So that was it.

Six years with the WWE. 15 years as a professional and he was walking away for possibly forever. It was a decision that he'd agonised over for months but as the elevator doors closed on the farewell party his colleagues on RAW had thrown for him the finality and significance finally overtook him. He leaned back against the highly polished wall of the elevator and closed his eyes.

The various highlights and low lights of his career flashed through his mind and not even the infiltrating ping of the elevator signalling his arrival on his floor was enough to disrupt those memories. Images of training in Calgary mingled with successes in Japan and Mexico before making way for both the heartache and elation of working for the big three promotions of America.

He was trying to ignore the frustrations of working for a Bischoff and talent led WCW when he heard the faint noise of a locked hotel room door clicking open. His head automatically turned to the direction of the noise despite it having no effect on his remembrance and a pair of soft hazel eyes that made wrestling memories seem barely significant greeted him.

"Did you have a nice party?"

"It was a little calm for my tastes but enjoyable regardless," Chris answered softly.

"I'd have come myself but…"

"No need to make excuses Hunter. You've been avoiding me for three years so why bother to make an effort now huh?"

It was the perfect opportunity for Chris to storm down the corridor and leave Hunter in no doubt as to the depth of the anger he still felt towards him but he couldn't move. The light but firm feel of Hunter's long fingers wrapping around his bicep in a cautious yet determined way had his feet frozen to the garish carpet underneath. He couldn't move but he couldn't bring himself to once again look into those hazel depths as he was far too scared at what may be revealed within them. Instead he fixed his gaze on his treacherous feet.

"Come inside," Hunter stated, his fingers tightening their grip on Chris' arm.

"Why?" Chris answered in a voice much smaller and quieter than he had ever hoped Hunter to hear.

Hunter sighed. "We need to talk."

"We needed to talk three years ago," Chris said before finally fixing his steely blue eyes on Hunter, "now there's nothing to say."

"We can't leave things like this."

"Finally grown a conscience Hunter? Now all we need is for you to grow some balls."

Chris shrugged off Hunter's fingers and commanded his feet to move. He was only able to move two steps before he found Hunter blocking his way with an unreadable look on his face. He expected to see nothing but anger, to see that legendary temper surface but was instead greeted with a look of… Regret? Pain? Whatever it was he knew that anger would have been easier to deal with. Anger was a lot simpler than any other emotion either Chris or Hunter could muster.

"Please," Hunter pleaded, "just hear me out. If you want to punch me at the end of it all then I'll give you a free shot, all that I ask is that you listen. Ten minutes."

Hunter reached out and trailed a thumb along the sharp line of Chris' jaw. The slight shiver that ran up Chris' spine seemed to transfer to Hunter through their point of contact and ran down his cotton clad back setting Hunter's senses alight in a way that such a simple touch had no right to do.

"I'll give you five."

*~*~*~

Hunter stood in his hotel room, his hands deep in his pocket, as Chris meekly stepped inside. Chris was hesitant but there was also a hint of defiance present in his slow footsteps as he crossed the threshold and closed the gap between himself and Hunter. It had been a long time since he and Chris had spent any time alone and he found that words that had once been so easy died in his throat under the close scrutiny of one who had once known him so well.

He hadn't intentionally ignored Chris for the last three years. Hunter had meant to have the forthcoming conversation with him long ago but there had always been something stopping him. Often it was Chris' friends interrupting any attempt he made at speaking to Chris but most of the time it was his own cowardice and in-eloquence. How do you explain something to someone when you can't explain it to yourself?

Now he'd finally achieved the impossible. He had Chris standing before him, waiting expectantly with no friends to interrupt and nowhere for Hunter to hide. And he still couldn't find the words he needed.

Not that he actually did need them.

Hunter's thoughts were rendered irrelevant by the feel of Chris' full and hot lips pressing tightly against his own. He eagerly opened his mouth to accept the tongue that was seeking entry and pulled Chris to him tightly, their tension filled bodies relaxing into the embrace as the cotton of their shirts rubbed together. Hunter was so lost in the embrace and kiss that he didn't care about any possible consequences or unspoken words. In fact he found it hard to think of anything other than the man in his arms.

Chris' tongue tangled with his own and a faint growl reached Hunter's ears. He couldn't discern whether it was Chris or himself that was growling… Or maybe it was both of them. It hardly seemed worth worrying about when presented with the sweetest mouth he'd ever known. He was soon lying on the double bed that dominated the bedroom of the suite and Chris was even sooner lying full length on top of him, arms and legs tangling as talented lips stole his very breath.

