Ebony River 2: The Cowboy's Desire

Prologue

The Cowboy's Desire [ManxMan]

|Prologue|

August 31, 2005

The night was quiet as Tristan Stanley made his way across the open acres of his family ranch. His mustang, Whiskey's, hooves beating against the ground was the only sound in the air. There were storm clouds moving in from the east and Tristan knew it would start to rain in a half hour or so. Urging Whiskey faster he made his way to the bridge that connected the two northern ranches and the two southern ranches on the Ebony River.

The Ebony River was a large winding body of water. It was eighteen meters wide and three miles long. The ebony silt that made up the river bed gave it its name. The land surrounding the Ebony River was divided into the Ebony River Ranches, the Stanley, the Sterling, the Kingsley and the Cosway.

As he drew closer to the dark serpentine the sound of flowing water filtered through the air. His father's word kept ringing in his ears, not even the hammering of Whiskey's hooves could drown them out.

I will not have my son gallivanting with a boy the likes of Maximilian Sterling! My son with not be seen as a sodomite! You're leaving tomorrow to Berkley Military Institution, Tristan, and there is no room for arguement! I'll make a man out of you even if I have to mold you with my bare hands.

A shiver ran through Tristan. How could his father speak like that about Max? Tristan and Max had been best friends for years, since they were in diapers and clinging to their mother's skirts. There was no one in the world Tristan loved more than Max. They had been through so much together. If it wasn't for Max Tristan never would have gotten up the nerve to ask out Pamela Dane, he would have never known what porn was or how to sneak out of his house in the middle of the night to go goof off with his best friend.

Max meant everything to Tristan and he couldn't fathom leaving him behind. But he also knew his father. Charles Stanely was a cold-hearted bastard. He was also an incredibly closed minded man and when Tristan told his parents that Max had told him he was gay his father all but killed Max to ensure he stayed away from Tristan. His dad had put Tristan on house arrest for the past three days, no school, no riding, no seeing Max.

That wasn't enough for Charles Stanley, however. Oh, no, he needed to make sure his son would never get infected with the disease Max had so he had enrolled Tristan into BMI. Now, he was sending Tristan away, against his will, and for no good reason other than being a bigoted idiot. Tristan didn't think he could hate a person so much as he did his father.

Whiskey's hooves clicked as he crossed the bridge that connected Stanley ranch on the north to the Kingsley ranch on the south. Tristan knew that once he crossed the bridge it would be only a matter of minutes for Whiskey to fly across the acres that separated the Kingsley and Sterling ranch. Whiskey cleared the bridge and Tristan breathed a sigh of relief as he urged whiskey left toward Sterling ranch.

Off in the near distance thunder boomed. Gripping the reins harder Tristan urged Whiskey on until he could see the looming mansion that was Sterling ranch come into focus. With the sky thundering above him and Whiskey's hooves beating the ground beneath he ate the last few acres separating him for the only person he wanted to be with at the moment.

Pulling on Whiskey's reins he guided his mustang to the post Max had installed for when Tristan escaped to Sterling ranch in the dead of night. Dismounting his horse, Tristan tied the reins to the post and patted his mustang's mane, "I'll be back soon, Whiskey. Try to stay quiet."

Whiskey gave a small neigh. With a final pat Tristan turned toward the wall of Sterling house. Vines grew up the house like you would imagine in fairy tales where the prince climbs to rescue his princess. Grabbing the thickest one he could see Tristan began his climb to the balcony that led to Max's bedroom. His feet slipped every now and then and he let out a few curses as he climbed but eventually his hand made contact with the balcony balustrade and he hoisted himself up and over the structure.