Maverick Cattle Company Ch. 02

"Don't you dare! Not one word to him. I can't take him going back to being mute," scolded Darrin.

Mitch chuckled and brought his coffee to his lips. He watched as Darrin started putting breakfast on the table. As he and Mitch sat down to eat, a reticent Josh came to the table. His wet hair a sign of the quick shower he'd taken. He ate slowly but refused to lift his eyes from his plate. Finally breakfast ended and Mitch headed out the door to work on the corrals. Josh sat for a few minutes before finally looking at Darrin.

"I'm real sorry. It won't happen again. I can't believe . . ."

Darrin stopped Josh with a motion. "Yes, it probably will happen again. You're 18 and full of . . . testosterone. It's nothing to worry about, and it's perfectly normal. I'm sorry I walked in on you though."

A weak chuckle leaked from Josh's lips. "Yeah, that couldn't have been much worse timing."

Darrin laughed and shook his head. "Nope, not much. Now come on, lets see what back breaking work Mitch has in store for us today." Darrin paused and then continued, "And Josh, if Mitch gives you crap just ignore him. I'd say ask him how many wet dreams he's had, but he'd probably give you a detailed account of each one."

Josh nodded and smiled slight, amazed that he had ended up in the care of these two great guys.

<><><><>

Darrin was happily putting the final notes on the exams he was grading. He had hoped to leave a little early today, without his usual pile of work to do at home. Just as he was dotting the final "i", he heard the smack of boot heels that he had come to associate with Kevin Boorman. So far they had managed to avoid each other, and Darrin was fine with that. He didn't think Boorman was stupid enough to start the taunts again but he wasn't completely sure. He braced himself for what could be an ugly confrontation just as he appeared in Darrin's doorway. Darrin was surprised to see a student in tow behind Boorman though.

Darrin met Boorman's eyes until he looked away. With a smirk at his small victory, he asked the obvious. "Hello, Kevin. What can I do for you?"

Boorman grabbed the poor student by the arm and practically shoved him into Darrin's office. "This is one of yours," he said just before turning and walking off.

Darrin turned back to the student, not sure what was going on. "Hello, I'm Dr. Anderson. Is there something that I can do to help you?"

As Darrin got the chance to look at the student more closely, he could tell that he was nervous. He looked very young, but his small thin frame and white blond hair probably made him look younger than he was. Darrin waited for a response, but was met with silence and shaking hands as the student's apprehension seemed to escalate.

"What's your name, son?" asked Darrin. He had to chuckle inside a little at his wording. This student was probably not that much younger than he was and Darrin was calling him son.

"Umm, Zach. I'm Zach Delong," said the student in a low mumble.

"Well Zach, what can I do for you?" Darrin asked again.

"Nothing sir. I don't need anything," muttered Zach.

"Well, any idea why Dr. Boorman brought you down?"

"Yeah . . ."

"Which is?"

"I'm a queer . . ."

Oh fuck, thought Darrin. Just what I needed was another guilt-ridden kid to baby through the process of acceptance. Taking a deep breath he realized that whether he liked it or not, that was part of his role as the token out gay man in the department. He looked back at the student and smiled.

"Why do you think that?"

Zach looked up, trying to decide if Darrin was making fun of him. When he realized the question was genuine he thought about his response.

"Because, you know. I wanna do it with . . . guys."

"Did you tell Dr. Boorman this?" asked Darrin.

"Yeah. They said during orientation that if we had problems that our advisors could help. So I talked with Dr. Boorman . . ."

"And?"

"He didn't say anything. Just got the same look on his face that my Mom makes when she steps in fresh cow shit and then brought me down here," explained Zach.

Darrin sighed quietly and then began. "Ok, so you might be gay, or you might not. It's not as black and white as some people seem to think. It's more like a range of feelings from . . ." The discussion continued for quite some time. But once Zach left, Darrin thought the conversation had at least moved the kid a little closer to some understanding, and acceptance, of his feelings. Satisfied, Darrin looked at his watch and realized that it had been two hours. Well, he sighed, he hoped they hadn't been waiting on him for supper.

He made the trip home in quiet thought about Zach. Arriving at their house he gathered up his bag from the pickup and walked exhausted into the house. As he walked through the darkened rooms, he resigned himself to a meal alone. But moving into the kitchen he saw Mitch sitting at the counter waiting on him. Mitch flashed him a bright smile and walked over and gave him a soft kiss. He then pulled a plate from the refrigerator and walked to the microwave to heat it.

