"I'm glad we came out here tonight, Danno..." Steve shifted his towel and wrapped his arm around his boyfriend as they sat on the open tailgate of the Silverado, lower legs dangling off the edge.

They had taken Friday off and spent the afternoon on the beach; eating steaks cooked on a disposable barbecue, drinking Longboards, and they had even been swimming despite the detective's usual aversion to the ocean. Now they sat side by side, still wearing their swimming shorts and towels and nothing else, the sinking sun keeping them warm as the salt water dried on their skin.

The bed of the truck was filled with blankets and pillows, with their intention being to sleep under the stars after their day together. Steve had suggested it as a camping trip for them, thinking his boyfriend would find a way to get out of going - sun, sea and sand not really being his thing - but Danny had leapt at the chance.

The blonde nestled against his lover and smiled. He was beginning to like the beach, not that he'd openly admit it to anyone, but swimming with his lover was always enjoyable and more than made up for the negative aspects. Especially here on the North shore where Steve had found a secluded beach that people rarely visited and was more often than not completely deserted, so the two men could savour each other's company, letting their activities vary from laughing and chatting and lazy swimming, all the way through to making out and groping one another in the low waves.

The truck was parked on the edge of a grouping of palm trees, hidden from the road, and partially on the beach. Their view from the vehicle was stunning, with a cloudless sky above them and the water stretching out the the horizon, and the sun moving to set at one end of the scenery while the moon was beginning to peek above the landscape at the other end.

"Me too. I'm glad we're doing this... best way to celebrate eighteen months together, huh?" He tilted his head up towards the ex-con, inviting a kiss which he received swiftly.

Steve thought it was adorable that Danny viewed them as being together for eighteen months now, despite their first meeting being behind bars in Halawa, and them being apart for over a year while the brunette completed his sentence. Evidently the cop didn't think that mattered - he had waited for Steve, after all, so he obviously had believed they had a relationship going on despite their physical separation.

It had to be the longest relationship he'd ever been in... hell, two weeks was good going for Steve before he met the detective sitting next to him. And it should scare him, being with someone for this long and entrusting his heart to them like this, but oddly it didn't. Nothing about Danny scared him; he made him stronger.

The leader of Five-0 had now fully recovered from the shooting incident, and was now back on active duty following a slew of tests and fitness exams, so Danny was in a much better mood now that he didn't feel useless and stuck behind a desk. Not that Steve had let the 'being alone at HQ' thing go to waste, getting in more than a few visits over that four week period.

"I love you. So much. You know that, right?"

The detective looked up at him and smiled, crinkling the corners of his blue-grey eyes. "I do know that. And I love you too, Steve." His hand went up to the back of the brunette's neck and pulled him down for another kiss.

The ex-con pulled back after a minute. "But I mean I really love you, Danno... like head-over-heels, always-and-forever, never-ending kind of love. Like I can't believe I'm this lucky, that kind of love..."

Danny let his towel fall off his shoulders now that he had dried off a bit, and leaned back on his hands to give the mechanic a curious look. "I think we've established that you're run-across-a-warehouse-during-a-gunfight in love with me..." He reached up to stroke the side of the brunette's face, "What's brought all this on, babe? Not that I'm disliking this honesty..."

Steve looked out to the ocean. "I dunno, Danny. I just... I can't believe we've been together for this long now. So much has changed since we first met, and we've been there for each other every step of the way, and it's just got me thinking about loneliness is all..."

The blonde creased his brow and waved his hand between them, indicating their relationship. "Us being together has got you thinking about loneliness? I don't get it..."

The taller man sighed and gazed out over the water. The blue sky was beginning to turn a multitude of colours; pinks and purples and oranges as the sun began to set on the horizon.

"Come here," he pulled his boyfriend in against his side and hugged tight, kissing the side of his head and letting his eyes fall on the lapping waves. He had a lot to say, and didn't think he could make it through everything without falling over his own words if he had to look at those beautiful blue eyes while he said it.

"I've been by myself most of my life... Before I met you, I trusted nobody, couldn't open up, and I didn't let anyone stay around long enough to get close to me. I was alone because that's how I liked it. No one to hurt me, no one to get hurt..." He pressed another kiss into the soft golden hair and took a deep breath. "So yeah, I was lonely; at least I thought that's what loneliness was... But it wasn't, not really, because I know now how it truly feels to be alone..."

The detective was more than a little confused. Did Steve feel isolated in their relationship? But the brunette was continuing to speak softly in his ear.

