6
"Hang on a sec," Jack said to Ianto. He took a pad and pen and scribbled down a few items. "Pick these up before you go home? While we clear up after eating? Please?"
"Good call," Ianto said, looking at the list. "But never do in person what you can get a lackey to handle." He took out his phone and started making calls; the better to facilitate what was needed in the shortest time possible. Arrangements were made to deliver all of it expeditiously. It would all get there before they had finished eating in all probability.
During the meal the Doctor practically sat up under Jack and he realized just how out of his depth the Time Lord still felt, his brief periods of Jack-scolding today notwithstanding. Ianto went to take deliveries several times during the meal, silently going about his business with a consummate poker face.
Everything was now in place, all the items delivered and put where Jack needed them. Dishes were cleared and cleaned and soon it was time for everyone to leave. The Doctor hugged each one goodbye, as though in gratitude. Soft-hearted Rhys hugged him tightly.
"Off tomorrow?" the Doctor asked.
"Yeah, I am," Rhys said. "Want me to come back?" He knew it was dirty pool; if the Doctor wanted him to come back, Jack would never object. That meant he got to spend more time with his wife as well as his friends.
"Would you? Maybe we could play Scrabble?"
"For you to beat me again? Nah. How about Texas Hold'em?"
"I'll still beat you!"
"You're on, mate!"
Gwen kissed his cheek.
Ianto embraced him gently, letting it linger as long as possible. He'd only been half-joking about what he'd said about making love to the Doctor. If Jack saw the lingering embrace, all the better. It would spur him on to do the right thing by the Time Lord. "See you tomorrow," Ianto said, kissing the Doctor's cheek.
He did have a cute bottom, really.
After they left silence descended on the Hub. The Doctor moved closer to Jack, taking his hand.
"So," Jack said. "How was your day, sweethearts?"
"It was…it was okay," nodded the Time Lord.
"How about we have a little us time?"
The Doctor smiled. "I could use that," he said. "They're lovely, your team. But really? I just want to be with you."
His uncharacteristic openness and honesty touched Jack's heart deeply. "Come here, you," he said. His voice sounded dark and deep in his own ears. He held the Doctor, his embrace becoming a bit dominant, and was pleased when the Doctor melted in his arms, so soft, so giving. "I have to admit," he said. "I like you like this. Yell at me all you want the rest of the time…but when were alone... oh, the ways you just give yourself over. Doc, it's too much for me."
The Doctor simply looked at him pleadingly, his large eyes soft and brown and oh, Gods, so full of want. Jack yielded to the desire to kiss him, and kiss him deeply. He broke their kiss and nuzzled the Doctor's ear. "I'm very pleased with how your day went," he said. "You helped out with Myfanwy and you got rid of a lot of dangerous alien tech for us. I was very proud of you."
The Time Lord beamed. "Nice to feel needed," he said. "But, Jack?"
"Yeah?"
"I'm still scared. Don't make me leave you?"
"Sweethearts, you can stay here as long as you think you need to," Jack said. "In fact, if you remember, you're still in the custody of a certain lusty Captain. Your virtue may be at risk even as we speak. Now, I want you to have a seat on the sofa. Just stay there until I get back, okay?"
The Time Lord beamed again, happy to please his Captain. "Whatever you wish," he whispered.
Jack practically ran to the store-room where he knew Ianto had stashed the items he had written on his list. When he came back, he hid behind one of the computer stations. "Close your eyes," he said. He waited. "Got those pretty brown eyes closed?"
"Yup," the Doctor said. Jack could almost hear his smile.
He approached the Time Lord. "Open those eyes now," Jack said.
"Jack!" the Doctor's eyes grew wide.
"Nine red roses," Jack said. "Those are for your past. One for each century of your life, as well as every regeneration. The one white rose? That's for your tenth regeneration and for our future, sweethearts. White. Clean. A blank slate. For as long as you want it."
"Ten roses? For me? One for each of my regenerations? Oh, Jack!" Unexpectedly, the Doctor's eyes swam.
Jack put the roses on the table and gathered his Time Lord into his arms. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to do something wrong."
"It's not wrong, you daft bastard!" said the Doctor. "They're beautiful! And I just… What you said. Do we have a future?"
"We have one if you want one," Jack said. "I've lived in hope of this for so long, sweethearts. Please say you'll have me?"
"Why, Captain! Are you saying you'll pair-bond with me?"
"That's what I'm trying to find out. What does that involve for you?"
