Rough Ride CV4 (9 page)

“That’s exactly what I’m saying. Before you showed up, Ezra ate every meal with us. It was the time of day we discussed issues concerning the EZ Does It. Maybe it sounds stupid, but the hands felt Ezra cared.”

“And they don’t now,” Wyn guessed.

“Hell, outside of work, we don’t see him anymore. All the cowboys know is that he leaves in the evenings to spend his time with someone of a higher class than they are.” Smokey stood and took a step towards Wyn. “It needs to stop.” Wyn took another step back. “I’ll talk to Ezra about it.” ROUGH RIDE

Carol Lynne

61

Smokey took three steps forward and was in Wyn’s face. “Why do you need to run to Ezra? You’re a man dammit. Start acting like one for a change and do what’s best for Ezra, and that means staying away from him.”

The front door opened and Ryan stepped inside. “Nate said you had something for me to pick up.” Ryan stopped when he saw the scene in front of him.

“Wyn? Is everything all right?”

Wyn looked into Smokey’s eyes. At one time he’d considered Smokey friendly, but there was nothing friendly about the way he was being stared at.

Smokey turned and tipped his hat to Ryan. “I’m done here, Sheriff.” Wyn watched as Smokey walked towards the door. With his hand on the handle, Smokey turned back to Wyn. “Think about what I’ve said.” After he left, Wyn felt frozen to his spot. Ryan came over and put a hand on his shoulder. “You okay? You’re shaking.”

Ryan gestured towards the door. “What was that all about?” Wyn looked at Ryan. “To be honest, I’m not really sure. I think I was just warned to stay away from Ezra.”

He bent down and picked up the package. “Here are Nate’s shirts.”

“Forget the shirts,” Ryan said, tossing the package on the counter. “Why would Smokey tell you to stay away from Ezra? That doesn’t sound like him.” What the hell was the deal with Smokey and the people of Cattle Valley? They seemed to think the man was a saint. Wyn had dealt with another man the town once revered and he’d learned there was no such thing in Cattle Valley. Men were men, some good, some not so good.

Wyn started to walk away, but Ryan held firm to his shoulder. “Talk to me. Not as a Sheriff but a friend.”

“Smokey said that Ezra’s ranch would be in trouble if he didn’t start paying more attention to the cowboys and less attention to me.” Wyn turned to brace his hands on the counter. “I happen to think Smokey’s jealous. I’m not sure if it’s merely his friendship with Ezra that he’s afraid of losing, or something more.”

“That’s bullshit. All of it. Don’t let Smokey ruin what you have with Ezra. Talk to your man and let him know what’s going on.”

ROUGH RIDE

Carol Lynne

62

Wyn shook his head. “I won’t break up a friendship. I’ll deal with Smokey in my own way.”

“You’re shaking like a leaf. Smokey’s got a good fifty pounds on you.” He turned to Ryan and grinned. “Maybe I need a few more lessons from Nate before I travel down that road.”

* * * *

By the time Wyn locked up and drove out to the ranch, it was nearly eight. He spotted Ezra standing beside a holding pen next to the barn and walked that way. “Hey,” he said as he approached the broad back.

Ezra turned and looked him up and down. “Where’ve you been? The store closed ninety minutes ago.”

Something in Ezra’s tone put Wyn on edge. “What? Am I being kept track of now? I got here as soon as I could.”

“If I’d have known you wouldn’t be out in time for dinner, I would’ve gone into town with Smokey and the hands.”

Wyn’s spine stiffened as his hands balled into fists. He’d had about all he was going to take for one day. He turned on his heels and started walking back to his car. “Maybe you should’ve eaten with the cowboys. Better yet, see if Smokey feels like warming your bed this evening,” he hollered over his shoulder.

“What the hell’s gotten into you?” Ezra yelled as Wyn opened his car door.

Wyn looked back at the man he loved. He felt a lump form in his throat as an ache spread across his chest. “Open your eyes, Ezra.” He got in and slammed his door before tearing out of the drive. He’d be damned if he’d let another man try to dictate to him. He looked at the clock on the dashboard and picked up the phone.

“Hello?”

“Hey, Nate. I need your help.”

* * * *

ROUGH RIDE

Carol Lynne

63

At ten o’clock, Ezra gave up trying to get Wyn on the phone and headed into town. He still wasn’t sure what was going on, but Wyn meant too much to him to let it drop. The crack about Smokey had him wondering though. Did Wyn think he had something going with his foreman? He’d told Wyn they were just friends, but maybe his lover didn’t buy it.

