His Reluctant Cowboy

by A. D. Ellis

“At least she stopped flirting once she realized we were together,” Reid mused. “Would have been totally weird if she had kept on hitting on you while you held my hand.”

  Walker glanced around the bar. “So, it’s probably not the gay bar you were hoping for, but at least it’s reputed to be gay friendly.”

  “There’s alcohol, music, and a dance floor.” Reid wiggled in his seat. “It will do just fine.”

  Just then a server placed two frosty mugs of beer on their table with a smile and a wink. “Compliments of myself and the bartender,” he quipped. “You boys let me know if you’re looking for a little fun later. Brandon and I get off around one o’clock, and we’d be more than happy to show y’all around town.” He stuck out his hand. “My name is Gage, by the way.”

  Walker and Reid shook the younger man’s hand.

  “Thanks for the beers and the offer,” Reid started.

  “But we need to be in fairly early tonight,” Walker continued. “We’ve got some business to attend to early in the morning.”

  Gage pursed his lips. “Shame,” he drawled. “Let me know if you change your minds.”

  “Will do,” Walker agreed.

  Reid took several swallows of his beer before he snorted and hid his face in his hands. “I swear, this night keeps getting funnier.”

  “I don’t think I’ve ever been hit on this much,” Walker agreed. “Your presence must be the difference.”

  Reid sobered a moment. “Did you want to take Brandon and Gage up on their offer?” He glanced at the two men now chatting and flirting with each other behind the bar. “Not really my thing, but I won’t stop you.”

  Walker frowned. “Are you kidding me?” He put an arm around Reid’s shoulders. “First, I’m pretty sure they were mostly interested in getting you between them. Second, you’re plenty for me to handle all by yourself.” Walker kissed Reid’s temple. “Group sex may have seemed like the ultimate fantasy when I was younger, but it doesn’t float my boat these days.”

  “Good to know,” Reid whispered and brushed his lips over Walker’s, “because I have no desire to share you with anyone. Especially two guys as hot as Brandon and Gage over there.” Reid inclined his head toward the bar and waggled his fingers toward the two men.

  “You’re bad,” Walker growled into Reid’s mouth.

  “What? I’m just letting them know we’re good.” Reid broke the kiss. “Let’s finish this beer, which tastes like piss by the way, and then get our dance on.”

  “How would you know what piss tastes like?” Walker cocked a brow. “You know what, never mind, don’t answer that.”

  “What?” Reid frowned. “Wait, what? No, eeewwww. That’s not a kink I fancy.” Reid shuddered.

  Walker laughed. “I wouldn’t judge you, but we’re on the same page with that one.” He drained his beer. “Come on, cowboy, let’s get our dance on.”

  “Um, so the music here is quite…,” Reid hung on Walker’s back as they walked to join the dancers on the floor, “…what’s the word I’m looking for?”

  Walker turned around to find Reid’s face puckered up like he’d sucked a lemon wedge. “Quite country?” Walker suggested.

  Reid winced and nodded. “I didn’t notice at first, but these definitely aren’t my usual dance tunes.” His eyes widened as the song changed and the dancers scurried to form four lines. “Oh. My. God. Are they line dancing?”

  Walker threw back his head and laughed. “Welcome to the country my little city boy.” He grabbed Reid’s hand and pulled him onto the floor. “Now this is the type of dancing I can handle. Watch them and you’ll pick it up quickly.”

  Reid took his place next to Walker and stumbled through a few steps before catching onto the rhythm and pattern of the dance. Reid laughed and shouted, “Yeehaw! We should have worn our hats.”

  Four songs later, Walker drug Reid from the floor. “I’m dying. I need a drink.”

  “Water then beer and one more dance,” Reid begged.

  “Agreed.” Walker waved at the girl behind the bar and ordered two waters and two beers. “One more dance, but then we leave. I’ve got a treat for you back at the hotel.”

  “Mmm, I like treats.” Reid drained his water. “Wait, is treat a euphemism for dick? Because that’s the treat I want.”

  “No,” Walker nearly choked on his water, “the treat isn’t dick. You can have dick and the treat.”

  Reid waggled his brows as he took several swallows from his beer bottle. “Dick and treats? This night just keeps getting better and better.” He tipped up the bottom of Walker’s bottle. “Drink up, baby.”

