He couldn't read. He couldn't write. He couldn't even sit still long enough to watch the stupid TV, and his own restlessness was beginning to drive Blair out of his mind. Wandering into the kitchen simply to be moving, vaguely thinking that he could prepare a few meals to put aside for the future when they might be too tired or busy to cook, he stood staring blankly at the full freezer. No help there, and he'd already tried cruising the internet, but, as fast as his laptop was, the download time was way too long for him today. His Saturday chores were done, accomplished by bouncing back and forth between different tasks with the kind of manic enthusiasm usually associated with young children loaded with too much sugar.
Not bored, exactly, not sure what, if anything, was wrong, Blair closed the frig door, and looked wildly around the loft, as if the contents might either tell him what to do next or maybe help him figure out what was going on with him. As he did, the Jim's shadow fell over the glass of the skylight, and Blair grinned wickedly, thinking he knew *one* way to burn off his excess energy.
Running to the bathroom, he freshened up and took care of certain preparations that would help things along, then hurried up the stairs to the roof. Pausing at the door long enough to take down his hair, he took a deep breath and thought sexy thoughts, knowing that his lover had trouble saying 'no' to a hard-on. When he was semi-erect, he summoned up an innocent smile, and strolled out into the sun.
Before he took three steps, Jim growled from where he knelt, "Don't even think about it, Sandburg."
Without hesitating, Blair shot back, "About what, man? Just wanted to see if you could use a hand."
Head bent over the window he was carefully caulking, Jim said, "That's *not* what you want to give me, and don't even try to bullshit your way around that big dick tenting your shorts."
Switching tactics instantly, Blair grinned and deliberately stroked himself once. "Hey, can I help it if you look good enough to eat - or something?"
With a snort, Jim explained patiently, "If I let you sidetrack me, I won't be able to do this again until the *next* sunny day I have off, which, between Cascade's usual weather and my work schedule, could be sometime next millennium."
"It won't take that long, I promise," Blair said cheerfully. Closing the distance between them, he took advantage of the fact that he was standing and stopped with his crotch inches from his lover's nose. "And I really will help you finish."
For a moment, he thought he had won, because Jim inhaled deeply, eyes drifting down as if he enjoyed what he scented. But that was all he did. Scooting back a foot or so, he steadily applied another line of caulk and said, "Before sleep last night and again this morning before we got up - yes, it *will* take a long time, not that I have any problem with that, just not *now,* Chief."
Thoughtfully Blair considered the tone behind Jim's words, trying to decide how much of a chance he had of changing his lover's mind. A good one, he hoped, because Jim really did look absolutely and totally fuckable. Dressed only in cut-offs so short that he could see the swell of ass cheeks as his partner moved, Jim was sweating slightly from the afternoon sun, the glistening traces calling attention to the near perfect chest and indecently taut six pack of his abdomen. His feet were bare except for a cheap pair of flip flops, and for some reason the work gloves he wore made his hands almost unbearably enticing.
Even the sunglasses he had on against the brightness of the day were sexy. He kept imagining Jim peering over the top of them, his blue, blue eyes checking Blair out the way *he* was being checked out now. And really, really liking what he saw, liking it well enough that he would stand on those long legs of his, cutoffs showing every inch of them, cock peeking out of the bottom of the fabric, begging for attention. Blair would fall to his knees in front of that teasing, mouthwatering....
"Sandburg!"
Blair jumped guiltily, then threw his arms wide and half-laughed, "Help!"
Snorting in a mix of amusement and irritation, Jim put aside his tools, took off his gloves, and stood, shaking his head. "What is your problem?" he asked, but he walked into the embrace, wrapping his own arms tightly around Blair's waist.
"I don't know," Blair murmured, nuzzling into the hot skin, loving the clean, hard-working man smell of it. "It's like I'm on a caffeine buzz or something. Not able to concentrate on anything and twitchy as hell." He lapped at one of the dark brown circles on Jim's chest, delighted to feel it pebble into hardness almost instantly.
"And you think getting laid will cure that?"
"Not really." Blair licked his way to the other nipple, vaguely disappointed to find it up already. But it tasted great, and he sampled it thoroughly before muttering, "But making you feel good with all this excess beats making myself miserable with it."
"Glad to be of service," Jim said wryly, blotting his face dry on Blair's shirt at the shoulder.
"Isn't that, like, the police department motto or something?" Blair asked distractedly, slipping his fingers under the ragged edge of Jim's shorts to tease the smooth globes barely covered by them.
