Chapter 19

Lifeon the farm had been perfect these last few months. Quiet, busy, prospering.

It wasn’t always easy, and Percy never for one moment thought it would be.

But he loved every minute of it.

Sharing this life with Albie. Sharing his bed.

They’d brought eight broodmares and one young colt back with them from the mob of wild brumbies, and it was a good, solid start to securing yearly sales moving forward.

And the mountains in spring and summer?

The most beautiful part of the country Percy had ever seen.

Wildflowers, cool breezes on warm days, and the bluest sky you could ever imagine.

Elsie and Clara still worked hard, and they’d never been happier. Clara laughed more and more, her confidence growing every day, and Elsie now rode Minnie some days out to help round up cattle.

Des and Robert found themselves going back to town a time or two, but Percy wasn’t sure if anything would come of it. He hoped it would, not that he was game to ask. It seemed an unspoken rule that Elsie and Clara were not a companionable option, as if they somehow knew they only had eyes for each other.

And if Des and Robert knew the same about Percy and Albie, they never let on about that either.

Percy was certain Des knew something, knew that they shared a bedroom at least. Maybe he thought it was innocent. Given the lack of bedrooms, there were few options of rooms... But there was a time or two when he’d had to snap his fingers to get Percy’s attention because he’d been staring at Albie a beat too long.

Not as stealthy as he’d thought.

Des would just smile and shake his head, then repeat his order.

But Percy couldn’t help it. Just seeing Albie across the paddock or in the stable, or God forbid, on his horse, Percy was lost to the sight of him. His heart skipped a beat every time and fluttered back to life. It made his breath catch, his blood sing.

He loved him more each and every day and still could hardly believe that this was his life. That he got to be his truthful self, that he did an honest day’s work every day and could spend every night in the arms of the man he loved.

He almost wished his parents could see him now. Not in bed, of course. Not even with a male lover. But just how happy he was. How productive and hard-working he was. How he’d found a place where he was accepted and loved, with this group of misfits.

His new family.

Percy couldn’t ever imagine being happier.

Until Albie found him mid-morning, mucking out stables, sweat dripping down his face, ignoring the flies and the way Ox kept trying to nudge him into the wall. Albie walked in, his short-sleeved shirt open at the collar, his skin glistening with sweat, and he was smiling like the devil.

Percy stood up straight, stretching his back, and wiped his forehead with the back of his hand. “What’s that look for?”

“So, I was thinking...”

Percy found himself smiling right back at him. “About?”

“Well, I was thinking it might be time.”

“For what?” Percy only now noticed that Albie was holding a folded letter.

“For you and me to go spend a day or two down on the lowland,” he said. “Maybe find the best spot to build a hut.”

Percy gasped. “You got it?”

Albie held up the letter, grinning, and he read the first few lines. “To the concern of Mister Albert Bramwell. We acknowledge receipt of your application and hereby grant permission?—”

Percy threw his arms around Albie and had to stop himself from jumping with excitement. “Albie! Do you know what this means?”

“Yes, we have an easement approval for a permanent right of passage through Crown land.”

“Well, that, yes.” Percy met his gaze. “But you’re doing this. If you didn’t prove yourself before this, you certainly will now. Not one person in these mountains will ever doubt you again.”

His smile was shy and grateful. “Thank you, Percy. I couldn’t have done this without you. Hell, I couldn’t have even read this letter without you.”

Percy wanted to lean up on his toes and press his lips to Albie’s right there in the stable, in the middle of the day, but he didn’t dare. But oh boy, how he wanted to...

“Will it be just you and me going down the mountain?” Percy asked, his voice low.

Albie seemed to understand exactly where Percy’s thoughts had taken him. “Yes.”

“We best have Elsie pack us adequate bread... and butter.”

Albie grinned. “I’ve already asked.”

* * *

They hadan early lunch and were heading down the mountain with the summer sun directly overhead. As if the birds and insects agreed with Percy’s mood, there was song all around them.

McAllister had made some headway with the fencing that now separated their land, though thankfully they’d had no repeats of missing children.

McAllister had left them alone too, which Percy was grateful for. How happy he’d be to hear that Albie would be utilising the bottom part of his land, diversifying his income, branching out, and being successful. Well, that remained to be seen.

Would Albie ever be a threat to McAllister’s wealth?

No.

Not likely.

But Percy remembered how McAllister had wanted to buy Albie’s farm. Made a deal of it. And maybe it wasn’t about the land at all. Maybe it was just to prove that he could buy Albie’s property—or any property for that matter—on a whim. That he could throw money at whomever he chose, like a sport.

