Brian woke up with the warmth of Justin's body pressed close to him. He turned on his side and sighed deeply. He was mighty relieved that the comfortable room they had taken for their excursion had two large beds instead of the usual twin size that most double rooms boasted. At least this way he could stretch out if he saw fit and not fear falling to the floor on his ass. Of course he usually was wrapped around Justin tightly. He got a thrill every time he woke up and found himself holding the beautiful blond. They had been forced to avoid sleeping in the same bed at the French estate for fear of being discovered by the other men in their Unit, but here they had no such fear. A quick roll around in the second bed was more than adequate to establish their separate sleeping habits and then they slept safely in each others arms with the door locked behind them all night.

Brian sat up on one elbow and laid his other arm gently over Justin's chest. The young man was on his side with his back to Brian. Brian could feel the steady rhythm of Justin's breathing as he slept soundly and the regular beats of his heart through the naked skin of the young man's chest where Brian's palm stretched over it. Brian felt Justin's nipple on his palm and began slowly rubbing his hand in a circular motion with his palm open wide. The breathing remained steady. Brian smiled to himself. He loved the feel of Justin's skin against his. Hell...he loved everything about this kid, although he could hardly call Justin a kid. The young man had more than proven himself a man to the entire world as far as Brian was concerned. Still...he was awfully young. For a moment Brian felt a nervous twitch. What if Justin realized that there was a great big world out there and wanted to check it out more thoroughly before settling down with one single man?

Brian had not gone into this crazy war with the thought of settling down himself. He still felt that he wanted to sow a hell of a lot more oats before becoming domesticated, if he would ever even do so. That was before he saw all the death and destruction that war brought. Now he just longed for years of peace and some form of tranquility with someone that mattered. Until Justin, there had been no one to fill that bill but now there was no question in Brian's mind. Justin was the one...the man that he wanted to spend his life with. Justin stated he felt the same, but he had barely gotten into the war by the time it was all over. He had not witnessed even a tenth of what Brian had endured. He was also very young and not even sure what he wanted to do with the rest of his life. How could he be so sure he knew for certain what man he wanted to settle down with? Brian hated feeling this way, but he was plagued by doubts. The feeling didn't usually last long, but it hurt like a motherfucker when the doubts popped up.

Brian shook the painful thoughts off. This trip was too important to mar it with dark clouds. Brian concentrated again on the feel of Justin's naked body pressed against his own naked skin. He felt a sudden flush as he realized just how heavenly the feeling was. None of his old friends back home would be able to connect the old Brian with this new man he'd become. He'd heard often enough how war could change a man, but he'd somehow thought he would be immune to that. He'd already had a tough upbringing and survived that, so why should fighting in a war be any different? But then again, he mused to himself, maybe the war had nothing to do with it. Maybe it was just the right man in the right time and place. Brian had never thought much about fate before...he had always presumed that one made their own fates...but somehow it felt like he and Justin were fated for each other. A large part of Brian wanted that to be the case, which would inevitably mean that they would stay together.

Brian moved his hand lower as he rubbed gentle circles along Justin's rib cage and down to his soft tummy. He felt Justin's body give off an involuntary tremor from the tiny tickles, but the breathing only quickened a tiny bit...barely perceptible. Brian felt emboldened. He began moving slowly downward. His head rested on one hand while the other crept ever closer to Justin's thatch of soft curly hairs. He twirled a few of the blond strands between his fingers, moving ever closer to the base of Justin's beautiful manhood. He finally got the signal he had been waiting for. Justin was either awake or awakening. His breathing had begun to be more labored. Brian could feel it against his chest.

Justin's eyes remained shut tight, but his brain was beginning to function quite nicely. He was slowly awakening and he could feel the welcome warmth of Brian pressed against his back and the even more welcome warmth of the man's hand tickling against his cock. In that moment, Justin decided to play dead and try not to move a muscle. He longed to see how far Brian would go. Brian's hand had already slipped between Justin's legs and was now massaging the inner thighs. Without warning he pulled Justin's top leg away from the bottom and laid it over his own legs. Justin was now slightly spread eagle in front of Brian.

Brian now had better access to the sensitive skin of Justin's inner thighs and the gift that lay between them. He set right to work on stroking the lightly haired skin with his long fingers. He heard the deep sigh that escaped from Justin and it sent a quick thrill through Brian's body, causing his own cock to begin swelling. As the growing member rose up to begin poking through the gap Brian had made between Justin's legs, he felt his own blood start to race faster. It was instantly apparent that Justin was now fully awake. His breathing was far from slow and steady now and his arm reached back to try and pull Brian closer, if that was at all possible. Brian was now emboldened to continue his morning explorations of his lovers body.

