Page 62 of Wellspring
“I am under strict orders from Payne not to collapse somewhere,” Erick replied.MacRae at least would understand how much he chafed at his body’s weakness and how soon he needed to carry his own weight again.“I will be resting more once I have finished lunch.”
“Hoss!”The shouted nickname was almost enough to make Erick wish he’d stayed in bed.Still, he’d learned that Burke’s abrasive manner hid a caring heart he would be embarrassed to reveal.“You’re looking better than you did yesterday.Was it Miz Roarke’s feather bed or Javi’s good cooking that made the difference?”
“The bed in thespareroom is quite comfortable, but most of all, it was being home,” Erick replied honestly.“Even knowing the new marshal had arrived, it was difficult for me to relax fully in town.”
“You need not fear for your safety here,” Svensen assured him as he took a seat.“The threat is gone, but even were it not, we would defend you as we so recently defended our home.”
“I know,” Erick said.He gave thanks again that at Wellspring he had found not only a home, but a family who cared for him.“It is what allowed me to sleep last night.I have a long recovery ahead of me still, but the doctor assures me I will get there in time.I will just need everyone’s patience until then.”
“They’ll give it.”The glare MacRae leveled at the others made clear the threat that backed up his words, but Erick knew it wouldn’t be needed.He’d seen them all with MacRae himself.
True to his word, when lunch was finished and the other hands returned to their chores, Erick made his way back to the house.He was more tired than he’d hoped to be from such a short excursion, but he resisted Grace’s suggestion that he lie down and instead seated himself in one of the wicker chairs on the porch.For a time he occupied himself performing the breathing exercises Dr.Lillard had prescribed for him, using the device Tim O’Neill had constructed until it felt he had no air left.He repeated the process again and again until his chest muscles ached.It took far too long for his breathing to return to normal when he’d finished, but only by pushing himself would he regain his endurance, and he was determined to do so as quickly as possible.
Sitting idle did not suit him, and he wondered if he could find some reading material to keep himself occupied.About the only aspect of his former life he truly missed was his library, but he had brought only a few much-loved books with him to America.Perhaps he could ask Javier to bring back some newspapers on his next trip into town.That reminded him of borrowing the primers from Miss Dawson to help Cade learn his letters, a memory that proved his libido seemed to be recovering at a faster pace than the rest of his body.It was not something he chose to indulge while anyone who might pass by the porch could view the effect it had on him.He would have to see if there were saddles and bridles that needed mending on his next trip to the barn, or perhaps he could help Javier chop vegetables.Anything to make the time pass more quickly.
Erick hoped Cade would be back from whatever task he’d been assigned to by dinnertime, but neither he nor Michele joined the rest of the hands.From Matt Chiles, Erick learned that Cade had volunteered to take over his shift on the range to make up for the ones he’d missed staying in town.Given how long that had been, between the days he’d spent in jail before Parnell released him and the time he’d stayed with Erick while he recuperated, Erick wondered whether he’d see Cade again for the rest of the month.
Cade still hadn’t returned by the time Erick finished eating, although he noticed Javier setting aside two plates, so the cook clearly expected Cade and Michele to return that night rather than staying out on the range.Erick wanted to wait, to see Cade before he retired for the night.He dared not hope for a kiss in front of the other hands, but even a brush of Cade’s hand over his shoulder would let him sleep more easily.He had already pushed himself harder than he’d been able to under Dr.Lillard’s watchful eye, though, and his energy was flagging.He sat on the porch as long as he could, but the third time his chin dropped to his chest and he jerked awake, the sudden movement pulling at his injuries, he submitted reluctantly to the inevitable and went to the bedroom to rest.Perhaps not taking a nap that afternoon had been a mistake after all.
He stripped down to his undergarment and climbed into bed, only the thin sheet covering him in deference to the heat of the day, which hadn’t yet broken—and might not, given how little breeze came in the open window.Before he could nod off again, a tap sounded at the door.He pulled the sheet up to cover his bare chest in case it was Grace coming to check on him, but it was Cade who poked his head through the crack in the door.
Weariness giving way to elation, Erick let the sheet fall back to his waist and reached for Cade.“I was afraid I wouldn’t get to see you today.”
“I’m sorry.We got back as soon as we could, but we had a calf caught in a thicket near the creek, and we had to get her loose,” Cade explained as he came farther into the room.He’d changed out of his dusty clothes and washed quickly—very quickly if the damp smear on his neck was any indication—before coming to the main house, so Erick patted the bed next to him.