  My Best Friend by Tim McGraw began to play. Walker gave Reid a questioning look. “Slow song or wait for another line dance?”

  Reid winked and took Walker’s hand as they walked to the dance floor.

  They took their place among the other couples swaying slowly to the country ballad.

  “This song is sort of perfect, ya know?” Reid spoke at Walker’s ear.

  “Yeah?” Walker tightened his arms around Reid’s waist.

  “Listen to the words,” Reid instructed. “More than a lover, you’re my best friend. That’s us. I mean, at least for me.”

  Walker smiled and kissed Reid’s temple. “For me, too.”

  When the song ended, Walker took Reid’s hand and led him out the door.

  “What’s my treat?” Reid asked.

  “Patience, cowboy, you’ll get it soon enough.” Walker smacked Reid’s ass.

  “Come here, baby, I’ve got some sugar for you.” Walker’s gruff words sounded in the softly lit room as Reid emerged from the bathroom.

  Reid smiled coyly as he dropped his towel and sauntered to the bed. “Mmm, give me some sugar.” He climbed onto the bed.

  Walker wrestled Reid onto his back. “I’m in charge. You behave and you’ll get your treat.”

  Reid whimpered.

  When Walker slid a silk blindfold over Reid’s eyes, Reid whispered, “Holy shit, what kind of kinky fuckery is this?”

  Reid’s excitement grew when Walker forced his arms over his head and tied his wrists together.

  “Don’t move your arms,” Walker commanded. “You don’t get to touch right now.”

  Walker’s lips came down on Reid’s mouth, crushing and wet.

  Reid returned the kiss hungrily until Walker pulled away and left the bed.

  “Oh God, Walker, don’t leave me like this,” Reid whined.

  “Shhh,” Walker shushed as he returned to Reid’s side of the bed.

  A rough sensation touched Reid’s lips, and he startled before automatically sticking out his tongue to taste. Walker continued to rub something along Reid’s lips as Reid continued to lick and moan and his body writhed on the mattress.

  “You like that sugar, baby?” Walker moved the rough material over Reid’s nipples.

  “Is that real sugar?” Reid asked. “Oh my God,” Reid panted as sugar granules berated his flesh.

  “Sugar cube like we fed Buttercup. Some sugar for my sugar,” Walker whispered before taking Reid’s mouth in his and cleaning the sugar from Reid’s lips.

  Their tongues met in a sweet and sticky dance.

  Walker broke the kiss and trailed his lips down to lick the sugar from Reid’s nipples.

  Reid bucked his hips and whimpered. “Please,” he begged.

  “Please what?” Walker continued to tongue at Reid’s pink pebbled nipples.

  “Fuck me,” Reid commanded. “Please, fuck me now, or I’m going to come.”

  Walker chuckled. “Oh, you’re going to come. That’s for sure. But you won’t come until I’m deep inside that gorgeous ass.”

  “Now, please now,” Reid continued to beg.

  Walker moved from the bed, and Reid heard the thump of what he assumed was a bottle of lube landing on the side table.

  “Take off the blindfold, please?” Reid asked. “I want to see you the first time you fuck me.”

  “Well, that’s too bad,
” Walker answered gruffly. “Because I’m not fucking you.” He reached to remove the blindfold and wrist tie and kissed Reid deeply. Walker rested his forehead on Reid’s. “Remember, whether hard and fast or long and slow, any time I fuck you, I’ll be making love to you. Because I love you,” he declared and attacked Reid’s mouth again.

  Reid spread his legs, and Walker nestled their hips together.

  “I love you so much,” Reid murmured against Walker’s lips.

  Walker lifted Reid’s legs and spread his knees. “God, baby, look at your ass. So pretty, so ready for me.” Walker licked his finger and trailed it along Reid’s hole.

  Reid took hold of his own legs. “Please, please,” he chanted.

  Walker grabbed lube from the bedside tabletop and slicked himself and Reid before pressing the head of his cock at Reid’s pucker. He held his breath as he pushed forward slowly, waiting for Reid’s body to open for him.

  “Oh God, yes, so good,” Reid moaned and threw his head back.

