Saving Me [MxM]

Chapter 24

June slipped closer into July than Varian would have liked, and with the days going by, he would have hoped the humidity would too. That was a vain hope he discovered, as the days only got more and more unbearable. Even mated now and with a much slower metabolism, he struggled to shake off the grogginess and work.

Today was the worst it’d been yet, and as he glared at the sun beating down while crossing to the barn he exhaled heavily. He’d like nothing more than to curl up inside the cool house in his bed and sleep. It was too hot to even consider sex an appeal, and he knew he was past his limit then.

Still, he had a sprouting field to tend, and he wanted to ride out to it. The horses had all been turned out to pasture, and most of them scattered off to find whatever shade they could. Some he was certain had made their way to the third pond at the far reaches of the property still within the pasture. Even horses needed to cool down every once and a while.

Cana stood outside the barn waiting for him, his ears swiveling and eyes bright with excitement. He’d come running at a full gallop when Varian had whistled for him, knowing a ride was in store.

The only other horse close to the barn was Zephyr, and that was simply because Varian corralled the stallion in the small pasture to keep him from the mares. The fence was taller and sturdier than the main one, and though significantly smaller, it was all he could do besides gelding him, and gelding a full grown stallion was no easy matter. Especially in this heat.

Normally it wasn’t much of a concern to have the stallion around, but the mares had been going into heat and Zephyr called to them, tossing his head back and pacing the corral restlessly as he whinnied for their attention. The horse hardly spent a moment still, and even Cana had been giving him some trouble.

While geldings were no threat to foals, he’d never met one that hadn’t tried to mount a mare, the giant red roan gelding included. That was the very reason he’d separated the gelding from the mares as well, to keep Zephyr from challenging him and to keep him off the mares. He’d caught Cana hounding one of them within the first five minutes of turning them out. It wasn’t looking good for Varian. Now his horse followed him into the barn, swinging his tail and nickering softly. Separating him had been a good idea.

The field was prospering when they got out to it, and Varian hopped out of the saddle to inspect the plants. They were growing at an even rate, the beginnings of the stalks peeking out from the soil. Crouching down, Varian pressed a hand into the earth, closing his eyes as he concentrated on shutting out everything else but the dirt and the life within.

Right on cue the particles jumped into his vision, thrumming with life. They gathered the strongest at the roots of the stalks, sustaining them, though the ground was drier than he would have liked. Standing upright again, Varian walked back to Cana and put a foot in the stirrup.

It was when he was settled back in the saddle and reigned Cana around to head back to the house that a breeze stirred and brushed along his skin. The air was no less thicker with humidity, but something of the way the breeze had come drew his attention. There was a strange feeling to it. Almost like a charge.

Shaking his head, Varian spurred Cana to head back home, patting his withers and listening to the sounds around him. He’d see to his horses having cool water when he got back, and then to a shower himself if he could get one before anything else came up.

Varian had come in and gone right for the bathroom to take a shower, which left Nathan sitting on the bed in their bedroom. He hadn't had a chance to talk to Varian about needing the endorphins before this. So he figured he should probably get that out of the way.