Chapter Seven
INTO THE WOODS
or
Not a Very Smooth Seduction
I GAZED AT the crowd on the front lawn of the main house before descending from the porch and stepping onto the grass of the lawn. Adam waved me over to where he stood beside Kamal at the large grill, conversing in the evening light.
I walked over, scanning the group of gathered people but not seeing the one man I was actually looking for.
“Oliver! Glad you made it down for supper today,” Adam said. He held a Mad Tom IPA from the Muskoka Brewing Company in his hand and took a swig while Kamal flipped a burger on the grill.
“You are multitalented, Kamal,” I said, grinning.
Kamal winked. “I don’t just jerk off ponyboys, you know.”
God, I felt like I’d known these people for weeks already, and I’d only been on the ranch a couple of days. Someone bumped my elbow and I gazed down into Liv’s smiling face.
“Howdy, Oliver. Want a beer?” She held an IPA out to me.
“Sure. Thanks,” I said, taking it and tipping it to my lips. The cold amber liquid quenched the edges of my thirst.
“How’s the photography going? Think you’ve got enough subject matter to keep you busy for a while?”
I laughed, waggling my eyebrows. “Oh yeah. I’ve only tapped the surface of this place.”
“But what a surface!”
Adam spoke up. “I can attest that the money we’re paying Mr. Lambert is well worth what we’re getting.”
I’d forwarded Adam a few of the initial shots, and he’d seemed very happy with them.
Beforehand, I had gone over all the captures, and I was excited to select the very best, make minor adjustments, and pretty them up with filters.
But I’d kept the images as raw as possible to maintain the authenticity of the ranch and give viewers the feeling they were seeing something real.
“Thank you,” I said, tipping my beer in his direction like a salute.
“My ponyboy seemed to enjoy your visit to the paddock,” Kamal said, turning hot dogs with a pair of tongs.
I frowned. “Really? He looked like he wanted to drive a stake through my heart.”
Except for at the end, when Kamal had left us alone and Puck had pressed his cheek against my lips when I’d kissed him. Or had I only imagined it?
Kamal rolled his eyes. “Some of these ponyboys speak a different ‘love language,’ that’s all.”
I blushed. “Oh,” I said, while Adam chuckled.
“‘Love language’ or ‘sex slang’? Maybe ‘sex slang’ is a better term, Kamal,” Adam said.
“Yeah. Anyway, I think he likes you, Oliver.” He waved his tongs at me and smirked.
“Well, I…don’t know what to say about that.”
Adam put a hand on my back. “Just remember what I said.”
He exchanged a glance with Kamal, who rolled his eyes.
I nodded. “Sure.”
I cleared my throat and redirected the conversation away from me.
“Don’t you have kitchen staff?” I asked, gesturing around at the cafeteria workers who were bringing out bags of buns and paper plates.
“Yes, but some of us like to grill,” Kamal said, “After a day of wrangling recalcitrant ponyboys, I like to handle easier meat.”
Liv howled with laughter while Adam chuckled.
“Nice,” I said.
Kamal held his free hand up for a high five, and I delivered it.
Lorraine joined us, a beer in hand and Teagan at her elbow. The young man looked good in his denim shorts and short-sleeved button-down and followed Lorraine like an eager puppy. He glanced at us, but his gaze returned to Lorraine as if he didn’t want to be distracted.
“You just like meat, Kamal. Any meat,” Lorraine commented in her silky voice as she lifted the bottle to her smiling lips.
“Guilty.”
We chatted good-naturedly until supper was laid out on the buffet table.
As I was squirting ketchup onto my burger, someone bumped my elbow.
A good Canadian, I immediately said “Sorry” and moved, even as my ketchup landed on the edge of my bun and dripped onto the plate.
“You overshot.”
I turned my head to see Puck standing right beside me.
He looked delicious as usual, wearing jeans with holes in the knees, pink Docs, and a blue Twenty-One Pilots T-shirt. My heart started going a mile-a-minute as he reached out a finger to scoop some of the red condiment from my plate and then met my gaze as he sucked the digit into his mouth.
Sudden heat rose in my face as we regarded each other. I managed to scrape out “That was your fault” as my body went onto high alert.
He grinned and winked, as his tongue emerged and slid across his bottom lip, over the silver ring there. “Not the first time.”
Now I was standing in front of the buffet table with an erection, as more people gathered to load up and grab napkins and utensils.
