Two weeks of rest and boredom and Rude was back on his feet, bones smoothly mended and bruises completely faded.
Straightening his tie in the mirror, Rude slid on his shades and turned to Reno, who was shifting from foot to foot, obviously nervous at the thought of returning to the office and Tseng's wrath. "Calm down, Red," he told him. "It's not gonna be that bad."
"Easy for you to say," Reno snapped. "You only got yourself captured. I probably fucked up my entire life."
"Your entire life?" Rude repeated, shoving his hands in his pockets.
One side of Reno's lips curved up in a smirk. "Well, some of it," he purred, leaning up to kiss Rude thoroughly.
"We should go," Rude said against his lips, and Reno's sour mood returned.
"Yeah, yeah."
They walked to work that morning, finally able to roam the streets without having to worry about being sniped by ex-SOLDIERs and not having to double back to avoid being followed. Being Turks, they were still alert, but the anxious feeling of being on edge was gone. Reno was mostly silent, his face still a little drawn as they approached headquarters. He'd debated wearing a tie to placate Tseng a little, but the moment he tightened it around his neck he'd felt nauseous and hadn't been able to go through with it.
Rude rapped on Tseng's open door when they reached his office, and the director looked up from his desk with a small smile.
"Welcome back. I trust you're healed completely?"
"Good as new," Rude confirmed.
"Then go on to your office. There's plenty of work waiting. I need a word with Reno."
Rude gave his partner an encouraging pat on the shoulder and left the room, shutting the door behind him.
Reno sighed and turned to Tseng, who was resting his face on steepled fingers. "Lay it on me, boss man," he said in a defeated voice.
Tseng's mouth twitched a little as though he was amused. "You went against my direct orders, infiltrated an enemy base, and nearly got yourself and your partner killed."
"I know that," Reno said grudgingly. "But it all turned out fine, yeah?"
"That's not the point. Part of being a Turk is trusting your coworkers implicitly. You disobeyed me, and I have to do something about that."
Reno waited for the hammer to fall.
"You'll work a month without pay, and you're prohibited from out-of-city missions until I can be sure you won't fly off the handle," Tseng said finally.
Reno drew his eyebrows together quizzically. "Is…is that all?"
Tseng's eyes flashed. "Do you want more?"
"No! I'm just…surprised."
Tseng walked over to him. "Listen to me, because I will only say this once. You did us all a great service, and I am impressed you lived through it." The director's voice was gentle and quiet. "Punishing you is a formality. Even leaders make mistakes."
Reno nibbled on his thumbnail. "You would've done the same thing as me if it had been Elena," he said in a low voice.
Tseng turned to stare out the window at Edge. "Without a doubt," he said simply.
Not waiting for a dismissal, Reno backed out of the office and went to his own. Rude looked up when he entered.
"So?" the bald man inquired, raising a brow.
"I'm basically a slave for a month," Reno said bitterly. "What with the pay cuts I've taken this year and this, I'll be broke before long."
"Just stop drinking so much," Rude suggested.
Reno grinned, slinging his body down onto his chair and propping up his feet on his desk. "After that last booze cruise, I probably won't be drinking for a while."
"And by 'a while' you mean, what…another week or two?"
"Approximately," Reno said, grinning wider. "Should save me a little money. I just hope I don't get behind on the rent."
"Do you understand the concept of saving?" Rude asked critically, frowning a little. Reno flipped his hand as though that were unimportant. "Incredible," Rude muttered, going back to his work. Sometimes it amazed him that they were best friends, and even more, that he had fallen in love with such a disaster.
The legs of Reno's chair thumped back onto the ground. "Hey! I almost forgot. Remember a while ago I said I thought Tseng and Elena were a thing?"
"And I said it was impossible, since Tseng is too duty-driven? I remember."
Reno clicked his fingers together, grinning wickedly. "Then you owe me, partner, 'cause I have it straight from the chocobo's mouth."
Rude's head snapped around, and he actually looked surprised. "You serious?"
"Tseng as good as admitted it back in his office. Plus you shoulda seen them together earlier. You could just tell. Cough up, partner." Reno's voice was smug.
"Cough up what? We never bet on it," Rude objected.
"Well, we should've. Now that I'm not getting paid for a month," Reno said grumpily. "And I can't leave Edge."
"Hope it was worth it," Rude said in an amused voice.
"Of course it was," Reno snapped. "Doesn't mean I have to be happy about my punishment." Grumpily, he started reading through the first report in his inbox.
He'd figured that the lack of a month's pay would bother him more than being unable to leave Edge, but it turned out to be the opposite for Reno. Even though he had spent most of his time in the city anyways, just knowing he was confined to it made him itch to leave.
