By Anam71

October 2000

NC-17 for m/m sex and some angst.

A romance featuring Benny and Classic Ray.

Disclaimer: I don't own the Mountie and I don't own the cop, and my life sucks.

E-mail me at: Anam71@aol.com

Visit my Website: http://hometown.aol.com/anam71/AnamArtGallery.html

Stranger, if you passing meet me and

desire to speak to me, why should

you not speak to me?

And why should I not speak to you?

-from 'To You' by Walt Whitman (1819-1892).

It was going to be another lazy Saturday morning as Fraser could tell upon waking in his narrow bed. He had never slept in so late before, even on a weekend morning, but lately he was doing quite a number of things he had never done before.

Fraser stared at the ceiling in quiet contemplation. He should really get up now, knowing he can't waste the whole day simply lying here in bed like an old log. He should make himself useful.

Fraser turned quietly onto his side to stare at sleeping lover. It was unavoidable.

The window blinds, which were down, filled the small room with the sunny yellow color of the inside of a peach, and it was this globe of light that had an amazing affect on Ray's lean body.

Ray lay on his stomach with his mouth slightly parted, a naked idol of glowing amber carved and molded from warm bronze. A slender hand was resting on a pillow near his sleeping face, scented with their lovemaking of last night.

Fraser studied the sculpture breathing besides him, his pale finger now tracing the angular curves of Ray's nose and cheekbones. He then outlined the thin, soft lips, and slipped his finger inside that generous mouth, feeling the wet heat and velvet tongue. Ray grimaced suddenly, spat out Fraser's finger, and mumbled something about parking violations in his deep sleep.

Fraser tried hard not to laugh at his friend's unconscious reaction; Ray usually enjoyed sucking his fingers, including other appendages.

He knew he should leave Ray alone and let the poor cop sleep, but his growing erection was pointing him in a different direction. Besides, it was getting very late and Ray should really wake up.

Fraser lifted himself up and began kissing down the narrow length of Ray's back, stroking the warm skin with imploring hands, molding and kneading the two perfect mounds of that perfect ass.

The Italian started to shift and moan under the caresses of Fraser's mouth and tongue, and if Ray were actually a cat, he would be purring.

"Umph... that better not be you, Dief."

"No, I'm afraid it's only me, Ray."

"Sometimes it's hard to tell the difference, ya know? With all that wet slobbering and that cold nose of yours."

"Oh, really?" Fraser bit a small, fleshy patch of his lover's back and Ray whimpered into the pillow. He then proceeded to lick his friend's small hurt with some sympathy.

"Acck! Benny!" Ray gasped.

"I think you're right, Ray," Fraser growled. "It's hard to tell the difference."

Fraser then moved forward, placing his body gingerly over the entire length of his lover, his chest pressing firmly against that long, smooth back. Holding on tight to the small hips, Fraser instantly flipped their bodies over, and Ray was now on top of him, breathless and surprised.

"Whoa! Damn it, Frasier! We're not acrobats in a circus!"

Ray weighed practically nothing against his chest and Fraser kissed the nape of his lover's endless neck. "I wouldn't say that, Ray. Last night you exhibited some highly coordinated moves."

Fraser stroked up and down that slim body with his hands, feeling the sharp curves of those hips, the slight swell of a belly, the tender buds of Ray's nipples, and the soft fleece over a beating heart.

"Oh God, Benny. Ummm..." Ray stretched himself against the body underneath; his friend's hardness was now searing the small of his back like a red-hot poker.

Ray's head flung back in agony, his mouth pressed against Fraser's temple, and the Mountie turned and whispered into his ear: "Ray, you are so beautiful, you should watch what I do to you."

"Ah, Benny! Jeez!"

It didn't take too much mushy bedroom talk to embarrass him, but Ray obeyed his friend, and lifting his head, he looked down mesmerized as Fraser's hands worked him over, exploring and stimulating every inch of his flushed skin.

The two men watched silently as Ray's cock gradually filled up, becoming erect and towering high over both of them, dark and dusky with Ray's blood.

"It's almost like watching a sunrise, Ray. Hmmm."

And with that simple statement, Fraser grabbed Ray's cock with both of his hands, stroking and squeezing the burning rod within his grasp.

Ray cried out at the sudden contact and arched his pelvis upward. He shuddered now, watching wide-eyed as Fraser began to pump him hard, those large white hands a great contrast against his burgundy cock. Oddly, it looked as if he was jerking himself off, but with foreign hands way too large for his frame.

"Oh fuck, Benny! Oh!"

