By the time the taxi pulled to a screeching stop in front of 852 Prospect, Blair was literally leaping from the suddenly all too confining space of the backseat he shared with Jim. "Let's go, man!"

"Down, boy! I gotta pay the man, Chief!"

Sheesh. If it were up to him, Blair would have gladly thrown what little cash he had at the driver and run. Feet tapping restlessly at the curbside, Blair waited impatiently for Jim to emerge from the cab.

"Come onnnn, man."

"Chief, cool your jets. You're acting like you've got ants in your pants. I'm not going anywhere."

"You better be, Jim. You better get your ass up to the loft before I show you just how unruly a hungry Guide can get," Blair warned impudently.

Jim gave his would-be lover a longsuffering look. "What's your rush, Darwin?"

Blair rolled his eyes at the older man whose touch he craved with an increasing desperation. "Well, now that you mention it, Jim, evolution took less time."

After settling the fare with the driver, Jim resisted Blair's attempts to draw him into his arms. "Whoa, Chief. Slow down. We're on the street here, in plain sight of everybody."

"Everyb—? Jim! The Martians didn't just land in the middle of Times Square, y'know."

"Yeah, but-"

"You're getting cold feet, Jim?" Blair all but squeaked. "Shit, I knew this would happen! You are so freaking predictable, man! We've been touching each other for how long now? Four years? And suddenly it occurs to you that people might get the wrong idea?"

Blair flounced away, or he would have, if flouncing weren't somehow a uniquely feminine thing to do. If there was one thing that Blair Sandburg was not, it was feminine. He was undeniably beautiful. But his beauty had little to do with the more feminine allure of a woman…and everything to do with the very masculine way his muscular thighs moved beneath that killer ass. When Blair pouted, that full sensual mouth looked eminently kissable. Or worse. Fuckable.

Okay, so it wasn't about anything as shallow as sexual attraction. But that didn't keep Jim from nearly zoning on the way the sunlight glinted off Blair's long dark curls. The same long dark curls that bounced back and forth upon Blair's shoulders as he moved away from Jim. Moved away?

"Blair!"

That got his attention. Blair turned, his smoky blue eyes intensely focused on Jim's face, their heat a palpable thing between them. "What?"

Jim turned both hands palm up in a gesture that said "I give up". "I'm not backing out, Chief. I swear."

Blair considered that response for all of ten seconds before speaking. "Get your ass upstairs now, Ellison. Don't make me come over there."

Jim couldn't help but smile. "You're a top, aren't you?"

Blair snorted derisively, as if a mere answer would be telling entirely too much. "That's for me to know and you to find out." Pause. "And if you don't get into that elevator right now, you're going to die wondering."

"Ooh, I love it when you…take charge," Jim quipped, barely able to keep a shit-eating grin off his face.

The moment they were through the door, Blair backed Jim against the kitchen counter, not so gently reminding him that they still hadn't consummated their newfound feelings for each other. His erection pointedly making its presence known, Blair pressed urgently against Jim's groin even as his hands thrust themselves down the front of Jim's shirt.

Suddenly overheated and breathless, Jim grabbed Blair's hands and held them to his chest. "What? No foreplay?"

Blair gave Jim an exasperated look that did nothing to detract from his masculine beauty. "Shit, Jim, I think four years is long enough, don't you?"

"You saying we've been dancing around this that long, Chief?"

Blair claimed Jim's mouth with a heart-stopping kiss. His lips alternately kissing and licking at the prize he so avidly sought, Blair begged for entry.

"I think the time for talk is long past, Jim. That's what I think."

"You want me to put my money where my mouth is, right?"

"Nooo," he drawled. "I want you to put your mouth wherever I tell you to."

Jim held off approximately 150 pounds of suddenly overanxious Guide for a few seconds. "Shower first, Chief."

"It's been a long, hard trip home. I'm not letting you touch me till we get cleaned up."

"Is this non-negotiable, Jim?"

Jim nodded slowly, the tip of his tongue flicking out to moisten his lips. Blair found himself totally mesmerized by the movement.

"Can I come with you?"

Jim groaned softly. "Where do you think I'm going to escape to, Chief?"

