When he pulled his fingers from between his legs, Chauncey’s moan was just the reaction Jonah hoped for. Flipping the top on the lube, he slicked up the condom and then his fingers before tossing the lube back on the nightstand.

  After spreading lube around Chauncey’s back hole, he pushed one finger deep to begin preparing his husband for what came next. He only hoped he could take enough time to make his husband comfortable before his own need shredded the last of his control.

  He moved as quickly as he could, adding a second and then a third finger, twisting them as he moved them in and out, scissoring them to stretch the tight muscles.

  “Ready?” he asked with a growl when his patience reached its end.

  ****

  Chauncey nodded quickly, needing to feel more than Jonah’s fingers invade his body. He couldn’t wait to feel the long, thick cock pushing into his hip to fill his ass. His cock pulsed in anticipation of Jonah taking his virginity.

  “Please, Jonah. Fuck me now,” Chauncey begged as he pulled his legs up to his chest.

  He tried to control his breathing as Jonah rose and knelt just inches from his ass. He met Chauncey’s blue-eyed gaze squarely as the man pulled his fingers from his ass and then fit the head of his cock into the opening. He pulled in a breath as Jonah slowly pushed forward, not stopping until his pelvis pressed against Chauncey’s ass.

  Only then did the man stop moving. Chauncey realized he was giving him time to adjust to the invasion. Focusing on his breathing, Chauncey worked to relax his muscles.

  When Jonah still didn’t move, Chauncey grunted. “Fuck me. Please, fuck me.”

  With that, Jonah began to move. He kept his movements slow and easy as he pulled out and pushed back inside again. Lying on his back with his legs pressed to his chest, Chauncey couldn’t move. He could only take what Jonah gave him, which were long, slow thrusts of loving.

  Then the man shifted and began to stroke over his prostate, sending electric charges through him and sending his arousal spiraling upward once more. It only took a few more before he screamed out another orgasm.

  Several strokes later, Jonah roared out his name as he followed him over the edge into the boneless bliss only an excellent orgasm offered. Chauncey moved his legs out of the way just as Jonah’s arms gave out and he dropped to lay heavily on him.

  “Can’t. Breathe.” Chauncey waited as long as he could, but breathing was difficult with the large rancher lying fully on him.

  “Oops.” Jonah gently separated their bodies into two entities and then rolled them so they lay side by side on the mattress before pulling Chauncey in and snuggling with him.

  The only thing Chauncey could think of to say was, “Thank you,” as he brushed a kiss over the sweat-dampened skin in the center of Jonah’s chest.

  Jonah responded with a soft rumbly snore.

  Closing his eyes, Chauncey smiled. Maybe a few minutes of rest was called for. Then he would see about talking Jonah into sharing a shower with him to clean up before getting down and dirty once again.

  Chapter Six

  It was nearly noon when Jonah stretched and woke fully. They had catnapped between bouts of loving, but it seemed they couldn’t keep their hands off one another. The sun was breaking the horizon when they finally collapsed and fell deep asleep, curled together like a pair of happy, sated puppies.

  Reaching across the bed without opening his eyes, Jonah frowned when he didn’t find Chauncey beside him. The sheets were barely warm, which meant it hadn’t been long since his husband had left him. Pushing himself to a sitting position, he moaned softly as his muscles protested the movement.

  A long day working with horses and cattle, and he was up the next day to do it all again. A night loving on his man and having his man love on him, and every muscle wanted nothing more than to find Chauncey, carry him back to bed, and go back to sleep … after another round of hot sex.

  Curling his body up, he shifted to sit against the headboard as he looked around the empty bedroom. They had moved to the second bedroom at dawn since the bed in the other room had too many wet spots on them to sleep on comfortably.

  “Chauncey?” he called after clearing his throat.

  “I’m in here,” Chauncey called from the bathroom.

  Crawling out of bed, Jonah took a moment to stretch fully. After calling the front desk and confirming they would be staying for another night, he strolled across the bedroom and entered the bathroom. The bathrooms were just as luxurious as the rest of the suite, all black and gray marble.

