Fic: 'Precipitating Change' TS/XF J/B/WS 1/2
Title: Precipitating Change
Fandoms: The Sentinel/The X-Files
Word Count: 16800-ish
Summary: Jim and Blair are stuck ... and then, they're not.
Warnings/Notes/Disclaimer/Yadda: Graphic and unrealistic m/m/m threesome action. Not for minors or fundamentalists. I don't own these characters but they wish I did. They'd have more fun. This story was written over two years ago for ainm who won it in an auction - the Katrina auction, I believe - and she originally wanted Jim and Walter Skinner, but we decided we couldn't leave Blair out. I have to say, and Ainm knows this, that I was never entirely happy with this story and probably would never have posted it without her encouragement. Ainm also beta'ed to the point of co-authoring, which isn't to say she's responsible for the story's flaws, because I've picked at it since. Thank you, Ainm! I'd also like to thank hollyilex and maxinehouse for their beta help. They aren't to blame, either, lol.
There's a line in this fic that I've used in another TS fic. I'm really quite shameless, I know. *bats eyes*
No one could say why a thing once set in motion should stop anywhere; for why should it stop here rather than here? So that a thing will either be at rest or must be moved ad infinitum, unless something more powerful gets in its way. --Aristotle, 'Physics'
***
Blair joined Brown and Rafe, who were standing near his and Jim's desks. They were making a not-so-casual inspection of the new temporary head of the FBI's Cascade field office, watching as Simon ushered the man into his office and closed the door.
To cover the fact that Jim was obviously - to Blair, anyway - eavesdropping, Blair made a questioning sound and tried to look curious.
"Sharp dresser," he said, peering past Rafe.
"Hugo Boss," Rafe said reverently.
"I thought his name was Skinner?" Blair remarked with feigned confusion, winning Rafe's elbow in his ribs.
"Can't you be just a little stereotypically gay?" Rafe asked him exasperatedly. "I'm talking about his suit."
"Oh. I knew that."
"Yo, Hairboy, if you can't get it at Wal-Mart you don't need it, man. Am I right?"
"You're right, H," Blair teased back, covering the bittersweet amusement he felt every time his friends made a good-natured comment about his sexuality. They all thought he and Jim were lovers, and they didn't care.
Too bad Jim did.
Pushing that old pain aside as the irrelevancy it had to remain for the sake of his sanity, Blair remained beside Jim when Rafe and Brown left for their own desks. Still concentrating on whatever Simon and the Fed were saying to each other, Jim had ignored the byplay completely.
Part of Blair was happy to see Jim so relaxed about using his senses around their friends and coworkers. But part of him was pissed as hell because every time Jim did something like this - and he did it a lot - Blair got left holding the metaphorical bag somehow.
But that was only a symptom of a deeper problem, really.
Things between them had settled into some kind of weird holding pattern in the two years since the mess with his dissertation. He and Jim were still friends, roommates, and partners, still laughed at each other's jokes, still worked well together, still hung out enjoying the other's company ... but in a lot of ways, Blair thought their relationship was superficial. He and Jim orbited around each other but never really connected.
Blair didn't know how to get them out of the place they were in. He wasn't sure he even wanted to try. It wasn't a bad place, and he wasn't sure he deserved anything else, even if that dream hadn't become ... impossible.
Win some, lose some, some never had a chance. At least his friend and sentinel was in his life. Blair told himself it was going to have to be enough.
And so, as a friend, he whacked Jim on the shoulder unceremoniously.
"Man, cut it out. You know Simon'll be pissed if he catches you listening."
Jim started, glaring at Sandburg automatically, although he knew Blair was right.
He knew a lot more than Sandburg gave him credit for, actually. For example, he'd long since recognized that Blair had mentally consigned any possible romance between them to the 'it'll never happen' pile and given up.
It was an attitude that Jim didn't particularly appreciate. In fact, he found it rather insulting. Blair had never been the type to give up on a damn thing, but when he'd given up his dissertation, his career as an anthropologist, something had broken in Blair, and Blair had given up on them, too.
Although, there were times Jim wondered if that hadn't happened sooner... in Mexico, perhaps, when he'd betrayed his guide with Alex Barnes.
He still felt like an unfaithful husband, tied to an unforgiving wife.
Not that Blair seemed to hold it against him, but something like that had to be unforgivable, didn't it?
It had occurred to Jim that the real problem might stem from his failure to forgive himself, both for his behavior with Barnes and for the months afterward when he'd intermittently acted like an asshole. He'd had to confront a rather ugly side of himself - the Ellison side - that lashed out with painful intent. That side had fueled a lot of unkind words and bad behavior immediately after Naomi's meddling, too.
He'd had to confess to himself that he'd wanted Blair to hurt over that damned dissertation, hurt the way he had for so long.
He'd never wanted to be just a science project to Blair Sandburg, some impersonal ethical responsibility reduced to the printed page. As for Blair's press conference and denial of Jim's sentinel abilities, Jim knew Blair would have done what he'd done regardless of whatever he felt for Jim, all in the name of protecting his subject.
Jim admired Blair's ethics and hated them at the same time, because those ethics had stood between them long before he'd fucked up. Blair wouldn't sleep with a research subject - okay, fine, he wasn't one anymore, although he wasn't exactly sure what he was to Blair besides some kind of guide-ish obligation.
He wanted there to be more than duty and honor between them now, but there was so much inertia in the way things were that he didn't know how to act to change things between them. Especially if Sandburg didn't talk to him about them, and Sandburg didn't. Wouldn't.
For all the nagging Blair had always done about Jim's communication skills, Blair's were no better when it came to how Blair felt, and Jim had tried. However, since the press conference and Blair's career change, Blair had seemed to become even more untouchable. Unreachable.
And maybe Blair wanted it that way. He rarely exhibited interest now in what Jim thought or felt or believed ... it was all the job or the Jags or fishing or 'you want a beer, man' between them. Blair didn't nag him for sentinel tests, or ask him for anything else, in fact.
Jim really wanted Blair to ask.
Maybe Blair didn't care as much as he used to... but Jim refused to believe that completely, because Blair stayed.
Jim had long since gotten past the spiteful little urge to make Blair sorry. Truth was, he didn't want to rock the boat, either. Jim wanted their even keel to last as long as it possibly could, even if it meant they'd lost something somewhere along the way.
Blair Sandburg was deep water, and deep water still scared Jim Ellison.
"The Fed has something he wants our input on," he said, and watched the shy interest percolate in Blair's worried blue eyes.
Blair seemed to have worrying down to an art these days. Jim had to admit he was tired of seeing it. He longed instead for the good humor and voracious curiosity that had once filled Blair's gaze.
"Ellison! Sandburg! My office!"
"Oh, joy," Blair said under his breath and turned away.
Jim got up, grabbed Blair, and held him in place until Jim was ahead. It wasn't quite a shove. Affronted, Blair started to open his mouth. Before he could speak, Jim shook his head and held up a peremptory finger.
"Uh-uh. I go in first for threat assessment. You don't get to call me pre-civilized then get pissed off when I act on instinct, Doctor Goodall."
Blair goggled at Jim and then smiled.
"After you, then, Cornelius."
Plainly amused by his 'Planet of the Apes' crack, Jim grinned at him, making Blair realize how seldom he saw that expression on his friend's face these days.
Blair resolved on the spot to put a smile there more often. Whatever Jim wanted, Jim would get, and he'd move heaven and earth, if he had to, to insure it.
He'd done it before.
Now if he could just find out what Jim wanted.
***
Walter Skinner went through the handshakes and introductions on autopilot, rather taken aback by a sudden surge of less-than-professional interest.
So this was Ellison and Sandburg, sentinel and guide. Their photographs didn't do them justice, not by a long shot.
Mulder's X-file on Ellison had piqued Walter's interest when he'd read it. When word got out at the Hoover that someone was needed to temporarily take over the Cascade field office, Walter had jumped at the chance, hoping to meet the duo. They weren't what he'd expected, although he laughed at himself now for having had expectations.
For one thing, they were a lot better looking than their pictures.
Jim Ellison was the personification of All-American clean living: handsome, tall and muscular. He'd be no one's subordinate unless he chose to be, which was an attitude Walter could easily recognize after a decade of Fox Mulder ... although it looked better on Ellison, who wore it without Mulder's sulky arrogance.
Sandburg was equally delightful to the eye, Walter thought with a private grin. Compact and startlingly beautiful with his long curly hair, large blue eyes, and full mouth, he seemed to belong in that niche at his sentinel's back, protected like the treasure Walter suspected the guide must be.
They fit together.
This tempted Walter. He didn't question his immediate attraction to both; he knew himself too well and he'd lived through too much for too long to angst over his desires or try and deny them ... plus, he had too much self-confidence to believe those desires were beyond reach.
Still, it had been some time since he'd felt that visceral pull towards another man -- let alone two of them.
Letting his eyes wander briefly over Ellison and Sandburg, Walter pondered the ratio of risk to potential outcome and wondered about possibilities.
"Your case closure record is very impressive, Detectives," he commented idly before he stepped away, aware from Ellison's body language that the man was not unaffected by his proximity. "I'm looking forward to working with you both while I'm here."
"Thank you, Assistant Director Skinner."
So Ellison spoke for them, Walter noted, more than his curiosity aroused by the way Ellison stayed between Sandburg and him.
That was alpha behavior that called to Walter's blood, demanding he meet it in kind.
The kicker was in the way Sandburg just accepted it... which promised some interesting possibilities.
Ellison visibly relaxed once he'd moved back. No question, Walter would have to approach Ellison first.
No hardship in that, Walter Skinner decided with a private smile.
***
Jim almost let his poker face slip, scenting - sensing - the man's personal interest in him and Blair. He took a second look, zooming out from the minute physical clues he could see in dilating eyes and warming skin, assessing the man with a different eye.
Walter Skinner was a big man. Wide-shouldered, narrow-waisted, and without an ounce of visible fat, he gave the impression of being Simon's size despite being equal in height to Jim. The lines of his suit emphasized the fitness of the body beneath it. Bald and stern-featured, Skinner was saved from being plain by good bone structure, a pair of exquisite deep brown eyes and a remarkably sensual mouth - a mouth currently curved in a faint grin. He carried himself with a great deal of command presence -- an innate strength and power that demanded Jim's automatic respect.
More than that, there was something inside Jim that responded to Skinner on a purely physical level. He found he wanted to obey that unspoken "come to me and rest your burdens," and wondered if he could.
