Chapter Eight
Kendrick
Kendrick stretched out the kinks in his back as he walked buck-ass naked to tug open the curtains, allowing the rising sun to cast a glow over the two men wrapped around each other in his bed.
The covers were snagged around their legs, leaving their upper bodies exposed.
The difference between them appealed to Kendrick.
Rue’s broadness and thick, corded neck were a thing of beauty.
Strong, veiny forearms. So different from the slender—no, lean—musculature of Monty.
Rue had his face pressed against the gentle curve of Monty’s neck, almost like he was seeking his scent.
Entwined as they were, whimsical thoughts of contrasts, dark and light, reflected what was inside of each man.
Rue held a dark shadow within. Kendrick couldn’t rationalize why some part of him believed this, it just was.
Monty’s contrasting light—whether or not Rue realized it—balanced the other man.
Kendrick had witnessed it when Rue let go and submitted to his attraction for Monty. Beautiful. Intoxicating.
Kendrick wanted to bask in the glow from both men. Feel its warmth against his skin, let it sink inside…
Whoa there!
What kind of thinking is that?
The damn kind that only brings heartbreak.
The sound of his hands running over his bristly chin was the only noise in the room.
Neither stirred, but Kendrick wasn’t surprised when it had barely been three hours since they’d crashed after two hours of vigorous sex.
There had been very little talking, except for his kinky demands, and he was usually fine with that.
Except… a lingering sense of disquiet at how he wanted to get to know these men was the reason he had gotten out of bed. He could have explained away the early rise as knowing both men needed to get up to return to Darling Ranch, but he wasn’t one to lie to himself.
The disquiet came from his allowing Rue and Monty to stay. More to the point, he’d encouraged it. His usual behavior was ‘get them out the door the minute the fun was over’.
There had been no one serious in his life for more years that he wanted to consider. He did like his own space and the ability to come and go as he pleased. Yes, the time between being intimate with someone, or getting his freak on with two someone’s, could vary a lot with how small Bayfield was.
Also, he knew most of the cowboys that were regulars at the bar and lived in the surrounding ranches. It limited his options when he didn’t do messy. It’s why he usually preferred out of towners as bed partners. They were easy, and there was little chance of finding it becoming complicated.
Then why hadn’t he followed his own rules when the attraction went beyond the normal for him?
It was fucking.
He tried out the lie and felt a punch to his gut.
Unable to get his gaze to shift from the couple, a frown marred his brow. Whatever was going on with the two men, neither—possibly just Rue—acknowledged it wasn’t the first time they’d had sex. There was a level of intimacy between them that spoke for them.
Years behind a bar gave him an interest in watching others, not just in the bedroom. No, Kendrick was genuinely interested in people. What made them tick. What drove them to behave the way they did. Was this all it was?
“What time is it?” rasped Rue, his eyes barely slits as he glanced at Kendrick before he looked away, moving to untangle himself from Monty.
Kendrick sensed the withdrawal. The barriers being put back in place that he’d removed last night.
That wasn’t working for Kendrick, not one fucking bit. “Time to see how tasty that mouth is when it’s full of my come.” The deepened, gruff tone caught Rue’s attention when he gave Kendrick a startled look, but as the seconds ticked by, he didn’t say no.
Monty stirred, and Kendrick suspected it was because of the erection poking at his back. “Is that a firefighter’s pole or are you just happy to see me?” Monty murmured sleepily.
“Shall we find out?” Kendrick chuckled, amused at how Monty was already wriggling up to get Rue’s arousal someplace better.
“What about work?” Monty replied, though he lifted his leg and stuck a hand between his thighs to bring Rue’s cock between them.
“I’m sure work can wait.” Kendrick tilted his head to the side and arched his eyebrows. “Except, I think you’re forgetting something, Monty.”
Rue released a strangled moan, and impish eyes met Kendrick’s, delivering a heady buzz with how responsive his body was, already tingling at the feast laid out before him.
“And what’s that?” Monty demanded cheekily.
“Who’s in charge.”
