Chapter Two

“What the hell are you doing here, Hornsby?” Duncan asked himself.

He stood in the hotel hallway, staring at the door in front of him. The kid was one of Clayton MacDonald’s offspring. He doubted the kid would be any different than his father. Yet the bottle of liniment he held in his hand told him a different story.

“Knock on the stupid door, jackass. Standing out in the hall, talking to yourself, can’t be a sign of sanity.”

Lifting his hand, he started to knock when the door whipped open. His fist landed on the kid’s forehead hard enough for the kid to rock back on his heels.

“Shit,” Duncan swore, grabbing the kid’s slender arms to keep the younger MacDonald from falling over. “Sorry about that. I didn’t know you were going to open the door.”

The younger MacDonald must have been stunned because he stared up at Duncan with wide green eyes and gaping mouth. The swollen bottom lip with a cut in the middle of it drew Duncan’s gaze. He reached out and brushed the air over the wounded flesh.

“What happened?”

His harsh question shocked the kid out of his silence. High cheekbones flushing prettily, he shook his head. “Nothing. Ran into the closet door earlier.”

If that was true, Duncan was a ballet dancer. He kept his comments to himself, though. He doubted the other man would appreciate Duncan calling him a liar.

“I never caught your name.”

“Kyle.”

“Hey, Kyle, I’m Duncan.” He held out the hand not holding the liniment bottle.

Peeking through lush dark eyelashes, Kyle shook Duncan’s hand, his fingers lingering a little afterward. Ah-ha. Duncan had been right. It was a rare occasion when Duncan couldn’t pick out the queer ones. Of course, it helped that he was always looking himself.

“I was wondering if you could do me a favor.” He held up the bottle. “I can’t reach the part of my back that needs this rubbed into it. Could you help me out?”

Interest flared in those pain-filled eyes for a moment before reality set in, Duncan assumed, and Kyle shook his head.

“I’m not supposed to have anyone in the room.”

“Then come down to mine. I’m on the same floor.” He really didn’t want to let this one get away.

Kyle stepped back and the light from the bathroom shone on the vibrant bruise on the kid’s face.

“Kid, how fast were you going when you ran into that door?”

Ducking his head, Kyle turned away. “I’m a klutz. Need to pay more attention to where I’m going at times.”

Right, and Duncan should start searching for those dancing shoes. That bruise resembled a handprint and Duncan had a feeling he knew whose hand it was that had marred him.

Kyle’s expression started to close up, and Duncan knew he was losing the kid.

“I can’t leave the room either.”

Duncan took two steps forward, forcing Kyle to move back out of the doorway. Shutting the door behind him, he reached out. Kyle flinched and froze. Suppressing the urge to growl, Duncan cupped the back of the kid’s head and drew him closer. It was probably the wrong thing to do on so many levels, but no one had ever accused Duncan of being smart that way. Some urge inside him wanted to soothe Kyle’s hurts away. He wanted to remove the pain and fear from Kyle’s eyes, replacing those emotions with need and desire.

Kyle laid his hand on Duncan’s chest, not pushing away, just resting it there. “What are you doing?”

“I’m going to kiss you. Don’t worry. I’ll be careful of your lip.”

Kyle’s soft gasp drew Duncan’s gaze to the kid’s mouth and he leaned down to whisper a kiss over them. Kyle stood stiffly in his arms, obviously inexperienced at kissing.

Trailing kisses over the bruised cheek, Duncan nibbled on Kyle’s earlobe before murmuring in his ear, “You can touch me if you want.”

The shaky laugh issuing from Kyle’s throat brought a smile to Duncan’s face.

“If I want? God, you don’t know how many times I’ve dreamed of doing something like this.”

Tentative arms slid up over his shoulders and slender fingers played with the curls at the nape of his neck. Duncan was glad he’d left his hat in his room.

“You thought about kissing me or just kissing any cowboy?” He touched the tip of his tongue to the sensitive spot behind Kyle’s ear and the kid shivered.

“At first, it was any cowboy, but after seeing you ride for the first time this season, it’s been you,” Kyle confessed breathlessly.

Duncan nuzzled the place where Kyle’s shoulder and neck met, scraping his teeth over the soft flesh there. “Good, because once I saw you, I knew I wanted you.”

“You only saw me tonight. You make up your mind quick.” Kyle dropped his head to the side, offering up more flesh for Duncan to play with.

“Oh, no. I saw you after the second event of the season. One of my guys pointed you out to me as the kid who petted Tex. I saw you smile and my cock perked up, telling me all sorts of things about what it wanted to do to you.”

