A Cowboy in Ravenna

by Jan Irving

  “So you’re bisexual?” he demanded as soon as their waiter moved back behind a long counter filled with desserts. Trin had managed to order them espressos in the little café.

  Trin’s eyes widened and he glared at Chace as Chace sat down under an umbrella dripping with rain, the bright colour looking a little depressed with the heavy weather. “Do you want everyone to hear you?” Trin whispered, colour touching the tops of his cheeks. “Folks aren’t exactly tolerant in White Deer, never mind Italy.”

  Chace grinned. He should have guessed his rugged cowboy was shy. “I think it’s a fair question to ask. As long as I’ve known you, you’ve gone out a few times with women, you had a kid and yet you kissed me. What gives?” He raised his brows, thinking Sasha would be proud of him for being so assertive.

  “Sage was the result of an arrangement.” Trin didn’t look at Chace, taking the small black coffee the waiter passed him from a tray into his working-man’s hands. It was almost as thick in consistency as the stuff he made over a campfire, so Chace figured Trin had to like espresso.

  “An arrangement? Sounds like something from a Regency romance.”

  Trin shot him a look.

  “Thanks for giving such a clear explanation.”

  Trin had fallen back into his habitual ‘say nothing personal’ macho cowboy default. Chace was going to damn well nudge Trin out of it.

  These past weeks Chace had been making huge changes to his life. He had moved out of the big house on the ranch into a tiny apartment in White Deer. And he’d come to Italy to lose his virginity and grow as an artist.

  Trin couldn’t kiss Chace like he was dessert and then clam up.

  “In the village where I come from my, uh, bloodline was valued,” Trin finally said, hunched like an awkward bear at the table. “I made an arrangement with a woman so I could have children.”

  “Your bloodline. Like your gift with horses?”

  “Yeah.”

  Sounded like a very odd village. “So why date women?”

  Trin gave him a stony look.

  “I mean, what you’ve told me implies you prefer men, and yet as long as I’ve known you, you’ve gone out with women.”

  “Chace, leave it alone. I…” He shoved his hair out of his eyes. “I apologise for kissing you. I don’t know what the hell is wrong with me.”

  “Something has to be wrong with you to kiss me?”

  “I didn’t say that.”

  “You just did.”

  “Fuck, you are so—”

  “I’m just asking for an explanation that makes some kind of sense.”

  “I date women because I can’t have what I want!” Trin yelled. Then he coloured brightly, shoving his coffee aside. “Let’s go find our hotel.”

  Chace caught up just outside the café, grabbing Trin’s arm. “Don’t you walk away from me.” Fighting with Trin was almost as exciting as kissing him. What made it even better was this wasn’t in character. Trin always shut off like a valve when Chace ran hot. The last time Trin had yelled at Chace had been when he’d swum in Larry’s Watering Hole and gotten knocked out by a log. He’d nearly drowned. Trin had been really pissed, shaking Chace and calling him a goddamned fool.

  Trin’s nostrils flared and he took an intimidating step closer to Chace.

  Chace opened his mouth, more than ready to continue their fight.

  Trin slammed into him.

  Chace grabbed his head. “Ow!”

  “The fuck?” Trin growled.

  Chace caught a glimpse of a woman’s luxurious auburn hair as she raced down an alley.

  Trin’s eyes narrowed. “My wallet’s gone,” he said.

  “Trin!”

  Trin was running too fast for Chace to catch up.

  Damn it!

  Chace raced after the two figures, barely keeping track of them through the twisting, turning alleys. He nearly creamed a guy riding a bicycle, carrying an umbrella and talking on a phone.

  “Trin…” he gasped as he caught up.

  Trin had the red-haired woman by the throat.

  “Trin, holy fuck!”

  “Stay back!” Trin’s eyes glowed gold.

  Huh? It must be the Italian light, throwing off his perceptions. “Trin, you can’t kill a woman for trying to rob you.”

  “He’s not a woman.”

  Chace took in the dark pinstriped suit, blue shirt and tie. The slender figure and long hair had reminded him of a woman, but up close Chase could see he was a very pretty young man, with full red lips curled into a snarl.