Blair lapped gently at the base of Jim's neck, his mouth warm and pliant against his skin. "I just have this feeling, man, like I shouldn't let you out of my sight. Not for a second."

Jim's large yet strangely artistic hands cupped Blair's face, holding him fast for a tender kiss. "I promise…this has nothing to do with getting away from you…and everything to do with what you lovingly call my "Mr. Clean" fetish," Jim remarked dryly.

Blair's gaze burned intensely hot for several moments before he could speak. "Okay, I yield on the issue of showering alone. For now. But you damn well better leave me enough hot water to shower and wash my hair."

Blair saw the indecision in Jim's forthright blue eyes and wondered at it. "What?"

"Are we going to do it in my bed or yours, Chief?"

Blair looked curiously offended by Jim's choice of words. 'Do it? We're not going to do it, Jim. It's called making love. Remember that? You were married once."

Jim's face shut down. "Yeah, well, it didn't last all that long, Chief. Maybe that was why."

"Why? You never had sex?"

Jim shook his head vigorously. "Nope. Never made love."

"But you loved Carolyn, Jim. Didn't you?"

"I thought I did, Chief. Maybe I did. Maybe I just wasn't in love with her."

Blair seemed nonplussed by this announcement. "Wow." Winding his fingers through Jim's velvety short-cropped hair as best as he could, Blair stared into Jim's eyes, so like and yet so dissimilar to his own.

"Are you saying what we have is different, Jim?" Blair's whisper sounded as if it had been wrenched from deep inside him.

"Yeah. I guess I am."

"And not just because we're both men?"

Jim traced a long slender finger along the side of Blair's face, his eyes intent on capturing every nuance of every change to Blair's animated expression. "I love you, Blair. I love who you are. I admit, what shape the package comes in threw me off initially, but God, you are beautiful. I don't care what that makes me. The rest of the world has no place in our bedroom."

"*Our* bedroom, Jim?" Blair hated the vulnerable sound of his voice, but that was exactly how he felt now. Vulnerable. Exposed.

"*Our* bedroom, Chief."

Blair sighed, a satisfied noise that bespoke great contentment. "Mmm…man, just when I think I know you, and I should throw myself from the nearest bridge, because I am so sick of unrequited love, I mean, it's so Romeo and Juliet, isn't it?"

"You earned the free pass to the shower, man, but you better miss me."

"I don't have to miss you, Chief," Jim said huskily, unspent emotion creeping into his voice. "You're always with me. In here." He briefly touched his index finger to his chest.

Blair reacted, his eyes widening perceptibly, his pupils dilating, turning his bright sapphire gaze the color of the midnight sky.

"For a man of few words, you seem to know exactly what to say."

After stripping off his clothes quickly, Jim stepped under the hot stiff spray of the shower, his aching muscles rejoicing at the way the water sluiced down his body. It wasn't as if he were tired or injured. Oddly enough, neither he nor Blair was the worse for wear after their experiences at Section One.

Jim lathered his chest and abdomen, turning up his sense of touch so he could savor the feel of the warm liquid soap trickling into the hair at his groin. Rubbing absently at his half-erect cock, he felt it spring to full attention, like a good soldier saluting his superior. Attention on deck! Sir, yes, sir!

He groaned in earnest as his fingers unconsciously tightened around his eager flesh. Maybe I should take care of this now, he thought. After all, I don't want to make a fucking fool of myself, popping off the first time Blair gets naked with me.

His hands slick with soap lather, Jim stroked himself slowly. It felt too good to stop, but he didn't want to come yet. For once, he could indulge his fantasies about how good Blair was going to feel in his arms. For once, he didn't have to imagine how his tongue would feel in his mouth, or his cock hard and pushing insistently against his own throbbing hard-on.

His legs spread apart, he could feel the water growing cooler, but he didn't care. He pumped his hand more furiously, feeling tiny tremors start at the back of his legs. For long moments, he let himself feel the anticipation of coming. But it was the thought of Blair's mouth that ended all speculation. He saw himself, his body rock-hard everywhere, including his cock, pouring his hot life essence inside that waiting mouth.

