Homewrecker

4/2/06

HOMEWRECKER


Oh, does she love you?
What do you want to do?
Does she need you like I do?
Do you love her?
Is she good for you?
Does she hold you like I do?

Lyrics from the song “Troy” written and performed by Sinead O’Connor


The sound of Nick’s phone ringing woke him from deep, blessedly dreamless, sleep and he reached over to fumble around on the night stand to locate the irritating instrument. It was supposed to be his night off. He’d worked two doubles in a row and had wanted nothing more than to catch up on some much needed sleep. But apparently the criminals of Las Vegas had other plans for him.

“Hello?” he mumbled groggily into the receiver.

“Oh, hey, Nicky, did I wake you up? Sorry, man.”

“Warrick?”

The Texan had been expecting to hear either Grissom’s or Catherine’s voice on the other end, calling to tell him to come in to work. He had certainly not expected to hear his best friend’s voice. Warrick was also supposed to have had the evening off, since he’d been scheduled to testify in court earlier that afternoon. Nick had figured the man would be spending this rare evening off with his new wife.

“Uh, yeah, it’s me.”

“Warrick, have you been drinking?” Nick asked, noting how the other man’s words were slurring slightly. Nick couldn’t remember when the last time his friend had been this drunk.

“Uh, yeah, I had a couple drinks, probably one too many. I was jus’ calling to see if you wanted to come down and join me, but you’re sleeping. Go back to sleep, sorry I woke you.”

Hearing the unmistakable sounds of high, chiming bells and the clank of metal on metal in the background, the Texan felt his heart sink. “Warrick, where are you?”

“Oh, I’m at the Monaco, but don’ worry ‘bout it. I can call a cab. Go back to sleep.”

“No, listen, Warrick, I’ll be right there. Just give me ten minutes to get dressed and I’ll come get you.”

“No, no, no, no, no, don’t do that. You need your sleep. Go back... I’ll be fine. Go to sleep.”

“Yes, I’m on my way. It’s okay, I’m awake now anyway. You just stay put and don’t do anything. I’ll be right there.”

Hanging up the phone, Nick sat up and ran a hand over his face. What the hell had happened tonight to make Warrick, not only go out and get drunk, but head out to a casino? Something was definitely wrong with his friend and Nick needed to discover what it was before the man did something stupid, like fall back into his old gambling habit.

Rolling out of bed, Nick grabbed the first clothes he encountered, a pair of reasonably clean jeans and a dark blue, long-sleeved, thermal shirt. Pulling these articles on, he headed into the bathroom. Standing in front of the mirror, he ran a hand through his hair, smoothing it into place. He had to admit, his new, longer ‘do was easier to manage. When his hair had been short, he got out of bed every afternoon with a serious case of bedhead, his hair sticking up in every direction. Now, not so much.

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Nick found Warrick in the half-empty bar of the Monaco. The tall, African-American investigator was sitting with a short, heavy-set man in a white suit paired with a garish, bright blue Hawaiian shirt. He looked like he should have been sipping Mai Tai’s on a tropical beach somewhere, not sitting in a bar, in a desert city. Everything about the man screamed ‘tourist!’

As the Texan approached the two men, the tourist gave a hearty laugh over... something and leaned over to place one hand on Warrick’s thigh. To Nick’s surprise, the Vegas native, not only didn’t smack the guy, but didn’t even seem to notice.

“Warrick, hey man, come on, let’s go,” Nick said, moving to stand beside his friend, opposite the touchy-feely tourist.

“Nick! Sit down, man, have a drink with us!” Warrick said, smiling broadly. “Hey, this is my new friend... um, Marlin.”

“Malcolm,” the man corrected amiably.

“Malcolm, tha’s right. I knew that. Anyway, this is my buddy, Nick, the one that I was tellin’ you ‘bout.”

“Yes, I see that. It’s very nice to meet you, Nick. Please, do pull up a chair and join us.” The man had a soft, low voice and he spoke with an English accent. His eyes roamed quite blatantly over Nick’s body as he spoke.

“Uh, thank you, but no, Warrick and I have to get going. We both have to work tomorrow, remember?” Nick said pointedly.

“Oh, but gentlemen, it’s still fairly early,” Malcolm protested. “I’m sure you could stick around for a little while, couldn’t you? This is my first time in Vegas. Trust me, I’ll make it worth your while... Let’s just say, I tip very well...”

