by Sammy Girl
Ezra agreed to meet Buck at his apartment that evening. Ezra had a spacious corner apartment in one of the best residential areas of the city. That Ezra had a private income and a large portfolio was common knowledge. Even so Buck always felt a little out of place in the immaculate apartment, with its inches deep pile carpets, and white leather couches and antique dinning table and chairs. That little voice inside Buck that told him he was out of his class nagged at him. But he did love Ezra, he was more sure of it every minute of every hour that passed. By the time he was ringing Ezra's doorbell his stomach was in a knot, it didn't help that he hadn't really eaten for a couple of days and not at all that day."Hi," he said in a neutral tone as his host opened the door.
Silently, Ezra stepped aside so he could step into the apartment. Buck stood nervously in the living room gazing out through the huge glass doors over the balcony to the city beyond with its backdrop of mountains. There was no invitation to sit, no offer of a drink as Standish closed the door and came in. What he did do was toss a plain manila envelope onto the glass coffee table.
"What's that?" Buck asked.
"Why don't you take a look?" The invitation was tossed out curtly, the anger barely covered by simple civility.
Reluctantly, Buck stooped to pick up the offered documents, he just knew he wasn't going to like what he found. He didn't. Inside were a dozen eight by ten colour photos of a couple - eating in a restaurant, holding hands over the table, sharing a dessert, embracing in the car lot, kissing in the car, entering an apartment building and, most damming, the man at the apartment window, shirtless, drawing the curtains. He was the man.
"I didn't ask for fidelity, you offered it. But, I did expect you to keep that promise." Ezra stated coldly. "I think you should leave now."
"How the hell did you get these?" Buck demeaned to know, making no attempt to move.
"That's got nothing to do with it, please leave my home." Ezra stepped back to the door and held it open.
"The hell it doesn’t! You been spying on me? Who do you think you are? I trusted you, I promised you I wouldn't look at anyone else while we were together and you didn't believe me!" Buck was now pacing angrily. "You had someone follow me? You accuse me of betrayal? What the hell is this, if not betrayal, all I asked was that you trust me, and you spy on me?"
For a moment Ezra was going to answer, but he didn't - why should he? He had nothing to explain.
"This is pointless, I should have known it couldn't work." With that Wilmington strode out through the open door; which Ezra slammed it behind him.
<><><><><><><>
Buck was mad as hell. His temper, while rarely seen, was intense and even violent once unleashed. He knew he was close to losing it with Ezra and his only option was to leave before something happened that he would always regret. Even as he got into his truck he could feel his anger dissipating. That was the way it always was, it was as sudden and violent as a summer storm and was over as fast, but in its wake was desolation. He sat in the cab of the truck in lonely silence, feeling more alone than he ever had. He, like Ezra, was no stranger to betrayal, but unlike Ezra he had tried not to let it colour the way he viewed the world. Buck, the eternal optimist, always told himself the actions of one or two people shouldn't colour his view of the rest of the world. Now he wasn't so sure.
He looked at his hands and found them shaking. He hadn't had many serious relationships, none with men, and he'd never told anyone he loved them, the intensity of the emotions was all but overwhelming him. He had believed Ezra when he said he loved him, there had only been two other people who told Buck Wilmington they loved him and mean it, his Ma and Adam Larabee and they were both dead, taken from him violently and much too soon. He had lived without that kind of love all these years, until three short, wonderful weeks ago, when a friend, a man he already cared deeply for, became so much more then a friend.
And now? Now it was slipping away from him, like sand running through his fingers.
"Oh Ezra, why didn't you just trust me?" he lamented as tears ran down his cheeks.
<><><><><><><>
"Larabee," Chris answered the phone breathlessly after sprinting in from the barn.
"Um, hi Chris it's JD. Have you seen Buck?"
Instantly a warning bell went of in Chris' head. "No, why?"
"Well he didn't come home last night so I reckoned he's sorted it out with his girl or found someone else, you know Buck, he's always …"
"JD, get to the point," Chris cut in.
"Well the cops called, they found his truck abandoned on the side of the highway this morning, it was out of gas, but there's no sign of Buck, I was just hoping?"
"No I haven't seen him, what's happening now?"
"Well, one of the cop's is gonna take me out to the truck with a can of gas and I'll bring it back here. I've checked all the hospitals and the saloon, but there's no sign of him."
