Riding and Regrets (15 page)

Noel’s legs almost gave out on him.

Jody chuckled, then without any warning, he pushed his tongue into Noel’s ass.

“Fuck me,” Noel demanded, not sure if he meant with tongue or cock.

Jody decided it for him, burying that tongue in as deep as could be before pulling it out and doing it all again. He reached beneath Noel and resumed his hold on Noel’s shaft. Noel pushed back into every intrusion, thrilled to be rimmed again. It’d been a long time, and no one had ever been so focused on his pleasure as Jody was.

When Jody pushed a finger into him, Noel bit his lips to keep from shouting. There was no pain, it was simply knowing that Jody was doing it, was fingering him open.

Jody got the lube and opened it. Noel heard the wet sounds and the snap of the cap right before the cold stuff was applied to his pucker.

“Sorry about that,” Jody said when Noel hissed. Then there was more pressure, Jody adding two fingers. “Now where is that magic spot?”

Noel mewled when Jody found it. There was nothing quite like having his gland massaged. Noel couldn’t even describe it. The prior pleasure he’d felt was minute compared to the slowly building, rapturous sensation coming from the internal caresses over his gland.

“Jody, Jo, Jo, please,” he begged, hoping he was coherent, not able to be sure.

Except Jody moved around behind him, and there was the distinctive sound of a condom package being opened. Noel could have sobbed with relief.

“I’ve got you,” Jody said. “I told you, you showed me just how to do this right.”

“You have, so good,” Noel babbled.

Jody patted his hip. “I love it when you can’t speak right.” He pushed on Noel’s lower back. “Lay flat with one leg hitched up. I wanna fuck you hard.”

Another whimper escaped Noel and he got onto his belly with his left leg bent.

“Perfect,” Jody praised. “You have a beautiful ass.”

Noel might have preened if he didn’t so desperately need to be fucked.

Jody pushed his cheeks apart. “You tell me if you don’t like what I do.”

“I will,” Noel rasped. He pushed his butt up, begging silently.

Jody nudged his cock into place, then there was the stinging, glorious slide of his crown spreading Noel open. Jody dropped down over him and pinned Noel to the bed. A long, heavy moan followed Jody’s thrust. “You’re so tight,” Jody said. “So hot and tight.”

Noel couldn’t speak as that thick shaft was pushed farther into his ass. Jody covered him almost entirely, legs on his, groin to Noel’s ass, chest to his back. Jody kissed Noel’s shoulder blades then grunted as he buried his cock fully inside Noel’s body.

Noel clenched his buttocks just to prod at Jody’s control.

“Don’t,” Jody said in a strained voice. “Not unless you want me to fuck you hard.”

Duh.
Noel did it again and Jody cursed.

“Fuck, fuck, fuck.” Which is also what he did, driving into Noel with short, hard strokes that shoved him up the bed.

Noel put his hands out to press against the headboard. That gave him leverage to rock back into every thrust.

“Jesus, Noel,” he heard Jody say.

Noel needed to touch himself. He was burning for release. He risked getting fucked into the headboard, keeping only one hand on it as he wedged his other underneath him. The moment he gripped his dick, he knew he wasn’t going to last more than a few tugs.

“Jo, please,” he begged, wanting Jody to dive over the edge to bliss with him. He contracted his ass cheeks. Noel kept doing it, feeding off the animalistic grunts Jody made. He worked his shaft roughly and revelled in the sensations that were shooting from nerve to nerve.

Jody grabbed a handful of his hair and fucked him with even more force. Noel couldn’t hold on any longer. He gasped as white-hot pleasure tore through him.

“Yes,” Jody hissed, ramming in deep and shuddering. Noel was dimly aware of the jagged movements of Jody’s hips against his ass.

Finally, Jody stilled and relaxed on top of him. “My God, I can’t move.”

“Same.” Noel squeezed his cheeks again.

“Fuck!” Jody rolled off him, getting a hand down to where they were joined. Noel was glad he’d thought to hold onto the condom. He’d meant to remind Jody, but since his brain was all melty… The bed was too tempting, and sleep was calling his name. Noel let it take him, drifting off to the soothing sounds of Jody’s breath near his ear.

Chapter Eleven

Ian McCain looked like a badass, and he was. Jody also knew that he was a decent guy and Drake worshipped everything about him. Since Ian felt the same way about Drake, they could give anyone the warm fuzzies when they were being all cuddly with each other.

