Reyes didn’t ask questions the next morning when Miles said he was driving into San Francisco with a friend, not even which friend. It probably wasn’t Wes, because he was still at the hospital with Mack, holding vigil with Arthur. Some of the hands planned on driving out to visit, and Reyes went in with the quartet who left a little after lunch.
They all took turns going in, while the rest of them sat in the waiting room with Mack and Wes, who were both stretched and worn. Reyes brought them a hot lunch from Patrice, and a thermos of coffee to keep them going.
“Where’s Miles?” Mack whispered.
“Doing a personal errand,” Reyes replied. He hadn’t told Mack about the direct message videos, and now wasn’t the time. Reyes wasn’t positive that’s what Miles was dealing with, but he held on to that hope in the back of his mind. “How are you holding up?”
“Thank God for Wes, or I’d be a puddle on the floor. You’ll be shocked to know my father visited this morning.”
Reyes arched both eyebrows. “How did that go?”
“As coldly as you’d expect. I think he hoped I’d let him sit with Arthur alone so he could unload on an unconscious man, but I didn’t. So he sat there in silence for five minutes and left. Bastard.”
“He came. Even if it was only to say goodbye, he still came. Maybe not for Arthur, but for you, Mack.”
“Doesn’t matter anymore. I’m done with that man.”
Reyes slung his arm around Mack’s neck and squeezed. “You’ve got us. We’re your family, bud.”
“Yeah.”
By the time their group returned to the ranch, it was late afternoon. On the way to the barn, Reyes’s phone pinged with a text.
Miles: Home. Riding with Tango to think. Be home in a bit.
Interesting.
For the first time in months, Miles wanting to be alone and think didn’t worry him the way it once had. Miles had a tendency to get caught up inside his own head, and when that happened, he needed to untangle things and get back out. It wasn’t about avoiding Reyes or not wanting to talk. Once Miles had his shit together, he’d find Reyes—of that he had no doubt.
So he threw himself into work, picking up a bit of the paperwork slack while Judson was distracted. Judson had known Arthur for decades, and he had to be hurting terribly. He was also extremely private, and Judson kept his emotions to himself. Most of the guests were either on a trail ride, or down at the pond swimming. Reyes did a quick sweep of the guesthouse, anyway, and chatted with a young gay couple who were playing mancala on the front porch.
They loved the ranch, the atmosphere, found the staff accepting, and yes, they would definitely recommend the place to their friends.
All feedback Reyes loved hearing from his guests.
He returned to his office, and a little after five, the familiar clomp of hooves moved past the door. He looked up to see a swish of brown tail disappearing, and his pulse jumped with joy. Miles was back. Five minutes later, Miles filled the half-open doorway with a shy smile on his face.
“Hi, honey, how was your day?” Miles asked in a teasing tone.
“Long. Visited the hospital with some of the guys earlier, but mostly paperwork and schmoozing.”
“And you hate schmoozing.”
“Paperwork doesn’t care if you’re polite to it or not.”
Miles chuckled. “No, it doesn’t. You up for a walk with me?”
“Definitely.” Reyes tidied up his desk, then pulled the door shut behind them. “Any particular direction?”
“Yup.”
He followed Miles around the barn, toward the path they usually rode to Mack and Wes’s place. Movie night was cancelled for obvious reasons, but it was a familiar place and meaningful to them both. Once they were past the view of the barn, Miles took his left hand and held it tight while they walked in companionable silence.
About halfway there, the path crossed a narrow creek of brown stone and gently babbling mountain water. Miles paused there to crouch and trail his fingers in the stream. “I went to see the police today,” he said. “About Dallas.”
Reyes’s entire body jolted. “You did? Alone?”
“No, with the friend I drove in with. Shawn, actually.”
“Your pastry chef?”
“Yeah.” Miles looked up, squinting against the dimming evening light. “We talked yesterday. Or actually, I may have lost it at work and vented everything to him. Shawn went through something similar—but way different—with an ex, and he was really supportive. I know you would have gone if I’d asked, but I needed to do this on my own.”
“On your own with Shawn?”
“Yes?”
Reyes sat on the hard ground next to him so Miles didn’t have to keep straining his neck. “First of all, I’m so proud of you for going to the police and standing up for yourself.”
“Thank you. I’m proud of me, too, actually. Honestly, at first I was just going to report Dallas for breaching the no-contact order, but once I explained how I thought it happened, their cybercrimes unit got involved. If they can connect those user names to Dallas, he’ll be arrested.”
“What about the video and your birthday?”
