by A. M. Arthur
That wasn’t on the table, but he could dance himself into a good night’s sleep.
Until his back gave a mighty twinge and Colt gasped. He stopped dancing so suddenly that Derrick grabbed his arm to keep him balanced.
“You okay, man?” Derrick asked.
“My back.” Colt pressed his free hand over the scar. “Happens sometimes.”
“You wanna go sit? Talk more?”
“Kinda noisy here.” An idea hit Colt. “Hey, you wanna take a walk down to the big barn? Check in on the horse you rode when you were here last?”
Derrick grinned. “Valentine? I’d love to see that old mare.”
They headed down the familiar worn path, leaving the sounds of the ongoing party behind. The exterior light gave them enough to see by, and dim lights blazed inside to keep the horses company. Their timer shut them off at eleven every night, so they still had some time.
He led Derrick down the long, dusty corridor to Valentine’s stall. The paint mare was facing away, so Colt called softly and clucked his tongue. She flicked her black tail and turned slowly, then came over to say hello. Colt grinned at her long face.
Then his back was against the stall’s solid wall, and a muscular body was pressing into him. Long, thick, and warm, and Colt didn’t have a chance to question it before Derrick kissed him. Colt was too startled to react at first, until the hot slide of a tongue against his lips jolted him back into his body. He parted his lips, curious, and that tongue quested inside. Derrick was a good kisser, and in other circumstances, Colt would have probably shoved Derrick into a wall and taken over. His senses were full of the other man, and his dick gave an interested twitch.
But Derrick tasted wrong, moved wrong, and he was too big. Too broad. Not who Colt wanted, so Colt stopped responding to the kiss.
Derrick released his mouth and tilted his head, a question in his dark eyes. “I read the situation wrong?”
Colt put his hand on Derrick’s shoulder. “I really did invite you here to see Valentine.”
“Oh shit.” Derrick pulled back. “Sorry, man, I really read this wrong.”
“Under different circumstances, you’d have totally read this right. I’m just…not looking to start anything right now. Not even a one-off.”
“Totally cool, and again, my bad.” Derrick put a few more inches of comfortable space between them. “I’m bi, and I’m usually more attracted to girls than guys, so I guess I wanted to take a chance when I felt something here.”
Colt smiled. “I’m flattered.”
“But not interested.”
“Sorry.”
“Nah, no worries. Still friends, right?”
“Definitely.” Colt needed all the new friends he could get right now. “How about we swap numbers, and next time I’m in the city, we can go out or something. Hang.”
“Sounds good.”
They each took the other’s phone and did just that. Colt slid his back into his pocket.
Derrick gave him another sheepish grin that nearly had Colt changing his mind. “So now that I’ve suitably embarrassed myself here,” Derrick said, “I’m gonna head back to the party.”
“Okay. I’ll see you.”
Instead of watching Derrick leave, Colt crossed to the other side of the barn to stroke Duchess’s head. She was his preferred horse when he rode, and he’d been scared they’d lost her the night of the fire/shooting. Colt had been nearly to the ghost town site when he heard the first shot ring out, and he hadn’t thought. He’d tied Duchess to the closest tree, grabbed his shotgun, and run.
The instant he’d seen Mack was in danger, he’d fallen back into SWAT mode.
Now he got weird nervous wiggles in his belly at the mere sight of a gun, and that wasn’t him. Turning down a sexy, funny guy who was not only a great dancer, but genuinely nice, was also not him. Sometimes he wondered if that bullet had broken something inside of him that could never be fixed. He’d always be this nervous, antisocial wreck with no good friends and no future beyond mending fence posts in this dusty valley.
How is this my life now?
He didn’t want to be this person, but he didn’t know how to fix it. How to get better, or if he even deserved to.
Maybe this is the universe punishing me for taking a life.
He ran his trembling hand down Duchess’s forehead to her whiskered nose. She nibbled at his open palm, and he chided himself for not bringing her a carrot. Maybe Reyes had some sugar cubes in his office at the other end of the barn.
