Read Kate Sherwood - Dark Horse 1.1 - Sometimes You Just Know Online
Authors: Kate Sherwood
Kate Sherwood - Dark Horse 1.1 - Sometimes You Just Know (10 page)
"And you'd better get used to my way, man, 'cause I think I'm going to be doing that a lot. As much as you'll let me." He steps back then, but doesn't turn around, just shuffles backwards towards his horse as he watches Dan.
Dan looks at Justin like he's a whole new species, but then he looks down at the ground, and when he looks back up he's smiling shyly. "Yeah, okay. I guess that'd be okay."
Justin knows that he's grinning like a lunatic, but he doesn't worry about it too much. Dan seems to like him when he's being a loser.
They lead the horses outside and mount up. Dan had a helmet in his car, and Justin's happy that he just puts it on, without acting like it's a big deal. The helmets might not fit the romantic cowboy ideal, but they do a pretty good job of protecting their wearers' brains. Eventing is dangerous enough even with the protective equipment, and Justin doesn't like to see people taking stupid risks.
Justin's already given Dan the run down on his horse; he's trained as an eventer, but he really doesn't have the drive for cross country, so he's for sale. He'll be a solid first eventer for somebody, but he's never going to be much of a competitor. In the meantime, he's got no serious vices, and he'll be a good hack for Dan to get to know the terrain on. Dan didn't object, but Justin's wondering if he should have given the guy a more challenging horse, something with a bit more fire. But Justin wants to be sure he doesn't jeopardize the training of one of their competitive horses just because he's trying to impress a guy he's got a crush on.
They ride out of the stable yard and Justin closes the gate behind them, and then they're riding side by side towards the back of the farm. Bailey gets turned out with Titan, another reason Justin thought he'd be a good horse for Dan to ride; they can get close to each other without worrying about the horses getting snippy. And Justin really doesn't want anything getting in the way of being close to Dan.
They head for the back of the property, first at a walk, then trotting for a bit, and finally at an easy canter. There are jumps set up along one side of the trail, but it's easy to go around them and stay on the flat. Justin
does that for the first couple, then looks over at Dan. The guy looks totally at home in the saddle, and Justin calls over to him, "I'm going to do the jumps—you can too, if you want."
Dan nods, and as they approach the next jump Dan slows his horse and falls in behind Justin, a few paces back, and after Justin clears the jump he turns and sees Dan pop over it easily. It actually… it actually looked a bit too easy, as if Dan wasn't having to work all that hard to get Bailey to work. For the next jump, it's Justin who slows and Dan rides ahead, and Justin can see the whole thing from a different angle, and damned if Bailey isn't taking the jumps with more enthusiasm than Justin's ever seen out of him. He actually seems to be enjoying himself.
Somehow this has changed from a simple country hack to a training ride, and Justin gestures for Dan to slow down a little, then trots up beside him. "Do you mind if we do a few more jumps? The way to the hill is over there, but I want to see him jump with a little more speed, see if he's still happy…."
Dan nods like it's not a big deal, so Justin continues. "Set your pace to mine, but I'll go along the flat while you take him over the jumps, okay?" Dan nods again. Justin hopes this is fair, hopes he isn't taking advantage of Dan's day off to make him do work. "Or we don't have to, if you'd rather just go up the hill…."
Dan laughs a little. "No, it's fine. It's fun—he's better than I usually get to ride, for sure. I'm good."
Justin nods, and they start off again, this time building up more speed between the jumps. Dan's got great timing, slowing Bailey just enough to get the strides right and to get the necessary height, and damned if Bailey isn't still jumping better than Justin's ever seen him. The horse's technique has always been good, he's just lacked enthusiasm, but today, with Dan on him, he looks like he's having a great time.
They finish the run and Justin brings Titan down to a walk, and Dan falls in beside him. Bailey is lathered a bit, clearly been working, but he's still prancing around, acting as if he'd like to do more. Dan is sweaty and a
little out of breath too, and Justin has to school himself to not think of other activities that might have Dan looking that way. "That was great, man. He really seemed to have fun."
