“But after that. You said you wanted to buy your own place and settle down someday. Do you still want to do that?” When she looked uncertain, he said, “Being on the road all these years has been great, but I’m getting to the point where it’s more of a pain than it’s worth. Frankly, I’m pretty damn tired of banging my elbows in the shower and taking a dump with my knees around my ears.”
“Amen to that,” Joe said with a grimace.
“I’ve got a nice place down near Goodland,” Brent went on, “and plenty of land to farm if we want to. We could all live there together, maybe build a stable and put some horses in it.”
AJ smiled. “That sounds wonderful.”
She just about swallowed her tongue when he said tentatively, “Should we discuss marriage?”
“All of us?” she asked, sitting up.
He grinned. “This is Kansas we’re talking about, honey. You could only marry one of us.”
She blew a raspberry. “No thanks then.”
“Don’t be too hasty,” he cautioned. “Maybe you should marry Joe.”
“Why me?” Joe asked.
“Because you’re older and bigger.” His grin widened. “All that muscle is bound to turn to fat sooner or later and you’ll probably go to your reward years before I do. I can marry her after you’re gone.”
“Thanks a lot.” Joe rubbed his whiskers, frowning. “You know, I hate to say it, but there’s a certain twisted logic to that.”
She stared back and forth between them and then started laughing.
“What’s so funny?”
“You guys are,” she declared. “I mean, why would two such progressive men limit themselves to a relationship as traditional and restrictive as marriage?”
The men in question looked at each other. “Are we supposed to be flattered or insulted?” Brent asked.
Joe shrugged. “Beats me.”
“Neither,” AJ insisted. “I appreciate the thought, guys, I really do, but offering to marry me is nothing but a knee-jerk reaction to your desire for commitment. It’s old-school.”
Brent sat up. “Hey, if old-school means wanting to protect you from small minds with big mouths, then—”
“Screw them, Brent. It’s not like we’re doing anything illegal, and none of us are given to public displays of affection. Let ’em speculate all they want to—it won’t change what we have.” Then she smiled mischievously. “Besides, I think I’m ready to be the town wild woman. I’ve already wasted too many years trying to live up to other people’s expectations.”
“Fine,” he said, though he still looked troubled. “I just thought that you should be able to inherit from at least one of us as a spouse. Call me old-school, but I think it’s our job to protect you.”
Joe nodded. “Me too, little girl.”
AJ frowned. “Well, hopefully nobody will be inheriting anything for a few decades at least, and I say again, I don’t need your protection. But if you’re that concerned about it, why don’t we just go into business together?”
“Hmm. That’s not a bad idea,” Brent said.
“Think about it,” she said eagerly. “If we form a farming partnership and all invest the same amount of money, we’re all equally bound and vested in the outcome.”
He hesitated. “But partnerships can be dissolved, Ariel.”
“And marriages can’t?” she asked with a pointed look.
“I guess that’s true. But Hake and Mandy might be less inclined to break up a marriage than a partnership.” At her puzzled look, he added with a stern frown, “Yeah, I heard Mandy trying to steal you away from us.”
AJ gasped, blushing. “She was not!”
Joe’s brows hit his hairline and he finally sat up, too. “You’re kidding me,” he said, scooting back to lean against the headboard. “That devious little home wrecker. Remind me to spank her ass the next time we’re there.”
“Well, nobody’s stealing anybody,” she assured him, “so you can both just relax.”
“Glad to hear it,” Brent said. After thinking for a minute, he continued. “Okay, we’ll form a partnership on one condition—we all put in whatever we have and call it equal. Doesn’t matter whether the amounts are the same or not—we’re all equally vested, with equal rights of survivorship. In the very unlikely event someone wants to walk away, we all walk away with a third.”
“That’s not much of a compromise,” AJ complained with narrowed eyes. “You’ll probably both put in a lot more than I can.”
“You’ll probably wind up doing most of the cooking.”
She gave him a rueful smile. “Well, when you put it that way…”
“And you’ll definitely be taking care of the livestock,” Joe interjected. “I’m too old for that shit.”
