Vin was warm and relaxed. He didn't really want to surface from the warm haze of his dreams. They'd been such nice dreams, really. No, his mind supplied as he came closer to consciousness. They hadn't been dreams. He lay there luxuriating in the cozy heat and satiation of his body as he slowly recalled the night before.'I'm in Chris' bed,' he said to himself. 'Sleepin' beside Chris...'
Tanner let his eyes open slowly. His hand slid out testing for a warm body next to him on the bed. He realized that the bare body he was searching for sat on the edge of the bed, turned away from him. 'He's really here...I'm really here!' Then it registered on his still sleep-dulled senses that the shoulders were bent and shaking. He sat up quickly, hand reaching automatically to touch the man's back.
"Chris?" he said, his voice even raspier than usual from sleep. As if in slow motion, the blond head turned... green eyes filled with tears meeting his.
"S-Sarah..." the older man choked out. "Adam..."
"You remember..." Chris nodded, unable to get out any more words as sobs rose in his chest. He gasped, both trying to get the moans and whimpers out and repress them at the same time, unsure what he should or could do. Vin reached out without hesitation, drawing the man back down on the bed. He pulled him onto the comforter and into his arms, holding the shaking body tightly against him. Chris' head seemed to settle naturally on his shoulder and the Texan wrapped the thick comforter around the narrow body, both shielding the man from the early morning chill and protecting him from being pressed directly against his own naked body. The sobs shook Chris harder and harder as he finally felt free to let the grief out. Vin held him close, murmuring soothing sounds and alternately carding his fingers through the soft strands of hair or stroking gentle circles on the strong back.
At last, Chris seemed to have spent himself, grief receding into the background once again. He took several deep breaths, trying get control of his shaking body. Vin loosened his hold on the older man. Chris sat up partially, rubbing his face with a trembling hand.
"Thanks, pard," he said, "didn't mean to fall apart on you like that."
"'S Okay, Chris," said Vin with a self-deprecating shrug. "That's what friends are for..." Larabee looked up at the slender man who had sat up when he moved away. There was a closed look on his face and he was slowly moving towards the edge of the bed. "I was glad I could be there for ya... I mean I'm sorry that..." Vin closed his eyes tightly for a minute, rubbing hands over his beard-stubbled face. "I'm sorry that you had to go through it all again. I woulda given anything if you hadn't..." He stopped again and looked at the older man. "Awww, hell... I'm makin' a mess a things as usual." He turned and slipped off the bed, grabbing up his jeans from the floor and quickly sliding into them. When he faced Chris again, his pants were buttoned and his t-shirt in his hand. Tanner looked straight at him.
"I meant what I said Chris... it'll be just like it was before... like this never happened.... Please..." Larabee could see the moisture in those incredible blue eyes. "I-I don't wanna lose my best friend just coz I couldn't keep a handle on myself. Please, just let it be like it was before. Forget last night... Hell, forget the last few days..."
Before Chris could even take a breath to respond, the younger man had thrown on his shirt, grabbed up his flannel shirt and tennis shoes and fled down the stairs. Tanner's jeep roared to life outside and screeched away down the road, leaving a cloud of dust and gravel to settle in its wake. Chris Larabee rose slowly from the bed, feeling positively ancient and reached for his black jeans.
+ + + + + + +
Buck stopped in the doorway of the kitchen. The figure before him was a study in grief. Chris leaned against the kitchen counter, clad only in a pair of black jeans. He hadn't even done up the top button and they rode low on his hips, showing just a hint of golden hair at the V-ed top. Long, slender feet rested one on top of the other, standing out pale against the kitchen tiles. Chris' hair showed the effects of running his fingers through it distractedly. The shorter parts stood on end, pointing in all directions. Longer hair on the top drooped over his face, partially obscuring the green eyes on the down-bent head. One slender hand lay slack on a black thigh. The other held a half-empty black coffee mug dangling by the handle. Even the sound of Buck's arrival hadn't caused the man to stir.
"Where's Vin?" asked Buck softly.
"Gone," said Chris. Then the blond head came up, green eyes narrowed. "How did you know he was here?"
Wilmington leaned in the door frame, crossing his arms over his chest.
"I've known you for a lot of years, Chris," he said. "When you get that particular look in your eye... ain't nothing stoppin' ya from goin' after what you want." The big man cocked his head. "And Vin didn't follow us out last night. Skittish as he was all day I figured he'd be right on our heels. When he wasn't..."
Chris' eyes dropped again. His hand trembled, one drop of coffee sloshing out to land on the top of a bare foot and run slowly down.
"Why did he leave Chris?" asked Buck.
"Because..." The team leader gulped. "Because... I remembered..."
"Ya chase him away?" questioned the stunned agent, his eyes widening.
"No!" said Chris, head lifting again, eyes blazing now. "NO! He ran before I had a chance to tell him..."
"What did you mean to tell him?" pursued Buck. Chris' eyes were wide and startled.
