Fields of Gold Part Ten

[deansdarkdream]

Title: Fields of Gold
Authors: Deans Dark Dream
Pairings: Dean/Sam, Dean/Sam/Max
Rating: NC17
Warnings: Based on a RL love story. Slash, rimming, hummers, love.
Disclaimer: I don't own Dean, Sam, Cas or Adam.
Summary: Rand's trial concludes. Dean helps Max deal with emotional fallout from the trial. Max gives Dean & Sam an incredibly loving gift.
A/N: The RL Max wanted his part of the trial kept very brief. I was glad to do that for him.


Fields of Gold
Part Ten

Witnesses came and went as the evidence mounted against Rand with every word. The judge never allowed the defense attorney too much latitude with his objections or his cross-examinations.

After lunch on the fourth day of the trial, they called Max's name. He looked at me before he stood up. "I love you, and I'm right here," I told him. Sam hugged him, and then he was alone in the witness box.

The DA was careful with Max, but having to go through it all in public was horrible for him. As he told about one of his foster fathers coming into his bedroom at night for the first time when he was all of eleven years old, his eyes filled. The next time he blinked, a fat tear spilled over, trickling down his cheek until it dripped off his chin. He never broke into sobs, but he never stopped crying either, wiping his cheeks now and then with a trembling hand until the judge motioned to the clerk to hand him a box of tissues.

It was almost impossible for me to watch, and the only thing that kept me from leaping over the rail was Sam's arm across my shoulders. He gripped my upper arm firmly, holding me close to his side for two and a half hours until the DA and the defense attorney were finally finished with Max.

It was late afternoon, so the judge recessed court for the day. We took Max straight to the car, huddling together in the back seat as the driver sped us homeward. Max sat with his eyes closed, leaning into Sam as I held his hand and talked softly to him. He didn't speak for a long time, and I was starting to get worried when he sat up a little and sighed.

"Fuck," he said, in a tone of such relief that I had to smile. "I'm sure glad that's over."

He settled back against Sam's body with his eyes closed, and I wondered if this would have a lasting effect on him.

As usual, Cas was waiting for us when we got home. Max climbed out of the car into Cas's arms, and they walked into the house. Sam watched the driver pull back into the lane, and then turned to me.

"You okay?"

I nodded. "Yeah, but I just want it over so badly.”

He sighed as he gathered me into his arms. "You and me both, baby."

The trial lasted a little over two weeks. We didn't attend again until the last day. It was weird knowing that it was going on without us, but we tried to get back to everyday life. When Tay came out to shoe that next Tuesday, I held horses for him, simply because I couldn't really concentrate on paperwork with any accuracy. After he finished the third horse, he turned to me.

"You're pretty upset, huh?"

I looked at him. Of course I was upset, and he knew that, so I figured he had something else in mind. "What makes you think so?"

"You ain't looked at my ass once all day." He grinned as he said it, and it made me happy that he could joke about something that used to make him uncomfortable.

"You're right. I don't know what the fuck's the matter with me. Turn around."

I grabbed his arm, and he wrestled away, but I got a hand on him again, and this time I pulled him to me. As soon as he realized that I was coming apart, he stopped fooling around and wrapped his strong arms around me. As he held on, I fought the rush of relief that surged through me, exhaling hard and sucking it back in before it could turn into sobs. After a few minutes, I was okay and pulled away from him a little. He eyed me before dropping his arms and stepping back.

"Thanks." I waved my hand at all the emotion hanging in the air. "Sorry."

"Don't worry 'bout it. You been there for me a couple times now." He picked up his box of rasps and nails and added, "Got another horse for me?"

We went back to work, and when we were finished, I talked him into coming back to the house for dinner. As we were about to leave, Gabriel jogged over to my car.

"Damn it, I meant to catch you before you left. We got an offer on Cooper."

That was good news and I wanted to talk it over with him, but Tay was idling in his truck behind me and Sam had dinner warming in the oven. "Get in," I said, pushing the door open on his side. "You can tell me over dinner."

Max grabbed two more plates from the cupboard, Sam pulled a big pan of manicotti from the oven, and the five of us dug in. Gabriel was excited over the prospect of adopting out our first rescue, and he talked all through dinner about the family who first saw Cooper when they came out to pet the donkeys. They had a daughter who was ready to move up from her aging pony, and they thought Cooper might be the horse.

Gabriel thought so, too, and his excitement was contagious. Tay watched him with a smile, and during a lull in the conversation, volunteered three free shoeings for every rescue horse that got adopted. Gabriel clapped a hand on his shoulder, giving him a shake as he said, "That's great, thanks. Can you make me a certificate or something that I can give to them with the final paperwork?"

"Uh, not really," Tay replied, looking like he wished he hadn't opened his mouth. "I do horses, not computers."

"I'll make one up," Max said, "I like doing that kind of stuff."

