The Thing

Outside, Blair’s footsteps were slow, halting, and Jim opened the door just in time to see his roommate struggling with a long, cardboard box.

"What’cha got there?" Jim asked, holding the door open while Blair juggled his way into the loft.

"Artifact," Blair mumbled. His keys were in his mouth. He was holding other things as well, which he dropped in favor of cradling the long box very, very carefully.

"I’ve got to run by dad’s," said Jim. "Drop that gift off for Sally. I’ll be back in an hour or two. Sure you got all that?" he added.

"Oh yeah," said Blair. "But Jim, wait, man, you gotta see this. Now this is going to blow your mind." The student was grinning happily, and Jim waited, coat in hand, to see Blair open the box up tenderly.

"What is it?" Jim asked. It had been quite a while since Blair had mentioned words like "artifact." The student had given up his career in anthropology to protect Jim’s overdeveloped senses, and although he was back in school, he was a psychology major now. Jim wondered if this meant Blair was building some bridges back to the anthro department. For Blair’s sake, he hoped so. He knew how dear that subject was to Blair’s heart.

"I’m actually baby-sitting it for Robin Johnson," Blair admitted. "She was afraid her kids would break it before she could get it to class tomorrow."

"What is it?" Jim asked again. He really had to go, but was more than willing to wait if Blair wanted him to.

Blair was unwrapping the packing paper carefully, to reveal…

"What the hell is that?" Jim asked, giving a short snort of unexpected laughter. The item in question was long, several feet, in fact, made of wood, and quite decoratively carved. It looked like the world’s biggest dildo.

"It’s just what it looks like," said Blair happily, smoothing his hands over the silky finish. "It’s from a tribe in the South Pacific. The groom and his attendants wear these on his wedding day. Supposed to be a fertility guarantee, man."

"Not very subtle, is it?" Jim asked. "Don’t tell me it’s sized to fit."

"No," Blair laughed. "It’s supposed to over-sized. Why? Feeling inadequate?"

Jim just laughed again, and shook his head. "This is the kind of thing that hooked you into anthropology in the first place, isn’t it, Chief?"

"Oh yeah. And don’t forget all those pictures in National Geographic," Blair quipped in reply.

"Well, I’ve got to run," said Jim, heading to the door. "If you decide to wear that thing around the house, try not to scare the neighbors."

"Oh, ha," said Blair, turning back to admire the object.

The door clicked in place behind Jim, and Blair gathered up the package and took it to his room. It was an amazing piece of work.

"Don’t scare the neighbors," he said out loud, humorously mocking Jim’s tone. Wear the thing around, right.

Then Blair thought…

Nah.

But it would be a hoot, right? The thing was almost two feet long.

"Blair, you’re not trying that thing on," he told himself. But nevertheless, he took it out of the box, picked up the end and looked at it. It apparently slid right on, but how did it fasten? Oh yeah, okay, it had a harness type thing. Right. Like he would try that on. I mean, just so I could see what it feels like to have a two-foot long dick, he thought…

Sandburg! You can’t be thinking this! came the more rational voice that occasionally directed something his way. The inside of the piece was smooth, Blair thought, gingerly touching it. No one had supposedly ever worn it, it was brand new, hand-made by the tribe Robin had ordered it from for her research. Well, she won’t want your flesh sliding into it, Blair told himself sternly. I could take a shower, Blair thought, get really clean…Blair! What the hell are you thinking?

Jim got halfway across town before he remembered that he had left Sally’s gift upstairs in his bedroom. Oh, shit. Sighing deeply, he turned around and headed for the loft. Maybe he should just call Sandburg, have him run it over to the house. No, he had promised Blair he could study tonight.

Outside the loft door, Jim tensed. He automatically listened in for his roommate when he got to this point, and he could hear him now. But Blair’s breathing was harsh, elevated. Something was wrong.

"Sandburg!" Jim said, quickly stepping inside. There, just on this side of the doorway to Blair’s room, Jim saw a sight he would never, ever forget.

Silhouetted against the desk lamp from his room stood Blair, naked except for thick socks and a white v-necked tee-shirt. Protruding from his groin was the big carved…thing.

Jim’s mouth hit the floor.

"Oh god," said Blair upon seeing Jim, and he went reeling into the other room, hands on his fake phallus.

"Sandburg, what the?" was all Jim got out before he started laughing. It came in short barks at first, then tumbled out into a waterfall of amusement that quickly cascaded into full-blown hilarity. Then he saw the panicked look on Blair’s face.

"What?" Jim asked, between guffaws. "Sandburg, what the-"

"It’s stuck," said Blair.

"What?" Despite himself, Jim felt another wave of laughter roll over him completely. He tried to dampen it down.

"This is not fucking funny, man. It’s stuck." But despite himself, Blair gave a short laugh, too. It was really just too unreal.

"You’re kidding, right?" Jim asked, walking over and surveying the master work up close.

"No!" said the hapless anthropologist. "You said not to try it on, well, of course I started thinking about it then, I know I shouldn’t have, Jesus, Robin is going to absolutely fucking crucify me, and Jim, you gotta help me, man!"

"Okay," said Jim, trying to stifle the rest of his amusement. "Okay. Let’s just be calm here." He put his hands on the wooden covering, glanced down at Blair, who was bare from the waist down. "How’s it connected, some kind of harness or something?"

"Yeah, I’m wearing that," said Blair. "It was sorta complicated to get into, but that’s not the problem, man! The problem is my dick is stuck inside the opening and the thing won’t come off."

"Sandburg, I’m not even gonna ask…how did you manage this?" asked Jim, pushing Blair’s tee-shirt up and looking at the root, so to speak, of the problem. "How can you be stuck? Did you…."

"I’m not that stupid," said Blair, "I wasn’t…un-aroused when I put it on, trust me, I certainly wouldn’t have put the thing on and then taken the chance of swelling inside of it!"

"Well, forgive me for doubting your wisdom at this moment," said Jim dryly. He was studying the harness now, moving Blair this way and that way with strong fingers pushing against the firm skin of the student's hips and backside.

"Careful there, Tex, okay?" Blair asked. "God, this is like so major embarrassing."

Jim tried not to laugh again. "This is going to be one hell of a story for the next poker game," he said.

"You better not!"

"Oh, boy, am I going to get some mileage out of this one," said the sentinel. He knelt down and studied Blair’s firm, rounded backside.

"What are you doing?" Blair asked. "It’s the front side that’s the problem."

"I thought maybe it would help to unfasten this harness thing," said Jim, moving a finger along a leather strap that ran down into the crack of Blair’s rear.

"What are you doing, man?" Blair asked, jumping as Jim’s finger pulled the thong from his ass.

