Adam downed the rest of his whiskey. “Your loss, but this won’t go down well with the other families,” Adam said with a shrug.

“I’m sorry, gentlemen,” Jack said abruptly and stood up. He indicated Riley should stand. “My husband and I have some making up for lost time to do.” Then, leaning back down to Bill and Adam, he added in a lower tone, “He really needs to fuck his aggression out before he shoots you both.” He didn’t elaborate, but Adam frowned and Bill’s mouth fell open. “Dinner’s on us,” he said.

Riley didn’t argue, just let himself be led hand in hand through the restaurant. Jack talked to the maître d’. Then he guided Riley to a seat behind some palms and told him to sit before disappearing for five minutes. When he came back, he offered his hand again, and together they went directly to the elevator. Jack pressed the button for PH and slid a room card into the card reader.

“We have a room?” Riley said. He was still in shock; that had to be the reason for this. And the penthouse? At this hotel? Fuck, Jack couldn’t afford this kind of shit, and he knew it, and Jack knew it, and what about the kids? They hadn’t been due home until ten anyway, but if they stayed here… He shifted his weight to his good leg.

“You can’t do that,” Jack said sternly. “You need to be using your leg now. You heard the doctor.”

Riley blinked. “We have a room?” he repeated.

“On your credit card, oil man,” Jack said. “The kids are good, Carol is there, she has Robbie on speed dial, and the extra security you placed out there is at full capacity. We’re going up to this damn seven-thousand-a-night suite, and we are fucking each other until we can wash our heads of that crap at dinner and what happened in Nuevo León and the spreadsheets, and we are goddamn connecting.” By this time the elevator had stopped and Jack was right up in his space with his hands on Riley’s biceps, curling into the muscle and gripping tight.

Riley felt dizzy with it, the control and the lust and the anger and the temper and all the other crap that circled in his brain. Was there anything Jack hadn’t taken care of?

The doors slid open to the private lobby for the suites. Jack dragged him out of the elevator and to one of the three doors off the landing, and in seconds they were inside the room. Riley had never stayed there before, and just stepping inside this place, this point of absolute luxury, had him stopping dead at the threshold.

“Riley, get your ass inside.”

Jack moved to the windows and appeared to be checking out the view of a neon-lit Dallas, but then he depressed a button and every single blind turned until the view of the night was blocked.

Riley still didn’t move, like there was a brick wall or something and the brick wall was called decadence. He didn’t do this anymore. Think of all the kids he could feed for the money it cost for one night—

Jack tugged him in, and he stumbled forward, not getting his feet steady under him as Jack closed the door behind them.

“We can’t,” Riley insisted.

“One night, Riley. You, me, a bed, and nothing between us. No drama or secrets or trials or kidnappings or you in tears in my arms.”

Riley felt shame wash over him. Jack was right; he always was. Nothing about Jack/Riley had been smooth for the past few months, always something getting in their way. They hadn’t even been out to the barn since God knows when. And yes, Riley had cried in Jack’s arms.

“The room,” Riley protested.

“Is an early birthday present to you,” Jack said. “Even if it is on your credit card.”

“Yours,” Riley insisted. “It’s not my money, it’s our money.”

Jack grimaced. “Our money, then,” he said, even though Riley knew Jack was having none of that. Stubborn idiot. “Get in the shower.”

Jack stalked through a far door, then came out just as fast to go in another door. Riley would have laughed at Jack’s muttering about how many bedrooms did one hotel room need. Only it wasn’t funny. Something here between them was deadly serious.

Riley heard the sound of water and swallowed when a completely naked Jack appeared at the door. There was absolute perfection in his cowboy; toned and tanned and solid as a mountain, Jack had a dusting of hair on his chest that Riley loved to touch, two cinnamon nipples that Riley wanted to tug and taste, and the happy trail down to a beautiful cock. Perfect. Just at the sight, Riley was harder than he’d been in a long time. Why didn’t they do this at home? Why didn’t Jack get all toppy and loud and demanding?

Because we have kids, because I’m tired all the time.

“In. Now,” Jack ordered. Riley pulled off his suit jacket, his shirt, and tie, toed off socks and pants and finally his boxers until he was as completely nude as Jack was. Then he joined Jack in the space-age shower room that had a whole beautiful room with a bench, double showerheads, dials and switches for rain and mist and fuck knew what else.

Jack closed the door to the room behind them and pulled Riley under the water. Riley relaxed as the water hit his shoulders, just the right temperature, not too hot. They stood in a close embrace in the waterfall of it all and held tight.

“Sorry,” Riley offered in a small voice.

Jack sighed and hugged him tighter. “What for?”

“For those idiots downstairs and their crap. I’d forgotten what assholes they were.”

“You never need to apologize for people that are too much like your brother was. They’re nothing to me.” Jack stepped back and with a gentle shove had Riley with his knees back to the bench area. In shock Riley sat down, and Jack nodded approvingly.

“Rest your leg,” he said with a smile. Then he dropped to his knees, using Riley as a support, and nudged Riley’s knees apart. “Too long,” he said as he closed his fist around Riley’s erection and moved it slowly from tip to base and back, all the while looking into Riley’s eyes.

“Sorry—”

“If you say that again…” Jack warned with a sharp tug. He didn’t specify what the punishment was, but Riley squirmed in his hold. Jack bent to pay attention to Riley’s cock, and the touch of Jack’s tongue was like coming home. Jack knew every inch of him; from that very first messy blow job in the car years ago to this moment, Jack had learned what made Riley close to coming in minutes.

Jack was right. It had been too long for the two of them together. Since the kidnapping, the atmosphere between them had been a little awkward, and that was putting it nicely. There had been messy frotting, a couple blow jobs, but nothing that lasted long, and the connection was loose and uncoordinated. Jack slid a hand behind Riley’s balls, and Riley instinctively edged forward on the seat, allowing access and glorying in the firm touch of Jack’s fingers searching and pressing and fuck… He was so close.

“Jack…” he said a little helplessly.

Jack released the suction on Riley’s cock and sat back in a crouch. “I want to make love to you,” he said over the noise of the running water. “Later.”

He dipped his head again to Riley’s cock, and Riley lasted maybe three seconds before he was arching up into Jack’s mouth, pushing into him and coming hard. Jack licked and sucked until Riley was too sensitive, then scrambled to stand, his cock erect and just at the right height.

“Suck me,” he said with a strained tone. Riley took exactly what he was offered and swallowed him whole, relishing the weight of Jack and how he was being pressed against the wall. He had nowhere to go; Jack controlled the whole thing, and Riley was merely along for the ride. Riley placed both hands on Jack’s firm ass, digging and kneading the muscles as Jack used him.

Jack had his own hands pressed against the tiles and was staring down at Riley with such intensity, his gaze fixed and focused. Only when he was coming did he close his eyes and curse as Riley swallowed his spend.