Don't Read in the Closet volume one (18 page)

“Um, well I was
kind of in a rush. I saw the blood and thought you were injured,” he mumbled in
response.

“It wasn’t my
blood. I shot an injured roo and slung it over Dirk’s shoulder. It fell off
when he bolted.”

Dale nodded to
show he understood, but he didn’t dare turn back around.

Jack was quiet
for a moment, and as Dale fiddled with the stirrup hanging from its strap, he
began to wonder what kind of fool he was to think flashing his naked ass at
Jack would get him to see him for more than a ranch hand and someone that could
be special. Why hadn’t he listened to Pete, or to anyone else with a lick of
sense for that matter?

“But what were
you doing at my house with no clothes on?”

The softly
spoken words forced Dale to face the man he’d loved for two long years. He
searched Jack’s dazzling green eyes looking for some sort of interest; he saw
nothing but curiosity.

“Well, if you
don’t know by now there’s no point in me telling you!” Dale snapped, finally
losing patience, but he’d had more than he could take of Jack’s lack of
awareness. Or was it deliberate ignorance?

Then something
flashed within Jack’s green depths and though he shook his head, he smiled.
Actually smiled. Dale sucked in a short sharp breath. Jack had never smiled at
him before and seeing it now had him more aware of Jack than ever. The man was
stunning, and the way his full mouth lifted at the corners had Dale’s stomach
flipping again, and this time Dale knew it was from pleasure.

“I never really
thought you’d go to these lengths, Dale. I have to say I’m impressed, though
I’m not sure what I’m supposed to do about it.”

Dale bit back a
groan and closed his eyes a moment. Jack had just said his name.
God,
there had been times when Dale was sure Jack didn’t
even know his name. Then the gist of Jack’s statement sank home. Dale reopened
his eyes and stared. “You know how I feel about you?” he asked, shocked.

“I’d have to be
blind not to know, Dale. I’ve seen the way you look at me, the way you linger
when I’m talking to Pete or one of the other ranch hands, the way you seem to
hang around the stable when you know I’m coming in from a ride or leaving for
one. I know you’ve been trying to get me to notice you, but I honestly thought
you’d give up after a while.” Jack looked down Dale’s body and back up again
like he had before, but instead of curiosity in his eyes this time, there was
desire. “I guess I was wrong.”

Dale ignored
the hot sizzle that raced to his balls at that look in Jack’s eyes, ignored it
and even hated the fact he felt it, because now he was angry. He squared his
shoulders and narrowed his eyes and only just kept himself from clenching his
hands into fists. “Why the fuck haven’t you said something?” he demanded. “I
thought you didn’t even know I existed. My God, Jack, how could you know I love
you and not have the courtesy to say something to me? I’ve been at my wits end
not knowing what else I could do to get you to notice me, and all this time you
knew? How could you do that?” Trying to control his breathing, and his anger,
Dale knew he wasn’t succeeding when Jack’s hand on his arm failed to do
anything more than make him want to shake it off. Not an hour earlier he would
have done anything, said anything, to have Jack touch him.

“Dale –”

“No.
don’t
! I don’t want your sympathy. How could you be so
callus?” Fuck, he hadn’t thought Jack was like that. He just assumed Jack
didn’t know, but Jack did know, and hadn’t cared. He turned away, tears
stinging his eyes, angry at Jack, but angrier at himself for loving a man who
was so obviously heartless.

“Dale, honey…”
Jack’s fingers tightened on Dale’s arm and turned him back around. His green
eyes had darkened and were staring at him with both compassion and a little
confusion. “I didn’t know you loved me. I just thought you wanted to sleep with
me.”

Dale lifted his
chin and bit his lip to stop it from trembling. He searched Jack’s face wanting
to find the truth in his words. “You said you knew how I felt,” he got out,
hating that his voice was shaking.

