Seen and Unforseen (Michael/Dare)

[Dare Blackwood-Hardt]

A shiver skated up Dare's spine to his neck at the distracting feel of Michael's lips in that particular spot. His grin tempered, but only because the laughter had to shift for the warmth infusing him. "It's an awesome tree," he said, his grin widening all over again. "But maybe I looked a little." It was pointless denying it. He was an observer, and Michael was his current fascination; of course he'd looked.

[Michael Blackwood-Hardt]

Michael smiled, feeling an unexpected tingle run through his body, leaving behind that warm feeling he had become accustomed to. "I guess I can't exactly fault you for that, I mean, I am a fine specimen," he said in an egotistical tone, his lips barely brushing the skin of Dare's thumb. The joke was obvious in his voice and his eyes sparkled, though he still kept his spot on Dare's shoulder; he had become quite comfortable and wasn't ready to move just yet.

[Dare Blackwood-Hardt]

Dare chuckled again, though the sound had the slightest breathless quality to it, courtesy of the teasing feel of Michael's lips. "You are that," Dare said softly. He wondered if Michael had any idea how beautiful he was, or how truly fascinated with him Dare was. Somehow he doubted Michael would believe it even if he pointed it out. "Do I need to tell you how much I liked looking?" Dare asked. "Or am I transparent enough that you've figured me out?"

[Michael Blackwood-Hardt]

Michael contemplated having a selfish moment and asking Dare to tell him, but pushed it down to rest with the tingling feeling running through him from Dare's soft words. It was hard to accept that Dare thought that about him, however nice it made him feel. "Yeah well, I liked looking, too," he admitted, his words just as light as Dare's had been. Michael rather liked the feel of Dare's skin against his lips as he spoke.

[Dare Blackwood-Hardt]

Dare was finding it ever so slightly a challenge to listen to words with the brush of lips against a sensitive area of his thumb. He'd never have admitted as much, but the sensation was translating directly to another sensitive area, much as it had the time Michael had kissed his fingertips. Dare shifted his head against Michael's to watch, unable to do any less.

[Michael Blackwood-Hardt]

Michael's eyes turned up when he felt Dare move, he was just able to see dark hair mixing with the red that he had been able to see before. "I do something?" he asked, grinning and then letting his lips move lightly against Dare's thumb. He was amused at the knowledge that the light touches were apparently having an effect on Dare, his eyes gleaming in humor.

[Dare Blackwood-Hardt]

Dare pulled a slow breath before answering, "Just...making it hard to think." His lips quirked at his own words, and the sudden memory of others. Sometimes you want to be soft. Sometimes you can't help being hard. Michael's lips were definitely the soft in that equation. Dare's hand flexed slightly against Michael's, a light flexing of fingers taking what they could of tension relief, even as he waited for another brush of Michael's lips, and another warm trickle of sensation.

[Michael Blackwood-Hardt]

Michael grinned and brought his knees up, settling again next to Dare. "Want me to stop?" he asked, letting his lips brush against the smooth skin another time before pulling their hands a few inches away, towards his knees. He tilted his head back just a little, enough to see a bit of Dare's face. He was quite enjoying himself and was very interested in Dare's reply.

[Dare Blackwood-Hardt]

Enough of Dare's concentration had been focused on Michael's breath against his hand that the sudden distance, even if it was small, brought a breath of mixed relief and disappointment from Dare. He didn't notice Michael watching him, as his gaze was on their hands. "I think I could handle not thinking for a while," he said in absent-minded response to Michael's question. His hand was craving the attention it had been receiving, and he was craving everything that went with it.

[Michael Blackwood-Hardt]

Michael brought their hands back to his lips, "I'll see what I can do," he teased as he put his head back to its original position. He was amazed at how comfortable he felt with Dare, after barely two weeks with him, not that Michael was complaining. His lips started to move again against Dare's skin, taking in the texture and taste and mentally comparing it to Dare's lips and neck. There was even a moment where he was planning what he would do next, if he would stay on Dare's thumb, or spread his attentions out, he couldn't decide just yet, instead opening his lips the smallest amount to let his tongue dip out for a better taste.

[Dare Blackwood-Hardt]

Sensation streaked from that one moist touch up his arm and down his spine to lodge as heat in his abdomen. It was amazing how such a light motion could bring such a reaction, but Dare supposed it made sense, in a way. In art, sometimes the lightest stroke of the pencil could impact the entire drawing. And as an artist, his hands were naturally sensitive; they had to be, and he had to be in tune with them to get the responsive results he did.

His hands were being especially responsive now. Dare's breathing had reflexively shallowed with the return of Michael's breath against his skin. He watched in rapt fascination, anticipating motions he couldn't predict. Michael's lips were so close that there was no guessing when they might touch, when they might part. Dare's tongue swept momentarily over his own lip as he waited, eagerly submitting to Michael's attention.

[Michael Blackwood-Hardt]

Michael pulled his hand from Dare's, his other coming up to help it spread out Dare's hand. His lips moved to the pad of Dare's thumb, then met each of his fingers, his own lightly touching the dip of the palm. Michael tucked his elbow around the arm he now held captive, silently declaring that he decided when it would end. At the moment, he was enjoying himself too much to want to stop any time soon, so his motions were slow and precise. Though he could see the areas he wanted to go, he wasn't going to rush, there was time, and Dare had said he didn't mid not thinking for a while.

[Dare Blackwood-Hardt]

Dare's thoughts had narrowed and focused to that one area of his body, the hand Michael held in thrall. The rest of his body had focused too, and though it hummed, though the occasional thread of electricity trickled through, it was all echoes of whatever Michael chose to do to his hand. Dare wasn't even aware of his own breathing now, shallow and expectant, deepening now and then at Michael's touch. He was unaware of the occasional twitch of muscle or the reflexive spreading of his fingers just a bit further, encouraging Michael to go on. He watched, fascinated, his palm burning from the light press of Michal's fingers, just taking it all in.

[Michael Blackwood-Hardt]

Michael let his lips trail slowly down Dare's fingers, moving to each one in turn as he worked his way to the dip in Dare's palm. Why he had decided to do it, Michael didn't know, only knowing that that hand was what had originally brought them together, past the boundaries of just drawing together. It might have been his way of thanking Dare for the easy transition from strangers to friends, then on to more. Michael would never have experienced any of it without Dare and, though he would have still been with Anna, he didn't regret a moment of it.

[Dare Blackwood-Hardt]

The moment was incredibly intimate, strangely moreso than even the times they had come so close to losing control. Maybe it was the control inherent in the purposeful brush of Michael's lips that did it, but more likely, it was that connection, that unspoken meaning that hands had between them. If a touch of hands was comfort for them, perhaps it was no suprise at all that this would be so much more. Dare's body wound tighter the further Michael's attentions moved, and all thought had abandoned him at last.