Reed

"Quit worrying," I said gently, trying to keep my smile contained so Leon wouldn't notice it, as he did his best to appear like he wasn't worrying.

"I'm not worrying," he said as he checked the inventory list in his hand for the fifth time in five minutes. I suspected he was reading each line without comprehending the words and had to keep going back to the list.

"Sure, and how many times are you going to check that list before you realize you're not even reading it?" I asked with a snort.

"I'm just trying to be thorough."

"Leon, you don't have to be that thorough. They're cleaning supplies and a few odds and ends."

"I still don't want anything to be misplaced."

"The only thing anyone could make out of anything here is mustard gas, which is great for whoever's stupid enough not to pay attention to the Do Not Mix list posted everywhere."

"I'm not worried about people making bombs or whatever," he said with a huff as if the very idea that someone here would do something like that was offensive. He was particularly protective of the guys, especially his guys, so that tracked. "I just want to make sure."

"Uh-huh," I said as I finished my sheet for the inventory and set my clipboard down.

"I mean it."

"I'm sure."

"Reed."

"You know what I just remembered?" I asked him lightly, looking at him as he bent down to grab a box from the bottom shelf of the cramped shed we were in. Thankfully, this one was temperature-controlled because of the household chemicals stored in it, so we weren't sweating ourselves into misery while we worked in close quarters.

"Knowing your love of going down memory lane, I have no idea," he said, grunting as he pulled the box out. I was momentarily distracted by the sight of his ass in the jeans he'd put on and the slip of skin as his shirt rode up, showing the first few inches of his lower back.

It was amazing how just a couple of weeks of reigniting things between us was enough to bring me back to the same state of mind I'd been in when we were first together. We were different people, fully grown adults who had experienced the world thoroughly, having victories and miserable failures along the way. At the same time, it was difficult not to feel like a horny teenager when I was around him, especially when it was just the two of us.

"You remember Ian's first day of middle school?" I asked, not surprised when he stopped for a moment. It might have been years since his brother's death, but I knew the memory and the loss still needled at him. I was still wary of bringing up his brothers, but I didn't think I'd be doing him any favors by repeatedly avoiding the subject.

"Sort of," he said, his face pinched as he picked up the box and looked it over, glancing at the list in his hand. "I remember he was nervous about the whole thing."

That made me laugh. "Seriously?"

"What?" he asked, looking up in confusion.

"You were the nervous one. He was the one worried that you were going to have an overload while he went to school," I said with a chuckle.

His brow somehow managed to tighten even further. "No he wasn't."

"Are you kidding me? Of course he was. He was excited to go to middle school," I told him, then remembered. "Oh, right. He never?—"

Leon put the clipboard down, staring at me intensely. "He never what?"

I sighed. "I forgot, he never told you. He was really excited about the whole thing but felt bad because you were so worried about it because you didn't have such a great time when you went."

"Middle school is hell on earth," he grunted, eyeing me sourly. "Except for some people, that is."

I smirked. "And Ian."

"Yeah, he did end up having a pretty good time."

"He talked to me the night before."

"What? When?"

"He called me. It was shortly after you left. He'd called looking for you. At the time, I remember thinking he was looking for you because he was worried about his first day and wanted you there for the night like you insisted you would be."

"I left your house early to spend the night with him."

I smiled, remembering Ian's relief when I told him Leon had left and would probably be home soon. I'd thought it had been another confirmation of Ian's nerves until he was assured his brother wasn't around to overhear.

"And he'd told me he was worried about you."

"Me?" Leon asked, brow flying upward. "Why the hell would he be worried about me?"

"Because he could tell you were so worried," I said with a snort. "I know you thought of him as a little flighty."

"I mean, he kind of was."

"No, he wasn't. He was just more carefree and lighthearted than you. I'll point out that's because you did the job you set out to do and gave him the best childhood you could, shielding your brothers from the life you'd had."

"Sure, whatever."

Typical. "He was worried you were going to have a hard time while he was going through his first few weeks, like you were going to be waiting for the guillotine to fall at any moment. He wanted to know if I might try to be around and keep you occupied while you were freaking out."

"I didn't freak out!"

"Leon, I remember how you had me over a few times when your parents were out, and you were nonstop cleaning. When we were at my house, you constantly cleaned my room, and you even scrubbed my parents" kitchen even though it had been cleaned the day before."

"Well, your parents had money. They should have been able to afford better cleaners because they missed a lot!"

"And you kept checking that flip phone of yours that was so beat up it was a miracle it still worked. You insisted you were playing Snake."

"I was!"

"Funny how Snake looked an awful lot like scrolling to see if you had any texts. And then the game sounded a lot like your voicemail that you kept dialing to ensure you didn't accidentally miss a message."

He scowled, returning to the box and yanking up his list more forcefully than necessary. "Alright, fine. Maybe I was a little worried and wanted to make sure my little brother was okay. You happy?"

"My point was you were worried, and he wasn't. You tried to hide that you were worried…just like you're doing now," I said, except I didn't need Ian to tell me. Poor Ian had managed to get all Leon"s heart but held onto the brightness and sensitivity. He had his older brother's intuitive feel for the world and people, but he never suffered through the same crippling self-doubt that was sometimes burned away by a surge of passion or defiance.

