Sequel to Second Chance
Archive to Allslash - anywhere else, please ask.
If you liked this, please tell me. nicxf@softhome.net
Spoilers: Justice, Fallen Heroes, Wanted Dead or Alive, Homicide.com, Truth Will Out and Zen & the Art of Murder
Disclaimer: They don't belong to me, they belong to NBC, Baltimore Pictures and a whole bunch of other people.
Summary: Continuation of the start of Tim Bayliss and Dennis Knoll's relationship. There was a plot here at one time. Now it's just a schmoopy smutfest. Not that there's anything wrong with that!
Comments: Thanks to Amy Orithain and Aries for beta. Additional thanks to Amy for dragging me into yet another fandom!
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Third Time's a Charm - by Nicole S.
(4/99)
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Tim Bayliss checked the clock, then the lasagna, then looked out the window to the parking lot below. It was the seventh time he had done so in the past hour. //Dennis should have been here forty minutes ago.// A frown deepened the creases between his eyes. This wasn't like Dennis; he was always on time, early for most things, actually. Tim convinced himself that he wasn't worried, just nervous. He hoped Dennis wasn't standing him up; he didn't know what he'd do if that happened. He got a beer out of the fridge and sat down at the kitchen table, set for two. An ache began in the pit of his stomach as that last thought ran through his mind over and over.
"He's not standing me up," he said out loud.
He took a healthy sip of his beer and tried to calm himself. He was nervous because this was the first time he had cooked dinner for someone in a long time. This was Dennis and his third official *date*, and he wanted to make it special. Their first date had been the Orioles' home opener. It had been pouring rain, and they had run, drenched, to a bar across the street from the stadium to keep dry. It had been crowded, but they had managed to find a corner to squeeze into. They had been so engrossed in their conversation, that they had almost forgotten to go back to the game when the tarp was rolled up. Their second date had been at Dennis' place. He had attempted to make them dinner, but they had ended up in his bed, sheets tangled around them, making love until the early morning, when they had gone to an all-night diner instead.
Tim blushed at the thought of the things he did with Dennis, things he had never done with anyone else. Their first night together was something incredibly special to him, something he would never forget. He had awoken the morning after with a warm body next to him, and it had taken about half a second to remember where he was. He remembered smiling as he felt Dennis Knoll's buttocks press against his own. Tim had snuggled his face into his pillow, grinning at the thought of his recovery time the night before. If Dennis could make him come that hard that fast over and over, he was going to die a young man. A happy man, but a young man. He swore he could still feel Dennis inside him, filling him, stroking that spot... He had nearly groaned out loud as his cock started to swell, realizing he couldn't get overexcited because he had a dilemma to face - he had to pee. He had lain there, his bladder begging for release as he tried to think of a way to get to the bathroom without embarrassing himself.
He had looked over at the chair where his clothes were strewn. He could have put on his pants...but then he'd just have to take them off again when he got back to bed. What he had really needed was a robe, something to throw over himself that could be flung aside when he got back to the room. He had sat and looked over at Dennis, his strong back rising and falling with every breath. He could have asked to borrow one but hadn't wanted to wake him.
Tim laughed to himself as he remembered taking a deep breath before standing, thinking, //Okay, Bayliss, he's seen, touched, and even licked the most intimate parts of your body, this is no time to be modest.// He had grabbed his glasses off of the dresser before making his way to the end of the hall to the bathroom and shutting the door behind him. He had looked around as he relieved himself, noticing everything was very neat, no clutter whatsoever. He had noticed that in the bedroom as well. Dennis didn't have much stuff, and what he did have was put away. He had thought of his own bedroom, clothes thrown in the overflowing hamper to be dealt with later after long shifts were finished.
He had finished peeing, then washed his hands before heading back to the bedroom. He had noticed another door along the way, which was most likely another bedroom. He had gotten back to Dennis' room and stopped abruptly when he saw hazel eyes looking up at him.
"Good morning."
"Hey, good morning."
He had covered his groin with his hands, before he realized what he was doing. He had blushed a deep crimson then raked his fingers through his hair to mask his previous action.