Rue stilled, ever so watchful, all traces of sleep gone as Kendrick stepped to the edge of the bed when Monty answered sassily, “I’m not sure.”
Kendrick held back a smile at how he was enjoying the game, especially when Rue’s cheeks reddened and his breathing accelerated. “Then let me remind you.”
“Get your ugly ass out of bed,” Kendrick called from outside Trey’s apartment, too pissed to stop hammering on the door because his friend hadn’t rocked up to open the bar—like he should have.
The low-level hum of arousal added to his frustration when it wouldn’t quit.
“Fuck off,” came Trey’s shout through the door, not sounding at all like he was moving his ass to do what Kendrick wanted.
He seldom used the key Trey had given him, but he didn’t care about Cassidy’s sensibilities, or Trey’s for that matter. Neither had shown the common fucking decency to get up in time to stop anyone hassling him.
Having so easily persuaded Rue and Monty to stay, they’d barely gotten started when he’d received a call from a delivery driver sat outside the bar.
He should have ignored it, but hadn’t as he seldom got a call that early.
He’d discovered that Trey hadn’t responded to the pounding on the back door of the bar.
To make matters worse, Kendrick didn’t miss the sound of disappointment Rue had made before he’d slipped on a mask of indifference, acting like his cock wasn’t dripping and so hard he’d battled to get his fly done up.
Monty, on the other hand, had gone with the flow and been the one to ask if they could finish what they’d started later.
Wanting to use Kendrick’s phone to add his information, Kendrick didn’t miss Monty adding both his and Rue’s contact details.
Kendrick loved his boldness, it matched Rue’s reticence.
The balance was appealing when it was also challenging, and Kendrick had thrown caution to the wind and agreed.
Outside the bar, where he’d dropped them when Rue had refused the offer of a lift to the ranch, Kendrick had gone about his business with the knowledge Monty decided they would come to his after supper tonight.
He wasn’t sure Monty would easily sway Rue, but no matter what, Kendrick would wait at home because Trey owed him the evening off.
Three days, that’s all the time he had before they’d be gone. He was going to fuck them senseless—if they let him—then let them go. It was for the best. Fucking, no ties. It worked for him.
Then why did the thought leave him feeling hollow inside?
He exhaled sharply. Going inside, he could hear Trey moving around his bedroom. Going to the kitchen gave him something to do with his hands when they trembled at his sides. Three nights, it is all about fucking. Nothing more than that.
Is there any need to shout that?
I was expressing my fucking opinion… to myself. Was he shouting at himself? His bear seemed to think so.
It was more like you were trying to convince yourself of it, loudly.
Can’t you fucking shut up! Kendrick forgot all about his own honesty vow.
Harsh, much.
“What part of fuck off don’t you get?” Trey called out from the other room, giving Kendrick the perfect target for his frustration as he rummaged for what he needed to make coffee.
Bare feet stomping to where Kendrick was filling the coffee machine gave him a perverse sense of pleasure.
“You better have brought breakfast.”
“It’s nearly lunchtime, you ass.” Kendrick measured out coffee beans while Trey went to the cupboard where he kept his cereal. He dragged out the box and grabbed a bowl, milk and a spoon.
Bowl filled, he leaned against the counter and ate, watching Kendrick way too closely.
Kendrick didn’t need to look at his friend, they’d known each other for two decades. They knew each other’s moods, so he wasn’t at all surprised when Trey pointed out, “You’re pissed.”
“I shut the bar down last night when you did a disappearing act. I was hoping to get a fucking lie in only Des rang me ‘cause you hadn’t shown up to set up for opening.”
The sound of chewing ensued as Kendrick felt the weight of Trey’s gaze on him as he worked on filling the machine in front of him.
“You had company.”
Kendrick didn’t deny it. “I did, and thanks to your lazy ass, I had to leave when things were just getting interesting.”
Again!
“Sorry.”
Kendrick pointed a stirrer at him, looking at him for the first time. His lips parted, the next tirade fleeing when his eyes dropped to the collar of Trey’s old sweater.
