One Step at a Time

When Warrick finally made it back to Jack’s, he was surprised to find a light on in the living room. He’d thought both his lovers would have been fast sleep--the post-concert show usually wore them out.

Walking inside, he quietly closed the door behind him when he saw Jack curled up on the couch, Parker lying on the floor next to him.

“Hey boy,” he said softly as Parker got up to greet him, tail wagging enthusiastically. He gave the dog a good scratch behind the ears then walked over to Jack, kneeling down near his head. Did he and Greg have a fight? Warrick wondered as he brushed an errant curl from where it was lying across Jack’s nose. It didn’t seem right to kick a man out of his own bed--especially when Greg lived just five houses down.

He twined the curl around his finger, smiling at its softness against his skin. Was there anything about Jack that wasn’t beautiful? The long dark lashes resting against his high cheekbones, the pink lips curled slightly in sleep, the olive skin he loved feeling against his own--he couldn’t have designed a more enticing man if he’d tried.

Now, should he wake him? Or just let him sleep?

“What do you think, Parker?” he asked, turning his head to look at the black lab when something caught his eye.

That was new.

Standing up, Warrick walked over to the corner of the room where Jack had set up his computer and recording equipment. Sitting next to it was an electric keyboard with what looked to have all eighty-eight keys and enough gadgets to record and mix an entire orchestra without ever needing another instrument. It was beautiful. His fingers itched to start playing with it, and he looked over at Jack to find a pair of velvet brown eyes watching him expectantly.

Oh no. This wasn’t. . . it couldn’t be. . . could it?

“Jack? You didn’t--”

“Don’t be silly,” he said as he sat up, yawning and stretching. “I thought I might try my hand at composing.”

“So you bought a three thousand dollar keyboard?” he asked as his lover stood up, moving to slide an arm around his waist.

“Is that how much it was?” Jack said, tilting his head to stare at it with a slight frown on his face.

“A rough estimate.”

“Oh. Well, it was something of an impulse buy. They delivered it today while you were at work and Greg helped me set it up after the concert. Do you like it?”

“If I hadn’t worried about waking you up, I’d already be playing.” Even in his awe, Warrick didn’t miss the flush of pleasure and the smile that crossed Jack’s face, confirming his suspicions. The keyboard was for him. “Jack, I don’t think--”

“Good--don’t think. Highly overrated anyway. How was your evening? Did you have a good time with Nick?”

“It was. . .” He sighed, shaking his head. “It was rough. I’ll be lucky tomorrow if he’s still speaking to me.”

“I’m sorry,” Jack said, guiding Warrick to the sofa and sitting him down. “Fights with friends are always the worst.”

“But it wasn’t even like a real fight. Nick and I--we don’t have real fights. We’ve never really had anything to fight about before. It doesn’t make sense. One minute we’re hanging out like we always do, and the next, all hell breaks loose,” Warrick said, so lost in his thoughts it took him a moment to realize Jack was taking off his shoes. “Baby, what are you doing?”

“Making you more comfortable,” he answered, putting Warrick’s legs up on the couch. “Tell me what happened. Maybe I can help.”

“I don’t think you can. I need to talk to Greg--unless I’m wrong, he’s partially responsible for this.”

“Oh, so you can talk to Greg and not me?” he teased, lying down between Warrick’s legs and resting his head on the broad chest.

“It isn’t that,” Warrick said, wrapping his arms around Jack and holding him close, letting the warmth of the other man’s body wash over him. “He just knows Nick better, might have a little more insight into his mind.”

“Well I might know him, too, if you bothered to introduce us.”

He caught the blankly obvious hint in Jack’s voice, and sighed. Oh, hell, this was one fight he was not ready to have, not when Jack felt so good and the last thing he wanted was to be alone. “Baby, I don’t want to fight with you right now.”

“I’m not fighting. I’m just saying it would be nice to put faces to the names I keep hearing.”

“The next company picnic, you’ll be there and I’ll introduce you to everyone.”

Jack raised his head to look up at him, impish smile on his face. “You’ve never had a company picnic, have you?” he asked, and Warrick couldn’t help grinning.

“None I’ve been invited to.”

“You’re lucky you had a bad night and I’m feeling sorry for you,” he said, moving to lie back down on Warrick’s chest, but was quickly stopped.

