Still Waters

by Jayne Rylon

  He squeezed them, massaged them, then finally spread them.

  Vaughn’s forehead pressed to the pile of paperwork he hadn’t felt like finishing yesterday, wondering how he’d gotten here and how his entire life had changed in a matter of hours. Then he groaned as Bryant’s fingers reached down to cup his balls.

  Vaughn disclosed the bottle of oil in his pocket to Bryant, and begged him to be generous with it. Which he was. He coated his hands and Vaughn’s ass. Then both of their cocks and balls, too.

  Soon they were slipping and sliding against each other, their bodies primed for what was about to happen. Vaughn’s heart was ready, too.

  Bryant rubbed Vaughn’s hole, then pressed a single digit into his body to start. That alone was enough to make his cock tick. Precome dribbled from the head of his dick down the side of his desk. It didn’t get any less intense when Bryant worked a second and third finger into him, pumping slowly as he stretched Vaughn’s ass.

  Vaughn closed his eyes and clung to his desk. The sensations coursing through him were overwhelming, making him lost to rapture. Bryant’s fingers disappeared, but only for a moment. And then there was something else in their place. Something blunt, hot, and thick.

  Bryant’s cock.

  “Fuck me!” he yelled, needing to be joined once more with this man. It had been far too long that they’d been apart.

  The strangled groan Bryant made as he sank into Vaughn’s ass for the first time was all the reward Vaughn needed. Until he realized the pain he’d anticipated never materialized. And neither did the tension in his body that kept him from enjoying the act. With Bryant in charge of their love making, he learned just how good it could feel to have a man spreading him, invading the most private parts of him, sliding inside. “Ah, fuck. Bryant.”

  “Am I hurting you?” Bryant panted as he paused.

  “No. Son of a bitch, don’t quit now.” Vaughn reached behind him, hooking his palm around the back of Bryant’s thigh and using his grip to draw the other man closer.

  Bryant started slow and careful before working up to a steady pace. He alternated long, deep strokes with short jabs that unerringly found Vaughn’s prostate. Figured Bryant would be a natural. He’d probably studied Vaughn’s technique subconsciously every time they’d fucked.

  Vaughn’s wonder grew as rapture built inside him, making him realize just how much he’d been missing out on by forsaking this pleasure. Then again, maybe it was only this fantastic because of who he was doing it with.

  When Bryant had asked to fuck him, he’d been prepared to take it. To enjoy bringing Bryant pleasure and then to find his own after. Never had he thought it could be like this. That he could get off on being ridden when he never had before.

  Another few strokes and—

  “Bryant!” Vaughn cursed, wondering what the fuck had stopped the man right then. He lifted his head and saw their reflection in the mirrored window. Apparently just as Bryant himself had, too.

  “Is that really us? I mean…me?” Bryant tipped his head, staring at the fierce, tattooed man who had his boyfriend pinned to his desk and was fucking the shit out of him in his workplace.

  “Hell yes, it is.” Vaughn rocked backward, encouraging Bryant to start moving again. He did, but with more control this time, a fluid grace neither of them had known he possessed. Damn, it felt good. Incredible, really. “Look at you. See what I see. Have always seen.”

  “I’m him.” Bryant roared, then clasped his hands around Vaughn’s waist. He anchored Vaughn as he began to fuck harder, deeper. Vaughn groaned when his balls swung below him, tapping the side of his desk. His cock was pointed downward against the cool metal. That didn’t keep him from being every bit as hard as steel, though.

  He shuffled backward just enough to jam his hand between the desk and his thighs, then fisted his cock. “Shit, yes. Fuck me. Bryant.”

  “Jerk your cock for me, Vaughn,” Bryant snarled in his ear. “Show me how much you like this side of me. A side that’s only for you. Always for you.”

  Son of a bitch. The guy was going to give him a heart attack. Vaughn rubbed himself faster, squeezing harder, and still it wasn’t enough. The pressure of Bryant’s growing cock inside him, caressing him from within, and the storm of passion raging around them couldn’t last forever.

  And still, Bryant fucked.

