Title: Synchronicity

Pairing: Josef/Mick

Rating: NC17

Warnings: Domination/Submission, Consensual Restraint, Flogging, Erotic Tease and Denial, Orgasm Control.

Disclaimer: All publicly recognisable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.

Summary: An intended Valentine's day punishment for Mick, doesn't turn out quite the way Coraline had planned.


"I feel ridiculous." Mick tugged at the leather collar encircling his throat, and looked less than comfortable with the idea of being paraded around half naked the way he was.

The invitation had been received just a week prior. Their attendance requested at a gathering of close friends, and privileged guests only, to be held at the private residence of Josef Kostan. Coraline had wasted no time announcing that she intended to turn the evening into her own personal play time, with Mick as the star attraction. He owed her, apparently.

This was not how Mick had envisioned spending Valentine's Day.

"You want to look the part, don't you?" Lowering her gaze, and peering up at him from beneath impossibly long lashes, clumped heavy with generous coats of mascara, Coraline gave Mick another pointed reminder. Eyes kohl rimmed, and lips stained blood red crimson. "Don't forget, you owe me for that disappointment the other week. Why do you always have to spoil my fun, Mick? You and your damn scruples. Josef was right about you. You have the soul of a bleeding heart artist – boring, and trite."

Mick was taken aback. Coraline had spoken those last words with such a bitter edged noted of conviction, it was difficult to know where the truth lay. Was she deliberating misquoting Josef's own words? He'd always gotten along well with the man, or so he thought. And knowing Josef, he would have sooner insulted Mick to his face. One thing Mick had learnt about Josef early on, he certainly wasn't one to beat around the bush.

He thought about saying something. Thought better of it. He'd antagonised Coraline enough for one night, several nights, actually.

For a moment, Mick's thoughts drifted back to one night in particular.

He had accepted the need for blood. Even enjoyed the taking of it on occasion. That initial moment of surface tension, before fangs penetrated yielding flesh, and then the near orgiastic sensation of that thick, coppery taste curling around the back of his tongue. It was almost sensual, at times, erotic even. What he couldn't abide was Coraline's cruelty. The way she insisted on drawing out the event, increasing the pain level of her prey beyond the limits of endurance, breaking them down. Eventually Mick had seen enough. On this night he had stepped in, and stopped her.

Just over a week had gone by since then, a week of brooding sultriness, and promises of seduction that never came through. His punishment, Mick had presumed, along with Coraline's plans for the gathering they were attending this evening.

Again Mick tugged at the leather collar that encircled his throat, as he watched Coraline putting the finishing touches to her own appearance for the evening.

"Are you ready to go?" Coraline's smile was kitten sweet, as she gathered up her coat, and bag.

"Ready as I'll ever be." Mick wanted to reply.

Instead he nodded, and smiled, and fell obediently into step alongside his wife.

"I thought I'd bring along a present. A gift for your hospitality." Coraline responded to Josef's arched brow look of curiosity, as he leant against the framework of the open doorway, and regarded Mick's appearance. And then she was brushing past, sweeping inside without waiting to be invited. "So who else is here?"

"Just the three of us." Josef's gaze remained transfixed on Mick standing shirtless and collared before him. At least Mick appeared to have the manners to know when to hang back. Waiting until he was certain he would be welcomed, before barging into someone else's residence, invited guest or not. Josef nodded his approval, and ushered Mick inside. And then he was turning his attention toward Coraline, responding to Coraline's own arched brow look of question with a dismissive shrug. "What? I don't like spending Valentine's Day alone. And you never bother unless you think there's a party going on."

Mick stifled a laugh. The sound coming out as a half choked snort of merriment, quickly turning to humbled silence, as Coraline stood by and shot daggers. And then they were following Josef's lead, through a series of winding corridors, toward an entertainment area at the back of the house. Mick couldn't help but note how maze like Josef's residence seemed. He imagined Coraline trying to storm out, radiating disapproval, only to find herself lost amidst the twists and turns.

This time, Mick kept his amusement quiet.

"So, Mick. Tell me," Josef's fingers brushed against Mick's own, lingering. A glass of fresh poured blood pressed into Mick's open hand, "What are you into?"

"What am I into?" Mick looked as if he didn't quite understand the question.

