Stonegate Stables - 38. Chapter 38

Katie had made her debut in the open jumper class a few weeks ago at the first event in San Antonio. Calvin had behaved himself, and they’d done well, placing 4th after Katie mis-judged the distance to the water jump, causing Calvin to step on the board for four faults. The second event of the series was in Abilene, and she did better there, placing 3rd.

By the time the 3rd event came along in Tyler - right here in our own back yard - we were pretty much expecting her to win, but Calvin had other ideas. She had done very well with him while training with Adam. He obeyed her commands, listened when she asked him for something, and in general was a model citizen.

Tyler was a different story.

I drove over with Matt while Adam and Katie hauled Cal in the rig. Adam barely had the truck parked when Calvin let loose with a solid kick to the back door that shook the trailer and dented the gate. I yelled at him while Adam got the latches open. Cal shot out of the trailer without waiting for his cue, almost running me over in the process, so I grabbed his lead and gave him a couple hard yanks, hollering at him to behave.

Katie watched him with wide eyes. This was the first time she’d seen him acting like his old GP-winning self – all balls and no brains.

He skittered around at the end of the lead for a few moments before calming down enough for me to tie him to the trailer. We got him saddled and I gave Katie a leg up, warning her to work him hard before her class or she’d be in trouble. I walked with them to the gate of the warm-up arena just to make sure they made it safely. When I saw her cantering him with no trouble, I went back to get us set up for the day.

Katie came back a couple hours later with Cal dripping lather, but still full of himself. We gave him a bath, braided his mane and tail, polished his hooves, and just generally tarted him up to look good in the show ring. He munched hay most of the time, flinging his head around a little when I tightened the girth, but mostly behaving. I tossed Katie onto his back, wished her luck, and went to the arena to watch her ride.

The minute they came in the ring, I knew she was in trouble. Cal took a few steps into the arena and stopped dead with his eyes showing white like he’d never seen a jumping course in his life. Katie gave him a moment to look around, and then asked him to walk. He walked, but sideways, almost taking out the flower pots arranged at the end of one of the verticals. She finally got him moving by circling him, asking him to canter as she approached the start cones.

The first couple jumps went all right. She gauged them correctly and Cal cleared them by a foot, but every time they cantered near the brick wall, Cal rolled his eyes. It was jump number seven, and when Katie lined him up for it, I held my breath. She rode him hard to it, her heels drumming his sides, but just before he should have lifted off, he slammed on the brakes, his big hooves skidding up piles of turf as he slid to a stop.

Katie sailed over his head like she’d been launched from a cannon, clearing the fence and landing in the grass on the far side. She rolled a few times from the momentum and came to rest face down. I was already in the arena by then, running to her side as Calvin trotted off toward the out gate.

Katie was sitting up by the time I reached her, rubbing her hip, and I could hear her making low noises. At first I thought she was crying, but as I knelt down to put my arm around her, I realized she was swearing a blue streak. Her pride was hurt, her hip was bruised, and she was pissed.

“God damn mother fucking horse,” she muttered, enunciating each word separately between gritted teeth.

I helped as she struggled to her feet, brushing grass off her jacket.

“You okay?”

“Son of a bitch!”

“Katie! Are you all right?”

“Yes, yes!” she yelled at me. “Get me that horse.”

I looked at her for a moment, trying to decide whether to default her out of the round or let her get back on, but she realized what I was up to.

“Don’t you dare,” she ordered. “You let me finish this.”

We had a brief stare-down, but by this time the ring steward had brought Calvin back to us, and Katie yanked her arm out of my grasp to reach for him. She grabbed the cheek pieces of his bridle in each hand and started yelling at him. She talked to him for a solid fifteen seconds, which is a long time with a grandstand full of people watching your every move. When she was done talking, she smacked him hard on the neck with her open hand before moving to his side and gathering up the reins. I tossed her back on, and she rode off with a determined expression on her face.

They circled just in front of the jump, Katie talking the entire time, until Cal was so ready he was practically standing on his toes. She pointed him at the jump and he accelerated quickly, flinging clumps of grass out behind. I had my fingers crossed as they got to three strides before the jump, then two, and then Calvin was in the air, jumping so high he almost unseated Katie. I saw her grab a handful of mane as Calvin cleared the bricks by a foot and a half to a huge roar from the crowd.