“Either that was the quickest quickie in history,” Avery said, his sharp voice bouncing down the center of the barn, “or one of you turned the other down.”
Colt turned his head, surprised to see Avery standing less than ten feet away, hands loose by his sides. But his expression was flat, almost angry, and everything about it made Colt’s knees wobble. As if he’d disappointed Sir somehow and he needed to make it right. Which was a stupid reaction, because Avery hadn’t been his Sir in years.
“Miscommunication,” Colt replied. God, but Avery looked so beautiful in the dim barn light, his hair so shiny and sleek. He tilted his head at Duchess. “You fancy a ride?”
Avery’s nostrils flared, and Colt realized what he’d said. “I can’t decide if you need a spanking, or simply to stand in the corner for that little show.”
Blood rushed to Colt’s dick so fast he got dizzy. Avery and a spanking always meant a fantastic orgasm—except they weren’t together anymore.
We weren’t a couple when I first started seeing him. That came after.
Colt blatantly adjusted himself simply to see Avery’s nostrils flare again. “What show was that, exactly?”
“Dancing with Derrick.” Avery took another step forward, and the intensity of his stare made Colt’s belly wobble with want. Chemistry had never been an issue with them; it was everything else beyond the bedroom that had fucked up their relationship.
“I was blowing off steam with Derrick. Haven’t been out to the clubs in almost three months.”
“And coming into the barn together was more blowing off steam?”
“For him.” Colt didn’t need a fast, sweaty fuck with a stranger right now, he needed not to think for a while. To be taken in hand and told what to do. He needed a Dom and one was standing nearby. He inched forward, hands twitching with the need to reach out and touch. “Not me.”
“Why not?”
“Because Derrick can’t give me what I need. He’s not you.”
Avery swallowed hard, his eyes narrowing. Colt held his breath, watching as a decision played out in Avery’s sharp mind. Energy sparked between them, a living thing that caressed Colt’s skin and set his body on fire. He needed this more than he needed air to breathe, so Colt did the only thing that made sense in that moment: he sank to his knees on the hard-packed earth.
* * *
“Fuck.” Colt on his knees shredded the last of Avery’s tenuous grip on his own restraint. He’d waited until Derrick left before entering the barn, jealousy blazing in his chest like a living thing, desperate to lash out at the cause of it. Colt’s words had doused that jealousy, leaving only lingering affection and memories of how beautifully Colt followed directions. And how amazing Colt’s mouth felt around Avery’s cock.
Christ, but thinking about the man’s mouth shouldn’t have Avery this hard already. And now that Colt was eye level with his erection, Avery couldn’t think about anything except Colt’s lips wrapped around it.
He had enough sense left not to do it in the middle of the barn, where anyone could walk in and see them.
“Privacy,” Avery said. “Now.”
Colt shot back to his feet, his cheeks flushed and eyes bright. Without a word, he spun and moved deeper into the barn, past several more stalls before stopping at a door. Avery didn’t bother reading the word painted on
it, he simply followed Colt inside. The dark room, barely lit from the moonlight peeking in through a small window, smelled like leather and horse, and as Avery’s eyes adjusted, he spotted rows of saddles, blankets, and other tack on shelves and hooks.
As soon as he shut the door, Colt started going back to his knees. Avery grabbed his shirt, unsure what he was going to do, until Colt’s back was against the door, and Avery was kissing him. The first taste was everything he remembered and more, and Avery crowded him into the wood, somehow overtaking Colt’s bigger, more powerful body. Colt kissed him back with a desperation Avery didn’t recognize, sucking on Avery’s tongue and nipping at his lower lip.
Hands wandered, tugging at shirts and tangling into hair. Avery thrust his erection against Colt’s thigh, needing friction right the hell now. Needing Colt so badly his entire body ached with it. Colt squeezed his ass, holding them together. Tighter. Avery knew he should stop, knew they should talk, but his body’s instinctive needs around this man drove common sense away with a hard shove. Needs he hadn’t felt or indulged in for too damned long.
Fuck sense, I need him.
