A Place to Hide

[Dare Blackwood-Hardt]

Dare's own tension had been building slowly, steadily in the background of his mind, and the sudden break in his concentration, the sudden heat of Michael's lips was enough to set his mind spinning. Dare's hands, deprived of their prize, hesitated only a moment while he parted his lips, welcoming the kiss. Then, one settled low on Michael's chest, and the other swept up the back of his neck, lodging in the soft hair at his nape.

[Michael Blackwood-Hardt]

Michael tilted his head into the kiss, the tension building again, quicker than before as it merely had to piece together the fragments it had left behind when Michael had broken it. The hand settled on Dare's side decided it wasn't content to remain still, and pushed back around to his back, pulling him towards Michael as it did so, silently asking for more contact.

[Dare Blackwood-Hardt]

Michael's energy was contagious, and Dare pressed against him, pushing him lightly back into the couch, as far as he could go at this angle without purposefully toppling them, as tempting an idea as that was. He was trying to take things slow for Michael, and at times like these, when there was heat between them beyond that comfortable warmth, it was somehow easier using Michael as an excuse to rationalize why he wasn't pressing for more than his noble ideals about waiting might have been.

[Michael Blackwood-Hardt]

Slow was the last thing on Michael's mind; his relationships tended to be whirlwinds, exploding into being then disappearing, and so, with that subconscious thought, he tried to get as much out of it as he could while still being comfortable with it. Each time they had been together they had done a little more, moving at a pace that Michael was more than happy with. His hand went farther around Dare's back, moving along the muscles and lines, feeling them move beneath his palm.

[Dare Blackwood-Hardt]

Dare was forced to release the hand a the back of Michael's neck, curving against the back of the couch instead for support. Michael's touch was sending sparks through him, the tension pouring off Michael in waves sending Dare reeling. His fingers pressed firm into the couch, even as his other hand slid against the line of Michael's upper body and the kiss deepened.

[Michael Blackwood-Hardt]

Michael pulled his hand from Dare's hair and let his arm join the other wrapped around Dare, searching out the dips and lines of his back. He wasn't aware of anything other than Dare, even the couch was barely noticed in the face of the sensations running over his skin and through his body. Sometime Michael had moved on from marveling at how easy it was for them to be together and on to wondering at how quickly the tension came, at how it seemed that they barely had to work for Michael to lose his mind to the kiss, if what they were doing could be called just a kiss.

[Dare Blackwood-Hardt]

Dare's back arched against Michael's touch, arched into the touch, his body asking for whatever Michael would give. He felt safe enough in general, knowing that neither of them was in a race to the end, that he'd started allowing his defenses to slip, and stopped thinking so heavily about when to cut things off. They always seemed to manage, somehow. At the moment, he was managing to take in as much of Michael's body with his palm and fingers as he could manage, while simultaneously devouring the kiss.

[Michael Blackwood-Hardt]

Michael shifted against Dare's hand, urging him on as he allowed his own hands to explore as they wished. He trusted that everything would wind down to a stop when it was ready, it always did, and so didn't mind too badly when he forgot to think, his body acting on instinct and desire instead of thought. It was easy to let himself do that, so easy to let himself go instead of trying to stay in control, so he didn't fight it.

[Dare Blackwood-Hardt]

Dare didn't think when he broke the kiss, when his lips trailed down toward Michael's neck and that spot he'd found that had gotten such a reaction from Michael. He found it, parted his lips against it, and put all the tension in his body into driving Michael crazy. He couldn't resist, and it drove him crazy, too, his hands firming, one against the couch, one hand spreading against Michael's side.

[Michael Blackwood-Hardt]

It was obvious when Dare found that spot, Michael's hands tightened against his back, his head tilting away to let Dare have better access. After the first few tense moments his hands loosened and started moving again, taking in everything he could as they traced over Dare's sides and back. One moved around to Dare's front, running over the less-explored area of his stomach.

[Dare Blackwood-Hardt]

Dare shivered at that touch, heat pooling under Michael's hand, and lower, though Dare couldn't bring himself to pull away. He knew Michael wouldn't go too far, that his own inhibitions would keep him from doing anything showstopping, though part of Dare wondered. He gave no sign that he wondered, though, afraid of scaring Michael off with even the thought, but he shifted slightly into Michael's hand, wordlessly telling him that he was okay with where they'd gotten to, that he enjoyed it.

[Michael Blackwood-Hardt]

Once Michael was satisfied for the moment with his explorations of Dare's stomach he moved on, letting his hand trail up, feeling the bottom of Dare's ribs before moving up to his chest. The hand still wrapped around to Dare's back slid up the line of his spine, fanning out across his shoulders when he got up so far. Michael's eyebrows came together at what Dare was doing, his skin burning pleasantly underneath Dare's lips.

[Dare Blackwood-Hardt]

Dare felt some of the tension shift when Michael's hand left its spot against his stomach, and the heat there spread, warming his entire body. He exhaled a long breath against Michael's neck, then shifted his kiss, exploring again, though somehow he kept finding himself drawn to that spot. His hand against Michael's side dropped, down to the hem of his shirt where it paused, knowing better, but unable to pull away, even if he wouldn't let his fingers slip beneath.

[Michael Blackwood-Hardt]

Michael tensed, his hand moving up Dare's back to wrap around his shoulder tightly. His other hand moved up Dare's chest to his neck, then on to wrap in his hair. Through the tension and the good feelings his mind kept going back to Dare's hand so low on his shirt, however much he tried to distract himself from it. He knew Dare would be able to recognize the tension, the knowledge only making him try harder to forget it, letting his hand stroke through Dare's hair.

[Dare Blackwood-Hardt]

Dare had been focusing too hard on that spot, on the desire and the warnings in his own blood, focusing too hard on Michael, not to feel the shift in tension. His hand flexed against Michael, needing the release of tension that motion gave him, then pushed back up, leaving the temptation behind. In this, as much as Dare might be the aggressor, Michael was the leader. Dare brought his lips back to Michael's then, seeking the release of tension that way, and seeking the intimacy of it, the assurance that almost going too far hadn't been too much.