We finished the evening with chocolate éclairs and coffee in the den. Tay was beginning to feel at home with us, kicking off his boots without being urged, and returning the touches and hugs Sam and I gave him.

Max was affectionate with him also, greeting him with a hug and a kiss on the cheek whenever he came to the house. Max was a sweetie, but he usually reserved the physical stuff for Cas, Sam, and me. I don't know if he sensed some need in Tay, or simply liked him enough to give a little more of himself. In any case, Tay enjoyed it, smiling every time one of us touched him.

"I'll give you a ride back to the barn," I said, when Gabriel stood to go.

"I can drop him off," Tay offered in a casual tone.

I glanced at him, and he met my eyes for a second before looking down to pull on his boots. I turned back to Gabriel.

"That okay with you?"

"Sure. I don't care how I get there," he chuckled. "See you tomorrow."

I watched them leave with a thoughtful expression.

That weekend we stayed around the house. The weather was nice, so we spent the afternoons by the pool, browning slowly in the warm Texas sun.

Saturday morning when Katie came over, she took her cue from our quiet moods and stayed close to Max. She left the house early, and showed up a couple hours later riding Xia and ponying Flex. She and Max rode in the late afternoon, heading down to the stream to wade and play horseback tag in the meadow.

Sunday morning we were sitting around the kitchen, working on our first cups of coffee, and deciding what to make for breakfast. Katie was subdued, and as she and I were chopping vegetables for an omelet, I asked her if something was on her mind. She glanced back at Max, and then turned to me.

"I wanna ask Max to my prom, but I don't think he knows how to dance."

I flashed back to Max grinding around the dance floor in Amarillo, shimmying up behind Sky with his shirt off, his slender body slick with sweat. I pushed the thought away it wasn't the kind of dancing Katie was referring to.

"Max can dance. Fast, anyway. I'm not sure about slow dancing, waltzing, or any of that stuff. But Sam and I can teach him. Actually, that'll be fun, go ask him."

She did, he said 'yes,' and we spent the morning dancing in the den. Max liked to dance and picked up slow dancing quickly, twirling Katie past the piano as she laughed up at him. We taught them a few fancy moves, including a dip at the end, which Max did with a flourish, swooping Katie so far down that her hair brushed the floor.

Then we waltzed, a dance I love, but one that neither Katie nor Max knew. I danced with Katie, and Sam with Max, until they understood the steps, then we switched partners. Waltzing slowly around the den in Sam's arms was lovely. We smiled into each other's eyes, our hands clasped together, his arm warm across my back. I’d forgotten how much I enjoyed dancing with him, and smiled a thank you at Katie.

After they ran off to swim, Sam put on a Frank Sinatra CD. He held me close, his leg between mine, and thrust slowly along my thigh as we moved around the room. By the second lap, we were both hard and breathing heavier than the dancing accounted for. He swung us by the door, locking it with one hand as he slid the other down my back to hold me tight.

Still moving slowly in place, he began to undress me, which didn't take long since I was wearing only boxers and a t-shirt. As he dragged my shorts down, he sank to his knees between my feet, and began to lick and kiss and chew his way up my left thigh. My hands settled onto his shoulders, and I watched as he neared my balls. A big drop of precum welled from my slit as he opened wide and sucked them into the wet heat of his mouth.

After a moment, I pulled free and joined him on the floor, pulling him onto me as I lay down. As our cocks bumped together, I shut my eyes and concentrated on Sam. He had worked up a light sweat from dancing, and the taste of him as I mouthed his neck made me a little crazy. When I growled into his ear, he began to thrust more quickly.

In a strained voice he muttered, "I hope you're close, cause I'm gone."

With that he ground his cock into my belly and pumped out hot spurts of thick, fragrant cum. As it bathed my dick in slippery warmth, I arched back into the carpet with a groaning shudder. We were pressed so tightly together that my cum squished out sideways and trickled down my side.

Sam slid literally off me and we lay there until our respiration returned to normal. Finally, he got to his feet and tugged me up with both hands.

"You're a hot mess," he laughed, running a finger up the long streak of cum trailing down my leg. I unlocked the door, and stuck my head out into the hall to make sure the coast was clear. We dashed upstairs, giggling the whole way, and scrubbed each other clean in the shower. It was a wonderful start to the day.

The next Tuesday, Tay came home for dinner without too much coaxing, and I hoped it would just become an automatic thing. It was really satisfying to me to watch him become more and more comfortable with the knowledge that he was gay. We have a subscription to Advocate Male magazine, and that evening Tay picked up the current issue and thumbed through it while we were sitting around the den. I watched his face as he examined the photos, smiling to myself when one eyebrow went up a notch, or he shifted a few times in his chair. Finally, he shoved a hand down his jeans for a quick adjustment, rolling his eyes at me as he did so.

