Colorado Flames WIth A Texas Twist (4 page)

Being alone with Jessica would mean sex, and he couldn’t go there, not until he figured out what the hell was wrong with him. He’d dated girls before Jessica because that’s what he was supposed to do. Hell, he’d even had sex with one of the girls he’d dated, but it was boring and not what he wanted.

His thoughts flashed to James. Fuck, that kiss had been amazing. He was screwed. His imagination took over and thoughts of he and James rolling around on the ground, their naked chests pressed against each other filled his mind. He'd take control, holding James's arms against the dirt so he couldn’t get away. Then he'd lower his face and brush his lips over James's soft pillowy pout, sucking James's bottom lip into his mouth and tugging gently.

Brody heard a noise behind him and he glanced over his shoulder. Bright headlights blinded him, snapping him back to reality, but it was too late to do more than try to get out of the way. The bumper clipped his leg, sending him flying through the air. He missed a tree by inches and the car swerved away. The tree came between them, saving his life.

Chapter Five

Pain washed away as his adrenaline took over. His heart raced, and his muscles shook. Snatches of the car behind him played through his thoughts, but he couldn’t remember if it was really a car or a truck. Blood roared in his ears, blocking all sound. He searched for the car, but saw nothing.

The stretch of road was desolate with no homes for him to run to. Brody tried to stand, but his body wasn't complying. Then someone was hanging over him, asking questions. Focusing took too much energy. The world swirled as hands on his back forced him to sit up. The drone of someone speaking filled his ears, but he didn't understand a word of what they were saying.

Brody closed his eyes and tried to lie down, but a strong arm held him upright. He rested his head on someone’s broad chest, wishing the person would let him sleep.

"Come on, we've got to move a little." The voice was male and smooth as silk.

He was lifted and half carried a few feet before he was allowed to sit down again. It was dark, the road not visible, or at least there were no cars near enough to illuminate the blacktop.

"Hey, look at me and tell me your name."

Brody shook his head and blinked, trying to figure out who was talking to him. He thought he recognized the man. It looked like James, but why the name question? Maybe he'd hit his head too.

"Your name, what's your name?" the person asked again, their voice more insistent this time.

"Brody." He moved his head and narrowed his eyes. The lack of light was playing a number on him. The guy looked like James, but it couldn’t be.

"That's good. I need to see what's up with your leg. That was a fairly hard tap that car gave you."

Brody rested his head on the soft grass and closed his eyes, flinching as sure hands smoothed over his skin. The pain grew as the guy poked his leg, but Brody didn’t try to stop him.

"Ouch,” Brody growled when the guy touched a particularly sensitive spot.

"Hmm, I don't think you broke it, but we need to get you to the hospital. Bad news is that I don't have my truck."

Brody’s eyes narrowed as he stared at the guy. It had to be James. At least he thought he was sure it was James. "What happened?"

"I didn't see everything. I was about a half-mile back."

Brody stared at him, focusing his gaze. He realized his first impression was right. It was James. "What the hell were you doing following me?"

"Hush, I think they turned around and are on their way back."

Brody tried to scramble up to stand, but the pain held him in place. "We have—"

James’s lips were beside his ear. "I moved us behind a bush. They can't see us."

"Shit. Did you see the car?"

"I didn't get a good look. They pulled from a dirt lane and their lights were off. I don't think they saw me."

The crunch of tires on rock sounded in front of the bush. Both he and James stilled, neither one of them moving. The pain blossomed as he sat still. What the hell was going on? His stomach started to turn sour as fear of his past catching up to his present took over.

"Are you sure they're not slowing to see if I was hurt?" He didn’t want to believe that anything bad had found him. Giving into the panic would only result in disaster.

James didn't answer, but he did place his finger lightly on Brody's lips. James’s hand tightened on Brody's arm and he stilled. They were silent as the car moved away. If the person who’d hit him was checking to see if he was hurt they would have called out to him, and they sure as heck would have called the cops. Whoever hit him did it on purpose. He closed his eyes and tried to fight back the emotions threatening to overwhelm him.

