Cowboys Down (34 page)

“What are they up to?” Calum nodded to the guys dragging equipment off the trailer.

“That’s the second surprise,” Jasper said. “They’re kite buggying. We’re doing it too. I booked it this morning while you were sleeping.”

Calum’s eyes lit up and Jasper’s heart skipped. He wanted so much to make Calum happy.

They went over to the group and introduced themselves. Jasper and Calum were the only two learning to kite buggy. The others were kitted out in wetsuits ready to kite surf. Jasper had thought about booking that, but now they’d been in the water, was glad he hadn’t.

Their instructor was called Brian. It didn’t take long to master flying the kites. The only reason Jasper’s crashed twice was because he was looking at Calum, watching the smile on his face and the way he bit his lip when he concentrated. They were kitted up in helmets and protective gear before they were allowed in the three-wheeled carts. Those who could already do it were whizzing around at the far end of the beach. Brian explained how to use their legs for steering, arms to control and fly the kite and the way to safely stop.

“Not many on the beach today but you still need to keep your eyes peeled,” the instructor said. “Remember to start off with the buggy pointing downwind and the kite overhead. If the kite crashes, you need to get back into that position before you try again. Drop the kite into the wind in the direction you want to go and you’ll speed up. Work the kite back and forth to go faster.”

Jasper got the kite in the air and the buggy shot off.
Shit.

“Bring the kite behind the line of travel and then back overhead to slow down,” Brian shouted.

But Jasper didn’t want to slow down. He picked a point to head for and let the kite catch the wind.

“Practice stopping,” Brian yelled.

Maybe I should.
Jasper used his feet to turn through the wind, and then steered upwind and the buggy slowed.

“Well done,” Brian called. “Now have fun.”

Calum was yelling and whooping somewhere on his left. Jasper didn’t yet feel comfortable enough to turn and look for him. Then he didn’t need to turn, Calum was ahead and getting faster. This was something Jasper would never have done on his own and he felt a pang of regret he’d probably never do it again. He mentally slapped himself. No way did he want to ruin this week thinking of Calum going back to Wyoming.

Jasper harbored a tiny hope that Calum wouldn’t want to go home. He could stay here on a visa for six months, except what happened then? Jasper could only stay in the States for three months because of visa restrictions. How could they work? What would they do for the other three months?
Shit.
Too much thinking and not enough concentrating. Jasper was heading straight for the sea. He turned fast into the wind and the buggy spun in a one-hundred-eighty-degree circle. His heart pounded, but that had been fun. He set off again, following Calum.

When they were done, they sat in the shelter of the dunes and ate the sandwiches Jasper had bought at the petrol station.

“That was great,” Calum said. “I don’t know why you haven’t done it before. I suppose we could offer it at the ranch, but it would have to be on the pasture. Not as good a surface as sand. We certainly get enough wind. Maybe too much. Thanks for bringing me.”

Jasper wanted to feel joy at the sight of Calum’s happy smile but he couldn’t.
He isn’t thinking about staying.
Jasper knew he was being idiotic but he longed to make Calum want to stay, even if he didn’t.

“What do you have lined up for tomorrow?” Calum asked.

“Base jumping. Course I can’t do it because I’m recovering from a fractured skull, but I’ll watch.”

Calum gulped and Jasper laughed.

“Bastard,” Calum hissed.

“Today isn’t over yet. You might be too tired to do anything tomorrow.”

Calum lay back on the sand with his arms behind his head. “As long as I’m with you, I don’t care what I do. Except I’m not throwing myself off a building. Or going back in the sea.” He sighed. “God, I like the sea.”

So did Jasper. When he felt anxious, this was where he came. When his head buzzed with problems, the sea drowned them out. Something in the rhythmic ebb and flow of the waves soothed him.

“It’s a little like looking at the stars,” Calum said. “So vast it makes me feel insignificant and yet it’s comforting to know I’m still part of the universe no matter how small I am. I’m made from the earth, one day I’ll return to it and become part of something else.”

