Strung Up: A Blacktop Cowboys® Novella (7 page)

That’s when the tingling started at the base of my spine.

Too soon. I wasn’t ready for this to end. It felt like we’d just started.

“Cres.” Breck nudged my chin up and nipped my jawline with firm-lipped bites. “Undo our jeans. Rub your cock against mine. Skin on skin.”

I wanted the heat and hardness. The urgency. The musky scent of spunk and sweat.

He knew I was about to give in and he did the one thing that’d guarantee it. He whispered, “Please.”

I pushed myself up and scooted back so my knees bracketed the outside of his thighs.

Breck rose up to rest on his elbows, so he could watch me unbuckle and unzip him. His chest was damp, billowing in and out as he rolled his pelvis so I could tug his jeans and briefs down to his shins. My knuckles smacked into the top of his boot shaft, startling me. We’d been so crazed for each other we hadn’t taken off our boots.

Time to rectify that.

I hopped off the bed.

His right eyebrow winged up. “Goin’ someplace?”

I grabbed the heel of his right boot and lifted, yanking it off his foot. Repeated it on the left side.

Grinning, I pantsed him.

Then I undid my belt and unzipped before I crawled back between his legs.

His smile faded. “Why am I mostly naked and you’re not?”

I flattened my palms by his head, keeping my body in a pushup position over his as I brushed my lips over the divot in his chin. “I want you feelin’ the friction from the denim scraping the inside of your thighs as I’m grinding on you.” My lips traveled up to his ear. “I want you to hear the buckle on my belt clanking as I’m moving above you.” I sank my teeth into his earlobe and he arched up. “I want you to remember this. I don’t want to be another anonymous quickie fuck, Breck.”

Where the hell had that come from? I sounded possessive and commanding. As if I expected this to be more than a one-time blowjob and rub off.

“You never were that, Cres, even when that’s all you were supposed to be.” Breck jerked my jeans and boxer briefs down to the middle of my thighs. He followed the crease of my ass up, ending at my lower back.

When he reached between us and his knuckles grazed my balls, I started like a frightened rabbit. It’d been a lifetime since any hand beside my own had touched my cock.

He stroked me and stared into my face, his fierce eyes issuing a challenge. “You sure you don’t wanna straddle my face so I can suck you off?”

“Still topping from below.” I lowered my pelvis, forcing him to let go of my dick. I hissed in a breath when our cocks touched and adjusted my hips so the rim of his cockhead caught on mine with every upstroke.

“Oh, fuck. That’s…” He groaned as I rubbed my rigid shaft over the sweet spot below the head of his cock.

“Still want me to stop and fuck your mouth?” I whispered against his temple.

“No. Goddamn you’re good at this. Don’t ever fucking stop.” His fingers dug into my ass and he tilted his head to conquer my mouth in a sizzling kiss.

That dizzying sense of urgency assailed me and I began to move with more enthusiasm than finesse.

Wet mouths, hot, hard, damp bodies in motion. The heated scent of his skin, the addicting taste of his mouth proved to be too much and I teetered on the edge.

He pumped his hips, his body shaking beneath mine. “I need it faster.”

“Do it.”

Clamping his big fist around both of our dicks, he jerked us off. “Fuck. Yes.”

I started to come, his name on my lips as I shot my load in hot bursts of ass clenching pleasure.

His sexy grunts of satisfaction followed.

After my cock quit twitching and the buzzing in my head faded, I collapsed on top of him. Burying my face in the crook of his neck, my lips searching for the spot on his throat where his pulse always jumped wildly.

But it wasn’t there, next to his voice box.

I murmured, “That was a nice change of pace.”

The body below mine shook with humor. “Nice? That was fucking spectacular.”

I froze.

Not Mick’s voice—he never swore.

I inhaled.

Not Mick’s scent—he always wore cologne.

And because I was either losing my mind or a fucking masochist, when I licked the skin beneath my lips, it wasn’t the clean taste of Mick’s sweat. This was earthier. More…primal.

I scrambled upright so fast my cock jerked free from the hand surrounding it with enough force my balls stung from the sharp pain.

Then I was staring into slumberous blue eyes, not brown.

The smile on the full red lips was decidedly cocky, not sweet.

Holy fuck.

Since Breck wore that sated look…maybe he hadn’t heard me saying another man’s name when I spurted all over his hand.

