Chapter 30 

The Christmas holidays, including New Years Day, had come and gone. The celebration at the Walker Ranch was a quiet one. Although Maggie had given the ranch hands their usual traditional Christmas dinner, Michael and Karl spent Christmas Day alone with Maggie, Tony, Clayton, and Maggie's friend, Rhapsody, exchanging gifts among themselves. Jeff and Paul had decided to spend their Christmas break skiing in Colorado, while Adriano and Charlie went to California to visit Charlie's mother who was close to death after years of suffering from Parkinson's disease. Jake and Enrique chose to skip Christmas dinner and drove down to Reynosa, Mexico for the Christmas Day Bullfights. Josiah and Brian had been invited for Christmas dinner at the home of Brian's last foster parents. Those were the foster parents who were paying for Brian's education, and Brian still felt a fondness for them.

It was an unusually cold January for South Texas. There had even been a rare dusting of snow that fell one night and turned the rangeland white for almost three days. Michael and Karl celebrated Karl's birthday quietly without fanfare since Karl insisted he wanted no party. Maggie had baked his favorite two-layer yellow cake with banana filling, and the three of them sat at the kitchen table that evening, each enjoying a piece of cake with coffee. A cold wind had come up that afternoon and was now making a whistling noise as it blew around the columns on the verandah.

"I'm glad we had that old furnace re-conditioned this year," sighed Michael. "This old house can get mighty cold and drafty sometimes with the way that wind can blow in off the range."

"Tell me about it," piped Maggie. "Even with the furnace going, I've had to pile every blanket I could find in the house on my bed, plus the closet door if I could have gotten it loose. I think if I'd had someone to snuggle with under the covers, I would have been just fine. Do I have any takers?" Michael and Karl just continued to eat their cake without looking up.

Maggie finally got up and put her plate in the sink. "I'm going to have to say goodnight to you two sweet things. It's been a long day. Help yourself to more cake. Just put your dishes in the sink when you're through. I'll take care of them in the morning. Too-dal-oo!"

After Maggie left the room, Karl put his head on Michael's shoulder. "Michael, this place just isn't going to be the same when Maggie leaves next week. Why do things always have to change? Why can't things go on like they always have? Corky's moved away, and Josiah and Brian probably never think of us anymore. We don't see Jeff and Paul as much as we used to."

Michael bent his head down and kissed Karl on the forehead. "I know. But how does that song go? 'Something, something, but we got each other.'"

"Yeah, I know, but . . . ." Karl didn't finish the sentence.

They sat quietly for awhile, and then Michael said, "Maybe I know why you don't want to see Maggie leave. Maybe you're still thinking about the great head she gave you when you first came down here."

"Aw, Michael. You know better than that," said Karl. "But you have to admit, she does suck a mean cock. You've got to admit that now. Right?"

"Okay, I'll admit that."

"You know, Michael," said Karl, "we ought to sometime let Maggie suck us each off one more time before she goes. It'll be our going away present to her. You know how much she's been aching to do it?"

Michael and Karl sat quietly for awhile and then looked at each other and smiled. They knew what they had to do. Getting up, they put their dishes in the sink, turned off the light and tip-toed down the hall to Maggie's room. They knocked lightly on the door and heard a muffled "Come in." When they entered they saw a huge mound of quilts and blankets on the bed."

"Maggie, are you under all that somewhere?" called Michael.

Again came a muffled sound, "I'm here."

"Maggie, since it's such a cold night and since you need someone to cuddle with to keep you warm, we thought that would be the least we could do for you," said Michael.

Suddenly, Maggie's face popped out from under the covers. "You mean it? You guys want to cuddle with me to keep me warm?"

Karl said, "Yeah, if you'd like us to."

Maggie shouted, as she threw open the covers, "Well, get in here you two before you freeze to death!"

Michael and Karl quickly got out of their clothes and jumped into the bed, pressing Maggie between their two naked bodies.

"Oh, my God, am I dreaming?" squealed Maggie as she kissed one and then the other rapidly over and over again.