"Ok, give me the truck's location, and tell the cops to stay away from it, I'll call Vin and Nathan, get them to meet us there, see what they can find"
As soon as he'd hung up on JD, Chris called Ezra on his cell phone, but it was switched off, then he called his apartment but the answer machine was on. That didn't necessarily mean the man wasn't in, he habitually turned it on at the weekend.
"Standish, if you're there pick up … look all I want to know is, is Buck there? JD's worried about him. Ezra? Damn it man, pick up." But there was no repose. Next he called Josiah, feeling slightly guilty, the older man could only just have reached his own home.
"Miss me already?" the deep baritone voice said, clearly having recognised the incoming number.
"Of course, but actually I need you to go round to Standish and see if Buck's there." Chris went on to explain the rest.
"I'll call you when I know something. Be a good boy and play nice," he added playfully.
"Yes dad, I'll call you if we find him."
<><><><><><><>
Sanchez didn't live far from Ezra and was outside his apartment within fifteen minutes. He rang the doorbell, no response, he rang again, still no response. The Jag was in the garage, he'd checked that before he went up to the top floor apartment. Then he banged on the door, huge fists pounding on the door.
"Standish! Open up," he bellowed.
It took three attempts and at least one curious neighbour sticking their head out of the next door apartment before the undercover agent appeared at the door.
"What is so important that you have to disturb my Saturday lie-in Mr Sanchez?" Ezra asked, glaring balefully up at Sanchez. He was dressed only in a silk robe, his hair unbrushed and the faint smell of stale whisky on his breath.
"Is Buck here?" Josiah asked, seeing no point in beating about the bush.
"No, why the hell should he be?" There were no fancy words, and the anger was clear to any one who happened to be listening.
"I'm just checking, JD can't find him. You didn't answer when Chris called, that's all. Look my cell is short on battery power, mind if I use your phone to call him?" Sanchez lied smoothly.
"Oh, well I guess not." Standish stepped aside to let him enter.
That Ezra had been drinking was clear, there was an open, and all but empty, bottle of bourbon on the coffee table, the cap still had the freshly torn paper tab on the side, so it had been full when he started drinking. The state of the couch indicated Standish might have slept there for at least some of the night.
"Why are you looking for him?" Ezra asked as Josiah headed for the phone.
Sanchez explained briefly. "Well he will no doubt turn up. Mr Wilmington is exceptionally good at looking after himself, I'm going to get dressed."
Sanchez sighed, as he sat down and picked up the hands free set. "I'm getting too old for this," he commented to himself as he dialled.
Once he had made the call, he sat back, only then did he spot the corner of the brown envelope under the other couch. He stretched down and pulled it out. For some time he debated what to do. Oh hell, ethics be damned, he commented silently, and took a look inside.
He was still looking at the pictures when Ezra returned.
"What the hell do you think you're doing?" he demanded angrily.
Most people would have panicked, blustered, put the offending pictures down hastily, but not Josiah. He sat there calmly regarding the images of Buck Wilmington doing what he did best - romancing a beautiful woman - and his angry young friend. Josiah had always had somewhat paternal feelings toward Ezra, seeing him as a lost soul adrift in the world.
"Oh Ezra," he said sympathetically, "Is this what it has all been about, the bad feelings between you and Buck, the sudden silences, the black looks and frantic e-mails?"
Ezra walked into the room, and took the pictures from Sanchez's hand.
"I have no idea what you are talking about sir, are you finished?" he asked.
"I am, but I'm not going anywhere, this needs to be resolved Ezra, it's effecting your work, Chris wants it sorted out."
"Chris? What gives him the right?"
"He's the boss, that is what gives him the right, if two members of his team are involved in a 'relationship' and it's affecting their work, he has the right to interfere."
"What the hell are you insinuating, that Mr Wilmington and I … ? That I am gay? How dare you!"
"Oh for God sake Ezra stop it! I know you're gay, Chris knows you're gay, for all I know all the others know. Ezra, it doesn’t matter, Chris doesn’t mind, I don't mind, it just isn't an issue. I don't know about the others, but I'm willing to bet they don't mind either. And I know about Buck. So what am I expected to think? JD says there is someone new in Buck's life, but he's not talking, then it's over. You're both suddenly not speaking and as miserable as sin. You won't come to the saloon, Buck's not eating, you two are e-mailing each other and exchanging meaningful looks. Please, give me some credit here. Sit down man, and tell me what's going on." His voice softened. "Come on, maybe I can help?"
Ezra didn't move, he just stood there staring.
