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“Stay.”
The single word echoed through the front room of Seiichirou Tatsumi’s apartment its implication unmistakable. In its wake, silence fell between the Kagetsukai and the man he spoke to. The one word, along with the grasp Tatsumi found he had on his partner’s slender wrist, surprising them both.
Yutaka Watari had been heading towards the door, ready to call it a night after having been treated to a home-cooked meal and much needed conversation by his partner, a welcome distraction from the events of the past few days. Since the Esoka case, it was not unheard of for Watari to join Tatsumi at his apartment for dinner.
The evenings were usually filled with friendly banter, and perhaps a chess game or two, but often they just enjoyed the simple act of conversation. Lately, however, the quiet nights had been drawn to a close when a subtle tension began to fill the air. Usually, as the atmosphere in the apartment shifted from gentle needling to something more charged more electric, Watari would collect 003 and head out, affording Tatsumi a graceful escape from emotions and feelings the scientist knew the Secretary still had to sort through.
Tonight had wound down much the same way; the conversation drawing to a close as a faint charge began to fill the air. Following the usual patterns of their dance, Watari had gathered up 003 making an excuse about an experiment at the lab. But tonight, as he moved past the elder Shinigami, Tatsumi’s hand had shot out, halting his progress.
Now they stood facing each other, tethered by a simple touch, one word and mutually restrained desire.
“Seii?” Watari asked the question in a low tone, watching his partner’s sapphire eyes.
Tatsumi stood silent for a beat as if he was once again carefully weighing the word, weighing what it meant. What it would mean, where it would take him, where it could take them and what would be on the other side when night gave way to dawn. He knew that his thoughts and his concerns were reflected in his face. He could see them mirrored in Watari’s amber eyes.
Taking a step closer to his partner, Tatsumi repeated his request, whispering softly.
“Stay.”
Watari searched the older man’s face closely. He could see the conflict still lurking in Tatsumi’s eyes, but the Secretary wouldn’t be the man he was if he made such a request lightly. Rotating his wrist very carefully in Tatsumi’s hold the scientist slowly drew his arm towards his own back, pulling Tatsumi yet another step closer.
And another.
And another.
Twisting his arm, Watari folded it up his back resting along his spine. The movement trapped Tatsumi’s fingers between the sleek muscle of the scientist's forearm and the curve of Watari's lower back.
Tatsumi closed the distance with one last step; his movement took the strain off Watari’s shoulder as the Kagetsukai settled his arm along the younger man’s ribcage. They were close enough now that Tatsumi could feel the subtle heat of his partner’s body where the other man’s left side fitted against him thigh-to-thigh, hip-to-hip, and shoulder-to-shoulder.
For a moment, the apartment was silent. Tatsumi stared down between their bodies, studying the way they fitted together as his eyes trailed slowly back up towards Watari’s face. Usually, the slight difference in their heights was negligible, but being so close made Tatsumi keenly aware of the half inch separating them. Putting the barest hint of pressure against Watari’s back, Tatsumi gathered his partner even closer.
Watari took a small step, interlocking his feet with Tatsumi’s so he stood directly in front of the older man. Reaching forward with his free hand, Watari curled his fingers loosely around Tatsumi’s hip. Tatsumi’s other hand was not idle either, though it was more tentative in its reach as he lifted and curled his fingers gently around the side of Watari’s neck. Strong, slim digits lay along Watari’s jaw, spearing up through the loose threads of golden blonde hair, pushing the silken strands away from the side of the scientist’s face.
Bending slightly at the waist, Tatsumi paused once more, his lips a breath away from the younger man's mouth. Lifting his gaze, he almost lost himself in the fathomless depths and unconditional warmth in his partner’s eyes. Watari’s lips gave a very soft twitch and when he spoke the tone was low intimate and inviting.
“For Enma’s sake, Seii, follow your instincts.”
Tatsumi couldn’t help the very soft chuckle that echoed deep in his chest as he made one last study of those amazing eyes, then he closed his own and lowered his lips to Watari’s.
He’d expected the heat. He’d even expected the softness as he knew Yutaka kept a supply of lip balm stashed in his lab coat. What Tatsumi hadn’t expected was the tingle of sexual awareness that exploded through his veins when he kissed the younger man.
It was like touching a live wire, the current making his limbs tremble slightly. Breathing shallowly became the only way to draw air into his lungs. Against his hip, he felt Watari’s fingers flex tightly, evidence that the other man was having a similar response. Somehow the knowledge that this first kiss was having an equal effect on them both drove the intensity of the situation up another notch. Pressing his lips harder against Watari’s mouth, Tatsumi was rewarded when his partner’s lips parted and the tip of the scientist’s tongue darted out to tickle across the Secretary’s lower lip.
Closing his arm more tightly around Watari’s back, Tatsumi locked the slightly leaner body close to his own. His other hand slid off Watari’s fine features and cupped the back of his head holding him in place, as the kiss became deeper.
