Taking Chances, by E. L. Van Hine and L.H. Nicoll

[MaineWriter]

And more from Chapter 80:

“You got this all thought out.”

Ennis wiped his face with a wet washcloth. “I been thinkin about whereabouts here ta camp ever since Wes asked me ta go work for em, Ellery.”

“Wow. I guess we shoulda done this sooner.”

“I think we was too busy fuckin an bein chased by Bill to worry about campin.”

“True enough. Listen Ennis, I wanted ta tell ya... any time you feel like you got ta talk about Jack... I can’t really imagine what it was like with Worrell showin up like this after the investigation seemed to have cooled down an all...”

“Thank you Ellery. I always tell myself it’ll just make you mad or maybe I’m comparin ya.”

“Pretty small a me if I feel like I’m competin with a dead man, Ennis.”

“I know but yer only human. I think about how I might feel if ... say you were with Bill an somethin had happened to em before things went bad... I think every time you said the name I might see red....”

“I said it’s okay. Better you talkin about em than thinkin about em an thinkin I’m gonna get mad. If it bothers me I’ll tell ya.”

“Fair enough. Then yeah I got a little talkin ta do about Jack, somethin I can’t ever tell his momma an it makes me feel real guilty right about now ta think about it. I think I might feel better waitin till we get outta here though an just sit an relax an have a drink out in the back a beyond, an then ask his forgiveness all over again.”

“Forgiveness?” Ellery cocked an eyebrow.

Ennis nodded, coming out of the bathroom and reaching a hand for Ellery as though to steady himself. “Yeah. Cause right now all I feel about Jack is mad as hell he ever met that crazy sumbitch that killed em.”

L

[mariez]

Great quote choices as always, Leslie! 

Chapter 79....oh, this hurts....

“An I don’t think it’s yer call Wes. It’s my call. An I wish for about six minutes or so you could let up on playin my Dad an be my boss, the same boss that set us both out ta have a nice little couple a days so we could cool down from the shit we already knew happened, before we deal with all the shit that is happenin afterward.”

Wes glared. “Ellery... “




L

Well, I guess it's true that the more things change the more they stay the same - fast forward several months and Wes and Ellery are having a different version of the same conversation!  And, yeah, it still hurts!

In Chapter 78, we meet Dr. Sampson for the first time...

Forty minutes later he was staring at Dr. Roy Sampson. “You mean ta tell me I roared down here an there ain’t no test?”

“Well they’re workin on one but it ain’t approved. Your vital signs are normal, blood tests won’t be back for a couple of days, but we can’t test for the virus. How long since you have been exposed to the questionable partner?”

“Call em my boyfriend, it won’t kill ya ya know doc.”

“Your boyfriend then,” he winced.

“End a May thereabouts.”

He shook his head. “Unless it is an acute case you wouldn’t see any real physical results for at least a couple of months. And what is his health like? Any way you could get him in for an exam?”

“Healthy as a horse, eats like a pig, strong as an ox...”

“So a regular farmyard I see,” he said sourly. “Any lesions or skin welts?” He eyed Ellery’s lovebite suggestively.

“That’s a hickey.” Sampson looked away. “Ya know, if you weren’t the most decent doctor in this town I’d kick you in the balls an go across the street because a you actin like a spinster, Sampson. You’ve known for the past twenty years I’m queer so stop actin like it's some big disgustin surprise.”

“I’m sorry, Ellery, it just isn’t my normal line a business.” . . .



L

If Dr. Sampson could only see into the future.  Another one of those conversations that take on a new light.

Thanks!  Marie

[MaineWriter]

Bonjour mes amis! Today we finish Looking for Answers, with Chapters 81-84....

http://louisev.livejournal.com/48930.html

From 81:

Ennis looked up and into Ellery’s eyes. “Why do I get the feelin that you an Wes an Edna are standin by watchin me ta see if I’m gonna explode or eat a gun or somethin?”

“Cause a what happened in that barn, Ennis.”

“What happened in that barn weren’t any worse than gettin a postcard marked ‘deceased’, Ellery. An I’ve known for three weeks or so already that somebody killed Jack. All that happened is I met the sumbitch an he told me he done it.”

“Yeah.”

“And... that doesn’t make me somebody different. Just sadder, maybe more angry, goin over in my head, how could Jack a met someone who was so dangerous he’d fuck a man an then kill em?”

“Most a those sumbitches don’t come with a warnin label, Ennis.”

“Yeah well. It don’t keep me from wonderin an it don’t keep me from bein mad about it.”

“He wasn’t the only one who went for em. Worrell was pickin up guys left an right at the Lone Star bar an nobody else was the wiser. Jack wasn’t no different.”

“No I suppose not...I guess I’m tired.” He heaved himself back up and began to undress, Ellery watching him. “Never thought I would see you strip down outside like that Ennis.”

“Well get a good look, been doin it fer years. We’re half a mile from the last two campsites an there ain’t no one in em and not likely ta be till tomorrow afternoon or Friday if that.” He unfastened his belt and slid out of his clothes, standing naked in the cool late morning breeze.

