"It's Kaleb," his brother said as soon as Travis barked his hello.

"What's up?"

"You hear the scanner?"

"Yeah, grass fire. Sounds like it's on the south side of town."

"It is. That's damn close to Gage's grandmother's house, too."

Shit. Seriously, what were the fucking odds?

"How close, do you know?" Travis asked, keeping the phone to his ear as he grabbed his Stetson and his truck keys before heading out the front door. The rain had started already, which hopefully was good news for the grass fire.

"From what I can tell, probably less than a mile out."

"The fire department on it?" Travis asked as he flipped the key in the ignition, the engine roaring to life.

"Yeah. I called CJ as soon as I heard. They're gearing up now."

The Coyote Ridge fire department was entirely volunteer, but Travis knew most of them. His cousin CJ was one of the tenured volunteers, and he always managed to keep the family informed when things went wrong. CJ was actually the one to call Gage when his house had gone up in flames.

"I just thought you'd want to know," Kaleb said, and his brother's voice rebounded through the truck's interior when the Bluetooth finally connected. Travis tossed his phone in the cup holder and focused on the road.

"You get a hold of Gage? Is he at home?"

"He's not answering his phone," Kaleb stated, sounding strangely curious. "Have you heard from him?"

Travis didn't respond right away, and he knew his brother had picked up on it.

"The two of you doing ok?" Kaleb asked straightforwardly, but thankfully the police scanner installed in the truck went off and provided Travis with an out.

"Look, I'm headed to Gage's now." Travis told Kaleb, not willing to elaborate.

"I'll try Gage again." With that the phone disconnected.

Travis was grateful that his brother hadn't tried to push the issue. At the moment, he didn't have it in him to do much more than pray that Gage and Kylie were safe and sound and not trapped.

Funny, it wasn't like Travis to panic like this, but he couldn't deny the fact that he was worried about only one thing that Gage and Kylie weren't in danger.

Nothing else mattered.

Chapter Thirty Eight.

By the time Gage managed to get all of the insurance details hashed out, he was ready to pull his fucking hair out. He was fairly certain his ears were beginning to bleed thanks to having to listen to crappy ass hold music for the last two hours, too.

Sure, there was no doubt about it, having insurance was a good thing. Especially when there was something like a one in two hundred eighty thousand chance the house you live in will be struck by lightning. Yep, he'd looked that shit up, and he'd come to one conclusion: he had shitty odds and wouldn't be betting his life savings in Vegas anytime soon. And since he couldn't look forward to doubling his net worth at the Blackjack table, he was just going to have to be patient and wait for the insurance check.

According to the woman he'd just gotten off the phone with the one who sounded like she was watching her "stories" on the tube and putting him on hold during the good parts it was a damn good thing since his house went up in a flash and his shit was now crispy. He doubted anything with her was urgent (or real), unless it meant getting to the grocery store to pick up her weekly copy of Soap Opera Digest.

Ok, yes, he was being a dick.

Probably hadn't helped that she continued to explain how so-and-so on her favorite show was also a cop. Just like Gage was. Yes, he certainly could relate to the time Mr. So-and-So got shot down on the boat docks by the mob boss who was sleeping with a waitress and her sister who wasn't really her sister, actually just one of her multiple personalities. Sigh.

It was obvious, there was no reason for him to hurry up and wait, so he'd come up with a solution. While he was waiting for a daytime drama commercial break, he would just use what he had in savings to front Kylie the money for the work she was going to be doing.

Just that morning, before she left to go back to Killeen to pack more things for her lengthy stay, they had walked through the plans, laying out room by room what she still needed and what she'd already managed to get. To his relief, she'd put him to work. At least he had something to do, even if it was hiring subcontractors since he knew the area better. Someone had to do it.

After talking with Travis, they were going to ask the rest of the Walker clan if they'd be willing to help in order to save a little money. Gage still wasn't sure how he was ever going to be able to repay them for all that they had done for him already. It was thanks to them that the house was livable, enough furniture to make it comfortable to stay there.

The only thing that would make it better would be for Kylie and Travis to stay with him. And yes, he was starting to think he'd lost his mind, thank you very much.

Although he had an excuse with Kylie, she'd be staying at the farmhouse while she was working on it he hadn't figured out a way to talk to Travis. He tried to imply it a time or two, but he'd been too chicken shit to say it out loud.

It would be amusing if it weren't so terribly sad, but Gage found himself thinking more about Travis and Kylie than the fact that his life had literally just burned to the ground phone conversation with the soap opera queen notwithstanding. His priorities had shifted somewhere along the way, and he found he cared more about being with them than anything else. If there was ever any intention of keeping himself detached, then he had failed miserably.