"I hate it here," he growled around a cigarette as he and Rude were walking home from work. It was a week into his sentencing, as Reno called it, and he was already getting antsy. Tseng had been working him brutally hard, hard enough that at the end of the day he ended up just falling into bed. The worst part about it, Reno thought mutinously, was the fact that he'd barely gotten any action from Rude due to how exhausted he'd been. He slid his eyes over to his partner as they walked and smirked a little. He could tell Rude was feeling it too, even if he didn't say it, from the little glances he caught the bigger Turk giving him and the tension in his shoulders.
"Never hated it before," Rude told him as they approached his apartment.
Reno sighed. "I just wish Tseng had gone for something quick and hard." He grinned. "Like floggin' me. Then I'd be done and back to work, no problem. This is dragging on way too long, man." He followed Rude into his apartment.
"Flogging?" Rude repeated, a little smile quirking his lips. "You trying to turn me on?" He loosened his tie like he always did when he got home, but the motion was oddly sexual to Reno, and the redhead felt his body warming up.
"Always knew you'd go for a little slap and tickle, partner," Reno said, his lip curling in a grin. In the morning he had steadfastly decided that he was definitely getting laid that night and had proceeded to use all of his skill to hide from Tseng throughout the day. His efforts were paying off now as arousal started to burn in his lower belly, and Reno stripped out of his blazer, slinking up to Rude and pressing him back against the closed door of the apartment.
"It can be fun," Rude replied, still with that shadow of a smile. His voice had grown husky and low, and his fingers crept under the bottom of Reno's shirt to brush against his sharp hipbones.
"Oh, yeah," Reno purred, leaning up to suck on Rude's collarbone. It took some effort to get marks to show up on Rude's dark skin, but it never stopped him from trying. "Wanna go to the bedroom?"
Instead of replying, Rude pressed him close, letting him feel the straining hardness through his pants, then released him to move to his bedroom, shrugging out of his jacket. He was working on the first button of his shirt when Reno struck from behind, and before he knew it, Rude found himself lying flat on his back on the bed, his sexy lover stretched over him. Reno kissed him, his mouth hot and wet and his tongue eagerly thrusting into his mouth, hands fumbling at Rude's shirt buttons until he had the garment open. Reno stroked his hands over Rude's heavily muscled chest as he felt his own shirt being tugged at and reluctantly pulled free from his partner's warm skin to shimmy out of his clothes.
"Oh, gods," Reno breathed out as Rude kicked off his own pants and pressed their erections together. "It's been way too long, baby." He started kissing Rude again, long and slow this time, as the bigger man slowly ran his hands down his back, feeling every rib and flexing muscle as Reno arched against him.
Rude found it almost ridiculous how he could go without sex for a decade and then as soon as he got a taste of it with Reno he was like a teenager again, getting hard in his pants just at the sight of the V of chest that peeked through Reno's shirt, the graceful curve of his neck, and his ass in his pants. Even if his bare ass was even better, Rude decided, reaching it with his hands and squeezing the firm muscles there.
Reno let out a little moan and shakily reached over to the nightstand where he knew Rude kept the lube, groping around until he found the small tube. He handed it to Rude and returned his attention to the strong, sculpted body underneath him, licking a stripe up his neck and tugging gently at his nipple rings the way he knew Rude liked. Distantly he heard the snap of the bottle and Reno jumped a little as a slick finger traced between his cheeks. "Fuck, that's cold," he muttered against Rude's neck, then arched into him with a gasp as the finger gently breached him, sliding past the ring of muscle to settle deep inside.
"Okay?" Rude asked, sounding a little breathless.
"Yeah," Reno answered, feeling his lover's heavy erection pressing into his hip. He reached down to stroke it smoothly, pulling a groan from Rude. The finger inside him retreated and Reno gave an indignant whimper, only to moan as it returned, pumping in and out of him in a gentle rhythm. He slid his hand over Rude's cock in time with the finger inside him, rubbing his thumb over the head and teasing one of his nipples to hardness with his other hand.
"Reno," Rude gasped through gritted teeth, a warning in his voice. Reno caught it immediately and reached down quickly to squeeze the base of the bigger man's cock firmly as it twitched, cutting off his orgasm, and Rude let out a frustrated-sounding groan.
Reno felt another finger nudge at his entrance and forced himself to relax as it slid inside, feeling himself being stretched open. Even just two of Rude's fingers caused a bit of a burn; no part of the man was small, Reno thought to himself, smirking as he rubbed a thumb along Rude's cock, careful not to overstimulate him again. Even so, the faint pain was almost welcome, and Reno's eyes slipped shut as the fingers in him scissored gently. They kept just barely brushing over his prostate, sending little jolts of pleasure up and down his spine but leaving him prickling with the need for more stimulation.