Ray was now bucking and writhing on top of Fraser, driving himself home into his lovers hands, and the Mountie whispered once again into his ear: "I can't wait until you come, Ray. Do not make me wait."

That entirely undid him and Ray now poured hot semen from his body, uttering a wild and sobbing shriek that pierced all other sounds, soared, and sank to nothing.

Fraser responded quickly by thrusting several times into Ray's narrow back, and he came hard against his lover, crying out wordlessly. He then dropped back onto the bed, taking Ray down with him, his spent body now motionless.

They lay still for several minutes, sharing each other's silence, and Fraser then eased the limp body gently off and on to the side of the bed that was still dry.

Ray was dazed and smiling at him, wet and sticky on either side of his body, but he didn't care.

"I love ya, Benny."

Fraser gazed at the man by his side with wonder.

It was one of those moments where it seemed to him that Ray was no one's, not even his own, but possessed solely by the demon of pleasure, a fearless creature of fire.

Ray was now snuggling up against the sheltering curve of his lover's body, his hazel eyes fluttering close.

"Um, Ray?" Fraser was shaking the prone body. "Tell me you are not going to sleep again?"

"I'm not going to sleep again, Benny."

"I'll make you some coffee. Would you like that, Ray?"

"Ummm." Ray moaned softly in answer as he drifted off into post-coital dreamland.

"Ray?"

Fraser frowned and climbed out of bed, leaving the sleeping man to fend for himself.

<><><><>

It was very late in the afternoon by the time both men had stumbled out of bed, showered, and dressed. The winter sun was now beginning to settle beneath the sky as they climbed into the Riv.

Fraser suppressed a sigh and strapped himself in. His hard core Mountie instincts were telling him it was a waste of time to spend the whole morning and most of the afternoon in bed. He tried very hard to swallow his irritability. He couldn't help it.

He was programmed.

Ray, on the other hand, all suited up now and full of caffeine, had a wide, flashing grin on his face and a twinkle in his eye. He drove about Chicago chatting idly and going through red lights and stupid stop signs clearly not meant for him.

Ray smiled to himself; there was nothing more wonderful than staying the whole day in bed. He knew it was bothering Benny: the Mountie seemed to think that every minute must be accounted for by purposeful activity.

Getting laid seemed purposeful enough for him, but sleeping away or just lying on your back staring dumbly at the ceiling was a big 'no-no' in Fraser's book. To him it was a waste of 'time.'

What's the point? They were in Chicago now. It's not like they have to wake up at the crack of dawn to split logs and feed the troops.

*It's a waste of time, Ray.*

Ray saw 'time' as an arbitrary standard ruthlessly forced upon him and all humans, to remind him that he was getting old and he was late for work again. It was a pleasure for him to shit-can 'time' and ignore it, at least on a weekend morning.

It was only another small difference between Benny and him. They'll get use to it, they'll get over it, they'll move on.

They always do.

But lately they have been discovering a lot of little differences. It was only natural, right?

Before they became lovers, he new they had their differences, but that's why they worked so well together. Both men compensated for each other weaknesses. It was really a good deal.

When they became more intimate, those nagging, little differences seem to crop up suddenly, and in higher numbers.

*Of course it would, you idiot!* Ray reminded himself, trying to squash all of his doubts, his near panic at fragile beginnings.

They were brand new lovers.

Not only was he allowed the freedom to explore Benny's body, but Benny the man. His lover actually had a sense of wicked humor, although a little offbeat, but he was Canadian.

Benny can also be passionate and a little wild in bed. This was a little surprising to him; he thought his friend would be a chunk of ice, but all he really needed was some encouragement and understanding.

That's okay with him, some people need a little shove before they hop off the cliff.

Ray looked at his friend again. Benny seemed a little sullen, and maybe a little sulky. Hell, he was cute that way, and what the man needed now was a good meal, the Italian cure.

"Hey, Benny, where do you want go to eat?"

"Anyplace is fine with me, Ray." Fraser was staring out the window, watching the cityscape past by him. He wasn't in a talkative mood this evening.

"Benny, I chose the place last time. It's your turn now, okay?"

"I was not aware we were taking turns choosing where we should dine."

"Well, it's nothing set in stone. I just wanna be fair, ya know? I chose the last time."

"Anyplace is fine with me. It really doesn't matter."

Ray stiffened in his driver's seat, overanalyzing those last words. To him, Fraser was now being a little more than sulky. The man was having a hissy fit.

"Well, it matters to me, Fraser. We're going out to eat and to spend some time together, and that matters to me."

"I didn't mean it that way, Ray. I'm only saying that I'm not particular tonight. Are you telling me you don't think the time we spend together actually matters to me?"

