“How are you even here?” Harry asked as Blake placed a beer in front of him and then Reb.
“Wait, you two know each other?” Reb asked taking the beer. He tipped the bottle up, his eyes on the both of them.
“Guess you could say we met on the train.” Blake looked at Harry and winked. “ Got to know one another pretty well, wouldn’t you say, Harry?”
Harry felt himself blush and saw Reb stare hard at Blake.
“Sounds like it was quite the train ride, Harry,” Reb said, not taking his eyes off Blake.
“Trains is funny things, Reb, old boy, funny things indeed, but I think our boy Harry here had you on the brain pretty much the whole time. In fact I think I remember him talking in his sleep, sayin’ something about you, maybe I’m wrong,” Blake winked at a waitress, took a drink from his beer, and leaned back.
“Harry?”
Reb looked at Harry but Harry’s mind was still reeling from his encounter with Dutch and the prospect of riding a practically wild horse in the morning.
Harry shook himself and leaned under the table and touched Reb’s hand, he was glad that Reb didn’t pull away.
Blake saw this and let out a loud whistle. “Why you boys are in love ain’t ya? Well, well, well two old cowboys in love, must be novelty night here at the rodeo.” He fell forward laughing.
“Shut the fuck up you, asshole,” Reb hissed. “You don’t shut up I’ll shut you up, you ain’t nowhere near as big as old Bowlswurth.”
Harry put a hand up in hopes to signal a truce but he could see jealousy burning in Reb’s dark eyes and amusement burning in Blake’s.
“Blake, how’d you end up here? You got off the train well before me.”
Blake relented; a final wink in Reb’s direction signaled his retreat.
“I got off to get your Daddy that devil horse your sorry ass is gonna be ridin’ tomorrow. I had to drive the rest of the way. Your daddy wanted that horse for this rodeo but I told him he ain’t ready yet, not even close to being broken.”
“So then we’re fucked!” Reb said as if sensing Harry’s thoughts. He drained the rest of his beer and immediately signaled the waitress for another round.
“Shit,” Harry muttered. He looked up at the ceiling; he could feel a burn starting at the corners of his eyes. His fucking father was gonna have him back on the ranch teaching kids to ride in the blink of an eye, his dreams shattered like yesterday’s news.
Blake remained silent looking from Reb to Harry and then back again, it was only when he stood that he said, “I don’t always tell Dutch Reynolds the truth. Now if you boys don’t mind I gotta take a piss.”
After another round, they piled into Reb’s truck and drove out to the dessert. Blake had remained silent, saying he would tell them everything only when they got to the ranch where he kept the horse.
Reb turned the radio on to break the silence. It crackled with old country music, songs their parents grew up with wistful and sad.
Harry dozed in and out as they drove, only half-aware of the uncomfortable silence that hung in the air. He caught Blake smiling, grey eyes staring straight ahead and Reb who stayed dead silent. Harry was grateful that the details of the train ride remained off the table. He knew Reb hated Blake and was now suspicious of Harry but that couldn’t be helped. Harry would have plenty of time once this was over to make it up to him. Blake thankfully remained sagely quiet about the train ride and seemed to be thinking about other things. From what Harry could tell, he was sure their brief encounter was a thing of the past, not to be repeated.
When they arrived at the ranch, it was just past ten. The air was cool from the rain and except for the sounds of horses and the occasional rattling of loose roof panels in the wind the ranch was mysteriously silent. Reb and Harry followed Blake to the barn and the corral just beyond where several horses wandered. One in particular stood apart from the others and Harry knew right away that the chestnut horse standing on his own was Dutch’s devil horse. A young man was in with them, letting them mosey about a bit longer before driving them in for the night.
“Ehh Blake!” The man called, Blake waved back.
“Hola, Tomas, got a couple of cowboys here looking to ride tomorrow, bet you can guess which one?”
Tomas made a sound that indicated he knew exactly which one. “I get the others inside first before you do anything with El Diablo over there.” With that Tomas began the task of walking the horses inside, El Diablo, which is what Harry called him from that moment on, immediately ran from where Tomas was making his efforts to corral the horses and slowed only when at the other end of the fenced in area.
