I Don't Think I Will

Disclaimer: I don’t own Ezra Standish, Chris Larabee, Orrin Travis or any other character creation of John Watson, Mirisch or CBS. I do own April Forrester, Andrew Buchanan, Bruce Everett and the other original characters who populate my story. If anyone wants April, I’m currently bribing people to take her off my hands ;)

Pairing: C/E

Rating: NC-17

Acknowledgements: My beautiful list-sibs who are so encouraging. The people who harass me every time I think my muses have retired. Amethyst, my sounding board for ideas and characters. James Bonamy, I believe, for the title (a gorgeous song, btw). Oh, and the people at Dairy Queen for inventing this thing called a ‘Fudge Stripe Blizzard’ which combines my absolute favorite two treats (aside from apple pie). Sugar highs can do amazing things for one’s muse.

Part One

Ezra laughed lightly as he watched JD dodge the blow aimed at the back of his head. The young agent had been teasing Buck all night about the ‘girl’ who’d hit on the ladies’ man all last night. Chris shook his head, as Vin took up the teasing, assuring the two lovers that the ‘woman’ in question had indeed been at the Saloon last night, and had set her sights on Buck early on in the evening.

“I’m sorry I missed that.”

“ Hmmm. Really?” Ezra all but purred in the older man’s ear. “And here I thought I had been sufficiently entertaining last night. Perhaps I shall have to try harder tonight.”

“ Hey, you two, no PDA!” Buck exclaimed just as the two lovers’ lips were about to come together, “You’ll embarrass the shit out of the two young’ins.”

“ We’d never want to do that, would we love?” Ezra smiled mischievously, and pulled Chris into a small alcove afforded by the juncture of the two buildings they were passing. Before the older man could even register that his back was pressed to a rather cold brick wall, his front side was being warmed by the body of his young lover. Ezra’s mouth was on his, tongue lapping insistently at the seam of his lips until the blond had no choice but to allow the southerner entrance. The taste of alfredo sauce and wine invaded his mouth, with just a hint of the underlying spice that was uniquely Ezra. The older man moaned lightly, dropping his hands to rest on the perfect ass of his lover.

“All right! I think its time we took these two home.” Buck grabbed Ezra, and pulled him bodily away from the leader. Chris smiled, noticing that Ezra was as flushed as he knew himself to be. He doubted they’d make it home, probably have the truck pulled over on a back road miles from the ranch. Extended cabs were wonderfully useful. Chris stepped from the alcove, and playfully punched his oldest friend, who had placed himself between the two lovers to ‘get them to the cars quicker’. It was only a block from the restaurant Ezra had treated the entire team to, to where the cars had been parked. JD and Vin were discussing the latest innovations made by Harley-Davidson, while Josiah and Nathan argued good-naturedly over an article in some magazine. Chris listened for a few minutes, before glancing at his lover. Ezra had that look on his face that promised a wicked night ahead.

“ Ezra? Ezra Standish?” A woman’s voice questioned. The entire group turned, focusing their gazes on the woman who had just passed them, hanging on the arm of a wealthy-looking man. “Oh, my god, it IS you!”

“ April?” Ezra went pale, faced with a specter of his past he had hoped was long buried.

Part Two

Chris stiffened, for the first time getting to see the bitch that had torn his lover apart from the inside. He’d probably have stepped forward, but Ezra grabbed subtly at his sleeve. The older man stilled, willing to let the young undercover agent deal with this. At least until she hurt him again. Then her ass, woman or not, was all his.

“ God, its been a long time! I didn’t know you were in Denver now!” Ezra flinched, as April acted as if they were long-lost friends.

“ Six years.” He replied, and what a long trip through hell had gone between. “I moved here a couple years ago.”

“ What a change for you. Oh my, I am being rude. Ezra this is Andrew Buchanan. Andrew, this is Ezra Standish, an old boyfriend of mine from college.”

“ Ah, the wild and wooly days?” Buchanan extended his hand, and Ezra shook it, somehow immediately liking this man.

“ Yes, well, you might say that.”

“ Ezra? Wild?” April laughed, “Hardly. He was our stick in the mud. Kept us from getting into too much trouble. I don’t think he’s ever done anything even remotely wild or dangerous.”

“ What’re you doing now, April?” Ezra asked, trying to remember what she had majored in. Something utterly useless…that much he recalled.

“ Oh, I’m working for an interior design firm in San Francisco. We’re here on Andrew’s business.”

“ I work for my father’s company, we’re negotiating a merger.”

“ Yes, so we’re here for a couple weeks more at least.” April continued. Chris tried to see what Ezra had seen in her years ago, but couldn’t. She was pretty, but in an artificial sort of way. Her hair was dark, in ringlets that framed a nice enough face, and she had an admittedly gorgeous body, but it was like looking at the pictures in magazines. Somehow she just seemed unreal.

“So, what do you do, Ezra?” Buchanan asked, clearly looking over the group of men with the southerner.

“ I work for the ATF, actually. These are my colleagues, that’s JD, Vin, Nathan, Josiah, Buck and this is Chris.” Although he didn’t announce his relationship with the blond man, it was clear that Andrew grasped it when Ezra slipped his arm around his lover. He nodded, but didn’t seem bothered by that realization.

“ Oh, Andrew, we are going to be late! Ezra, here’s my number at the hotel, give me a call, we’ll get together.” April dropped a kiss on her old boyfriends lips, and slipped the paper in his jacket pocket. She stepped back, and draped herself once more on the man at her side. Andrew smiled, and Ezra returned the gesture honestly. Team Seven walked to their cars quietly, but no one neglected to notice that Ezra leaned somewhat heavily into Chris’s side. Chris made their goodbyes, as Ezra surreptitiously read the scribbled note from the bane of his college years.

Call me, (333) 555-2412. Its my cell, not the hotel. You look even better than I remember. April.

The southerner slipped the note inside his coat, planning to throw it away once they got back to the ranch. He had no desire to spend another moment in her company. He could tell from the tone of her note that April had not changed at all in the past six years. She still expected him to appear at her beck and call. Six years ago, Ezra might have called her. Hell, two years ago he still he would have called her. But now, Chris changed everything.

Part Three

It was Monday night, and Ezra was just getting ready to leave the office when the door to his and Vin’s office opened. He smiled brightly, expecting his boss and lover. Both men had stayed over tonight, Chris because there was a pile of paperwork on his desk, and Ezra simply because Chris had remained. The smile fell when he saw that it was April. He wondered briefly how she had gotten through security, or known where to find him. She shut the door, and perched on the edge of his desk.

“You never called.”

