Always on the Table by InSilva

Summary: Because it always is. Danny/Rusty. You have been warned.

Disclaimer: the boys aren't mine.

"Alright," Rusty says, putting the beers down on the table.

"Alright, what?"

Rusty sits down opposite and looks at him appraisingly. Danny waits. It means he's thinking of saying something and he's not sure of Danny's reaction. It won't stop him saying it.

"Alright. We skirt round it, we play with it. We even play with it in front of other people. Why don't we just do it?"

Danny frowns at him as he works his way through that sentence. When he gets it, his eyes shoot wide open and he sits back on his seat, grateful that Rusty hasn't waited for him to take a mouthful of beer. A half-grin plays around Rusty's mouth.

"You want to-" Danny says.

"-only if you do-"

"-obviously."

Danny looks across the table at his partner, still uncertain he's heard him correctly.

"I'll think about it," he says eventually.

They've just come away from a con in Europe and the buzz is exhilarating. They're flying first class and they're somewhere over the Atlantic. The stewardess has just served them champagne and in return, Rusty has given her a dazzling smile of thanks which has sent her back to the galley all unnecessary.

"If we did," Danny begins and Rusty's attention is immediately on him.

"If we did," Danny says again, "wouldn't it get-"

"-only if we let it."

Danny nods slowly. He sees the look on Rusty's face and says, "I'm still thinking."

The villa is right on the beach. There is no other building within sight. They sit on the sand, watching the waves lap in as they sip their whisky and talk casually about random things. They fall into silence and then Danny breaks it.

"Just once?"

Rusty considers and nods. "It would have to be."

Danny doesn't see the logic in that but he doesn't question it.

"Are you thinking-"

"-if you want," Rusty shrugs. "Or, you know, we could start with something…"

"…something less…"

"…but still…" Rusty assures him.

Danny looks at him. "How do you know?"

Rusty smiles the half-smile again. "Because it's us."

He looks at Danny. "Are you still thinking?"

Danny nods. "Haven't really stopped."

The next evening, Rusty showers and Danny sits on the edge of the bed with his whisky and thinks some more. Because whatever Rusty says, this could be the end of a beautiful friendship. On the other hand, he will admit his curiosity is seriously piqued. Because this is Rusty.

He makes his mind up.

Many hotel rooms and many jobs ago, Rusty and Danny became comfortable in their own skins around each other. Rusty can remember sitting in a bath when Danny walked in on him. An apology conditioned by social niceties had started to form on Danny's face and Rusty had just looked at him with a "what the hell does it matter" expression. Danny had paused for a moment and then agreed and headed for the shower.

Now as the water runs over him, Rusty is aware that Danny has come in to the bathroom but he doesn't see, until he's out of the shower and reaching for the towel to wrap round his waist, that Danny is naked. And Rusty knows with certainty he's not there for a shower or a bath or for anything clean. He doesn't bother with the towel.

"Decided, then?" Rusty says, insouciance in his voice.

"Yeah," Danny says and the deliberation with which he says it makes Rusty's heart beat a little faster. He remains where he is and lets Danny cross the floor to stand in front of him.

It's been his idea but suddenly, Rusty's nervous. He opens his mouth to deliver a throwaway, defensive line and Danny leans in, pushing his lips up against his.

Danny's mouth is paradoxically hard and gentle. Rusty closes his eyes as he feels Danny's tongue flick over his lips and he lets them part, lets Danny in to explore, running his tongue along Danny's and tasting whisky and charisma and intensity. Then Danny's hands are on his upper arms, sliding over his wet skin, turning him round and pushing him softly backwards out of the bathroom, back towards the bed, his mouth never leaving Rusty's, the kiss never finishing.

The bed hits the back of Rusty's knees and he involuntarily sits down, breaking the kiss. If he hadn't done so, he thinks that kiss could have gone on for days.

He opens his eyes to see Danny's gaze locked on his and Rusty reads intent and arousal as he's never seen on Danny's face, even when they're reaching the climax of a con. Rusty blinks. It is possibly the biggest turn-on he has ever experienced.

Danny sees the unsteady breath and the blank look and plants his fists either side of Rusty, leaning over him and reaching to kiss him again on the mouth briefly. Then he runs spidery kisses down the side of Rusty's neck, along the collarbone, burying his mouth in Rusty's right shoulder. His gentle bite has Rusty arching his back, pushing himself against Danny's chest. As Danny deepens the bite, Rusty lets out a gasp and Danny smiles inwardly. He hasn't worked with Rusty for so long without knowing some of his pressure points and he feels certain he's going to find out others.

Rusty's hands suddenly come to life and start to grasp Danny's arms urgently, skilful fingers running with their usual dexterity over muscle, down and up to Danny's shoulders. Danny drops to his knees and catches Rusty's wrists.

"Let me," he instructs and he presses Rusty's hands down to the bed, either side of Rusty's knees, leaving his hands on top of Rusty's as his mouth drops down to Rusty's right thigh.

Joining up shower drops, he traces a figure of eight with his tongue, increasing its radius till he finds the inner thigh. Then he changes the pattern into random swirls that move him closer and closer to what a now shaking Rusty is silently begging him to do.

