The Broken H

by J. L. Langley

  Shane poured a little of his own water onto Gray’s belly.

  “Ahh! Damn, that’s cold!” Gray sat up and snatched the bottle from Shane, trying to douse him with it.

  Shane grabbed his wrist just as Gray tipped the container. “You little shit!”

  Gray smiled. “You started it.” He relaxed his hold, then instantly shoved the bottle, upending it and soaking them both.

  Shane sucked in a breath. “Ugh!” It was so hot from moving furniture that the cold water was a shock to the system.

  Gray froze, his eyes wide, watching Shane, a smirk tugging at his lips.

  Shane looked to his right, trying not to be obvious that he was checking out the other water bottles. When he glanced back, Gray’s gaze was glued to the other bottles as well. Shane lunged for one as Gray practically dove over him, clutching his hand just as it wrapped around a bottle.

  McCabe roared with laughter and smartly jumped out of the way, rescuing two of the other bottles before they got emptied.

  Gray released his hand and scrambled for another bottle.

  Shane unscrewed the lid on the one in his hand and dumped the contents down Gray’s back.

  “Ah! Shit!” Gray returned the favor and poured water over Shane’s head.

  Shane sputtered for a few seconds, then burst into laughter himself. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d had so much fun. He and Gray used to do things like that all the time years ago when Gray was a kid. Shane had been in his early twenties at the time.

  Gray leaned against him, arms resting on Shane’s shoulders, his forehead against Shane’s, laughing with him. When they finally stopped cackling like a couple of hyenas, they found the rest of their friends were gathered around the porch drinking their own water -- with the exception of Ethan, who was stealing drinks from Jamie’s bottle.

  Gray rose, shaking off water. “I’m going to go get more bottles. I’ll get you one, too, Ethan.”

  Ethan shook his head, grabbed Jamie’s water again and took another swig. “Nah, I’m good.”

  John, who was standing next to Jamie and Ethan, walked over to the porch and took a seat beside McCabe. “Is it safe now?”

  Shane shrugged. “Depends.”

  John raise a brow, grinning from ear to ear. “On?”

  “On whether or not Grayson decides to behave when he comes back.” Shane looked over his shoulder just as Gray returned with two bottles.

  Gray held up his hands, chuckling. “I’m behaving! Who wants one?”

  Shane held out his hand. Gray raised a brow, tossed one to him and sat down on the other side of John.

  Shane laughed. “Chicken!”

  Gray put his thumbs under his arms, flapping them and making clucking noises. The others chuckled.

  Shane shook his head and took a drink. The back screen door of the big house slammed, drawing everyone’s attention. Kaitlyn was coming across the yard with a picnic basket and a tray that looked like it contained a pitcher of lemonade, some paper plates and cups. What a sweetheart she was.

  Shane headed across the yard to help her. About a yard from the gravel drive between his house and the main ranch house, something hit him from the side. “Oof!”

  It took him a few seconds to figure out Gray had tackled him. He was laughing before he hit the ground and so was Gray. Both of them went down in a tangle of arms and legs, rolling across the grass.

  Kaitlyn laughed, too, and continued to his porch.

  Gray finally got the upper hand by ending on top of Shane. He pinned Shane’s hands beside his head and sat up, smiling down at him. He was still chortling and winded. “Hey, chief.”

  “Hey, Grayson.”

  Gray finally caught most of his breath. He sat still for a few minutes, panting lightly, staring at Shane. “Thanks for letting me move in with you.”

  Shane felt good right down to his toes. He looked up into those happy green eyes and saw his future. He smiled. “Thanks for agreeing. It comes with a price though.”

  “Yeah?” One of Gray’s eyebrows lifted “What price is that?”

  “You can’t ever move out again. You’re stuck here, stuck with me.”

  Gray’s eyes went serious, his grin faded and he dipped down and kissed Shane’s lips. “That’s a price I’m more than willing to pay.” Gray got up and stretched out a hand.

  Shane took Gray’s help and stood facing him. “Good. I’m going to hold you to that.” Then before Gray could evade him, he lowered his shoulder, planted it in Gray’s stomach and lifted him into a fireman’s carry, then took off toward the stables. “But you’re still going in the water trough.”