"Yes, what are you into?" Josef repeated, as he gestured towards Mick's current state of dress, or lack thereof. "How do you like to play? What gets you off?"

"What gets me off?" Again the same confused look. Josef wondered if Mick was planning to stand there, and parrot back to him all night. He could almost see the thought processes clicking, and whirring inside Mick's head like a mechanical process. And then Mick was mentally crossing his fingers, and stammering out what he hoped was a suitable response. "I…I don't really know. Never thought about it to be honest. Nothing in particular, just…different things, a mixture, you know? "

Mick tried to offer a nonchalant shrug. As if he knew what he was talking about, and had decided to adopt a laissez faire attitude towards the planned events of the night.

Josef saw straight through the facade.

The press of a button, words spoken curtly into an intercom positioned above a light switch next to the doorway. Orders given. And then Josef was choosing from a number of shirts presented to him by the servant that had answered his call.

"Here," Josef handed his selection to Mick, and gestured toward the collar around Mick's throat, "take that off, and put this on. Whatever you're into, you're not into this."

Mick accepted the proffered shirt from Josef's hand, his relief almost as palpable as his surprise. Were it not for Coraline standing watch, Mick felt certain he could have kissed the man standing before him. Out of sheer gratitude.

"You can thank me some other time," Josef grinned, and then chortled with amusement at Mick's deer caught in the headlights expression

"Like how about now?" Coraline stepped in. Pretending to fuss over her husband, as she pouted, and fluttered, and cooed seduction. "You can do that can't you, baby? Just like we spoke about? Just like you said you would? Be our plaything for the evening, remember?"

"I'm not…"

This time it was Josef's turn to interject. "And what makes you think I want to play with you, Coraline," he open stance challenged, before flopping elegantly onto the black leather Sofa behind. Arms rested behind his head, and legs kicked out in front. "I seem to recall last time we tried that, things didn't go too well. Unless of course I missed the part where our consort for the evening consented to being tortured to death."

Josef watched as Mick visibly flinched at those words. He had the distinct impression that Mick couldn't always abide Coraline's level of cruelty either. Anymore than most Vampires could.

And then realization dawned. "So what did he do?" Josef gestured towards Mick, "step in one night, and put a stop to your idea of 'fun'. Is that why he's being punished?"

"Something like that." Quick off the mark, Coraline tried to hide her annoyance. Forcing a smile she took a seat perched on the edge of the armchair opposite. Her body turned slightly to one side, legs and arms carefully positioned in a siren's pose.

She was playing the feminine wiles card to the hilt, confident in her ability to woo most men. Josef had seen it all before. Maybe at one time Coraline's primping, and posing might have had an effect, but not now. He raised a singular, dismissive eyebrow, and then snorted his contempt. Managing to look both perturbed, and disaffected in the same expression.

Coraline's own expression turned to ice. And then she was listening to the sound of Mick trying to suppress his regalement at the scene unfolding in front of him, and failing miserably as he broke into strangled guffaws. A fist pressed desperately against his mouth to try and cover the sound.

"Well," Coraline stood up, and brushed a disdainful hand along the front of her dress, "I can see the two of you are getting along famously. There's really not much point my staying, is there?"

It was a rhetorical question. Coraline was already gathering up her coat, and bag.

"Coraline, wait." Mick's first instinct was to go after her. Apologise; make sure he still had a home to return to by the end of the night. A hand encircling his wrist, held him back.

"Leave it, she'll calm down eventually."

Maybe Josef was right. He had known Coraline longer. Reluctantly, Mick backed down.

"Drink?" Josef offered casually, as he gestured towards an armchair, and invited Mick to sit down.

"Please," Mick nodded his acceptance. "Bourbon, straight, no ice."

Josef tittered at Mick's almost fey politeness when asking for such a stereotypically masculine drink.

"Here." Mick's request was poured, and held out for him to take. Josef's smile threatening to break into a fully-fledged grin, as he extended his hand toward Mick.

"Thanks."

For several moments, neither one spoke further. Mick, still reluctant, sipped regretfully at his drink. He wondered whether he should have gone after Coraline in hindsight. Josef's own gaze fixated on Mick's, studying the clarity of Mick's expression. The man was like a book, open for him to read at will.