A sideways glance at his partner revealed that Blair had also noticed Skinner's quick admiring glance. With a pang, Jim noticed Blair looked a little surprised.
Surprise wasn't all he sensed - and naturally, Blair would be as impressed as he was by Walter Skinner's physicality. Jim could hardly blame him, not when he felt the same way.
"Captain Banks, Detectives, we have a lot of information to get through while we bring each other up to speed. Perhaps a conference room.."
"Right this way, Assistant Director Skinner."
Simon escorted Skinner out, leaving Blair and Jim to stare at each other. Blair looked a little confused, his eyes wary as they met Jim's.
He knows I know he finds Skinner attractive and he's afraid of how I'm going to react.
"What just happened?" Blair asked him with an odd little rueful smile.
"It's not your imagination," Jim said quietly, devil impulse prompting him to answer the questions Blair hadn't asked. "He's attracted to us."
"Both of us? You can't be serious," Blair said incredulously.
"What, I'm not hot?" Jim asked with feigned insult, relieved when Blair snorted at him indelicately and relaxed a little.
"Yeah, man, you're on fire. It- uh, it doesn't bother you?"
"Where are my detectives?" Simon asked loudly from outside his office. Jim gave Blair a quick grin and motioned him out, still smiling as he leaned into Blair's ear and whispered.
"We'll talk about this later, but it doesn't bother me. You think he wants us separately or together, Chief?"
"Oh my god."
Blair shivered, and Jim started to reconsider a few things his own feelings had blinded him to - namely, Blair's.
It could be he'd been going about this thing all wrong.
***
Their working dinner, in the elegant suite Skinner had taken in one of Cascade's finest residential hotels, was bizarre - at least for Blair, who'd started feeling things were getting surreal when Skinner had suggested it. Ensconced at a heavy oak table in the dining/sitting area, Blair watched and listened while two conversations went on at once.
There was discussion and statistics, dull and dry as hell. Nonetheless, it was relevant, because the Bureau was targeting known anti-government militia types in the Pacific Northwest, of which Cascade had more than its share.
Blair did try to listen, but was too distracted by the contents of his own head to really pay attention, thanks to the other conversation -- the one going on between Skinner and Jim, with sideways glances and head tilting and tiny, fleeting smiles.
Blair knew this conversation. He recognized the subtle flirting and the occasional double entendre, the dry jokes and the offer of given names. You're interested, I'm interested, let's explore this. There'd been a time when he and Jim had interacted with each other that way. Blair had also seen Jim behave like this on meeting some woman who caught his eye - and Jim did have an eye for the babes - but Blair had never seen it quite like this, directed at another man.
Even Simon noticed something was up, shooting Jim a hard glance, Blair a worried one, and Skinner a warning frown as he rose from the table.
"I've got to get going. I'm meeting Daryl at the game," he reminded his detectives, allowing a grin when Jim made a face and Sandburg rolled his eyes.
"Yeah, rub in those season tickets, Captain." Those tickets for the Jags' home games had been Simon's last Christmas present from Major Crimes. Blair was already saving for Jim's this year.
"Goodnight, gentlemen." With a final searching look at Blair - that practically screamed 'should I leave you?' - Simon picked up his coat and briefcase. "See you bright and early."
"Yes, Sir," Jim said, getting the message very clearly; his assent was quickly echoed by Blair.
Once Simon was gone, Jim and Blair both leaned back in their chairs and surveyed the assistant director, who coolly shed his coat and tie, then unbuttoned the topmost buttons of his shirt.
The actions struck Jim as unexpectedly provocative for this stage of the game. Tiny curls in salt and pepper peeked out at Skinner's collar, adorning the tanned skin at the base of Skinner's throat where Jim could see his pulse beat. Jim's nostrils flared involuntarily, catching the man's scent, and Blair gave him that sideways glance that said 'I know what you're doing.'
Walter watched the silent conversation with interest, wondering just how much the sentinel could detect from body language and minute physical cues. The man wore a plain gray Henley that enhanced a spectacular upper body, having shed his own jacket much earlier.
It was almost a courtship display, and Walter appreciated the effect.
Sandburg, on the other hand, watched them both with a much more guarded demeanor. Sitting at Ellison's left - leaving the sentinel's weapon hand free out of habit, Walter noticed approvingly - the younger man had had little to say while examining their behavior a bit coolly.
Walter wouldn't have been sure that Sandburg was interested at all, but his close inspection also noted hurt and pain behind the speculative curiosity in those vivid eyes. Because he'd supervised a lot of green agents, he also saw the self-doubt and uncertainty.
The small distances between the two men told him more than he'd expected. Being who he was, he couldn't see any reason to beat around the bush.
"You're beautiful together. I thought you were lovers, but you're not, are you. I was going to invite you both to stay," Walter said bluntly, his gaze steady on Blair's intensely blue eyes.
Blair shook his head mutely, shocked silent by Walter's bold words. His gaze skittered towards Jim, afraid of what he might see.
Jim was looking back at him, lower lip curved in a crooked, almost regretful smile.
"We're everything but," Jim answered without glancing at Walter.
Setting a hand gently on Blair's shoulder, Jim was starting to understand some things about what was wrong with them just from Blair's reactions.
"It's complicated. I think we'd resigned ourselves to believing it would never happen. Your presence-"
Glancing at Walter, Jim met those bottomless brown eyes and gave a faint shrug.
"My presence is a catalyst and a surprise. It's not a good time to proposition you both." Walter grinned. "Though it would be very good in one respect, I assure you."
Jim grinned back, the two of them exuding so much lusty testosterone that Blair had to sigh. Still speechless, he shook his head again. He couldn't believe Jim said that - making it sound like Jim had actually given their being lovers some thought - and had decided against it, obviously.
That was a thought that stung Blair with its own special pain.
Easier to think Jim had never wanted him, period. Which meant they couldn't be serious about including him and why should they?
Blair could accept that Skinner wanted Jim. Hell, who wouldn't? And he understood why Jim would want Skinner. He knew Jim wasn't absolutely straight and Walter Skinner was a good-looking guy -- tough and built and so exquisitely masculine that, like Jim, he made Blair want to sit up and howl at the moon.
Blair could even - barely - conceive that Skinner might want him, too. The big man looked like the type who'd appreciate a good bratty sub sometimes and Blair had an occasional fondness for taking that role. He didn't doubt he'd have a good time in Walter Skinner's bed. And he could definitely make it worth Skinner's while, as well.
But he would never believe that Jim suddenly wanted him ... or had changed his mind about not wanting him ... or whatever it was Jim was implying with any of this.
In fact, if he accepted that as true, it might even piss him off, Blair decided calmly, unconsciously setting his jaw. Who the hell was Jim Ellison to think Blair ought to just fall into his arms and be grateful like some kind of supplicant at the gate because Jim changed his mind?
He watched Skinner and Jim giving each other that intense, considering, assessing glance and felt claustrophobic under the weight of their unspoken conversation. Not wanting to be turned on by his subsequent - automatic - mental picture of himself on his knees at Jim's feet, Blair shook that out of his head and pushed back from the table, standing.
Jim stood with him and Blair stepped back. He couldn't afford to have Jim brush up against his body right now.
"Going somewhere, Chief?"
"Just the john, man." It was a lie when he said it. Blair didn't know what atavistic instinct was telling him that neither man would let him go, so he didn't waste any time turning away, wanting distance.
"Blair," Walter said very quietly, having risen with the same speedy cat-like grace of the trained warrior. He grasped Blair very loosely by one wrist and stopped Blair's retreat. "I do want you. Both of you."
Walter actually wanted Blair Sandburg every bit as much as he wanted Jim Ellison; and that was saying a lot. He hoped it showed.
Blair closed his eyes. Walter's dark chocolate tone slid down his spine and straight to his balls, just like the light grasp of that big, callused hand. He suddenly felt fragile and needy and weak, reeling under some inner longing for comfort that urged him to turn and huddle into that massive chest for protection.
He'd never felt protected before Jim Ellison. Now it was a sensation he craved, which made Blair wonder what the fuck was wrong with him. Getting all emotional when this was - if it was anything - just sex? Good god, wasn't sex a big enough issue all by itself right now?
Not that he could do 'just sex', not if Jim was involved.
"That's direct," he managed to say to Skinner, fighting to keep his voice even. Blair wanted to stutter, standing like he was between the two taller men, feeling Skinner's hard warmth. Especially when Walter breathed in his scent audibly, stepping closely into his side and nudging him politely, but with intent ... and solid proof of arousal.
"I try to be direct," Skinner said quietly. "It saves time."
Blair was tempted despite his fears -- so, so tempted -- to accept the invitation. So tempted to take this opportunity to lie with both his best friend and this man who claimed to want them both, to find out what he'd always wanted to know, what it would feel like...
The prospect made his half-hard cock swell and his heart pound, but his desire was mixed with raw fear.
"I can't," he said softly, taking another step back, eyes opening to meet Jim's as though it was Jim who was holding him there.
"What are you scared of, Chief?"
Of course, Jim knew he was frightened, but how the hell could he answer that question?
Blair opened his mouth, reconsidered, and shook his head.
I'm afraid it'll be a mistake. I'm afraid of what will happen to us. I'm afraid to need you more than I already do. I'm afraid you won't like it and I'll end up being blamed. I'm afraid you'll turn on me again, only this time, it will kill me if you do, because every little bit of me is already yours except this- but you never- Either you never saw it, or you just never wanted me before or you didn't want me enough..
And I can't believe you want me now unless you think it's the only way to get him.
Blair wasn't going to stand in Jim's way. Hadn't he just promised himself Jim would have whatever Jim wanted? Blair had no doubt the big Fed could also show Jim a good time, and he wasn't afraid that Skinner would hurt Jim. Skinner didn't give off that vibe.
"You guys don't need me," he said, trying for casual. "Have fun. It's cool." He tugged his wrist, but before Walter released him, Jim stepped into his other side and crowded him back towards Walter.
Blair couldn't deny those two hard bodies felt too damned good.
"We don't want you to leave," Walter murmured near Blair's ear, wondering if Jim recognized Blair's fear as clearly as he did.
Sandburg's body, caught as it was between his and Ellison's, felt beyond good; warm and firm and strong. Walter really wanted to see the two of them naked, wanted to lie between them and feel their skin meet and glide.
He was relieved to note that whatever Blair Sandburg's objection was, it wasn't lack of physical interest ... which only made him more determined.
