Author's Note: This is a third story in the 'Empirical Research' series, following:
1.) Empirical Research
2.) Trial & Error
Causality: The relation between a cause and its effect
or between regularly correlated events or phenomena.
"We really must stop meeting like this," Ezra drawled, fingertips carding through the dark hair lightly tickling his hip.Buck's head lolled back, half-lidded eyes traveling slowly upward until they met his face. Ezra's expression reflected rueful amusement as he glanced down his form, lazily slouched against the headboard, naked and relaxed, skin slightly beaded with goose flesh where the flush of sexual heat had cooled and the fine sheen of sweat had evaporated.
They had come upstairs in a hurry tonight, barely taking time to ensure that no one else was about before bursting into this room, clicking the lock into place and leaping upon the bed. Clothing had been fumbled open and flung away, both of their bodies too overheated and needy for anything resembling foreplay or technique as they came together, thrusting and grinding their way to an explosion of fulfillment that had left both of them drained and panting.
Ezra had eventually sat up to retrieve one of the handkerchiefs he kept in his nightstand, but after cleaning up he had settled back, one leg stretched out along the length of the bed and the other bent, left ankle tucked beneath his right knee, allowing Buck to make a pillow of his thigh. They had stayed that way for a long while, contentedly basking in the afterglow.
"Why should we stop now?" Buck asked, soft voice carrying a husky note of invitation that proved he had rested long enough. "We were only just getting warmed up."
Continuing to run his fingers through Buck's thick hair, Ezra laughed. "Dear me, if that was only a warm-up, perhaps we should speak to Mr. Larabee about organizing a volunteer fire department. I'm certain he would not approve of our causing spontaneous combustion to the building from which he purchases his daily allotment of whiskey."
Buck snorted, his long fingers trailing the muscular leg upon which he rested, continuing his path across the tense calf and back up the inner thigh of the opposite leg which obediently spread wider to allow the touch. His hand briefly cupped the fullness of Ezra's scrotum, fondling the delicate flesh before shifting upward to cover the now flaccid penis. The organ twitched but seemed content to simply accept his touch without inviting more. An involuntary grunt of protest broke from Ezra's throat when the warm hand moved away, but he smiled as it continued upward, brushing against his stomach and ribs before sliding down his hip, smoothly kneading the muscles there.
"Love touching you," Buck murmured, smiling at the surprised look that flickered across Ezra's face.
"Why?" he asked curiously.
Hitching up higher on the mattress, Buck rose on one elbow and gave the bent knee a tug, encouraging Ezra to spread his legs and give him space to settle between them. Sweeping both hands over Ezra's sides, he kept his touch light, deliberately soothing rather than stirring. "Because I like seeing and feeling all the ways you respond to me," he said frankly. "I like the way you can be hard and soft at the same time; the way you yield to me because you want to, knowing all the while that you're probably strong enough to take charge any time you feel like it. I like to touch you because every time I'm with you this way, I learn something new."
"It is an educational experience," Ezra agreed cheerfully. "For me as well."
Buck let his large hands slide upward to cradle Ezra's waist, thumbs pressing gently into the sturdy ridges of his abdomen. "You know, I learned how to read the map of a woman's body before I was old enough to shave, but other than my own I never had the same opportunity to learn about a man's. Never wanted to; never even realized there was anything worth learning."
"And now?" Ezra asked carefully. He and Buck rarely spent time this way. Most days they were content to go about their usual lives, comfortable in their role as friends and colleagues, asking for nothing more than that. And once in a while, like today, they came together as lovers through shared desire, experiencing none of the awkwardness Ezra had once feared would result from his decision to reveal his private longings. It still astonished him that Buck, notorious for his love of women, had taken that information and not only accepted it but urged him to share the experience physically.
They had been together twice more between that day and this, the first encounter initiated by Buck, the second by himself. Tonight, the need had been mutual. When their eyes had met across the saloon, Ezra had instantly been filled with deep hunger for a game far more personal than poker, and he had seen the answering fire in Buck's eyes. They had left the saloon separately, each knowing they had only one destination in mind.
Ezra's breath hitched as Buck answered the question by kissing his belly and nibbling along a fold in the flesh where his slumped posture had caused the skin to bunch slightly. It was surprisingly arousing to feel the soft bristles of Buck's mustache tickling one patch of skin while his teeth simultaneously caused mild pain to the area just below it.
