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.

The bunkhouse sat quiet at the edge of the trees, although I could hear the muffled sounds of movement from inside when I got close. The morning shift of ponyboys would be preparing to head to the grooming barn.

There was no sign of him, so I wandered around photographing the grasses, trees and foraging wildlife while I waited and my gut swirled with anticipation. I only hoped he remembered our plan, or that it hadn’t all been a silly prank.

A latch clicked, bringing me out of my head. I lowered my camera and turned to see Puck slip out the door, raising his hand to shield his eyes from the bright morning light.

Thank God.

“Good morning, Sunshine,” I said, throwing him a relieved smile.

He grunted and yawned, then jerked his head in the direction of the trees. “Come on.”

I lifted the camera from my neck and followed him, gaze drifting over his slender form in faded skinny jeans rolled at the hem, slip-on purple Vans and a bubble-gum pink T-shirt. He looked fucking delectable. He checked behind him to make sure I was following and looked me over, giving me a one-sided grin before facing forward again without another word.

“Where are we going?” I asked, keeping the volume of my voice low in the hushed dawn although there wasn’t anyone else around.

“Into the woods, and through the trees.”

I recognized the quote from the Disney musical, even though he hadn’t sung it. If he had, I would have had confirmation he was a magical sprite come to tempt me.

“All right?” he asked, angling sideways and extending his hand without slowing down.

“Yeah.”

I laced my fingers in his, and he pulled me along, until we were winding through the forest on a narrow, leaf-covered path that was barely there.

I had expected him to be grumpy since that’s pretty much how he had interacted with me so far. Which didn’t bother me. He could be irritated with me as long as, deep down, he wanted me with him.

Maybe he knew by now I was on his side.

Once we’d reached the thick of the forest, Puck dipped under the branches of an oak tree, grabbed my T-shirt in his fist and pulled me so hard my body slammed against his. Our faces were inches apart. He held my gaze with an intensity that almost vibrated the slight bit of air between us as his chest moved up and down, his breaths matching my own.

“Fuck, I need you to kiss me,” he said, that torrid gaze burning into me and setting my heart aflame.

I didn’t answer, instead taking a moment to hang my camera on its strap over a nearby branch. Then I brought my hand up to cup his chin and angle his face as I took his mouth with mine.

Puck groaned and tilted his head, opening up to me. We were all testing lips and tentative tongues for a moment until he grabbed the back of my head and pulled me in.

I caged his body against the tree trunk and rubbed up against him, feeling his arousal and pressing mine into him. He grunted and hissed like a wild thing, holding me tight and letting me plunder his mouth. His frantic heat enveloped me as we rode a current of mutual desire.

He tasted of fresh mint and smelled like sun-warmed bedsheets, and I inhaled him like a fine vintage, grabbing at his mouth with mine and shoving my tongue inside. He panted and groaned like he wanted me just as much, and I could barely believe it. His grip on my shirt tightened as he held me against him. I could have stayed there for hours.

We had to come up for air. While we caught our breath, I peppered his chin and throat with tiny kisses. I’m not sure how many times he said my name before I heard him over the pounding of my heart.

“Oliver…”

“God…what?”

“I need you.”

“I need you too. What do you want?”

He pulled my face down to his again and kissed me, slower this time, with a grin. “I brought lube.”

Oh, Jesus. He wanted—that? Here? In the woods?

I stopped kissing him and pulled back to gaze down at his hooded, sex-starved gaze.

“Jesus. I don’t have a condom.”

“I brought that too.”

I stared at him, my dick throbbing but my brain hesitating. “Wait. Really?”

“Yeah.”

I gazed around us at the trees and the rough ground. The cool breeze did little to quench the fire inside me, but I felt cautious.

“Well…we just…I mean…” I stalled. My trembling fingers strayed to the front of his jeans almost of their own volition.

“You don’t want to?” he asked, nipping at my chin and darting his tongue out to lick, while he thrust himself against my hand.

“Of course, I do. But maybe not yet. How about I suck you off instead?”

“Not yet?” he said in a small voice, as if he were worried that I didn’t want to fuck right away. But he recovered quickly. “You like making me wait?”

“Sure. Yeah.”

He chuckled softly. “You think the payoff will be worth it?”

I grinned. “I know it will.”

“Fine,” he sighed, hands going to his waistband.

“Or,” I said, “Maybe I should get a blow job. Since you dragged me all the way out here, away from my comfy bed at the main house.”

Seeing that shred of vulnerability, when I’d felt like I was on the back foot with him, made me bold. As I suggested this turning of the tables, I nuzzled his ear and rubbed my knuckles against his hardness to win him over.

He closed his eyes. “Princess.”

I pressed my mouth to his ear and breathed, “Ponyboy.”

Puck stuttered a sigh, then dropped to his knees, and before I knew it, he had my shorts open and was pulling my cock out of my briefs. I braced my arms against the tree trunk as he wrapped his fingers around me.

