The dogs were delighted to see him as always, dancing around, eight paws clattering across the vinyl flooring in my kitchen to greet Adler at the front door. Jude had removed Rory’s bandage two days prior, so she was extra full of puppy energy. Adler was only too happy to stoop and give her kisses and pats. He was way more comfortable around the dogs now, taking to them as easily as he had the horses.

  “Are you excited about your new pen?”

  He was talking to the dogs, but I was the one who groaned. “I can’t believe you talked me into repairing Blue’s old pen for them.”

  My dad had rigged a dog run behind the back door of the trailer for Blue in his later years, when he was no longer spry enough to tag along all the time and needed a safer option for outside time. In the years since, the chicken wire fence had started to sag, but Adler had been on me all week to fix it up so the dogs could have leash-free time. I’d finally agreed to Saturday morning, seeing as how I tried to arrange things so the hands had less work over the weekends. As a result, I had some free time after morning chores.

  “You said yourself that they’re not ready for free range on the ranch and that walking them was taking too much time away from my other work.” Adler adopted a reasonable tone as he strode to the kitchen. He set out chow for the dogs before gesturing at the back door and the large box that had appeared on Thursday at the base of the back steps. “And the doghouse Maverick ordered is here. Makes sense to use it, even if the dogs always sleep indoors with you.”

  “So much sense.” I didn’t bother hiding my sarcasm. A large round dog bed now lived at the foot of my bed, another result of Maverick and Adler’s shopping spree. For his part, Maverick seemed to feel guilty that he couldn’t keep the dogs at the main house, and both he and Adler were only too happy to spoil the dogs. “Don’t think I missed the pile of toys that arrived in that order as well. I told you not to get your heart set on them staying.”

  “I’m not.” Adler was lying. Thirty-pound bag of chow. Dog beds, plural. Multiple bags of training treats. More toys than most toddlers. Adler was absolutely counting on me keeping the dogs around. Accordingly, he kept right on in that logical tone of his. “But none of your inquiries have yielded a potential owner for them. And they’re settling in so nicely.”

  I snorted. “I’m not sure puppy wake-up calls at two a.m. count as nicely.”

  Rory, the puppy, was actually doing a damn fine job at being housebroken, following her mother out to do her business like a champ and avoiding accidents in my place.

  “Want me to start coming over in the night to let them out?” Adler batted his eyes at me.

  “Behave.” I gave him a harsh look, which he ignored.

  “I’m just saying I could slip in the back door.” His innocent smile was a contrast to his flirtatious tone. “You wouldn’t even need to wake up.”

  “As if I could sleep through you sneaking in,” I scoffed, well aware I was doing my part to keep the banter going. Luckily, Adler saved his flirting for when we were alone. I couldn’t fault his professionalism on the job. And if I kind of liked the attention, I’d never say.

  “Well, there’s always the option of me helping you get back to sleep…” He trailed off with a wink.

  “Not an option,” I said firmly. My brain, however, went right to images of how exactly he might do that. Lord, did I crave that mouth of his. I swallowed hard. “Letting them out isn’t that bad. It’ll be easier with the pen.”

  “Exactly.” Adler grinned as I walked right into his trap. “Now, where do we get started with fixing their fence?”

  I harrumphed my way out back with him. After taking them out to pee, we left the dogs inside so they wouldn’t wander while we worked.

  “Gotta right these posts first.” I assessed the area and fetched mallets and other tools. Like his work in the barn, Adler threw himself into the task. We didn’t make a half-bad team. Adler was damn good at following orders when he wanted to. Also, he showed surprising strength at pounding in the slim posts. “You’re getting stronger.”

  Adler preened. “Hard work tends to do that to a person, even if I’m genetically predisposed to a lack of muscle tone.”

  I had to chuckle at that because he was indeed as skinny as ever. November was well and truly here, and the whistling wind had a near-painful chill that would only get worse as winter progressed.

  “Wow. It’s cold.” Adler was now the proud owner of several pieces from the feed store, including a new thick jacket and decent gloves. He pulled the zipper on his coat up to his head, which was clad in a ridiculously gaudy knit cap that Hannah had gifted him.

