Sentinel's Training

Author: Natasha aka Mallory

Fandom: The Sentinel

Pairing: Jim/Blair

Status: Complete

Date: 10-27-99

Archive: ask first

Feedback: yes

Category: DD story, First Time

Warning: Contains spanking and m/m sex.

Disclaimer: All Sentinel things belong to PetFly and Paramount

Warnings: This story contains domestic discipline between consenting m/m adults. If you dislike this kind of stories, please hit your delete button.

Dedication: to Montage who supports me A big thanks to my wonderful beta reader Karen

"Ellison!" Simon Banks' soft voice roared into the quiet bullpen at the end of the afternoon. "My office! Now!"

Jim was quiet when he entered the captain's office, but he knew he was about to endure a major telling off.

"Sit down," Simon growled, lightening a cigar.

Jim obeyed. He regretted that Blair wasn't there with him. He could feel the young man's gaze through the window.

"Jim, what the hell happened?" Simon asked in a quieter voice.

Jim could feel the concern under the anger and he lowered his head. This afternoon he had screwed up badly .

"It's because of their smell," he began.

Earlier in the afternoon they - Megan, Simon, Blair and himself - had given assault to an old house inhabited by a teenage gang. They all knew the kids were probably stoned and armed and dangerous. They had already killed three people, and Simon had ordered a maximum-security level, and to wait for reinforcements.

In the beginning Jim had obeyed. But after a several minutes behind the house in the bushes, waiting for an order that hadn't come, he had begun to feel odd. He could smell the teenagers and it had driven him crazy. He had smelled their fear, their anger, and the drugs they had taken, the powder of their firearms, and he had lost control.

Jim had rushed into the house without waiting for reinforcements and a severe gunfight had come after. Megan had just had time to jump on Simon's back to avoid the captain being shot.

"I was led by my sense of smell, and I reacted with the most primal part of my brain," Jim concluded. "And I don't know how to control it."

Simon sighed, "I hate when your Sentinel's abilities are part of the game. I should suspend you for a week, Jim, and you know it."

Jim nodded, "I guess I deserve it. I'm really sorry, Simon, believe me. I never intended to endanger your life or Megan's."

Simon gestured to Blair to join them. Two seconds later the anthropologist was there, like a mother hen checking on her chick's well being.

"I didn't beat his sorry ass," Simon growled. "He told me it was because of his senses."

"I guessed," Blair answered. "I saw him begin to zone but he rushed in before I could do something. I'm sorry, Simon, I screwed up."

"You're not his mother, Sandburg," Simon appeased him. "You're not responsible. I have to admit that before your accident, I didn't buy this Guide stuff. But now I've seen it with my own eyes. You seem to share a kind of bond. I wonder if you can help him with this problem. I could suspend him but that isn't the solution."

"It's not, effectively," Blair answered. "Look, Simon, I think I know how to help him."

"How?" Jim and Simon asked in the same voice.

Blair wriggled, "I prefer to do some research before speaking out."

"Good," Simon nodded. "Dismissed, gentlemen."

The captain let Jim exit before grabbing Blair's arm, "Make him control his senses better! I don't want to die because he's being led by his primitive instinct!"

"Aye aye, Sir," Blair replied.

Simon growled and went back to his cigar, wondering why he couldn't just have normal cops under his command. But he knew he wouldn't want to exchange Jim for ten other cops.

~~*~~ "It was exactly like when Alex was there," Jim explained as they entered the loft. "I lost my rational side to enter my most primitive instinct. It was like my civilized mind had been told to shut up. I was overwhelmed by their scents, and I felt like a primitive hunter. I didn't want to arrest them; I wanted to kill them!"

"I saw that," Blair said. "I saw how you kicked the gang leader's ribs. Your eyes oh, man, I was almost scared myself!"

Jim put his hands on Blair's shoulder, "Help me, Chief. You've always succeeded in helping me before."

Blair took two beers in the fridge and handed one to Jim as they sat down on the couch. "Jim, do you really want to control your senses?" he asked.

"Of course I want it!" Jim exclaimed. "Simon and Megan could have been killed this afternoon because of me!"

Blair sighed. He knew this would be hard. He had to explain to Jim that their relationship was about to change a little and, knowing Jim, he was sure the big guy wasn't about to like what he had to say. He had thought he could avoid this, but he had been wrong.

He went to his bedroom and taking one of Burton's books with him, headed back to the living room.

