Cherish the Land (33 page)

C
LEANUP
BEGAN
after breakfast the next morning. Every building in the valley was missing at least a few shingles. They had fences down and broken branches everywhere. Seth volunteered for the roof crew mostly so he could have a better view of the road into the valley as he worked. Jason still hadn’t called or texted, and worry was gnawing at him again. He’d made himself eat breakfast because it was a long time until lunch, but the food sat heavy on his stomach, making him wish he hadn’t. He’d tried calling Jason again that morning, but it had gone straight to voice mail so he either had his phone off or his battery had died. He’d have words with Jason about that when he got home, but that could wait until after he’d reassured himself Jason was unharmed.

They started on the canteen because it had the most damage.

“Is it worth patching or would we be better off tearing the whole roof off and starting over?” Seth asked Ian as they surveyed the damage. “I’m not sure we can get some of the new shingles on without damaging the ones around them.”

“We’d have to be careful,” Ian agreed, “although I think we could do it. But we can get Macklin up here to check it out before we start if you think we should.”

Seth tried to push aside the sense of wonder that Ian, with all his experience, would value Seth’s opinion so highly that he would set aside his own opinion on the matter in favor of Seth’s engineering training. He knelt down and picked at the edge of an intact shingle. “We’d have to pull the nails out so we could get the new shingle underneath the old one without breaking the old shingle, and then nail them both down again. If it was only a few shingles or even a few dozen, it could be worth it, but this is easily a quarter of the roof. I just think we’d be doing a lot of unnecessary work on a roof that looks like it’s as old as the station anyway. It would take a couple of days, but if we get a whole crew working, we could get it done pretty quickly.”

“Let’s talk to Macklin,” Ian said. “If he agrees, we’ll get a crew started tearing the old shingles off today.”

While Ian started back down the ladder, Seth looked up the valley road. He didn’t expect to see a car yet, but he couldn’t stop himself from checking. The empty road mocked his concerns. He swallowed them down and followed Ian down the ladder.

“How bad is the damage?” Macklin asked when they found him repairing the fence around the horses’ enclosure.

“Seth thinks we should scrap the whole thing and start over.”

“There’s a lot of damage. I’m afraid we’d either do more damage trying to put on new shingles or else wind up with a roof that isn’t waterproof,” Seth explained. “We’ll do it however you want, of course, but I didn’t want to do repairs only to have a leak in a month or two and have to redo the whole roof then.”

“What do you think, Ian?” Macklin asked. “You were up there with him.”

“He’s got a good eye,” Ian said. “And he’s right about how much of the roof is damaged. I think we could do repairs, but I’m not sure it wouldn’t be faster to start over.”

“That’s good enough for me,” Macklin said. “Get a crew up there to tear off the shingles and check the other roofs. I’d rather not redo all of them if we don’t have to, but I want it fixed up right.”

“Sure thing, boss,” Ian said. “Come on, Seth. Let’s check the bunkhouse and then we can move to the individual houses and the barns and sheds.”

“Seth,” Macklin said as they started to walk away. Seth turned back. “Any news from Jason?”

“No. My calls go straight to voice mail. His battery probably died. He forgot to take his car charger. I found it in the kitchen this morning.”

“You’ll have to break him of that habit,” Macklin said. “It’s dangerous not being able to get in touch when you’re out.”

“I’ll work on it,” Seth promised. “Just as soon as he comes home.”

“If he’s not back in another hour, we’ll go find him,” Macklin said, “but let’s give him time to get home on his own first.”

Seth nodded. He’d decided to wait until lunch before asking so he wouldn’t be overreacting, but an hour sounded better. “Thanks. I’ll be on a roof somewhere. I’d like to go with you to look for him if it comes to that.”

“Of course,” Macklin said. “Hopefully he’ll be home before that.”

The bunkhouse roof hadn’t suffered nearly as badly as the canteen had, Seth discovered when he joined Ian on the roof. “We can have this done in a couple of hours.”

“That’s what I thought,” Ian said. “Grab two hammers and some nails. I’ll get the shingles and we’ll knock this out in no time.”

