Date: Thu, 7 Dec 2006 18:13:49 -0800
From: qwb <qwb@san.rr.com>
Subject: Stonegate Stables chapter 28

The next morning, I rode Zena to work and was just
unsaddling her when Tommy found me.  He was smiling, but
didn't say anything until I was finished putting Zena into
her stall.

"Come see," was all he said as he walked to the south barn.
There in a stall deep with straw was Fran the donkey with a
fuzzy grey baby by her side.  Fran looked pleased with
herself, snuffling her nose along the baby's back as he
poked under her belly for a drink.  I went in with them,
smiling as I ran my hand over his soft downy coat.  He was
the first baby born since I'd owned Stonegate, and although
he wasn't a horse, he was still all mine.


Matt received his high school diploma the following
Wednesday in a small ceremony at Wade's office.  Wade, Adam,
and I were there, and took Matt out for lunch at Corleone's
afterward where Vincent joined us.

"So, do you feel any smarter?"  Adam asked after we'd
ordered.

Matt grinned.  "Nah.  It was something I wanted to do, but
I'm glad it's over.  Now I can concentrate on my art."

"On that note," Adam said, handing Matt a package.

Matt tore the paper off to reveal a soft leather case
holding a full set of Kolinsky Sable brushes.  There were
rounds, brights, filberts, mops, and fans - everything Matt
would need for years of painting.  It was a beautiful gift
thoughtful and generous - something Matt probably wouldn't
have splurged on for himself.

He stared at the brushes for a long moment, running his
fingertips across the little leather loops holding them in
place before looking up into Adam's face.

"How did you know I wanted these?"

Adam smiled at him, locked onto his eyes.  "I just bought
the best ones I could find and hoped they were good enough."

They smiled at each other, the intimate smile of two people
who are beginning to know one another well.  It was
Vincent's turn to give me the sideways glance and subtle
smirk as we watched.  Thank God our food arrived then, or
they might have crawled under the table together.


TJ started vet school that week.  He had morning classes
Monday through Thursday, spent the afternoons at the barn
helping Sam, and studied all evening.  I often saw him and
Gabriel with their heads together over one of the horses,
and finally I asked TJ about it.

"Gabriel's a really smart guy.  I was having a hell of a
time the other night, so he read the chapter, and then
talked me through it.  His explanation was clearer than the
one in the book, so now we're sort of studying together.  I
tell him about what happened in class, and then we go
through my notes.  I bought a second set of textbooks so we
could both read at the same time, and it's really helping
me.  I suppose he'll never be a vet, but he'll probably wind
up knowing damn near as much as I do."

"Well, if he really sticks with it, I'll use him for a lot
of the minor stuff and pay him accordingly."

I saw them again a few days later.  They were sitting side
by side on a bale of hay, leaning back against another,
eating lunch out of a brown paper sack from home, and
reading Practical Veterinary Medicine.  Now and then one of
them would lean over to the other, pointing out something in
the book, their heads close together.





We'd stayed in touch with Jack and Paula - Katie's parents -
and they drove over for the gymkhana.  I told Katie I'd have
a horse she could use since her jumper wasn't suited to the
quick starts and tight turns of gymkhana events.  They
showed up on Friday afternoon, and Katie was out of the car
before it stopped, dashing across the yard to me.

"Sean!  This place is beautiful!  How old are the barns?
Where's the horse I'm gonna ride?  Is Matt here?"

She grabbed me in a quick hug, which I returned with a
laugh.  She was so enthusiastic about everything it was hard
not to get caught up in her excitement.  Matt pulled in just
then, and she ran over to his truck and jumped on him when
he got out.  He held onto her for a minute before leading
her off for a barn tour.

Paula watched them until they were out of sight, shaking her
head.  "Can we leave her here until dinner?  I think she'll
behave herself.  We threatened her with everything from no
phone to dishes for a month, so I think you'll be safe for a
few hours."

