Dark Horse Dark Heart Ch 02

NOTE: This story is told in a second person narrative, directed toward a male character that may also be the reader. Chapter 2 of the

Dark Horse, Dark Heart

series.

The crow of a rooster awoke me to sun shining through the curtains, piercing through my slumber like a hot knife through butter. My eyes fluttered open and my mouth craved the taste of fresh-brewed coffee. I couldn't will myself to get up automatically. The bed in Lady Sarafine's guest house was the most comfortable I had ever slept in. I typically downed a handful of sleeping pills each night in the cabin, but I passed out as soon as my head hit the pillow at the ranch. The sun wasn't the only thing that woke me. The craving for coffee didn't originate from my mind alone and the more my body felt awake, the more I started to wonder why I was also smelling it.

Sliding out of the bed, I pulled my robe from the adjoining bathroom and wrapped myself in it, not bothering to brush my hair or put on shoes to investigate. The guest house had a small kitchenette with a stocked mini fridge, range, microwave, and, of course, a four cup coffee brewer, which was being used by someone who looked familiar. It took me a moment to recognize Adam. I had only been introduced to him when he was completely nude, seeing him with clothes on for the second interaction seemed funny. He looked over his shoulder, catching where I stood in the arched doorway. I'm sure I also looked much less appealing to him still wearing yesterday's makeup and my hair looking like a series of unfortunate events, but if he noticed, it didn't bother him. He still flashed me the perfect smile I had noticed when you were down on your knees sucking him. My eyes involuntarily drifted to the way his package looked tucked inside his jeans when he walked forward and handed me a hot cup of coffee. I blushed. That smile never wavered.

"Lady wanted me to show you around the ranch, introduce you to the people you're going to be seeing every day, and get you settled,"

Adam said, leaning back against the counter top to sip his own mug. I could feel his eyes rolling over me and shifted my weight from side to side, toying with the edges of the robe to make sure that it covered my tits and there weren't any nip slips. Adam shook his head and chuckled,

"What is the point of modesty now, Miss?"

He asked, having caught me in a conflict. It felt

different

when I was wearing Sarafine's clothes. When that latex was hugging my hips and following every movement I made, when I stood taller than both Adam and Jeremy in thigh high platform boots, when my hands were gloved so that the

filth

did not touch them directly- when all these things came together, they seemed to invoke another side of myself that had been lurking under the surface. The last thing I thought before laying down to sleep last night was that Shania had probably recognized something that indicated to her that I was the perfect candidate for the job. The jury was out on that, currently, though, I admit that the Dark Horse Ranch had become a muse of sorts.

Regardless, Adam saw through my modest habits no matter what I was or wasn't wearing. I simply shrugged in response. Adam chuckled and handed me a mug of the fresh brewed coffee and I automatically went in search of cream. I could never understand people who didn't 'dress' their coffee, but I probably wouldn't need a Redbull at one o'clock every day if I wasn't watering mine down with flavor enhancers. Adam watched me go through the fridge for a few minutes before figuring out what it was I wanted so badly.

"Not going to find any of that in there,"

Adam winked at me as I rose from the fridge. I couldn't help but smirk at his pun.

"Take it to go, we need to get started,"

I heard Adam and reluctantly retreated to the bedroom with my coffee in hand. I had a pair of jeans and an old T-shirt from back in high school that would suffice for what I expected. I also had a pair of combat boots. Adam had made his growing impatience known by standing in the doorway as I put the finishing touches on my makeup. I saw how Lady Sarafine looked when I had first arrived and caught myself in the mirror thinking to myself that she would be disappointed in me now but I knew Adam would not tolerate waiting for me to change. I grabbed the mug to drop in the sink and tied my hair up into a ponytail as I followed Adam out the door and into the lawn.