"It's just…it's a bond, one to the other, that you will always be there for each other. Not like an Earth marriage, which is exclusive and restrictive and…and. It's…it's just… Perhaps it would be easier if I just used telepathy and…Oh, kiss me and find out!"
Jack looked into those warm brown eyes for a long moment. He gathered the Doctor to him, his lips hovering just over the Doctor's. He hadn't known he would feel so frightened, so full of dread. He took a deep breath.
The Doctor's cool fingers caressed his temple. "May I?"
"Yes. For you, anything. My life is yours," he panted. "My eternal life, just for you." His mouth hovered over the Doctor's as he savored the closeness and the promise of it all. Slowly, so very slowly, he let his mouth cover the Doctor's upturned lips.
He felt something in his mind snap open, felt the Time Lord's presence there. It was warm and soft, welcoming and comforting; it felt like coming home and so, so much more.
It felt like trembling sweetness, like weakness, like a lullaby, like all the promises ever made in the history of the Universe, like an eternity.
It felt like hunger and need, desperation and fear, a lonely soul crying into the empty night and finally, after hundreds of years, hearing an answer.
It felt like the death of a garden in winter and the resurrection of that same garden in the spring. It felt like dying blossoms and the new, green buds of springtime.
It felt like a whispered question. Like a prayer answered.
Their kiss finally broke. Jack gasped; the Doctor panted. "You're mine," Jack said, feeling it as a statement of fact, like saying the sun is in the sky or the grass is green. "You're mine, and I'm yours, always, no matter what."
"Yes," said the Time Lord. "You feel it now, our pair-bond. We'll always come back to each other for all time now."
"Forever," Jack said, his voice suddenly thick.
"Yup!" the Doctor chirped happily.
Jack grinned like an idiot. "We have a pair-bond!"
"Yup!"
"Do you have any idea how that makes me feel?"
The Doctor grinned first shyly, then a bit more flirtatiously. "Ah, yes!"
Jack felt his knees go weak. He sank down on the floor at the Time Lord's feet. He wrapped his arms around the Doctor's waist and laid his head in his love's lap. "I waited so long," he said shakily. He breathed out a century's worth of need and fear and desperation, of love and want and frustration; it burst out of him, making his chest feel as if it might explode. Just as suddenly, he felt filled with joy and relief, even contentment. "You're mine. Oh, you're finally mine, you finally want me."
The Doctor wriggled free enough to slip down onto the floor with him, forcing his way onto Jack's lap. He put his arms around the immortal. "Yes, yes, I'm yours, yours always. Oh, my Jack, I'm so sorry I made you wait so long. Let me make you happy? I just want to make you happy."
Jack wrapped his arms around the Doctor and held him tightly, as if afraid he might vanish like a mist. "Sweethearts, you just did. I'm the happiest man in the Universe."
Cupping the Time Lord's face in his hand, Jack leaned in and kissed him. His tongue darted behind the Doctor's teeth and he teased the sensitive tala there briefly, eliciting a purring moan. The Doctor's mouth began to change flavors then, washing away the taste of curry, filling Jack's own mouth with the flavor of honey and sage as a sweet, slippery substance began to seep from the little organ. He pulled away to catch his breath.
"Oh, you are tasty, aren't you?" he said. "What is that?"
"Oh, a little biochemical cocktail," replied the Doctor. The Doctor's expressive brows drew together as though in concern. "Stimulates the mating response. I'm afraid I just dosed both of us with an aphrodisiac. Also it has properties which encourage a pair-bond. Is…is that all right? I didn't mean to, it just happens when…ahem. You aren't upset, are you?"
"Not a problem for me," he said. "But with my 51st century genetics for sexual proclivity added in the mix, you're in a hell of a night."
The Doctor made his happy little humming sound again. Jack reflected that he was getting very used to hearing that sound. He got up from the floor, offered his hand to the Doctor, pulled him up into his arms. Jack kissed him again soundly and a little roughly, remembering that the Doctor responded well to a show of dominance. Again his mouth flooded with honey and sage, this time the flavors a little more pronounced.
When he once more broke their kiss the Doctor gasped. "Well, yes, quite," he panted. "Bit wobbly."
Jack grinned at him indulgently. "That a good thing?"
"Oh, yes, quite so," he replied.
Laughing suddenly, Jack scooped him up and sat him on the couch. He went to the storage area and picked up a package. He tossed it to the Doctor. "Had Ianto get you some pyjamas," he said. "I'm going to put your roses in a vase. Why don't you go and get cozy in those and when you come back?" Jack held up a bottle. "Thirty year old scotch." He held up another bottle. "Or champagne, your choice. I got strawberries to go with the champagne."
