Total pages in book: 143
Estimated words: 132512 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 663(@200wpm)___ 530(@250wpm)___ 442(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 132512 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 663(@200wpm)___ 530(@250wpm)___ 442(@300wpm)
It was like walking through a cathedral with many pillars. The woods were quiet and dusky once one entered the shadow of treetops. But the scent here was nothing like the odor of stale water in the churches of New York and Boston. It was fresh and so ripe with greenery Cole once again wondered if he shouldn’t stay. Right here, in Colorado. Just pick a place and live there in solitude. Away from people. Away from Ned.
Away from anyone who might turn his life around without warning. He could sense Ned’s question hanging in the air, but the last thing he wanted was for Tommy to overhear them. So he walked on until they reached the densest thatch of fragrant bushes before he faced the demon of his past, who was so determined to also haunt Cole’s future.
“What are you talking about?”
Ned ran his fingers through his damp hair, as if he had no idea how attractive he looked in a pair of wet long johns held up by suspenders. Cole could even see the outline of his cock against the right thigh, a thick, delicious sausage that he’d enjoyed for way too long.
“I mean… was just a question. I don’t really have an anchor anymore.”
And neither did Cole. No anchor but Ned-Damn-O’Leary.
“And I told you I don’t want anyone in my life. I don’t want obligations or anchors. I just want to drift in peace.”
Ned spread his arms wide, only bringing Cole’s attention to his chest. It was so damn difficult to focus on their conversation when that handsome bastard was naked. “Fine! I’ll think of something to do.”
Cole swallowed, staring at the dark red hair glinting on Ned’s torso. His body betrayed him again. “Why are you so determined to turn away from reality? We’ve been through too much to be those boys again, Ned, so stop living in the stars.”
Ned put his hands on his hips and took a few deep breaths, his tanned skin glinting with dampness as if he’d covered himself in oil, ready for a massage. “We’re not, but I’ve been thinking a lot the past few days. Thanks to Zeb, I’m now sure that I’ve changed. So maybe we’re not who we used to be, but who says we can’t move on from that together and build something new? We could take the boy in. He’s nice and has no one, just like us. He might have his father’s name, but I don’t see Tom in him. He doesn’t deserve to be punished for crimes he didn’t commit.”
Cole stared at him, thrown off guard like a man slapped with a fish in the middle of the desert. He pushed at Ned’s infuriatingly touchable chest with a scowl. “Are you out of your goddamn mind? You think I want to spend my life with you because we fucked for two months? And adopt a child on top of that? You don’t have a job, a dollar to your soul, not even a tent of your own, and you want to take care of a boy? Are you gonna live with him in the wild? Make him a Wolfboy? You are unbelievable.”
It struck him that Ned had been thinking about Tommy too, and instead of walking off, he leaned against the nearest tree and locked his gaze with Ned’s. They shouldn’t stay together just because that was what lust suggested. He did not want it. He did not want anything tying him down to anyone. Not his horse. Not a wife or child. Not Ned O’Leary.
He was done with such foolishness.
Ned pursed his lips and wrapped his arms on his chest. “I could get a job.”
Cole laughed out loud. “As what? You’re wanted in several states, Ned!”
“I don’t know! And what about you? You weren’t exactly rushing out of my cabin to find a new man, so you had to like what you were getting.”
“Because I do like what I’m getting. I like your body. You like mine too,” Cole said, gesturing between the two of them while his mind clouded. “But that’s not reason enough to tie our lives together. You have to understand that I don’t want that with anyone. I just want to fuck.”
Ned mulled it over, red-faced and with the expression of a bull about to charge. “Can we start fucking again then?” he growled.
“We can if you stop talking about bullshit!”
Ned spread his arms in challenge, and Cole pushed him at a tree, tongue sliding past the seam of Ned’s lips and already stroking Ned’s palate. He dragged his hands down Ned’s bare chest, squeezing the firm flesh while their hips rocked together, back and forth as if such things didn’t need rationale nor planning.
“I’m starved,” he rasped and pushed his hand down the front of Ned’s underwear to take hold of the hardening meat of his cock.