A Western Saga

Chapter Nine

Skip McCoy

I didn't go back on the trail. I could pick up a cattle drive about anytime; right now I was enjoying working with Tuck. Hell, I was enjoying Tuck.

Me and Tuck was on the trail of a murderer. A rancher who'd killed his neighbor in a dispute over land and grazing rights. The local sheriff had called in the Marshals to track him down as the murderer was hiding out in another territory. It was only my second month on the job and Tuck was training me as we went along.

We were camped out by a little creek in the Colorado foothills, just a day or two from the location where we suspected our quarry was hiding. I'd just fucked Tuck's talented ass after a hearty dinner of fresh rabbit and hotcakes. We were laying on our shared bedroll and enjoying the warm air.

I admired Tuck more than he could know. He was teaching me all the things I'd need to know to be a Marshal. Things like how to shoot to kill, how to enter a place so your back was covered and your partner's, how to track a man in the wild and in any kind of civilization. Every day we practiced what he called hand-to-hand combat, like fighting and wrestling. Tuck was a strong and brave man who knew how to survive. A few good men like him were the only thing keeping the peace in much of the lawless frontier lands.

No matter how I felt about him as a lawman, most days I couldn't wait to get him in my bed or bedroll. I'd never seen anyone, man or woman, get so riled up over my cock. Didn't matter which end I fucked him in, Tuck was always enthusiastic and wild. I'd known the best and worst of whores who couldn't match the Marshal in pleasing a man. I would get downright giddy with excitement when we'd take a break during the day to tussle.

And the nights were outstanding. There was nothing finer to Tuck than me fucking him for hours until he'd cum multiple times. The man never failed to excite me and our fucking was powerful pleasurable.

"Damn, I need to go down to that creek and wash up again but I can't rightly move," he said and broke me out of my thoughts. I rolled onto my side to see him. The sun was just dipping behind the high peaks of the Rockies and the light was fading. Tuck's eyes were closed and his lips were softly smiling. "That cooking grease you used made things plenty slick, Skip, but it feels damn nasty now."

"You need a hand getting up?" I asked him. I had my head propped on one hand and with the other I reached over to rub his cum into the soft hairs on his stomach and chest where he'd spilled.

"Nah, I believe I can live with it awhile longer. You just better hope there ain't no bears around. They'd be liable to come and get a taste if they catch a whiff." Without ever opening his eyes he reached out and found his hat, set it at a slant over his forehead and eyes.

"If there was any bears you scared 'em all away with your carryin' on." His warm muscles felt good under my hands. "A soul woulda' thought you was dying for all the yelling."

"That's the best part about fucking out in the middle of nowhere, I don't hav'ta be quiet."

I set my hand over his heart and spread my fingers to feel his heart beat against my palm. All I could see of his face was his square stubble-shaded jaw and cleft chin, his lips still smiling.

"Truthfully, I like the way you go on when my cock's in ya', Tuck." And that was the God's honest truth.

"I figured, that's always when you fuck me the hardest." We both paused to consider the truth of that.

"I could go get a washcloth and wet it to clean you up," I offered.

"Nah, leave it. 'Sides I expect you'll be wantin' to make me dirty again before it gets much later."

"Prob'ly," I admitted. The grin under the brim of his hat stretched wider at that.

"You might be the first man, Skip McCoy, that could ever wear my ass out for fucking."

I didn't believe it for a minute. "Bullshit," I told him.

"You calling me a liar?" he asked playfully. "You done put that big thing of yours in me three times today already. And now you tell me you'll want another go?"

"Hey, you're the one said we should spell the horses this afternoon in that meadow."

"Yeah, but I didn't 'spect I'd be the one gettin' ridden while the horses was restin'," he replied with a laugh.

"If you didn't want to all you had to do was say so," I told him. I didn't truly believe he felt like I'd taken advantage of him but I wanted him to know I'd respect his choices.

"I won't never say no to you, Skip, or that big cock of yours." He put his hand over mine and gave it a squeeze. We were quiet for some time while I studied his profile but there was something I'd been wanting to ask him.

"What happened to your last partner, Tuck?" For all that we'd spent almost every minute of the last two months together there were lots of things I didn't know about Marshal Franklin Tucker.

"We got offered a promotion back at headquarters in Virginia. He took it and I didn't." It wasn't a lot but it answered one of my questions.

"Did he fuck you too?" I asked.

"Sometimes, not like you though. It was a matter of getting relief for him. He wanted a wife and family," Tuck offered by way of explanation.

"Ain't that what you want?" He didn't answer right away. He tilted up the brim of his hat with a finger and slanted his eyes at me. He gave me a long look before he spoke.

"My older brother taught me about fucking when I was still a boy. I joined the Army and was assigned to the cavalry before I was even a man. I learned even more about being fucked by a man, by lots of men. I've had a woman but to me there ain't nothing finer than having a man's cock in my ass. I ain't ashamed of it, Skip. I figure it's just the way I am. That's why I wanted to stay in the territories. Ain't many women out here and nobody looks at you funny if you ain't got one. If that makes you think less of me I'll understand. I won't like it but I'll understand it."

"I don't mind it, Tuck," I said softly. It was pretty much what I'd expected but it was still strange to hear it spoken out loud.

"Is that what you want? To find a woman and get married?" he asked. I wasn't so sure how to answer that.

"I was married once, Tuck. It was near ten years ago. My wife? my Clara, she died giving birth to my son. It was my fault she died. If I'd have courted her right, not been so concerned with getting her alone in her daddy's barn? If she'd been more of a woman maybe she could've survived the birth. She was just sixteen." I was telling him something I'd never told anyone.

I was grateful he didn't try to coddle me, didn't feed me a line of bull shit like, "It was the Lord's plan," or anything. He held my gaze until I almost couldn't stand it anymore then said, "What happened to the boy?"

"I was a right mess after what all happened. My brother, Richard, had just finished his apprenticeship as a cartwright. He and his wife couldn't seem to have a baby so I gave the boy to them to raise. He wanted to have a family, I saw it as a way to give him that. I was just barely seventeen?.." I finally looked away from his light eyes, so filled with sympathy, and admitted the rest.

"Truth is, I near couldn't stand to see Clara in him. I packed up after her last rites and headed west. Ain't been back since." Now he knew my worst. I hoped he'd see that he had nothing to be ashamed of, not for liking men better than women, not when I'd done so much worse.

"Do you know why I asked you to be my partner, Skip?" he asked at length.

"'Cause I saved your life, you said," I answered easily.

"No, that was just a fine excuse for gettin' a handsome man into my bed. You have the eyes of a gunman, Skip, and that was all I needed to see. I knew that when it came down to it, when the hard decisions had to be made, you'd pull the trigger. You wouldn't hesitate. It's a rare trait in a man, something even those who've been trained to do it can't. It's especially rare in a good man. You're a good man, and you were a good man even at seventeen. You gave your son something you knew you couldn't provide."

Moving slowly he lifted the hat from his head and set it aside. He rolled onto his side so that we were face to face. I could see the flames from the fire behind me reflected in his eyes in the growing dark. "I don't know," I whispered, feeling vulnerable under his scrutiny.

"I know, Skip. I just hope you can believe me. I wouldn't have asked you to be my partner if I hadn't known."

Still moving slow like he would with an excitable horse he leaned in to kiss me. I waited only a moment before I met him. The feel of his chapped lips on mine managed to reinforce what he'd said. In that moment I chose to believe him, even if only for a short time. I pushed my tongue into his mouth and sought out his. I pushed him back and clambered over him, straddling his legs.

A strange mix of emotions roiled in my gut; sadness, uncertainty and gratitude. I couldn't have said after what compelled me but I broke away from his mouth and moved swiftly down to his cock. I took the flaccid member between my lips and felt it twitch, come to life. I pushed my tongue under the foreskin and got a taste of his cum, salty and bitter.

As his cock grew hard I worked it into my throat and swallowed around the head. It tested the limits of my skills with cocksucking but I wanted to show Tuck how much what he'd said meant to me. His hands found the back of my head and before he was completely erect he was already fucking my mouth. I fought not to gag, to accept him fully, and breathe.

He pulled down on my head as he was thrusting up with his hips. The soft head bounced off the top of my mouth only to lodge itself in my throat. I made my lips tighter, worked my tongue harder against the bottom of his shaft. My cock became more rigid with each grunt and moan I pulled out of him.

His manhood grew thicker and throbbed as his cum gushed out and over my tongue. I couldn't breathe, could barely swallow. He held my head tighter and pushed in to shoot straight into my throat. I took it all, a heavy load, and sucked the last of it from the head. He moaned and twitched as my tongue lapped over his sensitive tip.

When I'd taken the last of it I forced myself between his legs and raised them onto my shoulders at the same time. I shafted him hard and deep with the full length of my cock and swallowed his scream. It was hard and more brutal than I meant to be but I couldn't stop. A handful of thrusts and I came mightily in his ass.

I collapsed over him and waited until we could both breathe properly. I promised to check the horses one more time and bank the fire but he was already asleep. I kissed his slack lips one last time with a whispered "Thank you," before pulling my spent cock from his hole.

Chapter Ten

Caleb Brown

A week passed, then two, then three, and I was losing my faith in Jesse. Sadly so, because I felt he had used me for his own pleasure then discarded me like an empty whiskey bottle. I wanted to go over and ask Mr. Lawson how much money he'd left, if any, but I didn't have the nerve. I remembered thinking I wouldn't see him again when he was riding off but I still had hopes. Godd, I wanted to be fucked by him again so bad. Our agreement wasn't anything legal, it was nothing more than a gentlemen's agreement, and I wasn't sure he'd left all that much money with Mr. Lawson anyway. I was becoming surer I would never see or hear from him again. Then one day three wagons rolled into Glory loaded with lumber and nails, all kinds of furniture, and two large copper tubs and copper tubing and pipes and plumbing fixtures. I was on the verge of tears when Harold came into the bath house where I was cleaning to tell me there were some men with wagons asking for me.

I took them around to the back of the old building where we unloaded everything inside the storage house. The last thing they took off the wagon, what looked like a huge board all wrapped in heavy paper and cloth?..a big hand painted sign that said, Glory Hole. I smiled.

Toward the end of the unloading I started to worry about payment to these men, if not for the merchandise itself, then their delivery charges. I approached them, rather timidly, but much to my relief they said there were no charges due. It'd all been paid for. I wanted to kiss Jesse Tweed.

A whole new page had just turned in my life but now I was faced with what to do with all the good fortune that was stacked about the warehouse. I was pretty handy with a saw and hammer but I didn't know anything about plumbing and I had no idea when Jesse would return. Or if he would. But I set about the task anyway, working around the other jobs I had to do. I easily woke up every morning earlier than usual from sheer excitement and rushed up to Miss Emma's to fill her water kettles and get the fire going under them. On the way back I did whatever Harold had lined up for me to do at the saloon, checked the bathhouse to make sure everything was in neat order, then went back to the livery stable to tend to whatever horses we had there and cleaned the stalls. I also checked in at the mercantile but there wasn't always work to be done there. Same at the hotel. So I was pretty much finished by noon, till I had to make the rounds again, cutting wood for Miss Emma and whatever else Harold might have found for me to do. And of course, tending to anyone arriving who wanted to use the bathhouse. There weren't many of those.

I did what I thought was most logical in building the rooms, taking into consideration the advice from Jesse. I stepped off the space for each room and marked it on the floor. Then I started building, using the structure of the warehouse itself for a guide. To a real carpenter it was probably crude but it was the best I knew how to do and the rooms shaped up pretty good.

I wrote a letter to Langston. It was a friendly letter, but with an idea behind it.

"Dear Lang, I hope this finds you well, or that it finds you at all. I hope you are still in Sacramento and will get this. I am well and healthy. I have started my own business. It's called Glory Hole. It's a place for men to stay, not like the hotel you stayed in here that caters more to women, but just for men only, where they can have a bath and relax, and I also give shaves and haircuts. I had this idea that when you come back through this way, you might convince your dad to let you stay here till you have to go back to school, to help me run the place. I know it's a long shot, but I think he doesn't like to deny you anything and maybe you could convince him it would be a good worldly experience for you to take back with you. Ask him and let me know. Your new friend, Caleb

I was surprised at the volunteer help I got, from Eli and a couple of men who hung around the saloon with nothing else to do anyway. Even Mr. Lawson from the mercantile pitched in a few times out of appreciation for all the stuff I ordered from him. I had sat down with him to place a pretty big order; of towels, sheets and pillowcases, pillows, candles, haircutting and shaving supplies, different kinds of soaps, shaving lotions, combs and brushes, and he suggested some things, like toilette water for men to make them smell good after a bath, and talcum powder, and even bath brushes. He also gave me another idea for more business; he asked me if I was going to shine boots. I hadn't thought of it, but he said it would fit right into the scheme of things so I ordered boot shine supplies. He showed in the catalogue a regular shoe shine chair but it was too expensive. He said I might want to consider it at a later time, meanwhile maybe I could build one. He suggested something else I hadn't thought of. Mirrors. I thought he was talking about shaving mirrors which I already had, but was talking about mirrors in nice frames that could be used more for decoration. He showed me pictures of beautiful mirrors of all sizes, with candles on each side; he called them sconces. He said I should also put oil lamps in the rooms, which would require a supply of oil to burn in them. There was so much I hadn't thought about, and I was glad he was so helpful, but of course he was being helpful for his own business as well.

As an afterthought, after looking at the mirrors in the catalogue, I went back and ordered larger mirrors. Mr. Lawson was happy for the order but curious about why I ordered them without frames. I told him I was going to attach them to the walls in the room, to make the rooms look bigger. He thought that was a good idea. I lied to Mr. Lawson about the real reason I was putting big mirrors in the rooms.

The construction went well. When I had four rooms done along one wall, I started on the lobby and living quarters for myself. I didn't want or need anything very fancy but it would be nice to have my own place to sleep instead of sleeping in the loft at the livery stable. I finished off part of a large area--a sort of loft--in the front of the building, to one side of where the lobby would be.

I wasn't sure what to do about Jesse. He said he was coming back but I still hadn't heard from him directly. I didn't know if I should allow for a room for him as well, since he was more or less a partner in the business. I decided to wait till he did come back and let me know his intentions.

While I was finishing up the other four rooms on the opposite wall Eli finished installing the plumbing and then we set up the tubs and the drainage. That's when Harold came over with an idea.

"You know, Caleb, I never gave it a thought when you started this thing, but you could've had the tubs and the pipes out of my place instead of buying all new. I know it's too late now, but you can still have 'em and everything else out of my old bathhouse if you want it."

"That's right generous of you, Harold, but what if I fail here, what'll you do for a bath house? It did bring in a good bit of income."

"You're the cause of that. I don't think you're gonna fail, but if you do, well, we'll just move everything back over to my side of the street and you can go back to work for me."

So I ended up with four tubs plus all the rest of the furnishings, including the stove, and towels and supplies from the old bath house. I decided I needed another stove. It would be the cold of winters to contend with and I hadn't made full allowances for that. And I remembered a picture of a shower; for taking a stand-up bath, the advertisement said. I asked Eli to go look at the catalogue with me. I pretty much let him and Mr. Lawson decide which stove I should buy, which ended up being one big pot-bellied stove for the main part where the rooms and tubs and showers would be, and the other smaller one out of Harold's place for the lobby. They tried to talk me into a smaller one for my own quarters but one of the guys that hung out at the saloon knew how to build fireplaces and I wanted a fireplace in my room. That idea was vetoed though because the structure wouldn't hold the weight of a fireplace. So I took the stove in my quarters and had the man build a nice big fireplace in the lobby.

I came up with the idea of putting a water tank on top of the building so provide sun-warmed water for the shower I had in mind. Eli said that on top of the expense of it, it would be a real job putting a water tank on the roof, and was I sure it would be worth the expense. I didn't know but the idea intrigued me. I was still hesitant about the cost, though--all through this, in the back of my mind I wondered what exactly Jesse had in mind about the overall finances of the operation. When Mr. Lawson saw me hesitate on the stoves and the shower, he offered to let me have them and even the water tank on time; that meant I could pay some on it each month till I had it all paid for. I was so far in debt to Jesse, I wondered if I would live long enough to pay it all off.

I could hardly contain my excitement as the day drew nearer that I had set to open for business. It wasn't a set date, but one I was shooting for. It seemed like the whole town of Glory was happy for me. I had a lot volunteers to help raise the huge sign over the front of the building. Even Harold beamed as he stood in the street and looked at his sign--The Watering Hole Saloon--and then at my sign, Glory Hole. Also on that day I got a letter back from Lang.

My Dear Friend, Caleb,

I can't begin to tell you how happy I was to get your letter. It found me well and made me very excited over the prospects of your kind offer. The Glory Hole sounds like a wonderful place, like an oasis in the middle of nowhere. My Godd, it makes me hard just thinking about being at the beck and call of the many strange men who will surely pass through your town and stay at your fine establishment. I know you couldn't write things like this in your letter to me because of my father.

I have talked with my father at great length. He was adamantly against the idea at first, but that slowly turned to hesitancy, and I think I have him close to agreeing to let me do it. I used what you said about it being a great worldly experience for me to take with me through life. That struck a chord with him. I knew it would.

I know at the very least, we will come through Glory on our journey back East, which will be in a couple of days, we are at present enroute, and he has talked of looking your place over and assessing the situation before he decides. Like you said, he hates to deny me anything. I am so spoiled, so I am very sure he will go on back East without me and leave me in your capable hands. He has talked about how mature and responsible you are. So you should start thinking about what my duties will be and make a list for me to follow. I will be your humble and loyal servant.

Lang

A couple of days! I was so excited! I didn't know how long the journey would take but knowing Lang's father, they would come by the fastest stage coaches. Now if I would only hear from Jesse. And, I still wondered about Skip.

As things began shaping up I began thinking about a firm date for opening day. It would be more a formality than anything else, a celebration of sorts, because I didn't expect to have much business if any on that day.

Knowing that my men's hotel, as he called it, was nearing completion, Mr. Lawson came over to have a look around. He was pleased and impressed. I asked him what he heard from Jesse. Only that he sent money on an irregular basis. Then he gave me the best surprise.

"Caleb, I've been thinking of a way for you to advertise your business, outside of Glory, because you know that's where your business has got to come from; travelers passing through. And it's those travelers, coming and going, who will tell others. Now, most travelers arrive by stage coach. I don't know how it came to be that the stage coaches arrive at my store, but that's just how it's always been, probably because mine was the first business to open in Glory. I was thinking this, what if your place of business were to become the point of arrival for the stage coaches.

"What would that do to your business?" I asked.

"Nothing. They would find their way to my store, just as they find their way to the saloon for a drink, and the hotel caf?."

"That's a great idea if you think it would work," I said.

"Well, it can't hurt. People would alight from the coaches and naturally want to have a look around. I'll start instructing the drivers to pull up over here, leaving the spaces in front of my store for regular customers."