She rode the rest of the course without incident and finished fifth. I met her at the out gate and we walked back to the trailer in silence. Adam, Matt, and I put everything away and loaded Calvin while Katie sat in the truck with her eyes closed. I just before they pulled out, I stuck my head in the window.

“Don’t take it so hard. He’s a tough horse to ride.”

“But I wanna win this thing!”

I admired her determination, but winning the series your first year is pretty unlikely. Not impossible, but unlikely.

She worked hard the next week, and when the fourth event came, she rode Calvin to first place. She was thrilled with the win, but she was still down in overall points with six events to go.

I groaned long and low as Vincent sucked the last few spurts of a really good orgasm from my sensitive cock. When he loosened his grip on my thigh, I slid down the bedroom wall until I was sitting between his knees with my riding tights in a pile under my butt.

The day had started as a sunny mid-October Monday, but by two, the temperature had dropped twenty degrees and a blustery wind was whirling leaves around the yard. I still had two more horses to school, but I was freezing my ass off and had dashed home to change. Just as I was dragging my summer tights down my legs, Vincent strolled into the bedroom.

"My God, Sean, you just can't get enough of me, can you?"

I smirked at him. "I just ran home to put warmer clothes on. It's like January at the barn. What're you doin' here?"

"I'm hosting the Kiwanis dinner tonight, but I forgot my tux, so I came home to change. Don't be in such a hurry with those.” He took the heavy tights from my hand, tossed them on the bed, and pushed me back against the wall. As he began to kiss my neck, he murmured, "You can spare five minutes, right?"

"Uh, sure," I replied, already caught up in what his hand was doing inside my briefs.

It took more than five minutes, but Vincent eventually sank to his knees between my feet, my cock in his mouth, my balls in one hand, and his own cock in the other. As I watched his head bob slowly on my dick, I ran my fingers over his close-cut hair. When I was just about to blow, he began to tickle my nuts with his finger tips. He knows I love that, and I could see his cheeks stretch into a grin as I exploded into his mouth.

He stroked himself off after I sat down. Usually I’d help, but he was really into it, so I just sat and watched. He handles his cock differently than I do, a little slower and without the twist that he swears he loves. He stared into my face as he came, his narrowed eyes intense with the strong sensations of orgasm.

When I finally got back to the barn, I went to get Priscilla (Presley), Amanda's latest acquisition, out of her stall. Pris was a pretty mare, a dark chestnut with big dapples in her glossy coat when you got her in the right light. I put her in the cross-ties and was walking to the tack room when TJ came around the corner. It had been about a week since I'd seen him, and I surprised at how tired he looked. I took his arm and pulled him in with me, closing the door for privacy.

"You look like hell. Been studying too hard, or playing too hard?"

He snorted and shook his head, then shoved his blond hair back off his forehead. "I wish it was partying, but it's school. It's a lotta work."

I studied him for a moment. His handsome face was lined with fatigue, and he had bluish bags under those gorgeous blue eyes. I put my arms around him and pulled him into a loose hug. He sighed and leaned against me, and my cock stirred.

Would I ever lose the little bit of me that longed for TJ? Here I was, freshly blown by the love of my life, and getting hard hugging TJ. He felt my body move against him, and began to pull back. I let him lean back, but held him in the circle of my arms.

"Are you havin’ any fun at all?” I asked as our crotches bumped together.

"Not much," he admitted. "School keeps me pretty busy, and I just haven't met anyone who……."

His voice trailed off as his eyes came back to mine. We stared at each other for a long moment. I'm not sure what either of us saw, but when his eyes dropped to my mouth, I leaned in and kissed him. He kissed me back with all the sweetness and passion I remembered from the first time we were together.

When his cock throbbed against my belly, he broke the kiss and tried to pull away from me, but I held him tight until he quit struggling. I moved one hand to his belt, tugging it apart as he held my gaze, his jaw muscle knotted and his eyes hot. When I slid the flat of my hand down his belly and into his shorts, he sucked in a breath and closed his eyes.

"Sean, you don't need to ....."

"Let me. I want to."

I kissed him softly before moving down his body until my head was level with his zipper. I mouthed my way around the front of his shorts as I reached behind him and locked the tack room door. When I pulled down the front of his underwear, his cock sprang free to land on my outstretched tongue, and he gasped.

"Oh, God," he panted. "It's been so long …….."

TJ stopped talking as I began licking from his balls to the tip of his cock - long, slow, wet slurps that brought a deep groan each time. His hands came to rest on the sides of my head, holding me gently at first, then tightening in reflex as I began to suck him. I got him close a few times, backed off until his breathing slowed, and then brought him back up.

