Winter Hearts (9 page)

Too tired and sore to move, Luke allowed Sam to close his mouth over his. Sam thrust his tongue inside Luke’s mouth. It felt strange and warm. Luke’s cock had begun to stir almost as soon as Sam kissed his neck. With the first thrust of Sam’s tongue into his mouth, his cock became hard until it was painfully stiff. “Touch me,” he said on a breath into Sam’s mouth. Needing no more prompting than his word, Sam pulled his mouth away and drew back the quilt. “No.” Luke grabbed him by the jaw, pulling Sam’s mouth back to his. “With your hand. I want your mouth here.”

Sam pressed his open mouth over Luke’s again, ramming his tongue inside while he gripped Luke’s cock. The fast, hot friction on his cock sent shards of pleasure rushing through his body. Within minutes he gasped out his gratification, his juice gushing over Sam’s hand. When the sensation became too intense, Luke gripped Sam’s hand to still it. Sam stopped rubbing but continued to hold Luke’s cock—a most astonishingly comforting and intimate act.

“Still think kissing is for sissies?” Sam whispered.

“No,” Luke said quietly. “You got anything else you want to teach me?”

Chapter Eight

Spring 1882

Wearing only his trousers, Sam sat on the bed, leaning over Luke, who was still fast asleep—or so he thought. Luke was such a handsome man, though he didn’t seem to think of himself as handsome; he never looked in the broken shard of mirror resting on the shelf over the sink except to shave. Sam kissed him softly on the tip of his nose, on his closed eyelids, on his strong chin, and finally on his mouth.

One eye opened, looked at him with suspicion, and then closed again. “What are you up to, boy?”

“I’ve got water boiling on the stove for your bath, my sweet man.”

“I’ve never had so many damn baths in my damn life as I’ve had since I met you,” Luke said. “And stop calling me stupid names.”

Rolling his eyes, Sam replied, “All right. I won’t.”

The weather had been warm enough for them to sleep naked for the past week. Sam pulled back the quilt, smiling when he saw Luke’s erection. With his tongue, he traced a line from just below Luke’s Adam’s apple all the way over the dark, wiry hair on his chest to his cock. Then, taking charge, as he liked to do now and then, he took Luke’s cock firmly in his fist, squeezing while he licked the clear juice already oozing from the tip. When Luke started moaning, Sam released Luke’s cock and enclosed it in his mouth, sucking hard. Luke’s semen flooded Sam’s mouth, tasting warm and pleasant. He swallowed it and sat back, looking at this muscular, masculine man, the antithesis of every thin, studious boy he had ever played with at Harvard. That was fine then when big, mature men had terrified him. But he’d always been attracted to men like Luke, intelligent but rough around the edges.

“I’ve already had my bath, and breakfast is keeping warm. It’s well past dawn.”

“Winter has made me lazy.” Luke put his hands behind his head. Sam loved it when he did that, stretched out naked on the bed. It wasn’t just the winter that had made Luke cover himself all the time. He’d been shy and unable to accept that they were together, a couple, rather than just having sex. “We have to move to the claims today. The snow’s gone. The weather is perfect.” It had been cool but bright and sunny all week, and the ground was thawing. The train had finally gotten through just a week ago, and there had been another since then, so the stores were full of things to buy.

Sam’s shoulders slumped. The thing he had been so excited for last fall when it had all been theory was now about to happen, and instead of looking forward to it, he no longer wanted to farm his own land. He wanted to live with Luke like they’d been living in the little house all winter. The first day of spring had passed weeks ago, but the storms had continued, and no one from town had moved back to their land yet. Now, the first week in May, there was no more putting it off. Everyone who had come into town for the winter was moving back to their claims.

Luke sat up. He leaned over, kissing Sam tenderly on the lips. That was another thing he did often now, though he was still a little shy about it. “You have to prove up your claim.”

“I know. I have to build a house, farm the land for five years, and make improvements in order to keep it.”

“You’ll need to build a barn for Pip, and you’ll have to buy a cow and an ox or a couple of sturdy horses to plow the land. Can you afford it? I can loan you some money if you want.”

Sam smiled. “I’ve got enough money to get started. Now get up and in your bath.”

“Hey.” Luke chuckled. “I’m older than you. Don’t be so bossy.”

