by Jan Irving
Jesse waited, and when the dust cloud from Miless passage was distilling into the air, he rubbed his arms, pacing.
Kyle stopped him with a hand on his chest. “God, Ive missed you!”
“These last few days have been crappy,” Jesse agreed. It had sucked watching the horses suffering and wondering who could have done such a deliberate and cruel act. David hadnt wanted to leave the barn, even when school started, so Kyle had picked him up an electric blanket since the nights were getting chilly.
Jesse would have worried more about him all alone out there in the barn but he had reason to believe David had not spent the nights on his own.
Kyle kissed him, at first gently, but then it was like a match flared, and they kissed so hard Jesses lips and skin stung from whisker burn, but still he couldnt let go of Kyles mouth, hungry. Oh, this was his man. Oh yeah. His back collided with the truck he and Miles had taken out, and his hands dug into Kyles lower back, right above his ass, feeling the solid, warm flesh of a working man.
“Kyle!”
Kyle had worked Jesses jeans loose. “I know, I know…” They only had time lately for quick tangles, like two cougars mating, and today was no exception. Jesse had to get back to the ranch house to confront David.
He unzipped Kyle and pulled down his plain white briefs, and then they were rocking together, kissing, rutting, hard cock sliding against hard cock. “Fuck!” Jesse gasped, hands tightening on Kyles hips. “Give it to me.”
Kyle sucked on two fingers, and Jesse felt that deep, forbidden throb in his ass as Kyle reached behind him and rubbed his opening. Kyle was the only man hed ever let play with him there. Hed have punched any other guy in the face rather than let him, but Kyle…
Ohhh…
“Relax, baby,” Kyle whispered, his lips grazing Jesses. “Give it up for me. Come on.”
Huffing, Jesse held Kyles gaze as the other man penetrated him carefully. He groaned at the heavy feel, the pressure that hurt but felt so good. He knew Kyle was gently preparing him for bottoming with all the teasing of his rear end. Hell, he couldnt believe he was considering it, that he actually wanted it. He was a pretty dominant guy, but Kyle—sometimes he craved it, Kyles big prick up his ass. Of course, he probably would drive from the bottom.
Besides, it felt—oh yeah…
“So does the biker leader still like it when his captive fingers him?” Kyle asked.
“Mmmm.”
“I think that sometimes after you take me in our fantasy scenario, you like it when we lie in bed next to each other and I finger you until you get excited again.”
“Im never giving you back,” Jesse said, playing with the white streak at Kyles temple. “Never setting you free. You can work the pastures surrounding the cabin where I keep you, but Ive found an ingenious way of keeping you from escaping.”
Kyle widened his eyes playfully. “Oh, whats that?”
Jesse leaned close and nipped Kyles ear. “I took away your clothes,” he said. “And I keep a rope around your neck or ankle so you can only go so far. Sometimes I go to the cabin window and watch you working out in my vegetable garden—Im a green type of biker—and I can see the red marks on your skin from my handprint, from my rough lovin. I look at those marks and remember making you scream. Youre so hot for it.”
Kyles chest moved deeply in and out. His pupils were blown as he held Jesses gaze. “Ive never had erotic thoughts like this all my life!” he said. “Whoa.”
“Better late than never,” Jesse teased, and then they were crushed close, hearts hammering, kissing so their teeth clicked and one of them whimpered, but Jesse didnt know if it was him or Kyle. He grabbed Kyles hips and held them still while he rutted, painfully full, needing to come, oh, to come all over Kyles skin and have Kyle come on him.
He gave a hoarse shout when it happened, neck arched. Kyle bit him, shuddering through his moment.
After, he wavered on his feet, dizzy, holding on to Kyle like a too-friendly drunk.
“Hell! What the hell are they doing out here?” Kyle growled. “I assigned them to the east pasture.”
Jesse looked up to see Jed Whats His Name, the hand who seemed strangely familiar to him as well as another guy, Lee Marrow, a young blond who was a bit immature. They were staring wide-eyed from their horses at Kyle and Jesse, pressed half-naked against Kyles truck.