"Of course.  I was gonna send them off on a ride, if that's
okay with you.  I'll watch her in the arena for a little bit
to make sure she's okay with the horse I have for her.
Matt'll be on a horse he's familiar with."

"Sure, sure.  She brought all her riding gear along.  Just
make sure she wears her helmet."

We agreed they'd be back in time for dinner at our place,
and they drove off to find a motel and meet with a realtor.
I found Katie and Matt in with Ginger, who was munching
carrots and getting her belly scratched.

"You guys wanna go for a ride?  You could get used to the
horse you'll be on tomorrow."

Katie's eyes lit up.  "Yeah!"

I'd ridden Zena over a few days ago, and Chex the next day.
They were hanging out together in a double stall, dozing
hipshot until they heard me opening the stall door.  I let
Katie tack up Zena so that I could see how she handled a
horse.  I knew she could ride from her junior title, but
didn't know how well she'd get along with Zena, who could be
a little grumpy sometimes.  But everything was fine, and I
took them to the arena to get mounted, fixing stirrup
lengths and making sure Katie was dialed in on riding
western.

After having them both walk, jog, and lope for me I turned
them loose on the trails, telling them the horses better be
cool when they got back, and that we were eating at 6:30.
They waved and trotted away, Katie posting easily to Zena's
soft jog.

With them out of my hair for a couple hours, I cornered
Teresa in the office to make sure everything was in place
for tomorrow.  She gave me one of those flat-eyed stares,
daring me to ask again (this was the third time I'd asked
her today), sighed theatrically, and assured me that it
would come off without a hitch.

"Sean.  It's a gymkhana, for Christ's sake, not the Queen's
coronation.  The kids'll have a ball, almost no matter what.
Go bother somebody who needs it."

With that, she turned her back on me, so I decided to take
care of something I'd been thinking about doing for a while.
Gabriel was free-jumping Barney over a series of low jumps
in the big round pen.  Barney was circling the pen at a slow
canter, leaping gracefully over the two-foot jumps as he
came to them, rating his own stride while Gabriel talked to
him from the center of the pen.

"Come see me when you're finished."  He nodded and I
wandered back to my office, thinking of what I'd say to him.
He knocked on the open door about twenty minutes later and I
waved him in.  He'd filled out a little from the steady
physical work, and was tan and healthy looking.  He sure
filled more of the office doorway now than he had that first
day when he came in, asked me for a job, and told me about
his prison record.  He'd shaved his beard after he moved in
with TJ, so I knew there had been some influence there.
There was a certain rugged beauty about his younger looking
face now that the beard was gone.  He'd taken 10 years off
his age.

"Close the door."  I waited until he sat down across from
me.  He was watching me warily, and I wondered just how
badly he'd had it before coming to Stonegate.  "You like
working here, don't you?"

"You know I do.  Best place I ever worked."

"Good.  You've got a knack with the rescues that TJ keeps
hauling home.  Wanna work for the Foundation?"

He eyed me for a moment.  "Maybe.  Doin' what?"

"A lot more than you are now.  You'd be responsible for the
evaluation and rehabilitation of the horses - the six we
have now plus whatever TJ comes home with in the future.
I'd like to adopt them out if they're suitable.  That'd be
your call, as well as what kind of rider they'd need.  You'd
interview prospective homes, and do follow-up visits for the
life of the horse, so there'd be some travel involved if
they get taken out of state.  I'd supervise for the first
six months, then gradually step back until you were running
that part of things.  If it gets to be too much, we'll hire
another guy as your assistant."

He was staring at me by now.  "Jesus, really?"

When I nodded at him, he got up and paced away from the
desk, stopping halfway across the room with his head
lowered.  After a few moments, he spoke in a strained voice.
"I'm gay."

I could just tell from the way he said it that this was the
first time he'd ever uttered the words aloud, and so I was
careful with my reply.  "Me, too, Gabriel.  It's okay.  At
least half of Stonegate's employees are gay."

