by A. J. Marcus
“Yeah, and if a horse isn’t used to them, it can really scare them. Not something I need to worry about. Both Pyre and Champion have been around snakes before. Champion has killed his share while we were out trail riding.”
“Hey, Diederik, can we get a picture with you?” A young woman walked over to the table while her gaggle of friends stood off a bit, giggling.
Dale looked up at her and flashed a big smile. “Why of course, m’lady.” He looked back at Austin. “Could you hold this for me?” He thrust his sausage toward him.
“Sure.”
Dale got up and walked over to the group of girls, who giggled even louder as he approached. He stood in the middle of them, and they clustered around him like chicks around a mother hen. Dale smiled as one of them took a couple of pictures, and then they moved around so that girl could be in some of the shots. Several minutes later he returned to the table.
“You sure do have a following,” Austin said, giving him the meat.
Dale laughed before taking another big bite. “A lot of it has to do with social networking. The fairs like it when we can bring in more folks through our online presence. Using the modern world to bring people into the past.”
“Never thought of it like that before.”
“Well, I have a huge online following. I try and post things on Facebook and Twitter regularly. I’ve had folks tell me they actually schedule their vacations to go to Renaissance festivals they’ve never been to just to see me in action.”
“Wow, I had no idea you were a star,” Austin said, not feeling overly star struck in the fashion the fans would be.
“Well, not that much.” Dale chuckled as he finished his lunch. “So I talked to Max. He said he was planning on giving us a couple days off this week, so I’m free on Thursday and Friday, just like you. If Jasmine could find out about those places up in the mountains to go riding, we could spend the day out and away from everything.”
“That would be awesome,” Austin agreed. His heart suddenly raced in his chest at the thought of spending the day with Dale. “What if she can’t find anything out in time?”
“Then we can figure something else out. So, what day would you like to go?”
Austin thought for a moment. If we go Friday and things get hot, we’ll have to cut out early again. “How about Thursday? That way we can have a down day before next weekend, just in case we overdo it.” He smiled his best suggestive smile.
Dale nodded. “Sounds good.” He slipped a business card out of the black pouch at his waist. “Here’s my number. Call me either Tuesday or Wednesday and let me know if Jasmine’s got directions. If we go riding, we can meet here at the site. Otherwise, we’ll play it by ear.”
Austin grabbed a napkin and hastily scribbled his number down. “Here, just in case something comes up on your end.”
Dale’s hazel gaze danced as their eyes met. He took the white paper and caught hold of Austin’s hand for a second. The touch was soft but firm. “I’ll do my best to make sure nothing keeps me from your side.”
Austin’s heart beat faster, and all too soon, their fingers parted. “Same here.” The crowd was getting thicker as people moved toward the jousting arena. “Guess you need to be going. I need to get to the pirate shop. Be safe and I’ll call you this week and see you on Thursday.”
Longing filled Dale’s eyes as he released Austin’s hand. “I’ll be waiting.” He rose, turned, and quickly disappeared into the crowd.
Austin sat at the table for a moment, still feeling the strong fingers on his hand. Thursday was so far away.
Chapter 17
Pyre stood patiently while Dale impatiently groomed the gelding. He’d awakened before dawn and had been finding things to occupy his mind while he waited for Austin to arrive. His trailer was cleaner than it had been in months. Both horses were groomed to within an inch of their lives, and all his western tack was oiled and shining in the late-morning light.
“You look busy,” Cat said as she leaned against the gatepost.
Dale turned. “Oh, hey, Cat. Didn’t hear you come up.”
“I don’t think that horse has any more dust on him. You’ve got him so shiny, he looks like fire given life.”
“Thanks. Woke up early and been trying to find something to do.”
“That’s right.” Cat straightened from the post. “You’re going riding today. What time are you supposed to leave?”
“About eleven,” Dale replied, nervously glancing at his watch.
