"Here and Now"
Rating: NC-17
"When would be a good time, Padawan?"
"I was hoping you could help me tonight, Master."
Well, that sounded innocent enough, Bail thought, he must have misunderstood. He smiled and leaned back in his alcove, watching as the breeze gently played through his lover's mane of hair. Bail liked the Jedi's hair down, and knew Obi-Wan wore it like that especially for him, preferring to tie it back out of the way the rest of the time.
"All right, Anakin. I can be back by twenty bells. Take a shower and I'll meet you in my chambers -you can wait for me in my bed."
"Thank you, Master, I really appreciate it."
"My pleasure, Padawan."
"If I do it right."
Obi-Wan chuckled and ended the call while Bail stood in his hidden alcove, back against the cold stone, quite stunned. He hadn't heard wrong at all, Obi-Wan had made a date to perform fellatio with his apprentice, in fact he was cutting short his date with Bail himself in order to do it. Bail couldn't believe it, but he had heard it with his own ears.
Without thinking he moved to tower over Obi-Wan.
"You're having sex with your apprentice," he accused. Obi- Wan's face remained calm, though one of his eyebrows went up.
"Hello to you, too. And of course I am."
"You're lovers." It wasn't a question.
"I'm his master, teaching him how to make love is a part of the package."
"But that means you and Qui-Gon..."
"Yes. Why the face? Does it seem so beyond the realm of possibility?"
"Qui-Gon just always seemed so..." Bail shrugged, trying to find a word that wouldn't sound like an insult. He'd met Obi-Wan's former master several times before the Jedi had been killed. "Cold."
"Everything I know about being a lover I learned from him."
"Really?" Bail couldn't quite believe it; he couldn't imagine Qui-Gon kissing anyone in passion, let alone... "Even that double penetration trick with the Force?"
"Yes, really." Obi-Wan's lips pursed. "Including discretion. I know I should have put up a privacy shield as these are public gardens and we had arranged to meet, but I am considerably early and you always arrive extremely punctually."
"I came early one time and discovered you -I've been early ever since," Bail admitted.
"You're spying on me."
"Not spying, watching."
"You'll have to explain the difference to me." Obi-Wan's face still wore its usual mask of calm, but his eyes had a flat, angry quality to them.
"You come early to meditate," Bail began to explain.
"Yes." Obi-Wan's tone was clipped.
"You look amazing when you're meditating." He tried to find the words to explain what had drawn him to lie in wait and watch his lover when he thought himself unobserved. "It's like there's a glow from you that touches everything around you."
"Meditation is essentially deep communion with the Force. Perhaps because you are my lover you can see that. But why the subterfuge? If you had asked I would have been happy to allow you to join me in meditation." Obi-Wan did not appear to be mollified.
"I didn't want to join you, I wanted to observe you. I'm sorry," he said quietly, realising that it had been a gross invasion of his lover's privacy. He sat down next to Obi- Wan, leaving an uncustomary space between them.
"Why?" asked Obi-Wan.
"Why did I watch?" At Obi-Wan's nod he continued, "you are a warm and generous lover -I have no doubt that you share your very soul with me. But there is a part of you that is set apart, that I will never be able to touch or be involved in and yet it is something that defines so much of your life."
"It sounds as if you're jealous."
"In a way I am."
"Of my being a Jedi? It is who I am; you speak of it as if it were something separate, but I assure you that it is not. There is no Obi-Wan the Jedi and Obi-Wan the Lover, there is only Obi-Wan."
"You show me a different face than the one you show the universe," insisted Bail, but Obi-Wan was shaking his head.
"The same face; it is the emotions that are different."
"And what does your apprentice see when he look into your face as he climaxes? Does he see the same face, the same emotions that I do?"
"Bail, I am sorry that you didn't know about my role in Anakin's awakening sexuality. I suppose it is so much a part of my life, of the way of life in the Order, that I assumed you would know. But I don't see what difference it makes now that you do know."
"If I told you that I find it unacceptable to share you?"
"I would regret that very much, I would miss your companionship greatly." Obi-Wan stiffened; it looked as if he were preparing to leave.
"You would stop seeing me?"
"I made a commitment to train Anakin and if that bothers you I do not wish to continue a relationship that brings you pain."
"The pain of losing you would be far worse," he said quietly and was relieved to see Obi-Wan settle back slightly on the hard bench. They sat in silence for a few minutes, a sense of waiting between them. It was as if Obi-Wan knew he still had questions. Bail took his lover's silence as tacit permission to ask them.
"So you've gone from my bed to his."
"Occasionally."
"And do you enjoy it? Making love to him I mean."
