Cole made a sound, almost a laugh. “You ever think about what it was like a hundred years ago? Whole months out here, no women, just men and open country.”
Ethan nodded. “I’ve thought about it quite a bit while out here on the trail.”
Cole’s jaw ticked. “Reckon they found ways to deal with it. Even if they never talked about it.”
“Probably,” Ethan said.
Cole reached for the flask, took a swig, then passed it to Ethan. Their fingers brushed, a quick burst of heat, gone almost before it landed. Ethan’s breath stuttered, but he took a swig.
He passed it back. “You know, I always wondered,” Ethan said, voice gone soft, “if those guys ever… helped each other out. You know?”
Cole went quiet. Then, low, “I know they did.”
Ethan’s mouth dried out. “How?”
Cole poked the stick into the ashes, the motion sharp. “I’ve heard stories. The men on those cattle drives would get so desperate they’d fuck anything. Didn’t matter.”
The silence between them stretched again, but it wasn’t empty this time. It was the opposite—a thickening, like honey poured slow.
Ethan glanced down. His cock had started to harden, pressing against the zipper of his jeans. He made no move to hide it.
Cole didn’t hide his either.
Ethan scooted closer on the log, his thigh now touched the denim of Cole’s. He wanted to act like it was accidental, but even in the faint light, the move was obvious.
Cole didn’t move away. For a long moment, they just breathed. Ethan tried to focus on the orange filaments tracing through the coals, but every part of his attention narrowed to the point where their legs met.
He risked a glance. Cole’s face was unreadable, eyes shadowed beneath the brim of his hat. He looked like he was calculating risk, weighing the weight of everything that could go wrong.
Ethan cleared his throat, “You know, I keep thinking about what you said. About what those men did on the trail to find relief.”
Cole’s voice came out thick, syrupy. “Yeah?”
“Yeah.” Ethan steadied himself. “The idea of being that desperate. Of wanting something so bad you’d break all the rules for it.”
Cole made a sound low in his chest, almost a growl. “You’re not the only one,” he said.
They both stared into the fire, but it wasn’t the flames keeping them warm. The tension had grown so sharp it made Ethan’s skin itch. He glanced again at Cole—at the lines of muscle under his shirt, the rough square of his jaw, the way his forearms braced against his thighs. The urge to reach out, to touch, to submit, was a live wire beneath Ethan’s skin. His cock was throbbing, straining at the front of his jeans.
Cole’s hands flexed and curled, then uncurled. He looked at Ethan, and the force of it nearly knocked him flat. Blue eyes, wide open, pupils dark as tar. “You ever just… need it so bad you don’t care about the fallout?”
Ethan swallowed. “I do now.”
Cole’s lip twitched. “Yeah?”
Ethan nodded, and his voice cracked just a little. “I’d do anything to get this out of my system.” He realized, with sudden clarity, that he had nothing to lose. He was a divorced man, hundreds of miles from anyone who gave a shit. He could take what he wanted, just this once.
He slid his hand over, letting it rest, light as a question, on Cole’s thigh. Even through the denim, Cole’s leg was hot, tense and trembling like a horse before the gate drops.
Cole’s breath caught. He looked at Ethan’s hand, then back at Ethan. The gaze was so intense, so naked, that Ethan almost chickened out. But Cole didn’t stop him.
Ethan was terrified. He’d never done anything with a man—not a kiss, not a touch, nothing. He didn’t know the rules, didn’t even know if there were rules. But he wanted it, needed it, worse than anything he could remember.
He leaned in, close enough to feel the heat rolling off Cole. The world was reduced to firelight and the rough rasp of Cole’s breath, heavy and uneven. Ethan got down on his knees in front of Cole, and he felt the solid ridge of Cole’s cock, hard and insistent, pressing up against his jeans.
Cole didn’t flinch or back off. Instead, he exhaled a shudder as he shifted his hips forward, as if daring Ethan to go further.
“You sure about this?” Ethan asked, voice so soft Cole almost missed it.
