A massive thank you to PandaPjays, LovelySinner7, somilia,jenfia et kynia, Pixxy. Dust and littlelil1991 for your reviews!
You'll be happy to hear this chapter has upped the rating, probably less happy when you realise I've skipped the real nitty-gritty. Sheer paranoia, that's all; well, that and I just wasn't in the mood. At some point I'll write a "full" version and put it on LJ for you all.
Enrique wolf-whistled as they left. Kai prepared to turn and verbally beat him into submission, only to realise that Ray had thought of it first. He had whirled like a striking snake to grip the doorway of the restaurant and glare inwards and scold in what sounded to Kai like a passable Italian accent;
"Enrico, caro, I'll remember this!" Even in profile, he took Kai's breath away; all strong angles with long, black eyelashes framing fiercely narrowed eyes and a faint, shimmering golden layer of perspiration overlaying his cheeks. Automatically, Kai reached to swipe at his own face; his fingers came away moist. His brain still didn't engage; he had grabbed his shirt with both hands and raised it most of the way to his face to wipe it before remembering that this was an expensive shirt that needed dry-cleaning. Oops.
Enrique's careless, amused answer "Have fun!" drew his attention back upwards. Ray wasn't paying attention to Enrique this time, though, his eyes were firmly fixed on Kai's exposed torso and the look of sheer arousal was unmistakable.
All of a sudden, Kai felt in control again. He uncurled his hands and let the shirt slide slowly back down his stomach, then smoothed away some of the creases with deliberately leisurely strokes.
"Bastard," Ray said with a little huff of laughter and a quick flick of his tongue across his lips. Kai fought the urge to do that hair-tossing thing that he'd trained himself out of a decade ago as he replied,
"Of course." A single step closed the distance between them until their noses were touching and Ray was visibly trembling, his eyes flickering nonstop from Kai's eyes to his mouth and back again. Their bodies were so close together that Kai could feel the heat pulsing off Ray. "So," Kai said softly, "do you have a car, or am I driving?"
Ray stepped back and shook his head, briefly rubbing his face with a loosely clenched hand. "Oh, you fucking control freak bastard," he muttered as if to himself. Kai smirked unrepentantly. Ray pulled a face at him and started fiddling with his hair again. "Yeah, I don't have a car. You drive."
"Fine." Kai turned and started to walk towards his car. That really had been a brilliant parallel park. "Why not?" he asked without looking back. Ray would follow. Kai might have made a fucking fool of himself before, but right now he had Ray by the balls. Almost literally. Would be literal soon, hopefully.
"Why not what?" Ray's footsteps were briefly hurried as Ray caught up with him. Kai elaborated:
"Why don't you have a car?" They reached his car and he checked three out of four pockets before finding the keys. Managed to press the wrong button twice. Maybe he shouldn't be driving? Nah. He'd be fine. It was just nerves, he definitely wasn't tipsy.
"For the reason that I'm not offering to drive instead of you."
"You mean the fact that you're more drunk than I am, or have you just never learned?" Kai teased.
"I am not more drunk than you are," Ray retorted, straightening up hastily from where he'd been leaning against the car. Kai snorted. "But no. It's because it would be much more illegal for me than for you."
"Why? Oh, insurance," Kai answered his own question confidently, so he was annoyed when Ray's grin grew a mischievous edge.
"Well, that and the fact that I've been banned for a year, yeah."
Kai nearly fell off the kerb with shock. Twenty seven and fully aware of how important cars were he might be, but something not too deeply buried still sat up and went "Cool!" at the act of rebellion.
"For what?"
"Um," Ray's hand went back to his hair, "for doing nearly three times the speed limit through two cameras."
Kai rolled his eyes. "Idiot. And stop that, it's annoying." He reached out and pulled Ray's hand away from his hair. Now it was Ray's turn to roll his eyes.
"You sound like my cousin!"
Kai was unperturbed. "I'm sure there are worse people to be compared to."
