Rico:

The morning after the blown deal with Lucky, and the most incredible blow job of my life, I couldn't keep the grin from my face, even when we reached OCB.

When I'd woken, Sonny was lying next to me, watching me sleep I guess, smiling this gorgeous early-morning smile, eyes glazed cause he hadn't quite woken up yet.  I knew I'd give anything to be able to see that smile on a more regular basis, if you catch my drift.

We were both up for some morning playtime.  After that, I wasn't sure if my legs would drive me into work, so I hitched a ride.  No one would question it, it was nothing new.

We both shaved, showed and dressed.  I kept several changes of clothing at the boat anyway, I stayed over a lot, after last-night busts, waiting for phone calls to set up deals, even just kicking back after a hard case had been cracked. 

When I stepped out of the shower (it is just not big enough for the both of us, unlike the one at my place...) I caught sight of Sonny mooching up the steps onto the deck to greet the fresh air and sunshine of the early morning.  He was wearing white; white linen pants, matching jacket and white, skin-tight T-shirt.

I groaned.  'Oh, man.  How am I supposed to work all day with you wearing that?'  But I kept the thought to myself and detoured to the front cabin where I usually slept.  It made me smile to think I may never sleep in that bed again.

It's an amazing view that the St. Vitus has over the marina and the city.  With Sonny sitting petting his druggy alligator, that morning it looked particularly splendid.  He turned his head, smiling over his shoulder at me.

"Ready to rock and roll, Partner?"

I started grinning then and didn't stop all morning.  Not even when things got weird.  After what we'd done the night before, I wasn't sure what Sonny's reaction to me was gonna be.  But he was as casual as if we'd just sat up on deck drinking and talking.  He didn't look in the slightest bit ashamed of what he'd done, even winked at me once we were both sitting in the car.

We were used to being together 24/7.  There might have been an added dimension to it now, but while everything might have changed, nothing had changed.  He was still him, and I was still me, and we still knew how to be in each other's company.

It was barely six thirty, and the city was blissfully quiet.  When I'd first arrived, I'd missed the constant, continuous bustle of the Big Apple.  That city honestly doesn't ever sleep.  At first, I hated Miami.  The heat's balmy down here, the people are odd.  But when we took that trip back to New York, a year or so after I'd left, and I spent most of my time up there thinking about Valerie and staying where I thought I belonged, I realised just in time that I was staying with the wrong person, and I wasn't where I belonged.


Sonny:

As I drove us in, I knew he was thinking of New York.  There's this wistful look he gets whenever he thinks about the big city.

I remember when we went up there years ago, sitting in the airport wondering if he'd come back with me, sure that he wouldn't.

When he came running through the departure lounge, I couldn't help but feel elation, triumph.  I'd won him, over that place, even over Valerie, and that had to mean something.

I guess we've just discovered what it did mean.

"You okay, Partner?" I had to ask.

He turned, smiled at me, a smile that lit the car up brighter than his howl of orgasm had the night before.  "Never better, Sonny," he murmured, voice soft and all full of meaning.

I felt something melting inside of me.  I've always been one for intense relationships, throwing myself in heart and soul, always getting hurt at the end of it.  I'd done the same with our partnership, only Rico had never hurt me.  After all the crap I've thrown at him, that's always been a surprise to me.  If he'd done to me what I've done to him, I'd have walked away and never looked back.  And by doing so, would have thrown away the one thing in my life that was good.  I mean, really good.

Suddenly, I wanted to tell him everything I was feeling, tell him how much I loved him, what I felt every time I looked at him.  I glanced at him, taking my eyes from the road for a moment.

"Are you okay?" he asked me, a little nervous.

I nodded slowly, wanting nothing more than to lean over and kiss him at that very moment.  "I'm great, Rico."  It wasn't enough.  Watching the traffic, I added, "I'm so great... I want to dump you in the speedboat and whisk you off to the Bahamas where the world can't touch us."

It was the dumbest, most sickly romantic notion my addled brain could come up with, but when I risked a peek at my Partner, he was looking at me, and I could see the words, 'let's do it,' on his lips.

