Pairing: Horatio/Archie
Rating: NC-17
Category: POV, sort of a PWP
Summary: It's the last night in prison, but is it the last night together for Horatio and Archie? (Sequel to "Precipitate.")
Disclaimer: I don't own anyone, much less these fine characters (if you know where I could buy them, please let me know *g*). I refuse to make any money off them in any event, so please don't sue me.
Notes: Third in a series, after Easy Terms and Precipitate. Thanks to Cori and Ruth for reading and commenting, and to Cori for dragging me into this fandom in the first place. *g*
Spoilers: The Duel and The Duchess and the Devil


No Words
by Nicole D'Annais
Copyright 2001



"Well, we certainly won't be complaining about the food on the Indy when we get back," Horatio said as he finished his dinner. He placed his empty bowl on the floor next to the cot.

"No, I suppose not," Archie agreed, following suit. "It will be nice to get back out to sea." The words were true enough, but they lacked a certain ring of conviction. "No more being stuck in a cell, only able to go where the Spaniards think we should be allowed."

Horatio leaned back against the wall and nodded, the movement barely visible in the dying light of the evening sun. "No more constant stillness of solid land beneath our feet at all times."

"No more sand stuck in places I couldn't get clean with ten baths," Archie added with a grin.

"No more locks keeping us in and the rest of the world out."

The last comment was punctuated by a long silence. They both knew what that truly meant. No more time alone, hours on end with nowhere to go, and more importantly, no one to bother them. Even on shore leave they would never have the freedom they'd had in prison.

Horatio lit the lantern on the ledge and returned to his seat. They sat on the cot for several minutes, less than a foot of space separating them, neither man saying a word. Finally, unable to take another minute, Horatio cleared his throat. "There are one or two things I will miss about this place."

"What, the cockroaches? Or perhaps the rats?" Archie's grin was just a bit too forced. "No, you'll miss the lovely vacation spot known affectionately as 'Bloody awful hole in the ground,' right?"

"Archie--"

"After all, the Duchess isn't here to miss, so that can't be it."

Horatio turned his head to look at his friend. For all the lightness in his voice, Archie's lips were pressed tightly together, fine lines of tension etching the skin on his cheeks. He was staring at the edge of his coat, worrying the hem back and forth between his fingers. "Archie--"

"I expect Captain Pellew will be glad to have you back."

"Archie!"

With a start, Archie met Horatio's eyes. "You don't have to shout," he muttered.

"I'm sorry."

"For?"

"Shouting."

"Oh." His eyes dropped to the hem of his jacket again.

Horatio frowned at him. "Look...we have to talk about...well, about what we're going to do when we're back on the ship."

"Well, I would think we'd go back to normal duties. Watches, drills, the war...it's all quite familiar, really, even to someone who has been away for a while."

With a heavy sigh, Horatio let his head drop back against the wall again. "I was referring to...other things."

"Such as?"

Brow furrowed, Horatio glanced over at his friend again. Archie had leaned his head back against the wall as well and was staring at the ceiling as if he hadn't a care, his expression blank except for the fine lines still visible on his cheeks. "What is the matter with you?"

For a moment it seemed as if Archie was going to give another vague answer, but then his expression changed. He turned an accusatory glare on Horatio. "You want me to make this easy for you. I won't."

"Easy for me? You think any of this is easy for me?"

"I think it's been much easier for you than you realise. I haven't asked for any promises; hell, Horatio, I haven't asked you to say anything at all!" He took a deep breath and continued in a calmer tone, "But I'm asking now."

"I...." Horatio closed his mouth, then, after a few seconds, opened it again. "Archie, I don't know what you want to hear."

At that, Archie laughed, his face softening. "I want to hear whatever you have to say; I'm not going to hit you over the head if you don't say some magic phrase."

Horatio stood, crossing the short distance of the room and back a few times before he stopped in front of Archie. "I...I don't ever want you to think that I regret our...intimacy here."

"For God's sake, Horatio, are you afraid of the word? Sex. Short word, should be easy enough to remember."

"Fine. I don't regret sex." Horatio crossed his arms in front of himself, locking his hands under his shoulders. "With you," he added, almost as an afterthought.

Archie laughed harder. "Well thank you very much, Mr Hornblower, for that glowing compliment."

"Archie..." Horatio sat down with a frustrated sigh. "I'm never going to be any good at this."

"Perhaps. Perhaps not. But you could do better."

He looked up, meeting the blue eyes steadily. "It's not just sex," he said in a low voice. "It would be easier if it were."

"No." Archie agreed quietly. "No, it's not."

"But no matter." Horatio looked away. "It has to end when we leave here."

"Why?"

Horatio's laugh was harsh as he rolled his eyes and his head toward the ceiling. "Shall I find you a copy of the Articles of War? Surely you haven't been in here so long that you've forgotten?"

