There was gunfire still going off around them, though now only short bursts compared to the showdown earlier, but Steve ignored it all as he pulled his lover's body into his lap and cradled the back of his head in his hand.
Blood was soaking into the knees of his jeans and the sleeves of his shirt, leaking down Danny's neck from where he'd been shot, and he hunched over him and sobbed into his chest. He held him close and rocked his limp form, and cried for the love he'd lost.
He'd been too late. The man he treasured with all his soul and every inch of his being, and he was dead because Steve couldn't step on the gas pedal quick enough.
He kept whispering his boyfriend's name, over and over like a mantra, as if it would make some difference to the universe; as if the powers that be could see this man was loved too much, decide against taking him and give him back.
"I need you... I love you, Danno... please don't leave me, baby, don't leave me... Please..."
Danny came to with pain streaking through his skull. The rest of his body hurt too, but the overriding agony was in the left side of his head and echoing down his neck. He couldn't quite seem to grasp what had happened, but he knew he was lying on a cold, hard floor, and there was a lot of shouting and banging going on around him.
His torso was off the ground, resting on someone's knees which were under his upper back, and strong warm arms were wrapped tightly around him. Steve.
The taller man's hand supported the back of the cop's aching head, and his face was buried against his chest. And he was crying, sobbing into his shirt, whispering words Danny couldn't quite hear.
He tried to open his eyes, spikes of hot pain lanced through his head, and he groaned from the throbbing discomfort.
Steve felt vibrations reverberate through Danny's chest before the pained moan exited the man's lips, and the ex-con stopped breathing as relief flooded his body and made him feel light-headed.
He lifted his head from where his forehead was pressed into his lover's chest and his other hand moved from gripping his side to gently slipping across Danny's cheek.
"Baby? Danny?!" The pain and worry in his voice were palpable, but the blonde still couldn't find the power to peel his eyelids open.
The detective hummed in response and lifted his hand, feeling weak and uncoordinated, but even with his eyes still closed he managed to find and trail his fingers through the ex-con's hair, fingers shaky with the effort. He barely had the strength to hold his arm off the ground, but Steve was suddenly taking his wrist and kissing his hand, pressing the palm to his lips and letting sobs wrack his body.
"Oh god, Danny, baby I thought you were dead. Fuck fuck, oh Danno..." He laid the cop's hand on his stomach and went back to stroking his face, holding his head the whole time. "God, I thought I'd lost you!"
"Nah 'm not dead..." Danny mumbled, "Jus' headache..." He wasn't entirely sure what had happened, didn't care right now, he just wanted to sleep.
"Danno, can you open your eyes for me? Can you look at me please?" Steve's voice came from far away, the pleading tone tugging him back to the consciousness which was trying to leave him. There was so much ache and discomfort, sleeping would be so much better, but Steve sounded scared and he didn't want that. He'd stay if that's what Steve wanted.
He tried to pry his eyelids open again, but agony stabbed at his brain the moment light filtered through, so he screwed them shut and groaned again. "No, don' wanna..."
Steve hadn't even noticed the fighting had stopped until Meka and Kono were suddenly by his side, their hands going to Danny and checking him over. Chin was a few feet away, calling for an ambulance, and Kono was cradling her arm to her stomach, but she was more concerned with her boss than her own injury. HPD officers were gathering bad guys, the restrained and the walking wounded, for processing, but none of the four friends cared anymore as all their eyes were on their fallen comrade.
"Holy fuck, bruh..." Meka was examining the side of his partner's head, "Do even know how lucky you are?"
The blonde just winced, the idea of being lucky when he felt this awful was just a foreign concept.
"It looks like the bullet grazed you... there's a lot of blood 'cause it's a scalp wound, but you are one fortunate god damn son of a bitch, you know that?" He kissed his friend firmly on his forehead, "You stupid fucker..."
"You have a funny way of showin' y'love me..." The Five-0 leader smirked weakly and reached up to pat Hanamoa's shoulder.
"You know I fucking love you, idiot. But next time don't give up your cover to come get me or I'll shoot you myself!" He laughed, but his voice was strained, and the native man looked up to meet Steve's eyes, worried that the downed detective still hadn't opened his own eyes.
Chin knelt next to Kono and squeezed Danny's leg before taking his cousin's arm gently and examining it. "Ambulances are on their way, CSU are gonna do a sweep of the place and collect all the evidence... they're gonna take you three to Tripler and any wounded perps to Queen's Medical so you don't mix..."
"Three?" Steve finally tore his gaze away from Danny's face and looked at the older Hawaiian man, confused, "Who else is hurt?"
The three members of Five-0 stared at him for a moment. Eventually Kono spoke.
"Um, bruh? You're bleeding too..." She gestured with her unhurt hand to the side of his face, and the mechanic put his hand to his head and drew in a sharp breath when he touched the lump forming there. Dried blood covered his cheek. He was also beginning to register the stinging in his left upper back, just under the shoulder blade, and remembered the burning sensation as he ran across the warehouse.
He was pretty sure he'd been grazed too, stupidly running through a gun fight to get to his man. It turned out that maybe he didn't do a whole lot of thinking when it came to his lover, but he probably should have worked that out around sixteen months ago.
