Adam had already put a rope on Rhinestone’s bit and was leading him out. The horse, even at his age, looked majestic as he walked out of his stall.
“Do you mind if I walk him this morning?” Red asked.
Adam looked at him in surprise, as if he hadn’t expected anyone to be there. “Lincoln charged me with his morning walks.”
It was still hard as fuck to understand the guy. His jaw had barely moved.
“I don’t mind.” Red walked up and brushed his hand over Rhinestone’s soft coat of fur. He could take Rhinestone toward the fences and kill two birds with one stone. Red had already planned on checking the fences for broken wires, and this was the perfect opportunity where the oppressive heat wouldn’t bear down on him.
By the time they got there, the skies should’ve lightened, enabling Red to see better.
Adam stared long and hard at Red before handing over the rope. “Don’t walk him too fast, and if he stops, let him have a break.”
“Okay.” Red took the rope and headed out of the stables. Rhinestone walked next to him at an even pace.
“Don’t worry, boy.” Red patted the horse’s nose. “We’ll go as slow as you like.”
It took them nearly half an hour to get out to the fence line. When they arrived, Red stopped and let the horse rest for a bit. There was one thing he enjoyed about waking at the crack of dawn.
Watching the sun rise. It was the most beautiful sight Red had ever seen, and he still hadn’t tired of it. It was also peaceful out there with the slight wind, the grass rustling, just him and Rhinestone.
“Too bad life isn’t like this.” He petted Rhinestone’s side. “Peaceful and relaxing.”
Red snapped his head around when he heard a four-wheeler getting closer. He couldn’t make out who was riding it, but Rhinestone started to step back and forth, whining nervously, his eyes wide.
“Whoa, boy.” Red kept a tight hold on the rope. He didn’t want to have to explain to Lincoln that the horse had gotten nervous and taken off.
Then he heard the rapport of a gunshot echoing in the open plain. Rhinestone reared to his hind legs then took off, trying to pull Red along with him. Red had no choice but to let the rope go unless he wanted to be dragged along.
The sound of the gunshot made his insides freeze and memories slammed into him. Red dropped and curled into a fetal position. There was nowhere he could run. It was all open land.
He covered his head with his arms and smashed his eyes closed, hearing that voice taunting Arturo to come into the kitchen. When Arturo refused, the gunman had shot Red.
His chest felt as if it were on fire. Red couldn’t get enough air into his lungs. His head pounded, along with his heart.
“Easy. It’s okay, Red. It’s just me, Lincoln.”
Those words refused to register. Red smelled his own blood. Felt the pain, heard the taunting voice, tasted the bile in his throat.
“Red, look at me, hon.” A hand touched his arm, and Red jerked, whimpering as he tightened his arms on his head. “There was a coyote bearing down on you. I had to shoot it. You’re safe.”
Lincoln kept talking softly to him, his soothing voice slowly penetrating the fear Red was drowning in.
Then Lincoln scooped Red into his lap and held him, rocked him, and continued to talk to him.
“Are we alone?” Red’s own voice sounded foreign to his ears.
“It’s just you and me.” Lincoln slid his hand down Red’s back. “Take deep and cleansing breaths.”
Ever so slowly, Red opened his eyes. He wasn’t in Arturo’s kitchen. There weren’t any bad guys standing around him. His wounds were healed, not fresh and bloody.
He buried his face in Lincoln’s chest, drawing on the man’s strength, flooding his lungs with Lincoln’s masculine scent of leather and campfires.
“How’re we doing?” Lincoln’s hand slid up Red’s back and then down to his waist.
“I’m getting there,” Red said. He’d already calmed down, but it felt so good to be held, to have hard muscles encompassing him. He’d forgotten just how much he loved having a man wrapped around him.
Lincoln swept his hand over Red’s nape and held it there.
“However long it takes.” Lincoln rested his cheek against Red’s hair. “It’s just you and me and this gorgeous sunrise.”
“And a dead coyote.”
Lincoln grunted. “That, too.”
Red tilted his head back to ask how Lincoln knew about the danger, but all he saw were stunning green eyes—eyes that pulled him in and threatened to steal his very breath.
Lincoln leaned down but hesitated. Lost in the turmoil of emotions that still gripped him, Red slid his hand to the back of Lincoln’s head and pulled him down.
Their kiss set off fireworks inside Red. It was slow, sensual, and filled Red with a burning desire to be conquered by this big, strong man.
Lincoln smoothed his hand down Red’s side, turned them, and placed Red on his back. Lincoln stretched out beside him, his lips hungry, his touch gentle.
When Lincoln tried to pull away, Red gripped him harder, keeping him in place. “Just another second.”
Red needed more time to lose himself in Lincoln before reality set in and his day began. He needed this stolen moment in time to feel like his old self, to forget his fears and what had happened to him.
Red groaned and jerked his hips forward when Lincoln pressed a heavy hand against the hard outline in his jeans. Red huffed out a breath, grinding his swollen cock against Lincoln’s palm.
God yes! This was what Red wanted, needed, craved. Lincoln unfastened Red’s jeans and snaked his hand inside, curling his fingers around Red’s erection.
“Fuck,” Red groaned. “Get me off, please.”
Lincoln deepened the kiss as he pumped his fist, pressing the pad of one of his fingers into the slit. He twisted his wrist, working Red’s cock, driving his need higher and higher.
Red was fucking unhinged, ready to strip naked and get on his hands and knees. Nothing else mattered. Just Lincoln, his hand, and Red’s cresting orgasm.
Red fumbled with Lincoln’s snap. He got it undone, and then he lowered the zipper. Red wanted a fat dick in his hand, to remember what it felt like to be wild and crazy and not caring.
He palmed Lincoln’s cock and groaned at the hot flesh so hard that it was like silk over steel.
“Shit, Red,” Lincoln moaned against his lips. “Just like that, baby.”
A blast of lust shot through Red. He wanted to feel Lincoln’s cock in his ass, pounding against him, but he seriously doubted the guy had a condom and packet of lube in his pocket.
When Lincoln used his other hand to snake down the back of Red’s jeans and tapped at his hole, Red nearly lost his ever-loving mind. He shoved backward, needing to be filled.
Finger, cock, toy, that didn’t matter to Red.
Lincoln pulled back and looked Red in the eyes as he sank his finger in. Red gasped, and his eyes fluttered closed as Lincoln crooked that thick digit, setting off an explosion inside Red’s body.
Red cried out, punching his hips upward as he came. His seed shot everywhere as Lincoln continued to stroke him. For a moment Red had forgotten about the fat cock in his hand. He turned sideways and used his cum to coat his hand.