A determined Walter Skinner was a dangerous man.
"Are you a virgin with men, beautiful Blair?" He breathed into those soft curls, his hand sliding up Blair's arm in what could outwardly pass as just a friendly gesture. Pausing at Blair's shoulder, Walter squeezed it lightly, aware of Blair's tension.
"It's... been a long time," Blair managed, trying not to shiver as his nerves tingled, skin begging he surrender to that touch. He deliberately avoided looking at Jim as he stepped away from them both.
"I can't think-- I need to think about this."
"That's the problem. We've been overthinking this too long, Chief," Jim said, just a little taken aback by Blair's reluctance.
Blair finally looked up and met Jim's gaze, too many doubts in his eyes. Jim lifted a hand to Blair's face and stroked that strong jaw, liking the prickle of evening beard that stung his fingertips.
"I didn't get it before. You think I don't want you. How can you possibly think that?"
Blair gaped at Jim and shook his head, dislodging Jim's touch.
"You never have, that's how," he said damningly to Jim's slightly accusatory tone and tried to push past him.
"Crap. Blair, wait. Please." Jim grabbed Blair's upper arm. "That's not true. I did want you - do want you-"
"You want someone I can't be," Blair replied, a sharp nod indicating Walter Skinner. Blair wished Jim would just let him go before he fell to pieces. He didn't know how much more of this he could take. "It's okay, you know. Everybody has a type and I know I'm not- I'm too- I don't-"
"Blair, come here," Skinner said, patient as a mountain. "Come to me, please."
Blair paused and glanced up at the big man, his expression softening slightly as he caught Skinner aiming a lethal eyebrow at Jim, who drew back his hand.
Walter offered the skittish younger man a hand, relieved when it was taken in a cold-fingered grasp. He used it to draw Blair to him.
"You're exquisite, Blair. I want you very much."
Jim watched in some astonishment as the big tough Fed delicately lifted Blair's fingers to his mouth and brushed his lips over their tips.
"You boys haven't been handled too carefully, have you? You both act like you expect to get hurt. I understand that." Skinner brought Blair's hand to his chest, holding it flattened over his heart. "I won't hurt you."
"No, I don't think you would," Blair almost whispered, staring into Skinner's face searchingly.
Blair understood precisely what attracted him to this man; this man who was so much like Jim underneath and so very much the Jim Blair wanted. This man who lived unafraid, accepting himself. This man who could carry the world on his shoulders and count his life well spent. This good man; who was being completely sincere in this attraction to him, whether Blair understood it or not.
"Why would you look twice at me when Jim is standing right here?"
"Jesus, Chief--"
Walter lifted his free hand and held it out to Jim, requesting his silence at the same time.
Jim took the offered hand and stepped in closer, biting his tongue on his own protests. Was this what his death-grip on the status quo had done to Blair? Made Blair so unsure of himself? So unhappy and withdrawn inside, behind the facade of good-natured partner and friend?
Strong, callused fingers held his hand warmly, drawing him in.
"You think you don't compare?" Walter asked Blair, a tender smile on his face as he looked down into Blair's face. "You're very wrong and I want to prove that to you."
"And I bet it would be amazing," Blair said and glanced over his shoulder, meeting Jim's eyes voluntarily for the first time in some while.
There were still oceans of doubt in the depths of Blair's eyes, Jim thought. Working on instinct, he lifted his free hand to Blair's face, cupping that firm jaw and burying his fingertips in those curls. Following Walter Skinner's heartfelt lead, Jim spoke to Blair directly, pressing into Blair's body and letting his own interested groin rub against Blair's ass.
"It will be amazing, every day for the rest of our lives. I love you, Blair. I always have. I want you every way there is and I have for a very long time. I guess I hid it better than I thought, and I'm sorry for that," he said, meaning every word and making sure Blair heard him. "Chief, you've been hiding in plain sight, too. I didn't know you still lo- care- were interested."
"Jim, you dumbass, of course I love you. I never sto- Well, you know, I couldn't. Stop. Ever. And yeah, of course I'm ... uh ... interested," Blair barely managed, his face heating. The truth of Jim's words were chiseling away at his heart, releasing a sudden spurt of joy that wanted to geyser out of control.
Walter sighed to himself and thought rather irrelevantly of his Russian grandmother's elaborate tales of high drama and romance on the steppes. Just like those stories, this was larger than life, and Walter ruefully acknowledged he had no business getting involved any further.
He released Blair and started to step aside, but Blair's fingers tightened on his with sudden strength.
"Walter, wait, please."
Blair peered up at Jim. For the first time in far, far too long, Jim saw Blair's eyes light with renewed faith and pleasure in him. He smiled at Blair involuntarily, simply happy to see Blair so deeply delighted ... and felt their connection settle into foundation with an almost audible 'thunk'.
Every sense he had told him what Blair was thinking, and he nodded in agreement. They were on the same page at last and it felt wonderful.
It had been a long time coming.
"I want everything you want, Chief," he said and he meant that, too, understanding that Blair was considering staying and acting on their mutual attraction to the big Fed.
Blair wasn't alone in that urge.
Blair smiled back at him, so beautiful in that moment that Jim almost gasped. It was some consolation that Walter did the same, once Blair turned that smile on him.
Blair laid his hands on Walter's chest, smile softening into an expression of genuine gratitude and warmth.
"We'd like to stay, Walter. If you still want us to. We want you. I think we need you to keep us honest," Blair said teasingly. His glance at Jim still managed to contain such bemused joy that Jim couldn't stop smiling himself. It felt damned good to see Sandburg so happy and know he was responsible.
"Mmm, I can do that," Walter said, smiling back as if he couldn't help it, either.
Truthfully, Walter couldn't. Blair Sandburg was the prettiest damned thing he'd ever seen, to use an expression he hadn't used since leaving Texas to be a Marine. It felt good to have witnessed the rather grim young detective suddenly brighten up and exude this cheerful happiness.
Just then Sandburg bounced on his toes, and Jim Ellison chuckled out loud, wrapping one arm around Blair's shoulders and one around Walter's.
Blair muffled a giggle against the hard wall of Walter's chest, aware of Jim's continuing amusement. He couldn't remember ever seeing Jim this relaxed and happy. The last of his doubts dissolved and Blair let himself lean into Walter with a sigh.
"God, you feel good. Jim--" Blair tugged at Jim until he was being pressed between them, strength and heat on front and back. "Oh, yeah. I like this."
In fact, Blair was sorely tempted to drop to his knees then and there, baring both their cocks and tasting them both. He wanted...
Walter hummed as Blair's cock re-hardened against his thigh. He enjoyed the way Blair melted into him in open surrender.
He nosed those soft curls, exchanging a quick glance with Jim, who looked vaguely stoned with the pleasure of rubbing himself into Blair's ass.
"Is this how you want it, baby? Face to face with me while Jim takes you from the rear?"
"You'd be surprised by how many ways I want it," Blair said, eyes darkening as his pupils blew wide. He licked those lush lips and Walter had to lower his head to nuzzle Blair's cheek, pleased when Jim mirrored his actions on Blair's other side.
"You should have everything you want, Chief," Jim said softly into Blair's ear.
"You're absolutely right," Blair decided and went to his knees, turning, leaving the two other men standing side by side and him kneeling before both. He looked up at them and licked his lower lip again, blinking demurely. "This is part of everything I want ... so stand still and let me do this."
Without hesitating, he took off their shoes, pitching them near the wall. He then loosened their belts and undid their trousers, Jim before Walter, lowering their slacks and boxers to mid-thigh.
Two heavily eager erections sprung out to greet him. Blair grasped them and gave each a stroke. Both generously sized, hot, hard, and rosy with need; they made Blair's mouth water.
"Oh, yeah. Gorgeous," he breathed, vaguely aware Jim and Walter were bracing each other with entwined arms.
"God, Blair..."
"Jesus Christ."
"This is so fucking kinky," Blair said with obvious delight, before moving to press a kiss to the tip of each hard cock. "I love it!"
Closing his eyes, he licked from one to the other, lavishing wet strokes that circled each broad mushroom-shaped head and lingered at the slits. Busy hands measured, stroked, weighed and openly enjoyed ... until two strong men were swaying and groaning with reaction.
Blair pulled away and stared up at Jim and Walter.
"Take off your shirts," he ordered huskily.
Walter shook his head, his own eyes dark and hungry.
"No, I think it's our turn to see you."
Moving as if they'd rehearsed it, Jim and Walter stepped out of slacks and socks and then lifted Blair to his feet; Jim baring him from the waist up while Walter knelt to remove his jeans and sneakers. They manhandled him - oh, not roughly, but with a degree of surety that made Blair feel deliciously weak, while they took the opportunity to ditch their own shirts as well.
Walter rubbed each of the arches of Blair's feet in turn and Blair wondered if the man had any idea how good that felt -- and looked.
Walter's upturned grin indicated that he did.
In the meantime, Jim had wrapped strong arms around him and was sniffing at his neck - fully supporting Blair's leaning weight, his hard cock rubbing firmly against the top of Blair's cleft.
Between the two of them, they were killing him ... in a good way, but still. Blair was half-afraid he was going to black out from the pleasure and they'd barely touched him.
"Very nice," Walter breathed against his groin and Blair shuddered, throwing his head back against Jim's shoulder. Jim licked his throat and he moaned - loudly - particularly when Jim nipped him just beneath his ear.
"I want to see you lose control, Chief," Jim murmured in a tone of voice that vibrated directly through Blair to his balls, beyond hearing.
"Oh," he sighed shakily, "you're about to. It's been- I haven't-"
"I know it's been a while for you. You worried about keeping up?" Jim teased suddenly, smiling against Blair's face.
And having Jim smile at him felt as good as everything else, Blair thought, caught in another giddy rush of joy, resonating like some kind of feedback loop between them.
"You old guys ought to be worried about keeping up with me," Blair told Jim with what felt like a totally foolish grin.
It felt so good to give in, to feel Walter's soft chuckle against the wing of his pelvis. A warm puff of air against his tender skin was followed by a soft wet lick and Blair's cock twitched involuntarily, demanding attention.
Walter drew back and looked up Blair's body, eyes as hot as his hands on Blair's thighs, finally meeting both their gazes.
"I don't think that's going to be a problem, boy." He looked at Jim and gave a wicked grin that Jim returned. "I bet you could get him off by kissing him. He's very responsive."