  “Yep. Snow’s on the way.” November snow was hardly uncommon around here, but Adler lit up like I’d mentioned Christmas.

  “You think?” He bounced in place. His excitement continued as he went back to hammering in stakes, and predictably, his lack of focus led to a pained sound a few moments later. “Ow. Ow.”

  “What did you do?” I asked, hurrying over as he shook his left hand in front of him. “Let me see.”

  “It’s not that bad.” He dutifully peeled off his glove so I could take a look. “Whacked it by accident.”

  “Hmm.” I examined his hand, taking off my own glove so I could assess the situation better. The skin-to-skin contact made a shiver race up my spine, but I forced my attention to stay on Adler’s hand. He’d managed to catch his index finger, and a purplish bruise was already blooming along the side. “Don’t think it’s broken, but you might as well get some ice on it.”

  “I think it’s cold enough out here without an ice pack,” Adler complained even as he followed me back to the trailer, where the dogs were only too happy to see us. I fetched him an ice pack from the freezer as he greeted the dogs.

  “Ow.” He made another pained yelp as he wrapped the flexible ice pack around his hand.

  “How bad’s the hurt?” I stepped closer, peering intently at his face. Maybe I was wrong, and the finger did need an x-ray. Seeing him in pain made my stomach twist. “You want some ibuprofen?”

  “Nah.” He waved off my concern. “I have a legendarily low pain tolerance. You make a good nurse though.”

  “Guess I’ve doctored enough injuries to hands over the years and helped Jude some with horses and cattle.” I continued to hover, not sure if I believed him about the low pain tolerance. “I’m better with animals than humans.”

  “Yeah, you are, but I’m onto you.” Adler waved his uninjured hand at me. “You have a hidden soft streak.”

  “Hardly.” I glared at him, but he didn’t seem at all cowed. “Don’t go thinkin’ I’m nice.”

  “You are,” Adler teased in a singsong voice.

  “Watch that sass,” I warned, crowding him closer to the fridge, momentarily forgetting he was hurt and we weren’t supposed to be flirting. “Don’t make me teach you a lesson.”

  “Oh no, not that.” Adler faked being horrified, eyes going wide, but with heat rather than fear. “Please don’t punish me.”

  His face was too damn close to mine. How had I never noticed how full his lips were until this moment? A strange and undeniable urge came over me. I needed to kiss him. Not wanted. Needed. Like ice water on an August day, like I might burn to a crisp if I didn’t kiss him right now.

  Couldn’t have that.

  Sweat ran down my back and my face felt scalded as I leaned in. And goddamn if Adler didn’t grin like a pleased cat who’d finally trapped his mouse. I wanted to kiss that grin away, make him whimper and moan like he had on my lap, reduce him to the same burning need coursing through me.

  My mouth crashed down on his. He’d asked for punishment, and this was⁠—

  Not that.

  As soon as my lips hit his, my whole body relaxed, all that heat and need given an outlet, and suddenly, the last thing I wanted was to discipline him. He’d pushed and pushed all damn week, every time we were alone, and I should have a bucket full of righteous fury to push into the kiss. Instead, my overwhelming urge was to pleasure, not punish.

  I softened my approach, and he gave a quiet moan as he sagged against the fridge. I followed, pressing my body against him as my mouth got acquainted with his. Adler tasted like sunshine and sugar, lemonade for my parched soul. His lips were impossibly soft. I’d never kissed another guy before, never considered the possibility, but here we were, and damn, I liked it.

  I liked the strength in his hand clutching me, the silkiness of his hair in my fist, the slight rasp to his cheeks, and the hardness of his cock against mine, even through our clothes.

  Clothes that suddenly were much too constricting. Continuing to kiss him, I shrugged out of my coat, letting it flutter to the floor behind me.

  Woof. Both Lorelei and Rory stood behind me, curious expressions on their doggie faces, ears cocked.

