Desert Heat

"Dammit! How do I keep coming up short?" Ace hissed under his breath. He was trying to budget the ledgers, but no matter how he re-calculated their expenses, it seemed as though Harmonia's 12th Unit of the Southern Frontier Defense Force was in debt. He was so engrossed in his work that he barely glanced up when he heard the door open. He watched Geddoe saunter into the room and flashed his lover a brief smile, then bent his head right back over the desk.

Geddoe cleared his throat, unused to being ignored. "You look...uh, busy," he commented.

Ace merely grunted in response.

"...Filing?"

Ace snorted. "I wish. Ledgers. I don't see how we keep... It's that bastard, Joker, that's keeping us in debt like this. Drink, drink, drink..."

Geddoe had to smile. "He's not the only one."

"Are you implying that I am the cause of all this?" Ace retorted defensively, finally giving Geddoe his full attention.

The captain only shrugged.

"Hmph! Well, then, how about 'eat, eat, eat'? I'm not the one who sits around stuffing my face all the time. And you aren't, and you know that it's not Jacques or Queen...or even that kid--"

"Okay, okay!" Geddoe laughed, throwing his hands up. It did no good to argue with Ace; even when he was wrong Geddoe usually let him have his way. "So are you about done?"

"No." Ace turned his attention back to the stack of papers piled on his desk, forgetting there was anyone else in the room.

Geddoe stood there in the middle of Ace's little office and tried to think of something to say. He wanted something from Ace, and he wasn't sure how to ask for it. Usually there wasn't a need to be so blunt; at night it was only natural for them, while already in bed and undressed, to fall into one another's embrace. But...in the middle of the afternoon...

It must be the heat, Geddoe sighed inwardly. As much as he enjoyed these relaxing visits to their base in Caleria, the desert sun did strange things to a man's passion...

"...Will you be done soon?" he asked again, his voice almost pleading.

Ace mumbled something to himself, and Geddoe knew he was no longer paying him any mind. "Ace..." he murmured. "...Ace? Ace!!!"

The other looked up in surprise. "Still here? Is something wrong, Captain?" Lover or no, Geddoe was his boss. He often enjoyed using the title like a private nickname.

"Ace...can't you do this...later?"

"Why? You have something else for me to do?"

"Well, kind of..."

"If it's not important, it's going to have to wait. I'm getting mad just thinkinout out this, so I know I couldn't concentrate on anything else right now."

Geddoe looked put out, not an expression Ace saw very often, if ever. Although his face remained as stoic as ever, in the pouting arch of his eyebrow Ace saw something blazing--disappointment, obviously, but also lust.

Geddoe glanced sideways, longingly, towards Ace's temporary quarters. He looked back at his lover with an intense gaze, silently begging for what he desired.

"I guess it is important," Ace muttered. He pushed his chair back and stood, walking around the desk to cross the room. He opened the side door that led to his chamber, waiting for Geddoe to follow. He didn't wait long.

The moment the door had closed, Geddoe was all over him, wrapping him in his arms and thrusting his body against him. Ace worawayaway. It was damned stuffy in the room; he had to open a window.

"Just a minute, geez!" he exclaimed. He walked around the side of the rather small bed and threw open the shutters meant to keep out the blasts of oncoming sandstorms, should there be any. The room was high above most of the city, so they needn't worry about peeping Toms, and there was a nice breeze flowing that day. "Isn't that better?" Ace asked with a smile, turning back to Geddoe. His eyes widened in surprise to see his lover already struggling with his uniform.

Geddoe didn't say anything, just ripped away his clothes with fingers fumbling in their haste, and Ace decided it might be fun to make a race of it. He liked to play games with Geddoe; he always won.

In seconds they were stripped and Geddoe forgot to be embarrassed as his gaze raked over Ace's bare body. He went straight for the bed, but Ace didn't follow, instead teasing Geddoe by crossing his arms and leaning casually againhe whe wall.

Geddoe didn't say anything. He just laid down on top of the blankets and stared at Ace with that yearning expression, saying something with his eye that he could never have spoken aloud. Ace watched him right back, a slight smirk on his lips. The captain didn't speak. But eventually he grew tired of the sport. "...Come to bed," he whispered hoarsely.

"......"

"...Ace? Please...?"

Ace loved to hear him beg. At least, now he did. It was a first.

"Aaaacccccee....." Geddoe groaned in agony. And yet his lover made no move to join him. Finally, unable to hold back any longer, Geddoe grabbed himself and began to stroke, his mouth falling open as he panted, his eye ravishing the other man's body.

