Stranglehold

Stranglehold, Part I
by elfin

"All right, all right...." Michael muttered the words under his breath as he padded down the stairs to the door, tying the drawstring on his jogging trousers as he went.

Not too many people would bang on his door in the wee hours of the morning, and he had a solid idea of who it would be. In fact, he'd stayed up until not too long ago expecting this visitor, and had only gone to bed when he could no longer keep his eyes open.

Shooting the chain back, he turned the Yale lock and leaned on the door handle.

Robbie was all but bouncing on the doorstep, shifting from foot to foot, one hand stuffed in to the pocket of his crumpled suit trousers, the other risen, about to rap once again on the hard wood panel.

Their eyes locked, and Michael stepped back, inviting his guest in without a word.

Not until the door was closed and locked behind him, did Robbie speak.

"Are you alone?"

Michael nodded, and a moment later, licked his bottom lip.

The action spurred Robbie into motion. He reached up, once arm hooking around Michael's neck as his mouth sealed open over his lover's.

Michael allowed himself to be pushed until his back was against the banister. He forced himself to be still, to give in to the innate violence of Robbie's kiss.

The man was ready to explode, seeming to tower over him despite only being an inch taller. He tasted of expensive whiskey, a taste Michael was used to in his male lover's mouth, liked it even.

So Robbie had been drinking. In a pub, judging by the cigarette smoke on his clothes. Michael wasn't surprised.

Only when the tongue that had been diving for his tonsils began instead to trail a wet, erotic path over his jaw, did he actually get a word out.

"C&D?"

"All day. Half the night." Robbie's voice was rough.

"Are you guilty?"

Robbie pulled back then, face an inch from Michael's. The anger in his features remained, but it wasn't aimed at the man in front of him. "No," he hissed.

"I knew that." Michael smiled.

Robbie met the calm blue of his lover's eyes, knowing the other wouldn't find it mirrored in his own. "Mike, I need...."

Michael tried to move his hands and found them pinned against the wooden bars behind him, wrists held firm by the other's tight grip. He leaned forward and touched his lips to Robbie's. "Take it."

Tonight, there was no waiting for a second invitation. Open-mouthed, Robbie stole another obscene kiss from his lover, pushing so hard that the back of Michael's head cracked against the stair rail. He moaned in surprise and the sudden, sharp pain, but to make sure that Robbie didn't stop, didn't back down, he started to struggle to free his hands.

Trained to deal with struggling prisoners, Robbie skilfully transferred both of Michael's wrists into one hand and trapped them between then small of Michael's back and the low wall beneath the banister. Leaning forward, tilting his hips into the other's, he effectively pinned him in place.

It gave Robbie a free hand, which he pushed up under the warm cotton of the white T-shirt clinging to his lover's body.

His fingers played over the tightening belly, spreading out over smooth skin until one fingertip grazed over a hard nipple.

Michael moaned, this time in the first shades of pleasure, and Robbie grinned to himself, abandoning the bruising kiss to nip and lick at the skin of Michael's jaw and throat.

The heat was building between them, Robbie's thinking fogged by the fire in his mind and in his groin. He was rock hard now, despite the alcohol in his blood. Nothing turned him on like the idea of dominating his boss, and here was one of his fantasies playing out in full technicolour.

Yanking Michael's T-shirt up, Robbie clamped his lips over the left nipple and bit, gently at first then harder, until his lover yelled out his name. But didn't ask him to stop.

The shout brought him back into himself a little and he eased the pressure to a gentle suckling. With his free hand, he reached between them and unfastened his fly in a hurry. The relief was immeasurable as his heavy cock sprung free. He rubbed against Michael's cloth-covered length, the friction with the soft material almost unbearable.

Michael wasn't helping. He was moving as best he could, thrusting slowly into Robbie's groin. And for a moment, Robbie thought he might come there and then, staining his best suit.

He closed his eyes and pinched a sensitive spot on his own cockhead. The sharp pain took him away from the edge of climax but it notched up the madness in his brain by a couple more degrees.

Turning his hand, he pulled the cord at Michael's waist and the tie came undone. Leaning in for another kiss, he covered the open, panting mouth with his own and thrust his tongue as far into the man's throat as he could.

At the same time, he thrust his hand into Michael's jogging trousers and grabbed a not-to-tender hold of his cock.

Michael made a sound between a scream and a groan, and pushed himself into the grip surrounding him, whimpering just a little when that grip loosened and let go. Hand going further, Robbie cupped the heavy, taut testicles in his palm and squeezed them softly, his touch remaining somewhere between desire and violence.

Extending his middle finger, he sought out the tight hole back from Michael's balls, stroking firmly as he went. When he found his prize, he pressed a dry fingertip to the ring of muscle, forcing it to yield.

Michael was saying something, but the roar of blood in Robbie's ears was deafening him to everything but the desperate need for release.

Drawing his hand out of Michael's trousers, he took a hold of the loose waistband and yanked them down. Michael yelped as he was exposed to the cold, and thrust closer to Robbie, knocking their erections together, causing both of them to stop for a single second.

Robbie swore brightly and using his firm grip on Michael's wrists and his foot hooked behind one ankle, he spun the man around, making sure he eased his fall against the banister at the last moment.

Michael turned his head, his cheek coming to rest against the sloping rail. His wrists were still held tight but he knew they wouldn't be for long. Robbie needed his hands, and the moment he released Michael was the moment of refusal or consent.

Instead of freeing himself, Michael put his arms through the banister poles and gripped them hard.

Relief might have registered somewhere in Robbie's lust-fogged brain, but he was passed thought. Spreading his lover's cheeks with his fingers, he pushed the head of his cock against the unprepared anus. At first, it refused to give in, powerless against a finger, but closed firmly against the blunt erection.

Yet Robbie was unrelenting. He pushed forward, forcing himself passed the tight ring. He dimly heard his lover's cry of real pain but the heat was so crazy he couldn't stop, couldn't pull out.

As he pushed further in, he moved one hand to grip Michael's left hip. Michael screamed, head dropping back against his torturer's shoulder as he fought the natural urge to turn on the man who was practically raping him.

Robbie wrapped his other arm up around his lover, spreading his thumb and index finger and gripping them tightly around the base of Michael's throat. He felt Michael stiffen suddenly and realised with no little terror that it was in fear.

Yet the thought left him teetering on the edge of a huge climax. He tipped his hips back, pulling his cock back along the hot, tight passage before thrusting in. Once, twice. Again and again until he was coming so hard that all he knew was the almost painful, exquisite pleasure of release.

He collapsed against Michael's back, his stranglehold easing off as everything went dark behind his eyes.

Just for a moment, he blacked out.

When he came to, he gently pulled out of his lover's subtly trembling body.

