Save A Horse, Ride A Cowboy [Winnix]
Lewis unknowingly commits himself to the number one rule of cowboy etiquette; you put on a cowboy's hat, you have to ride the cowboy.
A/N: I could write a million hours of these two being gay cowboys... Anyway, enjoy.
Warnings: SMUT (18+ ONLY), swearing.
It had been a few months since the war ended, and Dick had gone back to help his family get the farm back up and running. He promised Lewis that in a few weeks- when everything was back to normal- he would go out to New Jersey and come work at the nitration plant. But, when the third month had rolled on by and the green buds of spring had become the hot nights of summer and still Dick had yet to move into Nix’s house, he made the executive decision to pay the Winters a surprise visit.
When the shiny black convertible had come rumbling down the dirt drive of the Winters’ farm, and Nix had stepped out in a pair of slacks and a cotton shirt, military aviators sitting on the bridge of his nose, Dick nearly fell off his horse trying to get to him. Richard’s parents had been more than happy to house “Dicky’s best war buddy.” for as long as he’d like to stay.
“Dicky?” Was the first thing Lewis had said to the redhead when he set his trunks down in the guest room. Wiping the small beads of sweat from his brow- not from lugging the trunks up the steep stairs, but from the temperature difference that comes with traveling from Nix’s cool summer breeze of Jersey, to the staple hot dust of Pennsylvania summers Dick has always known.
“It’s a childhood nickname.” He rolled his eyes, taking off the light brown cowboy hat that had been protecting his slightly sunburned face while out watching the cattle.
“I like it,” Nix walked closer to the man, “Dicky.”
Winters looks at the slightly ajar door and quietly pushes it shut, moving away from Lew as far as he needs to close the door, snapping back into place the second it softly creeks shut.
“You promised you’d move.”
“It’s taking longer than I thought to get everything back to the way it was before I left.”
Lewis huffs, his bottom lip sticking out slightly in a way that had always had Dick folding immediately. “You’re too good. You should be selfish for once in your life.”
“And move home with you?” He can’t help but smile at the thought of putting his trunk right next to Lewis’ in the back of the shining car, sliding into the passenger’s seat, and watching through the mirror as his childhood home became smaller and smaller until the only thing he could see was the dust kicking up behind them.
Lewis pinches his side gently, more just tugging on his flannel work shirt than pulling on his skin.
“Was this your plan?” The taller man smiles, curling a dusty finger into the belt loop of the dark-haired man’s pants, tugging him closer, “Come here, pout a little, and leave with me in the passenger's seat?”
“In a perfect world? We would have been driving here together.” Lew leans his forehead against Dick’s chin, nuzzling against the sweaty skin.
Dick’s heart can’t help but skip a beat at those words, imagining bringing Lewis here with him to meet his parents, even if it would have to be under the disguise of a work trip, or in this case, looking for a little country fun for the Fourth of July weekend.
Richard wraps his arms around Lewis’ hips, tugging him in for a hard hug.
Lewis sighs and hugs Dick back just as tight, nearly pushing all the breath out of the man. After a minute, he pulls back just enough to look up at the rancher, taking a second to look over all the changes he’s gone through over the few months since they last saw one another.
‘He burns easily.’ He thinks, noting the deep pink that spreads across the back and sides of the man’s neck and the small patch on the front of his chest. ‘His freckles are darker,’ and he wants to kiss every single one, from the bridge of his nose to the few that he’s sure are still scattered over the backs of his shoulders. ‘I want to kiss him.’
“Are you gonna kiss me? Or are you back to being a God-fearing country boy?” He teases, though there’s a hint of nervousness in his voice at such a thought.
Dick smiles and the tip of his tongue peeks out to wet his slightly cracked lips, dusty and warm from working out in the sun.
“I think I’ll kiss you if that’s alright.” He teases softly before leaning down and pressing his dry lips to the other man’s.
Lewis’s mouth is soft, and his lips are not yet dried by the heat of summer. But when Dick presses his face as close to Lewis as he can, and their noses push together slightly painfully- until they manage to find their usual rhythm- all Dick can focus on is the familiar taste of Lewis Goddamn Nixon.
Winters licks into the shorter man’s mouth with an eagerness that if you saw it, you’d think he was trying to pull the taste of cigarettes and whiskey into his mouth like some addict tasting the siren call of a cold beer.