Blair couldn't prevent the blush that rose from his chest, up his neck, to his face at the praise in Walter's words.
"God, you are beautiful like this. Both of you," Walter said, proving he could do black velvet tones with the best of them. Blair felt his thighs loosen. Jim arched into his butt, equally affected, groaning almost inaudibly enough to qualify as a growl.
Jim wasn't that far from orgasm himself, battling his senses for control. His skin was so stimulated from having naked Blair rubbing against naked him that touch was almost off the scale.
"Blair won't be the only one who shoots if I kiss him," he admitted, trying to steady his breathing and switch his focus to another sense. Sight didn't help diminish his arousal any. Naked Walter Skinner on his knees at Blair's feet was almost scary good, the big man's muscles flexing in those massive shoulders and that hot, hard cock pointing aggressively from a dark thatch of pubic hair.
"I'd like to see that," Walter said and Blair sighed, sagging into Jim. Jim gasped as touch skipped up another level, responding to his desire.
"Jim," Blair's hand turned his face; Blair searching his eyes with that 'are your senses okay?' look in his own.
Jim didn't want to see it there.
"We should give the man what he wants, Blair." Jim said, turning Blair in his arms easily until Blair was bent back over one arm, Jim's hand tangling in the silky curls at the back of Blair's head. "I'd like to see that, too."
Jim's other hand went behind Blair's back as he leaned over Blair's face, taking a moment to stare into the dazed indigo eyes that were blinking up at him in aroused surprise.
"Please," Blair whispered, tongue flicking out to wet his dry lower lip. "Jim-"
"You never have to ask," Jim promised, lowering his mouth to Blair's at last.
He sipped lightly at first, rubbing his closed lips over Blair's and inhaling his taste before his tongue came out to play. Blair was trembling against him by the time the tip of his tongue teased over Blair's damp lower lip; that full moist flesh quivering at his lightest touch.
"I love you," he breathed down Blair's throat before seizing that lip in his teeth, tugging gently ... then sealing his mouth over Blair's, catching the returning words as Blair said them for only the second time.
"I love you too, Jim."
To Jim those words tasted every bit as sweet as the warm living flavor of Blair's mouth, and he groaned again, cock jumping hard against the hollow of Blair's hip. He could feel the spreading slickness of his pre-ejaculate and staggered slightly with a resultant hot rush of pleasure.
Blair rocked Jim's world. He always had.
"Fuck," Blair mumbled, arms going around him as if to steady him, fingers of one hand stroking the back of Jim's head. "You feel-"
"I know. You, too," Jim said breathlessly, tongue sliding deeper inside Blair's mouth, caressing its mate in slow exploration. He tore his mouth off Blair's just long enough to look - a little cross-eyed - at Walter. "You might have to hold me up. You pack quite a punch, Chief," he added affectionately, smiling at his shivering lover.
Blair's lips were red and wet and swollen, and Jim watched as Blair tasted their kiss.
Jim thought he could almost come just from that.
Then Walter moved behind him, big arms sliding around both him and Blair.
"Oh, God," Jim managed, wrestling again with touch for a long minute as that hard body sheltered his with the hug. Skin to skin, with Walter's erection riding his ass and one big hand planted on his chest ... and with Blair in his arms, on his tongue ... it was almost too much.
Jim's balls drew up tightly. He stilled the automatic movement of his hips by pure willpower.
"'Oh, God' is right," Blair murmured just loudly enough, thankfully distracting Jim out of what could easily become a tactile-induced zone.
"Yes," Walter said, careful to use an equally quiet voice. He looked over Jim's shoulder and feasted his eyes on the way Blair Sandburg looked, weak with lust, his skin flushed and those blue eyes glittering in the reflected lamplight ... his cock dusky red and angry-looking as it curved back towards his belly button. That chest hair tempted Walter's fingers every bit as much as Ellison's hairless pecs.
Walter badly wanted to get them into bed and start touching - but he wanted to see this happen for the two of them more.
"Kiss him again," he whispered into Jim's ear, bracing his legs, prepared when Jim swayed into him. "Doesn't he have a beautiful mouth? And a beautiful cock. You've got yourself a big boy there. He'll feel like heaven inside your mouth and in your ass-"
Jim kissed Blair hard and Blair met his tongue stroke for stroke. Little moans trapped in the back of Blair's throat vibrated into Jim's mouth. Too overcome by the way every sense was being satisfied, further undone by Walter's deep croon and the way Blair was writhing against him - into him, as if fighting to get closer - Jim surrendered control and came first.
Muffling his roar in the rough, desperate kiss, Jim bucked against Blair's body and then backward into Walter's, the dual stimulation wringing hard pulses of unbelievable pleasure out of his body. Jim finally had to lift his mouth and gasp for air ... that was exhaled on an agonized moan as the rush of sensation became blindingly fierce.
"Oh, Jim, oh, god," Blair said helplessly, eyes wide and fixed on Jim's face as he finally saw the expression he'd always dreamed of putting there: that almost pained look of absolute nirvana. It was all Blair needed to push him over the edge, too, and his body arched as his balls spasmed in sympathy, cock untouched.
"Beautiful, beautiful," Walter whispered hoarsely, holding Jim and Blair both when they started coming. He watched Blair shoot, pearl-pale fluid spurting with surprising force. "That's it. Come, both of you. Come for each other. Come hard."
Blair cried out harshly and shook in their grasp, out of control. Forcing his own gaze to focus, Jim watched Blair, too, noting that his emotional pleasure in Blair's obvious ecstasy felt as powerful as his slowly subsiding physical release. The sea-salt scent of his and Blair's ejaculate filled his nose, and Jim sniffed at it appreciatively, letting sight and smell fill his eyes and nose; pulling him back from oblivion.
"Love you, Chief."
Blair could only whimper, going limp as the last waves crashed over him. He hid his face in Jim's throat and panted, while Walter kissed the corner of his mouth lightly before licking him and Jim both.
"Getting a serious kink for the sniffing and tasting here," Blair warned after a shallow gasp, shivering all over again like he was the one with a sentinel's skin.
"You may have more kinks before we're through," Walter noted calmly, helping Jim balance Blair until Blair could stand on his own. When Jim had regained the same ability, Walter stepped around him, his own hard cock straining and unsatisfied.
Walter dragged one finger through the fluids on Jim's pink skin, lifting it to his mouth and tonguing it delicately.
"Good flavor."
"Oh, shit. I can't- not this fast-" Jim moaned, grabbing his own dick as a fresh surge of arousal throbbed through him like the bass notes of a too-loud amp, making his balls ache.
"Looks like you can," Blair said, mimicking Walter's gesture by tasting Jim's semen where it was cooling on his lower body. His finger lingered on his lip as he regarded the other men from beneath half-open eyes. "Shower, Walter? Jim's beautiful wet."
"Jesus, Sandburg," Jim said, flushing despite himself at Blair's dreamy, almost stoned expression.
"It's true. You're like, the perfect example of a human, Jim."
"'What a piece of work is man, how noble in reason, how infinite in faculties, in form and moving, how express and admirable, in action, how like an angel, in apprehension, how like a god. The beauty of the world, the paragon of animals'," Walter's voice flowed like warm blankets around both Jim and Blair, making Blair sigh luxuriously.
"Oh, wow, all this and Shakespeare, too. Wow." Blair dropped to his knees in front of Walter, hands on his thighs. "Perfect," he said again, nosing the length of Walter's sensitive shaft and breathing over the head. "Your turn, big man."
"Not yet, Blair," Walter managed; the words torn out of him in a rasp as Blair mouthed the plum-colored end of his cock, those plush lips stretching around his girth. Jim had moved behind him, reaching around him to card elegant fingers through his chest hair, occasionally searching out a hidden nub and tugging at it. The supple strength of Jim's body warmed his back, ass, and posterior thighs, and Walter felt his eyes start to close.
He shook off the overpowering seduction with some effort and eased away. He didn't rush, turning to look at them both and marvel all over again at his good fortune.
"I want you in bed. We'll shower later."
Walter had only to watch both pairs of blue eyes darken to know they agreed. Jim stepped up behind him, running one hand from his shoulder, down his back, to his ass. It lingered there, squeezing.
"Nice ass. Too nice for a desk man. What do you do?"
"Same things you do, I suspect. Box, jog, swim, weights ... run my ass off chasing after junior agents. I stay busy."
Jim stepped around to face him, and Walter was pleased to see the wry acknowledgment in the smile his words had prompted. Jim held his shoulders for a moment and inspected him frankly, gaze lingering for a moment on Walter's erection, which certainly wasn't subsiding.
Blair sucked in a hoarse gasp and they looked at him.
"Damn, the two of you together ... that's gonna be pretty fucking hot to watch. You're both-"
Blair's words apparently failed him. Jim and Walter had to laugh when those hands gestured in admiration. Much lower, too, Blair's appreciation for them was plainly visible.
"Ah, youth," Walter said with a lingering grin.
"It's the company I keep," Blair responded, his voice octaves lower than usual as he stared at Jim and Walter helplessly.
They'd all tossed around the word beautiful, and Jim and Walter were, by its original definition, very pleasing to see or hear, delighting the mind or senses. Both men were tall and muscular and well-formed ... and if Walter Skinner was ten years older than Jim, you couldn't tell it by the condition of his body. Blair was fascinated by the contrast in Walter's heavy chest hair and Jim's satiny skin, the two of them so exceptionally put-together. They stood like erotic sculpture, close enough to kiss.
For an instant, Blair again wondered briefly why either of them would want him - then he dismissed that as bullshit thinking and made up his mind. He'd let himself enjoy every minute of this unusual liaison - and not just for Jim's sake, but for his own.
"He's got you there," Jim said, ghosting a caress over Walter's cock then turning to walk toward the suite's bed, visible in the next room through an open door. Walter stood back and just watched the man's ass move for a moment, enjoying the view as Jim turned back the bed to the bottom sheet, gracefully fanfolding the covers to rest at the foot of the bed.
Blair hooked an arm through his and rubbed against him lightly.
"He's..." Uncharacteristically, Walter's speech trailed away.
"Magnificent," Blair pronounced with an audible smile, not surprised when Jim turned to glare at them.
"Are you coming?" Jim asked impatiently. "Or are you going to stare at my ass all day?"
"We could do that and still come," Blair commented to Walter's agreeing nod.
Jim made them both smile when he actually blushed.