But Albie had once mentioned that McAllister’s property didn’t include the river like Albie’s did. And people like McAllister always wanted what other people had.

McAllister’s property didn’t have massive cliffs dividing it in two, either. He had more farmable acreage, flat rolling pastures. He’d always seen Albie’s farm as lesser than his own.

Except for the river.

Access to water for livestock, for housing. Water was a valuable commodity.

Percy wasn’t sure why he was thinking about that.

Something in the back of his mind.

“You’re being quiet,” Albie said. They were halfway down the mountain, meandering down the steep incline, ducking branches as they went. “Silence from you concerns me.”

“Concerns you? Why?”

“You’re either mad at me or you’ve got your thinking cap on, and either way, I’m in trouble.”

Percy laughed. “I’m pleased to know that you’ve learned this. But if you have to know, I was thinking about what you’re going to do to me tonight. By the campfire, under the stars. Not another soul for miles.” He sighed wistfully. “How much butter did Elsie supply us with?”

Albie shifted in his saddle and cleared his throat. “You shouldn’t say such things to me, or we’ll stop right here.”

“I wouldn’t be opposed.”

Albie shot him a look over his shoulder, half scowl, half warning. “We need to get to the bottom before dark. If we stop now, we might as well set up camp right here, and how would you propose we sleep on ground this steep?”

“Well, I don’t have plans for sleeping much tonight.”

Albie sighed. “Percival Collins, you are a dangerous man. Now I’ll be thinking of nothing else for the remainder of the ride. Do you know how uncomfortable it is to ride with a... certain hardness.”

Percy laughed. “Why, yes, Albert Bramwell, I do believe I am familiar.”

Albie grumbled. “I’m sorry I asked.”

“If it’s any consolation,” Percy added, “tomorrow I’ll be the one who’ll be sorry.”

“I’ll make sure of that.”

Then it was Percy who shifted in his saddle, warmth pooling low in his belly, in his balls. And he was all of a sudden far too impatient for it. “Could we pick up the pace a little. Time’s wasting.”

* * *

The lowlandnear the river was just as beautiful in summer as it had been in winter.

There were flowers and tall grasses swaying in the breeze, and the sun was, thankfully, now getting low. The river was more a creek now, shallower than it had been when they’d been here to herd the horses, but it was still flowing, and boy, was it sure good to drink.

They found a good spot to set up camp not far from the water, under the cover of some trees along the old riverbed. Once the horses were settled, they collected some wood and dried grass, and while Albie started the campfire, Percy collected some fresh water from the river and sorted out their rations of food.

Percy rolled out their swag, getting their bed ready, and sure, he was hungry for food, but he was way hungrier for something else.

It’d been a week since Albie had taken him the way he liked the most. Sure, there’d been other ways to share their bodies, but what Percy ached for was to feel Albie inside him.

He almost pouted when Albie insisted they eat first.

“But I know you,” Albie said. “Eating will take five minutes. What you want will take considerably longer. And I want to take my time with you.”

Percy hated common sense and reasoning.

He sighed. “Fine, but this will be the quickest dinner we’ve ever had.” Percy had never had much patience, and he had even less now that they were alone and were free to do as they pleased.

It felt like a gift they were wasting on unnecessary things such as food.

Dinner was bread toasted on the fire with cheese on top so it melted, and some of Clara’s stewed fruit and tea from a billy. Percy was too impatient to enjoy any of it, and to make it worse, Albie didn’t even seem to care.

So Percy played a different game.

He groaned when he bit into the cheese and toast. Albie had laughed at first, but when he looked over to Percy, he made a show of licking his fingers and moaning.

Then Albie wasn’t smiling.

So Percy moaned again, higher pitched this time, almost a whine, and he let his head drop back and he closed his eyes. “So good,” he murmured.

Albie said nothing, so when Percy dared to open his eyes, he found Albie staring at him. Eyes dark by the flickering fire, his jaw bulging. “Percy,” he warned.

“Hmm,” he sighed. Then he licked his lips, teasing. “Do you have a problem?”

Albie’s nostrils flared and he put his plate down real slow. Then, without a word, he stood up and stepped closer to Percy, grabbed him by the shirt, and dragged him backward to the bedroll.

Percy almost dropped his plate, barely managing to set it down at all before Albie pushed him onto his stomach and held him down with his weight.

“You are trouble,” Albie mumbled gruffly, his lips at the back of Percy’s ear. “You tease me all day like you don’t know what you do to me.”

Then he ground his erection against Percy’s bottom. Percy spread his legs wider. “Oh, Albie, please.”

