One Good Favor

by J. L. Langley

  Aaron started with one finger, pushing it in slow and steady.

  Evan was so ready he sank down, hissing out a breath as Aaron pushed in.

  “Great Spirit, that’s something.” Aaron maneuvered Evan’s hips with his other hand, encouraging Evan to move. “You look amazing.” His deep voice sounded even more sultry than normal. The expression on his face as he watched Evan made Evan even more turned on than the feel of that long digit sliding in and out of him. “More?”

  “Oh God, yes.” Evan planted his bound hands on Aaron’s chest, leaning forward just a tad.

  Aaron added another finger.

  “Oh fuck, that feels good.”

  “Yeah? Then this is going to feel even better.” He found Evan’s prostate, rubbing his fingers over it.

  Incredible. It felt incredible. Evan pushed down, using his strong thigh muscles to move himself up and down. Thank God for all the hours on horseback. He could do this all day.

  Aaron added another finger and pushed in hard.

  Okay, he couldn’t do this all day. His thighs were fine, but his balls were so damned tight he was going to come any minute. He rode Aaron’s fingers, a tingle traveling up his back. Closing his eyes, he dropped his head back and just felt.

  “Fuck, Evan.” Aaron’s fingers slipped out and he tugged Evan downward. The tip of his prick slipped up Evan’s crease, missing his hole.

  Evan tried to reach back to help, but remembered his hands. As it turned out, he didn’t need to because Aaron tried again, using his hand to hold his dick still this time.

  Damn he was big. Evan took a deep breath and pushed out as he lowered himself. By the time he was seated on Aaron’s hips, sweat was trickling down his temples.

  Aaron had his eyes squeezed shut. He, too, was sweating. If Evan didn’t know better, he’d have though he was in pain. Reaching out, he used his shirt to wipe at Aaron’s forehead.

  Aaron blinked his eyes open. Catching Evan’s gaze he smiled. “You okay?”

  “Oh yeah.” He was way better than okay. Aaron’s cock was so damned big it was already nestled up against Evan’s prostate. Evan had never been one for size, but damn… This burning pleasure was pretty damned intense.

  “Evan?”

  “Yeah?”

  “Move, babe.”

  “Yeah.” Evan started slow, raising up almost all the way until he could feel the tip of Aaron’s dick almost slip out, then sank back down inch by inch.

  They both groaned.

  He did it again, teasing himself, enjoying the feeling of being filled until it was just too much.

  Aaron’s hands squeezed Evan’s hips and he shook with his effort to be still. The patience and restraint was Evan’s undoing. He couldn’t remember anyone caring enough about his pleasure to try holding back. He leaned forward, resting his elbows on Aaron’s chest, his hands and shirt balled up under Aaron’s chin.

  Aaron’s control broke, he let go of Evan’s hip and wrapped his hand around the back of Evan’s neck and mashed their mouths together. His tongue thrust into Evan’s mouth just as he thrust up into Evan’s body.

  Evan kissed back and slammed himself down to meet Aaron. The kiss grew almost punishing, their teeth coming into play, mashing their lips.

  Aaron continued to fuck him hard and fast, his hands slipping back to Evan’s waist. The slap of skin was loud, echoing over the grunts and moans.

  Evan sat back up, impaling himself over and over. The pleasure rushed over him, making his cock throb and bounce in time to Aaron’s body-jarring thrusts.

  “Come, Evan.” Aaron grunted out through gritted teeth.

  His stomach tightened, his balls drew up and that was all she wrote. Evan came so hard he saw stars. Semen hit his lower abdomen and Aaron’s in a hot stream.

  With a hoarse yell, Aaron followed him, shoving up into Evan one last time and stilling.

  The white spunk on Aaron’s tanned skin was one of the most erotic things Evan had ever seen. Evan stared, his body feeling loose and relaxed.

  After a few seconds, Aaron grabbed the shirt holding Evan’s hands and wiped the come off of him and Evan. Then he tugged it loose from Evan’s arms and tossed it onto the floor.

  Without a word, they crawled under the covers and got comfortable. After a few minutes Evan rolled onto his side and rose up on his elbow. “We should tal—” He yawned.

  Aaron grinned. “You talk way too much as it is, babe.” He tugged Evan forward onto his chest.

