by A. J. Marcus
“You make me the best offers,” he said to Austin. He flashed his best lecherous grin.
“I thought you were supposed to be taking it easy for a while,” Austin replied. He offered Dale a hand up from the table. Although it was his shoulder and not his legs that were the problem, Dale accepted. Having Austin’s hand in his felt good—it felt natural.
“We can take it easy,” Dale replied, wishing silently that they didn’t need to take it easy, but he knew even with the painkillers he’d taken with dinner, the gentlest sex would be more than he could endure. “It will feel nice to just cuddle with you and talk for a bit. At the hospital, it was nice to fall asleep while you were talking to me.”
Austin laughed as they started toward the bedroom. “Oh, so now my voice puts you to sleep.”
“I didn’t say that.” Dale chuckled.
“I know.” Austin smiled at Dale as he ran his hands through Dale’s short black hair. “I think cuddling will be a great way to end the evening.” Their lips met. Tingles ran along Dale’s body. That, combined with the painkillers, made him want to melt against Austin’s strong chest.
“You have no idea how scared I was when Chip came and told me you’d been hurt in that joust,” said Austin as their lips parted and he started helping Dale out of his shirt. They moved carefully so they didn’t jar Dale’s shoulder too much.
“I bet I know,” Dale replied, thinking how he would’ve felt if it had been Austin who’d been injured. Even though they’d only known each other a short period of time, he couldn’t imagine his life without Austin.
They slipped out of their jeans and slid carefully into bed. After turning off the light, Austin lay on Dale’s left side, and Dale rolled over so his head lay on Austin’s shoulder. It felt good nestled there with Austin’s arm under him.
“You feel wonderful,” he said softly.
“You do too,” Austin replied, running his free hand carefully up Dale’s stomach and stopping at the bandages that still covered his chest. “Thank you for being here for me.”
“I don’t think I could do anything else. You mean a lot to me.”
“You mean a lot to me too.” He rested his injured arm on his hip so his fingers could reach Austin’s stomach. He played with the hair there. It felt good dancing across his fingertips.
“I hope you don’t mind me barging in here with you,” Austin said after kissing Dale’s forehead. “We hadn’t finished our talk about what we were going to do after the fair was over. Never got around to where our relationship is going. But I figured you needed someone to watch over you. I’d heard if a person needed massive physical therapy, like you do, didn’t have someone to go home to, they had to go to somewhere like a nursing home until they were better. I couldn’t let that happen.”
Dale bent up and kissed Austin. It helped stop the man from rambling. His heart fluttered as their lips met. He knew, regardless of the circumstances, he’d found where he belonged. “I love you,” he whispered as their lips parted.
Austin pressed their lips together and clung to Dale. Tears dripped from his chin onto Dale’s chest. “I love you too. God, how I love you.”
Dale’s heart warmed as the tears ran. He hadn’t meant to make Austin cry, but at least they were happy tears.
They lay there kissing as Austin’s tears slowed. “I don’t ever want to lose you. You mean so much to me.”
“We’ll sort all this out, but the important thing to me is I have you by my side,” Dale said softly. “I’ve never met a man I wanted with me forever before I met you. I only hope I can be better than some of the other men you’ve had in your life.”
“Oh trust me, you are,” Austin replied. “You are a better man than all of the other men I’ve dated combined. The important thing is we’re together.” He cupped Dale’s head and drew his lips in for another long kiss.
Dale felt so much warmth and love well up in him. He wished they could make love right then and there. But he clung to Austin, knowing they wouldn’t be apart. Austin would be his rock to cling to during the long months to get his life back. Without him, it would’ve been easy to give in to the pain, but Austin was there for him. In the future, Dale would be there when Austin needed him too. When he’d left Scarborough Faire just over a month ago, he’d been thinking of finding himself someone. Now he had.
