He wasn't disappointed. Klaus would *not* wear the sort of bathing suit Dorian would have loved to see him in; not a tight little thong, which would have been nice, but a pair of sensible blue swimming briefs. He still had good poise as he dove in with little splash. Nothing showy, but... efficient. Very Klaus.

Dorian smiled and stretched out on a lounge chair, admiring the sleek arms as they cut through the water. Every now and then he could see a flash of the German man's ass as well, which made him very, very happy. His lover's pace -- yes, he could think of Klaus that way, after years of trying -- was as steady as a metronome. He sliced cleanly through the water, managing a total of twelve laps of the pool before he came to the edge, breathing hard but looking pleased. "Hello."

"*Hello*" Dorian said, with a smile. "You do that *very* well, Major, I must say. Rather like water moving through water. Was it part of your training, that?"

Klaus shook his head, "I learned how to swim at Gymnasium, like I learned to play soccer."

"Ah... all those hearty German boy-things, how splendid!" Dorian said. "I wish I could have watched you then - running around in your shorts and bathing suits. Would have advanced my puberty a full year, I belive, to see something like that!"

Klaus snorted, and submerged himself again, coming up properly so his bangs wouldn't be plastered to his face. "I got into a lot of fights then. More than now."

"Oh, an angry young man? What did all those teenaged brutes do to make you so warlike?"

"They were idiots," Klaus said, one hand on the edge of the pool as he pushed his hair back from his eyes. "that simple."

"All right, I won't pester you for more," Dorian said. "I'm happy just to watch you swim." He paused for a moment, eyeing the far end of the pool. "Do you dive as well?"

"Yes. Why?"

"Why don't you try a few dives off of the board down there?" Dorian asked. "I'm predicting you'll be grace itself."

"You have an ulterior motive."

"He *can* be taught!" Dorian exclaimed before dissolving into a laughing fit. When he'd regained his breath he said, "Of *course* I do, dear Major. You know I like to admire fine art, and you in that suit walking down to the board would be an exceptional display of fine art, I assure you."

"You always have an ulterior motive," Klaus snorted, ducking under the water again to swim off towards the deep end of the pool -- to surface there and pull himself out with a little effort, to try and dive.

"Lord Gloria?!"

"Yes?" Dorian looked around, his voice filled with disappointment.

"M'lord," James cried, as he ran up to the lounging man. "There's an exhibition! You must look at this!"

"What is it, James?" Dorian said, his voice slightly irritated. /And I was just about to see the Major dive.../

"A statue!" James chortled in glee, thrusting the paper in front of Dorian's face. "WE haven't pulled a heist in weeks, and this would be perfect..."

Down at the far end of the pool, Dorian could see Klaus standing on the back of the diving board, scowling and waiting.

"James, this will have to wait," the Earl said, pushing the announcement back towards James and casting an admiring glance down at Klaus. "Can't you see," he said to James under his breath, "I'm watching the Major. Now be quiet." The little black haired accountant made an unhappy squawk, watching as Klaus nodded to Dorian, and then dashed off the diving board, jumping up smoothly and then coming back down, slipping under the water with only a small splash.

"It's not fair that Uncle NATO gets so much attention after everything he's done to you!"

His eyes riveted on every move the man had made, Dorian was only half aware of his conversation with James. "Oh, it hasn't been *that* bad..." he murmured

"Yes it has! He's beaten you up, tried to kill you, beaten me up, tried to get us all arrested, and he comes here with his tail tucked between his legs, high as a balloon, and you're on him like a rat on cheese! It's not FAIR Lord Gloria! You're being *stupid*!!"

"That will be enough, James!" Dorian said in a scolding voice. "You know how I feel about the Major and I won't tolerate that kind of rudeness." /I really should arrange a little fence for him - something easily passable, just to give him the thrill of it. Maybe then he'd settle down.../

"You know, James," he said to his servant and colleague, "what you need is a hobby!"

"I have your estates to manage. and other than paying bills, there hasn't been any revenue brought in in nearly a *YEAR*, lord Gloria!!!"

"Well, tell you what," Dorian said in a confidential tone, "Why don't you telephone Van Hoorn up in Delft and ask if he has anything ready to fence? You could volunteer your services, dear James."

He could see James' spirits lift a little, then fall again. "You're trying to get rid of me!!!"

"No, not at all!" Dorian said. "We could really use the income, James, and I would have thought that you, of all people, could appreciate *that.*" He gave James a coy look and a finger over his lips. "Now, what do you say? Will you do this for me?"

"You're so mean to me!!!!" James wailed, before he spun and stormed off. But he would. He'd call the fence and do just what Dorian wanted him to do.

Klaus surfaced second later, having done a slow lap after the dive. "What was that about?"

"James," Dorian said simply. "He's *always* been very jealous, especially about you. It gets worse when he's bored."

"Ah." Klaus nodded to that -- he couldn't gather any sympathy for the little man, because really, he'd been nothing but a big pain, *often*. Carefully, he pulled himself out of the pool again, dripping like a wet cat as he padded over to Dorian's chair, and then stretched out beside it, face down, to start push-ups.

Dorian turned on his lounge, putting his arms up on one armrest and then resting his chin on his hands. The sight below him was quite fetching - dripping wet man, the innocuous briefs clinging to every inch of his ass, muscles moving smoothly under the skin as Klaus worked them.

Dorian bit his thumb, fighting the urge to cup one of those tight buttocks, and murmured, "I have to admire your stamina, Major. It hasn't been that long since the withdrawal but you're doing *very* well already."

"I fire a .44 magnum one handed," Klaus murmured, "12. 'm the only agent who can do that. I'm strong naturally. Recoil on that thing can, 13, kill... 14." Klaus kept it up, to thirty, before he dropped, and rolled over, heaving in breath.

He was met with a brilliant smile from the thief. "You're amazing, you know. I would never have expected you to be able to do so much after that ordeal you went through. No, I think you're going to be back in top shape a lot sooner than you think." /And maybe that will be a very good thing for me, too.../

"Top shape for you, maybe, for me..." Klaus gave a breathless chuckle. "I used to be able to run all day. All day." And they both knew that the stairs now gave him trouble.

"And you will again, Major - you will again." Dorian tossed a large, fluffy towel to him and sat back again to admire the view. "How did the swim feel?" he asked.

"Felt great. Water's nice and 's good to stretch my muscles again," Klaus murmured, towelling off his hair first, before dropping the towel over his shoulders. "'s a good day out."

"That's wonderful," Dorian said. "We can make it a daily routine if you like," he added wiggling his eyebrows. "You can swim and I'll admire you."

"You're still a pervert," Klaus scowled a little, though it was completely without his once familiar malice. "Don't even tell me why you like watching."

"*That's* my Major!" Dorian said cheerfully. "I've missed that abuse a bit - but, not *too* much, of course. Besides you already know why I like watching."

No direct response to that, but Klaus asked, still sitting on the ground beside the chair, "Why don't you swim a little? Then I can watch."

"Oh, well - I just happened to have put my suit on under my jeans," Dorian said, with a wink. Then he stood and slithered out of the tight pants, dug out a hair tie from the pocket and tied back his hair, and walked to the edge of the pool. "The water looks perfect," he said, dragging a toe through it.

Dorian's 'suit' was anything but.

It was teal, to start, and left Dorian nearly nude, except for the strings and the pouch that that held his privates from view. Left very little to the imagination, which was good, because Klaus really wasn't capable of using his imagination just then. He was looking, a little gape-mouthed, at Dorian's entire backside.

The Englishman looked back over his shoulder, saw Klaus's face and asked, "Something wrong?"

The Major's expression was an odd cross between bewildered and that certain 'child in a sweet shop' gleam he got around powerful guns. "Nein."

Giving an elegant shrug, Dorian turned and dived into the pool, gliding underwater for the entire length before slipping up to grab the decking at the other end. He leaned his head back, most of his hair trailing in the water and said blissfully, "Oh, this is *lovely*!"

Nodding, Klaus stood up again, moving to the other chair there to pick up his undershirt and put it on -- a weak ward against chill, but when combined with the sweat-pants there, it kept him warm and wicked up the extra moisture. Toweling his hair a little absently, he stretched out on his chair, and smiled at Dorian. "Now I will watch you."

"Mmm, okay," Dorian said, smiling at him. He began swimming laps, graceful arms moving easily, rounded bottom peeking up through the blue-green water.

It made almost too much sense now why Dorian had watched him so intently the entire time. "Gott..." It was a strange pleasure to watch Dorian -- appreciate his body and perfect form without any embarrassment or insinuation to make him stop. He'd glanced at the thief during a few missions, and then nearly kicked himself senseless when he'd removed his wandering eyes. But here... here it was safe to want Dorian.

/At least until you're better, Klaus. Then what? Do I really want to put him at the risk of being a greater target now than ever...?/ he folded his arms over his chest, legs crossed at the ankle, as he watched Dorian swim. He had to try. At least.

After ten laps, the Earl turned merman for awhile, ducking under the water for long glides and surfacing only to catch his breath and then show a flash of bottom on the way back down. Even with his hair tied back, he had a mane flowing behind him as he moved effortlessly under the water.

He ended up at Klaus's end of the pool, batting the water out of his lashes and smiling up at the dark-haired man. "Did that satisfy your voyeuristic urges?" he teased.

"You know you're beautiful," Klaus reminded him, "So I don't need to tell you." He was trying to keep his gaze casual for the sake of his own pride, but there was more warmth in that gaze than he could ever control, and possibly ever control again. What would have once been a look of disdain was now immediately a look of shuttered tenderness.

"Let's come swimming together sometime, all right?" Dorian asked. "I'd love to know what it feels like to run my hands all over you when you're underwater..." With those words he lifted himself out of the pool in one, smooth movement, and stood before Klaus, wringing out his hair. "What would you like to do now?" he said, "shower?"

Klaus was quiet as he looked at Dorian, watched the beautiful man wring out his hair, standing there in defiance of god and all humanity to still have such beauty and grace. "Together?"

*That* lit up the Earl's face like lightning. "Really?" he said, somewhat like a child told it could have any treat it wished. "That would be *delightful*!"

He could see Klaus heave a breath and nod, "Yes. Let's go now, then."

Dorian led the way back to the bedroom suite. They didn't pass anyone on the way and the thief silently gave thanks for it, because it was embarrassing enough to have to cover his crotch with a towel, let alone having his servants see him doing it.

They gained the bathroom and he turned on the shower, to let it get good and hot before they got in. "You can put your suit in the sink for now," he murmured.

Klaus removed his clothing militarily and fastidiously, folding the undershirt carefully and then the sweat-pants, stopping for a moment to meet Dorian's eyes before he solemnly bent and slid down the swim trunks. It wasn't as if Dorian hadn't seen him naked, only now he had the sense to at least blush a little.

As for his part, Dorian tried to act calm. It was only a partial success, as his half erection gave him away as soon as his suit was removed - or perhaps before.

He stepped into the steamy shower and held out a hand for Klaus. "Coming in?"

Steam... ah, a blessing, that steam, because though he didn't quite mind bathing with Dorian watching...

He'd been in a steam-bath with the man once before, and been molested lightly before he'd escaped. Now, however, the tables had turned, with him requesting such a situation!

"Ja." He caught Dorian's hand at last, and used it for support as he stepped in, and Dorian closed the door behind him.

Hot water sluiced over both of them. The shower was large and had two shower heads, one at each end. "There's a set of buttons over there," Dorian said, indicating a waterproof key pad, "that let you change the way the water comes out - hard or soft, that kind of thing." Then, to distract himself from the lovely man in front of him, he leaned back and let his hair loose into the spray.

So... that was how it was to be? /Step and step again,/ he reminded himself, moving to the other end to get a hot, hard-spraying shower that probably did more damage than cleaned, but at least felt like his showers back home. Familiar. And to know Dorian was so very close...? Equally a wonder.

Pushing dripping hair back from his face, Dorian watched Klaus for a moment and then murmured, "May I help soap you up?"

Letting out a little hiss as he turned from the water and it touched his back, Klaus nodded, head down a little to keep water from getting in his eyes. "I'd appreciate..."

"Mmm... so would *I,*" Dorian said choosing a bar of soap from the wall and lathering it in his hands. He put it back after he'd worked up a handful of suds, and then let his hands slide over the German man's chest, sending up a light fragrance of balsam pine. /Damn it all,/ he found himself thinking /this is *not* the way to curtail lascivious thoughts, Dorian.../

And the pound of searing hot water wasn't helping, either. A cold shower would have been so much more conducive to calming down...

"Ohhh..." A soft exhalation from Klaus, the man putting one hand on the wall to keep himself steady as Dorian slid his hands over his skin. How could touching yourself and having another touch you be so terribly different?

"I can feel your muscles starting to come back. You have a lot more bulk than you did two weeks ago," the Earl said. It was *heaven*, running his hands over that smooth skin, feeling the tiny pricks of nipples underneath his fingers as he explored every inch of Klaus's chest and back. "Oh, Major," he said, more breathily than he'd planned. "You are such a delight to touch..."

"Don't say such things," Klaus asked of him, seconds before he leaned in and caught Dorian's mouth in his. A slick heated joining of mouth and mouth, beneath that hot, hot water...

"LORD GLORIA!!!" Not James' voice this time -- no, Bonham, and for that soul of discretion to interrupt his Lord while bathing meant a dire emergency!

Dorian's eyes went wide and he jerked aside the shower curtain, just enough to let his head show. "*Bonham*! Whatever is the matter??" /I'll kill you, you wretched man, if it isn't something life threatening!/

"The Police, Lord Gloria! There's an officer asking just for *you*!!!" Bonham looked in a complete panic as he peeked in the bathroom, door barely cracked open.

"What?!" Klaus' voice, less of a roar than it had used to be, was still distinct as he looked out of the shower, turning the water off quickly. "Well, fuck! Bring clothes!"

"The *police*?" Dorian said in complete bewilderment. He was toweling off, rubbing his hair before putting it back in long tail and when Bonham brought the clothing his was on in less than a minute. "You don't need to come, Major," he said. "I can handle this."

"I'm not leaving you at the hands of some police fucker," Klaus growled, pulling on an undershirt, then a sweater, jeans already on. He had one of the towels in his hands, still drying his hair. He wasn't really clean, but most of the soap had rinsed off quickly, so it was all right. "You will *not* be arrested while I am here."

"Arrested! Oh, heavens I don't think it would come to *that*... I *hope.*" He led the way out of the suite and down the stairs, where two men stood in the entryway.

"I'm Lord Gloria," he said firmly. "May I help you gentlemen?"

"I'm Yard inspector Finch and this is Detective Jones," the taller of the two introduced stiffly, looking at Klaus. "We'd like to speak with you alone, Lord Gloria. It's about a fence."

"I'm sorry," Dorian said, looking perplexed, "a *what*?"

"There's no need to play stupid, Eroica," Detective Jones spoke up, shying away a little from the hard glare the thief's companion was giving them. "We've finally caught you fair and square on this one!"

"He's inactive right now," Klaus growled, stepping down at last into the hallway proper, off the first step. And he was still menacingly tall.

"True," Dorian said lightly. "Haven't done anything lately, really. I couldn't - not with this man around," he nodded his head in Klaus's direction, "keeping an eye on me. He's been a perfect *jailer* if you must know - hasn't even let me out of the house in *weeks.*"

"And who are you?" the Inspector asked, walking up to Klaus with an unhappy look.

"None of your fucking business," Klaus growled back at him, before stepping past the man to stand beside Dorian. "But he hadn't done a thing."

Detective Jones, a stocky man of medium height with a square jaw and a classically stony face looked down at Dorian with a air of mild disgust. "A dealer in Edinburgh complained of getting a faked picture," he said, as if that alone were enough to convict the blond man.