Jim was laughing, that’s what he was doing. "I can’t wait to see you explain this to that grad student! You think she’s going to want this after you wore this thing? Sandburg, what in god’s name were you thinking?"

"Hey, I’m clean, man. I mean, I scrubbed everywhere."

Jim just shook his head, and moved behind Blair, pushing his thighs apart and running his fingers down underneath Blair’s balls. The student yelped and jumped again.

"I don’t know what the hell you’re doing, but you’re not exactly helping the problem here, if you know what I mean," Blair said in a hissing tone. His face was flushed and flustered.

"Sorry," said Jim. "Just trying to figure out where the strap went."

"Well, as I just said, the strap is not the problem here, Detective Ellison. It’s the-"

"I know, I know," said Jim. Still kneeling down, he moved back over to where the wooden cock piece fitted over Blair’s own shaft. "Can’t you…won’t it slide off if you’re not aroused?" Jim asked.

"Well, that seems to be a problem," Blair said. "There’s some kind of suction thing going on, I think."

"Suction thing," said Jim, failing miserably at keeping a straight face.

"Oh, that’s right, laugh it up!" said Blair, trying to pull his shirt down across his nakedness. "What if it swells up or something? What if they can’t get this off?" His voice was starting to rise from panic.

"Relax, Sandburg," said Jim, gently moving his hands to where the piece fit snugly against Blair’s hairy groin. "If nothing else, we’ll cut the damn thing off."

"What?!"

"Not you, the wooden thing," said Jim. "I think I’ve got some kind of tool in the basement that would do that."

"Uh, uh, I’m sorry, Jim, but I do so not want to have you cutting around my dick with a chain saw or something, okay? I mean, that is a LAST resort, do you hear me?"

"Did you try lubricant?" Jim asked, sitting back and looking at the area once more. He could tell the skin was reddened, irritated.

"No, I was just going to get some when you came in," said Blair. "I don’t have anything, do you?"

"There’s some Vaseline in the bathroom," said Jim. "Just hang in there, let me go find it." He kept talking to Blair, trying to keep him calm, until he came back with the small jar.

"I can do it," Blair said, fumbling for the jar, but Jim said, "No, you just hang onto the wooden thing."

Way too far gone to protest, Blair held the artifact steady while Jim gently rubbed petroleum jelly around the curly hair at the beginning of Blair’s hard cock.

"I don’t know how that’s going to help, man," said Blair. "It can’t get down in there."

"Have you thought about relaxing and just letting things go down naturally?" Jim suggested.

"I’m telling you, it feels strange in there. It feels like it won’t go up or down."

"Chief, I’m no physics major, but something has to change sometimes. How about…." Jim had an idea. "What if you, you know…came? Your penis would shrink, plus the lubrication would maybe ease the problem."

"I cannot believe I am having this conversation," said Blair, closing his eyes. His face was burning hot. He could never, ever, face Jim again after this. And if he told anybody…!

I’ll be paying him blackmail money for the rest of my life, the student moaned to himself.

"It might work, though," said Jim, trying to sound matter-of-fact while he ran power tool options through his head. They could maybe cut off the end of the thing and get some lubricant up that way. It wasn’t like he wanted to be the one responsible for freeing Sandburg that way, either, though with his senses, he would at least be able to maybe monitor a few things.

"Well, that’s all well and good," said Blair, "but how exactly do I do that, Jim? I can’t you know…touch myself."

"You can’t move it at all?" Jim asked. "Get any friction going?"

"No," said Blair miserably. He looked like he might cry.

Jim digested this. Then he asked, "Well, can you come without touching that? Have a particularly good fantasy or something?"

"Jim, I am really not in fantasy mode at this time," said Blair. "My dick is stuck in some kind of tribal artifact, and I am not having a good time here."

"Reckon this never happens back at the old tribe?" Jim wondered.

"I don’t know. I guess I should have paid more attention to the rituals, huh?" Blair asked. "For all I know they’re made to get stuck and then they’re broken off in some kind of manhood ceremony."

"Sandburg" Jim said again, the laughing erupting once more, "I cannot believe you did this."

"Well, I did, and I’m worried here, okay? I wouldn’t be laughing if you got your dick stuck somewhere it didn’t belong!" Like that’s never happened before, Blair thought dryly, thinking of some of Jim's past lady friends. "The masturbation thing, actually, Jim that’s a good idea," Blair added, his mind whirling. "Especially the lubrication part."

"Well, do you want to try that?" Jim asked. "Need a magazine or anything?"

Blair shot him a baleful look. "Sorry to disappoint you, but I don’t happen to have anything lying around, do you?"

"How does Field and Stream sound?" Jim asked.

"Jim! I’m desperate here."

"Think of something," the sentinel suggested. "Think of someone. Think of that blonde girl at Rainer you wanted to ask out."

"Who?" Blair asked, exasperated and frustrated.

"I don’t know, the first day we met. There was this girl? You wanted to know what she was saying about you."

"What? Man, I can’t believe you remember that. That was so long ago, I don’t even remember what her name was. Besides, she thought I was a dork, as you so happily informed me."

"I was lying," Jim said easily. "She really said she thought you were adorable."

"No way," said Blair, momentarily forgetting his predicament.

Jim shrugged. "What can I say? I was obfuscating."

"Man! You just wait until I get this thing off." Blair stared down at it as if he were willing the thing to disappear. "Okay," he said. "Lubrication. Think sex here, Blair."

"You want me to leave?" asked the sardonic sentinel, and Blair reached out a panicked hand to catch at Jim’s arm.

"No," Blair said. "I mean, no, I don’t exactly want you standing around here, man, but I’m…tense here." Scared, he thought.

"Okay," said Jim. His voice sobered a bit. "You’re going to be okay, Sandburg, really. We will get that thing off."

"Okay," said Blair, taking a deep calming breath.

"Why don’t you come over here and lie down?" Jim suggested, gently pulling Blair over to the bed. "That way you can lie back and relax. Think good thoughts, if you know what I mean, buddy." He helped Blair moved awkwardly onto his back. The wooden thing protruded strangely into the air.

Blair closed his eyes. "Don’t leave," he said again, reaching out a hand, and Jim patted his arm.

"I’m right here," said Jim. "Now you just think of…whomever."

Blair took another breath, tried to comply as Jim watched him, fascinated. The two of them had faced some truly strange situations before, but this had to be at the top of the list.

"I can’t," said Blair, opening his eyes and looking worriedly at Jim. "Jim, it’s never going to come off."

"Just try," said Jim. "What turns you on, Sandburg?"

"Uh." It was one question Blair had never expected to hear from his roommate "I don’t know."

"Think."

"I can’t."

