FIC - Empty Promises

[oceansecrets2.livejournal.com]

Title: Empty Promises
Author: arieltachna and namarie120
Type: RPS / FPS crossover
Pairing: Orlando Bloom / Nikolai Luzhin
Rating: NC-17
Warning: Possible spoilers, though we’ve tried to keep it vague and still make sense to people who haven’t seen the film yet
Disclaimer: This is a work of fiction, created for entertainment and enjoyment only. With all due respect, we do not own these characters or the actors portraying them. They’re just too compelling to pass up a chance to play with them.
Feedback: would be wonderful
Beta: tularia
Summary: A police officer and a Russian mobster meet again in London
A/N: Follows after No Promises and Guilty Promises.
A/N2: Thanks to tularia for the banner and tati for the Russian translations.
A/N3: Happy belated birthday to Jean, who was willing to wait for her present while Ariel had her baby and namárië had internet problems!




~~~~~~

The docks in the industrial district of London were not the most welcoming place even at the height of summer daylight. On a cold winter night, they were positively forbidding. Orlando's lips twisted wryly. A perfect place to meet his forbidding lover. At least this time, once they were together, they would have a little more comfort than they usually did. His neighbour Daphne's small cruiser had a bunk wide enough for them to share and if he had his way, tonight, they would have time to share it. He had persuaded her to let him borrow it for a few hours, not giving her any details, but she hadn't needed any. She'd just handed him the keys and told him to wash the sheets on the bunk when he was done.

He shifted restlessly in the small seat of the cockpit as he waited for Nikolai to make his appearance. He had brought the boat to the warehouse docks from the marina where Daphne usually kept it berthed, thinking his lover would be more comfortable meeting him here than at the marina. He chuckled a little, thinking it was as out of place here for its cleanliness as it was there for its small size. He glanced at his watch impatiently as he sat in the rocking darkness, all the running lights extinguished so he would not draw undue attention to his presence. Once they were out on the river, well away from any prying eyes, he would light up the controls so he could see them better, but for now, discretion was the byword.

Grinding his third cigarette under the sole of his shoe, Nikolai watched the boat shift with the sluggish current. This section of the docks was so run-down that it was little used even during daylight hours. After dark, only the rats and the feral cats that stalked them dared to roam the filthy alleyways, dank with the smell of mildew and decay. He had reason to know this section of the docks well, so that when Bloom had contacted him with the offer of a few hours of total privacy, he had suggested it as a meeting place, knowing there would be no one to see their coming together.

Things had changed, though, since they made their assignation; changed enough that Nikolai hung back, knowing he ought to just turn around and leave. Twice before tonight, he'd started to dial the policeman's number to call off the meet. To call off everything, if he was wise. He was so close, the risk was too great – and yet he was here. Not all the logic he could bring to bear had been able to keep him away. "K chyortu," Nikolai growled to himself, crushing the empty cigarette pack and tossing it aside as he stepped out of the building's shadow and stalked toward the dock.

Orlando was beginning to grow worried, fearing something had kept Nikolai from joining him, when movement on the dock caught his attention. His body quickened in anticipation as he watched the older man stride determinedly down the narrow pier. He kept deliberately to the shadows of the cockpit. Though a part of him wanted to step out and greet the Russian, he knew better than to do anything that might put either of them at risk. There would be time for greetings later, when they were safely away and on their way downriver. The boat rocked slightly when Nikolai stepped aboard. "Cast off the lines," he called softly, turning the key in the engine to idle so they could make their escape from the reality of their lives.

Pulling the heavy ropes free of the mooring, Nikolai stepped into the small craft, watching as the younger man steered them away from the pier and into the channel. Running with lights dimmed, only the weak beams of a crescent moon illuminated Bloom's figure, but it was enough to reveal that instead of the dark jacket and knife-pleated trousers of his police uniform, he wore jeans and a heavy but soft-looking grey sweater. As slowly as they were moving, there was still enough breeze to toss his dark hair around his face, like the stylized halo around the icon of a saint. Whatever happened next, Nikolai needed this time, with this man. "Where are you taking us?" he asked, habit keeping his voice low even when there was no one else to hear.

