STORY EXCERPT

“I feel a little guilty,” Devon admitted and Tim felt his chest squeeze in momentary panic. “Are you sure I’m not keeping you from anything too important?”

Tim relaxed and waved the comment away. “Please. I was lured here under false pretenses, there is nothing important waiting for me anywhere in this town. Except maybe right here,” he added and they made eye contact for an electric moment.

It had finally occurred to Mr. Noncommittal McDougal to check Devon’s left hand for a wedding ring and he felt a burst of relief when he found none. There was, however, a tell-tale pale band of skin where such an object had once resided. He recalled Allison’s comment about Devon’s “ex-wife” and filed that away to ask about later. He didn’t want their first few hours together to be spent sifting through the minutia in the ocean of time between them. They could wade neck-deep in those icy waters another time, and he suspected they would have to, but for the moment Tim was focused on weighing his chances of dragging his friend somewhere private and tearing all of his clothes off. His body all but demanded it with every pulse of blood in his veins.

“I do have to ask, where are you absconding to with me?” he asked, noticing for the first time that they were departing the Concord city limits.

A deep blush painted Devon’s cheeks and the tips of his ears, which made Tim laugh wickedly. “I don’t really have a plan,” he admitted. “At first I thought we’d just go to the diner, but then I realized there would probably be…”

“People?” Tim supplied with appropriate disdain.

“I was thinking press, actually, but they’re people too, I suppose.”

“You obviously haven’t interacted with any of them,” Tim griped. “So, you don’t have a plan, huh? Just get me in your car and take me away from all of this?” He leaned back and rested his shoes on the dashboard the way he had in another lifetime. Back then he’d worn the same beat up sneakers for three years until they were more duct tape than anything else. Now the leather molded to his feet had cost him more than most people made in a month. Devon glanced over and chuckled.

“Make yourself comfortable.”

“I’m actually surprised by how comfortable I am,” Tim observed. “Shouldn’t things be painfully awkward between us?”

Devon shrugged. “I assumed they would be. Honestly, I wasn’t even sure you would want to see me.”

Tim did not ask why. The freezing waves of past arguments were lapping at his ankles and he stepped away from them as quickly as he could. Instead he adopted his most offended tone and replied, “I have never once in my life turned down an invitation from a sexy cowboy.”

The other man blushed deeply once more and Tim put another mental notch in the “gonna bang” column. By now they had left the town proper and were headed into the vast Nebraskan farmlands. The sun was shining on the fields of wheat and corn and for a moment Tim just sat back against the old vinyl seat and looked out the window, feeling the truck rumble beneath him. However, he was still too buzzy with excitement to sit still for very long.

“Tell me something about you,” he asked, moving his feet back to the floor so that he could scoot closer on the bench seat. Not too close, not yet, but enough that it was noticeable.

Devon considered, one hand resting on the wheel and the other drumming a soft rhythm on his thigh. “I’m a vet,” he said.

“Vietnam?” Tim joked.

“Haha.”

“So you spend your time elbow-deep in the business end of farm animals?”

Devon laughed. His voice was deeper than Tim remembered, more rich, and he found himself imagining it used for only the filthiest purposes. It sent a little thrill shooting through him. “Not exclusively,” Devon answered. “I do a fair amount of assistance with breeding and birthing, but lots of other things too.”

“Do you enjoy it?”

“I do, actually. I’m sure you won’t believe it, but it’s rewarding work.”

Tim looked askance. “Why wouldn’t I believe that?”

“It just doesn’t strike me as a function you would have a lot of respect for. Correct me if I’m wrong.”

This was where they might have, in another life, been sucked into a lengthy and ferocious argument. Devon had an unofficial doctorate in reading Tim and his observations, especially relating to Tim’s dislike of most of life, often provoked the man in question into a defensive stance. Some of the worst fights they had ever endured in college had started exactly this way. But in this case a few key things were different—Devon’s tone was gentle and non-confrontational and Tim was too horny to engage.

“I have to admit that I was hoping you had an intimate working knowledge of human biology, but I’ll take what I can get. Do you have a cattle prod at home? That could be kinky.”

Devon laughed, no doubt relieved that he hadn’t offended. “That’s nothing. You should see the mating sling.”

Tim burst into helpless peals of laughter. “Mating sling?” he exclaimed between gulping breaths before he completely fell apart. He laughed until tears streamed down his face, slapping his hands on the dashboard. After a moment Devon joined him and the space between them filled with the sounds of their hysterics.

