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

[MaineWriter]

More from 71:

“Darlin,” Ennis said, looking down at Ellery as he thrust in once more, seeking that angle he had found with his fingers and now needed to give the ultimate pleasure...

Ellery’s smoky eyes fixed on Ennis’s face. “Yeah...” he breathed.

“I love you,” Ennis murmured.

To Ennis’s surprise, tears sprang to Ellery’s eyes, and his hands came up to caress Ennis’s arms and shoulders, giving light, encouraging touches. “I love you, Ennis...” Ellery gasped, moaning as his body was rocked by the sudden jolt of pleasure from Ennis’s change of angle. “Oh god right there... fuck me...” he whimpered.

Ennis had promised himself he would go slow... this was a time for tenderness. He obeyed, but increased the speed and force of his thrusts gradually, feeling controlled by the hard grasp of the ring, his own breath hitching up in speed as his heart thudded. It seemed he was suspended in air, his explosion held at bay, allowing him the freedom to take Ellery slowly, to feel the depth of his own pleasure while his hands roamed across the lean torso, tweaking first one then the other nipple, gripping the bobbing cock and stroking it in gentle time with his long, slow thrusts. The sound of Ellery’s whimpers convinced him that he had the right angle now to rub Ellery’s prostate with each thrust, and Ellery’s cock grew steadily more rigid, as he bucked up against Ennis’s steady rhythm.

[MaineWriter]

The trip to Mr. Tux!

The youth came back with two large garment bags and held them out. “Okay, we got a 32 long an a 29 long an let’s see how those go for you, dressin rooms are right in there.”

Ennis took the weighty garment bag and peeked in. “This got a ruffle shirt in it?”

The boy blinked. “It’s the standard formal black tie dress shirt, sir... it does have a ruffle on the collar..”

“I don’t want no ruffled shirt,” Ennis said, holding the bag away from him as if it were a dangerous snake about to bite him.

“Of course sir, if you will take the suit I will bring a plain collar shirt out for you. 15 inch collar I assume?”

“I dunno, guess so.”

“Try that, Ennis,” Ellery said, taking his own tuxedo and heading for the dressing rooms. I knew this wasn’t going to be easy, he thought, shaking his head.

and then....

“Uh... sure,” Ellery said with a shrug. “He’s a cowboy, what can I say?”

“I understand completely,” Jeff said with an indulgent smile. “Let me get you a plain one."

Then Ennis came out of his dressing room, looking down at himself. “Stand up straight, Ennis, lemme look," Ellery said.

Ennis’s tux, unlike Ellery’s, fit him like a glove. The jacket, falling smoothly over his shoulders, fell comfortably over his muscular frame, making him appear taller, more dignified. He smiled sheepishly. “What do ya think?”

Ellery winked. “You could be the bridegroom, boy.”

Ennis turned bright red at the comment, and his head turned rapidly, to see whether Ellery had been overheard. But Jeff was deep in the middle of a rack of shirts, looking for an unruffled collar in Ellery’s peculiar size. Sensing time passing, the youth looked up, “Gettin there, got to get through all these ta look for – ah ha.” He pulled a white shirt out of a forest of others, wrapped in cellophane, and brought it out for Ellery. “This matches the one we put with Mr. Del Mar’s here. You want to try it on?”


and to finish...

“Okay.” As Ennis went back into the dressing room, Ellery came out, this time wearing the tuxedo trousers and the shirt only, his hair falling around his shoulders. Ennis’s breath caught in his throat.

“Yer beautiful, darlin...” he murmured, then blushed hotly, dashing into the dressing room before Ellery could reply. Ellery smiled at Jeff.

“He sure does like formal wear,” Ellery said.

“I guess so,” Jeff replied with a bewildered smile.


Ahhhh.....

[mariez]

Okay, so I jumped the gun a little bit, re-readers, but only because chapter 71 has some of my most favorite scenes of all...

 . . .

Ennis combed his hair back in three or four easy strokes of the comb and hung up the towel, sitting down on his side of the bed. Ellery came in, fighting with his hair, and Ennis said “C’mere boy, lemme do that,” and pushed back on the bed, opening his knees. Ellery sat down on the floor, lotus-style, and Ennis took his comb from him, gently tugging at the damp locks to untangle and smooth them, as Ellery leaned back with a soft sigh, rubbing his hands down Ennis’s shins and feet, resting them there.

“You like me combin yer hair?”