"What happened to you is something pretty normal for a sentinel after a few years," he began, pacing as he did when he was in his classroom. "You begin to trust your senses, and it's rather good. But you need now to learn how to discipline them. How to let your civilized brain lead your senses."

"Translation, Sandburg," Jim sighed.

Blair licked his lips and resumed, "Listen carefully to me, Jim. What I'm going to say to you isn't really agreeable to hear as we're not in a tribe in Peru but in our so modern and civilized country. In primitive tribes, a Guide not only taught his Sentinel how to control his senses. He had the right to to correct his Sentinel when he was wrong."

"Correct?" Jim asked, raising one brow.

Blair bit his lower lip, chewing it and praying the gods to send him the correct phrasing. "The Guide was seen as a teacher in the ancient way. In ancient times, a teacher had the right to give some physical punishment to a student who was wrong."

"You want to spank me?" Jim laughed, looking at the smaller man with amusement.

"Basically, yes," Blair answered. "It's not a power struggle, Jim. The Sentinel used to accept this discipline because he knew it was the only way to learn. Even if his Guide was an old weak man, he accepted being spanked by him because he recognized that right of his Guide."

"Don't think I'm going to play that game, Sandburg," Jim cut in roughly, getting up. "To my mind, you just read too many weird books, and you aren't able to discern what is mumbo jumbo and what is pertinent anymore."

Jim's tone was dry, and Blair didn't insist any further. "I only wanted to help you, Jim," he said softly. "It's crazy, I know. Forget what I said. We'll find another way."

Blair hoped that he hadn't just broken up a three year friendship, but Jim's features suddenly relaxed and he patted Blair's shoulder. "Listen, Chief, I think that sometimes you're a little too involved in your Guide duties. I know what I did this afternoon was wrong, and believe me, I feel guilty about it. If I thought that your spanking thing could help me, I'd let you hit my butt. But I don't think it would help."

"It's your choice, Jim. It worked for centuries in various tribes, but it's true that we're not in the jungle," Blair answered, happy that Jim wasn't angry him. "I'll find something else, I've got to do some research."

~~*~~

They shared dinner without any further comment, and Blair began to grade some papers when Jim interrupted him. "Do you have Burton's book with you?"

Blair nodded, and handed him the volume. "Chapter five, Jim," he only said, coming back to his papers.

He wasn't really concentrating on his work, because his mind was in turmoil. So Jim was aware he had nearly gotten his best friends killed this afternoon. Perhaps the Sentinel only needed time and reflection to accept that he was still a student as a sentinel.

Jim sank comfortably onto the couch and opened the book. Despite Blair's encouragement, he had never the courage to read any book about Sentinels, only some of Blair's papers about it, and the famous diss' introduction he had published a few months ago. Jim wasn't a great reader, except for some mystery or spy books he liked. But when it wasn't a novel, it reminded him his years in college and he was quickly bored. He preferred to learn via television. On some learning channels he had learnt a lot about a wide variety of things. He was what one could call a cultured man, able to speak about a variety of subjects, but he didn't like to read at all. He couldn't understand Blair's passion for books.

He began to read the chapter Blair had told him about. The symptoms Burton described were his, no doubt about that. But he couldn't help but feel embarrassed when he reached the passages about punishment. He had been raised up in the old way and his father had spanked him when he was a young boy. As a boy he thought it was perfectly normal that parents spanked their children. As an adult he had had to recognize that these spankings had stopped him from doing some crazy things such as crossing a street without checking for cars. His last spanking was when he was fourteen. His father had caught him in the street, smoking a cigarette; not his first. After his punishment, he had never touched a cigarette again.

He thought about this afternoon's events. He remembered with accurate precision when he had rushed into the house and when the gang had started the gunfight. Megan had reacted one second before Simon, and she had saved his life. But all of it was Jim's fault. If he had obeyed his captain's orders, if he had only taken the time to think, rather than let his senses guide him, he would have never launched that stupid assault.

"Chief," he said in a low voice.

Blair immediately raised his head. "Yes, Jim?" he asked.

"If... I say if, not when, if I decide to accept your idea, what would happen?" Jim asked in an embarrassed voice.

Blair put his pencil on the table and came to sit down beside Jim. "You told me one day your father used to spank you. How did he do it?"

