Hoaley Ill-Manored (10 page)

They took off running again.

The wind died suddenly and the rain
softened. Adam heard something that brought the hairs up on the
back of his neck. Lightning flashed and Adam saw a flash of white
near the lake. As the light died away, the echo of it momentarily
blinded him. But he heard a sound he’d hoped never to hear so close
to the house.

It was the sound of coyotes yipping with
excitement. The sound they made when they had something trapped.
Without even thinking about what he was doing, Adam turned and
started running toward the lake.

Dirk called his name but the wind tugged it
away, turning it into a whisper of sound. Lighting struck again and
showed him Mike and Sue standing at the side of the lake. They were
cranking their necks and honking at a pair of thickly pelted white
and gray animals with lush tails and dark eyes that sparked in the
lightning when it speared overhead. Adam realized the two birds
weren’t going to do a judicious retreat. “Get in the damn lake!” he
screamed at them.

The big birds ignored him, continuing to use
their normal intimidation tactics against the deadly predators. The
coyotes crept steadily closer, heads down, gazes locked, and bodies
taut with aggression.

“Get the hell in the water!” he screamed
again. He ran toward the swans, arms flailing in an attempt to
distract and scare the coyotes. Suddenly Dirk was beside him,
screaming and waving his arms.

The coyotes licked their lips, flicking a
quick, unconcerned look toward the approaching men. Mike waddled
forward, apparently thinking he needed to step up the intimidation
to save his mate. Horror clogged Adam’s chest as the coyotes
started toward the beautiful bird. “Shit! No!”

A huge, brown shape barreled past and Adam’s
horror tripled. “Walter! No! Oh my god, Dirk!”

Barking wildly, tail snapping the moist air
behind him, Walter rushed toward the two predators and they finally
turned, black gazes alert. The coyotes cocked their heads. Adam
could only imagine how the onslaught of humans and dog looked to
the predators. Their new victim was much too big. He had three
heads, four arms, and eight legs. He also made a screeching kind of
sound in addition to an annoying bark. The two predators took one
look at the conglomeration barreling toward them through the night
and apparently decided to make a try for the swans another day.
They turned away and loped off into the night.

Walter stopped at the edge of the lake and
commenced triumphant barking, his tail wagging furiously. Adam
reached him seconds later and dropped to his knees in the mud,
wrapping the big dog in a hug that made Walter whimper and
worriedly lick his face.

“Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit…” Adam felt
warm wetness running down his cheeks. It wasn’t rain. He buried his
face in the fragrant, wet fur at Walter’s scruff and said a prayer
thanking whatever deity protected large, goofy dogs that the
coyotes had decided to debunk in the face of frantic stupidity.

He was enveloped from behind by solid warmth
and Dirk’s breath wheezed in his ear. “Come on, babe. He’s safe.
Let’s get him into the house.”

Adam stood under the near scalding water and
willed his thoughts to stop spinning. Someone had opened the door
onto the veranda and left it open. Apparently that person had
either lured Walter outside or he’d found the open door all by
himself.

If he and Dirk hadn’t gotten home when they
had his dog would have been killed by the coyotes. There was no
doubt in his mind. Walter didn’t have the sense to avoid a
confrontation with the predators and they wouldn’t have wasted the
opportunity to take down prey of Walter’s size.

Adam’s stomach twisted in a knot at the
thought. Who would be so evil? Teddy Worth’s words pounded against
his memory.
They’ll lure even a big dog away and go at him in
numbers. Kill a dog in minutes.
Those words were strangely
prescient. And the warning in Worth’s eyes stuck in Adam’s craw.
Had he known? Was he working with someone to unsettle Adam? Get him
to give up on the manor and leave?

It wasn’t the strangest idea to cross his
mind. Teddy Worth had apparently inherited some of his dad’s anger
issues. And he certainly had a grudge against the Bilsworth family.
The missing jewels only sweetened that cauldron of resentment,
making his potential actions seem more conceivable.

Despite the heat, Adam shivered. Would he
ever get the manor rehabbed? Or would somebody he loved get hurt or
killed in the process? He placed his hands flat against the chipped
tile of the shower wall and lowered his head so the hot water could
pound the tense spot on the back of his neck.

The sound of the curtain screeching across
the shower rod warned him he wasn’t alone. Hands touched his waist
and a familiar scent enveloped him. The tender touch of lips on his
shoulder made Adam relax.

