Annabelle snorted and slapped Bo on the ass as he mounted his horse. “You deserved that, so don’t even give me that wounded look. Got everything y’all need?”
Bo felt his cheeks—the ones on his face and the one Annabelle had walloped—warming up. Maybe he was just paranoid after Rory’s little chat with Max, but it seemed like she was getting way too close to a safe sex talk for his comfort. “Yep, got it. Gotta go!” Bo reined his mount around and took off, almost as eager to escape Annabelle as he was to find Max.
Half an hour later, Bo halted his horse and looked around the area Annabelle had suggested. The stream that ran through this part of the ranch was full, the current moving at a steady clip, the sounds of water flowing almost musical. There was plenty of shade, the grass was green and not too high, and there wasn’t another soul around. Not yet, at least.
Bo dismounted and led his horse to the stream for a drink. Once that was taken care of, he tied the horse to a sturdy branch in a good sized patch of shade and went to work setting up. Pulling the blanket roll from the saddle bag, Bo tried to decide the best spot to put it down. Somewhere away from the horse, for certain.
There was a perfect place beside the stream, a nice sunny patch where they could lay after and hopefully not get chilled. Bo spread the blanket down then hurried back to grab the lunch he’d pack for him and Max along with the condoms and lube. He placed it all on the blanket then hesitated. Should he strip down now, or wait until Max had eaten? The sound of hoof beats sent a shiver down Bo’s spine. His dick was so hard that he hurt clean up to his MILES TO GO
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belly button. Oh hell, we can both work up more of an appetite. Bo stripped out of his clothes and sprawled out on the blanket and only then thought of the shit he’d catch if that wasn’t Max he heard approaching.
This plan was definitely holding together better than his first one, because Max rode right up to the blanket and seared Bo with a heated look.
“I was wondering why Annabelle told me to get my ass over here,” Max rasped, his gaze trailing down to Bo’s cock. “I was gonna come up to the bunkhouse for…but this is better.”
Bo’s mouth went dry as Max dismounted. He wished he could say something witty or seductive, but his throat was too tight, his breath too short. Max didn’t even tie off his horse, just nudged its shoulder with his and told it to ‘go on home’ as he visually devoured Bo.
A tendril of fear slithered through Bo. This felt more intense than he’d ever imagined, more…just more. He realised, as Max began removing his own clothes, that something irrevocable and life-altering was about to happen. As much as he wanted it, wanted to love and be loved, he hadn’t known it would be such a scary thing to experience. It dawned on Bo that Max could crush him with a few words— no, leave, whore—not that he thought Max would ever call him names, but it wouldn’t exactly be an untruth.
Max took off his boots, grunting then grumbling about needing his damn boot jack, then he shoved his jeans and boxers down and Bo forgot to be worried. The sight of that fat cock slapping against Max’s stomach brought the liquid back to Bo’s mouth, making it water as he hungered for a taste of the pre-cum beading at the slit. Max shrugged out of his shirt then fisted his shaft, pumping it leisurely despite the passion simmering in his eyes. Bo quivered as he trailed his gaze over Max’s enticing form. Broad-shouldered and leanly-muscled, he was the epitome of male perfection, everything Bo could have asked for in a lover, and Bo needed Max now before his doubts and fears could claw back to the surface.
Propping up on one elbow and clutching the blanket, Bo felt for the lube with his other hand. His fingers brushed against the plastic bottle just as Max let go of his dick.
“Let me,” Max ordered softly as he stepped onto the blanket. Bo nodded and pulled his hand back. “Spread your legs wider.”
Bo had spread his legs for more men than he could count and never so much as thought twice about it—even though he should have. But something about Max’s expression, the wonder and hunger, the way he looked at Bo as if he were the most perfect gift Max had ever MILES TO GO
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been given, brought a warm flush to Bo’s skin. It was humbling and intoxicating at the same time, and Bo felt more than a little shy as he bent his knees and parted his legs, opening himself for Max’s viewing.