“So you’ve only got about ten more minutes, if he’s on time.” She threw a wicked smile at him.
He nodded and led Pyre out of the corral. He’d talked to Austin every night that week. Jasmine had found a couple of different places for them to go riding, but the two men had found other reasons to call each other. Most of the calls lasted a couple of hours. Dale felt like he knew Austin better than any man he’d ever been interested in. For some reason that made him all the more nervous about going out on their third date, if you could call sausage on a stick while fans wanted pictures a date.
In the distance, a train whistle blew.
“He’ll be here,” Dale said as he tied Pyre to the side of the horse trailer. “He was so excited last night. I could tell by his voice.”
Catherine looked around. Dale knew she was trying to see if anyone was in earshot. He’d been watching everyone’s comings and goings and knew nobody was close by, or he would have been vaguer in his answers.
“So things are coming along, then?” she asked, leaning against the trailer.
Dale sighed. “Yeah, he’s a nice guy. I really like him. I’m just trying to figure out how this is going to go once fair is over. I’ll be going back to my regular troupe, probably at the Pennsylvania fair. But it might be one of the others. He has a life here.”
“I thought he was sleeping on Jasmine’s couch after breaking up with his last boyfriend.”
“He is, until he can get the money together for first and last on a smaller apartment.” Dale headed to the corral to bring out Champion.
“You know, I don’t have any experience with other fairs, but I know that several of the folks here travel around to the different fairs finding what jobs they can.” Catherine walked as far as the gate.
“They do, and it’s not an easy life. I’m one of the lucky ones. I normally have a troupe I travel with. I would have been heading to Wisconsin in a couple of weeks if they hadn’t needed me here.” He slipped the halter on the big gray horse. “I’m not sure it would be fair to ask Austin to live a gypsy lifestyle.”
“You may be getting a little ahead of yourself there,” Catherine said, opening the gate as he led the horse out. “I mean, you two haven’t even had sex yet, have you?”
Dale couldn’t believe it as heat rose up in his face. Did he really like Austin so much that the idea of discussing their lack of sex made him blush? “No, not yet.”
“Well see, there ya go. You guys might not even be compatible.
Have you even talked about sex?”
Dale thought for a moment as he tied Champion next to Pyre. “Come to think of it, we haven’t. I mean other than passing jokes and on Saturday, when we decided it would take us too long to do anything and we should sleep in our separate beds. But Cat, there are more important things than sex in a relationship. I mean, he’s the first man I’ve been able to just talk to in ages. Other than guys who’ve been friends for years.”
“I think this is a first for me.” Catherine laughed. “A gay man telling me there are more important things than sex.”
“Well, it’s true.” Dale stopped and then stared at her. “I can’t believe I just said that. Things have always started with sex and then petered out.” His stomach rolled. “Could this be more?”
“I don’t know, but I guess you’ll find out. I think this is him coming now.” Cat pointed at the topless black Jeep that drove slower down the dirt road toward him than it had when it nearly cut him off on his arrival at
fair. He’d been so mad at the unknown driver, but now that he knew it had been Austin and Jasmine in the Jeep, it didn’t seem to matter anymore. He stopped and watched Austin park in the east end of participant parking and then jog toward them.
His hair was pulled back in a ponytail and tucked under a black baseball cap. Dale wondered if he’d chosen the black tank top to show off his buff physique while putting his hairy chest on display. He also wondered what was in the black backpack he carried.
“Sorry I’m late,” Austin said as he stopped running a short distance from the horses. “Got caught by the train.”
“No problem. Cat was keeping me company until you arrived.” He smiled. He couldn’t help it. Austin was just sexy, and now they were about to head off into the mountains to spend the day alone: no Catherine, no Jasmine, no fans with cameras, just the two of them with the horses. He wasn’t sure what he looked forward to more, exploring new land or exploring Austin.