Avery wrenched his mouth free, heart thudding in his chest, and looked Colt in the eyes. Blue eyes that shined with lust and need, and a new desperation in them Avery had never seen before. It should have made Avery pull back and talk this through first, but seeing his former sub and lover so frantic for contact shattered any last bit of hesitation Avery had. He put his hands on Colt’s shoulders and pushed.
Colt went willingly to his knees, hands raising to undo Avery’s belt and slacks. Shoved pants and underwear down together with trembling hands, baring Avery’s cock. Colt glanced up, eyes bright beneath a fan of pale lashes, then took Avery’s entire length to the back of Colt’s throat. Avery cried out at the sudden heat and tightness; he slapped a hand over his mouth to muffle the noise. He’d forgotten how incredible Colt’s mouth was, how easily he could deep throat.
“Fuck,” Avery said against his own hand. He tangled his other in Colt’s thick hair, holding without directing. Colt made a soft noise that echoed in Avery’s cock, so Avery held tighter, pulling the slightest bit. Colt sucked him harder, working him faster. A hand rose to roll Avery’s balls—balls that tightened too damned fast.
He’d never been ready to shoot so quickly in his life.
“Stop.”
Colt halted immediately, his spit-shiny mouth releasing Avery’s dick with a lewd plop. It slapped Avery’s belly, and Avery had to stop himself from pushing back inside that pretty mouth.
“Whatever you want, Sir,” Colt whispered.
Avery’s eyelids slammed shut, his entire body reacting to that single word from Colt’s lips. Sir. He was Sir again, and Colt would give him anything he asked for, because even years later, Colt still trusted Avery that fucking much.
“They tested me at the hospital. You can fuck me. I trust you.”
Fuuuuuck.
Resolve slipping, Avery sought out any reason why this was a bad idea. They weren’t friends. They were barely on speaking terms. But this wasn’t a promise or a rekindling. Colt needed something tonight, and Avery could give it to him.
They didn’t have a condom between them, but he trusted Colt’s word, and Avery hadn’t been with anyone except Colt. The first and only person he’d ever had sex with, and dear God, he wanted Colt again. But spit wasn’t enough to—
“Lotion’s on the workbench,” Colt said, his thoughts tracking so perfectly with Avery’s that he wanted to weep. He’d missed this connection so much. “Robin’s always complaining the saddle soap dries out his hands.”
Avery stopped thinking, stopped letting his overly active brain control his actions. He lunged for the lotion, not even caring that Colt had stood without permission, because by the time Avery had their lube, Colt was bent over a saddle, bare ass presented to him. Avery groaned as a new blast of need hit him. Need to be balls deep inside Colt as soon as possible.
To be back inside his pet, even if it was only for one more time.
He pressed a single dry finger against Colt’s hole simply to hear Colt gasp. To feel him press back, eager for the intrusion. Colt had once told him he was a switch who preferred topping, but he always came undone so beautifully at the end of Avery’s cock. Sex had never been the issue; once Avery eased his way into it, sex had been amazing between them.
Maybe they both needed a little amazing tonight.
Avery used some lotion to ease the way for two fingers. Colt let out a startled moan but didn’t protest. When Avery stilled his fingers at the second knuckle, Colt tried to thrust back and take more. Avery settled him with a hand between his shoulder blades. “Sir is in charge,” Avery said.
Colt shivered, goose bumps dotting his upper thighs. “Yes, Sir.”
He shoved Colt’s shirt up higher, needing more bare skin. His attention caught on the dime-size, puckered scar on Colt’s lower back. The kind a bullet left behind. Real fear overtook some of Avery’s blind lust. Colt could have died. Avery bent to press a tender kiss to that scar; Colt gasped.
Colt could have died, and Avery would have lost part of his heart.
Needing to reclaim that piece of himself, to reclaim Colt, he pulled his fingers free, and then spread lotion thickly around his erection. Pressed the head against Colt’s entrance. They’d only gone bare for the last week or so of their relationship, a last-ditch effort to try to save what was already crumbling.