The muslin curtains offered privacy as well as light in the room just as Sam had said they would. Sam poured hot water into the cool water already in the large, round tin tub they used for bathing. Luke dipped his big toe in to test the heat and then stepped in. The tub was too small in which to bathe anyone other than a child, so the men would step into the knee-deep water and then squat in order to wash themselves. While he squatted, washing his privates, Sam poured water over Luke’s back and head. With his hands, he washed Luke’s back.

“Get your hands off my ass, boy.” Luke laughed when Sam’s hands drifted down that way.

Sam slid his hand between Luke’s thighs, cupping his balls. He kissed Luke’s soapy back and then got up to pour a jug of water over him. Luke stood, rinsing the soap off his legs and privates. He stepped out of the tub and shook himself off like a dog. Sam laughed, handing him a towel. Luke had only one small cotton hand towel to his name. It was a good thing Sam had brought a stack of white linen towels with him. Luke dried himself quickly and took his trousers off the nail. They no longer needed underwear.

“Will you let me fuck you?” Sam asked very quietly to Luke’s back.

Clearly surprised, Luke turned to face him. For a moment he appeared angry, making Sam fear he had offended him. Luke had fucked him numerous times over the winter but never offered himself. He had sucked Sam’s cock, but that was all.

The frown passed quickly. “No.” He turned his back again and got dressed.

Sam put his shirt on and served their breakfast. They ate in an awkward silence. “Sorry, Luke,” he mumbled. “I meant no offense.”

When Luke didn’t want to talk about a subject, he simply ignored it. Sam had learned that by now. “As soon as we’re done breakfast, we’ll load up the wagons and drive out to the claims. You can leave all your stuff in my barn, then come back to town. You’ll need to buy lumber, tar paper, and nails to build a shanty. I’ve got a couple of hammers, so don’t spend money on anything you don’t need right now. The lumberyard’ll have everything you want. You’ll have to buy seed wheat too and seeds to start your vegetable garden. The prairie grass is growing now, so you won’t need feed for the animals. You can put them out to graze on picket lines.”

It was so much information. Sam’s head was spinning.

“You can sleep in my shanty tonight. Then tomorrow I’ll help you build a shanty on your claim. The next day we can build you a barn. It won’t need to be too big. Just big enough for your animals and to store your wheat come harvest. Next year you can build a bigger barn.”

“That’s a lot of work.”

Overwhelmed by the instructions, Sam realized he had not thought this through very well. He’d read numerous books on farming, but he had no idea how to buy good seed or build a house or plant vegetables. He had thought he could hire men to do those things. But how could he do that without Luke asking where he got so much money. He should never have lied in the first place about his father working in a tannery. He’d done it on instinct, figuring Luke wouldn’t like him if he knew where he came from.

“As soon as you have somewhere to live, we’ll need to start planting,” Luke said.

“Where do I buy seed?” Losing his appetite, Sam sat back in his chair.

“Fuller will have vegetable seeds, and you get seed wheat at the grain elevator. But I don’t know what the quality is like. I bought mine in Madison on my way here. It was expensive, but I reckoned it was worth it. If you produce a good crop, you’ll have your own seed wheat for the following years’ planting.”

Sam blew out a long breath. “I don’t know how much lumber to buy. Can you come with me? Then we can drive out to the claims afterward.”

“You’ll need an empty wagon to bring out the lumber.”

Damn! He had thought the lumberyard would deliver it. At home everything they wanted was delivered to the house.
I acted spoiled when I told my parents I could make my own way
. “I never thought of that.”

“What have you worked at up till now?” Luke asked. “You don’t seem that practical, except when it comes to making curtains and cooking.”

I’ve never held a job in my life. I studied at Harvard for three years
. “I worked in a restaurant as a cook.” That didn’t sound quite as lame as studying.

“Well, they taught you something, boy, because you can make good food out of very few fixings. But if you’re going to farm, you’ll need a lot more skills than that.” Luke scraped up the last piece of pancake with molasses. He looked Sam in the eyes. “We’ve had a good winter. Better than I hoped after the way it started out, but it’ll be different from now on. We need to watch how we act in front of the town now that everyone is out and about.”

“We’ll be out on our claims most of the time. No one will come by. They’ll be too busy with their own land.”

