Bulldozed (17 page)

“I hate that they did that to you.” Trey pounded his fist into his hand. Smoke had been robbed. He could have been an even bigger star.

“Water under the bridge.” Smoke grinned. “I’m a glass-half-full kinda guy. I haven’t done so bad.”

“Yeah, you’re doing okay.” Still fuming, Trey waved a hand at the house, acknowledging Smoke’s success. Somehow, finding out that Smoke hadn’t had it any easier than him didn’t make anything clearer.

“So how about it? You could walk into an operation already up and running.”

Trey stood up. “I don’t think it would work.”

“Why?”

“I need to think about it,” he muttered. He couldn’t just flat-out tell Smoke he wasn’t going to accept a handout. No way was he going to take charity, and he could tell Smoke felt sorry for him.

“Never going to get your dream working for someone else,” Smoke said.

“I’ve gotta go. I’m going to be late as it is getting back.” Trey checked his watch with blind eyes, having no idea what time it was. He went back into the bedroom. “Maybe I can rent a car.”

Smoke followed him inside. “You cheated me.”

Trey stopped dead in his tracks. He wasn’t ready for this. “Can’t cheat on someone if you’re not dating them.”

Smoke circled around him and filled the doorway leading to the hall. “Not
on
me, cheated me out of our last night.”

“You’re the one who went sniffing after Rowdy Stetson.”

“You’re the only one who kissed him. I know what I saw.”

“I didn’t kiss him. He kissed me!”

“His lips touched yours, not mine. Then you went out drinking without me. If you didn’t want to have sex, you could have just said so.”

“I always want to have sex.”

“Jesus, we’re having a fight over some blond moron that neither of us fucked. There better be some good makeup sex after we get this argument out of the way.”

Just when he needed it, Trey’s anger died away. “He
was
kind of a moron, wasn’t he?”

“He doesn’t even ride. He does chute dogging!”

The information meant nothing now, but Trey was curious. “How’d he do in competition?”

“Dead last. He was trying to show off for me. Wish you’d been there. The calf put
him
down and dragged him halfway around the ring before sitting on him. I was laughing my ass off. First calf ever to win the event.”

Trey had to laugh also. Now he wished he’d been there to see it too. “So when he asked you for pointers….”

“It wasn’t riding pointers he was after, unless he was thinking of riding me.” Smoke waved Rowdy away. “Forget about him. He’s nothing.”

“Not like your other boyfriends?”

“I’ve had boyfriends in the past. They were all much, much smarter. How about you?”

“Never had one. My relationships tend to be shorter in duration.”

“Hookups?”

“Yeah. A4A, Grindr, whatever.”

“Like ordering supplies off the Internet.”

“Gets the job done.”

“There’s more to life than gets-the-job-done sex.” Smoke looked appalled. “So you got no skin in the game, nothing to lose. If it’s a bad blow job, oh well, there’s always another hookup.”

That shook Trey. “Alex told me I paid a high price for freedom.”

“Safety, not freedom,” Smoke corrected him. His sudden smile glittered in the reflection from the pool. “I am much higher stakes.”

“Maybe too rich for my blood.”

“Dammit! Cowboy up and own what you want! We’ve been dating three years. It’s time we got things settled.”

Trey’s heart was pounding out of his chest. “I didn’t know we were dating.”

“Only because you’re a moron. For the last two years, I wanted to drag you out here by the hair and bang you like a snare drum, but I didn’t think it would set the right tone. So I’m making a business proposition. You got the pride of the devil, and I know you don’t want any handouts.” Smoke put air quotes around the word
handouts
.

“Pride!”

“What would you call it? You force money on me for the motel room, you make sure you pay your share when we eat out. I can see the wheels turning as you do the math. Hell, if I offered you a stick of gum, you’d make sure to give me a dime before you took a chew.”

Suddenly everything he’d ever wanted was being offered to him, and it dazzled him. Trey shook his head to clear it. This had to be a trick. “You feel sorry for me.”

“I’m not running any nonprofit help-Trey-out organization, if that’s what you mean. But I do feel sorry for you because you won’t take a fucking chance.”

“Well, what in the hell
do
you want?” Trey shouted.

Smoke stared at him almost angrily. “You. I want you. Every day, every night. I want to laugh with you and fight with you. I want to make plans with you. I want you in my life.”

