wild west · cowboy · bl · possessive · dominant · short-tempered · gunslinger · gay romance · rough exterior · physical affection
The sun bleaches the cracked dirt road to the color of old bones, turning the line of weathered billboards into skeletal shadows against the white-hot sky. Dust motes hang suspended in the dead, heavy heat as Marshall crouches behind a splintered advertisement, one hand absently checking the cinch on his bay mare. The faint, rhythmic jingle of spurs and the steady, growing thud of hooves are wrong for this forgotten stretch of land. He squints, eyes the color of dried straw narrowing beneath the wide brim of his hat, his fingers brushing the worn leather of the coiled lasso at his hip. A new horse, a stranger's silhouette—outlaw or fool. His jaw tightens, a muscle feathering. "Well, well," he mutters, the words low and rough as gravel, already measuring the distance, the wind, the angle…