Leon

"Move!" I snapped as I pushed a couple of guys out of the way. Thankfully, the double doors to the clinic opened quickly, and I barreled into the lobby, my head darting around to find a familiar and welcoming face.

Instead, I was met with a sea of faces, all staring back at me with varying levels of blankness, curiosity, and worry. None of which helped in the slightest as I searched for the face that would undoubtedly look the calmest and give me answers. The exact thing I needed while my heart threatened to hammer its way out of my chest and might make it easier to breathe.

"Move," I snapped again as I pushed through the crowd, and unbelievably, many of them did. A few stared at me in confusion, but they were easy enough to get past.

"Leon," a familiar but not comforting voice called, and I whipped around to find Mona standing near the hallway leading to the exam rooms. It wasn't who I was looking for, but she would do for the moment.

I darted over to her immediately. "Where are they? What's going on? Are they okay?"

"Breathe for a moment," she told me calmly, which only infuriated me further.

"Do not tell me to breathe," I snapped. "I just found out Reno and Elliot got attacked by…someone last night while they were out longer than they were supposed to be. So tell me what the fuck is going on and if they're okay."

"Leon," she insisted, her eyes looking over my shoulders. I had no idea what she was trying to tell me other than to get me to calm down, which was not happening.

"Don't!"

"Leon," a new, deeper voice interrupted, and I felt hands on my shoulders squeeze, not roughly, but hard enough to get my attention. I glanced over my shoulder to find Max behind me, his face somber as he leaned closer. "C'mon, let's do this in another room."

"I…" Glancing between them, I looked at the rest of the people in the room. Every set of eyes was locked on the three of us, and I realized why Mona had been trying to calm me down. I was drawing attention to myself and making a spectacle as I let panic and fear get the better of me. "Fine. Sure."

They led me into the hallway through the first open door, and Max closed it behind us. It was him I looked at. "What are you doing here?"

"What? I'm not allowed to be concerned when I hear that two of our guys got hurt on a basic sheep-finding mission?" he asked wryly.

"You've never given a shit before, until it was Riley that got hurt," I said, ignoring the low whistle Mona gave at my words and harsh tone.

Max, however, shrugged. "Maybe I've learned a few things from Riley, like giving a shit about people. Maybe I like the two of them and wanted to be here for them. Maybe I knew you'd be here, and believe it or not, I've always been kind of fond of you."

"Or maybe," Mona added with a knowing glance toward Max. "You knew your boyfriend would be pissed if you didn't check on Elliot and Reno because he was pretty fond of them."

"Riley doesn't do pissed," I said and then thought about it for a moment. "Does he?"

Max chuckled, looking pleased for some reason. "Oh, trust me, he does. And he's got a mean punch too."

That was surprising enough to take me out of the moment of fear and anxiety as I stared at him. "I…Riley hit you?"

"Hit me, threw me to the ground, and threatened worse."

"S-seriously?"

"Yeah."

"Why do you sound happy about that?"

"Because apparently, he has a kink about boyfriends being able to give him the business when he messes up badly enough," Mona quipped, making me raise a brow at her and Max roll his eyes.

"I deserved it," Max said simply, which, to be fair, in his mind, it probably had been deserved. I couldn't picture a time I would need to put a hand on Reed like that.

"Was that before or after you guys, uh?—"

"Before."

"Oh. Okay, that's better, I guess."

"It's not about better or worse. It is what it is."

"Getting a boyfriend has really made you more Zen."

"From what I've seen, Reno is experiencing the same thing."

I hesitated, glancing at Mona and seeing no surprise on her face, only amusement. "Wow, they, uh, haven't been keeping secrets."

"Neither have you," Max said with a snort. "You and Reed spend way too much of your after-hours together to be anything but obvious."

"Great," I said. Then, the moment of distraction fizzled out, and I turned toward Mona. "What happened?"

"I don't have all the details yet," she said with a light shrug. "Your boyfriend informed me I would have to wait until they'd been given the all-clear before I could interrogate them."

"His words or yours?"

"His, of course."

"Of course."

"Other than that, I was told their wounds appear to be minor. But there's something off about Elliot."

My eyes widened. "What?"

"I don't know," she said with a sigh. "But from what we can tell, they ran foul of some drug runners, and things, unsurprisingly, went sideways fast. They managed to get out with few injuries. Of the group, we have one in custody that they carried back on one of the horses."

"Jesus," I said, rubbing my face and trying to get my thoughts in order. "But they're not like…they're okay."

"Physically, it seems that way, but we'll have to wait until we get the all-clear," she told me. Despite her calm tone, I could feel the undercurrent of something sparking and jumping in her head. We hadn't had issues with the drug runners that occasionally crossed the area in quite a while. The last one had been before Reed and I had come to the ranch, and that hadn't resulted in more than a jump scare and the other ranches banding together to make sure their presence was known, chasing off any runners in the area.

"Fuck," I repeated, holding my hand to my chest and forcing a deep breath. "That's…that's just great. I mean, great because they're alive and not fucked up, but…shit."

"It could have happened to any guys who went out there," Max said, surprising me by clocking what was going through my head. "You volunteering them was a good thing, don't go kicking yourself over it."

