Chapter 27
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Joa walked around in a daze, his lips chapped and swollen, his ass sore and his mind whirling.
He couldn’t—how could he feel what he did for Balta and then need Raul’s touch, his kisses? He loved Balta. Balta was his world, his hero, his lover. Raul was his friend, his dear friend.
His beloved friend.
Then again, how could he feel guilty? He’d woken up this morning with Balta on one side and Raul on the other, two amazing male animals in their prime, and the way they had both smiled for him, kissed him, told him how happy they were.
There was a deep whisper that said that this was a sin, was doomed to leave him alone and hurt, but when they stared at him, he couldn’t refuse them a thing.
He worried, though. Balta and Raul, they were both used to being in control, and they didn’t touch each other. Did not look at each other as they did Joa. What if they hated each other before it was over?
What if…
He headed to the barn to feed, his papai’s name popping up on the phone as he jumped the fence.
He answered when his boots hit the ground, speaking in Portuguese. Mai preferred English, but Papai spoke his native language or Mexican. That was it. “Hello, Papai. Good morning.”
“Hola. You need any help today, son?” His father loved to play rancher.
“I’m okay, I think. Thank you. Did you move the ostriches?” He hadn’t seen them and they were…distinctive.
“Sim. They were bothering the goats. The bald spots. Ay de me.”
“Ah. Well, thank you. Can you sell the eggs?” The thought of that much raw egg made him a little queasy.
“I can, yes. I found someone who will take them to Austin for me and sell them. Good money.” His papai. Such a wheeler and dealer.
“Bom. What all are you up to today?”
“Heading to the auction with Uncle Eazee. You want to come?”
“Not today. I’m going to work on the barns.” Unless two evil men tempted him back to bed. Raul might not be a demon made flesh like his Balta, but the man was dead sexy and ready for anything…
“Ah. Well, if Balta wants to come tell him there’s a bull he might want to look at.” Papai and Balta kept talking about raising bucking bulls together.
“You should text him a picture. He’s interested. I know he is.”
“I will.” Papai chuckled. “You talk to him, though. Tell him I know bulls.” Yeah, his father had worked with the big bull ridings in Sao Paulo once upon a time.
“You know everything, Papai.”
“I do. Some day you will too. Right now you have to know bulls.”
“I have to know how to ride them, is all. You and Balta will do the rest.” Not that he couldn’t pick a bull. That he was good at. He even went to the futurities for Troy to help out.
He loved to see the little bulls with the bucking simulators.
“You are too modest, boy. Have Balta call me if he wants to come. I’m leaving at ten.”
“Yessir. I’ll tell him.” They hung up and Joa got to work, losing himself in the easy rhythm of feeding and cleaning and working.
He almost jumped out of his skin when a warm hand landed on his back, because he hadn’t heard anyone coming. Raul grinned at him when he whirled around, dark eyes dancing.
“I brought you coffee. We worried you had run away.”
“Nao. I’d just come out to feed. Thank you.” He had to smile back, a happy heat building in the pit of his belly. “Do you have animals back in Brazil?”
“Not anymore.” Raul’s smile faded a bit. “I sold most of them to come here. My favorite horse is with my brother. My dog, too.”
“You have pictures?” He stepped closer, close enough to touch.
Raul handed him a cup of coffee, then slid a hand around his waist to pull him close. “On my phone. I will show you later.”
“On your…” He lifted his chin, begging a kiss. It didn’t matter whether it was a sin. He needed.
Raul hummed, the happiest of sounds, and kissed Joa’s mouth, warm and firm, tongue pushing between his lips to taste him. So different than Balta, Raul cupped the back of his head, sipping from his lips, kissing him as if he was precious instead of storming him and taking his good sense.
He liked how Raul tasted like coffee and cream, a hint of sugar there, too. That hard body pressed against his, and Joa was glad the coffee cup had a lid on it, or they would both be burned.
He found Raul’s hip, his hand curling around to hold on, thumb caressing the sharp bump he found there. The denim and cotton Raul wore did little to disguise his body, to hide the hard male beauty he possessed. Raul was like Balta that way, barrel-chested, lean through the hips, with a perfect ass.
“Mmm. You…” Raul grabbed his hand with both hands and squeezed, dark eyes sparkling as they stared into him. “I have wanted, Joa. Just this. To know this.”
His cheeks heated, and he felt both greedy and lucky. Joa smiled. “Now you know.”
“Oh, nao. There is still much to learn.” Raul kissed him again, this kiss burning his lips, making them throb.
He went up on tiptoe, his coffee falling to the ground as he wrapped his arms around Raul’s shoulders and held on. Raul groaned for him and stumbled a few steps forward, pressing him against the rough wood of the barn.