I wondered what kind of man he would have been if he hadn't been taken from the world so soon. I had no doubt he would have taken all the things he learned growing up, as well as the things of himself he had been allowed to keep because of Leon, and done great. Maybe he wouldn't have gone on to be a world-renowned scientist or a miracle-working surgeon, but he would have been a good man, and it would have shone on the people around him. Hell, maybe with Ian around, Ray would still be a part of Leon's life and?—

Leon probably obsessed over those thoughts and ‘what ifs' in his spare time. The least I could do was spare him from them instead of obsessing over them myself.

Leon's shoulders tightened, and I knew he would either explode or completely lock down if I didn't stop him before he picked up more steam. It had only been a couple of weeks since we finally decided we wanted something significant from our new reconnection, and we were still feeling the newer versions of each other out. But I had to rely somewhat on my old knowledge of him and hope for the best, and if it didn't work out, then that meant there was an area of my knowledge of him that needed updating.

I reached for him, allowing my hand to touch his side and gauge his reaction. He didn't relax but didn't turn from my touch or tighten up more. I took that as a good sign and slipped closer, wrapping my arms around his waist and pulling him the last couple of inches. I laid my head against his upper back, forehead pressing between his shoulder blades as I kissed a spot on his back.

"It's okay to be worried," I told him softly, feeling his stomach loosen its death grip slightly under my touch. I let my hand rub the flat surface, vaguely aware of my body responding to the intimacy and the sheer…well, I was human. He had a good body, which couldn't be ignored easily. Yet it was just a quiet, burning flame in the back of my mind as I felt him relax. "You're here with me. Not with anyone else, not around the people you're worried will see you."

"I'm not?—"

"You are. You're worried that if they see you have a moment where you let your worry or your concern show, they might doubt whether you can be a good mentor. I don't agree, but I understand. They're not here. I am."

It started in his lower body, but I felt the loosening of his muscles finally creep up to his upper back and shoulders. After about a minute, he reached down and set his hands over mine, giving them a light squeeze. I lay my hand over his chest, unsurprised to find his heart beating harder than it should for a simple inventory check and let him take his moment to sort through things.

"I just," he began and took a deep breath. "I insisted on having Elliot and Reno go out there, and it's still technically early in their time as Tier Threes. That's on top of the issues they already had, just being the two of them. I was so sure of what I was doing, but now that they're out there, I'm just…not so sure."

"And you're allowed not to be sure," I told him softly.

"Am I?"

"Leon, I know you have it in your head that you can't show the worry, the concern, the fear, and I get that. To a certain extent, leaders need to ensure they don't show their vulnerable points too readily. They need to be able to look up to you, which requires a limited amount of…faking things. But again, they're not here. I am."

"I know," he said with a heavy sigh. "I-I don't want to constantly worry about whether I made the right decision. It felt like the right one until they strolled out of here on horseback. And now I keep wondering if they're going to end up getting hurt, if being isolated out there for even a few hours is enough to break whatever bond they have because they're not encased here with everyone else. Hell, what if they get it in their head that making a break for it is a good idea?"

I chuckled, pulling back to turn him around to face me so I could see his expression. He resisted at first, which was expected, but he gave in as I gave him a little tug. His eyes were down toward the floor, but I smiled, waiting for him to meet my eyes.

"Going back to my original story," I began, waiting until I saw him understand what I was talking about before continuing. "You spent all that time and energy worrying about Ian. What happened? Nothing."

"Not nothing," Leon said with a snort, his lips twitching upward. "Somehow, my brother, someone related to me, ended up making a fucking splash in a social setting. By the time the little shit got to high school, he had so many friends and people after him for dates, I didn't think The Talk was going to save him from getting someone knocked up."

I laughed. "Well, apparently, it worked because, lo and behold, he never got anyone pregnant."

His smile faltered a little. "He would have been a great dad. He always talked about it and told me that when it happened, I was going to have to deal with him being up my ass all the time, asking for advice. As if I was the leading expert on raising kids."

"Uh, Leon?"

"Well, in a healthy environment. Most of the time, it felt like taking care of them just meant telling them not to do the shit our parents did, and not to do most of the shit I did. Ray always said he didn't want kids, didn't want to pass our genes along or risk fucking them up. Ian was determined something good could come out of our family, and he learned the right way to go about things."

"Which he learned from you."

"I guess."

I was going to have to accept that he would never understand how significant what he had done was. He had understood, at far too young an age, how monumental and important the job he had taken on himself was, but the results? Well, one of these days, I was going to get him to understand that the results were better than anyone had any right to expect. Perhaps it would have been easier if Ian was still around to back me up, but hopefully, if he was still watching over Leon, he might help in his own way.

"Well, you learned back then that you have to let them go, and you have to trust in what they're capable of," I told him, squeezing his shoulders. "And that's exactly what you have to do with Reno and Elliot. Let them have the chance you argued for them to have, and when they show up, you can pretend like you were never worried in the first place."

He gave me a half smile. "Funnily, that would work on Elliot."

"Not Reno?"

"No. Well, I don't think so anyway. It's weird, but something about him reminds me of what you always said about me. I don't know if he's always been in tune with other people or if it only started after he calmed down a little."

"I think the only one who could answer that would be Reno, and probably Elliot."