"You haven't met her yet. Though, actually, I suppose you might tonight, god, hope not, she's perfected the hellish art of cockblocking; I apologise in advance for the fact that she exists - " Ray stopped mid-sentence, but only because Kai had pushed him back against the car door and kissed him quickly but forcefully.
"You can't deny you're drunk," Kai said with a grin. "I mean, you're a motor-mouth even sober, we've established this already -"
"No, I talk a normal amount," Ray protested, much more loudly than was necessary given the space between them could only be measured in millimetres. His hands rested on Kai's hips as if they belonged there. "You're the one who doesn't talk a normal amount." His eyes widened with happy realisation. "And you couldn't get your key to work just now and it only has three buttons!"
"Shut up."
Ray shimmied his hips forwards against Kai in a way that had to be illegal. A shiver ran briefly down Kai's spine and earthed somewhere deep in his abdomen. The movement gave him a solid reminder that Ray was somewhat worse off in that respect. "Make me," Ray said softly.
"Not on a car door, I won't." This messing around outside his car in the twilight when he could be on a soft bed indoors suddenly seemed pointless.
When they were both finally seated in the car, Kai moved to put the key in the ignition. Ray grabbed his wrist.
"Seatbelt." He gestured helpfully at his own securely fastened seatbelt and gave Kai another one of those irritatingly appealing mischievous smiles. They made something inside him go all soft and ... squidgy.
Ok. That word choice was entirely to be blamed on alcohol.
Anyway...
"Seriously?" He hoped his glare suitably conveyed his "Your brother sleeps with goats?" sort of utter disbelief and horror.
"Yes!" Ray met his gaze with that same aggravating self-possession he had shown throughout the evening, even putting the alcohol-glaze aside. "You shouldn't really be driving anyway, so the least you can do is buckle up so if you crash we don't both die!"
"I am not going to fucking crash!" He slapped the steering wheel to emphasise his disgust for the very idea, but nearly leapt out of his skin when the horn blared. "Shit!" He stared at the steering wheel in disbelief, then as the seconds ticked by he stared at it just so he didn't have to meet Ray's eyes. Having to hear his hysterical laughter was more than enough.
He waited for what felt like an indecent amount of time.
"Oh, shut the fuck up!"
That didn't work. Why wasn't he at work? People did what he asked at work.
Strange how he could think of work in this situation and not get the familiar icy feeling in his stomach. Maybe it was the alcohol, or maybe it was the arousal warming it away. Never mind.
He started the engine and pulled away from the kerb. "So, come on then, Mr fucking Hyena, where am I driving to?"
Ten minutes later, Ray leaned forwards in his seat to point. "One more left and if you just park over there ..." He wriggled his free hand between the seatbelt and his neck.
"Bit tight for leaning forwards?" Kai wasn't at all gloating. Not at all.
He caught the rapid movement out of the corner of his eye too late, and swore at the top of his voice as Ray swung at the side of Kai's arm with the edge of his hand, very effectively deadening it. The car swerved violently to the left.
Kai tried to straighten the wheel. He overcorrected and swung out onto the other side of the road. A car honked its horn angrily as it braked and swerved out of its own course. Working on adrenalin, he pulled the car straight again before swinging the car into a messy park at the side of the road and yanking on the handbrake.
"You fuckwit!" He poked his numb arm gingerly. "You were the one who was so worried about crashing! We could have crashed then! Who do you think you are, fucking Jackie Chan?"
"No, I don't think I'm fucking Jackie Chan, I'd rather do Jet Li," Ray said with a completely straight face. Momentarily lost for words, Kai stared at him furiously. Anger bloomed into its familiar spot in his chest and he didn't do anything to stop it because it was better than admitting his racing heart and chilly sweat of fear. That was the closet he had ever come to a crash.
