Continued...
As Vin opened his mouth to answer, Chris leaned forward and pressed his mouth to Vin's, capturing the firm, full lips with his in a kiss not of passion, but of deepest love. With a hoarse groan, he crushed Tanner to him and buried his mouth in his, expressing with that kiss all that he never could with words.Vin moaned and shuddered, relaxing into Chris's embrace, giving himself to that kiss, needing Larabee's strength and love to hold back the darkness, the fear, that Eli Joe's appearance had brought crashing down upon him. He could still vividly recall the feel of Yates's rope about his neck, could still taste the bitter terror that had flooded him when it had seemed his worst, darkest nightmare would be realized.
As he'd told Chris in the jail, he'd never feared dying, had faced it too many times in his life already to shrink from the notion. But to be strung up by the neck, to have the life choked from him while others watched, to be stripped of all pride, all dignity... The horror of it nearly crippled him.
"They was gonna hang me!" he whispered in torment, tearing his mouth from Chris's and burying his face in the gunslinger's chest. Violent tremors shook his lean frame as the terror renewed its assault upon him. "Oh, God, Chris, I's so scared! I ain't no coward, least I don't think I am, but that rope..."
"Ssh, hush, Vin, hush," Chris soothed, cradling the younger man close against him and holding tightly to him. "You ain't a coward, Vin," he murmured, resting his head against Tanner's. "Hell, you're the bravest man I ever met. But anybody'd be afraid'a goin' out like that..."
"Worst part was," Vin slowly raised his head and stared through raw eyes at Chris, "I's afraid you wasn't there." He lifted a shaking hand and laid it against Larabee's weathered cheek, treasuring the man's warmth and solidness. "Wasn't bad enough I's gonna hang," he rasped, his unsteady voice breaking repeatedly. "But I thought I's gonna die alone, without seein' you... Jesus, Chris," he whispered hoarsely, again dropping his head to Larabee's chest and closing his eyes tightly, "I don't want you ta see me hang, I don't ever wanta do that ta you, but I don't wanta die without you, either! God fergive me, I bin alone so long, jist sorta reckoned I's always gonna be alone, was gonna die alone, but now... now that I know what it's like... havin' you with me... havin' th' others... I jist don't wanta be alone no more!"
Chris gasped harshly and clutched Vin tightly, desperately to him, holding him, stroking him, kissing him, all too agonizingly aware of what he had so very nearly lost. When Yates had first arrested Vin... when Chris had sat with him and watched him pacing that cell like a caged animal, the blue eyes filled with the terrible, aching knowledge of what awaited him... when he'd seen Vin after Yates had beaten him... when he'd had to watch as Vin -- tied unarmed and helpless -- was led out of town by Yates and his so-called "deputies"...
He'd felt again the grief, the rage, the shock and pain that he'd felt when he'd knelt over the charred bodies of his wife and son. All that he'd thought, hoped, prayed he'd never feel again had come sweeping through him in a searing wave, again threatening to tear his soul from him and dash it once more to ruins. And only then had he fully realized, fully understood, the depth and force of his love for Vin Tanner.
"You ain't alone," he whispered against the tracker's ear, "and you ain't gonna be alone. I'm here, Vin. Until the day I die I'm here, I'm with you, and I'll be with you until the day you die." He took Vin's head between his hands and raised it, gazing into deep, dark blue eyes swimming with tears. "Don't you see?" he whispered, his green gaze brilliant in its intensity, his soul burning within him. "What we got ain't ever gonna go away. Long after our bodies are dust, what we have is still gonna be here. And wherever we go after this life, we're still gonna be together." He smiled slightly and brushed the long, tangled hair back from Vin's face. "You ain't alone no more, cowboy," he breathed, "and you ain't ever gonna be alone again. 'Cause you got me, and I ain't ever, ever gonna letcha go."
For the first time that day, a small, tremulous smile touched Vin's lips and lit his tired eyes and face. "Promise?" he whispered, reaching up to brush trembling fingertips lightly over Larabee's mouth. "Promise I won't never stop feelin' ya inside me? Promise ya won't never be so far away that I won't be able ta hear yer heartbeat same's I do now? 'Cause I can hear it, y'know, even when y'ain't right up aginst me." He slid his hand to Chris's chest, his smile widening as he felt that strong, familiar throbbing. "I kin hear it even when yer gone, kin feel it... 'N I don't never wanta be without it agin. Don't want the silence I knew 'fore you came along. I couldn't go back ta livin' like I was 'fore I knew how it felt ta have you with me."