"Did he promise to give up women for you? Then he went back on his word?" Sanchez gestured to the pictures. "He betrayed your trust?"
Finally Ezra nodded.
<><><><><><><>
JD was already at the roadside beside Buck's stranded truck when a convoy of Team Seven vehicles turned up. Chris' Ram, followed by Nathan's SUV and finally Vin's old Jeep.
"So how long do the cops think the truck's been here?" Chris asked JD.
"Well they had the first report at about six this morning, but they didn't investigate 'till nearly nine."
"Typical," Vin commented.
Nathan was already looking over the truck.
"You find anything?" Chris called.
"He had a gas can in the back, but it's gone," Nathan informed them, sniffing the residue he found on his fingers.
"Gone where?" JD asked looking around.
"There." Vin pointed out across the apparently empty scrub-land beside the highway.
Chris came to stand beside the sharpshooter and raised his binoculars.
"Ya see it, old man?" Tanner teased.
"Gas station on another road?"
"Yup."
"You sure you ain't part eagle? How the hell did you see that?"
Vin just smiled. "Trade secret."
"But I can't see it without glasses, could Buck?" Chris asked.
"He could at night, if it was lit up," Nathan speculated.
"So he was here earlier than six and set out to walk to the gas station?" JD asked.
"Reckon so, but once you get into that hollow yonder," Tanner pointed toward a slight dip in the ground ahead of them. "… you won't be able to see the other road or the gas station."
"There's no way Buck could see that hollow in the dark," JD pointed out, suddenly getting worried.
They set out to track Buck, with Vin in the lead searching for tracks. It took about half an hour for the Texan to pick up the trail, it was faint at first, just the odd boot print in on the sun baked ground, occasional broken twigs. To start with it lead in a straight line, toward the gas station, then it began to stray to the left, then weave about all over the place. The trail became clearer, Buck had begun to walk straight through the bushes not around them and the trail was now leading back to the highway rather than toward the gas station on the other road. It took two hours in total to locate their missing team member. He was lying on his side under a sage bush, and for a moment they all thought the worst, as Nathan rushed forward.
"Buck," he called, giving the huddled figure a little shake. "… you hear me? Come on open your eyes for me." He shook him again.
"Mmm?" Buck muttered.
"Come on man, time to wake up," Nathan breathed with relief.
"Asleep! He's just asleep?" JD asked incredulously.
The other two just looked on as the tall man sat up stiffly, he gazed around himself squinting in the bright sunlight. But Nathan was concerned when he didn't speak and continued to look dazed.
"Buck?" Nathan tried to get his attention. "Come on look at me buddy."
Confused and unfocused eyes finally zeroed in on Nathan. "Nate?"
"Yeah, you okay?"
Buck frowned, looked over at the other three and started to get up, but only made it half way up before his knees gave out.
"Whoa there big guy, just sit down here a moment." Nathan pulled his first aid kit from his shoulder. They could all see the cuts and grazes Buck had picked up stumbling around in the dark, but they were all minor, Nathan would have been happy to leave the small wounds alone until he got Buck back to civilisation. Now he pulled out a small hand held blood sugar monitor. "Buck I'm just gonna prick your finger - okay?"
Wilmington didn't respond and seemed more than a little dazed, he didn't react, nor did he resist when Nathan took his hand and using an automatic 'pen' pricked his little finger and used the small balloon of blood that welled up to smear a test strip, which he inserted into the monitor. There were a few bleeps then the reading appeared.
"Oh shit!" Nathan swore. "Vin, JD, either of you two got some candy on you?"
"Candy?" they echoed.
"Yer, come on, his blood sugar's on the floor."
Vin and JD instantly thrust their hands in their pockets, coming up with some M&M's and a rather squashed Twinky.
Buck had begun to sink back down to the ground, and it took JD holding him up and Nathan chivvying and encouraging, to get him to eat the sugar laden candy. Vin ran back to his Jeep, where he had some Coke, and Chris moved the Ram up the highway so that it was closer to Buck. The Coke worked fast and finally Buck began to react to the men around him. Supported by Nathan and Chris they got him back to the Ram.
"Does he need to go to hospital?" Chris asked.
"I'm fine," Buck protested from the cab, were he sat, head supported by the seat, eyes closed.
"Famous last words," Nathan commented. "Can you take him back the ranch? I'll follow you and check him out there, we'll see then."