Under Kai's intense look, Ray's poker face crumpled into another overwhelming fit of laughter. Kai expected the reaction to anger him further, but in fact, looking at Ray's red, contorted face and the tears of laughter beginning to glisten at the corners of his creased up eyes actually made the white heat of rage inside him flicker and die down. Then his lips began to curl, and soon he was chuckling and then laughing out loud. It was the sort of racking laughter that had him in the same state as Ray; doubled over with his red face pressed against the steering wheel and gasping for air.
"You're ridiculous," he mumbled when he had recovered his equilibrium.
"Oh, because you're completely and utterly sensible, you mad sourpuss!" Ray retorted, wiping his eyes with the backs of his hands. Rather than bother telling Ray to shut up again, Kai took the much more effective method of leaning over the gearstick and kissing him.
Ray melted into the kiss and strained forwards against the seatbelt. He reached to undo it, but Kai had thought fast and his hand was already covering the button.
"Say 'Seatbelts are a stupid idea'."
Ray's eyes flashed defiance. "No." With what looked like a lot of effort, he sat back and pushed Kai's hand gently aside. "You were the one complaining cars weren't comfortable enough." He unclipped the seatbelt and put his hand on the door handle.
"I didn't say that!"
"No; you didn't need to." Ray grinned and got out, swinging the door back and forth idly as he waited.
All Kai could do was scowl, both at Ray's insubordination and at the way he was treating Kai's car. And then all he could do was get out and follow, and that annoyed him too. He wasn't a follower. He made sure to walk slightly ahead of Ray, even though he didn't know where the hell he was going.
"Good," Ray muttered as if to himself as he fumbled with his house keys, "she's not in." The door swung abruptly open.
"Yes, I am."
Kai looked down at the woman standing in the doorway with her arms folded. Pink hair, pink headband with pink roses on it, tight pink T-shirt with a pink wildcat of some description along the ample bust and even pink jeans. He finally proved to himself that he'd had too much to drink by saying precisely what he was thinking; "Too much pink."
Two identical sets of eyes stared at him with disbelief. Ray started to laugh again but was cut off abruptly.
"You drove here?" Her gaze had shifted to the car keys Kai was swinging absentmindedly from his ring finger. "You drove here?" She stared at them both with a scalpel-sharp look.
Kai tried to see them through her eyes: Ray had an arm around Kai and was leaning against him, his hand pressing high up between Kai's shoulder blades to keep himself looking balanced. His golden eyes were hazy and even the appearance of this strange pink spitfire hadn't knocked the satisfied grin from his face, nor the blood from the erection bumping gently against Kai's hip. Kai knew he was still better off than Ray in both the erection and intoxication departments, but he could tell that his chest and neck were flushed and knew from experience that something in his eyes would look slightly off.
"The pair of you in this state and you drove?" The ferocity of her continued accusation set him on the defensive in a second;
"You know, changing the stress doesn't change the meaning of that sentence." He held her glare steadily. The height difference was helpful in that respect, though it didn't seem to be intimidating her at all. "We're still alive, aren't we?" That comment seemed to infuriate her; her eyes widened further and he swore that her hair bristled.
"Mariah," Ray said in a voice that Kai could only describe as wheedling, "could we have this conversation later? Please?" Kai watched in fascination as the pair of them locked gazes, and wished he had telepathy. Mariah looked utterly furious.
Mariah sighed and stepped away from the doorway a little. Her face was still dark and angry. "We'll talk about this tomorrow, Ray." With what looked like an effort, she forced a surprisingly soft smile onto her face. "Just don't be too noisy." Ray let out a derisive howl that made Kai jump.
"Hypocrite!" Ray proclaimed and walked straight past. Kai noticed briefly how her face now matched the rest of her before switching his attention to Ray, who was dragging him onwards by the wrist.