It felt easy for him to say, he hadn't made a decision that had got one of his charges hurt. The incident with Riley and the donkey had been an accident, and other than Reno hitting Riley that one time, Riley had never been in serious danger because of Max's choices. However, I was the reason the two of them were out there in the first place.

"I thought the reports all said things were clear," I snapped at Mona, who didn't bat an eye. "If I had known they were in that much danger?—"

"They weren't," she told me calmly. "As far as we knew, there was some elevated activity, which you knew, but nothing close to our or the neighboring ranches. We should have known there would be trouble before there was, but nothing alerted me to any threats."

"Are you sure?"

"I'm more than willing to let you review the reports to decide for yourself."

"I…" Stopping there, I stared at her in surprise. "Seriously?"

"Seriously."

That was…odd, to say the least. The reports she received weren't casually shared, especially with people still in the program. Sure, I was coming up on graduating, but it was still something I shouldn't be able to see. Just what was Mona doing?

"I'll take you up on that after I get things sorted," I grunted.

"Alright," she said, but if she had anything else to say, it was cut off when the door opened. Reed entered, looking between the three of us, mildly surprised when he saw Max. He didn't close the door behind him.

"Okay, so the two of them will be fine—just bumps and bruises, a few cuts. They fought for their lives and managed to get out. Reno got the worst of it, but all he'll need is to take it easy for a few days."

"So, they're okay?" I asked, the relief beginning to flood in at his words. It wasn't just because the man was a professional and knew what he was talking about. This was Reed. I couldn't think of one thing I wouldn't trust him on, and that went double for his patients.

"We're going to keep them overnight," Reed explained, giving me a small smile. "But unless we missed something, they'll be fine."

"I'll make sure they have the few days they need," Mona said. "And it's important I hear what happened to them out there."

"Ah, hell no," I said, glaring toward her. "You're not going to start drilling them after they just got back. I'm going to talk to them first, you hear me?"

She raised a brow. "Oh? It's my job to ensure the ranch"s safety and security."

"And it's my job to ensure they're taken care of," I huffed. "They deserve to rest and maybe have a friendly face before going through whatever happened out there."

"Are you doing this because of that or because you feel guilty that you're the reason they were out there?"

"Mona," Max warned, but Reed growled.

"If I'm responsible for this, then so are you," I snapped, jabbing a finger in her direction. "You've been constantly pushing me to stand up for myself and my ideas, and that's what I did. And I'm doing that right the fuck now because they don't need you in there grilling them. I'm their mentor, the one who needs to keep an eye on them, and that's what I'm going to do. Reed?"

"Yes?"

"Are they in the same room?"

"Not at the moment."

"Is it alright if they are?"

"I can arrange it. Reno should probably be resting completely, but Elliot is…physically okay."

"What does that mean?"

"It means that something happened out there that's really…I don't know. He's quiet, and…talk to him and find out."

"Fine, Max?"

"What's up?"

"Can you chase the onlookers out of the waiting room? They're not getting answers anytime soon and just clogging the whole place with their nosiness. I'd do it, but I'd probably end up biting someone's head off.

"But me doing it is completely on brand," he finished with a chuckle. "Sure, I haven't had the chance to bark at someone in a while. Almost makes me miss Riley."

"Yeah, because you don't totally miss your boyfriend," I snorted. The two men left the room with an exchanged glance, closing the door behind them.

"Leon," Mona began, but I cut her off before she could get into whatever protest or chew out she was preparing.

"Look. They were attacked, and clearly something is wrong with Elliot," I said, feeling an uncomfortable twist in my gut. "And if it's enough to make Elliot act weird, weird for him anyway, then maybe having the woman who scares the shit out of him in the room isn't what he needs right now."

"I need their account to be as fresh as possible," Mona said, surprising me with her calmness.

"If you're willing to trust me with the ranch reports, then you should be willing to trust me to take their account of the whole thing down as accurately as possible. These are my guys, Mona. Maybe you're right, maybe this is guilt pushing me, but I also know that's the right thing for them now. By the way, that was the bitchiest thing you could have said to me, not cool."

Once again, she surprised me, this time by laughing. "It was, but you don't get, keep, and excel at this job by being nice. And for what it's worth, you were right. If you're responsible for this, then so am I."

"I guess it's a good thing Max stepped in and said it wasn't my fault, which means it's not yours."

"Yes, very convenient for both of us. Of course, he would be grumpy if he found out he was also letting me off the hook."

"I'm sure he would."

Mona pulled out her phone and began tapping. "Well, if you're hellbent on being the one that talks to them, then I don't have a reason to argue with you."

"That would be a first."

"Don't push it."

"You're only having this candid conversation with me because we're alone, aren't you?"

"Of course," she said with a smirk. "I'm going to need you to either take notes while you talk to them or remember the details of what they say. You think you can do that?"

"Believe it or not, I've always been good at remembering things people say," I said with a shrug. "Came in handy when I was younger."

"Alright, I'm trusting you to do this," she said. "I'll follow up with them in a few days, though."

"That's fine. I just don't?—"

"I know what you don't want, Leon, and I'm not blaming you. Perhaps they don't need me in the room while they recount their story. And having a familiar face around will help. I'm trusting your instincts as I have with everything else I've let happen, and I suspect it will have the same results."

