“You keep talkin’, we’ll just see,” Flynn threatened.
Gabriel smirked at him, then he returned his attention to Cage and hugged him close. Cage knew what he was thinking without having to ask. They’d danced around each other for days, slowly getting closer and acknowledging the attraction they felt. They’d never had the freedom to act on it, though. Until now.
Gabriel gave him a mischievous grin. “I suppose a warm supper and a warm bed wouldn’t go amiss,” he decided as he glanced at the two marshals and smiled brilliantly.
Flynn rolled his eyes and shook his head before turning away and trudging back toward the gangplank. It seemed to Cage that Marshal Flynn had been much fonder of Gabriel Rose when he thought he was dead. The thought made Cage smile despite himself.
Wash stood there with Cage and Gabriel, grinning. He reached out and took Gabriel’s hand.
“I know what you done for him,” he said to Gabriel. “I thank you for it.”
“It was my pleasure, Marshal Washington,” Gabriel replied politely.
Wash nodded and turned to follow Flynn, ostensibly to retrieve their belongings from the boat.
“Actually, it wasn’t a pleasure at all,” Gabriel called after him. “I don’t know how you stand him!” he called out as Wash kept walking, laughing as he went.
Cage reached out and touched Gabriel’s shoulder. When he turned back Cage met his eyes and grinned widely at him.
Gabriel looked him up and down critically. “You’re looking a little worse for wear,” he commented.
Cage looked down at himself. His ruined shirt was open, revealing the linen wrap they’d used to bind his sore ribs. He could feel the bruises and cuts on his face and he knew he must look haggard and drawn, his long hair coming loose from its formerly orderly tie. But Gabriel wasn’t looking much better. He looked back up at Gabriel critically, letting his eyes travel up and down with the same dubious look Gabriel had given him.
“Don’t even say it,” Gabriel threatened as he pointed a finger in Cage’s face. “I may smell like river mud but I make it look good,” he declared pompously.
Cage laughed and shook his head fondly.
“Which name do you prefer?” Gabriel asked suddenly.
Cage’s grin fell and he licked his lips, fighting back the nerves as they bubbled forth again. He inhaled deeply to steel himself and slowly put his hand to his chest in answer.
Gabriel nodded as if he understood. He jerked his head toward the main street and its array of hotels in the distance. “Come on, then, Cage. You can help me find all the bullet holes,” he offered wryly.
G
ABRIEL
sat on the edge of the bed, fussing with his shirt and mumbling about getting dirty after he’d just washed all the river mud off in the hotel’s bath. Cage held a cloth in the washbasin and watched him worriedly. He could see a lot of wounds, though Gabriel insisted he was fine.
A bullet had grazed his arm, just enough to cause blood to well from the shallow furrow, and another had struck a glancing blow to his thigh. Cage had yet to convince Gabriel to allow him to examine it. There were also several shallow slashing wounds on Gabriel’s ribs, but Cage didn’t worry about those. The thigh was what concerned him.
He cleared his throat pointedly and pointed at Gabriel’s leg when the other man looked up at him. He was fairly certain the bullet had gone right through cleanly, which was a good thing. Cage had pulled bullets out of men before, but he didn’t relish the idea of digging one out of Gabriel. He didn’t know if he could cause Gabriel that kind of pain… he’d have to enlist Marshal Flynn for that job if the need arose. He might enjoy it.
“It’s not your duty to tend to my wounds,” Gabriel insisted stubbornly, as if he had known what Cage had been pondering. “And it’s not that bad, I promise. If I could trudge up from the riverbank, it’ll be fine.”
Cage drew the cloth from the washbasin and tossed it at him, hitting him square in the face with the cold, wet rag.
Gabriel stood quickly and yanked the cold cloth from his face, gasping in surprise. He blinked at Cage with wide eyes, but then his lips quirked into a smile. “Temper,” he observed evenly. He shook the cloth and folded it neatly, then gave Cage a measuring glance. “How are
your
injuries?” he asked.
Cage shrugged as his hand went to his ribcage. He had taken a lot of punishment, and despite his ribs being bound up and sore, he didn’t suspect they were broken after all. He could walk and sit and bend a little, and he could carry some weight as well. He didn’t suppose he could do any of that without being in agony if the bones were really broken. He had a thin cut on his neck where Stringer’s knife had dug in too far, and numerous bruises on his face. But he would live.
He picked up the washbasin and carried it over to the bed, kneeling next to Gabriel and setting it on the floor carefully. He looked up at Gabriel and patted the mattress, requesting that he sit back down.