  Vaughn tried his best to keep up, but after a while all he could do was cling to the desk with one hand and try to grant himself some relief with the other. When Bryant finally stiffened behind him, rammed deep, then held still, Vaughn knew this was it. Bryant was about to flood his ass with hot, silky come.

  He was about to unleash himself inside a man for the first time, and he’d chosen Vaughn to give it to. The thought alone was enough to push him over the edge.

  He fucked into his fist as his balls pulled up tight to his core. While Bryant tipped over the line from anticipation to detonation, Vaughn shot his own load onto the floor between their feet in time to his boyfriend’s orgasmic spasms.

  They climaxed simultaneously.

  Shouted their euphoria to each other as they did it.

  Vaughn’s ass clenched around Bryant, drawing out his lover’s pleasure. And knowing the other man was loving every moment of his release only enhanced Vaughn’s ecstasy. He came until he was sure he’d die of dehydration.

  Bryant sagged, resting on Vaughn’s back as he kissed Vaughn’s neck and ran his fingers over Vaughn’s scalp. They were sweaty, exhausted, and so damn relieved to have found each other again that Vaughn almost didn’t want to move.

  Until he remembered that Bryant’s tattoo wasn’t even bandaged yet.

  Bryant’s dick slipped from his ass as Vaughn pushed straight once more. His legs trembled as he cleaned first Bryant, making sure to sanitize and cover his skin properly, and then himself before locking up the shop. They were quiet—content to share a hushed intimacy—until they climbed into bed, legs scissored and arms wrapped around each other.

  “I’m so glad you’re back.” Vaughn whispered into the darkness, glad Bryant couldn’t see the extra shine in his eyes.

  “I’m so glad you’ll have me.” Bryant hugged him tight.

  They fell asleep entwined with each other, and Vaughn was committed to making sure they never spent another night apart.

  18

  Bryant couldn’t believe how much this mattered to Vaughn. It seemed like a simple thing, strolling down the street together holding hands. For them, it was huge.

  It was important that his boyfriend realize he was glad to be seen together with him.

  And secretly, Bryant suspected Vaughn liked to parade him around and make sure everyone knew who he belonged to. Bryant had never been the kind of person anyone wanted to show off before, but he was willing to admit he liked the feeling.

  They talked about everything and nothing as they spent Vaughn’s day off wandering around the downtown area of Laramie, Wyoming, one of the closest cities to Compton Pass. Sure, it wasn’t a megalopolis like New York or L.A., but it was bigger and busier than their sleepy little town.

  They walked along the main street, browsing through shop windows. It was incredible to spend time like this, like a normal couple. Bryant was hardly paying attention to the goods in the stores until they passed a high-end antique dealer, which ordinarily wouldn’t have been his thing.

  Except something caught his eye.

  He stopped in his tracks, jerking Vaughn to a halt. Then he practically dragged the guy inside and over to a display case where he leaned in for a better look.

  “You like that watch?” Vaughn asked subtly, maybe hinting around for Christmas or birthday ideas. Not that either of them could afford the one he was studying with his photographic memory.

  “Of course I do. I’ve admired it my whole life…when my dad was wearing it. It was JD’s.” Bryant clenched his fists. Had his dad sold it to help raise some of the cash for Bryant’s experiment? Oh shit, that couldn’t be it, could it?
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  “Hang on a second, maybe it’s just one similar…” Vaughn’s grim face spoke volumes.

  “It’s not. See the tiny ding on the band? It’s from when I was eight or nine. Doug and I were goofing around on the back of one of the tractors. His jacket got caught on a tree and tugged him off. He was heading straight under the tire until my dad jammed his hand down and grabbed him before something awful could happen. But the watch took the brunt of the impact. My dad always said it saved him from breaking his wrist that day. Besides, it’s engraved to JD from Vicki.” Bryant bent over with his hands on his knees.

  Vaughn caught the eye of the shopkeeper and raised his hand. “Hi, could I take a look at this?”

  “It’s a beaut, that one. A rare find. Solid gold. Handcrafted by a master watchmaker, too. They don’t make them like that anymore.” The guy nodded as he unlocked the case. He was careful as he handed it to Vaughn, who immediately flipped it over.

