He drew Justin into a hug, suddenly needing the contact just as much as Justin did. Needing, maybe, to believe in what he’d just said out loud.
When they finally parted, Justin looked a little lost. And then he busied himself digging in his pocket for his cell. “I’ll give you my number in case you need me to testify.”
After they’d swapped numbers, he opened the truck door, and stood there, looking uncertainly at Dave.
“Take care,” Dave said, and he meant it.
“You too,” Justin said.
Dave nodded. He was glad he didn’t say more.
Chapter Eighteen
CHRISTIAN
Hot water pounded at the bruising on Christian’s shoulder. It hurt, but it needed doing to ensure he was properly loosened up for later. He should have had Dave massage him last night, but by the time he’d gotten to bed, Dave had been asleep. Which had been a shame, because he’d really wanted to talk to him about plans for the future.
Excitement was burning deep in his belly as he gingerly rotated his shoulder. It seemed almost too good to be true that they could live here, where he could fight every night if he wanted. Everything would be under control again because he’d know what this pack wanted from him. Not like Elk Ridge, where things just feltwrong.
Here, he could do something he was good at, something he loved. While he did a decent job on the ranch, it wasn’t like he was born to it. He hissed in a sharp breath as he realized for the first time—he’d be leaving Diablo.
He’d miss the hell out of that horse. It was Diablo who’d brought him and Dave together. If Christian hadn’t stepped in, that damn horse would probably have killed Dave before they’d even spoken.
He grinned as he remembered the first time he’d ever seen Dave. Bryce had offered him the choice between a place to stay overnight or a night in lockup. It was only once he’d gotten to know Bryce he’d understood that the man had ulterior motives. Bryce was a pushover when it came to wounded strays, collecting them all over the place, and although Christian was the furthest thing possible from a wounded stray, he guessed Bryce hadn’t realized that. He’d seen someone with no money, no place to stay, and offered him a bed for the night, all the while putting it in terms that made it seem like it was part of his duty as a deputy to make sure Christian didn’t get in any more fights.
Once at the ranch house, Bryce had shown him to the room he’d be using for the night. Unsure what to do with himself after dumping his duffel beside the bed, Christian had wandered outside.
The first thing he’d seen was some guy in a shirt designed by someone on a really bad acid trip. If Christian hadn’t gotten him out of the corral, he’d have been stomped to death by a big, black, and very edgy horse. And then they’d sat on a handy hay bale, not looking at the bad-tempered bastard who had nearly smeared LSD-inspired cotton into the dirt, and talked quietly, letting the horse get used to their presence.
They hadn’t talked about anything that mattered—horses, the town, the weather in the mountains—but Christian still remembered the sense of peace he’d gotten from Dave. He’d finally gone back to the house with some vague idea that he should offer to do something to earn his keep for the night, and when he’d lookedup before going in the back door, he’d seen Dave still sitting there, outlined by the setting sun like some kind of saint.
Well, the next day Bryce decided he’d have to put off the trip to Denver for another day, so Christian ended up gravitating back to the horse and Dave. He’d made Dave get rid of his fugly shirt.
“Do horses see color like we do?” Dave had asked, his brow furrowing as Christian said it was probably the shirt that had the animal so uptight.
“I dunno about that, but it’s scaring the hell out of me,” Christian had said, and then his mouth had dried and he’d stared at the golden skin that was revealed as Dave peeled his shirt off. Smooth, gorgeous skin, entirely flawless and quite unlike his own, which was littered with scars.
They’d ended up together in the barn that afternoon, with sunlight falling through the open door to light the motes of dust twisting in the air around them as they discovered one another’s bodies for the first time. That was when Christian had learned that if Dave was saint of anything, it was of the really good blowjob, because his mouth on Christian’s cock felt like he’d died and gone to heaven. And it had been the same when they’d kissed. So they’d kissed a bit more, and then somehow the entire afternoon was gone.
And after a week of Bryce finding reasons why he couldn’t go to Denver, a week of long, slow blowjobs and easy fucking, the big black had begun to let Christian near him.
Christian had named the horse Diablo because Dave wouldn’t let him call him what hereallywanted to—he said the horse hadn’t meant to kick Christian, and had just gotten scared—so it was the closest he could get to reflecting the horse’s true nature. Somehow the days had passed, and then the weeks, and Christian had never left.
But that was then. Things were different now. The ranch wasn’t the peaceful place it used to be. It never would be again. And he should haveknownthat, damn it. Should never have let his guard down and thought that it was permanent. Nowhere ever was.
He turned the water off and got out of the shower, shivering slightly as the bathroom struck suddenly cold. He scrubbed at his hair with a towel until it was damp rather than dripping trails down his shoulders, and wandered through into the bedroom.
Dave was gone, but he expected that. He always wanted to do his yoga stuff before breakfast. Before coffee, even, and that just wasn’t right. A man should only do two things before coffee—have sex, or shower. Or maybe both at the same time. Meant getting to the coffee quicker.
Christian got some clean jeans out of his bag because last night’s pair had seen a lot of sweat and a fair bit of blood come their way. As he pulled them on, he wondered if this town had a laundromat. He’d only brought one spare pair of jeans with him, and they’d probably get pretty wrecked tonight. Might be worth taking a proper look around town when they went for breakfast. As they were going to live here now, it’d be good to know what the place was like, and not just the visitor-friendly spots they’d seen yesterday.
Once dressed, he opened the door, looking for Dave. He wanted to find out if he was nearly finished or if Christian should go on his own and bring back breakfast for the two of them. He stepped outside, already planning what he’d get, maybe fruit with syrup for Dave, pancakes for himself—
He froze. Something cold slithered through his guts at what was in front of him.
Because Dave… Dave had his arms around someone. And Dave didn’t do that. He wasn’t stand-offish, but he sure as hell wasn’t one of those touchy-feely people. He kept his hands to himself unless he meant it.
But right now, plain as day, he had some guy in his arms, and not just a casual arm-around-the-shoulder hug, either. This was close,intimate.
