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A week later Javier approached his boyfriend's door with a small smile. It felt good to say that word, boyfriend. Of course he was only assuming they were exclusively together but Ryan seemed to be loyal and he knew he himself was. Shouting heard from inside the apartment made him slow his steps. He knew he shouldn't listen, that it was rude and not any of his business but this sounded volatile enough that he felt compelled to stay close just in case. A woman was arguing with him and from what he could tell it was about their relationship.

"What do you mean 'don't come around anymore'? I thought this was going somewhere Ryan."

"You're kidding me right? I mean we've been doing this for months and I've never even taken you on a date. It's been pretty obvious this was only for fun plus I'm with somebody now."

"Who?"

"It doesn't matter."

"Ryan, I love you."

Esposito felt his chest constrict and held his breath while he waited for what the response would be.

"Don't pull that, I'm not changing my mind. Don't make a scene Saoirse just get out."

Heaving a sigh of relief he heard footsteps and retreated slightly to stay out of the way. The door swung open and the tiny woman with short blonde hair from the bar walked out wearing a dejected frown, "Don't give up on us Ryan." Without warning she pulled a shirtless Ryan into a kiss that made Javier's gut clench, her hands wandering over skin that only he was meant to touch.

Ryan grabbed her shoulders and gently pushed her back, "I'm sorry Saoirse, it's over."

The woman finally stepped back with a glare and watched Ryan shut the door before stomping down the hallway only pausing when she saw Esposito. She stopped in front of him and sneered, "So you're the new flavor of the week?"

Bristling at the rude comment that he knew wasn't true he squared his shoulders, "I suggest you keep walking."

The woman's hands clenched into fists and Javier balanced himself in case of an attack by the miniature woman. "I saw him first."

What, were they in grade school? Esposito shook his head, "Nah it don't work like that. He's mine. Do you hear that? Mine." So maybe he was acting a little catty but so what? Bitch had it coming after touching his boyfriend.

The woman tensed and looked like she was going to throw a punch but finally spun and left. With a large sigh to push the tension away he walked to Ryan's door and knocked, when it swung open he grinned at his boyfriend who was looking particularly adorable today with his hair not done and sitting against the top of his forehead. Ryan smiled brightly in greeting and flipped the knife he was playing with shut. "Hi Javi."

"You're going to cut off a finger with that."

Never one to pass up a chance to give someone a hard time he flipped open the balisong before fanning it and flipping it open and closed effortlessly, finally closing it one final time. "Haven't cut off a finger in fifteen years."

"What? You've had that since you were thirteen?" he asked in disbelief.

"Birthday present from a friend," he began before walking up to Javier. "Don't worry about me losing a finger, I'll still be cute with nine digits."

He shook his head, "You're not that cute." At the shorter man's pout he grinned and pulled him into a kiss, his arms wrapping around him possessively. He would never call him his in front of him because he knew it would bother him but in his mind he knew Ryan belonged to one person. When he saw the bartender all he wanted was to protect him from whatever made him wake up in the middle of the night with fear radiating off him and smother him in affections that he seemed to so desperately need.

"You had dinner yet?" Ryan asked. When her answered no Ryan grinned widely, "I'll make something. I'm no chef but I make up for it with enthusiasm."

Esposito smiled but groaned when his phone rang. After checking the display he held it up, "I'm going to step out to take this. Hopefully I don't have to go in." He exited the apartment for a short time to speak to Beckett before quietly reentering. It was moments where he got to watch the other man without his knowledge that he truly enjoyed. Staying at the outskirts of the kitchen he smiled at his boyfriend who was munching on raw carrots while he chopped celery. When he finished he flipped the knife in the air before snatching it and lying it down, his hands wrapping around a bottle of whiskey next to him and lifting it to his lips for a swig.

"Can you juggle them too?" Esposito teased as he made his presence known. His eyes widened when Ryan grabbed the knife and two more, "Kevin don't, I was kidding."

Ryan grinned and flipped the knife in the air before throwing up the other two until he was juggling all three large kitchen knives. "What do you think Javi? Could I make it as a carny?"

He could only watch in fear and awe, "Yeah, I think you could. Why do you know how to juggle?"

Ryan carefully caught all three knives and set them down, "People like juggling bartenders, like serving alcohol and dealing with drunks all day isn't enough. I get better tips when I entertain people. Do you have any hidden talents I should know about?"

Esposito grinned, "Yes but I'll show you mine tonight."