Danny obliges, taking Rusty deep into his mouth, moving with a natural rhythm that surprises even him. This is a first, after all's said and done. His hands are still covering Rusty's and Rusty is fighting to release them. He allows Rusty's left hand to free itself and it immediately grips Danny by the shoulder, nails sinking into the flesh eliciting a slight moan from Danny that makes Rusty gasp again. Never breaking his tempo, Danny looks up at Rusty's face which is full of trembling agony and at that moment, Rusty half-glances down through his lashes.

Danny, oh, Danny, I – Danny…

The nails in Danny's shoulder dig further in and Rusty's right hand somehow swivels into an iron-tight clasp of Danny's hand.

If he stops now, Danny knows it would be unfair and as a lover, he is never that much of a tease. On the other hand, this is a one-time offer and Danny finds he doesn't want it to end quite so soon.

With reluctance, he releases Rusty from his mouth and his grip and swallows hard at the smoky look of bewilderment on Rusty's face. He stands up and pulls Rusty upright and then back on to the bed. His mouth seeks Rusty's, tasting ferocious grace and wild control, and his hand descends to carry on where his mouth left off. His breath catches in the back of his throat as Rusty simultaneously reaches for him.

Danny can feel the wave building within him and at the same time part of him knows that Rusty is near the edge. He pushes his own needs away and concentrates on Rusty. He gently frees himself from Rusty's hand and in response to the growl of protest that forms in Rusty's throat, he moves his mouth to Rusty's ear and murmurs, "I said 'let me'".

His hand never stopping the insistent, pulsing rhythm which has Rusty moving his hips in synch, which has Rusty's eyes starring over, which has Rusty lost in himself and Danny…his hand never stopping, Danny moves his mouth to Rusty's neck, to Rusty's chest, to the flatness of Rusty's stomach, licking, nuzzling, nipping, each touch of his lips both distracting wildly and adding deliciously to the fire burning in Rusty. As Danny finds the hard line at the base of Rusty's ribcage and uses his mouth and teeth to draw a half-gasp, half-choke, Rusty forgets everything as glorious, agonising release shudders through him.

Breathing hard, Danny props himself up on one elbow, looks down at his right hand and raises an eyebrow, about to make a wry comment. Then he looks at Rusty's flushed face, at Rusty's breath coming hard and fast, and he shuts his mouth again, and it settles into a firm line.

After a while, Rusty stops seeing stars and he runs his tongue over his suddenly dry lips.

That was…

…oh, yeah.

Danny makes to sit up but Rusty catches his arm.

Never just about me, remember.

And then his mouth is on Danny's and his hands are all over Danny, stroking, caressing, fingers outlining sinew and digging into shoulders and arms. He moves away from Danny's face and drops down Danny's body, using his lips and tongue and teeth and Danny cannot control the quivering that's started in his thighs and stomach and that is threatening to join up somewhere in the middle.

Rusty reaches that somewhere in the middle. He knows that Danny is already close and as much as he wants to prolong the moment, as much as he wants to give Danny the same mix of agony and ecstasy he's given him, he feels Danny's fingers in his hair, and he looks up into Danny's pleading eyes. He can never say no to Danny.

He wraps his mouth around Danny, his lips and tongue working together to coax, to run along ridges, to dart across sensitive flesh and he doesn't stop. He feels Danny arching his hips up, burying himself further and further into Rusty's mouth and then with a sharp cry and a silent Rusty, Danny comes.

Danny lies panting and stares at the ceiling, waiting for his brain to stop exploding. When he feels he has a modicum of control, he raises himself up on his elbows in time to see Rusty spitting on to the sheet.

"Nice," Danny says. "I would have swallowed."

"You are such a liar."

Danny grins. "Maybe."

Then he grows serious and roughly pulls Rusty up to him.

Rusty-

"No. Before you even go there, no. This is only for tonight, remember. "

"No?" Danny frowns.

"No." Rusty is firm.

"No?" Danny asks and runs his tongue over Rusty's ear.

"Danny, don't make this more difficult than it is."

"Don't you mean harder?" Danny moves to Rusty's neck and it takes all of Rusty's resolve to push him away.

"Danny…" and the mix of plea and warning is enough to keep Danny at bay.

Rusty sits upright and puts a little distance between himself and temptation.

"You don't sleep with guys, Danny," he says bluntly. "Anymore than I do."

"We're not guys," Danny points out absurdly.

Rusty grins at him. "The point is you like women. So do I. And one day, one of us is going to meet one, someone smart and funny, someone we want to be with and explaining us is going to be tricky enough. Explaining us would be impossible."

Danny reaches out and catches his arm.

"So what are you saying? We'll always have Paris?"

Rusty says nothing.

"This is never going to happen again…" Danny spells it out slowly. "You want to forget about this?"

I'll never forget. How can I?

What makes you think I can?

"We can't do it, Danny. You're not thinking with your head here," Rusty sighs. "Wait till morning. It'll all be a lot clearer."

He pulls free and stands up. "Want to grab a shower?"

Danny blinks and looks at him. "I thought you said-"

"I said it's just for tonight," Rusty reminds him, half-grin playing across his lips. "And it's still tonight."

Shaking his head at his impossible friend and lover, Danny follows him.

A/N: InSilva would like it to be known she is blushing madly.