Sanzo spent the next workday catching up on his neglected paperwork and chasing some kids scrawling graffiti in back of the library. Captain Bosatsu thanked him for his presence of mind during the storm near the end of the fair, and he muttered something noncommittal in response.
He attended Goku's softball games when they didn't conflict with work. At the team's end-of-season banquet, Goku collected the trophy for the most valuable player and made sure that Nat took a picture of the two of them. Goku was beaming, and despite not quite smiling, Sanzo managed to look proud.
Hakkai didn't call until nearly a month later, after school was finished for the year. Without any contact, it had proved easy for Sanzo to avoid thinking about him, so by the time he called, Sanzo had written him off.
Goku was the one who answered the phone, and told Hakkai that Sanzo was home before Sanzo realized who had called.
"What do you want?" Sanzo growled when he grabbed the phone. He glared at Goku, who was hovering nearby, shamelessly eavesdropping.
Hakkai, unruffled by the hostility, calmly responded, "To invite you over for dinner. How's Saturday?"
I don't hear a peep out of you for over a month, and you expect me to be grateful for a fucking dinner invitation? But as soon as the thought flashed through his mind, Sanzo pushed it away. It wasn't as though he couldn't have followed up on the information he had, like the name of the party rental company. He'd left it up to Hakkai to contact him as a test of his interest.
"I'll get back to you. I have to check my schedule," Sanzo said. "What's your number?" If Hakkai wouldn't give it to him, that meant he was just jerking him around.
Hakkai hesitated. Sanzo was perversely pleased at being right. Hakkai was only interested in making a fool—
"Please don't give this out to anyone else. It's an unlisted number."
"Uh huh." Sanzo grabbed a pen.
Hakkai began rattling off numbers without further argument, and Sanzo scribbled them down in the margin of a newspaper that was lying on the counter.
As soon as Sanzo hung up, Goku, who had been bouncing on the balls of his feet during the entire conversation, burst out, "What'd he say?"
"Calm down. Do you have anything going on Saturday night?"
"This Saturday? Uh, no, not at the moment. Why? Did he ask you out?"
Sanzo rolled his eyes. "He invited me to his place for dinner."
"Cool!" Goku crowed. "I was beginning to think he'd lost interest. You can be a pain, you know," he said, wagging a finger at Sanzo.
Sanzo had deflected Goku's questions about their dinner with vague, evasive answers. He hadn't mentioned how forward Hakkai was, his use of qigong to banish Sanzo's headache, or the kiss.
Goku continued, "You should definitely go for it. Ever since you left the NYPD, you've stopped spending time with anyone your own age. I know you want to make sure I stay out of trouble, but you need to get out more and have friends of your own."
The only response Goku received was a decidedly noncommittal, "Hmm." The kid didn't know how daunting the thought of putting himself out there was in the aftermath of his departure from the NYPD. After Koh had chosen protecting his father the dirty cop over professional integrity, Sanzo decided that a clean break was the best course of action. Things were just easier that way.
Koh had wanted to keep in touch, despite his father's opinion that he was better off without "that traitor to the brotherhood" as his partner and friend (and occasional lover), but Sanzo refused to pick up when he called and only sporadically responded to e-mails. It had gotten to the point where Koh hardly ever contacted him anymore.
Sanzo didn't know what to make of Hakkai's invitation or whether to accept, but Goku wouldn't oblige him with a ready-made excuse, and making a well-reasoned decision required more self-examination than he was willing to engage in at the moment.
Instead, he grumbled, "Don't you have something to do?" at Goku, grabbed the newspaper with Hakkai's number on it, took the handset into his bedroom, and shut the door. He stared blankly at the buttons on the phone before focusing on the numbers and punching them in.
The phone rang four times before someone picked up. "Hello?" asked the voice on the other end of the line.
"Hakkai?"
"Nah, this is Gojyo. It's Sanzo, right? Hang on a minute."
He heard the sounds of the phone being muffled and Gojyo telling Hakkai, "It's that blond dude." He hated being reduced to his looks. Hakkai said, "Thank you, Gojyo," and then picked up.
"Hello," Hakkai said. "Did you call to accept, or do I need to sweeten the deal?"
Huh. "Sweeten it how?"
"What if I told you I'm making shrimp? Shrimp scampi, maybe?"
Hakkai remembered that he liked shrimp? Sanzo barely remembered mentioning it.
Before he fully realized what he was doing, he said, "Sure," then added, just to make it clear how much it didn't really matter to him, "I don't have anything else going on."
Hakkai chuckled in a way that made Sanzo suspect he knew that Sanzo's statement was code for Goku doesn't have anything going on that I have to chauffeur him to. "I'm glad you're free and look forward to seeing you."
Sanzo had almost hung up before realizing he still had no idea where Hakkai lived or what time to be there. "Wait – what's your address?"
"You can't find it using the phone number?" Hakkai said mockingly.
"Just give me the damn address. Don't make things needlessly complicated."
Hakkai reverted to his normal prim voice. "Do you have something to write with handy?" He waited a moment, then went on: "It's 5839 Primrose Lane. It's a small blue stucco cottage with a front porch."