Chapter 30
Water cascading down the hard, hairy planes of Dale’s body made it difficult for Austin to think of anything other than sex. He reminded himself they were in the shower together so he could help Dale get clean, not for some hot, wet, carnal enjoyment. The physical therapist had recommended they forgo sexual encounters for a while, but it was hard. He glanced down. He was hard. It seemed cruel of the world to bring them together only to have Dale injured so they couldn’t enjoy each other for a while.
“Do you want a hand with that?” Dale asked, focused on Austin’s hard-on.
Austin sighed and shook his head. “We’re supposed to be going easy on you for a while.”
“Easy on me, but you’re standing there raging hard, which I can understand. Being in the shower with a really hot man will do that to all of us.” As Dale talked, Austin noticed he was getting an impressive hard-on himself. “So we can’t do as much as we’d like, but that doesn’t mean we can’t relieve a little tension now and then when the need arises.” He wrapped his left hand awkwardly around his hard cock as he leaned forward to kiss Austin.
As their lips met, Austin’s heart raced. He loved that Dale made him feel so happy. That happiness had nothing to do with sex, but sex was a nice side effect. Just being with Dale made him feel good. The past week, waking up next to him every morning and going to sleep every night wrapped in his strong arms, had been the happiest week of his life. The feeling of contentment could’ve continued without a sexual release, but here Dale was, all hot and sexy even with the rough raw scar on his massive shoulder. Maybe a little release wouldn’t be a bad thing. While running his left hand over the man’s body, Austin closed his right one on Dale’s needy cock.
Dale plunged his tongue into Austin’s mouth as Austin began pumping his cock. The hot water poured down over them as he carefully ran his hand over the slick wet chest, careful not to put any pressure near Dale’s shoulder. He released his cock to force their bodies tightly together. Dale’s massive member jammed into his stomach. Austin ached to have it buried in him again but knew that would be too much. He squeezed Dale’s ass, kneading the tight muscles.
Dale moaned into his mouth. “You are so hot,” Dale whispered.
Austin grabbed Dale’s cock in both hands and began working it. The water-slick skin slid under his fingers, and he squeezed hard, enjoying the sensation of the thick veins rubbing across his hand. He was so turned on he knew he needed to keep his hands off his cock for now..
“I want this cock to cum for me,” he ordered as he picked up the pace of his jerking.
Dale kissed him again. It was a rough, lusty kiss. “Yes, sir!”
Dale began to buck as Austin worked his cock. Faster Austin jerked, feeling Dale’s cock get harder and thicker in his hand. He really marveled that his ass had been able to handle the monster, but couldn’t wait to do it again. The memory of the massive dick pushing inside him was almost enough to make him explode without touching himself, but he wanted Dale to cum first. Dale had been through so much and deserved the release.
With a quickening of breath and throbbing of cock, Dale rocked back and began to erupt. “Oh God!” he screamed as white jizz poured out of his cock, coating Austin’s stomach and hand.
Austin quickly shifted so his cock caught some of the cum and, with the white cream still spurting from Dale, began stroking his own meat. As he figured, it didn’t take long, and his balls tingled, his legs tightened. A final kiss from Dale sent him over the edge.
“Oh shit!” he shouted as his balls emptied their load all over Dale’s cock and balls. He clung to Dale as his knees weakened from the release.
They stood there for several minutes, the warm water raining down on them as their breathing returned to normal. Austin looked into Dale’s hazel eyes, which sparkled with love. He didn’t know how he’d survived without this man in his life. When they kissed, it still felt like the first time. The energy of it was so new and vibrant.
“I love you,” Dale murmured as their lips parted.
“I love you too,” Austin said, wishing he had more words to express the joy and wholeness he felt when he was with Dale. If it were possible, he would have spent his whole day singing of his love. Instead he grabbed a bar of soap and began washing off the remains of their mutual climaxes, still relishing the touch of his lover.
Chapter 31
“I need to get outside for a while,” Dale said once they finished getting dressed.