[/i]

We love you combin' his hair, Ennis!    

Yep, this chapter turns me into that puddle of goo, Leslie!    - this part in particular:

More from 71:

“Darlin,” Ennis said, looking down at Ellery as he thrust in once more, seeking that angle he had found with his fingers and now needed to give the ultimate pleasure...

Ellery’s smoky eyes fixed on Ennis’s face. “Yeah...” he breathed.

“I love you,” Ennis murmured.

To Ennis’s surprise, tears sprang to Ellery’s eyes, and his hands came up to caress Ennis’s arms and shoulders, giving light, encouraging touches. “I love you, Ennis...” Ellery gasped, moaning as his body was rocked by the sudden jolt of pleasure from Ennis’s change of angle. “Oh god right there... fuck me...” he whimpered.

Ennis had promised himself he would go slow... this was a time for tenderness. He obeyed, but increased the speed and force of his thrusts gradually, feeling controlled by the hard grasp of the ring, his own breath hitching up in speed as his heart thudded. It seemed he was suspended in air, his explosion held at bay, allowing him the freedom to take Ellery slowly, to feel the depth of his own pleasure while his hands roamed across the lean torso, tweaking first one then the other nipple, gripping the bobbing cock and stroking it in gentle time with his long, slow thrusts. The sound of Ellery’s whimpers convinced him that he had the right angle now to rub Ellery’s prostate with each thrust, and Ellery’s cock grew steadily more rigid, as he bucked up against Ennis’s steady rhythm.

There's really nothing to say after that, is there? 

Thanks!

Marie

[belbbmfan]

We love you combin' his hair, Ennis!    

Yep, this chapter turns me into that puddle of goo, Leslie!    - this part in particular:

There's really nothing to say after that, is there? 

Thanks!

Marie

Can I join in that puddle of goo ladies?  I love the hair combing, so sweet and nurturing. And Ellery really does love being taken care off, no matter how cranky he has been getting lately in 'A Small Circle Of Friends'!

[MaineWriter]

Chapter 75:

“Okay,” Ellery said, pushing his hair away from his face. His eyes were shining, filled with sadness. “You remember... I told you that before I fell in love with you, there was only one, an Beagle was the one...”

Ennis nodded, now mute, his fingers tracing the veins on the back of Ellery’s passive hand, caressing it lightly. “What’d he say in the letter, Ellery?” Ennis’s voice was soft, but tinged with a growing anxiety.

Ellery’s reply was a sigh at first. Then he looked up at Ennis. “Ennis, I love you. You are the only man I love. I stopped lovin Beagle a long time ago, an I want you to know that ain’t no lie.”

Ennis nodded once more, anxiety creeping up his spine in the form of a cold shiver. “I love you, too, Ellery. Ya know I do.”

“Yeah, I know. Beagle wrote ta tell me he was sorry, an that he loved me.”

“He loved you a long time ago or he loves ya now?” Ennis said, voice strained to cracking.

“He loved me then an he loves me now,” Ellery said, sighing. “An he was just gettin it off his chest.”

“He don’t want nothin from you?”

“Oh, well I think if I went rushin off ta see em he’d be pleased as punch, but he didn’t ask me to, no. An I ain’t gonna. I threw the letter away, an I ain’t writin back.”

Ennis nodded.

“But I still feel like I got kicked by a steer.”

“I think I understand,” Ennis said slowly, grip tightening on Ellery’s hand.

“Watchin em drive away like that... I imagine it was somethin like what you went through... maybe.”

“Yeah, maybe worse. I knew Jack wasn’t gonna drive back up or call me on the phone an say he changed his mind, an I didn’t have ta sit there an wonder if he was gonna, because he was gone.”

“Maybe.” Ellery drained his glass, glancing over at the stove. “Food ready?”

“Yup.”

“Let’s eat then. Maybe ya can snuggle me later an make it all go away.”

“I care about you too ya know, Ellery,” Ennis said, voice soft.

“I know ya do. I wasn’t gonna say nothin, then I thought – he is the one who cares about me, why not?”

“I do care about ya darlin. So lets get some food in ya.”

[mariez]

Can I join in that puddle of goo ladies?  I love the hair combing, so sweet and nurturing. And Ellery really does love being taken care off, no matter how cranky he has been getting lately in 'A Small Circle Of Friends'!

Come on in, Fabienne - it's nice and  . . . gooey! 

Great quotes, Leslie - thanks.