"Oh, I crashed the car..." he remembered. He'd been too wrapped up in getting to his boyfriend, thinking he'd lost him, he hadn't even considered himself.
"You crashed m'car?" Danny muttered, finally forcing his eyes open. Steve was hurt and he needed to make sure he was alright. He took in the bruised and sorry sight that was his lover. "You 'kay?" he asked him, taking his hand where it lay on his chest.
Steve nodded, but his breath hitched when he saw that one of the blonde's pupils was dilated and the other wasn't. He looked at Chin, who had spotted it too.
"Where the fuck are the medics?" he hissed.
"I'll go find out," the native cop was up on his feet and heading for the door before he had finished his sentence.
Steve looked back down at his boyfriend. "Danny, baby, I need you to keep talking to me, okay?"
"Somethin's wrong, isn' it..." The detective's eyes slipped closed again. They'd barely noticed his slurred speech, putting it down to blood loss, but it was now more apparent.
"Open your eyes, D, c'mon," Meka patted his right cheek gently.
"Tired..." was the only response they got, aside from an uncoordinated swat at his partner's hand, before the hand went to join the other one over his lover's warm hand on his chest.
"Boss, c'mon, talk to us," Kalakau squeezed his leg again.
Danny was trying to focus on their words, but his grasp on conciousness was slipping through his fingers like sand. That look on Steve's face had told him something wasn't right with him, and lord knows he could feel it... he was nauseous and dizzy, and he couldn't hold onto thoughts as they danced through his head and left as quickly as they came.
He could hear his friends, Meka and Kono, asking him to stay awake, but it was his boyfriend's pleas that he clung to for longest; his voice was solid and almost tangible, like he could wrap it around him, but the desperation and worried edge to it stung. He didn't want Steve to be afraid like this, but he just couldn't keep himself from falling away...
"Danny, baby, open your eyes. Come on, yell at me, I wrecked your car. Yell at me, c'mon..." Steve was desperate to see those blue eyes again, but the man in his arms went limp again, his hands now loose against the brunette's. "Baby?"
The medics arrived with Chin at their backs, and they began to check Danny over, moving Kono and Meka out of the way. Then the unconscious man was lifted from Steve's lap and strapped onto a back board, paramedics shining lights into his eyes and putting in IV drips.
Steve tried to follow them as they wheeled Danny out to a waiting ambulance, but they needed the space to work on and stabilise him, so he was told he couldn't go in that ambulance.
He felt numb, pulled apart inside, as his boyfriend was once again taken from his sight. His head was fuzzy, and really beginning to thump now that he was up on his feet, and he felt his chest tightening with fear. Danny's pupils had been uneven, and he didn't need to be a doctor to know that wasn't good. Head trauma, loss of blood, slurring his speech...
He bent over, placing his hand on his knees and trying to catch his breath. His pulse was thundering through his ears and a wave of dizziness washed over him.
"Steve, hey c'mere bud," Chin's hands were slipping over his shoulders and pulling him upright, leading him to sit on the tailgate of an ambulance. "Just breathe. He's gonna be okay, Steve, this is Danny we're talking about."
The brunette scrubbed at his face and focused on drawing oxygen into his lungs while the Hawaiian man rubbed large circles on his back. He still hadn't seen the damage to his boyfriend himself, only going by what Meka had said. The bullet hadn't penetrated Danny's skull, but he knew that even the force of a graze like that could still fracture bone and do damage.
His lover had been disconnected, his only moment of clarity being when he wanted to make sure Steve was okay. That gorgeous idiot, just wanting to take care of his boyfriend and not caring about himself... but then they were birds of a feather, because that's exactly what Steve had done.
Paramedics took Chin's place, helping Steve onto the seat in the ambulance and loading Kono in after him. They helped him control his breathing and put an IV in his arm to keep him hydrated, and he let them fuss over him, his mind constantly on the man he loved and how much he couldn't bare to be without him.
"He'll be okay, bruh," Kono's voice drifted over to him.
"People keep saying that," he replied, refusing to meet her gaze, voice hoarse and quiet, "but I won't believe it until I see it for myself..."
The young woman leaned forward and squeezed his knee with her good hand, her brown eyes telling him they'd be there for him whatever happened, and he couldn't help the tears stinging at his eyes.
"I can't live without him, Kono..." It was barely above a whisper, and brought tears to the Hawaiian woman's eyes as well.
"You won't have to. I know it," she said as firmly as she could, "he'll be alright."
The medics secured them both and readied the vehicle to leave, and Meka appeared at the back doors. "We'll see you at Tripler," he gave them a hopeful smile and closed the back doors.
But Steve was finding it hard to find that hope right now.
"You're so pretty..."
Steve jerked awake at the soft Jersey accent, eyes focusing on the man lying in the bed. He looked so pale, bruises covering half his face and down his arms where about a dozen needles pierced his skin. He knew the purple and brown marks were all over his body, but the rest of him was hidden by hospital gown and sheets.
But the blue-grey eyes that gazed at him under droopy lids were the only colour he saw.
He lifted his head from where it had been resting on his folded arms on the bed side.
"Hey," he whispered, running his arm over a clear area of Danny's arm, "when did you wake up?"