Blake went to the fence and leaned against it. “There’s your horse, Harry, old boy, it ain’t gonna be easy, but it can be done.”
“So then he is broken?” Reb asked coming up to Blake and leaning against the fence so he could stare at the horse.
“Shoot no! That horse, he ain’t ever gonna be broken, not completely. This proud beauty should be in the wild where he was born. I’ve rode him and Tomas has rode him and if we can, then Harry can. Dutch thinks he ain’t ever been rode before. See your Daddy, on top of being a bastard, is a cheap bastard and he only pays me until he knows a horse can be rode. So the longer I make him think the horse is unbroken the longer I get paid.”
“Good to know honesty is still alive and well,” Reb said without an ounce of humor in his voice.
Harry caught Blake give Reb and amused look.
“Fuck him over as long as you want, I don’t give a shit anymore. I’m gonna ride this horse tomorrow and make sure I get out from under Dutch Reynolds for good. I want to ride him now.”
Harry could see Reb’s concern and Blake’s continued amusement when they both looked at him.
“Harry, it’s almost pitch black out here, you’ve got enough of a death wish hanging over your head already, do we need to speed it along?” Reb asked as he dug his hands into his pockets. Their breath was making gray steam in the cold air.
“I say do it,” Blake said before whistling a long, strange note that seconds later brought El Diablo to them.
Some horses no matter how many times they are ridden remain wild and unpredictable their entire lives. Harry could tell even by the way the horse came over to them that this was one of those horses. He could tell in the way the horse hesitated at first when Blake called as if it were listening to some other call that they as mere men would never hear. This horse knew wide-open spaces, knew true freedom, and could probably smell Harry’s lack of experience with such things.
Where Harry had just begun to understand what it meant to be free, El Diablo had always known freedom until recently. Their common, if not strange denominator was the same — Dutch Reynolds held them both prisoners.
Harry approached the horse with a sure steady pace; he knew not to show fear. El Diablo needed to know Harry was the master. The horse’s nose flared out he took short breaths as if he were trying to smell if Harry was a friend or foe. El Diablo gave a couple deep neighs and pawed a front hoof, trying to scare Harry away.
Harry understood the power, the unease, and the excitement that the horse felt; it was what he felt that morning in the motel, it was the feeling of being free. He held a hand out and somewhere behind him, he thought he heard Reb call something out, but it didn’t matter. He kept his gaze steady and moved closer.
We’re the same, you and I. Harry heard the words inside his head, and let this thought guide his actions, he was going to ride this horse and then set it free, neither of them belonged corralled, kept under the fist of an arrogant man. He was so close now he could see the lights from the barn reflected in the horses deep, liquid-black eyes. The same, you, and I. He closed his eyes just as his hand met the horse; it whinnied and pulled back but didn’t run.
The horse’s smell always captured him. He was part of that smell from the time he could walk and would be until the time he died. His hand found the horse again and this time there was no pull back,
there was a connection and an understanding. Harry pressed his hand firmly against El Diablo’s neck, could feel its mighty pulse, the rush of blood, the swell of power emanating from the creature. From the neck he let his hands find the mane, coarse and thick, uncombed, dirty, his finger threaded themselves in the hair, El Diablo grew restless, Harry could feel the horses need to run and in a second El Diablo would run but not without Harry. He launched himself suddenly up on the back of the horse and just as their bodies met, El Diablo took off running.
To say he became one with the horse that night was something he would never admit, but Harry rode El Diablo and rode him hard and when he got off, he was a changed person. He could smell his own wild scent; sweat mixed with something crazy. It was as if he rode El Diablo through the night and somehow had come out with a tinge of everything they had passed on their ride. There was wild rose, moonflower, and a musk that never left him after that night. When he first dismounted, his chest was heaving, his shirt had been torn open, and even though he was wobbly he met Reb with a passionate and crushing embrace. Blake and Tomas left the two men standing by the corral with the night deepening around them.
“Where did you go?” Reb asked, pulling away slowly from Harry’s fervent kiss.
