by Stormy Glenn
“You don’t think I know that?” Rourke snapped. “You didn’t see him earlier, what Clem did to him. You didn’t see him covered in blood and welts because Clem saw us kiss and decided to whip his brother so he wouldn’t be gay.”
“What?”
“Clem doesn’t want his brother to be gay. He saw me kiss Billy earlier and whipped him for it. Just a little while ago he saw us kiss again and attacked us. He tried to strangle Billy, to kill him.”
“What’s this, son?” Da said, walking down the steps. “Clem attacked you again?”
“He tried to, but Billy stopped him, and then Clem went after Billy. He tried to kill Billy, to strangle him. I couldn’t let that happen, Da. I had to bring Billy home with me.”
“We need to call the sheriff, son. This can’t continue.”
“We will, in the morning,” Rourke said quickly. He could feel Billy trembling in his arms and knew the man was close to exhaustion. “Right now, Billy needs a warm, safe place to rest.” Rourke turned to glare at Lachlan and Asa. “If anyone has a problem with that, I can easily take Billy into town and rent a motel room, but Billy will be staying with me.”
Asa opened his mouth, and Rourke thought the man might argue, but Lachlan elbowed him in the side, and Asa snapped his mouth closed. “Whatever you decide is fine, Rourke, but I think we can better protect Billy if he’s here at the ranch where we can all keep an eye on him.”
Rourke blinked, not sure he had heard his brother correctly. The man just threatened to have Billy arrested a few minutes ago and now he wanted to help protect him? That just didn’t make sense.
“Lachlan—”
“I didn’t understand before, Rourke.” Lachlan nodded toward Billy. “Now, I do.”
“He’s still mine.” Rourke’s arms tightened around Billy. “He stays with me.”
“Is that wise, son?” Da asked. Rourke could feel the intensity of Da’s stare, and he heard the unspoken question in his voice. He knew what his da was asking.
“It’s the way it has to be, Da.”
“Very well, I suppose you should bring him inside then. Your Ma is going to want to take a look at his back again.” Da turned and walked back up the steps. He stopped at the top and glanced over his shoulder. “Boys, I want a guard set up around the clock, two-man shifts. No one is to go anywhere alone until we get this all sorted out.”
“Asa and I will take first shift,” Lachlan said. “We just need a few minutes to run back to our house and grab a few things.”
“I’ll have Quaid and Seamus run second shift,” Da said. “Rourke, you and Neason can have third shift. When the ranch hands get up in the morning, we can have a meeting and explain everything to them, maybe get a few of them to help us out. Until then, I want all of you to keep your eyes and ears open. And no taking chances. All of you are more important than this ranch, and your Ma would have my hide if anything happened to any of you.”
“Da, could you ask Ma to make a fresh pot of coffee?” Lachlan asked. “I think we’re going to need it.”
“I suspect your Ma will be making more than that, son.” Da chuckled as he turned back to the house. “Your Ma cooks up a storm when she’s nervous.”
Rourke chuckled, the tension he’d been feeling since Asa and Lachlan confronted him starting to drain away. His da was right. Ma cooked like a madwoman when she was upset or nervous. There was bound to be plenty to eat.
“Come on, baby,” Rourke said as he turned Billy in his arms, “let’s get you inside. Ma can take a look at your back, and then we can get you settled in.”
“With you, right?” Billy whispered.
“With me, baby, nowhere else.”
Rourke’s answer seemed to satisfy Billy. He walked alongside of Rourke with no resistance. Rourke led Billy past Asa and Lachlan without a word then up the steps. He didn’t want to give anyone a chance to question Billy again.
He could feel the slight trembling of Billy’s body under his hands and knew the man was close to his breaking point. Billy needed a quiet place to decompress. Rourke hoped Billy found his bedroom acceptable.
“Ma,” Rourke called out as he entered the house after his da, “can you take a quick look at Billy’s back before he lies down? I want to make sure he’s doing okay.”
“Bring him into the dining room, son,” Ma called out.
