The Maltese Terror Page 5

  Caleb smiled. “I thought you’d never ask, but I wasn’t going to rush you.”

  “Thank you for that. I admit I’m going places I’ve never been before. Still, it all feels too right to be anything other than what I’ve always wanted without realizing it.”

  A nod indicated Caleb understood. “I know. My real first time was long ago, with an older guy I met in the army. While I was scared shitless, I could no more back off than fly. He knew, without me saying it, that I wasn’t sure where I was going, and he made it easy for me. I’ll try to do the same for you. If anything hurts, doesn’t feel right, or bothers you, just say so. I want this to be about giving, about pleasure, about sharing. I hope it’ll be so good you’ll keep coming back for more.”

  They led each other to the bed. Caleb pushed Nick down, gently but firmly, with his head at the heavily carved headboard. Then he lay down the opposite way at Nick’s side. Bare of his usual boots his feet looked long and narrow, yet oddly neat, the nails clipped close and the bones defined under tawny skin. Nick studied them a moment, then let his gaze drift up Caleb’s legs to his prick, twitching with eagerness. He wanted to taste it again, to feel that throb in his mouth as he sucked in an accelerating cadence. Sliding down until his face was even with Caleb’s crotch, he rolled up onto his knees.

  This time he took the head and half the shaft into his mouth without hesitation. The warm velvet skin slipped and shifted over the hot iron core as he bobbed his head, moving up and down in an age-old rhythm.

  He heard Caleb’s breathing quicken and then a soft moan. “God, that feels good. Harder, Nick. Faster. Watch the teeth. Otherwise you’re doing everything just right. Oh, yeah!”

  Nick almost lost it in a start when Caleb reached up to clasp one cheek and slid all four fingers into the crease of Nick’s ass. Then he realized it felt good—strange, but good. He shifted his knees farther apart, inviting even more intimate caresses. Caleb stroked down between Nick’s legs to the back of his balls, lingering on the sensitive patch there.

  Blood pounded through Nick’s dick, swelling and stiffening it. His balls tightened and tingled, drawing up tight against his body.

  “Move around here,” Caleb suggested. “Get a knee on either side of my head and let me have a taste of you.”

  Nick obeyed. He felt Caleb’s hand on his cock first, giving him a stroke and then another. All at once a warm, moist mouth engulfed him. Liquid fire shot along Nick’s veins. Although he wanted to scream, he couldn’t with Caleb’s shaft deep in his mouth.

  Omigod, omigod, omigod. Oh. My. God.

  They both came, so close to simultaneously, that Nick wasn’t sure who shot off first. He tasted the thick, salty stream of Caleb’s ejaculation at the very instant he felt himself let go. At that moment, he would have sworn he was suspended in antigravity, a hundred miles up in space. Soaring, flying, falling, shattering. He managed to roll to one side before his trembling legs gave out completely.

  Chapter 6

  After a few moments, Caleb turned around to lie the right way on the bed. Nick moved back closer to the head also. For a while they spooned together, resting in a close embrace. A calm contentment stole over Caleb as he listened to Nick’s breathing deepen and slow. He sensed the exact moment when the other man fell asleep. The surge of protectiveness he felt caught him by surprise.

  For years now, he’d poured all that out on his livestock. It felt good to be able to spend a little of it on another human being. A mutual respect was growing, along with a friendship he suspected would only deepen and develop with time and sharing. I’d say we’re going to be a lot more than just fuck buddies. It’ll be fun to have a brother and a friend, a real partner. I think we’ve both been alone long enough to appreciate what a precious gift we’ve found. Holding to that thought, he, too, drifted off to sleep.

  He didn’t sleep long. When he awoke, his stiffening cock was nestled between Nick’s cheeks, very well aware of the comfort that snug space afforded. He moved a little, sliding back and forth, feeling the heat build. Nick had a nice ass, firm and just rounded enough for comfort. He didn’t want to force the issue since Nick was technically a virgin, but fucking that nice ass was certainly a tempting notion.

  Well, there’d be time for that. He no longer doubted they’d be a couple for a good long time. That meant he could lead Nick into that ultimate intimacy gently, by degrees, just as Owen had initiated him almost eighteen years ago now. It was definitely something to look forward to.

  I was lucky to have a first lover who believed in taking time instead of using force. I’ve heard of guys who were almost raped the first time. That could be brutal. I can sympathize with women who get abused that way. It would be hell, leave you so scarred you’d always be afraid…There’s no way I’d put Nick through that.

  He drew back and forced himself to calm down. In spite of his unquenched arousal, contentment still enfolded him.

  A plaintive whimper penetrated Caleb’s awareness. He rolled to look over the edge of the bed into a pair of beady black eyes, almost lost in a tangle of rumpled white fur. Cedric sat on his haunches, looking up with an anxious expression. Caleb could almost hear him. Are you still really mad at me?