"I promise, Vin," Chris said softly, firmly. "I don't care how many miles separate us, I'll never be gone from you." He smiled slightly. "Best get used ta my heartbeat, cowboy," he teased gently. "You're gonna be hearin' it for a long time ta come." He pressed a hand to the tracker's slender chest, easily able to feel the strong beating there. "Just like I hear yours."
Vin sat up straight, his eyes widening and filling with wonder. "Ya do?" he breathed. "Hear mine, I mean?"
Chris chuckled. "Yup. Hear it wherever you go, wherever I go." He winked. "Helps me drown out the God-awful sounds you blow through that goddamn mouth organ'a yours."
Vin scowled, his eyes narrowing. "Ain't God-awful sounds," he protested. "It's music."
Chris sighed and shook his head. "Vin, I've heard music. And that ain't it. Sometimes it sounds like you're stranglin' a cat."
Tanner's scowl deepened and his blue eyes blazed indignantly. "Goddamn uppity gunfighter!" he rasped angrily, pulling away from Larabee and glaring at him. "Always think ya know so fuckin' much! Always think yer so fuckin' smart! Well, I hear music, too, y'know!" he declared angrily. "Hear it all the time, hear it all around me. 'N that's the music I play on my harmonica. 'N if'n you ain't got th' ears ta hear what's all around ya... Hey!" he yelped in surprise as Chris pounced upon him and knocked him back onto the ground, the long, lean body covering his. "Goddamn it, Larabee! Y'ain't... got... no right... Aw, hell, Chris!" he moaned in defeat as that hard, demanding mouth descended upon his.
"You talk too goddamn much!" Chris growled, pinning Vin down and silencing him with a ruthless kiss. "One'a these days, I'm gonna shoot ya for it!"
Vin slipped his arms around Chris and pulled the hard body closer to him, shuddering as the familiar heat ignited within him. Larabee was nuzzling at his lips, his jaw, his throat, sending waves of delight and desire coursing through him. "Gonna shoot me now?" he breathed, turning his head to give Chris further access to his neck.
Chris chuckled, his breath fanning hotly over Tanner's flesh. "Nope. Figured I'd try somethin' else first." He slid his tongue lightly over and into the pale shell of one inviting ear.
"'Kay," Vin gasped, shuddering as Chris sucked at his earlobe. "Reckon... reckon... I'll letcha."
Chris lifted his head and gave a tight, feral grin, his eyes burning, his face flushed. "Reckon you will," he whispered harshly, his body on fire. He shifted against Vin, grinding his crotch into the younger man's, and was rewarded by a tortured yelp. "Reckon for once in your life you'll behave and take what's comin' to ya."
Vin nodded fervently, arching his hips upward to feel again Larabee's straining erection against his own. At that contact, fire shot through him, tearing a harsh gasp from him. "Please, Chris!" he rasped desperately. "I need ta know I ain't alone!"
Larabee's fierce demeanor softened at that, as he remembered what the younger man had been through these past few days. He smiled gently, bowed his head, and pressed his lips tenderly to Vin's. "Don't worry, pard," he whispered against that warm, wet mouth, "I plan ta make that real clear." He got off Vin and sat on his haunches, smiling. "But I ain't rollin' around in the dirt. Get up, get your blankets spread, get them clothes off. We're gonna do this proper."
Vin sat up, and mischief flared in his eyes. "Ain't ever been proper b'fore, cowboy," he drawled, grinning crookedly and winking. "Don't rightly know why we should start now."
Chris stood up and glared down at the tracker. "Goddamn mouthy Texan! Now, get your sorry ass up 'fore I change my mind!"
Vin rose to his feet with a lithe, feline grace and stepped close to Larabee, lifting wide, dark blue eyes to the gunman and laying a hand against the powerful chest, sliding it slowly downward. "Mebbe I won't letcha change yer mind," he breathed, brushing nimble fingers lightly against the hard bulge at Larabee's crotch. "Mebbe I'm gonna be stubborn, insist on gittin' my way." He stepped closer still, dropping his hand but brushing his body against that swelling. "Insist on you havin' yers."
Chris gave a strangled gasp and shuddered violently, every nerve exploding, his pants much too tight. "Goddamn you, Tanner..."
Vin reached up and pulled Chris's head down. "Reckon he will," he breathed, pressing his mouth to Larabee's. "Reckon it'd be worth it, though." He slid his tongue slowly over Chris's lips, then slipped it through them when they opened. Pulling the golden head down further, he buried his mouth in Chris's and drank deeply of the man, sweeping his tongue hungrily about the delicious cavern, stroking Chris's tongue and teeth, exploring freely what he already knew so well.