  “Look at you opening for me. Taking me so deep,” Walker gritted the words through his teeth as he watched his cock sink farther into Reid’s ass. When he was fully engulfed by Reid’s body, Walker leaned forward and wrapped Reid in his arms while pumping his dick long and slow.

  “Come in me. I want to feel your cock throbbing,” Reid begged.

  “Stroke yourself and come with me,” Walker commanded as he pushed up on his arms and continued thrusting.

  Reid took his cock in his hand and began to pump to Walker’s rhythm.

  “Yes, baby, just like that. Jack that gorgeous cock.” Walker bit out his words and increased his speed. “I’m going to come, watching you like this,” he warned.

  “Do it,” Reid urged. “Come in me.”

  With a final thrust, Walker unloaded with a long groan, his cock spurting and throbbing as Reid’s ass milked the final drops from him. Walker stilled and breathed heavily as he watched Reid stroke himself to completion. When Reid painted his release over his torso, Walker ran a finger through it and sucked his finger into his mouth before leaning in and kissing Reid.

  A few seconds later, he collapsed onto Reid with a moan.

  Reid echoed the sound. “That was fucking amazing. Like, I’m not even exaggerating, I’ve never had better sex.”

  Walker lifted his head and frowned. “Why do I hear a but in there?”

  “My legs are killing me. Get off me you big oaf.” Reid gave Walker a shove as they both laughed.

  “God, don’t do that. You had me worried something was wrong,” Walker grumbled as he pulled from Reid’s body.

  “There was, my legs were going to start spasming or something,” Reid teased as he rolled from the bed and limped to the bathroom. “Oh my God, I may never walk the same again.”

  Walker laughed and threw a pillow at him. “Clean yourself and bring me a towel please.”

  “Just because you owned my ass just now doesn’t mean you can order me around,” Reid sassed from the bathroom.

  “I said please,” Walker hollered back, a smile in his words.

  A wet cloth smacked him in the face.

  “Hey!” Walker shouted. “Totally not necessary!” But he laughed and wiped himself down.

  Reid returned to the bed a few minutes later. “Sleep. Must sleep.”

  The men curled together under the blanket and where asleep within minutes.

  “Are you super sore?” Walker whispered at Reid’s ear early the next morning, his big spoon protectively curled around Reid’s small spoon.

  Reid grumbled, and shimmied his ass against Walker’s cock. “A little, but it’s a good hurt. Just be gentle.”

  Walker slicked Reid’s entrance with a spit-wet finger before lifting Reid’s leg to drape over his own hip. Walker pressed, gentle and slow, until Reid’s body relaxed and allowed him in.

  In their sleepy states, the men slowly thrust and rocked, quietly groaned and whispered their love for each other, gently stroked and kissed until their bodies found long, slow, gentle releases.

  “I will never get tired of having you in my ass or of you holding me in your arms,” Reid stated sleepily.

  “Good to know,” Walker replied, “because I’ll never get tired of being in your ass or having you in my arms.”

  After they found release once more, they slept, wrapped in a cocoon of arms and legs, sticky and sated until an alarm sounded to rouse them for their meeting.

  A woman glanced up from computer to greet them as they entered the office. “Welcome to Northern Plains Geothermal.”

  “Good morning, Charlene,” Walker greeted the woman at the front desk cheerfully after glancing at her nametag. “Walker Corrigan and Reid Alexander here to see Mr. Stewart,” Walker stated with a friendly yet firm tone.

  “Is Mr. Stewart expecting you?” Charlene inquired.

  “No, ma’am, he’s not. We have a meeting scheduled in a couple weeks, but some recent developments require that be moved up.” Walker crossed his arms. “Please let Mr. Stewart know we’re here.”

  “This is highly unusual and outside of protocol,” Charlene huffed.

  “I can assure you Mr. Stewart will be interested in seeing us.”

  Charlene pursed her lips before standing from her chair and scuttling toward the double doors labeled Northern Plains Geothermal, Mr. David Stewart.

  Reid snorted, and Walker grabbed his elbow to steer him to the waiting room chairs.

  “She’s got a corncob stuck where the sun don’t shine,” Reid muttered in a mock drawl.

  Walker nudged him. “Shhhh,” he whispered.

  “You think he’ll let us in or refuse to see us?” Reid crossed a fashionably trousered leg over his knee and primped the sleeves of his dress shirt.

