i c4f188f9be10333d (27 page)

"We need another shower."

"Can do that. After a nap." Tor wrapped his arms around him and Jake snuggled into him, one leg hooking over Tor's thighs, one arm circling his waist.

"Okay. Nap first. Then shower. Then supper. Then bed."

He'd thought Tor was asleep he'd gotten so quiet so fast, then he heard a whisper in his ear. "Remember last year? When I ran and came back?"

"Yeah." Of course he did. But he made a point not to think about that period; it was past and things had been dealt with. It didn't matter anymore.

"Said I couldn't promise you forever." Tor whispered, his arm tightening around Jake, hand stroking his side. "Want to now. Forever, anything you want. All of me."

Jake froze for a moment, his head suddenly spinning. "You what?" Jake whispered.

Bareback

179

"I want to be with you. Always." Tor shifted a little beside him. "It's like…you claimed me. You marked me and told me I'm yours. And that's good. Then I claimed you, fucked you hard enough you damn near passed out, bit you and said you belong to me, right?"

Jake nodded.

"This time…this time I'm offering. Jake, if you want me, I'm yours. Do anything I can for you, be everything you need. Give myself to you, forever." Tor's voice cracked, and Jake sat up, looking at him.

Jake traced Tor's jaw with a finger, taking in the shining eyes, the curve of his lips, the lines and marks, the tiny white scar just below his hairline.

"I love you," he said.

180

Bareback

Chapter Thirty

When they got the motel Jake shucked his coat and boots, tossed his hat on the dresser next to Tor's and flopped on the bed. Tor went to take a shower.

Jake reached over and grabbed the phone book off the nightstand and started looking up tattoo parlours and piercing places, making a mental list of places to call in the morning for hours and prices. When the list got to more than five he got up and hunted for a pen and paper. When Tor didn't get out of the shower he started calling.

By the time the water shut off and Tor wandered out with a towel around his waist, Jake's face was flaming red from asking the questions three times and he'd decided that they could just pick a place from what he'd found out. No way was he asking another stranger how much it would be to get a steel ring through his dick.

Jake threw himself onto the bed again and winced. "That? Was not fun. But I did it."

Tor looked over the sheet of paper and grinned. "You're a strong man, Taggart."

The grin grew wicked as Tor slid a hand over Jake's thigh. "But are you strong enough to do it?"

Jake stared at him. Standing there in a towel, water droplets still clinging to his chest, hair damp, Tor looked delicious. And he looked like he was enjoying Jake's embarrassment a little too much.

Jake sat up suddenly and lunged, tearing the towel away. "Strong enough to make sure

*you* do it. Make this real pretty for me."

Tor gasped when Jake's hand closed around him, the sound turning into a moan as Jake played. "You…ah…better enjoy it now; aftercare is going to be a bitch on our sex life."

Jake didn't even look up to meet his eye, just kept stroking Tor's cock, feeling the weight and heat of it in his hand. "Then I better get what I want while I can," he said, sliding his fingers back, over Tor's balls, letting his thumb rub over the head of the rapidly filling shaft. "Gonna be so pretty," he repeated.

Tor swore softly as Jake shifted on the bed for a better angle and started to lick at him.

Jake just grinned to himself and nuzzled Tor's balls, lost in the heat and smell of his man.

Clean and muted, he could still catch the flavor of him, still find the traces of Tor's scent, hidden behind soap and shampoo.

Bareback

181

He felt something uncurl in his belly, hunger and need starting to build. Nothing had ever gotten to him as fast as Tor could, just by being there. Naked helped too.

He made a soft noise, heard his own hunger in the sound. Tor must have heard it too, because he dropped a hand to Jake's head, gentle at first as he ran his fingers through Jake's hair, then harder, more forceful as he tried to guide Jake's mouth. "Don't tease," he murmured.

Jake teased. Barely there licks until he was about going mad himself, hard in his jeans, pushing into the bed. He traced the ridge with his tongue, tasting the beginning of Tor's passion, then took the head in his mouth, unable to keep himself going slowly.

"Yeah," Tor whispered, trying to thrust into his mouth. Jake moved his head back, not letting Tor take what he wanted. He sucked gently, playing his tongue over the swollen flesh in light passes meant to torture.

