by A. M. Arthur
Avery’s affection for the gruff cowboy doubled. “Thank you. I think he’ll be blown away by your generosity.”
“I don’t want this town to die. It’s why I’m rebuilding the ghost town in the first place. Can’t let our only motel go out of business, or we’ll never get the tourist trade I want.”
“This is why I love you so much,” Wes said. A smacking sound could only be a shared kiss between the happy couple. “But where’s Avery going to stay? He can’t just pitch a tent in the yard.”
Avery shuddered. The very idea of camping in anything less than a luxury RV gave him heart palpitations.
“He can stay at the ranch,” Arthur said. “Colt still lives in a single cabin, doesn’t he? He can damn well share for a month.”
Adrenaline jolted through his system, and Avery could only imagine the looks Mack and Wes were sharing. And they were probably trying to figure out how to reject the idea without outing Colt and Avery as exes. “I, ah, that’s very generous,” Avery said. Any “but” died on his lips, because it was the perfect solution. He’d be closer, able to ride up to the site with Mack every day, instead of relying on one of the construction workers to pick him up.
But living with Colt? They’d never lived together, rarely had even spent the whole night together.
It was Arthur’s ranch, though, and while he had guest rooms in the main house, Avery imagined the man didn’t want a relative stranger living with him for a solid month. A cabin with the rest of the employees was a better fit.
“I guess that’ll work?” Mack hedged.
“Sure it will,” Arthur said. “Colt can make friends with a houseplant, they’ll do fine for a few weeks. Let me know when you want to be picked up, and I’ll send someone down to get you.”
“I appreciate this very much,” Avery replied. “I hope I won’t be an extra burden to Patrice.”
“The more the merrier is her favorite thing to say about cooking. She’ll love having you there with the other boys.”
“Well, I guess that’s settled,” Mack said. “Switching back.” Fabric rustled, and then more softly, Mack asked, “You sure you’re okay with this?”
“I have no idea,” Avery said. “I honestly don’t. We’re both professional adults, and we can act like it. Thank you for not saying anything to Arthur, by the way.”
“Your relationship is your business. I can talk to Colt. Make sure he doesn’t treat you like an asshole.”
Avery shook his head, then realized he was on the phone. “You don’t have to do that. After our, ah, talk this morning, we’re in a good place. Friendly terms, even.” If “friendly terms” meant I want to fuck him blind over a saddle again.
This was going to be a disaster of epic proportions.
* * *
Colt brought Duchess down from a canter to a walk as they approached the barn’s main entrance. He’d taken her out for a ride after Avery left, mostly to clear his head and think about what he wanted. Nothing was explicit enough in his mind, though. Colt wanted to have sex with Avery, to have Sir tie him up again, to feel true intimacy for the first time in years—but even Colt had a hard time believing he’d be able to manage long distance. Even thinking about Avery leaving made Colt feel so abandoned, and it fucked with his mind. He didn’t know what to do.
He did know that Avery would want specifics, because he liked details and planning. Colt wanted to shove any and all plans elsewhere, and just take the leap.
But his thoughts of Avery skidded to a stop when Mack stepped out of the barn doors, hands deep in his jeans pockets. He watched Colt approach, making no move to leave, which raised Colt’s curiosity. Their conversations lately were short and civil, but in passing. Mack hadn’t approached him since that day by the fence, when he’d accused Colt of giving notice because he was afraid.
He hadn’t been wrong.
Colt gently halted Duchess, then swung off. “Hey,” he said, testing the waters.
“So something happened, and I’m not sure how you’re gonna like this,” Mack replied, his usual gruff tone neutral. “It’s about Avery.”
Ice skittered down his spine. “Is he okay? Is he hurt?”
“No, he’s fine, it’s just the motel’s been infested with bedbugs, so Avery needs an alternate place to sleep, and Arthur offered up the free bunk in your cabin, and no one could reasonably say why that was a bad idea without outing your former relationship to Arthur, and Avery didn’t seem willing to do that over the phone.”