"Do you like to be touched? Do you like to think about yourself making love to someone special?" As far as Jim knew, Blair didn’t have anybody special in his life right now, hadn’t for a long time.

"Jim," said Blair, a bit bleakly. This was so humiliating.

"Sandburg, it’s important," said Jim briskly. "Think of how important it is. We just need a little lubrication here."

"That’s easy for you to say," Blair said pitifully. Then Jim remembered something Blair had said earlier.

"Sandburg," he said. "Before. When I was touching the, uh, strap? You said that that wasn’t helping any. Did you mean that…."

"Well!" said Blair, his eyes flying open defensively. "That didn’t mean anything, Jim, but my god, when someone has their fingers in your butt…!"

There was a silence, and Blair looked over with wide eyes to meet Jim’s sardonic ones.

"Jim," he breathed.

Jim shrugged. "Hey, I may not be Pam Anderson, but beggars can’t be choosers, huh?"

Blair struggled to sit up, and Jim helped him. "Jim, you can’t mean…."

"You think I could make you come?" Jim asked frankly.

Blair was still staring at him.

"Well?" Jim asked.

"Uh."

"Hey, I’m not making any judgement calls here," said Jim, holding up his hands. "Bodies respond, Sandburg. I won’t take it personally either way."

"Well," said Blair, gulping.

"How about this?" Jim asked. "Why don’t you turn over on your side, away from me? That way things won’t be so…uncomfortable," he suggested.

"What are you going to do?" Blair asked suspiciously, as Jim helped the reluctant student turn on his side like he had suggested. Blair’s round harnessed butt appeared before Jim on the bed.

"Relax," said Jim softly. "I’m not going to hurt you, Chief. You just close your eyes and think good thoughts. Pretend I’m the woman of your dreams, and I’m just going to touch you, like this, okay?" And Jim gently moved his hand up underneath the back of Blair’s shirt and onto the smooth skin of his bare back. Using his fingertips, the sentinel traced delicate paths of touch across Blair’s spine. "That feel okay?"

"Uhm," said Blair, swallowing. The damned thing was, it did. It felt like…a lover’s touch. Then he thought, well, duh, Jim’s a damn sentinel. He would know just how to do it, probably.

"Actually, I’ve always wondered what it would be like to make love to a sentinel," Blair joked.

Jim said, "Well, Chief, here’s your chance to find out."

"I guess you don’t have to worry about me documenting anymore, do you?" Blair asked very dryly.

"I wouldn’t be worried anyway, not with the blackmail material I’ve got on you tonight, Sandburg."

"You asshole," said Blair, but his voice was amused, and he wasn’t as tense anymore. He was quiet for a moment as Jim moved closer to him and continued the long strokes and caresses. Jim spent a long time there, just touching Blair’s back, and then he said quietly, "Do you mind if I put my arms around you, Blair?"

"No, that’s okay," Blair whispered back, and Jim moved up behind him and spooned up behind the student. He slid one hand around under Blair's shirt into the soft cushy hair of the student’s chest. Tracing more patterns on the front side of Blair’s body now, Jim moved his head behind Blair’s neck and gently bestowed a kiss there. At the contact, Blair jerked, but didn’t protest.

"This okay?" Jim asked, even as he was dropping the most tender of kisses along the nape of Blair’s neck, nudging the curly hair away with his nose and his other hand.

Blair nodded. This was so…surreal, he thought. Jim is kissing my neck. Jim is kissing my neck tenderly, softly. This is what Jim is like in bed.

I’m seducing Sandburg, Jim thought, and the thought made his head spin. I can do it, too, he thought, but with a protective tenderness more than pride. I can make him feel good. I can give him pleasure. The thought practically overwhelmed him, and he quickly remembered to dial down his senses. Otherwise, they would both be in trouble, although Jim had not zoned in a very long time.

"You smell great," said Jim, nibbling his way up to Blair’s ear. His right hand carded through Blair’s curls. They were soft, irresistible. His left hand traced gentle circles around Blair’s pecs.

Blair could feel himself stiffen within his wooden cage.

"You’re so beautiful," Jim said.

"You don’t have to say that, man," said Blair. "I mean, you can stick to the truth."

"That is the truth," said Jim honestly. He took the lobe of Blair’s left ear gently in his mouth and teased it with his teeth and tongue. Can I make a man come without touching his cock? Jim wondered. He had never made a man come before, ever, in any way. But he knew what he liked, so maybe that would work, and some things would surely be good no matter the sex of the receiver.

Blair seemed to like the ear thing, so Jim concentrated there, moving slowly, breathing softly into the soft rim, then following up with gentle dabs of tongue.

"Uhm," Blair moaned, despite himself.

"Yeah," Jim whispered. "You just relax, baby. I’m going to make you feel so good."

I can’t believe Jim is saying these things, said a part of Blair’s brain, but it was a long, distant part. Jim was still playing with his chest, purposely avoiding the nipples, and then Jim tugged at Blair’s shirt, pulling it over his head. Blair let him have it, unresisting, and Jim threw it over on the chair at the desk. Then he turned Blair flat on his back and started sucking on his neck.

"Yeah," said Blair, starting to get into the moment now.

If only Simon could see us now, Jim thought. Me sucking Blair’s neck, Sandburg splayed out naked with a wooden tube on his cock. Jim could imagine Simon not saying a word, his mouth opening and shutting before he hastily backed out of the loft. The image almost made him smile against Blair’s skin.

Renewing his efforts, Jim moved back to Blair’s ear, then chanced a few kisses across Blair’s rough jaw. They hadn’t said anything about kisses on the mouth. That might be too personal. So Jim moved back down to neck-sucking, then started nipping at Blair’s chest.

Blair moaned again, and his face was flushed, his breathing up. Things are going just fine, Jim thought, satisfied. Then he thought, you sure are enjoying yourself, Ellison. Got anything to say for yourself?

"Oh yeah, baby," was his reply as he moved a finger and thumb down to lightly play with Blair’s hard nipples. Blair jerked, caught his breath, and Jim quickly followed things up with some good old-fashioned sucking there. His nipples are so small, Jim thought, so perfect, so tight. He’s perfect. Jim had never kissed a man’s chest before, never made his way through silky hair to a flat breast. But something about the fact that it was Sandburg’s was driving him mad.

"How you doing, baby?’ he whispered.

Blair said, "Oh yeah. That’s good."

"What do you like? What do you want?" Jim replied.

In a husky voice, Blair said, "Touch me everywhere."

Glad to comply, Jim moved his lips down across Blair’s stomach, licked a pattern of teasing motion across the student’s sensitive lower belly. Felt distinctly disappointed when he realized the real prize in that area was completely covered up in some wooden thing. Still, he licked his way right to the edge of that, running his tongue around the tight seal.