And he was trying to be ok with that. Although doubts still plagued him from time to time, he was trying to take things one day at a time. He'd spent years wishing for what they had found with each other, and he was afraid to do anything to risk losing it all.

And the sex... Well, let's just say he was functioning on little sleep. And he didn't mind one fucking iota. If they weren't together coming up with creative ways to get naked, then Gage was spending more than enough time remembering the little details like being buried to the hilt inside of Kylie at the same time Travis was. He'd gone stir crazy remembering how beautiful Kylie had looked as she rode him, her breasts smashed against his chest, her sweet moans of pleasure echoing in the room as Travis thrust over and over from behind her.

Of course, his life wouldn't be complete without the overwhelming memories of what it felt like when he had been balls deep inside of Travis the first time they were together. Even now his cock swelled. If he were smart, he'd yank out his dick and massage some of the stress away just so he could get his mind on other things.

Like sleep.

Not that a quick hand job was going to keep him from thinking about the two of them. Or how he wanted to see Kylie sandwiched between him and Travis, taking them both at the same time again.

A groan rumbled up from his chest.

This was so not helping.

Being alone in the big house wasn't nearly as exciting as he expected it to be. He must've gotten used to having company so the random creaks and groans of the old house had him looking around, wishing like hell Kylie was walking down the stairs to come sit with him, or maybe Travis was heading up to take a shower. Those mundane, normal things that he'd wanted for so long.

A faint knock on the front door caught his attention, although he barely heard it from the far side of the house. Pushing himself up off of the gigantic leather sectional that had replaced the ratty loveseat, he made his way to the front door. Glancing down, he realized he was only wearing jeans, and wasn't dressed for company, but then again he hadn't been expecting any.

Pulling open the heavy wooden door, Gage came face to face with none other than the man who'd been plaguing his thoughts for the better part of the last few days.

"Hey, you all right?" Gage leaned one arm on the edge of the open door as he stood staring at Travis.

"That's the question I was going to ask you," he replied as he eased past him into the house. "You haven't heard?"

"Heard what?"

"There's a grass fire less than a mile from here. Right now the fire department thinks they'll get it contained shortly, but it's getting closer."

"Shit." Gage didn't even want to think about what might happen if the thing got out of control. There was no way he could handle going through it again. No fucking way.

Gage shut the front door and followed Travis back into the living room, secretly happy that Travis seemed comfortable in his house. Despite his unflappable indifference, Gage felt an underlying energy radiating off of the man.

"Where's Kylie?" Travis asked, turning abruptly when he stepped into the living room where Gage had been sitting, staring at the cracked plaster peeling off the wall.

"Home. She left earlier today to pack some things. I offered to drive her and bring her back, but she insisted she go alone."

"She's not coming back tonight is she?"

"No. I talked to her a little while ago, and she said she was going to ride out the storm at home and come back in the morning."

"Why aren't you answering your phone?"

Gage instinctively glanced over at the couch, seeing his cell phone lying in the same place he'd dropped it after he hung up with Kylie. The battery had died and rather than charging it in his truck because he couldn't find the house charger, he'd opted to ignore the damn thing altogether.

"It's dead."

Travis nodded as though the explanation was one he expected.

"So, what?" Gage asked, driving his thumbs into his pockets as he stood up straight. "You worried about me?"

Travis' brows arched down, his blue eyes growing darker as he stared him down. "That a problem for you?"

What prompted Gage to question Travis, he had no idea, but he truthfully hadn't expected that answer. Something more aggressive or innately sexual would've made more sense coming from Travis. He wasn't quite sure what to do with the knowledge that this man was concerned about his well-being. Before he could say a word, he found himself backing up against the wall, Travis' looming form directly in front of him.

Ok, now this was familiar.

The heat in the blue-gray eyes peering back at him had turned to an inferno within the last few seconds, and Gage had to inhale deeply.

Mistake.

Travis' enticing, musky scent filled his nostrils and made his body harden. Every single time they had touched each other flooded his memory bank in a quick flash of images, reminding him of the way Travis had all but consumed him with a passion he, quite frankly, hadn't expected from the man.

"Does it bother you that I was worried?" Travis asked again, apparently expecting an answer.

Gage was not the man to back down from anyone, let alone in a situation such as this. But, holy fucking hell, he wanted to. Right there in the dim light of the living room, surrounded by peeling plaster and hardwood that had seen at least one hundred years of abuse.

When there was only a breath between the two of them, Gage focused on the heat of Travis' chest, anticipating every rise and fall from every breath he took because it brought them that much closer.

