The Full Ride

by Gavin Atlas

  “Please, Roy, can we use real lube instead of your spit?”

  “I don’t want to stop,” Roy mumbled. “Keep giving me what I need.” He fucked the younger, smaller, but muscular cowboy for a few minutes, the silence broken by Teddy’s groans. “You know your ass is mine anytime I want?” Roy’s tone made the question a threat.

  “Yes, Roy.”

  “That should be ‘Yes, sir,’” Roy commanded. “Anytime I’m inside you, I’m more than your boss. I’m your master.”

  “Yes, sir.” Teddy winced as Roy’s jabs came at him harder and faster. He had always loved to bottom for a man with a big dick, but Roy hurt inside him. Teddy reminded himself he was lucky Roy agreed to condoms. From the way Roy talked, he hadn’t been particular with women when he was young.

  Roy had never told the other ranch hands that he’d spotted Teddy at the Loft in Billings. If they knew Teddy had been to that bar, half of them might be using him as a punching bag. The other half would be using his backside to fill the void left by the lack of female companionship anywhere near the ranch. Overall, things could be worse.

  As if Roy had been listening to Teddy’s thoughts, he said “I have a couple friends in Butte that might like gettin’ this tail. And I’d like to watch them get it. You want that?”

  “No, sir.”

  “Tell me ‘yes, sir.’”

  “But—”

  “You want it, Teddy. You want me to share you. You want me to fuck you out in the open in broad daylight. You want me to take you to that bar and bend you over the pool table.”

  Teddy almost began to protest, but remained silent. He knew with this kind of talk Roy could bring himself off much faster.

  “You have to give your ass to anyone I say, boy,” Roy said, his voice a rasp. Roy’s orgasm began, and he thrust in one final time. His nails dug into Teddy’s sides as his body completed its conquest of Teddy’s.

  Roy pulled out with a rough jerk. “Don’t forget, you’re pickin’ up the new guy at the airport.”

  “I am? Shit! Why did you make me stay up until you got back?”

  “Because I needed some. Now don’t give me lip.”

  Teddy silently counted to three to control his temper before speaking. “What time is his plane?”

  “Six or so.”

  “What? Six!”

  “Calm down. You’ll wake the whole ranch.”

  “Well, it’s damn near one in the morning, and I’ll have to leave at three to get to Billings on time.”

  “Well, take it up with Mr. Lawson. He’s the one hiring a damn foreigner.” Roy turned to leave. “And you’d better leave early. There’s snow outside Billings.”

  Teddy bit the inside of his cheek to stop himself from mouthing off. “Yes, sir. Might as well skip hitting the sack then.”

  Roy nodded as if to indicate that Teddy had finally given him the answer he wanted. “Good. Make yourself some coffee, Teddy bear. It’ll be all right.”

  Teddy bear. Those were the only kind words he ever heard from Roy. Sometimes they helped. Other times, like now, they rang hollow.

  On the way to the truck, Teddy heard a wolf cry. It was closer than when he’d heard it three nights ago. Someone had to be out on watch. Hopefully, he’d heard it too. Teddy hated losing sheep, but there wasn’t anything he could do about it at the moment.

  Roy hadn’t been lying about the snow. Flurries fell nearly the whole way to the airport. The flight from Salt Lake City was late, but there was nothing open at that hour, so all Teddy could do was sit in the waiting area and stew.

  Eventually, the plane arrived. Moments later, a tall, lean man in a fleece-lined jacket and dark jeans sauntered in. Teddy did a double take when he saw the man’s handsome Latin features. His olive skin, dark hair, and beautiful eyelashes made Teddy’s mouth dry. He’d already forgiven the new guy for making him lose sleep.

  “You…you’re Marco Barini?”

  “Yes. You’re from the Lawson ranch?”

  “Yup. I’m Teddy,” he said, self-consciously running a hand through his light brown hair. They shook hands. “All your stuff is in that one duffel? That can’t be the warmest coat you have.”

  “It doesn’t get that cold in my part of Argentina,” Marco said in faintly accented English. “I planned to buy something bigger here.”

  Teddy almost offered to take Marco to pick out a coat when he remembered the wolf. If it was still around, half the ranch would be after it, so he’d be needed to do more than his usual share of work. “The stores don’t open for hours, and we kinda have to get back. I could lend you my spare down coat.”