When he finally whispered my name, I finished him, swallowing in big gulps as he thrust into my throat. After a couple minutes, I pulled off him, wiping my mouth with the back of my hand as I got to my feet. TJ watched me as I stood up. He touched his fingers to my cheek, holding them there as his eyes roamed over my face.

"What?" I asked him, although I thought I knew.

He shook his head.

"Please tell me," I asked again.

He looked away for a second, then back at me, and his voice was very soft. "I could have loved you."

I leaned in to touch my forehead to his. "I know, TJ. I’m sorry." I paused before continuing. "But it had to be Vincent."

He nodded in understanding. "Yeah, you two are perfect." He turned away from me with a sigh as he tucked his cock away and did up his jeans. "But I still think about you."

"I hope you always think about me." I pulled him around to face me. "Someone will come along who's perfect for you, TJ. It wasn't supposed to be me."

"You promise?"

I looked into that beautiful face and those sad blue eyes. "Yes, I promise."

He smiled. "Then I believe you."

I hugged him again, then I picked up the saddle I'd come in for twenty minutes ago, and walked out to saddle Priscilla, who had fallen asleep in the cross-ties.

Vincent got home around ten from the Kiwanis dinner. I was waiting for him in the den, gazing into the cold fireplace. He picked up on my mood and sat down next to me without speaking, taking my hand in his and planting a kiss in my palm.

After several minutes, I asked him, "If I died, is there anyone else you'd want to be with?"

"What a loaded question. What happened, Sean?"

"Just tell me. Is there?" I insisted.

He looked at me then, his dark eyes holding mine for a moment before he looked back to the fireplace. "No, baby, there's no one."

We went to bed shortly after that, and I felt his eyes on me, but he didn't ask me anything further, and I let it drop. When I got into bed, he pulled me close to him like he always does. We lay there for a while - both of us silent, but not asleep - and I knew I’d tell him about TJ - just not right now. He slid one hand up to cup my face, leaned close to my ear, and whispered, "I love you, Sean."

He hardly ever said it first to me, so I knew he understood that something had shaken me up. I nodded and tightened my hand on his arm for a second. That was enough to make it okay between us, and we fell asleep.

Early in the morning, just as our room was beginning to lighten, Vincent's hand settled on my stomach. "Talk to me, sweetheart," he whispered.

I took a deep breath. "I was with TJ yesterday," I said softly. "In the tack room at the barn."

He was silent for a long while, and then rolled out of bed. I turned my head on the pillow and watched him walk to the bathroom, the round halves of his ass shifting as he moved. When the shower started, I got up and joined him. As I stepped in, he moved over a little to let me under the water. After I washed my hair, he pushed me up against the tile wall and scrubbed my back, but he still didn't speak to me.

"Are you angry?" I finally asked.

"Angry? No, not angry. I'm not sure, exactly." He paused, and when he continued, his voice was tight. "Do you want …….. something else, Sean? Something other than the relationship we have now?"

"No," I answered him quickly and decisively. "No. I love you and what we have, and I don't want it to change at all." My turn to pause. "When I saw TJ yesterday, I’d just come from being with you, and I was feeling all warm and loving, and it just sort of spilled over onto him. He ….... he’s very lonely."

We were both quiet for a bit, thinking our own thoughts. When Vincent spoke, it was in a soft voice, but his words hit me hard.

"I didn't think I'd ever tell you this, but I need to now." I heard him swallow. "There isn't much I wouldn't forgive you, Sean. You could hurt me badly, and I'd still be here. I need you like I never thought I'd need anyone.” He stopped to get his voice back under control. "Most of the time it's okay, but right now it's scaring the fuck out of me."

I was still facing the wall, my hands planted at shoulder level, and I leaned forward to rest my forehead on the cool tile. I had always known that I needed Vincent too much, that he had the power to destroy me if he chose to. To hear him admit the same thing to me was almost overwhelming. My breathing hitched as I struggled to get hold of my emotions. When I knew I wouldn't burst into tears, I slowly turned to face him.

His expression was stark, his heart in his eyes as he looked at me. As I stared back at him, I brought my left hand up next to my face, fingers spread.

"I meant every word I said when you gave me this ring. I will always love you. I'll always be here. No one does it for me like you do, Vincent. No one."

