Texas Fall (2 page)

“It’s Logan,” she began.

Riley’s chest tightened.
Hayley’s big crush was obvious to everyone. Had Logan done something? Had he
hurt Hayley? He was a good kid, but that didn’t mean Riley wouldn’t flatten him
if he’d upset her. Jack would just have to understand; after all, this was
their daughter and daughter trumped nephew. The daddy side of him wanted to
call Logan out, the sensible adult side of him was trying to be patient.

“What happened?”

“He’s… he’s… g-got a
girlfriend.” Hayley managed to get the words out before sobbing into Riley’s
shirt, and Riley held her as his little girl’s heart broke into a million
pieces. He stroked her long blonde hair and back. He felt powerless, but he
knew this was only the first of so much that Hayley would be experiencing, and
it wasn’t like a skinned knee or strep, he was helpless here.

“I’m sorry, sweetheart,”
he said gently as he stroked her back, marveling at the softness of her hair
and her scent and the very wonder of holding his teenage daughter in his arms.
She still loved them at the moment; she hadn’t reached that point where a
father’s love would be replaced by the angst of teenage years or the love of
another male.

“I’m so stupid,” she said.
“He’s at a school with girls, and I’m stuck at mine.”

Hayley being at a school
with just girls was a bone of contention between Hayley and her dads. She loved
it there, she was safe, she had friends, and Riley had gone to an all-boys
school for a short while and it hadn’t done him any harm. But she wanted a
boyfriend, and she’d set her sights on Logan.

“He’s older than you,”
Riley began quietly. He wasn’t entirely sure how that was going to go. She’d
either snap at it by saying Logan wasn’t too old, or she’d understand where he
was coming from.

“I know,” she said so
softly that Riley could barely hear her. “But when I’m older, when I’m bigger
and sexy and have boobs, then he’ll be sorry.”

Riley nearly choked on a
combination of a laugh and groan. He almost felt sorry for Logan. Hayley
reminded him of Eden in so many ways, so utterly convinced of her journey
through life, so focused. But even though he tried to be the hands-on dad,
listening to what his daughter said, he still couldn’t get his head around
talking about Hayley and her boobs.

“Hey, guys,” Jack said.
He’d clearly been sent in for more beer if the empties in the box he was
holding was anything to go by. The spare beer was piled in crates in the
corner, most of it left over from Robbie and Eli’s housewarming debacle. He set
the box down and came to sit next to Riley. Hayley shuffled a little so she
could place a hand on Jack’s arm. “What’s up?” he asked carefully.

“Logan has a girlfriend,”
she said. At least now she had stopped crying.

“Aww, baby, I’m sorry,”
Jack said. He knew she had a crush on his nephew, but Riley guessed his husband
didn’t imagine it went as deep as this. Neither of them were experts on girls,
not really. They just listened to their hearts and tried for the best. She
sniffed one last time, then pushed herself up and away from Riley. She cried
very prettily, another thing she got from Lexie and Eden, clearly. Her brown
eyes were wide and her lashes wet and spiky, and she didn’t have any of that red-faced
blotchiness Riley suffered with whenever he got emotional.

With enough drama to
fulfill all of next week’s quota, she suddenly inhaled sharply and flailed off
of Riley’s lap clutching at her face.

“I need to find Eden to
fix my makeup. Love you, Dad. Love you, Pappa.”

Then the whirlwind that
was Hayley left the room. Riley looked at Jack, and Jack returned the look.

“Hayley is wearing
makeup?” Jack asked.

“Just some lip gloss and
blusher,” Riley answered, “just for tonight. She asked me if it was okay. I
tried to make it look like I was cool with it.”

Jack grinned. “I love that
you did that.”

Riley couldn’t help
sounding defensive. “Eden asked me if it was okay. It can’t hurt, right?”

Jack leaned into Riley and
chuckled. “You are so easy.”

Riley smacked him, then
pressed a kiss to the same place. “Up and at ’em, cowboy. We have socializing
to do.”

“I’m not moving.” Jack
settled back on the sofa, and Riley straddled him.

He leaned in and whispered,
“You, me, barn, my mouth on you, my cock in you, lube. Now get your ass up.”

“Jack, where’s the be— Jesus,
guys… get a room.” Josh stood at the door, arms over his chest. “We have a beer
emergency out there.”

Jack ignored his brother
and stared into Riley’s eyes. “I’m holding you to that, Riley.”

Riley smirked, then rolled
up and off Jack. Whistling, he sauntered past Josh, deliberately patting Josh
on the chest. Josh dramatically rubbed at the place Riley touched him.

“Eww, gay cooties. Jack,
get your man off me.”

Riley left the brothers
laughing. Trouble was, whispering all that in Jack’s ear had him imagining doing
those things right the fuck now.

He’d basically screwed
himself over.

Way to go, Riley. Idiot.

