Hello again ^^

Many thanks to every reader and reviewer and of course my pre-readers. They also translated a sentence into Japanese, so thanks for that as well.

Enjoy ^^

Hot as Fire

Chapter 6

Reluctantly Sanji pressed the elevator button. He had been smoking outside for almost an hour, trying not to freak out. He was supposed to be Zoro's boyfriend, and he couldn't leave the man alone, in case Perona showed up. He and his big mouth. Why had he promised to play the marimo's boyfriend during the wedding – of which this was an extension – instead of just one day?

With a soft 'ping' the elevator doors slid open. The elevator was empty – thank God – and the two of them strolled in.

"Hold the elevator!"

Just as Sanji pressed the button for the sixth floor, a very heavy set woman and her equally stout husband came running towards them. Sanji, who had never let down a lady, pressed the button to hold the doors open, and immediately regretted it when the two people squeezed themselves into the tiny elevator. The blonde got pressed against Zoro, who instinctively wrapped a protective arm around him.

The woman turned around. "Thank you for that. My, aren't you the cutest couple? Aren't they adorable, Frank?" Saying that, she pinched Sanji's cheek.

"Yes dear," Frank answered obediently.

The blonde decided just to smile politely and kick Zoro in the shin for snickering. Fortunately, the woman and her husband got out on the third floor. After they had left, Sanji took a relieved breath and rubbed his still painful cheek.

The swordsman chuckled. "I can't believe you let her do that."

"Shut up. She's a lady."

Knowing having a discussion about this would lead to nowhere, Zoro just shook his head. When they reached their floor, he checked the key which room number they had. 612, it read.

"Please have separate beds, please have separate beds…" Such was Sanji's mantra as Zoro stuck the key in the lock. When the swordsman opened the door, the blonde groaned. Of course, there was just one double bed.

The rest of the room was fairly simple decorated. There were – on each side of the bed – two nightstands, a television and a wardrobe, which they of course wouldn't use, as they didn't bring any extra clothes. They also had a small bathroom attached to the room.

Zoro jumped on the bed and stretched himself. "This isn't so bad, is it?"

Sanji hung his jacket over a chair. "Sleeping with you in one room? Of course it's bad!" he snorted.

"Bed's pretty good." The swordsman smirked. "Good spring action."

The blonde carefully sat down, before he was pulled in a lying position by Zoro.

"See?"

"Not so rough, Marimo!"

Suddenly they heard loud knocking on the door. "Zoro!" They both froze when recognizing the voice of Perona.

Within a second the swordsman sat up and turned towards Sanji, sitting on his knees. "Quick, pretend we're fucking. That will scare her off."

"Wha–" The true meaning of his words slowly got through to the chef, when the other man started to shake the bars at the head of the bed. "No way! Stop that." Zoro gave him a pinch and he yelped.

"So you like it rough?" the green haired man smirked, earning him a kick in the stomach.

"Do you?" the blonde snapped.

Footsteps left their door hastily. Zoro grinned, but kept rattling at the bars.

"She's gone now," Sanji said irritated.

"I know, but I don't want our neighbours think I lack stamina."

"You?!"

The swordsman gave the bars one last shake and came off the bed. "Why, did you want to top?" It was just too much fun to embarrass the cook, even though he knew he would regret it if he pushed it too far. But now the blonde just flushed.

Zoro threw his jacket on the bed. "I'm gonna take a shower."

"Now just wait a second! I could have just told her you were in the shower! Then we wouldn't had to have put on this… this show."

The green haired man shrugged. "What's the big deal? She thinks you're my boyfriend, right? Therefore we have sex." He took a step in the blonde's direction. "Or had you rather stayed a virgin until we were married?" he teased.

He had gone too far. He knew that the instant he saw the one visible eye of the chef, dark with rage. The swordsman fled into the bathroom, not because he was scared of course, but to keep the room intact.

