Fire


Not usually one for romance, log fires, dinner dates, champagne and roses - that was exactly what he'd arranged. Except for the roses.

A cottage in the middle of nowhere, black sky above scattered with silver stars, two Porsches and a GT standing outside.

Inside, a real fire burned in the fireplace, two empty bottles of champagne stood on the glass-topped table to one side of the room, three full glasses grouped together on the fake-marble hearth. The place smelt of freshly ground coffee and orange liqueur.

On the thick Persian rug, James lay on his side with Richard spooned up against him. In front of them, facing them, back to the fire, Jeremy lay with his hand held in Richard's on the rug between them, playing the long fingers through his own.

"You didn't have to do all this," Richard had told him several times now.

And Jeremy gave the same answer. "Yes, I did." He did. They'd needed the time, needed the space; needed just to be together without anyone else around, without any other pressures or camera crews.

They'd driven up late the night before - Friday - after the show, as soon as Richard had been able to get away. The three-hour journey had been worth it, chatting away happily to each other on the same gadgetry they tended to use on Top Gear for the races. Twice James had caught Richard singing away happily to himself. Once Jeremy had caught James humming to a track he vaguely recognised from some advert.

James had cooked something and they'd settled in with beers and good food, talking about nothing of much importance, tuning out the world, turning in relatively early to share the one huge, low bed, and make love slowly in the warm silence of the house.

This morning, when they'd eventually dragged themselves out of bed, eventually dragged themselves out of the walk-in shower, they went out for a drive. A really good drive. A great drive. Their own cars, on their own, without having to make small talk to a camera or remember Jeremy's script.

They stopped for a late lunch at a pub, miles from anywhere, where blissfully no one recognised them.

"A year ago I've have been insulted, now I'm just relieved." Richard had put it beautifully.


And now they were lying next to the low fire, fed, watered, utterly relaxed with one another.

"I want something," Richard said softly.

Jeremy bit back the word, 'anything', but James didn't. He was warm, comfortable, happier than he could ever remember being. Boldly he moved his hand down to Richard's stomach and up under his sweater to tease his fingertips over smooth, firm skin. He locked eyes with Jeremy, knowing exactly where this courage had come from.

"Ask," Jeremy told him quietly, lifting his hand.

"I want to get a little bit more… adventurous. I realised when I was ranting and raving at you - accusing him of just wanting to fuck me - that you actually hadn't. I love you two, body and soul; I want everything that comes with that."

James stilled. Jeremy was looking at him, shock written all over his face.

"You have this incredible knack of surprising us, Rich," he murmured, dropping a kiss to the warm throat. "You know if we do, it'll change everything. You're a very… straight guy, ironically, and you're talking about venturing somewhere straight guys don't often go."

Richard's laugh was immensely arousing. He turned his head, eyes sparkling, "James, I'm lying here with my two male lovers, some might say I've already ventured there."

"Don't get me wrong, I'm hard just thinking about you and Jeremy…."

But Jeremy interrupted him, "Which one of us do you want, Richard?" James got the impression he already knew the answer.

"I want James, first time."

James swallowed, amazed, glancing at Jeremy and looking away.

"I'm sorry, Jez. But… James has done this before and…."

"And he hasn't ripped your heart out and stamped all over it like I did."

He watched Richard pull on Jeremy's hand, watched him squirm across the space between them and kiss Jeremy, long and loving, without moving from James' arms. He heard the softly whispered, "I love you, and I trust you."

Jeremy's hands touched him, held him. "It's okay."

"I want you watching, you know, want you touching me… while he does it."

James groaned, dropping his forehead to Richard's back. He could imagine the look on Jeremy's face, the roll of his eyes, the heat in his expression. Idly he swept his hand over Richard's side, to the small of his back.

Jeremy pushed Richard back, leaned over and kissed James, deliberate and deep. Richard squirmed between them, hair tickling James' neck. James held him in place, moving his hand again, stroking over one hip while Jeremy's tongue twisted in his mouth, stoking the already burning fire in his groin.