  “Trin, knock it off.” Chace put his hand on Trin’s shoulder. From past experience, he knew this worked when all else failed. Trin’s rare temper always subsided when Chace touched him.

  Trin’s shoulders relaxed and he took a step back. “You’re lucky,” he told the young man, who coughed, covering his throat and glaring at Trin.

  “Lucky your mate isn’t such a bastard, yeah,” the boy choked in American-accented English.

  Chace raised his brows. “Give him back his wallet.”

  “All right, fuck!”

  Trin took his worn leather billfold, stepping back and crossing his arms.

  “Are you…hungry or something?” Chace asked.

  Dark hazel eyes, as stormy as the skies over head, cut into him. Chace shrugged. “All right. Have a nice life stealing from tourists.”

  He turned to leave, Trin at his side.

  “Wait!” the young man huffed. “I didn’t lift it because I was hungry. Anyway, your asshole friend doesn’t carry much cash and no credit cards.”

  “I’ll get on that right away,” Trin said sarcastically.

  The kid flipped him the bird.

  Chace fished out his wallet and handed the young man some money.

  “Chace!” Trin was outraged.

  “Trin, he’s pretty skinny. I think he could use something to eat.” Chace studied the stranger. “Got a name?”

  “Sure, he’s going to tell us his real name,” Trin drawled.

  The beautiful young man folded his arms, as if he was enjoying their byplay. “Sabin.”

  “Sabin.” Chace considered it. “I like it. It’s kind of like Sting, that whole made my own identity thing.”

  “Exactly.” Sabin stood beside Chace, now showing no sign of leaving. His long hair swayed down his back like a heavy silk curtain. It was the reddish-gold colour of prairie wheat in July. Chace itched to sketch it. “Where are you staying?” Sabin asked.

  “We haven’t been there yet.” Despite Trin’s protest, Chace showed Sabin a map with their hotel.

  Sabin pressed a kiss against Chace’s cheek, near his mouth. “I saw you with the cowboy hick in the House of Carpets. You’re hot. If you get tired of him, I’ll be around,” Sabin said.

  Trin yanked Chace away from Sabin.

  Sabin’s lips curled in a satisfied grin. “Easy, shifter,” he said. “He’s all yours unless he decides different.”

  “Come on!” Trin dragged Chace back to the cobbled central street.

  Chace looked over his shoulder into the shadows of the alley but Sabin had already faded away.

  “Missing your first Italian conquest?” Trin’s voice was tight.

  “I didn’t ask him to kiss me,” Chace said, tugging his arm free. “Besides…” He swallowed. “You don’t want to be my boyfriend, remember?”

  The silence stretched and he swore. He was so fucking pathetic.

  Hadn’t he just been thinking Trin was a man of his word? Never mind that the kiss had sparked something new between them, giving Chace hope. Trin didn’t want him, not really.

  * * * *

  “One room.” Trin used the large key, like something out of an old English movie, to open the wooden door to the room he was going to have to share with Chace.

  The door creaked open. “One bed.” He started to sweat.

  “At least it’s a nice room, a nice bed,” Chace said, still sounding a little subdued as he put his bag on the desk u
nder a skylight. The top floor of the little hotel possessed no windows, but skylights. Through them, Trin caught the sounds of doves cooing to each other sleepily.

  The bed had a fancy draped headboard. The tables and chairs were all gold and white, looking too delicate to hold his sturdy frame. The place made him feel rough and uncouth. Terrific.

  “It’s not like we haven’t gone camping before,” Chace said. “This isn’t any different, except the fancy furniture.”

  “I kissed you,” Trin said. “That makes it different.”

  Chace blushed but then shot Trin a direct look. “What did Sabin mean when he called you a ‘shifter’?”

  “No idea. Maybe it’s an Italian thing,” Trin lied.

  “Huh, don’t think so.”

  “Didn’t you say you were dying for a shower?”

  “If you want to get rid of me, just say so.” Chace began digging through his bag, his face hard. “Except…why? Will you tell me that?”

  “Why…what?”

  “Why do you touch me, want me, and still push me away? It hurts.”

  Trin squeezed his eyes shut. “I can’t give you what you want.”

  “What gives you the right to decide that? You sound like my father.”

