Tales from the Ranch

Disclaimer: The following story is a work of fiction. If you are offended by descriptions of homosexual acts or man/man relations, please exit this page.

TALES FROM THE RANCH Copyrightc 2003 by Tulsa Driller 7. All rights reserved.

This is a story of men who have two common interests. You will see that they love the land where they live and work, but it is also the story of young men who love other men and their coming of age in a culture of prejudice and misunderstanding. It is a story, which deals with difficult and often disturbing issues but, nonetheless, issues which must be confronted in today's world.

This is a work of fiction and in no way draws on the lives of any specific person or persons. Any similarity to actual persons or events is entirely coincidental. This work is copyrightedc by the author and may not be reproduced in any form without the specific written permission of the author. It is assigned to the Nifty Archives under the terms of their submission agreement but it may not be copied or archived on any other site without the written permission of the author.

PLEASE: In a perfect world AIDS doesn't exist. My characters have unprotected sex. I hope you use proper precautions because I'd like you to be around the read the last chapter of this story.

Tales from the Ranch Chapter 26: Getting Ready for the Honeymoon

It was Tuesday afternoon before Dale had a chance to walk to the construction site to look at the progress on the new crew quarters. He was stunned. The basement floor had been poured the afternoon before and the men who worked for Ray Evans were walking around on it. The center beam was in place, bolted to the steel poles set in the concrete floor and about half of the floor joists were in place.

The stem walls had been given a coat of waterproofing, then covered with hot tar. River gravel had been used for back filling to within a couple feet of the ground, then dirt had been shoved in to level the ground around the house.

Two men from the lumberyard were unloading plywood to be used for sheeting the floor and side walls as they were put up. Dale had heard the sound of hammers pounding and saws running since the previous afternoon, but had no idea things would move so quickly, although both Craig and Ray had told him so.

A trailer containing a complete workshop had been parked next to the house. Both a table saw and radial-arm saw had been unloaded and set up, although most of the sawing was done with Skil saws at this point.

Ray saw Dale standing, looking on and waved a greeting, then the two men walked toward each other.

"You really don't fool around, do you?" Dale said.

"No, I have 8 men here for the next three days and no bad weather in sight. We may be putting the roof on when you get back from your trip," Ray told him.

"I'm impressed. The place changes size every time I see it. First the excavation looked huge, and then when you put the forms up, it didn't. Now it does, again."

"When we start framing the inside and outside walls, it will change again," Ray replied. "Then when we start hanging sheetrock, it will take on a different feeling again as the rooms are defined. instead of being able to see through the walls."

About that time Dale's cell phone vibrated to life.

"Dale Richards," he answered.

It was Michael Russo. "Dale, one of the tractors quit running and I can't get it started."

"Did you check the fuel filter?" he asked.

"Yes, but there was only a little water in the filter bowl."

"It doesn't take much," Dale told him. "I'll be up there in a few minutes."

After he broke the connection he told Ray that he had a problem with one of the tractors. They shook hands and Dale headed for his Blazer to make the ten-minute drive to the field.

It turned out to be a simple repair; actually the main fuel line from the tank had gotten clogged. Dale disconnected it, blew it out and reassembled it. The tractor started right up on the first try.

"I'm embarrassed that I called you. I didn't think it would be something simple like this," Michael told him.

"Don't worry about it. I was able to discern that the fuel filter wasn't getting any fuel so it either had to be a clogged line or a fuel pump problem. I started with the easiest, the fuel line. Bingo."

Michael thanked him profusely and got back on the tractor to resume plowing.

As Dale was driving away, he thought that the cell phones had already paid for themselves, along with leaving a pickup in the field where they were working. Otherwise, someone would be shuttling back and forth from the ranch to this field to see to it that the guys ate and had plenty of water to drink. If they hadn't had the cell phones, Michael could have lost two or three hours before getting help.

Phyllis Richmond talked to her attorney the first thing after she got up on Wednesday. Actually it was almost noon. She had really tied one on after she arrived home the afternoon before.

Courtney Millard had handled problems Phyllis had created before so he wasn't surprised. In fact, he had already heard about her arrest the day before. Attorneys were a fairly tight group and he had heard a version of the story the night before when he and his wife went to their Country Club for dinner.

"Courtney," whined Phyllis when he came on the line.

"Hello, Phyllis. What have you done now to get yourself into this mess?" he questioned. He really didn't like her very well. She never asked for advice until a problem arose - most could have been avoided if she talked to him first. However, she was a maverick, frequently running over people, and then wondered why people avoided her.

He had already talked to Gus Douglas, although Phyllis hadn't called him, but he knew he would be hearing from her and that she would demand that he act immediately.

"I don't know what's going on," she said in a tiny voice, not quite contrite, but maybe she really didn't.

"Phyllis, I've taken the liberty of finding out what's going on. The charges are simple. First you have been defrauding buyers and sellers by giving each different paperwork. The second is that you have been pocketing money that is listed on the contracts as "Miscellaneous Closing Expenses" and third is that you are lucky that's all they are charging you with. It seems that you've lost your real estate license and."

She wailed, "Oh, what am I going to do. that's my only source of income?"

"What you are going to do is to plead guilty and offer to make restitution at your hearing. I think I can get you off on probation and possibly reduced charges, but your license will be suspended for a period of time that will be up to the judge and the Williamsport Realty Board."

Phyllis started crying, almost keening. Courtney Millard didn't feel sorry for her. If she didn't run over customers and stick her nose in where it didn't belong, this probably wouldn't have happened.

"Phyllis, let me ask you this. Did Dale Richards list his house with you?"

"No, he listed it with the Regency agency."

"How did you get involved?"

"I've found houses before when Don Albrecht was buying rental property to fix up and either rent or sell."

"Did he call you about this property? How did he find out it was for sale?"

"No, I saw it was a new listing and called him."

"Was it on multi-list?"

"No, it was a Regency exclusive, but we all help each other sell properties."

Courtney's thought was 'yeah, but you would throw a fit if someone tried to horn in on your deals.'

"So you just stuck your foot in the door and sold it out from under Regency?" he asked.

More whining. "No, not exactly. It wasn't a desirable piece of property and it might not have sold as quickly without my finding a buyer for it."

'Yeah, right,' thought Courtney.

"Let me do some checking on this and I'll get back to you a little later."

Phyllis wasn't happy because her problem wasn't solved immediately, but she did thank Courtney Millard before she hung up. Almost a first for her.

Since it didn't seem that there would be any litigation on this, except for the charges against Phyllis, he felt free to call Don Albrecht to get some answers to questions he had.

Don was just getting ready to go to lunch, but took the call. Although he and Craig hadn't gotten the contract for designing an expansion to Courtney's office, he held no grudge.

"Hello Courtney," Don said. "What can I do for you?"

"Don, I'm Phyllis Richmond's attorney. Since there is no litigation except for charges against her, I was wondering if you could answer some questions for me about this deal?"

"Sure, what do you need to know?"

"Did you have a contract with her to look for property for you to buy - specifically the house Dale Richards is selling?"

"No. Actually I've only had one deal with her. She had the listing on the house my wife and I bought about two years ago. I mentioned that when I got established, I wanted to buy property to fix up and either sell or rent. Not too long after that she called me about a house that was for sale. It wasn't on multi- list and the other realtor wasn't too happy because she inserted herself into the deal. However, the place had been on the market for quite a while and she was able to get a good deal for me."

"Who was the other realtor?"

"Regency."

'Bingo,' thought Courtney.

"Then about six months later she called with another 'find', as she put it. Again, she hadn't gotten permission from the other realtor, but she was able to work a good deal for me."

"And. the realtor?" asked Courtney.

"Regency. I never made the connection until today."

'No wonder those people hate her,' Courtney thought.

"She's letting the other realtor do all the work, then she's jumping in and simply taking over, isn't she?" asked Don.

