Page 18 of Dust and Desire (Sagebrush Cowboys #5)

Dustin

B y the time dinner was over, I’d abandoned the dishes in the sink and taken Alex’s hand.

They would be tomorrow’s problem. Tonight, I wanted to spend every moment with Alex.

After his story, my heart was aglow. I couldn’t really understand why.

He was right, most people would’ve been jealous he’d loved another man, but I wasn’t.

I thought it was beautiful and intimate and sad in all the right ways. Maybe I really was a writer at heart.

Alex was still wearing nothing but a towel as I pulled him out onto the front porch into the night air. We leaned against the railing, watching the fireflies dance across the prairie. Above us the stars twinkled, and a thin crescent moon hung in the darkness.

“I never get tired of this,” I said, glancing over at Alex.

“This place, the peace I feel here… it’s so much different from New York.

And everything I didn’t know I needed.” I gave him a good once over, taking in that muscular body, the ridges of his torso, and the way the blonde hair on his abdomen dipped below his towel.

“Sure beats pretending to be somebody else in a high-rise.”

Alex’s gaze shifted from the stars to me, his eyes reflecting the moonlight. “I’ve seen a lot of night skies, working from ranch to ranch, but something about this one feels different.” He stepped closer, his bare shoulder brushing mine. “Or maybe it’s the company.”

The warmth of his skin against mine sent electricity through my body. I couldn’t help but reach out, tracing my fingertips along his collarbone. His breath hitched, and I felt myself being drawn to him like a moth to flame.

“You know, Dustin,” he whispered, “I’ve never met anyone quite like you. Someone who… I don’t know… you seem so out of place but so reassuring at the same time.” He shook his head, letting out a small sigh. “Sorry. I’m just being silly.”

I cupped his face, thumb brushing over his stubbled cheek. “Don’t stop,” I said, surprising myself. “If this is silly, I like it.”

“I’m not usually the romantic,” he replied.

“Based on the story you just told me,” I said, leaning closer. “I think you are. And I love it.”

When our lips met, it felt like the stars themselves had descended into my body. His mouth was warm, eager, tasting faintly of the wine we’d shared at dinner. The towel around his waist provided little barrier as he pressed against me, his arousal evident against my thigh.

My fingers tangled in his short hair as the kiss deepened, his tongue exploring mine with a hunger that matched my own. I was so lost in him that I barely registered the sound of boots on gravel.

A throat cleared behind us. We broke apart, startled, to find Sheriff Marcus standing at the bottom of the porch steps, hat in hand.

“Evening, gentlemen,” he said, his expression unreadable in the dim light. “Just making my rounds, checking that everything’s quiet out this way.”

Heat flooded my face, but Alex remained pressed against my side, seemingly unashamed of his near-nakedness.

“All quiet here, Sheriff,” I managed to say, my voice embarrassingly hoarse .

Marcus nodded, a small smile playing at the corner of his mouth as he replaced his hat. “Glad to hear it. You boys have a good night, now.” He tipped the brim toward us and turned to leave, calling over his shoulder, “Beautiful night for stargazing.”

When the sound of his vehicle faded into the distance, Alex burst into laughter against my shoulder. “Well, that’s one way for you to meet the local law enforcement.”

I couldn’t help but join him, the tension dissolving into something lighter, more charged. “Come on,” I said, tugging him toward the door. “I think we’ve given the prairie enough of a show tonight.”

Back inside, with the door locked behind us, Alex’s playfulness shifted into something hungrier. He pressed me against the wall, his towel finally falling away as his hands worked at the buttons of my shirt.

“I’m glad you’re staying tonight,” I said breathlessly, savoring the sensation as he slid his hands over my now bare chest. “Do they know who got into your apartment? We…” I paused as his lips wrapped around my nipple, pulling a moan from my lips. “We didn’t talk about it.”

“Don’t care,” he said, not looking up from his worship of my body. “Not important right now.”

His mouth moved lower, trailing hot kisses down my sternum as his hands worked at my belt.

I wanted to argue, to insist we talk about the break-in, but the way he was touching me scattered my thoughts like leaves in the wind.

I could hardly hold the thought in my mind for more than a fleeting moment.

“Alex,” I breathed, my hands finding his shoulders, feeling the solid muscle beneath sun-warmed skin. “I need you.”

He looked up at me then, his brown eyes reassuring me. “I’m right here, Dustin. I’m not going anywhere.”