Brian's hand moved to the center and he gleefully grabbed a fistful of Justin's nearly rigid cock. Justin was unable to hold back his moan of satisfaction. He reached down and covered Brian's hand with his own. By now Brian's own cock was fully erect and weeping with drops of pre-lubricant. Brian didn't need to assist his manhood...it knew where its home was. It seemed to have a mind of its own as it slipped into position at Justin's stretched out open back door. The sound of Justin's low moans was enough of a stimulus that Brian's cock was now so hard it didn't even have need of steadying. It just started to slip against the tight ring of muscle in Justin's ass. Brian began thrusting without even thinking about it. His body knew what he needed...what he longed for. Justin's body was right in tune. His hips pushed backward using the lower leg for support. His body wanted to impale itself on Brian as badly as Brian wanted to be shrouded by Justin's body.

Justin began concentrating on the relaxation of his inner muscles. He needed to be possessed by Brian the way others needed to breathe. His tight ring of muscle expanded and released. Brian fell inward, soon seated exactly where he belonged. The warmth enveloped him making him feel safe and secure, a rare commodity in these times. Justin's eyes teared up. The feeling of Brian buried deep inside was too exquisite. It was far from the first time that they were coupled by now, but each time was better than the time before. They lay like that together for the longest time, as if each knew they had to prolong this feeling of being one for as long as possible. At this moment, they were in no hurry to ride it out to its obvious conclusion. They simply lay together silently, firmly and reverently connected.

After many long minutes, they read each other perfectly and began to move simultaneously. Brian began thrusting forward and back as Justin's hips pushed and pulled. Both of their hands began to milk Justin's own turgid member. What started out as slow deliberate movements on both their parts began to speed up and turn more frenzied. Soon both men were groaning with each new movement. The heel of Justin's extended leg began pounding into the back of Brian's leg as his body began to tense up and his insides started to quake. Brian kept moaning Justin's name while sucking on the quivering blond's shoulder as he felt his control starting to slip. Suddenly he thrust forward deeper than ever and spewed out his sweet load. The pressure from the thrust pushed Justin hard against their encircling hands and Justin let out a deep guttural response to his own release.

The lovers lay just as they came, with their bodies connected and slowly...ever so slowly returned to normal. Justin had lost all his energy. He just wanted to lay there wrapped in Brian's embrace for as long as he possibly could. Finally, after quite a long time, Mother Nature made her inevitable morning call. Brian reluctantly pulled out of Justin causing the young man to sigh deeply at the loss. He scooted around so that he could finally face the older man.

"I don't believe I've had a nicer wake-up call in my entire life, Sarge," Justin grinned. "It certainly beats reveille by a country mile."

Brian smirked with pride. "My pleasure, Private...and believe me, I mean that literally. Now it's getting late. We need to get moving if we're going to check out some more sights. When we get back to barracks, you know the guys will want a full accounting of what we saw and visited. They might not understand if we mention the ceiling and bed of our little hotel room and not much else."

"Yes, Sir," Justin laughed.

The men slipped out of the bed. Brian moved quickly to the piss pot to take care of his morning duty while Justin made short work of rolling around in the second bed. A trip to the water basin was in order to wipe off the results of his morning ejaculate and he checked the sheet of their shared bed to make sure there were no tell-tale signs of hanky panky there either. Brian grabbed a towel and took his turn at the tub down the hall while Justin took care of his morning duties. Once Brian returned, Justin took a quick bath next. As he lay in the tub he tried to picture resting against Brian's chest. He hoped they would take lots of baths together in the future. He loved the feel of Brian's skin all flushed and warm from the water.

************************************************************

They had not meant to sleep so late, but their little trip to Shipston-on-Stour the day before had been more tiring than they had anticipated. It had been late before they got back to the hotel. They had visited the pub again where they were welcome visitors, had another good meal, and then retired for the night. Of course they had another hot session in the privacy of their room before falling asleep together. It seemed that the country air just increased their natural horniness towards each other. It didn't hurt that the frustration of not being able to openly express their passion also increased their active libidos. Today they decided to stay closer to home base. They had been told about a castle that was centuries old and still in working condition. Apparently it had been used as a POW camp during the war for Italian and German troops who earned their keep by taking care of the place.

