Stealing West (13 page)

“The five hundred dollars I gave up when I offered the deal,” Thomas reminded him softly. With the boots out of the way, Thomas settled on his knees in front of Leon and focused his attention on the belt. “It feels like that five hundred stopped mattering to me a long time ago.”

His heart thudded, loud and insistent in his ears. “Does that mean you believe me now?”

Thomas unbuckled the belt and unbuttoned Leon's pants before straightening. “I do. Don't move.”

Obeying was the easiest thing he'd done all night. Watching Thomas walk away, even if only to get the basin and jug of water from the dresser, was one of the hardest.

“I didn't even think about it,” he confessed. “I mean, I saw what he was going to do, and I just reacted. It didn't even cross my mind what it meant. I just couldn't let him shoot you.”

Thomas returned to the bed with the water, the soap, and a towel. He balanced the basin on the mattress and dabbed a corner into the water. Everything he did was focused and deliberate, as though he was following a preordained ritual.

“Phoenix was fast,” Thomas finally said, wiping the cool rag across Leon's brow. “Faster than most people gave him credit for, I expect. You did good to take the shot when you had it.”

His lashes fluttered shut. It wasn't just the comforting water working over his skin. It was the weight of Thomas's body as he leaned against Leon's legs, the soft touch of the hand resting on Leon's knee.

“Guess I should be grateful you didn't shoot me first. I know it must've looked bad. But cozying up to him was the only way he'd let me stay in the same room as him.”

“Shooting you is the last thing I would have done, though you're right. It did look bad. My first instinct was to think the worst. I'm sorry about that.”

Leon opened his eyes as Thomas wiped at his cheek. His throat was tight again, but it wasn't from the memory of Phoenix sprawled against the chair and wall. It was all about the man kneeling between his legs.

“I want you to know...” He ran his tongue over his dry lips. “No matter what happens now, this past week meant a lot to me. You ever need a friend, or help, or anything at all, you got it in me.”

“You don't need to give Susie half of your money. If you want, and if you think she's not going to kill you over it, I'll double your take to a thousand.”

Thomas wasn't looking at him. His focus seemed to be on his task, wiping away the blood, rinsing the rag, wiping again. That was better. For both of them. It made processing what he said all that much easier.

“Susie won't kill me. She's a good girl, no matter who she might've been sweet on. Sometimes ... sometimes it's best not to judge a person by the company they keep.” He tried to smile. “I can think of more than a few people who'd ride me about wanting to stick around with you for any longer.”

“Would you want to do that? Stick around?”

It was Thomas's careful tone that made him pause. Just hours earlier, he'd been debating how to make the break before the tables turned on him. When he'd believed all Thomas wanted was sex and the bounty. But Thomas had already offered an even larger share. He sounded like he'd offer more if Leon asked for it. And he was still taking care of Leon better than anybody ever had before. He didn't have to. Their deal was done. This was an even slate.

“We make a pretty good team,” he said in lieu of a direct answer. “If you're interested in a partner, maybe we can work something out.”

“I've never had a real partner. Been fine on my own for over a decade. I never really thought I needed one before.” Thomas rinsed the towel and wrung the excess water out. “But I might have been wrong about what I needed.”

“It's good to have someone watch your back.” Leon smiled when Thomas turned back to him. “And I proved tonight I'd have yours, no matter what, didn't I?”

“Yes, you've proved that.” Thomas wiped the towel over Leon's mouth, then followed the harsh material with a gentle caress of his thumb. Leon's lips tingled from the contact. “Things will be different from what you're used to, you know. You're okay with that?”

Leon chased the thumb to catch it with his teeth, keeping his eyes locked on Thomas's as he nipped at the callused skin. His breath was quicker, his body hotter, but all of it felt right, felt better, than anything had since arriving in San Francisco.

“You mean, you're the boss like you've been? I show you the proper respect, do what you say, and you ... take care of things. Is that it, sir?”

“Yes.” Thomas swallowed and set aside the towel. He cupped the side of Leon's face, his hand warm despite the cool water. Leon remained still, waiting to follow Grady's lead. As soon as Thomas's mouth touched his, he parted his lips, inviting Thomas to deepen the caress.

