Vin opened his eyes when the light shifted, instinctively pulling the warm body curled up next to him closer and smiling when he heard the other man's sleepy sigh of contentment. The wind must have picked up, he decided, blue shadows flickering across the bed again as the tree outside tossed back and forth in front of the full moon. His smile deepened; he'd always loved the wind, and the blue-lit nights when the moon rode fat and high in the sky. And being here with Ezra made it even better.

Turning his attention away from the window, he looked down at his lover's sleeping face and ran tender fingers through the tousled auburn hair. It was as soft as the silk shirts the man usually wore, soft as the pale golden skin that covered the Southerner's lithe, well-defined muscles. The expensive clothes they'd all teased Ezra about made sense now; all the fine fabrics and special cleanings were to accommodate the undercover agent's ultra-sensitive skin, as was the man's avoidance of the sunny outdoors. Vin swore to himself that he'd find a way to make it up to Ezra, all of it. After all, Ezra was his now.

*His*. Vin's hand left his lover's hair to stroke possessively down his bare back, just reveling in the feel of him. He wasn't letting Ezra go, not for anything - not even the job, if it came to that. And first thing tomorrow he was going to make it very plain to Chris that the undercover agent was taken, was going to find some way to warn him off without making a public issue of their new relationship at the office. Silently the sharpshooter thanked Buck; if the ladies' man hadn't warned him, hadn't told him about Larabee and what would happen if he got to Ezra first...just the idea made Vin shudder. Chris `liked it rough', Buck had said, had told him that although it wasn't extreme Chris sometimes got off on hurting his partners - hence his occasional bouts of physical and verbal violence against the undercover agent at work. Vin had gotten the idea that Wilmington knew about this side of Chris from firsthand experience but hadn't pressed him on it, first because it wasn't really any of his business and second because he'd been too horrified by the idea of Larabee deliberately hurting Ezra to much care at the time. The strong, sturdy body in his arms was wrapped in skin that bruised and tore easily, skin as fragile as the spirit that beautiful body housed.

Vin's smile came back, warm and tender. That beautiful *virgin* body, he corrected himself. Or at least, it had been virginal until just a few hours ago; he didn't think anyone had ever placed so much trust in him as Ezra had tonight. And it was a trust he wouldn't betray, not ever, not for anything. Vin Tanner's word, once given, might as well be carved in stone. He placed a gentle kiss on Ezra's temple and shifted them around a bit so that he could use both hands to stroke and caress his lover, and when drowsy green eyes opened partway to blink up at him in trustful contentment he gave his word again. "Love you, Ez."