Gabriel shook his head in exasperation. “You are one mule-headed man, do you know that?” he muttered as he undid his belt and pushed his trousers to the floor. He stepped out of them and sat obediently, offering up his thigh for Cage’s inspection. He wore nothing beneath the trousers, and Cage bit his lip to keep from smiling.
“They stole my underthings,” Gabriel told him defensively.
Cage looked up at him, clearly dubious.
“They did,” Gabriel insisted. “And my grandfather’s pocket watch.” His expression darkened. “A trip back to Junction City might be in order.”
Cage bit his lip again and petted Gabriel consolingly on the knee.
“Now you’re just humoring me,” Gabriel muttered as his shoulders slumped.
Cage nodded and took the cloth from him. He did his best to clean the wound on Gabriel’s thigh, realizing as he wiped away the dried and drying blood that it wasn’t nearly as bad as he’d feared. It seemed they’d both come out of the night in better shape than they should have hoped for. Cage retrieved the clean linen bandages they’d bought and wrapped the wound tightly, causing Gabriel to hiss quietly as he did so.
Cage glanced up at him apologetically.
“Don’t. You don’t have to apologize for anything,” Gabriel said as he looked down at Cage seriously.
Cage’s hands slowed as he looked up and met Gabriel’s eyes. Gabriel merely continued to look down at him, his dark eyes expressive and full of questions that might never get asked or answered. But he didn’t say anything further. Cage stared at him for a moment longer, letting the weight of the night slide away as he reminded himself they were both free men now, free to do as they liked, go where they pleased. And Gabriel’s first act as a free man had been to crawl out of the Mississippi and trudge right back to him. They were together. He reached up to brush his fingers over Gabriel’s face. Gabriel’s eyes fluttered closed, and Cage impulsively climbed toward him, kissing him hungrily as he pushed Gabriel’s back to the mattress.
Gabriel’s arms wound around his neck and he gave a muffled sound of surprise, but he returned the kiss wholeheartedly despite being caught off-guard, his teeth scraping against Cage’s upper lip as he nipped at him. Cage’s hands traveled up and down his body, appreciating the hard, lean muscles and the sinuous way Gabriel’s body wrapped around him as he pressed him down into the thin mattress.
Gabriel’s hands were almost immediately pushing at Cage’s trousers, and Cage’s body responded rapidly to the invitation. He shoved himself up and stood, shucking his clothing as Gabriel unbuttoned his own shirt. He just barely managed to toss it over the side of the bed before Cage was on him again, kissing him and dragging his fingers over his skin. Their bodies pressed together, hot to the touch in the cold room. Gabriel’s arms wound around Cage’s neck as he settled onto his back, obviously at ease with having Cage’s weight over him.
Cage hummed appreciatively as they kissed each other, over and over.
Gabriel hooked one leg over Cage’s hip. “Where’s that snake oil you talked me into buying?” he asked, his dark eyes sparkling with humor and desire. He couldn’t seem to pass up any chance at a wry comment on Cage’s silence, and Cage found it both endearing and exasperatingly amusing. Other men who made such easy jabs wouldn’t have gotten off so easily. It was just another twist to the spell Gabriel had cast over him.
Cage’s lips twitched as he pushed off the mattress again, regretfully leaving the pleasure of Gabriel’s body to go in search of the parcel. When they’d bought the bandages and other supplies from the general store, Cage had thrown in a small ceramic bottle of Minard’s Liniment, “the great internal and external remedy for man or beast!” Cage and Gabriel had both known it was just a step up from snake oil sold in the traveling medicine shows around the country. It was mostly ammonia water and turpentine. But rubbing it vigorously on sore muscles did feel good, and lord knew they would both have enough of those. They also knew it would slick up anything you wanted and keep it that way for a good long while if used in quantity. Snake oil had many uses for men like them.
Cage retrieved it and returned to the bed eagerly, missing Gabriel’s touch as if he’d known it all his life. Gabriel wrapped his arms around him as soon as he was back on the bed, kissing him demandingly and arching his body to rub against him.
Cage gave him a strangled groan and reached for his hip, holding him down as the contact stoked a fire inside him. He bent to kiss down Gabriel’s body, letting his lips linger against the heated skin of the more tender places and carefully avoiding the injuries. There were a good many of them, and Cage lifted his head to look at Gabriel uncertainly. This sort of thing could wait until they were both in better condition to enjoy it.