“Nice view here,” Ellery commented. Ennis gave him a little smile. “Well if ya like ya can join me, I’m gonna try out yer bed.” And he stretched out inside the small tent, opening the opposite flap to let the air flow freely through it, putting his arms behind his head.

Ellery watched him as he finished off the stub of his cigar, not wanting to waste it, and then stripped off his own clothes and brought them into the tent. By the time he settled down next to Ennis, he was fast asleep.


L

[MaineWriter]

Chapter 82, the news about Worrell being sick with AIDS comes up:

“That’s what the doctor said, Ennis. I really did not want ta ruin our good time by bringin this up because frankly, I think Wes is spittin in the wind. We got no reason ta believe Worrell was even sick when he met Jack, an mighta got it later. He was a real player... it coulda happened anytime.”

“An I ain’t been sick. So what did the doctor say ta do?” he said, voice soft.

“Said he would try ta get in on the testin trials an get us tested, an he should examine you for signs a illness. But that was all.”

“I ain’t sick Ellery. Believe me if I was sick I’d know it. I use my body all the time, I know how strong it is an if I was gettin something I’d know. Had flu once when I was twenty and knocked me on my ass, so when I get sick, I know it.”

“I don’t think yer sick either.”

“Then I’ll go ta this doctor then an then we get tests.”

“If we hadn’t already been fuckin like bunnies since May it might a been wise ta use condoms, but if you got it you’ve already passed it on ta me, I figure.”

“I ain’t sick.”

“Ennis, I know. I was hopin if I sat here naked long enough ya might get some ideas...” Ellery looked up at him, a plaintive smile flickering at the sides of his mouth.

“You still want me ta fuck you even if I got the AIDS?”

“Damn right, sweetheart. An now rather than later.”

Ennis backed out of the tent and stood up. “Then get on yer knees an I got ta go find the Vaseline.”


L

[MaineWriter]

Chapter 83 is full of hot goodness, I'll let someone else quote that...LOL

Chapter 84, the bathing beauty line, another one of my favorites...

Ennis nodded, wading back up to the shore, and grabbed a towel, rubbing his hair vigorously and wrapping it around his waist, then turned to watch Ellery wade out, thinking as he did how much he wanted to rush back down into the water and seize him right then, force him down in the middle of the chill stream and take him again...he turned his eyes away, forcing back the wild urge. What got inta you boy, yer like a teenager again, every hour got the urge ta poke em again. His breath caught in his throat. There was something about the camp, the chill urge of the water, the freedom of nature, that had got to him, that drove him to an almost uncontainable lust.

He hurried into his clothes and then began to saddle up the horses, as Ellery moved more slowly up the bluff, rubbing his hair, watching Ennis move efficiently to get the horses ready to ride. “What’s the hurry Ennis?” he asked, puzzled, coming up behind him as he tightened the belly rope on Pal’s saddle, the big mare whickering softly. “Gonna rain soon or somethin?”

“Jest want ta get ridin,” Ennis turned, taking in the view of his tall lover, nude and wet, and took a breath. “An unless you put somethin on you might end up hog-tied in that tent on yer knees again.”

“Oooh...” Ellery said, teasing, but moved off to put his clothes on, watching Ennis out of the corner of his eye as he slid blanket and saddle on Socks, letting down the stirrups for Ellery’s longer legs. Ellery was a darn sight taller than Jack...as he loosened the buckle he realized the last person who had ridden Socks using this saddle... was Jack. He realized then, with a small pang in his chest, that part of his feeling of urgency to go out and camp, was to bring the memory of Jack closer to him, closer to both of them, so that Ellery could experience a little bit of what he felt for Jack, in the setting where Ennis felt most like himself.

He hoisted himself up onto Pal, leaned over to unhitch her bridle from the tether he had put on the oak tree and clicked at her, tugging gently on the rein to make her turn. “You about ready ta go, bathin beauty?” he said, as Ellery ran a comb through his hair and gathered it into an elastic band.

“Yep, Socks is it? Okay Socks, you got yerself a cripple here so you better tread lightly,” he said as he swung his leg up and over, straightening one knee as he eased into the saddle and took the rein in his left hand, patting her neck softly as he let her get used to him. “Lead on, Coyote Man,” he joked, and Ennis gave him a smirk as he clicked for Pal to take the lead and they headed out of the campsite onto the beaten trail that led them south and west, roughly following the Platte.

L

[MaineWriter]

And this volume ends with these closing paragraphs from chapter 84:

“What a you thinkin about?”

Ennis raised his head, blinking as he focused once more on the trail ahead, Ellery riding alongside.

“Thinkin bout Jack,” he said, letting out a brief sigh.

“Must be hard ta miss em so badly,” Ellery said.

“It’s bad and it ain’t bad. Just thinkin about the good times when we was campin. Got to have some new good times ta think about, that’s all. Ta put with the old ones. Been too long since I been out with the horses, havin good times with my darlin.”

Ellery lowered his head, saying nothing. He had told Ennis this... so that he would feel free to express the pain and grief of his loss, but also, to express the pleasure he had had from the trips he had made with Jack. It was something of a compliment to him, that Ennis would do this, too, bring him out to a campsite, make love, go riding. It elevated him, in a way, to the stature of Jack in his mind... that he was at last worthy to share the sacredness of his private world with Ennis at last.