The kiss was different from its predecessors. It lacked the edge others had, even the one in Sacramento when Thomas had finished riding him. It was softer, more hesitant, as Thomas tested the connection, searching almost delicately into the warm recesses of Leon's mouth. For his part, Leon could only sway forward, his hands coming up to clutch at Grady's shirtfront. He needed the solidity, the knowledge that Thomas was there. He needed the security Thomas offered, but even more importantly, he wanted it, like he'd never wanted anything before.

“Can I just ask one thing?” Leon said when they parted. He didn't want to speak at all, but he knew there was too much that needed to be cleared up before he could go any further. “If the day comes you don't want me around, or another bounty hunter wants to take me in, will you let me just walk away? Please?”

“Yes. On the condition that you never ask me to turn a blind eye to anything illegal.”

“Agreed.” His fingers toyed with the shirt, loving the feel of the hard muscles beneath the rough fabric. “It's not going to make things hard for you? Having a wanted man underfoot?”

“Well, you're not just a wanted man, are you? You're my partner.”

He wanted to say that being partners didn't take his name off posters. Or erase certain marshals’ memories. Or get rid of the bounty on his head if someone else got greedy. But Thomas didn't look like he cared about any of that. He regarded Leon with the same level gaze he always did, assessing and—this time—not finding him lacking.

“I'm whatever you want me to be,” Leon said honestly. He knew everything he felt was written on his face. He had the worst time holding it back when it grew this overwhelming. “I'm just glad you want me around as much as I don't want to leave you.”

Thomas touched Leon's lips again, the kiss brief and light. He didn't expect that much tenderness from Thomas. He opened his mouth, trying to encourage Thomas to deepen the kiss, but instead he pulled away and straightened.

“Do you feel better now?”

It took a moment to remember what it was he referred to.

“Yeah.” He smiled. “I do. Thanks.”

“Good.”

Thomas stripped his clothes quickly, letting the garments drop to a pile on the floor. Leon never took his gaze from Thomas, and allowed the other man to push him backward on the mattress once he was fully undressed. Thomas joined him on the bed, straddling his thighs and pressing his chest to Leon's. When their mouths met again, Leon only tasted hunger.

His arms wrapped around the broad back, his hold as desperate as their kisses. Relief suffused his flesh, sweet, heady, and he knew his hands shook everywhere he touched Thomas's bare skin. It was as much about getting to stay, knowing he was wanted, as it was knowing he'd saved this man who meant the world to him from a death he didn't deserve.

Leon nearly broke away when that realization struck him. The world to him. A week ago, only Kenneth had held that spot. But he knew now that Thomas commanded it almost as strongly. In some ways, more so. Because Thomas didn't look up to him as a big brother, as guidance when things were dark. Thomas wanted him as a partner, an equal in every sense that mattered. Thomas wanted to take care of him.

He couldn't remember the last time anybody had been willing to go to such extremes just for him. Not even Kenneth had done that.

Thomas explored Leon's mouth with his tongue, sliding it past his lips again and again. Leon didn't resist the continuing caresses. His body was tense and ready for more, but the slow, searching kisses were unlike anything he had come to expect from Thomas. Anticipation heightened his senses, and Thomas overwhelmed all of them. He ran his hands over Leon's body, his fingers as light and questing as his mouth.

It should have been impossible to burn so hot from such simple caresses, but by the time Thomas abandoned his mouth, Leon felt like a single spark would set him alight. He writhed beneath the familiar weight, helping with his squirming when Thomas shoved his pants out of the way. The friction of their erections now rubbing along each other didn't help, either. The added heat made him whimper, his fingers tangling in Thomas's hair to drag him back up to his lips.

Thomas's mouth drifted from Leon's to his jaw and his throat. He tensed, waiting to feel the sharp scrape of teeth, but Thomas was as gentle now as he had been rough in the past. Leon wouldn't have expected that, but he wasn't going to argue with it. Especially when Thomas began licking the faded bruises, his tongue swiping over the sensitive marks. Leon tilted his head back with a sigh, his prick jerking each time Thomas's hot mouth met his flushed skin. His beard was a rough contrast to his tongue, but the bristly hair only sent shivers down Leon's spine.