"The friend who lent me the boat told me about a deserted cove a few miles downstream from the city. She said she and her husband used to drop anchor there and spend quiet evenings together," Orlando replied, his voice not much louder than his companion's. "He died a few years ago, but the memories were clearly happy ones for her. I thought perhaps they would be for us as well." Glancing back at Nikolai, still standing in the doorway of the cockpit, he gestured to the seat beside him. "It'll take about thirty minutes to get there since I can't go very fast within the city. Have a seat and relax."

Easing into the second seat, Nikolai observed the easy confidence with which Bloom handled the wheel, trying to shake his sense of unease. "I am used to being the driver," he admitted, a gleam of humour warming his eyes.

Deeming them far enough away from their starting point for safety, Orlando flipped the console lights on, providing enough illumination for his grin to be easily visible. "As soon as we're docked downriver, you can drive all you want," he offered, his voice husky with promise as he anticipated all that would pass between them before they had to return. "In fact, I rather enjoy it when you drive."

Nikolai exhaled shortly but said nothing. It was not in him to boast or trade clever banter, though the innuendo in his lover's words and the deepened timbre of his voice, betraying his arousal, woke an answering hunger that set his cock swelling. As distraction, he glanced around the deck of the ship, noting the shallow steps that led to what he surmised was a small cabin below. The thought did nothing to cool his arousal as he imagined leading his lover down those steps, imagined peeling the sweater from that perfect chest and watching the large, dark nipples pucker from the cold and his touch. Imagined them skin to skin, their shared warmth flaring into passion.... The thought cooled his ardour like a spray of cold river water. He shifted in the molded seat, uncomfortably aware that he had left himself no way off and no way out.

If Orlando noticed the lack of response to his sally, he made no comment, focusing instead on navigating the nighttime currents, content to simply enjoy the occasional gust of air that eddied through the cabin, prickling his skin, sensitizing flesh already tingling from the simple presence of the man at his side. He stifled a snort that would surely have been misunderstood. Simple. There was and never had been anything simple about his relationship with Nikolai. He had not been at all sure his lover would agree to this meet, to the intimacy it demanded. They were still on neutral ground – neither his territory nor Nikolai's – but there was no pretence to this meeting, no illusion that DCI Bloom hoped to persuade, trick, or otherwise obtain information from a Russian mobster. Not from the moment the boat pulled away from the dock. Orlando hoped he had not made a mistake, that the hope that lingered after their last clandestine meeting was not about to be dashed to pieces, but he could not stop remembering the feeling of Nikolai above him, pressing him tenderly into the mattress instead of drilling him mindlessly through the wall. He could not stop hearing the honest plea in Nikolai's voice when he finally admitted he needed Orlando. "It wasn't this... wasn't you." The echo of those words had held Orlando back for weeks before he called again, the knowledge that this did matter to Nikolai as well giving him a patience he had never before possessed. And then had driven him to arrange a true lover's tryst for the first time, wanting to show Nikolai that he felt the same way. Clearing the no wake zone at the edge of the city, he increased speed slightly, turning on one of the outboard lights so he could find the cove Daphne had suggested and give his attention to his lover.

Bloom remained uncharacteristically silent as he piloted the boat past the limits of the city, adding to Nikolai's sense of disquiet, even though he would have to shout to be heard over the increased noise of the engine and the slap of the waves against the hull. Sliding his hands into his coat pockets in a futile search for another pack of cigarettes, Nikolai felt only the foil-wrapped condoms and sachet of lube in one, the hard shape of the diary – the original, not the copy he'd turned over to Semyon – in the other. It had been a risk, but the old man hadn't even bothered to glance inside before burning it. Denied the mechanical distraction of smoking, Nikolai fingered the edges of the small book as he watched Orlando manoeuvre to a stop inside a small rocky inlet ringed with wind-wracked trees. He deliberately pushed aside his thoughts as Bloom cut off the running lights, leaving them in near-darkness. For these few hours, nothing existed but the man beside him and the feelings he could only indulge in these stolen moments.

Moving quickly, Orlando killed the engine and settled the boat so it would not drift while they indulged themselves over the time until they had to return. Finishing that task, he turned to Nikolai and held out his hand, stepping into the older man's embrace and leaning up to kiss him softly. He had no idea how his lover would react to this initiative on his part, but it felt right, the intimacy of their previous meeting giving him the courage to take yet another step he had never dared before. "Come below," he suggested. "There's a bed just waiting for us."

