The Simple Rancher

"I think you made the right decision."

"I hope so, I really do."

"Why do you doubt it?"

"Am I giving him a choice?"

"If you had been the one with cancer and your wife was the vet, James now would be in love with Jenny and the rose would be called 'Alex's lullaby.'"

"But, how do you know he loves me?"

"You don't get it do you? It doesn't matter to him. You are warm and kind and caring. You see him for what he can be, not for what he isn't. He couldn't help but love you. Don't doubt that."

With those last words, Doc got up and left the house. I watched him go, wondering, hoping his words were true. I finished feeding Brad as Missy and James returned. I gathered them up and left, telling James I would return in a while. I left and took them to my mother's house, leaving the children in her hands and returned home to gather a few items of clothing and then drove back out to the ranch. My hands were shacking. Out of nervousness or excitement I don't know. Each warred within me. I was in love again and I was also going to be making love with someone who probably had no experience whatsoever. It was daunting. It was charming. It was nerve-wracking. I pulled up to the ranch house right about sunset. The night was warm, but not too warm. The sun set behind the majesty of the Cascades a single light was left on in the house. It felt like coming home. I knocked on the door and James let me in. He guided me to a room that was filled with bookshelves and a roaring fire. There was an open book on a table by the fire. The floor to ceiling windows looked out on the rose garden. I smiled at the sight.

"What are you reading?"

He named one of my favorites and we chatted about it for a minute. I was nervous and I think James picked up on it. But he finally asked: "What are you doing here?"

"I came to see you. I came to talk to you."

"What about?"

"James, about that night in the shower..."

"I'm sorry about that. I just had some bad memories come up."

"Will you tell me about them?"

He nodded. "I was in the shower when I was about fourteen. I was just washing. But when I got down between my legs, I got hard. I wasn't playing with it, I just got hard."

I nodded and told him that it happened to most fourteen year olds. He blushed a little but continued.

"Daddy walked in and saw me rinsing off, I was just holding it up to rinse underneath. He thought I was playing with it. He hollered at me. I got out of the shower and tried to explain what happened. He just told me to go to my room and to bed. That night he came at me with his belt. It was the first time."

I walked up to him and cupped his face. He still looked ashamed. I didn't kiss him. I didn't want him to panic again. But I pulled his chin up to look in my eyes.

"James, we all get hard sometimes. It is completely natural. It wasn't your fault. I'm sorry I brought you bad memories when I kissed you."

"You brought me good memories when you kissed me. I can't stop thinking about it."

"James, we need to talk about that. I will probably offend you by asking some questions, but I don't mean to hurt your feelings."

"You asked if you would hurt my feelings. No one ever asks Alex. Or apologize for it. That means you are thinking of me more than of yourself. No one does that either."

It made me smile. "James, what do you feel for me?"

"I love you."

That simple. It made me wonder. "When did you realize that you love me?"

"It isn't a time. It's a feeling. I watch you when you come out to the ranch. You don't discount me. You treat me like any other man. But if I had to give you a time, probably when I gave you the roses."

His words warmed me, but now came the tricky part. "Am I the only one you love?"

"No Alex, I love mama and Doc. I love the horses and Mrs. Smith who cleans the house and cooks for the ranch hands. But with you, it's different. I feel a part of you. You make me smile when you are near. When you are gone, I feel better knowing you will come back. I don't understand the words to tell you how I feel. Do you love me?"

He may not have much experience with love, but he understood it, inside, in his heart. "Yes, James, I love you."

He moved towards me, leaning his lips the few inches to meet mine. His kiss wasn't hesitant like in the shower, but bold and warm. I was lost as he wrapped his arms around me and held me close. His body wrapped around me, and I realized he was protecting me, shielding me. I pulled away lightly; I still had two more things to know.

"James, I want to be with you. I want to come out to the ranch and live with you and hold you and love you. But I need to know: Can you love my children? Can you treat them as your own?"

"Of course I can love them. They are a part of you Alex. It is easy to love them. As to treating them like my own, I don't know. I don't have any children so I don't know if I would treat them like my own. But I will love them. I will protect them with my life. I will make sure they are loved and know that they are wanted. They will never know fear or hunger or loneliness."

My throat thickened and I had to swallow hard to get the next question out.

"Have you ever made love before, James?"

"No."

"Will you make love with me?"