Max sucked in a rattling breath and knelt on the blanket, his knees only inches from Bo’s ass. “Look at you,” Max murmured as he trailed his fingertips over Bo’s lightly furred thigh. “Ain’t a part of you that ain’t perfect.”
Bo knew better. If he’d been perfect, his mother wouldn’t have ran off and left him to die when he was a baby. He wouldn’t have been passed around and told what a burden he was by family members who took him in only to keep from looking bad. He wouldn’t have let men use him just to feel like someone cared for a few minutes. He wouldn’t have got the shit beaten out of him for being stupid and lonely and scared of both of those emotions.
But he couldn’t say any of that, not when Max was looking at him like that, not when Max was touching him, smoothing his hand over Bo’s stomach, his fingers teasing at the crease where Bo’s thighs and torso joined. All Bo could do was shiver and moan and thrust his hips as he tried unsuccessfully to get Max to touch his aching cock.
“Please, please, Max!” Any other time Bo might have cringed to be so needy, but he couldn’t do anything else, couldn’t think or plan or measure his words. “I need you, aching for you—”
“You got me.” Max leaned over Bo and grabbed the lube. Bo took advantage of the
position to wrap an arm around Max’s waist and pull himself up to suck at Max’s nipple. He laved the nub, loving the surprisingly soft hair that circled the sweet flesh, the way it tickled his upper lip. Max hissed and palmed the back of Bo’s head, pulling him closer. Bo took it for the demand it was and nipped the erect bud, rolling it gently between his teeth. He pinched and twisted the other nipple, mimicking the movements of his mouth, teeth and tongue as best he could. Max’s fingernails bit into Bo’s scalp, a little twinge of pain, as Max moaned and pressed into Bo’s ministrations.
“Enough or I’m gonna come all over you,” Max threatened, spacing his words out
between gasps. He loosened his hold on Bo and leaned away, forcing Bo to give up the tasty treats he’d been enjoying.
Bo laid down and grabbed the back of his thighs, pulling his legs up to his chest.
“Another time. Right now I need you to fuck me.”
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Max’s expression turned thunderous and he stopped pouring the lube into his cupped hand. He glared at Bo with so much anger that Bo squirmed. “It ain’t fucking, are we clear?”
Ashamed of himself, Bo nodded. He should have known Max wouldn’t care for that,
not yet at least. “I’m sorry, I’m not used to…” …it being anything more than fucking. “I’m sorry, okay? You’re right.” Now please, hurry up! Bo did his best to plead with his eyes, his mouth, his body. Max gave him a look that said they’d be discussing what Bo wasn’t used to in the near future.
Max dipped his fingers into the lube he’d squirted into his hand then hesitated, all of a sudden looking nervous. “I don’t want to do this wrong,” he confessed.
Bo thought it was sweet and wanted to tear his own hair out. “Max…please, either do it or let me. You won’t screw up, I promise, just make sure there’s plenty of lube then… ahh!
Ohmygod! ” The feel of Max’s fingers pushing into his ass nearly made Bo blow his load. The nerve endings in the tight ring of muscles pulsed with ecstasy, sharing it with his balls and every cell in Bo’s body.
“Is that a good ohmygod or a bad one?” Max asked as he began to withdraw his fingers, looking at Bo worriedly.
Bo let go of one of his thighs and grabbed Max’s wrist to keep him from pulling all the way out. “That’s
an I’m gonna die if you don’t hurry up and f—finish this! ”
Max grinned and began stretching Bo again. His fingers grazed Bo’s prostate and Bo jolted, squeaking as he struggled not to come. Max’s grin widened and his eyes took on a wicked gleam as he bumped that spot again.
“Unngh! Max!” Bo nearly swallowed his tongue the next time his gland was stroked.
His stomach tightened as his hole clenched and rippled around Max’s fingers.
Max’s eyes shot wide open and he moaned. “I’ve got to feel that on my…on my dick.”
He pulled his fingers out and leaned over Bo again, reaching for and snagging a condom.