The cashmere sweater was soft below Nikolai's palms as he worked his hands beneath it, seeking softer skin. Angling his head, he deepened the kiss, imbuing it with passion without the fierce demand of their previous encounters. They had time, and for once the promise of complete privacy, a privilege he would not squander, whatever might follow. "After you, Captain," he murmured, nodding for his lover to lead them.

Orlando smiled at the epithet, stealing another kiss before pulling away to walk down the narrow stairs to the cabin belowdecks. It wasn't a spacious room. The ceiling was low enough they had to bend their heads to avoid hitting them, but it was warm and the bed invitingly turned down. Orlando sat and reached for Nikolai, undoing the buttons on his coat and pushing it aside. "Join me?" he asked when his lover did not immediately sit.

Tossing his coat onto the bench seat that ran the length of the opposite wall, Nikolai clicked off the bedside lamp before moving onto the bunk. His lips found his lover's immediately, the desire that had simmered during the journey downriver flaring as he eased Orlando beneath him, bunching the sweater in his hands. Breaking away only long enough to pull the garment over Orlando's head, he settled over the lean body, molding them together as if they had been made to fit perfectly, to complete each other.

Orlando arched up into the pressure of Nikolai's body against his, his chest brushing the raw silk of the other man's suit jacket. Running his hands over the strong shoulders, he let his smile spread unchecked and drawled slightly, "I do love a man in a suit."

"It is fortunate I am wearing one, then," Nikolai answered dryly, running his hands up his lover's torso, thumbs finding and lingering over the tightened nipples. "Perhaps you would prefer I leave it on?"

"Maybe some other time," Orlando decided after a moment's consideration. Lying naked beneath Nikolai's fully clothed body had its appeal, but tonight he wanted more. Tonight, for once, they truly had time to explore each other and he wanted to make the most of it. "As much as I enjoy the feeling of silk against my skin, I'd ruin your suit by coming all over it and I'd miss touching you."

"That presumes I would let you come," Nikolai retorted, reaching down to cup Orlando's denim-covered cock in a possessive grip. He mitigated the threat with a trail of kisses down his lover's throat and across his smooth chest, pausing to drag his teeth over each nipple in turn, leaving them wet and throbbing before dipping lower. Mouthing the faint line of hair that led to his prize, Nikolai squeezed the hardened shaft as his other hand worked at the fastenings of Orlando's jeans, the hunger he had denied himself the last time they were together demanding to be sated now.

Orlando arched into the unexpected touch, caught completely off-guard by Nikolai's actions. Were it any other man in bed with him, he would be anticipating a blow job to blow his mind, but he knew Nikolai better than that. The Russian was too proud to bend, too proud to... "Oh, fuck!" he exhaled sharply as his lover pulled him free of the entrapment of his jeans and licked a long slow line from base to tip.

The taste of the hard, hot shaft beneath his mouth was intoxicating. Nikolai hummed in quiet appreciation, his hands moving to each side of his lover's groin, parting the heavy fabric and holding down his hips. Fingers spread over soft flesh while his thumbs found their way under the fragile sac, pressing upward to tease at the hardened balls. His own cock tightened inside his trousers, but he ignored the ache, his mouth roving over the satiny head of Orlando's cock with unhurried deliberation.

Orlando's fingers scrabbled in the sheets as he struggled to assimilate Nikolai's actions with his image of the man. His head tossed back and forth as Nikolai pleasured him in ways he had never hoped to feel from this particular lover. The setting, the lack of pretence between them, the sense of intimacy brought on by the unprecedented sensation of Nikolai's tongue on his cock gave him the courage to press his own demands. Sitting up slightly, he reached for his lover, urging the Russian to shift in his hips in Orlando's direction, intent on returning a modicum of the pleasure he was receiving. "Let me taste you, too."

In answer, Nikolai's lips closed around the glistening head, letting it slide into his mouth and savouring the tang of the fluid that seeped from its tip. The heels of his hands pressed against winged hipbones as Orlando tried to move beneath him, not hard enough to coerce but firmly enough to convey the message to keep still. This was a weakness too dangerous for Nikolai to indulge – he fully intended to relish the one opportunity he would allow himself.

Orlando subsided temporarily, understanding instinctively that Nikolai had already taken a huge step tonight and was leery of taking another. He intended to change his lover's mind, but he could do that without forcing the issue. "Feels so good," he husked, threading his fingers into the older man's dark hair. "Your mouth on me, all hot and wet and eager. You make me feel like a horny teenager again, ready to come at the slightest touch.