“Agreed.”
Brent held up an index finger. “One last stipulation. If you decide you want kids, we get married first.”
AJ paused and then said, “Having kids might mess with my plan to be the town wild woman. And I thought you didn’t want any.”
“I don’t necessarily,” he told her evenly, “but I don’t want to deprive you of the opportunity just because I’m old and set in my ways. If you want kids, we can look into adoption or something.”
Relieved, she smiled at him. “Oh. Well, thank you, but I think I’m too set in my ways now to give up twenty years of my life to raise children. I like my freedom. Besides, as you pointed out, this is Kansas we’re talking about. I don’t think two daddies would go over very well with the school system.”
Brent slid a sly look at Joe. “We could call Joe Grandpa.”
“That’s a little too kinky even for me,” Joe said lazily.
“Me too.” AJ shuddered at the thought. “And if all that’s not enough, keep in mind that kids would really put a damper on our trips to Hake and Mandy’s.”
Brent’s expression said he didn’t care much for that idea.
“Look at what happened with Ryan,” she added.
Joe chuckled. “Yeah, that was a little awkward, especially for his mama.”
“Exactly, and I wouldn’t care to find myself in the same position.”
“So Ariel, does that mean you’re up for a rematch with Hake and Mandy?” Brent clarified.
“Why wouldn’t I be?”
“Things did get a little tense this time,” Joe said, rubbing his chin.
“Only because things were coming to a head between you and Brent and we all knew it. Now that we’ve established who belongs to whom…”
“We have?” he asked.
“Definitely.” AJ laid a hand on his thigh. “You belong to us.”
Brent leaned over until his mouth hovered over Joe’s. “But we’ll share you.”
Chapter Twenty
As Joe stared into Brent’s warm brown eyes, his eyelids grew heavy and his heart started to pound thickly. “Is that so?”
“It is,” Brent breathed. “Kiss me, Joe.”
Needing no further urging, Joe wrapped a hand behind his neck and reeled him in. When their lips touched, his world ground to a halt. They brushed once, twice, and pressed lightly, their eyes locked, their quick breaths mingling, then Brent turned his head and opened his mouth a little. His tongue slipped out to tease lightly between Joe’s lips, drawing his tongue out to play.
Joe finally let his eyes close and returned the caress. Brent tasted so good—clean and honest and…
Jesus. Sliding his tongue along the inner surface of Brent’s lower lip, he felt the swollen knot where it had split, and remorse for the way he’d treated him last night flattened him like a speeding bus.
“Brent,” he gasped as tears slipped from the corners of his eyes. He pulled Brent against him and clutched him tight, pressing his trembling lips against that stubble-rough jaw, clenching his unsteady hand in that soft blond hair. “Please forgive me.”
Brent squeezed his ribs. “Joe.”
“I can’t believe I did that to you. It was your first time and I hur
t you, tore you, made you bleed.”
“Joe—”
“I wanted you to hurt like I was hurting—”
“Enough.” Brent laid a hand over Joe’s mouth and pulled back. “You gave me everything I asked for, and more. I wouldn’t change a single thing even if I could.”
Joe swallowed hard. “You’re a sick man, Andersen,” he finally said against Brent’s fingers. “But I love you anyway.”
Brent just smiled, and Joe felt his heart rhythm bump and his breathing go a little choppy. His symptoms only worsened when AJ slid her palm over the bulge in his jeans.
“Josiah,” she crooned.
Her fingers squeezed him and he had to clear his throat. “Ariel?”
The squeeze went from affectionate to borderline cruel and his breath lodged in his chest.
“Look at me.”
Joe slowly turned his head to meet AJ’s stormy eyes.
“I don’t care how much either of you thinks he asked for it,” she said in a dangerous tone. “If you ever hurt him like that again, I’ll take this to the taxidermist and have it stuffed. Then I’ll use it on you the way you used it on him. Understood?”
Brent gave a half-laugh. “Jesus, Ariel.”
