Saving Stakes

by Saving Stakes (lit)

  His shoulder brushed Cole's as the man reached for the A/C control, flipping it up a notch. Getting a bit warm, cowboy? Jay let his gaze drop to Cole's crotch and, oh yeah, the man definitely appeared to be getting warm. The long, stiff rod appearing beneath the zipper of Cole's jeans made Jay's hand burn to feel, his mouth watering for a taste. Jay wasn't the only one affected by this closeness. What would Cole do, Jay wondered, if he reached over and covered Cole's erection with his hand, if he began to stroke it through the denim?

  Beside him, Rusty shifted in the bench seat and Jay glanced at him, saw the amusement tilting his lips and the heat burning in his eyes. If Jay ventured a guess, he bet they thought the same thing right about now. How could they turn their belief that they could stake their claim on Cole Duvall into the reality of the evening?

  Jay licked his lips, watched with great satisfaction as Rusty's attention dropped to follow the progress of Jay's tongue. Rusty's gaze flicked to Cole, to the other man's bulging cock, and Jay faked a cough to cover a chuckle. Yeah, Rusty obviously got the idea. When they ganged up on their man, Jay wanted to be the one going down for the stiff, cream-filled dessert.

  Cole shot them both a questioning look as he pulled the Chevy onto the dirt road leading to the Double D ranch.

  "Do you, um, have any plans tonight once we get to the ranch?" Jay asked, going for innocent but figuring he failed by the quiet snicker he heard Rusty make.

  "I need to make my nightly rounds, since I didn't see to that before going to the poker game," Cole answered, his attention back on the road. "I'll show you to your room first. I'd let Rusty show you, but I'm not convinced he could find his way without climbing through my bedroom window to get there."

  Rusty's lips spread into a wide grin that showed off perfect white teeth. "My way's more fun."

  "Can't argue with that one."

  Jay glanced at Rusty, lifting a brow. Hmm, so Cole admitted having Rusty in his bedroom could lead to fun, but what about Jay? "Any reason I can't ride along with you?" Any reason I won't be sleeping in your room tonight? Uncertainty settled like a lead weight in Jay's gut. Maybe Cole only thought Rusty might be fun between the sheets. "I've never been on the Duvall property. I wouldn't mind seeing your spread."

  "I'd show him myself," Rusty told him, "but there aren't any windows in the open land to climb through."

  Cole's lips twitched. "Ain't that a shame? Fine, you want to, you can both ride along. We'll go straight to the barn, saddle up the horses and head out."

  Jay nodded, wanting to smile but unable to around the ambiguity tying him in knots. He knew of only one way to loosen the rope. He put voice to the second question.

  "Any reason I won't be sleeping in your room tonight?"

  Cole didn't answer. He pulled the truck to a stop between the main house and the stables, put it in gear and cut the engine. Neither of them made a move to get out. He stared out the windshield for a long time before he finally exhaled a hard breath through pursed lips.

  "There're a lot of reasons you shouldn't be sleeping in my room tonight. The first of which is that I didn't do what I did tonight just to get you into my bed."

  "If you think I believe that then you don't know me very well." Jay dared to put his hand on Cole's thigh and nearly moaned at the warm firmness beneath his palm. "You don't have to win a poker game to get me in your bed or anywhere else for that matter. All you have to do is say you want me there."

  Cole turned his head toward Jay, but the dark cab of the truck made his expression impossible to read without the dash lights illuminating his features. "It's not that easy. There are things you don't know about, Jay, things you don't realize about me."

  "Like the Duvall curse?" Despite the darkness, Jay saw the flicker of surprise move through Cole's face. "You don't really believe that shit, do you?" He did. Jay didn't have to see the answer in the other man's chiseled features, didn't have to hear it in the other man's voice to know Cole believed in it fully. Jay felt it in the vibrations coming off Cole's body, in the heated energies that enveloped the air in the cab of the truck.

  Cole's gaze flicked to Rusty, and he swallowed before meeting Jay's stare once more. "I've never had a reason to believe otherwise."

  "Well, you have two of them now." Jay put a tone to his statement that left no room for argument. He saw Cole's attention shift to Rusty again, felt the vibrations in the air kick into a higher, more scalding rhythm that screamed of contained desire, and then Cole slowly nodded.

  "Seems I might. Are we still going for that ride?"

