| Sonata Movement 4: Interlude for Piano and Rain |
| The title for this Movement is taken from Mannheim Steamroller's Fresh Aire series. Quiet and sad . .. |
| Saturday morning, Jack woke with a throbbing pain in his right shoulder. It had never quite healed properly after he had been brutally attacked last November. The doctors had told him it would probably never be perfect; he was lucky he had recovered as much as he had. Ever since then, he had felt it whenever the weather turned cold and rainy, so he had brought along the 800 mg Motrin his doctor had prescribed for the pain. He crawled out of bed and grabbed one of the robes, then headed downstairs to where they had dumped the �luggage.� He passed a window on the way, confirming the expected gray rainy day outside. // I also probably overdid it some yesterday, too. // He decided it was probably a little of both as he searched through his clothes for the bottle of pills. With the limited space for packing, he hadn�t brought along a second pair of jeans, but did manage to stuff in some sweats. He grabbed them and a clean flannel shirt and some socks. // Ah, there they are! // He grabbed the bottle and quickly downed the painkiller, then went to turn the heat up a bit; the warmer dry air from the heater should help the pain as well as generally making things more comfortable. He tossed the robe aside and quickly donned the clean clothes he had grabbed, then went into the kitchen to start some coffee. It was early; he doubted Lennie would be up for a while yet, so he grabbed the first cup of coffee and headed out to curl up on the sofa. He smiled when he saw the fur throw still on the floor where they had left it last night, remembering the wonderful evening. But soon the pain and the dreary day chased away the smile. He couldn�t get comfortable, and he wished Lennie would get up already; he could use some company. He sighed and settled back with his coffee, reaching down to pull the blanket around himself. Lennie work up a little later and was surprised to find himself alone. Jack usually woke up before he did, but he usually stuck around, saying he liked to watch Lennie sleep. Or doing something to wake him up. He got out of bed, found the robe, and peeked out the window. // Oh. Bet that shoulder�s acting up . . . // He wandered into the bathroom, grinning as he noticed in the mirror the bruise on his neck from last night. He headed downstairs and found Jack curled up on the couch, wrapped in that fur throw, looking absolutely miserable. He came up behind the couch and bent down to wrap his arms around his lover and kiss the top of his head. �Hey, Lennie. I thought you�d never get up.� Lennie hugged him tighter. �Sorry about that. You could have gotten me up.� �Hey, it�s your vacation too. Just because I couldn�t sleep, doesn�t mean you should suffer.� Lennie let go and came around to sit beside Jack on the couch. �Shoulder bothering you?� Jack nodded. �Yeah, I think I overdid it a bit yesterday, especially that trip back in the rain. And of course the rain never helps.� Lennie reached out to caress his face. He hated to see Jack in pain like this. Jack pushed the blanket aside and reached out to him. Lennie held him close for a few minutes, until Jack finally sighed and let go. �Thanks.� Lennie brushed the hair back from his eyes, then leaned in and kissed his forehead. �I think I know something that might help.� He got up and went into the kitchen. First things first, he poured himself a cup of coffee and downed half of it in one gulp. Then he started scrounging around the kitchen and came up with a couple of towels and a plastic zipper bag. He wet one towel down, folded it and stuffed it into the plastic bag, then threw the whole thing into the microwave for a couple of minutes. When he took it out, it was very hot. He wrapped it in the other towel, refilled his coffee, and headed back to the couch. �Instant hot compress. Now move over.� He took the corner of the couch so Jack could lean against him. He wrapped his arms around his lover, holding the compress in place over the shoulder so the warmth could seep in and relieve the pain. Jack sighed as he finally found a comfortable position, wrapped in Lennie�s arms, with the warm compress soothing him. After a while, Jack was feeling better so they went into the kitchen to scrounge something to eat. Jack had gotten bacon and eggs, intending to make a nice breakfast this morning, so they turned it into brunch. Jack was by far the better cook, but Lennie was learning, and today he did most of the work under Jack�s watchful eye. �You know, I think you may have finally learned how to make scrambled eggs that aren�t rubber!� Jack teased. Lennie glared at him, �You know, if you�re not careful, I might goof up and put something a bit hotter than pepper in those eggs. I�m so prone to mistakes like that.� So of course while they were bickering, the bacon got a little burnt, but that was ok because Lennie liked it crisp anyway. Jack just sighed and shook his head, laughing. Just as they were finishing up, the delivery boy from the general store showed up with the rest of their supplies for the weekend. They got that stowed away, then Lennie asked �So what now? Obviously we�re not going to get �in touch with nature� today.