A Cowboy's Home (31 page)

The closer they got to the ranch, the more
the words of love burned inside Justin.

He could do this. He could love someone and
not lose them.

After all, he had Ethan back in his life, and
by extension, Adam. Dad was doing well—his last scans were
positive—and even Henry had taken to talking to Justin every once
in a while.
Although Henry did point out
that Adam had the excuse of amnesia not to have come home, and
Justin was just an asshole.
Justin didn’t even answer
that.

By supper they had Ben and Ginny in a cabin,
and finally there was nowhere left to run.

Sam looked tired and pissed at his parents,
at his brother, at the world. He was tense and avoided talking to
Ashley as he went back through Branches. She asked him how his
brother was, and all he did was grunt.

Justin explained a little, and then followed
Sam upstairs.

“I should be in the restaurant,” Sam
announced as Justin walked through the door. He was pulling on his
whites, and even Justin could see he was uncoordinated.

So Justin did what he knew was best. He
shoved Sam backward onto the bed and straddled him. His thigh
burned, a combination of a hard hospital chair and driving, but he
didn’t move from pinning Sam to the bed.

“Get off me!” Sam snarled. “You’ll
crease
my whites.”

“You don’t need them tonight.” Justin kept
his tone even.

“Get. Off. Me.”

Sam was clearly not giving up, so Justin
kissed him, hard and forcefully enough until Sam relaxed under him
and opened his mouth for more.

This was never the problem. Sex was good;
kissing was good.

Justin released his hold a little, only
enough to check Sam wasn’t going to bolt, and then he pushed off
Sam’s whites and pulled down his underwear. At least Sam was
hard.

In a smooth move, Justin swallowed him down
to the fingers he’d wrapped around Sam’s cock, and he didn’t give
up until Sam buried his fingers in Justin’s hair and gripped
hard.

“
Justinnnn
,”
Sam whined.

Justin knew Sam was close. He stopped his
attention on Sam’s cock and instead climbed his body, kissing him
and holding him close, rocking gently. He wanted to see Sam come,
wanted to tell him at the very moment of release.

“Keep your eyes open,” Justin ordered as Sam
peaked and gasped his completion.

“Justin…”

“I love you, Sam, I love you.” Then he was
coming.

Sam stared up at him for the longest moment;
then he pulled Justin down for a kiss. “I love you too.”

One year later

Justin had taken to spending a hell of a lot
of time up at Silver Lake.

He never told Sam why, and Sam didn’t press.
Sometimes there were shadows in Justin’s eyes, shadows that Justin
didn’t want to discuss, but he at least stayed around Sam, hugging
him, kissing him, needing him. Staying up at the lake, however, was
a new thing. For some reason, Justin was pulling away, needing
space, and not relying on Sam. Was that a good thing or a bad
thing? Sam didn’t know.

So Sam being Sam, he followed his lover one
day.

They’d been together nearly a year now, and
recently, Justin had been quieter than normal. Sam was worried. Did
Justin want to leave Crooked Tree? Or him?

Justin had settled back into working with the
horses, but mostly his work was on the cabins, learning how to
maintain them. He said he needed the physical exercise and to be
outdoors. There was no sign of anyone wanting Justin dead, and even
though Justin was wary and concerned, he was beginning to settle
into the idea of being at Crooked Tree forever. They’d heard
nothing from Rob; there was no sign of government officials wanting
to talk to Justin.
It seemed
like
Rob had done his job clearing the way, making a deal with the
senator to keep himself and Justin safe. Ryan confirmed that the
warrants for Justin were deleted from the system only a few days
after Justin finally decided to stay at Crooked Tree.

With Sam.

And the two of them made a life together.
Each day they would go back to the small apartment over Branches
and make love; or sit on the bed, reading; or walk through the
forest, talking. Justin had even bought an off-road bike and
together they would explore the extent of Crooked Tree. They even
made their way to the point where the explosion had been all those
years ago. But, they hadn't gone the whole way, Justin freezing,
and Sam not pushing it. Maybe one day they would go there.