He was mated… to Cassidy. Holy fucking chickens!
Trey had been fucking Cassidy for the best part of two years, and Kendrick had thought Trey was too stuck in his ways to lay claim to the little chick.
He took a step towards Trey, eyes stretching wide, and to his horror he let rip a strangled noise that, fuck him, was all jealousy.
“What the ever loving fuck! Did hell freeze over? Did fancy pants at the bar last night steal your fucking sanity?” Kendrick rasped, sounding winded as he continued to stare, fighting his own emotions.
“Just stop—”
“Stop what? You let Cassidy claim you!” he exclaimed loudly, the shock at how much he wanted that for himself left him reeling when it came with double the impact after his epic night with Monty and Rue.
One night changes nothing.
Yes, it does. His bear laughed—loudly.
“That’s none of your business,” Trey snapped back.
Kendrick stomped off towards Trey’s bedroom to glance inside. He needed to shake off the weirdness of his own… anxiety, after how he’d woken this morning. This day was too fucking much when it came with a ride on a bucking bronco of his emotions.
Tonight, he was canceling.
“Where is he?” He looked back at Trey, his nose wrinkling at the heavy scent of sex.
A wave of concern washed over him when he realized Cassidy wasn’t anywhere to be seen.
Had Trey claimed him without consent? The dive over the bar Trey had executed hadn’t happened because his friend was feeling rational. “Tell me it was consensual?”
“How fucking long have you known me?” Trey fired back angrily. “He fucking bit me first!”
“He did?” Kendrick questioned, not at all convinced. Cassidy had never been pushy, ever. Kendrick went back to the counter, searching Trey’s expression for answers. It was better than admitting to his mixed emotions.
“Yes, he did.” Trey plonked his spoon into his half full bowl of cereal and placed it on the counter. “Now, if you’ve finished havin’ a go, you can leave.”
The coffee machine started to spit and bubble as the scent filled the kitchen. Kendrick went back to the pot, shaking his head. “Nope, I’m not going anywhere until you explain how you went from never wanting a mate—only last week—to being mated.”
Trey groaned and took the doctored coffee Kendrick offered him. “What’s to say? You know I was interested in Cassidy—”
“Fucking is what you kept saying you were doin’,” Kendrick pointed out sharply.
Trey ground his teeth together, and Kendrick just gave him a hard stare. “That might be so. But I ain’t fucked anyone else in more than a year.”
Kendrick nearly laughed aloud at how his friend thought he was fooling him; it was closer to two years.
Kendrick was observant, but didn’t argue over that.
He sipped the dark brew and eyed Trey over the rim of his mug.
“You ain’t had sex with anyone since Cassidy”—his eyes narrowed over the mug—“have you?”
Trey sagged against the counter. “No, I tried once, and I just couldn’t…”
“Get it up,” Kendrick finished, smirking because his friend was being too ridiculous for words.
Trey gave him the finger. “Smug asshole.”
“Always. So what you gonna do now?”
“What do you mean?” Trey questioned, his brows pinching together.
Kendrick sighed and rolled his eyes at him over his coffee mug.
“The mating bit is easy. But Cassidy lives up at the ranch. You live in town above the bar. He works at the ranch. Early mornings mostly, from what I see. You work here, late nights typically. So how is all that gonna work?” The comparison was there as he laid it out, only Rue and Monty weren’t from these parts, meaning Kendrick had no opportunity to figure out if the intensity of the attraction was all there was between them.
If it freaked him out how interested he was—after only one night—no one had to know.
I know.
Shut it!
He was too long in the tooth to change now—to move somewhere else when he was happy with his life here.
“We’ll figure it out.”
Kendrick blinked in confusion at Trey’s response. Then it registered, he was answering him, not the unspoken shit having a party for one in his mind that meant canceling was out of the question.
“I’m sure you will, but whatever you've got going, I ain’t working this evening ‘cause you owe me.” If he didn’t meet Trey’s inquisitive stare, who gave a fuck?