When he was done showering – he had taken his time so the cook could cool off – Sanji was lying on the bed in his boxers, wearing his reading glasses and leafing through a TV guide.

He looked up when Zoro came out of the bathroom. The swordsman wore a towel around his waist and was drying his hair with another one.

At the foot of the bed the green haired man stopped. "What's with you and the glasses?"

Sanji rolled his eyes. "They're reading glasses, what do you think? Besides," he continued with a smirk, "I look hot in 'em."

Zoro snorted, but the blonde took his glasses off and licked seductively at one of the arms. The swordsman's mouth went dry and he had to restrain himself not to jump the chef right there. Instead he just muttered: "Che," and proceeded drying his hair.

With a soft flop the towel around his waist dropped on the floor. He ignored it for the time being –though he was glad he had his body under control this time, the blonde would probably have a heart attack if he caught the swordsman with an erection twice – but Sanji exclaimed: "O-oi! Put that away!" He blocked the view with his hand and turned his head away.

"Well, you didn't believe my hair colour was real," Zoro grinned. "Now you know."

"Don't you think I got that already after seeing your freakish family?! Now cover yourself up!"

Snickering the green haired man bent down, giving the blonde a nice view of his naked ass – were he looking – and then strolled over to the bathroom to put something on. He came back out wearing only his trousers.

"You're gonna sleep in that? That's a shame, they'll get all wrinkly and you still have to wear them tomorrow," Sanji commented with a frown.

Zoro shrugged. "You've made it perfectly clear that you don't want to see me without them."

"Then you wear you boxers like m–" Seeing the smirk on the swordsman's face, his words got through to him. "You're going commando? That better not be a rented suit!"

The swordsman snickered and dodged the pillow that was thrown to his head. "Nah, it's mine." He walked to the mini bar near the TV. "Ya want something?"

The blonde raised an eyebrow. "Isn't that stuff really expensive?"

"I'm not paying for the room," Zoro shrugged.

"Me neither! I don't even have a job."

"Then Hina and the others have to cough up the money. Now, do you want something or not?"

"Just give me something non-alcoholic."

The green haired man plopped on the bed snickering, holding a beer, a cola and a can of macadamia nuts. "Still don't trust yourself, Cook?"

"It's you who I don't trust!" The effects from the champagne were starting to wear off and he wanted to hit himself in the head for kissing Zoro like he'd done earlier.

"Someone had to deflower you." That earned him another smack with a pillow.

Sanji snorted and sipped from his beverage. The swordsman looked at him. His eyes wandered the slim figure of the man. The first night he had had a nice view already, even from what lay beneath those boxers, and today he had even been allowed to have a feel.

"So what do you do?"

He had been so busy staring at the blonde's body and fantasizing what he could do with it – he had already seen some of his limberness – that he interpreted the question probably not how Sanji had mend it. Well, what and who sound a lot alike, don't they?

But before making an ass of himself, he was smart enough to ask: "W-what?"

"What do you do? For a living, I mean," the blonde repeated.

That question made more sense, though the swordsman preferred the other one. "I'm a private detective."

"No way!"

"What's that supposed to mean?!" he grouched back.

"Well, you don't strike me as a thinking kind of guy." Seeing that came out the wrong way, Sanji sighed and added: "I mean, with a body like yours… You know!"

Was he imagining it or was the chef blushing? "I also freelance as a bodyguard, with this though economy and all."

"See? That makes more sense!" Sanji exclaimed, happy he was able to explain himself.

They were silent for a while, both sipping from their beverages and chewing on the macadamia nuts. Then the cook asked: "When did you actually know you were gay?"

The swordsman almost choked on a nut. He had not expected that question, especially not from the blonde. He coughed and wiped the tears from his eyes.

"You okay?" Sanji almost sounded concerned.

"Yeah… Why the hell do you want to know that for?" Zoro took a sip of his beer to calm his throat.