Puck chuckled and moved along to load his plate, leaving me wondering what to do. I took some of the potato salad, feeling awkward and blindsided. I wanted to leave the ball in his court. I wasn’t going to follow him around like a love-struck teenager, even if that was how I was starting to feel.
I needed to chill. My mind was spinning. Puck had actually approached me. And had—flirted with me?
Adam waved me over to his table, and I headed there, where Liv, Adrian, Kamal, and Lorraine had joined him as well.
“You must be hungry,” Lorraine said, gesturing at my plate which I’d filled with samplings from most of the food on offer. It was the first substantial meal I’d eaten at the ranch, since I’d been so busy and preoccupied.
“Starved. I’ve been on the go since early this morning,” I said, glancing around and finding a familiar pair of eyes on me again.
Puck sat with three other ponyboys, but he stared at me. When I met his gaze, he narrowed his eyes but held mine, while I recalled our chance meeting at the bunkhouse that morning with a full body thrill.
“You must have a lot of pictures by now,” Liv commented. “I’m hyped to see some.”
I nodded, tearing my gaze from Puck and smiling at Liv. “Good.”
“I imagine we should have some sort of a slide show once the session is nearing its end,” Adam suggested.
“Adam, I can’t wait that long,” Lorraine whined.
“I suppose it might motivate the ponyboys to perform if we show them some of the images sooner than that,” Adam agreed.
“Good idea,” Kamal murmured, observing me closely. He must have caught Puck watching me.
I engaged in pleasant conversation with my tablemates and was grateful for such a comfortable welcome to what was probably the kinkiest fetish ranch this side of the American border.
I glanced up to look for Puck every now and then, but he seemed to have disappeared. I tried to concentrate on the topics of conversation at the table and enjoy the delicious meal.
Eventually, supper was cleared away and various dessert options, as well as carafes of coffee and tea, were placed on the buffet table.
“You’d better get dessert if you want any, Oliver,” Lorraine suggested. “It tends to disappear rather quickly.”
“Good idea,” I said, standing and taking my dinner plate to the recycle bin. I grabbed a dessert plate and approached the rectangular table. As I reached for a fudge brownie, a hand slipped in front of mine and grabbed the one I’d been going for.
My gaze tracked Puck’s slim fingers as they lifted the brownie to his parted lips and pushed it inside.
He chewed, with a slow grin, watching me as he devoured the dessert with astonishing efficiency.
Transfixed by the motions of his jaw and throat, I barely noticed as he reached for another, larger square and dumped it onto my plate.
He leaned close and said, “You want something even tastier in your mouth? Meet me at the bunkhouse tomorrow morning, seven sharp.”
I blinked as the blood in my body headed immediately downwards. “Okay.”
Puck cocked his head. “You better be there. If I get up that early for nothing—”
“I’ll be there.”
He saluted me and then he was gone, striding over to the group of ponyboys gathered several metres away.
I stared after him, but he didn’t make eye contact again. He joined in their conversation and effectively ignored me. I grabbed another brownie off the serving platter and added it to my plate—if I wasn’t going to have my carnal hunger quenched until morning, I needed more chocolate.
*
I FELL ASLEEP as soon as my head hit the pillow but woke only a few hours later and tossed and turned for the rest of the night.
Images of Puck in the paddock and how he had looked first thing in the morning, sleep-tousled and soft-eyed, appeared whenever I closed my eyes.
I gave up at five and got up to shower and then went downstairs for something to do.
The main floor of the house was quiet, so I used the kettle in the cafeteria to make a cup of instant coffee and took it, and a breakfast bar and banana, into the front room.
I stood at the expansive window gazing at the BCR grounds as the sky lightened, enjoying the peace and quiet as I swallowed my emergency caffeine.
I planned to enjoy a cup of the better stuff once the staff had made it for the morning meal.
Seven o’clock seemed an eternity from the present moment and by six thirty I had become so agitated I couldn’t keep still.
I worried that someone would come downstairs and I’d have to explain why I was getting such an early start.
With my Nikon strapped around my neck, I could use the old photography excuse, but I imagined I might nevertheless look suspicious, especially if Puck’s subtle stalking of me at supper the previous evening had been noticed.
I managed to wait until six forty-five before heading out.
The ranch was so tranquil at this time of day. It soothed my soul if not my agitated heart and body. I didn’t know what to expect from my meet-up with Puck, although he had alluded to something tasty. I couldn’t dwell on what that could possibly mean, or I’d combust from excitement.
I’d dressed in a pair of faded denim shorts, Bermuda-length with frayed edges, my white chucks, and a worn Bowie T-shirt.