He turned to me with a driven look in his eyes.  "I've never
said that to anyone before.  I wasn't even sure myself until
just before I got into trouble.  Then I was in prison, and
Christ knows you don't want to admit that in there."  He
walked back until he was standing a few feet from me.
"Working here has been . . . it's like coming home.  I'd
love to work for the Foundation, Sean.  Thanks for the
offer."

I stood up with my hand extended, smiling at him.  We shook
slowly, and as we looked at each other, we knew that there
was more to it than him accepting a job.  I was accepting
him as a gay man, something no one had done before.  He
finally broke into the first real smile I'd ever seen on his
face.  We grinned at each other for a few seconds, and then
I tugged on his hand, pulling him close enough to kiss the
corner of his mouth lightly.  He closed his eyes for a
second, and I felt the breath of his sigh against my cheek.

"Welcome to the family," I told him.  I handed him a small
box.  "There's a cell phone in there.  Keep it on you all
the time in case TJ, Sam or I need you, AND keep studying
with TJ.  Go send Tommy in here, will you?"

When I informed Tommy that his crew was now lighter by one
stable boy, he just shrugged philosophically.  "I figured
you'd eventually tag him for something more than shoveling
horse shit.  He's a bright guy."  Tommy always had a line on
another kid or two, and went off to call one of them after
finding TJ and sending him my way.

"He accepted, huh?  Great."  TJ seemed pleased with the
prospect of working more closely with Gabriel.

"Anything happening with you two?"  I asked him.

He shook his head, but he was smiling.  "Nah, but I really
enjoy him living there with me.  Thanks for thinking of
that.  He's real comfortable to be around, and I'm starting
to like him a lot.  The studying thing is good, too - we
spend every spare minute together, talking and reading.
This is what I always wanted it to be like - getting to know
a guy pretty well before sleeping with him."

I got up and hugged him close, happy that we were friends.
"Good.  I'm glad it's going the way you want."  I didn't
tell TJ about the gay part of my meeting with Gabriel - I
figured they'd sort it out for themselves given time and
compatibility.

After he left, I plowed through the paperwork necessary to
add Gabriel to the Foundation's payroll, and then went out
to see if the kids were back from their ride.  They were
just putting the horses away, so I waited until they
finished and then led them to Fran's stall.  The baby donkey
was frisking around in the straw, kicking up his little
heels and squeaking, while Fran watched indulgently.  Matt
and Katie were entranced, and I had to drag them out of the
stall when I heard Katie's folks arrive.

Katie had to show them the donkeys before we left, so we
spent another ten minutes saying 'awwwww' every time he did
something cute, which was about every thirty seconds.  Paula
asked what his name was, and when I admitted that he didn't
have one, she suggested a contest with the winner getting
visitation rights for a year.  I thought it was a great
idea, and stopped by the office to tell Teresa to make a
sign for tomorrow.

We drove home in a little procession with me leading the
way, then Matt and Katie in Matt's truck, followed by Jack
and Paula in their Suburban.  They gave each other a long
look when they got out in my driveway and glanced around.
I'm not sure what all Matt had told Katie about how we
lived, but they looked surprised at the size of the house
and grounds.

Vincent was home already, and opened the front door to
welcome us in.  He hugged and kissed me like he always does
regardless of who's around, and I loved that he was so
comfortable with us as a couple.  Jack was looking around
the entry hall, but Paula smiled at me over Vincent's
shoulder.

We had lasagna from Corleone's with salad and lots of garlic
bread.  Vincent had brought home a few good bottles of wine,
and we had a really pleasant evening.  Jack and Paula were
friendly, casual, and intelligent, and our dinner
conversation covered a wide range of subjects.  Matt and
Katie hung in there through desert, but then ran off to
Matt's room.

At the end of the evening, Katie begged really hard to spend
the night at our place.  Vincent just shrugged and Matt
nodded with a smile, so I said it was okay with me, assuring
Paula that Katie would have her own room with a private
bath.  She didn't seem near as concerned with that aspect of
it as she did with the prospect of Katie driving us all
crazy, but I told her we'd manage for one night, so they
drove off without her.  Matt took her bag up to the guest
room at the far end of the hall.