The chef shrugged. "I didn't mean anything by it. I'm just curious. I barely know a thing about you, and yet here I am lying in bed with you." The cook looked at him with his curly eyebrow raised.

"And this is the first thing you think of?"

"Geez, forget I asked already! I didn't know you were shy about it."

"Fine, if you really want to know. I just have never been interested in girls. In secondary school my friends Johnny and Yosaku had tons of girlfriends and they tried to set me up with some chicks. But I always found some excuse not to date them again. Most of the time they just weren't interesting–"

"How could a wonderful lady not be interesting?" Sanji interrupted him, and it wouldn't have surprised Zoro if his eyes turned into hearts.

"Would you shut up and listen to the story? You're the one that wanted to know. Anyway, at that time I thought it was the girls that weren't interesting, it wasn't until later I realised it might just be me who wasn't interested in girls."

"So when did you find out?"

"College. Actually, it was because of Ace." A slight smile appeared on his face. "I was roommates with Luffy back then. Ace and I met at a party, and well, one thing led to another…"

"You slept with Ace?!" the blonde exclaimed.

"Just once. He helped me come out. Ace likes his freedom. Not that I mind, I mean, he helped me a lot, but he isn't really my type."

"Then what is your type?" the blonde asked, wondering if the alcohol had still effect on his brain.

Zoro eyed the cook. It was tempting to answer tall, blonde and sexy, but that would make things rather awkward. "I'm choosier than 'has to have a cock', like you are with girls and breasts," he said scornful.

"You just don't understand the beauty of a woman's bosom."

"You're right about that. So what about you?" he asked with a smirk.

"What about me?"

"When did you came out of the closet?" the swordsman asked slyly.

Sanji flushed. "What? I'm not fucking gay!"

Zoro had to bite his tongue not to make a remark about the blonde's choice of words, but then said: "As my boyfriend you are."

"No, we're sticking to what I've told Vivi: that you're the first guy I've fallen for. And that makes me bi," the blonde snapped. "I mean, that makes my character bi," he added a little flushed.

Zoro snickered. "Okay, now tell me something personal about you."

He shrugged. "There is not much to tell."

"What about your childhood? Zeff raised you, right?"

The chef nodded. "I was young when my folks died, I don't remember much about them. I was put in an orphanage. But I didn't like it there, so when I was nine I ran away. I kept myself alive by stealing food. One day I was reckless and decided to try my luck in a restaurant, the Baratie. Of course, Zeff caught me." A nostalgic smile appeared on his face.

"What did he do?"

The blonde snorted. "What do you think? He kicked the crap out of me. But as I was hungry, he fed me after. I stayed at his home and earned my food by washing the dishes in the Baratie. After a few months I discovered the old fart had officially adopted me. He had tracked down the orphanage I had lived in and signed all the papers. I got rebellious when I found out. I picked up smoking to prove I was a man, and I didn't need a parent to look after me. He kicked me again. Nothing really changed though. He taught me how to cook at home and allowed me to go to Japan and France to learn those cooking styles. When I got back from France, I applied for a job at the Baratie. The old geezer never went easy on me, so I had to prove myself. Of course he couldn't deny my skills," he added with a cocky smile.

"How long have you been abroad?"

"In Japan only two months. But I was in France for a year."

"Then you must speak pretty good French."

The blonde grinned. "Bien sûr je parle Français." (1)

Zoro had never thought a language could sound this sexy. But the chef had a gift of making anything sound sexy…

"Now you tell something again."

"I already told something personal," the swordsman argued, shaken from his thoughts.

"Not about your childhood. I spilled my whole sad story. Now it's your turn."

Zoro scratched the back of his head. "Well, I'm an orphan too. I was adopted by a man named Koshiro. He was a close friend of my dad's. Koshiro already had a daughter, Kuina. He taught us both kendo, but I could never beat her. When she was thirteen, she fell down the stairs and died from a broken neck. I stayed with Koshiro for a few years, before I went to Japan to become a master swordsman."

