Undercurrents

Some time just before dawn, Neji opened his eyes and stretched his legs in the unfamiliar bed. The covers were thrown back on Shika’s side, and a quick glance around the room confirmed that the Nara wasn’t upstairs. Neji rolled over on his back, hands rubbing over his face before he turned and sat up in bed. A dull ache tugged at his lower back, and Neji absently rubbed at it and stood. The pain reminded him of the way Shika looked in the throes of bliss, and Neji smiled as he stretched his spine.

Not finding anything that looked both clean and like it would fit, Neji ripped the quilt off the bed and threw it around his shoulders. He stepped over puddles of clothing and shivered with both memory and chill. The stairs creaked a little under his weight, the noise sounding like the cracks of a whip in the quiet cabin.

Shikamaru leaned against the frame of the back door, the cabin open to the chilly, early- morning air. His hair was up in its usual tail, the black-and-blue pajama pants hugged his narrow hips, and his feet were covered in heavy, wool socks. He was nude from the waist-up, however, and the eerie half-light of morning made his skin look iridescent and ethereal. While Neji watched, one of Shika’s arms came up in a lazy arc to bring a burning cigarette to his lips. A red light flickered and he exhaled smoke and hot breath with a sigh, the warm air rising and vanishing like a ghost gone to the light.

Neji crossed over to Shika on silent, bare feet, pulling the quilt tighter against the cold as he went. The Nara looked over one shoulder in acknowledgement of Neji’s presence, eyes down and expression blank. Finding Shika like this reminded Neji a little of Kakashi last night outside of Haze: smoking, thinking, and doing too much of both.

“Close the door,” Neji said quietly. “It’s cold.”

Shika shrugged and pulled another drag into his lungs before licking two fingers and putting out the cigarette. He flicked it away with a practiced snap of his hand.

Neji sighed and stepped over to Shika to wrap him with the quilt, pulling him flush with his own bare skin. He rested his chin on Shika’s shoulder and shivered; the Nara was freezing.

“So stubborn,” Neji murmured with a sigh. “Guess I’ll have to keep you warm, hm?” He kissed Shika’s neck and hugged him.

A bird called from the trees above them, and Neji heard a flutter of wings before everything went silent again. Frost tipped the tops of the grass beyond the back deck, and early-morning fog swirled restlessly. Neji closed his eyes and breathed deeply, pure contentment settling in his bones.

Beneath the quilt, Shika reached behind them both and wrapped his arms around Neji, clasping his hands over Neji’s tailbone. With a soft noise, Neji covered Shika with more of the quilt, cocooning them both in his warmth.

“What are you doing out here?” Neji whispered.

Shikamaru shrugged. “Thinking.”

Neji didn’t ask about what; he just waited calmly for more.

“I was thinking about you standing in the rain and working up the nerve to knock on my door,” Shikamaru said softly after a quiet moment.

Neji grimaced; happy Shika couldn’t see his face.

“Saw that, did you?”

“Yeah, but it was kind of nice…made you seem a little more…real.”

Neji pressed the length of his body against Shika and squeezed him with his crossed arms.

“I don’t seem real to you?”

“The past couple of weeks have been…strange.”

Humming, Neji brushed his lips over Shika’s shoulder. “Good strange?”

“Yeah…” Shika uttered a surprised noise before continuing. “I just never thought I’d…”

Neji waited again, one finger pulling loose from his hold on the quilt to play over a bit of Shika’s skin.

“Never thought I’d be here. And not ever with you. You seem to know so much about me…and it’s like you’re in my head half the time, which I love and hate. But seeing you tonight made me happy because before you’ve always been so…”

Neji shifted against Shikamaru’s back, standing up a little straighter. He tugged the quilt so he could hold it closed with one hand and keep it wrapped around them. His free hand wandered lazily over Shika’s warming skin. Neji felt drugged he was so calm; Shika was like a shot of fine, smooth liquor that spread through his veins with weight and heat.

“So…?” Neji prompted, his voice raspy and low.

