Two In Hand Page 3

  Katie’s free hand flew to her throat, as if it alone could calm her racing pulse. Moisture flooded her core, her body tight remembering the sucking kisses that had led to hickeys on her neck, her inner thigh, her left breast. Damn, she’d loved being branded by Daniel, marked as his woman. It was her silent kink, one that they’d explored together. And James hit on it like a strong finger against her clit, and shot a wave of pleasure through her body.

  “You seem very sure that I‘m going to say yes,” she said, hoping words could do what she couldn’t and put some distance between them. There was more she wanted to say and didn’t. Questions like why her and why now seemed irrelevant when faced with two guys who wanted her. Grabbing the reins and hopping on for a ride would be the fun, and wise, course of action to take. She figured Daniel knew her well enough to believe she’d take their offer.

  “We were good together. Very good.” Daniel’s voice lowered to a seductive whisper. “Why not have that again?”

  Katie kept her focus on James. “I know why Daniel wants me. What about you? If I’m not misreading you guys, you might not like me taking over your territory.”

  “Who said anything about taking over? I think Daniel’s man enough to handle us both. The question is, are you woman enough to do the same?”

  Oh hell! Daniel knew every single button to push and just how hard and with what timing. She balled her hand into a fist, thinking back to all the times she’d mock-punched Daniel when he had been teasing her a bit too much. She turned her head and frowned, not quite able to work up a good mad. “You know I can’t resist challenges, damn you!”

  Daniel chuckled. “So what’ll it be?”

  Katie shook her head. “Tell me exactly what the deal is between you and James.”

  The waitress came and discretely slid the bill for their drinks onto the table. Daniel reached into his hip pocket and pulled out his wallet. Tossing two twenties on the table—leaving a very generous tip—he slid out of the booth. “Come on. Let me tell you a story on the way back to the barn. Your car is still at the fairgrounds anyway. That way, if after hearing it, you can make a fast getaway if you want.” Though he kept his words light, she sensed the hint of sorrow behind them. As if maybe someone had made a fast getaway at sometime in the past and it’d hurt him.

  “Okay.” She paused at the end of the booth and waited for James. “That I can agree to.”

  “Good.” James fell into step beside her. “We’re hoping you’ll agree to more.” He rested his hand on her lower back as he led her out to the truck.

  At first she glanced around at the other diners, wondering if anyone was noticing and what they thought. Then, as she neared the door, she figured why worry. They all could do whatever they wanted so long as it was safe, sane, consensual, and legal. The opinion of anyone else didn’t really matter.

  The guys helped her to the truck, and once again, she found herself sandwiched between them. Except this time, all those illicit thoughts going through her mind, like how nice it would be to be naked and between them, came back tenfold. She kept her hands to herself though the hard thighs on either side of her proved to be a temptation.

  To his credit, Daniel drove back to the fairgrounds as if nothing had changed between them. No gropes. No caresses. No innuendos, and for a wisecracking guy like Daniel, that said something. James, too, kept his manners working overtime, so much so that she had to wonder if she’d offended them.

  “You had a story you wanted to tell me?” Katie said, trying not be overly anxious. “Go ahead, Daniel. I’m all ears.

  “Yeah. Well a few years after we separated I started to realize that maybe I hadn’t just totally screwed up our relationship. Maybe I liked men, too. There were a few false starts and eventually I found James. He needed a roping partner, so did I, and things just grew from there.” Daniel reached for the bottle of water sitting in the cup holder of the truck. He took a long swallow and stopped at a stoplight.

  Chapter Three

  Daniel drank more to give himself a moment to think rather than because of any physical thirst. Revealing all of this to her was like picking at a scab, and really, he wasn’t sure he wanted to do it. Except with Katie so close and that sweet spring fragrance, not quite floral, but definitely feminine, surrounding him, he knew he needed to. If he wanted his wildest dreams to come true, he had to come clean with the woman he’d never stopped loving.

  She waited silently, patiently, absorbing his words as he pulled away from the stoplight. “I don’t want to get all flowery, but James is a real partner and not just in the arena. I’m damn lucky to have met him.”