Yeah, absolutely beautiful. There was no other word for Jim Ellison.
Part Two
Fandoms: The Sentinel/The X-Files
Word Count: 16800-ish
Summary: Jim and Blair are stuck ... and then, they're not.
Warnings/Notes/Disclaimer/Yadda: Graphic and unrealistic m/m/m threesome action. Not for minors or fundamentalists. I don't own these characters but they wish I did. They'd have more fun. This story was written over two years ago for ainm who won it in an auction - the Katrina auction, I believe - and she originally wanted Jim and Walter Skinner, but we decided we couldn't leave Blair out. I have to say, and Ainm knows this, that I was never entirely happy with this story and probably would never have posted it without her encouragement. Ainm also beta'ed to the point of co-authoring, which isn't to say she's responsible for the story's flaws, because I've picked at it since. Thank you, Ainm! I'd also like to thank hollyilex and maxinehouse for their beta help. They aren't to blame, either, lol.
There's a line in this fic that I've used in another TS fic. I'm really quite shameless, I know. *bats eyes*
No one could say why a thing once set in motion should stop anywhere; for why should it stop here rather than here? So that a thing will either be at rest or must be moved ad infinitum, unless something more powerful gets in its way. --Aristotle, 'Physics'
***
Blair joined Brown and Rafe, who were standing near his and Jim's desks. They were making a not-so-casual inspection of the new temporary head of the FBI's Cascade field office, watching as Simon ushered the man into his office and closed the door.
To cover the fact that Jim was obviously - to Blair, anyway - eavesdropping, Blair made a questioning sound and tried to look curious.
"Sharp dresser," he said, peering past Rafe.
"Hugo Boss," Rafe said reverently.
"I thought his name was Skinner?" Blair remarked with feigned confusion, winning Rafe's elbow in his ribs.
"Can't you be just a little stereotypically gay?" Rafe asked him exasperatedly. "I'm talking about his suit."
"Oh. I knew that."
"Yo, Hairboy, if you can't get it at Wal-Mart you don't need it, man. Am I right?"
"You're right, H," Blair teased back, covering the bittersweet amusement he felt every time his friends made a good-natured comment about his sexuality. They all thought he and Jim were lovers, and they didn't care.
Too bad Jim did.
Pushing that old pain aside as the irrelevancy it had to remain for the sake of his sanity, Blair remained beside Jim when Rafe and Brown left for their own desks. Still concentrating on whatever Simon and the Fed were saying to each other, Jim had ignored the byplay completely.
Part of Blair was happy to see Jim so relaxed about using his senses around their friends and coworkers. But part of him was pissed as hell because every time Jim did something like this - and he did it a lot - Blair got left holding the metaphorical bag somehow.
But that was only a symptom of a deeper problem, really.
Things between them had settled into some kind of weird holding pattern in the two years since the mess with his dissertation. He and Jim were still friends, roommates, and partners, still laughed at each other's jokes, still worked well together, still hung out enjoying the other's company ... but in a lot of ways, Blair thought their relationship was superficial. He and Jim orbited around each other but never really connected.
Blair didn't know how to get them out of the place they were in. He wasn't sure he even wanted to try. It wasn't a bad place, and he wasn't sure he deserved anything else, even if that dream hadn't become ... impossible.
Win some, lose some, some never had a chance. At least his friend and sentinel was in his life. Blair told himself it was going to have to be enough.
And so, as a friend, he whacked Jim on the shoulder unceremoniously.
"Man, cut it out. You know Simon'll be pissed if he catches you listening."
Jim started, glaring at Sandburg automatically, although he knew Blair was right.
He knew a lot more than Sandburg gave him credit for, actually. For example, he'd long since recognized that Blair had mentally consigned any possible romance between them to the 'it'll never happen' pile and given up.
It was an attitude that Jim didn't particularly appreciate. In fact, he found it rather insulting. Blair had never been the type to give up on a damn thing, but when he'd given up his dissertation, his career as an anthropologist, something had broken in Blair, and Blair had given up on them, too.
Although, there were times Jim wondered if that hadn't happened sooner... in Mexico, perhaps, when he'd betrayed his guide with Alex Barnes.
He still felt like an unfaithful husband, tied to an unforgiving wife.
Not that Blair seemed to hold it against him, but something like that had to be unforgivable, didn't it?
It had occurred to Jim that the real problem might stem from his failure to forgive himself, both for his behavior with Barnes and for the months afterward when he'd intermittently acted like an asshole. He'd had to confront a rather ugly side of himself - the Ellison side - that lashed out with painful intent. That side had fueled a lot of unkind words and bad behavior immediately after Naomi's meddling, too.
He'd had to confess to himself that he'd wanted Blair to hurt over that damned dissertation, hurt the way he had for so long.
He'd never wanted to be just a science project to Blair Sandburg, some impersonal ethical responsibility reduced to the printed page. As for Blair's press conference and denial of Jim's sentinel abilities, Jim knew Blair would have done what he'd done regardless of whatever he felt for Jim, all in the name of protecting his subject.
Jim admired Blair's ethics and hated them at the same time, because those ethics had stood between them long before he'd fucked up. Blair wouldn't sleep with a research subject - okay, fine, he wasn't one anymore, although he wasn't exactly sure what he was to Blair besides some kind of guide-ish obligation.
He wanted there to be more than duty and honor between them now, but there was so much inertia in the way things were that he didn't know how to act to change things between them. Especially if Sandburg didn't talk to him about them, and Sandburg didn't. Wouldn't.
For all the nagging Blair had always done about Jim's communication skills, Blair's were no better when it came to how Blair felt, and Jim had tried. However, since the press conference and Blair's career change, Blair had seemed to become even more untouchable. Unreachable.
And maybe Blair wanted it that way. He rarely exhibited interest now in what Jim thought or felt or believed ... it was all the job or the Jags or fishing or 'you want a beer, man' between them. Blair didn't nag him for sentinel tests, or ask him for anything else, in fact.
Jim really wanted Blair to ask.
Maybe Blair didn't care as much as he used to... but Jim refused to believe that completely, because Blair stayed.
Jim had long since gotten past the spiteful little urge to make Blair sorry. Truth was, he didn't want to rock the boat, either. Jim wanted their even keel to last as long as it possibly could, even if it meant they'd lost something somewhere along the way.
Blair Sandburg was deep water, and deep water still scared Jim Ellison.
"The Fed has something he wants our input on," he said, and watched the shy interest percolate in Blair's worried blue eyes.
Blair seemed to have worrying down to an art these days. Jim had to admit he was tired of seeing it. He longed instead for the good humor and voracious curiosity that had once filled Blair's gaze.
"Ellison! Sandburg! My office!"
"Oh, joy," Blair said under his breath and turned away.
Jim got up, grabbed Blair, and held him in place until Jim was ahead. It wasn't quite a shove. Affronted, Blair started to open his mouth. Before he could speak, Jim shook his head and held up a peremptory finger.
"Uh-uh. I go in first for threat assessment. You don't get to call me pre-civilized then get pissed off when I act on instinct, Doctor Goodall."
Blair goggled at Jim and then smiled.
"After you, then, Cornelius."
Plainly amused by his 'Planet of the Apes' crack, Jim grinned at him, making Blair realize how seldom he saw that expression on his friend's face these days.
Blair resolved on the spot to put a smile there more often. Whatever Jim wanted, Jim would get, and he'd move heaven and earth, if he had to, to insure it.
He'd done it before.
Now if he could just find out what Jim wanted.
***
Walter Skinner went through the handshakes and introductions on autopilot, rather taken aback by a sudden surge of less-than-professional interest.
So this was Ellison and Sandburg, sentinel and guide. Their photographs didn't do them justice, not by a long shot.
Mulder's X-file on Ellison had piqued Walter's interest when he'd read it. When word got out at the Hoover that someone was needed to temporarily take over the Cascade field office, Walter had jumped at the chance, hoping to meet the duo. They weren't what he'd expected, although he laughed at himself now for having had expectations.
For one thing, they were a lot better looking than their pictures.
Jim Ellison was the personification of All-American clean living: handsome, tall and muscular. He'd be no one's subordinate unless he chose to be, which was an attitude Walter could easily recognize after a decade of Fox Mulder ... although it looked better on Ellison, who wore it without Mulder's sulky arrogance.
Sandburg was equally delightful to the eye, Walter thought with a private grin. Compact and startlingly beautiful with his long curly hair, large blue eyes, and full mouth, he seemed to belong in that niche at his sentinel's back, protected like the treasure Walter suspected the guide must be.
They fit together.
This tempted Walter. He didn't question his immediate attraction to both; he knew himself too well and he'd lived through too much for too long to angst over his desires or try and deny them ... plus, he had too much self-confidence to believe those desires were beyond reach.
Still, it had been some time since he'd felt that visceral pull towards another man -- let alone two of them.
Letting his eyes wander briefly over Ellison and Sandburg, Walter pondered the ratio of risk to potential outcome and wondered about possibilities.
"Your case closure record is very impressive, Detectives," he commented idly before he stepped away, aware from Ellison's body language that the man was not unaffected by his proximity. "I'm looking forward to working with you both while I'm here."
"Thank you, Assistant Director Skinner."
So Ellison spoke for them, Walter noted, more than his curiosity aroused by the way Ellison stayed between Sandburg and him.
That was alpha behavior that called to Walter's blood, demanding he meet it in kind.
The kicker was in the way Sandburg just accepted it... which promised some interesting possibilities.
Ellison visibly relaxed once he'd moved back. No question, Walter would have to approach Ellison first.
No hardship in that, Walter Skinner decided with a private smile.
***
Jim almost let his poker face slip, scenting - sensing - the man's personal interest in him and Blair. He took a second look, zooming out from the minute physical clues he could see in dilating eyes and warming skin, assessing the man with a different eye.
Walter Skinner was a big man. Wide-shouldered, narrow-waisted, and without an ounce of visible fat, he gave the impression of being Simon's size despite being equal in height to Jim. The lines of his suit emphasized the fitness of the body beneath it. Bald and stern-featured, Skinner was saved from being plain by good bone structure, a pair of exquisite deep brown eyes and a remarkably sensual mouth - a mouth currently curved in a faint grin. He carried himself with a great deal of command presence -- an innate strength and power that demanded Jim's automatic respect.
More than that, there was something inside Jim that responded to Skinner on a purely physical level. He found he wanted to obey that unspoken "come to me and rest your burdens," and wondered if he could.
