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Ben knew Charlie Prince fancied him. It started as grudging admiration for how the great Ben Wade effortlessly led his gang. It grew to somethin’ akin to hero worship, the longer they rode together. It wasn’t right that Charlie seemed to grow more attached to Ben, more eager for his approval, each time Ben made a cold decision, or took ruthless action. Charlie should fear and respect him for those things, not offer to drop to his knees in the dirt next to a flickering campfire.Ben wasn’t one to turn down the clumsy fumblin’ of a horny cowboy when he’d been too long without the companionship of a woman. He’d also admit that he was just vain enough to get some gratification from havin’ his dick sucked by someone who thought Ben was damn near perfect. By the time he realized he should have discouraged that type of thing, it was too late. It got to be particularly inconvenient for Ben when Charlie took too much interest in just where he stuck his cock.It started all subtle like. Charlie would try to distract Ben away from a woman that had caught his eye. Sometimes, he’d make a particularly cruel, disparaging remark about the lady who was just trying to earn a livin’ the only way the world had left her. Then there were the times Charlie got drunk and interrupted Ben’s attempts at copulation. Ben had had to put a stop to that right away, but there was nothin’ he could do about the anger and jealousy that always burned in Charlie’s eyes.Bein’ with a man had never been his preference, only a necessity, until Ben met Dan Evans.Ben had been fascinated by Dan from their first meetin’ on the ridge. Dan was outwardly calm, but on the inside, a fierce storm brewed. It was all in his eyes for Ben to see. Oh, Dan Evans had emotions all right. They were strong and ran deep, but Dan had the self-discipline to keep them reined in. That stirred Ben’s blood like nothin’ else. His attraction to that kind of self-control was somethin’ Charlie was never gonna understand.Standin’ in that saloon, even after he’d just come several times, Ben’s dick started to harden when Dan tried to stare him down. Or maybe he’d tried to stare Dan down. Either way, he’d seen pride and determination. Like his temper, Dan had control of his pride. He also had the stones to back it up. His pride came from strength, not weakness, like that asshole Clyde’s did.Ben realized, standin’ in that saloon, that Dan had backed down on that ridge, because it had been the wisest course of action. He hadn’t done it out of fear. Ben learned quick that, when it mattered most, Dan Evans wouldn’t be backin’ down. That bein’ the case, Ben made it his personal mission to see what it would take to rile Dan into lettin’ loose his temper.The anger in Dan’s eyes, as they sat across from one another and shared Alice’s cookin’, gave Ben his answer. Sure enough, all that anger and violence was a sight to behold, when Dan finally unleashed it. Ben certainly liked that side of Dan. It stirred something primal and dangerous in his gut; and a might lower.By the time Dan sashayed into the mining camp, Ben had pretty much decided that he wanted him to make it out of this alive. The trouble was, Dan didn’t seem to want to cooperate. Ben was torn between the desire to get away from the intense and unrelenting pain, and the stark realization that Dan’s moral compass wouldn’t allow him to leave Ben to his fate.Still, their brief association proved to have been just long enough for Ben to see the subtle shift in Dan’s eyes that signaled when he was about to make his move. It let Ben be ready to assist in his own rescue. Damn, but they’d have been unstoppable if Dan had been an outlaw.Then again, if he’d been an outlaw, he wouldn’t have been Dan. Holed up in that hotel room in Contention, Ben slipped into a light doze. Dan refused to talk to him, and the bed was soft, so Ben slept. He didn’t sleep long, but it was long enough to dream. Shadowy images floated across the backs of his eyelids. Flickering firelight, hard-packed dirt, the scents of sagebrush and chaparral, the sounds of crickets and the restless stomp of a horse’s hoof set the mood. Instead of a faceless cowboy, or even Charlie Prince, curling up next to Ben in his bedroll, this time it was Dan.He buried his face in the crook of Dan’s neck and inhaled deeply. He smelled like a good man should; warm and musky, tinged with sweat and leather, horse and dirt. Ben scraped his chin along Dan’s cheek and felt his beard, somehow managing to be soft and coarse all at once. Dan moaned softly into the skin of Ben’s throat.No sooner had Ben’s mind formed the desire, than Dan’s hands were reaching for both of their belts. His strong and nimble fingers, rough with the calluses of a man who believed in a hard day’s work, took them both out of their trousers. Dan shifted until their cocks were aligned, and his hips began to move. Ben pushed Dan’s hand out of the way and wrapped his own fingers around their erections, matching the pace of his hips to Dan’s.They were both breathing heavily, faces buried in one another’s necks. Ben drank in Dan’s scent with each indrawn breath, and felt the flesh of Dan’s throat grow warmer with each of his exhalations. Dan’s own breathing was rough and ragged, hot puffs of air heating