Having Katie in the house put the kibosh on our usual dress
code of underwear for TV watching, so we all ended up in
sweats, and lounged around the den eating ice cream.  Around
10pm, I chased both of them upstairs so that they'd be fresh
for tomorrow's busy day.

After they left, Vincent pulled me down onto him and shoved
his hands down the back of my sweats, gripped my ass, and
dragged me up and down his body.  I started to move with the
motion of his arms, and in a few minutes we were both hard
and grinding into each other.  As I started to breathe more
quickly, Vincent slowed us down and pushed me to my feet.

"We can't fuck here - there's a seventeen-year-old girl
loose in the house."

I had completely forgotten about Katie as soon as Vincent's
hands had landed on my ass.  We made it up the stairs, down
the hall, and halfway to the bed before Vincent dropped to
his knees, taking my sweats with him.  As my dick met the
wet warmth of his mouth, I exhaled in a long 'uhhhhhhhhh',
making Vincent smile around my cock.  We were between the
doorway and the bed with nothing to hang to but each other,
so I held Vincent's head as he sucked me, feeling the soft
velvet of his short hair in my hand.

When my knees began to quiver, he brought me down to the
carpet, never losing his hold on my dick.  I lay on my back
thrusting up into his mouth as he fondled my balls, and I
had the wild thought that when I died, I wanted it to happen
right in the middle of a fabulous blow job.  But then I
thought about how awful that would be for the person doing
the blowing and quickly cancelled the idea.

After he had milked me dry, Vincent straddled my chest and
jerked himself off using my cum for lube.  He watched me as
his expression went from enjoyment to deep concentration to
the grimace of orgasm, and he dropped down to kiss me as he
tugged the last few drops from his cock.  After he wiped me
up we finally made it to the bed.



I was edgy about the first event at the new show grounds,
and was in the kitchen at 5am making coffee while I watched
out the window for rain.  Since there wasn't a cloud in the
sky, weather wasn't going to be a problem, but I was sure
other things would come up.  When I got to the stable at
6am, a few horse trailers were already parked along the
fence as the early birds got the best spots.  The concession
stands were doling out coffee and donuts, and horses were
munching hay while their owners chatted with each other,
filled water buckets, or unloaded lawn chairs and coolers.

I love a horse show.  There's a camaraderie to it all that I
miss, and I was pretty damn happy to be having one on my own
property.  I wandered around saying hi to people, lending a
hand here and there, and answering questions.  By 7am,
Teresa and her helpers were doing a booming business in
class registrations, and it looked like we'd have a full
day.

Every horse needed to get a quick look by Sam or TJ, and the
vet line was moving smoothly when I walked by.  Gabriel was
holding horses for them while they moved around the animal
checking feet and legs for soreness.  Now and then, one of
them had a word with the owner, but so far, not one was
rejected, and I hoped it stayed that way.

At 8am, Adam, our announcer, called the first classes to the
'in' gate.  All horses in a given class waited outside the
arena until it was their turn, milling about as each horse
or team ran, riders talking to each other and checking out
the competition.  We were running the same event in both
arenas simultaneously, 10-13 year olds in one and14-18 in
the other.

Things came to a brief halt when one girl flew off her horse
in a turn and sprained her wrist.  She argued her mother
into letting Sam wrap it in an Ace bandage and staying for
the rest of the day, although we wouldn't let her ride.

Katie was absolutely fearless in the saddle, running Zena
through the pole bending like the prize was a million bucks.
I was very impressed with her riding ability, and Zena
looked surprised that she had gone that fast.  Katie won
that class, with Matt coming in 9th on Chex, who was more
into retirement mode and didn't see much point in running
anywhere.