The door opened, and Reed stepped in. "I've got Elliot with Reno, and Max is currently chewing out the people who thought they were slick and would wait around to sneak back in."

Mona chuckled as she made for the door. "You certainly put the right man on the job. No one's getting past him."

"And he'll enjoy himself," I said, thinking that was the other reason I'd asked him to do the clearing out, well, and because I'd wanted to talk to Mona alone for a moment.

"I'll let him have his fun. It's been a few weeks since he last saw Riley, and I'm sure he's…pent up," she chuckled. "I expect to see you in my office after you talk to them."

"Understood," I said, waiting until she left the room before turning to Reed. "Thank you."

He smiled, reaching up to place a hand on my neck. "Watching you give Mona all that was impressive."

"You say impressive like you'd say sexy."

"That was the connotation, yes."

I managed a smile finally, leaning in to kiss him. The kiss was the final requirement for what his presence had already started, calming me down. After all that near panic and worry, it was nice to have a moment to take a deep breath and simply enjoy myself.

"Thank you."

"You already said that."

I laughed softly, touching my forehead to his and holding him there. "I meant for being you, not necessarily for anything else."

"Well, aren't we feeling sweet?"

"Don't expect it to last. I'm just relieved they're okay. And I'm using you to calm down so I don't get them riled up when I go in there."

"You can use me anytime."

"Pervert," I said, knowing he was trying to make me laugh again and succeeding. "I can't trust you to behave."

"You know me," he said, kissing me quickly. "They're in room six. Normally, I'd have to tell Elliot to be calm and let Reno rest, but he just walked in there, sat on the edge of Reno's bed, and didn't say much."

"Christ, what happened out there?"

"I…it's better if you just go talk to them."

"Sure," I said, bracing myself before letting go of him and stepping into the hallway. It was quiet compared to the sea of murmuring I had walked into earlier. I walked down to the last door on the left and let myself in after a soft knock. Elliot was still sitting on the side of Reno's bed, their hands darting away from each other.

"Don't worry," I told them softly, closing the door. "I've known about the two of you for a while. Hold hands if you want."

To my surprise, Reno didn't hesitate to reach out and take hold of Elliot's hand. I wasn't the only one, it seemed, as surprise flickered briefly over Elliot's face, but that didn't stop him from squeezing Reno's hand in return with a soft smile.

"I know it's a stupid question, but how are you guys feeling?" I asked, leaning against one of the nearby counters and watching them carefully.

"Like shit," Elliot muttered, looking up at me. "We had a long night."

"I suspect you're putting it mildly," I said, arching a brow and watching their reactions. Reed had been right. There was a barrier between Elliot and the rest of the world. So far, the only person who seemed to be included was Reno, which made sense. They obviously cared greatly for one another and had gone through the same nightmare.

"The guy we brought back with us," Reno began slowly, pulling his eyes reluctantly from Elliot. "What happened to him?"

"Uh, truth be told, I'm not sure. But there were police at the ranch when I heard what happened," I admitted. "Undoubtedly, they're going to roll him out of here. Though from what I overheard as I passed, they'll need to take a pit stop by the hospital first."

Reno snorted. "Good. Hopefully, I knocked something into place for him, prick."

"Look," I said, looking down at my feet. "Before I ask you what happened, I need to say I'm sorry."

"For what?" Reno asked, sounding confused.

"I was the one who offered up you guys to go out there, just the two of you. If I waited or double-checked to make sure things were completely safe, or hell, had other guys go out with you, it might not have gone?—"

"Oh, fuck me," Reno groaned. "Stop. All you've done is try to give us both a chance to do something with ourselves other than fuck up. And we both know sending us out there, especially just the two of us, happened because of you. Because you trusted us. Shit happens, and then we deal with the fucked-up shit afterward."

Elliot finally smiled. "Isn't he great at delivering heartfelt, uplifting speeches?"

I glanced between them and snorted. "He's got a gift."

"And he's not wrong. We're here in all the right ways because of you, Leon. So just ask us questions," Elliot said, looking down at the floor. "I'd like to get this done so I can forget about it as soon as possible."

"Alright, I'll try to make this as painless as possible," I said, opening one of the drawers and pulling out a pad of paper and a pen. Even if I did have a damn good memory, I didn't want to risk missing anything, just in case. "Take it from the beginning. I"m listening."

* * *

"Quit,"I muttered to him, knowing even if he heard me over the din of the dinner crowd, he wouldn't listen.

"What's up?" he asked louder than I did, giving an excellent facsimile of innocence as he popped a french fry into his mouth. "Oh, sorry about your foot. Didn't realize you'd spread out like that."

From across the table, Dane snorted. "Tell me about it. I'm always getting kicked and nudged. They really should make these tables bigger."

"Yeah," I said dryly, face going stiff as I felt Reed move again.

I almost wished it was a case of Reed accidentally stepping on my foot or kicking my shin. We were pressed up against one another so tightly his shoulder had to be slightly under my arm, freeing up only one of our arms to eat while the other hand rested wherever it could, much like everyone else who was crammed into the hall to celebrate the graduation of one of the Tier Ones out of the program.

Instead of simply putting up with it, Reed took advantage of the situation. Because of how everyone was positioned, no one would notice his hand was not awkwardly bent to rest on his lap. Instead, it was between my legs, unmoving except for his fingers, which were steadily stroking me.