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  Gray clicked the mute button on the TV remote and sighed. It just didn’t get any better than this. It seemed like he hadn’t been able to get Shane to sit still long enough lately to just relax together. The man had been constantly on the go since Gray had moved in. He was either in his office, on the phone or out working on the ranch. It was almost like he was up to something, but Gray couldn’t imagine what.

  Gray lay his head back on Shane’s shoulder. “This is nice.”

  Shane nuzzled his face against the side of Gray’s. “This, watching TV, or this, snuggling up on the couch together?”

  “All of this. Well, except for the fact that the commercials are so damn loud.”

  “Yes, they are. Tell me again why we’re watching Cops. Don’t you get tired of this at work?”

  “Nah, I don’t see this kind of action anymore. Our county is pretty small and there’s also the city police. I mostly rescue kittens and stuff.”

  Shane laughed. “Rescue kittens? Isn’t that the fireman’s job?”

  “Well, since we only have a volunteer fire department, nope. I get the rescue kitten calls.”

  “So, have you ever actually rescued a kitten from a tree?”

  “Nah. But I did help Mavis Barnes get his goat out of the mud last summer.”

  Shane shook his head, bumping Gray’s with his chin, a chuckle escaping. “I don’t want to know. I can just imagine you and your deputies helping crazy old Mavis pull his goats out of the mud.” Shane kissed his cheek and nuzzled against his neck. “Do you miss the action? Do you ever wish you were back in San Antone?”

  Did he? Gray was quiet for several seconds while he thought about it, then he shook his head. “No. Not really. I liked the action, yes, but this is more rewarding. Here I get to help people I know, people I grew up with. I don’t have to see the drug problems and gang crap like in the city. It’s like being a small town sheriff, you know? I have some of the jurisdictional crap, the occasional domestic disturbance and the paper work and junk, but for the most part it’s kind of like Andy Griffith’s Mayberry. I like that.”

  Shane grinned against his neck. “Only you are a whole hell of a lot better looking that old Andy.” He nipped Gray’s ear. “Actually, I can see that. The county is mostly rural: farms and ranches. I’m sure you being an ex-rodeo star kind of helps, too. People respond to that kind of success.”

  Yes, they did. His rodeo wins had gone a long way to pave his way with the population. Some of it could be that he was local and his family owned one of the bigger ranches in the area, but the bull riding more than anything made him a local hero even though he’d never gone pro.

  Gray turned his head. “You know what the one big bonus is about being here instead of San Antonio?”

  “What?”

  Gray rubbed Shane’s thighs, kneading them. “You.”

  Shane tightened his arms around Gray’s waist, pulling Gray’s back flush up against his chest. He crossed his legs over Gray’s thighs and leaned them both back on the couch again. “I’m no prize, Grayson, but I’m glad you think so.” He nibbled on the back of Gray’s neck.

  Gray shifting his body slightly, studying Shane. “You are a prize to me, chief..”

  Shane brushed a hand through Gray’s hair and kissed the side of his forehead. His eyes held Gray’s for several quiet seco
nds, the look in them saying nothing and everything at the same time. Then Shane bit down on his neck.

  “God!” Gray shivered. He couldn’t decide if he loved the sensation of goose bumps or hated it. Then Shane’s hand dropped from his waist to cup his cock.

  “Geez, chief.”

  Shane licked a long line up Gray’s neck. He tilted Gray’s chin and angled his face, then sealed their lips together.

  Somehow or another Gray ended up lying on the couch with Shane on top of him. His lover continued to kiss his throat, moving down his chest as he divested Gray of his clothing. Shane didn’t stop kissing and nibbling, worshiping Gray with his mouth, moaning as he slid down Gray’s body. Once Shane had him bare from the waist up, he sat up and pulled his own shirt off. The muscles in his sleek chest flexed, making Gray’s fingers itch to touch him. Gray reached for him, but Shane grabbed his hand and pulled it to his lips, kissing the back of it.

  “No.” He held Gray’s gaze for a moment, then let go of his hand. He unbuttoned Gray’s jeans and pulled them and his underwear off.

  Gray’s cock bobbed free, capturing Shane’s undivided attention. “So, beautiful, Grayson.” He settled between his legs. Shane stroked his prick a few times, then brought out his tongue, twirling it around and around Gray’s navel.