"I really shouldn't answer that question, but yes, she is."

"Oh, wow. This is the third deal of mine that she's just walked in and edged the other people out. and two of those had problems with the contract and they had to be rewritten."

"Do you have the contracts?" Courtney asked.

"No, but Wes Owen and Gus Douglas do. I gave the contracts to them."

"Thanks, Don, for taking the time to talk to me. You've given me better insight to this whole sequence of events."

"Don't mention it. I guess you know that Gus is meeting with Dale and me to draw up a new contract?"

"I know one will have to be written."

"What about the checks I gave to Phyllis to close this deal?"

"I can't answer that because I don't really know what is going on there. I think each of us needs to call Gus Douglas because he set all this up."

"Well, it's my understanding that this whole deal is null and void, but I wrote checks to the title company and the Register of Deeds and I assume they have been deposited," Don said.

"Talk to Gus. This part of it is his deal. My concern is what is going to happen to Phyllis."

"Thanks, Courtney. If I can do anything for you in the future, please give me a call."

"Will do, Don. Thanks for your help in sorting this out."

They broke the connection. 'Boy, what a load of trouble this redheaded bitch had caused,' Courtney thought.

Jason and Kevin were thrilled with their new dogs. They were both big fluffy balls of fur that had bright eyes and an active tongue. It was just as if the pups couldn't taste their new masters enough. It must have been some kind of bonding thing.

Marty told the boys on the way home about the way he and Chris had housebroken Sandy.

"The best way to do this is really simple. Feed them, take them outdoors and when they take care of their business, give them a lot of praise, then give them a treat. It doesn't take very long for them to realize what's expected of them and Collies are among the smartest of the dogs."

"Is that all there is to it?" Jason asked.

"No, but that's the basis. Same thing. Take them outside several times during the day. When they take care of business, praise them and reward them. They are going to be in a cage when you guys are gone and they will have a blanket in there to lie on. Most dogs will not mess where they have to sleep, so they will be ready to go out when you let them out.

"That's pretty easy," Kevin said.

"Your Mom, Mrs. Wood and I will help out during the day, seeing to it that they are let out, but when you are home they are your responsibility until they are housebroken. You just need to watch them that they don't chew on furniture."

"What about staying in our room?" Kevin asked.

"Not a problem, make sure they are in their cage so they can't damage the rug. When you're sure they are housebroken, then they can stay out of the cage."

"Dad, what kind of cage are we talking about?" Jason wanted to know.

"We're going to stop at Wal-Mart and pick up a carrier that's large enough for them to both fit in. That way they can play with each other. We'll help you take it up and down the stairs, if need be."

"Thanks, Dad," Kevin said.

"Boys, a dog is to be enjoyed. They are smart and anxious to please you, so treat them right and they will be loyal to you forever."

". like Sandy," Kevin said.

"Yes, exactly like Sandy," Jason added.

Marty agreed.

When they got home, at Marty's insistence, they spent some time on the lawn and each got treats that Marty had brought outside for them. He had also purchased some chew toys and gotten new collars for them. The boys could pick out the next ones as they grew.

Chris and Mrs. Wood came outside to see the new dogs and being curious, the dogs were excited, as two more people were willing to give them attention.

"Mom, Mrs. Wood!!! What do you think?" Jason asked.

"I can see they are going to be beautiful dogs with good markings as they get older," Chris replied.

"Have you named them, yet?" Mrs. Wood asked.

Jason said, "I've been thinking about names and I like Brandy for mine."

"Me, too," said Kevin. "Can I name this one Ginger, like her mother?"

"Those are good names," Mrs. Wood told them.

Marty and Chris agreed.

Tuesday afternoon Dale was working in the office when the boys burst in, each with their new dog in their arms.

"What have we here?" Dale said, greeting them.

"Dale, we each have a puppy now," Kevin said, bursting with pride.

"I named this one Brandy." Jason said.

"And. mine is Ginger. That's her mother's name, too."

"They are just beautiful," Dale said petting one, then the other, getting licked.

He took turns holding each, praising the boys for their choices.

Kevin outlined the plans for housebreaking the puppies and Dale thought that made sense.

"You know, guys, I never really had a dog when I was growing up. I always wanted one, but had to share one of the neighbor's dogs with him. That poor dog didn't get treated very well and would sleep on our porch more often than it was at home, but grandma wouldn't allow me to feed it. She was afraid it would be at our house permanently."

"Maybe you and Craig can get a puppy," Kevin said.

"Yeah," Jason agreed. "Those kennels have lots of dogs. Do you think Craig would let you have one?"

Dale had to laugh at that one. As much as he'd like to have a dog, he didn't think a 5th floor condo unit was the place to keep one.

"Maybe someday we'll have a yard and I can get one then," he answered.

"You can play with ours as much as you want," Kevin told him.

"Thanks, guys, I appreciate that. If you need help with them, let me know. Are you going to teach them some tricks?"

"You mean like 'roll over' and fetch?" Kevin asked.

"Those would be good ones to start with, but there are all kinds of things they can learn and with two it might be a lot of fun to work with them."

"You don't mean like those 'Stupid Pet Tricks' they have on TV?" Jason asked.

"Well, not exactly, but I'm sure we can figure something out for them to learn," Dale answered.

Dale loved the pups. They were at the stage where they weren't entirely coordinated and were curious about everything.

"We wanted you to see them. We're on our way to see grandma and grandpa. They haven't seen Brandy and Ginger yet," Jason said.

"They are great dogs. You guys made good choices. It will fun watching them become adult dogs," Dale said.

"We'll be back after a bit to do our evening chores, but we were afraid you were about ready to leave to go home," Kevin said.

"I'm not too far from it. Thanks again for bringing the dogs out so I could see them. Have fun with them," he answered.

Just after the boys left to go to their grandparents' house, Michael, Pat and John arrived in the ranch pickup.

Dale had them sign their time sheets, and then reminded them that he would be gone on Friday and Monday and that he would be gone part of the next weekend for the horse show in Waco.

"Gonna do anything special?" John asked.

"Yes, I'm going to Ft. Worth for a Builder's Trade Show with a friend, then we're going to explore that town and Dallas."

"Neat," Michael replied. "There's a lot to do in both towns."

"So I've been told," Dale said. "I've never been to either place."

Pat had a hard time believing that, but didn't say anything.

"Well, Ft. Worth is where the city meets the country and Dallas is where the city is," John laughed.

Michael agreed. "He's right. Ft. Worth is a lot different than Dallas for being so close to each other. In fact, I'm not sure you can really tell when you leave one and are in the other."

"I can," Pat said. Their city limits don't even touch. There are a lot of smaller towns between them."

"Regardless, it's a lot different that going to Austin," John said.

Dale was ready to leave and picked up some things he wanted to take home with him.

"See you fellows in the morning," he said. "Have a good evening."

They parted ways after telling Dale goodbye and got in Michael's car to ride back to their motel.

Dale was home about his usual time of 5:45 and Craig was putting some groceries away.

"Hi Stud," Craig greeted him, with a gleam in his eye.

Dale gave him a kiss, then said, "Hi yourself. I'm sure glad to be home with you."

"Hard day?" Craig questioned.

"No, just a lot going on and, like yesterday, a lot of running around and errands to do. No wonder Mort was never at the ranch. I now understand why."

"What's Mort doing these days? Is he around much?"

"Oh yeah, I generally see him for a couple of hours each morning and we talk about what's going on. He offers a few suggestions about things, but nothing has come up that's out of the ordinary. He either spends time with Lee and Sam or out and about the ranch checking on how the cattle and horses are doing."

"He must think you are doing okay, or he'd be with you all the time."