“And now that you’re here, I’ll take my leave,” Catherine said, giving Austin a welcoming hug. “You two have fun today. I think I’ll wander around and see what the latest gossip is. Chipmunk should be around here somewhere.” She waved as she headed back into the campground.
Dale laughed. “That woman is a work of art. You know, if I were straight, I might actually try and tame her.”
“I can see that. I’ve told Jasmine the same thing several times about her. What is it about gay men and our fag hags?”
“No clue. Let’s get the horses loaded and on the road. I hope you brought the directions.”
Austin patted the backpack. “Sure did. Along with a few other things I thought we might need.”
Dale untied Champion and led him toward the back of the trailer. “Could you get the door?”
Austin hurried to comply. Champion loaded with practiced ease, as did Pyre. Then Austin and Dale gathered up the saddles to put them on their racks in the front of the trailer.
“Hey, you cleaned up the place,” Austin commented as he stepped in, holding Pyre’s tack.
“Yeah, figured maybe a third impression would be a bit better than the first two,” replied Dale as he turned to take the saddle.
Austin let his hand linger a moment as he relinquished the saddle to Dale. The same energy Dale remembered from Saturday night passed between them.
“You made a great first impression,” Austin said. “But it is nicer cleaner.”
Dale settled the saddle on the rack under Champion’s. “I’m glad you approve.” He couldn’t resist; they were in the trailer, even if the door was still open. Turning, he caught Austin up in his arms. The kiss was as sweet as before. Sweeter than any kiss he could remember. Austin’s strong arms drew him closer. It wouldn’t take much for him to lose himself in Austin, but the horses were loaded and waiting to get on the road. He pulled away even though he didn’t want to.
“We need to get going. The mountains await.”
Austin reached up and ran his fingers through the short beard along Dale’s jawline. Where the fingers went, little tingles of fire danced along his skin. “Lead on. Let’s see what the mountains hold for us.”
It took all of Dale’s control not to grab Austin’s hand and lead him out of the trailer to the truck. He wanted to hold on to that hand and never let it go.
Once they were settled in the truck, Dale turned to Austin. “Okay, so where to?”
“Well, Jas said the most recommended trails are up near Evergreen. We’ll need to skirt Denver to get there. She wasn’t sure we could take the back roads pulling a trailer, so she got directions off the freeways.” “Sounds good.” Dale started the truck.
“So how has your morning been?” he asked as they steered for I-25.
“Oh you know, the regular,” Austin sighed. “Jasmine is working the afternoon shift, so she was around to give me shit this morning.”
“Shit about what?” Dale glanced over at Austin and saw him blush under his tan.
“Just general stuff, mostly about being nervous about today. I’ve been up since five. I couldn’t sleep.”
Dale laughed. He couldn’t help it. Austin had been as nervous as he had about their outing. Somehow knowing that made it feel that much more special. “Me too. Even after we didn’t get off the phone until just after midnight, I was up at five thirty.”
“Jasmine has been giving me so much grief about our calls too,” Austin admitted. “Last night, I had to go out on her balcony to talk to you just so I didn’t have to listen to her.”
“So that’s why the background noises made it sound like you were outside.”
“Luckily, her apartment is on the third floor and faces an empty field, so I didn’t feel awkward sitting there in just my shorts talking to you.”
“You wear just your shorts when you’re talking to me on the phone?” Dale asked, trying to visualize it. “So what were you doing in while we were talking?”
Austin smiled a warm smile over at him. “Just talking. We weren’t having phone sex that I recall. I think I’d remember if we were having phone sex. Oh God, then Jasmine would give me even more grief.”
As they got up to speed on the interstate, Dale reached over and captured Austin’s hand. He’d never held another man’s hand while driving before. It was awkward but felt good. “We don’t want to give her anything else to tease you over, now do we?”
Austin laughed. “No, trust me, she’s got enough dirt on me to last for years. But then, I’ve also got dirt on her, so in the end, we’re basically even.” He squeezed Dale’s hand. “Besides, before I have phone sex with you, I want to have up close and personal sex with you. It will help my imagination.”
