Time: Shortly after "Man Without a Heart"
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Blair Sandburg slips under his partner's arm and into the door of their new loft, hanging his jacket on a nearby hook. He heads for the kitchen as Jim closed and locked the door behind them. Dinner had been filling but spicy and Blair needs something cool to drink. "Hey, Jim, I'm having a beer. You want one too?" He winces as his leg gives a twinge. All that walking around, up and down the San Francisco hills was a bit tiring. He is glad to be home.
Jim hangs up his jacket on another hook, tosses the keys to the Ford in the key basket on the desk behind the wall separating the foyer from the open area of the loft. "Sure."
Fishing in the fridge for two beers, Blair opens them both and walks back into the living room, handing one to Jim.
The Sentinel hears Blair's wince from across the loft, frowns. "Something wrong, Chief?"
Blair sits on the sofa, rubbing his calf-muscle. "I'm fine. Just a bit out of shape, I guess. All that walking today..."
Jim comes out to the sofa area, which is separated from the open area by an arrangement of hanging African drapings that Blair picked up somewhere. He takes the proffered beer, sits down on the sofa beside him. "Here, let me do that." He takes the leg into his lap, and with a slight frown, starts to gently knead the muscles. Despite his attention to Blair's stressed calf, Jim is staring into space, apparently also somewhere else.
Blair winces slightly. "Ssssss... oh yeah... thanks, Jim...ahhhhhh, that's much better." His eyes close in pain/pleasure.
The Sentinel's mind has reacted in Blessed Protector mode to his lover's need, but he's thinking about a lot of other things... disturbing things. Absently, he continues the massage down to Blair's feet, then pulls his other leg up to work on that one.
"Mmmmmm, oh man... that's terrific... oh Jim..." Blair leans back, enjoying Jim's attentions to his sore muscles.
Ordinarily, this would be a nice intro to foreplay between them, but Jim is not thinking that way, not now.
Blair, completely relaxed and warming up now, opens his eyes to gaze lovingly at his partner... and sees that Jim seems to be... preoccupied... and NOT with Blair! "Jim?"
"I think it's just about game-time." Jim releases Blair's leg to the floor, takes his beer back from the coffee table where he'd set it, and opens the can. He closes his eyes and takes a long swig.
"Uh... okay. Yeah, sure." Blair stares at his lover for a moment, then shrugs and sips some of his own beer.
Jim crosses one leg over the knee of the other and sinks back into the cushions to absorb himself in the Warriors/Jags' preseason game that is just starting on television.
Blair glances from the game, to his partner, then back to the game again. Something's up, but Blair sees that his partner isn't in a very forthcoming mood. He nudges Jim, grinning, pointing to the TV screen. "Hey, Jim! How about that play, huh?" In addition, he wriggles his hips to make Jim give him a little more room on the couch.
The older man ignores the wriggles, shifting over without thinking. Jim points to the screen, still frowning slightly. "If Jenkins had made more plays like that last season, the Jags would have gone farther in the playoffs. The team needs 5 top players, not two."
"If money wasn't the bottom-line for so many players, they might have those 5 top players already," Blair offered.
"Ummm... yeah." Jim mumbles his answer, his mind not really on the game after all, perhaps.
Blair continues watching the screen. He claps his hands over a great play, laughing, mock-punching Jim's arm playfully. "Hey! Didja see that! Yeah!!"
Jim reacts to the arm punch with surprise. "Ah, yeah, sure..." He is just unable to get into the game. He takes another swig of beer.
"Jim? Hey, Jim, what's the matter?" Blair asks, now more than concerned.
Jim shrugs, well, it's more of a muscle ripple. He's in denial that something's bugging him. But then it's not everyday he meets a man without a heartbeat. "Matter? I'm watching the game, Sandburg."
"Right. Sure you are." Blair studies Jim, a bit worried. "You wanna talk about anything?"
Another shrug. But it's slowly occurring to the Sentinel that Blair knows something is on his mind and isn't going to let this go. He sighs, knowing it's something about his lover that is at once infuriating and cute. Damn.
Blair lays a hand on Jim's shoulder. "Jim? Is it about this afternoon? That guy we met?" He studies Jim intently.
But the touch ignites Jim's unfortunate self-protectiveness, and he shrugs the hand off. "Blair, it's nothing. I... I gotta go to the bathroom." Jim launches himself off the couch like it was a trampoline, and heads for the bathroom off the kitchen area.