"Yes." Obi sighed and Bail could see him struggle to pick the right words. "Bail, I chose to teach him, and that included lessons in loving. I chose to be with you, to share love, laughter, companionship. My relationship with Anakin should not threaten what I have with you. It doesn't unless you let it."
Bail watched him for a moment and then leaned forward, taking Obi-Wan's mouth in a hard, possessive kiss. Sliding his tongue into Obi-Wan's mouth, he explored it entirely with quick, sensual aggression. They were both panting harshly when the kiss ended, Obi-Wan pulling away as Bail began to push him back down onto the stone bench. Obi-Wan brought his hand up to cup Bail's cheek, running his thumb over swollen lips.
"I choose to be with you, but I am not yours, your possession," he said softly. "I belong only to the Force, I bow only to its will."
"Do you love me?" Bail questioned.
"I do."
"What does that mean to you?"
"It means I enjoy being with you -your company brings me joy and peace. Bail, you are important to me, but love doesn't mean you are everything to me - I have been brought up to believe that that is closer to obsession than love. Tell me, Viceroy, what does love mean to you?"
"It means you touch me here, here and here," replied Bail, touching his hand to his head, his heart and his groin in turn. Obi-Wan smiled and Bail had the distinct impression he'd passed a test.
"How about we go back to your apartment and see what else we can touch?" Bail shivered in anticipation at Obi-Wan's words.
At length the discussion drew to a close and Bail stood, holding his hand out to his lover. Obi-Wan's hand slid into his own, the warm, callused skin moving over his own smooth palm in a rough caress. He pulled Obi-Wan up and led him into the bedroom.
His own gown, native to his homeworld, was a simple one piece garment, easy to remove and he did so before kneeling to undo the buckles of Obi-Wan's boots, sliding them from his lover's feet.
"Does he love you like I do?" he asked, looking up into Obi-Wan's face.
"Bail..."
"Has he taken the time to examine every inch of your body? With his eyes and his fingers and his mouth?" he pressed as he slowly undressed the Jedi. "I'll bet he hasn't. I'll bet he's never noticed how your hands and your face are dark compared to the whiteness of the rest of your skin. So pale beneath your robes and tunics and your belts and leggings. They keep you bundled away from the touch of the sun, from the touch of others. Undressing you is like unwrapping a gift. Do you know how surprising it was that first time we made love? To find sleek muscles and fiery passion beneath all that sedate clothing?"
His lover was naked now and Bail ran his hands over the pale limbs, gently pushing Obi-Wan back toward the bed. The Jedi let Bail push him, falling backward when his knees hit the edge of the bed. Bail climbed in after him and took a kiss, this one flavoured with the sweetness of the fruit preserve he'd served and the faint tang of honeyed alcohol.
He pressed his tongue deeper, seeking the taste of his lover beneath the food and drink they'd consumed. It was there, faint and also sweet, but he wanted more, wanted the sharp tang, the bitter bite that could only be found deep inside Obi-Wan.
Bail moved his lover as if he were a doll, turning him and lifting his hips to press a pillow beneath them, arranging his arms just so and his legs spread just like that. Obi- Wan let him, let Bail manipulate and position his body.
Leaning over his pliant lover, Bail nuzzled through Obi- Wan's hair to bite at the back of his neck, soothing the small hurt, leaving a mark. Leaving his mark on Obi-Wan's body. He slid his tongue over the supple spine and bit again between Obi-Wan's shoulder blades. Leaving another mark.
He continued down, leaving marks every fourth or fifth vertebrae until he reached the top of Obi-Wan's crack. He rubbed his chin along the top of it, just where it met Obi- Wan's spine, reddening the skin with the short, coarse hairs of his beard.
He pulled back slightly, using his hands to hold open his lover's cheeks, blowing gently on the small, tightly closed muscle revealed to him. He ran his tongue from Obi-Wan's perineum back up to the bottom of his spine, pressing his tongue against the opening as he passed it.
"Has he ever tasted you here?" he asked, voice low. Bail licked again along the full length of Obi-Wan's crevice and then concentrated his attentions on the small entrance, tracing small circles around it before stabbing the tip of his tongue into Obi-Wan's body. His lover jerked, a soft moan drifting down to Bail's ears.
"Has he ever licked at your opening, searching for this secret, the flavour of you?" He suited action to words, licking and stabbing at Obi-Wan's hole with his tongue.
"Has he ever pushed inside and made you whimper?" he asked, words spoken against the small, tight ring. Then he pushed his tongue as deeply into Obi-Wan as he could. His lover whimpered loudly. "Yes, just like that."
Bail suddenly found himself lying on his back, Obi-Wan straddling him, pinning his hands above his head.