"Then you must speak pretty good Japanese," Sanji teased.

"Mochiron nihongo wo hanasu," he got as his answer. (2)

Zoro stretched himself on the bed. "Aside from Kuina's death, my childhood wasn't so bad."

"It's bad enough, moron." Sanji plopped a macadamia nut in the swordsman's mouth. Zoro resisted the urge to lick the man's hand again, as this time he didn't have an excuse to. Instead he settled for looking at him, the blonde staring back. It was like the blue orb was penetrating his very soul. He could still see only one eye, for some reason the curtain of hair still managed to cover his right one. Of course he knew what it hid, Sanji having changed his hair style after they had met, but it was tempting anyway to stroke with his hands through the golden locks and see his face as a whole – asymmetric eyebrows included.

The blond chef coughed to break the silence, which had become a little awkward with Zoro's intense gazing. Surly someone else had sympathised with him before? "In the TV guide I saw there's some samurai film on. You wanna watch?"

When the swordsman shrugged he turned on the television. While they watched the movie, Sanji glanced over to the other man every once in a while. He seemed to be quite relaxed, sipping from his beer. Nothing indicated he was aware of the 'moment' they had just now. The blonde shook his head. He'd probably just imagined it.

"Che," Zoro disturbed his thoughts.

He sat up a little. "What?"

The swordsman pointed at the TV with his beer bottle. "If he'd done that in real life, his head would be off by now."

Smiling Sanji listened to his comments about the sword fighting and the swords. The green haired man really knew a lot about it. Halfway through the film though the blonde started to doze off.

Zoro turned off the TV – it was a bad film anyway, though he did enjoy watching it with the cook — and pulled the blankets over them. After he had turned off the lights, it soon became silent in the room.

When Sanji woke up, it was still dark outside. Next to him lay Zoro snoring, still fast asleep. Still, the snoring wasn't what had woken him. On the contrary, it was oddly soothing.

But despite being under the blankets he was still shivering. It was very cold in the room. Quietly he got out of the bed and walked to the heater. It felt cold, but even after turning the knob he didn't hear any water flowing. He wrapped his arms around himself, rubbing his arms and cursing the broken heater. He felt the urge to kick it, but decided not to, as he probably would break it even more.

He heard shifting in the bed behind him and Zoro sat up straight. The blonde hadn't realised the snoring had seized.

"What are you doing?" the green haired man yawned.

"Nothing, I'm just a little cold. Go back to sleep."

Instead of listening Zoro flipped back the covers and strolled over to him. "Heater doesn't work?"

Sanji felt the radiator. "Doesn't seem to." He suppressed a shiver.

"Then why don't you put on your shirt?"

"Because it will get wrinkly and I still have to show my face to all those lovely lady's tomorrow," the cook snapped.

The swordsman yawned again and then grabbed Sanji's hand. "Come on, I'll warm you up."

When the cook didn't move, he sighed. "Not like that, you pervert cook. Just trust me, okay?"

Reluctantly the blonde let himself be dragged to the bed again and pulled under the covers. He turned his back to Zoro, still not sure what the man was up to. The swordsman lay down behind him and wrapped his arm around the cook's slim frame, pulling him close.

The blonde had half a mind to struggle, but Zoro was nice and warm, and he was very tired. He didn't even object when the swordsman nuzzled his nose in his blond hair and murmured: "I liked how you looked today, Cook."

When he opened his eyes he couldn't move his hands. They were tied up over his head. He knew this dream, it was to show how weak he still was. In only a moment he would be here to tell him that. That he shouldn't let himself be snuck up to, let alone be tied up.

Just outside the reach of the light the torches cast he saw a silhouette appear. But something was off. Usually the first thing he would see were the piercing eyes, like a hawk. Also the position of the figure seemed different. It was more relaxed, and there was no sword in sight.

But he didn't care who had tied him up, he just wanted to be free. "Untie me right now," he grouched.

