“Love you. Jack!” He shot hard, hips bucking and shouting Jack’s name to the sky.
Jack grunted, stilling for a moment before he started to move, harder and faster, fucking him like a madman.
He nodded as if Jack would know what that meant and held his ground, giving Jack something to hold onto. He found enough air so that Jack could hear him moan. All he could see was stars and all he could feel was the love of his life. Everything was perfect.
And when Jack pushed in deep and added his moan to the stars, it just got better.
He loved the way Jack held onto him as they breathed in the cool night air. “Love you, baby.”
“Love. Fuck, that was hot. Gonna love on you every inch of our property.”
“Everywhere. And this one isn’t even ours.” He turned and leaned back against the porch rail, pulling Jack close and resting against him. He wanted to curl up with Jack and stay there. “Can we grab a blanket and sit out here a while?”
“We can. I’ll grab our sandwiches and all too.” Jack leaned in for a kiss. “Clear night tonight. Makes a man feel swallowed up by it.”
“Didn’t I just swallow you up?” He gave Jack his kiss. “You’re right though. The sky is just endless.”
“Yeah. This is God’s country.” Jack kissed the end of his nose. “I’ll be right back with blanket and food.”
He tugged up his jeans, hugged his arms around himself, and looked back up at the stars. “Welcome home,” he whispered.
The words disappeared into the darkness, but when Jack came and wrapped him up, holding him close, he swore he could hear them echo back.
21
Jack spent the entire afternoon moving and settling the horses after busting his ass cleaning all morning. The barn was in better shape than he’d feared, bones-wise, but damn.
Damn, the filth.
He was thirsty. He was hungry. He was sweaty and stinky and hot and miserable. Trudging up to the house, his feet felt like they were surrounded in cement.
Hopefully, Hudson was having a less exhausting day than he was.
He climbed the front porch steps but stopped short at the closed front door where a sign in Hudson’s handwriting read, “Nope. Go around back.”
“Nope?” His eyebrows climbed up his face. “Nope?”
This had better have a beer attached to it.
Sure enough, on the back porch was a hose, a laundry basket with some clean clothes, a towel, and a cooler.
“Cooler. Oh, okay. I might keep you.” He needed an outdoor shower out here. He stomped out of his muck boots before stripping down. The water from the hose was cold enough that he barked out a sharp cry, but damn, it felt good.
The back slider opened up, and Hudson leaned in the doorway. “I scrubbed the entire downstairs, including the floors. Wait until you see the hardwood. It’s gorgeous.”
“Yeah? Cool.” He kept rinsing until the water ran clear of mud. “The whole downstairs, huh?”
Hudson nodded. “Yes. The floors, the mantel, the windowsills, doorframes, all the molding… and no, the kitchen tile doesn’t look any better when it’s clean.”
“No?” He started drying off, his heartbeat starting to slow. “I was cleaning the barn. We got supper plans?”
He was starving.
“We do. I roasted chicken, mashed some potatoes, and made a big salad. Did you find your beer, baby?” Hudson took the hose from him, traded it for the towel and shut the water off.
“Wow. The oven works good enough for making chicken?” He wrapped the towel around his waist and grabbed his beer.
“Yeah, it’s ugly as hell and ancient, but it heats up well. I changed my shirt; sorry if I’m a little ripe.” Hudson pulled him into the house and closed the slider. “We need an outdoor shower, a hot tub, and a grill.”