  “Your father wanted me with you in Italy to ‘straighten you out’,” Trin said.

  “Good luck.” Chace laughed.

  “I’m old enough to be your father.”

  “I don’t care.”

  His control on a thin thread after seeing Sabin touch Chace, Trin couldn’t help but reach out and grip Chace’s slender shoulders. Had he really thought he could tamely watch Chace with other guys? Trin buried his face in Chace’s hair, feeling the warmth, wanting to mark Chace. Trin’s teeth lengthened. He was becoming the monster. “Don’t look at me.”

  Chace reached out and lifted Trin’s face into the light. “Your eyes…”

  Trin dropped his gaze.

  “I thought they looked strange in the alley when you tackled Sabin. I thought it was a trick of light.”

  Breathing harshly, Trin shook his head. “No.”

  “I don’t understand. You’ve never been like this before. Help me understand.”

  He couldn’t turn Chace away when he was so confused. Trin could never turn Chace away, not from the first time he’d seen him, a lonely boy locked away in his room. Trin had known right away he was looking at his future mate, God help him.

  “Sabin touching you made me sick.”

  A sad smile tugged Chace’s lips. “Like I felt when you dated all those women. Did you ever think of how it hurt me?”

  “I knew but it didn’t matter.”

  “How can you say that?” Chace flashed.

  “You were too young, Chace. I was a man.”

  “I’m not too young now.” Chace crowded close, suddenly as predatory as a wolf. “I want to understand how you’re different. Your eyes, the thing Sabin called you.”

  “You know I’m a healer,” Trin said, giving a partial thread. He was afraid of showing his true face to Chace, who’d had always adored him, but the raw sexual beast he could become was nothing for a virgin to experience. And what if having Chace triggered the Shadow Wolf?

  “You have to stop being afraid.” Chace wound his arms around Trin’s neck.

  Trin’s sex lengthened, massive and swollen. From the way Chace looked at him, Trin knew his eyes must look freaky.

  “I watched you,” Trin said. “When Cass had Tom in the woods, I watched you touching yourself. I heard you call out my name.”

  “I couldn’t look away from them. They were so hot, so beautiful. I’ve done some sketches.”

  Jealousy gripped Trin’s chest.

  Chace laughed. “So secretive, so stubborn, but you don’t want anyone else to have me.”

  “No,” Trin growled. He gripped Chace’s hair, tugging. “I don’t want you looking at other men.”

  “Then let me see you.” Chace swallowed. “Please.”

  “I’d die before I ever hurt you.”

  “Don’t you think I know that? Jesus, you’ve always been overly protective.”

  But could Trin be gentle enough? “I can’t let you see me.” He was afraid he’d scare Chace, turn him off.

  Chace opened his mouth to argue.

  “But I won’t let you hurt. I’ll give you what you need.” Trin smoothed his hands down Chace, lean and muscular, liking the feel of warm skin and the silky hairs on his forearms.

  “Take off your clothes for me,” Trin demanded.

  Chace immediately went for his belt. Colour burned his cheeks, but he was caught in the same compulsion as Trin. Chase needed to submit sexually to his mate.

  His jeans fell open, revealing boxers printed with Roman gladiators—only they weren’t exactly fighting each other.

  “You really are into this trip!” Trin said, fighting not to smile at the bawdy underwear.

  Shit, he was going to blow this. Though he continued stripping, Chace looked so uncertain, like a horse ready to bolt. If only Trin could show him how perfectly he was made. Sleek, with a long, elegant cock, tufts of dark blond hair at his crotch and under his arms.

  Naked, Chace kicked away his clothes.

  Trin touched him, and Chace hissed in a breath, his skin cool and delicate beneath Trin’s hot and pulsing hand.

  “Kneel beside the bed.” He stroked Chace’s side. “Do it, it’s all right.”

  “You’ll take care of me?” Chace’s penis was a long, needy pole in Trin’s grip as he mastered Chace. “Ahhhh.”

  “I’ll always take care of you. When you need relief, I want you to bring your needs to me.”

  Chace knelt beside the bed, looking over his shoulder at Trin, his legs spread, his round buttocks intensely arousing.

