Ace: A 'Riding Lessons' Interlude - 1. Ace

Ace:

A ‘Riding Lessons’ Interlude

By

Andrew Todd

Adam ‘Ace’ Evans could remember vividly the first time he realized his daddy was going away.

His daddy, Sergeant Major Ernest Evans, had been deployed most of his early life, but he was never really aware of his absence until he was about three years old. His daddy had been home for a long stretch, almost six months, and Adam had become used to him being there every day.

Then one day, his mommy and daddy took him to a hanger with a lot of other families and his daddy hugged him and walked away. He didn’t see his daddy again for six months. To a three-year-old, six months might as well be a millennium; to Adam his daddy had just disappeared. Then, six months later he reappeared, a theme that would repeat itself continually all through Adam’s young life.

By the time he entered first grade, Adam had come to understand that his daddy had an important job and that his time away was spent serving his country. That didn’t make the long absences any easier, but they started to make sense.

On his first day of first grade he met Devon McDonald, whose daddy was also in the army and also deployed. The two became fast friends and where one was the other was never far behind.

It was Devon, who even at the age of seven had a sharp mind and almost biting wit, that christened Adam ‘Ace’. When Adam introduced himself using his full name ‘Adam Christian Evans’, Devon immediately recognized that Adam’s initials spelled ‘Ace’ and he started calling his new friend by this moniker. Within days, everyone addressed Adam as ‘Ace’.

All through elementary school, Ace and Devon were inseparable. They were polar opposites in looks and demeanor. Ace was tall for his age with light brown hair and powder blue eyes. He was easygoing and a natural peacemaker. Ace also had a natural ability to ‘read’ people. He was incredibly observant and a keen student of body language. This sixth sense allowed him to avoid trouble in school as he always seemed to know who was ready for it and he would often step in to diffuse the situation.

Devon was the smallest kid in their class. He had jet-black hair and dark-green eyes. He was so pale some days he was almost opaque. Devon had a short fuse, a furious temper and a sharp tongue that he used to defend himself when those larger than him would attempt to berate him.

Many teachers and parents would note that the two boys were the embodiment of chaos and order. No one understood the dynamics of their relationship, everyone just accepted it.

The two boys were a unit from day one. Both were exceptionally smart and were always the top two in their classes.

Both boys eschewed the team sports that most of their contemporaries favored.

Devon avoided sports--team or solo, he was an artist. At a young age he discovered comic books and began to emulate the drawings he saw there. As he became older, he took more art classes and became very adept at both drawing and painting.

Ace, trying to be like his father who had been born and raised on a New Mexico ranch, began riding lessons at a local ranch when he was five. By the time he was seven he was doing barrel races and pole bending at local rodeos. Eventually, he would try to compete in calf roping, but he found that the speed events were more to his liking.

Ace also excelled at martial arts. While he was always the peacemaker, he was adept at several forms of martial arts and hand-to-hand combat. By the time he was fourteen he was also proficient with small firearms and knives. Ace absorbed all the training that was offered on and around the base, but he truly felt that his knowledge was only for the defense of himself and especially his friends. He was always easygoing and would try his best to make peace without resorting to any violence, but he was more than willing to use his skills to protect anyone in danger.

While Devon wasn’t much for competing, through Ace he fell in love with horses and began to take riding lessons soon after the two met.

The boys’ favorite activity was to take long trail rides, just the two of them. The owner of the ranch they rode at would let them grab two horses and take off for parts unknown whenever the mood struck. They would spend the whole day talking: commiserating about school, missing their dads and how hard their moms were on them.

They would stop to rest at different spots and Devon would pull out his ever-present sketch pad and do drawings of the local flora and fauna. His favorite subject, though, was Ace. By the time the boys were twelve and ready to enter junior high school, Devon had several sketch books full of his drawings of Ace. You could trace the evolution of his skills as an artist. He had always been good, but the quality of his drawings improved dramatically over time.

As puberty took hold of the two friends, Devon began to realize that his feelings for Ace went beyond friendship. He started a new sketch book that he never shared with any of his teachers or friends. This book contained pictures of his best friend that were enhanced by his vivid imagination.

For their thirteenth birthdays, which were only three days apart, the boys’ parents conspired to gift each boy with their own horse.