The sight of his naked cock pushing inside Colt again brought back old hurts and fears, and Avery shoved them away. This wasn’t about the past. This moment was about them feeling good together, each giving the other what they desperately needed. Avery worked himself into Colt with short thrusts, surprised by how tight he was. Somehow tighter than Avery remembered, so he went slow. Deepening their physical connection, until Avery’s hips pressed against Colt’s chiseled ass.
“Oh fuck,” Colt whispered. “So good.”
Avery leaned forward, draping his front over Colt’s back so he could kiss the side of his neck. “So tight for Sir.”
Colt clenched, and Avery bit his shoulder to keep from crying out. “Missed your cock.”
Avery bit again, a little harder, certain he couldn’t break skin with the cotton of Colt’s ranch polo between them. And suddenly, Avery hated that polo for creating a barrier. Still balls deep in Colt’s body, he wrestled Colt’s shirt off, and then stared at swaths of bare golden skin. Bunching muscles. So beautiful and familiar that he ached with it.
Unable to deal with the tide of emotions rising inside him, Avery turned this back into the submissive fuck Colt needed. He grabbed Colt’s hips, slid back, and then thrust hard. Colt jolted and gasped, bracing himself on the shelf in front of him as Avery set a brutal pace. The hot friction against his cock felt too wonderful to go slow, and he’d waited so long for the man beneath him. Spread open for him, taking his cock beautifully.
“So gorgeous, pet.” Avery stopped a moment to catch his breath, abs burning, unused to the exertion. “Fuck yourself.”
Colt obediently straightened his spine a few degrees and proceeded to do exactly that. Pulling forward and thrusting back with an easy roll of his hips, so slowly Avery’s release backed off, giving him more time to enjoy this. To simply stand and watch his dick disappear into Colt’s body over and over, their skin shiny with lotion and sweat. To allow Colt to get what he needed and not think, to only do what Sir told him and nothing else.
The tack room was hot, so Avery clawed his own shirt off.
“Missed you, Sir,” Colt said. “So much.”
The longing in those words fractured something around Avery’s heart—a shield he’d erected years ago, to prevent it from breaking again. He wasn’t giving his heart back to Colt—not yet—but goddamn, he wanted to reclaim the man.
Avery leaned forward and sank his teeth lightly into the skin o
f Colt’s shoulder, and then sucked a mark as he took over the fuck. Skin smacked skin on each thrust, their balls danced, and Avery chased his orgasm. He chased it hard, but he couldn’t find it. Why—?
Pet first.
He reached around to clasp Colt’s cock and jerked him hard, precome giving him the perfect amount of slick. Colt jolted and then moaned, low and breathy, trapped between the pleasure around his dick and the one spearing his ass.
“Can you still come on command?” Avery asked.
“For you, Sir, I can.”
Avery shivered. “Then come for me,” he said as he pushed in deep.
Colt caught his strangled gasp in the crook of his own elbow as he came, clenching hard around Avery’s dick. Avery worked him through it, rubbing come around his cock, keeping it nice and slick. He even rubbed Colt’s tight nuts, until Colt wheezed a protest. Sensation overload.
Avery started to pull out; Colt reached back and squeezed his hip. “You can come in me,” Colt whispered, his voice fractured but somehow also reverent. “I need it, Sir.”
He’d planned to mark Colt with his mouth and by coming on his back, but Avery had no ability to turn down this offer. Not when Colt said he needed it. He’d mark Colt inside and out, so even if this was a one off, Colt would always know who he really belonged to. “I’ve only ever been with you, pet,” Avery whispered. “You’re safe with me.”
Colt shivered.
It didn’t take long, only a dozen or so hard thrusts and then Avery shot deep into Colt’s ass. He gasped against Colt’s back, then immediately sucked on that developing bruise again. Colt whined and bucked, and Avery held his hips tight, staying inside for as long as possible.
“Thank you, Sir,” Colt said. “Needed that so much.”
“My deposit?”
Colt snickered. “All of it.”
Avery eased his softening cock out of Colt’s body, then kept him bent with a hand on his lower back. “Show me.”