Michael said, "Maggie, Karl and I thought you deserved to have a little cuddling on a cold night like this. And, by the way, we both remember those terrific blow jobs you gave us a long time ago. And we both thought we just couldn't let you go without experiencing that just one more time."

Maggie started to giggle, "Oh, go on, you guys!"

Maggie instinctively reached down and found two very hard penises pressing on her legs. Taking hold of them firmly, one in each hand, she could feel them pulsating strongly as she squeezed them. Michael and Karl were now driving Maggie crazy by running their tongues in and around her ears and neck and lightly massaging her chest and stomach and with their hands.

"Okay, you guys, you're driving me wild. Which one of you wants to shoot his load first? It makes no difference to me because you both got the most luscious, delicious cocks in the whole world. I'll just do 'eeny-meeny-miney-mo.'"

Karl had the honor of being first. Maggie scooted down, and as she did so, ran her tongue over Karl's chest and nipples and down over his navel and into his thick wiry pubic hair. Then as she nibbled on the soft skin of Karl's ball sack, she could feel his hard penis rhythmically slapping her in the face and forehead. It was more than any human could take, she thought, and lunged for his steel-hard rod sucking it into her mouth completely with her nose and lips buried in Karl's pubic hair.

Karl moaned with the pleasure of feeling Maggie's expert tongue work on the head of his penis as it swirled over it and around the shaft. As Maggie worked, Michael completed the ecstasy by running his tongue over Karl's nipples, which were the most sensitive part of Karl's body. Soon, both Maggie and Michael could feel Karl's entire body tensing up. Maggie could feel the head of Karl's penis getting larger. And Karl was beginning to buck his hips as he felt his balls tightening up and the beginning of that pre-orgasmic clenching in his groin. He threw his head back and let out a series of yells as he felt his sperm shooting up his shaft in five or six powerful surges into Maggie's throat.

Maggie continued to suck gently on Karl's penis, which seemed to stay hard for a long time. As it began to deflate, and as Karl began to get his breath back, Karl said, "Maggie, I forbid you to leave. You can put your millions in a bank somewhere, but you are going to stay at the Ranch. I will not allow you to leave. You belong here. You must simply change your plans. You will call Rhapsody in the morning and tell her the trip to Australia is off. Do you hear me?"

Maggie purred, "I have a better idea. You two need to come with us."

Maggie had always thought that Michael had the most gorgeous legs . . . muscular, but not too muscular and with the most sensuous dusting of light brown hair covering them. She scooted down and began running her tongue up one of his legs, starting at the ankle. The feel of that soft hair on her tongue as she held his shapely leg in both hands made her so hot she almost wanted to cry. Karl, also, had always been driven wild by the look and feel of Michael's legs. As Maggie was literally worshiping Michael's leg, Karl was doing the same to his other leg. As both their tongues reached Michael's crotch, Karl allowed Maggie to do the honors of licking and sucking on Michael's balls.

Again, the feel of this hard cock slapping against her face was too much for Maggie, who almost savagely devoured it, giving Michael the feeling that he was going to cum before Maggie had a chance to work her magic with that wonderful tongue of hers. As Maggie pumped her face up and down on Michael's gorged cock, Michael wanted it to last and even tried to think about ranch business in an effort to stave off the orgasm he could feel lurking in the depths of his groin and on the edge of bursting forth. But the heavenly results of Maggie's tongue would not be denied. Michael began to feel as though he was being transported by an unknown force into the heavens as he just went ahead and allowed that orgasm to take over his whole body, making him lose all control over himself. He could feel each spurt of his cum as it shot from the pee hole at the end of his penis into the warm cavity of Maggie's mouth and throat. He could hear Maggie gulping as she swallowed each volley of Michael's sperm entering her mouth.

As both Michael and Karl lay there with Maggie between them, they both reached over and began fondling Maggie's balls and her hard penis. Michael said, "Maggie, your balls and your cock, and even your pubic hair is drenched with your pre-cum."