"Are you going to come back to bed?"
"Um, yeah, I was just..."
"Were you going to leave?"
"No."
Tim had put his glasses on the dresser before crawling back into bed, where Dennis had taken him right then and there, making gentle love to him; then keeping his promise, he had cooked Tim breakfast. Now this time they were here, on Tim's turf, and he had a few things to say to Dennis Knoll. He also knew how he wanted this evening to end, and that made him even more nervous.
He had spent the day cleaning and doing laundry, making sure the bed was made. He'd even gone so far as to buy new pillows and pillow cases. He had only done this for one other person, and she had been very special. That had lasted eight months, and Tim hoped that whatever was happening with Dennis would last longer than that relationship did. He didn't know what to call it, but all he knew was that when he thought of Dennis, he got butterflies in his stomach.
He looked at the clock again; Dennis was an hour late. Tim's shoulders slumped and eyes gravitated to the linoleum in the kitchen. He had gotten his hopes up too high, and now he was going to get burned again. He was about to stand and turn off the oven when there was a knock at the door. He got up to answer it and should have been overjoyed when he saw Dennis on the other side, but the pent up nervousness inside him had suddenly turned into anger.
"Hey," Dennis said, flashing his bright smile. "Sorry I'm late, we had to bring someone in; large guy too, it took four of us to wrestle him into the damn truck." Dennis handed a brown paper bag to Tim, who took it from him. "I picked up a bottle of wine."
Tim crossed his arms across his chest and frowned.
Dennis looked up and saw the expression on Tim's face. "What?" Dennis licked his lower lip. "You don't like red? I can go back for a bottle of white."
"You know, when I'm late, I usually call the person I'm meeting to let them know that I'm going to be late."
Dennis pursed his lips together and crossed his arms across his chest. Both men faced each other, arms crossed, frowns on their faces, mimicking each other.
"Uh huh?"
"Yeah. The lasagna's almost dried out, the salad's wilted, the bread's all hard."
"Yeah?"
"Yeah."
"Well, I was hauling someone in, Tim. I said I was sorry."
"And you couldn't call?"
"Excuse me?"
"You could have taken a minute to call."
"Yeah, I'm gonna tell some 300 pound biker, *Hey, buddy, could ya quit squirming 'cause I gotta call my boyfriend?*"
Tim shifted his weight, he bit his tongue, but that didn't stop him from lashing out, "You have a goddamn cell phone, use it!"
Dennis spun on his heel and exited the apartment, leaving Tim standing there, holding the bottle of wine in one hand and his oven mitts in the other. Tim raised his hand containing the wine to throw it, but caught himself, instead opting to fling the oven mitts across the living room.
"Fuck!" Tim bellowed before stomping bask to the kitchen.
He placed the wine on the counter and stood there, his hands in front of him, bracing himself so he wouldn't collapse. His heart was heavy, and he felt like he had been kicked in the stomach. //I sure screwed that up.// He turned the oven off and went to take the lasagna out, realizing that he had to find his oven mitts. He wouldn't allow the tears to come as he went back to the living room to find them.
There was a knock at the door. Tim shuffled over to it, hoping it was Death on the other side, scythe in hand to kill him and put him out of his misery. It was Dennis.
He didn't come in, instead he braced his hands on either side of the door frame and leaned in slightly. Tim looked up at the ceiling then at Dennis. He took a breath and tried to say something, but the words wouldn't come. Instead, he motioned with his hand for him to come inside.
Dennis gave him the barest smirk and walked into the apartment, shutting the door behind him and leaning against it.
Tim shook his head and looked sheepishly up at the bounty hunter. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry..." Tim drifted off and shook his head again before giving a nervous laugh, "You know, I'm...I'm nervous, and I overreacted and I..." Tim laughed again, "I channeled my mother just then."
He licked his lips and looked up at Dennis, who was still leaning against the door, his arms folded across his chest, the barest hint of a smirk on his mouth.
"So, uh, I guess this was our first fight."
"You done ranting, Timmy?"