Our eyes went to the ring on my finger for a moment before I lay my hand against his neck. When I leaned in to kiss him, his expression broke and he grabbed me hard. After a few moments, he turned the water off and we stepped out.

As we dried off, Vincent said, "We've talked about this before, a little, but I'm gonna tell you everything."

He took my hand and led me back to our bed, pulling me down next to him. He lay on his back, his eyes wandering the ceiling as he began talking to me, slowly feeling his way through what he wanted to say.

"Ray thrived on making you feel absolutely worthless; making you think that he was the only person who saw something of value in you, to the point where you would do anything to get a word of praise from him. Anything," he repeated.

He sighed deeply. "When I met you, I was at a really low point. I don't know how I seemed to you, but I felt like I was playing a part, acting like a normal person when I was with you. After that first time we were together, I was so scared to see you again. I was afraid that maybe you figured out what I really was, what Ray had made me."

He stopped for a few moments, his breath coming a little quicker; his hand tight on mine. When he continued, his voice was so low, I could barely hear him.

"He made me feel filthy. When I'd get home from being with him, I'd shower until the water got cold, trying to get clean again. But then I met you, and when I was with you, I felt whole and good - like I was almost worthy of you."

I had begun to cry, tears seeping from my closed eyes to trickle across the bridge of my nose and down into the pillow.

"When you met TJ, I’d just reached the point where seeing you a few times a week wasn't enough. I was in love with you and wanted us to be together, but then you sprang TJ on me. You have no idea how hard it was for me to walk out of here that night. I wanted to drop to my knees and beg you to pick me."

"God, that was an awful night. I got in the car and just drove. By 3am I was halfway across Louisiana and certain that I’d lost you. I hadn't even met TJ yet, but the way you talked about him …….. I could tell you really liked him. I knew you liked me, too, but all Ray's words came back …... even though I hadn't seen him in years ...... and I just knew it was hopeless."

He stopped again, his hand motionless on my leg, his eyes fixed unseeingly on the ceiling. I watched him through a blur of tears, wanting so badly to stop him and cry it out, but I knew he needed to talk.

"Anyway, when you called, you sounded pretty upset, and the only reason I could think of was that you were gonna tell me goodbye. After we hung up, I got the shakes and lost my lunch in the men's room at the restaurant. By the time I got here, I was calmed down some, but when you said "if you'll have me," I was so happy I thought I'd puke again."

He rolled to me now, wrapping me in his arms as he buried his face in my neck. "God, I love you. You don't know it, but you made me whole again, after Ray had hollowed me out. That's how I knew you could heal Matt. I’ll always love you, Sean."

"I love you, too ..... only you ..... forever," I whispered, just before he kissed me.

Our relationship changed with that conversation. As close as we'd been for the past year and a half, things were different now. He'd let me into his past much deeper than I'd been previously, and admitted his need for me - something I'd known intellectually, but hadn't heard him actually say.

I ran my hand slowly up his back, trailing my fingers along the soft skin of his neck before pulling him to me. His breath was warm on my cheek as our lips brushed lightly together.

"Thank you for telling me," I said against his mouth while his tongue traced the curve of my bottom lip.

Vincent pulled away a few inches to look at me. "You needed to know. I just didn't have the balls to tell you until you hit me with TJ yesterday." He paused, his eyes locked to mine. "You're mine, Sean. Don't forget that."

"Never," I promised him. "I’ll never forget it."

He held my eyes a moment longer, my face cupped in his hand, before sitting up and pulling me along to get dressed.

I got to work late and kind of floated through the day, staring off into the distance a lot and thinking about Vincent. Matt called around three to remind me that Adam's birthday was Sunday. He wanted to throw a party of some sort, so we tossed ideas around for a few minutes, finally settling on a champagne brunch with all the trimmings.

When he got home that night, the three of us sat around the den thinking up fun things for the party. A champagne fountain sounded wonderful, as did a fondue station, freshly-made crepes with assorted fillings, and a coffee bar. Vincent said the restaurant could handle the fountain, the fondue, and the crepes, so Matt and I made a shopping list for the other items that I left on the counter for Maria, and I made a note to hire a coffee cart..

Wednesday David was there for dinner, as usual. He and Matt had spent the day out at Amanda’s working on the preliminary sketches for a large portrait of her and her husband. David had never been a talkative person, but he seemed unusually quiet that night. He and I cleaned up the kitchen while Vincent and Matt walked out to start up the hot tub. As I walked behind him, I squeezed his shoulder softly.