Eli took it upon himself to come round and double check all the plumbing. I thought that was real nice of him and I offered him a drink. The bottle under the counter was near empty and I started up the stairs to get a full one. Eli took it as an invitation and followed me up. I didn't have my quarters well furnished with chairs and such and he sat the only place there was handy; on the edge of my bunk.

"I need to get some more furniture up here," I remarked as I poured him a glass of whiskey and handed it to him.

"You've got the most important piece of furniture right here," he said, patting the bed.

The way he said it, with an odd tone in his voice, sent a chill through me. I'd never had any feelings like that for the man for some reason--I did work for him and he'd given me a place to sleep and that was about it--but suddenly the situation surrounding us made me wonder. I suddenly had a gut feeling that he'd come for more than checking out the plumbing. I was standing, leaning back against the big wardrobe.

"No sense of you standing, there's room here," Eli said as he scooted over on the bed.

"I'm okay," I said.

He smiled and said, "You're going to make this difficult, I see."

"Make?.what?.difficult?"

"I've been gonna to bring this up for a while now, I was just waiting for the right time," he began, but paused to take another gulp of whiskey. It was a big gulp, and I stepped over to refill his glass.

When I did he took hold of my wrist in a tight grip, like he didn't have any intentions of letting go. He set his glass on the bedside table and then took the bottle out of my hand and set it down.

"What?" I asked huskily as he kept hold of my wrist, although I was pretty sure what.

"You don't know?" he said, smiling. "You don't think I know? I've seen the evidence in the loft." He laughed softly. "I'm guessing I've probably had near as many sleepovers in my loft as in the hotel."

"I?..d-didn't think you'd c-care?..if I?.." My voice was husky because my mouth had gone dry, because one of his big hands was working up and down the back of my thigh.

"Oh, I don't care," he cut in. "That's not the point. Just wish it hadn't taken me so long to find my own courage," he said as he pressed the back of his other hand against the front of my jeans.

"I?.t-think you found it," I said.

"I sure found something," he said as he turned his hand around and closed it tightly over the bulge of my manhood.

"Fuck, if I'd known, Eli??."

"It's all right, it wasn't your job to come after me. I shoulda found my balls and come after you, after knowing what I did."

"I'm glad you found 'em??and mine," I said. He started undoing my jeans, digging his hand down inside them before he had the fly open. His rough hand felt good on my bare flesh.

"Fuck, Eli, I didn't have any idea??."

"Neither does anybody else. And I wanta keep it that way," he said.

"Don't worry, I'd never tell anybody."

He finished undoing my jeans and shoved them down to my knees. My cock swung out and brushed his face then kept rising.

"Fuck," he whispered. "I knew this is what I'd find."

I laughed. "It's what you'd find in any man's jeans."

"No," he said pulling on my cock as it stiffened in his hand. "You don't find something like this in any man's jeans."

"Have you been in many men's jeans?" I asked lightheartedly.

"A few. But not around here. Only when I travel far enough away." He kissed my cock then looked up at me. "You mind taking off your shirt?"

"I don't mind, if you'd take yours off, too," I said as I was unbuttoning mine.

"We could just get completely raw," he suggested.

"You could spend the night." I took my shirt off and finished unbuttoning his. He shrugged it off his shoulders and I clasped my hands around the balled muscles on either side. "Godd, you've got shoulders on you," I said. I moved my hands down to his thick chest and brushed my fingers over his taut nipples. They were the size of my smallest fingertips, and hard. He shivered under my touch. "I'd like to suck on those," I said.

"First," he said as he stood up. I knelt down to take off his boots then together we got him naked. He pulled me to my feet and pressed his hard, hairy body against me as he wrapped his arms around me and reached down to clasp hold of my butt. I clenched them for him. "Godd, yeah, do that, make 'em hard for me." I did, and I reached down for his.

"Now that I've got you this far, I don't rightly know what all I wanta do with you, Caleb, but why don't we start by stretching out on the bed head to toe, and we could suck each other's tits and then work our way down from there." He stepped aside for me to lie down first.

"How do you feel about men fucking?" he asked as he lay beside me.

"I think it's a right manly thing to do," I replied.

"I think this is going to be a wonderful, long night," he murmured as he clamped his mouth over my nipple. I pulled his chest down so I could suck his tits.

A couple of days before I planned to open I went through the place and checked it from one end to the other, making sure the furniture was placed just right in the rooms, fluffing the pillows, checking the lamps for oil, adjusting the large mirrors and smoothing out the rugs. The rugs in the rooms I had not bought from the Mercantile. I decided it was a better idea to have Miss Adler make some of her well crafted braided rugs for me.

I climbed up to check the water tank on the roof, then walked the pipe out to the spring to be sure the water supply was in working order. Back inside I tried the two shower heads as well as the drainage of the tubs. The bit-too-fancy French cabinet with glass doors was well stocked with shaving supplies and soaps and other toiletries as well as clean towels. I hoped it all didn't appear too feminine.

The front lobby was the greatest source of my pride. It easily rivaled the lobby over at the hotel. Some said it even surpassed the hotel. Around the edge of the large, too-expensive rug were the heavy couch flanked with comfortable chairs and between them, well crafted tables with lamps. The chandelier overhead was crafted from deer and elk antlers, a work or beauty, although I wondered about the cost of the oil to keep it lighted.

My own quarters were not so elaborate, but for a while I needed only a place to hang my hat and my clothes and a real bed to sleep in. Truth was, I didn't want to clutter up my own large space with too much furniture till I heard from Jesse about his intentions. If he did return to stay, I would have the rest of the room to partition off for him.

When I was satisfied that everything was in order I let everyone who wanted to, go through it.

Chapter Eleven

Skip McCoy

It had to be close to ten at night but the saloon was still full of rowdy men. I knew me and Tuck had an early morning ahead of us but he seemed in no hurry to get back to our room at the hotel. He sat slumped in his chair watching the swirl of whiskey in the bottom of his glass as he turned it round and round.

"Hell, Tuck, don't tell me you feel sorry for the kid." I finally couldn't help but ask. His mood was gettin' to me and I slugged my latest shot.

"And you don't, Skip?" he responded, actually looking up to meet my eyes.

"You been at the same trial I was. He murdered a man. In front of witnesses to boot. He ain't innocent, partner. The jury said so." I poured myself another shot, though truth be told I wasn't much in the mood for drinking.

"I didn't say he was innocent but surely it's a waste. 'Sides, you didn't answer my question." He stared me down with an even look I knew too well. We'd been partners for close to a year and he knew me better than any man living.

"Dammit, Tuck, 'course I feel bad for him. But there ain't nothin' we can do about it." I hated to admit it since it only made me feel worse. Course I felt bad for the kid. You don't spend a week with a man and not get to know him. I'd heard his story and believed him that it was all just a mistake but the fact remained that he'd killed a man. Bringing him back from Texas, where we'd found him, I'd heard his explanations a hundred times.

"You ain't never made a bad decision when you was thinking with your cock and not your brain, Skip?"

"Ain't that what landed me in the Marshals?" I asked him, meaner than I meant to be. Tuck knew how I felt responsible for killing my wife. He answered by sitting back in his chair and giving me a grim eye. Shit, that was low, I told myself. "I didn't mean that, Tuck," I said to give in. "Still ain't shit we can do about it. He'll be hung in the morning no matter what we say."

"I know that but it still don't sit right. Maybe we could go see him, let him know he's not alone?"

"I doubt he'd welcome seeing the two men that brought him in, Tuck." I tried to talk some sense into him but I already knew that I'd do whatever he wanted.

"Still, we could try," he said. "He ain't got no family 'round these parts and it couldn't hurt to let 'em know he ain't alone his last night on this earth."

"Fine, let's go see him. Just promise me you won't get your hopes up." That earned me a smile and a nod. I couldn't help the little jump it gave my heart to see him smile at me like that. It could be a scary thing how much Marshal Franklin Tucker had come to mean to me.

"Bring the whiskey," he told me as he finished off his shot and pushed out of his chair. I put the cap on the bottle and followed him from the saloon into the night.

We strode down the wood-planked walkway to the Sheriff's building and Tuck knocked at the door. A few moments later it was answered by a deputy whose bleary eyes told us he'd been sleeping. "Marshalls? evening," he said.

"We come to see Isaiah," Tuck told the man. He opened the door wider and let us enter. "He still with the preacher?" Tuck asked.

"Nah, he didn't want to see him. Said he was already right with God. Did y'all want me to get the Sheriff or something?"

"No, we just came to see the boy. In fact just lend us the key to his cell and you can go back to your rack, Deputy."

The man pointed to a big iron key hung on a peg beside the door to the cells. "You'll holler if you need me?" he asked and we told him that we would. I followed Tuck through the door, taking a lantern with me.

There were three cells, all occupied. Isaiah was in the middle one, laid out on his cot and staring at the ceiling. When we came in he looked over at us and said, "What, came to gloat, Marshalls?"

"You think we'd do that?" I asked him none too charitably. He sat up with a long sigh.

"No, I don't but what are you doing here? I already had my last meal, ain't nothing left but the noose for me." He flicked a hand at the empty tray on the floor beside his cot.

I studied the young man. Isaiah Smith had killed his boss with one blow to the head with a farrier's hammer. The whole thing had been witnessed by three ranch hands, as the jury had heard. What they didn't hear was how the rancher had just discovered Isaiah was fucking the rancher's daughter. Nor had they heard how the rancher had been out for Isaiah's blood even though he was unarmed at the time. Five years ago and in a different life the young man in the cell could've been me.

"I thought you might like the company," Tuck said with a wry tone.

"Fuck you, Marshall Tucker, I?," he began furiously, throwing himself off the cot to stand but quickly winding down. "Well, okay, I? I guess I wouldn't mind the company. The last thing I want to do is sleep away my last night of life."

"Call me Tuck, Isaiah. And that there's Skip," Tuck told him with a gesture towards me. He took the bottle of whiskey from my hand and held it up to the bars of the cell. "Care for a drink?"

"Thanks, Tuck," the kid said with a grin as he took the bottle. He uncapped it and took a long drink straight. He closed his eyes and grimaced as the strong spirit burned down his throat. "I appreciate this. And the company. You can see my friends here aren't much in the way of neighborly."

Tuck and I nodded, taking in the drunk in the last cell who was softly snoring as he slept off his binge. An Indian occupied the first cell, silently watching us without expression.

Me and Tuck pulled up the lone bench from the wall and we shared the whiskey between the three of us. At first Isaiah was quiet but he gradually began to talk, no doubt helped along by the alcohol. He talked about his family back in Missouri and how he'd found himself on the ranch. He talked at length about the rancher's daughter and how he'd wanted to marry her but she'd refused to marry a common cowhand.

"Didn't want to marry me but she sure didn't mind my common cowhand dick," he said.

He was a fine looking young man, couldn't have been more'n twenty. He wasn't very tall but had a strong body from years of sitting a horse and manual labor. As he drank more whiskey a flush rose in his cheeks and he shucked off his shirt. He had strong arms and chest with a trim waist, a few wispy blonde hairs growing around his small nipples.

After nearly an hour he said, "Damn, I am drunk. Never told no one this much about myself." He'd just finished telling us about the time his father took him to see a whore. He fell silent and stared down at his hands in his lap.

"You want a whore your last night?" Tuck asked him.

The youth blinked with surprise. "You got one?"

"I can probably round up one for you."

"Then I guess I wouldn't mind, but I ain't got no money."

"How the hell ya' think you're gonna buy your way into heaven without no money?" Tuck joked.

"They tell me hell's free," the boy said.

"I'll get you a woman. It'll be on the US government," he declared, and walked out of the cell.

Tuck never ceased to amaze me. He came back a little while later with a woman in tow. There was an exchange of words out front between him and the deputy who wasn't going to allow the woman back in the cell.

"Do I need to remind you, deputy, you're talking' to a US Marshal?"

"Last meal is all he's entitled to, being a convicted man," the deputy argued.

"And a mighty fine meal it was, so he tells me. But he didn't get any dessert. So I'm bringing him dessert." There wasn't anything else said so I supposed Tuck had given the deputy his pissed-off-eagle-eye-scowl because he suddenly appeared at the cell with the woman. She was better than I expected him to find. No more than thirty, a pretty thing, with firm looking tits busting out of the top of her dress. Oddly, her face lit up in a smile when she saw Isaiah.

"Well, he's a young one," she said.

"We'll leave you alone," Tuck said.

"Don't matter, there's an audience on both sides," Isaiah said, nodding to the two cells. "Well, must the Indian," he added, "I guess the drunk won't bother us."

"I'll take care of the Indian," Tuck said. He left and came back with the deputy with the keys and unlocked the Indian's cell. I and Tuck, the deputy and the Indian went up front to leave the convicted man and his woman alone.

There was a lot of noise that drifted up from the back, moaning and groaning and gasping and OH, My Godd. We just smiled at each other and nodded. It was over a half hour before the woman came up front, looking disheveled and well ridden and flushed in the face.

"Looks like he's gonna die a happy man," the deputy drawled under his breath.

Tuck paid the woman as he thanked her. I never knew how much he paid her.

"I can't often say this but it was my pleasure, Marshal," she said. "I feel almost guilty being paid?.but seein' as how it's the government's money??" She took the money and tucked it in her bosom. "You told me I was going to be dessert," he said, smiling at Tuck. "You were more right than you know."

"Oh, do tell," Tuck said with a sly grin.

We took the Indian back to his cell, the deputy locked it and left us alone again with Isaiah. The boy was sitting on his cot, shirtless and barefoot.

"You okay, Son?" Tuck asked, smiling.

"I've never been more okay in my life, Marshal."

He laughed, a soft belly laugh. "Well, she was pretty impressed," Tuck said. "You musta done a number on her."

"A number I never did before," Isaiah said. He looked up at us then. "You mentioned I was getting dessert?..well, that's exactly what I did, I ate my dessert."

Tuck burst out laughing. "Well no wonder that woman's face was about to break with her smile."

"I wanta thank you, Marshal."

"No need for that. Just doing my job."

"I don't think it's your job to deliver a convicted man a whore to fuck on his last night on earth."

"Oh, you fucked her too."

"Hell yes I fucked her," the boy declared. "Sure wasn't what I was expecting when I saw you two show up."

"Oh? What were you expecting?" Tuck asked.

There was a long pause before the boy replied, like he wasn't sure he should. "I heard the two of you?.carryin' on," he said finally. "When you was bringing me back." He never looked at me, just Tuck. I'd thought we'd been so careful to keep quiet.

"Now, listen," I began, but he was quick to cut me off.

"I don't mean nothing by it. Don't rightly care what two men do together. I just meant to say?.I don't know, I?.," he shrugged. "Well, I was just wonderin'?," he stammered, suddenly tongue-tied.

"I guess the lady didn't wear you down," Tuck said.

"She didn't wear down my curiosity," Isaiah said.

I hadn't quite caught on, till Tuck stood and nodded at the boy as he shrugged off his jacket and began working the buttons of his shirt.

"Wait a minute," I said, seeing where this was going.

"He's a young man, Skip, a stallion. Can you blame him for wanting to get his prick wet one more time," Tuck told me. He handed me the shirt and jacket. Then he took off his gun belt and handed it to me. "You step out there out of reach. He ain't gonna hurt me," he said with a hand on my shoulder.

I stepped out of the cell and closed the door.

"You want my mouth or my ass?" he asked Isaiah while he worked open the buttons of his jeans.

"Christ, do I have to pick just one?" the kid asked with a shit-eating grin.

Tuck chuckled and said, "How about you let me get your cock good and wet before you fuck me."

"Holy shit, I don't believe this," Isaiah whispered.

It was odd but I found a new respect for Tuck and the gentle way he was offering himself. I glanced over at the Indian, silently taking all of this in, and the drunk who was peacefully sleeping on. I figured neither one would be telling any tales. Tuck sat on the end edge of the cot and motioned Isaiah over. The kid nearly jumped into place and Tuck helped him open the fly of his pants.

Isaiah's cock sprang out, hard and ready, and that only moments after he'd fucked the whore. It was a nice cock, not huge but impressive and straight and handsome in its way. I was sure he'd made that rancher's daughter a happy woman while it lasted. Tuck got a grip on the kid's prick and peeled the hood back to reveal a dark red head, thicker than the shaft. "Nice," Tuck breathed onto it before licking over the head with his wet tongue.

I watched Isaiah's body stiffen, muscles standing out, as Tuck took his cock into his mouth and swallowed it down to the root. The boy's eyes closed tight and he bit into his bottom lip as he felt Tuck's throat take his cock. I knew that feeling well enough and couldn't blame him for taking Tuck's head into his hands and pulling him off.

"Hot damn," he moaned.

Tuck slurped on the head without completely releasing his prize. His hands roamed up the boy's legs and kneaded his ass through the denim covering it.

"Oh God," Isaiah moaned as Tuck used his handhold to pull the cock into his mouth. Isaiah's eyes shot up to mine through the bars, pure disbelief written all over his face.

"Fuck his mouth, son," I encouraged him, knowing it's what Tuck would want. I watched him enjoy Tuck's talented mouth for a moment then turned to fold Tuck's clothes and into a neat pile on the bench outside the cell. I smiled, listening to the wet sucking sounds coming from behind me.

"Wait, Marshal? Tuck," the kid's voice came out desperate. "I'm gonna shoot," he warned.

Tuck pulled off the cock with one last slurp. He stood and unbuttoned his jeans as he came toward the front of the cell. He paused to pull off his boots and hand them through to me. I took the last of his clothes and we shared a grin.

Isaiah had taken the opportunity to get himself the rest of the way naked as well. A clear drop of dew glimmered in the slit of his cock as gave it a few soft pumps of his fist. Tuck sauntered back to the cot and kneeled at the foot. He spat once onto his fingers and reached back to smear it between the meaty cheeks of his ass. He repeated the move twice more and told Isaiah to do the same for his cock.

I took a seat on the bench and watched the two of them. I could just imagine the way Tuck was poking his saliva into his hot hole and felt my cock begin to fill. A man like Tuck wouldn't mind the simple spit-lube. He settled down onto his hands, ass up and ready. "Go on, son, put it in me," he told Isaiah from over his shoulder.

Isaiah didn't need to be told twice. He took hold of Tuck's hips and his cock found its own way. He punched in, knocking a huff of air from Tuck's lips, and shoved in to the hilt. He paused, snorting air through his nose, more to savor the tight sheath of Tuck's ass than to give the man time to adjust, I figured.

"You're so fuckin' tight, squeezing on my cock," Isaiah said with wonder.

"Get on with it," Tuck told him. He reached beneath himself where I could see him pulling on his hard cock.

"I ain't never fucked a man before," the boy said.