We did the rest of the journey in silence, one that was so loaded Castillo would have arrested it on sight.

Only when I'd slotted the Ferrari into a space in front of OCB and killed the engine did we turn to one another instinctively.

"Whatever goes down, Sonny, we'll be there for one another."

I nodded my absolute agreement.  Then we went to work.


Rico:

I'm not sure that Sonny realises how much he says with his eyes.  What he said in the car, I could read everything behind those words in the green gaze that kept glancing sideways at me.

When we arrived at OCB I just wanted to give him something palpable. "Whatever goes down, Sonny, we'll be there for one another."  It wasn't what I wanted to say, but by the expression on his face I realised he knew that.

This was how it had always been. 

No sooner had we sat down at our desks, Sonny's phone was ringing.  He glanced at me as he picked it up.  Not all Vice undercover work is bars, cars and expensive restaurants.  Getting the dealers to come out and play could take days, weeks, months, sometimes even years.  From what I could gather of Sonny's end of the call, it was Derine Vermouth.

Derine was Miami's most infamous drag queen.  He - she - also acted as a go-between for several large dealers and their suppliers.  She could be trusted because she detested violence of all forms and not all of Florida's drug barons believed that offing their movers periodically was good for business.

To get connected to Derine, for the Vice Squad anyway, was something that those who apparently 'ran' the department believed would lead to some great introductions to some big suppliers.

Sonny had never agreed.  He always said that if Derine's suppliers started becoming Miami Vice targets all of a sudden that someone would kill her and they'd lose tags on the dealers too.

From the sounds of it, we were about to find out one way or the other.  Burnett, it seemed, was finally on the invite list for one of Derine's parties.


Sonny:

I had a date.  Or rather, Burnett had a date.  And I needed a woman to accompany me.  Derine's parties were infamous.  Turning up with your business partner on your arm was considered a definite 'no-no'.

I racked the phone and looked at Rico.  I tried to make that look mean something, because for once in my life I wasn't sure what he was going to say to my next announcement.  And as odd as it felt, it felt... good to worry about it.

He frowned, his dark eyebrows almost knitting together as he tried to interpret my 'meaningful' expression.  Then I smiled at him and leaned back in my chair.

"Gina!  Any plans for tonight?"


Rico:

Oh, my poor Sonny.  I couldn't help but grin, and then I hid that behind my hand.  I couldn't work out what his glance at me was as he put the phone down, but when he asked Gina to go with him to Derine's party, I realised he was worried about what I'd say!

I couldn't believe it.  And then I felt this incredible feeling inside me, like the heat of bourbon as it burns through you.

Sonny and Gina were making plans for the night, and all I could do was stare.

The memory of his mouth on me last night was suddenly at the forefront of my mind, insinuating itself into my brain.  I leaned forward, shifting to try to ease my erection.  Jeez... there was no way that that was gonna happen whenever I was around my partner.

I was still staring, and without warning he glanced across at me from Gina's desk.  He smiled at me.

Castillo always had the greatest timing.  Just as the meaning of my life was about to make itself crystal clear in my mind, he practically erupted from his office and nailed us both with that black stare of him, impossibly both at the same time.

"Update me," he instructed calmly.

Sonny gave him a run down of the call and of their plans for that night.  For some reason, the Lieutenant looked at me when Sonny said he would take Gina.  I wished, not for the first time, that I could read Castillo's thoughts as easily as I could read my partner's.

When the moment passed, he was nodding his approval of Sonny's plans.  "Need backup?"

Sonny shook his head.  "Nah, it's just a party, just an introduction.  If she doesn't like me, I'll never hear from her again.  That's what happened with Ray and Petersen."

Castillo hesitated, nodded, and returned to the haven of his office.

I shared a look with my partner, sharing our amusement.  Castillo was strange, I silently reassured him.  He nodded, like he knew exactly what I was thinking.  At that moment, I believed he did.


Sonny:

The party was exactly what I'd known it would be.  Derine had checked me out as thoroughly as I'd checked her out, and all we did was exchange small-talk.  If she liked the look of me, I was none the wiser.