At first, I had almost been able to ignore it since it was only my inner thighs, and he wasn't being too persistent. As the meal went on, though, I had become much more aware of what he was doing. With awareness came arousal, and with arousal, his fingers found something else to play with, which encouraged him further. For the past twenty minutes, he had been stroking up and down my shaft, which was giving me more mental and emotional pleasure than physical, which made it worse.

I leaned in close. "You are beyond the worst. I hope you know that."

"I know," he said with a laugh. "But you know, there are ways to take care of things."

"Sure, just let me get it out right here, right now."

"Now, that would be interesting."

"Quit it!"

"There are other places."

"I'm not getting up with a hard-on, and we're not able to do what I want to do…after all this."

"Really?" he asked lightly, reaching into his pocket and pulling out a familiar tube.

My eyes wanted to widen, but I kept them narrow as I grunted. I knew damn well he was trying to coerce me to leave the table and find somewhere we could be alone. It wouldn't be hard to find a private place nearby, as the entire collection of convicts and staff was in the dining hall for the celebration. And the evil bastard had made sure we wouldn't have to go out of our way for supplies by bringing some with him.

I desperately didn't want him to know he was tempting me beyond the point of reason because, well, I knew Reed. If he thought he had more hooks in me, he would keep tugging until I was unable to resist. And a Reed who knew he was irresistible was an incorrigible, difficult man. The smugness alone could fill the entire dining hall, and worst of all, I'd find it hot.

"What are you two gossiping about over there?" Dane asked, a note of suspicion in his voice. "Or plotting for later."

"Boy, I wonder," the guy on his immediate right snorted, leaning over to grab a drink.

"Shut it, Dillon," Dane told him with a sidelong glance and a frown. "Better to get your feet wet before you start making jokes about people who've been here longer than you."

The conversation made me want to sigh, mostly at how badly Reed and I had kept things quiet. If someone like Dillon, fresh to the ranch two weeks ago, had picked up that something was going on between us, then we were doomed to keep our privacy. That only meant plenty of other people had also picked up on what was happening. The upside was everyone was keeping their mouth shut, which was odd.

"I don't plot," Reed said, tossing his napkin onto his plate. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to dump this off and see how Rip's doing."

"Something wrong with Rip?" Dane asked in confusion.

"Just the product of being on his feet in an enclosed space for hours," Reed said, and I knew that was as much as he was going to tell.

"That was vague," Dillon grunted, clearly not taking the hint Dane had given him as Reed disappeared from the table.

"He's a doctor," I said with a raised brow. "Doctor-patient confidentiality is a thing."

"Yeah, but he's, like, one of us, so he's not really a doctor."

"Yes, thank you for pointing out that sore spot after he left."

"Uh, is it a secret?"

"God, it's like having another Elliot," I muttered, glancing at Dane. "Glad he's with you."

Dane glared at Dillon. "Just because he's no longer a practicing medical doctor doesn't mean he wasn't. And he sure as shit didn't go through all those years of training, school, and working his ass off to have someone wave it away just because he's here. He's still got principles, and he sticks to them."

"Alright, alright," Dillon said, holding up his hands. "I was just asking."

"Learn how to ask shit before you ask it," I told him, not unkindly. "And for the record, the last thing you want to do is get on the bad side of certain people around here."

"Like you?"

"Mmm, your mentor, for one. And Reed is another. The ‘real' doctors in the clinic respect him, and if you get on his bad side, you're looking at trouble."

Dillon looked doubtfully between us, but I could see some of what we were saying was getting through. With a huff, he went back to his meal, growing quieter as he examined his plate. I hadn't been far off the mark when I'd compared him to Elliot. He might be as impulsive, but he still struck me as sharper around the edges, far less personable than Elliot. When Elliot wasn't getting on someone's nerves, that was.

"And don't worry too much if someone checks you," I finally told Dillon. I glanced toward the kitchen and watched Reed step out, looking around the hall. His eyes met mine momentarily before walking into the hallway toward the Big House's large foyer. "Being here takes some getting used to, but unlike where you came from, making a mistake isn't as big a deal here."

"You're allowed to learn from your screw-ups without paying severely," Dane said, pushing his empty plate away.

"Exactly," I said, reaching out to take his plate. "I'm going to see if there's any dessert worth taking. Interested?"

"I'll wait till it comes out in full later," Dane said with a chuckle, patting his stomach.

"Here's hoping I don't miss out on something good," I said with a wistful sigh, pushing up from the table and taking Dane and I's empty plates. The room was crowded enough that it took me a few minutes to reach the station to drop off the plates.

I'd known from the moment Reed got up that I would follow whatever plan he was concocting. The thing with Reed was he was generally well-behaved except when his dick got involved. Honestly, I didn't know if that had been true for the other guys he'd been involved with. Still, I knew all too well when he got a dirty idea in his head, he was going to follow through, with me usually following along with some grumbling but eagerness as well.

Which was why I didn't bother pretending to look over the desserts. Dane was going to be occupied trying to talk to Dillon, both still in the early stages of mentor and mentee, but I knew Dane would work hard to establish a rapport. In the meantime, I found myself wandering the path Reed had quietly left behind when he'd exited the dining hall.