He'd been camped out in the chair next to Danny's bed since the moment his boyfriend had come out of surgery. He'd only allowed himself to get checked over because he couldn't physically be in the operating theatre to keep an eye on his lover, but he'd got a clean bill of health and discharged himself as soon as he could. It had been fourteen hours since Danny had been shot, eight since he'd come out of theatre, and Steve and the team had been there for every single minute.
"Jus' now," he smiled sloppily, "What drugs did they give me 'cause they're amazing..."
Steve laughed softly and pushed the blonde's hair which was sticking out from under the head bandage out of his face. "You're on a lot of pain killers, baby... do you remember what happened?"
"You... I... did someone say they crashed my car?" Danny mumbled blearily. Flashes of memory were coming back to him, little snippets on information, though his brain was slow to process them due to the drug-induced haze that had settled over him, muffling the world.
"Yeah, that was me, sorry..." Steve gave him a guilty smile, "but that's not why you're in here."
Worry zipped through Danny's chest and he checked his boyfriend over visually, eyes settling on the stitches in the side of his forehead now that he could see better. He raised his arm and stroked a thumb over the rough dressing, noting how the split in the skin almost reached the top of Steve's already-present scar which stretched from the corner of his eye to his jaw. That had been one of the first things he'd noticed about his new bunk mate the day they'd met in prison.
"Are you okay?" He asked, and Steve's eyes widened.
"Hey, I'm fine. D'ya wanna focus on you for a bit? After all, you're the one in the hospital bed and I'm the one sitting next to it, so I think it's safe to say you got it worse than me." The brunette took the detective's hand in both of his, taking it to lay back on the bed and squeeze, figuring it might be best not to mention the stitched up bullet wound on his back quite yet; the less stress for Danny the better. "The doctors said I should get you to tell me if you remember why you're in hospital."
Danny nodded stiffly and screwed his eyes shut to concentrate. He could see a warehouse, Steve with a gun which he shouldn't have but looking so happy because he was helping, the feeling of pride at his boyfriend for being so calm and collected under pressure during the whole operation, and he'd seen Meka and his partner was in trouble, so he'd gone to help, and then Alana...
"That fucker shot me..." he grumbled, and opened his eyes again to look at Steve, who appeared distressed at the memory, but also glad to see Danny could recall what had happened. "Fucking Kai shot me!"
"Hey, don't get yourself worked up baby," the mechanic shushed him and rubbed soothing circles into his wrist, "Kai got his comeuppance; he's in traction at Queen's and, from what I've been told, he's in a lot of pain..."
Danny smirked a little, but then turned a suspicious gaze on Steve. "What did you do to him?"
The brunette had the conscience to look a little guilty. "Well, now we're getting back to what happened to the Camaro..."
The cop choked out a laugh and regretted it only slightly when when pain spiked through his head. "You hit him with a car? Jesus, Steve, that's some kind of karmic justice going on right there..." he snickered and winced, and his lover put a hand to his cheek.
"I know, I thought it was kinda poetic..." His smile was weak, and Danny squeezed at his fingers.
"Is everyone else okay?" He was almost afraid to ask, but Steve didn't seem one hundred per cent okay, and it had the blonde worried.
He nodded. "Yeah, everyone's fine. Kono's wrist got broken, and everyone has bumps and bruises, but we didn't lose anyone..." Steve was finding it hard to meet his lover's gaze, because all he could think about was how he'd felt when he'd seen Danny go down.
He wasn't sure if he would have been able to survive life without his man by his side... maybe that made him weak, but he didn't care. If he'd lost Danny, then for all he cared the entire world could have crumbled away, because he was his sunshine. And no one can live without the sun.
"Well I'm a bit fuzzy, but from what I can tell I'm still in one piece... you wanna tell me what's going through that pretty head of yours?" The Jersey man gave his boyfriend a gentle lopsided smile when he eventually looked up at him. His hazel eyes were haunted, and it made the detective squeeze his fingers tighter. "Hey, talk to me..."
"I was too late, Danno. I almost lost you because I didn't react quick enough..." The ex-con looked down at their interwoven hands and sighed, "I failed you, and I almost lost you because of it."
"I'm sorry, but you'll have to remind me when it was exactly that you failed me... was it when I got myself kidnapped and used as leverage against you? Was it when they almost exposed our op and you convinced them that I was your long con?" Danny tugged his hand from in between Steve's and pulled his chin up so he would look him in the eyes again. "Or maybe it was when you put Kai in his place and made him practically piss his pants? Or was it when you got me another gun during the fight, and then ran over the man who tried to kill me? I can't quite remember, so you might have to fill me in..."
The brunette nodded slowly. "Okay, I see your point..."
"Do you? Because I'm pretty certain you saved my life in that warehouse, babe. And don't you ever think you didn't do your very best, or that it was your fault I got shot. Because that is bullshit."
Even lying in his hospital bed covered in bruises, recovering from surgery to his skull, Danny was still making him feel better.
He smiled softly, nodding again. "Listen, you need to rest now. But we're here to keep an eye on you." At the blonde's confused look, he gestured out to the room.
Danny finally took in his full surroundings; his team, his ohana, fast asleep and taking up his entire hospital room. Kono, arm in a cast and sling, stretched out on the visitors' couch with her head on Chin's thigh. The older man was sprawled in an upright position, feet up on a chair and head lolling back on a pillow which had been tucked behind his head, most likely by his cousin. And Meka using two chairs like a makeshift bed, head leaning on the wall and drooling on his shoulder.
