A Betrayal of Principle
Title: A Betrayal of Principle
Author/pseudonym: Rayden Star
Fandom: Sons of Thunder
Paring: Trent/Carlos
Rating: PG-13
Status: New, compete
Date: February 23, 1999
Archive: Yes
E-mail address for feedback: Rayden Star
Series/Sequel: Part 2 of the Amanecer de Amor (Love's Dawn) Series
Disclaimers: The boys belong to Norris Brothers Productions (and probably
some other dudes, too), but I promise, no permanent harm done, just a little fun.
Notes: Spanish alert! Querido = Belovied Amante = Lover
Also, thanks to my betas Diane and Bast -- you guys are wonderful! Part three
will be coming soon, I promise!
Summary: This is part 2 of my series; it follows "A Crisis of Faith". You
really don't need to read the first part to understand this, but it might help. You can find "A Crisis of Faith" on the archives. Trent and Carlos go camping and continue their road of discovery in their new relationship. Unfortunately, someone watching them doesn't approve.
Category: Romance, First-Time (for a kiss)
Warnings: None
Two weeks after Valentine's Day
"Hey Carlos, you home?" Trent still felt uneasy about letting himself into Carlos' loft, but Carlos had insisted that if they were going to be 'involved', he wanted Trent to be able to come and "surprise" him at any time. Trent thought what he had in mind would definitely fall under the category of "surprise."
In the two weeks since they both declared they loved each other, they had taken the first few steps into literally uncharted waters. Neither one knew exactly how to act in this new and exciting relationship, and they both agreed to just give it time, go slow and enjoy the time they had together. They had yet to progress much farther than cuddling on the couch, but it was enough that they were together, sharing time with one another.
Trent walked into the living room in time to hear the shower turn off. Not wishing to scare his new lover, he shouted back towards the bedroom.
"Hey Carlos! Want to talk to you when you get out." Trent plopped down on the couch and picked up the newspaper that was sitting on the coffee table.
"'Kay, hold on a sec."
Trent was reading an article on a recent murder case when he saw out of the corner of his eye Carlos walk into the living room, wearing nothing but a towel and combing out his hair. Seeing Carlos nearly naked and slightly damp was nearly enough to make him forget why he'd stopped by. He swallowed hard and tried to process the words coming out of Carlos' mouth.
"Trent? You with me here? You all right?"
Trent shook his head. "Uh, yeah, sure, I'm fine."
"So you want to tell me why you stopped by on a Monday afternoon not four hours after we had lunch together? Carlos plopped down on the couch next to Trent.
"Um, what? Oh, yeah, ... well, I got a call from a friend of mine from the army who had rented a cabin near Lufkin in the Sam Rayburn Reservoir for this weekend, and unfortunately he can't go now and wanted to know if I would like to have it instead. You game?"
"Sounds like a plan! I can get off around 3:00 on Friday if you want to get an early start."
"Sure, great ... I can pick you up at the station as it's on the way out of
town."
Carlos noticed his friend's still-flushed look. "You okay there? I hope you're not coming down with something now that we've got plans for the weekend." Carlos reached up to feel Trent's forehead for a possible fever.
Trent shook the hand off. "No, I feel fine, it's just ... well, you look so good in that damn towel ... it's distracting." Trent ducked his head as they still weren't used to giving each other compliments on what they found attractive in each other.
Carlos smiled. He'd never been exactly an exhibitionist before, but Trent was bringing out the playfulness in him as he stood up and headed back toward the bedroom.
"Well, since you like the towel so much, ... here." Carlos threw the towel at his friend, effectively covering Trent's head while he headed off to get dressed.
Trent pulled the towel off his head and realized just how fun this weekend was going to be.
****************************
The week went by quickly, with many new cases opening up, keeping Trent and Carlos busy and away from each other. On Friday, after missing each others' company all week, they were finally ready to head out. To the rest of the world and their friends, it was just two guys going out to hike and camp and do "guy" stuff ... but to them, it was so much more. They weren't yet comfortable being a couple with each other, and they planned on keeping everything a secret until they both felt they could handle any repercussions that happened their way. While Brother Roscoe and a few other of their friends might understand and welcome their love for one another, alas, it is a very prejudiced world, and prejudice against same-sex couples being the last bastion of tolerated harassment.
