Barriers

"Scott."

"Scott."

"Scott!"

"SCOTT!!"

I achingly dragged my eyelids open over the course of what seemed like 5 minutes. Rolling my eyes and squinting, trying to clear the fog of sleep.

A tanned and golden blob coalesced into the image of Dave smiling in the 'kitchen', which was really just the wooden table that we threw our stuff onto in the single room cabin. He had only bothered to put on his mesh athletic shorts this morning. I never really got a good look him from the front shirtless before. I gulped as I noticed the slight V above his hips curve down into the elastic of his shorts. Above that he had blonde fuzz over his stomach and some light fur tracing the bottom of his pecs and swirled around his nips. You could tell he didn't get his body in the gym but rather had natural strength and athleticism from rowing and hiking that the ranger program required.

"Geez bud I've been trying to wake you for 20 minutes! I was about to dump water on you. I guess you slept almost as well as I did!" Dave said.

I just sighed and looked at him with weary eyes. I wanted to match his chipperness but mornings were always like hell to me. I felt a response gestate deep within my brain and try to worm its way out of my mouth but it was taking forever.

"Well." I somehow managed.

"Well". Dave smirked, mocking me.

"Well." I breathed for a minute. "Well. I'm glad." I breathed again. "At least one of us slept well."

I actually did sleep well, I was just kind of exaggerating, see if he would feel sorry for me, tease me, comfort me. I stretched and forced my eyes not to longer on him too long. I looked out the window, the morning rays of the sun were piercing through the pines. The air smelled of ash and our armpits.

"Haha, you are such a zombie Scott. Here have a chocolate croissant." He laughed and handed me a dinner roll with a piece of hershey's chocolate bar smushed into it.

"THIS is a chocolate croissant????" I acted, indignantly.

He laughed, happy that his joke went over well.

"Ahhh you're ridiculous. Hey I also put coffee in your thermos. Don't expect this every day but we really gotta head soon." Dave said.

Oh thank god, I thought to myself. This morning was starting to feel manageable already. It was then that I was starting to remember that last night I saw Dave naked in his bunk, with his fuzzy ass gleaming by the fire and his large dick flopped to the side. I had a brief moment of panic as I remembered that in my inebriation I couldn't resist carefully nurturing and milking out his juices with my mouth as he slept. But the absolute ease at which Dave treated me this morning must mean he never woke, I hoped. I hoped he would know that I just revered him and wanted to bond with him, not take advantage of him. But I also hoped he never realized at all. Now that I was painfully sober I realize that little stunt could have gotten me in serious trouble.

When I floated back into the present, Dave was already hauling our junk into the raft. Wanting to seem like I was pulling my weight I grabbed the rest of it along with the thermos Dave filled for me and headed back to the river. We unmoored and continued on our way.

I took the back as I usually did because I liked steering and I knew the river a little better. Dave took the front, he had powerful shoulders to keep us moving during the long, boring sections of the river. We were able to wordlessly navigate the first hour of rapids as the sun warmed us up and I absorbed the coffee he made me.

"Yeah there's only one Class 4 rapid coming up, then another boring section around lunch. Then a bunch more at the end, and after that we could camp again." Dave said.

"Aye aye cap'n" I teased.

"Mm-hmm!" He acknowledged in a cocky manner.

"You've been been smiling all morning, why are you so happy? You get brain damage on that last rapid or something?" I probed.

"Well I had the most amazing blowjob last night" Dave said.

I let out an involuntary, "uh!"

"Yeah in my dream, my girlfriend gave me a blowjob like she actually wanted to! Usually she just bats it around like a cat with a toy. But this time she basically worshiped lil' Dave".

"Sorry man, too far? Didn't mean to shock you!" he said.

"Haha man, that's tame, I've heard far worse" I said, hopefully lowering his guard and encouraging him to go further. I bit my lip in borderline rage that it was my blowjob and not getting credit for it. Your cum is coursing through my bloodstream now, jerk, I thought.