Shika sighed and let his head fall back onto Neji’s shoulder. “You’re so irritatingly perfect,” he said.

“I know,” Neji replied, teasing.

Shikamaru snorted and then grew quiet and serious again.

“Did you go to Break last night?” he asked.

“No,” Neji answered honestly. He would never lie…but he didn’t want to offer more details and risk waking up from this peaceful trance, either.

“But the way you were dressed…” Shika trailed off and his breathing hitched.

Neji skimmed his hand over Shika’s skin and lightly brushed his fingers over one of Shika’s nipples – just a touch, nothing more. But the Nara’s hands squeezed tighter at the base of Neji’s spine.

“You liked the way I was dressed,” Neji stated, voice a little firmer and fingers dancing.

“Yes,” Shikamaru sighed, and he closed his eyes as though imagining. “It was…one of the hottest things I’ve ever seen. You – in that leather and the silk…lace…”

Neji nearly purred and he dropped a kiss over Shika’s pulse. He shifted them so that Shikamaru’s shoulder rested against the door frame, Neji’s arm moving to cradle the Nara’s head. With that hand he held the quilt around them, and he pulled and tugged the blanket so Shika’s shoulder helped trap some of the quilt’s weight. Shikamaru moved with Neji, compliant and relaxed. He turned his head, eyes still closed, and kissed Neji’s arm. Then he let his head fall back into the crook of Neji’s elbow.

Neji petted and caressed Shika’s skin, fingers finding a nipple again and squeezing with slowly increasing pressure until Shika’s mouth parted with a tiny gasp. Neji’s breath hitched quietly at the sound. He loved how this slow and easy exploration felt heavy…dreamlike. Their voices were mere whispers, as though they were afraid to burst this tenuous bubble surrounding them.

“And then…you let me…” Shika stopped.

Neji watched from the corner of his eye as Shika licked his lips.

“I let you what, Shika?” Neji asked. “Tell me what I let you do.”

“You let me suck you,” Shika husked.

Neji pinched Shika’s skin harder, fingers massaging deeply. Shika didn’t make a sound, but his hips moved under the quilt.

“And?” Neji asked quietly.

“And you let me fuck you, sir,” Shikamaru panted. Neji felt molten heat coil and burn inside him as Shika slipped into the role of the dutiful and needy submissive.

“It was what I wanted,” Neji said. And with Shika in his arms and the red wave of desire filling his mind, Neji’s cock stirred and grew hard against Shikamaru. The crazed urge to control crashed around Neji, and he wanted to see Shika shudder and shake…wanted to make him burn and beg and come.

“Will you let me do it again some time, sir?” Shika asked, voice barely audible.

Neji released Shika’s nipple and ran his nails down firm abs before stopping to play with and tug at the short hair just above Shika’s hard cock.

“Maybe,” Neji said, shrugging one shoulder in apparent – if utterly inaccurate – indifference. “If it pleases me, then maybe.”

“I’d do anything to please you, sir,” Shika said. “Anything.”

Neji watched a little frown appear and disappear from Shikamaru’s face.

“Does that scare you?” Neji rumbled softly. He trailed light fingers up Shika’s length, equal parts comforting and arousing.

“…sometimes,” Shika answered.

“Sometimes, what, pet?” Neji asked, voice no louder but much firmer. His hand froze in its ministrations.

“Sir,” Shika quickly answered. “Sometimes, sir.”

“Good boy,” Neji praised softly and gently. He wrapped his hand around Shika and slowly stroked, making the Nara sigh and relax a little against him and the doorframe. Neji leaned in close and kissed Shika’s cheek, his temple, the shell of his ear.

“You and your needs are safe with me, Shikamaru,” Neji whispered, breath blowing lightly into Shika’s ear. “I’ll always take good care of you.” He squeezed the hardened flesh beneath his hand and tightened his arms in an open hug around the Nara.

“Always,” he said again.

Shika grunted through closed lips before he turned his head more toward Neji, lips seeking skin. Neji sighed as Shika kissed his neck, his hand moving with slow, easy strokes, tightening with a twist over the head with each glide.