"So who's going to protect me from getting screwed into an early grave trying to serve you?" Jim muttered into his neck, flexing ass muscles in welcome to the gentle exploration.
His breath was unexpectedly cool over Blair's skin, and he shivered, suddenly losing interest in conversation. Pressing closer, he rubbed his rock-hard erection over Jim's growing one, sighing in anticipation of how *good* this was going to be. The chest under his lips rumbled, but he didn't pay attention to the words that caused it. There was another kind of sound all together that he was going for from Jim, and that meant getting a *little* further under the worn denim protecting his target.
Then his lover pushed him away, firmly holding him at arms length. "I said downstairs, now. Or do you want to be the one explaining to Simon why we're in a holding cell on indecent exposure charges?"
Blinking, Blair reined himself in, and managed to quip, "Do I *look* suicidal?"
Jim gave him a look of exasperation, tinged with both lust and love, and forcibly turned him around. With a gentle shove, he sent Blair toward the steps, saying, "Down, now!"
Grinning, Blair looked over his shoulder and said impudently, "I thought you wanted me to head for the loft, man. Make up your mind! Want me 'down' here or there?" He took off at top speed as soon as the last word left his lips, Jim close behind, swatting at his backside.
They raced to their home, Blair staying ahead of his partner by only a few feet, and he crashed through the door, slamming it shut behind him to slow the man down. It had hardly closed before it was thrown open again, but by that time Blair was all the way to their bed, bouncing on it as he waited for Jim to catch up with him. A moment later he heard the locks being thrown, then his lover said with mock-anger, "All right, you. Assume the position!"
"Yes, yes, yes, yes," Blair chanted to himself, hastily skinning out of his clothes. Jim was going to top, and that meant he got to choose how, an informal habit they'd fallen into when they first became lovers and were learning each other's likes and dislikes. Once naked, he hesitated, trying to decide how he wanted it, but couldn't make up his mind. Everything they did together was so fantastic! Unbidden one hand crept down to his hard-on, and he stroked himself lightly, mind tumbling with erotic possibilities.
"If you were going to take care of that yourself," Jim said dryly, leaning on the wall at the top step, arms crossed, shades dangling from one finger, "why did you interrupt what I was doing?" Despite his tone, his face was lit up with shy wonder, as if he were amazed and delighted to find Blair in his bed. It was an expression he often wore when coming upstairs to him, and like always Blair's heart lurched, too full of love to beat properly.
And it made him all that much more desirable to Blair.
With a whoop, he threw himself at Jim, knowing he'd be caught without problem. "Well, if you hadn't taken so long, I wouldn't have had to start without you! Not giving his lover a chance to retaliate, he fastened his mouth onto Jim's, eagerly delving into the heated depths of it.
Accepting the assault effortlessly, his lover returned the kiss with interest, reducing them both to soft moans and demanding cocks in a matter of moments. Blair was all for having his way right where they stood, unable to bear breaking away long enough to navigate the few feet back to the mattress. Not quite that far gone, Jim lifted his head, murmuring, "Hang on, hang on a sec." Hardly hearing him, Blair blindly sought to reclaim his lips, frantically grinding against him even as he shoved the cutoffs down the trim hips to get to naked flesh.
"Blair!" There was an edge of concern in Jim's voice now, though he couldn't understand for the life of him why, and his lover man-handled him over to their bed, placing him in the middle. Okay, he could work with that, Blair decided in dazed confusion, lavishly licking the column of his lover's throat. Wantonly he spread his legs wide and tried to pull Jim down on him, using his full strength as he never had before with any other lover.
He didn't budge Jim in the least. Instead he lay next to him, gently urging Blair to his side so that he could spoon up behind him. A few wiggles from both put them into a perfect fit, with Jim's hard-on snug in the crack of his ass, gliding over the slickness left there from his earlier preparations. Groaning happily, he reached back to redirect that hard length, wanting it inside him, *now,* but Jim caught him by the wrist and held it over Blair's breastbone. When he tried to pry it loose with his free hand, it was captured as well, leaving his head pillowed on a powerful biceps and no movement left to him at all from the waist up.
It was a snug, cherished feeling, but not what he wanted at all, and he tried angling his hips back to do a little capturing of his own. Sighing, his lover dropped a heavy leg over both of his, effectively rendering him immobile. Still Blair squirmed as best he could, wailing in frustration, "JIM!"
"Easy, babe, easy," Jim breathed into his ear, increasing the security of his hold. "I'm not going anywhere, and you'll get all you want, I promise. Now calm down a little, talk to me."