But when Ian was in cop mode, as he was while he and Noel were talking, he was almost scary in his intensity.

Ian balanced the phone in his hand. He hadn’t shown an ounce of emotion in his expression, yet Jody was sure the man was seething. Ian personified control. “I think you’ve got it right, unfortunately. Chances are we won’t be able to trace anything back to Clive Milner. I hate to say you wouldn’t have been taken at your word over the assault, but even with female BDSM participants, a lot of cops wouldn’t be able to do much. Unless there’s videotaped proof, and/or eyewitnesses, it’s a hard thing to prove. Even with those things, the defendant could argue, and possibly succeed in doing so, that the protests and use of the safe word were all part of the scene.” Ian tapped the phone screen. “If you had a contract in either of those situations, that might help, but this is just your word against his. While I believe you, it’s not enough for a DA to prosecute with.”

“But he’s making threats,” Jody pointed out. “You read them!”

“It’s proving Milner is the one doing it that’s the problem,” Ian explained patiently. “He could have had someone buy the phone for him, or bought it off some street vendor. If he was smart about it, we can’t trace these back to him.” Ian rubbed his chin and finally showed a change of expression, frowning as he turned the phone over in his other hand. “Honestly, the local cops out there might not do anything if we call them and ask to file a report. If the guy does have money, he could maybe have someone in the department in his pocket. It happens in any job. People are weak, they’re bought and sold without a care for loyalty and responsibility.”

“He’d be the type.” Noel shrugged. “After sleeping on it, I think I’ll ditch this phone number and…and see about getting some professional help. If Clive gets any kind of response from me, if he knows he’s getting to me, he’ll feed off that power. I won’t let him do that.”

“I can put you on my phone plan,” Jody offered. He could see the protest coming and barrelled past it. “Hear me out. I’m not offering to pay your bill, just add you to my plan. You pay the difference in what I’m paying now. I’ll give you the account password and you can log on and see the bill every month for yourself, make your part of the payment even. It ain’t charity.” He pressed a little more. “I’d like to think you’d be okay with letting me help, though.”

“That’d be a good idea, actually,” Ian said. “There’d be no record of you or your number that way. Not for that asshole to find, anyway.” Ian stood but didn’t hand the phone over. “If you don’t mind, I’d like to borrow this for a bit. Just because the cops can’t do anything officially doesn’t mean someone else might not be able to get Clive Milner off your back.”

“Take it.” Noel stood as well. “I don’t need any of the numbers. I know Aunt Gertie’s and Jody’s. Anyone else on there, I’m better off without hearing from ever again.”

Ian arched one white-blond brow at that, but he didn’t question Noel. “I’ll have it back to you soon.”

“Thanks,” Jody said as he walked Ian to the door. “Will you let Drake know we’ll be over to get Prissy in just a few minutes?”

“Take your time, if you want,” Ian responded. “They’re supposed to be making chocolate, vanilla and red velvet cupcakes. Maybe even lavender ones, if Drake has any love for me at all.”

Jody laughed. “Like he isn’t ass over tea kettle for you.”

And Ian smiled, one of his rare, full-on, made him model gorgeous smiles. “Yeah, he is.”

Ian left and Jody closed the door. He turned back to see Noel sitting on the couch again. “You okay?”

Noel looked at him. “I think so. Clive just freaked me out with those texts, and it sucks that he can’t be held responsible for them, but part of that’s on me. It is,” he stressed when Jody would have protested. “I shouldn’t have put up with his shit, Jo. Now I have to deal with the repercussions of my bad decisions. I’ll do so, and get past this.” He paused and looked uncertain for a moment.

“What is it?” Jody asked. He quickly strode over to Noel and sat with him.

Noel licked his lips, more a nervous action than anything else, Jody thought. Then Noel cleared his throat, and with a resolute expression, looked Jody in the eyes. “Tell me about Prissy. Why you don’t know how she was conceived.”

Jody couldn’t quell the nauseated sensation that took over in his belly. His fingers went numb and he was a little dizzy. He’d had the same reaction before a few times when he’d tried to parse out that night. Frankly, he was getting tired of it. “I really can’t remember,” Jody said. “I went to a party. A graduation party. I wasn’t eighteen yet, but I graduated a year early and my birthday’s July third. So, sixteen and stupid. And wanting to have fun. Had to sneak out my bedroom window, because I wasn’t allowed to do any of that sinful stuff. I think my dad suspected I was different in some way by then. He was awful hard on me. The harder he was, the more he punished me, the more determined I was to be the bad kid.”

