AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Aiden closed his eyes and made like a statue. Emboldened, Seth brushed his thumb over the edge of his bottom lip, testing the softness and finding only rough cracks from the cold.
Aiden cracked one eye, looking surprised, and then both eyes shot wide open. He searched Seth's face, looking surprised, and Seth returned his gaze unflinchingly. Nothing could come of it, but there was no point hiding how he felt after the kiss they'd shared. How he'd always felt. For a moment, they just stared at each other. The world outside the truck faded away in a whirl of frost and snow, leaving only the warmth of their shared breath in the confined space.
Seth's fingers drifted, brushing over the sharp line of Aiden's jaw before cupping his cheek. It felt rough, as if he'd forgotten to shave, and his skin flinched beneath Seth's palm. Seth began to draw away, but Aiden grabbed him by the shirtfront and hauled him in to seal their mouths.
The shock of his warm, lush mouth was torture. Seth couldn't help but kiss him back for a moment, drinking him in until reason reasserted itself. He groaned, fisted a hand in the hair at the back of Aiden's neck, and yanked their mouths apart.
"We're not doing this again," he said, licking the taste of mint off his lips.
Aiden's breath was short and rabbity, and his pupils were blown wide. "You started it," he said breathlessly. "You wouldn't have kissed me last night if you didn't want me."
"Doesn't matter what I want," Seth said roughly. He meant it, but he was forced to clench the steering wheel in both hands to keep from reaching out. He'd always known touching Aiden even once would be a mistake. He craved him now. His fingers itched with the need to feel his skin.
"Of course, it matters," Aiden protested. "It's the only thing that matters. Do you drive to Boise for your dates too? Just like your saddle? You've got needs. I've got 'em, too. I haven't fucked around with a man in a long time, but?—"
Seth lunged across the seat and covered his mouth with his hand. "Shut up," he whispered, tracking the hard swallow in Aiden's throat and wishing he could touch it with his lips. "Just…shut up."
Of course, that was one thing Aiden could never do.
"It'd just be a bit of fun," Aiden protested, twisting his head to slip his mouth free of Seth's palm. "No harm in that between a couple of old buddies, right?"
Seth leaned back in his seat and shook his head, so tempted that it felt like his heart was twisting into a painful knot. He felt like a kid with his nose pressed against the glass of a candy shop. It hurt to have the thing he'd always hungered for being offered on a platter and to know he could never help himself. It would be a disaster for them both.
"It's a bad idea," he said flatly.
"Yeah, so?" Aiden grinned, trying to lighten the mood like always. "I'm full of bad ideas, you know that. That's what you're here for—to protect me from the consequences of my own actions."
That was all the confirmation Seth needed that he was making the right decision. His desire cooled so quickly that Aiden might as well have dumped him in the snow.
"You still haven't grown up," he said with an incredulous laugh, wiping the sticky film of Aiden's chapstick from his lips with the back of his wrist.
Aiden sat back hard in his seat, looking like he'd been slapped. "What the fuck is that supposed to mean?" he demanded.
"It means you jump headfirst every time an idea flies into that fool head of yours! You never even think how it'll impact everyone around you."
"Jesus, you sound like my mother," Aiden muttered. His wind-bright cheeks had drained of color, leaving the sleepless hollows beneath his eyes more pronounced. "I've never once asked anyone for a damn thing!"
"You don't have to," Seth said with a snort. "Just give 'em that big, blue-eyed stare, and you've got folks eating out of the palm of your hand. You roped me into that goddamn stupid competition, you had West practically creaming himself to rush down here to pick you up?—"
"I never asked to get picked up! Walking never hurt anybody." Aiden reached for the door handle, but Seth shifted into gear and hit the gas, speeding sharply back onto the open highway.
"Don't be stupid," Seth said through clenched teeth, furious at the taste of mint still in his mouth. "I promised I'd drop you off at work."
"Yeah? Well, you can go fuck yourself and that high horse you rode in on." Aiden waited for a beat, but when Seth didn't slow down, he shrugged and flung the door open anyway.
"Jesus Christ!" Seth grabbed him by the back of the shirt just as he began to roll out. He slammed the brakes so hard they both went flying into the dashboard. The tires squealed and the truck rocked, skidding sideways along the frozen asphalt before coming to a stop mere inches from a snow-filled ditch. The stench of burning rubber filled the air.
"What the fuck is wrong with you!" Aiden roared, clapping a hand over his nose and checking for blood.
Seth was too furious to speak. His mouth was dry, and his hands shook as he slammed the truck into park and lunged across the truck cab. He shoved Aiden back in his seat with one arm and held him there.
"Ow! What?—"
"Shut up." There was something awful in Seth's voice. Something violent.
He reached into his glovebox and pulled out a roll of silver duct tape, ripping the edge free with his teeth. Aiden's eyes got huge, and he began to struggle, but Seth just threw one leg over his thighs and pinned him down. He started with Aiden's shoulders just below the neck, winding the tape around his body and the seat, trapping his arms inside a sticky prison. Aiden kicked and bucked his hips, flailing like an unbroken pony, but he was no match for Seth's superior bulk. He pressed Aiden's hips down into the seat with his own knee.
"Ouch! Watch where you're sticking that knee, you rat bastard!" Aiden gnashed his teeth and lunged forward as if planning to bite him, but the tape around his shoulders brought him up short. He cursed. "What the hell do you think you're doing?"