“You don’t waste time.” I said, then gasped as he engulfed the head of my dick in his warm mouth, gaze on mine. He sucked hard, making me whimper, then pulled off and stared at me, moistening his pretty lips with his tongue and nudging the steel ring.

“We have less than six weeks to figure this out. We don’t have any time to waste.”

He batted a nosy fly away and bent to my cock again, swirling his tongue around the head and then plunging down, making me curse.

“Fuck! Okay. So, not just a one-time thing?” Thank God!

His answer was to take me deeper and tug my shorts down so he could cup my balls in his hand and press a finger against my taint.

“Oh, fuck,” I cursed, lust swirling deep inside like a tsunami. “Jesus!”

He pulled his mouth off again and narrowed his eyes. “You want to come in my mouth?”

My chin dropped slackly. “Please.”

He smirked. “So polite. Say it.”

“Say what?”

“Say you want to come in my mouth.”

Puck tightened his fingers and licked his tongue flat across my glans, making my knees want to buckle. That tree trunk was the only thing keeping me upright.

“I want to come in your mouth,” I said.

Unfortunately, while inhaling sharply at the sound of those words in the innocent forest air, a mosquito or large gnat flew into my throat and was vacuumed into my windpipe.

I froze, choking, then coughed several times and spat to the side, trying to get whatever it was out of me.

Puck slid his mouth off me and stared.

I waved at the air. “Bug! Bug down my throat. Fuck. Sorry.”

I continued to cough and spit into the grass, finally able to dislodge whatever it was. I gasped air into my desperate lungs while Puck observed me with a wry expression.

“Holy shit. If that’s how you react with a tiny little bug in your throat, Oliver, I guess it’s good that I’ll be showing off my blow job skills today.”

I cleared my throat and spat once more, to make sure the stupid insect was gone. But I nodded in acknowledgement of his comment.

“Yeah, laugh it up,” I said while he snorted into the back of his hand, trying to hide his smile. “I’d rather choke on your cock over a bug any day.”

He gazed up at me with amused eyes and smiled. “Glad we’re on the same page, then.” He gave me a full-on smile before bending to my dick again.

I braced my arm on the tree and threaded my fingers through his soft hair, closing my eyes and warning all unwelcome insects to fuck off while I enjoyed this welcome little interlude.

All thoughts of invading insects left me as I thrust into the delicious heat of his mouth and closed my fist in those dark locks.

The vibrations of Puck’s low groan reverberated through my cock.

I was already fucking close, despite the bug debacle, and I think he knew it. But the tables were turning. With my fist in his hair I held his head still and fucked into his mouth, meeting his gaze to make sure he was still on board.

He opened his jaw as wide as he could, gazing up at me with a calculated doe-eyed look that almost put me over the edge. He unzipped the fly of his jeans and slipped his hand inside them, grabbing his cock and pulling on it while I used him. He breathed rapidly through his nose and stroked himself, while my rhythm automatically ramped up and I pumped hard into his warm throat.

Puck’s eyelids fluttered closed as his face flushed and beads of sweat appeared on his forehead. He released his hold on my dick and grabbed onto my thigh with one hand as if he needed to keep steady while I used him. He grunted and choked, his other hand working faster where it disappeared into his jeans.

Finally, he stiffened and made the most vulnerable sound as his hand slowed, then jerked hard twice and he was coming, his face a paroxysm of pleasure and relief.

When I realized he’d just come in his pants, I cursed and stilled, the orgasm barreling through me like a herd of wild stallions trying to reach a mare. His eyes opened and bugged as my jizz pushed out between his lips, too much for him to deal with. He sputtered and groaned with frustration, trying to swallow and pulling off to lick me all over while I rode the aftershocks and gaped down at him.

Jesus fucking Christ.

The world stilled around us. Birds chirped and cicadas hummed as we collected ourselves.

Puck leaned forward and rested his head on my thigh where his hand still clutched me.

“Holy. Fuck.”

He coughed and wiped his other hand across his mouth. It might have been my imagination, but I think his fingers trembled.

“You okay?” I said, attempting to help him to his feet when my thighs were still quaking.

“Sure. My undies are messed though.” He laughed, as he stood and swayed.

“Careful,” I said, clutching his T-shirt and pulling him in.

He crashed against me and we canted into the tree trunk. I kept us upright somehow and laughed, grabbing his narrow hips and bending to peer at him. He was frowning down at himself, wiping ineffectually at the mess he’d made.

“Puck,” I said gently.

He glanced at me from beneath his lashes, so shy and calm and different from the kid I’d seen in the paddock with Kamal. He was…vulnerable and open and my heart just about died.

“Was that too rough?” I asked, pressing my forehead against his.

He smiled, then frowned, then smiled again. “No. I liked it. I came in my fucking pants, didn’t I?”