"I haven't forgotten a thing. I certainly haven't forgotten that we're going back to face death every day. What's one more danger, especially for something so much more dear to me than a commission, or this uniform, or any ship in his Majesty's navy?"

"Don't."

"Don't what?"

Horatio stood again, crossing to the other corner of the room in three long strides. "Don't do that. Don't make me want...."

"Want what? To continue what we started here after we've returned to the Indy?" Archie pushed himself up off the bed and swaggered over to Horatio's side. "Think of it, Horatio," he said, voice low, lips next to Horatio's ear. "A dark, deserted storeroom, late at night, just the two of us."

"We could get caught," Horatio stuttered out, his breath catching as Archie nipped his earlobe.

Archie managed to smile without losing contact between his lips and Horatio's ear. "Which only adds to the excitement."

Horatio broke away, all but running back to the cot. He looked around wildly at the four walls and locked door, then turned to face the wall, hugging himself. "We cannot."

His eyes closed for a brief second, Archie took a deep breath, then opened his eyes again and moved to stand directly behind his lover. He placed his hands at the base of Horatio's neck, moving them slowly, soothingly across his shoulders, down his arms, moving them to his sides and down to rest on Horatio's hips.

When Horatio did not flinch away, one corner of Archie's mouth lifted. "Let's not worry about it now. Let's make the most of the long night we still have here together. Alone. With no need to worry about discovery, and no duties to plague our minds."

Muscles beginning to relax, Horatio turned without dislodging Archie's hands. "And tomorrow?"

"Tomorrow will take care of itself," Archie murmured, leaning up to press his lips to Horatio's. The kiss deepened as Horatio slid his arms around his lover's back, pulling him closer.

"Archie...."

"Shhh." Archie drew him down to the cot, settling in under him. Before Horatio could protest, Archie's hands were inside Horatio's coat sleeves, sliding the coat off while still making soothing movements down his arms.

Horatio gave in, undoing buttons on Archie's waistcoat and pushing it and his coat off in one motion. Archie wriggled until Horatio was able to get both garments out from underneath his back. The clothing fell to the floor forgotten, both men more interested in removing the remaining items.

Shirts, pants, shoes and everything else disappeared in a rush until they were lying skin against skin. Their hands roamed each others' bodies, relearning familiar territory, their movements more frantic than usual, hurried with the knowledge that they were leaving soon.

Horatio was breathing heavily by the time he broke off the kiss. With one long look into Archie's eyes, Horatio ducked his lips down to Archie's neck, sucking at various points on his lover's neck and shoulders.

With a gasp, Archie dug his fingers into Horatio's back. Horatio pulled back instantly. "Too much?" he asked, concern etched on his face.

"No, no! Believe me, it did not hurt. I'll prove it--do it again."

"Just to prove your point?" Horatio asked, amusement in his eyes.

"Of course. Strictly an experi-Ah!" Archie quickly lost the desire to speak as Horatio, not content with just the neck, began working his way downward. He teased a nipple, then ran his tongue down to Archie's navel before returning to tease the other nipple.

Archie clutched at whatever part of his lover he could reach. "Horatio," he whispered, "please...."

Mouth set in a grin, Horatio paused to look up. "Please what?"

"Please...." Archie tugged on Horatio's head, pulling until their lips met. His hips thrust up against Horatio, their erections grinding against each other.

"Archie, let me--"

"No." Archie held him in arms seemingly made of steel, setting a relentless pace as they moved against one another, building to a climax the guards surely must have heard. But no one came to look through the window on the door as they lay there, panting and sated.

They'd dozed for a while before Archie began to mumble in his sleep. Horatio scarcely had time to whisper Archie's name before he woke with a start. "Archie?" Horatio repeated.

"Sorry. Bad dream." He settled in next to Horatio again, lips finding various pieces of skin to taste.

Horatio blinked sleepily. "Again? So soon?" he said with a smile. But the sleepiness was rapidly disappearing.

"If this is to be our last night, I don't want to waste it in sleep."

"You have a point there."

"You have a point here." Archie grinned wickedly as he reached for Horatio's burgeoning erection.

Horatio closed his eyes, lips parted as he thrust against his lover's hand. He gasped as his ear was attacked again, small nips and licks sending as many shivers through his body as the attentions to lower regions were.

Archie moved beside him, and Horatio opened his eyes. Half-hovering, Archie had moved his lips down to Horatio's neck and was taking his time, as if he intended to taste every inch of him.

"Horatio?" The whisper in his ear produced more shivers.

"Hmm?"

Teeth grazed lightly against Horatio's earlobe. "This doesn't have to be the end."