Ben’s skin in a stuttering rhythm.Ben gripped their cocks tight in his fist, letting the motion of their hips create the sweet friction they needed. Dan’s hand gripped his waistcoat tight as he began to chant nonsense words with each breath. Ben thought he caught the sound of a few swear words, but with Dan, he couldn’t be sure.Hot fluid coated Ben’s hand as Dan’s prick pulsed rapidly in his fist. The smell of sex mingled with all the other scents that were already swirling around them. Dan’s hand gripped Ben’s clothing tighter, and then Ben was coming, too. He did swear, long and low, letting his words get carried away on the Arizona wind.Dan shifted in his chair by the window and released a deep sigh. Ben’s eyes shot open as he jolted back to wakefulness. His still-hard cock was pressed painful into the fly of his trousers, and he sure as hell couldn’t rub one out with Dan right there across the room. Although, the idea did appeal.Ben pressed his bound hands to his forehead, as he stared up at the ceiling, willing his aroused body to ease down before anyone was the wiser. It didn’t help that each time he closed his eyes, he could see, and feel, and smell Dan. No, Charlie Prince was never gonna be enough for Ben, now that he’d met Dan.Layin’ there, with the memory of the dream still fresh in his mind, Ben silently watched Dan as he kept his vigil. He had to get Dan to give up this fight and take his boy home. The world was running short of truly good men, and Dan, being one of those few, needed to go on livin’ past today. Ben just had no goddamn idea what would make the man give up the cause, instead of dig in deeper. Stubborn son-of-a-bitch.His only other option was to find a way to make Charlie back down. That wasn’t gonna happen, though. Charlie might be tellin’ everyone he was hell bent on freein’ Ben out of some sort of loyalty, that he owed Ben, for one thing or another. Ben knew the truth, though. It was some twisted form of possessiveness and jealousy. The way Charlie saw it, Ben was his and he wanted him back. There might be some respect and admiration in the mix, but mostly, it was just Charlie’s personal brand of crazy pride.Everything Dan did, was doing, was for his family. Unlike Ben’s own worthless father, he was going to sacrifice everything, right down to his life, for his family. Ben had never met the like. He tried to play on Dan’s devotion to his family when he offered him the money. $1,000.00 cash money was a fortune to a man like Dan. Ben tried to make the offer about Dan taking care of his family, but it was a cause lost long before Ben even threw his hat into the ring.Dan was gonna do what was right, rather than what was smart. Ben knew, on some level, that Dan wasn’t gonna take the offer, even before he made it. Still, he had to try.That coward of a Marshall, the one that turned tail and ran, showin’ the yellow streak up his back as he did, that’s the kind of man there were far too many of. They shamefully outnumbered the good ones like Dan. For once, Ben wanted to be wrong about the character of a man. For Dan’s sake, he’d wanted to be wrong, and he’d wanted the Marshall to stay put and fight.It gutted Ben when William Evans turned worshipful eyes on him and tried to make him out to be a better man than he was. He wasn’t nowhere near deserving of that kind of admiration. That rightfully belonged to Dan and Ben was damn sure gonna see to it that he got it. He’d let the boy see him for what he was. Make sure the kid saw just what kind of a cruel, selfish bastard Ben Wade was, and just how honorable and selfless Dan Evans was.The whole goddamn thing was over, Ben was on the train, when Charlie pulled the trigger and shot Dan in the back. That weren’t no act of a loyal friend tryin’ to bust Ben out of the prison train. That was the cowardly act of an envious child. Ben had most likely sealed Dan’s fate when he’d actually helped get himself to the train. Charlie’d seen it. All the times Ben could have got away, including the one time he’d actually over powered Dan, but hadn’t finished the job. Charlie was angry. Angry at Dan for turnin’ Ben’s head, and angry at Ben for choosin’ Dan over Charlie.To hell with ‘em all.It woulda been sweet justice if William Evans had pulled that trigger and ended Ben’s life right then and there. For a split second, Ben thought he was goin’ to. He almost hoped he would. He didn’t want that for the boy, though. He didn’t want him to be the kind of man who would shoot someone who was no longer a threat. Then, something small shifted, and for one brief moment, Ben saw Dan staring back at him through his boy’s eyes. If nothin’ else came of this day, at least Dan died with his boy’s love, respect and admiration, just like he deserved.And just like Ben deserved, he had William’s anger and hatred. At least somethin’ was right in the world.Ben didn’t have to get on that train after everyone lay dead but him and William. He got back on that train so Butterfield couldn’t renege on his promise to pay Alice what the railroad owed her.He got back off the train before it reached Yuma, ‘cause he wanted Butterfield to be afraid Ben would come after him if he failed to pay Alice what was owed her. Ben bein’ the witness to that agreement, and all.If he was good at one thing, it was makin’ men afraid.