Page 42 of Cowboy Seeks Husband

“Okay,” Roan said again, sounding a little strangled.

Walker already knew what he was going to find by the time he eased Roan’s underwear down over his ass. He’d seen the shape of the little sucker through Roan’s soaked white briefs. “There’s another one here,” he said, feeling winded.

Shit.

Roan’s ass was gorgeous. Tight and round, the perfect punctuation to the long, long line of his beautiful legs.

“Is it bad?” Roan asked with a note of panic in his voice.

“No, it’s smaller than the other one. It’ll bleed less.” He reached up and the nurse handed him more cotton balls with alcohol, then he removed the leech like he had before.

He held the cotton against the bleeding wound until Roan said, “This isn’t what I usually have in mind when I think of having my ass eaten.”

Walker laughed, startled, and a rush of affection soared through him. He pulled some fresh cotton out of the bag, then stuck it in place with a tight bandage. Roan looked over his shoulder, looking sheepish.

“Sorry. I say embarrassing things when I’m…well. Embarrassed.”

“Nothing to be embarrassed about,” Walker said. “Nothing at all. How’s the front?”

“Nothing there. Thank God.”

Walker was relieved, too. He didn’t really relish the idea of removing a leech from Roan’s balls or cock. “Good. Here, put on these jeans,” Walker got to his feet and reached into the truck while the medics put bandages over the other little wounds. “Those bites might keep bleeding for a while, but I’m sure there’s a first aid kit at the house if you need to change the bandages.”

“I’ll get blood on your jeans.”

“That’s okay.” Walker looked down at the old Wranglers. They were both holding on to them, and he was about to let go when he noticed a few scrapes on Roan’s right hand. “This from the catfish?”

Roan lifted his hand. His cheeks were pink, and Walker realized Roan was still stark naked. He kept his eyes on Roan’s hand. “Yes,” Roan said. “I think so? Something scraped me through the glove when my hand was in its mouth.” He started to laugh giddily, and Walker realized the adrenaline was wearing off big time. He needed to get the little lion home.

“I’ll clean that up,” one of the nurses said. “And put some antibiotic cream on it to be sure.”

“You’ll be going home with war wounds from this date.” Walker risked a glance up to find Roan’s eyes on him. He winked. “You did great today. I have to be honest, I didn’t expect you to.”

Roan laughed but he sounded tired. “No, me neither.”

“Okay guys, get dressed and ready to go,” John said.

“Sorry, but I have to check Walker out first,” the medic said. “Take your clothes off, please.”

Walker nodded and watched Roan quickly dress before John lead him off for an In-the-moment with the other medic. He was almost disappointed that Roan wasn’t going to see him naked, too. Tit for tat, and all of that. Within minutes, the medic confirmed that he was leech free. Roan must really taste sweet to have attracted so many of the boogers, when Walker had been underwater a hell of a lot more than he had.

When Walker joined Roan by the river again, the kid seemed exhausted.

John checked the time and said, “We’ll interview you later, Walker, back at the house. We’re losing this light, anyway, and the storm is coming in. I’ll go find our gator hunters.”

“I’ll come with you,” Walker said. He turned to follow, but found himself oddly reluctant to leave Roan’s side. He pushed himself on, though, and only looked back twice to watch Roan walk back to the truck with the rest of the crew.

By the time they returned with the second crew, Roan was sitting in the passenger seat, head leaning against the rolled-up window.

“Aw, your boy’s tired,” John whispered. “You need to look after him.”

Walker rolled his eyes.

John grinned. “We got some good stuff today, well done. Andy will be pleased.”

“With the noodling? I hope so. That was one badass fish he pulled out.”

“Well, that too. But the two of you snuggling and making sexy eyes at each other after one date is going to make Andy salivate.”