"My only regret now is that we didn't start doing this a whole lot sooner," Buck said finally, licking lightly at the place he had just bitten. Taking a deep breath, he released it in a long slow exhalation; the stirring of moist breath fanning hotly across Ezra's groin bringing him to higher attention. Buck's callused hands resumed their concentric massage of Ezra's outer thighs and buttocks as he braced himself upon his elbows, bringing him closer to his goal.
Ezra closed his eyes as a wave of heat washed through him, a fire that seemed to kindle deep within his belly and spread outward to warm every inch of his body. His hands traveled across Buck's broad shoulders, splaying his fingers over the expanse of his back as he took a firm hold, breath quickening in anticipation.
+ + + + + + +
Buck stopped his ministrations; waiting until Ezra's eyes fluttered open again, staring down at him with a mixture of longing and confusion. Why had he stopped, they asked? "Love to see the way your eyes go all black with just a narrow ring of green around 'em when I touch you this way," he answered the silent question, breathing his words directly against the flesh beneath his lips.
Releasing Ezra's hips, Buck slid both hands beneath his ass, pulling the cheeks further apart and stretching his fingers upward to brush at the sensitive pucker between them. He smiled when Ezra sighed softly and bore down on his fingers, pale skin flushing with desire.
Ezra's cock twitched as Buck kissed it gently before poking the tip of his tongue out to trace a path up the long vein at the base. The organ pulled closer to Ezra's stomach in response. "Love to see the way you go all hot and tense with the wanting, but still try to hold yourself back so you won't scare me off."
Voice husky and low, Ezra teased, "And are you frightened yet?"
"Shakin' in my boots," he quipped back, then wrapped his lips around the tip of the stiffened flesh and slid down several inches, giving a long slow hum as he worked his way back up, releasing the tip with an audible pop.
Ezra gasped, jerking in reaction to that playful gesture. "Where-" He coughed when the word came out as little more than a croak. "Where on earth did you learn to do that?"
Blue eyes twinkling, Buck gave him a saucy wink. "Just cause I've never done something before doesn't mean I didn't pay attention when somebody else did." He took another teasing lap at the now fully erect shaft. "Can't believe I was ever put off by the thought of this."
"You certainly took to the notion a great deal faster than I once did," Ezra acknowledged with a wry grin. "And I very much appreciate your willingness to give the experience more than one try."
In a playful, sing-song tone, he replied, "If at first you don't succeed . . ." then finished the sentence by once again engulfing Ezra, letting him touch all the way to the back of his throat before again humming him back out, slower and deeper this time.
"Holy Christ," Ezra growled, trembling fingers moving to the back of Buck's head, pressing in a silent request for more. The hands on his buttocks pressed firmly in response, lifting his hips higher and drawing him further inside Buck's throat. The man lowered himself even more on the third pass, nearly swallowing Ezra whole.
Buck's speed and technique alternated as he worked the long column of flesh, sometimes merely circling the crown and lapping up the salty droplets of fluid seeping from it, sometimes diving down on him, fast and deep. He was experimenting, testing his own limits as well as gauging his partner's reactions to what he was doing. Happy to encourage this, Ezra used the pressure of his fingers to signal which actions he liked the most.
"That feels so good," he breathed as Buck pulled off of him and spent a few seconds just lapping the silky skin with the roughness of his tongue.
Ezra hunched down further, repositioning his pelvis to offer better access as Buck dipped his head lower in an attempt to pull one of the plump testicles inside his mouth. Balancing it on his tongue Buck closed his lips around the small globe and suckled it, applying just enough pressure to avoid causing pain. He then gave the same treatment to the opposite side, brows twitching in interest when Ezra gave a low groan of pleasure.
Releasing Ezra, Buck brought a hand down to cradle his dangling balls in one palm, continuing to manipulate them as he returned his mouth to Ezra's shaft. Nipping his teeth up first one side and then the other, far more carefully than he had teased the less sensitive skin on Ezra's stomach, Buck was rewarded with a convulsive clench of the fingers on his shoulder. Ezra pressed his head back against the headboard as the stimulation became overwhelming.
"Now that's what I'm talking about," Buck chuckled, nibbling a bit more, and then once again swooping down to engulf the head of Ezra's cock. Keeping to the shallower, faster pace that he seemed to enjoy the most, Buck wriggled his tongue and sucked in on each upward stroke and soon Ezra was breathing raggedly, the air dragging audibly into his throat and puffing out in soft wordless exclamations.
