Chaps & Chastity

(Kinky Cowboys, Book 3)

by Anitra Lynn McLeod

Copyright 2018 by Anitra Lynn McLeod

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License Notes

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each person. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

This novel is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the writer’s imagination or have been used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, actual events, locale or organizations is entirely coincidental.

Table of Contents

Copyright Page

About This Series

About This Book

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Epilogue

About the Author

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About This Series

Sexy cowboys with playful kinks are going to heat up things in Climax, Colorado. Each stand-alone story combines gorgeous men, passionate encounters, and a happily ever after that will touch your heart. These feel-good stories have absolutely no cheating, low angst, and plenty of romance.

About This Book

Dutton Fisher had always been able to connect and hookup with ease until he’s forced to ride fences with Kip Chisholm. Rumors about the quiet man put Dutton off but when a violent storm forces them together, Dutton not only learns Kip’s shocking secret but finds himself irresistibly intrigued. Opposites attract but how can a pansexual extrovert and a chaste introvert ever make a relationship work?

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This contemporary western M/M romance contains light consensual D/s, sex toys, orgasm denial, and a sweet HEA. 25,000 words or 100 pages.

Chapter One

Dutton Tate Fisher resisted the urge to roll his eyes. Instead, he tried to tell his boss why he wouldn’t be the best cowboy to show the greenhorn the ropes of riding fences. “He’s better off with Sally Ann or Randy.”

“I’m not asking you to spoon feed him or read him a bedtime story.” Caroline Colby-Thayer, the owner of the Colby Ranch, blew an exasperated breath. “Just show him how the job is done so he can do it on his own.” Caroline’s gaze wandered to Kip Chisholm. Compassion dropped the annoyance right off her face. “He’ll be perfect for the work.”

“Because no one wants to hang out with him,” Dutton muttered under his breath.

“What was that?” Caroline turned her attention to Dutton, her brows lifted.

“Nothing, ma’am.” Dutton decided bitching about his assignment wasn’t going to help his situation. “I’ll get everything put together and we’ll set off in the morning.”

“Now.” Caroline pointed to the back of her truck. “Gear’s ready to go and Wilson will have your horses waiting at the main stable.”

“Can I have five minutes to pack some personal gear?” Dutton had never felt so rushed into doing a job. If he didn’t know better, he’d think that Caroline wanted to get rid of him. Shit. Maybe she did. That bastard Wilson had been spreading rumors that Dutton had been hitting on Caroline’s sixteen-year-old daughter.

“Take ten minutes, but tell Kip first so that he can get a bag together too.” Caroline pulled the gear out of the truck and left it at the edge of the bunkhouse parking lot.

“Hey, Kip.” Dutton called out to him three times before Kip looked up from the book in his hands. “Pack a bag. I’m taking you out to teach you how to ride fences.”

Kip didn’t ask any questions or really even acknowledge what Dutton had said. He just got to his feet and went into his bunkhouse.

Concerned that if Kip didn’t know what to bring, Dutton would have to cover for him, he went over and knocked twice before stepping inside.

“You’ll need—”

Eyes wide, Kip shoved something into the bottom of his bag and then turned so red his cheeks had to hurt.

“Sorry. I wasn’t trying to spy on you. Just make sure you bring some clean skivvies, your toothbrush, heavy coat, gloves, shotgun chaps, and some books.”

Kip nodded and then stood there, his curious gaze on Dutton.

This time, when Dutton felt the urge to roll his eyes, he did and then backed out of the room. He closed the door firmly behind him then went into his own room next door. There, he filled a bag with gear then slung it over his shoulder.

In less than twenty minutes, they rode down the long drive toward the fence that separated the Colby Ranch from the National Forest. A creek twisted between the properties so they didn’t have to worry about bringing water with them, but the surging level during spring runoff was also why they had to run this fence line more often than the others.

Since it had been run so often, campsites dotted the length of the hundred mile fence. At twenty miles a day, they had five days together. Five days with the weirdo everyone called Mormon Boy.

Dutton set an easy pace then turned to Kip. “Okay. Running fences 101. What you need to do is pretty simple. Ride along the fence and fix anything that’s down, bent, or tangled. If the damage is too big to fix, make a note of the exact location using the GPS device and then email that back to the ranch. Easy peasy.”

Kip listened attentively with his weirdly innocent yet knowing eyes riveted on Dutton’s face.

“You get that?”

“Yes.”

Dutton nodded and turned his attention back to the fence line. He thought that might have been the first word he’d ever heard Kip utter. Maybe his high, sweet voice was the reason he didn’t talk much. Even though Kip had been living in the room next to him for well over two weeks, Dutton hadn’t heard so much as a peep. Kip didn’t make any noise at all. Not even a bed squeak or a midnight moan. He didn’t slam drawers or doors. Weird. Not like he wanted an obnoxious asshole living next door, like that guy Caroline had finally cut loose, the one who stayed up late, got drunk, and then banged around his room while yelling at imaginary people. Dutton wanted someone in the middle of those two extremes, someone like Sally Ann, who lived on the other side of him. Dutton could hear her moving around, humming to herself, and sometimes she dropped stuff. Just enough noise for him to know she was there without it being overwhelming.

Sighing, Dutton kept examining the fence as they rode along but he found himself wondering what Kip did while alone in his room at night. Dutton had come up with all kinds of nefarious things—weirdly quiet satanic rituals, bizarre masturbation techniques, twisted world domination fantasies—but now he realized the kid had probably just been reading.

Dutton found their first downed pole a few miles out.

“What you do here is stabilize the pole with rocks. It’s not the best solution, but this is one we’ll have to report.”

Kip already had the GPS in one hand and his cell phone in the other.

In less than ten minutes, they were back on the trail.

High sun gave Dutton good shade under the brim of his hat and warmed him enough he could open his jacket. When Kip did the same, Dutton suppressed a grin. Once upon a time, his little brother had mimicked his every move. Maybe that’s all Kip needed. A big brother to show him how to be a cowboy.

“How long have you been a cowboy, Kip?”

“A year.”

Dutton waited for him to ask the obvious question. When he didn’t, Dutton said, “I’ve been a working cowboy all my life. Could have stayed down in Texas but my parents sold the ranch and retired early.”

Kip nodded.

“You from Colorado?”

“You don’t have to talk to me.” Kip sounded defeated.

“I want to.”

“I know what everyone says about me.”

“Are you Mormon?”

“No.” Kip wrinkled up his forehead. Clearly, that wasn’t the rumor he’d been talking about.

“Are you a serial killer?” Dutton had heard that one too, but he couldn’t remember if it had been said about Kip or Randy. Hell, might even have been said about Sally Ann. The Colby Ranch rumor mill was an equal opportunity dirt flinger. Everyone on the ranch was fair game.

“Yes.” Kip said it so deadpan that for a split second, Dutton believed him.

“What kind of people do you kill?”

“Cowboys.” Kip met his gaze and Dutton felt something behind those eyes that he just couldn’t put his finger on.

“All cowboys?”

“It’s the hats.” One corner of Kip’s mouth flicked up into a quick grin that vanished as fast as it appeared.

“They piss you off?”

“I collect them.”

“Then why do you need to kill the cowboys?”

“I need the heads to hold up the hats.” Kip scoffed and rolled his eyes. “Duh.”

“Of course.”

“Not that most cowboys need their heads.”

“Er...”

“Not too bright. Most cowboys. Believing stupid rumors about people.”

“Yeah.”

“I’ve heard you hit on Caroline, her daughter, and her son. Either you’re really confused or someone’s lying.”

“I’m pan.”

“You’re what?”

“I’m—never mind.” Dutton had no idea why he’d brought up his orientation when it didn’t matter. “I didn’t hit on any—wait. Is her son Will Thayer?”

“Yeah.”

“I did hit on him.” Dutton chuckled. “Didn’t know he was seeing someone.”

“You don’t hit on people who are seeing other people?”

“Not knowingly. Kind of a dick move, really. Will took it okay. Laughed it off. Nice guy.”

“You don’t have anyone?”

“Nope. Footloose and fancy-free.” Dutton’s initials were DTF giving him the perfect nickname: Down To Fuck. He tried to live up to it every day and in every way. “You?”

“Who’d want to date a Mormon serial killer?”

“See, that makes it sound like you kill Mormons.” Dutton considered. “Cowboy killing Mormon. That’s what you’d be.”

“How would I reconcile those two things? Mormons aren’t really known for their bloodlust.”

“But the hats.”

“Right. The hats.” Kip smiled and nodded but the smile never even got close to his eyes.

“Who are you, really?” Fun was fun but Dutton genuinely wanted to know.

“Nobody.” Kip pulled on the reins so that his horse fell back a few feet from Dutton’s.

“Rude.” Dutton didn’t say it too loud because maybe not talking was a good thing. Instead, he kept his gaze on the fence and his thoughts on what to do to big mouth Wilson. From what Kip had heard, Wilson was making it sound like Dutton couldn’t keep his dick in his pants at all. Sure, he hit on a lot of people but that was what you had to do. Ask ten people to fuck and one of them was bound to say yes. One thing Dutton didn’t do was stupid things. Caroline was hot in a MILF sort of way but she was his boss. Dutton wouldn’t hit on her any more than he’d hit on her underage daughter. Which made him consider again that he’d been sent out here with Kip as some kind of punishment for something that hadn’t even happened.

Dutton used his peripheral vision to check out Kip. He didn’t seem like a bad guy. Maybe he just got talked about because he was so quiet. Introverts had a tendency to spark annoyance in other people. Some people didn’t get them so they assumed they were up to something even when they weren’t. Dutton couldn’t even blame him for not wanting to talk. Getting called a Mormon wasn’t a bad thing but getting called a serial killer? Yeah. That was mean.

They found another post that needed to be reseated. They worked in silence. When they finished, they got back on their horses. Kip insisted on walking a good ten paces behind him.

Dutton considered reaching out again but then nixed the idea. Riding fences was a singular activity. Caroline had been right about this kind of work being the perfect thing for a person like Kip since he seemed inclined to keep his own counsel. For him, not having to deal with the other cowboys except when he had to resupply before he went back out to ride more fences might be ideal. Not all cowboys enjoyed the solitude. Dutton certainly didn’t. He liked people. Couldn’t hookup without them. Maybe that was the real punishment. Out here, the only one he could hit on was Kip.

Just before sunset, they reached the first campsite.

“If you’ll gather wood,” Dutton said. “I’ll set up the tent.”

“Tent?” Kip’s eyes went wide like they’d been when he’d shoved the something in his bag. He didn’t blush as hard, but his cheeks darkened enough to make the color of his eyes—deep azure blue—pop. Fuck. When he blushed like that, he was actually pretty damn cute.

“Just in case it rains.” Dutton checked the sky. Dark clouds loomed on the horizon about five hours out. “Yeah, it’s going to rain.”

“I’ll sleep out here.”

“I’m telling you, it’s going to rain.”

“I’ll sleep out here.”

“Look at those clouds.” Dutton pointed behind Kip, who refused to turn around. “They’re heading this way. My years of experience tell me those are what we call no-fucking around rain clouds.”

Kip met his gaze, his expression guarded.

“That means that when they decide to take a dump, they shit water.”

Kip recoiled.

“That’s the kind of rain that comes down in buckets, soaking everything in its path.” Dutton took his hat off and let the light breeze dry the sweat from his hair.

Kip hardly glanced at the clouds before saying, “I’ll sleep out here.”

“Suit yourself.” Under his breath, Dutton muttered, “I don’t really care.”

Under his breath, Kip muttered, “I know.”

Dutton felt like a jerk for half a second but then got angry. He’d been trying to reach out to Kip all damn day only to get rejected. Wasn’t like the kid was making any kind of effort at all. Why should he?

Kip gathered enough wood to see them through the morning and then some. At least he wasn’t a shirker, like Randy. Whenever work needed to be done, Randy had a habit of moving slower than a horse on the way to the glue factory.

“Give me a second and I’ll get the fire going.” Dutton had a corner of the tent up. One thing about Caroline, she didn’t send them out with subpar gear. The tent was light, strong, and completely water and windproof.

“I can manage.”

“Sure.” Dutton didn’t think Kip could build a fire but he’d give him the chance. When Kip managed, he frowned. Why had he thought Kip was a city slicker? Had that been another rumor? Had to be. From what he’d seen so far, Kip didn’t really talk. Anything said about him couldn’t have come from his own mouth.

“What do you want for supper?” Kip opened one of the bags that Caroline had packed. Dehydrated meals in shiny pouches filled the bag.

“You pick.”

Kip pulled something out and set about boiling water. In fifteen minutes, they had chicken teriyaki with rice.

“Thanks.” Dutton nodded over his plate of food.

“Welcome.”

They ate in silence then Kip washed the dishes in the creek. He carefully rinsed the bag the food had come in and tucked it away in a thicker bag. No bears around this part of the ranch, but that Kip took precautions against attracting one spoke volumes. Dutton wanted to talk about where he was from and what he knew, but he didn’t want another cold dismissal. If Kip wanted to talk, he could start things up.

With dinner done, Dutton pulled out a battered paperback novel he’d picked up over at Dusty’s Books.

Kip pulled one out too. He read a few pages then looked up. “What’s yours?”

Dutton showed him the cover. “Yours?”

Kip showed him his paperback.

“We can trade when we’re done,” Dutton offered.

Kip clutched the book as if Dutton had just threatened to take it away from him.

“Or not.” Dutton turned away, frustrated that everything he said freaked Kip out in some way. Getting along with people was what he did best yet he couldn’t get a handle on some kid. Fuck. His ego was getting pummeled. Twice he opened his mouth to explain he was just being friendly but twice he shut it without saying anything at all. He sat there, pretending to read, but really he was thinking why what he’d said would bother Kip so much. The answer came pretty quickly. His sister rarely shared her books, saying that, for her, sharing a book was like giving someone a piece of her heart. She only ever did it with people she trusted completely. Maybe someone else had taken Kip’s trust and crapped all over it. If that were the case, Dutton could totally understand Kip’s fear.

They read until the sun went down and then a little bit beyond but soon they were yawning like crazy.

“Never fails to amaze me how early I get tired when I don’t have any electronics to keep me up.” Dutton got on a whole different schedule when he ran fences.

“Circadian rhythms.” Kip spoke the two words absently without taking his attention away from his book.

“What’s that?” Dutton asked.

“The lack of light stimulates your melatonin production and—” Kip cut himself off abruptly then cast a worried gaze onto Dutton, almost as if he expected to be struck for speaking.

“Is that the stuff that makes me sleepy?”

Kip nodded.

“I thought melatonin was that stuff that gives you a tan.”

“That’s melanin. Melatonin is a hormone.”

“Yeah?” Dutton dog-eared the page he was on, earning himself a disapproving frown from his traveling companion. Kip clutched his paperback book closer to his chest as if protecting it from him and his dog-earing page ways. “I’d love to hear more about it.”

“I don’t know anything.” Kip closed his book without using anything to mark his place then he wrapped his book up in a T-shirt before tucking it into his pack. Kip clutched his pack to his chest like a lumpy shield.

Frustrated that he couldn’t seem to reach Kip, Dutton rose to his feet. To his shock, Kip flinched away as if Dutton were about to hit him. “I wasn’t—I was just—shit. What the fuck happened to you?”

“Nothing.” Kip swallowed hard but he kept moving back until he got way out of hitting range.

“I think we need to have some clearing of the air here.” Dutton dropped back down onto the big log he’d been using as a seat. “I’m not going to hit you. Or take your book. Or—fuck, dude. I’m not going to do anything to you. Okay?”

Kip nodded but wouldn’t look at him, not directly. It seemed to Dutton that Kip kept his attention on the dusty tips of his own boots.

“Look, Kip. Wilson is a blabbermouth who says things about people that aren’t true.”

Kip nodded.

“I know he lied about you.”

Kip nodded.

“Do you know he lied about me?”

Kip nodded.

Dutton sat there, trying to figure out what, if anything, he should do. He felt responsible for Kip when he really shouldn’t. Then again, Caroline had pretty much put him in charge. After clearing his throat, Dutton said, “Look. For this job, I’m your boss. Okay?”

