Title: Opened
By: angstytimelord
Pairing: Josef Kostan/Mick St. John
Fandom: Moonlight
Rating: NC-17
Word Count: 1,593
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 looked down at the man in his arms as he thrust his hips forward again, wanting to see every expression on Josef's face as he was made love to. He didn't want to miss a single moment, one single nuance of emotion flitting across those beautiful features.

He couldn't get enough of seeing Josef this way, completely opened and yielding. It was something he'd never thought that he would see from Josef, not until the two of them had come together for the first time. He had always thought of this man as being closed, private, secretive.

But Josef wasn't that way at all -- not with him. Not since the two of them had become lovers, since they'd confessed their feelings for each other and begun to open their hearts and souls to one another. It was a slow, cautious progress, but it was happening.

Slowly but surely, Josef was able to say more and more often what he must feel in his heart. Mick was doing his best to be patient, knowing that it was hard for Josef to say those words. After all, it had taken him over four hundred years to even admit them inwardly.

When they were together like this, with no physical barriers between them, Mick didn't need to hear the words. He knew that Josef loved him -- and more than that, he knew that Josef needed him, as he'd never needed anyone else.

Skin to skin, body to body, heart to heart, soul to soul. When they came together like this, there were no words needed; he could look into Josef's eyes and see the desire and the need that burned there, without either of them having to say a word of confirmation.

He could feel Josef's muscles tighten around him as he thrust forward again, slowly; he wanted the other man to feel every inch of him, wanted Josef to concentrate on how good it felt to be entered, filled -- taken. He wanted to make Josef his, completely his, in every way.

But hadn't that already happened? a voice in the back of his mind asked. Hadn't Josef already become his the first time they'd made love? After all, Josef had given himself willingly and completely. He hadn't held any part of himself back, then or now.

Yes, he had, Mick answered that little voice. He'd held back saying that he was in love. He still held those words back, and Mick wanted to hear them. No, he needed to hear them -- more than Josef could possibly know. He needed those words to cement what he felt.

Those words were his his way of knowing how Josef felt, of confirming those feelings in his own heart. If he didn't hear them, there would always be that kernel of doubt that rested within him, at the very center of his heart. He needed those words to erase the doubt.

Why did he need to hear the words, when he knew perfectly well how Josef felt? that voice argued back. Josef had said those words before. He'd said them without any prodding from Mick, when he'd felt that he wanted to say them. That should be enough for him.

A groan came from his lips as he pressed forward, the tight heat of Josef's body almost seeming to draw him in. What did he care about words when they had this? Nothing that Josef could say really mattered, as long as this passion flared between them.

At that moment, Josef's eyes met his; the love that he could see there almost too Mick's breath away. What was happening between them was something rare and special, something that he had never experienced before with anyone else.

This wasn't about him taking Josef, or about needing to hear words that he knew they both already felt. This was about the love that flowed between the two of them, not only when they were together like this, but in every moment of their lives.

Even when he wasn't with Josef physically, he could feel the love that the other man felt for him reaching out for him, to wrap him a warm cocoon and hold him safe from any outside forces. Josef was always with him, even if they were miles apart at the time.

This wasn't about taking; this was about sharing, each of them opening not only their bodies, but their hearts and souls to each other. There were no barriers of any kind between them now, nothing holding them back from melding into one entity.

He'd never felt such love for Josef as he did at this moment; the other man was completely opened to him, and Mick could feel his barriers falling as well, his heart and soul opening to the man who was in his arms, in his heart, and in his life for all of eternity.

For what seemed like a very long time, he merely lay there, not moving, stunned by the enormity of his love for the man he held in his arms. He could literally feel that love being returned, strengthened, made even more a tangible part of him by being shared.

When he finally rocked his hips forward again, Josef moaned out his name, his head falling back against the pillows to expose the line of his throat. It was impossible for Mick not to lower his head to kiss that vulnerable column, to run his tongue over that velvety skin.

"I love you," he whispered, not caring if Josef said the words to him or not. It didn't matter if those words were said aloud, or if they only felt them in their hearts. They were there, just under the surface; they didn't need to be uttered aloud.

But he wanted to say the words. He wanted Josef to hear them, to know that their hearts and souls were inextricably linked. He wanted to put his feelings into words, even if the other man found those words hard to say. He needed to say what he felt.

Josef's eyes met his again, the look in those eyes conveying all that he didn't say. It dawned on Mick in that moment that Josef's heart spoke to his own; the words were communicated as clearly as if he'd shouted them from a rooftop.

The union of their bodies was all that he needed to tell him that Josef loved him. Josef had never opened himself willingly to another man before, not like this. Mick was the one and only man he'd loved, the only one who he had given himself to freely.

What more proof could there be that Josef loved him? If he didn't, then he could never have entered into their physical union so joyously, trusting Mick in every possible way -- not only with his body, but with his heart as well.

His hips pressed forward once more, thrusting more deeply into Josef than he had been before. The other man gasped out his name, his slender thighs tightening around Mick's sides -- then they were both crying out, trembling, spasming in each other's arms.

They lay there for long moments afterwards; Mick didn't want to say anything that could break the magical spell that seemed to surround them. He'd never felt so attuned to Josef, so completely a part of the man he loved, not in all the times they'd made love.

He hadn't simply taken Josef tonight, the two of them had shared themselves in every possible way, opening their bodies, hearts and souls to each other. He'd never felt anything like it; the experience had shaken him more than he'd realized.

He had never let himself be completely opened to Josef before, even though he'd thought that he had. This had been the first time that he'd shared every part of his being with the other man; it was almost as though he could feel a part of Josef within him, burrowing deep into the core of his being.

How had he not realized before that the words he'd thought he needed to hear were always right there, in the depths of his lover's eyes? He hadn't really been paying attention, Mick chastised himself. But he was now -- and from now on, he always would.

Josef raised a hand to stroke his cheek, their gazes meeting and holding. Mick didn't need to ask what Josef was feeling; he could see it plainly in his lover's face, written in the depths of those beautiful eyes. He was mesmerized by that gaze, held by their intensity.

"I love you," Josef whispered, His heart was in those words; Mick had the feeling that if he placed his hand on his lover's chest, he would feel the other man's heart reaching out to his own, their two hearts entwining together until it was impossible to separate them.

"I love you, too," Mick answered, and as he spoke the words, he could feel his soul opening up, all the love he felt for Josef pouring out in those three words that, tonight, had taken on a new meaning for him -- words that he knew would always be there in both of their hearts.

***