No longer trapped by Buck's strong grip, Ezra's knees rose, giving him greater control as he began thrusting very slightly, careful not to choke his partner but unable to remain still as his whole attention became focused on the increasing ache of the pressure building between his legs.
"Oh, dear God," Ezra whispered, giving a desperate tug at the hair trapped in his left hand. "S-stop. You have to-. I'm going to-. Can't-."
Enjoying the normally loquacious man's sudden inability to form a complete sentence, Buck ignored him. He knew from the first time he had done this just what Ezra was warning of, but felt determined to see him through to the end this time. Giving the tensely contracting balls in his hand a squeeze, Buck sucked harder.
Ezra's fingers dug tightly into Buck's shoulders. He pressed his head back with a strangled gasp, back arching and hips snapping up as the throbbing need suddenly coalesced into a powerful burst, his fluids captured and accepted into the warmth of Buck's mouth. The motions of Buck's tongue and throat as he swallowed the offering further stimulated Ezra and he came until it seemed that every last ounce of energy had been pulled from him along with the rush of fluid.
Buck continued to suckle him for a few seconds after the last of the liquid was spent, then released Ezra, making room for him to slide down bonelessly onto the mattress. He was a bit surprised when Ezra placed both arms around his body and pulled him into a tight embrace, lying on his back with Buck's full weight balanced on top of him.
"Sure I ain't too heavy like this?" Buck asked, smiling down into sleepy green eyes.
He responded with a deep kiss, sliding his tongue inside Buck's mouth to probe gently and thoroughly at the space that had so willingly provided him pleasure. His left arm held Buck's waist tightly while his right hand stroked the warm flesh of his back. As the kiss ended he laid his head back against the pillow and smiled lazily. His southern accent was slow and thick as he murmured, "Thank you for that."
"My pleasure," Buck said, planting a kiss on the end of his nose. "And I mean that. I'm gettin' so I like this better every time we do it."
Ezra laughed, the sound warm and bright, making Buck laugh too at the feel of the flat stomach shaking against his own. "It is a rather addicting experience, isn't it?" He kissed him again, just a simple pressing of lips to lips. "Give me a little time to recover, and I promise I'll return the favor."
"No rush," he said, kissing his way down Ezra's jaw. "I'm pretty happy right at the moment. For now, why don't we just get us a little shut-eye?"
To his surprise, Ezra went very still, suddenly looking extremely uncomfortable.
"What's wrong?"
A flush of embarrassment reddened his cheeks. "It's nothing."
"Doesn't look like nothing," he replied, deliberately keeping him pinned to the mattress as he waited, knowing instinctively that if he allowed any physical distance, Ezra would quickly recover his equilibrium and brush aside the concern. "Tell me."
"You'll think it's stupid. Hell, I think it's stupid!"
Buck shrugged. "Then it's stupid. Tell me anyway."
Ezra grimaced, seeming to realize that Buck had every intention of keeping him captive until he revealed his thoughts. "Buck, please don't take this wrong way. I have no wish to hurt your feelings by saying this," he said slowly, a note of pleading in his voice. "It's just that I . . . I don't want to sleep with you."
Buck digested this statement, amusement warring with confusion in his face. "I hate to break this to you, pard, but it's a little late to be speaking up now."
In spite of himself, Ezra grinned. "Not like that! I meant, literally. As in, visiting the land of Nod. Falling into the arms of Morpheus. Being visited by the Sandman. Sleeping."
"Meaning a little mattress dance is all right, but you don't like the cuddling together after. Or do you mean that you actually won't get any sleep if there's somebody else in the bed with you?"
Ezra squirmed. The slightly hurt expression on Buck's face coupled with the closeness of lying this way, skin to skin, seemed to demand honesty. "It's not that. It's just . . . Buck, I have been informed on more than one occasion that I tend to . . . that is, I can't seem to prevent myself from," he faltered again, then sighed in frustration and blurted, "Damn it, I talk in my sleep!"
Buck looked even more confused. "So? You ever heard Chris out on the trail? He talks in his sleep all the time. Mostly cuss words."
This time, Ezra snorted. "Yes, I have noticed that, particularly as my name seems to be voiced in conjunction with those words most of the time."
