Free Rough Ride by Laura Baumbach

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DECEMBER 22, 2006
    Rough Ride
    by Laura Baumbach
    The world swirled and spun out of control for James, reduced to a dizzying, white blur dotted with occasional glimpses of Bram's laughing face and the dark outline of nearby trees.

The early winter sun was just rising and its dim efforts put a warm, golden glow on the surrounding snow-covered woods and hillside. At just barely sunrise on a Sunday morning, they were the only two people braving the cold and ice.

The glow spun and looped as James did the same, carried down a steep hard-packed slope at the what he swore were speeds higher than his car ever achieved on the road. Seated on one side of a double inner tube, he bounced and slid, spinning and flopping along, leather-gloved hands clinging to what felt like too flimsy, rubber handles on either side of the giant tube.

The other side of the tube was amazing steady, its high lip and deep hole filled to overflowing and weighed down with Bram's massive bulk. The tall, broad, beefy man wore a dazzling grin and his pale blue eyes matched the blue threads in his Norwegian print wool sweater that was stretched over his broad, barrel chest. His cheeks were a cheery red from the wind, and his honey blond hair was tousled over his forehead, creating the perfect canvas to highlight James' favorite feature on his lover, Bram's charming and oh-so-seductive lopsided smile.

He catch a glimpse of that smile as he careened sideways and rose a foot in the air. Arching over a particularly big hump in the long slick trail, James bounced hard and lost his grip on the tube.

Becoming airborne, James yelped and scramble for a hold but his reaching hands meet empty space for several long seconds before a pair of strong restraining arms plucked him from his free fall. He landed with a thunk and a thud sprawled across Bram's lap and chest.

“Holy shit!” His breath slammed out of him, James grunted and concentrated on not smacking noses with Bram.

The tube twisted, jetted off another small ramp of snow and hit down hard. Suddenly unbalanced, both James and Bram were thrown off the rubber ring. They rolled and slid a dozen feet down the ice-crusted run, James tightly clasped to Bram's chest. They came to a stop in a mound of snow, the empty tube skittering pass them, a blur of twirling black. 

James rested on top of Bram's heaving chest then suddenly found himself buried in the mound of lighter snow as Bram rolled them over pinning James comfortably under him.

Snow clung to Bram's hair and eyelashes, his breath a frosty mint puff of warmth only inches from James' panting mouth. His pale blue eyes crinkles at the corner with laughter and his handsome, broad face was an enticing combination of light morning stubble and soft, tempting lips.

“Jesus! That was crazy. You did that as a kid?” James smacked one gloved fist into Bram's shoulder then hung on tightly to the sweater under his fist. “What were you, suicidal?”

“Nah, just
tough
, baby.” Bram shook his hair and snow flew in all directions, most of it into James' face.

“Asshole.” James sputtered, chuckling. He shook his head to brush off the flakes, but only made more fall onto them from the surrounding drifts.  

Bram's laughter was soft and carefree, the deep joyous sound echoing off the surrounding woods and vibrating through James' body. Pressed chest to chest and groin to groin each wiggle of Bram's large, heavy body on top of his dug James deeper into the snow bank.

The unexpected touch of icy cold fingers touched James' skin and he yelped and squirmed, rubbing their lower abdomens together in his startled frenzy. 

“Shit! Get up. Snow's going down the back of my pants!” He wiggled some more to slip out from under his lover.

“Lucky snow.” Pinning James in place instead, Bram's slid one muscular thigh between James' legs and did a little wiggling of his