  With my timeless love…Vicki

  Bryant thought he might be sick. Doubly so when he caught sight of all the zeroes on the price tag. A perpetual student with no job, he couldn’t even dream of affording it. His only option was to accept that this was what it had cost his family to support him in an effort that hadn’t succeeded.

  Might never succeed.

  It was going to rain eventually, but until it did, he wouldn’t even know if all this had been worth it. And what if it hadn’t been?

  He felt that familiar urge to run tugging at his boots.

  Until he looked over at Vaughn. The creases around his mouth and between his brows made it clear he was wondering how Bryant would react. Would this be the wedge that drove them apart forever?

  Not if Bryant had anything to say about it.

  This time he wised up and leaned on Vaughn instead of shoving him away. They thanked the shopkeeper and left a significant piece of his family’s history behind when they went back to the truck, where he slid across the bench seat to rest his head on Vaughn’s shoulder, defeated. “I don’t have any way to make this right. The system and all my improvements have to actually work before I can make any money from them. What am I going to say to my family? What will I say to my dad?”

  Ah, fuck.

  “I don’t know, Bryant. But we’ll figure out something. Your dad believes in you. If he didn’t, he would never have done this. Think of it this way—he’s so sure that your technology will advance the farm and the improve life for everyone involved that he was willing to gamble that watch on it.” Vaughn shook Bryant’s shoulders. “He’s willing to let the past go in order to make the future better. He has faith in you. And so do I.”

  In that moment, there was only one thing Bryant knew to be true. So he didn’t try to repress it. “I love you, Vaughn.”

  “I love you, too.” Vaughn kissed his temple. “I know it’s tough to deal with now, but this is going to be okay.”

  Bryant sat there for a while, wrapped in his lover’s arms.

  After he felt steady again, he reached for his phone and called Doug.

  “Hey, there’s the cousin I was just thinking of!” Doug joked.

  “Why?” Bryant was afraid to hope. “Do you have good news? What’s the weather doing?”

  Doug turned his phone around so that the video transmitted an image of his laptop screen and the weather forecast running on it. It was blotchy with red blobs. Rain. Heavy rain everywhere.

  Bryant held his breath as he reminded himself it was only a simulator the storm-chasing crew used. “You think it’s actually coming?”

  “Yeah, but I thought that the last four times there was a low pressure system over this way, too.” His cousin shrugged. “The weather this summer is more confusing than a woman.”

  “Or a guy.” Vaughn rolled his eyes so Bryant smacked him in the gut with the back of his hand.

  If this rain didn’t come, not only would the herd suffer, but the money his father had sunk into the irrigation and water retention systems would keep them from being able to ship more hay in from a neighboring farm.

  Bryant might have fucked them all.

  “Calm down.” Vaughn rubbed Bryant’s thigh out of sight of his phone.

  “Sit tight, cuz. This can’t last forever,” Doug said.

  “But will we make it until it rains again?” Bryant was pretty sure his nerves were shot. He needed to go home and let Vaughn distract him before he had a nervous breakdown.

  Doug tried to help. “I’ll bet you my autographed World Finals Rodeo poster that it’ll be raining before morning.”

  Unfortunately, Bryant won that bet.

  19

  A couple days later, Bryant was sitting at the table in Sterling’s cottage with Vaughn. They’d stayed out here the past few nights in case, as was forecasted, it finally fucking rained.

  Of course it hadn’t.

  So he paced the kitchen some more.

  Vaughn reached out and grabbed his wrist, tugging him into his lap. He banded his arms around Bryant, refusing to allow him to stand up again. “I love you, Bryant. But if you don’t sit your ass down, I’m going to have to bum some rope off your uncles and tie you up.”

  “I’m trying my absolute hardest.” Bryant swore his insides were being eaten through from all the acid churning in his gut.

  He couldn’t sleep. He couldn’t eat. Hell, he couldn’t even fuck.

  “Look at the sky. It’s coming. I can feel it in my ankle.” Vaughn grimaced as he rotated it.