"Rough day?"

"Oh god, babe. Let me tell you about it . . ."

<><><><>

It had been several weeks since Darrin had any time alone and he was looking forward to it as he pulled into their driveway and parked. Josh and Mitch were both gone until late. Darrin was looking forward to a quiet meal by himself, followed by some private time. Going to the bedroom he stripped down to his jockstrap, enjoying the freedom as he padded back to the kitchen. Riffling through the fridge, he soon had a plate of leftovers that he carried back to the bedroom. Setting the plate on the bedside table, he pulled his notebook computer beside him. Opening his folder of porn videos, he chose the new cowboy video he had bought and settled back.

Darrin ate his supper while the movie played through the opening scenes. Setting the empty plate aside, Darrin began groping himself through the thick fabric of the jock. As he watched the movie he had to admit they were good looking actors, rugged and masculine. As a steamy sex scene geared up, Darrin's hand was inside his jock slowly stroking his wet dick. His building pleasure was made obvious by his soft moans and the wet sound as his hand traveling up and down his hard cock. Pushing the jock under his nuts, Darrin's hand trailed lower until the tip of his finger reached his hole. He softly rubbed over it as he slowed his stroking. His body was building for release, and tonight he wanted the pleasure to last.

As the video moved to a new scene, Darrin slipped off his jockstrap and retrieved the bottle of lube from the side table. Pumping a few squirts into his hand, Darrin began coating his hole with the slippery substance. Sliding his fingers in, he pierced his gut with a sigh of pleasure. Darrin was soon fingering himself with three digits while his free hand rubbed over his muscular chest. Closing his eyes, he had surrendered to the pleasure, the moans and cries of sex engulfing him as he imagined Mitch taking him. He approached the edge of his orgasm numerous times but Darrin let the pleasure continue to build. As the waves of hedonism developed again, he felt another set of hands run over his chest.

Darrin jumped at the touch, his fingers ripped from his wet ass. His eyes flew open to see Mitch standing there smiling.

"God damn it, Mitch! You scared the shit out of me."

Mitch's hands continued to run over his husband's muscular chest as the bulge in his jeans became more obvious. He rubbed his thumb over Darrin's nipple and listened to the soft moan his gesture evoked.

"Playing by yourself again I see. Maybe I should punish you," Mitch quipped.

"Oh god, babe. Whatever you want. Just keep doing what you're doing," said Darrin.

Mitch leaned over and watched the computer screen for a few seconds. Moving down he kissed Darrin. "Hot movie, College. You have a thing for cowboys?"

Darrin ran his hands over Mitch's stomach and then under his thin t-shirt. "Yeah, I do. Especially hairy ones with a tight ass."

Mitch stepped back and quickly stripped. As he moved up the bed, he lifted Darrin's legs and rested them on his shoulders. Running his hand over Darrin's spread ass cheeks, he filled his hand with lube and added to the slimy mess already coating Darrin butt. Their eyes locked, Darrin playing with his nipples while Mitch's wet fingers began working their way inside his ass. Mitch let his hand slip out and pushed Darrin's legs forward, forcing them higher and exposing his hole completely. Mitch rubbed his cock over Darrin's exposed pucker and then pushed forward until its head was sheathed in hot ass.

"Fuck, baby! That ass feels so good. Damn, I think I like college ass," said Mitch with a groan.

Darrin smiled and bucked toward the invading dick. "So long as it's my college ass, I'm good with it."

Mitch rose onto his toes and then dropped himself, completely impaling Darrin on his cock. Mitch paused, and then started a steady rhythm of assault on Darrin's ass. Both of them rapidly become embroiled in their shared passion. Soon Mitch grabbed Darrin behind the head and was pile driving into him over and over again. The rough assault on his prostrate had clear fluid flowing from Darrin's cock in a seemingly unending stream. Mitch felt his orgasm begin and shifted into overdrive. He fucked Darrin's well-used ass with abandon until the orgasmic shutters broke his rhythm. Pinning Darrin to the bed, Mitch filled his lovers gut with hot cum.

The hot jizz splashing inside him drove Darrin to the edge. His body ached for release, which arrived as Mitch scrapped over his well-worked prostate one last time. The first shot of cum arched over Darrin to land on the headboard. The subsequent volleys arched across his chest, creating lines of white pleasure over his chest hair. Gasping for breath he drifted down from his orgasmic high, just in time to catch Mitch as he collapsed. Twisting his head, Mitch kissed Darrin on the cheek.

