Earth and Sky

saw Grant approaching. Although his instincts told him to run, his feet wouldn’t move. As Grant invaded his personal space, Hunter could smell his sweat, and to his surprise, it turned him on even more.

    “You should really drink that yourself, you know,” Grant drawled. “Wouldn’t want you to get dehydrated.”

    Hunter’s breathing quickened. Grant wasn’t cornering him. He could just step aside and walk out if he wanted to. Only, he didn’t want to. He wanted Grant to move even closer.

    “I guess I should,” Hunter managed to squeeze out of his voice box.

    Grant nodded. He took Hunter’s wrist and raised it. “So drink.” When Hunter hesitated, Grant took the cup from Hunter’s hand and lifted it to Hunter’s mouth.

    Their gazes locked, and Hunter swallowed the cool liquid until he couldn’t quite follow the speed with which Grant was pouring it into him and it drizzled down his chin. Before Hunter could react, Grant lapped up the drops, and Hunter moaned at the contact of the hot mouth against his even hotter skin. The cup fell to the floor as Grant enveloped Hunter’s head with his hands and moved his mouth to Hunter’s lips, devouring him in one movement.

    Hunter couldn’t prevent himself from giving in. Despite all his reluctance, it felt so good, so right, and he dared to let his hands ghost over Grant’s long back muscles and broad shoulders, holding back, almost afraid to actually touch him. As Grant pushed him against a supporting beam, Hunter felt a rapidly growing hardness against his groin, and in that moment it dawned on him that he wasn’t the only one in lust right now. Their interaction felt even more passionate than the night before, but this time, Hunter wanted to repay the favor. He grabbed the back of Grant’s jeans and pulled him closer, grinding his groin against Grant’s and eliciting moans from the other man.

    Grant moved his lips to Hunter’s temple, clearly struggling for breath.

    “We shouldn’t be doing this,” Hunter sighed as soon as his mouth was released.

    “I know,” Grant answered. “But damned if I don’t want to.” They didn’t move away from each other, though, as Hunter saw his own mixed feelings mirrored in Grant’s expression.

    Suddenly they heard the large entrance door swing open, and they pulled apart.

    “Put the small branches there and use the trailer loader to bring the big tree trunks in. There’s space here to put them. We can always use the wood.”

    It was Izzie’s voice, instructing the workers in what to do with the wood they’d recovered from the fallen trees they had taken down. When she saw the two men, she stopped.

    “We’re getting wood to fix the fence,” Grant told her. She was looking admiringly at Grant’s naked chest, smiling knowingly.

    “Grant measured it and we found what we needed. We just needed to saw it to length,” Hunter added, more for the men than for Izzie, who no doubt had deduced that they had been doing more than sawing planks.

    Izzie’s gaze traveled to Hunter, and although there was no longer lust in her eyes, Hunter definitely felt caught.

    “So you’ll be needing the truck to take the beams and planks out to the gate?”

    Both men nodded.

    “Don’t suppose you need an extra pair of hands?”

    “No,” Grant was quick to answer. “We can manage.”

    “Mmmh, thought so,” she said, before turning on her heels and walking out. Hunter could swear he heard her giggle.

    “Last thing we need is for her to know,” Hunter whispered at Grant. “She can’t find out.”

    “I think it might be too late for that,” Grant replied.

    Hunter gave Grant a sideways look. “Well, if she asks you anything, we were just sawing planks!”

    “Sure thing, boss,” Grant answered, tipping his absent hat.

Chapter 8

    Grant enjoyed the carpentry work around the ranch and silently hoped there’d be more of it. Sadly, Hunter was still blowing hot and cold around him. One moment he seemed to seek his company, and other times he was nowhere to be found. Grant had the distinct feeling that Hunter was avoiding him whenever he could. When circumstances threw them together, though, and there were no other wranglers or workers around, there was definitely electricity in the air. The way that man kissed didn’t leave any doubt: Hunter wanted this.

    It stroked Grant’s ego that Hunter was in lust with him, and he certainly wasn’t averse to taking it further, but he was still afraid