“He can’t fulfill you,” he said softly. “Not those dirty needs that keep you restless even after he’s fucked you.”
“Shut up,” she said, tears filling her eyes.
Justin pulled apart the snaps of his shirt, letting it fall open to expose the dark fur of his broad, muscular chest. Then he unsnapped the top button of his pants. “Last warning…”
She stood rooted, unable to move as he scraped his zipper down.
“Rowe, take out my dick,” he said, never looking away from her. “Now.”
“Fuck.” Rowe’s tone was agonized, but his cock bobbed eagerly between his legs. “Dani, get out.”
But she couldn’t. Part of her died a little in that moment. But another part, one only Justin had ever touched, caught fire.
“Rowe, don’t disappoint me,” Justin said, his gaze never leaving Dani’s.
Rowe’s naked feet dragged across the floor. His expression was taut, his cheeks a brighter red than they’d been moments ago.
Justin firmed his jaw. “Can’t turn back now. She knows. Let her see what it’s like. If she hates you afterward, she isn’t worth cryin’ over.”
Dani narrowed her eyes, knowing he expected her to bolt. She braced apart her feet and lifted her chin higher, even while she questioned whether she really could do this—watch the only two men she’d ever known intimately have sex.
Rowe didn’t glance her way, but his chest rose sharply. Then he slipped his hand inside Justin’s pants and slowly drew out his cock. His fingers clasped the shaft gingerly, but his thumb rubbed slowly over the smooth cap. Justin’s cock thickened.
“Push down my pants,” Justin said, his voice tighter than it had been before.
Both of Rowe’s hands slid over Justin’s narrow hips and shoved down the faded jeans.
Dani hated to admit it, even to herself, but watching Rowe do such an intimate thing to another man, knowing how the scrape of his rough palms felt on her own bottom, caused her sex to melt.
“Get on your knees and take me in your mouth,” Justin rasped.
Rowe groaned, and Dani understood the feeling. Shame and arousal roiled together. Her own body was hot, moisture seeping into the crotch of the lacy undies she’d worn just for Rowe.
Rowe knelt, his hand shaking as he gripped Justin’s cock and brought it to his mouth.
Justin cupped the back of Rowe’s head with one hand, his fingers threading through Rowe’s honey brown hair with surprising tenderness. For long moments, he stared as the other man’s lips closed around the tip of his cock and sucked.
Rowe’s cheeks hollowed, his eyes closed tightly, but his hesitation ended there. Surrendering, he groaned and opened wide his jaws, gliding along the thick, veined shaft.
“That’s it,” Justin said softly. “Take me deeper,” he said, stroking his hips forward, his cock disappearing into Rowe’s eager mouth. Then his gaze rose. For a moment, something almost haunted entered his expression. That wicked brow rose again. “He does it because he knows the rewards. But so do you, don’t you, sweetheart?”
Dani didn’t answer. She couldn’t have pushed a word through her tightening throat if a rattler had slithered over her boot. Watching both men, engaged in such a carnal act, caused unexpected emotions to rise inside her.
Sadness, because she’d never guessed Rowe wasn’t fully satisfied with her. Jealousy, because Rowe never made those hungry sounds when he went down on her. And shame, because she wished she were brave enough to approach them and sink to her knees beside Rowe.
How she wished Justin would command her to, take the choice away from her. The hard edge of his voice when he’d cut through Rowe’s objections had caused her own body to react with an instant, juicy response.
Justin braced his legs apart, and his face darkened as Rowe’s strokes, forward and back along his shaft, picked up the pace. The slippery suctioning sounds and choked excitement gurgling in Rowe’s throat caused Dani’s whole body to vibrate.
Forgotten for the moment by both men, she wet her lips with her tongue as she imagined how Justin might taste. Moisture flooded her channel as her inner muscles clenched hard.
When Justin flung back his long, black-brown hair, her breath hitched. Starkly masculine elation softened his expression for just a second before his head lowered and his hard gaze met hers, issuing a wordless challenge.