"What time?"
"Let's see – how's six? Dinner should be ready by seven."
At nine minutes after six, Sanzo parked outside 5839 Primrose Lane and scowled at the front door. The van that he had seen at the fair and the Jeep that had followed him home from dinner were parked in the driveway.
On the way over, he had remembered that it was customary to bring a gift when invited to someone's house for dinner. It was a relief to have something to do other than circle the house endlessly so he wouldn't arrive early. He bought an inexpensive Riesling produced by a vineyard he'd never heard of. He figured that the gesture mattered more than the quality of the wine.
Squaring his shoulders, he marched up to the front door and knocked. He was surprised when Gojyo opened the door, wearing low-cut jeans and nothing else. Hakkai hadn't mentioned that Gojyo would be around. Sanzo had assumed that he would be at work, like he had before.
"Hey." Gojyo greeted him with a slow, smoldering smile and a wink, and let him in. He turned his head and yelled "Blondie's here!", earning a glare from Sanzo.
Hakkai emerged from beyond the front room, which was a well-worn combination of living and dining areas. He was wiping his hands on a towel and wearing a – for the love of God, he wore a freaking apron. Thankfully, it was blue and white striped denim, not frilly and pink.
"Find the place all right?" Hakkai said as he grabbed the bottle Sanzo held toward him.
Sanzo rolled his eyes. He was here, wasn't he?
Hakkai flicked a look at Gojyo, who was leaning lazily against the back of one of the chairs grouped around the dining table. "Gojyo," he said firmly, "put on a shirt and please set the table. Do not make me ask you again."
"Yes, Mom," Gojyo said with a laugh as he walked toward the doorway Hakkai had emerged from.
"Thank you for this," Hakkai said as he hefted the bottle. "I'd better stick it in the refrigerator, though, if we want to drink it tonight."
Unsure of what to do with himself, Sanzo followed Hakkai to the kitchen. Partially chopped vegetables sat on a cutting board.
Hakkai frowned at Gojyo, who'd by now pulled on a t-shirt. "Use the clean dishes and silverware from the dishwasher first before using what's in the cupboard and silverware drawer," he told him.
"Bending over to get dishes and shit from the dishwasher hurts my back," Gojyo shot back. "It's easier to get at the goddamn cupboard and the silverware drawer."
Hakkai pressed his lips together and shook his head, but said nothing further as Gojyo carried a pile of plates and silverware to the front room.
Since the wine bottle hadn't made its way to the refrigerator yet, Sanzo held his hands out for it. Hakkai arched his eyebrow and Sanzo explained, "You're busy. I'll put the wine away."
Hakkai shrugged, then held the bottle out. "Thank you," he said, turning to face the cutting board. "I suppose I am trying to do too many things at once."
Sanzo let his gaze linger a moment on the contents of the refrigerator when he opened it to store the bottle. It seemed as though Hakkai hadn't wanted him to look inside. What was in there that was so revealing?
Sliding the wine bottle into an empty space in the refrigerator door, he didn't see anything more unusual than a refrigerator that was better stocked with more healthful foodstuffs than he expected for single guys their age. It wasn't all healthy, though; in among the mix, he spotted a six-pack of beer.
Reading his mind, Gojyo asked from the doorway, "Want a beer?"
Sanzo nodded, grabbed a beer, and propped himself up against the small breakfast table as he pulled the tab back. He watched, mesmerized, as Hakkai chopped vegetables, some of which he didn't recognize, and put them in a bowl. Hakkai's slender fingers wielded the cleaver with fluid dexterity and deadly accuracy.
Vegetable chopping over with, Hakkai brought out the shrimp and began cleaning and deveining it. The shrimp's almost acrid smell permeated the entire kitchen.
At that point, Gojyo excused himself. "Watching Hakkai go all Iron Chef on shrimp is a little too much for me," he said apologetically. "I can eat em, but I can't watch em being cleaned."
Sanzo felt somewhat the same way, but he thought he should keep his host company, though he was uncertain whether Hakkai even realized he was there anymore. Hakkai was eerily focused while in food preparation mode.
Watching Hakkai discard the shells, Sanzo realized how much work it was to cook shrimp that wasn't already cleaned. That might explain why he'd never tried it. "Do you want any help?" he mumbled, more because he felt awkward that Hakkai had gone to so much trouble to cook for him than because he expected Hakkai to take him up on his offer.
Hakkai stared at him appraisingly. Sanzo wasn't sure if he was evaluating his appearance or his cooking expertise. Maybe both at once. "Not right now," he said, moving to the sink and washing his hands. "This is rather messy. Maybe later on, though your not knowing where things are stored is a drawback."
He bent over and pulled out a pot designed for cooking pasta, nearly bumping into Sanzo in the process.
The kitchen was small and the quarters tight, but there was still enough room for them not to get in each other's way. Or was that near-contact less accidental than it appeared? From everything Sanzo had witnessed since he'd arrived, Hakkai was a precise, even fussy, sort of bastard.