"Can you imagine what it would feel like if I did the same to you?" he went on, hoping to break the restraint that held his lover back. "Can you imagine what it would feel like to have my mouth on your cock, sucking the head, teasing the slit?" He lifted his head and looked down his body into glittering eyes. "To fuck my mouth and throat?"

Nikolai couldn't hold back a groan at Orlando's debauched description. He could imagine it all too clearly, his cock slamming against the placket of his trousers as it reacted to the deliberate provocation. Rolling to his side, he worked his hands beneath Orlando's jeans and pushed them downward, then slid up the back of his lover's firm thighs to cup his buttocks, pulling Orlando closer and driving his cock deep into his mouth. Sucking strongly, he pressed his tongue against the vein throbbing along the underside of the heavy shaft, offering his lover all the salacious pleasures his words promised.

Whether or not his lover's sudden movement was permission, Orlando took it as such and moved as much as the forceful pressure of Nikolai's mouth would allow, until he could reach the waistband of his trousers. It would have been so easy to simply let himself be pleasured, but he was determined to share equally in both the giving and the receiving tonight. Working open the leather belt, and lowering the zip, he urged Nikolai to lift his hips so he could push the trousers down to the tops of his thighs, leaving his groin bare to Orlando's hands and mouth. He knew the feeling of the thick shaft inside him, but this was the first time he had the freedom to touch, to taste as he'd longed to do. Taking his time, trying to ignore the increasing demands of his body to thrust mindlessly into Nikolai's mouth until he reached an undoubtedly mind-blowing climax, he lingered over the other man's cock, stroking gently before his tongue darted out to fulfil the promises of his earlier provocation.

Orlando's lips and tongue were delivering on every one of his sinful promises, and Nikolai fought the compulsion to snap his hips forward and fuck Orlando's mouth as his lover had taunted him to do. Focusing all his attention on the cock stretching his own lips, he swallowed around the satiny head, sliding two fingers inside his mouth at the same moment. Working his throat muscles as he sucked, he probed Orlando's crease with the moistened digits, adding the press of his fingertips to the assault on his lover's senses.

Orlando's senses shattered, unable to stand the dual assault on his body. With little more than a muffled shout around Nikolai's cock as warning, he climaxed down the other man's throat, his body convulsing as it expelled the evidence of his desire. The aftershocks rocked him as Nikolai continued to tease him with lips and fingers. When he could breathe again, he bestowed a last, lingering lick on the hard shaft still in his mouth before releasing it and looking up at his lover. "We can stay like this if you want," he offered, "but I really want to feel you inside me."

Swallowing the creamy proof of his lover's pleasure, Nikolai drew the younger man back beside him, divesting him of the last of his clothes before stretching across the narrow cabin to reach for his overcoat. At the same moment, Orlando sat up and retrieved his jeans from the floor, their heads nearly colliding in the cramped space. Sitting back on his heels, Nikolai gave a short grunt of laughter as they each held out small silver packets of condom and lube. "For once we are both thinking same," he commented, his hand closing over Orlando's, the gesture as intimate as the contact they'd just shared.

"Not just this once," Orlando contradicted, turning his hand into Nikolai's to twine their fingers together for a moment. Lifting their hands to his lips, he kissed them once before releasing their clasp and reaching for the jacket still covering his lover's chest. As much as he enjoyed the feeling of silk against his skin, it was flesh he craved now. Pulling the jacket free, he tossed it toward the bench seat and started work on the buttons of the white shirt, running his hands over smooth skin as it came into sight. With only the light from the outboard spot reflecting dimly through the window, he relied mostly on touch as he bared skin for his enjoyment, his eyes straining for a glimpse of the familiar cross decorating Nikolai's chest. He could barely make it out as he peeled the shirt away, realizing as he leaned forward to press his lips to it that a new design – he could not make out what – now rested in the hollow of the other man's shoulder. Pushing aside such thoughts for later, he lay back and opened his arms. "Make love to me."

That was an offer Nikolai had never hoped to hear, and one impossible for him to refuse. Closing his eyes when Orlando's lips touched the his chest, he drew back slightly, making quick work of sliding his trousers down his legs, kicking the remaining garments away. Then he settled between the welcoming arch of his lover's thighs, tearing open a pouch to slick his fingers. His mouth returned to explore the planes of Orlando's torso as he prepared the younger man, less slowly but no less thoroughly than the last time they had been together. As anxious as he was to take everything Orlando offered, he would not mar the moment with pain.