"Hurry it up, partner," Reno growled as his hips thrust against Rude's leg involuntarily. He nuzzled against the dark man's neck and kissed his cheek, still keeping a light hold on Rude's erection. Rude turned his head and caught Reno's lips with his own, parting them with his tongue as a third finger worked its way inside him. Reno hissed a little, half in pain and half in pleasure, and Rude silenced him with a firmer kiss, pressing gently on Reno's prostate with his fingers to distract him from the pain. The redhead let out a little mewling cry, his thighs quivering a little from the effort of holding himself over Rude, his hand tightening around the bigger man's cock as arousal clenched hard in his stomach even more, like a spring coiling tighter and tighter.
"Enough," Reno gasped against Rude's lips, fumbling in the nightstand for a condom and ripping it open with his teeth like a frenzied animal as Rude slowly eased his fingers out of him. He rolled it carefully down Rude's erection, the dark man arching a little at the feel of Reno's hand sliding over him. A quick slick of lube over the condom and Reno was rising on his knees over Rude's prostrate body until the tip of his cock was nudging against his stretched entrance.
Rude choked back a groan as Reno refused to sink down; the redhead just looked at him with a predatory gaze, then leaned over him, looking into his eyes.
"Do you trust me?" Reno asked, his voice low and husky.
"Yes," Rude replied almost immediately, somewhat surprised with his lack of hesitation. He'd never thought about how much he trusted his partner before.
He almost reevaluated when Reno swiftly caught his wrists in his hands and stretched them up above his head. There was a snapping sound, and Rude felt the cold metal of handcuffs locking his arms together. He looked up, surprised. He hadn't even seen where Reno had pulled them from.
"Okay?" Reno asked him softly, carefully, and Rude nodded. Then his eyes were rolling back in his head and a groan was bursting from his lips as Reno dropped his hips, taking him inside in one smooth motion.
Reno grimaced a little at the stretch, pausing when he was completely seated to let himself adjust. "Oh, fuck," he said breathlessly, reveling in the feel of Rude's thick hardness inside him. He looked down at his lover and saw that Rude's arms were rigid, straining at the handcuffs, and sweat had started to stand out on his face, his whole body wound tight with arousal. "You want me to move?" Reno purred, bearing his weight down on Rude's hips to prevent them from bucking.
"Reno," Rude warned through gritted teeth. "Yes, I want you to fucking move."
Reno leaned over him, kissing him thoroughly, then licked his way to Rude's ear. "I'm gonna make you fuckin' beg," he growled, raising himself up until just the tip of Rude's erection remained inside him. He traced his hands over Rude's muscled chest, feeling the tension that gathered in it as Rude strained, both at his bonds and his desire to be back inside Reno.
Rude let out an animalistic growl as Reno sank down about an inch, then pulled back up again, nibbling none too gently at his neck. The scrape of his teeth lit a fire in Rude, heat blooming in his belly and racing through his arms and legs. He felt his cock twitch a little, aching without Reno's tight passage around it. Experimentally, Rude thrust his hips up a little, moaning when he felt the head of his cock nudge into Reno's ass. The redhead bit him hard on the neck, raking his fingernails down Rude's chest.
"Bad," Reno purred, reaching down to massage his lover's balls. "I won't let you come if you do that." To prove his point, he squeezed the base of Rude's cock hard, making the bigger man gasp.
Rude silently cursed Reno's love of control and wondered briefly if he would ever let their positions be reversed. He felt his stomach roll with desire as Reno teased him, never letting him in more than an inch or so, all the while playing with his balls, and Rude bit his lip until it bled.
"Reno," he gasped again as the redhead cut another orgasm short, his hand tight around the base of Rude's cock.
"I told you what you need to do." Reno's voice was dark with lust. He rolled his hips down shallowly again.
"Please," Rude gritted finally, thinking that his pride wasn't worth this torture.
"Please what?" Reno asked innocently, smirking when Rude glared at him.
"Please…fuck me, Reno," he managed, then let out a cry of pleasure as Reno finally sank down again, throwing back his head at the feeling of Rude's thick cock sliding into him. Rude thrust his hips up as best he could from his prone position, and it was Reno's turn to whimper as his prostate was struck.
In a moment Reno had regained his control, planting his hands on Rude's chest and setting a hard pace, his hips rising and falling so fast that Rude felt like he couldn't catch his breath, and Reno's moans were rising in volume, a steady stream of pleasured noises.