"Actually, about the only thing I'm doing different right now is seeing the invoices that Sam Jealso and Lee Baker have already approved. We're moving some cattle and horses from one area to another to better utilize some land that's better suited for grazing than farming and I've got the guys plowing and working ground on three sections we've just acquired. That will be good land for wheat, beans and hay. In the spring we'll put down seed for prairie grass in the new pastures to try to make for better grazing."

Craig laughed. "You've lost me, but it all sounds good."

"Say, I was down at the construction site mid-afternoon. They aren't wasting any time. Ray has 8 men working with him and said they might be putting the roof on when I got back to work next Tuesday."

"I can believe it. He called me this afternoon with a question about a couple of measurements, then told me they would be framing walls on the first floor tomorrow. They will have that done in short order and may have the second floor pretty well completed by Thursday evening. He's probably right about the roof."

"I'll walk down tomorrow to see what they are doing."

"It will shape up pretty quickly now because you will be able to see where windows are going. It won't take them long to run electrical wiring because there are no special circuits and they can insulate the place in a day, too, but that won't happen until the roof is on. They'll have it to the point of being weatherproof in pretty short order"

By this time Craig was through putting groceries away.

"Are you fixing dinner?" Dale questioned with a smile on his face.

"No, you are."

"What are we having?" Dale questioned.

"I picked up some good ground beef, there are a couple of rib-eye steaks and some chicken thighs. You can freeze whatever you don't fix," Craig answered, emphasizing 'you'.

"Well, sounds like you have a choice of two possible 'specialties of the house,' a good steak, baked potato and tossed salad... or spaghetti with meat sauce and a tossed salad."

"I was thinking somewhat along the same lines," Craig smiled back.

"Well, which is it going to be?" Dale questioned. "Your choice."

"We had Italian at noon yesterday, although it was pizza. Let's do the steaks and trimmings."

"You got it," Dale said. "Let me go change clothes and then WE can start dinner preparations."

Dale started for their bedroom, then turned around with a big grin on his face. Craig thought it was going to be an invitation to join him and started to move toward him.

"Jason and Kevin have two new Collie puppies," he told Craig. "They brought them out to the office so I could see them and play with them. They sure are cute."

"Sounds like Marty moved quickly on this." Craig started to say.

"Yeah, he did. And, it's probably for the best that they have something to occupy the time they spent with Sandy. I know she wasn't much trouble, but they had to feed and groom her everyday. These two pups will give them a lot to do, especially with housebreaking and teaching them tricks."

"How old are they?" Craig asked.

"Two different litters. One, Brandy, I think, is 11 weeks old and Ginger is 10 weeks old. They are really cute, at the age where they aren't quite coordinated in their movements."

"I'll have to make sure I see them the next time I'm out to look at the construction."

"I got tickled at the boys. I told them I'd never had a dog of my own and they asked if I thought you would let me have one," Dale laughed, teasing Craig.

"Do you want a dog?" Craig was intrigued with the idea

"Not in an apartment on the 5th floor," Dale answered.

"If, someday, we have a house with a fenced yard, you'll have a dog. I'll see to it," Craig said, wrapping his arms around Dale. He had just started to give Dale a kiss when the telephone rang. Craig answered on the kitchen extension. It was Paula Hunter, who has handling Dale's sale. Craig waved Dale over and handed him the receiver, whispering, "Your garage sale."

"Hello," Dale said, not knowing which of the women were on the telephone.

"Dale, this is Paula Hunter."

"Hi, how's the sale coming along?" he asked.

"We're at the point where almost everything is on tables. Can you come over here either this evening or tomorrow? I know we should have called you before, but we had something else come up and didn't get started on this as soon as we had planned."

"Not a problem. Are you still set to start on Thursday?" he asked.

"Yes, and that's the reason we need you to look things over. I've found a couple of things that you may want to hang on to, but it's up to you. It's easy to overlook things when packing to move."

Dale looked at Craig. "Can we go over to my house right now?" he whispered.

Craig nodded his head, realizing that they were needed to look over the sale items.

"We can leave right now, if that's okay with you," Dale told her.

"That's fine, we're going to be here for a couple of hours yet," Paula replied.

"Okay, we'll see you in about 15 minutes."

The said their goodbyes and each hung up.

The only thing of importance as far as Dale was concerned were seven John Deere farm implement toys that were made out of metal. "These are in good shape and are collectors' items," Carole told them. I can probably get about $75 each for these, but we thought maybe they might have some good memories for you."

Dale was surprised. He hadn't seen them for years and had forgotten about them. He had received them from his grandparents and mother for Christmas and birthday presents starting when he was probably about 6 years old.

"Certainly, I want them. Where did you find them?" he asked.

"They were in a cabinet in the basement, wrapped in newspaper."

Dale then remembered he had wrapped them up years ago and put them away, himself.

Meanwhile, Craig was looking over the tables of sale items and found a couple of old comic books. They each had a price of $45 on them. He held them up.

"More things for collectors," Carole said.

"Do you have any idea what the value of the sale is, assuming you could sell everything the first day?" Dale asked.

Carole had a pretty fair idea. "Probably about $9,000, but being realistic about it, you can expect it to actually go for about $5,500, less our commission of 25%."

Dale was pleased at that. He really didn't think the stuff was worth more than a couple of thousand.

He and Craig looked over the tables and Dale finally selected some tea towels he remembered his mother struggling to embroidery when he had been a little boy. She had finally completed the project and there were seven of them, one for each day of the week, done in cross-stitch, each towel neater than the one before.

They thanked the women, reminding them that they were leaving town on Thursday night and wouldn't return until Monday evening.

"We'll probably have everything hauled out and be cleaning up, if we're not already finished, then," Paula said.

Dale gave them his cell phone number and made sure they had both their house and Craig's office numbers.

Michael, Pat and John were all in a good mood as they started toward Williamsport and their living quarters.

"Hey, John! Do you want to go out to eat with Pat and me this evening?"

John wanted to, but Nolan was going to spend the evening and night with him. He was to pick Nolan up at 6:15, then they planned to grab a burger up the street and go back to John's room for more fun and games. He and Nolan really liked each other, although he couldn't tell if it was just a sexual urge or if they were really developing feelings for each other.

"Gee, I'd really like to, but I promised a friend that I'd eat with him tonight," not wanting to divulge more information.

Michael immediately picked up on that. He still wanted to ask John about the person who seemed to be staying in his room most nights, but hated to confront him in front of Pat. He really wanted to experience more sexual things with John, but Pat only wanted to have sex with Michael. They had taken turns sucking each other once after Pat had come back from San Angelo. Then they were back to just kissing and masturbating each other.

Michael wanted more action and he was determined to get it - but how?

John stripped his clothing off as soon as he was in his room and barely allowed the shower to warm up before he was soaping up and cleaning the day's sweat and grime off his body. He paid particular attention to his foreskin, cleaning under the glans after exposing it. It felt good and he started to stiffen.

'Down boy,' he told his cock. 'You'll being having fun a little bit later.'

He hurriedly finished his shower and grabbed the bath towel he'd used that morning to dry himself. He glanced at the clock beside the bed. He only had 10 minutes before he was supposed to pick Nolan up. It didn't take him long to pull on boxers, socks, athletic shoes, shorts and a polo shirt. He ran a comb through his thick, short hair and was ready to leave.

Meanwhile Michael and Pat were getting cleaned up. Michael stripped and went through the shower first and Pat was ready to crawl in as soon as Michael was out of the tub enclosure.

"What's wrong with John?" Pat asked as Michael was drying himself. "He hasn't wanted to go out with us all last week."

"I don't know for sure, but I think he's seeing someone."

"Oh, is she pretty?" Pat asked.

"I don't think it's a girl," John said, thinking that since Pat had asked the question, they might as well be honest about this. Pat should know that it was okay for guys to like each other and have sex without feeling guilty about it.

"No shit!?" Pat questioned.