"Anytime you need to do that again, just let me know. Any. Time," said Mitch as he panted for breath.

Darrin chuckled, "Good to know. Very good to know."

<><><><>

Mitch watched as the semi backed up to their corral. He was more than a little concerned about borrowing the kind of money they had for winter stockers. But he and Darrin had worked the numbers every way they could and it looked like the profit from the steers would pay for their base herd of momma cows, which was their goal. He'd bought these through a buyer, so there was no telling what was about to come off that truck. Mitch had told the guy he'd prefer Black Baldies, but there were no guarantees. Mitch glanced over to see Josh nervously watching him for anything that needed to be done. Mitch had to concede that the kid was working out fine. They had convinced Josh to finish high school and he was on-track for a spring graduation. And although it was going to take years to repair all the damage done to his psyche, he was improving. Mitch had to laugh to himself at Josh's reaction to the birthday gift, but he seemed to have recovered. And Mitch hadn't given him any grief over the wet dream that Darrin walked in on, although it was killing him not to.

The trailer door opened and the cattle started streaming down the loading ramp. Mitch's jaw dropped as the stream of black and white bodies rushed past him. Fucking Holsteins! The motherfuck'r had bought him a load of goddamn Holsteins! He wanted beef cattle, not damn dairy cow wannabes.

Mitch rushed up, waving his hands. "Stop! Stop unloading that shit!"

The driver looked up but let the last of the cattle rush into the corral. "What's the problem?" he drawled.

"These are Holsteins. I wanted beef steers. What the fuck is going on?" yelled Mitch.

The driver pulled a delivery order from his pocket and looked it over. "This just says steers, and a price. Don't say a thing about 'em being beef steers."

Mitch yanked the paper from the driver's hand and fumed to himself as he read it carefully. He eventually had to admit that the type of animal wasn't specified. He couldn't believe he'd missed a detail as important as that. After reading through it several times he handed it back to the driver.

"Fine! We'll take 'em. But this is bullshit!"

The driver shrugged his shoulders and closed the trailer. Mitch watched as without another word he climbed into the cab of his truck and drove off. Looking at their packed corral, he seethed at the sight of the sea of black and white hides filling it. Raking his eyes across the animals, he caught Josh's eyes as he watched Mitch carefully. Mitch's anger flared and was directed at the innocent young man at the end of the pens.

"Don't just stand there, dumb ass! Get the motherfuckers some water before they drop dead of stupidity," yelled Mitch.

Mitch watched for a few seconds as Josh sprinted to fill the troughs, the feeling of guilt at taking out his frustration on the quiet young man eclipsed by his worry about the mistake he apparently had made. With a final sound of disgust he headed toward the house.

<><><><>

Darrin sat at the table and watched as Mitch frantically searched through his paperwork trying to find something that said this wasn't his fault. Mitch didn't think these animals would make them any money and his anger at the mistake was palpable. Darrin knew he was right about one thing, if they turned around and sold them immediately, they would lose money. Cattle always lost weight when shipped and he'd bet these had come from the Midwest. But Darrin wasn't as sure that it was a disaster. While Mitch was burrowed in the piles of paper, Darrin retrieved a beer from the fridge. He walked back and looked over Mitch's shoulder and reached up and laid his hand on Mitch's neck.

Mitch arched his back and shrugged the hand off. "Don't do that, Darrin. I don't have time for that horse shit."

Darrin lofted his eyebrows as he looked at Mitch. Deciding there was nothing he could do to help Mitch, and not wanting to fight with him, Darrin walked to their bedroom. After stripping down Darrin tried to relax by reading a book. But it proved challenging as the noise coming from the other room gained in volume now that Mitch was alone. Darrin wondered if Mitch was going to leave anything intact in his search for the non-existing paperwork. Eventually he carefully marked his place and turned off the light to go to sleep.

Darrin was only distantly aware when Mitch finally crawled into bed. But awakening to the early morning light filtering into the room, Darrin realized that Mitch was curled into a dejected ball on the far edge of the bed. Moving closer he wrapped his arms around his husband and pulled him close. Feeling Mitch tense slightly, Darrin leaned in and whispered, "It's going to be fine. It's really not that big of a deal."