I hadn't arrived at the ranch until much later in the day yesterday. I didn't remember all the ranch hands and I never saw you around, or Lady Sarafine. All the other ranch hands were of similar builds and stature compared to Jeremy and Adam. There was no discrimination in regards to race. It seemed that Lady Sarafine collected men to keep for her harem based on characteristics outside of those that would be useful on the ranch, but it wasn't like they weren't. The second they entered the main stable, Adam had immediately started to clean out the first stall. All of the horses were out in the grand pasture or training arena with only a pregnant mare in the last and largest stall. I had never done any work of the sort, but Adam handed me a pair of dirty old gloves and I was cleaning out the stalls with a shovel just like he showed me. Once I got the idea of all the tasks that had to be done, Adam suggested that I work the other end of the stable and we could meet in the middle to save time.

The mare was a beautiful creature. She was black with flecks of white throughout her flanks and a diamond shaped patch on her snout. She wasn't too friendly with me at first though, but I couldn't blame her. If a stranger approached me with a pitchfork and I was pregnant, I would have been just as defensive. Her black eyes settled on me as if she saw right into my soul and recognized that I was a friend and not a foe. After that, she didn't mind me padding around her, stacking bales of hay in the corner and filling her water trough. While I was shoveling out her stall, I kept hearing strange noises coming from a shed adjacent to the building that didn't quite sound like the sound of an organic horse, but the sound a human would make if they were pretending to be a horse. At first, I thought it was Adam teasing me, but when I poked my head out of the stall Adam was nowhere near me, and was only just starting the second stall from the entrance when I knew the sound was coming from the shed.

I pulled my wireless headphones from the pocket of the old flannel t-shirt and popped them into my ears, synching them to my phone, and forgot all about it until Adam finally met me in the middle and finished the last stall along with me.

"We will do the ponies next, right around the corner,"

Adam said, placing his shovel in the corner and his gloves on a hanger. Sweat was dripping from his brow and he pulled up his shirt to wipe it from his eyes, flashing his abdominal muscles. I couldn't avert my eyes from his glistening body and I'm pretty sure he was enjoying the attention. He ran the back of his hand across his forehead to wipe away the sweat before stepping off to lead the way. I noticed that we were headed in the direction of where I had heard the strange noises and was curious to see who, or what, was there.

The large shed was actually another, hidden, stable that was completely enclosed with its own plumbing and HVAC system. I didn't realize how large it was from where I had been standing and following the noise earlier. After walking inside, I saw that this shed was more like a large, four bedroom house tucked up under a shared awning with the main stables. The fresh smell was definitely noticeable. More palatable than the stable we had just cleaned. If anything, it smelled like apple cinnamon candles. The floor was paneled with wood and rugs were placed along the walkway which separated the stalls, which were like small, partitioned bedrooms, and a large communal area marked by a bearskin rug and furniture that reminded me of things I had pictured when reading about medieval torture devices. There were also many different accessories hanging on the wall that reminded me of what I had seen Lady Sarafine with when we first met.

Seeing all this made me truly realize who I was dealing with and what the ranch was all about. I understood that it wasn't built around breeding and training race horses, though I'm sure you brought in substantial income that way. I also realized that it was, indeed, a set up. Shania undoubtedly had some sort of relationship with you or your wife. I wouldn't confirm this until later, however, but let it be known that I suspected as much.

Adam knocked on the first door, wooden and flush to the wall, just like any bedroom door. There was no response, but he opened the door anyway and stepped inside the cubicle. I followed closely behind, excited and curious, almost tripping over his feet trying to clamor over and get a good look. I could hear those strange, pantomimed equine noises made through what looked to be a bit fastened around a young man's hooded face, the bright red ball gag held by his teeth. He had his head up and his back arched, weighted hooves on his hands and feet strapped into a latex suit with a horse - snout shaped hood that came down over his eyes and stopped just above his nose. A black, plumed tail was sticking out from his ass, I assumed fixed by a snug butt plug. As my eyes glided across the liquid, slick surface of the skin tight, body hugging, black latex bodysuit, hooves, and horse face mask, I couldn't help but smirk. I wasn't sure if I was just intrigued or genuinely aroused by the concept. It was possible I was just confused because Adam went about tending to the horse-man pretty much the same way we had handled the

real

horses.

