17. Cane
17
CANE
“ S o this is fun,” I say, trying not to smile too big but failing like I always seem to do around Archie. It’s been a little over a month since our first date, and it’s been a hell of a lot of smiling since.
I mean, multiple orgasms a week will do that, I suppose, but it’s more than just sex. That first night, I stayed at his place and woke up in his arms. Kissing and feeling each other up until we both wound up a sweaty sticky mess when we ground our cocks together, his body on top of mine before we both came. Afterward, he made me breakfast, and we had coffee, talking out on his back porch and watching the sun come up.
He drove me home after that, but he didn’t drop me off. We spent a lot of the day hanging out with Dolly and Baby in the barn, cleaning it up a little bit and him unable to resist doing some landscaping by pulling weeds around the front.
That night, he stayed at my place, and we just seem to pretty much keep repeating that every weekend. The weeks are long with him working in Hayes and my shop being in Larnard. It’s too much to drive four hours a day, but the weekends are damn good.
Like this one, even though it consisted of riding on a bumpy-ass trailer pulled by a tractor to pick up pumpkins with Dutton and Walker—not that I minded that much. And I did get a few pumpkins for my porch.
Dutton and Walker have already headed out, but Archie talked me into the corn maze before we leave. We’re walking around, hand and hand, in the warm early October sun, but there’s still this light feeling deep in my chest. Everything with Archie just feels so right.
That is until I hear a laugh I recognize and look quickly toward the group behind us. I see Denise instantly, and though I absolutely hate myself for it, I let go of Archie’s hand, startling him.
“Cane?” He sounds worried, and my eyes dart to him before they latch on Denise as she walks up with a happy, surprised smile on her face, her young kids and her husband, Daniel, in tow.
“Cane? What on earth are you doing here?”
“Uh...” I look to Archie, who’s watching me cautiously but seems to catch on to what’s happening. “Just um... picking up some pumpkins with my um...” I look at Archie, whose smile is gone, but his expression is still friendly.
He reaches his hand out for Denise. “Archie. Just bumped into this guy and talked him into going through the maze. The friends I came with chickened out.”
I hate the lie. I hate that he’s doing it to cover my ass. I hate everything about all this, but I keep my mouth shut and force a smile in her direction.
“Oh.” She looks slightly confused but not really suspicious. “Well, that’s fun. Hopefully, you boys don’t get lost,” she teases and then focuses on me, her face turning solemn. “I was so sorry to hear about you and Evie. Poor thing. I saw her last weekend at the farmer’s market. Seems just miserable.”
Great. That’s fan-fucking-tastic.
It’s not like I haven’t thought about Evie this past month, but I haven’t reached out. I wasn’t sure if that would make it any worse, but I know in my gut she’s strong. That she’ll be okay. I still feel like shit, though, and grimace, grabbing the back of my neck nervously. “Uh, yeah. I hate to hear that. I didn’t want to hurt her.”
She waves me off, an easy smile on her pretty face. “Oh, I told her you’ll be back. Of that, I have no doubt.” I’m pretty sure I can’t fake a smile anymore, and when I risk a glance at Archie, it’s clear he’s lost the ability to do so too. Thankfully, Denise’s little girl seems to lose her patience and tugs her away with nothing more than a hurried apology as her family passes us by, and I stand there with Archie—mortified and so angry with myself.
“I’m so sorry about that.”
He’s not smiling, not even trying to. He’s not making some sort of joke or shrugging it off. I’m glad until I notice the shift in his attitude—that look he gets right before his feelings get to be too much and he goes straight for his defense mechanism. He grunts and shrugs his shoulder, starting to walk along the trail again. “No big deal. Just two friends hanging out.”
I stop him, grabbing his arm and pulling him back to look at me. “You know that’s not what this is.”
“Really?” He sounds angry. Good. I want to see the fight. I want him to be mad at me because what I did was shitty. Even though I didn’t mean to hurt him, it did. He grits his teeth and glares at me with all the hurt. “That’s what you told her. I’m assuming she’s a good friend of Evie’s.”
“She is. I’m sorry, Archie. I froze.”
“Right.” We stand there, our shoulders squared and stubborn jaws set. “I shouldn’t care. I don’t have the right to out you.”
