Not Expendable

Chapter 2

Buck's mood soared when Eddie let him know that Christopher was staying at Pepa's house that night, giving the two of them some much-needed privacy. After the horrible visit to his parents' house and an exhausting week at work, the prospect of a night of uninhibited passion with Eddie was like an oasis in the desert.

One thing that piqued his curiosity pretty quickly was that Eddie seemed to be planning something special. The way he was talking about tonight suggested he'd made some preparations, beyond the obvious of having Christopher spend the night elsewhere. There was a certain knowing gleam in his eye that made Buck's heart beat a little faster and the wait until they got off their shift almost unbearable. Hell, whenever his boyfriend gave him one of those luscious looks (and then quickly switched back to "serious firefighter on the job" look), Buck had to make a conscious effort not to get hard. If it happened at the firehouse, he was pretty sure he'd never hear the end of it from their teammates. If it happened on a call, HR might just get involved.

Still, Eddie, in typical Eddie fashion, refused to say a word about what would be – ahem – going down that night. Buck could tell that Eddie not only knew this was driving him crazy, but actually enjoyed it. Asshole, Buck thought, except it was probably the fondest way anyone had ever been thought of as an asshole in history. Throughout the impossibly-long drive from the firehouse to Eddie's apartment, they didn't talk much, the tension in the air thick enough to cut through with a knife.

They did stop on the way to pick up Thai food, but this didn't stop Buck from pouncing on Eddie as soon as they'd walked through the door and kissing the hell out of his boyfriend. He didn't get very far, though, as Eddie gripped his hands in that tender-yet-decisive way of his, forcing Buck to back up slightly and look into Eddie's resolute face.

"Easy now, baby," he drawled, with a hint of fire behind the calm in those golden eyes, "I'm calling the shots here."

And when he looked and sounded like that, Buck wasn't about to argue.

They laid out the food on the table, sat down and began to eat, though the butterflies in Buck's stomach were a definite match for his appetite. It was a good thing they'd only picked out a light meal, knowing that there was no way they'd be able to wait too long between dinner and sex.

When they were done, Eddie stood up from his chair and offered his hand to Buck with a small smile. Buck vaguely reflected on the fact that as much as Eddie was able to maintain a cool exterior (helpful in teasing the hell out of Buck), he was obviously pretty impatient to get this show on the road, too; Buck couldn't remember the last time Eddie was willing to leave dishes and food containers on the table for an indeterminate amount of time.

Buck almost knocked his chair on the floor from how quickly he stood up; to Eddie's credit, his smirk at that was almost unnoticeable. Almost. Buck clasped his boyfriend's hand eagerly, and Eddie led them into the bedroom, reflexively moving to close the door after them before obviously remembering that they were alone tonight and it wasn't needed.

And then they were finally facing each other, inches away from the bed.

Eddie reached out to caress Buck's cheek, looking deeply into his eyes. "Buck, do you trust me?"

Buck snickered slightly without thinking, before the earnestness of Eddie's question hit and he looked back at him, equally serious. "With my life. You know that, Eds."

Eddie nodded. "Okay. Tonight is about you, Buck. I want you to let me do this for you. So don't touch me, don't worry about getting me off. Just lie back and let me take care of you."

Buck was immensely flattered, but at the same time, this didn't feel entirely right to him.

"I don't know, babe... not touch you at all? That's a tall order."