"Oh, god," said Blair, jerking again.

"Yeah, Chief, yeah, baby," Jim said. "Come for me, Chief, I know you’re hard. I can smell your desire, taste it."

Blair was pretty far gone now, and by the time Jim kissed his way around Blair’s groin and made it to the inside of the inner thigh, Blair was thrusting pitifully into thin air.

"Yeah, that’s right, Chief," Jim murmured against the underside of Blair’s cock. "Push, baby, push. Stroke it, thrust. Give it to me, baby." Moving between Blair’s legs, he nudged them a bit, and Blair spread himself open immediately. Fascinated with the round curve of Blair’s bottom, Jim worked his fingers underneath the supple leather strap, traced the deep crack underneath it, stopped to stroke and kneed a firm buttock before finding what he wanted; Blair’s most private place. Gently moving the strap, Jim began licking across the tiny pucker.

"God!" Blair jerked. "Jim!" Then he panted, "You sure, man?"

"Oh, yeah," said Jim, very sure. He licked across the hot hole again. "I’m going to tongue fuck you, Sandburg, until you don’t even remember your name."

"Ah!" That promise made Blair buck wildly, and Jim got down to business, proving he was a man of his word. He had actually done this before, not to a man, but there was little difference there, right? So with his fingers still stroking Sandburg’s nether regions, Jim alternated between kissing and pressing and tonguing his way into Blair’s tight hole. The student was far gone now, calling out and bucking unconcernedly, and when Jim gave him a particularly vivid thrust, Blair shouted and with a jerk, came all over his poor friend’s nice new artifact-to-be.

"Oh my god, oh my god," Blair was saying, shuddering from the aftershocks, and Jim bestowed a happy kiss on the student’s inner thighs, supremely pleased to have been so successful.

Then he moved out from between Sandburg’s thighs and said, "Tell me when you want to try, Sandburg."

Blair was barley coherent, but he opened one eye and nodded, swallowing noisily. "Man," he said, reaching up a hand for Jim. "That was incredible." Jim took the hand and brought it to his lips, bestowing a kiss upon the clenching knuckles.

"It was my pleasure, Sandburg," he said.

"Shit," said Blair. Then he said, "Jim."

"What?"

Blair started to sit up, the expression on his previously sated face changing immediately. "Jim, I think it’s moving!" Jim sat up, too, and quickly, they reached for the now well-lubricated part.

Teeth gritting, Blair put both hands on the object and gently began to move it. Slowly, slowly, it began to give, and then with a mighty sucking sound, the thing slid away, revealing a very pink and wet sensitized part of Sandburg.

"Yes!" said Blair, throwing his hands up and waving the discarded part wildly. "Yes!’ and in his triumph, he turned to Jim and grabbed him with the arm that could. "Thank you!" he said, and somehow, the two men ended up kissing each other soundly on the mouth.

"Oh!" said Blair, as he realized what they had just done. Jim quickly looked back at Blair’s penis.

"It looks okay," he said, leaning down to get a better look.

"It’s sore," Blair said, gingerly touching it. Jim wanted to touch it, too, to kiss it and heal it of its soreness, but he thought he better hold off on that. "Wow," said Blair, glancing back at Jim as he looked for something to cover up with, "this has been some night, right?"

"You said it," said Jim, his own groin still aching for relief. He quickly moved over to the chair and got Blair’s shirt for him. While Blair put it on, Jim’s found the student’s discarded boxers and jeans.

"Just the boxers right now, I think," said Blair, as he stiffly put them on, Jim hovering just in case he needed help.

"What about this…thing?" Jim asked, grimacing as he held up the now used artifact.

"Oh god," said Blair. "I don’t know. I can’t give it to her like this!"

"Can you tell her it got lost in the mail?" Jim asked hopefully.

"She already knows it's here!" Blair ran a hand through disheveled curls.

"You could say you broke it."

"Oh man, she would kill me."

"You could say your roommate broke it by accident. How much does it cost, Chief? Or should I be afraid to ask?"

"It’s actually not that much," said Blair. "The tribes people don’t charge enough, "he added dryly. "It’s the shipping that kills you, man."

"Are we talking a thousand dollars here, Chief?" Jim asked, dreading to hear.

He was relieved when Blair said, "Oh, no, nothing like that."

"Good," Jim sighed. "If you find out how much it is, and I can at all, we can figure some way out to replace it."

"It’s the time frame that worries me," said Blair. "I just hope she doesn’t need it anytime in the next week or so."

"Well, all you can do is call and ask, right?"

"Yeah." Blair glanced back down at his cloth-covered penis and said, "I hate to lie, man, but it was such a stupid thing to do."

"Not one of your better ideas," Jim agreed dryly, and Blair looked at him for a moment.

"I feel like I owe her the truth."

Jim raised his shoulders in an "I don’t know what to tell you" gesture.

"She would never trust me again," Blair said quietly. "Not that I would blame her."

"Chief," said Jim, "don’t be too hard on yourself. Yeah, if I were her, I would kick your butt from here to kingdom come, but we all do stupid things. If she doesn’t need the thing right away, we’ll just get her a new one. I’ll just put it down on the list of all the things you owe me." His tone was light.

"I do owe you for that one," said Blair, with a half-grunt of laughter. "That was way beyond the call of friendship there, pal."

Jim shrugged. "It’s not like you’ve never done things for me," he said, and they both knew what he was talking about.

"Yeah, well, anyway," said Blair, quickly looking down at the thought of the now-defunct dissertation, "thanks for helping me out."

"No problem," said Jim with an ironic grin.

"I have to say," said Blair, and Jim waited, feeling very fond of Sandburg at the moment. "I’ve never had anybody do that to me before. I mean, that…one part."

Jim shrugged. "Desperate measures for desperate times, Sandburg. Now, if you’re sure you’re okay, I’m gonna call dad. He’s just going to have to wait for that present, I’m afraid."

"Oh, that’s right. I’m sorry, Jim," said Blair. He looked utterly defeated as he sat there on the bed.

"It’s okay, don’t worry about it. Just…why don’t you run into the bathroom and make sure everything’s okay?"

"Yeah, I will." Blair slid off the bed rather gingerly. "Good idea. I need to take another shower, anyway."

So do I, thought Jim grimly. A cold one.

While Jim was on the phone, Blair went into the bathroom, lowered the lid on the toilet, and just sat there, a bit shell-shocked. In the last half-hour, he had despoiled an important artifact entrusted to him by a good friend, gotten said artifact stuck on his dick, kissed Jim on the mouth, and come like a banshee with Jim’s tongue up his ass. It was not what he had expected when he first got up this morning. He remembered Jim’s soft words, the tiny, sensitive kisses he had bestowed all over Blair’s neck and body. Man, that had been…good, he admitted. Really, really good. It had been almost as good just seeing Jim like that, finally getting to know the one part of him that Blair had never before been permitted to see. Wonder what he’s like when he comes, Blair thought suddenly. Then he thought…Jim didn’t come. Jim did all that, and didn’t expect anything in return. Even if….