But they left the world behind them as mile after mile passed, both enjoying the comfortable silence between them, the fresh air of the mountains, the absolute joy of being together. They didn't plan on anything to actually happen during their trip; whatever they felt like doing, they would do. It was a long six hours later when Trent finally pulled up to the cabin in the woods.
Carlos bounded out of the car first, ecstatic to at last be out in the open wilderness where no one was around, where they could hear the stirrings of the late-winter animals and where at last, he could hold Trent outside, hug him and touch him without monitoring his every movement. Freedom at last! he thought, as he walked around the car to pull Trent into a loving hug before helping him unload the car.
Both men were unaware of the binoculars watching their every move.
****************************
The cabin was small; only one bedroom, a living room, kitchen with table and chairs and bathroom, but it was very well equipped. The bedroom had a king- sized bed you could get lost on, covered in a down comforter with plenty of pillows for lounging on and a fireplace in the far wall. The living room also had a fireplace with wood stacked next to it, ready for two young lovers to enjoy the warmth and firelight.
The kitchen had every imaginable cooking utensil created by man and the bathroom ... the bathroom was the crowning glory. A huge tub built for two sat under a skylight that showed almost every star in the sky at night. Trent wondered if they were comfortable enough with each other to at least try it out, but he wasn't going to dwell on it. This was a weekend for no worries, no pressure, no outside influences, only their developing love for each other.
Trent turned around in the living room to find Carlos was busy starting a fire. "So, what do you want to do first? You hungry?"
"Not really. I'd like to just sit here, with you, and wind down. It's been one hell of a week."
"That I can agree with." Trent sat down on the couch that faced the fireplace as Carlos got a roaring fire going. He quickly joined Trent on the couch and they held each other, both lost in thought as the fire-lit shadows flickered around them. The moment was broken half an hour later when Carlos' stomach began to growl ... loudly. With a grin, Trent extricated himself from his lover and stood up.
"Sounds like someone is really hungry now. I'll fix dinner, you relax, 'kay?"
"Hey, I could get used to this being waited on."
Trent picked up a pillow from the chair next to the sofa and threw it at him. "Well don't get too comfy; since I'm cooking, *you're* cleaning."
Carlos grabbed the pillow and grinned, then turned to look over the back of the couch at Trent while Trent busied himself in the kitchen. It made him pause and think for a moment, about how his life had changed, so dramatically, and so much for the better over the past two weeks. Denying what he felt had been slowly killing him, but now that he could reconcile both his belief in God and his love for Trent, he felt more alive than he'd ever been. He watched as Trent prepared vegetables for a salad, marveling at how well he'd been eating of late, too. Trent always looked out for him, cared for him, loved him, and he thought he'd never be able to show Trent how much he was appreciated. *No one* had ever worried about what and when he ate, if he was getting enough rest, making sure he was safe ... it was a whole new feeling and he reveled in it.
He took another moment to allow his eyes to peruse Trent's body. With the definite light five o'clock shadow going, he looked rugged, handsome, and Carlos wanted nothing more than to touch, to feel him all over. But theirs was a relationship that had extremely foreign territory, and Carlos wanted everything to be just right, just perfect ... so they took it slow. Didn't stop him from visually undressing his lover with his eyes, though.
Trent knew Carlos staring at him. He was guilty himself of a little staring on occasion, trying to imprint every muscle and feature of Carlos' body into his mind, so he let it slide, until he couldn't take it any longer and he had to look up. Carlos quickly ducked his head, just a little embarrassed, so Trent decided to not call him on it ... too much.
"You know, you could set the table ... you can get a closer view that way." Trent went back to cutting up the vegetables and bit his lower lip to keep from grinning from ear to ear.