He felt Richard's mouth under his chin, wet kisses against his skin; watched, shockingly aroused as he released Jeremy and Richard claimed him again.

Lowering his head, James nipped at his young lover's neck, nibbling at the hard bump - the top of his spine - fingers riding up under the soft sweater again, teasing up the sensitive skin over his waist and up over his ribs.

Richard let out a low shriek and rolled on to his back, batting James' hands away. "Quit!"

James grinned. "Now why didn't we know you were ticklish?" He got his hands around Richard's ribcage, fingers digging gently into his sides while Jeremy caught a hold of his hands, preventing him from retaliating even as he tried to wriggle away from him.

Not until Richard was begging, between gasped breaths, for him to stop, did James take pity on him and changed the pressure of his fingers, caressing instead of tickling, stroking instead of teasing. They let him get his breath back, James kissing his flat stomach where his sweater had ridden up, glancing up to watch Jeremy drop a kiss to Richard's forehead.

It was an unexpected thing, a sweet thing. It made James' heart ache.

Sliding a hand between Richard's legs, pushing them apart, James ran his fingertips along the seam of his jeans, from the crease of his leg down over muscled thighs firm from hard driving and horse riding. Richard lifted his head from the floor, groaned low in his throat and dropped back, the sound swallowed when Jeremy kissed him, hard and deep.

On all fours, James crawled up over Richard's body and kissed Jeremy above his head. He felt hands on his chest, fingers deftly unfastening the zip of his cardigan followed by the buttons of his thin white shirt. Richard's fingers - strong and determined.

Pulling back from Jeremy he looked down, smiled at the incredible expression in the wide eyes watching them and whispered, "Are you sure about this?"

"Yes." No uncertainty, no nervousness. He was asking for this with the same conviction he did everything else.

"You want me inside you?"

He caught the rise and fall of Richard's throat but confirmation was simply repeated. "Yes."

Oh, god.

Slowly lowering his head, he touched his mouth to the younger man's, tasting the parted lips, sliding between them, touching the tip of the tongue that met his own.

He felt fingers comb through his hair, initially thought it was Richard but glanced around to see it was Jeremy. He idly thought may just be the luckiest man alive.

Richard's mouth moved against his own. "Please, James." Losing the power of speech for a second, he could only nod. Rising to his feet, he took a deep breath and leaned down to murmur into Jeremy's ear, "He needs to be naked."


In the bathroom he was surprised to find a bottle of baby oil in the cupboard, along with a range of soaps, body moisturisers and over-the-counter medicines.

For a couple of seconds he stood with the transparent bottle in his hand, staring at it, hoping this wasn't a step too far. What they were about to do would change everything. He was taking something from Richard that no one else had and no one else ever would. He was back to being a virgin; offering himself to James, trusting him with everything that he was.

James' dick was hurting in his jeans and he unbuttoned, unzipped, rearranged himself in his underwear. He needed to think about football or Margaret Thatcher - something or he'd come before he had a chance to do anything. An odd thought that Jeremy would probably get turned on by thoughts of Thatcher did dampen his excitement just slightly, but it was a short-lived thing as he padded back into the lounge to watch his two lovers undress one another.

Richard was talking quietly, knelt up at Jeremy's side, hitching the tall man's jeans off before dropping the shirt from his own shoulders.

Kneeling behind him, stripping off his own shirt, James stroked Richard's bare back, looking from him down at Jeremy. And the perfect position entered his head. Leaning forward, he whispered in Richard's ear, "Kiss him."

He loved that when they were like this Richard could be submissive. He'd give as good as he got but he was willing to do as he was told - not a trait he often displayed out in the real world.

James kicked his jeans and boxers off as Richard stretched out along Jeremy's body and did as he was told, carding his fingers through the loose grey curls, gently mashing their mouths together. James kissed the nape of Richard's neck as he stroked his hand over his thigh to the back of his knee, bending it.

Jeremy's hand met his there, hooking under the leg, gently holding him in place, and James was left to wonder yet again about Jeremy's experience - was it more than he was letting on? Shaking the thought, still kneeling on his side behind his lover, he dribbled a little oil on his fingers and started a massage at Richard's shoulders, easing into the taut muscles there, thumbs pressing firmly in.