Both fathers were home on leave and took the boys to a local ranch to look at horses. Devon’s father was a city boy who knew nothing of horses, but he realized that this was the one activity that kept Devon outdoors and active, so he was willing to indulge his son. Ace’s father, Sarge, had grown up on a ranch in New Mexico and was well versed with horses, so he took point in guiding and advising the boys.

Of course, both boys had been riding for many years at this point and were excited at the prospect of finally having their own horses.

The ranch they went to bred and raised quarter horses, perfect for the boys’ trail rides and Ace’s rodeo activities.

After looking over the available stock and ‘test driving’ more than a few, the boys each selected their new best friend.

Ace chose a coal-black gelding with a white blaze and four white socks. His name was Bullet and when he teamed up with Ace in speed events he lived up to his name. Bullet fit Ace perfectly; both were mellow and easygoing, but always up for a challenge.

Devon left with a palomino mare named Jazz. Again the horse seemed to fit the personality of the boy. Jazz was high-spirited and easy to spook but after several days with Devon, she quickly became a one-boy horse. Though she would occasionally tolerate Ace riding her, she would allow no one else the liberty.

Once they had their own horses, the boys spent more and more time at the ranch where they were boarded. Hardly a day went by that the two failed to visit the ranch. Even if they didn’t have time to ride, they would spend a few minutes grooming or just hanging out with the horses. When their dads were again deployed, the horses became their confidantes and secret keepers.

While they spent the majority of their time together, as they entered their teens they each found themselves seeking a bit of solitude and the horses became their main escapes.

Shortly after their fourteenth birthdays a series of events rocked both boys’ worlds.

First, Ace’s mother was diagnosed with thyroid cancer. She had been complaining of a sore throat and related problems for a while, but wrote it off as a cold. By the time she sought medical attention, things had progressed to the point where when she finally met the oncologist he informed her that she had stage-four cancer and was terminal. At best he could offer her maybe a year.

Ace was beside himself. His mother had been the one constant in his life and now he was going to lose her.

A few weeks after he learned of his mother’s diagnosis, Ace learned that his father was being transferred from Fort Bliss, Texas, the only home he had ever known, to Fort Irvin, California. Sarge was transferring into a training role and the new post would not require the long deployments that his family had dealt with for years.

Ace was happy that his dad would be there to support him and his mother, but it was like a gut shot to realize that not only was he going to lose his mother, he would be leaving his home and Devon as well.

Devon was even more upset at the prospect of Ace leaving than Ace was. Ace never had a problem making new friends--he was easygoing and personable. But he never let anyone forget that Devon was his best friend. Devon however was a hardwired loner. The only friends he had were Ace and Jazz; the thought of losing either one was devastating to him.

In the age of texting, Skype and facebook, the boys knew they could keep in touch, but each had been such a physical presence in the other’s life they knew it wouldn’t be the same.

As the date of Ace’s move loomed closer, he and Devon spent more and more time together. Two days before he was to move, Ace took Devon and the horses on a long overnight trail ride. Devon was not as big a fan of roughing it as Ace was but he wanted to spend every possible second with his friend before the move.

Ace had borrowed a mule from the ranch they boarded at to haul their packs and supplies into the desert.

The boys rode for the better part of the morning, stopping frequently to give the horses a rest. By the time the sun was its hottest, the boys had reached their destination--an isolated swimming hole that was their favorite spot to camp and escape from the world.

Ace ran a line between two trees to tether the horses and hobbled the mule, since he was the animal they didn’t trust not to wander off.

Devon went to the small lake and filled the collapsible buckets they carried with water for the horses, while Ace took the packs and supplies off the mule.

Once the animals were fed and watered, the boys decided to take a swim before building their camp.

Even though he had seen it a hundred times before, the sight of Ace stripping down so the boys could skinny-dip sent all the blood in Devon’s body surging to one spot.

As if the mid-July Texas sun was not making him hot enough, the sight of Ace standing there, his sun-kissed brown hair blowing in the light breeze, his tight tanned muscles flexing and relaxing as he stripped, was making Devon hot, bothered and excruciatingly hard.

“Are you coming?” Ace hollered over his shoulder as he ran to the water.