"Danno, the loneliest night of my life was having to come back home to our house without you. Having to leave you in the hospital, still recovering from being shot in the fucking head, because they couldn't let me stay twenty-four seven like I wanted to. I thought loneliness was never having something, but I've realised that it's having something and then losing it, if only for a short time. Baby, I never want that to happen again... to either of us..." He pulled away and kissed the detective gently on the lips, letting it linger for a long time.

Danny was amazed, because it was extremely rare to get that many words out of Steve in a week, let alone in one go.

"I can't promise I won't get hurt again, Steve... I'd love to, but being a cop is dangerous sometimes," he met his gaze and held it to show his sincerity, "but I can promise that I will never leave you by yourself intentionally. I will never hurt you, you understand?"

"I know, Danny. I just wanted you to know how I felt, y'know?" The taller man rubbed the back of his neck, a little embarrased.

"You goof... you keep telling me you're not a giant teddy bear, and yet-" Danny began, but he was cut off by Steve's lips closing over his, the other man's tongue swiping across his lips with an invitation to open to his lover.

He moaned as his mouth was invaded by the mechanic's tongue, Steve's hand sliding over the golden stubble of the cop's jaw while Danny's own hand went to rest over Steve's chest, finding his heart beat fast and furious.

The brunette's hand went back into his hair, gripping it in his strong fingers and tugging until Danny moved back further into the truck's bed, in amongst the pillows and onto the soft foam mattress they'd placed in there.

Steve barely broke the kiss as it turned hotter and more desperate, and he began to bite at the detective's lips as he pushed him down to the floor and his free hand went to pull at Danny's swim shorts.

"Off," he growled, and the blonde managed to wriggle the elastic over his hips and get the garment down his legs to kick them off.

The ex-con struggled out of his own clothing, and once he was naked he straddled his boyfriend's legs with his knees bracketing the Jersey native's hips. His teeth were worrying at Danny's neck and earlobe while the blonde gasped breathlessly and writhed under him.

"You honestly want to keep calling me a teddy bear? I'm only going to keep proving to you I'm not soft and cuddly..." he growled low and dangerous in his lover's ear, the shudder running through the shorter man rewarding the dominant part of him.

"Fucking hell, Steve, why do you think I keep saying it?" Danny laughed at the brunette, but it was cut off to draw in a gasp when the other man's jaws closed over his throat and sharp incisors dug into his flesh. He closed his eyes and let out a softly whispered "Fuck..." as his boyfriend conquered him slowly but surely.

He'd already been turned on by the kissing, Steve was very talented at making out and letting his hands wander to add to the experience, but Danny was now hard as a rock while his boyfriend bit down over his exposed neck with enough pressure to leave small indentations in the skin.

He arched his back into his lover's touch and whined when he was pushed back down to the mattress. Steve began to nip up his artery to his ear again and suck the lobe in between his lips. Danny turned his head to allow the mechanic to nuzzle his face against him, stubbled chin grazing the sensitive skin and raising goosebumps all over his body.

The brunette was relishing the little noises he was pulling from his captive, and he sought out the man's wrists to hold them up either side of Danny's head while he attacked the cop's known areas of weakness from the ever-useful treasure map in his head.

He had to let go of the blonde's wrist briefly to blindly search for the bag they'd stashed in the back with their sleeping gear. He pulled out the lube and finally pulled back from his boyfriend's neck so he could get him into a better position.

"Turn over," he whispered hoarsely, lifting up to give the detective enough room, but he didn't move and just grinned up at Steve.

"Make me..."

The ex-con growled dangerously and the cop licked his lips. Steve did love it when his man challenged him; it meant he got to be that extra bit rougher, winning his control was that little bit more victorious when the blonde finally gave himself up.

He dropped the bottle when Danny went for him, grasping his biceps and pushing up in an attempt to flip them. The mechanic was ready for him and thew his weight into holding the other man down, but he was strong and still managed to tip them, using the momentum to roll on top of him.

The cop dipped down, grabbing a fistful of the brunette's hair and biting at his collarbone, his throat and his lips while Steve moaned and made a vague attempt at shoving him away. His heart wasn't completely in it though, because damn Danny's mouth felt good on him...

"Mmm... I am going to punish you for this..." Steve whispered gruffly, knowing that for them, punishment was often reward.

"You can try," Danny laughed, "but I think I'm winning right now..." Then before the taller man could throw him off like he'd planned, the detective's teeth were clamping down over one of his nipples.

Steve released a surprised and lascivious mix of groaning and growling sounds as lightning sparked through his body. "Oh sweet Jesus!"