Orlando spread his legs further, knees bent to his chest to give Nikolai unfettered access to his most sensitive flesh, knowing instinctively that, tonight anyway, his lover would do nothing that might hurt him. Writhing beneath the preparatory caresses that teased his prostate and left him breathless with desire, he dropped all the defensive barriers he kept in place, giving free rein to his emotions, though he refrained, barely, from speaking them aloud. Here, on Daphne's boat, they were not cop and mobster, Brit and Russian, two men kept apart by the complications presented by the rest of their lives. For these few stolen hours, Orlando let himself believe they were simply two men in love. Unable to say those words aloud, he said the one thing he was allowed to say.

His lover's name.

"Kolya," he murmured, the word becoming a chant as Nikolai continued to tease and tantalize him.

Nikolai stroked and stretched until he could feel the trembling beneath his fingers and his mouth. His own blood pounding in time with the pleading repetition of the intimacy he allowed no one else, he rolled a condom over his leaking cock and smeared it with lube. Lifting Orlando's body reverently, he slid into the hot embrace of their flesh, his lover's name escaping as a long, low moan. "Orlik," he murmured, leaning forward as long legs wrapped around his hips, pulling him deeper still. His mouth closed over Orlando's hungrily, smothering the words that tried to escape him, knowing how reckless it would be to utter them even if they would not be understood.

The diminutive was new, another tantalizing hint of the lover beneath the hardened mask Nikolai presented to the world. The word itself and the tone of voice sent an additional thrill through Orlando as Nikolai claimed his mouth. He offered that as willingly as he offered his body, wanting everything his lover had to give and more. His back arched as the stimulation to his prostate grew more intense, every thrust of Nikolai's cock pushing him closer to release. He trembled on the cusp, wanting to draw out the moment and yet needing the release that beckoned. Tearing his mouth free, he felt the contractions beginning. "With me," he pleaded hoarsely. "Come with me."

"Da," Nikolai panted, dropping his head to Orlando's shoulder as the tremors of his climax overwhelmed him, needing only the sound of his lover's voice to set them free. His hands clenched the quivering muscles of Orlando's buttocks, crushing their bodies together as the younger man's release spread between them, each twitch of his untouched cock sending another ripple tightening around Nikolai's spasming shaft, forging another link in the chain that imprisoned his heart.

Orlando collapsed back onto the bunk, sated as he had not been in longer than he could remember, the powerful sense of togetherness strong enough for him to pull Nikolai down onto the bed beside him and into an embrace that had nothing to do with their bodies and everything to do with his heart. He waited for the inevitable tension to return to his lover's frame, but Nikolai remained relaxed against him, giving him the courage to turn his head toward his lover's chest again and examine the marks there more closely. Idly stroking the design he could still barely see, he commented softly, "I don't think I've ever told you how erotic your tattoos are. Maybe I should get one, too."

Unable to repress a shudder of revulsion at the thought of Orlando's perfect flesh being defaced by the marks he bore, Nikolai stilled the touch, wrapping the hand within his own and bringing them to the center of his chest. "I prefer you as you are," he responded, knowing he had no right to dictate to the younger man. "You do not need such marks for me to find you erotic."

"And yet you must get something out of having them," Orlando countered curiously, not trying to touch them since it was clear Nikolai didn't want him to, "because you have two new ones since I last saw you. They're still inflamed even."

Nikolai had known from the moment Orlando had removed his shirt that he would not be able to avoid this moment. Inhaling deeply, he pulled the younger man down to rest against his chest, the dark waves of hair obscuring the elaborate cross. "In Russia, tattoos define you," he began, suspecting his lover knew nothing about the true significance of the prison code. "Each must be earned, and each has a meaning for those who can read them." Knowing what would come next, he tried to forestall the inevitable questions, certain what the policeman's reaction would be if he knew the truth behind each of the elaborate designs. "There is a proverb in Russian – in English, I think you would say, 'Every sin leaves a mark'. Do not ask for answers you will not wish to hear."

Intrigued despite himself, Orlando nodded. He knew what Nikolai was, knew none of the stories would be pretty, but a part of him needed to hear what Nikolai would say anyway. "Tell me about one of them." His hand settled again on the cross that adorned Nikolai's chest. "What about this one?"