“Everything okay?”

He shrugged one shoulder before saying quietly, “I miss him. I hardly know him, but I miss him.”

It took me a second to realize he was talking about Levi. I looked at him more carefully, thinking that quiet, homebody David and garrulous, footloose Levi were an odd combination. He glanced at me before continuing.

“He made me laugh. I don’t think I’ve laughed out loud since Patrick died ..... and Bonnie likes him,” he added as an afterthought.

I didn’t know what to say. To assure him that Levi would be back would be cruel. From what I could tell, Levi never called a place home for more than a few nights. I tightened my grip on his shoulder, but didn’t say anything. David stood there for a moment more, and then moved away from me to finish clearing the table.

Whenever Vincent and I go through an emotional episode, I can count on an intense to rough lovemaking session within the next few days. Our talk had been on Tuesday morning, and Thursday evening at dinner, I knew tonight was the night. Vincent was a little quiet at dinner, and after we cleaned up, he took me by the wrist and headed down the hall and up the stairs. Leading me by the wrist instead of taking my hand is the real sign that I’m in for it, and sure enough, after he closed the bedroom door behind us, Vincent looked at me.

“Strip,” was all he said as he proceeded to shed his own clothes in a few seconds.

I moved over near the bed, and when I was naked, he looked me up and down, his eyes traveling slowly over my body. The close scrutiny made me slightly uncomfortable, but it was arousing, too, and my cock started to fill. Vincent zeroed in on it, his face expressionless as my penis got stiffer and rose to the horizontal. He moved around behind me, one hand spread on my chest, and with the other, he took a careful grip on my balls.

It’s amazing how much pressure your nuts can stand when the grip is just right.

Vincent pinched my nipples as he chewed on my neck and manipulated my balls, squeezing harder and harder as he tugged and pressed. He never touched my cock, but he didn’t have to - I was rigid and dripping about a minute after he started in on me. I leaned back into him, grasping his thighs and trying to remember to breathe as his hands jolted sensations though my body. When he had me moaning in pain, (10%), and need (90%), he dropped his hand from my chest to my cock, jacking me slowly until I came, bucking in his arms as my cock shot streams of cum onto the sheet.

Thank god, he held onto me as I recovered because my knees wouldn’t have held me. My nipples were red and sore, my balls were beginning to ache, and I felt used and abused and thoroughly satisfied. Vincent was very gentle with me then, kissing my neck and whispering to me how excited it made him to see me like that. His cock was hard and pushing into the crack of my ass, so I dropped forward until my elbows rested on the bed. Vincent took that as the invitation it was, and pushed into me with a short grunt.

It only took him a few minutes to climax, and I could feel the tremors in his hands as he held my hips, thrusting convulsively into my ass as he emptied himself. When he was finished, he lowered me onto the bed and crawled on top of me, his body covering mine, my hands clasped in his. We lay there until we got chilly, then cleaned up and got into bed.

Saturday afternoon we shoved furniture around until we had room for everyone to move freely between the various food areas. The champagne fountain would be the center of attention in the middle of the island with Tony making crepes in the breakfast nook, fondue pots on the table under the big mirror, and the coffee bar by the patio doors. We had fun setting everything up, and taste-testing all the appetizers Maria had whipped up.

When we were satisfied that we couldn't make things any better, we retired to the den with leftovers, courtesy of Corleone's. Matt was excited about tomorrow, but nervous about trying to throw party for Adam, who had grown up surrounded by fancier digs than mine. Vincent looked at him curiously.

"You've known Adam for almost a year now. Why do you still worry that he's gonna be less than happy with ....." Vincent ran out of words and waved his hand around in the air as Matt shrugged.

"I don't know. He just comes from such a different background than me, and I can't help feeling that he's aware of it sometimes."

"But why, honey?" I asked him. "He doesn't act like that, or say things that would make you feel like that, does he?"

"No," he said, shaking his head glumly. "I guess it's just me."

I looked at him for a moment, seeing in his slumped shoulders a bit of the boy Vincent had brought home. I tugged on his shirt tail until he slid over to me, then turned him to lie against my chest. His body was slender and light in my arms, unlike Vincent's lean solidity next to me. I held Matt gently, trying to soothe away his misgivings about Adam. He sighed deeply as I rubbed his back, and I ached for him, for the shitty hand life had dealt him before Vincent came along.