Everyone had finally left
by two am, kids asleep in cars, the sober parents driving, and silence had
never sounded better. Riley was locking up, and Jack snagged empties and threw
them into the box for recycling. Between them they had the kitchen pretty tidy,
but the major cleanup was a job for the caterers tomorrow.

“It was a good party,”
Riley said on a yawn as he passed by with a tray of empty glasses.

Jack relieved him of the
glasses and grasped his hand. “Let’s check on the kids,” he said. Together they
climbed the stairs to the twins’ room first. Both Connor and Lexie were
sleeping through the night now, and Carol was only a door away from them and
Max. As for Max, he was a lump inside his quilt, and the soft lighting in the
room exposed the litter of Thomas characters around his bed. They knew better
than to straighten the covers over him. That was how he liked to sleep,
crawling right inside the quilt cover and making a nest. Of course when he woke
in the morning, he was a mess of slicked, sticking-up hair and sweaty boy, but
he loved his baths, so that was okay.

Hayley had gone off at
just after midnight with Eden, which meant Jack had ticked everything off the
list he had in his head. Now they had some time. Just the two of them. And he
wanted that. Not just to kiss and touch and have the best sex of his life with
the man he loved, but just to be them. On their own.

Riley had been blown away
by Jack’s fashioning a door for their barn. Add in blankets and a good sorting out
of old boxes stored in the corner, and the place was looking less like a barn
and more like a separate apartment. Well, one without sofas, a kitchen, or
actually anything really. But it had a door and a skylight and it was draft-proof
for the most part.

They walked from house to
barn, passing the new barn and its second-floor apartment.

“Liam seemed off again
tonight,” Jack observed. “Poor kid is overwhelmed.”

“He’s brave giving
evidence. And he’ll have Marcus with him.”

Jack realized now was a
good time to talk about what he wanted to do. “Thought I’d go down with him,”
he said. “Me ’n Robbie both.”

Riley just nodded. He
accepted that Jack had thought it through. “It’ll be good for him to have both
of you in his corner.”

“Are you here at the end
of January?”

“Nothing out of town until
mid-February. I’m working with the teams in Nuevo León,” Riley answered after some
consideration.

“Still not sure I like the
idea of you going over the border for the field.” The idea of Riley being in a
place controlled by cartels and fear set him off to worrying. A lot.

Riley nodded, looking thoughtful.
Jack was aware that Riley had researched the area. “I’ve been assigned this
guy, Bryan, he’s working security and has a team he’s taking, and we’ll have
the new police down there with us. They cleared out a lot of the crap from the
area, and companies are down there all the time with the fieldwork.”

“You’ll stay safe.”

“Always.”

They were just two married
people walking in the dark, sorting out who was going to be there for the kids
and how the logistics would work, and that lasted until they turned up at the
door to the barn with its shiny new lock. Jack opened the door, and as soon as it
was locked again behind them, the game changed.

In this place they were
lovers and this was theirs. Riley had been the one to set out what he wanted to
do tonight, and Jack was on board for all of it. Riley quickly had Jack up
against the wooden wall, his big body pressing Jack back and not giving one
inch for Jack to move. They kissed like this was the first time, like they
would maybe never kiss again, until they had to separate to breathe. The break
lasted only long enough for Riley to slant his head and deepen the kiss even
more. This was so much a part of them, taking it slow and getting their fill of
everything. They’d been like fire since the first time they ever touched, and
sometimes the best way to fan the flames was to be so slow the fire became a
conflagration that consumed them both.

Jack made a mewling sound
in his throat, and for a second it didn’t even sound like him to his own ears.
He wanted everything and he wanted it now and hell, Riley was getting with the
plan. Riley pulled back, just holding Jack’s hands tight, then moving them so
they were above his head against the wall. Then he looked around, as if
considering what to do next. Finally, he released his hold.

“Strip,” he demanded.

Jack didn’t tease, argue,
or wait. He pulled off his clothes, boots, jeans, shirt, and his underwear – all
a mess of knotted material and leather. He was so hard he couldn’t believe he’d
even have a chance to wait for whatever Riley wanted to do to him. Riley was
still dressed, but he palmed his cock through denim and he looked at Jack with eyes
that were heavy-lidded. Then with a determined smile, he pulled a blanket over
and put it down on the floor in front of Jack.

“On your knees,” he
ordered.

Jack didn’t hesitate to
comply. Riley ordering him around was one of the hottest fantasies he had and
one he kept close for any night when Riley wasn’t in their bed. Riley moved
closer, and as soon as he was in reach, Jack opened the buttons of Riley’s pants
and slid them down a little to expose the black boxers beneath. He felt himself
pout a little. He wanted Riley to be going commando, although the extra layer
did mean he could take his time. Riley might well be the one who thought he was
in charge, but Jack was the one this close to Riley’s cock.