Rourke led Billy into the dining room and sat him in a chair. He moved around and sat down beside Billy, reaching over to take his hand. A moment later, Ma walked into the room with a cup of tea and set it down in front of Billy.
“How are you doing, Billy?”
“I’m okay, ma’am.”
“Well, you just drink that tea while I take a look at your back. We’ll see if we can make you better than just okay.”
Rourke chuckled when he saw Billy simply blink at his ma. He had no idea what Billy’s relationship with his own ma was like, but Rourke didn’t think it was very good. Rourke’s ma, however, was a force to be reckoned with.
Billy winced a little when Ma lifted the back of his shirt, but he didn’t cry out or say anything. His lips pressed together, and his fingers tightened around the teacup until they were white. That was his only show of emotion.
Rourke squeezed his hand, and Billy turned and smiled at him. Rourke smiled back, amazed at Billy’s ability to smile considering the gravity of their situation. It looked like a real smile, too, not a fake one to make him feel better.
“How’s that tea?” Rourke asked.
“It’s pretty good,” Billy replied. “Your ma gave me some earlier.”
“She does like her tea.”
“It’s, uh, chamomile.”
“It’s one of her favorite flavors.” Rourke reached over and stroked the side of Billy’s face with the back of his fingers. “She only shares it on special occasions.”
“Yeah?”
“Yeah.” Rourke smiled again. “I don’t think I’ve had it since I broke my hand a couple of years back trying to rope a calf for branding.”
“Oh, yeah.” Billy chuckled. “I remember that.”
Rourke’s eyebrows shot up. “You remember when I broke my hand?”
“I thought for sure you had broken more than your hand when you took the header off your horse. You didn’t move for the longest time.”
“You saw me fall off my horse?”
“Yes. I was real relieved when you finally sat up.”
“What else have you seen?”
Billy’s face suddenly turned pasty white. “Nothing.”
“Billy,” Ma said softly, “you shouldn’t lie to Rourke.”
“I’m sorry.”
“You’re forgiven, Billy,” Ma said as she patted his shoulder. “Just tell Rourke the truth. He only wants what’s best for you.”
“I saw some.”
Rourke was intrigued by the small smile that crossed Billy’s lips as he stared off into space. He wanted to know what it meant, but he was almost afraid to ask.
“I used to sit on the edge of the woods and watch you all working the cattle. We don’t have but more than a few head on our farm, and none of them look like yours.”
“We raise Black Angus, Billy.”
“Are they from the line out of Aberdeenshire, Scotland, or US Black Angus?”
“You know about Aberdeenshire cattle?”
“The Aberdeen Angus?” Billy shrugged. “I read some.”
Rourke was impressed. Not many people knew the difference between Angus out of the US and Angus from Scotland. “Ours are from the line out of Aberdeenshire, baby. Ma and Da brought a few head with them to start their ranch when they came over.”
“That’s cool. I think they are a heartier breed.”
“That’s possible.”
“Well, think about it.” Billy started waving his hand in the air as he talked. “You only lost like three head of cattle two years ago when we had that bad winter snow. Several other ranches in the area had far worse losses, and they just had r
egular cattle.”
“I don’t think I’ve ever thought about it that way.”
“You’re used to working with the Aberdeen Angus,” Billy said. “Why would you?”
“While I believe there is something special about our cattle, cattle are still just cattle.”
“You would think that.” Billy chuckled. “That’s like saying heirloom tomatoes are the same thing as cherry tomatoes because they are both tomatoes.”
“Uh, they are both tomatoes, baby.”
“But they are two different kinds of tomatoes. Heirloom tomatoes are grown for their tendency to produce more interesting and flavorful crops. They are a very commonly used tomato. Cherry tomatoes are small, round, sweet tomatoes eaten in salads. While these might both be tomatoes, they are at different ends of the spectrum, used for totally different purposes.”
Rourke blinked.
“I prefer beefsteak tomatoes, myself,” Ma said. “They are bigger and juicer. Of course, their short shelf life makes it nearly impossible to eat them all when they come in, but they are still pretty good. The boys love them on sandwiches.”