With these words, the man placed a large, meaty, all-too-friendly hand on one of Nick’s hips. The Texan quickly stepped back, his face burning with embarrassment.

“Come on, Warrick, we’re leaving, now!”

Without even waiting to see if his friend was following, Nick left the bar. Once back out on the noisy casino floor, the dark-haired investigator turned to look for his fellow CSI. Warrick was trailing along at a slower pace, one hand covering his mouth, trying unsuccessfully to hide his smile.

“What’s so funny?” Nick demanded irritably.

“You, man, the look on your face...” The green-eyed investigator snickered. When the smaller man didn’t join in, Warrick said, “Oh, come on, Nicky, don’t tell me you’ve never had a guy hit on you before. I mean, it’s no big deal.”

Nick said nothing and started walking again. No, it wasn’t the first time a man had hit on him, but it always made him very uncomfortable and he wasn’t amused. He didn’t say a word as he lead the taller man on a weaving path through the crowded gaming floor and back out to the attached parking structure.

Locating his SUV, the two men climbed in and buckled their seatbelts. They were both quiet while Nick maneuvered the big vehicle around the sharp turns of the parking ramp. But once they were back on the surface streets, Warrick couldn’t stand the silence any longer.

“Look, man, I’m sorry I woke you up and dragged your ass down here, but I told you I’d call a cab,” he said.

“No, it’s alright, Warrick, I’m not mad.”

“You sure? Man, you’re not still hot ‘cause that guy was hittin’ on you?”

“No.”

“Well, somethin’s eatin’ you and has been for a couple o’months now. What’s going on? You haven’t really been yourself for a while now.”

“And how the hell would you know?” As soon as the uncharacteristically sharp words were out of his mouth, Nick regretted them. They made him sound petulant and he knew it.

“Okay, I deserved that,” Warrick said softly. “I know I haven’t exactly been around much, but there’re only so many hours in the day. I mean, I don’t spend enough time with you, I don’t spend enough time with Tina... Which apparently is why, according to her, it’s my fault that she cheated on me.”

“What? Tina cheated on you? Are you sure?”

“Oh, yeah, I caught her red-handed... or red...whatever...” the Vegas native said, suddenly sounding much more sober. “The judge on my court case, called for a continuance, so I was done way early today. I thought I’d surprise Tina and take her out for dinner, but I got the surprise instead. I caught her in bed with her old boyfriend, Robert.”

“Oh, man, Warrick, I’m sorry...”

“Hey, it’s not your fault.”

“Well, what are you going to do?”

“Well, I figured I’d have you drop me off at a motel and I’ll spend the rest of the night there.”

“Yeah, and then I’ll have to pick your ass up tomorrow afternoon before work? No, you can crash on my couch for the day. But what are you going to do after that? I mean, you’re going to talk to her, aren’t you?”

“What’s there to talk about, Nick? She was fucking another guy, in our bed! There ain’t no apology for that one, not in my book anyway.”

“Warrick, this wedding was pretty sudden. The two of you are still getting to know each other. Maybe you should give her a chance to explain herself.”

“What’s there to explain? ‘It was an accident’? ‘Oops, I tripped’? No, I don’t think so. Look, man, I know your childhood was like something out of ‘Happy Days’, but some of us didn’t grow up in such perfect households and we don’t trust, or forgive, that easily.”

“You don’t know anything about my childhood, so don’t even go there.”

The other man chuckled softly. “What, did the nanny forget to bring your ‘woobie’ to bed, while tucking you in, one night?”

“Leave it alone, Warrick.” The expression on the Texan’s face, as he looked over at his passenger, was one which Warrick had never seen before. It was filled with old anger and, even older, pain.

“What’s going on with you, man? You’ve been so quiet lately, ever since the Mullins Case. Don’t think I haven’t noticed. Everyone’s noticed... Look, I know you were in the room when Kelly Gordon died, but-.”

“I don’t want to talk about it, Warrick.”

“Okay, fine, but if you’re not going to talk to me about what’s going on with you, don’t expect me to sit here and listen to you lecture me about my situation.”

“Look, I just don’t understand why you’re going to throw away a marriage that you’ve barely even given a chance to get started. Marriages aren’t supposed to be disposable, Warrick. You don’t just throw them away because things got a little hard.”

“Thank you for that insight, Dr. Phil,” Warrick snapped bitterly. “I’m sure you’re speaking from your vast reserves of personal experience.”