All this unaccustomed social interaction made Sanzo long for a distraction. What he needed was a good, long drag to calm his nerves. He'd gotten a whiff of lingering cigarette smoke in the front room and thought he'd seen an ashtray on the dining table, but there was no sign of cigarette consumption in the spic-and-span kitchen. Then again, from what Hakkai had said to him before, the kitchen was Hakkai's domain, and Hakkai didn't strike him as the smoking type. He struck him more as the exercise-and-eat-five-servings-of-vegetables-and-fruit-a-day type.
"Looking for something?" Hakkai asked as he put the water-filled pasta pot on the stove to boil.
"Yeah, an ashtray. I need a hit of nicotine."
Behind his glasses, Hakkai's eyes gleamed with amusement. "There's an ashtray in the living room because Gojyo smokes. But no smoking is allowed in the kitchen. Could you grab a bulb of garlic from the bowl on the table?"
Sanzo looked behind him. He took a bulb of garlic from an earthenware bowl and handed it to Hakkai. After Hakkai had finished chopping it, he had Sanzo melt butter in the microwave for garlic bread. This time, when Hakkai bent over to put the bread in the oven, Sanzo moved to the side to get out of his way.
Hakkai handed the can of extra virgin olive oil he had asked Sanzo to get out so he could saut the scampi and vegetables back to Sanzo to put away. He then poured the pasta into the pot of boiling water.
The more Hakkai asked him to do, the more Sanzo was distracted from his craving for nicotine. He watched, fascinated, as Hakkai swept the vegetables he'd cut up into the skillet and the garlic and shrimp into the fry pan. Hakkai turned to Sanzo and said, "Go ask Gojyo to come in here to make the salad, please. You can stay in the living room and smoke now, if you'd like. I find that the kitchen is too crowded with three people in it."
Sanzo walked to the living room, where Gojyo was slouched on the couch watching a basketball game. "Hakkai wants you to make the salad," Sanzo told him.
"Did he put you to work?" Gojyo asked, grinning, and after stubbing his cigarette out, he got up, stretched, and walked toward the kitchen.
Sanzo retrieved the ashtray and set it on the arm of the couch before sitting where Gojyo had sat. He stretched, trying to get comfortable, as he lit a cigarette and exhaled with a satisfied sigh.
Sanzo's cigarette was nearly burnt down to the filter before Gojyo returned bearing a salad and salad dressing. After examining the table, he turned back to the kitchen. Sanzo wondered what he'd forgotten. His question was answered when Gojyo returned with water glasses in hand. He walked over to a cupboard and retrieved three wineglasses as well.
"Whaddya want to drink?" Gojyo asked. "I'd recommend water, but it's up to you. We've got milk, pomegranate juice, and iced tea. Unless you want another beer," he said dubiously, "but I figured you'd wanna try the wine you brought. Beer doesn't exactly go well with scampi."
Sanzo was tempted to ask if Hakkai was really so fussy that he cared what his guests drank. Instead, he said, "Water's fine."
Hakkai came out bearing a bowl of steaming hot linguine, followed by the pan with the scampi, which filled the room with a tempting, tangy aroma. "I'm sorry for the informal method of presentation," he said, "but I've found that leaving it in the pan is less messy than trying to transfer it to a bowl or platter."
Sanzo shrugged. He didn't care what his food looked like or how it was served, as long as it was edible.
As Hakkai turned to go back to the kitchen, Sanzo got to his feet and asked, "Can I help you bring anything else out?"
Hakkai beamed. "Yes, thank you." Gojyo poured water for the three of them.
Back in the kitchen, Hakkai handed Sanzo a basket containing the garlic bread and swiftly slid the sauted vegetables into a bowl. "I think that's everything," he said once they were standing by the table.
"Don't forget the wine," Gojyo said.
"Ah, yes," Hakkai exclaimed. "Could you get that for me, Gojyo?"
Gojyo left without replying, returning with the bottle in his hands. Hakkai had unearthed a corkscrew in the meantime and reached for the bottle, which Gojyo held protectively. "I open these things all the time at work," he grumbled.
"All the more reason to let me do it here, just so I keep in practice," Hakkai replied.
"All right, knock yourself out," Gojyo said, and thrust the bottle toward Hakkai. "Just because you want to impress someone ..."
"Gojyo," Hakkai said warningly. His cheeks were beginning to color, and he struggled a bit with the corkscrew.
After exerting a little more pressure, the cork gave way. Instead of being drawn out of the bottle, however, it wound up shoved back inside the bottle. Gojyo opened his mouth, but shut it just as quickly as Hakkai's face turned livid and his eyes he said, though, was, "Ah, I'll have to find another cork to close this up with." He sat for a moment to recover his composure, then filled Sanzo's glass first.
Gojyo hid his face behind his hand, and his shoulders shook with poorly suppressed laughter. Sanzo, whose main concern was not to find pieces of cork floating in his wine, shook his head at the display of idiocy.
Despite that inauspicious beginning, dinner went well. Gojyo and Hakkai told stories of other parties they'd worked, including the one that Gojyo had escaped from by climbing out a window after the seductive (but married) hostess had locked the two of them in the master bedroom. "If she hadn't been married, I would have happily hit that," he said.