  “I think he will probably contact your father and then allow us in to see what we want.” Walker shrugged. “His curiosity will be too much to send us away.”

  “Unless my dad happens to be in South Dakota right now, we at least won’t have to endure that unpleasantness,” Reid stated.

  They sat for fifteen minutes, soft music playing over the speakers, the scent of coffee filling the air, and a small television playing a video boasting the benefits of geothermal heat.

  The doors swung open, and Charlene emerged, looking as if she had noticed the scent of dog droppings. “Mr. Stewart will see you now.” She stood with the door open for the men and stared straight ahead as they walked by.

  “Mr. Corrigan, pleasure to see you again,” Mr. Stewart gushed as he gripped Walker’s hand. “Mr. Anderson, so pleased to make your acquaintance. Your father has told me many things about his only son.” Mr. Stewart shook Reid’s hand.

  “I can only imagine the stories you’ve heard,” Reid replied with a sardonic smile.

  “Have a seat, gentlemen.” Mr. Stewart gestured. “Forgive me for appearing unprepared. I was of course pleased to move our meeting earlier, but the lack of communication put me in a bit of a bind. Please allow me a moment to pull up the Pine Ridge files.”

  “We appreciate you moving the meeting,” Walker took a seat at the head of the conference table. “This meeting shouldn’t take long.”

  Reid sat at Walker’s right. “Pardon me for being so blunt, but what relationship does Northern Plains Geothermal have with my father, sir?”

  Mr. Stewart’s face blanched as he fiddled with the computer files.

  Walker cast a sly smile Reid’s way.

  “Ah, yes, here it is.” Mr. Stewart sputtered and avoided the question. “Pine Ridge Ranch. Such a prime piece of land with tremendous potential in the world of geothermal heat.”

  “What exactly is your interest in our land?” Reid asked. “From what Mr. Corrigan has shown me and shared with me, Pine Ridge does sit on a geothermal pocket, but it’s not large compared to the pockets Northern Plains Geothermal usually mines.”

  Mr. Stewart nodded. “I agree that the pocket under Pine Ridge isn’t the biggest we’ve ever gone after. However, your ra
nch would provide us with prime land after the mining, and we would use that for expanding our business.”

  “So, you want to buy Pine Ridge, put ranch employees out of jobs, and destroy the land for a pocket of heat, and then reuse our land to build your business?” Walker frowned and scratched at the back of his head. “Just doesn’t seem to benefit anyone but Northern Plains Geothermal if you want to know the truth.”

  “Mr. Corrigan, the amount Northern Plains Geothermal is willing to pay for Pine Ridge is sizable. Money wouldn’t be an issue for you if you sell.” Mr. Stewart leaned back in his chair, a smarmy smile on his face.

  “We,” Reid corrected. “If we sell, which we have no plans to do, we would perhaps get a sizable chunk of money. But what about our ranch employees? Their families? Not to mention an area of land that has been in my family for generations being mined and then turned into plot and parcel for building a mining business. Money isn’t our biggest worry.” Reid shook his head. “And what does Jack Alexander have to do with your company?” Reid persisted.

  “Mr. Alexander is a dedicated, generous donor and has consistently supported Northern Plains Geothermal.” Mr. Stewart smiled broadly like the Cheshire cat. “We are blessed to have such a brilliant businessman and benefactor in our corner.”

  “Blessed enough to stoop to unprofessional means to gain ownership of the Pine Ridge?” Reid countered.

  Mr. Stewart’s mousy face turned a plum purple as he stammered, “Mr. Alexander, I’m sure I have not the slightest idea what you’re insinuating.”

  “Let me rephrase,” Reid interrupted. “My father has been pissed I inherited my grandfather’s ranch since the day of the will reading. Now you’re back to hounding Mr. Corrigan for the ranch and some animals have been slaughtered. Seems like too much of a coincidence that my father is one of your supportive donors and now these issues are occurring. May I ask when you brought Mr. Alexander on as a benefactor?”

  “We formed a partnership with Mr. Alexander not long ago, but the exact details are none of your business, and I’m highly offended that you would think Northern Plains Geothermal would do anything unbecoming.” Mr. Stewart seemed to find a bit of a backbone as he leaned his elbows on the desk and stared at Reid and Walker.