"Mike?" His own voice sounded tiny at the moment. He glanced down at his softening cock and saw the blood mixed with his own semen. "Shit!"

"Rob...."

Michael sounded a lot stronger than Robbie had. But he wasn't listening. He'd hurt Michael and now he had to help him.

"God, Mike...."

"Robbie, it's okay."

"No, it's not. You're bleeding."

Thinking quickly, not hearing anything his lover might be saying to ease his concerns, Robbie helped Michael step out of his jogging pants - now pooled around his ankles - and wrapped an arm around his waist.

"Let's get you upstairs."

Michael let himself be helped. He did hurt, and the fact he was bleeding meant tearing inside him. But it wasn't the first time and he doubted it would be the last.

Robbie gently propped him against the bathroom wall, and started to run a warm bath. Once the tub had half-filled, he stripped off Michael's T-shirt and helped him into the water.

Michael lowered himself gently, letting the buoyancy of the water support him a little, putting the rest of his weight on his lower back as he sank down and let his legs float. Dropping his head back to the starfish-shaped cushion suckered to the tub, he closed his eyes.

"Nice," he murmured, a smile crossing his face.

He felt a chaste kiss touched to his lips and heard the water running in the sink - Robbie cleaning himself up. A minute or so later, he was left alone in the room, but he could still hear the other man, in the bedroom at a guess, probably changing clothes.

He was starting to doze when Robbie came back to crouch next to the tub. "I'm sorry, Mike."

Michael peeled open his eyes and smiled gently. "Don't be. I let you do it."

"Why?"

"Because I wanted you to. You wanted to."

"I didn't want to hurt you."

"But you did, Robbie. It was exactly what you wanted, what you needed." Reaching up, he ran wet fingers into Robbie's fine, dark hair. "I'm fine."

The other man wasn't going to be convinced that easily. Shaking his head, he returned the kiss and stood. "Can I get you anything?"

Michael considered the offer. "A glass of apple juice would be great."

Robbie nodded, studied his naked lover under the still water for a moment, then padded out and down the stairs.

Michael settled himself again and closed his eyes. He wondered how they'd have looked down there in the hall, the eyeful that Jackie would have gotten had she walked in on them, which she had on more than one occasion.

He pictured them; himself up against the banister, T-shirt pushed up, trousers down, Robbie's cock buried inside him. He remembered the instant terror of Robbie's fingers around his throat. But the fear had quickly melted and been replaced by a trust stronger than any he'd felt before. And the immediately threatening gesture had become something more, something deeply sexual.

Michael slid his hand over his thigh and took his swelling cock into his own hand. Despite the painful throbbing in his ass, he could feel his own arousal returning with vengeance.

Robbie stepped into the room and a grin split his face. Michael was lying in the water, head back, eyes closed. His fist was stroking over his cock leisurely but surely.

Staying where he was, Robbie watched as his lover coaxed himself to a long, intense climax.

Only when it was over did he move to crouch once again next to the tub, placing the glass on the floor. "You started and finished without me," he murmured, smiling widely.

"Thought you'd be exhausted," Michael whispered, sitting up, kissing Robbie lightly but lingeringly.

Robbie responded, licking his tongue slowly over Michael's lips while dipping his fingers in the water. It was cooling rapidly, and when Michael came down from his orgasmic high, he'd start to cool too.

"Bed time," Robbie told him as he broke the kiss. He ruffled the wet, blond hair in a manner that should have been childish had it not been for the expression in his eyes.

"Aye." Michael eased himself up, stepping out of the tub under Robbie's admiring gaze, while Robbie tried to think about something else.

"Where's Jackie tonight?"

"Sharing a bottle of wine and a large bar of chocolate with a long, hot bath, she said."

"Maybe she's seeing someone behind our backs," Robbie suggested with a smile.

Michael towelled himself off. "Like she'd have the strength."

"Like any of us would."

Dropping the towel to the floor, he reached for Robbie's hand. "Bed."

*

The annoying ringtone pounded into Michael's brain, waking him rudely from warm dreams of sex. Opening his eyes, he reached over Robbie's stirring form and grabbed his mobile phone from the bedside table.

"Jardine," he muttered into the phone, dropping back to the pillow. Robbie turned over, bringing himself face to face with his lover.

"Michael, it's me."

"Jackie, you okay?"

Robbie leaned up and planted a kiss on Michael's mouth.

"I'm fine. But we're wanted I'm afraid. They've found a body in the park. Is Robbie with you or do I have to oust him too, being that he's still got a badge?"

"He's here," Michael told her with a smile. "I'll drag him along with me. Where?"

Jackie met them at the scene of the crime. It was still dark, the moon bright and full in the sky.

She looked them up and down, smiling her private smile for them, "the casual look?"

Robbie was in dark blue jeans and a blue sweater, Michael in light blue jeans and a woollen crème jumper. "Give us a break, it's not even tomorrow."

She hummed softly, appreciatively. They looked gorgeous. And more than that, they looked together. Something she normally never saw while on duty. As they walked, their arms brushed against one another. They'd had one another tonight. Something intense.

For a moment she wished they weren't doing this, that they could go back and she could find out what had happened. They could snuggle, and make love until they had nothing left to give.

Sighing to herself, she led them through the woodland on the edge of the park, and they ducked under the scene of crime tape which was slowly expanding to fence in more and more ground as the police uncovered clues under the powerful spotlights hurriedly being set up.

"When I said they'd found a body, I wasn't being quite honest," Jackie told them quietly. Despite all the obvious activity, there was an odd sense of peace around them. "They've found four."

Robbie frowned. "Four? In one night?"

Stephen looked up from where he was crouching next to a shallow grave. "Not all killed tonight," he assured them. The idea that a human being could kill another was bad enough, but that one person had the strength to kill four people at a time and bury the bodies was more than they could seriously be expected to cope with.

"This one was killed in the last twenty four hours, but the others - well, obviously I'll be able to be more accurate after the autopsy - but I would say," he caught Michael's expression, "that they were all killed over a period of weeks."

"Who found the bodies?" Michael asked, stepping up to take charge of the case.

"Jamie Calder," Jackie supplied. She pointed to the open passenger side door of one of the police cars. A uniformed female officer was looking after a young man seated inside.

Michael nodded, and left the small group, heading for the car. Robbie followed him for a couple of steps before stopping. Behind them both, Jackie watched.

At the car, Michael smiled his patented 'go away' smile at the officer, who dutifully moved off.

"Mr Calder?"

Big brown eyes looked up at him, strumming Michael's heartstrings. He crouched down, glancing at the young man's hands as they shook. He was only just holding onto the mug of tea he'd been given.