Gabriel’s fingers drifted over the tightly wrapped linen around Cage’s torso. “Are you certain you’re well enough for this?” Gabriel asked him in sudden concern. Cage snorted at him, not surprised that Gabriel had been thinking the same thing as he.
He let his hand rest over the bandages on Gabriel’s own ribs, where he’d suffered several gashes with a knife. He raised an eyebrow and let his lips quirk. Gabriel got the message loud and clear. His voice was low and rough when he responded, and it was obvious to Cage that Gabriel was feeling the same desperate need he was. “Hang the hurts, Cage, we’ll get over them,” Gabriel said to him as he tightened his knees around Cage’s waist.
Cage nodded furtively and kissed him harder, although Gabriel’s initial concerns were valid; the burning in his ribs might soon overpower the need from his groin and Cage couldn’t imagine that Gabriel was any better off. But Gabriel was right; they’d get over the aches and pains soon enough. They needed this first exploratory contact far too much to mind them yet.
Cage pushed against Gabriel and groaned as he rubbed their lengths together. Gabriel spread his legs wider and slid both ankles over Cage’s calves, hooking his feet behind Cage’s knees. His fingers found their way into Cage’s hair and he grabbed a fistful of it, tightening his grip as he raised his hips to meet Cage’s. Cage bit at Gabriel’s chin, feeling like he might just explode with his desire to be closer. Gabriel’s uninhibited manner was more intoxicating than any Celestial man’s opium or saloon keeper’s whiskey could be. It wasn’t rare for men in the West to be intimate with each other, to touch each other for comfort or pleasure. It
was
rare for a man to admit he favored it and enjoyed it, though, and Cage couldn’t get enough of Gabriel’s enthusiasm.
“I have an idea,” Gabriel gasped even as he continued to roll his hips against Cage.
Cage groaned plaintively with the words.
“No, I know, but this is actually a good one this time,” Gabriel insisted breathlessly.
Cage shook his head. He’d had enough of Gabriel’s ideas for one day, no matter how well the last few had turned out for them in the end. He took Gabriel’s hands and held them down, pinning him to the bed as he continued to slowly rut against him.
Gabriel’s eyes fluttered closed and his lips parted as he let his head rest against the mattress. Cage took the moment to admire the man. His body was hard and solid against Cage’s, his lean muscles well-defined, not a pound of him wasted. His dark hair had curled after bathing and the cloying tendrils framed his handsome face against the white of the bed linens. His tanned, prominent cheeks were flushed with desire and pleasure, and his nimble fingers clenched around Cage’s hands with every movement of their bodies. Each exhale became a moan of pleasure as Cage moved against him.
Gabriel Rose was apparently a man who liked to be held down. Cage told himself to remember it as he kissed Gabriel again.
“You don’t even want to hear my idea?” Gabriel asked him without opening his eyes.
Cage pressed his face against Gabriel’s neck and shook his head. He released one of his wrists and let his hand travel down until he could slide it beneath Gabriel’s hip. He pulled at him, clearly communicating what he did want.
Gabriel immediately had his hand back in Cage’s long hair, tugging at it as he lifted his hips.
Cage reached for the ceramic bottle of snake oil and used his teeth to yank out the cork. Gabriel laughed, the sound warm and arousing in its own right. Gabriel took the bottle from him and tipped it over his open palm. Neither of them wanted Cage to have to use both hands. Cage took the moment to appreciate how well Gabriel’s mind worked with his own as they impatiently watched the snake oil slide out into the palm of his hand. When Gabriel judged that there was enough, he righted the bottle and held it up to Cage, letting him put the cork back in before he tossed the bottle aside.
Cage slicked himself down hastily, taking more rough, demanding kisses from Gabriel as he did so. He didn’t know if his tired, bruised body would let him do all that he wanted to do to Gabriel, but he planned to give it his all-fired best. Gabriel moved under him, obviously intending to roll onto his belly, but Cage stopped him by tightening the grip on his wrist and sliding his slick hand between them. He wanted Gabriel right here under him.
Gabriel groaned and stretched his body out like a cat, pushing his legs further apart so Cage could settle between them. Cage had rarely encountered a man so comfortable with this more intimate position. The willingness from his partner sent the already consuming heat coursing even faster through his body. Cage gripped him with his slick hand and pumped him several times, enjoying the look on Gabriel’s face as the pleasure rippled through him. Gabriel’s hand in his hair tightened until it was almost painful, and Cage knew he couldn’t draw it out any longer without the whole thing coming to an abrupt end for both of them.