Marie

[MaineWriter]

Today, chapters 76-80

http://louisev.livejournal.com/95652.html

Chapter 76, "Ennis's Soft Side" is full of the stuff we love, beginning with hair combing...

Ellery pulled off his t-shirt and cutoffs and stood under the shower, letting it pelt him with hot water, needing relaxation more than washing, and when he stepped out, he rubbed a towel vigorously through his hair to give Ennis something to comb through, then went into the bedroom, towel tucked around his waist.

“You don’t look bad in a little skirt,” Ennis said. Ennis had stripped, and was laying naked in the freshly-made bed, sheet and coverlet turned back neatly.

“That mean you changed yer mind about me dressin like a faggot?” Ellery said.

“All depends. I wouldn’t want ya goin out that way, but with those skinny hips a yers... turn around...” Ennis said, gesturing, and Ellery did a slow turn for him, pausing to give him a view of his backside, snugly outlined by the towel. “Mmmm now that’s a nice sight. Like it better naked,” Ennis murmured.

Ellery peeked over his shoulder as he let the towel drop.

“Now c’mere boy, let yer fairy godmother get ya ready fer the ball,” Ennis said, a curious smile on his face. Ellery climbed on the bed and sat down between Ennis’s outstretched thighs and Ennis leaned forward, chest brushing against the narrow back, and picked up the comb. “I really liked doin this last time. You feelin better now?” he asked, cheek brushing Ellery’s shoulder as he leaned in.

“Yeah. Ya know, I don’t particularly like it when boys down at the Stallion go lookin at my rear end, Ennis, but when you do it I like it a lot.”

“Maybe it’s cause ya like the one doin the lookin.”

“Ya mind... if I say a couple things on my mind?”

Ennis tugged lightly at the first tangle he came to and then began to work the tangle out, separating the strands with patient fingers. “Nah, go ahead, darlin.”

“One thing Beagle never done, all those months we were goin at it in the dorms. He never once said I looked good, or gave me a kiss or a hug or nothin. It was like I wasn’t there.”

“Shit, Ellery, that ain’t no way. I mean, I ain’t the most affectionate man in the world...”

“Well yer a damn sight more affectionate than most a the men I come across,” Ellery sighed, his voice tinged with sadness.

“That’s my luck an their misfortune then,” Ennis said, trying the comb once more through the difficult length of hair he had just unmatted. “You have got some thin hair boy, ya know that? That’s why it tangles.”

“You must like combin out horses.”

“Yeah, but this is nicer, yer hair is softer,” Ennis murmured, leaning in and placing a soft kiss on the back of Ellery’s neck. “Ya want me ta rub yer back after I finish yer hair?”

“Oh that’d be great.”

Ennis pulled on the comb gently, the damp strands now falling smoothly in waves down Ellery’s neck, and Ellery lifted his head. “I love that, you make even combin my hair feel like sex, ya know that?”

[MaineWriter]

More from 76:

“Thank god fer that.” Ennis moved down a little and dug his fingers into the flare of muscle on the top of Ellery’s ass. “That feel okay?”

“Yer hands feel like heaven, Ennis, you know that.”

Ennis leaned down and placed a soft kiss between Ellery’s glistening shoulders. “An all a you feels like heaven ta me, boy.”

Ellery turned his head, glancing back at Ennis leaning over him. “You know, that is why I love you, because you treat me like ya respect me.”

“Thank you, an so do you,” Ennis said, face reddening.

“An I really do like this soft side a you, Ennis.”

Ennis dismounted as if he were getting off a horse, swinging his leg back over and settling down next to Ellery on his side, keeping a warm hand on one shoulder. “Ya want some snugglin now, yer all loosened up an all?”

“You bet,” and Ellery turned onto his side, slipping his long arms underneath and around Ennis’s muscular back, clinching in a tight embrace. “Never get enough a this.”

[MaineWriter]

Chapter 77, Edna and Ennis discuss men!

She nodded, sitting down opposite him at the table and picking up her own coffee. “Have a biscuit. You like yer startin ta take after Ellery, I swear you been thinner every week.”

“Maybe one size is all. Only because I been doin a lot a physical work. I never was very heavy, Edna. An when I came ta Laramie I’d been sittin watchin Gene Barry on Match Game an not much else.”

“Ya mean Gene Rayburn I think, Ennis.”

Ennis blinked. “So who the hell is Gene Barry?”