When evening finally fell Esposito lay on the bed with a grin listening to Ryan sing in the shower. It was just another thing that he liked about him, how no matter what he had to sing in the shower and he always sang Irish tunes he had never heard of.

"Mary Mac's mothers makin' Mary Mac marry me. My mothers makin' me marry Mary Mac," reached his ears and he smothered a laugh as his boyfriend sang so quickly he couldn't understand half the words being said. When the water stopped Ryan switched to humming and eventually exited with a pink flush to his skin and wearing just boxers. "Are you laughing at me?"

Esposito shook his head fondly and switched off the muted tv as they both got comfortable under the covers, Javier pulling Ryan's back flush against his chest and kissing the nape of his neck. "Goodnight Kev."

"Night Javi."

Two weeks later Esposito entered the bar and glanced around before finally spotting Kevin at one end of the empty room emptying glass out of a rag into the trashcan. Once the glass shards fell he dropped back down and continued cleaning up the mess. "Drop something?" he asked as he made his presence known.

Ryan looked up at him and quietly shook his head before looking back down, "Somebody threw it."

Noticing his trembling hands he got as close as he could without going around the bar and watched him finish cleaning up the broken bottle. When he got closer he heard Ryan shakily humming The Beatles Let It Be and with a frown he noted wetness on the side of the bartender's head, he jumped out of his seat when he realized what it was. "Holy shit Kev you're bleeding. Somebody threw a bottle at your head?"

He tried to wave off his concerns and offered a weak laugh, "Tough crowd."

Esposito raced around the counter and grabbed a clean towel before wetting it and gently cleaning the blood off his hair and scalp. His arm slid over Ryan's shoulders and held him close while he patted and wiped the blood away before finally spotting the gash. "I don't think you'll need stitches but that has to hurt. Who threw it Kevin? It's not ok for people to hurt you."

Ryan leaned fully into him accepting the comfort, "Don't worry about it, I can take care of myself."

The detective held him closer and while he disagreed with that statement based on his frequent injuries he stayed quiet. Ryan twisted in his grip until they were facing each other and tilted his head up to capture his lips. The kiss was timid, Esposito keeping it light considering they were in a public place and he wasn't one for heavy PDA. When Ryan traced along his bottom lip with his tongue he opened his mouth to tell him to behave but as soon as his tongue plunged into his mouth he could only react.

Esposito felt his cock twitch when Ryan moaned, hands clawing to bring him closer while he shamelessly rutted against leg. "Kev, we can't do this here." His words said no but his body said yes as he held him closer and stuck his thigh between Ryan's legs to give him more friction.

Ryan shook his head and began to unbuckle his belt, "No one's here but us and today's the day the security tapes get switched. Fuck me Javi. Right here. I want to think of you every time I work."

He groaned when Ryan slid his hand into his briefs and pushed him away before turning him and bending him over the lower part of the bar. His larger body covered his companions but he stayed still, "I don't have anything with me."

Ryan squirmed underneath him and pushed back into his groin. "I trust you. Stop talking and just fucking do me."

"Demanding," he teased as he dropped his pants and pulled down his briefs. His hand reached around and quickly popped the button on Ryan's slacks and a second later he thrust into him.

Ryan cried out at the quick intrusion and panted heavily in pleasure and pain as his companion gave him a minute to adjust. With a small nod Javier began to rock forward into the smaller man, grunting every time he hit bottom. He watched Ryan's eyes drift almost shut as he laid his cheek down on the cool metal surface and leaned over to place a kiss to his temple.

"Harder Javi."

He picked up his pace and pounded into Ryan who was gasping with every thrust, hands clenched tightly around the edge of the counter. The metal bit into his hips and he tried to push away to prevent himself from bruising but Esposito wasn't giving him any wiggle room. It was forceful and rough and Javier seemed to know exactly what he wanted.

"More," he panted and moaned when he felt a large palm between his shoulder blades push him harder into the counter.

A thin sheen of sweat littered both their skin and the detective tightened his grip on Ryan's narrow hips before shifting and changing the angle. His eyes drifted to the door, "Just think Kev, someone could walk through that door right now. Is that what you want? Someone to see you being fucked?"

Ryan whimpered underneath him, "Please Javi. I'm right there." He could have kept going, made Ryan wait until he begging more than he already was but someone walking through the door was a very real threat and he wasn't in any way an exhibitionist. The hand still planted between the wriggling man's shoulders slid down his spine and around to cock, it only took a few pulls for Ryan to cry out his release.

