On the roof

Another week in Crime Capitol of the World. Numerous times, Cascade's Finest wondered what drew them to his city. His home. What made them stay? Made them decide to break the law so he would have to catch them and put them away?

Sighing heavily, the Sentinel admitted to himself that the one great thing about having a killer workload is. . .when it's over.

Quiet.

Finally, you could just 'veg' out, put the world on 'hold' and rest. No filing. No chases. No guns. No bad guys. Peaceful. Calm. Serene. Relaxing.

Ahhhh. Relief. A cool breeze from the bay swept over his heated flesh, soothing him.

Turning his face to the west, he watched the sun set. The sky darkening like a shade being drawn as it disappeared over the horizon.

Ellison turned flat on his back again, basking in the best investment he had ever made. Eight foot by 10 foot of heavily woven cotton fibers, supported several inches from the tarred surface of the roof by a 14 foot reinforced steel frame. The quilted padding that covered it added comfort as the sense of floating placated his frazzled nerves.

Now, this was good. The only thing that would make this whole thing perfect was. . .

"Hey, Jim?"

"Yeah, Chief?"

The detective opened his eyes and sat up slightly, the movement causing the hammock to gently rock.

Blinking into the fading light, the Sentinel dialed his hearing up a notch.

He was alone.

He could have sworn he had heard Sandburg call him.

Extending his senses again, he found his partner, downstairs in the loft.

Trailing the younger man's movements with hypersensitive hearing, he knew exactly when Blair dropped his book bag, tossed his keys in the basket, walked over to the refrigerator for a beer, and found his note. He heard the chuckle as his guide read what he had written:

"Up on the roof. Bring me one, too."

Now, he heard the refrigerator door open and close again. The footsteps as his guide retraced his steps back through the loft out into the hall and up the stairs to the roof.

Tracking the movement, the detective kept his eyes closed until he felt the heat of his partner's body all along his side.

"What took you so long, Chief?" he asked in a soft, lazy voice.

"A conference with the department head," Blair told him as he held out the icy bottle for the detective.

Ellison took it, his eyes still closed. Raising himself up on his elbow, he brought the frosty cold bottle slowly to his lips and tilted it.

Blair watched in hungry fascination as his Sentinel drained the chilled brew in several long swallows that worked his Adam's apple in a pumping motion. The action toyed with the younger man's imagination and left him mesmerized and weak kneed.

Ellison lowered the bottle. Blue eyes locked with bluer ones. The bigger man smiled a suggestion in itself.

"How was your day?" Blair asked, his mind on auto-pilot.

"Dotted the last 'i' and crossed the last 't'. I'm free until Tuesday. How 'bout you?"

"I have a class Monday afternoon and a counseling session Tuesday morning, but that's all."

Ellison licked his lips slowly, and Blair found himself quickly bringing the beer he held to his own lips, draining his own beer to wet his suddenly parched throat.

"You look tired, Chief. Wanna lie down?"

Sandburg eyed the subdued green and white striping of the hammock's pad skeptically. "In that thing? Won't it tip over?"

"Yeah," Sandburg snorted derisively. "I got your control."

"Come on, teach. Don't you trust me?"

"It isn't about trust. I, for one, don't want to end up on the pavement."

Jim laughed away his lover's concerns. "You're not going to fall. Besides, we're nowhere near the edge."

"Easy for you to say," Blair told him with an apprehensive frown. "With my luck, I'll hit the roof and bounce off the edge."

"That's a long way to bounce, Chief, even for a shaman. Might be a lot safer if you streamline a bit."

The frown deepened. "'Scuse me?"

"The clothes." The Sentinel chuckled as he noted his partner's indignant glare. "Shuck the clothes, teach," he growled.

Blair's eyes travelled down over the form of the detective, noting, surprisingly for the first time, that Jim wore only a ratty old pair of cutoff sweats. He swallowed hard to clear his throat. "I. . .um. . ."

"Nobody around, Chief," Jim said with a smile as he tapped his ears. "Trust me."

The worried frown on the Guide's face slowly changed as temptation heated his blood. "Well. . ."

"You'll be cooler," Ellison said as he waggled his brows and smiled wickedly.

Blair swallowed as he gazed deeply into blue-blue eyes. "I am awfully hot," he confessed reluctantly.

"I can tell." Jim's smile widened, not for fooled for an instant. "Come on. We'll make our own breeze."

