by Cameron Dane
Moving in close, Jace removed Jasper's hat and brushed his knuckles across the younger man's chiseled cheek. “Sarah needs you.”
“She…she likes you.” Jasper's breath quickened as Jace continued to stroke his face. “She always liked you as more than a friend; I could always tell, even back in the beginning. Like I told you both, you should be with her.”
“Sarah doesn't want me,” Jace shared. He slid his hand over Jasper's corded shoulder, down his arm, and covered the back of his hand. “At least, not without you too.” He threaded his fingers in between Jasper's and held, linking them together.
“You could convince her. With some time, I know she would come to you.” Perhaps without even realizing he did it, Jasper knocked his hat out of Jace's other hand and linked their fingers there too. “She cares about you a lot. She don't do a good job of hidin' it.”
Suppressing the need for another taste, and to drag one of Jasper's hands to his cock for a good hard rub, Jace silently ordered himself to focus. “I have news for you, cowboy. She loves you and doesn't try to hide it one bit either. Now let me tell you something else I believe is equally true.” He dragged his focus from Jasper's mouth to his eyes, pinning him to the wall with just a look. “I know you love her as much she does you, but I think you liked it when I kissed you too.”
His pupils widening like a sun flare, Jasper jutted his chin up a hair. “Felt different. Strong.”
“I think it was part of what made you so hard in that moment.” Moving in closer, Jace didn't stop until his crotch rocked against something decidedly firm. Jasper gasped, but Jace didn't back off. “What has you half-hard again thinking about it right now.”
“Maybe. So what?” The tip of Jasper's tongue edged out, flicking his bottom lip, and Jace just managed to keep from grabbing it with his teeth.
Not yet.
Dipping down, Jace brushed his lips against Jasper's ear, keeping his voice low as he talked. “What if I'd done more, Jasper? What if I'd dropped to my knees and sucked your cock right alongside Sarah? What if you'd done mine with her? What if I'd gone another step?” Pausing for a moment, he let go of Jasper, slid his hand around the man's slim hip, kept going, and settled his palm low on Jasper's backside. Shit, he has a firm ass. Swallowing saliva, Jace took a moment before going on. “When you closed your eyes that night, did you think about another man fucking you?” He pressed his fingers into Jasper's crease through his jeans, working the seam against his pucker. “Do you think I could make you come with my dick up your ass?”
Jasper ground into the touch, crushing Jace's hand against the wall. He whimpered and clutched Jace's shoulder with a digging hold. A quick peek from Jace showed Jasper's lids at half-mast and his mouth slightly parted, his body taut.
So fucking responsive, just like Sarah. Jace released his last bit of worry, letting his private desires free. “Maybe you want me reaming you while you're fucking Sarah?” Fingers bore deeper into Jace's shoulder at that, and Jace continued to work Jasper's hole through his clothes. “Or maybe we're both fucking Sarah at the same time? You buried in her snug pussy, and me feeling it with my cock tucked in her ass. Because I have to tell you, the image of that makes me harder than anything else. Hard like this.” Shoving Jasper's free hand between their bodies, Jace forced it over his raging erection, demanding Jasper feel him. He scraped his lips over Jasper's cheek and jaw, stopping when he hovered over his mouth. His prick jammed against his zipper, wanting the layer of fabric between his length and Jasper's hand gone. “Hard in a way I only get for the two of you.”
In response, Jasper made a strangled noise, closed the scant distance between them, and savaged Jace with a rough kiss. He snaked his arms around Jace's waist and fused their fronts into one entity, straining from top to bottom as he forced Jace's jaw apart with the power of his own and thrust his tongue inside to mate.
Jace groaned under the all-out attack, loving the differences between male and female, the hardness of another male body, and enthusiasm that became complete aggression. He had never taken a man inside him before, but with each stab and lick Jasper delivered to his mouth, Jace's passage throbbed in response, wanting some of that invasion too. He bit at Jasper, reaching for dominance once again, and swept past his parted lips, swiping deep into the moisture in his mouth. Jace kissed Jasper with all the pent-up need for another man he had denied himself since his arrangement with Davis and Alanna had ended. He growled and nipped at Jasper's swollen mouth as Jasper's heat took him over. “I want you.” He tugged at the back of Jasper's shirt, aching to feel some skin.
