"Would you like any dessert or coffee to end your meal?" The older server efficiently gathered up their plates and cutlery, pausing to hear their reply.
John looked up, interested, but before he could say anything, Sherlock waved the server away. "Non, merci. Just the bill."
Seeing John's irked expression, Sherlock chuckled, reaching over to cover John's hand with his own. "I have another place in mind for our dessert." He pulled out his phone, glancing quickly at the time.
"Oh really?" It was quite intriguing, seeing Sherlock in date mode. When booking the trip, they had agreed to make plans for alternating days.
This was their first whole day here, in Quebec City. It had been dark when they arrived the night before, so they didn't get to see much then.
The five hour time zone difference had them waking up early, and they met in the main floor breakfast room. Sherlock already was at a table reading the paper, drinking coffee and eating a croissant spread with jam. John fetched some fruit and toast from the buffet, and they ate like they usually did at home. Deep in their newspapers, making occasional comments to each other. The only major difference being Sherlock reading a newspaper in French with apparent ease.
Their hotel was in the Old City, with the majestic Chateau Frontenac perched high above the cobbled streets. They wandered, enjoying the crisp fall air, and the freedom to drift around in their explorations. For lunch, they bought local food at the Old Port Market, and sat down by the waterfront, watching the boats as they ate.
Sherlock directed them away from the funicular with a scoff, and they took the steep 'Breakneck' stairs up the 200 feet to the upper part of the Old City. He explained the historic battles between England and France over the area as they wandered along the well preserved fortress. John was impressed with his research. Felt flattered by it, and hoped the outings he had planned were as enjoyable.
After paying the bill, Sherlock took John's hand as they left the restaurant. It still felt exciting when he did that. It still felt new. "I've noticed that you like chocolate." Sherlock snuck a glance at John, his lips in a small smirk.
John chuckled. He loved it, but now that he was in his mid-forties, he tried to limit his intake of it. "Oh no. What do you have in mind?" He looked around at the businesses nearby, but his French wasn't strong enough to make sense of their signage.
Tugging his hand, Sherlock pulled him into a business. The couple glasses of wine John had with supper had him in a relaxed mood, and he simply let Sherlock lead. He spoke rapid French to a few of the staff, and John was surprised to find himself soon sitting on a high stool, in a cooking class.
A slim man with a chef's white jacket with a black bib apron started the class, getting the other couples to settle down on their stools. He was friendly, and seemed professional as he held up various ingredients and pieces of equipment. There was one problem though.
John leaned in close to whisper in Sherlock's ear. "Um, I can't understand this. My French isn't good enough, Sherlock."
The tall berk gave him 'The Look', as John had dubbed it. The look that said he couldn't conceive that other people didn't possess his easy knowledge and comprehension of certain things. That they weren't fluent in a dozen languages.
It made John feel bad. Maybe he should have reminded Sherlock of his limited French when they were booking the holiday, but he assumed they would be sticking to doing touristy things where English would be common enough. He didn't want to screw up their night, after such a good day together, the first day of their trip.
Sherlock leaned in close to John. "Then I will translate for you." His voice was a low whisper, and it sent a shiver of awareness through John. He'd always had a weakness for Sherlock's voice.
For the rest of the class, Sherlock leaned in, whispering his translations to John. The class was hands on, and John found he managed quite well, working with Sherlock. He had better cooking skills, and they both watched the instructor closely.
The class was making four different chocolate desserts, all rich and decadent. John couldn't resist licking his finger when some dark chocolate got on it when he was dipping an éclair. Sherlock caught him doing it, his eyes riveted on John's mouth. Feeling daring, John dipped his finger into the chocolate to get some more, but before he could stick it back in his mouth, Sherlock grabbed his hand.
John's heart pounded as Sherlock drew his hand to his mouth, holding John's gaze as his tongue flicked out and ran up the side of John's finger. He let out a little gasp when Sherlock took his fingertip into his mouth, sucking and circling his tongue over it in a way that was blatantly sexual.
"Revenir à la cuisine, étudiants." Get back to cooking, students. A sharp order near them broke the spell, and they jumped apart, fumbling with their tasks. The instructor continued on, checking on the next couple's progress.
John gave Sherlock a sheepish look, and Sherlock made a silly face of defiance at the instructor's back. It was completely like they had been caught passing notes in middle school, and it made John chuckle. He tried to suppress it, but the gleam of amusement in Sherlock's green eyes set him off. He had to excuse himself and leave the classroom before he burst out laughing.
In the corridor, he found the men's room, and went inside. After using the facilities and washing his hands, he had settled back down. Back in the corridor, he saw Sherlock waiting for him.
"Did they kick you out of the class for misbehaving?" John teased.