Colt blinked hard as he tried to follow the word vomit, unused to seeing Mack so…uncertain. Mack was a rock in any storm, and this wasn’t his usual behavior—Wait, he’d said Avery’s name. Mack’s words finally penetrated Colt’s brain. “Wait, what?”
“Avery’s gonna be sharing your cabin for a while.” Mack braced, as if expecting a punch or something, for offering up Colt’s private cabin to one of his employees.
Except Mack hadn’t offered it, Arthur had, and poor Arthur had no way of knowing what a gift he’d handed Colt. Avery, in close quarters, for possibly weeks. Colt tried to keep the delight off his face. “I, uh, I suppose that’ll be okay. We’re adults, we’ve made a kind of peace.”
Mack visibly relaxed. “Avery said as much. It’s just…this whole thing is hella awkward, you know? Still can’t figure for you two being in a relationship. You’re so damned different.”
His tone was curious, rather than condemning, so Colt took a chance on continuing the first conversation Mack had initiated in weeks. “We’re extremely different in many things, which contributed to our breakup. But when we were together…it was intense. Like I needed him simply to breathe.”
Mack’s fond smile said he was thinking about his relationship with Wes. “I get that. I hate not being able to touch Wes for close to a month, and I’m not looking forward to driving him to the airport later, but we can still talk to each other. See each other’s faces.”
“Skype was around five years ago, I was just too stubborn and jealous to let him go on that film consultation without me.”
“And then you let him go, anyway. That must have been hard for you, dealing with it alone.”
Colt shrugged. “You and Reyes had too much else going on. You didn’t need my drama, too, and by that point, I didn’t feel like I deserved your sympathy. Not after what I did.” Okay, he hadn’t meant to steer their pleasant conversation down that road, but too late.
Mack’s eyes narrowed, but he didn’t show his other typical signs of getting pissed off. “Can’t say as it makes me feel any better, knowing you were suffering, too.”
“That’s because you’re a better person than I am. If I was you, I’d be delighted I was hurting over losing Avery. I just… I couldn’t bring his memory with me to the ranch, you know? Couldn’t have a clean slate with that big of a crack in my heart.”
“Yeah.” Mack crossed his arms over his barrel chest, then reached up to tug at his beard. “Listen, Colt, I might still be mad at you for lying, but I can’t say I don’t miss you. We were coworkers and friends for eight years, and that doesn’t go away because I’m pissed and hurt. But you taking a bullet for me doesn’t magically take that anger and hurt away, either.”
“I know. And if you never forgive me, I deserve it.”
“No, you don’t. I do want us to be friends again, someday. I just… Wes is helping me process it all, and he’s completely Team Friends Again.”
“What does Reyes think?”
Mack snorted. “Neutral country, as usual.”
“Yeah, he always did like to play Switzerland when you and I argued.” Colt laughed. “You remember when we got into that argument about where to hang out the one time all three of us had two days off in a row? You wanted the beach, I wanted the mountains, and Reyes refused to have an opinion.”
“He kept saying ‘As long as I don’t have to chase a fire,
or get a cat out of a tree, I’m happy.’”
“We finally flipped a coin.”
“And I won the beach,” Mack said smugly.
“Yeah, and I got sunburned.” Colt laughed again at the memory, and it felt like a lifetime since he’d last laughed with Mack. Or anywhere around Mack. Their shared history was tangled up in trips, dinners, adventures, and simple evenings watching a ball game with beers. He’d tried to protect that history by keeping a terrible secret, and he’d nearly lost it, anyway.
But he hadn’t. Mack was trying; Colt was trying. One day, maybe looking at Mack wouldn’t swamp his gut with shame and guilt.
Mack seemed to remember he was still mad at Colt, because he sobered, smile fading away. “Anyway, I won’t keep you. Duchess needs looking after.”
Colt had somehow forgotten the fifteen-hundred-pound beast standing next to him. “Yeah, she does. Thanks, Mack. For everything.”
“No trouble. Should I say good luck?”