“Where didn’t I go? I fucking went where I should have gone a long time ago.” He pulled Reb closer and said, “I’m free, and tomorrow I’ll break my ass to prove it once and for all.”
“You were always free, Harry, you just didn’t know it,” Reb answered before pressing Harry into the fence, their mouths finding one another as if for the first time.
Harry stumbled against Reb and felt the same power he felt when he had approached El Diablo, even Reb’s familiar fresh hay like smell was not unlike the horses, and it filled Harry with a familiar want.
“I want you right here, now,” Harry whispered in Reb’s ear. He felt himself pant the words. He had been hard, so hard he felt like his cock might explode with want.
Reb pulled him closer. Harry could feel their cocks pressing against each other. “You wanna do it here?”
Harry nodded and bit Reb’s ear and said in a rushed voice, “yes, I want you so fucking bad I can taste it, taste you in my mouth, but tonight I want more,” Harry reached down and cupped Reb’s ass with both hands.
Reb smiled and groaned and with a feral voice said, “Maybe I want you that way.” He returned Harry’s grab with his own.
Harry pulled Reb closer, his biceps tightening, he felt himself begin to salivate. “However you want it,” he replied and was about to press his mouth over Reb’s when they heard Blake’s voice call out to them.
“You boys coming in?”
They continued to look at each other, smiling, kissing, and nibbling each other’s lips hungrily.
“You gonna be okay tomorrow, cowboy?” Reb asked before biting Harry’s bottom lip, which was beginning to swell.
“I might be, but I can’t say what my face is gonna look like.” He pulled away just in time to avoid another bite from Reb.
“Shoot, you can’t look nothing but perfect, don’t you know who your Daddy is?”
They managed to stop teasing each other long enough to find their way back to the barn., There were still a couple of lights burning and Harry could just see El Diablo who was munching hay and staring at something just beyond him.
“He’s a hell of a horse,” Harry remarked as Reb and he continued towards the ranch house, which was just beyond the barn.
Reb was about to respond but then stopped. “You hear that?”
Harry stopped and was about to shake his head but then he heard it, a rustling, then it got louder, it sounded as if something was trapped in one of the stalls.
“Bet a cat caught a mouse is all,” Reb said, and pulled Harry by the hand but Harry wasn’t moving.
“I’m gonna go check it out, don’t sound like any cat I ever heard,” Harry answered.
“You go then, I’m beat,” Reb replied. “You let me know what monster you catch.”
“Hold on, I’ll just be a minute, less than.” He looked back and saw Reb lean against a stall that housed an old mare; it was only when Harry saw him grab a long piece of straw and munch it that he knew Reb would wait.
Harry had always loved barns; their mysterious silence, which really was not silence because there was always movement, wind making tools shake on the walls, the constant almost ocean like movements of the horses. Now as he walked towards the empty stall he was reminded of such sounds and how what he heard wasn’t anything he had heard before, at least not in a barn.
“Fuck,” he whispered, and looked back at Reb who was still munching his hay, eyes almost closed. Harry wasn’t sure he could walk back without being spotted. He was also aware that his cock was rock hard, he wasn’t sure he wanted to leave. He watched as Blake arched his hips to feed his thick and familiar cock closer to Tomas’s mouth. The two men were naked, their bodies covered in hay was what was making the noise, the grunts of Blake’s pleasure and Tomas’s efforts was what he had heard. Definitely not a cat, he looked back at Reb who was now staring at him. Harry motioned for him to come and held a hand up to his mouth just as it looked like Reb was about to speak.
Harry was so turned on he was afraid that me might cum before Reb even touched him. He couldn’t help himself and almost instinctually reached down and massaged his hard-on and felt himself begin to shake with excitement.
“What?” Reb had managed before he saw Tomas and Blake rolling around like animals in the hay. “ Shit,” he whispered, and stood next to Harry and watched as Tomas exposed his own dark brown and drooling cock, which Blake stroked until Tomas began to pant.
“You wanna join us?” Blake asked just as Tomas turned and realized they were being watched, Tomas looked dazed as if he had been interrupted and now wasn’t sure what to do.