“You don’t have to give me half a ranch to buy me.” Trey was shaken by Smoke’s intensity. Smoke couldn’t really care that much.

“Fuck! I’m not trying to buy you! I just thought maybe the ranch would sweeten the deal.” Smoke shook his head irritably. “I’m not asking you to buy a pig in a poke. You look over the books and we’ll draw up a contract. We can work all that out, but I guess you’re not picking up what I’m putting down.”

“Maybe not.”

“I… love…
you
. I want
you
.”

Trey stared incredulously. Smoke was a kidder, but he wasn’t joking now, he was dead serious. Even Trey couldn’t help but see the truth coming from deep inside Smoke’s core. It was now or never. Walk away or take a chance of getting his heart broken again.

He jumped forward and pulled Smoke into a kiss. His mouth didn’t land square on Smoke’s and their teeth clashed, but Smoke was cupping his head, eagerly pulling him closer as they fell onto the bed. Trey gasped as Smoke snaked his tongue into Trey’s mouth, hot and sinuous, tasting him, sucking his tongue, kissing him as if he needed this to breathe.

Even grinding hard against him, with Smoke’s tongue marking a trail down his throat, somehow Trey managed to pull down Smoke’s zipper and work his erection out. Smoke was struggling with Trey’s jeans, and Trey gasped as cool air hit his groin. Then Smoke managed to slide his big hand between them, wrapping it around both their cocks as they kissed.

Constricted by their clothing, they rolled on the bed, fumbling awkwardly. Once Smoke made him wince with a badly placed elbow. Trey felt the tremble in Smoke’s abs when he scraped the day’s stubble on his chin over a nipple. For the first time, Trey actually acknowledged that the same intensity of desire was coming back at him from Smoke, and it was simply intoxicating.

The touch of bare skin in the tangle of their clothing tantalized, but there was no time now to undress. No time to slow down and figure out who was on top. Trey thrust his leg hard between Smoke’s and rode his thigh. He snaked a hand under Smoke’s rucked-up shirt, digging his fingers into the hard muscles of his back. Through the tempest of their struggle, Smoke managed to keep his hand wrapped around both their cocks, rubbing the shafts in a frantic rhythm. This time Trey didn’t pull away. He cried out as they strained together, the heat of their mingled come making Smoke’s hand slippery.

His brain shut down and his body took over. Shaking with the power of his release, Trey surrendered his orgasm to Smoke after keeping it from him for so long.

When the roaring in Trey’s ears receded, Smoke was panting beside him. Trey’s hips still moved in a gentle cadence, his cock still trapped within Smoke’s slick fist. When his heartbeat evened out, he opened his eyes. Smoke still had his closed. Their open mouths were so close he could feel the air Smoke breathed out puff between his parted lips.

Smoke whispered breathlessly, “Holy fuck.”

“Yeah,” Trey murmured.

“You let me get you off.”

Trey closed his eyes. “Yeah.”

“Why wouldn’t you let me do it before?” Smoke put his fingers under Trey’s chin and forced his head up.

Trey opened his eyes. He hadn’t expected the look of exultation and hope.

“About control,” Trey mumbled. “You had all of me… except for that….”

“I never had you,” Smoke said. “Can’t have someone unless they give themselves to you.”

“I couldn’t—”

Smoke put a finger on Trey’s lips. “Hush up now. Never gonna hurt you, Trey. I love you.”

Trey closed his eyes against the sting of his tears. But he still couldn’t say it.

WHEN TREY
woke up, he heard water running in the tub. He sat up. His jeans were crusty and stiff. His cock was limp and still sticking out of his fly. He felt achy and sweaty.

Smoke came into the room naked and gleaming with beauty. “Take a bath with me. We can talk.” He held out his hand.

Trey’s joints creaked when he levered himself off the bed and stripped. He dropped his clothes on the floor next to his boots.

Smoke scooped them up. “I’ll put these in the washer.” He disappeared down the hallway.

Trey went to the bathroom and paused in the doorway. The bathroom was big and modern. A sleek vanity held two sinks. The large shower was enclosed by glass, and gorgeous tile lined the bathtub. Lit candles glowed around the tub, and a froth of bubbles filled the bath. He blinked in surprise. Smoke never struck him as a bubble bath kind of guy, but evidently he had a lot to learn about Smoke.

Warm arms slid around his waist and pulled him back against Smoke’s naked body.

