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Jacob shrugged once more, his attention going back to his game, but the silence felt heavy again.

Jake looked at Tor, not sure how to fix it, or if it needed fixing; he just knew he didn't like to see

Jacob hurting.

"Got something in the truck for you, kid," Tor said, his foot reaching out to nudge Elias' leg.

"Going," Elias grumbled as he levered himself up. "This old body wasn't made for sitting in a truck that long. Lord." He groaned and headed out the front door, both Jake and Jacob watching him go

before turning to look at Tor.

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"Just hold your horses," Tor said. "It's not much, not a real present, just something he might like to see."

Jake was almost as eager to see what Elias had when he came back in, his curiosity growing when

he saw it was a big, flat envelope.

"You want to do this?" Elias said, holding it out to Jake and Tor.

"Go ahead," Tor said before Jake could reply. "I'm comfortable right here."

Elias snorted and sat on the floor next to Jacob, both of them turning to face the couch. "Your uncle will die of curiosity if he doesn't get to see," Elias said to Jacob as he reached into the envelope and pulled out a pile of photographs. "Me and Tor were thinking, when we realized we'd have to get

your stuff to the ranch before you. It's only fair you get to pick your own room, and you can't do

that right if you don't know what your choices are. So we took a mess of pictures, then we went for

a ride and got pictures of the rest of the place." He pointed up at Tor and added, "Even found someone with a little prop plane and went up and got some aerials."

Jake turned his head to stare at Tor. "You what?"

"Got some pictures from the sky."

"Yeah, I got that part." Jake grinned and kissed Tor, hard and fast. "Great idea."

Tor's ears turned pink.

On the floor, Elias started spreading out photos, grinning from ear to ear. "This here's the house,"

he said to Jacob, who had abandoned his game. "And this is the bunkhouse, where I live."

Jacob twisted around to lie down, to get a closer look. "Neat."

Jake watched, moving closer to Tor as Elias and Jacob went through the pictures. There were pho-

tos of every room in the house, including various views of the two spare rooms, and pictures of the

barns, the cattle and one each of all the horses. He had no guilt about reaching out to steal the one

of River, and he all but snatched the photo of Barkley sitting pretty on the middle of the couch he

wasn't allowed up on.

The aerial photos showed most of the ranch: the herd spread out in a pasture; the river looked full

and high, which wasn't quite right for the time of year, but Jake decided not to worry on it yet.

There were pictures of most of the hands at work, and a group shot of Elias, Kirk, Tommy and Fred

outside the bunkhouse, the four of them grinning happily and waving.

Jake decided it was odd, feeling homesick and happy all at once.

He kept his peace while Jacob went back to the pictures of the spare rooms, and let Tor and Elias

fill in details about sunlight and actual measurements. He didn't tell Jacob that the bigger room, the

one with the pretty white rose wallpaper, had been decorated for his mother, but he thought Jacob

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knew. He wasn't at all surprised when Jacob chose it over the smaller room, despite the decorating.

It fit. They all fit.

There was hope in those pictures, in the way Elias knew how to talk to Jacob, in the way Tor knew

what to do.

There was also a fair amount of knowledge in Elias' face when he finally stood up and asked Jacob

to help him pitch the tent in the backyard, his grin knowing as he looked at Jake and Tor curled up

on the couch, almost on top of each other. "Think we can see to ourselves," he said with a wink.

"Leave you two in peace."

"It's early," Jake protested.

"So we'll talk a bit," Elias said. "I'll teach him to play poker."

Jacob went all wide-eyed again. "Really?"

"Sure, kid," Elias said with a broad grin.

Jake struggled to get up but Tor held him fast. "Let them go," Tor said, not quietly. "I think we de-serve it, cowboy. An evening in front of the TV…"

Elias snorted. "Come on, Jacob. You don't need to be hearing those lies."

Jake smacked Tor's arm and hoped he'd lose the ability to blush in the week he had before his fam-

ily was all living in one place. "Do you have to do that?"

"I didn't do anything!"