“You make me crazy when you do that,” Leon whispered. His throat was too dry to speak louder. “You make me crazy with everything you do.”

“You've done nothing but drive me crazy since I met you,” Thomas said, before pulling Leon's nipple between his teeth.

He hissed and tightened his grip on the back of Thomas's head. “I have that effect on a lot of people. Though I like the way you show it the best.”

Thomas rolled the hard tip of Leon's nipple between his teeth, flicking his tongue over the tip again and again until Leon arched off the bed. “I hope you don't have the same effect on other people that you have on me.” He reached between their bodies and squeezed Leon's shaft. “I might get jealous.”

The bliss racing through him at the hard grip on his prick was nothing compared to the joy Thomas's words created. “You don't have to be.” He skimmed his hands up and down Thomas's back. “I'm all yours, sir. I don't want anyone but you.”

“Good.” Thomas lapped at his skin, moving lower on Leon's body without lifting his head. Leon thought he could feel Grady's mouth everywhere, even spots Thomas hadn't reached yet. “That include your old partner?”

“Yes.” The answer came with unequivocal speed. It was truth, after all. That was easier to share than lies ever would be, and the relief that he could abandon most of those now with Thomas tasted almost as sweet as the rest of it. “God, yes.”

He cried out when Thomas licked a path down his shaft, ending at his aching balls. Unable to touch more than the man's face, he held his breath at the tender attention Thomas gave to the tight sac, around and behind and then back up the length of his cock again.

Thomas slid Leon's shaft against his beard, then soothed the slightly aggravated skin with his tongue. He repeated the process several times, winding Leon up with the rough hair, and then lapping at his smooth length until Leon relaxed against the mattress again. Just when Leon became convinced Thomas was going to torment him like that for the rest of the night, he closed his lips around the head of his cock, licking the pre-come from his skin.

His hands shot out to his sides to grip the sheets. He couldn't remember the last time he'd had the feel of a man sucking at his prick. Kenneth had never done it. Leon had never asked. That was crossing a line he knew Kenneth would never have been entirely comfortable with. When it came to other partners, though, he'd been content to get what he could, never pushing for anything more than they were willing to volunteer.

Thomas was the first man he had ever been with who wanted it as badly as he did. He was the first to make Leon feel like the most desirable creature on earth, the first to make him crave more when their bodies weren't in contact. Feeling his probing tongue, the soft rasp of whiskers as he sucked a few inches into his mouth, left him dazed and half delirious. He strongly suspected before they were through, words he'd never have the nerve to utter would find a way out of his mouth. And considering how freely words already flowed, that said a lot.

Thomas slowly added inches, taking his time to taste every bit of skin. He cupped Leon's balls, squeezing him with just enough pressure to make Leon's breath catch. Thomas teased him with the possibility of being too rough, of squeezing and sucking and biting until the pain radiated through Leon's body, but he never quite took that final step. And while Leon was distracted by thoughts of what Thomas could do, he sank down Leon's shaft, swallowing around the head.

The urge to shout almost overwhelmed him before he remembered where he was. Letting go of the sheet, he shoved his fist into his mouth, biting down on his knuckles in order to stifle the urge to scream. Nothing had ever felt so good. He wanted to pump farther into Thomas's mouth, but memories of how he had held him down every other time kept him still. It took every ounce of control he had, though. And when Thomas slid back up the length, letting his teeth drag along the way, Leon used his other hand to caress the sunken cheek.

“Don't make me come like this,” he panted. “As good as this feels, I want to shoot with you inside me.”

Thomas gently held the crown between his teeth and sucked on the tip until Leon writhed and squirmed. That seemed to satisfy him, and when he lifted his head, he had an unfamiliar smile on his face—partly amused, partly satisfied, partly teasing. He licked his fingers, then rubbed them over the top of Leon's sensitive head, gathering the slick fluid at the slit. He rested his mouth against Leon's thigh and pushed his wet fingers into Leon's ass.

Leon sighed in exhilaration, spreading his legs farther in order to encourage Thomas's entry. He'd meant what he said. For whatever reason, it was important to him not to come until Thomas did. He wanted this to last as long as possible, and though he would have let Thomas fuck him even if he'd spent himself already, it warmed him through to think Thomas wanted the same thing he did.