The deafening noise of the dining hall followed me into the hallway, which was empty. As I walked, the noise grew dimmer, and I half expected Reed to spring out from one of the hallway doors, but nothing came of it. Guessing he'd probably slipped out through the front doors, I entered the foyer, my feet briefly echoing on the hardwood as I walked toward the double doors.

I was only a few feet from them when, from behind a pillar, Reed appeared, grabbing me by the wrist and pulling me toward him. My eyes widened in surprise, but I went willingly, snorting as he pulled me behind the pillar, his back pressing against the wood.

"Well, hi there, stranger," he purred, stroking a finger down my chest to my upper stomach. "Wondered when you were going to detach yourself and come see what I was up to."

"I know what you're up to," I snorted. My dick had grown soft enough to get up from the dining table without making a display of myself, but that was quickly remedying itself as he pulled me against his body. "Or at least I think I do. Please tell me you aren't trying to tempt me right here."

"I might be a little."

"You're joking."

He grabbed my wrist and pulled it down so my hand pushed against his groin. My fingers closed around the bulge, and I could feel how hard he was. "Does it feel like I'm joking?"

"No, no, it does not," I said hoarsely, my mouth going dry as rational thought trickled out of my brain.

"Thought so," he said, letting go of my wrist and undoing the button to his jeans. I pulled my hand away as he undid the zipper. He took hold of my hand again and pushed his underwear down enough to pull himself out and slide his erection into my hands. "We still have time before people wander off, looking for alone time or bed."

Oh ho, this was a bad, bad, stupid idea that was guaranteed to get us caught if the slightest thing went wrong. That realization wasn't enough to stop me from dropping to my knees, ignoring the hard wooden floor. The pillar was wide enough to block us from view if someone came from the dining hall, and hopefully, they'd make enough noise entering the foyer that we could avoid them…or play off what was happening.

Yeah, right.

I immediately took him into my mouth and felt his hand slide through my hair with a tight grip. We might have time to ourselves before anyone else was likely to show up, but the risk of getting caught was an excellent way to speed things along. I wasted no time wetting his shaft before I took him all the way to the base, letting his cock throb in my throat as he gave a soft moan of pleasure.

"I'll never get tired of this sight," he said in a low voice as I pulled back, only to take him deep again. "God, you're good at this."

I was never going to admit it to him, but I was noticing his praise sometimes got me as aroused as other things he did. If the dirty bastard learned I was getting a praise kink, he would never stop finding ways to use it to encourage me every day and as a means of turning me on.

The real challenge was to blow him without making a noise that would echo down the hallway. Yet the more I heard him moan as I sucked him as deeply as possible, the more difficult it became to keep control. Eventually, I was bobbing so rapidly the wet noises of suction were growing louder and louder. Even better, I could feel him growing harder, his muscles tightening as he neared the?—

"Woah there," he said with a shaky laugh, pulling me off and making me grunt in annoyance. "I want you to fuck me."

"No way I'm fucking you here," I told him. "I have more sense than that, at least."

His brow arched. "And who said I planned right here?"

"Then where?"

He stuffed himself back into his pants but didn't bother buttoning them. "C'mon."

Oh God, I was going to follow him into his next terrible idea, and we both knew it. I honestly didn't know what the punishment for fucking in the Big House was, but I'd bet Mona would take a dim view of it. Sexual relationships between guys at the ranch were pretty much an open secret, but we were expected to be at least subtle and careful. Apparently, Reed had decided to take that concept and throw it out the window in pursuit of his hormones.

He walked down the hallway opposite the one leading to the dining hall and led me into a room. It looked like another office, except it didn't look like it had seen a person save for the cleaner. There were no decorations on the wall, no files sitting around, and there wasn't even a computer. It was an empty husk, awaiting the day someone might have a use for it.

"Desk?" he asked as I closed the door.

"Oh, desk, definitely," I said after assessing the height of said desk and realizing it was just right to fuck him without having to hunch over and risk pulling something.

Reed grinned, and I watched with wide eyes. He didn't hesitate to hook his thumbs into the waistband of his underwear and jeans, pulling them down to his ankles. A little amused, I also watched as he managed to undo one boot and kick it off, pulling that leg free of his underwear and jeans but leaving them hanging on the ankle of his other leg.

"Now there's a sight," I said with a low laugh because he did look a little ridiculous.

"Alright, how's this for a sight?" he asked, facing the desk and bending over to brace himself. If he intended to shut me up so I was distracted by the sight of his deliciously round ass on display, then he succeeded with flying colors.

"That…there's a sight," I repeated stupidly as I approached him, running a hand over one side and down his bare thigh. I was hard enough to ache, and I pulled myself free from the tight confines of my pants, letting my cock dangle in front of me.

Sliding up to him, I picked my cock up enough to slide it between his ass cheeks, making him turn to look at me. The smirk from before was absent as he watched me intently, a new expression of arousal in his eyes as I finally had his attention instead of the other way around. I had successfully planted the idea of being inside him, taking it from his teasing and turning it into inevitability.

I had to bend down to grab the lube he'd left in his pants in his haste to remove them. His eyes didn't leave me as I opened it, letting some drizzle onto my other hand before closing it and setting it on the desk. The office was isolated, and the walls and doors were thick and built well, so we had enough time to screw around at our leisure, yet I knew the possibility of being caught was still there, tantalizing me.