“ I’ve been busy.” Ezra lied. He wanted to tell her straight out that he had never found it in himself to forgive her for their ‘relationship’ in college. He still hated to think of her. But something inside him was unable to be so cruel, even to her. And it wasn’t true, he knew that. He’d moved past his history with April, and it had been a long time since he’d really even thought about her. Not to say that he would’ve minded if she’d remained safely on the other side of the universe from his life for the remainder of his years.

“ You know, Andrew is never around either. He’s always at meetings, and going out with the guys from this other office. I could really use some company.” April reached out, and played with the southerner’s tie. He nearly laughed, she hadn’t gotten any more subtle about exactly what she wanted from him in six years either. Ezra supposed he should be proud of himself, that he was good enough that six years later she still wanted a piece. Which had been the problem back then too. April wanted one piece of Ezra Standish and one piece only. The rest of him was ignored, except when it was used to get the piece she wanted.

“ Yes, well, as difficult as this may be for you to conceive, all those luxuries you so enjoy are not cheap. Andrew’s busy career is what allows you that necklace, I would wager.”

“ I don’t want to talk about Andrew.”

“ April, I’m not twenty years old any more.” Ezra pulled the tie from her hand, and dropped the last of his paperwork in his top desk drawer. “You are with Andrew, and I have a relationship of my own-”

“ Yes, I know, this Chris person. Your boss? I thought you’d purged the whole Daddy/authority complex back with your TA. I thought that whole bisexual thing was a phase. You always seemed interested in the girls.”

“ April, I am NOT discussing my sex life with you.”

“ Good. Why discuss, when I can experience?” April kissed him, but it took only a second for Ezra to push away from her.

“ No.” Ezra held up a hand to silence her protest. “ I am involved, April. If you can not manage monogamy, that is your problem. Fortunately, I have passed that hormonal phase in my maturity, and prefer to indulge only with someone with whom I have a relationship.”

“ We had one once.”

“ We had sex.” Ezra spat out. “Name one thing you know about me.”

“ You are very, very talented with your tongue.”

“ April.”

“ No, I mean it. You speak a bunch of different languages, ten or something. See, I did pay attention to you. I liked you, Ezra. I thought you liked me.”

“ I thought I loved you once.” The southerner nearly kicked himself as soon as he said it.

“ So why not give us a chance again?”

“ What do you want, April?”

“ Now, Ezra you know the answer to that. Money, jewelry, a handsome, rich husband…You.” Whatever subtly she might have used earlier was gone now, as Ezra jumped at the feel of a soft hand on THAT region. “This.”

Part Four

“ Damn it!” Ezra pushed away from her again, nearly shaking bodily at the unwanted contact. “April, I don’t care to see you. I have no desire to be your…whore for lack of a better word, again. I’m twenty-eight years old. I’m not the person you knew in college. I’ve nearly died more times than you can count with your shoes on since you last saw me. Most importantly, I met Chris. I love Chris. Good bye.”

“ You always did say nasty things when you were unhappy with me.” April commented, acting hurt. “ I happen to be involved in a very successful business-”

“ April, you have one ‘lucrative’ business. You are quite good at lying on your back, though. Forgive me for not sharing your career.”

“ That is uncalled for. I happen to be-”

“ Here, propositioning me the minute your…lover is out of the way.”

“ Andrew is my fiance.”

“ I’ll pass along my condolences. And the number of a good investigator firm for the divorce. Now, please leave.”

“ Fine. Call me when you change your mind. And we both know you will change your mind. You always did.” April huffed out of the office, allowing the door to slam shut.

Chris stepped from his office, intending to retrieve his lover and head for home when Ezra’s door flung open and April all but stomped out of the Team’s offices. The blond was torn between calling security to ask how she got onto his floor without him knowing, and asking Ezra why she was here. Not that he was jealous…or worried. Ezra hadn’t even looked at another person in a remotely sexual way since they had gotten together. Chris was concerned, rather, that April was finding a way to hurt his lover again. Ezra denied it, but his lover knew that Ezra had never gotten over April’s treatment of him. That the relationship with her followed on the heals of the one with Tom only made the situation worse.

“Ezra?” Chris opted to take care of his southerner first, and worry about banning April Forrester from the building later. “What was the super-bitch doing here?”

“ She wanted to invite me out this evening.”

“ There’s more to it than that.”

“ I said no, she became a bit upset. Its really nothing, Chris.” Ezra attempted to reassure his lover. He did not need Chris going on a well-intentioned protective rampage. April would leave in a short time, and considering how she’d been received today, Ezra figured she’d not be back. “Let’s go home.”

“ You want to grab something to eat on the way?”

“ There’s soup waiting at home.”

“ Sounds good.” Chris waited for Ezra to don his coat, and the two headed downstairs to the truck. It wasn’t very discreet of them, really, to only ride in one vehicle, but since they had a legitimate excuse this time for Ezra to be living out at the ranch since the adjoining townhouse had burned, causing some serious damage to Ezra’s home as well, no one really questioned Chris’ response that if the undercover was living at his house, he’d get his ass in to work on time. It would have been a great cover-story, except that it was also highly inconvenient for Ezra as he dealt with insurance claims and repairs plus storage for much of his belongings.

Part Five

The ride home was quiet. Chris racked his mind trying to gather the little pieces he had dug up about April, and her relationship with Ezra. He knew that their first time had been at a party about two weeks into Ezra’s sophomore year in college. Ezra insisted they were both drunk, and he only vaguely recalled it at all. Chris also knew that the last time the two had slept together was over two years later, when Ezra was preparing to graduate. From Ezra’s tone, he figured it hadn’t been a very nice, comfortable relationship. The southerner had let it slip that April bounced from male to male incessantly, and rarely took the time to bother with Ezra’s life outside the sex and parties. “You’re worried about her.” Ezra finally spoke up as they turned down the road leading to the ranch.

“ Nope, couldn‘t care less what happens to the super-bitch. Worried about you.”

“ It is the same thing. What’s worrying you?”

“ You…don’t talk much about April. When you do its bad. Not sure I want her around, even for just a few minutes.”

“ She won’t be around. I said no quite firmly tonight, love.”

“ Not worried about that.” Chris replied, not knowing how to say what WAS worrying him without Ezra getting mad. He was scared that Ezra’s bad memories would float to the surface again. Maybe it was horribly selfish, but he wanted Ezra to smile every moment of life just because he was beautiful when he smiled. “Don’t want you thinking on things.”

“ College?”

“ Yeah.”

“ It wasn’t all bad, Chris.” Ezra reasoned. “I actually enjoyed much of my college years. I had friends, and I stayed at the same school. I just couldn’t manage a decent love life.”

“ I know. It’s just my job to worry.”