Groaning, a bit frustrated by Jim's unwillingness to talk, Blair watches Jim go. He sighs, sips more beer.
But Jim doesn't get that far. He leans on the edge of the divider wall facing the kitchen, thinking of what he can say to Blair. Maybe he imagined the man didn't have a heartbeat. Maybe his hearing is faulty.
Taking a deep breath, he comes back to the rec area, sits back down. Abashed, he turns to his roommate. "Chief, I'm sorry, you're right, something's eating at me."
"Yeah. I could tell. Talk to me, Jim."
Jim glances toward the TV, sighs. "Just a minute... " He flips a tape in the VCR, sets it to tape the game they're obviously not going to watch right now, starts the taping, then turns off the TV. "The Jags can wait, you can't. Come here." He opens his arm as he sits back down on the sofa.
Grinning happily, Blair slides over into Jim's embrace.
The Sentinel settles his Guide snug into his side, draping his arm around him. "This all started with those visions, you know."
"The one with the wolves? Yeah..."
"And the letter from the SFPD." Jim taps his forehead with his free hand, thoughtful. "I'm going to be meeting Detective Frank Kouhanek tomorrow. It ought to be interesting, if he is the Raven and mixed up in this vision thing somehow."
"You think so?" Blair responds, intrigued. "Man that is so... weird..." He shakes his head.
Jim runs his hand through his short hair. "And the wolves... who are they?"
"Guides?" Blair suggests. "But with those eyes..." He feels a slight shiver at the memory.
Jim glances down, frowns. "No way those were Guides of any sort. They weren't like your wolf-spirit at all, Chief. Something else. A bit sinister, even."
"Yeah, I felt that too."
Jim drops a kiss onto his Guide's bushy hair. "Then meeting that Dr. Carr..."
" Yeah? What about him? He was very cool! I liked him." Blair is happy for the change in subject.
But Jim only closes his eyes, hearing the change in his partner's voice. Blair obviously has no idea how that encounter shook him. "I don't know, Blair, maybe my senses are going haywire..." He trails off, unsure how to tell him.
"Huh? Why? What's wrong, Jim?" All concerned Guide, now, Blair turns to look at Jim, then seeing his friend's expression, turning the rest of the way around to look into the Sentinel's eyes. "Jim?"
Jim glances at Blair, then averts his eyes again. "Maybe I just need more sleep..."
Taking hold of Jim's forearms, Blair tries to keep eye-contact, despite Jim's aversion. "Wait a minute, man... gimme some details, wouldja? What senses went haywire? What happened that I don't know about?" He is becoming more concerned, more anxious.
The Sentinel sighs, shifts so he's facing Blair more, takes his hands into his. "Okay. You remember when I was tracking heartbeats in the cafe?"
"Yeah, yeah I do."
"Well... I counted fifteen people in the cafe at the time, including all the workers. Then I separated out all the heartbeats."
"Riiiight... " Blair wonders what Jim's going to say next.
Jim heaves a sigh, looking down at their hands. "There were fourteen sets of heartbeats."
Blair frowns. "Fourteen? But you just said there were fifteen people..."
His lover looks up. "Yep. Fourteen."
"Did somebody leave?"
"No one left."
"What, so there was a dead body on the premises?" Blair laughs weakly.
"Fifteen animated bodies, Chief, I could separate the sounds of their movements, too. That's how I knew there were fifteen people."
Confused, Blair tries to puzzle it out. "I don't get it. Did you count yourself? And me?" A flurry of expressions crosses Blair's face as he puzzles over this.
"Yes and yes. Fourteen. Fifteen bodies. So, what, my hearing is on the blitz? It seems normal otherwise. I mean for me." He's wary of telling him the rest, afraid that Blair will think he's lost it.
Blair ponders for a moment. "You're very precise, as a rule, Jim. So if you say it was fourteen heartbeats, I believe you. Fifteen bodies? Okay... that doesn't add up, but I still believe you. Now... what does that mean? It means that..." An odd expression crosses Blair's face... slight disgust, slight horror. "No.... no no no no..." He shakes his head in denial. "That would be too..."
Jim sighs, knowing he has to get it over with anyway. "Then I separated all the heartbeats out, put them with faces."
"Whose face didn't match a heartbeat?" Blair asks, almost afraid of the answer.
Jim shakes his head at the irony. It's the one person Blair would naturally connect with, a history professor at the U. "Who didn't match? Dr. Anthony Carr, that's who."
His blue eyes wide with surprise, Blair emits a nervous laugh. "Dr. Carr? Oh man..."