"It's okay, Jamie," Michael cooed, "you did the right thing, calling us." Jamie nodded, uncertain but a little steadier. "Can you tell me what you were doing out here at this time of night?"

"I... I was... I come out here to... meet people, you know?" He looked into Jardine's eyes, hoping that he did indeed know.

"Meet people?"

Jamie looked away, obviously embarrassed and scared. "Yeah... you know... people."

The penny dropped. "You mean men?"

"Aye. Men."

"Is this a popular place for that?"

Jamie nodded, expression closed. Michael's mind was already forming theories, formulating ideas. He was thinking that Stuart might know something about this place, although he knew the thought was a bad one.

A couple more questions and he beckoned the female officer back over. "Find someone to drive him home, okay?"

He rejoined the others.

"It's a popular 'cottaging' area," Robbie told him without preamble or judgement. "All four bodies are young men."

Michael rubbed his eyes tiredly. He'd only had an hour's sleep that night as it was. "Let the SOCO boys finish up and then get the bodies to the morgue. I'm going back to bed."

He glanced at Robbie. They'd arrived in the same car, everyone assuming that Michael had picked his Inspector up on the way. Everyone except Jackie.

She glanced at both men, and they nodded.

*

They made love slowly, Jackie nestled between Michael and Robbie. It didn't take her long to realise that she wasn't just the centre of attention, but that the guys were being particularly careful with one another, touching tenderly when they did reach for one another.

Lying together in a sated heap as the sun rose outside, she held Michael as he slept. Robbie was on the other side of her, one arm tucked under his head, the other lying along her left thigh where it lay over his.

"Is everything all right between you?" she asked quietly, cautiously.

"Yeah," he pushed himself up on to his elbow. "I had a marathon session with C&D yesterday. After that I found a club, had a skin full, and came here." He hesitated. But there weren't to be any secrets between the three of them, not ever. "I hurt him, and he let me."

Jackie's eyes widened, but she said. "You'd never hurt him, Robbie."

"I was... violent. Almost violent. And he... he didn't come then. No one's ever allowed me that kind of control. Or shown me that kind of trust."

"Were you scared?"

"Not until afterwards. He was bleeding, and I realised what I'd done. He just kept telling me it was okay."

"Then it was." She leaned down, touched her mouth to Robbie's. "I doubt you could force him into doing anything he didn't want to do."

Robbie lay back down, gaze falling on Michael's peacefully sleeping face. "I hope not, Jackie."

He eventually fell into an uneasy sleep, but she stayed awake for some time, thinking about what he'd said. Michael and Robbie never left her out of anything. They never kept anything from her. If she wanted detail, she got detail. There was nothing she found more erotic than to watch them together. But some aspects of what passed between them, the power dynamics of their relationship, surprised her.

At work, Michael was most definitely their boss. There was a reason that no one else even suspected what was going on and it was because they were careful. Michael gave them no preferential treatment whatsoever, was seen to be as hard on them as he was on everyone.

In the interrogation room, however, he and Robbie were a perfect partnership, not so much good cop, bad cop, as two hardass cops who'd had a long day, too much coffee and enjoyed watching their suspects squirm.

Outside work, they seemed to crave one another. Jackie never, ever felt left out. But now and again they'd just want to be alone together, to fuck each other senseless, she assumed, without airs and graces.

That there was a certain amount of domination and submission between them on those occasions didn't concern her at all. And Robbie saying that Michael was bleeding earlier on didn't worry her particularly either. She'd read up on everything on the Internet, doing her research. She knew what to expect and now and again printed pages out for them.

They were beautiful together. Just watching them kiss got her more aroused than anything her own imagination could have come up with before she'd gotten involved with them. They were happy to experiment with one another and to admit defeat when things got too complicated or too damned energetic.

The three of them had discovered many and varied positions to try. Some worked, some didn't. But the beauty of it was that they could laugh at themselves.

And that was the greatest turn on.

*

"The only one we know," Michael told the assembled officers, "is Dominic Eddy. He was killed between eleven last night and two this morning."

"How did he die?" asked a voice from the assembly.

"His throat was slit. Dr Andrews believes it was done with an army knife, a pen knife, something like that. The cut is ragged, and it's more strength than sharpness of the blade that made the incisions. There is evidence that he fought back, so the man we're looking for may be injured. He'd also had oral sex just before he died."

Someone else piped up, "You mean someone sucked his dick, Sir, or he sucked someone else's?" There was a childish giggle underlying his voice, one that Stuart ignored but Michael and Robbie bristled at.

"I mean, DS Grogan, that the victim was sucked to orgasm, probably by his killer, moments before his throat was cut."

The general murmur in the room ceased.

"The victim's wallet was still in his jacket pocket and contained fifty pounds and all his credit cards. He wasn't robbed. I want to know who he was; what job he did, where he ate lunch. Specifically, I want to know if anyone saw him last night. I don't want people not talking because they're worried about coming forward. Any man heard saying, or reported to have said, anything remotely homophobic, I'll have them pulled off the case and put on a week's suspension. Do I make myself clear?"

*

Michael pulled up to the pavement and killed the engine.

He'd finally returned to the office at gone nine to find several officers still up and going through piles of folders and papers. Missing persons reports, Michael guessed. He'd spent hours at the morgue with Stephen, waiting for the identities of the other three bodies they'd found in the park.

None of them carried any identification, and Stephen had finished the second autopsy only an hour ago, putting death at about three days ago. He had made a guess that the other two were killed later - one around a week before. The fourth was in an advanced state of decomposition, and he was saying months, maybe as many of five.

Jackie was co-ordinating the search for information on Dominic Eddy. She'd called several times to report in. Eddy had worked at a local paper as a small-time reporter. Nothing big, local events, local celebrities.

He was twenty-two.

By the time he got back to the office, Jardine had had about all he could stand for one day. He saw the note on his desk when he sat down.

Mike, R's place, whenever. R&J

He only had to knock once. Jackie opened Robbie's front door and smiled as she stood back and let Michael in.

"Bad night?"

"Bad day."

Stepping up to him, she wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him. He held onto her, hugging her to him. She tasted of white wine and toast. Her body moulded itself to him, one leg wrapping around his.

Her fingers combed through his hair, one hand rubbing up and down his back, soothing and building the desire at the same time. She lifted her leg higher, curling it around his waist, just above his hip. He slid his hands under her bottom and lifted her, letting her put her other leg around him, turning her so that her back was against the wall, helping him to support her.

She broke the kiss and buried her face in his neck, moving her hips to bring her in closer contact with his hardening erection.

"Starting without me?"

Stepping behind Michael, Robbie dropped a kiss to the back of his neck before sharing a longer kiss with Jackie over his shoulder.

