by Christi Snow
Daniel worked above him, gingerly sliding the wet coat off Austin’s arms, carefully cradling the man while he worked, keeping him upright.
Austin blinked slowly and frowned in confusion at Luke. His face screwed up. “Head...hurts. Aneurysm? Like...d...dad.” He looked confused for a moment, but then gasped in a raspy breath. “Ju...just...cold. Blood...elk.” Those chocolate eyes fluttered shut.
Had he hit an elk with his car? That would explain a lot. Elk were huge, much bigger than most people realized and would demolish a car if they got in front of one.
So much blood covered the side of Austin’s face. A large gash marred his temple, so some of that blood had to be his and not the elks.
They had him stripped of everything but his jeans and while pale, the only injury Luke could spot other than the nasty gash on the side of his head was the dark, black and purple bruise that went from his hip and diagonally up his chest to his shoulder. That was probably from the seatbelt.
He’d need to examine Austin more closely once they got the gore cleaned off of him, but right now, getting him warm had to be the priority.
“Daniel, take off your shirt. He needs to warm up quickly, but we need to do that as naturally as possible.” He’d considered a hot bath and discarded the idea, not wanting to damage Austin’s frozen skin. “Then I need you to help me get his pants off before you get in the bed. I’ll bring him to you. You can lie on one side of him. I’ll stoke the fire so we can get it as hot as possible in here, and then I’ll try to warm him from the other side.”
Austin chuckled low, the sound shuddering in his chest as he shook from the cold.
Luke focused on quickly unbuttoning Austin’s jeans, trying to stay numb to the fact that he was unbuttoning the pants of one sexy as fuck man, who also was his employer. And the fact he was hurt meant that Luke couldn’t perv on him.
This was not how he saw his job going at the beginning of today.
Instead, he focused on trying to determine how mentally out of it Austin was right now. He continued to chuckle low, an eerie sound with his teeth chattering non-stop like they were.
“You find that funny?” Luke asked, curious about the answer, but more interested in making sure that Austin stayed conscious until his body began to heat back up. His skin felt like ice under Luke’s palms and that scared Luke to death. Keeping him talking might help keep him from succumbing to the hypothermia.
“Funny...in heaven...not he...hell.” His teeth continued to chatter under the uncontrollable shivering of his body. “Or...maybe...is hell. Just fr...freezing, not h...hot.”
Luke exchanged a worried glance with Daniel as he lifted Austin up. It couldn’t be a good sign that he was rambling nonsense. “Daniel, I’ve got him. See if you can peel his jeans and underwear off.” The wet denim clung to his skin, making it almost impossible to peel the fabric down his legs.
Not that Austin seemed to mind. He groaned. “S...so...unfair.”
Luke began to worry about the blow to Austin’s head. He seemed to be spouting complete nonsense. He probably had a concussion and there was no way to get him off this mountain. Not tonight. He exchanged a worried glance with Daniel, who finally pulled Austin’s jeans off him.
Luke nodded to Daniel. “Go get in the bed. I’ll bring him to you. We need to get him warm.”
He propped Austin up on his arm. “Come on, big guy. Let’s see what we can do to get you warm now.” They began the slow shuffle across the room. Daniel flung back the covers and sprawled on the bed waiting for Austin.
Luke’s dick twitched at the sight of Daniel in the bed.
“N...n...not...so...big...now,” Austin stuttered and moaned again. “T...too...cold. N...not fair. D...do...don’t judge.”
Suddenly some of what Austin had been saying clicked. Luke chuckled, feeling a little better about Austin’s state. If he could worry about the size of his dick he couldn’t be that bad off, right?
He lowered Austin into the bed. Daniel hissed when Austin’s cold skin touched his bare chest, but that didn’t stop him from snuggling right up to him and pulling the heavy down comforter up high over both their shoulders.
“S...so...g...good,” Austin murmured, his eyes shut as he snuggled into Daniel’s embrace. “Wa...warm. Da...Daniel. Missed...y...you.”