"God, yes, please stop me before I continue."
Dennis leaned away from the door and crossed the short space to where Tim stood. "I'm glad, because I can't kiss you when you're ranting." Dennis leaned in and kissed Tim, pulling away after a few lingering moments.
"I'm sorry, Dennis," Tim whispered as his lips pulled away for a brief second.
"S'okay, Tim. You were just letting off steam. I know how it is."
Their mouths met again, their actions soft at first, but soon Dennis had Tim pressed up against the wall, his tongue delicately probing the detective's mouth. Tim could feel the bulge in Dennis' pants meet his as he pressed his pelvis into him. Suddenly, Tim pulled away and held up his hands.
"No. We're gonna eat first. I'm not letting this food go to waste after I bitched about it for..." He checked his watch, "...minutes."
Dennis leaned forward and kissed Tim's neck. "C'mon, Timmy, not just a little?"
Tim bit down on his lip and sighed, "No. Remember what happened last weekend when I came to your place and we forgot about the chicken in the oven?"
"Hockey pucks."
"Hockey pucks."
Both men laughed together and kissed again before Tim moved into the kitchen to get the food out of the oven.
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After dinner, they went into the living room and turned on the television to watch the end of the baseball game. Tim was leaning against Dennis, finishing his wine. This felt good, felt right. Tim gave a little sigh. "Again, I'm sorry about before."
"I told you, it's okay."
"I shouldn't have yelled at you."
"I have thick skin. I usually get yelled at a good ten times a day. As a matter of fact, yesterday, some woman, a very nice, well-to-do woman as a matter of fact, called me a slimy motherfucker because I was hauling her son away."
"Yeah?"
"Yeah. People don't think you're one of the good guys; they just see you coming to take their loved ones away to jail."
Tim nodded; he knew exactly what he meant.
"A lot of the time, it doesn't mean anything; they're just letting off steam. Like you did today."
"It was still...I shouldn't have...I shouldn't do that."
Dennis squeezed Tim tightly and kissed the side of his head. "No matter."
They sat in silence, watching the game for a few minutes before Tim spoke again, "Dennis?"
"Hmmm?"
Tim turned off the television and sat up to look at Dennis. "You know, this isn't easy for me. I, uh, I've made some choices lately that have not turned out well at all."
Dennis eyed the cop with his expressionless gaze, "Are you saying this is a bad choice?"
"No, not at all. I...I have this hole inside me, this empty place, this void that needs to be filled." Tim took a deep breath.
"I used to have this partner, a working partner, Frank. We had this strange relationship. We would fight and yell and scream and aggravate each other constantly. We were always pushing each other's buttons. He'd deliberately *forget* to buy me a sandwich, then I'd deliberately *forget* to give him a pastry. I would try to make a point, and he would disagree with me, then I'd talk louder to try to get my view heard. Pretty soon we'd end up in each other's face, yelling at each other. I knew deep down that he probably agreed with me, but he was disagreeing with me just to disagree with me and piss me off. He was like that, always challenging me, always trying to change my view. We were like this old married couple, you know? Like the Bunkers or something. But you know, even though we'd argue and get on each other's nerves, there was this underlying respect and...and love. Even though he drove me nuts, Frank made me think about things. He was a great friend, a great partner, a great cop. He was my rock and he filled my void. Then we weren't partners anymore, and the void, the empty feeling inside me came back. Frank quit last year, and I really began to feel the emptiness then. I tried to fill it with all sorts of things, but nothing felt right."
Tim gave a little laugh, "You know, if you ever asked him about it, he'd deny everything, but I knew he loved me too. He was as hard as steel on the outside, but on the inside, he was as soft as a butter cream. Now, I don't mean he was soft at his job. He was a good cop, but he had feelings too, you know?"
He sighed, "So, now I got this hole, this void inside of me, and it aches, and it's hard to stop the ache, to fill the hole in. Buddhism didn't do it; I thought it did, but I still had this nagging emptiness inside of me. And now...." Tim took a deep breath. "Now, I meet you and the hole, the void, it's starting to get filled up. And...Do you know what I mean, Dennis?"