  Marco gazed into Teddy’s eyes. “Thank you. I would like that.”

  Marco was silent nearly the whole trip back, taking in the rolling landscape and the snow-covered mountains. When the sign for the property appeared, he spoke up. “What do you think of Mr. Lawson and the ranch?”

  “I started work on my sixteenth birthday. Been four years now, and the Lawsons have never given me reason to fuss. Mr. Lawson’s gettin’ mighty old though,” Teddy said. “He might sell soon. The foreman is pretty much in charge of everything day to day.”

  “And what do you think of him?”

  “Roy? Well…” Teddy didn’t want to lie, but he also didn’t want to start Marco off with a bad impression. “Roy and I have a difference of opinion when it comes to horses, but the ranch runs. Lawson’s got no complaints.”

  Marco nodded and looked at the flocks of sheep they passed. “About the horses, where do you disagree?”

  “Roy doesn’t like what he calls the ‘newfangled harmony and whispering bull crap,’ but I’m trying to learn about gentling horses instead of breaking them. Do you know what I mean? It just seems cruel to smack them around so much and scare ‘em.”

  “Yes. Gentling is an ancient technique. If it worked for our ancestors…”

  “Right, but Roy says hard breaking is faster and works better.”

  “I’ve seen lots of bad treatment, too. Your foreman is right that the horse must know you’re the boss. But which way to dominance, eh? I’m like you. I prefer to choose friendship over fear.”

  “Exactly! Mr. Lawson says I’m better with the work animals than the other men, so I spend less time with the stock and more time with the horses and dogs. I don’t know everything yet, but can’t you tell when a horse is more comfortable with one person than another? Even the one real problem horse we got lets me near him sometimes, and he won’t let anyone else.”

  Marco smiled. “Sounds like you have a gift.” The compliment and the smile made Teddy inhale with contentment, and he could feel his ears burn with bashfulness.

  Mr. Lawson came out into the mid-morning gloom to greet Marco, which surprised Teddy. Mrs. Lawson hardly let him out of the house in chilly weather, but there he was in fancy duds. As Mr. Lawson showed Marco around the barn, the lambing shed, and the much larger shearing shed, Teddy groomed a dun mare, but followed them with his eyes, enthralled with Marco’s face, smile, and lilting voice.

  Roy entered the stable, and Teddy could feel the horses tense up. Some of them whickered nervously.

  “Is that the new hand?”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “He’s not gonna last a month in that jacket,” Roy said.

  “I’m lending him a coat,” Teddy said, looking at the mare and stroking her muzzle.

  “Oh? You been battin’ your blue eyes at ‘im?” Roy shook his head. “What’s Lawson thinking by bringing some damn foreigner in here? There’s got to be five good men in the area that need work.”

  Teddy said nothing. Yes, there were that many farmhands in need of employment, but none were what Lawson would have called “good.” They might have been friends with Roy, but in Lawson’s own words they “drank hard and worked soft.”

  “Yeah, he’s not gonna last,” Roy said, spitting tobacco. He began to back out of the stable while keeping his angry eyes on Marco and Lawson.

  “Watch where you’re goin�
��, Roy. You’re headed at Buller!” Teddy called, too late. Buller, a feisty chestnut gelding, took a nip at Roy’s shoulder. Roy whipped around and smacked the horse hard across the muzzle. Buller whinnied and hopped in his stall. The other horses stirred as well.

  “It’s okay! It’s okay, boy!” Teddy said, trying to soothe the gelding. “Roy, you’re not making my job easier.”

  “Aw, shut it. That horse had it comin’.” Roy exited out the back before Teddy could argue further. Teddy shook his head as he fed Buller half an apple to remind the horse he had friends on the ranch.

  Lawson had a bed moved into Teddy’s room so Marco could bunk down there as the other hands had been griping about close quarters. Roy was pissed, but only Teddy knew why Roy had allowed him to have a small room to himself until now.

  “Thank you again for the coat,” Marco said as he climbed onto the mattress that was just big enough for him.

  “Welcome,” Teddy said, looking up from his book so he could gaze at Marco while the tall Argentine had his back turned. Marco wore gray flannel pajamas, but even with the loose cloth, Teddy could see that Marco had a powerful if wiry frame.

