Looking to Mac for his approval, which was given with a nod and wink, Cecil soon forgot about everything else while he daydreamed about riding over the prairie, like a real cowboy.
Wayne and Mac left for the shed after Leo promised to do the dishes and Shan drove Cecil to the motel in town for the night. Mac hated they had to drive, and spend money on the room, but Shan refused to stay under the roof of Daniel Blaylock until all remnants of him were gone. She could hold a grudge worse than anyone, but Mac didn’t blame her a bit.
“She’ll let Cecil stay with you now and again, once the place is fixed up and doesn’t feel like Daddy’s around every corner,” Wayne promised. “I’ll camp on the couch for the night.”
“The bedroom is free, Wayne. I had trouble sleepin’ there too, but it’s better than that old lumpy couch.”
“I’ll think about it,” he gave, then sat down in the chair Shan had been in most of the day, whining, “This is too much! How the hell are we going to get through it all?”
“That’s up to Leo and Shan, I figure. I’d be lost to figurin’ any o’ it.”
“Me too, I hate to say. I didn’t stay long in ranch management, but even what I learned wouldn’t prepare me for this. Not the way they used to do things.”
Mac had enough knowledge that he should, but this wasn’t management of the ranch alone. This was his family. He picked up one of the diaries, which was old, browned with age. He turned the cover and saw a date on the inside cover. “1854 to 1858. Jeez Louise, Wayne. Who the hell was in charge then?”
Wayne took out his phone and told him, “Shan did the ancestry chart on this site and sent me the link and login.” He swiped and scanned the pages until his brows rose. “Well, Jeb was alive, but I’m betting his son, Wyatt, was in charge.”
The handwriting wasn’t easily read, but after a few minutes of trying to decipher some, he found he could guess what he couldn’t read. “It says here the cotton field wasn’t planted until that year, 1854. Must not have been Jeb’s idea.”
“From what I’ve heard, Jeb was only interested in cattle. It makes sense.”
“Heard from where?”
“Uncle Pete, grandpa’s brother. He said something about it once, that old Jeb liked pushing cows, didn’t want nothing to do with the cotton fields and the politics that went along with it.”
Mac whistled through his teeth. “I wonder if he knew what was comin’? Weren’t long after the war came on.”
“Probably.”
He kept reading and sure enough, read a passage that confirmed it. “This is set up like a ledger, but has notes, personal-like notes. Wyatt says here that his daddy didn’t want the fields, and sure didn’t want the slaves that came with havin’ cotton.”
Wayne set his own books down and came to sit on the floor next to his brother, looking over his shoulder. Once Mac turned the page, their gasps filled the room.
“Holy shit, he went against his own daddy to buy them slaves!”
Reading on, Mac recited, “Pa wanted nothing to do with buying them, but they had to be in his name. He thinks he’s king rather than a simple land owner.”
Wayne continued after a few of the pages were flipped. “I can’t see freeing them at all, but we shouldn’t have to, once we win the war.”
Mac pointed to the page facing that one. “Look here. He says for not wanting them, his Pa sure liked them. The slaves?”
“Must have been. Dang, Old Jeb liked the slaves. Who knew?”
“Whoever read these. Is this why they were hidden, Wayne? They were embarrassed that Jeb not only didn’t want slaves, but he liked them, like as people, not just property. It’s obvious that’s how this Wyatt thought of ‘em. He never calls them by name, only the big buck or the little picky.”
With his voice telling of his contempt, he spat, “They didn’t see them as human.”
“How did we come from these people, Wayne?”
Chapter Thirteen
“His journals or whatever these are, they skip the war years. I guess he went. Why wasn’t that choked down our throats like Jeb and Sam Houston?”
Mac shook his head at his brother, unable to answer. “It was a different time, maybe. I’m sure he fought for the south, so…”
“Like that would be a shameful thing for our folk,” Wayne scoffed. He flipped through more dusty pages, sneezing a few times, then tossing it aside, raising even more. It was like being surrounded in misery, the pages and books of proof of their family’s dark past.