Jake rolled his eyes and watched Elias and Jacob head past a stack of boxes, both of them giggling

like fools. "Christ." He glared at Tor. "You're all a bad influence."

Tor laughed and nodded. "Yep. And I debauch cowboys," he added as the door slammed behind

Elias and Jacob.

"Thank God for that, anyway," Jake said, not able to keep up the glare. "Planning to do that soon?"

"Oh, yeah."

Oh, yeah. Jake grinned and shoved and then they were off the couch and moving to the hall.

"About time. You've been here for hours."

"Impatient?" Tor teased, his hand skimming over Jake's ass. He gave it a squeeze and a push, and then they were through the bedroom door, falling toward the bed.

"More like needy and pathetic," Jake admitted, rolling over onto his back. He reached up with one hand and tugged on Tor's arm. "Come here."

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Tor went to him easily, stretching out beside him on the bed and molding to his body. He didn't say

anything at all, just wrapped himself around Jake and kissed him gently, arms looping around Jake

to hold him close.

Jake let out a long breath and sank into it, into the feel of Tor there, with him. No long miles in the way, no telephone line, just the press of his body, warm and close. "Been missing you something

fierce," he said. He closed his eyes and inhaled the scent of Tor's shirt; mostly Tor over the fading smell of laundry detergent. It was comfortable and as necessary as breathing.

"Yeah," Tor said, one hand smoothing over Jake's hair. "Had better weeks."

They lay on the bed for long minutes, trading slow kisses and unhurried touches. Jake was content

to simply get to know Tor's body again. It wasn't like he'd had time to actually forget anything, but

his hands liked to map the contours. He took his time unbuttoning Tor's shirt and even longer to

push it off, his mouth and tongue joining in on the slow exploration.

Outside, the sounds of Elias and Jacob talking and laughing mingled with the muted roar of some-

one's lawn mower. Inside, Jake was able to tune it out, pleased to find that knowing Jacob and Elias

were there wasn't distracting in the least. Tor had once more utterly captivated him.

He hoped that never stopped.

Tor was hardly passive, eagerly taking his turn to relieve Jake of his shirt, and once they were both

down to just their jeans, Jake allowed Tor to push him into the bed, their kisses growing hungrier as

they touched smooth, warm skin.

Jake sucked on one of Tor's nipples, drawing out a moan that turned into a groan as he lowered a

hand to grope between Tor's legs, squeezing him through his jeans. Jake growled right back at him

and lifted his head to grin. "Think I'm ready to get past cuddling," he said.

"Just waiting on you." Tor pushed his hips up against Jake's hand and grinned right back.

Jake didn't like to think they still scrambled out of their clothes when they were getting naked, but

they certainly didn't waste a lot of time. Tor caused a few problems, all grabby hands and unhelpful

tugs, but Jake put up with it; it was all fun, and they took to laughing at strange moments, just

happy to be together.

The laughing died off as soon as they started moving together, hips pushing and cocks rubbing, the

metal of Tor's Prince Albert catching and then slipping on Jake's hip. They moved with purpose

then, mouths biting at shoulders, kisses sharp and rough as their passion built. Jake's hands were

almost fused to Tor's hips, guiding him into the fast fast quick quick rhythm he wanted, fingers

digging in deep enough to bruise.

Tor went with it, followed him, pushed back just as hard. His teeth were sharp points on Jake's

skin, his breath damp and panted out with each moan and grunt of effort. His hands floated from

Jake's face to his chest and down to his cock, never resting long, teasing and tugging and inflaming.

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"Too fast," Jake protested weakly, his voice almost too rough to be clear. "Too much." But he didn't stop, didn't think he was able to even slow a little, and then it didn't matter at all. Heat blos-

somed in his belly as Tor flipped them over and ground down onto him, pushing Jake into the bed.

Jake watched Tor's face and let it happen, let Tor drive him and push him and pound him into the

mattress, skin suddenly slick with sweat and come. He watched Tor's eyes as they came, one after

another, the knife edge of wanting making his gut tight and then loose. He watched Tor watching

him, and knew that it didn't matter if it was too soon; there would be more. It didn’t even matter

when they would be able to make love again--it only mattered that right then he was with Tor and

they could hold onto each other and sleep in the same bed.