Buck grinned. "So, what's the problem?"
Ezra thumped his head into the pillow. "The problem is that I have always been prone to a very active dream life and unfortunately, I have no defense against what I might say when I'm in the grip of those dreams."
In a single gesture, Buck rolled onto his back; pulling Ezra with him until their positions had become reversed. Looking the reluctant man straight in the eye, Buck clarified, "You're afraid that if you go to sleep while I'm here, you're going to say something I'll take the wrong way?"
He nodded. "Or confess something I don't wish to be known." He paused for several seconds, then said, "Out on the trail, or in the company of strangers it isn't an issue. In such cases I remain on alert, even when sleeping, so there is no fear that I will slip far enough into the subconscious realm for anything incriminating to escape."
"But here and now, it's different," Buck filled in, smiling at the rush of warmth this softly spoken confession brought him. "I'm a friend, I'm a lover, and you know that you're safe with me, so you're afraid that you might fall all the way asleep and say something you shouldn't."
Ezra did not speak but Buck could feel the increase of heat in the face that pressed down against his chest, blocking his view of it.
"Nothing bad happened when you trusted me with this, right?" Buck asked, sliding his hand slowly and sensuously down Ezra's flank.
"No," he agreed, voice so low it was nearly inaudible. Finally, he looked up. "But you have no idea how afraid I was to do that. How terrified I was later at learning that Mr. Tanner had figured out what we had done. I've been threatened with guns, knives, tar & feathers, and even a lynch mob at one time or another in my life, but nothing had ever produced such a surge of stark fear as I experienced that day."
"But it turned out all right," Buck reminded him. "Vin was happy to keep our secret; I was even happier to find out there could be another side to you and me being friends. What could you possibly have to say, even in your sleep, that could be any scarier than that?"
Ezra abruptly rolled away from the soothing embrace, sitting up and snatching a folded quilt that had slid halfway to the floor from the foot of his bed, and wrapping it around his nude form. Buck sat up as well, sliding his long legs beneath the covers and settling back against the headboard in an unconscious mimic of Ezra's earlier pose.
The tension reflected in Ezra's silence and posture spoke volumes to Buck, but he felt as if he were missing the all-important first page that would let him begin the story.
Finally, a deep sigh broke free from the gambler and his stiff shoulders slumped. "I knew this was too good to last."
"What was?"
He gestured vaguely around the room, taking in the town outside and Buck himself with the broad sweep. "This, all of this. The camaraderie, the friendship, even . . . no, especially, the physical relationship we now share. You wouldn't want any of that to continue if you knew."
Cautiously this time, Buck asked, "Knew what?"
Ezra turned to face him, gathering the quilt more tightly around his body as if to shield himself from the disapproval he so clearly expected. "I've lied to you, Mr. Wilmington. In my defense, I did not realize that I was doing so initially, but if I were to fall asleep in your arms tonight, I would almost certainly reveal a dream that I have had many times of late."
True alarm was sweeping through Buck. For some reason, real or imagined, Ezra was trying to get rid of him and break off all of the ties they shared. "What is it you don't want me to hear?" He leaned forward, wrapping his arms around his legs as he caught and held Ezra's shame-filled gaze. "You can't start a conversation like this and not finish it, so you might as well 'fess up."
"I lied," he repeated. "A month ago, you asked me if being with you; being bedded by you, would have a negative effect upon my desire to spend intimate time with women. I said that it would not. In fact, I felt it was a great joke that you would even think so."
Still struggling to put the pieces together, Buck guessed, "You telling me you tried to get something going with a woman but the little soldier wasn't up to salutin' her?"
Insult flashed brightly in Ezra's eyes. "I'm telling you nothing of the kind!" Then the flare of temper abruptly cooled again as he admitted, "The truth is, I haven't even attempted such a thing. I no longer seem to enjoy the idea of bedding any of the lovely females in our vicinity. To make matters even worse, idle fantasies about the rest of our compatriots have also ceased to entice me."
"You seem to be doing all right tonight," Buck said, leering a little. "Better than all right."
"That's the trouble," he shot back, raking a hand through his hair in frustration. He let the silence stretch for nearly a minute, then confessed in a low voice, "All I seem to think about these days, waking or sleeping, is you."
"Me?" Buck repeated, astonished but unable to keep from puffing up a little at the pride he felt over the unexpected statement.
