Chapter 23

For a moment, Sherlock looked surprised. Then he smiled and nodded. "Whatever you say," he said as he got to his feet.

"I'm just thinking ahead. Might be uncomfortable to move later," John said as he walked in front of Sherlock.

As Sherlock followed, he began unbuttoning his shirt. If John wanted comfortable, who was he to argue? John stopped next to the bed, not moving, except his eyes which were following Sherlock's fingers. The detective let the shirt slide down his good arm by itself as far as it would go, then twisted his shoulder to get it completely off. Then, carefully, he eased it off his other arm. As he let it drop to the floor he looked at John. "Not against the rules, is it?"

"No, not at all. It was about time you did that," John grinned.

Sherlock chuckled. "Didn't really seem fair," he said and went to sit down on the bed.

John stood a little closer, just watching. "So..." he said.

"So..." Sherlock smiled. He put a hand on John's cheek and let it linger a moment before letting go and lying down on the bed, shifting a little to get his arm comfortable.

"You're not doing much," John remarked.

"Come over here, and I'll see if I can remedy that," Sherlock said with a wink. John sat down on his knees on the mattress, but kept his distance. "Aw, come on." Sherlock laughed. "I won't bite."

"Really?" John said, putting on a disappointed expression.

"Well, okay," Sherlock snorted. "If you ask me nicely."

"I'm not sure I intend to be nice."

"No? Well, I guess I can work with that." He reached out his hand. "Now get over here."

John complied and lay down, his head on Sherlock's chest. "I never understand how you manage to feel so comfortable while you're so bony."

"It's because I have something soft to snuggle up to," Sherlock replied, wrapping his arm around John, letting his fingertips slide down his arm. "A little too soft right now admittedly," he added frowning at the jumper.

John chuckled. "Nothing I'm going to do about that, I'm fine like this."

"Me too," Sherlock said, tilting his head down and starting to kiss the back of John's neck.

John hummed. "Do you want to know what I have in mind for next round?"

"Of course. What have you come up with this time?"

"I want to hear you. It would be interesting if you tried convincing me with just your voice..." John smirked.

Sherlock suppressed a sigh. So much for keeping his secret weapon out of the game. "I suppose I could try," he answered sounding doubtful.

"Don't be like that," John laughed. "You know very well what you're capable of." He gently planted his teeth in Sherlock's collar bone for a moment.

"Oi," Sherlock complained with a laugh. "No biting." Then he cleared his throat and resigned to using the voice. "Was this what you wanted all along?" He asked softly.

"What exactly?" John asked, looking up with a smile.

Sherlock let his voice settle at the level John had proven most responsive to. "Me telling you exactly how much I want you. How incredibly irresistible I find your body, and the things it can do to me?"

"Oh." That was definitely having more effect than John had anticipated. "I can't say I'm opposed to it," he said, licking his lips as his mouth had suddenly gone dry.

"Then all you had to do was ask, John," Sherlock continued. "No need to play this game..."

"I'm amusing myself," John shrugged, smiling. "And it keeps you busy, too."

"Oh but you see. You promised me something. If I won this."

"Oh yes, and I will keep my promise. I'm very curious what you have in mind." He hovered over Sherlock's face.

"Ah," Sherlock raised an eyebrow teasingly. "I'm sure you can work it out without me telling you."

"But the possibilities are endless..." John dropped a kiss on the corner of Sherlock's mouth.

"Yes, they are, aren't they?" Sherlock purred. "But I do have something specific in mind. Something I've wanted for quite some time, but that I wanted you to offer, rather than ask it of you."

"You can have anything," John whispered, pressing another small kiss just above his lip.

"Anything?" Sherlock trembled at the kiss, wanting to move and catch John's lips, but still mindful of the rules of the current round.

"Anything. Everything." He softly kissed Sherlock's upper lip and stroked his temple.

"Then give in John. It's up to you now."

John smiled. "Not yet. As gorgeous as you look and sound..."

"You are a very cruel man, John Watson," Sherlock said with an exaggerated sigh. "What more do you want from me?"

John smirked and sat up a little, straddling Sherlock's hips. "The next round. In which everything is allowed."

"Everything except removing clothes I assume?" Sherlock asked with a grin.

"That's allowed, but then you lose," John said smugly.

"Prat," Sherlock smirked, grabbed the front of John's jumper and pulled him down for a very passionate kiss.

John moaned and his hands found their familiar way to Sherlock's hair as he answered the kiss. Sherlock pushed his hips up against John, trying to shift him a little further up. John gasped and pulled back from the kiss.

Sherlock smiled innocently at him. "Something wrong?"

"No, not at all - just – air."