And then Mick was breaking the silence. Brow furrowed in contemplation as he drew breath to speak.

"So why didn't you just force me?"

"I'm sorry, I don't…"

"…Back there, with Coraline. I was supposed to be your toy for the night. Why'd you let me off the hook? Your stronger than I am, it's not like I could have resisted."

"And where's the fun in that, Mick." Josef snorted a wry laugh, and arched a bemused eyebrow in Mick's general direction, watching as Mick shifted from his chair down to the floor.

"I don't know." Mick shrugged as he cupped his chin in one hand, and looked up at Josef still seated in front of him. Legs swung back and forth, bent at the knee.

…All he needed was a stick of bubblegum, and a pair of bobby socks.

"I mean if you've got the power to just be able to take whatever you want…"

"…Why wouldn't you?"

Mick's teeth worked a distracted line along his bottom lip, his forehead still lined with contemplation. "Yeah, exactly, why wouldn't you?"

"Because there's no finesse, and no challenge in applying brute force to everything." Josef affected a nonchalant expression, and pretended to inspect his fingernails. And then he was smiling down at Mick. His gaze lock focused with Mick's own. "Contrary to what you've been lead to believe, it's always so much better when they consent."

Josef chuckled as he took a clear swipe at Coraline. Not bothering to hide the fact that, 'Yes he did think she was an inferior teacher, and even less of a Sire'. Mick was caught between wanting to defend his wife, and agreeing with Josef's unspoken assessment.

Josef sat watch for a few moments; studying Mick sprawled out in front of him. Noting the way Mick tugged, and picked distractedly at the threads, and balls of lint, on the rug beneath. Trying in vain to cover his emotions, despite the fact that he might as well have been made of glass. Josef could see straight through him.

"Mick." Josef decided to test something then. Catching Mick's attention he snap hand beckoned Mick over to his side. "Come here."

To Josef's complete non-surprise, Mick did as he was told. Crawling catlike across the floor to kneel obediently at Josef's feet.

"She does have you well trained. I'll give her that much at least." Josef arched a knowing eyebrow, and grinned. As he scruffed his fingers through Mick's hair, and pretended to award him like a faithful puppy. "Good boy."

"Cut that out," Mick batted Josef's hand away, and glared at him, defiant. "I'm not your dog. I'm not Coraline's either."

Voice and expression couched in indignation, Mick made a contemptuous sound at the back of his throat, and then stood up to walk away. He hadn't managed more than two steps when Josef called out to him again. Josef's voice, low, and commanding, halted Mick in his tracks.

Josef waited until Mick had turned to face him. Mick's prior confidence having vanished with the knowledge that he could be so easily commanded. Most of the time he obeyed Coraline out of self-preservation. Josef posed no threat to him. None that Mick knew of at least. Mick had no need to be so obliging.

And yet he had done so anyway…

"I'm sorry," Josef shifted tactics then. His own expression couched in contrition, as he gestured for Mick to rejoin him. "I didn't mean to offend you. Will you come back here, please?"

Mick hesitated, and then nodded his assent. Shifting back towards Josef, he stood alongside, and awaited instruction.

"Kneel down next to me," Josef's hand tugged at the sleeve of Mick's shirt. "Put your head in my lap."

Again Mick did as he was told, still not quite certain why he had apparently decided to obey Josef without question. In that moment, Mick suspected Josef probably could have gotten him to do almost anything. If only he asked politely enough. The thought both excited, and bothered him.

Seeking a distraction, Mick's hands went to the button, and zipper on Josef's pants. It wasn't as if he were unfamiliar with the act. Coraline had introduced him to the idea. She liked to watch him perform, on the occasions they managed to snare some male prey.

"I didn't tell you to do that." Josef growled his disapproval. His hands snap locked around Mick's wrists, holding Mick back. And then he was caressing a reassuring finger along the side of Mick's face, and cupping Mick's chin with his hand, bidding Mick look at him. "Trust me, if I want you to do that, Mick, I'll ask."

"Ok." Mick tried to affect a confident smile, as he nodded his understanding, and rested his head on Josef's lap. The hitch in his voice, and the continuous tremors that ran along Mick's spine, ensured that Josef saw straight through Mick's act.

