Prologue #8
I turned my head to the side, sucking in a lungful of air. “It’s too feckin’ good,” I gasped.
Eoghan pressed down on my harder still, pinning me to the bed beneath him as his thrusts became faster and rougher. “Aye, c’mon then, lovely boy. Let’s see what y’got f’me,” he panted, breathless from exertion. “Ya a dirty wee lad? Gonna come with me dick in y’arse, now?”
His words should have sickened me, should have scalded me, and yet shamelessly I felt my body tightening up, my second orgasm of the night ripping through me.
There was nothing I could do to hold it back and I groaned, long and low, as I came harder than I had ever done in my entire life.
Moments later, still reeling, Eoghan finally joined me.
“Yes,” he hissed, slowing his thrusts as he savoured the pleasure. “Feck, yes, that’s it.”
I was soaked with sweat and shaking like a leaf.
I fought to regain my breath, shuddering as Eoghan eased his cock out of me and rolled over to lay beside me.
After removing the condom, knotting it, and dropping it to the floor at the side of the bed, he looked at me.
Our eyes met and he grinned. I was helpless not to mirror it.
I swallowed, throat scratchy and mouth dry. “What’s a fella gotta do t’ get a wee drink o’ water around here, like?”
Eoghan chuckled and sat up, groaning as he stretched out his back. The light of the fridge lit up the caravan and by the time I’d pushed myself upright on shaking arms, a water bottle was thrust beneath my nose.
“Here y’are. Drink up, now. Y’got a lotta fluids to replace, aye?”
This time I laughed aloud, cheeks heating. “Ah, feck off, now.”
I busied myself with opening the bottle, greedily draining half of the water inside before offering it to Eoghan. He took it, tipping it back.
“Tell me,” he said, shuffling back onto the bed and fluffing the pillows as he lay down. “Does ya mate know about all this? Y’likin’ the fellas an’ that?”
I immediately grew tense and shook my head. “Nah, an’ ya’d be sayin’ nothin’ ‘bout it neither if ya know what’s good f’ya, like.”
Eoghan laughed, holding up his palms in surrender. “Won’t be breathin’ a word. It’s not somethin’ I go around advertisin’ meself, neither. Y’know how folk can be.”
Hearing that Eoghan was keen to keep our attraction to one another under wraps was a relief.
I sat on the bed, feeling stiff and awkward now the haze of my pleasure had worn off.
That familiar creeping sensation crawled over my skin, the shame I fought so hard to ignore rearing its ugly head.
My discomfort must have been evident and Eoghan cleared his throat.
“Y’welcome t’ stay the night, like, but I’d not be offended if ya need t’ get goin’.”
He was giving me an out, an excuse to leave if I wanted to. It was strange, but as soon as I knew I could escape, I suddenly didn’t want to.
“Nah, I’d stay a wee while longer, aye? Maybe not the night, like, but I can hang about a bit. Safe t’ say Declan won’t be missin’ me.”
Eoghan chuckled. “Right enough. Y’wanna a wee smoke? I don’t like t’ make a habit outta doin’ it inside, now, but I’ll make an exception here. It’s baltic out there.”
“I got somethin’ better, now,” I murmured, getting up off the bed and snatching my jacket from the floor.
Inside one of the pockets was a joint I’d rolled earlier that afternoon.
I’d just been getting around to smoking it when Eoghan had shown up.
I held it out to him and he grinned, taking it eagerly.
“Ah, now isn’t that a nice wee surprise.”
“Can get ya more than that, if ya interested, like,” I replied.
Eoghan’s brows shot up. “Oh, aye? Y’inta all that are ya, lovely boy?”
I shrugged, brazening out how his pet name made my pulse quicken. “Used t’ be, aye. Wouldn’t take much t’ get back inta the trade.”
“I’ll remember that.”
I joined Eoghan back on the bed, watching him light the tip of the joint before sucking in a deep lungful. Holding his breath, he passed it to me, and I did the same.
“Feck, that’s nice,” he groaned through a cloud of smoke.
“Aye, I don’t feck about with the skunky shite, now,” I replied.
We passed the joint back and forth, chatting easily.
I was surprised by how comfortable I felt here with Eoghan.
I was still bollock naked, and so was he, and yet I barely noticed.
I’d always imagined I’d be full of regret and rage, ashamed of myself for what I had done…
but I wasn’t, and perhaps that was the most troubling thing of all.
I’d loved every second and it just served as a final nail into what I’d always suspected of myself.
Eoghan and I stayed up all night. When the sun began to glow on the horizon, I dragged myself up out of the bed and got dressed.
