The Man Who Loved Cole Flores (Dig Two Graves 1)

“I have a wife, you see. But I might need some advice as we lack experience in a certain… matter.”

“I see,” Belle said and leaned against the wall. “You want to know how women like me don’t bear children each year?”

Ned’s eyes darted to her, and he choked on the smoke. “Oh. No. It’s… something else that I know ladies of your kind offer at times. So I’ve been told. And my wife… she wanted to try it. In plain words—” he huffed in frustration at his own inadequacy, “the other hole. You know, the rear. In the heat of the moment, she was really excited, but then it hurt. Her.”

For the first time since they met, Belle seemed puzzled, and she crossed her forearms under her bosom. “Are you sure it was what she wanted? Perhaps you misunderstood, as men often do, despite best of intentions.”

Ned rubbed his face and had to take a deep inhale of smoke to clear his head. At least the whiskey had been potent. “No, it was definitely her idea. She was too embarrassed to ask about it herself you see, and that’s why I’m here. Is it possible that a lady is… too small down there?”

He couldn’t believe he was having this conversation with anyone at all, but the proxy of the non-existent wife did help.

Belle shrugged, taking a step closer, her voice only a whisper. “Some people don’t take to it, but most can be coaxed with the right care. For five dollars, I could walk you through it,” she said, brushing her fingers against the underside of his chin.

Ned’s balls tightened at the very notion of coaxing Cole’s body to accept his cock, but before he could have denied the woman’s proposition, the door burst open, and Cole stepped in, his face dark with a deep flush.

“H—how dare you? You knew I was downstairs, and you still went with her!”

Ned’s eyes went wide, but there was nowhere for him to go with his back against the second-floor window. Had he been spied on? “It’s not what you think.”

Cole slammed the door behind him and crossed the small room, grabbing Ned by the collar the moment he reached him. His eyes glowed like twin embers, but instead of screaming, he took a brief, ragged breath and showed his teeth. “You think this is gonna help? Doing this behind my back?”

Oh no. This was going downhill all too fast, and Ned had to intervene before too much spilled out of Cole’s mouth again. They were being a spectacle already.

Ned pushed on Cole’s chest. “I was just telling her about my wife, Colleen? And our issue.” Ned’s face couldn’t have felt hotter if he dipped it in boiling tar.

Cole’s anger turned into confusion, and his grip on Ned’s clothes loosened. He didn’t pull away though, still staring straight into Ned’s eyes, as if he couldn’t bring himself to stop touching him. He only took a step back when Belle cleared her throat.

“Right… my sister, Colleen. Of course I don’t want you to come here when she’s waiting for you at home. And surely there’s no issues. She’s a fine woman,” Cole mumbled.

Ned adjusted his hat, looking straight into Cole’s dark eyes. “She is very fine indeed. And as her brother, I doubt you’d want to hear the details on this… intimate matter.”

Cole swallowed, his dark hair complimenting the burning cheeks so beautifully Ned would have kissed them both, were they alone. But in Belle’s presence, he needed to keep up the dumb charade, and his hands—away from the one body he wanted to touch.

“You know I’m experienced. I could have given you advice,” Cole said, like the stubborn goat he was.

“You’ve never done this with your wife, only with ladies of the night, so perhaps you’re missing something. And I don’t think you’d want to advise me on fucking your sister’s ass in the first place!” Ned spread his arms as frustration flooded out of him along with shame.

If Belle hadn’t realized that Colleen didn’t exist before, she certainly knew now. She hummed to get their attention, comfortable in a chair by the large bed. “May I be frank?”

Cole licked his lips, wiped his forehead and cleared his throat. “Yes,” he said in a dull voice.

Belle spread her hands with a soft yet knowing smile. “If your experience with the backdoor is limited to ladies such as myself, and you requested the service beforehand, they would have come prepared. One can’t trust a man with such things.”

Ned didn’t think Cole’s skin could have gotten any darker, but it so did, turning rosy as if it might tear and start bleeding. Ned resisted the urge to point out Cole’s lack of knowledge, because there was no point in beating a dead horse.

He took a deep breath. “And how would they have prepared for it?”