Rourke turned and looked at his mother, blinking again. The two of them might have well been speaking a foreign language. He knew nothing about tomatoes beyond the fact that they were red and he liked them on his sandwiches.
He was also a bit surprised at how knowledgeable Billy was about tomatoes. The man swore he wasn’t smart, but Rourke was beginning to suspect there was a hidden depth to Billy that had never been explored or allowed to run free. Maybe he needed to help Billy with that.
“You seem to know a lot about tomatoes, baby. That’s pretty cool. I just know they are red and round.”
Billy shrugged, his face flushing a little. “I just like tomatoes.”
“What else do you like?”
Billy shrugged again. “I don’t know.”
Rourke didn’t like that answer. “Surely there’s something you like.”
The furtive glance that Billy shot in his direction told Rourke exactly what the man liked. And Rourke was thrilled. He was even more excited when Ma pulled Billy’s shirt back down and began to gather her medical kit together.
“I think you’ll be okay in a few days, Billy.” She sent Rourke a stern stare. “I don’t want you doing anything strenuous. You need time to heal, lots of rest, and lots of good nutrients.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
Rourke rolled his eyes when Ma’s hand gently patted Billy’s shoulders then pointed at him. “Don’t you let those pretty green eyes talk you into doing anything you don’t feel is right, Billy. I know Rourke can be charming when he wants to be, but you have the right to say no.”
Billy swung around, glancing between Rourke and Ma for a moment. “Rourke would never force me to do anything I didn’t want to do. He’s not like that.”
Rourke wondered if Billy was correct. He wanted Billy in the worst way. He planned to use every tool at his disposal to get Billy, too, charming words and pretty green eyes included. Did that make him a bad person?
“I’m glad you think so, Billy,” Ma said. “Just remember what I said and don’t let Rourke talk you into anything you’re uncomfortable with.”
“Ma!”
“Don’t you Ma me, Rourke Blaecleah,” Ma said. “I’m not quite as oblivious as you’d like to think I am. I know what you have in that cupboard of yours.”
Rourke’s face flamed with embarrassment. He was mortified. He didn’t have a single issue talking to his folks about being gay. Letting them know he was kinky was a different story altogether.
He wasn’t ashamed of having a kinkier side to his nature. He just didn’t share it with a lot of people. The only reason his brothers knew was because they’d seen Rourke at bars with other men. Hell, they’d seen him handcuff someone and drag them out of the bar. There wasn’t much he could get by his brothers.
“Billy has been forced to do enough in his life already, Ma. I would never make him do anything he didn’t want to do.”
“No, I never thought you would, Rourke, but you might try and charm him into it. You tend to get a little single-minded when you see something you want. Billy needs to know that he has the right to say no to you without you getting upset.”
Rourke was really uncomfortable talking to his ma about his sex life—well, the sex life he hoped to have real soon if Billy agreed. He stood up and stepped behind Billy, resting his hands easily on the man’s shoulders.
“I would never do anything to hurt Billy, Ma. He’s my legend.”
Chapter 7
Billy frowned as he followed Rourke down the hallway to his bedroom. Rourke called him his legend, and that seemed to be all Ma Blaecleah needed to hear. After that, she didn’t argue at all when Rourke told her they would be sharing a bedroom.
She had to know that they would most likely be sharing more than that. At least, Billy hoped they were. He knew he had a limited amount of time with Rourke, and he wanted to enjoy every second of it. He’d need something to dream about when this fantasy he was living ended.
“Rourke?”
“Yeah, baby?”
“What’s a legend?”
He was confused by the soft chuckle that fell from Rourke’s lips. Billy thought it was a simple question. It needed a simple answer. Right? He didn’t understand why Rourke was shaking his head as he opened the door to his bedroom. It didn’t feel like Rourke had any intention of answering the question.
“Rourke?” Billy asked again.
“I’ll tell you what, baby. I’ll answer that question for you in a week.”
Billy frowned as he followed Rourke into the bedroom. He turned to look at the man, watching as he closed the door. “Why a week?”
“You need time to get better, and we need time to get to know each other.” Rourke grinned as he leaned back against the closed door. “A week should do it.”