Carlos got up from the couch and headed to the kitchen area. While the kitchen may have had any cooking tool they'd need, it was still a small kitchen and it took a bit of maneuvering for them to share the small space. More than once, Carlos "accidentally" brushed up against Trent, of course distracting him from his task. He also couldn't help teasing him while he set the table. He eased up behind Trent and placed one arm halfway around Trent's stomach.
"You're right, there's a much closer view here. I like what I see." Trent bowed his head to hold back a bit of a chuckle. Even though he liked hearing things like that, it still was "unusual" to hear them coming from a very masculine and very familiar voice.
"What?" Carlos was clearly amused.
Trent snickered. "God Carlos, I had no idea you were such the romantic."
"You ain't seen nothing yet. How romantic do you want me to be? Sweep you off your feet?" Carlos pulled Trent backwards into a low dip, gesturing wildly and enjoying their little love play. It was exhilarating.
"You drop me Carlos and you'll get nothing but bread and water for dinner." Trent was smiling up at his Latino lover, surprised at how passionate and romantic Carlos actually was.
"Ah, but I could live upon your love and nothing else." Carlos was trying
hard not to laugh; it felt so fun, so free, so right.
Trent raised his eyebrows. "You might have to do that if you don't let me up so I can finish making dinner."
"Anything for you, m' love." Carlos brought Trent to his feet and they stood there, nose to nose, poised at the precipice, breathing in each other's air. It was as if they knew this one moment in time was the turning point, the next step, and time stood still as their lips moved in slow motion toward each other.
They both stopped, a hair's breadth away from each other, their eyes half-way closed, arms loosely around each other, and it was a perfect moment; all was quiet as the cabin melted away and there was nothing left but the two of them and their love. Hearts stopped beating, waiting for their first union, their first tentative step on an arduous journey; their first true kiss as lifemates.
And like the dawning of the sun, like the blooming of a new day, their love merged and grew into a soft kiss, full of promise, full of passion, as lips touched oh so briefly only to come back for more, needing more, wanting more. With that touch, hearts started beating again, this time in unison, beating out the rhythm of their lives. Then, without hesitation, lips opened and tongues touched for the first time, each man drinking each other in as arms reached up to clasp around the other's head. Mouths were explored, charted, mapped for future excursions; their shared breath giving life to one another. There was no push for domination, no one wanted the upper hand, they both wanted to share and to give and to receive over and over and over ... until the ultimate end when the need to breathe overtook them and they reluctantly parted, their foreheads touching as they continued to breathe in each other's space. Then Carlos muttered the understatement of the year.
"Wow."
It was as if that statement set them both off, the passion too strong around them that it broke into a million little chuckles. They laughed and held each other tight, safe and secure in their knowledge that their love *would* overcome any obstacles.
Their laughter died down and they were hesitant to part, but Carlos' stomach would not be denied much longer as it made its emptiness known. Trent turned around and threw the cut vegetables into a bowl, then grabbed beef stew from the stove and the bread from the oven, and they sat down to eat, casually sharing mischievous grins and coy glances all the way through dinner.
Their conversation turned to their respective open cases, trying to help each other find new angles to solve them. Finally, their hunger sated, they both got up to clear the table. Carlos laid his plates in the sink and came up behind Trent to give him a hug.
"Hey, you cooked, I clean, that's the deal, remember?"
"But if we both do it, it'll be done in half the time and we can get back to that fireplace."
"How about you start up the fireplace in the bedroom and I'll join you there?"
Trent smiled at his lover. "That I can do." Trent maneuvered out of the kitchen and into the bedroom to start the fire as he heard Carlos start to clean up the dinner dishes. He allowed himself the guilty pleasure of reflection back on their first kiss that happened just a scant hour ago. It was the most powerful kiss he'd ever given *or* received, and he knew, deep down, it meant something to them on a spiritual level. It was as if the kiss combined them, merged them into one, bringing their souls together. God up in heaven must be smiling down at them at this moment. It was pure, it was right, it was ... love.