Sure he’d seen Smokey checking him out a time or two over the years, but he assumed his friend had hit a dry spell and was curious.

He pulled into Wyn’s driveway and noticed the house appeared dark. Surely Wyn wasn’t already in bed? He got out and rang the doorbell.

After five minutes, he turned back and got into his truck. Maybe Wyn’s crack about opening his eyes had more meaning than he’d originally thought. Could Wyn have been talking about himself?

A growl erupted as he put the truck in gear. If he had to search the entire town, he’d find out what his man was up to. Wyn was his, and there was no way he’d let someone else take him away.

He drove up Joshua Boulevard first since it was the nearest major street. After about ten minutes, he slammed on his breaks when he spotted Wyn’s luxury sedan parked at The Gym.

There was only one other vehicle in the parking lot and Ezra didn’t have a clue as to whom it might belong. All he knew was that Wyn wasn’t into working out, especially at ten-thirty at night.

Backing up, he pulled into the lot and parked beside the stranger’s black SUV. Getting out, he went to the front door. The closed sign was up in the window and the doors were locked.

Walking around the building, he spotted a light shining through the window of one of the back rooms. Ezra took a deep breath and approached the window.

What he saw shocked him. There was his man standing toe to toe with some bodybuilder. Wyn had his shirt and belt off and the two appeared to be laughing. Ezra couldn’t help but notice the flush on Wyn’s pale skin or the mussed hair.

His immediate reaction was to put his fist through the window, but common sense prevailed. Nope, he’d just wait outside. He knew if he talked to Wyn at that moment, he’d say something he’d regret. As for the other dude? He’d be history.

ROUGH RIDE

Carol Lynne

64

Ezra strode back to the front of the building and parked himself against the hood of Wyn’s car. He crossed his arms and waited. One way or another, things with his lover would be settled before morning.

ROUGH RIDE

Carol Lynne

65

“I can’t thank you enough for doing this, Mario. I know you probably had better things to do than teach an old man new tricks.” Wyn pulled his shirt on. He stuffed his belt in the pocket of his dress pants.

“No problem. I didn’t have much going on this evening anyway. At least you learned a couple of new skills.” Mario picked up a towel and wiped the sweat from his face.

“Yeah, I just hope they work in a real life situation.” Smokey’s face came to mind. Wyn hadn’t learned anything fancy from Mario, but he had been taught several ways to bring a bigger man to his knees.

“They will as long as you stay calm and remember them.” Mario shut off the training room light and ushered Wyn through the dark gym to the front door. “If you decide you want to continue the training, let me know. I have several regular spots open for one on one lessons.”

They reached the parking lot, and Wyn turned towards his car. He was shocked as hell to find Ezra leaning on his hood. “Ezra? What are you doing here?” Ezra stood to his full height and rubbed his chin. “Now, you see, I was just about to ask you the same thing.” He gestured towards Mario. “Who’s your new friend?” Wyn didn’t like the looks Ezra was aiming Mario’s way. “Just that, a friend. Mario was working on some self defence moves with me.”

“Oh, is that what they call it these days?”

Wyn felt his blood pressure shoot up at the innuendo. He closed his eyes and took a couple of soothing breaths. When he looked back at Ezra, it was with fire in his eyes. “Yeah, that’s what they call it when one man needs to learn how to defend himself against a jealous foreman.”

Ezra had the decency to look shocked. “What are you saying? Did Smokey say something to you?”

Wyn turned to Mario. “Thanks for the lesson. I’ll let you know if I need anything else.” Mario seemed hesitant to leave Wyn with a man of Ezra’s size. “It’s okay,” Wyn said.

“This grouch is my boyfriend. He won’t hurt me.” ROUGH RIDE

Carol Lynne

66

With a nod, Mario continued walking to his SUV. After he drove off, Wyn turned back to Ezra. He was surprised to see a softer look on Ezra’s chiselled face.

Ezra patted the hood next to him. “Pull up a chair and let’s talk.” Putting his hands in his pockets, Wyn walked towards the car. He felt the belt rubbing against his knuckles and sighed. He realised he would have probably come to the same conclusion if the shoe were on the other foot.

Instead of sitting on the hood, he stood in front of Ezra and leaned his forehead against the hard wall of his lover’s chest. “I asked Nate if he had time to show me a few more self defence moves. He was busy, but said he’d give Mario a call since he knew he’d still be here.

That’s all we were doing, promise.”

Ezra’s arms wrapped around Wyn and he felt a kiss to the top of his head. “What’s going on? You seem so distant lately.”