Luke ignored the burn of jealousy that flared within his chest. “Try to keep him awake, while I get it warmer in here,” he instructed Daniel and then rushed out of the room to gather more firewood to stoke the heat on the fireplace in the bedroom.
In the living room, he closed the doors to the main fireplace for safety since they weren’t in that room to monitor it and then he loaded up his arms with firewood.
When the power had first gone off, he’d been surprised that the fireplaces hadn’t been propane. Now, he was thankful about the fact, since he could build the fire as hot as need be and they stocked the cabin with more than enough wood to last them through the storm and beyond.
When he reentered the bedroom, Daniel watched him with hooded but worried eyes as he built the fire.
Daniel kept Austin talking, keeping him awake, and every once in a while checked Austin’s pupils to make sure his brain injury wasn’t more serious than they could handle. Not that Luke had a clue what they’d do if Austin took a turn for the worse. There was no way off this mountain or any way to get word out they needed help until the storm let up.
When the fire blazed, Luke rushed to the bathroom. He found a first-aid kit under the sink and soaked a couple of washcloths in hot water.
Then he came out and sank to the opposite side of the bed. “How are you feeling?” he asked when Austin’s eyes fluttered open.
“Tired. Head hurts.”
“I know. Let’s clean you up and see how bad it is.” It had probably been three hours since the wreck. If Austin were going to have life-threatening complications from the concussion, it probably would have already happened.
But he’d check Austin out completely before he told him he could go to sleep.
Using gentle, but effective strokes, Luke slowly cleaned the blood off Austin as best as he could. Austin tensed every once in a while and hissed in pain, but he’d stopped shivering nonstop and seemed more lucid than he had been before.
The bruise on the side of his temple had grown to the size of a goose egg and was livid shades of navy blue and purple. A gash easily three inches long and fairly deep bisected the center, but the bleeding had slowed to a trickle. If they were where they could get to a hospital, Luke was sure he’d be getting stitches, but that wasn’t an option here. Butterfly Band-Aids would have to do.
Luke met Austin’s pained filled gaze. Austin had been watching Luke’s hands as he worked.
“You took a good blow to the head, but I think you will be okay once the headache dissipates.” He brushed his fingertips along the edge of the head wound and gash.
“But I don’t want to leave this like it is now.” He needed to pull the skin together. “This will hurt, but if we leave this open, you’re going to have a big scar left here.”
Austin nodded. “It’s okay. I lived, right? A few scars are a small price.”
Daniel had been gently soothing Austin by rubbing the skin on the back of Austin’s neck. At those words, he tensed.
Before Luke could say anything, Austin shushed Daniel with a soft, quiet voice and grabbed hold of his hand. “Scars are worth it. We all have them. Some of them are visible, but a lot are in places that no one ever sees.” He rested their joined hands over Daniel’s heart.
Luke’s breath caught in his chest at the impact of what was happening between the two men.
“They’re all marks of survival,” Austin said, suddenly sounding so much more clear-headed than he’d been just moments before. “Scars are so much better than the alternative.”
Daniel’s eyes filled with tears as he nodded. “How come you can take a blow to the head and still be too fucking charming for me to resist?”
> Austin leaned over and kissed his forehead. “Don’t worry. It’s a momentary lapse. I’ll be back to my grumpy old self tomorrow, I’m sure.”
Grumpy? Luke hadn’t seen any sign of that in his dealings with the man, and now he had to wonder...what exactly was the connection, the history, between Daniel and Austin?
Austin’s eyes closed as Luke placed the final Band-Aid on his head. Luke brushed the blood-crusted hair off his forehead. “We’ll get this washed for you tomorrow. For now, just rest.” Daniel had been periodically checking Austin’s fingers and toes for frostbite, and it looked like Austin had been lucky.
Luke met Daniel’s sleepy gaze.
“Do you think he’ll be okay?” Daniel asked, his voice barely more than a hushed whisper.
Luke nodded. “Yeah. I’ll go make sure everything’s secure. You need to get some rest, too.” Luke stood and looked down at the two men. They were intertwined under the covers like it was the most natural thing in the world.