“I reported what I knew. The detective I spoke to is taking me seriously, but without any blood tests showing I was drugged, it’s a hard case to prove. However, in California, it’s illegal to create hidden video recordings of people, so if they find the whole video, there might be something more damning on it. He promised to bring Dallas in for questioning and to try and identify the second man in the video.”
“That’s great news.” A terrible thought made Reyes’s stomach hurt. “Do you think Dallas will try to retaliate?”
“I don’t know how he could. He’d be an idiot to try and reach out to me directly, and even dumber to get at me through Wes, considering Mack. Even if he posted the whole smutty sex tape online, who cares? I left Miles Arlington behind in San Francisco six months ago. I’m a different person here, a better person. And I’m tired of being Dallas Ward’s fucking doormat.”
Reyes nearly burst with the force of all the pride he felt in that moment. So. Much. Pride. For someone who’d been as abused and tormented as Miles to finally say, Enough! I’m done.
“Your strength never stops amazing me,” Reyes said. “I mean that. You stood up to me last night, and you’re standing up to Dallas now. You are the head chef of your own successful restaurant. You are truly taking control of your life.”
Miles’s smile went shy. “I wasn’t this strong before I met you.”
His heart tripped. “Yes, you were. Strength like this is part of a person. It had just been stomped on so much and beaten down, that you needed time and patience and love to discover it again. You did have strength before me.”
And you’ll need to take it with you after me, too, my heart.
“You always know the perfect thing to say,” Miles said. “Are you sure you don’t read romance novels on the sly?”
Reyes laughed. “Cross my heart.” He dipped his own fingers in the cold creek water, watching the shapes it made. “Don’t forget, I’ve got a decade’s worth of life experience on you.”
“Trust me, I feel older than twenty-five some days.” Miles flicked water at his face. “But you will always be the old man in this relationship.”
“Old man?” With a pretend growl, Reyes tackled Miles to the ground and kissed him, keeping it playful, but also full of meaning. “How’s that for an old man?”
“Hmm. I might need another one for a quick comparison?”
Reyes dipped his hand and shoved cold, wet fingers under Miles’s shirt, right onto his belly. Miles squealed and laughed as Reyes tickled, enjoying the genuine humor in Miles’s gleaming eyes and big grin. He kissed Miles again, then nipped his bottom lip. Pushed a thigh between Miles’s legs and ground a bit, until Miles gasped. Rubbed his own leg into Reyes’s crotch.
Miles reached around to palm Reyes’s ass, and their kiss deepened. Arousal surged through his veins, and Reyes wanted. Needed. He’d never ached for something so badly in his life, and it had everything to do with Miles. Miles’s bravery and strength was a huge turn-on, and more than that, Reyes wanted Miles to claim him.
“Want you,” Reyes panted between kisses.
“Here? On the ground?”
“On the ground, against a tree, don’t care.” Reyes tugged Miles’s hand into the crease of his jeans. “I need you in me, Miles.”
Miles’s lips parted, eyebrows winging up. Reyes had never bottomed before, never felt the urge to let another man enter him. But he wanted it with Miles so badly his entire body clenched with need. Miles massaged his crease as he studied Reyes’s face. “I don’t have a condom on me. Or lube.”
“Don’t want a condom, Miles. Want to feel you.”
Bewilderment widened Miles’s eyes even more, and he pushed until Reyes reluctantly sat up. “Okay, you can’t just drop going bare on me like that. Not without a conversation.”
“You’re right.” Reyes pushed his arousal down and tried to be rational. “I haven’t been with anyone but you since my last test, and I know you’re the same.”
“True, but it isn’t just about our status. Ditching condoms is a huge step, and I’m not sure I’m mentally ready to go there with you, you know, in me, like we usually make love.”
“And I understand that completely, mi alma.” Reyes squeezed both of Miles’s hands. “I would never pressure you into anything sexual, and maybe me asking was in the moment, but I don’t regret it. I’ve never gone there with another man, and I want to with you. I want you inside me. To mark me. I’ve never wanted anything so badly.”
“Oh, Reyes.” Miles’s eyes went liquid. “I’d love to give that to you. But not in the dirt with no lube. In a bed, with plenty of time and preparation.” He winked. “Maybe we’ll do the dirt sex some other time.”
“I recall you mentioning sex against a wall once.”
Miles laughed. “Yeah, that’s on the bucket list, too.”
A bit of Reyes’s excitement died at the “bucket list” comment. A bucket list was something you did before you died, and it made Reyes remember how fleeting this relationship was. And that every new thing they did together could potentially be the last, too. It helped calm his raging boner enough that walking back to the cabin wouldn’t be too uncomfortable.
Reyes stood and helped Miles up, where he pulled him into a hug. “How about we walk home and make love?”
“That sounds absolutely perfect to me.”