The Doctor busily tore into the package and pulled out a pair of burgundy colored raw silk pyjamas. "Nice!" he smiled. "And they look just my size. But I don't want anything to drink right now but tea. That," he indicated the champagne, "I'd like to have later. With strawberries."
"I'll put it on ice. How do you like your strawberries?"
"A little sugar," he said, gazing at Jack with a soft, affectionate look. "I'm getting cozy," he added, standing and heading for Jack's quarters. "Be right back."
As soon as the Doctor walked away, Jack turned on the camera in his room. He hurriedly put the roses in a vase and added water, then put the champagne on ice. Next the tea kettle was put on and finally, dumping the strawberries in a bowl, he added sugar and popped them in the fridge. He scurried back to the camera and watched the Doctor button up his pyjamas.
He saw the Doctor go to the sink and brush his teeth. Then he messed with his hair a little trying to get it just so. He turned this way and that, preening himself in little ways to make a more tempting treat for his Captain. He even turned around and appeared to be trying to assess how his bottom looked, smoothing the burgundy fabric tightly to the under-curve of that sweet little ass.
Jack grinned, feeling a deep happiness settling in his chest. His fingers brushed the image of the Time Lord on the screen. "Mine," he said softly, just because he could say it, because now it was true. "My Doctor. My own." He watched the Time Lord head for the ladder. When the Doctor returned the full effect hit Jack. The camera hadn't done him justice. The color of his pyjamas set off his eyes and freckles wonderfully, and in fact did fit beautifully. Apparently, Ianto had also ordered a pair of soft leather slippers.
"You look snug," Jack said, giving him a wink. "And beautiful," he added, suddenly sober. "Do you have any idea just how good you look?" The Doctor blushed. He gave a small shrug, then turned around to let Jack admire him from all angles. Jack grinned, especially because the Doctor's bashful attempt at flirtation was entirely adorable, but also because the Time Lord didn't have a bad angel on him. "Have a seat and I'll bring your tea," he said.
Snuggling on the sofa together, the Doctor with his tea and Jack with a scotch, the Doctor laced his fingers through Jack's. His eyes looked very large.
"You okay?" Jack asked.
"Little nervous, but the chemicals are starting to kick in," he admitted. "Jack?"
"Yes, sweethearts?"
"I'm…very out of practice."
"Don't worry, I'll take good care of you. I'm very patient."
"But, Jack?"
Jack just looked at him patiently.
"I…well, that is…" He sighed. "This regeneration hasn't…well it's been so many regenerations since I have…" The Doctor's hands trembled, making his teacup rattle on its saucer.
Jack took his tea and set it on the table beside his own now-empty glass, "If you're worried about us not being compatible, don't. You're trying to tell me you're technically a virgin, aren't you?"
The Doctor nodded. "I'm s—"
"Don't you dare apologize," Jack scolded. "I think that's beautiful. And so fitting for you. And it's my honor to take care of you this way."
He cupped the Doctor's cheek in his hand and looked deeply into the brown eyes he so adored, seeing all the subtle differences in those alien eyes and loving them: the tiny flecks and threads of opalescence and purest gold; softest, depthless brown shot through with stardust. You could almost see the universe in them. He pulled the Time Lord into his lap yet again, not bothering to ask permission since the Doctor responded so well to gentle dominance.
The thought struck Jack, and not for the first time, that this beautiful creature was the last of his kind, the most unique of all endangered species. And he would soon be making love to this sacred being. For if anything were sacred, surely the last Time Lord would be as close as anything could get to that. It was a humbling thought.
He grasped the Time Lord firmly and, cradling the Doctor's shoulders in one arm and tipping him backwards a little, pulled him into a kiss, gentle at first, but soon so overwhelming for the both of them, all lips and tongues and tala shot through with honey and sage so strong now that the sweetness almost burned Jack's mouth.
He let one hand creep slowly down to the Doctor's chest, laying his palm over each heart to better read their beating: fast now and yes, pounding thrillingly. He gauged the Doctor's respiratory rate as well, knowingly measuring signs of arousal. His hand drifted slowly lower to caress the quivering abdominals, then just a bit lower and yes, yes, he was ready, so very ready, rocking his hips forward to press his hardness more fully against Jack's palm as it moved in little circles.
