His lungs burned, and some part of his mind screamed for him to stop. His body was feeling the strain and was threatening to give in before he was ready. He ignored the protest of his aching legs, willing away the desire to stop and rest. Shaun had been through far worse than this, and he wasn’t going to stop just because his body thought it had reached its limit.

When he broke the top of the hill, he eased his pace. He focused on his breathing, willing his lungs to slowly take in the cool air. His heart pounded behind his ribs, feeling like it was about to break through at any moment. A stitch twinged in his side and he ignored it, focusing on bringing his vital signs back under control.

He checked the phone strapped to his upper arm and grinned. His time had been even better than the last. Neither he nor Lucas believed in letting themselves rest between hunts. Believing that not maintaining their strength and speed was just a lazy way to write an early death certificate. Shaun was the one who kept at it the most faithfully, though Lucas referred to it as “zealotry.”

Shaun relished the aches and pains in his body and his shortness of breath. It meant he had pushed himself even further than he had on his last intense workout. To him, finding his limit meant he could push beyond it. Each push raised the bar higher and higher, making him a far more dangerous and capable hunter. He was human, therefore every extra second of speed and ounce of stamina or strength could mean the difference between life and death.

He jogged down the hill now, waiting until he reached the bottom to ease into a quick walk. The cool air of the morning felt good on his hot, sweat-coated skin. His shirt was soaked through. He was much more desperate for a shower than he was for a real breakfast. Shaun’s weak point was always making sure to eat, even a little, before going for a workout. It was Lucas who made sure there was always a healthy snack in full view for Shaun to grab on the way out.

He sorely needed the intense workout, it had been far too long since the last one. It didn’t hurt that he needed the burn of a workout to ease his mind whenever he became too worried. He found it cathartic, putting the stress of his mind into a productive stress on his body, willing his mind to focus on the task at hand.

He had been waking up worried a lot lately. Lucas had been steadily drifting inside himself ever since they had confronted and eventually killed Ana. His partner hadn’t withdrawn from him, but Shaun could see the inevitable regression to his former self. When they first met, Lucas had been an icy stone wall, impenetrable and dangerous to try to traverse. Over time, he had thawed and become more personable and friendly. That he hadn’t shut Shaun out was reassuring, but it worried the larger man to see Lucas shrinking into himself and refusing to reach out for help.

The worst thing was the fear that Lucas would inevitably break away from him. That Shaun would see the decline beginning to affect their relationship, but be helpless to do anything to stop the dissolution of the best partnership he’d ever had. He tried not to show his worry when Lucas told him he had spoken to Nic, or to show his relief when he’d heard that Lucas hadn’t talked to him about Ana. Shaun couldn’t decide if it was good that Lucas hadn’t spoken to anyone about it, or if it was a bad sign that he hadn’t spoken to someone else who could understand completely.

As he approached the motel room, he saw a light peeking out from under the room’s curtains. He smiled as he knew what he would see when he opened the door to their shared room. Lucas would be patiently waiting for him to come back, uneasy that Shaun was out alone in a strange place, but not willing to show his concern. He would be smoking, always heavier when he first woke up, with a sack of food on the table and cups of coffee nearby. Lucas never ate when he first got up, despite his insistence on Shaun eating. It was always caffeine and nicotine for breakfast.

Sure enough, Lucas’ rich green eyes watched him as he walked through the door. Shaun could tell from his expression and the distant look in his eyes that Lucas hadn’t even been awake for an hour yet. They rarely worked out together. Not because they didn’t workout well together but because of their differing schedules. Shaun was the early riser, ready to go the moment he awoke, and Lucas barely counted as a person when he woke up. It would be another hour or so before he was himself and in the meantime he would look ruffled and slightly grumpy.

“Morning!” Shaun greeted him, careful not to put too much energy into his voice as he reached into the bag of food on the table.

“And how close to killing yourself did you come this time?” Lucas asked, voice still rough from sleep.

Shaun pulled out a breakfast sandwich and happily unwrapped it. “Close, but not close enough. Maybe next time I can bring on a heart attack, that’d be fun, right?”

