Dedication

Chapter 12:Paradise

 

by Kracken

Disclaimer: I don't own them and I don't make any money off of them.
Warnings: Male/Male sex, graphic, language, violence.


"We don't really need our bathing suits, you know?" Duo said as he looked over the beautiful waterfall and the small, clear, pool, of water. The 'sky' was blue with artificial white clouds and the plants had been expertly done to make it look as natural as possible.

"I'm not an exhibitionist, there are probably monitors every where," I grumbled as I settled on the edge of the water fall and looked over the meal that had been placed on a cloth for our enjoyment. Spring water, delicate pastries, sugared fruits, and rich cheeses. It was designed on a plate like a blooming flower.

"Very oriental," Duo commented as he stripped off his shirt.

"Is it?" I wondered, not seeing that at all.

"Anal," Duo snickered and I tossed a sprig of mint garnish at him.

"I'll have to suggest, to Une, that she place you in sensitivity training again, Mr. Stereotype," I told him as I took up a strawberry and popped it into my mouth. When I bit down, the flavor burst over my tongue, and some of the juice dribbled on my lips.

Duo caught at the juice with one finger, and grinned, as he made a show of sucking it off. "You know," he said, looking wicked, "Who ever's watching, has probably seen it all."

I glared as I swallowed my strawberry, but I couldn't keep my eyes off of his finger, as it made it's slow, sensual way in and out of his mouth. Damn him, anyway, I thought. He knew how sexy he was... and how hard it was to resist him.

Duo suddenly sprawled out beside me on the grass, and then snuggled in close, his strong arms around my waist and his cheek resting right on the growing bulge of my crotch. His purple eyes looked up at me as he nuzzled. "You know you want to," he crooned.

My traitor hand smoothed along his rounded shoulder and then down to where his brownish nipple was standing proud. Equally traitorous fingers came together to play there and Duo closed his eyes and sighed contentedly.

"You won't get me to do it," I warned. "You can save this for later."

He rolled and gave me the long line of his back, his ass rounding up and his shorts riding low, and the spray of his loose hair. I had a very tempting view of his ass 'cleavage'. A little dusting of hair there, the same color as the hair on his head, made it that much more erotic. Having Duo's face, though, buried fully in my crotch, and feeling his tongue rasp against the material there, made me shiver and clutch at him.

"They'll tape it and sell it to all the news stations," I tried again.

I could feel Duo's grin against my pants. "At least they'll get my good side." He made a motion with his hips, as if he was plunging down into a willing body, and then snickered as I gripped him even tighter.

No terrorists to thwart, no bombs to defuse, no missions to fly, no coworkers to endure, just a quiet oasis in space and Duo's face in my lap. My hand smoothed over his hair and his tightening arms were claiming victory. I wasn't an exhibitionist, though, and, no matter how tempting, I wasn't going to give anyone a show.

"Changing room," I suggested, knowing that it was hidden behind the rocks..

Duo looked up eagerly, wet spots showing on my shorts. He wanted more of a concession, though. "Water."

I looked at the water, calculated the distortion, and then nervously nodded. Duo was up, then, and pulling me into the water, not waiting for me to change into my suit and also change my mind. When his legs wrapped around my waist, though, and he bounced as I took us both into deeper water, denying him was the last thing on my mind.

There was a shadow, trees making shade over a spot by the tumbling water. I leaned Duo back there, against a smooth, 'rock' wall, and undid his wet shorts. Pulling them down just enough, he was left partly folded, his ass hanging down invitingly. I buried my tongue into his mouth and he wrapped one arm around my neck for support, as his other hand snaked down and tugged down my zipper.

Duo's hand pumped my erection as he brought it out and then he took aim with it where I most wanted to be. His hungry mouth gave me encouragement as we both worked to get me seated inside of him, while still looking like we were only kissing. I'm certain that I was flaming red with embarrassment, and I longed to check for vid feeds, but slowly inching my way into Duo's tight heat, despite the resistance of the water trying to wash away any helpful fluids, soon had me thinking of nothing else, but taking him thoroughly.