“You know what you do to me,” Albie bit out. “I want you every minute of every day. To see you covered in sweat in the stables, to have you tell me you want me when we’re in our saddles for hours on end. Do you know how hard I’ve been all day?”

Percy raised his hips, sliding his hands underneath him to undo the buttons. “Take me, Albie. I need it.”

Albie let out a shuddering breath, then his weight was gone. And Percy was just about to complain until he realised he was only reaching for something.

Butter.

Percy smiled as he slid his pants down over the swell of his arse. Then he closed his eyes, the fire dancing behind his eyelids, the heat of the flames not comparable to the heat burning inside him.

He let his mind wander as Albie got them ready, knowing what was about to happen. Knowing he was about to get everything he wanted. As if he were the cat about to get the cream...

Literally.

Then Albie was at his entrance. The blunt head of his cock pushing in, stretching and breaching. Percy cried out, no need to be silent. No need to be anything other than who they really were.

Albie froze, his body trembling. “Percy?”

“More,” he said, raising his hips, spreading his legs. More of what, he wasn’t entirely sure. More pain, more pleasure, more of whatever Albie would give him.

Albie pushed in deeper, harder, groaning loudly. “Oh, this is heaven,” he whispered. “You take me to heaven, Percy.”

Percy groaned as he took all of him, and when he needed Albie to pull out a little, to move, to do anything, he remained still. He tried to roll his hips, growing desperate. “Albie, please.”

Albie’s hand on Percy’s hip stilled him, and he pressed an elbow into Percy’s back. “I want it too much,” he said, his voice tight. “I’m scared I won’t be gentle, and I don’t want to hurt you. Oh, Percy.”

“Have me however you want me,” Percy bit out, unable to move underneath him. “Just move, please, Albie. Please.”

Albie pulled out a little, the slide glorious, and then he pushed back in. Then he did it again, only he pushed back in harder. Then harder and deeper, over and over. It stole Percy’s breath, the pain and the pleasure and everything he’d wished for.

Albie hammered into him, grunting and groaning, unrestrained and free of inhibition.

It was magnificent.

Albie’s erection impaled him, and he drove into him as he held him down. And then he stopped, his breaths ragged. “I’m sorry,” he murmured into the back of Percy’s neck. “I can’t control myself.”

“Keep going,” Percy urged. “Exactly as before.”

Albie pulled back and slid in slower this time. He made a tortured sound, still breathing hard. “Can you endure it?”

“Always. Please don’t stop. Not until you finish inside me, and maybe not even then.”

Albie groaned out a deep, pained rumbling sound. But then he began to move again. Maybe not as hard and fast as before, but somehow deeper and just as beautiful. The sounds he made, the grunts and the groans with every thrust, and the way he let out a cry as he came.

Percy loved the feel of Albie inside him. The heat of it, the intimacy. And taking his seed, it set something inside of him on fire. A sense of being owned, of being claimed.

He belonged to Albie in ways he couldn’t explain.

It completed him.

He could have wept with the power of it, the emotions he felt. Tears filled his eyes and he let out a sob.

Albie pulled out of him quickly and turned him over. “Percy? What did I...? Are you...? Oh my?—”

Percy laughed and wiped his traitorous tears. “That was perfect. When you give me your seed, Albie. There are no words to describe it.”

This only seemed to confuse Albie. Embarrass him, even. “Oh, are you...?”

Percy laughed again, and let his hand fall back to the ground with a thud. “I am very good.”

Albie’s brow furrowed and he made a fuss, pulling Percy’s boots off, then his trousers, mumbling as he did.

Percy laughed again. “What are you doing?”

Albie scooped him up in his arms and held him. “I’m sorry I was rough. You deserve better.”

“Could I have not deserved better with my boots and pants on?” he asked with a laugh. He’d never been naked in the outdoors before. Percy rolled them over so Albie was now between his legs.

“I didn’t want to soil your trousers, sorry,” he murmured.

Percy cupped his cheek and leaned up to kiss him. “I love you, Albie. Don’t ever apologise for taking me exactly as I asked you to have me.”

Albie closed his eyes, wincing in the flickering firelight, clearly not convinced.

Then Percy realised he rather liked how they were lying. He liked the feel of Albie between his legs, with his full weight on him, pressing against his half-hard cock.

He widened his legs, and found he liked it a whole lot more.

Then he brought his knees up, and Albie’s cock slid against his slick hole. Percy gasped and raised his hips. “You could take me like this too,” he breathed.

