A Subtle Breeze by Bailey Bradford (libby ebook reader .txt) 📕

could just keep his mind from drifting back to the image of a very nude Brendon sleeping in their bed. Zeke shook his head, trying to dispel the vision of Brendon lying spread open, cock resting softly against his thigh. His mouth watered as he fantasized about taking that soft length into his mouth, working it into a thick erection as he lapped at the head—

“Damn it,” Zeke muttered, feeling his own dick straining against the seam of his jeans. Looked like it was going to be a long day no matter what he did. He swallowed the last bit of his coffee and was fixing to walk down the steps when he noticed the old ranch truck hauling ass from the south trail. Squinting, he could just make out two figures in the cab. Charlie must have Miguel with him. The speed they were coming in at had a sense of urgency kicking into Ezekiel’s gut—something was wrong. It was too early in the morning for the men to be heading back to the main house. He stepped off the porch, glancing back when he heard the screen door squeak open and bounce closed. Brendon stood on the porch, barefoot, in jeans and a black tank. He winked at Zeke, then brought one hand over his brow to watch the progress of the truck.

“Something wrong?” Brendon kept his eyes on the truck, and Zeke was distracted for a moment by the display of masculine beauty. He turned back, watching as Charlie and Miguel drew nearer.

“Must be, they wouldn’t be coming in if there wasn’t. They’d be out working the cattle and such,” he answered.

“Huh.” Brendon moved closer to him. Apparently the man wasn’t concerned with getting his feet dirty. Zeke grinned—he’d have fun helping his lover get cleaned up later. Brendon stopped when he reached Zeke, giving him a worried glance.

“Is it gonna be okay that I’m out here with you, or you want me to go back in?” Brendon frowned when he said it, but Zeke knew he’d go back in whether he wanted to or not if it made Zeke more comfortable. Hurting Brendon wouldn’t make him comfortable at all, though. Zeke had no intention of making his lover hide away. He placed a hand on the small of Brendon’s back, rubbing in small circles. The relief he saw on the man’s face had Zeke leaning in to give him a chaste kiss on the lips.

“That answer your question, baby?”

Brendon’s eyes crinkled as he smiled, that dimple that fascinated Zeke burrowing deep into Brendon’s cheek.

“Yeah, yeah it does.” He turned to watch as the truck pulled in the yard. Zeke felt a hand slide behind him, a finger knuckling through the belt loop in the center of his jeans. It felt so good to be standing here, with his man. Even the worry over what bad news Charlie and Miguel were bringing him couldn’t push aside the rightness of having Brendon beside him. He tensed a little as he watched Charlie and Miguel scramble out of the truck, anger flushing their faces. Brendon started to pull his hand away. Zeke growled and shook his head.

“It’s not about us. Those looks they’re wearing, neither is me getting all tight, okay?” Brendon nodded but still didn’t relax. Well, Zeke couldn’t blame him at all. Charlie reached him first, Miguel hot on his heels. Zeke could see the curiosity battling with anger on his ranch hands’ faces. Charlie even had his lips tilted up on one side in a smile. Well, good, then. He nodded to Brendon.

“Charlie, Miguel, this is Brendon.” He didn’t offer an explanation. Both of his hands knew full well that Zeke was introducing his lover to them. Charlie and Miguel smiled, taking turns shaking Brendon’s hand and welcoming him to the ranch.

“Glad you’re here, Brendon,” Charlie told him. “Ah, Zeke, there’s some shit happening in the south pasture. Got about sixty head down, looks real bad, too.”

“Down, how? And how bad is ‘real bad’? You call Doc Michaels yet?” Zeke tried to push back the anger and worry that threatened to break free. There was no reason for his cattle to be sick. Vaccinations were current on all head, and he had helped clear away every last bit of the toxic plant life in the pastures and along the trails—and inspected the areas where Charlie and Miguel had handled that task without him. No cattleman wanted to risk losing stock because he was careless about pigweed or any of the other number of deadly plants in the prairie region of Texas. The water tanks were checked regularly as well, which meant…

“Down like they ate something they shouldn’t have, Zeke, and I know damn well we cleared the pasture. We got dead and dying cattle all over, and yeah, we called Doc before we headed back here, should be here any time now,” Charlie answered. As if on cue, the sound of an engine roaring down the long dirt drive reached them. Zeke looked up, verifying it was Doc Michaels coming to the ranch. He looked back at Charlie and Miguel.

“You move the rest of the stock?” He knew they had—these men were good hands—but he had to ask. Miguel nodded.

“Yes, sir. We moved them out right away. We called the house but, ah…” Miguel looked down at his boots.

“Fuck,” Zeke bit out. They had turned the ringer down on the phone and the volume down on the answering machine last night. Eva had called once, and after the first hateful word left her mouth, Brendon had jerked the phone away from Zeke and slammed it down. When it rang again immediately, they’d decided to cut off her fun by silencing the phone. Which was the same reason Zeke’d turned off his cell phone. Damn it, he knew better than to be out of reach!

“Shit, Zeke, I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have suggested—” Brendon looked so upset Zeke couldn’t stop himself from giving the man a one-armed hug.

“It’s