The other person exhaled, and a cloud of smoke drifted his way. He knew that smell. And when the figure spoke, there was no doubt about it. "I thought it would make things more… exiting," the suave voice said.

He looked around him. The setting was different as well. He wasn't tied up against the wall, but he was lying on a bed, his hands bound to the head. The light around him didn't came from torches, but from lit candles. On top of that, he was stark naked.

The blond strolled over and straddled him, causing a delicious friction between their erections.

His mind was a haze, but he managed to choke out: "But you're not gay."

"I know," the chef answered mysteriously. He bent forward and flicked his tongue over his nipple.

His smile grew the lower the blonde went and when the man took him in his mouth, he didn't care if his legs had been tied up…

He felt something press against his hard-on, and without opening his eyes he knew it was Sanji's ass. How tempting it was to just ground his hips forward…

The blonde lay curled up in his arms, still asleep. Carefully Zoro pulled his arm away from underneath him and made his way to the bathroom.

There were three things he could do now. He could take a cold shower, but chances were that Sanji would wake up from that and he really didn't have an excuse to take another shower. He could also try to meditate to calm his mind and body. Only that technique didn't seem to have an effect on him anymore ever since the cook walked into his life…

Which left him with option three. He lowered his pants and it wasn't difficult to summon the image of a naked Sanji, laying on his carpet in front of the fireplace…

When he woke for the third time, it was already morning. The place next to him was empty, unfortunately, but still felt warm. From the bathroom he heard the sound of running water, Sanji was taking a shower.

He still lay in bed when the blonde came back into the room, fully dressed already, aside from his jacket and tie.

Zoro hoped he had cleaned up the bathroom well enough after his 'private time' last night. "Morning," he said.

Sanji mumbled something in response and started fixing his tie.

The swordsman got out of bed and began to dress himself. "Did ya sleep okay?" he tried again.

The blonde looked at him. "Better than I expected with you snoring in my ear."

Zoro raised an eyebrow, but kept silent. Of the friendly atmosphere of last night seemed to be nothing left. "You wanna go get breakfast before Luffy eats it all?" he said when they both were ready.

Sanji nodded, but before Zoro could reach for the door knob, the blonde stopped him and started to fashion him. The green haired man made a big show of pretending he hated it, but he hardly minded having Sanji's hands all over him. When the cook was content with his work, or when the swordsman looked "passable", as Sanji called it, they went downstairs.

In the dining room was a buffet of all kind of breakfast food, from cereal to scrambled eggs. Sanji picked up two plates, while Zoro looked for a place to sit.

While the blonde dished up the plates, he saw Nami standing next to him. "Good morning, Nami-swan," he greeted her.

"Morning, Sanji." She looked around her if no one was listening before leaning in, making Sanji almost swoon. "Is it true what Perona says?"

"I'm not following you, my beautiful flower," he said rather confused.

"Did you and Zoro have sex last night?" Her voice sounded a little too eager.

"What?! No, we did not!" He hastened himself to lower his voice. "You know we're just pretending, right?"

"She said she heard you exclaim."

"He pinched me!"

Nami shrugged. "What kinky stuff you like is your business."

Sanji stood dumbfounded. He followed her hastily as she walked over to the tables. "You can just ask Zoro. Tell her," he demanded when they had reached the swordsman.

"Tell her what?"

The blonde sighed and bent forward to whisper something in his ear. The green haired man had a hard time focussing on the words instead of the warm breath, until he picked up the word sex. He almost choked on the bite he just took. But seeing the warning look the cook gave him, he said to Nami: "We didn't do it."

She shrugged, but got distracted when her boyfriend called over from the buffet. He waved and with his plate loaded, he walked over to them, but half way to the table the food was already gone and he had to go back.

Sanji took a seat next to one of Zoro's cousins, a beautiful young woman with pink hair. Underneath her right eye she had a golden ring pierced and she wore red lipstick. Bonney was her name, if he recalled correctly. Surprisingly she was family of Zoro, even though her table manners reminded him more of Luffy.