“ No, but it is your job to make me forget I’ve ever had another lover.” Ezra’s voice, a slightly low purr in its tones, had Chris’ cock twitching in his pants. Definitely an invitation there, and like Pavlov‘s dogs Chris‘ libido recognized the sound as a promise of things to come.

“ Really?”

“ Oh, yes. You quite excel at it, you know.” Ezra’s seatbelt slid free as Chris turned into his driveway. The southerner let the gentle gravity pull him towards his lover. He slid the rest of the way, laying his chin on a broad shoulder. “I want you to make me forget tonight, beloved. I want you to push inside me so deep I can feel you in my throat from the opposite end. I want to feel you come inside my body, and then I want to lick you from head to toe and start all over again, until we are both exhausted and your come is so deep in my ass I taste it.”

“ Oh, shit, Ezra.” Chris shifted in his seat, thankful beyond reason to be in the driveway and therefore capable of just slamming the truck into park. He pounced, their lips meeting in passionate abandonment as he pushed Ezra down onto the passenger seat. It was awkward, as legs tangled together, but Chris managed to cover the southerner’s body with his own. Ezra suddenly jerked, and pushed up against Chris’ chest.

Part Six

“ Wha-?”

“ Belt.” Ezra replied, shifting so Chris could see the glint of the seatbelt latch where Ezra’s ass had been a moment before. The southerner reached up, his hands burying themselves in blond hair that was just long enough to be used to pull his lover’s mouth back onto his. Chris laid out on top of his firecracker, who shifted beneath him searching for friction between their growing erections. Unable to stretch their legs properly, the two men settled for the delicious slide of tongue against tongue, as Chris expertly loosened and removed Ezra’s tie and flung it back over the seat. They’d find it the next time Chris cleaned out the truck. Soft hands slid beneath the older man’s own shirt, un-tucking it hurriedly before enjoying a slow glide up sensitive flanks to rub across hardening nipples.

Ezra groaned into Chris’ mouth, as he felt his lover’s callused fingertips caress his chest, buttons giving way allowing the shirt to part like the Red Sea. When the blonde’s mouth left his, he voiced his disappointment via a disgruntled moan, his disappointment miraculously cured when he felt tongue and lips along his collarbone. The wet heat left a trail of firing nerve endings from neck to nipples, leaving the nubs hard and sensitized. Chris continued downward, and Ezra felt his crotch rest over his thigh. Raising his leg as much as possible, the southerner rubbed the hard flesh through the layers of pants, and felt Chris momentarily halt his path of kissing and nipping to thrust against that beautiful pressure. The older man came back to himself quickly, though, and it was Ezra’s turn to freeze as he felt a tongue dart into his navel. Suddenly limp, the undercover returned his hands to Chris’ hair, guiding that wonderful mouth as best he could. He registered Chris’ hands at his belt, felt the leather sliding from underneath him and through the loops to be tossed to the same fate as his tie. Those same hands opened his pants, and slipped inside to caress his now fully aroused cock through the boxers.

“ You could come like this, couldn’t you?” Chris asked, his own voice husky with arousal as he kept a steady rhythm sliding along Ezra’s length.

“ Yes, gods yes.” How he managed even that much coherence the southerner would never know. Chris’ mouth returned to his abdomen, the older man resembling a contortionist in his position in the somewhat cramped truck cab. That sinful, wonderful decadent mouth moved lower, hand ceasing its movement on his cock to slid the elastic lower to reveal smooth skin. The wet heat pulled away, both hands going with it and Ezra opened his eyes again. Chris was staring at his body, nearly black eyes no longer only focused on lust and beauty beneath him.

Chris knew he was staring, that Ezra was painfully hard and he should continue as he always did, trying to ignore the scar before him. This time, having seen the person who put it there, the leader couldn’t ignore it. The abused stripe of flesh screamed at him for attention, louder than Ezra’s erection obvious only inches away and his own arousal still stiflingly encased in his pants. Louder for a moment than his lover’s voice attempting to garner his attention. He finally tore his eyes away to meet emerald ringed ones.

“ Beloved?”

“ Its hideous.” Chris announced, a second later registering the shock on Ezra’s face. Soft hands, so eager to touch a moment ago, snatched at pants, attempting to close them again.

Part Seven

“ Shit, baby, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean that. Well, I did, but not about you or at least not about-”

“ I didn’t think it bothered you.” Ezra finally managed to snag the button on his pants, and tried to slide from beneath his lover. “ Although I don’t know why I believed that. You’d be the first.”

“ Don’t. Don’t pull away.”

“ You’re the one pulling away. Everyone does, once they realize what that is.”

“ You’ve never told me what it is.”

“ Its her damn BRAND!” Ezra tried once again to pull out from under Chris, but the older man had the advantage in weight, leverage and pure experience in holding onto someone who didn’t want to be held.

“ What the fuck do you mean?” Chris’ voice had the same dangerous quality in it that he took with suspects who’d taken pop shots at one of his men. “What is it exactly?”

“ Let me up.”

“ No, damn it! We need to talk about this.”

“ Please, Chris. Let me up.”

“ Ezra. Talk to me. I need to know…I need to know what made that scar and why.”

“ Please, Chris.” Ezra struggled again, but his lover held fast. He felt horrible as Ezra’s eyes pleaded with him to drop it, to ignore and forget it, but suddenly he HAD to know. He’d dropped this subject too many times in the past, and it bothered him that he’d never gotten a straight answer out of his lover, either about that scar or April.

“ What happened, Ezra?” All fight left the man below him, and he sighed heavily in defeat.

“ You don’t want to know.”

“ Yes, I do.”

“ Fine, then I don’t want to tell you.”

“ Ezra.” Worry, anger at April, adrenaline from the minor struggle and even his arousal left Chris with even less patience than usual.

“ Please…I couldn‘t bear it if you looked me like that. Everyone else can, but not you.”

“ What do you mean?”

“ Like you just looked at the scar. You said it yourself, its hideous. I’m hideous with it.”

“ Ezra, YOU are beautiful. I shouldn‘t have said that, I‘m sorry. No amount of scars could ever change you. I love you! All of you, even the scars. Especially the scars.” Chris allowed his hand to brush over the now covered scar. The southerner flinched as if the touch physically pained him. “Please, tell me.”

“ I…” Ezra dropped off, taking a deep breath to start again. “ It was junior year. April and I had been dating over a year, and I had thought it was going somewhere. I was exclusive, always had been. March 20, 1995, Derek finally told me what everyone else already knew. April was sleeping with other guys. Routinely. I asked her, and she acted like it was something I should have expected. Even after a year, she thought I would just accept her sleeping with everything with a cock. Hell, she came right out and told me she’d slept with nearly all my friends but Derek, and that was just because he was gay. I broke it off that night.”

“ She’s a bitch.” Chris stated unnecessarily. He’d already known that, but this just confirmed it.