"If he deals with the kind of people who'd sell him a fake, he fucking deserved it," Klaus snorted, folding his arms over his chest, looking at the men threateningly. Adrenaline and unhappiness alone were keeping his exhausted and slightly overworked body standing.

"You're not English," the Inspector noted, looking carefully at Klaus. "You're.... Russian...?"

"I'm German! 'm no fucking Red!"

Jones suddenly took on the look of a startled pug dog, but held his ground nonetheless. "Look, sir -" he began to growl, but Dorian interrupted him.

"I'm a connoisseur of *genuine* art, Inspector," he said. "I don't deal in fakes."

"Do you want us to go through your house and catalogue all of the pieces of stolen property here-in?" Inspector Finch took a step towards Dorian, and Klaus took one towards the man, ready and able to get in at least one good punch... "Call off your dog, Lord Gloria -- we just want to try and sit down with you and have a dignified conversation about this fence."

"The Major is not my dog, Inspector," Dorian said, his voice sounding harsher. "If you want to talk to me, you can tell me right here and now what evidence you have that I am in anyway involved in this crime."

"Major?" Finch looked at Klaus again. "Our army?"

"None of your fucking business," Klaus growled again, angry-looking as a rabid guard dog.

"We have a receipt of sale, noting money deposited to your personal account." Finch told him that with a smug look on his face, folding his arms over his chest in dark mimicry of the Major.

Jones took on the same posture as his superior, eyes glinting with delight at the thought of taking the blond man to New Scotland Yard, heavily cuffed, if possible.

"That's ridiculous. There must be some mistake," Dorian said flatly.

"Idiocy. This is like a crack user coming to the police to complain about being gyped, " Klaus bit out. "Get out of here, morons!"

"Now just you listen here, mate -" growled Jones, stepping forward and looking as if he were about to take a swing at Klaus.

"Stay *back*, Detective!" Dorian snapped. "This is *still* England, I believe. There's no excuse for this type of heavy-handed behavior. I have no idea where this so-called 'evidence' you have came from, but it simply *cannot* be reliable. I haven't done *any* dealings in *any* art pieces for months!"

"Perhaps one of your... associates, then?" Finch suggested, looking at Klaus meaningfully.

"I'm no thief."

"You've got the wrong man, Inspector," Dorian insisted.

"Then why was the money transferred to *your* account?" Jones said, stepping forward to within an inch of Dorian's face.

The thief paled. "A mistake, surely," he said, a bit uneasily now.

"When was this fence supposed to have occurred?" Klaus asked, shifting back to sit on the stairs, forth step up. "Lord Gloria hasn't left my sight in many weeks."

"He could have done it through an accomplice," Jones said, nearly spitting on Dorian he was so close. Give it up, Eroica - it's no use arguing!"

"Of course it's of use to argue," Dorian said, trying to put on an air of icy calm. "Especially if one isn't guilty!"

"Step away from him, or I'll kill you," Klaus warned Jones. "He's a NATO treasure that I won't let be put away."

That made both Jones *and* Dorian turn toward him in surprise.

"Major..." Dorian whispered, not quite believing what he'd heard.

"What?" Jones said, his mouth slightly open. "What's NATO got to do with this?"

"Everything, you fucking Limey," Klaus uttered, resting his knees on his elbows, chin resting lazily in his hands. "I'm Major Klaus Heinz von dem Eberbach, NATO. I work with him often -- he wouldn't dare steal or commit a crime in my presence, or else I'll turn him over to Interpol, bound, gagged and neatly wrapped up in theft evidence."

Dorian blinked once, looked over at Jones, and blinked again. "He means it, too," he said quietly.

Jones looked at his Inspector, uncertain what to do. "Sir?"

Finch, though, was not to be moved. "This is a den of thieves! You could be lying through your teeth, Major or not! That pretty speech still doesn't explain the receipt!"

"That's right!" Jones said, bristling again. "Something happened in Edinburgh and *this* man got richer!" he said, thumping his finger on Dorian's chest.

"It's not a fence of stolen property if it's just a copy that's been sold. It's done all the time. 's called 'Prints'," Klaus said distinctly, getting up lazily from the stairs to walk towards Jones and shove him back away from Dorian. "I told you to not touch him."

"But the buyer thought differently now, didn't he?" Jones said, stepping towards the Earl once more. "And you can't tell me how to do my job, so *back off.*"

"Oh, honestly - is *that* what this is?" Dorian said, in a tone that said the policemen were being ever so silly about everything. "If one of my colleagues sold a print to someone who paid an exorbitant price for it, that's *hardly* a crime, is it? Stupidity maybe, but not a crime!"

"We *know* all about you, you 'Lordship'!" Jones growled, thumping Dorian again.

"Detective!" Finch snapped, ever as a fist latched into his hair, jerking him away from Dorian roughly.

"Idiot Limey. I told you to *not* touch him." He was tossed, almost like a rag-doll, from Klaus' grasp. And that exertion left Klaus visibly swaying, as he moved to sit back down.

"Major, are you all right?" Dorian said quickly, taking a step towards him in concern.

"We *know* he's guilty, Inspector" Jones was saying angrily, "of all sorts of things! This is just the only one we can *prove.* I say we just take him away now."

"I'm fine," Klaus mumbled, resting his elbows on his knees again. He didn't *look* fine, but he was sitting upright... The swimming -- he'd exerted himself too much in Dorian's small pool.

Finch looked at Jones for a moment, and then back to Dorian and further back, seated on the steps, the Major fellow. "We don't' want to step on NATO's toes unless we have to."

"He doesn't look like a bloody NATO man," Jones muttered, casting a dark glance at Klaus. "Looks all done in, to me. Hardly NATO material."

"You don't know *anything*, Inspector!" Dorian said suddenly. "And I advise you to leave the man alone because he *is* what he says he is, whether that meets with your approval or not!"

It stung like hell, though, for Klaus, because he knew he wasn't himself -- that he wasn't at peek. "I'm here on holiday; contact one of our offices, and you'll be told as much."

"I think we'll be returning at a more equitable time -- both of you look like you were just wrung out," the Inspector sneered, looking over to the detective. "But we'll be back. Don't leave the country, Lord Gloria. Good-day."

The two men took their leave, Jones giving Dorian a fierce glare on the way out. Dorian shut the door firmly and stood with his back against it, staring down at the floor. For long moments he said nothing and then murmured quietly, "I'm sorry you had to go through that, Major. Very sorry, indeed. We should get you someplace where you can lie down."

"I'll just stay here," Klaus said stubbornly, because he knew that he wouldn't be able to get up the stairs. "'s a good place. Sit down."

Dorian was about to protest, but stopped when he saw the bone weariness in Klaus's face. He walked to the stairs and sat on the step below the German man, putting a hand on his knee and murmuring another apology. "This is definitely *not* what you needed right now," he said quietly.

"'s probably right." A tired agreement, before he shifted and then half slid down a step to sit beside Dorian. It jarred him a little, but that was probably only a sensation that would keep him awake a little longer. "They'll be gone for at least another two, three days."

"You know," Dorian said, "my inherent sense of selfishness seems to be on vacation at the moment. The only thing I was worried about was who would take care of you if they arrested me."

"Huh." Klaus twitched a very very small smile for a moment. "I used to dream of getting you arrested. But I hate the thought of you in jail, so I never did it seriously. And you certainly aren't going to jail now.""

"Thank you, Major." The words were simple, but very heartfelt. Dorian couldn't think of anything more to say, having been so profoundly humiliated in front of the man he adored. "I'm so very sorry. We should get you upstairs..."

"Hold on a moment," Klaus told him, sliding an arm around Dorian for support while still sitting. "Think James was the one who sold the thing?"

"Probably," Dorian said in mild disgust. "He can't do anything properly - at least it seems that way sometimes. I can't tell you how many close calls I've had on his account."

"I can remember when you were landed in jail after you stole the pope because he wanted his bike," Klaus murmured, pulling Dorian a little closer to nuzzle a little exhaustedly against Dorian's hair. "His thrift has risked all our necks many times...."

"Yes, I know it - really I do," the blond murmured, trying not to enjoy the close contact so much and failing utterly. "Still... I've grown rather fond of him after all these years. I just couldn't turn him out into the streets."

"A friend 's a friend to you, even if he's a pain in the ass," Klaus murmured. He'd been one, too, more often pain than friend. "Can you help me upstairs...?"

"Of course," Dorian said, wrapping his arms around Klaus's back and helping him stand. They walked slowly up the stairs, pausing every so often for Klaus to rest, and came at last to the suite they shared.

Dorian helped the dark-haired man inside and shut the door behind him. "Let's get you in a prone position, shall we?" he said, trying to sound lighthearted. "You need a good rest."

" 'ould'a been more use, but swimming and the shower tired me out," Klaus murmured, using Dorian's shoulder but still trying to support most of his own weight by himself. "'n't want you to go to jail."

Despite himself, Dorian felt a blush spreading across his cheeks. "Thank you, Major," he murmured. "I'm glad you feel that way. I'm a very lucky man to have you on my side."

As he helped settle Klaus, still fully dressed, on top of the bed, the man mumbled, "'n think I love you."

A wave of intense feeling - astonishment not the least of it - swept over the Englishman, pricks of tears behind the blue eyes. "I think I love you, too, Major," he whispered, pulling a soft blanket over the exhausted man. "You're unspeakably wonderful."

"'m not," Klaus murmured, closing his eyes. He expected Dorian to join him as he always did, so there was no need to ask for that particular favour.

Sure enough, the blond man slipped in bed beside him, fitting himself, once again, along the other's body, arms winding around his waist and a warm mouth kissing his throat. "You *are*," Dorian whispered. "Don't argue."

"Mmm-huh." Klaus shifted nearer to him, and then seemed to fall completely asleep at last. But only after he's draped his own arms around Dorian's shoulders.

~~~

"Lord Gloria...?" A soft voice, and a careful knock on the door heralded James into the room.

Dorian couldn't help rolling his eyes, and there was a definite edge to his voice when he said, "*Yes*, James?" He would see what the little devil wanted but he was *not* letting go of Klaus!

"Oooooooh, Lord Gloria...." James moaned quietly as he looked at the bed, with it's two closely pressed occupants. "You've finally caught him, m'lord, and now you're going to kick me out, aren't you?" It was no small secret to everyone that James loved Dorian, and now... to see that horribly mean major sound asleep with Dorian in his arms? It wasn't fair!

"Yes, I may kick you out if you don't tell me your business and go," Dorian said in a hissed whisper. "Can't you see he's trying to sleep? Now out with it!"

"I... I wanted to apologize..." He looked near tears, just staring at the bed, until he at last turned away, unable to stand it. "For the fence. I never... never told him it was real."

"I'm sure you didn't," the Earl sighed, feeling a wave of pity for the sniffling man. "But you're not careful enough when it comes to details, James, and lack of attention to details *always* leads to trouble - haven't I said so before?"

"Yes... but I'm getting rusty from not doing work," he bemoaned quietly, "And now I can't even hope to be with you again. I miss the old days..."

"James, please - this *really* isn't the time for this conversation. "Why don't you go find Bonham and see if he has any ideas for your amusement?" Anything, if only the little spendthrift would leave them alone!

"All right, m'lord..." Thoroughly dejected, James turned away and shuffled out the door.

Dorian looked up at Klaus, checking to see he was still asleep. "If you were a healthier man, Major," he said in a voice so low it was less than a whisper, "I would *not* let you remain asleep... but as it is, I guess I'll have to settle for napping with you." Sighing pleasantly, he put the trauma of the afternoon behind him, tucked his head under Klaus's chin, and took with him to dreamland the knowledge that when Klaus felt better, they would do more than just nap.

~~~

Time had passed for Klaus in a strange blur during and since his release. He'd finally had the will and time to sit down and count out how long he'd been off duty, from time of capture to the present. Six weeks, nearly seven, spent in Dorian's care, and before that, over ten months spent as a prisoner.

And the world hadn't changed a bit in all that time, as Klaus noticed as he at last started back on his old habit of reading newspapers regularly.

He'd read the entire time that Dorian had driven. America had a new president, but it didn't make them any more or less of a bumbling nation than they'd been before. Putin was pretending to be a nice guy, which both amused and pissed Klaus off -- KGB were seldom nice, and never truly 'ex' KGB. /Fucking Russians messed me up bad enough... The Cold war isn't really over -- the machinery is still in place on all sides, we still spy on each other, only we do it slower and quieter./ If it truly was over, he thought, would the Russians have gone to the trouble to try to tap his mind for information that was still secret to them? No.

He finally finished absorbing the paper as Dorian pulled into Cadogan Gardens, folding it carefully. There hadn't been much conversation from him while he'd been reading -- only the occasional snort of disgust or amusement -- but he was clearly in a good mood. Loathe as he was towards the idea of a vacation, the idea of being somewhere with Dorian where they could be fairly anonymous was grand.

"We're here already?"

"Told you it wasn't far," Dorian said, "and you've been distracted by current events." He gave a little nod towards the paper. "Now let's see what other distractions we can find."

He gave the dark-haired man a winning smile and slipped out of the car. "Let me help with the luggage," Klaus offered, stepping out of it smoothly, moving to the back seat where their bags were stowed. A week in London, with Dorian. Dorian in his element, as it were... /Thank god he took his understated car./

The valet stepped up and took the keys, giving Dorian a small envelope with the claim ticket inside. Then two doormen were suddenly carrying their bags inside and escorting them in as well. "You'll love the Outpost," Dorian said to Klaus. "It has a wonderful ambience!"

Klaus watched the man with obvious distrust as he drove the car away. "It does? You sort of Ambience, Dorian?"

"Oh, well - it's just a *bit* conservative for me," the thief admitted, "but I love it all the same. And it will make *you* comfortable as well. Trust me." This last entreaty was delivered with a discrete wink as Dorian led the way into the main entryway. It was a very cozy, intimate space, with dark red walls, thick crown molding, and creamy white wainscotting. The hall that led down to the rooms was filled with pictures in antique gold frames and on the floor was a thick red carpet that made everything hushed and peaceful. Overlaid on this was an obviously antique oriental runner.

The middle-aged man behind the check-in desk inclined his head as they walked up. Klaus had let Dorian make the reservation where ever he pleased, and under his own name, but then he'd also told the thief that *he* was going to pay for it.

"Reservation under the name 'Gloria'," Klaus said, noticing that Dorian was lagging a little, unable to not glance at some of those gold-framed pictures.

The man looked around Klaus to the blond, who was currently lost in what looked like a Caravaggio. "Ah, of course! Welcome your Lordship! And Mr...?"

"Eberbach," Klaus sighed in some amusement as he leaned his elbow on the high desk, watching Dorian study strokes and the over-all effect of the piece. "We're here a week, Dorian. You can look at that later."

"It's so *beautiful* though!" Dorian sighed, dragging himself away. "From his early period, so it still has some edge of roughness." He beamed at the man behind the desk and murmured, "Absolutely beautiful."

"Since you already have an account with us, Lord Gloria, all you need to do is sign this and I'll have Phillip direct you to your room." He rang a small brass bell on the desk and put the form out on the counter.

Too conservative for Dorian? He'd had to have been there before, to be recognized and have an account... /Probably with another lover... No, don't think that. It's petty, stupid./ And it was, but it was also a fact of reality. Dorian was a wonderful, intelligent, beautiful man, who could certainly find someone with ease that was far less trouble than he was...

Klaus stepped back from the desk when Dorian finally came forward to sign for it, and waited until pen had been put to paper before saying, "I'll be paying for it."