Luke got up. “Clean up the dishes. I’ll go and hitch the horses to the wagons and bring them around front.” He was gone before Sam could reply. Despondent, Sam washed the dishes. He emptied Luke’s bathwater outside and used the tub to pack the kitchen things. The bedding came next. As he folded the quilt and sheets, he remembered the sex, the intimacy, the tenderness they had shared, as well as the laughter. Bed was the place they talked, because Luke had a hard time revealing anything personal when they were face-to-face, especially if it was still daylight. He was a private man. The envelope of photographs still sat on the upturned tea chest. After packing the bedding into the chest, Sam opened the envelope and took out the pictures.

“Luke,” he said, smiling. Four young ladies sat on a couch with a man and a young boy behind them. Luke, looking young and fresh-faced, couldn’t have been any older than Sam was now. The next was a picture of an elderly lady, and the third… “Good God!”

It was Holland Endicott. The Porter-Smiths had known the Endicotts for generations. Why would Luke have a photograph of a man from the Boston Brahmin class? Holland Endicott must be about forty years old; Sam wasn’t sure. He’d been married for the past nine years to May.
I was ten when I was at his wedding. My sisters were bridesmaids.

“I told you to leave my stuff alone!”

Nervous at being caught, Sam dropped the photographs. Luke snatched them off the floor and shoved them down the side of the tea chest amid the bedding.

“Are you going to help, or are you going to stand around doing nothing? I need to take the bed apart.” He pulled the straw tick off the frame and propped it against the wall. “You take the slats and start piling them in the wagon.”

Still shocked and confused about the picture of Holland Endicott, Sam gathered the slats, stacked them, and carried them outside. Main Street was bustling with activity, just as it had been this past week. Avoiding facing the fact that they must get on with life, they had stayed in the house together with the muslin curtains drawn, pretending it was still only them alone on the prairie. Now all of that had been swept away.

“Smith!” It was Mr. Power, the tailor, with a girl of about sixteen beside him. She was plain-faced, but her smile was sweet and pleasant. “Are you setting out for your claim today?”

“Yes, sir.” Sam reached for his hat to remove it before realizing he wasn’t wearing it. He laughed, making the girl laugh too. “The hard work has to start sometime. I have a shanty to build, and a barn.” He wanted to sound confident, like he knew what he was doing. With a smile, he shrugged. “Mr. Chandler’s going to help me. I’ve never built a shanty before.”

The man looked past him and nodded. Sam turned to see Luke standing in the doorway. He came out holding the headboard of the bed and shoved it into his wagon, forcing the three to move out of his way.

“Winter’s finally over. You men must be relieved to get out of that little house. You must’ve driven each other mad.”

“I had a deck of cards,” Luke said and went back into the house.

The comment made Sam want to scream with laughter. With difficulty he controlled himself. Mr. Power slapped Sam on the shoulder. “You’ll be happier on your own claim, son. Let me introduce you to my daughter, Mary.”

With mock seriousness, Sam mimicked taking off his absent hat again and bowed. Mr. Power and Mary laughed at his clowning. Sam stumbled slightly when Luke appeared again, elbowing him aside to shove the footboard from the bed in beside the headboard.

“I’ll let you fellas get on with moving out,” Mr. Power said. “Will you be at church on Sunday, Smith?”

“Yes, sir,” Sam assured him.

“See you then.” They walked off down Main Street.

“Are you going to help or stand around jawing all day?”

“What’s the matter with you?” Sam asked. “You nearly knocked me over.”

“I’m doing all the work while you’re playing around in the street, that’s what. Get the chairs while I get the table.”

“What are you in such a bad mood about all of a sudden?” Sam mumbled as he walked into the house.

With Luke’s wagon packed and the cow tethered to the back, they headed out, Sam following behind. The journey under the bright, clear sky was a far cry from how he had arrived in De Smet. Luke led the way, but Sam had very little interest in the land around him, as beautiful as the prairie was. He couldn’t take his eyes off Luke’s strong, broad back.

Why couldn’t they live happily together like other families in town?

Ahead of him, Luke drew up outside his shanty, got down without a word, and began to unload his furniture. Sam set about helping him, and they worked to move the chairs and table inside and to set up the bed. When everything was arranged inside, Luke took off his hat and wiped his forehead on his shirtsleeve. Sam took the broom and began to sweep the dusty floor. Leaves had blown in from last fall, and the ceiling bore evidence of spiderwebs.