Kip nodded.

“I need you to trust me.”

Kip hesitated for just a second but then he nodded again.

That hesitation ate at Dutton’s confidence in a way he couldn’t describe. Connecting to people, working together, hooking up—Dutton could do those things with effortless ease. Except with Kip Chisholm. Kip managed something no one else ever had. He made Dutton feel like a bully and pervert. And things were only going to get worse. Dutton could not let Kip sleep outside when he knew how bad the coming rainstorm would be.

“I want you to sleep in the tent.” Dutton didn’t want to be a bossy jerk but he also didn’t want to have to deal with a soaked coworker in the middle of the night. “It’s going to rain. It’s going to rain in big motherfucking sheets of rain.”

Kip went so still he became a statue.

It suddenly dawned on Dutton that Kip freaked out whenever he swore. Softening his voice and keeping a lid on his potty mouth tendencies, Dutton said, “It’s going to be a big mess of rain, Kip. Seriously. I don’t want you out in it. Okay?”

Kip didn’t take his big eyes off Dutton. Hell, he hardly blinked. He almost looked like one of those big headed dolls his sister had played with when she was little. Big, unblinking eyes that freaked him right the fuck out because he felt almost like Kip could read his mind or something. Knowing eyes. Worried eyes. The longer Dutton looked, the more uncomfortable he became.

“I’m going to sleep over there.” Kip pointed to the side of the tent.

Unable to argue the point anymore, Dutton got to his feet—slowly this time—and then he took the saddles and packs and moved them into the tent. Where the tent sloped at the sides, there was just enough room on either side of the center sleeping area to store everything. The horses would be okay, tethered as they were near the creek where they could get water and green grass.

All the while Kip sat motionless, clutching his backpack, watching with those strange eyes of his. If Dutton could just get a read on the kid, maybe he could figure out what to say, but he just didn’t get much of anything. Other than Kip seemed to be hiding a pretty sharp intellect. Smart kids often got beat up for wrecking the grading curve. Could that be it?

Trying a different tack, Dutton asked, “Why don’t you want to sleep in the tent?”

Kip didn’t answer.

Dutton had a sudden vision of Kip jacking it in the middle of the night. That would explain why he wanted privacy. Dutton grinned as he turned away. Now there was an idea. He wouldn’t mind watching Kip stroke one off. Hell, he pretty much liked to watch anyone masturbate. Everyone had their own way of getting the job done. By paying attention, Dutton had learned all kinds of cool things to try when he was solo. Realizing the inappropriate direction of his thoughts, Dutton decided that he couldn’t make Kip do what he wanted him to do. Dutton knew he was right about the rain. He knew that storm was big enough to make one hell of a mess. Maybe the best thing to do was let Kip find out how miserable being wet while running fences could be.

“I’m going to brush my teeth.” Dutton grabbed his toiletries from his bag along with the big lantern. “You can come with. We can share the light.”

“Oh. Yeah.” Kip fished around in his bag for his gear. Instead of leaving his backpack behind, he hefted it up onto his shoulders.

They went down by the creek to clean up then went back to camp.

Since the area around the fire ring had been cleared of anything flammable, Dutton would let the fire die down on its own. If they were lucky, they would have a few hot coals to bring it back to life in the morning.

Dutton cast his gaze to the sky. Naw. They weren’t going to be lucky. Since he wanted hot food come morning, he tucked some kindling and bigger pieces of wood inside the tent.

Kip watched him but said nothing.

“If you change your mind, come on in.”

“I won’t.”

“Okay. Suit yourself. Goodnight.” Dutton slipped into the tent.

“Night.” Kip sounded half asleep already.

Cold night air made Dutton keep his gear on but for his boots. Those he took off so they could dry out. He draped his socks over his saddle so that by morning they’d be dry too, then he rolled over and fell asleep.

Dutton woke to chattering teeth and rain pounding the hell out of the tent.

“Kip?”

All he heard in answer was sniffling.

“Kip? Are you—where are you?” Dutton reached out and grabbed something so alien he instantly let go. “What the fuck was—”

“I’m right here.” Kip’s voice came from above. “Can you move over a little?”

“Yeah. But if you’re wet—shit. Hang on. I’ve got a light.” Dutton grabbed the little solar powered lamp. It’s wasn’t super bright but given how dark-adjusted their eyes were, they didn’t need much. Once it came on, he gasped. Kip stood soaked to the bone. “Fuck. Why are you so wet?”

“I was trying—I didn’t want—I’m so sorry.” Kip hung his head.

The urge to berate him, to say some variation of I told you so died so quickly it practically never existed. Rather than bother him, Kip had stayed out in that pounding rain for what looked like hours. Water dripped off his hair and clothes. His lips were blue and his pale skin had turned even whiter. He almost looked like a damn ghost.

“It’s okay. Don’t worry about it.” Dutton used the same voice he used when calming a nervous horse. Slowly, so as not to startle him, Dutton climbed out of his bag. “Is your backpack still out there?”

Kip nodded. “I’ll go—”

“No. That’s okay.” Dutton was not going to send him back out there. “I have some clothes you can wear. Go ahead and strip down.”

Kip’s eyes widened to the size of golf balls.

“I’m not going to do anything to you.” Dutton lost some of his calm. “I only like to have sex with willing partners.”

“I’m fine.”

“You’re gonna get hypothermia.” No matter what Dutton said, Kip refused to undress. “Goddamn it, Kip. You’re not leaving me any choice here. For this trip, I’m your boss, and I’m ordering you to get undressed. Here. I’ll even turn my back. Okay?” Dutton turned away. “I expect to have your jeans in my hand in sixty seconds or I’m going to call Caroline.”

“You wouldn’t.”

“I would. I will call her and tell her this isn’t for you and she needs to come and pick you up.”

A long shuddering breath and another sniffle made Dutton feel like a bully but he also felt he had to stand firm.

“Look, Kip. If you get hurt, it’s on my head.” It took a little longer than sixty seconds for Kip to strip but at least he’d stopped fighting over something so trivial.

Kip put his soaked clothing into Dutton’s hand.

“Thank you.” Dutton wrung as much water as he could from Kip’s clothing then hung them up to dry. He then fished through his bag for his sweats. He’d brought them for comfort after a long day’s ride but they’d be something to keep Kip warm.

“Put these on.” Dutton tossed them over his shoulder and prepared himself for an argument that didn’t come. “Are you dressed?”

“Yeah.”

Dutton turned around to find Kip practically swimming in his sweats. He’d settled on his butt and had his head down and his shoulders—shit. Only one thing would make the kid’s shoulders hitch like that.

“Hey.” Dutton settled down next to him. “It’s okay. I’m not mad.”

“Yes, you are.”

“I’m tired. I don’t like being woken up in the middle of the night—” especially when I knew this would happen, but he didn’t say that. “But that doesn’t give me the right to be mean to you. I’m sorry.”

Kip drew a shuddering breath and looked up.

Oh, fuck. He looked like a puppy that some asshole had kicked square in the face. Yep, that would make Dutton the puppy-kicking asshole.

“I’m sorry,” Dutton said. “Okay?”

“I didn’t mean to—I thought if it rained it would wake me up.”

“You must be one hell of a deep sleeper.” Dutton fished a T-shirt out of his bag. “Here.”

“I’ll be okay.”

“You need to bundle up. This is just the beginning of what you’re going to put on.” Dutton had ridden this fence line twice. Both times it had rained and when it rained in Colorado during the spring, Mother Nature didn’t fuck around. The sky cracked and rain came down in sheets. Thank God Caroline had packed the good tent or they’d be royally screwed. “That water is going to drop the temperature a lot faster than you’d think.”

Kip allowed Dutton to put more clothes on him.

“Okay.” Dutton slid into his bag. “Come on.” He held open the edge of the bag. “Get in.”

“I can sleep right here.”

Jesus fucking Christ! When they got back, Dutton was going to beat the ever loving shit out of Wilson for spreading rumors about him. “I’m not going to molest you, okay?”

“That’s not—I know you won’t.”

“Then what’s wrong?”

Kip just shook his head.

“I don’t want to be a dick but you have to get in here. You’ll freeze.” Dutton resisted the urge to grab him and yank him in. It seemed to take forever but eventually, Kip slid into the bag, facing away from Dutton.

Dutton turned out the light.

“There. See? That’s not so bad.” Except it was. The only way for them to share the bag was for each of them to lie on their sides. That put Dutton’s dick right against Kip’s very tight little butt. A butt he could feel pretty damn well despite the thick fabric of his jeans. When he got an erection, he tried to will it away despite the fact that trick had never worked in high school and certainly wouldn’t work now. He got hard and the more he tried to make it go away the worse it got.

“You comfortable?” Dutton asked, hoping to distract himself by focusing on Kip.

“Yes, sir—I mean, yes. I am.” Kip tried to move away but there just wasn’t anywhere for him to go. All his wiggling around did was tighten Dutton’s jeans.

In another effort to distract himself, he thought about the thing he’d grabbed in the dark. Cold and heavy but it had felt like something familiar too. Something with familiar weight and heft. Mercifully, Dutton fell asleep thinking about it but woke up still hard only now Kip moaned in his sleep and rocked back against him, rubbing that snug butt up and down his cock.

Dutton would have climbed out to give Kip some privacy for his hot sex dream but the sun wasn’t going to be up for at least another hour and they might not be able to move on anyway since the rain continued to pour down.

“Yes, sir.” Kip moaned then whimpered.

Intrigued, Dutton held still and listened.

“Oh, yes, sir. I just want to please you.”

Dutton ran Kip’s sleepy words through the porn part of his brain and came up with a filthy scenario in no time flat. Had Kip been hiding his attraction to him? It kind of made sense. Dutton flirted with everyone—well, almost everyone. He didn’t think anyone would ever take him too seriously. If Kip really liked him, that casual attitude might have put him off. His obvious fear of being hit made sense too. If Kip got off on submission, there were plenty of guys who would take him on so they could act out their violent, abusive tendencies.

“Ohhhhh.” Kip’s moan drowned out the sound of the rain striking the tent and made Dutton growl in answer. He’d never had a big thing for D/s games. He didn’t mind them but they didn’t really move him either. Although, that might be because he never found anyone he wanted to play those kind of games with. Just the idea of Kip on his knees, sucking his cock while he looked up at him with those big eyes of his...

“Yes, sir. I will, sir.” Kip kept right on squirming against Dutton’s cock, bringing him perilously close to orgasm with both his words and his movements.

Dutton wanted to roll over or roll away but Kip kept him trapped in the sleeping bag.

“Please let me come, sir. Please.”

Oh, fuck. Dutton tried to close his mind from what was happening but he couldn’t. Kip moved his hands down in front of his hips. Dutton knew it for a fact without having to actually see Kip’s hands because Kip pulled that part of the bag tighter. Inadvertently, he pulled Dutton’s cock tighter against his ass too.

Any minute now and the kid was going to climax all over his sweats. Not that Dutton grossed out on that, quite the opposite. He thought it would be pretty fucking hot, but given Kip’s fear and shame, he’d probably go up in flames if he jizzed in them and had to give them back without washing them first. The last thing Dutton wanted was for Kip to feel bad. The poor kid couldn’t help having a wet dream and he couldn’t help the fact he was making his tent mate struggle with—

“Sir?”

Dutton had no idea what possessed him but he asked, “What?”

“Can I come?”

Yes. No. Maybe. Oh, fuck, don’t do this to me. “I think you should wake up.”

“Sir?” Instead of waking up or jacking off, Kip did something much worse. He somehow managed to roll over and face Dutton. Now they were cock to cock and—what the fuck was that? There was a heaviness to Kip’s bulge that felt alien making Dutton wonder if that was what he’d grabbed in the dark last night.

“Sir?”

“Wake up, Kip.” Dutton shook Kip’s shoulder. “I think you need to—”

Kip woke up and tried to jump back but he had nowhere to go. His frantic squirming brought the problem in Dutton’s pants to a crisis point.

“Calm down.” Dutton tried to soothe him but touching Kip only seemed to make him struggle more violently. “You were just talking in your sleep and I got a little worried.”

“Why am I facing this way?”

“You rolled over.”

“How?”

“I really don’t know.” Dutton kept his body as still as he could with one hand under his head and the other along the top of his body.

“I...oh, God.” Kip seemed to have remembered what he’d been dreaming about.

“It’s okay. Really.” Dutton had never, ever been in a situation that left him tongue-tied and unsure. Until now. Until Kip.

“Please don’t tell anyone,” Kip whispered.

“There’s nothing to tell.”

Kip renewed his struggles to get out of the bag.

Dutton grabbed his shoulder. “Please don’t do that. The sun won’t be up for an hour and I’m freezing.” He wasn’t, but he thought that if Kip did any more wiggling around he would climax and he wouldn’t be able to hide his reaction.

Mercifully, Kip stopped squirming. If he stayed still, Dutton’s erection might start to fade away.

“I’m sure you can feel that. It’s not my fault. Or your fault,” Dutton hastened to add. “It’s just morning wood, you know?”

Dutton couldn’t see him but he felt Kip nod because the sleeping bag tugged around his head.

“Are you—it’s okay if you’re hard too.” Maybe Dutton could get Kip to explain about that thing attached to his junk.

Instead of calming him down, what he’d said made Kip start struggling again.

“Jesus Christ. You have to stop doing that or I’m going to cream my fucking jeans.” Dutton reached out for the light, turning it on right as Kip managed to yank himself out of the bag and right out of Dutton’s sweatpants. Kip got to his feet and Dutton sat up in the sleeping bag. The T-shirt and flannel shirt he’d put on Kip only seemed to highlight the metal clutched around Kip’s tender bits. “What the—is that some kind of jewelry?”

Kip gasped and slapped his hands over his crotch.

Dutton glanced up to find that Kip had clenched his eyes and mouth shut so tightly he managed to change the shape of his face.

“Please,” Kip gasped.

“Please?” Dutton asked.

“Don’t tell anyone.”

“I won’t.” Dutton tried to resist but his gaze went right back to the shiny chrome around Kip’s junk. All he could see now was the thick ring that went around the base of Kip’s cock and balls. “From what I saw, it’s terrifyingly beautiful.”

“Wha—what?” Kip opened his eyes but he tilted his upper body away as if preparing himself for a blow.

“I’ve never seen anything like it.” Dutton had only gotten a quick look at whatever it was on Kip’s cock but that flash of chrome stayed burned in his brain. “Let me see it.”

“You’ll just make fun of me.”

“I swear I won’t.”

Kip shook his head.

“Then tell me what it’s for.” Dutton thought of the layers of rings like a cage around Kip’s cock. “Wait. Is it...” Oh, fucking shit. The thought that went through Dutton’s mind came right out his mouth. “Is it a chastity device?”

Chapter Two

Kip nodded then went so still he damn near ceased to exist.

Dutton had experienced or read or at least heard about damn near every kink on the planet. Pansexual and proud, he hit on everyone who interested him, learning all kinds of things along the way about what turned people on, but in all his years he’d never run into a chastity fetish.

For the longest time, Kip just stood there, shivering and whimpering, his hips right at Dutton’s mouth level.

“Show me,” Dutton said again.

Kip seemed to be trying to decide if he should or not.

Something clicked in Dutton’s head. He knew how to get Kip to agree. “I want you to show me.” He injected just enough authority into his voice to stroke Kip’s kink.

“Yes, sir.” Kip moved his hands aside, revealing a shiny chrome cage that encased his cock.

“Does it hurt?”

“Only when...”

“When you get hard.” Dutton tried to look away. He really did. But he couldn’t. “So you don’t like sex?”

“I...” Kip trailed off then just exhaled hard instead of saying anything. But that exhale actually said a lot. It said he’d probably tried to explain himself a million times but hadn’t managed. Or maybe it said he’d never tried to explain because he didn’t think he could. Either way, Kip didn’t seem willing to tell Dutton about his kink.

“I want you to tell me.”

“You won’t laugh at me?”

“No.” Dutton realized his breath stroked over Kip’s cock, making it swell against the cage. Kip whimpered but not in pain. He seemed to be enjoying it. “I want to understand.” Dutton lifted his gaze up to Kip’s. “Maybe more.”

