Chapter Fifteen

 

 

APPARENTLY RUSS didn’t need to be told twice. He grabbed Jordan by the wrist and set off toward the ranch. Jordan was perfectly fine with that plan. Thinking and logic were overrated anyway.

“You know I’m not actually a cowboy,” Russ huffed conversationally as they trotted down the hill.

“What?”

“I don’t raise or work with cattle beyond the few bovines we have at the rescue.”

“Uh, okay.”

Russ had gotten him all worked up and now he wanted conversation? Was he kidding? Thinking time was done. Otherwise Jordan might realize how crazy this was and put a stop to it, or at least put on the brakes for a second while he processed… and his dick was so not interested in that plan.

Russ just grinned over his shoulder and shook his head.

Phyllis and a couple of people at the table looked up as Russ charged into the yard—including Todd, who was helping his little girls pack up for the day—but Russ didn’t slow down. He let go of Jordan’s wrist—seemingly his only concession to the onlookers—but he marched up the stairs and into the house without a backward glance, and Jordan followed on his heels.

Before Jordan knew it, he was in Russ’s bedroom. As soon as the door closed, Russ spun around, tossed his hat into a chair, and pressed Jordan back against it. Russ’s mouth came down on his, wet and demanding and so fucking hot. That hard body and talented mouth scrambled his brains even more, and he gladly surrendered to the demands of his dick.

With a couple of quick yanks, Jordan’s T-shirt hit the floor, followed by Russ’s. Jordan had been fantasizing about Russ’s chest from the first day, and he wasn’t disappointed. A smattering of dark brown hair covered hard pecs, thickening around his brown nipples and trailing downward across his belly. But before Jordan could get a taste, Russ stepped away and pulled him toward the bed.

“Mind helping me with my boots?” Russ asked with a cocky grin.

“It would be my pleasure.”

Jordan yanked off Russ’s boots and socks, then dove for his turquoise-studded belt buckle. After hurriedly fumbling the button fly open, a quick yank revealed Russ went commando, and Jordan groaned. He pressed his face to Russ’s trimmed bush and rubbed his cheek along Russ’s rapidly hardening dick, breathing him in as his own cock throbbed in his jeans. As hard as Jordan was right now, he could probably come just from sucking Russ off. He wouldn’t even need to touch his dick.

Russ cupped the back of Jordan’s head and pulled him up, taking Jordan’s mouth in another hot kiss.

“Now you,” he growled. “I’ve been waiting far too long to see you completely naked.”

Jordan tried to kick off his hiking boots without undoing the laces, but he’d tied them too tight. Russ chuckled at Jordan’s growl of frustration, grabbed his arm, and shoved him onto the bed.

“I got it,” Russ said as he shimmied the rest of the way out of his own jeans, kicked them to the side, and dropped to his knees between Jordan’s thighs.

While Russ worked the knots loose and yanked at his boots, Jordan unbuckled his belt and undid the button and zipper on his borrowed jeans. Jordan’s cock throbbed at the look on Russ’s face when he saw Jordan’s tight red boxer briefs.

“Nice,” Russ growled.

“Yeah?”

“Hell yeah.”

Russ draped himself over Jordan, pressing him into the mattress and grinding their cocks together as Jordan kicked the rest of the way out of his jeans and underwear and spread his legs. Skin to skin at last, Jordan moaned eagerly into Russ’s kiss and mapped every inch of Russ’s work-hardened body he could reach. Russ’s muscles were lean and wiry, not gym-pumped for show, but that didn’t make him any less hot. In fact, the scents of hay and horse and sweat combined with Russ’s musk were driving Jordan crazy with need. Up until that moment he’d never quite realized he had such a thing for a hard-working, physical man… or maybe it was just Russ who drove him wild.

Jordan shoved a hand between their bodies, wrapped both their cocks in his fist, and pumped feverishly, desperate to come, but before Jordan could work up a good rhythm, Russ clamped a hand over his fist and forced him to stop. Russ grabbed both Jordan’s wrists and pinned them to the mattress by his head.

“Hold on there a second,” Russ murmured, smiling down at him.

“What?” Jordan breathed in frustrated need. “You want something else? You want to maybe fuck me into this mattress?” Despite being restrained, Jordan lifted up and bit Russ’s chin, giving it a soothing suck and lick as he released it.

Russ shuddered and groaned, but didn’t release Jordan’s wrists. “Yeah, baby, I want all that and more, but there’s no rush. I wanna touch and taste every inch of you. I wanna hear every pant and moan you make. I wanna find every little spot on this hot body that makes you wild. You gonna let me do that before we rush to the finish line?”

Jordan’s cock throbbed with every gruff dirty word out of Russ’s mouth, but Jordan wasn’t sure if his dick was cheering Russ on or protesting the delay.