“I’m not sure I...” Albie winced again, rolling his hips, seeking the entrance. He went to his knees a little, gripped his half-hard erection, and guided it into Percy once more.

Albie put his hand beside Percy’s head and dropped his head, shuddering as he slid all the way in. Sinking into the depths of pleasure.

Percy had never felt anything like it. Not this angle, not this position. He had no clue it could be like this. “Oh my god,” he breathed.

“How can I want more?” Albie said, trembling with restraint.

Percy wrapped his arms around Albie and pulled him in for a kiss, moaning as their tongues met. Percy was so full of him, so consumed by him, and as Albie drove upward, rocking Percy in the best possible way, something sparked behind his eyelids.

Fireworks and gun powder and the most intoxicating drug he’d ever known, all at once.

He gasped and shook, trembling, and the grunting noises he made sounded feral.

Albie tried to pull back, but Percy clung to him, clawed at his back. “More. More. There. Again.”

And Albie gave him what he wanted, needed, so desperately craved, until his body could take no more. One last thrust and Albie shot his seed deep inside him, and those sparks that had lit up behind his eyelids rained down and ignited the powder keg.

The pleasure that detonated inside him, Percy could not explain.

It didn’t feel real. Couldn’t possibly be real.

As if his body was possessed by pleasure, he fell apart with Albie still buried inside him. Convulsing, back arched, his cock shooting his seed between them. His legs trembled, his arms, and he lost all sight and sound.

So utterly high.

“Percy?” Albie’s soft voice came back to him. “Are you... what was that? Are you...?”

All Percy could do was laugh and maybe cry a little, but mostly laugh. His hands shook, his body didn’t feel like his at all. But he’d never felt anything like it.

Albie’s hand cupped his cheek, feeling his forehead, his neck. “Are you all right? Please answer me. What was that?”

Percy managed to open his eyes, catching Albie’s concern in his dark eyes. “I don’t know,” he said with another laugh. “But we need to do it again.”

* * *

They fellasleep by the fire, Percy curled up safe and sound in Albie’s arms. He’d managed to get his long johns back on, but it took a while for his body tremors to subside.

He got a new rush of jittery pleasure with each one, and he fell asleep happily knowing he had two rounds of Albie’s pleasure inside him, feeling stretched and used.

Loved.

And he woke before the sun broke over the mountains, the early morning light softening the fields, the river.

It really was beautiful down here.

He left Albie sleeping, deciding to go clean himself up in the creek with some privacy. He stripped off his underwear and shirt, then sat fully naked in the water.

It was fresh and invigorating, easing any aches and stings, and cleaning himself in the process. He redressed, fixed the fire for fresh tea, then set about cleaning their utensils in the river.

With his long johns rolled to his knees and without his shirt, he waded downstream a little and set about doing his work. He tipped the old tea out, then rinsed the billy...

When something in the water caught his eye.

At first he thought it was just the sunlight glinting off the water, but then he realised it wasn’t.

His heart raced with excitement and exhilaration as he reached into the water and snatched up a fistful of mud and pebbles. He shook out the dredge, turning his hand over to reveal some brown pebbles on his palm.

And a small nugget of gold, glinting in the sunlight.

He knew what this meant. He knew what this would mean.

What it did to his father.

“What is it?” Albie said.

Percy startled and instinctively closed his fist. He shook his head and swallowed hard, the excitement now a lump of dread. “Albie,” he breathed.

Albie closed the distance between them. “What is it?”

He couldn’t hide this from Albie. He just couldn’t.

With a heavy, thumping heart, he held his hand out, revealing what he held in his palm.

Albie’s eyes went wide, as did his smile, but when he looked at Percy, all Percy could do was shake his head. “I just found it. Just now. It was glinting in the sunlight under the water.”

Why did his mouth feel so dry?

Albie studied him for a second. “Were you going to hide this from me?”

Percy shook his head quickly and thrust the nugget of gold into Albie’s hand. “Take it. Have it. This stuff is poison. It will poison your mind, make you crazy, Albie. That’s what happened to my father. He almost lost everything. He should have lost everything, if it weren’t for my mother’s family.” He shook his head again, suddenly feeling ill. He pushed the heel of his hand against his stomach, and he was finding it hard to breathe.

“Percy,” Albie whispered. “Calm down. Take a breath in.” Percy did, and Albie breathed slowly with him. “That’s it. Are you sure you’re all right?”

He shook his head. “Albie, you can’t let it ruin you. I won’t let it.”

“I would never,” he said.

“All men think that. All men think they won’t... They call it gold fever for a reason, Albie. It’s ruined more men than it ever saved.” He tried to lick his lips but his mouth was too dry.