He stopped fighting for a moment as his brain short circuited and the sensations from Danny's mouth on one nub and his fingers pinching the other took over. He dug his fingers into his boyfriend's shoulders and bucked up, rubbing his cock against the cop's hip. The blonde used the distraction to place his knees either side of Steve's thighs and tighten his grip on his upper arm, rolling his hips to glide their erections together.

"Oh shit, baby..." The brunette gasped from the multitude of nerve endings firing messages to the pleasure centre in his brain, "So fucking hard for me... I want you so badly, I'm gonna bury my cock inside you so deep..."

Danny moaned against his chest as he swirled a tongue around the other nipple, soothing the reddened skin caused by his calloused fingers, and he pressed their dicks together again. He loved it when his man told him what he wanted to do, it sparked flames of desire to flare up in his soul.

Steve grasped at the back of his head, trapping hair between his fingers and pulling him away from his gorgeous, tanned body. He pushed Danny upright on his knees and sat up to bite a trail of fire across his stomach before using all his strength to throw his boyfriend down to the truck's floor, chest first.

All the air was knocked out of the blonde from the impact, and then the taller man was on him, pinning him down to the mattress and licking a long line up his spine.

Danny tasted like the ocean they'd been swimming in, like salt and summer days and heat, and all the good things Steve associated with time spent at the beach. He thought about how, upon meeting Danny in prison and getting to know him, falling for him, he'd made him think of sunshine and warmth and everything he was missing when locked up inside those walls... This man was his endless summer, his key to heaven, his everything.

Steve grabbed the discarded bottle of lube and bracketed Danny's thighs with his knees, kneeling up and using one hand to pull the blonde's cheeks apart and the other to squirt the cool liquid directly onto his puckered hole.

The detective yelped under him and he couldn't help but snicker at the surprised tone.

"That's cold, you bastard!" Danny grouched, but he leaned up on his elbows and pushed his ass up towards his lover all the same.

The sun was just dipping below the horizon, but the moon was full and rising, casting a beautiful muted light over them. For the brunette, it just seemed to highlight every perfect curve, every flexing muscle in the man below him.

"You are beautiful..." he sighed, planting a delicate kiss in between the detective's shoulder blades.

Danny's reply was interrupted by a moan as a finger pushed into his ass, and he let his head drop to press his forehead into the bedding below him.

"Oh Christ... Steve..." He relaxed into his boyfriend's delicate touch, such a contrast to their rough wrestling match from moments ago.

It felt amazing every time that man worked him open, readying him to take his cock and receive his love, and this time was no different. He liked it when Steve was coarse and invasive, he liked it when the brunette was careful and loving... hell, as long as it was Steve, that's all he ever needed to enjoy himself. He never wanted or needed anyone else's touch, Steve was it for him, and it had been clear for a long time that he was the first thing Danny wanted to see in the morning and the last thing he wanted wrapped and round him at night.

The mechanic stretched him with two and then three fingers, preparing him as he licked and nipped every sensitive spot on the cop's back and hips, anywhere he could reach, but while his attentions were gentle, the way he pinned the blonde down was hot and commanding.

"God, Steve... I need you..." Danny didn't think he'd ever been so desperate to have his boyfriend inside him. He ached for him, pushing back against his hand that just wasn't quite enough anymore.

The ex-con hummed happily and pulled his fingers out, leaving the Jersey native feeling bereft. He pushed Danny's chest down to the mattress and twisted his arms up behind him, placing his wrists together in the small of his back so he could hold them both there in one hand. He used the other to separate the blonde's ass cheeks again, and then he nestled the head of his cock at his entrance and pushed gently, teasing with pressure but not going any further.

"Do you want me to fuck you, Danny? Do you want me to make you scream?"

The detective shivered, but it had nothing to do with the cooling night air that breezed over his bare skin. "Steve, stop fucking teasing. You know what I want..."

"I know it, but I wanna hear it," he grinned like a Cheshire cat, putting his mouth right up to the shell of his lover's ear and breathing hot air over the back of his neck. His tongue darted out to run over his earlobe and his hand tightened around the cop's wrists. "I wanna hear you say it..."

Danny wriggled under him, trying to gain some stimulation for his own cock against the mattress, but he was firmly weighed down. The mechanic knew exactly how to wind him up, how to get him to the stage where he was frantic and pleading... and he loved every second of the torture.

"Steve... I need you, I need you inside me... I want you to fuck me, now. Hard..." he whimpered and flexed his shoulders, "Please, I need you to fuck me..."