Lucas shook his head, his expression still vaguely confused. Shaun had a theory that his partner’s bad mood stemmed from that early morning confusion when he first woke up. Lucas was the sort of person who believed in being mentally alert at all times. He prided himself on his perceptive abilities and quick wits. Those very same traits were dulled and slowed when he first woke up, probably making the world seem like it was moving too quickly. Shaun suspected that Lucas’ inability to keep up with even the most basic of tasks left him confused, and confusion always made Lucas snarly.

“All done then?” Lucas asked, firing up his computer.

Shaun cracked his neck, rolling his shoulders in an attempt to get the tight muscles to loosen up a little. “I think so. I ain’t tired, but I could really use a shower.”

Lucas’ dark eyes trailed over his sweat sheened skin. “You certainly look like you could do with a rinse.”

It was a casual comment, but Shaun didn’t miss the way his partner’s gaze lingered on him for longer than it should have. He could feel his heart rate pick up as he hoped he might get a little more cardio exercise. Just as Lucas was rarely the type to wake up coherent, he was also rarely in the mood for anything sexual in the morning. Then again, they had been sleeping with each other more frequently than they had ever done in the history of their partnership. That could be bringing out a few aspects of Lucas’ sexuality he might have missed before.

Unable to help himself, Shaun stood up, stretching his arms above his head and leaning back. Sure enough, Lucas’ gaze wandered down to Shaun’s stomach, where his shirt had ridden up to expose his hard abs. Shaun might not have had what he’d call a consistent sex life with Lucas, but he knew Lucas’ eyes were probably tracing the happy trail of dark hairs on his stomach.

Knowing he had already won this little battle, Shaun shook himself off. “I think I should get in the shower before I start stinking.”

Doubt grew in Lucas’ eyes as he looked away quickly. “You’ll be doing both of us a favor.”

Shaun, not taking offense at Lucas’ refusal to show his attraction, made his way to the shower. They had long ago established that sex between them was optional; fun, but not mandatory. Shaun had expectations that he was going to get what he wanted, but he also knew Lucas’ cautious nature wouldn’t allow him to appear too eager. As he made sure the water was the perfect temperature, he remembered Lucas’ lingering gaze with a smile.

It was their custom to leave the bathroom door open just the smallest crack whenever they showered. It gave the steam some place to go, helping to balance the temperature a little in the small bathrooms they were used to. It also meant that if they wanted to talk to each other, they didn’t have to shout through a closed door. All they had to do was open the door a bit more to talk. It wasn’t as if they were going to see anything they hadn’t seen numerous times before.

He felt the cooler air of the main room flow into the warm bathroom before he heard the soft squeak of the hinges. The click of the door closing made him smile and he shifted out of the stream of water. It was only a few seconds before Lucas slid open the curtain enough to slip in with him.

Shaun wasted no time taking in the sight of Lucas’ naked body as the shower doused him with water. Lucas wasn’t as tall as Shaun, but he was tall enough that he stood over most people in a room. His body was as well taken care of as Shaun’s was, but where Shaun was all bulk and strength, Lucas was lean muscles and lithe grace. He was an entirely different kind of handsome to Shaun, more like a casual model than the rough workman looks Shaun had.

He reached out, pressing his large hand against Lucas’ chest and sliding it down the stretch of his torso. Shaun would be the first to admit his own weakness for long torsos. Just long enough to enhance the rest of his body and the sleek muscles of Lucas’ stomach beneath his taut skin. The trail of hair down the middle of his stomach led perfectly to his groin, the fair hairs fine and hard to see unless they were wet.

“Pervert,” Lucas grumbled with his eyes closed, though he didn’t bother to hide the small smile as he soaked his hair.

“Can’t put a ham before a starvin’ dog and not expect him to take a bite,” Shaun told him as he ran a finger down the length of Lucas’ rapidly hardening cock.

“You were ‘fed’ yesterday.”

Shaun brought his hand up to wrap it around Lucas’ hip, loving the sight of it there. “Yeah, but ya always make me hungry.”