  “What are you reading?” Marco asked, trilling his letter r’s.

  “What? Oh, this is Mrs. Lawson’s book. Some Greek fellow named Xenophon wrote it. It’s about how to treat horses.”

  Marco nodded. “If Mrs. Lawson lends out books, I’ll get one tomorrow.”

  Teddy put his book down. “Yeah, she has a bunch. She even has an encyclopedia. I figured you’d look like the picture she showed me in there, but you don’t have the pleated black pants and such.”

  “Picture? Picture of what?”

  “Of a…of a groucho.”

  Marco laughed. “That’s gaucho.”

  Teddy felt embarrassed at his error. “Yeah, gaucho. Sorry.”

  “I know what pants you mean. They don’t last long compared to denim, so they’re not worth it except if you want to show off.”

  “How come you speak English so good?” Teddy asked, feeling ashamed about his own ability.

  “I studied it in school, and then I spent a year of college in Texas.”

  “College? What are you doing workin’ as a ranch hand?”

  Teddy could see Marco hesitate. “It’s a long story. Most of the men in my family work sheep ranches. I’m twenty-six now, and it’s time to find my own place.”

  Teddy turned off his reading light and tucked himself further beneath the comforter, wishing Marco was snuggled next to him. “Well, you’ve come a mighty long way just to tend sheep.”

  The next day most of the men were out cleaning the water pipes and troughs so the finickier sheep wouldn’t refuse to drink. Teddy, who was left behind at the barn, saw Marco walk by in the coat he’d lent him.

  “What’s this fellow doing out all alone?” Marco asked, approaching a horse corralled by itself.

  “Oh, hey! Watch out for Vic! Don’t get too close.” Teddy said, nodding at the large pinto yearling that was ten times more trouble than Buller. “When we got him at auction, they warned us he’d only just been green broke, but he’s not even that. You can’t get near him with a halter.”

  “That’s too bad. It’s only going to get harder as he gets older. I wonder what’s wrong with him?”

  “I don’t rightly know,” Teddy said, shaking his head. “I spend lots of time trying to teach him I’m his buddy, and once in a while he’ll let me get close, but he’s about as predictable as the lottery.”

  Marco turned toward the horse. A pipe fence separated them. Marco made soft chucking noises and spoke to the horse in a soothing mixture of Spanish and English.

  Teddy saw the truck drive up, loaded with sacks of groceries and feed. Roy slid from the driver’s seat. “What does that fool think he’s doing?” Roy asked as he watched Marco edge toward the fence. “Vic will bite his head off.”

  “Looks like Vic’s staying calm for once,” Teddy said. Teddy was fascinated. Vic was a strong, beautiful creature, and Teddy felt a twinge of envy that the horse he’d been trying so hard to befriend allowed Marco to be near him without kicking or trying to bite. Maybe Vic is gonna fall for him just like I think I am, Teddy thought.

  Then Roy let out the loudest sneeze Teddy had ever heard. It sounded like a gunshot, and Teddy knew it was fake. Spooked by the noise, Vic reared and came down hard, nearly crashing into the fence. Marco barely flinched. He kept up with the calming susurrations until the pinto had recovered from its panic. Its mood had changed though, and now it paced in the corral, avoiding the side where Marco stood. The Argentine gave Roy a hard stare.

  “Guess it’s time we try to halter Vic again,” Roy said and went into the house with the groceries. “Lord knows he’s past due.”

  Teddy went back to cleaning the stable, simmering. What Roy did had nothing to do with breaking a horse. That was pure meanness.

  Four nights later, an ewe gave birth and Roy called Teddy out to assist. They returned to the barn several hours after most of the ranch had turned in, but they ran into Marco, who was busy bedding down his horse.

  “What are you still doing out and about?” Roy asked in an unkind tone.

  “A lamb had his head caught in the fence. Then I’ve been keeping watch for the wolf the men were talking about.”

  “Well, get out of here. Whoever is on nighthawk duty must be out there already. Teddy and I have some business.”

  As Marco disappeared around the corner, Teddy turned to Roy. “What business? I need a quick shower and my bed.”

  “Take off your pants, boy.”

