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Beach with a View
The sun was burning against his shoulders, and with a content sigh Jim turned on his towel until he was lying on his back and the bright sun was warming his chest and stomach. Blindly, he reached for his backpack and rummaged around until his fingers closed around his shades. Settling them on his nose, he crossed his arms behind his head and looked around the beach.
He was the first to admit that he had been against spending their shore leave on Risa, despite the many pleasantries it offered. But so far, his fears that it was going to be too crowded, too artificially aimed at pleasing all tastes, hadn't been confirmed. True, it was also only the first afternoon of their stay, but the hotel wasn't so big that it was impersonal, and the beach Bones had dragged him to seemed somewhat secluded from the main tourist hotspots. It was just the right mix between empty and crowded, and it seemed far enough off the beaten paths so that they hadn't encountered any of the other crewmembers so far.
Jim loved being Captain, and he really liked his crew, but it was simply too hard to let go of the on-board hierarchy during shore leave to really relax.
No, this was by far better than that – just him and Bones, hanging out for a couple of days. And even if that meant enduring the lecture on the hundred reasons why leaving the house without sunscreen is a bad idea, Jim, and don't come whining to me if you burn yourself, then so be it. It was a small price to pay for five days filled with no more pressing concerns than avoiding a sunburn.
Jim had flopped down on his towel moments after securing their spot on the soft white sand, with no intention of moving anytime soon, no matter how much Bones tried to convince him to come along for a swim, so eventually Bones had grumbled something unintelligible and the last thing Jim had heard was the sound of Bones' shirt and pants hitting the sand before he stalked off.
That had been a little while ago now, time during which Jim had drifted off gently to the sound of the waves and the other people on the beach calling and laughing in the distance. He hadn't moved save for pulling off his shirt, and for the first time in weeks – no, months – he hadn't thought about anything but the feeling of the sun against his skin, its rays warming and loosening his muscles until he felt as if he was melting into the soft white sand.
Now he let his eyes roam across the beach properly for the first time since their arrival earlier. It had gotten a little more crowded, but not much, and nobody had spread their towels anywhere close to their somewhat secluded spot. From behind the dark glasses of his shades, Jim watched the people near the water. There was the usual mixture of species one encountered on a vacation on Risa. Most of them were – or at least appeared to be – humanoid, and all of them seemed to follow the universal vacation on the beach protocol: those who weren't lounging in the sun were sitting on their towels, reading or watching their friends and family members. But most of the visitors were in the water, either lazily strolling through the surf or swimming in the gentle blue waves.
Jim's eyes roamed over the people on the beach with them, noticing with some interest that apparently not all the species assembled on the beach here considered bathing suits a necessary apparel. Not that he minded just one bit. Jim appreciated beauty in all its forms and shapes, and there were definitely a number of very beautiful beings assembled on this beach. It didn't entice Jim to get up and get any of those beauties to come back to his hotel room with him, but it definitely didn't detract anything from making this a pleasant experience.
But Bones had been gone for a while now, and Jim let his eyes dart over the various people assembled on the beach – male, female, and beings of indeterminate gender – in search of his friend. Not that he was worried. They weren't joined at the hip, even if they had decided to spend this afternoon on the beach together. Bones was a grown man who could take care of himself, and Jim knew that he was a good swimmer, too. But Jim hadn't brought a PADD or anything to read, and lying in the sun doing absolutely nothing at all lasted only for so long before it got boring.
In the end, it wasn't hard to spot Bones in the water. Most of the vacationers were content to just stroll through the surf or go in just far enough to let the waves carry them back to the beach. There were only a few serious swimmers out there, and after a few moments Jim located his friend's dark head amongst the waves. Bones was farther out than Jim would have guessed, swimming steadily through the waves and back towards the beach. It was almost hypnotizing, Jim thought, to watch his arms plow through the water in a regular rhythm as he got nearer and nearer.
The ground had to decline gently into the water, because Bones still seemed pretty far out when suddenly the motion of his arms stopped and he stood, swiping the hair off his face with his hands. With steps that were just as measured and regular as his swimming strokes had been, he started to walk out of the water, and seeing as he had nothing else to do anyway, Jim watched the sight of his best friend wade back towards the beach.
And Jim had to admit that it wasn't exactly a sight that made him want to avert his eyes. It wasn't as if Starfleet uniforms were designed to hide much of what lay underneath, and Jim had seen his friend in uniform and out of it often enough to know that Bones was hiding some pretty fine muscles underneath that blue uniform shirt. It was a knowledge that was only reinforced now that he waded through the water and back towards the shore, drops of water reflecting the light off the skin of his broad shoulders. And how the hell did Bones manage to stay so tan even after being cooped up aboard with no natural light for months? It seemed impossible, but the proof was right there in front of his eyes, bronze skin against the blue backdrop of the sky and the ocean.