“The other thing you said, sir…” Shika husked over Neji’s skin and panted, breath increasing under Neji’s sure hand. The air protected by the quilt was hot and in sharp contrast to the outside temperature.

Neji didn’t have to ask. He smiled as Shika’s eyelids fluttered when he sped up ever-so-slightly.

“I meant it,” Neji said simply.

“I know…sir…” Shika seemed to struggle for a moment, caught between brain and body.

“Hush, now,” Neji said. “We’ll talk later.” The time for slow and steady and soft was over. Neji wanted more – wanted to make Shikamaru feel and get lost in sensation. Neji pressed his body harder against Shika’s, grinding his erection against Shikamaru’s back. Neji tightened his grip and swirled his hand over the head of Shika’s cock, gathering the moisture there and toying with the slit before smearing and returning to stroking. Shika swallowed and his hips twitched upward, seeking more.

“Right now, I’m going to make you come,” Neji husked and then bit down sharply on Shikamaru’s shoulder. The Nara uttered a surprised cry, and his head lolled against Neji’s other arm.

Neji sucked and worked the skin until a dark mark formed, making Shika let go of a soft moan. He licked at the bruise and moved to speak into Shika’s ear.

“You’re thinking about how tight I felt around your cock,” Neji husked. “About how it felt to pound into me balls-deep in slick heat.”

Shika made a helpless noise against Neji’s arm, and his body trembled.

“You were so good, pet,” Neji cooed. “Sucking me off and making me come with your dick rammed up my ass.”

“Fuck…sir…” Shika gasped and whimpered.

“Yes,” Neji nearly hissed, his strokes hard, long, and slow. “Fuck, boy…that’s what we did. And now it’s going to distract me when it shouldn’t…and you’re going to pay for that.”

“Oh yes…sir…yes…”

“I want to tie you up and flog your ass, boy. One hit for every time you take my mind away from work. For every time you break my concentration…” Neji ran his hand up and gently pinched the flared and swollen head of Shika’s cock, and the man in his arms jerked.

“And when your ass is red and you can’t remember how to talk, I want to roll you over onto your back…”

Neji dragged nails down Shika’s length before grasping him roughly and stroking.

“Shit!” Shika barked breathily.

“Make you swallow me whole and suck me…”

“Sir…oh god…oh god…” His voice was half-whisper, half-moan, and all heat. Neji loved how responsive Shikamaru was to him…loved how he gave himself over to Neji’s words and wants with abandon.

“And when I’m close, I’ll sink down on that sweet cock of yours and ride you ‘til I come…”

Shika bucked hard into Neji’s hand, his arms slick with sweat around Neji’s waist, his mouth open and panting.

“Please, sir…please…”

Neji growled into Shika’s ear, and he ground hard against Shika’s back, his own cock dripping and aching. The noises the Nara made drove him insane…his responses, the way his mouth formed the word, “Sir.”

“Please, what, pet?”

“Come…need to come…oh sir…fuck.”

Neji stroked and pulled at Shika with the pressure and intensity he knew the Nara loved. He waited for several breaths until he felt Shikamaru tremble hard, his legs tensing.

“Say my name and come, pet,” Neji ordered clearly in Shika’s ear.

Neji’s words made Shikamaru freeze even as Neji’s hand worked him hard and sure. Shika panted twice and then his eyes flew open.

“Master!” Shika cried, the noise breaking the silence and sending the birds flying in the trees above the cabin, the roar of wings deafening after the long quiet.

The Nara came with beautiful obedience, whimpering in release, and Neji held him tightly afterward, murmuring praise and incoherent noises of affection.

After a moment, Shikamaru turned in Neji’s arms and kissed along his neck and chest.

“Please…” Shika whispered between kisses, slowly moving to his knees. “Please…please…let me…please…”

Neji groaned when Shika’s mouth covered his length, sucking hard and bobbing down with merciless pressure and pace. Neji clutched the quilt and braced his other hand on the back of Shika’s head. He fucked the Nara’s face and trembled as the snap of his hips made Shikamaru moan and lap harder along his cock.