Wrapping strong arms around his male lover, Robbie ran the tip of his tongue along the curve of Michael's spine, from the base of his skull to the loose collar of his shirt and back up. Michael shivered in his arms.

"If you want her, you can have her," he whispered, meaning it, "I can leave you two alone."

Sometimes Jackie was all Michael wanted.

But Michael shook his head, and Robbie closed the gap, pressing against Michael's back, easing the blond head back onto his shoulder, mindful of the precarious balance of Jackie in his arms. He suckled on one earlobe before burning a path of wet kisses along the side of the long neck.

"Come into the lounge," he murmured hotly, meeting Jackie's desire-darkened gaze. She nodded, licking her lips, hungry for both men.

Michael stepped back, and Jackie dropped to the floor, kissing him as she unwound herself from his body. Taking his hand, she led him through into the wooden-floored lounge. A soft, black leather couch and matching armchairs were the only furniture safe for a glass coffee table that had been moved to the corner of the room. A television, VCR, DVD player and separates stereo system were all at hand for any burglars that fancied trying their luck. And there was a large, deep blue rug in the centre of the room that Michael knew from experience to be comfy enough to sleep on.

Tonight, the long, blue curtains were drawn and candles were burning on the coffee table and on the mantelpiece. Soft music was playing in the background, one of Robbie's favourite jazz musicians letting fly on a sax.

Moving once again behind Michael, Robbie took the jacket from his shoulders and threw it across the arm of one of the chairs. Michael removed his own tie, draping it over his jacket.

"We've been talking about this," Robbie murmured, lips just behind Michael's ear. "After last night, I want to make amends."

"Robbie, you don't have to...."

"Ssh." It was Jackie who hushed him, a finger over his lips and then her tongue teasing its way inside his mouth.

"Let us do this, Mike."

Jackie was still kissing him when she started to unfasten his shirt buttons, fingers playing over his chest as she exposed his smooth skin.

From behind, Robbie was easing the shirt from his shoulders, nipping the skin above his vertebrae, one by one. Finally, he disposed of Michael's shirt into the armchair as Jackie's fingers moved on to his trousers.

Robbie's arms circled his lover's body, fingers going to the hard nubs of Michael's nipples while he continued to kiss and lick from one shoulder across to the other. Michael was moaning softly, murmuring Robbie and Jackie's names as they made love to him slowly.

Sliding her hands around the small of Michael's back, Jackie eased his open trousers and boxers down over his hips and thighs, letting them drop around his ankles.

"Step out of them, Mike," Robbie's low, incredibly seductive murmur whispered over his ear. He did as he was instructed.

"Now lie on the sofa, on your back."

Robbie followed him, staying close.

Being naked while his two lovers remained fully clothed made Michael feel vulnerable. But the brush of cloth against skin was unbearably erotic.

He lay down, the cold, soft leather feeling wonderful against his naked backside. Jackie's mouth claimed his as his head dropped back against the cushions. He felt Robbie's hands on his ankles, pulling him to the edge of the couch.

Michael yelped in surprise when he felt his ass being lifted onto the couch's low arm, Robbie's hands cupping his cheeks.

Jackie straightened up for a moment and wriggled out of her jeans. Then she was back, straddling him, her fingers in his hair and lips assaulting his lips. He was overwhelmed by the feel and scent of her. He couldn't help his hands wandering over her cotton-covered back to her hips. The black thong she wore let his fingers skim over her smooth buttocks to her firm thighs.

When Robbie started to suck on his cock, his senses went into overload.

Jackie released his mouth long enough for him to give a full-throated yell.

She grinned at him, and he managed to smile at her as stars danced behind his eyes.

She turned then, straddling him backwards. His hands caressed her thighs, thumbs pressing lovingly along the lines of the taut muscles. It was an inviting sight, until her mouth closed over his cock as Robbie took his testicles into his mouth, one at a time.

Every thought was wiped from Michael's mind except for one.

And that one was definitely X-rated.

Knelt on the floor next to the couch, Robbie placed Michael's feet solidly on the arm. He kissed the smooth crease of the tops of his thighs where they met his buttocks, watching Jackie as she sucked Michael's thick cock, deep-throating him with ease.

Robbie was hard just watching her. It made what he'd planned to do much easier to contemplate.

Sliding his hands back under his lover's ass, he used his thumbs to spread the buttocks apart. Michael's anus was red raw after the abuse it had taken in the early hours of that morning. It was the guilt over what he'd done that had put this idea into his mind.

Cautiously, Robbie touched the sore ring with the wet tip of his tongue. He felt Michael shudder, and knew somehow that he'd done that, not Jackie. It had been their idea to keep up the dual assault until Michael had come. But Jackie was moving off their lover.

Robbie didn't have time to question her before Michael was pushing up on his elbows, murmuring Robbie's name softly.

Reaching out, Michael spread his fingers and Robbie pressed his own through them, folding his own down over the other's hand. For a second their eyes met and locked, then Robbie moved closer. He closed his eyes, hearing Jackie straddling Michael's waist. He felt the man beneath them tense as his cock was sucked back into that hot wetness.

It made him all the more determined to pleasure Michael this way.

Rolling his tongue, Robbie pushed passed the tight ring, sliding inside easily. He felt Michael's sphincter contract around him, and smiled to himself. This penetration was so different to what he'd done earlier, he knew.

Michael concentrated on remembering to breathe. He could thrust up a little into Jackie's mouth but there was nothing he could do to increase the small but intense pressure of Robbie's tongue in his ass, All he could do was endure the sensations blazing through his body.

He wasn't just going to come, he thought in the midst of his feverish desire, he was going to explode. Or maybe implode. He raked short nails over Jackie's back, feeling her muscles rippling through her thin shirt.

She hollowed her cheeks and sucked on him once, hard.

He screamed, climaxing deep in her throat.

It seemed to go on forever, caught between the exquisite pleasure of Robbie's tongue stroking slowly in and out of him, and the tight heat of Jackie's mouth.

When she finally released him, he collapsed completely.

Whether he'd blacked out or simply fallen asleep, he wasn't sure. But when he opened his eyes, Robbie was lying on the rug with Jackie straddling him. She was riding him with free abandon, and she met Michael's sated expression with a smile of her own as she came.

Robbie, taken by surprise as Jackie gripped him hard, followed her to orgasm.

After a few minutes, he managed to lift his arm and beckon Michael to join them.

"I don't know that I can actually move," came the lazy response. "I might just stay here... if you don't mind... just for a little while longer."

When he next opened his eyes, it was definitely morning, and judging by the strong aroma of coffee floating through the flat, and the not-too-distant sound of a shower, it was almost time to be professional again.