I sucked in my bottom lip as I slipped two fingers into the tight heat of his ass, drawing out a low, needy groan from him. Twisting my fingers as they slid inside, I smirked and felt a thrill roll through me as he bowed his head with a low gasp that choked off when my fingers curled, immediately finding the nerves that made his dick jerk in reflex.

"I know it's going to come back on me, but boy, do I love when the tables turn," I said in a low voice, now using my fingers to fuck him, loosening him up and intensifying the pleasure he was feeling.

Even if we could take our time, I didn't want to. The feeling of him around my fingers quickly filled my thoughts, and I could only withstand temptation for so long. With the lube in hand, I covered my cock as quickly and efficiently as I could before setting the head at his hole and gripping his hips.

Entering him wasn't nearly as difficult as it had been initially. I still had to grind myself forward to feel the grip of him sliding down my shaft. His head dropped with a low groan as we reached the halfway point between pain and pleasure. I could have taken it easier on him, but he wanted this, and I was more than happy to give it to him.

Bottoming out drew a low groan from both of us as I waited, letting him adjust to all of me inside him. It was always a test of my will when we found ourselves in this position, me inside him and forced to wait so I didn't hurt him badly. I was in as far as I could get, but I was forced to stay still, forced to wait until he adjusted to me before I could do anything.

Then he gave the cue, the subtle restlessness of his body moving on the desk as he waited for me to do something. I didn't need to wait until he started demanding to push myself back into him. It was in the slow thrusts where I could savor every feeling of him around me, the moments before I needed to remind myself that there was a time limit before someone noticed our absence.

I watched his hands claw the desk when my next thrust went from head to base in one steady push. As soon as I was as deep as possible, I heard him groan, pushing his ass back. That was enough to shred my self-control, and I began earnestly working him over.

As separated as we were from where everyone was gathered, and with a great deal of faith in the thick walls, I didn't fret over the sound of my hips meeting his ass. All that mattered was the feel of him wrapped around me, pulling me into him with every thrust. It was in his low noises, gentle and quiet but full of the pleasure I was giving both of us. It spurned me on to get myself as deep as possible with each thrust, working up the speed and the power.

"Happy with yourself?" I asked as I picked up the pace, now thrusting even harder, jerking his body with each stop against his ass.

"Fuck yes, I am," he said, his voice filled with tight pride, clearly pleased with himself for riling me up.

Which probably served the exact purpose he was looking for, making me go even harder. We were past the point where I had to worry about hurting him when he was finally warmed up and stretched, and I leaned forward to grab his shoulder as leverage. With that newfound grip, I was able to start pummeling, pulling him back into my thrusts and hearing his groans become stuttering cries.

I didn't care how much noise we were making or how I was diminishing my stamina. All I could focus on was the intensity of the pleasure, the sheer delight in his noises, and the sight of his bare ass taking my cock with each heavy thrust. It was too much for me, and with a low grunt, I shoved my entire dick inside him and poured as deep as possible. My fingers gripped his hips fiercely as I came hard, bowing over him with a gasp as my strength wavered, my vision growing cloudy.

When I finally regained my senses, I was left hovering over him, pulling out slowly. I snorted when I realized that, at some point, he had left a mess on the desk. The only option we had to clean up what he'd left behind was our underwear.

"You didn't have to use yours," he said with a snort as we dressed and adjusted ourselves so it didn't look like…well, like we'd found an unused office to fuck in.

"Uh, I'm not the one with a load up their ass at the moment," I told him, kissing his temple as we prepared to leave. "Better you wear underwear in case of any, uh, leakage. God, that sounds so unsexy compared to how much fun it is to think about my load actually up there."

He chuckled, nuzzling against me. "And I'm sure you'll find a way to recover from being momentarily grossed out while you think about leaving your mark inside me for the rest of the night."

"True," I said, grabbing the door handle. "Ready?"

"Sure, your place or mine tonight?"

"Mmm, mine. We might as well keep up the pretense that we don't know everyone already knows we're together."

"I think that ship has sailed, but fine, fine, you have your fun."

"If I keep thinking about what we did just now, I'll probably be up for even more fun later."

"Promises, promises."

"We'll see."

"That we will"

* * *

It waslate and we were so close our arms kept brushing against one another's. It wasn't the first time we'd walked back to one of our cabins when it was late enough to be silent, save for the distant sounds of the animals. I didn't know what it was about goats and sheep, but they clearly didn't adhere to the rule that darkness meant sleep.

The air was cool enough to require long sleeves, and we had to use moonlight to navigate effectively. I had never figured out if the minimal outdoor lighting after ten was to save on energy costs or dissuade people from wandering around at night unsupervised when they were supposed to be in their cabins. Either way, it made for a nice, quiet walk as we passed the darkened buildings, with everyone probably in bed, considering it was nearly midnight.

"You know, we bitch about the weather most of the year," Reed said, breaking the silence we'd kept between us without acknowledging it. "But once winter rolls around, it's actually really nice here."

"That's one way of putting it," I said, wishing I'd brought a jacket. The desert could be treacherous at night during the colder months. We could only get away with not wearing coats because the buildings trapped some of the heat close to the ground and blocked the wind from the plains.