As I drew closer to the cage that contained him, the pony whinnied and shook his head, imitating a horse expressing displeasure. I wasn't sure how to react, but Adam did. He came down upon that pony's flank with a riding crop and the pony boy squealed, huffing and puffing as he retreated to the corner of the small room, inside an open kennel. It seemed like an odd place for a horse, but made more sense than a stable for containment purposes. I could see that the name

'Bitchboy'

was stamped across a metal plate that adorned a leather collar around Bitchboy's neck, catching my eye whenever the light gleaned off the surface.

"Keep that shit up and I'll put the blinders on ya, misbehaving little shit,"

Adam snapped. He had temporarily left the room and returned with a drum of water over his shoulder and a large sack with straps in his other hand, also labeled 'Bitchboy', except the name was embroidered on the triangular shaped sack I realized was a feeding bag. As Adam fixed the bag around Bitchboy's neck, he stared at me and would not take his eyes off me in the corner even as the bag covered his mouth and he began to gorge himself on whatever was in it. By the smell, I knew it wasn't standard horse fare, most likely mashed potatoes.

"Miss is going to take your bit out now. Are you going to give her sass?"

I didn't realize how much of a southern drawl Adam had until he spoke to Bitchboy. Though I was also born and raised in the same state, I lacked the same dialect. I was usually impartial to accents, but I think seeing him naked yesterday made me more biased into finding his accent attractive. For the life of me, I couldn't understand the school girl crush I was developing for Adam over the past day and a half. I hardly knew anything about him other than the few exchanges we've had throughout the day, and even those were limited to 'business only". Seeing him in a dominant position was also strangely exciting. If I was to be completely honest with you, I had always somewhat preferred aggressive, dominant, men. I had no gender preference, but preferences within the framework of gender. I'm sure it probably came from my perception of gender roles when growing up, but I'm not a psychologist. Regardless, ideals and preferences hardly had anything to do with who I dated or formed a close relationship with throughout my life, but one can fantasize about the 'perfect' person and not commit to pursuing them. That would be silly, anyway.

Adam stood back to let me pass him, my hands outstretched to loosen and remove the gag that was strapped over Bitchboy's face like a real bit. He stared at me, his brilliant, amber eyes stood out immensely against his dark skin, of which I could only see the outer orbital flesh. His eyes portrayed fear, just like an animal would meeting a stranger for the first time. As I reached beyond his lips to loosen the ball from his teeth, I reached around with my other hand and rubbed his back, soothing him with calming affirmations just like I would do with my housepets. Eventually, those fearful amber eyes gave way to a more serene expression. I could almost feel the tension melting away from his muscles, his entire frame relaxing into my touch. The gag was free from his mouth and bit unstrapped in seconds. I walked over to the back wall and hung it up with other pony accessories. Adam smiled, placing the riding crop on the same wall next to me.

"He's a scholarship and takes advantage of it," Adam muttered.

"Scholarship?"

"Right, so Lady doesn't just take on pretty boys to be her wards for her own pleasure. Most pay to be here. They enjoy the lifestyle. They want to serve her. No one here is here against their will. They've signed contracts and such. This one was picked up on scholarship because Lady has a soft spot for..whatever the fuck he is,"

"What about you? Are you here on scholarship?"

"Ha, no ma'am. I'm here because I'm family. Lady Sarafine is my aunt, unrelated by blood. She divorced my uncle, my Mom's brother, Dan, you may see him around here sometime, but she always had a thing for me. Do you blame her?"

Adam turned to me with a confident smirk as he smacked Bitchboy's ass hard enough to make the pony spit up his food and give me a glare like I was the one that caused him to spit up his meal. There was a small half bathroom off the cubicle and Adam flipped the light switch on to take a look and then flipped it off.

"Unlike the real horses, the ponies are responsible for cleaning out their own 'stalls.' If you see a pony with a trashed stall and it's feeding time, you punish them for it.

Especially

that one,"

He nodded back to Bitchboy before exiting the cubicle. I followed behind him, taking mental notes on what needed to be done so that I could tackle everything on my own sometime in the future. There were three other 'pony stalls' to inspect and feed. The next one we entered I was surprised to see a man on his hands and knees wearing nothing but a hood and leather harness around his shoulders. He appeared to be older, judging by the gray mixed in with the light blond hair on his chest and legs (he was very hairy all over, really), but physically fit. As we entered his stall, I noticed that he was leashed to the the wall and the chain was hooked to the O-ring on his harness, the perfect place to fasten him as I knew he couldn't exactly unhook himself. The older man sat back on his haunches as we entered, reacting to the sound of our footsteps, moving his head back and forth inquisitively. I could hear him sniffling and realized that he was sniffing the air trying to recognize who had entered.