The Team Seven convoy set out now with Buck's truck in the line and relocated to Chris' place. Once there, Nathan made Buck drink some more soda and eat most of a pack of cookies he'd instructed Vin to purchase on route. He cleaned and where necessary dressed Wilmington's many small wounds and stood over him while he ate a meal of pasta that Chris had made before he let him go back to sleep.
"Well?" Larabee asked as Jackson came out of the guestroom, closing the door quietly behind him.
"If he can stay here today and tonight, rest, plenty of sugary fluids and high carbohydrate food, then I don't think he needs to go to hospital. I'll come over tomorrow and check him out," the medic explained.
"No problem, I'll take care of it."
Once the others had left, Chris picked up his messages, there was one from Josiah.
"I'm at Ezra's, heads need to be knocked together - or rather one head needs to be knocked, call me at Ezra's as soon as you get this."
Chris looked over at the closed door to the guestroom. "Damn Buck, what did you do?"
<><><><><><><>
After a few hours sleep, some sandwiches and juice Buck was feeling - apart from being a bit stiff and sore - fine, well enough for Chris to confront him with the Ezra situation. He didn't deny the relationship but that was as far as it went.
"What ever is going on between us, is just that, between us. You do not have the right to interfere!"
"Yes I do, you're both on my team and it's affecting your work. Look, what happened to you last night, what if that had happened while we were on a bust or stake out? God forbid it happened while you were undercover. This has to be settled and now. Ezra is coming over and it will be settled one way or another."
Wilmington fumed. Who the hell did Chris think he was - his father? Well Buck Wilmington had never had a father and he as hell sure didn't need one now.
"You're out of line Chris, way out of line. We're friends, you’re my boss, end of story. My personal life is just that, mine and no one else's - got it! I am going home, if Nate wants to see me send him to my place."
With that he stormed out, only to walk straight into Sanchez, coming in. One large hand landed squarely in his chest and propelled him back into the house.
"Oh no, you don't leave now," he announced.
"The hell I don't." Buck made to move past Sanchez. Only to be blocked again. "Stay out of this preacher," he ground out, yet even as he spoke, he could hear the Jag pull into the driveway. "Ezra?" he all but whispered. Now as he went toward the door Sanchez didn't try to stop him.
Standish stood beside the car making no move to close the gap between himself and the man who had betrayed him. Yet he couldn't help but see the scratches on that handsome face, and despite his anger he had been distressed to hear about Buck's collapse, now he could see the injuries it brought it home to him. Despite everything he couldn't bear the idea of losing Buck, he was haunted by the thought that, theoretically, Buck could have died.
"You okay?" he asked.
"I'm fine."
Chris and Josiah followed Buck out. Sanchez walked on until he stood between the two men. "You," he looked at Buck, "will listen to him, without interrupting and then he," he looked at Ezra, "will listen to you, - though what you are going to say I don't know."
"And until you get this sorted out, one way or another, you're both suspended," Chris informed them.
"What!" Buck turned to face his boss. "You can't justify that!"
"Yes I can, so listen and talk, both of you."
<><><><><><><>
Once the two older men had retreated inside, Buck and Ezra stood in silence. Finally it was Wilmington who gestured to the barn.
Once inside they greeted their mounts, it was what they normally did, both of them taking solace in the unconditional affection the horse bestowed on them. Max's large grey head almost instantly began to nod, he eyes half closed in bliss as Buck stood be for him stroking both sides of his powerful neck. Chaucer was more demanding, snuffling at Ezra's pockets for a treat, a treat he didn't have.
"I'm sorry my fine friend I have no gift for you today," Standish whispered.
Even as he was speaking a hand appeared beside him, it held a few pellets of dry horse feed.
"Thank you," he said softly as he took the food for his horse.
"I'm listening," Buck said equally softly, as Ezra continued to fondle the now placated Chaucer
Ezra didn't look at Buck as he began to speak. "I didn't take the pictures, nor did I employ anyone to take them, I did not, nor would I ever spy on you," he started. "When Special Agent Parker returned of our pre court meeting, he brought them with him. He was most amused that it was you he had captured on film."
Ezra remembered vividly the look of amused glee on Parker's face as he pulled the pictures out. He seemed genuinely thrilled that is sideline as a professional snoop had caught the infamous Buck Wilmington in 'action'. It had taken every ounce of Ezra's professional skill to stop the emotions showing. To not give the obnoxious little weasel the satisfaction of even one reaction.