He hesitated, unsure if where to go next.

"Haha, nah just kidding. Just been a good week. This assignment is chill as hell. We basically get to goof off and swim for 3 days while we keep this gentle river safe from.. Bears? I've only seen one in like the past year. Keep the river safe from bear! Flirt with rafters.. Drink beer at night. Yeah man ranger life is cool as hell!"

I had almost felt insulted when he reminded me that we were only out here for a few days until we got to head back into townm but I caught myself. For some reason it felt we'd been out here for weeks and weren't due back for a few more weeks.

"Plus, you're a really, really cool partner Scott." Dave continued.

I kind of froze, I feel like there was some unspoken tension between us, something blocking us. Some areas of our minds we couldn't show yet. I was a little on edge of where he was going with this.

"Yeah you should have seen the last guy I got paired with. Some old grumpy fucker, smelled like.. like burnt ass hair. He was too lazy to go into the woods to piss at night and would go in a bottle and empty it in the morning. It was gross as fuck and I considered flipping the raft on him just so he wouldn't stink."

"Haha, nasty." I added.

"Yeah but you're a cool guy, Scott. I know you're all into playing this strong, brooding type but you're just a goofball like me. And we kind of have this.. Intuitive - intuitive uh.."

"Chemistry" he finally found the word. "We both just get it."

"Heh, yeah man" I swallowed. Man that was weak. I shook my head. I really need to encourage him more.

"Yeah, I'm really grateful, I think you're really cool. Made this assignment more than work, it was actually, really fun!" I said.

"See that wasn't so hard. I really don't know why people need to hold their cards so close to their chest all the time. I think if you like someone you should tell them! I like working with you!" Dave was smiling the whole time.

I was getting a little curious, not knowing for sure where he was trying to position me. What was he trying to get me to say? Was he trying to bring up the fact I was craving his body the past few days?

Before I could answer Dave stood up in the front of the raft and faced me. He tossed me his hat with a smile and let out a loud, "Woooo!!!" and did a backflip into a deep part of the river.

I clutched his hat and smirked, watching him laugh as he swam back to the raft. He held on to the side and held his hand out, like he wanted help climbing in. I grabbed his hand but instead of climbing in, he pulled me down with him. I gave out a fake, "Nooooo!!!" before plunging in myself.

"Ah, feels good huh?" He asked before climbing back in. I admired they way his shorts clung to his wet, muscular thighs and ass, and trickled water down his hairy calves. It really seemed like Dave liked attention and being admired. Or was I imagining he did, so that I could ogle over him guilt free?

The rest of the day was pretty uneventful. I was kind of hoping for something unusual, like that time we had to call in a helicopter to extract some drugged-out, naked hippy on the sixth day of his "spirit quest", which was really just starvation and heat stroke. So we had more time to chit chat which was fine with me. I found out Dave had worked as a cop until there was finally a spot open in the Park program. He had only been in a year compared to my three. He dabbled in guitar and did karaoke whenever he was in town between assignments. I felt like a spy, like each tidbit of his life he told me was a prize.

The last stretch of river was a little more isolated and there was no cabin like last time. This time we just found a sandy clearing near a smooth bend in the river to set up camp. We don't usually like to haul the weight and awkward size of full blown tents with rods, but we do have hammocks with nets if we needed them. But it was unusually warm tonight, and Norcal is nearly bug free compared to the east coast. I just rolled out my air mattress straight on the ground next to the fire. I was only in my trunks, stretching with my arms behind my head, feeling the valley breeze rustle my pit and chest hair. I wasn't really saying much, just letting my mind resonate to the muffled gushing of water.

I did have a flask next to my head that I sipped on while Dave and I made idle chatter, but we were in sort of this twilight zone of the night where it felt insulting to nature to interrupt it too often with loud conversation.