A sideways glance at his partner revealed that Blair had also noticed Skinner's quick admiring glance. With a pang, Jim noticed Blair looked a little surprised.
Surprise wasn't all he sensed - and naturally, Blair would be as impressed as he was by Walter Skinner's physicality. Jim could hardly blame him, not when he felt the same way.
"Captain Banks, Detectives, we have a lot of information to get through while we bring each other up to speed. Perhaps a conference room.."
"Right this way, Assistant Director Skinner."
Simon escorted Skinner out, leaving Blair and Jim to stare at each other. Blair looked a little confused, his eyes wary as they met Jim's.
He knows I know he finds Skinner attractive and he's afraid of how I'm going to react.
"What just happened?" Blair asked him with an odd little rueful smile.
"It's not your imagination," Jim said quietly, devil impulse prompting him to answer the questions Blair hadn't asked. "He's attracted to us."
"Both of us? You can't be serious," Blair said incredulously.
"What, I'm not hot?" Jim asked with feigned insult, relieved when Blair snorted at him indelicately and relaxed a little.
"Yeah, man, you're on fire. It- uh, it doesn't bother you?"
"Where are my detectives?" Simon asked loudly from outside his office. Jim gave Blair a quick grin and motioned him out, still smiling as he leaned into Blair's ear and whispered.
"We'll talk about this later, but it doesn't bother me. You think he wants us separately or together, Chief?"
"Oh my god."
Blair shivered, and Jim started to reconsider a few things his own feelings had blinded him to - namely, Blair's.
It could be he'd been going about this thing all wrong.
***
Their working dinner, in the elegant suite Skinner had taken in one of Cascade's finest residential hotels, was bizarre - at least for Blair, who'd started feeling things were getting surreal when Skinner had suggested it. Ensconced at a heavy oak table in the dining/sitting area, Blair watched and listened while two conversations went on at once.
There was discussion and statistics, dull and dry as hell. Nonetheless, it was relevant, because the Bureau was targeting known anti-government militia types in the Pacific Northwest, of which Cascade had more than its share.
Blair did try to listen, but was too distracted by the contents of his own head to really pay attention, thanks to the other conversation -- the one going on between Skinner and Jim, with sideways glances and head tilting and tiny, fleeting smiles.
Blair knew this conversation. He recognized the subtle flirting and the occasional double entendre, the dry jokes and the offer of given names. You're interested, I'm interested, let's explore this. There'd been a time when he and Jim had interacted with each other that way. Blair had also seen Jim behave like this on meeting some woman who caught his eye - and Jim did have an eye for the babes - but Blair had never seen it quite like this, directed at another man.
Even Simon noticed something was up, shooting Jim a hard glance, Blair a worried one, and Skinner a warning frown as he rose from the table.
"I've got to get going. I'm meeting Daryl at the game," he reminded his detectives, allowing a grin when Jim made a face and Sandburg rolled his eyes.
"Yeah, rub in those season tickets, Captain." Those tickets for the Jags' home games had been Simon's last Christmas present from Major Crimes. Blair was already saving for Jim's this year.
"Goodnight, gentlemen." With a final searching look at Blair - that practically screamed 'should I leave you?' - Simon picked up his coat and briefcase. "See you bright and early."
"Yes, Sir," Jim said, getting the message very clearly; his assent was quickly echoed by Blair.
Once Simon was gone, Jim and Blair both leaned back in their chairs and surveyed the assistant director, who coolly shed his coat and tie, then unbuttoned the topmost buttons of his shirt.
The actions struck Jim as unexpectedly provocative for this stage of the game. Tiny curls in salt and pepper peeked out at Skinner's collar, adorning the tanned skin at the base of Skinner's throat where Jim could see his pulse beat. Jim's nostrils flared involuntarily, catching the man's scent, and Blair gave him that sideways glance that said 'I know what you're doing.'
Walter watched the silent conversation with interest, wondering just how much the sentinel could detect from body language and minute physical cues. The man wore a plain gray Henley that enhanced a spectacular upper body, having shed his own jacket much earlier.
It was almost a courtship display, and Walter appreciated the effect.
Sandburg, on the other hand, watched them both with a much more guarded demeanor. Sitting at Ellison's left - leaving the sentinel's weapon hand free out of habit, Walter noticed approvingly - the younger man had had little to say while examining their behavior a bit coolly.
Walter wouldn't have been sure that Sandburg was interested at all, but his close inspection also noted hurt and pain behind the speculative curiosity in those vivid eyes. Because he'd supervised a lot of green agents, he also saw the self-doubt and uncertainty.
The small distances between the two men told him more than he'd expected. Being who he was, he couldn't see any reason to beat around the bush.
"You're beautiful together. I thought you were lovers, but you're not, are you. I was going to invite you both to stay," Walter said bluntly, his gaze steady on Blair's intensely blue eyes.
Blair shook his head mutely, shocked silent by Walter's bold words. His gaze skittered towards Jim, afraid of what he might see.
Jim was looking back at him, lower lip curved in a crooked, almost regretful smile.
"We're everything but," Jim answered without glancing at Walter.
Setting a hand gently on Blair's shoulder, Jim was starting to understand some things about what was wrong with them just from Blair's reactions.
"It's complicated. I think we'd resigned ourselves to believing it would never happen. Your presence-"
Glancing at Walter, Jim met those bottomless brown eyes and gave a faint shrug.
"My presence is a catalyst and a surprise. It's not a good time to proposition you both." Walter grinned. "Though it would be very good in one respect, I assure you."
Jim grinned back, the two of them exuding so much lusty testosterone that Blair had to sigh. Still speechless, he shook his head again. He couldn't believe Jim said that - making it sound like Jim had actually given their being lovers some thought - and had decided against it, obviously.
That was a thought that stung Blair with its own special pain.
Easier to think Jim had never wanted him, period. Which meant they couldn't be serious about including him and why should they?
Blair could accept that Skinner wanted Jim. Hell, who wouldn't? And he understood why Jim would want Skinner. He knew Jim wasn't absolutely straight and Walter Skinner was a good-looking guy -- tough and built and so exquisitely masculine that, like Jim, he made Blair want to sit up and howl at the moon.
Blair could even - barely - conceive that Skinner might want him, too. The big man looked like the type who'd appreciate a good bratty sub sometimes and Blair had an occasional fondness for taking that role. He didn't doubt he'd have a good time in Walter Skinner's bed. And he could definitely make it worth Skinner's while, as well.
But he would never believe that Jim suddenly wanted him ... or had changed his mind about not wanting him ... or whatever it was Jim was implying with any of this.
In fact, if he accepted that as true, it might even piss him off, Blair decided calmly, unconsciously setting his jaw. Who the hell was Jim Ellison to think Blair ought to just fall into his arms and be grateful like some kind of supplicant at the gate because Jim changed his mind?
He watched Skinner and Jim giving each other that intense, considering, assessing glance and felt claustrophobic under the weight of their unspoken conversation. Not wanting to be turned on by his subsequent - automatic - mental picture of himself on his knees at Jim's feet, Blair shook that out of his head and pushed back from the table, standing.
Jim stood with him and Blair stepped back. He couldn't afford to have Jim brush up against his body right now.
"Going somewhere, Chief?"
"Just the john, man." It was a lie when he said it. Blair didn't know what atavistic instinct was telling him that neither man would let him go, so he didn't waste any time turning away, wanting distance.
"Blair," Walter said very quietly, having risen with the same speedy cat-like grace of the trained warrior. He grasped Blair very loosely by one wrist and stopped Blair's retreat. "I do want you. Both of you."
Walter actually wanted Blair Sandburg every bit as much as he wanted Jim Ellison; and that was saying a lot. He hoped it showed.
Blair closed his eyes. Walter's dark chocolate tone slid down his spine and straight to his balls, just like the light grasp of that big, callused hand. He suddenly felt fragile and needy and weak, reeling under some inner longing for comfort that urged him to turn and huddle into that massive chest for protection.
He'd never felt protected before Jim Ellison. Now it was a sensation he craved, which made Blair wonder what the fuck was wrong with him. Getting all emotional when this was - if it was anything - just sex? Good god, wasn't sex a big enough issue all by itself right now?
Not that he could do 'just sex', not if Jim was involved.
"That's direct," he managed to say to Skinner, fighting to keep his voice even. Blair wanted to stutter, standing like he was between the two taller men, feeling Skinner's hard warmth. Especially when Walter breathed in his scent audibly, stepping closely into his side and nudging him politely, but with intent ... and solid proof of arousal.
"I try to be direct," Skinner said quietly. "It saves time."
Blair was tempted despite his fears -- so, so tempted -- to accept the invitation. So tempted to take this opportunity to lie with both his best friend and this man who claimed to want them both, to find out what he'd always wanted to know, what it would feel like...
The prospect made his half-hard cock swell and his heart pound, but his desire was mixed with raw fear.
"I can't," he said softly, taking another step back, eyes opening to meet Jim's as though it was Jim who was holding him there.
"What are you scared of, Chief?"
Of course, Jim knew he was frightened, but how the hell could he answer that question?
Blair opened his mouth, reconsidered, and shook his head.
I'm afraid it'll be a mistake. I'm afraid of what will happen to us. I'm afraid to need you more than I already do. I'm afraid you won't like it and I'll end up being blamed. I'm afraid you'll turn on me again, only this time, it will kill me if you do, because every little bit of me is already yours except this- but you never- Either you never saw it, or you just never wanted me before or you didn't want me enough..
And I can't believe you want me now unless you think it's the only way to get him.
Blair wasn't going to stand in Jim's way. Hadn't he just promised himself Jim would have whatever Jim wanted? Blair had no doubt the big Fed could also show Jim a good time, and he wasn't afraid that Skinner would hurt Jim. Skinner didn't give off that vibe.
"You guys don't need me," he said, trying for casual. "Have fun. It's cool." He tugged his wrist, but before Walter released him, Jim stepped into his other side and crowded him back towards Walter.
Blair couldn't deny those two hard bodies felt too damned good.
"We don't want you to leave," Walter murmured near Blair's ear, wondering if Jim recognized Blair's fear as clearly as he did.
Sandburg's body, caught as it was between his and Ellison's, felt beyond good; warm and firm and strong. Walter really wanted to see the two of them naked, wanted to lie between them and feel their skin meet and glide.
He was relieved to note that whatever Blair Sandburg's objection was, it wasn't lack of physical interest ... which only made him more determined.