Chris groaned again and twined strong arms about the lean figure, crushing Vin to him and devouring that sweet mouth hungrily, his tongue sliding against and dancing with Tanner's while his every sense feasted upon the young man he so craved. He had never dared imagine he would find someone to fill the gaping, aching void left in his life, his soul, when Sarah had died, had never even let himself consider the possibility. With Vin, though, the pain of her loss had begun to heal, and his heart had again found its mate.
Vin had found the same healing with Chris, had found someone to lead him from the silence, the isolation, that had marked so much of his life. Chris gave him a reason to trust, a reason not to run from hands stretched out to him, a reason to believe the world had more to offer him than pain. And now, with the gunman's arms about him and the warmth of that lean body against him, the shadows of the past few days began to fade, the terrible fear that had gripped him loosened its hold, and he felt a safety, a security, he could never feel with anyone else.
"Want you," he whispered hoarsely, pulling away from Chris and staring up at him through blue eyes gone dark and hazy with desire. "Wanta feel ya inside me."
Chris nodded and ran shaking fingers through Vin's hair, his breath coming hard, his heart hammering against his ribs. "Think I can do that, pard," he rasped. He smiled slightly. "You get our blankets spread, I'll look in my saddlebags, see if I can find somethin' ta help us out." He slid a hand down Vin's chest. "You might start shuckin' some'a them clothes, too. If I know you, you're wearin' two'r three layers under there, an' I don't wanta have ta fight through 'em ta find you."
Vin stuck his thumbs into his gunbelt and cocked a hip, tilting his head to one side and frowning up at the older man. "You sayin' I ain't worth th' effort?" he demanded.
Chris swallowed hard, hard-pressed not to pounce and take him right there. "I'm sayin' you better get your ass over there and get ready," he growled, clenching his fists and taking a step forward as desire swept through him hot and hard. "If you know what's good for ya!"
Vin swept his gaze slowly over the long, lean frame and licked his lips. "Reckon I do," he drawled softly. "'N I reckon I see it standin' b'fore me." With that, he turned and sauntered to the fire, easily able to feel that glittering green gaze following his every movement.
Chris shuddered hard and closed his eyes, running a hand through his hair and trying to control himself. Goddamn Vin Tanner and those blue, blue eyes!
Vin knelt near the fire and quickly unrolled his blankets, spreading them into a passable bed. Then, glancing across the small space to Chris, he called out, "Need yer bedroll, cowboy. 'Less'n you plan on sleepin' in the dirt."
Chris grinned, untied the bedroll, then carried it over to Vin and threw it at him. "Don't plan on sleepin' anywhere just yet, pard." When Vin chuckled and nodded, Chris turned and went back to his horse, quickly unsaddling and tying the animal where he could graze and drink, then rummaging through his saddlebags for the oil he'd learned to keep handy.
Once Vin had got the blankets spread, and while Chris took care of his horse, Vin started getting undressed. He removed his hat, his coat, his gun, then sat down on his blankets and took off his boots. Rising to his feet, pulled down his suspenders and stripped off his shirt, and the shirt under it. Instinctively, he turned his back to Chris and unfastened his pants, sliding them down and stepping out of them, then removing his underwear.
Chris turned and started toward the fire just as Vin removed the last of his clothing, and, as ever, the sight of the lithe, supple body drove the breath from his chest and all thought from his mind. The tracker's nakedness reignited the fire in Larabee, and brought his cock surging painfully against his pants.
Jesus God, Tanner was beautiful!
Vin blushed and bowed his head as those glittering green eyes swept over him, as his natural shyness rose to the fore. He truly liked knowing Chris found him desirable, but was also embarrassed by the frankly wolfish leer on the gunman's face. He'd never had anyone look at him the way Chris did, with equal parts love and lust, and still found it somewhat unnerving to stand naked before those worshipful, wanting eyes. He'd had men want him before, but for the satisfaction of their own needs; never before Chris had anyone wanted him for his own sake.
"Reckon mebbe I c'd use some cleanin' up," he said softly, his head still bowed, his face still red. "Ben a hard couple'a days--"
"You look fine, Vin," Chris said hoarsely, barely able to force the words through his tight throat. He went forward once more, his hunger deepening with every moment. "Better than fine," he breathed. Stopping just before the tracker, he reached out and drew him once more into his arms. "C'mere, you," he growled, reclaiming Tanner's mouth with his.