  Chauncey waved at him from the huge bathtub in one corner, covered with a mountain of bubbles.

  “Good morning,” Jonah said as he crossed to the toilet that was positioned out of sight.

  “Hi,” Chauncey said as Jonah took care of business. “I’ve always wanted to take a bubble bath in a tub big enough to swim in. I feel like Julia Roberts in Pretty Woman, except we’re married.”

  Once he finished, he quickly washed his hands before crossing to the tub. “Is there room for me in there? I always wanted to pretend I’m a good-hearted hooker who gets Richard Gere to fall in love with him.”

  Chauncey giggled and waved him in. “Come on in, there’s plenty of room for two.”

  Jonah took his time climbing into the tub. The last thing he wanted was to fall and break something on the first day of his marriage to the sexiest man in the world.

  Once seated, he worked his way through the bubbles to where Chauncy sat at the other end of the long tub. Picking up one of his hands, Jonah found the man had already been in the warm water long enough for his fingers to wrinkle.

  Sucking one finger into his mouth, he sucked hard as he slowly pulled it out, tightening his lips as he reached the tip. “I think you’ve been in here long enough, babe. Time to get out and find me some coffee. Have you washed everything?”

  “Uh-huh,” Chauncey said as he picked up a dry washcloth from the shelf beside the tub. “Can I wash you?”

  Jonah took the cloth and wet it. “I think I’m old enough to wash myself, C-man. Why don’t you go warm up the shower? I think that’s the only way we’ll get all these bubbles off of us.”

  “Okay,” Chauncey said as he crawled around Jonah and out of the tub.

  He left a trail of bubbles as he crossed to the shower on the opposite side of the room. Jonah watched his husband’s tight ass and marveled that his cock tried once more to rise. Then he watched closer and saw Chauncey was walking gently. Then the hot bubble bath made better sense.

  Grabbing the small bar of soap from the holder, Jonah quickly washed up before rinsing and following Chauncey to the shower. Once again, he moved slow enough so as not to slip and fall on the hard tile floor.

  “Mmm, yum,” Chauncey said as he stepped into the enclosed shower and closed the door. A moment later, he had an arm full of warm, wet, sexy man.

  “No sex,” he said even as Chauncey began humping his erection against his thigh. “Your ass needs a rest, and I need coffee and food. Then we need to pack up your apartment and get ready to head to Texas.”

  When his husband didn’t stop, Jonah reached down and swatted one round ass cheek. Chauncey yelped and jumped back.

  Chauncey looked up at him as he rubbed the pinked-up flesh. “But it’s our honeymoon,” he whined.

  “And if I fuck you again, you won’t be able to walk,” Jonah said. “Tonight, I’ll teach you the fine art of sucking cock, how’s that?”

  “Promise?”

  “Yes, babe. I promise.”

  Chauncey stepped under the waterfall shower and quickly rinsed off the bubbles. “Well, all right then. Hurry up, we have places to go and coffee to find.”

  ****

  Two hours later, Chauncey unlocked his apartment door and opened it. He took three steps in before stopping in his tracks. Something was wrong, though he wasn’t sure what.

  With Jonah a step behind, carrying an arm full of flattened boxes, Chauncey moved further into his apartment.

  That was when he saw them. “Who the hell are you?” he asked of the two men sitting on the couch he had picked up at the local thrift store. His heart began to pound as he realized they had just walked into an ambush.

  Both men were dressed in black jeans, biker boots, and long, leather trench coats. They looked like extras from the Matrix film series. Tall, broad-shouldered with black hair, dark eyes, and brooding expressions, they reminded him of the men Marco Gomez always kept around for protection … or more.

  Both men stood and looked from him to Jonah and back again. “Mr. Gomez wants to see you, Chauncey,” the one on the left said.

  Before he could react, he was staring at Jonah’s broad back. Today, his husband wore nice jeans and a blue chambray snap-front shirt with his black dress cowboy boots. At Chauncey’s insistence, he’d left his cowboy hat back at the hotel.

  “If Mr. Gomez wants to see my husband, tell him he can call me. Now, get the fuck out before I call the cops and have you arrested for breaking and entering.”