"Oh, Shiva," the redhead choked out, never slowing his frenzied pace. Every time he came down Rude thrust his hips up, shoving his cock hard against his prostate and making Reno quiver and moan, barbs of pleasure shooting through his spine. Reno whimpered out another groan and took one hand from Rude's chest, fisting his own rock hard erection and jerking it with quick, rough strokes. "You feel so fucking good, Rude," he gasped out. "Gaia, you feel better inside me than I'd ever thought possible, oh, fuck, baby!"
The lust was rising in him, coiling tight in his lower belly, and Rude pulled hard at the handcuffs again, hating and loving how restricted his movement was. He looked up at Reno, at his beautiful white body moving smoothly above him. A rosy flush had stained Reno's cheeks and was slowly moving down to color his chest as well, and Rude knew he was close to the edge. Sure enough, Reno gave another pathetic little whimper and jerked his cock hard one last time, spraying Rude's dark chest with his release. The warm feeling of it hitting his chest and the rhythmic tightening of Reno's ass around his cock made Rude's eyes roll back, but he just barely managed not to come. Instead, he patiently let Reno collapse on him, panting, kissing him sloppily.
"Let me out of the cuffs," Rude said after a few minutes, managing to keep his voice gentle, and a tired Reno obeyed, pulling the key out of what seemed to be nowhere and fumbling with the cuffs. They unsnapped from his wrists, and Rude shook his hands a little to get the blood flowing again, rubbing at the red weals that had risen on his wrists from how hard he'd pulled. Reno smiled at him a little sleepily, clearly sated, and Rude watched in a sort of evil happiness as the redhead's expression shifted from relaxed to confused as he felt the hardness that was still evident inside him.
"Wait, are you still—" Before he knew what had happened, Reno found himself pressed face-first to the bedcovers, cutting his words off with a yelp. He felt Rude's strong hands on his hips, pulling them up sharply so his ass was in the air. "Rude, what the fu—" Again, Reno's words were cut off, but this time with a long, drawn out moan of pleasure as Rude thrust firmly into him again.
Rude grabbed his arms, pulling them behind his back for greater leverage, leaving Reno's chest and face against the bed. "Tell me to stop and I will," he reassured his partner, but Reno looked very much like he was enjoying it. His eyes were half-closed, his lips parted as he gasped for air with every powerful thrust. He squirmed a little in Rude's hold and the bigger man didn't have to look or feel to know the redhead was rock hard again.
"D-don't—ah!—stop," Reno panted, his entire body on fire. He hadn't realized how much being dominated would turn him on; he'd always been in the dom role before, but the amount of trust and love he had for Rude made being dominated by him more pleasurable than he'd thought possible. Reno had already come once and he was already writhing in his partner's grip.
"Harder?" Rude grunted out.
Reno let out an even louder moan at the thought. He hadn't realized Rude could go harder; the breath was already being driven from his lungs with every thrust, sweat slicking his body as pleasure sizzled through him.
"Oh, fuck, Gaia, yes," Reno managed between breaths. "Go harder. I c'n take it."
Rude let out a groan of his own, letting his head fall back. He'd always been strong and heavily muscled, and out of risk of doing serious damage to his partners, holding back a little during sex had quickly become second nature. His wife in particular had preferred it slow and gentle, which he hadn't minded, but being given permission to go all out was more arousing than he'd thought possible. Reno might have been lean, but he was wiry and tough, and Rude knew firsthand that he was much stronger than he looked.
Rude widened his knees a little on the bed to brace himself and tightened his grip on Reno's arms, pulling the redhead back firmly against him, finally letting go and thrusting hard and fast, his body remembering what to do like an old, almost forgotten dance.
Reno's moans were growing louder and louder, his face flushing a brilliant red to match his hair as Rude pounded into him, his hips pumping smoothly even with his rapid pace.
Through the almost agonizing amount of pleasure, Reno dimly could hear that Rude's groans and grunts of exertion and desire were also rising in volume, and that alone was a bit shocking to him. Rude was normally reserved even in the bedroom, and the noises he made had always been sexy, but they hadn't been particularly loud. Now, they weren't anywhere near as loud as Reno's own, but they were louder than they'd ever been before. The heavy gasping and muffled cursing from Rude was lighting a fire in Reno's chest, and he shivered as another shock of pleasure coursed through him.
"Gods, you're so tight," Rude heard himself groan, feeling almost dizzy from the silky embrace of Reno's lithe body. They were both glistening with sweat, and Rude's hands were slipping a little around Reno's wrists, so slid his hands up and around the redhead's chest, jerking his body upright without breaking rhythm so Reno was also on his knees, his back pressed to Rude's chest.