“If we don’t get through more of this, quickly, Shan is gonna kill us, but I just can’t anymore tonight.”
That, he could agree on, stating it, “I got a date with my man.”
“How is that going, really? You look happy. I don’t think I’ve seen you happy since you were a kid.”
He hadn’t felt happy since then. “He’s good to me, Wayne, and not like he doesn’t jump my ass when I need it. He thinks I can do just about anything, and it doesn’t feel like he’s blowin’ smoke up my ass.”
“Butt. Keep in the habit or Shan will shove something a lot more painful up there than smoke.”
They left the shed soon after Mac was bragging on Leo, telling his brother how much he cared for the man. When he went into the camper, ready to show him exactly how much, he was surprised to see that there were candles all over the table and counters, Leo in the doorway of the bedroom, wearing nothing but a smile. “Get some good work done in there?”
Pulling his hat from his head, he moved his eyes over Leo’s perfect body and admitted, “Talked more ‘n worked. Mad?”
Leo crooked his finger, wagging it for Mac to come to him, and he did, gladly. Fingers sliding into Mac’s beltloops, he pulled him close, growling, “Severe punishment is in order.”
“Mmm, I like your punishments.” He kissed Leo in the sultriest way he knew how, lingering against his lips, his favorite place to be. “I should jump in the shower.”
“Don’t you dare, I love how you smell. Hay and sun and sweat. It’s so fucking hot.”
Mac melted at that, being led my Leo into the bedroom, which was only a couple steps, and they stood by the small bed, kissing as Leo pulled Mac’s shirt from his pants and slid his hand down the back, gripping his right cheek quickly before moving to the crease, running his fingers there.
“I’ll punish you, putting my dick inside you, fucking you with long, deep strokes and I won’t let you come until you are crazy, out of your skull wild for me. Maybe I won’t then either.”
“Anythin’,” he begged, “I’ll do anythin’.”
His mouth was insistent, barely letting Mac breath, let alone speak, and his finger found its way to Mac’s hole, pushing in teasingly, just the very tip to give him the tiniest taste of what was to come.
Mac clumsily got his shirt unbuttoned, Leo taking full advantage, kissing over his chest and taking special care of the nipples, flicking them with his tongue, his eyes in Mac’s as he smiled.
“Yer the sexiest thing ever born on the earth.”
When he was undressed, Leo pushed him onto the bed, forcing his legs wide open so he could dive in, sucking on his dick as he grunted deep in his chest. Leo’s tongue was magical, in the slit the wide and licking the entire bottom side, ringing the crown, all within a couple seconds.
He sat up quickly, surprising Mac enough for him to yelp. “What the…?”
“Hehe, you liked that way too much. I’m supposed to be punishing you.”
Mac’s mouth worked wordless for a moment before he got out, “No! I hated it! It was horrible.”
Leo moved between his legs and devoured his mouth, kissing him until he was shaking. “I want to be inside you. I want to make love to you, McCully Blaylock,” he whispered, kissing his neck, the biting there, pulling the flesh between his teeth and sucking, then letting go and continuing, “I want you to need this, Mac. Do you need this?”
Not only was he shaking all over, to the point the bed was shaking with him, his hea
rt was hammering in his chest and his dick was pulsing right along with it. “I do, honey, I do. I need it. Need you, god, yes.”
With his legs over Leo’s shoulders, Leo pushed in not a minute later, and Mac felt the heavy dick spreading him open, the ring of muscle alive with the stretch, the burn of it, opening for Leo as he wanted.
Sliding in, inch by inch, Leo moved, never taking his eyes from Mac, biting his bottom lip while playing with a grin of pure triumph. It was the sexiest thing he’d ever seen, his face like that, his body looming over him, his hips the only part of him moving. He was beautiful, sexual, and Mac felt so fortunate, belonging to him. Having someone like Leo in love with him.
Letting his legs fall to the side, Leo moved closer, fucking him in long, heavy thrusts as he kissed him deeply. Mac sucked his tongue, and that was the only way to keep him from screaming from the way it felt, having Leo slamming into his prostate. That sent shocks through him like he was getting repeatedly hit by lightning.
