Sam felt the butterflies flap a little harder when Seth followed him into the bath. He stood at the sink and began to brush his teeth while trying to not listen to Seth in the small room that housed the toilet. It was just a biological function like any other, he reminded himself. Then a long arm came around him, reaching for the other toothbrush and his skin rippled in reaction.

"Relax, Sam. Nothing too speedy, nothing you can't handle." Seth's warm hands lay lightly on his shoulders.

He blushed and bent to spit out the foam into the sink, rinsing his mouth before speaking. "If it were just bodies, I think I wouldn't be so nervous. Anatomy was always my favorite class."

Seth dropped a kiss on his shoulder. "But when hearts are involved, it turns a little scary."

Turning into his embrace, he tentatively laid his hands on the smooth skin at Seth's waist. "I'm not sure what I want. I mean, I've done some reading in the last few months since I thought I might be having a sexual identity crisis. And I don't think I'm ready for ... um ... everything. What if I do something wrong?"

"There's plenty of time for 'everything'. And it's only wrong if its something you don't want to do. For right now, I'm going to shave while you use the john. Then we could share a shower?" Seth asked quietly, his hands rubbing little circles on Sam's shoulders.

"That sounds good." Sam hated sounding so naïve but the slang terms were too crude and the medical terms too sterile for what he wanted to do with his lover.

Taking care of his over full bladder, he stepped out of the small room that housed the toilet in time to watch Seth begin to move the razor over his face. He obviously had it down to a science for each movement was precisely managed, the white foam coming off with a little flick into the sink after each stroke. Sam had never watched another man shave before and he couldn't believe how much it was turning him on.

"Your turn, love." Seth patted his face with a warm washcloth and turned to him.

Sam stepped up and ran the tips of his fingers over the smooth cheeks. "Your skin is like tanned leather."

Seth kissed the fingers when they went over his lips. "Yours is like satin with stubble at the moment."

Laughing, Sam shook his head and began shaving with the disposable shaver that Seth had just used. Carefully rounding his chin, he tilted up to make sure he didn't leave a spot undone. This all seemed so intimate to him, not romantic but normal in a world that was decidedly not what he was used to. Finishing with a scoop of warm water, he used the same washcloth that Seth had used.

"You know, that's probably the most erotic thing I've sever seen. You can make the simplest action so sexy that I find myself holding my breath." Seth touched his face with warm fingers and Sam leaned in for a kiss. Number fifteen was intense and he felt both their sexes stir and begin to harden. He whimpered when Seth pulled his mouth away.

"Shower, Sam. Before we lose control right here on the rug." Seth grinned ruefully and guided them both into the large shower stall. Making sure that the water hit him first, he shielded Sam from the burst of cold that quickly heated to hot. Then he grabbed the soap and began to lather it between his hands.

Sam felt as if his skin had turned into one big erogenous zone. The first touch of slippery fingers on his chest had him biting his lip while his hands came up to hold onto Seth's shoulders to keep his balance. He could feel each and every finger sliding down to his waist. His stomach muscles rippled under the knowing hands and he whimpered when the warm hand gloved his erection.

"You are so beautiful, Sam. I want to touch you everywhere." Seth's grip tightened just a little, sliding up and down Sam's cock. "And after I've touched every square inch of you, then I'm going to taste ... every ... bit ... of skin."

Sam arched into the warm hand and climaxed. Just the thought of Seth's mouth on his cock was enough to make him come. Seth leaned him up against the wall and kissed him hard while continuing to stroke the last drops of his climax from him. Sam felt he'd slide right down into a little puddle if the wall hadn't been holding him up.

Their tongues stroked against each other and Sam had a sudden glimpse of the future when it wouldn't just be tongues but bodies. For the first time since he'd contemplated making love with a man, he felt he was ready for the next step. And that meant he needed to return the favor to his lover.

Seth had turned them around so the hot water was rinsing Sam clean of all the soap. And then he turned him further and began scrubbing his back, buttocks and legs. At that stimulation, Sam's cock decided to get interested again. He hadn't gotten this hard so soon after a climax since his college years. Only Seth could provoke this response, he decided after a soapy finger brushed down his cleft over the nerve rich area between his buttocks.

Turning around to face his teasing lover, he reached for the soap. "My turn, Seth."

"I'm all yours, love." He held out his arms and let Sam begin lathering whorls of suds over the hair on his chest.

Sam took this chance at experimentation to heart, cataloging all the different textures on Seth's body. The curls swirled in patterns while the brown nipples peaked immediately when touched. The dark hair arrowed down to the trim waist and groin where the long, thick cock stood out from its nest of wiry curls. Sam touched it gently.

This wasn't like examining someone on a diagnostic table in a sterile hospital room. Seth was his to play with, to touch and caress. He pushed back the foreskin gently, revealing the plum colored head and the clear drop of fluid that oozed from the small slit. It jerked in his hand as if it had a life of its own. Warm and hard, the head nudged his palm.

"He's beautiful, Seth." Sam slid the foreskin back and forth over the head while Seth leaned against the tiled wall with a shudder. "And so big."

"Not much bigger than you, love." He gritted out the words while his hips thrust forward into Sam's hand.

"Really? Maybe I should go get a measuring stick to see?" Sam teased him with a flirting look up through beaded lashes.

A growl was his only answer and he obediently closed his fist around the warm flesh and stroked all the way down and back up again. Three more strokes and the cock in his hand burst out in a long white stream. He watched in fascination while Seth groaned and pulsed out his seed onto his hand. It was such an intimate thing to do, to hold onto your lover while he bathed you in part of himself.

Then Seth was raising his chin to look into his eyes, his gaze sultry and sated. "Thank you, Sam. You're a natural at that."

He leaned into him, carefully thinking about what he'd just done. "I think I'll have to practice some more. And try that taste-thing, you were talking about."

Seth kissed him hard before moving back under the tepid water. "I'll try and give you a lot of chances to practice. And if we didn't need to hear what Wolf has to say, I'd be tasting you right now."

They rinsed off before the cold water hit and took turns drying each other before heading out to get dressed. They dressed in the clothes they'd brought to Marag's while they were searching for Ruth. Sam thought about the news that Wolf might have brought them.

Where was Ruth? Could they get to her in time?

"Come on, love." Seth smoothed the lock of hair from Sam's forehead. "I love you."

Sam leaned into his hug, hugging back as hard as he could before heading for the door. "I love you too. Don't forget we need to get to that tasting-thing as soon as possible."

Seth growled again and chased him from the bedroom.

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End of missing scene 2