A/Note: My thanks also to Bibliophile Nicole for favoriting this story, sorry I missed acknowledging you yesterday.

21. Curious

'John, are you updating the blog? You've been typing and deleting for quite a while.'

'No. I'm just sending a private message to Beth and Lee.'

Sherlock's eyes widened as he looked into his microscope, his back stiffening. Why? He recalled how he had felt as both Beth and Lee were flirting with his John. Well, technically John wasn't his back then. It was especially grating to hear Lee's unctuous passes, daring to touch his thigh. Sherlock himself had never dared to be so bold, and here this absurdly handsome man had just met him and was already pawing him like that.

How could John do this to me, so blatantly like this? I can understand the woman. She is beautiful. But Lee? Well (admitting it rationally), Lee is exceedingly attractive, no doubt about that, but-

'Done. I'm going to have a shower now.' John squeezed Sherlock's shoulder as he walked by.

Sherlock had to read it. As soon as he heard the shower start, he ran to the desk, flipped the laptop open, figured out the passcode in his third try (which certainly did not make him blush) and impatiently made his way into the private messaging in John's profile page. Heart pounding, he read:

"Dear Beth and Lee, I'm writing to thank you for coming to London to meet me."

And drool over you and paw you. And she dared to kiss you! On a first encounter, in public, touching you there, in broad daylight, for the whole café to see.

"Both of you are extremely attractive, and I was very flattered."

Too attractive for their own good. They already have each other, why do they need to take him away from me?

"And I'd be lying if I didn't admit that I was tempted. I thought about it for a long time, I couldn't stop thinking about that day we met."

Sherlock inhaled sharply and his stomach dropped. He wasn't sure he wanted to continue reading. He lowered his head and rubbed his hair. Fists clenched, he raised his head back up - he had to know.

"You were so nice I thought I should send you a note."

He wants to see them again! He remembered John shivering as Lee said "I'll make it good for you, TC. I promise you'll love it." So he's not happy with me. I know it's been difficult for John to adjust. Lee is sexy, sensual, uninhibited, so much more experienced, touching him like an old lover-

"Like I told you, my curiosity was a recent thing. But I'm happy to report that I'm no longer merely curious."

Sherlock's hair raised on the back of his head. Is he really going to boast about bedding me? Was I just "practice" for him?

"I'm currently in a relationship with the most amazing man I've ever met. We've been friends for the past couple of years, and now we learned that we feel the same way for each other. Needless to say, I'll be taking my profile down from the site. It was good to meet you. Best of luck to you, TC."

Sherlock remained frozen, staring at the screen. He felt his cheeks burning all the sudden, that was unexpected. "The most amazing man I've ever met." He let those words roll in his head, revelling in the warmth they gave him. "I'm currently in a relationship with the most amazing man I've ever met." He liked the way it sounded. His heart fluttered, a smile spread wide on his face.

Perhaps it was a weakness, not being able to resist the demands of his transport. Just like in the past, he couldn't resist when John touched him. Yet, this was completely unlike what he once had with Victor. It was much, much more. This time, Sherlock couldn't resist being the one doing the touching as well. He discovered that touch didn't benefit the giver, but the receiver. Intellectually he had known that, obviously. To his hands, what did it matter whether they caressed a hand, an arm, a shoulder? But now, he finally understood its appeal. Now he was experiencing what being the one who gave pleasure was like, and this was just as intoxicating and rewarding as receiving it. He quickly became addicted to extracting little sounds from John. Still, this physical happiness could not compare to what being loved and well, yes, loving gave him. Both aspects were deeply correlated, one enhanced the other, they co-existed and fed off of each other. With John, he had a real relationship. I'm the one in a relationship with the most amazing man I've ever met.

His smile faded just as quickly once he became aware of John standing behind him. Most certainly John would think Sherlock's snooping was "not good". Through his peripheral vision he saw John's hands rest on the table on each side of him. He smelled soap and a wave of humidity surrounded him. Looking down to the side, the hairs on John's arms looked darker as they stuck to his skin. Only wearing a towel, then. Oh.

He felt a puff of air on his nape as John chuckled, 'You could've asked, you know?'

Sherlock felt John's lips touching him lightly, nuzzling slowly up and down as he whispered into his skin. 'I should add, not all my curiosity has been satiated yet.' Goose pimples sprung all over his body. 'Each day I discover new things. What you like. What I like. And there are still many things I'd like to try with you, given time.'

Now John was kissing his nape, moving slowly to the side of his neck. Closing his eyes, Sherlock smiled and exhaled breathlessly, a feeble moan escaping from his lips.

'In fact, there's something I want to try tonight...,' John whispered into his ear, a pleasant tickling feeling Sherlock never got tired of.

Perhaps giving his transport control was not such a bad thing, after all.

Sherlock shuddered and surrendered.

J+S

A/Notes: Now that the story is over I'll have to figure out what to do with myself (maybe get into this Christmas thing?). :)

Originally I had set myself a challenge to write a "real case", i.e., no gay couples targeted so John and Sherlock had to pretend to be together (guilty, I've done that too). A young woman found dead behind locked doors. Then, Beth and Lee just showed up. I did write a second date in a hotel room with Sherlock and the Yard listening in in an earlier draft. John had requested for no Donovan or Anderson, he was too embarrassed and trepidatious to bear it. Lestrade was embarrassed, Sherlock was jealous (obviously), an older sergeant was disgusted and a young (male) sergeant was hot and bothered. But then I thought "BORING, it has been done before". So sorry, no threesome attempted smut for you. I'll leave it up to you guys to imagine it. I'm sure you can picture the "different combinations". ;)

I hope the case was convincing. In ealier drafts there was no mystery; it was so easy that even a blindfolded Anderson would've solved it (:D - no, I'm being mean, he's probably a very capable forensics specialist, just belligerent because he's not like Sherlock). I wanted more adventure, but it didn't get as wild as I had hoped. Please let me know how I did.

Now I have to start nag- ahem, asking my beta to edit the next story waiting in line. At least they still come out faster than Sherlock's seasons! Lol.

Thank you again for reading, reviewing, following, favoriting. These are the highest compliments to me. And my thanks to TheCauldron for taking the time to review almost every chapter, plus messaging me and making me laugh. I'm not into Harry Potter fanfiction, but she has one story with more than a thousand favorites, so it's gotta be a good one. I'll be checking it out. Maybe you should too. Happy shipping!

BJ