Michael turned under the light duvet that someone - probably Jackie - had thrown over him sometime in the night and smiled at Robbie as he wandered into the lounge.

"Morning, Sleeping Beauty." Robbie put a glass mug of fresh coffee down on the floor next to the couch. He leaned in for a long, warm kiss. Michael responded, sitting up to deepen the contact. Neither of them heard the shower quit, or the padding of bare feet on carpet, then wood.

"Will you two cut it out! It's gone eight. We'll never get to work if I can't separate you!" There was only amusement in her tone, but all three of them knew she was right.

Robbie sat back on his heels, a low moan of brief frustration escaping his lips as he raked his gaze over Michael's chaotic hair and sleep-glazed eyes.

"The sooner we find the bastard who did it, the sooner I can have you for breakfast," he told Michael seriously.

The tone and words sent a bolt of lust straight to Michael's groin. But it complained of overuse and steadfastly refused to get involved.

Rolling his eyes, Michael threw back the duvet and headed, shamelessly naked, through to the bathroom.

Robbie watched him go, thinking that it was going to be a very long day.

*

Over the course of the next few hours Stephen completed the third autopsy, John Doe 2. The man had indeed died in the last seven days. On the previous Thursday was the pathologist's best guess.

One of the officers who had been searching through the Missing Persons files had matched John Doe 1 to a photo held in one of the files. They were contacting relatives for a formal identification, but they suspected it was nineteen year old Blane Monk.

Early in the evening, Michael was on his way back to the morgue for the results when Stuart called in. Another body had been found in the same park as the others. The difference with this one was that he was still warm, and no attempt had been made to bury him.

It was late when Michael pinned Dave McMillan's phone to the case board. Robbie was sitting on the closest desk, looking from photo to photo, from name to name, trying to find something, anything that would connect them.

When Michael looked up, he glimpsed the expression on his inspector's face.

"What?" Robbie's eyes danced from the photos of the dead men to his boss. "Robbie?"

"I can see a connection, but it's not exactly conclusive."

Moving to stand next to the desk, Michael looked for the same clue that the other man had just seen. "Looks." Robbie nodded. They all had blond hair, all had a slight vulnerability to them underlying a very male, hardened outlook.

"Something in the eyes," Ross pointed out. Knowing they were alone in the main CID office, he reached out and stroked his fingers over the back of Michael's hand. "Something that's in your eyes too."

Michael returned his lover's gesture with his thumb, caressing the side of Robbie's hand. "You're talking rubbish," he said gently.

"Am not and you know it. They were young and they were learning about themselves. Like we are."

"We're not bad for amateurs," Michael commented, letting any imagined similarities between him and the victims slide for now.

"Don't put yourself down, we're damned good." They glanced at one another, private smiles passing between them. "I could show you how good we are." Running his hand over Michael's, Robbie brushed over his thigh and then his crotch, teasing lightly.

He expected Michael to step back or slap his hand away. But he did neither, simply stood his ground and looked from Robbie's hand to his lover.

"Not here." Robbie glanced at the board and nodded. "My office."

He could barely believe it. "Your... office?" But Michael was already half way across the room.

Twenty-five yards and Robbie's pulse was racing by the time he closed the door of the DCI's office behind him and leaned back against it.

"You're serious about this?"

"There's no one else around."

"But anyone could..."

"Lock the door."

The lock was turned and clicked into place. With his next breath, Michael murmured Robbie's name and closed the gap between them. Robbie found himself pressed up against the wood of the door, Michael sucking briefly on his bottom lip before the man's tongue insinuated itself into his mouth.

Robbie curled his hand around the back of Michael's neck, pushing his fingers into the soft blond hair there, his thumb stroking the warm skin rhythmically. It was, he'd discovered, a way of calming the desire that if left unchecked had the potential to burn them.

At the same time, they both reached down between them, hands cupping one another's genitals carefully. Buttons were slipped through holes, zips pulled down and within seconds each was fondling the other, thumbs rubbing up and down freed erections, flesh bumping against flesh.

Robbie's fingers parted and teased Michael's balls, playing with the soft skin.

Michael's fingers curled around Robbie's heated cock, stroking roughly.

Every few minutes they came up for breath, mouths roaming, kissing and nibbling as they jerked one another to climax.

"Mike... Mike Mike Mike...." It was difficult to concentrate on dexterity when Michael's fingers were driving him crazy. The litany of the man's name felt so good on his lips, sounded so good to his ears. But it was swallowed in a deep kiss.

The blissful, erotic sensation of a strong tongue sweeping over his sensitive pallet threw Robbie off balance and he came, white liquid heat covering his lover's hand. It fired Michael's own orgasm and they finally collapsed against one another, panting softly.

For a moment the intense afterglow threatened to overwhelm them, but Michael broke the tension by chuckling into Robbie's neck.

"We're like a couple of horny teenagers," Robbie commented quietly, sliding one arm around Michael's waist, leaving his other hand where it was for the moment.

"I wasn't this bad when I was a teenager."

"I was. Only not with other men."

"I kinda hoping I'm the only man you're like this with."

"Like I'd have the energy for anyone else." He smiled, adding with a gentle kiss, "Like there could be anyone else."

It was the closest they'd come to asking for and acknowledging a commitment since they'd first slept together. For a moment, they just looked at one another.

"So what now?"

"I suppose we'd better clean up. And then... food?"

Michael nodded. "Call Jackie?"

"Absolutely. She must be wondering what's happened to us."

They thought about that for a minute before simultaneously shaking their heads. "Nah."

*

Robbie joined Jackie on the kitchen work surface as they watched Michael cook. Unlike most bachelors Jackie had known, Michael was a genius in the kitchen.

"So..." Robbie started over his coffee (no drinking when they might be called out at any time), "Jackie tells me that our young Heather's been eyeing you up."

It was news to Michael, who turned, wooden spoon in his hand. "Really? I hadn't noticed."

"That's because men don't do subtle hints," there was a proud smile in Jackie's tone.

Stirring the chilli one more time, Michael tapped the spoon on the edge of the pan and dropped the lid onto it, leaving it simmering. Putting the spoon onto the plate next to the hob, he crossed to his lovers and put his hands either side of Jackie's legs. Leaning in, he kissed her.

"You are the only woman I'll ever want or need," he promised her seriously. "You know about the other person in my life, and I don't think he's going to let me go either."

Robbie watched them, mirrored the smile on their faces before they kissed again. His heart swelled. As much as he tried to be objective about their relationship, he knew he was sinking deeper every day. No one got this lucky more than once in their lives and he wasn't about to mess it up. Michael was right, he wasn't going to let either of them get away.

He'd always fancied Jackie, right from the very start. But in the months following his starting work under Michael, he'd felt a connection with his boss, one that had eventually led him to make that first move.