He glanced over at me. "What? Not a fan?"

"I don't know if I'd say that," I told him with a shrug. "But I just…you know what I've never seen? Snow. I know it's a lot colder up north, but sometimes I think it'd be nice to have to worry about freezing your ass half the year and then the other half be more bearable. You can only remove so many clothes before getting arrested, but you can always add more layers."

"You wouldn't get arrested if you did it in private," he said, walking up to one of the pasture fences and leaning on it, looking out over the empty field. "Which I wouldn't argue with. I enjoy watching your bits and bobs jiggle all over the place."

I snorted, leaning on the fence next to him. "You're lucky we have curtains in our cabins. Otherwise, you wouldn't catch me risking walking around nude for long."

"Afraid someone's going to see?"

"I'm not exactly one to show off."

"I know. Even though you could have gotten away with it, and no one would have questioned it, you were always private. It was something I always loved about you, the quiet sort of…I don't know, dignity?"

"Or I don't like people staring at my dick. Unless it's you."

"Noted, and I'm glad."

Our ‘secret' was already out, and it wasn't like anyone was around, so I allowed myself to lean into him, enjoying the warmth of his body. "And I do so love to make you happy."

"Mmm, you do," he said, ruining my joke by agreeing and laying his hand on my arm as we stood there. "And you know, it's kind of funny?—"

"What is?" I asked after he didn't finish his thought.

"This place is just…I understand it's supposed to be, but it feels like its own little world. An isolated place with its own politics, social structure, rules, locked away from the rest of the world."

"Well, yeah, prison is like that too."

"Mmm, don't remind me. My point was that sometimes it's easy to forget about the rest of the world or that there even is a rest of the world. I mean, how often do you hear people talk about what they will do when they leave here?"

I thought about it for a moment and shrugged. "Compared to when I was behind bars? Not very much, actually. Sometimes, that was all people talked about in prison. At least the ones who only had a few years, the long-termers, well, I think they knew better than to talk about something that was ten years away."

"True, hard to talk about your future when it's so far off," he agreed. "Which just proves my point. People get comfortable here. They get settled. You start to think of this place as the world. Sometimes, I can't tell if that's a good or bad thing."

"A little of both," I said with a shrug. "There's stuff to help guys once they leave, though. Stuff to help them get back into the rest of the world with fewer problems than just being thrown out of prison and told good luck."

"I know," he said, looking up at the twinkling lights above us. "And I'm glad they have that. But sometimes, it almost feels like time is suspended. Like it's not just the future that doesn't exist, but the past too."

I knew exactly what he meant. The past was persistent and found ways to bubble into the present, but it was harder in this place. In prison, I'd found myself constantly thinking about the past, about how badly I fucked up, what I'd been screwed on from the start, and what I had lost.

At the ranch, though, my attention was focused on things that felt more important. The work, of course, kept us busy, and felt genuinely productive, like we were doing something more significant. But there were the events, getting to know people, and in the past year or so, being a mentor had taken a lot of my attention. It was harder to think about the past when your mind was focused on everything in your immediate vicinity.

And then there was Reed, who should have been a blatant reminder of the past but instead was another distraction that kept me afloat. There was a past between us, mostly sweet but trailing off into bitter, but that became less important the more we got to know each other in the present.

"We really do seem to be stuck in some bubble," I admitted.

He nodded. "It's like…I was surprised you had never seen snow, even though I knew from when we were friends and dating you'd never gone far from Houston. And from what few things you've said about the years after, you didn't go further than that."

"I didn't," I admitted. "It was my brothers who went exploring. I mean, I was stuck there while I was taking care of Ian and Ray. I suppose when I moved out and got my own place, moving them with me, I could have taken them anywhere else, but I didn't want to move them from what they knew, from the city they knew best. All their friends were there, and I just…maybe things would have gone differently for all of us if I had."

"Leon—"

"No, it's true. It probably would have gone differently. I could have found some other place, maybe a house in a town somewhere, that would have charged as much or less than the shitty apartment I got. Somewhere, you didn't have to memorize who you had to watch out for, those who could be scared off, and those who were harmless. Where hearing people beat the shit out of each other, their partners, their kids, wasn't considered normal, and seeing cops on your street looking ready for war wasn't your average Tuesday. Somewhere to live where you actually wanted to talk to your neighbors. A place where sitting outside your place wasn't considered a way to get harassed, stabbed, or robbed by some junkie or lowlife looking for quick cash from other desperate poor people. Somewhere…else."

I expected Reed to protest and tell me I was wrong, but instead, he turned to face me, smiling a little. "Alright, when you think about having done that instead, what do you see in your head?"

"I mean, Ian might not have fallen in love so early and wanted to get married, but there would have been others. Maybe a nice small-town girl who made him laugh and took care of him. Ray could have lived where he didn't feel like he had to be on guard all the time and could let others besides Ian into his heart. And I could have finally breathed, knowing I didn't constantly have to watch every little thing. That we were living somewhere peaceful, safer than that shitty neighborhood. Hell, I might have made actual friends, felt like part of the community if we're being cheesy. Then we wouldn't have been where our childhoods were tainted from the start and followed us forever…or for as long as we lived anyway. Maybe I wouldn't have spiraled as hard when Ian died, or maybe he wouldn't have died at all unless there really is some fucked up clock attached to us, and no matter what, we go when we're supposed to. I could have been in a better place. I could have been a better friend to you and myself. Instead, I?—"

He gripped my arm and gave it another squeeze. "What?"