"I've only felt like this one other time in my life, Buck. I never thought I'd have a second chance... and now I've blown it." Chris' eyes drifted to the back window, gazing unseeing at the corral out back where Peso and Pony stood side by side. Pony leaned over and nuzzled at the other horse who immediately took off running. "I pushed, Buck. I pushed it, just like I used to do. God, I was an egotistical idiot when I was younger!"
"Yep," said Buck, hiding a chuckle behind stroking his mustache. Chris sighed heavily. "You tried callin' him?"
"Ever since he left," said Chris, gesturing behind him and moving slightly. Buck could see the cell phone tossed on the counter there.
"Left a message at work... at his apartment... on his cell phone... He won't answer." Wilmington pulled out his own mobile, chuckling louder now.
"Awww, Chris, you just gotta go about it the right way." He punched a speed dial number. Both men could hear the tones as it dialed. When the voice mail cut in, Buck ended the call and immediately punched the speed dial again. "Boy can't stand it if you just let it keep ringin' !" Wilmington's eyes were lit with mischief. Chris stifled a chuckle of his own. Halfway through the fourth round, the phone was answered in mid-ring. Buck quickly tossed it across the room to Larabee.
"What the HELL ya want!" wafted from the phone in clear tones as it flew across the room. Chris snatched it out of the air.
"Vin... Vin!" he said quickly. "Don't hang up. Just listen to me... Vin... can you hear me?" There was a pause as the Texan answered. "Vin... I can't hear you with the wind. Can you pull over and listen for just a minute? Then I'll do whatever you say..." There was silence on the line but it remained open. The background nose of rushing wind and engine died down.
"I'm listenin'," said the sharpshooter's quiet voice.
"Vin," he said quietly, holding the phone tightly to his ear as if it were a lifeline in the midst of a stormy sea. "I meant everything I said last night... Hell, I meant everything I said the last couple of days... even if I didn't go about things right. You hear me, Vin? EVERYTHING... nothing has changed about how I feel... only difference is now I remember... I remember how long I've wanted this to happen." Squealing of tires sounded over the open line.
"Vin!" Chris shouted. "Vin, what are you doing?"
"Turnin' around, cowboy," replied Tanner. "I'm comin'..."
"You better," growled Larabee. "You owe me for running out this morning... and I aim to collect my due..." Vin's laughter, light and free rang over the line.
"We'll see who collects on who, old man," he said and the phone clicked dead. Chris couldn't restrain the leering grin he felt on his face. A movement in the room reminded him of Buck's presence. He looked at him, his face flushing red. Wilmington just strolled across the room and plucked his phone from Chris' hand.
"Just remember Chris," he said in a low seductive tone. "Sometimes it pays to be an egotistical idiot!" Chris laughed and clapped both hands on his oldest friend's shoulders.
"I'll keep that in mind Buck... the next time you want off." The big man begin to splutter, then saw the twinkle in his boss' eyes. A look that had seldom appeared in recent years... and then only when a certain brown-haired blue-eyed Texan was up to his tricks.
"Guess I better head on out," said Buck, "before he comes screechin' up in that rustbucket jeep of his...
"Might be wisest," said Chris.
"I'll keep the boys away for a few days till y'all come up for air..."
"We do have a bit of catching up to do," said Chris thoughtfully rubbing his chin, green eyes hazy. Buck roared, slapping Chris on the back.
"I have a feelin' it's gonna even be more fun watchin' Vin run circles around you now than it was before." Chris frowned and Buck beat a hasty retreat, laughing all the way. But not before commenting that it was best he be 'least in sight' for a while, once Vin realized just who's caller ID was on the call Larabee had just made. That made Chris grin as he thought of how his sharpshooter was going to make Buck squirm as well.
+ + + + + + +
Chris heard the jeep roar into the driveway. He opened the door and was hit with a wild armful of Texas sharpshooter. Vin encircled Larabee's head with both hands and eagerly began to press kisses all over his face. The team leader moaned and wrapped his arms around the slender form. Vin smelled so good. Sun-warmed Texan, fresh out-of-doors and the smell of sex rising from the clothes he'd thrown on as he ran out the door. The same clothes they'd made love in the night before, pressed up against the wall not two feet from here.
"Vin, we need to t..." He almost got it out before lips covered his own. It was several minutes before he could do anything but moan as the younger man plundered his mouth, giving no quarter. Tanner seemed intent on covering every inch, every surface as if he'd never expected to be able to again. Vin finally had to come up for air. He pulled back just enough so he could squint into Larabee's dilated green eyes.
"Damn you, Larabee..." he panted. "Ya don't say more than a handful of words to me in all the time ya known me... Always talked with them soulful eyes of yours... Now we FINALLY got things goin' our way and ya wanna gab??"
Chris took Tanner's head firmly between both of his hands.
"I need to say this, Vin," he said, looking at the younger man seriously, "before we do anything else." He saw the fear light in blue eyes and hurried to chase that away as quickly as possible.
"I remembered Sarah and Adam, pard," he said. "I remembered everything else too. Why I never said anything... never let you even have a glimmer of an idea how I really felt about you." Chris stopped, searched for just the right words. "I was a blind fool, Vin. I was so busy trying to hide my own feelings that I never bothered to really look into your eyes and read how you were feeling." Vin stood still, looking up at him, quietly waiting. Chris released him and stood back just a little, his hands going to his hips in an unconscious 'I'm in control' gesture.