Those memories made him wince. “Well, the bad kid he didn’t know I was. It wasn’t the first time I had sneaked out. I’d done it several times, went and had a little fun, then climbed back in my bedroom window. That night wasn’t any different. I can remember leaving, being excited about some big shindig at Jerry Pavelich’s house. He had some wild parties. Elena was there. She was at everything like that. I…” He closed his eyes and strained to dig up images from that night. There were flashes of faces, things that he couldn’t process. “I don’t know. I drank whatever alcohol concoction they were handing out, and I must have taken something else. Drugs weren’t my thing, but if I was drunk enough, I’d do stupid shit.”

“You think that’s what happened?” Noel asked. “You got messed up and ended up having sex?”

Jody opened his eyes. “Pretty much had to be, right? Prissy’s here. Sometimes I think I can remember things, like a girl’s voice kind of mocking me to… To… You know. Do it. Do her. Other voices too, and I—” Jody sighed and had to look away from Noel’s sympathetic gaze. “My best guess is, I was screwed up with whatever I’d taken and drunk. Maybe someone called me out on being gay or something like that. I didn’t want anyone to know ’cause my dad would surely have beaten me, possibly to death. He’s crazy hateful like that. There were some of my cousins there, and if they’d heard that stuff, about me maybe being gay, they’d have told. So I can see—not literally, but I can imagine—myself being prodded and teased and scared, and doing what I thought would throw everyone off my case.”

“Having sex with Elena.” Noel didn’t sound judgmental, merely as if he were stating a fact.

“I had to have.” Jody rubbed his stomach, wishing it’d calm down. “I think that’s what some of the flashes I get are. I get the feeling of being terrified and horrified and guilty. I hear a girl’s voice telling me to prove them all wrong, and sometimes I can—” Jody gulped, so close to a memory that he could almost taste it. “It’s like for a split second I feel my…my… Like I can remember being in… In there. In her.” Good Lord, he couldn’t even say it, but Noel knew what he meant.

“What about rumours and stuff? Didn’t anyone say anything about it after? The next day or week or—”

“I left,” Jody cut in with. “I told you there were some of my cousins there. Well, their daddy, my Uncle Tab, he showed up at some point. I only know this ’cause I was told it. He apparently showed up and all hell broke loose. He wasn’t as bad as my dad was, but he was pretty strict, too. Guess he made me and his kids leave, and I put up a fight at some point. Uncle Tab wrecked because I was trying to get a hold of the wheel. I killed him and his daughter, Mary. Left one of his sons with an amputated leg and the other I guess was okay. I was the only one buckled up, can you believe that?” Jody shook his head and let Noel draw him into a hug. “I don’t remember that either, just sometimes the sound of the impact when the truck hit the tree.”

“Jesus, Jo,” Noel murmured. “You didn’t kill him or Mary. Why weren’t they buckled? And who said you were trying to grab the wheel?”

“Arnold, my cousin,” Jody answered, sniffling when he couldn’t hold back the tears. “He told the cops that, but Dad made him recant as soon as he got there. He wasn’t going to have his family name ruined by the likes of me. After I was checked over and deemed battered but okay, Dad took me home and proceeded to beat the shit out of me, told me I was dead to him afterwards. He tied me to the bed, but I wasn’t as out of it as I pretended to be. I got the ropes off and went out the window again. Ain’t ever been back.”

“Why would you go back?” Noel held him tighter. “What a mess. Where was your mom in all of this?”

Jody couldn’t hold back his bitterness. “She was right there at Dad’s side, always the good submissive wife. She never intervened when Dad got violent. Said it was his right.”

“They stuck in the eighteen hundreds? What kinda crap is that?”

“It’s just the way they are. So I left. Had some money I’d saved up, and I worked at fast food places here and there. Made my way as far from Texas as I could get.” Jody shuddered and pressed his cheek to Noel’s chest. “I’d always wanted to see snow. Never had any in the part of Texas I grew up in. I knew how to work on a ranch, though, and Montana, well it always seemed like cowboy country to me. I got here and never wanted to leave, and the opportunity to work on the Mossy Glenn seemed like some cosmic sign that I was right to come here.”

Noel pushed the hair off Jody’s brow. “How’d your sister find you?”