Jim frowned, trying to remember then spoke, "He used to first ask me to stand in the corner, to meditate on why I needed and deserved to be punished, then he spanked me. And usually I was deprived of dessert at dinner. Are you going to deprive me of dessert, Chief?"

He had a smile on his lips.

"No," Blair replied with a little laugh. "But I would use the same scheme; first meditation, then corporal punishment. I guess the most embarrassing time was when your father asked you to pull down your pants?"

Jim's cheeks turned scarlet. "You don't want to answer that?" he asked.

"Jim, I will use both physical pain and embarrassment," Blair stated quietly.

Jim took a deep breath. The guilt in his soul was unbearable. He couldn't help but see Simon and Megan falling on the ground, flattened by bullets.

"I agree, Chief," Jim said softly without looking at his Guide. "I... I can't explain this, it's against all my beliefs as an adult, but I know deep in me I need that to be in peace with myself."

"Good, Jim, I'm glad you understand," Blair said, patting the older man's shoulder. "I want to tell you a few things. First, if you want to stop this, at any time, just tell me. I'll stop. Two, even if I'm the one who delivers the spanking, we're equal. I won't try to involve you into a Dom/Sub relationship. I'll only try as your friend and Guide to help you. I'm not particularly excited at the idea of spanking you. Three," he achieved with a tentative smile, "be glad you don't have a female Guide."

Jim couldn't help but smile, too. He gave his Guide a quick hug, showing him he understood. "I guess it's time to go into the corner," he sighed.

"If you feel it's right, it's time," Blair agreed. "Go into the corner, stand straight, your hands behind your back. I want you to understand why you're going to be punished."

That first step toward the corner was one of the most difficult things Jim had done in his adult life. Standing against the wall, his hands obediently in his back, he admitted that, as a Sentinel, he had a lot more to learn. He couldn't help but blush deeply at the idea that he was standing in the corner like a naughty child. But soon he focused on Simon and Megan and he recognized that he deserved to be treated like an irresponsible kid.

He stayed quiet during what seemed to him an eternity, but was in reality only a few minutes, until Blair said him, "Do you know now why you deserve to be punished?"

"Yes," Jim replied, a bit nervous.

"So come upstairs with me," Blair ordered gently.

Jim climbed slowly up the stairs, part of his mind screaming that he was mad, the other part sending him the images of his irresponsibility. Blair quickly joined him, handing him a wooden paddle. When he saw it, Jim distinctly gulped. He had thought that Blair would use his hand.

"This paddle has been used by other Guides before me, Jim," Blair explained. "I found it when we went to Peru. I never thought I would use it."

Jim grinned. Now was the really embarrassing part. Blair sat down on the bed, then looked at his Sentinel.

"It's still your choice, Jim," he said kindly.

Jim removed his tee shirt, tossing it on the floor, then unfastened his jean, and pulled them down to his knees. He could feel his cheeks turning scarlet. He wondered if he could blushed more when he slid his hands under his boxers' waist and pulled them down. His heart was beating at a rapid rhythm and he breathed deeply, so embarrassed he was close to tears. He had never been ashamed with nakedness before, but this time it was so... different.

"Lay over my lap, Jim," his Guide said to him, patting his legs.

The taller man knelt on the bed beside Blair then lowered his body over the younger man's lap, pillowing his head in his crossed arms. He felt his Guide's hand rubbing the small of his back. Jim breathed deeply, and saw Blair taking the wooden paddle in his hand again.

"Ready, Jim? You know you can still stop me."

"I'm ready," Jim replied in a quiet voice.

He was almost eager to experience the spanking. He knew it was going to hurt, but he knew too it would ease his guilt.

"I don't want to injure you, Jim, so I need you to dial up your sense of touch. You will suffer but you won't be harmed. I can't make you do as I say but I trust you to be responsible enough to do so. If you dial it down instead..."

"I already dialed it up, Blair," Jim responded in a low voice.

"Good. Now tell me why you deserved to be punished?"

"Because I didn't control my senses and I put Simon and Megan's lives in danger instead of waiting for reinforcements," Jim recited.

"Good."

"I want you to find the euphoria that invaded your mind when your primal brain took control, when you were overwhelmed by the need to act and to kill them. Then I want you to associate this to the pain and the humiliation you feel now," Blair ordered.

"Pavlov method?" Jim asked.

"Exactly."

The first blow took Jim by surprise, and he jumped out of his skin as the wooden paddle entered in contact with his asscheeks. Then another blow echoed in the bedroom, before Blair found a kind of rhythm.