Dan nods and slaps the horse's sweaty neck. "Yeah, we both did. Thanks."
"No, thank
you
. We pay exercise riders to do a lot less good than you just did."
"Oh. Okay, then, I'll send you my bill." Dan grins and lets Bailey dance a few steps ahead. Titan catches up easily, and they ride side by side back towards the hill. When they get to the woods, the path narrows, and Dan falls back so they can ride single file. Justin doesn't really like it, not being able to see Dan. He's not afraid that Dan will take off, exactly—the guy seems much too deferential about the horse to remove himself from Justin's sphere of authority while they're riding. It's more that he thinks… well, not thinks, he doesn't
think
that Dan's going to just vanish, to end up being a hallucination of the perfect man… Justin makes himself stop thinking in those terms. It's both insane
and
pathetic—not a great combination.
And when they get clear of the trees, the path widens, and Dan rides up beside him again, so Justin had no reason to worry. All the same, it's good to be able to keep him in view.
They get to the top of the hill and Justin takes a moment to appreciate the view. It's not the Grand Canyon or the Pyramids or anything, but it's
home
, and that makes it resonate more powerfully than any other place. There are so many memories up here, it's almost like Justin can see friendly little ghosts of his past selves: one's scrambling up the hill with Chris, racing to the top while their horses graze placidly nearby; another ghost is sitting over under that tree, fighting a losing battle against being attracted to a boy instead of a girl; and there's another ghost, from only a few months later, making out with the boy in question, guilt overridden by need and teenage hormones. The hill has been Justin's playground and his refuge, and he's suddenly a bit tentative about showing
it to Dan, worried that the other man might not realize how special it is.
Dan's looking around quietly, but when he senses Justin watching him, he smiles. "Do you ever—" He breaks off, looking like he regrets having started, but then he forces himself to continue. "Do you ever, when you see a place like this… sometimes I kind of get flashed back in time, or something… and I can see it—well, imagine it, or whatever—before people came, before the city was over there, or even your farm. Just trees, and some clearings, and animals…." Dan stops and looks away. "Crazy, right?"
Justin slings a leg over Titan's back and jumps to the ground. He keeps a hand on the end of the horse's reins, but lets him lower his head to graze; it's a bad habit, but Justin doesn't care right now. He takes the few steps to Dan's side and stretches up, then pulls at Dan's hand until he can catch his arm, pulls at that until Dan bends almost in two and Justin can bring their mouths together. He makes the kiss soft again, and this time Dan doesn't push forward, although that may have more to do with Dan's awkward position on the horse than with him actually developing any sense of restraint. When they break apart, Justin keeps his face so close that his eyes can barely focus, and Dan just sits still for a moment, and then whispers, "hi?"
Justin nods. "Hi. And, no, not crazy." He sneaks another quick kiss, then gives Dan a gentle shove back to upright. "Sorry. You're going to break your back."
Dan shakes his head. "No, I was fine." And he proves it, bending down again and reaching an arm out, catching Justin behind the neck and pulling him in, and apparently the awkward position wasn't what was holding him back, because he manages to make the kiss pretty damn intense even while bent in two.
Justin feels his body responding and pulls back with a groan. "Jesus, Dan, either stop doing that or get your ass off the damn horse and do it right."
pretty well." He keeps his eyes locked on Justin's as he slides down off the horse and brings the long line of his body up against Justin's.
Justin groans again. "You're doing even better now." Some distant part of Justin's brain tries to remind him of something about taking things easy, going slow, but Justin is able to ignore it pretty effectively. He wants Dan, wants him naked and horizontal and going slow was a stupid idea anyway. He glances at the two horses grazing quietly and then back at Dan, stealing kisses every few words. "Let's just tie their reins and let them graze for a bit. They're both tired, they won't go far."
Dan looks doubtful. "What if something spooks them, or if they head for home?"
"We're still inside the farm's fence, so they'll be fine." He makes his kiss as persuasive as possible, and can feel Dan's body molding to his.
"What if somebody comes up here?" Dan's voice is a little gaspy, and Justin's pretty sure he's won the argument. "You said they ride horses on the hill…." Justin grinds in with his thigh and Dan's last word trails off in a moan.