The taller man laid his body flush to his boyfriend's, his free hand curled under Danny's chin and pulled his face up so he could kiss him, taking his mouth hard as he plunged his cock inside him, claiming every part of him.

The detective gasped around the tongues in his mouth and moaned long and slow as his lover filled him, sharp pain giving way to burning pleasure. Steve gave him a moment to adjust to him and relax, before breaking the kiss and pushing up on the hand that had been cradling his boyfriend's jaw.

He adjusted his knees for leverage and held fast to Danny's arms at his back, drawing out to drive into him again repeatedly. The cop shouted wordlessly and canted his hips upward, and suddenly every thrust was hitting his sweet spot, lightning shooting up his spine and making him groan louder and louder.

The ex-con found himself moaning Danny's name uncontrollably, interspersed with grunts and curses and unintelligible sounds of lust. The sight of his cock sliding into that perfect ass in the moonlight was enough to make him lose himself, just revel in the feeling of being inside his lover, giving Danny the experience he desired while getting to live out his own fantasies... It was perfection. Almost... because as much as he loved this position, he needed to see his man, wanted to watch his face as he came.

He let go of Danny's wrists and pulled it of him. "Turn over, baby," he said, voice practically a whisper as he panted hard from the effort.

Steve moved off his legs and the blonde did as he requested this time, rolling onto his back and stretching out his arms above his head. The mechanic's knees muscled in between his thighs and Danny observed him as he went to all fours above him.

God, he was gorgeous in the half light, like a marble statue or a work of art. The pale silver glinting off the sheen of sweat that covered his skin, outlining his shoulders, his pectorals, his jaw line. He was amazing, something beautiful to behold, and in the darkness Danny could just make out the hazel-grey eyes that he loved to gaze into.

Steve pressed their bodies together, running his hands up the undersides of the blonde's arms where they remained reaching toward the cab of the truck, twisting their fingers together. The fast-paced furious passion of the last few minutes ramped down into a slow and languid kiss, and the taller man brought one hand down to cup his boyfriend's cheek. Danny did the same, brushing his fingers over Steve's stubble before resting them on the brunette's hand where it lay against his face.

Their breathing slowed as they took their time investigating each other's mouths, the desire for one another's bodies still bubbling underneath, but tempered by the need to express something deeper.

The kiss broke, and Danny leaned up to press his forehead into Steve's.

"I love you babe, I really do. And it's that head-over-heels, always-and-forever, never-ending kind of love. You're not the only one who feels like they've been saved, y'know..." They both opened their eyes and met one another's gaze from inches apart, so intimate that the detective could feel his throat closing up, but he choked out his next words despite that constricted feeling.

"I thought my world had ended with my divorce, felt like I'd never find that kind of happiness again, like I'd had my chance and ruined it... and then you turn up and turn my fucking world upside down..." He let out his manic little giggle and Steve couldn't help but laugh too. "Sometimes I think that getting framed as a dirty cop was the best thing that ever happened to me since being on this island... because despite everything I went through during that investigation, it led me to you. I am..." he paused and swallowed, having to take a deep breath, "I am forever grateful to whichever deity or higher power or whatever it was that took me to that moment... because I got you..."

The ex-con smiled despite the tears forming in his eyes, because hearing all of this from his lover was just making the night more and more perfect.

The Jersey native brought the brunette down for another soft kiss, breathing in the scent of his skin and soaking up the warmth of his embrace.

Steve used the kiss to gently press Danny's head back down onto the mattress, then he pulled back and smiled, whispering to him in the still of the evening. "No one else has you."

The cop grinned, creasing the corners of his eyes again. Eighteen months ago those words had been said by Steve in ownership of his cell mate's body, but now it was said in ownership of his boyfriend's heart and soul instead.

"No, no one else has me... and no one else has you."

The mechanic shook his head. "Not ever..."

They kissed again, and Danny rolled his hips up to give their cocks friction where they were trapped between their stomachs. Steve moaned into his mouth, lifted up onto his elbows and shifted so he was perfectly positioned between his lover's legs while Danny spread his thighs for him.

Steve pressed forward and entered him again, and the blonde wrapped his legs around the taller man's waist to bring him in, his arms coming down to slip under Steve's armpits and curl around his back. The ex-con's arms slipped under his boyfriend, and finally they were fully entangled in one another, while Steve's hips rose and fell steadily, their continuing kiss carrying the passion through to their love-making.