"I never seen this on the rack down to the Food Mart," he commented as he lay it back on the table.

"No shit!" Sam snorted. "That's probably the only copy between here and Dallas."

I always hugged Tay when he went home, and tonight, for the first time, he reached for me first as we neared the door. As I stepped into his embrace, he put his cheek next to mine and spoke softly near my ear.

"I gotta thank you for keeping after me. I never woulda got here by myself."

I hugged him tighter. "My pleasure. I figured it had to be better than what you were going through that day."

"Yeah. Still gotta tell my old man, but if he don't like it, tough."

He sighed, kissed me goodbye, and headed back to his apartment on the edge of town. I wandered back to the den, tugged the book from Sam's hand, and crawled onto him. He regarded me somberly for a moment. He scooched down so that our faces were even, shoved his leg between mine, and kissed me until I forgot completely about anything except the feel of his hand on my ass and his tongue in my mouth.

On the day of sentencing, we made a show of force all of our friends and family filed into the courtroom, filling two rows. My folks and Sam's were there, along with Paula, Jack, and Katie. But I got a real surprise when a guy in a dark suit slid in next to Chris. He caught my eye with a wink, and I realized with a jolt that it was Tay. He looked wonderful his dark hair slicked back, his suit coat enhancing his shoulders and I gave him a warm smile.

Just as I turned away from Tay, I saw Chloe step into the room. She was dressed in a dark pink suit, cut to emphasize her figure, and every man in the room watched her sashay down the aisle. She stepped into the row behind us, moving past Tay, Chris, Zane, and Gabriel to sit behind us. She leaned forward and whispered, "I bought this suit just for today. Perfect color, huh?"

I agreed that it was.

When the jury filed back in, every single one of them looked to where Max, Sam, and I were sitting. I knew that was a good sign, and sure enough, Rand was convicted multiple sentences of forty to life with no possibility of parole. He would die in prison.

Everyone came back to our place for a celebration. We opened bottles of champagne and drank to the criminal justice system. Maria had gone all out with plates, bowls, and trays of food all over the kitchen, so we took off our jackets, loosened our ties, and had a drink. Katie and her folks hung around until my parents left, followed soon after by Sam's parents, and then it was just us boys.

By seven that evening, we were sprawled around the den in various stages of inebriation and undress. Max was the only one sober, and he was curled up in his chair with a sketch pad on his knee, drawing god knows what, wearing only his socks, his boxer briefs, and his dress shirt, unbuttoned halfway down his chest.

Several of us Sam, Tay, Sky, Jesse, Ben, and me had gotten down to our undershirts and slacks, and were barefoot. I was laid out on the couch with my head in Sky's lap and my feet in Sam's. He had his hand up my pant leg, and was gently stroking the soft skin behind my knee. Now and then he'd increase the pressure for a second and I'd glance at him. He'd hold my gaze for a moment before smiling at me. Every time he did that, my chest tightened, and I had to breathe deeply a few times to keep from choking up.

Tay was sitting on the floor with his back against the couch near my hip. My hand was dropped onto his chest, and I had tucked two fingers inside the neck of his undershirt, curling them through his chest hair. He was holding my wrist snugly, dropping his chin to rest it on my arm now and then. Everyone else was in a chair or on the floor, singly and in pairs.

We had gone through all of Maria's food by that point, and had ordered five large pizzas. When they arrived, we sent Max to the door in his shirt and shorts. He came back with the pizzas and a grin, handing Chris back his twenties.

"Pizza guy said 'congratulations' from the manager."

We switched to soda and iced tea, made short work of the pizzas, and by ten everyone, including Cas, was sober enough to drive home safely.

Max, Sam, and I walked upstairs holding hands, and climbed into bed together. I knew I needed to talk to Max about what was going on with him and Cas, but not tonight. We kissed each other good night, Max curled into me, I curled into Sam, and we all fell asleep.

We never mentioned Rand’s name again.

The trial ended on a Wednesday. Sam recovered quickly, but it took Max a few days to begin sleeping through the night again. He was very quiet, and spent the evenings at home, sticking close to either Sam or me, needy for affection like when he'd first come to live with us back in November.

Cas came for dinner once or twice that week, but didn't spend the night, and his conversations with Max were stilted and awkward. They always hugged goodnight, but otherwise they rarely touched, and Max looked miserable each time Cas left. I talked to him about it one evening when Sam was working late.

"Max, did you and Cas have a fight?" We were sitting at the kitchen island eating BLTs. Max picked a piece of tomato from his sandwich and chewed it slowly before he replied.

"No, nothing like that. When the trial got close, I knew I'd have to think about how I used to live, and I started to feel weird about being with him, like he was too good for me or something. I mean, I know that’s not true, but my head was all fucked up so I told him I just needed to be with you guys for a while. He’s angry with me for that."