He was taken by surprise when Tor stepped back, pulling away. He looked up, confused, eyes widening a split second before Tor pushed him back, Tor's own eyes hungry. He didn't even try to regain control when Tor kissed him, hard and demanding, fingers working at the buttons to his jeans.

Tor didn't waste any time, undressing him quickly, the movements jerky and as harsh as his kisses, a low growl coming from the back of his throat. Jake responded, his hips wiggling as they peeled his jeans off. He started to pull his shirt off, but Tor forced him back on the bed, moving around him, stroking his thighs and laying down biting kisses on his belly and hips.

"Teach you to tease," Tor growled, then Tor fell on him, mouth hot and wet as it surrounded him in one fluid movement, taking him in deep.

"Oh God," Jake gasped, hands scrabbling over Tor's back, hips pushing up hard. "Good."

Tor made an affirmative noise and sucked him once, then let go. "Gonna make this really fun?" he asked, one eyebrow up.

Jake blinked at him. Fun? Well, yeah. But Tor’d stopped, and that wasn't any fun at all.

Then Tor raised the other eyebrow and wiggled his hips, next to Jake's shoulders. When had he done that?

"Taggart." Tor sounded exasperated. Jake felt exasperated. The man had *stopped*. Tor wiggled again and Jake suddenly realized he'd stopped too. Oops.

"You want something?" he asked, and not waiting for a reply–Lord knew the man was capable of getting pissy and might just roll over and go to sleep on him–he made a grab for Tor's butt and sucked that hard cock in, as smooth as he could.

182

Bareback

Tor, to give the man credit, didn't play games with him, just swallowed him down and set to making Jake's brains melt.

It was good. It was always good, but this…both of them working together, feeding off each other's hunger, following each other's lead…it was like a sensory loop that made everything more intense, each lick and pull mirrored. Jake could feel what he was doing to Tor, could give back what he was taking. They were in sync, and it was amazing.

Tor's mouth possessed him, tongue and lips and throat working him hard, making his hips move without conscious thought. He figured that was okay though, Tor's own hips were feeding him Tor's prick, the hard flesh sliding between his lips faster and faster.

Tor groaned around him, the vibration settling into his spine. Jake answered it, and Tor jerked. Jake had never been able to take Tor as deep as he wanted–Tor was just better at that than he was, but he relaxed as much as he could, trying to open for Tor.

Tor grew hungrier as he pushed into Jake's throat, his hands on Jake's ass, pulling him in.

Jake tried to keep his suction smooth, tried to lick and suck and keep some sort of rhythm for Tor, but he knew what was coming and could already feel his balls draw up tight in anticipation.

Tor's tongue moved over him, fast and hard in that strange twisting motion that Jake could feel in the bottom of his feet. Then he was sucked in, down Tor's throat, and he knew he was going to come, knew there was no way to stop it.

Tor would do it once more, or he would groan, or he would do *something*, and Jake would lose it. He wanted to take Tor with him. He wanted Tor to come with him, or damn near it, and there was no way he was going to be able to manage it, his mouth already sloppy on Tor's cock, his body already starting to shake. He held on tight and willed his orgasm away, just long enough.

His hands slid over Tor's back and hips, clinging and stroking at the same time. He stroked Tor's balls with his fingers, hot and heavy, the skin so soft. Back further, his own hips jerking now, so fucking close as Tor played him.

He teased one hand over Tor's ass, the motion light and fluttering until his fingertips danced across the entrance Tor’s body, and Tor twitched, his own rhythm screwed up for a moment.

Jake didn't hesitate, didn't even really think about it. Tor groaned around him, and he pushed two fingers into Tor's body and thrust hard, so fucking close…

Tor pushed back, his body jerking as he came, a growl sending another vibration through Jake's body. When Jake felt Tor's come fill his mouth he shuddered and stiffened, meeting Tor pulse for pulse as he came as well, the loop feeding itself.

Bareback

183

He sucked and licked, tasting and cleaning and loving on his man until he rolled over onto his back and shuddered again.

"Gonna fucking kill me, Jake." Tor's voice was lazy and satiated.

Jake smiled, utterly boneless. "Nope. Just gonna keep you."