They don’t break, even as their lungs scream for air, because the plead they call for each other to keep pulling, keep pushing, keep loving me, is stronger.
It’s not until Dick pushes Nix so hard against the small closet door that it makes a loud BANG, that they pull apart. Their breathing is heavy, and they’re moreso breathing in the other’s exhale, rather than taking in fresh breaths.
“I missed you,” Dick says again, ghosting his lips over Nixon’s, the shorter man chasing him with a familiar need.
“I needed to see you, I was going crazy without you next to me.” The brunette confesses, his voice giving away just how true that statement was.
“How long are you staying for?” Dick asks, still breathless from the kiss.
“However long you’ll have me.”
Richard smiles, the corner of his mouth quirking up in the way that tells Lewis that he’s about to tease.
“We could always use another hand with the cattle.” and as much as it annoys Lewis, he smiles, the whites of his teeth poking through his reddened lips. He wraps an arm around Dick’s neck and pulls him down into a headlock, starting to wrestle with the taller man.
From downstairs in the kitchen, Dick’s mother smiles as the heavy scuffles and occasional loud laughs flood downstairs.
That’s how city boy Lewis Nixon the III ended up at a rodeo a few days later, wearing a pair of Dick’s old jeans, and the nicest shirt he could give Lewis, claiming that “My shirt is just gonna get dirty when I get bucked off, might as well save my Mother the trouble of washing the dirt outta it.” Though they both knew it was more about Dick getting to see Lewis in a set of his farm clothes, the shirt and jeans slightly tight around his midsection, and making his shoulders look more square, just how they looked when he was in uniform.
When Mr. and Mrs. Winters told the boys to meet them down at the rodeo, climbing into one of the old pickups and rumbling down the road, Dick didn’t hesitate to drag Nix back into the house and make them a little late.
The backlot of the rodeo was bustling with people and animals that kick up dust with each quick footstep.
“Christ, it’s like Batallion up here,” Nix says with a slight laugh, turning and trying to take in every aspect of the new world he’s being dragged around. “So how does this work? You get up there, prance around the ring on your horse, and then we hit the bar?”
Dick laughs, “Not quite. Your weekends with horses are much different from mine.” He places his hand on Lew’s elbow, guiding him through the traffic of people and animals, toward the ring where another cowboy was just released into the arena. Dick grabs the back of Lewis’ shirt and helps him stand on the large fence separating the crowd from the bucking bronco that was just released.
Lewis watches the tanned man on the bronco hold on with all his strength, his other hand flying about in the air, almost looking boneless. The crowd roars as the announcer gets more excited before the cowboy goes flying off the back of the animal, hitting the dirt ground with a large puff of dust and a loud series of “OOOOHHH!” and claps from the crowd filling the air.
Nix’s eyes go wide as the man limps off as fast as he can toward the safety of the fence line, getting help climbing over and landing on his feet as a few men grab at the horse to try and calm it. Lewis’s new cowboy boots slip against the fence at the sight that unfolded in less than ten seconds.
“You’re doing that?!” he yells, his eyes scared as he looks over to Dick, his stomach dropping at the thought of the man being thrown around on a horse and possibly getting hurt.
“This isn’t my first rodeo, Nix. I’ve got a title to defend.” He smirks before jumping off the fence and weaving through the crowd to where the next horse is already starting to buck in the holding chamber.
Lewis can’t pull his eyes away from his fellow soldier as he stands with one foot on either side of the small pen. Watching the way the redhead closes his eyes and takes a few deep breaths, in through his nose, and out through his mouth.
Lewis is so focused on Richard and how he grabs the reins with one hand, wrapping it around his hand and up his wrist, seeing how the animal is already pulling the strong man where it pleases. Lewis barely hears the roaring of the crowd as Dick’s name is announced, along with an excited call out to the “man, returning from service in the United States Airborne, your defending champion-!” ‘Richard Winters, you absolute idiot.’ is the only thing Lewis has time to think before the horn blows and Winters is released into the ring, the large stallion bucking and thrashing wildly.
It’s like everything moves in slow motion for Lewis. His eyes unable to leave the sight of the Major on the horse, his body swaying with the movement, trying to center himself and stay upright, and his unwrapped hand holding his light brown hat.
The sixteen seconds that Dick is being tossed around are some of the most focused of his life, tapping into the sense of terrified calm that he only experienced twice before- running through that field in Holland, and after the first time he kissed Lewis. He lets everything but his core go lax, letting the raging animal guide him as he tries to rein it in. He feels his hand slip along the leather of the reins, and the small red indents it leaves are a familiar burn.