Recognizing that Orlando's persistence was one of the traits that had likely led to his rising to DCI as quickly as he had, Nikolai had not really expected the policeman to let the issue drop. Exhaling slowly, he tucked a hand under his head, staring at the low ceiling. "It means thief," he conceded, keeping the other, darker meaning to himself. "Master thief."

"So it is a mark of honour," Orlando commented slowly, his voice carefully neutral as he reminded himself that Nikolai came from a very different world. "And the others? Are they marks of honour as well?"

Nikolai shrugged a shoulder, frowning. "Nothing you would consider honour," he answered.

The answer was much as Orlando feared it would be. "I know you have a chequered past," he said after a moment's pause. "I knew that the first time we met. I accepted it before I ever let you touch me." Closing his eyes, he tried to remember the other tattoos he had seen. "The madonna," he suggested, thinking such a symbol of purity would surely be innocuous, maybe even redeeming. "What does she mean?"

"It tells that I have been a thief - a criminal - since I was a child," Nikolai answered shortly, hoping Bloom did not plan to ask him the meaning of every one of his marks. If he asked, Nikolai would answer - Orlando deserved to know the truth about the man he had chosen to risk his professional career, if not his life, to be with.

Orlando flinched at the answer, trying to imagine the world that celebrated such madness. "The church?" he wondered aloud, having seen the domed edifice that covered Nikolai's back on more than one occasion as his lover prepared to leave him.

"Means prison," Nikolai rasped. "Three domes say I have been in prison three times." Most of it in solitary confinement, though he did not tell the younger man that. Those were memories he did not choose to dwell on himself - it was nothing Bloom needed to hear.

"And the words above it?" Orlando forced himself to ask. He would hear this answer, ask about the new ones and then stop torturing them both. He didn't need every detail. What he had already learned was more than he truly wanted to know.

Nikolai hesitated, surprised that Bloom had paid so much attention that he had noticed the words. He considered lying - there was no way the other man would know if he was telling the truth - but what did it matter in the end? In this, at least, he would offer the truth. "It is an old saying," he answered. "'The important thing is to remain human.'".

The words were so at odds with the image Nikolai projected, so counter to everything the men he worked for represented that Orlando realized they had to be sarcastic. Nothing else made sense. At least he had avoided hearing that Nikolai was a murderer, though he suspected if he kept asking, one of the tattoos would tell him just that. Still, like he'd told Nikolai, he'd accepted the past. It was the present, the future that concerned him now.
"And the new ones?" he asked, truly fearing to hear the answer but knowing he had to ask. Nikolai's past was past, but the thought that his lover was still active, still earning new marks bothered him in a different way.

There was the question Nikolai had known all of this was leading to, and his gut told him the outcome was as inevitable as the query. Turning his gaze for one last look at the man lying in his arms, he spoke the words that would decide his fate. "They mean I have been accepted – as vor," he admitted.

"As vor," Orlando repeated slowly, a chill settling through him. He knew Nikolai was associated with the Russian mob. He knew his lover had done things in their service that should have sent him running in loathing, but he had accepted all that because Nikolai had to make a living somehow and he was just following orders. But now.... "As vor." His disgust must have been clear in his voice because Nikolai tensed against him even before Orlando sat up, reaching for the light so he could see his lover's – his betrayer's – face. "How could you do that?" he demanded, his voice rising slowly in volume. "How could you do that to us?"

"Us?" Nikolai retorted, cursing himself as soon as the word left his lips. "You know what I am," he continued, swinging his legs off the bed and rising to his feet. "I do what I must."

"Why?" Orlando demanded, staring at the tattooed back. "Did they order you to become a vor? I didn't think that was the way it worked. As long as you were just a minion, it was all right. You were just following orders and while I might hate what those orders were, I did understand. But now ... now you're one of the ones giving the orders. Or am I wrong?" Tell me I'm wrong, he pleaded silently. Dear God, let me be wrong!

"I give no orders ... yet," Nikolai admitted, his voice flat as Orlando's expression twisted with disgust. He had expected nothing different, after all, for how could he expect trust when he had never offered any in return? There was too much danger, for both of them, to risk on something as nebulous as hope; he had hoped, nonetheless, and for that he cursed himself as a fool. "But one must be a prince to do business with the king."