Despite the ferocity of his raging need, however, he showed only a deep and loving tenderness to Vin, knowing how badly shaken the past few days had left Tanner, and wanting to reassure him that he was not only wanted, but loved. So he restrained himself with an effort, curbing the passion that Vin never failed to arouse in him, and set about making love to the younger man, rather than simply taking him.
Vin moaned and shuddered as that mouth, those hands, moved over him with a devastating slowness, a wondrous gentleness, a soul-searing intimacy. Chris kissed and stroked him thoroughly, shattering his senses and stripping him of all thought, all reason, leaving him weak, breathless, and utterly defenseless. When Chris's mouth sought his throat, he groaned and let his head fall back, closing his eyes and clinging tightly, desperately to Larabee as the man claimed him with lips, tongue and teeth, as Chris kissed, bit and sucked a burning path down his neck and across his shoulders. Meanwhile, the gunman's strong, sure hands moved slowly down his back, stroking, pinching, caressing and kneading, tracing his shoulderblades, his spine, his hips, his ass, igniting a fire beneath his skin, sending lightning speeding through every nerve.
Chris bore Vin gently down to his blankets and pushed him back against them, trailing his lips down the slim chest and over to one dark nipple and closing his mouth about it, sucking ravenously at it, while the fingers of one hand lightly stroked, pinched and rolled the other one to hardness. Vin sucked in a hissing breath and arched himself against Chris, driving his hands through the thick dark blond hair and groaning thickly as the gunman drove him mad. Chris's other hand was stroking its way down his taut, flat belly, over his thighs and inside them, driving still more shards of agony through Vin's body and soul. The tracker writhed beneath Larabee in mindless torment and pleasure, his head thrashing wildly back and forth, his hands clutching convulsively at Chris's strong shoulders and back, his breath tearing from him in harsh, wordless cries.
Chris stroked Vin's inner thighs, then slid his hand upward to the thick, stiff cock that twitched and wept against the bed of thick, curling hair. Licking Vin's each of nipples in turn and blowing across them, he traced his forefinger slowly up the tracker's cock, tracing the thick vein and drawing another anguished cry. Vin bucked as that finger slid back his foreskin and swept across the sensitive, calluses dragging roughly over it, and Chris had to hold him down.
"You buck harder'n Peso on a bad day," Chris chuckled against Tanner's chest. "Gonna throw us both into the dirt in a minute."
Vin could not answer, was beyond words. That whole hand was cupping his length now, moving slowly, slowly up and down it, sending torrents of fire shooting through it. Then the hand was gone, and a whimper tore from him, followed by a shriek as a hot mouth closed about him.
"CHRISSS!"
Larabee sucked hungrily at Vin's thick cock, tasting the salty fluid seeping from the slit. Then he lifted his mouth from the hard and heavy flesh, slid his tongue down its length, and seized upon Vin's balls, tonguing them, taking them into his mouth and sucking at them. Releasing them, he slipped his tongue over them, to the puckered opening behind them.
"JESUS!" Vin howled, bucking violently as that talented tongue penetrated him. "God... Chris... Chris... Please!"
Chris rimmed the hole with his tongue and blew across it, then lifted his head. Seeing Vin's pain and desperation, he smiled slightly, softly, and nodded.
"Gimme a minute, pard," he whispered, leaning forward and placing a gentle kiss on the tracker's mouth. "Then I'll take care'a you."
Vin only whimpered and moaned in answer, sliding a shaking hand down to clutch at his cock as Chris seemed to abandon him. He stroked himself frantically, writhing feverishly, before his hand was pried away.
"No, ya don't," Chris chided gently. "Just hang on, cowboy. I ain't goin' nowhere." He kissed Vin once more, then hurriedly stripped himself of boots, gunbelt and clothing, shuddering violently and exhaling sharply as his swollen cock finally sprang free from its prison. "All right, cowboy," he whispered hoarsely, dropping once more to his knees at Vin's side, "I'm right here. I'm gonna take care of you now." He leaned over, pressed his mouth to Vin's again and closed a hand about the younger man's cock, pumping him slowly.
Vin cried out harshly and thrust wildly into that hand, unable to control himself. Then the hand was gone and he was being turned onto his stomach, with Chris's mouth tracing a burning path down his back. When that tongue slipped into the crease between his ass cheeks, he moaned and lifted himself onto his knees, on fire in every part of himself.
"Please, Chris!" he begged, almost sobbing. "I cain't take no more!"