Sanzo even unbent enough to tell a few carefully edited stories of his time in the NYPD. He was pleasantly surprised to discover that Hakkai hadn't told Gojyo anything they'd talked about over dinner. He hadn't asked Hakkai to keep that stuff to himself, so it was good of him to leave sharing it up to Sanzo.
Gojyo got up almost as soon as they'd finished eating, and started clearing the table. "Sorry to rush things, but I have to leave for work soon, and I don't wanna miss dessert."
Sanzo groaned. As it turned out, cooking wasn't Hakkai's hobby; it was more like his passion. Sanzo hadn't eaten so much in one sitting since the time he'd had dinner with Koh's family. In that case it hadn't been so much out of enthusiasm for the food – it tasted good, but was richer than Sanzo liked – as it was due to Koh's warning ahead of time that a clean plate would prove that he enjoyed his dinner and that not to clean his plate might be viewed as an insult. He'd stuffed himself tonight mostly because the food was so good, though respect for the effort and dedication involved played into it as well.
"We can have dessert later," Hakkai offered. Gojyo returned with a pan of homemade tiramisu, then went back for the coffee pot and creamer. Hakkai left to get plates, dessert forks, and a cake server.
"I'll try a small piece now, and maybe I'll have more later," Sanzo said. The cake looked and smelled amazing.
Hakkai smiled at him warmly. Maybe it was the effect of the wine on top of the beer and the food, but that look made Sanzo feel tingly inside.
Hakkai served a large square of cake to Gojyo and put half that amount on his plate and Sanzo's. Gojyo gulped down a cup of black coffee, explaining that he needed it to stay awake through his six-hour shift, and finished all of his tiramisu.
After changing his shirt, Gojyo left, saying, "Don't worry about me. There's this girl with legs up to here" – he indicated a spot above his waist, which may have been an exaggeration – "who wants to wrap them around me when I'm finished with my shift, so you may not see me until tomorrow." He followed this statement up with a wink; Sanzo couldn't tell if it was aimed at him, Hakkai, or both of them.
Hakkai sat, lips pursed. "Thank you, Gojyo," he said, a trace of sarcasm in his voice. "I'll leave the outside light on for you anyway."
Surprisingly, the atmosphere was more awkward after Gojyo left even though his presence had initially been less than welcome. Since Hakkai was obviously loath to leave the dirty dishes for later, Sanzo offered to help him with them. Hakkai put away the clean dishes, and Sanzo put the dirty ones in the dishwasher as best he could. Every so often they bumped into each other; Sanzo couldn't tell if the contact was accidental or deliberate, but the gleam in Hakkai's eye wasn't due to alcohol – all Sanzo had seen him drink was wine with dinner – and he spent a lot of time staring at Sanzo's lips even when Sanzo wasn't speaking.
Just as they were finishing up, Hakkai grabbed a small can out of the cupboard and left the room. As soon as the last dirty dish went into the dishwasher, Sanzo followed him, curious.
Hakkai was on the back step feeding a thin white cat with feathery fur. The cat rubbed against Hakkai's legs and purred loudly enough that Sanzo could hear it from where he stood in the hallway.
Hakkai came back inside and shut the door. "I feed him when he comes around. Our lease doesn't permit pets, otherwise I'd take him in." He broke off when Sanzo ducked into the bathroom, snatched a tissue, and began sneezing. "Is something wrong?"
"I'm allergic to cats," Sanzo said between sneezing and rubbing violently at his nose.
"I'm sorry," Hakkai said. "It never occurred to me that it might be a problem. I'm afraid he rubbed against the bottom of my pants. Perhaps I should change?"
Sanzo nodded, and Hakkai disappeared into the room just beyond the kitchen and closed the door. Sanzo threw out the used tissue, washed his hands, and retrieved a clean tissue for good measure. The tickle in his nostrils was beginning to calm down, but it was best to be prepared.
Hakkai emerged wearing khakis instead of the jeans he'd been wearing. He washed his hands and joined Sanzo, who'd retreated to the couch. "I'm sorry," he said again.
"You already said that. You don't need to say it again." Sanzo fumbled with his cigarettes and lighter.
Hakkai put his hand over Sanzo's. "Would you mind not lighting that?" he asked.
Sanzo stared at him. "Why? You let Gojyo smoke in here. Hell, I smoked in here earlier."
"I know, but—"
"But what?"
"I'd rather do this," he said, and cupping Sanzo's chin with one hand, he leaned over and kissed him.
After what had happened at the restaurant, Sanzo shouldn't have been surprised, but he was. He drew back and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand.
Hakkai looked downas he carefully folded his hands together. "I thought you were attracted to me, too. Was I mistaken?"
"It's just – it's been a long time. I haven't been looking for – this."
Hakkai touched the side of Sanzo's face cautiously, as if he were ready to move his hand at the first sign of discomfort. "Bad breakup?"
Sanzo willed himself to relax. "Not exactly. He was my partner when I was with the NYPD. We were close, but we were never officially a couple."
Hakkai looked confused until he realized that Sanzo meant "partner" in the sense of ithe officer I worked with./i "That must have been ... difficult. No wonder you left the department."
