second
climax ripped through him, and Blair followed shortly, thrusting hard a
few times in the slickness until he stiffened and came.  He collapsed on
Jim, whose tired arms came up around him.

     Exhausted, spent and sated, they slept.

********

     When Blair opened his eyes again, he briefly questioned his
sanity for goading the wild encounter that had started their morning.
//Gotta start working out more.  Can't decide what feels worse--my
back or my asshole.// He shifted a little. //Ooh yeah, I just decided. 
Forget the gym.  The back I can deal with...//

     He gave up on moving and rested against Jim's chest, listening
to the steady beat of his mate's heart.  Hearing Jim scream out his
pleasure, seeing him let go so completely was worth a little pain.  And
Blair telling himself that the whole thing had been an unselfish plan to
please Jim alone made him laugh at himself.  He'd awakened so horny
that morning he couldn't have lived through the day without jumping
Jim's bones.  Multiple times.

     "Hey," Jim's tired voice rose to Blair's foggy brain.

     "Hey yourself," he responded. //That was poetic.//

     "Well, if that last round killed us, at least we're in heaven," Jim
said through a yawn, patting Blair's butt.  Blair let out a pleased little
murmur.  "Not again, Darwin.  I want to live to see our next vacation." 
He caressed the smooth skin of Blair's buttocks as he spoke.

     "Then you're gonna have to stop doing that, man."  Blair
laughed a little as he spoke.

     "Sorry."  Jim moved his hands up to Blair's back.  "I guess my
brain's saying one thing and my hands have minds of their own.  Plus, I
think I just discovered your magic erogenous zone."  He punctuated the
statement with another little pat to Blair's butt before returning his
hands to his lover's back.

     "No need to be sorry.  But I'm not ready for another round
either."  Blair yawned widely and sighed.  "I'm sore in places I didn't
know I had."

     "I'm s--" Jim was cut off by a gentle hand over his mouth.

     "No apologies.  I loved every second of this vacation, including
every moment of this morning.  Anything I got, I asked for, and I loved
it."  Blair moved his hand.  "When we get home, I'll return the favor," 
he whispered hotly against Jim's ear, then kissed it.

     "Think our neighbors are ready to be kept awake by insane
screams of passion all hours?"

     "Guess we'll have to bite on something if we get too noisy." 
With that, Blair licked a patch of flesh on Jim's neck and then fastened
his mouth on it, sucking hard.  

     "I married a vampire," Jim opined as Blair pulled back.  

     "Married?  When did we have the wedding?"

     "You want an official wedding?"  Jim cuddled Blair close,
kissing his forehead.

     "Not an *official* one.  We can't have that anyway."

     "I meant like a specific date and time and a guest list and all
that."

     "You had that with Carolyn, right?"

     "You're not Carolyn, sweetheart.  Anything you want is yours
for the asking.  You know that.  If you want to get married in the lobby
of the Cascade PD on lunch hour, just say so."

     "You mean that, don't you?"  Blair raised up to look Jim in the
eyes.

     "You still don't know how much I love you, do you?  Even this
morning, with all the frenzy and the craziness and the screaming and
bed-bouncing--it was all about love.  I never fucked you, Blair.  I might
have made rough love to you, but it was all love."  Jim caressed the
tousled hair framing Blair's face.  "Tell me what kind of wedding you
want."

     "I want us to go out on the beach and make vows from the heart
that we'll keep for the rest of our life, and then I want to go home and
live that life together.  Maybe we can have a bunch of our friends over
for dinner--the ones who know and still like us anyway," Blair added,
smiling.

     "What about a ceremony?"

     "That's still a ceremony, Jim."

     "You're the anthropologist.  I guess I'll have to take your word
for it."  Jim planted a kiss on Blair's lips.

     "Big events with guest lists and caterers and fancy suits just
about make you cringe, right?"  Blair looked purposefully into Jim's
eyes.  "Be honest."

     "Yeah, cringe is putting it mildly."

     "And you're a private person, so all this public profession of
love and doing something immensely intimate in front of a bunch of
people isn't your idea of a good time either."

     "You know, Sandburg, you're welcome in my body anytime, but
I wish to God you'd ask for an invitation before you crawl inside my
head."  Jim smiled and kissed the end of Blair's nose.  "What about
you?"

     "Hey, man, as long as *you're* there, I'll be happy."

     "Why do you love me?"  Jim asked, his face serious.

     "Why...?  I don't understand the question," Blair responded,
smiling a little.