An explosive orgasm, shook us both, a little later, as I emptied into Duo. He thrust up and down along with my motions, riding that powerful feeling to its fullest. When we were spent, pressed against each other and panting, I came back to myself enough to be concerned. Both of my hands were cupped under Duo's ass, and I squeezed and kneaded, as I pulled slowly out, feeling resistance and some soreness on my skin.

"Are you all right?" I asked anxiously.

Duo grimaced as he shifted a little and felt soreness as well. "Hurts a bit," he admitted, but then pulled me tighter against him and said in my ear, "but it was worth it."

My pants went back up, but Duo's came off completely. He tossed them to shore and then swam around me, laughing, like a long haired otter, his white ass cheeks peeping out of the water now and again.

"I'll get your suit," I said, a little primly, and climbed out of the water. As I walked to our bag, over soft grass, Duo said, "Well, if they were taping that, I want a copy."

Me too, I thought, but then turned with his suit in time to see him dive under the water, ass and everything else showing to the 'sky' before he plunged under the water. He came back up to see my red face.

"You are not helping things," I complained. "Maybe we should have gone to a nudist colony, instead?"

"Hey," Duo shot back with an evil grin, "I'm not the one telling time the old fashioned way."

I looked down and saw that I was at 'half mast' and completely unzipped. Blushing furiously, as Duo laughed at me, I covered myself with his suit and sat down by the tray of food. I wanted to complain, to accuse him, to say that my embarrassment, and our future placement on the evening news vids, was solidly going to be his fault, but I stopped, words stilling behind my teeth as I saw him swimming with a blissful, relaxed, expression on his face. He was enjoying himself. He was at peace. He was free of duty, for the first time in far too long. I wasn't going to take that away from him because I wanted to be prudish and inhibited.

"Duo?" I called. He looked over at me, curious, and I tossed a strawberry to him. He caught it in his teeth, his hands still treading water, and took it into his mouth in one bite. The juice dribbled down his lips as he chewed and smiled at me.

I would walk nude, through the entire colony, I thought, to give him that as long as possible.

__________________________________________

"Duo... phone..." I murmured against Duo's neck.

"Phone? What's a phone?" he panted as he slid in and out of my body and hitched my legs higher.

"It's... important... if they call," I managed, though the last thing on my mind was the world in general. All of my body was centered on the intense feelings that Duo was giving me as he moved between my legs.

Duo made a low growl and reached up from our position on the floor to grab the phone. Still buried in me, to the fullest, his face close to mine, he put the receiver against his ear and barked, "Maxwell, here."

I felt embarrassed, though I knew there was no reason to be. The person on the line couldn't know that we were sprawled on the carpet, that my legs were hitched up in Duo's strong arms, his breath in my ear, and that his heated, throbbing erection was inside of me, wanting desperately to continue. An open champagne bottle was beside us, next to tumbled glasses, and cheese and grapes were littering the floor, the remnants of Duo's foreplay. We had shared the grapes, chasing them in each other's mouth as we deep kissed, and ate them, and the cheese had been laid out over my body for Duo to nip at and tease me with, as he had feasted up and down my body. It had ended up where we had both intended, in a bout of fast paced sex that we had both been enjoying thoroughly. This interruption was as welcome as nails on a chalkboard.

I played with the loose curtain of Duo's hair as he listened to whoever was on the line, his brow furrowed. That furrow had been growing, more and more, permanent over the years.

"I trust your security," Duo finally said, "Thank you for informing me of the threat. We do receive them, on occasion. It's the price of our past and our positions." Duo's frown deepened. "It said that? Well, in my experience, the ones who threaten, usually never go through with it. It's the silent ones that you have to worry about."

Duo's excitement began to go down as he talked, and he changed position slightly as muscles cramped. He halted my attempt to move out from under him, though, holding me firmly in place.

"No," he replied to something the person on the other line said. "We're still going through with the climb. Keep us booked for tomorrow. I don't want any security hanging around either. You monitor everything. That's enough. All right, thank you."