She moved her laser gaze to Brent, easing Joe’s discomfort enough for him to grate, “Understood.”
Her grip loosened immediately and Joe let out a relieved breath.
Brent continued to stare at AJ and finally she shrugged. “What? He ruined my fantasy, and it’s not like I can turn him over my knee and spank him the way he did me.”
Intrigued, Joe asked, “What was your fantasy?”
AJ gave him a long look before she said, “You bending him over the end of the bed.”
“Oh, we’ll get to that,” he assured her with a sexy smile.
Brent cleared his throat. “Not tonight, we won’t. The ride up here was none too comfortable.” Before remorse could grab Joe by the throat again, Brent kissed him, this time with a lot more tongue. “But I’m all for bending you over the bed,” he added.
Joe’s breathing went rough. “That work for you, AJ?”
Her rapt smile said it all. “In a big way.”
He and Brent looked at each other for a moment, and then Joe sighed and scooted off AJ’s side of the bed. “I hope somebody packed lube,” he said as he stood, “’cause I doubt they stock that at the front desk.”
“Got you covered, buddy,” Brent said, standing up, too. They faced each other across the spacious mattress and undressed slowly, giving both AJ and each other the show they all deserved, dropping their garments one by one onto the floor. When they were both naked, they looked at her.
“You, too, little girl,” Joe said.
“Nope.” She shook her head and wrapped her arms around her knees. “I’ve got a front-row seat and I don’t want anything to distract me.”
His eyes narrowed. “Little voyeur.”
She shrugged again. “Sue me. I’m watching this time.”
Brent stepped over to the low dresser and reached into his overnight bag, pulling out a tube of lube and a box of condoms.
“Pretty sure of yourself, eh?” Joe said, feeling a little transparent.
“No, just really damn hopeful,” Brent returned immediately.
Joe rounded the end of the bed and pressed a kiss to his lips. “Forget the condoms. We won’t be needing them.”
“Glad to hear it,” Brent said, grinning as he dropped the box back into his bag. “I like it better bare.”
“I haven’t gone bare since the divorce,” Joe admitted. “It’ll take some getting used to again.”
“Not as much as you think.” Brent set the tube on the end of the bed and then took Joe’s hands in his. Holding them down at their hips, he leaned close enough for Joe to see each individual eyelash. Before he could initiate a kiss, Joe forestalled him by pressing his lips to Brent’s black eye, and then his cheek and the blade of his nose. Brent trembled, and Joe continued to map his face with soft, hungry kisses, until he’d memorized every sharp ridge and hollow. He’d never explored a man this way, and the intimacy of it made his stomach pitch as if he’d just stepped off the edge of a cliff.
“I love you, Brent.”
Brent closed his eyes and sighed. “I love you, too.”
“Don’t ever leave me.”
“Just try to get rid of me.”
Twisting free of Brent’s grip, Joe skimmed his hands up his arms to his shoulders and down over his magnificently hard, lean torso. He was like the marble statues Joe had seen in museums, only he was warm and vibrant…and a little hairy.
He smiled into Brent’s eyes and then leaned forward to trace the shell of his ear with his tongue while his hands continued to drift south. Brent’s shudder made him grin, and he bent his head to nibble at his neck and shoulder. Resting his thumbs over the base of Brent’s stiff cock, he gripped the sac with his fingers and massaged it almost roughly.
Brent grabbed the back of Joe’s neck with both hands and groaned as he let his head hang. “Holy hell, that feels good.”
“To me, too,” Joe grunted. “I love your body.”
“Believe me, it loves you more right now.”
Joe glanced to the side and smiled at the sight of AJ still hugging her knees, her wide eyes riveted on his hands. They widened even more when he sank carefully to his knees and nuzzled Brent’s cock.
“Hey,” Brent croaked, “this isn’t the plan, is it?”
“Just getting you ready.” Joe casually drew the crown into his mouth and flattened his tongue to suck hard.
“I’m ready already!” When Joe didn’t relent, Brent seized his head and pushed. “Jesus, if I get any more ready, I’ll be done before I start.”