Only Dani wasn’t ready to accept. She lost her nerve, turned and fled through the door of the cabin, stumbling down the steps in her haste, before catching herself on the rail and bolting toward her horse.
Booted heels bit into the wood porch, but she didn’t look back. With the sun sliding below the horizon, she nudged her heels into her mare’s sides, kicking up dust behind her and leaving both men in her wake.
A zipper scraped behind Justin.
“I should follow her,” Rowe said, coming up behind him.
Justin leaned against the doorframe, holding his cock in his hand and stroking it absently. “She’s not heading toward her ranch.”
“She’s going to the creek. She goes there to think when she’s upset.”
“And she knows you know that. She expects you to follow her.”
Rowe nodded. “I always do. When she gets into a snit about something, she just needs a little time to vent.”
“This isn’t something little. I was rough on her.”
Rowe’s hand swept up Justin’s back and curled around his shoulder. “I wish she hadn’t found out this way. But I can’t say I’m not relieved.”
Wet lips brushed his skin, whiskers scraped deliciously, and Justin shivered. If he actually had planned it, things couldn’t have worked out any better. Rowe was upset, but not wallowing in shame. The clothed cock snuggling close to his backside told him that while Rowe’s feelings might be conflicted, he wasn’t about to end their relationship. Which only left Dani’s response as the missing side of the equation.
Justin turned and hooked a hand behind Rowe’s neck, pulling him forward.
Rowe’s mouth opened eagerly beneath his. Firm lips met firm lips, tongues tangled. Breath intermixed, and both men swayed closer, their cocks grinding.
Something this wickedly good couldn’t be wrong. And Justin never questioned where his instincts took him—not when it came to sex. “Give me some time alone with Dani. I’ll bring her around.”
“Should I be jealous?” Rowe said between suctioning sips against his mouth.
Justin snorted. “Sure you want me and not her?”
Rowe’s steady gaze locked with his. “Can’t I have both?”
Since Justin seconded that sentiment, he simply smiled. He stepped back and unspooled his belt from the waist of his sagging jeans.
Rowe’s expression grew rigid with excitement, but he drew an inward breath between his teeth. “I should follow her. Make sure she’s okay.”
“I said I’d handle her.” Justin wound the belt around his fist, leaving a foot-long strip of leather dangling. “You know what I want.”
Rowe hung his head, pretending shame and resignation, but the eagerness of his steps as he reentered the cabin betrayed his true feelings.
Justin glanced once over his shoulder, listening to the hoofbeats that faded in the distance. “Yeah, I’ll handle her,” he promised himself. He’d have everything he’d ever dreamed of if he didn’t let a little thing like the fact he was in love with Dani Standifer get in the way.
Chapter Two
Justin stared at the silent house, taking in the understated wealth it represented. The Standifers were old money in these parts. Old money—and spoiled and unappreciative of their advantages.
Eyeing the pristine white Victorian, he thought about the crummy apartment in town that he’d kept after his mother had died—the only thing he could afford with the odd jobs he’d worked until he’d landed the job as a wrangler at the Ayers ranch.
He’d have liked to go to school, just like Dani and Rowe. He’d had the grades. Could have ridden a football scholars
hip, but his sister had needed him to provide a roof over her head until she’d finished school. Now that she was attending a community college in San Angelo, he was free at last to pursue his own path.
Funny how he’d always thought he’d leave Two Mule in the rearview mirror of his pickup truck first chance he got, but things hadn’t worked out that way. When he’d hired on as a wrangler on Rowe’s family ranch after high school, he’d been happy for the employment. He’d discovered an affinity for working with horses and cattle, skills that had quickly gotten him noticed by Rowe’s father, who took him under his wing and groomed him to assume more responsibility. Over the years, he’d thrived on the attention, enjoying the respect he earned that didn’t have a thing to do with how well he tossed a football or how popular he was with women.
When he’d been asked to step in as foreman when the ranch foreman retired and moved to Florida with his daughter, the promotion had been a mixed blessing. He’d liked the authority, the trust invested in him, but he’d felt bound to stay, especially after Rowe’s father died. He’d managed everything, moved into the house, so that Rowe could finish his education. After he’d returned, Rowe asked him to stay, saying his house was too big and lonely without the company.
