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Heather didn’t want this to be a big deal. “When we have a few hours, I’ll put you on one of my horses and work with you in the corral, to get you back in practice and used to whichever horse you get along with the best. Today’s just a quick ride out to the wall and back, and this is the easiest way to do it.”
* * * *
Two hours later, they were riding the horses through the woods at the back of the farm — Heather and Marcus on Phantom and Kyle on Zeus.
Heather had actually been a little concerned about the first meeting between Marcus and Phantom, but Marcus had adored her horse at first sight, completely awed by Phantom’s size, and the fact that he’s solid white, almost silver in the sunlight. Phantomlovesto be adored, so everything had worked out just fine.
Marcus was riding behind Heather, holding her loosely while she held Phantom to a leisurely walk. She would let him run when they got back to the field and Marcus got off, but a slow pace was good for now. Marcus seemed comfortable enough behind her, so she’d probably put him on Molly next time, and stay in the field so she could keep a close eye on how he rode.
Marcus’s chest vibrated on her back when he spoke. “I had no idea you were coming out here three to five times a week to ride. How do you find the time?”
“I don’t find the time, I make the time, but it sounded like Jonah feels I’ve been neglecting things, so I’ll need to make even more time. He’s probably right — some of our boarders are used to having me around more. All I’ve really been doing for the past three or four weeks has been putting Phantom through his paces, and I alternated working with some of the other horses once Phantom and I were through. I should probably consider spending one night a week out here, but that needs a conversation with Jonah.”
“What do you know about Jonah’s personal life?”
Heather heard the caution in his voice and figured she knew what he was getting at, so she decided to just come out with it and not drag it out. “I take it you picked up on the fact he’s gay? Most don’t, but I should’ve known you would.”
“Yeah, but it wasn’t obvious, and I wasn’t a hundred percent sure at first. I’m guessing most of your paying customers don’t figure it out.”
“It isn’t a secret, but he doesn’t advertise it to customers. He goes to clubs and stuff, and dates occasionally, but he keeps his private life mostly private.”
“Watching him with the horses when we went to the barn also made me think he might be a Dom, but I guess you’ve kind of got to do that when handling horses, so maybe not.”
Heather thought about that a moment. “Now that you mention it, I think you may be right. I’ve met a few of his boyfriends, and I didn’t realize it at the time, but they’ve all been kind of deferential to him. At the time, I thought it was part of the gay thing. I mean, I’ve always assumed Jonah was the fucker, not the fuckee, but now that I know about the whole Dom and sub thing, I’m wondering.” Not that it was any of her business.
“We’ve made a big circle, haven’t we?”
She nodded. “We’re almost back to the ranch. When we get there, I’ll drop you off, and then I want to run Phantom a little, and put him through his paces.”
“Do you compete with him?”
“I did last year, and I’m planning to do it again next year. We’re taking the year off, and I think it was a good decision. We’ll be doing three competitions this year, so I’m not taking the year completely off, but last year we competed seventeen times, and I think it burned both of us out.”
Kyle spoke up from his horse behind them. “You’ve backed off because of me, haven’t you? I’ve got you stretched too thin.”
“I’ve stopped spending the night out here because of you, so that part’s right, but I didn’t back off on the competitions because of you.”
Marcus moved one of his hands to the top of her leg. “Between staying at Kyle’s house, my house, your place, and out here, that’s a lot of beds to be juggling.”
The trail widened out enough so Kyle could come up beside them as Heather said, “Agreed, but let’s have this conversation later, maybe over dinner.”
They came to a fork in the trail, but instead of using the reins, she said, “The climbing wall, Phantom.”
Kyle groaned and said, “That’s my punishment for bringing it up? You change the subject to remind me of the climbing wall?”
Heather felt Marcus taking a breath to speak so she hurried to speak first, “No, Kyle. The climbing wall will never be a punishment.Ever. I may offer a reward for doing a good job on it, but we’ll never use the wall as punishment. I was just telling Phantom where to go. Nothing more.”
He looked over at her. “I’m sorry, that was a poor choice of wording.”
Kyle paled when they rounded a corner in the trail and the wall came into sight. She’d had a seventy-two-foot-tall tower constructed, and two walls of it, so far, had been made into a climbing wall.
“Most people who aren’t climbers don’t make it to the top, and I’m never going to expect you to ring the bell. Hell, some people whodoconsider themselves climbers don’t make it all the way up. I created the wallIwant to climb. When it’s time to put paying customers on it, I’ll need another bell, probably two-thirds of the way up, to give them a more reachable goal.”
But he didn’t need to know all that. She took a breath and gave him an order. “Ride Zeus up to the wall and put a piece of your purple tape as high as you can reach.”
She watched him do it and saw that this would put him at just under twelve feet up, meaning he’d only have to climb four or five feet the first day if he stretched to touch it, or six feet if he got his head up to the tape. The goal was to make it a positive experience, so this was a good way to start, and today shouldn’t scare him at all. She’d seen him go higher on a stepladder.
She felt Marcus release her entirely and turn as much as he could towards Kyle, “Do you want to get off of Zeus and do it now, to get it over with?”