“I will be in a second,” Devon mumbled to himself as he watched Ace’s tight white ass as Ace ran towards the lake.

“What?”

“I’ll be there in a minute. I got a cramp in my calf.”

“Ok. Just hurry up.”

Devon stood there filling his head with every disgusting image he could conjure up in an attempt to get his erection to go down. Finally, after about five minutes of mental images of his grandmother belly dancing naked, things were finally limp enough for Devon to strip and run into the lake.

He prayed the water was cold enough to keep things calm, but the water was warm and the second he caught a glimpse of Ace’s white bubble butt bobbing along the top of the water he threw a bone he knew would never go down.

Ace swam around completely oblivious to his friend’s dilemma. Devon stayed away from Ace, not wanting to chance Ace noticing his raging hard-on. Devon was so afraid of Ace knowing the effect he had on Devon. Devon knew that Ace was a sweet-natured guy, but he lived in fear that if Ace found out that he was in love with him, their friendship would be over. He couldn’t fathom a scenario where the most popular kid in school would want to be friends with the little fag that was hopelessly in love with him.

Devon dropped down under the water so his face would be wet and Ace wouldn’t see the tears in his eyes if he swam over.

The stress Devon felt about Ace finding out about him and the despair he felt over losing his best friend actually helped make his erection wilt. Devon lay back in the water and just floated along trying not to think of his best friend’s imminent departure and the loneliness that would follow.

Things below Devon’s equator settled down just as Ace swam up to him.

“Hey, what are you doing all the way over here?” Ace asked.

“Uh, just chilling out,” Devon answered. “It’s so fuckin’ hot! I thought the water would cool me off, but it’s like sitting in a cup of tea.”

Ace laughed. “It’s not that bad, though it is hot. What say we go back and pitch the tent and get things set up?”

“Sure,” Devon replied as he looked down. He finally had his dick under control and he knew if he looked at Ace, especially getting out of the water, it would be all over for him. “I’ll race you back,” Devon said as he dove under the water in an attempt to get ashore and to his towel before things grew too unruly.

Devon was on the shore with a towel wrapped around his waist before Ace even exited the water.

The boys dried off and dressed and then set up their camp. Ace had a large four-man tent that he had commandeered from his father. They set up the tent and put their packs and sleeping bags in it.

Ace went to work building a fire pit, while he had Devon look for firewood. Devon made several trips around the camp area; there was plenty of dried wood that would burn fine for them. He stacked it up in an area away from where the fire would be in case the wind picked up.

They didn’t need a fire just yet. They had a quick lunch of sandwiches that they had made before they left, along with some cokes.

Ace grabbed his fishing pole and walked down to the lake to try and catch dinner.

Devon grabbed his ever-present pad and followed his friend; he laid out a towel on the lakeshore and sat down and began to furiously sketch Ace while he fished.

Devon would sketch things out page after page and then go back later and finish the pictures from memory. He knew Ace so well, that he had no problem completing the drawings from memory; in fact his ‘secret’ pad was filled with images of Ace that he had done completely from memory, or, in some cases, fantasy.

They spent the afternoon--Ace fishing, Devon sketching; both yelling back and forth. Neither spoke of Ace’s imminent departure--there would be time for that later; right now they wanted things to be the way they had always been if only for a moment more.

When Ace had caught enough fish for dinner, he pulled out his knife and cleaned them. He carried them back to the camp in one of their collapsible buckets and started a fire. Devon stayed down by the lake furiously trying to finish his sketches. When he had done as much as he could and the light was starting to fail he walked to the camp.

After dinner, the boys sat around their fire talking and joking; after a while they decided to turn in. Even though it was so warm during the day, they knew it was going to get cold overnight. They always zipped their sleeping bags together and huddled to keep warm.

They both stripped down to their underwear and slipped into the sleeping bag. Having spent so much time in the fresh air, they both quickly fell asleep.

Ace woke with a start. It was pitch black in the tent and he could hear the horses outside as well as various birds and insects, but he was used to all that, that wasn’t what woke him up. What woke him up was the hand on his crotch that did not belong to him.

Ace lay still; he listened to Devon breathing to try to determine if he was awake or not. The hand had a tight grip on his hardening dick and was starting to stroke him. The more it moved, the harder he got.

