“Mason?” He kept his voice low and soothing because Mason looked like a spooked horse about to bolt.
Mason’s gaze shifted to Colt. He still wasn’t responding, but at least Colt’s voice was getting through the panicked haze in his eyes.
“It’s going to be okay. Thad is fine. You are fine. We’re going to find whoever is behind this. Okay?” Colt paused to make sure Mason was following. Mason nodded, one slow tip of his head. “My brothers and I won’t leave until you’re safe.”
Mason’s breath left in a whoosh that tickled the fine hairs on Colt’s forearms from three feet away.
“S-something worse could have h-happened to Thad,” Mason whispered, his voice shaking. “He could have been killed.”
An emotion Colt couldn’t immediately identify rose so sudden and sharp in his chest it nearly choked him.
“Something could have happened toyou,” he burst out. The vehemence in his voice took him by surprise. And Mason too, going by his raised eyebrows.
Fear. That’s the emotion that had shot through him. Sure, it was his job to keep people safe and alive, but the thought of Mason no longer on this earth . . . He clenched his jaw tight.
He wouldnotfall for Mason again. He’d been down heartbreak road with Mason once already. Wasn’t fool enough to go there again. But no way in hell would he let any harm come to his first love.
“Colt . . .” Mason said quietly, his name sounding like a plea.
Then Mason deflated in on himself. His shoulders dropped and rolled forward, and his chin lowered. A frown tipped his mouth down, and his gaze hit the floor.
Defeated, vulnerable.
Colt’s heart ached with such an overwhelming need to comfort Mason that his resolve crumbled under the weight of it. He stepped forward and cupped Mason’s face in his hands, holding gently until Mason met his gaze. Mason didn’t pull away, didn’t say anything, only stared back at Colt with those pleading eyes and parted lips.
Colt closed the small gap between them and folded Mason into his arms.
Home.
He shivered from the contact, from the heat of Mason’s body. In that moment, Colt transported twenty years into the past—holding Mason close as they vibrated with excitement and need and the intensity of young love. The only place he’d ever felt like home.
Colt rubbed his nose against Mason’s and then, gently, did what his body, his heart, had been begging for ever since they’d ended. He kissed Mason. A soft press of silken lips and the heavens opened. Their first kiss in two decades, and it waseverything. More than everything. Like he’d been in a holding pattern all these years until the day he could taste Mason Hayes once again.
Somewhere in the back of his mind, he knew he shouldn’t let this happen, but he couldn’t bring himself to stop. He didn’t care. Being this close to Mason again, feeling the solid, lean muscle hidden beneath his clothing, overrode the heartbreak of the last twenty years.
Mason whimpered, soft and quiet, and Colt was helpless against the sudden wave of desire that crashed over him. He dove in, deepened the kiss, and Mason melted into him. Mason’s tongue tangoed with his in a dance they’d never forgotten. Their teeth didn’t clash; they didn’t bump noses trying to fit together. They were in sync in a way Colt had never been with anyone else.
Mason gripped Colt’s back and shoulders harder, pulled him as close as humanly possible, and a growl rumbled up Colt’s throat. He felt it everywhere, life-giving and pure, like water, like air, like he hadn’t taken a full breath since he’d been forced to leave Haverstall Mountain Ranch.
And then his arms were empty.
A sudden chill replaced Mason’s warm body. Seconds that felt like hours passed before his brain caught up and clued in that the dogs were barking. The furry duo ran excitedly for the front door, and Mason had somehow transported four feet away in a blink. He was leaning against the kitchen island—eyes wide and heated, lips glistening, and chest rising and falling with rapid breaths—while Colt stood frozen in a state of confusion.
Jesus.Is the world spinning faster?
He’d kissed Mason.Holy shit, he’d kissedMason, and he hadn’t wanted to stop. He wanted to tell whoever was at the door to beat it so he could pick up where he’d left off and—
No. What the hell was he thinking? Nothing clear, that was for sure. He furrowed his brows and pursed his lips—lips that still tingled with the taste of Mason. A taste he should never have taken, but now that he had, everything just got more complicated.
Colt adjusted jeans that had become too tight in the last few minutes and berated himself for losing control. As good as it was, as right as it felt, that kiss should never have happened, especially not when it would undoubtedly interfere with his job. Prime example: He’d been so lost in Mason he’d been completely oblivious to their surroundings. The world could have caught fire around them and he wouldn’t have noticed. Losing his senses like that again would only put Mason’s life in jeopardy.
Mason cleared his throat and ran a hand through his mussed hair, but one dark golden lock refused to settle back into place and fell over his brow as he walked toward the door.
“Come on, troublemakers,” he said to the dogs. His voice was rough and raw and sounded like Colt felt. Mason guided the dogs away from the door as it opened.
Mason’s sister Katie stepped inside, followed by Wes and Levi.
“I keep forgetting the doors are always locked now,” Katie groused.
