Chinatown
by nona

I can’t believe my audacity sometimes.

So, I was in a good mood because I was glad that Mr. and Mrs. Lee had gotten their son back. I was glad that Ray and I had left Chinatown a little bit better than we’d found it. And, I had been impressed with the wonderful shot Ray had made, shooting the gun out of Mr. Wong’s hand.

Ray told me that he was actually aiming for the man’s chest, which of course I didn’t believe. Ray was a masterful marksman. He could take the head off of a pin. But I sighed as we walked together beneath the showering glittery spray of beautifully colored light from the fireworks above and offered to adjust his gun sights.

Immediately I could feel myself stiffening, as I waited for Ray to take offense at my offer. But he smiled at me and told me that he would appreciate it. His smile broadened and I wondered if he could see the relief and the delight on my face. He must have noticed it because my face was beaming.

The little place just around the corner that Ray suggested we’d go for dinner turned out to be my apartment, after he’d picked up Chinese take away. He’d even bought dinner for Diefenbaker and as he fed it to him he stroked his fur and announced that he was pleased with Dief’s actions over the passed few days.

Dief, of course, ate without a word of thanks.

Ingrate.

Ray then turned his attention to me and the look in his beautiful eyes made my knees weak. I fumbled for one of the chairs near the table and sat down. Ray brought the thick white and red cartons to the table and sat down across from me. He started eating and talking about our successfully solved case while all I could do was stare at him.

“What’s the matter, Benny?” he asked through a mouthful of meat and rice.

“Ah… nothing Ray. There’s nothing wrong. Of course… why do you ask, because there’s ah… nothing wrong.”

I cringed as I listened to myself babbling.

With a thoughtful expression on his handsome face, Ray chewed as he looked at me. I felt my own face flush with heat and I dropped my gaze. I reached into one of the cartons with a fork, speared a curled pink shrimp and put it in my own mouth, hoping to distract him from answering that question.

When I finally looked up again, Ray was still looking at me.

“You usually aren’t this… um… non-talkative, Benny,” Ray observed. “I mean you’re usually going on about something… unless you have something on your mind. Aren’t you glad you… got your man?”

His slender and carefully arched eyebrows rose as he smiled. Ah, he was teasing me so I opened my mouth to speak. Ray interrupted me.

“So, spill it.”

“Honestly, Ray. Nothing is wrong. And I am happy that Mr. and Mrs. Lee have their son back.”

I was lying to him and for a fleeting moment, as he said not a thing, I knew he knew I was not telling the whole truth. With his eyes still pinned to my face, Ray spooned more food into his mouth and as he chewed he nodded. He then reached for something below the edge of the table and to my surprise he brought out his weapon. I sat back in the chair.

Was he going to shoot me, because he thought I was lying?

“Ray!” I began holding up my hands defensively.

I could feel the weight of the slightly masticated shrimp on my tongue, but as my throat closed, I couldn’t bring myself to swallow it.

Ray’s surprised jade eyes came up to my face again as he put the gun down on the table.

“What the hell’s wrong with you, Fraser?” he asked, chuckling a bit. “You act like I’m gonna shoot you, or something.”

I finally managed to swallow the seafood that was left in my mouth and I let out a breath of relief.

“Oh... of course not, Ray. I wouldn’t think that.”

“You said you wanted to adjust my sights, remember?”

“Ah, yes. I did say that, didn’t I,” I answered a little more eagerly than was necessary and that elicited a frown from Ray.

I reached forward and after locking the slide back on the gun and noting there was no chambered round, I discharged the clip and lay the two parts down in front of me.

“Let me get my tools,” I said to him as I rose from the table.

“Take your time, Benny.”

Taking off my jacket as I went, I heard Ray say,

“Are you gonna eat these?”

To whatever it was he was referring, I was sure I wasn’t going to, so I told him to help himself.

With my jacket and belt in my hands I stood, looking into the depths of the closet, and wondering why I permitted myself to feel things for Ray Vecchio. Ray was my friend; he was my best friend as a matter of fact.

He was the closest thing I’d ever had to a brother and yet I sully that relationship with impure thoughts.

Shaking myself from my reverie, I hung up my coat, retrieved the kit from the top shelf and went back to the table with it in hand.