“ Yes, she is. I told her that then. I’d made a tactical error though, and that’s when I got the scar. She was screaming at me that I couldn’t dump her, that we’d never had a real relationship anyway that I was a damn good fuck but she had ‘needs’ outside that. Hell, I’d thought we had something. She managed to get me up against a wall and I didn‘t see her grab the poker from the fireplace. She hit me with it, and held it there long enough to burn straight through my pants. I have no idea how the hell she didn’t burn her hand to this day.”

“ ‘95? You said the last time you saw her was ‘96.”

“ It was. We…fucked I guess routinely until graduation.”

Part Eight

“ After this?” Chris tried to control his anger at his lover, who sometimes seemed to not consider his own safety which never ceased to piss the older man off. “You should have called the damn cops! She should have been arrested for assault. If this had happened to a woman, you‘d be lining up with the rest of us to beat the shit out of the guy and lock him up.”

“ She’d have called ‘Daddy’ and Mitchell Forrester is one of the most influential bankers west of the Mississippi, with quite a few friends back East more than capable of making my life difficult. It wasn‘t worth it. Derek had started EMT training, he took care of it.”

“ Fuck, you didn’t even go to the hospital? Do you know how quickly burns can get infected? So you kept seeing her? Why? What‘s to keep her from hurting you again?”

“ Physicians ask questions. It’s not exactly a common place to burn yourself. I…Hell, I’ll be honest. She’s a damn good piece of ass, Chris. And when I was with her someplace, everyone knew her, wanted to be around her. It was everything I’m not on my own.”

“ What about Derek? What’d he have to say about this?” Chris didn’t bother arguing that his lover was the hit of every benefit ball and that every woman in the federal building, and a few men who didn’t know Chris had caught them looking, perked up the moment he was around. Ezra never saw that about himself, and even if he did he passed it off saying that ‘good clothes compensate for nature’s less-than desirable traits in everyone’. For a man so utterly uninhibited around his lover, Ezra was pathological about his clothes and being covered around anyone else.

“ Derek insisted I was certifiable. He refused to speak to me for about two weeks after he found out I had slept with her again, even if it was merely about sex. He was convinced she was dangerous and unstable. While April may be somewhat…retaliatory I don‘t think she‘s precisely ‘dangerous’.”

“ I like Derek a bit more every time you mention him.”

“ You’d love him. He’s a lot like you, without your devastating good looks. You know, I promised him I‘d look him up if I ever re-visited my bisexuality. I believe he‘s in…New York now. I must have that number somewhere…it would be wonderful to see Derek again.”

“ I don’t want her anywhere near you. Not if she was capable of this.” Chris was not going to be distracted, although he did make a note to himself to make sure Ezra was merely teasing later.

“Chris. She’s not going to attack me in the middle of a public place. And I have no intention of ever being anywhere alone with her.”

“ I don’t intend for you to ever be anywhere with her, period.”

“ Chris, I am not going to search her out. I have no desire to see her. Everything will be fine. I’ll be fine.”

“ Damn well better be, or ‘Daddy’ or no, woman or not her ass is mine. No one hurts you while I’m around, Ezra. No one.”

“ Are you going to sit on my stomach all night?” After that vow was sealed with a gentle kiss, Ezra pushed at his chest, and Chris nodded his head.

“ I’m comfortable. And besides, I think we were in the middle of something.” The southerner stared at his lover in pure surprise. He’d just recounted quite possibly the most painful injury of his life…a few inches over and he’d be short some vital anatomy, and now Chris wanted to just continue where they’d been?

“ Did you just hear a word I said?”

“ All of it. And I won’t be responsible for what I do to her next time I see her. But, I don’t think that scar’ll bother me now.”

“ Its her brand, Chris. She marked me as hers, don’t you understand that?”

“ Are you hers?”

“ Of course not.” Offense was obvious in the southern tones.

“ Then how did she mark you? You’ve got a hundred scars, baby. And if I remember rightly, you had MY brand on your ass not all that long ago. One YOU put there.”

“ I thought you hated that.” Ezra relaxed again, as he felt Chris’ lips wander down his jaw line to his neck. It was the first time anyone had asked about the scar and didn’t back away. The younger man was overwhelmed once more by the love this wonderful man had for him. No one else had ever loved all of him, no matter what they learned about him. There had always been one thing, often more, that his lovers just couldn’t get beyond. April’s scar was usually the breaking point.

“ Not at all. Actually made me hard as hell to see your ass literally branded as mine. Somehow, though, I think it might raise a few questions in the E.R. the next time your clothes got cut off.” Chris words reverberated off his neck and jaw, the little puffs of air tickling as well as arousing.

“ Not that I’m not, ah…” Ezra tilted his head to the side, as Chris nibbled heavily on his neck. “ Not enjoying…this, love, but would you consider…oh Jesus, Chris…consider taking this inside?”

“ I think we could manage that.” Chris replied, pulling away from the addictive taste of Ezra’s skin. He shifted, and managed to straddle Ezra loosely enough that the southerner slipped from underneath him into more a sitting position. Of course while doing so, his thighs rubbed strongly right across Chris’ once again rising erection.

“ I’ve changed my mind.” Chris growled, leaning forward to press lips together harshly as his tongue slipped forcefully into Ezra’s mouth. His mate was all too willing to meet him in a slick duel there.

“ I’m sorry, but the decision has been made.” Ezra grinned, finally breaking away from the kiss. He disappeared out the door which had somehow come open without any apparent movement by the southerner. Chris followed, his eyes firmly attached to the ass preceding him up the walk to the front door, thinking of all the things he could do to, and with, that ass.

Part Nine

“Conference Room. Now.” Orrin Travis did not usually give such terse orders to any of his agents. Particularly not with Team 7, who were notoriously difficult if they thought they were being ordered about without a damn good reason. He must have made his lack of a forgiving mood clear though, since all seven men followed him into the room and took their usual seats. The Judge took up a position standing at the end of the table opposite from Chris. He waited a few minutes in silence, as the men squirmed uncomfortably. No doubt, they were trying to remember what they had done to piss him off this time. At times like this, he was painfully reminded of when he’d done this same thing to Stephen.

“ I’m not dealing with this in private because I’ve known you all long enough to know that each and every one of you knows more about everyone else than you’re willing to tell. I got a call from Washington today, from a very unhappy Director who’s just had a Senator in to see him. I wasn’t the only one to receive the call, and undoubtedly the rumor mill will be in full swing by lunch.”

“ What’s going on, Orrin?” Chris asked.

“ Simply put, there’s been a report of internal misconduct placed against both you and Ezra alleging that you are currently engaged in a homosexual relationship. This could end your careers. It WILL end Ezra’s. The board hears the preliminary case on Thursday.”