Dale squeezed back. “Let’s see how today goes. Maybe if you’re good, you’ll go home with some things to help your imagination along.”
Austin raised their joined hands to his lips. “I’d like that.” Dale’s heart beat faster and there was a tightening in his pants. Would they be able to get through the afternoon without tearing each other’s clothes off?
Chapter 18
Austin’s body complained as he slid out of Pyre’s saddle. His legs shook as he dismounted, the ground rocking under his feet as if he were still on the large bay gelding. They’d ridden for two hours after they found the national forest trailhead just south of Evergreen, right where Jasmine’s directions said it should be. He’d enjoyed the trip so far, more than he could express to Dale, and most of it had been watching Dale’s reactions to the beautiful country they drove through. At one point he’d even had to explain that technically they were still in the foothills, and then promised to take Dale up through the more rugged parts of the mountains real soon. Then he realized they’d just tentatively made plans for another date.
Following the directions Jas had gotten from her horse-riding customers, they’d chosen a trail that led them out to a large lake. It had been over an hour since they’d seen anyone else. They’d seen several deer and even a small group of elk that had gathered their two little ones into the middle of the herd before disappearing into the trees. It had been Dale’s idea to stop by the lake. They’d ridden around the edge until they found a secluded spot, where they hoped they wouldn’t be disturbed.
“I packed us a lunch,” Austin announced as the ground stopped moving enough he could remove the backpack from his tired shoulders.
Dale chuckled as he opened the saddlebags. “So did I.”
“Our first lack of communication.” Austin laughed. “At least it resulted in too much food.”
“Did you happen to bring a blanket?” Dale asked as he pulled out a brown paper bag.
“That I did,” Austin replied.
The sun warmed them perfectly as they stretched out on the blanket between a rock and the lake. The horses grazed a short distance away. Austin felt more relaxed and happier than he had in a long while.
“I can’t tell you how incredible this is for me,” Dale said, reaching out to reclaim Austin’s hand; he’d held it most
of the time they had been driving to the trailhead. “I don’t know what is more impressive, the scenery or you.” His smile caused Austin’s heart to beat faster.
“I’ve seen a lot of sights in Colorado,” he replied. “And I have to say, most of them pale next to you.” He reached up and ran his hands over Dale’s short-cropped black hair and down to his chin. He liked the way the short hair tickled his fingers. Leaning together, they kissed. Austin’s breath caught for a couple of seconds as their lips pressed together. It felt incredible. He knew they should eat something, but right now he just wanted his hands and mouth on Dale. Wrapping his arms around Dale’s powerful back, he pulled the man to him until they were pressed as tightly together as their lips.
He couldn’t wait any longer. They were out in the middle of nowhere. They hadn’t seen anyone else in some time. Austin wanted this incredible man in his embrace, kissing him. He ran his hands down the powerful arms, enjoying the dark hair that covered them. Reaching down, he grasped the tail of Dale’s T-shirt and pulled it free of his tight blue jeans. The skin under the shirt was warm and moist. Sweaty from the ride. He didn’t care. He’d been dreaming of this for more than a week. The past few nights, those dreams had been so vivid they’d woken him several times, normally with his stomach coated with the aftermath.
Dale shifted slightly and pulled the shirt over his head. Austin eagerly ran his fingers through the thick black hair that covered the massive, well-defined chest. A single silver piercing sparkled in his left nipple.
“I didn’t realize you were pierced.” Austin pulled back for a second.
Dale looked worried for a moment. “I can take it out if it bothers you.”
Austin didn’t reply. He lowered his mouth to the nipple and sucked on it till the little stud banged on his teeth. Under him, Dale moaned and ran powerful fingers through his hair. Austin sucked and nibbled on the nipple for several minutes until Dale grabbed his ears and pulled his mouth up.