  “What he’s saying,” James said, cutting in with the knack he always had of knowing when to take control, “is that even though we’re good together, we both enjoy the company of a woman every now and then. Lately that’s something we’ve both been missing, and since Daniel has spoken so much about you, I feel like I know you too.” He reached over and patted her thigh.

  A bolt of jealousy shot through him and Daniel quickly tamped it down. They’d talked about this, agreed to it, and that meant that James got to touch her too.

  “So you’re saying that you guys have decided to include a woman, and Daniel’s first thought was for me?” Katie turned in the seat to stare at him. “What exactly are we talking about here?”

  “That’s up to you. I’m willing to take this thing as far as it will go.” Daniel pulled into the parking spot and turned off the truck. He turned to face her, reaching up to cup her cheek with his hand. The feel of her soft skin beneath his fingers tightened his groin. Waves of nostalgia rolled through him. Katie never ceased to haunt his dreams, his fantasies. Sometimes with James buried tight in his ass and his lover’s fingers around his cock, Daniel still thought of her.

  And then, because he could do nothing else, he dipped his head and kissed her. The first brush of his lips across hers sent a bolt of lust through him. His cock hardened, pressing against the fly of his jeans. He leaned in, sweeping his tongue across the seal of her lips until she opened to him.

  A groan rumbled through his chest, his other hand coming around to her back to press her against him. Her fingers curled into his biceps as they slid together on the truck seat, their legs tangling around the gearshift. He plunged his tongue into her mouth, just the warm, moist cavern of her mouth making him feel like being in her tight, wet pussy. He stroked her tongue with his own, inviting her to explore him as thoroughly as he was her.

  Not just like the old times, but more. With both of them grown, with maturity and experience, kissing Katie didn’t even compare to his dreams. It was better. Behind her, he sensed James watching, waiting, like the good heeler he was, preparing for the perfect moment to enter the action. From the tiny noises Katie made in the back of her throat, anytime would be just about right.

  And then, James was there. His hands on her arms, his body moving closer to hers so that he pressed up against her back before bending to nuzzle her neck.

  Daniel tilted his head to make sure James had enough access to the side of Katie’s neck. He pulled away long enough to gulp air, then kissed her again, harder this time, more demanding. God, he felt like he was drowning, as if the entire earth had opened up and there was nothing but Katie’s sweet mouth.

  Daniel wanted to brand the memory of this kiss on her mind. James might be his lover, and in the arrangement they made might be able to touch her, too. But when she lay in bed at night hot and horny for a man’s touch, Daniel wanted it to be his. He craved the knowledge that in her mind, it would always be him.

  The need for air pulled him away from her lips before he was ready. Resting his forehead against hers, Daniel drew a harsh, shaky breath.

  “Daniel,” she whispered.

  Just hearing his name on her lips made his cock jump.

  She paused, twisting away from both of them as best she could in the truck cab. She drew a not quite steady breath and looked from him to James, then back again. “I loved seeing
you again today…”

  “I hear a ‘but’ in there,” Daniel said, frowning. He glanced over her shoulder at the steady look in James’ eyes. His lover didn’t think she was going to bolt.

  “I have to think about this for a bit.”

  James slid back against the door, giving her space.

  She turned and looked over her shoulder. “Thank you,” she whispered. “You have to admit this is very sudden. And we haven’t seen each other in years. Let’s just say some things never change, including the way I want you. But I’d like to get to know the man you’ve become before I jump into bed with you.”

  James’ fingers curled around the door latch. No! Daniel’s silent yell didn’t stop his lover from cracking open the truck door.

  Katie reached into her pocket. “I brought one of my cards. Take it. Call me. Do you have something..?”

  He scrambled for the dash that held the portfolio with James’ records. He pulled out a business card, then flipped it over and wrote his personal cell phone on the back. “Here’s mine. Call me. As often as you want.” He pressed it into her hand and curled her fingers around it, as if he were afraid she’d let it go.