Wyn hugged Ezra and shook his head. “You won’t believe me.” Ezra lifted Wyn’s chin up. “Try me.”

“Smokey. I’ve tried to tell you he’s been acting weird around me. But he came into the store earlier and warned me off you.”

He felt Ezra’s muscles tense up. “What do you mean, warned you off? What did he say?”

Wyn shrugged. “Just stuff about you losing touch with the ranch hands and how that would put the EZ Does It in jeopardy. And he told me that I needed to stay away from you.” He shook his head. “It wasn’t so much what he said, but the way he said it. By the time Ryan walked into the store, Smokey had me pretty worried that he would do something to me.”

“You know I’ll never let anyone else hurt you, babe.” Ezra’s lips closed over his. Relief flooded him, and Wyn opened to Ezra’s questing tongue. The kiss grew deeper and before he knew it, he was trying to climb his way up Ezra’s body.

All he knew was he needed to be closer. He wrapped his legs around Ezra’s waist and ground himself against the solid length in Ezra’s jeans. “Need you,” he panted, still humping against his man.

Ezra stood and carried him to the dark side of The Gym, away from the street. “Strip,” Ezra growled as he set Wyn back on his feet.

ROUGH RIDE

Carol Lynne

67

Within seconds, Wyn was naked from the waist down and Ezra’s jeans were around his knees.. Ezra turned Wyn to face the wall. “Need to taste you,” Ezra moaned as he got down on his knees behind Wyn.

Wyn spread his legs as he felt the first swipe of Ezra’s tongue across his hole. “Shit,” he moaned as he rested his head against the cedar shingled building. The wet tongue licked and probed as Ezra buried his face in Wyn’s ass.

Those big fingers began to stretch and play with his puckered skin, leaving him begging to be filled. Ezra withdrew, and turned Wyn around. “Love you.” Ezra picked him up and impaled him on the long thick cock he’d come to love. Wyn’s back slammed against the wall as Ezra began to ride him hard. He’d never been so glad to be only half undressed as his shirt rubbed against the rough siding.

Ezra fucked him like a man possessed and Wyn loved every second of it. The cock battering his hole belonged to the love of his life and that’s all that mattered. He hung on to Ezra’s shoulders and enjoyed the ride, only releasing his hold to grab his own cock.

As his balls drew up tight, he reached down with his free hand and pushed Ezra’s shirt up. “Gonna come all over you, sweetheart,” he groaned.

“Yeah, paint me, babe,” Ezra said in a rough voice.

The next time that thick cock pegged his gland, Wyn erupted, spraying his cum in white rivulets all over Ezra’s stomach.

Ezra gripped his ass tighter and buried himself deep inside Wyn’s body. With an all over body shake, Ezra emptied his seed inside of Wyn.

They slid to the ground with Wyn still wrapped around Ezra. “I love you,” Wyn declared right before kissing Ezra. This was so much better than fighting, although his shirt probably wouldn’t agree.

“You realise we just ruined a two-hundred dollar shirt,” Wyn panted, breaking the kiss.

Ezra gave a grunt. “I’ll buy you a new one.”

“No need. I have a display case full of them.” He ran his tongue up the side of Ezra’s face. “Is that the rough ride you promised? Because if so, I could get used to it.” Ezra fell back onto the soft grass and brought Wyn with him. “I’m getting too old. I think you nearly killed me,” Ezra said, tucking Wyn’s head under his chin.

“As much as I’d like to take a nap right here, I don’t think the police will think it’s an appropriate spot. Let’s go back to my house.” ROUGH RIDE

Carol Lynne

68

“Mmm hmm,” Ezra mumbled, but made no move to get up.

Wyn reluctantly pulled away and searched on the ground for his clothes. After dressing, he helped Ezra pull up his jeans. “Come on, big guy. I’ve got a king size bed just waiting for you.”

With Wyn’s help, Ezra finally made it to his feet. “Will you drive?” Ezra asked.

“Sure, I’ll bring you back in the morning for your truck.” As he helped Ezra into the passenger seat, he stopped and gave him a kiss. “I don’t want to fight with you ever again.”

Ezra pulled him closer. “I’m sure we’ll fight, all couples do. The thing we need to remember is to be open and honest about what we’re fighting about.” Wyn nodded and went around to the driver’s side. Ezra ran a finger down the scar on Wyn’s face. “I’ll get things settled with Smokey. He won’t bother you again.” Wyn caught Ezra’s hand and brought it to his lips. “I hate to come between you and your best friend.”