The Jersey man smiled warmly. "Isn't it past visiting hours?"
Steve grinned. "The nurses said we had to leave, and Meka threatened to arrest them if they tried to throw us out again... looks like your task force holds a lot of sway around here, because the hospital got a call from the Governor to say we could stay, and they had to look after us."
The detective smiled and closed his eyes, settling back into his pillows. "I always liked that guy," he squeezed Steve's hand again.
The ex-con smiled, and then he remembered something. "You, uh... you think I'm pretty?" he teased his lover.
"Huh?" The blonde creased his brow, but kept his eyes closed.
Steve smirked. "You said I'm pretty... twice. You must be high..."
Danny opened one eye and smiled. "I would love to blame the painkillers, but it'd be a lie. With those eyelashes? GQ stunning, babe."
And then he was asleep again.
The brunette smiled lovingly at his boyfriend, and settled his head back down on Danny's hand to get some more rest himself.
"You think you're ready to catch a wave, Gracie?" Steve sat astride his surfboard, legs in the water, watching as his boyfriend's daughter perfected her board balancing skills on the calm ocean.
"I think so, Uncle Steve... but there aren't any..." She looked mildly disappointed, but she had enjoyed herself immensely having alone time with her favourite uncle (she'd asked Steve not to tell Meka and Chin about that) and the sad expression didn't last for long when the ex-con reached out to wobble her board and make her giggle.
"No, well I did teach Danno how to read the surfing forecasts, and I thought he'd got it. But he said today would be a great surf day, and there's not a swell in sight..." Steve was pretty sure he was on to his lover's game. No waves equals no proper surfing, no proper surfing equals no panicking father sitting on the beach convinced his little girl was going to drown...
Steve knew that Danny trusted him to look after Grace, there was no way he'd have let them go this far out otherwise, but the sabotage would have consequences. He smiled to himself slyly.
"Come on Grace Face, let's go find your dad and try to get him in the ocean, huh?"
They paddled back to shore, finding Danny lying on his towel in his swim shorts and baking in the hot sun. Steve speared his board into the sand with a thunk, casting the shadow directly over his boyfriend, who viewed him with mild amusement.
"Hey Aquaman, you bring my daughter back alive?" He smiled up at him.
As if in answer, Grace jammed her smaller board into the beach in a good impression of her Uncle, blocking more of the sun from her dad, and sticking her hands on her hips to match Steve's stance. The blonde couldn't believe how adorable that looked, and wondered if Steve even realised how much Grace idolised him.
"That's it, Danny, try and act like you weren't watching us like a hawk the entire time we were out there," the mechanic grinned, and jerked his thumb back towards the water. "We're going for a relaxing swim. Care to join us?"
The detective shook his head and sat up, brushing sand from his towel, only to have more creep its way onto it from the movement. "Nah, swimming and relaxing don't go together for me."
Steve knew about WMDs, he'd heard about them all the time in the news; nuclear arsenals and H bombs, missiles that could take out entire cities... but he'd never truly understood the phrase 'weapons of mass destruction' until he'd witnessed Grace's puppy dog eyes. And her father was currently the target of a full artillery barrage.
He watched as his bad ass cop lover crumbled under the weight of those huge chocolate brown puddles.
"Oh, Jeez... okay then, just for a bit..."
The taller man reached out a hand and helped the Jersey native to his feet. "It'll be fun... you remember what fun is, right Danno?"
The detective smacked him lightly in the ribs as they headed down to the water's edge. "Hush your mouth. I'm only doing this to wash the sand off me... stuff gets everywhere..."
Steve's response was to wiggle his eyebrows, and Danny gave him a disgusted look and tried to hide his grin.
The brunette watched his boyfriend as he strode into the lazy, low waves and splashed at his daughter in the ocean, lifting her up and dropping her into the water, moving out just to the point where his feet couldn't tough the ocean floor, but no further. It had taken a month or so, but the bruising on his body from being beaten by Wo Fat's men had faded into distant memory, and the only physical evidence of the whole encounter appeared to be a long scar from the bullet which had almost cost him his life.
It started high at the side of Danny's head, way too close to his temple for Steve's liking, and stretched back to disappear into his hairline. The way the blonde styled his hair back meant that the average man on the street couldn't see it, but the ex-con knew it was there; he felt it every time he ran his hands through his lover's soft locks, which was often, and it made him feel queasy every time he saw it. But it reminded him just how lucky the man had been that Kai wasn't a perfect shot... how lucky they'd all been.
Danny could have died, the team would have lost their friend and leader, Grace would have lost her daddy... and Steve would have lost the love of his life...
The non-physical effects were a different matter; the cop had woken from nightmares a couple of times since the incident, though they seemed to have more to do with being locked in the claustrophobic trunk of his car than actually being shot. Steve had been there to calm him and hold him close while his pulse returned to normal, but the bad dreams had begun to dwindle now.
As it was, the small fracture in the detective's skull was healing nicely, thanks to the small metal plate which had been inserted during the surgery. And the time he'd been given off work to rest and recuperate meant that he got to have a bit more fun with Grace, and a lot more fun with his lover.