By the time he spoke the last word, his head was hanging, and he was barely whispering. I turned and gathered him close, pulling him off his stool to stand between my knees. Cas might be wealthy and come from an upper-class family, but he was certainly no better a person than Max, and Cas didn't act like that, so I knew that this was all from inside Max, his own fears and insecurities intensified by the stress of the trial.

"Oh, honey, Cas loves you. I don't think he's angry. You hurt his feelings," I said, remembering the jab I'd felt realizing that Sam had needed someone other than me when he'd hugged Jesse. "He's a really good guy, and he's not hanging around here just because he feels sorry for you."

He nodded against my shirt. "I know. Now that it's over, I don't feel like that so much anymore." He kissed me, then pulled away, and sat back down. "I'll talk to him tomorrow."

We went to the den after dinner, where Max curled up against me, and fell asleep in the middle of a movie. I slid down next to him, holding his soft sleeping body close until Sam came home around nine. He settled down on the floor and rubbed my leg as we reconnected after a day apart. I told him what Max had said, about not feeling worthy of Cas. Sam listened with growing anger, finally bursting out with it.

"They can't punish that bastard enough to make me happy," he hissed, trying to stay quiet. "Thank god I brought Max home. Imagine where he'd be otherwise."

We were both silent for a moment, thinking about Max being shuttled through the foster care system, or simply turned loose to fend for himself once he'd hit eighteen. It was an awful thought, and we both looked at Max's peaceful, sleeping face pillowed on my arm.

It was an unsettled time for all of us. Sam had been a little edgy, even with me, although he seemed to be sleeping okay. Max tossed and turned every night, whimpering now and then until I soothed him with a touch and a word. Between the two of them, I wasn’t getting enough sleep, and I could feel it catching up with me.

Sam seemed more his usual affectionate self this evening, disengaging me from Max and pulling me to the floor, where he rolled onto me and cradled my head in his hands. His thumbs rubbed slow circles on my temples while his cock rocked against mine as we both hardened. We kissed for a while soft, loving kisses that made us smile at each other. There was no urgency to do more; it just felt good to be together.

Cas was at the house when I got home the next evening. He and Max were standing close together at the stove making stuff for tacos. They seemed much more relaxed with each other, and I was glad things were sort of back to normal for them. Cas still didn't spend the night, but Max walked him out to his car, and was gone quite a while just to say goodnight. When he came in, he was wearing a smile, an unbuttoned shirt, and a hard-on.

Katie's folks had really liked our neighborhood, and were lucky enough to get one of the smaller estates when it went into foreclosure; some dot.com guy who wasn't paying attention when the market changed. It was on the opposite side of the development from us. It was perfect for them and they moved in that weekend, thus ending Katie's weekly trek to stay at our place. Max helped them all day Saturday, and we had them over for dinner that evening since their kitchen was all still in boxes.

After dinner, we all took a walk around the development. With Max and Katie leading the way, Paula and I trailed behind Sam and Jack, talking gardens and landscaping. She smiled and squeezed my arm when I pointed out the garden bench where Sam had proposed to me. Then she got quiet for a bit before speaking.

"Dean, I want to talk to you about Katie and Max."

Oh, Christ, I knew I should have kept a better eye on them. "Listen, Paula, I . . ."

"It's okay," she interrupted me. "I know Katie is . . . what? . . . forward, to say the least. She's told me a few things that have happened while she's been staying with you. I just want you to know that I'm glad she's fooling around with Max, rather than some high school jock who'll break her heart."

"'Fooling around'?" I croaked. "What do you . . . ?"

"Sorry," she laughed. "I didn't mean they were having sex, although I wouldn't put it past her to talk him into it. I just meant kissing him and playing touchy-feely. I know she's curious, and it sounds like maybe Max is also." She paused, and then asked me in a hesitant voice, "Has he ever been with a girl?"

I shook my head, and then glanced at her. "Me neither."

She absorbed that in silence before asking, "Are you ever curious about what it's like? How it's different?"

I shrugged. "Not really. When I hug a woman, her body feels very different from Sam's but it doesn't excite me at all."

She laughed. "I was just trying to imagine feeling like that about another woman. But I guess I'm wired for guys, too. Something we have in common." She looked up at Jack strolling ahead with Sam. "Do you think Jack's cute?"

Actually, I thought Jack was adorable. He was about Sam's height, with light brown hair and brown eyes. His face was open and friendly, and I could easily imagine him as a pediatrician or the local dog and cat vet, instead of the airline executive I knew he was. I watched him walk for a few moments, his round ass shifting in his jeans as he strolled along chatting with Sam. "He's got a great ass."

Paula let go with a hoot of laughter, causing Jack and Sam to turn around and look at us. "Yes, he does," she agreed. More soberly, she added, “Katie and Max will do what they want regardless of what we think about it. I just wanted you to know that I don't expect you to watch them every minute.”

