Older and Wilder: A Steamy Gay MM Romance Read Free Page A

knew that Derek wouldn't stay.  He never did.  Jesse had seen him come and go dozens of times over the years.  One moment of weakness didn't change the nature of the man.
     
                  “Come here,” Derek said. 
     
                  Somehow now that Derek was half-dressed again he was even more tempting than he’d been a moment ago.  He was a present Jesse wanted to unwrap again.  Jesse yanked the hem of his shirt down over the top of his jeans, thin cotton that didn’t come close to protecting his from his own desires, and took Derek's outstretched hand.  He pulled Jesse towards him, drawing his body along with his hand so he landed against Derek's bare chest with one of Derek's strong thighs lodged between his slightly spread ones. 
     
                  Jesse closed his eyes and fought back a purr as he slid his free arm around Derek and let it slide down his back, skimming along the ridges of his back and down past the pockets of his jeans, before cupping the curve of his ass and pulling him in closer.  He opened his eyes again when he felt the scratch of Derek's beard against his cheek.
     
                  “You can tell me it’s like that every time for you, but I won’t believe you,” Derek said. He kissed Jesse's lips, the soft and virtuous brush a sharp contrast to the volcano of need he’d been earlier. 
     
                  The rightness of it wrapped around Jesse like a blanket, blocking out all the reasons he shouldn't.  He could do this all day, would if Derek would let him.
     
                  A noise in the barn drew Derek's attention.  He broke the kiss, tensed, then whispered, “It’ll be fine, just stay calm.  Follow my lead.”
     
                  Fear swept over Jesse as he waited for Derek to tell him the problem.  He was ready to hear there was a rattlesnake near a horse or the funnel of a tornado on the horizon.  What Derek said instead was worse. 
     
                  “Your parents are standing in the doorway. We can tell them we’ve been dating or we can tell them what really happened, but I don’t think they’re going to believe we got tangled up lip to lip and shirtless in a freak accident.”
     
                  Jesse let his head collapse against Derek's bare chest as he weighed his options. Was this the most trouble he ’d ever been in?  Sleeping with his father’s best friend was almost certainly higher on the list of things he shouldn't do than getting a ticket for speeding or dropping out of college. 
     
                  “What did you do?” his mother's accusation boomed through barn, filling the empty space with anger and startling a bird in the rafters.  It flew out of the open loft and Jesse wished he could follow it, out of the barn and away from here, avoiding his parents’ disappointment forever if possible.
     
                  “Mom,” he  pleaded.
     
                  Derek cut him off.  “We’ve been emailing for a while.  I wanted to talk to you when I got here, but I saw him first.”
     
                  Silence settled over them all, heavy and oppressive, as the Mike and Rebecca Pace let his words sink in.  Derek had changed the equation.  His parents could believe, if they chose, that their friend wasn’t taking advantage of their lost child.  This had been a courtship.  This wasn’t just their son and a ne’er do well going at it in the barn.  This was the child they didn’t quite understand and the man he’d chosen.  They hadn't had a chance to show Jesse their support since he came out, and they weren't going to let it slip by.   Derek was another matter. 
     
                  Mike’s brow furrowed and he rubbed his temples with hard, deliberate strokes.  “Derek, you know you crossed a line.  I ought to shoot you and be done with it. Jess…” He