"What I need to tell you, Vin," continued Chris, "is that this is serious for me." The older man turned and walked away, standing for a moment, looking up at the ceiling. Turning back, he looked straight into the Texan's eyes. "I'm too old for any kind of a pleasure fuck... Besides which... I don't just want a little quick fun or getting it off with you. I want more than just that. I've had a long term relationship..." Tanner jerked. Chris moved forward again and took hold of Vin's arms.
"Which reminds me," he said softly. "I haven't thanked you yet for this morning."
"I'm sorry, Chris," said Vin, deep sadness in his eyes. "Hell, I mean..." The younger man pushed away slightly running his hand over his face distractedly. "Shit... I don't know what I mean." He turned to face Chris again. "I didn't know what to hope for Chris. You were so different when ya didn't remember. I knew ya wouldn't have picked not rememberin' 'em. But I knew that when y' did... it'd be like losin' 'em all over again."
"I won't say it wasn't hard," said Chris, rubbing the bridge of his nose. "But it wasn't as bad as the first time." Vin looked at him blinking in surprise. "That shock you, Vin?"
"I-I don't know," said the Texan, looking at him puzzled. "Not sure I understand why..." Vin moved closer to Chris again. "I wanted ya to know, Chris..." he said, looking at the man intensely. "That when y' didn't remember 'em... I did for ya..." Larabee gasped in shock. "I... I hope ya don't mind that..." said Vin, now uncertain how the man would take his confession.
"Vin," said Chris not quite knowing where to look, "I'm... I'm overwhelmed..." He walked across the room, going to stand before the fireplace and look at the pictures on the mantle... pictures of his wife and son. "I can't even find the words to tell you how much that means to me..." Vin's explosive sigh of relief captured Chris' attention. He looked across the room to find the younger man's hands jammed in his pockets, shoulders still slightly hunched. He held out an arm and the rest of the tension flowed from the slender body. Tanner crossed the room and the blond gathered him up in his arms hugging him tightly.
"Thank you for being there for me... and for them..." The Texan returned the embrace warmly.
"Ya know I'd do anythin' for ya, cowboy," he responded. Chris released the sharpshooter just enough so he could look into his face.
"That's why it was easier this time, Vin," he said, lifting a hand to stroke that beautiful face. Seeing the questions in the wide blue eyes he continued. "The time gap helped too. When I remembered, it wasn't so overwhelming. More... distant."
Chris leaned forward and pressed a light kiss to the cheekbone he'd been stroking with his thumb. He felt Vin's body relax and lean into his. A soft sigh escaped the younger man as his eyes fluttered shut. Just a few simple touches and Vin's walls were crashing down. The young man had always been very private, emotionally distant from all but the Team. Tanner had allowed him closer than anyone else almost from the first moment their eyes met across that warehouse, but still there had always been a distance.
Over time they had only grown closer, moving past walls both of them had erected to keep tender hearts safe from the world. Tanner had always kept the central core of himself inviolate. Now Chris felt the young man opening up before him like a hidden canyon suddenly discovered high in the mountains. He smiled to himself. Now, he knew how to get straight to the heart of his sharpshooter. Warm tender touches, gentle words from the heart and Vin Tanner's hard built barriers melted like sugar in the rain. They would build new walls together. Ones to keep the hard cold world out and their two hearts safe inside... together. Oh, this was going to be so good. His fingers slipped through silky curls caressing the warm skin underneath. For now though, he had things to tell Vin. Words his over-full heart knew would touch that other half of him, tie the soul he craved more tightly to his.
The two men stood wrapped around each other, utterly still. Chris felt as though he'd captured some wild mountain creature and held it safe for a moment within the circle of his arms. He could feel Vin's heart beat firmly against his chest, the throb of pulse underneath his fingers. He had to tame this Texas wildcat, train it to his hand, his voice, his heart quickly before instinct set in and Tanner retreated once more behind his walls. Larabee spoke softly in low gentle tones to the man who held his own heart captive.
"The first time I lost them... I lost everything. They were the center of my world and I had nothing left once they were gone but a huge gaping hole in me." A slight tremor ran through the man in his arms.
"This time," Chris continued, "when I knew that I'd lost them, there was someone else already in my heart holding on to me..." Vin looked up into Larabee's eyes, his own bright with emotion.
"Us," he rasped.
"You..." said Chris, smiling warmly at the younger man. He stroked Vin's cheek again. "Oh... the others too... but mostly... just you." Blue eyes widened as Vin Tanner took on a stunned expression.
"Me?" he stuttered.
"Yes, you," said Chris. "Do you have any idea how much it helped me to have you hold me this morning? I was never able to cry the first time... at least not for a long time. But today, you gave me that safe place to let out all my emotions... so they wouldn't eat at me like before. You helped me move past the first grief and brought me up to the present all in one fell swoop." His arms tightened involuntarily about the younger man again. "I've still got some things to work through. It's... it's like I was a different person the last weeks."
