Kate Sherwood - Dark Horse 03 - Of Dark and Bright (10 page)

Jesus, Jeff did not need to hear a replay of their previous encounters, not if he wanted to keep any sort of control over the current situation. Over himself. “Do you want me to pick? I’ll give you a hint—I’m feeling a bit more traditional today. Probably not looking at your armpit.”

Dan grinned, and his fingers deftly pulled Jeff’s zipper down. Jeff’s cock was already halfway through the fly of his underwear, and Dan freed it the rest of the way before leaning in and giving the head a long, thoughtful lick. “How about what
I
want?” Then he grinned. “Damn, I win, don’t I?
That’s
what you like best… giving other people what they want.” He kept his hand on Jeff’s cock as he straightened and brought their faces level. “And I want to kiss you while you’re inside me. I want your fingers in me, and then your cock, stretching me wide, fucking me deep….”

That was as far as he got before Jeff couldn’t control himself any longer. He surged forward, caught one arm around the back of Dan’s head and pulled him in for a hard, sloppy kiss. He could feel Dan’s smile, but he kissed through it, his hands slipping down over Dan’s bare ass and pulling him in closer, tighter. “Take my pants off,” he said, and Dan got to work. There was a bottle of lube on the end table; after all, this outcome hadn’t been completely unforeseen. Jeff reached for it as he lifted his hips to have his clothes pulled off, and by the time Dan was back, Jeff’s fingers were slippery.

Dan grinned and eased his way onto Jeff’s lap. One hand braced on Jeff’s shoulder, the other wrapped around their cocks, and he started moving, slow and easy. His kisses were deep and almost sleepy, but that all changed when Jeff got his fingers in place and pressed two inside. “Oh, yeah,” Dan groaned into Jeff’s mouth, and he groaned again when Jeff found the right spot and curled his fingers into it. Jeff was tempted to just keep it like this; he could work Danny up, bring him back down, work him up again, and again, and finally push him right over the edge, and it would be perfect. He’d done it many times, and he fully planned to do it many more. Watching Dan lose control was one of the sexiest things Jeff could imagine. But it wasn’t what Dan had said he wanted, and when it came down to it, Dan was right. The most important thing for Jeff was to make Dan happy.

So he worked his fingers a little longer, made Dan squirm and let himself enjoy it, and then he slipped his hand free and guided Dan up higher on his knees. They stared into each other’s eyes as Dan lowered himself onto Jeff’s straining cock, slow and easy. When Dan was all the way down, he closed his eyes for a moment as if memorizing the sensation, then leaned forward to kiss Jeff before starting to move. He kept it slow. Jeff wasn’t sure if this was because Dan was trying to please him, or because Dan had finally come to believe Jeff’s philosophy that slower was often better. He didn’t care all that much, really. He just rested his head against the back of the couch and gave in to the sensations. Dan wrapped around his cock, tight and hot. Dan’s cock brushing against Jeff’s stomach, Dan’s fingers tracing over Jeff’s skin, Dan’s lips on Jeff’s mouth, then his neck, then back to his lips. Jeff brought his hand down to wrap loosely around Dan’s cock, but other than that, he was passive. This was Dan’s ride.

And it went on for a long time. Jeff couldn’t even guess how long. He knew Dan had taken a break to relube at some point, and that wasn’t usually necessary. But otherwise, he had no idea. He finally felt Dan’s rhythm begin to change, felt the slow, easy waves of his body gradually intensify, as if the tide was coming in. Dan pulled his lips away from Jeff’s and looked down at him, eyes still wide, still impossibly green, and Jeff smiled. “You’re beautiful,” he said softly.

“You too,” Dan said, and he rocked a little harder, a little deeper with each thrust. Jeff could feel his own body shaking off its passivity, and his hips started moving on their own, rising to meet Dan, pushing to get further inside. “I love you,” Dan said.

“Yeah,” Jeff agreed, but he couldn’t really say what he was agreeing to, not right then. Not with Dan squeezing him tighter, riding him harder and faster, their skin slapping in time with their movement, their breath coming in short, shallow gasps. Jeff felt his orgasm building and tried to hold it off, but when he saw how far the flush had spread down over Dan’s chest, he knew he didn’t have to worry. Dan was even closer to the edge than he was. And sure enough, as Jeff watched, fascinated, Dan’s eyes drifted shut, his body arched and spasmed, and the cock in Jeff’s hand jerked and shot come onto Jeff’s chest. It was so perfect, so mesmerizing, that Jeff barely realized his own body was following along until his eyes couldn’t focus on Dan anymore, couldn’t see anything but bright whiteness, and the ecstasy that washed through his body was all the sweeter because he felt like he was sharing it.