  Evan nuzzled his face into Aaron’s neck and settled in, feeling relaxed and at ease. Maybe a nap was in order before their talk. Aaron didn’t act like he was any hurry to leave.

  Wrapping his arms around Evan, Aaron kissed his forehead. “We should ride like that more often, Tex.”

  Chapter Seven

  Evan woke to the sound of the door closing. Shit! Aaron. He sat up in bed, blinking his eyes open.

  Mark stood right inside the room, looking around. “So? Where’s this mystery man?”

  “God dammit!” Evan jumped out of bed. He ran to the bathroom, already knowing he wouldn’t find what he looked for. Nope, no Aaron. Then, he ran to the front window and threw open the curtain. “Son of a bitch!” Evan’s eyes watered at the bright sun. Damn it, he’d slept the whole night through and they hadn’t talked. And now Evan was more sure than ever he wanted, no he had, to see Aaron again.

  There was a soft clunk sound and then Mark started laughing.

  “What? This isn’t funny. He left…Again.”

  “Shut the curtain, Evan.” Mark, still cackling, reached for the thick, rubber-backed fabric, preparing to close it.

  Evan looked out the window again.

  An older woman, probably in her early sixties, stood to the left of the motel room window, her mouth hanging open and her hands out. At her feet lay an ice bucket and small squares of ice littered the ground by her feet. He glanced down. Oh man. He was still naked. Groaning, he fumbled for the curtain, but Mark slung it across. It made a rattling sound as it slid over the window, blocking out the woman’s shocked expression. At least he wasn’t still covered in cum. That was something, right?

  Mark flopped down on the made up bed. “Oh damn, that was great.”

  Evan growled at him as he rummaged through his bag. He was down to his last pair of jeans. They were going to have to do laundry before they moved on. It would kill two birds with one stone. It’d be great for getting his mind off Aaron and back on roping, as well as get him clean clothes. Jerking on his pants, Evan hopped around to see the clock on the nightstand between the beds. “What time do we ride?” Maybe Aaron would be in the stands? Evan sighed, yeah, he definitely needed to do something to distract himself.

  “Seven-thirty in the morning.” Mark stretched his hands over his head and yawned.

  “You got quarters?” He really wanted to go look for Aaron, but he knew it was pretty pointless. “We need to go check on the horses, then do laundry.”

  “Shit. Aren’t you going to feed me first?”

  Evan growled at him again and grabbed himself a t-shirt. “After we check on the horses.” He wondered if Aaron— “We’ll grab something on the way to the laundry mat. Hey speaking of, is there one here on site?” He could brood over Aaron later.

  “I don’t know.” Mark picked up a pillow and tossed it in the air and caught it. “So what happened to your, uh, date?”

  “I don’t know.” Evan sat on the unmade bed and put on his socks and boots. “We were supposed to talk.”

  Mark laughed. “Uh huh. Didn’t do much talking, huh?” He missed the pillow this time and it hit him in the face.

  Evan debated picking it up and smothering him with it, but decided it really wasn’t Mark’s fault he was in a mood. He should have known Aaron was likely to disappear again. Why was the man always…Oh God. Was he already with someone? Evan hadn’t even considered that before. Ugh. He got a queasy feeling. Why hadn’t he thought of that before? Why else would the man be so secretive?
r />   “What? No matter how hard you stare at your other boot, it’s not going to put itself on your foot.” Mark rustled around for a second, then he was sitting on the edge of the bed across from Evan, waving his hand in front of Evan’s face. “Hey buddy? You okay? You look like you’ve seen a ghost?”

  “Yeah. I was just thinking.” Evan shook his head, trying to clear it. This wasn’t a big deal, it wasn’t. He barely knew Aaron. It was better he realized something was up now than, say a week down the road, or even tomorrow for that matter. “I was just thinking. What if he’s married or something?”

  Mark frowned. “It was a one-night stand, right? Does it matter?”

  “Okay, let’s go.” Evan put his other boot on, smoothed his pant leg down and stood up.

  “Evan?” Mark didn’t move. Damn it.

