AN: Really hope you all enjoy this story! Happy Reading! :)
Chapter 1
GPOV
Shrill ringing of my cell phone assaults my ears, tearing me from my restful sleep and it's with an exhausted groan I find myself fumbling for the annoying device, fully intent on giving the rude caller a piece of my mind. I hit the button to accept the call, sending a cursory glance towards the digital clock. 3 am. Damn, way too fucking early.
"Yeah?" I answer groggily, not caring at all if I sound rude or impatient, as I'm currently both.
"Godric," the male voice slurs at the other end of the call and my head falls forward in defeat. Not again.
"Eric," I sigh out, shaking my head at my colleague's rather annoying tendencies. "Where are you?" I question knowingly, slinging my legs to the side of the bed before bending down to grab a pair of discarded jeans.
"Usual," is all he answers back and I can't help but roll my eyes, wondering not for the first time, if he'll ever change.
"I'm on my way," I sigh out, struggling into a t-shirt whilst trying to keep my cellphone to my ear. "Just…try to behave, alright?" I add, knowing my troublemaking partner isn't apt to do any such thing, before hearing a booze addled chuckle.
"Sure thing," he answers just before the line goes dead. I let out another sigh, half regretting having told him he could count on me anytime of the day or night, but then, we're friends, good friends, and more than that, we're partners on the police force going on five years now and when we say we've got each other's backs, we really and truly mean it.
I soon find myself driving down the thankfully emptied street in the rather seedy part of downtown before glowing red neon signals my destination. I pull into an open space, telling myself Eric will owe me big time for this one before making my way inside.
I pause just inside the doorway, sending a probing gaze over the dank interior before my eyes finally settle upon the massive blonde currently hunched over the bar; whiskey glass still perched precariously in hand. Damn, he's been hitting the sauce hard tonight, even for him. Great. I let out what must be the hundredth sigh of the night before approaching my inebriated partner.
"Hey, wake up, Sleeping Beauty," I remark, shaking a broad shoulder lightly to earn a low grunt in turn.
"Ah, and my Prince arrives," he answers back, his hazy, red rimmed, cobalt eyes shining up at me as he attempts to stand from the rather skewed barstool.
"Whoa, careful there, Princess," I remark, wrapping an arm securely around his waist in order to prevent him from taking a rather nasty spill. His long arm wraps around my shoulders tightly and after he succeeds in awkwardly fumbling around in his wallet to procure wrinkled bills for the thankfully infinitely patient bartender, the two of us are making our way towards the door together.
"Goodnight, all!" Eric calls cheerfully to the mostly lethargic stragglers left at the bar before the door slams unceremoniously behind us. "Good people, damn good people," he mumbles out, earning an eye roll from me before I'm left struggling to help him into the passenger's seat, using my practiced skills from years on the force to carefully tuck his head low lest he slam it into the unforgiving metal of the doorframe.
"You know, most people would just call a fucking cab," I grumble out, smacking his fumbling hands away from the seatbelt before strapping him securely in place.
"Oh, but you're the best cabbie in the whole damn city, no fuck that, the entire state! Maybe even the entire fucking country," he answers back emphatically and I can't help the subsequent chuckle that escapes me once I finally manage to latch his safety belt.
"You just remember that when I go to cash in my favor for picking up your drunken ass again," I answer back with a smirk before making my way to the driver's side door. We're soon making our way into marginally safer territory, the seedy bar district in our red lights before I find myself sending Eric probing glances, curious as to his sudden, uncharacteristic silence. "Doin' alright there, Hoss?" I question only to earn the slightest of nods in return.
"Fucking dandy," he answers back somewhat tersely, his bleary gaze glued to the passing city. The smallest of frowns is formed over his face and though I'd like to question him further, I quickly grasp that whatever it is going on with him, he clearly doesn't want to discuss it, even in his current, intoxicated state.
I can only sigh once more, looking back to the road as we continue to make our way uptown. A frown soon forms upon my own face, realizing my partner's bad habit seems to be getting exponentially worse. This is far from the first time we've found ourselves in this exact situation, but it only used to happen maybe once a month, twice if he was inevitably dumped by whatever skirt he was currently chasing, but now, well, this is the second time this very week I find myself in the role of Officer Northman's personal chauffeur.
This is a rather alarming thought to be sure, and I find myself sending the now brooding blonde yet another cursory glance, wondering not for the first time, just what could be going on in that golden head of his, well, you know, deeper than his thoughts about the latest Shreveport Giants stats. We're soon pulling up to Eric's apartment building and I automatically exit the car before making my way over to the passenger side door.
