An End To The Waiting

by Sugar

URL: http://www.area52hkh.net/ass/sugar/endtothe.php
Summary: Jack meets an intriguing stranger in a diner.
Info: Written for Antares' birthday and inspired by a wonderful manip she made of Daniel looking delicious. Thanks to Edna for the beta.

"You been waiting long?"

The ring on the man's finger should have stopped Jack, should have quashed his impulse to approach the booth. But from the moment he'd come through the diner door, he'd been unable to look at anything except the unfamiliar figure relaxing against the cheap vinyl.

At first glance, the man looked like he should have fit right in with the locals, clad only in loose jeans and a white muscle shirt, with a foot propped up on the bench where he sat and an arm draped over his knee. He was built like he could have come from farming stock, sturdy and carved from hard labour. But his nails were evenly trimmed and clean, and he was lacking the farmer's tan sported by most of the men of the region. Instead of a sweaty John Deere cap and a half-crushed pack of Old Gold straights, the table in front of him held a camera and a leather-bound book. The aura he projected was far from rural or redneck.

He looked... travel-worn. Jack knew without asking that he'd been places, seen and done things in the vast reaches of the world that most people could only imagine. Jack wondered if he was tired. Was he in this nowhere town, staring out the window and drinking sludgy coffee, because he'd just gone far enough? Is this where he'd decided to put up his feet and finally stop?

Jack found himself craving answers. He wanted to know about the man, wanted to learn his story and discover what had brought him to this place.

He also wanted to know about the ring. And maybe a few other things.

So he'd walked up to the booth, and he'd had to make an effort to keep his voice casual, his stance easy, when he'd asked, "You been waiting long?"

Having that gaze turned on him was disconcerting. It was intense and probing and spoke of secrets that maybe ought to stay buried.

"Sorry?"

Too late to turn back now, Jack thought. "You keep looking out at the highway," he said. "Like you're waiting for someone to pull in. You been waiting long?"

The man started to shake his head, but instead he quietly said, "Long enough."

Jack gestured at the empty bench on the other side of the table. "You mind company?"

He didn't answer at first, just looked at Jack with those sharp eyes. Then, with his arm still resting on his knee, he waved an invitation.

As soon as Jack slid into the booth, he was gripped by the very real fear that he didn't know what the hell he was doing. It wasn't his style to just walk up to a stranger in the diner and start talking to him as if he were doing anything but intruding. And his motivations were more than that of a friendly local offering a greeting to a new face in town.

To make matters worse, the man he'd sat with had gone back to looking out the window. Then Jack turned his head and caught the man's reflection, and realized he was not, in fact, looking out, but rather watching Jack's reflection. Jack's surprise showed on his face, and the stranger gave him a small smile before turning away from the window and looking at him directly.

"You come here often?"

Jack chuckled, recognizing the line for the joke that it was and appreciating the man's ability to sense the tension then break the ice. "Ah, as a matter of fact I do. Last coffee for sixty-seven miles."

The stranger tipped his cup and peered down into its depths, keeping his head slightly pulled back as though he expected something to come up out of it.

"That's... generous," he said.

Tilting his head to indicate a small, severe woman chatting with a customer at the counter, Jack said, "Don't let Trixie hear you say that; she thinks it's the best joe this side of the state line."

With another small smile, the stranger extended his right hand and said, "Daniel."

Daniel. It wasn't the name Jack would have guessed, but as soon as he heard it, it was the only name that fit.

"Daniel," he echoed, just to hear it again, then accepted the offered hand. "I'm Jack. Pleasure."

For an instant, as quick and startling as the flash of a camera, Jack thought he saw amusement in Daniel's eyes, as though he was in on a private joke to which Jack had inadvertently uttered the punchline. He'd looked so humourless when Jack had first spotted him, but Jack was beginning to grasp that a playful, probably mischievous mind lay beneath the solemn exterior.

They talked through two cups of coffee and Jack's slice of blueberry pie (baked on-site and a world away from the bad coffee in quality). Jack shared tidbits of local history, pleased that Daniel was not only interested, but actually eager for details, asking question after question. Daniel spoke a little about his travels though he kept personal information to a minimum. He was vague about his actual profession, saying only that he took pictures, wrote articles, observed cultures. He had indeed been around the world, to places with names and languages Jack had never heard.

Throughout it all, Jack enjoyed the sound of Daniel's voice and the motion of his hands, their activity in direct proportion to his apparent passion for whichever subject they were on at the moment. He listened intently when Jack spoke, and he didn't pass up opportunities to offer a smile or slip in a wry jest. There was something going on here that had Jack puzzled, curious and uncharacteristically expectant.

They'd been talking for nearly two hours when they reached a lull in the conversation, and Jack took the opportunity to indicate Daniel's left hand and ask, "So, you're married?"

The only suggestion that Daniel was anything but comfortable with the question was the blank expression on his face. "Ah, not anymore," he said. He fingered the ring and added, "Just sentimental."

Then he dipped his head and looked at Jack over the rim of his glasses. With that secretive and mischievous smile that had so quickly become familiar to Jack, he said, "Would you like to see some of my pictures? I have a travel portfolio in my room."