Duo reached up and slammed the phone down. He was in my face then, curling me back up with renewed interest, as he said firmly, "You didn't hear that. It wasn't anything but the usual. We just ate grapes in each other's mouths and I licked and nibbled cheese off your belly button, your luscious tits, and your-"

I grabbed his mouth with mine and sunk my tongue in deep. The usual, I told myself with an inner sigh. Someone had seen us, not liked it, and left a nasty note.Nothing to worry about. As Duo began thrusting again, and I lost myself to the sensation once more, I made up my mind to disconnect the phone in the room as well.

______________________________

"Getting slow old man!" Duo snickered as I tried to keep up.

I knew that the climb would release some tension, and I was right. Duo could only relax for so long before something snapped, before he grew restless enough to seek out his addiction to his work. To give him the adrenaline rush that he needed, though, had required breaking all the rules. Knowing that we were under surveillance, I had wondered what our hosts thought about our cutting our safety lines, tossing aside the antigrav belts, and switching off the call buttons attached to our gear. I had waited for intervention, a protest of some sort, but, maybe, they were keenly aware of our reputation and either knew that we were more than capable of the climb, or more than willing to start a fight over it?

Duo was taking the climb with relish and an ease that I had given up with three hour workouts and combat training. A desk job and a small work out, once a day, doesn't really keep a man in shape well enough to make the climb that we faced, easy or enjoyable. The view of Duo, his strong legs bracing wide in skin tight white shorts, and flexing upper body in a loose tank top, above me, more than made up for my present misery, though. His braid swung as he moved, all business, and an acknowledgement that things could get dangerous if we weren't careful.

"I'm just cautious, not old," I panted back, searching with one hand for a place to grip. We had purposefully not taken the easy steps, but had decided on finding our own route.

"Desk jockey," he taunted.

"Adrenalin junky!" I called back, but didn't speed up my efforts. I knew my ability, and he knew that I wasn't foolish enough to get egged into doing more than I was able.

He waited, grinning and leaning out to watch me, holding on easily by his fingers, damn him. When I finally came even with him, he kissed me, gave me a wild laugh, and was climbing ahead of me again. My reward, once I reached the top, was unspoken, but clear. I silenced the traitor part of me, that wanted to call it quits, and gritted my teeth, determined to finish the climb without embarrassing myself too much.

Duo's hand was there to pull me up as I finally reached the top of the artificial plateau. Sweating, scraped, and worn to the bone, it seemed odd to find comfortable chairs, drinks and snacks arrayed on a table, and a grand view of the station's gardens far below. We faced that view, arm in arm, recovering our breath and high on our triumph.

The sound behind us, sent alarms inside of me screaming that it didn't belong, that it was dangerous, and that my Duo was tangled in our lines still, and unable to defend himself. I spun and kicked out, as easy as breathing, and caught the intruder on the chin. The well dressed man, who had popped out of a well appointed lift, out of the floor of the plateau, dropped like a sack of grade A gyros.

Duo was wide eyed and then he looked at me, mouth open. He recovered, shaking his head in amazement, as he said,"Well, I wonder how much decking the manager of the resort is going to add to our bill?"

_______________________________________________

"Well, at least they aren't suing us, and they are refunding our last day," Duo sighed as he unzipped our bags and flopped them open on our bed. Full of dirty clothes, they had a faint smell. I snagged our packed toiletries and headed for the shower without replying.

I felt guilty and I felt angry, too, that the one stupid action of a resort manager had caused me to loose control. I had nearly busted the man's jaw, but he had been the first to admit that he had been the one to surprise me. After a death threat, he couldn't blame me for being jumpy. He had only interrupted us, though, to tell us that we were breaking firm resort rules, by not following safety procedures. In fact, everyone else on his staff had been too intimidated to take on the task of correcting our behavior. He had been the one to brave the two Gundam pilots and he had paid the consequences of that bravery. I couldn't help feeling like a monster, just then, like the weapon that I had been trained to be, during the war.

I let the warm water wash over me, enjoying the heat on travel weary muscles acclimating themselves to full Earth gravity again. When the naked figure appeared on the other side of the shower curtain, I almost denied the gentle voice that asked, "Join you?"