  “I will. Give me a couple of days, Daniel, to wrap my head around this. I’m not running. But I’m not taking any leaps either.” She turned to James. “Can I—?”

  “Sure. And don’t forget that my number is on that card too.”

  “I won’t.” She waited for James to step out of the truck and hopped out. He saw her weaving her way through the cars toward her own.

  Daniel bit back a curse and fisted his hand. He thumped it a couple of times on the steering wheel, then jerked his thumb at James’ still open door. “Get your ass in here. Let’s get our horses and head home.”

  ~* * *~

  James watched his lover and wished he could tell Daniel that things would be all right. Katie wanted both of them. He read desire in her eyes and body language. The tiny noises she made when he moved in to nuzzle her neck had made him think of other noises she might make when he moved between her legs. It’d been more than a decade since he had a woman; he bet it was like riding a bicycle, some things you never forget.

  He grinned, trying not to look to happy as he stepped into the tack stall and quickly put the saddles back in the tack trunk. It might have been a one-day rodeo, but he liked to get his gear out and feel at home. He’d had enough of the dash and cash type rodeos in his younger years. While he worked in the tack area, Daniel drove around back to hook up the trailer. By the time Daniel brought the truck around, James had wheeled both tack trunks to the end of the aisle. They went up the ramp. He came back to the barn and loaded Diamond and Midnight, and then Daniel secured the doors.

  Neither said much until they’d stopped by the rodeo office to take care of some paperwork and were back on the highway again.

  “Remember that Appaloosa mare we’d picked up at the auction house. The one that was barely three.”

  “Yeah,” Daniel said, wariness in his voice.

  “You know all the hours you spent in the round pen with her, finally getting her ready to tack up.”

  Daniel nodded.

  James relaxed, so far his lover was going along with this story. “Think of Katie like that mare. If you’d just dropped a saddle on that horse’s back she would have kicked you to the moon. You didn’t. You worked with her, got her ready nice and slow. Last I heard, that mare’s owner was winning classes with her.”

  “Katie’s not a horse,” Daniel grumbled, though he didn’t deny what James had said. “And we don’t intend to sell her to the highest bidder. If this works out, she’s going to be a permanent part of our lives.”

  “I know. But think about it. You used to date her. I bet the Daniel she knew back then wouldn’t fuck a man or give him a blow job.” James deliberately used the crude words. No need to sugar coat things now. “You blew her mind.” He laughed at the dual meanings. “She’ll be back. If nothing else, to find out why I’m willing to go along with you in this crazy scheme.”

  Daniel merged onto the interstate to cross town to James’ ranch. He grunted something noncommittal. “What makes you so sure? Maybe we pushed too hard.”

  James shrugged. “I don’t think so. She wants us.”

  Daniel focused on the road as the traffic grew heavier the closer they got to downtown Oklahoma City. He handled the rig the way he did everything, with calm confidence. The truck barely shifted. The horses traveled easily. He stayed silent while they remained in heavy traffic and James didn’t blame him. There wasn’t anything really to say. Katie would call. He’d bet his favorite rope that she would.

  “Would be tough for her to resist two hot cowboys like ourselves,” Daniel said after exiting the interstate. He turned down the state highway leading to James’ ranch. “And my Katie always did like a challenge.”

  James tried to ignore that little possessive word. If this was going to work, Daniel was going to have to share. James hadn’t stood on the sidelines in anything he’d ever done; when it came to Katie he wasn’t going to start now. Better not mention anything though. Just keep an eye on it and be prepared to rein his lover in if need be.

  “There you go,” James agreed.

  Daniel turned off the highway and down the gravel lane that lead to the ranch. A wooden sign along the side of the road read “Stockton Contracting Co.”. As always, when he drove past that sign, James smiled. He’d built up his business from a few head of cattle and a couple of horses to cover 500 acres and enough stock to hold a couple of rodeos all on his own.

  Daniel pulled in front of the barn, and James busied himself with his usual after-event schedule. Unload the horses, remove shipping boots and make sure they get a good ration of feed, put the tack away…all things that came naturally after returning home from an event. The two of them worked side by side, not saying much.

