Chapter 5
Chapter Five
In nature, nothing is perfect and yet is perfect in its imperfections
David
So Moses was Tula’s uncle. If that wasn’t formidable enough, that meant that Nanny J was the skinny-dipping water nymph’s aunt.
A man would have to either have brass balls or be ready to meet his maker to even contemplate what David himself hadn’t been able to stop considering ever since seeing Tula drop his shoe on the riverbank.
As he figured, he had two choices. The first was to pretend total ignorance of yesterday’s events and give up any hope of learning more about what made Tula tick, or take his chances, confess his voyeurism and hope for a merciful death.
When he heard the sound of shrieking followed by splashing and peals of laughter, he knew without even looking that it came from the canoe whose occupants were the camp’s Bumblebees.
Which, of course, led him down the path of how much he loved honey.
Even as he thought about one occupant in but a single canoe, he made sure to keep his head on a swivel and constantly scan the canoes in front of him as they sliced through the water.
He smiled at the varied colors spread out before him.
It looked like a rainbow had dropped from the sky to take its own swim.
The fact the rainbow was skimming over the surface in somewhat of a zig-zag pattern didn’t faze him.
After all, put Littles in a canoe and the fact none had flipped over yet was something to celebrate.
He watched as the canoe directly in front of him arced back toward him sharply enough that he had to dig his paddle into the water to guide his canoe away from the impending collision.
Served him right for celebrating while still out on the water and not safely beached.
The reason for the course change became evident as he pulled up alongside the Littles’ boat.
Blake was in front but instead of assisting by paddling, his oar was held at an angle over the water rather than dipping into it.
His companion, Payne, had his paddle in the water but it might as well have been on his lap for all the good it was doing as a rudder.
David was about to ask what was wrong when Payne lifted a finger to his lips.
It was then that David realized it wasn’t the lifted paddle that had captured both the Littles’ attention.
It was the dragonflies that were using the edge of Blake’s as a tightrope to walk along.
David grinned as facts about these two surfaced.
They were not only artists, they were the two responsible for the design that decorated the camp t-shirts.
For the logo over the front pocket, they’d cleverly incorporated the Double R and horseshoes found on the Ranch’s gates as waves in the river.
On top of those waves sat an ark filled with smiling animals.
The back of each shirt bore a caricature of various animals that matched the bracelets the campers wore on their wrists.
Bears, deer, rabbits, and bumblebees had instantly won the hearts of the Littles wearing them.
The back of his and Travis’ shirts had moose with silly grins with ridiculously exaggerated antlers.
David knew that before he called “lights out” for the evening, there would be some sketches made by the two Littles.
It would be interesting to see their different takes on one of nature’s gem-hued creatures.
Blake would be far more likely to present a drawing worthy of a page in a natural science publication whereas Payne’s would likely have those same insects dressing in haute couture to strut their stuff on the runway in the latest Parisian fashion show.
This was the moment he realized that he owed Derek Hawkins a great deal.
Though he’d never considered himself doing anything remotely like leading a bunch of campers, all it took was a glance at the rapture that filled the faces of these two attendees to make it all worthwhile.
Which turned out to be the epiphany needed to tick the final box on his pro-and-con list of what to do next.
No way was he walking away from a chance to spend more time with a certain camper wearing a yellow band on her wrist. Which only left the question of how to let Tula know his intentions.
Honorable ones?
Trust that inner David to ask the vital question.
In order to be able to come remotely close to honorable, he knew he couldn’t do anything other than emulate the example that Derek, Moses, and Nanny J gave every hour of every single day.
None of them would attempt to dodge responsibility for anything they’d done.
As the dragonflies performed a final bow before taking flight, David lifted the whistle around his neck and blew it.
Far ahead he saw Travis responding with a wave of his paddle before he used it like an arrow to point toward the beach.
“You boys are gonna need to paddle,” David said with a chuckle when he realized the canoe beside him was only moving due to the river’s current as its occupants were talking over each other in describing their future models.
“Oops.” Payne proceeded to splash David as he pushed his paddle back into the river.
“No worries, just follow the crowd,” David assured him, aiding their progress with a slight shove in the right direction.