"You're shaking." Josef remarked as he if were noting something of passing interest, smoothing Mick's hair with a casual hand.

Mick closed his eyes, and tried to relax into the sensation. It was nice, almost comforting in a way. "Am I?"

"Yes, you are." Josef passed another hand over the top of Mick's head, fingers brushing along Mick's scalp this time. He was hoping to goad Mick into a response. One that would give him the 'in' he was looking for. It was all a matter of strategy.

"Might have something to do with the fact that you're making me nervous." Mick snorted an apprehensive laugh, and then lowered his voice; as if he feared Josef might actually hear his next question.

Close, so close…

"Are you trying to seduce me?"

…Bingo.

"I don't know Mick, am I?" Josef arched a singular eyebrow, and then gripped Mick's face either side with his hands. Fingers digging into the join of Mick's jaw, Josef drew Mick's face towards his. "Is it working?"

"Yeah," pretend confidence gave way to admittance, "it is."

"Good." Josef softened his approach for a moment. A hand moving to the back of Mick's neck, Mick's forehead pressed against Josef's own. Josef's lips brushed against Mick's, the barest of feather touch kisses. And then they were shifting gears once again.

Mick found himself being spun around, pressed face forward onto the cushion of the couch. Wrists locked and spanned, and arms pinned behind his back.

"What the…?"

"Mick, relax. I'll let go if you tell me to. Scouts honor." His breath fanning hot against the side of Mick's face, Josef pressed his lips to Mick's ear and whispered his reassurance.

"Ok then, let go." Mick's response was quick off the mark. He felt Josef release his hold, and then watched as Josef shifted a metre or so away from him.

"What's the matter, Mick," Josef regarded Mick's look of surprise with an arched brow grin, "You don't trust me?"

"Scouts honor, hey?" Mick kept a wary eye on Josef's form, as Josef circled around him, and approached from the other side.

"Something like that." Josef tittered as he shifted back towards Mick. Close enough that he was almost on top of him again now. "Besides, didn't I say it's always better when they consent."

"I thought you said I wasn't into that." Mick raised a questioning eyebrow, and openly challenged, even as he allowed Josef's fingers to intertwine with his own.

"Did I say that did I?" Josef hands moved to grip Mick's biceps, an impish smile playing across his features.

"Yeah, you did." Mick found himself being drawn into an embrace.

"Or maybe," Josef worked his lips, and tongue along the line of Mick's throat, pausing every now and then to nip at the sensitive skin with his fangs, "I just wasn't interested in forcing you into anything." Josef gave a dismissive shrug, and then gently revoked Mick to hold him at arms length. I told you before, there's no finesse, no challenge in taking something by brute force."

And then Josef was drawing back into Mick's space, lips pressed once more against Mick's ear. Whispering.

"Submission should always be a gift, Mick."

"Oh yeah," Mick responded to Josef's allure with a nervous laugh. "Is that what we've been doing is it. I'm 'gifting' you with my submission."

"If you like."

"No, not 'if I like'." Mick scrubbed frustrated fingers across his forehead. He was growing tired of Josef's teasing, wanted the both of them to step up to the plate now. His erection strained painfully against the front of his jeans.

Josef had backed off as soon as it seemed Mick's invite was closed. And then just as fast, he was scenting Mick's arousal on the air around him.

"You won't catch me off guard a second time." Josef was listening to Mick tell him then.

"Oh really," Josef parried his response. "Don't forget, I'm faster than you are, Mick. You build up a lot of speed in three and half centuries. "

"I'll fight."

"I'm stronger. It wouldn't do you any good to struggle."

"Well you'll just have to make sure you tie me up properly then, won't you?"

A split second moment of hesitation, and then Josef was sweeping Mick into his arms, and pressing his lips hard against Mick's own. Growling his approval down Mick's throat, Mick's chest vibrating with the sensation

And then just as rapidly, Josef was breaking away and issuing Mick with a snap toned command to, "Strip."

Mick did as he was told. Peeling away layers of clothing, he regarded Josef with a questioning look, and wondered when Josef was planning to do the same.

"No, not me," Josef shook his head in response to Mick's unspoken query. "Just you."