  “We should⁠—”

  “You say stop, and I’m going to weep.” Adler kept right on clutching my shoulder with his uninjured hand. He’d lost the ice pack for the other hand at some point, not that he seemed to care about that. “Show me your bedroom, Gray. That’s what we should do.”

  All the reasons in the world to stop right here, but then he licked his kiss-swollen lips, and I was a goner. I nodded. “Suppose I could.”

  Chapter Sixteen

  Adler

  Grayson actually said yes, which was possibly more stunning than him kissing me in the first place. And that had been enough of a shocker. I’d seen the want in his eyes, had felt the press of his body as he crowded into me, but I hadn’t expected him to follow through with a kiss. He kept such a tight rein on himself that when he let go, it was like a dam breaking.

  All his usual intensity channeled into kissing me. And wow, could that man kiss. He might not have much experience with guys, but one would never guess it from how he took charge of my mouth. His aggressiveness had my cock harder than an icicle, and the rest of me burning with want.

  He kept kissing me as we stumbled toward his bedroom. I had a feeling he was using the kissing to avoid thinking about the ramifications of what we were doing, but that was a-okay by me.

  “Go lie down,” I said to the dogs who were following us. I broke away from the kiss long enough to toss two dog toys onto their living room bed, and mercifully, they flopped onto the bed to happily chomp on the toys.

  Like the rest of the trailer, Grayson’s room was impeccably clean right down to the made bed. It featured older furnishings, including a sturdy-looking oak headboard and footboard that gave me all sorts of kinky ideas.

  Not wanting to give him a chance to reconsider, I stripped off my coat, hoodie, and undershirt and sent them raining to the floor before reaching for his shirt buttons. He used the proximity to kiss me again, and we both fumbled out of the rest of our clothes. I’d seen him naked that day at the pond, and that image was seared onto my brain, but I took a moment to admire him all over again.

  Fuzzy chest. Tats. Muscles upon muscles and thighs for days. A web of scars wove around one of his ankles and other faded scars dotted his body, a history of a life lived hard that somehow added to his appeal. His cock was hard and jutting right toward me, tempting me to drop to my knees on the carpeted floor, but I knew what I wanted more. And damn, I was glad I’d woken up in time for a decent shower that morning.

  “Tell me you have condoms and lube.” I tried to make my voice as commanding as his always was.

  He quirked his mouth, considering, and I braced for another round of “we shouldn’t do this,” but instead, he finally nodded.

  “Gotta check the expiration date, but yeah.” He crossed to the dresser opposite the bed and retrieved a box from the top drawer. He studied it intently before chuckling. “Yep, we’re good.”

  He tossed the box on the bed before holding up a bottle of lube from the bedside table. “This work?”

  “Yeah.” I had to chuckle because it was a generic for the most basic brand around. Him being all thrifty about what he used to jerk off with was totally in character. Continuing to worry that this was either a dream or something he was about to call off, I launched myself at the bed. “Come here.”

  “Think you’re forgetting who gives the orders.” He stalked to the bed, feral look in his eyes. Thank God Grayson seemed way more ready to play than to send me packing.

  “Oh, I remember.” I grinned up at him as he levered himself over me.

  “You better.” Grayson’s cock dragged along my thigh, and I reached for it, but he brushed my hand aside. “Nuh-uh. You gotta earn that. Besides, I’m too worked up as it is.”

  “Me too.” I felt around for the condom box and lube, thrusting them both at him. “Feel free to skip the prep and just go.”

  “Nope.” He set them aside again in favor of pinning my arms down. “If we’re doing this⁠—”

  “We’re doing it.” I glared at him. My bruised finger gave the smallest of protests, but the last thing I was worried about was my earlier injury.

  “Then I’m intending a nice, long ride, not some fast scuffle.” His voice was stern, but his touch was tender as he trailed a hand down my jaw. “Want you to feel it, but I’m not gonna hurt you.”

  “You won’t.” That much I knew for a fact. I was aching to have him inside me. Thanks to his threats of punishment, I was increasingly curious about things like spanking. However, if Grayson was reluctant, now wasn’t the moment to convince him, not when we’d already come this far. Instead, I stretched toward him. “Kiss me.”

