What had made him so angry?Surely, he was here for the pony play.Did he not like his trainer?
“Hotblood?”I asked.“Is that a horse term?”
Lorraine nodded.“Yes.It refers to the smaller, more high-strung breeds, like Arabians and Thoroughbreds.Gorgeous creatures but they can wear you out a bit.”
Kamal chuckled.“Puck’s a bit of a drama queen.And he likes to back talk.See how quiet he is now?He knows what I’ve brought for him.”
Kamal held up an item that made my knees go weak when I thought about what he was about to do with it.It was a ponytail plug, like the ones I’d seen in the website photos.Thick and solid, with waves of black horsehair cascading down from the flange, the object at once utilitarian and intimidating.
“Ah,” Adam said.“I see.”
Puck’s head swivelled and his gaze locked on the tail.He shook his head and tried to move away, but the rope attaching him to the fence prevented his escape.
“Calm down,” Kamal said, moving toward him.“You don’t want an audience?You should have thought of that when you cursed at me earlier, when all I did was criticize your gait.You want to be a pony at the BCR, Puck?You need to watch your tongue when you’re with me.I don’t abide rude behaviour, and I told you that on your first day.”Kamal’s voice, though stern, didn’t carry any aggression, simply imparting the cold facts to the recalcitrant young man.
Kamal gazed at Puck, then me, then Adam.“Can I borrow Oliver?”
Adam raised his eyebrows at me and shrugged.“If it’s okay with him.”
I gave Kamal a half smile, wondering what he wanted me to do.
“Perfect,” Kamal said.“Come over here.”
I moved forward and stopped where Kamal indicated.He walked to where Puck’s rope wrapped around the fence pole and untied him, speaking softly to him while he did it.Puck gave a pert nod, then a shake of his head, as Kamal held onto the rope at his collar and led him to me.
Those eyes shot lightning bolts, as if all Puck wanted was to smite me into the dirt.He frowned, his lips in a scowl, as Kamal brought him over and passed me the rope.
“Hold him.”
I froze.“Um…”
“Just hold the rope, Oliver.”
I exchanged a glance with Kamal and took the rope, grabbing it lower down.Puck was free to move if he wanted to.But he stayed where he was and burned lasers into me as I stood, confused and aroused before him.
We were a similar height.He was fucking glorious.
Sleek muscles coated with sweat, his fair skin spattered here-and-there with dark-brown moles that only proved how unblemished and perfect he was otherwise.His sweat-damp hair curled against his head with casual abandon, framing a Grecian face—full lips, aristocratic nose, and high cheek bones.
He had a barbell in his left eyebrow and right nipple, and a silver ring circling his bottom lip.He looked like one of the club kids from home, captured in this rural environment and out-of-his-depth.I’d lay wages Puck was an out-and-out city boy.
I tried to focus on anything but how ethereal this young man looked in his pony gear, because my heart was fucking breaking, and I’d only been here an hour.And Kamal was speaking.
“He’ll have to bend over.Can you support his shoulders, Oliver?”
What?
“Pardon?”
Kamal stared at me and smiled slowly, like he knew exactly why I was distracted in this moment.He put a hand on my shoulder.
“Oliver.”
“Yes?”
“I know he’s fucking pretty.And I know you haven’t been on the ranch very long.But I think it will help you with your photography if you get used to being up close and personal with Puck here.And I want Puck to have to suffer the indignity of having the resident professional photographer watch closely as he receives his ponytail for the very first time.”
My mouth went dry, and I nodded, not daring to defy Kamal, and also understanding that I might as well wade into the deep end.I was here for the experience and to learn everything I could about being a ponyboy at the BCR, so I could capture it with my lens.
