ATWT: Shirts and Skins

[noelleleithe.livejournal.com]

Title: Shirts and Skins
Author: noelleleithe
Rating: NC-17
Pairing: Luke/Noah
Word count: ~2,270
Disclaimer: I don't own anything here except my own words. No copyright infringement is intended.

Summary: Luke and Noah play basketball, and other games of one-on-one.

Author's notes: frances_veritas wanted Luke and Noah playing basketball and *ahem*. When Moey prompts, I listen (and we all win). Big freakin’ thanks to bluejeanbaby01 for on-the-spot beta, and to dazzling_icer and evl_bbw88 for Twitter-iffic encouragement. :)

~~~~

Luke had noticed the old goal nailed to a tree around the corner two days after they moved into their new apartment, but he hadn't had an opportunity to check it out until now. The day was hot and sticky, but clouds were rolling in with the promise of rainfall, so he wouldn't have to deal with the worst of the summer heat and glare. He jumped up and gave the netless metal rim a good smack, and it shook but held fast.

"Awesome." Luke grinned and peeled off his t-shirt, reaching for the basketball he'd optimistically brought along. There were plenty of public-access courts around town, but in this spot, really just a clearing in the narrow wooded area behind their building, he'd have a little privacy.

Part of that was vanity, he knew. He hadn't played since high school, so he'd be rusty. But while the idea of playing again brought up some bad memories, it carried good ones, too. He'd been good. He'd had fun.

And right now, he could use the distraction.

Noah was just so busy. He got home late, left early, and ran nearly non-stop in between. Thinking back, Luke could count on two hands the number of meals they'd eaten together in the month since they'd moved into their apartment. The number for sex was almost as depressing. Luke thought living together would mean more time for each other, not less. Sleeping in the same bed every night was great, but it wasn't exactly all he'd envisioned.

He frowned as he started a slow dribble, moving carefully, giving his body time to warm up and recall the sense memories from years on the court. Soon he was moving smoothly, switching from hand to hand, stopping and restarting, dodging imaginary opponents.

He took an easy shot, grinning as it dropped neatly through the hoop. Reaching for the rebound, he moved into an easy, loping gait, circling the small patch of dirt, faking a pass to the cedar tree, then going for a simple layup.

He got fancier the longer he played, taking three-pointers, slam dunking, doing his best Air Jordan moves. He had no idea how long he'd been out there, but he was soaking wet with sweat from the August heat when he finally stopped, propped the ball against his hip, and walked over to the water bottle he'd left sitting next to the tree.

He drained half the bottle in one long pull, relishing the feel of the cool liquid against his parched throat. He followed that up with two more quick swallows before lifting the bottle and dumping the rest of it over his head, shaking from side to side quickly, flicking the moisture out of his eyes.

"Where's the super-slo-mo when you really need it?"

Luke's head whipped around again at the sudden, familiar voice, and he grinned. Noah leaned against a tree off to his left, looking better than anyone should in loose shorts, a snug white tank top, and sneakers. A fine sheen of sweat covered his exposed upper chest, and Luke's tongue tingled, almost tasting it even from six feet away.

He dropped the water bottle and gripped the ball in both hands, shoving it out softly toward Noah. Noah reacted automatically, pushing off the tree and catching the ball neatly.

Noah wasn't much for team sports. He preferred running and swimming, both of which suited his long, lean physique nicely. (Very, very nicely, Luke would attest.) But they'd played some one-on-one now and then, mostly when they were both living out at the farm. Noah had a natural grace and good hand-eye coordination, both of which lend themselves well to the balance of fluidity and precision basketball called for.

Noah bounced the ball a few times before moving slowly in Luke's direction, shifting slightly onto his toes as he slid into an easy dribble. Luke brought his arms up to his sides, palms out, bending his knees slightly, watching Noah carefully.