“Devon…” Ace whispered. The hand jerked away.

Ace rolled over and faced Devon.

Devon closed his eyes and hoped that Ace would think he was asleep, but Ace knew him better than anyone.

“Devon,” Ace whispered again. “I know you’re awake.”

Devon slowly opened his eyes.

“If you were gonna pretend you were asleep, then you shouldn’t have yanked your hand away when I said your name,” Ace chuckled.

Devon started to tear up. “I’m sorry, Ace. I don’t know why I did that. It was wrong, I understand if you hate me.”

“Hate you?” Ace asked. “Why would I hate you?”

“Cuz I’m…”

“Cuz you’re gay?” Ace asked gently. Devon nodded. “Dev, I’ve known you were different since the day we met. I knew you were gay before I knew what gay was. And I know, or at least I think, you have a crush on me.”

“You know?” Devon realized he should have known that Ace would know. Ace’s mother liked to call him ‘empathic’--he was always in tune with others’ feelings, especially his.

“Of course I know.”

“Then why didn’t you say anything?”

“Cuz I didn’t want to hurt you.”

“Hurt me?”

“Devon, since I figured out about you, I’ve wished, prayed, hoped, and tried to make myself like you. So we could be together.”

“You wanted to be gay?”

“No, silly, I wanted to be with you. I wanted to be able to love you.”

“You don’t love me?” Devon’s face fell.

“Of course, I love you. You’re my best friend, the closest thing I have to a brother. But I wanted to be able to love you like boyfriends do.”

“But, you don’t.”

Ace shook his head. “No, I’m sorry, I’ve tried and tried. I could lie to you and tell you I was and then move, but that wouldn’t be fair. I’ve never lied to you and I’m not about to start now.”

“I’m sorry…”

“Dev, stop apologizing; you can’t help how you feel anymore than I can. You love me and I love you, just in different ways,” Ace said. “I just wish I wasn’t leaving. I worry about you.”

Devon laughed. “You’re moving to Cali, your mom’s sick, you have to deal with all that and you’re worried about me?!”

“Yes, I’ll always worry about you. I’m worried about what will happen to you when I leave. I’m worried about no one looking out for you.”

“I can take care of myself,” Devon said indignantly.

“Your mouth was good for getting you out of trouble in elementary school, but we’re going into high school and a lot of those guys play for keeps, especially around here.”

“Well, they have to catch me first.”

Ace laughed. “That’s true.” He knew that Devon was a fast little shit. If he had been up for sports, he would have been a cross-country or track star at school.

Devon inhaled sharply and exhaled. He grimaced as Ace watched him.

“What?” Ace asked.

“I’m gonna miss you, you big dummy,” Devon sighed. “You’re the only person who ‘gets’ me. You never judge me or give me grief; you just let me be me.”

“That’s cuz I love you, shithead,” Ace laughed. “We just need to get through high school--a few years--and then we’ll find a college that we can go to together.”

“And I can get out of this backward ass state,” Devon declared. “I can’t believe you, the cowboy, get to go to Cali and me, the artist, has to stay here in the backwoods.”

“You can always come to visit,” Ace offered.

“I don’t know,” Devon responded. “It might be too hard.”

“Why?”

“Ace, all joking aside, I really do love you. Probably since the first day I met you all the way back in first grade. The last few years it’s been even worse. When I see you every day, I just dream about what I want to do with you and have you do to me. Once you leave it will be hard, but I’ll deal with it; but if I was to visit you off and on it would make it even harder for me. Unless I know you’re always gonna be there, it’s best if we stick to e-mail and text for now.”

Ace was silent for moment. Devon’s words stung him. He loved Devon as much as he could and he had really hoped and prayed that he was gay and could be what Devon wanted, but he wasn’t. The fact that Devon was hurting too much and that he thought it would be better and easier to not even see Ace, made Ace hurt even more.

Ace remained silent. He looked at Devon. He could see the pain in Devon’s green eyes. His heart ached for his friend. He had a thought. A ‘going away’ present. He knew it would help Devon. No one would ever know except him and Devon--he thought he could do it. No, he knew he could do it if only to give Devon a little happiness.

Devon had closed his eyes. Ace knew he wasn’t sleeping, he was just thinking as he often did.