When I sat down before Ray and he pushed aside the take away cartons and folded his hands on the table. I felt my face blush again, feeling a bit uneasy beneath his heated gaze.

“You’re going to watch me?” I asked, swallowing to moisten my dry throat.

Ray’s smile was warm and happy.

“Why not, Benny. I want to see how you do it.”

“You’ve never adjusted your own gun?” I asked.

I couldn’t read the sudden look on Ray’s face. He seemed as if he was trying to hide lascivious thoughts.

“Oh…yea, I have,” he answered, smiling. “I just want to see how you do it.”

I tried to fight back a pleased smile, but it broke free of my control and spread over my lips.

“I’m sure that my methods won’t be any different than yours,” I said, ducking my head.

Ray shrugged, got up and pulling along the chair in which he was sitting; he planted himself right at my side and waited.

“I’m sure,” he chuckled.

Clearing my throat, I picked up the Sig Saur’s empty body and let it weigh heavily in my hand before I turned it over, relishing the coldness of the weapon. It was a remarkable semi-automatic gun, sleek and unpretentious. Just like the man that carried it. I let my fingers trail along the long black barrel and then over the hump of the muzzle sight. I held the gun up and with a magnifying glass, I used my eye to line of the two sights.

I put the gun down.

“You sight is fine, Ray,” I said.

“I know that, Benny,” he answered with a sly grin.

“Then… why did you agree to wanting me to adjust them?” I asked, feeling hot in the face again.

Ray was so close now and I could smell his cologne and the gel he used in his silky black hair. I bit back a sudden sigh and quickly assembled his gun. I slapped the clip into place and handed it over to him, butt first.

“Do I make you nervous, Benny?” he asked quietly as he slid the gun from my hand.

Those elegant fingers brushed along mine and I thought I would lose all control, right there. A thought crossed my mind and it made me smile in his direction. What if I just kissed him? Right now, what if I just press my lips against his sweet and perfectly formed mouth.

Oh, I know what he’d do. He’ll pick up his Sig Saur and shoot me through the heart.

I took in a long breath and sat back from him.

“Benny…” he prompted, as his green eyes held me pinned to my chair.

“Of course not, Ray. Why would you make me nervous?”

I hoped my voice sounded as strong as it sounded in my head. But from the look on Ray’s face, I was sure it hadn’t.

Ray leaned in more and peered closely into my eyes. His nearness took my breath away. But then again, everything about Ray turned me into a babbling idiot.

“Yes, I do!” Ray observed, as if seeing something revealing in my eyes. “I know I do. Look! You’re getting all red again!”

Ray seemed to derive some glee from my discomfort. I got up a bit shakily from the chair, to put some space between us, only to find to my dismay that Ray was following.

“And now you’re running,” he commented, but he didn’t pursue me into the small kitchenette, where I’d chosen to hide.

I leaned back against the sink and folded my arms across my chest. Ray only went as far as the short dividing wall and he rested his weight against it, mimicking my posture.

“This is ridiculous, Ray,” I said.

Ray made a boyish face before he smiled again, before his eyes moved over me.

“I never did tell you, Benny, that I like you in the brown uniform much better. Much more approachable.”

I’m sure I choked on whatever saliva was left in my dry mouth.

“Ah… thank you, Ray,” I said feeling strangely unbridled.

I wanted him to talk about how much he admired me. I wanted him to want me like I wanted…

You are insane, Fraser. Get a hold on yourself. You’re a Mountie! Act like one. Not like some lovesick baffoon.

I smiled at the reference to myself and Ray returned my wistful smile. He then moved into the small kitchen space and I pressed harder to the lip of the sink. Thoughts of escape flooded my addled brain and immediately I turned my back to him. He must have seen the panic on my face, I thought as I reached out, flipped on the faucet and thrust my numb trembling hands beneath the cool flow of water.

In my heart of hearts, I never thought that just shifting my body like that would turn out to be a mistake. All coherent thought went out of my head when Ray’s arms slid about my waist. I couldn’t stop the moan that escaped my lips and I closed my eyes. Ray’s trim body pressed against my body and all I could think of was making love to him. He was all that I wanted in the world.

With Ray holding me loosely, we stood like that for what seemed an eternity. I didn’t dare breathe for fear of dislodging his strong arms. He seemed to be holding me tentatively, hoping to find acceptance from my reaction.