We broke for lunch from 12 to 1, giving horses and riders a
chance to eat and rest a bit before the afternoon events.
The 'Name the Donkey' contest closed at noon, and I helped
Teresa and Sam sort out the entries.  I suppose it should
have come as no surprise that `Eeyore' won by a landslide.
When we announced it at the end of the lunch break, the
crowd roared loud enough to scare a few horses.  Alejandro
painted up a sign real quick, and hung it on the donkey pen.
Eeyore didn't look particularly impressed with his name.

One of the afternoon events was the egg race, where you
clamp a plastic spoon between your teeth with an egg in the
bowl.  The object is to get from one end of the arena to the
other - while weaving through cones - faster than anyone
else without losing your egg.  Two things Chex did still
have going for him were a very smooth lope and good
steering, and Matt had practiced quite a bit the last couple
weeks.  Since he'd only been riding a few months, this one
event was probably the only place he had a chance of doing
well.

When his turn came, he had a little cheering section
consisting of Vincent, TJ, Gabriel, Cody, and me.  Adam was
still in the announcer's booth, but I knew he'd be cheering
silently also.  In the egg race there are four horses
running at once.  Katie ran in an early group and managed to
hang onto her egg, but she walked the entire time and was
fairly slow.  Matt was in the last group of four, and I
could see him settling deep into the saddle as we'd
discussed.  He clamped the spoon between his molars where it
would bounce less, another trick I'd mentioned to him, and
then the whistle blew.  He immediately asked Chex for a
lope, reining him gently around each cone as they
outdistanced the other competitors by a mile.

As he crossed the finish line we hooted and whistled at him,
and when he realized he'd won, he stood up in the saddle
with both arms raised, promptly dropping his egg onto Chex's
neck, where it broke and slid down his shoulder to drip into
the dirt.  When we got back to where Zena and Chex were tied
up for the day, Matt was talking with Katie and grinning
like he'd just won the lottery.

"I won!" he yelled, grabbing me in a big hug.  "Thanks for
the tips."

"Tips?  You coached him?"  Katie stared at me with her hands
on her hips and an indignant expression on her pretty face.

"Yes, Miss State Champion, I did," I said, leaning forward
to get in her face a little.  "He didn't grow up on a horse
like you and every other kid here.  I just gave him a few
pointers."  Matt and I beamed at each other and high-fived.

Katie won another class and was thrilled with herself since
she'd never done gymkhana before.  She loved Zena, and was
already making plans to drive over at least three weekends a
month so that she and Matt could ride and hang out.

Adam found me as I was helping load a reluctant horse.

"Can I use Donna tomorrow?"  He sounded somewhat excited.

"Yeah, I suppose.  What's up?"

"I want to put Katie on her.  She's got a phenomenal seat,
and I want to see what she can do on a real jumper."

"Have you asked her folks?"  Jack and Paula had spent the
day at the gymkhana cheering on Katie and Matt as they rode.

"Yeah, they're fine with it.  Katie only has one more year
in Amateur Owner before she'll be too old.  If she's going
to move up, she needs to get on a better horse.  I figured
Donna was a good place to start."

I agreed, and we planned to meet at 9am to see what Katie
could do with a Gran Prix horse in her hands.

The last class finished up around 4:30, and trailers started
rolling out the drive shortly thereafter.  It had been a
great day.  Kids had fun, parents were happy to have a local
show venue, the bathrooms never had a line, and no one got
hurt aside from the sprained wrist.  I chalked it up as a
winner, and was already thinking about what I'd do
differently for the next one.

The last trailer pulled out about 5:30, and we closed the
gates with a sigh.  Matt and Katie had gone home to clean
up.  Jack and Paula were staying in town for the night.
Vincent had left an hour ago to go cook dinner, so I called
it a day and drove home, tired but happy.  Vincent greeted
me with a kiss and a glass of wine, sending me up to shower
while he put the finishing touches on a salad to go with the
meat loaf and baked potatoes that were in the oven.

We ate, and then the kids cleaned up before running up to
Matt's room for the evening.  Vincent and I took coffee and
tiramisu to the den, lounging on the couch and talking as he
fed us both.

