This series is a sequel to my earlier "Wrangler Butts" series. While this is written as an independent series some things will be clearer if you've read the earlier series first.
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Darrin woke to Mitch's panicked shouts and the sight of their bedroom walls painted red from a horizon engulfed in fire. Still trying to completely comprehend what was happening, he stumbled across the floor searching for clothes and boots in the bedroom he shared with his husband, Mitch. He faintly heard the stomp of Mitch wrestling on his boots and then racing for the door.
"Come on!" yelled Mitch. "It's a damn grass fire!"
"Go! Get that stack of blankets in the pickup! I'll be there in a second," answered Darrin.
Only barely aware of Mitch's rush out the door, Darrin sprinted after him once he had yanked on his jeans and boots. Vaulting from the porch, he jumped into the pickup just as Mitch rammed it into reverse. In seconds they were speeding down a dusty county road toward the raging crimson monster. Darrin had never seen a fire this large. The entire western sky seemed skirted with a red wall of flame. The pickup fishtailed around a hairpin curve; jolting Darrin out of his fascination with the beast and back into the danger they were racing toward. Sliding the pickup in beside a grassfire pumper truck, they both vaulted from the vehicle. The volunteer firemen were making the final check of their equipment as one of them looked up and nodded in acknowledgment of their arrival. Finishing his task at hand, the fireman sprinted over to the pair and filled them in on the strategy for this firefight.
Mitch piled in a pickup with a group trying to keep the flames from reaching a canyon lined with cedar, which would go up like a roman candle if the fire reached it. Darrin watched for a few second as they sped toward the fire line and then turned to clamber onto the pumper.
The rest of the night was a blur of smoke and flames as hundreds of acres of tinder-dry grass burned. Darrin was pushed to the limits of his endurance numerous times as the crew he was with advanced and retreated against this enemy. But as the brilliant orange dawn crept across the Oklahoma sky, he could see that they had won. He was concerned about Mitch, but the report they had received indicated no injuries. But he was still eager to see Mitch for himself. He couldn't help but worry. That was his part of the marriage, right?
Darrin waved to his new friends as they drove off. He chuckled to himself in amusement at how 6 hours of fighting could cement a new friendship. He had hoped that Mitch would already be waiting, but after a quick check he realized that wasn't the case. So he dropped the tailgate and eased his tired body down to wait. As the dim predawn slid into morning, Darrin realized that as far as he could see to the west was a charred black wasteland. The fire crews had saved the one house he could see, but the pasture was a total loss. Once the enormity of the disaster revealed itself to Darrin, his level of worry for Mitch increased. He knew Mitch would be expecting to find him here, but he really wanted to search for his missing husband.
Just as he was about to try to find him anyway, he saw a hard-used pickup top the rise and barrel down the dusty road toward him. Once it was close enough for him to spot in the passenger seat, he was able to relax. As they got closer Darrin had to smile as he watched Mitch's animated gestures that he was sure were punctuating whatever they were discussing. The driver slowed to pull in beside Darrin and both men stepped out of the truck without a pause in the conversation.
"Now Doug, you gotta be reasonable. We don't have any livestock right now so the grass is just fire hazard," said Mitch as they walked back to Darrin.
"No, think about it. I'd rather pay you for pasture than truck in hay. Lord knows it's easier to open a gate and let them on your place than hay 'em until it rains."
"Alright, alright. I give," said Mitch throwing up his hands in surrender. "You give us whatever you feel is fair for the pasture and we'll call it good."
The older cowboy nodded in agreement and then turned to introduce himself to Darrin.
"Hi, name's Doug Parker. And apparently I'm leasing pasture from you, in spite of your partner's poor bargaining skills."
Darrin chuckled as he took the offered hand and shook it. "Yeah, he sometimes is a bit hard headed. I believe his mother said he would argue with a fence post if it would argue back."
Doug laughed, "I can believe it! I think a few of those flare-ups he stopped through pure force of will."
Darrin looked startled, "Why, what happened?"