"You think? Reno doesn't seem like the sharing type, even with Elliot."

"Oh," I said with a chuckle. "They share plenty."

His brow creased. "How do you know? Have they talked to you?"

I opened my mouth and then shut it, realizing what I'd just done. I had told myself I wouldn't tell anyone what I'd seen, including Leon. The problem was, if I didn't tell Leon, he would think I was keeping something important from him. I didn't think it was all that important, but that wasn't my call to make, especially now I'd alerted him that something was going on.

I sighed. "I wasn't going to mention this because it didn't seem important, and not my business to tell, but if I don't, you'll end up freaking out that I'm keeping something about them from you."

"I…fine, maybe I would be worried," he said, pouting at the idea that I was right.

"So, first of all, I wasn't supposed to see it. And second of all, it's not either of our business."

"Uh, okay?"

"I saw them kissing."

"You," his eyes bulged. "What?"

I briefly explained what I'd witnessed, leaving no doubt in his mind that what I'd seen had not been accidental, a joke, or anything but an expression of affection and, well, lust. It was probably good that I'd seen them and not Leon because he looked ready to keel over from the shock.

"And you're sure Reno initiated it?" he asked.

That was a question I wasn't expecting. "Saw it clear as day. That's what you're pulling from this? Not that they're kissing and probably doing other things since they have a whole cabin, um, Leon?"

"What?"

"Do you think, uh, that whole ‘wrestling' incident from months ago?—"

His eyes widened further. "Holy shit, you don't think?—"

"I am now."

"Oh God, I'm kind of seeing it."

"Yeah, nice."

His head snapped down to me, his mouth falling open. "Reed!"

I let out a laugh. "What? They're cute enough."

"God, that's like, I don't know, not quite like thinking about my own kids fucking, but it's close enough," he said with a scowl. But not, I noticed, the slightest trace of jealousy. That much, at least, hadn't changed from when we were younger. For all his constant worrying and fretting, he had never been one to get jealous if I showed or was shown attention. "But that would explain quite a lot."

"I remember thinking maybe you needed to try your hand at matchmaking. You seem quite good even without knowing it."

"Reed, no."

"I'm just saying."

"Say less."

I laughed, pulling him in for a kiss. "Don't obsess. We shouldn't even know about it in the first place."

"I'm not going to confront them. They're not doing anything wrong," he said with a shrug, watching my lips closely. "It's just weird to think about."

"Then stop thinking so much about them having sex and picture me naked instead," I told him.

"We're supposed to be working," he told me, pushing away.

"Yeah, and I'm working on you. How tight are those pants right now?"

"Say less, remember?"

I chuckled, knowing I'd managed to distract him, which may or may not have been my goal from the start.

* * *

"You know,"I said with a groan, stopping at the wall of one of the nearby buildings and pushing against it to arch my back. "I'm all for what labor does for the body, but I can't say I enjoy the beating it takes in the process."

"That's what happens when you spend your time being spoiled and pampered."

"Alright, the next time someone comes in for a shot or needs stitches, you deal with them. On your own."

"Uh, no. I'm good, thanks. They get squirmy and whiny."

"Then don't sass me, or I might forget when your last booster was."

"That's evil."

I chuckled, turning to face him and immediately smirking when I saw his eyes dart to meet mine. I looked around, finding the group we had been traveling back with after lunch had dispersed. The only person close to me was Leon, whose eyes had most certainly been locked right on my ass while I'd been stretching to work some of the knots out of my back.

"I'm sorry," I said slowly with the same smirk. "Were you checking my form to make sure I was doing it correctly?"

To his credit, he didn't check to see if anyone was around, trusting I wouldn't have said anything so suggestive if it was possible to be heard. "Well, when you do this long enough, it's important to make sure you do it right, or you could hurt yourself."

"Hmm," I said, considering what he had to say. "And would you say I was doing it correctly?"

"Hard to say," he said, looking me over. "Maybe you should show me again."

It was easier said than done to do what I'd done accidentally, but I gave it my best shot. There were two upsides. One was that I managed to stretch my back again, and the other was that I knew full well he was watching me closely as I did it.

I paused when I felt a shadow pass over me and saw him watching me intently. His eyes were burning with a need that made my already waking libido go from stirring to life to pacing frantically inside me.

"Have I ever told you you have a great ass?" he asked in a low voice with just a hint of growl and heat.

"You've mentioned it," I told him, knowing he loved it when I returned his attitude. "Have I told you that you do too?"

"Not nearly as good as yours."

"Ah, that might be true, but you more than make up for it with that dick."

"Can I make up for how much work I've put you through today with it?"

I turned to lean against the wall, arching a brow. "Oh? And when would you like to do that? After you've worked me to the bone? When I'm exhausted and pliable?"

"Tempting," he admitted, glancing toward the cabins. "But I also know your place isn't far from here. I hear a hot shower is great for aching muscles, and having them stretched properly afterward helps."

"Stretching my muscles, huh?" I asked with a little laugh.

"Among other things," he said, and I didn't need to reach down to see he was already hard. With a dick like his, jeans were not nearly enough to contain that obvious clue.

Not that I was going to complain, I had never grown tired of seeing how well he could bulge the front of his pants before. It might have been at the age where horniness came with uncanny ease, but I didn't think that was going to change much in my adult years.