He nodded his head and took my hand. He took me on a quick tour of his home, ending in the master bedroom. He shut the door behind us and led me to the massive king size bed. It looked like it was crafted from pine logs and covered in a thick mattress and soft bedding. It looked like paradise. I looked up into James' warm smile. But I noticed he was trembling. I took his hand in mine and squeezed it. He smiled at me. It wasn't nerves that had him trembling.

I took his hands and placed them at the collar to my shirt. I then put mine at his collar and started to unbutton his shirt. James followed my lead. As each button was undone, I would spread James' shirt and feel the warm skin and silky hair of his chest. He would stroke my chest after each button opened, feeling my skin, devoid of hair. When our shirts were open to the waist, James stopped, waiting for me to lead him on. I pulled his shirt from his waistband and slid it off his shoulders. It forced him to drop his hands from my shirt. Once his shirt was off, he moved back and removed mine. I unbuckled his belt and undid the snap of his jeans. James followed. I slid my hands into his open jeans and skimmed them down against his hips. They dropped to the floor and James stepped out of them. He stood before me in his white, loose boxers and socks. James quickly got rid of my jeans, stripping me to my briefs. Briefs that grew tighter with each moment. I pushed him down onto the bed after I pulled down the covers. James landed softly and looked up at me expectantly. I took off his socks and then my own before lying down beside him.

"If there is anything we do that you don't like, tell me James."

He nodded. I reached over to him and pulled down his shorts. His erection was caught under the waistband, when the shorts were low enough; it sprang back and slapped his belly. It caused James to moan. He was on edge already and all we had done was kiss. I had a feeling that he didn't know what was happening.

"James?"

"Unh-huh?"

"Have you ever touched yourself? Did you ever hold on to yourself when hard and move your hand over it?"

"No. Daddy beat me for washing, I wasn't going to actually do what he hit me for."

"So you don't know what will happen?"

"I have sticky dreams sometimes."

Wet dreams. He had cum, but never while conscious. This could be interesting, scary for him, and emotional for the both of us. I kissed him and moved my hand to capture his penis. I squeezed him gently and felt his body shudder. He pulled back from my lips and cried out. He moaned with each feather-light touch of my hand. I started moving my fist back and forth over the velvet covered steel. He started leaking immediately. With each stroke, he moaned loudly. James curled towards me, trying to curl into a ball, overwhelmed by the new sensations assaulting him. He hugged me to him, anchoring himself as the sensations built inside him. I felt him thicken in my hand and James stared into my eyes with wonder. His first spurt hit my thigh, scalding hot and massive. James closed his eyes and cried out with each spasm of his release. I slowed my hand when his ejaculation started to ebb. He just whimpered and moaned with each aftershock of sensation. I didn't let go of him, but stopped moving my fist. He rolled onto his back, still shuddering from time to time with pleasure. After a couple of minutes, he looked at me and smiled. James got a mischievous look on his face. He then dove on me, kissing me and lowering my briefs, releasing my aching shaft. While he kissed me, he began stroking me, moving the same way I did on him. I didn't last long, I cried out my release and watched James watch me. He wondered at what he saw and witnessed. I smiled at him, and we cuddled together. We weren't cold, but I pulled the sheet over us and just reveled in lying protected in his arms and able to nuzzle that beautiful, furry chest.

I don't know how long we dozed or if James slept at all. I awoke to find James lying on his back with me lying next to him. He was erect and I was at half-mast. He was staring at our cocks.

"I'm bigger than you."

"Of course you are, you're two inches taller than me."

"No, I meant bigger penis."

"Well, you're hard, I'm not."

He reached down and stroked me with his hand and I sprang to attention. Then he pulled away and compared again.

"I'd say we're pretty even James."

He smiled at me and started kissing me again. He pulled my hand to his penis and stroked my own. We stroked and kissed for a few minutes. James writhed beneath my grasp. I stopped him though. I didn't want it to be over so quickly again. I pulled away and told him there were other ways we could make love. He was eager and asked how. Instead of telling him, I showed him. I started kissing his neck and earlobe. I moved down onto his collarbone and skimmed it with my open mouth. I placed loud, wet, messy open-mouthed kisses all over his chest before taking one of his nipples in my mouth and attending to it. James arched his back under me and purred. I moved down his stomach, nipping at his skin lightly with my teeth. The tip of his erection brushed against my chest and I felt him leaking his clear essence against it. I kept moving down, wanting that treasure in my mouth. I moved past it though to pay homage to his testicles. I was teasing them with my mouth, swirling each egg with my tongue. The hair was sparse on them and I loved the texture in my mouth. I pulled back a little when I noticed the scar on them. His scrotum had what looked like an incision scar about half an inch across. I recognized it because I also had one. The scar was the badge of a vasectomy. Jenny and I decided two children were enough. James didn't have any. Now I knew what Doc meant by 'other'.