“Probably won’t hurt.”
They shared a brief—but meaningful—look, and then Mack pivoted and walked back toward the rows of cabins behind the main house. Colt wasn’t buoyed by the conversation, exactly, but he wasn’t as stressed out about rebuilding his friendship with Mack as he had been before they spoke. Mack had given him real hope that they’d be friends again. Maybe not as close as they’d been, but something.
It was more than he’d dared hope for this morning. Now he’d do or say anything, pay any penance to get his best friend back.
Untacking and brushing down Duchess took a while, and by the time he’d finished, Colt had worked up a decent sweat. He didn’t have any particular chores waiting for him on a Sunday, so he spent some time chatting with that week’s guests while Reyes, Robin, and Ernie showed the greenhorns how to mount and ride their assigned animals. Mostly he was trying to remain present for when Avery inevitably arrived at the ranch.
Colt never thought he’d thank God for bedbugs, but they were what had sent Avery to his cabin for a while, and that was good enough for Colt. It gave him time to spend with Sir in the evenings. Time to prove to Avery that they could make this work. He’d been given so many second chances lately, Colt would not squander this one. Period.
Right as the new riders were being assigned horses, one of the ranch pickups came trundling up the long, dusty driveway bearing two passengers: Judson and Avery. Judson Marvel was the ranch foreman, and he helped Arthur oversee the day-to-day workings of the ranch, as well as the business side of things. Reyes assisted with some of it, too, as head cowboy, especially as Arthur aged and his memory was starting to slip.
Colt wasn’t sure what he’d do if the day came where his own mind was less than sharp.
Avery’s expression was one of familiar blandness as he climbed out of the pickup’s cab. He and Judson each carried a suitcase, and Colt walked over to join them on their trek toward the cabins.
“You two’ve met a few times, right?” Judson asked.
Colt bit his lip. “A few, yes. Living together for a while won’t be an issue.”
“I just know how you like your privacy, Colt.”
Avery’s eyebrow arched, and he didn’t comment when Colt took his suitcase to carry himself. “I’ll be spending a lot of my time at the ghost town, anyway,” Avery said nonchalantly. “I don’t think we’ll have an issue with privacy.”
No one on the property locked their doors much, so Colt opened the cabin door with a quick flick of his wrist. “Home sweet home.”
The cabins were all relatively the same in floor plan, with a small living area in front that had sitting chairs, a minifridge, and a hot plate. Behind a partition were two twin beds against opposite walls, and the bathroom in the back. Not terribly spacious, and Colt didn’t have a lot of personal items to clutter up the place, anyway. He’d left a lot behind in Los Angeles, and other things were in storage. The only memory of Avery he’d kept was a baseball in an acrylic case, a remnant of one of their few real dates.
They’d gone to an Angels game together, and Avery had miraculously caught a home run in the stands. He’d given it to Colt with the inscription You caught my heart like I caught this ball.
The baseball sat on Colt’s dresser, and he wasn’t sure when Avery would notice it. Judson left his suitcase in the living area, then tipped his hat and left. The door shut, and they were alone. In a room with beds.
Colt carried the other suitcase into the back and plopped it onto the unmade bed. Avery’s new bed. “I can get you fresh linens from Patrice,” Colt said.
“It’s no bother, I can do it,” Avery replied. “I know this arrangement is sudden and slightly inconvenient—”
“How do you figure inconvenient?”
Avery frowned, as he often did when Colt interrupted him. “Judson said you prefer your privacy, and it isn’t as if anyone asked your permission before assigning you a roommate.”
Colt resisted the urge to tuck a stray lock of hair behind Avery’s ear. “If it had been someone I didn’t know, I’d have been annoyed, sure. But I know you. Pretty fucking intimately.”
“Yes, well, none of that.”
“Ever?” Colt pretended to pout.
“We both agreed we need to have a conversation first. Over the phone.”
“We still can.” Colt palmed his cell and dialed Avery’s. It rang a moment later.
Avery flashed him an amused, if also exasperated, look. “I’m being serious.”
