Long Tall Drink by L. C. Chase Page A

would come out too hot. He was too riled to keep his words in check. Dammit , he needed to get out of there.
    “Be home for dinner?”
    “Don’t think so.”
    Dot nodded. She picked up her glass of lemonade from the companion table and rose from the chair.
    “It’ll get better when you boys accept what’s right in front of you.” She smiled and left the room, leaving Ray to stew in his warring desire and denial.

Chapter Ten
     
    “About fucking time,” Ray snarled, crossing the room in three long strides.
    He yanked the motel door open before the soft rap-rap-rap on the other side had stopped. A surprised Landon Graves stood outside in the dying light of an early spring day. Having come straight from work, he was dressed in an expensive-looking steel gray suit with a light gray shirt and deep plum-colored silk tie. His eyebrows shot up comically when Ray grabbed the tie and hauled him roughly inside like a roped steer. Ray might have laughed if he hadn’t already downed four glasses of whiskey while waiting for Landon to arrive. If he weren’t dead serious about killing the serrated knife-edge Travis had him riding.
    Ray kicked the door shut with his boot heel, wound his fist around Landon’s tie, and pulled the man’s head down. His mouth slammed into Landon’s in a hard, angry kiss. A kiss meant to purge and cleanse, erase and forget.
    The lips beneath Ray’s were firm and soft, but not quite as full. They moved with him, following his lead, but they didn’t challenge, didn’t battle for control. The tongue that met his, while not timid, wasn’t demanding. It didn’t taste quite right, wasn’t the flavor of sunlight and sweet feed his body suddenly craved.
    After a brief second of stunned hesitation, Landon responded with a long moan. And that wasn’t right either, the sound not deep nor resonant enough.
    Ray broke the kiss abruptly. He loosed his hand from Landon’s tie and stumbled back a step from his longtime lover.
    “Shit.” He ran a hand through his short hair. “Sorry, didn’t mean to come on so strong.”
    Landon tugged off the tie. “Actually, Ray, I think I liked it.” Bewilderment laced Landon’s short laugh. “But I think I’d like it more with less clothing.”
    Landon tossed the tie to the chair by the door, slid the jacket off his broad shoulders, and began unbuttoning the shirt.
    Ray felt an odd sort of disconnect as he watched Landon undress. They’d been meeting in secret, having great sex for nearly two years, but he’d never really looked at his young lover. Not close. Not deep. They gave each other only what they needed, and that was enough. Though Ray knew Landon wanted more. He wanted a relationship in the true sense, one he didn’t have to hide—one Ray could never give him.
    “Going to join me, cowboy?” Landon asked in a dulcet voice.
    Shirt added to the pile of clothing building up on the chair, Landon’s bare chest was lean, skin pale under the weak lighting of the motel room. Broad shoulders tapered into a narrow waist. Long legs had Landon standing a couple of inches taller than Travis—taller but not bigger.
    Landon’s eyes were more hazel than green—open and expressive, withholding no secrets. His face was smooth-skinned, features classically handsome whereas Travis was rugged and wore life’s experiences in the fine creases around his eyes and mouth.
    Ray knew what he’d be getting with Landon. He knew that although Landon wasn’t an aggressive lover, he was generous and endlessly creative. But heaven above, even having not yet fully experienced Travis, Landon didn’t match up.
    Travis, Travis, Travis. Goddamned Travis Morgan. Even here with a willing body ready for him, wanting him, the cowboy wouldn’t leave him alone.
    “Yeah,” Ray said as he tore at the buttons, opening his shirt but not shrugging out of it. He reached for the button of his jeans as Landon stepped out of slacks that had pooled at his feet. His erection jutted eagerly