  Figured. Evan didn’t want to listen to the whole “stalking” speech again. Mark didn’t normally meddle in Evan’s love life, but if he thought someone was bad for Evan, he didn’t hold his tongue. Evan sighed. Mark was his best friend, and Evan didn’t mince words either when he thought Mark was making a mistake. “You remember the guy from the bar?”

  “The guy who took you to the hospital?”

  Evan nodded, then set about gathering his clothes to take to the laundry mat.

  “Have you lost your mind? I told you there was something up with that guy from the beginning. Otherwise, why on earth would he keep running off? He could be a—”

  Shaking his head, Evan groaned. “Stalker? Do you know how silly that sounds? If he were a stalker, he wouldn’t be disappearing.”

  Mark sighed and got up from the bed. “Fine. But it’s still suspicious. Maybe you’re right, maybe he is in a relationship.” He, too, began gathering his clothes. “Wait.” Mark stood up from digging through his duffle bag. “Do you want to get to know this guy better?”

  Evan shrugged, trying to convince both he and Mark that it didn’t matter. He wasn’t upset, really, just a little disappointed. He should have asked questions first. It was his own fault. “Yeah, kinda. It’s weird, it’s like we know each other. There’s this strange comfort level.”

  “Strange comfort level?” Mark gathered up his bag and went to stand by the door.

  “Yeah, strange ‘cause it’s not. I mean, we just seem to click really well.” Evan zipped his own bag. “We moving on after we ride tonight?”

  “Yeah.” Mark opened the door, holding it for Evan. “I don’t know what to tell you. If you really like the guy…try talking to him first next time.”

  Evan heaved the strap of his bag onto his shoulder and headed out the door. “Thanks, smart ass.” Like he hadn’t already realized that was what he needed to do.

  Evan was pretty pleased with their time. They were in fifth place going into the finals, not bad at all considering the concussion and Evan having to switch horses mid-season. But no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t get his mind off Aaron. “I think he has someone else, Gus. Why else would he disappear all the damned time? I tell you, that man would put Houdini to shame.”

  Gus snorted. That seemed to be his response to everything nowadays. Especially Evan’s love life. Actually, come to think of it, that was pretty much Evan’s opinion of his love life, too.

  “That was a-awesome man. Y’all done good.”

  The stables were pretty much empty this time of night, but Evan recognized the voice. Smiling, he glanced up from unsaddling Gus as Tracy stepped into the stall, grinning from ear to ear. “Thanks.”

  “You meeting up with Mark and Doreen at the bar?” Tracy leaned against the stall. He wore blue jeans, boots and a tight black t-shirt with a tan hat. He didn’t appear to be riding tonight.

  Gus stuck his neck out, trying to bite again.

  Tracy jumped back.

  Evan groaned and smacked Gus on the shoulder. “Yeah, headed there after I finish up here. Mark conned me into brushing down Miz Dotty—” he pointed to the next stall over, where Mark’s mare was housed, “and Gus by myself.” That wasn’t entirely true, Evan preferred to spend time with the horses. He’d actually volunteered. “When do you ride?” Evan worked the cinch free, then the girth. He tossed both straps over top of the saddle and pulled it off Gus.

  Tracy spit right outside the stall then reached forward, grabbing the saddle blanket as it canted sideways. “Tomorrow night. Y’all gonna be around or are you headed on to the next stop?”

  After Evan threw the saddle over the stall wall, he took the saddle pad from Tracy. “Thank you. We were planning on heading out tonight. You needing a ride to the next stop?”

  “Nah, I’m good. I was just w-wondering.” Tracy glanced at his watch. “Listen, I gotta go. I promised to meet some people at the Lone Star Bar before I catch up with Doreen, Mark and Gayla at the Wagon Wheel. I just wanted to drop by and tell you congrats.” He slapped Evan on the shoulder. “I’ll see you l-later on, okay? I’ll buy you a drink.”

  Evan squeezed Tracy’s shoulder. “Good deal, I’ll take you up on that drink. And thanks again.”

  Tracy left and Evan stepped up in front of Gus, unbuckling his bridle. “He’s a nice guy, Gus. Stop trying to bite him.”

  Gus shook his head. Ornery horse.

  “Yes, he is.” He patted his horse’s neck before grabbing the halter off the peg on the wall. After fastening the halter, he grabbed Gus’s brush out of his bag. Running the bristles over the sleek black coat, Evan hummed.

