A Subtle Breeze

by Bailey Bradford

  After rinsing the last traces of shampoo from his hair, Brendon pushed the shower door open then reached for a towel. Zeke batted his hand away, wrapped an arm around his waist and lifted him out of the shower. Before Brendon could say a word, Zeke’s mouth was on his, tongue plunging in and fucking his mouth as Zeke guided Brendon to the countertop. Withdrawing his tongue, Zeke bit Brendon’s bottom lip, then spun him around so he faced the mirror over the sink. Brendon’s heart stuttered as he watched their reflections, Zeke’s hand clasping Brendon’s shoulder and pushing him forward so he was bent at the waist and bracing his forearms on either side of the sink. His eyes began to drift closed as Zeke stroked his shoulder, then started trailing his fingers down Brendon’s spine.

  “No,” Zeke growled out, “watch me, watch us.”

  Brendon forced his eyes open, meeting Zeke’s gaze in the mirror as both hands now stroked down Brendon’s lower back, stopping and cupping his ass cheeks firmly. Zeke leaned over Brendon, licking and nipping at his neck, using that sexy mouth to follow the path his hands had taken. He heard Zeke’s knee creak when his lover knelt behind him and started to say something, tell him not to put a strain on the injury. Opening his mouth to speak, he instead let out a whimper when his ass cheeks were spread open, exposing his anus for a kiss.

  “Ah, fuck, Zeke!” Brendon moaned, pushing his ass against Zeke’s face as his lover nibbled and sucked on the sensitive opening. He thought he heard a grumble in response, then Zeke laved his hole with the flat of his tongue and Brendon couldn’t hear anything but the buzz of pleasure that exploded from his balls to his brain and threatened to blow out his eardrums.

  At some point, it registered to Brendon that he was panting and making a sound that was awfully close to a whine. He was certain that would emasculate him in any other circumstance, but he right now, didn’t care. He’d give Zeke everything, including his pride, and not regret it. His cock was so hard with the need to come that it hurt, each thrust of that tongue in his ass making his balls throb with the need for release.

  “Zeke…please,” Brendon moaned, breaking down and reaching for his cock. Zeke ran his tongue over Brendon’s hole one last time then rose, reaching beside Brendon to open a drawer and pull out a condom and a tube of lube.

  “Stop, babe.” Zeke watched, waiting until Brendon took his hand away from his cock and resumed his position. Zeke ripped open the condom package and had his dick sheathed in seconds. He uncapped the lube and coated his dick, gaze burning into Brendon’s the whole time. Zeke stepped back behind Brendon, spreading his cheeks wide once again and pressing two fingers into his saliva-slicked hole.

  It wasn’t enough. Brendon needed Zeke, needed his lover inside and filling him until he thought he would burst from the pleasure of it. “Please,” he whispered, voice breaking with need.

  Zeke scissored his fingers once, twice, then pulled out and slid his cock in, thrusting hard until he was buried to the hilt in Brendon’s clasping channel. His groan blended with Brendon’s, eyes locking on each other in the mirror. Zeke smiled and rocked his hips before pulling back, one hand coming around to grab Brendon’s dick, the other reaching for his balls. Zeke slammed back into the depths of Brendon’s ass, tugging at his balls while stroking his shaft.

  Bending his knees slightly, Zeke began thrusting short and hard, hands moving in time with his hips, drawing groans from Brendon as pleasure hit him from every direction. Brendon jerked his hips back to meet Zeke’s thrusts, forward to fuck the hand around his cock. A hoarse sound was torn from Brendon’s throat as his spine tingled, pleasure racing through him as his inner muscles clamped down on Zeke’s dick.

  When the first drop of spunk hit Zeke’s hand, he let go of Brendon’s balls and pulled him upright, watching in the mirror as cum shot onto Brendon’s body. Zeke locked his arm tight and buried his cock so deep in his ass that Brendon came up on his toes and reached back to clasp Zeke’s hips for support.

  Brendon couldn’t take his eyes off the sight they made in the mirror—Zeke’s strong arm around his waist, Brendon’s own arms extended back to clasp his lover, his head tipped back on Zeke’s shoulder. And Zeke, so gorgeous, so fucking perfect, teeth clenched as he tossed his head back and filled the latex in Brendon’s ass with pounding jets of spunk. Just looking at the tendons standing out in his lover’s neck as his orgasm ripped through him had Brendon’s cock twitching all over again.