"Damn right about that," said Tanner in an exasperated tone. "Ain't never been run to ground like that before!" Larabee laughed.
"I was a bit single-minded, wasn't I?"
"That don't begin to cover it, Larabee," said Vin.
"You got any complaints about that, Vin?" teased Chris. The younger man blushed brightly.
"Kinda liked it..." he admitted shyly. "Nobody ever been interested enough to do that before..."
"And I don't plan on anyone else ever doing it again," growled Chris. "I meant what I said, Vin." Chris straightened and moved away from the younger man, giving him space as he laid out his expectations. He could be nothing less than totally truthful with the other half of his heart. "You don't have to give me an answer right now. But, if we go ahead with our relationship... explore just where we can go with this... I'm in this for the long term. I won't tolerate anyone else being intimate with you. I want commitment. You agree to this... you're Mine... and no one else's... ever. But it'll go both ways pard."
"Both ways?" Vin tilted his head in question. Chris nodded.
"We've got a whole bunch of strikes against us, Vin," he said. "Not only do we work together, but I'm your supervisor. We're in jobs that aren't exactly understanding of 'alternate life-styles'. Neither one of us is exactly easy to live with..." The younger man's eyes narrowed.
"So," he said in a gruff voice, "why bother?" Chris smiled. Lunging forward he wrapped his arms tightly around the younger man.
"Because I love you Vin Tanner," he said. "I have since the very first time I saw you. And it's just been growing in me all the time since then. I know you, pard. You're worth fighting for... worth sacrificing for... worth waiting for..." Chris heard and felt the hitch in the young man's breathing. He looked down into a stunned face. Larabee grinned. "And because we're both just stubborn enough and bullheaded enough to make this work in the face of all odds..." He leaned forward to whisper in the other man's ear. "Texas wildcat." Vin blushed brightly and Chris couldn't resist a laugh.
"Honestly, pard," he said, "I know I pushed too hard before. I was being an egotistical asshole who was convinced he knew what was for the best when he didn't have most of the facts."
"Yep," said Vin looking up at him through thick eyelashes. Chris felt his heart jump. The man was so irresistible. His arms tightened for a brief moment even as he considered what he could say to make Tanner blush again.
"But I've got all the facts now," he said in a husky voice. "All the ones right from the day we met. And in light of a few new discoveries..." Chris leaned forward, nudging aside Vin's shirts and exposing the darkened skin on his neck. He covered it with his mouth, swirling his tongue over the place, even as he suckled. Tanner jerked in his arms. A soft moan broke from his lips as Chris reminded him of how he'd claimed him the night before.
"The earlier facts are taking on a whole... new... meaning..." The blond nibbled his way up the warm neck.
"Facts?" croaked out the Texan, trying to keep his brain from splintering into a hundred pieces from the sensations Larabee was drawing from his body.
"Yesss," Chris breathed into his ear. "Facts... like the moan you make when I do this..." He bit the earlobe that was so handily right there. Vin, being at heart a cooperative man, kindly demonstrated the moan for him. "And the way your eyes look when you want me so bad you can almost taste it..." A pink tongue came out to swipe at suddenly dry lips. Larabee was working his way down the firm jaw now... slowly grinding his hips into Vin's. A slow flush was heating the Texan's face at his listing of facts.
"Mmmmm," said Tanner, remembering just what Chris tasted like.
"The sounds you make when I push into you... soooo deep..." The older man closed his mouth over Tanner's providing some much needed moisture and coincidentally, demonstrating his words with a thrust of his tongue into the sweet depths.
Vin was whimpering deep in his throat now. The younger man's hands slid around to the back of Larabee's waistband. Slender fingers began to wriggle and insinuate themselves down into the back of the tight jeans. Tanner's head was spinning, his belly heating and his heart pounding in his ears. He craved the feel of the man driving him over the edge with his words. But all he could do was squirm his hands deeper beneath the hot denim and hook one leg around the older man's knee, bringing their groins into a tighter alignment. He growled, wanting more... and wanting it all now!
"And the way your body goes all boneless," continued Chris. His hands found their own sweet spots to tease and caress, groaning at the almost painful constriction against his swollen genitals. Vin's hands were slender but there WASN'T enough room in there for them AND his cock. Something had to go... and if he had anything to say... it WOULDN'T be Vin's hands. They felt too good... now getting down far enough to clutch at bare skin. "When you've been fucked into next week..." He finally finished, breathless himself at the pictures he'd evoked in his own mind. Vin was twisting in his arms, mindlessly trying to get even closer than they were. Almost seeming to want to crawl inside his skin.
"God, Larabee," he managed to gasp out. "Want you... need you... Yes! Do it to me now!"
"I want this," ground out the blond his voice firming. "I want the absolutely mind-blowing sex. Hard and fast... sweet and slow... and every other way we can think to do it... But I want the warm body curled up against me on cold nights. I want the friend who I can look across the room and with one glance know what he's thinking at the same instant he knows what I'm saying. I want the sharpshooter who covers my back in a bust... who challenges me to think outside the box. I want the man who'll laugh with me... and cry with me and love me... for the rest of my life. I want it all Vin... with you. So, it goes both ways. It's got to be equal partners in this. Outside of the job it's not team leader and sharpshooter or supervisor and employee... it's just Chris and Vin... two people who care about each other and are trying to create a life together."
