Chapter 21
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
DEVIN
One thing I quickly learn about farm work during the harvest is that it never stops.
Zane is up early and out all day mowing, turning, and baling, returning at dusk.
Then after some food and a shower he often comes over to the barn, where we spend time exploring each other, working out what I like, how he responds to my touches.
We haven’t had sex yet, but we’ve done plenty with our mouths and hands.
He even works Sundays, coming back in time for family dinner, which I’m invited to.
It feels cozy, and again a pang of homesickness grips me.
I push it away. I’ll be leaving soon anyway.
That was the agreement. It’s my last session of the program on Friday, then I’m staying a few more days while I sort out getting my license.
I should be happy; it’s what I want. Why, then, does it feel harder to make the trip to Sacramento each week and easier to come back here?
After dinner, Zane and Clive go into the living room to talk about the hay harvest, and I stay and help Arlene clean up and wash the dishes.
“It’s good to see Zane happy for once. Thank you,” Arlene says as I stack the clean dishes on the draining rack and she dries them.
“He makes me happy too,” I say and she smiles.
“Have you thought about staying?” She drops the question casually, but it feels like a bomb.
“It’s not that simple. All I’ve ever known is trucking. Travelling and being out on the road. I don’t know what else I’d do.”
“I think you could do anything you wanted if you put your mind to it.”
“Maybe not brain surgery,” I quip and she laughs.
“Yes. Maybe not that.”
Instead of walking back to the barn straightaway, I take a route up towards the fields and look out across at the mountains, enjoying the open space and endless skies.
I love the view but I’m not sure there’s a life for me here.
A large part of that would depend on Zane.
I like him a lot, a real lot, but I don’t want to label it as anything more.
That seems like dangerous territory. And even if I could, what good would it do?
He might share his body, but everything else he keeps hidden away.
As the sunset fades and the last orange glow gives way to indigo I go to my room.
I find some slow country music that suits my mood.
It’s not that long before I hear the familiar soft knock at the door and open it to find Zane leaning against the door frame.
“I’ve been thinking about you all day.” His voice is deep and husky and makes my stomach flutter.
“What? Even while you were in your mower, cutting the hay?”
He steps into my space and kicks the door shut behind him. He’s so close I have to tip my head back to look at him. He kisses me softly.
“Especially while I was in the cab all day, all alone,” he whispers. He puts his arms round me and nuzzles into my neck, drinking me in. “I love the way you smell, like a fall breeze and licorice.”
My blood drains south and my cock fills. I grab his hips and grind myself against him, showing him how he makes me feel. I can feel he’s hard as well.
“Devin,” he murmurs against my neck. “I want you to fuck me.”
“Yes, boss,” I utter, and he moans against my skin.
I undress him slowly, peppering kisses on his skin, rubbing my thumbs over his nipples and feeling them harden under my touch.
I push him back onto the bed and then fetch some lube and a condom before I pull my clothes off.
I crawl up him, kissing his thighs, his cock, his belly, and his chest. I lick up his neck and bite his jaw, seeing his eyes go hazy as he tips his head back.
“You’re so beautiful,” I whisper, and he makes a small sound that travels down to my balls.
I work my way back down, kissing and nipping at his skin until he’s twitching and sighing every time.
He’s like a taut string and I’m going to enjoy seeing him come undone.
I lick up his cock, from shaft to tip, then swallow round the tip, tonguing into his slit until his hips buck off the bed.
“I’m gonna come if you keep doing that,” he gasps, and I hum.
That’s exactly what I want. I reach for the lube and flip the top, coating my fingers.
As I lick around the head of his cock, my fingers trace his hole.
He groans and spreads his legs, giving me more access.
I push against his pucker and slide my finger in slowly as I take his cock deeper into my mouth.
I keep up the pressure, running my tongue up and down his shaft as I thrust with my finger inside him, soon adding a second and a third.
He fists the sheets, moaning my name as his back arches.
His release comes quickly, and I swallow it all before popping off the end.
I slide my fingers out and reach for the condom.
His hair is mussed and his eyes soft as he watches me tear open the packet and roll it down, adding another coating of lube.
I push his knees up to his chest as I line up and gently nudge into him.
“I can take it,” he pants. “I want you to fill me up.”
Even so, I see his face twitch, so I go slowly until I’m fully seated.
“Wow, that feels so good,” he breathes, and I lean down to kiss him.
Then I start moving, firmly, snapping my hips, watching as he unravels with every thrust. He grabs my hips, digging his fingers in enough to bruise, but I love it.
I move faster, spurred on by his moans as he pulls me deeper, almost fusing us together.
His tight heat round my length is almost too good, and I’m not going to last long myself.
I push harder on his knees, changing the angle, and he gasps before babbling incoherently.
Then he tenses, coming hard, cum painting across his stomach.
His hole tightens around me and it pushes me over the edge.
I keep moving as wave after wave washes through me until I’m spent, then I pull out slowly, taking a minute to catch my breath.
I slide the condom off and tie it before throwing it in the bin.
Then I fetch a cloth to clean us up. He’s still lying there, the hard-edged cowboy turned to a puddle.
He grins and I capture it with my own mouth before turning off the light and climbing into bed beside him.
The music is still playing and “Islands in the Stream” begins.
“I feel like this is us. This song,” Zane says in the darkness. “It can be our song.”
I wrap my arm around him, definitely not giving a name to the deep contentment I feel being with him.
I wake and the bed is empty, but that’s not unusual as Zane is often up early and already out working as soon as it’s light enough.
Except there’s still a pre-dawn greyness to the sky.
I rise and pull on some boxers as I go to the window.
Out in the yard there are several vehicles, and in the middle an ambulance.
I pull on some clothes and hurry out. Just as I get there, they’re loading a stretcher into the back.
It’s Clive, wearing an oxygen mask. Zane is upright, tense, his jaw like steel.
“What happened?” I ask Arlene.
“He had a seizure. They’re taking him to the hospital now.”
“Will he be alright?” I ask but she just shrugs.
Of course she doesn’t know. The ambulance leaves and Zane just stands there looking after it.
I want to comfort him but I know he wouldn’t want it.
He doesn’t even look at me as he turns to his truck and climbs in.
Nova dashes out of the house and gets in the back of the truck as well.
“We’ll be back as soon as we can,” Arlene says, but I can see she’s worried and has no idea what’s going to happen. As soon as she’s in the truck, Zane drives off to follow the ambulance, and suddenly I’m left in the yard all alone.