Author's Note: This chapter contains sexy times ;)

Chapter Sixteen

Cas usually woke to the smell of coffee, so when he opened his eyes to find the room still dark and no mug on his bedside table he knew it had to be ridiculously early. He had every intention of rolling over and going back to sleep, but he realised he could hear movement beyond his door.

His hunter instincts kicked in.

In an instant he was out of bed with a fireplace poker in hand. He crept out into the corridor, ready to yell out for Dean to run while he held off the intruder. He would fight to the death if he had to.

But instead of a monster, he found Dean doing push-ups on the floor of the kitchen. Shirtless.

"Uh. Dean?"

"-29, 30," Dean grunted. He flipped over and sat up. "Sorry." He sounded puffed out and his skin glistened with sweat but he smiled up at Cas. "Hey there, handsome. You're up early."

Cas raised his eyebrows. "Not as early as you. What are you doing?"

Dean grasped the edge of the table and pulled himself to his feet. "Exercising. I found some fitness videos on YouTube - they showed me how. But there's a lot I can't do because of my knees, so I've had to pick and choose. Hopefully it will still work."

Cas had never known Dean to exercise willingly. He had preferred to let the physically intensive nature of his job keep him in shape. In fact, Cas was fairly sure Dean had been of the opinion that exercise was bad for him. But this Dean wasn't a hunter, and he didn't remember any of that. "What are you trying to achieve?"

"Sam said I lost a lot of muscle tone while I was - missing. And that, ah, incident the other day with Devon reminded me that I haven't been doing enough to get it back."

Cas frowned a little. "You're not weak, Dean."

"I'm not strong," Dean countered. "I can't be expecting you to bail me out all the time."

"I promised that I wouldn't let anyone hurt you."

"I know." His gaze dropped to the fireplace poker Cas still held in his hand and an amused smile tugged at his lips. "I assume that's why you came in here all armed and dangerous."

Cas flushed and set down the poker. At least he'd had the foresight to stow his angel blade in the boot of his car; that would have been far more difficult to explain. "I thought something - someone had broken into the house."

"You were protecting me. I get it. It's sweet. But I'd like to be able to defend myself, if that's okay with you."

"Of course. Why wouldn't it be?"

Dean shrugged and glanced away. "At the moment I can't pack much of a punch. You might feel safer that way. I wouldn't blame you."

Cas closed his eyes, pained by the knowledge that one of the few things Dean remembered about his past included what the Mark of Cain had turned him into, without the context needed for him to understand what had happened. "You weren't abusive, Dean. Don't judge yourself on a single memory."

Dean wouldn't look at him. "I don't have much else to go on."

Cas crossed the room to him and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Dean, you used your strength to protect people. It is one of the things I loved about you."

Reluctantly Dean met his gaze. "You're not lying to make me feel better, are you?"

"I promised I wouldn't lie," Cas reminded him. "And I think it is good that you are exercising. Sam would be thrilled if he knew."

Dean narrowed his eyes. "My brother is a health freak, isn't he?"

That much had been obvious from the groceries Sam bought. "Yes."

"I suppose it is working for him," Dean admitted grudgingly. "Was I ever that buff?"

Castiel hesitated and Dean groaned. "Great. My younger brother is taller and stronger than me. That has got to be against the natural order of things."

"Genetics determined your height," Cas pointed out.

"Fine, so there's nothing I can do to change that. But next time Sam comes over, I'm going to challenge him to an arm wrestle, and I'm going to win."

"You'll have to train hard."

There was a determined glint in Dean's eye. "I will."

To prove his resolve, he dropped down to do another 30 push-ups.

The way his back, shoulder and arm muscles rippled and bunched as he moved was entrancing. To distract from his body's reaction to a shirtless Dean working out right in front of him, Cas commented, "Sam does at least 60 of those. Sometimes one handed."

Dean grunted with exertion. "You gotta be kidding me."

"He also does sit-ups. And pull-ups."

"Castiel," Dean growled.

Heat shot directly to his groin and Cas was barely able to contain his gasp.

Dean looked up at him and Cas flinched back in an awkward attempt to hide his arousal. No such luck. His pyjama pants made it all too obvious.

Dean's gaze dragged from his crotch up to his face and Cas felt his ears heat with embarrassment.

But Dean made no comment. "I'm going to be hopping in the shower soon, so if you don't want me to steal all the hot water you had better get in first."

He was giving Cas the perfect excuse to deal with his – problem – without making a big deal out of it. Their heavy make-out sessions often drew this reaction from one or both of them and out of unspoken agreement they always let it go unmentioned. Dean was respecting Castiel's wish to take things slow, and he was grateful.

Except, right now he was also kind of disappointed.

He left Dean to finish his exercises and had a shower like he had suggested, but he didn't use any of the hot water.

Dean had his shower afterwards and Cas tried very hard not to stare at the towel around his hips or fantasise about pulling it off and making Dean very, very late for work. He resisted the urge and kissed Dean goodbye at the door as usual, but this time when they broke apart his whole body was tingling.

