Hay and Heartbreak (8 page)

It didn’t come, not like he’d expected. The soft press of lips and the warm glide of Hector’s tongue were both so gentle Dan couldn’t repress a sigh.

Hector wrapped his arms around Dan, holding him but not making Dan feel trapped. Dan slid his hands over Hector’s shoulders and linked them together.

The kiss remained soft, sweet, with Hector taking the lead and Dan gladly giving it to him. He didn’t know how to kiss, not really, and took his cues from Hector.

Dan opened wider when Hector dipped his tongue in deeper. The taste of the man was minty and dark, some unnamable flavor that Dan could come to crave. He curled his hands together tighter and pushed closer to Hector, his body warming and cock beginning to grow erect. His breath stuttered out when Hector raised his head long enough for them both to get some air.

“Damn, you’re sweet,” Hector murmured before wending his fingers through Dan’s hair and kissing him again.

Dan felt a whimper building in his chest but kept it back. A decade of being silent during any kind of sexual encounter was a habit ingrained in him from prison, yet he felt a need to let Hector know just how aroused he was. Hector was undoing Dan in some way he couldn’t describe, with each soft press of lips, each sweep of his tongue.

Dan ached for the man. He understood, in that moment, what it meant to want someone with every fiber of his being. The connection between him and Hector was greater than Dan could have ever imagined such a thing being.

Before that morning, he’d thought Hector was interesting. Today, he thought Hector was sexy and virile, and Dan wanted to feel Hector in him.

Yet he didn’t push any more than to rub a little against Hector. This was new territory for Dan, this deep-rooted longing for someone, and he didn’t want to screw it up.

Hector made his rumbling sound again as he nibbled at Dan’s bottom lip. Fiery tendrils of arousal were spreading throughout Dan’s body. His cock had never been so hard before, not that he could recall. Then Hector thrust his tongue in, a firm, bold claiming, and Dan’s thoughts were whisked away like a feather in a tornado.

He was dimly aware of Hector moving him, turning him, pressing him against the door. Hector’s body was every bit as unyielding as the wood behind Dan.

Hector kept that hand in the back of Dan’s hair, cushioning his head, holding him, and Dan felt
safe
, something he’d never experienced in another man’s arms.

He trembled as he loosened his hold so he could touch Hector. Those broad shoulders were warm and strong under Dan’s caress. He kissed Hector back while stroking his arms, his back, everywhere he could reach.

Hector rewarded him with a thick thigh wedged between Dan’s legs.

Dan was going to lose it, he was going to come in his pants and there was nothing he could do to stop it.

Then Hector saved him from the humiliation by turning his head away and cursing. “Goddamn.
Goddamn!
”

Dan shrank back, wondering what he’d done wrong.

“That wasn’t what I intended to do,” Hector forced out, his throat and mouth gritty as he struggled to explain to Dan why he’d stopped. Dan had this kicked puppy look that was killing Hector. “I want to take you out and show you the ranch, spend some time with you, not fuck you raw against the door, and that’s what I was close to doing, Dan.”

Dan wasn’t meeting his gaze. In fact he had his head tilted down again in a way Hector was guessing meant he wanted to hide. Hector wasn’t having any of that. He cupped Dan’s chin, and stroked a thumb over the bottom part of the scar there. “Hey, look at me. You think I stopped because I wasn’t turned on as all get out?”

Dan swallowed and looked past Hector. “The scars—”

“Ain’t who you are,” Hector cut in. He moved his other hand from behind Dan’s head right down to tangle his fingers with Dan’s. “Feel this?” He pressed their joined hands over his bulging cock.

Dan’s eyes rounded, that pretty steel gray giving way almost entirely to the black of his pupils. “Yes,” he whispered.

“I want you,” Hector said, going with a blunt statement so Dan wouldn’t misunderstand. “I’m not going to fuck you up against the door so that everyone in this bunkhouse hears what’s going on, though, and that’s what I almost did. You just—you’re damned sexy, that’s all there is to it.”

“Me?” Dan blinked and looked right at him then. Then Dan reached up as if to touch the scar on his cheek.

“Yeah, those are there,” Hector acknowledged. “And there’s this.” He caressed Dan’s jaw, the firm, angular shape of it perfect in Hector’s opinion, just what a man’s should be like. There was no hint of stubble. Dan had cleaned up right nice for him.

Dan was frowning at him now. “This what?”

“I like a strong jawline on a man,” Hector explained. “And the way your chin has that little dip in the middle.”