But right now there was peace, love and need
in every minute they were together, and Sam was happy.

But now he was worried, and following Justin
was the only way he thought he could handle things.

Sam walked up to the lake. He was still not
that keen on riding, definitely in the Jay camp of “only if it’s an
emergency.” When he rounded the final corner, he couldn’t see
Justin on the shore or swimming, and for a second felt grief that
Justin had lied to him. He wasn’t here.

“Sam?”

Sam whirled to face Justin, who was sitting
on a rock set back in the trees. Next to him was Adam; they both
wore guilty expressions.

Doubt assailed Sam, but he pushed it to one
side as soon as it hit him. There was nothing going on between Adam
and Justin.

“Hey.” Sam pushed his hands in his jeans.

“I need to go.” Adam slid down from the rock
and brushed off his jeans.

“Don’t leave on my account,” Sam said.

“I need to get back. Ethan’s home tonight.”
He winked, fist-bumped Justin and Sam, and then untethered Diablo.
Adam mounted up and trotted away from the lake.

“I didn’t mean to chase him off,” Sam
apologized.

“You didn’t. We were finished.” Justin patted
the rock. “Sit.”

Sam hesitated briefly and then climbed the
natural steps to the top. The rock itself probably left over from
some ice age movement or something, and it had a smooth, flat top.
From there you could see over the natural divide into the warm
pool.

When Sam sat down, Justin took his hand.

“Everything okay?” Justin asked.

“I was just looking for you,” Sam answered
quickly
as Justin laced their
fingers together.

Justin squeezed his hand. “I thought you were
working late.”

“I was. Only, you’ve been quiet, and I was
worried.”

Justin knocked shoulders with him. “I know,
and I’m sorry. I need to explain.”

Abruptly, Sam didn’t want to hear reasons why
Justin needed space. “You don’t have to.”

Justin ignored him. “I do, I’ve been working
with Adam, on his memories, and meditating.”

“Meditating, like…
ommm
?” Sam held out his other hand and pinched his
fingers together as he spoke.

That earned him another shoulder bump, but
Justin didn’t let go of his hand.

“Ass. And yes. The water is the same color as
your eyes, and I focus on it, getting my head straight so I can
come home one day and not bring the ghosts with me.”

Sam nodded and looked out over Silver Lake.
“Is it getting any better?”

“Every day,” Justin said. “And every night
I’m with you.”

Sam’s face heated. “Yeah?”

“I love you, Sam,” Justin murmured.

Justin never failed to say that every day,
but there at Silver Lake, with the water blue in front of them and
the mountain rising before them, Sam felt every syllable right down
deep in his heart. And he selfishly hoarded every sound they
made.

“I love you too.”

“I was thinking,” Sam said, after a short
time. “About Ethan and Adam.”

“What about them?”

“When Ethan proposed, Adam didn’t even
hesitate, he said yes, and that was it, such an easy decision for
him.”

Adam still had missing memories, but he’d
learned to live with that, and he and Ethan were now officially
engaged after a Valentine’s Day proposal, the wedding planned for
Christmas. Sam was already envisioning the kind of cake he wanted
to create with Ashley.

Justin looked down at his feet. “Hell, d’you
think you’d like to do that one day? Get married, I mean?”

Sam’s heart swelled. He didn’t have to think
about it. “Yes, one day. That is what I see in our future.” He
paused. “When you’re ready.”

Justin squeezed his hand. “Sam, what if I’m
ready now?”

Sam’s chest tightened. Justin had become so
much more in the last year, not lost in the past or holding hate in
his heart. The killer he’d once been, the tool others used to keep
the country safe was gone. Or not so much gone as put to rest.
Sometimes, Justin would wake from nightmares seeking Sam’s hold and
breathing through the fear. Other times he would be quiet,
introspective, lost in his memories, and he would search out Adam,
or call Ryan, or hug Sam. He had coping strategies, talked to
people; he’d even spoken to Jamie Crane, who promised to visit one
day.