Ace slid forward and put his arms around Devon. Since they always hugged each other, Devon thought nothing of it and wrapped his arms around Ace.

Devon’s eyes flew open when he felt Ace’s lips on his.

Devon looked into Ace’s deep blue eyes. He didn’t know how to respond. This was his fantasy come true. He knew that Ace was doing this only for him and it made his heart soar. He closed his eyes and opened his mouth to allow Ace’s tongue entrance. The two boys lay in their embrace, each of their tongues wrapped around the other’s.

Ace moved his hands gently over Devon’s back. They stopped on Devon’s ass and rubbed it gently.

Devon tentatively reached out and rubbed Ace’s muscular chest. For a fourteen-year-old, Ace was built. Devon shivered as his hands touched parts of Ace he had only fantasized about. Devon pulled off of Ace’s mouth and moved his lips to Ace’s neck. He kissed his way down Ace’s neck to his shoulders and then his chest. He ran his tongue over each of Ace’s nipples. Ace shivered as his large nipples hardened under Devon’s tongue.

His nipples were not the only thing of Ace’s that was getting harder. His cock was so hard he thought it might split the skin. He was so hot.

Devon continued his tongue bath of Ace’s chest. He swiped at Ace’s navel and stopped just above his goal. He slipped his thumbs under the waistband of Ace’s jockeys and gently, but swiftly slid them down Ace’s firm legs.

While Devon was taking care of stripping him, Ace, who was sweltering at this point, threw back the sleeping bag so that they both lay there uncovered. There was very little light from the moon through the light fabric of the tent, so the two were essentially ‘reading braille’.

Ace inhaled sharply as he felt Devon grip his turgid member. Devon had seen Ace nude many times when they had skinny-dipped, but he had never seen him hard. As he hefted Ace’s penis in his hands, he knew his fantasies about Ace’s size were right on the mark. He stroked Ace’s hard-on, slipping the foreskin back and forth over the head.

“You keep that up and I won’t last long,” Ace gasped.

Devon grinned evilly in the moonlight. He was not going to lose what would probably be his one opportunity to be with Ace. He slid a little further up Ace’s legs and engulfed Ace’s cock in his mouth.

“Oh, my God!!” Ace exclaimed as feelings he had never experienced shot through his lower extremities.

Devon went down on Ace like he was savoring his last meal. He licked and sucked on Ace’s throbbing member. Ace lasted longer than usual for a fourteen-year-old virgin, but even he had his breaking point.

“Devon, I’m c-c-um-m-ing!!” he warned.

Devon kept sucking; he wanted to savor every moment of this experience. He felt Ace’s cock throb in his mouth as he shot spurt after spurt of hot salty cum. Devon tried to swallow, but Ace’s potent seed spilled out of the corners of his mouth.

When Ace finally stopped shooting, Devon pulled off and wiped his mouth with his fingers. He popped those cum-covered fingers into his mouth and licked them clean.

Ace lay back with his eyes closed. “Oh, my God!!” he moaned. “That was…”

“It sure was.” Devon giggled as he crawled back up Ace’s body. He lay across Ace’s chest and kissed his friend fully on the lips. Ace returned the kiss. He could taste his cum on Devon’s lips. It disgusted and excited him.

Ace rolled Devon over on his back. He reached down and pulled off Devon’s underwear. He licked his way down Devon’s chest and stopped at Devon’s groin.

Ace took hold of Devon’s hard cock. “Well,” he sighed, “in for a penny…”

“Ace,” Devon protested. “You don’t have to…OH, MY FUCKING GOD!!” he exclaimed as he felt Ace’s hot mouth engulf his prick. “Oh, shit!!”

Ace sucked and licked at Devon’s hard-on. Devon was too juiced to last long.

“Ace, back off,” Devon ordered.

Ace wasn’t about to swallow Devon’s juice, so he pulled off and jacked Devon to orgasm. Devon came forcefully, but in nowhere near the volume Ace did.

Ace grabbed a t-shirt and wiped the sticky mess off Devon’s groin and his hands.

Ace lay back on the sleeping bag and Devon cuddled up against him.

“Thanks, Ace,” Devon sighed.