"So," I said, backing up so I was between buildings and out of sight of anyone unless they happened to walk into the small space. "My place, huh?"

His eagerness had always been incredibly arousing, but it had changed in the intervening years. As he approached me, I could see the same fiery eagerness and intensity, but it was refined now. Gone was the guy who overflowed with excessive passion. Replaced by a man who was completely and utterly focused. It left me feeling like an animal approached by a tiger, sleek, purposeful, and intent on getting exactly what he wanted.

I was definitely a fan of that evolution.

"I might have been thinking about it," he said in a low voice, pushing himself between me and one of the buildings, pinning me there. "Or, plotting it."

"Plotting, huh?" I teased as I felt a shiver run through me. If he had been getting hard before, he was positively stone by the time he had me pinned, pressing against my thigh. "You've been thinking about this longer than just a few minutes of me stretching."

"I've been plotting it from the moment I saw you this morning," he said, bending to nip at my neck. "And got a little impatient."

"I can deal with impatience," I said, turning my head to allow him access to my neck, the little bites making me forget how easy it would be to be spotted if someone was as ‘lucky' as I'd been seeing Reno and Elliot. "I can deal with it very well."

"Then let's take a quick break at your cabin, and you can show me."

"I can deal with that too."

"Good."

He extracted himself from me and began walking toward the back of the buildings we had sequestered ourselves between. I followed, waiting until he had glanced around casually before walking out like we weren't about to skip out on our jobs to fuck. I followed his lead as we quickly made our way to my cabin.

"I'm still getting that shower, aren't I?" I asked as I let him in. The curtains were drawn considering how infamously weak the AC units were, and mine was no exception, unlike Leon's, the lucky bastard. I hadn't decorated a lot, keeping it as spartan as the day I moved in.

"Of course, that's what you're focused on," he said with a laugh, already tugging his boots and socks off.

"I've been covered in sweat for hours."

"Which evaporated in this heat."

"Leon."

He chuckled, grabbed hold of me, and pulled me along after I managed to take off my boots and socks. The short path toward the bathroom took much longer than usual as we fumbled with our clothes, trying to take them off as quickly as possible.

"Oof," I grunted when he caught me on the side of the head and made me stumble into the doorway. "Don't get me wrong, I'm into the rough stuff, but maybe a little less rough?"

He laughed, taking hold of my head and kissing where his knuckles had thumped into me. "Sorry. I want this, but if we take too long, they might start looking for us."

"I know," I said with a huff as I stepped into the bathroom in my underwear and flipped on the water. "I could make us wait so we could take our time later, but I'm going to take the easy route and let you take me fast."

"I love the sound of that," he said, shucking his underwear and tossing it onto the clothes we'd left behind.

Which was the perfect excuse for me to look him over with open interest as I waited for the water to run. He had definitely gotten bigger since we were younger. The labor needed to work on the ranch had done wonders for his body. My eyes roamed his chest, speckled with thin, dark hair, over his broad shoulders and down to where a patch of hair on his stomach dropped down to his cock, which hung low and heavy.

"Good enough," I said, reaching for him, but rather than taking hold of his hand, I wrapped my hand around his half-hard cock and pulled him gently toward me. He might not have kept up the straining erection while he waited like he would have when we were younger, but he sure as hell sprung to life instantly in my hand.

"Oh shit," he laughed as we stepped under the water. "Hot water is supposed to be good for muscles."

"And I'll take a hot one later when I'm not going to be going back in the Texas heat anytime soon," I snorted, pulling him under the water to kiss him.

I had no intention of washing, letting the water soothe my heated skin and wash some of the dirt off. What was important was the feel of his wet, hard body against mine as he huddled me into a corner, bracing himself on the walls of the shower.

"You sure you're okay after the last couple of times?" he asked as I stroked him, pausing, my intention to slide down lower and take him in my mouth.

I snickered. "I think I'll live."

We might have agreed to let things happen as they did, but apparently, getting back into the swing of things sexually quickly jumped to the top of the list. It had only taken a couple of days after we'd agreed to make sure this was going somewhere before I'd visited his cabin and found myself on my back, his cock stretching me open.

In the few weeks since then, I had to relearn the upsides and downsides of having a big partner. The downsides were quick to make themselves known that first time. The most obvious was how long it took him to get it in and how uncomfortable and painful that was without extended preparation and foreplay. The second had been the need to recover for longer after he fucked me because, hoo boy, even after prep and foreplay, I was still left aching and sensitive for a few days.

But I was starting to adjust, and lord have mercy, the upsides more than made up for the downsides.

I dropped, or rather slid down the wall, grabbing the base of his cock and bringing it to my lips. His hips jerked slightly when I slid the head into my mouth, taking him as far as I could, which still wasn't all that impressive. I was making it my personal mission to take him all the way into my throat eventually, but that was not going to happen when I had a fresh meal sitting in my stomach.

Not that it mattered to him. His groan echoed faintly off the walls as I bobbed, making sure to get my hand in on the action to jerk him along with my mouth. Thankfully, there was enough light in the dim stall to look up at him as I took him into my mouth. As much as I loved it when he watched me intently, I was also a fan of how he sometimes let his head fall back, one hand resting on my hair as he simply enjoyed the moment.