To have both of them, to have all of his desires and fantasies fulfilled was probably more than one man should expect in one lifetime. To have two beautiful, sensual lovers was definitely more than he deserved.

Michael moved back to the oven, stirring the chilli and the rice.

"Did you tell Jackie about your theory?"

Robbie was pulled from his thoughts. "What... oh, that. No." She was looking at him expectedly now. "It's the looks of the victims in this case. Blond hair and... something in the eyes in the photos we've got of them."

"Something?"

"Something." It had seemed a reasonable thing to say back in the office with the evidence clear in front of him. Now the word 'vulnerable' didn't really mean anything. "Probably nothing," he finished, glancing at Michael and meeting the questioning but accepting expression.

"They're all young, probably exploring what they're feeling," Jackie picked up the trail of thought. "They're too nervous to go to a club where they might be recognised so they go somewhere anonymous. They're approached, asked if they want a blow job - there're no signs that the sex is forced and it would be difficult and weird for someone to force you to let them give you one - and afterwards, they're killed."

"Immediately afterwards." Something sparked in Robbie's mind. "The killer's... disgusted with himself at what he's done?"

"Or he's come too," Michael interjected. "He enjoys it, maybe touches himself while he's doing it. So he's had an orgasm, and now he's feeling vulnerable."

Jackie watched the two men caught each other's eyes for a moment, understanding passing between them.

"Is that how it is?" she asked gently. "In the seconds, the minutes afterwards you realise that you've just sucked another guy's cock, and... what?"

Robbie thought back to the first time he'd done that with Michael. "The power's all with the guy giving the blow job. He's the one with the control, the one you've trusted not to bite. In those few moments afterwards... you're laid bare."

"So he's taking control. But afterwards, he feels... repulsion? Shame? Guilt?"

Jackie shrugged. "Powerful enough emotions to drive a man to kill."

"Definitely. If you're not comfortable with what you're doing, if you're not sure." Robbie was floundering again. "But when you are comfortable, it's an incredible rush of power."

"So maybe he's getting off on that, and killing them is just another step, another power he wields over them," Michael suggested.

"So, not hatred or guilt."

Michael hesitated. "Maybe it isn't. Maybe it's the other side of the coin. Like when we do it. It's not any of those things. It's love."

Trying to hide his joy at that simple word, Robbie responded, "what more powerful emotion is there?"

Jackie stopped trying to read the strange vibes underlining their words, stopped trying to hear what they weren't saying and tried to think about what they actually were saying.

"You're saying that... our killer wants these men, but knows he can't keep them and... kills them?"

"Just speculating. I'm saying that sometimes it's about power, sometimes it's about love. Sometimes it's just about sex."

Jackie smiled. "Is that how real gay men feel?"

She realised what she'd said when Michael and Robbie stopped their silent communication long enough to look at her.

"'Real' gay men?"

"No offence, obviously."

But Robbie was leaning into her. "We've fucked one another six ways from Sunday. When does it get real?"

She touched her lips to his cheek. "How about I ask Stuart?"

"Oh, yeah, like he'd know."

The comment even brought a questioning glance from Michael as he fussed over his rice.

"He's a self-confessed gay man who dates other men," Jackie pointed out.

"I know - but he's... I mean, can you see him doing the things we do?!"

Michael rolled his eyes. "You're losing it, Robbie." Robbie shrugged innocently. "Stuart's not the person he is at work. He wears a mask every day. I'll never know how he does it, but I know why he feels he needs to."

They ate, half-expecting the phone to ring. But it didn't.

In the end, Michael rang Stuart.

"Everything all right?"

"Yes, Sir. Stephen says he'll have the results of the fourth and fifth autopsies tomorrow. But so far they've been consistent with the MO. We have uniformed officers patrolling the park tonight. DSI Pattersen wants to see us all first thing in the morning."

"Great. I'll be sure to wear my best tie."

He could hear the smile in Stuart's voice when he said, "G'night, Sir."

"Night, Stuart."

He relayed the news to his two companions as they sat together on the deep couch. "Means we have to be in early."

Robbie sat forward. "We should get an early night. And some sleep." He put some emphasis on the final three words.

Michael and Jackie turned to look at one another, came to a silent agreement, and putting their plates down onto the carpet, they jumped Robbie's bones.

*

Hours later, they lay in the Michael's queensize bed. Jackie was asleep, lying on her back, snoring softly.

Beside her, Robbie and Michael were awake, touching delicately, sliding slick cocks together with agonising restraint.

"You're insatiable," Robbie whispered into the darkness.

Michael's lips brushed over his. "You seem to be keeping up."

They'd found being unable to see one other, just to feel, an amazing turn on. Despite having sated each other and Jackie before going to bed, they'd woken after a while and reached for one another.

"I never thought I had it in me."

"Speaking of which...." Michael found Robbie's mouth and kissed him, sliding his tongue between warm, moist lips. He wrapped one leg over Robbie's, bringing them closer together, sensitive flesh clashing against sensitive flesh.

"Jeez, Mike...."

Michael smiled, lips still pressed against his lover's.

"You owe me one, Rob."

It took a moment, but Robbie knew what he was talking about.

"Now?"

Michael moved his head, side to side. He rubbed his nose against Robbie's in an innately affectionate gesture. "Some other time."

Words became secondary as they carried on slowly torturing one another to orgasm.

*

"Good morning." DSI Valerie Pattersen greeted Maryhill CID the following morning over polystyrene cups of dark, strong coffee.

There were various murmurs and grunts of response. It was seven-thirty am, people were barely awake.

"Last night the police presence in the park practically cleared the place of activity. Sending this guy into hiding is something we cannot afford to do. We've got a connection, however slim." She pointed at the photographs individually. "Blond hair, good looking. Dr Andrews puts what we hope was the first victim's death at about six weeks ago. His name was Colin Alder. He was thirty-eight. He started the pattern."

She settled herself on the edge of a desk.

"With the permission of the ACC, we're goin'a try something not often used in Scotland. We're going to send a man undercover, as an agent provocateur."

The murmurings increased in the room. "Pretty policemen, ma'am?" The question was incredulous.

"We'll be doing this with the full approval of the PF's office." No actual questions were forthcoming, so she stood. "Michael, would you and your team join me in my office?"

The relief, as she walked away, was palpable. Stuart Fraiser, CID's resident queer as far as most of the department was concerned, would be going undercover. Maybe they'd make him dye his hair. Despite disparate comments from time to time, they did consider him an able copper and a brave officer.

From the moment they stepped into Valerie's office, Stuart, Michael, Jackie and Robbie knew differently. Michael had known from the moment Stuart had relayed his news the previous night.

She didn't hang about. "Michael, we want you to be the one to go undercover."