Seth got his hammer and an extra for Ian and a box of nails from the tractor shed and climbed back up to the roof. He started pulling off the damaged shingles and prying loose the nails. Ian joined him eventually, but Seth didn’t resume their conversation. They both knew what needed to be done. They didn’t need to talk about it. Eventually he’d need to talk to Ian about his offer from the night before, but this wasn’t the time. They had work to do and Jason still wasn’t home. Seth was holding it together by sheer force of will, and talking about it would shatter what little control he had left. Fortunately Ian accepted his silence, only asking him from time to time to pass the box of nails. Seth looked up the road for the umpteenth time and saw a small white dot moving toward the valley. Jason’s car was white.

“Go on,” Ian said. “I’ll get someone else to help me finish up here. You won’t be any good to anyone until you know he isn’t hurt.”

“Thanks,” Seth said. He scrambled down the ladder and ran toward the end of the station buildings so he could follow the progress of the car down the valley. He bounced on the balls of his feet as he waited. Going out to meet Jason would be ridiculous since they would just have to come back to where he was now, but he had a hard time staying where he was.

Finally the car reached where he was waiting, and Jason rolled down the window. “My phone got soaked,” Jason said by way of greeting.

“You need a better case,” Seth replied hoarsely. “You scared me. I… I had a bad night.”

“Are you okay?” Jason asked.

“I should be asking you that,” Seth said. “You’re the one who spent the night out in the storm somewhere.”

“I found a drover’s hut when it started getting bad,” Jason said, “but I dropped my phone and it wouldn’t work when I got inside. But you’re okay?”

“I spent the night with Chris and Jesse. I kept my promise. I didn’t cut myself.”

“I’m proud of you,” Jason said.

The words made Seth feel so good, but at the same time, he hadn’t told Jason the whole story. “It wasn’t a good night. I nearly broke down, but I’d promised you, so I went to Chris instead. They have my razor. I think I’ll use disposables for a while until I’m sure I can trust myself again. Thorne and Ian came over. They’re going to help me come up with better ways to cope.”

“Good. Get in. I need to change clothes, and I imagine there’s work to be done.”

Seth climbed in the passenger seat. There was work to be done, but not until after he’d assured himself Jason was as unharmed as he appeared. No one would blame him. He’d heard stories about Caine and Macklin and how they finally got together.

Jason parked in front of the house. “I should tell my parents I’m back.”

Seth grabbed Jason’s hand before he could walk away and pulled him onto the veranda. “Ian will tell them. He saw your car. You need a hot shower and dry clothes.”

“Is that what I need?” Jason teased.

The heat that had been pooling in Seth’s groin flared now that they were alone and Jason was safe. “Well, maybe the clothes can wait.”

Jason grinned and pulled his shirt over his head. “Maybe the shower can wait too. You’re just going to make a mess of me. I might as well wait to clean up after.”

Seth grinned back. “What are we waiting for, then?” He herded Jason into the bedroom and stripped them both quickly. Jason’s jeans were still damp and his skin was cool to the touch beneath them. Seth hesitated. “Maybe you should warm up first.”

Jason pulled Seth down on top of him. “What do you think we’re doing? I’m never cold when you’re in bed with me.”

Seth rolled to the side so he could reach Jason better and started at Jason’s feet, rubbing his hands over the clammy skin and kissing his way up Jason’s legs. Heat bloomed beneath Jason’s skin and color returned quickly, reassuring Seth. Jason was wet, not sick. By the time he reached Jason’s groin, his cock was fully hard.

“Is this for me?”

“There isn’t anyone else in here,” Jason replied. Seth sent him a reproving look, but Jason just blew him a kiss.

That was fine. He could be as cheeky as he wanted. Seth had learned his weak spots now. He’d have Jason reduced to begging in no time. Holding Jason’s gaze, he licked his way up Jason’s cock from root to tip.

“Fuck,” Jason gasped.

“We will,” Seth promised, “but not yet. I have a whole lot of fear to work out first.”

Jason pulled Seth up so he could kiss him. Seth melted into the kiss, taking comfort from the contact between their bodies. Jason was with him, alive and safe. Seth might never let Jason out of his sight again, but for this moment, he could forget the fear that had driven him out into the rain the night before. Jason pushed up onto his elbow, rolling Seth onto his back. Another time, Seth might have protested the position or tried to take back control, but being surrounded by Jason now felt so right. He tugged on Jason’s arm, urging him to move more fully onto him. He opened his legs so Jason could settle between them, the movement bringing their cocks into contact. Seth hissed into the kiss and slid his hands down to grab Jason’s arse. Jason rocked his hips, increasing the friction between them. Seth hissed again and bent one knee to create more space for Jason to move.