He ran his hands down Chris' back slowly, rejoicing in the feel of familiar muscles twitching under the muted heat of his hands. Hunter's hands soon came to rest on the muscled flesh of Chris' ass and Chris unashamedly pushed his hips into Hunter's strong grip. Any shame that he had once had where Hunter was concerned had been eradicated several years ago along with any hope of resisting Hunter's maddening touches.

Hunter's muscular thighs gripped one of Chris', the movements of Chris' hips causing their aroused sexes to rub together, their excitement obvious even through two thick layers of denim. Chris finally and reluctantly broke the never ending kiss and rested his head on the bed below as the dual stimulation of his groin and ass caused him to moan in agonising pleasure. Hunter delicately brushed some of the blonde silk from Chris' neck and licked the salted skin, paying particular attention to one sensitive spot that he was overjoyed was still there.

"Mmm, Hunter…" Chris muttered more to himself than Hunter, "feels so good…"

"Always did," Hunter stated simply.

Hunter heard Chris sigh deeply before stilling the movement of his hips and resting his forehead against Hunter's. There was a look of resignation on his face as he stared deeply into Hunter's eyes and even though Hunter wanted nothing more than to hold him forever he knew that all good things eventually had to cease.

"Chris…"

A strand of dirty blonde hair had escaped from its restraint at the back of Hunter's neck and was causing him to wrinkle his nose in irritation. Chris moved the strand and placed a finger across Hunter's kiss swollen lips in an attempt to silence any further words. He knew the look that Hunter wore well. It was his cautious, this isn't-a-good-idea look. Chris had been the recipient of that look on several occasions during happier times and he frowned slightly when he realised that he couldn't remember when that last occasion was.

"Don't. Don't say this is a bad idea. Don't say that we'll regret this tomorrow because I won't be here tomorrow. Tomorrow doesn't matter and neither does the last three years. It's just you and me. It's just this room and it's just us. I didn't expect any of this to happen when I walked in this room. I honestly thought we'd talk and I'd try and beat the shit out of you but this is, I think, better."

Hunter nodded his head in agreement and delicately kissed the finger that still hovered over his lips. The smile that greeted his actions and agreement was bright enough to make any possible arguments disappear into the blinding light that filled Hunter's mind. There really was no tomorrow. There was no past heartache or painful future. The wedding vows that Hunter had made years ago seemed like a distant memory of a previous life.

"There's only you..." Hunter muttered before once again searching out those luscious lips that lay so closely to his own.

Frantic hands stripped Chris of his shirt and not even the cold metal of Hunter's wedding ring dancing across his skin was enough to spoil the moment. He needed this. He needed Hunter's bare flesh against his own just one last time. Hunter's black T shirt soon mingled with Chris' shirt on the floor as the room's temperature seemed to raise by an impossible number of degrees.

Hunter moaned in delirious delight as Chris placed innocent kisses all over his broad chest. Chris soon turned his attentions to Hunter's aching nipples and applied just a little twist as he grazed them with his teeth and gently ran his hands down Hunter's rapidly moving rib cage. A little roughness mixed with gentle touches had always been one of Hunter's main weak points and Chris was glad to find that some things still remained the same even when others, such as the photo on Hunter's bedside table, changed so greatly.

Hunter was so lost in the sensations of Chris' mouth and that oh so silky hair moving across his torso that he didn't even notice Chris reaching over him to turn around the photo of his wife that sat next to his bed, just like it had every night of the last three years. If he'd been a little less clouded over with lust he'd have noticed the sorrow that filled Chris' blue eyes for a moment. Instead all he saw was the hunger that lay beyond the cobalt depths that were now staring at him intently as hands deftly relieved him of his now too tight jeans and underwear.

Chris kept his eyes locked with Hunter's as he slowly unbuckled his own belt. His hands trembled slightly as he wrestled with the fly of his jeans but the tremors were not noticed by the man that lay before him, a man who's attention was solely captured by the look of flushed lust that was evident on his sweet face. Jeans were pulled off muscular thighs as those hazel eyes held him in their gaze and Chris felt no shame at all as he removed his briefs, exposing his body and achingly hard cock to that hazel scrutiny.

Hunter unconsciously licked his lips as he eyed the beauty that now knelt before him. Had Chris always been this damn beautiful? Had he really thrown away someone who had not only loved him with all his heart but was able to drive all rational thought out of his mind by merely undressing in front of him? Hunter knew the answer to both questions was a resounding 'yes' but decided not to concentrate on his own idiocy.

Instead he took Chris' mouth watering cock so far down his throat he nearly choked.

"Hunter!"

He chuckled lightly at Chris' surprise sending pleasurable vibrations along the length of Chris' heated flesh. Whenever his mind had been full of future story lines or racing with insecurities he'd always reached for Chris. He, unlike no other before him or since, had always had an innate way of making even the most serious problem seem like a trivial issue. Like a lighthouse helping ships navigate their way in the dark through treacherous waters Chris had been his guiding light but he had traded it all for ambition and glory...