Jardine nodded. But Jackie and Robbie were immediately against it, even if they couldn't voice a reason as to why.

"He'll have full back up."

"So he's just supposed to let guys... do that until one of them tries to kill him?!"

Valerie bit back her initial retort. "Anyone who approaches Michael will be arrested. We'll keep it one night, low-key. Michael will nominate one of you to stay close. The backup team will be audio only."

"How long to set it up?" Michael spoke for the first time since they'd entered the office.

"Several hours. Stay on the case for now. Go home later, get changed and come back in for nine."

"I'd like Robbie to be the immediate back up."

No surprise to any of them. "Good."

*

"Can you believe Robbie?" Michael asked Jackie as he closed the front door behind him. "'So he's supposed to let guys do *that* until one of them tries to kill him!' What is that man on?!"

Jackie stared as her lover strode passed her, threw his car keys on the kitchen worktop and walked back passed her, heading upstairs.

"He's worried about you," she told him in her 'stating the obvious' tone.

Michael paused at the top of the stairs. "Jackie, how many blow jobs does he think I can rise to in the space of one night?"

She opened her mouth to retort and finally realised what Robbie had actually been implying.

"Besides," he called down, disappearing into the bedroom, "I'm not exactly Johnny Depp! I'd be surprised if anyone approaches me." He lowered his voice, muttering to himself although Jackie was half-way up the stairs and heard him. "I'll probably get some ninety-year-old wanting me to suck his teeth."

She made a face, but didn't say anything. Reaching the landing, she made herself comfortable on the carpet just outside the bedroom, back against the banister, watching him hunt through his drawers.

"I've just got nothing to wear," he told her, voice pushed up an octave.

She laughed. "Will you take this seriously!"

"I am, believe me. I don't really want some lunatic with a knife anywhere near my genitals."

He was hidden from her view now he'd moved the search for clothes to the wardrobe.

"You know Robbie's going crazy, don't you?"

"More than usual?"

"He doesn't want you out there."

"He worries like an old crone sometimes."

"He loves you."

Silence. And then she heard the wardrobe doors close and he was standing looking at her. "I know, I mean... he'd have to, wouldn't he? To let another man...." He shrugged, and his voice lowered to a whisper. "You have no idea how much I want to hear him say it." Shaking himself, he went back to the clothes hunt, putting his shirt from his trousers. "No one's goin'a touch me. No one's goin'a get close enough. The moment someone comes close he'll have 'em arrested."

"Aye, and if they touch you I think he'd have them castrated."

He glanced at her, saw the smile on her face and mirrored it. "Yeah, yeah. He's not the jealous type." Finally pulling some clothes out of one of the drawers, he threw them on the bed and started to strip. "If he was, you wouldn't be here, would you?"

"Hey! What about if I was, he wouldn't be here?"

"If either of you were, neither of you would be."

Stepping out of his suit trousers, Michael pulled on a pair of tight, light blue denim jeans.

Jackie's mouth dried out. She'd been a bit suspicious when her two lovers had joined a gym, Michael first, Robbie a few weeks later. But it was doing them the world of good. Their stamina, for her, and for one another, was incredible. And they looked great, and she fancied the pants off them both.

On in this case, on.

"Michael...." He turned, pulling on a tight, white T-shirt, raising his eyebrows. "Oh he is not going to let you out looking like that!"

Michael looked down at himself. "What?"

She stared at him, mouth open in a smile, and finally shook her head. "You'll see."

He studied her for a moment, before swooping down to kiss her. Kneeling in front of her, he grinned and locked his gaze with hers. "I'll be fine."

"I know." Leaning forward, she touched her lips to his. If anything ever happened to him.... She shook the thought before it took a hold. "I love you."

"I love you too."

Another, longer kiss, before she sat back. "Maybe Robbie needs to hear that as badly as I do."

*

Michael had thrown an expensive leather jacket into the mix and wolf-whistles followed him through CID that night.

Robbie looked up from his desk and swallowed the first words that came immediately to his mind, a mind that was screaming for him to say them.

"You are not going out like that," he hissed, just a moment before Valerie stepped out of her office to find out what all the noise was about and smiled when she saw her DCI.

"You look just the part, Mike," she told him proudly.

For a second, he held Robbie's gaze, silently making promises for later on. And then he followed her into the incident room. His surveillance team for the night were already assembled and Robbie joined the small group a minute or so later. Michael could guess at the swift words he'd had with Jackie.

*

Wired up with a radio mike beneath his jacket, on the neckline of his T-shirt, Michael drove out to the park. Robbie drove separately, also wired - in more ways than one - and the van followed a couple of minutes behind them.

Once parked, Michael waited until his backup was with him before moving out along the path towards the area near where the fifth body had been found. It was still a scene-of-crime, surrounded by yellow, weathered tape, one end of it flapping against a tree in the chilled breeze of the night.

Michael walked slowly, aware of Robbie not far to his left. He made sure that his glances around were nervous, but curious. Once or twice he met his lover's gaze. There'd been no anger when they'd left the station, only concern. Michael was absolutely sure that later, when they were home and safe, and all was well again with their personal, private world, there would be a flaming row.

And then there would be make-up sex.

Moving into one of the wooded areas of the park, Michael heard faint sounds of sex.

Out here, it was easy to forget the team in the van. He felt exposed and alone, even knowing Robbie wasn't far behind him.

How did people live with the loneliness? Did they like the anonymity? Maybe that was a turn-on. Maybe the thought of some stranger's mouth on their cock, sucking them to that great high and then vanishing into the darkness was erotic somehow?

He groaned softly to himself when he realised that the throbbing in his groin was arousal.

There was a crackle against his eardrum. "Jardine, you ok?"

"Fine," he whispered, all it took for the mike to pick up his voice. He wandered further into the dark woodland, taking every step as quietly as he could, feeling that he was intruding into something private. He, Robbie and Jackie had their own place, had found their own peace in their own way. The men in the park, they were doing the same thing, they'd found something here that they hadn't been able to find anywhere else.

Just like he had.

"Hello, handsome." The voice behind him, spoken softly into his ear, made him jump. He turned his head and found himself looking into a young face. The lad was no more than eighteen or nineteen. "You're just what I've been looking for."

The line sounded tired.

Michael blinked, and looked away, looked around in the dim moonlight, looked anywhere but at the lad.

"Your first time, right?" That sounded much more genuine. Michael nodded.

"You get used to it." There was something in the voice that sent a shiver down his spine, and the spines of those listening in.

Robbie murmured into his mike, "one hooked."

"I... I don't know...."

"I know you don't." Michael felt hands on his hips, and the warmth of another body pressing gently against his back. "But I can show you how good it can be. I can make you feel like a god."