"Have I become so emotionally weak, so sexually starved, that all it takes is a few sessions of intimacy with the same partner and I'm completely overwhelmed, unable to imagine wanting to lie with anyone else?" Ezra continued wretchedly. "What does that say about me?"
"I suppose it might mean that you just been reining yourself in for too long," Buck ventured, then added slowly, "Or, maybe it's not that at all. Ever consider that you might just be in love?"
Ezra's eyes widened, looking even more alarmed than before. "What?"
Buck shrugged one shoulder. "Love. You and me. Could be, right?"
"Could it? What makes you think that's even possible? Why should what we do in this room together be transforming itself into . . .more?" Ezra asked, not quite able to say the word and looking unsure if he should be worried or relieved by the casual diagnosis.
"Well, why shouldn't it? Has for a hell of a lot of other folks over the years, right? And the way you're talking now sounds an awful lot like it."
Ezra simply gaped at him.
"You and me have been friends for a good while now, Ezra. We got the same sense of humor, we both appreciate pretty things, both got the kind of background that makes us more open minded than most folks. It turns out that we're hell on wheels when we get between the sheets together." He laughed. "I've known men and women who got married on the strength of a lot less that that! And after all, if you can crave the touch of a man on your skin, why can't you want to let one inside your heart too?"
"You make it sound so logical," Ezra said, raising and dropping one hand in a helpless gesture. "Do you really believe it could be so simple?"
Buck scrunched further down the mattress, coming closer. His voice was low and soothing as he held out one long arm in an invitation, which Ezra scooted back to accept. "I ain't saying it's simple. Love's never simple, and it's probably even less so if a man feels it for another fella, but I reckon it's not that big a stretch. Maybe you loved me a little already, before we starting spending time this way. Loved me like a friend, like a brother, maybe. Then after we started pleasuring each other, that feeling changed into something different." He slid his arm down around Ezra's waist and gave him a teasing little hug. "Not your fault if my animal magnetism lit a fire in you that you couldn't tamp out."
Ezra drove a sharp elbow into his ribs. "God help me if I've finally fallen in love, only to find that the object of my affection is already in love with himself!"
Buck grinned and an answering smile flickered over Ezra's face as he realized that he had said those dangerous words out loud, however jokingly, and the world had not fallen apart. "Supposing for a moment that you're right about this, how can you take it so calmly? I thought that if I even hinted at an emotional attraction to you, you would go running out of here like your britches had caught fire."
A great chortle burst forth from Buck as he gave the still-tense body under his arm another affectionate squeeze. "Six months ago, I might have! You remember Louisa?"
For a moment, he struggled with the name, then said, "The woman from Governor Hopewell's rally?"
"That's right," he said. "She and I got together after that fight in the saloon; spent most of our time together while she was here, and I started feeling a hankering to keep her around permanent-like."
"You fell in love with her?" Ezra said, clearly surprised.
Buck nodded. "I thought I had. Even asked her to marry me. She accepted too."
Eyes wide with astonishment, Ezra pulled back a bit to gauge the sincerity in Buck's expression. "My goodness. So, what happened? I must assume things did not work out as you'd hoped, since the lady departed and has not returned to our little municipality since then."
"She said she'd only marry me if I agreed to go out on the road with her; spend my life traveling while she went around fighting for her cause," Buck explained, shaking his head with a reluctant smile. "I couldn't do it. Couldn't see giving up my life to live hers. After Louisa was gone, I mooned around for a few days but pretty soon I realized that I wouldn't have been any happier if she'd stayed with me. Turns out I didn't even miss her very much once I got done sulking. It wasn't love; just a real strong case of wanting what I couldn't have."
A glum expression stole across Ezra's face. "And you believe that is what I'm feeling now."
"Nope," Buck said simply. "I'm just saying that now I know the difference. And what we got together is sure as hell-fire, different! We both know I can't ever marry you, can't even give you a kiss in public, and I'm not real sure I can promise to be faithful to you."
Ezra nodded, accepting this easily. "You're assuming that I want you to do any of those things. I don't, really. Even if you could show public displays of affection towards me, I've always been rather uncomfortable with such things."
"Would be it be enough to know that I feel pretty much the same way about you that you do about me?"
A frown line formed between Ezra's brows. He looked at Buck as though he had just said something in an unfamiliar language. "Pardon me?"