'Suit yourself." Mick shrugged, and continued to undress.

Once again, Mick found himself pressed face first into the black leather couch behind him. Josef finishing the job of strip Mick naked with his own hands.

"You were saying, Mick?" Josef chortled at Mick's helplessness. Mick's arms locked wrist, and pinned behind his back. And then he was brushing his lips along the side of Mick's face, and whispering a heated reminder, his voice bristling with seductive menace. "Who's in charge here?"

"You are." Barely able to speak above a heightened sense of restless anticipation, Mick felt Josef's hand reach beneath him. Josef's fingers encircled Mick's cock, squeezing along a nerve-wracked length.

"Good," Josef halted his ministrations, and then slowly caressed a hand over the rest of Mick's naked form. His touch light, fingers teasing. Listening to Mick groan in frustration at the loss of contact to his genitals. "Then do I have your consent?"

"I was under the impression I'd already given it to you?" Mick tried to wriggle away from Josef's hold, desperate for stimulation against the cushioned edge of the couch.

Josef held firm. "I want to hear you say it."

"Yes, I consent." Mick's voice was a rushed note of exasperation, his tone just short of falling indignant. "I consent, alright? There I've said it."

"Do you even know what you're consenting to?" Josef cocked his head, and arched a singular, bemused eyebrow in Mick's direction.

"You're not going to hurt me?"

"Only enough to heighten the experience." Josef had been tempted to respond with trademark flippancy. Instead he addressed Mick's question matter of fact.

Mick took a moment to consider Josef's response. "And I get to blow my load?"

"Eventually." Josef chuckled at Mick's use of the vernacular. Mick was always so gentleman polite, the phrase sounded almost foreign on his tongue. "If you behave yourself, and do as you're told. Otherwise…"

Josef left his words hanging unfinished in the air surrounding them, a threat, or a promise, of things to come. Noting with the way Mick had fallen obediently still. Uncertain whether Josef was playing with him or not.

"Oh I'm going to have fun with you," Yet again Josef whispered his beguilement into Mick's ear. And then he was instructing Mick not to move. "I'll be back soon."

Moments later Josef returned, carrying his bag of tricks, as he called it. Keeping Mick's arms pinned behind his back, he shackled, and bound Mick's wrists, and then moved onto Mick's ankles, and throat. Steel bolt manacles, and soft leather encircling both. A length of black velvet passed through all three points, effectively hog tying Mick into position.

Josef stood back and admired his handiwork. Mick wondered what was supposed to happen now. Especially considering Josef had made no attempt to move towards him.

He felt the compression of the springs in the couch as Josef took a seat just next to the spot where his head lay. Still not attempting to place a single digit anywhere near Mick's body. Josef seemed content to do little more than study him like a prize art exhibit.

Caught between arousal, and anticipation Mick's mind began to play tricks. What if Josef were planning to leave him tied up like this all night, what if this were all part of some elaborate plan by Coraline to have him punished for his past transgressions. What if he'd allowed himself to be seduced into a trap?

Mick's heart rate increased. He struggled to control his respiration, forgetting for the moment that he didn't need to breathe. He was right on the edge of falling into full-blown panic, rushing on a flow of adrenalin.

He'd been given a safe word prior. Josef instructing as he had tied Mick up, explaining the use of the word, telling Mick to choose something he wasn't likely to call out in the heat of the moment. Mick wondered if he should use the word now. How would Josef respond? What would he do? The possible reality of the situation weighed in on him, sending Mick spiraling further. It never dawned on him that he could easily break the chains that bound him. Imagination was often a powerful adversary. Mick felt himself captive, and so he was.

And then Josef was answering Mick's questions for him, responding to Mick's need. A hand at the back of Mick's head, fingers entangled in Mick's hair. Mick's head tipped back, focusing his gaze on Josef's own.

"Relax, Mick. Ok? Just relax. I'm not going to hurt you. Use the safe word if this is getting too much." Josef noted the glaze of adrenalin in Mick's eyes, and ran a soothing hand along the length of Mick's spine. Waiting for Mick's levels to drop, before he continued on. "Have you been fucked before?"

Mick shook his head, "No."