“A butt chin,” Dan grumbled.

Hector laughed before he could stop himself. “Now come on, it doesn’t look like any butt I ever seen.” He kept his gaze locked with Dan’s as he dipped his head and licked over the little divot.

Dan’s breath hitched and he trembled.

Hector liked that reaction, a lot. No one had ever responded so fully and openly to him before, so earnestly. “I like the way you don’t hold back. I can see how much you enjoy what we’re doing together.” He ran his hand down Dan’s chest, over one hard point of nipple, then further still. Dan sucked his lean belly in as Hector touched it. “God, I like touching you.” Finally, he cupped Dan’s cock through his jeans. The man might be thin, but he was packing a substantial bulge.

Dan thumped his head against the door but was silent otherwise. He watched Hector with a heavy-lidded stare.

Hector gently squeezed his cock. “Riding with this is gonna be uncomfortable.”

Dan’s Adam’s apple bobbed, but he didn’t say a word.

Hector debated going down on Dan right there. Only the knowledge that they’d be heard stopped him. He didn’t want to share any of the sounds Dan might make with the others, not the first time they were together, at least. Plus, he didn’t want to treat Dan like a nameless hook up.

Dan was going to be around for a couple of weeks still. If he was interested in having a fling with Hector, then that was what they’d do, and Hector wouldn’t start it off putting on a show for the guys in the bunkhouse, even one that was only heard. Hector intended to have Dan screaming his name.

Hector massaged Dan’s cock again, and leaned in to whisper in his ear. “I’ll take care of this when it’s me and you, alone, in a field of sweet green grass and sunshine.” Hector was glad he’d finished up his work early, so they had time to enjoy the warmth and outdoors.

“Oh.” Dan sighed. He nuzzled against Hector’s cheek. “That…that sounds better than having everyone listening in.”

Hector licked Dan’s earlobe then suckled it before stepping back. “Yeah, and I imagine Frankie would be over here banging on the door if he got the chance. Duke might even get out of bed and join him.”

Dan shook his head. “Nah, he— It’s not like he’d be thinking to protect my virtue. I’m twenty-eight, not a kid.”

Hector had actually thought Dan was older in some ways, younger in others. The man was a mysterious mixture of naivety and seriousness. “Well, you’re almost up there with me. Trust me, once you hit thirty, things change up here.” Hector tapped his head. “Either that, or being around the people here is making me grow up despite myself.” He winked at Dan.

Dan gave him that bare hint of a smile that made Hector long to hear him laugh.

“Have you got a hat?” Hector asked him. “I mean a cowboy hat.”

“No. Not even a ball cap,” Dan replied, running a hand through his thick hair. It was a little longer than Hector’s, and looked like it’d be wavy if Dan kept letting it grow.

Hector could picture Dan sitting at the table or in the living area, or better yet, in his bed, with longer hair, the soft strands spread out on the pillow—

“Hector? Is something wrong?” Dan’s question snapped Hector out of his fantasy.

“Yeah, just thinking about where I’m going to take you,” Hector said. “First off, we’re going to my room to get you a hat. Can’t have you burning. Probably ought to lend you one of my jackets, too.”

“I’ll look like a dumbass in a cowboy hat,” Dan grumbled, following Hector out of the door. “But I’d be pleased to borrow a jacket.” He untucked his shirt and tugged it down over his cock.

“You’ll look just fine with a cowboy hat on,” Hector argued.

Frankie stepped out of his and Duke’s room.

Hector bit back a groan. He wasn’t in the mood for an inquisition. All he wanted to do was get Dan out of there and talk to the man for a bit without everyone listening in, see how he handled being on a horse, and show him the beautiful Montana scenery. Hector intended to get to know him, then
get to know him
in a physical way. His heart pounded just thinking about it. His dick was still semi-erect and unlike Dan, he hadn’t bothered to hide that fact.

“You two have fun,” Frankie said. The smile he gave them was genuine. “Duke and I are probably going to call it an early night. Thanks for agreeing to take him to his checkup tomorrow, Dan.”

“Sure thing. I don’t mind at all.” Dan nodded at Frankie, then Frankie returned to his room.

Hector didn’t want to risk any more run-ins with nosy cowpokes. He hurried Dan along and got him a jacket and a black felt hat that Hector had put away for a special occasion. It made Dan’s gray eyes appear lighter, almost pale silver instead. “Looks good on you, bub.”