"Very well, sir," the man said without missing a beat. "We can settle all that when you check out. Ah, here's Phillip." The bellman turned out to be a very handsome young man, golden brown hair in soft waves just barely tumbling to his eyes, which were a deep brown, chocolatey color.

"Phillip, please take these two gentleman to the Executive Room, and mind you're very careful with the bags."

"Yes, sir," the young man spoke in a startling smooth and firm voice, accented clearly.

/If I wasn't here, I bet he'd be hitting on the boy,/ Klaus mused to himself. Was that a consoling thought, or not, the fact that since he was *with* Dorian, in more ways than just standing there with him, the British earl wasn't flirting or playing anymore? Was that the sort of devotion he'd earned? It was certainly what he wanted...

Klaus gave Dorian a nod that came with a slow, slight, smile, and he waited for the blonde to pass him, going towards the stairs, so that he could follow. Partly out of his habit of not liking people -- anyone at all -- behind him, and partly because if he fell or stumbled on the way up teh stairs, he'd do the least amount of damage.

Dorian turned to him and asked, quietly, "Would you prefer the elevator, Major?"

"Not yet," Klaus told him gently. It was still early in the day, and he had enough energy to get up to the third floor, without a question!

"Sirs?" Phillip queried politely, already on the second step, and looking at them over his shoulder.

"Coming!" Dorian called, giving him a smile and heading up ahead of Klaus. He was immediately captured by the lovely portraits of Edwardian aristocrats along the stairs and the landings, and was rather distracted the entire way up. "Very interesting..." he kept murmuring. "Who would have thought...?"

"Would have thought what?" Klaus' steps were once more taking on a sound that Dorian was familiar with -- heavy, sure foot-falls, that oft-remarked tromping walk. His voice from behind Dorian, though, startling him out of his reverie of art, wasn't familiar -- it was unexpected and kindly voiced.

Dorian looked at Phillip ahead of them, and then back at Klaus. "Tell you later," he whispered, and kept climbing.

The third floor landing was broad and comfortable, with two love seats and a long parson's table that held a vase of palest pink roses. Their room turned out to be at the back of the hotel, as far as possible from the street and overlooking the establishment's small garden.

Phillip opened the door for them, and handed Dorian the key, before he put their bags in the middle of the large and spacious room. "Breakfast is served every morning, either in the conservatory or in your room. Maids come in the early afternoon to change the sheets and tidy up. There is Champagne served in the Drawing Room in the evening, and... I think that's it. I hope both of you enjoy your stay here."

"I'm sure we will," Dorian said, smiling at him. He discretely pressed a note of very large sum into the man's palm and waved as he went out the door. Then he looked over at Klaus and positively leered.

"Before you do a thing, tell me what you were thinking," Klaus scowled a little at Dorian. At least, his eyebrows scowled -- the rest of him couldn't even come close.

"Oh, that," Dorian said, shrugging out of the flowing coat he wore and hanging it on a mahogany coat rack near the door. "Well, I never paid much attention to the pictures on the stairs - always too busy going up and down, I suppose - but there are a couple of *very* good fakes." He looked very amused and then added, "I wonder if I should tell the manager?"

"He probably knows they're fakes and doesn't care," Klaus shrugged, pausing a moment before he slid out of his trench coat. "Are we going to settle in for a while today?"

"Yes, that would be nice - and the manager is a *she* and she probably *doesn't* know. Those are excellent pieces - better than most fakes I've seen. Ah well, let the buyer beware - ja? Major?" Dorian had walked up to him and looked deeply into those green eyes before pressing a soft but sensuous kiss on Klaus's jaw.

"Don't ever do this on a mission, Dorian, 'cause it turns my brain to mush," Klaus sighed, sliding his arms around Dorian's lean frame and enjoying their first real physical contact of the day.

"Mmmm... does it turn *everything* to mush?" Dorian asked, nuzzling up to nurse softly on a vulnerable ear lobe.

The arms around him crushed Dorian close for a moment, and then, daringly, Klaus pressed his hips against Dorian's for a moment. "No," was the husky response.

Dorian let out a soft, shuddered breath. "Ohhh... Major... you're exquisite..." He was pressing back, a soft rub of one erection against another, hands caressing Klaus's neck and shoulders. Nuzzling the other man's cheek softly, he murmured, "Please kiss me..."

It was reflex now to react to such a beloved order from Dorian, turning his head to press his mouth lightly at first against Dorian's mouth, then with greater force, tongue slipping past Dorian's lips to explore tenderly. This was another feeling, new and good, that they'd indulged in during the past two weeks. Things between them were progressing slowly, but well, every moment and touch a new pleasure. Dorian's hands strayed to Klaus's hair, fingers running through the thick strands, thumbs caressing the line of his jaw. "I love doing this," he whispered as their kisses deepened. "You're a work of art, come to life..."

"Mmm, you're just evil," Klaus gasped fondly, smiling against Dorian's lips as he nipped the other man's bottom lip. "'re just going to stand here...?"

"Would another position suit you better?" Dorian teased back, leading him slowly towards the bed.

A promise of frightening bliss lay on that neat bed, and Klaus wasn't going to say no to such a thing, as temptation himself led him towards it. "Yes." He went with Dorian those few feet, knowing however things went, it would be good.

Dorian pulled him down beside him on the bed and kissed him again. "We don't have to do anything that makes you uncomfortable," he murmured, moving to the German man's ear again and lightly licking the inside.

"I'll tell you, if..." If it got to be too much for him. Dorian was kind enough to begin, every time they did something, with that same reminder, an out for Klaus if and when he needed it. It gave back a little of the man's much cherished control.

"Should I stop?" the blond man asked, pulling back a little and looking over at Klaus in concern. "I really don't want to frighten you..."

Klaus shook his head clearly. "Nein. You're not. I only..." Needed a few more moments of kissing Dorian to ready himself, and took that chance while it was presented, moving close to catch soft lips again.

The gesture made Dorian feel as if he were melting inside, and he let out a soft moan of pleasure at the feel of Klaus's lips on his. His hands went back to their soft caresses, tracing the broad line of shoulder before moving down the Major's chest, palms grazing his nipples. Oh yes, Klaus was definitely getting his muscle tone back, even if his stamina wasn't recovering at the same speed. Doctor Brisbin had assured Dorian before they left that it was the normal pace for most humans recovered stamina after such a lengthy ordeal.

Which was a little frightening, considering Klaus was nearly a human tank. "Ahh... 's good," Klaus eked out, hands moving to return the touch. He still explored every time he touched Dorian, lazily and with the same awe as each time prior.

"Mmm... will you let me do more?" Dorian murmured, using his thumbs to rub softly at those sensitive nubs. "Sweet Major..."

"Ja..." The thick drawl of voice was more than enough encouragement for Dorian, and combined with the feel of Klaus' hands suddenly under his shirt, caressing along his back...

Clever fingers eased open the first two buttons of Klaus's shirt and Dorian placed a lingering kiss on the patch of creamy skin beneath. A few golden curls brushed over Klaus's cheek as he moved down, kissing and opening buttons as he went. "Delicious..." he whispered.

Unless Klaus was in an exceptional mood, this was often as far as Dorian could push his barriers -- though Klaus was often willing to try a little more when he was the one doing it to Dorian, than the other way around. But today seemed a day for an exceptional mood, from the way Klaus arched upwards already, a smile caught on his face ash he bit back a moan. "Ah, Dorian... mine."

"Yes," came the answering murmur, "all yours..." Pushing the fabric of Klaus's shirt aside, Dorian kissed his way across the dark-haired man's chest to find a nipple. He gave it a ghost of warm breath and licked delicately at the very tip of it.

There was pleasure in having Dorian touch him and certainly that little lick held more pleasure than it should rightfully have! The Earl found himself clutched tight again, Klaus making a delightful strangled sigh of pleasure. Someday, Dorian would show him how to truly let loose in moments like that.

The licks grew firmer, Dorian's tongue circling the hardened nub and flickering over it's tip until finally the blond man couldn't wait another moment before taking the sweet flesh into his mouth and suckling at it with a long, lingering moan. In an instant there was a tremendous ache between his legs and his shifted a little to press against Klaus's thigh - anything to relieve a little of that pressure. - a feeling that was familiar to Klaus, but added an uncertainty to him; still, today was a good day, not a day for backing down... "Dorian... Dorian, let me..."

"Anything," whispered the thief, warm breath washing over the moist nipple. "Anything - I'm yours..."

"Be... selfish," Klaus managed to say against the wash of pleasure that shook his nerves. He was built to take pain, shock, extremities, but pleasure...? "Let me touch you."

"Mmm... *please* touch me," Dorian said, almost a whimper, and put a hand on each side of Klaus's face, staring in his eyes. "You feel so good..."

Slowly, Klaus shifted them atop the bed -- they hadn't even bothered to pull back the sheets -- so that he was atop the other man, without having lost contact with him. "What do you want most?"

Dorian looked at him for a moment, cheeks very flushed, and then whispered, "To feel your hands, your mouth, *everywhere*..."

Everywhere. Dorian could almost see the wheels in Klaus' head turning as he worked through the possible meanings of that.

"I'll try," was all he said, before he started to unbutton Dorian's shirt, lowering himself to kiss the beautiful line of Dorian's neck.

Another soft whimper, and Dorian turned his neck to allow Klaus more room. His hands were in Klaus's hair, running down his back and he pressed one knee very softly against the other man's prominent erection. Yes..."

A quiet gasp of air could be felt against the sensitive skin of his neck, as Klaus slid down to kiss at Dorian's collar bone lovingly, rocking just a little against Dorian's knee. It made the situation worse rather than granting relief, really, but it was a try... " ' taste so clean."

"Ah, that's my Major," Dorian said softly, writhing a bit under Klaus's kisses. "Strong, beautiful man..."

Klaus was determined to find a spot that drove Dorian just nuts. As reactive as he was, he had to have places that were ultra sensitive... The exploration slid down slowly, and then over, as Klaus pushed aside the material of Dorian's shirt and kissed one hard nub of flesh.

A pleasured cry escaped the Englishman as he arched up against Klaus's mouth, a powerful, erotic throbbing coursing through him at that touch. He pressed himself against the man above him, eyes closing, head thrown back and breathed softly, "Oh, do that *again*..."

Another kiss against that nipple, a little more pressure, and then, in mimicry of Dorian's actions of many many times, he closed his lips around it, sucking tentatively.

"Yes..." Dorian moaned, "oh, god, sweet man!" His fingers tangled into Klaus's hair, fists clenching now and then as he rocked upward.

This was something that Dorian was truly enjoying and *he* was the one doing it to him! He'd often imagined Dorian with others, but he'd never quite believed it would ever be him making Dorian so happy. Stepping up his pace a little, Klaus let a hand slid between their bodies, and with a heavy dose of courage behind him, cupped the thief's groin.

"Ahhhh!!" Dorian gave a raucous cry, hips pressing upwards without thought, seeking that firm touch. "Oh, Major... so *good*..." he panted, golden head tossing back and forth on the pillow. "So good..."

To finally give back some of what Dorian had given and given to him was a wonderful feeling. There was pleasure in the giving of pleasure, wasn't there? More than he'd expected - and pride that he could make Dorian feel so. The cupping hand gave a tentative squeeze, rubbing back against Dorian's upwards presses, sucking not stopping.

Dorian's blood felt as if it had caught fire. So hard to believe that he was here, with this man that he'd been in love with for so long, the man he'd wanted and ached for. And now he reveled in every touch, every soft suckle, knowing he was close to coming, just from this.

Which was good, since Klaus couldn't muster the courage to suckle where his hand was. But that thought didn't even cross his mind as he kept it up, listening to Dorian's sounds of pleasure.

Little whimpers were coming from the blond man and his hips began moving in a firm rhythm, pressing up against Klaus's hand. Dorian's hands tightened on Klaus's shoulder as release swept over him, soft cries with each tight press upward. He gave a final cry and then lay still, panting and making tiny, pleasured noises.

Klaus lifted his head at last, and removed his hand, looking up at Dorian for a verbal or ocular affirmation that what he'd done was right. Holding Dorian's gaze still, Klaus shifted up to press his pressure-reddened mouth against his lover's.

And that was it - the Earl was completely lost, arms moving up the wind around Klaus's neck, kissing him back with a delicious blend of love and lust. The kisses seemed to go on forever, Dorian certain that he could never have enough of them, of the taste that was only Klaus; couldn't *do* enough to let the other man know how utterly wonderful it all was, and when the kisses broke, Klaus husked with a laugh in his voice, "Was that good?" as if he had to ask at all -- his reward of kisses had said enough, hadn't it?

"Only heavenly," Dorian breathed back. "Only paradise." He trailed a finger across Klaus's bottom lip, watching it closely as he did so, and then raised his eyes to gaze deeply into the other man's. "*You're* that good," he whispered.

"You've always been that good," Klaus whispered in turn, holding Dorian's gaze with his own sharp eyes. How those sapphire orbs seemed to just drill into his mind...

"How can that be?" Dorian asked, still not breaking the gaze. "You've haven't felt anything for me until recently..." Fishing perhaps, but right now, Dorian couldn't get enough.

"I haven't admitted anything until recently," Klaus corrected.

"Tell me what you didn't admit," Dorian whispered. "Tell me what you were feeling when I was aching for you, longing to touch you and kiss you..." His lips were brushing Klaus's now, his stare pure desire. "Wanting you so badly..."

"Scared. I didn't know why I couldn't just... kill you, and save myself all of the trouble you were..." Klaus's words were frank, but truthful. He'd hated -- or thought he hated -- Dorian for so long it became part of his routine. Drink coffee, smoke, cuss out the fag. And then he'd realized it was a routine and couldn't justify it to himself any longer.

"Yes," Dorian said slowly, "I suppose that *would* have been helpful. Must have been *maddening* for a man like yourself to not be able to kill someone you hated so much." There was a trace of a smile in his voice, but his expression was all heated longing.

"You can't even imagine," Klaus whispered seriously, as he shifted to take another kiss, lighter than the others but no less meaningful. "If I had, my life would be ruined."

"Surely not," Dorian murmured back. "Because then you wouldn't have had to come to terms with *not* hating me."

"It's been easier for me to live with than hating you..." Klaus shifted to lay beside Dorian, arms tight around him as he did so.

"Mmmm... hate can be like that," Dorian murmured, tracing the line of Klaus's jaw with one finger. "It gives us something to live for - something to do. And it can leave a terrible void when it's gone."

Klaus turned his head to kiss that finger lightly. "I enjoy not-hating you much more."

"Bless you for that, beautiful man," Dorian said, feeling a shiver of pleasure at the kiss. "Will you let me drive you wild as well?"

Hesitance for a moment, then Klaus breathed. "Yes. I'd like that..."

"Just tell me if you're uncomfortable," the thief said softly, "and I'll stop." He half-covered the other man, running his hands over him and kissing him, murmuring endearments until he reached that chest again, but this time he pressed his lips against the warm skin of Klaus's belly.

A newer sensation, and that had been where he'd frozen up on the rainy day a few weeks before. This time, though, he didn't panic -- just squirmed a little, breathing in a staccato beat that was half expression of pleasure, half nervousness. "'s good. Don't stop."

Dorian was careful to move with exquisite slowness, kissing downwards and dipping his tongue in the little bowl of Klaus's naval. His fingers were on the waistband of the German man's trousers and he looked up, eyes beseeching. "May I... oh, *please*..."

"If... you want to..." Klaus closed his eyes at last, unable to take watching Dorian for a moment more -- watching was just too much!

"Oh, *thank you*," the blond man murmured, kissing down past Klaus's fly until his face was pressed lightly against the man's erection. It was heavenly, breathing in the scent of him, nuzzling the hardened flesh through the cloth. *God*, Major..."

