Cowboys Down (35 page)

One suck at the head and Jasper barked, “I’m coming.”

Oh no you’re not. Not yet.
Calum dug his thumb in hard on the midway point, and judging by Jasper’s strangled cry, he’d stopped his orgasm in its tracks. One spurt escaped from the head of Jasper’s cock and Calum pressed harder.

“Let. Me. Come,” Jasper begged.

Calum licked down the length of the steel-hard shaft, scooping up the pre-come before the water washed it away and then took his hands off Jasper. Calum wrapped his fingers around his own cock, pumped fast and looked up into Jasper’s face as he licked once across the swollen tip of Jasper’s dick. Jasper cried out as he came in long, shuddering contractions, ribbons of come landing on Calum’s face.

The ache in Calum’s balls intensified. Pressure built, synapses firing, electric impulses passing the message faster and faster until the dam burst, his entire body tingled and his balls exploded. White sparks flashed behind his eyes and he gasped as come sprayed over his chest and Jasper’s legs. Jasper slid down the wall until he sat on the floor, his chest heaving.

“Worth waiting for?” Calum asked, bringing come from his cheek to his lips.

Jasper smiled through his gasps and reached out to rub his thumb over Calum’s jaw. Calum tipped his head to the water and closed his eyes, letting the spray wash his face and his chest. While he knew Jasper had liked what he’d done, a worm of guilt nibbled at his heart. Would Jasper think it was a delaying tactic?

Was it?

Calum opened his eyes and blinked water from his lashes. He wanted and didn’t want Jasper to fuck him. The conflicting needs coursed around his brain, one chasing the other, until he could barely think straight. When he looked at Jasper’s face, Calum knew he understood and wouldn’t push.

Jasper reached up to turn off the shower then tugged Calum round until he sat with his back to Jasper’s chest. Jasper draped his arms over his shoulders, resting his chin on Calum’s head.

“How energetic are you feeling?” Jasper asked.

“Why?”

“Want to go dancing?”

Calum turned to look at him. “Where?”

“Somewhere we won’t get laughed at.” Jasper kissed the water from his cheeks.

“Okay.”

Calum thought it was ironic he’d agree to pretty much anything Jasper wanted to do and yet found it so hard to say yes to being fucked. Much as the idea of base jumping scared the shit out of him, if Jasper had thrown himself off a cliff, Calum suspected he’d have followed. He wanted to make Jasper happy, he wanted to do things together, and while he was okay about going out, Calum would have been just as happy to stay in and watch a movie. Anything, as long as he was with Jasper.

Jasper would have liked to stay in, order pizza and watch a movie, but with Calum only there for a week, he was desperate to show him what he and London had to offer in the hope that Calum would stay longer, want to come back, maybe not want to leave.

“Wear your tie,” Calum said. “That thin gray one. Leave it loose at the neck over a white cotton shirt, top button unfastened.”

Jasper laughed. “Anything else?”

“Blue chinos.”

Calum pulled on jeans and a T-shirt that said
Dirty Cowboy
across the front. Jasper rolled his eyes.

“I bought it at the airport,” Calum said. “Oh, and Angie sent you yet another bracelet in case you get lost again.” He handed it to Jasper. “I keep thinking, what if—”

“Don’t,” Jasper said and tied the bracelet around Calum’s wrist. “Let’s not tempt fate.”

He looked at Calum then, thinking how near death he’d been, and saw the same thought cross Calum’s mind. Their hands joined for a moment, and Jasper squeezed Calum’s fingers.

They went into London by double-decker bus and sat on the top in the front seats. Calum was like a small boy and his childish excitement was infectious. Jasper pointed out landmarks and kept up a barrage of trivia.

“London has three-thousand five-hundred pubs, over two hundred museums, more than one hundred theaters and over two hundred gay and lesbian bars and clubs.”

“How come you know so much?” Calum asked.

“My father told me, well, not about the gay bars.”

“Did he know you were gay?”

Jasper rubbed his jaw. “We never talked about it. I think the fact that I never mentioned girls, never went out with girls must have registered, but after Ben had his accident, my dad stopped noticing a lot of things.”

“And have you been to all two hundred bars and clubs?”

Jasper shook his head. “I’ve been to a few but…”

“But what?”

“When you’re on your own, they’re like a meat market and I seemed to attract the wrong…well, it will be different with two of us because we’re not looking for anyone.”

“Speak for yourself,” Calum said.

Jasper grabbed him in a headlock and rubbed his knuckles into his scalp. Calum laughed as he pushed him off and levered himself upright again.

What was it about this guy that made him feel like a kid again? It was as though Jasper was relearning how to have fun.

They ate in a Thai restaurant where diners reclined on the floor around low tables. The waiting staff was so taken with Calum’s outspoken delight they kept bringing small dishes of food for him to try. Jasper smiled as he watched Calum eat.

“More than five thousand restaurants in London,” Jasper said.

“You’re beginning to sound like a Texan.”

“Ah, showing off, sorry. I just… I want…”

Calum’s hand settled on his. “I know.”

I’m trying too hard to make him happy.
Even so, Jasper had already decided not to go to work next week. He still had days left and though taking leave again so soon would be frowned on, if they said no, he thought he might just walk out and never go back.

Except I won’t.

Only what if I did?

His heart hammered in his chest. Calum had taken a chance and come halfway around the world without telling him, why shouldn’t Jasper take back control of his life? But then, if Calum wasn’t part of his future, what did it matter?

Jasper had to fight hard not to let his anxiety show. If he wasn’t careful, he’d ruin the time they had by worrying about the time they wouldn’t have.

They walked from the restaurant to a club near Charing Cross Station.

Calum nodded at a flashing vertical white sign. “Zero. That where we’re headed?”