Both Michael and Karl scooted down and began licking Maggie's balls and penis, taking turns sucking her penis into their mouths. Maggie said, "You guys are going to make me cum in a second. Who wants to take it?"

Karl said, "Just tell us when, and then we'll pull off and you finish it by hand and we'll both have our mouths here to catch it. Okay?"

As they licked and sucked on Maggie's balls and cock, Maggie reached down suddenly and grabbed her penis. "Okay, I gonna cum now!"

As Maggie shot her sperm, Karl and Michael were able to catch most of it in their mouths, with some landing on their faces. At Maggie's request, they moved themselves back up so that she could lick their handsome faces clean.

With Maggie still lying between Michael and Karl, and with her body pressed closely against their naked bodies, they pulled the blankets and quilts back up over them and all went to sleep until 4:30 a.m. when Maggie's alarm went off. It was time for her to get up and fix breakfast for the ranch hands. She kissed them both passionately and told them to stay there and go back to sleep.

Tony had also arisen at 4:30 to help Maggie. On the way down the hall to the bathroom, he stopped, as he always did, to look in on Maggie to make sure she was up. As he entered the room, he was surprised to find Maggie up and out with both Michael and Karl sound asleep in Maggie's bed. Tony looked down at them. He had never gotten over his deep love for Karl and secretly harbored a biting jealousy of Michael. He could never understand how Karl could have disavowed his love for him that he had so often expressed to Tony when they lived in New York. He came close and looked at Karl's sweet and untroubled face as he slept. He wanted to lean over and kiss Karl on those beautiful full lips and brush his dark curly hair back out of his eyes. He could feel himself screaming inside. He was screaming with desire and love and undying passion for his Karl. Karl was his, he thought. No one else had the right to him. Tears began rolling down his cheeks. He had learned to control himself when he was around Karl, for Karl's sake. But now suddenly, seeing Karl asleep and being so close to him, he knew he had to kiss him and touch his cheek with his fingers. He longed for Karl to then open his eyes and look at him and once again say, "I love you, Tony."

Tony got down on his knees by the bed and, with his head only inches from Karl's, he was about to touch his lips to Karl's lips when Maggie appeared at the door.

"Tony! Get dressed and leave them alone. I need you in the kitchen right away!"

As Tony rose to his feet, Maggie could see the tears in his eyes. Maggie led him out into the hall and put her arms around him. "Oh, Tony. I'm sorry. I know what you've gone through all these months. I've been in love, too, many times with people who have turned away from me. It can tear your heart out. I know there is nothing I can say to help you, but you just have to be strong, Tony. I've got an idea. We need to sort of get away from the house for a little while. So why don't I pack a picnic lunch and we can get Clayton, and the three of us can ride out on horseback this afternoon to our favorite picnicking spot by the river. I know it's kind of cold out, but it looks like the sun will be out to warm things up a bit. We can dress warm and the crisp air will be invigorating and good for us. What do you say?

Still holding onto Maggie, Tony said, "Oh, Maggie, I know I shouldn't be this way. I want to be strong. And yeah. I'd like to ride out with you and Clayton and get away from here for awhile today." Then looking into Maggie's eyes, Tony said, "Maggie, I wish you weren't leaving. I'll have to do all the cooking alone. I don't have any other friends here. Nobody really likes me."

"That's not true, Tony."

"Yes it is. Everyone thinks I'm stupid. Sometimes I think I ought to go back to New York. But I don't have anybody there, either."

"Come on, Tony. We'll talk more about that later. Right now, we have to finish getting the breakfast going."

Maggie knew that Clayton seemed just as lost as Tony in many ways. She had seen the two of them together from time to time, and they seemed to get along fine. In fact, Maggie thought they really looked cute together. She had no idea, however, what the nature of their friendship was because she had never overheard their conversations. She had, however, seen them laughing together from time to time. Maggie thought to herself, "Here I go again, trying to be the match-maker. Maybe I can do that one last good deed before I leave here."