Steve had been pretty busy though, getting the garage back on its feet after the previous owner was jailed for a good portion of his pitiful existence. Not just the car theft ring, but collusion to kidnap and murder an officer of the law and involvement in Wo Fat's operations had put Alana in a very bad position. With his injuries, he'd be in the hospital wing of Halawa for quite a while before going into general population, and Steve was almost sorry that Danny had cleaned up the prison so that vulnerable inmates were protected... the guy just didn't deserve that in his opinion.
Wo Fat had gone to a maximum security facility to rot, and his shoulder wasn't going to be the same again thanks to Kono's bullet cracking bone. He still needed to thank her properly for her timely intervention.
But he was busier now, and running a garage was not easy, but it was worth it. More money, and being able to decide his own hours once everything was in place, he could see a definite bright future. His plan was to take the only good thing Kai had done and expand on it; he would be taking ex-cons, fresh from prison, and giving them a new start in life. And every single part of the operation would be one hundred per cent legal.
But right now, in the present, he was also intent on making the best of everything. So he was wading into the water after his boyfriend and his daughter, and he was going to teach the man he loved a lesson about messing with Grace's surfing schedule...
Danny wasn't a great fan of sun, sea and sand; something that everyone else on the planet, especially this island, seemed to adore. When he'd first moved to Hawaii, he'd wanted nothing more than go back home to New Jersey, where the Christmases actually had snow and the summers were cool, and tsunamis were never something he'd had to consider.
But he was finding it hard to see the downside of the beach today though, with his boyfriend and his daughter having a great time and big smiles plastering their faces. He splashed at Grace and tickled her, letting the water cool his skin after being in the sun for so long. He wasn't about to admit it, but he had been spending most of the last two hours at the edge of the lapping ocean, keeping a keen eye on the two of them. It wasn't that he didn't believe Steve would be able to get them out of trouble if they found themselves in it, he'd more than proved he was capable of fast thinking, but he just knew he had a lot to lose; getting shot had been a bit of a wake up call for him about how fleeting life could be.
His little girl gave him a hopeful look. "Do you think we can go for shave ice after our swim?"
"I don't see why not, Gracie... what d'you think, Steve?" He turned smiling to his lover, but the man was no where to be seen. "Steve?"
He heard his daughter laugh as she continued treading water a few feet away. "Uh ohhh..." she giggled ominously. Then she started humming the Jaws theme tune, and the blonde only had a few seconds to wonder where a nine year old had gathered a concept of that film before a hand wrapped around his ankle and he let out an embarrassing yelp as he was pulled under the water.
He flailed for a moment as his body tried to work out which way was up, and then it didn't really matter because warm lips were pressed over his, arms slipping around him, and he relaxed into his lover's embrace. The kiss was gentle, but hot, and the salty taste of the ocean that leaked into his mouth when Steve pushed his tongue in between his lips just added an extra little element to it as their bodies pressed together.
Damn this gorgeous man and his sneak attacks. Danny simultaneously hated them and never wanted them to end.
They ended the kiss reluctantly, mainly because they needed oxygen to live, and Steve's hand looped around his wrist to tug him back to the surface.
He broke into the open air and gasped it in, Grace giggling at their suddenly reappearance, and he couldn't help the blush that crept up his neck. He threw a light punch at his boyfriend, catching him in the shoulder.
The brunette just grinned at him. "Sorry sweetie, did you ask me something?"
Danny's brain hadn't quite restarted yet, so he opened his mouth and closed it again, unable to quite remember anything before that kiss.
"Can we go for shave ice, Uncle Steve?" His daughter saved him by chiming in.
"I can do one better than that, Gracie. How about we try out Kamekona's new shrimp truck, huh? I'll buy us all lunch..." He smiled that heart-thumping smile at the blonde.
'Proud' was a word Danny had used often when talking about his boyfriend to other people, but he'd always thought it didn't quite cover his breadth of feeling for the man. Once the detective was out of hospital, and Steve had been satisfied with his recovery, he'd taken the opportunity to own the garage with barely a pause. His aims were high, his plans for the place ambitious, and it would be challenging... but this was Steve, so he knew he'd keep going until he succeeded.
His lover was unbelievable, and the man was just beginning to realise his own potential. His determination, combined with his intelligence and heart, constantly amazed the Jersey man. To think that a month ago he'd been sitting in Danny's car, telling him that he'd felt he was unable to contribute... well, he'd proven himself wrong with a vengeance.
So yeah, 'proud' didn't even cover it. Because that right there was the man he was determined to spend the rest of his life with. And wow, that was an intense emotion right there... before he could over-analyse that thought, however, Steve was continuing.
"We'll go eat, but only after the Animal Planet documentary, of course..."
Grace gave him a curious look. "Documentary?"
"Yeah, you know," a toothy grin spread across his face, and Danny immediately knew the man was up to no good, "When Sharks Attack!"
He ducked back under the water and Grace let out a sound that was halfway between a giggle and a scream as she suddenly disappeared from view.
Danny laughed and shook his head. "Menace..." he muttered. Then a big hand snaked around his ankle again and he managed "Oh for fu-" before he was pulled under once more.
"Why is there a rhinoceros in our driveway?"