The Sentinel fixes him with one of his intent Ellison gazes. "Or not a man. A creature. Unless I'm going crazy, he didn't have a heartbeat."
Eyes even wider, an involuntary shiver goes through Blair. "Oh my god, Jim...this is too too weird..."
Jim lays a hand on Blair's cheek to comfort him. "This isn't our city, Chief, and we need to do more listening and treading lightly rather than confront him, er, or it." He pets his cheek lovingly, relaxing a bit now that he's told Blair and his lover hasn't laughed in his face.
Blair leans into his lover's welcome, calming caress, needing the reassurance badly. "Man, you said it, Jim."
Jim sighs yet again. It's been a long day. "Maybe this Frank Kouhanek can tell me if San Francisco is inhabited by werewolves, eh?" He smiles finally, though he is almost serious.
Blair laughs a bit nervously, still a little freaked-out. "Yeah, werewolves. Very funny, man."
But the other is not amused. "Or my senses could be kablooey. Which makes more sense. New environment, new smells and sounds. Come to think of it, this isn't any more weird than when I saw a ghost. Though I don't have a cold, and I doubt there was peyote in my orange juice."
Blair grips Jim's arms. "Right, right. It might make more sense to blame it on your senses, Jim... but... I don't think so." Blair looks intently into his lover's eyes. "I trust you, Jim. "
Gently taking Blair's hands yet again, reassuringly. "Well, I don't trust me. This doesn't make sense. I think it's my hearing that's at fault, at least I wish it was."
Blair nods, happy to be on more familiar grounds. "Well, we could test you.. check out that site again..."
"Gonna need you there, love." Jim leans over to brush his lips against Blair's. "And I think going back there is a good idea. Although I hope we don't meet up with Carr again just yet." The younger man slides his arm around Jim's shoulders for a hug. "Yeah... me too."
Needing more than a hug, Jim pulls Blair closer. "Right now, though... I just need you, period." He bends his head to kiss his lover.
Blair leans eagerly into the kiss, needing the reassurance, the safety of Jim's love.
Jim pulls Blair's body against his, deepening the kiss with renewed fervor.
Wrapping his arms around Jim, Blair savors the closeness, the familiar passion.
His senses alive with the taste, feel, scent of his Guide, and hearing his lover's steady heartbeat, the Sentinel is absorbed in his Guide, kissing him deeply. The spectres that have been haunting him have receded... for the moment.
Relieved that Jim has let go of his self-doubts and set aside his fears, Blair wraps his arms around his lover's body, opening himself to his Sentinel's welcome attentions. Catching his breath, feeling his heart pound as they kiss, Blair's arousal builds swiftly.
His strong arms tighten somewhat protectively, when Jim thinks of possible forces of evil afoot that could potentially hurt this incredible being in his arms, much less himself.
Jim's embrace makes Blair gasp a little more. He runs his hands down to grip his lover's ass.
The gasp coupled with the intimate grope shakes Jim out of his reverie, and he breaks the kiss, holding Blair apart a bit to look down at him. "Blair..."
Eyes a bit blurry, Blair recovers a little. "Huh? Oh gods, Jim....!" He is still weak-kneed from the passionate kiss.
Jim's voice is hushed, his eyes still stormy. "Maybe I should give Detective Kouhanek a call tonight, tell him... tell him about my dream." Jim is clearly distracted still.
Cursing silently, Blair damns himself for moving too quickly. "Uh... I dunno, Jim. It's getting late, can't that wait until tomorrow?" Blair caresses Jim's arm with one hand, reaches up to run a finger across Jim's lips with his thumb.
But Jim loosens himself from Blair's grasp, releasing him as he shifts back and away. "It's not late, I should call him..."
Blair sighs, lets him go. "Well, it's your call, Jim. If you want to disturb the man over his dinner. Not the best first-impression but..." He hopes Jim hears the slight edge of need in his voice.
To Blair's dismay, Jim gets up from the sofa, walking halfway toward the kitchen area where the only phone is at present.
Blair watches Jim stalk into the kitchen... sighing sadly at his lover's single-mindedness.
But Jim stops halfway there, though, a hand to his mouth, thinking, turning things over in his mind.
"Jim? Are you okay? I thought you were going to call Kouhanek?" Blair watches him, a bit puzzled.
Jim doesn't respond. He is listening... trying to determine by the sounds outside that all is well. Or not.