"You'll figure out what to do," Tuck said and rolled his ass to get Isaiah moving. Isaiah took the cue to move and got his first feel of Tuck's chute as he pulled back to thrust inside.

The kid took to Tuck's ass like a stallion to a mare, pounding into the man. I admired the contrast between them; the younger man fucking the older, more powerfully built man bent before him. They were a sight to see in the soft light from the lantern.

Unfortunately it didn't last long. "No," Isaiah huffed as his body jerked helplessly, obviously spilling his seed into Tuck. For a moment he looked stricken but it melted away as climax overtook him.

"Keep fucking, Isaiah," Tuck growled out. "You'll work up another load." And damned if the kid didn't take heart at that, fucking hell out of Tuck who must've been right. Isaiah turned to look at me, grinning like a fool while he nailed my partner's ass. I grinned back 'cause I was well aware how good that hole felt, an asshole I'd tagged more times than I could figure since I'd met Tuck.

"That's it, son. Tuck likes it hard," I murmured my encouragement while watching the kid's hips slam against Tuck's dimpled ass. White clumps of cum adorned the base of Isaiah's cock and soft sucking sounds came from Tuck's freshly lubed hole. I reached down and groped myself through my jeans. I was half-aroused from the scene but still mindful of the boy's fate which kept me from fully enjoying the scene.

"Yeeeaahhh," Tuck moaned in a strained whisper I'd heard more than once or twice before. Isaiah went wild, really driving his cock into Tuck's hole and jerking back on his hips at the same time. The heavy pounding forced the older man to let go of his cock and brace himself against the cot. If the thing hadn't been bolted down I was sure the two of them would've been up against the wall of bars where the drunk still snored away.

Me and the Indian watched the two men fuck. At some point he'd taken his dark prick out of his buckskins and was stroking it slowly. I kept an ear cocked for the deputy out front but never heard a sound. Not that it would've mattered all that much. One look from Tuck would seal his lips for life. Luckily neither Tuck nor Isaiah got too loud though they was making plenty of noise.

Isaiah managed to hold for a good time after his first cum but all good things come to an end. As he built up to the finish with hard, rapid-fire lunges I noticed Tuck's hands go white knuckled to hold himself on the cot. With a sound like a wounded animal Tuck let go and shot his white seed all over the thin blanket.

Never ceased to amaze me how a vigorous fucking could stimulate the man to shoot like that. Not for the first time I wondered about what exactly men like Tuck or Caleb Brown felt when getting plowed full of cock, what made them so fired up. Maybe if I hadn't been so hard and horned what happened after wouldn't have happened. Regardless, watching Tuck come undone like that and not being a part of the fucking made my mind wander down paths it usually didn't roam.

Isaiah didn't last more than a few minutes after he felt the sucking action of Tuck's powerful hole in orgasm. He whined like a pup lookin' for his mama's tit and managed a few good thrusts before his supple young ass trembled, a shiver that spread to the rest of his body. He dropped his second load in Tuck's ass with heaving gasps and a sweaty brow. I near swore I could taste the scent of their fucking on the air.

The kid pulled back to lean against the brick wall of the cell and Tuck sprawled out on the cot. Together they caught their breath until Tuck drawled out, "Damn, son."

"Damn is right," Isaiah agreed. He reached down and gently took his shrinking cock between his fingers. With a flick of his wrist he flung a bit of his leftover, churned-up load from the tip of his manhood. I watched it hit the rough wood floor of the cell with a splat.

"How about you, Skip? I'm sure I got one more round in the chamber," the boy said with a cocky grin as he cupped his balls. I noticed the grin didn't quite reach his eyes and his attitude seemed brittle as dried clay.

"Skip don't get fucked," Tuck said as he rolled over to give the boy an appreciative look.

"You wouldn't deny a man's last wish, would you, Marshal McCoy?" Isaiah asked with a forced laugh. When I didn't immediately deny him, Tuck's eyes shot over to me, the both of them watching me and Isaiah getting a hopeful look on his face.

Another minute passed and hell if the boy's prick didn't jerk and start filling out again. I looked between him and Tuck but couldn't get a right fix on what I should say or even what I wanted. Tuck came up to the cell door where I met him.

"You don't have to do this, Skip. I know you ain't never done it before," he said to me in a soft voice. Like Isaiah couldn't hear every blessed word.

"Would you be mad if I did?" I asked him. We'd gotten awful close and a part of me felt he should be the one to be my first. Yet for all the times Tuck had used his tongue and fingers on my ass he'd never tried for more. It left me wondering if he just plain didn't want to fuck me and it was something I never thought I'd volunteer for. I spared a thought for Caleb Brown but my promise to him seemed like a lifetime ago. Besides, this boy was in greater need than Caleb could ever be.

"'Course not," Tuck assured me. "He's just young and he might be too rough on you."

"I wouldn't, I swear it," Isaiah promised, reminding us of his presence. Me and Tuck both spared him a look. His eyes were bright and his cock was hard as nails while he pulled his foreskin out over the head and fingered it. I couldn't help but notice the ring of white around the base of his manhood where he'd churned up his first load in Tuck's ass.

"Come on out," I told Tuck as I unlocked and opened the cell door. He stepped through and once I'd engaged the lock I turned to him. "I want to do this for him but I won't if you say so. I'll wait for you to do the deed," I whispered to Tuck as I stepped close to the man.

"No, you do what you think is right," he told me as he lifted his hand and curled his fingers around the back of my neck. "There'll be plenty of times for us later," he said with a cocky grin.

"How come you never tried to do it?" I needed to know in that moment.

"You know me, Skip. I'd never take something that wasn't feely given. Not from any man? and most 'specially not from you."

"You know, Franklin Tucker, there's such a thing as being too honorable," I told him with a straight face. He laughed and pulled me to him, planting his lips on mine. It was meant to be a chaste kiss on his part, but I clutched him close and parted his lips with my tongue. Only after I'd thoroughly plundered his mouth did I release him.

"Maybe it's better this way," he whispered into my ear. "Let the young buck have his last moment, knowing he's having a virgin, and next time I'll show you how good it can really be." His words made my cock jump in my trousers.

Tuck let me loose and I handed him the key before beginning to undress. When I was naked he let me into the cell and locked it behind me. I turned and shared one more look with my partner as he seated himself on the bench, still naked, to watch the show. I gave him an uncertain smile before turning to Isaiah who still stood against the far wall. He eyed my body up and down before meeting my eyes.

"You got a mighty big cock, Skip," he began. "It fits your body though. No wonder Marshal Tucker couldn't hold in his noises when you was fucking him those nights on the trail, when you were bringing me back."

"We're going to need some grease or something," I told him, glancing around the small cell.

"There's some butter left over from my meal," he said and indicated the tray on the floor. "In the crock there."

I picked up the little bowl and there was indeed a good amount left over. I stepped over and passed it to him as I knelt slowly on the cot, just as Tuck had. Getting into position made me more nervous, especially with my ass vulnerable and in the air. Still, I did it and looked at Isaiah over my shoulder. The boy seemed uncertain and perhaps just as nervous as me.

"Marshal, uh, Skip? If it's fine by you I'd like to try it the other way?" he asked in one long breath.

"What do you mean?" I asked him. At first I supposed he wanted me to fuck him but that wasn't the case.

"On your back, you know? Face to face, like with a woman?" He was quick to say, "Not that you're a woman, no how no way. But if we could just do it that way?." he paused as if not sure what to say. I turned around and sat on the cot.

"Just tell me how you want me, son."

"Like if you could put your arms around me and kiss me like you just did Marshal Tucker," he near stammered.

I figured I knew what he wanted now so I took the crock of butter from him and laid down on the cot. I planted my feet and let my knees fall open.

Digging a finger into the soft butter I brought out a thick wad before handing the bowl off to him. He leaned over to take the bowl as I reached down below my balls to finger it into my hole. "We can do whatever you like," I told him as I pushed the stuff into my body. His eyes watched me. "Put some of that on your prick, boy," I reminded him.

"Yes, sir," he said. He seemed neither quite so brash nor arrogant then, making him look even younger. Again, it seemed wrong that this should be his last night. He dipped into the bowl and applied the yellowish butter to his hard, young cock. I added a second finger to my probing, stretching the ring of my asshole wider than ever before. He wasn't as big as Tuck or a lot of men I'd seen, but this was, after all, my virgin voyage. I was used to Tuck's tongue and sometimes a finger while he was sucking my cock. I knew that there was a whole different set of feelings up in my ass. But I'd only ever had a taste of what it could feel like, how good it could be that left a craving for more. Suddenly I was more than ready to see what the potential could be. That second finger burned but only for a minute. And though I wanted to touch my cock I ignored it for the moment while I watched the boy stroke the creamy butter onto himself.

"Okay, Isaiah," I told him. The night was wasting and I wanted to give him what I could before morning. He got onto his knees at the end of the cot and moved up between my legs. I pulled my fingers gently from my hole and spread my legs out as wide as the tiny cot would permit.

Just then Tuck piped up with, "Just so you know, son, you're getting a virgin there."

Isaiah blinked and looked around at Tuck, then back at me. He was a little wide eyed. "Is this really the first time you let another man do this?" he asked me.

"Yes, it is," I assured him.

"Well, I'm mighty honored," he told me solemnly. He seemed hesitant then and I wondered if he was considering changing his mind about plugging a virgin ass.

"There's no cause for worry, I can handle you," I told him.

"No, I was?..just thinking.....how this night is turning out. You're both way older than me, yet Tuck, there, let me fuck him, and now you've got your ass turned up for me to do the same, and you being a virgin and all?.it's like I?.well, fuck, how do I deserve this."

I didn't know what to say and Tuck stayed silent too. The boy was just thinking out loud. Then he took hold of my cock and said again what a big cock it was. I was thinking again that he might be going to change his mind and turn the tables on me and want me to fuck him. I would but I wasn't going to suggest it.

Then out of the blue he said, "I gotta do this?..try it," and with that he bent down and took my cock in his mouth.

"Awwwhhh!" I cried out, partly from surprise, partly from the exquisite feeling of his eager virgin tongue on my cock. I pressed my head into the flimsy mattress and closed my eyes tightly to the ceiling as he sucked me. He was good. Wonderfully good. I wouldn't be able to take much of it. Finally I clasped my hands around his head and eased him up. There was a loud slurping, suctioning noise when his mouth parted from my cock, it seemed rather reluctantly. He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, a confused look on his handsome face.

"I'm loving the hell out of this, Isaiah, but you don't have to do it. I think you'd rather fuck me than blow me. And you are so good with your mouth??"

"I just wanted to try it," he interrupted as he continued to stroke my cock. "Fuck, I wish I'd found out about all of this before."

It was a cruel reminder that we were on his borrowed time. I nodded, feeling a tightness in my throat. Still he didn't move to do anything, seeming baffled. There was a strange urge that I needed to guide him, and a stronger urge that I wanted this to happen. I wanted the privilege, somehow, of this young stallion to go to his death with this as his final memory. I raised my legs a bit into the air and the action got him moving. He lifted my legs and shuffled forward. I tilted my hips to give him a better shot. I'd fucked Tuck like this enough times to know how it should work, the best angles to have.

"Just go slow and easy, son," I told him as I reached behind myself and found his cock. I put it on the mark, felt the heat and slickness of the head pressed against my opening.

The tip slowly sank into me, stretching my hole open. I did my best to relax and let it in. As the crown passed through the ring Isaiah grunted and his hips snapped forward, burying his cock to the hilt. It stung something fierce and I saw stars as I clenched around him.

"Sorry? sorry, oh Godd," the boy mumbled. Even through my pain I could see the effort of will it took him not to move, not to just start rutting. I had to grit my teeth and take deep breaths through my nose. "You okay, Skip? I'm sorry? I?," he asked me, eyes closed tight while my ass tried to strangle his prick.

"Damn, boy, what part of slow and easy didn't you understand?" I asked him, not angrily, when I could finally speak. The burn in my ass had eased back to an uncomfortable ache. Isaiah started to stammer back a reply but I cut him off, saying, "It's okay, start moving, son. Let me feel it."

His first thrusts were short and slow, giving me time to get used to the fullness of having his manhood inside me. It felt strange and yet there was a pleasurable sensation at the ring of my asshole where the butter made his moves smooth and hot. As he gained confidence so did the length and force of his thrusts.

Soon the heat spread up from the muscles into my chute and guts. When his cock hit that spot that Tuck rubbed as he sucked me it was like he'd somehow grabbed my cock from the inside. A burst like lighting went off through my whole body. The kid had to hold my legs out as I jerked and my toes curled.

I encouraged him to keep it up, loudly, just beginning to understand. As the last of the pain melted away, the pleasure built higher. Where I'd been unsure before, I became certain. I pulled the straw-stuffed pillow from behind my head and folded it over to stuff it under my lower back.

I put my hands on his shoulders and pulled him to me, wanting badly to give him what he'd asked for. He released my legs as he came closer and I held them open until I could rest my heels against the swell of his thrusting buttocks. Our lips met in a sloppy kiss, all tongues, lips and teeth. He groaned and whimpered into my mouth, all the while his cock hammering into me.

I could scarcely believe how good it felt, how close I felt to cumming. The harder he fucked into me the more I wanted. I let my head fall back and he followed me. I couldn't hardly breathe with the way he was punching his cock into me and ravaging my mouth.

Only when he seemed close to shooting his load did he slow down then he held completely still. As he backed away from the edge he took the time to really explore my mouth with his tongue and I did the same. He held himself like that, root deep in my thrumming ass, with his cock throbbing hot and hard inside me. I felt wide open to his manhood, no longer aching with the fullness but aching for more movement. My cock leaked steadily against the bunched muscles of my stomach.

He left off kissing me and pulled away to grin at me. "You're liking it now?" he asked.

"Fuck, Yes, don't stop." I could hardly deny it.

He took my legs one at a time and pulled them up onto his shoulders. His cock sank deeper into me as he bent me near in half. He began to move and his prick rode harder over that spot inside me in this position. His pace built until he was fucking me as hard as I knew he was able. All I could hear was the meeting of our bodies and the soft grunts and moans the two of us made together as his cock moved through me. I ran my hands over his back, feeling the muscles move in concert with his body.

Isaiah paused again, not as long, before resuming his fuck. It went on and on until I was biting into my lip and concentrating hard not to cum. I wanted it to last and I think he realized it. Every time I thought he was close he'd pause and back away. He'd fuck me hard as he could until he had to stop then he'd fuck me slow and steady, lasting longer with the slow and deep thrusts. I found that I enjoyed both ways.

He moved up the bed until I was curled in on myself, my feet somewhere above my head. He held himself over me, on hands and toes, so that he could plunge his hard cock straight down into my body. My cock leaked onto my chin, close enough I could've sucked myself. I did stick my tongue out to lap the juice out of my slit.

"God, I don't want to ever stop fucking you," Isaiah husked, his breathing labored.

"Don't stop? You're going to make me shoot, but don't stop," I managed to say between my own panting breaths. The boy was fucking the air right out of me.

"Fuck, I want to see you shoot all over your own face," he told me.

I'd been so close for so long that it was no surprise when he managed to push me over the edge. The first hot splash of my own seed streaked over my face, into my open mouth. I clutched onto his finely muscled, young body as he drove the load out of my balls with each hump of his cock. More and more shot from the gaping slit at the end of my cock, soaking my face and neck, falling into my gasping mouth. For a second it seemed like it would never end, almost more than I could bear to stand. Then he was cumming too.

The wet heat soaked into my chute, coating my insides deeply. His cock swelled as he emptied into my sore hole, what felt like a huge load of his seed. It forced a couple more final spurts from me that landed across my open mouth and on my chin. I felt like I'd been wrung dry.

He slowly eased down onto his knees again and released my legs. I wrapped them around him as our bodies pressed together. I found the blanket and used it to wipe the excess cum from my face while he buried his against my neck. We stayed like that for long minutes, holding onto one another and catching our breath.

"God, Skip, I don't wanna die," he whispered against my skin. "Not after all this."

I felt I might choke up so I held him tighter against me. His whole frame shook as he began sobbing quietly against me. I could feel his hot tears on my neck and running into my hair. There was nothing for it but to hold him and stroke my hands soothingly over his back. For a fleeting moment I thought of us springing him from the jail and helping him get away.

"Why does it have to be a public hanging?" he asked as his sobs subsided, not needing an answer. "What if I cry? What if I beg for my mama? Oh God, what if I piss myself?" He was still crying but softly.

"Shhh, it'll be alright," I tried to comfort him though we both knew it wouldn't be alright. It seemed so outlandish, his cock still inside me and his cum trickling out as it shrank, and us talking of him dying.

I looked over to Tuck but he wasn't on the bench, he was outside the other cell with his ass up against the bars as he bent over. The Indian was fucking him best he could through the metal. I'd have laughed because it was so typical of the man if I hadn't been holding Isaiah.

It wasn't long before the Indian grunted his release. Isaiah had stopped crying and I thought he might've fallen asleep. His prick had fallen out of me and my ass was left feeling swollen and sore but not entirely in a bad way. I could see through the single small window that the dawn wasn't that far off. I wondered how long the boy had been fucking me. I closed my eyes for a moment and just held him.

"Come on, Isaiah, get up and get dressed." I turned my head at his words and found Tuck dressed and waiting by the cell door. Isaiah must not have been asleep, or at least not fully. He stirred over me and slowly rose up as I let him go, not meeting my eyes. I watched him for a moment as he gathered up his clothing before rolling off the cot and meeting Tuck at the door.

He let me out and I got myself dressed while Isaiah did the same. "Hurry along, son, we have to get you ready," Tuck murmured. I gave him a look because we didn't have to do anything for the boy and it was too early for the hanging at any rate. Tuck gave me a nod and, as in all things, I gave him a nod in return that I trusted him.

Tuck opened the cell for Isaiah and shackled his hands behind his back. The boy followed Tuck and I followed him along the corridor beside the cells and through the door at the end. The deputy was still asleep in his cot and snoring softly. Tuck opened the outer door and we all three went out. I wasn't sure what Tuck was up to but I went along with it.

Isaiah and I waited on the planks then followed Tuck as he began to cross the street. We'd barely stepped onto the dirt track when Tuck whirled around. Faster than I could see, he'd pulled his gun and fired. Isaiah dropped to a heap back onto the planks, shot clean through the heart. He hadn't even seen it coming.

I looked up, shocked, at Tuck. "It was the only thing we could do for him," he said sadly.

The deputy burst out of the building and cried out, "What the hell happened?" He looked completely befuddled.

"He was trying to escape," Tuck said flatly. The three of us stared at the boy's lifeless body. "Go get the Sheriff, tell him there won't be a hanging today. We're going back to our hotel." With that he strode off and I was right beside him.

"You alright?" he asked me when were far enough away to not be overheard.

"I suppose. You?"

