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“Barn. Hay loft, I think,” Jake said.

Tor grinned. “One of those talks?” The grin faded. “Guess not, if you asked about my day.”

Jake just bit his lip and led them into the stable.

The loft was fairly full, and night was easing over them, so they only went back far enough that they were nicely hidden to anyone who wandered in, but close enough to the ladder that they’d be able to find their way back out in the dark. They shifted a couple of bales, and Jake spread the blanket, then they settled in, sitting close enough to touch.

“So, what’s up?” Tor asked softly.

Jake drew a leg up and hooked his arm around his knee. “Missy and Chris are moving to Austin at the beginning of the month. Chris got a good job, and found a house already.”

Tor cocked his head. “Good for them, I guess. They talked about it long enough.”

“Yeah. Think they’ll be happy. Thing is, Doug’s starting to talk about retiring. His heart, Chris going…all of it. He’s making noises.”

Tor nodded. “Right. So, what do you think?”

Jake sighed. “That’s just it. I don’t know what to think. Or, I know what I think, I’m just not so sure it’s right, you know?”

Tor looked at him. “Nope. Not yet, anyway.”

Jake wanted to growl. “You know I don’t want to leave.”

“Right, and I don’t want to either. This is our place, our piece of land, no matter who owns it.”

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Bareback

“But it isn’t,” Jake said. “It’s Doug’s. We work here, I grew up here, really—and there’s other stuff, too.”

“Like what?” Tor asked softly.

“Like you and me sharing a house with farmhands for the rest of our lives. It’s getting…God, it’s like we can’t ever just be alone. And if we lose the house, we have to find somewhere that’s not here to live. It won’t be the same.”

Tor nodded. “So…?”

“So, it still scares the crap out of me to think about us buying it. I can’t…I don’t like the thought of having all these men dependent on us. Their jobs, their families…everything can go to hell so fast if the weather so much as gives us two bad years in a row, or the prices drop, or the herd takes ill, or—”

“Jake, how long you been here? And how many times have you seen this ranch almost lost?”

“It could happen,” Jake insisted. “Doug managed things just fine, saved the ranch at least twice.”

“Sure he did. And you could, too. I could. And the hands? Those men you’re worried about? You think they won’t do what they have to, for the herd or the land?”

Jake closed his eyes and leaned back, forcing himself to put his fears to one side and to listen to Tor.

“Bobby, Tommy, the six other hands who’ve been here for more than a few years? They know what to do, they love this ranch as much as we do. Elias and Kirk? It’s home to them, too. But you and me? We can make it work. We keep the men, keep the herd, and keep it as is. Only difference is the names on the deed and where we hang our hats at night.” Tor’s hand found Jake’s and squeezed. “And who you’re the boss of,” he added in a low voice.

Jake grinned at that. It would be a bonus to them personally if that little detail were taken care of. “Partners?”

“Always,” Tor whispered sincerely.

Jake turned his head and Tor met him halfway, kissing him fiercely. Jake’s mouth opened wide, letting Tor in, even as his hands were pushing Tor onto his back, need flaring out of nowhere, sudden and demanding. It was fast and furious, both of them hungry and moving together on the blanket, hands plucking at clothes. The hands weren’t fast enough, however, and Tor managed to wedge his leg between Jake’s, giving him just what he needed.

Bareback

301

“God, yes,” Tor gasped as Jake stared moving, rubbing his cock with one hand and biting down on his shoulder at the same time. “Fuck, touch me, Jake.”

Jake groaned and tried to get Tor’s jeans open, but his own prick was throbbing and his hips moved restlessly as he humped Tor’s thigh.

“Oh hell, gonna come,” he whispered. “Gonna come, Tor.”

Tor grabbed at Jake’s hips and thrust hard a couple of times, coming with a groan, wet heat spreading between them.

“Oh fuck, yes!” Jake shuddered and shook, coming in his jeans as he kissed Tor, the smell of sex and hay and horses all around him.

The smell of his land. His lover. His home.

~end

• Part One
  
• Chapter One
  
• Chapter Two
  
• Chapter Three
  
• Part Two
  
• Chapter Four
  
• Chapter Five
  
• Chapter Six
  
• Chapter Seven
  
• Chapter Eight
  
• Chapter Nine
  
• Chapter Ten
  
• Chapter Eleven
  
• Chapter Twelve
  
• Part Three
  
• Chapter Thirteen
  
• Chapter Fourteen
  
• Chapter Fifteen
  
• Chapter Sixteen
  
• Chapter Seventeen
  
• Chapter Eighteen
  
• Chapter Nineteen
  
• Chapter Twenty
  
• Part Four
  
• Chapter Twenty-one
  
• Chapter Twenty-two
  
• Chapter Twenty-three
  
• Chapter Twenty-four
  
• Chapter Twenty-five
  
• Chapter Twenty-six
  
• Chapter Twenty-seven
  
• Part Five
  
• Chapter Twenty-eight
  
• Chapter Twenty-nine
  
• Chapter Thirty
  
• Chapter Thirty-one
  
• Part Six
  
• Chapter Thirty-two
  
• Chapter Thirty-three
  
• Chapter Thirty-four
  
• Chapter Thirty-five
  
• Chapter Thirty-six
  
• Chapter Thirty-seven
  
• Chapter Thirty-eight
  
• Chapter Thirty-nine
  
• Part Seven
  
• Chapter Forty
  
• Chapter Forty-one
  
• Part Eight
  
• Chapter Forty-two
  
• Chapter Forty-three
  
• Chapter Forty-four
  
• Chapter Forty-five
  
• Chapter Forty-six
  
• Chapter Forty-seven
  
• Chapter Forty-eight
  
• Chapter Forty-nine
  
• Chapter Fifty