Later that afternoon, David had blown the whistle again to signify the end of that day’s portion of their journey. After everyone’s canoe had been safely beached, David took the first opportunity available to get Tula alone. “Walk with me?” he asked.
“Sure,” Tula said and had taken but a single step before coming to a halt.
“What’s wrong?” David asked when he realized she was not beside him as he’d intended.
“Good try, but it’s going to take more than that to trap me.”
Before he had a chance to ask what she meant, she’d turned and called, “Sadie, Wren, if you don’t want your butts smacked, you’re going for a walk.”
“Coming!” Wren called while Sadie just grinned and slapped Wren’s hand as she walked by to join Tula.
As much as David wanted to assure both of them that he’d let them off the hook for not staying with their camp buddy, he could tell by that high-five that Tula’s teammates would not return the favor.
If he’d learned anything in his profession as an EMT, it was to be flexible and quick on his feet.
“Great, the more hands, the quicker we’ll finish.
We’re looking for thin sticks, long but rigid. ”
“Did my Daddy put you up to this?” Wren asked as she fisted her hands on her hips.
“What? No, of course not, why would you even ask that?” David was at a loss as to how she’d jumped to that conclusion.
“I think she’s wondering why you’re asking Littles to gather their own switches,” Sadie clarified which had Wren nodding and Tula looking between Sadie and David before she smiled.
“I think he means ones we can use to roast weenies and marshmallows tonight since hotdogs are on the supper menu, right, Master David?”
The words that caught his attention came at the very end of that sentence.
Hearing “Master David” wasn’t new, but hearing the honorific from Tula had his blood heating.
His eyes focused on her lips as they curled into the most captivating smile he’d ever seen.
Would those lips be as soft and pliant beneath his as he thought?
Giggles broke him out of fantasy land just in time before he pulled Tula to him to seek the answer to his question.
“Menu? Oh, right, yes, the Deer are going to need them to prep supper. Hence the requirement for rigidity. Setting a marshmallow on fire is one thing. Having its weight cause it to land in one assures you’ll be eating nothing but unmelted chocolate with your graham cracker.
” Rather pleased at his recovery, he pinned Sadie with a glance.
“Believe me, if I feel the need to cut a switch to stripe a naughty Little’s backside, it’s going to be nice and flexible so that it molds perfectly around a chubby little ass cheek. ”
Given the fact that Sadie just turned her head over her shoulder to look down at her butt he knew she wasn’t the least bit fazed by his warning.
“That sounds about right.” Grinning like a loon, she linked arms with her friends and the trio walked ahead of him.
Seriously? What did you expect? That Little has been testing Derek Hawkins for years. You, my friend, are nothing but an amateur Daddy wannabe.
Honesty might be the best policy, but damn.
Just because he’d yet to step up and claim his forever Little didn’t mean he hadn’t been thinking about it for years.
Well aware that the first impression people had of him usually involved surfing or bumming around a beach, he’d never felt the need to correct those who were so short-sighted they didn’t bother to discover the man beneath the Hawaiian shirts he favored.
Luckily, once he’d arrived in Montana, he’d learned that those type of people weren’t the kind drawn to Rawhide Ranch.
Here, people were far more interested in inclusion than exclusion.
There were no cookie-cutter relationships when it came to dynamics involving kink which just made the thought of a relationship with Tallulah far more important than any other he’d ever had.
Deciding to make the best out of the situation, David followed and was soon being loaded down with perfect “non-switch” sticks.
“I think that’s enough for tonight.” He might be conceding the first round to the girls, but that didn’t mean he was waving any white flag quite yet.
Especially not when Tula placed the last one in his arms and said, “Thanks for carrying all these.
In return, how about I fix your first s'more tonight, Master David? How do you like your marshmallows?”
“Hot, soft, and very, very gooey.”
Her eyes widened and her lips curled. “You’re a man after my own heart.”
His cock twitched. “How about we share?”
“I’d like that,” she said softly.
“Then it’s a date, little girl.” At the sight of her pupils dilating slightly, he decided that the round was more of a tie after all.