"Pat, you are old enough to know that guys do it with each other. You and I have sex with each other, although you don't seem to want to call it that. We sucked each other off once and you enjoyed it as much as I did. Do you feel guilty about us giving each other pleasure?"

Pat got embarrassed and Michael could tell that he was uncomfortable talking about this with him.

"I. un. I." Pat lapsed into silence, thinking.

"It's okay if you don't want to talk about it, but I like what we've done with each other and I'd like to do it again. It makes me feel good and I think you feel good, too, don't you?"

"I. yeah. I do, but I don't want to be called a queer. My folks would kill me if they found out about this."

"I know what you mean. When I was in high school the guys teased one kid all the time about being queer. He was smaller than the rest of us and didn't go out for athletics. He got good grades and a scholarship to SMU, but you know what? I really don't think he was queer. But he knew better than fight with the others about it because that would have just made it worse."

Michael continued, "I've read some books and there really isn't any stereotype as to what a queer person looks or acts like. And. by the way. I think the accepted term is 'gay' rather than 'queer'. Queer just sounds so. wrong, I guess."

"I like to look at you and play around, but I'm scared to death that somebody is going to find out and make trouble for us," Pat said.

"If we restrict our activities to our room and neither of us talks about it to anyone else, how are they going to find out?" John asked.

"I don't know. I'm just confused about the whole thing."

"Do you want to date girls?" Michael asked him.

"No!. definitely not!!! I just can't imagine doing anything sexual with them. Yuck!"

"Well?" Michael said.

"Well." Pat said. "At least I know what kind of parts a guy has and I know what to do with them. I don't know that about women, and I don't think I want to know, either."

"And, you can't get a boy pregnant, either. That's a benefit of having sex with me," Michael giggled.

Pat had to think about that one. He knew that he enjoyed playing around with Michael and that he had absolutely no interest in girls, but his biggest problem was that his parents might find out and that would be a traumatic experience for him, although they lived 200 miles away.

By this time they were dressed, so decided to get something to eat. Michael suggested they try the College Inn out close to the Western Junior College campus. He had been there once and remembered that they had the coldest beer he'd ever drank and huge shredded ham or beef sandwiches. Pat said that he would drive.

They went inside and it took a full minute for their eyes to adjust to the darker room, then they headed toward a booth close to the pool tables in case they wanted to play later. John and Nolan Nichols had just gotten there and were sitting in the booth next to where they were headed.

'Was this going to be an awkward moment?' thought John since he'd turned down an invitation to eat with Michael and Pat.

"Hi guys," he said brightly. "Would you like to join us?" He really hoped they didn't, but felt he needed to be polite and make the inquiry.

"Sure," Michael said, and started to sit down.

"Wait a minute. If you are going to join us, let me trade seats. Uhnn. this is my friend Nolan. Nolan this is Michael and Pat. They work at the ranch with me."

John switched sides of the table, then Pat scooted in, followed by Michael.

"Nice to meet you guys," said Nolan. "I go to Western Juco. and I knew John last year when we were both students."

It was a little awkward sitting there, but Michael couldn't help but think that Nolan was the person he'd seen leaving John's room the previous week. He intended to work the conversation around to where he could find out. He decided to be blunt.

"Is this a gay bar?" he asked.

Pat about fell through the floor and John didn't know what to think. Nolan didn't have a problem about it.

"I guess it is now that you and Pat have joined us," Nolan said, smirking.

It was a Kodak moment. The look of Pat's face told plenty. Embarrassment, disbelief, denial, wanting to disappear and not knowing what to say.

John burst out laughing. The cards were on the table. Nolan had dealt them and there was nothing that could be done, except to make a bid or pass to complete the first hand.

"I. I." Pat started to say, then shut up. He couldn't think clearly. He was like a deer caught in the headlights of an approaching car.

Michael wasn't much better off, but at least he wasn't in a state of denial. He and John had experienced wonderful sex with each other and he and Pat, of course, had done things with each other also, including sucking each other off.

"Guess you've got me," Michael said. He felt safe admitting it since everyone at the table knew for sure except Nolan.

John wasn't going to let this moment pass. He now had a boyfriend and whatever Michael and Pat might be doing with each other - or not - wasn't his concern anymore.

"Look, I don't know what you guys are into, or what you are doing with each other, but I like other guys and I've found a guy who likes me. Whatever any of us are doing with each other, it all stays at this table, agreed?" John asked.

They each agreed and bumped fists with each other

John stood up. "Nolan and I are going to have a pitcher of beer and then a sandwich. Do you guys want to share a pitcher with us, or get your own?"

Pat had recovered from his earlier shock. "I think, after all the confessions, that Michael and I can probably drink one by ourselves." Michael assented and stood up to go to the bar with John.

As they were waiting for their pitchers to be drawn, Michael leaned over to speak softly to John. "Thanks for helping get all this out front where we can talk about it. Pat's scared to death that someone is going to find out about him, so we both would appreciate it if you don't tell anybody else."

"I didn't expect it to resolve itself the way it did, but Nolan can be a little forward at times. He'll agree that we need to keep this among ourselves, because the students on campus may not appreciate our being open about this. After all, he still has a year to go to school here," John explained.

"I don't want anyone at the ranch to find out, either. We'd probably be fired immediately if Dale found out," Michael said.

"Yeah, I just can't imagine him condoning guys being into other guys."

"I agree, he can be fun to be around, but I sense that he's pretty straight-arrow when it comes to guys being gay," Michael agreed.

About this time the bartender set two pitchers of beer on the counter, along with two iced mugs for each. They each paid for a pitcher, and then made their way back to the booth, telling the bartender they would order sandwiches in a few minutes.

In the meantime, Nolan and Pat were having a very private, hushed conversation.

"Is it that obvious that I'm queer. I mean gay?" Pat ventured.

"No, not in the least, but I know that John and Michael have had some fun together and I'm sorry, but I just assumed that you and Michael were, too."

Pat whispered, "We are, but I don't want anyone to know about me. My folks would disown me if they had any idea."

"You secret is safe with all of us. and Pat, welcome to the club." Nolan stuck his hand out for Pat to shake, which he did. Pat felt a little better about what had just been revealed.

The four had a great time the rest of the evening and after eating sandwiches, shared two more pitchers of beer while playing pool for about an hour. They really enjoyed being together and the fact that they were gay was not discussed the rest of the evening - until they got back to their rooms at the Starlight motel.

This time Pat wasn't so uptight about his liking other men and he and Michael engaged in uninhibited sex, like they had the one time before. Both were relaxed and took their time bringing the other to a roaring climax almost at the same time.

Nolan and John had no sexual hang-ups to overcome. They both wanted to try a little of everything they had either heard or read about. And they did, with Nolan spending the night in John's room. After a quick shower the next morning, John took Nolan back to his dorm.

Wednesday passed quickly. John, Michael and Pat were still plowing and working the ground on the three new sections the Bar- W had acquired. This job of working a little over 1,800 acres would take them until the next week, as wheat and clover hay would be planted in the newly prepared ground.

Craig was out at the ranch late on Wednesday afternoon to look at the construction project. He was impressed as Ray and his crew were even further along than he thought they might be. One crew was putting up floor joists for the second floor while the other was sheeting the outside walls with plywood. You could tell where windows and doors were going to be. Two of the men were building stairways to the basement and second floor. It was quickly taking shape.

He happened to encounter Dale, who had just returned from taking a tank of diesel fuel to the area where his men were working so their tractors could be filled. They greeted each other, wanting to kiss, but knowing they shouldn't. One never knew what eyes might be watching from somewhere.

"Don't forget that we have cooking class tonight," Craig reminded Dale.

"It's on the calendar, but thanks for reminding me. It seems like I've been on the "go" all day and I'm not sure I'm accomplishing anything."

"Do you have a few minutes? I'd like to see the new puppies," Craig said.

