Page 3 of Wellspring

“Let’s see how you do with Butterfly as we ride west,” Webster said. “If you handle that brute as well on the trip as you did on the docks today, I’ll have all the proof I need to convince Payne to hire you.”

CADE WALKED slowly back to his hotel, having left Heller at the boarding house where he’d taken a room for the few days they would be in Galveston.

His mind raced as he pondered their conversations over the course of the afternoon and evening.

Heller still looked like an aristocrat, but Cade had seen no signs of the kind of high-handed behavior he associated with that breed.

The man had asked questions, taken instruction, and generally been a pleasant companion all evening.

And his talent with the horse he’d acquired still amazed Cade.

Every time the stallion got skittish, Heller had calmed him with a touch or a word.

If the two had been together for years, that might not have been so impressive, but Cade knew exactly how long they had known each other—as long as he himself had known Heller.

And that made Heller’s feat impressive indeed.

If that carried over to the wild horses on Wellspring, Payne would be a fool not to hire Heller on the spot.

And Zeke Payne was many things, but no one had ever accused him of being a fool.

Cade hoped it would work out because in the few hours they’d already spent together, he had grown to like the man.

Heller’s face wasn’t weathered the way Cade was used to, more proof that he’d had a life of some privilege before leaving Prussia, so Cade couldn’t peg his age as easily as he could with another cowboy, but he would guess the man was somewhere around thirty-five with brown hair, fair skin, and the most striking blue eyes Cade had ever seen.

The skin would darken and the hair lighten under the harsh Texas sun, but those eyes… .

Cade knew he’d dream of them tonight and probably for many nights to come, especially if Heller got the job and stayed around to fuel Cade’s fantasies. He resisted the urge to adjust his pants as he neared the hotel. He could wait until he got inside and could take them off in private.

The desk clerk nodded at him and handed him his key as he came inside.

Cade returned the nod politely and climbed up to his room under the eaves.

It was the cheapest room in the hotel, but it was still nicer than a lot of the boarding houses, although the one Heller was staying in had been respectable.

If he hadn’t already paid for the night at the hotel, he’d have seen about getting a room at the boarding house where Heller was staying.

That thought elicited a soft groan. Cade locked the door behind him, tossed open the garret windows to let out the warmth of the day and hopefully catch some of the breeze off the ocean, and stripped down to his union suit.

He unbuttoned the top half of the long underwear as well, baring his chest and shoulders.

Flopping down on the bed beneath the open windows, he let his mind wander back over the day.

One moment stuck in his thoughts: Heller’s reaction to the girl in the saloon.

Her intentions couldn’t have been much more obvious unless she’d draped herself across Heller’s lap, but he had paid even less attention to her than Cade had.

It was the man’s words that struck him hardest, though.

Your company is far more congenial than hers could be .

Cade told himself not to get his hopes up, but unless the man was so clueless he didn’t realize the girl was offering him sex, Heller’s comment bordered on suggestive.

Closing his eyes, Cade summoned the image of the Prussian in his proper suit as he came down from leaving his trunk in his room at the boarding house, bowler hat under his arm, his hair brushed neatly, his jacket dusted off and his shoes polished. He was the wet dream Cade never knew he had.

He let the fantasy spin out, imagining Heller was coming down to meet him for an outing, the pressed and proper appearance intended to entice Cade rather than because his upbringing dictated it.

Aware of the public setting, Cade did not embrace Heller but instead settled for a discreet brush of his hand against the other man’s.

Heller—Erick—understood, though, his smile softening the stern lines of his face and giving a special glow to his already brilliant eyes.

That smile held a promise for later, a promise Cade fully intended to make good on.

In the way of dreams, the setting dissolved around them, coalescing instead to the waterfall and quiet pool he had found while riding with the herd, deep in the back country at Wellspring.

As far as he knew, none of the other ranch hands knew it was there since it was a two-day ride from the main house, giving him and Erick the assurance of privacy as they spread out on the blanket for their picnic lunch.

Alone with Erick now, Cade did not have to hold back, leaning over to press a kiss to the side of Erick’s mouth.

Erick laughed and turned his head so their lips met.

Cade leaned into the kiss, deepening it by degrees.

His pulse pounded as Erick pressed him to the blanket, straddling him so their bodies rubbed together provocatively.

Cade slid his hand over his underwear, mimicking the friction of body against body from his fantasy.

He groaned, imagining Erick’s body pinning him down, Erick’s lips stealing his breath, Erick’s hands driving him wild.

He tweaked his nipples with his free hand as he stroked his cock more deliberately through the cloth, striving for release now to the thought of Erick rutting against him, driving them both to climax.

Cade wasn’t usually a passive lover, but it felt so right to give in to his dream lover that he didn’t resist, letting the heat of his climax build low and deep as he imagined Erick devouring him.

With a startled shout, he found his pleasure, his body pulsing with the rapture radiating through him.

He collapsed on the bed, his hand sticky with his release.

He would need a bath in the morning and a trip to the laundry before returning home.

He had a clean union suit in his bag, but unless he wanted to wear that one all the way back to the ranch, he’d need to get some washing done.

For now, he settled for stripping bare and slipping between the sheets. He would deal with the rest—and with Heller—in the morning.