Nick sighed. “Warrick, just answer one question for me, why the hell did you marry her in the first place?”

The other man was silent for a long time before he finally said, very softly, “’Cause I was scared.”

“Of...?”

“Growin’ old alone, of never having children, of never sharing my life with someone... The problem was, the real person I wanted to be with was out of my reach, so I settled for Tina.”

“Is that why you didn’t even tell any of us about the wedding, because you didn’t really love Tina?”

“I guess... I don’t know. I just didn’t think it was anybody’s business.”

“Not even mine?” Nick asked and Warrick could hear the hurt in his friend’s voice. “I thought I was your best friend, Rick. Did you ever think that, maybe, I might’ve wanted to be there for you? You know, be your Best Man?”

“I’m sorry, man, but it was sort of a spur of the moment thing. We just invited our families, that’s it. Tina’s brother was my Best Man and her sister was her Maid of Honor. We just kept it in the family. I don’t think I could have handled anyone else being there anyway, especially you.”

“Why ‘especially’ me?”

“’Cause it was all about you, man! It was Gordon kidnapping you that brought all these feelings up, made me stop and reconsider my life. Made me realize that life is fragile and short, and that at any moment, I can lose everything that I love most! It made me realize that I needed to forget about being with you and just get on with my life!”

“Wait a minute, what do mean ‘being wi-‘?”

“Nothing, forget it,” Warrick said quickly, interrupting the other man. “I’m drunk. Don’t pay any attention to me.”

Luckily for the Nevada native, they had just arrived at Nick’s house. Warrick barely waited for the other man to bring the vehicle to a complete stop before he was jumping out and heading for the front door. He kept his face carefully averted while his friend unlocked the door and led the way inside the house.

Once inside, Warrick knew that he couldn’t escape from his friend’s questions and he realized that he was tired of lying and pretending anyway. He was still drunk enough that he just wanted to finally get everything out in the open and be done with it. With a sigh, he dropped down on the couch and waited for the inevitable. He didn’t have to wait long.

“What did you mean by ‘forget about being with you’?” Nick asked, moving to stand directly in front of the seated man.

“Do you know what it means to be ‘on the down low’?” Warrick asked, looking up at his friend.

“It’s like being bi-sexual, right? A guy likes women, but he still sleeps with men.”

“Well, that’s the rational. Really, it’s just another type of closet. You know, ‘I’m not really gay. I like women. I just get together with men once in a while, but that doesn’t make me gay, just really horny.’”

“Okay, what does that have to do with my question?”

“Nick, I’ve been on the down low for a few years now.”

“Oh, okay...”

“I’ve got a few friends. We used to get together once every few weeks or so, to... you know, scratch our various itches. The thing is, while I was with them, I was always thinking about you.”

Well, there it was, he’d finally said the thing that he’d wanted to say to Nick for years. The silence coming from the other man was profound. Slowly, fearfully, Warrick raised his eyes to look up at his friend. Nick had his arms crossed tightly over his chest in an unconsciously defensive posture and was staring at the floor, looking lost and confused.

With a heavy sigh, Warrick said, “Don’t sweat it, man, I understand. I’ll leave.”

He stood and started to move past the smaller man, but Nick put a hand out and grabbed his arm.

“Wait, Rick, don’t...”

“Wait for what? Nick, man, you couldn’t even handle it when some drunk stranger got a little fresh with you. You expect me to believe that you can handle the idea that your best friend has been fantasizing about you for the past few years? There’s nothing to talk about here either. Don’t worry, I’ll stay out of your way at work.”

Nick continued to hold tight to Warrick’s arm when the other man tried to pull it away. “Damn it, Rick, I didn’t ask you to stay away! Stop putting words in my mouth. Why don’t you actually let me say something before you go reacting to a rejection I haven’t even made?”

“Fine, what do you have to say?” Warrick asked impatiently.

“I had no idea you felt that way about me. Why didn’t you tell me before?”

“Because I didn’t want to lose your friendship.”

“So, why are you telling me now?”

“I don’t really know. I guess, because I’m drunk and I’m hurtin’ and I’m tired of playin’ the game. I guess, I just wanted to finally lay all my cards on the table.”

“What were you hoping would happen?”

“I don’t know. To be perfectly honest, I was just hoping that you wouldn’t punch me. And you haven’t. Thank you for that. I didn’t really dare to hope for much beyond that.”