I pulled away and looked at James. He was glossy eyed from passion. He was very aroused. I hoped to god I was wrong, but I could wait for answers. I moved my mouth down on him. I took his shiny, wet tip in my mouth and loved him for all I was worth. I bobbed on his shaft and swirled my tongue in an effort to bring James to the edge. It didn't take long before he started bellowing with each movement of my mouth. He is a loud lover and I was glad I was bringing him this joy. When I felt him thicken, I doubled my efforts and moved faster, swirled sensuously around him, and sucked harder. James erupted in my mouth. It had been almost ten years since I had last done this. I had forgotten how full your mouth can become. I swallowed as fast as I could without choking. But I took all that James had to give. When he had calmed, I cleaned him up with a few bobs of my head and a lick at the overflow in his pubic hair. His spent cock collapsed along his hip and I moved up to kiss James. He met my kiss tiredly. He was spent and I loved that I had brought him there. But before he could go to sleep, I needed to know.

"James, when did you have a vasectomy?"

His sultry, afterglow smile faded. He looked away for a second then looked back. "I was fifteen."

"Fifteen! Why?"

"Daddy took me to Dallas for a huge garden expo. My roses were entered and I was going to receive an award. He took me a few days early. After we got to the hotel, the next morning he took me to a doctor's office. They gave me a pill that made me sleepy. I woke in the hotel bed with an ice pack in my lap and daddy fed me pills every few hours. When it was time to go to the show, I was better and didn't ache. I didn't know what it was at first. I heard what they called it, but didn't know what it meant."

"But why?"

"When I looked it up in the dictionary when we got home, I asked daddy. He told me he didn't want any more retarded bastards to raise."

The old man had had him sterilized. He couldn't have had children even if he wanted to. The choice was taken from him.

"When daddy died, Doc told me I needed to find a good wife and have some kids. I hadn't told him about the special trip to Dallas, but I did that day. He was so angry he threatened to dig daddy up and shoot him."

I was too emotional to speak. A lump was lodged in my throat. But I kissed him. I kissed him long and hard, hoping to give every scrap of love I felt to him with that woefully pitiful gesture. When I pulled away, there were tears in his eyes.

"I will always be grateful Alex that you are sharing your family with me. I never thought I would have one."

"I'm not sharing. I decided long before today that you are going to adopt them and be a parent in every sense of the word. They will be your kids. You didn't father them, but I know you will love them every day of their lives."

We started kissing again, long and hard. He moved over me, placing his big body on top of mine. The kisses turned more and more passionate. James started rocking against me; his erection nestled next to mine, rubbing in the soft hair of his belly. He must have found the motion as pleasant as I because we started thrusting against each other. Our natural lubricant eased our way. The motion of his hips became more urgent, more forceful. I knew we were both on edge. I looked up into his eyes and smiled and told him I loved him. He erupted with a great cry. Feeling his cock twitch with each jet of his semen caused me to erupt with him.

We dozed off and on through the night. We turned to each other whenever we awoke. James took me in his mouth and it was wonderful, hesitant, but wonderful. A couple of hours before the sun rose, James asked if that was all there was to making love. I laughed and told him no, there was lots more. He told me that he had seen one of the field hands and a girl under one of the apple trees. He said he watched him bounce on top of her. Then he told me he saw two of the stable hands in the tack room, one lying on his stomach, and the other lay on top of him and bounced on him. He asked if we were going to bounce on each other. I laughed and explained that we would, but that the first time could hurt and I didn't want to hurt him. He grinned and told me that nothing had hurt so far. He was eager, and I saw no reason to wait. I pushed him onto his stomach and decided to just go for it.