“Hey hey hey--where are you going? Get those lips up here.”

“Oh, you think you’re entitled to a little action, do you, tiger?”

“I think we should take advantage of the fact that it’s just the two of us at the moment.” He brushed his fingers along Jack’s cheek, the younger man leaning into the caress. “I don’t get to spend near enough time alone with you.”

“I feel like I hardly see you at all, and I still manage to miss you.”

“I know what you mean,” he said softly, and he did. Jack’s absence was a constant in his thoughts whenever they were apart, and he could be standing right next to Greg, and still miss him.

“Warrick, you’d been with other men before us, right?”

“Yeah, a long time ago.”

“So why us? Why now?”

Warrick looked into those soft brown eyes and smiled, cupping Jack’s face in his hands. “Because it felt right. You feel right. You and Greg have given me a chance to explore a part of myself that I’d kept locked away for so long, I didn’t even think it still lived.”

“But you’ve known Greg for years now. Why did you wait?”

“I wouldn’t let myself go near him. Greg is fun, and sexy, and smart, but he is also a coworker, and I didn’t want to mess that up. But when he came to me, when you both did, it just didn’t seem worth it to hide anymore.”

“Do you think we can make this work?”

“I think we’re doing pretty good so far. Why? What’s on your mind, baby?”

Jack lowered his head and this time Warrick didn’t try to stop him, sensing he needed to speak without having to see his reactions. To be honest, depending on what Jack had to say, he wasn’t sure of what his reactions would be and thought the young man wise to look away.

“Before you two came along, I dated. A lot. Before Greg, it had been years since I’d had a second date--and you know what happened on our first, so you can guess why.”

Warrick tensed a little, remembering his reaction to Greg after his and Jack’s first date. He’d been less than thrilled because he knew Jack was the type of man he’d just confessed to being. He hoped their lover had changed since then. Just the thought of Jack with anyone else. . . No, he wouldn’t think of it. He pushed the thought from his mind and focused on Jack’s words.

“But with Greg, there was a second date, and a third, and a fourth, and you get the idea. With Greg, something fit and I didn’t want to lose that, so for the first time in my adult life, I decided it was worth it to settle down. But then I met you and I honestly considered throwing that resolution away.”

“You did?”

“Oh, god yes. Greg’s sexy, you’re right about that, but you--you know you’re the ideal man, right? One look at you, and I’ve have done anything just to get you to smile at me.”

“Anything?” he asked, amused.

“Anything. I’d have done a striptease in the middle of the Strip, performed the lewdest acts known to man with you--or just for your viewing pleasure. You only had to ask, and it would be yours.”

“Damn, I wish I’d known I could have gotten all that for a smile without all this baggage,” he chuckled, earning him an evil glare from Jack and he quickly repented. “Go on, please. I’m finding this confession of yours fascinating.”

“I don’t know if I should if all you’re going to do is laugh at me.”

“I’m not going to laugh, I promise. Why didn’t you leave Greg and try to seduce me?”

“Because I loved him. And then I didn’t need to. You became part of us and I truly can’t imagine living my life any other way. That’s what terrifies me, Warrick. I never felt this intensely about anyone until the two of you. What if something goes wrong? What if I screw this up? What if one of you decides this is no way to live your life and leaves? I know I can be happy like this forever, but then, my life is never put under public scrutiny like yours is. Can you hurt your career by being in a relationship with two men? If you do get in trouble, if you had to choose between your job and your personal life, which would you choose? Greg’s already told me he’d leave before letting someone dictate how to live his life, that with his experience, he could find a job in a lab anywhere. But I don’t want that for him--he loves being a CSI and going back to the lab would make him miserable.”

“You’ve talked with Greg about this?”

Jack nodded.

“Before or after I came along?”

“After. Before, it wasn’t such a big deal--sleeping with one man is marginally acceptable. Sleeping with two? That just reinforces society’s stereotypes about gay men--that we’re only interested in sex, and the more depraved, the better.”

“Is that what you think? That we’re depraved?”

“I think we’re perfect, that the three of us have created the kind of dynamic needed to make a healthy, stable relationship. My parents, on the other hand, think I should be drawn and quartered, and the two of you castrated, and their opinions are unfortunately those held by the majority of those around us.”