"I fucked up bad," Mitch said dejectedly. "What are we going to do with 100 head of Holstein steers. God, what a mess."

"Ok, I have an idea," Darrin quietly started, "Lets turn them out on the pasture and weigh them in a month. If they aren't gaining like you want, we'll sell 'em. At least it's fall and things are cooling off. I'm not sure they could survive a summer here."

"Damn, babe. We could get hosed if they don't gain, or god forbid, lose weight," whispered Mitch.

Darrin started chuckling softly, until Mitch turned an irritated face toward him. "What's so fuckin' funny?"

"Good lookin', we're in the cattle business. We're going to get hosed sometimes. We just want to limit it as much as possible so it doesn't become a habit," said Darrin.

Mitch looked like he was going to have a retort, and then slowly a smile crept across his face. "Yeah, I know you are right. But damn it, I hate to screw up."

Darrin laughed. "Yes, I know you do. Now let's get Josh up and go figure out how we're going to keep a bunch of Yankee steers alive for the next month." Darrin kissed the back of Mitch's neck and said softly, "You also owe Josh an apology, 'cause you were an ass to him yesterday."

"I know, and I already told Josh I was being a dick. I talked to him last night after you were asleep. He knows it wasn't anything he's done," said Mitch.

With that the conversation ended and Mitch kicked off the blanket and started searching for his clothes as Darrin did the same. Darrin dropped in behind Mitch as they went through the bedroom door and then raced past him, swatting him on the ass as they passed. Mitch quickly was chasing him in a moment of childlike exuberance. Eventually they realized they had forgotten to wake up Josh, but decided he could sleep in this one day and they could have the morning to themselves.

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Several weeks had passed and things were back to normal for the trio. Josh had taken on the job of caring for the steers while they were adjusting, and he had done a good job. Several days earlier they had worked them, given any shots needed and turned them in smaller groups onto separate pastures. The fall grass was flourishing and Mitch was hopeful that they were gaining. He was concerned about a series of unusually severe fall storms that had been coming through the area. The forecast was for another to sweep through today, and he was anxious.

Darrin stood in the kitchen for several minutes, watching Mitch lean against the front porch post. Grabbing two bottles of beer from the fridge he walked out and handed one to Mitch, who leaned over and kissed Darrin in thanks. Twisting off the bottle top he took a big swig and then pointed to the southwest with the beer.

"That doesn't look good. And we just moved those steers out on pasture. We probably should have waiting a few more days."

"The thunderstorm could have come anytime, babe. The steers will be fine," said Darrin.

"I hope you're right. All we need is for one of the groups to go nuts and run through the fences. We'd have a bunch of tore up cattle at best, and I don't want to think about the worst."

"Come on inside. It's not going to change by watching it," said Darrin.

"Nah, I'm fine. I'm going to keep an eye on this."

Darrin shrugged his shoulders and walked back inside. He soon was busy catching up on grading and lost track of time. The waning light alerted him to the closeness of the impending storm. Putting away the job related work, he checked on Mitch and found him still sitting on the steps. The empty bottle dangling from his fingers, he studied the horizon. Following Mitch's focus, Darrin saw that the cloud bank had changed disposition to what looked to be a full-blown plains thunderstorm.

"Does that look as bad to you as it does to me?" asked Darrin.

"Yeah, it does," muttered Mitch.

"Crap."

Darrin sat beside Mitch to watch the storm. The boiling wall of clouds would have been magnificent, if it wasn't headed directly toward them. Soon a massive lightening storm was igniting the black sky. They felt the cold air of the front as it swept over them, followed quickly by the first sheets of driving rain mixed with hail, that forced them inside. Watching through the windows they grimaced with each successively louder roll of thunder. Josh even emerged from his room to stand beside them and watch. At times the pouring rain limited visibility to the edge of their porch. But after what seemed to be hours, the storm passed over them and the fading light revealed the storm's aftermath. They walked out on the porch and surveyed for damage. Mitch quickly determined there was little damage around the house and flew off the porch, headed for the barn.

"Come on! We need to see if we still have any steers."

Mitch jumped on the ATV they had bought a few weeks before and was roaring across the pastures before Darrin and Josh could follow in the pickup. Working together they soon found the first three groups of animals, intact and without any injury. But the fourth proved to be elusive. As they crisscrossed the 200-acre enclosure it became obvious the cattle were gone. Mitch started searching the fence line and finally found where they had escaped; a demolished water gap that was now filled with runoff.