Dave went down to the river one last time to rinse off, or brush his teeth maybe. I was eyeing him the whole time, watching his back muscles, toned from rowing, sway as he walked down. He was causing me a sort of pain, like a crippling hunger. I so badly wanted to connect with him. Did he want to connect with me? I mean, he said I was cool or whatever, but he is just a spunky, fun loving guy that might say that to everyone. My doubt was painful.

I had closed my eyes by the time he came back. Dave stopped stomping around and whispered,"oh!" and started treading more lightly, assuming I had fallen asleep.

After shuffling around a bit he grabbed his pad and moved it directly next to mine and eased down. Our shoulders were almost touching. My heart started racing, Why did he pick that spot? This area is huge.

For the longest time there was no movement, I felt like I was being studied, but I didn't want to open my eyes to check. I was actually concentrating on making my breathing patterns seem normal. After what seemed like an hour, I felt him shuffle a little closer. I could feel his mouth right next to my cheek. My heart started pounding.

He turned and hovered his cheek right next to mine to talk in my ear. We don't really shave out here, and our scruff lightly scraped against eachother's. Me ears pinned back and I got goosebumps.

He said, "I know you're awake."

I turned to look at him, me eyebrows curled in worry. Was he threatening me? Was he trying to confront me over illicitly licking his privates last night?

His expression was still, slightly shy, but pleading, and it broke my worry like waves upon rocks.

I looked down and his pink dick head was poking out of the top of his shorts. It seemed like he was presenting it to me. I could feel his warm breath on my cheek get louder as I slowly moved my hand and placed it on his inner thigh. I looked back up for his reaction but he buried his face in my clavicle. I started massaging his inner thigh through his shorts. Then cupped his balls and gave them a gentle squeeze. He exhaled more and released even more tension, almost piling on top of me. I tugged down the top of his waistband and flopped out his swelling organs, the elastic pushup up his balls a little bit.

I massaged the fuzz below his navel for a while and then held on to his shaft. He exhaled and let out a small moan. His dick pulsed a little. I got the sense no one had admired him this way before. His girlfriends probably just lied there ungratefully expecting him to do all the work. At the same time he didn't know how to react to it either. I didn't need reciprocation to worship his body, but I don't think he would even have known how.

I licked my hand making sure to leave a gob of spit on it, and started massaging his shaft again. He pressed his head closer into my shoulder. My face was around his ear and I gave it a light lick and he shuddered. It was amazing that this cocky, carefree man was whimpering underneath me, displaying his most intimate parts. I firmly pressed my mouth onto his fuzzy neck next, alternating licks and nibbles. Sometimes I would pause with my lips pressed into his neck just to smell him. I wandered, I let my teeth scrape against the short hairs on his jaw. It was obvious no one had treated him so reverently before. His skin was taught and slightly salty and the scent at the base of his neck was especially strong. I put the small swirl of dusty blonde hair that faded down the back of his head in my mouth and tasted his body's daily buildup of sweat and oil.

While I was nuzzling his jaw and neck, I pulled out my own dick from the top of my trunks and alternated jerking myself off and him. He didn't seem inclined to hold mine, like that was a step yet too far. I understood that and went back to stroking his dick. What finally sent him over the edge was me sticking my tongue in his ear, a new experience for him. He flexed his abs and winced. I had tended to his body well enough for it to reward me, he started leaking pearly white globs which glowed in the firelight.

I squeezed his rod and aimed it over mine, until it had all leaked out. I smeared the pools on my balls and up and down the underside of my shaft. I admired it and smirked that this stud's breeding fluids were swirling over my nuts and getting smushed under the ridge of my dick head by my grip. Then I finished myself off using his cum as lube. My cheek rested on top of his and we both breathed heavily for a few minutes, then I gently grabbed a handful of his manhood and tucked it back inside his shorts for him. My package was still smeared and shiny with his semen, but I sealed it back inside my trunks anyways. I wanted to be coated with him, to absorb it. I wanted to combine.

I didn't realize how firmly he was squeezing me until he relaxed and pulled away. The fire fading, he left his arm draped across my chest as we both fell asleep under the inky sky.

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