“ Who filed it?” Ezra asked quietly, relatively sure of the cause already.

“ Senator Franklin McClintock from right here in Colorado.”

“ April.”

“ What?” Chris looked at his lover, who nodded to reaffirm his statement.

“ April. As you may know, Judge, Franklin McClintock made his money in the hostelry business. Quite influential in the western states, if I recall rightly.”

“ Yes, he still is.”

“ April’s father is none other than Mitchell Forrester, who is the chief officer of the bank with whom McClintock does most of his business.”

“ Who the hell is April?” Buck asked, thoroughly confused.

“ An old girlfriend of mine from college. You met her outside the restaurant several days ago.”

“ Her? Why would she do this?” JD asked, remembering a relatively happy and bright woman with another man.

“ She…propositioned me. I turned her away, rather rudely, I admit.”

“ You’re saying, Agent Standish, that Miss Forrester is making this up to attempt to discredit you based on your refusal to resume a past relationship?”

“ I’m saying she made the report because I refused her advances, yes.” Ezra neatly avoided lying to his boss. Unless asked directly, he could avoid having to admit the report was true.

“ Can you prove it?”

“ No. Its not as if there were witnesses to the confrontation.”

“ You told me about it.” Chris put in immediately.

“ You’re his supposed lover. You’d be expected to back him up. All of you would, actually. But, I’m willing to fight this, on one condition.” Travis announced, and Chris nodded. “You answer all my questions honestly.”

“ Goes without saying.”

“ Fine. This may get nasty. I need to know everything that may come up in this.” Orrin Travis never backed away from a fight, and he wasn’t about to let his best team get broken up because Standish turned down some woman from his past. He had some serious suspicions about whether or not he was getting the whole truth, but as long as he didn’t officially know this report was true, he would do his best to prove it false. Later, he might have a discussion with Chris about relationships with men under his direct supervision but for the next week there was more than enough to deal with already.

Part Ten

The board of inquiry had been called to hear the complaint, IA agent Bruce Everett serving as the ‘prosecutor’ and none other than Assistant Director and former Judge Orrin Travis himself was ‘defending’. It was hardly a surprise to those who knew the Judge and Team 7, but IA had not been pleased at the news. Everett hadn‘t seemed pleased about the case in general from what Chris could tell in his brief discussion with him a couple days earlier. The chief of the hearing board checked the notes before him once more, then looked up at the people present.

“ This is a short preliminary hearing, to decide if any further investigation should be done into the allegations of improper fraternization between Agent Christopher J. Larabee and Agent Ezra P. Standish, his direct subordinate. Mr. Everett, let’s begin.”

“ April Forrester.” The woman walked forward, looking every bit the respectable wealthy young woman she wished to project. Chris silently mused that she could take some lessons from Maude in carrying herself with a real presence, so to speak. Where Maude swept into a room, making her presence all-but impossible to ignore, April just seemed to have something large and dead up her ass.

“ Miss Forrester, how do you know the two men in question?”

“ I don’t know Mr. Larabee, except that he is Ezra’s boss.”

“ And Agent Standish?”

“ Ezra and I were friends in college. We ran into each other a few weeks ago outside a restaurant here in Denver where we renewed our acquaintanceship.”

“ I see. What did you notice that night?” Everett asked.

“ Ezra was…wrapped around a man. I found it odd, considering I’d dated him myself.”

“ Who was the man?”

“ He was introduced as merely Chris.”

“ Would you describe the man?”

“ He’s sitting right there.” April pointed right at Chris, who smiled widely at her until she faltered. JD whispered to Vin that Chris smiling was nearly as scary sometimes as Chris’ worst glare. Chris promptly punched JD’s thigh, and the youngest agent barely managed to stifle a yelp as he rubbed his now sore leg.

“ And did you have further contact with Agent Standish?”

“ Yes, I went to visit him at the Federal Building the following Monday. He told me then that he was involved with his boss, Mr. Larabee.”

“ Thank you, Miss Forrester.” The IA suit returned to his seat, and Travis rose. He approached the woman, looking over the perfect appearance carefully.

“ Miss Forrester, where exactly were you when you ‘ran into’ Agent Standish?”

“ Just outside McFarland’s Restaurant and Brewery. Andrew, my fiance, said it had been recommended to him by a business associate.”

“ I see. Did you not think that perhaps Agent Standish had over-indulged and that was why he was leaning on Agent Larabee?”

“ I’ve never known Ezra to get drunk, even in college.” Ezra nearly chuckled, remembering the vast number of times each and every one of their ‘group’ had been inebriated together. April was either lying or had the worst case of selective memory he’d seen in some time.

“ When you ‘visited’ the Federal Building, did you tell Agent Standish to expect you?”

“ No. I had asked him to call me, but he never did. I didn’t have his number, and he’s unlisted as I’m sure you know.” the Judge nodded, as if in agreement.

“ And Agent Standish told you that he was in a homosexual relationship with his boss.”

“ Yes.”

“ His exact words?”

“ No. He said he was in a relationship with Chris.”

“ I see. Miss Forrester, how long did you and Agent Standish date in college?”

“ We were exclusive about a year, and then we saw each other on and off until we graduated about a year later.”

“ And your visit to the Federal Building had nothing to do with a desire to rekindle that relationship?”

“ I’m engaged, sir.”

“ Of course.” Orrin sat down, and April was dismissed. Andrew was called, looking very reluctant to be there. He answered a few questions from the Internal Affairs agent to reaffirm what April had already testified to, before he was turned over to AD Travis.

“ You’re Miss Forrester’s fiance, correct?”

“ Yes, we were engaged a few months ago.”

“ And you met Agent Standish for the first time outside McFarland’s?”

“ Yes.”

“ And you agreed he was ‘wrapped around’ Agent Larabee?”

“ They had their arms around each other, yes.”

“ Was there any other indication they were together in a romantic way?”

“ I got that impression.”

“ An impression. Is it possible, Mr. Buchanan, that you were wrong? Is it possible that Agent Standish was merely inebriated?”

“ I guess its possible. A few of the others seemed noticeably happy.”

“ Others? Who else was with Agents Standish and Larabee?”

“ Five other men, introduced as teammates.”

“ A team outing then perhaps?”

“ Maybe. It wasn’t the impression I got, though.”

“ Thank you.” Andrew was dismissed, taking his seat on the aisle next to April. The chair of the board looked down at his list, then back up at the courtroom. Rubbing the bridge of his nose, he called the next listed ‘witness’.

