Love Means_. Freedom - Andrew Grey

around Preston's waist. Stone kept talking. "I'll help you, it's slippery." His hand around him felt so good, Preston couldn't help leaning into it. "I think we both need to get inside, preferably somewhere we can both rest."
    Preston turned his head and found himself lip to lip with Stone.
"I missed you."
"I'm sorry you had to get hurt for me to see how much I love you."
    "And I'm sorry I sent you away instead of just talking to you." Their lips met in a kiss that nearly buckled Preston's knees. "Let's get inside. Do you think you can make it up the stairs?"
    "If you keep kissing like that, I'll sprout wings and fly up the stairs." Preston laughed and returned Stone's kiss before letting Stone guide him out of the barn and across the yard to the house. Adelle greeted them and insisted they eat something. Stone sat next to him, and they held hands through much of the meal, until Adelle shooed them out of the kitchen.
    It took some doing, but Preston managed to get himself up the stairs and into Stone's bedroom. This time, there was no romantic disrobing and longing looks. Clothes were opened and dropped to the floor, with Stone slipping beneath the covers, and Preston following soon after. "You feel so good. I thought of this every night I was away." Preston brushed the hair out of Stone's eyes. "Thought about your eyes and your lips." He touched those lips with his thumb.
    "Remembered how you felt against me"--he let his eyes lower--"how you felt inside me."

    "I thought about you too." Stone's hands slid along his chest, and Preston arched into the touch. He'd been longing for this for weeks, but he knew now was not the time.

    "Should we be doing this? You just got out of the hospital?"

    Stone leaned his head forward, capturing a nipple between his lips. "You're the best medicine I could have." Preston felt a hot tongue against his skin. "I love you."
    Preston sat up and captured Stone's lips. "I love you too." He kept kissing. "I hate that we were apart, but it helped me realize just how much you mean to me." He released Stone's head and hugged him tight, pressing them together. Hell, he was trying to figure out how he could get even closer.
    "I'm scared to close my eyes. I keep thinking you're a dream, and when I wake up, you'll be gone." Stone rested his head against Preston's shoulder, and he held him, sharing their warmth and just being close.

    "I'm not a dream, and I'll be here, right here, when you wake up." Preston squeezed slightly, letting their heat mingle, his desire on simmer as he listened to Stone's breathing even out, and his lover slowly drifted off to sleep, with Preston not far behind.
    He woke a few hours later to fading light outside the windows and a sleeping Stone still curled against him. Preston hated to move, but he had to. Moving slowly, he disentangled himself and made his way to the bathroom. Returning, he opened the door to find a very awake lover lying on his back, leaving no doubt about what he wanted. "Someone's awake."
    Stone rolled over and patted the mattress, eyes heavy with desire. Preston rejoined him.

    Their lovemaking, fast and a little frenzied, was followed by slow, languid kisses that led to more kisses and still more lovemaking. Darkness outside the windows greeted the two lovers as they held each other, both spent and extremely happy. "Are you going back to Kansas City?"
    "Just to get my things." Preston smiled as Stone's head found what was becoming a very familiar spot against his shoulder. "What about your father?"
    "I told him what I was doing today." Preston ran his hands over Stone's hip as his big eyes shifted so they could see each other. "I don't really know what he thinks, but it doesn't matter. I'll get a job here, even if I have to work as a bank teller, and I'll find a place of my own to live."
    "You could stay here." Stone curled closer, and he knew Stone was afraid again.
"Geoff and Eli don't need me living in their house with them, and I need my own place.
    Somewhere where we can be together"--he lowered his voice--"and get a little loud if we want to. I should be able to find someplace close. I'm not going to leave you, Stone."

    Stone felt the tension lessen in his lover's body. "I was thinking," he offered as Preston's hand began tracing worried circles against his chest. "Maybe you could do for the other farmers what you did for that man before you left."
    "What do you mean?" Preston was intrigued.
"Farming is a business, right?" There was a hint