I watched Vin doing some modern dance step that appeared to prove the boy had no bones in his body what-so-ever. I caught a glimpse of Buck and JD waving goodbye and I waved back. I wasn't surprised to see the other two leaving. After seeing Chris in the pirate's costume, I was pretty sure Ezra was going to take him home and molest him.

With half a chance, I was going to be doing the same shortly. Vin was escorting Selma off the floor and over to the refreshment table.

"Good evening, children, you look like you enjoyed that." I spoke to them both but my eyes were on Vin's glowing face.

"Vin's an awesome dancer," Selma grinned and hugged his arm.

"You're not so bad yourself, Selma." Vin smiled and poured a cup of punch for her before pouring one for himself. "But it's gettin' to the witching hour and I need ta be gettin' home. I got a real long hard day tomorrow."

"11:00, goodness is that the time?" She squeaked and ran off just like her costume's name sake, Alice.

"A long hard day is it?" I leaned against the wall and lowered my voice.

"Ifn' I'm real lucky, something long and hard is goin' ta make my day and night and maybe the next day, too." His eyes were such an innocent blue, belied by the mischievous grin creeping across his face.

"I think you're very lucky but then so am I." I practically whispered in his ear while moving away from the wall. "Let's say our goodnights so we can get you into bed for that restful sleep."

"Not too restful, big guy," he teased me. "I forgot to work out this afternoon so I need a little exercise, too."

I thought about what kind of exercises we could do in the front seat of the Jeep, against the door and definitely in bed. Our thanks for the nice party were given to our host and his wife while I was still trying to decide whether to tease him a bit or just give him a blow job the moment we got home.

The Jeep takes forever to warm up so we were half-way home before there was any heated air blowing out the vents. But I was surely hot and bothered by the teasing little minx who caressed my thigh the entire way. The drive was longer now, significantly longer since we'd moved to the country. Vin would never feel completely at home in the city and I wanted him to have everything he needed so we'd bought the ranch next to Chris' when the elderly owner died. We were taking our time remodeling the place.

Tall pines sheltered the long drive in pitch blackness but our lights showed us the way into the two and a half car garage we'd built this summer. Having the door open with just the touch of a button was a luxury neither of us had ever had before. We were still enjoying the novelty and when it closed behind us, I already had an armful of cuddly Vin. His kisses are sweeter than honey and twice as addicting. His hands combed through my salt and pepper hair, giving me a scalp massage while his tongue searched for buried treasure in my mouth.

"Love you, love you, love you," he chanted in between trying to crawl into my habit with me. "Take me to bed and make me confess every bad thing I've ever done."

I chuckled and slowly pulled away so I could turn off the engine before it gassed us to death. "Black habits turn you on, Vin?"

"Nope, just you lookin' all butch and pious at the same time." His eyes gleamed while he followed me out of the driver's door and slid teasing hands up my wide sleeves. "Makes me think of making up things so you need to show me how to repent my wicked ways."

I chuckled and wrapped my arms around him, running one hand through his long blond hair and playing with the eagle feather he'd braided into a small braid behind his right ear. "You couldn't be wicked if you tried, sweetheart. Naughty, yes - evil, never. However, certain heathen manners might need to be . . . corrected."

"Yeah," he lit up like my very own Roman candle and pulled us to the back door.

I disabled the security alarm and then re-locked the door behind us while he left me to do a fast reconnaissance of our house with his gun in hand. That was a habit I couldn't break him of and after we caught a druggie trying to burgle the place, I agreed it was a good idea. I started disrobing on the way to the back of the house only to hear the sound of the hot tub jets starting to roar.

Oh god, wet-Vin is one of my instant hot buttons and I felt my cock start to swell. A trail of clothes led the way to the three-season porch where we'd installed the green hot tub. The floor was concrete and we'd put in a new flooring layer with radiator tubing, a new hot water heater and a thermostat for that room alone. Now that winter was coming, I was pretty sure we'd be able to turn the porch from three-season to four.

