Main Characters: Vin Tanner, Chris Larabee, Chris/Vin
Category: Slash (explicit)
Author's Notes: Thanks to Sassyinkpen and Spikedluv for the betas. Y'all make a great beta-ing team. :D
Vin lay quiet, but thoroughly awake. He could have slept, wanted to even, but there seemed to be danger there. Danger in the comfort of sharing a bedroll with Chris. It was better than anything Vin had ever let himself imagine. Ever let himself want. It were so good, so perfect, he could feel the ache of losing it even though it wasn't gone.Best not to have it at all, if he couldn't have it always.
He lay for a while, until the effort of staying awake was too much, then he rose, slipping out from under Chris's arm slowly so's not to wake him. Chris mumbled and rolled onto his side, wrapping the blanket tightly around himself. Vin smiled at that, who'd've thought Chris Larabee could look as peaceful and contented as a litter of rabbits all curled up in a ball.
Vin sat at the bottom of the bedroll, wrapped in a blanket, and waited for dawn. It was hours off yet, he knew, but he watched for it anyway, his gun at his side just in case there were any problems, arms crossed on his knees. Maybe he'd rest his eyes for a spell.
When dawn began to lighten the horizon and fade the stars away, Vin started listening for Chris to wake. The first restless noises weren't long in coming. Vin would have been hard pressed to explain why he was happy at that, but he was. Or would be as soon as Chris woke up and day was really here.
"You been up long?" Chris asked, maybe an hour later, his voice scratchy with sleep.
With a shrug, Vin said, "A while."
Chris sat up and tugged on the blanket wrapped around Vin's shoulders. "Lay with me. We've got some time before we need to get moving today."
With a nod, Vin let himself be guided back into Chris's arms, taking pleasure in the feel of skin on skin, the feel of Chris's strong arms around him. He hadn't known these pleasures two months ago, and now he needed them like he'd hardly ever let himself need anything in his life. Needed to feel the warmth of Chris's skin and the heat of his passion. He ducked his head, driving away fears about what would happen if this were taken away, or if he somehow forfeited it.
"Like laying next to you, cowboy," Vin said, mumbling into Chris's chest, glad that Chris couldn't see his face.
Chris ran a hand along Vin's side, cupping his hip at the end of the glide, his fingers pressing into the flesh of Vin's ass. "So why didn't you sleep?" he asked. His voice was gentle, but there was enough hardness to it that Vin knew that he weren't going to rest until he got an answer.
"Ain't never shared someone's bed for a whole night before," Vin said, simply.
Chris rubbed his thumb across the hollow of Vin's hip, just brushing the edge of his bush of hair there. "It can be uncomfortable the first few nights. Was for me and Sarah too," Chris said. There wasn't a question in his words, but Vin was sure he heard one in his voice. "It's hard to know where to put your arms."
Vin remembered wrapping his arm around Chris's waist and his skin itched with wanting. He shook his head. He spent a bit of time tracing a trail over Chris's chest with his forefinger, gathering his thoughts. After a moment he said, "Wasn't uncomfortable."
His finger hit a spot on Chris's chest, just above his right nipple, that made Chris draw a sharp breath and Vin lingered there, touching the spot again and again until Chris shuddered and his cock started to rise.
Vin leaned over and licked at that sensitive spot, watching Chris's cock twitch in response. Chris's skin tasted salty and smoky and a little dark, like the man himself. Better even than fresh, tart apples, Chris's skin was the finest thing Vin had ever tasted, he thought. Another thing he'd come to need in the last two months.
He was settling down to feast himself when Chris pushed his shoulder and rolled him back. "What?" Vin said, afraid he was snapping like Peso deprived of a sugar lump.
"If you weren't uncomfortable, why didn't you sleep?" Chris asked.
Flopping on his back, one arm landing on a sharp rock next to the bedroll, Vin said, "I told you. I ain't spent a whole night with someone before. Not since I was a boy, anyway."
Chris rolled on his side and propped his head on his hand. The dawn light caught in his eyes, bringing up the green, and the intensity. Vin looked away. "You didn't like it?" Chris asked, and his voice had an edge under the softness.
"No," Vin said, looking back into his eyes, "Liked it too much." He hoped that would be all the answer Chris needed, but he could see confusion in Chris's face, a shadow in his eyes. "It don't make sense to get to wanting something I can't have."
"Why don't you think you can have it?" Chris asked. "I thought we got that sorted last night, Vin."
Shivering with the memory of that, of the feeling of being loved right through his skin, Vin rolled back onto his side, facing Chris, their bodies almost touching along chest and thigh. Vin met Chris's eyes squarely, met the challenge in them. "Hell, Chris, we'll be in Four Corners tomorrow. And I'll be back to leaving after we lay together, so I don't get found out in your room. That's plenty hard without me knowing what it's like to sleep next to you," Vin said, showing more emotion than he felt he ought. It wasn't fair to burden Chris with his frustration, not when Chris had his own feelings about having to hide what they were doing.
Chris started to speak, but Vin rolled them so he was laying on top of Chris, pressing him in to the ground. He kissed Chris soft at first, then harder, working Chris's lips apart with his own until their tongues were gliding together, slick and hot. He kept going until he felt Chris spread his legs and welcome Vin into the hollow of his hips.
When that happened Vin left the softness of Chris's mouth, kissing along Chris's cheek to the side of his neck. Chris twisted his head to the side. Vin latched his teeth into the exposed muscles, biting and sucking as hard as he dared, then soothed the bite with his tongue. Chris rested his hand on the back of Vin's head, holding him, carding his fingers through Vin's hair, but not pushing him in any direction.