“ Next is Agent Christopher Larabee. Agent Larabee?” Chris rose, headed up to the front of the room to take his oath. Having been sworn in, he smiled lazily at the IA investigator, who had dealt with Team 7 several times in the past. Including after the Norwich case, when Chris had been called up on excessive force when he rather belatedly shot Jasper Norwich through the hand. Chris’d only gotten off on that because there were witnesses from other teams who stated that Norwich was reaching for Ezra, possibly to use as a human shield or hostage. That Chris knew at the time that Jasper had been touching Ezra the whole case left him with other suspicions of Jasper’s intent, but whatever got him past IA.

“ Is Agent Standish currently living with you, yes or no? Remember you are under oath.”

“ Don’t think I’d forget this quickly. Yes, Ezra is sleeping at my ranch, although his legal address is still at 1541 Agincourt Lane.”

“ But he’s living at your ranch?”

“ Yes.”

“ Do you have…feelings for Agent Standish?”

“ Yes. But then, I got feelings for lots of people. Including Judge Travis.”

“ I see.” The investigator turned an interesting pink, but continued on. “Are your feelings for Agent Standish unique, then?”

“ Yes. Ezra’s a unique sort of guy.” Everett shook his head. Standish was like a contagion, everyone around him picked up his ability to answer only the exact question being asked. Knowing what Larabee’s response would be, Everett asked anyway.

“ Have you ever had sexual relations with Agent Standish?”

“ Everett, you know I’m going to plead the Fifth on that on principle.” The investigator just nodded, and Chris smiled. He knew Everett, and for an IA guy, he was tolerable. At least he was honest with everyone. Travis came forward, and Chris nodded at him that he was ready.

“ Agent Larabee, was Agent Standish drunk when you met Miss Forrester and Mister Buchanan?”

“ Yeah, and before Everett objects, I can judge that considering not only my many years in law enforcement, but over two years of being close friends with Ezra. He wasn’t falling down plastered, but he was less than sober, yes. It‘d been a long week, and I was driving.”

“ Nothing else for this witness.” Chris was dismissed, passing Ezra on his way back and the southerner’s way to the front. He tried to give him an encouraging glance, but his firecracker didn’t seem encouraged. Ezra was quickly sworn in, managing an amiable smile for Everett.

Part Eleven

“ Agent Standish, where are you currently residing?”

“ My legal address is maintained at 1541 Agincourt Lane.”

“ But you aren’t living there now?”

“ No. The town home connected to mine burned a few weeks ago, and I’m living at Mr. Larabee’s ranch while repairs and such are done on my home.”

“ Did you tell Miss Forrester that you were in a relationship with Chris?”

“ I did.”

“ Nothing further.” Everett sat back down, and Travis walked towards his agent. Ezra looked more nervous than the Judge had ever seen him, and he’d seen the young undercover agent testify against men who’d committed murders without regret. Of course, looking nervous for Ezra meant that he fiddled slightly with his cufflinks.

“ Ezra…do you mind if I call you Ezra?”

“ Not at all.”

“ Ezra, when did you tell Miss Forrester you were in a relationship with Chris?”

“ She appeared in my office the Monday evening following our encounter outside McFarland’s.”

“ Uninvited?”

“ Yes. She had asked me to call her, but I never did.”

“ Why?” Travis asked, eyebrows arched.

“ April and I were involved, romantically and sexually in college. I did not desire to revisit our past in any way, shape or form.”

“ She appeared in your office. What did she say?”

“ She propositioned me, rather directly. I refused, stating that I was currently in a relationship.”

“ With Chris.” The Judge finished.

“ Yes.”

“ You told her you were sleeping with your boss, Agent Larabee?”

“ No. I specified only Chris, not Agent Larabee.”

“ So, you told Miss Forrester you were seeing someone named Chris?”

“ Yes.”

“ That implies Agent Larabee.”

“ Perhaps. There are many people, women and men, named Chris. I did not think my significant other’s surname to be information vital to the situation.”

“ Did you think she might assume Agent Larabee’s involvement?”

“ Perhaps. I was more interested that she might leave, than making sure that April left with the appropriate impression of my private life.” Ezra replied, staring at the woman harshly.

“ You just wanted rid of Miss Forrester. Why?”

“ April and I had an unstable relationship. She enjoyed men. It wasn’t a pleasant ending, either time it ended.”

“ Either time?”

“ Yes. I broke it off the first time in 1994, during our junior year at Harvard. She ended it the second time at our graduation the following year.”

“ What happened the first time you attempted to end the relationship?”

“ Objection. Is this really pertinent?” Everett stood up, and the board chair looked at Travis.

“ Goes to motive for the report by Miss Forrester.”

“ We’ll allow it.”

“ Ezra?” The Judge prompted, and Ezra nodded.

“ We fought. I believe we both spoke some rather nasty words, and she grabbed a poker from the fireplace. She hit me with it, leaving serious second degree burns.”

“ Is there any proof of these allegations against the previous witness?” Everett asked, looking over his shoulder for a mere second to glance at the woman in question.

“ I did not file a police report, no.”

“ But you do have a scar from the burns.” Travis noted and again the southerner nodded.

“ So, Miss Forrester does not have a history of taking rejection well?”

“ No.”

“ Ezra, why do you think Miss Forrester made this complaint against you?”

“ I refused her advances. And, her father has the wherewithal to make the complaint made quickly known.”

“ Nothing further.”

“ Step down.” Ezra quickly walked to the seat next to Chris, smiling tightly at his lover and then at his teammates as Buck squeezed his shoulder reassuringly. He’d spoken to his teammates about the scar before it came up in the hearing, but he was glad no one had asked him to show it for the court. That had been his biggest fear, that Everett would demand to see this supposed scar. The board was whispering for only a moment, before the chair came back to the microphone.

“ Honestly, this ‘case’ seems to be an outgrowth of a personal situation between Miss Forrester and Agent Standish. There has been no solid proof given here today that Agent Standish and Agent Larabee are involved in any way outside that appropriate for teammates and good friends, or that there has been any change in their relationship as has been established by their numerous previous visits to the board of inquiry. Due to this lack of evidence, the charges must be dismissed as unsubstantiated rumor. Mister Everett, see to the proper paperwork. Agent Larabee, Agent Standish, gentlemen,” The board chair cleared his throat, as he stared at Team 7, “I have no desire to see you in this room for at least six months. Do try to stay out of trouble.” No one cheered of course, but Chris did allow himself a triumphant little glare towards April. Any trouble she might have stirred up for the two lovers was over, and from the look on Andrew’s face, she had some of her own springing up. She glared right back, but was disappointed when Chris held the look longer than she could. The board left through a side door, and Everett disappeared somewhere as well, as Team 7 headed towards the doors at the rear of the hearing room.

“ You’re a damn fine liar, Ezra Standish.” April spat as Ezra walked past her. He turned slowly, coming back to face her.

