Notes: Part of the same series as the first three Tanba/Chris fics. This is set some time in the future, where their relationship is much more well-established. I'd like to think that at this point, they're both pretty comfortable around each other, so the tone of this is probably a little different than the previous parts of this series.

...don't judge me, okay?

Disclaimer: Diamond no Ace belongs to Terajima Yuuji

Better

Chris hardly breathes, his mind going blank as he watches Tanba drop to his knees.

He's fantasised about this before, imagined what it would be like to have Tanba going down on him, slow and deliberate and hot. Tanba would tease him mercilessly, until Chris is gasping in his grip, before finally taking him. And when he finally comes, it'll be after hours of holding back, and the orgasm would hit him like a line drive to his gut. And maybe, afterwards, they'd do it all over again.

This, Chris decides, is much better.

The hands on his sides slide down the length of his body, tantalisingly slow, making him shiver despite the hot water pounding against his skin. Through the noise of the running shower, he vaguely registers the sound of Tanba's quiet exhalation, before the other man looks up at him, his pale gray eyes determined.

Blood blooms beneath his cheeks, and Chris swallows.

Tanba's fingers tighten against his skin, and he leans forward to press a soft kiss to the head of Chris' cock.

Chris' whole body jerks in surprise, and his head bangs non-too-gently against the bathroom wall. He utters a pained hiss, his scalp throbbing.

"You okay?" Tanba asks, making to stand, before Chris hastily pushes at his shoulders.

"Fine," he manages through the ringing in his ears. "I'm fine."

Tanba gives him one last look of concern, before returning his attention to Chris' twitching cock, leaning close once more.

He bites his lip hard as Tanba peppers his length with more feather-light kisses. He shudders, feeling Tanba's mouth moving on him, sucking lightly along the underside of his cock, tongue flickering against the sensitive skin.

Chris exhales shakily, trying to reel in the furnace burning under his skin. In any other situation, he'd be almost ashamed by how he went from twitching with interest to sporting a full, raging hard-on in a matter of seconds-except every drop of his attention is honed in on the sensation of Tanba's tongue lapping wetly at his cock.

Then Tanba rocks on his knees, and takes him in his mouth.

His mind goes numb with static, and Chris moans, low and needy.

He feels Tanba pause, and blindly reaches one hand down to cup the back of his head. "Don't stop," he pleads, barely able to see past the haze in his mind.

The other man responds to that by humming softly, and the vibration around his cock has Chris bucking forward before he can stop himself.

Tanba coughs a little, and Chris caresses his nape, muttering a heartfelt, "Sorry."

The fingers on his hips relax a fraction, and Tanba's thumbs rub soothingly against bone. He looks up, grey eyes meeting Chris' gaze, and Chris inhales sharply, feeling himself flush even more.

Tanba starts sucking him off in earnest, bobbing his head up and down, and Chris squeezes his eyes shut; he's already so unbelievably close to coming, and he knows that if he tries to watch, it'll be over instantly. And god, he does not want that, not when Tanba has decided, for some unfathomable reason, to give him head, and it's turning out to be a thousand times better than Chris could ever imagine it to be.

Chris breathes out another moan, his knees shaking with the effort of keeping still. He feels Tanba hum around him again, sending violent shivers through every nerve in his body, and Chris knows he's lost.

"Tanba," he gasps, can't quite swallow the keen that follows, and pushes at his shoulders. "I-I can't-"

He feels Tanba pat his side a few times, and takes him in even deeper, and the realisation that Tanba has no intention of pulling off gives him the last push over the edge.

Chris comes with a yelp, his fingers digging into Tanba's shoulders, as he drowns in the longest orgasm he has everexperienced. At some point, he nearly loses his balance, knees giving out at last, but Tanba presses him harder against the wall, steadying him.

When Chris can finally think coherently, he opens his eyes, still panting.

Tanba is watching him.

Chris flushes, embarrassed, but raises a hand to gently stroke his cheek. Tanba's eyelids flutter, and he leans into the touch briefly, before pulling back. He gives Chris' hypersensitised cockhead one last lick, and turns away to spit out the cum in his mouth. Then he stands, wiping at his lips with the back of his hand. When Chris reaches out to him, Tanba goes willingly into the embrace, their arms folding almost reflexively around each other. Chris drops his forehead against Tanba's shoulder, still trying to catch his breath.

"You're shaking," Tanba murmurs, hushed and awed.

Chris breathes out an unsteady chuckle. "Sorry," he says. "Just. Give me...a moment."

One of Tanba's hands curve around the back of his head, rubbing soothingly at his scalp. He exhales against Chris' nape, making him shiver again.

He inhales deeply. Exhales. Tries to calm his racing heart. The raging flames underneath his skin has subsided to a constant, pleasant warmth, but his entire being is still buzzing from the afterglow. The hot shower rains continuously over them both, and he wonders distantly how long they've been in the bathroom.

At some point, he recovers enough presence of mind to ask, "Wait, what about you?"

"Hmm?" Tanba's answer is slurred with fatigue. "Oh. It's okay. I'm good."

That makes him grimace in guilt, and he tightens his arms around the other man's waist. "Sorry."

"Don't worry about it. You were...occupied," he says, pulling back a little so their eyes meet. There is a small, pleased curl to his lips, and Chris thinks he can see a tinge of smugness in the corners of his mouth.

He huffs another breathless laugh, because he knows Tanba's never going to let him forget this. "I'll make it up to you next time," he promises, winking meaningfully.

At that, Tanba colours slightly, but he's grinning, bright and unrestrained. "Looking forward to it," he replies, and leans in.

Chris meets him eagerly, tilting his head back for a better angle; in the back of his mind, he's already compiling a to-do list.

Next time, he thinks, and smiles into the kiss.