Daniel bit his lip and for a moment he looked uncomfortable like he wanted to say something, but didn’t know how.
The truth hit Luke. “Damn, Daniel, I wasn’t thinking. We need to get your prostheses off.”
He started toward Daniel’s legs, but Daniel stiffened.
Luke raised a hand to settle him. Neither one of them wanted to disturb Austin. “I don’t want to overstep, but I can help. I had a buddy from the Army who lost a leg. He stayed with me during part of his recovery after he got out of rehab. I know what I’m doing.”
“Really?” Daniel’s voice cracked. “It won’t bother you?”
“No. Never. That is something that you shouldn’t ever worry about, D. Like Austin said...you survived. Nothing else matters beyond that.”
Daniel nodded. “Tha...thank you. I don’t want to disturb him. He finally stopped shivering.” He stroked his hand up and down Austin’s back.
Luke wasn’t even sure Daniel knew that he was doing it.
Luke made quick work of removing the artificial limbs. When Daniel paled, Luke tried to respect his emotions about the process and was careful not to look at the scarred stumps as he removed the compression socks.
He set all the equipment within reach from the bed and then nodded at Daniel. “I’ll be back in a few minutes. I’ll sleep in the chair by the fire to make sure the fire stays going and check on him all night long.”
“No.” Daniel’s voice was strong and emphatic, something that he shouldn’t be able to pull off with his whispering. “You’ll sleep in bed with us. He still needs your heat on the other side of him.”
Luke reluctantly nodded. “You’re right.” There was no way Austin’s core temperature was normal yet. He might not be shivering constantly anymore, but he was still doing it periodically. Luke had to get over his hang-up about being that close to Daniel. Austin needed his heat. Nothing else mattered. Not tonight.
But as he checked the doors and windows and the storm still wreaking havoc outside, he thought back over the night. Right before Austin showed up, it had felt like Daniel and he had been on the verge of...something monumental.
But now Austin was here, and there was no denying that there was a connection between him and Daniel.
Luke’s stomach rolled at the possibilities flashing through his brain. He may have waited too long to make his relationship with Daniel into something more.
And that was scarier than almost anything including the fierce blizzard pounding outside their doors.
Chapter Eleven
AUSTIN
Austin awoke to an insistent pounding within his body. Yes, he hurt...everywhere. But this was more than that. His cock throbbed, filled with blood and seeking entrance into the hard body he was spooning behind.
His arm instinctively tightened across the broad chest and his hand flexed at the distinctive feel of curly, thick chest hair.
As if that weren’t bizarre enough, he seemed to have an equally hard, needy cock behind him pushing against his bare ass cheeks.
What the hell?
While his head still pounded in time with his heartbeat, he had to wonder...did he die last night? That would explain how he found himself sandwiched between two hot and ready men this morning.
He’d died and gone to heaven.
He really wouldn’t have thought he’d been good enough in life to warrant that. Hell, didn’t a person have to believe in heaven before they could go there? But who was he to question the deities? They’d blessed him with this man-meat sandwich. He planned to take advantage of it.
He flexed his ass cheeks and arched his ass back rubbing hard against the erection gliding there before sliding forward and grinding his hard dick against the ass in front of him.
Fuck, this felt good. Too good.
He pinched the nipple under his palm, gratified at the deep rumble of a groan that echoed through the man’s chest as the sensitive nub puckered. That ass in front of him pushed back rewarding him with wonderful hot friction that he desperately needed.
Speaking of need...
He lowered his hand brushing down from the muscular pec and across some spectacular abs based on the hard ridges he felt under his palm.
They grew their men well up here in heaven.
He frowned when he encountered the elastic edge of underwear. Why wasn’t everyone naked here? That would be better. He thought things were supposed to be perfect in heaven, but then he felt the damp spot at the edge of an erection and a sizzle of arousal zinged through his balls. Maybe god knew what he was doing, after all.