Dan didn’t even check himself in the mirror. He just murmured, “Thanks,” and followed Hector outside, ignoring the looks from the guys in the living area.

Hector ignored them, too, except for Ramsey, who leered at him. Him, Hector flipped off, much to Ramsey’s amusement.

Outside, he caught hold of Dan by the elbow, just to touch him. “So have you ever ridden?”

“Ages ago, when I was a kid,” Dan said. “I wasn’t— The horse didn’t have a saddle on, and it was at some other kid’s birthday party. They loaded a bunch of us on that poor pony, with me in the front, and when the horse decided to nibble on some grass, I went sliding down its neck and landed on the ground. That’s the sum of my horse riding experience.”

Hector got a good laugh out of that, and he liked the way Dan’s eyes gleamed when he smiled crookedly in return. “Well, you’ll be on a saddled horse, and I reckon you’ll keep upright instead of sliding down ol’ Maisy’s neck. She’s a good girl, surefooted and gentle. You’ll like her.”

Dan inhaled slowly as he turned his head to look in the direction where the mountains stretched to the horizon. “Can people hike up those?”

“Sure enough can,” Hector replied. “Do you like to hike?” He preferred riding, himself—horse, ATV, truck.

“I think I’d like to try it,” Dan answered. He sighed and stopped outside the barn.

Hector’s gut clenched when Dan stared down for a full minute. “What’s wrong?” he forced out.

Dan cleared his throat and touched the scar on his forehead. “I—I don’t know what’s going on here.”

“We’re just going for a ride, maybe fool around if you’re interested,” Hector said, hoping he was giving the right answer. At least it was an honest one. “I’m not proposing marriage or anything like that, Dan. Just looking to enjoy some time with you.”

Dan canted his head, but the shadow from the hat’s brim hid most of his face. “Okay. I just don’t know what you’re expecting other than sex, or if you’re expecting anything other than sex.”

“I don’t
expect
anything, not even sex,” Hector protested. “I want to take you out and show you around the ranch, but that don’t mean we have to fuck. Not unless you want to. The same goes for talking. I don’t have to hear your life story. We can just enjoy being outside and anything else we agree on.” Though he’d like to know more about Dan, but Hector guessed it wasn’t necessary. Dan would be going back to Alabama, not staying on at the Mossy G. Any relationship they could possibly have would be short-lived. “We can keep things light and just do what feels good.”

Dan waited a few seconds before nodding. “Okay.”

Well, Dan was certainly a man of few words, which Hector already knew. Hector wasn’t one of those people who needed to avoid silence or thought a lack of jaw-flapping meant things were awkward. In truth, he believed there was something to be learned by a person’s silences as much as there was from their words.

He chatted about his workday once he had the horses ready and had talked Dan through getting in the saddle.

“You’ve got a nice seat,” Hector informed him. “Just hold the reins like so.” He positioned Dan’s hands and arms to a more natural position.

Dan cleared his throat, then said, “This is a much bigger horse than I was on as a kid.”

“Maisy’s your average-size Quarter horse, not as big as Vil here.” Hector patted his horse’s neck. “Vil and me, we been a pair since I was seventeen, when he was born to my daddy’s mare, Esme. I named him Villian because he had quite an attitude, still does sometimes, but Maisy, she’ll treat you right.”

Vil snorted and tossed his head.

Hector patted him again. “So will you, Vil, I know. I’m just trying to reassure Dan that he isn’t going to get thrown.”

“I can do this,” Dan murmured, more to himself, possibly, than for Hector’s sake.

Hector gave Dan a riding lesson, and was impressed with how quickly Dan picked up on everything. “You’re a natural, just like Duke. A few more times riding and no one will know you aren’t a ranch-bred cowboy.”

“I doubt that, but thanks.” Dan already sat loose and confident whether he knew it or not. He wasn’t stiff like so many new riders tended to be. His natural ease with Maisy made Hector want him even more. “So you think I’m ready?”

“Sure do.” Hector gestured at him. “Come on and bring yourself up here with me and Vil.” Once Dan was beside him, they set out due west. “You know, the sun really only rises and sets straight west and straight east two days a year?”

“What happened to the claim that it rises in the east and sets in the west?” Dan asked.

“Well, it sure enough sets in the west-ish and rises in east-ish,” Hector said, unable to keep from chuckling. “But I mean, straight, direct west and east, that only happens on the first day of spring and the first day of fall. You know what today is?”