Blair looked at the hammock again, skepticism once again coloring his features. "I don't know, Jim."

"Come on, babe." The Sentinel spread his arms wide. "I won't let you fall. Promise."

It was that word, spoken in that tone, that convinced young Sandburg.

Blair then quickly stripped down to his boxers and hesitantly crawled into the hammock, his motions starting a gentle sway.

"Whoa!" he cried as his arms windmilled in the air for balance.

"Take it easy, teach," Ellison said with a laugh as he steadied his young lover. "You'd think all that time with Naomi you'da learned how to navigate in one of these things."

"Yeah, man, but those were Yucatans and not a couple of stories above concrete."

"Forget the concrete," Jim grunted, as he slowly pulled the young man into his arms. "Concentrate on this." Nudging the ponytail aside, Jim nipped sharply at the soft flesh where the shoulder met the neck.

"Mmmm," Blair moaned as he squirmed backward towards the delicious feeling of that mouth against his skin. "Hey, Mr. Adventurous. You think this is a good idea?"

Jim nibbled lower. "I think it's a very, very good idea," he said as he reached around to tweak a nipple.

Blair moaned again, arching his back, the movement increasing the movement of their 'bed'. "Jim!"

"Shhh, Chief. The lines are secure, I tied 'em and tested 'em myself." He continued to stroke his hand lower, its 'twin' taking up the job of teasing the rising tip of flesh on his lover's paps.

"I thought the idea was to get cool," Blair groaned, as his Sentinel toyed with the tiny silver ring threaded through a nipple while the other hand skimmed lightly across the thatch of hair trailing down his chest, pestering his navel, to continue to torment the hairy trail until it disappeared beneath the waistband of his jockeys.

"Hey, man," Blair protested half-heartedly as he caught the trailing hand. "We're still out in the open."

Jim smiled. Planting a kiss on the exposed shoulder, he said, "Where's your sense of adventure?"

"Reading tomorrow's headlines, 'Cascade's Cop of the Year Arrested For Indecent Exposure'."

Blair felt the rumble of his lover's laugh before he heard it, then felt the hammock resume its easy pitch and sway.

"What're you doing?" Sandburg asked, alarmed by the motion.

Ellison soothed him with his hands. "Lift your leg," he whispered into the perfect shell of an ear.

The softly spoken command scattered what few thoughts remained in the young man's head. "What?"

"Just a little bit," the Sentinel told him, touching the back of his Guide's knee.

Blair did as he asked.

"Thank you."

Sandburg felt the hardened ridge of flesh as it slid between his thighs. "Have you lost your mind?" Blair exclaimed in surprise as he felt the hot expulsion of breath on his neck.

"The minute I saw you, yes," Ellison murmured, as he pushed Blair's thigh back down to form a warm pocket around his cock. "Along with my heart."

They lay like that for several minutes, each absorbing the essence of the other.

"Ummm, Jim!" Blair felt his Sentinel start a gentle rocking as his hips began to move.

"Just go with it, teach. I guarantee you," he said in a soft, deep voice as he reached inside the opening in Blair's shorts, "you'll like this." He kissed the warm flesh in front of him as he extracted his prize.

"Ohh, man," Blair moaned, as strong hands engulfed his swelling gland. "No fair."

"Maybe not, but it's fun."

Blair arched his back again as his Sentinel set the pace of their lovemaking. Slow, gentle movements of his hips caused the hammock to sway and the rigid cock between his thighs to glide sensuously against the heated skin, slick with sweat and pre-cum. And the long strokes of the hard, hot hands that gripped his own feverish, engorged member drove him mad.

Reaching down, the Guide added his own hands to the seduction. One curved around Jim's own, the other covered the glistening head of his lover's penis, closing off the tunnel, sealing in the fire that blazed between his thighs.

Above the hot ridge of flesh he rode, his dark valley vibrating. "Ahh, Jim."

"Shhh, babe. Don't worry. Just feel what I'm doing."

Blair's body began to mirror the motion made by his lover's hips. "Yes," he murmured helplessly.

"I've got you," Jim promised.

His love vowed, "Forever," from his heart.

"Yes." The Sentinel kissed the sweat-soaked flesh of his lover's shoulder as they moved, their rocking motion taking them up. Up. Up. Higher than the roof. Up into the stars.

"Jim."

"Yes."

"Jim."

"I know, babe. Right behind you."

And the sky went white.