Anger flaring out of control, Orlando reached for his sweater. Pulling it over his head with sharp, short movements, he spat, "What did you have to do to prove yourself this time? Rape another helpless girl? Or am I going to get to work in the morning to find a body waiting for me to deal with, professionally processed at your hands?"

"You will find no body," Nikolai answered coldly, leaning over to pull on his black boxers. He saw a grimace cross Bloom's face and realized the policeman had interpreted his words to mean only that he had hidden the body well. He did not bother to defend himself – there might be no body to find this time, but there had been bodies enough in the past. Bloom had made his judgment; there was nothing left to be said.

Disgusted at his own weakness for still wanting Luzhin even now, Orlando bowed his head and grabbed his pants. "I hope it makes you happy," he spat. "I hope it gives you everything you think it will, because I can't anymore. I would have given you anything you asked for, anything within my power anyway, but I can't any more. Not if you're vor." He rose, not looking at his former lover and left the cabin, returning to the cockpit and starting the engine.

Nikolai dressed in silence, the iciness inside hardening his soul, until warmth was only a memory, a story he had heard as a child. He knew better than to believe in fairy-stories. Sneering at his own foolishness, he combed through his hair with his fingers and glanced up the passageway. It would be cold on deck, but he could not sulk in the cabin like a whipped dog. Wishing vainly for a cigarette, he climbed the stairs to the cockpit and took the empty seat, staring through the windscreen at the black water of the river.

Orlando did not look over when he heard Luzhin join him in the cockpit, focusing on piloting the boat back to the industrial docks as quickly as he could. He needed away from the other man's enticing presence. He could still feel the hard hands on his body, touching him with too much tenderness for a black-hearted mobster, could still hear the raspy voice whispering in his ear with words too soft for a cold-blooded killer. He stiffened his resolve, determined not to give in anymore to the leanings of his heart that insisted it knew better than his head. Listening to his heart had landed him in this mess, but no more. He would let Luzhin off at the docks and forget about him, no matter how impossible a task he feared that would be.

Glancing once at Bloom's unrelenting expression, Nikolai settled into the seat, his hand closing around the diary in his pocket. That was what he needed to focus on, the reality he had to deal with – not dreams he had known were impossible from the beginning. He did not turn his head for the rest of the trip back to the docks.

Orlando pulled the boat up to the dock and left it idling. "I won't be calling again. Find someone else when you need a piece of arse to fuck," he said without looking at his former lover, his voice dull with the pain of the decision he had made.

Nikolai's head snapped up at the dismissive words. Despite his intentions, he rose and stared down at the young man who had worked his way through all his carefully crafted defences. "You think that's all this was?" he grated, seizing Bloom's arm in an implacable grip and dragging him to his feet. "A piece of arse when I needed it? I could find 'a piece of arse to fuck' any time I want one, without risking my life being seen with you." He shoved the policeman back against the rail, holding him in place with the weight of his body. A smirk twisted the corner of his lip when he felt the hard outline of Bloom's cock pushing against his thigh. "It seems your body still craves to be fucked, despite all your high-sounding words."

Orlando could not stop the hiss of pleasure that escaped him at Luzhin's touch. He knew his body's weakness all too well. Despite all his good intentions, despite all his resolutions, hearing Nikolai admit that this was – had been, he corrected himself – more than some meaningless fling soothed his battered conscience and forestalled the notion of pushing the other man away. His hips arched forward, his body instinctively seeking its mate in the matching hardness between Nikolai's legs. A deep groan escaped him without his conscious direction. He tried to harden his resolve, but that was useless with Nikolai's demanding touch hardening his body.

That groan, and the thrust of Orlando's hips against his, broke the last of Nikolai's control. If Bloom thought all he wanted was a fuck, then that's exactly what he'd give him. Wrenching the younger man around so that he pressed forward against the ship's rail, he yanked the jeans down his hips roughly before unzipping himself just enough to free his engorged cock. Wrapping his arm around Bloom's shoulders to hold him still, his shaft slid up the cleft between the other's legs, nudging at the still-loosened portal. Bloom bucked beneath him and Nikolai reached down to steady himself, his pulse pounding hotly. "Tell me you want this," he snarled, aligning himself but not pushing forward. "Tell me you want me to fuck you..."

Orlando wanted to deny it, but his lips refused to cooperate. "Yes," he moaned, pushing back. "Fuck me." One last time.