“You know it wasn’t about that,” I say hoarsely. “I don’t want this to get back to Evie. Not from her nosey-as-shit, gossiping best frenemy.” Frankly, I’ll never understand their relationship. Denise is a master at the backhanded compliment, and in truth, I never could stand the woman.
“But it’s a little about that, right?” he asks, his eyes daring me to argue with him, and I feel a pang of guilt deep inside.
I sigh, dropping my shoulders. “Maybe a little. And I know that’s not fair or right. You’re an out-and-proud man, and I admire the hell out of you.”
“You don’t have to come out for me. It’s a deeply personal decision.”
I know anyone else could wander up on us at any time. Denise being here proves how closely connected all the small towns are around here. But I still take a step closer to him, desperately wanting to kiss him. But I hold back and instead close my eyes and breathe in his intoxicating scent, comfort washing over me. “I want to tell Evie. I have to be the one to tell her.”
“Cane—” he starts.
“I’m not ashamed of what we have.” I open my eyes and look into his. “I love what we have. And we aren’t just friends. I never want to go back to being just friends with you, Archie.”
I watch his throat work, and his eyes cloud with emotion. I have no doubt that in the short time we’ve been together, I’ve fallen completely in love with the man in front of me. That he’s it for me. But I don’t think I should say it yet. Not until I can fully be his. No matter how much I feel like I’m his.
“Let’s go back to your place,” I say, my voice taking on a husky tone because the thought of being alone with him is almost too much.
He shakes his head, and my heart starts to plummet. Shit. Did I ruin this already? But then a slow grin spreads over his beautiful face. “Your place. I need to see my girls.”
My chest flutters with happiness, knowing he’s talking about Dolly and Baby. He might just love them as much as I do—and that’s saying a lot. “Sounds good.”
I want to hold his hand as we navigate through the corn maze, and I think he wants that too, but neither of us reach for the other one. Instead, we walk side by side until we get out to the truck, and then he takes my hand in his as he drives to my house.
When we get there, we both carry pumpkins to the porch before going to see our girls in the barn, then make our way inside the house. It all feels so effortless in a way I’m not used to.
Everything with Evie was so hard—so forced. I’m ashamed to admit it, but I thought maybe it was just because we loved each other that much. That because of that, it was so difficult and we fought so much. Passion.
But as Archie wraps his big arms around my needy, aching body and kisses the hell out of me, I realize that what I had with Evie wasn’t passion. This effortless, beautiful thing with Archie is passion and love—it’s trust. Everything wrapped up in one.
Again the thought that I love him more than I ever thought possible is right there on my lips, but thankfully, he distracts me by lifting my shirt up and off and kissing down my chest. I’m only human.
I close my eyes as he kneels on the ground, undoing my jeans and pushing them down, nuzzling the hard bulge of my cock through the fabric of my briefs. He gets it soaking wet, and my fingers are digging into his hair, pleading with him. I thrust forward, and he tongues my shaft through the wet fabric. “Archie,” I beg breathlessly.
“What, baby?” His voice has a teasing lilt to it, and he knows exactly what he’s doing to me. The bastard.
“Need you.”
I can feel him smiling, and I kind of want to punch him, but then he slowly starts sliding my briefs down and off, the air hitting my wet cock, and I moan deeply. Craving relief.
“Please.”
“Turn around.” His voice is deep and low, sending shivers through my entire body, but I comply. Kicking away my jeans and briefs, I’m thankful I already took my shoes and socks off when we got back inside my house.
I turn around, facing the living room wall, my body trembling with anticipation before I feel his big hands on my ass.
“This ass. I have dreams about this ass.”
I chuckle, but then it’s cut off quickly, turning into a deep gasp when he spreads my cheeks and wastes no time diving in, his tongue lapping at my hole. I flatten my palms against the smooth wall, thrusting my ass back against his mouth shamelessly.
He bites my right ass cheek and then soothes it with the flat of his tongue, holding me open with strong hands. He drags his tongue down over my hole again and again, swirling it around and causing my cock to leak profusely. He stiffens that glorious tongue and pushes it inside me, driving me wild. Hitting every single nerve. “Archie.” My throat feels raw from the sounds coming from it. “Please.”