Nick smiled. “So, you just thought you’d throw that little revelation out there and see what happened?”

“Basically,” Warrick said, with a sheepish grin. “That’s how I deal with stress, by gambling. I can’t let myself gamble in the casinos anymore, so now I take other risks...”

“Like this ‘down low’ thing?”

“Yeah, I guess, but I stopped doing that way before Tina and I even got married. I took my vows seriously. And I wasn’t totally stupid while I was doing it. I was careful. I always used protection.”

“Good, because I don’t need to catch anything.”

“Excuse me?”

“You heard me,” the Texan said calmly, his eyes holding steady with the other man’s.

“No, Nick, man, you don’t owe me anything....”

“I know I don’t.”

The African-American was silent for a long moment, just watching his friend, trying to see if there was something he was missing. Had he misunderstood the other man’s words? Yes, he was still somewhat drunk, but he didn’t think he was that drunk. All this serious conversation had gone a long ways toward killing his deliberately sought buzz.

“Nick, what’re you saying?” Warrick finally managed to ask. “You’re not gay. You don’t know what you’re offering. I mean, you’ve never been with another guy.”

“How would you know?”

“Have you?”

Nick paused for a moment and took a deep breath, before he said, “I was nineteen. I had just transferred to A&M and I had just joined the fraternity. We were having this big bash. It was Homecoming Week. The party got... way outta hand. I was completely trashed and out of my depth. I just wanted to find a nice quiet corner where I could ride out my buzz. Unfortunately my roommate had locked me out of our room. Of course, he was ‘entertaining’ guests, so I didn’t really want to be in the room anyway.

“Anyway, one of the older guys in the house told me that I could crash in his room. His name was Gavin. He had his own room. He was one of those perpetual seniors. God, I think he was, like, 26 or 27 and he was still living in the frat house. His room was way up in the attic. He took me up there and the next thing I knew, he was touching me and kissing me. He pushed me onto the bed and...”

“Jesus, Nick, you were a kid and you were wasted! He took advantage of you!” Warrick said softly, but forcefully.

“No, he didn’t. Look, I know the difference between willing and unwilling. I wasn’t unwilling. In fact, I...I liked it... I... I’ve never admitted that out loud.”

“So, what happened with him?”

“Oh, the next morning, we both acted like nothing had happened. Of course that was easy to do, since I had the worst hangover of my life. Anyway, neither of us ever mentioned it again. He finally graduated that semester. He moved out of the house and I never heard from him again. And I just...pretended it never happened, like any good Texas boy should.”

“God, Nick, I’m sorry,” Warrick said gently. “You deserve better. Your first time should’ve been special, not some drunken rut.”

“Oh? How should it have been?” Nick whispered, a slight challenge flashing in the dark eyes.

“Well, at the very least, he should have waited until you were sober, so you would have remembered it more clearly. And he should have taken his time with you, made love to you, instead of just fucking you. You know, sex between men doesn’t have to be just for the release. It can be beautiful.”

While he spoke, the taller man stepped closer, deliberately crowding the shorter man and forcing Nick to tilt his head upward slightly to maintain eye contact. Warrick’s smooth, low voice was pitched to a soft purr and the sound of it was like a physical caress on Nick’s skin. He felt a slight, involuntary shiver pass through his body.

Warrick was still hesitant to proceed, still not entirely sure this was really happening or that Nick wouldn’t suddenly change his mind and bolt. Laying one big hand against the smaller man’s cheek, Warrick took a moment to enjoy the visual contrast of their skin tones before he leaned in and kissed the Texan full on the lips.

At first Nick just stood like a statue, his body rigid and his mouth unresponsive. Feeling this, Warrick moved his mouth to the other man’s ear. “It’s alright, Nick, ain’t nobody here but us and I’m sure as hell not going to judge you,” he breathed.

It was as if something broke inside the Texan and his body literally melted against Warrick’s. The taller man almost staggered as Nick’s full body weight was suddenly pressed fully against him. For someone so slender, Nick was surprisingly solid, although Warrick found this weight no burden at all. In fact, feeling the smaller man’s warm body pressed so close, the Nevada native could feel his own body beginning to respond.

Sliding one hand up, underneath Nick’s untucked shirt, Warrick rubbed the other man’s back, enjoying the feel of the warm skin and the play of muscles beneath his fingertips. After a moment, Nick pulled back slightly and looked up at the man who had been his best friend for the past several years.

