by Robyn Elliot
She was about to speak to Stef, but Stef waved his hand and jerked his head in the direction of Danny’s low toned voice. Annelise shrugged, and accepting that Stef was taking his loving boyfriend duties very seriously (and both she, Guillaume and Elisabeth were still trying to get used to this since the advent of Danny), she went back into the kitchen with good grace.
Stef sat on the edge of the sofa, straining his ears to eavesdrop, whilst cursing inwardly. The knife wound itself was healing, but the cut muscle was as sore as hell. He was used to being flexible, graceful in his movements. He was also finding the restriction frustrating beyond belief, considering all he wanted to do was touch and caress Danny. Stef had appreciated that the display of…emotion…in the hospital had been something they both needed; Stef had told Danny the following day that it had been about getting all the awkwardness over with. Danny had agreed but hadn’t said much about Stef’s monumental understatement. I mean, public place, dicks in mouths. It sure beat the shit out of hospital coffee and grapes.
Only it was still awkward. Of course it was. And Danny was still in the turbulence of his own problems. Stef, falling in love with him so quickly and so heavily, was trying to adapt to his new role; of feeling intensely protective of Danny, and wanting to do things for him. He acknowledged, privately to Annelise, that this was totally new territory for him, as uncharted in the emotional sense as it was to get for someone with Stef’s relationship history.
That was another thing. He didn’t want Danny getting any ideas of being not good enough, or not this or that enough, considering he was so spectacularly different from Stef’s previous partners. Not that partners was the most apt description. Fuck buddies, yes; occasional shags, utterly true. Those on and off again type of relationships, like with Antoine, that Stef had seemed hooked on all changed on a rainy morning at Guillaume's not such a long time ago. Stef knew he’d have to go pretty slowly with Danny as far as sex was concerned. The hospital blow job had been magnificent, but the tension, the relief, of Stef being okay, and Danny’s emotional fall out, had been focused on that brief sexual experience between them.
Stef gritted his teeth now. Fuck, he felt such a wimp, but who’d have thought a knife slicing muscle could hurt so much. You lost a lot of blood too, Danny would keep reminding him, only for Stef to tease him by saying he had made it so much worse by relieving him of other fluids in his weakened state. A part of Stef, and he wouldn’t admit this to anyone, had wanted to show off to Danny, only things hadn’t gone according to plan down that alleyway. Now, all Stef wanted to do, was be manly and possessive and love Danny the way he knew, he hoped, Danny wanted to be loved and cared for.
Stef was surprising himself every day with the tenderness he was capable of. Danny, he realized, was his baby, and that meant Stef wanted to love him, please him and protect him. As well as fuck him senseless into next week, of course. But sex would have to be approached with care, despite Danny’s entreaties in the hospital. Stef had never made love before with a virgin. Come to think of it, Stef realized, I’ve never actually made love either. Fucked for the European Union, yeh, but making love? Back to that uncharted territory again. And there was no bloody map setting out point A to point B. Stef would have to feel his way. Which, thought Stef, was something he was very much looking forward to.
Only now, he knew something was up and it wasn’t his cock for a change. Stef could hear the tightness, the tension in Danny’s voice.
“No, not really, and if you continue to swear at me, I will hang up, Hugo,” Danny said. Stef got up, stood at the door. He watched Danny standing in front of the large glass door that led into the porch of the flat. Danny turned, and his eyes locked with Stef’s. His body froze, seeing Stef watching him in his extreme discomfort. Danny’s face was flushed, and even from here Stef could see the pulse that was rocketing against the soft skin of Danny’s neck. Stef had been kissing that lovely, fluttering pulse for the last few days and he knew Danny loved him doing it. If sighs and shudders and ‘Oh God, Stef, please don’t stop’ was anything to go by.
Stef saw Danny’s latest disintegration begin. No, he thought, not this time. Not this fucking time. Because I’m going to do something about it.
“Hugo, you’re not giving me a chance to explain…no, Hugo, I need more time…doesn’t work like that…I…yes, no, no, of course not…why won’t you let me speak, Hugo?” Danny’s voice quivered with the tremor afflicting it, as he pressed his palm across his eyes. Stef saw the long, pale hand shaking, and could hear Danny’s breathing becoming strained, as if he’d been running a marathon, rather than tussling with his head of Chambers. Same thing.