“More?” Kip’s brows rose and interest swam in his gaze.

“Tell me so I can decide.” Dutton had done a little bit of most kinks but this one was new to him. He needed to understand before he could decide if he wanted to play along.

“I like holding back. Waiting. When I finally get off...”

“It’s probably epic.”

Kip nodded.

“How often do you come?” In the back of his brain, Dutton heard a replay of Kip asking can I come? in that sweet high voice of his. Just imagining those words spilling out of that intriguing mouth made Dutton’s cock strain against his fly.

“Once a week.”

Dutton couldn’t imagine having to wait all week. He’d go crazy. But he could also see the upside. After a long week of denial, that one orgasm would be pretty fucking spectacular.

“Wait. Aren’t you supposed to have someone who, like, makes you wear it?”

Kip turned away, giving Dutton his back.

“Look at me.” Dutton pulled out his uber-alpha voice.

Kip met Dutton’s gaze immediately.

“Do you have someone?” Dutton asked.

“No.”

“Do you want someone?”

Kip closed his eyes in such a way to make it clear he’d been wanting someone for a long time but either hadn’t found them or didn’t think he deserved them. Reading Kip’s body language was almost impossible.

“I think you should call me sir.”

That opened Kip’s eyes.

“What do you think about that?”

“Yes, sir.” Hope filled those vulnerable depths.

“What should I call you?” Dutton eased a little way across the floor so his breath wasn’t tormenting Kip anymore.

“Anything you want.”

Dutton tried a few things but Kip didn’t react until he called him boy. When he did, Kip jolted and then shivered as his cock swelled against the cage.

“Boy it is.”

“What—what do you want me to do, sir?”

“I want you to get back into this bag with me.”

Kip slid back in, slipping right back into Dutton’s sweats.

“Good boy.”

Kip shivered all over like an excited puppy.

Dutton turned the light off but he didn’t want to go back to sleep. He thought it might be easier for Kip to talk in the dark, especially since he was facing away from him.

“How long have you been doing this?” Dutton placed his hand gently on Kip’s chest.

“Three years.”

“How old are you?” Dutton had put his age at barely eighteen.

“Twenty-two.”

“You don’t look it. I think it’s those big dark blue eyes of yours.”

“Why are you being nice to me?”

“Why the hell would I be mean to you?”

“Because that’s what you’re supposed to do.”

Dutton tried to unpack that and failed. “Look, Kip. If you want me to smack you around and shit like that, I can’t do this with you. I’m not into that. I mean if it’s your fetish I don’t want you to think I’m putting you down. I’m not. I’m just not the guy for you if it is.”

“But I thought that’s what you were into.”

“Did that fucking Wilson tell you that?”

“I thought that’s what alpha males wanted.”

“Maybe some of them do.” Dutton had never really thought of himself as alpha, beta, or any other letter of the Greek alphabet. He only started thinking of himself as pansexual because a guy he’d hooked up with had pinned the label on him and he’d liked it. “But I don’t.”

“I don’t understand.”

“Yeah, I’m thinking I don’t understand either.”

“Don’t you want to take charge of me?”

“I do. I’d like to do that but that doesn’t mean I have to hit you or yell at you.” Dutton thought he’d try something Kip might not have considered. He lowered his mouth to Kip’s ear and whispered, “All I have to do is ask and you’ll do it because you want to please me. Right?”

Kip nodded and shivered all over again.

“See? Isn’t this better?”

“Yes, sir.”

Dutton lowered his mouth to Kip’s neck. “Do you like to kiss?”

“I don’t know.”

“You’ve never been kissed?”

Kip shook his head.

“Do you want to try?”

Kip nodded.

Dutton eased him onto his back. After stroking over his face and lips with his fingers, feeling him since he couldn’t see him, Dutton lowered his mouth to Kip’s. Ever so slowly, he brushed his lips over Kip’s and then finally pressed tight.

Kip kissed him back, hesitantly at first then with more intensity.

When Dutton opened his mouth and teased his tongue against Kip’s, he moaned and wrapped his arms around his neck, pulling him tight.

Dutton felt a wash of emotions that compelled him to pull Kip closer. He called it the click. He’d never understood if it was mental or physical—hell, might even be spiritual—all he knew was that when he felt that click it meant they’d work together. Funny thing, though. He’d never felt the click reverberate this strongly.

After a thorough kiss, Dutton moved back only to have Kip pull him close again.

Oh yeah. He liked kissing. Good. Dutton loved to kiss. There were times he thought he could probably climax from kissing alone.

“Okay,” Dutton said, pulling back. “So kissing is good.”

“Yes.” Kip tried to pull him close again but Dutton held him off.

“Trust me, we’re going to do a lot more of that but there are some other things we need to talk about.”

Kip uttered a frustrated sigh and then squirmed uncomfortably.

“Is that hurting you?” Dutton

“Kissing made me hard and it’s pinching.”

“I want you to take it off.” Dutton didn’t know much about chastity devices but getting hard in one had to hurt. It suddenly dawned on him that was the point. He didn’t really get the pleasure of pain but he wasn’t knocking it either. “I only want you wearing it when I tell you to. Okay?”

“Okay.”

“Why did you wear it out here?”

“I was trying not to think about you.”

“I want you to think about me.” Dutton breathed into Kip’s ear, making him gasp and shiver.

“You do?” Kip’s voice shook when he asked.

“I want you to want me and have to wonder when I’m going to let you come.”

Kip uttered a quivering sigh that aroused Dutton a hell of a lot more than he thought it should.

“Now take it off.”

Dutton couldn’t see Kip but he felt his movements ruffle the bag. He hadn’t known Kip was interested in him. Then again, he’d believed a bunch of stupid stuff about Kip without having a single conversation with him so go figure.

Kip gave a relieved sigh when he removed the cage but he seemed reluctant to hand it over.

“I’m not going to take it away from you.”

“You’re not?”

“Nope. Keep it but please don’t put it back on until we talk about it.” Dutton didn’t know if wearing a chastity cage for a long time would hurt Kip. He’d rather find out before they played with it anymore. He was all for kinky sex but not if it would damage his partner. “Okay?”

“Okay.”

“Good boy.” Dutton loved the way Kip got off on getting praised, even for the smallest thing.

“Now what?” Kip asked, his voice breathless and excited.

“A little talk about sexual history.”

Kip tensed.

“Whoa. Is that—are you okay talking about that?”

“I really can’t.”

Dutton’s heart took a sickening lurch in his chest. Had someone violated Kip? Had someone made him do things he hadn’t wanted to do? Instead of imaging terrifying scenarios, Dutton quietly asked, “Why can’t you talk about your sexual history?”

“Because I haven’t done anything.”

“You haven’t...” Dutton trailed off, thinking. “You’ve stayed chaste.”

“Of course.”

“Why?”

“Waiting for the right guy.”

“And you think that might be me?”

“Isn’t it?”

“Depends.” Dutton did not want to hurt Kip’s feelings but he wasn’t about to commit to a lifetime together when they’d shared one kiss. Then again, he might be jumping the gun here too. Kip hadn’t said he was looking for happily ever after, just the right guy. “What is it you want me to do, exactly?”

“Take my virginity.”

Dutton waited for Kip to go on. When he realized he wasn’t going to, he asked, “That’s it?”

“That’s it.” Kip chuckled lightly. “What did you think I wanted? Marriage? A house in the suburbs? Two point three kids and a dog?”

Dutton laughed too. “Well, I wasn’t sure.”

“I understand that more than you think.”

“You do?”

“I wasn’t sure if you were gay and then I wasn’t sure if you were into me and I just...I’ve waited a really long time.” Kip sighed. “I’m sick of waiting.”

“I’ll bet you are.”

“When did you lose your virginity?”

“Fourteen.” Dutton grinned at the memories.

“That’s really young.”

“I was with another fourteen-year-old. Wasn’t anything pervy about it. We were best friends and Sarah really wanted to be with someone she could trust.” Dutton saw the parallels right away and apparently so did Kip.

“Does that mean I can trust you?” Kip asked.

“Yeah. I’m a good guy.” Dutton laughed. “Of course, bragging about it does make me seem like the opposite, but I won’t hurt you. Not intentionally. And I won’t lie to you.” Dutton kissed the edge of Kip’s ear. “If there’s one thing I excel at it’s being almost annoyingly straightforward.”

“I just want someone to show me.”

“I can do that.” Dutton kissed Kip’s neck, loving the way he gasped. God, everything was new to him and that excited Dutton. Not that he had a virgin fetish, just that showing someone how good sex could be really sparked him up. “I’d be so happy to do that.” Dutton kissed him again. “To show you.” Dutton licked the spot he’d kissed. “To teach you.”

“And then you can brag about it to everyone.”

Dutton pulled back. “What?”

“Isn’t that what guys like you do?”

From the way he’d said it, Kip wasn’t putting him down, exactly, but he wasn’t really praising him either. “You’ve been listening to Wilson, haven’t you?”

“Well, he does tend to talk a lot about everyone.”

“Let me guess what Wilson has said about me.” Dutton pretended to rack his brain but he really didn’t need to. “Wilson said I’m a whore who brags about his scores?” Dutton realized that almost rhymed but he didn’t care. “He said I’ll fuck anything that moves and then move on?”

“He said you’ve been working your way through the employees.”

“And you believe him?”

“I...” Kip trailed off. “I guess I don’t believe that any more than what he said about me.”

“Thanks.”

“I didn’t mean to be a jerk.” Kip reached out and grasped Dutton’s shoulder. “Are you mad?”

“No. Just—Wilson needs to be taught a lesson. You know?”

“He does.” Kip moved a little closer and lowered his voice. “So do I.”

Dutton chuckled. “I think I’m going to have a lot more fun teaching you a lesson than—oh, shit.”

“What’s wrong?”

“Condoms.”

“What about them?”

“I don’t have any.” Fuck fuckity fuck fuck fuck. One thing Dutton damn near always had on him were condoms. They’d been there in his room, right in the bedside table, but he’d left them there while grabbing his book because it had never crossed his mind that Kip might be interested in him.

“With a nickname like DTF and you don’t have any condoms?” Kip sighed and then tsked lightly.

“I know. I’m a disgrace.” Dutton hung his head and thought about the next week. Hell. Not fucking Kip was going to be straight-up hell, pun intended. “I guess you’re going to have to teach me about chastity.”

“Or you could just use the condoms I brought.”

“What?” Dutton turned on the light so he could peer down at Kip, who looked very proud of himself. “I thought you were trying not to think about me?”

“I was.” Kip nodded. “But I also wanted to be prepared just in case.”

“Was that what you were shoving into the bottom of your backpack? The thing that made you blush darker than a red delicious apple?”

“No...” Kip met his gaze briefly then looked down into the sleeping bag.

“What was it?”

Kip shook his head.

“What. Was. It?” Dutton asked again, enunciating each word while stroking the spot just below Kip’s ear. Ah, yeah. He liked that because his head rolled back and so did his eyes. His boy was just like a happy little puppy.

“Something for me. Something in case you didn’t want me. Something for when I got some time alone.”

“A sex toy?” Dutton’s cock strained against his jeans, insistent for attention.

Kip blushed.

“Oh, fuck. I’m in so much trouble.”

“You are?” Kip opened his eyes and the dark blue looked absolutely wicked against his pink cheeks.

“You’re not what I expected at all.”

“And that’s good?”

“That’s fucking epic.”

The smile that graced Kip’s face made that clicking Dutton had felt earlier intensify. Damn. There might really be something here. What, he didn’t know, but Dutton wanted to find out.

“So,” Kip said. “Where do we start?”

“With the basics.”

“Like kissing?”

“Oh, yeah.” Dutton turned the light off, plunging them back into darkness but only for a second before lightning flashed in the distance. Automatically, he counted off the seconds. Thirty before he heard the thunder, meaning the strike had been about five miles away.

“That was pretty close.” Kip hugged Dutton tight.

“We’re okay here.” Dutton brushed Kip’s hair back. “You worried?”

“No. Our odds of being struck by lightning during our lifetime are one in seven-hundred thousand.”

“Good to know.” Dutton kissed him lightly. “I’ll bet you kick ass at trivia games.”

“I haven’t played any.”

“Are you here for the whole year?”

After a long hesitation, Kip answered, “Maybe.”

“Just that, well, during the winter we have a lot more down time and one of the favorite activities is playing board games.”

“That sounds like fun.”

“It is.”

“How long have you worked for Colby Ranch?” Kip asked.

“This is my second year.”

“You must like it.”

“Yeah.” Dutton kissed Kip. “Lots of interesting people.”

“Like me?”

“Like you.” Dutton kissed him again, lingering as they dueled tongues. “I have to say you’re one of the most interesting. Actually, the most interesting.”

“I am?” Kip laughed. “I’m so quiet everyone thinks I’m a serial killer.”

“Still waters run deep.” Dutton worked the buttons of Kip’s shirt apart while kissing him then teased his fingers over his nipples. The T-shirt Kip had on blocked direct contact, which was good because just the promise of contact had Kip moaning and straining upward. Responsive didn’t even begin to describe him. Kip reacted with pleasure and squirmed against Dutton, bringing him right back to the edge of release.

“I’ve been waiting my whole life for this.”

Kip’s words reminded Dutton to slow down. They had a week together. No need to rush. Other than he had a throbbing boner that just about drove him crazy. Then again, there was more than one way to climax.

Dutton kept on kissing Kip and teasing over his chest but he worked his hand down.

“Oh, sir. Please. I won’t last.” Kip tried to squirm away.

“You think I will?” Dutton pulled him close and then kissed him while grinding their clothing-clad cocks together. “This is going to feel so good.”

“Don’t you want me to suck your cock?”

Dutton damn near climaxed just hearing Kip ask the question. “I’d love that.”

Kip immediately tried to squirm his way down into the bag.

“But not right now.” Dutton pulled him back up then cupped his snug buttocks into his hands and pulled him tight. “Let’s grind.”

“That’s a real thing?”

“Oh, yeah.” Dutton rocked his hips, working himself against Kip. “One of my favorite real things.”

“What do I do with my hands?”

“Grab my ass. Yeah. Just like that. Now pull me tight against you. Oh, fuck yeah.” Dutton wanted to pull Kip on top of him but he enjoyed having him hold onto his butt.

“I’m so close.” Kip panted against Dutton’s neck.

“Me too.” Dutton stopped and moved back.

“What are you doing?”

“Making this a million times better.”

“I don’t see—oh.” Kip laughed lightly then groaned when Dutton pushed his sweats out of the way. “You have to be bare too.”

In his excitement, Kip struggled with the fasteners on Dutton’s jeans, forcing him to wrench them open. Too much more of that and he’d come.

“Pull your shirt up.” Dutton yanked Kip’s shirt out of the way while Kip tugged at his.

“That feels so good.” Kip humped madly against him while grabbing his ass and pulling their bodies tight.

“Oh, fuck yeah.” Dutton got his hands back on Kip’s perfect ass and rocked and pulled. Kip’s cock felt good and his copious precum allowed them to slip and slide together. Pretty soon he felt Kip jerk hard. Holy shit! Kip didn’t just come. He fucking gushed like a geyser! So much cum sprayed out of him he splattered all over Dutton’s chest. Jizz got everywhere, which only made Dutton cream harder and longer. Gasping, he waited until Kip released his hold then rolled onto his back, taking Kip with him. He squirmed while Dutton kept right on creaming. When he finally stopped, they clung together, panting.

“Good?” Dutton asked.

“Yes, sir.”

Dutton chuckled. “I don’t think I’ve ever met anyone who jizzes that much or that hard. Hell, I think I’ve got cum in my eye.”

“Sorry?” Kip asked, unsure.

“Don’t be sorry. Cum washes off.” Dutton closed his eyes and slid Kip up so that they could kiss while they recovered. “So grinding is good?”

“Oh, yeah. Very good. I still want to suck your cock but this was nice too.”

“Nice?”

“Very nice?”

“Eh, it’ll do.” Dutton gave Kip’s ass a good squeeze.