He couldn't get Dean out of his head.

He tried to go about his day, reinforcing the wards around the house, topping up the hidden salt lines, re-drawing the Devil's traps under the rugs, refreshing the stash of holy water under the sink, doing a load of washing and shopping for groceries, but all the while he was thinking about Dean.

It had been a long time since he had sex with his husband. He knew that this Dean wasn't the same person, and he was reluctant to jump into something so quickly when before it had taken them years to develop that level of intimacy with each other.

But it was different this time. Cas wasn't an emotionally closed-off angel walking around in someone else's meat-suit, torn between his loyalties to Heaven and his grudging respect for the human that was fighting them at every turn. Dean wasn't a wounded hunter with trust issues and a drinking problem, stubbornly refusing to confront his bisexuality. They weren't dealing with one apocalypse after another. They weren't struggling to navigate mistakes and betrayals. Death wasn't waiting for them around every corner.

They were just two men leading relatively normal lives. They were open about how they felt about each other, and both of them were secure in the knowledge that their feelings were reciprocated.

The idea of being intimate with each other wasn't frightening. Last time, Dean had been afraid that sleeping together would change everything between them. Cas had been afraid that Dean would wake up the next morning regretting what they had done. They had both been terrified that they weren't cut out to be in a relationship, and that the whole thing would blow up in their faces.

But this time it all seemed so simple. Cas loved Dean, and he knew that Dean loved him. They were already living together, already comfortable being in each other's space. Technically, they were already married.

All of a sudden, Cas realised that he had no logical reason to be holding back.

After that little epiphany, Cas was rendered entirely incapable of thinking about anything except getting Dean into bed.

As soon as Dean walked in the door that evening, Cas seized a fistful of his shirt and crushed their lips together. Dean's mouth parted in surprise and Cas plunged his tongue inside, twisting and tangling with Dean's own, needing to taste him, to be inside him.

"Want you," he growled, spinning them around and pushing Dean backwards in the direction of his room. They hit the wall of the hallway and Cas took the opportunity to ravage Dean's mouth again. He pushed a knee between Dean's legs and was gratified to feel an answering bulge pressing against his thigh. His hands skimmed down Dean's side and one slipped up under his shirt while the other slid beneath his waistband.

"Cas-"

Cas swallowed his attempts at speech and rocked his body forward into him, letting him know that yes, he did want this and yes, right the hell now.

Dean groaned into his mouth and his fingers carded into Castiel's hair so he had the leverage to pull him in deeper.

Cas fought to tug Dean's shirt up over his head and Dean finally let the kiss break for half a second so the offending fabric could be tossed off to the side, but as soon as it was gone he recaptured Castiel's lips. The kiss was all teeth and tongues and tiny gasps of air that were shared between them, hot and wet and messy. Cas could feel his body tightening in anticipation and it was too soon; he wanted this to last.

He stepped back and Dean keened at the loss, opening his eyes to see where he had gone. Cas saw that his pupils were blown wide with lust and he was helpless to resist. He tugged Dean towards him, pressing frantic kisses to his lips even as he fumbled out, "Bedroom. Bed. Now."

They stumbled through the doorway and Cas pushed Dean onto the bed so he landed sprawled out on his back, panting, staring up at him. With his tousled hair and swollen lips and bare chest heaving, he looked utterly debauched already.

"So fucking hot," Cas growled and Dean dropped his head back with a strangled moan, his body arching up unconsciously.

Cas crawled on top of him, dropping kisses along his stomach and up his chest. He tongued at Dean's nipples and they hardened to peaks almost instantly. Dean was writhing beneath him, all sorts of delicious sounds spilling from his lips, and Cas couldn't help but suck a mark into his neck to claim him all over again.

"Cas-"

Oh how he had missed the shortened version of his name. Dean always called him 'Castiel' these days, so formal, but now he was reduced to mono-syllables and Cas loved it.

He licked at the seam of Dean's mouth and snagged his bottom lip between his teeth. "Say my name."

"Casti-"

Cas engulfed his mouth before he could finish the word. He pulled back slightly and stared into dazed eyes. "Say it again."

"Cast-"

Cas tweaked his nipple between a thumb and fore-finger. The word aborted with a gasp.

"Say it."

"Oh. Oh. Cas. My Cas."

Cas purred with contentment and nuzzled at Dean's neck.

"Fuck. Cas. My beautiful, fucking sexy, gorgeous Cas." Dean seized a fistful of hair to drag him up for another kiss. Dean loved kissing. If Cas let him, Dean would spend all night kissing him until his lips were numb.

But Cas rolled his hips and Dean's attention plummeted south. "Oh fuck."

"That's the plan," Cas agreed. He pushed Dean's legs apart so he could settle between them. The hard line of their bodies pressed against each other was intoxicating.

"Cas- I don't – This is my first – I don't remember how to do this."