� He didn�t look all that disappointed. Jack grinned, knowing exactly where Lennie�s mind was headed. �I seem to remember somebody promising me a bath today . . .� He moved in, placing his hands on Lennie�s chest. �Oh, yeah, there was that.� Lennie�s arms wrapped around him, pulling him in to a kiss. Lennie grabbed the abandoned robes, slipping a few things he had packed into a pocket, and they went upstairs into the spacious master bath. There was a separate stall shower as well as the huge two-person Jacuzzi tub. Lennie turned on the shower first to get the room nice and steamy, then started filling the tub. As the water was running, he turned to Jack, gently unbuttoning his shirt and sliding it off his shoulders. Jack returned the favor, running his hands across Lennie�s chest, just barely grazing the nipples. Lennie slid his fingers through Jack�s thick hair, drawing him into another kiss. By the time they broke apart, the tub was over half full, and Lennie reached over to turn the water off. They ditched their sweats and climbed in, Lennie settling in the corner with Jack in front of him. Jack sighed as the warm water climbed over his shoulders and Lennie�s arms wrapped around him. �Oh, yeah . . .� Lennie chuckled and gently ran his fingers across Jack�s chest. They sat there for a little while, enjoying the warm water, then Lennie reached for the soap. �OK, lazy, you gotta move.� He nudged Jack forward so he could slide out from behind him, turning to sit on the other side of the tub facing him. Jack sat up, glad that the room was still quite steamy. Lennie worked up a lather in his hands, then took Jack�s arm and slowly, sensually, covered it with the foam from shoulder to fingertips. He rinsed the soap away by drizzling handfuls of water over it rather than just dunking it. He repeated the process with the other arm, then started on the chest. His hands slid further and further down, under the water to find the growing erection below. �Mmmmmm� Jack�s legs spread apart, knees poking out of the water. Lennie traced his hands along the thighs, back out of the water, and bent to kiss the nearest knee. More soap, then Lennie gently lifted the leg out of the water and worked his way down to the toes. Jack leaned back against the tub, savoring the feel of Lennie�s hands and the water. Lennie moved to a kneeling position to get to the other leg. After he gently set it back down into the water, he moved up to kiss his lover. �OK, time for the back.� He sat up and leaned forward. Lennie covered his back with the soap, hands sliding all the way down below the water, playing gently over his ass. Jack knew where Lennie was going with this, and he was torn. What little they�d done last night had felt good, and he wanted to do this for Lennie. But he just couldn�t shake the part of him that was scared and uncertain. Lennie�s hands came back up to rinse the soap from his back. He knew Lennie was waiting for permission. He tried his best to swallow the fear and leaned further over the side of the tub, kneeling to give Lennie better access. Jack felt the water level beginning to go down; Lennie was letting some of the water out so he could get to the lower areas. Lennie took the soap and gently washed the whole area; starting from the sides and working inward, spreading the cheeks apart and finally sliding his fingers down the crack and probing gently. He could hear the change in Jack�s breathing as he found his target; he knew he was having the desired effect. He turned the spigot back on to get some fresh warm water to wash the soap away, cupping both hands to get a good supply, then releasing it to wash the soap away, the water adding it�s own sensual touch. He bent down and began kissing and licking all around, eventually pulling the cheeks apart to run his tongue along the crack. Jack�s breathing had become very ragged and he gasped at the unfamiliar touch. Lennie repeated it, then slid a little further down to lick Jack�s balls. He slid his hand around to grasp the rock-hard cock, and licked his way back up, wringing a moan from Jack. He let go as he continued upward, his tongue tracing halfway up Jack�s spine. He wrapped his arms around Jack, whispering �Shall we take this into the bedroom?� There was just a moment�s hesitation before he heard Jack�s breathless �Sure.� They got out and dried off. Nobody had bothered to make the bed, so Lennie just pushed the blankets aside and tossed a towel down just in case. He turned around to see Jack standing there, obviously quite aroused, but looking . . . uncertain. �Jack, you OK with this? You seem to be enjoying it?� Lennie left it as a question. Jack looked away from Lennie�s concerned eyes and nodded. �I guess I�m just a little nervous, is all.� Lennie reached out, turned Jack�s face to meet his eyes. �Oh, yeah?� Jack made his decision. �Yeah.