I automatically picked up each piece of costume for putting away. That was a habit I'd learned very young in the military. Luckily, Vin was a naturally neat person or we'd have been at odds from day one. But we hadn't been, we'd . . . meshed from the moment we met and I spent a long time stealing glances before I realized that he was looking back. That was the best day of my life.

I shook myself free of the past and wondered if the hot tub was because Vin's back was bothering him. He had bad days when he lost his natural grace and moved stiffly all over. I was working on that slowly but surely with hot oil massages and long soaks in the heated water of the tub. I love touching him, whether in our lovemaking or just therapeutically. I'd fallen so hard two years before and been so sure that such a fun-loving spirit could never return my emotion.

But he had and I was blessed by his love.

"You're thinking too much, big guy." Vin's arms slipped around me and I realized I'd reached our bedroom still half-dressed in my cassock. "But black looks real good on ya, 'Siah. It makes me want to make somethin' up so's you'd sit me on your lap and give me a penance for being so bad."

I chuckled. "That makes me sound like a cross between a priest and Santa Claus, love."

He grinned up at me. "The bad boys get the really good presents, Santa-baby."

Shaking my head, I finally noticed that he was only wearing his moccasins. His body is lean and hard and covered in more scars than I can bear. His life had never been easy but now it was my turn to take care of him and I vowed daily to the spirit of his mother I'd love and protect her beloved son. My hands slid down his back while he purred against my chest. I didn't want him to get cold so I stepped away from him. "Bad boys get into the hot tub while I finish getting undressed. Then we'll see what kind of presents they get."

He moved sinuously against me and my cock tried to escape the bulky robe keeping him from his home. "You got just the present I need, 'Siah."

I brushed a kiss on his cheek and turned him to the porch, swatting a gentle pat to his delectable cheek. "Put in some spearmint oil, please. My sinuses feel a little clogged."

"Will do," he disappeared and I finished undressing rather hurriedly in our bedroom.

I did take the time to hang up my habit and his hunting leathers. I'd have my costume cleaned and returned to Father Ignatius at the monastery just outside of Denver. Vin's leathers would go back into his closet until the next time he needed them. But soon I was striding back to the porch and the churning jets that promised relief to the little ache in my left knee.

Vin was sprawled on one side of the five foot square tub, right over his favorite jet. His hair was damp and already starting to curl in the steamy heat. He'd dropped all the blinds down and closed so we had perfect privacy for our soaking. And maybe something more, I hoped. Sliding in, I gentled a caress to his high-arched foot and he wiggled his toes for me.

Touching him was a pleasure and privilege I would never take for granted. His flesh is so alive and his responses so addicting I took every chance I had to caress and touch him. My thumbs found a spot in his right ankle that felt congested and he sighed when I rubbed it loose.

"I love your hands, 'Siah." Those brilliant blue eyes gazed into mine. "It was the first thing about you I really noticed."

"Ah, my first impression was the way you moved," I told him, moving up his leg to his thigh. "I'd never seen anything so graceful and it was all I could do to close my mouth and say hello."

He smiled and slid into my lap, wrapping his legs around my waist and his arms around my neck. He pressed a gentle kiss at the corner of my mouth. "I felt kind of breathless because you were so big and solid. Your eyes were kind and I thought 'this guy could be a friend'. And you were."

I moved a millimeter and tasted his lips, sampling the punch from the party but mostly finding his musky taste underneath. Then he opened beneath me and I surged inside his welcoming mouth. Our tongues wrapped together, sliding against each other and entwining rough to smooth and back again.

My cock was rock hard, dueling with his in the churning water. He moaned a little and I reached a hand under him to brush between his cheeks. His breath hitched and he wiggled harder, enticing me on. Dipping a finger just inside that tight ring of muscle, I felt him clench around me then relax. The man has great muscle control and he'd taken to male-male loving with enthusiasm.

It was almost six months before we'd done more than fellatio and frottage. Then one morning, he woke me up and told me he was ready for more. We were late to work that day after a long talk about barriers and the need to take it slow. I have to admit I was a bit distracted. Ezra noticed and made time to take me aside for a quiet chat. He is a good friend and absolutely right for the dark-cloud that was our boss.