There could be no mistaking what Kyle and Jesse had got up to.
Jesse gave a low growl, feeling weirdly like a primitive man protecting his mate.
Kyle opened the truck door and tumbled them inside, tugging Jesse by his Tshirt.
“I dont give a fuck!” Jesse swore, glaring at the retreating men, who he could see were having some kind of cozy fucking tête-à-tête about what theyd seen. Well, let them look! He wasnt ashamed of what he had done with Kyle, and they hadnt exactly invited them over to watch.
“David…” Kyle reminded Jesse, pushing Jesses hair off his damp forehead in a gesture that reminded Jesse of how gentle Kyle had always been, how aware and considerate of others. Lao Tzu wrote once that the best leader was the invisible one, and that certainly suited Kyle. He was unassuming but rock solid.
“Fuck. New school for our teenager, yeah,” Jesse huffed. “Its hard keeping it a secret. I want to spend the night in your bed.”
* * *
David braced himself for todays fight with Hall.
He placed a palm flat on the Percherons neck and felt the red burn of Halls silent pain. It wasnt the lightning it had been when the gelding was really sick, but now a kind of angry withdrawal. The animal was hurting, and his faith in the people who surrounded him had been shattered.
Hall wanted to let go, but David wouldnt allow it. “Were going to do some circuits, damn you,” David muttered, pressing his will against the horses.
Hall snorted, tossing his head, but it was a spark of life—that defiance.
David lifted the halter and placed it gently on the animal before leading him toward the ring. It was so dry this fall that the clumps of mud there kicked up dust under their footfalls. David knew from conversations hed had with Kyle or trusted hand Miles McKinnon that they were all hoping for rain soon. It had already been a long, dry summer, and some of the creeks and watering holes had dried up. There was always the fear a camper in the nearby national park in the foothills would light a spark in the grass and theyd have a prairie fire.
Patiently, following what Kyle had taught him, he walked Hall in circles. Eventually the exercise brought a damp sheen to the horses coat under the hot sun, and knowing hed be thirsty, David fed him an apple as a reward.
He lifted his head when the horse did, sensing someone approaching, and only relaxed when he saw it was Kyle and Jesse. Not that he wasnt in trouble. His shiner throbbed, and he grimaced.
Kyle climbed on the fence and sat there, but Jesse opened the gate and entered the ring. He didnt ask about the bruises right away but spent some time patting Hall and looking him over. Jesse and Kyle were very worried about the horse. David could tell them he wouldnt let Hall give up, but he wasnt sure he could explain exactly how he knew that.
“So what happened?” Jesse sighed, finally asking.
“Debbie Hardwick,” David said succinctly.
“Uh-huh. You got a thing for her, maybe?” “Nope.” “Oh.”
“She thought I liked her, but her boyfriend, Alan, said I couldnt, on account that all the Coulter men are fags.” Davids jaw tightened. “Hes a fucker.”
Jesse said, “Yeah. So then you got in a fight with him?”
“No, then I kissed him.”
“Jesus H.!” Kyle swore, staring at David. “Hes the captain of the frickin football team.”
David rubbed his jaw. “Yeah, he hits like he is.”
Jesse covered his mouth as if hiding a smile, and Kyle gave a crack of laughter, jumping down from the corral fence to put his hands on Jesses shoulder and Davids.
“Put Hall back in the pasture, and lets go make dinner,” Kyle
said.
“Its your turn,” David grumbled. “So I guess that means Chinese takeout again.”
“Bitch, bitch, bitch.” Kyle was smiling as David led Hall back to the pasture. Hed leave him there until twilight, and then hed bed down near him in the barn. And, he wouldnt be alone. Either Kyle slept in the barn most nights now, or Miles McKinnon did.
“Yeah, I guess it beats eggs for dinner,” David said.
Chapter Thirteen
“So when do you think Hall will be better?” David broached the question extra casually over dinner, his gaze on the pile of finished plastic servers Jesse was washing out for recycling. Nothing on the ranch was thrown out unless it truly was garbage, something Kyle believed in.