And Jack knew he wasn't being invited to look at pictures, and he knew that he wanted to accept anything and everything Daniel was offering

Walking behind Daniel as they left the diner, Jack revised yet another aspect of his initial evaluation: those jeans were definitely not loose. They were snug enough to show off a tight, round backside and strong, muscled thighs. The ingrained lesson that staring was wrong conflicted with the hungry urge to take in as much as he could while he had the chance.

As they approached an antique red truck parked beside the diner, Jack asked Daniel to wait a moment. The vehicle stood out, surrounded as it was by late-model farm pick-ups and nondescript rental sedans. Some people liked to call it vintage; Jack just called it old. But it got him where he needed to go and fiddling with it kept him occupied during his off time, so he had no complaints. He reached in the driver's side window and took the keys that had been tucked under the visor.

They chatted about the truck as they walked the rest of the way to Daniel's room. The Safari Motor Lodge was a couple hundred feet from the diner, across the parking lot. The two establishments shared blacktop and clientele, and on those rare occasions when a motel guest wanted to pretend he wasn't staying at a rundown inn in the heart of corn country, the diner functioned as a room service kitchen.

Daniel preceded Jack into the guestroom and switched on a lamp next to the bed, gently illuminating a space that wasn't dirty but was a little shabby. It was clear that the last time the place had seen a renovation was the 1970s, with faux wood paneling surrounding all browns and oranges and sickly greens. In a nod to the motel's name, a large print of zebras hung on the wall above the bed. It didn't matter what the room looked like, though; what mattered was that the sheets on the bed were fresh and the water in the shower was hot.

Daniel took off his glasses and folded them closed, setting them next to the lamp, then sat on the edge of the bed and removed his shoes. Jack stood in front of the door, a little bit mesmerized as Daniel peeled off his shirt then got up and worked his pants and tight boxers down over his hips, leaving them in a pile at his feet. With a glance in Jack's direction and a small, discordantly shy smile, Daniel walked to the bathroom as he said, "I've been outside all morning and I'm covered in dust. I'll only be a few minutes."

Then Jack heard the shower start and for a long moment, he wasn't quite sure what to do with himself. He debated stripping down and climbing into bed, but even given the other man's casual display of skin, he wasn't exactly prepared for such a bold move on his own part. He decided instead to take off his shoes but remain otherwise clothed, and he lounged on the bed, piling the motel's lumpy pillows behind him as he leaned against the headboard.

Just as Daniel had said, he wasn't in the shower for more than a few minutes and when he came out of the bathroom, he was naked but for the towel draped around his neck. Jack found the view spectacular. Daniel had a really fantastic body, with well-defined muscles and smooth skin.

He stopped at the end of the bed and looked down at Jack, one corner of his mouth curled up and his eyes twinkling. He pulled the towel from his neck and tossed it toward the bathroom. "You look good there."

Jack looked Daniel up and down and said, "I'm feeling a tad overdressed." He lifted his hands to unbutton his shirt, but stopped at Daniel's, "Hang on."

Daniel had set his camera on the bureau when they'd entered the room, and now he reached over and picked it up. "Do you mind?"

Jack shook his head, grinning at what seemed like a non sequitur in the proceedings. Daniel returned the smile and snapped a picture, then turned the camera 90 degrees and took another. He set the camera back down and walked to the side of the bed. Seating himself next to Jack's hip, he leaned across his lap and asked, "Do you kiss?"

Jack's response was to slide a hand behind Daniel's neck and pull him forward until their lips touched. The kiss was gentle without being hesitant, and Jack fought to hold himself in check, when what he really wanted to do was kiss the hell out of Daniel until neither of them could think straight. But he managed to control himself, and slowly their kisses became more intense. When Jack moved his other hand from beside him on the bed to Daniel's bare thigh, he parted his lips in a small gasp and Daniel took the opportunity to slip the tip of his tongue into Jack's mouth.

They kissed their way through Daniel opening Jack's shirt and sliding his hand over a nipple, stroking it to hardness. With some maneuvering, they managed to get Jack's shirt off and tossed aside while keeping their mouths locked together. Daniel finally pulled away so he could open and remove Jack's pants, then he spent several seconds just standing next to the bed looking down at Jack's naked body.

Jack enjoyed the really wonderful view as Daniel turned away and stepped over to the bureau then returned to the bed with a bottle of lube and a few condoms. Tossing the supplies on the bed, he settled himself on Jack's thighs and took Jack's semi-erect cock in hand. Daniel's eyelids fluttered slightly and his voice was rough as he said, "Oh, yeah, that's nice." Jack was a little surprised by Daniel's open admiration, but he sure didn't mind it.

Jack spent a moment just enjoying the flood of sensations, surprised that the emotional were nearly as powerful as the physical. His last few sexual encounters had been good, but also casual and really just about getting off. While he didn't choose partners he didn't like, he did select people with whom he had no interest in forming a lasting relationship. He wanted relief without complication.

What he had right now, though, in this motel room with this man he'd just met, felt like a lot more than mere relief. During the time they'd sat in the diner, their conversation hadn't been about a pick-up. They'd actually been connecting on a level Jack couldn't last remember experiencing. And Daniel felt it too; Jack could see it in his manner, in his expressions, in what he chose to share with Jack.