  “The one you broke in eighth grade?” Bryant had nearly forgotten the summer Vaughn had been hobbling around on crutches or the time he’d accepted a ride across the farm on Bryant’s horse.

  “It was worth it for that horseback ride you gave me over to my dad’s place.” Vaughn smiled as he hugged Bryant like he had back then.

  “Once a perv, always a perv,” Bryant teased.

  “There’s my boyfriend.” Vaughn laughed. “I missed you. Stay here with me for a while. I think today’s the day.”

  “Well, you should know.” Bryant turned and kissed Vaughn gently. “After all, you broke my drought.”

  “I guess I did, didn’t I?” Vaughn leaned in, about to make the sweltering kitchen even hotter when a bolt of blue-white light illuminated the sky an instant before the loudest clap of thunder Bryant had ever heard rattled the windows of his sister’s house. There was no mistaking it this time. Thunder!

  He looked over at Vaughn and grinned. Instead of shutting the blinds and standing back from the window like any sane weatherman would recommend for their safety, Bryant grabbed his boyfriend’s hand and tugged.

  “Where are you taking me?” Vaughn chuckled as he shook his head.

  “Outside!” Bryant didn’t waste any time. He bolted for the front door and flung it open. Wind whipped through the grass outside, birds dove for cover in the crispy leaves of the trees, and they ran out into the yard.

  “You’re going to get us killed, you lunatic!” Vaughn cringed when another series of flashes pinged around them.

  Bryant didn’t care. He stared up at the sky and the clouds rolling past overhead, hoping. For rain. For the rest of his prayers to be answered. “Come on. Jake, please, help us out.”

  As if in answer, a big fat drop of rain fell and splattered right in his eye.

  Bryant whooped and swiped it away as he turned to Vaughn. “It’s raining!”

  “Yes, yes, it is.” He held his arms out, palms up, and collected the moisture that began to splash down in more and more spots around them. “You think Jake heard you?” Vaughn whispered.

  “I’m not sure, but if so… I hope he looks away now.” Bryant started to strip. He wasn’t wasting this chance to celebrate with the love of his life. Thankfully the cottage blocked the view between where they were standing and Sterling and Viho’s house.

  “What the hell are you doing?” Vaughn stared at him as if he’d lost his mind.

  Bryant met his gaze and held it as he removed the rest of his clothes. For the f
irst time in his life, he felt confident enough to seduce the man he wanted more than anything. Even more than the rain. “Remember that shower sex you wanted? How’s rain sex sound instead?”

  “A rain check. Nice. I’m in.” Vaughn kicked off his boots and practically ripped his shirt in half as he yanked it from his jeans. Periodic bursts of light outlined his six-pack, which was growing wetter by the second.

  The patter and plop of moisture turned into a constant barrage. Then they were soaked.

  So much water fell from the sky that Bryant couldn’t even hear himself as he called out to Vaughn. It didn’t matter. The other guy responded as if he knew what Bryant needed. Maybe even needed it himself.

  They came together in the wide-open yard behind the cottage. Damn anyone else who might happen by. A stream of warm water poured from Bryant’s hair and down his face. His chest slapped against Vaughn’s when they collided with enough momentum to make him wonder if the thunder was coming from within him.

  The effect Vaughn had on him was powerful enough to be its own force of nature.

  For a moment or two they stood there, peering into each other’s eyes. Crystalline drops beaded on Vaughn’s onyx lashes, making them glisten.

  Then he closed the gap between them, crushing his mouth to Bryant’s.

  Their groans smashed together like the warm and cold fronts above them, mingling and turning into the perfect storm of passion. Bryant sank to his knees at Vaughn’s feet, craving the taste of him. He filled his mouth with heat and cock, sucking just the way his partner preferred.

  The clench of Vaughn’s hands on Bryant’s shoulders guaranteed he was having the effect he intended. But it wasn’t long before they both needed more. He pulled off and began to lie back.

  “No, you’re not going to lay in the dirt while I fuck you.” Vaughn kept him from settling into the muddy area forming around them.

  He turned and splayed himself on the ground instead, then held his arms out to Bryant, whose heart ka-thumped a little at the tender side his gruff boyfriend sometimes unwittingly showed.