“Jesus, Russ, anything. Just touch me,” he panted.

Russ’s grin could’ve been described as evil, but since he slid down Jordan’s chest, kissing and licking a trail in the general direction of Jordan’s dick, he supposed he couldn’t complain.

The first hot, wet swipe of Russ’s tongue over Jordan’s cock was pure torture, but Russ didn’t make him wait long. He took Jordan’s dick deep after only a few seconds of teasing, and Jordan moaned his approval loudly. It was a good thing the ranch house had central air and all the windows were closed, or those little kiddies outside might’ve gotten a little more of a nature lesson than they bargained for.

Jordan threaded his fingers into Russ’s thick brown hair and spread his legs wide to give Russ plenty of room to work. Russ was a man of many talents, and cocksucking was definitely not the least of them. He played around down there for what felt like hours, ferreting out every little bundle of nerves that made Jordan jump and swear and whine. He brought Jordan to the edge several times, until Jordan thought he really would go crazy if he had to wait even a second longer.

“Jesus, Russ, I need to come… please!”

Russ lifted his head, rasped his stubbled chin along Jordan’s sensitive inner thigh, and grinned. “Okay, baby. How do you want it?”

“You scrambled my brains, and now you want me to make a decision? Are you kidding me?”

With a chuckle, Russ climbed up Jordan’s body, draped himself over him, and kissed him slow and sweet. “How about an either-or, then?” he asked placatingly. “Do you want to come in my mouth or come while riding my cock?”

“That one! The second. Fuck me.”

Jordan hooked his heels under Russ’s ass and thrust against Russ’s belly, distracting Russ as he stretched to yank open the top drawer of his nightstand.

“Hurry up, or I just might finish without you,” Jordan teased.

“You better not,” Russ growled.

Tube of lube and condoms in hand, Russ sat back on his heels. He slid the condom on and slicked it up while Jordan licked his lips and thrust his hips impatiently. When Russ breeched Jordan’s ass with two wet fingers, Jordan threw his head back and bore down.

“Slow down, darlin’, let me get you ready or you’ll regret it.”

“I was ready half an hour ago,” Jordan complained.

“Not for this you ain’t.” Russ wrapped a fist around his admittedly impressive erection, and Jordan rolled his eyes and chuckled.

“Okay, okay. Just hurry up.”

Jordan was used to quick and dirty, but it had been a while. Forcing a little blood back into his brain, he concentrated on relaxing his overheated body and enjoying Russ’s talented fingers inside him without whining too much in frustration.

“You ready for me?” Russ growled after bringing Jordan a little too close to the edge yet one more time with his fingers.

“Yes! Fuck me.”

Lifting Jordan’s thighs over his arms, Russ pressed slowly inside until he bottomed out. Jordan gasped and groaned, so unbelievably full, and Russ stilled. He placed tender kisses to Jordan’s temple, his cheek, and then his lips.

“Okay, darlin’?” Russ panted.

“Yeah,” Jordan breathed. “Move. Do it.”

Russ started slow, fucking Jordan deep with each careful thrust, but as soon as Jordan pushed back and dug his heels under Russ’s ass, Russ got the hint and rode him hard. Jordan had to brace a hand on the headboard, which in turn banged against the wall, but he sure as hell wasn’t going to tell him to stop. Precum dribbled from his cock in a steady flow as Russ pounded his ass, and Jordan moaned, “Yes. Fuck. Harder. God.”

Eventually he just couldn’t take it anymore and he fisted his dick, pumping hard until he shot all over his stomach and chest with one last cry before collapsing back to the mattress. Russ hammered a few ragged thrusts home and shouted his release soon after.

With a chuckle, Russ pulled out, got rid of the condom, and dropped to the mattress next to Jordan.

“Damn, darlin’. Just damn!” Russ panted.

Jordan grinned as he tried to catch his breath. Russ had fucked him boneless. He wasn’t sure he could make it back to his room, even if he tried, so he hoped that wasn’t what Russ wanted. But he didn’t want to take his welcome for granted either.

Before Jordan could work himself around to asking, Russ snagged his T-shirt off the floor and gave it to Jordan to clean up. Then he slid an arm under Jordan’s back and urged him to drape himself over Russ’s chest.

The ceiling fan above them spun and rattled as it cooled their sweating bodies, and Jordan decided that was a good enough answer for him. Closing his eyes, he let the weight of a long day and postorgasmic warm fuzzies drag him under. If Russ wanted him to move at some point, he could wake him up.