Even if Blair didn’t mind giving it.

Well. That was something new to think about. Blair wanting to make Jim come. That was almost as forbiddingly exciting as the thought of Jim making Blair come. Blair remembered the way Jim’s tongue had felt in the lower regions of his body. The way the probing wetness had played incessantly with his bottom, had licked him where Blair had never, ever, trusted anybody to ever lick before. Blair had another realization. That realization was that out of the few people Blair had been in bed with, he had invariably been the one doing most of the pleasuring. Not once that he could remember, had someone taken all of their time just to make sure he, Blair Sandburg, had a great time. Not that that was exactly what Jim was doing; the sole purpose tonight had been, after all, for Blair to come. But also, Blair realized, maybe he, Blair, had never wanted to lose control that way before, had never really trusted or wanted any of his other lovers to get that deep inside of him, physically and emotionally. And he did Jim?

Now that was a revelation.

While he was still sitting there, trying to lengthen his breaths, Jim rapped on the door and said, "Chief? Everything okay in there?"

"Yeah," said Blair hurriedly, standing. With still shaking fingers, he pulled down his boxers and studied his chafed penis. It was definitely irritated, but not marked, thank god, in any other way. "I’m okay," he called out. Gently, he took some soap and cleaned himself there. He didn’t really want or need to take another shower. He made sure he got the area irritated by the leather strap, too, and as he ran the wash cloth down along it, he thought of the last person whose fingers and tongue had been there. And could, unbelievably, feel himself begin to harden again.

Jim was still hovering outside when Blair finally stepped back out in his tee-shirt and boxers.

"Everything okay?" Jim asked again, rather softly, and Blair nodded, looking up at him.

"I’m a little irritated," Blair said truthfully (and hard, he thought, but kept that thought to himself), "but I’ll be okay."

"Okay," said Jim, nodding. "Hope I didn’t…irritate anything back there with that strap. That was bound to be uncomfortable."

"No," said Blair quickly. "I mean, yeah, the strap was a bit uncomfortable, but I mean, you weren’t…." And then he quickly rolled his eyes and said, "Okay. This situation is a little awkward for me, man, I’m not too proud to admit it."

Jim’s eyes were softly lit with amusement and fondness. "It’s no big deal, Sandburg. We got through it together, right? That’s what we do."

"Yeah," said Blair, touched "Yeah, it is."

"Well," said Jim, "then if you’re done with the bathroom, I think I’ll just take a shower."

"Oh, yeah," said Blair, stepping aside, and the sentinel went past him and shut the door. Blair could hear the noises of clothes coming off, a shower being turned on. Thought, he probably can’t wait to get rid of the taste and smell of me. Glumly, feeling like the world’s biggest object of pity, Blair went over and stared at the despoiled piece of fertility insurance. That would be the next thing that got washed.

In the shower, Jim closed his eyes and tried to still his own breathing. That had been…unbelievable. Talk about surreal. Talk about…interesting. He had to admit, he had wanted to get to know Sandburg a little better for some time now. Not that he had really admitted that to himself, but he had always liked to touch him. From day one, it had felt right to touch Blair’s shoulder, ruffle his curls, inhale his crackling, beloved scent. It grounded him, made him stable, focused. Spooning up behind those firm, round buttocks had been the most natural thing in the world for Jim, and he had meant every word he had said out there. He had loved Blair for years now. Now he knew just how much he really did.

Reaching a hand down across his own firm belly, Jim started stroking the hardness that quickly jumped up there. The way Blair had tasted, panicked and salty, sweet and trusting all at the same time. The heat on the back of his neck underneath those curls, the soft ruffly feeling of the hair on his chest. The tiny, pebbly nipples. God. Just the thought of that made Jim nearly moan aloud. He remembered how Blair had tasted as he, Jim, had suckled those nipples, had smelled the musk of Blair’s groin as he nosed around there, of the way Blair had so immediately spread his thighs and let Jim into his innermost sanctums. Blair’s tiny hole, pulsing, yielding ever so slightly to his exploring tongue. The firm curve of Blair’s ass.

"Ah," Jim moaned again, and this time his own stroking grew harder, more definite, as he milked the last thought and taste and smell of Blair out through his hard, leaking cock. He came with a gasp, propped up against the cool shower wall, desperate for someone else to be there with him, someone warm and yielding with desperately tangled curls and a body to push against until they both came, totally sated with pleasure. Blair.

Spent, Jim sagged against the wet tile, tried to recover. Thought of Blair on his knees before him, looking up with that shy, mischievous grin. He wanted to feel that full mouth on his groin, wanted to knot his fingers in that damp mop of hair as he thrust into Blair’s suction. Then he wanted to turn Blair over in his bed and spend the rest of his life absolutely wringing the desire from him, driving the younger man to the edge over and over again until Blair was reduced to nothing but mushy pleasure. He wanted to satisfy Blair forever and ever.

Really.

When Jim stepped out in his boxers, Blair said, "Jim, I am so sorry. I forgot how bad it must be for a sentinel to do something like that. God, you were probably gagging down there. Jim, I am so, so sorry."

It took Jim a minute to figure out what the agitated student was going on about, and when he did, his face relaxed into a smile. "Relax, Sandburg," he said, "it was no problem, really. You didn’t smell bad, or taste bad."

"Really?" asked Blair, half-horrified at this conversation, half-fascinated.

"Really," said Jim, patting the student’s arm. "I think I told you, didn’t I? You tasted great. You’re beautiful, Blair. It was a privilege to help you out with that."

Blair stared at him, face flushed, ears unbelieving at what they were hearing. "Really?" he asked, sounding very young.

"Really. No wonder you have all the ladies lined up and waiting on you." Jim walked over to the sofa, sat down just in his boxers.

Behind him, Blair finally found his bearings and walked over, too. "Okay," he said.

Jim looked over and smiled at him. "Not that I want you to try that thing on again," the bigger man said.

"Oh, no, no doubt," said Blair immediately. "No way. I mean, I have definitely learned my lesson, man." He gave a half-laugh. "No way either one of us would want to go through that again."

Jim looked at Blair thoughtfully, then said, "The reason I wouldn’t want to go through it again, Sandburg, is for your sake. The other part didn’t especially bother me, so don’t go and get some kind of guilt complex here."