  Rusty made a sound that might have been a soft snicker, and Jay looked at him, caught the wide smile that unfolded on his kissable lips. Jay grinned too, knowing exactly where Rusty had taken that question.

  "For starters." Jay nudged Cole's thigh with his, even as his hand inched to brush lightly over the man's impressive bulge. "As soon as you decide to get out of the truck, babe. I'm penned in the middle here. Not that I mind. I can't think of a single place I'd rather be, except for on my knees in front of you, but the cab of this truck is a bit too small for three men our size."

  Cole let his head fall back to rest of the headrest and closed his eyes. "What the fuck am I doing?"

  His words were a barely audible breath, but Jay sat close enough to hear him anyway. Jay lightly caressed Cole's thick length through the denim and then pulled his hand away. "You're doing exactly what you want. I hope."

  Cole didn't say anything. He raised his head, opened his eyes, and got out of the truck. Jay slid out after him, and Rusty got out on the other side. Cole didn't wait to be sure Jay and Rusty followed. He walked straight to the horse's stables and disappeared inside. Rusty met up with Jay at the front of the truck.

  Rusty hooked an arm around Jay's waist, and Jay couldn't stop himself from leaning into the embrace. God, how long had he hoped Rusty would hold him this way? How long had he pined for Cole to put his arms around him again? He'd gotten one man he wanted tonight. Shortly, he'd have the other.

  "We can do this," Rusty leaned in to whisper in Jay's ear. "We just have to take it slow, give him time. He's struggling with what he wants as opposed to what he's thought for way too long. God, how could I have not realized that before tonight?"

  Jay shrugged. "Maybe you weren't meant to." He'd never been a religious man, but he always figured things worked out the way they were supposed to. He snaked an arm around Rusty's waist and pulled him closer as they walked to the stables.

  Cole stepped out of one of the stalls, leading a horse into the open when he spotted them. His gaze dropped to their waists where they held each other close. It wasn't jealousy Jay saw in Cole's eyes, but a deep longing to be included. If he harbored any doubt he and Rusty planned to do the right thing by pursuing Cole together tonight, that desire in Cole's features swept it all away.

  "Betsy's still in her stall if you want to take her," Cole told Rusty. "She could use a ride tonight."

  Rusty stepped out of Jay's embrace, his hand gliding over Rusty's ass before it dropped away. Cole stood between Rusty and Betsy's stall, but left ample room for Rusty to get past the other man. He didn't take the space. Jay bit back a grin when Rusty turned sideways, grazing his front to Cole's back, one hand on Cole's hip as he slid by him. Jay heard Rusty's huskily spoken words, too, when the man dipped his head to boldly nip Cole's ear lobe.

  "So could you."

  Cole covered Rusty's hand on his hip with his own, turned his head and brushed his lips to Rusty's. Rusty sucked in a surprised breath, but before he could react further, Cole dropped his hand and returned to his task of saddling his horse.

  "Jay, this is Windjammer," Cole told him as he started walking the horse toward Jay. "He's fast but gentle. I think you'll get along fine." He handed over the reins, his hand lingering in Jay's longer than necessary, his gaze moving searchingly over Jay's face. Looking for what, Jay didn't know. He did realize in that moment exactly how right Rusty had been. Cole battled an inner struggle neither Jay no
r Rusty could fully understand. Cole allowed himself to take one minute particle at a time with the light brushes and tender contact.

  Cole cleared his throat and turned. "I'll get my horse ready, and we'll ride out."

  Chapter Four

  Cole didn't really have to make a round over the Double D tonight. He'd left the ranch in the very capable hands of his ranch foreman when he'd gone to Masters High. Still, he'd needed the quiet, wanted the fresh air and the abandonment of worry and responsibility that seemed to come with being on horseback late at night.

  He led Jay and Rusty in a slow trot over the open fields of the ranch, down the narrow trail through the wood. Rusty would know where Cole intended to take them. The other man knew the Duvall land as well as Cole.

  The horses' hooves crunched on the fallen twigs and branches as they meandered along the trail. Cole found he liked hearing the sounds of the men behind him, their faint breaths, low whistles, and contented sighs that occasionally reached his ears. The sounds gave him a comfort he hadn't realized he sought even as it kicked up an arousal inside him different than any he'd ever felt.