� He smiled at Lennie and stretched out across the bed, face down. Lennie retrieved the bottle of lube and a latex glove from the pocket of the robe where he had stashed it earlier. He crawled onto the bed beside Jack, again running his hands over the back and down to the buttocks. He could feel Jack�s tension, despite his assurances. He took some more time, touching and kissing, tongue probing gently, reaching around to feel Jack�s hardness, making sure he was still enjoying it. Finally, he slipped on the glove. �You ready, Jack?� �OK� came the muffled reply. He squeezed some of the lube onto his finger and began spreading it around. He could see Jack tensing up again. �Jack, try to relax. This will be easier if you can.� Jack took a deep breath, and as he let it out, Lennie slid the finger in. �Oh!� came the startled cry. Lennie held still for a while, letting Jack get used to the feeling, then began a slow thrusting motion. Jack laid there, every nerve ending in his body seemed to be focused on his ass. Lennie�s finger was inside him. // ok, nothing new here, doctor�s done this before // he tried to reassure himself. It wasn�t working. His mind kept wandering to Abbie�s comments after he was attacked, likening that situation to rape. THIS was his idea of rape. How many times had he threatened some young punk with jail time, scaring him with the thought of becoming somebody�s �girlfriend� inside? // It�s not rape if you WANT it, you idiot! And you KNOW you want it! // And he did. Everything Lennie had done so far had felt good, exciting and new. If he could just relax and let it happen . . . Jack�s breathing had gotten ragged, more from his inner turmoil than from excitement. But Lennie couldn�t know that, and took it for pleasure. �OK, Jack, going for two now.� He felt the second finger push in, stretching him, an odd mixture of pleasure and a little bit of pain. If this hurt, what would it be like when Lennie pushed his cock inside? So much bigger. The fear overwhelmed him. He buried his face in the pillow. �No. Lennie, please, no.� Lennie could feel him tensing up, and gently removed his hand as quickly as he could. �OK, Jack, OK. Take it easy.� He snapped off the glove and tossed it aside, stretched out alongside Jack and tried to gather him into his arms. But Jack pulled away, not wanting to be comforted. He reached out to simply lay his hand on Jack�s arm, but again the other man pulled away. �Just leave me alone, will you?� He rolled over, his back to Lennie. Lennie just looked at him, hurt. He understood if Jack was afraid, this was a big step for him. But to turn away like this. Not even let him say it was OK if it never happened. But by now, Lennie knew that when Jack was angry at the world, it was usually because he was angry with himself. It just took time for him to realize it. Lennie nodded sadly and got up. He stopped in the bathroom to retrieve his clothes then left. Back downstairs, Lennie wandered aimlessly for a while, looking for something to occupy himself. He found a deck of cards and lost a few dozen games of solitaire when he wasn�t staring at the rain outside. Finally, he went into the kitchen and started working on dinner. He wasn�t feeling all that hungry, but cooking at least felt useful, better than moping in the dark like some people. Jack laid there, all the fears and worries chasing around his head. Eventually, he realized he was angry with himself for hurting Lennie. // You are a real piece of work, McCoy // he thought. // The one person in this whole stupid world who really loves you, and you push him away. // Lennie was just pulling the frozen mac and cheese out of the oven when he heard steps coming down the stairs. He put it down on the countertop and turned around to see Jack standing just inside the kitchen. They stood, not sure how to break the silence between them. Finally, Jack simply said �Hey.� �Hey, yourself.� Jack nodded. He stared at the floor for a moment then looked up. �Lennie, I�m sorry. Sorry I stopped things up there. Sorry I pushed you away . . .� Jack had taken the first step; Lennie closed the distance between them and gently took Jack�s face into his hands. �Jack, stopping was OK. I don�t want to do anything you�re not comfortable with. It was the pushing away that hurt.� Jack looked into Lennie�s eyes and his tears spilled over. �I�m so sorry, Lennie. I�ve had so much practice being a cold hearted bastard. . .� Lennie gently brushed the tears away. �It�s OK, Jack. Don�t worry about it.� �Why do you put up with me, Lennie?� Jack was serious. �Because after all these years I�ve finally found something worth the effort.� He held Jack close for a while, eventually letting go to gently kiss his forehead. �You up for some dinner?� Jack sniffed, checking the status of the casserole. A mischievous glint danced around his eyes. �Depends. What did you burn tonight?� �Oh, now THAT really hurts! Keep that up and you won�t get any!� They looked at each other and started laughing. Lennie grabbed him into a quick hug, then let him go. �Why don�t you go burn something in the fireplace while I finish here?� �Yes, dear," was the reply as Jack headed to the fireplace. Continue on to Movement 5 Send me some feedback Back to the Story Index Disclaimer: These characters belong to Dick Wolf and NBC. I'm just borrowing them for fun, not profit. |
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