  “Now? Out here? Naw, c’mon. It’s freezing!”

  “Wrong. It’s at least forty degrees. Now get naked and lay back on the lower rail. I want to try something I saw in a movie.”

  Teddy did as he was told, taking note that Vic had been gated off in a separate part of the corral. The metal bar felt ice cold against the small of his back. He grabbed the bar above him for balance and watched Roy slick up the condom on his dick with his spit.

  Roy was the right height to fuck Teddy on the fence, hardly bending his knees. Roy lifted Teddy’s ankles over his shoulders, and, as always, the entrance was brutal. Teddy gasped and grunted at the penetration.

  “I’m cold, Roy, and someone could see us!”

  “Then they’ll see your ass getting what it deserves. I saw you lookin’ at that foreigner. If you need to be reminded every day that your hole belongs to me, then I’m going to fuck it every day until that’s clear.”

  Teddy helplessly took Roy’s dick in his ass. The steady penetration augmented the punishment of the hard steel bar, the frigid air, and the ache in Teddy’s neck as his head dangled close to the ground.

  Teddy thought he saw movement over to his right and turned his head. In the darkness and with upside-down vision, it was difficult to make out who was there. After a moment he recognized Marco watching them, his dark eyes glittering in the moonlight.

  Teddy felt a wave of shame. A real man wouldn’t let other men put his legs in the air and fuck him as much as they pleased, Teddy thought. Now Marco would look at him and see someone weak and worthless.

  “Tell me what I need to hear, Teddy bear,” Roy commanded.

  “Please don’t make me say those things.”

  “Damn it, talk to me the way I need.”

  “My ass is…your property.”

  “That’s right, boy. Anytime I want to rut, I’m going to mount you.”

  Teddy closed his eyes. As much as he liked getting fucked, this was unbearable. He knew it would end quickest if he whimpered that he was Roy’s slave, but he couldn’t concentrate. Now that they’d been seen, he’d have to leave the ranch and find new work. Fear of being jobless and of never being touched, even by a man like Roy, had kept him there, but now that it was certain to be over, a part of him felt hollow.

  By the time Roy came, almost silently, the cold had seeped into Teddy’s fingers, toes, and ears, and he needed assis
tance dressing himself. Roy helped Teddy manage the buttons on his shirt, but as soon as he was done, he spanked Teddy once and walked away towards his room in the Lawsons’ main house. Teddy saw that Marco had disappeared, but there was a light on in the room they now shared.

  When Teddy walked in shivering, Marco was already in bed reading another of Mrs. Lawson’s books. Teddy took off his boots and coat, but found himself getting under the covers with his jeans and work shirt still on. When Marco gave him a questioning look, Teddy said he was too cold to change.

  They were silent for long minutes. Then Teddy said, “I know you probably think I’m disgusting. If you promise not to tell the Lawsons or any of the men, I’ll move on in the next few days. You won’t have to see me no more.”

  “I won’t tell anyone. There’s no reason for you to leave. From what I’ve seen, you’re a good worker. Roy makes you put in longer days than anyone else, and you don’t complain. More importantly, the horses know you and trust you.”

  Teddy felt relief wash over him, but he couldn’t find the words to express his gratitude and merely nodded.

  “Do you like the way Roy treats you?” Marco asked.

  Teddy winced and covered his face. “No. I mean, yes, I’m gay, but I don’t like the way Roy does it when he’s mean. And he’s always mean these days. I’m sorry you had to see that.”

  “Why do you let him if you don’t like it?”

  Teddy thought hard before he spoke. “I could say it’s because I’m scared of what will happen if I say no. But I think what I’m really scared of is not having anybody at all.” Marco gave Teddy an understanding look, then went back to his book. Since Marco wanted to read, Teddy got out the book on horse gentling.

  Twenty minutes later, Marco looked up and said, “Teddy, you’ve changed the page twice in the last four days. Is it that boring a book?”

  Teddy was almost more embarrassed than he had been when Marco had seen him getting fucked. “I…can’t read well. I try, but it’s never come easy.”

  “I see.”

  “That’s a big reason why I stay here. The Lawsons know. My dad told them I could only read at a grade-school level when they hired me, but they took me anyway. Mrs. Lawson used to read to me, but her eyesight is real bad now.”