Danny suddenly felt a warm, reassuring hand over his, and his phone disappeared from his grasp.
“Stephane, please, don't do that.”
Ignoring Danny's plea, Stef held Danny’s phone to his ear. “Listen fucker, Hugo is it? Fucking prick of a name, by the way…yeh, yeh, and you too, fucking dick…that’s right, I am Danny’s bum buddy…”
“Stef, will you please give me back my phone!” Danny cried out, knowing his voice was raised, knowing Annelise and Elisabeth would hear them from the kitchen. Stef put his hand on Danny’s shoulder, essentially ignoring Danny’s pleas. “So what, prick?” Stef continued his sparring with Hugo de Colonna.
Danny closed his eyes, buried his face in his hands. “Stephane, I didn't ask you to do this. Please stop,” he pleaded again, his voice firmer, harder this time. Stef, Stef, what the hell are you doing? My world is falling apart all over again. Here I am, in full view of you, and your family for good measure, this time, amply demonstrating that Daniel Peter Hastings really is a total waste of space. Floor? Swallow me up. Like right now, to a depth of at least 500 meters.
“Shut the fuck up, all right? “Stef eloquently continued. “From now on, you won’t be speaking to Danny like he’s a piece of shit, and if you fucking do, I will personally rearrange every fucking bone in your face; no one, you hear, absolutely no one treats my boyfriend like shit!” Stef looked at Danny, who by now had more or less given up and was staring at Stef, shaking his head. Stef refused to register the message. “No one speaks to my beautiful boyfriend, my gorgeous boyfriend, like he was something under a rock, and if they do, they’ll be answering to me, because I assure you, fuckwit, I’ve got a really nasty side that only fuckers like you see. Now fuck off, and if you ring Danny again it’ll be me you speak to. Drop dead, and ta-ta, now.”
Stef switched off Danny’s phone, and handed it back to Danny, a satisfied look on Stef's face.
Danny flinched from Stef's touch, and furiously pulled his coat from the coat stand.
Stef tried to touch him again. Danny flinched again. “Do you enjoy humiliating me, Stef?” Danny spat at him.
“What?”
“Don’t you think it’s difficult enough for me at the moment, without you thinking you have to rescue me all the time?” Danny’s attention was distracted by the tactful closing of the kitchen door. He turned back to Stef. “Oh, and thank you so much for making me look a complete prick in front of Annelise and your mum.” He yanked on his coat, fumbling for one of the sleeves, and when Stef tried to help him, Danny jerked sharply away from him.
“Danny! Danny! Stop this, please! Aren’t I allowed to defend you, when bastards like that upset you?”
Danny resolutely zipped up the front of his coat. The sound seemed to draw a line. Stef swallowed, taking a deep breath. God, he was beautiful, Stef was thinking, so bloody beautiful and sensitive.
You’ve just made thing worse for me,” Danny accused, and he rubbed at his eyes, trying to take deep breaths. “You had no right to do that. None at all. How the hell did you think I managed before you came in with your white charger?” They looked at each, and Danny saw Stef's expression. “No, Stef, you can't save me. That's not your responsibility. You and your fucking ego!”
Stef, utterly deflated, hated the idea of Danny being right. “Look Danny, is it so terrible that I want to ta
ke care of my boyfriend…who I love, by the way. Very, very much.”
To his horror, Danny could feel his chin start to tremble, and he made to go, to escape, before Stef saw him dissolve into a pool on Guillaume's and Annelise’s polished wooden floor. He hated mess.
He got as far as putting his hand on the door handle, but Stef’s hand covered his. Danny wanted to shrug him off – so he imagined, even though deep down he was flooded with relief at Stef’s touch – but stood impassively, not wanting to give Stef’s sutures any reason to explode. That, and the fury still coursing through Danny.
“You’re not going anywhere,” Stef murmured, nudging his brow against the back of Danny’s head. Stef inhaled the soft hair, the fresh, clean shampoo making that very soft, very curly hair something he wanted to lose himself in. Stef carefully wrapped his arms around Danny’s waist. He wished he could be more physical, but his wound, was setting up a storm of protest.