He ignored the sinking feeling in his stomach and concentrated on the cock that weighed so gloriously on his tongue. A couple of bobs of his head and mews of pleasure from Chris soon eradicated any feelings of guilt and hurt as his hands played with Chris' heavy balls. He felt awkward fingers tugging at the band in his hair so he paused all movements for a few seconds, partly to aid and partly so he could relax and breathe in the scent that was uniquely Chris.

Chris could feel himself drowning in the waves of pleasure that flowed through his veins. It had been a long time, too long, since he'd allowed another to touch him in this manner. Sure, there'd been others since the split with Hunter, more than Chris was willing to admit even to himself but none of them had touched him like Hunter could. He could still remember Hunter's unusually soft voice telling him one night that the sex was good because the connection was mental as well as physical and it was that dual connection that had been missing from those nameless encounters. He wanted to surrender and allow the wave to overcome him but he knew that it wasn't enough.

"Hunter," Chris whispered breathlessly, "I need more... I need you."

No further explanation was needed. Hunter reluctantly released Chris' cock from his mouth and watched spellbound as Chris lay next to him, a heartbreaking smile on his face as the fine hairs on his thighs rubbed against the smooth skin of Hunter's legs. He couldn't quite believe that he was going to have one more night with his Chris. His fingers traced intricate patterns on Chris' inner thighs, not because he wanted to tease but because he wanted to prove that the last few moments and the vision lying next to him where not just a figment of his imagination as they had been so many times before.

The breathless moan and flutter of Chris' sensitised skin were proof enough that he was very real and Hunter couldn't stop himself from tasting that mouth one more time. When he felt Chris' hand wrap around his hardened cock he feared that the resulting moan would be loud enough to deafen Chris but Chris was too far gone to care. He needed Hunter inside his body again just like he was inside his mind and heart.

"Hunter... Please..."

The whimper in Chris' voice and the silent pleading in his blue eyes would have been enough on their own to drive Hunter into action but when coupled with the longing and appetite Hunter felt it was all he could do to stop himself from just taking Chris there and then. But he couldn't do that. He couldn't cause Chris any further pain and that was the only thought in his muddled brain as he slowly eased a saliva slicked finger inside Chris.

"Hmm, more..."

Any fear Hunter had of the passage of time or his own inadequacies spoiling the moment disappeared as soon as he saw the pure look of pleasure on Chris' face. His hair was matted and stuck to his forehead by a thin sheen of sweat. His usually pale cheeks were flushed red with heat and passion and those blue eyes, the ones Hunter had spent hours simply staring into without uttering a word, were so dilated that all was left were empty black depths that Hunter could swear were as deep as the night sky. A content smile played on Chris' swollen lips as he added a second finger and any fears Hunter had simply faded into the charged atmosphere. There was nothing he and could Chris could do together that would be anything short of perfection.

"So beautiful... So sweet," Hunter muttered as he interspersed the words with kisses to Chris' face. "I've missed this."

A light jab to his prostrate caused Chris to wrap his blunt fingernails in the sheets beneath him as he arched his back up off the bed. His eyes locked with Hunter's and he committed every line and feature of Hunter's face into his memory, right next to the five million other images that he had locked away years ago. They were the images that had the power to both break his heart and comfort him at the same time and he knew that the heartache they could produce was worth suffering just to relive the joy and warmth they could provide.

Chris whimpered slightly when Hunter's fingers withdrew but any loss he felt was soon replaced by the red-hot anticipation of what was to come. The quiet but resounding noise of a cap being popped drew his attention and he watched spell bound as Hunter's tanned fingers stroked his own flesh. If he concentrated he could almost feel the satiny skin of Hunter's cock slipping through his fingers like it had done on so many occasions before.

The bottle of lotion was thrown to the floor amongst the discarded clothes and Hunter held his breath as he eased the head of his cock past the tight ring of muscle that put up a moment of resistance before accepting him readily. Chris' face was caught between expressions of agony and ecstasy and Hunter watched with a rapt fascination as the agony disappeared only to be replaced by complete rapture and longing.

Hunter tentatively rolled his hips and was met with a much more forceful and sure buck of the hips that he currently had pinned to the mattress. He felt fingers claw at his arms, back and any other part of his anatomy that they could reach as he slowly began to pick up the pace, repeatedly delving into the heavenly body that had always set his very soul afire. The angel that lay beneath him was matching every movement he made with a vigour and enthusiasm that left him breathless with wonder but there was something more that he needed.