“Walter’s dreaming about chasing the
coyotes.” Dirk’s voice was soft, husky with need.

Adam smiled. “He can dream about kicking
coyote ass all he wants. I just don’t ever want to see him in the
same little spot of the world with those things again.”

Dirk’s lips trailed across his shoulder
blades. The rigid heat of his lover’s cock pressed against Adam’s
buttocks, kick-starting a matching response in Adam. He felt desire
pooling thick and vibrant in his gut. Dirk’s hands slipped over
Adam’s hips and around. Strong fingers enveloped his cock as Dirk’s
palm cupped his balls, squeezing gently. Adam sucked in a breath as
Dirk nibbled his shoulder. “Let me relax you, Ads. I haven’t
forgotten how.”

Adam thought about all the bad stuff they
had between them. His resistance to letting Dirk back into his
life. His certainty that Dirk had slept with another man. He
couldn’t help remembering how angry Dirk had been at him the night
before after he’d gone behind his back, using him as a distraction
with Teddy Worth. But his lover had been able to put that aside.
He’d still helped Adam when he’d needed it. He’d put himself in
danger to help those stupid big birds because it mattered to Adam.
Then he’d helped him save Walter.

And now he was trying to make Adam feel
better. Because he couldn’t stand to see Adam hurting. Dirk had
always been that way. He’d never been able to watch Adam suffer.
Even when it had been Dirk himself who’d hurt him.

He realized in that moment that he loved
Dirk Williams. It was a realization he’d fought long and hard to
avoid. But, just like that, when his defenses were down because of
worry and stress, he was sidelined by it. He should have felt
panicked. He knew it. But instead he felt strangely calmed by the
realization. Apparently he was ready to accept it.

Adam tilted his head back, resting it on
Dirk’s shoulder as the other man milked his cock with a slow, firm
stroke. Dirk bit his shoulder and tucked into him, nestling the
impressive length of his dick into the crack of Adam’s ass and then
slowly, ever so carefully, thrusting through that dark crevice in a
sensual imitation of the sex act.

Assaulted from several directions by sexual
and sensual stimuli, Adam knew he wasn’t man enough to resist. Even
if he’d wanted to. He sighed and reached around to grab Dirk’s
luscious round buttocks in his hands, holding him in the delicious
thrusting rhythm.

Dirk’s hand found the same cadence on Adam’s
dick, carrying Adam so close to the edge he worried he’d embarrass
himself before they even got to the fun parts. It had been so long
since Adam had felt the exquisite pleasure of a lover’s touch. He
was so ready to feel it again.

Dirk reached past Adam’s shoulder and
grabbed the soap. He rubbed the slick bar over Adam’s now rigid
cock and pressed it into his balls, working up a silky lather that
lubricated his strokes and curled Adam’s toes. Dirk smoothed the
soap up Adam’s belly, to his pecs, and across his hard nipples,
making them tingle with need.

Then he skimmed the bar of soap around to
Adam’s butt and slipped it over his cheeks in sensual circles. By
the time he’d worked his way to the back of Adam’s thighs, Adam was
leaning forward, spreading his legs hopefully.

Dirk didn’t disappoint. His hand slid into
the crevice between Adam’s cheeks and lathered the dark pucker
waiting for his touch. As Dirk’s fingers rimmed Adam’s hole, Adam
reached down and wrapped his fist around his cock, working it in
quick, hard jerks. Dirk slipped a thick fingertip into Adam’s soapy
hole and Adam gasped from the pleasure of it—just this side of
pain. Delight jolted through him as Dirk’s finger slid deep,
twisting and carefully stretching Adam’s tight hole. Adam’s hand on
his own cock increased the tempo, his other hand reaching down to
cup and squeeze his balls.

Dirk’s talented finger found the sensitive
patch of skin over his prostate gland and rubbed it, sending
frissons of delight spearing through Adam’s limbs and driving the
knot of lust tighter in his belly.

Adam’s hand worked his cock. His breathing
locked in his chest, his nipples jutted from his chest, and his
belly ached with need.

Dirk continued to glide the silky bar of
soap over Adam’s back and chest as he probed and prepped Adam for
penetration. When he withdrew his finger, Adam shoved backward,
just barely stopping himself from whimpering.