“Am I heavy?”

“God, no. You’re perfect.” They kissed and slid around together, giggling and laughing, until the tent started to glow.

“I guess morning has officially arrived.” Dutton did not want to get up. He almost wished it would keep raining so they would have an excuse to stay in the tent all day.

“I guess that means we have to get up and check out the damage.” Kip lifted himself away from Dutton. “Do we have any paper towels?”

“Don’t you have your handy dandy cowboy bandana?” Dutton grabbed his off the strap of his backpack. “A thousand and one uses, including cleaning up from a morning grind.”

Kip slid off him but stayed close because of the confines of the sleeping bag. Working together, they got out, got cleaned up, and then got dressed.

“My gear isn’t even close to being dry.” Kip turned his jeans over to expose the other side to the air.

“I’ll go out and grab your sleeping bag. If we’re lucky, your backpack is dry.”

“And if we’re unlucky?”

“Well, that’s the thing. I’ll still be lucky because you’ll have to run around naked. Lucky for me, not so much for you.”

“I don’t know about that.” Kip pulled up his borrowed sweats and tied the drawstring. Even with that, they probably weren’t going to stay on him, not if he moved around like normal. He also had to roll up the legs. “I might enjoy running around naked.”

“Then it’s a win-win.” Dutton pulled on his socks and boots then ducked out and took a deep breath of cold air, heavy with moisture. The smell of recent rain blended with the scent of pine and scrub brush, reminding him why he loved Colorado even though it often got cold enough to freeze the balls off a brass monkey.

After checking the horses, he went over to Kip’s sleeping bag. Damn. Soaked through. He unzipped it so he could get the backpack nestled in the bottom. Dutton checked it over, surprised to find that it was pretty dry. A little moist but considering how soaked it could have gotten, Kip was damn lucky.

“How is it?” Kip asked, leaning out the door of the tent.

“I think it’s okay.” Dutton handed it over. “Check it out while I get this hung up.” Dutton fully unzipped Kip’s sleeping bag and hung it over the fence.

He checked the sky, pleased to see no clouds at all. That meant that things would dry out in a matter of hours once the sun climbed a little higher.

Dutton cleaned the soggy remains out of the fire then retrieved the wood he’d tucked inside the tent.

“I can help with that,” Kip said.

“Just organize in here while I get it going. And pick something for breakfast.” Dutton went back out and got the fire going. When he finished, he went back in the tent.

“Did your book stay dry?”

“How did you know that’s what I’d check first?”

“From the way you held it last night.” Dutton crouched down. “My sister’s the same way with books.”

“They were my only real friends growing up.” Kip lifted the book and showed it to Dutton. “It’s okay. I wrapped it up in a T-shirt to keep it safe.”

“I’m glad.”

“I should have listened to you last night.” Kip glanced up. “Why didn’t you make me get in the tent?”

“You mean, like, literally pick you up and make you obey?”

“You’re almost twice my size. You could have done that and not broken a sweat.”

“You wouldn’t have learned anything from me doing that, other than I was a bully. This way, the lesson hits home.”

“The lesson?”

“When I say it’s going to rain, it’s going to rain.” Dutton stroked over Kip’s cheek.

“Got it.” Kip rewrapped his book in T-shirts then tucked it back inside the pack. “You’re not mad at me?”

“I’m not mad at you.” Dutton kissed the top of his head. “I understand.”

“You do?”

“Yeah. You wanted me so crazy bad that, in order to keep yourself pure, you had to sleep out in the rain.” Dutton grinned as he rose. “And yet you still ended up in my bed. Or at least in my sleeping bag.”

“Don’t go getting a big head about it.”

“Why not?” Dutton smirked. “I think I’ve earned the right to be full of myself for at least ten minutes.”

“Okay. Ten. But no more than that.”

“Deal.” Since Kip had rolled up his sleeping bag, Dutton got to work organizing the rest of his gear.

“I’ll do that.” Kip rose to his knees, putting his mouth right at the same level as Dutton’s cock.

“Can you get breakfast going?” Dutton’s voice cracked a little. Damn. He’d just had an epic climax and he already wanted another one. How the hell did Kip go a week when Dutton couldn’t even last twenty minutes?

“I can.” Kip picked up his shoes. “Ew.”

“Still wet?”

“Yeah.”

“Okay, I’m going to let you in on another secret of fence running.” Dutton retrieved his bag and pulled out a pair of flip-flops. “Always bring some kind of shoe you can just slip on that dries fast.”

“Smart.”

“Now, now. I only have ten minutes to wallow in my epic-ness. Don’t make it impossible for me to get over myself.”

“And you’re funny too.”

“Oh, God. Stop!” Dutton threw up his hand dramatically. “My ego will explode!”

“As if.” Kip rolled his eyes. “Give me the shoes, Mr. Epic.”

“I thought you were going to call me sir?”

“How about Sir Epic?”

“Only if we have a knighting ceremony.”

“I’ll tap your shoulder with my dick.”

“Ooh, cheeky. Or dicky, I should say.” Dutton handed over the flip-flops. “What did you pick out for breakfast?”

“Uh...” Kip flipped the bag over. “Eggs, potatoes, and ham.”

“Sounds good.”

“Wish we had some toast.”

“Knowing Caroline, there should be some tortillas in the bag.”

“Yeah?” Kip dug through the kitchen bag. “Sure enough.” He looked up. “How do you know so much?”

“Like I said. Been here over two years. Caroline has been on the ranch her whole life. She’s probably run this fence line herself a dozen times.”

“That’s really cool, you know. That she’s tough as nails but still a lady.”

“You should meet my sister.”

“Yeah?”

“Gorgeous and she’s a black belt.” Dutton chuckled. “Says she can bring home the bacon, fry it up in a pan, and then kick your ass if you complain about breakfast for dinner.”

“Who would ever complain about that?” Kip scoffed as he slipped on Dutton’s too big flip-flops and stepped outside, pan in hand. “That’s one of the best things in the world.”

Dutton finished organizing his gear but left everything in the tent. He’d dismantle that last once they’d loaded everything else onto the horses.

By the time he finished, breakfast was ready. They ate in silence just as they had last night only things felt entirely different today, especially when they kept grinning at one another.

“How far do we have to go today?” Kip asked.

“I usually do five miles a day, but if we push and do seven, there’s this cool abandoned building we can hang in all day tomorrow.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah. There’re some fence building supplies and stuff in there but there’s plenty of room and an old stove.”

Kip tilted his head, clearly curious about why that would matter.

“Stove makes it warm. We can dry everything out and run around naked if we want.”

“You’re just trying to have your way with me.”

“Yes. Yes I am.”

“Pervert.”

“Yes. Yes I am.”

“Shameless pervert.”

“Do I really have to say it again?”

“No. I got it. You’re twisted and proud.”

“Finally.” Dutton lifted his hands to the sky. “Somebody gets me.”

In under an hour, they had cleaned up, loaded up, and set off.

They fixed a few posts along the way, but most spots had held up well despite the rain.

“It gets run a lot so it’s in pretty good shape.” Dutton caught sight of the abandoned building along the horizon. They’d be there in another hour or two. He checked the sky. They had plenty of time until the rain hit again.

“Why run this fence line so much?”

“There’s a two-lane highway not too far from here. Don’t want the cows wandering out and getting hit.”

“I thought Colorado was a fence out state?”

“Open range, yeah, but there are still places where we have to keep a good fence to maintain good relationships. The Colby’s have always tried to err on the side of protecting both the animals and people.”

“That’s good.”

“Yeah. Good people. Happy to work with them.”

“You know, you’re the sixth person who’s said that. Most people say working for someone but everyone here says working with.”

“It’s like that here. Team effort on things. Well paid, benefits—stuff that matters and makes people want to stick around. The only time I ever felt bossed by Caroline was—” too late Dutton realized it was when she’d told him to show Kip the ropes of riding fences.

“When she stuck you with me?” Kip asked, his voice barely above the sound of their horses hooves on the now sun-hardened ground.

“I’m sorry.” The big ego he’d gotten earlier took a major hit. “I was pissed at first. I thought she was punishing me.”

“By sending you off with me?” Kip couldn’t have looked more hurt if he tried.

“Because I was a moron who believed gossip when I shouldn’t have.” Dutton moved his horse closer to Kip’s. “I’m sorry. Really. I was wrong.”

Kip seemed to want to hang onto his anger but he sighed, shrugged, and then smiled. “Okay. I get it. You thought I was the booby prize.”

“Aw, hell no,” Dutton said, cowboying up his voice. “You ain’t got no boobies, son.”

“You know what I mean.”

“I do.” Dutton dropped the accent. “I just thought it would be me alone with a guy who didn’t like me and wouldn’t talk to me.” Dutton moved close enough so he could meet Kip’s gaze. “I’ve never been so glad to be so wrong.”

“You’re not fooling me.” Kip lifted his nose. “You just want to get in my pants again.”

“My pants. Or rather my sweats.” Dutton considered. “You know, if I was a real dick, I’d take them back and make you ride naked from the waist down.”

“If you were a real freak, you’d do that but make me ride on your lap.” Kip lifted his brows then urged his horse ahead. “Too bad you missed your chance.”

“Damn.” Dutton might have just found someone to match his dirty, kinky mind.

Chapter Three

They made it to the supply shack just before dusk.

Kip checked out the stove while Dutton got the horses settled in. By the time he’d brought all their gear inside, Kip had the fire going and a meal picked out.

“It’ll be ready in just a few minutes.”

Dutton had their still-damp gear strewn around the little hut by the time Kip had the food dished out.

“By morning, everything should be dry.” Dutton grabbed his plate and settled on the packed dirt floor.

“Good. My butt feels chapped from riding in sweats.” Kip ate standing up.

“Yeah. They’re really for after the day’s work is done.”

“You want them back?”

“Do you have something else to wear?” Dutton’s jeans had chaffed his inner thighs. He wasn’t in agony or anything, but he’d love to pull on some soft, loose cotton pants.

“I do.” Kip swapped out the sweats for shorts.

“Here.” Dutton folded up his sleeping bag so Kip could sit. “You sure you’re warm enough?” Dutton didn’t mind the view of Kip’s long, strong legs but he wanted him warm.

“Oh, yeah. I’m good.”

Dutton traded his dusty jeans for sweats. He oohed after pulling them on. “Still warm.”

“You are so weird.”

“Just appreciating you sharing your body heat with me.”

“I’ll be sharing a lot more.”

“Oh, yeah.” Dutton waggled his brows.

“Don’t get all full of yourself again.” Kip pointed to his still wet sleeping bag. “I’m only sleeping with you since I can’t sleep in that.”

“So my plan is working?”

“Your plan to snuggle my butt?”

“Yeah.” Dutton finished his mouthful. “I didn’t say it was a world-changing plan.”

After eating, they settled near the little stove and read using the solar lamp.

“Teeth?” Dutton asked.

“Yeah, it’s about that time.” Kip closed his book and tucked it back in his pack.

“How do you remember your place?” Dutton grabbed his brush, paste, and floss.

“I just do.” Kip grabbed his gear. “How can you dog-ear the pages like that?”

“Oh, I do worse.”

“Don’t tell me.” Kip pretended to cover his ears.

“I write in them too.”

“Bastard!”

“I know.”

“Do you really?” Kip slipped on his boots.

“That’s a good look. Shorts and cowboy boots.”

“Thanks. Now tell me why you deface books, you monster.”

“I leave a part of myself in them. It’s because of something a teacher once said to me, that there are two kinds of people. Those who would never write in a book and those who feel compelled to do so.”

“And it has some deep meaning?”

“Not really. Just different kinds of people. Sounds deep, though, doesn’t it?”

“You are so warped.”

“I know.”

“You’re proud of it.”

“Yes. Yes I am.”

After cleaning up, they walked back to the building and climbed into Dutton’s bag. Instead of erecting the whole tent, he’d just used the ground cover to keep his gear off the dirt floor.

“Am I imagining things or is that roof new?” Kip asked, gazing upward.

“I can’t remember who did that but yeah, it’s about three years old or so. It’s a good place to hunker down if the weather really turns nasty and a great place to store fencing supplies.” Dutton nuzzled Kip’s neck.

Kip melted against him then tightened up.

“What’s wrong?” Dutton prided himself on being able to read signals but Kip seemed to be speaking a language he didn’t understand at all.

“Just...I don’t want...”

Dutton waited. “Tell me.”

“You won’t be mad?”

“I promise.”

“I’m so tired. I just want to sleep.”

“Oh, God. Okay.” Dutton laughed, relieved. “I thought you were going to say you didn’t like what we did this morning or you’d made a mistake or—sorry. Never mind. Let’s sleep.”

They were quiet for a time.

“Dutton?” Kip whispered his name.

“Yeah?”

“I really liked what we did this morning.”

“Me too.” Dutton wouldn’t mind a repeat but he was okay with getting a good night’s sleep too. Besides, they could just get frisky in the morning.

But they didn’t. By the time Dutton woke up, Kip had slipped out of the bag, dressed, and put all his gear together and had it sitting by the door.

“Kip?”

“Everything was dry.” Kip stirred something on the stove top. “I thought maybe we should push on in case the weather doesn’t hold.”

“Good plan.” Dutton climbed out and got dressed.

After eating, they got back on the trail.

Kip didn’t ride next to him but behind him. Not far away from him as he had before, but Kip put enough distance between them that they couldn’t talk easily. At first, Dutton imagined all kinds of bad reasons for it but then he remembered the simplest solution was usually the most logical. Maybe Kip just wanted to be quiet. Dutton could understand that. Not everyone was a chatty Cathy like himself. Instead of getting hurt, he decided not to take it personally. Kip really wasn’t like anyone he’d ever met. He needed a lot more time and space than most but that really wasn’t a problem.

Dutton took the time to really look around him and appreciate how lucky he was. He could have ended up working nine to five in an office somewhere but he was outside on a sunny day with clean air and on a good horse, not to mention the fantastic scenery. He drew a deep breath. Yeah. It didn’t get much better than this.

They fixed three posts then came across some downed barbed wire.

“Can you send a note to Caroline that they should bring the stretcher out here?” Dutton pulled the wire as tight as he could then hammered in what looked like big staples to hold it for now.

“Stretcher?” Kip had the GPS in one hand and his phone in the other.

“Yeah. It pulls the barbed wire tight. We can get it back up but someone should re-string it at some point within the year.”

“Got it.” Kip put the gear away. “Look, I’m sorry about today.”

“Why?” Dutton shrugged. “I’m not upset.”

“You’re not?” Kip’s brows practically collided.

“I just assumed you needed some alone time.”

“You did?”

“You’re an introvert.” Dutton climbed back on his horse. “Don’t you need that?”

“I do.” Kip stood there, frowning up at him.

“What?” Dutton asked.

“Just—no one’s ever understood that before.”

“You know, they probably didn’t. And you don’t owe me anything, but in the future, all you have to do is tell me that you need some alone time. I won’t be pissed.”

“You’re not like anyone I’ve ever met.”

“Neither are you.”

Kip got back on his horse but this time he rode closer to Dutton. Didn’t talk at all, but he stayed nearby. Dutton counted it as a win.

They rode in silence to the next camp. Like a well-oiled machine, they got things set up in no time flat.

“You pick dinner tonight.” Kip held out the kitchen bag.

“Ooh, that.” Dutton pointed.

“Fajitas it is.” Kip turned away then turned back. He leaned up and kissed Dutton’s cheek then hurried away to get dinner going.

Whistling, Dutton set up the tent. He checked the horizon and saw those same dark clouds lingering. More rain. Well, they’d be ready. Dutton made sure to tuck some extra wood inside the tent then he hunkered down next to Kip and the campfire.

“Can you toast some tortillas?” Kip asked.

“Sure.” Dutton used the flatter pan to warm them up.

They ate in silence, cleaned up, and then read until the rain started.

“Into the tent.”

“No.” Kip shook his head.

“What?”

“Kidding.” Kip stuck out his tongue then hustled into the tent.

“Naughty boy.”

Once inside, they stripped out of their heavy coats and settled into their own sleeping bags. Dutton really wanted Kip in his, but he respected his need for distance.