Travis' palm flattened against the side of his neck, his thumb gliding back and forth over his jaw while his fingers dug lightly into the back of his neck. There wasn't an ounce of aggression in the move, and Gage found himself locked and loaded, ready to beg.

"You're thinking about me kissing you, aren't you?" Travis goaded.

"Fuck you," Gage groaned, not an ounce of heat in the words and he didn't try to pull away.

"That's exactly what I'm thinking," Travis whispered as he leaned in closer, their mouths merely a hairsbreadth away from one another. Gage had to fight the urge to pull him closer, wanting to savor what was happening between them.

"So what are you waiting for?" Gage locked eyes with Travis, a war of sensations going on around them while they were rooted to the floor. Their breaths mingled, their bodies barely grazed one another, and the heat between them was rapidly escalating to something more powerful than even their combined strength.

The passion between them was omnipotent. Something rare for Gage. Something he found he craved. A low rumble rent the air, and at first Gage thought it was thunder, then he realized it was coming from Travis. The man's body was subtly vibrating.

"I can't stay away from you," Travis whispered, the words laced with gravel. "No matter how hard I've tried, I can't fucking do it."

"Not asking you to," Gage said, breathless.

That's all it took. Despite how close they were, there was a soul shattering collision the instant their bodies touched.

Travis kept his hand firmly against Gage's neck, and Gage took the opportunity to grip the back of Travis' head, pulling him close and dislodging Travis' hat in the process. An eruption of animalistic growls flooded the otherwise silent room as their mouths crashed together, a tangle of lips and tongues and desperation. Gage was taking exactly what he'd denied himself for so long while Travis wasn't holding back either.

Lust overrode everything else as they devoured one another. Gage explored Travis' mouth with his tongue, seeking, tasting, practically begging with his kiss. His brain was misfiring from the overload of sensation, the magnificent taste of Travis' passion mixed with his own.

Gage had never felt anything like this, and he had been down this road before, but never like this.

Never like this.

Travis couldn't suppress the hunger, could no longer deny himself the pleasure of Gage's kiss. The storm surging on the outside of the house paled in comparison to the heat building between the two of them as their mouths searched, sought. Their breaths mingled, their chests heaved from exertion, although neither of them were moving.

Travis' blood pounded in his ears, his body humming with a desperation he'd become all too familiar with when it came to Gage. Despite the questions that still lingered between them, Travis knew without a doubt that Gage felt the same surge of electricity that arced between them whenever they were close. He'd felt it the night Gage had taken him with such gentleness, he'd been hard pressed not to shatter. The more they were together, the closer they seemed to get. And Travis wasn't just thinking in the physical sense.

Their guards were slowly dropping and what was left between them was hedonistic. Desire, need. Emotions swirled in the stagnant air until Travis found it hard to breathe, but that life sustaining activity was overrated anyway. He refused to pull away. He'd waited too long for this. Too long to touch Gage, to feel the flex of his powerful body beneath him, to taste the sweet, exotic flavor of his kiss, wanting more even now.

A shift of power occurred and Travis was damn near knocked off of his feet when Gage easily twisted their bodies until Travis was the one against the wall, their mouths breaking apart in the process. Opening his eyes, he stared into Gage's turbulent brown eyes and recognized the look on his face.

Things were about to get real.

"I'm so tired of temporary," Gage growled, his tone reflecting more emotion than Travis had ever seen from the man.

Gage's fingers tightened in Travis' hair until he had to lean forward to relieve the stinging pain that shot through his scalp.

"Do you understand what I'm saying?"

Crystal. Fucking. Clear.

Travis squinted his eyes, replaying Gage's words over and over in his head as he stared the man down. They were both sucking in air like they'd run a marathon, their chests pressed firmly together, their arms intertwined around one another. "I understand," Travis answered, holding his ground and not giving in to the overwhelming lust although the temptation was strong. He sensed that Gage needed this moment, needed the opportunity to express what he was feeling although he was about as adept at it as Travis.

"What do you want from me?" Gage's question took Travis by surprise, but he masked his expression, unwilling to let him know he was a little off kilter. It could've been the kiss or even the feel of Gage's rock hard body pressed against his own. Either way, Travis knew what he wanted from Gage surpassed anything he'd ever wanted before.

"Everything," Travis growled, realizing he was dangerously close to losing his shit. Emotions weren't easy for him, expressing them verbally even less so, but he wanted no he needed Gage to hear him out. "I want anything and everything you're willing to give me," he said past the lump in his throat. "And it far surpasses anything physical."

Gage's eyes widened, but he didn't pull away. There was a long period of silence between them, and that's when Travis realized Gage was too shocked to speak.

Travis got it. He'd shocked the shit out of himself, actually.