"Do you think we're clean and cool enough yet?" he asked in a rough, panting voice, his fingers tightening slightly in my hair.

Alright, well, maybe he was still that impatient guy I'd known all those years ago, but it was hard to be annoyed when it was because he wanted me that badly. I could only respond with a chuckle as I pulled off him and got to my feet, keeping my hand wrapped around his shaft. I could feel the pulse of his heartbeat through my fingers as I kissed him, nudging him backward out of the shower.

If he even noticed I hadn't bothered to grab a towel for either of us, he kept it to himself as I pushed into the main room. That meant we couldn't use the bed because I wouldn't risk having my bed damp later, but that didn't mean there weren't plenty of places for us to do what we wanted.

I had to break the kiss as I led him to the chair beside the desk. All I needed to do was push him, and he sat down. His cock, too heavy to stand up, bobbed between his legs slowly as he sat, spreading his knees apart.

"Mm, keep your legs together," I told him as I went to fetch the bottle of lube I had ‘borrowed' from the clinic. There was another bottle in his cabin, neither of which would go missing despite our inventory concerns. No one tracked lube at the clinic, but that might have been because it was an open secret that guys here weren't all that shy about having fun with one another. And if lube in an exam room disappeared after someone came in with a ‘cough' or a ‘fever,' then we simply replaced it and asked no questions.

"Someone has an idea," he noted as I returned with the bottle.

"Someone might," I said, standing over his lap with a leg on each side, facing him. We didn't have time to do the whole song and dance to make this comfortable for me, but I still put lube on my fingers, pressing them into myself to get something started. "And someone might enjoy it."

"Two someones even," he said with a smirk, taking the bottle and applying a generous layer of lube to his cock.

"Let's find out," I said, putting a hand on each of his shoulders to hold myself steady and lowering myself, knowing he would hold the base to keep himself upright.

He entered me with more ease than the first time, but that didn't stop me hissing as the head spread me open. Using his other hand, he began to rub my stomach for a moment before reaching down with a lube-slick hand and taking me in his grip. It took only a few pumps before the discomfort and pain faded, letting me work my way down a little further.

As much as I wanted to get it over with, I knew better than to rush things and risk tearing or bleeding. It would probably take ages before we could go back to the days when a true quickie was possible, but I tried to push through as best I could. Stroking my cock helped a great deal as I lowered myself, making it easier for me, allowing my body to relax and adding pleasure to the burning pain I was putting myself through.

But then, I was done, my ass pressing against his thighs and the entire thickness of him filling me. It was always uncomfortable at first, having him lodged inside me. It produced a lot of feelings that were not very sexy. Yet Leon never let up stroking me, using the hand that had been holding himself to grip the back of my head and pull me in for a kiss, deepening it instantly.

"I know I've said it before, but I'm going to keep saying it," he said against my lips, making me moan as he flexed his cock slightly inside me, "you feel fucking amazing."

I would have responded, but that slight flexing had told me how ready I was to keep going. Feet planted firmly on the ground, I used my grip on his shoulders to push myself upward and ease myself down. I didn't know if I had adjusted or if his hand on my dick was doing it, but the ache was gone almost immediately, leaving all the upsides of having a big dicked partner.

I had never felt as full with anyone else as I did with Leon. If there was even the remotest chance of something inside me that would respond to pressure, his cock made sure to hit it. As far as my body was concerned, not a single inch of his cock went to waste as I began to work up to a steadier rhythm, no longer concerned with taking it easy.

My idea was having the intended result as he sat there, his hands gripping my thighs as I rode him. Water continued to travel down his body as he made himself comfortable, pushing his hips forward so I had more room to ride him. Eventually, my hands traveled to his chest, holding tight and enjoying the feel of his muscles as I continued to ride him.

"Don't hold back," I warned him, needing him to remember we were supposed to be quick.

"Are you kidding?" he asked in a low growl. "With you doing this, how the fuck am I supposed to hold back?"

That was a trick question because I knew, despite his eagerness, he could hold back with scary skill. The first time in years we'd slept together might have been hurried and intense, but the second time? Oh, the bastard had taken his time, making me squirm and cry out, dragging our pleasure out to a torturous level, all while making sure to keep me begging for more.

"Alright," I said, returning his smugness. "Then prove it."

"I can do that," he said with a grunt, suddenly yanking me down onto his cock.

"Fuck," I hissed as he pulled me up and brought me down again, forcing me to fight to keep quiet. We could let loose more at his cabin, where the chances of being overheard were lower, but here, I had to behave myself as best I could. "Goddamn you."

I should have expected the moment I taunted him, he would retaliate in the only way he could. Not that I was going to complain, but the sudden tearing of the reins from my hands immediately made my body hypersensitive, and I groaned as he continued to use me.

Then, without warning, he released me, but my body kept going with the rhythm he had already started. No longer was I riding him but bouncing off his hips as I took him inside me repeatedly. I was already on the edge, but then I felt his hand wrap around my cock, and all it took was another few seconds, and I cried out.

