THE “CARROT cake naked in bed” thing was cracking them right up. Every time Curtis looked at Stetson, his Roper began to laugh, the sound just merry as hell.
Stetson looked a little like a statue, sitting there cross-legged, hair loose around his shoulders. The statue thing was doubly enforced by the smear of cream cheese frosting on Stetson’s cheek.
Curtis leaned over and licked it off.
“Oh….” Those dark eyes went wide, and Stetson gasped for him, one hand landing on his thigh.
“Mmm. That’s good.” Curtis chuckled. “Much better with a little salt.”
“Listen to you. I swear, cowboy, this has been the most fun. Thank you for all this. I’ve liked meeting your family.”
“Yeah? I guess that’s who they are, huh? They’re good guys.” Lunch had been a ball, from Frank to Terry to…. “Babe, were you really at every one of the Santa Fe shows?”
Stetson nodded. “I was.”
“Why didn’t you ever… I mean, I never knew.” He wasn’t one for worrying on things he might have done in the past, but this smacked of a lot of wasted opportunity.
“I was just another face. I just wanted to see the rodeo. Sometimes you rode, sometimes I wasn’t at the right day.”
“Oh.” Was that good or bad? He guessed it didn’t matter much, the way Stetson said it. “Okay.”
“You’re my one and only, Curtis. I knew you’d moved on. I wanted to pretend that…. Shit, man. I don’t know. Which answer will make me seem less desperate and lonely?”
“Hey.” He caught Stetson’s hand in his. “Neither. I guess I just needed to know you wanted to see me ride. Me, not Joe Cowboy. I’m a vain bastard, huh?”
“I have never missed a single televised ride. Ever.”
He squeezed Stetson’s hand. “I do love you, Roper. I always have. I may have stepped out, tried to find something else, but it was always you.” It took him a while to figure some things out. This he had down, now. He wanted to be with Stetson.
Hell, he wanted it so much he’d gone down to Santa Fe and bought a ring. When he won the event tomorrow, he was gonna pop the question.
He refused to believe that there was another answer.
“Good. I’m yours now, one way or the other.” Stetson scooped up a fingerful of cream-cheese icing. “Open up.”
Curtis opened his mouth, and Stetson rubbed the frosting off on his lower lip, so he licked it clean. “Yum again. That’s like crack.”
“Let me try?” Stetson brushed the frosting over Curtis’s mouth again; then Stetson leaned in to lick his lips clean.
Curtis hummed, then slid one hand behind Stetson’s head to hold him right there. Carrot cake might not be an aphrodisiac, but this needing man made him incredibly happy. Stetson slid the cake away and climbed into his lap.
“Hello, cowboy.”
“Hey, there. Look at you, ready to ride.” He sure hoped Stetson wanted more than eight seconds.
“Mmm. I can ride for days, you know. Days.”
“I know. It’s one of my favorite things about you.” Curtis grabbed Stetson’s hips with both hands, rolling and rocking them together.
“Yeah?” Stetson looked suddenly vulnerable. “I’m giving you what all you need?”
“You’re everything I could ever want, Roper.” He raised one hand to stroke that flat belly. “You need so good.” He nudged Stetson’s cock, loving the silken skin he found. “You make me want to do things, every time I see you.”
“I like things.” Stetson pressed their lips together, hard enough that their teeth clicked. “Our things.”
“Uh-huh. Good things.” Curtis was kind of losing the ability to talk, but that was the point, wasn’t it? Stetson made him stupid with need, made him want to beg for it. Hell, Curtis loved to hear Stetson beg for it.
He slid his hand down to touch the tip of Stetson’s cock, rubbed at it with his fingers. Stetson arched, curling over him, the lean body beginning to rock.
“You like that, Roper.”
“Uh-huh. Need. Need it.”
“I could watch you all day.” Curtis knew he could. He could wait for his pleasure, just give Stetson everything. “You ride like a natural.”
“Yeah. Yeah, cowboy. I can.” Stetson leaned over and opened the side table, showing a bottle of lube and a cloth.
“Look at you! Planning naughtiness.” Curtis was so proud.