The drive for release blotted out everything else, and Neji moved with abandon. His eyes opened, head falling back, and he stared up at the brilliant green of trees lit by sunrise as he came with Shika’s name on his lips.

~*~

“All finished!” Rosemary called from downstairs. Neji threw down his pen, a scowl darkening his flawless face. He was reviewing a civil case brought against a member of a governing council, and it was tiring and irritating. Rosemary’d been cleaning the house top to bottom all day, interrupting Neji to bring him lunch and remind him to eat while he worked. She was a godsend, really, even if Neji didn’t care for interruption.

Standing and stretching, Neji walked out of his office to lean over the banister.

“Thank you, Rosemary,” Neji said. From below, his housekeeper smiled up at him.

“And I made you some dinner. It’s in the fridge.” She paused and then looked at him archly. “There’s definitely enough for two.”

Neji smiled and leaned down to rest his chin on his fist. “Are you trying to suggest something?”

Rosemary grinned at him. “This is the first time you’ve allowed me in the house in two weeks, sir,” she said. “I can’t imagine the break you and that Nara boy are taking will last for very long.”

Neji laughed, the sound low and rich. “You know me too well. Thank you for dinner.”

“You’re very welcome, sir. I’ll be by in two days.” She paused and then looked at him again, eyes shining even at a distance. “Unless you tell me to take another vacation.”

Neji merely shook his head and watched Rosemary get her coat from the closet. When the door closed behind her, Neji sighed and wondered what to do with himself. For the past two weeks, he and Shikamaru had spent most waking moments – and all sleeping moments – together. They’d gone to the movies, made ridiculously lavish breakfasts that never got eaten in lieu of other more interesting activities, and generally had been sickening even to themselves.

Finally both men agreed they needed a couple of days to attend to work. Certainly they’d done the bare minimum to get by, but both men had duties and chores they couldn’t escape forever.

Though it was intoxicating to try…

Back in his office, Neji straightened a stack of papers with a small sigh. Time spent with Shikamaru went at light speed…time spent away crawled like a newborn. He made a note to himself to call Kakashi the following day to catch up on business. The clubs and his other business ventures were quiet at the moment; Kakashi, Tenzo, and Naruto handling anything small that came up.

It still surprised him that Shika hadn’t asked for more information about Break…or Bliss, for that matter. After the night with Kabuto, the Nara seemed content to let everything drop…but Neji knew that was a ruse. Shika wasn’t the type to just let things go, and Neji suspected that at some point there would be a conversation about his job, his Uncle and everything in between.

The good news was that even though he was sure Shika knew enough to make some educated guesses, he still wanted to be with Neji. That fact comforted him when thoughts of impending conversations loomed dark on the horizon.

Neji wandered down the stairs and headed into the kitchen to grab some water from the fridge. This was Neji’s second evening away from his Shika, and it would probably prove longer than the first. He was almost entirely caught up with work – Neji was nothing if not quick and efficient – and he wondered how Shika faired. He wondered what he was doing…what he was wearing…if he would ever get Shikamaru to admit to keeping that leather-and-lace shrug. The Nara claimed it simply got lost in the laundry, but Neji suspected the Nara kept it for his own kinky reasons.

Neji shivered and grinned at that thought as he prowled into the family room. Maybe there would be something distracting on TV that he could watch until the early hours of morning before finally passing out on the couch. Two weeks and he knew he wouldn’t be able to sleep without Shika in his bed. It was a foregone conclusion.

With a sigh he settled into the leather upholstery, his gaze straying to the locked garage door. Shikamaru still hadn’t seen his dungeon, though he knew the Nara was curious. But Shika remained hesitant, happy to stick to their interesting brand of power exchange.