By the time Jeff’s eyes were working again, Dan was smiling at him. “You’ve got to admit—there’s a good reason we never seem to talk anymore.” Dan kissed Jeff gently. “It’s not like we’re not putting our time together to good use.”

“Talking would be good too,” Jeff managed to say. He thought again about the missed doctor’s appointment, and wondered what Dan and Evan would do without him around. Would they ever talk? Would they deal with their issues, or push them away until they built up into a pile that would crush the relationship? Damn it. He really should have gone to the doctor. He let his fingers trace over Dan’s cheek and down to his lips. He was just afraid of hearing what the doctor would say. He was afraid of having so much and then being told he was going to lose it.

Chapter 7

G
INGERwas having one of her days. Chris’s mare was a talented, athletic animal, but there was pretty clearly something wrong with her brain. Dan liked to think it was part of what made her such a good match for her owner.

“It’s a
leaf
, you psycho,” Chris said, pushing the horse forward with his hips. “We are not going to play your stupid games today.” “Don’t listen to him, Ginger,” Dan advised. “It’s obviously a landmine. If you step on it, your legs will be blown right off.” “Don’t encourage her.”

“Stop being stubborn, Chris. I can take Smokey ahead, and she’ll follow him.” This was always a touchy area. Dan was a professional horse trainer, but it wasn’t like he had any special education in the field, and Chris had been riding all his life. So, if they were dealing with the eventers, Chris would acknowledge Dan’s expertise. But in any other area of riding….

“I know what I’m doing,” Chris insisted. “I want to be able to ride alone sometimes. She needs to trust her rider, and do what she’s told. We can’t use Smokey as a crutch all the time.”

“You’ve been riding her for five years, Chris. If she doesn’t trust you yet, she’s not going to change her mind because you drive her over a damn leaf.”

“It’s a
leaf
.” Pure Chris. He was a logical person who built his life on rational decisions, and he was alternately confused, amused, and frustrated by those who didn’t. Including animals.

The path was wide enough for Dan to move Smokey up next to Chris and the mare. He gave Smokey a loose rein, and the Quarter Horse leaned out to sniff at Ginger’s muzzle, then extended his head down to the ground, looking for grass. “See, Ginger?” Dan said. “Nothing to be worried about. You trust old Smokey, don’t you?”

But Smokey snorted a little, and the current of air lifted the side of the leaf, and that was it for Ginger. She reared, and when Chris got her down on the ground, she started bucking before he could get her turned. Then she charged forward, jumping over the leaf like it was the Grand Canyon, and headed down the trail at full speed.

Dan wasn’t sure whether to laugh, be concerned for Chris, or be concerned for Ginger. There really was something wrong with that mare’s brain. “What do you think, Smokey?” he asked, and the horse twitched his ears in the direction Chris and Ginger had taken. “You want to go after them?” Dan ignored the small, barely there churning in his stomach. He had to. If he gave in to it every time it appeared, he wouldn’t be able to do his job. Justin had died from a riding accident—that was true. Riding could be dangerous—that was true too. But it just wouldn’t work if Dan got upset every time something went wrong with a horse and rider. He couldn’t let it happen. So he ignored the churning, put the doubts out of his mind, and kept his voice light. “Okay, Smokey. You can go find them.” He shifted his weight enough to let the horse know he could go forward. “Let’s take it slow, though. But not too slow. Let’s try a jog,” he decided, and as soon as he said the words, Smokey started his slow trot. Dan knew he’d squeezed just a little, tensed his body that tiny bit that let the horse know he was looking for a change, but it was so subtle, so slight, that it was really easier to believe the horse understood English than to believe he’d read the body language. Of course, Smokey was just as sensitive when Dan said
nothing
out loud, but there was an explanation for that too. “You’re psychic, right, Smokes? And Ginger’s just psy
cho
.”

Smokey twitched his ears but didn’t otherwise respond. Typical.

They didn’t have far to go before they saw Ginger and Chris. Just as he’d ignored the earlier tension, Dan tried not to notice the way his stomach relaxed at the sight of Chris still safely on Ginger’s back. They didn’t look too good otherwise, though; they were standing in a patch of greenery off the side of the path, Ginger staring down at the plants around her as if they were snakes about to twine up her legs. Chris looked disgusted.