To my surprise, his grip tightened, almost painfully, and his cock throbbed inside me. Even as I felt myself tighten, spurting all over his stomach and chest, I felt the warmth inside me spread as he came as well. We had only managed to synchronize our orgasms once before when we'd given one another head. The knowledge of what was happening was enough to add even more force to my orgasm, and I sat down, taking him as deep as possible as I rode it out.

"Fuck," I gasped as my legs wobbled, and I had to hold tight to make sure I didn't tip backward. "You asshole."

"What?" he asked with a laugh, probably already knowing I'd figured him out.

"You timed that so you'd come in me at the same time."

"Did I?"

"That right there tells me you did."

He chuckled, wrapping his arms around my waist and holding me in place, kissing my chest. "Maybe I did. Maybe I didn't."

"You totally did," I accused him, not mad. "And then you made me make a worse mess than usual."

"It's not that much worse than usual."

"Well, maybe that's just the you effect."

"Quit trying to flatter me. It won't work," he said, even as I felt his half-hard cock stir slightly inside me at the compliment, betraying him. I knew he felt it happen too, because he rolled his eyes. "Well, maybe it works a little."

I snorted, giving him a soft kiss. "If it makes you feel better, that did backfire a little. Because now I'm tempted to go for another round even though I know we don't have the time."

"Mmm, we can always do it later."

"I'll probably be too sore."

"Mouths still work."

"This is very true."

"And Sunday is only a couple of days away. We can take all the time we want because we both have the day off."

"Mmm, so I'm spending the night Saturday then?"

He stopped for a moment, peering at me in curiosity. I didn't see hesitation in his eyes, even though I had just accelerated things between us. We'd slept separately since the week I'd had to keep an eye on him while he recovered. Even then, we'd only spent that one night together and neither of us had brought it up since. I didn't need to tell him it was my way of pushing things further, and I didn't need him to explain if he said yes or no.

"My place?" he asked casually, leaning back in the chair.

"It would be the least suspicious," I said with a snort. "Unless you want people to renew the jokes about us."

"I'd rather not."

"Then your place."

"My place it is."

Alright, I had my answer, which left a warm blossom in my chest as I let the strength come back to my body. It was a sign that we had both meant it when we said we wanted this to go somewhere serious. That was all the proof I needed as I prepared myself to get up and get ready to return to work.

I frowned. "Great, I wasn't thinking about the mess."

"Mess?" he asked, looking down at his torso and snorting. "A towel will do the job just fine."

"And when I stand up?"

"When you…oh. Oh. Well, same towel, I guess."

"You practical man, you," I said with a snort.

"That's me, now let's get moving before someone starts looking for us."

* * *

"Reed. Mona is looking for you."

It took me a moment, hearing my first name come out in such a smokey, thin voice before I responded. Surprised, I turned around to find Dr. Gideon standing in the doorway to the exam room I had been cleaning while I waited for something else to do. It had been pretty slow in the clinic for the past few days, and I'd started to run out of things to do. It was usually better when Leon was on shift with me because then I could entertain myself with him, but our schedules were diverging again…for some reason.

I tried my best not to let that fact get to me. Overthinking was supposed to be Leon's territory. One thing I'd learned from being put on Mona's little ‘secret mission,' was that keeping secrets had a way of getting into your head. As much as I ignored what she'd put me up to because Leon was already making progress without needing much of a push from me, it still sat in my head. It lived in my thoughts and had a sneaky way of increasing my paranoia and my worry.

I would have been a terrible spy if that route had been open to me.

"Sure, thanks, Dr. Gideon," I said politely. I still didn't like how he squinted at me like he was waiting for me to, I don't know, steal something? Throw something at his face? Accidentally murder someone with a bad call?

Despite my polite overture, he grunted and walked off, heading toward the back where he usually lurked unless forced to do his job. Honestly, I was surprised he'd even been up front to run into Mona. Hell, the idea that Mona was looking for me probably had him tingling at the thought of what kind of trouble I might be in, especially if it meant I could be removed from the clinic.

That particularly unpleasant thought got shunted away as I dropped the brush I'd been using on the floor. I left it behind with the bucket and walked into the hallway, making my way toward the front. My brow rose as I spotted her sitting in the chair behind the main desk, one leg thrown over her other knee as she browsed one of the clinic's tablets.

"Find anything good?" I asked her dryly, itching to take the tablet from her. "I wasn't even aware you had access to our systems."

"Nothing that would violate HIPAA, that's for sure," she said as she flicked through another screen, and this time, I could see she was looking over incoming orders. As far as things to occupy herself while she waited, she would have been better off watching the freshly mopped floors dry. "I never get access to the fun stuff."

That made me raise my brow. "Right, because the medical files of personnel and program members are fun, that's one way to describe it."

"I'm almost tempted to point out that being touchy isn't normally your thing," she said with a raised brow, locking the screen and carefully setting the device to the side. "But you have been spending more time with our more prickly residents."

"Barely anyone I deal with is what I'd call prickly, save for Reno perhaps, and he has most assuredly lost a few of his thorns."

"Not who I was thinking of first, but I take your point."

"Really, Leon?"

"That was who I was thinking of."

"Funny, you'd be the only person to call him prickly."

"Would I?"

"Yes, and I think it's only fair to let you work that quick mind over why that might be."

"Well, well," she said with a chuckle, leaning up in the seat and smiling. "Is this where Leon has been getting his attitude from?"