A bit concerned, Blair stands and makes his way to Jim's side, worried that perhaps the Sentinel is zoned-out on something. "Jim? What is it?"
In the distance, filtered minutely by the panes of glass, Jim Ellison hears: doves cooing on telephone wires a few streets down, blaring rap music from a car several blocks away, the clang of dishes in a dishpan from a nearby house, a dog barking in the block behind them. Normal city noises. No howling wolves or cawing Ravens.
He sighs, turns to touch his partner lightly on the shoulder. "Nothing, Chief. Just making sure there weren't any wolves about tonight."
An involuntary shiver runs through Blair at the mention of that. Blair tries to make light of it, leering up at Jim. "None except this one!" Playfully he nibbles on Jim's finger, drawing it into his mouth, mock-biting it gently and swirling his tongue around it before letting it go.
Narrowing his eyes at his diminutive partner making lewd advances, Jim decides he can't let it go. "Then I guess I need this one to keep me from thinking about the other ones..." Before Blair can react, Jim has hoisted him up into his arms, and turned to walk most of the way back across the long living room area to their bedroom.
Pleasantly surprised, Blair chokes back a howl and instead, laughs delightedly at his lover's neanderthalic approach. Blair's libido kicks in full-strength, aroused by Jim's actions.
Determinedly keeping a straight face, Jim backs into the door to their bedroom, opening it, then takes his armful of "wolf" and dumps it unceremoniously on their bed, face down. Snaking a hand around to his front, he works on opening his jeans. "Time for a strip search, my little wolfie..." Jim smirks and kneels on the bed over Blair, preventing his escape. Ah... as if.
Squirming with pleasure, Blair wriggles underneath his lover's body, trying to ease the pressure of his tight jeans against his raging hard-on.
Grinning, now that Blair can't see his face, Jim gets jeans and briefs off the wriggling Blair, giving one luscious cheek of his ass a smacking kiss before working on socks, shoes and the rest of the jeans.
Blair yelps, delighted by Jim's actions... then wriggles his ass at his lover when Jim kisses it.
Jim plants a few more kisses, then reaches up under to work on unbuttoning Blair's shirt as he positions his own rapidly filling erection against the cleft in Blair's ass, letting him feel him. "Need to make love to you, baby..."
Blair moans, panting, pushing his ass back against Jim's cock. "Oh yeah, lover... I want you so bad! I need you too, Jim..."
Within, Jim is still shutting all the uneasiness down, trying not to think about tomorrow, concentrating on his own and his beloved Blair's pleasure. He gets the shirt and undershirt off Blair, caressing his sides, admiring his beautiful compact form.
The younger man shivers with desire as his beloved touches his naked flesh.
Giving him a little playful slap on the bottom, Jim edges away. "Hold that thought, Chief..." He proceeds to strip off his own shirt and jeans, etc. lastly the bulging boxers.
The sharp tingle of Jim's slap on his bottom gives Blair an electric jolt of lust that makes his cock throb and twitch.
Edging back onto the bed, Jim kneels behind Blair, first caressing his sweet ass, then gently moving Blair's legs apart. "Mmmmm, I like this..." He reaches underneath, to gently grasp Blair's scrotum, squeezing it carefully.
His breath coming in gasps, Blair eases back on his haunches, his knees spread... shivering slightly with the familiar touch... his cock dripping. "Uhhhhhhhh!!!" Blair groans in pleasure.
The erotic noise emanating from his lover's throat sends a deep twinge through Jim, and suddenly his need has spiked in urgency. With a grunt, Jim sits down and grasps Blair so that he brings his ass up to his face. He starts to lick him lightly, not yet near the cleft.
"Ahhhhhh..." Blair moans and shivers as Jim's tongue touches his heated skin. "Oh yeah... yeah baby..." He begs for more.
Then Jim grasps his lover's ass, parting the cheeks, daring to dip his tongue in to tease along the crack, and to ghost over his anus.
Blair gasps sharply, then grunts and leans back against the hot fire of Jim's tongue.
The obvious desire in his lover, the blazing need, encourages Jim to get more intense with him. His arms wrapped around the columns of his legs, Jim swirls his tongue around the tender entrance, occasionally pressing into it.
A sound erupts from Blair... more of a growl than anything else... at the feeling of Jim's tongue against his anus, Blair moans incoherently and begs for more. "Uhhhh, oh yeah Jim, fuck me baby!"
Jim withdraws for only a moment as he reaches over to a bedside table for the bottle of lube. Then he returns to his task of tongue-fucking, each swirl, lick, gentle suck more intense than the last.