“So am I.” He didn’t end the call, simply kept the phone against his ear.
“You’re absolutely ridiculous.” Avery accepted the call. “Ridiculous, Colt,” he said, his voice both directly in Colt’s ear and also in the room. “Do you hear me?”
“Loud and clear.” Colt grinned as he sat on his own bed. “What’s up, gorgeous?”
Avery rolled his eyes skyward, then did the same. “You’re an ass.”
“You love my ass, and you know it.”
“That is not the point, Colt.”
“It kind of is, though. There’s no denying we both still share intense chemistry, and we both want to be together again. We can’t keep our hands off each other. You know my position.”
Avery’s lips twitched. “Trussed up on a spanking bench?”
Colt swallowed as his balls drew up and his hole clenched. “I mean my position on jumping into this again, taking a chance on us as Dom and sub. But yeah, I like that position, too.”
“I doubt we’d be able to fit a bench into this cabin without someone noticing.”
“I seem to remember a lot of Shibari work happening in your bed and on the shag rug in your living room.”
Avery’s eyes flashed with something. “You do look gorgeous wearing my knots.”
“I want to again. So much.” Colt’s chest ached for how much he wanted to be Avery’s again. More than just being Avery’s sub, he’d missed the man himself more than he’d ever let himself realize, and with Avery less than four feet away? He was a goner for his feelings. Hell, Colt could easily drop his jeans and bend over for Avery, and he knew Avery would fuck him.
But Avery seemed incredibly gun-shy about them being a romantic couple again, so Colt would take what he could get without scaring Avery off completely. Maybe he’d help Avery remember why they’d gone from D/s to an in-love couple in the first place. Find a way to prove they could make long distance work. They needed to talk this through.
“I want it, too,” Avery said softly.
For a joyful instant, Colt thought Avery meant he wanted their relationship back. And then he realized Avery meant wanted the D/s part.
I can work with that.
“So take a chance with me,” Colt said.
“What if it all goes badly again?”
“Believe in us, Avery. Believe we can succeed. Give this a second chance.” Colt
slid to his knees on the wood floor and moved to kneel by Avery’s legs. “Please, Sir.”
Avery shivered, his hand threading into Colt’s hair and stopping near his neck. Gripping just enough for Colt to feel it. He leaned down, warm breath fanning over Colt’s cheeks. Then his lips feathered over warm skin, and that woke Colt’s dick right the hell up. “I’m still leaving at the end of this last month.”
“I know.” Colt ached to lean up and catch those pink lips, but this was Avery’s show now.
“You couldn’t do long distance before. What if this ends when I fly out?”
“Then I’ll face the consequences, like with every other choice I’ve made. I won’t like it, but I’ll live with it.” Colt adjusted his knees and arms so he was in proper position. “Please, Sir, help us both feel good again.”
“Fuck.” Avery seized his mouth in a kiss that burned Colt up from the inside, and he surrendered to his Sir.
CHAPTER SIX
Avery’s senses were full of Colt—the sweet taste of his mouth, the damp skin under his palm, the silky hair threaded through his fingers. Those thick lips opening for Avery’s questing tongue, taking whatever Avery gave.
His only intent upon returning to the ranch was to settle into his new home and reach a workable peace with Colt, create some ground rules about living together, not seduce him. Avery was a planner; he rarely acted impulsively. So why did he always lose his damned mind around Colt Woods? Colt made him do everything he shouldn’t and do it all with a smile on his face.
Colt hadn’t been an easy sub at first, resisting the process Avery planned for their sessions, but Colt was also a skilled learner. And he hadn’t lost anything he’d been taught, submitting right away, instead of trying to take.
Avery’s skin rippled with anticipation as his dick thickened. He bit hard on Colt’s lower lip, then pulled away. As much as he desired Colt, as easy as it would be to bend Colt over and fuck him, Avery couldn’t give in to his baser instincts right away. Couldn’t allow passion to overcome his better judgment and lead them someplace they’d both regret.