I nodded glumly, feeling more responsible than ever for what went on under my roof.

Sunday was busy. First of all it was Father's Day. Sam and I kept up a tradition we'd started years ago by taking our dads out to an early breakfast. The four of us got along well, and we had a good time, getting home around nine.

The second gymkhana was that day, and it went really well considering that I had done absolutely nothing to get ready for it. Bella and Ernesto had it all under control, so I just strolled around enjoying the kids and their horses. Katie won a class, and Max did well in a couple, but didn't win anything.

Julia Branson and Daisy were there. Daisy looked nothing like her shaggy portrait, but the bond between the two of them was nice to see. We had added an event where you rode bareback to the opposite end of the arena, hopped off your horse to toss a big bag of Styrofoam peanuts across his neck, then got back on however you could, and rode like hell back to the starting line.

Kids with taller horses were in trouble, because it's tough to get back up on a slippery, jittery horse while keeping your slithery bag of peanuts in place. Several of the horses wanted nothing to do with the bag of peanuts and were eliminated. One went so far as to gallop around the arena three times, kicking up his heels as he evaded all efforts to be caught until Zane finally got a rope and lassoed him, much to the crowd’s delight.

When it was Julia's turn, she cantered to the end of the arena, slid off Daisy, who stood still as a rock while Julia flung a bag of peanuts over her neck, then dropped to her knees in front so that Julia could clamber back on. As they dashed back across the line, clearly the winners, the crowd broke into cheers and applause. When they accepted their first place ribbon, Daisy bowed down on one leg. Obviously, Julia had spent a good deal of time teaching that pony tricks.

Mrs. Branson saw Max and me tacking up Ginger, who was making her gymkhana debut, and stopped to talk with us. She was a friendly woman around my age, who put her arm over Max's shoulders when he introduced me to her.

"You have no idea how much we love that portrait," she told him with a smile. "We hung it over the mantle in the family room where we can enjoy it every evening. Thank you again. I recommended you to a couple of my friends, so be expecting their calls."

Max accepted her thanks with grace, and I gave him a warm hug when she walked away. "You're an amazing kid, you know that?" He smiled at me, pleased with my approval, and I once again blessed Sam's instincts in bringing him home to us.

Max rode Ginger in the pole bending, coming in second to a skinny boy on a skinny horse that darted through the poles in record time. I tracked him down afterward, and saw that both of them were thinner than I’d thought, knobby bones showing here and there. The boy looked to be about 12 or 13, and had the wary look of a survivor, not quite meeting my gaze as I got closer to him.

“Good run,” I told him, as he eyed me from the back of the horse. “You claim your prize yet?” He shook his head, so I continued. “Free lunch. Come on.”

I turned to walk toward the concession stand, and after a moment, I heard his horse’s hoof beats behind me. As we passed where Ginger and Xiaa were tied for the day, I stopped.

“Let’s leave . . . what’s his name?”

“Rascal,” he muttered, giving the two sleek, well-fed horses an envious look.

“Rascal here to have his own lunch.” Rascal was eyeing the pile of alfalfa with interest, and I wondered when the last time was either of them had eaten a decent meal. We unsaddled Rascal, tying him across from Xia with a spare halter. As we walked off, he was ripping mouthfuls from a thick flake of hay and making eyes at Ginger.

“What’s your name?” He was walking slightly behind me and off to the side, careful not to come into contact with me.

“Kelly.”

Every word seemed to be a real effort, so I quit trying to get him to talk and just aimed for the food stand. When we got there, I walked in the side door, holding it open until he edged in next to me. There was a little back room where they stored extra supplies and where the workers ate. I pointed at the small table and went up front to get us some lunch.

When I put a tray loaded with food in front of him, he just sat there until I picked up a burger and took a bite. In twenty minutes, he put away two and a half hamburgers, carefully wrapping the final half before shoving it into his pocket. He also ate a big pile of fries and chugged down a couple large sodas. If he thought it odd that no one else was claiming their free lunch, he didn't comment on it.

I talked with him a little more as he ate, discovering that he lived a few miles away in a ramshackle farmhouse set back from the road. I’d never paid much attention to it, but he said he and his mother had lived there for about five years, since his dad had run off. He was fifteen, much older than I’d thought, and now that I saw him up close, he looked more his age. His dark brown hair needed a trim, and his brown eyes set in his thin face darted up to mine and away again. His clothes were clean, but old and mended here and there.

We walked back to Rascal who was still eating, so I talked Kelly into going to the barn with me to see the donkeys. We hopped into my car, and a few minutes later, he was being snuffled and licked by four curious donkeys. Mo butted him in the stomach, knocking him on his butt, and when he landed, he laughed. It was the first emotion of any sort I’d seen from him, and he finally looked like a normal kid.