"What the hell are the FBI taking pictures of me for!" Buck demanded to know.
"Calm down, they're not, Parker was, on his own. A friend of his, a fraternity brother I believe." Ezra all but shuddered, Parker had ask him if he had pledged in college. The mere idea of pledging had been out of the question for young Ezra, there was no way he could have lived in a frat house with all that that entailed, the very idea was quite horrifying. "He asked Parker, who is something of an expert in photography, to find out if his wife, who is also his partner in a law firm, was having an affair. Seems she is - doesn’t it?" he accused, finally turning to look at Buck.
"It's not what it looks like …" Buck stared angrily.
"Really, to me they look like they are the pictures of you with a married woman not seven days ago in Colorado Springs. What does it look like to you?"
"It's complicated."
"Complicated? I've never heard it called that. Base, primeval, lewd, common, but not complicated."
"Please, it's not what you think," Buck persisted.
"Oh don't tell me, it meant nothing, it was just sex, you don't love her, she means nothing to you, you love me."
"I do love you, I do. But she doesn’t mean nothing to me, if she did I wouldn't have done what I did." Ezra hadn't expected that, he was expecting the denial. "Her name is Fiona, Fiona Wayland, well it is now, when I first knew her it was Fiona Kelly, my Irish rose." He looked at Ezra, begging not so much for forgiveness, as for a chance to tell his side of the story. Those eyes could melt the stoniest heart, and Ezra was no exception.
"Well you had better explain it to me," he offered.
"Fiona and I met while I was a cop, she was a public defender, we went out a few times, then she got a better job and moved to Colorado Springs. If I was there or she was here we used to get together, just for fun - that was all."
"You mean sex," Ezra clarified.
"Yeah, sex. Look, Ezra, it isn't like you don't know me, before …us, I dated - a lot. I know dozens of women who I have - used to have - occasional fun sex with, that all it was, two adults having fun. Fiona was one of them, up until about five years ago."
"What happened?"
"She met a guy, another lawyer, it was serious - David Wayland. They got married two years ago, gave up their jobs and opened their own law practice. That’s when it all went wrong. Once they were married he changed, he became fanatically possessive, an obsessive freak. He tried to stop her going out without him, he wouldn't pass on messages from her friends, he even hid her personal mail. Would you believe he told her mother, her own mother, she wasn't welcome in their home?" Ezra had heard of similar cases and he knew well with what regard Buck held all mothers, even - God help him - Maude. "So six months ago she left him, packed her bags and left, even though half the house is hers. But he won't accept it. He calls her all the time, he's been stalking her, hanging around her new apartment, talking to her friends as if nothing has happened. He won't give her a divorce, won't buy out her half of the practice or let her sell it, same with the house, doesn’t even reply to letters, if she calls him or speaks to him in person, he just ignores what she's saying and carries on talking about the something else. She doesn’t want to take out a restraining order if she can help it, it doesn’t look good if you’re a lawyer and you can't sort out your own disputes. So she asked me to help her. She was sure he was following her or having someone follow her, so we put on a show for them. Prove to David that she really had broken up with him, shatter his delusion that she would come back. All her savings are in the law practice, she's liable for half a mortgage on a house she doesn’t live in. What could I do, say no?"
He looked at Ezra, pleading silently with him to understand and believe him.
"So you're saying the pictures are all a lie?" Standish asked.
"All of it, I spotted the guy with the camera, he was good, but not that good." Buck was a surveillance expert. It dawned on Ezra he should have considered that. The pictures were of such a quality that the photographer must have been relatively close. That an expert like Buck hadn't noticed someone taking pictures of him so openly, was unlikely at best, in all honesty impossible. "I slept on the couch I swear," Buck assured.
"Why didn't you tell me about all this when it happened?" Ezra asked.
"I didn't even think about it, I had to go to Colorado Springs anyway - you remember the consult on the weapons the cops found?"
Ezra had forgotten that, the local police had found a cache of arms in a house they had broken into when the owner died. Some they couldn't identify, some had been modified, they had asked for an ATF agent to come down and look at them, Buck was assigned the job.
"It was just lucky that it all worked out so conveniently, that’s all. I came back in the morning, went to work - in all honesty, I think you're the reason I didn't mention it, too busy thinking about you love."
"Did she?" Ezra seemed to be floundering. "Did you tell her, about … us?"
Buck smiled, the old twinkle back in his eyes. "Yeah I did, think I bored her, you were all I talked about."
"What did she say?"