"Gott!" Even with his eyes closed, Klaus was sure his eyes were going to roll back into his head, and that he'd die soon -- it was so much to feel, and every last ounce of it felt heavenly! One hand knotted into the bedding, trying to keep himself from moving.

"Let yourself feel it, Major," Dorian whispered. "Don't run away from it... from me..." He gave the cloth-covered shaft a firm kiss and reached up to unbuckle Klaus's belt.

Dorian had stolen a belt very much like it years ago, after their trip to Alaska, via a hellish series of events. The ox-hide felt familiar under his fingers, stirring vague memories of that years ago mission.

The kiss made Klaus buck up at last, giving a soft shout of shock and pleasure. "Dorian...." It felt so good!

"That's it," the thief breathed, now unzipping Klaus's fly. "Oh, Major you smell wonderful." With a small tug, the German man's pants began to come down and Klaus couldn't help but lift his hips a little, letting Dorian have all the access he wanted. The blond's comment sounded strange to him, but it made him glad that he was a mechanically cleanly person, for whatever reason Dorian was down there to... Ohhh, god, Dorian was going to do that!

In fact, Dorian was very close to doing it, right then, having gotten the trousers down around Klaus's knees very cleverly. He breathed over the cotton-covered mound before him, grazing it with his cheek before settling another kiss on it. "Mmmm... may I do more, Major?" he asked.

"Please!" The Major's voice was a strangled shout, that could surely be heard out into the hall-way beyond! There wasn't a thought available in his head just then for processing, not a single speck of attempt at one being made. He just wanted more of Dorian, anywhere, anyhow.

His underwear was off of him in a flash and for a moment Dorian simply admired the long, thick shaft that had hidden beneath them. He let his fingers trail over it, the touch warm and firm, wrapping around it at the base and squeezing lightly. "Let me worship you, beautiful man," Dorian whispered, before placing a light kiss on the shaft, right on the sensitive underside.

Klaus's noises of pleasure now were continuous and encouraging of Dorian's maneuverers, hips moving up as if to beg for more. In his lifetime, Klaus had had a few women attempt the act; only, they'd done it in a way that seemed mechanical -- to get him up for the 'main act', rather than as an act of pleasure it self. And with Dorian's tender caresses, it was an act of love, too.

A soft breath across the head, and the Dorian gave the shaft a long, firm lick. He flickered his tongue along the underside and then circled it several times, slowly, lovingly. The babble of words, both English and German, seemed to be encouraging that touch, one of Klaus' hands jerkily moving to slide through Dorian's hair.

The licks continued, the shaft growing wetter with each one, and Dorian was making pleasured noises, nursing the tip every now and then before going back to licking. "Ready for more?" he panted, looking up along Klaus's long body, loving the cries, the squirms, all of it.

As if Klaus could even say no if he'd been told to do so! He nodded, getting out a strained "please", while he stroked that hand through Dorian's thick hair, tangling his fingers in the thick golden fluff.

"Good," the Earl breathed, and then took the swollen head into his mouth, sucking at it lightly and flickering his tongue around it. The man tasted *wonderful* and he knew he wouldn't want to stop, praying that Klaus would let him continue.

The hand in his hair clenched for a moment, before it released and Klaus rocked his hips up to that hot, hot suction around him.

Dorian took the move as permission to go further and engulfed Klaus's cock, moving up and down on it, by turns sucking and laving it with his tongue, his hands soothingly stroking the other man's narrow hips. It was such a strange combination of care and passion that it kept Klaus off-balance enough to enjoy it properly. "'s there, oh Dorian, 's good..." He wasn't going to last long, buried in exquisite heat and pressure; Klaus barely managed to give a warning noise, in fact, before he fell over the cliff of oblivion. So strange, to lose control so completely, to be giving that control up to anyone.

Dorian drank in every last drop of that release, savoring it and the moment equally well. He nursed the softening cock, kissing it softly, almost reverently, and then pressed more kisses to the insides of Klaus's thighs. "You taste wonderful as well," he murmured. For long moments, all Klaus could manage was ragged breathing, trying to re-gather his wits. "Oh, Dorian, that was... Sowas mag ich!" That last was exclaimed in a laugh, expression one of complete relief and satisfaction as he pulled Dorian up to kiss him. Dorian let himself fall into the kiss, winding his arms once again around Klaus's shoulders, opening his mouth to be plundered by the other man. "You make me feel so wanton," he whispered. "Almost as if I could never get enough of you." "Someday... I'll see if you can," Klaus promised a bit breathlessly, taking slow, exploring kisses from the blonde. Strange, to taste that slightly bitter tang and know what Dorian had done for him, and also to be sure that Dorian had enjoyed it at least as much as he himself enjoyed it.

"I look forward to that, but I doubt the day will ever come," the Earl said, giving Klaus's earlobe a small nip. He nuzzled his way down the German man's jaw and pressed another lingering kiss to edge of his mouth, fingers brushing cheeks and smoothing eyebrows. "So beautiful," he breathed, "and so very serious."

"I could stay with you like this all day," Klaus murmured, turning his head a little to kiss Dorian properly. Again -- there was almost nothing better than Dorian's kisses.

"Mmm... but then you'd miss London," Dorian replied lazily, smiling over at his new lover and then kissing him again. "Surely you don't want to do that...?"

"'ve been here before on business," Klaus reminded him once the kiss was done. "Wouldn't be missing much."

"True," Dorian agreed, letting his hands trail over Klaus's chest again, his lips nibbling at the the German man's strong jaw. "Of course, the staff might get suspicious if we never got out of bed. What would the little maids who come in to tidy up think?" He tried to suppress a giggle, but didn't succeed.

A blush rose on Klaus' face at the thought of *that*, and he groaned quietly. "Never mind." Even that was smiled, though -- Klaus was very obvious in a grand mood, giving a slight stretch. "We should get out of here, or else we'll still be here when the maids come in."

"Don't want to give them a show, eh?" Dorian laughed, and then sat up, looking down at the very untucked Major. "What a feast you look," he said admiringly. "Will you let me run my hands all over you in the shower - and see what comes up?"

Klaus covered himself carefully, sliding his legs over toe the edge of the bed, pulling his pants back up loosely. "I think you know what'll come up."

"Yes, I'm hopelessly transparent, aren't I?" the Englishman agreed, following Klaus into the large bathroom and firmly shutting the door.

~~~

"Are we headed in any particular direction?" Klaus asked of his companion. Dorian was dressed again, and... well, he was very obviously Dorian, as always. Tight black pants, sleek black boots, and a leopard-print short-sleeved shirt. Despite the fact that it wasn't conservative, Klaus could certainly find no fault in the way it all flattered Dorian's body. It was certainly more eye catching than the lovely, cobble-stoned sidewalk they strolled on.

"No," the other man said, "I just thought we'd stroll for awhile. London weather is *rarely* this good. We simply *have* to take advantage of it."

"All right." Klaus was happy enough with that idea since it would leave him with just Dorian for company as they walked. Absently, he pulled out his cigarettes, and offered Dorian one. "'s a nice enough day."

Taking the offer, Dorian agreed. "Well, with London you usually get three weathers: dull and gray, dull and gray with rain, or sticky heat. The last one comes in the summertime and lasts about two weeks, usually during Wimbledon when everyone wants to be outside. Today, however, is rare and glorious." He finished this little monologue by looking over at Klaus and giving him a small but brilliant smile.

Klaus lit the cigarette for Dorian, nodding. "'s not too hot today, it's not raining, and you can see the sun -- feels like a fine German day," Klaus chuckled, half teasing.

"Mmm, yes," Dorian said, taking a long drag on his cigarette, "I suppose that you lot not only have all the best men, but the best weather as well. Still, we muddle through, you know. Always have. Have you traveled much in Germany? Have a favorite place?"

"A few," Klaus told him. He didn't want to waste words describing, of course, but one day, he'd take Dorian to see them. "I'll show you sometime."

"Man of mystery, eh?" Dorian looked over at him, almost pouting. "Ah well, I'll worm it out of you somehow. And I would like to see you in Germany, in your homeland, while I'm not distracted by vulnerable art pieces. Oh, there's a park, shall we find a bench and rest for awhile?"

"Hopefully you're not resting to drag me out on a shopping spree," Klaus smirked a little, walking agreeably with Dorian to the bench. Ah, it *had* been a good day! Wonderful weather, a calm trip, comfortable room, better, no, wonderful company...

Dorian made a face. "I'm not planning on shopping much on this trip," he said stoutly. "I can do that anytime and besides, James would have my head on a platter." He smiled and looked around the stately park they were sitting in. "Speaking of Germany, as we were, I was thinking about that the other day and hoping you weren't too... well, homesick, I suppose."

Klaus leaned back on the bench, and let out a sigh. His gaze, too, travelled around the park, but it was more of a lazy, half paying attention look than anything else. "I'm homesick. But it's better that I am here right now."

/And what will you do - we do - when you get better?/ Dorian pushed the thought away as quickly as it had come, not wanting melancholy thoughts to mar the day for either of them. "Will you take me on a Rhine cruise so the Rhine maidens can try to steal me away?" he said, laughing and nudging Klaus's calf with the toe of his boot.

"I think it would be a waste of their time to try," Klaus chuckled, stretching out those long legs in front of him, crossed at the ankle. Dorian's foot tickled a little, and made the smile on his lips a little more prominent. "If I take you to the Schloss, promise to not steal much."

The blond man looked shocked and gave his companion a soft punch in the arm. "What a thought! As if I *could* steal any of those wonderful pieces now! What kind of thief do you think I am?" This was accompanied by a sly smile. "A good one. It's not like I care one way or the other about art." And it was true -- it just didn't matter in his life. He knew Dorian loved it, but--

"Major Eberbach?! What a wonderful surprise!!! I haven't seen you in ages -- what're you -- oh! Lord Gloria!" Lawrence had come running up to the bench, stopping short in front of them. "Whatever are *you* doing here?" Dorian said at once, obviously displeased. "Out of every place there is to be in London, you have to show up *here*?"

"Oh, yes! I heard a tiny rumor that Iron Klaus was in England, and since I work here, I could only hope..." He smiled brilliantly at Klaus for a moment, getting an unhappy snort in return.

"You're blocking the sunlight. Step back. About twelve meters."

"Oh, Major! That's funny, really," the man said, and then leaned in close to the dark-haired man. "Are you one a mission? You *really* should spend more time in England, you know. We need your sort of talent here."

"No," Dorian said in a half-snort, "we need less of your company!"

Klaus waved a hand to bat Lawrence off, obviously discomfited by his presence. "I'm on vacation. Go away."

"Vacation?" Lawrence said. "With *him?*" He inclined his head towards Dorian with a bit of contempt.

"Yes," Klaus gritted out. "I don't have to explain myself to you. Leave me alone." He shot to his feet, looming suddenly in Lawrence's face.

"Major!" The agent looked crestfallen, and glared at Dorian as if it were all his fault.

For his part, Dorian just folded his arms in front of him and tried not to look too smug. "You heard the man. Run away and find someone else to play with."

"And when I do have to come here on duty, I won't contact you unless I have to! Understand?!"

"Really, Major," the man said, obviously very jealous, "you should think twice about the company you keep. *Some* people aren't worth your time. Should you ever need a *real* tour guide for London, don't hesitate to call me. Anytime, really!"

"Don't try to find me again," Klaus growled firmly at the small British agent, eyes narrowed unhappily. "Don't follow me. Don't show up again."

"You're obviously just in a bad mood, Major," Lawrence said, adding under his breath, "and who can blame you with the company you have. So, I'll take my leave, but don't forget to call me, all right? I'll be waiting!" He gave the Major an adoring look and then turned away and headed of through the park. Dorian watched his retreating back and murmured, "The man is practically throwing himself at your feet! It's disgusting!" "You did that for years, Dorian," Klaus sighed, shaking his head once the man was out of sight. "But you at least sniped at me as bad as i sniped at you."

"Yes, all part of my charm, I suppose," Dorian said, with a laugh. "Although I suppose I did my fair share of irritating adoration as well - you know, the occasional yelling, 'I love you' out of helicopters and such."

"Declaring it at meetings, negotiations, yes," Klaus agreed, sitting back down beside Dorian, a little closer than before. "People will get curious if you stop such foolishness, you know. They'll think I've replaced you with someone else."

"The Major's perfect android Dorian," the thief said, smiling. "That would have been wonderful for you. You could punch it, over and over and it would still obey your every order!"

"Don't say such a thing," Klaus told him seriously. "It wouldn't be wonderful now."

The blond man looked over at him, eyes curious. "Sorry. Didn't mean to... but whatever will you do without your rage against me?"

"I don't know. What have I done without it so far?'

"Well, you've been ill so far, haven't you?" Dorian mused. "I suppose it will make your missions easier, since I'll feel obligated not to make your life miserable."

"And I'm not obligated to try to get you killed any longer," Klaus agreed softly, smiling at the thief. "Should make both our lives easier."

"Yes," Dorian agreed. "I do hope you won't get too bored, not having to kill me, though. I wouldn't want you... understimulated."

"I think we can put that energy to..." Klaus blushed minutely before he went on, "more enjoyable pursuits?"

Dorian pressed his thigh against Klaus's, a special touch no one in the park would be aware of. "I couldn't agree more," he murmured, feeling achy and wanting all over again. "Shall we walk a little more?"

/Right back to the hotel?/ Klaus thought, but didn't say it, nodding instead. "Yes. want to duck into any shops...?"

"Mmm... maybe a booksellers - I saw one on the way here. And there was a wonderful antique art sellers..." He looked up at Klaus and tried to judge the reaction of his suggestions. "What about you?"

The booksellers got a good reaction, art-seller a mediocre one. "'s okay with me."

Dorian made a move to stand but then turned to face the dark-haired man instead. He leaned in rather close and asked in a half-amused, half-exasperated tone, "Do you *ever* get excited about *anything*, Major!?"

"Guns. Tanks. You. 's about it," Klaus answered with a wicked smirk on his lips. Ahhh, it was fun to harass and tease Dorian, with no malice behind their words!

"I'm glad I'm in such illustrious company," the thief said with a bemused smile and the stood. "All right then - off to hunt books!"

He led them back down the street until they stood in front of a narrow storefront. In the small display window were several antiquarian books, most in English but one in French and another in German. The door was a glowing cherry wood with a large pane of glass in it and the small tinkle of a bell could be heard as they entered. The shop had the comfortable but musty smell of old books and the elderly man behind the counter nodded at them before going back to another customer who was asking about the ages of a stack of medieval histories.

Klaus may have been a wasted mind when it came to art, but books he could understand the value o, and this place in particular had both historic and informational value. It was obvious to Dorian that he'd chosen the right store, just from the way Klaus' eyes drifted eagerly.

"Going to look at art books?" Klaus questioned, already starting to veer minutely towards some of the history books.

"Yes," Dorian smiled, amused at the look on the stoic man's face. "You can bury yourself in war and mayhem to your heart's content. I'll see you in half an hour." With that he made his way to the back of the shop, where the Art and Artists section was.

And bury himself Klaus did. He began by browsing, and finally ended up deciding to pick up two -- one an outline, heavily detailed, of the political relationships of aristocracy post-Renaissance, and the other was a heavily diagramed book showing how different kinds of guns were developed, through what staged they passed in that development, and the kinds that were put aside without ever having been used.

For his part, Dorian was happily engrossed in a book on the pre-Raphelites which had the good sense to put in detailed descriptions of where certain paintings were housed. He knew at once he had to have it, and he picked up another on Greek sculpture while he was at it. The met at the front of the shop, Dorian hugging his books to his chest and beaming. "Excellent selection!" he said happily. "How did you fare?"

"Just as well," Klaus smiled, holding his books in one arm, the other fishing into his back pocket for his wallet. "This store is really good!"

Nodding his head, Dorian gave his books to the owner, behind the desk. "I always wanted to come in here, but never quite had the time. Put your books up here - it's my treat," he said to Klaus. "Oh, no, Dorian -- I already owe you for too much," Klaus told him firmly. "I'll pay."

The thief looked surprised but, not wanting to make a scene in front of the shop owner, acquiesced. "Thank you, Major," he said, and then more quietly "but really, you don't owe me a thing... really."

"I know; but this way, I'll save both of us James' griping," Klaus told him, pulling out a Visa card.

Dorian had to laugh at that one. "My knight in shining armour," he said, protecting me from small, black-haired cheapskates who know how to ruin a mood better than anyone else. I truly appreciate the gesture now!"

The thanked the shop owner and found themselves back on the street. "Had enough," Dorian said, "or want to see more?"

"I think I've got enough energy left in me to walk back to the hotel, and rest a bit if we're going to be going anywhere tonight," Klaus told him truthfully. "Are we?"

"Just dinner. What sort of food do you favor - ethnic? French? English, god forbid?"

"Someplace that's nice, and quiet, and I don't care as long as the food won't kill me." The German seemed pleased with that idea, and with each progressing step in the relationship he took with Dorian. It... would work, and was working even then. "I'll let you pay, too."

"Now *that's* generosity for you," Dorian laughed. "*Thank* you. I was beginning to feel like a kept man!" He looked over at Klaus, as if sizing him up. "Miranjou, I think. Small, quiet, French and Swiss cuisine. Sound all right to you?"

"Sounds fine with me." Cordially, Klaus was agreeing to just about everything Dorian had suggested so far in the day. A little strange, but then again, Dorian wasn't pushing for things that Klaus would disagree with. "You feel like a kept man? I've been living rent-free in your castle for how long now? Seven weeks?"

"I only owe you my life several times over, Major. What's a bit of hosting to that?" They continued down the street, Dorian finding himself wanting to hold the other man's hand, to stop and kiss him under one of the lovely crabapple trees that were just coming into bloom. But the world wouldn't allow it, and so they kept walking.

Someday, maybe they would. It wasn't quite that the world wouldn't allow it, but their positions and places in life wouldn't -- was Klaus quite ready yet to openly risk his career's progression, and Dorian's life, by making something like this official?

Yet on the other side of it, Klaus' career hadn't moved anywhere in literally decades and everyone -- except his alphabets -- in NATO already assumed that he was gay, and that he and Dorian had been doing things for years.

Dorian was already a target because of that, as they'd seen before, in mission after mission -- and that was with Klaus denying, every step of the way, any relationship with the man.

"A godsend, Dorian," Klaus murmured quietly, lazily taking in the scenery as they walked. On the other side of the argument, keeping his habit of denying it would hurt Dorian in ways he didn't deserve.

Dorian smiled over at him. "And here are you and I not believing in god at all," he said. "Imagine that..." He stared out over the street they were walking on and down one of the cross streets. "Oh look," he said pointing to a large building at the end of the small avenue. "That's the National Army Museum. Just your sort of place, I suspect. Shall we visit that while we here? Perhaps tomorrow or the next day?" "Tomorrow would be good," Klaus told him, looking over at the building Dorian was pointing at. "You won't be bored to be there?"

Raised eyebrows were the reply, and for a moment, Klaus couldn't help shaking his head. "Fine. Fine, we'll do that tomorrow then -- but for now, a rest...?"