"I think I do."
"It's not just the sex, I mean the sex is... incredible, but I feel something else. We've got some vibe going here, do you feel it?"
"I feel a vibe."
"Good, 'cause when two people have the same vibe, it's a good thing....you know, two people who are on the same level is... uh.... good... and... um... well... You can tell me to shut up at any time, you know."
"Naw, I think I'll let you continue on until you compare it to solving a red ball."
Tim groaned.
Dennis looked him in the eye before giving his hand a squeeze. "Let's take this slow, okay?"
Tim pursed his lips together and frowned again.
"Hey," Dennis reached over and stroked Tim's cheek with the back of his hand. "I want this, Tim. I want this so bad that I don't want to fuck it up. That's why I want to take this slow. I don't want to jump into this; I want to make it last."
"Me too. I want this to last a long time."
Tim leaned forward and kissed Dennis, his lips parting slightly to allow passage of his tongue. He moved closer to the bounty hunter, his hands caressing his shoulders, kneading the flesh underneath the black fabric of his shirt. His mouth remained locked on the other one as his hands moved down Dennis' back to linger at his pants, fingers moving slightly under the waistband to untuck the shirt.
"I want...please, Dennis, let me..." His mouth covered Dennis' in a searing kiss, obliterating the bounty hunter's answer. "Let me do this..."
"Don't stop," Dennis moaned as Tim's mouth moved down to his muscular neck, licking a trail to the collar of his shirt.
Tim's fingers shakily undid the buttons on the shirt and removed it from Dennis' body, drinking in the sight of his muscular physique. His arms reached around, allowing his hands to roam up and down Dennis' back again, feeling the hard muscles under the smooth skin. His mouth moved to kiss the bounty hunter again, pulling his tongue into his mouth and sucking on it. Something that had been pent up inside him was finally released, making him want to do this more than anything; he wanted to be in control, he wanted to make love to Dennis Knoll.
His blood was pumping fast through his veins as his hands moved towards the front of Dennis' torso, skimming the smooth flesh and soft hair as he moved down to his pants. Tim felt the rush of adrenaline course through him as he pulled his mouth away and moved down to Dennis' neck again, nibbling down to a pebbled nipple, latching on to it and sucking. He moved down so he was kneeling on front of the bounty hunter sitting on the couch.
Dennis moaned and writhed under Tim's touch; one hand went to rest on the detective's shoulder, the other caressing the nape of his neck. Tim smiled as he moved his tongue down the line of hair to Dennis' groin. Nervous tension knotted his stomach as he continued his journey downward. He wanted to make Dennis feel good; he had never taken the lead before and wanted to satisfy the other man completely.
Tim undid Dennis' belt with shaking hands, then popped the button and brought the zipper down on the black wool trousers. His hand dipped inside and grasped the erection there, bringing it up over the elastic of his underwear. It was hot and throbbing in Tim's hand as he caressed it gently before kissing the tip. A moan came from above as Tim delicately licked the head of the cock, a string of pre-cum leading from his lips to the head as he pulled off.
Tim looked up at Dennis as he licked his lips. His head was thrown back and his eyes were closed. His chest hair was damp with sweat and his lips were parted slightly. Tim was shaking, adrenaline coursing through his veins, as he went back to the task at hand, licking and sucking at the head of Dennis' cock. He could feel his own organ start to throb between his legs as he swallowed the pre-cum, his arousal doing nothing to help him relax.
"Tim....Timmy...I'm gonna come soon."
Tim pulled off of Dennis and moved up to kiss him, then stood on shaking legs as he pulled him up by his hand. Dennis' cock bobbed in front of him through his open trousers as Tim led him down the hallway to the bedroom. Once there, Tim pushed Dennis back to lie on the bed. He pulled the remainder of Dennis' clothes off, then started on his own. He was having trouble unbuttoning his own shirt, and Dennis reached out to help, but Tim pushed him down again.
"No," he said softly.
