Page 45 of Wellspring
“For sure,” Cade said.“There’s more rough terrain than flat rangeland around here, with the bluffs in the south and the hill country to the west.And if you went southwest, you’d end up in the desert, so that’s not any better.”
“I have hopes I may prove myself worthy enough to accompany you on the drive to bring the herd to market,” Erick confessed.“I must demonstrate to Payne that I can do more than train horses.”
“He didn’t argue me bringing you with me on this roundup.”Much,Cade added silently.“You have almost three months to convince him.That shouldn’t be too hard.”
“So long as he continues to include me on the range rotation, I will improve.I have learned much from each of the hands I have shared shifts with.They each have such different backgrounds and skills, and are most generous to instruct me.”
They’d better have been sticking to the skills of a cowboy, Cade thought direly.If any of them had tried to instruct him on anything more personal….Cade stopped himself.That thought wasn’t fair to Erick.No, they hadn’t made any overt promises, but they spent every moment together they could, and that was all Cade could ask, given the rotations on the range that they couldn’t control.
“If you want, I could teach you how to use my bow.”
Erick smiled.“I doubt I could match your proficiency even with much practice, but perhaps you could share your skill with a whip?It was most useful in redirecting the runaways when we rode together.”
Cade set aside the image of pressing himself along Erick’s back to help him learn how to hold and draw the bow, for the moment anyway.Maybe after the drive, when things were quieter and the weather kept the herd closer to home, he’d bring it back up.But Erick was right.In the short term, learning to use the bullwhip would be more useful.“When we get to the waterfall,” he suggested.“You don’t want to clip Zephyr with it by mistake while you’re learning.”
He shot Erick a mischievous grin.“Race you!”
Cade bent low over Nahnia’s neck and gave the pony his head, his hat falling off in the breeze of his pace, only its cord keeping it from flying away.Despite Zephyr’s longer stride, Cade pulled to a halt a length ahead of Erick, laughing.
“Considering you know this land and I do not, I am not certain that was a fair contest,” Erick protested, though his eyes were sparkling.“It is as well we did not wager on the result.”
Cade threw a leg over Nahnia’s neck, slid to the ground, and prowled toward Zephyr’s side, his eyes fixed on Erick’s face.He didn’t want to misread the situation and make Erick uncomfortable, but at the same time….“What?You’d deny me a kiss for winning?”
Erick dismounted gracefully and raised a hand to cup Cade’s jaw.“I would never deny you a kiss.”He leaned forward to brush his mouth against Cade’s, and Cade couldn’t resist pulling him closer and sliding his tongue between Erick’s lips.
Heat rose between them as it always did the moment they touched, and Cade saw no reason to resist, running his hands down Erick’s back to cup his ass and snugging his leg up against Erick’s balls so he was riding Cade’s thigh.He released Erick’s mouth to nip along his jaw toward his ear.“Maybe more than just a kiss?”He nibbled on Erick’s earlobe.
“Perhaps after you demonstrate your prowess with the bullwhip, you could be persuaded to demonstrate your prowess in… other areas?”Erick was altogether too composed in Cade’s opinion, but they had only a few hours of daylight left, and they didn’t need the sun for the “other prowess” Erick was hinting at.
He stole another kiss before he stepped back, just to prove he could, intending to leave Erick as hopelessly turned on as Cade himself was, just from the kiss and the promise of things to come.He turned back to Nahnia and grabbed his whip from the saddle.Turning as he shook it out, he looked around the glen for suitable targets.He couldn’t show off his skill without something to aim at.
The leaves of the scrub oak would work.“Three strikes, three oak leaves,” he told Erick.Erick’s gaze followed his hand as he flicked the whip once, a crack echoing back from the bluff as he caught the stem of a leaf with the tip of the whip and separated it from the tree.A second crack, a second leaf.He shot Erick a cocky grin and sent the tip of the whip skyward to pluck a leaf almost from the top of the tree.
“Is there anything you do not excel at?”Erick asked, shaking his head.“You must show me the way of it, though do not expect me to match your talent.”
“Reading,” Cade replied.“And writing.I don’t excel at those.”He recoiled the whip and handed it to Erick.“And it’s not hard if what you’re trying to do is get the whip to crack so the sound helps drive the cattle where you want them to go.Let the tail drop, bend your elbow to flick it behind you, then bring your arm forward sharply.The whip will do the rest.”
Erick shifted the whip’s handle in his palm a few times until he found a grip he seemed comfortable with.He swung the tail back and forth, then bent his elbow and swung the whip forward quickly, generating a respectablecrack.He smiled warmly at Cade and cracked the tail a few more times before offering the handle back to him.“I see I must acquire one of these for myself.Though this skill is far easier to master than reading and writing.Do not denigrate your advancement in that regard.You have shown much proficiency already, and will only improve more with further practice.”
Cade flushed at the praise–and at the memory of everything else they had done during their reading lessons.“You can find a whip at Miss Hart’s mercantile,” he said hoarsely, wondering if they could get back to the “other prowess” Erick had mentioned earlier now that he’d shown Erick how to use the whip.“Next time we go into town to get more books.Do you want to keep practicing while I make camp?”
“I do not suppose I shall need to match your accuracy, since the goal is not to strike the cattle but only maneuver them.I would prefer to assist you in setting up camp and preparing our meal.”Erick glanced over his shoulder to the west.“We may still have an hour or more of daylight before we retire for the night, should you wish to practice… your letters.”
Cade’s pulse quickened along with his cock, because he’d heard that pause, and he was going to follow up on the promise in those heavy words.“Come on, then.Let me show you my favorite place on earth.”
He led Erick around the bend in the bluffs to where they could see the waterfall and pool at its base.With the relatively low rainfall, the waterfall wasn’t running hard, but it was still a steady flow, certainly enough that they could stand underneath it for a quick shower.And the pool at the base had enough water for a soak if they felt like it.The cool water would be refreshing after the heat of the day.
Erick took Cade’s hand, twining their fingers.“I can see why this place is special to you.You are fortunate to have found such an oasis of beauty and peacefulness, and I am honored that you would share it with me.”
There wasn’t much Cadewouldn’tshare with Erick, given the chance, although he wasn’t sure Erick was ready to hear that yet.He wasn’t sure he was ready to say it.“I’ve been dreaming about bringing you here since the day we met.”He could admit that because it was about sex, not emotions.“About stripping you out of your suit and finding out what was underneath.”
“You have seen it now,” Erick said with a shrug.“I find what is beneath your work garb far more alluring.”
Cade stripped without hesitation and reached for Erick’s buttons.“You’re all flushed.We should cool off, don’t you think?”
Erick’s gaze slid over Cade’s body like a caress before he shed his own clothing, folding it and setting on a rock clear of the fall’s spray.“Seeing you unclothed is not likely to cool me off.”
“The water would,” Cade said, though he made no move to step into the pool or beneath the falls.He traced a finger from the base of Erick’s neck down his chest to just below his navel.“Or I could get you even sweatier first.”