     "You could do so much better, sweetheart."

     "Someday, Ellison, we're going to get that self-esteem up there
somewhere near where it belongs."  Blair slumped back down against
Jim, snuggling close.  "I love you because you're more than I ever
dreamed I could have, because of the way you love me, because you're
my soulmate and my best friend.  You're a sex maniac with a killer
body..."  Blair paused while Jim laughed.  "Jim," Blair began, serious
again as he laced his fingers on Jim's chest and rested his chin on top of
them, "if this were fishing, you'd be the catch I got my picture taken
with.  The big fish.  Like the 'one that got away', only I was smart
enough to have my net handy."

     "Let's take a shower and go for a walk on the beach,
sweetheart."  Jim smiled, moist-eyed and speechless.  "I love you."

     "I love you too."  Blair smiled widely.  

********

     After a long shared shower and a hearty breakfast of eggs, toast
and coffee on the deck, the two men set out hand-in-hand for the beach. 
Attending his wedding in a tank shirt and shorts seemed like a slice of
heaven to Jim.  The last time he'd promised forever, he'd been trussed
up like a Christmas goose in a butcher shop window, spending more
time looking forward to getting rid of the vise-like collar of his dress
shirt than to ravishing his bride. //Maybe that should have been a sign
something wasn't right, Einstein,// he reprimanded himself.

     Blair, in a similar attire, his hair tied back loosely to keep it out
of his eyes in the light summer breeze, was more stunning to him than
any overdressed prospective mate could have been.  

     When they were close to the shoreline, Blair stopped and turned
to face his lover.

     "I made a promise to myself when I realized I was getting a
second chance at life that I would make the most of it.  To me, this is
the first step in keeping that promise.  Jim, you're everything to me. 
You're my favorite person, the center of my life.  Every time I look at
you, I'm just...stunned that I *have* you.  I know things won't be easy
for us, but I promise you that I'll be by your side no matter what
happens, for the rest of our lives, and beyond.  I don't care how rough
things get.  And loving you is always going to be the most important
thing in my life.  I'll do my best to make you happy, and I'll always be
on your side.  I love you, Jim.  Forever."

     Jim raised the hands he'd been holding to his lips and kissed
both of them.

     "When I thought I'd lost you, I lost my heart, my soul, my will
to live.  In those terrible moments I thought you were gone, I wanted to
follow.  You've made me promise now that I won't ever do that, but if I
lost you, Blair, I'd lose everything I am, and everything I care about.  I'll
spend my life trying to make you happy, trying to shower you with
even a little bit of the love I've never been too good at showing you. 
It'll only be you, forever, and nothing will ever take precedence over
you.  I'll be by your side no matter what happens, to be your blessed
protector, your lover, or just your best friend.  Your my partner for life
and beyond, Blair.  And I want to share a long, happy eternity with you,
if you can stand me that long."

     "Try and shake me now, man," Blair responded, smiling as a
couple of tears slid down his cheeks.  

     "We don't have rings."

     "I got it covered."  Blair pulled a small box out of the pocket of
his shorts.

     "You have rings?"

     "Well, when I went on that errand to the store with Megan--you
know, before you thought I was healthy enough to go by myself?" 
Blair teased.  "I asked her to take me to the jewelry store instead.  If
you don't like them, it's okay.  I totally understand."

     "I'm sure they're as perfect as you are," Jim responded, kissing
away a tear on Blair's cheek. 

     "I hope you like them."  Blair opened the box.  Inside were two
very simple, plain gold bands.  Exact matches except for the ring sizes. 
"I borrowed your old college ring for the sizing.  You tried it on last
year, remember, and it still fit?"

     "If you start using your powers for evil, God help me," Jim
quipped, smiling.

     "Jim, with this ring, I promise you forever."  Blair took the ring
out of the box and slid it on Jim's left ring finger as the other man
offered his hand.  Taking the box, Jim pulled the remaining ring out as
Blair offered his hand.

     "Blair, with this ring, I promise you forever."  Jim slid the ring
into place, then kissed it on the finger that wore it.

     "Is this the part where we get to kiss until we pass out?"  Blair
asked.

     "Oh yeah.  No spectators, remember?"  Jim slid his arms around
Blair and swooped down on him as the other man's arms wound tightly
around him.  The only witnesses to the sealing of this eternal union
were a few seagulls, crying out their congratulations as they flew above
the perfect blue water.

********

That's it for the moment...stay tuned :-)