Chapter Nine
Jeb was acutely aware of every movement Gill made following along behind him. Never, before in his life, had Jeb felt such an awareness for another man. He found his eyes constantly drawn to Gill at camp. He couldn’t take his eyes off of him and the way he moved, spoke, watched everything around him with a predatory sharpness that didn’t match the good nature of his voice or attitude toward the gang.
Jeb wanted to know more about this man. He wanted to taste more of what he had tasted beside the river that morning. He wanted to lick, touch and nip at every inch of Gill’s dark skin and feel Gill learning his taste in return.
He wanted to bury his cock deep inside Gill’s ass and hear the other man whimpering with pleasure…..
“Where exactly are we going?” Gill questioned, drawing Jeb out of the erotic daydreams he’d become lost in.
Jeb glanced around and realized he led them to a grove of maples and large boulders. They were a good quarter mile from the camp and safe from ears and eyes that didn’t need to see or hear what went on between them.
“Here’s good,” Jeb replied and without giving Gill time to react he rounded on the other man, took his face in his hands and crushed their lips together.
At first Gill stiffened against him but then the man became putty in Jeb’s hands. His body submitted to Jeb’s and pressed long against him. Gill’s full lips parted and Jeb plundered his mouth with his tongue, loving the way that Gill’s battled and warred with his for dominance and space. He could taste the blood from the punch that Gill had taken for Wyatt--for Jeb’s friend--a man Gill hardly knew. Jeb’s respect for the man grew.
Jeb felt his own legs get weak when Gill shoved off his hat and buried his hands in Jeb’s thick dark blond hair. Delicious sparks of pain shot through him as his fingers tugged at the strands.
Damnation!
Gill’s cock was hard and pressing against Jeb’s thigh. Jeb wanted the barriers gone. He wanted to see the beauty that would no doubt be Gill’s bare flesh. Jeb raised his hand to the buttons of Gill’s vest and Gill pulled away quickly.
His chocolate brown eyes were nearly black with passion, his breathing was labored and his lips were abused and raw from Jeb’s kisses. Jeb frowned. “Get back over here,” he ordered. “I wasn’t nearly done with you yet.”
“I can’t…” Gill gasped, shaking his head and seemed confused. “I can’t do this.”
“Do what?” Jeb asked, his voice low and smooth. “Fuck a man who wants you screaming with pleasure underneath him?”
Jeb saw the lust light up Gill’s eyes at his words but still Gill didn’t come any closer. “I don’t…” he frowned. “No one knows… If they found out…”
Jeb sighed. Obviously Gill hid the fact that he wanted men instead of women. “It’ll be our little secret, Gilliam,” he promised. “But surely Pete knows the man he’s running with.”
Gill shook his head and sat down on a boulder a few feet away. “No, he doesn’t. I never have told him.”
A heart to heart wasn’t exactly what Jeb had had in mind upon stealing Gill away from the camp but he could tell the man needed to talk so he leaned against the trunk of a thick maple and crossed his arms over his chest. “He’s your best friend, Gill. You should probably tell him. It would be good for you, I think.”
Gill frowned. “What made you so sure I wasn’t with Pete if you could tell so quickly that I wanted men?”
Jeb chuckled. “You don’t look at Pete the way you’ve been looking at me. That and Pete seems awful friendly with Jane and I hardly think that would sit well with a man like you if the two of you were together.”
Jeb stalked forward and saw Gill tense upon the rock. He let his gaze linger on Gill’s abused mouth and clicked his tongue. “I think you’d be a man who would want his man to have only him. To have a tongue that tasted only his skin, lips that tasted only his kiss and a cock that knew only his warm ass.” Jeb let his gaze raise to meet’s Gill’s eyes which were so full of want and need the man seemed to be in pain. “Am I right?”
Gill was trembling as he sat there for several long moments and then finally he nodded. “Yeah… yeah, you’re right.”
Jeb grinned and dropped to his knees. Without a word he pushed Gill back a little so the man was leaned back on the rock and resting on his elbows. He undid Gill’s gun belt and tossed it aside. Next he undid the button of Gill’s pants and the man’s thick, dark cock sprang out of the long underwear beneath as if it had been waiting for him to free it.
“Jeb…” Gill seemed unsure and Jeb smiled up at him.
“Trust me, Gill.”
Gill acted as if he was going to protest further so Jeb ensured those protests died on his lips by gripping Gill’s cock in his hand and stroking his thumb gently over the tip, spreading the droplet of liquid that had gathered there.
Gill threw his head back and let out a harsh curse. Jeb took that as a good sign to continue and he swooped down and took Gill’s entire cock into his mouth.
***
Gill had never felt pleasure like this in his life. He hadn’t ever been with a man despite knowing that he wanted them. He’d been too afraid to cross that boundary--too afraid of being caught and possibly killed over who he was.
Jeb’s mouth and hand seemed to know exactly what to do to have Gill squirming and whimpering with pleasure. He buried his hands in Jeb’s blond hair as his hips pumped in time with the outlaw’s mouth.
Gill shouldn’t be doing this! He was going to turn on these people! He was going to cause each and every one of them to sit in a jail cell or swing from a rope…..
The tightening in his sac had him forgetting all about the reasons why he shouldn’t let Jeb this close. Gill’s hips pumped harder and when Jeb growled low in his throat and those vibrations hit Gill’s cock it was the last bit of pleasure that Gill could stand and he practically exploded in Jeb’s mouth as the man’s name left his lips with a string of curses.
Gill’s vision went blurry and his heart felt as if it was going to burst right from his chest. He lay back on that rock for several long moments simply allowing the earth to stop spinning and give himself a moment to recover.
