Page 145 of Waiting for Ru
“I was too rough.”
“No. Yes. A bit. It was amazing. Shit. Still the wrong order.”
Jasim chuckled. He reached out to stroke Ru’s cheek and Ru curled into him, pressing his mouth against Jasim’s neck, threading his fingers in his, and nestling in his arms.
“Just in case you missed the message,” Ru whispered. “That was amazing. Thank you.”
Something burst inside Jasim, something beautiful and bold and bright that made him feel as if he was the luckiest man in the world.
He fetched a cloth and cleaned them both. As he came back to Ru’s side, Ru pulled him in, nuzzling the junction of his neck and shoulder and throwing his leg over Jasim’s hip, their damp, limp cocks rubbing together. Jasim let himself be held, let himself be wanted.
There was no way he’d forget a moment of this night, and great as everything had been that had gone before, it was lying here together, feeling they had a chance, that made Jasim’s heart feel whole.
More followed. Ru had the energy of a young colt, a cock that seemed always hard. Jasim had the desire of man who’d been dying of neglect. But he wouldn’t fuck Ru again that night. He was firm on that. They played and dozed, dozed and played until red streaks appeared in the sky, and Jasim carried Ru into the shower and washed him.
When they were both dressed, Jasim tugged him downstairs. “No more of this until Saturday. I can’t be too tired or distracted. It’s hard enough to see you and not want to press myself against you. I’ll come and train with you and Poppy so we get the changes right with the ponies. Okay?”
Ru nodded. “Is…everything going to be all right?”
Jasim knew Ru meant them. “Yes.” Though he wasn’t as sure as he hoped he sounded.
Joaquin was eating breakfast when Jasim went back into the house.
“All well?” Joaquin asked, smiling. “Or has the sky fallen?”
“I haven’t checked my emails yet.”
“I wouldn’t. Not yet. Let’s do some training first.”
Jasim wasn’t sure he could resist looking, but he knew Joaquin was right. It was a distraction he didn’t need.
“Have you thought of breeding Dream?” Joaquin asked.
“After this season, yes. There are few I’d like foals from.”
“I’ve been wondering about going into breeding.”
“As well as playing?”
“Yes.”
“I don’t know how many more playing years I have in me.” Jasim helped himself to toast and eggs from the warming trays.
“You’re notthatold. And it’s more the mount anyway. That’s one plus of polo. With great ponies we can keep going for longer. Don’t you want to play with Ru? Train him up?”
“He’s going to be better than any of us. But he wants to be an equine nurse.”
“He can do both, can’t he?”
“I don’t know. I’ll have to talk to Leigh and see what he thinks about Ru training at his place. It’s the only way to keep him close.”
“You’re in so deep already?”
“I think from the moment I saw him.”
“Good for you. And him.”
The rest of the week went so well, team confidence reached an all-time high. Jasim wondered why he’d ever voiced doubt about how many more years he had left in the game, because it seemed as if he was playing the best polo of his life. He’d not met up with Ru in the pool house. Evenings had been taken up by team talks, but seeing him around, catching his smiles, stealing the occasional kiss, sending funny texts, that no longer had to be deleted, ending nights with WhatsApp video calls had somehow inspired Jasim’s game.