Nikolai surged forward, burying himself to the hilt in the hot, tight channel. His hand reached forward to grasp Orlando's cock, pulling it roughly as he drew back and thrust again, pounding the younger man against the side of the boat. His thrusts were brutal, his face contorted as he fought to hold back, to memorize each gasp and groan, to burn the feel of Orlando clenching around him into his brain, the last memory he would have to carry away with him. "Come," he demanded, his fist squeezing the younger man's cock as their balls slapped together, Orlando exploding over his hand while he convulsed inside him, his jerking cock emptying the last of his soul into his ex-lover’s body.

The unexpected rush of hot semen inside him pushed Orlando over the edge, his own seed shooting out to coat Nikolai's hand and splash into the dark water beneath them. His eyes shut tightly as he bit back a shout, part of him quailing at what they had just done, another part rejoicing. The trickle of fluid down his thighs as the Russian pulled out brought him back to reality with a crash. He hadn't allowed himself to dream of a time when they wouldn't have a condom between them, hadn't let himself imagine a life with both of them safe enough to make those kinds of promises, but he yearned for it nonetheless. To have it happen now, in such a mockery of all he had begun to hope they could be, was the final straw. "Get off the boat," he ground out, pulling away sharply and refastening his jeans.

"Now you remember what a fuck feels like," Nikolai rasped, cleaning himself with a dark handkerchief before zipping his trousers. Climbing over the rail onto the dock, he buttoned his overcoat and turned away, walking down the dark alley without a backward glance.

Comments

[ymmy12.livejournal.com]

wow
intense

[oceansecrets2.livejournal.com]

Thanks, if you've seen the film you know Nikolai is a very intense character!

[oceansecrets2.livejournal.com]

It's hard to imagine how at the moment, but we're working on them.

[readgreekeasy.livejournal.com]

I was really wanting more of this story... will there be more after this? Its so intense and wonderful.... will you have Nickolai tell Orli he's undercover?! I'm so excited for more!

[oceansecrets2.livejournal.com]

We have two more episodes planned - not sure what will happen after that!

[readgreekeasy.livejournal.com]

I'm so glad to hear that there will be more of this!!!

[trustingfrndshp.livejournal.com]

i'm so happy that your writing nikolai; he has so much potential; i wish there were more fics about him; had hoped he and Orlando would be ok but it was still great; thanks!

[oceansecrets2.livejournal.com]

I felt the same way after HOV - Viggo has said that after both films, he wondered what was going to happen to the characters. I'd love to see more fics set in the EP universe too.

[invisible-dream.livejournal.com]

holy....damn!!
O_O

[oceansecrets2.livejournal.com]

Well, after that there wasn't much left to say.

[ireth06.livejournal.com]

This is such a dark and passionate pairing! They can't be together but they still can't stay away from each other. Very intense!!

I hope there will be more of these two, thanks for saring, hugs and kisses!!

[oceansecrets2.livejournal.com]

They can't be together but they still can't stay away from each other.

That's exactly true. We have two more stories planned, but it depends on whether they'll let us take them where we want them to go or not - they're both very stubborn.

[ireth06.livejournal.com]

Stubborn? these two?........Really? -_-'
Throws some cookies to lure them in the right direction.....
LOVEZZZ!!

[littlegreenleaf.livejournal.com]

Please don't tell me that this is the end! I love this story line. I know that this is a love that's never going to be, but I need more than this! What do you say? More? Please?

[oceansecrets2.livejournal.com]

We're better than halfway through the next fic already, and there's at least one more after that, so we're not done with them (or they're not done with us would be more accurate!) quite yet.

[sodomis.livejournal.com]

Excellent stuff once more, you crazy girls!Nikolai and Orlando...sigh...now that's something I'd really love to see:)

[oceansecrets2.livejournal.com]

Us too, which is why we just had to write it!

[ranmaru.livejournal.com]

Amazing. I'm about to cry...

[oceansecrets2.livejournal.com]

Someone has too, since neither of them can.

[firiel77.livejournal.com]

I was so glad to see another episode of this story. I just saw EP Friday night and am seriously crushing on Nickolai. What a facinating character. really hope there will more EP fics.

[oceansecrets2.livejournal.com]

We're fascinated by him too! And would love if more people start writing EP fics. You can expect probably two more episodes in this series.