Leo’s laughter was nothing but evil when he pulled back, like he knew exactly what he was doing to Mac. That was fine with him, because he realized he was laughing too, as wickedly as Leo. Kissing sloppily in between their breathless laughter, Leo’s steady pumping inside him, the candles moving with their fucking, and remembering the last time, with the mess they made, Mac grabbed Leo’s hips, gripping them and pleading, “Stop, stop, okay, stop.”
Leo did, pulling out and lying next to Mac, caressing his face as he sounded scared, “Are you okay? Did I hurt you?”
“No! Oh, no, that was great, but the last time we went crazy like this, we made a mess. This time, it would be a bigger one, with flames.”
Leo sat straight up, and Mac laughed at the dawning on his handsome face. “Oh holy hell, that was dumb.”
“This ain’t the kind of blowin’ you might have had in mind, but maybe we should take a minute and blow out the candles?”
Leo pushed him down and stuck a finger in his face, ordering, “Stay put. I’ll do it.”
“Yessir,” he slurred, his dick jumping and slapping his stomach as it fell back down.
It took him less than a minute, and he was back in bed, but the smoke started wafting into the bedroom, making Mac cough as Leo tried to get between his legs.
When he started coughing too, his brows knitted together and he grunted, “Fuck!”
Mac had an idea, so he got off the bed, grabbing his jeans. “Come on.”
“Where we going?”
“You’ll see.”
Mac threw Leo the robe he had hanging on the outside of the bathroom door, and as soon as he had it on, Mac grabbed his hand and led him from the camper, hurrying to the pole barn across the road. As soon as they were there, he patted the seat for Leo, who scoffed, “You want me to get on there with no underwear?”
“Fold yer robe under, geesh.”
He did, getting on the back and Mac took the front, then they took off, Mac remembering to go slower than he wanted, knowing too much wind would be cold for the two of them.
In the night, the ranch felt and looked like a different place. An alien place, with otherworldly plants, skittering shadows, the air thinner, somehow. He’d never loved the ranch more than at night, no matter who scary it could be at times when he was a kid.
Without the glaring sun baking the earth, the stars lighting up the sky with a soft glow eased the harshness of the place. Riding out there, the prairie stretching out in every direction, the sky so big above them, it was the perfect place to continue his romantic evening.
He stopped the four-wheeler where there was nothing else around except scrub oak and brambles. After he got off the four-wheeler, he caught Leo’s lips in a kiss, then he pled, “Can you please make love to me out here? There are no candles, but,” he said as he pointed to the sky. “Look at that.”
The second his eyes moved up to look at the sky, his lips curled, and a sigh came from him that was all love. “This is perfect, Mac. It’s really beautiful out here.”
“There’s no blanket or anythin’, but there’s your robe, if you wanted to lay on the ground.”
Leo shook his head slowly, and his eyes twinkled in the stars as he looked right up to Mac. “Nah, here’s fine, baby.”
He got off the bike and went around Mac, kissing over his shoulders and he took Mac’s pants down and pushed into him. He moved slowly, seductively, breathing on Mac’s neck and whispering how much he loved him.
“This place is beautiful like you. Wild, like you. Rugged and unpolished and everything I love about you.”
Mac closed his eyes, hands on the seat of the four-wheeler, bending only enough to make it easier on Leo, but staying close to him. He felt Leo’s entire body behind him, his chest and the beating of his heart on his back, stomach moving as he clenched, hips moving back and forth as he pushed in, pulled out, letting Mac get back to that place. His body was engulfed in Leo, his insides being electrified.
When they came, they were surrounded in the sky and the land, a part of something so big. Usually, Mac felt small out there, another grain of sand, but not with Leo. With him, he felt like he was huge, a piece of everything, and not a tiny piece but an important one.
Leo held him, the two of the naked, nothing covering them except for the light from the half moon. “Thank you for bringing me out here.”