"Jim," said Blair, sinking down on the sofa beside him, "when you say it didn’t bother you, do you mean-"

Jim, rather enjoying this conversation, sat and waited on his effusive roommate to continue.

"You know," finished Sandburg unhelpfully.

Jim just raised questioning eyebrows.

"Are you saying you enjoyed it?" Blair asked frankly. Now he knew he was flushing, he could feel the heat of his face.

"I didn’t enjoy the fact that you had some kind of primitive codpiece stuck on your dick, but other than that, it wasn’t a problem," said Jim. "You’re a beautiful person, Blair. You taste great, you smell great, I like the way your skin feels. And your hair." He glanced at Blair’s thick dark curls. "I love you, Sandburg. It’s not like it was a chore or anything."

"I love you, too," said Blair, not really understanding what was happening here. He couldn’t believe Jim was saying these words. The thing was, he wanted Jim to say them again. Over and over and over. Blair, you’re so pathetic, he told himself. You’re so needy that you’re reading other things into the matter-of-fact compliments your straight roommate is giving you.

Well, you’re straight, too, remember?

The problem was, Blair wasn’t feeling too straight right at the moment.

"You ever get another South Pacific artifact stuck on your body, I’m the man to call," said Jim, teasing, and Blair flushed again. And then Jim said so quietly that Blair almost didn’t hear it, "In fact, you can just call me anyway."

"What?" Blair asked, scarcely believing his ears.

This time Jim put down the magazine he had picked up, looked straight at Blair. ‘I’m not gay, Sandburg," he said. "I’ve never been with another guy, but I don’t have a problem with it. I didn’t mind tonight. If you ever wanted to do it again, I probably could be talked into it."

And for some reason that didn't sit very well with Blair. "God," he said, already walking on uncertain ground and now really feeling it, "what do you mean by that? You mean, if I ever need a handjob or something? Shit, Jim, I don’t want things to be like that between us. Just sex."

Jim was staring at him, and Blair got up, began to pace, his stomach dropping with disbelief.

"Is that what you thought that was? Just a quick fondle between friends? I-"

"Sandburg," said Jim, twisting to view him from his vantage point on the sofa. "That’s what you wanted, right? I mean, you had a thing stuck on your dick, for god’s sake. I was just helping out. I don’t want you to think-"

"Shit," said Blair, a surge of emotion stirring up his anger and pride. "Wow, way to make me feel cheap here, Jim. I thought that really meant something to you, I mean, here you were going on about how beautiful I was, how great I smelled, and how you loved me, and now I'm just a roll in the hay?"

Jim blinked. He wasn’t sure how this conversation had ended up here, he had never, ever meant for it to.

"No, Blair," he said, getting up and going over to the agitated young man. "I never meant that, never. I’m sorry." He grasped Blair’s upper arms, tried to hold him still. "You are beautiful, you did taste great, I loved it, Sandburg. I loved touching you like that, it felt…right. Sure, the whole situation came out of necessity, but that’s not what I mean here. I do love you. I love you…a lot," and he took Blair’s chin and looked right down into his roommate’s wide blue eyes.

"I’m sorry," said Blair, sighing now and closing those eyes. "I’m sorry. Christ, Jim I didn’t mean to freak out on you here." He pulled away, and Jim reluctantly let him go. "It’s just…the whole thing has me a little weirded out, you know?"

Jim nodded, watched him.

"I guess I’m just a little…surprised at how good it did feel," Blair admitted, with a rather shy glance at his roommate.

"I know what you mean," said Jim. "It was some of the best sex I’d ever had, and I didn’t even come."

"Really?" Blair had to ask again.

"Yeah," said Jim.

And they were looking at each other and smiling.

"So," said Blair. "What do we do with that little piece of knowledge?"

Jim shrugged. "Doesn’t matter to me," he said. "What do you want to do with it, Sandburg?’

"I don’t know," said Blair. "Should we just ignore it?"

"We could," said Jim reasonably.

"I’m not sure I could forget it," Blair admitted.

"Right," said Jim, agreeing.

"So…." said Blair.

"So," said Jim. "Are you saying we maybe shouldn’t forget it?" And so we move into the Area of Truth, Jim thought.

"I don’t know," said Blair cautiously. "What do you think?"

"Well, Sandburg," said Jim, who had actually fleetingly entertained thoughts like this before. "We could do it like this." He sat down on the sofa, and Blair did the same. "We could forget it, keep spending our time looking for other relationships that never work out, and if one does, try to find women who understand not only this sentinel thing, but the fact that we will probably always have this strange connection."

"Right," said Blair, thinking, this is the first time Jim has ever really acknowledged that we do have some kind of strange connection. "There’s Conner," he added. "She knows."

"Somehow I find it doubtful that Megan Conner would agree to have sex with both of us on a life-time relationship-type basis," Jim said, and Blair nodded mock-seriously.

"I’m sure you’re right," he agreed, straight-faced.

"Then on the other hand," said Jim, getting serious again, "we could spend the rest of our lives together, just like we do now. Only it would be a complete relationship."

Blair sucked in a small breath. "We actually have a pretty great, complete relationship now," he said. "But you mean…everything, don’t you?"

"Would it bother you to be in a committed relationship with a man?" Jim asked frankly.

"Not if it was you," said Blair truthfully. "Hell, as far as I’m concerned, I’ve been in one with you for some time now."

"Same here," Jim said, nodding, and then there was a small silence.

"So are we saying…."

"I think so," said Jim, and the two men looked at each other.

"Wow," said Blair, moving a hand nervously through his curls.

"Yeah," said Jim. "Now, doesn’t one of us have to put that thing on in there and have some kind of ceremony?"

"Hey, it’s your turn now," said Blair, his mouth twitching. "I’ve done my duty, buddy." Buddy, he thought. Not just buddy any more. He hated to admit it, but he was nervous. Very, very nervous.

"Chief," Jim said softly, at the sight of Blair’s obvious distress. "We don’t have to decide this today."

"No, I know," said Blair. "It’s really okay, I just…don’t know what to do now."

"I don’t want things to change between us," Jim said almost irritably. "If that’s what’s going to happen-"

"No," said Blair, scooting over toward Jim. "It’s not. I’m fine, really, Jim. I love you, man. I have for a long time. I’ve thought this before, in the back of my mind…." He let his voice trail off and looked up at his companion, blue eyes hopeful.

"You have, Sandburg?" Jim asked, reaching out and tugging lightly on a curl.

"Yeah," said Blair. "You?"

"Yeah," admitted Jim. "I guess your little artifact thing just sort of pushed things over the edge." Despite himself, he grinned. "I have to admit, Chief, when I came back in tonight and saw you standing there…."

"Pretty funny, huh?" asked Blair, also smiling.

