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Aiden kissed the smug smile pulling at the corner of Seth's mouth, whispering mischievously, "You realize what this means, right?"
"What's that?" Seth murmured against his lips.
Aiden grinned, slipping one finger beneath the collar of Seth's shirt to stroke his collarbone. He leaned in close, his breath warm against the shell of Seth's ear, and whispered in a low, suggestive voice, "We've got the house to ourselves."
Seth's expression softened, and he crooked one eyebrow. "What exactly did you have in mind?" he asked, eyes gleaming with interest.
"You get the food," Aiden said, tilting his head toward the kitchen, and then he nodded toward the cold grate of the fireplace. "I'll build the fire. How about we have a little fireside picnic, and then afterward, you can see if the carpet matches the drapes on my new dye job."
Chapter Twenty-Two
AIDEN
Aiden stood at the kitchen window, breath fogging the glass as fresh snow covered the pasture. A hush had fallen over the Double Jay, and the world seemed to be holding its breath. Snow muffled the normal waking sounds of the ranch, leaving a serene, almost magical silence in its wake.
Aiden's body ached with fatigue, but he couldn't sleep; he'd woken the moment Seth slipped out of bed without him. Usually, Aiden prided himself on pitching in whenever he spent the night, but he couldn't force his weary bones out into the cold this morning.
The past few weeks had been an endless blur of early mornings and late nights. Days were filled with his usual grueling work at the Triple M, spiced up with the extra side jobs he'd taken to pay for Seth’s saddle and the shingle installation his mother had already scheduled. Whenever he had a few spare hours strung together, he headed up the mountain and crawled into Seth's bed. He didn't knock or wake anyone; he just wanted to listen to Seth breathe. He shucked his clothes into a pile on the bedroom floor and lifted the corner of the patchwork quilt, shimmying across the mattress as cautiously as possible so no trapped body heat escaped.
Seth’s heavy arm draping over his waist soothed him. He'd felt like a helium balloon most of his life, seconds away from floating off into the atmosphere. Seth was his anchor, settling him, grounding him, and providing a sense of security Aiden had never felt. He didn't need to rely solely on himself anymore. It was a strange feeling.
Mornings at the Double Jay were usually a flurry of activity as they hacked through the backlog of work that had piled up. Winter was usually downtime on farms and ranches, but not for them. They might not have their hands full breeding, calving, and pasture seeding, but they had enough repairs and maintenance to keep them busy for a full year or more. Whatever free time Aiden had was spent at Seth's side, replacing broken troughs, insulating water pipes, repairing equipment, and fixing fences. So many fences; they'd already gone through two shipments of wire. Old Gus had warmed considerably to Seth when he saw how much business he brought the shop.
It felt different than working for a paycheck. They were building a life—together. The sweat and blood they poured into the Double Jay was its own reward. Aiden didn't like to think about how silent it had been for Seth, up here all alone, when even Tessa had gone off to school and left him. But it wasn't quiet anymore; Aiden made sure of that. He brought laughter into Seth's life, and Seth gave him a sense of home.
Aiden turned away from the window and took in the ramshackle farmhouse kitchen with a sense of fondness. The wooden table was scarred by decades of hard use, surrounded by mismatched chairs that favored practicality over style. The walls were cluttered with aged paintings and decorations from bygone generations that Aiden knew the siblings held onto from sheer nostalgia. Both of them hated at least a few of the geegaws, but they would never take them down.
A photo of Seth's father hung above the door, framed by a curving pair of antlers. He stood, tall and proud, beside a prize bull, looking so much like his son that a knot of emotion swelled in Aiden's throat whenever he studied it for too long. He could almost hear David's gruff voice and smell the sweet, pungent scent of tobacco that clung to him wherever he went. For Seth's sake, Aiden desperately wanted to believe the heart attack, so shortly after they'd been forced to declare bankruptcy, was just bad timing. After all, the man had eaten nothing but eggs, bacon, and steak for four decades. But sometimes, he wondered. If they hadn't hemorrhaged money after losing the herd and his stress was reduced, David may have had a chance. The heart attack might have happened regardless, but it could have happened later, in town, closer to emergency services. Maybe Seth wouldn't have been forced to fill his father's boots so young. They could never be sure, but Aiden knew it nagged at Seth and probably always would.
He was just pouring his first cup of coffee when the kitchen door clicked behind him, and a moment later, Seth’s arms circled him like a steel band.
"Careful," Aiden cautioned, licking away the coffee droplets that spilled over his mug's rim. "Don't make me spill. Caffeine is the only way I'm getting through the day."
"It's freezing out there," Seth murmured, slipping his frozen hands under Aiden's t-shirt and stroking his belly. He rested his chin on Aiden's shoulder and pressed a chilled kiss to the side of Aiden's neck. "Give me a sip," he coaxed.
Aiden chuckled and leaned into the embrace, ignoring his goosebumps and breathing in the scent of snow that clung to Seth's shirt and hair. Seth's solid chest easily absorbed his weight, and the steady beat of his heart flickered at Aiden's back between their layers of cotton.
"Here," he said, tilting the mug at a precarious angle so Seth could slurp it over his shoulder. He enjoyed this view of Seth, so close he could see the pores in his skin or count the individual pricks of stubble along his jaw. "Why didn't you wake me up?" he asked.
Seth finished his sip and licked his lips. "I figured you'd earned it with how late I kept you up last night."
"I bet you never factored in the good side of Tessa finding herself a boyfriend," Aiden teased. "Now that she's spending so much time in town, you've got full use of that rug in front of the fireplace."
"Mm." Seth nibbled at his earlobe. "We ended up mostly off the rug if I remember correctly. We should try again. It looked mighty soft."
"Now?" Aiden asked with a thrilling zing of pleasure. "I thought we were going to tackle the fences by the river today?"
"Later," Seth whispered, tugging down the collar on Aiden's t-shirt and trailing his lips over his exposed collarbone. "There's a lot to catch up on around here, but the most important part is sex. Lots and lots of sex. My sex tank was running on empty for so long, it's going to take months of dedicated work to refill it."
"Months?" Aiden asked, tilting his head to beckon Seth's mouth to the spot that drove him wild.
"Years," Seth amended. His hands were busy at the snap of Aiden's jeans. He thrust his hand inside and cupped Aiden's swelling cock. "A lifetime."
Aiden groaned, hips jerking involuntarily into the pressure of Seth's firm hand. The rough edge of his callused palm sliding against Aiden's sensitive shaft was so good, so right, it was nearly too much to bear. He grabbed Seth's bicep with one hand for support as he set down his cup, coffee sloshing over the lip of the mug and onto the counter.
"I guess we better make up for lost time, huh?" Aiden managed to grunt out between ragged breaths.
"That's the plan, cowboy." Seth chuckled, flicking his tongue over Aiden's sensitive earlobe.