Not one to lie still for very long, Richard twisted under his hands, turning his head, brown eyes glassy in the firelight.

"James…."

"Relax. Enjoy it. Stop being so impatient."

"But…."

"I won't hurt you." Not a chance. He couldn't bare the thought of seeing pain on this man's face, of being the one to put it there. Still, he reached over Richard's hip and palmed his dick for a second - squeezing gently, spreading teasing oil-covered fingers out of the small, vulnerable testicles.

"You're not going to hurt me." There was such certainty in the voice, so much love and trust in the eyes, James didn't feel worthy of it. He stretched out onto his side, along Richard's back, kissing bare, smooth shoulders, running his fingertips along the curve of his spine to the small of his back, separating out around his tailbone, pressing into the tense muscles at the tops of his buttocks.

He heard Richard's moan, glanced up to see them swapping kisses, to be caught by Jeremy's eyes. He could read the careful warning there and deliberately nodded. Jeremy knew he was the last person on Earth who would hurt Richard, but Richard was still Jeremy's fantasy, this relationship was Jeremy's baby. So to speak.

"I love him," he mouthed, and Jeremy nodded in silent response.

James smoothed his palm over one firm buttock, following the curve with his fingers, sliding into the hot crack. He skimmed up along it, pressing in deeper, going back down until his fingertips brushed over the tight ring.

When Richard didn't tense, didn't bolt, he flattened the pad of his index finger against that small, puckered muscle, moving in tiny circles until it gave and he popped inside. Then Richard went still.

Immediately, James nuzzled his neck, murmured soft words of reassurance. "Just relax, and tell me if I hurt you." Cautiously, Richard twisted his head around and met James' mouth with is own, kissing him for as long as he could in that awkward position and as he did, James went deeper, pressed deeper, Richard hot and slick around his finger, whole body hyperaware of every inch of hot skin sweating against it.

He kissed the back of Jeremy's hand where it was petting Richard's nape, drew his finger out to the last knuckle and slid it slowly back in. When he did it a third time, Richard actually arched his back, raising his hips to meet James' hand.

James hoped he could last long enough to do this. His dick was throbbing. Nothing else he could imagine could be this erotic, this hot. The urge to bury himself in the man beneath him was almost overwhelming. Pulling out again, James slid a second finger in atop of the first. He felt the tight muscle spasm, heard his name spoken quietly and froze.

"Want me to stop?"

"No. God, no." Richard was catching his breath, clinging to Jeremy, thrusting back to meet the slow, careful strokes. "Please, James…."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes!"

He heard the humour over the faint strain in the voice, Jeremy's chuckle under it. Pouring baby oil into his hand, rubbing it over his aching erection, James hitched himself up and over Richard's body, directed the weeping head of his dick to the small, tight muscle and pushed inside as slowly and gently as he possibly could.

Still, Richard's hiss of pain fixed him in place, the hot channel squeezing the most sensitive part of him, his own control almost gone he had to blink tears from his eyes. Jeremy was watching him, hard gaze holding every warning, every threat known to him.

"Relax, Love," he whispered, barely loud enough for Richard to hear the endearment that had slipped out now James' brain was out of gear. "Breathe out. Relax." He waited, and a second later the trembling, taut body beneath him did just that. "Good. Now let every muscle go lax. Let Jeremy take all your weight. Just let go."

Another long second, then Richard melted under him and James sank into the pliant body with a long, low moan. Richard let out a purr like a panther, the deep sound vibrating through his body, thrumming along his dick.

"God, James…." Voice rough with the emotion of it, the pain of it.

James kissed his neck, the side of his jaw, everywhere he could reach, holding still, waiting until Richard accustomed himself to the feel of him, the size of him, the awareness of him. When it happened, when he felt the complete submission, he pulled out and slid slowly back inside. And again. Richard started to move too, twisting slightly, arcing forward into Jeremy and pushing back - counterpoint to James' gently, easy thrusts.