Blushing, Kyle shifted closer, and Duncan took that movement as encouragement. He swooped in for a kiss, taking it deeper and harder than the first one. Kyle whimpered and squirmed in Duncan’s arms, rubbing his groin against Duncan’s and fanning the flames of Duncan’s need.

Duncan moaned, but it was the sudden taste of blood in his mouth that caused him to jerk back. Keeping a hold of Kyle’s hips, he stared down at the younger man. Blood beaded at the split in Kyle’s lower lip.

“I’m sorry about that. Got a little carried away.”

With Duncan no longer pressed tight against him, Kyle’s mind must have cleared because a terrified look grew and Kyle yanked free of Duncan.

“You have to go. My dad can’t find you here.”

“He won’t. We both know your father isn’t going to be coming back here tonight. He’ll pick up some buckle bunny and go back to her place.”

Kyle didn’t deny it. “But Rusty will be coming back and he can’t find you here.”

Duncan didn’t think much of Rusty. “And he’d rat you out to MacDonald, wouldn’t he?”

Kyle shot a wild glance around the room like there might be someone spying on them. “You don’t understand. Things will be far worse for him if Dad found out he lied to him.”

Christ, what kind of monster was MacDonald? Both of his sons were too scared of him to go against him. Yet Duncan had a feeling Kyle defied his father each time he went to the bull pens. There was courage in the kid, and Duncan wasn’t willing to let it get beaten out of him.

“Tell you what. Rusty won’t be back until at least two, right?”

Kyle nodded slowly.

Duncan checked his watch. “It’s midnight now. Why don’t you come back to my room and help rub some of this liniment into my back? I promise you’ll be in bed before your brother returns.”

Pursing his lips, Kyle considered the options, and Duncan didn’t push. He didn’t know how tense he was until Kyle smiled, then every muscle in Duncan’s body relaxed.

“Okay, but I’m trusting you to keep track of time and get me home before curfew.” Kyle gave him a shy wink.

Cupping Kyle’s injured cheek, Duncan vowed, “You’ll never get hurt because of me.”

“Hurt? I’m dead if my father ever figures out that I’m gay.”

“He won’t hear it from me.”

He crossed his heart, and Kyle laughed.

“You must be good at keeping secrets because I’ve never heard one rumor about you liking guys.” Kyle picked up the bottle where Duncan had dropped it, grabbed a key card off the dresser and shoved it in the pocket of the shorts he wore. “Let’s get going before I remember why this isn’t a good idea.”

Duncan’s conscience argued with him as he led the way back to his room. What kind of selfish prick would disregard the danger Kyle could be in for a chance to feel the kid’s hands on his body?

Fumbling with his room key, he leaned his forehead against the door and huffed in frustration. A warm hand caressed his back and Kyle pressed close to him.

“Don’t chicken out now, man. I’m going to be very upset if I end up going back to my room without getting to see you naked.”

His cock jumped at the whispered words in his ear. A low laugh bathed his skin.

“Or at least your naked chest. We don’t have time for anything else, and I’m not feeling great. I bet I’m just as sore as you are.”

Damn. Where did this sexy, confident man come from? Duncan got the door open and waved Kyle inside. “Sorry about the mess. I did a face plant in the dirt at the arena the first round and changed in between.”

He cringed at the clothes strewn across the room, draped over the chair and hanging from the bathroom door.

Kyle chuckled. “Not much of a neat freak, are you?”

“When I’m home, I keep my place clean, but on the road, there’s too much to do and not enough time to worry about the rest.”

Nodding, Kyle sat down on the unused bed. A sudden attack of nerves had Duncan picking up the dirt-covered jeans he’d flung across the room earlier that day. Kyle watched him silently for a moment before moving to stop him in one of his many passes in front of him.

Duncan looked down into his understatedly beautiful face and saw a hint of insecurity shine in Kyle’s eyes.

“Do you regret asking me here?”

Trailing his hand over Kyle’s auburn curls, he shook his head. “No. Just suddenly got nervous for a moment. Not every day I have a gorgeous, mouthwatering man sitting on my bed.”

Purring, Kyle rubbed his cheek against Duncan’s stomach. “You don’t have to flatter me to get me to cover you in stinky liniment.”

Laughter burst from him and he relaxed. Nothing more than a little touching was going to happen tonight. His back protested every move he made and he was sure Kyle’s muscles ached just as much from the beating he took.

“God, the sexy things you say, kid.”

“I’m still learning how to seduce a guy.”

Duncan started to lean over to kiss Kyle, but his back chose to protest that movement and he hissed. Kyle moved to one side and tugged on his hand, urging him to lie down.

“Come on. I promise I’ll be gentle and this stuff really works. I’ve used it on myself a couple of times.”