Cas dragged his gaze up to look into Dean's eyes. They betrayed his anxiety, even though they still blazed with clear interest in the proceedings.

"I guess it is my turn to teach you," Cas said, pressing a soft kiss to his lips. "I'll be gentle."

"Okay," Dean exhaled.

The level of trust Dean had in him made his heart clench.

The frenzied pace was gone. He took his time mapping every inch of Dean's torso with his tongue, learning the new scars, reassuring him that he was in no way repulsive or disgusting. Every touch of pain was replaced by love until Dean was shuddering beneath him.

Cas slowly undid his belt buckle and slid his jeans down his legs. He noticed the damaged knees and made a mental note not to put Dean in any position that could hurt him. He kissed his way along the line of his inner thighs and nuzzled against his crotch. "What do you want?" he asked.

"I don't – I don't know. I just want you. I want you, Cas."

Cas kissed the tip of his cock through his boxers. "You have me," he promised.

Dean's erection twitched at the touch of his lips and Cas smiled. "Okay, babe." He removed the final layer that was separating them and sucked his length into his mouth.

Dean gasped. "Cas-"

He brushed his thumbs soothingly against Dean's thighs, even as he drew his cock in deeper. He worked his tongue, pressing against the vein that ran along the underside of his erection before pulling back to suckle at the head.

Dean's hips jerked up off the bed, plunging his cock back into the warmth of Castiel's mouth. It took him by surprise and he coughed a little.

"Sorry, I'm sorry-"

But Cas just engulfed him again, taking in as much as he could. A hand went to the base of his cock and curled around him, twisting and tugging in sync with the bob of his head.

"C-Cas-"

Dean's legs were trembling. Cas ran his free hand along his flank, a silent assurance that it was okay.

"Cas, I don't – I think I might be about to-"

Cas only tightened his grip and sucked harder until Dean gave a short, sharp cry and spilled liberally into his mouth. Cas swallowed it all down, milking every last drop from him until he was spent. Then he pulled off gently and wriggled up the bed to press a gentle kiss to his jaw.

"Fuck," Dean gasped. "Fuck, Cas, that was – that was-"

Cas smirked a little. "I know."

"I need to-" Dean dragged him in for a proper kiss and groaned as their tongues met. "So that's what it tastes like. I can't believe you let me do that."

"It was my pleasure," Cas rumbled. "I love doing that to you. Watching you fall apart beneath me. Those sounds you make. Dean, you are beautiful."

"Was I – good at this? Before?"

"I don't have much of a baseline for comparison," Cas said. "You're the only man I've ever been with. But what we did together was… incredible."

Dean swallowed. "No pressure, huh?" He laughed uncertainly.

"Dean, being with you could never be anything less than amazing. Simply because it's you."

Dean glanced down between them, noting his insistent erection. "I guess I'll give it my best shot." He reached out a hand to tentatively cup the straining bulge.

The touch was electrifying and Cas felt all of his blood rush south, but he still found enough wits about him to say, "Dean, you don't have to-"

"I want to," Dean said.

Cas didn't have the will to argue. He lay back and allowed Dean to divest him of his pants and boxers.

"Uh. Wow," Dean stammered.

Cas peered through one eye at him. He was licking his lips. Nervous, but definitely aroused.

"Have you masturbated in the shower?" Cas asked.

"Is that where you, uh-"

"Pleasure yourself. Yes."

Dean nodded, blushing faintly.

"Just do that," Cas advised him. "Lick your palm first so we have a bit of lubrication."

"O-okay." He laved saliva all over his hand and Cas felt his cock harden further at the sight.

Dean wrapped his slick fingers around him, tentative and unsure.

"Tighter," Cas said. "Y-yes. Like that. And then – okay, yes, you've got it." He lost all coherence as Dean worked his hand up and down his shaft, slowly at first but faster as he gained confidence. He added in a little twist on his way down and Cas jolted off the bed.

"Oh," Dean said, and did it again.

Cas looked at him and noticed that his tongue was sticking out as he concentrated. Fuck, if that wasn't the most adorable and arousing thing he had ever seen.

Dean added a second hand, then, and Cas was lost.

When the waves of pleasure receded, Cas found that Dean was trailing his fingers through the cum on his stomach.

"This is messy," he said.

Cas laughed. "Yes, it is. But showering afterwards is one of the best parts."

Dean frowned a little. "How- oh. Together?"

Cas nodded and Dean's pupils blew wide again.

Much later they collapsed back into bed, warm and sated.

"I love you," Dean sighed.

Castiel's breath hitched. Those words never came easily. He had only heard Dean say them once.

But this was different. They were different.

"I love you too," he said.

Dean smiled and closed his eyes, curling into him.

Cas wrapped an arm around his waist and within minutes Dean was fast asleep.

Heart filled to bursting, Cas kissed him gently on the top of his head. Soon afterwards, he was asleep too.

It was the best he had slept in months.

ooOOoo