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“Great.”
Dane fell in step behind him, then said, “Would you like to hold her?”
Finn realized he must have been staring at the baby more than he realized and he quickly said, “No, my hands are dirty. And I’ve never been around a baby before.”
“Don’t worry Finn, you won’t break her. I was scared to death the first time a nurse handed her to me, but it only took about ten seconds to realize that holding her is one of the easiest things I’ll ever do.”
Finn nodded his head and tried to wipe some of the dust off his hands by running them down his pants. He held his arms the way he’d seen Dane doing when he first carried her into the barn and the man carefully placed her in them.
An overwhelming rush of insecurity went through him at the feeling of the warm, squirmy body in his hands. He tried to hand her back but Dane said, “You’re doing fine. Just give it a second.” He pulled the baby closer to his chest and then found himself staring into the purest, brightest blue eyes he’d ever seen.
“Oh God,” he whispered as the baby watched him with complete trust.
“What’d I tell you?” Dane said with a laugh as he began walking. Finn took careful, even steps as he followed the other man out towards the pasture.
“You expecting trouble after this afternoon?” Dane asked.
Finn looked up in confusion. “What?”
“The gun,” Dane reminded him.
“Oh, uh…we don’t get a lot of visitors out here,” he said lamely. When Dane didn’t say anything, Finn floundered and said, “I’m sorry for the position Rhys put you in today. He shouldn’t have pulled you into my fight.”
Dane actually stopped and looked at Finn, his eyes cool and calm. “I didn’t do it for you, Finn. Although I’m glad if it helped in any way,” Dane said. “No, I did it for my daughter,” he finished, then started walking again.
“I don’t understand.”
“I want Emma to grow up in a world where she’s free to be whomever she was meant to be. To love whomever she wants to love. How can I expect people around me to change if I don’t ask them to – expect them to? I hope she never has to face the same battles you and I do, but if she does, I want her to know her father was there from the start, trying to make a better place for her. Maybe then she won’t have to fight quite so hard or quite so long.”
Finn fell silent at Dane’s words.
“Hey Kirby, old man,” Dane said as the brown and white Pinto nickered in greeting and trotted up to the fence. “Look Emma,” Dane said as he took his daughter back and showed her the big horse who hung his nearly all white face over the fence. Finn snapped a lead on Kirby and West who was the only other horse in the pasture and began leading them back to the barn. Dane’s words kept resonating through his head as he put West away and then tied Kirby in cross ties.
“You okay?” Dane asked as he fished out a carrot from the diaper bag and fed it to Kirby.
“Yeah,” Finn muttered, though his mind was already on how he’d ever get Rhys to forgive him for his earlier behavior. It could be that anything he said would be too little, too late.
* * *
Rhys collapsed on the bed after his shower and wished to hell he could just order a pizza because he was too tired to have to stand in the kitchen for the five minutes it would take to slap some meat and cheese between two slices of bread. At least his ass wasn’t hurting as much as his body started adjusting to sitting in a saddle for extended periods of time. The view hadn’t hurt either. Callan on a horse was something to behold. He’d even been wearing the old style leather chaps that had a nice cutout emphasizing the perfection that was his ass. All sorts of dirty images of Callan in chaps sans jeans had flitted through his mind, though he’d tried to ignore the fact that Finn was also front and center in the naughty little show he’d had going on in his head.
He and Callan hadn’t seen Finn once they got back from checking the fences and Finn’s bedroom door was closed so Rhys was pretty sure he’d be spending the night alone for the first time in well over a week. Rhys slipped under the covers and turned off the light on the nightstand. Callan had been right about the ride. It had given him time to cool off. What’s more, Callan hadn’t given him the lecture he’d expected about needing to be more careful with Finn.
In fact, Callan hadn’t said a word other than to give him instructions on how to improve his seat so the ride would be more comfortable for him. There’d even been a point where Callan had stopped, dismounted and checked the girth on Rhys’ saddle because he was concerned it had been too loose. The man’s big hand had closed around Rhys’ leg to move it out of the way as he checked the fastenings – a move that was entirely innocent in nature but had the same effect as Callan stroking over his cock with his tongue. It had felt good to have someone worry about him, even if it was just for a second and was more about keeping an employee safe rather than protecting a loved one from danger. Jesus, where had that word come from?
Rhys’ disturbing thoughts were interrupted by the tell-tale sound of his door being pushed further open. His back was to the door so he did what he always did – threw back the covers and waited. At some point having Finn in his arms had become an expectation rather than a burden and even though he fought his body’s desire until the blackness of sleep claimed him, he still welcomed the feel of the other man settling against him. As angry and frustrated as he still was with Finn, he was glad that at least this ritual would continue for the foreseeable future.
Rhys waited as Finn got under the covers, but was surprised when, instead of turning away from Rhys, Finn crawled across the bed and then pushed Rhys onto his back. Before he could even question the new position, Finn was leaning down and sealing his mouth over Rhys’. Finn’s sweet taste flooded his mouth as the young man’s tongue swept over every crevice and surface, then glided over Rhys’ tongue. Finn’s weight settled down on Rhys’ chest as he continued his claiming of Rhys’ lips, then that hot mouth was scorching a path down Rhys’ neck. He managed to grab Finn by the shoulders and pull him up. “Finn, wait-”
“I don’t want to wait anymore,” Finn whispered. “I’ve been waiting my whole life for something that’s right in front of me,” he said before kissing Rhys again. Rhys knew he should stop this, that Finn belonged in another set of more capable arms, but he couldn’t force himself to release the grip he had on Finn’s upper arms. He gave up the battle and shifted so that he was laying on top of Finn. He let Finn have one more taste of him, then he took control of the kiss.
* * *
Finn wanted to cry in relief when he felt Rhys’ weight cover him. When he’d climbed out of his own bed, he’d intended to crawl into Rhys’ and beg for forgiveness, but as soon as he saw the other man lying under the covers, all the need he had pent up inside him spilled over and the only thing he’d wanted was to get his lips on Rhys and show him with his body how grateful he was for everything Rhys had given him. He knew the end result would be the same – he’d be alone when it was all over. But he would take what he could get and store the memory of being with this beautiful man away in a quiet part of his mind where he could get to it when he needed to remember why he’d made the choices he had.
Finn moaned as Rhys took control of every part of his mind and body. Warm, silky lips explored his mouth as blunt fingers stroked his chest and sides. His skin itched and tingled all over as the slight matting of hair on Rhys’ wide chest brushed his hot skin. Rhys left nothing untouched as he worked his mouth down Finn’s neck, whispering against his skin what he wanted to do to him. Finn tried to reach down to give his cock some much needed relief, but Rhys grabbed his hand and forced it above his head. “Grab the headboard,” Rhys ordered as he moved Finn’s other hand to join the first. Finn let out a rush of air at the command in Rhys’ voice, but he did as he was told. The praise and appreciation in Rhys’ gaze was worth it.
“Have you ever been with a man?” Rhys asked him as he pushed Finn’s pajama bottoms down and trailed his fingers over Finn’s painfully hard erection. Embarrassment flooded Finn’s features as he shook his head.