Shame burned through me.

I was off the bed and fastening my jeans and belt before Breck knew anything was wrong.

So very wrong.

“Cres? What’s goin’ on?”

“I can’t do this. I’m sorry. I’ve gotta go.”

“What? Jesus. Just wait a damn minute.”

But I didn’t.

I ran out like a fucking coward.

Chapter Four

Breck

The next morning I went looking for Sutton Grant.

Most of the staff had stayed over after the party last night. And I knew from Berlin’s complaints that London wasn’t an early riser so chances were good they were still around.

The tricky part would be asking Sutton what was wrong with his brother without rousing his suspicions. I wasn’t sure Cres would appreciate being linked to me given the fact he’d run out on me.

Chapped my ass every time I thought about it.

The construction workers had already disassembled the biggest tent and were packing up chairs. I cut across the road to the cafeteria.

Sure enough, Sutton held court by the buffet.

I sauntered over to the industrial coffee urn and filled a cup.

The guys wrapped up their conversation as soon as I approached them. The paranoia still lingered that people were talking about me when a discussion abruptly ended if I was within earshot.

“Morning,” I said to Sutton.

“Hey, Breck.” He pointed with his chin to my cup of coffee. “Fair warning that London made the coffee. It’s got a serious kick.”

I looked around for her. “Where is your better half?”

“Helping Grandma Berlin fill my truck with more shit for Brennen. I swear we could open a damn toy store with all the stuff both sets of his grandparents buy him.”

“You’re not really complaining, buddy.”

Sutton smiled. “Only when I have to haul it and set it up. But the look on my boy’s face is worth it.” He paused. “What’s goin’ on with you?”

“Just wandering around. It appears the open house was a success.”

“Thank God it’s over. Now I’ll get my wife back. She’s been stayin’ here three nights a week getting ready for it.”

“Shame she’s not teachin’.” I hid my smirk behind my cup.

“Bite your damn tongue,” he shot back. “The woman’s temperament is better suited to workin’ with horses than people.”

“Looked like London was tearin’ it up last night.”

“Cres’s fault. He started her on the tequila.”

There was the angle I needed. “So Cres didn’t stick around last night?”

“He drove Wyn’s truck home since he had to feed cattle this morning. Why?”

“He forgot to give me his number last night after”—
he came all over my hand and took off like his ass was on fire
—“we spent time talkin’ and stuff. Wondered if you’d give it to me.”

Sutton’s eyes narrowed. “I saw you two
talkin’
.”

“You say that like we were doin’ something besides talkin’,” I said evenly.

“Were you? You both disappeared for a while.”

“Not exactly what I asked. Not any of your business either.”

“Along those same lines, if he’d wanted you to have his number, he would’ve given it to you, doncha think?” Sutton retorted.

That was a little hard to do when he had my cock in his mouth.
“Look. If you don’t want to give it to me, that’s cool.”
I’ll just get it from someone else
went unsaid.

Sutton studied me before he sighed. “I’m protective of him.”

“Why? I get that he’s your younger brother, but he is an adult.”

“Cres has had a rough go of it and I don’t want you takin’ advantage of him.” Sutton’s gaze hardened. “Like you did a few years ago when I sent him to you to deal with my horse.”

“Cres was an adult then too. He made his own choices. And fuck you if you think his bein’ with me back then somehow turned him gay.”

“Whoa. I never said that and I sure as hell didn’t mean to imply it.” He paused. “Let’s start over. This isn’t meant to be accusatory. But when you were talkin’ with Cres last night, did you tell him about bein’ outed and all the crap that happened afterward?”

“Yeah. I always thought you were bein’ humble when you said not everyone in your family rabidly followed rodeo.” I sipped my coffee. “He didn’t know anything about it.”

“Not surprised. People outside the world of rodeo would likely shrug and wonder why it’d been such a big deal.” He folded his arms on his chest. “So part of me wonders why you’d willingly put yourself back into this world, Breck.”

My cheeks heated. “It’s not like I have another skill set. And besides, don’t think I don’t know that
you’re
the one who suggested me as a possible instructor for the Gradskys’ rodeo school. Macon made the call, but that happened at your urging, Sutton.”

He grinned. “I figured if they couldn’t have me, they’d want the second best champion bulldogger…which is you.”