Sherlock laughed and let go of his jumper. "Let me know when you're ready," he said and moved his hand round to John's back.

John kissed him again and pressed his hips down. Sherlock moaned softly, letting his hand move down John's back and only pausing a moment before slipping it into his trousers. John groaned and moved against him, giving him better access.

Sherlock shifted a little working his hand further down. "Y'know John," he mumbled against his lips. "This would be so much easier if you'd just open the button."

John sighed into the kiss and sat up so he could pull off his jumper. "You always need to have it your way, hmm?"

"Not necessarily," Sherlock replied, teasingly wriggling his fingers. "I was just stating a fact."

"It was getting a bit hot anyway," John said, opening the button and zipper of his trousers, but keeping them and his shirt on.

"Very hot," Sherlock agreed, as he worked his hand into John's pants.

John kissed him again and moved into his hand. Having more room to move, Sherlock let it slide all the way down and slowly started circling John's hole with a single fingertip. John made a small sound and clung onto Sherlock's shoulders.

Sherlock kept working him gently until he felt the muscle relax, then he slipped the tip of the finger inside. "Okay?" he whispered against John's lips.

"Yes, but I think this would be better without clothes and with lube," John panted.

"Of course," Sherlock couldn't suppress a happy breathless laugh. "You call the shots."

John quickly opened two buttons of his shirt and pulled it over his head, along with his undershirt. He dropped them next to the bed and sat up on his knees to get rid of his trousers and pants, then started on Sherlock's. Sherlock watched him with a small, almost nervous smile. John being so eager for this was really much more than he had dared to hope for.

"You won," John breathed, just to have the formalities behind them, as he pulled Sherlock's pants off his legs.

Sherlock was much too pleased to feel even the least bit triumphant, he just reached his hand out to John. "Come here," he said.

John refound his place on top of him and pressed his lips to Sherlock's neck.

Sherlock pulled John up to kiss him. "I love you," he whispered when he finally let go.

"You too. We have to play this more often," he said, before hungrily kissing Sherlock again.

"Can't we just skip the game and go straight to winning next time?" Sherlock asked the next time they came up for air.

John let out a breathless laugh. "Never one for patience, hmm?" he said with a fond look. He reached for the lube on the nightstand and handed it to Sherlock. "I propose you continue where you left off."

Sherlock didn't take it but rather held out his hand, with a small embarrassed smile. "Will need some help here."

John chuckled and kissed his jaw. "I'm going to enjoy it even more once you're less helpless," he smirked, pressing a generous amount of lube on Sherlock's fingers.

"Something to look forward to then," Sherlock agreed, as he reached down behind John. "Let me know if I'm going too fast," he said as he carefully pushed against the hole, not yet breaching.

John moaned and pressed his face into Sherlock's neck, breathing him in. "Just fine," he mumbled.

As the finger slipped inside Sherlock sighed shakily. "Okay?" he asked.

"It's - strange," John admitted. "Wait a bit."

Sherlock kept still, pressing soft kisses to the top of John's head. "Take your time."

John hummed and tried to relax, experimentally pushing a little back. "Okay. Slowly."

Sherlock continued to push gently, letting John adjust. He desperately wanted to stroke his back and comfort him, but the cast on his arm made it impossible. So instead he tried using his voice. "I love you so much," he murmured, "You are the most amazing thing in my life."

John whimpered quietly. "I love you too. More," he added, moaning and pressing his cock against Sherlock's body.

Sherlock kissed John's forehead. "It's all the way in," he said, his voice soft and trembling a little. "Do you want me to start moving it or give you a moment?"

"Move," John panted, but as soon as Sherlock pulled a bit back he winced. "More lube," he said in a strangled voice.

Very carefully Sherlock pulled the finger a little further out. He frowned at John. "Can you reach it?" He asked. "Or should I..."

"Just pull out," John said between clenched teeth, already taking the bottle so he had something to squeeze in his hand.

Sherlock complied and held up his hand to John. "Maybe we should wait..." he said, uncertain.

John kissed his lips and gave him more lube. "No, it's fine. I actually think that I'm going to explode if we wait any longer. I just never did this, and my body doesn't know what to expect, and I can't really get myself to relax."

"I'm sorry, I'm so bloody useless," Sherlock said, moving his hand down and carefully working his finger in again, only halfway. "Tell me if there is anything I can do to make it easier."

John nodded and bent his head for another, slow kiss. Focusing on the kiss rather than on Sherlock's fingers, he managed to relax, and the feeling of Sherlock inside him actually became more pleasant than he had imagined it could be. He pulled back with a moan.

"Better?" Sherlock asked.

"Much," John breathed, pushing back on the finger for more pressure.

Sherlock moved the finger a little, making tiny thrusts while watching John intently.