“I thought you
were in lust, not in love.” The pad of Jack’s thumb slid along the inside seam
of Dale’s elbow. Dale couldn’t stop the shiver that shook his body. Being this
close to Jack just did things to him he had no control over. Even now, when he
knew he should be withdrawing, he wanted to step closer, wanted to have Jack
wrap his arms around him.

“I’m sorry.”

God those words
hurt. Dale knew there was a possibility of rejection and knew he wouldn’t like
it when it came, but it hurt far more than he’d thought it would. “Yeah, so am
I,” he replied, unable to stop a bitter edge creeping into his voice, still
smarting from being so rash and naïve. How could he have thought Jack would
want him?

But when he
tried to pull free of Jack’s grip, Jack stopped him. “No, I don’t think you
understand. I’m sorry because I didn’t realize. If I’d known I would have said
something. Definitely would have said something, but I didn’t know, and as I
don’t do casual hookups…”

“Neither do
I
,” Dale said quickly. Since meeting Jack, Dale hadn’t let
another man touch him, and he really wanted Jack to know that, though he wasn’t
sure if that would help any.

“That’s good to
know.” Jack stood back and released him and Dale felt the loss intensely, but
he warmed at Jack’s words. “Come on, let’s go home,” Jack said, taking the
reins out of Dale’s hands.

Dale nodded,
feeling a little lost and confused. He slid his foot into the stirrup and swung
his leg over the saddle, then removing his foot to give Jack purchase, helped
him up. Jack came up behind him and settled in comfortably. It was in that
moment that Dale realized how intimately close they were going to be and as his
stomach did a flip, he also panicked. After so long wanting Jack he knew how
his body was going to react, but he wasn’t sure if Jack would understand. But
whether Jack would or not, Dale wasn’t left with any choice when Jack’s arms
came around his waist and pulled him into the cradle of Jack’s spread thighs.

“Okay?” Jack’s
strong chest was pressed closely to his back and the arms Jack left around his
waist were warm and heavy and comforting. His breath washed over Dale’s nape
causing goose-bumps to form across Dale’s bare skin, which Jack was sure to
notice. But Dale’s problem was Jack’s hands. They were loosely cupped over the
pommel, and as Dale looked down he noticed they were within scant inches of his
cock.

“Fine.” The
word came out as a squeak and the resulting hot wash of embarrassment was
doubled as Jack chuckled against his nape.

“Just take it
easy,” Jack said, squeezing his thighs and encouraging the horse to move on.

Dale held onto
the reins hoping it would give him an anchor to the reality that was slowly
slipping away. Jack was plastered to his back, arms around his waist, hands
inches from his cock, and Jack was fully aware of how Dale felt about him. Jack
had even implied he was okay with it. Sweet fuck, but Dale had never thought
he’d get this chance with Jack. Hoped he would, yeah, but believed it? Dale
closed his eyes and bit his lip again to stop the moan that was building in his
chest a place to escape.

“Relax, Dale”

Dale nodded,
but when he opened his eyes, instead of seeing the deep red of the Australian
bush spread out before him, he saw himself, spread out on a bed with Jack
kneeling between his thighs.

“Kind of hard
to do that when I’ve finally got you where I want you,” he said, drawing on the
cocky courage he’d had when starting out to snag Jack once and for all.

“And where is
that?” Jack’s low murmur as he leaned in close to Dale’s ear caused another
shiver to rack Dale’s body, and Jack obviously felt it.

“With your arms
wrapped around me, holding me.”

“But I’m not
holding you, I’m holding the saddle.”

Shit, that
wasn’t what Dale meant, but as Dale glanced down and watched his cock stir and
to come to life, he decided that maybe that wasn’t such a bad idea after all.
“You could hold me,” Dale whispered, wanting to feel the warmth of Jack’s
fingers wrap around him, stroke him. Want it? Hell, he was ready to beg for it.

But Jack shook
his head. “No, Dale. I don’t think so.”