“Hey, what are friends for?” Ace laughed.

“Ace…”

“What?”

“Umm, there’s one more thing we could…” Devon’s voice trailed off.

Ace lay there thinking and then he realized what Devon wanted. “Dev, are you sure? Isn’t that gonna hurt you?”

“I don’t know, but I want to try,” Devon pleaded. “I’ve dreamed about this for a long time…you taking my virginity…you making love to me…”

Ace cringed. He didn’t want to say no to Devon--hell what fourteen-year-old wanted to say no to sex at all--but he didn’t want to hurt Devon physically or emotionally. He was scared that what they had done was too much; having actual sex with Devon could be a disaster. He lay there thinking about what he should do, when Devon took matters into his own hands.

Devon took Ace’s hand and placed it on his hardening cock. “Do you feel that, Ace? That’s what just thinking about you fucking me does to me.” Ace reflexively grabbed Devon’s hard shaft. “Please...”

Ace knew it was probably a mistake, but he pulled Devon to him and kissed him hard.

Devon grabbed Ace’s hard pole and tried to think about what he could use for lube. Obviously, he hadn’t planned for this to happen this weekend or he would have brought some of the KY he kept hidden in his dresser drawer.

Then it occurred to him that they had a first-aid kit in the tent. He crawled over to the kit hoping the small jar was there. It was. He crawled back to Ace.

“What are you doing?” Ace asked.

“Getting something,” Devon answered as he dipped his fingers in the Vaseline and rubbed it onto Ace’s dick.

“Devon!!” Ace warned. “Do you know how hard it is to wash that shit off?”

“I know, but you’re not exactly a peewee and if we don’t use some kinda lube, you’re gonna tear me up.”

Ace knew that was a fact. He just lay back and let Devon do what he wanted to do. This was his final ‘gift’ for his best friend.

Devon took two Vaseline-covered fingers and jammed them into his ass. He wanted to get this show on the road before Ace changed his mind.

Devon straddled Ace’s waist and held his friend’s rock-hard cock between his fingers. He held it straight up and lowered himself until he felt the head knocking at his asshole. Devon took a deep breath…in his fantasies Ace wasn’t so big and his hole wasn’t so tiny.

He wanted this more than anything he had ever wanted in his life. He took a deep breath and pushed himself down onto Ace’s cock.

He inhaled sharply as the head of Ace’s cock penetrated him.

“Oh, shit…” Devon moaned. “You’re so big.”

Ace’s mind was flying; he didn’t want to hurt Devon, but if they went any further he was scared his little head would be doing more thinking than his big one.

“Devon, if it’s too much we don’t have to…Oh, FUCK!!!” he screamed as Devon sat down hard and took all of Ace’s cock into him.

“Don’t move, please,” Devon pleaded as he tried to adjust to the invasion. “Give me a second.”

Ace held his breath. If Devon moved so much as an inch, he knew he would not be responsible for what happened.

A minute passed, and then two, Ace held his breath. Finally, Devon moved his hips.

Ace grabbed hold of Devon’s hips. “Devon, are you sure you wanna do this?” he asked. “I’m barely holding on here and if we start this, I don’t know if I can stop.”

In the moonlight, Ace saw Devon grinning at him as he lifted his hips and then slammed himself down.

That was all it took to get Ace started. Within seconds the two boys were moaning and writhing on the sleeping bag. Both were lost in their youthful passions.

Devon moved his pelvis and rocked himself up and down on Ace. Ace for his part was lost in the euphoria of the first-time experience. He thrust his hips up to meet Devon. He pumped harder and harder until he felt his climax building.

Ace reached up and grabbed Devon’s cock. He tugged and stroked at Devon’s prick as he continued to drive his own into Devon’s hot hole.

“Ace, stop!!” Devon cried. “I’m gonna cum!!”

“Me, too!!” Ace answered.

Devon painted Ace’s chest and face with his sticky cum while Ace coated Devon’s intestines with his.

When they both started to come down from their climaxes Devon leaned forward onto Ace and kissed him.

Ace’s softening cock popped out of Devon’s ass.

“Ugg…Devon this is gross…” Ace cried as Devon rubbed his sticky fluid between their chests.

Devon laughed.

Ace pushed him off and dug around in his backpack for a towel.