"I don't want to talk!"
"Now that's a first." Nuzzling at the curls at his temple, Jim whispered, "You're worrying me here, Chief. It's almost like you *have* to make love instead of just wanting it. I know you've been a little edgy and restless lately, but sex isn't going to help that."
Almost against his will, Blair quieted, seeing for himself the air of desperation in his actions, like a junkie in dire need of a fix. "I don't know what's going on," he admitted, making himself go limp in Jim's arms. Controlling his breathing as best he could, he fumbled for words to describe how he'd been feeling. "It's like, like when you have a job you're dissatisfied with, but don't have a clue what else you could be doing to earn a living? So you go from job to job trying to find what's missing, what it is you do want to do for the rest of your life."
Picking up on the tension in the long frame behind him as soon as it was born, Blair added hastily. "It's not us, not the PD! Why do you think I keep turning to you? What we have is great, it's all that's keeping me sane, here." He bent his head to rub his cheek over the living manacles gripping him, mutely apologizing for that split second of doubt he'd given his lover.
"And making love helps?"
"God, yes!"
"Okay, then." Cautiously, as if expecting him to make a break for it, Jim transferred his grip to hold both of Blair's wrists in one hand, then brushed away stray locks from his lover's face. "But let's try to take it slow and easy, make it last. If nothing else, it'll burn off more than a quickie would anyway."
"I don't know if I can..." Blair began.
"Just try, okay?" More curls were moved aside, revealing a pale, vulnerable nape, and Jim whispered against it, "For me, please?"
A powerful charge of sensation arced from where soft lips and warm air teased over his skin, and Blair quivered from it, stomach suddenly dipping. "God!" He bent his head forward a little in silent urging, and Jim instantly obeyed with an almost-there kiss that lifted every hair on Blair's neck and spine, making him shudder.
"Like that, do you?" Jim murmured, mouth hauntingly close to the soft spot just behind Blair's ear.
"Again!"
"Sounds like a yes to me."
Shaking from the delicate, teasing contact, Blair closed his eyes to focus better on feeling, and moaned, unable to do more than to surrender to Jim's attentions. To his surprise, the next kiss was a forceful, sucking one, and he shouted wordlessly, cock leaping in readiness as if Jim's mouth had been on it instead of on his back. Another biting kiss followed, and Blair writhed under the impact from it, babbling his pleasure in half-formed pleas for more, harder.
Ignoring the sound, Jim held him down until his lust dropped down enough to let him lie still again, though Blair was panting from a combination of need and fatigue by the time he did. A moment later Jim brushed a butterfly light touch over the junction of Blair's neck and shoulder, drawing a whimper from him. The next kiss was equally fragile and made him tremble, the next built gently on that, as did the next and the next until Blair screamed, "Harder, damn it! Harder!"
Doing as he was told, Jim fastened his teeth into the firm muscle at the nape, pinched one of Blair's nipples and drove his cock into the heated pucker with a single, sure move. The blast of pure pleasure slammed all the air out of Blair's lungs, but he reared back into that first thrust, opening to it more than he ever had before. Withdrawing slowly, so slowly it made them both ache, Jim tongued a feathery pattern over Blair's neck, his thumb tip scoring the tight bud on the hairy chest. This time when he rammed back in, he bit even harder, drawing the tiniest trickle of blood.
Ecstasy knocked Blair out of himself, leaving the rational part of his mind floating slightly above the incredibly wonderful fucking his body was eagerly taking. It seemed that even as he reveled in carnal luxury, he could see his lover and himself intertwined in the primitive ballet for satisfaction, could see the rapt expression on Jim's face as they loved.
A silent gasp of wonder flew from him, and that involuntary action weighed him back down toward his physical self. Driven by an instinct he didn't question, Blair used the momentum to lower his mouth to the hand Jim was using to keep him prisoner, and he bit it hard on the heel, bringing up a bead of blood.
With a hoarse cry, Jim picked up the pace of his fucking and buried his teeth in Blair's shoulder. The small wound bled freely, and the sentinel lapped at it hungrily, staining his lips with the fluid. There was no pain for Blair from it; only another kick into the stratosphere, and he would have climaxed instantly if he'd been connected to his body.
As it was, he somersaulted violently through joy and sensation before coming to rest again slightly above himself. He could clearly see a thin, red line of liquid at the corner of his mouth, and he thought wonderingly, "Blood. There's power in blood. Mayans, Aztecs, God knows how many other tribes and cultures all believe that... Incacha believed it, passed his power onto me through *his* blood. Power's passing through me and Jim now, but what's it for?"
