“Uncle Brad said we should wipe him down and give him a good brushing before we put him away,” Aaron said.

“Looks like we need to put a blanket on him, too; he’s wet,” said Luke. “Did you guys take the horse swimming?”

“Yes, and I’m freezing my ass,” Jake said as they dismounted and started putting on their clothes.

The boys were dressed, too, in shirts and jeans against the evening chill.  They tended to the horse and led him into a stall.   Will put his hand on Aaron’s shoulder as if to leave the barn.

“I’m going to stay with him for a little while,” Jake said.

“I’ll stay, too,” Luke said.

“Alright, we’ll see you back at the house,” Will said, guiding young Aaron towards the door.

“He’s a beautiful animal,” Luke said when he and Jake were         alone.

“Yes, the most magnificent animals on four legs,” Jake agreed.

“He’s so muscular,” Luke said.

“They don’t know how powerful they are,” Jake said. “If they did, they probably wouldn’t let themselves be tamed.”

“When I was wiping him down, there was more than sweat on his back,” Luke said.

Jake smiled.  “I guess I should be embarrassed for me and your dad.”

“No, it wasn’t a big surprise,” Luke said.

“Really.  Does your dad have any idea you think that of him?”

“I don’t know; he likes to treat me like a kid. Hey, have you ever seen a stallion breed a mare?”

“Yes, many times, when I worked on a ranch in Wyoming.”

“He’s got such huge balls, he must shoot a lot.”

“Well, it depends partly on the size of his balls, but I’ve seen some stallions that would overflow a coffee cup.”

“How do you know that?” Luke asked, laughing.

“They did a lot of artificial insemination on the ranch, and we collected semen from the best stallions.”

“So you’ve seen a horse with a hardon?”

“Not just seen, I’ve held a horse’s cock collecting the semen.”

“Wow!”

“It’s not as exciting as you might think. And it can be a mess if he gets over excited and misses the container.  Horse cum smells to high heaven.”

Luke was still gazing at the horse’s balls.  “I’ve seen his huge cock hanging out but I never seen one hard. It’s odd, being a stallion and not having any hair on his balls.”

“He does, it’s just real fine, like fuzz. Give me your hand,” Jake said. He took Luke’s hand and guided it to the stallion’s massive balls. The animal jumped but didn’t kick. ”Sometimes we did this to stimulate the stallion.”

“They feel like velvet.  Will he get hard if I keep doing this?”

“Maybe. But getting an animal excited just for the fun of it; that’s not right.  Come on, let’s go up and throw down some hay.” He let Luke climb up first and he went up the ladder right behind him, giving him a boost on his butt at the very top.

“It’s nice and warm up here,” Luke said, looking all around the darkened loft.

“The straw and hay bales are good insulation,” Jakes said. “Some people use bales of straw to insulate their houses when they build them.”

“It smells so good; I could sleep up here if I had a blanket,” Luke said.

“Well, we don’t have to go back to the house right away. Do you want me to get one of the horse blankets?”

“Yes!”

Jake climbed down and came back up with two horse blankets.

“We really don’t need any more hay tossed down.  We can just lie up here and enjoy the smell of the hay and the moon shining in if you want to,” he said as he spread the blankets out across a stack of bales.

“Yes. I really didn’t think I’d get to meet you up close and get to know you.”

“Your dad said you think I’m intimidating.”

“It’s all those muscles.”

“I don’t want you to be intimidated, Luke. We’re up here by ourselves, so you can get to know me and I can get to know you.”

“I didn’t think you’d want to spend time with a fourteen-year-old kid.”

“You’re not just any fourteen-year-old.  And I don’t really consider you a kid.”

“You don’t?”

“No. You’re a cut above that.  You talk about my muscles; you’re already filled out as good as a lot of boys older than you are.”

“I’d like to be built like you.”

“You’re well on your way; just stay active in sports and eat right and work out.” 

“Are we going to stay the night up here?” Luke asked.

“Do you want to?”

“Yes, very much.”

“Well, then, we need to shed some of these clothes,” Jake said. “It’s not healthy to sleep in your clothes.” When he started taking off his clothes Luke followed his lead.

“I never seen anybody built like you,” Luke said when Jake had peeled off his shirt.

“In four years or so, you’ll like this or even better,” Jake said as he unlaced his boots and took them off. He undid his jeans and took them off. When he was down to his briefs he started to take them off but thought better of it. Luke left his on too, and he lay down on the horse blanket.

“Oh, my, you’re almost beautiful,” Luke said.

“Thanks, but so are you, Luke,” he said as he lay down beside him.  “You’re gonna have the girls all over you, if you don’t already. Hell, even grown women.”

“I don’t know what I’d do with a grown woman.  Or even a girl, for that matter.”

“Well, it’s good to know you haven’t taken that step.  You’ve got plenty of time for that.”

“I don’t know if I want to. I’m happy with what me and Aaron have got together.

“You’ve got plenty of time to decide that,” Jake said.

“Do you know why I wanted to come up here with you, Jake?”

“Not really, although you said you wanted to get to know me better, and I wanted to show you there’s no reason to be intimidated,” Jake replied.

“It was more than that,” Luke said as he reached out and laid his hand high on Jake’s thigh.

Jake quickly covered his hand with his own.  “Don’t, Luke,” he said hoarsely. He was instantly sorry for his tone; the boy had such a hurt look on his face, like he was almost ready to cry.

“I’m sorry, Luke, I shouldn’t have barked at you like that. I just don’t think we should go there.  I’m not rejecting you, Luke, it’s just not the right time. You have plenty of time for that when you’re older.”

“I don’t wanta wait till I’m older for everything. Sometimes I hate being fourteen.”

“You’re at a perfectly wonderful age, Luke. So much to learn and experience, so much to look forward to. 

“But it all has to wait till I’m older. I’ve lay in bed wishing you would come in my room naked and crawl in bed with me and hold me really close and tight. Even that would be enough, to just lie in bed with you like that.”

“We’re doing that now, minus the bed,” Jake said.

“But we’re not naked.”

“Well, I suppose we could be.”

“Does that mean we can take off our shorts?” Luke asked eagerly.

“If we keep things in check, I don’t see why not,” Jake said.

They quickly shed their shorts and when Luke lay back down Jake moved closer to put his arm across his chest and one leg across the boy’s thighs.

“I’m gonna get a hardon,” Luke said quietly. “I know we can’t do anything about it, but I’m getting hard anyway.”

“I probably will, too, and it’s okay. Sometimes you can’t control your body’s reaction.” 

“This is so nice,” Luke whispered. 

“Yes, I’m glad you came up here with me.”

“Did you decide beforehand that we weren’t going to do anything?” Luke asked.

“Yes.”

“Did you talk to my dad and he told you not to?”

“No, but your father trusts me to do the right thing. All of us older guys….he trusts us not to take advantage of you boys.”

“I wouldn’t tell anyone,” Luke said.

“No, Luke, we’re not going to put you in a position to lie to your father.”

“Well, then, I’d better turn over so we’re not tempted.” He rolled over onto his stomach, still under the weight of Jake’s arm and leg.

Jake looked down the boy’s naked, lithe young body, his eyes fixing on his rounded, smooth butt.