Noah tried faking to one side, but Luke followed him instantly, so he drew back. He faked in the other direction and Luke darted that way, but Noah spun away and stepped back, taking a shot. He missed, but not by much, the ball bouncing off the back edge of the rim. Had there been a proper backstop, it might have dropped in.

Luke took the rebound and turned, grinning as he dribbled, raising an eyebrow. "So I guess you're shirts and I'm skins?"

Noah raked his eyes down Luke's damp chest and back up, dark blue meeting Luke's gaze. "Sure looks that way," he said, shifting his eyes to follow Luke's movements instead as he moved from side to side.

Luke laughed. "A few more minutes in this heat and it won't matter much," he said. "Didn't anyone ever tell you not to wear white if you know you're going to be getting wet?"

"Do you have a problem with that?" Noah's voice had dropped a register or two, and Luke felt his body respond automatically. Not that it didn't already sit up and take notice whenever Noah spoke, but when that little growly note started sneaking in, certain regions went onto high alert.

"No problem at all," Luke replied, bouncing the ball back and forth from hand to hand, feet planted, hips moving from side to side. "Seems you're the one in more danger of falling victim to distraction."

He made his move on the last word, darting toward Noah, planting, reversing, pulling the ball up and flipping around toward the rim. He got the shot off cleanly and fell back, thrusting two fists into the air and giving a "whoop!" as the ball dropped through.

Noah chuckled as he grabbed for the rebound, setting up for his own turn. "You seem to have a pretty high opinion of your own attractiveness, Snyder," he rumbled.

Luke laughed softly, mouth open. He ran his tongue across his lower teeth, watching as Noah's eyes zeroed in on the movement. He acted immediately, diving for the ball, batting it away from Noah, grabbing it up and making a twisting shot. The ball hung on the edge for what seemed like forever, but it finally dropped through, and Luke whooped again.

"What was that you said about high opinions?" he said, but before he could get any farther, a long arm wrapped around his waist, and a long body pinned him against the tree below the basket. Out of the corner of his eye, he registered the basketball bouncing away from them, but it was nothing but background noise to the feel of Noah pressed against him.

"I think I can come up with some good ways to distract you," Noah said, just before his mouth came down hard on Luke's.

A million retorts raced through Luke's overactive brain within seconds, but even if his mouth had been free to speak any of them, he didn't know if he would've had the brain power. He could feel Noah hard against his hip, and that made him moan into the kiss. They barely needed to touch for Noah to react to him that way, and vice versa. Heck, sometimes they didn't have to touch at all.

He ripped his lips away from Noah's just long enough to gasp out, "God, take me home."

Noah kissed him again, harder. "No," he rasped. "Want you right here."

His hands were on Luke's waist then, pushing past elastic and nylon and cotton, each taking hold of a piece of Luke's flesh. Luke groaned at the feel of Noah's skillful fingers on his cock and ass, sure and demanding, working him just the way he knew Luke loved. Luke reached for Noah, but Noah moved his hips away.

"No," he repeated, in that same deep, rough, sex-filled voice. "Want you to come for me."

Luke nearly did right that second. He didn't know how Noah could always bring him from zero to ohmygodyes so quickly, but he didn't complain. As much as he loved it when they had the time for slow, deep, tender lovemaking, it was just as deeply gratifying to know that even a quickie meant just as much to both of them.

"God." Noah moaned against Luke's jaw, where he was sucking sweat from his skin. "You taste so fucking good." His right hand moved faster on Luke's cock, stroking and squeezing, hard and fast and so damn perfect Luke could scream. Noah's other hand massaged both of his cheeks in turn, fingers dipping into the cleft between, running tight circles around his hole.

Luke trembled under the onslaught. The rough bark of the tree scraped against his back, probably leaving scratches, but that only amped up the sensation overload. His fingers held onto Noah's upper arms like a lifeline. His nose filled with the smell of Noah, of him, of the two of them together, mixed with the scents of dirt and leaves, the heaviness of the muggy air.

