Page 44

They’d moved apart in the night. Cross maneuvered onto his other side to look.

Rusty lay sprawled, the covers shoved down to his waist and his arms spread with just the back of one hand against Cross’s thigh.

His blond hair wreathed his head in a tangled mass and he snored softly through parted lips.

Apparently Cross was able to sleep through snoring himself.

A glance at the hotel clock radio told Cross it was nine a.m. Seven on the West Coast. His body had woken him through force of habit, time to get out of bed and do his stretching before breakfast. He was surprised Rusty was still asleep given how early work began on the ranch.

Although if Cross thought back to his own teen days, it’d taken two alarms to get him out of bed for early practices. Sleep had been easy then.

Now, not so much. But this morning, he felt rested for the first time in weeks.

He hadn’t forgotten the mess inside his damned boot, or his fears, or the fucking final score in Edmonton, but in this big bed with Rusty snoring away beside him, the worst of his black mood had faded. I could get used to this.

He wanted to take advantage of feeling good, and do something for Rusty. And, truth be told, for himself too. There he is, the guy I’m falling for. What am I going to do about it?

Cross shifted closer, propped up on his elbow to look down at Rusty.

The perfect skin he’d admired by lamplight wasn’t quite as unblemished in the morning light.

He noted a thin white scar on Rusty’s left chest and a pebbled roughness on his muscular shoulder.

Cross leaned down and brushed a kiss over that uneven spot.

Rusty snorted and opened his eyes. “Hey, you.”

“Hey.” Cross couldn’t suppress a smile.

“Admiring my road rash? A cow dragged me by the halter rope when I was ten.”

“Stupid cow.” Cross kissed the spot again, then moved his lips to the white line across one flat pec. “And this one?”

“Goofing around with pitchforks.”

“And this.” Cross moved lower and sucked Rusty’s nipple into his mouth.

“Ngh. Born with that one.”

Cross sucked and nibbled, feeling Rusty’s nipple tighten, then balanced on one arm and shifted his attention to the other nipple.

Rusty grunted and shifted his hips on the bed. “Cross, what’re you doing?”

“I’d think that was obvious.” Cross sucked the soft skin of Rusty’s stomach hard enough to leave a mark. “This okay with you?”

“Hell, yeah. It’s great. But— Ah!” Rusty gasped as Cross pushed the covers lower to reveal tented gray sweatpants, then brushed his lips over the straining fabric. “You don’t have to.”

“I want to.” Cross added, “Suck you,” for clarity.

“Not arguing.” Rusty fisted his hands in the sheets.

Cross pushed the covers lower, then tugged the waistband of Rusty’s sweats up and over.

Rusty’s eager cock sprang free, slapping against his stomach and leaving a shiny spot.

Cross bent and licked the drop, reminding himself of the taste.

It’d been years since he’d had his mouth on a man, and he’d thought he didn’t like the flavor much, but Rusty’s slick had a faint salt-sweet tang he didn’t mind one bit.

He ran the flat of his tongue over Rusty’s abs even after the trace was gone, savoring clean male skin under his mouth.

“My dick’s over here.” Rusty wrapped a hand around his erect shaft.

“Patience.” Cross moved back up to his nipples.

“Dude, if you want patience, you need to let me come once or twice. Then I’ll do patience all you like.”

“Think you can come from me just licking your nipples and abs?”

“Probably not, but I can get close enough to knee you in the nuts out of frustration.”

“Tsk, tsk. Threatening violence. What are you, some enforcer?” Cross nipped Rusty’s stomach.

“Just fucking suck me!” Rusty hesitated. “If you’re going to. I didn’t mean—” He broke off as Cross sucked the head of Rusty’s cock into his mouth. “Oh, yeah.”

Cross eased a knee over and stabilized himself, then freed one hand to push Rusty’s arm out of the way and took over stroking his cock.

Opening his mouth wide, he slid down Rusty’s shaft to meet his hand, then sucked back up.

He’d studied cock-sucking porn, back when, before venturing out to see if hooking up with men would jumpstart his libido.

While it didn’t, the guys hadn’t complained.

Deepthroating had never been in his skill set, but he’d worked out some tricks with lips and tongue and hand action down below.

Sucking Rusty was a whole different ballgame, though— not a test, not a chore, but a pleasure.

Cross rolled his eyes up to watch a red flush come and go on Rusty’s neck and cheeks as Cross licked and nibbled on his cockhead.

He sucked Rusty hard and loved the way his eyes widened and those full lips fell open in a groan.

Every lick and kiss and nip of teeth had Rusty twitching and gasping and bucking his hips up for more.

Cross let go of the thick shaft to tug lightly on Rusty’s sac while pressing the fat cockhead against the roof of his mouth with his tongue.