The air was cold and crisp, but as Maggie promised, the sun was warm on their faces as they leisurely trotted across the range past Michael's house in the Cottonwoods and out to the river at the eastern edge of the ranch. It was pleasant for all three of them since there was no hint of the usual noises emanating from the ranch buildings near the house. Even the ever-present smell of the horse and cow barns that seemed to permeate everything when the wind was wrong could no longer be discerned.

Maggie thought this would be a good time for the three of them to tell about their lives and really get to know one another. Maggie related her many on-again, off-again affairs and her former life as a drag queen. Tony told about his love for Karl and his lonely life in New York. And Clayton talked about his lifelong yearning to find his father and his unhappy life with his mother and her live-in boyfriends, as well as the horrible disappointment he felt when he had at last found his father. Maggie could see that Tony was very moved by what Clayton had been through. Tony was sitting on the ground very close to Clayton. When Clayton had finished, Tony put his hand on Clayton's bare forearm and leaned his head on Clayton's shoulder. He had his eyes closed, but Maggie could tell that Tony was fighting back tears. Maggie also did not miss the fact that Clayton had put his hand on Tony's and had bent his own head so it touched Tony's.

None of the three thought that their little get-away was morbid or unduly sad. They had, instead, learned some things that lurked in each of their hearts, and they felt a warm closeness to one another that they had not felt before. Maggie thought to herself that she hoped she would see a full flowering of the friendship . . . or even love . . . between Clayton and Tony. Both of them were still so young and had had such sadness and disappointment in their lives. What better place on this earth, she thought, than the far-away Walker Ranch for two guys like that to find peace and tranquility and to fall in love.

Shortly after New Years, Brian and Josiah moved to Austin, where Brian would enter the University of Texas Veterinary School, while Josiah would begin there as a freshman. They had found a small apartment near where Adriano and Charlie lived. Josiah suffered from terrible fear of the whole adventure when he first started attending class, but found that he liked his classes. He realized that he really liked the idea of learning new things. His professors were interesting and he began to find it easy to talk with the other students. It was an entirely different experience from anything he had ever done. He had had no friends at all during his years in foster homes and had only those very few close friends at the Walker Ranch. He found, however, that there was one major thing missing. Unlike everyone around him, he had never learned to drive. Jake had showed him how to drive the truck around a little on the ranch, but he did very little of that, and knew nothing about how to drive a car out on the road. Brian arranged for him to take driving lessons in a nighttime driver-training program at one of the local high schools.

Not long after school started, Adriano's father, Mario, was about to pay another visit to America. He and Adriano had, during his last visit, come to terms over the partnering of Adriano with Charlie. Charlie had not been happy with Adriano's dalliances with his own father and made it clear that if Adriano wanted to continue having sexual activity with his father, it could not be in their bed. Adriano understood Charlie's attitude, and they had since moved to a larger apartment where Mario could have his own room when he visited.

Mario was scheduled to arrive at the San Antonio Airport at a time of day when Adriano was teaching a class that he could not miss. Charlie was also scheduled at that time to be in one of the labs. Adriano asked Brian if he would drive down to San Antonio to pick up his father and drive him back to the apartment since Brian had no classes that afternoon.

When Mario stepped from the plane into the terminal, he was delighted to see Brian. "Buonasera, Brian! How nice it is to see you! I suppose Adriano is in class?"

"Yes. Since I'm free all afternoon today, he asked me to come down and meet you and take you to his apartment."

After retrieving Mario's luggage, they walked to the car. When they got in, Mario turned and laid his hand on Brian's cheek. "Brian, you're looking so well. I've often thought about the long talks we've had together. You were so afraid of so many things. And I always hoped that what we did together helped to bring you out of your shell."

"I remember those times, too, Mario. How could I ever forget what you did for me. I sometimes think that I'd still be this crazy scaredy-cat if I hadn't met you."

Mario looked very intently into Brian's eyes and ran his hand down Brian's front, hooking his fingers into his belt. "Brian, I want you to know that I have thought so much about you since those times. I don't think that there was any secret about the fact that I had fallen in love with you. I think you knew that . . . didn't you?"