  Gus closed his eyes and let out a heavy breath. It was one of the things Evan loved about Gus. He never seemed to mind Evan’s off-key humming and singing. Buck had always started getting fussy when Evan decided to belt out a tune. Actually Buck wasn’t the only one; when Evan was a kid he’d had a dog, Joe, that howled every time he tried to sing. Going Christmas caroling with Joe had seriously sucked.

  Gus snorted and pawed at the ground.

  “What the—?” Evan jumped back to keep his feet from getting stepped on. “Easy bo—”

  “I thought we told you we don’t want faggots around.”

  Evan snapped his attention toward the door.

  Benson, Craig and Lahr stood crowded around the stall door.

  Evan’s stomach clenched up and his shoulder muscles tightened. Out of instinct, he glanced around seeing if anyone else was in the building. There wasn’t that he could see. Great.

  “Why are you still around? Didn’t you learn your lesson last time?” Craig asked.

  Evan sighed. Nothing he could say was going to keep him from getting his ass kicked. No way in hell was he promising to “be good” and leave. “Just do whatever the fuck you think it is you gotta do. I’m not going anywhere.”

  Benson stepped closer to Gus.

  Gus shook his head, blowing out and getting spit on him. Benson scowled.

  If Evan hadn’t been so nervous he’d have laughed, hell maybe he did, he didn’t know. His gaze focused on the revolver Benson pulled out of his jacket and leveled on Gus.

  Chapter Eight

  Un-fucking-believable. Evan huddled further into the corner of the horse trailer. He was scared shitless, cold and getting a headache from trying to figure out how to get himself and Gus out of this in one piece. He looked up at Gus. “Any ideas, boy?”

  Gus continued studying their scenery outside the two tiny windows on each side of him. Great, he was enjoying the ride and Evan was having a nervous breakdown.

  Evan laughed, or tried to; it came out as a croak. He really was having a nervous breakdown. Of course Gus was acting normal, he had no idea how grave things were. Before now Evan would have said the likelihood of more trouble from these three assholes was slim. They were bigots, not crazy. Surely they had to know if something happened to Evan, they were going to be the first suspects. Didn’t they? Evan may not have pressed charges on them for assault and battery, but everyone knew who’d beat Evan up, and why. And what the fuck? Where they that stupid? Before now Evan wouldn’t have thought so. Assault and battery was one thing, but murder… D
id they really have it in them?

  The truck came to a stop.

  Shit. What now? Evan jumped up and ran to try the door again, if he could get it open… It was locked. Hell, he’d known it was, because he’d tried it after they first made him load Gus and shoved him in afterward, but he had to try. It wasn’t in his nature to give up.

  A truck door opened and voices followed.

  Lahr, it sounded like, asked what they were going to do now.

  Someone—Dodger Craig, Evan thought—whined that horse theft was still a hanging offense in Texas.

  If Evan hadn’t been sick with worry, wondering if they had a plan, he’d have laughed. Maybe they were that stupid. They obviously hadn’t planned this out. Which could be a good thing, or a bad thing. If they suddenly came to their senses, things were looking up. Assuming they didn’t panic. If they panicked then all bets were off. They could just as easily act first and think later.

  Evan patted Gus’s rump. At this point he could only think of three options. Unfortunately, the trailer wasn’t big enough for him to turn Gus around and haul ass when they opened the door. That left him with trying to reason with a group of obviously unreasonable men, or fighting like hell. Maybe he could even get a hold of the gun and turn the favor in his direction.

  The men continued to talk, Benson telling the other two to shut up as they walked around the trailer. Evan couldn’t see them, but he could hear their voices moving. When the clank of the lock echoed through the trailer, Evan made his decision. He really had no choice but to fight. With any luck he could take them by surprise as soon as they opened the door. A small voice in his head said that might not be a great plan, they could shoot first and ask questions later, but Evan ignored it. If he was going to get shot, he was going to do so trying to defend himself and Gus.

  A small shiver ran down his spine and he was so close to heaving. Could he really do this? And what was taking them so long? They seemed to be taking forever getting the lock off the trailer. Come on, Evan, this is it. He crouched down a little, preparing to run at the door. His limbs felt shaky, like he was about to crawl out of his skin.