i c4f188f9be10333d (3 page)

Jake had spent a lot of time in the last couple of days wondering if he was losing his mind. He didn’t sleep with guys he worked with. Well, that wasn’t quite true; there had been a couple of guys over the years that had been agreeable to an arrangement of sorts, and a couple more that had been more long term, if one defined long term in weeks and a short series of months.

But he didn’t sleep with guys he worked with whom he also didn’t like much. Which was where the possibility of losing his mind came in, what with part of his brain pointing out some disconcerting truths. Like the fact that what he’d always called ‘arrogance’ in Tor he called ‘self-confidence’ in himself, and that Tor’s pushy nature was not unlike his own take charge attitude.

Bareback

15

Plus the man looked hot. And had an amazingly kissable mouth. And it had been a long fucking time since Jake had been with anyone, let alone someone who could make his blood boil like Tor could. It had to be either incipient insanity or too much work in the heat.

Elias was standing in the door, swinging it back and forth to make a draft. "We got how many in tonight, Jake? About twenty–five?" He was peering out to the front lawn, counting bodies.

Jake watched Tor get a bottle of water from the fridge, then lean back against the counter, head tipped back and throat working as he drank it in big, greedy gulps.

"Thirty–three. The bunch that came up for the day were too tired to drive back tonight."

Jake felt his cock start to get hard, watching Tor's throat. He let his hand drift down, rubbed at his stomach.

"Damn," Elias said. "I can see ten from here…"

Tor stopped drinking and opened his eyes and saw Jake watching him. The dark eyes flicked over Jake and then raked up and down, finally settling on Jake's groin. Jake tried not to grin when Tor blinked, and Jake took a quick, shallow breath when those eyes got even darker and Tor ran a hand across his own chest, pinching at his nipple. Tease.

"…Seven still on the porch…"

Jake let his hand move further down and turned what should have been a simple adjustment into a long, hard stroke on his cock. Tor's eyes flared.

"…There's just not enough grass. You'd think, out here in the middle of nothing, there'd be enough room to sleep out in privacy. There's gonna be close to twenty men out behind the barn tonight."

Jake rocked his hips into his hand and let his head fall back against the wall. Tor let his own hand move down, tracing a light path on the inside of his waist band and groaned.

"Yeah," Elias agreed. "With you there, Tor. Oh well, standing here won't make it easier to find a spot." Elias grabbed his blanket and stepped out, letting the screen door slam closed.

Tor advanced on Jake in three long strides and Jake sent a warning look to the screen door and the open kitchen window. Tor frowned and sat at the table, nice and close. Just two guys in their kitchen, having a quiet talk–if one ignored the way Tor's hand was teasing a path up the inside of Jake's thigh.

"Where?" Tor asked.

"Back orchard. Ten minutes."

16

Bareback

Tor looked thoughtful and nodded, his hand moving higher. "We need some stuff."

Jake pushed away from the wall, into Tor's hand for a moment before moving away and heading down the hall to his room. "Got it covered."

"You better, if you want to use it," Tor's voice called from the kitchen. Jake rolled his eyes and went in his room.

He stripped the blanket off his bed and shoved it into his rucksack, then added another from his trunk. Crossing to the side of the bed he opened the drawer of his nightstand and reached in, then paused. Shit. He looked at the foil packets scattered in the drawer, wondering how many he should take. Two would be just fine, three would be better, but it wouldn't do to give Tornado a bigger ego than he already had. Fuck it. He grabbed a handful and was about to shove them into the bag when a thought struck him.

He sat on the bed, dumping the handful of condoms on the sheet. How long had it been?

The fact that he had to check the expiration dates told him that it was way beyond too long.

Finally, blankets, rubbers and lube all packed up, he left the house, grabbing a bottle of apple juice on the way out. He crossed the yard and passed Tor, standing with Elias, who was still lamenting the lack of privacy.

"G'night, Jake."

"Night, Elias."

Tor didn't say anything.

Jake walked past the barn, greeting those who called his name. He passed the last of the hired hands and put on a burst of speed walking fast, long legs moving him toward the apple trees. He worked his way through the orchard, glancing back now and then to see how far he was from the others, and pressing on.