“Tell me something,” Kip said, curling onto his side so he faced Dutton in the narrow center of the tent.

“Sure.”

“What’s your kink?”

Dutton chuckled. “Oh, you’re serious. Well, I don’t have one.”

“I find that hard to believe.”

“Well, maybe I’d be better off saying I don’t have just one. I mean there are a lot of things I’ve tried and liked.”

“What’s one thing that you like more than the others.”

“If there’s one thing that I really like...”

“Yes?”

“Promise you won’t laugh?”

“I promise.”

“I like guys in chaps.”

“I’ve been wearing mine all day.”

“I mean wearing only chaps.”

“Oh.”

“Yeah. Leaves him all exposed to me.”

“Is he tied up?”

“No. He’s just standing there, wearing nothing but a pair of chaps.”

“Huh.”

“Yeah. I’m not that kinky, I guess.”

“Would he maybe ride in your lap?”

“Okay.” Dutton sat up but kept his bag swaddled around him for warmth. “I’m thinking you’ve got a banging-on-horseback fetish.”

“I wouldn’t call it a fetish but it’s an idea.”

“For your first time? I think it might really hurt.”

“The horse is meandering, not running.”

“Still.”

“Maybe not for a first time, but sometime.”

“I’ll keep that in mind.” Dutton leaned over and kissed Kip’s forehead. “Goodnight.”

“Goodnight.”

Dutton snuggled in. He fell asleep to the sound of rain and woke up to it too. Bleary-eyed, he pulled out his phone and checked the time. Seven in the morning? Must be a hell of a storm to make things so damn dark this early. As if to confirm his assessment, lightning flashed and a tremendous boom sounded soon after, putting the lightning about a mile away.

“Whoa.” Kip mashed into him in the dark. “That was really close.”

“Way too close.”

“Are the horses safe?”

“Yeah. They’re in a good spot.”

“Are we safe?”

“As we can be. We’re not the highest point and the tent poles are made of plastic, not metal.” Dutton put his arm around Kip. “I’ve been out in this kind of weather a lot. We’re okay.”

“Okay.” Kip shivered as he moved closer.

“We won’t be able to cook breakfast though.”

“That’s what you’re worried about?” Kip asked, chuckling.

“Well, yeah. Of course. Haven’t you ever heard an army moves on its stomach?”

“I just got a really weird visual of that and we are not an army.”

“An army of two, fighting the forces of nature to protect our—”

“Mooooo.”

“Funny,” Kip said.

“That wasn’t me.” Dutton got out of his bag and went to the front, lantern in hand. “We’re surrounded.”

“By cows?”

“Yep.” Dutton closed the flap and returned to his sleeping bag.

“Aren’t you worried?”

“Why? They’re just sniffing around. They’ll realize we don’t have anything for them and they’ll move on.”

“But Wilson said—” Kip abruptly cut himself off.

“That they’ll charge and kill? They can, they have, but this isn’t calving season and there isn’t a bull with the herd. They’re just curious. Just like most people, most cows are pretty nice.”

Kip moved closer.

Dutton didn’t mind. After five minutes, he heard the sound of hooves squishing in the mud and the low mooing sounds started to fade away.

“They’re gone,” Dutton said.

The rain picked up, pounding the tent to the point he thought it might just crush the poles but it finally let off.

“I think I made a mistake.” Kip slumped against Dutton’s shoulder. “I don’t know if I’d want to do this alone.”

Torn, because on the one hand he wanted to give Kip confidence but on the other he wanted to do this with him again, Dutton offered, “You don’t have ride alone if you don’t want to. Caroline usually sends people out in pairs, just to be safe. I guess for you, you’d have to find someone who was as quiet as you. Or someone who understood your need for silence.”

“Easier said than done.” Kip climbed out of his bag.

Dutton got up too, wondering again if he’d somehow managed to do or say the wrong thing.

“Not—I didn’t mean you.” Kip grabbed Dutton’s hand. “You’ve been great. Really.”

“Okay.” Dutton still felt put off somehow. Almost as if Kip were trying to tell him he didn’t like him and just didn’t want to hurt his feelings because they were out here alone. Right now, Kip needed him. Once they got back, he wouldn’t. Maybe that’s why he wanted to push on.

“Dutton, I...”

Dutton waited. This time, he refused to fill in the blanks or prompt Kip to speak his mind.

“I wasn’t taking a shot at you. Honestly, I wasn’t. It’s just most people don’t get what it’s like to be introverted. They think I’m ignoring them or I’m stuck up. I spent most of my life with my nose in a book because it was easier than trying to explain that most people drain my energy.” Kip squeezed Dutton’s hand, saying a lot with the simple gesture. “You’re one of the few who doesn’t exhaust me. That’s why I’m a little scared.”

“Because I don’t make you crazy?”

“Because you do.” Kip leaned up and kissed him very gently on the cheek. “But only in a good way.”

“Aw.”

“I’m serious.”

“Okay.”

“I want more from you than I’ve wanted from anyone else and that’s a little overwhelming for me.”

“What can I do to help?”

“Just keep being you.” Kip kissed him again, this time on the mouth. “And don’t ever let me get away with not telling you what’s going on because I’ll try.”

“So that asking then staying silent thing works?”

“Yeah.” Kip chuckled. “Gives me a chance to get my thoughts together. I need that.”

“I can do that.” Dutton turned so they pressed together. “Is that why you got into chastity?”

“What do you mean?”

“It’s a way to keep your distance. Sex usually means talking and intimacy. That can be overwhelming if you’re an introvert.”

Kip pulled back, but not in shock or anger. He pulled back to think about it. After a long time, he said, “I think maybe you’re right. I just remember thinking no one would ever want me because they wouldn’t be able to understand me so I might as well get used to taking care of myself.”

“I wondered why you were pulling away from me right after that morning. I think I understand why now.”

“Are you—please don’t be angry with me.”

“I’m not. We can go as slow as you need to go.”

“Really?” Kip asked.

“Really,” Dutton said, reassuring him. “It’s not a race. I might have to nip off for some private time behind a tree, but—”

“I think maybe you should do that in front of me.”

“You want to watch me jackoff?” Dutton’s freak flag started to rise.

“Yeah.” Kip palmed him through his sweats. “Or maybe do it myself.”

Another flash of lightning and a crack of thunder.

“Okay, if this were a scary movie, we’d be in some serious trouble.” Dutton could just now make out Kip’s features, most notably, his big dark eyes. “But since it isn’t—”

“You talk too much.” Kip locked his lips on Dutton’s, kissing him as he deftly untied the drawstring on his sweats. After pushing them out of the way, he wrapped his hands around his cock, jolting him with his frozen fingers. “Sorry,” Kip said.

“Don’t care.” Dutton put Kip’s cold hands right back on his over-heated and straining cock.

Kip moaned as he deepened the kiss and stroked up and down Dutton’s length.

When Dutton reached for him to return the favor, Kip moved his hips back. “No.”

“But I—”

“Quiet.” Kip dropped to his knees.

Dutton had to bite his lips to stay silent. Hazy light filtered through the tan tent, giving him just enough light to see the way Kip gazed at his cock as he cupped his balls and then lowered the tip to his mouth. When contact came, Dutton gasped, drawing in a gulp of air while widening his stance. Kip didn’t down him the way he expected. He circled his tongue around the crown, teasing it along the slit then flicking it fast where the shaft met the head.

Kip had either watched a hell of a lot of porn or he’d imagined doing this to someone. Knowing Kip, he’d fantasied about it. Or read it in a book.

Dutton got a picture of Kip on his back in bed, holding his book carefully so as not to crack the spine or smear the pages while he slowly stroked his own cock. Kip wouldn’t let himself climax, though. He would save it up. Somehow, the idea of that pushed Dutton right to the edge and Kip hadn’t even taken him all the way into his mouth.

“Wait.” Dutton reached down and pulled Kip up.

“Did I do it wrong?”

“Fuck no. You did it way too right.” Dutton kissed him while holding his hips back from making contact with Kip. If he could just have a minute or two, he could get himself under control.

“I want to taste you.”

“Oh, fuck. You’re gonna make me come without even having your hand on my dick, let alone your mouth.”

“What’s wrong with that?” Kip reached for him but Dutton grabbed his hands.

“Nothing. Just—I’d like this to last.” More rain pelted down. “Hear that? We’re probably going to be in here all day.”

“You’ll get hard again.” Kip tried to reach for him again but Dutton wouldn’t let go of his hands.

“Put on your chaps first.”

“Kinky freak.”

“That’s Sir Kinky Freak to you...boy.”

Kip grinned and shivered as he stepped back. “Close your eyes.”

Dutton did then took a deep breath to get himself under control. Wasn’t just the time or the place or the pressing need to climax. It was Kip. Maybe there really was something to that idea about opposites attracting.

“Okay. You can look now.”

Dutton opened his eyes and found Kip in nothing but his chaps. Tongue-tied, all he could manage was a nod. Kip had long legs and a short torso. The chaps made his legs look even longer but what held Dutton’s attention was his cock. Hard and dark red, Kip’s cock stood out from his body and contrasted the lighter color of his chaps. Dutton had felt him when they’d been grinding, but seeing him put a whole new spin on things. Kip’s cock had to be almost as big as his own.

“Or maybe you’d like a different view?” Kip turned around so Dutton could see his tight ass nestled between the upper part of the chaps. When he leaned over, the belt that held them up allowed the legs of the chaps to part, which pulled Kip’s buttocks apart. Contrasted against his pale buttocks was something dark.

“Is that—you brought a butt plug?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Whoa no. Don’t stand up. Stay just like that. Hands on your knees.” Dutton stepped over and stroked his finger down the split of Kip’s ass then pressed in on the plug.

Kip groaned and arched his back.

The only way to resist the urge to fuck him right here and now was to get his brain focused on something else and fast.

“Turn around,” Dutton said, his voice feeling as thick and heavy as his cock.

Kip obeyed, peering up at him with those big eyes that did things to Dutton’s soul.

“On your knees.”

Whimpering, Kip held his gaze as he dropped down, pushing Dutton’s control button damn good and hard.

“Suck my cock.”

Kip lunged for him. This time, he didn’t waste a second teasing him. Kip drew Dutton’s cock into his mouth and sucked most of his length in while holding his gaze. Dutton damn near felt his blood pressure drop when all the blood in his body tried to migrate to his cock.

“Tighten up on that plug. Nice and hard.” Dutton placed his hand on the top of Kip’s head. “I want you to imagine it’s my cock in you. Fucking you at both ends.”

Kip shivered hard enough to almost pull himself off Dutton’s prick but then he sucked hard against him as if to hang on.

“Now hold still.” Dutton held Kip’s head while he rocked his hips back and forth. “Rock your hips too. Same pace. So it feels like me fucking your ass.”

Kip closed his eyes as he complied.

Dutton kept his breathing slow and even to help keep himself under control. If Kip would have balked at him taking firm control, he would have stopped in an instant, but Kip seemed to enjoy it more than Dutton thought he would. Hell, Dutton was enjoying it more than he thought he would.

Kip moaned and rocked his hips as he drew Dutton’s cock to the base.

“That’s it. Such a good boy.”

Kip’s eyelids fluttered while he shivered.

Dutton wanted to do more to tease him, to drag things out, but he couldn’t hang on. He’d never had anyone go down on him with such intensity.

“Match my pace, boy. Match me.” Holding Kip’s head still, Dutton pumped his cock shallowly into his mouth. “Oh, God. I’m—I’m going to come.” Dutton let go of Kip’s head in case he wanted to move back, but he only sucked more of him in. Dutton climaxed at the same moment lightning flashed. He struggled to stay upright while pumping what felt like a damn gallon into Kip’s willing mouth. When he finally quit shaking, Dutton eased out from between Kip’s lips then dropped to his knees.

He pulled Kip close and kissed him, tasting his own pleasure on Kip’s mouth.

“Now you.” Dutton tried to ease Kip onto his back, but Kip moved away. “What’s wrong?”

“I don’t want you to.”

“You—what?”

“Only you.”

“Only—you don’t want me to return the favor?”

“No.”

Dutton settled on his knees, utterly at a loss for words.

Chapter Four

Dutton had never had any partner say no to an orgasm.

“I want to save it up.” Kip licked his lips as if savoring Dutton’s release. Just watching him flick that sweet pink tongue over his mouth caused Dutton’s cock to twitch.

“I...” Dutton didn’t know what to say. Having sex without his partner getting off? He couldn’t do that. He’d feel like a total asshole. Taking without giving was what shitty sexual partners did.

Kip grimaced and slowly his shoulders slumped. “I thought you understood?”

“I guess I don’t.” Dutton pulled his sweats up and settled on his fanny, close but not too close to Kip. He didn’t want to crowd him.

“I only like to climax once a week.”

“I thought—” actually, Dutton hadn’t really thought about it. He’d just assumed that Kip was only doing that because he didn’t have a partner. Maybe he should have talked with him a lot more about what chastity meant to him.

“I know it seems unbalanced to you.” Kip stayed on his knees and his cock stayed hard. “But it’s what I like.”

“But you’ve never had a partner.” Right after he said it Dutton realized how fucking stupid that sounded. “Never mind. You don’t need a partner to know what you like. I’m sorry. I’m just trying to wrap my head around this. It’s new to me.”

“This is new to me too.” Kip reached out and took Dutton’s hand.

“You’re trying to comfort me when you’re the one in distress?”

“That’s just it. I’m not in distress.” Kip used his free hand to stroke over his cock. He sucked air through gritted teeth then sighed. “Being hard and wanting release—this is so much better than the cage.”

“So you don’t want to wear that anymore?”

“Not now. I probably still will at times. It’s part of my kink. But this...being hard and getting to enjoy being hard is better than that.”

Dutton could not take his eyes off Kip’s cock. His mouth watered in want. More than anything, he’d like to lean over and take Kip into his mouth and suck him dry. Dutton wanted to taste Kip’s pleasure. But he held himself back. He realized he could pull out his big uber-alpha voice and demand Kip give it up to him, but he’d be making Kip do something he didn’t want to do and that was not something Dutton could ever enjoy. Besides, Dutton realized that having to wait to taste Kip’s pleasure would make the moment a thousand times sweeter for the both of them.

“Does it help for you to know that this excites me? That serving you and having to wait makes me feel powerful?”

“Okay. I can see that.” Dutton nodded. “But for me, it feels like I’m using you.”

“You’re not.” Kip squeezed his hand. “You’re giving me exactly what I want.”

“What about more?”

“More as in what? Penetration?”

“Yeah.” Dutton had a horrible image of fucking Kip and getting off while leaving Kip hard. He couldn’t stand the idea and forcefully pushed it out of his mind.

“I want that.”

“Wait. What? Me fucking you and you not getting off?”

“No. You fucking me and both of us getting off.”

“Yeah?” Dutton didn’t want to push or feel that they had to have everything laid out, but he also didn’t want to get another shock down the road.

“Oh, yeah.” Kip flicked his hips, making Dutton keenly aware that he’d just tightened up on the butt plug. “I dreamed about it last night.”

“Were we on horseback?”

“In the rain.” Kip grinned. “Total fantasy because, no, I really don’t want to do that because it’s impractical but in my dream it was hot.”

“Did you come?”

“No. I knew if I came in my dream I would in real life so I woke myself up.”

“God, you’ve got way more self-control than I will ever have.”

“Not really. If it was your kink, you’d have the same motivation I do.” Kip rose up and closed his eyes as he hypnotically rocked his hips back and forth. “Knowing that the longer I wait the better it will feel is a powerful motivator.”

“So your kink really isn’t chastity. It’s orgasm denial.”

“Does the name make a difference?”

“Apparently it does in my mind.” Dutton chuckled. “Getting an orgasm without giving one makes me feel like a taker, but delaying your orgasm puts a different spin on it.”

“So you’re not angry?”

“No. I’m still wrapping my head around it, but I think I can get there.”

The look of joy that washed over Kip’s face made Dutton a thousand times more motivated to get fully there. All Kip seemed to want was a partner who accepted him for exactly who he was and what he wanted. Dutton might have to work to get to that point, but he felt he could. And he might even enjoy the ride a hell of a lot more than he ever thought he could.