  “Your husband? You married Chauncey? Mr. Gomez isn’t going to like that,” the same man said.

  Chauncey peeked around Jonah’s body to see the man pull out his cell phone. “Some farmer says he’s married to Chauncey.”

  The man listened, and while Chauncey could hear a voice yelling on the other end of the line, he couldn’t make out the words.

  But the man holding the phone could, if all the yes, sirs and no, sirs were anything to go by. Finally, the man hung up the phone.

  “Mr. Gomez wants to see both of you,” he said as he pushed his coat out of the way, revealing a handgun handle.

  “No,” Jonah said, dropping the boxes and crossing his arms over his chest.

  Chauncey remained behind his husband, though he ran one hand up and down his spine, hoping to soothe the beast about to break free. He remembered stories his father had told him about how badass of a fighter Jonah had been when they were growing up.

  He just wasn’t sure how his fists would work against guns. The fact that Jonah had a 9mm gun of his own tucked in the small of his back didn’t really register with him.

  The men must have seen something in Jonah’s face because they raised their hands to shoulder height and started walking to the door, turning so they never took their gazes off his husband. Jonah turned as they moved across the room, always staying between Chauncey and the two men.

  Only when the men were out of the apartment and the door closed did Jonah move. He walked over to the door and twisted the three locks. He leaned both hands against the door and dropped his head before taking a deep breath.

  Chauncey watched as his husband slowly relaxed. When Jonah finally straightened, Chauncey inhaled, unaware he had stopped breathing for a moment.

  “Okay, C-man, let’s get you packed and out of here before they come back with reinforcements,” Jonah said as he turned away from the door.

  “Are you sure this is a good idea? Maybe I should meet with him and hear what he has to say.”

  ****

  Crossing to where Chauncey stood looking pale and trembling, Jonah wrapped him in a hug and held the man tight. “No, babe, you don’t need to talk to him. Marco Gomez has nothing to say that you need to hear. We’re going to pack up what you want to take with you. Whatever you don’t want, Lola can send or donate to charity once we’re gone.”

  Though fiery anger still pounded through his veins, Jonah forced himself to breathe slow and deep. His husband needed him to remain calm and in control. They had maybe a half hour before Marco Gomez would show up and shatter Chauncey’s world.

  He knew why Gomez wanted Chauncey. Knew what Lola had promised in order to keep her son safe this long. But as of yesterday, it was his responsibility to keep Chauncey safe from him and the dark path Marco wanted to drag Chauncey down.

  He squeezed Chauncey once last time before releasing him. “Okay, C-man, where do we begin?”

  Twenty minutes later, he watched as Chauncey locked the apartment door. Since he had been planning to move home after graduation anyway, most of his belongings had been packed and moved to his mother’s garage over the last few weeks.

  Chauncey had also changed from his suit into a pair of jeans and a t-shirt before he began tossing clothes into the boxes Jonah taped together. It only took four boxes to hold everything—his clothes, toiletries, a stack of books and drawing pads, and the packaged foods from the kitchen. He used one of the cloth shopping sacks to hold the clothes and toiletries he would need for the next few days until they got back to the ranch.

  After packing everything in the back of the SUV, Chauncey left the apartment keys with the apartment manager then stopped at the Beckwith house and picked up the rest of Chauncey’s belongings. By the time they finished packing the SUV, there was just enough room left in the storage area for his suitcase. The blacked-out windows made it nearly impossible to see the contents, but Jonah took the blanket from Chauncey’s bed and covered everything in the back anyway. The back seat remained empty, but Jonah had a feeling it wouldn’t be by the time they arrived at the ranch.

  Chauncey remained strangely silent throughout the entire process of packing up his life. Jonah wondered if he was having second thoughts, but he was afraid to ask. Once they parked the SUV in the lowest floor of the parking garage under the hotel, Jonah took his husband’s hand and led the way to the elevator.

  “You okay, C-man?” he asked as he wrapped a hand around the back of his husband’s neck and massaged gently.