I wasn't in the mood for sex or any kind of play. I just wanted to be alone with my depressed thoughts. I felt that I needed to get my head back on straight. In the time between station and planet side, the ache in my psyche hadn't dulled. I still felt like I was on the edge of an adrenalin rush, a combat high that would have me striking out at anything that even remotely threatened me or what was mine. I was dangerous, I felt, and I was afraid for Duo.

The curtain opened and purple eyes met mine. "Don't," he told me. "Don't shut yourself off. I hate that." His hair was loose all around him, in preparation for the shower, and he held a bottle of a body wash that I liked in one hand. A scar bisected one breast. My eyes went to it and traced it over and over, not knowing what to say.

Duo tapped the scar with the bottle. "We both have these, inside and out. We both have to deal with them, Heero. They make us what we are and we can't stop living, or start hating ourselves, because sometimes those scars make us do things that aren't nice. We can only try again... try better...afterward."

"I think I need to talk to the therapist," I replied and hated how small and lost my voice sounded. I could feel myself closing up, just as he had said, and I couldn't help it. I wanted to lock down all emotions. I wanted to stop the thing that had made me almost kill a man... again.

Duo's strong hands took hold of me as he stepped into the hot shower. The water rained down on his head and turned his hair into a wet blanket. His bangs hung in his eyes as he pressed against me and held me in a tight hug, his face pressing into my neck.

"You are doing it," Duo said in exasperation."You're so afraid, though, that you aren't thinking straight. I never should have given you the space that you asked for, on the return trip. I should have knocked sense into you even before we left station."

"I..." I struggled with words, hating that I felt on the verge of crying against his shoulder. I didn't want to break down. I didn't want him to think that I couldn't handle myself... control myself. Yuy the desk jockey. Yuy who likes flowers and reading romance novels. Yuy who doesn't want to kill any longer. Yuy who was still the weapon that he had been trained to be, all those year ago... crying.

The tears did come, hot and choking, and he held me so tightly, I felt that he wanted to pull me into himself. He let me hang onto him for long minutes, and then he turned me away, facing the water, so that I could pull myself together, without the added embarrassment of his eyes on me. The cap to the body wash opened and he smoothed a musky scented soap over my back. His hands moved in slow massaging circles over my skin, after he put down the bottle.

"What are you shutting off?" Duo wanted to know, his voice in my ear and his hands still working over my hard muscles. "Are you shutting off the fear that made you react? The concern for your own welfare? Or is it some hate you've been secretly harboring for resort managers?"

"I..." I struggled again, as he made me think about why I had reacted so strongly. I hadn't been afraid for myself, I had been afraid for Duo. Was I trying to shut off my feelings for him?

I reached back, took hold of Duo's arms, and brought them forward so that he was hugging me from behind. He clasped me tightly and said in my ear, "Is that what you want?" he asked, knowing full well where he had been leading me. "Do you want not to love me... or anyone else again, so that you won't feel the need to protect us?"

I felt the tears again. "I don't want to be a weapon," I managed at last.

"I know... I know..." he soothed, just that, over and over, and then, finally, "You aren't a weapon, Heero. You're just a man. You reacted just like any man, too. We had a death threat. We were surprised. You thought the worst, just like I did, just like anyone would. It's just unfortunate for Mr. Manager that you can put a hole through steel plating."

I took a shuddering breath, wanting, more than anything else, to get back my control.

"We can't change who we are," Duo told me, "So that leaves two options for us. To go on and keep trying to live our lives, or to..."

He didn't finish. He didn't have to. The fear was in his voice, though, and for good reason. I had tried that second option one too many times, to have it off the table as unthinkable.I did have something that I didn't have back then, though, something that was strong enough to make the first option my only choice.

"I won't leave you," I choked out and turned to hold him tightly. With both of us covered by his wet hair, it felt like a shelter, as I let Duo give me his strength and the reason why I went on living, why I knew that I would go on and try again to lead my life of peace.

TBC

 

Chapter Eleven

on to chapter thirteen


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