Page 37 of Wellspring

THE REST of their watch passed quietly, and Michele and Beaufort arrived exactly on time. Cade explained quickly what had happened. They reacted with grim-faced anger, as Erick had expected, before sending Erick and Cade back toward the ranch house.

Once they got their horses settled, Cade turned to Erick. “I have to find Payne and tell him what happened, but you can head to the shower and start cleaning up for dinner if you want.”

“Perhaps you would care to join me?” Erick had been riding a low thrum of desire since watching Cade’s prowess with his bow, and while they couldn’t count on Michele to stand guard for them, he found he didn’t care.

Cade had assured them that no one would go beyond teasing if they saw them together, and Erick was willing to take that risk.

“I can gather clean clothes for us both while you speak with Payne.”

Heat flashed in Cade’s eyes as he grinned. “I’d love to join you. Make sure someone sees you getting my things as well so they’ll know to leave us alone. There are limits to what we can get up to in the shower, but I’m sure we can come up with something.”

“I have confidence in your resourcefulness.” Erick glanced around the barn, but there was no one but Biscuit and the horses to see them.

He pulled Cade into a quick kiss, far shorter than he wanted, but they would have time to indulge in the shower.

And for him to get his hands over all the parts of Cade’s body he hadn’t been able to linger over—until now.

Cade licked his lips, testing Erick’s resolve, but before he could move in again Cade swatted his seat. “Stop tempting me. I can’t report to Payne with a hard-on. Get our clothes and I’ll meet you there.” He grinned over his shoulder as he headed out of the barn. “Besides, I’m a sure thing.”

Erick admired his backside as he sauntered out—he was fairly sure Cade was swaying his hips knowing Erick was watching—and took a few breaths before heading to the bunkhouse.

He didn’t need to provide any more ammunition for banter by appearing visibly aroused himself.

If he was fortunate, most of the hands would already have left for dinner.

Fortune was not with him. Burke was changing into a fresh shirt when Erick walked in. Erick ignored him as he pulled out a set of clean clothes, but when he bent to the chest at the foot of Cade’s bunk, the blacksmith cackled.

“Hoss!” Burke exclaimed. “Going through Wolfie’s things already? You’re moving fast there, my friend. I’d better start designing that cabin for you.”

“Why do you not build one for yourself?” Erick asked. “Surely it would be more peaceful for everyone.”

“Because if I did that, I’d miss out on all the good gossip,” Burke replied with an insouciant shrug. “And then how would I get what I need, hmm? No, this way I hear everything and people cooperate with me to shut me up or to learn what I know.”

Erick’s gut clenched at the thought of who Burke might tell about him and Cade and what might happen as a result. Burke blustered right on as if he hadn’t just scared a decade off Erick’s life.

“Only here at Wellspring, of course. Those JR bastards don’t have anything I want and couldn’t pay me enough to get anything I have, knowledge, skills, or finished products.”

“I fear payment is not in their plans.” Erick had not considered it until now, but Burke’s resourcefulness could prove of value to JR’s owner.

“We were fired upon today. They stayed outside the fence, but had we not ridden off, they might well have done serious harm.” The memory of the insults Sanders had hurled angered Erick as much as his bullets.

“Cade is informing Payne, but it would do well for everyone to be more vigilant. They may not respect Wellspring’s boundaries much longer. ”

Burke sobered and picked up a gun belt from the table to strap around his waist, the first time Erick had ever noticed him wearing a pistol.

“They won’t find Wellspring an easy target, not even the ones who aren’t usually fighters.

And take your time cleaning up. I’ll make sure you and Webster aren’t disturbed. ”

The change in demeanor startled Erick, and he nodded sharply.

As annoying as Burke could be at times, he was clearly loyal to Wellspring and, despite his sometimes crude comments, loyal to his fellow ranch hands as well.

“ Danke .” He bundled Cade’s clothes along with his own and started toward the shower block.

Svensen was coming out as he entered, the towel wrapped around his waist threatening to slide off completely as he rubbed his hair with another.

“Enjoy your shower, Heller.” His voice was loud enough to announce Erick’s destination to half the ranch, and the wink he gave as he turned to the bunkhouse made Erick wonder if that was his intention.

Erick shook his head and dropped the bundle of clothes on the bench.

So far Cade had been correct about the other hands’ reaction to their—Erick wasn’t sure what to call it even in his own thoughts.

Their relationship , he hoped, though he wasn’t sure Cade would consider it the same when he had only ever referred to physical intimacies, not emotions.

For now he would just enjoy the time they could spend together and consider himself blessed.

He had just started to undress when Cade walked in, tugging off the bandanna around his neck.

It caught on the beads in his braid for a moment before he got it free, making Erick smile.

The grim line of his lips softened when he looked up and saw Erick.

“Let me do that?” he asked. “Payne is on the warpath and I don’t know when we’ll next have five minutes, much less an hour, to ourselves.

Let me take advantage of the time we have now? ”

Perhaps that was the answer to Erick’s question.

Pushing thoughts of the future aside, he determined to appreciate the moment and stepped close enough for Cade to reach him.

“Only if I can return the favor,” he murmured, opening the buttons of Cade’s shirt.