  Chauncey didn’t speak, he just nodded his head in an affirmative answer. He hugged the bag of clothes as if they were some sort of a security blanket.

  Before Jonah could point out the man was lying, and his feeling about being lied to, the elevator doors opened. They stepped inside and made it all the way to their floor at the top of the hotel without seeing anyone. Once back in their room, Jonah took the bag from Chauncey and put it on the bar before pulling Chauncey into his arms.

  Chauncey wrapped his arms around his middle and held on tight, his head buried into Jonah’s chest. “Can we go to Texas now?”

  “You don’t want to wait ’til morning?”

  Chauncey’s head moved side to side. “I want to leave the city now. Maybe if we’re gone, Marco Gomez will stop trying to talk to me. I don’t understand why, but it’s pretty obvious nothing good will come from meeting the man. I just want to go home and start my new life.”

  Jonah curled around the man, holding him tight as he said, “Sure, C-man. We can go home whenever you want. Let me pack and we’ll blow this pop stand.”

  Chapter Seven

  It took five days to make the trip from Chicago to Jonah’s ranch in central Texas. Jonah had indulged him every time he commented on a store or museum or another sightseeing stop along the way. They had picked up quite a few keepsakes, filling the back seat with them.

  They had also had lots of time to get to know one another better. Chauncey loved it when his new husband started asking crazy questions about his favorite things. He would respond with his answer, followed by a question of his own.

  When they tired of driving, they would find a decent motel and stop for the night. Once checked in, they would change to swim trunks and splash around in the swimming pool. Then, once they were tired of swimming, they would shower and head out for dinner. After filling their bellies, they would return to their room and curl up on the couch to watch whatever movie channel the hotel offered. Invariably, they would miss the end of the movie as cuddling led to more and soon Chauncey found himself on his back with his ass filled with Jonah’s cock.

  Having never traveled outside the state of Illinois, Chauncey soaked up the sights and experiences like a sponge. The trip was one he wouldn’t soon forget, though Jonah promised him they would take a proper honeymoon at some point in the not-too-distant future.

  Jonah kept in touch with his ranch manager along the way, making decisions and providing guidance. On the fourth day, when they stopped at the Welcome to Texas rest stop, Jonah made his morning call to Jaxson, his ranch manager. Something in the phone call caused the man to go solemn and quiet.

  “Problem at the ranch?” Chauncey asked when they got back on the road.

  “Maybe. I’m afraid we’re going to have to drive straight through from here,” Jonah said as he started the SUV. “It’s about four hours, so we should be there by lunch.”

  “Okay,” Chauncey said, settling in and opening the paper map he’d picked up inside the visitors’ center.

  By the time Jonah turned off the road and onto a dirt road, Chauncey was ready for a break. They had only stopped once for gas, drinks, and a pee break, and Chauncey was ready for another. Several car lengths down the road, Jonah stopped. A cowboy with a shotgun was standing next to a white pickup truck parked across the road just in front of a tall, wicked-looking metal gate.

  Jonah rolled his window down as the other man approached, the weapon casually resting on one shoulder.

  “Everything okay, Banker?” Jonah asked.

  The cowboy nodded. “Jaxson wanted someone out here until you arrived, just in case.”

  Jonah nodded. “Well, we’re here now. If they return again, bring them to the main house.”

  “Yes, sir.” Banker nodded before punching something into a security panel behind him. It took another minute for him to move his truck out of the way so that Jonah could drive through and onto the ranch property.

  “Jonah, what’s going on?” Chauncey’s stomach clenched, and there was an itchy feeling between his shoulder blades that always meant trouble.

  His husband didn’t respond.

  Before Chauncey could demand answers, they came over a hill and Jonah stopped so he could see the land that laid out before them like a rolling carpet.

  “Welcome home, Chauncey,” Jonah said.

  “Oh, wow. All this is yours?”

  “All this is ours, yes. As far as the eye can see, and beyond. Until you learn how to ride a horse and a few other things, we’ll stay close to the house and main buildings,” Jonah said, pointing to a large three-story, pale-stone house with a bright red metal roof.