He finally removed his clothing, then knelt on the bed beside Dennis, stroking his thigh with his long fingers, "I want to make love to you, Dennis." Tim took a shaky breath and looked into the bounty hunter's eyes; the pupils had nearly obliterated the hazel iris, leaving the barest rim of colour.
Dennis moved his hand up to cup Tim's chin and brought him down for a long kiss before pulling away, "I'd be honoured if you'd make love to me, Tim."
With those words, Tim felt calm and at peace. He hadn't known if Dennis would go for it or not. What little experience he had with male relationships had taught him that one was the top and one was the bottom; he didn't know if it was okay to switch or not.
Tim reached over and got a condom and a bottle of the same brand of lubricant Dennis had used out of the drawer beside the bed. He could feel Dennis watching him and was suddenly nervous again and fumbling with the flip-top before he managed to squeeze a generous amount onto his fingers. Dennis moved his knees up and spread his legs wide as Tim placed his fingers down to his opening. Tim circled the entrance a few times, as had been done to him before, then pressed in with his index finger. The walls of Dennis felt smooth and satiny, like hot velvet. He moved his finger around and pushed in deeper, circling, stroking the sides until Dennis jumped beneath him.
"Mmmm, baby, that's good."
Tim smiled as he saw his lover squirm around, moving his hips around on his finger. Soon, Tim had another finger inside, helping the first caress the smooth hole, watching Dennis jerk as he caressed his prostate while he lay sprawled on the bed, panting and moaning. After a few minutes, Tim took the cue and put on the condom, making sure to lubricate it well, before he positioned himself over the other man. Dennis lifted his legs up with his hands and bit his lip as Tim entered him swiftly.
Tim breathed in sharply at the tight, velvet heat that enveloped his cock. He had never felt anything like this; it felt so good. He began to move in and out of Dennis, his arms bracing him on either side of the bounty hunter. He knew he should probably take this slow, but he couldn't; his hips started moving faster and faster until he was pounding into Dennis with a force that made his whole bed shake. Both men were moaning with every stroke. Tim's arms wrapped tightly around his lover, his hips thrusting wildly, lost in the sensations.
"Timmy....god, Timmy, finish me off, I can't stand it!"
Tim was jerked back to reality and reached down to pump Dennis' cock. It took no more than five strokes before he came with a cry, splattering them both with his fluid. Tim kept plunging in and out of Dennis, lost in his zone once again, the feelings overwhelming him.
"Oh god...oh god...oh Dennis, I love you, Dennis!" Tim screamed as he thrust forward one more time, his body shattering into shards of ecstasy as he came. He collapsed forward, chest heaving, as he felt the last remnants of the orgasm travel up his spine. He held Dennis forever, so it seemed, embedded inside him, until he rolled to the side and reached for the kleenex beside the bed. He cleaned himself up then turned to Dennis, who seemed to be sleeping. He shook him but didn't get a response right away.
"Dennis? Dennis, you okay?" Tim shook the man again, afraid he had had a stroke or something.
Dennis moaned.
"C'mon, this isn't funny."
Dennis moaned again and blinked open his eyes slightly, "I can't move."
"You scared me."
"You made me pass out, Timmy. Where the hell has that libido of yours been hiding?"
"Um...well...it's always been there, I just hadn't used it with you yet."
"It's always the shy ones that are the masters in the bedroom."
"So what's your excuse?"
"Are you calling me a bad lay, or are you calling me brazen?"
"Definitely, brash. And you're not a *lay*, Dennis."
Dennis reached up for his lover and brought him down to lie beside him. They kissed for a long time, lingering until it petered out into baby kisses, then they lay beside each other, lips just touching, breathing each other's breath. Soon, they were drifting off to sleep, and Dennis rolled over so he could scoot up behind Tim and mold his body to his. They lay together, Dennis' arm around Tim, fingers entwined, kissing his shoulder softly.
"I meant it when I said I love you," Tim whispered.
"I know. I love you too."
Tim squeezed Dennis' hand tightly, happy his void had been filled, knowing that this felt so right, before he settled down and fell asleep.
The End