Rolling his eyes, Sherlock stepped closer, looking down at John with real affection. "No, I just wanted to make sure you were OK. Is this class alright for you? If you are bored, we can leave."
"No way!" John wrapped his arms around Sherlock's waist and leaned in for a kiss. "Our brownies and chocolate lava cake are still baking, and I want to see how they turn out. Plus, didn't the instructor say we get to eat everything we make?"
Sherlock seemed relieved, and put his hands on John's shoulders as they went back into the classroom. The instructor gave them a friendly smile, obviously not really bothered by their behaviour in this informal class.
They finished the rest of the cooking, Sherlock translating as they went. Working closely, they were often nudging against each other, and that, combined with Sherlock's whispers, had John very aware of him.
Moving to a large dining room, they sat around the table with the other students, admiring each other's work.
"Your lava cake turned out so well." A twenty-something blonde said beside John. Her cake wasn't oozing out thick chocolate from the centre.
John gave her a friendly look back. "But your éclairs look more flakey. I'm not good at pastry."
He turned back to his own plate, scooping up another forkful of the dark chocolate cake. It had turned out the best, and looked quite impressive. He closed his eyes, enjoying the contrast of the warm, crisp outer layer of the cake and the liquid chocolate centre.
"Should we take these desserts back to the hotel so you can savour them in private?" Sherlock chuckled. "You seem to be enjoying them a little too much."
John gave him a flirty look back as he sucked his fork clean. "Hmmm...is there such a thing as enjoying something too much?"
It was fun, having all this time together. Time to relax and enjoy their banter, their closeness. John was already glad they had decided to take this vacation.
Sherlock seemed to be liking it as well, focussing his attention on John in a very flattering way. He just hoped it would last. Sherlock was prone to moaning 'I'm bored!' like a spoiled ten year old when he didn't get enough mental stimulation.
The taller man gave a naughty smile back. "You know, I'm not sure about that. But I'm willing to do extensive testing if you will assist me."
Flirty Sherlock was very sexy, and hard to resist. And hearing him speaking French all day to the locals had been hot as well. "Um...perhaps we could box these up to take back to the hotel. We could begin testing right away."
It would have been amusing how fast Sherlock jumped out of the chair and was talking to the instructor, gesturing with his hands, if John didn't feel the same urge to be alone with Sherlock. The whole day had been casual touches, and quick, stolen kisses. Quebec City was supposedly not as tolerant of flagrant PDA between men as Montreal or other bigger Canadian cities were.
It was a mild night, and they completed the twenty minute walk back to their hotel in practically half that time. Breathless, they entered Sherlock's room, dropped the boxed desserts on the table, and were kissing as soon as the door was shut.
Every time they kissed like this, it was getting better and better. Sherlock had been out of practice, and John had needed to get over the differences of kissing a man compared to a woman. Before, he was pulled out of the moment when he felt Sherlock's whiskers rubbing over his skin. Now, it just felt right, felt normal. Felt sexy.
Sherlock had picked up the variations of kisses John responded to the most, and he mixed them up. Deep, heavy kisses that had John panting, followed by light, soft ones that had him pressing closer for more.
John steered them over to the bed, settling onto his back with Sherlock over him. This was much better than trying to make out on the sofa, like they had been at home. His hands drifted down from Sherlock's back to his ass, pulling him in closer.
Sherlock groaned against his neck, giving a little shudder at feeling John's hands there. They had stuck to just making out, keeping their clothes on, so far. This was the first time John had touched him below the waist. "John...," he sighed, with a regretful warning tone to it.
Huffing a little, John dropped his hands from Sherlock and shifted up higher on the bed, so his head was on a pillow. "I don't know why you are keeping things to such a slow pace between us. Getting separate rooms? We are on this vacation as a couple."
Sherlock rolled onto his side, propping up on one elbow to look down at John. He loved seeing John like this; rumpled, horny, and irritated that they weren't going further. "John, you are still trying to figure out your feelings about me, and I don't want to muddy the waters by having sex too soon. It could become a 'Friends With Benefits' situation if we did that, and that wouldn't be good for us, long-term."
"I never should have let you buy that Cosmo at the airport." John gave a rueful smile as he looked at his friend. His boyfriend. His partner? What the hell were they now?
"But it had an article about us!" Sherlock laughed back. He looked over at his bedside table. '9 Friends-Turned-Lovers Stories From Real Couples' was in big print on the pink cover of the magazine. He had read the whole thing, cover to cover, during the flight, much to John's dismay.
John put a hand up to stroke over Sherlock's cheek, loving his happy smile. "Well, not about us, but people in similar situations. What advice did you glean from it?"