Mitch answered quickly, "Nothing Darrin, no need to worry."
"Nothing?" said Doug, "Chuck would disagree. You pretty much saved his bacon!"
Darrin turned to Mitch with a raised eyebrow. "Oh really? We'll talk about this when we get home . . . dear."
Darrin realized what he had done about the same time a booming laugh erupted from Doug. Glancing over, Doug saw the looks on each of their faces at Darrin's slip, which only drove him to new levels of laughter. As he regained his composure he winked at Mitch.
"It's nice to know that you guys don't get out of your share of the 'yes, dear' moments," said Doug with a chuckle. "But I need to git home or I'll be having my own moment with the missus. It was great to meet you both and I'll move the cows over later today."
Mitch nodded, recovered from the awkwardness of a few moments before. "Sounds good, just let us know if you need help."
Doug nodded and waved to them both as he crawled back into his pickup, and he was soon a cloud of dust disappearing into the distance. Once the neighbor was out of sight Darrin rounded on Mitch, crossing his arms across his chest.
"What happened? And don't bullshit me, you know someone will tell me the whole thing," said Darrin.
"The fire got too close to one of the guys and I pulled him out. It wasn't that big of a deal. Honest," replied Mitch.
Darrin caught Mitch's wrist and turned it to survey the damage. With a glance he saw that the normally dense dark hair on Mitch's forearms had been singed off. Looking up he locked eyes with Mitch.
"How close, Mitch?" asked Darrin in a heavy tone.
"Umm, pretty close."
"Uh-huh, and how close was that?"
Mitch pulled his arm back, unconsciously covering it. "Close enough to burn the hair off my arms, ok. But I wasn't going to let the guy die. He was trapped in a tangle of cedars that all the sudden exploded in fire. I grabbed one of the wet blankets, wrapped up in it, and got him out. It really wasn't as bad as it sounds."
Darrin let out a sigh. "It was too fuckin' close. You could have gotten hurt."
"Just a light roasting," said Mitch with a laugh.
"Light roasting my ass. Get in the pickup and we'll get you home where I can look you over and see how bad it really is."
Once they arrived at the house, Darrin pushed Mitch into the bathroom and stripped off his shirt. His arms were pink from the burns and not only was his forearm hair gone, his eyebrows and hair were singed too. But Darrin could find no serious burns. Exhaling a sigh of relief he lowered himself to sit on the edge of the tub.
"Looks like you got off lucky again. Damn it though! You could have been hurt bad!" said Darrin in exasperation.
"But I wasn't, now was I, babe?" said Mitch. Looking at his arms that seemed to be getting redder by the minute he said, "But this does sting a little. I think a cool bath would feel good right now."
Darrin waved him out. "Go strip in the utility room. I'll draw the bath."
Darrin turned on the water, adjusting it until he was happy with the temperature. He watched silently as the huge claw-foot tub filled with water. He smiled that the one renovation they had been able to accomplish so far was this enormous tub. Other additions were coming, including a new shower for two. But they had only lived in the house for a few months, and he hadn't officially started his new job in the Agriculture Department at High Plains University. He checked the water again and was turning it off when he felt warm arms wrap around his waist. Turning he smiled at Mitch, who was one of the most beautiful men he'd ever seen. His short dark hair, sideburns and rough scruffy face definitely got Darrin's juices flowing. Letting his hand trail down Mitch's back, he cupped his hairy tight ass and kissed him gently on the lips.
"You might not want to start something you can't finish, good looking," said Darrin.
"And what makes you think I can't finish it?" asked Mitch as he ran his hands under Darrin's t-shirt.
Darrin sighed as Mitch's rough hands rubbed over his nipples. "Well you are the same color as the lobster we had over spring break. That's one reason you might not want to be bumping and grinding for a little while."
"Nah! I'm nowhere near that red. And you're a little pink yourself, College."
Darrin laughed, "A little, and you are going to have to stop calling me College now. I'm not a student any more."