"Come on, home sweet home," I offer lightly, having to grunt as over six foot of solid muscle is suddenly slumped atop my much smaller frame. Damn, it's easy to forget just how heavy his ass is. After adjusting my hold upon my still silent partner, the two of us soon find ourselves traversing up familiar, well-treaded stairs together.
"Fucking shithole," Eric grumbles out, stumbling slightly over a step before I'm catching him just in time to keep him from face planting into soiled carpeting. "Thanks," he mumbles out, straightening beside me before we're ascending the last few steps together.
"Keys?" I question at the door, adjusting Eric's almost deadweight before receiving an oblivious shrug in turn. "Goddamn it, Eric," I sigh out, digging my own keys back out of my pocket before fumbling to find my own copy of his apartment key. "You'd be fucking lost without me, you know that?" I grumble irritably whilst sliding the correct key home with a soft click.
"I know," I hear him answer softly, his head dropped in apparent shame before he stumbles ahead of me, leaving me instantly regret my rather harsh remark. I let out a defeated sigh, combing my fingers through my surely mussed curls in defeat before traipsing after my apparently somber friend.
"Sit," I instruct upon entering the bedroom, seeing Eric wobbling precariously as he attempts to untie his shoes. Over six feet of man proceeds to collapse upon the creaking bed and I soon find myself crouching low, proceeding to fight with knotted laces for a time before finally just prying the damn sneakers off with an aggravated huff.
I rise to my feet in time to see Eric struggling with his t-shirt, the drunken goof somehow having managed to tangle the thing in his long, tanned limbs, and am left snorting in amusement before leaning down to help free him. The pants are next and I pause but a moment, wondering if I'm crossing some kind of line, before deciding there's nothing overtly sexual about helping a drunken man out of his pants so long as it's only in the most literal of senses.
"Thanks, Godric," Eric remarks once I've managed to strip him down to his cotton boxers and am helping to maneuver him so his head is at the proper end of the bed. I pause, noting the unexpected sincerity of his words, before realizing his statement likely encompass more than my willingness to drive and undress him in his needing state.
"Sure, anytime," I answer back softly, pulling his covers up over him, noting the gratitude shining in startling cobalt eyes. "And I didn't mean anything by what I said before, you know, about you being lost without me. Just-, just forget I said that, alright?" I ask of him, even knowing he likely won't remember most of tonight's events come the harsh light of dawn.
"You were right though," he answers back softly enough I fear I may have misheard him, before I catch a glimpse of his vulnerable gaze peeking up at me above the covers. Shit. A lump forms in my throat as I try to think of the best way to answer that.
"No, I wasn't," I sigh out, plopping down to the bed beside him, suddenly realizing just how exhausted I really am as I glance down to catch sight of curious eyes. "I was just frustrated, I didn't mean it, not really," I assure him.
"Yeah, okay," he answers back unconvincingly to leave my gut twisting once more with guilt. Fuck. I'm way too tired to talk about this right now. A jaw cracking yawn confirms this very thought before I go to stand, fully intending on passing out on Eric's surprisingly comfortable couch.
"'night," I offer, dredging myself to my feet before feeling firm fingers latching upon my wrist. My brows shoot up in surprise before I glace back down to Eric who suddenly appears almost…fearful. Okay, so that's weird. "Um, did you need something?" I question before feeling his iron like grip loosen upon me.
"No, no, it's nothing," he answers back perhaps a bit too quickly and suddenly my previous worries are assaulting my mind once more, wondering just what's been going on with him as of late.
"Eric," I offer softly, dropping back down to the mattress beside him. "If there's something going on, you know you can talk to me about it, right?"
"Yeah, sure," he answers back, once again, a bit too quickly, having to clear his throat loudly before he's rolling over to grant me a view of the exposed flesh of his back.
"Hey," I remark in annoyance, reaching up to take hold of his shoulder, not about to let this go, not when he's suddenly acting so strangely. "Talk to me, dammit," I insist, pulling upon his shoulder perhaps a bit more roughly than intended.
An annoyed growl escapes Eric and in one, swift movement, our roles are reversed as I suddenly find myself pinned upon my back to the bed with a scowling blonde hovering over me. Eric's eyes are wild, even in the low light of the bedroom and his whiskey tinged breath is heavy, labored even, as hot puffs of air greet my agape lips.
"You wanna know what's wrong with me, really?" he hisses out before I even a chance to work out what the fuck just happened.
"I-," I start, eyes wide, mind blank, as I suddenly forget just how to form coherent words because Eric is suddenly so very close and his familiar scent, a scent I have to try way too fucking hard to try and ignore on a continuous basis, is invading my every sense, my every thought, to leave me utterly dumbfounded.
"God, you have no idea, no fucking idea," Eric mumbles out, ducking his face lower to run silken lips over my jawline. I want to ask what it is he's talking about, I truly do, but just as I open my mouth to question him, his hips maneuver just so, aligning with my own.