“Rick, what the hell are we doing?” Nick asked softly.

“Shh, you’re thinking too much. For once in your life, Nick, don’t worry about what’s right or what’s wrong, or what anyone else would think. This is none of anyone else’s business. This is just you and me.”

The Texan made a soft sound deep in his throat that almost sounded like a growl, and lunged at the taller man. Grasping the back of Warrick’s neck, he pulled their mouths together in a desperate kiss. For his part, Warrick had to move his hands the other man’s narrow hips, to keep himself grounded. Good Lord, the man could do amazing things with his tongue. Warrick couldn’t remember when he’d gotten this turned on from a simple kiss before. Of course, it wasn’t helping that his mind was conjuring all kinds of thoughts about what else Nick might be able to do with that oh-so-talented tongue.

Moving his hands to place them on either side of Nick’s face, Warrick pulled away. The two men stood for a moment, both breathing heavily, and just stared at each other. Seeing that the other man’s irises had shrunk to thin, brown rings surrounding his hugely dilated pupils, Warrick made up his mind. Crouching slightly, he set his right shoulder against Nick’s waist, wrapped his arms around the Texan’s hips and stood up, lifting the smaller man off his feet and draping Nick over his shoulder.

“Warrick! What the hell?” Nick demanded, suddenly finding himself staring at the ground, his ass in the air and the other man’s shoulder digging painfully into his gut.

The Nevada native ignored these protests and headed for the bedroom, glad that he was already familiar with the layout of Nick’s house. For a man with such a skinny ass, he was heavier than he looked. Once in the bedroom, Warrick deposited Nick onto the bed with a bit less flourish than he had intended. In fact, one of his feet got tangled on a shirt that had been left lying on the floor and he lost his balance, pitching both men onto the bed, with Nick ending up on the bottom. Both men were laughing and it took a moment for them to regain their composure.

It was Warrick who calmed first and he found himself greatly enjoying the sight and sound of Nick’s laugh. It had been a while since he’d heard the other man laugh so freely. Warrick was also enjoying the relative positions the two men now found themselves in, with Warrick half-covering Nick’s lower body and his mouth so close to the other man’s crotch.

Seeing those unique green eyes gazing at him almost hungrily, Nick quickly sobered as well. Slowly Warrick slid off Nick’s body and moved up the bed, so that the two men were laying side by side, facing each other. The African-American laid one big hand on Nick’s warm, flat stomach.

“So, how do you want to play this, Nick?” he asked. “This is all about you. If you don’t want to go any further, we can stop right here. If you do want to continue, you say how far. I’ll stop whenever you say.”

After a long pause, Nick said, “I don’t really know what I want, Rick. Maybe we should just take this one step at a time and see what happens.”

“We can do that,” the other man said, shifting closer, so that Nick was forced to roll onto his back, with Warrick’s face hovering above him.

Propped up on one elbow, Warrick lowered himself down to kiss the man lying beneath him. The kiss was long and slow and deep. Abruptly, he pulled away from the kiss and sat up. He started tugging at the hem of his loose, white, v-neck sweater.

“Too many clothes,” He explained to Nick, who was watching this action with some amusement. “Can’t breathe, can’t feel...”

Finally free of the ‘confining’ garment, he tossed it aside and turned his attention back to the man still lying on the bed. “Now, you.”

Nick sat up obligingly and allowed Warrick to pull the thermal shirt up and over his head. After tossing this onto the floor with his own sweater, Warrick ran one hand slowly over Nick’s toned chest and stomach. His hand came to rest on one boxer-brief-clad hip, which was slightly exposed by the low-slung jeans. But Warrick could still feel the warmth of the bare skin bleeding through the thin cotton of the shorts.

“Perfect,” he murmured and leaned in again for another kiss.

As they kissed, he maneuvered Nick onto his back again and laid himself out fully on top of the smaller man. To better accommodate this action, Nick slid his legs apart, just as Warrick had planned for him to do. Their denim-covered groins were now pressed tightly together and the Vegas native took full advantage of this to begin slowly grinding his hips into Nick’s. He was rewarded with a soft groan from the other man.

The kissing, grinding, touching, and tasting went on for several minutes, with both men getting very warm and sweaty. Finally, it was Nick, his breathing hard and shallow, who called for a halt to the minor wrestling match.

