[mood music]

Kurt spent the next morning with Rachel and Britany who had discovered that the ranch had a quasi-spa.  That is, they had a massage therapist, an aesthetician, and an acupuncturist who came to the ranch once a week to see to any guests who wanted their services.  Kurt availed himself to all of them and felt like a new (loose limbed) man (with very clear pores) by lunch time. 

As the three of them were sitting down to lunch (with Santana dropping by their table more often than was strictly necessary to see to their--or more, specifically, Britanys--comfort), the door opened and a beautiful older woman walked in.  She was stylishly dressed and professionally coiffed, and the staff ran to her like a long lost friend. 

"Oh my gosh, Kurt, do you know who that is?" Rachel asked, bouncing up and down in her seat. 

"Yes, of course I do," Kurt replied, his eyes never leaving the woman who he couldnt believe he was seeing on the ranch.

"Its Shelby Corcoran!" Rachel supplied. 

"Yes, I know," Kurt shot back. 

"Shes a three-time Tony Award winner, Kurt!" 

"I know that, Rachel." 

"Shes amazing!"

"I know that, Rachel." 

"I saw her in Rent."

"I was with you, Rachel." 

"And Wicked."

"I was with you then, too, Rachel."

"And she got a Tony for If/Then."

"I know, Rachel." 

"She owns the ranch," Britany supplied. 

Rachel and Kurt turned to Britany with their mouths open. 

"Are you serious?" asked Rachel. 

Britany nodded.  "She fell in love with a rancher, and she left New York to marry him and move here.  It was very romantic." 

"Oh my gosh," Rachel replied, "I think I remember reading something about that.  They said..."

Rachel was interrupted by the arrival of Shelby Corcoran and Santana at their table.  "Hello," Ms. Corcoran smiled widely at them.  "Im Shelby, and Im so delighted that youre staying at the KB Ranch.  I hope that everything is to your satisfaction."

"Its just wonderful, Ms. Corcoran.  Were so delighted to meet you.  My friend Kurt and I are such huge fans," Rachel enthused as Kurt nodded agreement. 

"Arent you nice?  Call me Shelby, please." 

"Shelby," Santana told her, "this is Rachel Berry and Kurt Hummel from New York and Britany Pierce from Cambridge." 

"Its nice to meet all of you.  I do hope youll join us tonight.  Were going to have a local band in and do some dancing.  Its a nice time with the guests and staff, and some of our neighbors usually drop by, too."

"Will you be singing, Ms...er, Shelby?" Rachel asked. 

"Santana tells me that Kurt and you are students at NYADA," Shelby answered.  "You must be very talented.  I suppose I might be persuaded if Kurt and you would also consider doing a number."

"Wed love to," Rachel responded quickly.  Then she bit her lip and looked at Kurt, "Wont we, Kurt?"

"I would never stand between Rachel and a stage," Kurt joked. "I value my life too much."

Shelby laughed, "I was just like her once."

The words went straight to Kurts heart.  This amazing, talented woman had given up all of her Broadway dreams to live on a ranch with a cowboy.  It sounded crazy, but maybe it wasnt so crazy after all.  Kurt had always wanted to be a star, but now he wanted something else--two things that were mutually exclusive.  Could he give up New York for the high desert of Idaho to be with Blaine?  Would Blaine even want him to? 

The group exchanged pleasantries for a little longer before Shelby left to greet other guests.  Kurt and Rachel discussed duet options, and eventually they decided to do a trio with Britany, who it turned out could sing, too. 

Kurt spent the rest of the day thinking deep thoughts.

--KB--

The evening was fun.  All of the guests and the staff who were in attendance threw themselves whole-heartedly into the occasion.  The small band was terrific, and they were happily amenable to serving mostly as instrumentalists for the large number of people at the dance who wanted to sing. 

Kurt and Rachel sang together, individually, and with Britany.  Shelby sang by herself and then sang a duet with Rachel, much to Rachels extreme delight.  Tina and Mike sang a duet.  Sam sang a solo.  Santana sang, and then Rachel and Kurt persuaded her to sing a duet with Britany, which made Santana flush prettily. 

Kurt was on the dance floor with Rachel when the door opened, and Blaine walked in.  Kurts steps faltered. 

He looked as good as any man Kurt had ever seen.  He was wearing a white linen shirt, buttoned down the front and rolled up at the sleeves, revealing tanned forearms.  His shirt was tucked into dark-washed jeans that hugged his slim hips and made him look taller than he was.  His boots were polished to a gleam, and his hair was gelled back lightly to keep the curls in place. 

Kurt was about to excuse himself from Rachels clutches and walk to Blaine when Shelby, who was singing, stopped mid-song to announce, "Hey, everyone, Blaines here."

