by Carol Lynne
Jessup stopped in front of Brac and stared down. “I thought you were hurt,” he mumbled.
Brac realised he was still holding his cock. His hand was covered with thick strands of cum, leaving no doubt of what he’d been up to. “Sorry.” He released his cock and looked around for something to wipe his hands on.
Jessup fell to his knees in front of Brac and grabbed him by the wrist. “What’s this?”
Brac looked away, unable to meet Jessup’s gaze. He felt warmth on the back of his hand and glanced back to see Jessup’s tongue travelling up the length of his fingers. Surprised at the gesture, Brac couldn’t help but stare as Jessup continued to clean the drying cum. Maybe breaking down Jessup’s walls wouldn’t be as hard as he’d thought. It took trust to ingest another man’s seed. “I’m clean,” he whispered.
Jessup grinned. “That’s a damn good thing because I didn’t even think to ask.” He shook his head. “You make me want to do a lot of things I never would’ve attempted before.” He pressed Brac’s hand against his chest. “For the record, you taste good.”
Chuckling, Brac bent over and planted his mouth over Jessup’s for a deep kiss. “Good to know,” he whispered, pulling out of the kiss.
“I shouldn’t have run away like I did.” Jessup ran his hands through Brac’s hair. “I want things, but I can’t trust myself not to hurt you. I proved that to myself earlier.”
Brac skimmed his lips over Jessup’s, needing the brief contact. “I’m fine. It’ll just take a while to figure out the boundaries, but I think it’ll be worth it.”
A bush rustled and Jessup released his hold on Brac’s hair and jumped to his feet. Brac grabbed Jessup’s hand and stood. “Don’t worry, I’m sure it’s just another rabbit. I had one scare the crap out of me earlier.”
Jessup continued to survey their surroundings. “Let’s get back to the house. Guess since neither of us caught anything we’ll be having hamburgers again.”
“Or you could take me into town?” Brac pleaded. “You said there aren’t any reporters, and I’d really like to see Kit. Maybe we could invite them to dinner.”
Jessup seemed to study Brac for several moments. “Does that mean you’re ready to move back to town?”
Careful not to make a wrong move, Brac leaned against Jessup’s chest. “No. Maybe I’ll talk to Ezra about renting the cabin until I have to go back to California.”
Jessup pressed his cheek against Brac’s. “And when do you think that’ll be?”
“I don’t know. Honestly, I don’t even want to think about it.” Damn, he wished he could wrap himself around Jessup and hold on forever. The revelation surprised him. He wondered if he felt that way because it was such a farfetched dream. Closing his eyes, Brac pressed his face against Jessup’s neck, trying to brand the man’s smell on his psyche.
When he felt Jessup’s hands land on his hips, Brac felt like rejoicing. “Take me on a date. A real one,” he whispered.
Jessup cleared his throat before dropping his hands from Brac’s hips. “I’ve never—what would I need to do?”
The lost expression on Jessup’s face told Brac how serious he was. “You’ve never dated?”
A muscle in Jessup’s jaws flexed. “I’m not really the dating type.”
Brac studied Jessup for several moments. Why would such a good-looking man not date? “Ever?”
Jessup bent over and picked up Brac’s fishing pole and tackle. “Even one date requires a certain level of trust that I was never prepared to give.” He started down the path.
Brac jogged to catch up. “So you’ve never trusted anyone?”
After passing the fishing pole to Brac, Jessup settled the tackle box in his left hand and reached for Brac’s hand with his right. “I trust Priest, and I’m learning to trust you. I think that’s enough.”
Brac slowed and tugged on Jessup’s hand until he followed suit. “Priest? Is that the guy you were talking to on the phone a couple days ago?”
“Yeah.”
A lump formed in Brac’s throat. He mentally crossed his fingers and hoped for the best. “Is he actually your Priest?”
Jessup erupted in laughter. It was the first real laugh Brac had heard from the often sullen man. “I take that as a no,” Brac mumbled. He wished he could’ve drawn the laughter out of Jessup without mention of the mysterious Priest.
“Priest is as far from religious as you can get. His name’s James Evans. They call him Priest because he’s the last person most men see before they die.” Jessup grinned. “He plays on it, too. Tells them to confess their sins while they still have a chance.”