Chris kissed the firm cheeks. "I know. And you won't have to." He reached for the oil and poured a generous amount into his hands, then slathered it over his fingers and cock. When he was ready, he moved close behind Vin and laid a hand on the younger man's back, tenderly stroking the noticeable curve in his spine, then leaning over and kissing it as he slipped his first finger into the tight, puckered hole.
"Jesus!" Vin gasped, thrusting against Chris as that finger moved against him, softening him. Moments later, a second finger penetrated him, and he reached desperately for his aching cock.
"Sorry, cowboy," Chris breathed, holding Vin's hand away from himself. "That's my job."
"Hurtssss..."
"Ssh, hush, now, hush." He closed his eyes and worked Vin's hole, scissoring his fingers, stretching, softening. When he felt the muscles give way a bit more, he slipped in a third finger and licked his lips, leaning into Vin, feeling his own cock screaming for relief. "It's gonna be all right, Vin," he murmured, withdrawing his fingers. "I'm gonna take care'a you now." He positioned himself at the hole, then pressed his stiff flesh inside.
"GOD!" Vin howled as Chris entered him, as the familiar pain started. But Chris's hands steadied him, the low voice soothed him, and soon pain gave way to a deep, driving need. "Now!" he gasped. "Please!"
Chris slid himself slowly, slowly into the channel, gasping and shuddering as the moist heat engulfed him and drew him in still further, as Vin's tight passage pressed close about him on every side. Panting harshly, heavily and straining to control himself, he sheathed himself in his lover's body, then gradually withdrew, pulling out until only his head remained inside. A shudder racked him, and he pressed himself forward once more, torturing himself and Vin with the deliberate slowness of his movements.
Vin was moaning and rocking piteously, tortured by and delighting in the strong, sure strokes, the feel of Chris inside him, filling him. Every nerve was on fire, his senses reeling out of control. He reached for his aching cock again, only to have Chris's hand get there first. He bucked wildly at that touch, loosing a harsh, wordless cry.
Sweat poured from Chris as he thrust ever faster, ever harder into Vin, as he drove his throbbing, pounding flesh desperately into his lover's heat. As he and Vin found their familiar urgent rhythm, he began working the tracker's cock, stroking and pumping in time to the thrusting of his hips, his breath tearing from him in gasps.
"Jesus... Vin... so tight... hot... Oh, God!"
Vin howled as Chris hit his pleasure spot, as the hand at his cock wrung him for all he was worth. Assailed inside and out by the excruciating, exquisite sensations, he thrust frantically into that hand, against that body, driving Chris ever deeper. Again and again Chris slammed against his gland, and Vin shrieked aloud as his seed burst from him in a boiling stream.
Vin's climax triggered Chris's, and he cried out harshly as he erupted into his lover's body, as he poured into Vin his very self. Again and again he thrust desperately into the tracker, emptying himself into that welcoming heat.
"Oh, Jesus, Vin!" he gasped, collapsing onto his blankets, spent, exhausted and sated. He pulled Tanner into his arms, cradling the slender, shaking body close against him, drawing the sweat-sodden head onto his chest. "Shit, cowboy, you're somethin' else!"
"So are you," Vin breathed. "I'm glad ya came after me."
Chris tightened his arms about him. "I'm always gonna come after you, Vin," he said quietly. "I told ya, you ain't ever gonna be alone again. And there ain't nobody gonna take you from me."
Vin raised his head and gazed into Chris's face, frowning at the sight of the dark bruise discoloring the jaw where his fist had landed. "I'm sorry 'bout this," he breathed, brushing feather-light fingers over the bruise. "Shouldn'ta hit ya."
Chris stared solemnly up into the dark blue eyes. "You had a right, Vin," he said softly. "Shit, after what I done--"
"Ssh," Vin murmured, bowing his head and pressing a tender kiss to Chris's lips. "You saved my life. Twice. Come after me when Yates had me, even when you thought he's a real deputy marshall. Stopped him from hangin' me. Then you stopped Eli Joe from killin' me."
"But your name... How you gonna clear it with him dead?"
Vin continued to stare down at Chris, lightly tracing the man's mouth with a forefinger. "You gonna stay with me?"
"All my life, cowboy."
Vin smiled slightly. "Then I reckon we'll find a way." He kissed Chris again, then returned his head to the gunman's chest and closed his eyes. "Things that's meant ta be jist has a way'a workin' out."
Chris laughed softly and shook his head, amazed by the tracker's simple, unshakable faith. "Goddamn it, Tanner," he breathed, running gentle fingers through the damp, tangled hair, "you do beat all I've ever seen."
THE END
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