And then, finally they were in Ray's room, and the second the door closed behind them Ray pressed every inch of himself against Kai. Their lips met again; already Kai felt like he knew them. That didn't mean that their teeth didn't clash every now and again but that was because of the sudden urgency of their movements. They had tested each other's boundaries enough in previous kisses. They had explored - not enough, no, but enough to strip away the last vestige of Kai's nerves and leave only need. So he caught Ray's probing tongue and twirled it and sucked it with his own in a hopefully obvious parallel until Ray let out a gargled moan. The nape of Ray's neck felt like velvet in his two-handed grip, a line of soft hair brushing at his palms as they switched head positions again.
He shivered so violently that he nearly broke the kiss at the sudden feel of Ray's hands pushing inside his trousers and boxers, those long, clever fingers curved over the bare, tingling cheeks and squeezing almost hard enough to hurt. Then Ray pulled towards himself and did that shimmying thing with his hips from earlier so that their erections rubbed together. The sensation was dulled by two pairs of trousers and boxers, but Kai was almost more excited by the sheer reality of it all.
Just like earlier, he found himself marvelling at the sensation overload: the taste of Ray in his mouth (mushroom, but second-hand it didn't seem so bad); the odd times he opened his eyes and saw Ray's handsome face in such an intimate close-up; the moans and sighs they were both making, and the swish of their clothes rubbing together, and the sounds as their mouths constantly refound each other. It hit him yet again that this was real.
He belatedly realised that Ray was struggling with his fly, and reached down to lend a hand and return the favour. Soon their boxers were open too, and the grinding recommenced. The feeling of skin on skin, this particular bit of skin, hot and firm yet so soft, made the steady trickle of arousal into Kai's groin into a lake.
It clearly affected Ray similarly; he gasped and his head slid down to rest loosely on Kai's shoulder. His hips sped up in time with his ragged breathing, thrusting so hard and fast that Kai thought Ray's legs might give way at any second. It seemed the perfect opportunity for Kai to copy Ray's move from earlier, and in doing so cop a good feel while help keep him standing. He reached down with his suddenly free hands and (with a moment's awed hesitation that he would never admit to, ever) took hold of Ray's firm bottom. He had chosen to hold it differently from the way Ray held his, though. Ray's palms were at the top of Kai's rear and his fingertips at the bottom, while Kai was cupping as close to horizontally as their identical heights allowed, fingertips nearly meeting in the middle of the crease.
The violent tremors he could feel running through Ray's flexing thighs and the hot pants of air on his collarbone told him they were nearly equal in the orgasm department. Good. He had chosen this grip for one simple reason: so that he could do this. He squeezed tightly, pulling the cheeks apart and ever so gently touched what lay between with the tip of his middle finger.
Ray moaned something that sounded an awful lot like "You bastard," and pressed his teeth into Kai's shoulder; not biting, just pressing as if to alleviate the impossible pressure build-up. Then orgasm hit, and Kai was the only reason Ray stayed standing. The gargled noise he made and the hot mess that spattered both their bodies made Kai's entire body break out in goose pimples.
It took several seconds for Ray to regain his feet, much to Kai's annoyance. Ok, so annoyance was very, very far down on the list of emotions wheeling through his head right now, but still. Ever tried holding a deadweight the same size as you? Tricky business. So he was pleased for a multitude of reasons when Ray eventually stepped away and gave Kai a hazy-eyed grin. Even more pleased when Ray said in a low voice,
"We're wearing too many clothes."
Kai couldn't help but agree. Facing each other - why couldn't Kai stop smiling? - they stripped off their shirts and detangled their trousers and boxers from around their knees and ankles, and threw the whole stained lot of them carelessly aside.
Kai looked at Ray and forgot to breathe. He was magnificent. Hard ridges of muscle and dark hair and an interesting couple of curved scars all glistened with sweat and begged to be touched. That golden tan was spread completely evenly. (A delicious picture of the naked sunbathing that was no doubt required popped into Kai's head.) Without a shadow of a doubt, he was the most physically perfect man that Kai had ever seen in this much ... detail.