I circled a hand under his chin and tipped his face to mine. “Yeah, you did. So damn hot.” I traced his chin with my finger. “Are you a dirty little boy?”

His breath caught, and I saw a flash of renewed desire. “Fuck,” he breathed. “You have no idea.”

I pulled myself together, fixing my shorts and tucking myself away. Puck fastened his jeans over his soiled briefs. Then we rested against the tree, sharing soft, quiet kisses in the peaceful forest, satisfying a mutual need to touch and be near each other.

I fingered the steel over his lower lip. “I love this, by the way. It feels so good when you kiss me.”

“I got that in high school. Wanted to look cool.” He shrugged.

“What about the eyebrow one?”

“Couple of years ago. A friend dared me.”

“I like it too,” I admitted.

“You got any?”

“You would have seen them by now, I think. Nope.”

He regarded me seriously.

“I haven’t even started to see you, Oliver Lambert.” His eyes raked over me like he wanted to remember the way I looked right this moment. “We’d better get back.”

“Hold on. Speaking of names. Is Puck your real name or an alias you’re using?”

He threw his head back and laughed. “It’s real. My mom teaches high school English.”

I grinned. “That is awesome. Because I like it very much.”

“I’m just glad it wasn’t Prospero. The Tempest is her other favourite play.”

“Fuck, you’d make any name sexy as fuck.”

He raised his eyebrows. “I don’t know about that.”

We stood silently regarding each other. He glanced in the direction we’d come.

“You go first, and I’ll wait for a bit, so nobody sees us together,” he said.

“We’re keeping this quiet.”

“For now…”

He blew a soft breath against my face and gave me a quick kiss before pulling away and turning into the trees. He lifted a hand to wave. He looked so beautiful—a picture of light and shadow with the morning sun slanting through the leaves.

“Wait a second,” I said, grabbing my Nikon off the branch and removing the lens cap. “May I?”

Puck shrugged, looping his thumbs in his pockets and glancing down at his crotch. “Can you tell I came in my pants?”

“It hasn’t soaked through your jeans. Yet.”

“Then hurry up. I gotta get back before it does. It’s cold and sticky.”

“Stay still then. Look pretty.” I said, framing him from the waist up and clicking several times.

“Always,” he said, then stuck out his tongue and flipped the bird.

I laughed and took the shot, then lowered the camera. “These are for me. I won’t show them to anyone.”

“Good.”

“Thanks for the blow job,” I said.

“Thanks for a healthy breakfast.” He grinned, tongue snaking over the ring in his lip.

“Hmm. I don’t think you got enough. I’ll have to feed you again.”

“Can’t wait,” he said, and then he was gone, turning and jogging through the trees.

And I was standing in the middle of a forest in the Muskokas, wondering why the world looked different all of a sudden.

I walked a bit further on the path to take some photos of a fallen tree and some interesting fungus before making my way back to the open field beside the bunkhouse. When I emerged from the trees I saw Andrew and Joshua standing by the door, speaking together in hushed tones.

“Hey,” I said. “Good morning.”

“Morning,” Joshua said. “You’re up early.”

I nodded, attempting to look like all I’d been doing was taking wholesome pictures of birds and squirrels and not fucking Puck’s face in the woods. I’m not sure I pulled it off. Something told me the fact I’d just spent twenty minutes getting my rocks off with the BCR’s cutest ponyboy was written all over my face.

“Yeah, it’s peaceful in there.” I waved my hand at the trees and the calm fields. “Y’know. Nature and all that.”

“Uh-huh. Nature,” Andrew said.

He had his arms folded across his chest and was grinning like he didn’t believe a word of it. They must have seen Puck come back to the bunkhouse from the same direction. They weren’t stupid.

I didn’t linger. I lifted my camera and gestured toward the main house. “Anyway, gotta get back and have another cup of coffee.”

Joshua eyed me suspiciously. “You gonna take pictures in the grooming barn?”

“After lunch,” I said. “The afternoon crew.”

“Ah. That’ll be us,” Andrew said, smiling.

“I might pop into a training session this morning. Not sure yet.” I said, heading toward the main house.

“Okay. See ya maybe,” Joshua said, giving me a salute.

I inclined my head and faced forward, trying not to swagger as I made my way along the path.

Kamal was standing on the porch, leaning on the railing with a coffee in his hand. He examined me as I approached, like he knew exactly what I’d been up to.

“Oliver. You’re up early.”

I blushed, feeling guilty about lying to Kamal. But that didn’t stop me. “Yeah, well, the fields and the forest are quiet in the early morning. Nice ambience.”

Kamal grinned. “If you say so.”

“I’m gonna get some coffee,” I said, climbing the stairs and moving past him as he chuckled.

I decided to go back to bed to recover from the morning’s exertions and my disrupted sleep. I set an alarm for eleven so I’d be up in time to get some lunch and be in the grooming barn when the afternoon ponyboys arrived.