Jim made the mental note to find out if anyone was hiding the existence of a tanning booth aboard from him as he tightened his arms underneath his head to get to a more comfortable angle. He could only hope that the wasn't staring too obviously, and that his shades were hiding the worst of it. The sight was simply too delicious not to look – in a completely platonic, best-friend-kind-of-way, of course.
From this distance, the dusting of wet, dark hairs on Bones' chest appeared like a dark shadow, one that thinned out below his pecs, only to pick up as a fine, almost sculpted trail below his navel, a trail that led unerringly towards the waistband of his…
Jim nearly choked on his own tongue and a sharp stab of heat that had nothing at all to do with the sun jolt through his body and settle in his groin. No waistband. There was no waistband to hide that delicious trail of hair from sight because Bones wasn't wearing…well, he wasn't wearing anything. No pair of board shorts like Jim was still wearing, and neither the flimsy scrap of fabric that made up the Starfleet standard issue swim trunks.
No. Bones was wearing neither of these.
He wasn't wearing anything.
Bones was naked – gloriously naked – and while Jim had taken in the fact that a lot of other visitors to the beach were strolling around without a stitch of clothing on without a second thought about it, now that it was Bones it stood out like a beacon.
Hell, but it was a sight to behold. Bones was moving in bigger steps now that the water only reached to his knees, and Jim shifted slightly on his towel in a desperate attempt to alleviate some of the sudden tightness in his own shorts. For crying out loud, this was Bones. His best friend. And this wasn't the first time Jim had seen Bones naked. There had been other times before – communal dressing rooms, the one week of Academy survival training, the decon showers aboard Enterprise. And during neither of those instances had Bones' nakedness been an issue, not something Jim had paid any attention to beyond acknowledging it.
Really, this shouldn't be an issue. A lot of people on this beach were naked. Bones was naked. No big deal.
Except that this was different than being in the same showers after a workout at the gym. Bones looked amazing like this, a wide expanse of tanned skin glistening wetly in the afternoon sun. His legs were a bit paler than his upper body, strong thighs and muscular calves, the muscles shifting underneath his skin with every step he took towards Jim.
What made the breath stutter in Jim's throat and chest was the absolute ease with which Bones moved along the beach, as if being naked in front of dozens of strangers was the most natural thing in the world. But Jim couldn't take his eyes off his friend as Bones made his way towards him, couldn't look away from the small rivulets of water that dripped from his hair and ran down his neck and across his chest where they vanished between his chest hairs. Jim tried almost desperately not to look farther down, not to look at Bones' cock dangling between his legs with every step he took. But it was as if his eyes were drawn there of their own accord, even though he had seen Bones naked before, and Jim wasn't someone who ogled his best friend's junk for the fun of it.
Though it was a nice cock, Jim had to admit. In the platonic way one man might look at his best friend's cock and form an opinion about it, of course. It was a nice size, and for a fleeting second Jim wondered what it would feel like in his hands, growing and hardening under his touch…
Jim tore himself out of those increasingly non-platonic thoughts as Bones flopped down on the towel beside his with a sigh. He shook his head with a snort of laughter, sending water droplets flying everywhere. Jim jackknifed into a sitting position, but less because of the spray of water and more to hide the effect his somewhat impure thoughts about certain parts of Bones' anatomy had on him. It was not that easy to hide the beginnings of a hard-on in nothing but a pair of shorts, not without looking ridiculous, but Jim tried to make the best of it as he pulled up his knees and tried to think the most unarousing things he could come up with.
Bones was his best friend. He wasn't going to spring a boner just because his best friend decided to go for a naked swim. He wasn't going to get all hot and bothered because his best friend looked absolutely amazing with his clothes off.
"You should come along for a swim," Bones said. "The water's great."
From what he had observed as Bones got out of the ocean, the water definitely wasn't cold, and that thought nearly caused an almost manic giggle to escape Jim's lips. Covering it up with a fake cough, he tried to make his voice sound as nonchalant as possible.
"Yeah? You seem to have forgotten your swimming trunks."
Jim hated how his voice broke and sounded far too high-pitched and squeaky for his liking, but Bones only laughed that deep, throaty laugh that never failed to make Jim smile.
"You didn't see the signs when we got here?"
"What signs?" Jim turned his head to find Bones looking at him, his eyes sparkling green in the afternoon sunlight as he grinned at Jim. He was still completely naked, running a small towel through his wet hair. At Jim's completely clueless question, the grin widened even further.
"What signs? The big yellow ones that said that this is a clothing optional beach. The brochures said it's one of the most beautiful beaches on the planet, and I didn't think you'd have a problem with some optional nudity."