"Oh, God! Blair!" He came hard. It had been a long, long time for him. But he knew better. That was just an excuse, a rationalization. The truth was, he hadn't wanted anyone else for a very long time. Years, maybe.

He leaned back against the tiled wall, panting. Letting the water rinse his groin clean again, he thought, that was supposed to take the edge off, otherwise, it'll all be over but the shouting. He closed his eyes and concentrated on getting his ragged breathing back under control.

He was still breathing heavy when the shower curtain was suddenly pulled back, with enough vehemence to cause parts of the curtain to rip away from its moorings.

"Jim! What the hell are you doing in here, man?"

Jim's eyes flew open, the intensity of the vivid blue eyes not lost on Blair. "Jeez, I thought maybe you fell in or something," he joked, but the laughter died in his throat.

No one had ever looked at him that way. Except Jim. It was like being trapped in the spectral headlights of an oncoming spirit. That's how it felt, too. Like they were separate yet joined. Bonded in some inexplicable, hell, even unearthly, way. A bond that could never be undone.

Then he couldn't help but stare at what the shower curtain had concealed. "Man, you are so fucking beautiful." That was all Blair could manage before his mouth went so dry, he could no longer speak.

Blair bit his lip, suddenly overcome by the pent-up emotion of years of wanting and loving and needing in vain. "Jim?"

Jim shook his head slowly. "Don't you fucking cry on me, Chief. I'm this close to losing it myself."

Blair's heartbeat sped up, his expressive face saying things he had been convinced he would never get the chance to say. "Jim? You used up all the hot water, man," he said, a ghost of a smile working its magic on that angelic face.

All at once Jim realized that he was still leaning against the wall, completely naked, the now-cold water threatening to shrivel important parts of him.

"Are you coming out, man? Or do I have to come in there and get you?"

"You'd brave a cold shower for me, Chief? Must be love," Jim said softly, looking more at peace than he had in months.

"Didn't you notice the water was getting cold, Jim? What happened? Did you zone?"

Jim gave his soon-to-be lover an enigmatic smile. "Funny you should ask, Chief. The fact is, you were starring in this Technicolor movie in my head."

Blair reached in and shut off the water. Then he climbed into the tub and faced his Sentinel, his improbably warm hands splaying across Jim's unbelievably hard chest. "What was I doing?"

Jim gave Blair the once-over with style, a smirk tugging at the corners of his mouth. "You were wearing a helluva lot less than you are now, Chief."

Blair licked the drops of water that clung to the underside of Jim's jaw, eventually running his tongue down into the well of his neck. "Was I doing this?"

"N-no. But keep going. I'm giving you twenty minutes to cut that out."

"Can we move this upstairs?"

"To our bedroom?"

Blair nuzzled the light sprinkling of hair on Jim's chest, eventually drawing the nub of one flat brown male nipple into his mouth. "You taste so good, Jim."

"Hey, you don't have to sell me on the concept anymore, Blair. Jesus, I'm ready. I mean…that is, if you are."

Blair drew back, and Jim gasped at the heat in those smoky blue eyes. "Jim, I've been ready for this all my fucking life, man."

Jim sank his fingers into the springy dark curls on top of Blair's head. This was his now. His.

"Chief, I haven't got a clue what comes next, so I hope you know you're driving. But whatever we do, I'm okay with it."

In a role reversal that strangely made sense, Blair grabbed a huge fluffy white towel and wrapped it around Jim, moving into protective mode as though he were born to it.

Somehow, they made it as far as the top of the stairs.

Blair pushed Jim back, and he fell onto the bed in a boneless sprawl, a not so inconsiderable feat for a man his size. As Jim watched, hypnotized by the sight of a near-naked Blair, Blair tossed the offending garments every which way, daring Jim to say something, anything, about the dreaded House Rules.

"Don't even think about complaining about how my clothes are going to contaminate the bedroom, man."

Jim reached up and grabbed Blair by the hair, pulling him on top of him. "House Rules suspended indefinitely, Chief."

He latched onto Blair's mouth like a starving man contemplated dinner, coming up for air several moments later. Breathless, Jim asked, "Why the hell did we wait so long to do this, Blair?"

His mouth already swollen, Blair smiled as Jim touched his cheek, his lips, his brow. "Maybe we should save the analysis for later, Jim."