Ray's answering stare sent cold trails of fear across his body; he knew he couldn't match up to Ray's physique. Once upon a time, maybe, but not now. Sedentary job and stress and boredom leading to shit food and no life; he knew that his skin was pasty white and his stomach flat but featureless, and that if this turned into the sort of marathon that his libido was hoping for, his stamina surely wouldn't match Ray's.
(He did beat Ray in one thing, though. That was definitely something to be proud of.)
"C'mon then, vampire," Ray mumbled. He licked his lips (Kai unconsciously copied him) then took Kai's hand and pulled.
They tumbled onto Ray's double bed with its green and gold cover that made Ray's eyes positively glow, and lay for a quiet, wits-gathering second in a warm pile of naked limbs and heaving chests. Then their hands wandered and the real competition began. They began at one all - each had caused the other's orgasm.
Kai did not intend to lose.
It was a pleasant awakening at first. Pleasant was an understatement, in fact. Kai felt so light that he could float, and so contented that all he could do was smile. He was warm and cosy under the covers and he was finally, finally sated. If he had ever felt happier or more relaxed in his life, he couldn't remember the occasion right now. Even the dull ache from some particularly intense love-bites that he was lying on only added to the general feeling of self-satisfaction. He curled on his side like a comma, intending to drift back into a doze.
Then he noticed Ray was missing.
Then the shouting began from just outside the door.
"What were you thinking, Ray?" Oh, it was the pink thing. What was she so worked up about? Ray wasn't replying - if he was there and the small crazy pink thing wasn't just talking to herself, that was. "You really have no idea of safety, do you? You've met this guy, what, twice? And then suddenly you're going out to dinner with him without letting anybody know - "
"Enrique - "
"- and you get in his car without even thinking -"
"I'm not a child!"
"Oh, really? You're not acting like a fucking adult! No way should he have been driving! No way! I know you're more responsible than that normally - you want me to pretend you're a responsible adult when you got yourself so pissed and randy that you didn't care?"
"I told him to put his seatbelt on," Ray protested in a defeated voice. Kai was very, very surprised at how well Ray was taking this shrieking onslaught. He was starting to grind his teeth just listening to it - what right did she have to act like an overbearing mother?
"Oh!" It was almost a scream. "Oh, you told him to put his seatbelt on? He would have driven without it?"
Yes, Kai said to himself, aggrieved, and he had done, too. Hadn't put a seatbelt on in all the ten years he'd been driving, and only had a few cases of whiplash to show for it. He was a good driver! Bet she couldn't parallel park if her life depended on it!
"Just because he doesn't care about his life doesn't mean you need to get killed with him, no matter how gorgeous he is!" She hiccupped and fell silent. Kai pulled a surprised face; was she crying? He sat up and tried to see what was going on through the wide-open door. If he craned his neck, he could just about see their shadows; one big, one small.
"I'm sorry, Kit," Ray said. Their shadows merged in what looked like a hug. She sniffed messily and snapped,
"Nicknames get you nowhere."
"No, really. You're completely right."
"It won't happen again?"
"I promise not. Promise, promise."
"Ok, repeat after me: I will not let my dick overrule my common sense."
"Kitty!"
"What?" Her tone was teasing now, with only a shaky vowel proof of her previous tears. "That's exactly what happened and you know it is, Tig."
Ray sighed. "Ok. Fine."
"Well? I will not ..."
"I will not let my dick overrule my common sense," Ray recited in a monotone. Kai held his mouth shut with his hand and thought of his grandfather to stop himself from laughing like a lunatic.
"Can I have that written in blood?"
"Oh, shut up, Mariah."
She clicked her tongue and took on an affronted tone; "Well, then." Their shadows separated again. "Go away then, Tig. You absolutely stink of man-sex."
Ray chuckled. It had an undertone that sent heat chasing briefly up Kai's spine. "Good." Seconds later, he came through the door, met Kai's eyes and turned bright red.
Kai started laughing under his breath. "It's all right, I don't even know where to start," he reassured Ray.
