Nathan woke with a sense of excitement that he couldn’t figure out at first. Then he grinned as he remembered, It’s Josiah’s birthday!

His eyes popped open to find his lover still sound asleep, the soft snores steady and calm. Running his hands over the warm skin of Josiah’s broad chest, Nathan sifted his fingers through the patch of chest hair lightly.

It still amazed him, sometimes, that they were together like this. That Josiah loved him. The other man had been by his side almost nonstop since his father had passed on three months ago. It had taken longer than they’d all thought, especially Nathan, his father proving his indomitable will once again.

Obadiah had been there to offer his unique advice when Josiah had gotten into trouble with that Pinkerton agent. He’d looked at Nathan late one night and said, “You do what you need to, Son. Josiah’s a good man. If you need to go against the law to protect him, well, sometimes what’s lawful ain’t what’s right.”

The next day Nathan had stood against the Pinkterton, barring him from the church until Josiah himself had roared for the man to enter.

And Josiah himself had come to see Obadiah during that incident with the money and assassin. Nathan still didn’t know what they’d talked about, but whatever had happened, it had seemed to put the ex-preacher more at ease with himself. Something that Nathan had been glad to see. He hated when Josiah was all tangled in knots over things he couldn’t do anything about. It was so hard to get through all the pain and anger trapped in the other man’s head and heart.

Then his father had died and Nathan had thought himself alone again, despite his friends. Josiah had been at his side the entire horrible last three days of his father’s life, spelling him for some sleep whenever it got to be too much. He’d heard of people being helped to die, but until he’d seen his own father struggling to breathe and staring at him in agony and pleading, Nathan had never once considered it an option.

It had been the dark just before dawn that the terrible, rattling breaths had stopped and his father had died. Nathan had stared at the still body, tears streaming silently down his face, and accepted the hand Josiah had held out, holding on for all he was worth.

There had been a proper funeral the next day and even Judge Travis had attended, lending his seal of approval to the whole thing. Not that Nathan had needed it, but it had settled the townsfolk some, and there hadn’t been any trouble, thankfully. Chris hadn’t been all that sure that the boys from Eagle Bend wouldn’t come over to disrupt things. It had been a good six months since the trial, but people sometimes had long memories.

That night, Josiah had joined him in the clinic with a couple of bottles of whiskey, saying, “It won’t drown the pain for long, but it’ll help for tonight. Tomorrow’s soon enough to get back to reality.”

Only, things hadn’t gone as planned. Oh, they’d both gotten pretty damn well drunk, but partway through the night, Nathan had found himself covering Josiah’s body and kissing him like nobody’s business. And Josiah had damn sure not been upset about it. There’d been wrestling around and more kissing, but that was about it. Nathan wasn’t in any shape to do more than that, and just finding out that his best friend was more than that went a long way to healing the pain that had been ripped anew in his heart.

Once the hangover had faded away the next day, Nathan had been left with uncertainty and fear. But then Josiah had showed up at the clinic and just the sight of him, calm and sure of himself and how he felt, reassured Nathan to no end.

The first time had been then and there, frantic and needy, a body’s release after too long without another’s touch; Josiah’s that was. Nathan had been with Rain that one time and had a little more control over himself. A little. He hadn’t been able to get enough of Josiah’s mouth, and pinning him down to the bed to rub them both off had been sheer pleasure. They’d laid gasping for air and laughing, with damp pants like two kids.

Feeling better about things in general after that, Nathan had suggested they clean up and go about their business since it was still daytime and folks could come by for healing. Josiah had given him that wry look and mentioned there was a lock on the door, but ultimately agreed to wait to the night for anything more.

Nathan shivered lightly, his cock filling, as he remembered that night. Josiah warm and needy beneath him. Legs and body opening to Nathan, begging to be filled, which Nathan had been more than happy to do...over and over again.

He smirked, smug, as he remembered Buck’s knowing, amused gaze the next day and JD’s puzzled questions about if Josiah had somehow hurt himself, because he was moving so stiff.

“I thought we were sleeping in,” Josiah rumbled sleepily.

Grinning, Nathan pointed out, “It’s your birthday, ‘Siah!”

Josiah snorted. “All the more reason to let me sleep, instead of waking me at the crack of dawn.”

“Oh it ain’t. It’s at least seven.”

“Nathan...”

Chuckling at the plaintive tone, Nathan straddled his lover’s waist and said, “You’re gonna like my present, Josiah.”

Josiah opened his eyes at that, rubbing them with a huge yawn. “Oh yeah?”

“Yeah,” Nathan confirmed, bending down to suck on one of the sensitive nipples.

Gasping, Josiah asked, “What is it?”

“Uh uh. Not sayin’ anything else,” Nathan teased, filling his mouth again with Josiah’s flesh.

A rumbling chuckle echoed through the broad chest and Josiah observed, “You do like your surprises.”

Nathan grinned against his skin, but didn’t answer. Instead, he turned his attention to the other nipple, sucking that into hardness. His hands were busy massaging their way down his lover’s body, not stopping until they reached that hard length that was already pressed against Nathan’s stomach. Josiah groaned as his cock was stroked, slow and hard, arching into the touch.

Kneeling up, Nathan ordered hoarsely, “Turn over, ‘Siah.”

Josiah nodded frantically and twisted over onto his stomach. Nathan’s lips curved into a fierce, possessive grin at the sight. It was only for him that Josiah turned over. Only for him, that Josiah spread his legs and begged for his cock. He knew without being told that Josiah would die before giving this to anyone else. Even if he hadn’t known that the other man had only ever been with him, Josiah’s will was such that once he’d given himself to someone, that was it.