Jim at first, despite his dialed up sense of touch, didn't suffer too much. He was trained to bear pain. But soon the repeated blows on his cheeks made him clench his fists, then bite his lower lip. More than once he thought of just pushing Blair away, of getting up and going away. But each time he was about to move, the events of the afternoon came back to haunt him and he stayed quiet.

Blair stopped, as his friend's asscheeks were now a bold pink, and asked again, "Why do you deserve to be punished, Jim?"

And Jim was surprised that he was barely able to respond, his voice shaking, close to begging Blair to stop. But Blair resumed the spanking, and Jim began to breath faster. Soon he felt tears running on his face, and it was in a shaking voice he begged Blair to stop.

"Please, stop, Blair! I'm sorry! I'll control myself next time!"

The blows immediately ceased, and Jim couldn't help but burst into tears. He felt Blair gently rubbing his back, whispering, "It's over, Jim. The punishment is over. Dial down your sense of touch to normal."

Jim obeyed, but the pain stayed. He didn't need to look behind him to guess his butt must be crimson. It burned. He slid on the floor, his shaking hands managing to pull up his boxers.

"You'd better take off your jeans," Blair suggested, helping his friend. "The fabric is a little rough."

Jim stripped from his jeans, and sat down on the bed, wincing at the pain, still crying. As Blair got up and seemed to want to leave him alone, he caught the younger man by his wrist.

"Please don't leave me! Or is it part of the punishment?"

There was no irony in Jim's words; just the fact that he'd accept being left alone if Blair thought it was better. But Blair shook his head, and came back besides his Sentinel.

"No, Jim, as I told you, the punishment is over. I just thought you'd like to be alone."

Jim shook his head too, unable to speak as a new flow of tears ran down his cheeks. He didn't dare move but Blair understood, and he hugged his friend tightly, stroking the trembling frame of the bigger man.

"Shh, Jim, it's over," he repeated, as Jim buried his face in Blair's neck.

Blair wasn't very comfortable. He had never seen Jim so upset, and he was almost embarrassed. He had always seen Jim as an alpha male, and to have him crying in his arms like a child was a little disturbing. But Jim needed his help, and if he could accept the spanking, Blair could restrain his feelings of embarrassment.

They stayed embraced for a moment, until Jim regained enough control to take a tissue from the box on his nightstand.

"Better?" Blair asked softly.

Jim nodded.

"Don't be embarrassed cause of your tears, Jim," Blair said, "I don't know who the moron was who said men haven't got the right to cry, but he was wrong. Tears have been given to human beings to ease their pain."

Jim had to smile at the lecture and Blair understood that his partner had regained control. He stood up, "I'm going to prepare us some hot milk. You should take a shower, it will ease the pain," he suggested. He was leaving when he suddenly backed up and sat down again beside Jim. "I'm proud of you, Jim. I know it wasn't easy to accept this thing, and I know how much it cost you."

He gave the other man a quick huge and headed to the kitchen. Jim got up, wincing at the pain, but to his surprise, he felt better. Relieved. He went to the bathroom, and jumped under the hot spray. He stayed a long time under the relaxing water, letting the flow wash away his tiredness and pain. He put on new boxers and his bathrobe, and joined Blair in the kitchen. He could smell the vanilla the younger man had added to the hot milk.

His Guide welcomed him with a warm smile, "It's ready, Jim," handing him a steamy mug.

Jim leaned against the counter, facing the smaller man, taking a few sips of the hot liquid, lost in his thoughts.

He wondered if he wasn't going crazy because he felt incredibly good. He felt an emotion he didn't felt in years, if ever; he felt beloved. For the first time since his return from Peru, since his senses had threatened to drive him crazy, he felt someone was there to take care of him, to really help him to deal with this. Of course, before Blair had been there for three years, as an academic experiencing new techniques, as a friend trying to comfort him, but this time Blair had really involved himself in their Sentinel/Guide relationship, even putting their friendship in danger with the spanking thing. Blair had really involved himself at a deep emotional level, deeper than usual, and Jim felt good.