"Do you have the time?" Dale laughed, making reference to their mind-blowing sex a couple of days before.

"Do you have the place?" Craig teased back.

"Just wait until I get you home." Dale was enjoying sparring with his lover.

"I'll hold you to it," Craig said with his usual grin.

"Oh gee, I sure hope so," Dale said, enjoying this.

"I guess we could play 'verbal tag' all afternoon and neither of us would get anything done. By the way, Don has a new contract that Wes Owen and Gus Douglas drew up. It's ready to be signed and notarized and you can have your check."

"I'll give him a call and see if we can take care of business yet this afternoon or tomorrow morning," Dale replied.

"Let's go see the puppies," Craig insisted.

They made their way to the ranch house and entered the enclosed porch off the kitchen. The dogs were in a large carrying cage and Dale let them out, grabbing one and Craig getting the other. Dale picked up a handful of treats and they carried the pups out and put them on the grass. Of course, they wanted to play instead of taking care of their business, but one of them, Ginger, Dale thought, needed to take care of her business. The other sniffed and did the same.

Dale handed Craig a treat and they each praised the pups and then fed them the goodie. The pups didn't know whether to play with each other or the big people who had rescued them from their cage. They liked the people because they scratched their ears and played great games with them.

"They are beautiful," Craig said. We had a Schnauzer when I was growing up, but after it died, Mom said, 'no more'. I was ready to go to college and the dog really was mine, so the folks wanted their freedom from taking care of another dog."

Dale told about the fact that their neighbor's dog spent most of his time at their house, but his grandma wouldn't allow Dale to feed him. Craig thought it was too bad. Every boy needed a dog for a pal.

Although they would have liked to play with the pups some more, they each had tasks, which needed to be accomplished yet that afternoon. Reluctantly, they put the pups back in their cage and left to go back to the barn/office.

Craig was getting in his car when he asked, "What time will you be home?"

"Should be around 5:45. Let me call Don right now and see when we can finish up the sale of my house."

Craig repeated the number, although Dale had it on his speed- dial. After all it was Craig's number, too.

Don came on the line and Dale asked him about the contract.

"It's all ready for you to sign. I saved $1,400 and you get that much more. They just split the commission Phyllis would have gotten and we each benefited by the same amount."

"What about getting the papers notarized?" Dale asked, remembering that the contract had already been notarized when Phyllis presented it for his signature two days earlier.

"Sherry can take care of that for us. Wes Owen and Gus Douglas wrote up the contract, so I think you will find everything is in order."

"How about if I run into town now?" Dale asked, anxious to get this deal closed and out of the way.

"That's fine, we'll be here," Don replied.

"See you in a few minutes. Goodbye," Dale told him. He broke the connection.

Craig had heard the conversation. He asked Dale, "Is it ready to sign?"

"Yeah, I'm going to take care of it now before he changes his mind," Dale laughed.

"Good. I have his original check to you. It's in my car, stamped and framed. I want us to be there together when I show it to him."

Dale walked to Craig's car with him to look at it. They both had a good laugh over the joke and Craig couldn't wait for Don to see it.

Phyllis Richmond was able to get off more or less with getting her hands slapped. She agreed to forfeit her Real Estate License for six months, but there was one thing that was even more important than her making restitution, which totaled less than $4,000. Upon investigation into her sales over the last three years, she hadn't had a single original deal of her own, except for the house Don and his wife bought from her. She had simply waded in on the listings of other realtors, finding buyers for the properties they regarded as exclusive. With the help of Wes Owen, the other realtors in town asked to enjoin her from selling their properties, unless they were on multi-list, which only a few of the realtors used.

So, after six months she was going to have to find her own listings or not sell real estate.

Dale and Craig arrived at Craig's office at the same time, parking beside the other. True to his word, the contract was in order. They signed it, Sherry notarized it and Dale received his check, which he was going to deposit at the Bank of Commerce. Craig teased him about taking it to the Republic of Texas Bank.

"No," Dale said emphatically, "they arrest you for depositing Don's checks there."

While the three men and Sherry were laughing about that, Craig pulled the framed check out of a paper sack and handed it to Don.

He went into hysterics, laughing until his sides ached. When he was able to regain control, he wiped the tears from his eyes. "That is the funniest thing I've ever seen." Then he looked at Craig. "I'll get you for this. just watch your backside!!!"

It took several minutes for calmness to return because every time one of them looked at one of the others, they would burst out laughing again.

"Where are you going to hang this?" Don laughed.

"Probably in the restroom, above the toilet," Craig said.

This caused a new round of laugher.

Cooking class went well that evening. 'Mister Andrew', as he was nicknamed by Dale and Craig, seemed to be a little more human this evening. The menu for this class was two oriental stir-fry dishes and it took more time to prepare the vegetables and slice and dice beef and chicken than it did to actually cook them.

They prepared egg-drop soup, an Americanized tossed salad with a sesame oil dressing, and the two stir-fry entrees. One was Chicken and Asparagus with fermented black beans and garlic and the other was Tomato-Pepper Beef, which had green peppers, tomato wedges, thinly sliced celery, shaved ginger slices and onions in it.

The instructor wanted them to learn the stir-fry technique because of the quick cooking of small pieces of meat and vegetables. However, he stressed the fact that the preparation took much longer than one would think. They all agreed, but upon tasting the meal, everyone declared it was worth it.

Dessert was homemade almond cookies. Andrew had already prepared the dough which was largely made out of lard, flour, sugar, ground almonds, an egg, baking powder and salt, with yellow food color and almond extract. They were delicious, nothing like what was in a box bought at the grocery store.

Dale and Craig again shared workspace with Louis and Jerry and enjoyed bantering back and forth with them while everyone worked. Craig noticed that the other four men didn't interact at all.

At the end of the evening, Andrew gave each a sheet containing the recipes they had prepared, along with the cooking and preparation notes.

Louis and Jerry invited Dale and Craig to join them for dessert at The Soda Fountain, which was an old drug store that had been completely taken over by the old soda fountain that had been there. The shop had authentic malts and shakes, sundaes, fountain drinks and cakes from their own bakery. It was hard to say 'no' but they explained that they needed to start laying clothing out for their upcoming weekend trip.

The two couples said their goodbyes outside Wyler's Department Store and went their separate ways.

As Dale and Craig were on their way home, Craig reached for Dale's right hand and squeezed it. "Just think, tomorrow night at this time we'll be getting close to Ft. Worth."

"How far is it?" Dale asked.

"Close to 210 miles from Williamsport," Craig replied. I usually go north to Lampasas, then cut across to Killeen and catch I-35 at Temple. It's faster than going to Austin and a lot less traffic, too."

"I'll have to trust you on this, I've never been there before."

"I know. And. we're going to have a great time. But, you know what?"

"What?" asked Dale.

"I'm always glad to come back to Williamsport after having been to my parents house and visiting Ft. Worth and Dallas. That whole area just has too many people and too much traffic."

"You're a country kid, just like me." Dale was grinning, but Craig couldn't really tell except when they passed under a streetlight.

"You got that right. I love to go visit, but this is home for me now."

Dale swung his Blazer into the parking space next to Craig's car. "We're taking your car, right?" asked Dale.

"It doesn't make any difference, except I can write the mileage off if I take my car. I'm not sure about taking your vehicle."

"Marty and Morris told me to drive it like my own, because I was 'on call' and needed it to get home in case of an emergency. Since we're going to be together, let's take your car. I'd rather you drive anyway, since the cities will be strange to me."

"And I want you to be able to look at the sights, not worry about traffic," Craig told him.

"Sounds good to me. Let's go upstairs!" Dale said, getting out.

They took the elevator to the 5th floor and entered their condo unit.

"Are you sure that other people live here?" Dale asked.