“Hurry, hurry, hurry,” Bo babbled, “need you so bad, need to feel you in me, you said I was yours—”
Max ripped open the package and slid the condom on with minimal fuss. He lined his cock up and locked gazes with Bo. “You are mine, and I’m yours.” Max gripped Bo’s ankles and brought his legs to rest on Max’s shoulders. “Look at me,” Max ordered, sliding his hands down Bo’s thighs.
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Bo hadn’t realised he’d closed his eyes until then. He opened them and Max gave him a wicked smile. His fingers tightened, digging into Bo’s muscles in an exquisite way. Max pressed forward slowly and steadily, forcing the fat crown into Bo’s opening. Bo’s eyelids fluttered even as he cried out with the sheer pleasure of feeling Max entering his body.
“More, please, Max!” Bo pleaded, needing everything Max had.
Max growled and snapped his hips, fully seating his dick in Bo’s ass. There were gasps and moans, and Bo didn’t know whose was whose and didn’t care because Max began
thrusting, long, deep strokes into Bo’s needy channel countered by slow withdrawals that stretched Bo’s hole open wide on the crown of Max’s cock. Bo reached down to fist his own shaft as a blinding ecstasy zinged through his body and filled him until he thought he would pass out. Max grunted and began thrusting harder and faster, filling Bo with his thick shaft over and over.
“Bo!” Max’s cock swelled inside him as Max ground against his ass. Max released a guttural groaning sound from his throat that sent shivers of desire straight to Bo’s balls. Bo felt the cum spurt from Max’s dick into the latex, and that shot Bo over the edge, screaming as spunk sprayed from his cock onto his chest and belly. His muscles cramped with the intensity of his climax, his vision blurred and became a thousand dots of rainbow colours.
Max thrust one more time, then lowered Bo’s legs from his shoulders. He dropped
down onto Bo, catching his weight on his forearms. Max kissed him languidly, soundly, and Bo kissed Max back with every bit of love he’d always wanted to give and never been able to.
It was the most perfect moment in Bo’s life, and he knew he’d carry it close to his heart for as long as he lived.
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Chapter Twelve
Dinner was ready, the table was set, and it looked pretty damned romantic if Max did say so himself. After the humiliating experience of asking Annabelle how to make this a special evening, it damn sure better look romantic. Once she’d made a couple of lewd suggestions, which had nearly given Max a coronary, she’d actually been really helpful.
However, next time Max would just Google any question he had. At least the search engine wouldn’t start tossing out suggestions for positions in an ungodly innocent sounding voice.
Max lit the candle just as he heard Chance’s truck pull up. The diesel engine had a particular grind to it that made it easy to recognise. Max felt his calm shatter a little. Sweat broke out on his brow, his upper lip, his palms… Oh, fuck! He was going to stink to high heaven before Bo even got through the door!
The truck doors slamming shut lit a fire under Max’s feet. He sprinted for the bedroom, his boot heels smacking the hardwood floor hard enough that Max figured he might just have left dents. He grabbed the body spray Annabelle had gifted him with—which he’d muttered over the uselessness of in the safe confines of his room. After a few sprays of the stuff, Max tossed the can in the vicinity of the dresser and hurried into the living room without a second to spare. Bo was already pulling the screen door open.
“How’d the doctor appointment go?” Max asked, moving forward. He reached for Bo, noting the strain around the man’s eyes. “You okay?”
“Just tired.” Bo leaned against him as Max embraced him. He rested his head on Max’s shoulder and sighed as he lightly gripped Max’s hips. “You feel so good. Smell good, too.”
“Ah, how did…what did the detective have to say?” Max struggled to concentrate.
Besides the doctor appointment, Bo had had a meeting with the detective handling his assault case. So far, last he’d heard, the cops didn’t have a fucking clue who the man was who’d hurt Bo.
And it didn’t seem like that had changed. “She didn’t say much of anything. Nothing new, anyways. No clues, no nothing, no one saw us leave together.”
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Max growled and tried to tamp down his anger. “How the hell did no one see y’all leave? There were other people there, right?”
Bo snorted and nodded. “Yeah, but that’s just it. Place like that is crowded and the men there aren’t paying attention to anything except their next piece of ass. Believe me when I tell you people there most likely did not notice me and Psycho Fucker slipping out together.”