"She was happy for us, told me to get a move on and not let you slip away." Buck took a step closer. "We both jumped to conclusions, and we didn't trust each other, forgive me?"
Now it was Ezra who closed the distance between them. "Only if you forgive me, I was the one who jumped to conclusions, if I had just asked you, this could all have been avoided. We have lost so much time." He reached up one soft, sensitive finger to trace the worse of the scratches on Buck's cheek.
"I guess what they say about degrees of separation," Buck commented, revelling in the Ezra's caress. "…is right."
"In what way?"
"You know Parker, he knows Wayland, Wayland is married to Fiona, I know Fiona, you love me."
"That’s only five degrees of separation, there are meant to be six."
"We're over-achievers."
"Do you really love me?"
"Oh yes, more and more each day."
By now they were so close they could feel each other breathing, Buck's hand was caressing Ezra's cheek, his fingers mirroring Ezra's, then he lowered his head joining his lips with Ezra's, which rose to meet him. Hands roamed freely as they kissed, exploring backs, hips, asses, chests. Buck's large fingers moved with surprising sensitivity and skill, slipping inside Ezra's shirt, revelling in the contact, feeling Ezra's heart beat through his palm as it rested over his chest. He felt the nipple under his hand harden as his other hand also moved under the shirt to trace Standish's spine. In response to this stimulation Ezra arched his back, pressing his body closer to Buck's. His hands ran up to Wilmington's head, carding through his luxuriant hair, keeping Buck's lips on his.
Buck was now hard, his erection pressing painfully against his jeans. Letting the hand on Ezra's back drift down and around he shamelessly cupped Ezra through his linen pants. Standish was hard, his lose pants and boxers doing little to hide it. In response Ezra moaned, gasping in a breath before he sought out the lips of the man he loved once more. Hands were becoming increasingly fanatic and bold; shirts were unbuttoned, even ripped to gain more mutual contact. Buck was just slipping his hand into the top of Ezra's pants when Chaucer, tired of being ignored, made his presence felt by head butting Buck in the side, to force him away from his master and claim some attention for himself.
Both men burst out laughing. "You sir," Ezra addressed his mount. "…are a green eyed monster."
"Maybe he's telling us something? Maybe we need to move this someplace else," Buck suggested.
Ezra moved into Buck, letting his own hand roaming over Wilmington's bulging crotch. "Can you hang on 'till we get to my place?" he asked.
"Oh yes, I have a lot of self-control, believe me," Buck boasted.
"I do. We best tell the others we have resolved our differences before we leave, otherwise Mr Sanchez will be likely to do you a physical injury."
"Me? What did I do to Josiah?"
Ezra looked a little sheepish. "I told him my troubles, he can be most persuasive and understanding."
"And righteous?"
"Indeed."
"Guess I better tell him he doesn't need to knock my block off just yet."
"I'll go ahead and get things ready," Ezra all but purred, trailing a hand across Buck's lips and down his arm as he headed for his car.
With a spring in his step and eager to head out after Ezra, Buck mounted the steps to the house two at a time, and not bothering to knock opened the door, only to stop dead in his tracks, mouth hanging open in stunned shock. There stood Josiah, his huge hands either side of Chris' jaw, tilting the blonde's head up. Chris' hands hung limp at his sides, as Sanchez guided his mouth to meet his.
"Well you sly old devils you," Wilmington commented loudly, causing the lovers to pull away suddenly.
"Buck," Chris growled dangerously.
"Oh don't worry, I ain't gonna tell anyone, well 'cept Ez. We're okay now, by the way, so we're off to his place for some hot sex. You two … you carry on, don't let me stop you," he added with a wink.
With that he was gone, leaving the two of them alone.
"Oh shit," Chris finally commented.
"You think he knows, I mean really knows?" Josiah finally asked.
"Are you kidding, this is Buck we're talking about. If you could take sex as a major in college, he'd be a professor by now!"
"Shit."
"Yeah."
<><><><><><><>
By the time Buck made it to Ezra's the bedroom drapes were closed, candles were lit around the room and Ezra was there in the bed, apparently naked. Buck stood in the doorway breathing heavily, drinking in the luscious sight before him.
"Are you going to just stand there or join me?" Standish asked.
"I, um, yeah, that is, I need a shower, I'll …I'll just be few minuets," Buck stammered out, moving slowly toward the bathroom door, reluctant to lose the vision that was Ezra.
