He left them to it with a promise that he would return before strolling out of the barn, wondering where Reese had disappeared to. He’d thought he was outside with Tesha, but when he looked around, he saw that man and dog were nowhere to be found.
He headed for the house, going in through the back door. He paused as soon as he stepped inside to see Reese standing at the stove.
“Hey,” Reese greeted with a quick look over his shoulder. “I’ll have it ready in a few.”
Have what ready, Brantley didn’t know, nor did he really care because his attention was on the fact that Reese was shirtless, a pair of shorts the only thing he wore. He had to swallow hard to choke back the lust that ignited. That was how it always was. No matter where he was at in his head, seeing Reese always had this effect on him.
Brantley hated where they were at right now. The tension that lingered between them was growing more intense with every passing day, and Brantley knew he was partially to blame. His own attempts to pretend everything was all right were failing him the more his insecurities increased. Worse, he didn’t know how to eliminate it. They were managing to skate past their issues, but the thread keeping them from falling apart was tenuous at best. Using sex as a distraction to keep from having to broach the subject, as he had for the past few months, clearly wasn’t helping. At the same time, it wasn’t a surprise that he was considering doing the same thing now.
“I’m gonna…” He closed the back door. “I’m gonna shower.”
Yes, that was what he would do. He would focus on getting cleaned up beneath icy spray and not think about Reese standing in the kitchen, looking like sin on a stick. It wasn’t like he didn’t see the guy shirtless often. Daily, in fact. However, seeing him doing something so … domestic… like that. Damn.
“Christ,” he muttered on his way to the bedroom, tugging his T-shirt off on the way.
“You know, we can’t—”
Brantley spun around to see Reese standing in the doorway, his mouth open but no more words coming out.
“What?”
Reese’s gaze slid downward, over Brantley’s chest, and that damn heat spiked in his blood. He fucking loved when Reese looked at him like that. Fucking loved knowing he could turn the man on without much effort. There was no doubt about it, the physical attraction was still burning hot between them.
“I thought you were cooking,” Brantley said, putting his hands on his hips, the move drawing Reese’s gaze a little lower.
“I am.” Reese took one step forward. “I was.” Another step. “I will be.”
Brantley waited to hear what came next, holding his breath and doing his level best to maintain eye contact. What he wanted right now was to put his arms around this man and pull him in close. He wanted to feel him everywhere because he needed that connection. Anything to keep him from feeling as though things were unraveling when in reality there was no reason they should be.
“Brantley…” Reese said softly, the single word barely a whisper of breath.
He knew in that moment that Reese felt the same, wanted the same thing. Needed it.
If he were a stronger man, Brantley would’ve resisted. He would’ve backed away until he felt settled, until he knew which direction they were headed. Perhaps even until they’d had a conversation. Unfortunately, he wasn’t that man, the one who talked about feelings and nonsense. And he had no intention of starting today.
He stepped toward Reese, but it wasn’t hesitant. It was more like a lunge as he reached for him, jerking him closer, their mouths crushing together. He drove his tongue into Reese’s mouth even as he backed the man up a step, shoving him against the wall. All sense of decorum was gone, overridden by this insane passion, this driving need.
“We should talk,” Reese muttered against his mouth, although he never stopped participating in the kiss.
Brantley made a noncommittal sound as he nipped Reese’s lower lip, then sucked it gently. When Reese groaned, Brantley slid his tongue inside his mouth once more and licked urgently.
“Brantley … we really…”
Brantley forced himself to pull back, gripping Reese’s head with both hands and meeting his stare. “Is that what you want?” he rasped roughly. “To fuckin’ talk right now?”
Reese didn’t speak for long seconds, but finally, his answer came in the form of a head shake.
Brantley was on him then, pinning Reese to the wall with his entire body. Chest to chest, hip to hip. He kissed him forcefully, tilting Reese’s head for a better angle as well as to signal where he was going next. When he managed to break away from the bliss of Reese’s kiss, Brantley’s lips trailed along Reese’s hard jaw then down the warm column of his neck. He couldn’t resist touching Reese in the process, his hands roughly caressing what he could as he worked to rid Reese of those damn shorts.
Once he had the man naked, he’d intended to move things to the bed, but clearly Reese had other plans because he took over, ripping at Brantley’s clothing, discarding every piece in a fury of movement as their hands continued to roam and caress.
Finally naked, they made it to the bed. Brantley didn’t pretend to be courting Reese when he shoved him down on his back. He didn’t follow him down, instead taking a moment to observe all that bare skin and those deliciously sculpted muscles while Reese lay out before him, cock in his fist.
Oh, yeah, he definitely enjoyed seeing Reese jerking himself slowly, as though the tease would be more than Brantley could resist.
Fair enough, he decided. He couldn’t resist the man if he tried.
Brantley moved around to the other side of the bed, where Reese’s head was. Then he joined him, crawling over him and straddling his face so that he could work Reese’s cock with his mouth while the man he loved returned the favor.
“Fuck,” he hissed when Reese engulfed his dick, taking him in deep. Brantley’s hands fisted as the sensation blasted through him. It was intense as always, but there was something else. A uniqueness, he would say. As though this was their first time together.
Leaning down, he took Reese in his mouth. He bobbed and sucked, not waiting for Reese to give him permission or to guide him along.
Maybe that was what was different about this time. It was the first time that Brantley wasn’t holding back. He wasn’t seeking permission, wasn’t looking for reassurances. He wanted Reese the way Reese wanted him. Hard, fast. Now.
Unable to resist the mouth drawing on his cock, Brantley rolled his hips, fucking Reese’s face while he sucked the man’s cock in return. The fact that he was giving as much as he was receiving was likely the only reason he didn’t come down Reese’s throat within minutes. He was that worked up, that on edge.
Thankfully, Brantley kept his sanity because he did not intend for this to be a quick oral session. Oh, no. He intended to fuck Reese within an inch of his life, to remind the man who he was and that what they had between them was not something either of them could find elsewhere.
Pausing his oral ministrations, Brantley hooked his arms behind Reese’s thighs and pulled him so that his feet lifted from the bed and his knees bent toward his chest. Yep, he liked Reese just like this. Vulnerable and open to whatever Brantley had in mind. He heard Reese grunt seconds before Brantley thrust his tongue into Reese’s asshole. He wasn’t slow and gentle, no teasing rim job, just a good ol’ fashion tongue-fuck.