  Gray’s stomach clenched tight. He reached for Gray’s braid and started undoing it.

  Shane handed his glasses to him, then went back to kissing and licking Gray’s stomach.

  “Have I mentioned how much I love these glasses?”

  Shane smiled against his stomach. “No.” He made it sound definite, leaving no room for doubt that he was answering a question Gray had yet to ask, rather than the one he’d just spoken.

  Gray sighed and reached over his head, putting the glasses on the end table against the arm of the couch. “You’re so mean to me.”

  Shane chuckled and nipped his hipbone. “I think you’ll live.” Clasping Gray’s cock, he guided it to his mouth and took the head in, sucking lightly.

  Okay, maybe Shane wasn’t so mean after all. “Yeah, I think I’m going to make it.”

  Shane chuckled. “I thought so.” He licked all the way down Gray’s shaft to his balls before moving lower and settling his shoulders between Gray’s thighs, spreading them wider. His tongue circled Gray’s hole and pushed against it.

  Gray’s sucked in a deep breath. “Jesus, Shane!” His eyes closed on a moan, feeling boneless. The rimming was arousing, but it was also relaxing. He sighed and stretched out, getting more comfortable. He was in no hurry for Shane to stop.

  “Mmm ...” Shane’s tongue continued to flick over his anus, circling and pushing. One of Shane’s hand came up to tug on his balls; the other pushed his leg up and over, opening Gray wider. Shane was moaning softly against him with every lick. Abruptly, he sat up.

  Gray’s eyes shot open.

  Shane rose and shucked his own pants, then he grabbed Gray’s hand and started yanked. “Come on.”

  Gray groaned, but he stood up and followed his lover into their bedroom.

  “We don’t have lube in there.” Shane pushed the bedroom door open.

  “Note to self: stash lube in the living room.”

  Shane stopped when he reached the bed and turned toward Gray, sliding up against him. Their hard pricks nestled against each other. Shane’s warm arms whipped around Gray’s back. “Fine, but you explain it to your mother when she comes over to visit and finds it.”

  Gray shuddered. “That’s just wrong, Shane. You can’t mention my mother when I’m naked and hard and ... yuck! That’s just gross.”

  Shane pulled his bottom lip into his mouth, sucking on it. He grabbed Gray’s ass in both his hands and rubbed their cocks together. “Doesn’t feel like it’s affected you any.” He licked Gray’s nipples. Hmm ... Shane was awfully oral tonight. Not that Gray was complaining, of course.

  He dropped his forehead onto Shane’s shoulder and played with the long black hair there, rubbing it on his face. He loved the way Shane’s mane always smelled like sunshine and vanilla. Threading his finger on each side of Shane’s face, he pulled Shane’s lips to his, kissed him, then finally pulled back and examined the deep brown eyes that gazed back at him. “Love you, chief.”

  Shane stared at him for several seconds. Were his eyes tearing? He groaned and turned Gray until the backs of his legs were against the bed. “Lie down, love.”

  Gray eased back onto the bed and reached for Shane. He put his hands around Shane’s lean hips and started pulling him forward, trying to get that gorgeous prick into his mouth, when Shane moved back.

  “No. Not tonight.” Shane walked around the bed to the nightstand, opened the drawer and pulled out the lube, setting it on the bed. Crawling up next to Gray. He straddled Gray’s hips and leaned down to steal a kiss. His silky hair floated around him, brushing Gray’s sides, his chest. Shane wrapped a length of hair around Gray’s dick, pulling up, letting the dark strands rub against his shaft.

  “Oh!” Gray bucked up into his hand. “Chief! Damn!”

  Shane stroked him until Gray was writhing, pleading to come, then he abruptly stopped. He grabbed the lube and slicked his fingers up. Instead of putting them inside Gray, however, he leaned forward and slicked up his own anus.

  Gray gasped. “What are you doing?” He was mesmerized. It was like a dream to have Shane leaning over him, lips a kiss away, his hair covering them both in a dark curtain. He’d never thought to top Shane. He didn’t mind topping, but he preferred to bottom.

  Shane’s eyes closed in apparent bliss. “What does it look like I’m doing?”