They stood like that for what seemed an age, Stef holding Danny gently, his mouth moving over Danny’s sweet smelling hair, whilst Danny pressed his brow against the door.
“Stef, please don’t. I need to stay angry with you. You were completely out of order, there. Don't...”
“Don’t what? Love you? Protect you? Care for my darling Danny?”
Danny shuddered. He was torn. Between pleasure and joy, and the inner turbulence – his inner torment – feeling unable to stand up for himself, and the overwhelming sense of humiliation, not just with Colonna.
Even this early, even so soon, Stef could read him, almost instinctively.
“You’ll be okay, because I’m going to love you, Danny. Is that wrong, too? What can I say? I'm a possessive, passionate Frenchman, and I won't see you hurt.”
Danny said nothing. He could hear the beat of Stef's heart against his own back, the warmth of Stef a reassuring presence, as soothing as a favorite blanket, only made of flesh, blood...love and desire.
“I’m not going to let you do this to yourself, okay? If I have anything to do with it, Danny, you are going to learn that instead of hating yourself, you are a beautiful human being. The sweetest, kindest, loveliest guy I've ever known. You've got me, Daniel, and I'm yours if you want me.”
Danny had him, true enough, so deep it was subterranean. Right inside. Right inside the heart and soul of him, Stef realized. He leaned heavily against Danny’s back, held him even tighter in a silent embrace. There was no badness in him, Stef was certain. Danny didn’t have a mean bone in his beautiful, lean body; Danny just didn’t have it in him to be a bad guy. So Stef wasn’t going to allow anyone, and especially Danny, to not believe that. “You know how I’m going to look after you, Danny?” Stef moved his mouth now over Danny’s ear. Danny’s shoulders shook. He was so fragile. Okay one moment, then something would happen to tip him into chaos the next. “I’m going to look after you by caring for you, and holding you, touching you, caressing you; I’m going to heal you with every bit of love inside me. We can talk, we can hold hands, we can be silent, and let me tell you now, Danny, we are going to make love and have lots of very intense sex, so you might as well give in right now...and just let me adore you.”
That finished Danny's resolve at fury with Stef. He slowly turned and looked at Stef, who traced his forefinger down the length of Danny’s nose.
“What did he want?”
Danny sighed, pressed his brow against Stef’s. “Demanding I get my lazy fucking arse back to Chambers...quote.”
“You’re not going back there,” Stef said decisively, moving his head away slightly, giving Danny an almost stern look. That’s what amazed Danny about Stef. He could be so sexy and charming and teasing, then quickly change to being kind of, well...masterful. And Danny realized he found that very, very sexy, although he determined he'd learn to stand up against Stef. For now, he groaned inwardly, wondering how, feeling as terrible as he did at the moment, he could also feel happy, elated and hopelessly turned on.
“I need to earn money, Stef,” Danny offered prosaically.
“We’ll find another way,” Stef insisted, still fixing Danny with a determined look, “because there’s no way you’re ever going to set foot in a court again.” The familiar glint returned to his beautiful eyes. “Although I am going to insist you wear your black gown now and then, when we are making love…pervert that I am, as you keep insisting. In fact, as your boyfriend, I’ll demand that you do!”
Danny’s eyes filled with tears. He couldn’t stop them. He’d wept for Stef, but it hadn’t occurred to Danny it was okay to weep for himself now and then. He’d never imagined love would make him feel so emotional.
But then he’d never imagined a love, like this one.
We’ll find another way. Yes, that’s what Stef had said, Danny registered, feeling wetness on his cheeks, then Stef’s lips moving over his tears, hushing him.
We’ll find another way…
“Is there any chance I might get a kiss for my Lancelot impression?” Stef asked.
Danny sniffed, closed his eyes, letting Stef’s fingers brush away this stray tears. “I hope that doesn’t imply you think I’m Guinevere.”
He opened his eyes, hearing Stef’s indulgent laugh. “I’d never think you a queen, Danny.”
They stared at each other for a few moments, then laughed together. Danny nodded. “Yes,” he said quietly.
“Yes, you’ll let me look after you, or yes I can kiss you?”
“Both, Stef,” Danny responded, breathlessly. “But I'm still angry with you. You're not off the hook.”