Justin would never be the boy he used to be.
He was a man with a complicated past and a future that he
desperately wanted.

“You have my heart,” Justin murmured. “Will
you marry me?”

“Yes.”

“Stay with me forever?” Justin sounded
doubtful, like he was expecting Sam to say no.

Sam closed his eyes and leaned on Justin, and
he said the single word that held all the promise they could ever
want. “Stop asking such easy questions. Yes.”

“Really? Yes?” Sam knew that Justin still
found it hard sometimes to think that any man could see beyond the
physical and mental scars, or beyond what Justin had done. He’d
said last night, not for the first time, that he couldn’t
understand how Sam could see the heart of him so well.

He called what they had a miracle, but Sam
just called it fate.

He loved Justin, and listened to him, and
held him when sometimes he woke from nightmares, or when he lost
himself to guilt. Now, Justin was getting better every day at
seeing his purpose in this life now, at knowing how to deal with
the terrors in his head.

“Of course, yes. I love you.”

“My patient, sparky, laughing, understanding
Sam.” Justin murmured. “I love you so much.”

“I love you way more than that,” Sam said
with a smile. This was a game they played, and usually it ended up
with mutual orgasms and changed sheets. That wasn’t going to happen
at the lake.

“So, are you going to let Ashley make the
wedding cake?”

“Mmmm, triple chocolate, green and blue
icing.”

Justin wrapped his arm around Sam’s shoulder
and pulled him close. “Can one of the layers be vanilla?”

“Vanilla?” Sam chuckled. “Since when do you
like anything vanilla?”
They laughed and
hugged, and then Justin became more serious.

“You think we can get married here, by the
water?”

Sam smiled into a kiss. “Perfect.”

They held each other close, staring out over
the blue water, and they found a
peace
together that went deeper than anything Sam had
ever felt before.

“You saved me,” Justin murmured.

He’d said that before, and likely he’d say it
again in their life together. And Sam gave his standard reply, the
one that never failed to make Justin smile. “You were worth
saving.”

THE END

Coming 2017 - Montana book 4, sign up for
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up to date with news and details.

If you enjoyed Montana, you may like the
Texas Series. Charting the love of Jack and Riley Campbell-Hayes,
from marriage by blackmail, through murder, intrigue, and above all
family, the Texas series is complete in seven novels.

The Heart of Texas

Riley Hayes, the playboy of the Hayes family,
is a young man who seems to have it all: money, a career he loves,
and his pick of beautiful women. His father, CEO of HayesOil,
passes control of the corporation to his two sons; but a
stipulation is attached to Riley's portion. Concerned about Riley's
lack of maturity, his father requires that Riley 'marry and stay
married for one year to someone he loves'.

Angered by the requirement, Riley seeks a
means of father's stipulation. Blackmailing Jack Campbell into
marrying him "for love" suits Riley's purpose. There is no mention
in his father's documents that the marriage had to be with a woman
and Jack Campbell is the son of Riley Senior's arch rival. Win
win.

Riley marries Jack and abruptly his entire
world is turned inside out. Riley hadn't counted on the fact that
Jack Campbell, quiet and unassuming rancher, is a force of nature
in his own right.

This is a story of murder, deceit, the
struggle for power, lust and love, the sprawling life of a rancher
and the whirlwind existence of a playboy. But under and through it
all, as Riley learns over the months, this is a tale about family
and everything that that word means.

www.rjscott.co.uk

RJ's goal is to write stories with a heart
of romance, a troubled road to reach happiness, and most
importantly, that hint of a happily ever after.

RJ Scott is the bestselling gay romance
author of over ninety MM romance books. She writes emotional
stories of complicated characters, cowboys, millionaire, princes,
and the men who get mixed up in their lives. RJ is known for
writing books that always end with a happy ever after. She lives
just outside London and spends every waking minute she isn't with
family either reading or writing.

RJ also writes MF romance under the name
Rozenn Scott.

The last time she had a week’s break from
writing she didn't like it one little bit, and she has yet to meet
a bottle of wine she couldn’t defeat.