It was that connection that made right now feel so damn good. Daniel's naked skin against his and Daniel's hands on his dick were accompanied by pure joy in the man's eyes and ease in his words. Even if they only had today, they were both invested in sharing the moment.

Jack sighed as his erection grew under Daniel's touch. He moved his hips a little, matching the rhythm Daniel had set, and stroked Daniel's warm skin. He touched his thighs and brushed his fingers across his stomach and reached up to run his hand over a broad, beautiful chest, all the while enjoying the blissful expression on Daniel's face.

With small grasping movements of his fingers, Jack demanded, "Come here, come here," and Daniel bent forward so they could kiss long and dirty and deep.

With his fingers in Daniel's hair and his lips against a stubbled cheek, Jack said, "Tell me what you want."

Daniel pulled back just enough to be able to look him in the eye. "I was thinking you could fuck me. Would that be okay with you?"

Jack groaned out a desperate sounding, "Hell yes!" Daniel laughed out loud. With a final tight stroke, he released Jack's cock and picked up one of the condoms. Jack had never thought putting on a rubber could be sexy, but Daniel's long fingers and sure touch made it so in this case. By the time Daniel got around to applying the lube, Jack was hard as nails and nearly panting. He was jolted out of his lust-fog, though, when Daniel rose to his knees and lined up Jack's cock.

"Wait!" Jack objected. "I don't want to hurt you."

There was that mischievous grin again, and as Daniel lowered himself onto Jack, he promised, "Don't worry, this won't hurt a bit."

Jack would have taken a moment to indulge in the dirty thoughts about what Daniel did to make himself ready for this, but then Daniel was sinking down until his ass was pressed against Jack's thighs, and the only thought that Jack could manage to keep in his head was tighthotperfect. Daniel personified abandon, bouncing on top of Jack the way he did. He rose slowly then almost fell more than slid down, so his balls slapped against Jack's body.

Jack came to his senses enough to take the lube from where Daniel had dropped it on the bed and squeeze some onto his palm. When he wrapped his hand around Daniel's bouncing cock, Daniel shuddered and nearly shouted, "Fuck! Yes, that's great, Jack!" In the back of his mind, Jack wondered what exactly it would take to make Daniel stop speaking in sentences. He matched the strokes of his hand to Daniel's gliding up and down on his dick and was rewarded almost immediately when Daniel grunted and muttered, "Go- Good, fuck, good!"

Daniel's hands were behind him, gripping Jack's thighs so his back was arched and his head was thrown back. It was Jack who saw stars when Daniel's ass clenched around him as he came, semen spurting onto Jack's stomach and dripping down his hand. Daniel looked almost delirious when he smiled down at Jack and said, "Damn, that felt good!"

He started to list to the side, and Jack used his momentum to pull him down and roll them over. He placed his hands behind Daniel's knees and reseated his cock deep inside the other man. At Daniel's satisfied, "Oh, that's it, Jack," he let himself go.

It was amazing, Daniel sweaty and lax under him, Jack's thigh and ass muscles shifting with each stroke, and the skin of his sac tightening just before an orgasm that shut down his higher brain functions.

Daniel's hands glided over his shoulders while he caught his breath. He eased out of Daniel and rolled to the side, taking a moment to let his body stop twitching before rising from the bed to toss the condom. While he was up, he got a washcloth from the bathroom and wiped the come off his chest. Then he laid back down next to Daniel, sighing a happy sigh and letting his eyes drift shut.

He reached up and swiped the sweat from his forehead, then let his hand fall to his side. It landed on Daniel's hand, on the ring. After a moment, he realized he was fondling it and stopped his fingers' movements.

Daniel didn't wait for Jack to ask the question. "She was killed on a work site in North Africa, a long time ago."

The revelation filled Jack with intense sorrow. That Daniel should have experienced such a loss went straight to his heart, cutting out a little piece that he wanted to offer to the man lying next to him.

"I'm sorry," was all he said.

He felt Daniel's shoulder move in a brief shrug.

"Our time together was good. I'm sorry she died, but not that I've kept on living."

Jack rolled onto his side and lightly placed his hand on Daniel's stomach. The muscles momentarily tightened then relaxed, quickly enough that Jack might have imagined it.

"What were you waiting for, back there in the diner?"

Daniel's brows drew together, giving him a thoughtful and uncertain look. Maybe he didn't know the answer, or more likely Jack figured, he just didn't want to share it.

Finally, Daniel said, "Whatever comes next." Then he turned his head and smiled at Jack, open like he hadn't been since they'd met, open like he hadn't been when he'd climbed on top of Jack, filling himself with Jack's cock. More open even than in that moment when his defenses were down and he was jerking in Jack's hand and spilling onto Jack's stomach.

Jack smiled back and let his hand move in a slow circle. He was the kind of man who was comfortable living day to day, not concerning himself with what the future might bring beyond ensuring that he and his were taken care of. Now, though, with a charge of almost childlike anticipation, he watched Daniel, and he wondered what would come next.

- end -