Tatsumi could feel his own heart racketing around in his chest as he drove his tongue past Watari’s lips and into the other man’s mouth. His partner tasted of the smoky evening tea they had shared, and a subtler flavor, which reminded Tatsumi of lazy summer afternoons.
For his own part, Watari was no passive participant in the proceedings. After giving Tatsumi a few uninterrupted minutes to explore his mouth, Watari's tongue tangled with his partner’s, wrestling playfully. The younger Guardian forced his fingers to release the death grip they had on Tatsumi’s hip and he was reaching to wrap his arm around the older man’s waist when Tatsumi made a startled noise and drew back a hair.
“Hm?” Watari asked with a blink.
Tatsumi was laughing very softly.
“Ah, ‘Taka… 003?”
Watari blinked again, still a little dazed. It took him a minute to realize that sometime during the kiss the little owl had gotten bored, hopped down to his own collarbone and was currently trying to get in on the act by nipping Tatsumi’s jaw with her beak.
Chuckling softly, Watari bent back over Tatsumi’s arm and reached across himself so he could pick up the owl. Giving her breast feathers a nuzzle with his nose, he tossed her gently up into the air where, after a small huff, she took flight.
“And stay out of the pie.” Watari called after her before turning his attention back to Tatsumi.
The momentum of the kiss momentarily interrupted, the two men took a breath to study each other silently. Each knew that they could step back and away from the situation. Each knew if they didn’t take the opportunity to step back, they never would and things would lead them forward to the point, where there would be no more interruptions, no more hesitation. Their relationship would move forward to the next level of intimacy.
Stroking his tongue quickly across his lips, Watari reached his arm back around Tatsumi’s shoulders. Threading his left leg in between the Kagetsukai’s powerful thighs he watched the other man’s smoldering blue eyes begin to burn with a responding heat.
Tatsumi tightened his hold on Watari and once again his lips found his partner's willing mouth as a kiss even more intense than the one they’d broken out of flared between them. It had been a long seventy-two hours. Too much had happened to all of them in that short amount of time and Tatsumi recognized that it was time to stop hiding from the intense feelings he associated with his blonde partner.
Breaking the kiss, Tatsumi drew back a little, drawing in a lung full of much needed air. With hooded sapphire eyes, he gazed down into Watari's equally dazed face. The other man's eyes were closed; his head tipped back, thin lips slightly swollen from the intensity of their kisses. Lowering his head back down, Tatsumi nuzzled lightly along the corner of the younger man's mouth, tracing the fine-boned jaw line.
Now, with everything settled, Tatsumi could admit to himself how hard it had been to let his partner go out in the field with another operative. Tatsumi was not blind to some of his less desirable traits. He knew he had a problem with possessiveness, particularly for those he cared about. It was only recently that he was finally at a point where he could let Tsuzuki go.
Being able to let Watari go had been a silent acknowledgment that the scientist was someone able to take care of himself. Someone able to make his own decisions, someone Tatsumi's mind and heart could accept as an equal.
An equal, but still mine.
Tatsumi felt possessiveness of a different kind flood through his veins, enflaming his desire, and his lips found his partner's mouth, tongue plunging between swollen lips with demanding intensity.
Watari met the intensity of the kiss head on, parting his lips and nipping at Tatsumi's mouth aggressively. He knew he was playing with fire, igniting passions that Tatsumi had buried for many, many years. It was both terrifying and at the same time thrilling but Watari refused to allow the other man to dominate him completely.
Freeing his hands, Watari brought his fingers up to the task of working Tatsumi's tie free of its relaxed knot. Snapping the fabric off his partner's neck, the scientist tossed it carelessly aside and set about working the buttons of the Kagetsukai's dress shirt open. Tugging the fabric free of Tatsumi's tailored slacks, Watari made a frustrated noise and tugged the last couple of buttons loose as he split the shirt open.
Even as he heard the little plastic buttons bounce off the highly polished wood floor of his living room, Tatsumi found he didn't mind the destruction too much. It was tangible evidence that Watari was an active participant on the out of control ride they were taking together. Releasing the blonde for a moment Tatsumi held his arms out so Watari could tug the shirt off his torso.
Tatsumi shivered as the cool air in the apartment brushed across his bare skin. Lowering his arms, he caught Watari close to his body, feeling the fabric of the scientist's turtleneck against his chest. Though the fibers were well worn, soft and warmed by close contact with Watari's body, Tatsumi found he did not appreciate having them separate him from his partner's skin. Reaching down, he caught the hem of Watari's turtleneck, waiting till the last possible second before leaning back and drawing the shirt up and off the younger Guardian's body.
Watari raised his arms and gave a deft wriggle of his head, ducking free of the tight neck. The shirt tugged through his long hair, catching the loose hair tie and yanking it free. Both items joined Tatsumi's shirt and tie somewhere in the general vicinity of the couch.