ADULT EXCERPT

Tim undressed in silence, letting his shirt and pants fall haphazardly on the floor. He toed off his shoes and stood before Devon in only his tight underwear. The other man was smiling.

“What?” Tim asked.

“Purple underwear?” Devon observed.

“Designer purple underwear, excuse you.”

“They’re very nice.”

“They’re nicer when they’re off,” Tim said in a low voice and hooked his thumbs into the waistband. Devon moved off the bed then and knelt before him. “Let me,” he offered huskily, placing his hands over Tim’s own and tugging gently.

Tim’s head swam with the sudden loss of blood. It was incredible to see Devon here kneeling before him like they entered some kind of time warp. One that left them both with wrinkles and baggage where there hadn’t been any before. He swallowed and nodded, carding his fingers gently through Devon’s soft black hair. It was shorter now than when they had been in college, brushing his ears and curling slightly at the ends.

Devon tugged his underwear down, allowing Tim’s erection to spring free. The redhead hissed between his teeth and leaned his head back. He obligingly raised each leg when Devon pulled his underwear down, stepping out of them. Devon placed them in the pile with Tim’s other clothes and turned his attention back to the matter at hand. He surprised his lover by rising then and standing arm’s length away. His eyes were glossy and wide, raking over Tim’s body though his hands were held loosely at his sides. It reminded Tim of standing in front of the mirror at Justin Hartwell’s studio and he felt his skin prickle.

“What?” he asked, unable to keep the irritation out of his voice.

“You’re beautiful,” Devon said simply. “I’ve never seen anything like you in my whole life.”

There was that unflappable honesty again. Tim felt like there was a spotlight ten inches away from his face and his skin was threatening to immolate. His palms were sweaty, his heart pounding, his stomach churning. It was like puberty all over again, though somehow also worse.

“You just planning to look?” he ground out.

Devon’s full lips quirked up in a shy smile. “I feel a little overdressed.”

“Then take your damn clothes off,” Tim pointed out impatiently. He wished suddenly that they didn’t have all of this history clouding up the air between them. It would be so much simpler if they were two strangers undressing in his hometown hotel room. But then he wouldn’t feel the same reverence, the same wonder, as inch after inch of Devon’s tan skin was laid bare to him. There wouldn’t be the same warmth spreading in his chest, not harsh like a shot of whiskey, but soft and golden like sunlight through sheer curtains.

Tim grabbed Devon and kissed him before he had gotten his shirt fully off, tangling the other man’s arms in the sleeves and making the entire affair rather awkward. He didn’t care. He crushed Devon to him and ripped at his clothes, heedless about the damage he might do. He had money. He could replace clothes. Devon made a desperate sound against his mouth which shot directly to Tim’s exposed cock.

“No more interruptions,” he breathed against Devon’s ear, forcing the other man’s pants over his narrow hips. “I’m going to have you right here, right now.”

“Yes,” Devon agreed rather breathlessly.

When they were both naked Tim drew Devon onto the bed with him and pushed him onto the pillows with barely restrained violence. It felt like he needed to feel the other man’s skin under his fingers or he was going to die. He couldn’t remember ever experiencing such acute desperation. He kissed Devon like he was drowning, hands roaming over the familiar and yet foreign planes of the smaller man’s body.

Tim sucked on Devon’s neck, pressing his forearms into the bed with fingers that were probably holding on too tightly. Those loud pornographic noises Devon was making in the truck made their resurgence and Tim felt positively dizzy with lust. He bent to suck Devon’s nipples, satisfied by the loud groan this elicited. He held Devon to the bed for as long as he could reach, using his body weight to his advantage. He nipped at the left nipple and Devon surged off the bed, yelping.

“Ohh, that’s nice,” Tim moaned.

“Jesus, Tim.” Devon sighed. “You’re going to kill me.”

Tim released his arms and then slid down Devon’s body, licking at his soft flat stomach and the swell of Devon’s pelvic bones. He traced the whorls of dark hair down and down and down. The other man sucked in a breath as Tim drew near to his cock, the organ itself jumping in anticipation. Despite the urgency singing in his blood Tim forced himself to take his time, teasing the sensitive skin around Devon’s cock, licking his inner thighs, letting his breath ghost across Devon’s cock. The other man thrust his hips in the air helplessly, hands fisted into the sheets.

“For fuck’s sake,” Devon said and his voice sounded like a plea. Tim smiled against his hip.

Finally he leaned forward, parted his lips, and let his tongue trace the tip of Devon’s cock. The smaller man all but screamed then, coming off the bed again and swearing colorfully.

“You are such a slut,” Tim said quietly, slapping Devon’s thigh.