“Fuuuuuck,” Rusty groaned, and the flavor welling on Cross’s tongue took on a bitter edge. “Gonna come. Back off.”

Cross went deeper instead, rolling Rusty’s balls as he sucked hard.

Rusty shuddered and cried, “God! Fuck! Jesus,” as he came in bursts of thick cum down Cross’s throat.

Cross swallowed hard, determined not to spill any. This flavor was less appealing, but the way Rusty gasped and moaned and beat the bed with his hands was the best applause in the universe. Cross took down every drop and kept tonguing him and sucking until Rusty tapped his cheek.

“Ah, too much. Off.”

Cross raised his head, letting Rusty’s spit-slick cock drop out of his mouth, and grinned.

Rusty grinned back at him, then ran a finger under Cross’s lower lip. “Jesus, you’re good at that.”

“Good?” Cross suddenly needed the reassurance.

“Awesome. Incredible. Fuck, if you can’t play hockey, you can make a fortune as a rent boy.”

Cross stared down at Rusty, too tangled up to decide if that was a compliment, a joke, or a little too close to the bone.

Rusty blinked back at him, then burst into laughter.

“Sorry, your face. Probably too soon, huh?” He cupped the back of Cross’s head and crunched up, defined abs tightening, to kiss him.

“You give really great head, though. Thank you. Give me a second and I’ll return the favor.

” He collapsed back on the pillow grinning.

“You don’t need to.” Cross pushed back and sideways to get his ass on the bed. His ankle throbbed faintly, but kneeling hadn’t been the worst position. He tugged the covers closer around his hips to hide his barely half-hard dick.

“What if I want to?” Rusty’s grin faded.

“Um.”

“Still too sore?”

Rusty’s gentle tone made it possible for Cross to shake his head. “No. I just don’t want to.”

“That’s cool. I got off like a rocket so I’m good, right?” Despite the easy words, Rusty looked worried.

He’s a great guy. I trust him, I loved making him feel good and I’m not bored, like with Willow. Why am I still like this? Cross shifted around on the bed, getting his legs out from under until he was sitting on the edge of the bed with his back to Rusty. What are you going to do? Run away?

He heard rustling behind him, then Rusty scooted over to sit beside him, sturdy bare legs next to Cross’s damaged ones. Rusty set a hand on the small of Cross’s back, his palm warm on suddenly chilled skin. “Talk to me, babe.”

Cross licked his lips, swallowed. “I need a drink. Water, I mean.”

“Sure thing.” Rusty jumped from the bed, jogged into the bathroom and returned with a glass of tap water. “Here.”

It wasn’t Perrier but the clean liquid helped unclog Cross’s mouth. He finished the glass off and stared down into it.

Rusty lifted the tumbler from his fingers. “More?”

“No. Thanks.”

Rusty set the glass on the bedside table. “Okay then. What has you tied up in knots?”

“I don’t know what you mean.”

“Your shoulders are cranked halfway to your ears.”

“Are not.”

Rusty huffed and turned toward him, sliding a knee onto the bed to get closer. He set his hands on Cross’s shoulders and began kneading, strong fingers digging into the base of Cross’s neck. Despite everything Cross needed to say, he couldn’t help groaning with pleasure.

“Oh yeah, that you like.” Rusty kept going, working Cross’s neck and shoulders and upper arms.

Cross closed his eyes and let himself fall into the pleasure of touch, hands on his skin, a rubbing massage that demanded nothing of him except that he relax and enjoy. He jolted out of the zone a minute later when Rusty stopped and let go.

“Thanks,” Cross murmured.

“No sweat. Your voice working again now?”

“I guess.”

“Okay? So this demi thing. You have to give it more time, right?”

Cross turned enough to see Rusty’s face. “I always figured if I found the right person, I’d want sex. Like, sometimes I get turned on, a bit. Watching you jerk off over FaceTime was hot.”

After a long pause, Rusty said, “But?”

“I like you, feel close to you, a lot more than I ever did with Willow. I watch you sometimes and I can’t believe how sexy you are. And last night, having you hold me, that was… special.”

Rusty reached toward Cross’s face but let his hand drop without touching. “To me too.”

“Then this morning, my ankle’s barely three on the pain scale. I finally don’t have terminal exhaustion brain fog. I have the guy I want most in the world in my bed. And I loved giving you a blow job, truly, watching you come apart under my hands but…”

“But?”

Cross took a sharp breath. “I still don’t need anything more. I don’t want you to touch my dick today, I don’t even want to come on my own. I’m good, just like that.”

“Maybe you’re still tired.”

“Yeah, a bit, but that feels like an excuse. Fuck.” He put his hands over his face. “I’m saying this wrong.” He’s going to leave now. He’ll walk away from this mess.