He nuzzled the evidence of
arousal and gently freed it from its cotton prison. For a few seconds, he just
looked. He inhaled the scent of Riley and wondered why it had been more than a
few days since they had done this.
Too long…

“Won’t suck itself,” Riley
stated. He was still using the forceful tone, and it cut through any thought of
Jack teasing or holding off. Riley was demanding hard and fast, and Jack was up
for that.

He pushed material down,
and it stuck on Riley’s thighs, but Jack had enough to work with.

He reached behind and dug
fingers into Riley’s butt cheeks, feeling the muscles contract as Riley
steadied himself and said, “Do it.”

Jack had his first taste
and groaned in his throat. Riley was so big, and Jack struggled to get a rhythm
at this angle. He spread his knees a little more and was instantly rewarded
with the fact he could swallow more of Riley.

“Fuck,” Riley cursed.

Jack pressed harder with
his hands and swallowed as much as he could of Riley’s length. He knew he’d
need to use his hands to make up the difference between his mouth and the root
of the cock, but he didn’t want to let go of Riley’s hard ass. Riley stepped
forward a little, and the motion pushed Jack back until his head pressed
against the door. Trapped like that, he had no choice but to take everything
Riley was giving him. He looked up at his lover, Riley staring down at him.

“Spread your legs more,”
Riley demanded. Jack did as he was told, the motion letting Riley’s cock slip even
a little deeper, the angle of Jack’s throat enough to have Riley cursing above
him and closing his eyes briefly. Riley flattened his hands on the door,
pulling his cock out slowly to let Jack catch his breath, then easing it back
in. “Can you take it?” he asked.

Jack couldn’t answer. He
was way past being able to talk, his mouth full and aching, his gaze fixed
permanently on the gorgeous man fucking his mouth. He moved his hands from ass
to inner thigh, trying to focus on what he was doing when he was so close to
coming himself. He pressed at the juncture of thigh and groin, massaging in
slow circles, never quite touching.

“Stop!” Riley said. He
pulled away and moved out of Jack’s reach. Jack wasn’t ashamed to say he swayed
forward for more. “Stand up.”

Jack stumbled to stand,
Riley steadying him. Then it was Riley making him turn to face the door, Riley
spreading his legs, and Riley with fingers at his ass, pushing inside, two
thumbs, a finger, all the time cursing and promising Jack exactly what he was
going to do.

“Don’t you move,” Riley
ordered, “or I’ll tie you down so you can’t move and fuck you. Just stay.” He
kicked Jack’s legs even farther apart. “Fuck, you should see… You’re so tight
and my fingers inside you… Jack… What do you…”

“You… inside me.” Jack did
his own ordering. Jack sensed Riley on his knees, then fell back when Riley
pulled him, settling him on his thighs, angling him, all fingers and cock,
pressing inside until finally Riley was balls-deep with his hands across Jack’s
chest, Jack resting on Riley’s thighs.

“Too… heavy…” Jack managed
to force out as Riley held him.

“Grab it,” Riley gasped. “Help
me.” At first Jack didn’t know what he meant, but then he saw it: the top bar
of one of the old stalls was in reach. Jack reached for it and immediately saw
what Riley was asking. Jack used his own strength to lift himself, Riley pushed
up, and the rhythm they set was explosive. The angle Jack could push down on
Riley added to the fact Riley had his hands free. He was so close to coming as Riley’s
fingers pinched his nipples, worrying them, and the extra touch, the feel of
having no control of being balanced and held and abruptly Jack had nowhere to
hide.

“Riley… I’m…” He couldn’t
get a full sentence out as he shouted his release and his orgasm wiped him out,
pulsing and burning. Riley was so close behind him, groaning his own release. Riley
supported him, gentled him as he pulled out, laid them flat on the blanket, and
held him close.

“Jesus, Jack,” he
murmured.

“You’ve been working out,”
Jack groaned.

“I love you.”

“Mmmm… love you…”

Then nestled in Riley’s
arms, knowing they should get up and go to bed, sleep began to pull him under.

“No sleeping,” Riley
ordered.

“Wanna.”

“Bed.”

Somehow they made it back
to the house, laughing and giggling like kids, holding hands and creeping into
the quiet house. They had almost made it to the bedroom when one of the twins
made a sound.

Jack looked at Riley. “Go
to bed. That sounded like Lexie.”

When he got back to the
bedroom after checking on Lexie, who appeared to be making as much sound in her
sleep as she did awake, Riley was asleep, sprawled on top of the covers in
sleep pants. The man had literally held Jack like he weighed nothing, and Jack
was no lightweight. He made a resolution. Clearly he needed to join Riley in
more workouts.

Jack nudged Riley over,
wincing at the ache in his ass, then ignoring it.

“Love you,” he murmured
close to Riley’s ear. Riley turned into him, spooning him as they rolled over.

“Love you too,” Riley
whispered. “Always.”