His remark was more perceptive than Sanzo had expected, and Sanzo was grateful that he left the subject there. He was more surprised that he'd revealed even that much about his past.
Now that Sanzo knew what to expect, resuming what Hakkai had begun was far more enticing than talking about it. Sanzo surged forward and swept the tip of his tongue across Hakkai's lips. Hakkai moaned quietly as he let Sanzo's tongue slide into his mouth. In response, Sanzo pulled Hakkai closer until they were pressed together.
Hakkai broke away first, pulling off his glasses and placing them on the nearby hassock. When he turned back, he started kissing again, then pulled Sanzo down on the couch on top of him.
Sanzo took advantage of this new position and began kissing and licking Hakkai's face and neck, then slid a hand underneath Hakkai's shirt and felt Hakkai's muscles flex under his fingers.
Hakkai watched as Sanzo pulled up his shirt and teased a nipple without touching the nub until he took it into his mouth and tugged gently. Hakkai hissed with pleasure, and thus encouraged, Sanzo moved on to the other nipple.
Hakkai wrapped his arms around Sanzo and slid them down until his hands rested on Sanzo's ass. Hakkai caressed him through the worn fabric of Sanzo's jeans, then moved a hand low enough to brush against Sanzo's balls while the other hand slid underneath Sanzo's waistband. Hakkai's hard-on dug into Sanzo even more insistently when he discovered that there was no barrier of clothing between Sanzo and his jeans.
Sanzo groaned as Hakkai bucked up and ground his hips against him, seeking friction. Hakkai's hand moved from Sanzo's balls to tease his entrance and explore it with his index finger. Sanzo's movements caused Hakkai's finger to dip inside him even more.
Sanzo sat up partway and started to unbutton Hakkai's pants, but Hakkai shook his head and pushed his hand away. "Let me," Hakkai said as he slid out from underneath Sanzo, winding up on his knees on the floor.
Sanzo groaned, his eyes unfocused. He rested his hands on Hakkai's shoulders and said, "You don't have to."
In answer, Hakkai popped the button and pulled down the zipper on Sanzo's fly. With a little encouragement, Sanzo lifted his butt off the couch enough for Hakkai to pull his pants down.
"So beautiful," Hakkai murmured before taking the tip of Sanzo's cock into his mouth. That made Sanzo tense a little; he hated compliments about his looks, and "beautiful" was one of the words he loathed most, but he relaxed when he realized that Hakkai was talking about his manhood, not his looks.
Hakkai left no inch of Sanzo's cock unexplored. He slid his tongue along the vein underneath and teased glistening drops of precum out of the slit. One hand gripped the base or stroked velvety skin while the other brushed Sanzo's inner thigh.
As the intensity of the sensations increased, Sanzo's eyes closed. His head lolled backward and he held Hakkai's head in place as he thrust forward and encouraged Hakkai to take him in deeper. In response, Hakkai held Sanzo's hips steady so he couldn't fuck his throat quite so roughly, but left enough leeway so Sanzo could still move around.
Sanzo tried to push him away, saying, "I'm gonna – uh – if you keep going."
Hakkai's fingers swept across the tops of Sanzo's thighs. "Don't hold back."
Almost as soon as Hakkai had finished speaking, Sanzo arched his back, grunted, and came, filling Hakkai's mouth while he swallowed.
Hakkai pulled a handkerchief out of his back pocket, dabbed at his lips, and brushed away a stray drop, then passed the handkerchief to Sanzo. When Sanzo handed the handkerchief back, Hakkai folded it carefully, messy side in, and left the room with it.
When he returned, he grabbed Sanzo's hands and pulled him off the couch. Sanzo pulled his pants up and held them in place with one hand while letting Hakkai guide him to the bedroom with the other.
On the way there, Sanzo ran through various scenarios in his mind. He didn't know who was going to fuck whom – not that he cared overmuch about whether he was giving or receiving - and he refused to engage in anal sex without a condom. For lack of a better place, he had one or two in his wallet, even though he'd read that body heat degraded latex. Hakkai seemed like the type of guy who would be prepared, though.
As they entered Hakkai's room, with its crisp linens in a wavy design of blues and greens, lowered shades, and dim lighting, he noticed several foil-wrapped packets and a bottle on the nightstand. Their presence evinced a certain level of self-confidence bordering on smugness, but also confirmed his opinion of Hakkai's preparedness. A photograph of a teenage girl also stood on the nightstand. Hakkai picked it up and placed it face down, which struck Sanzo as odd.
Hakkai let go of his hand and pulled his shirt over his head, draping it over the back of the chair in front of his computer. Sanzo scrutinized the computer with some care while Hakkai removed and folded his pants; he knew webcams were sometimes used to surreptitiously film couples engaged in the horizontal mambo. He relaxed when he didn't spot a blinking light indicating that a recording was being made.
Hakkai fell back on the bed, which Sanzo thought meant that Hakkai wanted Sanzo to fuck him until he saw Hakkai squeezing lube onto his fingertips. Sanzo had already shucked his constricting jeans and tossed his black T-shirt in the corner. His erect cock glistened in the lamplight.