I sighed, shaking my head. "It's not nearly as interesting as some of the stories around here. Truth is, I spiraled hard after our last conversation years ago. Took me a year to go from booze and pot to pills and then heroin." I saw the grimace on his face. "I said it wasn't interesting, not that it was pretty."

"No," he said quickly, flashing what I thought was supposed to be a reassuring smile. "That wasn't. I'm not upset. If anything, I'm just…it hurts to hear. I always wondered if drugs had come into play, but I didn't think it was important to ask."

"Why?"

"Because you're here. Because you're not that person anymore. And if you felt you needed to tell me, you would. Otherwise, I thought it was important you do things how you wanted."

"It's not that big a deal," I said with a shrug. "Common enough story. Shitty childhood, not that great an adulthood, shitty thing happens, and you turn to shit that makes it all…well. Heroin made it go away. For the first time in my life, it felt like all the awful things I'd gone through didn't matter."

It was impossible to describe to someone who hadn't lived through what I had, especially someone who had never done hard drugs. The high hadn't been some ecstatic, mind-blowing experience. It had simply been peace. When the drugs hit my bloodstream, it was like they had flown in, taken hold of all the horrible things inside me, and simply carried them away. Of course, it always made sure to drop it like a bombing raid when the heroin began to wear off, leaving me worse off than before.

"But as you know, with all drugs, you get addicted, you do it more, and you start getting desperate. You need more because you need it to keep feeling like you were while on it. More became more and," I let out another sigh, "I started doing stupid shit. Doing ‘favors' for people, and no, not sexual ones or hurting people, well, not hurting them more than I was hurting myself anyway."

"You became a mule."

"Sometimes I forget you're more savvy than your average well-to-do kid from the good side of town."

He laughed. "Well, I had this ruffian best friend who became my boyfriend. I learned some things from his life. Terrible influence."

"He sounds like it," I grinned. "But I'm sure working in an ER didn't leave your ignorance intact."

"That is very true," he snorted. "I've probably seen things that would leave even you confused and bothered."

"I don't doubt it. No matter how low you think people will go, they'll always go lower. I thought I'd hit bottom, and then I decided to take a risk I'd said I would never take."

"Robbery?"

"Thank God no. I just started carrying more stuff than I normally would. It meant a bigger payoff, and that meant more shit for me to shove into my body. It was a stupid risk I swore I'd never do, and lo and behold, I got busted the first time I did it."

"Oof, that much?"

"Enough to get my ass thrown in prison and for a good long while too," I said with a snort. "There wasn't a whole lot I could do to fight it. They were bringing about that whole ‘tough on drugs' thing they love to do every few years. I just happened to have the honor of being one of the first people to get sacrificed on the altar of the mayor, proving he was doing something. Useless sack of shit."

"I think that's true of most politicians. Did you do anything to get a lesser sentence?"

"If you mean sell people out, hell no. I don't give a flaming shit about their lives, but I still valued mine. Plus, Ray may not want anything to do with me, but I'm still…I know he still loves me."

"He has a funny way of showing it."

"Yeah, well, even if I tried to shield him as much as possible, he still went through a lot as a kid. And everyone deals with that shit differently. He saw the path I was taking after Ian died and didn't want to witness it. I can't blame him."

"That's alright, I will."

I rolled my eyes but laid my head on his shoulder. "My faithful protector. What would I do without you?"

"Probably live a life of quiet misery as you spent your days wondering what you were missing all this time. Never quite understanding what was wrong but dealing with it in that soft, stoic way you handle so much of your life," he said in a wistful voice.

I snorted harshly, giving him a hard push. "Jesus, shut up."

He caught himself on the fence before he teetered over, yanking himself closer and pinning me. "And I? I would wonder what my life was missing, just like I did those years not hearing from you, hoping you were alive, hoping you were well. Hoping so many things and wishing I could be right beside you to go through them with you."

My shoulders dropped, and I nodded. "I know, I fucked up pretty bad."

"You made mistakes, I made mistakes. That's why we're both here."

"I think we're here not because we fucked up but because they believe we have the chance to fix those fuck ups and do something better with ourselves."

"Then that's what we should do, for ourselves," he said, taking my hand and entwining our fingers, "and for each other."

"Would it help if I promised I won't do that again, cut you out like that?"

"Mmm, you know, I think it might. Maybe after tonight, we can start looking toward our future, let the past stay where it is, and we can enjoy the present at the same time."

"I think I can get down with that," I said, wrapping my arm through his and pulling him close. "And speaking of the future, I'm picturing a very interesting end to our night. And then a nice relaxing morning before our shift tomorrow starts."

"Ooh, any other predictions for the future?"

"You know, I'm not quite sure yet."

"Anything good?"

I smiled even as I felt an odd chill go down my spine, loop around, and then curl uncomfortably in my gut. "Overall, good feelings to be had."

"Now that's my kind of psychic reading."

"Good, let's find out if I'm right about tonight."

"I have a feeling you are."