  “Fuck, baby,” Zeke groaned, resting his chin on Brendon’s shoulder once their climaxes were complete. “Just, holy fuck.”

  Brendon turned his head and tipped it back, kissing Zeke as they both trembled and struggled to breath.

  “I know, Zeke, I think we are in serious danger of fucking to death.” Brendon figured if they had many more sessions like this one, his heart might just burst, or stop, or something. But, still…

  Zeke opened one eye and looked at Brendon’s reflection. “I can think of many worse ways to go. As a matter of fact”—he brought his lips to Brendon’s neck, sucked hard and brought up another mark—“any way is a worse way to go.”

  Laughing, Brendon couldn’t do anything but agree.

  * * * *

  Zeke jerked upright in bed, eyes flying open in the darkness as he gasped for air. A sheen of sweat coated his body, soaking the sheets. Just a nightmare, he knew, but his heart felt like it was going to beat right out of his chest, and he couldn’t get enough oxygen. Fuck, he felt like he was dying.

  Through the fog of panic gripping him, Zeke heard a voice calling his name. “Breathe,” it said, and damn it, wasn’t he trying to do that with each short, jerky gasp? Hands gripped his shoulders, smoothing and working at the tensed muscles.

  “Zeke!” Brendon, it was Brendon who was reaching out to him.

  Zeke latched onto that voice like a lifeline, struggling to focus on the sound of his lover’s words even if they weren’t making sense yet. He felt something press up against his back, felt the warmth of Brendon’s breath against his ear. Zeke tried to remember what Brendon had told him last time this had happened. If he could just focus, convince his body it didn’t need to ratchet up the fight-or-flight instinct just now… The pressure of his lover’s warm thighs bracketing his own helped push against the fear throbbing through his veins. Breathe, relax—that’s what he needed to do.

  “Long, deep breaths, love,” Brendon murmured against his ear.

  Zeke tried to suck in a slow, deep breath, but the adrenaline and panic had him gasping as his lungs seemed to clench tight. Hands fluttered over his chest, down to his belly as Brendon continued chanting to Zeke, encouraging him to relax and try again. He tried again, and this time when it felt as though his airway was going to close off, Zeke pushed harder, willing himself to fill his lungs with air. The next breath was slightly easier, as was each that followed until finally, he lay back against Brendon, who had somehow managed to wedge himself between Zeke and the headboard. Brendon massaged Zeke’s trembling muscles, murmuring soothing words of reassurance even after Zeke’s body settled, relaxed in his lover’s warmth.

  “Tell me,” Brendon asked, and there was no way Zeke could, or would, deny the man. Zeke wanted the intimacy with him, wanted Brendon to know all of him, good and bad. He wanted, he realized, for Brendon to accept him and love him, just as Zeke accepted and loved him. He clutched at Brendon’s hand, twining their fingers together and pressing them against his chest. Jesus, he loved this man so much it made his heart ache.

  “You know that I was jumped years back. Sometimes it’s that, sometimes it’s just about going into town itself, some things that happened there, I guess. Maybe it’s a mix, you know? Tonight, it was about being…assaulted. Probably from all the death and suffering here at the ranch today, so it just sort of sent me back.” Zeke kept his eyes shut as he spoke, but felt Brendon’s answering nod. “Well, by the time I was jumped, I was already staying away from town for the most part—too many times I’d come in and Eva would catch me somewhere and start going on abou
t how I was going to burn in hell. Walking away wasn’t always successful as many a time she would grab at me or follow me so she could keep up her spiel.”

  Brendon growled. “Didn’t anyone ever step in and tell her to shut the fuck up?”

  Zeke couldn’t not grin, not when he was listening to his man get all snarly for him. Made him feel plumb special. “Most people just looked the other way, unless it was Mama or Enessa. Sometimes Elizabeth, but she tends to live in her own little world. The afternoon I was attacked, it was me, Elizabeth and Nessa in town. I’d gone into the feed store while the girls went to the café. That’s where they overheard a group of men talking about what they were going to do when they caught me out alone.” Zeke fought back a shudder, trying to concentrate on just telling it rather than reliving the whole thing. He was aware Brendon was holding himself perfectly still, as though he was afraid any movement might stop Zeke from continuing.