They turned back shortly afterward, Ellery built a fire with some of the plentiful kindling and a section of log that he fed in a bit at a time as the flame caught it, and they feasted on cold biscuits and grilled hamburgers, a tin of creamed corn. Afterwards they drew together in the evening chill, and made love under a brilliant canopy of stars, the sweat of their coupling making them shiver together in each others’ arms, and through the cool, quiet night they clung together, leaving the anxieties of their new life, the pain of the days past, and their old losses, behind them, fading temporarily in the summer twilight. There would be time to worry about everything else when they returned.

L

[yb]

So, we finish re-reading Book Two.  Apart from re-reading the chapters, I also find reading the comments on each chapter fascinating - that's a plus from reading the print-out I have done for the books.

[mariez]

Happy Thursday, everyone!  Thanks again for the great quotes, Leslie!

Chapter 83 is full of hot goodness, I'll let someone else quote that...LOL
L

Okay, okay!  I can take a hint!  LOL!!!  So - from Chapter 83:

“Tell me ya like that...” he said, scraping the edge of his teeth against the tense muscle of Ellery’s shoulder, lapping with his tongue as he worked his balls, his own cock rigid and ready...

“Oh lord, sweetheart, I like that...” Ellery replied, his voice low and husky, grunting as he bucked back up. “Gimme yer cock boy...” he whimpered.

“Not yet, we got time, we got time...” Ennis murmured, nipping his shoulder softly and then licking it, and then fastening his mouth on his shoulder blade, sucking hard as he pressed hard against his ass, groaning deep in his throat. He felt his ability to hold back slipping on him. He straightened up and let go of Ellery’s hip, dipping his fingers in the Vaseline and moving off him, dragging his lubricated fingers up his perineum and then entering him, slow and relentless, rewarded by the fierce tightening of Ellery’s balls in his hand as his fingers opened him up, and smirked as the man beneath him arched and bucked against the fingers. “Yer hungry fer it...”

“Please...” came the prompt response, and Ennis responded by driving his fingers in deeper, giving him a smooth, vigorous finger fuck, feeling a sense of power and joy come over him in that moment, sliding his left hand up and over the rigid shaft of Ellery’s cock as it stabbed the air, bringing it under his control with a hard grip. “Fuck my hand boy, fuck it till ya come...” and was answered by a whimpering moan as Ellery’s hips pistoned, obeying the driving thrusts into his sphincter, and the demanding grip of his stroking hand, his hands gripping the edge of the mattress in a rigid hold, thrusting hard now against the rough surface of Ennis’s hand until his orgasm burst out of him, sudden as a mountain storm, his sphincter tensing in a series of short spasms as his cock spurted out his release.

“Oh... sweetheart....” he moaned softly, lowering his head onto the pillow as Ennis slid his fingers out of him, in the next heartbeat, pressing his wet cock against him, pressing him open once more and sliding in with a satisfied grunt. To him, nothing felt better than penetrating Ellery when he had just come, the hard twitches inside him heightening every movement of Ennis’s cock as he sank in gradually and firmly, holding his hips with each hand to keep him from bucking up or sliding down.

“Now’s time,” Ennis murmured, throwing his head back, and began to thrust, hard and deep, remembering without anguish that cool spring night when he had Jack down on the floor of this tent, smiling widely, watched his fist pound the floor as his orgasm mounted thrust by thrust... oh yer gonna feel it this time, boy, he thought, pulling back on the slender hips and ploughing in, sweat streaming down his muscular back, striving with his whole body, his whole being, to prove that this was good and right... that nothing would stop it, nothing would stop them, not even Justin Worrell.

He came with a wild cry, which echoed slightly off the rocks of the bluff, then by the wild moan of release as Ellery came again from his final violent thrusts, and Ennis released his hold on his hips, slipping his arms around Ellery’s slim torso as he pulled him down into a spooning hug, cock still hard and throbbing inside him, teeth clamping onto the tender flesh at the nape of his neck in a short, hard bite. “Oh darlin,” he growled through gritted teeth, then let go.

They relaxed together, Ennis inevitably slipping out as he softened, and pulled Ellery into his arms, nuzzling his ear, lapping at the new bite at the junction of his shoulder, smoothing his hair back as he looked down at him with molten brown eyes. “I love you ya know... ain’t nothin gettin in the way a that.”

“I know Ennis, I know.” Ellery raised a hand and stroked his pale cheek. “That was great.”

“You like doin it outdoors?”

“Yeah... only one problem,” Ellery replied.

“Whassat?”

“I got bit by that coyote again.”


Damn!  Hot goodness is right! 

Thanks - Marie

[MaineWriter]

Re-readers, do we want to dive in right away (tomorrow) with A Second Chance? Or take a few days off? Let me know, I am raring to go, myself....

Leslie

[mariez]

Re-readers, do we want to dive in right away (tomorrow) with A Second Chance? Or take a few days off? Let me know, I am raring to go, myself....

Leslie

I'm raring to go, too, Leslie!   

Thanks!  Marie