Two for the price of one, Tatsumi thought to himself. He lifted his hands and caught both sides of Watari's face, fingers threading through the heavy hair that spilled across the younger man's back. Tatsumi enjoyed the touch of the warm silk against the back of his hands, catching sections of the unbound hair in between his fingers and Watari's face.
Kissing Watari with feverish need, Tatsumi pulled the other man back up against his body; both of them gasped as bare skin brushed against bare skin. Lips still touching Watari's mouth, Tatsumi spoke in a low, gravelly voice he hardly recognized as his own.
"Five decades of celibacy…"
"Has got to suck." Watari finished, equally breathless.
"Mmm." Tatsumi managed before he was once again kissing Watari deeply. Pressing forward, Tatsumi felt Watari's arms close around the middle of his torso, pulling him forward, against the younger man's chest, even as Watari took a stumbling step back.
Watari's shoulders fetched up against the wall by the door of Tatsumi's apartment, the older man's broad chest pinning his leaner frame against the wall as Watari caught and held Tatsumi close. The past three days had been a difficult journey for all of them and it felt good to hold his partner, to lose himself in the act of love, reminding himself and Tatsumi that they were both still within their own minds.
There had been too many times when he'd questioned his own existence and he knew that it had been the same for Tatsumi. Hell, it had been that way for Tsuzuki and even Hisoka. At times the psychological demands of the job they performed were too intense for the human mind, even the immortal mind, to contemplate.
Especially alone, Watari thought as he pulled Tatsumi even tighter against himself, comfortably trapped between the cold, hard apartment wall and his lover's body. The case had come too close to truths that every Shinigami lived with every day of his or her immortal life and Watari found it had exposed needs he hadn't been consciously aware were building. Needs that had probably begun to manifest in Kyoto, finally spilling over tonight, in Tatsumi's apartment. In Tatsumi's arms.
Tilting his head to the side, Watari lifted one hand and caught the back of Tatsumi's neck. Holding the older man's mouth against his own, Watari poured openly expressed need into the kiss they were sharing, opening up a part of himself he hadn't dared to share with anyone in over twenty years. Exposing the vulnerable young man who questioned everything about himself but who hid his insecurity behind a gregarious nature that could mask so much.
A defense mechanism, which could, at times be as dysfunctional as Tatsumi's own iron control. Wise men said everything in moderation and too much one way or the other was never a good thing. Both he and Tatsumi had been allowing themselves to wallow in the two extremes, and if there was one thing Watari had learned from the past few days, it was that he needed to stop hiding, and so did Tatsumi.
We've both allowed ourselves to focus on other people for too long, Seii. It's time to understand that Tsuzuki is not the only one worth loving. Watari thought to himself sliding his hands up along Tatsumi's bared chest and around the other man's neck, pulling his partner even closer.
At some point, Watari had braced his legs apart and leaned back against the wall, which let Tatsumi settle in between his thighs. This allowed the older man to pin him full length up against the wall bringing their bodies into intimate alignment. Their kisses were becoming heated exchanges, which had them both breaking apart to catch ragged breaths, only to come back together with even greater intensity than before.
Tatsumi recognized that he was quickly losing himself in his lover. The logical part of his mind wanted to cringe away but Tatsumi had not made his offer, his request, without putting a lot of thought into what he was asking of Watari, and of himself.
It was an unnerving sensation to feel all the cares and burdens that normally weighed on his mind disappearing beneath the intense need to claim the man in his arms. Part of Tatsumi shied away from the primal nature of the sexual tension he was exploring with his partner. Part of him wanted to put a stop to the sensations, emotional and physical, running through his body. It was tempting to try to reassert order on his rapidly tumbling world.
But, just as the emotions threatened to become too much, Watari moaned softly, the sound echoing down Tatsumi's throat. There was something undeniably needy in the moan and Tatsumi’s response was twofold. His pulse beat at an even more rapid rate, pushing his blood along its heated path through his body, making him feel alive, and he felt an intense need to hold and comfort the man in his arms.
The combination of desire and need put paid to any lingering doubts and Tatsumi found himself kissing Watari with near brutal reassurance. There would be no turning back.
Breaking the kiss only when he knew they both needed to come up for air, Tatsumi drew his lips away from Watari’s mouth, ignoring the younger man’s pleading growl. Kissing his way along his lover’s jaw, Tatsumi braced one hand on the wall beside Watari’s head and drew back, studying the scientist’s flushed features.
When Tatsumi drew back, Watari opened slightly dazed eyes. His eyes had darkened from their usual bright amber to a deep burnished gold and Tatsumi felt something tighten in his groin at the knowledge that he’d caused the change to happen. Letting his gaze slide off his partner’s face, Tatsumi took in the opportunity to study Watari’s long hair up close.