Kyle stilled at Davids words, gripping his fortune tighter. Your lost treasure has been found.
His gaze went to Jess, of course, to watch him putting away the extra food into the fridge. Kyle saw how the muscles of his back tightened through his T-shirt at Davids words. He looked over his shoulder, blue eyes colliding with Kyles.
Kyle could read his thought: Fuck, what now?
“You dont think hell get better.” David answered his own tentative question, crumbling his fortune cookie without reading his fortune. “Yeah, stupid question. Im stupid, thinking…I was, like, making any difference.”
Jesse sat next to David, letting out a breath. He looked to Kyle, and Kyle felt the weight he carried. He was responsible for the horses, the ranch—but most of all these Coulter men he loved.
“I dont know, David,” Kyle admitted, feeling like he was swimming out into deep lake water. “I hope so because I dont think hed have come this far without you. You know that, dont you, that its you whos kept that horse going?”
David was making piles of his silted cookie. “I dont want him to die. I dont want him to pay for something that isnt his fault, but some asshole humans who was playing a prank.”
Kyle nodded. “I dont want that either. Were doing everything we can to make sure it doesnt. Marjorie will be over after supper to look him over. Maybe you could talk to her again. I can tell you shes been very impressed with how youve helped the horses recover. She mentioned next summer taking you on as an intern in her clinic.”
David shrugged, though Kyle knew he had been building a solid relationship with their vet and sometimes went with her on her rounds of the ranch. “Yeah, she told me.”
“David, when I talk to your principal to put the fighting to rest, I was thinking of asking for recommendations for a science tutor,” Jesse said. “I dont know if youre going to want to try for veterinarian school, but—”
“We cant afford it,” David said flatly.
“Bullshit. Yeah, we can,” Kyle said.
Davids eyes widened. “But youre not a Coulter.”
“Now youre really going to piss me off.” Kyle put down his napkin and nodded his thanks to Jesse for the cleanup. “I know youre hurting, and I wish youd talk to Jess about whats going on with you lately, but if you want to be a vet, the only thing that will stop that from happening is you. Got that?”
David swallowed. “Okay.”
“Okay. Now are you ready for tonights lesson?” Kyle stood up from the table. Hed had enough. It was time for action.
“What lesson?” David frowned.
“The one where you begin grooming and harnessing our horses before they go out for their circuits. I want you to take over the morning shift. That means youll be getting up earlier. Think you can handle that?”
Davids eyes widened again, and he looked over at Jesse, who was smiling at Kyle. “Really, I get to do that?”
“If you want to be a vet, youre right. Youre going to have to pull your own weight as much as possible. Carriage driving would be good money, plus the tourists give some decent tips if they enjoy the ride and like the driver,” Kyle said. “This could be a first step in getting what you want. So you up for that?”
* * *
On the way to the barn—David racing ahead of both men as if he were a lot younger than he was—Jesse sighed. “Thanks for this, Kyle. Its like he comes alive whenever he spends time with the horses, just like Mac did.”
“Thanks, hell. I just wish Id been able to take care of you both,” Kyle said in disgust. It still burned his ass that the Coulters had had to live with Morrison. Would David ever confide what had made him so miserable?
Jesses brows raised and his lips quirked at Kyles words.
“All right. You did a good job of it, damn it,” Kyle admitted.
“I think it went a long way in showing you Im not your responsibility.” Kyle had given up this battle a while back. Anyway, he knew the real reason
he had told himself Jesse was too young—because he was afraid of loving him. “No, youre not. Youre a man. Speaking of which…have you thought again about university yourself?”
Jesse muttered something about how Kyle wanted to take care of the frickin world, but Kyle didnt mind so much. Jesse wasnt cut out to be just a cowhand like Kyle. He could make something of himself, same as David, and Kyle would break his back to see it happen—even if it meant that eventually Jesse outgrew this ranch and Kyle.
* * *
“I want you to dress Hall up in full harness, as if you were going to hitch him to a carriage or wagon,” Kyle instructed David. “You groomed him already?”