They had to eventually release each other's lips to breath, and their rhythm began to increase gradually, the pace becoming faster as they tucked their faces into one another necks and panted and moaned. Danny's fingers twined into Steve's hair at the base of his skull, the brunette left open-mouthed kisses along the cop's jaw, and the building, coiling sensations they both felt tightened and threatened to tear them in half.

Their movements were too lethargic, the momentum too low to take them where they both needed to go, but the second the detective's nails dug into the back of the mechanic's neck he let himself fly. Steve growled against Danny's throat and braced his hands on his boyfriend's shoulders from underneath, and then he sped up his thrusts, building to a pounding rhythm, rocking the truck below them on its suspension as his hips slapped against the muscle of the cop's thighs.

The dam finally broke with Danny's orgasm, release washing over him like the waves they had swum in together earlier. He shouted his lover's name and bowed his back as fireworks went off behind his closed eyelids.

Steve followed him over the edge, pushing deep into his spasming channel and letting his climax crash through him. His voice was raw as Danny's name was torn from his lips, and he collapsed down onto his lover as all of his energy flooded out of him.

When he came back to himself, the blonde had extricated him and tipped them onto their sides so they faced one another, both taking deep lungfuls of oxygen to cope with their exertion. They came down from their highs, caressing each other's faces and sharing brief, sweet kisses. Steve reached for the blankets and pulled them over the two of them.

"I love you, babe," Danny stroked his thumb over the mechanic's cheekbone, regarding him from under heavy eyelids.

"I love you too, Danno," the ex-con smiled, kissing him again.

A couple of hours later, Steve awoke to the sound of gentle waves and the breeze in the nearby trees. The sky above them was a dark, inky black and full of some of the brightest stars he'd ever seen. This was why he had brought Danny out here, knowing that the light pollution of Waikiki and Honolulu could ruin the view of the night sky, but out here where there were no nearby cities, you could see for lightyears.

He rolled to rouse his lover, only to find him already gazing up into space.

"I was gonna wake you," Danny murmured, still staring at the sky, "I just… it's beautiful, Steven…"

The brunette smiled, observing how his boyfriend's pale eyes reflected the stars. "Yeah, it is…"

The cop looked at him, aware that the ex-con was gazing at him and not the sky, and smirked. "You are a cheesy son of a bitch, you know that?" He laughed, and Steve snorted and had to concede.

"Damn it, that line always works in the movies!" He dragged himself into a sitting position, leaning back against the pillows at the rear of the truck's cab. Danny moved so his head and shoulders rested on the mechanic's abs and his arm trailed down the brunette's thigh. Steve wrapped his arm over his lover and took the hand which came reaching for his.

Steve used his other hand to point to the stars. "You see that constellation there?" He indicated some points of light in a long, jagged line, with a branch coming away from the central column around two thirds of the way up.

Danny nodded. "Mm hm." He sounded interested, so the ex-con continued.

"That's Perseus, from Greek mythology."

"Aah, the guy who cut off Medusa's head, right?" The detective grinned up at him and Steve smiled back.

"Oh, so you know your myths, huh?" He teased. "Pray, tell me, who did Perseus go on to rescue, using Medusa's head as a weapon?"

The Jersey native screwed his eyes closed. "Shit, I know this one…" He paused for a long time before sighing, "Ugh, I can't remember…"

"Andromeda," the mechanic informed him.

"I knew it!" The blonde threw his free hand up in the air dramatically, making Steve laugh softly.

"Perseus used the head of Medusa to turn the sea monster Cetus to stone; Andromeda was going to be sacrificed to him because her mother had claimed the girl was more beautiful than the sea nymphs," the brunette ran his hand through his boyfriend's hair, still dusted with salt from the ocean.

"Ooh, sea nymphs huh? I like the sound of that," the blonde wiggled his eyebrows at Steve, "Do they have those here in Hawaii?"

The ex-con smacked him lightly on the shoulder. "No, they do not, and you're off limits anyhow," he went back to carding his fingers through Danny's hair, "Listen, I know it's cheesy or whatever, but as far as I'm concerned, you're my Perseus…"

He expected Danny to mock him for that, but the cop just gazed up at him for a moment, a thoughtful look passing through his eyes. Then he was rolling onto his knees, shifting the blankets away, and straddling his boyfriend where he sat.

The blonde cupped Steve's jaw tenderly and upturned his face, kissing him soft and slow and raising the hairs on the back of the mechanic's neck. His voice was gentle when he spoke. "Well, I have to say… Andromeda, you are definitely more beautiful than any sea nymph I've ever seen," he smirked, and received another whack to his arm.