* * *
On the long, leisurely walk home, Miles marveled at the complete one-eighty his life had taken in the past few weeks. From terrified of his ex to taking his life into his own hands. Nervous about sex to openly loving his boyfriend. Hiding from the past to confronting it head-on and hoping for an arrest warrant or two.
He was done sitting down; it was time to resist.
And Reyes, bless him, was by Miles’s side no matter what. Yes, a small part of Miles worried over this dark secret Reyes had yet to share, but only a small one. The vast majority of him loved Reyes wholeheartedly, no matter his past or flaws, because Reyes loved him the same way. And when Miles tried to give Reyes the credit for Miles’s newfound strength, Reyes only boosted Miles, instead of taking that credit.
They walked hand in hand, in no hurry, despite knowing what would happen when they got to the cabin. Colt was lounging on their porch when they arrived, but he took one look at them and scampered away. Miles laughed.
Once inside, Miles’s heart flipped at the enormity of what Reyes wanted. Yes, he’d topped Kevin a handful of times, but he much preferred bottoming. Obviously, Reyes preferred to top if he’d never bottomed before now, and it did make Miles wonder why now? Maybe it was all the stress in their lives this week, and Miles could live with that. But only if Reyes could live with it, too.
Reyes yanked his work polo off and dropped it to the floor. He reached for Miles’s shirt, but Miles grabbed his wrist. “Are you one hundred percent sure you want to do this?” Miles asked.
“Yes.” Reyes cupped his chin with his free hand. “I will never ask for something sexually I’m not sure I want, just as I promise I’ll never do anything I’m not sure you want. So if you’d rather make love the usual way...?”
“No. If you say you’re sure, then I’m sure. I guess I’m a little nervous.”
Reyes dropped his hand to Miles’s shoulder. “Tell me why.”
“Because it’s you, and it’s your first time. I want it to be good.”
“It will be. Everything we do together is perfect, Miles. Never doubt that.” Something sad flickered in Reyes’s eyes. “I’ll treasure every new moment we share, every experience we create.”
“Me, too. Now get in my bed.”
Reyes’s eyebrows jumped, but he did as ordered. Miles climbed on top of him and proceeded to kiss his boyfriend senseless. He lost track of the time he spent licking, sucking, and nipping at his lips and tongue and throat. They lost clothing a bit at a time, until they were writhing naked on his bed, hard cocks rubbing together, their bodies a tangle of limbs and sweat.
Miles explored Reyes’s tattoos with his lips and tongue, tasting skin, tracing lines, working his way down to his prize. He sucked on the head of Reyes’s cock, loving the bitter taste of precome, and the headier flavor of Reyes himself. Before Reyes, giving head had been an expectation and a chore. Now it was a fucking pleasure in and of itself.
He played, sucking dick and stroking balls, until Reyes warned him off. With a lusty groan, Reyes dove for the dresser drawer where he kept the lube, and he was back in seconds, on his back, legs spread for Miles. Pleasure and need speared Miles’s gut. A terrible desire to push inside this man, to fuck him to orgasm, and then coat his insides with his come.
Fuck, I’ve never wanted someone this much before.
Miles floated on pure desire as he coated a single finger with lube and brushed it against Reyes’s unclaimed hole. It fucked with his head a little bit, because Miles didn’t remember his first time. Only that he’d been sore the next day, and he wanted everything about this to be amazing for Reyes.
And it would be, because it was them. Together. Forever.
Please.
He pushed against that tight ring of muscle, all the while watching Reyes’s face for any sign of distress. Reyes held his gaze with blazing eyes full of love and desire, so Miles pushed harder, and he might have gasped when his finger breached Reyes for the first time. Nudged into heated pressure, working that lube in a bit at a time.
“Fuck, that feels good,” Reyes said. “Yeah.”
Miles leaned down to worry both of Reyes’s nipples with his teeth, taking his time on each one, until Reyes begged for a second finger. The fit was tighter, somehow hotter, and Reyes groaned once as Miles pushed in to the first knuckle. Then the second. Reyes rocked his hips, silently asking for more, so Miles fucked him slowly with his fingers, scissoring a little to help get him loose. Miles didn’t have a huge dick, but he wanted this to be amazing, not painful. Never painful.
He’d woken up in the morning too many times wondering why his ass hurt so much. He would never do that to another person, especially not Reyes. So he played, stretching and working in more lube, occasionally brushing over Reyes’s gland, until Reyes was a panting, begging mess beneath him.
“Fucking now,” Reyes said. “Need you, mi alma.”