"You said I'd be yours..." Vin managed to gasp out. Larabee smiled a slow, sweet smile.
"I won't settle for anything less than you being mine all the way... but I'll belong to you the same way..." Vin's eyes flashed and a growl rose from his chest.
"Mine," he hissed fingers digging deeply into Larabee's ass. "Mine means I don't ever let go of you... not in this life... not in the next...."
"I can live with that," said Chris softly, "and die with it too."
"No dyin'!" snarled the Texan, "least not for the next fifty years or so..."
"I'll promise if you will," said Chris slyly. Vin looked up and gave him that wide-eyed innocent look that he did so well.
"Who... me, Cowboy?" he asked. "I'm always careful." They both chuckled.
"You sure you want to put up with this egotistical asshole for that long?" asked Chris.
"That's okay, cowboy," said Vin, looking up at him with that innocent gaze again. "I know ya were under previous influences." Chris realized that the younger man was backing off, avoiding some questions, joking about others. The intensity of their discussion becoming too much for him. 'It's all right, Vin,' he thought. 'I'll be right here when you're ready to talk about it... I'm not letting you go... now that I've got you right where you want me...' The blond fought to keep the smirk off his face.
"Tanner," growled Chris, "you've been hanging around Ezra too much. I'm gonna have to do something about that."
"Think that could be arranged, Larabee," said Vin.
"Damn right," said Chris, "I plan on taking up all the time you'll let me from now on."
"All ya want, Chris. I'll be there," said Vin, burrowing into his arms. "Jes' don't completely stop being an egotistical asshole. I kinda like 'im." He grinned up at the older man. "'Sides, it was that asshole that got us together..."
"You've got a good point, Vin," said Chris, struggling not to laugh. He stroked the Texan's face with a gentle hand, sobering as he remembered the last few days. "I still feel so disjointed. All my early memories are so much closer now. I don't feel like the same person I was before at all. But I've got to try and blend all this together again. I lost some things along the way the first time... maybe I can hang on to them this time around."
"'ll be happy to hang onta anything ya want me to," offered Vin, back to looking innocent and wide-eyed. Chris grinned and grabbed a double handful of Tanner's ass.
"Goes both ways, pard?" He leaned down to nibble at Vin's ear.
"Mmmm, yeah," agreed the Texan. "You can hang onto anything of mine..."
"No," growled Chris, biting at the neck just below. "Mine!" An answering rumble came from Vin's chest.
"You done talkin' now, cowboy?" Vin asked, looking up at him through his eyelashes with smoldering eyes. The Texan rubbed his reviving erection into Chris' hips.
"Mmmhmm... with my mouth anyway," said Larabee, leering back at him. He took the Texan's hand and pulled him up the stairs. Clothes were thrown off the moment they got in the door.
"Think we're gettin' better at this, cowboy," said Vin, as Chris' hands reacquainted themselves with his body.
"Yeah," said Larabee, "but we're going to need lots and lots of practice." Vin nodded somberly.
"I think I c'n clear my schedule for that," he said and broke out into a big grin. Chris' fingers closed around the younger man's neck. "I've definitely got to keep you away from Ezra," he said. Larabee let hands follow his eyes and lips follow hands. In a few short heartbeats, Vin was gasping and moving under his touch, struggling to pull him closer, to feel his fingers and mouth on the one part the blond had so far avoided. Chris moved up to fasten on the young man's delicious mouth, feasting there as he let their bodies brush against each other tantalizingly. Vin moaned deep in his chest and pushed the older man away shuddering.
"My turn," he said in a hoarse voice.
Chris understood and moved to lay on his side on the bed, eyes half-lidded as he watched the Texan devour his body with hungry eyes. Vin took full advantage of his offering and just... looked.
Slender fingers soon followed the gaze, stroking his skin lightly, making the breath quicken in his chest. Larabee gloried in it. He'd never imagined Vin Tanner would be looking at him this way. It was like waking from a dream, only to find it had come true while he was sleeping. When a deep growl rose from Tanner's chest as the other man's gaze lingered on his groin, Chris' genitals responded eagerly. Light fingers and raking eyes drew a shuddering reaction from his body. He let his own eyes drift over the form before him. He could see Vin's cock rising from its nest of brown curls, already hard and eager. Firm hands stroked down over the blond's flanks, curling to cup his ass and back over to trace a hipbone.
"Chris," said the younger man's raspy voice. Vin's eyes came up to meet Larabee's. Their souls met in that long quiet gaze. "I love you." Chris didn't have to hear the rest... the commitment, all the emotions he'd hoped were returned echoed in those three words. He opened his heart and mind to the man before him, letting his own eyes convey his joy and love back to his soul-mate. Slowly, he rolled over onto his belly, raising his hips slightly in invitation.
"Love me, Vin," he said. Tanner jerked, startled.
"Chris!" he gritted out, shaking his head slightly.