  He was afraid Chace would see the claws. “Don’t look at me.”

  “Trin—”

  “Do you need this?”

  “You know I do.”

  “Then we do it my way.” He removed his belt. “Hold out your hands.”

  Keeping his eyes downcast, Chace lifted his wrists. Trin tied them with his belt, tightening it so the leather bit into the skin. Chace couldn’t touch Trin. If Chace was passive, Trin should be able to control the thing locked like a nightmare inside his body.

  “I thought you were going to use it on me,” Chace said.

  “The belt on your ass?” Heat slammed through his gut. Did Chace really want that from him?

  “Yes.”

  Trin settled behind Chace, stroking his back, his buttocks, trying to gentle him like a nervous colt. “If you want a spanking from me, climb over my lap, and I’ll give you one.”

  Chapter Five

  “You’re pushing me. You want to scare me.”

  Trin inhaled sharply, as if Chace had landed a bull’s-eye. Even with his eyes closed, Chace could feel the ribbons stretching from his gut to Trin’s, braiding them tight. God, they had to be together. I belong to him. Why doesn’t he take what’s his?

  “What if I told you that you should be scared?”

  Chace absorbed the words and tone. Oh, yeah, Trin meant what he was saying.

  “Then I’d tell you that offering to spank me didn’t disgust me. It turned me on.” Chace crawled to Trin, fumbling as he climbed over his lap. Embarrassment heated his face but when he squirmed into place he felt right, draped naked over Trin’s knee. He imagined how he looked, his pale, slight body a submissive stretch over Trin’s worn jeans. As Chace lay panting, Trin’s hot callused palm clasped his left ass cheek, hesitant wonder transmitting through touch.

  “You think I don’t know you? Maybe you just want a quick screw. I don’t care.” Believe, Chace told himself.

  When Trin still didn’t speak, Chace swallowed. Believe. Believe and Trin will finally touch me the way I need. “If we were back home… Do you know what I see happening?”

  Trin didn’t remove his hand. He was stroking Chace’s ass as if he couldn’t stop himself
from petting him.

  Chace groaned. God, he was so hard. He was on the edge of coming from displaying himself like this, just for Trin.

  “What…” Trin cleared his throat. “What do you see happening?”

  “I see you coming in one hot evening all pissy, bruised because you got kicked by a horse, maybe unshaven if it’s a busy time of the year. And then I lock the door in your kitchen, yank down the blinds, strip out of my clothes and drape myself on your lap.”

  “Christ!” Trin’s breaths were harsh and loud.

  Chase’s heart was thundering like a wild summer storm.

  Trin slid his fingers down the invitation of Chace’s open body, stroked his dimple.

  Chace caught his breath.

  “What if we weren’t alone, would you do that, climb on my lap and ask for a spanking if other men were watching us?” Trin asked, caressing Chace’s lips.

  He had a feeling Trin had something specific in mind. Whatever. Chace wouldn’t hide how he felt. He kissed Trin’s big palm.

  “You’re excited. You like the idea of submitting to me in front of other men.”

  “You keep pushing me, bringing up stuff you think will make me afraid, but all it does is make me want you more. When I fantasise about you, I want you to take me over.” He closed his eyes, waiting on Trin. “I’m not afraid of you.”

  “You should be.” Resignation darkened Trin’s voice but he didn’t stop touching Chace. With closed eyes, Chace’s other senses were highly sensitised. Trin’s hands felt odd, something like hardened tips grazing his flesh. The size of Trin’s palm was also off, having apparently doubled in breadth.

  “What’s happening to you?” he asked, wishing Trin hadn’t forbidden him to look. If he could just see him, understand. “I want to see you. Please, let me see you.”

  “Yeah, right, so you can run screaming from me,” Trin said derisively. “That would really add to this holiday.”

  The texture of Trin’s hands was different too, kind of leathery, but good against his skin, hot and rough. He imagined one huge hand cupping and squeezing his balls and whimpered.

  “Jesus! Hold on! I have to…” Trin swung Chace around, so he was facing away. He balanced himself on his bound hands, glad he took regular yoga classes. Trin lifted Chace so he hung, legs on Trin’s shoulders, cock heavy and pendulous, fully exposed.