"If you think Leon's attitude is new, then you've never understood him," I said, raising a brow. "Which seems like a pretty important thing to do when you're so intent on trying to tutor him from a distance. Maybe you could get better results if you tried something new, something novel."

"And that would be?"

"Telling him what you're doing and trusting that he would respond with the respect and maturity you want from someone you want to elevate. Or you could continue wandering in the dark while playing unnecessary mind games with him."

She stared at me intensely for a few seconds, and I wondered if I had managed to piss her off finally. Mona had always been as casual as you could get with me, and I'd never felt like I was in trouble with her. Except now, I did feel like something was going on, and it was very noticeable, putting me on edge.

"It's funny," she said after the long pause, "how everyone at this Ranch treats me. The majority treat me with respect and fear. Then, those who respect me and treat me casually. And then those few who treat me with respect and show absolutely no fear…men like you."

"And Max," I said, remembering the few times I'd seen them interact. The man didn't so much as blink when he dealt with her. "Dane would be a good example of the first, and Elliot for that matter. Reno is definitely the second. He doesn't seem phased by you in the slightest from what I've heard, and doesn't give you much crap."

"Which is where I must concede that Leon had a point. He never gave anyone much trouble except for the incident with Riley and then Elliot," she said thoughtfully. "It seems I jumped the gun with him. I'm glad I went with Leon's instincts on the matter, but gladder he decided to stand up for those instincts and insist on it."

"It's almost like you didn't need to rope me into your cloak-and-dagger plan from the start," I said, crossing my arms. "Is this your way of checking up on me? To see how things are going? To see if I've been quietly pushing him in the background?"

"Honestly, I have been thinking about that quite a lot," she admitted, pushing up from the chair. "I was torn between trying to figure out if you were actually doing anything, if your presence was enough, or if Leon was doing it all on his own, with or without your prodding."

"What a mystery," I said, smirking as I intentionally taunted her.

She rolled her eyes. "It's a good thing I concluded that it didn't matter which of the three it was, though I lean more toward the first two. Leon didn't start his journey into further development until after he had been spending more time around you."

"Untrue," I pointed out. "He made the stand about keeping Reno and housing him with Elliot before your little plan."

"Hmm, a good point," she said thoughtfully and then shrugged. "Either way, it doesn't matter. What matters is that the results are coming. Leon has started standing up for himself in his role of mentor, gaining more confidence, and it's clear his results don't need to be discussed since they speak for themselves."

"Is that why you decided I didn't need to be around him as much?" I wondered. "Because I noticed we've been assigned to one another's shifts a lot less than before."

"What, and you think that has something to do with my ‘plot,' as you put it?"

"Believe it or not, Mona, I don't spend much time wondering what you're up to. I assume you believe you know what you're doing and follow through on it."

"Believe I know what I'm doing? Well, that's a little more than just sass."

"Maybe it's because I'm still not happy that you tried to put me up to sneakily pushing Leon behind the scenes to do what you wanted."

"Which is what he wanted to do from the start."

"That doesn't matter. The man deserved to know the facts from the onset and be able to make his own choice. Instead, I let myself get roped into this entire thing despite knowing it was a bad idea. And you know, that's on me, that's on me for letting it happen, for talking myself into it. But I'm still allowed to be annoyed that you were pushing so much for it when it wasn't necessary."

"Well, that saves me having to point out that you were the one who agreed with me."

"I agreed to a point, and I let myself be convinced that it needed to happen that way."

"So you're irritated with both of us then."

"Yes. And I'm not going to go along with it anymore. He's doing just fine, and I'm tired of having that hang over my head. I want to maintain a friendship with him without worrying if what I'm doing is right or what he'll have to say if he finds out the truth."

That made her laugh softly, glancing toward the hallway momentarily before smiling at me. "Friendship. Yes, I suppose you could call it that. Not the word I would have gone with, but I suppose you could use that one if you so choose."

I arched a brow. "If you have something to say, then say it."

"And when have you ever known me not to?"

"I have a feeling you're holding something back."

"Oh? Has Leon rubbed off on you?"

"That's a loaded question with what you keep oh so subtly insinuating."

She blinked rapidly a few times and then laughed. "Well, that is a good point I should have considered before opening my mouth."

"And it doesn't take good instincts to realize you wouldn't be here, asking for me, in the middle of a shift unless you had a reason. And trying to goad me about Leon isn't helping."

"Look," she said, sitting on the edge of the desk and leveling her gaze with mine. "I don't care what you and Leon get up to in private. We both know relationships between people here aren't banned, though they're a little harder to see than you and Leon."

There was no point trying to hide it. After all, she was right. We didn't need to keep things hidden, even if it was the general approach to guys sharing a bed or a relationship. "We aren't exactly broadcasting it to everyone we meet."

"And you're not hiding it as well as Riley and Max did," she pointed out. "And you two aren't nearly as difficult to see together as, say, Elliot and Reno."

"Really?" I said, affecting surprise as best I could. "That's different. The two of them?"

She eyed me momentarily. "Either you're good at playing dumb, or you didn't know. Which makes me wonder if Leon has figured it out."