"You heard me right," he said calmly. "When you were all ready to chase me out of here a couple minutes ago, to quit seeing me; quit being my friend even, I knew."
Startled, Ezra demanded, "What are you trying to say? That you're attempting to assign this emotion to me because you're feeling it yourself?"
Buck looked at him seriously. "I'm saying that if it's possible for one man to fall for another, then why not two?" Taking advantage of his open-mouthed shock, Buck swooped in for a kiss, hungrily devouring him. Ezra offered no resistance, only attempting to give back as much as he was getting.
Breaking away, Buck nuzzled Ezra's temple. "I never thought much about it before, but I reckon there's a reason why I keep waiting and hoping every day for you to invite me back here. Why nearly every time I go to bed with a lady any more, I still seem to wake up thinking about you."
Ezra arched an eyebrow, a smirk twitching his lips. "Nearly?"
"Well, you know, a man can only give up so much at a time," he teased, gliding his hand over Ezra's flat chest and giving his right nipple a little tweak.
This made Ezra laugh and lean in to kiss him again. "Oh, Buck, I hope you won't ever change." Pressing a hand to his chest, he added, "Let us not say any more about this for now. You tell me that you proposed to Ms. Perkins in the impulsive heat of a moment, and almost lived to regret it. I don't want you to promise or declare something here and now that you may once again find yourself regretting in the morning."
Wanting to protest, but knowing that Ezra just might be right, he asked, "Do you want me to get out of here; let you think on it?"
Fingers snaking beneath the covers bunched around Buck's waist, Ezra leaned close and kissed him slowly and deeply. "I want you to stay," he said breathily. "Perhaps tomorrow we both may decide that stimulation of the flesh is all we desire from one another, but that is still more than I once expected and more than enough to satisfy me right now."
"This mean you're gonna stay with me tonight, after all?" Buck asked lightly. "I promise I won't hold anything you might say against you."
"I appreciate that," Ezra said, then gave a low chuckle, pressing Buck down to the mattress. "But there's only one thing I intend for you to hold against me tonight."
+ + + + + + +
The sated weariness that had filled Ezra only minutes ago was gone, replaced with a deep driving need to give Buck the same pleasure that had been given to him. He kissed him fiercely, wrapping one arm and leg tightly around his body to pin him in place; his other hand clamping onto the back of his head; pressing their mouths together tightly. Using his tongue, he stroked and teased one moment, ravaged and plundered the next. The temperature in the small room seemed to rise as he ground and twisted in tiny convulsive thrusts against Buck's swelling manhood, unable to match his erection so soon, but still enjoying the feel of the hardening flesh stimulating the heightened tenderness of his own.
Buck gave in to this unexpected show of dominance without protest, returning the kisses with enthusiasm; hands clutching Ezra needfully as the man released his mouth and began to take teasing little nibbles at his neck and earlobe. The perspiration forming between their bodies allowed bare skin to slide faster and even more sensually together.
"Tell me what you long for, Buck," Ezra whispered softly into his ear, teasing the small passage with his tongue before continuing, "Do you want to come like this, with just my body moving against yours, creating friction and pressure that will build and build until you can take no more?"
He pressed his groin down even more firmly as he asked the question, as if determined to join their bodies in a way that nature could not allow.
"Would you like to come inside my mouth, as I did yours? To feel the heat and moisture and vibration coursing through you with every convulsion of my throat as I suck you into oblivion?" he rasped, making Buck groan and twitch, stiffening even more.
Ezra kissed him again, lifting his hips away from Buck's to ease the pressure of his grinding pelvis, changing the motion into a torturously glancing contact that matched the pace of his tongue as it slowly darted in and out of Buck's mouth, exploring every crevice.
Moving on to the other ear, Ezra nipped at the lobe while at the same time brushing his fingers over Buck's chest to give both painfully erect nipples a sharp tweak. He grinned wickedly when Buck's entire body jerked up before melting back into the mattress with a long breathless, "Fuuuck."
"Is that your choice, then?" Ezra purred, running his palms down Buck's flanks and then lower to give his ass a squeeze. He rubbed his cock, now more than half hard again, along Buck's with teasing slowness, matching shorts thrusts to the cadence of his words, allowing his soft drawl to enhance the temptation of his body, attempting to drive his partner to an ever higher level of desire.