 

 

CLOSE TO dinnertime according to the somewhat battered clock on Russ’s nightstand, Jordan once again lay partially draped over Russ’s chest, with his chin propped on the backs of his hands, watching Russ sleep. They’d made love two more times since the first, and Jordan’s body was still humming and tingling from head to toe. He probably looked like an idiot, staring all gooey-eyed, but he didn’t care. One-night stands and hurried hookups in bathrooms, alleys, and bathhouses had nothing on a few hours of Russ’s undivided attention in his creaky old bed. Russ was incredibly intense once he’d made up his mind about something, and Jordan still hadn’t quite caught up.

Unfortunately, the bang of the screen door downstairs ended any further uninterrupted study. Russ cracked open sleepy brown eyes, and a small, sexy smile curved his hard lips.

“What?” Russ asked.

Caught staring, Jordan flushed, smiled sheepishly, and shook his head. “Nothing.”

Russ did a full-body stretch before folding an arm behind his head and resting his other hand on Jordan’s flank. As he’d done pretty much all afternoon, Russ started exploring and petting Jordan’s skin like he couldn’t help himself, and Jordan wanted to purr. He’d had no idea Russ was such a sensualist, and now that he knew, he had this ridiculous urge to do a little happy dance around the room.

“You were looking at me awful intently for it being nothin’,” Russ said with a chuckle.

“Sorry.”

“Don’t apologize. I didn’t say it was a bad thing. But obviously somethin’s on your mind.”

Jordan worried his lower lip and squinted at him. “I just…. You’re going to have to bear with me for a bit. Like I said before, I got a little whiplash here. This is going to take some getting used to.”

“Which part?”

“You being nice to me. I mean, like, really nice to me. Like so nice I’m kind of melted over here.”

“Are you saying you want me to stop?” Russ asked, raising his dark eyebrows and stilling the fingertips he’d been trailing down Jordan’s spine.

“Hell no, I don’t want you to stop. I’m just going to need a bit to wrap my head around everything that’s happened over the last few days… hell, the last few weeks. Nothing is what I’d thought it was, I guess. I don’t know.”

He frowned helplessly. He wasn’t explaining himself very well. Russ’s small smile faded, and he dropped both hands to Jordan’s sides and urged him up. Russ rolled onto his side, and when they were face-to-face, he kissed Jordan, plucking at Jordan’s lips until he stopped worrying and sank into it. When they broke apart, Jordan laid his head on the pillow next to Russ’s and held his concerned gaze.

“Boy, when you make up your mind about something, you really make up your mind,” Jordan teased breathlessly.

Russ’s face sobered, and he nodded. “Maybe we should start there, because that’s probably something you should know about me up-front before this goes any further.”

A spike of unease made his stomach clench. “What’s that?”

“You haven’t known me long enough to see for yourself, but for better or worse, I’m an all or nothin’ kinda guy. I’m either all in or all out. I don’t have an in-between. I’ve been that way my whole life.” He let that sink in for a few seconds before continuing. “It’s not something I’m necessarily proud of per se, but at this stage in my life, I don’t think it’s gonna change. So, if that’s not something you want—not something you can promise back—you should probably let me know now.”

Jordan’s eyes widened and his eyebrows climbed toward his hairline as he pulled away a little. “Uh, I’m not really sure what that means. I mean, I’m kind of in flux right now. I have no idea what I want to do with my life or where I’m going. I’m here to figure that out. So if you need me to make, like, long-term promises, I don’t think I can do that.”

Russ chuckled. “Baby, I’m not blind. Despite all evidence to the contrary, I do realize you’ve got a lot to work through right now—even if I haven’t exactly been all that understanding about it. You don’t know where you’ll be next week, let alone next year. I get it. I’m not asking for that.”

“What are you asking for, then?”

“I’m asking you to say you’re all in, for right now. I don’t play games. I don’t mess around. Casual doesn’t interest me. If you’re gonna be with me, you’re gonna be with me. Just you and me, in a real relationship, no tiptoeing around the edges of one. Obviously we’re going to see each other every day, so there won’t be any of that ‘will he call?’ bullshit, but I don’t want to dick around with all that ‘does he like me?’ ‘does he want to spend time with me?’ BS, ’cause the answer’s yes. And, if you got somethin’ on your mind, you say it. You want something, you ask for it, and I’ll do the same… for as long as it lasts.”

After sucking in a deep breath, he searched Russ’s face. “Exclusive?”

“Yup.”

“Like real boyfriends, not just dating?”

“‘Boyfriends’ sounds a little high school for my taste, but yeah, that’s what I mean.”

“Sleeping next to each other? Hand-holding? PDAs? Cuddling? Long walks on the beach?”

Russ snorted. “We ain’t got a beach. But we can take a long walk holding hands anywhere you want. So, what do you say?”

“Jesus, you move fast.”

Russ grimaced and nodded. “I know. It’s not always a good thing.”

“I didn’t say it was a bad thing either,” Jordan argued. More noises from downstairs distracted him, and he sighed. “Guess we should get up before someone comes looking for us, huh?”