“What do you want to do?” Austin asked, straightening up from tying his shoes. “We need a few groceries.”
“No, I want to get outside for a while, I mean really outside. We could go riding for a bit.”
“What did the therapist say about that?”
“She said it was up to me. If I was sure I wouldn’t fall off the horse or get the shoulder wrenched, I could do it.” He stopped and looked at Austin. “The thing is, I’m not sure I can get a saddle up.”
Austin laughed. “I guess you’ll have to show me how to do that and make sure I get everything on tight.”
“You sure about that?”
“Sure, but where do you want to ride?”
“Max said his property backs up to the national forest. All we have to do is find the back gate.” Just talking about riding made Dale feel better. Over the past week, not even being able to hay his horses was driving him mad. Sure, Austin had stepped up and was doing the feeding under his supervision, but it wasn’t the same. And this had been the longest he’d not been in a saddle since he could remember. This would also give them the opportunity to do a bit of exploring. He loved going out and seeing new places and finding new things.
“That sounds like fun,” Austin agreed. “But if the shoulder starts hurting too much, we get you back home.”
Dale nodded. “Okay, and I’ll take a preemptive dose of painkillers before we head out.”
The warm July sun blazed down on them as they walked out to the corral. It felt better to Dale than anything he’d experienced in the past couple of weeks, other than Austin’s arms around him. It was warmer and more inviting knowing that he was going to be out in it for a while rather than just walking out to the Jeep and driving in to the therapist.
Pyre and Champion whinnied in unison as Dale and Austin strolled up to the corral. The horses were always happy to see them.
“Let’s groom them before we ride,” Dale said as he stroked Champion’s head. The big gray horse’s ears perked up at the sound of the word “groom.” He always enjoyed getting brushed.
“Okay. I’ll go get the stuff out of the trailer,” Austin said. “I seem to remember it’s all in one carrier.”
“Yep, and their halters should be right there too,” Dale replied. “You can wait to grab the saddles and stuff for a few minutes.”
When Austin returned, they caught the horses and tied them to the hitching post Max had installed near the corral. In the pasture, several of Max’s horses had come over to the fence to watch and whinny.
Dale’s shoulder hurt by the time they’d finished giving both horses a thorough grooming, but he viewed it as good pain from honest work. Austin listened as Dale instructed him on how he liked to put saddles on. Austin was easy with the horses, and they appreciated it. Dale went around and checked the cinches, making sure everything was tight. Pyre liked to hold his breath so the cinch would loosen as they rode, so they walked him around a bit before the final tightening.
Getting into the saddle was easier than Dale anticipated, but it would have been harder if he weren’t such an experienced rider. Champion looked back at him, sensing as most horses would that there was something off about his rider, but the horse just softly nose-butted his knee, then turned his attention toward the trail.
“I’ll mount after we clear the gate,” Austin said as he led Pyre toward the pasture. The other horses crowded the gate, but he pushed through and held it open until Dale and Champion cleared. Then he closed the gate, swung up on the horse, and turned toward the west.
A well-traveled trail led from the back of Max’s pasture into the forest. The tall pines closed in around them as they rode up the narrow path. The easy sway of the horse actually helped Dale feel better. His shoulder loosened as they went, and the pain he’d felt earlier vanished. It was a beautiful day to be out on his horse with his lover following them.
“This is awesome,” Austin called, breaking the quiet sound of the horses’ hooves on dried pine needles.
“I’m amazed at how different it is from where we first rode,” Dale replied. He knew Austin couldn’t see his face, but he still smiled at the thought of their first lovemaking on the banks of the lake. He would love to have a place like that to take Austin all the time.
“The foothills are a lot different from the mountains,” Austin said. “The plants are different, and they aren’t quite as rugged. Each one has its own beauty.”
“Definitely beautiful. Not sure which one I prefer.”
“Luckily, we don’t have to pick, do we?”