  James paused in the tack room and opened the fridge. Grabbing a beer, he opened the top and savored the cool liquid.

  “We did good today, huh?” Daniel grabbed a second can. He sat down on the couch, resting his forearms on his thighs, the beer held between them. Slight lines of worry, probably not noticeable to anyone who hadn’t known Daniel as long as James had, bracketed his eyes. It wasn’t the face of a man who had just won yet another rodeo.

  “Yeah, we did.” James sat down beside him and stretched his arm along the back of the couch. He let his fingers play with the wavy hair that Daniel couldn’t quiet keep tamed at the nape of his neck.

  Daniel gave a soft sigh and leaned forward. He relaxed a little, not enough to satisfy James, but it was a start. Sipping his beer, he stared straight ahead, the can loosely held in his hands. A heavy sigh issued from his throat and he closed his eyes.

  Everything’s going to be all right. James bit back the trite words. No doubt Daniel knew this as well as he did, and besides, Daniel would just say that James always said that. And he did, except when the shit really hit the fan like the time the bull pinned him in the bucking chute. Then, he’d cussed a blue streak and hurt like hell. He grinned and tried not to laugh. Yeah, things could be a whole lot worse.

  Daniel turned to him, a smile flirting with the corners of his sensuous mouth. “You’re not going to tell me everything’s going to be all right are you?” he asked.

  James burst out laughing. He darn neared dropped his beer, he was laughing so hard. “No,” he said when he could finally get a breath. “Wouldn’t dream of it.” He drained the last of his beer and easily tossed the can across the tack room to the recycling bin.

  “You were thinking it though, weren’t you?” Daniel tried not to smile.

  “You’re a broody sometimes, you know that.” James stood and moved to stand in front of Daniel’s knees. Bending over, he tipped Daniel’s head back. “What I was thinking was that you needed some stress relief.”

  “Well then.” Daniel spread his legs wider, leaning back to stretch both arms along the back of the couch. He used his b
eer can to gesture toward his crotch. “Be my guest.”

  James shook his head as he knelt between Daniel’s legs. Unhooking the belt buckle, he unbuttoned Daniel’s jeans. A slow slide had the zipper lowering, and the only sounds in the room were Daniel’s suddenly-rough breathing and the zipper teeth opening. James made a show of working the zipper all the way down before spreading Daniel’s jeans open.

  He leaned back on his heels to stare at the cotton-covered bulge of Daniel’s erection. His mouth watered just thinking about taking the length of his lover’s cock into his mouth, and James licked his lips. He traced the length of Daniel’s shaft with his fingers, a slow back and forth motion that had Daniel’s cock straining against his briefs. Slowly, he worked his fingers to the waistband and traced the same route along the elastic, back and forth, until Daniel lifted his hips.

  “James,” he said, his voice little more than a ragged groan.

  James tugged Daniel’s shirt free, then gently eased Daniel’s cock and balls out of his underwear. He cupped them in his hands, waiting while Daniel finished the last of his beer. Daniel set the can on the coffee table next to him and then reached forward to slide his fingers through James’ hair.

  Daniel leaned forward. “If you think this is going to make me stop worrying, then you’re probably mistaken. It will, however, feel very, very good.”

  James rose to meet him, their lips touching for a moment before James scooted forward. He grabbed Daniel’s shoulder to steady himself and then kissed Daniel back. The pressure of his lips, hard yet not too hard, the way his mouth moved over Daniel’s, he tried to convey with actions how very right things would be. Though he’d only known Katie for a short time, he was willing to bet that she would call, and sooner rather than later. Until then, they better enjoy their together time while they had it, just the two of them.

  Leaning back on his heels, James took in the sight of Daniel sitting there, his erect cock resting on the cotton of his underwear, framed by his open jeans and the tails of his western shirt. What a damn fine sight, indeed. All he needed was a hat pulled low over his forehead, and he’d make the perfect centerfold.