After he got up and brushed himself off, we walked around the stables. He was silent as he took in the stately old buildings, the well-cared for horses, the gleaming saddles. When we drove back to the show grounds, he said he had to leave, so we got Rascal tacked up and he climbed on. He hesitated before riding off, finally looking me in the face for a second.

“Mister, you got any work for me?”

I figured James could find something to keep him busy, so I told him to come after school tomorrow. I jotted down his phone number and told him I was gonna call his mother before then, to make sure it was okay with her. From the look of the kid and the horse, I doubted she'd say no to a little more money coming in. I told him to ride Rascal over each day that way I could fatten up the horse, too.

When I got home that evening Max was acting a little odd, smiling to himself now and then, and hurrying us through supper. As we neared the den, he went in first, and then turned to look at us as we entered. I was behind Sam, and bumped into him when he stopped dead just inside the door.

"Damn it," I complained, juggling coffee cups just as Sam breathed, "Oh, my god," in a hushed voice.

I stepped out from behind him and followed his gaze. Propped on the mantel in a large frame probably three feet by five was a pencil drawing. Three men lay sleeping, and as I looked at it more closely, I realized it was Sam, Max, and me, naked, the sheet crumpled at our feet as though we'd kicked it off on a warm night.

"Oh, Max…..." It must have taken him months to complete a work so large.

I'd loved every drawing Max had given us, but this one stopped you in your tracks literally. He'd done it on a deep cream-colored paper, so that it was warm and rich. It was so detailed that from across the room, it looked like a black and white photograph. Matted in gray with a wide black frame, it was an impressive piece of art.

The point of view was from my side of the bed, looking down at us. I was on my back, one knee bent out sideways like I always do, so that my balls hung down into the dark valley of my ass. My dick was lying against my thigh, soft and sleepy. My face was turned slightly away, toward Max.

He was on his side next to me, one arm across my chest with my hand covering his. His knees were drawn up touching my leg, and his head was curled down to rest against my upper arm. His cock and balls were visible in the shadow of his crotch, and he had either the beginning or the end of a nighttime hard-on, his dick full and lifted slightly away from his leg.

Sam was also on his side, his body tucked up close behind Max's, his arm across him to rest on my belly. His other arm stretched above Max's head with his fingers in my hair. You couldn't see Sam's crotch, but his leg was shoved between Max's, pushing Max's nuts forward under his chubby cock. Sam's other foot was under the sheet.

A shaft of moonlight slanted across us illuminating my face, Max's shoulder, and Sam's hip before fading away. It's impossible to convey in words the feeling of that drawing. To me, it felt of everything that was good about the relationship the three of us shared trust, friendship, love. Most of all trust, I think, as we lay there sleeping in each other's arms.

Sam was still planted where he'd stopped when I'd bumped into him, his mouth open slightly as his eyes roamed over the three of us. He reached for my arm, pulling me to his side when he finally spoke.

"Max." He stopped and I looked at him in surprise. He was blinking and breathing a little fast as he tried to get his emotions under control. "Max," he tried again, "that is….." He shook his head, at a loss for words.

Max glanced up at the drawing, and then looked back at us. "Father's Day hasn't meant anything to me in a long time, but this year it does." He walked over to us, looking back and forth between our faces as he spoke. "I couldn't love my own father more than I love the two of you. You saved my life, and gave me a chance to heal, and to find out if there was anything good left inside me. I wanted to give you something that showed how I felt about what you’ve done for me." He turned to gaze at the drawing, speaking quietly. "I thought about it a lot, and the times I feel safest and most loved are when we're all tangled up together in that big bed, so that's what I drew. I hope you like it."

There wasn't a sound in the room until Sam gave a great big sniff, followed by a sigh as he pulled Max to us. I was shaking a little with the intensity of the moment. What do you say when someone presents you with something so meaningful, so important, that your guts quiver with the power of it? I didn't say anything; I just held onto Max and hoped he could feel from my physical reaction just what his amazing gift meant to me.

I don't know how long we stood there, but finally Max pulled away slightly, and took us to the couch. We drank our coffee and ate our dessert, but I have no idea what it was. I couldn't take my eyes off the drawing until Sam said it was time to go to bed. Before I left the room, I walked over and looked closely at it. 'Full Moon' was penciled in the lower left corner.

Sam and I made love to Max with a tenderness that eventually brought him to tears. He cried for a long time, quiet sobs that would have broken my heart under any other circumstances, but tonight I knew they were a release and a closure. We settled down to sleep in much the same pose the drawing had us Max in the middle with Sam and I arranged on either side.

Max slept through the night, and was clear-eyed in the morning, going to his own room to shower. That evening Cas showed up for dinner. Max didn't offer to show him the drawing, so I assumed he'd already seen it. When we went into the den, Cas spotted it immediately, and turned to Max with a look of surprise. Max met his gaze evenly for a long moment, and then Cas walked closer to study it in silence.