Jasper reached back and covered Jace's hand. “Wait.” Breaking the kiss, Jasper heaved as he regained his breath. “Jace…” He removed Jace's hand from the waistband of his jeans, but rather than shove him away, Jasper curled Jace's palm over his prick and then between his legs, guiding Jace to his balls. They burned hot through his jeans, and Jasper shook when Jace squeezed. Jasper held Jace's wrist in place, his face a map of confusion and desire. “Jace…”
Jesus Christ, he's incredible. “I know.” Jace could feel the strange connection too, as if he'd cared about and wanted Jasper as long as Sarah had. He swooped in for another pillaging of the other man's mouth when the deafening revving of an engine—dangerously close by—jerked them apart.
Jace closed his eyes, letting the sound of that car starting splash over him like icy water. What in the hell am I doing? He didn't seduce men behind buildings, and he certainly didn't fuck them without their wives or girlfriends consenting and close by. Same with the reverse. Except you did that with Sarah already. Took her without her partner's participation. Fuck. Becoming a third had rules so things remained fun but not messy and to keep insecurities and jealousies to a minimum.
Jasper cleared his throat and edged out from against the wall. The noise from the car obviously had the same fast sobering effect on him. After tucking his shirt back in, he picked up his Stetson and walked backward in the direction of the parking lot. “I-I need to go.”
“You should come to the house later on tonight.” Jace stopped the other man in his tracks. “We need to talk about what just happened as well as what happened the other day. The three of us. Together.”
A hard glint sparked copper and gold in Jasper's eyes, bright enough for Jace to see it from ten feet away. “No.” He snapped the refusal out like a bullet. “Nothin' has changed. I still need to stay away from Sarah.”
“Actually”—Jace needed to get his priorities in order and keep his dick in his pants—“I'm sorry I didn't tell you right away, but the sheriff is having a chat with Samuel down at the station right now. We want to know where he was when those women were killed.”
“Do you think he did it?” Jasper's face lost most of its color. “Will he get out?”
“Honestly? I don't think he's smart enough to have killed Ginger, at the very least,” Jace conceded. “But everyone at the station knows he's in town now. He's on our radar.”
Jasper looked like someone stole Christmas from him. “Then he ain't gonna be locked up. I still have to stay away from Sarah.”
“I understand your fear and worry, Jasper; I think you know I do.” Jace moved a couple of steps closer but left Jasper plenty of breathing room this time. “But did you ever stop to consider you could do a better job protecting Sarah by plastering yourself to her side rather than putting distance between you? Particularly since nobody believes you've stopped loving her. That means your brother can see it too. Between the two of us, we could make sure Samuel never gets a chance to be alone with her.” Shit, steam would shoot out of Sarah's ears if she heard him saying stuff like this. Just this once, though, if it got Jasper back to her, she would probably forgive him his caveman tendencies. “You could have your girlfriend back.” Jace let his attention drop briefly to the outline of Jasper's erection still pressing into his jeans. “And maybe something new, if the two of you decide it's something you want.”
“I can't—” Jasper hung suspended f
or the longest moment, looking torn. He finally said, “I gotta go. Bye,” and ran to his truck, climbed inside, and drove away without looking back.
“Great.” Jace rubbed his face and pushed his hands through his hair. “You handled that just fantastically.” He would have to give Sarah a report about what had transpired; he had made a promise to keep her in the loop about Jasper, and he would honor it. He would tell her tonight and hope she didn't hate him for hitting on her man without her.
First, he needed a few more minutes in hiding to talk down his erection.
* * * *
It took half the drive back to the ranch for Jasper's hard-on to subside. Man, the times when he used to think about Caleb, when he worked through his stupid crush on the man, he'd never really thought about them having sex, about Caleb taking him. His fantasies included the boss kissing him, holding him, touching, sleeping together in bed, feeling safe. Maybe once or twice he had pictured a blowjob—giving it and getting it—but the daydreams never really progressed to rolling over and giving another guy his ass.