~*~*~

It'd hurt. Fuck, had it hurt. But not for long, and not as bad as the tattoo did–or at least it faded fast enough that the tattoo seemed worse. But when it was done he'd still let some stranger named Gus (or was it Russ?) stick a needle through his dick and now he had a metal ring at the tip that he couldn't really forget about.

Well, he could. He could move and do stuff, and work, and it didn't hurt, and he didn't really think about it. But if he had to piss? Had to change clothes, take a shower, or Heaven help him, if he kissed Tor? He knew it was there.

Not healed yet, and even Tor wasn't so eager to fuck that he'd rush this. No, Tor was just so eager to fuck that he couldn't sleep in the same bed with him, so he'd taken off to sleep in the hayloft. Stupid cowboy. Could have stayed in bed and watched what Jake was doing.

Jake thought about Tor watching him do this, and he watched the light glint off the ring in his cock, and he thought about the ring in Tor's cock. And his hand moved faster. He watched the little bit of steel, and thought about what it was, what it meant, and he had to bite his lip as his hips began to lift off the bed, pushing himself into his hand. He thought vaguely about what it would feel like in a couple of days, when Tor could fuck him and he'd feel it deep inside him, and he felt empty. Too damn empty.

He didn't stop stroking as he reached for the lube, just slowed down a little. He needed.

He was hard, and it hurt, and that piece of metal was going to drive him out of his fucking mind, and he was so goddamn ready to blow all it would take was a stiff breeze across the head of his cock.

What he got was his own thumb brushing the metal, and his own fingers up his ass, but it was enough to make him cry out as he came, and enough for Tor to swear from the doorway where he'd been watching, and it was enough for Tor to buck against air as he tried to undo his jeans before he came. He didn't.

184

Bareback

Chapter Thirty-one

Jake had spent all day watching Tor. Well, most of the day. In theory he was herding the cattle to the northern fields along with the rest of the crew. But it was hard to keep himself entirely focussed during the moments when the damn cows were actually behaving themselves for once and heading in the right direction. When he wasn’t busy keeping the herd together, Jake’s eyes automatically found Tor, no thought required.

It was Tor’s favorite part of the job, Jake knew. Outside, on horseback…Tor played at the whole thing with the same passion he brought to their bed; his face and body were animated, his voice clear and happy. Tor was made to be a cowboy.

Jake was made to watch Tor.

It was late afternoon when they’d gotten the herd moved, and no one wasted time heading back to the ranch. Those in the trucks left first, those on horseback right behind them.

Jake could hear voices calling out, making plans for the weekend, everyone sounding pleased with the day’s work and relatively early end. It was a good day to be alive.

Jake moved River up beside Lug and grinned at Tor. “How about you? Got plans for the weekend?” he asked.

“Oh yeah. Got big plans.” Tor’s eyes were dark, and Jake wasn’t at all surprised to see the clear outline of Tor’s prick, already hard in his jeans. It was that kind of day.

Jake chuckled, shifting in his saddle. “How big?” Need was starting to unfurl in his belly, sharp edged and shiny bright.

Tor flashed him a look, all heat and hunger. “You know how big. And you know how long. You wanna know where?”

Jake’s grin grew as Tor turned Lug to the west, breaking off from the rest of the crew.

“Tor?” he asked in a light tone. “Where’re you going?”

“Shut up and come on.”

Oh good. Tor’s patience for waiting while they finished healing up was gone. Jake shivered and followed along, nudging River into a fast canter. It didn’t take them long to get there, Tor riding Lug right to the middle of the meadow. It took only a few moments to dismount and see to the horses, then Tor was on him, body plastered to Jake’s, his mouth as possessive as his hands.

Bareback

185

They struggled with buttons and shirtsleeves, getting tied up and tangled, but not really willing to stop kissing long enough to separate and do the job right. Tor’s mouth was hot, his tongue everywhere, tasting and teasing along Jake’s neck, pushing deep into his mouth. Hot and desperate and so fucking sexy that Jake was already making short desperate sounds as he pushed back against Tor’s hands.

“Gonna fuck you, Taggart,” Tor said hoarsely, his hips grinding against Jake’s.

Jake shuddered. It had been weeks. Too long. Far too long. “Sure we’re ready? All healed up?”

“Maybe you better check,” Tor said, one hand going to Jake’s shoulder and pushing him to his knees.