But Stef didn’t mess about. This situation required full on mouth to mouth therapy.
And that’s exactly what Danny got.
Somewhere in the back of Danny’s slightly febrile mind, he wondered what had happened to Stef’s inability at flexibility because his rather splendid and masterful Frenchman of a boyfriend now had him pinned against the door and was ravaging his mouth. Danny gripped Stef’s forearms, for anchorage more than anything, and he didn’t care that he was moaning as Stef’s tongue swept over his, searing and possessive; lips and tongues and saliva mingled, teased, thrusted, and engulfed each other. Stef moved his hands to Danny’s buttocks, massaging the spectacularly firm flesh he found beneath his fingers. Stef made a mental note to kiss and nibble on that beautifully pert bottom later. Hopefully, not too later.
The kissing went on, and the massaging went on, and the whole damn intoxicating feeling went on. Stef was using every bit of remaining self-control he had (and rapidly disappearing into the sexual ether) not to unzip Danny’s trousers, plunge his hand into the lucky dip of Danny’s boxers, and stroke him off until his lovely, shy, fragile Danny orgasmed explosively. And not particularly caring that he was just a few yards away from his mother, doubtless sipping coffee and pretending she couldn’t hear the sighs and panting breathing that denoted Danny’s phone conversation had terminated, and her handsome son was establishing his own unique kind of connection.
Stef and Danny pulled away from each other’s mouths only to maintain signs of life; no matter the love, no matter the sex and passion, they still needed oxygen, more’s the pity.
“Danny,” Stef’s hands still cupping Danny’s buttocks, squeezing the tight firmness he found there, “I can’t help myself, I want to keep kissing you and touching you. Fuck, I’m like some horny dog.”
Danny leaned against the door, exposing the lean whiteness of his throat. Stef’s eyes roamed over the beauty of him, and wondered how he wasn’t going to come within seconds of seeing Danny naked and lying on the bed, languid with lust. Danny eventually opened his eyes, and Stef saw they had darkened with emotion and sexual arousal. The pupils were large, lustrous, clearly mirroring Danny’s intent.
“I don’t want to go for a meal, Stef,” Danny whispered, and Stef watched Danny swallow hard, almost painfully, from trying to suppress his anxiety.
“Me neither. Though I can tell you, Danny, I am very, very hungry,” and Stef began licking Danny�
��s neck, wet, slick tongue strokes, swirling over Danny’s Adam’s apple, tasting the patina of sweat sheen on Danny’s skin.
Danny wished he could stop moaning, and making so much damned noise. He was convinced Elisabeth and Annelise could hear every gasp, breath and, more worryingly, every single mucky thought. He closed his eyes again, absorbing the exquisite sensations of Stef licking him, nibbling gently on the fluttering pulse at the base of his throat.
Dare I tell him? Danny moved his hands over Stef’s back. He could feel unyielding muscle there, and Danny pressed his fingertips into Stef’s shoulder blades, felt the same hardness and toned planes. Oh, God, I’m going to tell him…fuck, I’m going to do it! Come on, Danny! Go for it!
“Stephane, I want you to come home with me…you…you could stay at mine, recuperate, there’d just be the two of us, and...and...well, there’s no pressure, Stef, but we could have some privacy and, you know, get used to each other and...that...”
Stef silenced him with his mouth. They tasted each other’s tongues all over again, tenderly, languidly exploring and circling, and Danny gained some confidence and satisfaction as he listened to Stef’s moans of pleasure combine with his own very vocal homage to fine French kissing.
“Yes.” That was all Stef said, pressing his lips to Danny’s eyelids, the tip of his nose, each high cheekbone, his chin, one more tender kiss to his racing pulse.
Danny’s eyes opened widely. Commitment. Alone. With Stef. Translate that into sex, sex and a bit more sex.
And Danny started getting scared, all over again.
“Hey, it’s okay,” Stef whispered, shaking Danny slightly in his arms, “I’m in no fit physical state at the moment to lie you on your back and fuck you on the hour every hour.” Stef adopted his default expression of knowing confidence and charm. “Though I will do, and very soon. But for the moment, we can just, well…whatever you want, Danny, hmm?”