Lifting his other hand, he caught a handful of the silken threads and let them cascade through his fingers, watching the highlights of gold and auburn flash and flare beneath the soft light that illuminated the apartment. Tatsumi had been fascinated with the younger man’s hair for years. If directly asked, he wouldn't have been able to explain what it was about Watari's hair that was almost comforting for him, and at that moment, Tatsumi wasn't in the mood to analyze its captivating quality.
Watari quirked an eyebrow at Tatsumi’s sudden hesitation. He could feel the older man's intense arousal pressed up against the curve of his hip, so the sudden pause had to be emotion-based. Though it would have been frighteningly easy to have moved, touched or stroked his partner into a physical response, which would have wiped away the reservation in Tatsumi’s eyes, Watari waited patiently while the other man worked through whatever demon had suddenly jumped out of the shadows.
Lowering his hand from the wall beside the blonde’s head, Tatsumi trailed his fingers lightly along Watari’s collarbone, tracing the delicate ridge, memorizing it. He watched his own hand move with languid thoroughness down the younger man’s chest and was pleased when a pale nipple tightened beneath the stroke of his thumb. Letting his arm drop and slip around Watari’s waist, he pulled his lover away from the wall, his other arm coming up around the scientist’s shoulders and catching the back of his head. Then, slowly and deliberately, Tatsumi leaned forward and buried his face in the slope of Watari’s neck.
Taking a deep breath of the younger man’s scent, Tatsumi hid within the silken embrace of all that hair. It felt just as comforting as Tatsumi had imagined it would. Exhaling slowly, the elder Guardian felt something deep within his soul unknot and relax.
Held in Tatsumi’s arms, Watari’s heart performed a thrilling double beat as he realized just what the older man was doing. Moving slowly so as not to startle Tatsumi, Watari wrapped his arms around his lover’s waist, splaying his hands across the other man’s broad back. Closing his eyes, the blonde laid his forehead against Tatsumi’s collarbone, slowly leaning his weight against the Secretary’s body.
Tatsumi felt a fresh wave of desire that had nothing to do with primal, physical response and everything to do with the feelings he was slowly coming to associate with the man he held. His world spun and then snapped upright on its axis, reaffirming both his logical and his emotional selves that what they were about to do was right. Turning his head just a hair, Tatsumi placed an open-mouthed kiss on Watari’s slender neck, shuddering as the younger man gasped deliciously. Biting gently, Tatsumi drew hard against the skin, grinning as he felt Watari's head fall back, exposing more of his throat, the younger man's chuckle a deliciously low, throaty sound.
“Going to make me wear a turtleneck tomorrow, aren’t you?” Watari's voice was just as deliciously thick and seductive.
Releasing his lover’s neck, Tatsumi straightened so he could look at the other man’s flushed features.
“You always wear a turtleneck, Taka.” Tatsumi growled softly. “I’m just giving you a damn good reason to wear one tomorrow.”
Watari’s slender brows arched upwards at the assertive declaration, and it emboldened him to drop his hand down across Tatsumi’s flank.
“What else are you going to give me a damn good reason to be doing?”
Tatsumi merely chuckled low in his chest and drove the younger man back up against the apartment wall. Pinning Watari to the plaster with his shoulders, Tatsumi dropped his arms back and pulled the younger man’s hands away from his own hip and ass. A deft movement put the scientist’s arms up over his own head and a gentle press on Watari’s wrists was a wordless declaration to keep his hands up there.
Knowing just how respectful Watari was to orders of any sort, Tatsumi moved quickly to distract the younger man from disobedient thoughts. Pressing a kiss to the bruise starting to rise on the pale skin of his lover’s neck, Tatsumi let his lips trail down to the point of Watari’s throat, nibbling there as his hands dropped down to the fastening of his lover’s slacks. Working the button loose, Tatsumi grasped the zipper and combined the slow track of his mouth down across Watari’s chest with the lowering of the zipper in his hand.
Watari’s head dropped back against the wall as Tatsumi combined the subtle yet torturous sensations. Who the hell knew the man had such sexual tricks up his sleeve? Watari hadn’t known what to expect from Tatsumi in the bedroom and after much thought on the subject, as the sexual tension between them had grown over the months, the scientist had firmly pushed any expectations out of his mind.
Feeling Tatsumi shift, Watari opened his eyes a bare slit and watched in shock as the older man sank with elegant grace down to his knees in front of him. Catching both sides of Watari’s waistband in his hands, Tatsumi shot a heated glance up along his lover’s pale torso and his eyebrows quirked upwards in an expression that was half challenge, half promise.
Groaning, Watari grabbed his right wrist with his left hand in an attempt to keep his hands where Tatsumi had positioned them. His fingers clenched hard on his wrist as Tatsumi deftly and firmly navigated his slacks down off his hips, careful not to catch his arousal in the fabric.
There is a definite advantage to being with someone who understands the delicacy of being in such a state. Watari amused himself with the thought.