"I'll get there," he offered. We didn't speak again as we made our way back to the hotel. I was still in a state of shock that Tuck had killed the boy and trying to justify it in my head. He was going to die anyway; this was a better way. And the strange irony of it all; the boy lay dead in the street while we were both carrying his life seed inside us. We settled into our shared bed. Somehow Tuck knew to pull me close and wrapped his arms around me though sleep was a long time coming. I was just dozing off when Tuck's soft, husky voice brought me back. "I heard what he said, Skip, about why'd it have to be a public hanging. Well, he won't cry now, and he won't piss his pants."

Chapter Twelve

Caleb Brown

I have to say, opening day was a bit of a letdown at first but exciting just the same. I scurried around Glory very early that morning, seeing to all of my other chores, at Miss Emma's, at the tavern and the livery stable, so I could open my new business properly on time. There was no real reason to hurry around, there was no business to be had, and I didn't know when there would be. I kept the water hot on the stove, though, just in case.

Dusk was settling in, I was sitting in the lobby looking probably rather woefully out the big window, when a lone rider came into view, coming from the direction of Miss Emma's. Hoping to attract his attention, I went out on the porch and stood leaning against the post. As he rode toward me I stepped down on the step.

"Howdy," he said in a deep, gravelly voice.

"Good evening to you, sir," I said politely.

"I'm looking for a place to stay and get something to eat, a good stiff drink and a bath," he said. He eyed my sign, then looked all around, then looked back at me for an answer.

"Well, sir, I can offer you a bath or a shower, a haircut and a shave, and a clean bed in a private room. There's a tavern across the street and the hotel's got a caf? that serves right tolerable food. The livery stable is down the street, and there's a washer lady at the other end of town if you might be wanting some laundry done. I would be glad to deliver it and pick it up for you."

"Then it looks like Glory is the place I need to be right now," he drawled. "Let me get my horse tended to then I'll be back for that bath and shave and a haircut."

"I work at the livery stable too, I can tend to your horse if you want to come on in and have your bath, then I'll come back and give you a haircut and a shave," I said as I took hold of the horse's bridle.

"You're right accommodating, young man," he said as he dismounted.

I tethered the horse to the porch railing and showed the man inside. I asked him to sign his name on the register and quickly added that it didn't need to be his real name. Then I got a key off the rack.

"I'll show you to your room and you can get settled in while I get your bath ready. And if you've got any clothes you want washed I can run those up to Miss Emma."

He said he didn't want to send his clothes to be washed because he intended to be heading out early in the morning and they probably wouldn't be dry.

I showed him to his room then set about preparing his bath. I dumped the kettle of hot water in the tub and dipped several buckets of cooler water from the barrel. Then I left him alone and took his horse down to the livery stable.

Coming back from the livery I got the surprise of my life. The happiest surprise of my life. There was a large herd of cattle coming right down the street!! I had to duck and stand in a doorway to get out of their way. It suddenly dawned on me that there were a lot of men herding those cattle. I hailed the nearest cowboy and asked him where they were headed.

"Just on the other side of town for tonight," he said. He laughed and added, "So get the whores lined up, you've got a bunch of horny cowboys anxious to get laid."

"We only got one whore in town," I said. "But if you need a place to sleep, I've got seven rooms, hot bath and shower, shave and haircut. It's the place you just passed, called The Glory Hole," I added, running along beside him and pointing back to my establishment.

He rode on, focusing on keeping the cattle moving and I didn't know if I'd drummed up any business or not. I thought I shouldn't have told him we only had one whore in town, they might keep right on going, move on to the next town. I almost ran after him and told him his men could fuck me.

I stayed put till they had passed then rushed back to get things ready just in case. I built a fire under the kettles and checked the shower. It ran still warm from the day's sun. I checked the stacks of towels and bars of soap and made a quick pass through the rooms to be sure they were in order, and I lit all of the lamps. It gave the rooms a warm, homey look with the open doors.

I was so happy and excited when the cowboy I'd talked to came strolling in along with four other men. They looked tired and scruffy.

"You said you had sleeping rooms," he said.

"And a hot bath?" one of the men drawled.

"Yes, sir, seven vacant rooms, four bath tubs and a warm shower. The water isn't quite hot for the tubs yet, though."

"That's okay, we was heading across the street for a drink first anyway."

"It should be hot by the time you have a drink or two," I said. "Everything'll be ready for you when you get back."

"You mentioned you've got a whore in town."

"Yes, sir, she operates up over the saloon. She'll make herself known."

"So we have to come back here and take a bath, go back over there to get fucked then come back over here for a good night's sleep." He didn't sound happy about that arrangement. "What if we bring her over here, along with a couple of bottles of whiskey?" he asked.

"Sure, if she wants to come over here, that'd be fine," I readily agreed. "Just so the men don't get drunk and start tearing my place up," I added.

"Don't worry about that, I'll keep 'em under control," he assured me. "There's five of us here, there's five more men with the herd. Three of 'em will be coming into town as soon as the herd's settled down. The other two might come in to get laid but they won't be spending the night, they'll have to be with the herd. So we'll be back shortly to try out those fancy tubs you've got."

I hadn't thought about Lindy operating out of my rooms and I didn't know what Harold would think of that. I didn't know what kind of cut he got from her but he could still have his cut. I wouldn't take one, all I wanted to do was rent my rooms and sell my services. I had the men sign the register and gave them keys. Some of them stayed back from going for a drink, anxious to take a bath or shower first.

I rushed in to stoke the fire in the stove. The water was starting to steam. I began filling the tubs while the men found their rooms and began taking off their clothes. I noticed they didn't bother closing their doors. I was so happy I could barely contain myself. I was in business! Then the best next thing that could possibly make me happier, happened. I was coming back into the front lounge when I saw the stagecoach make a turn in front of the hotel and come back my way and pull up out front. I was so busy that I paid scant attention till I saw a suave looking gentleman step out, followed by Langston Ford!!

"Lang!" I cried as I ran out to greet them. I quickly greeted Mr. Ford first, putting out my hand. He seemed taken aback by my enthusiasm and took my hand rather condescendingly. Then I hugged Lang. He hugged me back, hard, smashing himself against me. I pulled back, afraid his father might notice.

"I have men here so I have to get back inside, but come inside and have a look around," I said, directing my remark to Mr. Ford. He nodded and preceded us inside. I told them all about the place then invited them to have their tour on their own as I went back to getting the tubs ready. There was a naked man fiddling with the shower, no doubt the first time he'd ever seen one, and two men coming out of their rooms, also naked. I rushed over to show him how to adjust the shower.

"Oh, my," I heard Mr. Ford say when he saw the naked men. "And is this where Langston would be working?" Mr. Ford asked as I was scurrying around.

"Yes, sir, pretty much what I'm doing right now and there would be cleaning, and welcoming people. I would teach him how to give shaves and cut hair, too."

He had a look of disdain that made me doubt he would let his son stay behind but Langston was so excited about staying, maybe he would again be unable to deny the boy.

Just then three more men came in the front door, followed by one of the men who was coming back from the saloon. I was glad he hadn't brought Lindy with him. That would've sealed Lang's doom; his father would've likely put him right back on the stage if he'd seen them bringing a woman into the place. That's when I noticed the stage was still out front. Mr. Ford was holding it!! The decision whether to let Langston stay was going to be made right then and there. I seized on the moment.

"If you're going to stay, Lang, you might as well start to work," I said. "You can go out front and have them sign the register and give them keys to their rooms. The keys are numbered."

He didn't hesitate or ask his father. He jumped right to it. I didn't think his father liked that. He still had that look about him as he observed the rugged, naked cowboys getting in the tubs. Finally he walked back into the lobby. I followed him, afraid he was going to tell Lang to get back in the stage.

He turned to me, tapping his walking stick on the floor. "Well, young man, you have impressed me, not with your choice of business enterprise, but with your courage and ingenuity. Most unusual for a boy your age, and most outstanding. I commend you. And now, if you could tear Langston away from his duties for a moment so we can say our good-byes. The coach is waiting. I must be on my way."

I could've hugged him I was so happy. Lang hadn't heard. I went to the counter and shooed him away to go say goodbye to his father. He looked at me wide-eyed then gave a loud whoop as he rushed to his father.

They went outside to say their goodbyes and I was sure, for Lang to get his instructions on behavior and to be sure and write home. He came rushing back in so excited he could hardly talk, but he managed to ask what he should do next. I put him to work refilling the water kettles and stoking the fire.

I was so relieved, when two men came in with Lindy between them, that Mr. Ford had gone. Lang was wide-eyed to see a woman in the place.

"Who is she? Why is she here? I thought this was men only."

"She's the town whore," I whispered.

"You've got a whore working for you?!!" he gasped.

"No, she don't work for me, she works across the street over the saloon but the men wanted to bring her over here. She may be here a lot."

The two men took her to one of their rooms, but they made the mistake of bringing her in before they'd cleaned up. The man under the shower saw her and quickly finished up, his cock rising to attention as he surmised that since he was the first to be the cleanest, he would go ahead and get his fuck out of the way. I was afraid there was going to be a tussle but he was bigger than the other two and when Lindy told the others to get cleaned up and welcomed him into the room they relented. Moments later her loud moans and outcries could be heard through the partially open door. I noticed the other men rushing their baths.

The first man had not bothered to shave and I quickly offered these men shaves so they would be nice and smooth for the lady. They agreed that one or two guys weren't going to wear it out, there was no big rush. I set about shaving the first man to get out of the tub. He sat on a chair with a towel wrapped round his shoulders but otherwise naked. He said he would have a haircut later, but there were more important things to see to after he got shaved, this as he was pulling on his cock. I had Lang watch me shave the man, explaining that he was an apprentice barber and I was training him. He stayed to observe till one of the bathed men called out from his room that his lamp wasn't burning. I sent Lang to see to it. I was surprised to see the door close, and moments later heard loud groans of pleasure coming from the room. The man I was shaving heard it too and he chuckled.

"I guess Robert couldn't wait for pussy," he said. "Didn't know you had a boy available," another man drawled.

"I didn't know it either," I said.

"I might just have myself some of that boy ass."

Fuck, now I'm running a whorehouse, I thought. I realized I hadn't seen nor kept track of the first man to check in.

When things settled down I went up front to the lobby to flop on the couch and relax. It was then that I realized I couldn't go up to my room and relax when I had guests. I didn't know any of these men and I couldn't take a chance on them slipping out without paying. I thought I might start having them pay in advance. I didn't see hide nor hair of Lang for an hour. He came into the lobby with a towel around him, carrying his clothes.

"I can't believe it! I just got here and I've already been fucked four times! This is going to be great!"

I couldn't share his enthusiasm, I was tired.

"You're mad at me, aren't you?" he said as he sat down on the couch with me. "Oh, Caleb, I'm sorry. I'm supposed to be working and I've been?.."

"No, I'm not mad, I'm just tired."

"I should have been helping you, I know, but they wouldn't let me go." Then he dug in his pants pocket and brought out a handful of silver dollars. "Here."

"What's this?"

"My take. It's rightfully yours."

"I'm not running a whorehouse," I said, handing it back to him. But he wouldn't take it.

"Well, you had Lindy working," he said.

"She doesn't work here and she's not going to, a couple of the cowboys brought her over," I said.

Lang tossed the coins on the couch between us. "Okay, we need to talk."

"About what?"

"About everything. We hardly had time to say hello. We need to talk about how things are going to be. My duties here. The last thing my father said before he left was to remind me that I work for you."

"Well, there's this," I said, picking up the coins. "I have to think about this. I never thought about it, I mean, I expected there would be a lot of sex going on among the men but I never thought about it like this, like furnishing sex to men who stay here."

"I won't do it again if you don't want me to," Lang said.

"No, I'm just thinking, maybe it's a good idea. Like you said, you just got here and you got fucked four times. That means there's a need for it, doesn't it? Hell, the guy I was shaving, when he heard your moans coming from the room, he said he thought he'd have some of your boy ass himself."

"There sure was a need for it tonight, he's probably one of them who fucked me, "Lang said.

"Then I got no problem with it. That kind of service is a good draw?..word gets around, you know. And it will. That's the reason the stage made that turn and stopped in front of my place instead of over at the Mercantile. That was Mr. Lawson's idea. People on the stag will carry word of The Glory Hole to far places. But??" I gathered up the dollars and placed them in his hand. "??I'm not taking all of your money. You decide what's a fair split."

"How about fifty-fifty?"

"That's fair to me," I said.

"Just so you know, I didn't charge anybody," he said. "They just gave me the money."

"They probably thought, since there was a whore working??." I laughed and shrugged.

"Is it okay if I avail myself to one of your tubs? I really do need a bath."

"Of course, you don't have to ask," I said. "This isn't just a place where you work, this is your home for now, Lang."

While Lang was in the tub I stoked the fire and filled the kettles to the brim, in anticipation of the men who were still with the herd. The men were all in their rooms, some with their doors open and their eyes on the room where Lindy was. Then I remembered that some of the men wanted their clothes washed. I had them tied up in towels to take to the washery. I told Lang I was taking them up to Miss Ella, if the other men showed up, he knew what to do.

"Maybe I should take the clothes up to Miss Ella and you stay back to take care of things here," he said.

"No, I want you to learn how," I told him. Then I added, "But you know you can't be occupied in the rooms when you're here by yourself."

"Just not in the rooms?" he asked. "I mean, what if one of them wants to do something while he's in the tub, or in the shower?"

"I guess that'd be all right, you would be still be out where you can keep an eye on things."

It was late but I wanted to drop the clothes off so hopefully, she would still be up to wash them and they would be pretty dry by morning. She knew there were cowboys in town, the herd had come right by her place. I saw lamp light in the windows and I could see the brighter light from the fire out back so I went around back with the bundles of clothes. There I got another shock of my life. Miss Ella was in the shadows in the breezeway with a cowboy. He had her long dress pulled up to her midsection, leaving her bare from the waist down and he had her pinned against the wall. At first I thought she was being attacked and I almost rushed to her rescue but the way she was pinned against the wall gave me pause. And she wasn't fighting him. Her legs were wrapped round his lean waist and he was fucking her with hard, long cock strokes. I could see by her expression that she didn't need to be rescued and from her soft moans, she wouldn't want to be. The cowboy saw me as I dropped the bundles of clothes to leave, and then she looked my way. Her expression didn't change. I wondered how long it'd been since she'd enjoyed the feel of a big, hard cock inside her. I slipped away, reeling from shock.

I returned to the Hole, as it would come to be known by the townspeople, to find that Lang did indeed know what there was to be done. He was laid back in the tub with a naked cowboy standing at his shoulder, feeding him his cock. I left them alone.

It was late when I fell asleep on the couch. I still wasn't comfortable going up to my room while I had guests. I came awake sometime in the night with Lang curled up against me, under a blanket. I came awake again with the light of day shining in the windows. I eased Lang awake. He yawned and stretched his lithe, young body, shoving the blanket off.

"Is it daylight already?"

"Yes, get dressed, we'll have work to do."

The cowboys were in no rush to wake up and I didn't have any set hours for them to be gone so I let them sleep. I wondered how many more of them had fucked Lang. It was late morning when Starrett, the foreman, came in. I saw him coming across the street from the hotel where he'd had breakfast.

"Any of my boys checked out yet?" he asked.

"No. I didn't wake them up."

"I will," he said.

"Don't be too loud, there's one man who's not part of your crew, he should be allowed to sleep."

Starrett went door to door to wake up his men and one by one they came stumbling out, dressed or in the process. One by one they came into the lobby to settle up. I checked off the names on the register as they paid and turned in their keys. There was still one key missing.

"Did you wake number six?" I asked Starrett.

"Wasn't anybody in number six," he said.

"There was someone named Casson in number six," I said.

His face became a mask of anger. He grabbed one of the men by the shoulder. "You ride out and haul Casson's ass back here," he growled. "Son of a bitch is going to get fired," he muttered, turning back to me.

It was only a few minutes before the man returned with Casson roughly in tow.

It got rougher when Starrett grabbed him by his shirt and dragged him to the desk and slammed him against it. "Pay the man, you damned cocksuckin' thief!" he barked angrily.

Casson hurriedly, nervously, got the money out of his pocket and laid it on the counter.

Starrett grabbed him again. "Now, you get on your horse and ride out the other direction and I don't ever want to see our sorry ass again." He shoved him toward the door.

"You can't let me go like this," the man whined. "I got no money."

"You got your advance for this stayover like everybody else, you're paid up. Now git!"

"I got nowhere to go, no way to eat," the man said.

"You can eat the ass end out of a coyote for all I care. Now get out of my sight before I shoot you and you won't have to worry about eating."

The man ran out and jumped on his horse and rode off.

"Now, are we all settled up?" Starrett asked.

"Yes, sir, we are. And I want to thank you for bringing the business in," I said.

"My pleasure. The pleasure of most of my men as well," he added with a chuckle. "We'll put the word out about your place."

"Thanks."

He put his hand out and we parted ways.

As Lang was changing the beds I decided to check on my first/last guest, and also decided that I needed to set a checkout time and that they would pay in advance. I went back to the man's room and tapped lightly on the door. No answer. I tapped again then noticed the key in the door. I cracked the door and peered inside. My heart sank as I opened it. He was gone!!

I ran to the livery to see if he'd got his horse. He had.

"Did he pay you?" I asked.

"Of course he paid me, he wouldn't have got his horse if he hadn't. Didn't he pay you?"

"No. I thought he was sleeping in but when I went back to wake him up the room was empty. He slipped out on me."

"I saw which way he went, I'll go get him," Eli said.

I went up to Miss Ella's to cut her some wood. And to check and see if everybody had paid her.

"Yes, I was paid quite nicely," she said cheerfully, and I wondered if she was referring to how she was being paid back in the breezeway. "Why, did somebody run out on you?"

"One tried and one did. Eli went to try to catch up with him."

"Listen?.Caleb?..what you saw last night??"

"I didn't see anything," I interrupted.

"Well, you did," she said. "It's been such a long time since I've had a man around," she went on. "I'm afraid I made myself easy for his charms. I just don't want you to think ill of me."

"I wouldn't think ill of you, Miss Ella. No reason to anyway. Nothing wrong with getting a little pleasure out of life."

"And I can trust you not to say anything."

"Of course. Nothing to say anyway, I told you I didn't see anything."

"You're a good man, Caleb."

"Well, I'm hardly a man yet," I said

"You're more a man than most grown men I've met in my lifetime," she said, seeming suddenly nervous. "Enough of a man that I would say this to you. If ever you might want to have some of the pleasure that cowboy was having, that would be okay. It wouldn't be like with Lindy."

"I've never been with Lindy," I said.

"I'm not surprised. I always thought you better than that," she said.

"You'll be needing the kettles filled?" I asked, changing the subject.

"Yes, but I can do that. It's the wood that gets me in the back. I'm going to have to get used to doing some of it myself anyway, now with your new business."