Not like today. Even when he and Sarah talked on the phone last night, or when he'd gotten half-naked with her and Jace in their hallway, Jasper hadn't taken the visual to the step of anal sex with another man.
I did today.
Jasper didn't know what to think. Jace had made him so hard behind that building as he painted different scenarios of the three of them all tangled up and sweaty together. And then
when Jace reached around and pushed into his crack, teasing his hole… Fuck, Jasper got almost as excited as the first time he saw Sarah completely naked and got to touch her. Jasper had watched himself sink into Sarah's pussy, so he could picture Jace's cock splitting his cheeks and pushing into his ass. In that moment, when Jasper saw it in his mind, his channel had pounded with a heartbeat as strong as his prick did when he took Sarah.
He didn't know what to think about having such desire for two people. He didn't know what it meant. His grandma would have told him he had a twisted, dirty mind and to get back to church and beg for forgiveness before the devil came and took his soul. He still sometimes wondered if the powerful lust he felt for Sarah was ungodly, but since he loved her, and she felt the same, he figured it had to be all right. He didn't know Jace well enough to love him, but he admired him and found him fascinating. Even if Jasper could justify his attraction by calling it love, the way he was reared would still have him believe engaging in a carnal way with another man wasn't natural.
Except it felt so right to kiss Jace and touch him, and his body craved learning more. He knew those beliefs his grandma taught him were wrong. Coming to Quinten had taught him better. When Caleb hired him, he knew the boss's brother Cain was gay, and being around Cain and his partner, Luke, showed Jasper a man loving another man was just as real as a man loving a woman. Shit, Ren was already Jasper's role model and favorite person on the ranch, so when he found out Ren was gay too, there was no way he could backtrack off liking and respecting the guy just because of his sexuality. Jasper didn't worry about going to hell so much anymore for believing homosexuality was okay, but that didn't mean he wasn't nervous and uncertain about what might happen with Jace.
Not that it really mattered, because being with Jace was only half of Jasper's worry anyway. His bigger fear, the thing that sent panic racing through him, was something happening to Sarah. His brother was trouble; Jasper knew it like he knew the sky was blue. Only Jace went and confused him today, making him second-guess his choice to stay away from her. Maybe it would be better to be at her side so he could protect her if necessary. But then again, Jasper worried maybe he just wanted someone to change his mind so he could go running back to Sarah and have what he wanted.
Her.
And now Jace too.
Knock. Knock. Knock.
Jerking back to reality, sitting in his truck in the Hawkins Ranch employee parking area,
Jasper found Ren looking at him through his driver's-side window. His face flaming, Jasper shut down the engine and climbed out. “Hey.” He slipped his hands into his pockets. “How's it goin'?”
“Just had my dinner plans canceled,” Ren answered. “I was talking to Cade”—he held up his cell phone—“and noticed you. You've been sitting there gripping the steering wheel for a good five minutes. Are you all right?”
“Yeah. Just thinkin'.” Jasper bit his lip, stifling the urge to confess his secrets and fears to his friend. “It's quieter out here than the bunkhouse.”
Ren laughed. “Truer words were never spoken. Hey, you want to come have dinner with me at my place? I have ground beef at home defrosted, and like I said, Cade just told me he's not sure when he'll be home. If I'm going to grill burgers, it'd be nice to have more than Crash to eat with.” Ren mentioned his and Cade's dog.
Jasper's gaze drifted in the direction of the bunkhouse, and his head filled with a myriad of booming cowboy voices and a TV turned to full volume. Covering his grimace, he looked to Ren again. “You sure you don't mind?”
“Are you kidding? I'd love to have you. Do you want to come with me?” Ren jerked his thumb in the direction of a red Toyota Tundra. “Or drive yourself?”
“I'll follow you. I don't want you to have to drive me back later.”
Jogging to his vehicle, Ren called out, “Sounds good.” He eased his truck out of the trampled-grass lot, and Jasper pulled out behind him.