I kissed his neck and massaged his shoulders. I trailed my tongue on the bumps of his spine until I met the furry patch above his dimpled cheeks. I massaged the orbs of his ass and kissed my way down his spine. I pushed his legs apart and skimmed my fingers through his crack. The moment I brushed his hole, James moaned. He definitely wasn't an inhibited lover. I pulled away from his crack with my fingers and moved my mouth down to him. I tasted his warm skin and nuzzled his hole with my nose. I used my tongue in a swirling pattern to part the thick hair away from the prize. It made him squirm. I felt James open the moment I touched my tongue to him. I pushed inside him and started thrusting into him with my tongue. Each plunge had James crying out his pleasure. When he was sufficiently wet and loose, I rose over him and placed myself at his opening. Before I thrust, I kissed his ear and told him I loved him. Then I pushed slightly. I rocked into him gently, waiting for him to protest as I sank slowly into his warm channel. He never did. When I was seated fully, James turned his head and asked when the pain would happen. I just smiled and said that there obviously wasn't going to be any. With that I pulled out slowly than sank back in. I thought I would die from it. His inner muscles begged me to stay and pulled at me. He was warm and moist and I was fisted to almost orgasm by his tight body. I began to move in earnest. Each thrust had James moaning louder. Each bounce of my hips sent me higher. I felt the hairiness of his legs as he wrapped them around mine. I felt his hands clasp mine where they braced me. I moved again and again within him. I knew it wasn't going to last. The sensations were just too good. I started to buck, as I got closer. It wouldn't be long now. I felt James clasp me harder. His moans had reached that fever pitch telling me he was about to cum. One last deep thrust was all I needed and I exploded, feeling James clasp me as he followed. My cries were ripped from me with each milking motion of James' body. I was on fire and only hoped to survive.

When we came back to earth, I rolled away from James, leaving him with a wet plop. James rolled onto his back and stared at me in wonder. He told me he didn't think it was possible: he was still hard. He looked down at his erection than smiled at me. He asked if it was his turn. I smiled and nodded. I was so relaxed that I doubted I would cum again. I was wrong.

James rolled me onto my stomach and followed the exact same motions as I. He lapped at me and opened me with his mouth. Then he lay on top of me and thrust into me to the hilt. Finesse he hadn't learned. He immediately started thrusting heavily into me. He wasn't rough, but he was definitely ... thorough. It had been ten years since I had done this. But James didn't hurt me; he was too gentle and tender to do that. But my ass took a heavy pounding that morning. He kept up his steady thrusts, grazing my prostate with each downward stroke. I wasn't going to last, he was too good, so much a natural, sensual lover. Twenty or thirty of his hard thrusts and I came, clamping him as I went over the edge. I felt James continue his motions, moving in that same in to the hilt, out to the crown motion. I don't know how he did it, but it was a good five minutes later and he was still at it. He moaned and groaned with each thrust. I felt myself build again, in awe that I could possibly cum again. After I came the second time, I felt James twitch then shudder into me. Each spurt of his orgasm caused him to grunt in animalistic pleasure. He collapsed on my back when the last of his spasms died. He stayed in place and slowly nuzzled the back of my neck with his nose. He stayed there, his big body inside me and surrounding me, protective and cosseted. I loved him more than I thought possible. We didn't have sex; we made love. Before he moved away, James told me how much he enjoyed what we had done. His simple statement of: I like this, warmed me. It also made me laugh. I decided we needed a break. I pulled away from him and led him to the bathroom. Inside was a huge old-fashioned claw foot tub, big enough for the two of us. I filled it with warm, bubbly water and had James climb in. I settled between his thighs and lay back against his strong, broad, warm chest. He asked why we were taking a bath and I told him we needed to soak, to help our aching bodies.

After the bath, we both needed to get a start on the day. I went to my clothes and was getting ready to put on my briefs when James stared at them. He asked why I chose briefs. I told him that I liked the support. He didn't understand so I told him to try them on. He sat down to do it. I knew he would be uncomfortable with his balls and cock at the seat. He stood and winced at the snug fit. I smiled and reached in to pull everything forward for him. He seemed to relax for a second, and then he grew still. He started getting hard in my hand. I pulled my hand out of the underwear and James looked at me. His face was taught with desire. He reached down and pulled off the underwear and pushed me on the bed. He was erect and starting to drip. I didn't know if I could take another pounding so soon. But James just pushed me onto the bed and approached me and lay in the opposite direction. I understood completely and took him in my mouth as he took me. We both moved over each other, letting the warm wetness of our mouths please us. It didn't take long, it never does and we tasted each other's essence. We lay there, basking in love for a few more minutes, watching the sky turn light with the dawn of a new day.