Over Richard's shoulder, he watched Jeremy turn slightly and reach between them - presumably to wrap his hand around their dicks. He set a rhythm Jeremy could match, taking it slowly, however impossible that was. The heat was incredible, the tight grip of Richard's body around him, this amazing thing he was being given.

James stilled, and for a single heartbeat time stopped. They were locked together, Richard held in Jeremy's arms with James deep inside him.

Richard clutched at James' hand, laced their fingers together; hot and sweaty, holding tight.

It was an insurmountable thing to describe how he felt. No other moment in his life had or could equate to this exquisite combination of arousal and trust.

He almost laughed out loud with joy when Richard practically howled his name and moving again he picked up the pace, trapping his free hand between Richard's hip and the rug, eyes flicking up to catch the expression on Jeremy's face - one too complex to read.

He changed the angle slightly, deliberately, directly hitting that one spot….

"FUCK!"

He felt the shudders drive through the firm body beneath him, felt every muscle clench and release, heard Richard's incredible release. And came himself.

His arms shook from the force of it, from the strain of holding himself in place, but for a minute he couldn't move and didn't want to. Then he felt Richard trying to roll over, eased himself out of his body slowly and found himself being pulled down on top of his lover, Richard's desperate mouth finding his; a demanding tongue sliding between his lips. Strong arms held him and he returned the hug, clasping to him the man he knew he loved above everything else.

He told him that, muttering it into the kiss, saying it over and over.

Slowly Richard's need for contact, his need for reassurance, eased, and James rolled off onto his side, surprised when Jeremy leaned over and kissed him.

"That was the most stunning sight I've ever seen," he told them quietly. "Are you okay?"

Lying on his back on the rug, Richard closely resembled the big cat he'd sounded like earlier. "God, yes. More than okay." He got one arm around James' shoulders, hand cradling the back of his neck under his long hair. "Fantastic. That was… fantastic."

"You, erm…." James stalled. "I'd better…." He reconsidered. "I'll be right back."

He didn't miss the flash of confusion on Richard's face, but dropped a brief kiss to his lips before cautiously rising to his feet with a complete lack of grace and padding off to the bathroom.

He brought a warm, damp flannel back with him and knelt down next to his lover's hip. "Close your eyes."

"Why?"

Jeremy chuckled. "I think after that you can trust him, Richard."

"Because feeling it's one thing, seeing it might be another."

James saw him blindly find Jeremy's hand just before he closed his eyes. "Too much time doing live television," he muttered with a smile as he applied the cloth to Richard's arse and very gently cleaned up.

Richard didn't open his eyes, but he obviously got the idea because he bent one knee and parted his legs humming softly - not quite pain, not quite pleasure - when the cloth touched his abused anus.

"Is it going to hurt?" The question was asked softly, and James recognised the need not to place any blame.

"It might be uncomfortable for a couple of hours. You might not want to go driving around in a Zonda straight away."

"Point taken."

Washing out the cloth in the bathroom, James settled back onto the rug - which he'd decided they'd probably need to replace - relieved when Richard moved to spoon up against him, back to his chest, Jeremy on his back in front of them, Richard's hand in both of his.

"You need to be as careful as he was," Richard murmured obscurely, and it was a couple of seconds before Jeremy picked up the meaning of the words.

James could hear the awe in his voice when he asked, "Are you sure?"

"Will you two stop asking me that?! Yes! I'm sure! I'm not sixteen anymore. I might not have shot up height-wise, but I know what I'm doing. I know I want. And I want the both of you."

Nuzzling the back of Richard's head, the soft, damp hair against his face, James murmured, "I hope you're planning on returning the favour."

He would never forget the look on Richard's face as it turned up towards him. Priceless. "Really?"

"Yes, really. Absolutely. Definitely."

"When?"

He laughed. "Now, if you're up for it."

And for a second he actually seemed to be considering it. "Tomorrow?"

"I'll hold you to it."

"Yes, please!" Folding his free arm under his head, Richard closed his eyes. "We could try a daisy chain."

James met Jeremy's stunned expression with one of his own. "Where did you pick that up from?"

But Richard's soft snore was the only answer they got.