Moments later they were both naked beneath the cool water, and Erick drew Cade into his arms and into the kiss he had longed for all day.

Cade went easily into Erick’s embrace, resting against him as he ran his hands over as much of Erick’s skin as he could reach.

He seemed especially interested in the breadth of Erick’s shoulders—why, Erick wasn’t sure, when they were nothing compared to Cade’s—and to the damp curls of hair on his chest. He licked across Erick’s lips, tempting his tongue out to play.

Not that it took much coaxing for Erick to explore Cade’s mouth, not when Cade’s tongue tangled with his to return every caress.

Erick let his hands wander where they would before settling over the firm curves of Cade’s buttocks.

Holding Cade against him, he drew his mouth along Cade’s jaw, the prickle of stubble beneath the water’s slickness shooting straight to Erick’s groin.

He pulled Cade to fit more tightly against him, gasping when their erections aligned against each other.

Cade rocked his hips in time with the movement of their kisses, keeping the pace slow despite the heat rising between them. Each time Erick tried to speed things along, whether the kiss or the frottage, Cade reined them in, until Erick finally broke and pulled back to gasp, “More. Bitte .”

Cade nipped at Erick’s lower lip and spun him so Erick was facing into the water with Cade a line of heat along his back.

He shifted to slot his cock into Erick’s crease, the tip bumping the back of his balls.

He settled one hand low and heavy on Erick’s belly, holding him in place.

The other he wrapped around Erick’s aching erection.

“I’m going to make you feel so good,” he whispered in Erick’s ear.

“Keep your legs nice and tight. I won’t take your ass for the first time in the shower when we’re rushed, but I’m going to fuck you just the same. ”

Erick bit back the groan that tried to escape at the slow drag of Cade’s hand along his cock and the press of Cade’s erection against his balls.

He arched back, trying to mold against Cade’s skin, locking his legs to give Cade more friction to rub against, but it wasn’t enough.

“Want to touch you.” He twisted his head, but he couldn’t reach Cade’s lips. “Need to kiss you.”

Cade wrapped around him even more tightly, carding his fingers through the hair on Erick’s chest and bringing his mouth within reach, although the angle was awkward.

“You took such good care of me yesterday in the barn. Let me return the favor.” He punctuated his request with a thrust of his hips that dragged the head of his cock over Erick’s entrance and a twist of his wrist at the top of his stroke so his fingernail caught the delicate tendon, making Erick gasp and writhe in his arms. “That’s it, darlin’. Sing for me.”

“Cade.” Between gasping breaths and wet, clumsy kisses, Erick rocked between Cade’s hand and his cock, groaning his name.

“Cade, ja , please, more, Cade, more….” He could only hope it was as good for Cade as he chased his release.

The head of Cade’s cock nudged his entrance again and Erick was gone, lost in a flood of pleasure.

He leaned back against Cade, his legs suddenly boneless as he spent himself over Cade’s hand.

A moment later Cade tensed and shook behind him and wet heat coated his skin as Cade bit his shoulder to muffle his groan.

Cade stayed where he was for a few heartbeats, keeping them both steady, then slowly he pulled back until he could get a hand between them.

He worked a finger down Erick’s crease and across his hole, making him shiver.

“So sensitive,” he murmured. “I’m gonna have so much fun with you when we have the time and privacy to really explore.

Ever had anyone open you up with his tongue? ”

The image was enough to make Erick’s cock twitch again.

He twisted in Cade’s arms and seized his mouth, trying to imagine what it would feel like, imagining his head buried between Cade’s cheeks, licking and sucking and—“We have to ride into town. The things I want to do to you”—the things he wanted Cade to do to him—”we need privacy for. ”

“You like that idea,” Cade said around a low chuckle.

“Good, because I like doing it.” He teased around Erick’s rim a little more.

“I’m going to love doing it to you. And then you’re going to tell me everything else you like having done to you or have always wanted a lover to do and I’m going to do every one of them until you can’t move without feeling me in every inch of your body.

I’m going to treat you like you’ve never been treated before. ”

Erick wanted to pull Cade to the ground and take him up on his sinful promises then and there, but the small part of his brain that was still rational held him back.

Another part of him wanted to tell Cade how he ached for more than just physical pleasure, but that would be an even greater mistake, when that was all Cade was offering.

He would take that and be grateful. Not knowing how to respond without revealing too much, he allowed himself one more kiss before drawing back to reach for a towel.

“The next time Javier needs supplies, I will ask to escort him. I can tell Payne I need to return the books Miss Dawson lent me, and that you need to accompany me to select new ones.”

“He’ll agree to that because he’ll want an extra gun or two on the supplies anyway.

” Cade still sounded breathless. It made Erick want to kiss him again, but they had been in the shower a long time and they were not the only ones who needed it.

The dinner bell rang, settling the question.

Cade grabbed his own towel and dried off quickly before pulling his clothes on just as fast and claiming a final quick kiss.

“Let’s eat. And then after dinner, we can do another reading lesson so we really can return those books to Miss Dawson. ”

“Perhaps we can progress beyond the letter E this time.” Erick pulled down his shirt cuffs and started toward the dinner tables.

“No promises,” Cade said with a smirk.