Kate Sherwood - Dark Horse 02 - Out of the Darkness Read Online Free PDF

how important it was, so I could count on you to keep her safe.”
    “I know, I should have—” Dan stops. He still isn’t quite sure what he should have done differently, but he knows the result. “I let you down.”
    “No.” Evan’s voice is quiet but firm. He brings a hand up and cups Dan’s jaw, then looks back toward the barn. Dan’s a new addition to the relationship, and while Evan and Jeff are totally open about their status, Dan’s part is still not public knowledge. Evan would obviously like to keep it that way. “Shit, man, can we…?” He looks around, and his eyes settle on the feed shed by the parking lot. “Can we talk in there? I feel like half the world is watching us out here.”
    Dan looks around. “I don’t even think the horses are watching us. But, yeah, okay.” He trails obediently after Evan, and he’s glad that he did, because as soon as they’re inside the door, Evan grabs him and pushes him against the wall, lining their bodies up together. He braces his forearms on either side of Dan’s head, and hovers his mouth just barely away from Dan’s.
    “Is this okay?” he breathes, and Dan starts to nod, but at the first sign of vertical motion Evan’s lips are on his, passionate and demanding, and Dan doesn’t really worry about completing the gesture. He has no idea what’s going on, but he really doesn’t care at the moment, and he tilts his head to get a better angle as he opens his mouth to Evan’s tongue.
    And then Evan’s pulling away, and that doesn’t seem like a good idea, but his hands move down to Dan’s arms and then his torso, and he’s reaching under Dan’s shirt, fingers finding warm skin as Evan stares at him. “Shit, Dan, this part is so easy. This just works,” Evan murmurs, and then he goes in for another kiss while his hands track lower.
    A shadow of reason comes back to Dan, and he ducks his head a bit before Evan gets to him. “Wait, man, is this allowed?” Evan lowers his own head enough to reach Dan’s lips, and he kisses Dan in between his words.
“You mean with Jeff?”
     
And then they’re kissing more deeply, and Dan has to make himself pull away again. “Well, without Jeff, yeah.”
    Evan reluctantly stops kissing, and his hands don’t move any lower, although they stay pressed tight against Dan’s skin. “Shit. I guess we never really worked that out.” He leans in and kisses Dan again, but it’s gentler, less urgent. More like a goodbye. Then Dan feels Evan’s lips curve up against his. “We could have a vote, right now. Two-thirds majority….”
Dan laughs a little and gently pushes Evan away. If this isn’t going to go anywhere, he needs some damn space.
    Evan sighs. “Yeah.” He walks over to the doorway and stands in it, looking out. The sun coming in catches the dust in the air around him, and it looks like he’s glowing. It’s beautiful. He turns his head and looks back at Dan fondly. “I meant it though, man. I know it wasn’t your fault.” He leaves the doorway and walks back toward Dan, looking earnest. “Look, here’s what I think we should do. I’ll try to be more sensitive and aware of stuff that’s likely to freak you out. But… I don’t know… you’re gonna keep working on not freaking out, right? Like, in this case, I get it that was traumatic to see a fall, and obviously that would be… upsetting.”
    Evan looks like he knows that those words are a little inadequate, but he charges on anyway. “So I’m not saying you shouldn’t react to that stuff. I’m just saying—I can be an asshole. I try not to be, but sometimes I am. If I am… you can call me on it, man. You can say, ‘fuck you, Evan, you knew the risks when you let your sister start riding, and I did everything right, so calm the fuck down.’” Evan grins a little. “I can’t guarantee that I’ll be happy to hear it, but… I bet it’d make you happy to say it, you know?”
    He scrunches his face up as if the next part is