Light taps to his ankles prompted the blonde Guardian to bring his mind back to the business at hand. Braced against the wall, Watari carefully kicked out of his shoes then helped Tatsumi complete the act of undressing him. Watari grinned as his slacks and boxers ended up somewhere off to the side with his and Tatsumi's shirts.
Naked now, save for his glasses, Watari indulged in a full body stretch along the wall. He may be under orders to keep his hands to himself but that didn't mean he was going to make it too easy for Tatsumi. If the smoky gaze his nude wriggle garnered from the man kneeling in front of him was anything to go by, crouching had to be quickly becoming a painful exercise for Tatsumi.
"Having fun with my wall, Watari-san?" Tatsumi growled softly.
"Mmm I'd rather be having fun with parts of your anatomy, Tatsumi." Watari answered with frank honesty, watching the fire in Tatsumi's beautiful blue eyes flare higher. "However, I am growing to have very fond memories of this wall and I think we might be entertaining the people across the block."
Watari rolled his head to the side as he spoke the last part, the motion drawing Tatsumi’s eyes to follow the younger man’s gaze. Sure enough they were nicely framed in Tatsumi’s picture window if anyone in the apartment building across the block decided to look outside.
Unsuccessfully fighting a grin, Watari pulled his eyes away from the open window and cast a look down towards the man kneeling in front of him. The tips of Tatsumi’s ears were a delicious shade of red and when the older man finally turned his head and looked up, the expression in his blue eyes was so sweetly befuddled that Watari felt his heart clench. Reaching down, the younger Guardian stroked his fingers lightly along his lover’s jaw.
“Perhaps the bedroom?” Watari suggested gently.
Tatsumi cleared his throat, and then, in a tone that sounded like he was agreeing to tea, answered. “Ah. Yes, perhaps.”
Watari bit his lower lip as he watched the muscles of Tatsumi’s chest and shoulders bunch and release as the man powered up to his full height. Comfortable with his nudity, the scientist merely arched his brows suggestively as Tatsumi’s eyes caught sight of and paused upon Watari’s substantially aroused state.
Moving to distract Tatsumi before the man started to over think the situation again, Watari pushed away from the wall and brushed his body along Tatsumi’s front. Letting the fingers of one hand trail from the biceps of Tatsumi’s left arm, across the older man’s broad chest and shoulder, then down along Tatsumi’s right arm, Watari curled his fingers around Tatsumi’s hand.
“Come on.” Watari encouraged gently.
“Who?” Tatsumi returned. The older man’s eyes slowly trailed away from Watari’s groin as he tilted his head and peeked at his younger lover from overtop the rims of his glasses.
Watari’s pale brows swept upwards at the course response and his smile widened mischievously.
“You, hopefully.”
This time it was Tatsumi who arched his brows. Before Watari realized what was happening, the older man’s hand flipped around, and Tatsumi’s fingers closed around the scientist’s fine-boned wrist in a possessive manner. Pulling Watari firmly back up against his own body, Tatsumi caught the back of the other man’s head and held him still for a ravaging kiss.
I’ll give him this, once Seii makes up his mind about something, he does not hold back! Watari thought to himself as he shuddered within Tatsumi’s fierce hold. His partner’s passion was enflaming Watari’s own desire to a height the blonde hadn’t expected.
Never one to back away from a challenge, the scientist was soon kissing the dark haired man with equal intensity. Watari hooked his fingers in the belt loops of Tatsumi’s tailored slacks and began to walk backwards, leading Tatsumi through the neat living room towards the bedroom.
Opening one eye, to make certain Watari didn’t bump them into anything, Tatsumi used the pressure of his hand on the other man’s wrist to guide him around the bits of furniture in the room. As they passed the kitchen, Tatsumi thought he saw 003 in the middle of a pie pan, busily stuffing herself sick, but he found that, at that moment he couldn’t give less of a damn if the owl decided to eat him out of house and home.
At some point, Watari had also peeked open an eye and without breaking the kiss, he spoke against Tatsumi’s mouth.
“003…”
“Leave her.”
“ ‘Kay.”
By this point they’d reached the bedroom doorway and Tatsumi felt confident enough to close his eyes, his entire focus centering back on the naked man in his arms. Releasing Watari’s wrist, the Kagetsukai began to run his hand feverishly across the warm, silken skin of his lover. Sweeping his fingers lightly along Watari’s ribcage, he enjoyed the masculine play of muscles along the younger man’s abdomen. Tracing the graceful curve of his lover’s hip, Tatsumi stroked an open-palmed caress over Watari’s flank, gripping the back of the other man’s thigh tightly.
As his feet came into contact with the deep Persian carpet that dominated the wooden floor of Tatsumi’s bedroom, Watari dropped one hand off Tatsumi’s waistband and got to work on the buckle of the man’s belt. When the Secretary obliged him by releasing his other hand, the scientist quickly brought those fingers to bear on the stubborn fastening of Tatsumi’s trousers. When the open belt got in the way one time too many, Watari caught hold of the buckle and yanked. The fine leather sang through the belt loops, exiting with enough force that the end cracked, the sound echoing through the bedroom.