"So you're a cook right?" she asked between two bites, with her mouth still full.

But she was a lady, so Sanji didn't mind. "I am. A chef actually. Unfortunately the restaurant where I worked burned down a week ago," he explained.

Her fork stopped halfway to her mouth. "But, what about the food?" she stammered.

"I'm sorry?"

"The food. You kept food at the restaurant, right?"

He nodded slowly. He hadn't really thought about the food. Sure it was a waste, but she seemed pretty upset. "I'm sorry, my sweet, but it's all gone."

"You poor thing!"

Before he could react, she grabbed the back of his head and pushed his face in her ample bosom, trying to comfort him. Unfortunately, her plan backfired as he almost fainted, but then he felt it. Shit. Not now.

He pulled his head back, his hand for his nose, but he already felt the warm liquid drip through his fingers.

"You okay?" she asked, more surprised than worried.

He nodded, still covering his nose. Fortunately Zoro came to his aid. "Don't worry, his nosebleed is… chronic," the swordsman said. "Come on, Curly-brow." He grabbed Sanji's hand and dragged him along to the nearest men's room.

"Che, you act all like a gentleman, but deep down you're just a pervert, aren't you?" he snickered after handing the blonde a paper towel.

"Shut up. Like I said last night, you just don't understand the beauty of a woman's bosom," the blonde snapped back.

Zoro shook his head in disdain.

Fortunately no blood had gotten on Sanji's clothes. After the bleeding had stopped they left the restroom. In the hallway they met Nami.

"Ah Sanji, are you okay?" she asked.

"Yes, I'm fine, thank you, my beautiful flower~"

But she waved aside his flirtations. "I came to tell you that Luffy and I are leaving."

"Already?" the blonde asked disappointed. "But it won't be the same without you, Melorine~"

"Why are you leaving?" Zoro interrupted his supposed boyfriend.

Nami sighed and shook her head. "The hotel staff had kindly but compellingly requested Luffy to leave, before he eats everything. Bonney has been asked the same, so we're taking her with us."

Zoro started laughing. Nami sighed again and waved as she walked away, ignoring Sanji's exclamations of love. After a few paces she stood still and turned around with a mischievous smile on her face. "You two make a really cute couple."

"That's so mean, Nami-swan!" the chef called after her.

Not long after Zoro and Sanji decided to leave as well. After too much hugs and kisses for Zoro's taste and a threat from Perona that she would bring the bear costume next time, they finally reached the car.

On the way home the blonde was quiet. He stared out of the window smoking and didn't say a thing. Suddenly the swordsman realised that Sanji had been acting different all day. He hadn't tried his best to be a convincing boyfriend like he had yesterday. Also, the blonde had been avoiding his gaze and they hadn't made eye contact all day, even though Zoro had tried.

When they pulled over in front of the cook's house, the green haired man turned himself to the cook. "What the hell is wrong with you today? Why can't you look me in the face?"

Sanji took a deep breath from his cigarette and undid his safety belt, still staring straight ahead. He was already reaching for the door handle, when he finally looked at the swordsman. "Try locking the door next time." With that, he left the car without looking back.

Zoro sat frozen, his hands still on the steering wheel. He didn't need to think about what the cook had meant. Shit. Had he been so careful not to wake the other man, that he had forgotten to lock the door of the bathroom that night? He hadn't exclaimed Sanji's name, had he? No, he had barely made a sound. But that cook could be stealthy! Even if he was pleasuring himself, he usually was quite aware of his surroundings. How long had the blonde been watching?

Zoro smacked his head on the steering wheel and groaned. The thought of Sanji watching him masturbate aroused him. Something was definitely wrong with him.

~ To be continued

(1) French for "Of course I speak French."

(2) Japanese for "Of course I speak Japanese." (Thank you, Vergina-spva and Thérèse ^^)