Work Text:
It was quiet. Peaceful. There was nothing disturbing them at all. Even a fly could’ve been heard, had there been one in the room.
Sherlock couldn’t sleep though.
Perhaps this calmness, this silence was what helped him pick up on the fact that William was awake as well. In the darkness, William was facing away from him. Sherlock could hear that William’s breathing was uneven; one deep breath, holding it for a few seconds, letting it out. Then a few shorter breaths, then another deep one.
“…Love?” he called softly.
After a few seconds, he received an answer, “Yes?”
Sherlock reached out, smoothing his palm over William’s back, caressing gently, “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing is wrong, intrinsically…”
“But something is still keeping you up,”
William sighed and finally let himself relax into Sherlock’s touch. He moved, turning onto his back.
“Sometimes I just feel… lost. I can’t really name the reason for this sudden feeling,”
Sherlock sat up and straddled William to be able to look at him fully. He took one of his hands and lifted it to his lips, “That’s why I’m here, right? To be the light that guides you when you’re lost,”
William swallowed, and his gaze locked onto Sherlock’s.
“Sherly… Can I ask something of you?”
“Anything, Liam,”
“Could you love me?”
“I do love you, always. Constantly,”
William huffed with a smile, “Not what I meant, you dork,”
“I know, I know,” Sherlock replied, and leaned in to steal a quick kiss, “Are you sure?”
“I’m sure,”
He started by kissing his cheek. Soft butterfly kisses were peppered on William’s face, and his eyes fluttered closed as he enjoyed the attention. Sherlock’s lips trailed down his jaw, down the right side of his neck, where a warm tongue joined in to lave at a particularly sensitive spot. William moaned, turning his head and moving his shoulder to give Sherlock more space.
Sherlock worked his way lower until the collar of William’s nightshirt didn’t allow him anymore, then set to work on freeing William of his clothing. He unbuttoned the shirt from top to bottom and opened it, pushing the fabric towards William’s shoulders. William sat up briefly to shrug it off, then settled again, watching the detective with curious eyes and a playful expression.
Sherlock was relieved.
He watched William’s chest rise and fall with steady breaths, much more even than before. He was calmer, and that was what he wanted to achieve in the first place.
His hands moved to William’s waist, took hold of his trousers, and pulled, sliding the garment down his legs. William raised his hips to help it along, and after removing one last article, he laid there bare on the bed.
Sherlock’s palms trailed up William’s legs, squeezed his thighs, massaged his hips, and stroked his sides, brushed over his chest, shoulders, and down his arms.
“You’re so lovely,” he said, with adoration clear in his voice “I could spend hours just appreciating everything about you,”
“Hmm, you could start now? With your mouth following where your hands have been?”
It was a cheeky reply, though one with genuine want behind it.
After kissing William deeply, Sherlock began his task of mapping out his lover’s body with his lips. He was familiar with it already, but he never got tired of doing this again and again.
He covered every inch of skin he had access to but left the most obvious erogenous zone untouched. They’d get to the more sensual touches too, however, carnal pleasures were not the point right now.
Although William had asked him to hold him, that was not the most important thing about this.
Sherlock knew even the most brilliant minds fell victim to one common problem: self-doubt. ‘Am I enough?’ ‘Do I deserve this?’ ‘Is it okay for me to be happy?’ Similar thoughts have reared their ugly heads in William before, and Sherlock was sure that it was these that prevented him from resting tonight as well.
William asked to be loved, and Sherlock was dead set on showing him just how loved he was.
By the time he finished worshipping him, William was panting softly, watching Sherlock with half-lidded eyes. One of his hands gripped the sheets under him while the other covered his mouth to keep himself from making too much noise. Sherlock also didn’t miss how his erection was resting against his stomach, clear fluid dripping from the tip.
“Quite enjoyed that, did you?”
“I was supposed to,”
Sherlock chuckled, “Right. Let me just find what we need,” he reached over to the nightstand, rummaging in the drawer for the lubricant, “There we go,” he retrieved it and opened the cap, pouring some onto his fingers and rubbing them together to warm up the gel.
He lowered his hand between William’s legs, pressed a finger against him, and William’s body gladly welcomed the familiar intrusion. The second and third digits slid in easily beside the first one too.
Sherlock adored having William like this, so comfortable with him, pliant under him, full of trust and affection.
He caressed the velvety walls inside, feeling them yield, obediently loosening up to accept what was to come.
“Enough?”
“Yes, it’s fine now,”
Sherlock removed his fingers, wiping them off before taking the lube and pouring a generous amount onto William’s hole, then coating his cock.
“You’re wasting it,” William reproved him.
