The Tin Star (6 page)

John looked up at his brother. “I know. That’s not really the issue. I’d already planned on buying her for you, but I had to tell you how Daddy is behaving.”

Ethan walked behind the couch, put his hand on Jamie’s shoulder and pushed him back down onto the couch. “Don’t worry about it, John. I’ll write you a check before you go home and you can bring her here tomorrow, or I’ll come get her.”

Jamie glanced up at him. “Ethan, I can’t ask you to do that.”

“You didn’t ask. I volunteered. You work for me and you need a mount, end of story. Besides, this will keep John and your dad from going at it. I dare say he wouldn’t think too kindly of John buying George for you anyway.”

Jamie nodded, eyes glistening. “Thanks.” He stood up. “Come on, Fred.” He walked toward the stairs, shoulders slumped. “I’m going to bed.”

Ethan and John watched him leave.

Damn Jacob Killian!
Something told Ethan that Jamie would be staying at the Tin Star for good. And strangely enough, all he could feel was a sense of relief.

Chapter Five

Jamie woke up a little disoriented.

Where in the hell am I?
Oh, yeah, his daddy had kicked him out. Not only that, now he was refusing to let him have his horse. Why had he ever thought his father would take his announcement without a problem? Sure, Daddy had always favored John, but he’d thought he had loved him, too. How could anybody disown their own flesh and blood? At least his brother and sister were on his side, offering their love and support. When he’d spoken to his sister, Julia had even gone so far as to say that she wasn’t speaking to their father until he came to his senses.

Maybe Daddy would get over it ... eventually, but Jamie was no longer quite able to believe that. He wasn’t stupid -- maybe a little naïve at times, but not stupid. The possibility was very real that his dad might never accept him. Surely Julia realized that, too? He knew John did, because he was looking for a new foreman. Even if it was at their father’s demand, he’d indicated as much. That had hurt more than Jamie wanted to admit.

Damn. It was times like this that he really missed Mama. She’d always had a way of soothing things over. She’d let Daddy pout and throw a fit for a while, but then she’d rein him in and make him do what was right. Like telling his youngest son that he still loved him, no matter what.

Jamie sighed. This was getting him nowhere. The ball was out of his court and he needed to put it out of his mind. What else could he do?

He looked at the clock: 8 a.m.
Fuck!
How had he slept so late? Fred usually woke him up about 6:30, wanting to go outside. He sat up and looked around. There was no sign of Fred anywhere in the room. Ethan must have let her out.

Jamie rubbed his eyes, then got up and stumbled to the adjoining bathroom. He stood in front of the toilet, waiting for his morning erection to go away so he could take care of business.

Ethan. Jamie had been so upset about his dad that he hadn’t even thought about what had happened between the two of them last night.

They’d always gotten along well together and had been friends of a sort. Not close friends, but friends nonetheless. Still, there were so many reasons he should not have kissed Ethan back last night, In fact, getting involved with Ethan was not a good idea any way he looked at it. One, Ethan had his feet firmly planted on the closet floor and had no intention of leaving. Two, Ethan was now his boss. Three, Ethan was his brother’s best friend. Four, Ethan was a little over a decade older than him. And, five ... well, hell, none of those really mattered at all if Ethan felt the same way he did ... because he’d been head over heels in love with Ethan even before he’d realized he was gay.

Shit. Who was he kidding? He’d had a huge crush on Ethan practically since birth. Long before he knew he wasn’t “supposed” to feel that way about other guys.

Thoughts of last night with Ethan were not doing anything to make his morning wood go away. So Jamie gave up and turned on the shower. He pulled out a towel and glanced at the door that led to Ethan’s room. On a ranch this size, it was a pretty good bet that Ethan had been up for hours and was already working, but Jamie had to check. Who knew? Maybe Ethan would agree to pick up where they’d left off and help him get rid of his little, er, big problem.

He pulled the door open slowly and looked in. Sure enough, it was empty. The room was spotless, the bed made. It was obvious Ethan had been gone for quite some time. He closed the door and climbed into the shower, closing the glass door carefully behind him. He wet his hair, grabbed the shampoo and washed.

What would Ethan say about what they’d done? Would he try to pretend it hadn’t happened? Would he tell Jamie that he’d made a mistake and that it wouldn’t ever happen again? God, he hoped not.