“That’s a bit morbid.” Jasper leaned over to plant a kiss on Calum’s lips.

“We’re all going to die one day.” Calum slid his fingers into Jasper’s hair. “Which is why it’s important not to let something die inside you while you’re still alive.”

Oh God. I…I…

Calum gave Jasper the sweetest, softest kiss followed by a smile.

Note to self: I love him.

Chapter Nineteen

Calum woke as Jasper pulled up outside his house. He stretched and chuckled as he looked through the car window. “We’re back? How long have I been asleep?”

“About an hour.”

“I feel sticky.” He unclipped his seat belt.

“It’s the salt. We need to shower.”

Calum stared straight at him and smiled. “Is that right?”

“Yep.” Jasper’s grin hardened Calum’s cock. “I do love the way you say that.”

“Is that right?”

Jasper laughed. Calum followed him into the house and slung his coat over the bottom of the stairs. When he saw Jasper take off his shoes, Calum removed his.

“Want a coffee first?” Jasper asked.

“No thanks.”

“Something to eat?”

“Yeah.” Calum took Jasper’s hand and tugged him up the stairs.

When they reached the bedroom, Jasper started to pull his sweater over his head, but Calum pushed his hands aside. “Let me undress you.”

Calum unwrapped him as if he was a precious gift, slowly removing layer by layer until Jasper stood naked. Calum took in every dip and curve, every beautiful inch of him, his gaze sweeping from eyes to toes and back again.

“You’re embarrassing me,” Jasper muttered. “My ears are hot.”

“Not just your ears. You’re hot all over.”

Jasper snickered. “I’ll go start the shower.”

The moment Jasper walked away, Calum stripped in a rush, and then stepped to the bathroom door. Not that Calum’s cock needed more stimulation, but the sight of Jasper standing with his butt toward him, hands resting on the tiled wall, water hitting his shoulders and pouring over his back just blew Calum’s mind. Perfect shoulders, perfect legs, perfect ass. The dude was pure sex.

Calum filled his palm with shampoo and slid behind Jasper to wash his hair. The moment his fingers began to rub, Jasper groaned. As Calum massaged Jasper’s scalp, the guy arched back into him, reaching round to plant his palms on Calum’s butt cheeks.

“Oh God, there’s a strange man in my shower,” Jasper said.

“Hey, who are you calling strange?”

Calum danced his hands down Jasper’s chest, sliding his thumbs over his pecs, around the taut nipples and then dropping farther, trailing them back and forth across solid abs. Jasper sighed and rubbed his butt into Calum’s cock. Jasper’s hands tightened on Calum’s butt, fingers creeping into the crease, sending sparks skittering up Calum’s spine.

“Much as it pains me to say it, if you let me go, I’ll wash all of you,” Calum said at his ear. “Put your hands on the wall.”

Jasper obeyed and Calum dropped to his knees behind him. A bottle of shower gel sat within reach and Calum lathered his hands. He rubbed Jasper’s ankles and pressed his face into the back of his thighs, licking and sucking at the taut skin.

Calum’s heart rate had doubled, not just because of what he was doing but because of what he was thinking of doing. Had the moment come where he’d let Jasper fuck him? Calum kneaded, stroked and rubbed his way up Jasper’s legs and onto his butt.

When Calum caught sight of Jasper’s fingers creeping onto his cock, he snapped, “Hands off.”

A long sigh and Jasper pressed both palms against the wall. Calum shouldered Jasper’s legs apart, clamped his hands on Jasper’s butt and ran his tongue down the seam of his backside. Jasper’s knees sagged and then straightened.

“Your tongue’s a dangerous weapon,” Jasper said with a groan.

Calum spread his ass cheeks to expose the puckered star of his hole and licked it.

“Oh God, God, God,” Jasper grunted and one hand slid off the wall.

“Touch your cock and I’ll stop,” Calum said.

He pressed his face into the line of Jasper’s butt and let his tongue play around the opening to his body. Water streamed over Jasper’s backside and splashed off Calum’s face as first he rimmed him then pressed two fingers slowly inside him.