"Glad you're here," he whispered, still under Tor's weight. "Stay for a while, yeah?"

Tor nodded. "Yeah," he whispered back. He licked his lower lip and nodded. "I'm staying." Slowly, he lowered his head to Jake's chest and there he stayed, a welcome weight right over Jake's heart.

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When Jake woke up it was still dark. At some point Tor had rolled off him, but Jake must have

rolled, too, as they were tangled together, legs and arms wrapped tight.

"Hey," he whispered quietly.

Tor mumbled something back at him and shook his head.

"Pardon?" Jake asked, smiling into the dark.

"Said I'm not awake and if I was, we'd have a problem." Tor's voice was rough and sleep slurred.

He didn't move away, though, didn't stretch or twitch at all.

"What kind of problem?"

There was a long pause and Jake thought Tor might have drifted into sleep again, but finally he

said, "We’re disgusting and… well, kind of stuck together."

Jake laughed; he couldn't help it. "Yeah, I noticed. Need a shower worse than anything."

"Now, there's a good idea." Tor nuzzled his neck a little and goose bumps broke out all over Jake's skin. "What time is it?"

Craning his neck to see the clock, Jake winced. "Five-thirty."

With a sigh Tor tried to peel himself off Jake. "Least it gives us time to shower before Elias and Jacob get up."

Jake nodded, then nodded again, starting to grin. "You get the best ideas."

This time it was Tor who laughed. "I do, indeed. Come on, then; let's get clean and I'll take care of that problem that's just popped up."

"I've got a couple of ideas about how you can do that," Jake said as he followed Tor into the bath
-

room. "Missed out on lots of stuff last night."

Tor flashed him a grin and a lingering look as he turned on the water for the shower. "Hey, I had to sleep. Long drive just to mess around with your ass, you know."

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"Worth it," Jake said, grinning back and shoving him into the spray. "Lord, you're a mess." They really were, both of them covered in flaky patches. "Should work on your aim."

Tor snorted and pushed him against the wall, just enough spray reaching them to rinse them off a

little. Tor helped with his hands, which Jake had absolutely no objections to, and in moments they

were well on their way to greeting the morning properly.

Jake kissed Tor with a hand fisted in his hair, right at the back of Tor's neck, keeping him there. He

could taste the water, running down the side of their faces and into the kiss, and he could feel it,

strong on one shoulder and glancing off his belly where it followed Tor's hand. The tile was cool

on his back, but he had no intention of moving, not while Tor was kissing him like that, hands ca-

ressing and touching.

He braced himself, feet planted as well as he could, and shook his head when Tor reached for the

shampoo. He didn't want bubbles and slippery soap; it was going to be hard enough staying upright

without turning the shower floor slick.

Tor laughed into the kiss, his hand finally closing around Jake's cock and stroking lightly. "Wanting something specific?"

"Uh-huh." Jake didn't see any point in being coy. He tugged on Tor's hair and started pushing him down. "Guess what."

"Oh, this is a hard one," Tor said, stopping on the way down to lick at Jake's chest. He was smart enough not to stop with his hand, something Jake appreciated.

"Very," Jake agreed, his hips rocking a bit.

Tor looked up at him, his eyes twinkling. "Lame."

"Don't care." Jake gave him a harder shove, his hand heavy on Tor's shoulder, and pushed him

down to his knees. "C'mon." He looked down at Tor and shuddered; there was something incredi-

bly sexy about Tor kneeling there, water pouring over him. His hair was wet, dripping curls lying

on his forehead, and his eyes looked darker than ever as he met Jake's gaze.

Jake was just about to demand that Tor get on with it and stop making him wait when Tor winked

at him and licked at the head of his cock, his tongue playing with the ring at the tip. "Yeah," Jake said, the word more a moan than anything else.

"Yeah," Tor agreed, doing it again. "Fucking love the way you taste."

Jake whimpered, one hand slamming back to the wall, the other gently brushing at one of Tor's