“I missed you,” Erick admitted.Cade claimed his mouth in a gentle kiss, but Erick wanted—needed—more, proof that Cade was truly here with him and not another of the erotic daydreams he’d struggled against all day.He traced his tongue along the seam of Cade’s lips, slipping inside when Cade gasped.Tangling a hand into Cade’s hair, he drew his head closer, plundering Cade’s mouth until he had to pull back to draw a breath.His chest ached, but it was worth the pain to taste Cade again.
“I missed you too,” Cade said.“If I thought I could get away with it, I’d stay right here until you’re well again, but Miz Roarke would fire me if Payne didn’t do it first, and it’s not fair to the others.But never think for a minute that I want to be away from you.”He ran his fingers from Erick’s shoulder down his arm to tangle with Erick’s own and squeezed gently.“I wantyouin every way.”
Cade’s words eased his heart.Even diminished as he was—and hewouldrecover his full strength—Cade still desired him.“Come, stay with me as long as you can.”He drew Cade beside him on the bed, though Cade made him wait to kick off his boots before taking him into his arms.“I was thinking of you this afternoon,” he said as Cade nuzzled his neck.“About how much I enjoyed teaching you the alphabet.”The memory alone had stirred him, but with Cade’s body firm against him, his scent of sweat and horse and leather tickling his nose, he couldn’t stop himself from pressing his hips forward, hungry for more contact.
Cade closed one big hand over Erick’s flank, holding him in place.“I kinda enjoyed it myself,” he replied against Erick’s lips.“Lie still and stay quiet.We don’t want Miz Roarke coming to see what’s going on.”With that, Cade captured Erick’s mouth in a torrid kiss, though the touch of his hand stayed gentle as he moved it up to stroke the bare skin of Erick’s torso, teasing through the dusting of hair but avoiding his scar.The careful caress ignited sparks that flared through Erick’s chest and down to his cock.He gasped into the kiss and gave himself over to the magic Cade wove with his hands and mouth.
Slowly, so slowly it made Erick want to scream, Cade moved his hand lower until he encountered fabric.Erick started to lift his hips, to allow Cade to push his undergarment out of the way, but Cade kept him immobile and caressed him through the cloth instead.
As wonderful as it felt, Erick needed to feel Cade under his hands as well, to see his face flushed with the same pleasure Cade was lavishing on him.He had never been able to find satisfaction unless he could share it with his partner.Sliding a palm beneath the placket of Cade’s shirt, he paused to play over a peaked nipple before gliding down the taut plane of Cade’s abdomen.When he reached the barrier of Cade’s belt, he rucked the shirt free from the waistband, eager for the press of Cade’s bare skin against his.
Cade sucked his belly in, giving Erick enough space to loosen the buckle on his belt and work the buttons free of their holes, though the motion pulled at his healing muscles.He ignored the discomfort and went back to the more pleasant task of reacquainting himself with the feel of Cade’s skin beneath his palms.Cade shifted on the bed to ease the angle on Erick’s arm and slipped his hand between Erick’s legs to cradle his sac.“Feel good, sweetheart?”he murmured.
“Better if I can feel more of you.”Erick tried to pull Cade’s shirt over his head, too impatient to even work open the buttons, but Cade again stilled his hands.
“Miz Roarke might be ready to kick me out any minute.We can’t risk getting naked.”He rolled Erick’s sac in his palm, swallowing Erick’s groan in another kiss.Erick shifted against him restlessly, his cock jumping in a plea for Cade’s touch.Before he could succumb to the bliss his body craved, he tried to work a hand into Cade’s jeans to return the caress, but the angle he twisted into wrenched at his healing wounds and he cried out as pain shot through his chest, stealing his breath.
Cade released him immediately and drew back as if scalded.“Fuck, what did I do?I’m sorry, Erick!”
Erick tried to shake his head, but that hurt almost as much as twisting his arm had done.“Not your fault,” he managed to get out through gritted teeth.“Stay.”
Cade sat back down on the bed, but he didn’t touch Erick again as he rode out the flare of pain.When it finally passed, Erick sagged against the pillows.“It would seem my appetites have outstripped my abilities.”
Cade gave him a pointed look.“What does that mean?”
Erick sighed.“It means that no matter how much I want you, I am not recovered enough to act upon it.Yet,” he added when Cade’s jaw tightened.
“You don’t need to do anything but lie there and let me take care of you.”
“I am not so selfish as to take what I cannot give in return.”He could never repay the generosity of Cade’s lovemaking with anything but its match.Erick silenced Cade’s protest with a kiss.“As much as it pains me to admit, I fear Dr.Lillard was correct.I still have more healing to endure before I am strong enough for what we both want.”
Cade pouted a little.“It’s not like you’re asking me to do something I hate.I guarantee I’d get off from sucking you dry.No selfishness involved.”
