Chapter 17 #2
“I bet your rib cage looks like a prize fighter’s.”
He shook his head. “More like a race car driver’s. Been hurt a ton of times with something strappy, like a seatbelt. Those are the damages. Horns, hooves.”
“Do the vests help at all?” Seamus was petting him now, touching him to ease him, and it made his heart rate jump.
“Oh, yeah. My chest would be caved in if Goliath had hooked me with that horn without the vest.”
“Oh, darl, that’s not good.” Seamus shook his head, and he knew Dawson knew logically what a bull could do. He had been right there with the bull fighting school, but he supposed that until you saw a really bad injury happen in the arena, no one understood what it could mean.
“Hey, all’s well that ends well, I’m less cracked up than you are.” He did lean into the touch though and let Seamus love on him. He thought it distracted Seamus from his own problems as well as giving them lots of contact.
“Yeah.” Seamus said that with a huge amount of wry humor. “It won’t stop me though, from loving on you.”
“I think tonight we could probably just rest. We have plenty of time to get our nasty on.” Dawson had had more than his share of broken bones.
He knew how agonizing they could be when a guy had an orgasm.
Surely Seamus needed to rest up and heal, and he was a little jet-lagged anyway.
Not that he wouldn’t jack off with Seamus if that was what his lover wanted.
“One way or the other, dinner will be arriving soon, and I don’t want to end up getting interrupted.” Seamus winked.
“Then we’ll just hang out. I like spending time with you.”
Seamus stopped, staring right into his eyes, then reached up and touched his cheek instead of his chest, thumb rubbing over his lips. “I like spending time with you, too.”
“Oh baby.” Dawson couldn’t help it. He had to lean in and give Seamus a kiss.
And not a peck on the mouth either, but a slow, deep push and press of lips and tongue.
This man did it for him in such a deep way that he couldn’t keep himself from touching and kissing even when he knew it would probably be better for him if he did.
Or at least better for Seamus’s ankle.
In the short run.
He was such an easy mark, and Seamus knew it. They made out in a non-urgent way, even though his cock was super hard, until a knock sounded gently at the door. “Food’s here, Shay. I’m going to leave it outside the door.”
That was Les.
“Thanks, Les. Everyone get some rest. Dawes is here now.”
“I know.” A deep chuckle sounded. “Welcome home, Dawson. Talk to you tomorrow.”
It was really weird to know that there was somebody always here. Always close.
Even when Christopher was off, there were always people.
“I’ll go grab the food, babe. You sit,” Dawes murmured.
“You rock. Thanks. It should be on the tray, so you just roll it in.”
He stopped and blinked over for half a second. “Like a hotel?”
Seamus shrugged. “I figured if it worked for them, it would work for us. So I went ahead and got a couple. They’re just down in storage for the most part, but every so often they come in handy.”
There was a platter of nachos, what looked like a protein bowl, and a dozen little foil-wrapped tacos.
“This is a lot of food.”
“I figured we could warm it up later. I wanted you to feel pampered.”
Dawson shook his head, blushed. He did. Christ, he was flying first class. Seamus sent presents to him constantly—a bull fighter action figure, a funny T-shirt, a box of Lamingtons since he’d become addicted, thanks to Shay.
Hell, he’d even sent a new pair of R.M. Williams boots that fit like a glove.
“So, what do we have here?”
“I just got one of each. There should be fish, steak, pork, shrimp, chicken, and I’m not really sure what carne asada is, but I like it. The nachos are for you. The protein bowl is really what I’m going to be eating.”
“Ah, well, the tacos will heat up best, so let’s start with the nachos and the bowl.
” He rolled the cart right up to the bed, and Seamus sat up.
Dawson gently eased a pillow under his foot, giving him some elevation before handing over the protein bowl, making sure their fingers rubbed together some.
Lord, that send a shiver right up his spine and the tingles burst in his brain. He was so lost with this man.
“Can I have the salsa?”
One of the things that Dawson found so hilarious was that Seamus was totally a spicy food whore.
Thai food, green chile, red chile, habaneros—didn’t matter. He liked it hot.
“Sure, they sent a bunch. Which one do you want?”
“I like the yellow one—it’s hot and fruity, just like me.” Seamus flexed, tightening his abs and making them roll, and Dawson just stood there like an idiot for a second.
“Babe, you can’t just do that to me, I might just die.” He poked Seamus right in the belly. “You’ve lost some weight.”
“Yeah, they needed me less muscular, more lean for this role, so instead of lifting, I’m doing running. Way less fun and way less natural, but it is what is.
Dawson blinked and grabbed the salsas—red for him, yellow for Shay. “Really, that’s a thing? Like they just say ‘we need you to be X’, and you have to be X?”
Seamus nodded, dumping the container of salsa on his bowl and stirring.
“Pretty much. That’s part of the deal. I mean, I don’t have to take the role, right?
And I usually know full well what is expected well beforehand.
This wasn’t a big deal. This was a couple of weeks of running instead of lifting weights.
My body is pretty flexible about doing what it’s asked. ”
“Still I think that’s kind of wild.” Cool though. Very cool. “So, what do you do on your time off?”
“Run lines, hang out with you, travel with you. Read a lot of scripts, but there will be a lot of running lines.” Seamus offered him a smile, fork halfway to his lips.
“Mostly, though, I’m just looking forward to being with you.
Going to watch you work. I haven’t ever been to a bullriding where you were doing your thing, so I’m so in. Yeah.”
“Good deal.” The words made him so proud.
They munched on nachos and bowls and put the tacos aside for later, and by the time they finished eating, Seamus was nodding off.
That was okay. He could live with that. They had plenty of time before his event came up, days.
And then they had three weeks in California where he was staying with Seamus, and Seamus wasn’t going to be able to work because of his ankle.
He could wait.
He was a damn patient man. He had to be to do what he did for a living. And Seamus was totally worth it.
“Sorry,” Seamus slurred, eyelids drooping, mostly out of it already.
“No apologizing, baby.” He cleared away the food so he could put it in the fridge here in a minute once Seamus fell asleep. Then he leaned up on one elbow so he could stroke Seamus’s hair off his face. “We got time.”
“All right, love. Night.” Seamus had no idea what time it was, he thought, but that was okay.
He just grinned and pressed a kiss to Seamus’s mouth real quick. “Night, babe. Get some rest.”
Good thing he’d stuffed a book in his bag when he’d been at the airport. He’d paid for it, but still, that way he didn’t have to turn the TV on. He would read and keep himself company until Seamus woke up.
Then he figured he’d wreck the guy.