Brian began to feel a little uneasy and put his hand on Mario's to prevent it from working its way any lower. "I think I knew that, Mario, but you know I'm living with Josiah now."

"Josiah?" Mario said, withdrawing his hand. "I knew that you and Josiah were very good friends, but I didn't know that you . . . that is, you and he . . . I mean . . . ."

"We're lovers, Mario. We have been in love with each other for a long time. We went through a lot together. You remember hearing about our accident, don't you? We almost died together that day. I thought you knew how much Josiah and I . . . . Please, Mario, I thought you knew."

"Well, no I didn't. But I'm happy for you both," said Mario as he stared straight ahead. They drove to Austin speaking very little. When they arrived at Adriano's and Charlie's apartment, Brian carried Mario's luggage up the stairs and placed it on the floor in the room where he would be sleeping. Suddenly Mario grabbed Brian by the shoulders and pushed him down on the bed.

Leaning over him, Mario pleaded, "Please, Brian. It's been so long. We've meant so much to each other, and I've looked forward so much to seeing you and being with you again. Please let me kiss you and love you for just a little while. Please."

Brian could smell that wonderful masculine aroma that he remembered about Mario. He didn't struggle, but let Mario kiss him, first very lightly on the lips and then deeply and passionately. Brian could feel his penis getting hard, and could feel Mario's hard-on pressing against his. Brian suddenly felt that same passion and desire for Mario that he had felt when Mario first brought him to his bed. As they lay there, Mario very slowly unbuttoned Brian's shirt and removed it. As they caressed each other, they were soon both naked lying on top of the bedspread. Brian began to feel this terrible confusion of guilt and lust pounding away at his brain. As Mario took Brian's hard cock into his mouth, Brian clutched at Mario's shoulders. He lay with his head thrown back and moaned softly.

As Brian's orgasm began and he was shooting his sperm into Mario's mouth, the door suddenly opened without warning, and Adriano walked in. Brian looked up, terrified at being caught doing this with Adriano's father. Adriano had known about the sexual relationship that Brian and his father had once had, but was shocked that Brian would do this again with his father. All that Adriano could utter was the name of Brian's lover, "Josiah, Josiah . . . my God, Josiah."

Brian leaped off of the bed and, choking with tears, threw on his clothes and ran out. He raced back to his own apartment and sat trembling, waiting for Josiah to come home. He thought he would confess everything to Josiah, and then thought that maybe that would be foolish. It happened, it was over, it would never happen again. His head ached, his nose was running, and he felt terrible. Finally, Josiah came in all full of talk about what happened in his day. Brian looked awful, and Josiah came over to him and hugged him.

"Brian, what's the matter?" Josiah said gently.

"Oh, Josiah, I must have an allergy to something," lied Brian. "My headaches and my eyes are watering." Then kissing Josiah and holding on to him tightly, he said, "Josiah, would you come and lie down with me on the bed and hold me?" Then with tears in his eyes, he said. "I love you, Josiah, more than anything in my life. . . more than anything in my life. I hope you believe me."

"Of course, I believe you," said Josiah softly. As they lay down on the bed and into each other's arms, Josiah said, "Is there something wrong, Brian? It isn't just an allergy, is it? There is something wrong, isn't there?"

"No," replied Brian. "Just hold me."

They both soon fell asleep, fully dressed, in each other's arms and did not awaken until the sun filled the room with light.

When morning came, Josiah got up without waking Brian. He had an early morning class, while Brian was not due in class until late morning. They had both slept fully dressed, and Josiah felt hot and sticky. As he stripped off his clothes before taking his shower, he looked down at Brian. He felt convinced that it was not an allergy that was bothering Brian. He knew it had to be something else. Josiah had only one class, and he made up his mind he would come directly home afterwards so that he could talk with Brian before he left for his own class.