"So it was a success, huh?" he asked as I licked his finger
way more than necessary to get the sticky desert off.

"God, it was great.  It all came off pretty much the way I
planned it.  It's sooo satisfying when that happens."

He held me while I slept through a movie, rubbing my back
slowly, and then woke me so that we could go upstairs.  As
we walked past Matt's room, I heard voices, so I stopped for
a moment.  They were talking softly, giggling now and then,
and I smiled to myself.  The door was slightly ajar, so I
glanced in as I moved on.

They were lying on their sides face to face on Matt's bed,
drawn up knees bumping between them.  Matt had his usual
evening boxer briefs on, and Katie was wearing a big t-shirt
and hopefully panties, although I couldn't see that for
sure.  I paused for a moment, wondering if that scene would
pass muster with Katie's mother.  I reluctantly decided that
it probably wouldn't, and tapped softly on the door before
stepping in.

"It's getting late.  You guys about ready for bed?"

Katie sat up and smiled at me.  As she turned to slide off
the bed, I caught a glimpse of her underwear and heaved an
internal sigh of relief.  Not that I thought they were up to
anything - Matt liked boys, remember?   It just made me feel
better.  Katie kissed my cheek on the way out the door.

"I had a wonderful time today.  Thanks a lot for letting me
use Zena."

She walked off down the hall to her room, and a moment later
I heard the door close behind her.  I turned to Matt, who
was still lying on the bed, on his back now, watching me.

"What do you suppose her mom would think about the two of
you in here in your undies?"  I asked him calmly.

He thought about that for a minute, studying my face to see
if he could tell where I was headed with this.

"I'm not sure.  I guess I'd hope that she trusted Katie
enough to know that it was okay, no matter how it looked.
We were just talking."

"I know, Matty.  I'm not upset, but you need to remember
she's only seventeen.  Please leave the door open halfway
when you guys are in here, okay?  I need to be able to look
Paula in the eye in the morning."

He chuckled and smiled at me, nodding.  I leaned over the
bed on one hand to kiss him, losing my balance when he
pulled me down onto him.  He rolled quickly so that I was on
the bottom, and attacked me with kisses.  By this time
Vincent was missing me and stuck his head in the door.

"Jesus, I can't take my eyes off you for a minute.  I
thought you were tired."

Matt was chewing on my neck at that point, so I was laughing
as I replied, "I thought so, too.  Wanna join us?"

"Let's take the party to our room, the bed's bigger."  So we
did, getting to sleep one hour and three orgasms later.


Adam had Donna tacked up and was riding her in the arena
when we got to the barn the next morning.  Katie was all
decked out in her jumping gear and looked a lot different
than she had yesterday in jeans and a t-shirt.  Jack and
Paula had joined us and were taking a keen interest in
Adam's 'future student'.

I tossed her onto Donna, where she gathered up the reins and
listened to Adam's instructions as he adjusted the stirrups.

"Go through the gaits, both directions, to get used to her.
Then we'll start with some low jumps and work our way up.
What's the highest you've jumped?"

"Three-six."  (3 1/2 feet)

She settled into the saddle and worked Donna up and down the
gaits.  Adam was right - Katie had good hands and an
excellent seat.  You could barely see her cue Donna to
canter.  After twenty minutes, Adam headed for the gate, and
we all went over to the jumping arena where Tommy had set up
three-foot fences for her.  She circled Donna once, and then
aimed her at a vertical jump, soaring over it with room to
spare.  The look on her face made us all smile.  She lit up
like someone had flipped a switch.

"Wow!  What a jump!  That was great!  Was there, like, two
feet to spare?" she asked Adam.

"Well, not that much, but, yeah, it was a nice jump.  Do the
line down the right side."

She cantered along the fence, jumping each fence easily, and
then pulled up near Adam again.  Tommy and I raised the
jumps to three-six, then four feet, then four-six as Katie
got used to the feel of a GP horse.  At four feet six
inches, Donna wasn't even breaking a sweat, and Katie was
getting used to the greater impulsion the horse used over
larger fences.  We raised a couple jumps to five feet and
one to five-six, and then sent Katie around the entire
course.