Before Lucas could tease him about his terrible come-ons, Shaun pulled him against his body for a firm kiss. The almost unseen tension in Lucas’ body melted away as their tongues danced across one another. Lucas’ hands gripped the muscles of his shoulders, nails teasingly pressing against the skin as they ran down the lines of his back. Shaun growled into the kiss, pulling Lucas in tighter so he fit perfectly against him.

“Better not be too worn out from your work out,” Lucas warned him as he nipped at Shaun’s bottom lip.

“Not for you,” Shaun assured him, meaning every word of it.

He realized Lucas was hard when he felt the man’s cock jump against his thigh. Lucas would never admit it, but trust was a big thing for him. Being reassured repeatedly that Shaun was always there for him was a surefire way to ease his partner’s mind. When sex came into the equation, it became a turn-on.

“Good, hot water doesn’t last long in these places, so let’s skip the preliminaries,” Lucas said.

Shaun’s own cock gave an interested jerk, suddenly realizing with intense clarity that he was about to get more than a quick blowjob in the shower. Lucas wriggled so they switched positions, putting Shaun under the spray of water. He reached around the shower curtain and pulled it back with the bottle of lube in his grip.

With a movement that should have been considered laughably pornographic but instead came across as a show Shaun ought to at least pay to see, Lucas turned around. It wasn’t just a simple twist of his body. No, Lucas kept his eyes locked onto Shaun’s as he turned his lean body away, accentuating every movement. He braced himself against the wall, rolling his hips so his ass stuck out toward Shaun as an obvious invitation.

It really didn’t matter how many times Lucas put on a show, it always left Shaun breathless and his cock hard enough to hold itself up stiffly. He grabbed hold of the bottle Lucas offered over his shoulder with a knowing smirk. Shaun had to reach behind him to adjust the shower head, so the spray wasn’t aimed directly at Lucas. They had past experiences of water and water-based lube, and Shaun didn’t want to repeat those incidents again.

He knew Lucas was eager to get to the main attraction, but Shaun couldn’t help having a little fun beforehand. Coating a finger, he reached down and ran it across the ring of muscles of Lucas’ ass. Lucas shifted slightly, head resting against the wall as he braced himself for what he knew was coming. Shaun ran his finger back and forth before finally pressing forward, feeling Lucas’ tight heat, even as he watched every detail of his finger disappearing into his partner’s ass.

“Oh God, no teasing,” Lucas moaned, still pushing his ass back onto Shaun’s finger.

“I don’t want to go too fast after last night,” Shaun told him, adding another digit for good measure.

“I’ll live.”

Doubt blossomed for a second in Shaun’s mind. Along with more frequent sex, Lucas had been adamant about their sex being more furious, more passionate. They had never shrunk away from harder sex in the past, but it was becoming the main theme of their sex life lately. Shaun enjoyed the fact that he could use his strength on his partner without fear of reprisal or harm, but he was beginning to worry if it might become too much for Lucas. His partner had a way of pushing himself just as hard as Shaun, but in different ways. Lucas was also notorious for stubbornly refusing to acknowledge his harder limits, even if it was to the detriment of his own wellbeing.

As if reading Shaun’s mind, Lucas looked over his shoulder at him. “I mean it, Shaun. I’m okay. It’s going to take a lot more than this to push me past my limits, and I know you won’t hurt me.”

That wasn’t necessarily true, but Shaun appreciated the sentiment. Even if they had sex the night before and the night before that, it would take more than a couple of fingers to make Shaun penetrating Lucas less painful. Lucas wouldn’t be Shaun’s first partner to have a deep appreciation for the universal descriptor “big” when it came to Shaun’s size. However, he would be one of the few who appreciated Shaun’s other far less shallow aspects. Shaun never had to worry that Lucas only slept with him because genetics had dealt him a winning hand in the size department.

If Lucas trusted Shaun not to hurt him, then Shaun had to trust Lucas not to push himself too far. It didn’t stop Shaun from liberally applying lube to his cock, though. He had to trust his partner, but it didn’t hurt to ease the process a bit.

As much as he loved the sight of Lucas’ face as he slid into him, Shaun loved being able to see the act itself just as much. There was a moment of resistance as he pushed into Lucas, before his muscles finally gave way. Shaun moaned softly as he watched the head of his cock disappear into Lucas’s ass, sliding deeper as he pushed forward. Lucas’ back muscles moved and shifted as he fought the urge to impale himself too quickly. His arms shook as he moaned, riding out the contrasting sensations of Shaun filling him up.