"Oh, fuck," I hiss out, feeling just how aroused, how enticingly hard he is with only thin layers of clothing separating the two of us. A voice at the back of my mind is screaming that this is wrong, that I'm taking advantage of him in his inebriated state, but then his hips roll against my own, quickly drowning out such thoughts entirely.
"So good, so fucking good," Eric breathes against my throat, his lips and tongue proceeding to attack the sensitive flesh there with an eager urgency to leave me moaning lowly. God, he's right; good, so fucking good, too fucking good, in fact, and so much better than I've even imagined it could be, because, trust me, I've imagined very similar scenarios between us many, many times, though never did I think they would ever come to fruition, that Eric, the ultimate heterosexual himself, might actually return any such feelings. And with that thought, my better judgment finally begins to surface once more.
"Eric, Eric, wait," I breathe out, taking his face into my hands before raising it before my own. "We can't, not now, not like this," the words fall regrettably from my lips, wanting nothing more than to take things further, to experience everything he's apparently more than willing to offer, but I just can't, not in good conscience anyhow.
His cobalt eyes are wide, vulnerable, moreso than I've ever seen from him before and I have to literally pinch the back of my hand just to prove to myself that this is real, that Eric is really on top of me right now…in bed…his obvious erection flush with my own through thin layers of cloth, that it really was his mouth attached to my throat only moments before.
"I-," he starts with a sigh, his head tilting down minutely before his gaze is locked upon my lips. "One kiss," he whispers softly, his voice barely audible.
"Eric," I start to argue, before that pleading gaze rises to meet my rather wary one. God, those eyes of his are like deep drowning pools, pools I'd willingly drown in if at all possible. Just how many times have I caught myself hypnotized by that piercing stare of his, how many times have I had to force myself to look the other way, to not give myself away? But not now, no, in this moment, I can take my fill, finding myself absently stroking my thumb over his lightly stubbled cheek with a soft, audible sigh.
Eric must take this as a sign of agreement as his head dips low to leave his mouth floating just above my own. He pauses momentarily, apparently looking for any sign of hesitance from me as my heart begins to beat wildly in my chest, the anticipation for what's to come already welling within me.
And suddenly his lips are on my own, the barest of caresses, feather-light and teasing and better, so much fucking better than I ever could have imagined. Warm breath mingles with my own, the softest of sighs falling from Eric's lips before the kiss becomes suddenly firmer, his lips proceeding to move experimentally, yet eagerly against my own.
"Godric," he breathes, and that one word manages to send me over the edge as I find myself cupping his face firmly into my palms, before I'm pulling him closer; needing him closer, needing more, so much more. A grunt of surprise escapes Eric, followed by an almost animalistic growl to send my already racing heart pounding harder still. Fuck yes.
What started out as a chaste brush of lips quickly turns into a battle of lips teeth and tongues between us, our mouths now fighting for dominance. Long fingers twine into my hair, tugging just hard enough to leave me moaning throatily into our kiss and as Eric's hips begin their teasing rocking once more, I'm lost, totally and completely.
This. This is what I've been wanting, been thinking about, dreaming about for so long now and I'm still finding it hard to believe this is real, that this is actually happening. What will this mean for the two of us, for our partnership, for our career, for our friendship? Will anything change at all or will everything go back to normal between us after tonight?
My heart pinches at the very notion and I quickly push those thoughts aside, deciding to relish this down to the last detail. Every taste, every touch, every scent, I etch it all permanently on my memory, deciding that if this is truly the one, the only time the two of us will share something like this, I'll be able to cherish it always.
"Fuck," I hiss, muscles tightening low in my abdomen as Eric's hips begin thrusting harder, more demandingly against my own. A firm tug upon my hair leaves me tilting my chin into the air, a pleasured gasp escaping me as Eric exposes my throat before his hungry mouth.
"Almost, almost," Eric growls against my jaw between heated kisses and I find I'm able only to whimper in agreement, my nails biting harshly into broad shoulders just before blunt teeth sink sharply into the crook of my neck to send me plummeting over desire's edge whilst causing white stars to explode behind my eyes.
"Goddamn," I sigh out shakily, my arms wrapping firmly around Eric's now collapsed and shuddering form. I hold him tight, my fingers stroking absently through golden silk as I can't help but fear he'll send me away any moment now. It's not until I feel heated puffs of breath becoming low and shallow against the side of my throat that I can finally relax, letting out a soft sigh of relief.
I glance down to Eric's slumbering face, a fond smile finding its way to my lips and find I can only enjoy this for what it is, whatever it is, for if I'm perfectly honest with myself, I know I may very well never get this chance ever again.