As I watched them, I realized that Max was saying something to Cas with that drawing. I hadn't given any thought as to whether or not Cas knew that Max still had a physical relationship with Sam and me. I’d assumed they'd discussed it, but maybe that was part of the reason the two of them hadn't developed a more committed relationship.

We all chatted for a while, and then Cas stood and looked at Max with a raised eyebrow. After a moment of holding his gaze, Max rose, kissed Sam and me goodnight, and left with Cas. He didn't come home that night, and when he stopped by the barn the next afternoon, it was to tell me that he’d be spending the week with Cas. He was a little defensive about it, so I was careful to keep my comments neutral. He said they needed to talk.

I could feel the day approaching when Max would leave us, and I was dreading it. Selfish, I know, but I felt a connection with him much like I felt with Sam not as strong, but very similar and I knew I’d miss him terribly when he was no longer a part of my daily life.

Sam and I spent a quiet evening. He helped me clean up after dinner, but wandered away before I was finished. I found him later in the den, standing in front of the drawing with a distant expression on his face. I walked up next to him, my shoulder brushing his, and he took my hand.

“I still can’t believe he can do that with a plain old pencil,” he mused, wonder in his voice. “Did you see that he got your cowlick? And the way you sleep with that one knee stuck out? It just blows me away that he gets it so right.”

His comment said it all. Max got it so right, it was magical. Each picture he’d done had so much in it of whom and what the subject was, that you felt he’d looked inside them and caught their very essence.

I noticed how accurately Max had drawn his own body. How does an artist make himself part of the subject of a drawing as detailed as this one? How could you know that your cheek wrinkled just that way when it was pressed up against someone's arm? Or that your balls draped over your leg exactly like that? I had no idea what my nuts looked like when viewed from that angle.

The next couple days were pretty normal. Tay shoed horses on Tuesday and came home for dinner. It was a beautiful, clear evening and we decided to sit in the hot tub for a while to watch the stars come out. I turned off all the yard lights, and we carefully made our way through the dark garden to the tub. We undressed quietly, and this time Tay shucked off his shorts along with Max, Sam, and me. I was already in the tub, and looked up as he dropped into the hot bubbly water.

The upward view gave me a clear shot of his cock and balls as he stepped down onto the ledge. He just grinned when he caught me looking, and flipped some water at me with his hand. It was nice to see him so relaxed with us, but so far, I was the only guy he'd done anything with. I figured Sam was gonna want to get in on the next round with Tay, so I started mulling that over in my head.

We stayed out there till around ten when Max said he had to get his ass into bed to be up for an early morning of picture taking with David. They wanted to catch the sunrise through the pines or something, so we wandered back up to the house.

Tay yawned hugely before pulling me into a hug.

"I sure like coming over here. You guys are great," he mumbled sleepily.

"You're always welcome," I told him as we rocked back and forth a little. "Not just on Tuesdays."

Sam was watching us, and when Tay let me go with a kiss, he reached for his arm. "Got one of those for me?"

Tay went into his arms without hesitation, and when Sam kissed his cheek and began to move toward his mouth, Tay turned his head into it. Sam didn't press his luck, and ended the kiss after a few moments. Tay just smiled at him with half-closed eyes, and I realized he was really tired.

"Why don't you stay here tonight? You can get up when Max does if you need to get an early start."

"God, that'd be great. I'm shot. Musta been the hot tub."

We staggered up the stairs arm in arm. Sam turned right to our room while I took Tay down the hall and got him set up with towels and a toothbrush. He dropped his shorts to the floor and climbed into bed while I was still in the room. I kissed him goodnight (the least I could do!), and went back down the hall with a hard-on. Sam eyed me as I came into the bathroom.

"Thought I might have to come get you," he said around a mouthful of toothpaste foam. "Or join you," he added, after spitting into the sink.

"I don't think he's ready for that quite yet. Not like Sky was. I'm surprised he kissed you so readily."

"Yeah, me, too. I can't wait to get a hand around his dick. Gives me a hard-on just thinking about it."

"Me, too. Come to bed and let's put them to use."

I called Kelly's mother Monday morning, and got the okay for him to work after school for a few hours. He showed up on Rascal a little after three, quiet and shy, but ready to work. We put Rascal in a stall deep with shavings, and piled orchard grass into the feeder. After I sent Kelly off with James, I had Faith give Rascal a quick once-over. She said he seemed healthy enough, just needed more meat on his bones. I figured five days a week of eating while Kelly worked would help a lot. We gave him a scoop of alfmo with some added supplements to get him started. As I closed the stall door, he glanced up with a grateful expression like he couldn't believe his luck.

Kelly was getting a meal, too. James told him that he'd arrived at break time, and sat him down to a big plate of lasagna that I'd brought from home. He powered through it, finished a glass of milk, and spent the next couple hours helping one of the other boys detail a horse trailer we were selling for one of our owners.