Shaun held Lucas’ hips steady as he stretched him wide, inching himself in gradually. That the first penetration was gradual was more Shaun’s doing than Lucas’. Sometimes he swore his partner would rather get the first thrusts over within seconds, and risk hurting himself. Shaun, despite his love of battle, didn’t think blood and intense pain were all that attractive. He forced some restraint on both of them. His hands on Lucas’ hips were more to keep Lucas in place than to have a place to hold.

When it was done, Shaun pushed the last inch of his cock slowly into Lucas’ ass. Both of them were breathing heavily already, fingers trembling slightly as they adjusted to the sensation. Lucas, as always, was so tight and warm around his cock. There was an eagerness to Lucas’ movements that was so rarely seen by anyone that Shaun drank deeply of the sight. His partner wanted him as badly as he wanted Lucas, and he knew Lucas would start demanding he move soon.

Before Lucas could begin protesting, Shaun pulled his hips back and eased himself forward again with a patient but firm push. He slid deep into Lucas, bottoming out as a shaky moan escaped his lips. The grip around his cock began to loosen as he continued to stroke in and out, slowly building strength and speed. Lucas’ fingers dug into the cracks between the tiles, beginning to push himself back into Shaun’s thrusts.

Shaun dug his fingers tighter into Lucas’ hips, forcing them to stop moving. Rather than protest, Lucas gave in to the grip, moaning Shaun’s name. His cock was hard and straining, but he was forced to hold himself against the wall as Shaun began to fuck him harder. The wet sound of skin meeting skin began to echo off of the tiles as Shaun drove himself eagerly into Lucas.

Lucas’ hips were slowly being pushed closer and closer to the wall. The longer Shaun fucked him, the more he began to pin Lucas to the tiles. His partner had to adjust his footing with shaky legs. Not once did Lucas protest. Instead, he gasped and moaned, choking out Shaun’s name.

Shaun could feel the heat of his body rising, curling in his gut as his orgasm built within him. He shifted one hand around Lucas so he could still shove him against the wall while gripping his cock hard. The noise Lucas made as Shaun’s hand began to pump him was strangled and needy. Lucas almost never touched himself when Shaun was inside him, knowing that he would cum far earlier than he wanted. But Shaun wanted him to cum now, wanted to hear his lover cry out, and feel his body go hard against his as the muscles of his ass gripped him tightly.

Lucas’ hands splayed out against the wet tiles and he threw back his head with a low cry. Cum pulsed out against the wall, running between Shaun’s fingers as he continued to fuck him. Lucas’ entire body pressed back against him as he whispered Shaun’s name with a faint cry. Shaun gripped him hard, pressing his face into the crook of Lucas’ neck as his own orgasm hit. Lucas was so tight around him, he would swear he could feel every pulse of his cock as he came deep inside his lover.

Lucas slumped and Shaun tightened his hold on him, trying to keep Lucas upright. Any tension he had felt before was gone altogether, as he gasped heavily for air. Shaun carefully pulled himself free from Lucas, drawing a small noise from both of them. He couldn’t stop himself from reaching down between their bodies and running a gentle finger over Lucas’ ass once more. He shuddered a little at the slick feeling, not knowing if it was from the lube or his own cum.

They found themselves slipping to sit in the tub, managing to switch positions so Shaun was at the rear, with Lucas’ back pressed against his front. Lucas breathed deeply, letting the air out slowly in a contented sigh. His fingers traced circles on Shaun’s thighs and his head sprawled lazily against Shaun’s arm as they lay there together.

With an uncommon show of affection, Lucas gently kissed Shaun’s shoulder. It was an unspoken “thank you.” Shaun couldn’t say with any certainty what for. For the great sex, the catharsis Lucas must get from their rough romp, or simply being there for him through everything; it could be any or all of those things. It warmed Shaun, even as it broke his heart a little. He couldn’t be what he wanted to be to Lucas, but at least he was able to bring this small piece of happiness into his life.