“Only...”

“Only what?” Kip asked.

“A blowjob without you getting off is okay but I really don’t think I could fuck you and not have you get off.”

“Okay.”

“Yeah?”

“It can’t all be about me.”

When the tent brightened, both of them looked around.

“I think the storm might have passed.” Dutton got to his feet and poked his head out the flap. “Hey, come check this out.”

Kip pulled on his jacket before coming over. “Whoa.”

“Right?”

A clear line between the dark, heavy storm clouds and the clear blue sky was almost directly overhead.

“You ever seen anything like that?” Kip asked.

“Nope. Probably never will again.” Dutton used his phone to snaps some pictures.

Kip followed suit.

“Okay. Let’s get cleaned up, get something to eat, and then hit the trail.”

“Sounds good.”

In under an hour, they were off.

“Since we’re making absolutely excellent time, let’s do a little detour.”

“Where?” Kip asked.

“You’ll see.”

“Ah, Mr. Mysterious now. You wear so many hats.”

“Makes you wonder who the real me is.” Dutton grinned.

“I think I’m starting to know.”

“Yeah?”

“You’re really a good guy.”

“I try.”

“I’m serious. I’ve learned more in the last few days than I have in my whole life.”

“About sex?”

“About sex and being a cowboy and being prepared and how to tell people what I need.”

“Are you going to start writing in books now?”

“God, no.” Kip scrunched up his whole face. “That’s despicable.”

Dutton laughed and then they fell silent as they headed for a cleft in the mountains. Once they got up a little higher, they could see part of the herd.

“All those cows were around us this morning?”

“From all the hoof prints outside, I’d say about a quarter of them.”

“They don’t seem interested in us now.”

“They were just curious. Now that they know what we are, and that we don’t have any food for them, they’ll leave us alone.”

“Should we be leaving the creek?” Kip looked back at the twisting water dwindling in the distance.

“We’ll be fine. You’ll see.” Dutton kept them moving perpendicular to the fence line. It took most of the afternoon to get where he wanted to go but it was worth it. They climbed off their mounts and then tucked their saddles and gear inside the mouth of a cave. “Oh, crap.”

“What?”

“I probably should have asked this before I brought you up here, but, you’re not claustrophobic, are you?” Dutton chanted in his head please say no, please say no.

“Not that I know of.”

“Whew. Thank God. Okay, because inside this cave is something really cool. Well, no, something really hot.” Dutton hiked his backpack up onto his shoulder and had Kip do the same.

“What’s in there?”

“You’ll see.” Dutton grabbed the lantern. “Follow me, if you dare.”

“I dare.” Grinning, Kip followed behind him. “Um...”

“It widens out after this part.” Dutton offered his hand. “Trust me.”

“Okay.” Kip took his hand. His grip tightened as the mouth of the cave tightened but when they reached the inner sanctum, he let go and gasped. “Whoa.”

“Cool, huh?”

“It’s...wow.”

A small hot spring filled a wide rock bowl while a hole above allowed light and air to enter.

Dutton shut off the lamp. “It’s a great place to spend half a day. Or the night. You know, if you want to—”

Kip had already dropped his pack and stripped out of most of his clothes. “What?”

“I like your enthusiasm.”

“I’m assuming it’s okay to get in?” Kip eyed the dark body of water.

“Yeah. Just watch out for Nessie.”

“The Loch Ness Monster is in Scotland.”

“So they say.” Dutton took his time undressing, mainly because he couldn’t take his eyes off Kip. A hundred and one lusty fantasies filled his head. Tonight, he’d be Kip’s first, and he was going to make it the most epic event ever. Or at least he would try to. Mostly, he just didn’t want to hurt him.

Bare, Kip stepped into the pool. “Hey, I can see the bottom.” He looked over his shoulder at Dutton. “Well, are you coming?”

“Way more than you.”

Kip rolled his eyes then dropped below the surface. When he came up, he blew a stream of water out. “From this day forward, I will always take a shower with nothing short of gratitude.”

“It’s funny how we only miss civilization when it’s gone.” Dutton grabbed his bath gear before entering and placed his towel by the edge.

“You brought shampoo and a towel?”

“Of course.”

“You knew we were going to come here.”

“Not really. I always bring it in case I want to wash up in the creek.”

“Brr.”

“Yeah. Spring runoff is freezing but sometimes you have to. The funk becomes too much.”

“Hey, where does the water go?” Kip glanced around at the smooth edges of the big rock bowl.

“Down and then out by where we left the horses. By the time it reaches there, it’s cold.”

“This is really amazing.”

“Amazing enough you might want to spend the night here?”

“Inside here?”

“Yeah.”

“What will we do for light?”

“Build a fire.”

“And die from carbon monoxide poisoning?”

“Nope.” Dutton pointed from the entrance to the hole above. “Makes a perfect chimney.”

Kip considered.

“Look, there’s the fire ring from the last time I was here.”

“Okay. Let’s.”

“Want to wash up?” Dutton waggled his bar of soap.

“You just want to touch my booty.”

“Aye.”

“Should I put on my chaps?”

“In the water? Now who’s a kinky freak?” Dutton wadded into the pond then out to where Kip stood. “I’m hoping we can make a trade.”

“What trade?”

“I’ll shave you if you shave me.”

Kip looked down at his crisp pubic hair.

“Not there.” Dutton patted his cheeks. “Here. Face fur. I’m feeling a little bit like a mountain man.”

“Looks good on you.”

“I’d leave it but I don’t want to chap your skin.”

“My face feels fine.”

“That’s not the part I’m worried about.”

Kip blushed.

“You have no idea how sexy that is.”

“Me turning into a tomato?”

“That innocent yet knowing blush.” Dutton dipped the soap in the water, built up some suds, and then smoothed them over Kip.

“That feels really good.”

Dutton took his time, cleaning him everywhere.

Kip returned the favor.

They traded shaves, finishing up with a thorough hair washing.

“Man, it’s like feeling reborn.” Kip shook his head like a dog, flinging water everywhere.

After they brought their gear in and gathered wood, they spent the day swimming, reading, and hardly talking at all. Funny. Usually, Dutton couldn’t stand too much silence. With Kip, it felt comfortable. They communicated without using any words at all.

Once evening rolled around, Dutton wondered how to get things going with the seduction, but he didn’t really know where to start. He didn’t want to push Kip, but he wondered if Kip would make the first move. Turned out he didn’t have to worry about it after all. Dutton circled Kip in the water, Kip suddenly turned on him, and then he was in his arms, kissing him breathless.

Unlike most of his lovers, Kip didn’t melt when Dutton kissed his neck. What got him was the line right across the top of his shoulders. That turned out to be Kip’s sweet spot. He also liked to have the area where his shoulder met his arm bitten. Not hard, but firmly. When Dutton did it, Kip shivered and his nipples hardened.

“Are you trying to seduce me?” Kip asked.

“Am I that obvious?” Dutton moved back, laughing, then turned serious. “Do you want me to stop?”

“No.” Kip looked up at him with those big dark eyes. “I want you to keep going until...”

“Until?” Dutton prompted.

“Until I don’t feel so tight anymore.”

Innocent words with a filthy connotation made Dutton’s brows rise almost as high as his cock.

“I meant—oh, man. I really suck at this.” Kip tried to hang his head, but Dutton wouldn’t let him.

“I know what you meant.” Dutton stroked gently over Kip’s shoulders, down his arms, and across his lower back. “Your whole body feels tight.”

“Yeah. Like I’m straining toward something but I don’t know what.”

“Release?”

“It’s more than that.” Kip pressed against him, kissing him while wrapping his hand around Dutton’s cock.

“Whoa.” Dutton moved Kip’s hand away. “This time it’s about you.”

“But you’re here too.”

“Yeah, but...” Dutton decided that words weren’t going to get the point across nearly as well as actions. Kissing his way across Kip’s shoulder, he then worked his way down to tease over his nipples all while easing him onto his back. By putting his hand at the small of Kip’s back, Dutton could effortlessly balance him in the water and continue raining kisses down his chest, past his belly, and right to his straining cock.

Taking a page from Kip’s book, Dutton didn’t just lunge for him. He teased his breath over Kip’s cock first then licked from the base up along the shaft until he reached the head. There, he flicked the tip of his tongue against the most sensitive spot.

“Oh, God.” Kip arched up and he would have plunged his head underwater, but Dutton lowered his hips so he didn’t.

“Hold still.” Dutton needed Kip not to move in order to keep him floating on the surface of the pond.

“I’m trying.”

“Try harder.” Dutton balanced him on the surface again and this time, he drew his cock into his mouth.

Kip gasped but he held steady, allowing Dutton to taste his precum. The flavor compelled him to suck harder, which made Kip arch, slip out of his hold, and sink below the surface.

When he emerged, the expression on his face made Dutton grasp his shoulders and pull him tight.

“Please.” Kip hit him with those big dark eyes. “I can’t take much more.”

“Yes you can.” Dutton drew Kip over to the side of the pond, angling him half out of the water by placing him on his stomach.

“What are you doing?” Kip glanced over his shoulder.

“Making you crazy.” Dutton stroked up Kip’s legs, parting them as he went. He cupped Kip’s buttocks into his hands, spread them wide, then tongued his tight ass until he whimpered.

“Please.”

“Don’t you dare come.”

“I’m trying not to but you’re making it almost impossible.”

Taking pity on him, Dutton took him from the water and dried him off.

“Please. I can’t take much more.”

“Yes you can.” Dutton handed Kip his backpack. “We need to be safe first.”

“Right.” Kip knelt down. His hands shook as he removed the condoms and the lube.

“Jesus, Kip.” Dutton crouched down next to him. “Are you sure you’re okay? You’re shaking like a leaf.”

“I’m just so excited.”

“Okay.” Dutton brushed his hair back. “You’re sure?”

“I’ve never been more sure in my life.” Kip faced him. “I always dreamed of meeting someone who got me. I didn’t think it would actually happen and now that it has it’s—I want to be on top.”

Dutton wasn’t expecting Kip to just blurt that out but he didn’t mind a straight shooter. “Okay.” Dutton figured Kip was just overexcited. He layered their sleeping bags to make the softest bed he could then he got on his back.

“Why are you looking at me like that?” Kip asked.

“I’m just excited that you want to take charge.”

“It’s not that I don’t trust you.” Kip slung his leg over Dutton’s hips, settling his butt on the upper part of Dutton’s thighs. “It’s just that I want to go slow.”

“I’m good with this. Really.”

“Okay.” Kip blushed as he unrolled the condom down Dutton’s cock. “I really didn’t think doing this would be so sexy.”

“Take your time.” Dutton tucked his hands behind his head.

“Normally I would, but I feel like if I don’t get you inside me something will happen.”

“Something like what?”

“I don’t know. Someone will come and interrupt us. The cave will cave in. The cops will come and—I’m a worrier.”

“I guess.” Dutton leaned up and kissed him gently. “No one’s coming. The roof of this cave has been solid for thousands of years. What we’re doing isn’t illegal.”

“I know. I just...” Kip sighed in a way that made his frustration perfectly clear. “I’ve just waited a really long time for you and I don’t want to wait another—”

Dutton kissed him. He’d never had anyone want him the way Kip wanted him. Hell, he’d never wanted anyone the way he wanted Kip. When Dutton pulled back, he kept their foreheads pressed together. “Slowly, okay? I don’t want you to get hurt.”

“And you want to feel every inch.”

“Damn, you really do know me.” Dutton grinned.

“I feel like I do.” Kip cupped his cheek then lowered his attention to lubing up Dutton’s cock. Once he had him slick, Kip rose to his knees and then rubbed Dutton’s cock along his crack. Kip’s eyelids fluttered then his eyes rolled back as he pressed the tip against his hole.

Dutton slowed his breathing and cupped Kip’s hips. He needed to hold onto him to anchor himself. He’d never been so focused with another person, so determined to make sure Kip had the very best first time he could have.

Kip slipped down an inch. His head went back while Dutton’s fingers dug into his hips. Hell. Tight heat didn’t even begin to describe what it felt like to slide into Kip.

“Oh, God.” Kip rolled his hips, taking another inch.

Dutton pressed his lips together to hold back a growl. A part of him wanted to be inside Kip right now but another part wanted to delay things almost indefinitely. More than anything, though, he wanted it to be good for Kip.

Kip took his time, easing himself down Dutton’s length. When he bottomed out, his head rolled forward and he opened his eyes, pinning Dutton to the sleeping bag.

Dutton wanted to say something but nothing came out of his mouth. No one had ever made him speechless in his life.

Kip leaned forward as if to kiss him but winced and moved back.

“The angle’s too deep.” Dutton leaned up on his arms so that Kip could kiss him without hurting himself. “You okay?”

“I’ve never felt better.”

“I’m glad.” Dutton held himself up and kissed Kip until his arms shook from the effort.

“It’s okay. Lie back.” Eyes closed, Kip rocked his hips back and forth, dancing on Dutton’s cock until he brought him right to the edge.

Dutton slicked up his hand then wrapped it around Kip’s prick.

“Oh, God.”

“Too much?”

“Just right. Not too fast. Not too—there. That’s—yeah.” Kip gasped words between breaths. “That’s good. That’s sooooo good.”

Dutton matched his pace, stroking Kip’s cock while trying to keep his climax at bay. No way would he ruin this by coming first.

“I’m so close. So very, very close.” Kip struggled to breathe. “I need to kiss you.”

Dutton lifted himself up with one arm while he kept on pumping Kip’s cock with the other.

Kip gasped and whimpered. His smooth beat went wonky.

“Are you gonna come for me?” Dutton asked. “Cream all over my chest?”

“Can I? Please let me. Please let me.”

“I want you to. I want to feel you clamp your ass around my cock and milk it.”

“Yes, sir. Yes, sir. Yes—” Kip’s voice abruptly cut off as he erupted all over Dutton’s chest. His ass tightened to the point Dutton had no choice but to climax too. Shaking, he kept on stroking Kip until he stopped spirting then he wrapped his hand around his cock, holding him gently.

“I can’t—I can’t hold myself up anymore.” Kip trembled.

“Here. Relax.” Dutton pulled half his length out of Kip so he could lie down on his chest without hurting himself from the angle. “Okay?”

Kip nodded and moaned.

They stayed there, recovering, while the night crept in and filled the cave with darkness. Above, Dutton saw the stars start to pop out. He rolled to his side so Kip could see them too.

“It’s beautiful.”

“Yeah.” Dutton kissed Kip’s shoulder. “You okay?”

“I’ve never felt so good.”

“I’m glad.” Dutton eased the rest of the way out, snagged the condom, and then wrapped it up and tucked it alongside his backpack.

“I think maybe we should turn on a light.”

“In a minute. I just want to look at the stars for a bit.” When Dutton saw a shooting star, he made a wish and then kissed Kip quick.

“What was that for?”

“I made a wish.”

“For what?”

“Can’t tell you or it won’t come true.”

Kip laughed. “Okay. I hope your wish comes true, Dutton. I really do. You’re—thank you. Tonight was so much more than I thought it would ever be.”

If Dutton’s wish came true, tonight would be just the first of many nights.

Chapter Five

They ate and swam and fooled around and then climbed into bed. For the first time in a long time, Dutton fell asleep within minutes. Thankfully, Kip didn’t want distance this night. He wanted to sleep nude and snuggled close. Since the hot spring warmed the rocks of the cave, they stayed plenty warm.

In the morning, Dutton got up and snuck out without waking Kip. He checked the horses, picked some wildflowers, and hurried back to make breakfast. Dutton had gotten halfway through when Kip woke up.

“I thought I was supposed to do that.” Kip sat up and yawned.

“I thought I’d surprise you with breakfast in bed.”

“Aw, you didn’t have to do that.”

“I wanted to.” Dutton brought Kip his plate with the wildflowers in a cup.

“Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.”

“Wait. This is—I thought it was supposed to be breakfast for dinner?”

“Yeah, but I wanted dinner for breakfast.” Dutton sat down on the end of the sleeping bag. “Is it okay?”