His hand slips again, a little further up the rein this time, and he knows it’s either now or get his shoulder pulled out again, so, he lets go, falling in a large puff of dust and a heavy ‘OOF’ of getting all the air knocked out of him. Dicks pushes himself up off the ground and jogs to the fence, hopping over it and landing on the other side where other contestants and patrons clap and pat him on the back.
The announcer barely gets out the words, “AND THERE WE HAVE IT FOLKS. ONCE AGAIN MAJOR RICHARD WINTERS TAKES IT HOME-” before a hard punch lands on his arm and he stumbles back with a laugh as Nix gets him in a headlock, wrestling playfully, Dick’s dusty brown hat falling off his head.
“You’re an idiot, you know that!” Lewis grits out, trying not to laugh as Dick grabs him around his midsection and puts his farm strength to good use, easily throwing them to the ground and rolling around playfully, like a bunch of pups.
After a minute of rolling around and laughing, and maybe pressing parts of themselves against the other more than is acceptable for both two men, and being in public, they lay back and take deep laughing breaths.
Even on the way back to Dick’s rusted old red pick-up, they gently shove and roughhouse with each other, their hands sliding over necks, shoulders, and down the smalls of their backs. When they climb into the truck and Dick scans the darkened field-turned-parking-lot as quickly as he can and grabs Lewis roughly by the back of his neck. He smashes their lips together, noses smooshing together painfully until Winters tilts his head and gets up on his knees, crawling across the front bench seat so he’s towering over Lewis, pushing him back to lean against the cracked open window.
Lewis takes in a sharp breath as Dick pushes his body down, the weight of the taller man not crushing him, but resting heavily enough on him, it’s impossible for Nix to forget who’s above him. Lew grabs the collar of his shirt, wrapping his hand in the fabric and pushing Winters back just enough that he can breathe again.
“Let’s go back to the farm.” He pants, and oh God, it’s the most tempting thing Dick has heard in his entire life, but he knows that if they don’t make at least an appearance at the bar, and he doesn’t spend an hour nursing one of the many beers that are going to be bought for him, it’ll be more noticeable than if Dick showed up with that little gold band Lewis was always carrying around with him.
“We have to go make an appearance… even just for an hour.” Dick grumbles, pouting at having been pushed away from his lover's lips and reminded that it would still be some time before they would be together for the first time in months.
Lewis mumbles something about “Stupid southern hospitality.” before Dick rights himself and turns the ignition on, the old truck rumbling to life.
The bar was only ever this busy after a rodeo. Just about everybody in town who could drive, walk, or ride was down by the river, dancing along to the music blaring from inside, or drinking as much as their pocket cash could buy them. For Lewis, this was more than just about everybody combined.
Every time someone came up to Dick to congratulate him, Lewis insisted on buying them a drink, though showing new restraint as he finished off his first glass and ordered a soda, turning to Dick to revel in the soft smile of approval. By the time the line dancing started, Lewis was excited enough by the prospect of tapping the new heels and toes of his boots that he rushes onto the dance floor and stumbles his way through a few numbers.
Every few steps, right when Lewis thinks he’s picking up on the movements, he looks over at Dick, politely making small talk with folks who come over to congratulate him. Winters barely pays any attention to the regulars, instead looking right over their shoulders or hats, watching Lewis follow the person next to him before being swung around the floor in a partner's dance, his head tilted back as he laughs. Everything about this; Lewis dancing so freely- even taking his mother around the floor, the sight of the dark-haired man in a set of Winters’ clothes, and the way he constantly looks to Dick for approval… it makes Dick warmer than the summer heat ever has, and it has the front of his ‘nice jeans’ tightening enough that for a moment he has to take off his hat and hold it so it’s covering his crotch.
When Lewis comes over to Dick’s table, breathless, sweaty, and with pink cheeks, Richard has to take an extra long sip of his lukewarm beer, giving himself an extra moment to compose himself before he has to speak.
“This is great!” Lewis beams, falling into the chair next to the redhead, “This is so much better than wearing some tux and dancing a ridiculous waltz.” He turns to look at Dick, his shoulders are a little straighter, and he swallows as a drip of sweat runs down Lewis’ throat and disappears under the collar of his (Dick’s) shirt.