He wasn’t going to give Ethan the chance to stop whatever it was they had started. There was definitely something between them and he was going to talk to him about it before Ethan even had the chance to bring it up. Although he’d been attracted to Ethan for a long time, the previous evening’s events were the first inkling he had that Ethan felt something for him, too. Hopefully, it wasn’t just lust. He didn’t want this to be only about sex ... okay, sex would be a good start, but that wasn’t all he wanted. He wanted all of Ethan.

Jamie grabbed the soap -- Ethan’s soap -- and lathered up his hands. He took a deep breath. Mmm. It smelled like the man himself. Shit! If it was possible, he was growing even stiffer. He washed up, then leaned his arm on the shower wall, resting his head on his forearm and letting the water pour over him. With his eyes closed, he grabbed his cock with his other hand and squeezed. Oh, yeah, that felt really great.

It was no surprise that his brain conjured up the image of Ethan’s dark head bent over him, licking his cock. God, he had looked so sexy, better than any dream Jamie had ever had, and he had certainly dreamed about this a lot over the years. And it had felt so good. If only Fred hadn’t barked and John hadn’t come in ...

Jamie stroked himself, nice and easy. With the hot water running down over him, his hand slick on his cock, he pictured Ethan taking him all the way in his mouth.

Those full, sensual lips slid all the way down, then sucked lightly on the way back up. One of Ethan’s hands played with his balls.

He increased his tempo, pulling faster on his long prick. His testicles drew tighter.

Warm, dark brown eyes peered up at him as Ethan’s other hand wandered lower, past Jamie’s balls, rubbing up and down his crease.
Jamie panted, gripping his prick tighter and pulling faster.
Ethan gathered saliva with his finger as his teeth scraped lightly on Jamie’s cock, not enough to hurt, just enough to tease. Ethan pressed and pressed against his anus until the finger pushed right into him.

Jamie groaned, his head dropped back against the shower wall, and his hips bucked as his orgasm whipped up his spine and out his cock. “Ethan!” He quickly glanced down and watched as his come washed down the drain.

Both hands braced on the shower wall for support, he breathed in deep gulps and tried to calm his pounding heart. Man! That was just what he had needed. Now if Ethan would only consent, he could have the real thing.

Jamie smiled. Oh, yeah, Ethan was as good as his! He didn’t care how long it took; eventually Ethan would belong to him. Not just that luscious body, but his heart, too!

“Jamie.”

His head jerked up at the whisper.

* * * * *

What a sight!

Ethan leaned against the doorframe between Jamie’s room and the bathroom. He’d come upstairs to tell Jamie that he’d gone and gotten George and to ask if he wanted to go with him to town and run some errands. Walking in on Jamie jerking off in the shower had been unexpected. The view had been enough to make him hard instantly, but then hearing his name gasped from Jamie’s lips as he came ... Ethan had almost joined him in blowing his load. He hadn’t meant to say anything after he’d seen the other man come, but it had sort of rasped out of his mouth.

Jamie turned off the water, opened the shower door and grabbed the towel off the rack. He gazed right at Ethan as he began drying his shiny black hair, almost as if he were daring Ethan to say something.

Man, he was gorgeous! Jamie’s well-defined muscles and lean, athletic build brought to mind a sleek jungle cat. There was just a little hair on his chest, enough to make him appear masculine, a grown man. The hair trailed down and narrowed into a thin line that fanned back out over his groin. And what a groin it was. Jamie’s cock was still semi erect; he had to be at least nine inches at full length. Thick, muscled thighs and his long legs were a testimony to hours spent in the saddle.

Despite the resemblance to his brother, Ethan thought the younger man was the better looking of the two. Jamie was easily the most striking man Ethan had seen in quite a while and Jamie staring at him was doing nothing to make Ethan’s hard-on go away.

He bit back a groan and glanced at the other man’s handsome face. Ethan grinned. Jamie was beet red.
Damn, he’s cute when he’s embarrassed!

Jamie finished drying off and wrapped the towel around his hips. He still hadn’t said a word and his gaze was still glued to Ethan. He stepped right up to him, bold as you please, and smiled. “Hi, Cowboy.”

Ethan smiled back. “Hey, Blue Eyes.”

