"Bodie? You asleep?"

There was a grunt of acknowledgment from the hunched mound in the bed facing his, then silence.

Doyle tried again. "You warm enough?"

Another grunt, followed by a muffled, irritable, "No. Why?"

"Cos I'm bloody freezin', that's why," Doyle elaborated.

Bodie suddenly became more voluble. "Well, you grabbed the one and only hotwater bottle, sunshine, so what're you complainin' about?" It was a sore point between them and Bodie welcomed the chance to remind Doyle about it. Doyle had pounced on the bottle almost as soon as they'd arrived.

"Yeah, but it's gone cold now," Doyle's voice said plaintively.

"Can't help that, can I?" Bodie pointed out, "shut up, will you? I was just droppin' off," shuffling around restlessly under the bedclothes.

"I'm so bloody cold my teeth're chatterin'," Doyle said just as plaintively, ignoring the hint to be quiet.

"So, what d'you want me to do about it?"

"Can I come in with you and get warm?" Doyle pleaded.

"Christ, 's like bein' with a child," Bodie grumbled with a world weary sigh, "come on then," holding back the bedclothes as Doyle scrambled in beside him.

"Haven't they heard of central heating in this bloody hotel?" Doyle asked, shivering, sliding his arms round Bodie's pyjama clad waist, twining his legs round his, "whose idea was it to stay here anyway?"

"Cowley's..." Bodie reminded him succinctly, "Christ, Ray, your feet're like blocks of ice."

"Told you. Bottle's gone cold," Doyle whispered, pleased to reiterate his original point.

"Don't you ever tell anyone about this, you hear?" Bodie threatened, snuggling his head more comfortably into his pillow.

"What? You and me cuddlin' up in bed together to get warm?"

"Yeah...be a right laughin' stock, we would," Bodie muttered more drowsily, on the point of nodding off again till Doyle suddenly said very imperiously, "turn over..."

"What?"

"Turn over..." more forcibly, "so I can snuggle against your back...like spoons."

"God, I dunno...givin' orders now..." Bodie complained, nevertheless doing as he was told and turning onto his side.

"That's better," Doyle sighed, head on Bodie's shoulder, arms going round his waist from behind. "Hey, you're quite cuddly, you know that? Warm too..."

"Don't you ever stop natterin?" Bodie accused, "just shut up and go to sleep, will you?"

"Mmmm...." Doyle agreed.

There was silence again...for a few seconds anyway.

"Feet're warm again now," Doyle said sleepily, just as Bodie was on the point of dropping off again, and feeling strangely comfortable with Doyle's skinny frame pressing against him, warming him.

"For Christ's sake, Doyle," Bodie exploded, "that's the second time you've woken me up. Shut up!"

"No need to get ratty about it," Doyle said, sounding offended, "Just wanted to let you know I was warm again."

"So you've told me, OK? Now can I get some sleep?"

"Who's stoppin' you?"

Bodie gave a sarcastic little laugh. "Oh, that's rich, it really is. Doyle, I'm gonna say this one more time, OK? So take note. SHUT UP!"

"OK...OK...." Doyle said, sounding put out as well as hurt this time, "sorry I spoke."

Bodie did not deign to reply.

Silence reigned again except for the sound of their deepening breathing as they both slid closer to sleep. And for all his supposed irritability, Bodie was in fact enjoying having Doyle in bed with him. It was very pleasant to have his skinny partner nestling up to him. Unusual for Doyle to want anything like this though, whether he was cold or not. Offhand, Bodie couldn't remember a single occasion when Doyle had indicated he wanted to be close to him. And he'd already decided it'd be nice if Doyle had done it tonight because he genuinely wanted a cuddle as well as a warm.

Yeah, that'd be good because Bodie enjoyed looking after his sometimes strangely enigmatic partner, though he'd never have admitted it to him, and considered he got the opportunity to be close to him far too seldom.

The next time he woke up though he wasn't sure if it was a good idea to have Ray in bed with him or not...because he awoke to an awareness that things were not quite right somehow. He was still on his side, Doyle still curled behind him, arm round his waist, but Doyle was moving around, making funny little restless, pushing movements against him; sighing a lot....

As Bodie lay staring into the darkness, listening to the erratic breathing and the little gasping sighs Doyle kept making, wondering if Doyle was perhaps having a bad dream and if he should wake him, the reason for Doyle's strange activities suddenly became blindingly clear to him though, as the firm, skinny and now very hot body pressed itself insistently against his back and Bodie felt an unmistakable and very impressive hardness nudging at his buttocks.

Christ, the randy little sod was getting turned on! So turned on, it seemed to Bodie he was nearly there already, rubbing and sliding and wriggling against him, to accompanying groans and squeaks from the ancient and obviously overburdened bedsprings.

Bodie's first reaction was one of amazement, quickly followed by one of indulgent amusement too. Typical Doyle - he'd fuck anything that moved. Give him a warm body of any kind - even his it seemed - and he was well away....

He didn't stay amused for long though, for the rhythmic humping and sliding movements against his back, and the lean, snaking arms running haphazardly and uncoordinatedly up and down the front of his body, and the hot, harsh, quickening breathing down his ear, were having an undeniable physical effect on him, too.