"I said equal," said Chris, wiggling his ass just a little and capturing the younger man's avid attention. "And I meant it."
Vin took a deep shaky breath. A quick single nod followed. He shifted to kneel between Larabee's thighs, hands going out to caress firm muscle and soft skin. The Texan moaned a low note as his cock twitched at the feel of Chris beneath his fingers.
"Oh, God..." he breathed, his eyes drifting closed as he let his hands roam over flanks and firm ass. Tanner filled his hands with yielding flesh and lifted, pulling up and separating, then pressing together again. Chris' breathing ratcheted up another notch. There was the soft whisper of skin on fabric and he couldn't resist opening his eyes to look. The blond's hands were twisted in the sheets, face partially buried in the covers. Vin watched in fascination as Chris' head slowly arched back, exposing his tempting throat. His mouth parted, face flushed with desire. The Texan was torn. He wanted to bury his face in that sweet neck but couldn't reach it without letting go of what he held. Green eyes glowed at him through slitted lids, urging him on. That luscious lower lip, the dip in the middle beckoning him. Oh yes, he was definitely going to have to explore that mouth as completely as possible. A long, slow journey.
But first... He looked down to where his hands lay, clasping Larabee's ass, thumbs pressing into the shadowed crease. And he lifted again, exposing the small, puckered opening, avidly taking in the sight of Chris' most private place. It tightened once, reacting to the feel of cool air and he gulped, hardly able to restrain himself to go slow. His body wanted to pound into this man, claim him. But his mind and heart were begging him to savour the time, the touching, let feelings overwhelm gradually. Vin moved his thumbs in closer, stroking them over the sensitive skin, circling and pressing lightly. Needy moans broke from Chris.
Tanner smiled at the reaction. He wanted more of those sounds that went straight to his cock, made it jerk in anticipation. He bent and fastened his mouth to the small hole, sucking softly at first, then more strongly. Chris cried out and shoved his hips back, wanting more. Vin ran his tongue around the outside and then slowly pressed in just a little. Circling again and pressing even deeper. A low growl came from Larabee.
"MORE, Vin," he cried out. "Oh, GOD... NOW!!" A shudder ran through the man's frame. "Please..." he almost sobbed. Vin smiled and raised up, reaching for the nightstand and the bottle of oil they'd used last night. Larabee squirmed and twisted, roaring in frustration. Tanner reached around and grabbed his heavy weeping cock in a tight grip.
"Be STILL!" he growled roughly. Chris froze. The unforgiving hand closed around his most sensitive parts promised no small amount of pain if he didn't. Larabee snarled at the man leaning over him. Vin just chuckled and slapped a firm buttock. "Behave and I won't make ya wait." The already firm flesh between his legs hardened further and the blond groaned, struggling not to move. Tanner released him and he gasped, his hips moving to recapture the firm touch.
"Easy... easy," said Vin, pouring oil over his fingers and reaching down to cup one smooth flank. He slowly trailed his fingers down the shadowed crevice. The body beneath him stilled again. Vin pressed a finger slowly in. Chris gasped.
"Shit, Larabee," said Vin. "You're tight... relax a little..." The older man was breathing heavily.
"Oh... God... Vin..." he managed to get out. Vin rotated the finger and began to slide it in and out.
"Been a while?" half-joked the younger man.
"Y-yeah... like... never..." Chris gasped, a shudder running through his whole body. Vin had stopped moving. The blond looked over his shoulder and saw a look of shock and fear on the Texan's face. Chris saw him gathering himself to pull back his brow furrowed in a frown. He growled at the younger man.
"You pull outta there Tanner and I'll whip that tight ass of yours..." He grinned. "All the way to Texas and back..."
"Chris..." said Vin softly. "You don't have to..."
"Never been with anyone I wanted to be on the bottom... or trusted enough to..." said Chris. "'till now..." Vin was breathing shallowly, watching Larabee very closely. "I'm glad I didn't... Now I have something to give you back... for all you've given me..." He rolled his hips, pushing further back onto the intruding finger.
"And I want it!" he gasped out. "Feels... good!" He groaned as the younger man slowly twisted his finger inside him. "Oh, God... please don't stop Vin." Chris' hips were moving more now. "Need you..."
"Yesss," hissed Vin, beginning to stroke his finger in and out once again. The sight of the blond's hips moving in their erotic dance adding fuel to the fire already in his groin. Tight flesh gripping his finger sent him spiraling out of control. Tanner struggled to recall how to breathe, his hips moving in unconscious imitation of the slow dance his fingers wove.
He pressed in with two fingers, feeling the tight muscle give way before him. Chris was moaning constantly now and thrusting back against his hand. Sweat broke out on the fair skin and Tanner enjoyed the play of rippling muscles across his back. The blond had lost himself to the pleasure coursing through him and it was a sight that almost sent the Texan flying over the edge.
Vin held onto one hip, making an effort to control Chris' movements enough to keep him from going too fast. The Texan scissored his fingers, trying to loosen the tight muscles that gripped him. A slow smile crossed his face. He reached up and in, curling his fingers just so, seeking the small bump that must be there somewhere. He found it. And Chris' whole body jerked, a wild cry exploding from him.