Jack teased the first oral tala mercilessly until the Doctor gave a half-growl, half-purr, relaxing in Jack's arms like warm putty. Jack slipped his tongue deeper, seeking the secondary oral tala. There it was, perched in the roof of the Doctor's mouth, begging to be stimulated. Already it seemed swollen. As Jack probed it with the tip of his tongue, he felt something inside the little organ become harder, a throbbing little core, and the Doctor whimpered almost pitifully. He pulled away from Jack with a gasp and pushed Jack's hand away from his crotch.
"I don't want my first time to be here, like this," he said. "Can we go to bed? I don't want to, ehm…mess up my new pyjamas. And besides, it would waste it. I want every one to count."
"Of course," Jack said gently. "This is a very special night, at least for me and I'm pretty sure for you, too. I wish we were somewhere wonderful. You deserve it. My pair-bond-mate deserves it. It should be somewhere nice. It should be a palace."
"I'm very happy it's my Captain's humble castle," the Doctor said, smiling sweetly. "It seems fitting. I want you to take me on your territory. Take me. Mark me. Claim me as yours in a physical way."
"Let's go to bed, then," Jack said, his voice rough and husky in his own ears.
The Doctor tried to get up from Jack's lap, but Jack, holding him firmly, managed to get up and carry him as far as the ladder. He gave the Doctor a quick peck. "After you, sweethearts."
When the Doctor had reached the bottom Jack followed, sliding down the ladder in what he hoped was a dashing manner. When he turned to see if his entrance had the desired effect he was pleased. The Doctor clapped, smiling gently.
"Very impressive," he said. "Very…action hero."
Jack struck a Superman pose. "Never fear, sir, I am here to protect you!"
"Not from yourself, I hope!"
"'Fraid not," Jack said. "You are irresistible. Even to superheroes. Your sex appeal is kryptonite to me. I kneel at your feet." And he knelt, bowing his head, hand over heart. "You have conquered me."
"I'd much rather you conquer me, Captain."
Jack's head snapped up at that, and the cool blue of his eyes suddenly became shot through with heat. "Oh, that's going to happen," he said. "That is so going to happen." He got up, scooped up the Doctor yet again and tossed him onto the bed. "Mine. All mine."
He shucked out of his clothing with swift expertise and soon hovered over the Time Lord, framing that deliciously coltish body with his arms on either side of this rarest of being's shoulders, like a tiger about to take his prey.
He took his time undressing the Doctor. When the Time Lord tried to help, Jack pinned his arms by the wrists. "No," Jack whispered hoarsely. "I'm doing this." Bit by slow bit, button by button, he undressed the Doctor, kissing every new area revealed, sucking on that delightfully freckled hide from neck to navel and beyond. He didn't so much pull off the Doctor's bottoms as he more or less caressed them off, with slow, firm strokes of his fingers. "Oh, Gods, look at you, with those legs that go all the way to New Avalon clear up to paradise," Jack said. "And it's mine, all mine. Finally mine."
Gathering the Doctor to him, Jack set to work on those sweet little oral talas again, feeling his lover melt beneath him, savoring the touch of cool skin against his heated body. The taste of honey and sage had become almost overpowering, yet still he craved more and he wondered if it was not slightly addictive. He could feel the biochemical response raging in his system as he plundered the Doctor's mouth with his tongue, savoring every moan, each whimper. The Doctor groaned loudly, bucked in his arms, his hands scrabbling at Jack's chest, nearly sobbing. Was that..? No, surely not!
Jack broke their kiss only after this frantic display had calmed. "You had an orgasm, didn't you? An oral orgasm."
"Yuh-yes," gasped the Doctor. "Oh, my Lord Rassilon! I hope…you aren't displeased with me, are you? Because I thought you'd quite like it if…"
"You lucky little shit," Jack teased. "Why can't we lowly humans be so fortunate? Then again, I am lucky. I can make you come just by kissing you."
"Oh, yes! I am lucky," the Doctor grinned. "But if you like that, wait until you play with all of my talas!"
"Doctor," Jack said. He grasped the Time Lord's hand, pressed it to his own aching need. "I want to make you feel so good, sweethearts. I want you to feel like you can't do without me."
"Quite right," the Doctor said softly. "Care to explore my oral talas with something besides your tongue?"
Sorry I can't get more explicit than this, but won't let me. The good news is I'm writing a very explicit chapter and will publish it at A Teaspoon and an Open Mind at .com/ That chapter is nearly done.