Nixon smiles knowingly and bites his lip, looking the taller man up and down for a long moment and lingering on the white knuckle grip Winters has on the fabric of his knee.
“You have fun working the room again?”
Winters rolls his eyes, the routine of mingling and repeating the same sentiments with the same inflection reminding him of the military dinners Dick was paraded around when he started moving up. At least at those dinners, he could pull Lewis into a dark corner and mouth at the small patch of skin hidden right under his collar. But here, if he led Lewis through the wrong back door or into the wrong bathroom stall, it’d be much harder to talk their way out of, “Going over new intelligence, Sir.” only works when you’re in a war zone.
“Yeah, it was just like old times. Except this time, you abandoned me for a two-step with my mother.” Lewis laughs loudly at the playful complaint, leaning into Winters’ arm that falls across the back of his chair.
“You leave me for Pennsylvania; I leave you with the wolves.” He smirks, white teeth contrasting with the new tan of his skin, making Dick’s neck grow warm.
“I’m sure you can make it up to me somehow.” He whispers, running his long fingers over the brim of his cowboy hat. “Did you at least have fun out there?” He nods to the packed dance floor.
“Yes, Sir.” Lewis says in his best country accent, reaching over to grab Dick’s hat and placing it on his head, “Felt like a real cowboy and everything!” he grins.
Nixon laughs at his own joke and when his head tilts back down and sees that Dick isn’t laughing, he gives him a goofy, confused smile.
Winters doesn’t say anything as he places his beer bottle down and grabs Lewis by the back of his shirt, pulling him up and pushing him through the crowded bar towards the exit.
“Dick-! WOAH, hey, Dick stop it!” Lewis cries out, confused, gasping slightly as the hot- but cooler than inside- air hits his face.
Richard opens the passenger side door and shoves Lewis into the truck, barely waiting for him to pull his feet in before he climbs in after him and slams the door shut behind himself. Their lips are slammed together, nearly breaking their noses in Dick’s desperate need to kiss the dark-haired man.
“Christ-” Winters pants between claiming Nix’s mouth, “You don’t even know what you just did-” Lewis cracks his eyes open, confused as to what got Dick this worked up this quickly.
“W-... What- Dick-... Dick wait-” Nixon gasps between breathtaking pulls of Dick’s tongue in his mouth. The second Lew says, ‘Wait.’ Richard is pulling back, though the smallest amount he can, needing to be close to Lewis, breathing the same air- the only air Dick has ever wanted to breathe. “What did I do? Did I do something wrong?” His voice wavers, slightly nervous at the thought of revealing their ill-kept secret.
Dick grabs the hat that had been knocked off Lewis’ head in his needy haste.
“Do you know what it means when you put on a cowboy’s hat?” His voice low. Nix shakes his head, squirming under the heated gaze Dick is giving him. “You put on a cowboy’s hat, you gotta ride the cowboy, Sweetheart.” He drawls, placing the dusty brown hat on Lew’s messy hair, as he processes Winters’ fading Southern accent coming out more in those few words than Lewis had ever heard in their years of service.
Lew chokes, and his eyes go wide at the realization that he had just told the entire bar that he was going home with the all-American Winters boy and that he was going to have to ride the cowboy.
Dick presses his lips to Nix’s again and carefully pulls him up by the front of his shirt. When Nix is sitting upright, with Winters in his lap, he’s carefully manhandled into the passengers seat and Dick ungracefully falls into the drivers seat, fumbling for his keys before starting up the car.
“Are we going home?” Lewis asks breathlessly.
Dick doesn’t answer as he throws his arm over the back of the bench seat and rips back out of the parking spot and onto the dusty main road.
They drive for nearly ten minutes in complete silence.
At minute eleven, Lewis shifts so he can bend over and put a hand on Winters’ thigh and kiss his dusty cheek. He can feel Dick’s jaw tick under his lips and he can’t help but smile, knowing exactly what he’s doing to the man. Slowly Lewis folds over so his head is resting on Dick’s thigh and his back is arched, his ass sticking in the air, and the familiar position makes him grin as he brushes his nose over Dick’s bulge.
Winters shifts, and Lew can feel the truck jolt as his foot presses on the gas just a little harder for a second.
Lewis’s fingers are quick at unbuttoning Winters’ jeans and unzipping his fly. When the summer air hits his hot skin and the long-familiar hand wraps around his length, Winters hisses, and his thighs tense.