There was something in Jessup’s eyes that spoke of a great amount of affection for this Priest guy. “He’s a killer?” Brac didn’t know Jessup’s story, but the thought of Jessup trusting Priest over him didn’t sit well. Priest didn’t sit well.
Jessup released Brac’s hand and narrowed his eyes. “So was I, only we prefer the term soldier.”
Shit! “Sorry. I didn’t mean…” Fuck! Brac was getting damn tired of the taste of his foot.
Jessup gave a sharp shake of his head. “Call your friends and have them meet us at The Grizzly Bar,” he ordered in a gruff voice.
Brac knew he’d screwed up. “I said that out of jealousy more than anything else,” he confessed.
Jessup started down the path. “No reason to be jealous.”
Brac waited for Jessup to explain but when nothing else was said, he jogged to catch up. With the easiness they’d shared gone, Brac wondered if he was wasting his time in trying to break down Jessup’s walls. He’d seen the tattoo on Jessup’s forearm. Perhaps if he learned the significance, he’d have a better idea.
When they reached the deck, Jessup turned and took the pole from Brac and stood it against the house next to his cane pole. He dug into his pocket and removed his cell phone before handing it to Brac. “I’m gonna take a quick shower while you call Kit.”
Moment gone, Brac nodded. He waited for Jessup to disappear before making the call.
“Hey,” Kit answered on the third ring. “How’re you doing?”
“Fine. I was wondering if you and Hawk would be interested in dinner tonight at The Grizzly Bar?”
“Yes! I can’t believe your warden is letting you have a night out,” Kit teased.
“It was my idea. I miss you guys. And Jessup said he hasn’t seen any paparazzi around.”
“Yeah, I think they gave up. I called Jessup yesterday and asked if I could come out to see you, but he said it would be better if I waited.”
“You called Jessup?” Brac hadn’t been told his best friend wanted to see him.
“Yeah. I’ve called him every day. Why?”
“He didn’t tell me.” Brac hated being kept in the dark. Damn Jessup. “So, can you meet us?”
“Seven okay? Hawk’s in his office working, but I’m sure he could use a break.”
“Seven’s fine. It’ll give me a chance to get cleaned up.” And have a discussion with Jessup. How dare he keep him from seeing Kit.
“Later,” Kit trilled before hanging up.
Brac walked into the cabin and set the phone on the kitchen table before heading upstairs. “Jessup!”
The bathroom door opened and Jessup sprang out in nothing but a towel, gun in hand.
Brac held up his hands. “Don’t shoot.”
Jessup scanned the hallway before lowering the gun. “Someone here?”
“No,” Brac managed to say, his gaze riveted on Jessup’s scarred naked chest. The scars, more than anything Jessup had said, brought home to Brac the torture he’d suffered in prison.
“Then why the hell did you yell my name? I told you I was gonna take a shower.”
Speechless, Brac nodded. He took several steps forward and reached out, needing to touch the physical reminders of the pain Jessup had suffered.
Jessup stepped back. “What’re you doing?”
Brac looked up and met Jessup’s eyes. “Let me touch you,”
he whispered.
“Why?”
“Because I don’t think I’ll breathe again if I don’t.” Brac couldn’t explain how he felt, but he yearned to heal Jessup from the inside out. It wasn’t a normal reaction for him. Usually he walked away from uncomfortable situations or didn’t allow himself to get into them in the first place. But there was something different about Jessup. Something that called to Brac’s nurturing instincts that, until then, had been reserved for Kit.
Jessup grabbed Brac’s wrist and brought it to his chest, thereby allowing Brac to touch him while still maintaining control. He slowly guided Brac’s palm from one scar to the next, never breaking eye contact. “Not what you’re used to,” he mumbled.
Brac allowed his fingers to brush the puckered skin. He felt more than scars, and his body reacted accordingly. “No, not what I’m used to but amazing nonetheless.” He broke eye contact and leaned in to follow the movement of his hand with his lips.
Jessup gave a quick inhalation of breath at the contact.