“Only if you want to. We’ve probably already missed cleanup, so there’s not much point. Phyl saw us come up here together. If she needs us, she can always holler up the stairs.”

“We should probably check on Marina, though, shouldn’t we?” Jordan continued, realizing with a small stab of guilt that he hadn’t thought about her for hours.

Russ rolled away from him, dug by the side of the bed, and returned with his laptop. He popped it open and pulled up a video feed from the barn, but this time, Marina’s stall was front and center.

“Chances are Phyl already had someone in to see her or checked on her herself, but I moved the camera this afternoon so I could look in on her at night.”

The mare looked fine. She was chewing placidly on her feed, her tail swishing at flies, showing no obvious signs of distress.

Jordan smiled up at Russ. “You thought of everything, huh? Got it all planned out?”

Giving Jordan a wry smile, Russ shook his head. “I don’t think I’ve had anything go to plan since you got here.”

“You could’ve fooled me.”

Russ’s smile widened into a grin. “Well, that’s the trick, ain’t it? A man’s got his pride to look after.”

Jordan shared his grin for a few seconds before he sobered again. “Is that all it was, pride? Because I got the feeling you really just didn’t like me.”

With a sigh, Russ propped himself on an elbow and held Jordan’s gaze. “I’m sorry about that. Like I said, you were right. Despite evidence to the contrary, I judged you based on things you had no control over, and you called me on it. The real you is pretty damned irresistible, as far as I can tell, and I was afraid to let you get too close—pure and simple.”

For several seconds, Jordan just blinked. “Wow. You really do just put it all out there, don’t you?”

A deep chuckle rumbled in Russ’s chest as his face split into a wry grin. “I meant what I said. Once I’m in, I’m in. I don’t play stupid games. With the people I choose to care about, I’m honest to a fault. I put everything out there…. Maybe you can understand now why I’m extra careful about who I let in. Why I’m a bit prickly on the outside.”

“So you don’t get hurt,” Jordan reasoned. “Because you’ve been hurt before.”

With a nod and a small smile, Russ started running his fingers over Jordan’s scalp, down his throat, and over his collarbones, and Jordan shivered. His eyes drooped and he leaned into the touches, but he struggled not to lose his train of thought. This conversation was important.

“Did Todd hurt you?”

Russ’s fingers stilled for a second before resuming their drugging caresses. “Naw, he—well, yeah, I guess he did. The way he’s acting now makes me feel like he did me a favor, dumping me for a ‘normal’ life with Molly Shelton, all those years ago. But at the time, I’d be lying if I said it hadn’t hurt.”

“You were pretty angry with him in the barn,” Jordan countered.

“I was annoyed with him, and disappointed, but he wasn’t the one I was hot over.”

Shifting uncomfortably under Russ’s wry smile, Jordan cleared his throat and pressed on. “He wasn’t the one who made you hate rich people either,” he guessed. At Russ’s raised eyebrows, Jordan shrugged. “He does pretty well, whatever his or his wife’s jobs are, but I didn’t get the feeling he came from money.”

“You can tell that just from looking at him, huh?”

Jordan rolled his eyes. “I know. I know. I’m contradicting everything I said earlier about stereotypes, but sometimes you can just tell. It wasn’t him, was it?”

“Nope. It wasn’t him. That was Theo. I was younger than you are now…. We both were. I worked on his daddy’s ranch one summer.” Russ waved his hand dismissively before returning it to Jordan’s skin. “He was bright and shiny, and I was too young and stupid to look beneath the surface until it was too late. He dumped me like a bad penny as soon as the newest bit of rough caught his eye.”

“I’m sorry.”

Russ smiled and kissed him tenderly. “Wasn’t your fault. He was my first love, is all. And I know you’re not the same as him.”

Jordan grimaced. “I’m not exactly the most stable person to bet on right now either,” he reluctantly admitted. “You said you didn’t want to play games, and we should be honest, so to be fair, I should probably point out to you that I’m all kinds of messed-up right now… if you haven’t already guessed.”

With a soft smile, Russ kissed his temple. “I know you got a lot to work out. I’ll help if I can, and you let me know if I’m making things worse. Be honest with me. That’s all I ask. I won’t put pressure on you for any promises you can’t make. This is new, and we’ll see where it goes. All I’m asking is that you be all in with me, right here, right now. That’s it, okay?”

Jordan nodded. He was getting choked up again, like the emotional basket case he was. Being an adult and giving Russ some equally kind assurances in return was apparently beyond him.

“Come on,” Russ said, rolling out of bed. “Let’s go down and see if there’s anything to eat. I’m starving, and you have to be too.”

Food was the last thing on Jordan’s mind, but Russ had already donned his jeans, so Jordan reluctantly stood and went in search of his own discarded clothes.