sunburned | (no subject)

As soon as his own shirt was out of the way and, regrettably, discarded in a corner, Laurence was free to focus on Granby. His first plan had been divest him of his own shirt, but as the focus of the other man's shifted, his mind shifted away as well. "Lord, John-- It has been some time."

He kissed his way back up Laurence's neck, mouth lingering just below his ear for a moment. His hands were resting against Laurence's waist and he pulled him in, smoothly, pressing their hips together.

"It has," he said.

It had indeed and through his customary blush, Laurence was entirely too aware of what his body thought of the proceedings. Clearly it was only a small portion of his mind that objected to the time of day. He smiled fondly, running his fingers back through Granby's hair, happy to simply have him back once more.

"Oh, God, Will," he murmured, lips still against Laurence's skin, his hand grazing over bare skin to rest against his arse, thumb stroking against the fabric of his trousers.

"I would like to," he said, quietly. "I know we haven't before but..."

"What would you like?" he asked, still holding Granby close to him, unwilling to let go and give up that closeness after what had happened. Even when he could be almost maddeningly confusing when he spoke so despite knowing that Laurence often did not follow him.

Had it been Priestly or Little or any number of others, he could have thought of the words - all of them coarse. Not with Laurence, though. Instead, he settled for another kiss, a deep kiss, hungry. He rocked his hips forward against Laurence's again, fingers digging into the muscles of his arse.

"Come to bed," he murmured.

Laurence nodded, matching Granby's hunger as he returned the kiss. As usual, Granby seemed to know precisely what he wanted before he could even put it into the proper words. "Of course," he said, moving closer, though with the cabin's small size it would not be a very long walk to the bed itself.

When the backs of his knees hit the bed, Granby sat down abruptly, pulling Laurence's trousers open and leaning in to press an open-mouthed kiss against his bare belly, sucking lightly at his skin.

At that Laurence audibly bit back another groan. His hands remained in Granby's hair, lightly holding him, but not pressing. Never pressing. "I do not know what I would do, John-- If you left--"

Something in his chest fluttered, his stomach dipping when Laurence said that. It was more of admission than the other man had ever made before. God, he loved hearing it.

"I'm not going anywhere," he promised. "If I can help it, if I can ever help it, Will, here is where I will be."

He shifted, threading his fingers with Laurence's, gently tugging him back onto the bed, over him.

Laurence followed him willingly. It wasn't until he had almost lost Granby on the island that he realized just how much what they were doing meant to him. He wasn't even able to properly put it into words, yet there it was, unlooked for, unexpected, but more appreciated than he could ever say. "Thank you."

Before they lay down properly, Granby shrugged out of his own shirt. He pulled Laurence down onto him, pressed together at chest and belly, bare skin to bare skin. His hand skimmed along the line of Laurence's spine, fingers slipping just under the waistband of his trousers.

He frowned.

"For what?"

"For what you said. For coming back to me." Despite their extreme closeness, Laurence suddenly found himself unable to look Granby in the eye. The familiar flush was spreading over him once more, but more from a sense of embarrassment than pleasure due to what he had to say. "I am aware that you did not have to. That there are... others with whom you may be better matched in temperament and knowledge. Thank you for choosing to remain with me instead, John."

How to respond to that? Granby could tell how much it had taken for Laurence to say it at all. Gently, he took hold of Laurence's jaw, turning his face so that he could look at him and then press a gentle kiss against his mouth.

"God, Will, don't you see?" he said, very quietly in the slight space between them. "It's been you. It's been you for years."

"It has?" he marveled, looking down at Granby more fully now. Had he been so willfully blind all of those years? What would he have done if he had known though? What could he have done? Simply listening to Granby's confession of his inclinations had been painful enough. "I am sorry. I should have known--"

Yes, there had been Little, pleasant enough, but it had nothing to do with love. In terms of love, there had really only ever been Laurence. From the look on Laurence's face, Granby wasn't sure that bringing Little up would be the best course of action.

"How could you?" he asked, simply. "I've been hiding my whole life, Laurence. How hard would it be to hide something else from you?"

Not very hard at all, he feared. Laurence sighed, looking and feeling rather tired. Granby may have said that he did not blame, him, yet that could not stop a small amount of guilt from lodging in his mind. Guilt which he tried his best to ignore by lightly kissing Granby once more.

He hated that look that fleeted across Laurence's face and wished he hadn't said anything; it wasn't as though anything could be changed now, anyway. He leaned up, pressing the kiss slightly deeper, his fingers tracing against Laurence's skin.

His knees slipped wider apart, one on either side of Laurence's hips, cradling their bodies together. He shifted his weight slightly and the way that he pressed against Laurence was enough to make him moan against Laurence's lips.

Laurence made a matching noise of pleasure into the kiss. That thought was still there in the back of his mind, but he could push it aside for the tiime being. Granby did not deserve to have him there with his mind in a different place altogether. He pressed the kiss, moving himself against Granby.

He could have been content to kiss like that all afternoon, but he had other things in mind. His hand skimmed along Laurence's back again.

"God, Will," he mumbled, lost in the feel of Laurence's body pressed against his. "I want you so much."

He answered Granby's statement with more kisses, trailing them down his neck and over his collarbone. All the while Laurence's hands were at work, fumbling with modern fasteners until he could get the other man's trousers undone. After that it was largely a matter of maneuvering them off.

It was impossible not to think about how much things had moved on; only a few months previously, he would have had to coax Laurence to undo his trousers at all. As it was, it lifted his hips, squirming to help Laurence strip him entirely bare.

He lay back against the pillows, knees spread, eyes only for Laurence's face.

"I want you entirely," he said, hoping his meaning was clear enough. "I've waited long enough, Will. We both have."

Laurence nodded, a bit unsteady. He wasn't certain he had ever wanted Granby as much as he did in that moment. Why was it that it had taken his nearly losing the man to make him think so? His eyes glanced unburden at his wounded shoulder, the bandages standing out in stark contrast to the rest of his nudity. It was enough to give him pause. "And your shoulder is quite all right?"

Edited 2012-11-12 04:36 (UTC)

Glancing down reflexively, Granby stretched it before he nodded. The bandages were still white and there was little pain, meaning he hadn't torn stitches or overstretched him.

"My shoulder is fine, Will," he said, gently, rolling to the side to rummage in the drawer for something that he'd stashed there what felt like weeks ago. "Trousers. If you please."

The look on Laurence's face was making it particularly hard to think.

Obliging as ever, Laurence began removing his own remaining garments. He did not get far, however, before Granby's determined searching made him pause, brow furrowed in confusion. Surely he could not have slipped something into a drawer in so short a span of time. "Have you-- Just how long have you been planning this?"