  Behind him, Cheyenne stood, her head cocked to one side and a hesitant doggy grin on her face. Her stubby tail gave several tiny, betraying twitches. Caleb could read her like a book. Don’t be too hard on the kid, boss. I got him all clean and dry for you. Even if I know he’s a pill, I kinda like the little shit.

  Nick awoke then and rolled over, leaning up to look over Caleb’s shoulder. “What’s going on? Are they trying to tell us it’s dinner time?”

  Caleb laughed. “Cheyenne knows it’s dinner time and past. I rarely lie down before bedtime, about eleven, so she’s wondering what’s going on. Can’t say what your dog wants, but I suspect she put him up to waking us. And betcha he’d do anything she wants him to.”

  “Well, I’m glad our dogs get along. I expect Cedric and I’ll be spending quite a bit of time here, so that makes it even better. Don’t know much about ranching. I think I’d like to learn though, especially with a teacher who knows it inside out…and a few other things besides.”

  Caleb turned to press a kiss to Nick’s warm, smiling mouth. “Are you flirting with me, bud?”

  Nick laughed. “I hadn’t thought of it quite that way. You know, I suppose I am.”

  Swinging his legs off the bed and reaching for a pair of jeans, Caleb looked back over his shoulder. “You did say you’ve set up a temporary office in Denver, didn’t you?”

  Nick nodded. “I sure did, for a start. Really there’s no reason why it can’t become a permanent thing. CWN has been thinking about setting up a western branch office because a lot of our projects are from the Rockies on west. And if they don’t, I could always pull out and hang up my own shingle. Another customer or two like Jack Connant and I’d be set for years. There’s no lack of business these days.”

  “What I know about landscape architecture, much less resort layout, would make a damn short book, but it sounds interesting. I’m not sure how we can work ranching and your business together. Maybe we don’t need to in order to be some kind of partners.”

  Nick followed Caleb out of bed, grabbing a ragged terry robe from the closet door. “I’d like that—we’ll come up with some system that’ll work. Meanwhile, I need to run out to the SUV and get some more clothes. If it’s okay, I’ll stay until tomorrow morning. I’ve got to go back to Philly, close my apartment, and clean up some odds and ends before I can settle in Denver. I don’t figure to be more than a week or two at that.”

  Caleb stopped him with a hand on his shoulder. “I don’t want to horn in on your life, Nick. You have plans and responsibilities and so on—things that are part of who you are, just like this ranch is part of me. I’m not asking you to shift gears and head off in a new direction just because we’ve met, found a connection here. You do what you need to, no explanations required. I’ll be right her
e whenever you’re ready to spend more time together.”

  Nick gazed back at him, a smile that seemed almost wistful on his face. Sometimes he looked very young, so Caleb could see the boy he’d been, not so long ago.

  “I think we’ve found something special. Maybe I’m greedy, but I want to get as much of it as I can, like I missed for half my life so far. I’m willing to make some adjustments to bring our lives together, at least as much as we can. I think I’ve got more flexibility than you do right now, and I’m okay with this.”

  Impulsively, Caleb drew Nick close and kissed him again, with more tenderness and affection than lust. “Damn, buddy, you have a good head on those shoulders. How did I get so lucky?”

  “Blame it on the dogs. I think they conspired to get us hooked up so they could be together.”

  Caleb looked down at the two canines, Cheyenne sitting on her haunches with a pleased doggie grin and Cedric at her side, leaning against her shoulder as if about to confide some secret to her. “You just might be right. I wouldn’t put anything past that Maltese Terror of yours. And my old Heeler there is pretty sly at times, too.”

  Laughing together, they walked out to the kitchen, Caleb’s arm slung across Nick’s shoulders. The two dogs followed close behind, Cedric taking three steps for every one of Cheyenne’s. The dogs settled behind the stove, still keeping keen eyes on the proceedings as Caleb set about fixing dinner, while Nick got his clothes and dressed.

  Once in a while a meal might be late, but for the most part, everything was right in their world and promised to stay that way. Life was looking pretty doggone good.

  THE END

  ABOUT DEIRDRE O’DARE

  A lifelong reader, Deirdre learned to write—poems and stories—as soon as she could print the letters and try to spell words. She went pro with women’s fiction as Gwynn Morgan after she retired from a US civil service job and switched to erotic romance some years back. A confirmed desert rat, she sets most tales in her beloved southwest and slips in her ranch and outdoor background with adventures and ‘critters’ as secondary characters.

  Although all of Deirdre’ s tales are explicit, she emphasizes she writes love stories and not just sex stories because she believes Love in all its forms is the One True Thing. She also believes that every human deserves to find and enjoy it. She currently resides in central New Mexico and serves as chauffer and household staff for two amazing dogs. She enjoys many creative hobbies and spending time with friends and her spectacular grandkids when she can escape from the keyboard.

  For more information, visit deirdredares.blogspot.com.

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  JMS Books LLC is a small queer press with competitive royalty rates publishing LGBT romance, erotic romance, and young adult fiction. Visit jms-books.com for our latest releases and submission guidelines!