By Wendy

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Raiting PG (for language)

Warning: established relationship, some bad language

A/N: My writings usually tend to veer towards epic-length, so I decided to try my hand at a short story just to see if I could do it. This plot bunny bit me in the butt today at work and it wouldn't leave me alone until I wrote it all down. Blair has a secret...

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“Hey Jim, man, are you in here?” asked Blair Sandburg as he entered the loft apartment he shared with Jim Ellison, his partner at the Cascade Police Department as well as his lover.

When there was no response, he locked the door behind him and raised his fist in a victory salute. He then hustled his way to the office he kept under the stairs and lay his shoulder bag on the desk. He pulled out the box that he had received just now from the bakery downstairs, and the smell coming from it was already about to drive him wild.

He dashed to the kitchen always listening for the sound of Jim’s key in the door lock. He pulled out a plate from the cabinet and a spoon and knife from the silverware drawer. He then made a beeline back to the office and locked the door behind him.

Picking up the box, he walked over to the futon that was now kept as a couch. He lay the box, plate, and flatware down and then made himself comfortable, tucking his legs beneath him.

Blair knew that he probably looked like a whacked-out swami, but he didn’t care in the slightest. He was about to indulge in his most secret vice—a chocolate-chip cheesecake shipped directly from Paris. This was one secret that if it got out, everyone who knew him would never let him live it down.

With his healthy eating habits, he never realized that he had a true weakness for cheesecake until he was on one of his trips with his mother. It was during one summer trek into France when he discovered the decadence that was cheesecake. Naomi had almost physically forced him to try a piece of the dessert, but after the first bite, he was hooked. He was hooked so quickly that when Naomi had tried to get the dessert back from him, he had snapped and snarled the way a wild animal does over its kill.

Now, in the privacy of his office, he was about to indulge yet again. Just as he was opening the box, he heard the muffled voice of his partner call out, “Chief, you here?”

Shit, shit, shit, he thought to himself, as he frantically tried to look for a place to hide the box. Eyes glancing from one side of the office to the other, he discovered that there was a small place behind a stack of books next to the desk he kept. He quickly stashed his treat there and sensing that Jim was about to try to open the door, he dashed over and opened it.

“Hiya Lover,” he said, in a voice that was just a wee bit too bright for that late in the afternoon, and Jim’s eyes narrowed almost immediately.

Blair could see that he was about to say something cutting when he noticed his lover’s nostrils twitch and pupils flare. Damn Sentinel senses, he thought, silently gritting his teeth, trying to keep his heartbeat steady.

Jim asked in a tone of voice that Blair had rarely heard—one of reverence, “What is that smell?”

The curly-haired man tried to deflect his partner as best he could saying, “What smell? Your senses playing up on you?”

Jim shook his head slightly as if to clear it, and said, “Can’t you smell it, Chief? I-I-I can’t even begin to describe it.”

Blair nudged Jim away from the door, silently begging his partner to move, “Uh, let’s go sit on the couch and you can at least try to tell me what you’re smelling.”

Jim let himself be moved as he was still distracted by the luscious aroma. When Blair got him seated on the couch, he asked, “What is it you’re smelling?”

Blair watched as Jim inhaled deeply and said, “Cheesecake. I smell cheesecake.”

Blair grinned, saying, “Well, duh, Big Guy. There’s a reason for that. We do live over a bakery, you know.”

Jim said, “Yeah, I know. But it was just so enticing. Maybe the wind shifted or something and it hit me.”

Blair nodded, almost a bit too eagerly, and said, “Yeah, that’s probably it. Why don’t you go have a shower and I’ll get some dinner started. I stopped by the farmers market and got some fresh avocadoes. I can mix up a taco salad.”

Jim nodded absently and said, as he rose from the couch, “Probably a good idea. I’m feeling a bit grungy. And taco salad does sound good.”

Inside his mind, Blair was jumping for joy. Finally, he could go take a bite of his treat while Jim went and cleaned up. He watched as Jim walked into the bathroom, not bothering to take any other clothing with him. Since they had become lovers, modesty was definitely a thing of the past. Not that it bothered, Blair. He liked it a lot, in fact, but right now, he wanted his cheesecake.

He let a few minutes pass while he puttered around the kitchen—taking out the lettuce and chopping it, dicing up some tomatoes, the avocadoes, and some other vegetables he wanted to put in. When he heard the water running, he decided that he could finally make a break for it. He headed for the office once again, his mouth beginning to water for what he was about to give it.

He had just opened the door to the office and was about to step inside when a pair of strong arms stopped him. “What’cha after, Chief?” Jim asked, his voice breathy in Blair’s ear.

Blair stammered, “Uh, um,” but every thought was gone from his mind.

Jim inhaled deeply and said, “I smell it again. Only it’s stronger in here. Why is that, Blair?”

Blair squeaked, “No reason. Maybe it’s just the scent coming in through the vents.”

Jim smiled, shaking his head, “Nice try, babe. Want to try another one?”

Blair let his head fall, knowing that the jig was up, but he was damned if he was going to aid Jim in finding the dessert. He quietly watched Jim come inside the office and inhale once again, closing his eyes to help him focus. One second passed, then two seconds, and then on the third second, Jim’s eyes snapped open and his gaze went directly to that stack of books.

Blair cursed silently as his lover walked straight over to the stack and peeked behind it. “Well, well, well, what do we have here, Sandburg?”

Oh damn, I’m in for it now, Blair thought. Might as well get it over with.

“it’sacheesecakethatihadshippedinfromparisandit’sallmine,” he said in one breath.

Jim looked at him with a smirk on his face, and said, “Come again?”

Blair sighed, and said, “It’s a cheesecake, Jim. No biggie.”

“Yeah, right,” his lover answered as he leaned over to pick up the box. “Next thing you’ll be telling me that you were going to eat this all by yourself and not share with the rest of the class.”

“Well, yeah, dammit, I was. It’s not like I,” he said, before his voice dropped off at the grinning look Jim was giving him now.

“Gosh, I wonder how much the guys at the station would give to know that No-Sweet-Sandburg is a cheesecake junkie,” Jim said, chuckling.

Blair knew when he was licked, and said, “How much is it gonna cost me?”

Jim asked, in all innocence, “Cost you? Whatever do you mean?”

Blair grit his teeth, but was beginning to lighten up, “How much is it going to cost me to keep you quiet?”

Jim walked to the door of the office, pondering the question for the appropriate time and said, “I’ll keep your secret on one condition.”

Blair folded his arms across his chest, and tapped his foot, and asked, “The condition being?”

Jim grinned and said as he walked out of the office and up the stairs, “The condition being that you get your ass up into that bed and bring the cheesecake with you.”

Blair grinned, then laughed out loud. “Deal,” he said.

Fin

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