Dirk wasn’t nearly done. He soaped Adam’s
asshole one more time and then reached outside the shower, coming
back inside with a condom.

Adam forced himself to stop working his
cock. He was perched on the razor edge of release, and didn’t want
to come until he felt Dirk pulsing inside his ass.

He leaned his forehead against the cool
tile, closing his eyes, and let his mind embrace the delicious
sensations thrumming through his body.

He felt Dirk’s thick cock head nudging
against his hole and held his breath, waiting for the wonderful
moment when his lover’s shaft would push past that barrier and skim
delightful pressure over the gland of pleasure inside his
channel.

Bending over Adam, Dirk pressed gently and
Adam pushed, afraid to breathe for fear he’d lose the moment of
ecstasy coming his way.

Dirk took Adam’s shoulder between his teeth
and pressed harder.

Adam welcomed the pressure on his sphincter
muscles, relished it, because he knew the moment that came next
would be beyond delicious.

“I’ve missed you so much, Ads.” Dirk’s voice
was a husky rumble against his shoulder. Adam pushed into the
pressure, wriggled his ass in enticement. “I want you to say it,
Ads. I want to hear you say you’ve missed me too.”

Adam growled, his hand working his rigid
cock with desperate need. The bright tunnel of his orgasm yawned
before him, but he couldn’t quite reach the light at the end.

“God, Dirk. Do you really need me to tell
you? I’m just about crazy wanting you here.”

Dirk’s lips trailed up Adam’s neck. His
tongue came out to lick the cooling drops of water. “Say it,
babe.”

“I missed you, Dirk. God, I’ve missed you so
much.”

Dirk pressed past the barrier and Adam’s
body sucked him in. Dirk’s thick shaft scraped delightfully over
the nub of nerves inside Adam’s body and went deep, nearly lifting
Adam off the ground with the thrust. Dirk gave Adam several slow,
mind-numbingly pleasant strokes and then picked up the pace, his
breath coming faster and faster as he thrust.

Adam cried out with sheer pleasure and his
hand increased the pressure on his own shaft, milking it hard and
fast as release rose up from his toes and outward from his
mind.

Dirk’s hands held him tight. His cock rammed
hard and fast, each stroke like a softly blown breath on the embers
of a brand new fire. Adam could feel the fire start to take and
then, as pleasure swamped him in a dense wave, the flames surged
until they threatened to consume them both.

Dirk’s fingers tightened on Adam’s hips,
nearly painful in their pressure, and he went completely still
behind Adam, groaning out his release.

Adam’s cock swelled in his hand as Dirk’s
jumped in his ass. His balls tingled with the need to spill their
load and, as his lover bent over him, kissing his neck and back,
Adam felt himself going over too. When Dirk’s hand came around
Adam’s body to cover his and intensify the pressure on Adam’s cock,
Adam finally reached the edge of his pleasure and felt its power
washing through him. His muscles went taut under the wave, his cock
jumped, and his knees almost gave out from the force of his
release.

Adam sagged forward, counting on Dirk’s arm
around his waist to hold him upright, and laughed. “I think I’m
relaxed. In fact, I’m nearly a puddle on the bottom of this
shower.”

Dirk turned him around and kissed him, the
touch of his lips tender, filled with emotion. “Good. Now. Can we
get something to eat before I pass out?”

“Well, our delicious dinner from the River
Bluff Bar and Grille is still sitting in the truck and, I don’t
know about you but I’m not going back out there. However, I do have
donuts and beer.”

“Sounds perfect.”

Adam grinned. “Yeah. It does doesn’t
it?”

DS

They’d been working for hours and they still
had half a massive tree sitting across the driveway. But at least
they could squeeze a car past if they needed to.

Rike Tree Service seemed to consist of two
guys, one who looked to be a near contemporary of Edgar Reeves’ and
the other probably too young to vote. The old guy was the brains of
the operation, the young one the brawn. But they took one look at
the size of the tree and started to leave, declaring they’d need
four more guys and would have to reschedule.

So Adam, Bud, and Dirk had stepped in.
They’d been elbow deep in bark and sawdust ever since.

The sun had lifted slowly into the sky that
morning. After the storms of the night before, a thin layer of
clouds still clung to the sky and didn’t seem willing to let go.
But by ten a.m. the cloud cover had finally drifted off and the sun
came out with a vengeance.