“I’ll be back Thursday.”

“I’ll be back Saturday.”

“Two days, then. We’ve been apart two weeks, we can handle two days.” Jack’s voice had lowered, and suddenly Riley was very much back in phone-sex mode. The tone of his husband’s voice, half-growly, half-sleepy, was turning him on.

“Not sure I can handle any more time apart,” Riley said in his best impression of Jack’s voice, all lazy vowels and gruffness.

“Where are you?”

“Laying on the bed. You?”

“Yeah, and staring up at the ceiling.”

Riley shifted in bed and idly cupped his cock. “Are you in sleep pants?”

“Just a towel,” Jack answered immediately. “But I’m taking it off.”

Riley groaned at the thought of Jack alone and naked in a bed hundreds of miles away. “You touching yourself?” He tightened the grip he had on his own cock and moved his hand to a soft, slow rhythm, just enough to quicken his breathing and to make him want more. He could envision Jack’s dark hair, the swirls of it on his chest and the trail that traveled south, and if he closed his eyes, he could imagine the scents and the touch of his lover.

The phone slipped from his hand, and frustrated, he pressed buttons until he was on speakerphone. “I’ve put the phone down,” he said.

“Me too.”

Just those words had Riley arching up into his hand, his eyes tight and his need overwhelming.

“What are you doing?” he asked.

“I have lube for my cock,” Jack said. His voice was lower, if that was even possible. “Riley, talk to me.”

Riley instinctively reached for the drawer and pulled out lube, rushing to squeeze enough on his hands to make a difference. “I want you to fuck me, Jack.”

“Jesus, Riley.”

“I’m pushing my fingers inside. I’m not going slow—I need you inside me now. Two fingers. It burns, Jack, three…”

“Fuck…”

Riley gasped as he stroked his gland gently. He was going to come from this with the thought of Jack inside him. Frantically he pressed inside, the feel not quite Jack, not quite close enough, but when he twisted his fingers and pushed them apart so they stretched him… Now it was his turn to curse. Awkwardly he circled his cock with his other hand and nearly lost his balance.

“I need you here, holding me while you fuck me,” he breathed. “Making me push my hand in, holding me down, Jack…”

“So close, Ri, push deeper for me, I’m inside you, pushing you down, not letting you move… Fuck…”

“Jack… I’m… Jack—” Orgasm burned through Riley like wildfire, the sheer brilliance of the light behind his eyes making him gasp. “I love you…”

At the other end of the phone, Jack was groaning, and then there was absolute silence before a muttered curse. “I love you…”

Riley rolled onto his side, wiping his hand on the towel from his shower, boneless, his mouth only inches from the discarded phone.

“Jack?”

“Fuck, Riley, I broke me.”

Jack sounded so spaced out it made Riley laugh. “That’s my boy,” he teased.

“One thing I know,” Jack began. “I’m going away more often.”

Riley’s chest tightened at the words, even though he knew Jack was joking. More time apart was not something Riley wanted to contemplate. This trip south was going to be one of his last. He was keeping his focus on home and his office. Tom could handle the business trips.

“I miss you,” Riley admitted. “Nothing is the same here, it’s like we’re missing a limb or something.”

“I bet the kids don’t even know I’m gone,” Jack said. His tone was light, and Riley knew his husband didn’t really think that.

“Yeah, right,” Riley countered. “We’re counting down the days.”

“Even the twins?”

Riley nodded, then realized what he’d done. “Even the twins.”

Jack groaned. “I need another shower. It went everywhere.”

“Best remember to tip the cleaner,” Riley quipped.

“Ha freaking ha. I’ll talk to you in the morning.”

“In the morning. Good luck in court, I wish I was there.”

Jack yawned. “I wish you were here too.”

They ended the call, and Riley slumped back on the bed. He really needed to reach over and grab his PJ bottoms or something in case there was an emergency. He wasn’t sure any of his family or friends needed to see him laying naked and boneless on his bed.

If only he could be bothered to move.

Chapter 8

Jack took a seat on the bench of the county courthouse right behind the prosecution, Robbie to his left. In this position he could see through to the witness stand and also had a clear view of the defense, albeit it the backs of their heads as they sat. Hank was already at the table, his head bent and in discussion with his attorney. Jack knew exactly what the man looked like, about five ten, with dark hair and an overwhelming attitude that the world owed him. They’d met each other before, back when the D was ailing, before Jack had pulled the ranch up by its neck and made something of it.

Even then Jack hadn’t gotten a good feeling about the man. Hank had made some crass joke about bloodlines and forgeries, then to add insult to injury, he’d added in more shit about Jack being gay.

Two men came in and sat across the aisle behind the defense and Jack exchanged nods with Vaughn and Darren. They hadn’t spoken face to face since the whole cowboy intimidation scene.

At their arrival, Hank looked around in his seat, and there was pure hate in his eyes and Jack got the full force of it as well. Then the hate dissolved into a focused expression of cunning and superiority. Evidently Hank thought he had the upper hand in this.

Jack and Robbie had left Liam in the hall with Marcus, where he would be until he was called in. He was all dressed up and confident he could do this thing. Hank wouldn’t know what hit him, because Jack had every faith in Liam.

Jack sensed movement to his right and saw Darren push past Vaughn, his expression determined.

He crouched down next to Jack. “How is Liam?”

Jack wasn’t sure what to say; this was Hank’s brother next to him. Yeah but Riley is nothing like his brother was, so don’t judge Darren by his.

“He’s good,” Jack said. He left it at that, not extending the words to anything more revealing.

“I’ve done what I can,” Darren admitted. “I’ve backed up Castille money in so much red tape, I’ve tried to block Hank’s every move.” He stood up from his crouch. “I know how I want this to go.”

Darren glanced at his brother, who was staring at him and Jack with that same hate back in his eyes. Darren turned to leave, but Jack tugged at his sleeve.

“Did you never know?” he asked quietly.

Darren bit his lip and shook his head. “Not until Liam, not until he told me. I was never there, I didn’t want to be there, and the way Hank was with me about me being gay, I never imagined he wanted… that he did… I warned him, thought it was done, I didn’t know he’d done it again. I have to live with that.” Vaughn appeared at Darren’s side, a hand on Darren’s arm, and he focused blue eyes on Jack.

“Everything okay here?” he asked.

Jack released his hold on Darren’s sleeve. “Everything is fine.” Jack recognized a concerned partner when he saw one, from the possessive hold to the subtle leaning back into Vaughn from Darren. Jack shook Vaughn’s hand, but they couldn’t talk because everything started to happen and the two men sat back down. The court was kind of empty, apart from the jury and the officials there were not a lot of people in the seating area. He and Robbie were there for Liam, but who was there for the other three boys?

Was there anyone there at all? Maybe they were in the corridor with their charges? Although Jack hadn’t seen anyone, just three young men sitting on separate benches in various levels of dress: one in jeans that looked smart but had seen better days, another in a suit that looked two sizes too small for him, the other with his back to everyone in a subdued designer suit. And Jack knew designer now; after all, he lived with Riley.