~~~

Miranjou's proved to be an intimate restaurant of only nine tables. It contained beautiful pictures, soft music, and very unobtrusive waiters. One of these led them to a table at the back and handed them menus.

"You picked, I believe, a perfect place," Klaus mused, approving of the relative quiet of the place as he sat down in one comfortable chair at the intimate table there. It was an odd way to place a table, too -- and ellipse, with the shortest part between them, allowing for closeness without having all of the food crowded into one spot.

"All of the noodle dishes are excellent," Dorian said, perusing the menu while the waiter brought bread. "And they have wonderful sausages... Hmm I'm starved..."

"We've walked most of the streets around here today," Klaus reminded him, and agreeing in his own way about the hunger -- he could eat a small horse, or at least a large dog... "'s been a good day, though -- 'm glad you took me up her--"

"Dorian! Oh, Dorian, what a pleasure to see you, here of all places!!" There was, standing just over Dorian's shoulder, a thin, butch-looking but definitely flaming, brunette.

The blond man turned and gave a slight smile to the new man. "Lewis - what a surprise. I didn't realize you were still in London. I thought... oh, where was it they sent you... Milan?"

"I was sent back," he smiled, tone nearly a purr as he looked over to Klaus. "Who's this?"

"Someone who doesn't like you," Klaus murmured, before answering, "Klaus Heinz von dem Eberbach."

Dorian raised an eyebrow but didn't comment at the touch of hostility in the Major's voice. "Klaus, this is an old friend of mine - Lewis Rhys-Jones. Works for the Times."

"Good to meet you!" Lewis was cordial, offering Klaus a hand that the German man shook only after a little pause. "Well, what're you doing in London? Staying at your flat?"

"No - just up for the day," Dorian lied without missing a beat. "We're driving back to the castle this evening." If there was anything he didn't want it was an old lover trailing along on his vacation with Klaus!

"Ohhh... well, that's a pity!" Lewis sighed, putting a hand on his hip and leaning a little closer to Dorian to whisper, " 's this the ass-hole German you've been following for years?"

"Not an asshole at all, dear," Dorian countered, also under his breath. "He's a very *gifted* man who'd have someone like you bending over and begging..."

"Mmm, I bet," Lewis agree with a chuckle, looking him over, before going on quietly, "Looks like he's been dragged through hell, though..."

"Don't bother whispering. I can hear you."

"Good," Dorian said, looking at Lewis with a look that was half-flirtatious, half-warning. "The Major has been ill and is in the process of making a rather remarkable comeback, which is really none of your business, Lewis, even if you *are* an ace reporter."

"Ohhh... but, hey, wouldn't that make a winning story? NATO officer teams up with thief off duty?"

"Lewis... have you forgotten my relationship with your editor in chief?" Dorian's eyebrow was arching again, at a dangerous angle. "Need I say more?"

The brunette's eyebrows crawled up into his hair-line. "I was only joking!"

"Have you ever been shot?" Klaus growled, starting to stand up. "Let us eat in peace, before I show you!"

Dorian merely smiled blissfully. "You heard the man, Lewis. I do believe he fondly desires your absence. I would produce it if I were you."

Lewis looked most unhappy as he acceded, giving them both a glance over his shoulder before slinking to his table towards the front of the place.

Klaus gave a hard scowl, and sat back down

Dorian looked at him a little uncertainly. "Did you dislike him that much?" he murmured.

"Did he use to be one of your lovers?"

"Yes, many years ago," Dorian said, "for about six months. That's all I could take of him."

/I wonder why,/ Klaus mused to himself. Then again, how long could Dorian stand actually *having* him...? Six months? If that...? "Then I dislike him."

The blond man tilted his head to one side. "But why?" he asked. "He's not even with the KGB."

"He used to be a lover of yours. 's enough," Klaus dismissed.

Propping his elbow on the table, Dorian dropped his chin into his hand and regarded the man across the table. "Are there women I should know about, so I can scowl at them, too?" he said teasingly.

The waiter brought a bottle of wine. "Your usual, Lord Gloria? Is this acceptable?" Dorian nodded, but kept smiling and didn't take his eyes of Klaus.

The remark lightened Klaus' mood a little. "I don't have a single 'ex' for you to ever deal with."

"What about those women you were with?" Dorian asked, after he'd pronounced the wine very drinkable and the waiter had left. "Won't I run into them when we go to Germany?"

"Not unless you venture into a red-light district," Klaus murmured, taking a deep sip of the wine.

The thief nearly choked on his wine. "Major! I... I never thought... well, never thought you were the type..."

"I was trying to figure my sexuality out, and then decided I didn't have any." He was ready, if Dorian did choke on the wine, to get up, hit him on the back, offer a napkin, whatever was necessary.

"Ah, I see," Dorian said, still having trouble imagining Klaus doing such a thing. "I'll do my best to keep you clear on it from here on out, shall I?" He gave the German man a very seductive smile and the looked at the menu. "What sounds good?"

"I don't know -- you choose," Klaus offered, closing the menu. Somedays, English took too much thought to bother with. "Nothing sweet."

Dorian ordered barley soup and a cheese and sausage tart and the waiter bowed obsequiously and hurried off. Then the blond man looked at Klaus again and asked, "Why would you be jealous of someone I'm not with anymore?"

Did Klaus even know why he was jealous? "Because I don't want to think that you're doing things with me that you've done probably hundreds of times before."

Dorian looked down at his wine and said softly, "It couldn't be the same as it was with anyone else because I've never felt this way about anyone else... just you."

"Dorian..." Klaus shifted nearer, not quite caring they were in public in that moment. a hand caught Dorian's chin, lifting it. "I've never felt this way about anyone, either. so that should put us on the same ground."

A soft smile lit the beautiful face. "Then neither of us has anything to be jealous of, do we?" he murmured, shivering a bit at the sweet possessiveness of the gesture.

"I still don't like the idea that anyone else has touched you." There was a 'the reporter certainly doesn't deserve you' tone to Klaus's voice as he stroked Dorian's cheek a little.

"Well... no one will ever touch me again... not like you do. That's all yours now."

It got him a smile from Klaus, one of those rare ones that made it up into his eyes. His hand moved a little further, stroking Dorian's cheek with his thumb for a moment. Ah, he wanted to kiss the thief, but they were in a restaurant...

"So," Dorian said, trying to steer the conversation towards wholesome topics, and ease the ache between his legs. "Would you like to see the Tower while we're here? Meet the ravens and all that?" "Tower of London...?" Klaus dug through his mind for a moment, and nodded, carefully withdrawing his hand with a lingering caress before he did anything more. "Yes, that'd be good. But I'm going to make sure that not everywhere we go is a place that has lots of weaponry."

Dorian gave him an amused look. "Well, *damn*! There go all my carefully laid plans," he said, leaning forward and giving the man a fixed stare. "Why ever would you say such a thing?" "Because I know you're going out of your way to make sure I enjoy myself," Klaus said in his own tone of self-satisfied amusement.

"And is that so bad?" the thief asked in a tone of mock hurt. "I know you couldn't stomach half of what I might usually see when I'm in Town, and I'm more than happy to accommodate you." /After all, I don't know how long I have you and when you leave I can look at all the fine art I want to and have a good cry over it.../ "I may as well start learning to stomach it," Klaus told him, settling back in the chair. "It isn't that I dislike art. It just doesn't matter to me."

Dorian sat back as well, sipping his wine and regarding Klaus thoughtfully. "So tell me, Major," he said, "why do tanks and guns matter so much to you?"

"I think we've had this conversation before, a long time ago," Klaus mused. "They have a functional beauty behind them." His father had trained into him early the beauty of cold steel, how to appreciate it and keep it in good condition.

"And do you see art as having no function?" Dorian pursued, still smiling. "Does it?" Klaus asked Dorian. It wasn't a challenge, or a snide remark -- it was a true question. "I know I'm ignorant about what most consider the finer points of life."

"You'd find lots of different answers to that one, I suppose," Dorian said. "Every art lover sees different things in the art he loves, but in general... they're objects of beauty. They can make us feel joyful, or melancholy, or proud. They remind us of what it is to be human, the good and the bad... because a lot of times..." He put his head to one side and searched for the words he needed. "A lot of times, people forget about those things - what it is to be human. That's what art does for me. It reminds me..."

"Why would anyone need reminding? We *are* human." Strange to hear from a man who often resembled a tank in clothes more than a human being. "We *are* human, and shouldn't that be enough?"

"Sometimes I wonder," Dorian said softly. "I think many times we don't act human at all. We act like automatons or the lowest kind of beast. And what's worse, we don't even realize we're doing it..."

"How are humans supposed to act?"

"Like the big-brained creatures we are," Dorian replied. "But too often you would think we had no higher faculties at all. That's why I like surrounding myself with lovely things - makes up for the sheer bloody-mindedness of the outside world." He gave Klaus a dazzling smile as the waiter arrived with their soup. And Klaus gave him raised eyebrows. "Everyone acts that way sometimes, Dorian. It's a human flaw. If... if everyone acted like they had higher faculties and the ability to morally reason, there would be no need for police, or for intelligence agencies. NATO wouldn't need to exist, would it?"

"I suppose you're right," Dorian said, leaning forward again as he took up his soup spoon. "My ideal world would put you out of work." He had a look of mock tragedy on his face which quickly turned sly. "Then I guess you'd be forced to spend your time with me, poor dear!"

"In your ideal world, you wouldn't steal, either," Klaus pointed out just as wryly as Dorian had been sly, as he picked up his own spoon. "And then were would both of us be?"

"We'd have never met I suppose," Dorian answered, sipping carefully at the hot soup. "So I guess there's something good to be said for human frailty after all." "Progress can only be made through clashing," Klaus murmured. "both our families, Dorian, are built upon human frailty -- your ancestor was a pirate, mine an underhanded fighter."

"Yes, well there is something to be said about becoming civilized, too," the blond man said, smiling and pointing his spoon at the major. "I think progress can also be made in understanding each other better, by sharing cultural experiences that don't involve firearms." He took another spoonful of soup and added, "Of course, I *do* find our ancestors intriguing. Wonder what they would have made of us?"

Klaus ate mechanically between bits of conversation, and was already finished with neatly eating half of his soup. "From the reading I've done, Tyrian would love you, and hate me; yours would hate you for being too much like Tyrian and love me." "Ah well, at least we have the security of knowing that we'd *both* have disappointed them." He looked thoughtful, biting a bit at the end of little finger. "I wonder how the personalities got switched...?"

"Up-bringing. 's probably their respective situations that made their lives go like that," Klaus smirked, taking a sip of soup.

Dorian smirked back. "So Tyrian's father was gay?" And Klaus choked on his soup, looking at the blonde with a glare. "Dorian... I meant the upbringing for *us*."

The thief couldn't help but grin at Klaus's expression. "Oh, don't get so touchy," he said, smiling and batting his lashes. "Although it's good to see my dear Iron Klaus is still alive and kicking." "Was there any doubt?" Klaus asked, picking up the wine-glass with far less of a scowl than he'd had just moments before. "Do you really thing I'd give up completely?"

"No, not really," Dorian said, shaking his head. "But I know a lot of people who aren't you who would have. You've gone through hell, Major. If you weren't the man you are..." He looked up, into eyes of deep green. "But you are, so I had every confidence that you would make it through."

But Klaus knew he'd had his own doubts -- and Dorian knew that, too. He'd been deathly truthful when he'd told the earl that if he hadn't been there to help him, he would probably have taken his life. But that extra help, support or any sort was just what he'd needed... "And now we are both here."

"A much better place to be, I think," Dorian agreed. The waiter was back to take away the soup bowls and give them tiny servings of lemon sorbet to cleanse their palates before the main course. "At the rate I've been recovering, I'll be able to return to duty again soon," Klaus murmured. "They'll probably put me in desk work for at least another six months to observe me."

"They wouldn't, surely!" Dorian said, looking at him with disbelief. "The Chief knows you - knows your temperament. He wouldn't put you somewhere so useless!" A moment went by and then Dorian added, "And if he tries to I'll come to HQ and give him a piece of my mind on the subject!" A beat of silence, and Klaus looked at the thief quizzically. "You're defending my right to go back into the field?"