“I give in,” Jasper gasped. “Yes, it was me who broke my mother’s best china plate and not Ben. I sat on my violin deliberately. I did inhale.”

Calum laughed as he turned him round. But when he looked up past Jasper’s swollen cock to the intense, desperate expression on his face, Calum’s breath lodged in his throat. He’d never forget this man—ever. Calum’s fingers drifted to the back of Jasper’s thighs and held tight.

Jasper brushed a thumb over Calum’s nose. “I don’t think I’ve ever been this close to coming from just a look,” he whispered.

“You didn’t notice my fingers in your ass?”

Jasper quirked his lip. “Oh yeah, but it’s the look on your face that makes my balls tighten and my heart leap and my gut clench. Your beautiful face… Oh God…I…” He stroked Calum’s wet hair, twisting the short strands in his fingers.

Calum felt as if Jasper had reached into his chest to caress his heart. “Jack off. I want to watch.”

Jasper released a strangled laugh. “Don’t blink or you’ll miss it.”

“Want me to stop you coming?”

Jasper raised his eyebrows. “I’m not sure even a knife at my balls would stop me.” He frowned. “Well, yeah, it might actually.”

Calum slid his hand between Jasper’s thighs and pushed his finger into his ass.

“That’s not going to work,” Jasper choked out.

Calum pressed hard with the thumb of the same hand onto a spot midway between Jasper’s balls and his hole. When he looked up, Jasper’s eyes had closed and his head was tipped back, water spraying over his face, his fists clenching and unclenching at his sides. Calum licked his cock, bottom to top, top to bottom, mouthed his balls and then nibbled a lazy path back to the crest where he laved the tip in slow circles.

“God, that feels good,” Jasper mumbled.

“You’ll have to help,” Calum said. “When you start to feel yourself coming, tell me.”

“Now,” Jasper spat out.

Calum laughed.

“I’m serious.” Jasper opened his eyes and blinked down at him, the water on his lashes shining like tiny gemstones.

Another squirt of shower gel and Calum wrapped his hand around Jasper’s cock, ignoring the pleas of his own. He dragged his fingers down, tightening them at the base and loosening his grip when he brought them back to the crest. Calum’s balls throbbed.

“Oh God, now. I mean it.”

Two identical passes and Jasper hissed, “Fucking definitely now.”

Calum pushed harder on the pressure point near Jasper’s balls and Jasper shuddered, sighed and uncurled his fingers.

“Okay?” Calum asked.

“Are my balls blue? They’re about to drop off.”

Pre-come seeped from both cocks. In driving Jasper to distraction, Calum travelled along the same path. He let Jasper calm down before he took the head of his cock between his lips and sucked, and at the same time massaged the shaft below his mouth with his hand. Calum’s finger was still in Jasper’s ass and now he circled within to rub his prostate.

“Jesus bloody Mary fuuuuck,” Jasper gasped.

Which Calum took as a need to press harder on that midway point to halt orgasm.

“Can’t, can’t, can’t,” Jasper muttered.

Calum let him rest, did nothing more than press on that magic point and keep his finger motionless in his ass before he started again. But every time he did, he brought Jasper more and more quickly to the point of no return before he pulled back. Jasper was panting now, excitement, frustration, anticipation all over his face.

“No more,” Jasper whispered.

His cock was rock hard, dark with blood, the snaky blue veins like 3-D tattoos. His balls were drawn up tight at the base, and Calum tried not to touch them, knowing how sensitive they’d be.

“Calum, you have to let me come.”

“Not yet.”

He dragged his fingers up Jasper’s cock to twist around the head and Jasper’s legs buckled. More pressure pulled him back from the brink. Calum knew how Jasper felt because he’d done this to himself, a teasing stop-start jacking off that made his balls ache, his head throb and his skin prickle, but when he came, oh Christ—when he came, it was fan-fucking-tastic. On the other hand, he’d never done this to someone else and timing was everything.