"Chris," he whispered, ceasing all movements and chuckling slightly at the whine his inaction produced, "I need you to look at me sweetheart. Don't close your eyes. I want you to see that this means as much to me as it does you."

Chris eagerly complied, his eyelids fluttering rapidly as the scene before him took a few seconds to come into focus. Hunter was staring at him, their noses only centimetres apart and for a moment he could see everything. Those hazel eyes were finally open to him again after three years of being locked tight and he could see the hurt and tiredness that he was sure was echoed in his own eyes.

He'd been so wrapped up in his own pain and sense of injustice to consider for a moment that maybe Hunter could have been feeling the same way. After the wedding to Stephanie, which as a loyal WWE employee he'd had to attend, he'd been so sure that Hunter would be so happy with his new wife that his mind would never once turn to Chris or even realise the pain he left behind that rainy night in Detroit when he'd broken Chris' heart. But Hunter had realised it because he'd felt it also. There was still love there, there always had been and there was no wedding vow or band that could ever change that.

Chris cried out in silent worship when Hunter withdrew from him before burying himself deep inside again. He braced his hands against the rails of the metal headboard and rolled his hips into every earth moving thrust that Hunter made. As their coupling continued it became increasingly difficult to keep their eyes locked but neither man dared to break the gaze, the intensity in each other's eyes making the feelings in their bodies even more fierce and consuming.

"Oh god yes," Chris wailed as Hunter's movements began to stroke his sweet spot, "just like that love."

Hunter could feel the explosions begin to build within him so he took Chris' cock in his still lubed hand and stroked it in time with his thrusts, adding a little twist to his palm whenever he reached the dripping head. Each twist was greeted with a sharp intake of breath and he could tell from the increased pitch of Chris' wordless moans that he was as close as Hunter was.

Neither man wanted their love making to end but it was Chris who gave in first, his entire body shuddering with the power of his release as it coated Hunter's fingers and his own stomach. Even with his body singing with a force it hadn't seen since his last encounter with the man buried deeply inside him he didn't break the eye contact and he was rewarded with the memorable sight of Hunter's facial features contorting into an expression that could only be summed up in one word.

Bliss.

They watched each other intently as they both came down from their pleasure driven highs and it wasn't until their breathing had regulated and the colour had returned to their dilated black eyes that Hunter finally moved and lay next to Chris, their shoulders touching as their attention was still solely concentrated on each other. Chris suddenly felt an overwhelming sense of loss flow through his veins and he knew that it wasn't just due to the lack of body contact.

He finally broke eye contact and sat on the edge of the bed with his back turned to Hunter as he pulled his shirt and trousers out from underneath the pile of discarded clothing that lay on the floor. He could feel the heat of Hunter's questioning gaze on his back as he dressed slowly but his mind was racing with too many thoughts of his own to worry about Hunter's. Chris couldn't help but feel that there was more than one chapter of his life ending tonight and much like the wrestling chapter he was unsure how he felt about that.

Hunter watched Chris dress with confusion in his heart. He had so many things that he wanted to say, so many explanations and so many promises... Would Chris listen to him if he said that he married Stephanie because he was blinded by power? That he felt that his punishment for hurting Chris so deeply because of his own selfishness was to be trapped in the purgatory of a loveless marriage? Would Chris believe him if he said that he was willing to walk away from it all, even the WWE itself if needed, just to atone for some of the crimes he had committed against someone who had never asked him for a damn thing other than his love? Would Chris be able to love him again if he knew that these thoughts kept him awake at night in his cold and empty bed?

Hunter tried to pick just one of those thoughts as Chris buttoned up his shirt but couldn't find the words. Instead he said something that he knew would haunt him forever due to it's stupidity. "That was longer than five minutes."

"I didn't realise that you were going to be this interesting," Chris answered simply.

"Neither did I."

"Well, I guess I'll see you around sometime."

Before Chris had chance to get to his feet a strong hand grabbed his arm and held him in place, just like it had in the corridor earlier that night. Chris turned and looked at Hunter laying before him, so open and obviously wounded that every ounce of his body was screaming at him to lay down beside him and screw any consequences.

"Stay Chris," Hunter said pleadingly, "we can work this out."

Chris shrugged off Hunter's hand and walked the few steps to the bedside cabinet before turning around the photo frame that was facing the wall. The smiling face of Stephanie McMahon looked at them both mockingly and Hunter felt his heart sink.

"We can't work this out Hunter. Not now. I don't think we ever really stood a chance."

"You can't leave things like this! Not after tonight and what happened between us..."

"Oh but I can Hunter," Chris said as he opened the hotel room door to the corridor beyond. He turned and for the last time looked Hunter in the eye. "Unlike you I can walk away."

THE END