"Yeah. let's see." Craig was mentally counting. "There are ten units and I think there should be 19 people in the building. Why?"

"Except for the first week when I was leaving one morning, I've not seen anybody else. Not even our neighbor on this floor."

"She's never at home. I think she spends most of her time in Austin. Her company was supposed to open a branch here, but something happened and they haven't, yet."

There are a couple of young families, several married couples and the rest are older women who have lost their husbands."

Dale gathered Craig in his arms and kissed him, receiving the same. "Do we qualify as a 'married couple'?" he asked.

"I don't know about the others, but I think I could say that I'm more happily married than they may be." Craig turned to face Dale and put both arms around his neck, reaching up for another kiss.

"I know I am," Dale replied, seeking the same from Craig.

Dale reached down and cupped Craig's lengthening cock in his hand.

"Please, I'm saving myself for my wedding night," Craig teased.

"Wedding night, my ass! You only get one of those and you had yours about 3 weeks ago!" Dale acted like he was put out about the whole thing.

Craig pretended to pout. "How about my honeymoon, then?"

"Well, maybe, but I thought that's what we'd been doing since I moved in." Dale was enjoying this repartee.

"Hon, the rest of my life with you is going to be a honeymoon," Craig said, then proceeded to swab out Dale's mouth. The kiss was eagerly returned.

When Craig could break the kiss, he gasped for breath. "Wow, we may not make it to Ft. Worth tomorrow night!

"We could just stay home and pretend we're in Ft. Worth," Dale teased, knowing they were both looking forward to the trip.

"Like this?" Dale said, gathering Craig up and carrying him into the bedroom like he had the other morning.

"Whee - yow!" Craig laughed. "Ride me, cowboy!!" he said as Dale dropped him on the bed.

"I intend to," Dale said, starting to strip Craig's clothes off.

Craig managed to get Dale's belt loose and his shirt unbuttoned as Dale was pulling his shirt off. It seemed to take forever for them to get undressed. It was like playing "kiss strip poker" - a long, deep kiss and somebody lost an article of clothing. Except that nobody was keeping score.

Finally, they were naked. Dale dashed into the bathroom for a couple of towels while Craig tossed the covers off the bed, then reached in the drawer, laying out a tube of lube.

Neither was shy when it came to expressing their love for each other in a sexual way. First one, then the other seemed to take the lead, driving the other to new heights of passion and joy, then backing off to allow the other to do the same. It was a smorgasbord of sexual delights, mouths, tongues, nipples, cocks made slick with precum, fingers, ears and finally assholes. They were on top, side-by-side, mouth to cock, on the bottom. This seemed to be the most intense session yet. They both loved it - and each other.

Dale found Craig's pucker and started a gentle massage, which Craig urged on, trying to impale himself on Dale's index finger. Dale wet it with saliva, then slipped it in where Craig wanted it. At the same time, he grabbed the lube with his other hand and withdrew his finger enough to put the nozzle next to it and started working a generous amount of KY inside. Craig was bucking, breathing hard and making the 'Craig noises' that Dale liked to hear.

"Aahh. Ughmnn. Eerrgh." were some of the noises - and Dale loved to hear them.

As Craig opened up, Dale realized that each time they had anal sex; the one being fucked seemed to open faster and wider. 'Hmmm, were they both ass-sluts?' he wondered. He knew that Craig liked to have him inside him and he liked to have Craig inside him, too. It made for a very versatile sexual relationship and opened all kinds of possibilities for each - to give and receive.

Craig seemed to be going into a sexual frenzy with Dale's ministrations to his asshole. That was fine. He was hot himself and he thought Craig was ready for the entree - a big tube steak. He moved Craig slightly, putting a pillow under his lower back, and then putting his legs on his shoulders. He had just barely lubed himself and touched Craig's ass with his cock, when Craig wiggled himself into position and seemed to almost swallow Dale in one swift bite. He loved to watch his cock disappear into his lover's sex cavity, the one that he alone had the key to open.

His already stiff dick seemed to grow a little more and become more rigid. Craig started his chant, tossing his head from side to side. "Fuck me. give it to me. bust my ass. Ride me!!! Com'on cowboy, ride me. make my asshole twitch. do it!!!" all the while digging his heels into the small of Dale's back and trying to make themselves as one. Dale had never seen Craig so wound up. Sex got better each time and this certainly was turning Dale on as never before, too.

Craig was making more noises and Dale wasn't doing anything except provide the fuck tool and watch the scene that was unfolding before him. He finally lowered himself so they could kiss as Craig continued.

Suddenly Dale felt the same sensation as the other day. Something seemed to give way in the bottom of Craig's ass and it seemed that Dale's big cock moved inside another inch or so. More Craig noises. Dale wished he had this on videotape for them to study later. He wondered what a sex therapist would think of this. He also had a fleeting thought of wondering if straight people had sex that was this good. He didn't know anything about straight sex, but he couldn't imagine it being any better than this.

Their mouths were locked together and they were both making noises by this time. All of a sudden Dale felt Craig's sphincter start to twitch, then Craig started firing great gobs of cum between their stomachs and chests. Although Dale didn't think he was that close, he didn't have any control over his own cock. It stiffened even more, if possible, and it felt like a gallon of cum was trying to get through a thin tube - all at once. It was almost painful, but still the best sensation he could imagine.

They couldn't get enough of each other, lying there, joined together by Dale's cock, coming down from the peak of their sexual mountain. Little after-shocks seemed to rock their boat from time to time. Soon Dale could feel his cock start to soften. He tried to will it back to hardness, but his brain wasn't making the connection. He could tell that Craig had lost his hardness, too, and his ass twitched a couple of times, expelling Dale's dick, but seemingly draining any residue of cum that might remain.

'WOW!!!' Dale thought. There were not words to describe what had just happened. Craig had to will himself to stay awake. He was drained both physically and emotionally.

"How about a shower?" Dale asked.

Craig seemed to purr, then stretched and held out his hand to Dale, who stood up and pulled Craig to him.

"You are amazing," he told Craig.

"What do you think you are?" he asked Dale, leaning in for another kiss.

"I don't know, but I think you did all the work. I just provided the pole for you to slide up and down on. In fact, I thought you were a fireman," Dale teased him.

By this time they were in the shower and Dale was adjusting the water temperature, then they turned on all four showerheads.

Absolute bliss. Being careful not to get their hair wet, they washed each other, recovering from the wonderful feeling each had just experienced.

As they dried themselves, Dale said, "Was that practice for our honeymoon trip?"

"If that was just practice, I don't think I could stand the program," Craig said.

They enjoyed a good laugh together.

The next morning Dale had a chance to talk to Jason and Kevin as they were waiting for the school bus.

"I showed Craig your new pups yesterday afternoon. He loved them."

"Is he gonna let you have a dog?" Kevin asked.

"I'm sure he probably would, but Kev, we have to be realistic. We live on the 5th floor of The Carriage House and I just don't think that's a very good place for a dog to live."

"That's too bad," Kevin said. Both boys looked sorry.

"Maybe someday we'll live in a house and can have a fenced yard. That would be an ideal place for a dog - where it could have a place to exercise and be outdoors.

Jason got right to the point. "Then you and Craig are gonna have to find another place to live."

Dale laughed. "I'll tell him what you said."

Michael, John and Pat arrived at the ranch that morning, back to all three riding together, this time in John's car. Dale realized that they had been arriving in two different vehicles the past few days. He hoped that if there had been a problem, that it was solved. All three seemed to be in a good mood.

"I should be here when you guys quit for the evening, but if I'm not, I'll leave your time sheets out for you to sign. Leave them on my desk for Mort to sign. I'll also leave out new sheets for next week."

"Thanks, Dale," Michael said.

Ray's crew must have arrived before Dale got to work. He'd heard saws and hammering when he got there.