"Archie--"

"No, wait. Hear me out." Archie's lips moved down his lover's body, reaching one pink nipple. "We could," he paused to lick at the nipple, "find ways to," another lick, circling around the hardening nipple now, "be together." His lips fastened onto the nipple then, tugging.

Horatio couldn't answer. He was far too busy remembering to breathe. His hands ran absently through Archie's hair, and his hips pushed against Archie's hand more insistently, eliciting a laugh as Archie released the nipple.

"We could find safe places, once in a while." Each word was punctuated by a kiss down the centre of Horatio's chest and stomach. "And we do sometimes get shore leave." Before Horatio could respond, Archie replaced his hand with his lips, lowering them slowly over the tip of Horatio's cock, teasing it with his tongue.

Gasping, Horatio gripped the sides of the cot. "Archie...."

Archie smiled around his lover's cock, one hand reaching up to roam Horatio's chest. He glanced up to see Horatio's face, eyes half-closed, teeth sunk into his bottom lip, and smiled again before pulling more of Horatio's length into his mouth.

"Oh, God," Horatio breathed, his hips bucking. Archie held him still, working with lips and teeth for several more moments until Horatio reached down and hauled him up by the shoulders until their lips met in a deep kiss. Without breaking the kiss, Horatio felt under the edge of the mattress until he produced the small jar of salve Archie had somehow procured from one of the guards.

He'd had no idea what it was for when Archie had first shown it to him. Now he couldn't see the little jar without some reaction below the waist. He'd never imagined anything could be so...words failed him when he tried to analyse it. Archie saw the jar and smiled, turning so that his back was flush against Horatio's chest.

After dipping his fingers into the jar, Horatio reached around to circle Archie's cock. A second later, Archie turned to face him. "Horatio, no."

"Archie, yes."

"I don't want to hurt you."

"Then be careful," he said, but he knew Archie wouldn't be able to once he was inside. "I haven't once heard you complain."

"Oh, God no, it's...I can't describe it."

Horatio smiled. "You don't have to." He leaned in for a long kiss. "Show me," he said softly, before he turned his back to Archie.

A few seconds passed, and then he felt Archie's fingers hovering around his opening, a few tentative strokes around the edge, and then the Archie's finger inside him. It didn't hurt, but when a second finger joined it, he began to feel a little pain. Three fingers burned, but he didn't care. He wanted to know, to feel what it was like, to know the act from both sides so that the next time--

Next time. He pushed that thought aside, the decision far from made, but at least now he realised he had a decision to make, that permanent separation was not necessarily a foregone conclusion. The fingers were no longer burning; in fact, they felt good. He pushed back against Archie's hand, and the answering chuckle in his ear made him shiver.

The fingers disappeared, but before he could protest, he felt Archie pressing against him, pushing, and then he felt the heat of Archie's erection inside him, sliding in by degrees. It did hurt, but he'd had far greater pains. And the closeness of it, the way it felt to have someone else a part of him...it increased the physical pleasure beyond belief.

As the pain diminished to nothing, he noticed how one particular spot inside him sparked with pleasure every time Archie thrust against it. Experimentally, Horatio shifted his hips, and the next thrust sent a lightning bolt of pleasure surging through him.

He was lost then, unable to do more than ride out the storm. Nothing was clear again until long after the pleasure had subsided and he lay there, unable to move. He finally found his voice, however, at least enough to gasp out, "Oh."

Archie laughed. "I told you," he said, planting a sleepy kiss on Horatio's neck and wrapping his arms tighter around him.

"You've been keeping that to yourself the whole time?"

"I truly wasn't sure I would be able to do it without causing you too much pain. I'm afraid I'm not familiar with that role."

He said the words lightly, but his tone didn't quite ring true. Horatio found the strength to turn onto his other side, still sheltered in Archie's arms. "You've never...?"

Shaking his head, Archie looked down at Horatio's chest. "I've never had the opportunity."

Horatio pushed the blonde hair out of his lover's face. His hand rested at the back of Archie's head and forced it back up until their eyes met. He wanted to say something, knew there were words to explain what was going on inside him, but he couldn't think of them. Instead, he captured Archie's lips in another kiss, pouring everything into it, arms tightening around Archie's body and holding fast.

His leg slipped over Archie's, effectively enveloping the smaller man in the shelter of his body. If Archie minded, he didn't complain. He merely tucked his head into Horatio's neck and fell asleep. Horatio lay there for some time after Archie's breathing had evened out, staring into the dark.

If someone had asked him right at that moment, he'd have been hard pressed to say he didn't have everything that mattered right there inside that small cell. But tomorrow...they would be on a boat back to the Indy, back to service, and this thing between them would have to end. It was all perfectly clear, all except for the answer to the one question that kept turning over in his brain.

How was he supposed to give this up?

---

END

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