"I'll still keep cutting your wood, and doing what I can, or send my hired boy to do it," I said.

When I got back to the Hole, Eli was riding up, hanging onto an extra saddle. "Here, this is yours," he said, handing it down to me. It was a very fine saddle. "Payment in full," he added.

"This is a fine saddle, Eli. He could've stayed a month for this much. You just took it off his horse?"

"After I took him off his horse."

"Why don't you take it and see if you can sell it and then give me what's owed."

"He didn't owe me anything. He just owed you."

"I don't feel right taking more than what's owed me," I said.

"Well, I guess I could sell it and give the extra to Mr. Lawson to put in the school fund," Eli said.

"What school fund? We don't have a school in Glory. And nobody to go to one if we did."

"That's the reason there's a school fund. We're hoping to build one, with the hope that Glory will grow into a prosperous town on the map."

"Well by the time that happens, there'll surely be all the money that's needed to build the school," I said. So I got paid but I learned my lesson. I would be paid in advance from now on.

Chapter Thirteen

Caleb Brown

My business flourished somewhere between sporadic and then chaos when a cattle drive came along. Lang flourished too. I didn't know how he attracted the attention of so many men who came along but he was a good draw. He soon even began to build his own little reputation. Word traveled and I began getting requests for Lang. When his father wrote that he wanted him to end his adventure and bring the next stage home. Lang refused. He wrote back that he had found his life here. I didn't know how that would work out; I half expected to see his father ride in on the stage coach one day and drag him back.

I was doing well, both with the business--especially for someone still in his teen years--and in my private life. Lang wasn't the only one sharing a room with a traveler. I attracted my share of men, and I found that I loved having sex with strangers who would ride off the next morning. Many of them rode off carrying my seed inside them. Others left their seed in me. I was making regular payments to Mr. Lawson to pay Jessie back the money he had invested in me and the business. I still had not heard from Jesse and neither had Mr. Lawson, directly. I had not heard from Skip either but I never stopped thinking about him. Then one day he showed up. Jesse, not Skip.

I was down behind the counter at the desk putting something away when a voice boomed out.

"I heard along the trail that this is a good place to get a bath and bed."

I felt a chill at the sound of his voice, so gruff and masculine. I rose up, I know with my mouth open, to see Jesse standing there bigger than life, with a boy beside him. I knew instantly that it was his son that he'd spoken of.

"Jesse!" I exclaimed, coming around the counter with my hand out. He took it and pulled me into a tight bear hug that crushed the wind out of me. "I never heard from you," I said.

He eased me away. "This is my son I told you about. Joshua. Josh, this is Caleb, an old friend of mine."

We shook hands. Even at his age he had big hands like his father. I judged him to be maybe fourteen, from what Jesse had told me about him. He was a big, man-like fourteen.

"We need to go over to the Mercantile, Jesse, and have Mr. Lawson bring out the books, I think I'm close to being settled up with you."

"How's the business going?" he asked.

"Great. Way better than I expected it would. People are starting to hear about it. People from far away." I told him about Mr. Lawson rerouting the stagecoach to use my place as the regular stop. As I talked I noticed a scowl come over his face. A concerned scowl. When I was finished it was as if he'd dismissed what I'd said; he told Josh to take a walk around the town. When we were alone he sat down on the couch and motioned for me to take the other end, which I did.

"I come for a purpose, Caleb. It's a serious proposition that I want you to consider."

Suddenly I was the one with the concerned scowl. Just then Lang came in from the rooms.

"Excuse me, is there anything else you want done?" he asked.

"No, Lang, thanks. There's a boy named Joshua having a look around our town. Why don't you go find him and show him around." He knew I was excusing him. When he was gone I looked back at Jesse. He cleared his throat and went on.

"Josh's mother died. He was staying with an older couple. They agreed to take him in but they were too old to be raising a teenage boy. It'd be not long before he would be taking care of them. He don't need that." There was a lingering in his voice. "He don't need me either, not to be part of the life I lead," he went on. "And especially not....well, you remember what happened between us up in the loft over the livery."

"I'll never forget it," I said.

"And it was good," he said. "But a man ought not to be having those feelings and thoughts about his own son. A man ought not to be thinking he wants to fuck his own son, and having him around, well that's on my mind all the time."

It began to soak in. He'd brought Joshua all this way to leave him! To abandon him. I blurted it out. "A man ought not to abandon his own son either."

"I can't think of it like that. It's doing him a favor," he said.

"Did you ever think Josh might have those same feelings?" I asked.

"That'd never enter his mind," he scoffed. "He's too good a boy. Too pure and innocent."

I laughed softly. "No boy his age is pure and innocent in his thoughts." Then I said, "But saying he is innocent and pure as you say right now, if those thoughts were put in his head?.if the seed was planted?.do you think he'd want you to leave him behind? Or might he welcome those thoughts and all that'd come with 'em?"

He was shaking his head vigorously. "I can't think like that," he said emphatically. "I'd rather him think awful of me for walking out on him than?..than the other."

"You won't even give him a choice? You'd leave him wondering for the rest of his life, why?

"Godammit, Caleb, you're supposed to be a kid, you're not supposed to be talking like a grown up man."

"Is that your way of dodging the question?"

"Fuck you," he said, not angrily.

I smiled. "I hope we get around to that," I said. "But there's something more important hanging over your head. You're wanting to ride out and leave him here for me to be responsible for him. I'm not much more than a kid myself, Jesse."

He waved me off. "The way it's set up in these papers," he said patting his vest pocket, "is that whatever debt you owed me is cancelled and whatever you've paid to Mr. Lawson on that debt is yours to keep. Whatever else I've got is in a bank in St. Louis and that bank will send money to Mr. Lawson every month to go for Josh's care and upkeep, the money to go to you, not to him. And it don't matter if he leaves on his own for some reason, the bank won't know that and the money will keep coming. I want him beholden to you, Caleb."

He made it sound like this was our way of settling up. I looked out the window for a long moment, with a long sigh.

"He barely knows me, Caleb. He's seen me on a few short visits when I passed through. He wouldn't have known I was his father if his mother?..

"Oh, you can't deny him," I cut in. "He looks just like you. I knew who he was when you walked in the door. It was a business arrangement we had, Jesse. I didn't sign on for this. But I know there's no backing down, I can tell your mind's set. But we both know I don't have to do it. We both also know I will. But I've got some conditions of my own."

"Name 'em," he said.

"I know you haven't been a good and proper father to Joshua, but you're not going to sneak off in the night and have him wake up and you not be here. You're going to spend one last night together and explain exactly what you plan to do then say a proper goodbye. And you're going to spend that night with your son in your bed with you so you can talk."

"I can't do that. I know what'd happen."

"So let it, if he wants it to," I said.

"Caleb, you know how big I am," he lamented. "I'd hurt him."

"Then turn tail on him. Make him know you want him to. Ask him to fuck you. Then when he does, you turn it into a dad and son showing their love for one another. Give him that much to remember you by. You owe him that if it's what he wants."

It was Jesse's turn to look out the window, which he did, for a long time. Finally, "You got a room for rent?"

"On the house," I said.

Without another word he pulled the papers out of his pocket. "I'll go take care of this," he said.

"I'll get your room and your bath ready," I told him.

He walked out and went across the street to the Mercantile.

I saw to the room myself while Lang was putting a fire under the water kettles. I told Lang not to try anything with Josh.

"Oh, Caleb, you can't ask me to do that! He's gorgeous."

"I'm not asking, I'm telling you, not to lay a finger on him," I said.

"All right but do I have to be the one to see to his bath?" Then he quickly added, "No, I want to be the one. I want to see him naked."

"Fine, look all you want but don't touch," I said. I wanted to see the boy naked too.

When I did my throat swelled up so I couldn't swallow. I was taken aback. Not just by his sheer physical presence, far advanced for a boy his age, but by his sheer sexual presence. He was hung like a pony. His cock was next to the biggest I'd ever seen in my life, second only to his father. Even bigger than Skip or the Indian. I could hardly tear my eyes away. Lang saw how I looked at him as he was stepping into the tub. But nothing of my attitude changed. This was and had to be between Josh and Jesse.

Jesse came back and handed me some papers. I showed him to his room and went to put the papers in a safe place. Later I would take them back over to Mr. Lawson to keep in his safe.

While Josh was languishing in one tub, Jesse came out of the room, naked, to get in the one right beside him. I was nearly taken aback. I thought Lang was going to faint. He said he wanted a shave and I went to get the razor and shaving mug and brush.

Lang came up beside me. "Please, please, don't tell me he's off limits," he whispered.

"He is for now," I said.

"Oh, Godd, I'm going to die from frustration."

"Before you do, put some of that lilac and verbena in their tubs and swirl it around" I told him.

Jesse asked Josh if he wanted a shave.

"I don't shave yet," the boy said.

"I can see that. There's some fuzz that ought to be scraped off. So when Caleb's finished with me??"

"Lang can shave him," I put in. "He's got a steady hand." I wasn't sure how steady his hand would be but I wanted him to get in the practice, and Josh didn't have much to scrape off.

We shaved the father and son, helped them with their towels when they were finished and sent them off to their room. It was heart warming to see Jesse put his muscular arm across his son's shoulder.

"Godd, what a terrible waste of perfectly wonderful man and boy," Lang said.

"Not necessarily," I said.

"You set them up?" he asked, surprised.

"Of course not," I replied with a scowl. "But they are sleeping in the same bed."

We were finished and I waved him to come with me. We sat on the couch in the lobby and I explained the situation.

"So that young stud is staying behind?" he asked excitedly.

"That remains to be seen, but I imagine so," I said.

"Oh dear, I won't die of frustration after all, I'll die from impalement."

"Just to be on the safe side," I began with a smile, "instead of sleeping in your own room I think you should sleep up in my bed where I can impale you, and keep an eye on you."

I couldn't tell next morning if anything out of the ordinary had happened between Jesse and Josh. Jesse came into the lobby, washed up and fully dressed.

"I'm going across the street to the hotel for a bite to eat and I'll be leaving from there."

"Oh??" I knew Lang would be disappointed, and I was for him.

"What? Something wrong? Is there something else we need to talk about before I leave?"

"No, I?..truth is, Jesse, my helper is going to be disappointed, he was hoping??never mind. I know you want to be on your way."

"Your helper was hoping for what? You mean the kid that helped us with our bath and shaved Josh?"

"Yes. He was really hoping to?.well, to have some time with you."

He rubbed his chin with a tight smile. "Well, I suppose that could be arranged. Where is he?"

I took the key to a vacant room and handed it to him. "I'll get him, he'll meet you in the room."

Jesse snatched up the key and with a smile, headed back to the rooms. I went up to wake Lang. He was in my bed. He yawned and stretched, tugging the covers down to his ankles. He was bone hard as usual.

"Did I oversleep?"

"No, but you need to go take care of room seven."

He dragged himself out of bed and started to put on his clothes but I took them from him. "You won't need these," I said.

He scowled, with a curious frown.

"Trust me," I said.

Nearly an hour later, Jesse came out of the room, dressed. He came up to the counter and said, "I want to settle my bill."

"You don't have a bill here," I said.

"I do and I intend to pay it. It was a business arrangement we had, remember."

I figured his bill for the room, the bath and shave. He paid me. Since he hadn't volunteered it I asked about Josh.

"He's sleeping in. He's pretty tired."

"That's not what I meant," I said.

"He knows I won't be here when he wakes up. We talked about everything last night. He understands."

"That all?"

"I'm not a virgin anymore, if that's what you're asking. Neither is he. It was all good. There was a lot of love."

"Good."

"Don't be afraid to have your way with him. He's young, but he likes it and he can take it," he said.

"That's good to know."

"You take care, Caleb. And take care of Josh."

"I will. Thanks for everything, Jesse. And stop in if you come this way again."

"I will."

"Even if you don't get this way again, write a note now and then, let us know you're still alive. Or not."

He nodded and waved me off and left. I watched him walk across to the hotel.

Lang came in with a towel around his waist. "He's leaving?" he asked when he saw Jesse going across the street.

"He's having breakfast at the hotel then he's leaving," I said. I grabbed him by the ass. "Every day is not about you having a big stiff cock in your ass, boy. Did you get room seven cleaned?"

"Godd, I didn't know if I would be able to walk. He's a stallion. Wait, what about??"

"Josh's staying. He's still asleep."

"Am I allowed to wake him?"

"No. There's no rush, Lang, he's not going anywhere. So why don't you go set your hot ass in a bucket of cold water and cool it off and see if you can get it to close up."

"Do you know if anything happened with his dad?" he asked anxiously.

"No, I didn't ask," I lied. I had it in the back of my mind that I wanted first crack at Josh over Lang, in whatever form he wanted it to take. I was pretty awed by the boy myself, his physique and his manhood. He was definitely a boy in a man's body, spawned by the manliest specimen I'd ever met.

Since I had the responsibility for him I went over to talk to Mr. Lawson about the arrangements Jesse had made with him concerning my debt and Josh's upkeep and care. I gave him back the papers Jesse had given me. Mr. Lawson laid it all out and showed me the books. Then he took a small metal box out of his safe and sat it in front of me, opened. It was filled with money.

"This is yours," he said. "It's what you've given me to pay Jesse, he said to turn it over to you. Plus some cash he left for his son's care." He gave the box a little shove towards me. "It's separate from the money you've brought for safe keeping," he added as he took a cloth sack out of the safe.

"I can keep this over at my place. Can you keep it, and the papers, in your safe?"

"Yes, I can. But we need to have an accounting so you know how much money you've entrusted me with." And he set out to count the money. He handed it to me as he did, and made me count it too. I was more than a little surprised how much there was.

I trusted Mr. Lawson implicitly. I told him he ought to start a bank.

"Well, I guess I already have," he said.

Then it was time to have a talk with Josh and lay some ground rules. He was up and Lang was fixing his bath for him. I poked my head in and told him to come up to my quarters when he was finished.

He came up to my quarters a short time later, barefoot but wearing his pants and putting on his shirt. He looked nervous.

"You can leave your shirt off if you want," I told him. I was hoping he would; he was nice to look at.

"I suppose I'm going to get a lecture," Josh said as I waved him to a chair. He sat down, without his shirt.

"No lectures," I said. "We're too close in age for me to be lecturing you. But despite that, you were left in my charge which means I'm responsible for you, so we need to lay some ground rules."

"Just tell me what you want me to do, I don't want to be a problem," he said.

"Well, first thing is, you need to carry your weight. That means you'll have jobs to do."

"I know how to work," he said.

I told him about cutting wood for Miss Ella, that would be his job from now on, and he should also volunteer to pump and carry water for her. And I would introduce him to Eli at the livery stable, as well as Harold at the saloon and Mr. Lawson at the Mercantile.

"These are all jobs I used to do but I won't have the time now with my own business. You'll be sharing chores with Lang. And I hope I can count on you to help out around here when we get really busy."

"Will I be sleeping at the livery stable like you did?" he asked.

I wondered if his father had told him that, and what else his father had told him about me, or us. "No, you'll have a room here, same as Lang."

"But that takes up another room from your business," he said.

I laughed. "As you can see, we're not exactly overcrowded. But you may have to give up your room those times when we get real busy."

"Maybe Lang and I could share a room," he said.

"You?.don't know Lang very well yet," I said.

"I think he wants to have sex with me."

I was taken aback by his answer but I didn't show it. "I know he wants to have sex with you, Josh. If you share a room, you won't get any sleep."

"He can't force me to do anything I don't wanta do. I may be some younger than he is but I'm way bigger," he pointed out.

"That you are, but he can sure pester the devil out of you." Then I asked, "Would you want to have sex with Lang? You don't have to, just because he works for me. You don't have to do that sort of thing with anybody you don't want to."

"I did it with my father last night, did you know that?" he said.

"Yes. He told me."

"It was the first time I ever did anything like that. First time for him too, he said, so I'm glad it was us together?..before he left."

I wondered that he'd lied to his son, as I remembered the unbelievable sex we'd had together. "What he did?..leaving?..was for your sake, you know that," I said. "He left you well cared for, as long as I'm up to the task."

"I think you'd be up to any task. I trust you, I know that, because my father did. And I like that you won't be my boss or try to be my father in his place. I'd like to think of you more of a friend."

"That would suit me fine," I said. "I think that's what you need right now. And I could use a friend myself."

"What about Lang? Isn't he your friend?"

"A man can have more than one friend," I said.

"Can I ask you something, Caleb? Is it okay if I call you Caleb?"

"Yes, and as friends, you can ask me anything," I told him.

"Do you want to have sex with me."

"Yes, absolutely," I replied honestly.

"Then can you come to my room tonight? Or I come to yours? I liked what my Dad and I did. And it was especially nice, watching ourselves in the big mirror."

"I'll come to yours," I said.

"Then, I was going to ask, where do I take my meals?"

"We'll all go over to the hotel tonight and eat at the caf?. I'll figure something out from there."

Luckily, after we'd all eaten together, I let Lang get tied up with a late arrival and when I saw him go with the man to his room after his bath and shave, I knew he would be tied up for probably the whole night. I locked the front door and then took a quick bath with the remaining hot water. If anyone arrived they would have to knock loudly. After the bath I dried off, wrapped the towel around my waist and went to Josh's room. I tapped lightly on the door.

"Come in, it's open," came the quiet reply.

I opened it to find him lying on the bed clad in his skimpy shorts, pulling on his cock. He took my breath away. His body was something to behold. I'd seen grown men who would've killed for a body like his. The boy smiling up at me was just that; a boy. But the body spread out before me was a man's. He was indeed his father's son. The lamp was turned down low, offering just enough light to cast a soft glow over the boy's smooth, muscular body. Smooth but for the glint of hair on his legs and the slight growth from his navel into his shorts, and the patch of dark hair in his armpit.

"I'm glad you came," he said as he scooted over on the bed on his side to make room for me.

"I said I would."

"I thought you might get tied up with Lang."

"Lang is tied up with a late arrival. He would not be happy that I'm here. Not happy, and also jealous."

"Lang can be a slut sometimes, I think."

"Yes, but a wonderful little slut," I said.

"I like Lang. I decided he can have his chance with me any time he wants," the boy said as he reached out and tugged at the knot in my towel. It loosened and fell from my waist. His eyes fell on my manhood and he smiled. "You can tell I am happy?" he said.

"I think I will be very happy, too," I said, trailing my fingers over his chest as I crawled onto the bunk on my knees. I was about to lie down when he put his arm around my waist and urged me to him, still standing beside the bed. He dropped his head and moved under the arch of my cock so it lay across his lips. Despite his maturity, I was somehow surprised that he was so forward.

"My father said I should get to know you better," he murmured.

"This is a good way to do it," I said.

"He taught me how I should make you happy."

I put my hand lightly on his forehead. "You don't need to do this," I said.