Every protective instinct Robbie had was starting to kick in, but he held his ground.

The lad was turning him. Michael looked him up and down without being seen to. "You... you've done this before?" he asked, still with the nervous hitch in his tone.

"A couple of times. I like the power of making someone else feel good."

Michael knew in that instant that they'd found their man.

Robbie knew too. "It's him."

"We don't know that for sure," the detached voice in his ear told him. "Let it play out."

Eyes widening, he stared at the mike as if it could relay his expression. "Play out? What does that mean?"

Michael's heart was pounding. He only hoped that was considered a natural reaction under the circumstances. "You want to make me feel good?"

The lad leaned in, pressing his lips to Michael's. "Sure." The next thing he felt was a sharp, metal edge against his groin. "I'll make you feel better than you've ever felt."

Michael stepped back, grabbing the lad's wrist in a move so fast the young man couldn't react to it.

Robbie saw the move and sprinted across the ground between them. Within seconds he had the kid in a arm lock while Michael pried the knife from his fingers.

He looked genuinely shocked. And very afraid.

Michael wondered, sadly, if that had been the expressions he'd seen on his victims' faces just before they'd died.

They walked their suspect back in silence, meeting the backup team halfway. "All yours," Michael told them without triumph, handing another officer his mike and earpiece. He knew they'd caught their man. But for some reason, he didn't feel the elation that usually came with the arrest of a killer.

Eighteen. Nineteen at most.

Robbie handed over his hardware too, and stayed at his boss' side, watching with him as the small group took the path to the car park.

"You ok?" Michael nodded. "Home?"

"In a little while." He turned back to look into the black of the trees. "You know, for a while there...."

It took Robbie a couple of seconds to grasp what he was saying. "You were turned on."

Michael remembered his own thoughts - a stranger's mouth sucking to an explosive orgasm, all the better because it was never the same and that was a unique moment.

Robbie hesitated. Even after all they'd done, this was something he'd never imagined. Finally, reaching a decision, he moved to stand behind Michael. Without actually touching him, he leaned close to whisper in his ear.

"Go."

The question 'what?' had formed on his lips, but he knew without asking what Robbie was saying. "Rob...."

"Don't use my name. Go. I'll find you."

Michael walked, and as he did, he found himself relaxing into the darkness. He didn't want to question this side of himself yet, wasn't ready to ask himself what the hell a senior policeman was doing about to have sex in a park, in a public place, breaking at least two Indecency laws.

But that was the freedom here. It wasn't DCI Jardine out here. It was Michael Jardine. And the stranger about to accost him wasn't a stranger. It was his lover.

Surely there was no danger in games?

"Hello, Beautiful."

Robbie's breath, hot against his chilled ear, sent a slither of heat searing through him, straight to his groin. Warm hands moved from his hips down to rest on his thighs while a wet kiss touched the back of his neck.

Robbie had waited, and picked his moment for one reason. When he stepped around Michael, he pushed him back to lean against the thick tree trunk behind him.

He wasn't sure if strangers kissed, thought some would and some wouldn't. But he loved kissing Michael, and in the end he was the only one that counted. Sealing his mouth over the other man's, he pushed his tongue roughly between eagerly parted lips and bordered the kiss on obscene.

When Michael's hands, fingers combing through his hair, began to urge him down, Robbie couldn't help the grin that curved his lips.

"Slut," he murmured fondly, but he lowered himself carefully to his knees.

There was something powerful in giving head. Michael's fingers were restless in his hair, but only playing, carding through it, not forcing, not directing any more than he already had.

Odd that the one on his knees should be the one in control. It was the suction of his mouth, the pressure of his tongue, the graze of his teeth that defined the other's pleasure.

He was learning how to take Michael to the brink of climax and hold him there for as long as he wanted.

But this wasn't about control. Not between them. This was about the immediacy of the moment.

Robbie sucked Michael's cock until it exploded in his throat and Michael was biting the back of his own hand to stop himself crying out.

They didn't want to part, but each had come in his own car and they wanted to leave a vehicle here even less.

Michael tailed Robbie back to his place. On the way, he called Jackie and told her where they were going. Checking he was okay, she said she was still at the station and would be for some time yet, interviewing the suspect.

"I'll see you in the morning, Michael," she told him softly.

"Jackie...."

"I need some sleep." He heard the tone of her voice and smiled to himself.

"Promise?"

"Promise." She was smiling, that private smile she kept for him and Robbie.

"Okay. G'night."

At Robbie's place, they kicked off their shoes and Robbie padded about in the kitchen cooking up two mocha coffees while Michael got changed.

When he drifted into the kitchen a few minutes later, he was wearing looser jeans and a crumpled white shirt.

Robbie smiled at him. "Better?"

"I'm getting too old for those jeans."

"I can't believe Jackie let you go out there tonight dressed like that."

He leaned against the cupboard, breathing in the aroma of freshly ground, brewing coffee. "She didn't think you'd let me go out tonight dressed like that."

"The DS got to you before I did."

They stood in silence for a minute or so, listening to the burbling of the coffee machine, the gentle ticking of the clock in the hall and the natural sounds of the house.

"Mike, if you're thinking about what we did tonight...." Michael cocked his head to one side, but didn't answer. Robbie crossed the kitchen, stopping a foot from his lover. "You of all people should know it's okay to try things. You're allowed to indulge yourself... with me."

Michael uncrossed his arms, but didn't touch his lover. "You know, you weren't my first."

"Not your first guy or not your first blow job in a public place?" Michael's expression said that he wasn't going to dignify that with an answer. "Who was he?"

There was hesitation before the answer was forthcoming. "His name was Malc. We were at college together."

"Is that all the detail I'm gonna get?"

"How much detail do you want?"

Stepping forward, closing the gap, Robbie held the calm blue gaze. "I'm the jealous type."

Michael remembered his conversation with Jackie that afternoon.

"What about Jackie?" he asked quietly.

"She's a woman."

"Ah, you're only jealous of other men?"

"Absolutely. Besides, Jackie loves you as much as I do."

Michael caught his breath, determined not to destroy the moment, no matter how much it scared him. "Rob...."

Lips touched his own. "You don't have to say anything. I don't need to hear it. I just thought you'd like to. The trust you showed me the other night was breathtaking, that told me how you felt."

"Still," Michael lifted his hand, fingers trembling, but didn't quite touch his lover's face. "I do love you."

This time, Robbie kissed him, tongue sweeping over his lips as they parted. He sucked gently on his the other's tongue before stroking his own along the strong length into Robbie's mouth.

It remained the only point of contact between them for a long time. Only later, when the coffee mugs were empty and they retired to bed, was more said without words that could ever have been spoken.

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