Josiah left the bathroom door open, and from the shower through the glass door, he could see Brian asleep on the bed. As he lathered himself up, he kept telling himself that he loved Brian so much and hated the thought that Brian might be in some sort of trouble. As he lathered up his chest and stomach, long streams of lather ran down into his pubic hair and enveloped Josiah's penis and balls. It always felt so good to stroke his penis with one hand and cup his balls with the other when they were drenched in soap lather. As Josiah slowly stroked, he stared out at Brian, who had, as he always had when he slept, such a sweet tranquil look on his face. Josiah didn't usually jack off in his morning shower, but the night before, he and Brian had not cum at all, and Josiah felt overcome with an unusual sense of sexual desire for Brian.

As Josiah picked up the pace of his stroking, he began to feel that wonderful tingle come over the middle part of his body and could feel his knees becoming weak. With his knees bent, his back arched, and with his hips bucking, Josiah shot long ropes of thick white sperm onto the wall of the shower. As he stood there milking out the last few drops of his cum, he watched his sperm slowly slide down the wall onto the floor of the shower where it was quickly washed down the drain.

After his class, Josiah stopped into Adriano's office to pick up a workbook that Adriano had promised to lend him. When he entered the department office, the secretary told him to have a seat. Adriano had someone in his office, but he would be free in just a few minutes. Josiah sat down in a chair near the entrance to Adriano's office and could hear that he was talking to Paul, and he could not help but hear the conversation.

Adriano said, "Paul, before you leave, I want to tell you something very confidential. You know, Mario, my dad, is in town again. And he's staying in a spare bedroom in my apartment. Well, late yesterday afternoon, I came home and I walked in on my dad in bed with Brian. They were both completely naked, and my dad was sucking off Brian, and Brian had hold of his shoulders and was moaning away like the end of the world was coming. Brian jumped up when he saw me and ran, but I had a real fight with my dad over that. Not only did he know that Brian and Josiah were now partners, but he and I had agreed that he would not be having any sex in my apartment unless I knew about it."

Josiah started to tremble, and felt as though he was going to faint. He slowly stood up, but had to hold onto the corner of the secretary's desk to steady himself.

"What the matter, young man?" asked the secretary, getting up to hold onto him. "You look as white as a sheet. Here, sit down. Would you like some water?"

Josiah broke away from the secretary's grip and staggered from the office.

Just then Adriano came out of his office. "Was there somebody here who wanted to see me?"

"Yes, but he suddenly looked very ill and ran out."

"Who was it?"

"He was that new young freshman, who is a friend of yours. I believe his name is Josiah."

"My God," gasped Adriano. "Where was he sitting?"

"Right there, in the chair next to your door."

"Oh, my God! He heard everything I was telling Paul."

Running out of the office, Adriano ran down the hall, down the stairs and out onto the sidewalk. Looking all around, Josiah was nowhere in sight.

Josiah ran down the hill toward the Student Union building. He sat on a bench in the park behind the building. He sat trembling, unable to make sense of what he had just heard. There were no tears, but his face began to feel hot. There was a cold wind, but his face was burning up. What should he do, he kept asking himself over and over. Pulling out his wallet, he emptied all its contents onto the bench. He picked up one of the small pieces of paper that fell out and stuffed the rest of the contents back into his wallet. He got up and walked toward the Union building. He could feel his eyes begin to burn as they began to fill with tears. He could hardly see the sidewalk or where he was going. Several girls coming toward him stopped and asked what was wrong and if they could help. Josiah just kept going toward the Union. Inside he went to the information window and asked if they would give him change for a dollar. Then he walked to the other side of the lobby and stood at a public phone. Inserting a quarter, he dialed the operator.

With his voice trembling, Josiah said softly, "Please operator, I need to call the Walker Ranch collect down near Goliad." Then looking at the piece of paper, he read off the telephone number.

Maggie answered. "Hello."

"Maggie, I need to talk to Jake."

"Is this Josiah? Where are you calling from?"

"I just need to talk to Jake, Maggie. Please."

"What's the matter, dear? You sound terrible. What's happened."