Luke's head tilted back reflexively as Noah's lips latched onto his neck, and something wet hit Luke's cheek just below his eye. He peeled his eyelids apart as another droplet hit his forehead, and a second later a deluge poured down on them. The sudden contrast of cool rain on his overheated skin short-circuited his brain, and he shouted and came hard, spurting onto Noah's hand and his own stomach.

Distantly, he heard Noah groan and felt him start grinding against his hip. He brought himself back to reality just enough to tilt his head toward Noah's ear. "Want you to come for me," he croaked out, and Noah complied almost instantly, stiffening against him, moaning into his neck.

They stayed tangled up together, half dressed and soaked to the skin, while they caught their breath from both their workouts.

Noah finally chuckled against Luke's neck. "I swear," he said. "I didn't plan on any of that that when I came out here."

Luke laughed out loud, wrapping both arms around Noah and squeezing. "I would've been perfectly fine with a little basketball," he said. "I can't say I have any complaints about the change in plans, though."

Noah snickered as he slid his hands out of Luke's shorts. Lifting the right one to his mouth, he licked at his palm, cleaning off Luke's come. Luke stared, open-mouthed, until Noah slipped his hand out of his own mouth and moved it toward Luke's, one of his eyebrows lifting in something between question and challenge.

Never breaking their gaze, Luke raised his own hand and wrapped it around Noah's wrist, sliding his fingers into his mouth, tasting himself and Noah's skin. Noah watched, eyes dark and wide, tongue coming out to lick his bottom lip.

Luke laid an open-mouthed kiss against Noah's palm, then used his grip on Noah's wrist to pull him closer. Noah went willingly, opening his mouth against Luke's just like he had when he'd started everything. They kissed lazily this time, exploring, letting the rainfall wash over them.

Luke pulled back as a thought hit him. "Wait, I thought you had a meeting with Mason this afternoon," he said.

Noah shrugged. "I postponed it to tomorrow," he said. "I got out of my shift at Java early and thought I'd see if you wanted to go out and do something. We haven't been able to do much of that lately."

Luke grinned. "That sounds awesome," he said. He knew Noah missed their time together as much as he did, but it was always great to hear him say it. "I have to say, though, what sounds even better is going back to our apartment, taking a long, hot shower together, and ordering in. Preferably something that can easily be eaten in bed without leaving crumbs all over."

Noah laughed. "It's a deal," he said. He pulled away and bent down, coming back up with Luke's discarded shirt and water bottle. He tossed the shirt over Luke's shoulder and looked around for a second. "Grab the ball," he said, nodding in that direction, "and let's go get the water running. Chinese sound good?"

"Perfect." Luke grabbed Noah's hand and started toward the ball, then paused on impulse and turned, reaching back and up for a quick kiss.

Noah grinned down at him. "What was that for?"

Luke shrugged and dropped Noah's hand to pick up the ball. "Just felt like kissing you," he said, balancing the ball between hip and hand, schooling his face into the very picture of innocence. "Do I need a reason?"

Noah reached for Luke's free hand, pulling it around behind Noah's back and leaning over to lick the edge of Luke's ear. "Never," he murmured, as Luke shivered. "I just like to hear you say it."

Luke backed toward the apartment building, lifting his eyebrows. "Got a lot of other things you'll like in my bag of tricks," he said, teasing.

Noah laughed and followed. "I like your bag of tricks," he said.

"Good," Luke replied, mind already building a list of priorities for the next few hours. "Because you're mine until morning, and I plan on taking full advantage."

"Hey," Noah said, a note of protest in his voice drawing Luke's attention. Noah pulled him close again, dropping another quick kiss on his lips. "You know I'm yours for a lot longer than until morning."

Luke smiled against Noah's lips. "Yeah," he said softly. "I do." One more kiss. "I really, really do."

The rain was tapering off by then, but they didn't notice as they stood there kissing, shirts to skins.

Comments

[brighton-girl.livejournal.com]

Sexy, fun and well written. You can feel them missing each other.