“All this for me?”

“Just for you,” Smoke said. “Let’s get in.”

Smoke held Trey’s hand to steady him as he stepped in. The bubbles tickled like billowy clouds.

Smoke stepped in after him and sat facing him.

“Never had a bubble bath.” Trey couldn’t keep the amusement out of his voice.

“Like it?”

“Feels good.” The warmth of the water did feel good. The tub was big, with more than enough room for both of them. His thighs pressed against Smoke’s under the water. Trey slid down to submerge his shoulders, letting his head tip back against the tiles.

“Did you ask me to help you drive the horses so you could get me here?”

“All to myself.” Smoke nodded. “Every time I tried to talk to you, you cut me off or got mad. I thought maybe if you saw the place, you might… see things my way….”

“If I say yes, it won’t be for the place.”

“I know. But for some reason you keep missing how I feel about you.”

Trey shook his head. “Never really had anyone want me.”

“I’ve always wanted you.” Despite the quick orgasm earlier, Smoke had a hungry look in his eye. “Seems like you had it rough coming up.”

“Wasn’t any picnic.”

“You out to your family?”

Trey gave a bitter laugh. “Not on purpose. My brother was the first to know.”

“How’d your bro find out?”

“The worst possible way.”

Smoke winced. “He caught you in the act.”

“I was blowing a kid I knew from another school we played football with.” Trey could hardly bear the compassion in Smoke’s face. He had to look away. “I thought we were in love. That forever love only a teenager can believe in. Of course, I never heard from my ‘boyfriend’ again. And I didn’t ever want to feel that kind of pain again. And Jamar… we were never close.”

“What about your parents?”

“Jamar ran right to them with the newsflash. They didn’t want anyone outside the family to find out. Too disgusted. My dad said it made his skin crawl to think of two men fucking. Used words like
shameful
and
corrupt
.” Trey shrugged. “They watched me all the time to make sure I didn’t backslide, so there really were no other opportunities, even if I had been brave enough to take a chance. So I became the black sheep. Never did have sex again until they died. My dad left the ranch to Jamar, and me out in the cold. Can’t really blame them—”

“I can fucking blame them!”

“Oh, your parents like that you’re queer?” Trey glared and then sniggered when he realized he was virtually defending his family for not liking him.

“They don’t exactly like it, but they understand I can’t do much about it. They still talk to me.” Smoke grinned suddenly. “At least they don’t expect me to stand at stud and give them grandkids. My sister took care of that anyway, so they’re off my back.”

“Didn’t know you had a sister.”

Smoke gave him a sidelong glance. “Lotta things we don’t know about each other.”

Trey nodded, thinking about the beatdown again. He made an effort to shake it off. If Smoke could get past it, he could too. “Guess we got time to catch up.” Trey deepened his voice portentously. “I’m a top.”

“So’m I.” Smoke grinned. “Or hadn’t you noticed?”

“Guess maybe we better embrace diversity if we want to have a sex life together.”

“We’ve done okay so far.”

“More than okay.” Trey lifted his hand. His fingers were waterlogged and the bubbles were gone. “We better get out of this bathtub. I’m turning into a prune.”

“Nice juicy sweet one.” Smoke leered. “And I better get your clothes in the dryer and maybe something to eat.”

After they dried off, Smoke led the way into the bedroom. “My jeans’ll probably fit you.”

“We’re about the same height,” Trey agreed.

He admired Smoke’s ass while he opened the closet and found a pair of jeans. Smoke noticed where he was looking and smirked as he held out the jeans.

When their hands bumped, the touch was electrifying. Smoke dropped the jeans and Trey grabbed him, pulling him in. The kiss flared into a bonfire in seconds.

Smoke pushed Trey down roughly on the bed. With any other man, Trey never would have taken that. Guess he had a lot of control issues, but he liked it from Smoke. The move felt playful. Smoke wasn’t trying to dominate him. In everything they’d done together over the years, Smoke had always shown him respect. Maybe it was the reason he’d been able to let Smoke fuck him. Now he was eager for it, hungry to be filled. He stared at Smoke’s erection while Smoke watched him.

Standing there lazily thrusting into the ring of his finger and thumb, Smoke was so beautiful, like some ancient statue carved out of marble and burnished to a dark sheen. His riding arm was twice the size of the other, and his bicep bulged as he stroked himself.