"Oh, no you don't! You are not going to twist the conversation around again. You always do that, and I turn out looking like the bad guy and you're the holy saint."

"Ray, that's absurd. I'm not twisting the conversation around, I am simply stating the fact that we..."

"Chinese!"

"What?"

"Tonight we're going Chinese."

"Ray..."

"We'll go to Mr. Lee's place. We saved his kid, right? So maybe he'll throw in a free egg roll." Ray nodded his head; his decision was final.

Fraser folded his arms. "Chinese it is."

"Good."

"But I'm not hungry, Ray."

"What?" Ray was now glaring at him.

"I said I'm not hungry, but that doesn't mean you can't eat."

Ray hissed under his breath, "So, I'll be eating by myself like a fool."

"Not by yourself, Ray. I'll be there, but I won't be eating, that's all."

"I'm going to look like a fool eating there all by myself with my chopsticks and you just sitting there staring at me."

"Not simply staring at you, Ray, I'll be talking to you, too."

"Oh great!"

"What is that suppose to mean?"

"Nothing, Fraser."

"It must have meant something, otherwise you wouldn't have said it."

"Of course it would! Jeez!"

"Ray? What on earth do you mean?"

"I guess it means yet another lecture from you."

"Another lecture?"

"Forget it, Benny. Let's just go home, okay? Since you're not hungry, then what's the point? I'll just take ya back home to your rat trap."

"That is absolutely fine with me, Ray."

"So, Fraser, do you want me to stay?"

"I beg your pardon?"

"Do you want me to be with you tonight?"

Fraser was just a little too slow in his response by a fraction of a second, and Ray already assumed his answer.

"Fine, Benny. I'll just go home and see Ma. She'll be happy to see me, unlike some *other* people."

Fraser was dead silent; not taking the fresh bait Ray had tossed out to him. He just wanted to go home and have some time to think. To analyze the situation he and Ray was in.

Ray made a quick U-turn, cutting off only one car this time as they headed for West Racine. At this point, Fraser would have commented on Ray's disregard for his fellow commuters. Instead, the Mountie stared straight ahead and had his arms folded tight against his chest.

Ray glanced at him. The man beside him seemed to be pulling sentry duty in the passenger seat.

The drive home to Fraser's home seemed to take an eternity, and the silence stretched out to a millenium. This was probably the most unpleasant drive Fraser had ever experienced, and he couldn't wait until he...

"Holy shit!" Ray yelled out and slammed his brakes hard, the classic car lurching violently forward. Ray threw out his arm over Fraser's chest to keep the man from slamming into the dashboard.

"Ray!"

"Look, Fraser!"

It was a typical Saturday night scene in downtown Chicago: a mugging of an elderly, defenseless man by two young kids.

Fraser was out the Riv before Ray could take his next breath.

Ray cursed under that breath, jumped out of his car, and stopped dead in his tracks when he saw one of the perpetrators whip out a gun, yelling at Fraser to get down onto the ground.

Ray automatically went for his weapon, and he shouted out his customary line: "Stop! Police!"

"I don't think so!" The kid pointed his gun to Fraser's lower back and Ray groaned. A wave of fear poured through him, numbing all his limbs, flitted with images of a train station platform.

It was no contest and Ray lowered his firearm without a second thought. The Canadian certainly did not need another bullet in his spine because of him.

"Is this a fucking cop, too?" The punk gestured towards Fraser's prone direction, getting too close to his quiet friend who was now staring up at him with remorse, waiting for his next signal.

Ray flashed him his 'shut the hell up' face, and Fraser winced.

"A cop? Are you kidding me? He's some dumb shmuck I arrested for disturbing the peace. He knows shit." Ray placed his gun slowly on the ground and he got down to his belly, getting eye-level with Fraser.

"What's with his fucking hat?" The other punk pointed to the stetson on Fraser's head.

"I dunno, okay? I said he was a dumb shumck. Anybody wearing a fucking hat like that is probably on drugs."

"Hey? Why ain't he cuffed?"

Ray swallowed hard. *Oh God* They were way too close to Fraser now. The two kids were almost on top of him.

"Because he's harmless enough, but that's really none of your goddamn business, so why don't you just fuck off!"

"How ya like I blow your fucking brains out!?"

"Fuck you!" Ray screamed, and he saw two pairs of battered sneakers quickly approach him and away from Fraser.

*Good.*

The cold end of a barrel was now pressed into the back of his head and a nervous hand was digging around for his wallet.

"What did ya say to me? Huh, asshole?"