"A problem? Me?" It would probably sound a lot more credible if his voice finally dropped half and octave or more and returned to its usual timbre. Jim cleared his throat and shook his head emphatically. "Of course I don't have a problem with it."
Bones shook his head with a snort and finished drying off his hair, then spread the wet towel on the sand beside him so that it could dry. Jim tried to save what was left of his dignity and forced a challenging smile to his face.
"I just never figured you for the type to go to a nudist beach for a naked swim."
"Clothing optional, Jim. That's not the same as a nudist beach, which is the reason why nobody's looking twice at you because you're still wearing your shorts. And it's no big deal." Bones shrugged and pulled out some folds in the towel he was sitting on. "There were plenty of small lakes around where I grew up. Me and my friends went skinny dipping for as long as I can remember. Places like this here, it's no big deal as long as you don't treat is as such. But we can leave and go somewhere else, if you're uncomfortable."
"No! Of course not!"
And he wasn't, even though his protest was too fast, too loud, and probably altogether too unconvincing. The only thing Jim was uncomfortable with was his growing erection that only seemed to get harder and more uncomfortable with each moment that Bones was sitting beside him without a stitch of clothing covering him. Bones watched him for a few seconds longer, then he shrugged.
"If you say so."
He stretched out beside Jim with a groan of pleasure, but shot back upright almost immediately.
"Damn it, Jim, what did I tell you about putting on sunscreen?"
"Huh?" Jim tried to turn his head to find out what Bones was talking about, but Bones' hands were already on his back, poking gently at his slightly sore shoulders. Jim flinched away with a slight hiss.
"I did put on sunscreen. I practically slathered it on. It's not my fault that my skin doesn't tan easily. Or at all."
Bones grumbled something under his breath and reached for his bag. "I should have known. Get on your front, I've got something against that."
Jim almost whimpered as a strong hand pushed against his burnt shoulder and pressed him down onto the towel. It took some shifting to lie down without trapping his growing erection uncomfortably beneath him. While he was still shifting around, he heard the sound of a flip-cap being opened, and as soon as he had settled, Bones' broad hands were against his back, massaging cool lotion into his reddened skin. Jim breathed a small sigh of relief as Bones started to work the lotion into his back, erasing the sting from his skin with gentle movements. Resting his cheek on his folded hands, Jim closed his eyes as Bones added more lotion and worked his hands down from his shoulders and along his sides.
"Didn't know you burned that easily," Bones grumbled, the movements of his hands getting defter against Jim's lower back, where the skin wasn't burned as badly. It was almost a massage, one that dissolved kinks in his muscles that Jim hadn't even known were there. "You can't stay in the sun all day long like that. You should put your shirt back on, or go back to to the hotel. They have an inside pool there."
Jim wanted to reply, but all he was able to bring out was an affirmative hum. Even so, it was hard not to let it turn into a pleased groan as Bones' hands rubbed along his spine. Damn but why did he have to discover now of all times that his spine seemed to be one single big erogenous zone? The way Bones' hands were moving over his back, he had a hard time not to start humping the towel beneath him. There was no way he was going to get up, or even turn onto his back in the foreseeable future.
It didn't help just one bit that Bones was now kneeling beside him, so close that Bones' skin brushed against him again and again, reminding him each time that Bones was still naked, and that Jim wanted nothing more than to press against him, run his hands all over the sun-warmed tanned skin and kiss and caress every inch of it. And those were thoughts that strayed so far from being platonic that he'd have to spend some serious time thinking about where all this was coming from all of a sudden.
Preferably after a long, cold shower.
His skin was no longer burning from the sunburn, but still Bones' hands were moving over his back in long, sure strokes. Each time they ran down his spine, Jim had to suppress a small shudder, and each time Bones' fingertips brushed against the waistband of his shorts, Jim found himself holding his breath, arching and stretching his back. And each and every time, Bones' fingers inched a little farther down, skimming just under the waistband and lingering a little longer than a platonic touch could last before it turned intimate.
Another sweep down his spine, and this time Bones' hand stopped against the small of his back, his thumb drawing lazy circles against Jim's sun-warmed skin. The breath caught in Jim's throat as Bones leaned in close, and he couldn't stop the feeling that something had shifted over the past minutes, something he hadn't even been aware of until now.
A drop of water fell out of Bones' hair and onto Jim's shoulder, icy cold against his overheated skin, a counterpoint to Bones breath that was brushing hotly against his ear.
"I wouldn't have thought that a little naked skin was going to excite you like that, Jim." Bones' hand inched a little farther down, the tips of his fingers just skimming underneath the waistband of Jim's shorts. Jim wanted to respond, he really did, but all his throat was able to work up was a small, almost embarrassing whimper. His hips moved almost of their own accord, trying to alleviate the pressure on his cock and surreptitiously shifting Bones' fingers further under his waistband in one movement.
