The kiss lasted longer than either of them expected.

Tongues twisted, hearts raced, hands tentatively touched skin, then caressed more forcefully.

When their lips parted, both had beads of sweat on their foreheads.

Jimmy leaned in and kissed Byers on the lips quickly. “You know… I really do care about you… I need you,” he whispered in Byers’s ear, “and you know I can’t be anything but honest. I’m not smart enough to play games… I hope you
can be honest with me.”

John looked up into Jimmy’s eyes, and stood there for a moment with a look of complete adoration that darkened his own blue eyes. He buried his face in the crook of Jimmy’s neck, kissed him there, and whispered, “Yes.”

************

The next few days were blissful, if slightly tense. A long, honest and completely cathartic conversation followed the candid confessions, and it was agreed that although they would “try to get something good going”, that there was going to be no sex involved.

It was like a volcano waiting to explode. Each make-out session was pushed to the limit, with semi-naked torsos, frivolous neck hickeys, grinding, but no touching was allowed below the belt. Sleeping had it’s own dangers…more than once Byers awoke in Jimmy’s arms, pressed tight against his body, with a firmness neatly aligned along the crack of…well, you know. Byers was of two minds of the whole situation, as it was overtly sexual, but Bond was obviously asleep, and well, it felt good. Somewhere, deep in his sheet-souped mind, there was a wee thought process that was rather grateful that
Jimmy’s muscular bulk was natural, and not steroid induced, because that firmness was not only unpleasant… but felt almost unmanageable. And that itself was strangely exciting.

************

Three or four weeks later (neither was sure, their testosterone soaked brains having lost all sense of time, but Bond made sure to write the date down afterwards), after spending a semi-successful day writing and obtaining a few private donations, Byers arrived back at what was now almost
disgustingly known as J&J’s Love Shack in an extremely good mood. As he opened the door, he was surprised to find it dark, as he had just  called Jimmy not more than ten minutes earlier and was assured that Jimmy would be there. He attempted to flick on the light, but it remained dark. And 
then a voice spoke close to his ear.

“It’s okay… close the door, honey”

A match lit, then a candle lit. Then two. Then three.

A bottle of champagne, two fizzing glasses. A goofy, lopsided smile with nervous eyes greeted him, the face of his boyfriend (and each time he used that word in reference to Jimmy, Byers’s mind exploded in fireworks with astonished surprise and grateful thanks to the deity that brought them together) and a dozen roses, held out towards him.

Byers took the bouquet with a stunned look on his face and gazed at them in silence. The silence grew longer, and Jimmy was starting to feel that he had done something wrong when he realized Byers was crying.

“Flowers,” he heard Byers whisper, “no one’s ever bought me flowers before.”

And then, Byers walked towards the table and placed the roses in the convenient vase waiting there. “They’re beautiful,” he breathed.

Jimmy walked up behind him, and put one arm around him, the other extending to hand him a glass of champagne while holding him close. He kissed Byers’s neck and then they both took a drink of champagne. Jimmy then whispered something in John’s ear, something that would forever bind them togther.

“You’re beautiful. Nothing is too good for the man that I love.”

And then there were tears. Both men clung to each other, crying gently, whispering the words that they had both so longed to hear.

“I love you, Jimmy.”

“I love you, John”

*******************

That night, love having been declared, and never declared more truly in history, things progressed to a new level.

Jimmy carried Byers into the bedroom, both kissing the whole time. As they settled onto the bed, it became obvious that both knew their roles and were prepared to defend them until death, with Byers wrapping his legs around Jimmy’s waist while still kissing more passionately than either man had before. First one shirt, then the other found their way onto the lamp and the bedpost, respectively. Only three socks were found immediately afterwards (hallway, bathroom across the hallway, under the bed) while the fourth was found crammed into a pillowcase. One pair of pants behind the door, while the other ended up wedged between the box spring and mattress.

They rolled, twisted, turned, kissed and ground into each other until it was just two very sweaty men in a race for completion. Byers eyed the man he loved, wearing nothing but a jockstrap with an incredible bulge (in Byers’s eyes, at least), knowing that tonight was a night of love, and fantasy. Jimmy panted slightly, and then looked at his lover, raising his eyebrow in query, his eyes saying the rest. Byers nodded.

A smile spread across Jimmy’s face, and Byers’s boxer briefs were quickly flung aside, ending up dangling from a doorknob, and then the jockstrap was pushed aside to let everything, well, stand at attention.

There was no doubt that both men, while not abnormally gifted, had something to be proud of. Each gripped the other with the certainty that they would never let go.

There were tongues, kissing, touching… later they would be able to  remember it all but only able to express such a passionate evening in fragments. Jimmy remembered his lover spending what felt like (and was actually) an hour worshipping his chest, nipples, arms and neck. Byers remembered 
being kissed for hours, followed by  the best massage he had ever received, and then being on his hands and knees, squirming while Jimmy worked magic with his tongue where Byers never thought that kind of magic could happen. Jimmy remembered warmth, tenderness, and a hunger, and a need. Byers remembered the need too. Then latex, something wet, and a question spoken only with the barest of whispers.

“Are you ready?”

“Yes”

They both remembered how it felt for the first time even years later. The trust, the passion, the incredible feeling as Jimmy slid into Byers. What had intimidated Byers earlier, now made him more open, more trusting, more ready for it than he had ever been. Two men, now one.

Hours later, they awoke, a new life begun.
--