Even as he winced, Warrick’s eyes widened to hear Jack speak of his parents. He didn’t even know his lover’s parents were still alive, or if he had any family outside of the two of them. He’d never mentioned them before.

“You’ve told your parents about us?”

“It was the highlight of my day when I called to wish my dad a happy birthday two weeks ago. They thought I was calling to tell them I’d given up my sinful ways and was returning to the fold. I told them I had two live-in male lovers and wasn’t changing--ever. It was a typical conversation for us.”

“Sounds like they’ve been pretty rough on you.”

Jack shrugged. “I’m used to it. I’m not saying it still doesn’t hurt, but I keep hoping that one day they’ll come around.”

“Though probably not any time soon with two of us in the house.”

“If they can’t open their minds enough to accept two of the most wonderful men I’ve ever met, then it’s their loss, not mine.”

“You think we’re wonderful?”

“All right, so maybe I was exaggerating a little bit,” Jack said and Warrick’s eyes narrowed.

“Oh no, you don’t. No backtracking now. You said we’re wonderful, and I’m holding you to it.”

“So if you’re wonderful, what does that make me?” Jack asked, looking up at him.

“Extraordinary,” he said softly, leaning down to claim that kiss he’d been wanting since the moment he’d gotten home.

“I think I can live with that,” Jack said breathlessly when they emerged for air a few minutes later, then kissed him again, their mouths colliding together hungrily. Warrick moaned as Jack’s tongue slipped between his lips and lifted his hips to rub his growing erection against the matching hardness he found there.

Hands pawed at his shirt and pulled it apart, sounds of popping buttons drowned out by the sounds of their need. His now removed, Jack kissed a path down his neck and across his chest, lapping at the dark skin of his nipple.

“Jack,” Warrick whispered, tangling his hands in the silky curls, hissing as teeth pulled at the tightened flesh. But Jack didn’t stop. He teased and tormented that single nipple until colors began to flash across Warrick’s eyes, and then he moved on to the second one. Minutes felt like hours as Warrick twisted in agony, dreaming of throwing Jack to the floor and plunging into him so he could end the painful throbbing that resonated from below his waist throughout his entire body.

Jack sat up on his knees, mouth swollen and eyes shining with delight as he shed the robe from his body, and Warrick moaned again. He felt blinded by the beauty before him, the smooth olive skin covering the finely toned body, the subtle lines that he knew could provide strength and support, the cock long and slender as the body it was connected to, and above all, the eyes, watching him, burning into him.

“Do you want me, Warrick?” Jack asked, slowly unbuckling his belt, the tugging at his pants as the leather slid free and was tossed to the floor almost enough to send Warrick over the edge. He bit his lip when fingers pulled at his zipper, trying to rein in his impatience as each row came undone.

Of course he wanted him, had wanted him in the same way he’d been wanted by him since they’d first laid eyes on each other, and no amount of time together had done anything to dull that want.

But would he give up everything for Jack? For Greg? This was his whole life he was talking about--his whole life up until this point. Could he really exchange all that for some great sex? But it was more than just sex--it was companionship, affection, comfort, an end to the loneliness. He’d have someone to bring music to every day of his life, and someone who understood the complexities of his job and wouldn’t run from him. Wasn’t that what he’d always wanted?

“You’re thinking too hard,” Jack said, slipping a hand into his pants, a strangled grunt erupting from Warrick’s throat as the fingers wrapped around his cock. “Sex doesn’t require this much thought. Do you want me?”

“Yes,” he said in a drawn-out breath. “Yes, I want you.”

“Too bad,” Jack shrugged. “Condoms and lube are in the bedroom.”

“What?!” Warrick twisted to dig in the crack of the sofa cushion behind him.

“No use--Greg and I used the last of those earlier tonight.”

Green eyes shot daggers at him. “You knew this? You got me all worked up and you knew this?”

“Yeah. My bad.”

“Like hell,” he growled, grabbing onto Jack and pulling him on top of him. Kissing him frantically, he reached down between them and wrapped his hand around both their cocks. He slid the other down Jack’s back until he was cupping a rounded buttock in his palm, pushing him even closer. He felt the shiver that ran through Jack’s entire body and grinned into their kiss. He liked making Jack shiver. He liked being responsible for that keening noise in the back of Jack’s throat. He liked the way Jack’s cock felt against his own. He loved the way Jack felt altogether.