Knowing that the man in front of him was turned on did a lot to ratchet Austin’s arousal even higher. His balls tightened and pulsed with the need to come. He’d thought he was as hard as he could get. He’d been wrong. Fuck, this felt good, despite the insistent, niggling pounding in his head.
He dipped his hand under the fabric and encountered a thick, hard beast. What was it they said about snakes in heaven? Well, whatever it was, Austin didn’t plan to resist this temptation. This was his reward for dying, right?
He brushed his fingertips over the top of the hard cock, smoothing the bead of moisture that had pearled there across the skin in a slow, sensuous glide. The cock flexed into his touch.
He groaned just as the man behind him whispered, “Austin.” Then he latched onto the nape of Austin’s neck, sucking, driving him wild with unspent need.
The man writhing behind him began a slow assault of kisses down his back and thrusts against his ass made to drive him wild.
He clenched his ass and countered the thrusts to provide friction to the horny man behind him. He sounded and smelled like Daniel. It seemed only appropriate that the single sexiest night of his life be reenacted here in heaven with the happy bonus of who he imagined being sexy Luke in front of him.
Because if Daniel were behind him, it only made sense that the big, burly man in front of him be Luke. The two men had become intrinsically intertwined together in Austin’s mind.
Stroking Luke’s cock was his single most pleasurable act in the world right now. The cock gliding against his ass and the hand holding and stroking him was the second. It eased the pain inside his brain, his chest. He wanted to ignore it all. Reality couldn’t intrude here. Nothing existed but the building lust and arousal and desire pulsing through the base of his balls and up his hard, throbbing dick.
Nothing else mattered but this pleasure and bringing the two men surrounding him to the same place of pure indulgence with him. To that end, he stroked harder and faster with both his hands and his hips until he was right on the precipice.
“Please, please,” he chanted quietly on gasping breaths, not wanting to break the spell around them. “Tell me you’re close.” He was talking to both men, needing them both to be right there with him.
They both made sounds of agreement, not words, but definite moans and groans of pleasure. Then like a cascade, Luke went over first, taking Austin with him, and Daniel followed almost immediately behind.
They had mutual orgasms...almost all at the same time. Wow. Definitely heaven, Austin thought as his eyes drifted shut, submitting to the pain that continued to pulse behind his eyes. Eyes he hadn’t managed to open during the entire encounter.
DANIEL
If Daniel weren’t so worried about waking Austin again, he would have burst out laughing at the shocked expression on Luke’s face as he turned over.
“That did not just happen, did it?” Luke hissed looking confused and more than half asleep. He lowered his eyes as if to see below the covers where, yes, all three of them had just jacked off together and made a complete mess.
“If you mean all three of us starting off the morning with an incredible orgasm, then yes, the sticky mess in my boxers confirms that we just did that.” Daniel whispered as he winked at Luke who’d been asleep when Austin had turned him on. Luckily he’d pulled off his jeans in the middle of the night so only his boxers were a mess now. “Don’t worry. I’m not sure how awake he was for that either.” He nodded toward Austin, who’d definitely fallen right back to sleep judging from his deep breathing.
“At least he can blame it on a blow to the head.” Luke looked so disgruntled, even if his eyes were still blown with arousal.
It was a fucking good look on him.
Daniel couldn’t blame sleep or a blow to the head. The only thing he had to blame was pure stupidity...nice and simple. He’d been here before...or at least a close enough place to it to know that Luke might completely lose his shit over this.
Daniel should know better.
But Daniel had awoken with his morning wood pressed into Austin’s ass, which just ignited the memory of the last time they’d been together. That combined with knowing that Luke was in the bed, too, and Daniel hadn’t been strong enough to fight against his baser instincts.
He wouldn’t apologize for it. In fact, he’d do it again in a hot second, because it’d been hotter than fuck.
Hell, this morning he was just happy to know that all the pipes down below were in working order. He hadn’t had an orgasm since the accident, and while that hadn’t mattered in the past few months, there had been a few times when he’d wondered if he’d ever have sex again.
