Outlaw Vices (third in The Crane Gang Series)manxman

Chapter Thirty-One

Chapter Thirty-one

The seasons came and went, changing from summer to fall to winter and now spring was arriving. Craig loved spring. It was his favorite time of year. The time when everything came back to life after hunkering down for the winter—not that winter here was like some of the winters he'd seen before. Eastern New Mexico was a good place to spend the winter if you liked being warm.

Craig finally felt like he had his shit together and life was good. He had a home he shared with a man he loved. They had twenty head of cattle to tend to during the day and a nice soft bed to fall into together at night.

Craig smiled as he thought about all the nights they'd shared in that bed.

He felt Ezekiel's thick arms close around his waist and he leaned himself back against him. "You keep looking so damn lustful out here around the bull, he might start getting ideas."

Laughter flew from Craig's mouth. "Are you jealous?"

Ezekiel's lips brushed his ear causing Craig's entire body to tremble. "Hell yeah, I am. Have you seen the size of that bull?"

Craig chuckled as he spun in Ezekiel's arms and kissed the man's full lips. "I want to go to town tonight."

Ezekiel growled, stooped down and nipped at his neck. "I'd rather stay home."

Craig slipped from Ezekiel's arms, desperate to put distance between them before he ended up letting Ezekiel take him right there and then. "It's been a while since we've had a night out. I want to go to town. Gamble a bit, let loose a little."

Craig still enjoyed those vices he'd always been weak for but he was smarter about them now. He knew that he couldn't be trusted to be go 'let loose' in town by himself. He only ever went with Ezekiel because the other man could keep him in check.

Ezekiel let out a sigh. "Alright then. You want to see if Wyatt and Zachariah want to come with us?"

Craig shrugged. "Sure." Then he grinned. "You want Wyatt to stomp your ass at poker again?"

Ezekiel chuckled as he scratched at his jaw. "That little bastard is good."

"Maybe you're just not all that good."

"Is that a challenge?" Ezekiel growled, reaching for him.

Craig moved out of his reach. He winked and saw Ezekiel's eyes narrow. "It might be, old man. You gonna teach me a lesson?"

Ezekiel's dark eyes were so full of hunger, Craig nearly broke down and leapt into his arms. "Oh, I'm gonna teach you a lesson alright," Ezekiel warned. "First at the poker table and then a whole other kind of lesson in our bed tonight."

Craig winked even as his body trembled at the thought. "Promises. Promises."

***

They stepped out of the saloon in the early morning hours and Ezekiel was grumbling. "He did it again. I can't believe that little jackass did it again."

Zachariah chuckled. "You can't beat Wyatt at poker. You should have learned that by now."

Craig, his blood nice and warm from the liquor, grinned. "Wyatt here is a regular card shark, aren't you Wyatt?"

'I don't know about that. But I always beat your man.'

"Haha," Ezekiel grumbled, having finally learned the art of reading Wyatt's lips. "It's time to be getting home. I'm ready for bed."