  “Anyway, when I walked out from the feed store, I was pulled around to the side of the building. Had enough time to count four men with bandanas tied over part of their faces before they started in on me. It was mostly fists, I thought, until I saw that pipe swinging down low, felt it hit me. That sound, metal cracking bone…sometimes I still hear it.” Zeke shook his head, his stomach clenching. Remembering that sound alone was enough to give him nightmares sometimes.

  Brendon didn’t offer him any platitudes or stilted sympathetic words, for which Zeke was grateful. Instead, his lover just held him, petting him with hands that conveyed more than any words possibly could. Zeke closed his eyes for a moment, just letting himself be soothed by the loving touches, finding some sense of peace before he continued.

  “It was right after that, right after I went down, that Nessa and Elizabeth came screaming across the street, scared those four men off and saved my life.”

  It was a cleaner, easier version of what had happened, but it was the best he could do, because delving too deeply into that memory caused more pain than he could handle. And it wasn’t as if there were words to describe what it felt like to be beaten and reviled by four cowards who didn’t even have the balls to show their faces.

  “So they got away, after what they did to you. Just took off and never had to pay for it.” Brendon’s soft voice didn’t fool Zeke. The man was furious on his behalf.

  “Yeah, they did, but I fully believe they’ll answer for it one way or another. I have to believe there’s some sort of justice in this world.”

  “You may be right, Zeke, but I’d much rather bigoted assholes like that face the consequences of their actions pretty swiftly. Why didn’t anyone in this town do anything about it? Why didn’t they do something about your sister harassing you?” Brendon’s arms tightened around Zeke, anger making them constrict more than was comfortable. Zeke tapped at his lover’s arms, fearing if the man got any angrier, he’d soon be squeezed breathless.

  “I’m sorry, sorry.” Brendon loosened his grip but didn’t release Zeke from his arms. “It’s just…that they got away with it, your sister included, Zeke. It just drives me crazy. I don’t understand it.”

  Zeke understood. It was a small-town mentality thing, probably hard for people who grew up in big cities to comprehend. “Brendon, it’s just…different in a town like this, where everyone knows everyone. I wouldn’t press charges for the assault—I’ve already explained why. Remember, this years ago and laws have changed since then, but regardless, this is still a small town, probably slower to change than a big city. As for what happened with Eva… Well, it was more like a family dispute, I guess, and people didn’t want to interfere. Then there was the fact, is the fact, that she’s married to the son of a preacher at one of the churches here. Add to that the point that she’s a woman and I’m a man—a gay man at that—and it tended to have people turning their heads the other way.”

  “That’s shit, Zeke, all of those reasons. Laws are laws regardless of who is breaking them.” Brendon tugged a hand free from Zeke’s, bringing it up to turn his lover’s head, forcing their gazes to meet. “Is that why you didn’t notify the sheriff about the poisoning? You figure he will just blow it off?” Those brown eyes burned hot with anger, which, predictably, Zeke thought, had his cock growing hard. He was beginning to feel a bit twisted about the way Brendon’s anger turned him on, but it was a good kind of twisted. In this case, his kink was okay.

  “No proof yet, but even so, Doc Michaels was going to stop by and talk to the sheriff. I won’t file charges, though, not if it’s my sister.”

  Brendon cursed loudly and started to slide out of the bed. Zeke turned and grabbed him, pushing him down and pinning him to the mattress.

  “Goddamn it, Ezekiel! What is wrong with filing charges? You can’t just let people do this to you, you just can’t.” Brendon’s anger was something to behold. The man was bristling and glaring, so pissed he was trembling with it. Zeke rocked his hips against Brendon’s, moaning at the feel of his lover’s dick responding so beautifully.

  Brendon let out a frustrated groan of his own. “Zeke, stop trying to distract me…ahhh! God…” Brendon’s complaint tapered off as Zeke slid a hand between them, squishing their cocks together in his grasp. He squeezed and stroked, loving the way his man’s mouth dropped open just the smallest bit as he panted. No way could Zeke resist that open mouth. He licked the full lower lip then sucked at it, nipping lightly when Brendon grasped his hair. Zeke let go of their cocks and pushed up to his knees, sliding over to his lover’s side.