Moving to the scarred nipple, Brac bathed the misshaped skin with his tongue. He was surprised when Jessup released Brac’s wrist and buried his fingers in Brac’s hair. Smiling, Brac glanced up to find Jessup’s eyes closed. “This okay?” He knew it was by the deputy’s reaction, but he needed to hear the words.
“God, yes.”
Brac rested his forehead against Jessup’s chest and closed his eyes. “I wanna take you in my mouth. Damn, I want that more than my next breath.”
Jessup reached between them and loosened his towel, allowing the thick terrycloth to fall to the floor.
Taking the gesture as approval, Brac kissed and licked his way down the muscled body. He reached for the dropped towel and used it to rest his knees on as he got his first look at Jessup’s cock. Fuck, the man was gorgeous. Curved ever so slightly to the right, Jessup’s cock was darker than the bronzed skin on his upper body and as big, if not bigger, than the biggest man he’d ever been with.
Brac swallowed his accumulated drool before touching the tip of his tongue to the drop of pre-cum that clung to the head of Jessup’s cock. Careful to keep his hands flat on Jessup’s groin, Brac took the crown into his mouth.
He wanted nothing more than to wrap his arms around the deputy and squeeze the man’s ass while he sucked him off, but he figured it would be another fight or flight trigger for Jessup.
After teasing the slit of Jessup’s cock with his tongue, Brac took the length further into his mouth. When Jessup’s body began to shake, Brac glanced up, hoping he wouldn’t be dislodged from his afternoon snack.
Without taking his mouth off Jessup’s cock, Brac tried to ask the question. “Okay?”
“Been too long. I’m struggling to hold it together,” Jessup ground out between clenched teeth.
“Don’t,” Brac instructed.
Jessup’s hips bucked, shoving his cock further down Brac’s throat. “Can’t…hold it.” He started to pull out, but Brac followed the movement.
Brac curled his fingers around Jessup’s hips in an effort to keep him in place. He wanted Jessup’s cum, but more than anything, he wanted Jessup to trust him.
“No. Too. Fast.”
Jessup howled as the first strand of seed shot down Brac’s throat. Swallowing as fast as he could, Brac tried desperately to enjoy every drop. The volume and consistency told him it had been a while since Jessup had jacked off. The same couldn’t be said for him. Brac’s hand seemed to be permanently attached to his cock since arriving at the cabin under Jessup’s watchful eye.
Brac released Jessup’s hip and began to clean the cum that still clung to the softening flesh. He loved the way the prominent veins felt against the flat of his tongue and before he knew it, Brac wanted to do it all over again. Would he ever get enough of Jessup? Ghosts, demons, whatever Jessup called them, Brac had a strong feeling he’d do anything to help the deputy work through his past.
“Stand up.” Jessup put his hands under Brac’s arms and helped him to his feet.
Brac stared into Jessup’s brown eyes and waited to be pushed away again. What Jessup didn’t know yet was how determined Brac was not to let that happen.
Instead of pushing Brac away, Jessup reached between them and unzipped Brac’s shorts. Without a word, Jessup ran his hand down the length of Brac’s erection trapped behind his boxer briefs.
Begging for more was on the tip of Brac’s tongue but he remained silent. Whatever spell Jessup appeared to be under, the last thing Brac wanted was to break it. A grunt sounded from deep within Jessup’s throat as he pushed his hand under the waistband of Brac’s underwear.
Jessup’s touch was everything Brac had fantasised it would be. He rested his forehead against Jessup’s shoulder and enjoyed every squeeze, pull and slide Jessup gifted. “Feels so good,” Brac whispered.
“Yes, it does,” Jessup returned. “Thought about touching you.”
“Glad you gave in.” Brac’s hips began to snap back and forth as he fucked Jessup’s hand. “Close,” he warned.
Jessup groaned and scraped his short thumbnail across Brac’s sensitive crown. “Fill my hand.”
Not one to let a moment pass him by, Brac did as instructed, shooting bursts of cum. He started to sag but was held up by a strong arm around his waist. If only he could hold Jessup in return. Brac vowed to make the dream a reality before he slipped any further under Jessup’s spell.
