by Three Men
“James…Troy…please…” Chris writhed on the bed, pulling his wrists against his bonds and moaning. James hadn’t tied the rope firmly enough to hurt him, and he knew that Troy hadn’t, either. He knew the bindings would keep the boy from going anywhere without his or Troy’s say-so, though.
He leaned one knee on the bed and cupped Chris’ face. The boy nuzzled closer to James’ palm, making James’ heart throb uncontrollably. He felt like he and Troy held Chris’ life in their hands, and in a way, they did. For if they betrayed the precious trust that he had so willingly relinquished to them, James knew the boy’s soul would surely die.
James released his cock, leaving both hands to roam. He slid them up Troy’s back, savoring the smooth, warm skin, the way the muscles rippled beneath his fingertips before he grasped Troy’s shoulders. He brought his nose close, inhaling deep and taking in Troy’s scent. The spicy musk made his cock swell and twitch with hankering.
“Do you know how beautiful you are in any form?”
“Not as beautiful as you.” Troy turned in James’ grasp and wrapped his arms around James. He pressed his hands against James’ back and drew him closer, angling his head to fit his mouth to James’ for maximum effect.
James opened his mouth on a low moan, tangling his tongue with Troy’s for several endless moments, almost forgetting there remained a third person in the room before he heard Chris’ soft voice call out to them again.
“Please…don’t leave me alone.”
James broke away from Troy to go to Chris, cupping his face again. “Never. We’ll never leave you alone.”
Troy joined them from the opposite side before climbing on to straddle Chris’ hips.
He looked over at James and planted his hands on either side of Chris. “I’m here. Right here, kid.”
Troy lifted Chris’ legs and hooked the boy’s knees over his arms. Chris raised his hips, opening himself as much as he could to make for the perfect approach. James watched them for a moment, enjoying the erotic view of the two men he cared about the most in the world joining. He retrieved the bottle of olive oil, squeezed some into his palm, and smeared it around his own cock before getting on the bed behind Troy. He curved his arms around the other man and grasped Troy’s throbbing cock before massaging the oil on to Troy’s penis. He fairly saturated it and his own member to ensure the most painless penetrations possible.
Chris wriggled beneath them, making his impatience evident.
James gave him a loving swat on the behind and laughed at Chris’ yelp. “Hold your horses, young’un. We’re going to put you out of your misery directly.”
Troy glanced at James over his shoulder, and James nodded to give him the okay to start.
As Troy pushed through the first ring of muscles of Chris’ rectum, James did the same to Troy’s. He eased his swollen head inside Troy, circling his hips as he pushed forward and tuned his breathing to Troy’s deep breaths.
Chris moaned and moved beneath them, pulling against his bounds so hard until James thought he’d break free. “More, Troy. You’re not hurting me.”
James watched the boy’s toes curl when Troy pushed farther, the sight and Chris’ words giving him permission to thrust forward himself.
In synch, he and Troy each plunged ahead, and James swore he felt Chris’ inner walls swallow and tighten around his cock as well as Troy’s. The feeling of penetrating Troy as he penetrated Chris proved indescribable.
He curved his fingers around Troy’s waist as far as they would go, bracing himself and Troy as he found Troy’s rhythm and matched it.
For several long minutes, they each pounded away, Chris panting beneath them and coaxing them with his soft whimpers and groans. The friction built to such an unbearable level that James thought they would all go up in flames any minute.
“Oh, God…yes!”
Troy must have hit that secret spot inside Chris. The sound of the boy’s climax prompted James, and he took his cue. He picked up the pace and drove into Troy until he hit the wolf’s secret spot, too.
Troy came with a hoarse shout, collapsing onto Chris and briefly folding the boy’s body beneath him before he pulled himself up to balance his weight on his palms. He pushed his ass back into James’ pelvis as if for good measure. The movement spurred James over the edge with a growl that echoed through the room as he finally released inside Troy on a mammoth tremor.
James came back to himself several moments later to the heavy scent of sex in the air. He kissed his way down and across Troy’s shoulders and back as he slid his cock out of Troy’s rectum. Almost simultaneously, Troy slid out of Chris and released the boy so that Chris could lower his legs.
James watched as Troy kissed his way down the boy’s chest until he reached the ejaculate that Chris had released during his climax. Troy licked up as much of it as he could, the sight almost bringing James to his knees with want and making him ready for round three as soon as possible until he realized he didn’t have to rush and squeeze everything in all at once.
Chris and Troy weren’t going anywhere, not if James had anything to say about it.
Chapter 12
Keeping a distance proved powerful hard, but it had to be done if the plan would be seen to fruition—had to be seen to fruition.
A body remained frustrated and tired with the inaction, the just watching, but didn’t want to move forward too fast and muck up things when a body had come this far laying low and being patient. Patience was a virtue, after all, and a body was, above all, virtuous. Why else go through all the difficulty other than sweet justice and revenge? Those remained good reasons, too.
The marshal wouldn’t know what hit him until the very last minute, and by then, it would be too late for him or anyone else to do anything about it.
A body grinned in the darkness, gaze pinned to the shadowy outline of the quaint farmhouse where the three fornicators no doubt engaged in unmentionable deviant behavior.