Part Twelve

“ I have never perjured myself. I answered every question posed exactly to the letter.”

“ You’re fucking your boss and you just sat there and said you aren’t.”

“ My private life, April, is absolutely none of your concern. I suggest you see to your own, before meddling further in the lives of others. Andrew, my apologies and condolences on your engagement. That’s a good pre-nuptial attorney in Oakland, one of the best or so I’m told. You’ll need him.” Andrew looked shocked, but took the proffered card and pocketed it.

“ Andrew!”

“ Oh, come now April. You always said you’d marry the wealthiest man you could find with a respectable name.” Ezra taunted, and Chris recognized the tone his lover used generally to piss off someone into saying something they would regret.

“ Exactly why I dumped you after graduation. You’re nothing but a bastard son of a no-account grifter who’s made a career out of taking her lovers for as much as she could. That’s probably where you ran into this attorney friend.”

“ In that you are correct, I did indeed meet Mr. Dennison through Mother’s fourth husband. As for the rest, ask your father. His research into my parenthood might bring up some interesting information.” Andrew cocked his head, watching the two former lovers, one of whom was his fiancee.

“ Daddy said you were worthless when you were in college.”

“ Really? Mitchell Forrester has finally been proven wrong.”

“ What do you mean?” April’s voice was cuttingly sharp, clearly aggravated at the conversation and Ezra’s complete calm throughout it.

“ Gentlemen, Lady…?” Travis gestured to the door, hoping to break up whatever confrontation was brewing. If nothing else, having it out in the IA board chambers would not make them any more enamored of Ezra Standish.

“ Of course, Judge. Good day, April. And if you wish the answer to your question, merely tell your father that my middle name is Peyton. As in the family.” Ezra strode quickly into the hall, leaving his lover and teammates to somewhat hurry after him. Travis shook his head, and followed at a more sedate pace. Nothing was ever simple with that particular agent. His own curiosity aroused, Orrin decided he’d have Mary look into the name Peyton as well. It was always useful to know as much as possible about his agents. He also made a note to sit down with Chris and Ezra for a LONG discussion of their relationship, which he highly doubted was any more purely fraternal than his and Evie’s.

Part Thirteen

Chris and Ezra had been treated to a small ‘victory’ dinner that evening, celebrating the fact that the IA board had dropped the investigation quickly, which would help quash any remaining rumors that weren‘t killed when another call came from Washington, this time with the news that Senator McClintock had respectfully withdrawn his complaint and apologized for any trouble or misunderstanding cause, within hours of the morning decision. Dinner had ended early, as everyone had to be at work again the next morning. The car ride back to the ranch was silent, comfortably so. Chris pulled the truck into the garage, and the two lovers went inside. Expecting a typical night at home, since Ezra hadn’t slept much the night before he was surely too tired for any further celebrating, Chris was very pleasantly surprised when his lover immediately pinned him to the back door rubbing their bodies together sensuously. A talented mouth latched onto his ear, before leaving a trail of kisses down his jaw line and neck. The blond tilted his head to allow Ezra more access, and the southerner took happy advantage.

“ Love me, Chris.” There was an undertone of pleading in Ezra’s voice that Chris hated. Suddenly, it was the most important thing in the world to reassure his beautiful firecracker that the love between them was forever. He gently pried lips from his neck, and brought their mouths together for a kiss of promise.

“ Always.” The older man whispered, before swooping in for another kiss, this time sliding his tongue into Ezra’s warm mouth that still tasted of his dinner and the beers that followed. Running his hands down a smooth back, he pulled their bodies impossibly closer, finally bringing his fingers to rest firmly on his love’s ass. When they finally had to break apart to breathe, Chris placed a gentle finger against Ezra’s lips and led him silently through the house to their bedroom. Once inside, he pushed the younger man lightly down onto the bed. Both were still fully clothed, but Chris had plans to remedy that.

“ Chris-”

“ Shhhh. Let me do this tonight, baby.” Ezra nodded, relaxing back into the bed as much as his anticipation would allow. Chris managed to slip out of his own shoes without needing to bend over to untie them, and kicked them towards the closet door. He then leaned over the bed slightly, and smoothly removed his lover’s shoes as well. Socks followed, and both were tossed in the same direction his own shoes had gone a moment before. Seating himself on the edge of the bed, the older man began massaging the southerner’s feet lightly, feeling the feet arch and relax beneath his hands. Ezra sighed as he felt the muscles in his feet loosening as another muscle grew ever less relaxed. Chris massaged both feet for a few moments, before laying them back flat on the bed and sliding his hands up slack-covered legs. He smiled as he watched the younger man arch his pelvis off the bed, expecting the pants to go next. Instead, he continued to slide his hands up the body laid out below him, flickering over nipples beginning to harden even through the dress shirt. He loosened the silk tie that had been a Christmas present from Nathan, and contemplated another use for the tie as he noted that Ezra was already struggling to keep his hands from hurrying Chris’ removal of their clothing. The thought of a restrained naked Ezra on their bed had Chris himself suddenly feeling in a hurry for the clothes to be off. Leaving the tie on the bedside table…it might be useful later, the blond began unbuttoning the basic dress shirt Ezra had worn to the hearing. He kissed every inch of exposed skin, which slowed the process considerably, but the feel of Ezra’s perfect chest beneath his lips was worth the delay. The other man might not agree, judging by the squirming he was currently doing.

“ Chris. Please.” A strangled and highly accented groan floated from above him, as the man in question licked along the imaginary straight line from his lover’s neck to the just revealed navel. Ignoring his firecracker’s obvious wish for more speed, he let his tongue dip in and out of the indentation. He continued to enjoy the ensuing moans until the bucking stomach began to be a little too much of a ride. He pulled away entirely, Ezra’s hips rising as if to follow the trail of the receding mouth. Callused fingertips barely brushed a smooth chest, as Chris leaned in to whisper in his baby’s ear,

“Shhhh. Stay still, or I’ll find a way to keep you still.”

“ Ah, damn. Chris, please.” A soft hand reached out to him, but the blond caught it and pinned it back against the bed. He dropped in for a quick kiss to Ezra’s lips, before moving to straddle the lithe form. Sitting back on strong thighs, he pushed the shirt as far off as he could, before gesturing for Ezra to rise up a bit.

“ Now can I move?”

“ Just so I can get your shirt off.” The southerner brought his shoulders off the mattress enough for Chris to slide the shirt from beneath him, tossing it carelessly in the general direction of the hamper.