  He obliged me, hands roaming as we kissed. I thrilled at every touch and the deep, drugging kisses. Sitting up, he stroked farther down my torso to wrap a fist around my cock, grip sure and strong.

  “You’re not the only one liable to go off,” I warned.

  “You can wait.” His voice didn’t invite argument, which was precisely why I stuck my tongue out at him.

  “Says you.”

  “Flip.” He didn’t wait for me to comply, manhandling me into position. “Ass up. Head down. No more sass.”

  Little did Grayson know I’d happily give him all the sass he could handle if it got me tossed around like a baby cow who’d wandered off from the herd. All that strength focused on subduing me was a heady rush.

  And then he went and trailed a calloused finger down my spine and over my crack, dancing around my rim before he reached for the lube. He moved with a lazy sort of confidence as he slicked his fingers and resumed teasing me. I rocked toward his hand, trying to invite more contact, but he took his sweet time working up to penetration until I was panting for it. When he finally pushed his finger inside, I made a sharp keening noise.

  “Doing okay?” He paused his motions like he might stop entirely if I didn’t give the correct answer.

  “Never better,” I gasped. “More.”

  Thank fuck, he listened, adding a second finger and pressing deep until he was able to tease my spot.

  “That it?” His tone was all conversational. Meanwhile, I was going to combust if he didn’t fuck me soon.

  “Yes.” I rode his fingers, trying to show him how ready I was. “Need you in me. Please.”

  “Hmm.” Grayson kept right on playing my ass like it was an instrument he wanted to master.

  “Please.” I moaned. I’d never come from prostate play or hands-free, but my body kept tensing like it was about to try. “Gray.”

  “Fine.” He gave the side of my ass a fond pat. “I reckon you’re ready.”

  “Definitely.” I arched toward him as he took care of the condom and more lube. He moved back behind me again, bed shifting slightly from the motion, and I braced myself with my hands against the headboard. Even with more than adequate prep, Grayson’s cock was still thick and blunt and made me suck in a breath as he pushed in. I tried to will myself to relax so he wouldn’t stop, but something in my body language must have given me away because he paused.

  “We good?” he asked, petting my sides. And okay, I did welcome the chance to adapt to the intrusion. I took a few moments to breathe and rock backward in small motions, gradually taking more of his cock.

  “Yeah.” I exhaled, tension being replaced by pure want. “Go.”

  Of course Grayson didn’t take that command seriously, taking his sweet time and fucking me with slow, deep thrusts. He didn’t seem in a hurry in the slightest.

  “More.” My voice was less demand and more begging. He responded by reaching around me to stroke my cock at the same leisurely pace. He used a light grip, edging me as effectively as he had when watching TV. I was both dying to climax and wanting this to never end.

  “Fuck.” I said the word more like praise than a curse because I was seriously impressed. “I was right about your stamina.”

  “Yep.” Grayson took the compliment in stride and didn’t seem any more inclined to speed up. However, he used his hand to get me closer and closer before backing way off. Forget lasting forever.

  “Need to come.” My breath was all choppy.

  “When I say.” God, that stern tone alone was almost enough to get me there.

  “Yes.” I had no idea how I was going to stick to the agreement, only that the need to please him outweighed everything else.

  “Good boy.” His praise made me that much more determined to wait.

  I moaned, low and needy.

  “Not yet,” he cautioned as he reached the speed I’d been craving for what felt like hours. He tightened his grip on my hip and cock, fingers digging into my flesh as he pounded me. And naturally, he was hitting my spot like fucking was a rodeo event he was determined to win.

  “Please.” The plea came out as a tortured moan.

  “Be good.” He kept right on fucking me, ever closer, but I reached the same point I had when we’d watched TV. I floated along, riding the near-orgasmic wave, giving myself over to the fuck completely. I let him have his way with me and trusted that he’d get me where I wanted to go. As soon as I went pliant, Grayson went harder, moaning along with me.