I followed Luke into the bunkhouse. As soon as the door shut behind us, Luke turned and curled into me, arms sliding around my waist, face nuzzling into my neck. This sudden vulnerability surprised me, but I gathered him to me out of instinct.
“Hey, hey,” I said, wondering what had brought this on. Was this sub drop?
“It’s not sub drop,” Luke murmured, pressing little wet kisses against my neck.
I grinned even though he couldn’t see my face. “What is it, then?”
“Not sure,” he mumbled. “But I need to be with you. I almost lost you.”
My heart beat fast and I felt something break within me. Something that had been my last small holdout against fully committing to this place. To Luke. To Noah.
“Okay. Let’s get undressed. You can stay in my bunk with me tonight.”
Luke pulled away slightly and gazed at me. “What you saw today, with me and Kamal.”
I blushed as I nodded.
“His dominance is why I come here. He knows how to deal with me. He puts me in my place,” Luke said, forehead creased with the seriousness of this statement. “I need that. From somebody.”
I nodded again. “Okay. Even though most of the time you’re putting me and Noah in our places?”
Luke grinned. “More so because of that. I get…” He gestured to the room around us. “I lose control very easily. And I need someone to assert control over me sometimes.”
I took his chin in my hand, staring into his blue eyes. “I can be dominant too, you know. Maybe not at the same level as Kamal. But I can put you in your place.”
He grinned and raised his eyebrows. “Oh yeah?”
I challenged his gaze with my own hard stare. “Yeah, I think so.” I leaned forward and kissed him tenderly, feeling him give way to me. “But right now I want to go to bed.” I ran my hand down his sleeve and over the top of his hand. “You want to stay in my bunk?”
Luke nodded. “Yeah.”
“Okay.”
We stripped to our boxer briefs and climbed into my bunk, arranging ourselves so we fit. I lay with my head on the pillow and Luke curled under my arm, his head on my shoulder.
We were silent for several moments. I listened to Luke’s breathing. Then he spoke so softly I barely heard him.
“G’night, kinky cowboy.”
I smiled wide in the darkness, stroking my hand along his hip. “G’night, naughty ponyboy.”
*
When I woke the next day, I was alone in my bunk. At some point, Luke had left me. But I could see the outline of his elbow peeking out of the blankets of the top bunk.
He’d been so vulnerable, so affectionate, the evening before. Or had I dreamt the whole thing?
Luke was normal when we got up, acting like his usual smartass self except for the odd time I’d catch him watching me with something in his gaze. But then he’d make a cocky remark, and I’d realize he wanted back to our old way of being together. Which didn’t bother me because I liked the regular Luke.
Before we went on our business, Luke cornered me in the bunkhouse. “I want to go to the shed tonight. I promised Noah a spanking.”
I nodded, my cock expressing interest in this idea. “Okay.”
My day passed uneventfully. I was getting so used to my stable hand duties, and to seeing and touching naked men every day. Those duties were beginning to feel ordinary and routine. They were still better than mucking stalls, by a long shot.
We left the bunkhouse an hour or so after dark with our flashlights, same as before. As we made our way along, Luke described in detail what he planned to do to Noah. By the time we got to the shed I could barely walk normally, what with my cock so hard and stiff between my legs, chafing against my jeans.
As soon as the lanterns were lit, Luke sat on the loveseat and told Noah to strip. Then he pulled him across his lap.