Dorian looked at him, blue eyes looking particularly puppyish. "Yes," he said unhappily. "But not because I want you to. If I had my way, I'd lock you up in my castle and keep you there with me all the time... but I know you love what you do, and I would never keep you from something you truly loved."

Green-grey eyes were peculiarly serene for the moment as Klaus looked back at him. "It's good to hear you say that, Dorian. It's really good."

Dorian held his gaze. It seemed an eternity that they stared into each other's eyes. "It isn't easily said, Major. But it would kill me to see you wither away - kept from what you love doing most. Just don't do anything stupid like going and getting yourself killed, all right?" "As long as you don't do anything stupid and get yourself arrested, I think I can agree to that," Klaus said in a suddenly very 'up' tone of voice -- having Dorian *not* fight his want to return to duty was a load off of his nerves.

"Agreed," the thief said. He leaned back as the waiter returned with fresh bread and two cheese and sausage tarts.

"So are you wanting to go anywhere after dinner, or would you prefer to go back to the hotel?"

"Is there anywhere *you* want to go after dinner?" Klaus offered, picking up his fork after a moment, then setting it down to break the small loaf of bread in half, sliding half of it onto the edge of Dorian's plate.

"We can take a walk by Kensington Palace if you like," Dorian said, "and there's a little park on the other side of it that has a lake." "Get me good and tired so I won't be able to fend you off in the hotel room?" Klaus asked with a tiny smile, so small it was hard to tell he was joking.

Dorian demurred. "Do I look like the type to take advantage of your less-than-perfect health?" he said, acting the part of an astonished man. "Really, you make me out to be a cad and a flirt!" "Cad, no, flirt...? Yes." Klaus broke off a piece of his own part of the bread and chewed on it thoughtfully. "This is a very nice place. The food isn't half as murderous as most British food I've had in London."

Dorian laughed. "That's because it's Swiss! But really - you think German food is that much better than good ol' bubble and squeak or Yorkshire pudding?"

"Yes." Dead-pan answer, and just what he'd expected from Klaus. "Yes, it *is*. English food scares me."

Dorian's eyes widened dramatically. "Does it *really*? What do find frightening about it?"

"That you people try to pass it off as food," Klaus snorted, chewing a bite of the tart. "and you can't give them names that make any sense."

"Food snob," teased Dorian. "But I think you're right. I think to truly appreciate British food one has to be introduced to it in the nursery, with rice pudding and treacle tart." He leaned forward and looked at Klaus. "What did you eat when you were in the nursery?" For some reason the idea of Klaus in baby lederhosen, standing three feet high came into his mind and amused him to no end.

"I can't remember," Klaus shrugged. In that moment, despite Klaus' overwhelmingly good mood, Dorian was lucky that the man couldn't see Dorian's mental image. "Potatoes and meat, I suppose."

"Of course," Dorian laughed. "How could it have been anything else?" He sat back and settled in to eat his meal, not wanting to press in case the good mood was fragile. Klaus was the sort whom a meal with could be done in complete silence and nothing would feel amiss. He was usually quiet when he ate, as Dorian had long ago noted, and the efficiency that Klaus ate with -- even such high quality food! -- was more than explanation. Dorian was still eating his tart when Klaus finished and poured a little more wine into his glass. "You know I usually hate vacations."

"Don't tell me," the blond man said, "you find them a waste of time. Are you beginning to feel restless here?"

"Some. As long as we do things, I'll be fine." Able to enjoy it, he meant, but that was almost an understood with Klaus. If something was 'fine' he enjoyed it at least a little, probably more.

/So much for long, lazy days in bed.../ Dorian thought. "Well, then, I'll be sure to pack your days and nights with sightseeing," he said lightly. "You won't have a spare moment to get bored." "Spare moments are all right, too -- as long as we do things," Klaus told him in a tone was probably as innuendo laden as the German could manage.

"I'll do my best, Major," the blond fairly purred over his wineglass. "I'm sure you'll be a tough man to satisfy, though... with your exacting standards." For a moment, the man's face flushed, and he seemed *near* to saying something else... but didn't. He held his tongue and instead finished his drink in a slow gulp. "Are you going to finish eating...?" /I shouldn't have even asked -- now he'll only surely drag it out.../ But would that be so bad to watch Dorian eat?

Impatient, aren't we?" the thief murmured into his wine. "Well, you'll just have to wait." He pushed the bottle at Klaus and added, "Have another glass."

"Now you're trying to get me drunk and exhausted," Klaus murmured with both brows raised. "Well. Maybe another glass could do us both some good."

"Wine always makes things better," Dorian agreed, taking another bite. "So tell me, if you were at home tonight, what kind of thing would you likely be doing?"

"My home, or yours?"

"Yours."

Now Klaus began to poor another glass of wine. "Nothing."

"Nothing?" Dorian asked. "You mean literally 'nothing'? You'd be sitting in a chair staring at the walls?"

"Yes." And there was enough bitterness to his voice to make it a true possibility. Silence for a moment, and then he clarified. "Well, not exactly. I'd have something on the TV on for background noise and probably be cleaning my guns."

Hmm... an interesting pastime, but not surprising for you," the blond said, taking a last bite of his entree. "Do you like leading a very quiet life, then? When you're not on a mission, that is?"

"I don't lead a life beyond missions," Klaus told him seriously. "Ever."

Dorian had been lifting his wineglass to his lips and now stopped with his hand halfway there. Holding Klaus's gaze, he said softly, "I do wish you would let me change that..."

Klaus set his own glass down and said, after a moment, "I'd like you to."

Dorian didn't smile at that. It would have hurt Klaus's pride he felt, somehow. But the heat came into his eyes and he watched the German man steadily as he sipped from his glass. "Thank you so much," he whispered, so only Klaus could hear.

A fractional inclination of Klaus' head and the German tilted his glass a little, too. "No, thank you, Dorian." /For being an un-pressing presence when i needed it most, trustworthy, and for taking so long to get my message.../

The thief couldn't say what he really wanted to, not there in the restaurant, so he tried to put everything into his gaze. "I think I'm finished," he said slowly. "I have a tab here, so we can leave whenever we want to."

"Lets finish the wine first. Once opened, a bottle of good wine like this is never the same again." He'd finished his glass, and started to pour another, offering to top Dorian's off. "This last bit, then we'll leave."

"Sounds perfect," Dorian said, taking his glass and sitting back in his chair. "I'm sure the alphabets miss you..."

"I remember Z visited. They'll do well enough on their own," Klaus assured him.

"Yes," Dorian said, pouting a little, "*he* visited." Everything in his manner seemed to be saying that as far as he was concerned, Agent Z could drop off the ends of the earth and Dorian wouldn't mind at all.

"I would never have thought you to be the jealous sort, Dorian," Klaus mused, taking another sip, smiled at Dorian over the rim of the glass.

Still pouting, Dorian looked up, two sapphire eyes glimmering. "I'm *terribly* jealous! I don't want anyone else taking you away."

"Why would I want Z?" he asked seriously. "He's a boy. He's a boy, that I think of like a son."

"A son?" Dorian said, his expression one of complete bewilderment. "You... you think of him like a *son*?"

"Ja." Klaus let himself smirk a little. "'s a good agent. Followed me like a puppy the first few years, so I taught him everything I could think of to teach him."

Dorian propped an elbow on the table, dropping his chin to his upheld hand. Then, all those times... those little talks you two had... you're clapping your arm around his shoulders...?"

"You thought I was flirting with him?!" Klaus bursting into laughter at that notion, nearly spilling the wine. "Oh, oh, ha ha ha!"

Blue eyes widened in shock at the sight of Klaus's hilarity. For a moment he forgot his manners and took his napkin from his lap, striking the other man on the arm with it and nearly whining, "It was a perfectly logical deduction! Stop laughing you terrible man!" But even as he said it he himself was starting to laugh softly.

"That's being comradely, Dorian!" Still laughing, as if Dorian's half-pouting words only made it worse. "Oh, that's... ha!"

The blond man dropped his chin to his hand again, staring at the man across the table who had now started wiping his eyes. "All right, all right, laugh at my innermost fears, go ahead! It was perfectly possible if you put the right lens on the situation...*Major*!"

"Only if you put a twisted lens on it! So you thought I was gay and wanted *Z*?"

"Yes," Dorian said simply. "You do act *very* friendly with him and... he's got *passable* looks..." The thief gave Klaus a smile and a *look* out of the corner of his eye. "He seems like he'd obviously be your type. Very military, you know."

"Do you think I want to spend my time with someone who'd sit down with me and *help* me polish my guns?" Klaus uttered, shaking his head. "No, no, Z is straight."

"Is he..." Dorian said softly, looking thoughtful. "And yes, given your reaction to things *unrelated* to guns in the past, of *course* I thought you'd prefer a cute boy in uniform. Why shouldn't I?" He took a long sip of wine and winked at the man opposite him.

"If you thought only that, why pursue me?"

"Oh, a million reasons," said Dorian, waving a hand. "I wanted to shake you up a bit; it was an incredible challenge to flirt and live to tell the tale; you're very attractive when you're homicidal and..." He here dropped his voice to it's very lowest. "I was too in love to do anything else."

"I'm glad that you persevered. You made life a miserable hell sometimes, but others... You were a highlight in some days."

"Thank you for saying it, although I'm sure you spent those highlighted days cursing my name into the dust!" He gave Klaus a lingering stare. "I will *always* be jealous of the people around you... you don't understand your own beauty."

"I suppose I don't, because there isn't any," Klaus scoffed, draining his glass and setting it down. He'd drank at least half the bottle, but considering the toxins his body had processed for so long, he'd be fine.

"I'll convince you otherwise someday," Dorian murmured, finishing his own glass. "Shall we go for that walk?"

"Yes." Klaus stood up, waiting for Dorian to do the same so he could walk beside the man.

Dorian gave a nod to the waiter as they left the restaurant, and they walked into a cool, spring evening, refreshing after the close air inside. "It's just down this way," he said, pointing to the road that would lead them past Kensington Palace. Did you ever hear the story of why Kensington is a royal residence?"

"No. Why don't you tell me?" the hand he was pointing with was grabbed gently, startling him until he realized it was Klaus' doing. Klaus, holding his hand while they walked down the street.

He was shocked speechless for a moment, but decided that discretion was the better part of valor, and that, if he kept quiet about it, maybe the gesture would continue.

"Well, you see, William III was a wheezy, old asthmatic and Whitehall, in inner London where royalty lived back in the 1600s, was an absolutely *filthy* place. So his medical men told him he had to move away from all the muck and mire and Kensington was practically in the country then. So he moved here and had Christopher Wren make it a proper palace."

"And then the city spread towards it," Klaus said in slight amusement, nodding. Dorian felt a thumb rub over the back of his hand for a moment. "Pollution in the city is bad. The Palace's original owner would be pissed."

"It's all the diesel fuel," Dorian said, frowning. "It's everywhere and it gets on things and *stays* until it's scrubbed off." He sighed as they approached the large, ornamental gate of the Palace. "At least we don't have fog anymore..."

"I would think you would have found fog romantic."

Dorian laughed. "Not when 80% of it is coal dust!" He stopped in front of the gate and gazed at the brightly lighted building beyond. "But you're right - I do love fog, especially if I can walk in it and catch it in my fingers."

"Catching fog is like catching air, Dorian," Klaus murmured, standing right beside Dorian, looking at what he viewed and trying to delve into Dorian's child-like wonder in those lights.

"Yes - one of those impossible things," the blond said, smiling. "I like doing impossible things..."

"You do that well," Klaus complimented, glancing up at those windows again. "Have you ever done the impossible and robbed from one of them?"

Dorian slid his glance to Klaus, looking shocked. "Oh, never! I just couldn't! I mean, I may be agnostic, but I'm still *British*!" Then he gave the other man a wink and tugged at his hand, continuing the walk.

Klaus chuckled, squeezing Dorian's hand gently. "Loyal to country, just as i suspected."

Turning to look up at him, Dorian said, "And you? Do you feel loyal to Germany, Major?"

"Do you need to ask?" Klaus asked him serious, arching one eyebrow. "It's the Homeland!"

"Oh, yes of course!" Dorian said, recovering quickly. "What *was* I thinking? You just seem quiet about it - not a flag-waver at all."

Just, the often occasional declaration about German technological and quality superiority. "I risk my life for it regularly. I don't need to put a flag on my sleeve."

Dorian smiled and looked down the road to the small park about a half a mile away. "Our two countries have had an interesting relationship over the ages, haven't they?"

"A strange sort of partnership yet not," Klaus agreed. "Linked, but very different."

"All that inbreeding between the kingdoms," Dorian murmured. "I think it turned them all funny."

"One could argue that it's turned all nobility funny." A squeeze of Dorian's hand. "Tracing back your family lineage is a strange thing, I've learned."

"And what exactly is *that* supposed to mean, sir?" Dorian said, eyebrows elegantly arched. "*My* family is perfectly dull - not a spot of brightness in them anywhere..."

"A complete lie, Dorian, and we both know it. You have a master-mind of a pirate for an ancestor, and he killed *my* ancestor. Quite a clash."

"Oh, but your man was so much more exotic - had such incredible style. It must have been fun to be Tyrian."

"I've read his journals -- the man had a decadent life. A miserable decadent life," Klaus chuckled softly, still smiling a little to himself. "We come from interesting histories."

"Yes we do," Dorian said. "I find it fascinating that we met up, when we have those ancestors in our families." He laughed then and looked over at Klaus, a bit flirtatiously since they were in the seclusion of the park. "Do you think perhaps I'm an old family curse, come to haunt you?"

His hand was squeezed lightly. "Or perhaps, the other way around?"

"No," Dorian shook his head, blond curls moving softly. "I believe I have always inconvenienced you more than you have inconvenienced me. At least I was having fun most of the time!"

"Or you seemed to be," Klaus agreed. "Then again, Our missions always clashed somehow."

"Yes," Dorian said, "sometimes because we *wanted* them to... I was always pestering you and you were always suspicious of me." He looked over at the dark-haired man. "Are you still suspicious of me, Major?" "What do you think?" Klaus gave a discrete glance to their still lightly joined hands.

"I think... I'm very nearly to the trusted stage," the thief said, following his eyes. "But I don't expect you to be all the way there yet. Your instincts are far too strong." His eyes held Klaus's gaze then, deep blue pools that were unusually artless and open.

"There are different levels of trust, Dorian. I've trusted you as a good man for years now. As a good worker when you needed to be for longer." And now they were working on a different level, more important than moral or ethics -- if Klaus could trust Dorian to not betray him at the personal level.

The Englishman seemed to read his mind just then. Without breaking their gaze he murmured, "I appreciate that, Major. I am, however, interested in getting to the deepest level - and I plan to, someday. I'm a patient man when I know what I want." "'s good to know." No challenge in Klaus' voice, just a noting -- it was good to know that Dorian would bother to be patient with him.

Dorian nodded. "We can cut through the park - it's just the next block past that far entrance." They walked in companionable silence for a few minutes - the longest silence that Dorian could take - and then the thief spoke again. "Will you be... going out on missions *very* soon after you go back, do you think?"

"It depends on how trustworthy they consider me," Klaus murmured, "though I would like to return to the field quickly. It's been too long."

"Mmm, yes of course," Dorian said. "I'm sure the Chief will want you out there as soon as possible, too.

"So he doesn't have to look at me," Klaus snorted. "If he could get me discharged for this, he would."

Looking over at the shadowed face, Dorian squeezed Klaus's hand and said, "Whatever do you mean? It was the Russians who were the guilty parties in this. You were just doing you're job!"

Klaus didn't look over to Dorian, though -- just ahead, as if keeping out a watchful eyes. Which he was, looking for anything odd. Things were going smoothly, almost too smoothly, and paranoia loved him dearly... "I was caught."