“He was the one who played the detective in Burke’s Law... you know, drove a Rolls Royce, lived in Los Angeles... real handsome man.”

“Oh. Oh. Yeah I mean Gene Rayburn.” Ennis blushed, grabbing his coffee mug and sipping nervously.

“Why Ennis, if I didn’t know better I’d say you found Gene Barry a handsome man.”

“Maybe so,” he choked out over a mouthful of coffee.

“You don’t have ta be shy a that, Ennis, seems like we tend ta like the same kind a men.”

“Oh yeah?” he said, curiosity piqued. “What a you think a Jack Nicholson... you know, the one in ‘The Postman Always Rings Twice’?

“Oh he was very handsome. Devilish too.”

“Yeah. I couldn’t believe it when he knocked the husband over the head an then he woke up. I thought sure he was a dead man.”

“See, we do like the same kind a man. You should a seen Wes when he was twenty, Ennis.”

Ennis’s eyes widened. “Edna, you don’t want me ta be lookin at yer husband that way...”

“I’m just sayin,” she raised her chin a bit defensively. “That man put Jack Nicholson an Gene Barry ta shame, that’s all.”

“Fair enough. Well I think I’m gonna go work with that cute little mare with the spotty nose. Feel like callin her Calico.”

“Go ahead, Ennis, maybe we should name em all... might make em more saleable if they got cute little names on em.”

“I could do that. Listen, Edna... me an Ellery are thinkin about what ta do if he gets a chance ta take some time off, an we decided on gettin one a them fancy Spanish Paso Fino horses. You an Wes know anybody deals in them around Laramie?”

“Hmm.... let me make a call. I know Owen down at Bar-T bought some for one a his customers an he got em not too far away, so I know they got em here. A Paso Fino, huh, what are yer other horses gonna say when you get a fancy Spanish horse in there?”

Ennis grinned. “I dunno, maybe they’ll say ‘hasta luego’ an go on strike.”

Edna giggled. “Okay, well you enjoy yer biscuit there an I’ll make a couple a calls. Glad ta see Ellery’s thinkin a doin some kind a exercise. I worry about that boy.”

[MaineWriter]

Chapter 78, a funny phone conversation between Simon and Ellery:

“Good.” Ellery hung up the phone and then dialed Lauren’s number. To his surprise, Simon answered the phone.

“Hey Simon, I was lookin fer Lauren, he around?”

“Out shoppin, Ellery, what’s up?”

“He doin okay, Simon?”

“Yeah, he didn’t really get hurt or nothin, just scared. He was afraid I was gonna tell em not to go to work again, so I went down to the bar with em last night ... you know, sort of bodyguardin em.”

“Simon that was real sweet a you. Was he okay?”

“Yeah, Wayne came in with his friends lookin like he was never sick a day in his life an sang some songs an danced some.”

“Well I got some good news for em, I have hired a security company ta come an have armed guards on the front an back at the Stallion every night he’s there. Now all I got ta do is hire another server. Seems like Lance is gonna work out, I’m happy ta say, but we really do need someone else servin, that place is hoppin even early in the week now.”

“I’ll think about it, I got a couple a people in mind, but I like ta go through the grapevine an make sure they’re okay, you know, clean an not into drugs or nothin.”

“I appreciate that, Simon, I can’t tell you. My own record on hirin good people is limited ta Lauren, Ennis an Dupree.”

“That ain’t so bad, that Dupree is a stand-up guy considerin he’s straight.”

“Lemme ask you somethin, Simon – do you think he is?”

“Dupree --? Straight as an arrow, Ellery. You should see those boys shakin their booty tryin ta get em ta look – that boy just ain’t into boys.”

“Well Ennis don’t look at boys neither.”

“The hell he don’t. He probably don’t look when you’re around... but Ellery, he’s just behavin for ya.”

“Uh... that’s nice ta know. That Ennis is normal queer an all, that is.”

Simon laughed aloud. “Now I hope I wasn’t tellin tales out a school – you ain’t gonna spank em or nothin are you?”

“No, I don’t do the spankin in the family, Simon.”

“Oh so it’s like that?”

“Uh huh,” Ellery replied dryly. “It’s like that. I’ll be droppin by the Stallion ta set up with these new security boys, you got my number here at work in case you find a candidate for bartender for me?”

“Sure enough, Ellery. An you mind yer backside goin home,” he chuckled, and Ellery hung up.

“I’m gonna pay for that remark, I just know it.”