Before Blair could find an answer, Jim keened high in his chest and began to come, his hips bucking wildly as he tried to get as deep as possible into his lover's body. It was beautiful to watch, and when passion stripped away all the masks a civilized man had to wear, Blair could see *into* his sentinel with breath taking clarity. There wasn't just the savage satisfaction of sexual competition, or heartfelt joy of union with his mate shining within Jim. There was also the undiluted honor and strength of the man, along with his courage, loyalty, devotion, determination and all the other traits that made Jim who he was.
And overlaying it all, literally the welded to the core of Jim's character and personality, was the love he had for Blair.
The incandescent wonder of it burnt through Blair, melding him back to his body as it convulsed through its own ecstatic release. For a time he was lost in the brilliant flare of pleasure, but it gradually faded, leaving the copper bright tang of his lover's blood to lead him back to awareness. With startling reluctance, he took his teeth out of the meaty part of Jim's hand, licked a finger in passing apology, and panted, "Sorry, sorry - don't know why I suddenly became a vampire."
"Don't apologize until we've seen what I did to your neck," Jim rumbled tiredly, sounding indecently sated. "You're probably going to look like you've been mauled by a whole coven of them."
"Guess I'm going to have to toss out all the garlic and holy relics," Blair half-laughed. "Because it felt *great.* I am definitely going to want you to do that again." Sighing happily, he snuggled down even farther into his lover's arms. "*You* felt great... feel great."
"Incredible is more like it," Jim said. With an all-over stretch, he pulled back enough to actually look at what he'd done. "Jesus, Blair!" With tender, tentative fingers he probed around one of the places on Blair's shoulder where minor pain was just beginning to make itself known.
"Don't freak out on me," he ordered mildly. "My idea, remember. And man, what it *did* to me! I've never had anything like that happen to me before." A mental flash of the peek into his sentinel sent a thrilling shiver over Blair, and he tightened around the softening presence inside him with a murmur of appreciation.
"It was really that good?" Jim asked dubiously.
Twisting slightly to get a look at Jim's face, Blair realized suddenly that, much as Jim had enjoyed their love-making, it had only *been* love-making for him. More intense than normal, but that was all. The eyes studying the injuries on Blair's back were filled only with replete passion and love; no awe lingered there like he knew lingered in his.
For a moment he was crushed, but the trained anthropologist within him spoke up before the immense disappointment could do more than speed through his awareness. "Power in the blood," he reminded himself. "A sentinel has his own gifts, his own power, different from a shaman's." Remembering the restless energy that had earlier driven him to the roof in search of his partner, Blair ran a mental check and found it all burned away, apparently used to fuel the psychic turn he had taken during sex.
It felt right that he had used it that way, like a bonus or benefit from being on the receiving end of a thousand different 'You don't smell, hear, see etc that," from Jim. And since the sentinel knew him in ways that Blair could only theorize, it seemed fair that he should know Jim in ways only a shaman could. It was a balance of power, so to speak, one with a very nice side benefit.
Of course, it might take some doing to convince his lover that it was beneficial. Already Jim was peeling himself away, reaching for a soft cloth to clean the wounds he'd made and bitching himself out, big time. "Hey, I meant it," Blair said in protest, leaning up on an elbow. "I wanted you to bite me; it was fantastic. And I'm going to want you to do it again."
"I don't think so," Jim shot back grimly. "Do you have any idea how easy it is for a human bite to infect? We need to take care of that immediately."
"So we'll keep a bottle of antiseptic up here from now on," Blair said with fond exasperation. "Come on, Jim, I know my own mind. And it's not like you were grossed out or anything. Or like you didn't enjoy it when I bit you."
Looking down at the ragged wound on his right hand, Jim flexed his fingers and made a fist. "Doesn't hurt that bad, and it was a turn on when you latched onto me." Abruptly he grinned. "Looks like you'll have to finish caulking the windows for me, Sandburg. I'm not going to be able to when this is bandaged."
"Oh, man," Blair protested, going along with Jim's change of subject, knowing that they would have to talk it out better, later. "I was going to take a nap - you wore me out!"
"No way; we do have to clean out those bites," Jim said firmly. "Bathroom, now. Besides, Chief. You did promise to, ah, give me a hand, though now it looks like you may have bit off more than you could chew."
Blair didn't put up much more of a fight, even when Jim picked him up and threw him over his shoulder to carry him down to the bathroom. He was laughing too hard.
finis