He looked at his Guide as if he never saw him before. Blair was wearing his bathrobe, a white and black flannel tartan cloth, which complimented his complexion. For the first time perhaps, Jim noticed how handsome his Guide was. The dark and riotous curls that were framing his strong and chiseled features, the blue eyes and the sensuous lips Jim felt an unusual emotion invading his mind and his heart, and his heart rate increased. He dialed up his sense of smell and inhaled deeply the musky scent of his Guide, a mix of herbal shampoo, green tea, grapefruit soap, and vanilla he'd just just added to the milk, and a scent that said only 'Blair'.

"You could pose for the milk ad, Chief," he said kindly.

"Do I have a white mustache?" the younger man asked with a smile.

"Yeah. Let me help you," Jim said, gently grabbing Blair's chin in one hand as his thumb gently ran over Blair's upper lip.

They looked at each other, and suddenly it was as if time had suspended its race, as if there was some soft music playing somewhere. Slowly they leaned towards each other until their lips met. They brushed their mouths together before Blair parted his lips, allowing to Jim's soft caressing tongue to enter his mouth.

It was the softest of kisses and Blair lost himself in it, wrapping his arms around Jim's neck, as the older man's slid his fingers into the riotous curls he liked so much.

"I love you, Blair," were the first words Jim managed to say when they broke the kiss, burying his face in his Guide's silky locks.

"I love you, too, Jim," Blair responded, kissing the bigger man on the neck.

They hugged tightly, staying together long moments without moving. Jim had never experienced such a turmoil of emotions in his soul. His heart was full of the love he felt for his Guide, this love that lived inside of him for three years without him even knowing it. He thought that the spanking had probably broken some barriers in him, barriers that had prevented him from letting his feelings come out.

Blair closed his eyes, enjoying the feeling of being in his Sentinel's arms. He leaned his head against Jim's shoulder, feeling for the first time in years that he was home.

Jim was kissing him on the neck now and it felt so good Blair could have stayed there for hours. The bigger man began to rub his body against his partner's, and Blair felt his arousal. His own cock twitched in response and he moaned. He bucked his hips against Jim's, their lips going locked. Blair didn't protest when Jim unfastened the belt of his bathrobe and pulled his boxers down. The younger man did the same to Jim, and soon their naked cocks brushed together.

Blair lost all logical thought. As his left hand stayed locked around Jim's neck, his right hand slid between their bodies and tentatively grabbed Jim's hard cock. Jim mimicked the gesture on Blair's until their desire reached a peak, and their hands became frenetic in their urge to reach pleasure. Blair came first, sending his seed onto his own stomach and splashing Jim's fingers who, overwhelmed by the smell of the younger man's semen, climaxed in his turn, crushing his lips against Blair's.

They stayed a moment just holding each other, Jim trapping Blair against the counter, both breathing heavily, until Blair began to laugh uncontrollably.

"What?" Jim asked, as the young man couldn't stop.

"Imagine... if someone came in and saw us, with our boxers around our ankles!" Blair burst out laughing.

Jim shared his hilarity, and stripped off his boxers, leaving him naked under this bathrobe. "We both need to get clean," he said, gesturing towards their sticky stomachs.

They headed towards the bathroom, and wetted towels. Then Blair said suddenly, "I'm going to take a shower. I feel sticky."

Jim froze before continuing to dry himself. He lowered his eyes, and Blair saw that he seemed hurt. He realized that his words could have been insulting for the older man, and he put his hands on his friend's shoulder. "I don't feel dirty, Jim. It's just that I worked up a good sweat, that's all." He purred seductively into Jim's ear, "Want to shower with me?"

Jim nodded, his throat suddenly dry. He stripped out of his bathrobe and joined Blair who was adjusting the water's temperature. At first they simply stood under the hot spray but soon Jim took the liquid soap and poured a generous amount into his palm. He began to run his hands on Blair's torso and shoulders, watching the other man's body. He had only seen Blair clad in boxers; the young man seemed to be pretty shy with his body and rarely showed himself not totally dressed. Jim's eyes ran hungrily over his young Guide's body, enjoying the sight of the muscled frame. What his eyes saw his hands explored soon after, until Blair took his turn with the soap and began to explore Jim's body.

Their gazes met and they understood each other. Blair slowly turned his back to his partner, bending over slightly. Jim swallowed hard and, grabbing the liquid soap, coated his hard shaft. Then tentatively, not sure how to proceed, he put his hand on Blair's asscheeks, parting the twin mounds. He moved closer and guided the tip of his leaking cock to the younger man's puckered entrance before slowly entering him, passing the ring of muscles and filling the tight channel offered to his desire. At first he stopped, not wanting to hurt Blair, but the younger man bucked his hips, moaning, and Jim resumed his entrance, reassured. When he was buried to the balls in Blair he began to thrust, slowly and tentatively at first, wrapping his fist around the smaller man's cock, his other arm circling his waist, then he increased his pace, until he was unable to control himself any longer.