When Raul lifted him so his feet left the ground, Joa laughed, surprised and tickled. So strong. He loved how Raul’s muscles bulged, and he wanted to see them better so he worked at the snaps of Raul’s shirt. The heat coming off Raul’s skin stunned him.
“Mmm. Joa.” Raul grinned at him, flexing and encouraging him to touch, to bring their bellies together.
Joa rocked his hips, leaning back when Raul bent to lick at his chest. He loved this, loved touching and being touched, and Balta had said all was well…
“So needy, Joa. So hungry.”
He nodded. He hadn’t always been, but Balta had tempted him into sin, into this amazing life. Joa smiled, one hand on Raul’s shoulder, the other exploring, finding Raul’s tiny nipples in his mat of hair.
“Joa!”
Oh, sensitive.
He chuckled and pinched, loving how Raul jerked against him.
“Evil man.” Raul’s Portuguese was so different from his or even Balta’s. Rougher, somehow. Balta came from money, he supposed.
“That’s Balta, Raul. He’s a demon.”
“Is he?” Raul tilted his head, smile lines creasing his face. “I can see that. Are you an angel, then?”
“I’m a bull-rider, like you.” Just like Raul. Two men caught in Balta’s whirlwinds. Joa nodded at the image, the idea satisfying him, deep down, then arched so his hips pelvis rubbed against Raul. “Kiss me again?”
“Sim.” Raul nudged his jaw up and took his lips, kissing him with a hunger that burned him, made him shiver. Relentless. He could feel Raul’s drive, his desire. A champion waiting for his chance, this one.
He opened with a deep moan, his toes curling in his work boots. He could kiss Raul for days, just cradled here on the man’s chest.
Nothing lasted forever, though, and Raul wanted more of him, so his feet touched down a few minutes later, those rough, callused hands sliding down his back to dig under the waistband of his jeans.
He wiggled, trying to give Raul some room to touch, to feel him. Every caress seemed electric, like his world was lit up and bright. He buzzed with it, and when Raul slid one finger down between his cheeks, he jumped, his breath huffing out. “You’ll let me touch, sim?”
“I will. I will, Raul.” And God help him, he wanted it.
“Good. Your mouth is lovely, Joa, but I want to feel all of you.”
His cheeks heated, because the words made him think of all the things he’d done recently. So much. He was a lucky man.
“Sim. Sim.” And like a giant slut, he’d spread here in the barn. The only thing better would be if Balta was here.
“You are doce, Joa. Just like Balta says.” Raul gave him a wicked smile, one that made his heartbeat speed up. Then those clever fingers undid his belt and his jeans button before sliding down the zipper tab.
“Not so sweet, Raul.” And he could prove it. He turned and leaned over the stable door, baring his ass and making a clear offer. “Fuck me.”
“Oh, Deus.” Raul moaned, hands shaping his cheeks and squeezing. “So beautiful. I hoped… I brought everything we might need.” Raul touched him as if he was amazing, stunning. He made Joa feel special.
He pushed his butt into Raul’s hands, letting himself show his need.
Raul hummed, stroking his skin, fingers delving between his cheeks. Those rough fingers tapped at his hole, making him shake.
“So pretty, Joa,” Raul murmured, the sound low, rough. “I have wanted, so much. Needed it.”
Joa nodded, his entire body flushing with heat. He was not a bad man. He loved Balta. He did.
“Mmm. So lovely. He likes it hard, Raul. He likes to be pushed, made to come.” Balta’s voice was like honey over gravel.
Joa blinked, staring over at his lover, who leaned against the wall across the way, a smile on his face.
Raul’s fingers froze for a long moment, but then they began to move again, Raul chuckling. “Does he?”
“He does. All those crunches keep everything tight.” Balta glanced at Raul. “Do you mind if I watch, Raul? You’re both fine together.”
Raul made a strangled noise behind him. “I do not mind at all, gato.”
Balta chuckled. “Should I call you gostoso, Raul? Are you tasty?”
Now they chose to have a dick measuring? Now? Joa moaned, rocking his hips, reminding them he was there, waiting.
Raul groaned, one finger sliding in to stroke at him.
“More. More, please.” They could play together whenever. Right now Joa was on fire for them, because adding Balta to the mix was like tossing gasoline on a fire.
“More,” Raul agreed. “Balta, open this for me?”
Balta caught the tube Raul tossed at him, then opened it deftly.
Balta stood, coming over to put the lube on Raul’s fingers, but he didn’t touch at all. It was maddening and odd and breathtaking.
He twisted, trying to catch anything, to get Balta to touch him as Raul did. Balta just laughed and backed away. “Nao, doce. This is you and Raul. I’m watching. I’ve been aching to see this.”
Raul groaned low. “Not as much as I have. He’s got a perfect ass.”