Ray closed his eyes very tight. There was no way was he going to watch his brains splatter on the pavement a split second before he was taken into his Lord's bountiful bosom.

Damn, this was really his fault, him and his *big* mouth. He was now going to have his head blown off, and he hoped Benny had enough common sense not to watch, and enough courage to deal with it later on.

There was a tense interval of dead silence and decision making.

"Fuck! Thirty bucks ain't worth all this dumb shit."

"Come on!"

And there was silence all around him. *Well? Was he shot in the head? Was he dead? That wasn't so bad. There was no pain, and he felt okay. Go figure.*

"Ray?"

*Benny?*

"Ray? It's me."

*Benny! Oh Shit! Was he dead too?*

"Ray? It's all right. They're gone now. Ray?"

Ray lifted his head slowly, and peeked around at the tall, twilight city buildings, at the gray pavement and the stars in the sky, and at the 'no right turn on red' sign on the street corner. He was now looking into Fraser's pale face and his anxious, blue eyes.

*I'm not dead.*

"Benny? Are you all right?"

"Ray, it's okay now. They just ran off."

Ray lifted himself off the cold pavement cautiously, and he was now on his knees with Fraser's hand very tight on his arm. His heart was still pounding fast, almost choking him.

*Fraser was here?*

"Those assholes! Why didn't you go after them, Benny?"

"I wanted to stay here with you, to make sure you were all right."

"Oh."

The Mountie helped Ray up to his feet, and the detective stood, swaying lightly on shaky legs. Fraser tightened his grip on the man's arms.

"Ray?"

Ray dodged the sorrowful plea from his friend. "Hey, Fraser, is that guy okay?"

He pointed to the old man curled up in a little ball on the pavement, and Fraser reluctantly pulled away and stepped over to the prone figure.

"Excuse me, sir? Are you hurt? Are you all right?"

"I'm fine now. Um, are they gone?" The man glanced around furtively.

"Yes, sir. They seem to have fled. Are you sure you're not hurt?"

"No, just banged up a bit. I'll be okay."

"We can take you to the hospital if you wish."

"No! I said I'm all right." The man scrambled to his feet and sidled off. "I only want to go home. Thank you for your help."

"Excuse me, sir? Do you want to give a statement?"

The old man shook his head emphatically.

And so did Ray.

Fraser turned to the experienced cop. "Should we file a police report, Ray?"

"Benny, he doesn't want to give a statement and we can't force him to give one. If he doesn't want to file charges, then we can do nothing else for him tonight. Just let him loose, okay?"

"Um, you are free to go, sir. I do advise you to be careful when you walk the streets at night. Chicago can be a very daunting city, so I suggest you bring a buddy."

*Shit.* Ray laughed quietly at this one. *Only you can prevent forest fires.*

"Can I leave now?" The elderly man pleaded to Ray, wringing his hands in pain from Fraser's lecture. He only wanted to buy a carton of cigarettes.

"Yeah, yeah. You can go," Ray waved him away. "Don't you forget my friend's advice."

"Thank you." The man gestured to them both, "Hmm? The two of you put together make one very good person."

The old stranger then turned and walked away, ready to get on with his life and get his smokes before we was hit with another sermon from the tall guy wearing the hat.

Ray shrugged and turned to the Riv by the curb, her engine still running. He picked up what was left of his wallet from the ground, lamenting his bad luck.

"Come on, Benny. I promised to take you home."

Fraser stood there motionless, staring at the old man's retreating back with serious interest.

"Uh, Benny? You still here?"

Fraser blinked at him. "Excuse me?"

"I said I'm taking you home, Fraser."

"Are we going to the precinct?"

"Nah. It was only thirty bucks and I still have my wallet, and that guy we helped didn't seem to care anyway." Ray sighed wearily, "Besides, I don't think I can deal with all the paperwork tonight."

Ray leaned against the Riv for support, the cold steel a comfort to his body. "Definitely not tonight, Fraser."

<><><><>

The car pulled up to the curve and Ray turned gravely to the Mountie. "Well, Benny, I'm sorry for a thoroughly shitty evening."

The looming dilapidated apartment building made him more depressed, reminding him of the darker side of Chicago, making it very hard for him to breathe. Ray wanted to escape. He needed oxygen. "Look, I'll just drop by tomorrow and see how you're doing, okay?"

"Ray, I really need you to come up with me."

Ray groaned and rested his forehead on the steering wheel, shaking his head very slowly from side to side. "Come on, Benny. We had a bad night. You need to get some rest, and I need to..."

"Please, Ray, you don't understand how much I need to be with you. Please."

"You need to get rest." Ray's voice was resolute this time, his back curled tight as he looked at him fiercely. "I--have--to--go."

