Kevin turned around and glared at his friend. He could feel his face flame with heat. “Fuck you, Tucker.”

“Oh, fuck you too, Bryson. Face it, you’ve never had a relationship that lasted more than a couple of months, and you’re what? Thirty-four? There’s something going on with you, Bryson, and maybe it’s that no one has really satisfied you before. No one has taken care of what you really need. But Richard has come pretty close, hasn’t he? So close you’re scared to death.”

“You don’t know what the hell you’re talking about.”

“No? You started getting interested in me when I told you I thought I liked to dominate. I used to go to the clubs in Fort Walton, but you’d never go with me. What was it you were afraid of?”

“Who said I was afraid of anything?” He fidgeted for a few moments before turning and walking toward the door. “This is stupid. I’m going back to my room.”

Tucker laughed. “You can run, but you can’t hide, Bryson.” Tucker’s laughter followed him down the hallway as he slammed the door behind him and went into his room. He threw himself on the bed, and stared up at the ceiling. How the hell could he even be considering this shit? He turned over on his stomach and closed his eyes, anger radiating off him in waves. He was bored as hell and needed exercise, and the one thing he didn’t need was to be cooped up inside this damn room like a fucking prisoner.

The door opened behind him and he heard Richard’s low whistle. “Nice view, baby. I could get used to being greeted this way every day.”

“Very funny,” Kevin said, not turning over. “Don’t start shit with me today, Richard. I’m not in the mood.”

“Really? I never would have noticed.” Kevin heard him walk over to stand beside the bed. “I’ve been talking with Tucker. He told me where to find you.”

“Yeah, well, where else would I be? I don’t exactly have the run of the place.”

“Tucker said you were in a pretty foul mood.”

“Whatever…”

A slap on his ass made him spin around so fast he almost fell off the bed. “Cut it out. I don’t want to play this shit, damn it.”

Richard stared down at him. “Who’s playing? Get up and pack a bag. Take your toothbrush and a change of clothes. I’m heading up to a cabin on the high ridge, and you’re going with me.”

“What?” He noticed for the first time that Richard had a small backpack slung on his shoulder.

“You heard me. I was going to have a couple of gammas check it out, just to make sure none of the guard was up there, hiding out. Instead I think I’ll take the four-wheeler and take you with me. I’ll tell Gavin we might be gone a couple of days.”

“Why?”

“Because we need some time to figure out some things between us.”

“Like what?”

“You know the issues between us, Kevin. I don’t have to spell them out. You’re not the only one with doubts, you know.”

Kevin sat up, feeling unreasonably irritated. So Richard had doubts, huh? “All I want to do is go back home and forget all about this. Then you don’t have to worry about me or about your damn doubts.”

Richard smirked at him. “Oh, you don’t like that, do you? The fact I might not be willing to go through with this either.”

“Well, who the hell asked you, anyway? It sure as hell wasn’t me.”

“Shut up and get on your feet. We’re leaving.”

“Fuck you. I’m not going anywhere.”

“Don’t press your luck, Kevin, or I’ll throw you over my shoulder and haul you out of here. Up to you.”

Glaring at him, Kevin got to his feet and stomped into the bathroom, grabbing his toothbrush and toothpaste and razor. He stood in the doorway with the items in his hand. “Guess I’m ready. I don’t exactly have a lot to take with me, you know. You stole my suitcase, so I don’t know how I’m supposed to pack.”

“Smart ass. Put them in my pack and grab some jeans. I know Tucker brought you some.”

Kevin went to his dresser and got the jeans and another T-shirt, then brought everything over to throw it down on the bed beside Richard. He shot Kevin an exasperated look before scooping them up and stuffing them down in his bag. “Okay, come on. We’re out of here.”

Kevin may have been following Richard down the stairs and outside to the shed to find the atv, but he was anything but cooperative. The sullen expression on Kevin’s face told Richard he wasn’t prepared to do much of what he told him to do—at least not without a fight.

Hell, Richard had always liked a challenge. And it was time to do what he’d wanted to do for a long time. It was time to finally break through Kevin’s barriers for good.