When he was sure that they would be out of earshot he dropped the rucksack and spent a couple minutes clearing fallen apples from the ground, then spread out one of the blankets. He sat down, watching for Tor as he pulled his boots off and then stripped out of his jeans. Not much point in being coy.

Jake lay back on the blanket, using his bundled up jeans as a pillow. He rubbed a calloused hand over his chest, listening for Tor, but hearing only his own breath.

Spreading his legs, he moaned softly. If he wasn't so horny he would have just fallen asleep. But he was horny, so he let a hand move down to cup his balls and started squeezing, rocking his hips a bit, just letting the need build. He was just getting lost in the feeling when he heard someone coming and looked toward the house. Tor, walking up fast. Wearing nothing but sweatpants and sneakers now, and wasn't that just a good idea?

Bareback

17

He started moving his hand a little faster, brushing his thumb over the swollen head. Tor didn't even stop moving, just walked over and fell on top of him, pushing Jake's hand away and replacing it with his own while his mouth started sucking and licking at Jake's neck.

"Christ, yes, Taggart, that's it. No messing around, just get to it," Tor said, moving his mouth to find Jake's.

Jake kissed him, hard, one hand on the back of Tor's neck, the other inside the back of the sweatpants, kneading at that tight ass. They were writhing together on the blanket, humping like teenagers, and it felt fabulous. Jake worked Tor's pants down past his hips and gasped when Tor's erection hit his own.

"Jesus. Need you. Now," Jake said in a voice so hoarse he hardly knew it as his own.

"What you waiting for then?" Tor rolled off him and Jake reached out, grabbing for a condom and the lube.

He tossed the rubber to Tor and spilled lube onto his fingers. "Open that, will you?" he said, slick fingers sliding between Tor's ass cheeks, loving the way Tor moved toward his hand, up on all fours.

"How the hell am I supposed to do that when I'm leaning on my hands?" Tor said, shifting back to kneel instead. Which, to Jake's great delight, forced Tor down onto his waiting fingers. "Oh fuck, yes!"

Jake worked his fingers into Tor's ass, waiting while Tor fumbled with the foil. He moved one, then two fingers deeper, brushing against Tor's prostate, and Tor moaned.

Jake grinned, then slid his fingers back out a bit, letting Tor concentrate long enough to pass the condom back to him.

One handed, Jake rolled the rubber on, his hand stretching Tor's ass, working the lube in.

Tor leaned forward again and thrust back, making those lovely wanting sounds Jake remembered so well from the night in the truck. He added a third finger and then Tor was rocking back faster, fucking himself on Jake's hand, and Jake couldn't take it any longer.

He slid his fingers out and moved up, guiding his cock to Tor's ass. "Ready for me?"

"Bastard. Just fuck me, will you?" Tor ground out, trying to move back.

"Just had to ask, Tor. Just had to ask." He pushed in, burying himself in one long, slow thrust. "Oh, sweet Lord. So tight. God, Tor, so good."

Jake started thrusting, trying to keep his rhythm slow, but he had been so long without feeling this heat, this pressure, he couldn't last long. He began to thrust faster, using 18

Bareback

shorter strokes, barely pulling out at all before slamming back in and he could hear whimpers and grunts, wasn't sure if they came from him or Tor and didn't care.

"Shit, yes, Jake. Harder, fuck me, God, just fuck me…"

So Jake thrust harder, fingers digging into Tor's hips, his own hips pistoning back and forth, watching his cock slide in and out of that beautiful ass.

"Tor, gonna come, Christ, it's been so long, so good, Tor…"

Tor groaned and thrust back, hard. "Touch me, Jake, please, need to come, please…"

Jake pried a hand off Tor's hip and moved it down, fisting the hard cock he found waiting. Tor was like a rock, dripping pre–come and so ready to blow that Jake wondered how he managed to hold off this long. He stroked Tor hard in time with his thrusts and Tor cried out, a loud yell that meant nothing other than 'Oh yes!' and Jake's hand was hot with Tor's come.

He buried himself balls deep in Tor's ass, riding out the contractions of Tor's muscles, then began to move again, letting the seize and release milk his own climax. His cock pulsed and throbbed, shooting come out for so long that he wouldn't have been surprised if Tor had managed to get it up again before he was done.