That made Jim grin. "I finally want to talk, and you want to shut me up, Chief?"

Blair moved closer, lining up their cocks, his hips giving a restless little twitch that drove Jim crazy. "Not entirely, Jim. I want to hear you moan and groan and maybe, just maybe, scream…"

"You think you're the man to make me scream, Chief? Cocky little son of a bitch, aren't you?"

Blair moved again, and he could feel Jim's cock, wet with natural lubrication, touching his own diamond-hard erection. Blair's tongue snaked into Jim's ear, swirling around and around the pearlescent outside. Sucking the tasty white flesh of Jim's earlobe into his mouth, Blair nibbled and licked and worried the lobe with the tiniest application of teeth.

Jim couldn't believe he was hard again. "Blair…"

Blair pushed back, locking his arms, until he was poised over Jim like a tribal hunter claiming his prey. "Jim, I want you so bad. But I won't do anything you're not ready for."

"You're talking about fucking, aren't you?"

A shadow crossed Blair's face for a moment. "I'm talking about making love, Jim. I thought we were clear on that."

"Like crystal, Chief. But…um…what part goes where? I don't want to zig when I should've zagged."

Bumping noses with Jim, Blair gave him a gentle kiss on the lips before resting his forehead on that magnificent profile. "Is your coordination going offline?"

"Um…have to get back to you on that one, Chief."

Blair smiled, a truly beatific smile, one of those 1000-watt smiles that lit up the entire room, and Jim played with his hair, wondering how on earth something like this could feel so natural, so familiar. So inevitable.

Softly chuckling, Blair said huskily, "I'll top, bottom boy. But next time, it's your turn."

"There's going to be a next time?"

"There's going to be a whole lotta next times."

Blair worked his way down the length of Jim's sculpted physique, stopping only when he found Jim's burgeoning arousal. Licking the velvety tip of Jim's cock, Blair gradually swallowed it completely, lost in the sensation of being able to touch Jim so intimately. Finally. He wanted to laugh and cry at the same time. He could never be any happier than he was right now.

Or so he thought.

Again and again, he brought Jim to the brink of completion, only to pull back at the last moment. Each time he did this, it raised the stakes that much higher. Blair had a feeling that when Jim came, it would be intense enough to make an earthquake pale by comparison.

"Are you ready, Jim?"

Blair had already explained to Jim that it would hurt if he penetrated him. Definitely the first time. Probably the second and third time. But Blair was nothing if not resourceful. "I'll let you fuck me, Jim. As long as I stay on top and in control."

"It's your party, Chief."

Blair frowned. "You're being entirely too agreeable, Jim. What's up?"

Jim buried his face in his lover's long dark curls. "You promise not to laugh?"

"Of course. Jim…what is it?"

"I want you to take me, Chief."

"It'll hurt, Jim. You're not ready for that yet."

"I want you…inside me, Chief. Where you belong." Jim's voice was barely audible. This was not a man used to speaking his heart. But he was trying. Because he knew how important Blair was.

"I-I…shit, Jim. You trust me that much? Aren't you afraid I'll hurt you? God, man, I don't want to do anything to hurt you. You know that, Jim." Suddenly horrified, Blair gazed at Jim in disbelief. "Man, you are something else. You want me to hurt you, don't you? You've still got some dumbfuck idea in your head that you screwed up, and you think this is payback time? Jesus, Jim."

Jim grabbed two fistfuls of Blair's hair and pulled him into a gutwrenching embrace, so tight it made it difficult for both of them to breathe. His hands trembled as he traced Blair's hairline with his fingertips, his mouth seeking its mate. "I love you, Blair. This isn't about anything else but that. I want you to be part of me," he whispered. "If that's not what you want, I can accept that. Hey, I'll take whatever part of you you're willing to share."

Blair shook his head as he responded. "Sorry, Jim…"

Jim closed his eyes, choking back an inarticulate noise that Blair once would have dubbed "caveman-esque". Now Blair knew differently. It was the sound of a man who was trapped inside himself, in a space where few others could go. Only Blair truly breached that place where Jim hid his deepest, innermost feelings.