"Nothing. Please, Maggie. I need to talk to Jake. Please."

"You just hold on, dear. I'll get him right away. He's standing right out in the yard."

"Hello, Josiah? Is that you?" shouted Jake.

"Oh, Jake. I got to see you. I need to have you come up here. I can't go down there because I can't drive," sobbed Josiah.

"Oh, shit, Josiah. Yer cryin'. Don't cry ya little fucker. Tell me what's the matter."

"Jake, I just miss you so much . . . ."

"Now stop yer cryin' and tell me what's wrong."

"I can't. I have to see you."

"Okay, Josiah. I'll leave in just a few minutes. I'll drive up there and meet ya at yer apartment."

"No, no, Jake! I'm not going back there! I'm going to go over to the Nest. You know, the bar over on the south edge of town. Please meet me there."

"Okay, Josiah. Now I don't know what the fuck has happened, but you just need to stay calm whatever it was. Are you with Brian?"

"No, I don't want to talk now. Please, Jake, hurry. I need to see you again."

It was now late morning, and Josiah sat in darkened corner booth of the Nest drinking a can of Sprite. The place was almost empty, except for two young men sitting at the bar talking with the bartender. In mid-afternoon, Jake arrived and, after ordering a Pearl Beer, joined Josiah.

Taking Josiah's hand, Jake said, "Now what the fuck's the matter, Josiah."

Josiah recounted the conversation he overheard in Adriano's office.

"Do ya want me to go back to yer apartment with ya, and we can talk to Brian together?" asked Jake.

"No I don't want to go back there. I want to go back to the ranch with you, Jake. That's where I belong. I belong with you, Jake."

"Listen you little fucker, you belong with Brian. And you belong in school. You gotta go back there and talk to him."

"I'm not goin' back, Jake."

"Well, how's about me stayin' over tonight," said Jake. "I can git a motel room for tonight, and you can stay there just fer tonight. But if you ain't gonna talk to Brian tonight, I'm goin' over there and talk to him. He'll be worried about you since you never came home and you never even called him."

"I don't think he's worried about me. He's probably going to see Mario again."

Leaving the Nest, Jake and Josiah drove to the Lone Star Motel and reserved a room for the night. Then they walked next door to Maxine's Diner for something to eat. When they were back in the room, Jake took Josiah in his arms and hugged him tightly. Tears again began to run down Josiah's cheeks.

As Josiah ran his hand over Jake's considerable bulge, he said "Oh, Jake, I miss you so much. Why did I ever leave you. You saved my life."

"Wait a minute," said Jake. "Ya got that wrong. Don't ya remember when ya jumped in front of me and took that bullet that was meant fer me? Oh, Josiah. I'll always love ya like the dickens, and I wish ya was back home. But ya belong here now. You jist lie down there and try to git some sleep. I'm goin' over to see Brian and find out what in Hell is goin' on."

When Jake arrived at Brian's and Josiah's apartment, Brian answered the door.

"Jake! My God! What's wrong? Josiah hasn't come home and I'm worried. I've called all around and none of our friends have seen him."

Jake walked in and sat down. "That's what I'm here fer. Josiah's alright. He's stayin' with me over at the Lone Star Motel."

"Why is he with you?"

"Sit down, Brian. I have to tell ya that Josiah overheard a conversation that Adriano was having with Paul about catching you and Mario in bed together."

Brian turned white and began to tremble as he lowered himself into a chair. Burying his face in his hands, he said, "Jake, I want to die. I didn't want that to happen with Mario. You know he was like a father to me. He was so kind. He brought me out of my shell. He didn't realize that I was with Josiah now and started kissing me and playing with me. He had a power over me like he always did. I couldn't resist him. Jake, I still love him just like Josiah still loves you."

Jake said, "Josiah don't love me no more. He loves you."

"I know Josiah loves me, but he loves you too in a big way. He still talks about you a lot. I know that if you came on to him, he'd give in to you too."