That would come to an end…soon, very soon.
* * * *
Troy lay on his side, chin resting in his palm as he watched James and Chris sleeping in the early dawn and beneath the glow of the kerosene lamp he had lit moments before.
He examined the relaxed, smooth planes of Chris’ face, reminded of what he must have looked like when his Ma and Pa still lived—young and naïve to the ways of the world.
The kid looked so comfortable snuggled up next to James’ side, blindfold still in place though his hands had been freed hours ago and he could have slid it off any time he wanted.
James’ wants, however, remained overriding, and the kid obediently had left it in place.
He seemed content enough in James’ embrace, the larger man’s thigh thrown over the kid’s hip in a way that plainly stated Chris belonged to James—body and soul.
And what about you?
He wondered how Chris felt about what had happened between them all last night. Because he had to admit that he remained powerful confused by his reactions to James’ treatment—confused and excited by what James had done to him and what he had done to Chris.
He closed his eyes as a wave of lust washed over him at the remembered feel of James’ cock inside of him, how he had willingly submitted to the other man’s desires simply because they had been his desires, too.
Despite this, Troy had been admittedly nervous when it came to following James’ command to tie Chris’ wrist. He’d been afraid of hurting the kid, not necessarily physically, but emotionally. He knew the kid had been through some sort of difficulty that involved a man or two overpowering him physically, taking advantage of his size, his youth, his being alone. He’d plainly been jumped, beaten, and no telling what else when he’d appeared in Barrow’s that first night.
Chris wouldn’t talk about what happened to him before he’d met Troy and James. This, the bruises on his ribs, and the fading rope burns circling his wrists made Troy’s imagination all the more overactive.
He shuddered at the though
t of Chris falling victim to a bunch of trigger-happy outlaws like Jack and Cain’s gangs, all too eager to show a babe in the woods like Chris the ropes and finer points of being a violent desperado, all too eager to teach a kid like Chris a lesson or two for his aberrant hankerings.
Troy didn’t think violence or being a desperado made up Chris’ nature. True, circumstances could lead a body down those roads, like the murder of a parent. Troy ought to know. He just didn’t think Chris had that sort of aggression or cruelty in him. The kid remained too soft-hearted and pure despite everything he’d been through, miraculously untouched in his obvious quest for affection and closeness.
He didn’t think this would be the case if he stayed around the likes of him for too long. Somewhere along the line, his past would eventually catch up with him and therefore Chris.
Troy didn’t want to see what had happened to his father happen to Chris or James. He didn’t want to have the death of another innocent on his conscience.
“He’s beautiful, ain’t he?”
Rather than show his surprise that James had been awake for God knew how long, Troy said, “You took the words right out of my mouth.”
James moved the arm that wasn’t cradling Chris’ head to brush stray blond strands away from the kid’s face. The usually hard edges of his face looked placid in the dim light, his expression full of tenderness. He didn’t take his eyes off of Chris’ face when he said, “You’re worried about him, worried about what we did last night.”
Troy didn’t answer, unsure how to, especially since James hadn’t really asked a question. James, however, didn’t let him get away with not owning up to his feelings.
“I’m worried about you,” he murmured
Troy arched a brow. “Me?”
James grinned and reached over Chris’ body with the same hand he had used to touch the kid’s hair and cupped Troy’s face. “The tough act doesn’t fool me. You’re just as vulnerable as our little manchild here, if not more so.”
“How do you figure?”
James answered Troy’s question with one of his own. “What was your turning point?”
“My turning point?”
“When was the first time you killed a man?”
Troy inhaled so sharply the hiss echoed in his ears.
James filled in the ensuing gap of quiet. “I see the shadows lurking behind your eyes. I recognize them as a man who’s taken more than his share of lives.”
“At least you did it in the name of the law.”
“Still doesn’t help the guilt or stop the demons from visiting when a body’s alone during those quiet times of a day.”
Troy turned his face into James’ palm and kissed it before James curved his hand around to Troy’s nape and drew him forward.
Troy pressed his forehead against James’. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes. “Thirteen. Two Indians came to our farmhouse in the middle of the night. Set it on fire. When Pa took me outside to get away, they…they killed him.” The last word came out on a sob, but Troy didn’t know hot tears streamed down his face, too, until James leaned in and kissed them away.
“The wolf came out.”
Troy nodded, too choked up to speak.
“They killed your father.”
“I…I could have…I could have…” Troy had a flash of that night, the terror and sense of loss that had filled him as he’d blindly run into the forest.
“You defended yourself,” James said it as if reading his mind, as if he’d been there. “Every man has a right to defend himself against bodily harm, against the threat of death.”
If that proved all there had been to that night, maybe Troy wouldn’t be having such a hard time dealing with what had happened. He could have kept running, though. He probably would have escaped. And, even if he hadn’t, he’d still had the option to try. However, he’d brought the wolf out on purpose. He’d made the choice to stop and turned back with rage and revenge in his heart. He’d wanted to kill those Indians. He’d wanted to see them suffer for hurting his father.
“What happened to your mother?”