  “Why?” He would have never thought Shane would like being fucked. The man was so, so ... Chief just wasn’t the type to make himself vulnerable to others. And he would definitely see being topped as vulnerable. Gray blinked away the moisture in his eyes..

  Those brown eyes blinked open, blurring before his own.

  “I want you inside me.”

  “Why?”

  Shane’s lip twitched, then he grinned. “You sound like a broken record.”

  “Have you ever --”

  Shane nodded. “Shh ... Don’t you ever get tired of analyzing the hell out of everything?” He reached forward and grabbed the lube again, squirting more onto his fingers. The whole time he got himself ready he stared into Gray’s eyes.

  Gray watched, his stomach in his throat. He couldn’t decide whether to be nervous or excited; he was experiencing both. He had the feeling that Shane had never done this before. He knew Shane loved him, but the fact that he’d open himself to Gray and no one else was pretty heady stuff.

  Shane’s slick hand wrapped around Gray’s prick and tugged twice, then he positioned the cock head against his anus. He pressed down and took him in, a little at a time. His expression was focused, intense.

  Gray reached up and stroked his face. “Relax.”

  Shane took a deep breath and nodded -- then slid all the way down until his butt was resting against Gray’s hips. His dark lashes fanned against his cheek as his body loosened up and accepted Gray.

  “Shane.” The sensation of heat and the way Shane’s passage gripped him was indescribably wonderful. Gray grabbed a handful of hair and drew him forward. He held Shane tightly against him and kissed him fiercely, until they were both out of breath. He didn’t want to let go, ever, and that was just fine because Shane didn’t seem in any hurry to be let go either.

  “You know what you mean to me, yeah?” Shane’s mouth curved tenderly.

  Gray nodded; he didn’t trust his voice not to crack.

  “Don’t ever forget it. No matter what, okay?”

  Again, Gray nodded.

  Shane sat up and began to move, slowly at first, then faster, and faster still.

  Gray was so incoherent with bliss, he was babbling. He squeezed his eyes shut, fisting the sheets in his hands. It was taking all his concentration to keep still. He wanted so badly to thrust, but he didn’t dare. He
would swear that Shane had never done this before, and he’d be damned if he hurt his chief. He shook with the effort to remain motionless.

  Shane untangled Gray’s hand from the covers as he continued to ride Gray’s cock. He placed it on his prick. “Touch me, Grayson.”

  Gray’s balls drew tighter at the demand, and his stomach clenched. He stroked Shane’s cock and tried not to orgasm, but it was useless. He shook his head, still working his lover’s penis. “I ... you ... come!”

  “That’s it, love!” Shane stiffened above him, his dick pulsing in Gray’s hand. Hot semen splashed against Gray’s belly even as he spurted deep inside Shane’s body.

  After what seemed like an eternity, but was probably more like a few seconds, Shane collapsed on top of him, smearing the warm spunk on his stomach.

  Gray gasped hoarsely, arms circling to Shane’s back. Within minutes, Shane’s soft breathing tickled his ear and he began to snore quietly. Gray lay there, surrounded by the mass of thick, dark hair and the welcome weight of his lover, in no hurry to move.

  He didn’t like the fact that Shane had been working so hard lately and that they hadn’t seen much of each, but if this was how Shane made up for it ... Nah, not even this was worth Shane exhausting himself. He brushed the mass of beautiful hair back and kissed the tanned forehead. “Night, chief.”

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  “Come on, boss!” Deputy Jameson jogged onto the sidewalk, grinning over his shoulder at Gray.

  “Darren, where are we going?” Gray sighed. He still wasn’t sure how Darren had convinced him to get coffee after work. It probably had to do with the way the kid refusing to take no for an answer. All Gray really wanted to do was go home to Shane, maybe watch some TV, then crash. He was exhausted. So exhausted, in fact, that he hadn’t even realized Darren had actually entered the door next to the coffee shop instead of the cafe itself, until a bunch of voices yelled, “Surprise!”

  Gray stepped back in shock. What in the --? There were red, white and blue streamers everywhere, and posters proclaiming “Hunter for Sheriff.” It almost seemed like everyone he knew was there. His deputies, his parents, his friends, several community leaders. Gray looked around. Where was ...