"People are always caught - and escape again. If supervisors sacked agents for being caught there'd be damned few of you left to do the work. It goes with the territory, and who's to say you didn't learn anything valuable while you were there?" Dorian knew he was talking to much, but at the moment he felt like a pit bull protecting a beloved master. "You're *far* too good an agent for them to lose."

"But Dorian, I *didn't* escape. I was in custody for *months*, and I didn't escape. I was *released* because they'd thought they'd killed me. They left me on the steps of the German embassy in Moscow." There it was -- the worst shame of the mission.

Dorian stopped walking and turned to stand in front of Klaus. "But they *didn't* kill you, did they? *They* are the ones who failed, love, not *you.* They tried their best but you've beaten them all and you'll be back as strong as ever." He slid his arms around Klaus's neck and pressed his lips to the sharp jawline. "*You* are the one who has triumphed, Major. Not them."

"You have such faith in me, and I don't know why," Klaus murmured in a sigh, pulling Dorian close for a brief moment. "Not... so much in public."

"As you wish," Dorian said, stepping back and walking again towards the street. "And if I do one thing in my miserable life I will get you to see *why* I have such faith in you." His hand reached for Klaus's again and held it close all the way to the hotel.

"I don't think you've lived a miserable life at all," Klaus tried to tease as they entered the hotel proper.

"Well, you don't know me well, yet," Dorian said, smiling at him and giving a wave to the hotel clerk. As they went up the stairs he whispered in a teasing voice, "I'm hiding all my darkest secrets until I know you're hopelessly in love with me."

" 's a good way to go about it," Klaus said solemnly, slowing by the time they reached the second floor landing. They'd walked a lot that day, and then their afternoon together had been.. nicely exhausting, Klaus had to admit. But his legs were finally screaming at him to stop walking, with a flight of stairs still ahead of him, and a short hall-way. So he slowed, hand still holding Dorian's and keeping the thief almost at pace with him. There was no one on the stairway, so when Klaus slowed, Dorian wrapped an arm around him to help him make it the rest of the way. He wasn't sure exactly when it had happened, this ability to read the man and his limitations so well, but it was second nature now. "Nearly there," he murmured as they came up to the third floor landing.

Probably their years of working together on missions, even when they were trying their damndest to NOT work together. "I'll be all right..." Klaus assured in a grumble, as they reached the floor itself and started down the blessedly short hallway. "I just over estimated..."

"I think I did, too," Dorian said, his own feet badly in need of good masseur. They made it down the short hallway to their room and Dorian opened the door. Everything was perfectly ready for them. The Englishman had given orders for a thorough cleaning, a fire to be lit, and the bar to be well-stocked with nightcap possibilities. The lights were dim and the room just seemed to glow at them.

"Mmm," Dorian purred, taking in the room and Klaus all at once. "Home at last."

"Feels more welcoming than home," Klaus murmured, stumbling forward a few steps to sink into one large, comfortable chair. "ah, 's nice."

/Let me be your home, Major.../

The thought came completely unbidden, but it was wrenching in it's honesty. /Don't go away and leave me... let me be with you, oh god, *please*.../ "May I get you something?" Dorian asked softly. "Wine? Cognac? Foot rub?"

"Wine," Klaus murmured, sinking down a little further in that chair, a hand coming up to his forehead to rub a little at his temples, beneath his bangs. "No, Cognac. thank you."

Pouring out the fragrant amber liquid into two snifters, the blond man fought back lascivious thoughts and carried Klaus's drink to him, fingers lingering on the other man's as it was passed.

"We'll have a good long sleep and then a slightly less exhausting day tomorrow," he said, curling up in the other chair. "You did a remarkable amount today. I'm very impressed."

"Why? I'm used to walking everywhere that I can." Mostly because cars were suspicious and easily traced. "At least... I *was* used to walking everywhere I could."

"Well that's it, isn't it," Dorian reminded him. "You couldn't have done any of this even a week ago. "

"It's probably those damned vitamins," Klaus chuckled, swirling his cognac for a moment before tossing back a burning sip. "Which I've forgotten to take today. Can you remember what suitcase they're in...?"

"Yup, I'll get them." Dorian rose fluidly from his chair and walked to the closet, fetching the bottle and carrying it back to Klaus. "May I join you?" he said softly. "I can just sit on the arm of the chair..."

No reaction for a moment, visible or internal from Klaus. He'd been expecting at least a peak of anger or irritation, but... /Iron Klaus isn't really back yet,/ he mused to himself, noting that fact down to himself as he nodded to Dorian. "Sure."

"Thanks," came the murmured reply, and the blond man snatched up his drink and settled in beside Klaus, both men staring into the fire. Dorian leaned over and gave the top of the dark head and gentle kiss. "London is so much more delightful with you by my side."

Surprisingly, an arm slid around his waist, under the guise of steadying him. "It's nice to have someone to be with. 'm usually here only on business." Which mean completely stressed and smoking like a train. Which reminded him... "Am I allowed to I smoke in here?" There were so many places it wasn't allowed, and knowing his luck, this lovely hotel room would be one of those places.

"Are you kidding?" Dorian said with a smile, settling further into that light embrace. "This is the Carnegie Club - the home of cigar smokers extraordinaire. Of course you can. Here, let me..."

With one hand, Dorian reached into Klaus's pocket and took out smokes and lighter in one well-aimed scoop. He tapped out a cigarette and held it in front of the other man. "Open up," he said in a voice like pure silk.

It wasn't the first time Dorian had seamlessly picked Klaus' pockets -- he was just glad he was slouched down, else the thief would have had to squirm his hand to get them. "You're debauched," he sighed, accepting the cigarette, fitted into the corner of his mouth where he always put it himself. Hmn. Dorian paid a lot of attention to his little oddities, and that was appreciable. "Thanks."

There was a flick of metal and then a glowing flame, Dorian lighting the cigarette while keeping a steady gaze on Klaus's mouth. It looked so sensuous, somehow, formidable and vulnerable at the same time and he longed to kiss it. "Yes I *am* debauched," he said, moving his gaze to the lovely green eyes. "And looking at you this way makes me want to debauch you as well..."

"You've been threatening that for years now." Wryly uttered with a heavy layer of disbelief, but he tensed minutely. Then he took a slow drag before letting it dangle again. Smoking without his hands was no problem -- he'd managed it enough times while in captivity that it was now an art form for him. At least the Russians didn't deny him his nicotine...

"Hmmm... a little debauchery can be a very good thing, at the end of a long day," Dorian purred, nuzzling against the man's cheek. "'s very relaxing." "Is there such a thing as a little debauchery?" Klaus murmured, lifting his glass for another sip. "Move closer."

The order, no matter how tenderly it was said, made Dorian blush a bit and he did what he was told, reeling at sudden fantasies of being taken by a deliciously dominating Klaus.

"Yes, sir," he whispered, putting down his glass before sliding into the chair. He let his hands touch the other man's chest, a tentative touch that slid into a firm caress so easily it made him sigh. "Feels so good..." he murmured into Klaus's ear, tickling it with warm breath.

A light sigh reached his ears, as Klaus drained the drink and then set it aside on the same little table Dorian had set his. "You feel good..." A moment later, and that glass was used as an ash-tray because he had yet to place where the real one was in the room, and didn't want to move. That freed him, though, to settle Dorian comfortably in his lap. "You always feel good."

"Hmmm, so do you," Dorian said, placing soft kisses along the line of Klaus's jaw, "although I know you'd never believe it." He nuzzled his way up to the man's mouth, deliciously smoky and warm with the scent of alcohol, and took a long, deep kiss. The fingers of one hand ghosted over the German man's cheekbones, his thumb caressing as open-mouthed kisses continued. "Mmmm... Major..."

"'m going soft," he complained, a token complaint, as he wove one hand into Dorian's thick hair, to better control the thief's movements and coordinate them together. It was a trick he'd learned from having Dorian do it with him, and now it was time to turn it around.

"I think not, Major," came the breathy reply as Dorian wiggled a little brushed a leg against Klaus's half-hard member. The kisses were like drugs, completely dizzying, and Dorian, holding firm to Klaus, still felt as if he were falling, still only half-believing this was happening at all. "Mmm... my wonderful man..."

He hadn't meant *that*, but the infuriating earl... /Let it go, Klaus./ The major gave him a deeper, slower open-mouthed kiss, a careful exploration of the thief's mouth, heat and texture, at the same time he rocked his hips minutely up to Dorian's leg. "Yes."

Pulling back just the slightest bit, still giving the bruised mouth nipping kisses, Dorian murmured, "What is it that *you* really want right now? I know you don't really have *fantasies* but... what can I do, right now, to make you feel *wonderful*..."

"I..." Didn't know. Didn't have the slightest idea what he wanted -- nearly everything felt wonderful, didn't it, when Dorian was doing it? Most things at least... "I don't know."

"Will you let me experiment, then?" came the breathy whisper.

"If I tell you to stop, will you?" Klaus asked after a moment of contemplating that breathy whisper.

"Absolutely."

"Then, experiment," Klaus agreed, wondering where it was going. He wasn't a stupid man, he knew what sex between two men consisted of, but if Dorian could find a way to distort something for *him* he could and would, Klaus knew.

"Let's get undressed, all right?" Dorian said, pulling Klaus up from the chair. It might be too much to ask, but they had showered together, so being naked with him must be getting easier for Klaus. Still, he went very slowly, not wanting to make the man so uncomfortable he had an excuse to retreat.

Klaus noted two things at once -- Dorian's weight on his lap had actually affected the muscles of his legs, which was another sign that he wasn't fit for duty yet, and that his knees were threatening to give out on him. And the third, more expected, reaction was the hardness between two unsteady legs, an effect Dorian could appreciate if he'd planned it all that way. /Unless he has been. Walked me senseless, given me drink, squirmed all over me... and what reason do I have to resist? He's beautiful, and he's the only human who's wanted a thing to do with me./

Klaus gripped at Dorian's forearms for a moment. "Undressed...?" /Completely?/

"Might be nice," the thief said lightly, working open the buttons of Klaus's shirt. "Of course, if you don't want that, we don't have to..." This was punctuated by a warm press of the blond against the length of Klaus's body and a delicate kiss to one vulnerable collarbone.

"No... we will." And god help him if Dorian felt his hands shaking a little as he caught the hem of the thief's slinky leopard print shirt and started to peel it off of him.

Dorian's fingers made short work of Klaus's shirt and tie and let them drop to the floor, catching the man's mouth as he did and begging a long, deep kiss. Then slowly, very slowly, he moved to the waistband of Klaus's trousers, running his hands along it for a bit before beginning to open them. "Yes... you're muscles are really coming back," he murmured appreciatively.

A tickle of touch just above the waistband proved it, as he watched the smooth muscles tense in a tight wave. "It's 'bout time," Klaus shivered, spreading his own hands at the back of Dorian's pants, sliding beneath a little. Parts of love-making didn't make sense to him sometimes. Shirt before pants, yes. Pants before shoes? No. Oh, he'd have a hell of a time getting his pants over the slight heel of his boots...

Dorian helped, dropping to his knees, out of Klaus's grasp, taking the trouser legs down with him. As Klaus lifted each foot, the thief eased the pant leg over the shoe and when both were done he stood up and admired his work. Slipping out of his own pants, he reached out a hand and trailed it down the sleek chest of the other man. "I wanted to see what we looked like, in just our boots..."

Dorian's boots were the heeled flashy things he always wore. They gave him a little more height, bringing him nearly even with Klaus, but still not quite. and looked... stunning. That was surely debauchery, to stand there with a fire glittering behind him, in shiny black leather boots! Such a contrast to the man's pale, golden body...

Klaus's own boots were studier, calf-high with a snug cinch at the top and laced with exquisite precision. Without his clothing, there was no way possible Dorian could hide his reaction to the man, all lean muscle, sleeker probably than he's been when he had the old bulk. Lovelier than any artwork the blond had ever seen, the sight of him, there in his tough-guy boots, made Dorian flush, his cock twitching in anticipation. "Oh, Major," he breathed, "come to bed with me..." And he held out a graceful hand.

Grasping that hand and agreeing was better for Klaus' sanity than looking at Dorian and knowing he was being looked at, too. That was embarrassing, to be under the other man's raking gaze and be frozen solid, not knowing quite what came next. He was sure, though, as he followed the thief to the room's bed, that he wanted to take his boots off so he could feel nothing but the other man.

"Sit down on the edge of the bed," Dorian said softly and when Klaus obeyed, he knelt and began carefully unlacing those very same boots, slowly sliding off first one, then the other, socks going with them and warm hands lingering to caress the heated skin beneath.

The last time he'd done it, Klaus's reaction had been the same -- little sighs of enjoyment and the feeling of tight muscles under his hands. Only, now it seemed he was in slightly better condition than he'd been before, muscles harder with strength and not with torment. "You're a wonder, Dorian." "Am I?" the thief said, smiling up at him as his fingers roamed upward, firmly massaging the tops of his feet, each toe in turn. "Well, I think the same thing of you... we have a mutual admiration society going it seems..." One light kiss was pressed to the inside of Klaus's knee as the massage went on.

More soft sighs and groans -- probably the most noise of pleasure Klaus made, the least stifled out of all of them. "As long as we admire each other..."

Dorian's hands moved up to soothe Klaus's ankles and calves. "I can honestly say, Major, that there is no one on earth whom I admire more than you." Plainly said, but it was the truth and he'd say it as often as it took to make the German man believe it.

It would probably take a long time indeed. "Why..." A break of silence to make way for a small gasp as a particularly uncomfortable muscle unknotted. "Why do you admire me?"

"For your intelligence, your determination," Dorian said, hands moving as if they knew the muscles by heart, which they did. "For your devotion to the things you value and for your insane bloody-mindedness at times when it really counts..." He looked up at the man sitting on the bed, Klaus's foot resting against his chest. "For the very, very *good* man I know you are."

The expression on Klaus' face was implacable at first, until he pulled back his leg and reached for Dorian, pulling him up for a kiss. "And you... are determined in what you want, loyal, brilliant and kind..."

Whispering against the warmth of Klaus's mouth, Dorian managed to husk out, "I would do anything for you... Major..." Then he took the man's lips again, gently, passionately, hands tangling in dark hair. "I love you."

"Not Major," Klaus sighed against Dorian's lips. "Just Klaus. Just... just Klaus." He didn't want to be reminded of duty. Duty said he should call the ICPO and turn Dorian in. Klaus, on the other hand, wanted to go along with any 'experimentation' Dorian could come up with, and then some. Klaus wanted to spent as much time as possible with the Earl.

"Klaus," Dorian whispered between kisses. What a beautiful gift - to be allowed the intimacy of that name! It made him feeling such a passionate tenderness towards the man it was nearly unbearable.

Tugging gently, Dorian pulled him down to lay beside him on the bed, wrapping long arms around his shoulders and pressing every bit of himself against the other man.

"Was... What's now, Dorian?" Klaus asked, looking for guidance; kissing he knew well by now, embracing too, even so barely dressed.

"May I... may I lie on top of you?" Dorian's voice was low and husky with want, his body a burning thing seeking out Klaus's, wanting company in the blaze.

"Yes..." A moment of non-movement, though, and then Klaus shifted onto his back, pulling Dorian's unresisting body atop his own. In a moment, the blond had straddled his hips, weight resting on his knees. He could feel Klaus's hardness between his thighs and one shift moved him upwards so that the long, thick shaft could nestle between Dorian's buttocks. After that, he didn't dare move a muscle, just sat, looking quietly down at Klaus's face.

If Dorian had ever been in a car about to hit a wild animal, the look on Klaus' face was the same look he would have seen on that animals' face. A slight shift of Klaus' hips, cock rubbing along the cleft, and the man stiffened minutely, body loosing it's prior relaxation. "Is... Is that what you want?"