Once in the gleaming white and chrome bathroom he made good use of the shower, noting with amusement the additional 'attachment' that had appeared. By the time he returned to the bedroom he was clean and freshly shaved, and naked, he didn't see any need for false modesty.
"Oh my," Ezra gasped.
Naked and fully erect, Buck did tend to have that effect on people and he knew it. As Buck neared the bed, Ezra sat up, the fine, crisp cotton sheets falling away to show off his own, finely chiselled body, his weeping erection jutting out at ninety degrees, from a nest of thick chestnut curls. He wasn't as long or thick as his lover, but his cock was a good length, beautifully formed and proportioned, the skin smooth and unblemished by prominent veins.
"So beautiful," Buck commented as he dropped to his knees.
"Come my love." Ezra reached out to Buck, coaxing him onto the bed. Buck allowed himself to be pushed down to lie across the bed, gazing up at Ezra as the smaller man ran a tantalising finger over his naked form, finger toying with his sparse chest hair.
Ezra reached out to the light of his life, dipping down for a long slow kiss, breaking away only to breathe, then his lips were moving, mapping, claiming, sucking, nibbling. His eager mouth found a nipple and began to suck it; his tongue circled the erect little nub. Buck was writhing, his body bathed in perspiration. Ezra moved with his lover, not once losing contact with the shuddering body he craved. As Buck lay there Ezra let his kisses trail down his body, until he encountered the principal object of his desire. With only one or two gentle caresses, just to let his partner know he was there, he took the tip into his hot, skilled mouth.
It had been a long time since he had given head, but it was like riding a bike, you never forgot how. What he had forgotten was how much he liked doing it. He liked the feel of the pulsating member in his mouth, he loved the taste of a clean cock - Buck's was scrupulously clean - and he even liked the taste of the bitter salty cum. He loved to give pleasure, to feel he had control over his partner. He was never going to be able to take all of Buck in his mouth; he was just too big, so he cupped his hands around the bottom half of the engorged penis, moving his hands in time with his mouth. Buck had been close before Ezra even touched him, and it took very stimulation before he was coming. Feet braced on the bed, hips bucking up to meet Ezra's wonderful long pulls, shooting long, powerful geysers of cum into Ezra's eager mouth, were every drop was swallowed.
Buck wasn't a vocal lover, at least when he was the one being loved, he moaned, sighed, gasped, but he rarely spoke. Ezra looked up, licking his lips with deliberate slowness.
"Buck?" he enquired worriedly, concerned the virtual silence was a reflection of his performance.
"Mmm?" Buck responded dreamily, as Ezra moved up the bed to lie beside him.
"Was that okay? I mean I haven't done it in a while…"
"Oh man, okay? That was way better than okay, that was amazing. God, I love you." Yet Buck could still see doubt in Ezra's eyes. "Believe me lover, that was mind blowing. I know … I know I don't say much, no shouting and pleading, it's just the way I am." He shrugged.
Ezra suddenly saw a whole new side to Buck. Here was Buck 'Stud' Wilmington, a man to whom sex as practically an Olympic sport, confessing to failure. Believing there was something wrong with him sexually.
"No my love, do not apologise, we all have our little quirks, I have learned one of yours, you will learn mine, that is what a relationship is all about - is it not?"
"Yes." Buck sighed happily and raised his head to kiss Ezra, tasting his own seed on Ezra's lips. "Let me learn how to make you happy, tell me what you want."
Ezra blushed, smiling coyly.
"Tell me."
"I don't mind, what ever you do will be wonderful."
"Ezra."
"I …I want to be in you," he finally admitted.
"God, I thought you'd never ask."
"You mean you want to? You bottom? I some how imagined, being bi, you'd only want to top"
Buck couldn't believe Ezra could be so naive. He sat up, pulling Ezra with him. Sitting face to face he held his younger lover by the shoulders. "Ezra I switch, but I love to bottom, why wouldn't I? It's the one thing I can't do with a woman, and right now I want you in me in the worst way. Reckon you could help a guy out here?"
A smile as wide as the Grand Canyon split Standish's face, he pulled away from Buck and all but tore open the draw beside the bed, pulling out a condom and a tube of lube. Before he could react Buck had grabbed the condom in one hand, and his dick in the other. With a few deft strokes his erection, which had been flagging, was back to its ramrod straight best. Showing a degree of skill that spoke of an inordinate amount of practice, Buck opened the foil pack and rolled on the condom so fast Ezra was barely aware what had happened. Then he was kneeling in front of Ezra ginning like a loon.