Chapter Four
Al Jessup’s body still felt like it was vibrating as he drove up the mountain towards the lodge. The impact of Brac’s blowjob had thrown him. He’d promised himself he’d enjoy what he could of Brac before the Hollywood star traipsed back to California. Unfortunately, the intimacy the two of them had shared earlier threatened his resolve to let Brac go without ties when it was time.
“Okay?” Brac asked from the passenger seat.
Jessup nodded. “Just thinking.”
“About?” Brac slid across the bench seat to sit next to Jessup.
The last thing Jessup wanted was to pour his heart out to someone who may not feel the same way. His feelings were starting to grow for Brac, but those same feelings began to erect yet another wall around his heart.
There had been two people in his life he’d really cared about—Priest and Mrs Gibbs, the foster mother who’d raised him for the first five years of his life. Priest had made his position quite clear before and after Jessup’s release from prison—fuck buddy, nothing more.
Although Priest’s rejection had hurt, Jessup knew it was Mrs Gibbs’ betrayal that had shaped him into the untrusting, unfeeling man he’d become.
“Jessup?” Brac prompted. “Did I do something wrong?”
Jessup shook his head and put a hand on Brac’s thigh. “You can’t spend your time wondering whether or not you’ve done something wrong. I’m fucked up. I’ve told you that. Whatever went on between us earlier, you can’t let yourself make more of it than it was.”
He felt Brac freeze beside him before scooting back to the passenger window. “I hear ya,” Brac mumbled.
Jessup wanted to haul Brac back to his side, but decided a little distance was a good thing. It wouldn’t do for either of them to start getting attached. He didn’t even know if it was possible for him to give enough of himself to make something work between them because Brac could be called back to LA at any moment. Yeah, better to keep distance between us.
Kit and Hawk were getting out of their car when Jessup pulled into the parking lot. “They’re here,” Brac said, his voice a little too excited for Jessup’s comfort.
“Yep,” he mumbled, taking the keys out of the ignition. Before he’d opened his door, Brac was out of the truck and rushing towards Kit. Jessup watched the two friends hug with a heavy feeling in his chest. He wasn’t sure if it was the trace of jealousy he felt or the desire to be as close to another human being as Kit and Brac seemed to be. Either way, Jessup didn’t like it.
He slammed the pickup door harder than necessar
y and joined the small group at the foot of the lodge steps. Hawk gave Jessup a friendly nod while Kit and Brac talked a mile-a-minute.
Hawk chuckled and gestured towards the friends. “Irritating, isn’t it?”
Pocketing his keys, Jessup gave a non-committal answer. “Is what it is, I guess.”
Hawk started up the steps, stopping only long enough to grab Kit’s hand. “I’m hungry. The two of you can continue your conversation inside.”
Kit laughed and followed Hawk up the steps, leaving Brac and Jessup at the bottom. Jessup gestured towards the retreating backs. “After you.”
Brac stared at Jessup. It was obvious he wanted to say something about their brief exchange on the drive up, but instead of just coming out with it, he chose to let out a huff and trot up the steps.
Once again Jessup wanted to run after Brac and fully explain his reasons for slamming the brakes on their budding relationship. Never would he have thought the word ‘relationship’ was even in his vocabulary, so why had he just thought it? What was it about Brac that made him long for something he’d given up on over thirty-three years earlier?
“You comin’?”
“Yeah.” Jessup started up the steps. “Sorry about earlier,” he mumbled as he reached for the massive hand-carved double door.
“Don’t worry about it. Like you said, it was nothing.” Brac pushed past Jessup and entered the lodge.
Jessup swallowed and finally reached for Brac. “Wait.”
Brac glanced down at the hold Jessup had around his wrist. “Why? So you can make me feel even worse than I already do?”
“No.” Jessup sighed and released Brac. “Let’s get through dinner, and we’ll talk on the way home.”
“You know what? I can’t do the casual thing with you, so I might ride home with Kit and Hawk. Since the photographers are gone and Cattle Valley Days start this weekend, Kit’s dying to have me back.”
Jessup felt like he’d been slapped. “Whatever you want,” he mumbled. “I’ll…um…” He gestured over his shoulder towards the parking lot. “I’m just gonna go. You have my number in case you see any signs of trouble.”