“I know. I thought we’d celebrate in style once you won, but this is good too. Ah-ah.” Stetson planted a hand on his chest. “You let me do the doing and take it easy. You need to save your strength for tomorrow.”
“You just gonna ride, then, Roper? Take me deep?”
“Just? Cowboy, I’m going to blow your mind.”
“Oh, hell, yes.” He grinned up at Stetson, ready to take and take.
That was his Roper—tentative until he started revving up to do his job.
Stetson opened the lube, squirted it out on his hand. He rubbed it between his fingers, probably to warm it up, and Curtis watched every motion. His mouth was dry, and when Stetson reached behind him to touch his tiny little hole, the temptation to turn Stetson so Curtis could see was huge.
He didn’t, because he didn’t want to upset the balance Stetson had achieved, but damn. The sound of Stetson panting gave him amazing ideas.
“You’re going to make me shoot, baby. Just from this.”
Stetson snorted at him, shot him a glare. “Don’t you dare, cowboy. I’ve promised myself a ride.”
“I can hold on. I’ll just think about Tres Equis,” Curtis teased.
Oh, look at that glare! “I swear to God, I will pull more than eight seconds from you.”
“You will. I know it. Get me ready too, baby.” He needed Stetson’s hands, getting him wet.
“There’s nothing I like more than touching you.” Suddenly Stetson was jacking him, touching him, slicking him right up.
He huffed out a breath, his lungs kinda refusing to work. “I love you. Your hands. Everything.”
“Uh-huh. Ditto. Need you to fuck me.”
“Right here, baby. You ready?” He grasped those lean hips again, ready to help lift Stetson into place.
His eyes crossed as Stetson took him, wrapped him in slick heat. He wanted to buck up, slam in deep, but this was Stetson’s deal. Stetson’s game.
So he tried to breathe, shaking with the need to move. “Come on, baby. Gimme.”
“Patience.” Stetson began to move, rocking up and dropping back.
“Not a virtue I’m good at.” He kept his grip on Stetson as loose as he could, gritting his teeth as pleasure shot up his spine.
“Love you.” Stetson rocked up, then sank down on him, taking him to the root.
“God. Yes. Oh yeah. More.” He could hear Stetson say that every damn day.
“More.” Stetson pressed their lips together, curling down so they were joined, mouths and bodies.
Curtis took that kiss deep, pushing his tongue into Stetson’s mouth. His whole world narrowed down to Stetson’s skin, his musky scent, the tight grip of his ass.
He humped up, added his strength to Stetson’s, and suddenly they were cooking with oil, both of them on fire.
The rhythm doubled up, working hard, panting and sweating.
“Never-never going to ride again without you watching me.” He meant it too. Never again without those black eyes staring him down from the stands.
“Good.” Stetson braced both hands on his chest. “I’ll be right there tomorrow. Watching and cheering you on.”
“Swear it?”
“I do. You have my word. God, cowboy, touch me. Please.”
“I’m on it.” His grin probably looked more like a grimace, but Curtis was just holding on by a thread. He grasped Stetson’s velvet-skinned cock and jacked it. Hard. He rolled the tip, loving the wild cry Stetson offered him.
Then he pushed back down the shaft, lifting his other hand to give more friction, more sensation.
“Fuck. Fuck, cowboy. Now.”
“Come on. Come for me. I want to see it.” He wanted to feel it around him, Stetson tight as a fist.
Stetson stared at him, eyes wide and black as holes burned in a sheet. Then heat poured over his hands, wet and thick and right.
“Oh, Jesus.” Curtis arched up, his balls drawing tight, a deep fire rising up in his belly. He shot hard, deep inside his lover, giving Stetson all he had.
Stetson leaned down onto him, chest working like a bellows. “Damn.”
“Uh-huh.” Curtis took a sloppy kiss. “Meant it. No more rides without you there.”
“Okay. Seriously. I’m with you.”
“And I’m with you. If you can’t come along, I don’t go.” He’d already talked to his team about how he was going to be doing more appearances than events this year. More autographs, fewer rides.
He had a ranch to improve, horses to buy, a lover to hold.
For the first time in his life, the rodeo game was taking a back seat to other things. Curtis was surprised at how free that made him feel.
He thought, maybe, he had his mind in the middle.