"The way he taught me makes me want to do these things. Even if he had not, you make me want to do these things. But he showed me feelings I didn't know I had and made me know it is okay to have them. I think he wanted me to know he had those feelings so I would know there's nothing wrong with me. I think I would be confused and scared of my feelings if he hadn't showed me the way he did."

"Oh, there's nothing wrong with you, Josh. Everything I see is just perfect. Why I bet you would have girls melting down in a heap if there were any girls around."

"I don't know if I would like a girl that way even if there was any."

"Yes, but you might. So you ought to find out when you get the chance."

"If I get the chance," as he was nuzzling my cock again, licking the underside as it bobbed up and down over his face.

"You're not a virgin, are you?" he asked right off.

"No," I said, laughing.

"I didn't think so."

"But you're going to make me feel like one," I said as I was reaching down for his cock, still prisoner in his shorts.

"Yes, if that means you're going to let me fuck you."

"I need to check this out first," I said as I slipped my hand inside his shorts and fisted his big cock and he humped it through my fist. "Godd, Josh, I can't imagine a boy your age having a cock this size."

"I would go slow and easy," he said. "If you let me?.."

"I'll let you," I said. "But first...." I took my cock away from him just as he was about to take it in his mouth and moved down between his legs. He spread his legs out wide, an invitation for me to crawl between them. I nuzzled my face into the bulge of his shorts and he put his hand on the back of my head. I mouthed his balls till his shorts were wet, then I tugged them down off his hips. He rose up to let me take them off and I nuzzled back in to suck one of his balls into my mouth.

"Oh, easy," he gasped.

The problem was, his balls were so big it must have hurt a little when I sucked it in. I sucked it gently and gave it a loving tongue bath while he pushed his crotch into my face. When it was done properly I pushed it out of my mouth and took the other one. He didn't whimper this time. I could see his cock getting bigger but it was still limber. He brought it up and smacked my face with it. It was like a club and it hurt a little but I didn't mind. It was a good hurt. I finished with his balls then lifted them up to lick under them, along the short span of sensitivity that reached down to his ass crack. He took his balls in his hand and held them up out of the way, welcoming my tongue under them. I wasn't sure at first but I decided to go all the way under and explore the separation of his taut, round ass. He grunted a quiet moan as I licked along the crack.

"Aaawwwhhh," he moaned softly. "Aww, fuck, my Dad never did this."

Good. I was glad I was the first. He liked it so I gave him more. I pushed my tongue into the warm crevice then pulled his butt apart to find his hole.

"AAAAHHHH!" he cried out when I touched it.

I knew his dad had fucked him but I wondered if he'd explored the boy's ass to find his sensitive spot and demonstrate the pleasure of it, if he had shown the boy why getting fucked felt so good. I took the chance that he hadn't. He had lifted his legs and was squirming around, rotating his butt against my face.

"Fuck, man, your whiskers feel good."

At my age I didn't have much of a beard to bother to shave often but I was glad I hadn't shaved for a few days. "I want to show you something, Josh," I said as I lifted his legs higher and shoved them toward him. He cradled his thighs in his arms. I gave his ass a good tonguing, working his hole open till I was able to get my tongue inside him. He squealed at that and bore harder against my face. I pushed some spit inside him to use for lube for my finger. When he was sloppy wet I shoved my finger in him, slowly, but without pause.

"Your dad didn't do this either, did he?" I asked huskily.

"N-no, he s-sure didn't. He used his cock."

"I will too, but I want to show you first why getting fucked feels so good," I said.

"You're already showing me now," he said.

"I'm going to show you more. Lots more," I said as I probed and wriggled my finger around.

"Godd, that feels so good."

"It'll feel better." I wasn't searching for his prostate, I knew where it was but I toyed with him for a couple of minutes before I touched it.

"Ohhhhh! Fuck!!" he cried out. "That's it! Gotta be it! That's the reason!!" he gasped as he slammed his hands down and clawed at the sheet.

I smiled and started massaging his love nut. He choked on his outcries, trying to stifle them. He finally pressed his forearm over his mouth as he writhed and thrashed around on the bed in a fit of ecstasy.

"Ohh, fuck, you gotta stop! I can't take any more! Godd, stop! Ohh, fuck, please, you're driving me crazy! And I don't wanta cum!"

I didn't stop abruptly, I eased back on it, bringing him down more slowly instead of letting him crash. He gasped, trying to get his breath.

"Holy Fuck!" he moaned when he was able to find his voice.

I still had my finger in him, positioned at his prostate. The touch was light, barely noticeable except when it quivered and palpitated and touched my fingertip, like it was reaching out for it. It was enough to keep him charged up without making him go crazy, I saw his cock was hard and large. Very large. Godd, he looked as big as his dad.

"Do you want my cock now?" I asked. It was a long shot but I decided to take it. I was surprised at his answer.

"Yess!" he hissed. "Fuck me! Finish the job."

"How do you want it?" I asked.

"This way's good, you on top of me," he said.

I brought his legs up on my shoulders. My cock was quivering hard, reaching out. I nudged the head against his hole and he squirmed against it as if to set it more firmly. When I pushed, I felt him pushing back, fearlessly pushing his asshole out for me. I went in easy, with barely a wince and only a soft groan from him. I went in all the way and he locked his ankles around my neck.

"Awwww, yeah, this is what it felt like with my Dad," he moaned softly.

I chuckled softly. "I hardly think so, your dad was a horse."

"He stretched me more but you're touching everywhere he did inside me."

I was somewhat flattered that he compared me so favorably with his father. I began fucking him and he fucked me back, lifting his butt up to meet my thrusts and twisting his hips around when I was buried deep inside him. Seeing how he liked it, I corkscrewed into him on the downward thrust. When he reached for his cock I brushed his hand away and took hold of it myself. My hand didn't fit all the way around it. I drew my hand down to the base and put my other hand atop it. The head of his cock stuck out from my fist. I reminded myself that I had hold of a fourteen year old boy. I stroked him a few times till he took hold of my wrist.

"Just fuckin' me is gonna do it," he said huskily. "Your hands are gonna make me cum too quick."

I let go. I didn't want him to cum and I didn't want to cum either. I wanted us to have the night together. I wanted him to fuck me. I took him to the edge over and over again and the space between each time was getting shorter and shorter. It was frustrating.

"Josh, why don't you go ahead and cum. You can get another hardon, I'm sure."

"Oh I can do that, for sure. But I can't get another load as big as this one's gonna be."

"That's all right," I said. "This holding off is getting to be too much for both of us."

"Make me cum then," he said. "Fuck my load out of me."

"I want to see if I can do this," I said. I crouched over with my mouth open to see if I could take his cock while I fucked him. He hunkered upward and shoved about three inches of it into my mouth.

"Ohhh, Goddd! If you can do that and fuck me at the same time?..fuck, what a way to cum!"

I could and I did. I gave him pleasure from every pleasure point I could reach. I fucked him. I sucked on his cock at the same time. I reached up with one hand and squeezed his thick chest muscles and play-tortured his tits, and with my other hand I squeezed his balls.

I gauged my cock strokes with the feel of his ass muscles around my cock, and his guttural groans. I braced myself for what I knew would be a hellacious cum, if he was anything like his father. Soon I felt his prostate going wild, quivering and dancing against my cock, his ass muscles clenching madly around my cock. Followed by the hard pulsations, and the next instant I felt the powerful surge up through his cock and his balls drew up in my fist. He was cumming. The thought barely had time to enter my head when the stuff started spurting into my mouth. It shot out in long ropes, splattering my mouth and filling the cavity so quickly that I had to swallow. He was sweet and fresh tasting, like Lang. I barely had time to savor it before I had to swallow, about every third of fourth spurt.

I think we were both stupefied by the force of his climax. He was choking for air and my head was spinning. My cock lurched deep in his ass but I didn't cum. I was glad. I wanted to be still primed for his big cock going in me.

I slavered the last of his cum around the head of his cock, causing him to lurch with the great sensitivity, till he put his hand on my head to push me away. I raised my head, swallowing the last of it and his cock fell heavily onto his belly. He reached down for my wrist, making me realize I was still squeezing his balls. I let go and straightened up, my cock still throbbing inside him.

"That was as good as my Dad fucked me," he said

"I doubt that. But it's as good as I ever had", I said. I leaned to the side and let us onto our sides. "But you can fuck me when you're ready, and then you'll have something to compare with." We rested with his head on my arm and tilted to my chest. He talked a lot about his father. I wouldn't say he idolized the man but it was obvious he had a lot of respect and deep feelings for him. His warm breath felt good on my chest as he talked and it made my nipples stand firm and tall. Josh reached out and flicked them with his fingertips. "I hope I grow nipples like yours," he said. I chuckled softly. "You will," I said. "Just look at this," I said, reaching down for his cock. It was rubber hard, half way between hard and soft, whichever way it decided to go. At the touch of my hand it decided on hard. I held it and stroked it till it was throbbing in my fist. "Are you ready to make that comparison?" I asked. "Yeah, if you are," he replied. "Let's do it then," I said. He rose up and got to his knees. "On your back?" he asked as he was already getting between my legs. "Any way you want me," I replied as I lifted my legs onto his shoulders, and how he was going to fuck me was settled. He came closer on his knees till the head of his cock touched my butt then he grabbed the pillow and stuffed it under my hips. "It goes in deeper this way," he said. I laughed softly. "Okay, but you don't need any help from a pillow to go deep." "Do you want me not to use the pillow?" "No, use it. I want you as deep as you can go." He hunkered forward, spreading my butt with his cock till the head nestled against my asshole. He nudged to lodge it in the crevice then he clasped my hips and shoved. I winced a little with the entry but he didn't stop. He didn't even pause. It was reminiscent of his father, the way he shoved his cock in me, all the way. "Ohh, Godd!" I groaned softly. "Too much?" "No! It's good!" "I'm gonna fuck you then." "I know." Josh put to good use the experience he had; incredibly so. It was hard to believe that this was a teenager on top of me. I'd had plenty of grown men who didn't perform as well. I thought it must be in the genes. I had a miniature Jesse on my hands. He stayed straight on his knees and slammed into me and when he'd fucked me off the pillow he leaned up over me, bending me in half. He plowed me unmercifully in that position, so hard that it was hard to breath. I didn't complain, but I was relieved when he rolled us onto our sides. I wrapped my legs around him as we tumbled over and he fucked me hard. After a few minutes he rolled us again, bringing me on top. "Ride me," he said. I rode him, up and down, back and forth and twisted my hips in wide circles. He loved how that made his cock lob around inside me. He pulled me down on top of him and wrapped his arms tight around me and hammered my ass so hard I feared the bed might collapse. I whimpered and squealed with pleasure; I must have sounded like a whore, or a mare in heat. "Josh?.Godd, Josh, you're going to make me cum!" "What the hell do you think I'm trying to do?" "Don't stop then!" I gasped. "Keep fucking me! Ohhh?Ohh, Godd, Josh, don't stop?.Fuck me?.fuck my brains out?..I'm gonna cum! Can't hold back?.it's cummin'?.UUUUHhhhnnnnnn!" My head throbbed as hard as my cock as he fucked my load out of me. I could feel the stuff spurting out between our bellies and soon we were sliding in it. It was a long, hard cum. I was barely finished when Josh went crazy with his own climax and I felt his thick cock belching out yet another load of his boy semen.

Josh compared well, at least from my perspective. He had everything his father had with the exception of experience, but even that, his father had taught him well. He fucked me nearly into a stupor. I would thank Jesse a thousand times over for bringing him to me. But I knew now that I had to walk a fine line between Josh and Lang. I didn't want to hurt Lang's feelings and have him go rushing back to his father

Chapter Fourteen

Skip McCoy

After the night with Isaiah, the condemned man, things changed a lot between Tuck and me. After Tuck's mercy-killin' I couldn't hardly sleep. I caught a few hours in Tuck's arms but it didn't feel right, taking comfort for what'd happened. It wasn't even noon when I slipped from our hotel room with my few belongings and a simple note left behind for Tuck that I'd be back soon.

I turned to my two oldest friends since heading west?.drinkin' and whorin'. Only neither was as satisfying as they'd once been. What good was drinking without Tuck to share it with? And somewhere along the line I'd grown too accustomed to the tight grip of Tuck's ass and the feel of his hard body against mine. I could just barely find release with the whores which only frustrated me and led to more drinking.

Two days after I'd left him I found Tuck out on the veranda of the hotel smoking on a pipe, a newspaper in his hands. I was in a foul mood, ornery and dissatisfied. I'd had plenty of time to think things over while staring into a bottle of whiskey and I made up my mind about some things. I took a seat beside the Marshal with a long sigh, setting my saddlebags down beside the chair. He barely acknowledged me with a glance.

"Tuck," I said with a nod of my head.

"Skip," he responded coolly in greeting. We sat there for a long time while I watched the sun set and Tuck read his paper. When he finally said something it took me by surprise. "You have supper yet?" he asked me without looking.

"Yes, you?" In truth I was in no need of food.

"Not long ago," he told me. He finally lowered the paper and met my eyes. "You finished runnin'?" he asked me.

I contemplated him for a long moment, annoyed yet happy that the man knew me so well. "Maybe," I allowed with the barest nod of my head. There was another pause before he said, "Tell me, then," in a hard voice.

"Damn you, Tuck," I broke out, near shouting, then made myself stop. More quietly I told him, "I want ya' to 'fuck me," and laid all my cards on the table. I'd been able to think of little else the last few days.

He looked off in the distance and folded his paper into his lap. "Told you it wouldn't be a simple fuck, Skip." He waited 'til he'd finished talking in his deep, quiet voice before he'd look at me. The certainty in his words and his eyes made my heart jump a bit. I couldn't help but feel we were crossing some kind of line together; something altogether more irrevocable than the first time I'd kissed a man, put my mouth on another man's ass or sucked a hard cock. I couldn't help feeling nervous but my mind was made up all the same. Tuck studied my face then stood.

I followed him into the hotel and across the lobby, up the stairs to the hotel room we'd shared before I took off. I'd barely cleared the door and the man was all over me as he shut the door and pushed me up against it. He ravaged my mouth with the hard press of his lips and teeth until I had to open so his tongue could snake in, knocking both our hats off. It more than took my breath away, it made my prick go hard so fast that it hurt. My groin lurched against his.

"I been wantin' this a long time, Skip," he told me when he'd pulled back to get a breath. I didn't have time to reply before he resumed savaging my lips and mouth.

It didn't take long to get the both of us naked, the two of us so eager for something that'd been a long time coming. Tuck had me on the bed with my legs in the air in no time flat. He made a beeline for my ass where his lips and tongue made a happy reacquaintance with my hole. I could hardly wait to get him inside me but praised him for his efforts to make me ready.

When he finally did mount up behind me, long past the point of me begging for it, he slid into my wet chute with ease. He took me forcefully but with care and the fuck he gave me was so far from anything I knew I could scarce believe it. I'd had no way of knowing how incredible it could be.

It wasn't just the way he aimed to make me feel good, though. It was the way he put his hands on me, how his thumb traced my cheek when he stared into my eyes when we was face to face. It was the way he kissed me and made his pleasure second to my own. He managed to make me shoot twice before he gave up the ghost and I felt his cock twitch as he filled me with his seed. More'n anything else it was the way he held onto me after and put his lips on every inch of me he could reach.

When we rode out the next morning with a new assignment I couldn't have kept the fool's smile off my face for anything. Every time Tuck'd peek over at me he'd just shake his head and chuckle to himself. I felt like a creature that'd been taken from the wild and tamed.

Chapter Fifteen

Skip McCoy

It was near the beginning of summer when Tuck and I found ourselves heading down the Santa Fe Trail on the track of a gang of outlaws from Kansas City. The last fort, where we'd gathered more provisions, was two days behind us and we were making good time.

"They can't be more than a day or two ahead of us," I was saying. We were coming over the crest of a small hill and I saw the unmistakable plume of smoke in the distance. I reined in my horse and pointed it out to Tuck as he pulled up beside me.

"Can't be them, that's a big fire. It has to be a group of settlers." We stared at the white column drifting up into the evening air, it had to be several miles off, and looked over the area below us. "I'm guessin' we won't learn a thing from up here," Tuck allowed.

We followed the trail down into a wide valley. We approached the encampment slowly but as we got closer it was obvious they weren't settlers nor outlaws. "They're army," Tuck observed. We could now see the men in their uniforms as they moved about the camp. They'd settled by a wide bend in the river over a grassy meadow. There were a dozen canvas tents set up to one side and a temporary corral for what looked to be twenty horses on the other end. The fire we'd spotted burned not far from the tents where it seemed dinner was being prepared.

"Hey there!" a man called out to us when we came near. He and another man sat on a pair of horses with rifles at the ready, sentries by the look of them. We already had our badges out and gave them our names.

"We'd appreciate a word with your commanding officer," Tuck told them. They exchanged words we couldn't hear then asked us to follow them. They led us straight into the camp to a larger tent aside from the others. The flaps were tied back and a man sat at a desk with a lantern just inside. Behind him were several boxes and a plain sleeping cot.

"Colonel, these men are US Marshals and asked to speak with you," our guide announced. He looked up and studied us, a hard man with a hard face. His mouth split in a big smile as he took us in.

"Franklin Tucker?" he called out in a booming voice as he stood and stepped out of the tent.

"George Collins! Son-of-a-bitch if somebody didn't make you a colonel!" Tuck yelled out as he dismounted and passed me his reins.

The two men strode out and met each other with hearty handshakes and a rough hug. It was apparent that they shared a fondness for one another. Tuck kept his hands on the other man's shoulders and pulled back to eye him over. They exchanged words for several minutes, too low for me to hear, then turned towards me and the two sentries.

"One of you find someone to take care of the horses and tell cook there'll be two more for supper tonight." The two young men complied with a salute as Tuck waved me down to join him.

"George, I want you to meet my partner, Skip," Tuck said as I dismounted. I walked over and offered my hand.

"It's a pleasure, Colonel," I said respectfully. The man had a firm handshake as I'd expected. He was around Tuck's age, brawny and weathered in a handsome way.

"Call me George," he told me with a smile.

"If you'd be obliged to call me Skip," I replied. At that moment two different young men arrived to care for our horses. Tuck and I gathered our saddle bags and George invited us into his tent for a drink before supper.

"What brings two Marshals to these parts?" he asked us after we'd settled onto mismatched stools and chairs with whiskey in hand.

"We're on the trail of some outlaws, George, and maybe you can help us," Tuck told him as he reached for his bags. "There's four of 'em and they robbed several banks up by Kansas City. We suspect they're a day or two ahead of us." He handed over the papers with drawings of the outlaws on them. George studied them for a long moment.

"Four men passed this way early this morning," the Colonel told us. "Can't say if it was these men as I never saw them but we'll ask the two men I had on the road to see if they remember. They'll be down to eat with us shortly."

"Thank you, George, that would go a long way to helping us," Tuck said.