"We're good. No exercise riders on Sunday. And my parents hardly ever come up here." Justin has to break away from Dan in order to tie a knot in Titan's reins, enough so that the reins won't fall over his head and get stepped on. He lets the horse go then, and reaches behind Dan and does the same to Bailey. Dan's watching him, and when Justin's done he turns back to Dan and takes advantage of having both hands free.
For all their fumblings, they haven't really spent much time with their clothes off, and Justin really wants to change that situation. Again, he doesn't have wine and roses, there's no big romantic scene. But the sun is warm, the grass is soft, and it's not like he and Dan really need any external help in order to want each other.
Dan seems to be on the same page as Justin, reaching out and tugging at his shirt, and Justin eagerly lifts his arms and lets Dan pull the fabric up and over. Dan's mouth is on Justin's skin as soon as it's exposed, warm and wet, exploring, and Justin can't decide if he wants to rush things
along or just keep doing this all day. Dan decides for him, opening Justin's fly and slipping his pants and underwear down together. Dan kneels to pull the clothes all the way down, but he doesn't stand up, instead cutting his eyes slyly towards Justin and then nuzzling his mouth in to Justin’s groin.
It feels incredible, of course, but Justin's had this, and now he wants more. He wants Dan to have more. He reaches down and pulls Dan up, and he comes willingly. Justin doesn't know whether to be thankful for Dan's tractability or worried about it, but he puts it from his mind for now, just focuses on the task at hand. He pulls Dan's shirt over his head and kisses him as he brings their chests together, and the skin-on-skin contact, the warm softness covering the strength of Dan's muscles… it's perfect. Dan's moving, rippling against him, and Justin wants more, impatiently working at Dan's fly and then shoving his pants down. Dan toes them off, and finally they're both naked together. Justin doesn't know what to do first, to look or to taste or to touch. He settles for a weird combination of all three, and he knows he's fumbling, but he can't help himself and Dan doesn't seem to care.
Finally he pulls back, trying to refocus. This is too special for him to be acting like an inexperienced school boy. Dan looks at him questioningly, and Justin nods to the ground. "Can we lie down? I want…." Justin doesn't finish, doesn't know how to put all that he wants into words, but Dan just lowers himself to the grass, sitting with his arms around his knees and waiting for Justin to join him.
Justin doesn't waste any time, falling to his knees and leaning over Dan. He feels Dan stretch out under him as Justin lowers himself, and they end up with Dan lying on his back, Justin lying half on him, half beside him. "I didn't bring…." Justin laughs huskily. "I've got to get it figured out, if we're going slow or going for it, because I didn't bring anything."
Sometimes You Just Know | Kate Sherwood
side and wraps his own around them from the other, and Justin's hips buck at the sensation. Dan smiles and rubs their hands up over the heads and then back down, sliding a little more smoothly with the precome.
Justin wants to take his time, and savor every moment, but Dan is too much to resist. He's moving against Justin, hips rolling, hands roaming, and his skin is burning hot, beautifully flushed along his neck and chest, and he smells like musk and sweat and a little bit like horses. And his mouth, nipping teeth followed by soft lips and darting tongue, bites and kisses, pain and pleasure. It all blurs together until Justin's whole body is on fire, and he's thrusting into their joined hands, his face buried in Dan's neck. Between kisses, Dan is murmuring words of encouragement, and then his voice catches and turns into jagged gasps, and he starts thrusting too, his head thrown back, and it's the feel of Dan's body spasming, Dan's come on his hand, that pushes Justin over the edge.
Justin falls forward over Dan and stays there until he realizes that it can't be too comfortable for the other man, although Dan hasn't complained. He rolls his weight off a little, keeping himself snugged in to Dan's side. As soon as the weight is shifted, though, Dan is easing away, and Justin throws out an arm in groggy protest, reaching across Dan's chest to pull his body back in. They're still touching pretty tightly, so Justin can feel it when every muscle in Dan's body tenses, and can hear his startled inhalation.