“You’re hilarious. And if I haven’t said it, I appreciate your faith in me.” Before things got sappy or awkward, I added, “So why didn’t you take the job? Since your wife is here all the time anyway?”

“After I survived that last run, during my stint in the hospital I swore that I was done throwing myself off the back of a galloping horse onto a steer. It’s a promise I’ve kept.”

“Bein’ a teacher doesn’t mean you have to actually demonstrate,” I pointed out.

“Maybe not for you and the way you teach, but it does for me. I’ve told my in-laws I’ll fill in if the need arises.” Sutton gave me another shit-eating grin. “So if you want a
four-
time world champion bulldogger as a guest lecturer, I’d be happy to swing by your classroom.”

“Don’t be surprised if it ends up bein’ permanent for you. The students—or their parents—might run me out on a rail anyway.”

Sutton shook his head. “Ain’t gonna happen. Chuck and Berlin will stand behind you, Breck. Whether you have a chick or a dude in your bed at the end of the night has no bearing on your past credentials and shouldn’t be allowed to diminish your expertise.”

“Thanks.”

“No problem. And I’ll go you one better than giving you Cres’s phone number. I’ll give you his address so you can drop off the pneumatic drill I borrowed from him. I’ve got too much baby junk in my truck.”

I’d take any excuse to talk to Cres and find out what had happened last night.

“I’ll drive over to your campsite and drop it off. Say…fifteen minutes?”

“Sounds good.”

I was leaning against my Jeep when Sutton pulled up. The pneumatic drill wasn’t big, so I recognized his excuse of not having enough room in his 350 diesel truck was total horseshit. I tried not to dissect why Sutton had changed his mind about me corrupting his younger brother.

He handed me a scrap of paper. “Here’s Cres’s address for you to punch into the GPS.” He slammed the hatchback door on the Jeep. “Like I said before, Cres had a rough go the last two years so I’m glad to see him…” He sighed. “Sounds clichéd to say livin’ again, but it’s true.”

“What’s been goin’ on with him?”

Sutton’s head snapped up so fast his hat nearly tumbled off his head. “He didn’t tell you about Mick?”

A bad feeling rolled over me. “Not a word.”

“You really didn’t do a lot of talkin’, did you?” He held up his hand. “Sorry. None of my business.”

“We talked a lot, Sutton. Just not about Mick.” I’d asked Cres what he’d been up to and he’d hedged. Even when I’d called him on it, he’d managed to sidestep any conversation about his life. And I’d let him.

“That little shit. I’m gonna wring his damn neck.”

“Who’s Mick? An ex or something?”

“Mick was his boyfriend. They met at our wedding and moved in together. Two years ago Mick was killed in a freak accident. Cres shut down after that. And I hate to admit this, but Wyn and Mel had a baby a few months before Mick died, and then me and London had Brennen. We were busy with our lives and didn’t butt into his. Last night was the first time we forced him into a social situation that wasn’t only our immediate family. And he wouldn’t have come if we’d given him any advance notice or if Wyn hadn’t driven him.”

Now Cres running out on me made sense. It also gave me an odd feeling of loss—like I’d already lost Cres because he belonged to someone else. “I’m glad you forced his appearance.”

“And now I’m forcing yours.” He glanced over his shoulder. “Good thing Wyn didn’t notice you and Cres talkin’.”

“Why?”

“Wyn ain’t your biggest fan. He’d discourage…hell he’d probably campaign to keep Cres from spending time with you.”

I frowned. “I’m confused. I don’t know Wyn. I’ve met him like once.”

“But he thinks he knows you. Do you even remember bein’ a total prick to Mel at our wedding?”

I shook my head. “I barely remember bein’ at your wedding. My date drove; I drank and ended up passing out in the motel room. I woke up to discover she’d snuck out at some point during the night with all of my cash.” I felt the heat of shame spread across my face and neck. “I understand why Wyn would have a problem with me if I acted like a drunken fucktard.”

“Pretty much,” he said with far too much glee.

“Does Mel feel the same way about me?”

“I don’t know. You always were a cocky, manipulative, condescending asshat. I know you’ve changed. London and her family have embraced the changes you’ve made. They’ve accepted the man you are now. As far as anyone else…including my brother? You’d better brush up on the charm that used to come so naturally.”