Stripping off his shirt before he stretched out on the comforter, Duncan didn’t miss the way Kyle’s eyes widened in appreciation at the firmly muscled chest Duncan revealed.

“Hmm…one thing I love about the tour is all the studs walking around in tight jeans and cowboy hats,” Kyle muttered, running his hands over Duncan’s back.

“Yet you manage to hide your interest pretty damn good. I studied you for quite a while to figure out if you were ogling their asses or not.”

“Self-preservation. If I got caught, I’d get my ass kicked…not just from the cowboys, but my dad would kill me.”

Duncan bit his tongue. He wasn’t in any position to comment on Kyle’s family life. Though he couldn’t help asking, “Why do you stay?”

The hesitation lasted long enough to make Duncan think Kyle wasn’t going to answer him. A caress ghosted over his shoulder blade before Kyle settled on the back of Duncan’s thighs.

“He’s not that bad when he isn’t drinking,” Kyle said softly and slowly, like he was trying to convince himself instead of Duncan.

“How often does he drink?”

“Every night we’re on tour.”

Kyle opened the bottle and squirted some of the liniment onto Duncan’s back. The shock of the cool liquid drew goose bumps to his skin. Obviously, Kyle had done it to keep him from asking any more questions.

Got it, kid. No more questions about Dad. Duncan might not be a genius, but he was smart enough to know it wasn’t any of his business, especially since he had ulterior motives for asking the kid to help him with the liniment stuff.

Though, between his back and Kyle’s bruises, he doubted anything would take place. Oh, well, there was always the next stop on the tour.

“Oh, God,” he murmured as Kyle worked the pungent smelling lotion into his muscles.

Whatever was in that stuff worked because Duncan could feel his body loosen up with each stroke. Kyle worked him hard, finding each knot of pain and massaging it out, accompanied by grunts and moans forced from Duncan’s throat.

At some point, his mind registered Kyle’s cock pushing hard against his ass with each rocking move the kid made. He wanted to push back and encourage Kyle to keep moving, but his back hadn’t loosened up enough for that.

“You’ve got good hands,” he gritted out from between clenched teeth.

“I’d go into massage therapy, if it wasn’t too sissy a job.”

The bitterness in Kyle’s voice told Duncan that MacDonald must have said that exact thing to him often.

“It’s not sissy. There are days, if not for the therapists on tour, I’d never be able to move.” Duncan grimaced as Kyle hit a bundle of knots in his lower back.

Kyle snorted. “They don’t seem able to do anything for my dad.”

“I’ve never seen your dad in the sports medicine room. Are you sure he goes? And has he always been a drinker?”

It wasn’t any of his business, but Duncan couldn’t help asking, and he found he wanted to know everything there was to know about Kyle. The other man hesitated, letting Duncan know, without saying a word, how difficult it was to talk about his father.

“He says he goes. He hurt his back at the end of last season. I overheard him tell Mom there wasn’t anything the doctors could do about it. It’s always going to cause him pain. It was around then that he really seemed to start drinking more often.”

Glancing over his shoulder, he saw Kyle frowning down at his hands. Shit, the man was gorgeous, even all bruised up as he was.

“Lift up for a sec.”

Kyle rose up, freeing Duncan enough for him to roll over on his back. He gripped Kyle’s slender hips and drew the younger man down. They both hissed as their fabric-covered erections met, and Kyle rocked over him. Duncan moved as little as he could. His back was better from Kyle’s attention, but he knew one wrong move and he wouldn’t be riding the next day.

Seduction in slow motion, Kyle continued to grind against Duncan, his eyes filled with heat as he reached down to join his hands with Duncan’s on his hips. Duncan moaned as Kyle licked his lips.

“When that split lip heals, you better watch out,” he warned Kyle.

“Watch out for what?” Kyle pressed harder against him, and they gasped.

“Me. I’m going to hunt your ass down and feed my cock in between those gorgeous lips of yours. You’ll be sucking me off in some corner of the arena in the shadows where someone might see us, but never know who we are.”

Kyle’s green eyes widened, and Duncan couldn’t tell if it was from fear at the thought of being discovered or lust at the same thought.

“Brace your hands on my chest.”

His order instantly obeyed, Duncan slipped one hand around to unbutton Kyle’s shorts and the other under the waistband to tease Kyle’s crease.

“Oh.” Kyle jumped slightly when Duncan caressed the puckered opening hidden between Kyle’s ass cheeks.

“You like that?”

Kyle nodded and Duncan grinned.

“I’ve got something better than that.” He brought his finger up in front of Kyle’s mouth. “Get it wet.”