Total pages in book: 179
Estimated words: 165476 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 827(@200wpm)___ 662(@250wpm)___ 552(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 165476 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 827(@200wpm)___ 662(@250wpm)___ 552(@300wpm)
“Which one?” Ned leaned against the wall opposite from him, in a state of frenzy he couldn’t name.
Cole rolled his shoulder against the wood. “Have you been kissed?”
Ned lowered his gaze and kicked some gravel between their feet. “Told you I’m waiting to marry…”
He could just about discern the whites of Cole’s eyes in the dark, but despite them being such close friends, something unsettled him about this moment, as if he were a rodent unaware of a cat waiting for the right moment to strike. His palms sweated. His throat was tight. And his toes curled when Cole leaned closer.
“What will your bride say when she finds out you don’t know how to do it?” Cole whispered with a rasp.
Ned shrugged and combed back his hair. “What would she say if she knew I kissed every hussy that came my way?”
“That’s what every man does before he marries.”
“I told you I don’t have much interest in it, so why push?” Ned met Cole’s gaze head-on, because this challenge to his manhood was uncalled for.
“Don’t get all testy, Neddie. I just wanna help. There’s tricks to it, you know?” Cole said, resting his forearm against Ned’s shoulder, and as he leaned out of the shadows, the moon veiled his features with its silvery light.
Ned swallowed, watching Cole’s eyes glint like ponds at night. This man was so handsome, so experienced and confident when Ned had just landed a scar on his face. Wouldn’t he need to know all the tricks there were?
“What tricks?”
“They can only be shown,” Cole said, his gaze burning holes in Ned’s chest.
Was… he suggesting what Ned thought he was?
“Flores… If this is mockery, I’ll strangle you with my bare hands…”
Cole’s Adam’s apple bobbed, his lashes fluttered, but then he squeezed Ned’s arm and pressed their lips together.
“First, you do this teasing lick,” Cole whispered and tickled Ned’s bottom lip with his tongue.
Ned melted against the wall behind him, breathless for a moment of mindless shock. Cole’s mouth was scorching hot yet somehow also cool and sweet like the morning breeze, and Ned found himself drifting down the river, with only Cole’s arms to keep him afloat.
And oh, how steady those arms were.
“You gotta show her you mean it,” Cole whispered against Ned’s lips and slid his hand between Ned’s shoulder blades. “And when you see she’s ready for more… you give it to her.” He pressed against Ned with all of his bulk and dragged his nails down Ned’s back, forcing his mouth open to the kiss.
The scratch of stubble wasn’t something Ned imagined he’d ever feel during a kiss, but he didn’t resist and let Cole’s tongue in, overwhelmed by the firm touch. Where he’d envisioned being afraid of breaking some delicate thing one day, once he was ready to marry, he got the touch of hands as strong as his. Cole took the lead, like when they danced, and Ned closed his eyes, drunk on the addictive mouth.
But he was no blushing flower and wanted this as badly as Cole. Needs that had lain dormant, behind the illusion that soft curves and smooth fingers could have stirred Ned’s blood, now rose to the surface, unleashing the reality of what he’d craved all along.
He just hadn’t known. How could he have not known?
Ned mirrored what Cole had done and slid his hand up his muscular back. He took a confident step forward to flatten him against the opposite wall with the force of his need. At the back of his mind, a voice told him he shouldn’t be kissing a man, but Ned ignored it and hugged the pliant body, rubbing his other hand over Cole’s throat, to the stubbly cheek.
Nothing else mattered.
Cole let out a soft whine, which only aggravated Ned’s desire. Something took control of his body and made him align his feet with Cole’s so he could sense all of his long, wiry form. Thighs against thighs. Hips against hips. Chests too, with hearts knocking furiously on both their breast bones as if they couldn’t stand the separation.
Cole got to his toes, rubbing his groin against Ned’s, but he didn’t try to regain the upper hand. He slid his fingers down Ned’s back and squeezed once he reached the buttock while their mouths battled, tasting of whisky, the anxiety of the day, blood, and even the boldness of Cole’s impossible actions.
Ned was ignorant as to what it all meant, but he did know that he wished it wouldn’t stop. No. He wanted more. Harder.
Cole tightened his lips on Ned’s tongue and gave it a brief suck that sent a jolt down Ned’s body, to his prick, which hardened against Cole’s. Their eyes opened at the same time, meeting in the narrow space between two cabins belonging to sleeping miners. In a town, where someone might discover them sharing this illicit moment. He shouldn’t let this go any farther, yet he couldn’t make himself pull away. Like a snowball rolling down the mountain, he’d speed downhill until an outside force stopped him. He didn’t care about the impending crash when here and now felt so good.