Plain Sailing

The inside of Fairwind's thighs were slick with oil and tensed as he held himself on his knees, straddling Shaw's hips. His arms, propped either side of Shaw's head on the narrow bunk, trembled as Shaw circled and stroked and finally pressed a fingertip inside him.

"Relax," Shaw said, and Fairwind's arms shook harder. After a moment, Shaw realised it wasn't from any kind of effort but rather because he was suppressing a laugh. "All right. What?"

"Nothing, nothing," Fairwind said with an inelegant snort. "Just, you know. You telling me to relax."

"In fairness, we haven't made a lot of progress."

"Yeah, but I'm enjoying myself."

Fairwind sat up, and Shaw grunted at the abrupt redistribution of his weight. Kul Tiran men, like their beer and their coffee, were robust. With the shift of the angle and a little help from gravity, Shaw's finger pushed further inside him. Fairwind lazily rolled his hips, then stopped.

"Oh," he said. "Sorry, you can't be getting much out of this."

Shaw let his gaze trail over Fairwind's stomach and the broad contours of his chest, the thick muscle of his shoulders and arms. The sunset pouring through the porthole limned him, setting his hair and beard afire. This wasn't a bad angle to appreciate him from.

"I wouldn't say that." Shaw's hand, however, had a different opinion, and began to cramp. He tried to adjust the bend of his wrist beneath Fairwind's backside, but was momentarily thwarted by a gusty sigh and Fairwind's strong thighs squeezing him.

"Wait," Fairwind said, eyes closed and frowning. He slouched forward; his seashell necklace swung and narrowly missed Shaw's face. He braced his hands on Shaw's chest this time, his palms pressing over his nipples in a way that was probably incidental but appreciated nonetheless. "Right. Do that again."

"Please," Shaw prompted.

Fairwind leant in so that the tip of his nose touched Shaw's, and grinned. "Going to give me a lecture on manners with your fingers up my arse, are you?"

"A finger, singular."

"Well, if you could see your way to improving on that," Fairwind said—as though that wasn't what Shaw had been working towards for the past fifteen minutes while Fairwind had revelled in the slow burn—and then kissed him with altogether more tongue than Shaw was prepared for. Then he licked Shaw's face for good measure, because it stood to reason he'd be as sloppy and obnoxious in bed as he was in the field. "Please."

It was barely polite. Shaw grabbed a handful of his hair and slid a second finger into him, perhaps more roughly than he deserved, but Fairwind only shuddered and groaned, and when Shaw slowly turned his wrist, began to work up a sweat.

"Nice," he sighed. "What do I get for a 'thank you'?"

What he got was Shaw yanking his hair and the curl and drag of his fingers. Fairwind dissolved into breathless laughter and sharp little gasps, clenching around Shaw's fingers so hard his knuckles complained.

"Relax," Shaw said again before he could stop himself or temper his irritable tone, and that had Fairwind collapsing onto him with a loud guffaw. He had yet to fathom what it was about him that Fairwind found so damn funny, and wasn't certain he ever would. "Light, can't you stay focused on anything?"

"Okay, I'm focusing," Fairwind said, muffled against Shaw's neck, his chest still hitching with his ridiculous giggling. He ran his palm along Shaw's forearm to his wrist and encouraged him to carry on. "Focused. Right... here."

Shaw rubbed at his forehead with his free hand. "I just wanted to get you off. Was that too much to ask?"

With crushing inevitability, this set Fairwind laughing even harder. He propped himself up on an elbow, flushed in the face, though whether it was from amusement or sex remained to be seen. "Honestly, mate, that part's easy," he said, and kissed the side of Shaw's nose. "Getting you to crack a smile—now there's the challenge."

Shaw sighed, raised his eyebrows, and then gave him a tight firm smile just to prove him wrong. Fairwind gasped in wide-eyed mock astonishment, and suddenly the smile was out of Shaw's control, growing wider and fonder while Fairwind grinned back at him, just as wide and just as fond. It pulled Shaw under like a riptide, and so he had no choice but to sling an arm around Fairwind's neck and hold onto him as tightly as he could.

"All right, good," Fairwind said, supremely pleased. He was taking full advantage of the situation, in turn nuzzling at Shaw's neck and dampening it with luxurious open-mouthed kisses, pressing back onto Shaw's fingers with a sigh when he started to move them again. "Looks like it's all plain sailing from here."