A determined Walter Skinner was a dangerous man.
"Are you a virgin with men, beautiful Blair?" He breathed into those soft curls, his hand sliding up Blair's arm in what could outwardly pass as just a friendly gesture. Pausing at Blair's shoulder, Walter squeezed it lightly, aware of Blair's tension.
"It's... been a long time," Blair managed, trying not to shiver as his nerves tingled, skin begging he surrender to that touch. He deliberately avoided looking at Jim as he stepped away from them both.
"I can't think-- I need to think about this."
"That's the problem. We've been overthinking this too long, Chief," Jim said, just a little taken aback by Blair's reluctance.
Blair finally looked up and met Jim's gaze, too many doubts in his eyes. Jim lifted a hand to Blair's face and stroked that strong jaw, liking the prickle of evening beard that stung his fingertips.
"I didn't get it before. You think I don't want you. How can you possibly think that?"
Blair gaped at Jim and shook his head, dislodging Jim's touch.
"You never have, that's how," he said damningly to Jim's slightly accusatory tone and tried to push past him.
"Crap. Blair, wait. Please." Jim grabbed Blair's upper arm. "That's not true. I did want you - do want you-"
"You want someone I can't be," Blair replied, a sharp nod indicating Walter Skinner. Blair wished Jim would just let him go before he fell to pieces. He didn't know how much more of this he could take. "It's okay, you know. Everybody has a type and I know I'm not- I'm too- I don't-"
"Blair, come here," Skinner said, patient as a mountain. "Come to me, please."
Blair paused and glanced up at the big man, his expression softening slightly as he caught Skinner aiming a lethal eyebrow at Jim, who drew back his hand.
Walter offered the skittish younger man a hand, relieved when it was taken in a cold-fingered grasp. He used it to draw Blair to him.
"You're exquisite, Blair. I want you very much."
Jim watched in some astonishment as the big tough Fed delicately lifted Blair's fingers to his mouth and brushed his lips over their tips.
"You boys haven't been handled too carefully, have you? You both act like you expect to get hurt. I understand that." Skinner brought Blair's hand to his chest, holding it flattened over his heart. "I won't hurt you."
"No, I don't think you would," Blair almost whispered, staring into Skinner's face searchingly.
Blair understood precisely what attracted him to this man; this man who was so much like Jim underneath and so very much the Jim Blair wanted. This man who lived unafraid, accepting himself. This man who could carry the world on his shoulders and count his life well spent. This good man; who was being completely sincere in this attraction to him, whether Blair understood it or not.
"Why would you look twice at me when Jim is standing right here?"
"Jesus, Chief--"
Walter lifted his free hand and held it out to Jim, requesting his silence at the same time.
Jim took the offered hand and stepped in closer, biting his tongue on his own protests. Was this what his death-grip on the status quo had done to Blair? Made Blair so unsure of himself? So unhappy and withdrawn inside, behind the facade of good-natured partner and friend?
Strong, callused fingers held his hand warmly, drawing him in.
"You think you don't compare?" Walter asked Blair, a tender smile on his face as he looked down into Blair's face. "You're very wrong and I want to prove that to you."
"And I bet it would be amazing," Blair said and glanced over his shoulder, meeting Jim's eyes voluntarily for the first time in some while.
There were still oceans of doubt in the depths of Blair's eyes, Jim thought. Working on instinct, he lifted his free hand to Blair's face, cupping that firm jaw and burying his fingertips in those curls. Following Walter Skinner's heartfelt lead, Jim spoke to Blair directly, pressing into Blair's body and letting his own interested groin rub against Blair's ass.
"It will be amazing, every day for the rest of our lives. I love you, Blair. I always have. I want you every way there is and I have for a very long time. I guess I hid it better than I thought, and I'm sorry for that," he said, meaning every word and making sure Blair heard him. "Chief, you've been hiding in plain sight, too. I didn't know you still lo- care- were interested."
"Jim, you dumbass, of course I love you. I never sto- Well, you know, I couldn't. Stop. Ever. And yeah, of course I'm ... uh ... interested," Blair barely managed, his face heating. The truth of Jim's words were chiseling away at his heart, releasing a sudden spurt of joy that wanted to geyser out of control.
Walter sighed to himself and thought rather irrelevantly of his Russian grandmother's elaborate tales of high drama and romance on the steppes. Just like those stories, this was larger than life, and Walter ruefully acknowledged he had no business getting involved any further.
He released Blair and started to step aside, but Blair's fingers tightened on his with sudden strength.
"Walter, wait, please."
Blair peered up at Jim. For the first time in far, far too long, Jim saw Blair's eyes light with renewed faith and pleasure in him. He smiled at Blair involuntarily, simply happy to see Blair so deeply delighted ... and felt their connection settle into foundation with an almost audible 'thunk'.
Every sense he had told him what Blair was thinking, and he nodded in agreement. They were on the same page at last and it felt wonderful.
It had been a long time coming.
"I want everything you want, Chief," he said and he meant that, too, understanding that Blair was considering staying and acting on their mutual attraction to the big Fed.
Blair wasn't alone in that urge.
Blair smiled back at him, so beautiful in that moment that Jim almost gasped. It was some consolation that Walter did the same, once Blair turned that smile on him.
Blair laid his hands on Walter's chest, smile softening into an expression of genuine gratitude and warmth.
"We'd like to stay, Walter. If you still want us to. We want you. I think we need you to keep us honest," Blair said teasingly. His glance at Jim still managed to contain such bemused joy that Jim couldn't stop smiling himself. It felt damned good to see Sandburg so happy and know he was responsible.
"Mmm, I can do that," Walter said, smiling back as if he couldn't help it, either.
Truthfully, Walter couldn't. Blair Sandburg was the prettiest damned thing he'd ever seen, to use an expression he hadn't used since leaving Texas to be a Marine. It felt good to have witnessed the rather grim young detective suddenly brighten up and exude this cheerful happiness.
Just then Sandburg bounced on his toes, and Jim Ellison chuckled out loud, wrapping one arm around Blair's shoulders and one around Walter's.
Blair muffled a giggle against the hard wall of Walter's chest, aware of Jim's continuing amusement. He couldn't remember ever seeing Jim this relaxed and happy. The last of his doubts dissolved and Blair let himself lean into Walter with a sigh.
"God, you feel good. Jim--" Blair tugged at Jim until he was being pressed between them, strength and heat on front and back. "Oh, yeah. I like this."
In fact, Blair was sorely tempted to drop to his knees then and there, baring both their cocks and tasting them both. He wanted...
Walter hummed as Blair's cock re-hardened against his thigh. He enjoyed the way Blair melted into him in open surrender.
He nosed those soft curls, exchanging a quick glance with Jim, who looked vaguely stoned with the pleasure of rubbing himself into Blair's ass.
"Is this how you want it, baby? Face to face with me while Jim takes you from the rear?"
"You'd be surprised by how many ways I want it," Blair said, eyes darkening as his pupils blew wide. He licked those lush lips and Walter had to lower his head to nuzzle Blair's cheek, pleased when Jim mirrored his actions on Blair's other side.
"You should have everything you want, Chief," Jim said softly into Blair's ear.
"You're absolutely right," Blair decided and went to his knees, turning, leaving the two other men standing side by side and him kneeling before both. He looked up at them and licked his lower lip again, blinking demurely. "This is part of everything I want ... so stand still and let me do this."
Without hesitating, he took off their shoes, pitching them near the wall. He then loosened their belts and undid their trousers, Jim before Walter, lowering their slacks and boxers to mid-thigh.
Two heavily eager erections sprung out to greet him. Blair grasped them and gave each a stroke. Both generously sized, hot, hard, and rosy with need; they made Blair's mouth water.
"Oh, yeah. Gorgeous," he breathed, vaguely aware Jim and Walter were bracing each other with entwined arms.
"God, Blair..."
"Jesus Christ."
"This is so fucking kinky," Blair said with obvious delight, before moving to press a kiss to the tip of each hard cock. "I love it!"
Closing his eyes, he licked from one to the other, lavishing wet strokes that circled each broad mushroom-shaped head and lingered at the slits. Busy hands measured, stroked, weighed and openly enjoyed ... until two strong men were swaying and groaning with reaction.
Blair pulled away and stared up at Jim and Walter.
"Take off your shirts," he ordered huskily.
Walter shook his head, his own eyes dark and hungry.
"No, I think it's our turn to see you."
Moving as if they'd rehearsed it, Jim and Walter stepped out of slacks and socks and then lifted Blair to his feet; Jim baring him from the waist up while Walter knelt to remove his jeans and sneakers. They manhandled him - oh, not roughly, but with a degree of surety that made Blair feel deliciously weak, while they took the opportunity to ditch their own shirts as well.
Walter rubbed each of the arches of Blair's feet in turn and Blair wondered if the man had any idea how good that felt -- and looked.
Walter's upturned grin indicated that he did.
In the meantime, Jim had wrapped strong arms around him and was sniffing at his neck - fully supporting Blair's leaning weight, his hard cock rubbing firmly against the top of Blair's cleft.
Between the two of them, they were killing him ... in a good way, but still. Blair was half-afraid he was going to black out from the pleasure and they'd barely touched him.
"Very nice," Walter breathed against his groin and Blair shuddered, throwing his head back against Jim's shoulder. Jim licked his throat and he moaned - loudly - particularly when Jim nipped him just beneath his ear.
"I want to see you lose control, Chief," Jim murmured in a tone of voice that vibrated directly through Blair to his balls, beyond hearing.
"Oh," he sighed shakily, "you're about to. It's been- I haven't-"
"I know it's been a while for you. You worried about keeping up?" Jim teased suddenly, smiling against Blair's face.
And having Jim smile at him felt as good as everything else, Blair thought, caught in another giddy rush of joy, resonating like some kind of feedback loop between them.
"You old guys ought to be worried about keeping up with me," Blair told Jim with what felt like a totally foolish grin.
It felt so good to give in, to feel Walter's soft chuckle against the wing of his pelvis. A warm puff of air against his tender skin was followed by a soft wet lick and Blair's cock twitched involuntarily, demanding attention.
Walter drew back and looked up Blair's body, eyes as hot as his hands on Blair's thighs, finally meeting both their gazes.
"I don't think that's going to be a problem, boy." He looked at Jim and gave a wicked grin that Jim returned. "I bet you could get him off by kissing him. He's very responsive."