Fraser climbed out of the Riv in defeat.

"I'll see ya, Benny," Ray called out absently, and the classic car vaporized into the night.

Fraser stood momentarily on the hard pavement, blinking at his loss.

He entered his small apartment and was greeted by his companion Dief, who peek past his legs in search for his other half, the lean provider of donuts, the noisy one with no hair.

*Whine*

"Ray had to go home, Diefenbaker. He has family."

The wolf grumbled his disapproval.

"Fine, be that way." Fraser stepped into the kitchen and placed the kettle on the open flame. Outside some drunks were yelling obscenities in the street. He was glad of them.

"Sulking will not bring him back."

*I can't take the pain he leaves when he goes away.*

He sighed and shook his head at the wolf. They deserved each other alone on an ice floe.

"I guess I need to feed you, am I correct?"

Fraser scratched the furry lupine head and he went about the lonely task of heating up stew in a pot, reminding him sadly of his pre-Ray days.

Dief decided to remind him too. *Whine*

"Oh, don't you start." Fraser admonished the wolf, and maybe himself as well.

The kettle screamed and he splashed boiling water into his cup. The drunks now sang on the street in harmony. He felt sick all over.

"Oh God, he drives me absolutely crazy."

*Whine*

"I was not referring to you, Diefenbaker."

The wolf trotted away in a huff not quite believing the alpha male, his feral feelings deeply hurt.

"Why is this my life?" Fraser asked miserably.

His eyes widened.

Did not Ray always ask that of himself, and of him, his best friend and lover, Benton Fraser?

The things Ray did for him. He remembered how he had seen Ray approach him when he was pulling his very first sentry watch at the consulate. The slender man was full of apologies, complaints, and the names of dentists who killed for sport. Ray had come back to him that first time a stranger, as it seemed he had meant him to do.

And Ray kept coming back to him, a friend and a lover, and Fraser knew he must pine for all this, for Ray's return.

His door now opened and Ray slipped in quietly, looking at him with grief.

"Ray?" Fraser was stunned.

Ray was a sorcerer.

"Hey."

Ray removed his overcoat without a word, and he loosened his tie. He scratched Dief on the head and walked into the kitchen, staring at the simmering pot with curiosity.

"Ray?"

"Hmm?"

"Why are you here?"

"I had an epiphany."

"Ray?"

"I realized I don't want to be anyplace else."

Ray turned him around and kissed his forehead. "Oh, Benny. My Benny." Ray kissed his eyelids, his nose, and then his mouth. He sniffed the air. "Stew?"

Fraser nodded and shrugged in despair. "It's leftovers."

"You were hungry after all, weren't you?" Ray ruffled his hair playfully. "Were you that angry at me? Hum?"

"I'm sorry, Ray."

Ray kissed his cheek, and then his throat, lingering there silently on his skin. "Get undressed and go to the bed, Benny, okay?"

"But, Ray..." Fraser moaned as Ray's breath tickled his flesh, making all his hair stand up as if he had been charged with electricity.

"Do what I say," Ray warned him sternly. "I won't let you eat unless you're naked."

Ray kissed his other cheek and gave him a gentle, little shove. "Bed."

Fraser stumbled away in a daze and he tried to slow his breathing: Ray was here?

The inside of his body pulsed and moved as he realized his good fortune and his near misfortune.

Chicago can be horrible with its throng of people, the teeming streets, the misdirections and falsehoods--all like a nightmare. It was safe here, in his apartment, alone in the dark with Ray.

Ray made his own crazy sense.

Before he could circumnavigate to the bed the whole of his past jolted right before him.

Fraser saw the tedious length of days, and the black-cold chambers of his nights. He saw his aloneness and solitude and the passage of age, of which he had never really contemplated before. He saw pristine snow and his silent winters, and the natural sterility of it all.

It seemed he had lived years and years as if awaiting rescue, for the imminent arrival of Ray Vecchio.

Immediately, Fraser felt two slender hands on his waist, holding him up and steering him to his bed, yet another rescue by his best friend and lover.

"You okay, Benny? Just lie down, will ya?"

"Ray. I just don't..."

"Yeah, yeah. Take off your pants." Ray proceeded to remove Fraser's clothing, grappling with the denims. The cop mumbled to himself as he pulled down the starched boxers. "Ah, much better."

The Mountie was put to bed.

"There you go, Benny. Now stay, and don't you dare move a muscle." Ray gazed at the pale cock adoringly as he uttered those last few words, and he opened his mouth again to say something obviously clever, but decided against it.