Gina looked stunning when I picked her up; low cut black cocktail dress with a slit up one side, high-heeled shoes, and not a lot else from what I could tell.

She played the expensive escort to perfection and as usual I was eternally grateful.  When we left the party, around one thirty in the morning, she leaned back against the Ferrari, showing just how high the split in her dress went.

I knew she was propositioning me.  I'm a hot-bloodied male and what she was offering was more than tempting.  But as I stepped towards her, something in my head actually overrode my libido.

I can't remember a time before or since when that's happened!

I smiled as I approached her, kept up that boyish charm that seemed to win her over every time I'd needed it to.

"Gina, I'm flattered Sweetheart, but I'm good for nothing more than sleep tonight."  I could read her disappointment, but she took it well.  It wasn't the first time I'd turned her down, and it sure as hell wouldn't be the last.  As sure as you can get in our game.  "Let me drop you home."

She good-naturedly shrugged, covered that long, gorgeous leg of hers and sank into the Ferrari.

It wasn't until I was driving home that I started to analyse what had stopped me from accepting her offer.  My dick had certainly been interested.  Not that it hadn't seen enough action in the last couple of days.

At that thought, at those memories, it perked up even more.

I was surprised, to say the least.  Don't know why though.  All I'd ever wanted to do was get the head and the heart in the same place - my head and heart, not Burnett's - just for a little while.  I remembered telling Rico that, just before another blonde used me as targeting practice.

Rico was definitely the head and the heart.  I trusted him with my life, and loved him like I'd never loved anyone.

I pulled the Ferrari over to the side of the road.  It was insanity, what I was thinking.  It was gone two am, my partner would be tucked up in bed, maybe alone, maybe not.

My groin was aching, pulsing, and I pushed a hand between my legs to ease it.  I should go home, I knew, jerk off or take a cold shower.  But I didn't want to.  I wanted to be with Rico.

Finally, I moved the car back onto the road and took the left turn to the beach, rather than aiming for the marina.


We'd swapped keys years ago.  I had one to his beach-front house, the one he'd been assigned after six months of moaning and complaining to first Rodreiguez, then Castillo.  He had keys to both my boats - the St.Vitus and the cigarette boat - and to the Ferrari, although he knew better than to ever try to borrow the car without asking!

I let myself in to the dark house.  I could hear the sea lapping against the shoreline, one of the most familiar sounds to me.

"Rico?" I called his name quietly, hoping to God I wasn't disturbing anything.  There was no answer.  I stood in his kitchen listening for any sounds that might indicate he had company.  But there were none.

There was one bedroom, up a wrought iron spiral staircase leading up from the lounge.  I climbed it as quietly as I could, still listening out for telltale noises.  But as I got to the top of the stairs, all I could hear was Rico's breathing, even and steady.

His bed was against the far wall.  A low mattress on a black iron platform.  He lay twisted in his black silk sheets, one foot hanging off the bed, head turned to face the wall.

Tip-toeing to the edge of the bed, I crouched down.  I didn't want to freak him out.  I wasn't sure what he'd make of waking in the middle of the night to find his partner watching him sleep.  I hadn't got a clue what I was gonna say to him either.

"Rico?" I whispered to him, reaching out to touch his bare shoulder.

He muttered something and turned over to face me.  I let my fingers rest where they lay against his skin, and a second or so later, he woke.  His eyes went wide until he recognised me.

"Sonny....  Hey, man, what's wrong?"  He pushed himself up on one elbow, looking me over for signs of injury, at the top of the stairs for anyone else I might have brought with me.

"Nothing's wrong, Rico," I reassured, still whispering.  "Didn't mean to scare ya."

Satisfied, he smiled at me.  "So what's up?" he murmured heatedly.

I hadn't really come up with a suitable explanation.  "Gina offered me a bed for the night, but I just... I dunno what's happenin', Rico."

Grinning, my partner reached up and curled long, graceful around my neck.  With a teasing slowness that I did nothing to contradict, he pulled me down to him, covering my mouth with his.


Rico:

I'd been thinking about Sonny all night, torturing myself.