Tatsumi jumped slightly before growling something that sounded like “show-off” against Watari’s lips.
Smirking, the scientist tossed the belt away and got back to the important business of getting Tatsumi as naked as Watari himself. Pushing Tatsumi’s slacks free of his lean hips, Watari moved to follow them, only to be caught in strong arms and pushed firmly back onto the bed.
Exhibiting deftness at stripping that the younger man would never have suspected of him, Tatsumi kicked himself free of his shoes, slacks and even his socks. When he was as naked as his lover, Tatsumi propelled them both up onto the king sized bed, stretching Watari out on the deep burgundy silk coverlet.
Not about to be a passive participant in the proceedings, Watari caught Tatsumi’s waist and pulled the older man right along with him, arching with a low moan as the Secretary’s weight pressed him into the soft fabric of the comforter. The moan turned into a bemused noise when Tatsumi quickly braced his weight on his arms and levered his body off Watari. Looking up into the Kagetsukai’s face, Watari focused on Tatsumi’s intense blue eyes.
Tatsumi returned Watari’s careful study, taking in every nuance of the scientist’s handsome features.
Neither man said a word, the bedroom filled only with the sound of their panted breaths.
After a long minute, Tatsumi settled his weight on one arm, lifting the other hand to trace his fingertips very lightly along Watari’s jaw.
As Tatsumi gently touched his face, Watari smiled softly and reciprocated the caress, his fingers, trembling slightly as they danced along Tatsumi’s well-defined cheekbones.
Without seeming to think about it, each man reached for the other’s glasses. They paused, as they realized what they’d done, and started to chuckle. Tatsumi drew Watari’s glasses off his face and he ducked a little when Watari returned the favor. Folding up the scientist’s spectacles, Tatsumi held out his hand for his own, taking them both in one palm and stretching a long arm out towards the nightstand, setting the glasses carefully beside the alarm clock.
Turning back to his lover, the older man resettled his weight on both arms, braced on either side of Watari’s head. Lowering his head until their noses touched, once again they were eye to eye.
“Blind…”
“As a pair of bats.” Watari finished, but his hands were moving, stroking down along Tatsumi’s side and around the point of his hip. Long, slender fingers reached and wrapped lightly around the Kagetsukai’s aroused cock, causing Tatsumi to catch his breath. “However…”
“We’ll manage.” Tatsumi exhaled the words on a gusty breath before swooping down to recapture Watari’s mouth.
This time, however, Tatsumi’s lips moved quickly away from his lover’s mouth. Shifting atop Watari, the dark haired Guardian began to blaze a trail along the scientist’s slender throat. Shifting his weight to one side but still pressed full length against the other man, Tatsumi settled one hand overtop Watari’s head, fingers carding through the younger man’s blonde hair. The Secretary’s other hand moved across Watari’s chest, fingers teasing along muscle and bone till he located a pebbled nipple.
Pinching the sensitive skin, Tatsumi enjoyed the way Watari arched with a low gasp against him. Smiling with wicked intent against the other man’s pale skin, Tatsumi shifted, trailing his mouth across Watari’s chest until his lips and teeth could replace his fingers. Alternating an attack of nibbles with more intense bites, Tatsumi let his hand caress a path down across the scientist’s slim abdomen, tickling the tips of his fingers across the velvety head of Watari’s cock.
Watari withstood the delicious abuse, inflicted in alternating intensity from Tatsumi’s mouth and fingers, for as long as he could, then he squirmed against the older man. A deft twist of his body brought the hand he’d been trailing up and down the other man’s spine into position and Watari delivered a resounding smack to Tatsumi’s powerful flank.
Retaliation was swift. Tatsumi grunted, then put pressure on the nipple he had caught in his teeth, growling deep in his throat as he shifted his lower body closer to Watari’s hips. The two aggressive actions were meant to reestablish dominance.
Tatsumi realized he should have known better.
With a wriggle and a growl of his own, Watari threw his slighter weight against the bigger man. Tatsumi had the advantage of height and pounds but Watari had leverage and knew how to use it to his advantage. Before the Secretary realized what was happening, he found himself flat on his back with the younger man astride him.
“I’m sorry.” Watari panted, his voice hoarse with desire and need. “Were you under the impression that you were leading this dance?”
Tatsumi looked up into the burning gold eyes of his lover. Watari’s hair had swept forward and was tickling the older Guardian’s cheek and chest. Feeling his own desire ratchet up to a level Tatsumi couldn’t ever remember experiencing before, he stroked his tongue across his lower lip.
“No.” Tatsumi said, continuing in a parody of his own overly polite tones. “I was under the impression that I was going to fuck you through the mattress.”
The raw, passionate words sparked surprise and shock in Watari’s eyes and for a split second the younger man could do nothing more than just hang there.