Bones chuckled, and Jim got the distinct feeling that his body had just made a fundamental decision without consulting his brain first. A large part of his blood supply was busy in other parts of his body, anyway, and those parts really wanted for Bones' hand to keep moving across his skin.
"Tell me, Jim, who's got you worked up like that? Is it the two women sunbathing twenty yards away? From the way the brunette was looking at you earlier, I'd say you won't have any trouble convincing her to come back to the hotel with you. And if your suite is anything like mine, you won't have any trouble keeping her…entertained."
Jim had noticed the two women earlier, but had barely glanced at them. And right now, he didn't want to consider taking either of them back to the hotel with him. He didn't want to think about anything but the feeling of Bones' hands against his skin, and how he never wanted for it to stop. Bones chuckled into his ear, and his hand inched yet another bit lower against Jim's back.
"Or are you thinking about that Ratalian over there near the dunes? Ratalian stamina is legendary, you know? And I'm sure that zhe is just as open to new experiences as the rest of zher people. You could be in for a wild night if you decided to go there."
Jim didn't want to listen to all the possibilities Bones was listing, but he also didn't want for him to stop. He wanted to keep hearing his voice, deep and throaty and right next to his ear, wanted to imagine what it would be like to hear that voice whisper filthy things into his ear as those amazing hands worked their magic all over his body…
"Or maybe…"
Jim twisted, and before Bones had the chance to come up with yet another suggestion, he blindly reached out without any previous thought or plan. His hand encountered warm flesh, and he pulled Bones closer with a firm grip against the back of his neck. Their mouths crushed against each other, and Jim's brain stopped whatever little higher cognitive function it had still been capable of. The angle was wrong, but Bones' mouth was hot against his, lips that tasted like seawater parted willingly beneath the pressure of his tongue, and Jim wanted nothing else but this. No brunette woman, no Rathalian adventure, nothing and nobody but Bones, and he tried to put as much of that as possible into this kiss.
When they broke apart, Jim was out of breath and if anything the issue about his throbbing erection had gotten worse, not better. Bones looked at him from only inches away, and there was something in his gaze that Jim hadn't expected to see there. He seemed surprised, like someone who had gone all-in on a gamble but hadn't expected that his hand was actually good enough to win, and Jim pressed another quick kiss against those luscious lips in reassurance.
"What's that you were saying about your suite? Plenty of ways to keep someone entertained?"
Bones looked at him for a moment, then a small grin tugged at the corners of his lips. "I might have said something like that."
Now it was Jim's turn to lean in close and whisper into Bones' ear, and he felt on known territory again now that he had taken at least some initiative back. "Then how about we get back there and you show me what you were talking about?"
A smile appeared on Bones' face at that, and something flashed across his eyes that made Jim's stomach tighten in anticipation. The hand against the small of his back withdrew, and Bones twisted around to reach for his shorts.
"What the hell are you still waiting for?"
Jim honestly had no reply to that, other than to scramble to his feet and gather up his things as quickly as possible.
The sun was setting blood-red against the horizon by the time Jim lay there with his head pillowed against Bones' chest, feeling sore in all the right places and the fine hairs on Bones' chest tickling his skin as he listened to the other man's heartbeat slowly return to normal. Bones' fingers were tangling in the short hairs on the back of Jim's neck, and between the soothing movement and the cool sheets against his bare skin, Jim could have contently drifted off to sleep.
"You know," Bones said after a while, his voice a pleasant drawl in post-coital bliss, "this doesn't have to become an issue. We have a week of shore leave. We can make the most of that time, and once we're back aboard, we go back to how things have always been."
Jim was struck silent by the unexpected words, and it took a moment until their impact sunk in and he understood what Bones was offering him. A week beyond the usual boundaries of their friendship, a week filled with sex – amazing sex, if the past hours were anything to go by – but without any expectations or entanglements. It sounded tempting for all of a second, then Jim cast that thought aside.
Bones was offering him a chance at casual and a way out, but for the first time that he could remember, Jim didn't want either. He didn't want to go back to how they had been if this here was how they could be. And in the light of that, there really was only one possible answer to Bones' words.
"Don't be an idiot."
The chest underneath his cheek started to shake with a chuckle Bones tried to suppress, and with a smile Jim pressed a kiss against his warm skin. Six more days of shore leave ahead of them, and already he knew that he'd be perfectly content not to leave this room just once and still be as relaxed as possible once he returned to Enterprise.
Though they'd definitely have to go back to the beach while they were still on Risa. Jim was already having some pretty good memories of that place, and he intended to make a lot more before their time here was up.
The End.