The morning before our deal with Lucky was supposed to go down, I'd left the Caddy at the marina.  It was still there when Sonny parked the Ferrari that evening, about six.  It was relatively early for us.

Sonny had to shower and change for his party date with Gina and Derine.  The look we gave one another as we got out of the car, we both knew that if I didn't go home, he would never get out in time.

So I told him to have a great night, and he scowled at me sarcastically, and I drove home.

It was so rare for me to be home alone so early that I barely knew what to do with myself.  I went for a swim in the ocean, exhausted myself.  I threw together a salad and sat out on the patio, listening to the sounds of the water and wondering what I'd have to be doing in a normal life to be able to own a place like this.

I always found it strange that they let me keep it.  We never did business from the house, always from the boat.  And although I had no idea if anyone had ever kept tabs on me, tailed me here just to check it out, I got the impression that Sonny had the place in the back of his mind as a safe hideout for us, somewhere relatively private when we needed timeout.

Maybe that's why I was still there.  Castillo looked after us, that much was always true.  He loved Sonny, at least liked and respected me.  After everything went to hell in Lauderdale, he gave us both the time we needed.  He never lost faith in us, even after that.  He watched Sonny like a hawk, taking long than I did to settle again, although probably for completely different reasons.

As the sun set, I lost myself in a book, staying out on the patio until the night chill took me inside and I went to bed.  I let my thoughts wander.  My body was sated from the last few nights, and finally I fell asleep, my dreams ambling along the same, warmly sexy lines.

When Sonny woke me, I thought something had gone wrong.  I thought about a million terrible things before he assured me he was okay and was just there because... well, he didn't know why.

But I took a guess, and by the enthusiasm of his response I was right.


Sonny:

God, it was good.

If I'd been at all ashamed to admit that I wanted this, I wasn't for long.  When he finally released me, he scooted back, making room on the bed.  I kicked off my shoes, shrugged off my jacket and shirt, got out of my pants and underwear, and knelt on the mattress in front of him.

"I don't know what this is," I told him vaguely.  "I can't stop thinking of you, and that's ridiculous.  You're my partner."  And there I was, kneeling on his bed, naked, at two thirty in the morning.

Reaching out, he touched me, light fingertips ghosting over my chest and stomach, around to my hip and up over my ribcage.  He didn't so much tickle, as tease.

"Your partner, Sonny, and your lover."  I shivered at the sound of the word from his lips.  His roaming hand settled on the swell of my ass, and I tried to remember if he'd done that before, touched me... there.

As he reading my body language, he moved again, coming around to stroke my dick.  His eyes locked with mine.

Like all those times in the past when we've made mutual decisions without speaking a word to one another, we shifted together, me sliding my legs out from under me, wrapping my arms around him as he covered my body with his own and climbed on top of me.

I wrapped my legs around him, pushing our cocks together, loving the friction that our movement caused.

He pushed himself up on his hands, fingers spread either side of my shoulders, sweat on his forehead, eyes dancing, muscles rippling.  I dragged my fingernails down over his biceps, watching as he closed his eyes and moaned low in his throat.

Knowing the power I had over him was the most powerful aphrodisiac I'd ever known.  Seeing the ecstasy shape his face as we made love was enough to take me with him as he came, never mind the incredible sensations driving through me.

Dropping him down on to me, I wrapped my whole body around him and held him, riding out the waves.

"Jeez, Rico, we have to get passed this," I told him.  But I felt him shaking his head against my shoulder.

"I don't want to get passed it, Sonny, don't want to get over you."  He lifted his head and looked at me.  "You think this can hurt us?"

Mouth open, I stared at him.  Finally, I shook my head.  "No, Rico."

He dropped to my side, leaning up on one elbow over me.  Even quieter, he asked, "Think you'll hurt me?"

I swallowed.  "I would never mean to hurt you, but Burnett...."

He smiled ironically, knowing that I wasn't talking about the name I used when I was undercover.  "'Burnett' was a blood clot in your brain, Sonny.  You - James Crockett - would you ever hurt me?"

I couldn't believe the love I felt for him at that moment.  "No."

"Then we're going to be okay."