“I swear, I think the crazy bitch found a patch of poison oak to stand in,” he said as Dan got closer.

Dan squinted at the plants. He’d never noticed them before, but… it wasn’t completely impossible that they were poison oak. “It shouldn’t affect her,” he said. “But, yeah, maybe. You should probably wear gloves and wash her down when you get back to the barn.”

“When the hell is
that
going to be?” Chris asked plaintively. “She’s completely mental today. Did you slip acid into her feed or something?”

Dan had a response ready, one that mentioned Chris’s habit of ignoring the horse for weeks on end and then expecting her to be completely calm about being ridden, but his phone rang, distracting him. He looked at the call display then pressed the button to answer. “Hey, Evan. What’s up?”

“Is Tat with you?” Evan sounded tense, so Dan didn’t try to chat.

 

“No. I haven’t seen her all day. Wasn’t she going into the city with friends?”

 

“She did. And then we don’t know what happened. She went to the bathroom and didn’t come back.”

 

“What do you mean? How long ago? Maybe she just lost track of her friends—they’re kids, they’re a bit flaky….”

“She had a security guy with her. He was waiting for her at the end of the hall, and she just….” Evan took a deep breath as if trying to calm himself. “He waited, and then he went in to look for her. That took a while, because he had to knock and wait and whatever, but he searched the bathroom, and she wasn’t there. But there was another way out, down the hall in the other direction.”

“Evan, she probably just ditched the guy. You know how she feels about security. Why did she have someone with her, anyway? I thought that was just for events where people could predict where she was going.” Dan had Smokey turned and headed back for the barn as he spoke, and he was dimly aware that Ginger was following obediently behind him.

“We… you know. Lately, the security guys thought it would be good to have a bit more contact. Just in case.”

“In case….” And then it hit him. “In case my sister’s a kidnapper?” It didn’t make sense, but Dan couldn’t think of what else Evan could be saying. “Is that… Evan, it was
your
idea to have her stay on the property. I could have found a place for her somewhere else.”

“No, it was my idea. Absolutely. I’m fine with it. But you know how paranoid the security guys are.”

“Shit.” Dan wasn’t sure what else to say. “You should have told me that, Evan. But, okay, that doesn’t change anything right now. Tat still could have just ditched the guy. She hates security, and she likes Krista, so she wouldn’t think it was necessary….”

“Yeah.” Evan sounded like he was trying to convince himself. “That’s what we’re hoping. I just… I was really hoping she was with you.”

“I’m sorry,” Dan said. “You’ve tried her cell?”
“Yeah, of course. Goes straight to voice mail.”

“Okay, yeah. Look, Evan, I’m ten minutes from the barn, and I’ll ditch Smokey and be at the house in fifteen, okay? She’ll probably already be there, and we can yell at her together. You’ve called Jeff?”

“I left a message. I don’t know where he is.”

Jeff wasn’t great about answering his phone, so there was nothing to be alarmed about there. Still, it was one more person Dan loved who was unaccounted for, and he really didn’t need the extra stress. “Okay. It’s going to be fine. She’s fine. But I’ll be there soon, okay?”

“Yeah. Thanks, Danny.”

Dan shoved his phone back in his jacket pocket and looked over at Chris. “Tat’s missing again; Evan’s freaking out. Again.” Dan asked Smokey to jog, and Ginger followed suit without complaint, trotting up beside Smokey like a perfect trail horse. “Did you know they had extra security on her? Because of Krista?”

Chris looked uncomfortable, then nodded. “Yeah. Evan said it wasn’t necessary, but you know how the security guys are.” “Yeah, and I know who their boss is too. It’s not like they can
make
Evan do something he doesn’t want to do.”

 

“Take care of his sister? Yeah, Dan, I think it’s pretty fair to say that Evan wants his sister to be safe. I don’t think that’s a bad thing.”

“So why didn’t anyone mention it to me? If it’s all so logical and straightforward, why didn’t anyone tell me about it?” Dan was tired of this dynamic.

“Because the
extra security
is logical;
you
, not so much.” For once, Chris didn’t sound like he was making fun of Dan. Instead, he sounded sympathetic, as if he were breaking a hard truth to someone too stupid to see it, and that made the whole thing much harder to take.