"Was... that?" gasped Chris. A shudder ran slowly up and down the length of his body.
"Yep..." said Vin, looking a bit smug at having provoked such a reaction in the normally unflappable man. "L'il taste of heaven."
"Fuck!" said Chris, succinctly.
"Unh hunh," said Vin, and brushed it again. Chris bucked under him, his body out of control. More shudders.
"Vin..." he pleaded softly, overwhelmed by the feelings.
The younger man grabbed the bottle once again and quickly oiled his own pounding sex, gasping and moaning even at the light touch. Time to get this show on the road. He slid forward a little more, settling Chris' thighs astride his own. Vin pressed the head of his cock to the loosened ring.
"Take a deep breath, Chris," he said, gently stroking the man's flank. "Now, let it out..." As he did, Tanner pushed in. The head of his penis slid past the entrance and immediately the man's insides started clenching in a spasm. The blond whimpered. "It's all right, pard," said Vin, holding perfectly still, though his body was screaming to plunge into that perfect heat. "Just keep breathing... slow and easy..." The Texan ran his hands over Chris' back in soothing motions. He gradually felt the man relaxing.
"Didn't... really... hurt..." Larabee gasped out. "Just... so... intense..."
"Yeah," said Vin, "it can be that... 'specially the first time." He began to rock gently, each motion pressing him further in. And with each motion, he stroked his hands over every part of Chris' body he could reach. Down his outer thighs and around up the more sensitive inner skin. Up his back and down the sides, curving to brush lightly over his nipples. Then back over them again more firmly when that earned him a breathy groan. Sliding up to knead shoulders briefly and ghost down arms. Over flanks, slipping around to play with the tender flesh where hip met thigh. Chris was breathing heavily now and tentatively pushing back against him again. Tanner felt soft skin against his balls and looked down to realize he was buried in Chris all the way. Slowly he pulled out.
"Aaaaaaahhhhh," cried Chris. Another tremor shook the slender frame. The younger man pressed home again.
"Yesss....Chrrriss," sighed Vin. "Feels so good... so hot... tight... OH, God... you're so tight..."
Vin kept it slow, making the older man reach for each thrust. Letting him find a rhythm that suited him but keeping the tension building only a small step at a time. Their bodies fell into a slow pulsing motion that pleasured them both in ever increasing waves. The Texan smiled as incoherent and wild sounds mixed with sobs rose to his ears from below. He bent over the hot, writhing form beneath him, encircling the slender waist with his arm. Sliding his hand down the contracting abdomen, he wrapped it around the hardened shaft below. A keening wail came from the blond.
"Harder... deeper!" rasped out Chris, arching against the man riding him. "Vin... VIN!" As Tanner began to stroke his cock in a delicious counterpoint to the hardness impaling him, he growled and thrashed. Vin slammed into him hard, but still kept the pace a little slower than he was craving. Then the younger man shifted slightly behind him and he felt him rotate his hips as he thrust in. Stars burst behind his eyes. All his breath rushed out in a moaning cry. It hit him again as his lover jerked out and pushed into his welcoming body again. Chris sucked in air but now he was giving short sharp wails with each thrust. His body shook and convulsed. The older man couldn't believe how intense the pleasure was that flooded him. He didn't believe he could bear it much longer, yet he longed for it to last forever.
Screaming Vin's name over and over, he reached out, seeking something to hold on to. And found... a soul wholly matched to his own. A heart that beat only for him, as his beat for its mate. It was like the first time they'd made love... and more. The ecstasy seized them both and melded them again in white hot flames of sensation. His breath was a rushing hurricane, his heartbeat a pounding drum. Until it all blended into one.
He could hear Vin's voice calling out to him and he clutched tighter to the sweetness that completed him. Fiery pulses shot through him, warmth flooding in its wake. Dimly, he was aware of his body pouring forth its offering over Vin's enveloping hand. But that seemed only secondary to the deep love and joy that caught him up... caught them up together, filling all his empty dark spaces and fusing their hearts together till he couldn't find where his broken one ended and Vin's shattered one began. They had merged into one complete and whole heart now... each filling the gaps in the other.
Chris could hear a soft sobbing and wondered if it was his... or Vin's. His body jerked and twisted as it finished emptying itself even as it was filled once again. Slowly, feeling seeped back into his limbs. Larabee realized they had collapsed to the bed, Vin clutching him tightly to his chest, still buried within him. He lay for a moment, letting reality return gradually and found the sobs were his... and Vin's. The younger man was shaking. Chris eased them apart, trying to turn so he could see his lover's face but Vin clutched at him, trying to wrap his body around the older man.
"Shhh... shhh," Chris soothed. "I'm here... I won't leave you..." He gathered Vin close again, entwining their legs and melding their bodies together. Larabee cupped Vin's head in one hand and tilted his face up, tenderly kissing away the tears he found there, even as more slid down his own face.
"You are really something, Vin Tanner," he breathed. The younger man's eyes slowly opened, looking at him with crystal washed blue. "I should have known," continued Chris, looking back at him with a warm gaze, "that you wouldn't just go for the usual bell, whistles and fireworks..."