“Thank you for…everything. I never want you to have to need me, but I hope one day I can give you even a little piece of what you’ve given me, Leo.”
“You already have, baby. More than a little piece, tonight, you gave me your world.” He waved a hand out at the land and sky around them. “This is bigger than anything.”
They rode back slowly, Leo with his arms and legs wrapped around him, head on Mac’s shoulder. Just when he thought he’d had the best day of his life, Leo gave him another. Mac knew he’d never forget that night, under the stars.
They slept in Leo’s bed, a blanket barely over them, but he never got chilled. He woke to the smell of coffee, and a warning. “Better get up. Shan called and will be here any second.”
“Oh,” he groaned, “Can’t we sleep in?”
“Sure. I’ll tell Shan you’re lounging around while she took off two weeks to help you with all this. I’m sure she’ll understand.”
Mac’s eyes flew open and he saw Leo standing by the bed with two cups of coffee in his hands. He was regrettably fully dressed, but still a welcome sight. “She’ll kill me, but it would almost be worth it.”
“Drink, then get dressed. We need to get moving, cowboy.”
He slurped his coffee as he scooted off the bed, his backside a little achy but otherwise feeling great. Their night had gone on longer than planned, but the ride out on the land had been so perfect in many ways.
He’d fallen in love with his land. Maybe for the first time, he saw more to it than a place where his cattle grazed and there were dark memories. He had wonderful memories there, he and Wayne, running around when they were kids, playing in the dirt. They’d watched the sunsets and hidden treasures in the brush. Barrel cactus were land mines when they’d played war, and prairie dog holes were traps set by monsters to catch their feet until they could be pulled under the soil, like Tremors.
He dressed and met the others in the house, more determined than ever to make the land his and his brother’s, and from Wayne, Cecil and his siblings.
“After we get the debt knocked down and this place starts making money again, I am giving you half, Wayne. No better way to make the pain of this place ease than to have new blood and fresh eyes to see it for what it could be, rather than what it was.”
Wayne started to protest, but Shan simply set her hand on her husband’s arm and said, “We’d love that, Mac. The kids, well, they deserve to have a chance to make up for what their ancestors did, just like you do.”
Wayne relented, “Okay, but the land out east, farthest from the slave houses. I don’t want them anywhere near that.”
“Whatever you
want, Wayne.”
The men went to the barn to start fixing it into a place where people could stay, and Shan went back to the shed, bringing a fan with her to offset the oppressive air that gathered inside the windowless structure.
Cecil worked tirelessly, dragging two by fours in behind his father, hammering nails, sweeping out the loft until the dust that had gathered around all the boxed that had been there was gone.
Leo left for town and returned with drywall and a story. “Well, I got this at cost. I promised the guy at the lumber store that we’d use his store exclusively for anything we need for the place from now on and advertise for him. I told him we’d want to landscape around the house and barn, and he’s calling the nursery for us.”
Wayne slapped him on the back and said, “That’s great! And Shan said that Mama’s old garden only needs to be tilled and fertilized and you’d have free food for the guests the whole year, along with all the beef. All those city boys will love the organic quality.”
Mac couldn’t believe his ears. “Leo, do they know what we’re doing here?”
“A guest ranch is all they need to know. Once their businesses start reviving, they won’t care who the guests were.”
Hating that Leo was using his own money, he complained quietly, then promised, “You’re getting paid back first.”
Leo’s eyes locked on his, and Mac saw that there’d be an argument. He was ready for it. He turned his attention to Wayne, asking, “Can you go ask Shan if she’s ready for a break? I could git some lunch made up.”
“Let’s just go start on it, and Cecil and run and get her.”
They filed into the kitchen, crowding the sink to wash up while Mac felt Leo’s eyes on him, boring into him, more like, and he didn’t look his way once. He wasn’t going to have the fight he knew was coming around his brother and nephew, so he busied himself looking through the fridge for what he could make the group for lunch.
That was, until Wayne told his son, “Let’s go fetch Mom, huh?”
“Okay, and I can tell her how I helped.”
Remember the Alamo (Legacy Book 1) Page 13