“Eyes on the road.” Lewis croons before sucking Winters’ tip between his lips, sighing at the salty taste of his precum and the already heavy weight of him on his tongue.
Winters grunts and moans loudly, trying to keep both his hands on the wheel and his foot reasonably on the gas as they rumble down the empty country road.
“Lew- Lew-” He pants, already feeling close to his orgasm after months of being apart from his partner, only having his hand and hazy memories to sate his need.
Lewis hums around his cock as he bobs his head, taking more of the hot length with each push down.
Dick reaches his hand down to tangle in Lewis’ dark hair, but is startled when he touches the crusted felt of his cowboy hat. He spares a glance down and is immediately pressing on the breaks and steering the car onto the rough shoulder of the road, nearly going straight into a fence as he parks the car and pulls the keys out.
“Nix~” He moans, pulling at the man’s shoulder, overwhelmed at the warmth surrounding his cock and the rubbing Lewis’ tongue is doing just under the head.
Dick’s stomach tightens under his shirt and- as much as he hates to do so- Dick pulls Lew’s mouth off his length and nearly throws him back into the passengers seat.
Lewis makes for a beautifully debauchted sight as he lays lowly against the passengers door, his cock straining against the borrowed jeans and his lips slick and dripping with a small string of spit and precum as he pants heavily.
There’s only a single beat of stillness as Lewis lets himself be inspected, taking the small chance to smirk at how hard Dick is breathing, and the way his wet cock stands proudly against his abdomin, leaving a pretty wet spot on his shirt. Then he’s grabbing at said shirt and tugging Winters’ against him.
The two fumble with Lewis’s jeans, hands fighting and tangling lovingly together as they unbutton and unzip them, tugging them down just enough that when Dick pushes his hard cock against Lew’s pale ass their flesh meets.
“Please, please, please, please, please-” Nix pants, knowing the stretch is going to hurt, but also knowing that he’s waited nearly four months to have his partner back with him, and that the dull burn will be more than welcome if it means having Winters’ cock inside him.
Dick smiles and kisses Lewis’ lips softly as he gives a few small thrusts, licking up the moans Lewis mewls out as Dick bottoms out. The redhead groans loudly as his balls touch Lewis’ ass, and the dark haired man moans breathily, his head tilting back at the comforting press of Dick’s tip against his prostate.
They still, as Lewis adjusts to the intrusion, before nodding excitedly, biting his lip and letting his eyes flutter mostly closed at the first deep thrust.
The truck is filled with grunts, groans and the slap of skin on skin as the two men chase each other, every pull out met with a soft noise of protest, and every thrust forward met with a deep roll of Nix’s hips, pulling Winters in until he’s sure he’s going to be devoured by the other man.
“Dick- D-” Lewis groans, his stomach clenching and cock throbbing as it leaks beads of slick pre down the side of his length and gathering in the thatch of dark hair, “I- Dick I’m gonna- Please, please, please!~” He begs, downright begs the taller man who’s taking up every part of his vision as he eyes him just under the brim of the cowboy hat resting dutifully on his messy dark hair.
Dick rolls his hips faster and deeper, needing to make the man under him feel as good as he is in this moment.
He nods jerkily and wraps a hot, rough hand over Lewis cock, rubbing the slick length with the perfect twist of his hand as he lovingly commands, “Cum for me.”
Nix seizes and nearly yells as streaks of hot cum burst out of him and run over Dick’s fingers.
Winters looks up at the dark-haired man and the beautiful, lewd picture he makes lying breathlessly against the door, covered in bursts of his own cum, and that fucking cowboy hat laying half over his one eye.
The sight has Winters moving deeper, with fast jerks of his hips and heavy puffs of air, spurred on by the sight of his lover in his cowboy hat, his hat, a mark, a claim on the man that Dick had wanted to make in public for so long.
The sight of Lewis in that dusty hat, panting and out of breath, was nearly as good as putting a gold band on his finger.
Winters’ hips stutter and he gasps as he releases inside Lewis, filling the man with hot ropes of cum, as he breathes, “I love you.”
It’s nearly an hour of simple, wet kisses and gentle touches, before Dick is present enough to right them both and sit back in the drivers seat, pulling Lewis into his side as he pulls back onto the road and starts back towards the Winters’ farm, the windows down and the warm summer breeze making it so Lewis has to hold the brown hat to his head, the entire way home.