"Chris?" asked Vin, looking lost.
"No," said Larabee, leaning in to press kisses to his forehead, his nose and the square chin. "You've got to go straight for the nukes." The Texan blushed at the same time a brilliant smile broke out on his face.
"Wanted to be sure I got yer attention," quipped Tanner, returning the pattern of kisses, then finishing it off with a deep loving one to those tempting lips. "Been wantin' to do that for a long time," he said when they could breath again. He reached up and stroked a finger across the full lower lip, stopping to give a little special attention to the center dip.
Chris ran his tongue out to swirl it around the fingertip. Vin moaned and the blond could feel the other man's cock twitch where it was pressed against his own. "So... it worked?" Blue eyes looked up at him coyly through some of the thickest lashes he'd ever seen. It was Chris' turn to moan. His nerves were only firing intermittently, body still not something he could call his own and the younger man was already half ready for another round. Yes, that was definitely Vin's cock that was growing harder down there. Larabee wondered if this old man was going to survive having a Texas wildcat in his bed all the time. On the other hand, if you had to go, best to go out with love rather than the hate, suspicion and despair that surrounded them every day.
"You got my attention, pard..." he said, "all the time... for the next hundred years or so..."
"Damn, cowboy," said Vin, frowning. "Only that long... was hopin' for a lot longer'n that..."
"Then you've got it," said Chris. "Whatever you want... you can have..."
"Anything?" asked Vin, a definite hint of mischief in his voice.
"Except that high-tech, expensive new rifle and scope you've been wanting that's NOT in the budget... for now." Chris groaned and tried to shift his body a little bit. Being able to turn over a little bit ago had definitely been a fluke. "Or anything that involves moving any time real soon."
"Mmmm," said Vin tucking his head into the curve of Larabee's shoulder, "not moving sounds plenty good right now." He carefully stored away the fact that Chris had said 'for NOW', grinning to himself. All he really wanted was to be by the man's side anyway. Everything else was just icing on the cake.
"Damn, Tanner!" said Chris, half-lidded eyes gazing down at the brown curls just below his chin, total satiation in the boneless drape of his body. "If I'd known it felt like that, might have tried it a long time ago. No... actually, I'm still glad I didn't." The blond smiled and with great effort lifted a hand to stroke Vin's cheek. "Legs don't work right now," he said not seeming too concerned about it. Tanner laughed softly. He grabbed Chris' wrist, holding it so he could nuzzle into the man's palm.
"Got it right then," he said smugly. "I's a bit rusty..." Larabee's eyes widened for a moment.
"You mean it gets better than this?" he said, feeling a little renewed interest in his groin at the thought. Maybe he wasn't too old for this just quite yet.
"You should know better'n me," said Vin. "I hear it gets better the more you know about each other. Never been with anybody enough to find that out."
"That's true, Vin," said Chris, letting his feelings for the sharpshooter light his face. "The deeper it touches your heart... the better the sex is." Tanner took a shaky breath.
"Lookin' forward to that, cowboy," he said.
"Me too... abso-fucking-lutely mind-blowing sex... Of course..." He smirked evilly. "You may have to put up with your boss having no brain left for work..."
"Really," said Tanner lazily, "after the way ya been the last few days I was thinkin' you were keepin' your brain someplace else." Chris' eyebrow rose.
"In that case... you're safe... on several counts..."
Tanner chuckled.
"If'n I wanted safe wouldn't a took up with you, pard," he said softly. Belying his words he snuggled even closer to the long warm body, shifting his head just a little so he could hear the steady heartbeat in the chest beneath him.
"And look who's talking," responded Chris, who seemed bent on burying his nose in soft brown curls and inhaling the sweet scent there deeply. "My Texas wildcat..."
The name gave Vin a warm feeling down in his chest. That place that, before now, had always been shut away in the cold and dark. He sighed contentedly and stretched like a cat dozing in the sun. Burrowing deeper into the older man's side, he mused on the miracle that had caught him up in the last twenty-four hours. Chris Larabee, his own personal place in the sun... to warm his heart and soul for the rest of his life... and beyond if he could swing it with the spirits. They lay twined tightly together, soaking up each other's warmth and affection, letting the moment last as long as they could.
"We need to get cleaned up, cowboy," murmured Vin without much conviction, even as he mouthed gently at the firm chest beneath him, pressing gentle kisses to the skin.
"Mmmmm," replied Larabee. "In a minute... just wanna hold you."
"I'm yours Chris," said the Texan softly, "for always..."
"For all my life?"
"For all your life and beyond. Somehow I don't think even that's gonna separate us anymore."
"Me either pard... me either," agreed Chris. He squirmed a little and moaned as Vin's teeth nipped closer to a nipple. The pink tongue slipped out to circle the tightening bud and Chris gasped, arching into the sensation. One hand came up to cup the younger man's skull and encourage this activity while the other arm wrapped around the slender body to pull his lover even tighter against him.
"Mine!" Chris Larabee growled.
"Yours... forever..." rasped Vin.
Fini
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