Only Blair understood.

Touching his mouth to Jim's, Blair watched as Jim's ice-blue eyes flew open with a startled gasp. "I'm an all or nothing kind of a guy, Jim. Guess you're stuck with all of me, then."

"Blair…" Jim said, blue eyes beseeching.

Blair smiled, and it was like the sun coming out after a particularly hard rain. "Your ass is going to hate you tomorrow, Jim, I'm telling you."

Jim returned the smile, unshed tears making his eyes glisten. "Love you, Blair. Want to belong to you. Only you."

The requisite stretching took time. Blair refused to rush through this part, knowing that it could make all the difference between Jim enjoying their first encounter and regretting that he had ever laid eyes on Blair.

"Does this hurt?" he asked, taking great care to use an almost excessive amount of lube. His well-lubricated finger poked and prodded Jim's virgin opening.

"No…just feels…I dunno…funny."

"Turn down your touch a bit, Jim."

"No, I want to feel it all. Everything, Blair. I don't want to miss a thing."

Jim's mouth set in a mutinous pout that rivaled Blair on a bad day. "Okay, man, but don't say I didn't warn you."

By the time they progressed to three fingers, Jim was relaxed enough that he was starting to revel in the way Blair touched him so intimately.

Blair automatically reached for a condom, but Jim grabbed him by the wrist, his grip like a vise. "I'm clean, Chief. I haven't been with anyone in over a year, and my last test was negative."

Blair looked down at the wrist clamped so securely within Jim's grasp. "I haven't been with anyone since I moved in here," he said in a voice too low for anyone but a Sentinel to hear.

"Chief! What about the constant parade of—?"

"Just that, Jim. A parade. A show." He almost smiled. "Been talking to the hand so long, Jim, I hope I remember how this goes."

Jim took the condom out of Blair's hand and put it on the nightstand. "We don't need anything between us, then. Cause there's never going to be anyone else for me, Blair. I mean that."

"Me, too," Blair agreed, his eyes suspiciously bright.

Jim held out his arms, and Blair went gratefully into them, snuggling under Jim's chin. "This is nice."

"Yeah."

A curious glint entered Jim's light blue eyes as he contemplated the Blair-sized bundle he held. "Only thing is, Chief…"

"Yeah?"

"Mr. Happy thinks you forgot all about him."

"Mr. Happy, Jim?" Blair started to chuckle. "Well, damn! No wonder you haven't gotten laid in over a year. I don't know, Jim. I'm not sure I can, y'know, make Mr. Happy happy."

Jim bared his teeth in a feral grimace, as he inhaled the scent of Blair's growing arousal. "He wants you to try," he said tongue-in-cheek.

Blair sat up and rearranged their bodies so that he was straddling Jim. "It would be better if you lay on your stomach, Jim."

Jim shook his head. "Want to see your face, Blair. Want to know it's you, loving me."

"No one else, man. Only me."

So it was that Blair finally entered Jim, inching along so carefully, Jim grew frustrated. Blair tried to hold back, but Jim's desire for Blair was so intense, the younger man couldn't resist the older man's greater strength as he pulled Blair deeper.

When they were one, Blair stopped, reciting multiplication tables in his head to keep from coming too quickly. But Jim had other ideas. "Move, Blair. Come on…fuck me!"

"Jim…"

At the sound of his name on Blair's lips, Jim arched and bucked and generally tried to drive Blair over the edge.

All of his apparently untutored movements succeeded in doing two things: they aroused both men, and they forced Blair to move more energetically inside his lover.

"Jim! I-I…oh, God, I'm going to come!"

"Come, baby! Come for me!"

At the same time that Blair spilled his seed deep inside Jim's narrow channel, Jim came, spattering Blair's chest with the force of his climax.

Giving one final groan, Jim rubbed his hands over Blair's hips and cupped his ass. Blair was so sensitive to touch at that point that he twitched. "Hang on, Chief. I got you."

Blair smiled and lay his head down on Jim's chest. "Yeah, Jim. You got me."

"For better or worse, right, Chief?"

"That sounds suspiciously like you want to keep me, man."

"Forever, Blair."

"Never argue with a man who knows what he wants."