"I just want to touch you," the blond man said soothingly, "and let you touch me. Nothing more."

"Ja." A fractional nod from Klaus, and he moved his hands to settle and stroke Dorian's hips. /Just touching. it isn't what it could be Klaus, relax.../

Getting down on his hands and knees, Dorian kissed along the plains of Klaus's chest, nuzzling down to give a single nipple a light, delicate lick, hips moving very slightly, very softly.

"That's... a good touch," Klaus murmured, stroking a hand along Dorian's spine and then in a strangely caring move, against the start of the blonde's cleft.

The lick slowly turned into a nuzzle and then a light suckle, Dorian's other hand moving to brush a thumb against the other one. Small, pleasured noises escaped the thief as he brought that nub to life, leaving it moist and puckered before he moved to the next. "So delightful..."

"How...?" asked shakily, his hands roaming Dorian's back, and wishing he could see to properly return the touches.

"Hmm?" Dorian asked, lazily, still concentrating on his suckling. "What's that?"

"It's..." He finally parted the man from his chest with a jerk of movement, then twisted them both so that he was atop the thief. "How is it a delight?"

Dorian gasped a bit at the sudden change of perspective, immediately melting underneath the other man. /Oh, god, I must have died... they let me into heaven after all!/ "It's..." He tried to catch his breath, which had speeded up considerably. "You just feel, and taste, so good... I can't seem to get enough of you."

"Does it feel good to touch me like that?"

"Oh, yes... yes it does... even better because I know you like it, too." Dorian gazed up at Klaus's face, eyes worshiping every line, every feature. "Everything feels good with you," he said breathily.

"'t feels good to touch you, too," Klaus murmured, seeming almost hypnotized by Dorian's want and need-hazed gaze.

Warm breath grazed Klaus's ear, "You don't know the things you do to me... Klaus. The things you make me think of... oh, like no one else ever has..."

"The things you make *me* think of when no one else has," Klaus countered, ducking his head a little to kiss the earl's jaw.

"Can you tell me...? Tell me something you think about, when you think about me?"

If he could have seen the flush that rose on Klaus' cheeks at that request... he probably would have chuckled. "A lot of... things that are perverted." meaning, he couldn't or wouldn't put them into words.

"Perverted, hmm...? That's a good sign." His hands rose to tangle again in Klaus's hair. "Can you show me one of them?" he whispered.

A shift and Dorian felt one callused hand wrap around his cock, slowly, carefully, for a moment, before letting go to cup and feel his soft, heavy balls.

The blond man tried to keep his breathing under control, but he couldn't stifle the soft moan of pleasure that touch brought. Those hands, that held a gun so surely, and now in such a tender, intimate embrace... it was almost too much. He let his head fall back on the bed a bit, closing his eyes and arching up just the slightest bit that touch. "Ahhhh..."

"I want... to... do what you did for me," Klaus said with some effort, pulling back from the Earl's neck and jaw, those pressing kisses.

"What did I do?" Dorian asked, the question genuine. "You mean suckling here?" he said, brushing Klaus's nipples.

A shiver, and a shake of his head. Then the hand against his genitals moved minutely, making callused presence known. "Here."

"Oh..." Dorian said, squirming a little at how *good* that touch felt. "If... if you're sure... that would be lovely." He bit his lip once, worried that Klaus might get himself into something that frightened him. "You can always stop if it's too much," he said soothingly.

"I know," Klaus told him, shifting down slowly, pressing the occasional small kiss against Dorian's chest on his way down the thief's lanky body. Then, finally, a kiss against the crown of his cock. "Ah!" Dorian did his best to keep from pressing upwards, stunned to the core at the feeling of Klaus's mouth on him. /Dear lord, I'll be lucky to last two minutes!/ "That feels... wonderful..." he managed to say.

Another kiss there, careful, and then Klaus gave a lick, as if testing to see if he minded Dorian's taste of not. There was a doubtful pause for a moment, then a careful lick at the base of Dorian's cock, too, from root to tip. Then Klaus decided, heart pounding in his skull, to try to take the thief's organ into his mouth.

"It's all right," Dorian soothed. "You don't have to do that if you don't want to..." /Oh, but I want you to! I want it like I want to hear the sound of your voice... like I want the taste of your mouth... ah, *please*!/

"I want to try," Klaus told him, pausing for a moment before he opened his mouth a little, and lowered his head, trying to not catch his teeth on the soft and sensitive skin.

"Just a little at first," Dorian whispered. "If you curl your lips around your teeth it's easier..." He'd given instructions to many boys over the years, but never to anyone like Klaus and he was a little uneasy about how the man would take it.

Klaus pulled back from the fraction he'd managed so far, taking a moment to regroup and follow Dorian's instructions. When he tried again, it was with lips mostly saving Dorian from the danger of his teeth, moving down so slowly.

"Oh, yes..." Dorian sighed, gently stroking the dark hair that lay across his belly. Just the thought of what they were doing was causing him to leak slowly. Klaus's mouth was hot and tight around him, his moves clumsy but so very sincere. "You can use your tongue, if you like."

Two things at once? Well, if anyone could manage it he could, and Dorian was so damned skillful at it... Eyes closed, Klaus rubbed his tongue against the underside of Dorian's cock, trying to take in just a little bit more.

"Oh!" A sharp cry escaped the blond man as he struggled to keep his hips down and not plunge into that hot, tight grip. "God, it's so good!" he whimpered as Klaus licked him again, sending fire through him with every touch of that raspy tongue.

Worse, Klaus kept it up, finally moving up and down along Dorian's cock, stroking his tongue against it as his hand still cupped and carefully fondled Dorian's balls. There *was* pleasure in hearing Dorian react so, in giving such feelings to his companion and lover.

"Ah... K-Klaus... I'm... oh, I can't..." Dorian's hand was pushing the dark-haired man back, not wanting to come in his mouth, knowing it would be too much for him.

Couldn't what? It didn't make sense to Klaus until another rasp and a lowering of his head got him an upwards buck of Dorian's hips that nearly choked him, and then an impossible gush of semen into his mouth. The German man jerked back, sputtering.

For several moments, Dorian could do nothing to help, lost in an intense release, back arching with each spasm, eyes closed in bliss. As it wore off, he seemed to realize where he was, and what the sounds were that came from between his legs.

He sat up quickly. "Klaus? Are you all right? Did I choke you??"

A slight nod from the black-haired man, who was wiping the edges of his mouth with the back of his hand. "'s fine."

Dorian's hand were soothing his shoulders instantly. "I'm so sorry, love - I tried to tell you, to move you... but it was so good, I just couldn't do it fast enough! Oh, I *hope* you forgive me!" Large blue eyes were trained on him, looking wide and pleading.

"Forgive you for what?" Klaus gave a cough, swallowed, and felt much better about what he'd just tried.

"Well, that can be an awful shock if you don't expect it," he said, laughing a little nervously. "But you were very brave and handled everything extremely well... including me," he murmured.

"Then I know.. what to expect next time, don't I?" Klaus said with a little smile for a moment, leaning near to kiss Dorian again. "I think we need a towel or tissues... I'll be back in a moment."

Dorian watched him go, mouth open in astonishment. Was this the man he thought he knew? This patient, relaxed man, who had not only kept himself calm in bed but had brought him off in minutes and seemed to shrug it off? For one horrible moment, Dorian worried about an imposter, just pretending to be Klaus, but then brushed the thought aside and just enjoyed watching the other man as he walked to the bathroom and back.

He'd washed his face quickly while in there, and returned with a wet washcloth that he applied to Dorian's stomach and soft cock, before dropping it over the edge of the bed. Then he settled in with Dorian once more. "You 'kay?"

"I'm absolutely wonderful," the blond man said, smiling at him and leaning in to kiss him. "But... what about you...?" His hand grazed the length of Klaus's erection. "May I just... touch you?"

He watched Klaus try to reign in a reaction, shivering. "Yes."

"Wait here... just one moment..." And with that he was gone, over the bed and into the closet again, coming back with a small, green vial. Clambering back over Klaus, he snuggled back down and opened it, pouring a small amount of golden oil into his palm. "Just lie back and relax," he murmured in the other man's ear, stretching out beside him, propped on one elbow. Then he moved his hand to hover for a moment over the straining erection, letting the oil warm before pouring it over the thick head and shaft.

Now, at last, he drew a full-throated gasp from Klaus. "Gott, that's nice..." And strangely different, unlike anything else had ever felt!

When most of the oil had dripped off his hand, Dorian brought it down over the long shaft and curling his palm around it. It moved like silk, slowly downwards, and then up, as the blond man reached the head and gave it a soft squeeze before beginning his strokes again. "So beautiful, love... you take my breath away..."

"You... Ohhhh, you, Dorian, know just... what feels... best..." A tight strain of words as he hugged the thief closer with one arm, shuddering again. Such a skillful touch! And so loving, which was more important than skill.

"And you are a work of art," Dorian breathed. He couldn't take his eyes from that long, thick shaft, perfectly rigid, shimmering with oil, such a potent symbol of masculinity that it made his head spin - he who worshipped the masculine body above all things. "So perfect..."

"Not... a work of art," Klaus protested, though he didn't stop Dorian's hand. Didn't dare to. "Just a person..."

"*My* person," Dorian said possessively, dipping his hand down to spread the heated oil over Klaus's balls. "No one else's - just mine." Laying back down beside the man, he leaned over and pressed a fevered kiss to his mouth. "Mine..."

As if, really, anyone else would have wanted Iron Klaus...

"Keep kissing me," Klaus asked softly, turning his head to take Dorian's lips again, shifting his hips up against an oil-slicked hand.

"Mmm... I could kiss you for eternity," Dorian murmured, making his strokes longer and firmer, loving the feel of the heated weight in his hands. His thumb swirled around the head, ghosting over the little hole and rubbing softly at the underside as his tongue explored Klaus's mouth, by turns sweet and savage in it's need. It was an opportunity he'd never thought he'd get in his life -- to touch Iron Klaus like that, to be touched back with such a display of want to please... it was happening against all circumstances!

But it was happening. He had Klaus' body beside his, writhing against his hand, Klaus' lips under his, sparring back and forth.

And now everything was deeper, stronger - strokes and kisses heating his blood and his brain, wanting the German man so terribly it felt that any moment he would fly apart. His fist moved faster, over the slick hardness, and Dorian felt a wave of possessiveness for it. It was now his, as well as Klaus's, precious flesh that felt like heaven under his fingers, and he moaned into the other man's mouth, unable to say anything that could possibly express the feeling. Klaus couldn't have put it into words if there had been a gun against the back of his head as he kissed Dorian. Unbelievable, that the thief could raise such a need in him, building fast and threatening to fall. "Near... near..."

"Oh, do it for me," Dorian whispered, the need to feel the man's release almost physical in it's intensity. "I want to feel you come..." "You... You're so..." Words that Klaus bit off as he caught his bottom lip between his teeth, stifling any noise that threatened to escape him as he came. It was always like a burst of intense feeling, like a surge of adrenaline on the field, and when it was gone, washed in the wetness on his stomach and Dorian's hands, it left him sated and relaxed.

"Ohhhh... so beautiful..." Dorian was moaning into Klaus's mouth, a few last kisses before turning his head to look at the sight. Klaus's belly was covered, as was Dorian's fist and it felt so good to know he'd done it to the other man. Without uncurling his fist, the blond propped himself a bit and looked at Klaus. "May I clean you up?" he said softly.

"Wash cloth's on the side. Floor..." Klaus drawled, still breathing hard from straining ot reach completion. It truly was right, now -- he was every bit the faggot that Dorian was. "I don't need a wash cloth," the Earl whispered, and then slid down over Klaus's body like a silk scarf, his tongue rasping softly at the creamy fluid on those tight muscles. "Special kind of oil... mmm..."

"Ohhh..." That was startling, and not erotic so much as it was simply enjoyable. Dorian's lips tickling against his skin, tongue lathing over his muscles to clean up the 'mess'.

Dorian moved lower and lower, cleansing the man softly, thoroughly, taking extra care around the sensitive, softening cock, until Klaus was spotless. "You're delicious," he breathed and lifted himself to lay back with the other man, heads together, long bodies stretched on the bed. "And you seem very... satisfied," he added with a smile.

An arm shifted to keep Dorian close -- not pulling him nearer, but just keeping him in place. "I am. Th... thank you for that, Dorian."

"Thank *you*, love," the blond murmured back, drinking in the heat from the other man even with a little space in between them. He himself was the cuddling type, but the evening had gone so well that he didn't want to press his luck. "I think I'll sleep very well indeed tonight," he said, a smile in his voice.

"I think I will, too," Klaus promised in a soft whisper, closing his eyes for a moment. Before he'd been so very tired, but now he was just awake and relaxed. Two states that seldom met and worked together for good. He'd wait until Dorian was sleeping, then get up and read for a while.

"Sleep well... Klaus," Dorian murmured, closing his eyes. The thief not only moved liked a cat, he seemed to sleep like one, too, and in minutes his breathing was soft and deep, his body completely relaxed. Perfect. Klaus slipped free carefully, regretting leaving Dorian's warmth, but knowing he needed to be tired before he tried to lay with the man again. He moved to his still-open suitcase, pulled out a robe and slid it on before he moved to sit down in the same chair as before. Ah, his cigarettes were still there. Even better.

The night was chilly for spring and the he was grateful for the fire, no longer blazing but still giving out a glowing warmth. It's light flickered on the gracefully proportioned walls and over Dorian's hair, turning bits of it to molten gold.

He really was a beautiful man, and it was just as relaxing to admit that as it was to finally act on impulses that had haunted him for years.

Now, the jealousy made sense, the protectiveness when it was least rational. The inability to shoot him or truly ever get rid of the man...

/I think I love him. More than want him -- love... hmm./

Almost as if he knew Klaus was thinking of him, Dorian stirred, and opened his eyes, looking over at the German man with exquisite languidness. "Can' sleep?" he murmured.

"Nein," Klaus told him, lighting a cigarette even as he answered. "Go back to sleep."

"Mmm... promise you'll come back to bed when you're tired? You won' sleep in a chair or something...?"

"I promise," Klaus murmured softly, tone quiet so as to not overly wake Dorian. "'m just thinking."

"Y' think too much," Dorian said.

"There's no such thing," Klaus murmured, knowing that in truth his problem was the exact opposite.

"There is too..." came the sleepy voice. "Go to sleep, Dorian." Another soft urging. Maybe for Dorian there was such a thing as too much thought, but Klaus knew he didn't think about things often enough. And just then, he needed to think about his actions of the past two decades.

There was one last sleepy protest and then Dorian seemed to settle in once again, soft, deep breaths barely audible, but reassuring nonetheless. Klaus smoked half the pack, steadily, as he thought. Thought and dug back through his mind, clearly able to mark most of his reactions to Dorian as the effects of internalized homophobia. The dansuer had been sheer jealousy; the events of Alaska and the money printing plate a strange mixture of trying to reach for Dorian and being scared stiff of the man reaching back; the mission before that, his inability to shoot him when he'd realized that he hated the image of Dorian... but not the man himself, not in the flesh.

Flesh that he'd been doing some very perverted things with, and didn't have too many qualms about doing more with -- today had been a big leap for him, though, and he wasn't sure he could handle another one at the moment. The fact that he'd taken Dorian's cock in his mouth, sucked him off with a *want* to give him nothing but pleasure... It was enough to process for the moment.

When there were six cigarettes left in the box, and a haze of smoke around Klaus' head, the man rose from the chair, stripped off his robe, and crawled into bed to lay beside Dorian.