"Would you like to be fucked, Mick?" Mick felt Josef trail a casual finger between the cheeks of his arse. That same finger, cold, and wetted with some viscous substance, pressed firm against Mick's hole.

"I don't know, maybe." Mick bit down on his lower lip, and tried to keep from making too much noise, as Josef began to penetrate his space with a singular digit.

"Maybe? What, you don't like what I'm doing to you now?" Josef's voice held a note of wry laughter. And then he was withdrawing to add a second finger, reminding Mick to relax as he did so.

"Yeah, it feels ok, I guess." Mick wasn't sure what he was supposed to say. The sensation was pleasant enough, once he'd moved past the initial discomfort.

Josef crooked his fingers into a downward beckoning motion then, and stroked against Mick's prostate. "How about now?"

Mick felt sparks fly through him. Sensation already heightened from the adrenalin load he had received before, Mick's entire body seemed to hum with an electrical energy. And then Josef repeated the motion turning the voltage up higher.

Josef stopped, and withdrew completely then, as Mick growled his frustration.

"You'll come when I say you can come."

Mick drew breath to protest. His words pre-empted by the sting of a flogger lashed across his unclad buttocks. The resultant flood of endorphins came swift on the end of those leather knotted tails.

"Christ." Mick drew in a sharp breath, anticipating the next blow. Instead Josef merely trailed the ends of the flogger over the expanse of Mick's naked flesh. Caressing, almost sensuous, watching the way Mick's muscles rippled at the sensation.

Every so often Josef would pause, and observe Mick's body tense, and shiver, waiting for the next strike.

Imagination, anticipation; the heightened rush of endorphin riding on the coat tails of adrenalin, all colluded to bring Mick to the very edge of a precipice into another world. Josef was striking him repeatedly now, gentler, building a gradual heat of stinging warmth that faded to a soft glow. Steady rhythms of strike, lift, and repeat fell across Mick's back. The flogger marking time like the beat of drum, or was that a rush of blood to his head that Mick could hear? He wasn't sure anymore. He was close, so close. Another step, one more step, and he'd be…

Flying. Flying into what…?

"Oh no you don't." Josef placed the braided end of the flogger under Mick's chin, directing Mick's attention towards his. "Stay connected. I don't want you slipping into subspace just yet."

"Sub…?"

"…Don't worry about it." Josef waved a dismissive hand before Mick could even complete his question. "You'll find out, eventually. If I choose to take you there, and if you allow yourself to go."

"Riddles, and metaphors," Mick thought, wondering for a moment why it always seemed so difficult to get a straight answer from Josef Kostan. The man hid behind a smokescreen package of riddles, and metaphors, all done up with a length of world weary cynicism.

"No wonder you thought I was boring, and trite."

Mick didn't realise he'd spoken out loud; until he saw the tilted head look of confusion on Josef's face.

"I take it Coraline told you that?" Josef had his hand wrapped around the shaft of Mick's cock again now. Two fingers of his other hand pressed up into Mick's rectum, stroking against that electrical spot.

Mick groaned, and tried to push back against Josef's hand, wanting more stimulation than what he was being given. "She said you told her that I had the heart of a bleeding heart artist, boring and trite."

"And you believed her?" Josef began pumping Mick's cock in earnest, increasing the rhythm of his hand with every passing stroke.

"Yes, Christ. Yes."

Josef chuckled at Mick's response. "Well, what I actually said was, 'you have the soul of a bleeding heart artist, you take simple emotions, and paint them across the night."

Somewhere amidst the haze of his oncoming pleasure, Mick felt touched by those words. He hadn't known Josef thought that highly of him. Or at least Josef had never given any indication of the fact.

Mick's mind drifted for a moment. Thoughts of his friendship with Josef, his strange yet uncomplicated relationship with the man, filtered through the void. And then Mick couldn't think at all, couldn't concentrate on anything save his impending orgasm curling up from the base of his spine.

Once more, Josef stopped all stimulation, and withdrew. Two fingers squeezed firm just below the head of Mick's cock, ensuring that Mick's orgasm was halted in its tracks.

"Fuck." Mick swore this time in frustration. Lips curled back, exposing his canines.