Jim started laughing, just a bit. "Yeah. Whew, what an unexpected surprise."

"That makes two of us," said Blair ruefully. "When I heard that door open and you come in…of course, part of me was glad. I would really have hated to have stayed here alone all that time, panicked."

"Maybe it was my Blessed Protector instincts that brought me back," said Jim, and he reached over and pulled his roommate to him in a hug. Blair scooted into his arms, cheeks flaming. "This okay?" Jim murmured, dropping a kiss onto Blair’s unruly head.

"Yeah," said Blair, laying his head over on Jim’s hard shoulder. He could feel his heart pounding through his body.

"You know, Blair, that when I say these things about forever, I mean monogamy. Just us."

"I know," said Blair, nodding.

"I just want to be clear over what we’re saying here."

"I know. I am clear. I mean, it’s clear," said Blair. Then, feeling bold, he got up on his knees and turned around to face Jim. "You know," he said, reaching out and touching the other man’s shoulder. "I’ve already had my, uh, fun for the night. You haven’t."

"You don’t think that was fun for me?" Jim asked, amused.

"No, you know what I mean," said Blair. "You touched me, Jim. Now I could touch you, if you’d like." He couldn’t keep his eyes on Jim’s face for very long.

Wanting to reassure his nervous companion, Jim reached out and said softly, "I’d like that, Chief." And he reached out and pulled Blair to him for a long, caressing hug. "And I’d like to touch you again, too. Make it a mutual thing this time."

"Yeah, I’m sorry about last time," Blair began immediately, but one of Jim’s thumbs rubbing over his lower lip stopped his words.

"This too fast?" Jim whispered, moving his mouth toward Blair’s, and Blair shook his head, closing his eyes as Jim pressed his lips against those of the younger man.

"Ah," Blair breathed, as their mouths came together.

Yeah, thought Jim. What a mouth. What an unbelievable mouth. As in all things he did, Jim moved in with certainty, holding Sandburg tightly, kissing him firmly and decidedly. Against him, Blair's lips parted, and Jim greedily drank in his warm, spicy breath. Then he felt the gentle touch of Blair's tongue to his mouth. Moving a hand up into Blair's curls, Jim grasped him tighter, opening Blair's mouth wide and moving his own tongue right inside. There was a long, loaded moment full of elevated pulses. Then Jim whispered, "Upstairs?"

"Yeah," Blair whispered.

Barely parting from Sandburg, Jim moved them both upstairs. He could hear both their heartbeats pounding as they made it up to the loft. Everything else was quiet, dialed down to normal. All Jim could hear was his and Blair's bodies. All he could feel was a dizzying fire.

Blair was looking just as dazed, eyes wide and waiting, and Jim just took matters into his own hands. Quickly and firmly he undressed the younger man, Blair hanging onto his biceps for balance as he was divested of his clothes. Then Jim pulled his own off as Blair quickly slid underneath the covers of Jim's bed, shy, waiting.

"Hi baby," Jim murmured, slipping in beside his new lover. He was so hard he thought he might explode. Forget that he had just jacked off in the shower. Tonight was a two-show performance. Leaning over Blair, he wrapped his arms around him and began kissing him again. Blair went along with him willingly, yearningly compliant, his mouth wet and intoxicating. Jim was transfixed, immobilized. He was absolutely consumed with desire for this young man.

"I love you," Jim said, moving over on top of Blair.

"I love you, too," Blair whispered, swallowing. His whole body was hot, flushed. This couldn't be happening, none of it. Oh my god. Oh my god. Closing his eyes, he gasped as their again hard cocks aligned with one another.

"I want to make you feel so good," Jim said, moving his mouth to Blair's neck, his throat. Then his hands were on Blair's chest, gliding across the younger man's nipples before pinching them possessively.

Blair was moaning, gasping, and Jim licked a hard nub, deliberately teasing until Blair writhed beneath him.

"What do you want, baby?" Jim breathed. "What do you need?"

"You," Blair managed. "I need you, Jim."

Jim moved farther down, lips kissing Blair's belly, his groin. Jim's hands caressed Blair's thighs, traced maddening patterns softly across his balls.

"Yeah," said Blair, his voice rising in desire.

Driven, Jim gently flicked his tongue along Blair's cock. He was afraid it might be too irritated from their last little activity. "Are you sore?" he whispered. "Is this okay?"

"I'm fine," Blair said in return. "Just a little sensitive."

Jim treated him gently, enveloping Blair in his mouth and thoroughly wetting him with his tongue. Blair was hard, velvet and steel. "You taste like heaven," Jim said. "Better than Wonderburgers," he added mischievously, and Blair jerked in a half-giggle. "Or maybe you're like a cream-filled doughnut," he said suggestively, running his tongue over the slit of Blair's cock

"Yeah," panted Blair, holding onto Jim's shoulders. "Yeah, Jim, I'm full of cream, man."

Delighted in having the opportunity to say such things in a private and safe setting, Jim said a few more, happy to watch Blair jerk under him at his words. Of course Blair would like words, he thought.

"Suck me," said Blair, shoving his groin into Jim's face. "Suck it all out, Jim," and Jim did, settling down for the long haul now. It was a wonderful thing, seeing Blair like this, eyes closed, lost in desperation, begging for completion. It was even more wonderful when Jim gave him his wish. He felt Blair swell against his lips and heard his muffled sobs as Blair jerked and flooded Jim's mouth with hot liquid.

Sated, the vision of decadence, Blair collapsed into Jim's arms and lay there for quite some time, recovering. Then the young man looked up at Jim and said, "Can I sit on your lap?"

Heat blazed through Jim at those words. God. "Okay," he said, clearing his throat, not asking why. No point, he was fine in going with the flow here. Sitting up, he moved back against the railing of the loft, and a determined-looking Blair moved over on his legs to face him.

"Hi," said Blair. His mouth was swollen, his eyes half-glazed. Jim could feel both their hearts still pounding to beat the band. Blair wiggled a bit on Jim's hard groin. "I want you in here," he said, wiggling again to make his meaning clear. It took Jim a minute to realize just what that was.

"What? Blair, no, are you sure? That's...have you ever done anything like that before?"

"What do you think?" Blair asked dryly. His bare arms were around Jim's shoulders.

"Are you sure?"

"Don't you want to?" The beautiful face began to cloud a bit.

"Uh, well," said Jim. He could feel the heat on his own features. Blair on his lap. He inside Blair on his lap. Blair moving on his lap, impaled on Jim's hard, throbbing cock. Oh my god. Fuck.

Beneath his bare ass, Blair could feel Jim's shaft jump against him.