His hips began to move erratically as he lost his momentum, all thoughts gone as he continued to fuck into his sensitive boyfriend who was only held up by being sandwiched between the counter and him. Finally he stuttered and dropped down onto Ryan's back crushing him to the counter as he came, body convulsing at the intensity of his orgasm. Both lie panting harshly, Esposito resting his cheek on Ryan's vest as he continued to lazily move back and forth still inside him. He hadn't done something this crazy in a long time and a small laugh escaped him at how Ryan could make him do things he never imagined with little more than a few words and some well placed caresses.

Even though he couldn't get any air in this position there was no way in hell he was going to tell Esposito to move off of him. It had been years since he felt this alive, this connected to a person. To his dismay the weight on his back disappeared and he stood and pulled in a deep breath of oxygen. Both cleaned themselves up and redressed before Esposito leaned against the counter with Ryan in his arms, his thumb gently caressing the smooth skin above his belt where he had missed getting his shirt tucked all the way back in. "How's your head?"

Ryan lifted his hand and touched it gingerly to the cut, "Not bleeding anymore, still have a headache though."

Esposito wanted to push it, wanted to know who had hurt his boyfriend but if Ryan didn't want to share he couldn't make him. It wasn't his job to make sure Ryan was taken care of, even though he wanted it to be. He had to let the man deal with his own problems.

"You should probably get on the other side of the bar, someone's bound to come in eventually."

He kissed his forehead softly before rounding the bar and sliding into a seat, "I can't believe I just did that."

Ryan laughed and gulped down some water before shaking his head, "You act the part with your police job and all your morals but I know better. You are no innocent Javier."

He pursed his lips together and accepted the beer placed in front of him, "I do good until you're there."

"Consider me the devil on your shoulder," he said in a sinful tone with a wicked smirk, eyes especially blue and filled with lust.

Esposito cleared his throat and looked away trying to keep himself under control before standing on the edges of the bar stool and leaning over the counter to grab the tv remote. He flipped idly through the channels and paused on a talk show.

Ryan watched for a moment before laughing as a man explained he felt emasculated by his girlfriend in the bedroom. "Gotta love daytime talk shows."

They watched for a while, both laughing as more weird things began to be said about what goes on behind closed doors. "Weirdest thing for you?" he asked Ryan.

"Girl liked me to strangle her during sex," he answered instantly with a small frown. "I didn't like to, felt wrong to be choking her but she wanted it and threatened to leave me if I didn't. Said it made it more intense. I accidentally made her pass out once and to my horror she wanted me to do it again."

Esposito shook his head with a grin, "Kinky but I've got you beat. Ever heard of pony play?"

"No," Ryan said in disbelief before laughing. "No way."

"Yes way," he said as he too laughed. "I'm out with this blind date, everything's going well and we go back to his place. No warning, just starts talking about it and getting out riding crops and shit. Once my brain got caught up with what was happening I got the hell out of there. I'm open minded but that is just plain crazy."

Their good humor died when the door swung open and two tall men entered and walked over to the other end of the bar wearing twin smirks that did nothing to contain the darkness in their eyes. Ryan swallowed thickly and walked over slowly waiting for them to order. "Johnny Walker Blue midget, just give us the bottle."

He immediately did as told and flinched when one of the men laid a hand on his hair and rubbed back and forth like you would do to a dog, "Good boy. Who's a good boy?"

Esposito's hands tightened into fists at how they spoke down to his boyfriend but stayed quiet not wanting to make it worse than it already seemed to be.

The other man leaned forward over the bar and roughly grabbed his chin before slapping his cheek hard enough for Esposito to hear it, "Answer 'im half-pint. Who's a good dog?"

Ryan jerked away and glared, his hands clenching into fists but he paled when the one with the shaved head held up his cellphone, "Do ya want me to call 'im so he can teach ya some manners? I heard he wasn't too happy with ya this morn. Now I'll ask ya one last time, whose a good dog?"

"Me," he said quietly in defeat and shame.

Both men began to laugh and after grabbing the bottle disappeared into a door in the very back. Ryan just stood still for a long minute before walking back to his companion, his eyes trained on the floor.

Esposito wanted to go beat some respect into those two, wanted to provide comfort to Ryan who at twenty-seven was still being teased for his size and threatened. He wanted to ask Ryan why the hell he didn't stand up for himself but recognizing his embarrassment he simply looked back at the tv and took a drink from his glass as he forced himself to stay calm and give his boyfriend a free pass. His hand clicked on the remote until stopping on the weather, "Looks like a big storm is coming."

Ryan glanced up at the tv and nodded, "Definitely a big one."