"What did I tell you before, Mick?" Josef tapped a pointed finger against the side of Mick's face, and then picked up the flogger from before. "You'll come when I say you can come." Josef position himself in on the couch just in front of Mick then. Buttons undone, and zipper lowered. His own cock released from its constraints, as he guided Mick's head into his lap. "You can get me off first."

"So why did you let me so seduce you so easily?" Mick heard Josef ask, as he covered Josef's length with his mouth.

Mick waited until he was afforded an opportunity to speak, swapping his oral ministrations for a few strokes of a welcomed hand. "I don't know. Maybe I was just looking for something uncomplicated for once."

"Oh," Josef arched an eyebrow, and then tittered as he ran the tails of the flogger over Mick's back, "and you call this 'uncomplicated'."

"Compared to Coraline? Yeah, it is." Mick returned to stimulating Josef's cock with his lips and tongue. Enjoying the sound of Josef's breath falling ragged, the way he gripped the back of Mick's head, and thrust his hips upwards, trying to force more of himself down Mick's throat. Enjoying the fact that despite the unusual nature of their coupling, none of it felt as difficult, dangerous, and complicated as most things did with Coraline.

Enjoying the fact that with Josef, all this felt easy.

And then Mick had a question of his own.

"Why…?"

Josef halted Mick's words with the braid end of the flogger once again placed under Mick's chin. And then he was nodding his approval for Mick to speak.

"Why me? Why did you try and seduce me in the first place, Josef?"

The question was to be expected. Josef took a moment to consider his response, distracted by Mick's hand still working his length.

"You're always so controlled, withheld. Maybe I just like seeing people like you come apart." Josef halted Mick's attentions, and slipped of the couch to embrace Mick from behind, laying his body along top of Mick's, letting Mick feel the weight of his presence. "Or maybe, just maybe I happen to like you, Mick. Maybe I happen to think you deserve better than what that so called wife of yours is allowing you to have."

Mick didn't know whether to laugh or groan. The two sounds coming out as a strange hybrid mix, as Josef reached underneath him and took hold of his cock once again.

And then Josef was pressing his lips to Mick's ear, and whispering another heated intent.

"I am going to make you come so hard, you'll forget your own name."

Mick's body thrilled to those words. His imagination, already fevered with all that had gone before, conjured up all manner of ideas, and images.

"What about you? I thought you wanted me to…"

"…Ever the gentleman, aren't we," Josef chortled at Mick's consideration. "I've changed my mind. I want to get off with you, not before. Will you let me?"

"Let you what?" Again Mick was finding it difficult to concentrate on anything other than the sensations Josef's hand was drawing from his erection. He wasn't entirely sure what Josef was asking.

"Will you let me fuck you?" Josef repeated his question in its entirety. He had to ask now. Soon it would be too late. Mick would be flying, and English comprehension would have fallen way down the line.

"Yes."

Mick nodded his acceptance, and then repeated his affirmation.

For the next hour they remained locked in a seemingly never-ending dance of promise, and retreat. Josef tapped in completely to the way Mick's body responded to his touch, his every stimulation. Allowing himself to become an extension of Mick's mind. Mick whimpering on the ends of Josef's fingers one moment, and then gasping for breath he didn't need to draw, as he rushed on the tails of the flogger being lashed across his skin the next.

The two of them locked in synchronicity…

It was too much. Mick was almost crazed with need. Josef had kept him balanced on a knife's edge for what had begun to feel like an eternity. He ached for release.

"Josef, please." Somehow Mick found the energy to form his desperation into words.

"Please, what?" Josef was still playing the game, taking an almost wicked delight in hearing Mick's plea.

"Please, will you let me come? I don't know how much more of this I can take."

Mick was close to uttering the safe word; Josef could hear it in the cracked strain sound of Mick's voice.

"Ok," Josef relented then, "the next time you start to slip into sub space, I'll let you go."

I'll let you fall apart…

Seconds ticked by, extending into minutes. Josef continued his alternating patterns of stimulation, manoeuvring Mick towards an unchartered land.

And then the world fell away, and Mick was hurtling into the abyss. Allowed to fall this time, the ground no longer solid beneath. Every sensation, every sense fever pitch honed into a singular point of reference. Cocooned in a world where nothing else existed. Save for the two of them, and the fact that somewhere off in the distant haze, Mick knew he was about to come like a freight train.