"Hey, you've got a few extra minutes. Why don't you guys walk down to the new crew quarters and look at your new home."

Dale walked down with them. He was amazed at the change since he'd seen the building last. None of the others had seen it since it was just a hole in the ground. The outside walls of the 1st floor were sheathed in plywood and windows had been cut out. The stairs were in place, joists for the second floor were in place and they were decking out the floor. Two teams were starting to frame the outside walls of the second floor.

Ray saw the men looking on, waved, and then climbed down his ladder to come talk to them.

Dale greeted him, then introduced John, Michael and Pat, telling Ray that they would be living there when the house was completed.

Ray, of course, was impressed with the three field hands, especially John and Michael, although he wouldn't have kicked Pat out of bed, either. He made a mental note to ask Dale about the three young men.

Dale warned the men about staying out of the building since

they weren't wearing hard hats.

"Not a problem," said Ray. "We've been here since 6 a.m., so it's time for a coffee break, anyway." He wanted to check these guys out a little more closely.

"Break time!" he yelled, cupping his hands around his mouth.

It was as if it had been choreographed; the men simply dropped their tools in front of them and disappeared from sight, coming back into vision where their coolers and thermos bottles were stored.

Ray was set to play "host" and proceeded to show the men their new home. All the while, he was trying to figure out a way to get better acquainted with John and Michael - and maybe Pat, but only if all else failed.

Since all of the men, including Dale, were novices in the world of being gay, none had a clue as to the fact that Ray was making a play for whomever would pay any attention to him, namely John, Michael and Pat, since Dale obviously (in Ray's knowledge) wasn't available.

Ray took them in through the kitchen door, showed them the rough-in of where the sink, refrigerator and stove were going to be, then took them to the basement, pointing our the laundry area, "family room", storage and where they might possible put exercise equipment.

Then it was back upstairs, to see the bathroom and bedroom. He took them up the stairs to point out where the two upstairs bedrooms and bathrooms were going to be.

The three Bar-W crewmembers were impressed, asking a few questions of Ray, but mainly wanting to know when it was going to be completed.

"I wouldn't make any plans to move in much before Thanksgiving. The framing and roofing will go quickly and be finished next week, but it will take time to put on the siding, insulate, run electrical wiring and hang sheetrock. Then we have to finish the sheetrock, paint, lay flooring, put kitchen cabinets in place, plumbing, fixtures in the bathrooms. there's a lot to be done.

"I've watched them build houses before," said Michael. "It seems like they make a lot of progress for a couple of days, then nothing happens, then a lot of progress again."

"You're right," said Ray. "We seem to take a long time preparing for something to happen, then it happens, then we seem to go slow again. The cycle keeps repeating itself."

Dale looked at his watch. It was time for the men to be in the field, working the ground. He caught John's eye and pointed to his watch.

"We've got to get to work," John said. "It's been a pleasure meeting you and I think you do fine work."

The other two assented, telling Ray goodbye and following Dale and John to the office to get ice, cold water and their coolers.

They got in their pickup, telling Dale they would see them later in the day.

"Call me if you have any problems at all," Dale said. "Otherwise, I should see you this evening."

Marty and Chris slowly awoke this morning. Their usual time for making love was bedtime, but that hadn't taken place during this week so far. Chris laid there, her fingers working their way through the thick, blond pelt on Marty's chest. She loved the feel of the hair, sometimes a little bristly and sometimes silky smooth. She wondered why it felt different from time to time.

Her hand wandered to the south, to cup Marty's balls and tickle him on the underside of them.

He immediately came to, searching for her mouth with his. Although both had a slight case of "morning mouth" it disappeared as soon as their passion started to overtake the actions.

Chris had sensitive nipples. Marty rubbed them and Chris did the same to him. They might as well have had a direct line between them.

They enjoyed a very leisurely foreplay before Marty decided that Chris was wet enough that he could enter her. Using one, two and then three fingers, he soon had her withering on the bed, then he rolled on top and mounted her. They were rubbing each other all over their bodies, pinching nipples and kissing with passionate action on each other.

Marty could tell that Chris was about to have an orgasm, usually her first of several. He pushed himself deeper, but tried to relax so he didn't follow her. This felt good and he wanted to make it last so he could trigger his wife again and again.

They usually got a little noisy while having sex. This was one of the reasons why their bedroom suite was at the opposite end of the hall from Jason and Kevin's rooms.

Chris could usually get off from feeling Marty's thick blond fur rub over her body. Besides the visual stimulation was as good as the physical contact. Marty was a good lover, bringing Chris to a climax 5 times before trying to satisfy himself. As he started moving more urgently, he triggered Chris again. Number six. Then, with a long, hard thrust, he started cumming. The deep, almost violent thrust caused Chris to have her seventh orgasm. She wondered if it could get any better than this.

Marty, for some reason, wondered what sex was like between Dale and Craig.

Dale ate lunch with Mrs. Wood and Chris. They talked about his trip to Ft. Worth and Dallas with Craig. Chris suggested several things they shouldn't miss, getting Dale a sheet of paper so he could write them down.

Of course, he had to play with the pups a little before returning to his office. The pups seemed to have grown in just two days time. He loved the way they tumbled over each other and him, seemingly not coordinated in their movements. One moment they acted like a puppy and the next as if they were an adult dog.

Craig went home at noon to finish packing for them, as neither had felt up to laying out clothes and putting them in suitcases after their marathon sexcapade the night before. Craig thought about his good feelings the night before and was immediately hard. Of course, he wasn't about to do anything about it. He wanted to be horny all afternoon, and then maybe they could screw their brains out tonight in the hotel. He hoped that his request for a suite on an upper floor would be honored.

It didn't take him long to get everything together for their trip. Mrs. Hopkins was there to do laundry and clean. Craig had left her a note to wash and dry clothing before washing sheets and towels. It was a good move on his part as everything was ready for him to choose, and then place in a suitcase. Although Dale looked great in anything he wore, Craig wanted to make sure he had something to wear to fit any activity they might be doing, be it a museum, gay bar or a nice restaurant for dinner.

Dale's day went quickly. There was a lot to keep him occupied. First of all, his daily meeting with Mort lasted most of the afternoon. It was mostly to talk about the horse show, but also about crops and pending sales of cattle to meatpacking plants. Mort had made notes and Dale wrote in the margins, on the front and back of the paper. He was surprised that he understood everything Mort was telling him.

Mort, in turn, was pleased that Dale's questions indicated he understood everything, too.

Finally it was about 5:15 and the guys came in from the fields. After being assured that they had enough to keep them busy on Friday and Monday, Dale had them sign their timesheets and made sure that Mort would be there in time to hand out payroll checks the next afternoon. He faxed the timesheets to Morris Johnsmore's office so payroll checks could be prepared on Friday.

The day at the ranch was completed and Dale told Mort, John, Michael and Patrick goodbye. They left in three vehicles.

Dale stopped at the bank, picking up $500 cash. He hadn't discussed this with Craig, but he also had two personal credit cards he could use, too. He had no idea what this weekend might cost them, but knew he should be able to cover his share. He was ready for their big adventure.

Arriving home, Craig greeted him, then had him look over the clothing he had laid out and packed for the two of them. There was a bag for shoes and Dale noticed that each had a pair of dress shoes, beside what they were going to wear as well as their best western boots. While Craig was out of the room, Dale quickly got the package from Mercier Jewelry out of a dresser drawer and stuffed it in the jacket pocket of his new sport coat. Then he remembered his ring, his half of their new rings and laid it out to put on when he dressed.

Craig had already been through the shower, so he finished packing the suitcases and garment bags while Dale took a quick shower. He wasn't sweaty by any means, but the hot shower seemed to revive his senses and make him feel refreshed.