Jamie’s eyes shifted down, his gaze roaming over Ethan’s body. When his inspection got to the front of Ethan’s jeans, he reached out and gripped Ethan’s prick, which was more rigid than a steel pipe by now. “You need some help with this?”

“Sssssss ...” Ethan groaned and clenched his eyes shut as the pleasure rushed through him. He reveled in the other man’s ministrations for a few moments, then opened his eyes. He shifted his weight off the doorframe and stood straight, grabbing Jamie’s towel and jerking it loose, tossing it to the floor. Jamie gasped quietly, his eyes going back to meet Ethan’s.

Ethan didn’t even think about what he was doing or that he shouldn’t do it. He reached around and grabbed a handful of that tight little ass and pulled Jamie against him, then bent his head and ground his mouth down over Jamie’s, almost dislodging his hat in the process.

Moans filled the quiet bathroom as Jamie kissed him back, hands trailing up Ethan’s chest. Ethan could feel Jamie’s cock against his thigh, already hardening again. He deepened the kiss for just a minute, their tongues tangling, then he pulled away, letting go of that firm butt.

“We don’t have time for this.” He dropped a chaste peck on Jamie’s lips. “I came to tell you I got George and to ask if you want to come with me into town. I’ve got some errands to take care of.”

“We can run errands after.” Jamie wrapped his hands around the back of Ethan’s neck and tried to pull him back down.

Ethan chuckled and unwrapped Jamie’s hands. “The weather is supposed to get bad and I want to try to get back before it does. So if you want to come with me, get dressed.”

Jamie groaned. “Yeah, I wanna come with you. Is that all right with Bill? Doesn’t he have work for me to do?”

“Nah. Hayden and Ed can handle it. I told Bill you’d be coming with me.”

“Okay.” Jamie brushed past him into his bedroom, pressing against him a lot more than necessary to get through the door.

Ethan followed, his eyes focused on that muscled behind. “Damn!”

“What?” Jamie looked over his shoulder with a knowing grin.

The little flirt!

Ethan shook his head and rolled his eyes. “Nothing. Get dressed and meet me downstairs.”

As Ethan waited for Jamie, for at least the fiftieth time in the past twenty-four hours, he asked himself what the hell he was doing. He’d tried to convince himself that it was his cock doing the thinking because it had been at least five years since he’d gotten laid, but he really didn’t think that was it. He and Jamie clearly had chemistry together.

He’d felt it as soon as Jamie had set foot on the Tin Star two days ago, but the funny thing was that despite having known Jamie for twenty-one years, he had never felt this way about him before. Okay, that wasn’t quite true. He
had
noticed Jamie, especially after Jamie had hit puberty and started filling out, but he’d always brushed the feelings aside. He’d filed Jamie away in that part of his brain marked “straight men.”

Of course, he’d admired many such men, but he’d known there was no hope for anything else, so he’d never given them too much thought beyond the initial attraction. Yet now that he knew Jamie was gay, too, all those suppressed feelings were emerging. And suddenly the fact that Jamie was John’s baby brother didn’t seem like that big an obstacle. Hadn’t John always said it was too bad he was gay, because if he weren’t, Ethan could marry Julia and they’d be brothers? All right, so they’d been kids when he’d said that, but still ...

What the hell.
He wasn’t getting any younger. Over the years, he’d had a few one-night stands during his business trips, but his last serious relationship had been in college with Cliff. And that hadn’t stood a chance because John and Cliff had detested each other. Cliff had annoyed the piss out of John, and Ethan’s friendship with John had always made Cliff jealous. That wouldn’t be an issue with Jamie.

Of course, Jamie did pose another problem, having announced his homosexuality. Ethan really didn’t want to deal with the headache of being outed himself. Then there was the issue of a break-up. What if they got together and it didn’t last? He wouldn’t be able to cut Jamie loose like he had done with Cliff. Ethan still could remember being eleven years old and having to sit down so he could hold Jamie a couple of days after he’d been born. He'd even helped John teach Jamie how to swim. Jamie would always be a part of his life.

“I’m ready. Can I see George before we go?” Jamie walked into the kitchen wearing a dark green, short-sleeved, button-up shirt, a pair of tight Wranglers, and his gray felt hat.

Ethan blinked and felt his cock twitch. Damn, his erection had just gone down and now the sight of Jamie dressed up had it threatening to come back. He groaned silently.