All heads swiveled in Blaines direction, and Kurt heard a lot of murmuring from the staff.  At that moment, Kurt realized that Blaine wasnt usually in attendance at lodge dances.  He caught Blaines eyes, and Blaine--who looked decidedly uncomfortable at having all eyes on him--started toward him haltingly. 

"Blaine, why dont you give us a song?" Shelby called, just as Blaine reached Kurts side. Blaines head snapped up and looked at the makeshift stage with something like longing, but he shook his head. 

The staff began encouraging Blaine, as well. 

"Please?" Santana called. 

"Cmon, Blaine," Sam echoed.  

Kurt put a hand on Blaines forearm and leaned away from Rachel to whisper in Blaines ear, "Please, my darling." 

Blaine looked at Kurt for a long moment, and then he gave a single nod of his head to Shelby and headed for the stage. 

Kurt expected Blaine to take the violin from the bands fiddle player, but, instead, Blaine divested another musician of his guitar.  Pulling a stool up to the microphone, he began strumming the introduction to a song that Kurt didnt know, but he recognized the genre as country. 

Looking directly at Kurt, Blaine opened his mouth and sang:      

If I had taken the time to write down a few lines

Every time that you crossed this heart of mine,

Id put them all in a book.  How much time would that have took?

The word and years have a way of slipping by.

Oh, no!  Too bad.  There goes the chance that I had. 

I could have written a play so sweet and so funny,

Given old Mr. Shakespeare a run for his money. 

Written the words to the prettiest tune that would never leave a dry eye in the room.

My only excuse for not doing enough, well, I was too busy falling in love.

Yes, I was too busy, falling in love. 

Kurts heart stopped at the lyrics.  There was no doubt that Blaine was singing to him, and only to him.  Blaine was falling in love?  With Kurt?  Kurt had never been in love before, and he didnt know how it felt.  They hadnt known each other very long.  But as Kurt thought about it, swaying to the music with Rachel in his arms, he realized that he, too, had been falling in love since the moment he opened the hotel room door and saw Blaine standing there, looking so uncertain. 

As the song slowly came to an end, Kurt looked up at Blaine and smiled.  Blaine smiled back. 

--KB--

The rest of the evening was a blur to Kurt.  They all continued to dance, and Blaine danced with all of the women guests and most of the staff, as did Kurt.  Everybody took turns singing a couple more times, and the music varied from rock standards to show tunes to a little more country music than Kurt ordinarily would have liked, but it fit well with the occasion. 

Finally, the lead singer for the band, who had graciously relinquished his microphone most of the night called, "Folks, this is the last song, so grab your honeys and swing out onto the dance floor for one last slow number.  Lets do a little Garth Brooks." 

"Give me a whirl, hot stuff?" Santana asked Blaine.  They were all sitting at a big, round table with Kurt, Rachel, Britany, Sam, Tina and Mike. 

Blaine shook his head.  "I think you should dance with Britany."

Santanas cheeks flushed, and Britany looked at her expectantly.  "Blaine..." Santana said warningly. 

Blaine cut her off, "I think you should dance with Britany, and I should dance with Kurt."

Kurts mouth fell open in surprise.  Hed wanted to dance with Blaine all night, but he didnt want to scandalize the guests or potentially put Blaines job in jeopardy.  Shelby had been a Broadway star and was unlikely to be upset by seeing two men together, but she still had a business to protect. 

"Do it." Blaine said in a low voice that brooked no argument. 

Santana stood on shaky legs and held out a hand to Britany.  "Brit, may I have this dance?"

Britany beamed at Santana and bounced to her feet.  She put her hand in Santanas.  "Yes," she smiled. 

At seeing that, Blaine, who was smiling as broadly as Kurt had ever seen him, rose from his seat and came around to stand behind Kurts chair.  Leaning down, he put his mouth close to Kurts ear and asked, "Dance with me, sweetheart?" 

Kurts heart swelled, and he, too, rose on legs that were shaking to take Blaines hand.  Blaine led them to the dance floor and put one hand on Kurts waist.  With the other hand, he took Kurts, and pressed both of their hands to his chest. 

As they swayed to the music, pressed tightly together, Kurt asked Blaine, "Did you mean what you said in that song?"

There was no answer for a long time, and Kurt didnt dare move his head to look at Blaine.  He couldnt bear to look at Blaine with love and not see it reflected back at him.  However, Blaine moved his own head back and Kurt couldnt help being caught in his eyes. 

"I love you, Kurt," Blaine said softly.  "I know its too soon, and youre leaving, but I love you.  I do." 

Kurt danced a few steps with Blaine, just looking in him eyes.  Then he smiled softly and said, "I love you, too, my darling." 

--KB--

The staff stayed to clean up after the dance, and Kurt and Rachel joined them.  As Kurt was taking out a bag of trash, he noticed a look between Rachel and Sam.  Kurt smiled.  It has been a long time since Rachel had been with a man, and Sam was a nice guy with a great body.  Kurt hoped they would have a fun-filled rest of the evening. 