Blair couldn't prevent the blush that rose from his chest, up his neck, to his face at the praise in Walter's words.
"God, you are beautiful like this. Both of you," Walter said, proving he could do black velvet tones with the best of them. Blair felt his thighs loosen. Jim arched into his butt, equally affected, groaning almost inaudibly enough to qualify as a growl.
Jim wasn't that far from orgasm himself, battling his senses for control. His skin was so stimulated from having naked Blair rubbing against naked him that touch was almost off the scale.
"Blair won't be the only one who shoots if I kiss him," he admitted, trying to steady his breathing and switch his focus to another sense. Sight didn't help diminish his arousal any. Naked Walter Skinner on his knees at Blair's feet was almost scary good, the big man's muscles flexing in those massive shoulders and that hot, hard cock pointing aggressively from a dark thatch of pubic hair.
"I'd like to see that," Walter said and Blair sighed, sagging into Jim. Jim gasped as touch skipped up another level, responding to his desire.
"Jim," Blair's hand turned his face; Blair searching his eyes with that 'are your senses okay?' look in his own.
Jim didn't want to see it there.
"We should give the man what he wants, Blair." Jim said, turning Blair in his arms easily until Blair was bent back over one arm, Jim's hand tangling in the silky curls at the back of Blair's head. "I'd like to see that, too."
Jim's other hand went behind Blair's back as he leaned over Blair's face, taking a moment to stare into the dazed indigo eyes that were blinking up at him in aroused surprise.
"Please," Blair whispered, tongue flicking out to wet his dry lower lip. "Jim-"
"You never have to ask," Jim promised, lowering his mouth to Blair's at last.
He sipped lightly at first, rubbing his closed lips over Blair's and inhaling his taste before his tongue came out to play. Blair was trembling against him by the time the tip of his tongue teased over Blair's damp lower lip; that full moist flesh quivering at his lightest touch.
"I love you," he breathed down Blair's throat before seizing that lip in his teeth, tugging gently ... then sealing his mouth over Blair's, catching the returning words as Blair said them for only the second time.
"I love you too, Jim."
To Jim those words tasted every bit as sweet as the warm living flavor of Blair's mouth, and he groaned again, cock jumping hard against the hollow of Blair's hip. He could feel the spreading slickness of his pre-ejaculate and staggered slightly with a resultant hot rush of pleasure.
Blair rocked Jim's world. He always had.
"Fuck," Blair mumbled, arms going around him as if to steady him, fingers of one hand stroking the back of Jim's head. "You feel-"
"I know. You, too," Jim said breathlessly, tongue sliding deeper inside Blair's mouth, caressing its mate in slow exploration. He tore his mouth off Blair's just long enough to look - a little cross-eyed - at Walter. "You might have to hold me up. You pack quite a punch, Chief," he added affectionately, smiling at his shivering lover.
Blair's lips were red and wet and swollen, and Jim watched as Blair tasted their kiss.
Jim thought he could almost come just from that.
Then Walter moved behind him, big arms sliding around both him and Blair.
"Oh, God," Jim managed, wrestling again with touch for a long minute as that hard body sheltered his with the hug. Skin to skin, with Walter's erection riding his ass and one big hand planted on his chest ... and with Blair in his arms, on his tongue ... it was almost too much.
Jim's balls drew up tightly. He stilled the automatic movement of his hips by pure willpower.
"'Oh, God' is right," Blair murmured just loudly enough, thankfully distracting Jim out of what could easily become a tactile-induced zone.
"Yes," Walter said, careful to use an equally quiet voice. He looked over Jim's shoulder and feasted his eyes on the way Blair Sandburg looked, weak with lust, his skin flushed and those blue eyes glittering in the reflected lamplight ... his cock dusky red and angry-looking as it curved back towards his belly button. That chest hair tempted Walter's fingers every bit as much as Ellison's hairless pecs.
Walter badly wanted to get them into bed and start touching - but he wanted to see this happen for the two of them more.
"Kiss him again," he whispered into Jim's ear, bracing his legs, prepared when Jim swayed into him. "Doesn't he have a beautiful mouth? And a beautiful cock. You've got yourself a big boy there. He'll feel like heaven inside your mouth and in your ass-"
Jim kissed Blair hard and Blair met his tongue stroke for stroke. Little moans trapped in the back of Blair's throat vibrated into Jim's mouth. Too overcome by the way every sense was being satisfied, further undone by Walter's deep croon and the way Blair was writhing against him - into him, as if fighting to get closer - Jim surrendered control and came first.
Muffling his roar in the rough, desperate kiss, Jim bucked against Blair's body and then backward into Walter's, the dual stimulation wringing hard pulses of unbelievable pleasure out of his body. Jim finally had to lift his mouth and gasp for air ... that was exhaled on an agonized moan as the rush of sensation became blindingly fierce.
"Oh, Jim, oh, god," Blair said helplessly, eyes wide and fixed on Jim's face as he finally saw the expression he'd always dreamed of putting there: that almost pained look of absolute nirvana. It was all Blair needed to push him over the edge, too, and his body arched as his balls spasmed in sympathy, cock untouched.
"Beautiful, beautiful," Walter whispered hoarsely, holding Jim and Blair both when they started coming. He watched Blair shoot, pearl-pale fluid spurting with surprising force. "That's it. Come, both of you. Come for each other. Come hard."
Blair cried out harshly and shook in their grasp, out of control. Forcing his own gaze to focus, Jim watched Blair, too, noting that his emotional pleasure in Blair's obvious ecstasy felt as powerful as his slowly subsiding physical release. The sea-salt scent of his and Blair's ejaculate filled his nose, and Jim sniffed at it appreciatively, letting sight and smell fill his eyes and nose; pulling him back from oblivion.
"Love you, Chief."
Blair could only whimper, going limp as the last waves crashed over him. He hid his face in Jim's throat and panted, while Walter kissed the corner of his mouth lightly before licking him and Jim both.
"Getting a serious kink for the sniffing and tasting here," Blair warned after a shallow gasp, shivering all over again like he was the one with a sentinel's skin.
"You may have more kinks before we're through," Walter noted calmly, helping Jim balance Blair until Blair could stand on his own. When Jim had regained the same ability, Walter stepped around him, his own hard cock straining and unsatisfied.
Walter dragged one finger through the fluids on Jim's pink skin, lifting it to his mouth and tonguing it delicately.
"Good flavor."
"Oh, shit. I can't- not this fast-" Jim moaned, grabbing his own dick as a fresh surge of arousal throbbed through him like the bass notes of a too-loud amp, making his balls ache.
"Looks like you can," Blair said, mimicking Walter's gesture by tasting Jim's semen where it was cooling on his lower body. His finger lingered on his lip as he regarded the other men from beneath half-open eyes. "Shower, Walter? Jim's beautiful wet."
"Jesus, Sandburg," Jim said, flushing despite himself at Blair's dreamy, almost stoned expression.
"It's true. You're like, the perfect example of a human, Jim."
"'What a piece of work is man, how noble in reason, how infinite in faculties, in form and moving, how express and admirable, in action, how like an angel, in apprehension, how like a god. The beauty of the world, the paragon of animals'," Walter's voice flowed like warm blankets around both Jim and Blair, making Blair sigh luxuriously.
"Oh, wow, all this and Shakespeare, too. Wow." Blair dropped to his knees in front of Walter, hands on his thighs. "Perfect," he said again, nosing the length of Walter's sensitive shaft and breathing over the head. "Your turn, big man."
"Not yet, Blair," Walter managed; the words torn out of him in a rasp as Blair mouthed the plum-colored end of his cock, those plush lips stretching around his girth. Jim had moved behind him, reaching around him to card elegant fingers through his chest hair, occasionally searching out a hidden nub and tugging at it. The supple strength of Jim's body warmed his back, ass, and posterior thighs, and Walter felt his eyes start to close.
He shook off the overpowering seduction with some effort and eased away. He didn't rush, turning to look at them both and marvel all over again at his good fortune.
"I want you in bed. We'll shower later."
Walter had only to watch both pairs of blue eyes darken to know they agreed. Jim stepped up behind him, running one hand from his shoulder, down his back, to his ass. It lingered there, squeezing.
"Nice ass. Too nice for a desk man. What do you do?"
"Same things you do, I suspect. Box, jog, swim, weights ... run my ass off chasing after junior agents. I stay busy."
Jim stepped around to face him, and Walter was pleased to see the wry acknowledgment in the smile his words had prompted. Jim held his shoulders for a moment and inspected him frankly, gaze lingering for a moment on Walter's erection, which certainly wasn't subsiding.
Blair sucked in a hoarse gasp and they looked at him.
"Damn, the two of you together ... that's gonna be pretty fucking hot to watch. You're both-"
Blair's words apparently failed him. Jim and Walter had to laugh when those hands gestured in admiration. Much lower, too, Blair's appreciation for them was plainly visible.
"Ah, youth," Walter said with a lingering grin.
"It's the company I keep," Blair responded, his voice octaves lower than usual as he stared at Jim and Walter helplessly.
They'd all tossed around the word beautiful, and Jim and Walter were, by its original definition, very pleasing to see or hear, delighting the mind or senses. Both men were tall and muscular and well-formed ... and if Walter Skinner was ten years older than Jim, you couldn't tell it by the condition of his body. Blair was fascinated by the contrast in Walter's heavy chest hair and Jim's satiny skin, the two of them so exceptionally put-together. They stood like erotic sculpture, close enough to kiss.
For an instant, Blair again wondered briefly why either of them would want him - then he dismissed that as bullshit thinking and made up his mind. He'd let himself enjoy every minute of this unusual liaison - and not just for Jim's sake, but for his own.
"He's got you there," Jim said, ghosting a caress over Walter's cock then turning to walk toward the suite's bed, visible in the next room through an open door. Walter stood back and just watched the man's ass move for a moment, enjoying the view as Jim turned back the bed to the bottom sheet, gracefully fanfolding the covers to rest at the foot of the bed.
Blair hooked an arm through his and rubbed against him lightly.
"He's..." Uncharacteristically, Walter's speech trailed away.
"Magnificent," Blair pronounced with an audible smile, not surprised when Jim turned to glare at them.
"Are you coming?" Jim asked impatiently. "Or are you going to stare at my ass all day?"
"We could do that and still come," Blair commented to Walter's agreeing nod.
Jim made them both smile when he actually blushed.
Yeah, absolutely beautiful. There was no other word for Jim Ellison.
Part Two