Dale quickly dressed like Craig, in chinos, polo shirt and brown loafers and was ready to help Craig carry luggage to their car. Craig had already made the first trip, having arranged the two suitcases in the trunk, along with the vanity case. The garment bags could hang in the backseat. He came back into the apartment just as Dale was ready to gather up the two garment bags.

"I didn't get a proper 'welcome home kiss'," Craig said.

"Is this for here, or carry out?" Dale teased.

"What's the difference?"

"If it's for here, I'll give it to you now. If it's 'carry out' you get some now, some down the road every few miles and some in Ft. Worth."

"I'd be dumb not to take the 'carry out'," Craig teased.

"That's what I think," Dale agreed, gathering Craig into his arms for a dick-twitching, mind-bending kiss.

When they broke apart, both were more than slightly hard. They loved it.

"Thanks, lover," Craig said.

"No, thank you. I'm looking forward to 4 days where we can enjoy each other."

"You got it, let's get started," Craig said, pulling out his key ring to lock the door as they left their unit.

They hung the bags in place and Craig got behind the wheel as Dale was buckling himself in.

"It's about 6:15. I thought we might get a bite to eat as we go through Killeen. It's about an hour from here. Then another 140 miles on to Ft. Worth."

"Sounds fine to me," Dale said. "If you want help driving, let me know, but I'd rather not drive in Ft. Worth at night since I don't know where I'm going."

"Oh, I'm a good navigator, but I think I'll let you drive after we eat, then we can trade after you've driven about an hour or so."

"Sounds fine to me."

Craig turned on to US-281 and headed north at the edge of Williamsport. They were on their way to the big cities to celebrate their love for each other. They drove in silence for a few miles, holding hands and both thinking how lucky they were.

In no time at all, Craig made a right turn on US-190 at Lampasas and they were headed toward Killeen. It took them about a half hour to get to the area where the University of Central Texas was located. There were dozens of restaurants to choose from, but Craig was thinking in terms of a place where they could sit down and be waited on.

"Is IHOP okay with you?" he questioned.

"Hey, that would be good," Dale replied, giving Craig's hand a squeeze.

"There's one coming up here in about a mile." He got off the freeway at the appropriate point and the driveway was only a couple of blocks down the service road.

The host seated them and Dale noticed that the dining room wasn't too busy where they were in the non-smoking section. The waitress was there to take their order before they hardly had time to open the menu.

"Give us a minute to look at the menu, but you can bring me a glass of iced-tea," Craig told her.

Dale told her to bring two.

They each decided on a large salad, Dale ordering the one with beef Fajita meat and Craig ordered the one with fried chicken.

"You were awfully quiet on the trip up here," Craig said.

Dale's eyes were twinkling and he gave him one of his 1000- watt smiles. Craig knew he was going to hear something funny. He loved it when Dale teased him.

"Just thinking about losing my virginity tonight," he said with a perfectly straight face.

Craig had just taken a drink of iced-tea and had a hard time keeping it from spewing it all over them. Then when he finally swallowed, some of it went down the wrong pipe and some into his nose. Dale watched in fascination, having a hard time to keep from laughing, too.

Craig turned red, was coughing, had tears in his eyes, was trying to laugh and was having a hard time getting his breath. Dale wished he had a camera.

The host suddenly appeared, wanting to know if Craig was okay, thinking he might have to perform the Heimlich maneuver. Dale finally laughed at that question. "No, I think he's fine, just swallowed some tea wrong."

Craig was still trying to get his breath and finally regained control of himself. The host, seeing that he was okay, wasted no time getting away from their table. No one else in the room seemed to be paying any attention.

"I'm going to get you for that," Craig teased, still having trouble talking.

"Oh, I hope so," Dale teased back, his eyes still twinkling.

Craig loved it and thought the line about Dale's virginity was the greatest he'd heard. He finally got himself under control as their meals arrived.

Dale wasn't sure how they got off on the subject, but soon they were talking about designing and building a house for them to live in. They both had all kinds of ideas; where it should be located, one floor or two, how many bedrooms, kitchen, fenced yard, garage space. They were still discussing it as they finished their salads, paid the bill and got back in Craig's car, this time with Dale driving.

They still had to go about 15 miles before the exit onto I- 35. They talked about the ideal house all the way to the rest area just before Mansfield, south of Ft. Worth. Dale pulled off so they could pee, then switch drivers.

Craig drove the remaining 15 or so miles into the center of the city and pulled under the canopy at the Hilton Hotel. A porter came out to greet them and Craig popped the trunk lid as he got out. Dale noticed that Craig replaced the key ring with one containing only car keys. He started to get the garment bag hanging behind his seat, but realized that Craig wasn't carrying any bags. This was a new experience for Dale, as he'd only stayed in a motel in San Antonio on a high school trip. and that was an 'el-cheapo' so the kids could afford it.

They followed the porter inside and Dale noticed Craig gave him several bills, then walked to the registration desk, giving his name to the clerk on duty.

"I'm here for the Builder's Trade Show," he reminded him.

He immediately went to another file, and then typed on his computer. "Oh yes, Mr. Bastian and Mr. Richards." At the appropriate time, Craig produced a credit card, signed a card and was given two electronic keys. A bellhop appeared, seemingly out of nowhere.

"Please take our guests to Room 2207," the clerk told him.

They followed the bellhop into the elevator where he punched the floor and the doors closed.

"Are you gentlemen here for the Builder's Trade Show?" he asked, his perfect white teeth enhancing his smile.

"Yes, that and a little vacation time," Craig answered.

The elevator ride was swift and Dale actually got a funny feeling in his stomach as they rose, then had to yawn a couple of times to allow his ears to adjust.

As they started down the hall, Craig handed the young man his electronic key.

He stopped in front of a door, inserted the card into the slot, then opened the door. Dim lighting illuminated the room. After they got inside, Dale realized this was more than just a hotel room. They were in a sitting room with a love seat, 2 comfortable chairs with a coffee table in the center. In one corner was a writing desk. A door was open on a large cabinet and Dale could see a TV screen and a VCR. In one corner was a wet bar with microwave and a small refrigerator. The next room was a huge bath with whirlpool and a steam bath in the shower. Then on the other side of that was a large bedroom with a King- sized bed, two easy chairs and another TV set.

What really impressed Dale was the view. They really weren't on top of the world, there were several buildings around them that were taller, but the view was fantastic. He hadn't noticed that Craig had seen to the storage of their luggage and had tipped the bellhop, sending him on his way.

The next thing he was aware of was Craig walking up behind him, putting his arms around his chest, squeezing him and saying, "I love you."

Dale melted into Craig's arms, turning around and nuzzling his neck, then exchanging a passionate kiss.

"Still worried about losing your virginity?" Craig giggled.

"Uhnn hmm," Dale agreed, chuckling.

"Dr. Bastian has just the thing for 'honeymoon jitters'," Craig said, pulling away. He walked back into the sitting room, beckoning Dale to follow him.

He opened the door of the bar refrigerator and extracted a bottle of champagne. There were two flute glasses sitting on the counter. Craig made swift work of opening the bottle and pouring each a glass of the amber bubbly.

"To you, the man I love, my partner and mate," Craig said raising his glass to Dale.

"And to the man who has made me happier than I deserve to be. To my love."

They touched the rims of their glasses, exchanged a kiss and drank of the liquid.

But mostly, they stood there in the comfort of each other's arms.

(to be continued)

• • • • • Author's Note: This is my first attempt at gay fiction, and the only way I can learn whether or not I should continue is from my readers' feedback. I would appreciate your comments, criticism, suggestions, and anything else that you would care to say. All Email will be answered. If you wish to receive e-mail notification of subsequent postings, please let me know by sending your request to the following e-mail address: TulsaDriller7@aol.com

Thanks for the overwhelming response to previous chapters. I have received positive replies from all over the world. My special thanks for proofreading help to Paul Daventon, who has taken time to help me catch obvious errors.