"Would you like to come inside of me? Do you want to lose yourself in the fire that burns just for you? To feel my body embracing yours; caressing every long," he dipped down to kiss Buck slowly; "firm," he kissed him again, intensely this time; "throbbing inch of you?" He swallowed Buck's moan, tongue thrusting inside his mouth in a blatant tease of what was to come.
"Should I make you beg for release?" he went on, enjoying the way Buck's body reacted to every suggestive phrase. "Shall I wrap myself around you as you drive yourself deeper and harder within me; fucking me until neither one of us can tell where you leave off and I begin?" The words were panted now, rough with his own need.
"Oh, God, Ezra," Buck rasped. "I can almost feel it already, just from listening to you."
"Then tell me what you want," he ordered again, whispering the words directly against Buck's lips.
Buck caressed the warm surface of Ezra's back and buttocks. "I want you," he breathed. "All of you. As much as you can give me."
In reply, Ezra pressed one last long kiss to his lips before lifting himself up and back to straddle the long lean thighs. He smiled at the sight of Buck's cock weeping copiously with anticipation, droplets forming at the tip of the rigid organ to run in slow rivulets down the sides. "So kind of you to welcome me with a gift," he teased, drawing his fingers across the swollen plum-colored head and spreading the pearly liquid evenly over Buck's length.
Buck's pupils were swollen with passion, almost eliminating the dark blue of his irises as he watched Ezra prepare him, worship him, then dip down to engulf the head as if unable to hold himself back. Ezra's green eyes closed as he took the large cock inside his mouth; his sensuously drawn-out moan making him sound as if he were partaking of an incomprehensibly delicious treat.
"Take me inside you," Buck pled hoarsely. "Please, Ezra, I don't need anything else. Just bring me on home?"
Ezra felt his skin glowing with warmth that had nothing to do with sexual heat at that tenderly voiced request. The fearful doubt he had felt a short while ago over Buck's theory of love melted as he looked down into his eyes and saw something that he had never expected to find. In those eyes, he, Ezra Standish – lifelong castoff and unwanted burden - was something special, something precious and worth holding on to. Looking into those warmly pleading eyes he suddenly understood that, incredible as it seemed, he was the home that Buck had been seeking all of his life. He marveled over this, recognizing that he had finally found that same long-despaired sense of safety, warmth and welcome in Buck.
There was no need to physically prepare himself for what was about to happen. His body was craving Buck's entry; pulsing with pure undeniable lust for it. The slickness of already spent fluid would be more than enough to ease his passage.
Rising up on his knees, Ezra took one of Buck's hands, threading their fingers together for support as he positioned himself carefully and pressed down. His head fell back, eyelids fluttering closed and mouth dropping open with a soft cry as Buck breached his defenses, slowly pushing deeper inside of him, inch by inch as he relaxed and welcomed the intruder. Ezra paused to rest when Buck was fully sheathed, breathing heavily as he adjusted to the incredible aching fullness that was like no other sensation on earth. A feeling that seemed somehow better than ever before, heightened by this new revelation that he was not just wanted for his body, but perhaps loved for himself.
A distant part of Ezra's mind whispered that he should be ashamed of how much that notion thrilled him. Most likely, he would be embarrassed by it in the clear light of day, when the cruel disadvantages of time and distance forced him to look back on these events with a more dispassionate point of view. Then, most likely, logic would tell him that he was only being carried away by the thrill of physical pleasure. That snide little voice would say that a man like him needed nothing more than occasional satiation of the flesh; that love was an unnecessary and ephemeral concept; emotional clutter that would only confuse and complicate things.
For now, he ruthlessly shoved those thoughts aside. He did not want to be logical. He did not want to be dispassionate. Right here, right now, he wanted only to feel this with every part of himself.
Concerned when Ezra did not move again after his initial careful descent, and even more alarmed to notice the tears suddenly sparkling on his lashes, Buck's hand drifted over Ezra's stomach in a soothing gesture before taking a steadying grip on his hips. "Is it too much? Am I hurting you?" he asked. "You didn't take any time to get yourself ready for me like before. You don't have to do this if it's causing you pain, Ez."
