Cal tasted good, salt and sweet at the same time, the feel of Cal’s cock luxurious beneath his tongue. When Cal began to tremble, his body tightening, Zeke looped his arm around Cal’ships to hold him still so Zeke could focus on bringing Cal right to the edge of pleasure and then over it.
This time, when Cal came, he swallowed and smiled as Cal groaned. He let Cal slip from his mouth and wiping his own mouth with the back of his hand as he sat up, propped on one hand so he could look at Cal, open-mouthed, head tossed back on the pillow as he relaxed and sighed. Then he smiled up at Zeke.
“Well?” asked Zeke. “How’d I do?”
“You need a lot of practice,” said Cal, and just as Zeke opened his mouth to defend himself, Cal smiled and tugged Zeke on top of him. “Lots and lots and lots.”
“I reckon I can manage that,” said Zeke. He balanced himself on both elbows, like any gentleman would, and kissed Cal soundly anywhere he could reach. “If you don’t mind me being fumble-handed about it—I’m just not used to being gay.”
“Easy now,” said Cal. He placed his hands on Zeke’s shoulders. “It’s not a competition. You can’t compare. Remember what I said? Everybody’s different. With you, I’m different, that’s for sure.”
“What do you mean?” Zeke wanted to know, but his leg started to cramp up, so he slid down until his head was on the pillow beside Cal’s head, and he could lay his hand across Cal’s middle, and ease into a more relaxed state.
“With you, I don’t feel so afraid.” Cal pulled Zeke’s hand up to kiss his palm, tugged on Zeke’s bear scare, then laid Zeke’s hand back down like a protective ward against all the dangers in the world. “With you, I feel brave. With you. Well, everything is possible. Hope that makes sense.”
“I think it does.” Zeke knew that was the truth.
Before Cal, Zeke had felt aimless, wavering between wanting to stay in motion and wanting to settle down. He had been goingto settle down with Betty Lou, but that dream was broken up along with his leg. Now there was another option.
Now there was Cal. Cal and everything that he brought with him, his unhappy past, and his unwavering faith in Zeke, and the life they would build together. And they would.
“When the summer is over,” said Zeke. “When you’ve got your certificate—” He stopped, feeling a little overwhelmed by the idea of a life with Cal. Overwhelmed by how sweet it would be. “What do you reckon you and I go down to New Mexico?”
“New Mexico?”
“There’s an old family farm there, a ranch, really.” Zeke pulled Cal close until he was half on top of Zeke, resting easily in the curve of Zeke’s arms. “My grandmother used to raise mules. We could, too. Raise them and train them. I thought about how a pack mule would have been so useful on our trip to Aungaupi Valley.”
“But what about Dusty?”
“He was fine.” Zeke nodded to make sure Cal knew he truly believed this. “But he wasn’t trained for carrying a load like that. Mules are smart. They’re sassy and funny and so darn strong. Anyway.” He stopped and bent his head to touch it to Cal’s. “Something to think about. When the summer’s over.”
“That sounds good,” said Cal. “To me. Anywhere with you sounds good.”
Zeke bowed his head, overwhelmed by the tender words, the promise in them.
This was how love was supposed to feel, only he’d never known it until now. And now that he knew, truly knew, how it felt, he would do everything in his power to make sure Cal felt loved in return.
“Now,” said Cal, in a slightly bossy way that Zeke was growing to love. “Put your head right here and close your eyes for ten minutes. Then we’ll get to work, like I know you want to.”
Here was the curve along Cal’s neck, where Zeke nestled right beneath Cal’s jaw. A warm place. Sweet and soft and still, with Cal’s arm around him, the white cotton sheet fluttering down. Keeping him warm as his body cooled.
“Rest now.”
Cal’s fingers swirled around the curve of Zeke’s shoulder, reminding him that he was supposed to relax.
Later would come everything else. The difficult conversation with Leland. The hard work that would fill the rest of the summer.
For now he had this, Cal, satisfied and safe, the pain in his leg lowered to a vague dullness that would be dealt with later. The soft breeze that came from beneath the tent flaps. The scent of pine. The drowsy satisfaction. And the light kiss on his temple from Cal.
He had all the blessings he’d never thought he deserved. Until now.
Epilogue - Cal
It wasn’t quite Christmas, but it felt like it, with the snow gently coming down, like it had yesterday and the day before. Everything from the low hills to the west and the pine trees all around was covered in a soft white blanket, and the air was cold and still.
Zeke had mentioned how quiet the snow made everything, and Cal had believed him, but it always surprised him each time. When he’d come in from feeding the mules and checking on the barn, the only sound had been his own bootsteps in the snow.
The mules were housed in a big wooden barn that Zeke, along with some hired hands, had built out of reclaimed wood. When the hired hands had gone, Zeke and Cal had gotten on ladders and painted the barn cedar red with white trim, which made it the nicest looking barn in the area.
