ALTERNATE: No Risk No Reward

[Black Philip]

Jake slowly lowered himself into a sitting position, letting Ben's hands take off his shirt. Once shirtless, he pulled Ben by the chin into a kiss, his other hand reaching between his legs and massaging his crotch. It had been so long since it was just the two of them, and Jake realized how much he'd missed this. His kisses were a mix of aggression and passion. He could feel Ben's heart start to beat faster, and the hunger grew within him. He pulled Ben onto the bed, and placed himself on top, pinning Ben back and grinding into him.

It was less violent than with Lazarus, but still the same dynamic. Jake was in control, and like Lazarus had trained him, Ben was submitting to his touch and instruction. He wondered if Ben still had the same fight, buried underneath vampiric obedience. He would have to draw it out of him again, once they were home. He was too horny to appreciate that thought fully as he ground into Ben and kissed his neck. He would bite soon, and for once have all of Ben's blood to himself. He was holding out on purpose. He wanted to be on the edge of blurry hunger, and Ben's throat the only solution and salvation. He wouldn't mind hearing Ben beg for the bite either. He begged so well.

[Trillian]

It didn't feel so different from the usual. He fought against his overwhelming desire to submit too readily but this was Jake he was with and he wanted to please him. He and Jake were used to the roles they'd been assigned. At one point, in the past, Ben had been almost an equal. Almost. Groomed for equality, certainly. It was almost too much to believe he could be there again; even though Jake was promising that and speaking about claiming him back from Lazarus, he still felt like it was a pipe dream.

When Jake reached between his legs and kneaded him, Ben grunted, unable to stop himself from vocalising the sensation. He frowned, the pressure maddening in the middle of strong kisses. Then he was lowered onto the bed and held in place. A typical occurrence. He couldn't remember ever being touched gently.

He wrapped his arms around Jake, a familiar body, a familiar touch. A part of him almost expected Lazarus to be cooing over them, to get himself involved somehow. But no, he wasn't here. Ben looked up at Jake before his ex (and soon to be returned?) lover kissed his neck.

Bizarredly, he felt sad. It felt like a shell around his heart; a thin surface that could hopefully be crunched away and broken up if Jake could find the right combination. Was it really up to him, though?

"I was happy with you," Ben admitted. For a while, anyway.

[Black Philip]

Jake had assumed this would be heading towards their familiar ritual. Sex was how they showed one another love, and Jake had planned to show Ben so much, but then Ben surprised him. He used his words. For someone more forthcoming, Jake wouldn't have stopped what he was doing, but he recognized how scary the place Ben was might be, and to say the wrong thing now was Jake's scary place. He pulled back, and smiled weakly.

"I've never been happier than when I was with you. Almost three-hundred years, and you're the only partner who's really made me happy."

He pulled Ben close to him. He wouldn't mind if they skipped the sex and kept talking. They'd played so many times, but talked so little. He'd also made another decision.

"I want to sire you as soon as we're home."

He imagined this was not the last time he and Ben would fight. That was okay. Love was complicated and bred fights, but if Ben was his, belonged to him as a child, then no matter what happened there was a path back. They could do this dance of love, breakup, love as many times as they needed. Jake cared that much.