"I have never brought anyone to our bed, not Qui-Gon or Anakin or any of the other lovers I have had. But you -you are bringing Anakin into our bed. It is a violation of what you and I share, a violation of him. Don't do this. Bail," Obi-Wan's grip on his hands softened and then disappeared altogether. Obi-Wan's hand touched his face, tracing over Bail's cheekbones and along his lips, feather light across his eyes. "In this moment, aren't I enough for you, Bail?"
"Yes."
"Then don't worry about before or after, keep your mind on the here and now." Obi-Wan's mouth quirked up into an amused smile.
"What?"
"I've heard that piece of advice oft-repeated, but I don't think I've ever heard it used in quite this context before."
Bail laughed. "I thought it sounded like one of your Jedi things."
Obi-Wan's answer was made with his kiss and Bail lost himself in the pleasure of it. His lover was a very eloquent kisser, his tongue agile and prolific. It only occurred to Bail now to wonder how many people his lover had kissed to become as skilled at it as he was.
"The here and now, Viceroy," growled Obi-Wan, as if he could hear Bail's thoughts.
Bail gasped as Obi-Wan growled lightly once more and bit his neck, quite hard. Bail yelped, the sound turning to a purr as his lover soothed the abused flesh with his lips and his tongue, closing his mouth and sucking at Bail's skin.
Obi-Wan licked his way along Bail's shoulder, lapping at his skin and Bail wondered what he tasted like to his lover; spicy and sweet like Obi-Wan himself? Or maybe salty and bitter. Obi-Wan bit him again, teeth gripping his flesh before soft lips and wet tongue soothed once more and Bail no longer wondered about anything except when and where his lover's next bite would come.
Over his heart, just above his nipple.
Bail moaned and pushed his chest up, hoping Obi-Wan would move his lips just a tiny bit lower, wishing Obi-Wan's hard, neat white teeth would graze his nipple, or better yet, scrape across it and sink into the sensitive flesh.
But they didn't. Instead Obi-Wan sealed the round of flesh within his lips and added suction, pulling Bail's skin into his mouth and letting it escape again. And again. And again. He could feel the rhythm of it echoed by his own heartbeat -in and out, thump and thump- the sound within and without.
He shifted restless as the stimulation continued, the sensations building slowly, inexorably, until he was just about to scream as the pleasure-pain of it fell into simple pain. Obi-Wan stopped, pulled back and blew gently. Shuddering, Bail moaned, the sound dragging from deep inside of him, maybe as far down as his toes.
His hands pulled at the covers as he waited for Obi-Wan to continue, but his lover didn't move, just breathed against his sensitized skin, waiting. Licking his lips, Bail opened his eyes, looking down and finding Obi-Wan staring up at him.
"Where are you?" asked Obi-Wan, mirth dancing among the passion within the changeable eyes.
"Where am I?" he repeated, floundering to make the words have meaning.
"Are you here?"
"And now," Bail replied with a slow grin as Obi-Wan's meaning sunk in.
"Good."
Obi-Wan continued the journey of his tongue and teeth and lips, occasionally stopping to leave another mark while Bail lay back, writhing and moaning beneath his lover's ministrations. Obi-Wan was thorough, covering each part of Bail's body with a mark in the shape of his mouth.
The final mark was made to Bail's opening, teeth grazing the sensitive skin, making Bail whimper. He arched his hips, speaking without words of his need.
His lover slid into him without warning, without preparation, without slowing or stopping. Obi-Wan's solid shaft slid deep into Bail's body, heat and silk and hardness opening him, stretching him, filling him. Bail writhed, impaled by pleasure.
It didn't take long; Obi-Wan thrust into him and then pressed his tongue to the first mark at Bail's neck. Bail shouted as he came, pleasure surging from the passion mark to his cock and back, his body jolting beneath the electric feel of it.
Obi-Wan continued to move within him and Bail watched his face, watched the sea-green eyes go emerald, the beard- framed mouth go slack. A soft sound escaped Obi-Wan's mouth as Bail felt the flood of his lover's passion within his body. Then Obi-Wan was collapsing on him, panting. Both of them panting, holding one another as their bodies calmed.
Bail played idly with the mark over his heart, running his fingertips over it, pressing now and then as if testing its tenderness.
"Do you want me to heal them?"
"What?" he asked, turning to Obi-Wan.
His lover's fingers drifted over several of the marks. "These, I could heal them for you."
Bail shook his head. "No," he said softly. "I want to feel them as I move, to know they're there while I address the Senate or entertain guests at the office."
He couldn't be sure, but he thought Obi-Wan looked pleased.
~ fin ~