Steve looked up to see his lover entering through the front door. He'd been planning to leap on him the moment he arrived home after his first full day back at work, because he knew he'd be frustrated from being locked into desk duty for the next four weeks, but he was a little thrown by the odd question.
"Huh?"
"That humongous blue monster in our front yard, where did it come from?" Danny dropped his badge on the table and started checking his phone for messages.
The brunette grinned. "Oh, my Silverado? Perks of running your own garage..." He stood up and walked over to his boyfriend who was engrossed in his cellphone, slinging his hips a little.
"Trust you to pick a beast to drive... suits you to a tee." Danny glanced up to see that the mechanic had silently snuck up on him, and he had a dark and dangerous look in his eyes. He backed into the wall as Steve advanced on him, and a tingle ran down his spine.
"I've been thinking about you all day, Danny," he purred, pressing the whole length of his body up against the blonde's and taking his phone from his hand to drop it on the table top.
"I uh..." The cop was finding it hard to speak as his boyfriend towered over him, "Yeah?"
"Mm hm, and so I came home a little early because I wanted to arrange something a bit special for you..." Steve dipped his mouth to find Danny's earlobe and take it in between his teeth.
The detective made a small whimpering noise and tilted his head to give the ex-con better access as he nipped his way down the exposed artery in his neck.
"Bedroom, now." Steve's voice was low and hot, and full of promises that made the hairs on the back of the Jersey man's neck stand to attention, as well as certain parts of his anatomy.
"I think that would probably be a good idea, yes..." he whispered hoarsely.
His hand was taken, and he was practically dragged through the house, managing to kick his shoes off as they went. When they got into the bedroom he was pleasantly surprised by what he found; hanging from the outer bars of the headboard were two pairs of black padded handcuffs, and on the table was a bottle of mango-flavoured lube along with the usual bottle.
Steve turned him around so his back was to the bed, his hand came up to curl around Danny's throat and the blonde closed his eyes at the growl that left his lover's mouth.
"Strip for me, let me see you..."
He shivered under the brunette's penetrating gaze, and began to undo the buttons of his shirt and slide his tie out from under the collar. Once his chest was exposed, Steve ran his free hand over the hair, pinching at his nipples, while the other hand remained firmly wrapped around the detective's neck.
He slipped the shirt from his shoulders and undid his fly, and soon all of his clothes were pooled at his feet. Steve looked him up and down possessively and licked his lips.
"Get on the bed."
Danny dutifully sat on the mattress and moved himself to the position he guessed his boyfriend wanted him in, leaning up against the headboard with the pillows at his back, and his arms outspread.
Steve shucked his own clothing and crawled over his lover, planting a kiss on his chest and then on his lips. He straddled the cop's hips and leaned over to first click his left wrist into place in the cuffs, and then the right, and he gasped when the blonde took advantage of their current position by leaning forward and taking the head of the mechanic's cock into his mouth. It hadn't necessarily been the plan, but he wasn't going to complain.
Danny flicked his tongue around the helmet and into the slit at the tip to taste his lover. This was a flavour he would never get tired of. When the brunette moaned and slid his hands into the back of his hair, the detective smiled around his dick, and sucked it into his mouth further, pressing his tongue to the underside and eliciting more groans.
Steve looked down on him under heavy eyelashes. "Fuck Danny, your mouth... so hot for me, so wet..."
He met his gaze and hummed around him, making him shiver with the sensation and the intimacy.
The ex-con trailed his fingers along Danny's outstretched arms and pushed forward into his mouth, his cock sliding easily towards the back of his throat. He withdrew to allow his boyfriend to breathe, and then moved forward again. The Jersey man relaxed his muscles and took him right back, deep throating him.
"Oh fucking hell..." Steve moaned and threw his head back. He gripped at the blonde's hair and began thrusting in and out of his mouth carefully, deepening the lunges each time until his lover's nose was buried in the curls at his base. He held there for a moment before he pulled back out completely, ensuring Danny could breathe and if he was okay to continue. "You okay, baby?"
The detective grinned up at him and tugged on the cuffs. "Oh I'm more than okay," he whispered, and Steve felt like he might come just listening to that rough, raw voice. Then Danny was licking around the tip of his cock again, and he shuddered wantonly.
He stroked the side of the cop's face as his talented tongue lathered him with attention. "Shit, how is it that you always manage to- ah fuck yes -throw me off? I had other- ohhh -other plans..."
Danny pulled back off him with a pop. "Oh yeah? Like what?" He was excited, he wasn't going to lie. Being with Steve was always a wild ride, a rollercoaster where the twists and turns never stopped, but that was on a normal day. Today he'd gone to extra lengths to arrange something, which had the blonde intrigued.
The wolfish grin he got in answer sent a tremor of anticipation down his spine. The brunette backed away and off the bed.
"Well I went looking for something fun for us to do, and I thought about the ropes maybe? So I went into the wardrobe to find them..." he walked to the cupboard and opened it as he spoke, and the cop watched him with interest, "and then I found this box..."
Danny gulped as his boyfriend pulled out a shoebox from the bottom of the wardrobe and waved it at him.