Shifting down, Nathan pulled the ass cheeks apart, thrusting his tongue into the damp hole. He’d come in his lover only the night before, but that had been slow and loving. Nathan could feel the urgency thrumming through Josiah’s taut body and planned to give him just what he needed; a hard, fast, fucking that drove him out of his mind, at least for a time.

He ate and sucked Josiah’s ass for a long time, delving in deep to the sour opening and showing his devotion to the other man in the loving act. It wasn’t until Josiah was one, big mass of shuddering limbs that Nathan lined up and pushed inside his body. They both groaned at the fulfillment, and Nathan didn’t stop until his considerable length was buried fully inside Josiah.

Grinding into the willing body, Nathan humped hard into his lover, provoking choked off cries of pleasure until Josiah just pushed his face into the pillow to muffle the sounds. Running his hands up and down the broad back, Nathan licked and bit lightly at the pale expanse. It was always such a contrast, dark over light, that he sometimes just watched their bodies complementing one another. Seeing his cock disappear into the tight opening of Josiah’s body sent a rush of hunger through Nathan each and every time.

After being lovers for three solid months, Nathan knew most of Josiah’s happy spots and exploited them ruthlessly. They didn’t have a lot of time this morning, after all, being expected at the saloon to start a day of revelry. Nathan knew that JD and Ezra had prepared a feast in their friend’s honor to celebrate his birthday.

He slammed in and out of Josiah, taking him hard and fast, urging him on with soft, guttural words...

“So good, Josiah, you feel so good ‘n tight, can’t believe it sometimes. Taking me all like this, taking me so deep. Can y’feel me? How deep I am? How deep am I, ‘Siah? How far in you am I? You want me like this forever, dontcha? You want me makin’ you mine every hour of the day. Oh God, that’s it, that’s it, ‘Siah!”

Exclaimed the last because now Josiah’s body tightened further around his cock, keeping him longer and forcing him to push harder to get back inside. That, the sweaty, tension-filled back, and utter silence, told him just how close his lover was. Josiah tended to get real quiet when he was feeling a lot, otherwise he’d just roar out his pleasure like a lion, and they couldn’t do that in town.

Josiah jerked against him, spasming, and Nathan knew he’d pushed the other man over the edge. The clamping down of his lover’s body on his cock sent Nathan into release and he clutched at Josiah’s back, hunching into him rapidly as he came, spilling into him to overflowing. Panting, weak as a kitten, Nathan lay plastered over Josiah’s back. He could feel and hear the thundering of Josiah’s heart with his ear pressed to him like it was. His own was doing a similar beat.

He didn’t move right away, knowing how much Josiah liked the feeling of someone bigger than him just covering him. Said it comforted him in a way he’d never felt since his mama’s embrace as a child. And Nathan was all about making Josiah happy, even if it hadn’t also been a pleasure for himself.

Sighing deeply, Josiah turned his head from the pillow and asked, “That my present?”

Nathan grinned at the utter satisfaction in the other man’s voice and kissed the back of his neck. “Nope. You actually got to get your lazy ass out of bed for that.”

“Spoilsport.”

“I love you, Josiah.”

Josiah went still at that, the words they hadn’t yet said to one another, even though Nathan had been feeling them for a lot longer than them sweating up the sheets together. When he shifted, Nathan obliged by carefully pulling out of Josiah. They rearranged until both were stretched out on their sides.

Pale blue eyes searched his as Josiah asked, “You mean that?”

The suspicion didn’t hurt one bit, because Nathan knew what had gone on in Josiah’s life to cause it. Everyone who should’ve loved Josiah had hurt him; his father, most especially. The man who should’ve been behind Josiah from the start, had beaten and subdued him with sadistic cruelty, proclaiming it God’s will. Nathan was surprised that his lover even had the Faith that he did, believing there was good in the world, as well as God, even if it wasn’t the God that most folks prayed to.

Smiling, Nathan nodded and repeated, “I love you, Josiah. Ain’t nothing ever gonna change that. I’ve given you my body and taken yours. We’ve shed blood together. We’ve nursed each other through all kinds of hurts, physical and emotional. We’ve fought and shared some hard words now and again, but we always come back as friends. I think we’re about as married as we’re ever gonna get, but I’m asking you official. Will you share the rest of your life with me?”

Josiah stared at him for a long, silent moment, disbelief clear in his eyes. Then it disappear and Nathan found himself flat on his back, looking up into a grinning Josiah’s face as the other man exclaimed, “It’s about damn time, Nathan! Yes! Of course. I love you too, my friend, so much that I tremble with it at times, afraid to feel so much for one person.”

The kiss then was filled with tenderness and love and need, among other things that were too fleeting to truly name. Nathan returned it with as much caring and feeling as he could, unbelievably happy that his one wish was being granted after a life of emptiness and pain.

Pulling back, Josiah asked, “So was that my present?”

Nathan laughed. “Has your lazy ass gotten out of bed yet?”

“No.”

“Then it’s not your present, is it?”

Laughing as well, Josiah rolled off the bed with surprising agility for a man so big, and ordered, “Well come on then! I want my present!”

Nathan settled back on the pillows with a big smile, watching his lover clean himself off and get ready for the day. It might be Josiah’s birthday, but he was the one who’d gotten the best present life could ever offer him; Josiah’s love.