* * * *
Full from a couple of hamburgers and chips, Jasper wandered around Ren's small living room while the other man tidied the kitchen on the other side of the open room. Pausing by the fireplace with its row of pictures across the top, Jasper picked up one and studied all the smiling faces. “You have a real nice family. Good people.” He glanced up at Ren and smiled. “You're lucky.”
Ren crossed the room, smiling right back. “I know I am.” He laughed as he looked at the framed photo from over Jasper's shoulder. “It's a hodgepodge and interesting to explain, but it's the best one in the world, and I know it.”
In the picture, Ren had his arm around Cade. Then there was the sheriff; Ren was his adopted son from his first marriage. Next to Duke stood Risa, who was the sheriff's wife and Ren's best friend, and rounding out the picture were Ty and Ruby, runaway siblings adopted by Risa and Duke shortly after they got married.
Jasper set the picture back on the mantel and took a moment to admire the rest. “That's a nice one of Cade.” He pointed to a close-up shot of Cade's profile, his chin strong, and his scars so vivid in texture, Jasper thought if he touched them, he would feel the ridges. “He looks like a face chiseled on a mountain.”
“Yeah.” Ren lifted his hand and ran his fingers over Cade's angular profile. “He almost completely manages to hide his growl now when I take a picture of him. This photo gets a lot of compliments from visitors, and I think it has helped him become less self-conscious about his scars.” Open affection softened Ren's features. “He's beautiful, and he can almost see that now himself.”
“You love him a lot.”
“Absolutely.”
In his mind, Jasper immediately flashed on an image of Jace plundering his mouth with a breath-stealing kiss and then plowing his ass while Jasper fucked Sarah. Oh God. His rectum clenched right where he stood, and Jasper blurted out, “Does it hurt to have sex with Cade?”
Ren's pale gaze narrowed to slits. “What?” “I'm sorry.” Jasper burned inside and out and wished the floor would open and gobble him up. “I can't believe I said that to you. Shit, you're always so nice to me and other than Sarah I think of you as my closest friend and I don't think there's anyone I like workin' with more than you and you invite me to your cabin and feed me and we're havin' a nice talk about your family and Cade and then I have to go say somethin' stupid like that. I apologize.” Where the hell did I set down my hat? “I'm gonna go.”
“Not so fast.” Ren grabbed Jasper's arm, hauled him to the couch, then shoved him down to sit. He chuckled as he took a seat in one of two ch
airs situated across a coffee table. “Wow. You're kind of like Cade when you get nervous and embarrassed. He tends to talk in very rapid run-on sentences when he's trying to say or ask something important to him.” Leaning forward, Ren clasped his hands between his knees. “Is this why you broke up with Sarah? Are you—”
“No! No!” Jasper shot to his feet. “If Samuel hadn't shown up in Quinten, I'd be with Sarah right now instead of here with you. She's everythin' to me.”
“Okay then, no worries,” Ren said and gestured for Jasper to sit back down. “I didn't think I'd read you wrong about her.”
“You didn't. But I was just wonderin'… I mean”—Jasper chewed on the inside of his lip
but forced himself to keep looking at Ren—“does it hurt?”
“The act itself can be painful if you're not properly prepared and if you're so scared or nervous you can't relax, or the same with your partner, if he or she is the one accepting. The first time or two can feel strange or uncomfortable until you learn to adjust to what your body likes. But no”—he leveled a calm stare on Jasper—“what I do with Cade doesn't hurt. What we have is amazing, exciting, and passionate, and I look forward to it and want it all the time, just like I imagine you feel with Sarah.”
Ren's easy way with talking helped Jasper relax. “'All the time.' Yeah, that sounds almost right.” His thoughts slipped back to his phone call with Sarah last night and how fast she stirred him up. “Is there somethin' a step up from wantin' 'all the time'?”
“Absolutely. I don't know what they call it, but I know it damn well.” Ren glanced to the mantel, and Jasper imagined his focus homed in on one of the pictures of Cade. “More than all the time is nice, isn't it?”
“Yeah.” The front door opened right then, and Cade entered the cabin. “Hey, Jasper, I thought that was your truck outside.” The dog sleeping under the kitchen table perked its head up at the first