Kurt also noticed that, as they finished up the last of the cleaning, Santana had taken Britanys hand and led her outside, presumably to Santanas apartment in the bunkhouse.  Kurt also saw that Shelby had noticed, but she only gave a small smile of approval. 

Kurt felt a hand on the small of his back, and he turned slightly to see Blaine smiling at him, "Come back to my room, my love?"

Kurt smiled back at Blaine, "I thought youd never ask." 

Linking his fingers with Kurts, they walked out of the lodge and into the cooling, dark night.  When they got to the bunkhouse, Blaine opened the door, but instead of walking in or stepping aside so that Kurt could enter, Blaine swept up Kurt in his arms.  Kurt let out a surprised squeak, but he wrapped his arms around Blaines neck and let himself be carried into the room. 

Blaine kicked the door shut with his boot. 

Dropping Kurt onto the bed, he fell on top of him, eliciting an "oof" from Kurt.  Blaine grinned down into Kurts face, "Im crazy about you."

"Im crazy about you, too.  Now are you going to just lie there crushing me, or are you going to make love to me?" Kurt asked, teasingly. 

Blaine kissed Kurts neck.  "Well, lets just see, he teased back. 

He slid his body up Kurts a little so that he could capture his lips with his own.  They kissed until they were both breathless and moaning, and their bodies were straining against each other.  Then Blaine began kissing down Kurts body, removing Kurts clothing as he went and licking and sucking on the skin he exposed in the process. 

Kurt tried to take off some of Blaines clothing, but Blaine grabbed Kurts wrists and placed his hands firmly on the bed.  Clearly, he planned to be in charge this time.  It was a complete reversal for them.  Although they had made love several times after the first time, Blaine had always looked to Kurt to take the lead.  Now Blaine was in control, and Kurt was loving that he had found yet another facet of this endlessly fascinating cowboy. 

Once Kurt was completely naked--and Blaine was still completely clothed--Blaine pushed Kurt over onto his stomach.  Kurt rolled over with ambivalence.  He didnt want to stop looking at his gorgeous lover, but he was also anxious to feel Blaine inside him.  Settling into a prone position, Kurt expected to hear the rustle of Blaine removing his clothes or the tell-tale click of a lube bottle being opened.  Instead, he felt Blaine part his cheeks, and then Blaines tongue was licking down Kurts ass, swirling around his hole and trailing down his perineum to his balls. 

Kurt nearly came off the bed, and Blaine had to put a hand on his back to steady him. 

Kurt was certainly familiar with rimming as a concept, but he had never done it before or had it done to him.  Honestly, it had seemed a bit...much before that night.  Even now, Kurt felt a little self-conscious about how sweaty he was from all the dancing, but, as Blaine slowly began opening him with his tongue and driving Kurt insane with desire, Kurt realized that he was experiencing a level of intimacy that he would likely never achieve with another man. 

And Kurt didnt want another man.  He wanted this man.  The lyrics from a song he had heard that night came to his mind:  forever and ever, amen. 

"I love you," he moaned into the pillow. 

"I love you, too," Blaine replied in halting stages between licking and sucking Kurt to ecstasy. 

Just when Kurt thought he couldnt take it one minute longer, he finally did hear the rustle of clothing and the click of a lube bottle.  Then Blaine was opening Kurt even further with his fingers, continuing to torture Kurt with his talented, talented tongue, until Kurt cried, "Please, Blaine," in a broken voice.

Then Blaine rolled Kurt over onto his back, and Kurts legs fell open as Blaine covered him with his body, sliding up for one long, dirty kiss before entering Kurt with a few strong strokes.  Clinging to each other ferociously, they moved together in rhythm until they couldnt take it anymore, and Kurt cried out, "Blaine!" as he came between them.  It pushed Blaine over the edge, and as Kurt came down from his post-orgasm haze, he felt Blaine pulsing inside of him as he, too, cried out, "My love, my love!" 

Kurt had never been happier in his life. 

--KB--

Some indefinable time later, as they were lying under the sheets tangled in each others arms, there was a sharp rap at the door, and it swung open. 

Kurt wondered briefly if none of the bunkhouse doors had locks. 

Framed in the moonlight in the doorway was Shelby.  She had changed clothes into a pair of sweats, and her hair was disheveled as though she had run her hands through it over and over.  Her mouth was set in a grim line. 

"Mr. Hummel...Kurt," she said, "I would very much like to talk to you tomorrow, if you would be so kind as to make the time.  Ill be in my office all day."

Kurt nodded dumbly. 

Then she turned to Blaine, "And as for you, Blaine," she said with a slightly harder edge to her voice, "I expect to see you in my study first thing in the morning.  We need to talk."

Blaine looked at her and nodded, "Sure, Mom."