Ray shook his head dismally and stepped into the kitchen. "So what ya got cooking here, Benny?"

Fraser lay on the mattress waiting, listening intently to his lover's clamor, his throbbing cock now wrestling with the sheets. There was the banging and clanking of a pot on the stove, the opening and closing of an oven door, then the refrigerator door, and finally an exclamation of total disgust: "Go away, furball!"

*Whine*

"Jeez! What kinda wolf are you, anyway?"

*Growl*

"Oooh! I'm so scared of the big bad wolf. Yeah, right. Get outta my way."

After much commotion between man and beast, Ray finally appeared out of thin air, a warm pot of stew in his hand, a plate of biscuits in the other, and he was miraculously naked.

"Hey, Fraser! You better sit up if ya want to eat. I don't want to do the Hiemlich maneuver on you again."

Fraser sat up with a smirk, thinking of the close proximity of a certain portion of Ray's anatomy if he had to do such an emergency procedure on him.

Ray frowned at him, reading his thoughts exactly. They had enough danger for one night. He settled himself by Fraser's side against the pillows, their legs now linking and intertwining.

Ray pressed his lips against the Mountie's ear, and he whispered seductively, and dangerously, "Open wide, Benny. Do it for me, baby."

Fraser then got a mouthful of stew. He ate and swallowed hard, staring at Ray the whole entire time, his cock twitching under the plate of biscuits in his lap.

"Hmm, this shit ain't so bad." Ray chewed and shoved another spoonful into his mouth.

"I'm so glad you approve, Ray."

Dief whined pitifully and Ray hurled a biscuit at him.

"Did you get this stuff from a can, or did you make it yourself?"

"I made it myself, Ray, from scratch."

"You did?" Ray squealed with paternal pride.

Fraser blushed and looked away. "Um, yes."

"So, Benny boy, here you were, at your table, cutting potatoes and carrots all by yourself? Oh God, I bet you looked so cute doing it, all domestic and sexy. I hate it when you hide the cute shit from me."

"That's just silly, Ray."

"Did you make the biscuits too? I can see you now, Benny, kneading dough with your big, strong, manly hands. Ummm..."

"The biscuits were store brought."

Ray groaned in disappointment, hiking his hips up into the air, and he settled back down onto the bed again. He scooped up some more stew and resumed eating.

He fed the Mountie another bite. "God, Benny, it's like you're my big Mountie baby. I love feeding you like thi... Acck!" Ray tensed when he suddenly felt hot breathing on his ass.

Looking over his shoulder, Ray found the guilty culprit: Dief whined in supplication, his furry head resting on the mattress, and his sad, amber eyes pleading to him for more food.

"Damn it, Dief! You want more?" Ray scowled at the half-wolf. "It's no wonder me and Benny are starving to death most of the time! Don't you even care?"

*Whine*

"Jeez! Okay! Bon appetite!" The cop dropped the pot onto the floor and the wolf buried his face in the grub within a nanosecond.

"Can you believe that little furba... ummph!"

Ray was quickly silenced as Fraser crushed him with his broad weight, the Canadian now plundering and devouring his mouth, stealing his whole breath away. Biscuits were flying all over and Dief barked happily.

Ray managed to break away, confused and gasping for air. "Hey? Benny? What's the..."

"Ray, I need this... I need... I want this." Fraser thrust against him in sharp, primitive strokes, their cocks crammed between their bellies. "I never want to lose this."

"Fraser?" Ray choked out. Every inch of his body was completely covered with the Mountie, and Fraser was staring at him as if he was in some other place entirely.

"Benny! What is wro...? Oh God! Oh my God!"

Ray relinquished himself and snarled, wrapping his lean legs around the man's waist, grasping his neck with his hands. He couldn't believe it; Ray couldn't believe what was being done to him in this bed.

Where was Benny's air of innocence?

Ray didn't care now. He was busy screaming with joy, his cock bursting.

Fraser pushed harder in a panic, giving in to the rising needs of his sex, almost forgetting his friend beneath him.

Almost...

"RAY!" He came in that howling instant, his cock pulsing and spurting semen all over his slender lover. Fraser then sank against the lean body with a low moan, his soul depleted.

It was over very quickly.

He rolled off Ray panting, a shining sheet of cum covering his belly. "Ray. I didn't mean to... oh, Ray."

"It's okay." The cop assured him between breaths, his hazel eyes unfocused. "Hell, it's more than okay."

"No, it's not, Ray."

"What, love?"

"It's not okay," Fraser replied flatly.

"What is it, Benny? You can tell me."

"I'm not sure if I can. It won't be easy."

"Try, Benny. You're talking to me, remember? Just try."