He grabbed Devon’s hand. “C’mon, we’re gonna go clean off in the lake.”

The boys washed off in the lake and then spent a while skinny-dipping in the moonlight.

As they walked back to the tent, Devon looked over at the horses.

“Ace,” he started. “Have you ever wanted to…Uhh…?”

“Now, what?” Ace laughed. “How can you be shy after what we just did?”

“I’ve had one other fantasy that we could take care of tonight.”

“What else could we possibly do?”

Devon nodded towards the horses.

“Haven’t you ever wanted to take a moonlight ride?”

“I’ve done that; so have you.”

“But, not like this,” he answered as he gestured to his and Ace’s current state.

“You want to ride…naked?!?!”

Devon nodded. “Double. We don’t have to go far, but I bet it would feel amazing.”

Ace thought about it for a minute. “Sure, why not.”

He ran to the tent and grabbed Bullet’s bridle.

When he came back out, Devon was standing in front of the tent with Bullet. Ace quickly pulled off Bullet’s halter and slipped the bridle over his head.

Since he was tall for his age, he never had a problem getting on bareback, but he had to give Devon a boost first.

When Devon was astride, Ace swung up behind him. Devon took the reins and kicked Bullet into an easy canter. The moon was bright and they were very familiar with the area, so Devon let Bullet have his head.

The rocking motion of the horse’s gait combined with the feeling of the animal’s fur rubbing against their bare skin had both boys rock hard in minutes. Ace grabbed hold of Devon as Bullet’s pace increased.

Devon could feel Ace’s hard cock poking him in the back. He had an idea. He slowly and gently pushed himself back into Ace. When he felt Ace’s cock in the cleft of his ass, he raised himself up slowly until he could feel the head of Ace’s cock poking at his asshole.

Ace realized what Devon was trying to do. Against his better judgment he gave in and held his cock steady while Devon lowered himself onto it.

From this position, Ace’s cock was hitting something inside Devon that was driving him over the edge.

The motion of the horse and whatever Ace was hitting was making Devon crazy. He moaned loudly as he shot his load all over Bullet’s neck.

As Devon came his ass squeezed on Ace’s cock bringing about his own orgasm.

Devon leaned back into Ace, whose cock was still firmly lodged in Devon’s ass.

Ace reached around and grabbed the reins and steered Bullet back to the lake. He had the horse trot right into the lake and he and Devon slipped off and into the water. They rinsed themselves and Bullet off and returned to the tent and slept soundly the rest of the night.

Neither Ace nor Devon ever spoke to each other about that last camping trip.

Ace left two days later for California. His mother passed away about two months after they moved. Ace and Sarge flew back to Texas for the funeral so she could be buried with her parents.

Ace returned to California the day after the funeral.

He and Devon kept in contact electronically over the next two years, but Ace always felt that Devon was holding things back from him.

Ace adapted well to California. He found a ranch locally that rescued abused and abandoned horses. They were looking for volunteers. Since it was close to the base, Ace signed up as a volunteer and the owners let him board Bullet there.

The owners of the ranch loved Ace and his way with the horses. After he had been there a few months, he suggested that they use some of the more gentle horses to offer beginner lessons for the kids from the base.

Ace knew firsthand how much of a pleasant distraction the horses and riding could be when you were worrying about your parent coming back from a long deployment.

The owners loved the idea and put Ace in charge of it. Soon, Ace was spending every afternoon and most weekends at the ranch either giving lessons, working with newly rescued horses or leading trail rides.

Being busy at the ranch and helping others, helped Ace to get through his grief over his mother.

The day his father announced his retirement brought a lot of mixed emotions to Ace. He was happy that his dad would be out of the military, because in spite of the fact that Sarge had been stationed at the base for two years and was not deployed, Ace always lived with the fear that he would get shipped out again. He was happy to not have that worry any longer, but he was sad that his dad’s retirement meant they would be leaving the base and probably moving away from the ranch he spent so much time at.

One day about a week after his dad announced his retirement, he came home from the ranch to find his dad waiting for him at the kitchen table.

His dad told him that they were going on a little trip the next day to look into a job he had been contacted about.

Ace lit up when his dad told him that the job he would be interviewing for was on a ranch.