Page 57 of True

lower him from Brandy. Alec, reluctant to leave such a comfortable embrace, slipped from Tyler's

grip with the help of gravity and abandon, landing on his rear in a frozen drift. He was still hazy from the bourbon, his juiced mind now running rampant with ways to sustain their time together.

"Would you like a nightcap," he asked, remembering that he had none to offer.

Tyler hopped down and looked at Alec sprawled in the snow before him. His hat shadowed his

face, revealing no expression. He gestured for Alec's hand and pulled him to his feet. He looped

Brandy's reins around the step railing, removed the flask from the saddlebag, and gave it to him.

"Knock yourself out…" he said, removing his gloves. "I need to get back. I gotta pee though."

"Certainly," Alec said, rummaging for the key.

Tyler turned away, unzipped his pants, and began urinating. The moon was bright and Alec

observed the silhouette of the large man by the horse, swaying slightly in the frigid night air. He listened to the patter of Tyler's steady stream, watched it between his legs, the steam rising at his feet.

And then, suddenly aware of this awkward and somewhat forced voyeurism, his eyes lifted further to a sky now clear and filled with a million stars.

AmI really here… or am I just imagining all this?

Tyler finished, zipped, and squatted, using fresh snow to clean his hands. When he rose he saw

that Alec was staring at him, key in hand.

"Sorry." Tyler shrugged, closing the distance between them. "Old habits…"

"I was going to offer you the comfort of my facilities."

Tyler moved much closer than Alec was expecting, until their faces were inches apart and Alec

could smell the whiskey on his breath, steamy exhalations swirling about his shadowed visage,

mysterious and unsettling. "Is that all you're offering?" he asked.

"I—" he began, but before he finished, Tyler reached out and cupped Alec's swollen groin with one hand, softly squeezing him.

"I felt this you know, poking me from behind… all the way up the mountain."

"I—" Alec began again, embarrassed beyond words. "I am so sorry."

Tyler's hand traveled from Alec's bulge to the belt buckle above, gripping it firmly, his fingers

slipping behind the elastic waistband of Alec's briefs. "Don't be," he said. "It happens."

Alec was paralyzed, his eyes wide, adhered to the speaking shadow beneath the brim of the hat.

Tyler pulled firmly at the belt and bunched fabric, his free hand sliding into the gap he'd made. Alec waited, anticipating the cowboy's warm, probing fingers on his naked erection.

Instead, there was cold—sudden and freezing—icy snow being mashed into his privates.

"But let's cool it down a bit… for now anyway," Tyler said, releasing the crumbling snowball into the hammock of Alec's underwear.

Alec was statuesque with shock. His mouth hung open.

Tyler chuckled, his head tilting back, and in the moonlight, there was no mistaking his huge grin.