Ezra didn't move or speak; he just sat there stunned.
"Ez? Love, you do know how to do this? Don't you?" Buck asked, suddenly afraid he'd been too eager. The truth was he hadn't been fucked in years and was really looking forward it.
"Oh, um yes, God yes, I mean it's been a while, but yes." He uncapped the lube. "How do you like to, you know?"
Considering this clearly wasn't going to be a long slow fuck, and they were both a little out of practice, Buck decided simple was best, so he rolled over on to his hands an knees. "Come on Ez," he encouraged, "take me!"
Swallowing with equal measures of trepidation and excitement, Ezra moved behind Buck. He ran a warm hand over the small of Buck's long back, while Buck looked over his shoulder at him smiling. With hands that were trembling he managed to squeeze out some lube on to his hand and coat his sheathed member in it before he coated his fingers. Then praying he wouldn't come too soon or hurt Buck he let one finger trail down between Buck's invitingly spread ass cheeks and over the puckered opening. There he hesitated.
"Please Ezra, do it," Buck pleaded.
Standish took courage from his lover's confidence and obvious need and pushed his finger in smoothly. In response Wilmington's back arched and he gasped. Ezra moved his finger back and then pressed forward again, seeking out that special spot within Buck. It took a few strokes, but when Buck gasped and his whole body shuddered he knew he'd found it. He still found Buck's near silence unnerving, but he reminded himself it was just the way Buck was. He eased the finger out then pushed back, adding a second finger, moving them around, though in truth Buck was already fairly relaxed.
Buck looked over his shoulder again, grinning. "Go for it Ez," he encouraged.
Thus encouraged, Standish pulled his fingers back and replaced them with the tip of his cock, which was now so swollen and aching it was becoming painful. Hesitantly he pushed forward, forcing himself not to stop when he felt Buck hiss as the muscle ring was passed. That's normal, nearly always happens, he reassured himself, as he pressed on.
"Oh God Buck, so tight, so hot," he gasped out.
Buck was flying, this was what he wanted, this feeling of being filled, the internal fireworks every time his prostate was hit, being loved, really loved, some how sex with love was so much more intense then sex for fun.
"Move, please," he managed to cry out.
Ezra had been happy to just revel in the feeling of being inside his lover, of the intimate contact with the man he loved. Now he began to move, thrusting back and forth, gently as first then faster and faster. On instinct Ezra reached around and took hold of Buck's cock. He had expected it to be soft and flaccid, after all he'd only just come about ten minutes before, so he was surprised to find it semi hard. Buck moaned as he pushed back against Ezra's thrusts, craving deeper penetration.
"Oh God yes, do it Buck, move for me," Ezra pleaded, as each push sent shock waves of pleasure to his cock. "Oh God Buck, oh God, oh my Lord, I'm gonna ….!" And with that he came. His release was stronger and more powerful then he had ever experienced before. He collapsed forward, supported on Wilmington's broad back, barely awake.
Ezra's hand, wrapped around Wilmington's rapidly swelling member had been moving on automatic, he was barley aware of it. But that friction and the pounding of his prostate had brought Buck to full harness, and in the dying seconds of Ezra's climax he came for the second time. His orgasm coincided with Ezra's weight suddenly coming down on his back, warm, and heavy, and comforting. The release coursed through his very soul, his whole body trembled, his heaving chest making Ezra's limp body rise and fall as he lay draped over Wilmington.
"Ezra? Ezra?" he finally gasped out softly.
"Mmm?"
"You can let go now."
It took Ezra a few seconds to realise that he was still holding his lover's penis as he lay draped over his back.
"Just let go and lay beside me," Buck coached in a calm but firm voice.
In his dazed state Standish willingly followed instructions. Releasing the cock and letting himself slide out and off his lover to lay on his side. Buck lowered himself down to lay on his side facing him.
"That was wonderful, thank you," he said softly, reaching out to brush a lock of sweat drenched hair out of glazed jade eyes. Standish blinked owlishly at him. "Was it good for you?"
"Good? Oh yes my darling, my one and only, it was so good, far, far better than anything I have ever had before and even better then I imagined it would be."
"I love you Ezra P Standish, be mine forever?"
"I will, I swear it."
Ezra managed to stave of sleep long enough to get them both cleaned up and refreshed, then they slept, together in the same bed for the first time, arms and legs entwined.
The End