“Y’wanna do this again sometime, now?” Eoghan asked, stepping into a pair of jogging bottoms.
“Aye, that’d be grand.”
“Ya boy there seems to be ‘busy’ most nights, aye?”
I laughed. “Declan’s a feckin’ horny bastard, f’sure.”
“Well, whenever he’s distracted, y’come a’knock me. I’ll keep ya entertained.”
I smirked. “I bet ya will, like.”
Eoghan and I gazed at one another for a long moment and without another word, I hopped down from the steps and slipped my trainers on. Eoghan watched me leave from the doorway of his caravan and I shoved my hands into my pockets, breaking out into a jog as I made my way back to my gaff.
Just as I arrived, the door opened. Both me and the girl making a hasty exit startled, not expecting to see one another. She smiled sheepishly, scurrying down the steps in last night’s dress.
“Mornin’,” I muttered, standing aside before climbing inside the caravan.
“Ah, is it not yourself,” Declan called to me. “Where the feck did ya get t’ last night?”
I shrugged. “Slept in the van, like. Couldn’t take another night o’ listenin’ t’ ya bumpin’ an’ moanin’ like a wee bitch, now.”
Declan scoffed. “Ain’t me makin’ the noise, like, but fair. Musta been freezin’ out there all night, fella.”
I scratched the back of my head, feeling guilty for lying to my best mate. There wasn’t much I didn’t tell Declan – he’d seen me at some of my lowest points in life, but this? This was one secret I was determined to keep.
“Aye, well, I survived.” I shrugged. “Seein’ as y’up early, y’fancy a cheeky Maccies breakfast? I’d a joint or two last night an’ I’m feckin’ starvin’.”
Declan’s face lit up. “Aye, grab y’keys.”
Declan and I stayed at the camp for about five months all told, and they were some of the happiest of my life.
Eoghan and I managed to keep our relationship secret, sneaking around and fucking each other like wee rabbits.
Once the cork had been popped, there was no replacing it and I swiftly embraced everything Eoghan had to show me.
We switched it up – sometimes he’d fuck me, and others I’d fuck him.
I learnt what I liked and what I didn’t, discovered what I was good at…
It was a crash course I’d sorely needed.
It wasn’t to last though. Eventually, Declan and I finished up our landscaping gig and my mate was pushing to move on. The wee geebag he’d been riding was starting to get some ideas about settling down and Declan was itching to get back on the road to escape her.
Eoghan and I were nothing official, but the last night I’d spent with him had been strangely emotional – for both of us.
I was heartened to know that I wasn’t alone in feeling sad to be parting ways.
What we’d had was raw and real. I was going to miss Eoghan, and I knew he was going to miss me, too.
I had his number and he had mine. Having a way to contact one another softened the blow, but in our heart of hearts we both knew what we had between us was over.
Declan and I left the camp in the rearview and headed on to pastures new.
Though I left Eoghan behind, the confidence he’d instilled in me remained.
He’d set me on this path and for that I would be forever grateful.
When Declan suggested we hop on a ferry and head over into England, I agreed. We travelled around, just as we always did – spending a week or two hitched up before moving on, picking up odd jobs where we saw opportunity.
The end of May brought with it glorious sunshine and a baking heatwave.
We hadn’t had a summer so grand since I’d been a wain and my mind was flooded with memories of Appleby – swimming in the river, watching the horses being washed, strawberry ice cream in a cone…
Declan and I were already up North. An hour or two’s drive and we’d be there.
I was nervous to suggest my plan to Declan, but it was received eagerly and for the first time in years, we set off for the horse fair.
It was just as good as I remembered it being, if not better. Every year the fair seemed to expand, with more stalls popping up, more horses, and of course, more travellers. We picked a new hitching site, keen not to use the one my da had always insisted on.
True to form, we’d only been in town an hour or two before Declan had set his sights on a girl.
Her name was Pearl, and like us, she was in Appleby for the fair, but for an entirely different reason.
Her family were fair folk, owning and operating a large fairground business.
Pearl was the feisty sort and to say she gave Declan a run for his money was an understatement.
I knew my mate, he loved the chase and when Pearl resisted him, he’d pursued her even harder.
She gave in eventually though – they always did.
That weekend had been a belter. Declan and I had drunk and partied harder than we ever had and by the time it was over, we were both in bits.
Whilst Declan was saying goodbye to Pearl, I got to work hitching up the caravan, hungover and trying not to chuck up my ringpiece. I’d barely even noticed a woman approaching until she was stood right over me.
“Feck!” I gasped. “Y’scared the shite outta me! What is it y’wantin’?”