Something in his voice made my chest tighten, a vulnerability that matched my own. I pulled him up to me, claiming his mouth in a kiss that was desperate and tender all at once. My hands roamed over his body, memorizing every ridge and hollow, the way he shivered when I traced the line of his hip.

“Bedroom,” I managed against his lips, but he was already guiding me backward down the hall, our bodies pressed together, skin against skin.

We tumbled onto my bed in a tangle of limbs and breathless laughter. Alex’s hands were everywhere, in my hair, on my face, sliding down to finish what he’d started with my jeans. When he finally stripped away the last barrier between us, I felt exposed in more ways than one, my cock flopping free.

“God, you’re beautiful,” he whispered, his voice rough with want. His fingers traced patterns on my chest, and I arched into his touch, craving more.

“So are you,” I said, meaning it. In the moonlight streaming through the window, he looked like something out of a dream, all golden skin and lean muscle, his sandy hair mussed from my fingers. He was an angel come to life, my hot and naked savior.

When he kissed me again, it was with a reverence that made my heart race. This wasn’t just desire, it was something deeper, something that scared and thrilled me in equal measure. His hands explored my body with patient thoroughness, finding spots that made me gasp and moan beneath him.

“I want to make you feel good,” he murmured against my throat, his breath hot on my skin. “Tell me how to do that.”

I stared up at him for a long moment before reaching up to cup his face. “Will you help me get out of my own head?” I asked, meaning it more than he knew. I wanted him so badly, but I was still struggling to stay present, to keep the self-loathing at bay.

“How?” he asked simply.

Heat flushed to my cheeks. “Blindfold me.”

Alex’s breath caught and for a moment, I thought I’d scared him away.

“S-Sorry,” I muttered. “That was too much… I shouldn’t have?—”

A finger pressed to my lips, silencing me. “I love blindfolds,” he said, his voice suddenly low and hungry. “What are your limits tonight?”

The energy in the room had shifted suddenly.

I knew this feeling. It was the same as those times when Ali and I had gone to sex parties hosted by our friends.

Ali thought they were fun, and it was the only time I really felt satisfied.

Getting blindfolded and tied up and sexually tortured in the most exquisite ways made it possible for me to forget who was touching me.

I could fantasize all I wanted without them knowing.

And after all, when I was blindfolded, a mouth was a mouth.

“Let’s keep it fairly vanilla,” I said, slipping back into a submissive mode that I knew all too well. “But I’m open to… you know… anything I guess.”

“Be specific,” Alex stated, not giving me an inch.

I faltered for a moment, embarrassed but too turned on to stop. “Anal and oral are on the table. Condoms are in the drawer with lube, but you don’t have to use them if you don’t want. I’ve got a clean bill of health.”

“So do I,” Alex replied, just to ease my mind. “Got tested before I came to Sagebrush. I haven’t been with anyone else since.”

“So…” I said, daring to hope. “Is that a yes?”

“That’s a fuck yes,” he grinned. “But if you feel uncomfortable at all, just tell me, okay? I’ll stop immediately.”

I nodded, my chest filling with heated excitement. “Okay.”

“Where the blindfold?”

I reached into the side table, pulling it out and handing it to him. He took it reverently, rubbing the fabric between his fingers.

“Black silk?” he asked, lifting an eyebrow. I nodded. “Fancy boy,” he grinned back.

“Lie back,” Alex said, his voice taking on a commanding edge that sent shivers down my spine. I settled against the pillows, my heart hammering as he leaned over me. The silk was cool against my heated skin as he tied it carefully behind my head, his fingers gentle in my hair.

“How’s that?” he asked, his breath warm against my ear.

“Perfect,” I whispered, and it was. The darkness was immediate and complete, heightening every other sensation. The soft cotton of the sheets beneath me, the whisper of Alex’s breathing, the faint scent of his skin mixed with the lingering aroma of dinner.

“Good,” he murmured, and then his lips were on my neck, pressing soft kisses that made me arch beneath him. “Just feel, Dustin. Don’t think about anything else.”

His mouth moved lower, tracing the line of my collarbone with his tongue. I gasped, my hands fisting in the sheets as he found that sensitive spot where my neck met my shoulder. He seemed to catalog every reaction, every sound I made, adjusting his touch accordingly.

“You’re so responsive,” he said against my skin, and I could hear the smile in his voice. “I love watching you.”

His hands mapped my chest, thumbs circling my nipples until I was writhing beneath him. When he replaced his fingers with his mouth, I cried out, my back bowing off the bed. He took his time, lavishing attention on first one, then the other, until I was trembling with need.