Tatsumi took the momentary advantage and grabbed Watari’s waist, flipping the other man over onto his back. This time the Kagetsukai rolled fully on top of the smaller man, pinning Watari to the bed and settling in between the scientist’s thighs.
The shift in position brought their erections into direct contact for the first time and both men paused, groaning in pleasure. The instinct to grind hit them both and they moved feverishly against each other, until Watari caught Tatsumi’s upper arm in a bruising grip.
“Ah, Seii!” The scientist’s voice was strained, a fine sweat having broken out on his pale body.
“Mmm.” Tatsumi answered, nearly incoherent with need but understanding exactly what Watari meant.
There would be time, later, for more thorough exploration and teasing. At that moment, the only thing in Tatsumi’s mind was the thought of burying himself in his lover, and from the way Watari was moving beneath him, the younger man fully approved and was actively encouraging this course of events.
Shifting his weight to one arm, Tatsumi reached down between their bodies, fingers stroking first across Watari’s substantial erection, then his own. Gathering a not-inconsiderable amount of fluid, the Secretary was then moved his hand in between Watari’s cheeks, fingers finding the sensitive entrance to his lover’s body. Teasing the opening with deft strokes, Tatsumi dropped his head and caught the younger man’s mouth in a deep kiss before attempting to press a finger through the tight ring of muscle.
Against Tatsumi’s lips, Watari gasped, and he arched instinctively away before his body remembered that the slight burn would quickly yield to more pleasurable sensations. Drawing in a deep breath, the scientist reminded himself to relax and was grateful when Tatsumi’s iron control exerted itself and kept the older man from pushing the pace.
Aware, simply by feel, that it had been quite some time since Watari had been sexually active this way, Tatsumi forced himself to go slowly and carefully. The primal part of his nature thrilled at the knowledge that he was claiming a man who normally did not accept the submissive position. In his higher brain function, Tatsumi chided himself for not having had the forethought to stash some proper lubricant somewhere in the apartment. But honestly, he hadn’t expected to be taking his partner to bed this night.
However, neither man was inexperienced in the practice of anal sexual intercourse. It wasn’t too long before Tatsumi realized Watari was twisting with pleasure instead of pain against the two fingers Tatsumi had worked into his body. With Watari relaxed in his arms and the course of passion back on it’s proper track, Tatsumi shifted his weight squarely atop the younger man, catching his own cock in the palm of his hand and guiding the swollen tip along his fingers towards the entrance to his lover’s body.
Wrapping his legs up high along Tatsumi’s side, the scientist caught and then exhaled a deep breath as the older man pressed forward. Hands wrapped around Tatsumi’s biceps, Watari clenched his fingers into his lover’s damp skin, waiting for the brief burn to subside.
Tatsumi watched Watari’s face carefully. Though his body was begging to thrust forward, to plunge into the tight, delicious heat, Tatsumi forced himself to remain still until he saw and felt the younger man relax. Only then did he flex his hips and slide further into his partner. After the initial couple of thrusts, both men found the going easier. Before either realized it, Tatsumi was completely seated within Watari’s body.
Pausing then, nearly lost in the embrace of the younger Guardian’s arms, legs and body, Tatsumi set his forehead against his lover’s brow and whispered breathlessly.
“With me?”
“Right here.” Watari answered in an equally soft, wondering tone. His hands stroked up across the points of Tatsumi’s shoulders in a soothing caress.
Tatsumi dropped a gentle kiss against Watari’s closed eyelid before burying his face in the curve of the younger man’s neck. He could smell hints of the cedar wood and sage soap and shampoo Watari favored, the comforting scent mixing with Tatsumi’s own cologne.
Pulling his hips back carefully, Tatsumi withdrew a short distance before sliding back home. Watari’s response of a low throaty moan, followed by a pleading arch of his body, encouraged Tatsumi to withdraw a little further the next time, which allowed him to thrust into his lover a little harder.
Watari laid one hand, open palmed, between Tatsumi’s shifting shoulder blades. The fingers of his other hand were curled around the curve of Tatsumi’s shoulder, fingertips clenched into the older man’s collarbone.
In short order the two men established a powerful rhythm, passion and pleasure driving them both along towards the same goal.
Reaching down between their bodies, Tatsumi palmed Watari’s cock, closing his fingers around the heated flesh and stroking the younger man in counter rhythm to his own thrusts. The combination of stimuli earned Tatsumi a sharp, wordless cry from his lover, which brought a satisfied smile to the older man’s face.
Time was not their friend. All too soon, it seemed, Tatsumi felt his own orgasm gathering. His body took on a mind of its own and the Kagetsukai’s thrusts shifted from long and measured to short, quick deep plunges, his breath quickly spiraling out of his control. Beneath him he felt Watari’s hips working the younger man’s erection within the embrace of Tatsumi’s fingers in similar, quick jerks.