They kissed again, but when the detective pulled back again he stared down at his lover's chest and trailed preoccupied fingers across his stomach for a few seconds. Steve was about to ask if he was okay, but Danny bit his lip and finally made eye contact with him again.

"Do you, uh… do you know what happened with Perseus and Andromeda?" The emotion behind his ice blue eyes was open and raw, and it threw the brunette off balance for a moment.

Steve nodded gently. "They… they had a family… they got married…"

"Yeah, they did…"

The two men stared silently at each other, possibly for only seconds, possibly for hours, eyes searching one another carefully.

Danny moved first, reaching up to brush his thumb over Steve's lips, so cautiously like he was afraid he might scare him away.

"Marry me, Steve?"

The ex-con's breath hitched in his chest, and he opened his mouth to speak but he faltered.

The cop's eyes flicked away from his, and he moved to climb off his boyfriend, dismayed. "I'm sorry, I… I shouldn't have-"

"No, Danny, wait," Steve gripped his hips and brought him back down, placing one hand on the side of his lover's face while he swallowed hard, "I'm sorry I hesitated, I was just… what I said earlier, about not trusting anyone, not opening myself up… I've never been able to commit before, the whole concept terrifies me, and I thought if anyone ever asked me that question then I would want to, I dunno, run for the hills or something, that all I would feel was fear but…" His voice was breathy, tears forming in his hazel eyes, and an expression of awe slipped onto his face, "but, god, all I felt was joy!"

The blonde stared at him, stunned. "So that's…"

"Yes. Fuck, Danno, yes!"

The two men crushed themselves together, wrapping their arms around one another's backs and squeezing as tightly as they could, burying their faces into the crooks of each other's necks. Steve pulled back and took his fiancé's lips hard, hands going into his hair and holding firmly as he pressed his tongue into Danny's mouth.

Their bodies reacted to the kiss as it deepened, and soon the mechanic was grasping his lover's ass and pulling him in closer, rubbing their hardening dicks together. The detective wasted no time, wanting to seal their promise to each other by doing what they did best, and he reached for the discarded lube from earlier and dripped it onto Steve's cock before raising up, shifting forward and sinking down onto him.

Their groans of pleasure combined together in their mouths as they continued their kiss, and Steve's strong hands moved to grip the muscle of Danny's back, taking control of his movements as he rose and fell above him in rhythmic swells like the ocean which lapped not too far from their position. The cop grabbed the bar on the back of the Silverado cab's roof with both hands and held tight as he rolled his hips and impaled himself on his fiancé's cock over and over.

He had to break the kiss eventually, to gasp in the oxygen he needed and allow them to release the indulgent noises that had been muffled by one another's tongues.

Danny threw his head back while Steve bit hot, red marks into his chest and slid a hand up to take hold of his throat. His whole body thrummed with the anticipation of what their future held, and right there in that moment the desire for the taller man was increased tenfold by the exhilaration of their pledge to one another.

The ex-con couldn't stop his eyes from wondering over every visible inch of his man as he rode him, even with just the light of the moon and stars to see by, and he felt utterly complete. His man, his lover, his fiancé, and it was forever.

The passion between them took hold, and the emotion of the moment brought them to their completion sooner than they'd expected. The brunette brought his hand around from his lover's back to stroke his straining cock a few times, and Danny spilled his heat between them, painting their stomachs. The way he gasped Steve's name tore the mechanic's climax from him as he hauled them together again and pulsed inside his lover, bringing the blonde down to melt against his chest.

Danny tucked his head against Steve's shoulder and heaved air into his lungs as they traversed their orgasms together, muscles tensing and quivering.

"I love you, Danno…" The ex-con kissed the side of his face and nuzzled his neck.

The cop slid his hands behind Steve and he trailed his fingers in lazy circles at the base of the man's spine. "I love you too… so much…"

After a long few minutes of absorbing each other's warmth and the feel of sweaty skin on skin, Danny eventually slid out of his fiancé's lap, curling into his side. They tucked themselves under the blankets again, and the detective sighed and relaxed against the taller man while his fingers caressed through his blonde hair again.

Steve smiled as his mind drifted, and he kissed the top of his lover's head. "I think Gracie should pick out our rings," he murmured, and felt the other man squeeze him around the waist.

"That would be amazing, babe," Danny whispered, his heart bursting at the seams, "Perfect…"

They fell asleep wrapped in each other against the pillows, dreaming of Greek myths and stars, until the sunrise woke them with the promise of a new day.