Title: Inside These Arms
By: angstytimelord
Pairing: Josef Kostan/Mick St. John
Fandom: Moonlight
Rating: R
Word Count: 1,437
Disclaimer: This is entirely a product of my own imagination, and I make no profit from it. I do not own the lovely Josef Kostan or Mick St. John, unfortunately. Please do not sue.***
Mick slid into bed behind Josef, careful not to wake his sleeping lover with his movements. It almost felt strange to sleep in a bed, even though he knew that sometime during the next day, the two of them would crawl into their respective freezers to sleep.
He wanted to shudder at the thought; he hated sleeping in that thing. It was much better to fall asleep in a bed, with his arms around Josef, feeling the comfort of having the person he loved clasped in his arms, close to his heart.
It had been hard for Josef to do this, Mick knew, but once he'd gotten used to the idea of being in bed with a man, he had't seemed to mind being held through the night. And it had taken Josef far less time to accustom himself to that than Mick would have expected.
He'd been patient, wanting to spend the night with Josef in a bed more than he could put into words. But it had taken a while for his boyfriend to feel comfortable with that -- and in many ways, Mick couldn't blame him for his hesitation.
After all, he reasoned, Josef had been used to spending nights in a freezer -- or at least in a very cold place -- alone, for nearly four hundred years. Of course it wasn't going to be easy for him to get used to spending the night asleep in a lover's arms.
It wasn't easy for him either, he reminded himself, smiling ruefully. It had felt strange not only to be next to someone while he was drifting off to sleep, but also to be in a bed. How long had it been since he'd slept encased in blankets and pillows?
He'd done it during those few brief days that he'd regained his humanity -- but that hardly seemed to matter. He might have thought that he'd enjoyed the luxury of sleeping in a bed then, but that had been nothing compared to what he felt now.
It was very different to snuggle up next to someone he loved in a bed than it was to sleep alone on his couch, wrapped in sheets and blankets. That had felt good, but this felt unbelievable. Just having Josef in his arms gave him a feeling of bliss that he'd never known.
Mick couldn't help but wonder how Josef felt about spending nights in his embrace, but he could only assume that his boyfriend liked doing so. If he didn't, then there was no way that he'd be here, in Josef's penthouse, snuggling against the other man in bed.
Josef stirred in his arms, turning over in his embrace to look at him. "Hey," he murmured, raising a hand to cover a yawn. "I didn't hear you come in. Shows how much I trust you, that I'm not awake the second I hear somebody walk into my place."
"I'm not surprised at that -- your senses probably told you it was me even when you were asleep," Mick told him. "You can tell when it's me, can't you?" he asked, wondering if Josef did indeed have that sort of sixth sense when it came to knowing his presence.
Josef nodded, looking thoughtful. 'I never have with anybody else," he said softly, his gaze not leaving Mick's face. "Just more proof that you and I belong together, right?" he added, the thoughtful look turning to the crooked smile that Mick knew so well.
"How long did it take you to figure out that you belong inside these arms?" he asked, his voice lowering an octave, sounding husky and seductive. "Did you know it when we first met, or did it take you a while to discover that you belong to me?"
"I knew it from the beginning -- even though I tried to deny it," Josef told him, the smile still there. "After all I went through the night I was turned, I hated to admit that I could be attracted to a man -- but I couldn't deny it, even though a part of me wanted to."
"I'm sorry that it took me so long to get wise to the fact that I'm yours," Mick whispered, wishing with all of his heart that he hadn't been so stupidly obsessed with Coraline. "I was blind to what was right in front of me. You should've slugged me and told me how you felt."
"If I'd slugged you, then you'd have been too pissed off at me to listen to how I felt about you!" Josef said with a laugh. "I think things worked out pretty well -- even if we did waste over fifty years before we finally both admitted the truth to each other."
Mick couldn't help laughing, nodding ruefullly at Josef's words. "You're right about that. If you'd slugged some sense into me, I'd have been offended, and then I wouldn't have been able to see everything you've done for me over the years -- or how much I've always been in love with you."
He pulled Josef closer to his body as he spoke, closing his eyes and burying his face against the other man's hair. He loved the shampoo that Josef used, a warm, cinnamon and vanilla scent that he would always associate with holding this man in his arms.
Josef belonged inside these arms. He always had, even when Mick had been too stupid to know it himself. Why had it taken him so long to realize that Josef was the only person he could truly be happy with, the only one who had always been there for him?
When they'd first known each other and he had been human, his obsession with Coraline had taken over his life. He shouldn't be surprised that he hadn't noticed Josef's devotion then; he wouldn't have noticed anything or anyone in the haze he'd been living in.
That had quickly dissipated when he'd been turned; his disillusionment with her had begun on their wedding night, when he'd discovered that she had made him a monster. He'd turned to Josef's friendship more and more after that.
And now .... Now, Josef was his, in every way. He couldn't imagine his life without this man in his arms, in his bed, in his heart. He wanted to spend eternity with Josef -- and thanks to the fact that this man had turned him for a second time, he would be able to do just that.
Mick stretched out next to Josef, pulling his boyfriend closer into his embrace. Nothing had ever felt as good as lying here with Josef in his arms, feeling the other man's heartbeat against his own. Nothing had ever given him as much satisfaction -- or as much peace.
With Josef inside his arms, he could let all the cares and worries of his life, his job, his existence as a vampire slip away from him. For the time that they were together, here in Josef's bed, in the cocoon of darkness all around them, they were safe, protected, united.
Josef moved closer to him, pressing the length of his body against Mick's. His own body was instantly on fire; no one had ever been able to arouse him the way that Josef could. All he could think of was taking his boyfriend into his arms and kissing him breathless.
And after that .... Mick smiled inwardly, knowing what would come after that. Josef would be lucky if he got any sleep for the rest of the night, even in a soft, comfortable bed like this one. This bed was too conducive to doing other things besides merely sleeping.
"Why do I have a feeling that you're not planning on us getting any sleep for the rest of the night?" Josef teased as Mick rolled him over onto his back and straddled him in one swift, graceful movement. "Not that I'm going to say no. Just wondering."
"I think you'd be right about that," Mick replied, lowering his head to capture Josef's lips with his own. He intended for them to spend the rest of the night loving the outside world away -- with Josef locked safely inside his arms.***