"Why were you following me?" Brody had to know. It wasn't fair for this group of men to chase him down and frighten him. “I’m scared. Okay. You don’t need to keep up the hard press. Who the hell are you anyway to make yourself judge and jury? Why did your people do this?"

"We didn’t do anything."

"Don't act all innocent." Brody struggled to sit on his own and tried to stand
,
but his leg wouldn’t do what he wanted. He fell back into the grass and groaned. The pain hit hard, raking up from his knee to his thigh and finally into his back.

"You're going to hurt yourself." James reached out to touch him, but Brody backed away.

"You wouldn’t want that, then you couldn’t take me out yourself," he yelled. Spittle flew from his lips and dripped down his chin. Anger and fear twisted together, forcing him to the edge of reason. He was ready to explode as fear took hold.

"You're being ridiculous," James grabbed his shoulder and held him tight.

Brody jerked back, but it didn't dislodge James's hand. "I'm being ridiculous," he sputtered. "What the fuck do you mean I'm being ridiculous? I was just hit by a car. You've been skulking around, following me for days. What the fuck else am I supposed to think?"

James's brows pinched together and he smoothed his hand down Brody's arm. "I can't believe you think I'd hurt you."

Brody pushed at James's hand, trying to get away but his body wouldn’t cooperate. "You threatened me."

James reached for him again, grabbing hold of his arm. "Fine, you're right. We did threaten you, but—fuck, that wasn't one of us. I would know. And we wouldn't play with you like that. If we came after you, you wouldn’t even know. It would be over with quickly."

His heart skipped a beat as he realized what James meant. If the group from the ranch did this, he'd be dead, not lying in the dirt chatting with James. "Sure, make me feel better. Anyway, why are you following me?"

Brody's leg had started to throb and the pain grew with each beat of his heart. His head spun, causing his vision to go all wonky. He needed medical treatment of some sort but how the hell was he going to make it anywhere? James's eyes narrowed as he stared at him.

"You don't look so good." James smoothed his hand over Brody's forehead.

He shook his head, trying to clear the fog. "Really, it's dark out here. How can you see?"

"There's enough light with the moon. And you really don't look good."

Brody huffed out a breath and snorted. "Ya think? I was just hit by a car."

James turned his head and stared at the roadway. Brody's entire equilibrium was off and for a second he wanted to kiss James's jaw. It was stupid and crazy to think that way. It had to be the pain making him lightheaded. That was the only explanation for his desires.

"I don't think they'll be back around. Let's see what we can do," James said.

"I'm not sure I can walk."

"Let me help you up. If we were in a bigger city, I'd call a cab."

"What about your friends?"

James shook his head. "They don't know I've been following you around."

"What? Your spying on me wasn't sanctioned by big brother or whoever is in charge out there?"

"I wasn't watching you to keep tabs on you. You don't pose a threat to the organization."

"Then why the—" Their gazes met and Brody gulped in a breath, making his head spin even more. Maybe there was a reason he wanted to kiss James after all.

James's lips pinched together and he glanced away. "You need to see a doctor. Let's move."

The ping-pong of emotions was making him sick to his stomach, or maybe it was just the pain. James helped him to his feet and held him up. Brody put a little weight on his leg and didn't fall over. James was there to support him as he hobbled to the road.

"This is going to take forever," Brody complained.

"Yeah, it is. Give me a sec."

"You're going to have to call them, aren't you?"

"Fuck," James whispered.

"Just call."

James snorted and his muscles tightened under Brody’s hands. Brody appreciated how James’s body felt next to his. It was wrong to think this way, and he should concentrate on his leg, or thinking straight, but all he could think about was hard muscles and hairy chests. James pulled out his phone and dialed. Brody waited, wondering how his life had gotten so fucked up. He'd been doing fine a month ago. Well, not really, but he wasn't thinking dirty thoughts about guys, instead he was thinking about Jessica. But she hadn't really gotten him hot. He'd agreed to date her because a friend knew her. James tightened his grip, pressing them closer together. Brody moaned, wishing there were fewer clothes separating them.