Max couldn’t imagine anyone not noticing Bo, but arguing would just upset the man and he’d looked tired when he’d come in. Max let it drop, although he did ask, “So what are the cops doing then?”
“What can they do?” Bo asked in return, shrugging. “It sucks, but not every crime is solved like they are on TV. Looks like the bad guy is going to get away this time, which is really shitty because what if next time he kills someone? And there’s nothing I can do. I even called the club I was at that night and asked if they’d hand out flyers or something telling people to watch out for the guy, and the owner refused. Didn’t want to risk scaring off any customers.”
“Son of a bitch,” Max muttered. “He put money before someone else’s life?”
“She,” Bo corrected. “And there’s plenty of people like that in this world.”
Max couldn’t disagree, but there were plenty of good people too, which he pointed out to Bo before dropping the subject like Bo seemed to want. Judging by the way the man was nibbling at Max’s lips, he didn’t think Bo wanted to talk much at all. “Bo—” Max whimpered as Bo burrowed against his neck and licked a strip up to his ear. Bo sucked on his earlobe and Max felt his knees tremble. Two weeks of making love hadn’t done a thing to douse the desire between them. Still, as badly as Max wanted to bend Bo over the couch and plough into his hot, silky ass, he was determined to romance his man tonight. That didn’t exclude the couch, just postponed it for a bit, Max promised his disappointed dick.
“The doctor said I’m good to go, healthier than a lot of men ‘my age’.” Bo sneered the last two words, clearly miffed. Max thought his vanity was rather cute. He’d managed to talk Bo out of dying over the streaks of grey hair—on his head—and there’d been a whole different discussion when he’d walked in the bathroom and found Bo getting ready to wax off his body hair. Max had convinced him, both times, with some very ardent love making, that grey hair was sexy. Besides, as he pointed out, Bo sure didn’t seem to mind Max’s grey MILES TO GO
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at all. He hadn’t, however, even bothered trying to talk Bo out of using his skin creams.
Didn’t really want to since they left Bo’s skin smooth and supple, such an erotic contrast to Max’s own work-roughened skin.
“That’s good, then, right?” Max wanted to ask more, like if that included blood tests, because he really wanted that kind of commitment from his man. He wanted to give
it, too, so much so that he was nearly vibrating with the need to ask.
“Yeah, it’s great,” Bo muttered. He leant back and looked up at Max, worry etched into his expression, deepening the fine lines at the outer corner of his eyes. “Are you going to want me to leave now?”
Max tamped down his irritation that Bo would think so little of him. One thing he’d become aware of since they’d made love the first time was that Bo, despite his swagger, suffered from a truckload of insecurity.
“Of course I want you here,” Max soothed. “I’ll always want you here.”
Bo looked thunderstruck at the confession, his mouth flapping without making a
sound. His eyes were welling with tears that he rapidly blinked away. The need to reassure him rode Max hard, and he wondered if he should alter his plans a bit, tell Bo how he felt before they sat down for their romantic dinner. Would it really matter if he said I love you before they ate? Would Bo throw his arms around him and admit that he loved Max as well, like Max knew he did?
Max was scared shitless to say those words, which was stupid. He knew he loved Bo, knew it was reciprocal. It was still scary since Max had never said those words to anyone else, ever.
“Do you mean that?” Bo’s expression shifted from hopeful to fearful, repeating that pattern as he fidgeted in Max’s arms.
“I do,” Max promised. He felt the ball of nervous tension uncoil in his belly at the sweet smile that chased away everything except joy from Bo’s face. Seeing Bo’s eyes gleaming with happiness made the words come easy. “I love you, Bo.”
Those words didn’t light Bo up like Max had expected. Instead his lover shuddered in his arms then shoved Max back a step. “You don’t! You can’t, Max!”
Max frowned and struggled unsuccessfully to keep Bo in his arms. “I can and I do!”
Bo darted past him and ran into the kitchen. Max was practically right on his heels, which didn’t work out so well when Bo came to a sudden stop. Max slammed into his back MILES TO GO
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