With Ezra, Chris had found his matching half just like I'd found mine in Vin. I'd told our undercover agent from the moment I noticed he'd seduced our boss, I would back him 100%. He smiled that sweet smile of his and flushed a little. He asked me what had me so distracted. I told him and he nodded. Then he gave me the name of a lotion he'd found at the Asian Market on Ripley.

It had a numbing agent along with good lubricating powers. He said quite matter-of-factly that he'd use it when the time came Chris wanted to go further. I'd blinked and kept back my first reaction to that news. I could have sworn he and Chris were already a committed couple who'd possessed and been possessed. I told him I was a good listener then I took his advice and went shopping.

"Need ya, 'Siah," Vin was wiggling closer and nipping at my throat, a real hot spot for me. "In . . . in . . . in."

Chuckling, I reached a long arm to the side of the tub and the bottle of oil we kept. It was thick and rich, not easily washed away by immersion in hot water. Now, I slid in two fingers while kissing him senseless. We made love so frequently, he was truly relaxed and a few moments later, I slid into the tightest place I'd ever been. He'd lit two candles on the side of the tub and in their light his eyes gleamed the deep blue of the high mountain spring on the property line between Chris' ranch and ours.

"Love ya, 'Siah," he breathed my name with so much love I was reminded I was the luckiest man on earth.

"I love you too, Vin." I rocked him slowly while he got his feet to either side of my hips so he could take over some of the movement.

We made love slowly, taking the time to touch and taste and re-commit ourselves to each other. I didn't need the monk's habit to worship my personal deity, he was more of a nature spirit, one of the mountain oreads from ancient times. His soul was made for the wild places and my job was to give him a safe home from which he could roam free.

Finally he arched and came, calling out my name. I buried my head in his neck and managed one more thrust before flooding him with my climax. The jets still churned the water but we were both boneless and sated. His hands soothed caresses over my back while I held him safe and wondered how I'd find the energy to get up and go to bed.

"The party was fun," he whispered in my ear. "And I liked seeing you looking like Friar Tuck in Robin Hood. But this is how I like you the best. No matter what you're wearing, you're always looking out for me."

I chuckled tiredly and raised my head to look into his eyes. "I love you in leather, but I don't have to wait for Halloween each year to see you in that."

"Maybe I should get a set of black leathers like Chris'?" He teased me and my mind flashed to the one time I'd seen our boss clad in black leather from his head down to his toes. Astride a vintage Harley, he looked like sex personified and Ezra had looked extremely smug when he swung his leg over the seat and took hold of his lover.

But picturing Vin is supple black leather made my satiated cock stir. "Naughty, naughty Vin, that's a very provocative picture. I had a Harley once, a thousand years ago."

He beamed at me. "What year? Maybe we could find one and restore it?"

"1979," I hadn't thought of that time in eons. "It was the best year of my life until I had the falling out with my father and joined the marines. By the time I got back, he'd sold it and drunk the proceeds."

Vin kissed me softly, bringing me back from the memories. I let him comfort me, knowing deep inside that he liked sheltering my spirit. I was such a lucky man. When we pulled apart, he brushed back the lock of hair that keeps falling on my forehead. "We'll look around and see if we can find one to work on in our spare time. 'Course, it can't take away time from our lovin'."

I chuckled and stood up, still attached to him. "We can do that, love. And we certainly won't interrupt our loving time. It's much too precious to me."

He bit his lip before letting me come out. It wasn't safe leaving the tub unless we were separate. He turned off the jets while I blew out the candles. We rubbed each other dry with the towels we kept by the tub before walking hand in hand to our bedroom. Watching him stretch all over and pull back the duvet, I turned the dimmer switch to the candlelight setting. I wanted to see him when we made love this time.

The feather caught the light and I thought what a fitting symbol of his wild spirit it was. But he was beckoning me to join him and I slid between the flannel sheets, straight into his arms. I was a lucky man to have found the other half of my soul. In the back of my mind, I wondered if the time was coming when we'd choose to leave the dangerous work in order to preserve our love.

If so, it would be together and that was fine with me.

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The end of this chapter