"Just think of it," Blair breathed, leaning over and opening his mouth just against Jim's. "Me moving up and down on you, Jim. Bouncing. In and out, baby," and he kissed Jim, long and languid, with lots of wanton tongue action.

"I don't want to hurt you," Jim said, remembering that there was still a reason he was hesitating.

"It'll pass," said Blair. "That muscle stretches. Please, Jim, I want it."

Oh god.

"Please," Blair whispered, grinding down on Jim's cock. He kissed Jim with very open lips. "You've created a monster here, man, didn't you know? Now that I have you, our lives will never be the same. I'm going to wear you out, man. I'm going to be waiting naked for you every day at home. I'm going to be naked and spread-eagled in your bed-"

"Okay," said Jim, supremely flushed and feverish. "Okay, whatever you want, Sandburg. But we're going to be careful, okay?"

"You got condoms up here? I'm clean, but you know, infections and such." Not that it matters, since you've just had your tongue up my ass, Blair thought, but Jim was already reaching in the nightstand. He had lube, too, bless his heart. "Here," said Blair, sliding back a bit and reaching for the lube. Slowly, he thoroughly coated Jim's throbbing cock. "Oh yeah, you like that? Well just wait until you see what's coming next, big guy," and Jim didn't know if Blair was talking to him or to his penis. That was the thing about Sandburg; he would talk to anything and anybody.

"Okay," said Blair, spreading his knees on either side of Jim's legs, and together they worked on the mechanics, holding onto one another.

"Let me," said Jim, reaching in between Blair's legs, and in a moment his finger had slipped inside Blair's lubricated hole.

"Shit," Blair breathed. Their eyes met and held.

"You okay?" Jim asked, heart pounding.

"Yeah," Blair managed. It took a minute, but he did start to relax.

"Blair, you know that we can-"

"Do it," said Blair, and taking Jim's cock in one hand, he slid down onto the top of it. Time stopped for a moment. "God, you're...huge," said Blair, and he was laughing shakily.

"Sandburg-"

"Stop it," said Blair, fending off Jim's immediate concern. "I want it, Jim. I want to be good and fucked."

Jim swallowed, tried to stay above the sensation and on the same wavelength as his virgin lover. Blair's face was all squenched up in concentration as he slowly but steadily worked his way down on Jim's cock.

"Augh," he moaned, biting down on his lip.

"Blair!"

"Shut up. I'm almost there. Yeah. Do you feel it, Jim?"

Slightly, Jim thought. He was using all of his Special Forces training not to thrust up inside of the man he loved. It felt so...fucking incredible, excuse the pun.

Blair pressed down again, did some shallow breathing. Then with a heart-rending groan, he plopped all the way down onto Jim's lap. "Oh god," he said, leaning over against Jim's chest.

"Are you okay? Chief?"

The blue eyes raised, blazed. "I'm fucking great," he said. His sides were going in and out a hundred miles a minute. "Just...okay, it's easing up. Yeah." He moved a bit, experimentally, slender body raising up and down. Jim nearly choked from the movement.

"Yeah," said Blair, watching him. Their eyes never left one another. "Yeah." And he was smiling now, his face shiny with the effort. "Yeah. Hey, you're inside of me," he managed, and Jim finally gave into it and began to move, too. A giant groan ripped from his throat.

"Yeah," said Blair, more in control now. "You do it, big guy. You fuck your Chief," and he held onto Jim's shoulders as he began the start of a bouncing rhythm in Jim's lap.

"Oh, Sandburg," Jim breathed, eyes half-closed. He couldn't stand it. He had never felt like this. Didn't know if he could take the sight before him; a naked Blair thrusting on his cock. Fuck. Delirious with the sensations, he just started moaning and didn't stop.

"That's right," said Blair. "You do it, man. You fuck me, Jim. I want you. I want all of you. Harder," he breathed, moving his open mouth onto Jim's shoulder. He knew his teeth were probably making a mark there, but he couldn't help it; he had to hang on to something as Jim pounded away in his body. My god. He had never dreamed there would ever be anything like this. "I love you," he said, feeling the tears come in his eyes. Tears of unbelievable sensation and heart-swelling emotion. "Oh Jim, I love you so much." And trust you. And want you. And want to take care of you for the rest of my life.

"Love you too, Sandburg," Jim gasped. He could think or say little else. Instead he just continued, fucking Blair, until the sensation was way too much. Squeezing his eyes against oblivion, he thrust one final time and exploded deep inside this man he loved so much.

"God," said Blair, collapsing against him, and for a long time they just sat there, propped against the rails of the loft, completely spent.

Finally Jim wiped the hair off Blair's sweaty forehead and said, "Sandburg. My back's getting rearranged here."

"Huh?" Blair asked, semi-coherent. His whole body was draped against Jim's.

"Here," said Jim, gently moving Blair until his cock had fallen from the student's body. "Come here, baby," said Jim, and he helped his sore lover move on trembling limbs until he was lying on the bed in Jim's cuddling arms.

"That," said the sated sentinel, "was incredible, Chief."

"Yeah," Blair agreed blissfully. He wrapped his clammy arms around Jim's equally sweaty body.

Jim tenderly kissed his lover's forehead, curls. "I love you so much," he admitted. "Don't know how I got this lucky."

"Don't worry," said the sleepy Sandburg. "It's your turn next on the lap, pal. Kidding," he smiled, when he saw Jim's surprised face.

"No," said Jim. "I think that sounds fair to me."

"Really? I was just kidding. You might be a little heavy for my lap, man." Blair was smiling, happy to be snuggling.

"I'm great on all fours," Jim whispered in his ear, and Blair's smile widened.

"God bless fertility artifacts," he murmured, just before he dropped off to sleep.

"Jim? Where's that box of poker chips?" Simon asked at Major Crimes' next card game.

Without thinking, Jim said, "Upstairs," and then immediately caught the stricken look from Blair. Oh god.

In a moment, Captain Simon Banks descended from Jim's loft, a quizzical expression on his hand. He hadn't noticed Sandburg's clothes scattered on the floor. He hadn't noticed the open drawer that exposed the condoms and the lube. He hadn't even noticed the Handi-Wipes or the extra set of sheets perched so conveniently on Jim's desk. What he had noticed was the small thing he now had gingerly dangling from his hands.

"What the hell is this?" he asked. "Or should I be afraid to ask?"

"Oh," said Blair, hastily removing it from the captain's grasp. "It's actually a rare fertility artifact from a tribe in the South Pacific."

The other card-players looked up and laughed quite a bit.

"People don't actually wear those things, do they?" asked a horrified H. "God, what if the thing got stuck?"

"Only you," said Blair Sandburg in his most scholarly tone, "could come up with that, H."

And still shaking his head mock-disapprovingly, he dealt the next hand.

The End