"Straddle me facing the other direction," Hakkai said huskily.
As Sanzo followed his instructions, he said, "So are we doing the reverse cowgirl – cowboy?"
"No, it's just easier for me to prep you this way." Sanzo sat, torso angled slightly forward and sometimes supporting his weight with his hands, as Hakkai delicately pushed his index finger past his ring of muscle and deep inside him. Sanzo pushed back when Hakkai angled his finger for maximum stimulation.
Sanzo stroked his cock in time to the rhythm of Hakkai's finger. He groaned when the first finger was withdrawn and arched his back and thrust backward when a second finger joined it. Hakkai continued with two fingers while Sanzo took deep, cleansing breaths to deal with the unaccustomed burn. Soon his insides felt slick and stretched, and his nerves tingled while Hakkai's fingers insistently fucked him.
Sanzo heard a foil wrapper being ripped open. He turned to look when Hakkai tapped him on the butt to let him know he was ready. Hakkai slathered lubricant on the condom he'd rolled on his erection as Sanzo turned around and repositioned himself facing Hakkai.
Hakkai held onto the edge of the condom while Sanzo used his hands to spread his cheeks open and slowly slid onto Hakkai's cock. Sanzo began lifting himself up and thrusting down, Hakkai's cock filling him and causing a frisson from contact with his prostate with each thrust. Hakkai canted his hips upward to meet him, biting his lip and looking almost as if he were in pain.
A drop of sweat dropped off Sanzo's hair and began trickling down his neck and back as he continued to move above and around Hakkai. Hakkai backed off when they approached the point of no return, but Sanzo grew impatient. He could only tolerate so much frustration, and besides, the condom and the friction were beginning to be irritants. The next time Hakkai tried to slow things down, Sanzo ignored him.
Hakkai didn't fight him, just anchored Sanzo's hips with his hands to retain some control over his movements. Sanzo fucked himself on Hakkai's cock while Hakkai wrapped a hand around Sanzo's. As Sanzo's muscles squeezed Hakkai's cock, their balls tightened and their abdominal muscles tensed. Sanzo felt the pulsing of Hakkai's cock inside him as he came. A few rapid heartbeats later, Sanzo climaxed and marked both of them with come. Hakkai removed the condom from his softening cock and disposed of it, careful not to spill its contents.
They panted and clutched at each other until their heartbeats and temperature settled back down to normal. Sanzo rolled off to the side and began scrabbling around to get under some covers. The sweat on his body was cooling and making him uncomfortable.
Hakkai looked at the clock before pulling at the folded quilt lying at the foot of the bed. It was a little after ten. He nudged Sanzo and said, "Before you crawl in under the covers, how did you leave things with Goku? I wouldn't want him to worry about you."
"He's supposed to be in bed by eleven. I planned on being home well before then, but ..." Sanzo's voice trailed off. "If I stretch out here now, I'll probably fall asleep, and who knows when I'll wake up." He sat up and rested his chin on his hand.
"You could call and check on him," Hakkai suggested.
"Yeah, but ... I'd rather be home before he goes to bed."
Hakkai tilted his head to the side. "Is that because you don't trust him to go to bed when he's supposed to or because you think you're setting a bad example?"
Sanzo sighed. He wasn't sure himself. "Both, I guess," he said after a long pause. "I don't like the idea of leaving him home by himself overnight just on general principle."
Hakkai put his hand on Sanzo's knee. "You're more than welcome to stay. I would love to have you in my bed tonight." He smiled as Sanzo shot him a dirty look. "But if it makes you uncomfortable not to be there for Goku, by all means, go home."
Sanzo felt torn. They'd just had some pretty amazing sex, he was half in the bag, and he just wanted to stretch out and get some sleep. He hadn't taken a vow of chastity, nor did he think Goku expected it of him. But he'd never left Goku home alone by himself overnight before, and he wasn't sure he wanted to start now, considering that Goku was only sixteen. If something happened – say, a fire – and Goku got hurt or worse, he wouldn't be able to forgive himself.
He was steeling himself to wash up and make himself presentable when Hakkai interrupted his thoughts.
"If you don't mind my being presumptuous, there's another possibility."
"Feel free." Hakkai hadn't had any qualms about being presumptuous before. Shoving a piece of cake in his mouth despite Sanzo's protests proved that.
"I could go home with you."
Sanzo's jaw dropped. "You could what?"
Hakkai remained infuriatingly calm. "Don't reject the idea out of hand. You'd be there to monitor Goku, and you won't give him ammunition if he ever stays out past curfew himself. You're tired and sleepy, possibly a bit drunk. I could drive you home. In fact, I should do that anyway."
"I'm not leaving my truck here."
"I can drive it instead. If I can master a Jeep and a panel van, I'm sure I can master your truck." He held his hand up as if to stop him. "In case you're curious, yes, I know how to use a manual transmission."
"My truck is an automatic, so I wasn't going to ask. And I already knew you drive stick."
Hakkai chuckled at the double entendre.