When Rowe had snagged his lustful attention after taking over the ranch, no one would have been more shocked than he was. Justin had never known he could be aroused by a man, had run through a string of girls in high school and an equally impressive list of women afterward, but other than his very brief fling with Dani, no woman had ever held his attention long.
Catching his boss skinny dipping in a newly dug cattle pond on a particularly hot summer day had opened his eyes to whole new world of sensual pleasure.
Not that Rowe had intended to attract him. He’d grinned when he’d been caught, then motioned for him to join. Just a couple of guys cooling down after a hot day’s work.
When Justin had stripped to his skin, his cock had betrayed him in an embarrassing way. He’d tried to make a joke of it, but Rowe’s expression as he’d tried not to stare at Justin’s cock had inspired that pesky little devil who sat securely on Justin’s shoulder—the whoring side of his nature that was ready to fuck at the slightest invitation. The side that never knew approval unless he saw it in the happiness of a lover’s face at orgasm.
Justin had ignored his dick, knowing all the while that Rowe couldn’t keep his eyes off him. Rowe had been careful, too careful, to keep the edge of the water at his waist.
But Justin had known, just as he always did whenever a girl was interested. The air heated around them, and his heart reacted predictably, slowing into a steady, expectant thrum. He’d accepted his attraction, accepted that something was going to happen that would change his world.
The two men had swum, talking about football, plans to move the herd, anything but the fact they were naked and enjoying the unexpected freedom. They’d sat afterward at water’s edge as the sun dried their hair and skin, talking about women. Doing their manly best to lay the blame for the thickness of their cocks on their increasingly raunchy conversation.
Justin had carefully turned the conversation toward kinkier topics, ending with the very acts he knew were foremost on Rowe’s forbidden pleasures list. Without ever betraying the fact he’d watched Rowe and Dani a time or two, he’d said, “Ever tie a woman up?”
Rowe’s pained smile and quick shake of the head didn’t fool him.
“Come on. Never wanted to know what it was like to be in total control?”
Rowe cleared his throat before saying, “Have you…done that to a woman?”
Justin grinned, letting his eyelids drift down. “There’s nothing sweeter than bringin’ a woman along slowly, tying her up and making her feel helpless and a little scared, then watching as she comes apart.”
Rowe stared down as his hand skimmed the top of the water. “How do you know they like it…that you’re doing it right? I mean, without asking them outright.”
“Orgasms are easy for women to fake, but arousal’s not. Their nipples and cunts swell. Honey coats your fingers every time you dip inside to test how far along they are…” Justin leaned back on his elbows, uncaring that his cock was bobbing against his belly. His cock ached for a set of warm, wet lips to engulf him, and he was damn close to not caring whether the lips belonged to a man or a woman.
Rowe looked away. “I’ve done it a time or two. Didn’t think to check. But she told me when she’d had enough.”
“You see, there’s your mistake. You don’t ask. A woman that far along, you can push her farther, make her really beg. Make her cry. When you finally do let her come, she’s so grateful she’ll do anything for you.”
Rowe’s jaw tightened. “They don’t hate you afterward?”
“Not if you’re careful. Not if you aren’t mean about it. Have to make sure they know it’s all about their pleasure. That you’re only doing it, prolonging the sweet torture, to make it the best they’ve ever had.”
“I think Da—she’d like that.”
Justin had known instinctively that Rowe wasn’t really talking about Dani and her pleasure, but was imagining his own. “I could teach you how,” Justin had said casually, watching Rowe from the corner of his eye.
Rowe sat straighter, winding an arm around his bent knee. His growing arousal must have been threatening to peek above the water’s edge.
Justin suppressed the sly smile tightening his mouth. “Ever been with a man?”
Rowe choked and looked away. “No,” he said, so softly, Justin barely heard him.
Still, he hadn’t gotten all bent out of shape by the question.