“It’s great. Especially the flowers.”

“Are you sore?”

“A little. The hot water really helped. To relax me, I mean.” Kip eyed the pond. “I think another good soak before we go wouldn’t hurt.”

“Is there anything I can do?”

“Try not to put your dick in me for a day or two.”

“Ha ha. You’re so funny. But I’m serious.”

“I’m okay. Really.” Kip smiled. “I might be a little tender in the saddle but I’ll be fine. Totally worth it.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah.” Kip took another bite. “But I guess you know what this means?”

“We’re a couple now?”

“No.” Kip laughed. “We have to have breakfast for dinner.”

“Oh. Right.” Dutton looked away, feeling like he’d just said the stupidest thing ever, but he didn’t know how to take it back. Thankfully, Kip didn’t want to talk much, which gave Dutton time to get over the idea that maybe Kip wasn’t as into him as he was into Kip.

After a good long soak, they lingered for as long as they could then got back on the trail.

Dutton kept his eye on Kip and when he saw him wincing, he asked if he wanted to stop. He didn’t, but Dutton gave him some ibuprofen, which seemed to help.

“You really don’t need to fuss over me.” Kip smiled at him as Dutton came closer to his horse for the third time that day. “I’m fine.”

“I can’t help it.”

“I know. You’re a good guy.” Kip pulled his sunglasses down. “But I have to be honest.”

Dutton braced himself.

“I need some alone time to process.”

“Oh. Right.”

“If you need to talk, you should—”

“No. I’m okay.” Dutton moved away but he wasn’t okay. He felt out of sorts and wasn’t sure why. He’d wanted to make his first time an earthshaking experience for Kip. From all that he could gather, he’d barely jiggled his world.

Since the weather held and they didn’t have to fix a single post, they made it to the end of the line in record time.

“We’re done?” Kip slowed his mount until the two of them rode side by side.

“Yep.” Dutton nodded to the small town, no more than a pit stop, really, ahead of them. “There’ll be a truck and horse trailer waiting for us.”

“We don’t ride back along the other side of the fence?”

“The other side of the fence is fifty miles from here.”

“Oh.”

“What’s wrong?” Dutton thought Kip would be glad to be finished.

“Nothing. Just feels—” he shrugged without finishing the thought.

“Don’t worry. There’s plenty of fence lines to be run. Caroline is always looking for volunteers.”

“Are you going to be going again?” Kip asked.

“Yeah. I probably will. There’s another run going the other direction. Bit more of rough out camping wise but the scenery is great.” Dutton wanted to ask if Kip would like to go with him, but he didn’t want to pressure him.

Sure enough, behind the little gas station and convenience store, Caroline had left the truck and a two-horse trailer.

Dutton went inside, making the little bell over the door tinkle. The shop was just about the only commercial store for fifty miles in all directions so the owner had stuffed it with all kinds of things those passing through might need. Everything from auto parts to diapers filled the shelves.

“Hey, Dutton. How was the run?” The store owner, Charlie Wiggam, stepped from behind a draped area. His shop filled one side of the building and his home the other. Tall and thin with a permanent smile and the biggest, bushiest eyebrows Dutton had ever seen made Charlie a memorable man and a welcome sight after a long fence run.

“Hey, Charlie.” Dutton offered out his hand, getting a strong shake before letting go. “Good run. Not a lot of fixing to do and some great scenery.”

“That rain get ya?” Charlie rang up a sale on the register then fished around in one of the compartments.

“A bit, but we weathered it just fine.”

“Good, good. Truck is all gassed up and good to go.” Charlie dropped the keys into Dutton’s hand. “You need anything from the shop?”

“I’m good, thanks, but let me ask my—” companion? Partner? Or the word he really wanted to use—boyfriend, but Dutton said, “coworker. He might need something.”

“Breaking in the new guy?” Charlie asked.

“Yep.” Dutton turned away before Charlie could see how much that comment made him blush. Oh, he’d broken in the new guy, all right.

Outside, he found Kip just locking down the butt bar on the two horses in the trailer.

“You need anything from the store?” Dutton asked.

“What’s in there?”

“A little bit of everything.”

“I’ll take a look.”

After they closed up the trailer, they went back inside. Like a moth to a flame, Kip found the pile of dusty, battered paperbacks. Methodically, Kip went through the stacks, pulling out a few here and there.

Charlie beamed. “I love finding another reader.”

“Best way to spend extra time.” Kip hardly glanced up from the books.

“Oh, no. Not extra time.” Charlie shook his head as he hunkered down next to Kip. “You got to make time for reading.”

“Absolutely.” Kip nodded then looked to Dutton. “I’ll bet Charlie here doesn’t write in his books.”

“Of course not.” Charlie tsked lightly, still with a smile on his face. “That’s a terrible thing to do to a book.”

“See?” Kip lifted his brows to Dutton. “I told you so.”

“You write in books?” Charlie asked Dutton, clearly horrified.

While Dutton defended himself, Kip finished going through the stacks. He ended up with over twenty books only to discover he hadn’t brought his wallet.

Charlie tried to give Kip the books on the house, but Kip couldn’t do that. “I wouldn’t be able to enjoy them.”

“I have money.” Dutton pulled out his wallet and paid for the books. “All I ask in return is that you share them with me.”

“Only if you promise not to write in them.”

“I promise.”

After thanking Charlie, they got in the truck and set off for home.

Kip immediately buried his nose in one of the books.

Dutton wanted to talk but he also didn’t know what to say so he just left Kip to his reading while he tried to work things out in his head. He felt off and didn’t know why. Well, yes he did. Dutton really liked Kip and he wanted them to be a couple, at least for a while. Dutton had had a lot of casual relationships, which he didn’t mind when both people were of the same mind, but he wanted something a little more official with Kip. Not like he’d drag him to the church or do anything that permanent that soon, but he wanted something more like they would have a standing date for Saturday night. That they would spend at least one night a week in the same bed. That they wouldn’t be hooking up with anyone else.

Dutton sighed. He knew he should just ask Kip for what he wanted but he also worried he’d be putting pressure on him. In the end, Dutton decided to hold his tongue. If he gave Kip the time he needed to process his first time and then asked him to hook up for a while, things would probably be better.

Within hours, they were back at the ranch.

Dutton hoped to talk to Kip while they unpacked but Caroline called Kip away, leaving Dutton to clean up. By the time the sun set, Dutton had settled the horses, returned the camping gear, and put all his stuff away. He stood there in the middle of his room, feeling that out of sorts feeling again. Dutton ignored it as best he could. Sometimes coming back to civilization was just weird. Only it had never happened before, at least not like this, not this intense. The only difference this time was Kip.

Kip.

Dutton placed his hand against the wall that separated them. He knew Kip was on the other side of that wall because he’d just seen him step in. He wondered what Kip and Caroline had discussed but more than that he wanted to know what Kip was doing right now. He quickly realized he was probably reading. Dutton thought he could go over on the pretext of borrowing one of the books but he didn’t want to interrupt Kip and he actually didn’t feel like reading so he left Kip alone.

Over the next week, Dutton tried to talk to Kip, but he wasn’t around very much. Dutton began to think that Kip was deliberately ignoring him. It hurt. It hurt a hell of a lot more than he thought it should. How the hell had he gotten so attached to someone in such a short time?

When Dutton heard through the grapevine that Kip had gone out with Randy to run another part of the ranch fences, Dutton felt as if someone had kicked him square in the balls. He’d tried to give Kip his space and it seemed Kip had used that time to find someone else.

Disappointed, Dutton gathered his bathroom gear and went to shower, surprised to find Kip there.

“We meet again.” Kip grinned.

“I thought you went fence riding with Randy?”

“Who told you that?”

Too late, Dutton realized Wilson had gotten him again. Still, that lie didn’t explain why Kip had been avoiding him since they’d gotten back.

“How have you been?” Kip tightened his robe as if he expected Dutton to wrench it open.

“Fine.” Dutton stifled the urge to ask and you?

Hurt flashed over Kip’s face but then he forced a smile. He opened his mouth as if to speak, and Dutton found himself holding his breath, but when Kip turned away, he did too.

Dutton picked the shower stall nearest the window. He liked to look out at the scenery while he cleaned up.

“Dutton...”

“Yeah?” Dutton settled his gear on the little shelf.

“Nothing.” Kip turned away.

Dutton stood there feeling the emptiness inside get so big and awful it threatened to explode his body. He couldn’t stand it. Why was he upset? He liked Kip. He liked him a lot. But he’d felt pushed aside after their night together. Was he only pushing Kip away because he thought Kip didn’t like him? Petty revenge?

“Fuck this.” Dutton yanked open the shower curtain, intent on talking to Kip only to find him standing there naked.

“We need to talk.” Kip stepped into Dutton’s shower and closed the curtain. He turned on the water. “What did I do wrong?”

“Nothing. I didn’t—I thought I did something wrong.”

“No. I enjoyed myself.”

“Then why did you pull back?” For a moment, Dutton thought Kip might tell him he’d imagined the whole thing, but, thankfully, Kip didn’t.

“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have done that but I got scared.”

“Of me?”

“Of how much I wanted you.” Kip’s voice broke as he looked up. “It was so good. You were—I waited a long time and then you turned out to be so good. So...” Kip trailed his hand down the front of Dutton’s chest then stopped right above his rapidly hardening cock. “Addictive.”

Dutton tried to corral his ego and failed miserably but at least he kept the smile off his face. All this time he’d been thinking Kip couldn’t stand him when he’d been fighting his cravings.

“It’s like I went from thinking about sex occasionally to thinking about it nonstop and I just—I didn’t know what to do.”

“I’m sorry.”

“No you’re not.” Kip scoffed and then laughed. “And you shouldn’t be sorry. I should have said something, but I worried I’d just end up getting into your pants again.”

“Hey, buddy, I got news for you. I’m not some sex machine.” Dutton got his hair wet then lathered it up. “You can’t just give me those come-hither eyes of yours and expect me to put out.”

“I know.”

“I’m kidding.”

“Me too.” Kip made that same stroke down the front of Dutton’s chest only this time, he wrapped his hand around Dutton’s cock. “Seriously, though. I didn’t know what to do. I got overwhelmed and then it seemed like you didn’t want to be around me anymore.”

“Fuck.” Dutton stroked over that sweet spot on Kip’s shoulder. “We’ve been at cross purposes all this time.”

Kip shivered and the used the suds streaming down Dutton’s chest to make his hand slick while he slowly and gently pumped Dutton’s cock.

“I didn’t want you to feel like I was crowding you. Or stalking you.” Dutton recalled at least three nights where he’d pressed his ear against the wall he shared with Kip, just to see if he had someone else in his room. He never heard a peep, but that didn’t mean he didn’t imagine all kinds of things going on.

Kip scoffed. “I thought the same of you. That I would be crowding you. I didn’t want to be too clingy. I’m sorry.”

“Me too.”

“I want—” Kip abruptly stopped talking.

“Please don’t cut yourself off.” Dutton stopped stroking Kip and deliberately moved Kip’s hand off him. “Tell me exactly what you want.”

“I want to be with you. Just you.” Kip took the soap from Dutton’s hand and stroked it over his chest. “You’re smiling.”

“Yeah.” Dutton lifted his arms so Kip could wash underneath. “I guess I’m getting my wish.”

“Your wish?”

“The one I made on that falling star.”

“You wished for me?”

“Yeah. I’m crazy about you. And I know it’s ridiculous that it all happened fast but I also know when I’ve found someone I click with.” Dutton kissed him, slow and gentle. “I want to be with you. I don’t want anyone else.”

Kip blushed.

“Oh, man. You’re killing me.”

“I’m not trying to.”

“Do you want to be with me?”

Kip nodded.

“Then we’d better hurry up in here and get to bed.”

“It’s seven.”

“And we have to be asleep by midnight.” Dutton tsked. “That only gives us five hours.”

“To do what?”

“To get freaky.” Dutton waggled his brows.

“Should I bring my chaps?”

“Oh, God, yes. And your toy. And some lube. And—oh, fuck. I still don’t have any condoms.”

“No?”

“No. In my mopey state, thinking I couldn’t have you, I didn’t buy any when I went into town.”

Kip struggled to suppress a smile but didn’t quite manage.

“That makes you happy?”

“That you only wanted to use condoms with me. Yeah. That makes me happy.” Kip leaned up and kissed him. “You got to run around with your big ego while we were out riding fences so don’t begrudge me this.”

“I won’t begrudge you anything.” Dutton kissed Kip again and again, almost afraid he’d wake up and realize he was dreaming.

Just as they had that night in the hot springs, they took turns cleaning one another. By the time they finished up and got back to Dutton’s room, they were crazed for each other.

“Wait. Just one minute.” Kip tightened his robe.

“We don’t need anything.”

“Condoms and lube.”

“Oh, yeah. Okay.” Dutton eyed him up and down. “I’m timing you.”

“How long?”

“One minute.” Dutton lifted his phone and started the stopwatch. By the time the clock hit seven seconds, Kip was back. He closed the door behind him and locked it.

Dramatically, Kip wrenched off his robe and tossed it aside. He practically launched himself onto the bed. Soon they became a tangle of limbs.

“Fuck, it’s like I haven’t seen you in years.” Dutton touched Kip everywhere, compelled by something to make sure he was okay.

“I know. I feel the same.” Kip kept trying to go down on him but Dutton wouldn’t let him.

“Why?” Kip demanded.

“Because I want to taste you too.”

“You can go after I go.”

Dutton shook his head, grinning. “No. We can go together.”

“How?”

“By using my favorite number in the whole universe.”

“Favorite number?”

Dutton got on his back then had Kip climb on top of him, turned the other way. “Ah, yeah. Some sweet sixty-nine.”

Kip didn’t answer. He couldn’t. He had his mouth too full of Dutton’s cock.

Focusing on Kip’s pleasure made it easier for Dutton to ignore his own. Not that he didn’t appreciate Kip’s oral skills, just that if he focused too much on that, he wouldn’t last a minute.

“Oh, God.” Kip pulled his mouth away. “I had no idea it would feel that good.”

Dutton cupped Kip’s ass into his hands and encouraged him to rock slowly, sliding his cock in and out of Dutton’s mouth.

“I’m sorry, I can’t—oh, God. That’s just so incredibly goooood.” Kip jerked upward and then tried to pull away, but Dutton wouldn’t let him. “I’m going to come.”

Dutton redoubled his efforts.

“You want—oh, God. You want to taste me. You want to feel me climax into your mouth.” Kip shivered and then came, releasing into Dutton’s mouth with such force Dutton almost choked. Almost. He swallowed and kept on sucking until he’d drained Kip dry, exactly as he’d dreamed of doing.

Feeling proud of himself, Dutton rolled to the side.

“Wait, what about you?” Kip asked.

“Oh, I’ll get mine.”

“But I want to taste you too.”

“You’ve already tasted me.” Dutton turned the other direction so he could kiss Kip while teasing his hole, around and around without ever going in. Since he’d just climaxed, Kip’s body had become super sensitive, allowing Dutton to make him shiver, shake, and whimper. Dutton kept on kissing and tormenting Kip until he got hard again. Once he did, Dutton only upped the teasing.

“I can’t take anymore.”

“Yes you can...boy.”

“Oh, God.” Kip panted and strained, his cheeks blushing as he tried to control himself.

Just when he thought he’d reached the edge of madness, Dutton fingered him, gently at first, then with rough need.

“Please, sir.”

“What do you want, boy?”

“I want you to fuck me.”

Dutton grinned. It was exactly what he wanted to do. “Up. On your knees.”

Kip obeyed, lifting his ass like a perfect puppy, eager and willing. What he wasn’t prepared for was more teasing.

“Please, sir.”

“I thought we agreed that you like orgasm denial?”

“I do. It’s just...”

“That you’re greedy.” Dutton teased lubed fingers around Kip’s hole, watching him squirm. “You’ve had one orgasm and I’ve had none.” Dutton worked two fingers in and out. “Does that seem fair to you?”

“No, sir.”