David nodded. “Yes, sir.”
Marjorie gave David a smile as she finished putting her diagnostic tools back into her doctors bag. “Hall seems a little more interested in his surroundings today. Really wanted a carrot,” she said. “Good sign, I think.”
“That is good news,” Kyle said, feeling hope like a branch under his weight. He just needed to believe it wouldnt give. He looked to David. “Okay, go and choose your harness.”
David chewed his lip as if he knew it was a test—which it was—and strode for the tack room.
“Hows Hall really doing?” Kyle asked Marjorie in a low tone.
She shook her head. “He was dispirited. In a human, Id say depressed. Its almost as if he knows something isnt right on this ranch.”
Jesses jaw flexed. “Its not, but so far we havent had any luck finding out who salted the horses grain. Any more than we know who damaged so much fencing.”
“It has to be an inside job,” Marjorie said. “No one else would have access to the barn.”
“I know it,” Kyle said. “But we need all the hands we can get right now, so Ill have to have proof of who is behind all this before I fire anyone. In the meantime, I can trust Miles, so he and I have been trading off watching over the horses at night.”
David returned with the correct pieces of training harness, and Kyle nodded in approval. The kid hadnt bothered with the polished brass add-ons. He was going for function, not dressage.
David grinned, gray eyes sparkling for the first time since hed come to stay on the ranch. Kyle saw Jesses face soften as he watched his brother begin with the bridle, carefully adjusting and buckling on the throat lash, blinkers, nose band, and bit.
Hall whinnied and stamped his front hooves, looking more alert, as if he recognized his work harness.
“Nice job,” Marjorie praised, leaning with Kyle and Jesse against a railing as all three watched.
“Piece of cake,” David muttered, but Kyle noted perspiration had slicked his forehead. He was concentrating hard, trying to impress the boss, trying to prove he could do this. Next he attached the collar and pad, taking extra care to rub Halls back soothingly as he fit it to the Percherons girth. Hall stood still for him, as if hed settled into acceptance, so David sailed through adding the breeching last of all, his hands constantly smoothing over the horses coat. “Okay,” David finally huffed. “Take a look.”
Marjorie, Jesse, and Kyle checked Halls outfit carefully while David watched, face tight. Finally Kyle nodded. “Hes all ready to pull the old hay wagon. Maybe after you get things straightened out at school with Jess, you can invite some friends back here for a fall
hayride and a picnic.”
“And you are so totally fishing to find out if I have a girlfriend—or a boyfriend,” David said.
“I dont care. If theyre good enough for you, Id like to meet them.”
David dropped his head. “Kyle… Jeez.” He hesitated a moment and then said, “I maybe know someone who could tutor me in science. Shes, uh…”
“Okay, well talk about it after you put Hall back in his box,” Jesse ordered after the men bade Marjorie good night, because she was tired from an early call that morning. “Its a school night, so you better get your homework done before you bed down. The light bright enough in here for that?”
“Yeah,” David said. His face was still flushed from his girlfriend-boyfriend comment. He paused, and his face tightened again. “Maybe…sometime I can talk to you guys about something.” He gave Jesse an apprehensive look. “But you have to promise you wont do anything.”
Kyle gripped Jesses shoulder hard, feeling the tight muscles.
“Patience. He’s talking to us.”
“Morrison hurt him, Kyle.” “I know, Jess. I know.” Jesse swallowed. “Im not sure I can make a promise like that.”
* * *
David sat on his cot in the barn, his homework stacked beside him, the paperwork slightly messy.
Kyle put his hands in his pockets, not sure if he should leave the brothers alone. But David gave him such an imploring look that Kyle caught on; the kid was afraid of Jesses reaction to whatever he wanted to share with them. He needed Kyle to stay.
“What did you want to talk to us about?” Jesse finally asked, his blue eyes intent on his brothers face.
David avoided that gaze. “First I want to say that Sam could help me with my science homework.”
“Sam,” Jesse repeated. “Friend of yours?”
“Sam Munroes a girl.”
“Uh-huh.”