Sudeley Castle, which was located very close to another picturesque little village called Winchcombe, had a fascinating history since it was the final home of Queen Catherine Parr, the last of King Henry VIII's wives. It was also her final resting place. The two American soldiers had been assured that they would be most welcome to have a tour of the place. For all the owners knew, the Germans would have taken over the country eventually and would have eradicated the history of England's great castles if the allies hadn't stepped in finally. Thus Americans were looked on with great fondness. The town was almost within walking distance but the couple rather enjoyed the feeling of the old cycle as they rode down the road, so they opted to use it again. After a light brunch, the couple were on the road once more heading Southwest to Winchcombe.

The men wore their uniforms this time out since they had been assured they would get a more favorable response at the castle if they did. They looked handsome in their pants and shirts with their caps perched on their heads. They brought their jackets with them but it was too warm to wear on such a pleasant day. The weather had been more than cooperative. The air was alive with the smells of open flowers in this late Spring day and the tree branches were abloom with rich dark green shades. The town itself was fascinating with a long history dating back to Saxon times. The cottages were old but in pristine condition. Rose trellises and vines covered many of the old stone and timber buildings. They traveled up and down the cobbled streets admiring the many churches and steepled buildings. They stopped off to visit St. Peters, the Parish church which boasted a plethora of stone gargoyles used to run off rainwater. They laughed as they did their best to imitate a few of the less than attractive figures.

Brian and Justin spent the early afternoon admiring many of the ancient sites the town and its surroundings had to offer. Locals were amazingly friendly and often stopped to inform the two attractive American servicemen of some of the locale's colorful history. They were directed to a tea shop near an old stagecoach inn by a tiny wisp of a gray haired lady who giggled like a schoolgirl when Brian openly flirted with her after inquiring about a good place to get a snack. When she turned around and hobbled off down the street while leaning heavily on her cane, Justin lightly punched Brian's arm.

"Shame on you. You almost put the poor lady in a swoon."

"Can't help it, Sunshine. It's just my natural charm."

The two laughed and remounted the cycle for the short trip to the tea shop where they enjoyed fresh scones and tea before heading off in the direction of Sudeley Castle. As they drove up to the grounds of the centuries old castle, they were awed by the immaculately kept surroundings. They were greeted upon their arrival by a caretaker who immediately agreed to allow the American soldiers the right to stroll through the many gardens and visit the different buildings on the grounds. Brian and Justin spent hours visiting the old Banqueting Hall that had been built separately and then damaged during the Civil War. They explored the old towers of the outer walls, including the Dungeon Tower. They marveled at Queen Catherine's Tomb and visited the Tithe Barn and St. Mary's Church. The statuary in the various gardens fascinated them and constantly inspired Justin's artistic eye. He tried to make mental snapshots of all he was witnessing in hopes that he could sketch them later at his leisure.

The men exhausted themselves in the gardens alone. One, the Persian Knot Garden had over twelve hundred shrubs planted and kept in pristine condition. The formal garden boasted beautiful fountains...not too ostentatious, but simply lovely to look at. The Woodland Walk brought great pleasure to the couple as there were a number of places that they were able to step away and be securely free from others eyesight. They took advantage of these places several times during their visit to give each other an affectionate squeeze or tender kiss, as they suspected countless lovers had done over the centuries. Finally Justin's leg began to protest and Brian admitted that he was feeling the exhaustion from their adventurous day as well. They found the caretaker again and bid him good bye with a hearty handshake. They promised to return someday with their wives and children if they were ever able to get back to England. They didn't bother to correct the old man's impression.

They decided to stop in Winchcombe for dinner before heading back to the hotel. They needed the break. They had spotted a small restaurant on a main road. They parked and entered. The small establishment had once been a blacksmith's shop and memorabilia was everywhere. The couple ordered a hearty dinner...all that exercise had given them a healthy appetite...and they ate with gusto while downing their pints of ale. Justin would have been asked for proof of his age back home in America, but no one would question a young soldier's right to indulge in spirits. Every citizen knew they had earned that right. The men thanked their hosts profusely for the delicious meal of game and roasted potatoes.

They rode off in the dark back to their hotel in Moreton-in-Marsh. Later, they lay in each others arms just as they had been when they woke up that morning. They felt a slight melancholy as they realized they only had one more full day left of this break from real life. The day after that they would have to board the train back to London and return to their barracks. But for now they still had tonight, tomorrow, and tomorrow night. Their minds and bodies may have been bone tired, but it didn't stop the lovers from renewing their overwhelming passion for each other again while they still could in this magical place. As they brought one another once more to that special moment that only true lovers can reach, they blocked off any other thoughts of being separated sometime in the future. For tonight they had this, their own special reality.

To be continued....................