"Come to my location." James hung up his phone and pocketed it.

"Who was that?" Brody asked.

"One of the guys."

"That's all you had to say? No explanation of what you're doing. I thought they didn't know you were watching me?"

"They don't, but they will now."

James helped him get settled on the ground. The pain still held him, leaving him unable to think straight. James stood quietly off to this side, his lips pressed together in a thin line, his fists balled tight. Brody took the opportunity to study the man. His strong jaw was dusted with brown stubble that matched his hair. Brody wanted to kiss James right under his jawbone near his ear. The thought made him shiver and James's gaze shot to his.

"You cold?" James asked, his voice deep, vibrating through Brody, straight to his dick.

"No," he whispered.

"Being cold could be a sign of shock. Maybe I should rub your body."

James held up a hand. "No, just stop. Don't touch me."

"What? I don't want you going into shock."

"I'm not going into shock."

"But you shivered."

"Fuck, you are thick."

James stared at him, his eyes narrowing before they widened. He glanced away. "How are you feeling?"

"I'm okay." Why hadn’t he grabbed a jock strap? He really hadn’t anticipated running into anyone else. Fuck, this was embarrassing. All he had was his thin shorts covering his dick. He didn’t even have a shirt.

"Good. They should be here in about twenty minutes."

"We could start walking." He tried to stand, but James placed a hand on his shoulder and shook his head.

"No way. You're in too much pain."

Brody nodded and stared out into the dark night. His thoughts weren't so fractured, and his mind calmed though the pain increased.

"How bad are you hurting?" James asked.

"Bad."

"Maybe you did break it, or crack it. Can I do anything for you?"

Brody wanted to say suck my dick, but that wasn't the right answer in this current situation. And why the fuck was he even thinking of letting James touch him. He groaned and threw his head back, staring up at the sky. James settled beside him, wrapping his arm behind Brody's back. He leaned in and rested his head on James's shoulder. His nose was against James's neck, his lips so close he could almost taste the man. He took a deep whiff, loving the scent of lemons, and maybe pine, but there were definitely masculine traces coming from James.

Exhaustion hit him hard and he relaxed against James, closing his eyes as he snuggled against the strong pectoral muscles that made up James's chest. Thoughts of them lying in bed together, their limbs entwined as they kissed, filled his mind. He jerked and tried to sit up but James held him still.

"Shh, just relax."

Brody glanced up and tilted his head back just as James looked down. He didn't want this connection, but as their gazes locked, he couldn’t help the emotions gathering steam. Lust twisted through him, leaving no room for doubt about which way his desire bent.

He half expected the tender moment to be lost like before. Instead of pulling away from him, James cupped his jaw with one hand and smoothed his thumb over Brody's cheek.

They stayed like that for a long moment, Brody enjoying the touch as his dick grew harder. When the intensity of the moment started to ebb, he closed his eyes and rested his head on James's chest, snuggling close. It was getting cold without his shirt. He should have thought about that, but how the hell was he supposed to know he was going to get run over by a car?

James grasped his hand and twined their fingers together. It felt almost magical, definitely good, and he wanted more. He snuggled closer, enjoying the feel of James’s hands on his flesh.

He might have fallen asleep, he wasn't sure, but the sound of tires on gravel brought him to attention. James helped him up and he struggled to walk to the truck. The driver's side door opened and a guy raced around. Brody thought he recognize him from the night of the fire.

"Shit, James, what the hell did you go and do now?"

"Zip it, Tucker," James's voice was brittle and sharp with hard edges that spoke of dark dangers.

"Hey, isn't he the guy from—"

James cut Tucker off. "Just help me get him in the truck."

Tucker looked down at Brody’s crotch and his whole body heated. His dick was showing through his thin shorts. Brody felt James’s arm tighten on him.

“I have sweats and a shirt,” Tucker offered.

“Thanks,” Brody said.

James helped him tug on the sweats, his movements quick and impersonal. He longed for James to touch him with passion, but he was glad that James hadn’t tried anything in front of his friend.