"Okay, I have to explain that," he rushed out and pulled a little against the bonds on his wrists, "I uh, well there was a whole year while you were still in prison, Steve... and I was never with anyone else, but-"
He was cut short as the ex-con laughed and took a vibrator out of the box. It was a black latex affair, a decent size but slightly smaller than Steve, with a subtle curved shape and three vibration settings activated by buttons on the bulge at the base. He'd used it a few times while his lover was serving out his shortened sentence, because hey, he was only human.
"Well I guess I can't blame you, we all have needs right?" His smirk made Danny go a little red.
"I'm sorry, Steve..." He looked at his feet.
The mechanic walked to the bed and crawled up it, still holding the toy on his hand, coming to rest with his legs spanning Danny's knees. He leaned forward and cupped the detective's chin, making him look up. "Hey, baby, don't apologise! And don't be so embarrassed... I'm only sorry you didn't tell me earlier..."
The sultry tinge to his voice as he said those words caused Danny to close his eyes and moan softly. Soft lips pressed to his, and the kiss started slowly and then became dirty as Steve began to claim his mouth, tasting the remnants of himself there.
Danny felt the vibrator rest against his chest, and then it was slowly trailed down over his body, skating over his stomach and down his thigh, over his balls, and he whimpered against his lover's cheek as the man continued to bite at his lips and suck on his tongue.
The ex-con reached for both bottles of lube, and moved his knees in between Danny's legs. The Jersey native spread his thighs apart and hitched his knees up so his boyfriend had full access, and they finally broke apart so the brunette could admire everything he had to play with and lick his lips.
He smoothed the flavoured lube onto Danny's cock first, giving it a tentative flick with his tongue and drawing a sigh from the cop. Then he coated his fingers with the unflavoured stuff, leaning forward to kiss his lover again, letting him sample the hint of fruit on his tongue as he slid a finger inside him.
He didn't take long to prep after the previous night, and Steve soon had three fingers pumping in and out of Danny, opening him up while he invaded his mouth and nipped at his earlobe and throat with sharp teeth.
Then he picked up the toy and slicked it up, and the blonde couldn't help but stare as his boyfriend rubbed lube onto the shaft of the vibrator. He'd never thought Steve would want to do this; maybe due to a territorial thing or as a matter of pride, but he figured the man wouldn't want anything giving his conquest pleasure other than himself. But maybe that's why he was okay with this, enjoying it in fact, because he was still in control, and he was still the one supplying the sensations.
He skimmed over Danny's entrance with the smooth tip, dipping inside him slightly before withdrawing, tempting and teasing him.
"Steve..." The cop whined and pushed his hips up as the brunette once again removed the toy without going anywhere near deep enough.
"What's that, baby? You want me to fuck you with this?" His hazel eyes had an evil glint to them, as he was intent on drawing this out for Danny, to make it all the more delicious when he finally came.
"Mmm god, Steve, please..." The blonde writhed under him, "Don't tease me like this, it's not fair..."
"Oh, I think it's an established fact that I don't play fair, Daniel..." The mechanic smiled slyly at him, but finally pushed the dildo all the way in nonetheless.
The way Danny shouted out, closing his eyes and biting his lip, was just fantastic to watch. God he was beautiful, and he was all Steve's...
He kept watching the detective's face as he reached down to thumb the button for the vibrator, and the Jersey man gasped and jerked a little as it switched on. Low vibrations coursed through his body, and he lay his head back against the pillows and moaned. The sensation wasn't quite enough to build his orgasm, but it was extremely pleasurable and stimulated his prostate enough to let a warm feeling fill his lower body and tickle at his brain.
"Ohh fuck..." he managed, and then "Oh fuck!" as Steve's mouth closed around the head of his cock.
The brunette began to work him with his mouth, enjoying the taste of the lube and the light tingling that travelled through his lover's body and into his lips. He pressed his tongue up to the underside of the cop's dick and bobbed his head on him, grazing his teeth along the shaft on each retreat and loving the salacious sounds it tore from his man.
"Oh Jesus... Steve..."
He toyed with him until he writhed and whimpered under his ministrations, cleaning every drop of fruity lube from his cock, knowing the stimulation would keep him at a low level of arousal but not take him to the edge yet.
"Fuck, Steve babe, I need-"
"I decide what you need and when," the ex-con interrupted as he lifted his mouth off his boyfriend, "and you don't get to come just yet, baby. I'll get you there, but not yet..."
Danny whined like he was being tortured, but he kept his mouth shut and behaved. Steve had done similar things before, and when he'd bitched about it the man had just drawn it out for longer until he felt like he was going to pass out from the raw need for release. The orgasm had been fucking fantastic, but he didn't think he could wait that long today.
Steve crawled up his body and kissed him again, nipping at his lips, before getting into his original position. He smothered his dick with mango lube and swiped a finger across Danny's lower lip. The blonde caught it between his teeth and met the taller man's heated gaze while he took the digit into his mouth and sucked it clean.
"Oh god, look at you... so fucking hungry for me... you want me to fuck your mouth again, Danny? You want me to give it to you?" Steve stroked his cock and bit his lip as those ice blue eyes held nothing but lust and desperation.
"God yes, I want your cock Steve..." he whispered, and then obediently opened his mouth, waiting.
And if that wasn't the most perfect sight the mechanic had ever seen...