“Rick, we’ve got to stop for a minute,” he panted.

“What’s wrong?” the other man said, running a hand over Nick’s face. “Everything’s good. Am I hurting you?”

“No, no, it’s definitely not that. It’s just that if we don’t take a break for a few minutes, I’m gonna...”

“Oh, it’s like that, huh?” Warrick said, his green eyes narrowing mischievously. He slowly swiveled his hips against the other man’s, deliberately grinding them together, hard.

“Warrick...,” Nick breathed, his eyelids fluttering closed briefly and his fingers digging into the larger man’s sides.

“It’s okay, Nick, don’t worry about it. We’re both guys here. You’re not gonna shock me. In fact, I wanna see you come...” Warrick breathed in Nick’s ear.

A delicious shiver passed through the Texan’s body, straight to his groin, at those ‘dirty’ words, spoken in that low, purring voice. It also wasn’t helping that Warrick hadn’t broken the slow, methodic rhythm of his hips this entire time. Nick could feel his body approaching its limits. His breathing was quick and shallow. Abruptly, he arched his back slightly as his body briefly stiffened. A soft sound, like a cross between a grunt and a sigh, escaped his lips as his body relaxed again.

He opened his eyes to find Warrick staring down at him, smiling. “You’re beautiful, Nicky,” the man said, softly.

Nick could feel himself beginning to blush. “Yeah, and kind of sticky now,” he commented ruefully.

“Oh, well, I guess we’ll just have to get you cleaned up... in the shower.” Warrick said, climbing off the bed and holding out a hand to help the other man up. “You game?”

After only a second or two of hesitation, Nick accepted the hand and allowed Warrick to pull him to a sitting position. He stood and followed his dark lover to the bathroom. It was a fairly large facility, particularly in relation to the rest of the small house. It had both a full-sized tub and a separate shower stall, with a clear glass door. Opening the door, Warrick reached into the shower stall and turned the water on.

Turning his attention back to his new lover, he ran a hand over one of Nick’s shoulders and drew the man closer for another kiss. Warrick was pleased to note that Nick gave himself up to the kiss without hesitation this time. He was apparently become much more comfortable with this situation. Not that Warrick had been too worried about that. Nick was a naturally giving, loving, and passionate person. Warrick knew it wouldn’t take long for him to overcome any initial awkwardness.

While they kissed, they finished undressing each other. Once their remaining clothes were in a small heap on the bathroom floor, they stepped apart a bit, to look each other over. As Warrick let his eyes travel leisurely up Nick’s lovely body, he was somewhat surprised, when he got to Nick’s face, to see that the other man was blushing.

“What’s up, Nicky? You turnin’ shy on me all of a sudden?” Warrick asked playfully.

“No, it’s just that, um... well, I guess everything they say about black men is true...” Nick mumbled uncomfortably, his face turning an even deeper shade of pink.

Warrick glanced down at his semi-erect penis and smiled. “Oh, that... don’t worry he’s friendly. And I’ll make sure that he plays nicely.”

When Nick gave only an anemic version of his usually dazzling smile, Warrick knew that he hadn’t addressed the issue that was bothering the other man, or at least, he hadn’t addressed the entire issue. Then it hit him. He smiled and gently drew Nick close to him, reveling in the feel of all that smooth warm skin under his hands and pressed against him.

“You are beautiful, Nicky,” he said softly, pressing kisses against the smaller man’s forehead and cheeks in between each word. “Every single inch of you.” He slid one hand down to cup Nick’s groin and gave it a gentle squeeze. The Texan moaned softly and pressed his hips against that hand.

After making a few quick adjustments to the temperature of the water, the two men moved to the shower. They took turns lathering each other up and massaging each other’s wet, soapy bodies. The shower head was adjustable and they had it set to a firm, pulsating spray. The hot water beat against them, further stimulating already over-sensitized flesh.

Warrick was leaning back against the tiled wall of the narrow shower, while Nick ran soap-slick hands over his chest, gently teasing the small, dark nipples. The bigger man was starting to approach the limit of his teasing endurance and he grasped Nick’s waist and turned the other man around. Warrick felt Nick’s body shiver slightly as he pressed his hands flat against the side wall and Warrick snugged his hips up against the smaller man’s buttocks, but Nick gave no protest.