“Shit, um sorry, we thought…” Harry was blushing but he couldn’t stop staring at the naked men, his voice trailing off, he couldn’t think of what to say.
“Or you could just watch,” Blake continued. “Stroke your cocks, shoot your loads.” The last word was more a grunt as Tomas resumed his deep throating of Blake’s cock.
Reb and Harry looked at one another, Harry tore his eyes away long enough to see Reb was hard and before Reb could say anything Harry was unbuttoning Reb’s pants and then his own.
“Fuck,” Reb mumbled as Harry’s hands found his cock and began to stroke it. It wasn’t long before Harry felt Reb’s hand reach down and reciprocate with long, slow strokes, just what Harry liked.
“You boys wanna see me fuck this hot ass?” Blake asked, his voice hoarse with desire. “ I’m gonna fuck that ass just for you,” Blake said looking at Harry and Reb.
“Come on, Ranchero, put that cock in there,” Tomas said as he looked over shoulder to where Blake was readying his cock for the task.
“I’m gonna fuck you so good man, so fucking good, yeah, I’m gonna go balls deep tonight, boy.” Blake grabbed Tomas, Harry felt his balls begin to ache; he wanted to cum, he was imagining Reb inside him.
“Easy,” he managed and Reb slowed his stroke.
Harry could see Tomas, his handsome, brown face turned upward; his dark eyes looked from him to Reb. He said something in Spanish but Harry couldn’t make it out and it didn’t matter because the next thing Harry heard from Tomas was a cry of pleasure mixed with pain as Blake entered him. Harry watched mesmerized as Tomas and Blake found each other’s rhythm. Tomas knew just how to move his body and Blake matched each movement, with his own that seemed to fit together like a puzzle. It was obvious they had fucked before and Harry wondered if they were lovers.
“Fuck yeah, that tight hole feels so good, it’s gonna make me cum,” Blake yelled out.
Harry caught Blake’s eye, they were wild, on the verge, rolling back. “Stroke those cocks’ boys, stroke those fucking big dicks. I wanna see you shoot, wanna see you bust those nuts.” His voice was fast and breathless and he knew Blake
was about to blow, he could see his leg muscles twitching, could see Tomas bucking hard against him.
“Harder, fucking harder,” Harry heard Reb grunt against his ear. Harry began stroking faster and felt Reb stroke him, their strokes eventually matched, and it was just at that moment that he heard Tomas begin to cry out.
“Fuck, vato, you’re making me cum with that cock.” Harry watched as Tomas let loose a string of cum that fell in droplets on the hay and dirt just below him. It was even before the last drops hit the ground that Blake pulled his fat cock from Tomas and began shooting his own load of pearly droplets on Tomas’s back. This was the last straw for Harry and Reb. Harry came first with Reb only seconds behind. They clung to one another, cum covering each other’s hands and then melting over their fists.
Harry and Reb clung to one another, gasping for air and their hearts pounding. Harry could feel Reb’s wet pant in his ear as he tried to catch his breath. Harry looked over Reb’s shoulder and watched as Tomas and Blake were trying to regain themselves.
“Fuck,” he heard Blake say, “Man I’m not sure I can move.”
Tomas got up first and offered a hand to Blake. “You wanna sleep in the stall or in bed with me?”
Blake took the outstretched hand. “I’ll take the bed, although it wouldn’t be the first time I slept in a barn.”
“I believe it,” Harry remarked as Tomas and Blake stumbled past them, but not before Blake patted Harry on the shoulder.
“You just ride that horse like I rode Tomas here and you’ll be fine tomorrow.”
Tomas punched him in the arm, but pulled Blake to him. Harry couldn’t help but laugh as the two men made their way towards the ranch house.
“By the way,” Blake called, “you all have the room upstairs on the right.”
Harry waved his response and felt Reb pull away from him. “You tired?” Harry asked.
“Fucking beat, now can we get some sleep?” Reb asked stifling a yawn.
“I don’t know if I can do it,” Harry said looking at his father who just so happened to be sitting in the front row right next to Bowlswurth who had a stupid grin on his pudgy face.
Dutch's Boy Page 5