He slid his erection in between the Jersey native's lips, and he lapped at him hungrily, once again employing his wicked tongue to effect his own form of torture on his captor.
As a reward, Steve reached down behind him and pressed the button for the next setting on the vibrator. The resultant reaction from his boyfriend almost had him coming right there and then, as he pushed forward on his dick and moaned around him while his whole body undulated between his thighs.
He had to pull out, backing up to replace his cock in Danny's mouth with his tongue, the mango tinged with the flavour of his precum.
"Oh baby, I am gonna fuck you so hard..." he hissed against the detective's ear, before kissing down his neck and nibbling over his pulse point.
He used his tongue and teeth on every inch of the man's torso, until the cop was wriggling and bucking under him, on the edge of a building orgasm but unable to find the pull to take him over the edge. Then the vibrator was suddenly removed and Danny cried out at the loss of stimulation.
"Oh fucking hell, Steven!" He tore his eyes open in time to see his lover, strong shoulders and tattooed biceps flexing, pushing the vibrator into his own ass, having prepped himself earlier. He threw his head back and moaned seductively. He was so beautiful. "Oh my god," Danny whispered, if only to himself.
Those dark eyes fell on his again, and he could see the ravenous beast lurking behind them as Steve hoisted his legs up and wasted no time in gliding his cock into Danny's waiting hole.
"Oh Jesus!" Danny yelled at the stretch and wrapped his legs around the ex-con's waist, pulling him completely inside.
Steve growled and reached back, flicking the toy up to level three, and practically howled at the need to pound into his boyfriend, the vibrations travelling straight through him and into the blonde below him. Their frenzied gasps and moans filled the room, mixing together and combining exquisitely, muscles straining and fingers digging into flesh and handcuffs alike.
They had both been held back for so long, burning tension and basic carnal need coiling inside them into a tightly wound spring, that it only took a few powerful thrusts from Steve to take them both to completion.
Danny screamed his lover's name and pulled on his cuffs as a protracted shudder wracked his body and he came hard, long pearly spurts of cum spilling over his abs and chest.
The feeling of his boyfriend squeezing around his cock in waves tore Steve's orgasm from him, the vibrator seeming to increase the power of his climax, and he jerked into Danny again as he released his load deep inside him and cried out.
When he had enough sense to, he reached back and switched off the dildo, taking it out of himself and dropping it to the bed, before letting himself fall to the side and curl into his panting lover. They took a few minutes to recover, having to concentrate on regulating their breathing and stilling their twitching muscles.
Danny was the first to speak. "Jesus fucking Christ..."
Steve chuckled. "I can definitely see why you used that thing..." He gestured to the vibrator on the bed.
"Oh, it was never that good!" The blonde laughed, "Because seriously... wow..."
The mechanic leaned up on his elbows and kissed the detective. "Mmm you liked it, huh?"
"Oh god yeah, babe... I mean, I don't think I'd ever have asked for it, I don't know if maybe you'd feel... insulted or something?" He shrugged as best he could with his wrists still bound to the bedhead, "I dunno, it can be a sensitive thing..."
Steve snorted. "Oh, you think I'd feel threatened by a sex toy? I think I'm a bit more qualified at getting you off than that thing..."
"Oh god yes, I forgot I even had it! The real thing is much better..." He leaned forward to kiss the brunette, but the taller man backed away with a grin and climbed off the bed. "Aw come on, I was being nice!"
Steve's grin widened. "I think I'm gonna go find something to eat, maybe order take out?" He headed for the door.
"Oh no you don't, come back and unlock me!" Danny glowed at him. "Don't you dare!"
But the mechanic was already leaving the room. "Now where's that pizza menu..."
"Steve! Steven!" The cop yelled after his lover. "I swear to god, you won't get any more sex if you don't let me go! Steven!"
The ex-con reappeared with a paper bag in his hand. "You're just giving me more reason to leave you tied up, you know... This way I can have you whenever I like..." He climbed back onto the bed and thew his leg astride Danny's hips, opening the bag and taking out a mini coco puff, sliding it between his boyfriend's lips. He'd bought them earlier on his way home from work, knowing his man's love for them.
The detective happily accepted the sweet treat and swallowed the cream down, but jerked on the cuffs again. "Mmm... feed me the pastry equivalent of cocaine all you like, I will use the safe word if I have to."
Steve finished his own rich delicacy and put his grumpy face on. "Aw, we've never had to use it..." he mumbled, like he was trying to keep some 'personal best' record going.
Danny opened his mouth. "Pineap-" and the word was promptly muffled by another coco puff.
"It doesn't count, you didn't say it!" Steve laughed and kissed his boyfriend, getting cream all over his own lips, but he conceded his position of power with a sigh and got the keys from the drawer to open the cuffs. "Fine, fine..."
When he was finally free, Danny grasped his lover's arms and wrestled him down to the mattress to sprawl out and lie on top of him, before seeking out the paper bag and popping another pastry in his mouth and moaning blissfully as he ate it.
"So, what was that about pizza?" He grinned.
"Oh my god, you've just had dessert! You're not normal..." Steve laughed, eating another mini pastry himself.
Danny licked the sugar off his lips before he could, and used his earlier words against him. "Oh, I think it's an established fact that I don't do normal, Steven..."