He was now pounding into Blair's ass and Blair was bucking against him, both panting and moaning as pleasure grew from their connection, until Jim climaxed hard, sending his cum into Blair's ass, as the younger man shot his seed onto Jim's hand, who pumped a little more, until his guide had released every drop of semen he had to give.

They stayed connected, Blair barely able to stand, Jim leaning against his partner trying to catch his breathe. Slowly, watching with a troubled fascination as his now limp cock withdrew from Blair's ass, Jim broke their connection. The water that was falling on them was a little too cold now to be enjoyable, and Jim quickly rinsed their bodies, helping Blair who was collapsed against him. They stepped out of the shower, each drying the other and wrapping themselves in their bathrobes. Blair began to shiver.

"Upstairs," Jim decided. "You're going to get a cold."

"The water was cold at the end, man," Blair replied.

They hurried up to Jim's bedroom, and Blair didn't have to be asked twice to jump into the bed, sliding under the covers. He felt embarrassed when he realized something was still on the bed, and that something was the wooden paddle. But Jim took it naturally and put it into the nightstand drawer, before joining his young Guide under the covers. He held him tightly, stroking the still damp wet curls.

They didn't talk because neither of them wanted to end the magical moment they just shared. That was Jim who broke the silence first.

"What's going to happen now, Blair?"

Despite their friendship it was rare that the Sentinel called his friend by his first name. Usually he called him by affectionate nicknames or by his last name when he was angry or ironical. 'Blair' was reserved for when he was upset.

"Dunno, Jim," Blair responded into a low voice. "I... I didn't expect this to happen, I don't know where we're going."

"Did you think this was going to happen when you when you spanked me?" Jim asked. He was almost sure it wasn't the case but he needed to know.

Blair rose up onto his elbows and faced Jim, "No, Jim, I swear that wasn't the case. I gave you that spanking free of sexual thoughts, believe me. Despite the fact that you were half naked, I wasn't aroused. I was... perhaps more embarrassed that you were!" Jim's face clearly said 'I don't buy it' but Blair insisted, "Do you think it was easy for me to ask you to bare your ass and to bend over my lap? Seriously, Jim?"

"I'm sure you enjoyed every second of it," Jim teased him, "it was revenge for all the times I yelled at you."

They both laughed, and Blair rubbed his nose against Jim's chest. "Are you upset about the spanking, Jim?"

Jim took a few times to think and responded while patting Blair's head, "No, I'm not anymore. Controlling my senses has always been a pain in the ass for me, despite your help. As my senses are linked to my most primitive brain and I can't control them with my logical and civilized mind, perhaps the physical punishment is the only way to gain a little control. And it keeps me from feeling so guilty when I think about how close Simon and Megan came to dying."

His partner and friends could have been killed this afternoon because of his lack of control and if he had just spent the evening promising himself he was going to be more careful in the future it wouldn't have been enough to ease his guilt. The spanking had at least given him the feeling of having done something concrete, of learning to fight against his instincts, of having progressed. He hoped next time he was about to rush into action his offended asscheeks would remind to him that he had to use his brain before he endangered his partners' lives.

"Blair?" he asked again.

"I'm listening," the younger man replied in a sleepy voice.

"I wanted to ask you... It was so sudden... We didn't talk about..."

"Jim, if you never end your sentences, I'll never know what you want to ask," Blair gently teased him.

"I was the one who... I was the top," Jim said, blushing. "I just hope it doesn't give you the impression I wanted to dominate you. I mean, next time, I'd like you to lead."

"Very clever, Jim, now I'm going to have another hard-on," Blair joked. "It was better you were the top this time. Your butt was too sore for bottoming. But next time..."

"I hope so," Jim said, kissing the curly head that was resting on his shoulder.

They were both too exhausted to speak again, and they soon slid into a deep sleep, snuggled against each other, hugging closely.

For the first time as a Sentinel, Jim felt free; free because Blair was there, taking care of him, loving him, guiding him in the purest sense of the word. He didn't have to be both Sentinel and Guide anymore, he could be Sentinel only because now he a Guide.

THE END