  He bit the inside of his lips, clamping them together. They still tingled from their slight brush over Rusty's mouth. He'd never dared kiss the other man like that. Always wanted to so desperately he'd ached from it, but never gave into the urge until tonight. They knew about the Duvall curse, but did they understand the full extent of the possibilities? Cole doubted it.

  He closed his eyes, knowing his horse could follow the trail without his guidance, but when he attempted to pull up the visions of the pain he'd watched so many Duvalls inflict on their lovers in the past, he found he couldn't do it. He heard the stories of the heartache his grandfather dished out to the women and men in his life. He remembered his mother crying over his father's infidelity. He heard the echoes of his father's voice telling him how a Duvall man never found satisfaction for long, how they always went looking for more, and hurt the ones who loved them in the end. It all clambered in his head and yet Cole couldn't latch onto them now. He couldn't grasp the fear he always felt of being the next Duvall to dish out such anguish to the one who dared love him.

  The horse stopped on its own accord, and Cole opened his eyes to find they'd reached the cliff edge. The view, always breathtaking in the day, looked even more glorious at night. The nearly full moon offered enough light to glisten off the rock face, to dance like diamonds on the natural spring flowing below.

  "It's gorgeous." Jay brought his horse to a stop on Cole's left and stared over the side as Cole did.

  "I used to come here a lot when I worked for you," Rusty commented from his place on horseback on the other side of Jay.

  "I know. Sometimes I followed you, watched you from the woods." Cole swallowed hard at the admission and slowly turned his head to meet Rusty's gaze. He saw surprise move over Rusty's handsome face and then an amusement that tilted Rusty's lips in a gorgeous smile. It was so fucking sexy that Cole's cock flexed in his jeans.

  "Did you, now?" Rusty clucked his tongue. "Sure would've been nice if you'd decided to join me."

  Cole knew the other man referred to all the times Cole watched him jerk-off out here beneath the flickering stars. Cole had wanted to join Rusty. He sat on his horse with his cock flaming for the treatment Rusty showed his own dick. His hands screamed to be the ones wrapped around Rusty's thick shaft rather than Rusty's own hands.

  Cole swallowed again and said the words that might seal a fate of heartbreak for the three of them, but would likely deliver satisfaction at least for tonight. "I'm here now." Relief washed away the surprise in Rusty's expression. It was so potent, so heartfelt, Cole had to look away. What was he doing? Could he do this? He began this night looking to save Jay from the evil, disgusting grips of the Longhorns. He'd done it. Jay was safe. So why did Cole suddenly feel like the one who needed saving?

  He got off his horse, slapping it lightly on the rear to get it moving. He had no worries it would wander far, but the instant it trotted away, he wondered again what the hell he was thinking. He sent his escape trotting off into the woods.

  Cole heard Rusty and Jay's boots hit the ground as they dismounted their horses and sent them off to join Cole's. He stood several feet back from the edge of the cliff, his fingers hooked in the pockets of his jeans, his head tipped back to gaze at the stars beneath the brim of his cowboy hat. The stars disappeared moments later when his eyes closed as Rusty's corded arm snaked around his waist. It had to be Rusty, since the man stood the tallest of the three. He felt Rusty's arousal against the small of his back and couldn't stop his body from pushing back against it.

  A low growl rumbled from Rusty's throat, and his head dropped to rest on Cole's shoulder. "Yes, you are. Finally, you're here."

  Rusty's words sounded thick with so much emotion Cole felt his eyes burn. He'd kept his distance from this man, denied himself all the pleasures of Rusty's body to keep from causing Rusty pain. Could it be possible he hurt Rusty in his attempt to protect the man?

  "But you're still thinking too much," Jay said as he stepped into Cole's line of sight. Both of Jay's hands came up to touch Cole's temples. Jay's wide, calloused fingers felt so incredibly gentle. "I can almost see the wheels turning in your gorgeous head. Stop them, Cole. Let those wheels rest for tonight."

  "Just for tonight?" Cole heard himself ask. Was it too much to hope they wanted nothing more from him beyond tonight? Was it too much to fear he'd only get them for one night?

  "For starters." Jay's gaze held his. Cole saw the amusement flowing in the other man's incredible river eyes, but he saw the promises causing the waves, too, the conviction betraying Jay's obvious belief that tonight would only be the start.