“Careful, there,” Jason murmured against Seth’s neck. “If you keep moving like that, I’m going to think you’re offering things.”

Seth moaned as need swamped him. Jason had told Seth early on that he was perfectly happy as a switch and had no problem letting Seth fuck him. He’d been the epitome of patience, never pressing Seth to try things the other way. Some men, he’d said, never bottomed, and Seth had left it at that, but Jason wasn’t a true bottom. He was a switch, and the thought of letting Jason top him now appealed in a way it never had before. If Jason could fuck him senseless, Seth would have incontrovertible proof that he was home and safe and that he was Seth’s as fully as Seth was his. “What if I am offering?”

Jason froze above him, tension investing every line of his body. “Are you sure?”

Seth wasn’t at all sure he was ready for this, but he wanted it, so he nodded. Jason all but fell on Seth, kissing him so fervently that Seth’s head spun. He kissed Jason back with all the passion he could put into it, but just in case he hadn’t made his point clear enough, he bent his other knee and opened himself to Jason as completely as he could. “Just remember I’ve never done this before.”

“Believe me, baby, I haven’t forgotten,” Jason replied. “I was just hoping you’d want to try it someday.”

“You like it so much,” Seth said. “It has to be worth a try.”

“Trust me,” Jason said as he rocked back on his heels. “I’ll take care of you.”

Trusting Jason was easy. In the worst of his panic last night, he hadn’t once worried that Jason had left him on purpose. He’d worried Jason was hurt or dead, but not that he had decided to break things off and leave. After that, trusting Jason with his body was a lark. Seth tensed when Jason ran his fingers over Seth’s balls and down into his crack.

“Just relax,” Jason said. “Let your body get used to me touching you.” He left his hand where it was and shifted down on the bed until he could bend down and take Seth in his mouth. Seth groaned in delight and completely forgot about the foreign feeling of Jason’s fingers between his cheeks. Jason swallowed around him, making Seth cry out again. Fuck, he loved the things Jason did to his body. He’d never come as hard as he had at Jason’s hands… and mouth… and in Jason’s arse. This would be just as good because he’d be doing it with Jason.

He was panting hard and fighting not to come by the time Jason lifted his head, eyes glittering in the light of the lamp by the bed. “You’d be more relaxed if you came now.”

Seth shook his head. “Then you’d have to wait until I was ready again. I recover fast, but not fast enough for this time.” He grabbed the lube from the bedside table and handed it to Jason. “Get me ready and fuck me until I can’t walk straight.”

Jason’s gaze darkened at Seth’s provocative words. He pressed a little harder against Seth’s entrance. Not enough to push the tip inside, but definitely enough to draw Seth’s attention back to his fingers. Anticipation sparked along Seth’s skin and eased his nerves.

“Do it,” Seth said.

“Not dry,” Jason said, squirting lube onto his fingers. The gel was cool despite the heat of Jason’s skin when he touched Seth again, but Seth pulled his knees up in encouragement anyway. The gel would warm up quickly, and Seth didn’t want Jason to have any doubts about how much he wanted this.

“Bloody hell,” Jason cursed. “Look at you, spreading yourself out for me. You really do want this.”

“I told you I did. Did you not believe me?”

“I believe you,” Jason said. “I’m just having a hard time convincing myself I’m awake.” He rubbed the gel over Seth’s entrance, the same patch his fingers had explored before he added the lube. Instead of feeling strange now, Seth craved the touch. Jason applied more pressure, and with the lube to ease the way, the tip of his finger slipped into Seth with only a little resistance. “Damn, you’re so tight. You’re going to squeeze the come out of me before I even get a chance to fuck you.”

“So loosen me up,” Seth challenged. “I’m not letting you out of bed until you’ve fucked me properly.”

“That’s not much incentive to do it right the first time,” Jason retorted. “I could keep you here in bed all day making love.”

“The bosses might have something to say about that.” Their next day off, Seth would take Jason to bed and keep him there all day. Now that he’d put the idea in Seth’s head, nothing else would do.