“ Chris, that’s genuine Italian-” Whatever complaint was about to be made concerning the treatment of his wardrobe was cut off when Ezra felt that hot tongue return to his chest. He went limp, falling back against the bed, only to tense in happy anticipation when he felt familiar hands on his belt. The leather slid from its loops, joining the rest of his removed clothing on the floor. Those same hands slid provocatively over the straining bulge in his pants, and if he could have he’d have arched up into the far too light caress. Chris’ weight prevented that however. The southerner groaned in frustration as the hands brushed over his sides, along his waist, over his cloth-covered erection but didn’t delve into the pants at all.

“ Do you have any idea how beautiful you are like this?” Chris asked, his voice pitched as if he was staring at the most exquisite piece of art imaginable. Ezra felt his heart nearly overflow at the love inherent in it. Others might see the scars left by bullets, knives, and other mishaps of an interesting life, but Chris somehow ignored them. It was one of the things Ezra cherished most about his beloved. Finally, the older man’s hands unzipped his pants, brushing only once over the now silk-covered cock before drawing it out of the boxers as well. At the first solid touch on his sensitized anatomy, Ezra nearly screamed, bucking hard enough that he very nearly unseated his lover.

Part Fourteen

Chris rode it out, barely. Ezra was surprisingly strong for his size, and still young enough to be just flexible enough to buck nearly as efficiently as any bronco could. After the movement below him had slowed to a mere squirm, the older man wrapped his hand lightly around his lover’s erection, giving it a few strokes before leaning in to lick the pre-cum from the tip. He very nearly had a mouth and throat full of cock before he intended to when his firecracker bucked mightily again. Deciding that the man beneath him had had enough, Chris slipped to one side and gripped the slacks and boxers. Once he’d guided them completely off, they were tossed on top of the dress shirt. Pushing at the inside of ankles, the blond was rewarded when Ezra knowingly spread his legs allowing Chris to slide his still very much clothed body to slide between them. He felt calves wrap around him as he brought their groins, one naked one clothed, together again.

“ Chris…clothes…off.” For an incredibly verbose man, Ezra’s vocabulary dropped to nothing given the proper provocation. Warm hands were at his own tie in an instant, and Chris allowed them to pull it over his head before catching the rogue appendages once more. They were returned to their position on the bed, much to their owner’s frustration.

“ Chri-is.”

“ I’m getting there.” Chris promised, unbuttoning his shirt all the way down as quickly as he could. Ezra surged up, ready to worship the body appearing before him, but Chris stopped un-tucking his shirt long enough to push his lover’s shoulders once more back against the bed. Efficiently, he finished un-tucking and then shrugged from the shirt and threw it carelessly off the bed.

“ Chris, please. Want to touch.” Ezra squirmed, this time from trying to keep his hands on the bed where his lover wanted them.

“ My turn to love you.” Chris responded, laying on top the other man in order to bring their lips together for another searing kiss. Tongues entangled together, and Chris let his hand wander over chest and sides. He plucked at the nipples, swallowing Ezra’s gasps as the sensitive little nubs were tweaked. Finally, both men regretfully needed to breathe.

“ Inside me.” Ezra begged, his words nearly unintelligible except that Chris had gotten used to the induced heavy accent. Nearly two years of practice could do that.

“ In time.” He assured, earning a vehement head shake from his lover.

“ NOW.” The younger man thrust upwards, bringing their heated cocks into delicious friction, even with Chris’ pants still a barrier between them.

“ I still have to remove clothing, baby.” Chris teased, moving his hand in slow motion towards his own belt.

“ Just open the damn zipper.” Ezra’s command lost strength when it came out half-strangled with frustrated, desperate lust.

“ Really?” Chris did just that though, reaching into his pants to free his own leaking cock. It was oddly…arousing to feel so debauched.

“ Gods yes. You in me. Now.” As if to encourage him, Ezra rubbed their erections together, and the older man felt his eyes threaten to roll back in his head. He reached for the lube in the bedside drawer, long able to find it quickly by feel alone. Having retrieved the necessary tube, it was only a moment longer before Chris had one slick finger buried inside his lover. Ezra arched upwards with each new finger that was added, and for just a second Chris’ reasonable mind told him that his lover would be sore in the morning for all his efforts.

“Now Chris. Nownownownownownownownownow, AH DIO!” Chris drove home, burying himself inside his beautiful firecracker as the younger man threw his head back into the pillows. Unable to stay still long, Chris began thrusting, quickly picking up the pace until he was driving rapidly in and out of Ezra’s body. He reached in between their bodies, and wrapped his left hand around his southerner’s weeping cock. He stroked it in time with his thrusts, watching the irises disappear from Ezra’s eyes as they rolled completely back once more. One more stroke should…the undercover’s whole body went suddenly rigid, his head buried against the pillow but the rest of his upper body bowed tightly off the bed. He maintained that position until the last spurt of cum splattered onto their bellies, and then he fell back gasping. Chris was only an instant later in reaching his own release, losing himself in his lover.

He came back to himself a few moments later, still laying across Ezra, his chin resting on the other man’s shoulder while fingers threaded through his hair gently. He could hear the lulling thumps from his lover’s heart, and if he wasn’t somewhat uncomfortable with the current location of his zipper, Chris would have been content to stay right where he was until the end of his days. As it was, he pulled back from his lover regretfully.

“ Where’re-”

“ Pants.” Chris answered, interrupting. He quickly shed the offending article of clothing, as well as his boxers before sliding back into his lovers arms, if this time a bit to the side rather than directly on top of the smaller man.

“ I love you, Christopher Larabee.”

“ Love you too, baby.” There was a heavy sigh from Ezra, and Chris quickly looked up, concerned. For someone who should have been basking in an afterglow from mind-blowing sex, he was looking far too serious.

“ What’s wrong?”

“ Nothing. That’s just it.”

“ Hmmmm. I’m not sure I follow.”

“ Everything is wonderful, I almost feel this is too good to be true.”

“ I know without a doubt this is real, Ezra. Its been real for nearly two years now.”

“ Sometimes, I close my eyes and try to pretend this is nothing more than a passing thing like all the ones before. But I never can. This feels like forever, Chris. I can’t live without you anymore.”

“ I know. I know, baby.”

“ Thank you.”

“ For what?”

“ Loving me. I always thought I…that I’d never be in love this way. I never thought I could deserve it. I always assumed I’d die alone and un-mourned.” Chris nearly glared at his love for that, but restrained himself. Ezra had grown up passed from place to place, and Maude was not the type to worry about making sure her young son felt worthy of her attention and love, or that of others.

“ Baby-”

“ You changed that Chris. Because now, I don’t think I will.” Chris didn’t respond, just placed a gentle kiss on his firecracker’s lips and settled back in for the night. Tomorrow would bring new problems and stresses, but for tonight, the world could recede and just leave two lovers to enjoy each other’s arms.

The End
Continues in Living With Memories

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