Taking the lack of protest as assent, Warrick reached down and slid a couple of slick fingers into the crease of that firm, round ass. Nick gasped softly, but still didn’t protest. Warrick took his time preparing the other man, working his fingers slowly and gently until the only sounds Nick produced were moans of pleasure.

Glancing around for something to use as lubricant, something a little less water soluble than the soap, his eyes fell on a bottle of baby oil in the shower caddy. He grabbed it from the plastic basket.

“You keep baby oil in the shower, Nicky?” he teased, using the question as a distraction, while he liberally coated his now fully erect member with the slick substance.

“It’s this desert air. It dries my skin out somethin’ fierce...” the other man protested lamely.

“Yeah, sure, Nicky, desert air...” Warrick teased, planting a kiss on the Texan’s back, just between his shoulder blades. Sliding his hands down to take a firm grip on the narrow hips, Warrick pressed himself against the cleft of the other man’s ass. “Now, relax, Nicky, and breathe. I don’t want you passing out on me.”

Nick gave a grunt of discomfort as Warrick slowly pushed himself in and the Texan’s fingers clawed reflexively at the smooth tile beneath them. The Nevada native kept up a soft, verbal cadence, calming the other man and repeating the mantra of ‘relax and breathe’. Gradually, as Nick became accustomed to the unfamiliar invasion, Warrick was able to begin moving his hips, thrusting gently into the other man.

The small, steamy space of the shower was soon filled with the moist sounds of pleasure, panting breaths, soft grunts and the occasional louder moans. Warrick was thrusting freely now and Nick was actually pressing his hips back to meet these thrusts. Feeling a bit unstable on the wet floor, Warrick maneuvered the two men back, so that his back was pressed against the back wall of the shower, his feet set wide. Nick was positioned between the other man’s feet, bent over slightly, hands braced against the front wall, to the side of the shower head. In these positions, with his hands still grasping Nick’s hips in a bruisingly firm grip, Warrick was better able to thrust deep and hard, filling Nick completely.

Neither man was able to take much of this intense coupling before they were both trembling in the afterglow of orgasm. To Warrick’s immense satisfaction, Nick came first, with a loud, but incoherent cry and that primal sound of pure pleasure was more than enough to push Warrick over the edge. He quickly followed after his lover, with a deep, full-throated moan.

Warrick gently pulled himself free from Nick and the Texan collapsed back against him. The two men stood, leaning against the wall of the shower for a long time, simply trying to catch their breath and regain control of their bodies. After several minutes of this insensibility, the rapidly cooling water finally prodded them into action. Quickly rinsing themselves off, they left the shower stall.

Taking only a few minutes to pat themselves dry, the two men immediately headed for the bedroom, where they collapsed onto the bed. Managing to summon the energy to climb under the covers, they snuggled up close together. Nick was lying with his head against Warrick’s shoulder, one arm thrown across the other man’s flat stomach.

After several minutes of feeling more than a little disconcerted by the Texan’s silence, Warrick finally asked, “What are you thinkin’, Nicky?”

“Oh, well, sorry to ruin the mood, but I was thinking about Tina.”

“Tina? What the hell are you thinking about her for?”

“I don’t know. I guess I just never wanted to think of myself as a homewrecker...”

Warrick sighed and laid a hand on Nick’s arm. “You didn’t wreck our home, Tina did. She cheated first.”

“Oh, so that makes it okay for us, as long as she did it first? It’s not a contest, Warrick. It’s a marriage. It shouldn’t be about who did what first. Besides, you said you married Tina because you couldn’t be with the person you really wanted, me, right?”

“Yeah.”

“So, I did break up your marriage...”

“No, you were right all along. This marriage should never have happened in the first place. I didn’t really want Tina. I wanted you. It would seem that Tina didn’t really want me. She wanted Robert. In the end, we each got what we wanted, so maybe this was all for the best. You aren’t a homewrecker, Nick. There was no home to wreck, just a sad, little apartment filled with insecurities and lies.

“None of this was your fault. You didn’t ruin anything. Tina and I did that all by ourselves. But maybe now that we’ve both seen how things should be, we can fix this mistake. I’ll talk to her tomorrow.”

Nick nodded, but didn’t say anything.

“Go to sleep, Nick,” Warrick said, pressing a soft kiss to the other man’s temple. “I don’t know about you, but I’m exhausted. And there is one thing I can guarantee you. You are going to be walking with a very definite limp tomorrow.”


THE END