“Me neither.” A long awkward pause followed, then Justin drew in a deep breath. “Ever been tied up?”
“What?” Rowe’s eyes were a little wild, like the conversation was going too fast for him to think what the right answer might be and not betray himself.
But Justin didn’t care whether Rowe was comfortable with the pace. He pushed, sensing Rowe needed someone to take command. “Ever let anyone bind you so you couldn’t move?”
A frown pulled Rowe’s brown brows together, but he stared straight ahead. Justin wondered if it was because he wanted to watch Justin from the corner of his eye too.
Excitement drew Justin’s balls closer to his groin, and he didn’t resist the urge to wrap his hand around his cock and slowly stroke it, just once, before he let it go and lay on his back, closing his eyes against the bright sun. He peeked between his slitted lids while Rowe gave him a hungry once-over, his gaze resting on his cock.
Justin liked the way the man’s strong jaw ground tightly when he stared, was growing excited simply by letting his own gaze rove over Rowe’s masculine frame. The more he let his imagination fly, the more sure he was that this could work, that he had something to give in this relationship, something Rowe wouldn’t be able to resist.
Rowe eased up the bank, at last exposing his cock to Justin’s view, his chest rising and falling faster as he settled back on his elbows. His cheeks billowed around a long exhalation.
Justin rolled his head to the side, raking Rowe’s cock with a glance. Thick and long, it curved slightly toward his belly. The cap was tapered, like a single-sided arrow.
Rowe’s cock pleased him, intrigued him, but so did the rest of the other man’s body. Long and lean, strong arms and thighs, light brown fur stretching between flat brown nipples then arrowing down…
“Have you ever…?” Rowe asked, his voice thick and guttural.
Justin forced his gaze upward and wondered which question Rowe was really asking, but decided that for his purposes, he should keep up the ambiguity. “Last time I was with a woman, I tied her face down. All that pale skin faced my way made my palms itch.”
“For what?”
“To leave a mark or two. Hear her squeal.”
Rowe licked his lips. “Sounds…dangerous.”
“Coulda been if she hadn’t been creaming after I told her what I w
anted to do. Always have to ask first, you know. I paddled her ass until she came.”
Rowe swallowed hard, but by then, he wasn’t looking away. His eyes glittered with excitement. “Not something I’ve ever experienced. That can really happen?”
Justin gave up the coy innuendo. “Only if the partner wants it bad enough. And if you’re good. Rowe, I’m very good.”
“Shit,” Rowe said under his breath.
Justin stroked his shaft again, squeezing the tip as he came off, forcing a drop of pre-come to bead in the tiny slit. He dipped his pinky finger into the bead and smeared it on his lips. Justin knew Rowe couldn’t think of the line shack without associating it with sex, so drawled, “I’m headin’ to the line shack to make sure it’s stocked up for the winter.”
“You should do that,” Rowe said, his voice rasping.
Justin had given him a slow smile and rose, standing close enough his cock bobbed in front of Rowe’s face. Then he’d slowly dressed and left, confident that Rowe wouldn’t be able to resist the invitation.
Rowe strode into the cabin half an hour later, looking nervous and ready to puke.
“You don’t have to do this,” Justin said so casually no one would have known by looking at him that a knot of cold terror sat in his belly. Hands steady, he opened his belt and unsnapped his jeans.
Rowe’s gaze locked on Justin’s hands as he eased the zipper down and shoved his pants over his hips. His mouth pursed around a slow exhalation as Justin’s cock sprang free. Rowe’s wild gaze went to the door, but then he glanced back and his expression hardened. He took another deep breath and met Justin’s steady gaze, his own unwavering.
Justin had known how Rowe felt. And he’d known exactly what he needed. “I’ll say it again. You don’t have to do anything you don’t want to. But I’m thinkin’ you might like the decision taken right out of your hands.”
Rowe’s eyelids had flickered. He licked his lips. “You want me to fight you?”
“Only if you feel you need to.”
Rowe cleared his throat. “What if I want you to stop? For real.”
Unbridled: Lone Star Lovers, Book 1 Page 2