Carlos heard Trent busy himself with starting the fire in the bedroom. Even though they had talked about a lot of things during dinner and he could recall all that they talked about, that kiss was the first and foremost thing in his mind. He could still feel where Trent's lips had touched his, he could still conjure up how their bodies merged, moving almost as one unit, and it took his breath away again, just the thought of it. It was like his first kiss ever, so enlivening, so invigorating and yet just a little bit scary. They were going to the next level in their relationship, and never having felt so strongly about someone, so deeply in love, he was apprehensive about the "next" steps. But he knew they would figure it out together, slowly, passionately, and with all the love they could give.
"Hey Carlos, I got the fire going. You almost done?" Trent walked out of the bedroom brushing some of the ashes from the fireplace off his shirt sleeve.
"Yeah, just finishing up." Carlos laid the last dish on the drainer, turned off the water and hung up the dish towel. Trent came up beside him and placed his hand on Carlos' shoulder.
"We okay, man? I mean, earlier, it just kinda happened ..." Trent looked worried and perhaps a little fearful of what Carlos' reaction to earlier might be.
Carlos put his finger to Trent's lips. "I'm more than okay. You said we'd do this at our own pace, and I think we've paced ourselves quite nicely." He was relieved to see the tension drain from Trent's face.
"Well, then, I was um, wondering ...."
"What?"
"Maybe we could try it again, this time lying down on that sinfully huge bed, with that roaring fire I made to keep us warm."
"You've definitely got a fire going in me." Carlos was teasing again. It felt so good to be himself around a lover. He didn't have to pretend anymore. Trent and he knew each other inside and out ... it was purely logical that they'd end up as lovers.
Trent leaned forward so their foreheads were touching. "Oh, querido, what you
do to me."
"Show me."
Trent took Carlos' hand and lead him into the bedroom, where they quickly divested themselves of their clothing, down to their boxers. Trent took Carlos' hand once again and lead him to the bed, both sinking down into its comforts, their arms encircling each other.
Trent had never seen anything so beautiful as the man in his arms. The firelight danced along the Latino's strong and compact body, outlining it, defining every muscle. His dark eyes sparkled in the dim light and Trent had to hold himself back from simply ravishing him then and there.
Trent was a bit more comfortable with their relationship, and while Carlos was a flirt, deep down Trent knew he was still apprehensive about the more physical aspects of loving another man. No matter what Carlos said, they were going to take this at *Carlos'* pace, and not a moment sooner.
Carlos looked at his lover and wondered how he had gotten so lucky. To find someone that loved him, that cared if he came home or not ... that's what life is all about. He realized his life before allowing himself to find Trent was a lonely place that he'd rather not dwell upon. How many nights had there been that he'd come home and not spoken another word until he'd gone back to work the next day? Too many, that was damn sure. But even if Trent wasn't there when he got home, he could always expect a phone call from him before he went to bed. There were times that he wished Trent would move in with him, but it was all too new to both of them, and they had all the time in the world to love and be loved. Carlos was absolutely certain that this was the person he'd pledge "until death us do part." Didn't matter if it was legal; he'd say those words to Trent, some day, some day soon.
They lay there, Carlos leaning back a bit on Trent's chest, while they watched the firelight flicker along the walls. It was another perfect moment; nothing needed to be analyzed, nothing needed to be discussed, they just needed to be together, alone. Carlos looked up as Trent shifted on the pillows.
"You want me to move a bit?" Carlos attempted to move out of Trent's arms.
"No, no, stay right where you are. I just wanted to move a bit so I could ..." Trent lowered his head down until their lips were mere centimeters apart. "... do this." He continued his journey downward to claim those lips for only the second time in their young relationship, and this kiss was as powerful and all-consuming as the first. They kissed for what seemed like hours, but always keeping their passion in check; they were not ready to further their journey together this night.
They eventually realized the need for sleep after such a long day, so they broke their kisses and Carlos spooned up behind Trent, his arms encircling his lover as he pulled the comforter up around them. Peaceful silence enveloped them as they drifted off into loving dreams.
Go to Part Two