Sanzo rubbed at the back of his neck. What Hakkai said made sense, but ... They were studiously avoiding the elephant in the room. Goku knew he was gay. When he encouraged Sanzo to get out more and socialize, he meant "date," and he must realize that for someone Sanzo's age, at some point that would include sex. But he didn't think he could deal with having someone he was having sex with stay overnight while Goku was there. He wasn't sure how Goku would feel about it, either.
"Shit," Sanzo said with feeling. Hakkai reached over and made light circles on his back until Sanzo elbowed him away. "Stop it. Let me think."
Hakkai was quiet for a few minutes, then said, "If it helps, I could sleep on the couch. Or I could share your bed without expecting anything more than a place to sleep."
Sanzo glared at him. "How do I explain why you're there in the first place? How do I tell Goku you drove me home because I was too drunk to drive myself?"
"If Goku is ever in the same predicament, maybe he'll be more likely to call you and get a ride rather than drive or catch a ride with a friend who's drunk. Besides, it's not like you have to advertise who drove."
"Look, it's not like I don't want you there, but it'd be better all around if I drive myself home and you stay here." Sanzo got out of bed and picked up his clothes. "Where can I find a washcloth?"
Hakkai went to a closet in the hallway and handed him one, then crossed his arms and lounged against the wall as Sanzo closed the door to the bathroom.
Sanzo leaned his forehead against the door for a few seconds before wiping himself off, using the toilet, and pulling his clothes back on. Hakkai was still in the hallway when he came back out.
"Thank you for dinner and, uh, everything," he said. This should not be so awkward.
Hakkai stared stonily at him, sighed, and turned away, then grabbed Sanzo's wrist and yanked at him. "Hey, let go-" Sanzo said and pulled away.
"If you insist on this course of action, at least have some more coffee," Hakkai said, herding him into the kitchen and gesturing at one of the chairs by the table. He retrieved the coffee pot from the front room, poured a cup, and stuck it in the microwave. Sanzo wasn't sure if Hakkai's glare was meant for him or for the indignity of being reduced to using the microwave to reheat coffee.
"Cream, no sugar?" Hakkai asked, still with a bit of edge to his voice.
Sanzo nodded.
Hakkai poured himself a glass of water, causing the water cooler to gurgle, and sat down next to Sanzo. It felt good to be released from that direct glare, though Hakkai still darted angry side glances at him that he didn't bother to hide.
Sanzo swallowed the coffee as quickly as he could, burning his throat a little in the process. Now that he'd made up his mind, he didn't want to linger. Hakkai was acting like an ass, and Sanzo wasn't sure how interested he was in him any more.
"Thanks for the coffee," he said, and rose to leave.
For a moment, it looked like Hakkai might block the doorway from the hallway into the front room, but he stood just to the side of it. As Sanzo walked past, Hakkai stepped forward, grabbed him, and nearly bruised his lips with a harsh, punishing kiss.
Sanzo's heart and groin were throbbing by the time Hakkai let go of him so abruptly that he almost lost his balance. Hakkai turned on his heels and stalked back toward his bedroom, slamming the door.
Sanzo shrugged his shoulders and left. He drove home with great care, hoping that no one stopped him, even though slow, careful driving was a hallmark of inebriated drivers with a guilty conscience.
Maybe it was time to quit drinking altogether.
Goku was in his pajamas watching Comedy Central when Sanzo arrived home. At first he was full of banter and questions about the evening, but when Sanzo snarled at him, he gave up, brushed his teeth, and got ready for bed.
He made one more stab at it on his way to bed. "I hope you didn't screw things up. He seems like a good enough guy."
Sanzo threw a cushion at him. "Trust me, he isn't."
Sanzo went into the bathroom to wash up and looked in the mirror. He might have eradicated the unmistakable aroma of sex earlier, but he still had kiss-swollen lips and hair that would remain tousled until it was shampooed and blown dry. With a sigh, he realized "well-fucked" was the best way to describe how he looked. He hoped Goku hadn't noticed.
When the phone rang just after midnight, while Sanzo was still tossing and turning trying to find a comfortable position to sleep in, his first thought was that he was being called to come in to work due to an emergency. It didn't immediately register that the caller ID showed an unlisted number.
He would have hung up on him, except Hakkai was such a persistent bastard that it was likely that he'd keep calling, and Sanzo had no desire for the constant ringing of the phone to wake Goku up. That would only add to his need to explain how things had gone, which he didn't want to have to do.
The greeting that came to mind -"Fuck off" - didn't seem like the best choice. Instead, he settled for, "What?"
"Hello," Hakkai said evenly. He didn't sound as angry as he'd been when Sanzo left, though some resentment still smoldered underneath his carefully controlled delivery. "I wanted to make sure you got home safely."
The hell of it was, Sanzo believed him, just like he believed that Hakkai was a possessive bastard who couldn't stand not getting his way. He closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose, willing Hakkai to hang up and leave him alone. He didn't want to dwell on what had happened earlier, but hearing Hakkai's voice was reviving those memories. Glimpses from earlier flashed through his mind: Hakkai's lips wrapped around his cock; Hakkai's hands roaming over his body; Hakkai thrusting inside him, pushing him to the brink of ecstasy and beyond; and that parting kiss, which had turned him on instead of turning him off.
