Kamal narrowed his dark eyes at me. “So, you thought you’d be looking after animals?”
I nodded curtly. “I did. I have a lot of experience with regular…livestock.”
Kamal gestured toward the men in the arena. “They aren’t so different. In fact, if you can treat them the way you’d treat an actual animal, with certain subtle differences, you’ll keep them, and us, very happy.”
I tilted the hat back on my head, watching the way the men moved gracefully in their restraints.
“What do you think?” Adam asked me.
What did I think? They were extraordinary.
I followed them with my eyes. “They’re magnificent,” I said finally, glancing at Kamal.
Adam laughed and patted my shoulder. “Yeah, you’re gonna do fine here, Jensen.”
Kamal grinned his approval. His eyes drifted down to my crotch. I glanced down at myself, then back up at Kamal. “Oh shit, sorry.”
Kamal shook his head quickly. “Happens all the time with newbies. Means I’m doing my job and they—” He gestured with the whip at the ponyboys. “—are doing theirs.”
“We pride ourselves on a very open and inclusive philosophy toward sexuality because our job is to satisfy the voyeuristic fantasies of guest members and the submissive fantasies of our service members,” Adam said.
He leaned against the wood wall and shoved his hands in his pockets, watching the ponyboys. “You’ll find, Jensen, your first few days here will be difficult, but in a good way, I think. In the regular course of your duties you will be in direct physical contact with the ponyboys. It is understood by our service members that in order to enrich their experience they will be on the receiving end of some very intimate physical care from our stable hands.”
Intimate. Physical. Care.
I cleared my throat and adjusted my hat. “Right. Sure.”
Kamal grinned. “They all have contracts, and there is a safeword they are free to use at any time. You will know of any hard limits restricting the intimacy of your care, although I can’t think of any of our current members whose limits affect the stable hands. More so what they do with the trainers, which can be more extreme. But you’ll find out soon enough.”
My brain spun in circles and my palms sweated as I imagined what my duties might entail.
“Call one of them over, Kamal,” Adam said.
My body vibrated with excitement and terror. Excitement at seeing one of the beautiful men up close and terror I would embarrass myself, and they would know how innocent I was, how out of depth I felt.
Kamal cracked his whip. “Luke! Come forward. The rest of you, take a break.”
I took an instinctive step back as the blond-haired ponyboy broke from the group and approached us. God, he was something.
I couldn’t keep my eyes from roaming over Luke’s heaving chest, down his belly, over his captured cock and down his long, powerful legs, then back to his collared throat, where his Adam’s apple bobbed seductively and his blue eyes gleamed with intelligence and curiosity.
I stared at Luke, and then out of instinct, removed my cowboy hat and nodded a greeting. Luke’s broad lips curved into a smile before Kamal touched the tip of his crop to Luke’s stubbled chin, forcing him to raise it. The smile vanished.
“Head. Up,” he ordered. “If I have to put you in the brace again, you’ll feel this crop on your beautiful ass. You hear me?”
Luke blushed. His gaze flew to me for a moment before moving back to Kamal as if drawn by some powerful magnet to those of his authoritative trainer.
“This is Jensen. He’s a…” Kamal leaned in to whisper loudly in Luke’s ear. “A real cowboy. He’s used to breaking horses, so I’m sure a spoiled pony like you won’t be much of a problem, hmm?”
I held my breath as the full force of Luke’s intense gaze met mine. Luke’s eyes were a deep ocean blue, which stood out against his platinum faux hawk. His features, except for the piercing sharpness of his intelligent eyes, were soft and boy-next-door handsome. Luke nodded in polite response to Kamal’s question, but he didn’t smile, which challenged me in a way that made my cock throb.
Kamal withdrew from his intimate closeness with Luke and stood aside, leaving a firm hand on the back of the ponyboy’s neck as if to remind him of his presence.
“Why don’t you give our pretty pony a pet, Jensen?” Kamal said.
Luke’s whole body shuddered as something flashed in his blue eyes. A warning? Or a dare?
I licked my dry lips but couldn’t think of a thing to say, mesmerized by the gorgeous creature in front of me.