"If he has, he hasn't shared it with me," I said, maintaining the basic rule of lying effectively. My question could have been taken the way she'd taken it, as genuine surprise at the news or as surprise that she thought they were together, which was true. I didn't realize she had figured them out. As for the second, well, Leon hadn't shared anything about it with me. It had been the other way around.

"Interesting, but like Reno and Elliot's relationship, not all that important. Any more than your relationship with Leon is important in the grand scheme of things, though again, perhaps that helped give him a little push," she said with a shrug and then frowned. "Though I do have to wonder what's in the air lately. Used to be that once in a while, you'd sniff out that two guys were enjoying themselves in private and maybe had a relationship of some sort. But three in a year? Odd."

"Maybe it's in the water. I hear it can make frogs gay," I said, arching a brow.

"Cute," she said, only vaguely irritated. "I suppose everything must move in cycles."

"Yes, very gay cycles."

"Ha! Now, there's something that would be amusing to study."

"I would love to see your funding proposal for that."

"It would certainly be a fun meeting," she chuckled, crossing her legs at the knees again. "Garrett would probably piss himself."

"Er…Mr. Isaiah didn't strike me as the type to worry about the affairs of the guys in the program."

"Oh, don't get me wrong, he doesn't. Live and let live. That's his motto, especially if it brings harmless happiness. And he wouldn't be bothered if some of the donors had their feathers ruffled by the proposal. He'd find it hilarious, watching me stand up there trying to justify that."

"I-I feel like you're contemplating that idea a little too much."

"Now, now, even I'm allowed to have a little harmless fun. And trust me, if you had to sit around trying to talk about business and, with an irony that's lost on a few of them, the virtues of compassion and understanding while they talk among themselves and stare at your tits and ass, you'd want to tweak their noses a bit as well."

"Uh, seriously?"

"You wouldn't?"

"No, I meant, people really treat you like that?"

She scoffed. "I'm young and attractive enough, it happens. At least they don't make any stupid comments about me, either to my face or Mr. Isaiah… anymore."

"Anymore?"

"We had a donor who made a comment to Garrett after I left the room."

"Had as in you dropped him as a donor?"

"What? God no. Don't waste good money, even if you're squeezing it from a pig. Garrett decided to share his opinion on the man's views very directly."

"Please tell me he punched him."

"Knocked him out. He looks like a jolly, fat man, but he's got a lot more muscle under there than people think. The only reason he's not out here working with everyone like he used to was he hurt his back quite badly a few years ago from a particularly angry steer."

"Good for him," I said. "As a medical professional, I can't exactly condone injuring another person, but sometimes life has to work itself out the way it needs to."

"Agreed," she said, uncrossing her legs and sliding off the desk. "I'm going to take you off some more clinic hours."

"What?" I asked, startled and taken aback by the sudden shift in the conversation. "Why?"

"Because I said that's what's going to happen," she told me simply. "Having you on shifts with Leon was nice, but I think it's time for you to experience a few of those shifts on your own. I have no doubt the two of you will find time to spend in your respective cabins when the shifts end."

It wasn't like I could say anything against her, it wasn't a suggestion, and she hadn't given a reason that would give me an avenue to argue. This was probably just as much her ranch as it was Mr. Isaiah's after all she'd done, and there was no arguing with the powers that be.

That didn't minimize the surge of paranoia and worry inside me. There was no reason she should come to tell me about changing my schedule, particularly to take me out of the clinic, especially when she was not going to offer reasoning behind the decision. Why go out of her way to say that when a simple change in the scheduling would have told me what I needed to know?

"Fine, I guess," I grunted after a moment. "Not much I can say, is there?"

"No," she said, pulling out her phone. "I already ensured it wouldn't cause a serious issue at the clinic. You'll keep a phone on you that we'll provide, and you"ll get an alert if any emergencies require your help. Drop everything you're doing, perhaps not literally, so we don't have another building incident, and get here ASAP."

I suppose there was some comfort that it wasn't my abilities or lack thereof causing this change. "Fine, but why? Just…did I fuck up?"

"Don't worry that handsome face over the whys and why nots. All you need to worry about is following the new schedule," she said. "As of next week, you'll see some changes, so prepare accordingly."

"Sure," was all I could manage because nothing was left to say. "Anything else?"

"No," she said, walking past me and heading for the main doors. "That covers everything and then some. Honestly, I should have stopped by before."

"Before?" I asked, paranoia tingling again.

"As in sooner than this," she clarified with a smirk. "Talking with you has been more enjoyable than I thought."

"I'll try to take that as a compliment," I told her coolly.

If she noticed my sarcasm, she paid no attention, giving me a little wave before she stepped out into the heat. I saw only a flash of the grimace of displeasure from the afternoon sun glaring into her eyes before the doors closed, blocking her from sight.

I walked over to the tablet she'd been fiddling with and opened it. It hadn't just been the basic supplies she'd been looking at, but other supplies as well. Opening up previously closed tabs, I found she had been looking at the inventory in full. There were sections I couldn't access with my current login, but I had most of the doctor's information to do that if I needed to, especially Dr. Gideon, who was on shift.

With a grimace, I set it back down and ignored the tablet. I didn't know what was going on, but something was. Mona hadn't come here just to check how things with Leon were going or to gossip about relationships. She had told me about the changes to my workload for a reason, but why?

Why?