He laps at me over and over again, switching from fucking me with his tongue to licking to fucking again. It’s perfect but not enough.
“I need you inside me.”
“I know what you need,” he says, that cocky tone that I don’t think I’ll ever tire of dripping from his voice. But when his mouth disappears, I whimper.
“No.”
He chuckles, and I rest my forehead against the wall, panting and again wanting to punch him.
That is until I hear the rustling of his clothes and the sound of a packet tearing—I’m assuming it’s lube—because a moment later, his naked body is pressed against mine, and I can feel his slippery fingers sliding down my crease to my hole. “Yes,” I say, pushing back against his finger, but he doesn’t slip inside. “Archie...” I groan in frustration.
“I love that you want this as badly as I do.” His other hand slides over my side and down my hip, sending goosebumps over my skin where he touches me.
“I do. So hurry the fuck up,” I complain grumpily, and he just chuckles, sucking on my neck and kissing me there. I can feel his hard cock bumping against my ass.
“Be patient. I have to get you ready.”
“I’m ready,” I argue because I am. His tongue did a fantastic job of getting me ready.
He just laughs, his slick finger swiping over my hole and finally pushing inside. “God, this ass.”
“You said that already,” I say with a grin, leaning against the wall.
“It’s perfect.” He pushes more lube inside me and then another finger, making me jolt with sheer pleasure when he strokes over my prostate. I nearly come right then and reach to grab his wrist.
“Fuck. Me.”
“Condom,” he says, smiling and pulling his fingers out of me, and I freeze, my heart kicking up because I don’t want that. I don’t want to blurt out all my feelings, right here and now, because in the throes of passion, I doubt he’d believe me. But I don’t want a stupid condom between us.
“Do we really need it?” I turn around to face him slowly, worried I’m going to ruin it all. That I’m going to send him running.
He looks confused for a moment. Standing there gloriously naked and hard as hell, a bead of precum on the tip of his cock, but his eyes are on mine. “You don’t want to use a condom?”
Yeah, I think I freaked him out a bit, and part of me just wants to pull the words back. Just tell him a condom is fine, but I know we don’t need one. I don’t want anything between us. I shake my head slowly. “I’ve been tested. I’m negative. I...” I swallow hard, the moment heavy. “I want you and only you.” That’s not a love confession, right?
I watch as his strong chest puffs with air, and I watch the panic rising in his eyes, but then it seems to settle. “I’ve never gone without a condom before, and I haven’t been with anyone else since the last time I was tested.”
I nod my head slowly. “I trust you.”
His eyes flash with surprise, and I just want to kiss him because my poor sweet man. I don’t understand why he doesn’t know how truly amazing he is, but I’ll spend the rest of my life letting him know just how incredible he is if he’ll let me. Instead of words though, his mouth crashes against mine, and we’re tangled in sweaty limbs and hungry kisses before he grabs the lube packet, spreading it all over his thick shaft. Then he grabs me, lifting me up so my back is against the wall, but he’s holding most of my weight, and then he’s thrusting up and into me in one swift, perfect thrust.
“Yes,” I gasp, letting his thick cock stretch me out as I wrap around him and kiss the hell out of him, sucking on his tongue and feeling feral and desperate for him to fill me.
He pushes into me over and over, and I ride him as best I can until he carries me over to the couch and drops his body over mine, lying me flat and pushing back into me. I slide my hands all over his back, reveling in the strong muscle and move down to his ass, pulling him into me, pushing him deeper and deeper as he strokes over my prostate.
“So good,” he manages to say against my lips, and I grip his ass firmly.
“So close.” I can feel my balls pulling up tight to my body, that familiar tingle of warmth bubbling up.
He reaches between us, stroking my cock with a firm grip, and that’s all it takes for me to cry out, cum spraying between our bodies, and then I feel his cock jerk and bathe me in the warmth of his cum, deep inside me.
He falls onto me, his face in the crook of my neck as we both try to catch our breaths. We’re both sticky with sweat and cum, and his weight is crushing me, but I won’t let him climb off me. Instead, I wrap my arms around him and hold him tighter.
If I die, I die. I’ve never been so happy.