Albie took Percy’s arm and led him out of the water. “Come with me. Let’s sit down.”

They did that, Albie sitting beside him, until Percy could breathe a little easier. “Sorry,” Percy said. “I just... I panicked.”

Albie gave him a soft smile. “You had a bit of a scare.”

“I don’t want to lose you,” Percy said. “Not for gold; not for anything. You’re a mountain man, a good farmer, as your father raised you to be.”

“I’ll never be anything else,” Albie said gently. “And you’re never losing me.”

He turned his palm upside down, revealing the small nugget. It must have been two ounces, at least. It was pretty and innocuous as it sat there in Albie’s hand, but Percy couldn’t help but feel the weight of dread that came with it.

“You and I can look for more today,” Albie said, and when Percy tried to protest, Albie put his hand up to silence him. “Just one half-day. We leave at midday to make it back to Alpine Falls by night fall, no exceptions.”

Percy nodded quickly. That was reasonable, and fair.

“What about scouting out a site for a hut? Wasn’t that the plan?” Percy asked.

Albie gave a pointed glance over the river, nearer to the valley. “There’s a spot over there, far enough from the river should it flood. We’d need to clear some trees, make some fences, some holding yards.”

“You still want to bring cattle and sheep down here in the winter?”

“Of course I do.” He smiled at the gold nugget. “Percy, I don’t doubt this could change everything for us.”

“For us?” Percy said, panic building again.

Albie smiled at him. “For the farm. Us. Our farm.”

Percy let out a rush of breath. “Oh.” Then he shook his head again. “It’s your farm, Albie.”

They’d had this talk when Albie had mentioned putting Percy’s name on the property deeds. He’d said it was the only way to recognise their relationship, and should anything happen to Albie the property would go to Percy, his partner.

Life partner, business partner, it was all the same, Albie had argued.

Percy had said no.

He couldn’t let Albie do that.

And now here he was bringing it up again.

“Well, you found this,” Albie said, looking at the gold. “So?—”

“It’s on your land,” Percy countered. “That makes it yours.”

Albie sighed. “Ours.”

Percy didn’t want to argue semantics today.

“Anyway,” Albie said. “As I was saying, I don’t doubt this could change things for us. We could make ourselves some serious money if we were to find any more.”

Percy shook his head.

Albie held up his hand again. “I said if. That’s a big if. I know men have gone and lost their minds over it, Percy. And I promise not to let that happen to us. We’ll cash it in and put it in the bank. We don’t flaunt nothing. We’ll be smart and buy things to make the farm better. Another bull, some more cows. More feed. A new saddle for Robert, new boots for Des.”

“Will you tell them?” Percy asked, his eyes wide. That sense of dread was creeping back in. “There’s no saying what they’ll do. They might quit the farm to come looking, find their own gold.”

“Not yet. I won’t tell anyone yet.”

“Ever,” Percy said. “We keep this between us until we know for certain. There might not be any more. This could have been a one-off chance. And we’d have ruined lives forever.”

Or there could be thousands just like itwent unsaid.

Neither of them had to say that out loud.

“And we don’t take it to Alpine Falls,” Percy added. “Everyone would know before you were done folding your money.”

“Our money.”

Percy squinted his eyes shut. “Albie, I don’t want it. I just want you. Nothing else.”

Albie leaned in, giving his shoulder a soft kiss. “I’ll have your name beside me on those title deeds one day, just you see.”

Percy sighed, the fight in him gone. “It scares me, Albie,” he whispered. “The gold and what it does to a man’s sanity. I’ve seen it before. I know what it can do.”

“So we make a deal,” Albie declared. “A promise, between us, right here and now.” He held up the little nugget of gold, letting the sun hit it. “We will not let this rule us or ruin us. We can look only when we come down here to run cattle or if we need another night when it’s just the two of us, if the weather’s good. We keep this a secret until we both decide otherwise, but we don’t keep secrets from each other.”

“Agreed.” Percy felt better immediately. “And whatever we find, we don’t take to Alpine Falls. We take it two towns over if we have to. Like you said, we use the money to make the farm better. We won’t let each other be blinded by this,” he said, searching Albie’s eyes. “I promise. You have my word, Albie.”

Albie’s smile was something special. “And you have my word, Percy. My promise to you, and my heart. You have that too.”

Before Percy could be embarrassed, Albie looked out over the river and sighed before he slipped the nugget of gold into his pocket. “Let’s forget about this for now and make some breakfast. Are you hungry?”

“Starving.”

“I’ll get the bread. You make the tea.”

“Deal.”