Finally he leaned over Tor's back, gasping for air. "Shit. That was–"

"Just what I needed," Tor finished. Then Tor's arms gave out and they sprawled on the blanket.

~*~*~

Jake and Tor were passing the bottle of apple juice back and forth, not saying anything.

Jake felt calm and relaxed and really sleepy and almost content. He watched Tor finish the juice and grinned a little.

"What?" Tor said, not really making an accusation.

"Nothin'." Jake lay back and kept smiling at Tor, mostly because he was well and truly fucked, but also because Tor looked like he was going to go nuts trying to figure out what Jake was thinking.

Tor lay back as well and stared at him, trapping Jake with his brown eyes. "C'mere," he said softly.

Jake paused for a minute and then rolled onto his side, facing Tor. Tor reached over and pulled him in, wrapping an arm around his back and kissing his forehead.

Bareback

19

Jake moved even closer, pushing into the embrace and wiggling until he was stretched out along the lean body. If he could have, he would have purred.

"Thought so," Tor chuckled. "You're a snuggler."

"Shut up," Jake said, snuggling in a little more.

Tor laughed again. "Hey," he said softly.

Jake moved his head back and looked at Tor, wondering what he was going to say. Tor didn't say anything, just moved his own head down and kissed him, soft and oh so fucking sweet. It went on for ages, never deepening, just a slow and gentle caress, Tor's lips soft and full, teasing and playful, but not hungry.

Jake went with it, couldn't do anything else. He trailed his fingers gently down Tor's spine, and back up, using enough pressure not to tickle, but no more. Once more down Tor's back, tracing the shape of his muscles, then down his hip and thigh. He stroked Tor just as sweetly as the man was kissing him, and he felt Tor's tongue trace his lower lip, the kiss starting to deepen.

They lay like that for long minutes, hands petting and stroking, tracing lines and patterns, tongues exploring and tasting, but not devouring. Slowly Tor began to move his hips, the thrusts as gentle as every other motion, and Jake felt himself stir, surprised it had taken that long.

Jake met Tor's thrusts, but didn't increase the pace, just let everything be lazy and soft, even if their cocks weren't. He sighed softly as Tor's erection got harder against his hip and he felt the first drops of pre–come leave a trail on his skin. He wondered what it tasted like and started to shift, to move down and take Tor into his mouth, but Tor held onto him, breaking the kiss only long enough to say, "No. Just…like this. Like this."

Jake stayed and kissed Tor, falling into the taste of the man's mouth. Apple juice, a very faint trace of beer, and just Tor. The smell of him, sweat and earth and sweet grass and animals. The feel of him, hard muscle overlaid with smooth skin and the heat they were creating.

When Jake came it was with a soft sigh and he dug his fingers into Tor's side while he shuddered and then relaxed, kept the movements of his hands and hips smooth until Tor followed him, groaning quietly with his own orgasm.

Tor reached behind himself without letting Jake move away and grabbed the other blanket, tossing it carelessly over them. They were still kissing when Jake fell asleep.

20

Bareback

Chapter Three

It was late. Really late, Jake knew, and he was still awake, going over every pissy little thing he had done wrong in the last twenty years, and then some of the big things. It was one of those nights when no matter how hard he tried he couldn't let go of the sick feeling in his stomach, couldn't stop himself from digging at old wounds.

He tossed and turned in his bed, half waiting to hear a chorus of voices yelling in the dark, waiting for lights to flash on and angry men to drag him out of bed. He knew it wasn't going to happen, hadn't happened in over a dozen years, but some nights it just felt like it should.

He got out of bed and went to the window, naked except for his boxer shorts. His room faced the backyard, which meant there wasn't anything to see except acres of open land and a few trees. The moon was up, fat and full, and he watched a cloud cross it, not noticing. His mind was on another moon, not quite as round, and not here. Further south, different time of year, and hard walking. Couldn't get a lift to save his life, like every truck that passed knew where he'd been, or just knew better than to pick up a skinny kid with not even a rucksack. Only thing he had in his pocket that night was a letter from his momma, the only one she ever sent him.

So they tell me you're sick now, playing with boys. Always thought you were odd. Don't
worry about us, Jakey, we'll do just as well without you.