Leaning in closer, Sherlock kissed along John's neck. "I've been in the friend-zone for you for years. You need time to think of me as a romantic partner. See me in a new way. Being here is good, where things are so much different."
John had to agree with that. Seeing Sherlock speaking French and cooking weren't things he'd seen before. Both had gotten John's attention. That, combined with more frequent touching and sexy whispers, had made John very aware of Sherlock as a man. Aware of how much he wanted to explore the sexual side with him. See if it was still as sexy and arousing when more clothes came off.
Reaching down to Sherlock's top button, John daringly undid it, and felt a tingle of excitement at seeing more of Sherlock's skin. What would it be like to undo all the buttons, have his chest bare, running his hands over it? Kissing over that hot skin, and feeling Sherlock shifting in arousal under him.
He was about to lean in, to kiss that bared patch of new skin, when Sherlock pushed on his shoulder with a chuckle. "Stop it, John." He did the button back up, much to John's disappointment. "I like that you are getting more comfortable with our chemistry. But I want to hold back on sex for a little longer."
"Why?" John knew he sounded a little whiney, but they were adult men, not virgins. Why couldn't they have sex? Lots and lots of sex?
Sherlock sat up, shifting the pillows to lean back against the headboard. He took John's hand, rubbing his thumb back and forth over the back of it. "A bunch of reasons. Like you needing time to adjust to the idea of being with a man. I don't want you freezing up in the middle of things. Like me needing time to adjust to sex with someone I care about. It's been years since I've had sex, and it was always mindless. But with you, even with the little we've done..," Sherlock paused, searching for the word. "It's so personal. Intimate. It's never been like that. Never been with someone I knew so well."
John sat up too, leaning back with a pillow. "Oh." He squeezed Sherlock's hand, silently thanking him for being so open about everything. "I see what you are saying. I think a lot of people start out like that as teenagers, but when they are in a deeper relationship, the sex is more about intimacy than just having an orgasm. For me, I love to focus on my partner, doing things to please them, getting aroused more when I see or hear their responses to what I'm doing. I love seeing them opening up to me like that, letting me see them in such a private, vulnerable state. Sharing the same with them."
Sherlock nodded, looking like he was mulling over John's words carefully. "I want that with you, John. So much. I've had feelings for you for so long." His voice was soft, and his grip tensed on John's hand. "It will be scary to share that with you, but I want it. I only trust you to do it with. You know me, care for me."
John was blinking back tears as he gathered Sherlock close, hugging him tightly. Suddenly, he understood he had to wait for sex with Sherlock until he knew if he had deeper feelings for him. It wouldn't be right to be together that way unless they were equally vulnerable. "I understand. We won't rush it, for both our sakes." They had to honor their friendship, their history, and do this right.
"Plus, I like the idea of you being a little horny and desperate for me. Wanting me." Sherlock pulled back to grin down at John, lightening things up. "I've been hot for you for years. It's only fair if you have to wait a few weeks for me."
John grinned back. "Tease."
Crawling out of bed in a deliberately slinky way, Sherlock put a hand on the wall, jutted out a hip and gave John a smoldering look. "Who me?" He spun away and swung his hips as he walked to the door to open it.
Groaning, John couldn't look away. Suddenly, all his eyes kept falling on were those messy curls, kiss-swollen lips, and the long lines of Sherlock's slim body. He made his way to the door, his pants uncomfortably tight. "You are hard to get, but you'll be worth it in the end."
Sherlock seemed to be looking at John with just as much banked desire. "I feel the same way about you." He kissed him hard, pressing their bodies close, before letting go and pushing him out the door.
Feeling a little dazed, John gave his head a shake and turned to go to his room, right across the hall.
This was going to be the best vacation ever.
XXX
-Disclaimer: I own nothing.
-A/N: Sorry about my posting problems earlier & thanks for reading this chapter, giving the story another try.
-Quebec City: The capital city of the province of Quebec is Quebec City. It's about 2.5 hr drive from Montreal, and one of North America's oldest cities, founded in 1608. The walled Old City is an UNESCO World Heritage Site, and retains an old European influence from its French history. The population is around 800,000 for the metropolitan area, but they get around 5 million guests a year during the summer months and for the famous Winter Carnival celebrated in February since 1894.
-Cooking Class: This is based on a real school that offers 2-3 hour classes on cooking, cocktails or wine tastings that sound fun and delicious. They are in Montreal and Quebec City, and only in French. The chocolate dessert class has a chocolate four ways: Creamy, crispy, crunchy and soft. Chocolate molten cake, White chocolate heart with vanilla crème anglaise, Pecan and pistachio brownies with a 'chocolate mirror', and Dark chocolate éclairs with milk chocolate cereals.