Backing away a bit to look closer at his prize, Jim reaches under Blair to swipe some of the dripping pre-cum, which he swirls around his finger, getting it wet.
Crying out with need, Blair pushes back against Jim's fingers, begging him to touch him, to enter him.
"Just a moment, baby..." Jim's voice is husky with his own need as he pulls one cheek away with one hand, watching as the sphincter gaps slightly, then takes his slick finger and gently maneuvers it within. "So good, baby..." Jim works one, two fingers in, adding lube, preparing his beloved. Occasionally he also strokes himself, lubing his cock up as well.
Grunting and panting, Blair steadies himself against the pleasurable sensations his lover creates deep within him, reaching to stroke his own throbbing erection.
Jim rises up to his knees, finally, raining kisses on whatever he can reach, then positions himself. "Going to come home, Blair. Ready?"
Nearly begging, Blair moans, "Oh gods, Jim!! Yeah yeah, baby...fuck me!"
With a long groan, Jim slowly enters his lover, maneuvering the head inside, then pushing carefully, adding lube as needed. Finally, he grunts as he made it all the way inside.
Blair growls in pleasure with the feeling of his lover filling him up.
Jim pauses, feeling his lover surrounding him, feeling the hotness and the tightness. He carefully adjusts his sensory dials, then strokes Blair's back, just satisfied for the moment to be joined to him.
Going nearly insane with the intense feelings this act always creates inside him, Blair moans and trembles with lust, arching back against his lover.
Slowly Jim slides back, his slick cock pulling gradually out of Blair's body until just the head is inside, then Jim slides back in. He does a few more of this deliciously slow thrusts, just enjoying the incredible sensations.
With every stroke Blair's arousal burns stronger and he braces against Jim's torturously slow and delightful lovemaking.
Gradually Jim increases his pace, but very slowly, taking his sweet time plundering his sweet Guide.
Moaning and panting, Blair arches back to meet Jim's thrusts, and forward to rub his own cock against the bedding beneath him, torn between the two sensations. "Uhhhh, oh, gods, Jim! You're so good, baby...ahhhhhhh!!!!"
"You feel so good, too, love..." Jim's voice is deep and husky. He holds Blair by the hips now as he easily slides in and out, still picking up the pace.
Nearly incoherent now, Blair groans and begs Jim for more.
Leaning over his lover more, Jim reaches around to grasp his drooling cock, beginning a rhythm of stroking that matches his rhythm of fucking.
Caught between the two sensations, Blair lets out a long low growl.
The prospect of bringing his lover off with him, fires Jim's passion hotter, and he is soon fucking and stroking with abandon, giving his Guide his all. He grunts as he fucks, his skin already bearing a sheen of sweat from his effort, glistening.
Blair shudders as he feels his climax start to build, his balls draw up closer to his body... he digs his nails into the bed and urges his lover on, panting hard.
Jim is also breathing hard, losing himself in the animal sensations of fucking his lover hard, his fist strongly pulling him off. Jim, too, starts to feel his climax approach, and fucks even faster, racing to the goal with his partner.
Jim's slow fucking brushes against Blair's prostate and he screams his lover's name, shivering with the force of his explosive ejaculation.
Shouting and shuddering convulsively, Jim comes at the same time, hard. He collapses on top of Blair, his other arm wrapping around him, panting onto his also slickened back.
Throat raw, Blair collapses on the bed, rolling to one side... still cumming...moaning with pleasure, whispers. "Ohhhhh gods, Jim..."
Jim, having slipped out as his lover rolled away, releases his cock and with both arms pulls him hard against him, never minding the gooey mess now between them. "Love you, Blair..." his voice also rough with emotion.
"Forever, man." Blair hugs his lover tightly.
Jim starts kissing Blair's sweaty forehead, his hair, his cheeks, lips, jawline, his hands also running over his back, soaking him in.
Blair runs his hands over Jim's body, luxuriating in his scent, his lips, his touch.
"So good..." Jim murmurs, smiling down at his Guide before sighing and capturing his mouth with his.
Wrapping his arms around Jim's shoulders, Blair opens his mouth and his heart to his beloved Sentinel.
Jim takes great pleasure in letting his tongue loose on a search-and-love mission in Blair's mouth. All thoughts of wolves with silver eyes are far away, and when they do some back, the Sentinel is not going to be worried about them, not now. Right now, nothing can touch them. Yeah...
The End