Like a dagger
to his heart, Jack’s words bit painfully deep, and everything Dale might have
thought was happening between them crumbled catastrophically around him. He
stiffened, his hands tightening around the reins that were threaded between his
fingers.

“Do you know
why?” Jack’s quite question was a surprise, because they both knew the answer.

“You don’t want
me.” Dale tried to keep his voice even, but it was hard when his chest ached
and his throat was closing over in humiliation and pain.

“Oh no, babe, I
want you, and I have done for a very long time.”

Dale quickly
twisted in the saddle, looking back into serious green eyes. “You want me?”
Jack’s slow, sexy grin was his answer, and Dale’s stomach did that slow flip
again. Positive he was coming apart at the edges, he shook his head. “Then why
won’t you touch me?” Dale didn’t get it, and he didn’t understand what Jack was
playing at.

“Because I have
to punish you first.”

“Punish me?”
There wasn’t a single thing Jack could have said then that would have surprised
Dale more.

“Yes. Punish
you. Do you honestly think you can gallivant around on my ranch, on my horse,
stark naked and get away without having to suffer the consequences?”

Though Jack’s
eyes remained serious, Dale could see a light smile play about Jack’s lips. He
focused on that, suddenly wondering if Jack
was
playing with him. “What
kind of punishment?”

“You’ll find
out when I get you home.”

“Are you
serious?”

“Deadly.” And
by the look Dale could see in Jack’s eyes, he was.

Twisting back
to face the front, Dale worried his bottom lip. He wasn’t sure he liked the
idea of being punished, but that was secondary to everything else that was
going on in his mind. Jack wanted him, and for the first time since getting on
his horse to start this crazy stunt, Dale smiled.

His smile
didn’t last long though. After less than half an hour, the long trek back to
the ranch began to feel like torture. His erection hadn’t gone down and he was
feeling the ache deep in his balls. At one stage he’d been tempted to stop and
tell Jack he was going to take a piss, just so he could give himself some
relief. The only thing which stopped him was the possibility that Jack would
know what he was doing. And just now, Jack had moved his hands so they were no
longer on the pommel but were resting on Dale’s thighs. The agony of having
Jack touch him and not able to ask him to do more for fear of further
punishment, had Dale gritting his teeth and wondering if Jack was deliberately
trying to keep him aroused. He was positive of it when, a few minutes later, he
felt warm lips press against his nape.

Holding back a
soft moan, Dale started counting the steps his horse took to keep him focused
on something else other than the raging need to twist back around in the saddle
and claim those lips with his mouth.

“Dale?”

Dale almost
jumped at the sound of Jack’s voice so close to his ear. “Yes?”

“Why me?”

Dale didn’t try
to pretend he didn’t know what Jack was talking about though he was surprised
Jack was asking him. “Why does anyone fall in love with someone?” When Jack
didn’t reply, Dale decided to explain further. “I was instantly attracted to
you. You are gorgeous you know.” Tempted to turn round and face Jack to see his
reaction, Dale restrained himself. Maybe there was a reason Jack was asking him
now and like this.

“What else?”
Jack asked softly.

“I like the way
you treat the men. You expect hard work, and we all give it, but you don’t then
just demand more, you actually appreciate what we do, and you also ask for
suggestions and take on board anything that’s said. You’re fair, allowing the
men to take time off if they need it. And you give bonuses.” Dale grinned a
little at that, though he wasn’t sure if Jack would think it funny considering
the money came out of his pocket.

“That it?”

No, there was
more, so much more, but they were little things. Like the way Jack had moved to
the smaller house to allow the ranch hands a bigger, more comfortable place to
live. The way Jack took care of his horse, the way he sometimes looked when
riding out to either inspect fences or stock. The way he laughed or sometimes
cracked jokes, the way he often sang when cleaning his house. There were a lot
of things, probably too many to mention, but maybe he’d get the chance if this
worked out the way Dale hoped it would.