“We already know each other, Rourke.” Billy was so confused. He also wondered if Rourke was a little daft. “We’ve known each other since we were in diapers.”
“We’ve lived next to each other since we were in diapers. That doesn’t mean we know each other, not really.” Billy took a step back when Rourke pushed away from the wall and walked toward him. There was a suspicious glint in the man’s eyes that Billy couldn’t recognize. It was a little unnerving.
“What are you doing?” Billy asked as Rourke walked closer, stopping in front of him. Rourke’s mere physical presence seemed to fill the room, blocking everything else out. Rourke’s hand moved slowly as he raised it to caress the side of Billy’s face, almost as if he was stroking a spooked horse.
“There’s a lot more that we have to learn about each other, baby, a lot more.” A small, mysterious smile crossed his lips. “I think there are things about each of us that will be quite the surprise.”
Billy swallowed hard. “Like what?”
“I never knew that you would be such a delight to kiss, for one.”
“Me?” Rourke really liked kissing him? “You like kissing me?”
“I like kissing you, baby.”
Billy suddenly felt like he couldn’t breathe. His chest felt tight, and there was a lump in his throat bigger than his fist. He felt hot, like the air in the room had grown thick. “I like kissing you, too,” Billy whispered.
“I know.” Rourke’s hand brushed down the side of Billy’s face. “You are very responsive.”
“Is…is that a good thing?”
“It’s a very good thing, baby,” Rourke said.
Billy almost swooned at the deep, rich timbre in Rourke’s voice. It traveled right up his spine.
“I like knowing how you feel, that you enjoy what we do together.”
Okay, swooning was a very real possibility. Billy could feel his knees start to tremble. He grabbed on to Rourke’s shirt and locked his knees in place. If he didn’t, Billy was positive he’d collapse on the floor.
“I…I do en-enjoy wh-what we do together,” Bill
y stammered. He could feel his face flush with each word he spoke. He’d never talked to anyone the way he was talking to Rourke. It was a little exhilarating and a whole lot scary.
“Would you like to find out what else we can do together?”
Billy nodded rapidly, biting his lower lip as wicked thoughts began to fill his head. He could think of so many things he would like to try with Rourke, most of them requiring a flat surface. He’d been fantasizing about the man for years. He could imagine a lot.
“Let’s get you settled then, shall we?”
Billy nodded again, although he was unsure of exactly what Rourke wanted until the man grabbed the edge of his shirt and lifted it up. Billy raised his arms in the air and let Rourke draw the shirt up over his head. He didn’t even care when Rourke tossed it on the floor.
The man’s hand next went to the buttons of Billy’s jeans. Billy quickly sucked in a deep breath when Rourke’s fingers brushed against the skin of his abdomen. His body suddenly felt hot and flushed.
“I’ve got you, baby.”
The softly spoken words whispered over Billy’s skin like a caress. He dropped his head back on his shoulders and tried not to moan like a girl. He wanted to impress Rourke, not freak the man out. But just the mere touch of the man’s fingers over his skin felt like heaven.
Billy felt Rourke’s arms wrap around him then the world tilted. Billy lifted his head to find Rourke carrying him toward the bed. He didn’t say anything when Rourke set him on the side of the bed then knelt down in front of him, reaching for his shoes. He didn’t know what to say.
The Blaecleah brothers were known far and wide as being rough-and-tumble men. They didn’t take crap from anyone. They wouldn’t necessarily start a fight, but they would finish one. Not many people wanted to take them on.
Gentle was not something usually associated with the five men. Billy certainly never thought of Rourke as gentle, but that’s how the man was acting. He treated Billy like he was made of spun glass. Each touch was gentle, careful, as if he wanted to take the utmost care when stripping Billy’s clothes from him.
A small, lonely part of Billy appreciated each tender touch, soaked it up and stored the memory away to be taken out later and examined. Another part, also the lonely part, was afraid of how much he knew he’d come to depend on those small touches. Billy knew he’d crave those touches like he craved the sight of Rourke.