John fell forward with his face in the pillow next to Sherlock's head, his breathing ragged. "That's-" he managed, sounding muffled, before he was interrupted by an embarrassingly loud moan.

"Good?" Sherlock supplied, making the movements longer, going just a little deeper with every thrust.

John just sighed, his eyes closed, and now and then making a small sound of pleasure. "Sherlock..."

When he couldn't go deeper, Sherlock crooked his finger a little and twisted it, searching. John cried out. "Do that again," he gasped.

Sherlock smiled and repeated the twist, memorizing it. Then he started moving the finger in longer thrusts aiming to hit the exact spot every time.

John groaned and his mind went blank. After a few thrusts he saw stars and he hardly remembered to breathe. "Sherlock."

Sherlock paused. "Ready for more?" He whispered in John's ear.

"Yes," John whimpered. "Please." Sherlock pulled the finger almost out before adding another and carefully pushing back in. John blew out, but the pleasure was overruling the pain. He kissed Sherlock's neck. "Amazing... You are amazing..."

"No, John," Sherlock answered, almost overwhelmed by John's responses. "You are."

"I'm just not sure I can hold out long enough," John gasped. His cock was straining and leaking against his stomach.

Sherlock stopped his hand. "That's okay," he said. "We can just do this now, and save the rest for another time. I quite like the thought of making you come like this."

"But I want to give you this."

"Next time John. I won, I choose. And I choose this." He started moving his fingers again.

"Yes," John said breathlessly, clinging to Sherlock as pleasure waved over him once again. "Can I... Oh, god. Can I touch myself?"

"Of course."

He started stroking himself in the rhythm indicated by Sherlock's fingers and moaned as the combined sensations very quickly brought him on the edge. "Sher-" he panted, then gave in and kissed Sherlock.

Sherlock returned the kiss hungrily, completely caught up in John's pleasure and the awe of making him come so utterly undone.

John's hips bucked as he couldn't hold back his orgasm any longer and he slightly pulled back from the kiss so he had air once he remembered breathing. Then he slumped down on Sherlock's shoulder. "God, I love you," he mumbled.

"Oh John, I love you too," Sherlock answered, as he carefully pulled his fingers out. "I love you so much."

John kissed his clavicle, not yet able to do much more as he was still panting.

Sherlock lay still for a while, letting John catch his breath. Then he nudged him gently. "Let's get cleaned up."

"Hmm. Shouldn't I give you a hand first?"

Sherlock chuckled. "I was kind of hoping we could take care of that in the shower."

"Sure," John smiled, slowly pushing himself up and pressing a kiss on Sherlock's lips.

Sherlock smiled against his lips. "Just take your time."

"Sorry," John said, getting up with a small wince. "It feels strange."

"I know," Sherlock swung his legs off the bed, and sat up, with only a little difficulty. "It'll pass."

"And like you said, it's absolutely worth it." John took his hand and gave him a quick peck, before he pulled him along to the bathroom.

Sherlock followed, with a very happy grin. Once they were in the shower, he pulled John close for a long slow kiss.

John hummed and lowered his hands to Sherlock's hips. "What do you want?" he whispered against Sherlock's lips.

Sherlock shrugged. "You mentioned giving me a hand..." he said, grinning.

John hummed and pressed his palm against Sherlock's cock. "You could also have a mouth..."

Sherlock moaned at the touch. "Whatever..." he gasped. "Whatever you want."

"It's your prize," John said slowly, tightening his hand around him.

Sherlock shook his head and smiled. "I've already had my prize."

John smiled up at him and kissed him again. "I love you." He started stroking him in a slow rhythm, his fingertips trailing along the veins.

Sherlock closed his eyes. He rested his hand on John's shoulder and let his head fall back. "I love you too," he muttered.

John locked his lips to Sherlock's neck and sucked, while he kept moving his hand.

Sherlock gasped and dug his fingers into John's shoulder. "Close..." he whispered.

John quickened his strokes and twisted his hand every time it slid over the head of Sherlock's erection.

"Oh god," Sherlock moaned. His whole body shook as he came and then almost collapsed against John. John supported him and stroked his back, pressing kisses on his neck and jaw.

Sherlock straightened up enough to catch John's lips with his and with his arm behind his neck, pulled him so close he was almost crushing him. John hugged him back, letting out a soft moan when he really needed to breathe. Finally Sherlock released him and laughed happily. "You really are amazing," he said, looking down at John with a tender smile.

John chuckled. "Now I know which game to play next time you're bored or in a foul mood."

Sherlock snorted. "Not sure we should play this if I were in a foul mood. Anyway, next time it's your turn to play."

"Already looking forward to that," John smirked.