It was in fact one of the biggest turn ons he'd ever known to have Doyle humping away at him in his sleep.

And, God, he was being so forceful about it...really giving it to him. Not at all like the softer sensations of being with a woman, but a hard, relentless pursuit towards an inevitable goal. Yeah, he was a strong little thing when he was roused, was Doyle....

It occurred to Bodie that his partner had to be very frustrated to be carrying on like this in the middle of the night too, and a surge of confused affection and sympathy shot through him at the thought. But he was puzzled all the same. He knew Ray was between girls at the moment, but he'd only finished with Linda a matter of days ago, so in Bodie's opinion he certainly hadn't gone without for long enough to get himself in this kind of state....

And it was so unbelievably and unexpectedly sweet, this purposeful, hot wriggling and rubbing against him, turning his guts to water, making his own cock tighten in pleasure, starting the tense, butterfly sensations of arousal in his stomach.

He suddenly wanted nothing more than to turn round and crush Doyle in his arms, kiss him, bury his face in the thick, soft hair, wrap his arms and legs round him tightly, and take a very active part in the proceedings....

Crazy. There was no excuse for him either, because he wasn't going without at the moment. Susie, his current girlfriend was in fact coming across in every possible way, and at every possible opportunity.

He couldn't resist it though, and was on the point of turning to Doyle so he could start to enjoy things in earnest, when he realised he was lamentably too late....

Doyle suddenly tensed, then jolted once, twice, three times against him, and it was all over. Bodie felt the hot, sticky wetness on his back through Doyle's pyjamas, heard Doyle give an almost savage moan of relieved delight, and felt the tense body relax and go limp. Doyle sighed a couple more times in satisfied contentment and then tried to wriggle even closer to him, snuggling his arm round Bodie's waist again from behind....

God, it had happened then....

Bodie could hardly credit it. Ray Doyle, his self-contained, straight partner, had just climaxed in obvious and deepfelt satisfaction against him. It was beyond belief - the very idea of it having happened turning Bodie on even more, as he remembered the incredible heat of the strong, lean body, the hardness of that insistent, nudging cock, the erotic little sounds Doyle'd made...the way he'd moaned when he came...the sticky, drying wetness he could still feel in the small of his back....

God....

His own sex was throbbing so very insistently between his legs, and he knew he was trembling, his arms and legs weak and jellified with arousal. If he couldn't do something about it and control himself he suspected he might be forced to make an undignified and somewhat shaming trip to the bathroom to put himself to rights again.

He was in fact on the point of getting out of bed, when a long-fingered hand slid from his waist to his groin, curving round his erect sex...and that could mean only one thing....

The skinny bundle resting in such a relaxed way behind him now, was obviously awake, aware of his predicament, and willing to do something about it for him....

Bodie was lying on his left side with his legs curled up. Realising it was pointless trying to pretend he was asleep, he moved, cautiously straightening out his right leg so the hand could reach him more easily, and leaned back against a hot, willing body which seemed eager to take his weight.

It was delicious, a sensual delight after wanting and needing it so much, to feel hot, burrowing fingers working their way inside his pyjamas pulling them down out of the way, stroking along the length of his sex - so firmly - just how he liked it. A strong arm pulled him even further back, the hair on Ray's chest tickling his back and shoulders, and he pushed his hips forward, cock curving upwards in ecstatic response to the busy hand which was now giving the tip of his cock swirling, detailed little strokes, stopping every now and then to give the head an encouraging squeeze.

Ray was in fact so very very good at this, Bodie half suspected he must have done it before. It was so absolutely right, so close to the kind of caress he craved....

He could no longer control his moans of pleasure and no longer wanted to - too lost in the joy Ray was giving him...spurting much sooner than he'd wanted to in delicious abandonment into Doyle's cupped, eager hand.

Gasping for breath, he felt the hand rubbing the hot cream leisurely over his belly, shivered as a curly head nestled close to his neck, tickling him, and a soft kiss was placed on his cheek. But he wanted more than that....

He managed to turn on his other side, facing Doyle, ran shaking hand through the soft curls, holding the urchin face between his hands as he took a deep, luscious, completely unselfconscious kiss from Doyle's moist, parted, welcoming mouth.

When the kiss was over he lay by Ray's side, head snuggled on his shoulder, one arm pulling him close, feeling happier than he ever had in the whole of his life.

"Think we've got a bit of talkin' to do in the morning," Doyle's soft, velvety voice said against his hair.

"Yeah...think we do," he said hoarsely.

"You're not gonna mind talkin' about it then?"

"Try and stop me," he said drowsily, on the edge of sleep again, "you warm enough now?"

"Oh yeah," Doyle chuckled, "have been for quite a few minutes, sunshine, or hadn't you noticed?"

"You won't want the hot water bottle filling up again then?" Bodie asked with a chuckle of his own.

"Nah, think I'll manage," Doyle assured him, "got you now haven't I? Best hot water bottle I've ever had..."

"Just wanted to be sure," Bodie said even more drowsily, before he fell asleep in Doyle's arms....

-- THE END --