It took about thirty minutes to travel up the dirt road at the back of the lodge that led up to the small cabin on the ridge. They had traveled up the deeply rutted road that was little more than a wide trail through the woods, really, through the dense woods that surrounded the lodge. All along the way, they were treated to beautiful mountain vistas as they climbed the ridge and came out on spots where the trees weren’t quite as thick. By the time they finally reached the small clearing where the cabin was located, Richard figured Kevin was probably tired of bouncing around on the back of the four-wheeler.

Richard pulled around to the front of the cabin and turned off the engine, allowing Kevin to climb off the back and take a look around. The log cabin was tiny, only one room, and situated near a small stream, about fifteen yards away. He could hear it babbling over the rocks.

“Stay here,” Richard warned, as he climbed the rock steps. “I don’t see any signs of anyone being here, but let me make sure.” He disappeared inside to take a quick look around. No sign that anyone had been there recently, and no fresh scents. He returned in a minute or two to beckon Kevin inside.

He watched as Kevin looked slowly around. The interior was even more rustic than the outside, with the log walls, pinewood floors, and a rock fireplace along one wall. It had a musty, unused odor, and no kitchen or bathroom, just an old wooden table and chairs, a couple more chairs by the fireplace and a double bed along the opposite wall.

Tucker had told Richard before they left that Kevin had never been one for roughing it. He frowned now and crossed his arms. “Not exactly the Taj Mahal, I see. And where the fuck are you going to sleep? That bed is only big enough for me.”

Richard ignored him, stepping around him to throw his backpack on the bed and then moving around the room, opening windows to air the place out. He went over to a chest by the foot of the bed and pulled out some clean sheets for the bed and threw them at Kevin, who barely got his arms up in time.

“I’m going to check the perimeter for any signs they might have been here. Put the sheets on the bed and build a fire while I’m gone.”

“Wait a minute. You’re taking the four-wheeler? When are you coming back?” Richard heard a tone of whininess in Kevin’s voice that made him smile. He hid it before he turned back to him. It would do Kevin good to feel a little off kilter and out of his element, and make him rely on Richard just that much more. He wanted him to let down that rigid guard of his.

Richard grinned at him. “Don’t worry, I have no intention of leaving you here alone, though it might do you some good. Make you realize how nice things are at the lodge you’re always complaining about. I’ll be back in probably twenty or thirty minutes. Now make the bed and start a fire, like I told you.” He turned and left just in time to miss the sheets that hit the door behind him, along with what sounded like a chunk of wood from the fireplace. He chuckled as he went down the steps.

He drove back down the trail about a quarter of a mile before parking the vehicle on the side of the road and checking the perimeter of the cabin on foot. Looking for any signs the missing guard could have been there, it didn’t take too long to discover no one had been in the area recently. He hadn’t thought they would come here, or he’d never have brought Kevin along with him. The hunting cabin was too well known and was used far too frequently for them to use it, but he needed to be sure. Also, he wanted to spend some time with Kevin. Tucker told him of Kevin’s unsettled mood. It was time for Richard to claim his mate.

As the light waned, a breeze began to pick up and the evening turned cool. Knowing his boy would be getting nervous, he drove back along the trail and saw Kevin sitting on the rock steps out front. He crossed his ankles and leaned against the railing as Richard drove into the clearing, probably trying to appear casual and unconcerned. Richard got off the atv and came toward him, stopping when he reached the bottom of the steps. His gaze roamed over Kevin’s body before he spoke. “I don’t see any smoke.”

“Did you actually expect me to start a fire? Who do you think I am, Paul Bunyan?”

Richard stood regarding him for a few moments. The evening was quiet around them, the only sound was the water splashing over the rocks by the stream. He could tell it was getting late, though it stayed light until late in the evening this time of year. Kevin shifted nervously and spoke again to fill the silence.

“What is there about me that would give you the idea I could start a fire without matches? Or at all, for that matter. I’m a Florida boy. We don’t have a lot of fireplaces or any need for them.”

Richard didn’t reply, just walked past him into the cabin. Kevin followed him inside and stood behind him at the fireplace, watching him as he carefully stacked his wood. He put some smaller pieces underneath the stack and then stood up and opened a drawer in the small table by the fireplace, extracting a box of matches, which he held up and shook mockingly. He lit one, touched it to the kindling and carefully poked at it for a few seconds until it caught up. He stood up and faced Kevin. “You’re not going to learn how any younger, you know. It isn’t brain surgery.”

“Yeah, well, who says I want to learn anyway?”