How could I refuse you, Ray, I thought.

“Ray.”

His name slipped from me like a prayer and I felt his arms about me tighten. Ray nuzzled the back of my neck, right above where the rounded collar of my Henley lay against my inflamed skin.

“This ok with you, Benny?” he asked softly, breathing his words against my ear.

My heart pounded painfully hard beneath my ribs and I thought that if I’d looked down I could see its palpitations through my shirt. I gripped the sink for fear of losing my balance because I felt so dizzy.

“Yes, Ray. Please.”

Firmly he pried my moist hands loose from the sink and guided me around to face him. I forced myself to meet his gleaming jade eyes. The look on his face surprised me. He had never looked at me like that before. His face was luminous and his cheeks were darkly flushed with a heat that I felt in my own body. He pressed against me, leaning his body along mine, pushing me up against the sink. Every point of contact his body made with mine felt like pinpricks of fire and when he asked me,

“How about this, Benny? This ok?”

I couldn’t speak.

So I nodded and Ray smiled that angelically crooked smile of his. That smile eroded the last of my control. I swept him up into my arms and pressed my lips to his. Ray took in a quick breath through his nose as if offended by my advances and I jerked away, with my face burning with embarrassment, and apologies falling from my lips. But Ray’s hands did not let me go far. He held me still and tasted my mouth again, as he parted my lips with his tongue.

None of my fantasies could match what I was experiencing right then. They could not touch the flavor of Ray’s luscious mouth as he sucked and nibbled at my eager lips and tongue. I couldn’t get enough of him. I couldn’t stop the thoughts of devouring him right then and there. All the heat and want and desire pooled in my groin and as the aching throbbed to a crescendo, I tried not to tear into him.

I stroked my tongue over and under his, before tentatively pushing into his mouth. Ray moaned softly and the soft sighing sound of it undid me, completely. I gripped him to my body and captured his giving lips more roughly.

Ray drew away from me and held me back with his hands against my chest. I licked my lips.

“Ray?” I asked, and my voice sounded hoarse in my ears.

Ray smiled reassuringly at my apparent concern and ran his hands down the middle of my chest. I arched to his caress.

“Do you want to?” Ray asked sounding shy, as his eyes did not quite meeting mine.

He tilted his head towards my bed and I looked to where he gestured. The bed looked so… out in the open, so comfortable and I was feeling quite abruptly very weak.

Too soon! Too soon! I heard myself saying.

But you want him.

Yes, I want him.

I took Ray’s hands in mine and drew him back into my arms. We kissed again, gently and slowly this time. Maybe if I held him in place, he would forget about my bed. Maybe he would forget about wanting to get me onto it. And then I wouldn’t do something I might regret later.

“I wanted to do this to you for so long,” I murmured on his mouth, kissing him between heated words.

Ray smiled and lifted his hands to stroke my hair.

“Really?” Ray asked, still breathing hard.

“Yes, Ray,” I answered. “How could I resist?”

That curled a laugh out of Ray and he cupped my face. He then took my hands and pulled me away from the sink and towards the bed. I didn’t resist him. To my surprise as Ray lay down, sliding on top of me, his legs pushing between mine, he just held me and rested his head on my shoulder.

“We don’t have to do anything…” Ray whispered, kissing my cheek.

A thousand suggestions tore through me all at once then, but I only nodded.

“Yes, Ray,” I whispered turning my head to see him.

Ray opened his eyes and looked at me. His sly smile parted his lips again and I bent to kiss his lips.

“I still want to see you adjust my sights, Benny,” he whispered.

“I will, Ray. If you want me to.”

I would do anything he wanted me to. All he had to do was ask.

“Maybe… I’ll just knock ‘em off so that you can…”

“Well, Ray, that may be impossible. You see the model of weapon that you have, a Sig-- ”

“Benny…”

I stopped talking.

Ray yawned and pulled me even closer. I’d been so aroused for most of the night I’d forgotten what a long day the both of us had had and that Ray’s weariness was justly founded. I let him sleep while I lay there with my eyes closed, just listening to his breathing.

I rested my cheek against his forehead and before I fell into slumber, I came to the realization that Ray Vecchio no longer made me nervous. I couldn’t have felt more comfortable.