She knew this could be a big break for her if Adam decided
to take her on as a student, and you could see her
concentration from where we sat in the bleachers.  She'd
been on Donna for about two hours at that point, and had
gotten a fairly good feel for her.  They went around the
course cleanly and fairly fast for her first time over
fences of that size.  Paula looked a little pale, but didn't
say anything as she watched her only child pilot a 1200-lb
horse over jumps taller than she was.

When Katie was finished, we all went into the arena, where
she was jumping up and down next to Donna as she told Adam
how neat it was to ride a real jumper.  We sent Katie and
Matt back to the barn to unsaddle Donna and put her away,
while Adam and I talked to Jack and Paula.

"She's got a lot of ability, and I'd like to take her on as
a student . . . my first student, actually.  I'm not sure
how soon you thought about moving, but we could probably
work something out for Katie to board here until you do
maybe with Sean, or maybe with Sam and Teresa."

Paula turned to me.  "Do you . . . are you comfortable with
Katie staying at your place on the weekends for a couple
months?"  I was real glad I'd had that talk with Matt last
night when she added, "You've done such a good job with Matt
that I trust you taking care of my baby."

I assured her that we'd be happy to have Katie stay over for
as long as it took them to buy a house and get moved.  I
left them haggling with Adam over money, and went home to
have lunch with Vincent.

It was a beautiful day, so we decided to take a picnic down
to the stream.  I told him about Katie spending weekends and
he thought it was a good idea - something about the three of
us learning to act like gentlemen when we were at home.
Vincent packed up a basket, I grabbed a blanket, and we
walked down through the meadow to a patch of low grass close
enough to the water that we could hear it tumble and splash
over the stones of a little rapids.  I spread the blanket,
took off my shoes, and helped Vincent empty the basket.

He'd brought all sorts of goodies - cheese, crackers,
grapes, chicken salad, baby carrots, brownies, and a good
bottle of Chardonnay.  We lay back with the food between us,
sipping wine and watching the clouds as the afternoon
passed.

After a while, Vincent put the food away and lay down on his
side with his arm across my chest and his head in his
propped up hand.  I looked up at him, loving the
way his face softened as he looked at me.

"What are you thinking?"  I asked him softly.

"That I know your face better than I know my
own.  I know what it means when you narrow your
eyes a little when I'm fucking you.  I know how
to get you to smile that little one sided smile
that makes my dick hard every time.  I know when
you're going to tell me that you love me because
you get a certain look in your eyes."  He leaned
down and kissed me lingeringly.  "I love knowing
you that well.  I love what you and I have
together.  I've never been in love before, so I
don't have much basis for comparison, but I
think it doesn't happen like this very often."
He sighed and shrugged an eyebrow.  "Maybe
everyone who's in love thinks that, but . . ."

His voice trailed off and he lay down with his
face in my neck.  He doesn't often get like that
- contemplative and serious.  It's more my
style, and it touched something in me.  I rolled
to him so that we could look at each other.

"I love it that you know me that well, too.  We
haven't talked much about it, but since that
morning in our room when we exchanged rings,
I've felt like I belong to you, that you own a
part of me that no one's ever touched. Whenever
you do something special - like my birthday - it
makes me feel incredible.  No one understands me
like you do."

He lay there quietly for a bit, thinking about
what I'd said, I guess.  When he spoke, his
voice was vibrant with emotion.  "I knew from
that first weekend we spent together that you
were the man I wanted.  When you injured your
shoulder, it almost killed me to see you in so
much pain.  I wanted to find that fucking horse
and shoot it in the head. No matter what happens
to us, promise me you'll never forget that I
need you, that you're what makes my world
complete."

He was watching me with dark, solemn eyes,
holding my gaze. I swallowed and nodded.  "I
promise."

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