Jake suddenly remembered that, back in the motel, when he hugged Josiah, the boy rubbed his hand over his bulge. Yes, there was no doubt that Josiah would have given in to him.

"Brian," said Jake as he stood up. "I want ya to get dressed and come with me. Yer comin' over to the motel and we're gonna straighten this fuckin' mess out.

When they arrived at the motel, they found Josiah stretched out on the bed. His eyes were red and teary.

"Now sit on up here, Josiah. Both you and Brian here have some fuckin' things to talk about. And if ya don't wanna talk, I'll beat the fuckin' shit outta yas both until ya do talk. Okay, Brian, tell Josiah what ya told me . . . ya know, what happened between you and Mario.

Brian was shaking and his voice was trembling, but he tried to explain the best he could what happened with Mario and why it happened. Josiah didn't look at Brian, but kept his eyes on the floor.

After a few minutes of silence, Brian said with tears in his voice, "Josiah, we both talked about this a lot. Remember, Josiah? We each had a man in our lives who was like a father to us. Our lives would never have been what they are now without them. We'd probably be dead. I had Mario, who was the first man who ever loved me, the first man who ever treated me like I was someone. And you, Josiah. Had you ever loved anyone, or had you ever felt the love of someone else before you found Jake? When you heard what you heard from Adriano, who was the first person you called? It was . . . . Oh, Josiah, don't turn away from me. Please, Josiah. Please."

Josiah turned and looked at Brian, who was now leaning forward in his chair and covering his face. Jake shot a menacing look at Josiah, and jerked his head toward Brian in an attempt to silently order Josiah to get up and go over to Brian. Jake could see that Josiah's eyes now had that look of pure love as he looked at Brian. Josiah got up, went over to Brian, knelt on the floor and slowly pulled Brian's hands away from his face.

With thickness in his voice, Josiah said "I love you Brian. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."

Brian and Josiah threw their arms around each other, half sobbing and half laughing. They held onto each other as though they would never let the other go.

Jake tried frantically to brush away the tears that were running down his own cheeks. "Now you two little fuckers git on home with ya, and git yerself a good night's sleep. But before ya go, let me tell ya somethin' I don't what ya ever to forgit. There ain't nothin' in this world that can ruin a friendship or kill the love between two people than jealousy and not trustin' each other. And Josiah, whenever somethin' troubles ya, don't run away from Brian like ya did. Jist talk to him about it. You too were scarin' each other to death today. And there ain't no need for that."

Taking both of them in his arms, Jake and the two young men stood in a tight hug. "Now like I said, it's time for you two fuckers to git on home and show each other how much you love each other."

After the two boys left, Jake stripped down and got into bed. He lay awake for a long time trying to come down from the high he had been in over the crises between Brian and Josiah, as well as get away from a terrible longing to once again have Josiah in his bed where they would kiss and caress each other and then fuck each other, just like those beautiful days not long after he brought Josiah to the ranch.

Until tonight it had been so long since he had had Josiah held tightly in his arms. But he hadn't forgotten about his little Ricky . . . dear sweet Ricky. Jake began to smile to himself with the thought that he would be back with Ricky the next night. Reason had now overtaken Jake and with his penis getting very hard, he closed his eyes and began to stroke with the vision of Ricky lying on his stomach between Jake's legs, licking and nibbling on his balls and on the underside of his penis. That fantasy never failed to bring Jake to orgasm quickly. Bucking his hips and bouncing uncontrollably on the annoyingly squeaky motel bed, he shot a great geyser of sperm straight up, coming down to drench his jack off hand and his pubic hair. He quietly said, "Thanks, Ricky," and slowly licked the cum off of his hand and dropped off to sleep.

When they got home, Brian and Josiah did something they had not done for a long time. They stood in their bedroom and very slowly undressed each other, kissing and licking and massaging each other's emerging nudity as they went. Falling into bed, they had no sex, but simply pressed their naked bodies close together in an unbreakable embrace and professed their love for each other over and over again. They had each learned something that day, and right now the most important thing was to hold on to each other very tightly.
 

To be continued...