Vin smiled at that, even as he kissed his way down Chris' neck, crossing into the area covered by his shirt, where the skin was butter soft and milky white and tasted like everything he'd ever wanted in his life. Everything he'd ever needed. He continued over the strong chest, the muscles and skin rippling under his mouth as he went back to that sensitive spot he'd found earlier. Chris's breathing hitched and Vin let himself play there for a while, licking and biting and sucking until Chris was rocking underneath him, rubbing his hard cock against Vin's belly.
Vin shifted his weight and, without stopping his gentle assault on Chris's chest, brought their two cocks together in his hand. He began stropping their cocks with long slow movements. Chris twitched under him, restless. Vin lifted his head and licked his hand good, wetting it down.
He took their cocks up again, the spit on his hand slicking his movement into a smooth glide that felt like heaven. Vin groaned, then again louder when he felt Chris's cock swell in his hand, felt the shudders that were travelling through the lean body beneath him. God. Chris didn't make no noise, but Vin never did need to doubt that he liked what they did together.
Before he was lost in the mindlessness of pleasure Vin pulled away, releasing their cocks with a last lick to Chris's chest. The hand in his hair tightened and Chris almost growled, his lips pulling back off his teeth in a snarl.
"Got distracted from what I want to be doing," Vin said.
Chris licked his lips, then said, "I liked what you were doing just fine. But if you want something else, go ahead."
Vin blushed and ducked down for a quick kiss, a bare brush of lips and meeting of tongues, then went back to Chris's chest, kissing and licking his way along each of the ribs, mumbling his lips over the nut brown nipples until they rose hard under his mouth. Chris moved his hands to Vin's shoulders and gripped them tight. When Chris reached for his own cock, Vin batted his hand away and moved further down, nipping the peaks of the muscles and licking the valleys between them.
When Chris's cock bumped his chin, Vin backed away just a bit, getting a good look at the flushed length of it, proud and hard. He'd seen it, of course, but never thought about what he was about to do before. Never knew it would feel so good until Chris...he moaned in his throat, his cock jumping with the memory.
Chris tugged on a lock of Vin's hair and Vin looked up at him. "You don't need to do this just because I did."
Vin nodded. "Know that," he said, his voice thick. "Maybe I want to," he said with a smile and a wink.
Chris dropped his head back, and rested his hand again on Vin's head, gentle. Vin licked across the head, savoring the taste there. More bitter than smoky, but still tasting exactly like Chris. Chris's fingers tightened and the muscles in his belly quivered as his cock twitched toward Vin's lips. Vin moaned for both of them, and used his hand to slide back the foreskin and expose more of the head, slick with spit and Chris's own juices.
He licked and suckled, losing himself in the feel and taste of Chris in his mouth. Chris thrashed underneath him, trying to thrust but stopped by Vin's weight on his legs. Vin rubbed his cock against the blanket underneath of them, his own body demanding release. He opened his mouth a little more, until he felt that spongy cock head bumping the roof of it and moaned again.
Chris bucked hard, both hands in Vin's hair now. Vin moved a bit, just a bit, so that his cock was rubbing against Chris's leg, so much finer than the blanket, and swirled his tongue around Chris's cock, which swelled and hardened even more. He wanted this to go on, but could feel his own release coiling in his belly. Could feel Chris's balls drawing up, feel the quivering in the muscles under him as Chris fought to hold on.
Just as he was wishing Chris would let go, Chris said, "Lord, Vin," soft as a whisper, and his cock pulsed, shooting hard into Vin's mouth. Chris's words and the feel of him coming, the bittersweet flavor of it, sent Vin flying over the edge, his seed spilling on the blanket. Vin pulled his head away, swallowing the thick fluid with the feeling that he was keeping part of Chris for himself. He used his hand to gentle Chris through the last of his release, a mixture of pride and tenderness filling his heart.
Chris lay back, breathing hard, one hand soothing Vin's scalp where he'd pulled on the hair, the other flopped on the bedroll. Vin laid his cheek down on Chris's thigh and let the soft breeze and gentle sunlight dry the sweat on his back. After a while, he moved so he lay next to Chris, his head on Chris's shoulder, his arm across him just right. As good as the loving was, and thinking about it made him tingle all over, this moment of solace and comfort after was his favorite time of all.
He looked down Chris's body and out across the desert spread in front of them, still pale with dawn. A coyote watched from a boulder at the edge of their camp, eyes glowing. It probably wanted water from stream, Vin reckoned, but didn't want to go past them. It could wait until they left. They had to ride out soon, meet some folks in Bitter Creek about a range war that seemed to be brewing. Then it was back to Four Corners and the secret they had to keep.
As if hearing his thoughts, Chris roused and kissed the top of Vin's head. "I've been thinking about when we get back," he said, after a minute spent tracing the line of Vin's spine with the tips of his fingers. "There's some land a short ride outside of town. Good land to live on."
Vin snorted a laugh, and Chris went rigid under him. Vin shook his head, knowing what Chris thought and regretting his outburst. Quickly, he said, "Just tryin' to picture you as a homesteader, cowboy. Can't see you plowing fields and planting corn. Can't see me doing that neither."
Chris relaxed and smiled. "I wasn't thinking homesteading, Tanner, though I'd give a day's pay to see you walking behind an ox for an hour. I just thought we could have ourselves a cabin, someplace private." He pulled Vin down into a deep kiss, one that would have set them loving all over again if they weren't both spent from a long night of it. "Someplace you don't have to leave before dawn."
Vin ducked his head and smiled. "That sounds right nice, Chris. Right nice."
**End**