Ezra opened his eyes and blinked away the tears, somewhat surprised by their presence. Hearing Buck's anxious words, he bent forward to capture his lips in a gentle, reassuring kiss. "I'm perfectly fine," he said, then flashed a lascivious grin as he resumed his previous position and lifted himself up a few inches before dropping back down with a tight clench of his inner muscles that drew a thrilled gasp from Buck. Scratching light fingertips across the skin of Buck's chest, he repeated the gesture, slowly this time, and teased, "I was simply so distracted by your largesse that I forgot this little exercise was meant to be for your pleasure, rather than mine."
"There's nothing wrong with a little mutual satisfaction," Buck said, relieved by the explanation. Tensing his muscles, he thrust sharply upward to meet Ezra's next descent, bringing forth a startled squawk. "Or do you figure you can't keep up with me unless you direct the show?"
A bright sparkle lit the gambler's eyes. "Oh, my dear Mr. Wilmington. You do know how to make a man rise to the challenge, don't you?"
"Sure does look that way," he agreed, approval in his tone as he took a slow caress of Ezra's now fully recovered erection, drawing a grunt of pleasure from his throat. Stroking him again, he commented, "I do love a partner with staying power. How many times you reckon a feller can get in up in one day, anyhow?"
"I've never counted," he returned dryly, then grinned widely enough to make his gold tooth wink in the lamplight. "However, should you wish to help me discover the answer to that question, I would be most pleased to offer myself as your test subject."
"More science, huh?" Buck chuckled. "This experiment gonna be strictly hands on?"
Buck gave the shaft in his hand a tense little tug, as if testing it for strength, momentarily throwing Ezra off-rhythm as he began to laugh. "Certainly not! In fact, I think you should use anything you feel would produce a positive result."
Waggling his eyebrows, Buck asked, "Anything?"
"Of course, though I must say that I'm beginning to believe that there are distinct advantages to the development of calluses upon one's hands."
He sighed happily as Buck took the hint and began petting his length a bit more intensely with the toughened skin of palms and fingertips.
Ezra's thighs pumped steadily up and down, riding Buck's length with gradually increasing speed, ignoring the burn building in his muscles as he pushed his cheeks together on each downward stroke, working to provide maximum pleasure for them both.
Laying his head back, he nearly growled when Buck's fingers also took up a faster pace, causing tingles of ecstasy to shoot through him. He instinctively changed position, leaning back to offer himself more fully and encourage more of that magical touch. When this unexpectedly caused Buck's penis to scrape that wonderfully sensitive spot deep inside of him, he could not keep from hissing out, "Oh, yes!"
Seeing Ezra give up his usual control so thoroughly, wantonly pushing back and forth between his driving cock and squeezing hands, pale skin flushed and beaded with sweat as he gasped out small noises of encouragement and occasional low moans, sent Buck quickly to the edge. His own hips jerked upward with an almost violent display of need, bucking and snapping wildly as he realized that Ezra was not objecting to his show of power but was, in fact, encouraging it. He had begun shoving down hard to meet every thrust, gripping Buck's thighs with both hands as he reached back to brace himself and obtain better purchase.
Buck came with a near-howl of satisfaction, holding Ezra in place as the liquid fire shot up from his loins, causing Ezra to cry out in shocked pleasure as it filled him. Finally, Buck settled back upon the mattress with a long replete sigh, too drained to help as Ezra rode to his own completion.
Ezra released a hoarse shout as he, too, reached the pinnacle. The orgasm was all but dry, his fluids having already been spent, but the tingling pulses washing over him felt as good as if he had managed a full release. He held himself still for several seconds after it was finished, muscles bowstring taut; thrilling from head to toe.
Suddenly, the tension drained away, causing him to slump forward. Buck caught him easily, lowering him to the bed and shifting them both onto their sides, allowing their joined bodies to separate. He then spooned up against Ezra and reached across for one of the handkerchief still lying on the night table.
Ezra closed his eyes and allowed Buck to clean him up, smiling sleepily at the thoughtful gesture. Buck had clearly remembered that he hated the sticky aftermath of sex almost as much as he loved the act itself. The implicit caring in this action again sent a pulse of unfamiliar warmth through him.
With the last of his strength, Buck pulled the disarranged bedclothes up over their rapidly cooling bodies and turned the lamp down low, leaving just a soft glow to fill the room as he gathered Ezra close.
Snuggling into the embrace, Ezra had only a moment to marvel at the fact that he no longer felt nervous at the thought of spending the night this way, and then he dropped into a deep contented sleep.
THE END