"Why, Ray?" Fraser finally blurted out after a long moment of silence. "How could you do such an incredibly stupid thing?"

"What?" Ray sat up to blink at the man.

"You are well aware of what I'm referring to. You, provoking those young boys, trying to bring unnecessary harm to yourself. Why? Ray, don't you know how vital you are to me? What if anything happened to you?"

"At least you will still be alive..."

"Ray! You are wrong!"

"Why am I wrong? Why am I wrong in wanting to keep you safe and alive? You will still be alive, okay?"

"But not without you."

"What? I don't understand, Benny."

"How can I explain how I feel? Well, I... perhaps I can tell you a story..."

"Please, Fraser, tell those damn Inuits to go away," Ray groaned, and buried his face into the pillow. "Oh, God."

"This is not an Inuit tale, but a tale of my own," Fraser responded somberly.

"Sorry, caro. Tell me your story, please."

"You see, I hardly got to know my mother, never knew my father, and my grandparents had my head buried in my books. I did have some friends, acquaintances really; our commonality was nothing more than a challenging game of ice hockey. As for the RCMP, I also had made some acquaintances, but we were only bonded by a sense of duty and respect for the uniform.

"And basically that was all I had and all I knew for most of my life, until one day it all came crashing down with the murder of my father, and then my exile to a large and foreign city. In the midst of all this chaos, I stumble upon this one man in a holding cell trying to pull off 'a deal.' This man, who by some fortune or misfortune, was assigned the case of my father's murder, sharply dressed in a suit that appeared for a strange moment silver to me, glared angrily at me after I called out to him by the name 'Armani.' It was this man who was to be my savior at that darkest time of my life, and he has been my savior ever since.

"Sometimes I would wake before he does, and I would turn over in my bed to study once again his remarkable face on my pillow, and once again I would selfishly want even more from him. And at my insistence, his green eyes would always open and focus on me, and then he would kindly oblige me, as I knew he would."

Ray was staring at him, not believing what he had just heard. He never knew he could matter so much to anyone let alone Benton Fraser, who seemed most of the time invincible. He was needed so much by this man, it was even a story to him, a parable of love.

Fraser *needed* him.

"Oh, Benny, I'm so savior. Jeez, before I met you I was basically living my life on my knees. When you met me in that holding cell, I was ready to throw it all away. I was going down, and I think I knew it, but I just didn't care anymore. Hell, I was just another burnt out cop kicked to the side."

Ray held Fraser's face in his hands, wanting the blue eyes directed at him. "You turned it all around for me, do you understand? With you, I allowed something inside me to feel again, perhaps for the first time in a very long time. You got me to stand on my own two feet again."

"You don't realize, Ray, how it makes me feel to need you so much..."

"It scares you?"

Fraser nodded his head.

"Just because you wear that red costume, it doesn't mean that you, Benton Fraser, have super powers. I admit I have to remind myself, Benny, that you're just a guy who likes to jump out of window when there is a perfectly fine door right next to it. Do you know how happy it makes me feel to know that you need me? Do you know how much that scares me, too?"

"How can all this be right?" Fraser groaned. "Look at us, we are so different, we are so..."

"We are so much in love, Benny. Look at us, we are lying in bed side by side, we are touching each other, we can't get enough of each other, and we love each other. It's so right."

"You mean this?" Fraser swept his arm over the expanse of their nude bodies, his face etched with self-doubt. "Needing each other, Ray, like this?"

"There is nothing wrong in needing someone, and in loving someone, Fraser. It doesn't mean you are any less, it means you're so much more. I hope you feel this way, because I know I do. I'm so much more with you here."

Fraser gazed upon the lean man for some time, caught up in a whirlwind of heat and love. "Ray, sometimes I need to be reminded. It has been so long for me."

"Just say what you need, Benny." Ray kissed his mouth gently. "I don't mind."

"Ray, lover..."

"Anything you want, love, I don't mind. I'll give you anything you want."

Fraser was now staring at his cock, at both their cocks.

Ray raised his eyebrows, reading Fraser's mind again. "Oh, that! Already?" He gazed down at his own arousal with surprise and laughed, "Hmm, me too Benny. We must be synchronized or something, like in the Olympics."

"Inside me, Ray. Please." Fraser pleaded, his body shaking.

"You got it." The cop reached into the nearby drawer for the tube of lubricant.

Ray coated his fingers with the gel, murmuring softly to the Mountie. "I know you know what love is."

"That's only because you taught me, Ray."

Ray blushed and faltered. "Stop the flattery, Benny," he sighed. "You know I'm going to fuck you anyway."