“No, it doesn’t.” Dutton really wanted to extend the play but feeling Kip’s snug ass around his pumping fingers made him hungry to feel that wicked sensation around his cock. But his teasing wasn’t just to torment Kip. Not at all. Dutton wanted to know if he was still sore from his first time. From the way he whimpered and begged, Dutton decided Kip had fully recovered. Still, he would go slow and make sure. Or at least he would until he was sure. At that point, all bets were off.

“Sir?”

“Turn around and put a condom on me.” Dutton enjoyed watching Kip unroll the latex down his shaft and then slather it in lube. All the while Kip had his tongue tucked to the corner of his mouth like he wanted to taste him. “Good boy. Now turn around.”

Breath quivering, Kip obeyed then braced himself against the bed.

Dutton started slowly, teasing his cock head up and down Kip’s crack, but he couldn’t take much more torment himself. When he pressed against his hole, Kip arched his back even more, allowing Dutton to ease inside. Tight heat wasn’t nearly as compelling as the whimper of encouragement Kip uttered. Dutton grabbed onto his hips, bracing Kip and himself for a long, slow plunge.

“Oh, God.” Kip hung his head and moaned.

Dutton pulled almost all the way out then slowly plunged in again. Each time, Kip moaned and dug his fingers deeper into the bedcover. Each time Dutton’s balls tightened. If not for the thickness of the condom, he would have lost his load by the third plunge, but he held on, mostly by wanting to make Kip come again.

“I know you like to wait, but I’d like to feel you come while I’m inside you.” Dutton stroked his hands gently over Kip’s back. “Okay?”

Kip nodded. “Yeah. That’s—I don’t know that I could hold off even if I wanted to.” Kip swiveled his hips. “It just feels so good. Like all the empty inside is finally full.”

Funny thing, Dutton felt the same way, only all the empty had been somewhere inside his head. Now that he had Kip in his bed, that aching void had disappeared.

“Can you take it faster?” Dutton held onto Kip’s hips more firmly then slipped his prick in and out at a quicker pace.

“Yes. Oh, God. Yes, sir. I can take it.”

Dutton kept increasing the pace but he made sure to keep an eye on Kip. He didn’t want to hurt him. But his boy wasn’t in any pain. Kip lifted his head and moaned so loud Dutton figured anyone within a mile radius could hear him.

“Shh. If you do that again, I’ll stop.”

“But it feels so good.”

“I know. But you have to be quiet.” Dutton gave him a powerful thrust. “We don’t want someone knocking on the door to make sure you’re all right, do we?”

“No.”

“That’s right. Because then we’ll have to stop.”

“But I can’t stop moaning.”

“Bite the pillow.”

Kip lowered his head, tightening his channel around Dutton’s cock. He went faster but not as deep, not until he reached the end of his rope. Something about Kip struggling to stay quiet by damn near biting a hole in his pillow catapulted him into a powerful orgasm that made him drill into Kip’s ass then hold him tight while he pumped what felt like a gallon of cum.

Kip climaxed too, clamping around Dutton’s cock, milking out every last drop.

Drained, Dutton pulled out, got rid of the condom, then collapsed on the bed. Before he drifted off into a sex coma, he pulled Kip close and kissed him.

An hour later, Dutton sighed and stretched. “You awake?”

“Mmm.”

“Mmm,” Dutton echoed, kissing him again. “Can I ask you something?”

“Of course.”

“I know this might not be the time and if you don’t want to talk about it I’ll understand but it’s been bugging me.”

“Ask.”

“When we were out there, you—I rose up real fast and you flinched away.” Dutton lowered his voice and tightened his hold on Kip. “Did someone hit you?”

“Yeah.” Kip clung to Dutton. “Long story short, my parents sent me to this camp when I was a teenager and one of the counselor liked to hit us.”

“What fucking kind of camp was it?”

“Space Camp.”

Dutton wasn’t sure why but the answer surprised him.

“I know, I’m a super geek.”

“That’s not what I was thinking at all.” Dutton stroked his hand over Kip’s back. “I was thinking how abusers always seem to find jobs where they have access to their victims.”

“I only went the one time but we did a campout one night with a campfire. That was her favorite thing—standing up real fast and lashing out. Even though I knew you would never hit me I guess the automatic response is still there.”

“We were sitting around a campfire.”

“Yeah.”

“I’m sorry.”

“You couldn’t have known.”

“No. But now I do. I’ll try not to do that again. Stand up fast like that when we’re out running fences.”

“I think things would be different now. I was so in awe of you. Wanting you but afraid of you.”

“And I was too stupid to even notice you.”

“It’s hard to notice the guy who doesn’t say or do anything.”

“I’m just glad I did notice you.” Doubly glad that Caroline had made him go on a fence run with Kip as his partner. “Hey, what were you and Caroline talking about when we got back?”

“She asked if I wanted to stay on.” Kip kissed Dutton’s chest.

“Do you?” Dutton couldn’t believe how much panic he felt, waiting for the answer.

“I told her yes. That I’d like to do more fence running, especially with you.” Kip chuckled. “I hope you’re not mad because I’m pretty sure she knows I’m sweet on you.”

“Sweet on me? I think it’s gone far beyond that.”

“I think so too.” Kip rose up onto his elbow. “If only you didn’t write in books.”

“I can change.”

“I don’t want you to change.” Kip met and held his gaze. “I want you just the way you are.”

For the first time in his life, Dutton felt his heart melting. “I want you just the way you are too.”

Epilogue

The best part about running fences with Kip was he felt free to make as much noise as he wanted during sex. Kip loved making noise and Dutton loved hearing every moan, groan, and gasp. But best of all he loved that whimper right when he’d pushed Kip as far as he could. One more stroke after that meant Kip would climax. Knowing he had that kind of power over his boyfriend excited Dutton, but he also realized the responsibility he had too. Dutton never pushed Kip too far because the point wasn’t to give his ego a boost but to give Kip the most epic orgasms he could. Frankly, that—getting Kip off to the point he could hardly move for an hour afterward—did more to boost Dutton’s ego than having control over him ever could.

Not only was sex in the great outdoors fantastic, but they were Caroline’s go-to guys for running fences. By the end of the year, they’d been from one end of the ranch to the other. Rain, shine, even snow couldn’t dampen their enthusiasm for their work. Through Kip, Dutton learned the power of silence. Through Dutton, Kip learned the power of talking. Together, they realized they could get through almost anything.

After a long day, they were sitting near their campfire, reading like they always did, when Kip said, “I got you a present.”

“You did?” The last time he’d gotten him something it turned out to be a cock ring that added a whole new dimension to their kinky sex life.

Kip nodded and removed a paperback from his backpack. “Here.”

Dutton didn’t reach for it. “But that’s your favorite book.”

“I know. I’m lending it to you.”

Speechless, Dutton took the book from Kip with a trembling hand. Despite the dozens of times Kip had read it, the paperback appeared almost new. “You sure you trust me?”

“With my very life.”

“I promise to take very good care of your book.”

“I know you will.”

“I’ve got something for you too.” From the depths of his backpack, Dutton took out one of his favorite books. In contrast, the cover image had scratches and fold, the spine was bent, and most of the pages either had writing on them or dog ears at the top.

“Thank you.” Kip gently opened the book.

“Are you going to write in it?” Dutton asked.

“I don’t think I can.”

“Try.”

“Why does that matter?”

“It doesn’t. I just want to help you push your boundaries.”

“I think I can live without casual vandalism.”

“You never know until you try.”

Kip gave Dutton his warning look. It was a lot like his whimper but used for non-sexual situations.

“I see I’m going to have to pull out my uber-alpha.” Dutton wrapped Kip’s book in a T-shirt and put it in his backpack then he took out a pen. “Make a mark in the book.”

“What? No.” Kip scoffed and shook his head.

“Do it or you’ll regret it.”

“What are you going to do?”

“Do?” Dutton asked. “Nothing.”

“I don’t understand.”

“It’s not what I’ll do. It’s what I won’t do.”

“What won’t you do?” Kip asked.

“I won’t have sex with you until you make a mark in that book.”

“Are you serious?”

“Quite serious.” Dutton paused for effect. “However, if you do make a mark, I will have sex with you on horseback.”

“Really?”

“Really.” They’d been kicking the idea around since their first time running fences. Dutton had done a lot of discreet research and found out if they were careful and on a horse going slow, they could enjoy themselves. He’d specifically chosen his horse this time for his strength and his slowness.

Kip considered the pen in Dutton’s hand. “When? You can’t just say that you will. You have to give me a specific time.”

“First thing in the morning.” Dutton offered out the pen.

After a long time to consider, Kip grabbed the pen, flipped open the book to a random page, and scrawled his name in the margin.

“There.” Dutton took the pen back, tossing it into his backpack. “Now you’re one of us.”

“I feel dirty.”

“Ooh, let’s go with that feeling.” Dutton pulled Kip close. “Tomorrow, I’m going to make you feel positively filthy.”

“You’d better.” Under his breath, Kip added, “For making me deface a defenseless book.”

“I just wanted you to try it my way. Just like I’m going to try it your way with the book you lent me.”

“I get it. I do.” Kip sighed. “We’ll both grow from this.”

“Could you sound more disbelieving?”

“I don’t see what writing in books accomplishes.”

“And I don’t see what keeping books looking as if they’ve never been touched accomplishes.”

Kip opened his mouth to explain but all that came out was laughter.

Dutton laughed too.

“At least we can agree to disagree.” Kip leaned in and kissed Dutton very gently.

“I like that we’re not on the same page all the time.”

“Was that a pun?”

“Yes. Aren’t I clever?”

“You are. Now let’s go to bed and get a lot of sleep. Tomorrow is going to be a great day.”

Once they’d cleaned up and stripped down for bed, Dutton teased Kip with strokes and kisses until he got him hard as hell and then left him that way. Of course, he did the same to himself, but it was a small price to pay to make Kip’s kinky wish come true.

In the morning after eating breakfast and loading up their gear onto one horse, Dutton unzipped his jeans and had Kip, who was dressed only in a pair of chaps, climb up onto his lap. His horse didn’t even whinny at the extra weight and he didn’t fuss while Kip slowly impaled himself.

“Ready?” Dutton breathed the question into Kip’s ear.

“Yes, sir.” Kip leaned forward, gripping the saddle horn.

“Let’s go, Snazzy.” Dutton clucked and shook the reins.

Snazzy took a step forward and Kip’s horse followed along without prompting.

Once Kip realized the slow plodding wouldn’t hurt, he eased back against Dutton, who wrapped his arms around him and breathed into his ear.

“Good?” Dutton asked.

“Yes.” Kip’s voice went all high and soft as it always did when he enjoyed sex.

The gentle swaying back and forth allowed them to sit joined without having to move. Snazzy did everything just by walking forward.

“This feels a lot kinkier then I thought it would.” Kip closed his eyes against the morning sun and went limp against Dutton.

“I’m just glad Snazzy has no clue what we’re doing up here.”

“Me too.”

“Did you put sunscreen on?” Dutton asked.

“Yes, sir.”

“Good. I don’t want your naughty bits to become lobster bits.”

“That doesn’t sound like fun at all.”

“Not at all. Then I wouldn’t be able to do this.” Dutton used his free hand to stroke slowly down Kip’s chest to his cock, which he fisted until he’d made Kip hard as hell. Once he did, he stopped.

Kip moaned and rocked his hips, clenching his channel around Dutton’s cock.

“You’re in for a surprise.” Dutton breathed the words into Kip’s ear then nibbled his way across Kip’s shoulder.

“I am?”

“I think so.” Dutton had already figured out what the problem of having sex this way would be. It took a good twenty minutes for Kip to realize that the gentle swaying felt good but it would never be enough friction to get either one of them off.

“You knew,” Kip said, trying to bounce himself on Dutton without success since he had no leverage.

“I did.”

“Then why did you agree to do this?”

“Would you have taken my word?” Dutton fisted Kip’s cock to full hardness again then stopped.

“I—I don’t know.”

“You wouldn’t have. You had a fantasy in your head and you wanted to act it out.”

“So you’re punishing me?”

“I’m giving you what I know you like.”

“And that is?”

“I nice long-delayed orgasm.”

“You mean...”

“All the way to camp.”

“Oh, God. No.” Kip struggled against him, which brought Dutton pretty damn close to orgasm, but again, there just wasn’t enough friction to get him all the way there.

“There’s nothing you can do now.” Dutton urged Snazzy to walk just a bit faster.

Kip moaned and groaned and rocked his hips but nothing was going to get him off until they stopped.

About halfway to their camp, Kip made that whimper. Dutton knew he’d reached the end of his rope.

“Shh,” Dutton breathed into his ear. “I’ve got you.”

“Please let me come.”

“I’m going to need you to do something for me.”

“Anything.”

“Take the reins.” Dutton passed them over. “Keep Snazzy moving at this slow pace.”

“But what are you—oh.” Kip closed his eyes and relaxed his head against Dutton’s shoulder when he wrapped his hand around Kip’s cock. He didn’t tease. Not now. He stroked up and down, strong and sure. “Tighten around me, boy. That’s it. Milk my cock while I milk yours.”

Kip rolled his hips and rhythmically clenched and released around Dutton’s cock. It wasn’t enough to get him off, but Dutton didn’t mind. This was about Kip’s fantasy, after all.

Dutton stroked him harder while biting that sweet spot where Kip’s shoulder met his arm.

“Lean back. That’s it. I want to make you cream all over your own chest.” Dutton stroked and growled into Kip’s ear until he climaxed. His tight little ass convulsed around Dutton’s cock so fast and hard that he climaxed. “Fuck!”

“You didn’t expect that, did you?” Kip continued contracting around Dutton’s cock, draining him completely before he finally stopped.

“I really didn’t.”

When they stopped to fix a post, they cleaned up, had lunch, and then redistributed their gear so Kip could ride on his own horse.

“Ass sore?”

“Not in the least.” Kip grinned as he settled his hat to his head. “I just figured your hips could use a break since my butt rubbed you a little raw.”

“Worth it.” Dutton met Kip’s gaze. “Wasn’t it?”

“I’m glad I did it but my fantasy was better than the reality.”

“Usually they are. Reality doesn’t get in the way of a fantasy.”

“Which makes me very happy that you’re real.”

“Same here.”

“I actually feel pretty bold.” Kip straightened in the saddle.

“Yeah? Why’s that?”

“I wrote in a book. I had sex on horseback. I’m starting to think there’s nothing I can’t do.”

“So what’s your next grand adventure?”

“Moving in with you.” Kip drew a deep breath and held it.

“That sounds like one hell of an adventure.”

“You think so?”

“I know so.” Dutton moved Snazzy closer to Kip’s horse. “Did you really think I’d say no?”

“I wasn’t sure.”

“Are you sure? I mean I know you need your alone time to do your introverting.”

“You give me space even when we’re stuck in the same tent together.” Kip reached out and Dutton took his hand. “You truly are the one person who understands how I am and what I need.”

“You know that you do the same for me, right?”

Kip nodded.

“So.” Dutton squeezed then released his hand. “Where will we live?”

“Caroline said there’s a cabin in the west part of the ranch. A little primitive but it has electricity.”

“What’s the primitive part?”

“Well, there’s running water but we’d have to use an outhouse.”

“I could live with that. We have to do that out here so it’s really not that big of a deal.”

“You’re sure?”

“Positive.”

“Good. Because I already told her we’ll take it.”

“You little shit!” Dutton took a swipe at Kip with his hat but missed. “You knew all along I’d say yes.”

“Well, I didn’t know, exactly. That’s why I got so nervous.”

“You knew.”

“Maybe.”

“I love you, you know.”

“I know.” Kip grinned sassily.

“And?” Dutton prompted.

“Do you really need to hear me say it?”

Dutton nodded vigorously.

“I love you too.” Kip moved his mount closer so he could kiss Dutton quickly before their horses pulled away from one another.

“Even when I write in books?”

“Even when.”

Dutton laughed, happy that he’d found a cowboy he could not only work and play with but one he could share good and bad times with. To have a place of their own where they could have peace and quiet was just a cherry on top.

About the Author

Reading, writing, and white-water rafting are the three things

Anitra Lynn McLeod enjoys the most.

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