On the back wall, there was a water trough like the one Bitchboy had, and next to it sat a big stainless steel dog bowl with paw prints etched into it and the name, 'Fetch' engraved on the side. The same name was engraved into a dog bone shaped tag dangling from a leather collar around the man's neck, the same as Bitchboy's, only Fetch's was oxblood red. As I approached, Fetch became excited, jumping around as much as he could on all fours, still tethered to the wall. The hood he was wearing had big floppy dog ears and a shiny black nose, but his eyes and mouth were zipped shut. I noticed he also had a butt plug, but this one was more like a tapered black and white dog's tail.

The shed was a kinky human petting zoo.

Adam took the metal bowl from the hutch it sat on and left the stall, leaving me alone with Fetch. I stepped closer and extended my hand, standing my ground when the wild man jumped forward to sniff my fingers, the ridiculous dog ears flopping around dramatically against his temples, his flaccid cock and wrinkled balls following suit with each vivacious motion. Reading his body language, I reached for the zipper that covered his mouth and gently pulled the zipper along its track, revealing his mouth. Fetch immediately started licking my hand with fervor and Adam came back into the cubicle with a bowl full of, what looked to be, legitimate dog food. I saw it and cringed, withdrawing my hand and patting Fetch on the head. He was panting and slobbering, bouncing around on all fours like an actual dog with a surprising amount of energy. Adam set the bowl in the hutch and turned to me, motioning for me to come and stand by him. In his hands he held two pairs of shiny black paw-shaped boots by their laces.

"Fetch needs to be walked four times daily,"

I raised an eyebrow. I wasn't sure how I felt about watching an old man dressed in leather going about his business all around the ranch. As if reading my mind, Adam chuckled and shook his head.

"I'm not a fan myself, but it's his role and part of his training."

Fetch was panting with excitement, most likely from hearing Adam mention 'walk'. I wondered how much of a dog Fetch actually was. Adam leaned down and unhooked the carabiner attached to the O-ring on the wall and placed it on a small leather circlet he had wrapped around his wrist.

"Do you think you can handle the other two while I do this, then? You know what to do. There's a kitchenette through there,"

He motioned to a white door outside of the open cubicle.

"You will find labeled meals in plastic containers inside the mini fridge. Just heat them up and grab a water jug. The feed bags are hanging on the walls in the stalls and you know how to fill the trough,"

I nodded. Even though I knew how to complete the tasks, doing them alone was still intimidating, even if I wasn't thrilled about walking Fetch, I didn't want Adam to abandon me there. He stared at me and reached out to pat me on the head like one of their pets,

"You'll be fine. I'll be right back. Then we will be almost finished."

He smiled and headed out of the stall with Fetch clamoring behind him on all fours, his feet and hands inside the paw shaped boots, ears flapping around his head, tail wagging vigorously. I couldn't figure out how Bitchboy and Fetch made their tails wag and flick without moving their bodies, but I knew they had to have a significant amount of practice. Alone in the stall, I did as Adam did in the last stall, checking the cleanliness of the area and the attached half bath. Everything appeared to be clean. There were two more stalls left to inspect and I was curious what else I would find behind those closed doors.

I went to the next cubicle and took a deep breath, mentally preparing myself for what could be inside. As I pushed open the wooden door and entered the cubicle, I was shocked to see a familiar figure standing inside.

You had a hammer in your hand and a pile of nails on the ground next to you. I could see that you were repairing a wooden trough that had been destroyed somehow. You didn't look up at me at first, focused on beating the nail into the wooden frame. After how I saw you on my first day at the ranch, I was surprised to see you now, wearing denim jeans and a cut off white t-shirt, stained with sweat from your work. When you finally looked up at me I was taken aback by the handsome features that had gone unseen when we first met. That familiar heat in my cheeks returned with the redness I'm sure was prominent on my face.