"You'll make camp here with us tonight and you can get an early start in the morning," he offered as we all heard the dinner bell being rung. "Come along, now. The food's not great but it's hearty," George promised.

I was very happy to have a break from our own trail-food and followed the two men from the tent. A couple of long wooden tables were arranged by the cook's cart and men were already lining up to be served. The men stepped aside for us but the Colonel waved them off and we got in line like everyone else and soon had a heaping plate of what seemed to be stew and fresh cornbread. We sat at the head of one of the tables with George while the other men settled in.

"What're you and your men doing out here, this far from the fort?" Tuck asked.

I dug into the stew and listened to the two men talk.

"We're practicing maneuvers. I have just over two dozen men here, not including support staff, half cavalry and half infantry. You can't tell by looking but across the river there," he said, pointing with his spoon, "that's Comanche territory. I'd bet anything they got some of their braves watching us right now." He paused while we all pondered on that.

"Anyhow, further south the main trail goes through their territory a ways. They've been talking about raising a tariff for any white men that pass through. General Wilkins sent me and the boys here to put on a show, remind them what the army is capable of."

"Don't you worry they might attack you here?" Tuck asked. "So far from the fort?"

"Not really, we're at peace with them right now. And you can't see it but over there, see that hill?" he asked with a nod toward a small grass-covered hill by the main road. It was barely visible in the fading light as the sun set but both of us could make it out. "It's a small fort, room enough for my men. It's built under the earth so it can't be burned. In a pinch we can hole up there until reinforcements arrive. We send a runner back every day and they know to send help if the runner doesn't come."

I was impressed with their planning and strategy and it seemed Tuck was as well.

"Besides," George continued, "they're all green recruits. They need the practice with formations and drills. It's good for them." After that Tuck and George reminisced about the times when they'd served together in the cavalry. Long after we'd cleared our plates they were still at it. The men settled down to play cards, a few writing letters in the light from the big fire.

"You can see there's not much to do here. 'Specially not for young men. They miss their families," George said and added a leer as he continued, "and they miss the whores that work around the fort. The boys could sure use some entertainment."

In a much quieter voice he said to Tuck, "You remember how you used to entertain the men, Tuck? I have many fond memories of times spent between your legs."

I knew of Tuck's past and can't say I was rightly surprised by the Colonel's words. The two of us, Tuck and me, shared a long look and I couldn't tell what he was thinking though it seemed he was looking to me for permission. I gave him a subtle nod to let him know that I'd agree to whatever he thought was best.

"George, are you asking for yourself or your men?" Tuck asked with a sly grin. "'Cause if you're asking for them you should know I ain't done nothing like that since I quit the army." Tuck's cheeks grew flushed as he spoke, his hands tapping nervously against the tabletop.

"I ain't sayin' anything, Tuck," George said. "Whatever else is up to you." For a moment I thought George had forgotten all about me but then he turned to look at me and said, "Whatever you and your partner decide you wanta do." He gave us a moment to think that over and said, "Right now I have some business to attend to. The latrines are over there if you have the need, and I'll have the men set you up with sleeping quarters. You are spending the night."

"If it wouldn't put you out any," Tuck said.

"Not at all. So think it over, the boys could sure use the relief." With that he left us at the table.

Tuck stood and I rose to follow him. Away from the soldiers I asked him, "What are you thinking, Tuck?"

"I won't do anything you don't want me to," he said and I felt his shoulder bump gently against mine as we approached the facilities.

"No, you don't need to take me into consideration. I'm asking what you want to do. I can tell you're considering it," I told him. It was darker there by the outhouses and I couldn't see anyone close by. I pulled Tuck into the shadow of one of the shacks and pressed him up against the wall. I pressed my hand up against his trousers and felt him to be hard. "If you want to do this I won't mind. I can feel your excitement," I told him, handling his cock through the material of his trousers.

"There's more than twenty of them, Skip," he said with uncertainty.

I cut him off by putting my mouth on his, pushing my tongue in along his own. Drawing away, I told him, "Don't mean you can't have a little fun with some army men, for old times' sake. We won't let things get out of hand. You say the word anytime, and I'll put a stop to it. You can't tell me you aren't considerin' it, Tuck. All them young men just lookin' to get their pricks wet?"

Tuck moaned and pushed his hardness against my palm, pulling me in for another kiss. Pushing him back with a hand on his chest I could feel his heart racing. "You for sure don't care?" he asked me.

"I care, Tuck, 'course I do, but not the way you're asking. Hell, I'm gonna watch, probably take a turn myself? I think I'd enjoy it." He studied my eyes best he could in the dark and nodded.

"Alright then," he whispered. Together we went in and relieved ourselves then returned to the tables where George was waiting on us.

"Well?..what'da think?" George asked us as we joined him.

"I'm in," Tuck told him. "Whatever the men want. And you, of course."

"And you?" the Colonel asked me.

"I'm gonna watch, for now."

"Good. You can wait up at my tent if you'd like, Skip. Watch the whole proceedings."

"Thanks, I suppose I will," I told them. I gave Tuck one last look of reassurance and left to wait in the Colonel's tent. I lit the lantern and turned it up to just barely flickering so I could still make out what was happening outside by the fires. There was a sturdy support pole in the center of the entrance to the tent. I leaned up against it to watch the happenings begin to unfold before me.

The Colonel went over to the cook's tent to say something to the cook then he let out a loud whistle. The cook carried a case out of the tent and set it before the Colonel while the soldiers gathered around, bewildered looks on their faces. None of them were in full uniform at that hour, many were shirtless and a few were returning naked from the creek where they'd been swimming and bathing. When the case was opened I saw bottles of whiskey being passed around. The Colonel said something that earned a laugh from the soldiers who were now taking swigs from the bottles and passing them on and there seemed to be an understanding now about what was going on; they didn't look so bewildered anymore. Colonel Collins removed the jacket of his uniform then sat atop the table and leaned back as Tuck came around the side of one of the tents.

I watched Tuck open his uniform pants and free the Colonel's manhood. I only saw it for an instant before the hard length was enveloped in Tuck's mouth. There were some low moans and quiet whoops from the men around them. George's groan carried all the way to where I stood. He had evidently been without for too long. But he had more than a blowjob in mind; it wasn't long before he had Tuck bent over the table and was pushing his straining prick into Tuck's ass.

I watched the soldiers, nearly all younger men, as they enjoyed the spectacle. Many of them were palming their crotches, the naked ones pulling on their cocks, while hopefully waiting to take a turn. From my vantage point I could see clearly when Colonel Collins reached his climax as his body froze then his hips jerked as his body convulsed. The soldiers became more boisterous now, cheering him on, waving the whiskey bottles around.

Two of the men had brought a sleeping cot from one of the tents while three more men completely disrobed Tuck, then they placed him on the cot on his hands and knees. Two of the soldiers stepped forward, opening their pants, and stood one at each end of the cot. The others cheered them on, even making remarks about their hard cocks. The bigger one, and the older, probably early twenties, took Tuck's firm ass in his hands and aimed his cock at his hole.

"Yeah, ram it in!"

"Fuck him!"

"Show him how the army does it!"

Tuck winced from the sudden impalement but it quickly faded as the soldier began fucking him. The other soldier presented his cock to Tuck's lips and began fucking his throat, just as his comrade shoved his cock deep into Tuck's ass so his outcry was muffled. It seemed to me that Tuck was only too eager to engulf both pricks. The show was on.

I watched in lusty fascination as the men took their pleasure with my partner. After a while I saw the Colonel making his way back towards his tent. His jacket and shirt in one hand, he wore only his trousers and the suspenders were up over his shoulders. He had a broad chest covered in brown curling hairs and a trim stomach. I hadn't appreciated before what a fine looking man he was.

"Your man Tuck seems to be enjoying himself with my men," Colonel Collins said as he stepped into the tent. He threw his garments onto his cot and stood close beside me.

"Yes, I do believe he is," I murmured, unable to take my eyes off the proceedings.

"Saw that same sight many a'night when we served together," he said, watching with me. "Never thought I'd see it again." We were both silent for a time, entranced. "I knew you were more than just his partner from the moment I saw you." I was surprised to feel his hand on me, measuring the length of my excited flesh beneath my pants. "Tuck always did favor strapping young men, especially the well endowed ones," he told me pointedly.

He stepped in closer to me until he was close behind. His hands reached around and he began unbuttoning my vest, then my shirt. He pulled them from my shoulders and tossed the clothes somewhere behind us before letting his hands roam over my chest and stomach, testing the feel and firmness of my muscles. He teased my nipples lightly before moving down and reaching inside my pants to take hold of my hard cock.

"Damn, that's a big one, Skip. I bet Tuck loves it, don't he?" I could only mumble a response as he stroked me. He released me to fumble open the buttons of my pants and shoved them down but instead of taking my cock in hand again I felt his fingers and palm smooth over my ass. "The real question is?.do you just give stud service? Or do you also receive?"

A small moan escaped my lips as his fingers dipped into the crease of my ass and brushed over my hole. He chuckled behind me, against my neck. "Well, I guess that answers my question," he said. The fingers fell away and I heard him spit once before they reappeared. "I'll tell you a secret," he said as he breached me with one slick finger. "Twice I let Tuck have a go at my ass. Only when it was just the two of us, and there's been no other man since." His finger slid easily in and out of me. "You ever let him do that to you?" he asked me just as he found my prostate and pressed against it.

"Yeah!" I sighed hoarsely. He withdrew his finger to add another.

"You liked it then, huh?"

"There was no complaint," I said, trying not to sound too eager.

"Feels good, I know."

I could barely concentrate while he worked me with his hands and I watched Tuck being fucked at both ends. The fingers disappeared and I felt the hard thickness of his cock pressing into me. He hadn't asked my permission but I wouldn't have denied him. I held the support pole and accepted the burning stretch of the man's cock entering me. It wasn't dry and I wondered if it was still slick from Tuck's ass or if he'd applied something to it. It didn't matter as he filled my chute nicely.

His put his hands around my hips and I bent forward slightly, arching my back to give him a straight shot. I spread my legs as far as I could with my pants still wrapped around my booted ankles. Before me I saw Tuck's strong body silhouetted by the fire blazing behind him. The cot shook as the two young men fucked him.

"That's it, watch your friend while we do this," the Colonel grunted out as he fucked me.

The stroking of his cock against my insides already had me needing to cum. He pushed in hard and held himself there, buried to the very hilt. His balls brushed against mine and he screwed his hips around, playing havoc with the tender linings of my chute.

"He's had six men already, Skip, you think his asshole is ready for any more?" I only nodded as he paused his fucking and let my ass milk at his cock. "Soon as Olson there is done there's a couple of the men gonna give ole Tuck a surprise, something he used to do. Watch, it looks like Olson's ready to blow."

Thankfully he started moving again but as I watched I could tell that he was right; the young man fucking Tuck was jamming his prick hard into the man, his breath held, his face screwed up. He let his load loose into Tuck's ass and stayed pressed up against him for a minute before slowly withdrawing. The guy in Tuck's mouth stepped away at the same time and another came forward.

The new guy urged Tuck to get up then laid himself down on the cot. Tuck didn't need any urging to climb right on top the man and sit on his cock. The one who'd had his cock down Tuck's throat came around behind the two of them. He forced Tuck to bend forward as he squatted over the cot. I heard Tuck's cry as the second man forced his cock up in beside the first one's and it didn't sound like pain exactly.

"Bet he never told you about that," the Colonel said with a chuckle.

"Don't recall he ever mentioned it," I said through moans that were drawn out of me by the sight of Tuck being double fucked, but also by the Colonel. While we watched he held me tighter to pick up the pace and length of his thrusts. I couldn't help bucking back to meet his hips, wanting more of his rough fucking. I let go of the beam to take my cock in hand but the Colonel got there first.

"I'll take care of ya', Skip," he told me. His hand wrapped around my cock but he didn't stroke it. His hand wrapped tight around the base and held my cock like the pommel of a saddle. "You don't want to shoot yet," his voice heaved against my ear. It didn't make sense to me as I could feel that he was getting close himself. He was giving me the short haphazard jabs of a man about to find completion.

"Damn you got a tight ass, boy." He held me tightly by my hip and my cock. "Fuckin' tight ass is gonna make me cum," he grunted, hips jamming. Then I felt the slickness of his cum and the throbbing of his cock. If he hadn't been gripping my cock so tightly I would've joined him, too.

He didn't wait long to withdraw, saying, "That was mighty fine, thank you." I wasn't expecting it when he bent down to tug at my leg. He helped me pull my foot from my boot and stripped off my sock before doing the same to my other foot, then my pants. Now I was naked and barefoot. George put his hand on my shoulder and took me out of the tent. "Let's get you over there in the action," he said.

I tried to tell myself that he was bringing me to Tuck, wanting me to have a turn with him, but I knew better. I was going to be fuck fodder for his horny soldiers. We came into the loose ring of men that was watching and waiting. I hadn't notice before but nearly all of them had taken off their shirts, some in their underclothes and boots and more of them were naked. Almost all of them were sporting hard cocks, those even visible under their clothes. Colonel Collins had said they were green and looking around I saw that only a couple of the soldiers looked much older than twenty. The rest looked to be in their teens, a couple only boys; very wide eyed boys. I suspected they had never witnessed anything like this before, nor even imagined it. I wondered fleetingly what their mothers would think.

They saw us coming, me naked with my hard cock leading the way. I felt their lust like a living thing. It snaked through my guts and made my prick throb, all those eyes feverishly moving over me. The Colonel guided me forwards and any idea I'd had that I would be joining the men in fucking my friend evaporated when he spoke.

"Bring out another cot, boys. Marshal McCoy here is going to lend a hand to his partner, make sure all of you get a turn," he called out. His pronouncement raised a cheer among the men.

The second cot was placed not far from the one where Tuck was being fucked by two more men. "I got him loosened up and ready for ya'," the Colonel said to the laughing jeers of his soldiers. "You boys have fun now." He gave me a pat on the back and urged me towards the low cot.

For a second I wanted to balk, tell them no way in hell was I bending over for all of them. They were a randy bunch; why I recognized two of them standing around stroking their hard dicks who had just fucked Tuck. But I was mightily aroused and the young men's lust still thrummed inside me, like a silent-beaten drum. I found myself taking the same position Tuck had been in earlier, on all fours on the cot, blood pulsing in my temples from anticipation.

There was a moment where I wondered if this was how Caleb Brown had felt when he was getting fucked by all the trail hands. Only I had no fear of these men, I knew I could walk away from what was about to happen. Unlike Caleb, I only had to admit to myself that I wanted it. The thoughts of the boy dissolved away as the first hard, greased cock pressed up against my ass and another brushed over my lips. Opening wide, I wrapped my lips around one and pushed back to take the other. It felt good, from both ends. Yeah, I wanted it. And I understood now why the Colonel wouldn't let me cum when he was fucking me in his tent.

It's impossible to say how many of the soldiers fucked me. One hard length of cock was replaced with another and my need to satisfy them grew like a stampede, out of control without anyone or anything to curb or slow it down. I tried my best to clench and grab with my ass as a swollen prick withdrew, and swallow around the one forced into my throat. I wasn't myself even, so much as a senseless animal caught up in the act of mating with a bunch of rutting young stallions. Yeah, it was like that; I was like a mare in heat, waiting to be bred by every young stallion with snorting nostrils.

I may have cum but it was only a small peak on the high mesa of pleasure I felt. At some point I was repositioned and felt, for the first time, two cocks sliding into my cum-drenched hole. The additional stretch burned but the feel of those two hard cocks spreading me wide open was incomparable. I couldn't hold back?.I shot my load. But still I wanted more and there I was still surrounded, along with Tuck, by young soldiers eager to give it.

I heard the Colonel order some of the men to relieve those on watch so that they could come and have a turn. I had no idea how many men were on watch and I didn't care, I would service them all. I was almost jealous of the grunts and moans coming from Tuck's direction. I couldn't get enough of the smells - male sweat, cum and whiskey. The two cocks in my ass drove me crazy and I eagerly sucked on the one in my mouth. I never wanted it to end and most of the young soldiers, I noticed, were coming back more than once. There was one--I recognized the curve in his cock and the way he moved--who fucked me three times.

I didn't realize it was over until two of the soldiers were settling me onto a different cot inside a tent. Still dazed, I spread my legs for him as I laid back. The seed of many different men trickled from my loosened hole. The young man whispered to me that it was enough for the night, I needed sleep, and he drew a blanket over me. It was easy to fall back and pass out.

I slept soundly. Tuck woke me up in the morning, shaking my shoulder and calling my name. By the look of the light outside the tent I could tell it was well into morning. Not even thinking of the night before, I sat up quickly, thinking we were losing ground on the men--the outlaws--we'd been sent to find. It was only when I went to find my clothes and couldn't that I remembered what had happened. I looked at Tuck, the question in my eyes.

"I don't know about you but I need a bath something awful," he said with a smile. "Come on, Skip." He had a bar of soap, towels, shaving gear and clothes. I stood up and realized just how much I needed a shower. Cum had dried all over me and pulled at the hairs of my body with every move, especially in the crack of my ass and inner thighs. Gingerly I wrapped the towel Tuck offered around my waist and followed him from the tent.

We didn't talk as we went down to the river. I could barely lift my head to meet the eyes of the soldiers we passed. Their calls of good morning gave me strength and I found that none of them were giving the two of us disrespectful looks as I'd expected although a few of them outright leered at us in our half-dressed state.

Tuck chose a spot slightly upriver where we had the cover of some trees for privacy. I left my towel draped over a branch and waded into the cool water beside Tuck. The sun was strong and made the chill bite of the water a little less uncomfortable. I stood hip deep in the water and took the soap when Tuck offered it.

"You're not going to believe this," he finally started speaking. "George sent a group of his men out last night after we ate. They went and captured the men from Kansas City, found 'em camped out by the river just a few miles away. They're locked up right now in that room under the hill." That was the last thing I was expecting him to say and it must've shown on my face.

"Brought back all four of them alive, too. Told me he did it so we wouldn't have any excuse to leave." He turned his face up to the sky and took a deep breath. When he turned back to me as I washed, he didn't exactly meet my eyes. "Skip, the Colonel asked me to stay a few days? asked us to stay, with me it's personal to him. He said the men that went out last night to capture those outlaws should get a chance?.meaning me, naturally."

"How many went out?" I asked.

"I don't know, but after last night, how does it matter?"

"Tuck?," I started to say something, unsure of what exactly, but he cut me off.

"Skip, I know you knew about some of the things I did before but I understand that knowing and seeing are two different things. I won't be surprised if you say you're ashamed of me."

I'd barely got any washing done and his words left me stunned stupid. "Ashamed of you? Hell, I did it, too, and probably as many times with as many men," I told him, not understanding.

"What?" For the first time he looked up into my eyes, a look of confusion.