“I don’t know, eventually we might want to get our own place.” His heart fluttered. Am I actually talking about finding a place to settle down? “We need to poke around to decide which suits us better.”
“I’ll have to take you deeper into the mountains before we do too much talking of finding our own place. There are spots up there that will take your breath away.”
“Like you take my breath away?” Dale turned in the saddle and saw Austin blushing in the dappled sunlight. He laughed and then tried not to grimace as his shoulder complained about the movement. “We’ve got time. I want to spend a long time with my pirate.”
“And I want to spend a long time with my jouster,” Austin said.
Champion paused and his ears flicked forward. Dale knew the horse well enough to know there was something about to cross the trail. He held up his hand to signal Austin to stop, even though he knew Pyre would stop just because Champion had. Watching and listening, he caught a flash of gray in the green brush a few feet ahead of them.
The coyote trotted out onto the trail. It paused and looked up at the two men on horseback. With a yip, it disappeared into the brush on the other side. Austin and Dale sat in silence for several minutes after it vanished.
“Wow, was that a wolf?” Austin asked in a hushed tone. “I heard wolves had been sighted in Colorado, but I thought they were just up in the mountains.”
“No, that was a coyote,” Dale replied. “But a nice-looking one.
Game must be pretty good around here.”
“That’s cool,” Austin said. “How much farther do you want to go?”
Dale’s shoulder twinged as he began to answer. He sighed. “We might as well turn around. My shoulder is starting to talk to me a bit.”
“If it’s starting to hurt, we need to get back. Don’t want you to overdo it.”
Dale reined Champion around and rode up alongside Austin and Pyre. He couldn’t recall anyone, not even his own mother, mothering him the way Austin could. Somehow it didn’t feel restricting or confining in any way. It felt good. He leaned into the gap between the horses and kissed Austin. The kiss tasted a little of sweat and a little of horses, but mostly it was just Austin’s delicious taste.
“I love you,” Dale said as their lips parted.
“I love you too,” Austin replied. “What was that for?”
“Just you being you, my sexy mothering pirate.”
Chapter 32
Trumpets blared, and Austin stopped just outside the main flow of the lane for the royal parade to pass by. Propping his nearly empty pretzel pole on his shoulder, he watched as t
he main body of the Renfair cast came past him. As it was final weekend and he was feeling much better, Dale had insisted on coming to the fair. The cast had been thrilled to see him this morning. Now he rode in the royal carriage, sitting across from the king and queen. Austin couldn’t help but smile and wave as he caught Dale’s hazel eyes. Dale’s shoulder was still incredibly sore, but the past three weeks had done wonders for him. He was almost back to the man Austin had first met, weeks before the accident. With everything they’d been through—the fight with Rick, then John’s battery—it was amazing Dale was pulling through as well as he was, but he fought hard. It was one of the many things Austin loved about him.
“You guys are still coming to the party tonight?” Chipmunk asked, stopping with his pole of popcorn.
Austin turned away from the parade now that Dale had gone past. “Yeah, that’s the plan. Not sure how long we’ll be there. It depends on how Dale’s feeling.”
“Looks to me like he’s feeling fine.”
“He’s doing great, but I don’t want to overtire him. This is the first time he’s left Max’s place for an extended trip. Normally, it’s physical therapy and home. Well, we did do dinner and a movie Wednesday.” As the elephant, the final piece of the parade, ambled past, the crowd along the edge of the lane continued on their way.
“Hey, Dale’s a strong guy. Sounds like he’s making great progress.”
“Any word on what’s going on with John Bishop?”
“Weren’t you guys at the initial hearing the other day?”
Austin shook his head. “Nope, it was scheduled for the same time as a therapy session. Dale’s lawyer said it might actually go better if Dale wasn’t there since it was just a hearing to see if there was enough evidence to proceed with a trial. That way, Dale doesn’t get all upset and everything.”
“So did the lawyer tell him what happened?”
“Nope, other than it went well.”