Ray seemed remarkably unreassured. He hovered by the door, red-faced and twitchy. Kai mentally pulled an annoyed face as he moved positions to a more ... strategic one. He was far more interested in the fact that Ray was only in boxers, love bites out and proud.
"Ok, what was with the nicknames?"
Ray's face went even redder. "Old thing from when people were calling me a cat like I told you before. Mariah decided we'd be called the "right" kind of cat. So she's Wildcat, or Kitty if I'm buttering her up, and I'm Tiger."
"Or Tig," Kai continued, the hilarious truth dawning on him, "short for Tigger." He managed to avoid a laughing fit, but purely because he saw Ray was finally looking in the right direction. He waited patiently, then mentally cheered as that sexy suave grin spread across Ray's face.
"Is that just a normal morning awakening, or are you pleased to see me?"
An enjoyable hour later, Kai was standing in the doorway and putting on his shoes, really slowly. Ray was doing that nervous hovering thing again opposite him, and both of them were trying to blank out Mariah's steadily rising telephone voice from her bedroom. At least, Kai hoped it was her bedroom; the glimpse he had seen walking past to the bathroom had nearly blinded him.
The awkward silence was loud. Kai took momentary stock of his clothes and winced: he had to wear his trousers back to front with the suit jacket around the waist still, although Ray had offered to lend him a pair, and his shirt looked like ... well, like it had been screwed up in a little ball and tossed somewhere carelesly. Funny, that.
"I hate awkward silences," he complained. Anything to break it, right?
Ray snorted with amusement and agreed. "Don't know why it's awkward, anyway. It was fun."
"Yeah, exactly."
"Yeah." More silence. "We've got each other's numbers," Ray pointed out. Kai nodded and patted his pocket where his phone was.
"Definitely."
"Ray!" Mariah called. She sounded hassled. "Stupid monkey's trying again, even though I told him not to!"
"So not the ti-ime!" Ray shouted back, whining like a teenager. Kai laughed.
"You act like she's your mother, you know." He stood on one foot to tighten the laces. He'd already done that twice, so he didn't quite know why he kept doing it.
"Oh, shut up."
"And my life was immeasurably better before I knew of the existence of pink jeans." He swore as Ray pushed him gently with his foot, causing him to overbalance and nearly fall. They were both laughing as he straightened up. Kai looked at Ray's happy face and, on impulse, darted forward to place a light kiss on his lips. "Thanks," he said simply. Ray's expression shifted from happy to surprised to pleased and happy again.
"Anytime." There was a slight questioning intonation in the word, and again Kai's mouth answered before his brain,
"Definitely another time." His mouth was still stuck in this stupid smile, damn it.
Mariah bustled up (there was no other word for it) and glared at them both. "Boys, either stop flirting and seperate, or come back in and lock Ray's door again, but don't just stand there dithering with the door wide open!"
Ray's face was bright red and Kai could feel matching colour creeping up his neck. He hadn't properly realised that was what they were doing.
"Suppose I'd better be going, then. My cat'll hate me for missing two meals." Automatically, he held out his hand. Ray laughed and grabbed it, pulling him into a quick hug.
"Bye, then."
"Bye."
He managed to make it to the car before looking back, opening the door wider than usual as a frankly pathetic cover.
Ray was still standing there.
This smile was starting to hurt his face.
So, as usual, all opinions welcome. I was very sad when last chapter didn't get the average number of reviews - I hope it wasn't substandard to the rest? I thought it might be the wait, hence why I got my head down for this one.
MARIAH! I love her. Soon Kai'll warm to her too.
PLOT! IT REAPPEARED! For about two seconds between the citrus. Immense brownies if you figured it out.
Do let me know if you found this chapter sexy. It was the aim, but I'm always a bit doubtful of myself.
Just to check - people are pro the idea of an LJ post full of Kai/Ray porn? Y/Y? ;)
Thanks for reading,
xIlbx