So this is what it felt like to fly…

Mick heard the sound of Josef behind him, suit pants, and underwear being hurriedly lowered. Felt the head of Josef's cock pressed against his hole…

…And then Mick was near howling with the force of his climax, barely conscious of the noises that were emanating from his own throat. Those same noises muffled by Josef's wrist pressed against Mick's mouth, offering Mick his flesh to bite into. Pulsations of fluid flooded the fingers of Josef's other hand wrapped firm around Mick's cock. And still he kept up the pace. Bringing Mick over the edge for a second, and third time, as he worked towards his own release.

When it was over, Josef carefully extracted his own fangs from where they had been sunk into the top of Mick's shoulder, and then withdrew from Mick's space. The shackles, and ties that had held Mick in place were released; Josef took Mick into his arms, giving Mick the space, and foundation to reconnect. Mick would need time to process. Josef was willing to give him all the time in the world.

"Fuck, that was…" Mick's first instinct, when he could finally speak, was to try and put voice to his experience. What had it felt like traveling through the vacuum of subspace, coming apart with nothing to hold him together except for the distant knowledge that Josef was there with him?

…Intense. It had felt beyond intense.

Mick felt a sense of emptiness then. A hollow space where something was lost, something he had wanted to hang onto.

He shifted closer, wrapped himself tighter around Josef's solidity. At any given moment he expected Josef to castigate him for his sudden display of neediness.

"Relax, Jimmy Dean," Josef comforted instead, "You're just coming down. First time I came out of subspace, I wept like a baby. Do you have any idea how mortified I was?"

Mick laughed, both at the nickname Josef had seen fit to bestow upon him, and the thought of Josef throwing fits of righteous indignation at the very notion of tears.

And then he felt with it enough to move. Extricating himself from Josef's arms, Mick sat up, and began scanning the room for articles of discarded clothing.

"Don't." Josef stopped him. Focused Mick's attention back towards his as he began to undress. "Stay as you are. I want to fuck you again. Unbound this time."

"Once wasn't enough?" Mick raised a questioning eyebrow, just shy of being facetious.

"Once is never enough." Josef was drawing Mick back into an embrace, lowering the two of them back to the ground fingers mapping the contours of Mick's face. "If you were mine, I think I could be quite content doing nothing but fucking you, Mick."

Josef had spoken with an air of tongue in cheek. Still Mick heard the sincerity behind those words.

If you were mine…

"You should be more careful. You keep up this nice guy, attentive act, and I might just slip, and fall in love with you."

Mick realised he was only half joking. The idea took him by surprise. This hadn't been on his list of 'things to do today'.

Wake up -
Shower –
Get dressed –
Buy Valentine's Day present for Coraline -

…Fall in love with Josef Kostan.

"Big deal," Josef scoffed matter of fact, the line of his mouth drawn into an arched brow grin. "I've already fallen in love with you. Couldn't you tell?"

Mick wasn't given the chance to respond, Josef's mouth covered his own. For the moment any chance of further conversation was silenced with a kiss.

And then Josef was pulling away, ending the kiss. Speaking in earnest, as he held Mick at arms length, and studied Mick's face.

"You're a good man, Mick St John. Granted the Vampire side of things could do with a little work," Josef was quick to laugh, and brush aside those words with a dismissive hand gestured trailed through the air above, "but you deserve to be happy. You deserve to be given the best, afforded every opportunity that immortality brings us."

Mick groaned as Josef shifted back closer. His hand tracing a downward trajectory along Mick's abdomen, fingers curled once more around the shaft of Mick's cock.

He didn't know how to respond to Josef's last words, took a moment to ride a crest of increasing arousal instead. His own hands exploring the planes, and angles of Josef's body, mapping the shade, and contours his flesh.

"So what are your plans for Valentine's Day next year?" Mick managed finally, as he pressed in tight, and hooked one leg over Josef's thigh. Giving Josef room to ride up against him.

"Spending it with you of course." Josef's own response came quick off the mark. "You know how I hate to spend Valentine's Day alone."

And then the two of them were heading toward the abyss once more. Letting the world slip away in a heated thrust of passion. Moving toward a promise of things not yet come to pass...

...Moving in synchronicity.