The Man Who Hated Ned O'Leary (Dig Two Graves 2)

Ned’s arms tightened, cradling Cole so close he could barely breathe. The relief of being kissed and held with such tenderness was like no emotion he’d ever experienced, and he clung to Ned in the sparse light coming in through the gaps in wood.

“So he can tell the truth after all…” Ned teased with a small smile.

“I’m a mess. Stop looking at me like that,” Cole begged, but there was nowhere to go, so he rested his forehead against Ned’s shoulder and breathed in his scent, grateful for every beat of Ned’s heart. He could have lost him. He could have lost him forever, all because of his own stupidity and cowardice.

"Like what?"

"Like you still love me."

Ned sighed and entwined their legs further, as if he were afraid someone might open the compartment and rip Cole away from him. "But I do. There's no one else for me. You know me in ways no one else does. You might be a mess, but I’m stuck picking it up."

Cole wanted to slap him but tightened his arms around Ned instead, basking in the warmth of his words. “I always knew that too. From the moment I saw you at the saloon, I knew you were different. That our paths would be entwined one way or another. Years passed, and I’m still awestruck like that first time,” he whispered, turning his head to rub his lips against Ned’s stubble. “My handsome Ned, both back then and two nights ago, when you looked at me in that fancy borrowed vest.”

Ned groaned. “Don’t you mock me. I was doin’ my best to lure you back in.”

Cole chuckled and leaned back to see Ned in the sparse light. He gave the rough cheek a gentle slap and cupped the warm face, taking it in from the tip of the large nose that made such a perfect statement in the middle of Ned’s features to the stunningly green eyes that shone back at him with more hope than Ned dared express with words.

His heart was so full.

“You don’t need no fancy clothes to be a real stunner, Ned O’Leary. You should already know that I have trouble keepin’ my cock in my pants when you’re around,” Cole purred, feeling a familiar stirring in his balls.

The silly grin, and the sparkle in Ned’s eyes told Cole all he needed to know. They’d be friends. But also much more than that. “Is that so?” Ned shifted to rub his hips against Cole while his hands ran up and down Cole’s back. “You remember tellin’ me your star sign when we first met? My aunt used to say that my future wife would be a Leo. Should I get you a ring?”

Cole let out a choked laugh, met Ned’s gaze, and then crossed the short distance so their lips could finally meet. It had only been a few days since their last kiss, but the ecstatic jolt passing through their bodies struck Cole straight in the heart.

“She was only wrong about a tiny detail, Neddie. Are you sure she hadn’t said husband?” he whispered, pressing his mouth to Ned’s nose and his thigh to Ned’s privates, giddy with happiness.

If the law allowed him to put a ring on Ned’s finger, he’d do so in a heartbeat, but this would be enough. This trust. This touch. The way they understood one another so perfectly. Nobody had the power to take this away from them.

Ned grinned between one kiss and another. “Not so tiny.”

For once, they were aligned like a gun in a holster. Cole’s cheeks were still damp after he’d choked out the truth of his feelings, but while he was embarrassed over the outburst, nothing had been left unsaid. The walls of secrecy that had separated them from the day they’d met had crumbled, and he was ready to hand Ned that loaded gun. He’d gladly point it at his own heart, because Ned would never pull the trigger.

“No. You’re right. It’s a rather large and rigid fact,” Cole whispered, rocking his hips and rubbing his thigh harder against Ned’s groin. The green eyes flashed with pleasure, and he smiled, sensing the hard flesh against his skin.

“How wrong is it that I don’t want to wait for a more appropriate time to fuck you?” Ned squeezed his fingers on the back of Cole’s shirt, his body fragrant with smoke, and the sweet relief of still being alive.

Cole swallowed and pressed his forehead to Ned’s. He smiled when Ned’s stomach stirred under his touch, and he let his hand glide lower while the wagon shook, carrying them away from danger to the sound of drums and trumpets. “It’s very wrong, because it’s never been just fucking with you, Neddie.”

“It hasn’t?” Vulnerability snuck into Ned’s expression, and Cole was quick to kiss it away, basking in the heat of their lust.