“It’s not a waste. It makes it much easier to move,”
William sighed but let him do as he wanted “You are paying for the next bottle,”
“How about we make a bet? If you come sooner, it’s on you,”
“Alright, we’ll see,”
At last, Sherlock guided his tip to the small ring of muscles and pushed in, sliding in halfway.
William wrapped his arms around his neck and pulled him closer.
“Sherly…”
“I’m here,” he captured William’s lips again, kissing him tenderly while moving his hips to thrust shallowly into him, “I’m here. Keep looking at me,”
Not much stimulation came out of their languid pace – and even when William gasped and arched his back, Sherlock steered away from the spot he had rubbed against to avoid giving him too much. He wanted to drag this out. He knew it was not a quick orgasm William wanted but the closeness, the intimacy of the act.
Once he was buried all the way, William asked him to stop and just stay like that for a bit. He groaned when William’s walls clenched down on his cock.
“You’re doing that on purpose…”
“Am I?” William asked with faux innocence, doing it again.
In retaliation, Sherlock took William’s cock in hand and stroked it, rubbing the tip with his thumb.
“Ahh, that’s even less fair!”
“That’s what you get for starting it,”
Sherlock resumed his gentle thrusts too, and William melted into the covers. The hand Sherlock wasn’t using to pleasure him sought out William’s, and he linked their fingers.
When William’s body tensed with an approaching orgasm, Sherlock stopped to let him gather himself. He wasn’t finished with him yet.
It took a few minutes, but William returned from the edge. He looked at Sherlock pleadingly.
“Why would you stop?”
“It’s too soon. Let’s enjoy ourselves a bit more… Feeling any better?”
“…I am,”
Sherlock kissed his cheek and nuzzled against him.
“Sometimes I’m reminded that there are a lot of people out there who have every reason to hate me,”
Ah, that was the problem this time then.
“People hate without reason too. It’s just how it is, Liam. There’s no perfect human being who could satisfy everyone. If they hate you for a wrong deed, for a mistake, for something silly they just didn’t like, for being yourself, or just for the sake of hating something – it all goes into the same pot. Hatred is hatred. They chose to keep the grudge, it’s their problem from then on. What does it help to hate someone? It just makes yourself miserable,”
“That may be so. But feelings are not easily controlled,”
“They certainly aren’t. Even so, my point is, some people will never be satisfied. You can repent all you want, and they won’t change their attitudes. They don’t want to forgive or consider being wrong, so they stay hateful. Liam, the best you can do is fix your mistakes but care about primarily yourself. Don’t care about the haters who’ll always find something to criticize. Care about the people who love you,”
“I care about you a lot,”
“Mhm. And I love you a lot. See just how much?”
Sherlock attacked William’s neck again, focusing where it was most sensitive and teasing it in a way that made small bursts of laughter come forth from William.
“H-hey now, haha stop tha- that,”
With a loud smacking kiss Sherlock parted from him and leaned back with a grin, “Why, laughter is good for the soul. Let me blow some raspberries-“
“No-!” William’s body shook with repressed mirth, “Don’t you dare!”
“Hmm, maybe I’ll leave that for another time. I mean, we have business to finish, don’t we?” he indicated to their lower bodies.
William wrapped his legs around Sherlock’s hips and pulled him closer, “Yes, and the bet is still ongoing too,”
“Say no more,”
A weight had lifted off William’s chest, and it showed in the way he reciprocated too. He wasn’t passive anymore like he had been until then; he moved with Sherlock, initiated kisses, let his hands roam over his lover’s skin and tangle in his hair.
From their little game, William emerged victorious.
For all his tricks, Sherlock still tipped over the edge sooner, pulling out and coming on William’s stomach. He helped William reach his peak, and seconds later both were sated, enjoying the afterglow.
Sherlock still wanted to be close, so disregarding the release on their bodies, flumped onto William and caged him in an embrace.
“Ow! Sherly, you’re heavy. And you’re making more of a mess!”
“Don’t care,” he mumbled into William’s chest. Sherlock’s hot breath and his hair tickling his skin made William giggle.
“Get off. It’s uncomfortable,”
Sherlock sighed dramatically, pushing himself up, “I can never get a snuggle when I want to,”
“Yes, yes, woe is you. You also lost the bet, by the way,”
“Oh, the humiliation!” Sherlock cried. William smacked his arm lightly, and Sherlock laughed. He slid off the bed and returned a bit later with a wet towel to wipe them off.
“Better?”
“Much. Now you can have those snuggles,” William held out his arms, and Sherlock fell readily into them, “I love you,”
“I love you too… Thank you,”
Sherlock was right. What mattered were the people he loved, and who loved him in return. He wasn’t going to lose more sleep over this, at least certainly not tonight.