  “On your side,” he muttered over Brendon’s protest, turning him until his back was to Zeke. Grabbing the lube and a condom from the top of the nightstand, Zeke quickly had his cock covered. He snapped the cap open on the lube and poured some in his hand, closing the lid and tossing the bottle somewhere on the bed before coating his cock and fingers.

  “Fuck, yes!” Brendon groaned as Zeke pushed two fingers into his man’s ass, testing for readiness. Still stretched from their last round of fucking, Brendon’s hole took the fingers easily. Zeke inserted a third, twisting his wrist so he rubbed against the gland in his lover’s tight heat. Brendon bucked and yelled, reaching for his own dick as pre-cum leaked onto the sheets. Zeke’s cock grew wet and he knew he couldn’t wait any longer. Pulling his fingers out, Zeke grabbed his shaft and pressed it to the hole. He reached an arm down then under Brendon’s thigh, lifting it to spread him open. Sliding his other hand under Brendon’s body until he clasped him firmly around the chest, Zeke thrust hard and buried himself balls-deep in Brendon. Sparks shot out behind Zeke’s eyes, making his vision waver as pleasure zipped from his cock to every point in his body.

  “Ah, shit! Fuck me, Zeke. Hard!” Brendon’s arching back emphasized his order, and Zeke could do nothing but comply. He pulled Brendon’s thigh up higher and started pounding into his ass in a savage way Zeke knew Brendon would feel tomorrow. His lover pushed into Zeke’s thrusts as he could, feeding Zeke unintelligible sexy-as-fuck sounds that made his hips drive harder.

  “Guhn…” Brendon whimpered, pumping his dick just before spunk shot out onto his belly, with more spurts hitting his chest and Zeke’s arm. The sight alone was enough to have Zeke’s balls scrunching up against his body, but when the tangy scent filled his nostrils, along with the almost painful clamping down of his lover’s inner muscles, Zeke lost it. He moaned as buried his cock in Brendon, the hand on Brendon’s thigh clenching down tight as Zeke pumped his cum into his lover.

  Releasing Brendon’s leg, Zeke pulled his cock out and rolled to his back, carefully removing the condom and dropping it in the trash bin beside the bed. He tugged on his man until Brendon was snuggled up with his head resting on Zeke’s shoulder. Holding his lover in his arms, Zeke felt his eyelids grow heavy even though he wanted to stay awake and enjoy this moment and the feelings that were spinning around in his head and heart. He looked at Brendon, smiling when he realized the man was already asleep, mouth slightly parted and so pretty Zeke couldn’t resist a soft kiss before he, to
o, gave in and slept.

  * * * *

  Zeke came out of the barn as soon as he heard a car pulling down the drive. When he saw the sheriff’s car approaching, his eyebrows flew up almost to his hairline. What the hell? He walked over to wait by the porch, trying to figure out why the sheriff would be here. While he’d told Doc he could mention yesterday’s events to the sheriff if he had to, Zeke had also been clear on the fact he wouldn’t file a complaint or press charges. If it was his sister, he didn’t want her in jail, and if it wasn’t… Well, he already had enough enemies in town. He nodded at Sheriff Stenley as the tall, lean man got out of his car.

  Sheriff Stenley walked up, frowning as his gray eyes pinned Zeke with an angry glare. Zeke didn’t know the man—he’d only been sheriff here for a year—but he damn sure wasn’t intimidated by Stenley. Zeke arched an eyebrow, giving the man what he hoped was his best un-intimidated look. He wasn’t sure it was successful considering that the sheriff stalked right up to him, invading his personal space and leaning down—just how tall was the man anyway?—until their noses were just an inch or two apart. Zeke stood straight, dropping the aloof air to glare right back. Fuck this, he wasn’t going to cower for anyone.

  The back door squeaked as Brendon ran out and down the porch, papers that Zeke guessed had to do with panic attacks, as that was what Brendon had been researching only a few minutes ago, fluttering in his hand. “Is there a problem, uh, Sheriff?”

  Stenley didn’t turn away from Zeke as he acknowledged the other man. “I do have a problem with crimes going unreported in my county, yeah. It tends to piss me off a bit.”

  Zeke smirked at that, because there wasn’t a damned thing the sheriff could do about what had happened here yesterday, at least not until they got the test results back from the lab. Something he was going to enjoy pointing out to the man.