“Yep.”

“Been here before?”

“A couple of times. It’s tamer than some of the other clubs.”

Calum grinned. “You mean we get to keep our socks on?”

Jasper laughed. Calum slipped his arm around him as they stepped inside and a rush of pleasure in the show of affection made Jasper flush with heat. They checked their coats and headed toward the music.

Calum gasped as they walked into the main room. “Geez.”

The room was packed with guys, the heavy beat of the music shaking the floor in Saturday night fever. Most of those dancing were young and slim and in various forms of undress. Older guys stood on the edge, watching bodies they longed to have in more ways than one gyrate to the music. Somehow they were always the ones Jasper attracted. Calum’s hand dropped to grip Jasper’s and tightened.

“Don’t let me go,” he said in Jasper’s ear. “I don’t want to get lost.”

Never.

Jasper bought beers, managing not to wince at the cost, and they leaned back against the circular glass bar and looked out onto the dance floor. Sweaty guys rocked and rolled and writhed against each other, bare chests glistening under the lights. Hips kissed, circled and bumped, bulges evident at groins. Hands fondled, groped and stroked, inside and outside pants.

“This is tamer?” Calum asked in an incredulous voice.

“It’s been awhile since I came.”

Jasper hadn’t remembered it being quite so raunchy. His gaze wandered to a couple in the corner and he gulped. If they weren’t having sex, they were making a good job of looking as if they were. Maybe this hadn’t been a good idea. He and Calum would have a dance and leave.

A tall, slim, good-looking black guy in his forties sidled up. “You two together?”

“Yes,” Calum spoke before Jasper could.

“Looking for a third?” the guy asked.

“No, sorry.” Jasper moved closer to Calum, a spike of jealousy searing a hole in his gut.

“Shame.” The guy smiled and moved on.

Only to be followed by another, a short older man in black leather pants.

“Looking?” he asked.

“No,” Calum and Jasper spoke together.

“Pity.” The guy wandered off again.

“Christ,” Calum whispered. “It must be your aftershave.”

“It was you he wanted, idiot.”

Calum elbowed him. “You’re the idiot.”

As they stood drinking, Jasper caught the gaze of several men and moved closer to Calum before they got the wrong idea. Calum was not available.

“I want to dance,” Calum said. “Think if we pick a quiet corner no one will notice us making fools of ourselves?”

Since Calum shone like a bloody beacon, Jasper doubted it. Calum grabbed his tie and pulled him into the middle of the dance floor.

“This isn’t a quiet corner,” Jasper said.

“Changed my mind. I’m done hiding.”

Calum began to dance and Jasper’s jaw dropped. The cowboy had an innate sense of rhythm, his movements exactly in tune with the music, his hips swaying like a snake, his face wreathed in a broad smile.

“Dance,” Calum urged.

“Can’t.”

“This was your idea.”

“Concrete shoes,” Jasper mumbled.

Calum wrapped his arms around him and kicked his feet. As Jasper began to sway in sync, Calum licked his throat.

“Oh God, I can’t dance and do anything else at the same time,” Jasper said with a moan.

But he could and he did. With Calum’s encouragement Jasper slowly unwound until he forgot where he was. The music and Calum filled his head. The only man he could see was the cowboy. Calum had stolen his heart and Jasper knew he’d never get it back.

Jasper tripped as they stepped out into the night, only Calum’s grip kept him upright. Jasper hadn’t drunk that much. Just being in Calum’s company made him lightheaded.

“I was thinking of punching the next guy who came on to you,” Calum said. “Either that or get them to line up and charge them.”

“Me? It was you they couldn’t take their eyes off.”

They argued good-naturedly about which of them had been the target of all the cruising. Guy after guy had strolled past, flirting with their eyes, flashing follow-me smiles, some of them made blatant advances.

“Christ, of course they wanted you,” Calum said. “Just look at you.” He caught Jasper’s tie and pulled him round for a kiss.

Jasper chuckled. “That’s why you wanted me to wear it? Want me to get a collar and lead?”

“Would you?” Calum opened his eyes wide.

Jasper knew he was joking but he growled deep in his throat. “Better run, little boy, before this wolf eats you.”

Calum scampered down the road, high on life, and Jasper bolted after him. Another breathless kiss in an alley, another on a street corner before they carried on heading toward the river, pushing and shoving, cuddling and teasing. Calum was effervescent with happiness, and it made Jasper almost burst with pleasure. Everything they saw, Calum loved. Everything they did, he marveled at.

“London’s fantastic,” Calum said.

“The buildings are beautiful.

“Tower Bridge is gorgeous.

“The people are amazing.”

Calum wanted to go on the London Eye, and see the city from above, but it was closed. He wanted to go on the Thames, but the boats had stopped running. Tomorrow, tomorrow, Jasper promised and wondered how he could deny this guy anything.

Jasper eventually hailed a cab. He had a feeling Calum would have wandered around all night, and then as they sat in the back of the taxi, he wondered if that’s exactly what Calum had hoped for because he didn’t want to let Jasper to fuck him.
Ah crap.

They held hands, but Calum had his face pressed to the window. Was he seeing the other side of the capital now? The grubby pubs at street corners with their faded plastic flowers decorating hanging baskets, the bands of hooded youths lurking in shop precincts, their oversize jeans clinging to their hips by sheer willpower, the seedy underside of the city with drug dealers, drug takers, pimps and prostitutes, male and female and somewhere in between.

“What a fucking amazing city,” Calum whispered. “But I don’t know how you can stand to live here. It’s exciting and manic, and beautiful and ugly all at the same time.”

Jasper’s heart shriveled.

Calum turned to look at him. “Makes me realize how much I take Wyoming skies and the quietness for granted. I’d go crazy here.”