“She’d died a year before. Consumption.”
James’ grip on Troy’s neck tightened ever so slightly. “I’m sorry.”
“It was a long time ago.”
“Still doesn’t make it hurt any less.”
Questions of his own rested on Troy’s tongue, questions about James’ past, questions about his demons. He opened his mouth to ask about them right before Chris shifted between them, stretching his arms up and yawning.
“What’s going on?”
Troy grinned and ran his hand down the kid’s smooth chest then farther down his lean torso until he finally reached Chris’ rising cock.
“What do you want to be going on?” He cupped the kid’s testicles, lightly squeezed, and listened as Chris gasped.
“Boy don’t like to miss out on nothing,” James quipped.
“Have you two started something without me, then?”
“Smart aleck.” James grinned and leaned in to kiss Chris’ mouth, slipping his tongue past the kid’s lips and into his mouth for a taste.
Chris moved beneath him, returning the kiss as Troy gently pumped his shaft until a pearl of liquid glistened from the tip.
Troy moved down the bed and bent his head for a taste himself. While James and Chris kissed, Troy sucked the kid’s cock into his mouth. He sucked it deep, matching his mouth’s rhythm with his hand, stroking the base of Chris’ cock between index finger and thumb.
After several moments of this, Chris’ shaft began to throb in Troy’s mouth, signaling his approaching climax. Troy gave the kid’s balls one last tweak while sucking his shaft deep inside his mouth. Chris trembled and released in Troy’s mouth on a rough grunt that James smothered with his eating kisses.
When James finally pulled away and let the kid up for air, Chris murmured, “Can I take off the blindfold, please?”
James glanced at Troy, and Troy glanced back.
He had moved back up to the head of the bed and had one hand buried in Chris’ soft locks, massaging the kid’s scalp. With his other hand, Troy caressed Chris’ chest, circling the hard, swollen nipples with a finger.
“What do you think, wolf? Should we put him out of his misery?”
Troy grinned, liked the way James had taken to calling him wolf, using the word as both a nickname and a term of endearment. He nodded, reached for the blindfold, and paused at the intense look in James’ eyes before he slid the blindfold down the kid’s face to hang down around his neck like a kerchief.
Chris’ gaze bounced between them several times before finally landing on Troy. He reached up a hand to cup Troy’s face, and Troy shuddered at that penetrating knowing expression in Chris’ eyes. The expression proved unexpected from the likes of someone so young and innocent.
“I think it’s time you both stopped looking at me as a helpless little kid.” Chris moved his glance from Troy to encompass James. “I’m not either.”
“Been awake a while, then?” James asked.
“Long enough.” Chris turned back to Troy. “I’m sorry about your parents.”
Troy didn’t say anything, just stared, heart filling with all the concern that Chris and James showed him. He hadn’t had anyone who cared about him so much except maybe Josie and Josiah. Jack hadn’t ever cared about him as a person, not really. He’d just been eager to groom a young’un in his image—that of a cold-blooded killer and thief. It proved an image Troy couldn’t live with, not for very long.
And now Jack’s brother, Cain, had him in his sights because of Troy’s defection.
How long would it take before he added James and Chris to his sights too because they were close to Troy?
Troy put his hand over Chris’ and closed his eyes, just reveling in the feel of the kid’s warmth and affection.
“When we go back to town, I want you to stay here with Lucy and Caesar,” James said in his commanding voice.
> Troy opened his eyes to see Chris’ expected reaction, the kid glaring at James.
“I want to go with you. Why do I have to stay behind?”
“Because I say so.”
“It’s safer that way,” Troy put in, his tone as conciliatory as James’ was not, but Chris didn’t buy it anyhow.
“I’m not a kid you can boss around, and if Troy can go back with you, so can I.”
“Troy’s different.”
“Why? Because he’s a wolf and can take care of himself?”
“That’s part of it. A bigger part is that he has a complete life there.”
“You two can stop talking about me like I’m not sitting right here.”
“Like you two were talking about me a little while ago, I reckon?” Chris jumped up from the bed to stand and began pacing the length of the bedroom. He shot visual daggers at both James and Troy as he paced.
The situation seemed so ridiculous the way they all insisted on protecting each other from their enemies that Troy fought laughing. Nonetheless, he agreed with James. He wanted Chris to stay here, away from the prying eyes of everyone in Wolf Creek and beyond. He wanted Chris to be safe the same way James did.
He knew he and James could take care of themselves.
“I know about the outlaw gang that’s after you. I’ve heard the talk in town,” Chris said.
“More reason for you to keep your distance,” Troy said.
“What about James?”
“I’m a lawman.”
“You’re not indestructible.”
Troy watched the two men staring each other down. He admired the way the kid stood up to James though they all knew in the end he had no chance of winning this argument—not with two against one since Troy just happened to agree with James on the issue.
Surprisingly, James conceded first. He stood, took a deep breath, and pulled the kid’s stiff form into his body, holding him in a gentle but firm hug.
“I just want you safe, Chris.”
“I know.”
James pulled back to look at Chris, the love he felt for the boy plainly shining out of his brandy eyes. “So you’ll stay here, then?”