I brought him leftovers every day, and although I think he saw through the 'break' thing pretty quick, he always ate his way through whatever I'd brought. Rascal got taken care of also, hanging out in his plush stall for a couple hours, eating his way through high-dollar horse feed while Kelly sorted tack, or painted the arena fence, or whatever not-too-strenuous job James had lined up for him. He rode home each night with cash in his pocket and a smile on his face. Rascal looked fairly cheerful as well, and I felt good about the whole thing.

The following Thursday I got a call from a rodeo promoter who'd heard about our new facility. He had an open weekend on his schedule and was looking for a site within an hour or so of Dallas to hold a two-day event. They'd been rained out a few weekends ago, so he needed to make it up before the season ended in early October. We made plans for him to come out and see the show grounds the following Saturday.

When I got to the barn that morning, Zane was working one of his reining horses, kicking up dust with sliding stops and stock horse spins. It was fun to watch, and I sat on the top rail of the arena while I waited for the promoter. A little before ten, a truck pulled in and a tall skinny guy ambled over to the arena, resting his arms on the rail next to me and squinting at Zane.

After Zane finished up and left the arena, we climbed into my truck and drove down the lane to the show grounds. He walked all around, taking a good look at things, shaking fence poles for stability, poking his head into the bathrooms and the kitchen. The only problem was, he needed to buck bulls that weekend, and my place didn't have the pens and chutes required for grumpy, two thousand pound critters with two-foot horns.

I’d planned to beef up one of the arenas for rodeo use anyway, and told him I'd make the improvements if he wanted to commit to coming here. We came to an agreement and drove back to the barn to do the paperwork. In my office, he noticed the table of trophies and crystal bowls from my competitive days. After picking one up to read the inscription, he turned to me.

"What's it like, jumping one of them big old fences?"

I smiled at him, remembering soaring over the high vertical on Kahn. "Like flying. It's like flying without wings."

He gazed at me for a moment, possibly trying to imagine such a thing, then we settled down to signing contracts, insurance riders, and all the other documents required to hold a public event on private property. As he was straightening the stack of papers by thumping them on the desk, he commented, "We always give a few wild card entries to the facilities owner if you wanna enter any events, or maybe Zane might."

"I can give them to anyone?" I asked, thinking of Katie and the barrel racing.

"Yep. They just gotta have a PRCA card, and sign the insurance waiver."

Sunday Sam and I slept late not rolling out of bed till almost nine. We hadn't made love the night before because Sam got home late from a wedding dinner that had gone on forever. We took a long shower, soaping each other leisurely, kissing now and then. Sam moved behind me to scrub my back, using both hands to work the muscles of my neck and shoulders. It felt heavenly and I lowered my head with a sigh.

Eventually his arms moved around to my front, and he pulled me snugly back against his slippery chest. As his hands ran up and down my stomach, I reached behind me, one soapy hand stroking his cock as he hardened. His hands dropped lower, also, until we both had fistfuls of each other. I leaned forward until my forehead rested against the wall of the shower, closing my eyes as I lost myself in the feel of him in my hands and me in his. I angled his hard dick toward my hole, spreading my feet slightly as he moved forward to meet me, holding my hips as his cock head slid into me.

The water beat down on my back as I leaned further forward. Sam gave a few short pumps to work his way deeper, easing his grip on me as his belly met my ass. For some reason, that position always seems raw and slutty to me standing up, bent over, impaled. It makes me want to fuck myself senseless on the hard cock buried in my ass. Sam knew that, and used that knowledge this morning, shoving me further over until my hands landed on the tiled bench.

I reached for my dick with one hand, but he pushed it away and grabbed me in a tight hold as he started to thrust with long, fast strokes, making me grip the edge of the seat to keep my balance. After a few minutes, I changed his angle, and was rewarded with the intense sensation of Sam's cock nudging my prostate.

As my grunts changed in pitch, he picked up the pace until his thighs were slapping against mine with a sharp, smacking sound as water flew everywhere. I clenched my ass as the tightness in the pit of my stomach descended to my balls. Sam slid a hand into my hair, closing his fingers and tugging my head back just as I came with a shudder and a roar.

As I was shooting jets of cum into the swirling water at my feet, Sam came to his toes for a moment, caught in those few seconds of limbo that precede orgasm. As the first load surged up from his balls, he jolted against me, arching back and growling. His climax prolonged mine, and it was a few minutes before I quit twitching.

When he'd softened sufficiently, I pulled away from him and sank to my knees to recover. Sam came down with me, lying over my back with both arms around me as he kissed my shoulders.

"Nothing like good, clean sex to start the day, huh, Dean?" he purred in my ear, before licking my neck. I agreed wholeheartedly and we slowly got to our feet to finish our shower.

Fields of Gold Part 10 Continued