Neji was eager to show him more, certainly – eager to live up to some of the nasty things he whispered in Shika’s ear to make him moan…but he meant it when he promised Shika that they went at his pace, not Neji’s. He would suggest and guide…but he would not pressure. Neji remained open and honest about what he liked and wanted, and Shikamaru knew if he wanted more, he merely had to ask. Hell…just hint. A mere “Sir, can I see?” would have Neji and Shika in his garage in two seconds.

Neji shifted on the couch, thoughts of Shika in his dungeon making his pants uncomfortably snug. Thinking tonight might be a good one to spend long hours in the bath with some waterproof toys, Neji turned on the TV. He flipped through three channels, already despairing over the programming, and then jumped when the doorbell rang.

Did Rosemary forget something? Neji frowned as he stood, long legs swinging in a half-jog as he crossed through the rooms to the entryway. But that didn’t make sense…Rosemary had a key and came and went as she pleased.

So who…?

Neji yanked open the door with force and his face split into a shameless grin at the sight of Shikamaru standing on the other side.

“Hi,” Shika said, his lips twitching up into a smile. His hair was down and tucked behind his ears. He wore a snug black t-shirt that did wonderful things for his frame, and his jeans looked painted-on. The boots were new – Neji’d memorized practically everything in the Nara’s closet – and covered in silver chain. If Neji didn’t know better, he would say Shika borrowed them from Sasuke.

Neji looked Shikamaru up and down. “Didn’t expect to see you,” he said.

“Are you still busy?” Shika asked, nerves flickering in his tone. “I know I have the key, but I didn’t want to barge in and disturb you. I just wanted to…” He trailed off.

“See me?” Neji asked and smiled. Despite all the things they’d done with and to one another, Shikamaru was still painfully shy about some things. It was adorable, really. Neji stepped over and hooked a finger through one of Shika’s belt loops.

“I was just despairing over another dull evening,” he said, pulling Shika closer. “Come to rescue me from boredom?” Neji’s mouth covered the Nara’s in a nearly-chaste kiss before he pulled away.

“Something like that…” Shikamaru replied. “I brought something.”

For the first time Neji noticed the box under Shika’s arm.

“Oh?” Neji said as Shika walked inside and Neji closed the door.

Shikamaru pulled the object from under his arm and Neji saw that it was actually a chessboard.

“Chess?” Neji asked, slightly confused.

With a casual shrug of his shoulder, Shika turned and headed toward the family room. “I thought we could play a couple of games,” he said.

Neji followed, eyes narrowing in suspicion. Somehow Neji didn’t think the Nara came all the way to see Neji just to play a board game. The clothing…the hair down the way Neji liked it…suddenly appearing like this…the subtle air of nervousness – no, check that: anxiety. But the good kind; laced with eagerness.

Well now…wasn’t this interesting?

“A couple of games?” Neji asked, following Shika down into the family room and to the coffee table that held rather fond memories of other sorts of games. “That seems optimistic. I know how you play chess.”

“Speed chess,” Shikamaru said, opening the board and setting a blitz timer next to it. “I’ve been working on my strategy.”

Neji watched Shika remove the pieces from their elastic bands and set them aside. “I confess: I’m not a huge fan of the game.”

Shikamaru paused and swallowed. Neji saw tension grip the Nara’s shoulders and tighten them. Shika was definitely up to something.

Fascinating.

Then Shikamaru sighed and looked up at Neji, his expression cunning and seductive.

“What if I made the game more interesting, then?” he asked.

Neji cocked a brow and circled the table. “I’m listening.”

~*~

A/N: The image of Neji and Shika wrapped in a quilt on the back deck under a sunrise-lit canopy of green haunted me for weeks. *happy sigh*

Not such a bad thing to have lurking in one's brain.

Cannot thank everyone enough for the kind words. Speaking of things that lurk in my brain for weeks - some of your comments have done that as well. My many thanks.

*hands out cookies*

Life is rather busy at the moment. Will post when I can.

Also - have had a request to put up "Altering Affection" here, too. That story is done, and I'll get it on here as soon as I can.

Much love & sun-dappled forest floors,
~D