The mercenary gasped aloud, shocked to see what was happening on the bed. Geddoe was masturbating--right in front of him!

Ace could deny his lover no more. It would have been interesting to watch things progress from this perspective, but Geddoe would undoubtedly be embarrassed when it was over, and maybe angry--embarrassed and angry enough to not lay a hand on Ace again for...who knew how long.

The captain watched in relief as Ace joined him on the covers. He hadn't wanted to be alone for this. When Ace tried to reach for him, though, he did not accept his embrace. He had to take care of this--now. They could play Ace's kissy-cuddly-boyfriend routine after the good stuff.

Geddoe sat up on his knees and reached out to turn Ace right over onto his belly and then drew his hips up to find his opening.

Ace liked facing each other better. It might hurt a little more, but it made him feel more appreciated. He'd saovedoved," but...well...

"Not wasting any time today, are we?"

Geddoe didn't reply, of course. But he didn't want Ace to think he didn't care, without coming right out and saying otherwise. He leaned over his lover's body for a moment, leaving hot, moist kisses along his spine as he moved lower. Ace let out a surprised sound of pleasure, suddenly feeling as eager for this contact as the captain. Geddoe's tongue took care of the preparations, making Ace moan in anticipation. Then the other man quickly pushed into him, hugging Ace around the waist tightly to bring them impossibly closer. Geddoe groaned aloud, the noise of a desperate animal, and Ace felt himself grow hot and hard at the sound of it; Geddoe had never made a single peep during sex, and suddenly he was melting into nothing against his body.

Ace gasped at the furious way Geddoe thrust in and out of him. The captain had never been so rough with him before, and while it wasn't exactly a bad thing, it certainly wasn't reminiscent of the gentle touch he was used to. The man had become a beast.

Geddoe's cries were intense, and Ace was afraid it would be over soon. He didn't want to be used this way. Suddenly he stiffened all his muscles, his body rejecting the way his lover was screwing him.

For a moment, the captain faltered. "...Ace? Am--am I h-hurting you?" he gasped, struggling to control himself.

"Not my body," Ace mumbled. "Geddoe...make love to me--slowly."

"Ace--"

"I don't want to be your plaything. Love me."

At those words, Geddoe felt a new surge of passion, this time in his chest. He flushed, realizing how he was treating the man he loved, like an object to play with at his own leisure. He didn't know how he should speak to make it up to him, so he decided to say it without words.

Not pulling out of Ace's body, he slowly collapsed onto his side, pulling Ace back against him. His left arm, on the side he was laying, stretched to clasp hands with his lover over their heads; his right wrapped tightly around the other's waist. Geddoe placed soft, undemanding kisses on the back of Ace's neck, murmuring wordless sounds all the while. He moved his mouth to kiss the side of the other man's throat, then suckled his shoulder lightly. Ace leaned his head back to Geddoe's shoulder as his lover leaned over him a bit. He was smiling.

Taking that as a sign that now would be an excellent time to progress, Geddoe let his hand slide from holding Ace to him down to his lover's throbbing sex. He couldn't suppress a smile of his own as Ace's body shuddered against him in fiery delight. Melded together so tightly, Geddoe could almost pretend Ace wasn't there as a separate being. As they became on to his mind, not only did this allow him to give Ace the pleasure he wanted to give him, but it saved himself from his own overbearing reticence.

Now, Geddoe slowly began to move again within his lover. Ace's s drs drove him, his own voice inadvertently fighting to contend. There was a steadily-building sheen of sweat between their bodies, sustaining the sweet friction and making them unbearably hot.

Ace realized, somehow, in the midst of that pleasure-fog, that he wasn't just moaning to keep Geddoe's attention on him. So often he felt ignored in bed, even during their passionate tumbles under the sheets; it often seemed to him as though he was an object for Geddoe to use to sate himself, and nothing more. He always enjoyed being in Geddoe's arms, but usually exaggerated the sounds to make sure his lover felt appreciated. Now...right this instant...he knew he was something more than a toy. Whether Geddoe was trying to make up for something, or really just wanted to please himself, Ace wasn't sure. For the moment, he didn't care. He was moaning out his lust uncontrollably, and he did it because he couldn't help it.

Geddoe moved harder against him, but not wildly out of control as a while before. It was a deeper slowness that made him feel more wet and open than ever, more desired and wanted and--yes...perhaps even...loved.

Ace gasped, feeling his moment drawing near. 'Not yet,' he begged silently. 'Together...'

But it was also time for Geddoe to come. The captain drew a deep breath and gave Ace's organ a final squeeze, and as they released themselves together, their clasped hands tightened with a special promise of a new beginning.