“Warrick. . . Warrick, hurry,” Jack pleaded, pushing against him.

“You want me, baby?” he asked into his neck, biting lightly at the olive skin.

“You know I do.”

Warrick moved faster, their combined pre-cum slicking his hand. Within seconds, he felt Jack shudder, liquid warmth pooling between them, the blissful look on his lover’s face enough to send him arching upwards into Jack as his own body erupted. Aftershocks pulsing through his body, he closed his eyes and held onto his lover with his free arm since his other was still trapped between them.

After a few minutes, Jack stirred. “Hey tiger,” he whispered. “You falling sleep on me?”

“Technically,” he smiled, rousing himself enough to answer, “you’re on me.”

“You want to go to bed?”

He shook his head. “Mm-mmm.”

“Okay.” Jack reached up pulled the blanket from the back of the sofa over them. “We can stay here.”

“Thank you.”

“For what?”

“Everything.”

Jack looked up at him and smiled. “You’re welcome.”


Greg woke up the next morning to find the bed was just a smidgen colder than normal, and he was strangely alone. Warrick sometimes got up early to go to the gym, but Jack? It could take them ten minutes just to get him to a state of semi-consciousness. Jack was always the last one out of bed.

So where was he?

Rubbing his eyes, Greg yawned as he shuffled out of the bedroom and down the hall to the living room. He stumbled to a halt, blinked a couple times, then smiled.

“Awww. . . that’s so cute! Where’s my camera?”

Warrick mock-glared at him. “I don’t suppose you could help me wake him up? My arm’s gone numb.”

“That’s what you get for sleeping on the sofa with a Jack on top of you.”

“Now that, I’m not complaining about. I just need the blood in my arm back.”

Greg sighed. “You’re lucky I’m feeling generous this morning,” he said as he crouched down next to them. He looked at Jack and smiled, running a hand through his curls. “He looks happy.”

“Yeah, he feels happy, too,” Warrick said, and Greg chuckled.

“Don’t you just love mornings?”

“At the moment, I’d love a shower more.”

“Too bad,” Greg said, leaning in and kissing him. “I’ve got you right where I want you.”

“Trapped?”

“Exactly,” he said with a grin. “When else am I going to get a chance to tell you I love you?”

Warrick was silent for a moment, absorbing this information, then smiled. “Yeah?”

“Yeah.”

“Love you too, man,” Warrick said, and Greg kissed him again. “You know, if I was free, we could do more than just kiss.”

Greg’s eyes narrowed. “Did you just tell me you loved me so I’d help you?”

“No, that part was true, but so’s the suggestion of the two of us in the shower all slick and wet and soapy.”

His face lit up. “Okay, I’ll help.” Greg pulled the blanket off of them and his jaw dropped. “Warrick, he’s naked.”

“Well, yeah. What did you think he was?”

“I didn’t think of it, but I think I’m drooling.”

“You are.”

“And you’re not exactly clothed yourself.”

“Greg, you’ve seen us naked before.”

“I don’t think you realize just how good the two of you look together. That’s just. . . just. . . you know what? If you need me, I’ll be in the shower.”

“Greg!”

“Just teasing,” he grinned. “So, how do you want to do this? You want to just try and roll out from under him?”

“That’s probably the best thing we can do. He’s not waking up any time soon.”

“Kind of creepy, isn’t it? I mean, the weirdest things keep him up at night, but you try and get him up in the morning? He’d might as well be dead.”

“Okay, no more talk about Jack and death. Just. . . lift him up a little.”

“You know, this might help if you take your hand off his ass.”

“It’s called leverage.”

Greg rolled his eyes. “Right. God, how can a guy who’s all skin and bones have so much mass?”

“Just hold him up a little bit longer. . .” Warrick said and eased himself out from under Jack, landing on the floor with an ‘umph’. Jack just grumbled a little, rolled onto his side, and continued to sleep.

“Un-fuckin’-believable,” Greg said with a shake of his head as he placed the blanket back on him.

“Yeah, but that’s why we love him,” Warrick said, slinging an arm around Greg’s shoulders. “So, how about that shower?”

“Race you there.”

Warrick laughed at Greg’s mad dash out of the bedroom and with one last look at Jack, quickly followed.