Before Gill had time to fully catch his breath, he felt Jeb’s fingers, slick with his juices and with Jeb’s saliva, begin to massage between his ass cheeks. Gill bit his lip and fought the urge to run. He was unsure about what he was doing--had no idea what to expect--and yet Jeb had done nothing but give him pleasure so far.. He might as well let the man finish what he had started.
“Look at me, Gill,” Jeb’s voice was smooth like honey and Gill found that he had to listen. It was a strange feeling for him. He had always been a very independent and dominant person but with Jeb he found himself wanting to obey every command the man gave.
Gill opened his eyes and met Jeb’s gaze. He saw the passion and the hunter in those green eyes and it fueled his own desire. He bit his lip, suddenly wanting to feel Jeb kissing him once again and it was as if Jeb read his mind.
He rose up and the kiss was hungry, yes, but also tender and caressing. Gill lost himself in that kiss and therefore was shocked when two of Jeb’s fingers suddenly slid inside him. He cried out against Jeb’s lips with pain and Jeb shushed him softly.
“Trust me, Gill. You’ll be whimpering with pleasure again soon enough.”
Gill swallowed hard and nodded. Jeb moved his mouth to Gill’s neck and found that exact spot he’d found at the river just that morning. The spot that turned Gill into a mindless, mass of nothing but lust.
Jeb’s fingers hooked inside Gill and hit a spot that caused a jolt of pleasure to course through him. He clung to Jeb, his fingers digging into his back and Jeb chuckled. “I believe I found a good spot.”
“Hell fire… What the devil are you doing to me?” Gill whispered as Jeb hit that spot again and again.
Jeb met his gaze and held it. “Making you mine, Gilliam Tomlinson. I’m making you mine.”
Gill wanted to rebel against that statement, and probably would have, had a gunshot not suddenly echoed through the woods from the direction of camp.
Both men leapt to their feet as if they were the ones who’d been shot and Gill quickly did up his pants as Jeb fished his gun belt from the grass and tossed it to him.
Jeb pulled Gill into another hard kiss and laid his forehead against his. “We’ll finish this later,” he vowed.
Another gunshot sounded and Gill hoped and prayed that it didn’t mean that Pete had been found out and the outlaws were currently making him pay for his deception.
Without another word, both men took off running back toward camp and whatever trouble was waiting there.
Gill’s worry that Pete was in trouble vanished when they came barreling into camp only to find that Pete and Willie were apparently having a contest to see who was not only fastest, but also fanciest, with a revolver. Gill couldn’t help but smile at his best friend’s antics. Pete was damn good with any kind of rifle you gave him but a gunslinger he was not--and it was clear that Willie was.
Before Gill could speak, Jeb was storming forward with clenched fists. “What the hell do you think you’re doing!?” he demanded. Willie and Pete quickly turned toward him and holstered their weapons as they shifted their feet awkwardly and appeared quite sheepish.
“It wasn’t nothin’,” Willie assured him. “We were just having a friendly competition that’s all.”
Craig laughed. “Tryin’ to prove who’s the better man to win Jane’s heart is more like it.”
Billy grumbled,” The soup tonight is just for that red-haired, gap-toothed show off and our own dear gaucho wearin’ flashy Billy. I’m putting something a little special in it,” he warned as he pointed the wooden spoon in his hand toward both men.
Gill let his gaze go to Jane who was sitting beside her tent, sharpening her knife. “Daddy, don’t you worry about it none,” she assured him. “I’m not a prize to be won and any man who treats me like I am don’t stand a chance.”
Pete and Willie both swallowed hard and looked down at their feet. “Sorry, ma’am,” they muttered in unison.
Gill glanced at Jeb and saw that his jaw was tense and a muscle was jumping beneath the stubble. “Do not ever start firing shots and worry me like that again.”
Craig shrugged, “Sorry, big brother. We figured you’d be a bit uh… preoccupied.. And you wouldn’t hear it.”
Gill’s eyes widened at the pointed remark and he suddenly realized that they knew. They knew what Jeb was and therefore would know exactly why he’d wanted privacy with Gill. Shame colored Gill’s face and he turned to take cover in his tent for a while only to be stopped by Jeb when the man grabbed his arm. “Where do you think you’re going?” Jeb demanded.
Gill yanked his arm away, “Wherever the hell I want.” He quickly made his escape, desperate to be away from those knowing gazes before his best friend realized what he was and turned his back on him forever.
***
Jeb watched Gill leave and wondered what was wrong with the other man. When Pete quickly excused himself and went chasing after his best friend, Jeb realized what the problem was.
Everyone in the gang knew about Jeb’s attractions and therefore they would know why he had taken Gill into the woods alone and they would know that Gill was the same kind of man he was….. And Gill hadn’t been honest yet with his own friend about such things.
Jeb sighed. Gill would just have to let his friend know and let it ride. He was fairly sure Pete wouldn’t care--they seemed to genuinely love one another as brother’s, just the same as Jeb and the men in his gang did.
Craig was grinning as he walked over and put his arm around Jeb’s shoulders, “Did you have fun?”
“Would have had more fun if we hadn’t come chasing after gunshots.”
“And now you’re having a lover’s quarrel?” Willie grinned.
Jeb rolled his eyes. “Gill doesn’t want people to know so can you all at least pretend to be clueless and mind your own business?”
Craig and Willie shared a look but it was Wyatt who laughed silently and shook his head. “No, we can’t.” he mouthed and Jeb sighed.
“Yeah, that’s what I thought.”
Jeb walked away from his friends and went to his tent to cool off a little. He was frustrated as hell after getting so close to having Gill only to be interrupted. Gill’s taste still filled his mouth and he smiled.
He’d have another chance at the man. Whether Gilliam Tomlinson realized it or not, Jeb had claimed him and he was his.