Fuck it all. Just like that, he was hard.
When Hakkai spoke, his voice was husky. "You left before I had enough, and I could tell you wanted more too."
"What are you getting at, you sick bastard?"
Hakkai chuckled. "Nothing untoward. Something that'll make us both feel better. Isn't that the point?" He went on without pausing. "Let me guess. You can't sleep."
Bingo, though it didn't take clairvoyance to know that. Sanzo shifted around a bit. He thought he knew where this was headed.
"Let me help you get to sleep like you were about to before you left."
"So, what - we're going to fuck over the phone?" Sanzo asked, voice dripping with sarcasm. He knew it was a mistake to bait Hakkai, but he couldn't help himself.
"Sort of," Hakkai calmly replied. "Touch yourself."
Just to be contrary, Sanzo touched his finger to his arm.
After a pause, Hakkai said, "I told you to touch yourself."
"I am touching myself."
"Don't make me have to spell it out."
"You'd better say it plainly, then." Sanzo wondered how Hakkai knew he wasn't cooperating; it wasn't as though he could see him over the phone.
"Fine. If you need explicit instructions, I'll just have to give you what you need. Run your hand over your cock until you're hard."
Sanzo's hand didn't move until he heard Hakkai breathing shallowly, which let him know that Hakkai was playing along, too. Images from earlier that evening flooded his mind, kick-starting his desire. Moving his hand to his groin was the only way to quiet his urges. Surely he should have acquired some self-control after two years of self-imposed celibacy. He was twenty-eight, damn it, yet here he was, responding like a hormone-crazed teenager.
"Are you hard yet?"
"Y-yes," Sanzo said reluctantly, his breath hitching.
"Take your cock in your hand and stroke it."
Sanzo hesitated. The gym shorts he was wearing might chafe if he stroked outside the cloth, but his only access was through the waistband.
"What's the problem?"
"Uh, nothing," he said. He didn't want to explain his dilemma to Hakkai. He wanted this to be over and done with; maybe releasing the tension he was feeling through masturbation would help him sleep. If it got Hakkai off his back, so much the better.
He pulled the waistband down so the shorts were bunched around his hips and wrapped his hand around his cock before beginning to jerk himself off.
"Take your clothes off and stroke your bare skin."
Obviously, Hakkai hadn't heard the sound of Sanzo's gym shorts as he pulled them down, nor was Hakkai as far along as he was. Hakkai's clothing rustled as he removed it. Hakkai moaned, and Sanzo had to bite his lip to prevent himself from answering with a moan of his own.
"Tease the slit until precum appears, then rub it along the tip. Get it good and moist."
When Sanzo complied, he couldn't keep his moans to himself.
"Like that," Hakkai said when he heard him. Wet sounds could be heard over the telephone line. Sanzo imagined what Hakkai's cock would look like glistening with precum and what it would feel like when he caressed it, which only ramped up his desire.
"Fondle your balls with your other hand and run your finger around the head."
Sanzo nearly dropped the phone – putting it on speaker phone now would be difficult, and he didn't want the room flooded with sounds that might wake up Goku – as he followed Hakkai's directions.
His breath hitching, Hakkai said, "I'm going to count to set a pace." Sanzo matched his rhythm when he began counting.
Now they were both making needy, breathy noises in time with the strokes, with Hakkai grunting on the upstrokes and Sanzo groaning on the downstrokes.
"Faster," Hakkai said, and sped up the count. Sanzo followed along. He wondered if his panting sounded as harsh to Hakkai as Hakkai's did to him.
Sanzo wanted to see what Hakkai was doing, but it was possible that the images he conjured up were more vivid than reality would have been. Besides, with a teenaged boy with a girlfriend living there, he wouldn't allow a webcam within a hundred yards of his house. He knew firsthand what kids did with such equipment, and the difference between him using one for sexual purposes and Goku doing the same thing would be even more difficult to explain than why it was okay for him to have sex when he didn't want Goku to.
Thinking about Hakkai seeing him or him seeing Hakkai spiked his lust. He felt his face flush and his muscles tense. From the noises Hakkai was making, he was getting close, too.
Just as the pressure proved too much, Hakkai began swearing like a trooper. It was shocking to hear a profanity-laden diatribe that ended with him telling Sanzo exactly where Hakkai wanted him to stick it.
Sanzo twisted from side to side as his cock pulsed. He milked his orgasm to the point where it was almost painful. Hakkai said Sanzo's name and fell silent, though he continued to pant heavily. Sanzo felt it was safe to assume that he had come too, and come hard.
Before hanging up, Hakkai said, "I apologize for the way I behaved before you left. It was ... inexcusably juvenile of me." Wonderful, Sanzo thought. I'm manipulated into phone sex, and once he gets off, he apologizes.
Sanzo used a tissue to wipe himself, wrapped himself in a bathrobe, and cautiously tiptoed to the bathroom to clean himself off with a damp washcloth for the second time that night. The lingering buzz from his orgasm calmed him and made him feel more forgiving, to the point where Hakkai's reason for phoning him was no longer important.
TBC ...