“You’ve got me, my soul.” He eased his fingers out, then used his slick hand to stroke Reyes’s cock, savoring the way Reyes thrust into his fist, unable to get a proper breath. Miles used his free hand to drizzle cold slick onto his own dick, his heart twisting up tight in anticipation.
He’d never gone bare before. Ever.
That I remember, anyway.
Miles pushed those thoughts aside and focused on his lover. Notched the head of his cock to Reyes’s entrance. He held eye contact with Reyes, because this moment was too special to look anywhere else. Miles tried to put all his love and adoration and thanks into his expression as he pushed inside.
Reyes let out a long, breathy moan as Miles breached him, hands fisting the blanket before reaching out to grip Miles by the hips. Steadying without directing. Miles braced one hand on the bed by Reyes’s head, the other still holding the base of his cock. He hated breaking eye contact, but Miles had to look. Down to the place where their bodies were joined in the most intimate of ways. Down to where Miles was inside Reyes.
“Oh fuck,” Miles gasped. “Oh.”
“Keep going, please,” Reyes said. “Please.”
“Feels so fucking good.”
“Yeah. Miles!”
He pushed harder, more of his dick disappearing inside the man he loved with each small thrust. Reyes’s expression was glazed, overjoyed, and didn’t show the tiniest hint of discomfort or pain, and when Miles’s hips were flush with Reyes’s ass, they both groaned.
“So full,” Reyes said. “Oh fuck, you gotta move.”
“Christ, Reyes.” No sex or experience he’d ever had compared to moving inside another person with no barrier between them. Intimacy times infinity, and when Miles began to withdraw and push back in, slow and steady, Reyes raised his legs. Deepening Miles’s access. Miles pushed Reyes’s legs back by the calf and held them there, keeping Reyes open, at his mercy.
And Reyes simply watched him with blazing affection and trust, soft noises dropping from his lips with each thrust. Miles went slow, needing to savor this, despite his orgasm teasing him from just beyond his reach. He didn’t know when or if Reyes would want to do this again, and Miles needed every single second, every push and groan and slide of skin.
Perspiration dotted Reyes’s skin, and Miles rested Reyes’s ankles on his shoulders so Miles could trace those beautiful, glistening tattoos. He outlined the sun radiating from Reyes’s navel, the symbols on his shoulders, every swirl of black ink on smooth copper skin. When he’d touched every tattoo he could reach, Miles resumed stroking Reyes’s cock.
“Close,” Reyes gasped.
“Me, too.” Miles doubted they could come together, but they’d be close. He thrust harder, chasing his own orgasm, while tipping Reyes into his.
Reyes shouted something in Spanish as he came, his semen coating Miles’s fist and splattering his belly and chest. Miles squeezed every drop he could out, and then licked his hand clean. He started to pull out, but Reyes wrapped his legs around Miles’s waist and shook his head.
“Come in me.”
“Are you sure?” Miles asked, a little overwhelmed by the emotions in Reyes’s eyes.
“Positive. Need to feel it.”
“Okay.”
Miles was close, close enough that after only a few more strokes—and Reyes clamping down hard—an orgasm shattered down Miles’s spine. He pushed deep, his hips stuttering a bit, as he came inside his boyfriend. Sharing something so intimate, something he’d never shared with another person. Reyes tugged him down into a long, sensual kiss that left Miles’s lips tender and wet.
“Thank you,” Reyes whispered against his cheek. “That was amazing. Perfect.”
Miles nuzzled his throat, then licked a damp spot. “I loved this. Love you.”
“Me, too.”
They stayed like that awhile longer, until Miles’s spent cock slid out, and then they rested together on top of the covers until Miles shivered. As much as Miles wanted to stay in bed with his boyfriend forever, it was time to clean up. It had been a hard day, but well worth the stress. All Miles wanted was to live his life the way he wanted, without feeling as if Dallas would jump out from behind a tree at any moment to ruin his life. And he’d finally put those wheels into motion.
While they waited for the hot water to kick in, Miles wrapped his arms around Reyes from behind and rested his cheek against Reyes’s shoulder. Reyes reached back to play with his hair, which desperately needed a cut. He hadn’t bothered in months, and it stuck out in flyaway curls all the time.
“What are you thinking?” Reyes asked.
“I’m thinking how happy I am. Content. Settled. Even with Dallas still a question mark, and Arthur still sick, I’ve never been happier than I am right now. Thanks to this ranch, the ghost town, and you.”
Reyes twisted around so they were face-to-face, belly to belly. “I feel the same. I’ve never been in love before, Miles, and I can’t predict the future, but I’ll take this joy for as long as I have it.”
Odd words, but whatever. Miles was too happy to think about the future. All he cared about was the here and now, and right now, he was in love and safe.
And for right now, that was all Miles needed.