  Cole all but heard the wheels grind to a stop as he shut off his mind, cutting off all thoughts except those that allowed him to feel the intense bliss of finally being between the two men he wanted most.

  * * * *

  Jay framed Cole's face with his hands and closed the distance between their mouths. He didn't break eye contact even as their lips met and, because of this, he saw when Cole surrendered.

  Cole surprised Jay, laying one on him nothing like the tender brush of lips he stole from Rusty back in the horse stables. He captured Jay's mouth in a kiss that controlled, devoured, and claimed in its ferocity and delicious pressure. His tongue drove between Jay's lips, sweeping over Jay's tongue and licking the roof of Jay's mouth in a way that drew low purring sounds from Jay's throat. His hand closed on Jay's nape, fingers delving into Jay's curls and knocking Jay's cowboy hat to the ground in the process.

  Jay hardly noticed the absence of the hat as he angled his head, allowing Cole to take the kiss deeper still. Cole tasted of heat and arousal, a heady mix that had Jay's toes curling in his boots. Even when Cole kissed him at the bar, the one and only time Jay'd ever gotten this close to the man, it hadn't been this consuming, this fantastic.

  Jay's hands fell from Cole's face. He grazed his palms over the stubble of Cole's cheeks, his wide neck, his strong shoulders. Cole's hand remained like a vise to Jay's nape, his other arm winding around Jay's waist to clamp their bodies together, front to front. If Cole could've pulled Jay inside his skin, Jay believed in that moment the man would've done it, and Jay wouldn't have had any complaints.

  Cole's body made a rigid wall of muscle and heat against Jay. At nearly the same height, their bodies molded in perfect alignment, chest to chest, stomach to stomach, cock to cock. Jesus, the man had a helluva cock! Jay writhed against it, grinding his own pulsing erection to Cole's fierce length. Only then did Cole break eye contact, wrenching his mouth from Jay's in an animalistic growl.

  "Damnit, Jay, are you trying to kill me?"

  Jay let a small smile tilt his tingling lips. "No, just pleasure you." He splayed his hands flat on Cole's shoulders and brought them down, absorbing the feel of each hard angle and rigid muscle beneath his palms. He didn't stop until he encountered Rusty's arm still encircling Cole's wa
ist. Lost in his kiss with Cole, Jay had forgotten about Rusty. He met Rusty's gaze now, though, over Cole's shoulder and saw approval and encouragement in his chocolate depths.

  Jay felt Rusty slide his free hand between Jay's and Cole's bodies, between their groins. Rusty cupped Cole's cock and Jay watched as Cole's eyes rolled with pleasure. His head fell back to rest once more on Rusty's chest and another quietly whispered, "Damnit," escaped his lips.

  Rusty dipped his head, catching Cole's lobe between his teeth. "Do you want me to leave you two alone?"

  Jay's heart skipped. No, he couldn't. They meant to take Cole together, to show Cole they could give him the satisfaction he required to keep him sated and happy. Not that Jay didn't believe he could do that alone. He knew he could please Cole two ways from Sunday for the rest of their lives. But he didn't want to do it alone. He wanted Rusty there with them always.

  Cole released his hold on Jay's waist, but not his grip on Jay's nape. He lifted his head, locking his gaze with Jay's. Jay felt Cole's arm shift and knew he'd reached behind himself to grab onto Rusty. "You've walked away from me once." He tipped his head back, this time meeting Rusty's gaze. "Don't do it again tonight."

  Flames leapt in Rusty's eyes, mirroring the ones licking the inner walls of Jay's cock. "We won't do it tonight or any other night."

  Cole visibly gulped at the love and conviction that rang in Rusty's tone. The man's use of the word we obviously didn't get lost on Cole. Cole's head came up again, his fingers twisting in Jay's curls as their gazes met. He opened his mouth to say something, but Jay stopped him with a vow of his own.

  "And we'll make sure you don't walk away from us." Jay knew Cole understood the implications of his words. Still, he felt the need to make himself perfectly clear. "The Duvall curse ends here with us. You saved me tonight. Now it's our job to take care of you."

  Even as he spoke, Jay began unfastening the buttons of Cole's shirt. With each inch of tanned flesh he exposed, his mouth watered more and more. He leaned in, tracing Cole's collarbone and throat with his tongue. He pushed Cole's shirt off his shoulders and bent his knees, finding Cole's nipple and closing his lips around the hardened bud.