Gritting his teeth, Tatsumi imposed an iron control over his body and focused his attention on the movement of his hand. Countering the instinctive movements of Watari’s body, Tatsumi turned his head and blew a soft breath into the younger man’s ear before nipping at Watari’s neck sharply.
As intended the multiple touches of hand, breath and lips pushed the blonde Guardian over the edge and with a shout of the older man’s name, Watari came hard in Tatsumi’s arms.
Wanting to pause and enjoy the feel of Watari’s pleasure, Tatsumi groaned when his own body refused to be denied any further. The combination of the scientist’s shuddering form and Tatsumi’s own substantial arousal got the better of him and with a low cry, muffled against Watari’s hair, Tatsumi thrust hard and seated himself deep within his lover, enjoying the intense orgasm as it crashed over him.
Collapsing atop his partner, Tatsumi kept his face pressed into the warm security of Watari’s neck as he drifted along on the pleasurable aftershocks. Wrapping his arms up around the scientist’s shoulders, Tatsumi trusted in Watari’s good sense to move him if he proved to be too heavy for the slightly smaller man but Watari seemed content to let Tatsumi blanket him. Chest to chest, the Kagetsukai found the shared beats of their hearts strangely comforting.
As breathing and racing heartbeats slowly returned to normal, a thought weaseled its way into Tatsumi’s mind. Still hidden against Watari’s neck, the older man turned his head and pressed his lips against the scientist’s ear.
“Stay.” He whispered softly.
Stay, meaning beyond the sex, beyond the physical pleasure they had just found in each other’s bodies. Stay meaning sleep with me, hold me tonight, wake up with me in the morning, share my toothbrush and get your owl out of my pie pan.
Stay, meaning stay by my side as my partner and my lover.
Tatsumi couldn’t ask in so many words. Even locked in a sweaty, sated embrace his reserved nature still wouldn’t allow it. But he trusted Watari to hear the words anyway.
He trusted… and wasn’t disappointed.
“Not going anywhere.” Watari whispered back, turning his head to press a gentle kiss against the side of Tatsumi’s jaw. “Not going anywhere.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Watari woke with a start.
Lying quietly, he quickly checked on the man curled up against his chest, hoping that his sudden alertness hadn’t woken Tatsumi. It hadn’t. The older man was sleeping peacefully, head pillowed against Watari’s shoulder, limbs still tangled together from the passionate embrace of earlier in the night.
Reassured that Tatsumi was sound asleep, Watari pulled one hand free of the covers and reached up to rub his fingers across his face. It had been two months since that first night. Two months and three days to be exact. While discreet at the office, the change in their relationship had not gone unnoticed by observant members of the Division.
Okay, what prompted that dream? Watari thought to himself ruefully. Not that he minded the contents of the dream, but he couldn’t bring himself to wake Tatsumi up and get help in relieving the… erm… natural physical reaction he was having to the dream.
Shifting a little uncomfortably, Watari folded his arms around Tatsumi and tried to think unarousing thoughts. Top of the list being, what had woken him up? Cradling Tatsumi’s head against his shoulder, Watari carded his fingers pensively through the Kagetsukai’s chestnut hair and tried to pinpoint the source of his sudden unease.
Looking around the darkened room, Watari could sense nothing out of the ordinary. Straining his ears, he listened to see if possibly 003 was raiding the kitchen, but no noise came from the center of the apartment. Frowning, Watari turned his face towards the large window that dominated the outer wall of Tatsumi’s apartment. Reaching out he picked up his glasses and perched them on the edge of his nose, staring out of the window and towards the fire escape that ran along the back of the building.
As he stared through the open curtains, Watari became aware of a figure sitting on the ironwork railing. Tensing instinctively, he forced himself to relax as he realized it was just a cat sitting there.
He relaxed, only to tense back up a breath later as he noticed that the cat was sitting with preternatural stillness, its burning gold eyes fixed on the bed where Watari and Tatsumi lay. Finding it suddenly difficult to breathe, Watari could not deny the sense of unease he felt looking into those overly intelligent gold eyes.
“Enma.” He whispered, pulling Tatsumi closer to his body.
Outside, on the railing, the cat’s eyes seemed to move from Tatsumi’s sleeping form to Watari’s face. Certain of who that cat was, Watari could not deny the definite displeasure in the animal’s gaze. Gritting his teeth, the blonde Guardian reached and pulled the covers higher up around Tatsumi, as if to shield the older man from the cat’s intense stare.
On the balcony, the animal stood and arched its back. It’s mouth opened, pink tongue and white teeth flashing in the moonlight as it pinned its ears and hissed.
Though his heart hammered in his chest, Watari fixed the animal with a defiant glare. That only caused the cat to spit and strike at the air with its paw, claws extended. Refusing to give ground, Watari held Tatsumi tighter, one hand folding behind the other man’s head, cradling Tatsumi against his body in an openly protective gesture.
With one last snarl towards the window, the cat turned and jumped away from the railing, disappearing into the night.
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