"But it's true..."

"Shhh, you're not the only one who needs."

"Ray?"

"What would I do without you? Huh?" Ray slipped his finger into Fraser's taut heat, touching silk. "What would I do with my life?"

"Oh, Ray! God!"

"Yeah, I know, Benny. It feels nice to be loved. You should feel this way all the time."

Ray flexed his hand and wrist, stretching loose the firm ring of stubborn muscles. "Holy cow, Frasier!" He grunted with effort, "Have you been working out? Ugh!"

The Canadian laughed and spread his legs further, allowing Ray more access. The Italian added a second finger, and then a third, sliding in and out of that tight passage of smooth skin.

Ray watched his lover with fascination. Benny was thrusting against his invited fingers, the pale shaft swaying in the air, the man panting through his open mouth and his brows knitted in anguish.

Ray could never get over how beautiful the Mountie looked right before he came. He was so damn different from the blinkless statue that defended the entrance of the Canadian consulate.

"Damn it, Benny, you're soooo beautiful." Ray leaned forward and kissed the weeping cock lightly. "Umm, oh yes. You taste beautiful, too."

Fraser gasped and jerked up, but Ray pushed him back down onto the mattress. "Whoa! Down, boy! I know what you need."

Ray now coated his own shaft with some of the lubricant that was left on his fingers. "I'm going to give you what you need, Benny. I'll take care of you."

Ray knelt between his lover's canted legs, pulling the man up by the hips, draping the strong legs over his arms. Fraser whimpered as Ray's cock nudged his tender center.

"Ray, please."

"I know, Benny, love." Ray was all smiles. "I belong inside you, right?"

Ray gave one, steady push, and he was all the way in and completely accepted. It was so easy for them. Shifting on the narrow bed, they both got into their appropriate positions, and once settled, Ray began to undoubtedly rock his hips.

"God, Benny!" Ray hissed through his teeth. "You are so strong all around me, all around my cock. God, you make me feel so perfect. Oh, Jesus! Benny!"

Ray mounted the pale body earnestly, galloping hard against his lover, both their torsos now rising and falling in union. Fraser thrashed on the bed, his arms flailing helplessly in a torment of pleasure. He bucked and pressed himself up the bulk of his lover's cock, wanting everything the Italian had to offer him.

Fraser panted, "Melt me... Ray."

"What did ya say?"

"Melt me, Ray. Melt all my winters..."

"Ah, shit! Fraser! Stop being so mushy!" Ray became distracted and he lost his rhythm, his hips swaying all over with no direction. "Why do you always do this to me?"

"Ray... that old man... whom we helped tonight..."

"Eeeew! Why are you talking about him at a time like this?" Ray grimaced at the Mountie beneath him, pumping hard into the snowy flesh.

"What he said about us, Ray."

"What was that, caro?"

"He said that the two of us put together make one very good person."

"I know... that only you can prevent forest fires, Benny."

"What! Ray!"

"Oh, relax a little, Benny, so that I can..." Ray angled his body, wiggled his hips, and Fraser cried out when his prostrate was caressed by that unyielding cock.

"Ray! Oh God! There! There! I feel it!"

"Yeah? Can you feel this?" Ray plunged forward, ravishing the man.

"Yes! Ray! Ray! OH RAY!"

The room exploded bright white before Fraser's eyes as his small knot of flesh was repeatedly stroked, and then bathed in hot liquid. Ray was now coming deep inside him with a deafening howl that bounced off the walls.

The two men united their movements, pressing together very tight, and experiencing those spasmodic waves of pleasure that only they can give to each other.

And they did this until they were both totally spent.

Fraser opened his eyes and the cop slowly came into view again, perched high above him and glowing. He then stretched his arms upward as children do when they need to be carried or comforted. "Ray, please. Come here to me."

Ray fell into his embrace sweating, breathing, laughing, and ultimately sleeping against his skin.

"Hmm, Benny. Love you... forever."

"Good night, Ray." Fraser whispered and kissed.

Fraser had spent many long hours pondering that night in his bed, the man in his arms the focus of all his thoughts.

He too had an epiphany.

He had slowly come to realize that Ray was precisely the kind of man he would love to know, to fall in love with, and to marry.

To fall in love: courtship, engagement, and declarations of forever and marriage. Fraser had been on his own for so much of his life that the very idea of meeting and marrying someone had taken on a somewhat untouchable aspect... until he had met his lover Ray.

Marry Ray?

Who knows?

Stranger things have happened.

As they will for the rest of their lives...

-The End-

endnote: Boo hoo hoo! I'm such a slut for sap.