Joe released him with a final stroke of his tongue into the slit. “Me, too.”
Brent’s reality warped and heaved when Joe rose to his feet and planted his hands on the mattress, making him sway a little. It was hard to trust that this was happening. Maybe it was just a dream or some kind of drug-induced hallucination.
Whatever it was, he wanted to enjoy it while it lasted.
Joe looked over his shoulder. “I’ve only bottomed a few times, and not at all since that first time with Hake, so lots of lube and a little stretching might be in order. But only if you want to be kinder to me than I was to you,” he added with a regretful look.
Brent’s throat tightened and it was a moment before he could answer. “I’ll be careful.”
“I know you will.”
Their eyes held for a long moment before Joe turned away, giving Brent a moment to absorb him from a different angle. There was less gray toward the back of his head—his dark hair still sported a crease where his cap had sat, and the hint of curl at his nape meant he’d likely be finding a barber in the next town. His neck was still surprisingly brown, almost leathery after years in the sun, and his pale shoulders were heavily freckled. Long slabs of muscle drew Brent’s eye straight down his spine to his muscular ass.
Oh Jesus. His ass.
Blinking, taking a deep breath to steady himself, he flipped open the cap and squirted a large blob of gel onto his first two fingers. “It’s cold,” he said.
“I like it cold.”
Brent didn’t stop to reflect on the enormity of this moment for fear he’d scare himself off. Instead, he immediately pressed both fingertips against Joe’s anus. He wasn’t surprised when Joe pushed out and both fingers sank in with relative ease. Taking his time, he tugged and rubbed, and thrust and withdrew, until Joe was moving with him, moaning as if he were in pain.
Inspired by the idea, Brent tested the waters by wrapping his other hand tightly around Joe’s scrotum.
Joe stiffened at once, breathing hard, but said nothing, so Brent twisted a little. That earned him a heavy groan and a whispered, “Yes.”
He smiled darkly. “So you enjoy a little pain, too.”
“A little.”
The admission made Brent’s alre
ady-twitching cock leap with anticipation. He withdrew his hands and wiped them on the spread, making a mental note to leave an extra tip for the housekeepers. Then he nudged Joe’s feet out a little farther, positioned his cock and grasped Joe’s hips.
“I love you, Joe.”
“Dammit, this is no time for talking,” Joe grunted. “Just do it.”
Brent grinned. “Boy, you can dish out the teasing but you sure can’t take it.”
“Shut up and fuck me or your chance to dish it out will be over.”
“Your wish is my command.” Brent thrust in steadily the way he’d seen Joe do it to Hake, giving him no quarter despite his promises to be careful. He was being careful—just not as careful as he would have been with someone smaller and less experienced, like AJ.
He glanced up at her as he leaned deeper into Joe’s tight heat. She was nibbling her thumbnail, her cheeks pink, her eyes dilated and her chest rising and falling as if she’d just run a sprint.
“Don’t you masturbate to this fantasy, Ariel?” he asked.
“Aw, there ya go,” Joe groaned. “Do it, little girl. Let us watch you, too.”
She hesitated for only a moment before peeling off both her shirts and wiggling out of her jeans and panties. Her dark socks were the last to go, and then she leaned back against the pillows and watched them between her spread knees. Her flush deepened when she skimmed her hands over the hard little points of her nipples and down her flat belly to her cunt. He and Joe both groaned when she slid her palms up her thighs to her knees and pulled them back, opening her smooth feminine flesh even more to their view.
“Damn, girl,” Joe panted.
“I’ll second that.” Excited almost beyond endurance, Brent changed his steady advance to short, hard thrusts that took him all the way into that tight, clenching hole. He gritted his teeth when Joe squeezed the base of his cock and held him in place for a long, tense moment.
AJ wet her finger in her mouth in a move every bit as deliberate as Joe’s and drew it between her slick, bare cunt lips before sucking it again.
“You’re turning into a very bad girl,” Brent rumbled.
Her smile teased them both. “What’re you gonna do about it?”
Carnal Compromise Page 20