"Geesuss, Tuck, I was on the other fucking cot right next to you letting every man who wanted to have a go at my ass. You don't remember that?" I asked him.

"No, I don't. All I remember is cock," he told me and laughed out loud. "One in my mouth and one in my ass, wasn't much beyond that I was paying any mind to. Course I was under the influence of that rot gut whiskey the Army furnishes."

"What about two cocks in your ass? You remember that?"

"Don't know if I rightly knew exactly what was going on but I sure felt stuffed to the gills a couple of times. Felt like it might've been a horse fucking me."

"Well, I did that too," I told him. "I liked it. Didn't ever think I would but?..," I admitted with a shrug.

"Damn, Skip, I wish I'd been sober enough to take notice of that," Tuck told me with a faraway look.

"You might still can, Tuck. You said the Colonel wants us to stay a few days?" Tuck's eyes flashed back to me, a smile on his handsome face.

"You wanta stay too?" he asked me, wading closer.

"Course I do. When'll we ever get another chance like this, with a bunch of young, horny soldiers? Besides, you know it's not gonna be just those soldiers who were out on that mission, and now that you know you weren't on your own last night, you know you're gonna need my help."

He moved right up into my arms to give me a long kiss. Pulling back he looked me straight in the eye and said, "You know I love you, right?" It was a feeling we'd been dancing around for a long time.

I ignored the thought that it'd taken getting fucked by a gang of young soldiers to bring it out. Instead, I kissed Tuck again before telling him, "I love you too, Franklin Tucker."

Later that day we went to the hill to check out our prisoners. That night after supper I went down to the creek and watched some of the soldiers bathing and swimming and horsing around. It was a nice sight but I sat a good ways upstream to sort of convey the message that I didn't particularly want a repeat of the night before. And I didn't, not yet anyway. I had some thinking to do about that. Thinking and wondering what I was maybe turning into. They left me alone, some of them waving as they went back up to their encampment

Chapter Sixteen

Skip McCoy

Dusk, then darkness, brought a bright moon that cast a sparkling like diamonds on the swift moving creek. Tuck, I knew, was in bed with Colonel Collins, and I wanted to leave them to it. They went back a long way, they needed time to reminisce. I decided to go for a walk down by the creek. Close by the bank in the shadows of a big tree, I saw someone sitting on a huge log; a tree that had been split apart and struck down by one hell of a lightning bolt. Closer, I saw he was bare from the waist up, his suspenders hanging at his sides. I approached cautiously, not knowing if I should disturb him, and you didn't smartly walk up on a soldier without announcing. I cleared my throat before I spoke.

"You got this log staked out all to yourself?" I asked quietly.

"No," came the reply, without him looking around, as he made a swipe with his forearm across his nose, then quickly rubbed his eyes. I realized then that he'd been crying.

I straddled the log facing him, sitting almost within arms' reach. "Mighty nice night," I said, looking in the direction he was looking, at the creek.

"Guess it is," he said, still without looking around. He was young. Awfully young, and the crying?..I figured he must be homesick.

I wanted to reach out to him but he didn't act like he wanted company. I stood up, standing astraddle the log. "Well, I guess you don't want company, I'll meander on down the creek," I said.

"You don't have to," he said quickly, finally looking at me for the first time. His tone was suddenly different, like he didn't want me to leave.

"Well, okay?..I just didn't want to interrupt your thoughts," I said as I slowly sat back down. When he snotted again and swiped his nose with his forearm I pulled out my bandana and handed it to him. He blew his nose and handed it back to me. I told him to keep it and he stuffed it in his pocket.

"I guess things can get pretty rough sometimes," I said, wanting to acknowledge that I knew he'd been crying.

"Not so much," he said bravely. "Not so I can't handle it."

"Hey, I recognize you. You're one of 'em that fucked my brains out yesterday," I said with a smile.

"And your partner. I fucked you both," he said.

"That kind of thing go on much with the soldiers?" I asked.

"No, not like yesterday. There's never been anything like yesterday."

"Well, they must've needed it, you were sure a horny bunch."

He looked around at me. "I was sure surprised when they brought you out and put you on a cot beside your partner. Surprised at him, too, but more surprised at you."

"Well, I was a little surprised myself, that I let 'em," I said.

"You like getting fucked?"

"Yes. Yes, I do. How about you? You ever done it?"

He looked out over the creek. "No. But it's gonna happen. I know my time's coming. Real soon." He looked back at me. "And I'm scared about it. Scared to death."

I smiled my best warm, calming smile. "Well, I can understand being a little scared, but like you said about the army, it's nothing you can't handle. Others have. Lots of others."

"Maybe so, but that don't make me any less scared," he said, and his voice cracked, like he was fighting crying again.

I scooted a little closer and reached out and put my hand on his leg. "Hey, it's nothing to be that afraid of," I said in a soothing tone. "You joined the army, didn't you?"

"Yeah."

"And I'm betting you lied about your age, 'cause you're awful young to be in the army."

"They knew I was lying," he said.

"Well, that was a hell of a brave thing to do," I told him. "Cause you know what could happen. You could get a leg shot off, or even your head blowed off. But here you are, ready to face it. I was never in the army but seems to me that's a lot worse than what you're scared about right now."

"I don't know if it is or not. Don't it hurt, getting fucked?"

"I won't lie to you?.yeah, it hurts at first. Hurts like hell sometimes, but it don't last long, and then it starts feeling good. Real good if it's the right guy doing the fucking."

"I don't know who the right guy would be," he said doubtfully. "'Cept?..maybe?.Hoster. It's just about to happen, any night now. I know it. Any fuckin' night now, there's gonna be some of 'em come and get me out of my bedroll and drag me into their tent and fuck my head off."

"This Hoster?..he a buddy of yours?" I asked.

"I wouldn't say we're buddies, but he's good to me, nicer than the others. He wouldn't hurt me on purpose." He shrugged. "But I guess that'll change after a while. I'm the new guy."

Suddenly I had an idea. "Well, then???"

He gave me a questioning look. "Well then, what?"

"Why don't you have Hoster do the deed, take your virginity. Then you'd be more ready for the others when the time comes. Which you said is probably going to be very soon."

He scoffed. "I'm not gonna just walk up to Hoster and say, 'Would you fuck me please, Hoster, so I know what it's like?."

"Well, not just like that but you gotta admit, having somebody you trust do it first is a hell of a lot better than being ganged up on your first time."

"I guess I'll survive it. Others have," he said with resignation. "Least they say they've done it. They say everybody's gotta do it?..get fucked?..or you're not part of 'em. I don't know exactly what they mean by that?..being part of 'em?..but I take it if you're not they wouldn't go out of their way to cover your ass in hard fightin'."

"I know you'd survive it, Son. I was just trying to come up with a way to make it a little easier. And, you know, there's another way, if you wanta try it."

"What way?"

"Well, if you wanta go get Hoster I could sorta smooth the way for things to get started, and you could fuck me again while he's fucking you, and I'm telling you, that is awesome, being in the middle like that."

His eyes seemed to light up and the drawn expression on his face seemed to relax. "What do I tell Hoster to get him to come? I'm not gonna come right out and tell him I want him to fuck me."

"Just tell Hoster I wanta talk to him."

"What're you gonna say to him?"

"I'll think of something, just go get him," I said.

He left and came back with Hoster in tow, the bigger soldier looking a little confused, and manly as hell. He was shirtless in the warm night, his suspenders stretched down across his thick pecs. Just seeing him, I wanted to do more than talk to him but this needed to be about the scared young solder; fuck, I didn't even know his name.

"James said you wanted to talk to me?" Hoster said.

Now I knew his name; James. "Yeah, have a seat why don't you."

He straddled the log, hefting his crotch with one hand so he wouldn't crush the goodies. "So what'd you wanta talk to me about?"

"James, here, has got some concerns about some rumors goin' around."

He laughed. "What kind of rumors? Hell, there's always rumors flying around about a battle coming up."

"Not a battle," I said. I looked at James. "You wanta tell him?" I asked.

James came right out with it. "Rumors that I'm gonna get my ass fucked?.that my time's coming," he said boldly.

"Aw, that rumor spreads around about every new guy that reports in," Hoster said.

"Are the rumors ever true?" James asked.

"Sometimes. Mostly, I'd say. Came true for me."

"You!?! You got your ass fucked? I can't believe that."

"Oh, you can believe it," Hoster declared.

"Can you tell me about it? Will you?" James asked eagerly.

"Not all that much to tell," he began. "I mean, it's nothing you could put into words and write home about. Only I didn't hear no rumors beforehand. It boiled down to, it was gonna happen, and the way I knew that was when a half dozen men surrounded me in the creek when I was bathing. Like I said, I didn't hear no rumors or get any warning but I damn well knew what was gonna happen when they came wading out in the creek."

"What'd you do?" James asked.

Hoster laughed again. "Not much you can do when a half dozen soldiers lay hands on you like that except let 'em do whatever they've got in mind to do. They carried me back to the tent, naked, and closed the flaps and two of them stood guard while the others did it to me, then they had their turns."

"Did it hurt?"

"Like blazes. But just for a little bit, then my ass must've got stretched out and it didn't hurt anymore. By the time the second guy shoved in me it was feeling sort of good. Time it was all over, I shot my load twice." He reached over and punched James playfully in the stomach. "So don't fret yourself over it. When your time comes, just let it happen. You fight 'em, it's only gonna make it worse."

"That's the scary part, not knowing when it's gonna happen," James said. He paused, with a glance at me. I gave him a wink and a nod. He looked back at Hoster. "I feel a little better, hearing about it from you, but?.well, Hoster, I?..I was sorta wondering if maybe?.maybe you could show me what it's gonna be like. You know, initiate me so I know what to expect."

Hoster blinked and reared back in surprise. "You want me to?.break you in?"

"Yes."

"Don't know what difference it'd make, one cock's gonna feel pretty much like another the first time, but hell yeah, I'll pop your cherry for you, at least get that part out of the way."

"Do you wanta do it here?" James asked.

"I should've brought my lube," Hoster said.

I quickly dug in my pocket and brought out a small, round, flat tin; a snuff can that Colonel Collins had given me filled with gun grease. He'd given one to Tuck as well, to take with us. "Here," I said, handing it to Hoster.

"Ah, I see you've got the standard issue," Hoster said, laughing as he stood up and pulled his suspenders off and started undoing his trousers. "Take off your clothes," he told James. "Even your socks. I want you naked."

"All right," James said. "But what if somebody comes, wanting to take a swim?"

"Let 'em," Hoster said. "No need to keep it a secret, is there?"

He'd set the snuff can aside to take off his clothes. I picked it up to lube the younger boy's ass. When James was naked I motioned him over to me and turned him around. When he bent over in front of me to let me do it, I was wishing it was me who was going to take his cherry. I could tell he was nervous at first, till I got my finger up inside him.

"This don't hurt hardly at all," he said, as he squirmed around on my finger.

"That ain't a cock," Hoster said as he stood up, his cock standing out at a proud, almost wicked angle, easily eight inches.

"Oh." James voice was a bare whisper when he saw the throbbing, bucking cudgel. Then half turning to look at me, "Ohhh! Ohhhh, w'what?..what's that?" he gasped suddenly.

"That's your prostate," Hoster said, laughing. "Somethin' every man's got but nobody talks about. It's what's gonna make this feel good for you." He stepped over the log and sat down on it.

I kept probing up inside the boy's ass, my mouth watering something fierce. I wanted to make him good and ready.

"Ohh?.OOOHHHH, fuck! If this is what it's gonna be like??!"

"Like Hoster said, my finger ain't no cock," I reminded him.

"Best way is for you to step up here on the log with me, I'll hold onto your waist, and you ride down on me," Hoster said.

James nodded as I handed the tin of grease to Hoster.

"Why don't you do it for me, that way I won't get the grease all over my hands," he said to me.

I didn't mind at all. In fact I was wishing it was me about to ride down on his big cock, and in that moment I remembered why I'd come down to the creek in the first place, to be alone and ponder my life and what I had become. Suddenly, in that same moment, it didn't matter. I was becoming who I was destined to be. I leaned over and took hold of Hoster's big, thick cock with my dry hand. It felt good; so good my mouth was watering from pure want.

"Do you mind, first?" I asked huskily as I leaned down and closed my mouth over his cock.

"Ohhhh, I remember that tongue! Fuck, no, I don't mind!" I sucked him till he eased my head up. "You're too damned good, gotta save it for James," he gasped.

I lubed up his cock and swiped my hand in the grass.

Hoster waved James closer and clasped his hands around his lean waist to steady him in a crouch as he stepped up on the log facing him. "Okay, just ease down and enjoy the ride."

James lowered himself till his asshole settled onto Hoster's cockhead, his legs trembling as he tried to hold himself up.

"I'm just steadying you, I'm not holding you up," Hoster told him.

"I'm scared, Hoster," James whimpered.

"Sure you are, but the best way to get over being scared is to face your fear and the best way to do that in this particular case is to look me right in the eye and say, 'I'm gonna do this, Hoster, I'm gonna let you fuck my cherry ass.' And just remember how good McCroy's finger felt up in there. My cock's gonna feel a lot better. So say it. Look me in the eye and say it."

"I'm gonna do this, Hoster, I'm gonna let you?..Ohhh?.ohhhh, it's goin' in! Oh, fuck! It hurts! Wait! Hold me up, Hoster, I don't know if I can??"

"Wait," Hoster said, his muscular arms bulging as he helped James from going down any further. "Maybe if we can get our friend, McCoy, to lean in here and take your cock in his mouth and lavish it with his tongue while you impale yourself on my magnificent tool??"

"Be glad to." I ducked under Hoster's right arm and went down on James hard, quivering cock. He was scared but he wanted it bad enough that his cock was as hard as Hoster's. At the same time, Hoster eased him down a little more onto his magnificent cock. James was holding his breath.

"I'm g-gonna -d-do it, Hoster. I'm gonna let you f-fuck my cherry ass." He took another deep breath and slid down farther till there was no space between his pubes and Hoster's.

"Now there, it ain't killin' you, is it?"

"No, it barely even hurts," James said.

Part of the reason it didn't, I knew, was because my mouth on his cock was drawing his attention away from the pain in his ass.

"Now, fuck MrCroy's mouth," Hoster told him.

James began raising and lowering his hips to fuck my mouth which had the effect of him fucking himself on Hoster's cock.

I gradually raised my head higher so he had to thrust higher to fuck my mouth and go farther back down on it, till he was riding up and down on the full length of Hoster's cock.

"Ohm?..Ohh, Godd, this is so good! Fuck me, Hoster. Fuck me hard."

Hoster laughed. "You sure don't sound like a virgin no more. Okay, soldier, you want fucked, you're gonna get your wish."

I backed away as Hoster stood up, cradling James' butt in his hands.

"Let's go for a walk," he said, and he took off at a good pace, walking toward the creek. I noticed there was a definite, purposeful bounce in his step.

"Ohhhh, Hoster, I can't believe how good you're making me feel. I'm so glad you said you'd fuck me. I'm so glad I'm not a virgin anymore."

Suddenly Hoster broke into a slow run and James was yelling at the top of his lungs as he bounced up and down on the man's cock. He also lost his load, along with his senses. As Hoster slowed to a steady walk James collapsed forward with his head on Hoster's shoulder.

Two men came running up, both shirtless and drawing their suspenders up over their shoulders, like they might have been in bed.

"What the hell's goin' on?" one asked.

"Shit, it's James! He's getting fucked!" the other exclaimed. "Fuck, I'm getting some of that," he said, as he started undoing his pants.

"Go back to your tent," Hoster told them. "I ain't done with him yet and I won't be for a good while."

"Looks to me like you are, with all that cum all over you both. You got his cherry pit, least you can do is let us have some of the leftovers."

"I didn't get it all. I can still feel some of his virginity still in there. I'm gonna fuck him again as soon as he's recuperated."

"We'll help you get it," one of the men said. "Between the three of us??"

"Go back to your tents! He's mine for the night," Hoster growled, and the two men didn't argue.

When they were gone Hoster said, "I just told 'em that to get rid of them. You're not a virgin anymore, I don't need to fuck you again."

"You can, Hoster," James said. "You can fuck me all night if you want to. Just give me a couple minutes, when my cock comes back up I know I'm gonna want it again."

"Okay, I'll wait and see. Meanwhile?.." He looked at me. "You still got that can of gun grease?"

"Yeah."

"Is there enough left to grease up your ass??while James is recuperating?"

I swear my ass remembered Hoster's cock when he shoved it in me and made it throb. It clamped around the thick meat like an old friend, giving it a tight hug. James watched us for a few minutes and when his cock started to come back to life I waved him closer so I could bring it the rest of the way with my mouth. When Hoster was ready to cum he pulled his cock out of my ass and ordered James to take his load in his mouth. I wondered what cum tasted like laced with gun grease.

I could see that James was a reluctant volunteer, skittish about having a cock in his mouth that'd just freshly been in two asses, and no doubt more skittish about taking a load of cum. But he did, like the brave soldier he was. He choked and gagged but Hoster didn't let up. He held his head in place while he fucked his mouth and pumped it full of cum.

"Don't spit it out," he said. "A real man never spits out another man's load. You gotta swallow it. You hear?"

James nodded but I didn't know if he was swallowing it or not. Hoster must've thought he had because he released his head. James went running to the creek, coughing, to wash his mouth out. Hoster just laughed.

Hoster, stud that he was, never lost his hardon. He waited till James stumbled back up from the creek then turned him around and began fucking him again.

I bade them goodnight and went back to my tent; a tent that the Colonel had assigned to me and Tuck, but I would have it to myself tonight; Tuck would be with the Colonel. I was only half right.

I was brought awake by someone shaking my shoulder very gently.

"Are you asleep?" a timid voice whispered.

"I'm not now," I said as I opened my eyes to see a naked James holding his clothes. "Well, did you get fucked out, boy?"

"I was wondering?..I know you're heading out in the morning??," his voice trailed off but I knew what he was asking. I lifted the blanket as I scooted over on the cot to make room for him. James dropped his clothes and crawled in with me. I put my arm around him and pulled his naked body against me.

"I'm not fucked out," he said. "So you can do anything you want with me for the rest of the night."

"All right, as long you return the favor," I said.

He rose up, wide eyed. "You mean that?" You'd let me fuck you?"

"Let's just see what positions we find ourselves in during the night and just take advantage of them," I said. James was a good bunkmate.

Next morning Tuck and I had breakfast with the men and said our goodbyes. Then we rode out with the four prisoners in tow, hands tied behind their backs and their feet tied with ropes under the horses bellies. We rode back from them, out of earshot but still within shooting range if one of them tried something stupid.

"I think I'm gonna head for Glory after this," I told Tuck. He looked over at me with a smiling scowl. "I wanta see Caleb," I said. "Maybe think about retiring. Maybe go back home first, see my brothers and Adam." Tuck just nodded.