Reno cried out again as Rude's cock hit his prostate from a new angle, his body going limp so the only things holding him up were Rude's strong arms. His head lolled back onto Rude's shoulder, the long red strands of his hair sticking to their sweaty bodies.
"Quiet down a little," Rude managed to murmur in Reno's ear before turning his head a little and muffling the cries a little with his tongue and lips. Rude knew his neighbors were most likely already irritated from how the bedframe was thumping against the wall, and Reno's loud moans would just piss them off more.
"I can't," Reno whimpered, writhing in his grip and reaching back to clutch at Rude's hips, trying to pull him closer. Breathing hard, Rude slowed his thrusts a little until he was stroking into Reno with long, languid motions. Even so, he put all his strength behind them, so the breath was driven from Reno's lungs with each thrust, but somehow the redhead managed to keep letting out loud cries of pleasure. "Fuck, baby, you're too good," Reno choked out, his back arching a little.
Rude kissed the back of his neck, catching his breath as he slowly ran his hand down Reno's sweaty, lean chest to trace the thin trail of reddish hair that led to his groin. He grasped Reno's erection, admiring how it felt in his calloused hand; it was like velvet-covered steel, the tip slowly dribbling fluid. Reno's whole body jerked as Rude slid his hand over it. "Oh, fuck, Rude, I'm gonna come, oh, Shiva, I'm gonna fucking come—!" His back arched in a beautiful curve, his head thrown back on Rude's shoulder, and Rude saw his lips part and hastily clapped his free hand over Reno's mouth.
"Come for me," he ordered in a growl. Reno's answering scream was as muffled as it could be, but it still reverberated throughout the room, and Rude knew his neighbors were hating him right then, but he couldn't bring himself to care as Reno's cock bucked in his hand and for the second time that night the redhead came hard, spilling over Rude's fingers onto the rumpled bedspread.
Rude gasped at the familiar sensation of Reno clenching around his erection and sank his teeth into his partner's shoulder to muffle his own cry as Reno's body closed tight around him. He thrust hard one last time, trembling as his own orgasm thundered through him, sapping his limbs of strength as he released into the condom. They collapsed onto the bed, tangled together, and Rude had enough sense left to pull his hand free from Reno's mouth so he wouldn't panic, but it took all the energy he had. Luckily, Reno seemed content to lie half under Rude, his whole body still quivering from the force of his release.
Gradually, Rude shifted a little to the side so he could pull off the condom and throw it away, then turned back to Reno, who was still lying on his back, his chest heaving and his eyes closed. Rude slid an arm around his waist and pulled him close, kissing the spot right underneath his ear and making Reno mewl a little.
When Reno was able to move again, he opened his eyes, looking up into Rude's oddly worried dark ones.
"Too rough?" the big man asked, stroking his calloused fingers over Reno's hip and stomach.
Reno raised an eyebrow. "You're joking, right?" He shifted into a better position and winced a little at the burning in his nether regions. "I mean, yeah, I'll be sore as fuck for a bit, but who wouldn't after getting hammered like that?" He grinned. "Trust me, partner, I woulda slugged you in the nose if I hadn't wanted it."
The corner of Rude's mouth turned up in a little smile and he leaned in to fasten their lips together, his hand creeping up Reno's chest until he could feel the redhead's heart fluttering under his hand. The kiss was just a clumsy press of lips, both of them too tapped out to do much more.
"You're sure everything was okay?"
Reno wiped sweat-soaked hair out of his eyes. "As long as you're not actively puttin' your hand around my neck, I'm down to try whatever in bed, partner. Quit worryin'." The redhead grinned. "Like I said, I'd letcha know loud and clear if you ever did anything I didn't like." He ran a hand over Rude's sweaty, cum-stained chest, grimacing a little at the cooling bodily fluids.
"That mean I get to cuff you next time?" Rude asked in a low voice, a smirk curling his lips as Reno slowly got off the bed, his legs still shaking a little, and disappeared into the bathroom. He returned a minute later with a damp cloth and leaned over Rude, wiping his chest clean before leaning in and flicking one of his nipple rings with his tongue.
"Depends on how you play your cards," the redhead purred, but the idea had him shivering anew. He finished cleaning them both up and tossed the cloth in the laundry basket before curling up to Rude, head on his chest. He yawned, deciding there was time for a quick nap before dinner, and felt Rude's lips against the top of his head.
"I love you," the bigger man murmured, much as he had the first time they had made love, and Reno smiled a little, the tender caress of his calloused fingers over Rude's abdominal muscles more than enough of a reply.