- Hard Fall Read online

  I could have untied him then, but I didn't. I knew his arms had to be screaming. Still, Kabe could take it for a little longer. I wanted to look at him like this, cum drying into little diamonds caught in the hairs around his tight, large balls.

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  Sweat coated his dark skin with moonlight. His face turned to the side, lying on his arm with his eyes closed and mouth open. Exertion plastered his thick hair to his scalp. All of it coated in blue, blurred shadow of night vision. Someone was going to accuse me of being a romantic thinking like this ...

  but he was so damn fine, like a darn shot out of one of those fancy, degenerate magazines I had stashed under my mattress.

  Running my hands over his chest and neck, I savored the slick skin trembling with exhaustion. A fine stallion that's run his heart for me and ain't got more to give. As I worked up his arms, I didn't want to lose this. Not just yet. Couldn't be helped though. Easy, trying to keep his back balanced on my knees, I pulled Kabe's wrists off the hook. He sagged and I caught him, pulling down onto the blankets with me.'

  Oh man, now that it was done, things like circulation registered. I was a thick hick. My fingers fumbled, trying to loosen the knots around his wrists. Soon as the rope let go, I started rubbing. Search and rescue training had to be good for something after all. "Lord, Kabe, I'm sorry. Didn't half think that through."

  "Ow, shit, s'okay, man." Kabe hissed as blood pumped back into his palms, warming his hands under mine. He flexed his fingers and I helped restore flow by kneading the joints in my big hands. "It's just from being hung up, you know."

  We worked his wrists and hands until he said it all seemed right. Then Kabe and I both got out of the truck for a moment, not bothering to find our clothes, and took care of some things. Way closer to the truck than we should have.

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  Heck we were nekkid and it was getting mighty chilly. After we crawled back in and buttoned up the back, I settled down next to him, pulling him to me. His back against my chest, that long, lean form pressed into mine. A sight short of perfect. I nuzzled into his ear and smelled sex on his skin.

  "Thanks." I mumbled. I could hear the sleep in my own voice.

  Kabe yawned, "What?" Like he hadn't quite heard me right.

  "I said," I nipped the skin behind his ear, "thank you. For everything." When it seemed like he was about to say something else, ask a question or something, I shushed him,

  "Sleep now, boy. We done wrung all the sun outta this day."'

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  by James Buchanan

  Chapter Six

  The morning broke about an hour after I was already up.

  Mountain rhythm, I fall into it so fast sometimes. My back ached from sleeping in the bed of my pickup and every muscle protested as I moved. The only parts that weren't complaining were wrapped up around Kabe. I lazed in his embrace, as much as manageable while bundled in a pile of sleeping bags and spare blankets. Somewhere among the hellacious mess surrounding us, my clothes hid.

  I couldn't recollect the last time I'd slept nekkid.

  I don't think I'd ever slept nekkid an entire night with anyone.

  Still, here I was—mostly warm and definitely satisfied and just breathing in his scent with the morning air. Ain't nothing like either. The sharp cut of pine mixed with the metallic taste from dew hitting the ground washed over me with the blue light of dawn. I grew up with that smell, reminded me of being alive. Now, layered into it, a deep, earthy musk surrounded me. It drifted off Kabe's skin and burrowed into my senses. There was a ghost of mint there too, maybe from whatever soap he used.

  His muscles teased my fingers as I ran my touch down his arm. All I wanted right then was to touch him. Not a bit more.

  The wonder of exploring where his hip joined his groin kept me entertained something fierce. My other hand played with the soft hair at the nape of his neck. Felt almost like I was in some cheesy chick flick morning after scene. 'Cept there 101

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  wasn't nothing girly about Kabe. Truthfully, I'd never managed the chance to be intimate like this. Never met anyone I'd cared to be intimate with. Until now.

  Why him, kept circling my brain. Lord Almighty, but he fascinated me, and not just the pretty boy outside, although I couldn't lie and say that didn't play a part. All of him.

  Guarded out among folk, a dog that learned to bite so as to not get kicked. But then I saw that bright light in his soul when he took on a small piece of the mountains. That got me deep and hard. All my life I'd been looking for someone who understood, felt and knew what I knew about these hills. And dang it all, if it weren't delivered in the form of a two-bit jackdaw with a record. I'd done screwed up, dug myself into a well and forgot the ladder so I could climb out.

  "How long," Kabe's voice was all mumbled with sleep,

  "have you been watching me?" He nuzzled into my side like a cat cozying up to a fire.

  I was perfectly content to let him snuggle close. Nights

  'round here are a might chilly and the creak of the cold hadn't left the earth yet. No sense in lying, "A while. Didn't think I needed to shake you out of bed."

  Kabe stretched. The movement pushed that hard, lean body all along mine. "How come you didn't fool around a little?" He finished the tease with a slow good morning kiss.

  'Nother thing I'd never gotten much of. I savored the feel of stubble and soft lips. His warm breath on my face sent little chills down the back of my neck. We'd gone at it like jackrabbits the night before ... hard and fast. This felt nine kinds of different. Relaxed, familiar, comfortable—scared me 102

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  to my bones. Rolling his head, Kabe pulled away. Darn, over way too soon.

  I swallowed, "Who says I didn't?"

  "My dick." He reached between us and flicked his cock so that it slapped my thigh. "I got morning wood, but it's the kind that says I gotta piss ... not piss and fuck."

  "Wouldn't be my right to, I guess." My hand still rested on his belly. Springy curls tickled my palm. "I don't know, seemed maybe a shame to wake you up. Hard enough to sleep in the truck as it is."

  "Got that right." He grumbled and pushed away. It was almost painful, losing the contact with his skin. As he rolled over, Kabe jerked the blanket off both of us. The extra clothes, jackets and all we'd piled on scattered through the truck bed. Instinctively, I reached to grab at the covers. I missed and mountain-crisp morning air nipped my skin.

  "Damn." He laughed and propped himself up on one elbow.

  "Why do you hide that under those stupid briefs of yours?"

  Reaching back, he walked his fingers down my sternum.

  Kabe's touch felt electric. "You'd look so hot in a jock or low-rise. That's a body made to show off."

  Now I really wanted the blanket back. Since I couldn't have it, I turned away and started digging where I figured my clothes might have come to rest. A moment of scrounging and I found the briefs. While I fought with the fabric, trying to pull them up while flat on my back, I muttered, "They're just drawers." Once they were on my hips I grabbed the rest of my clothes and scrambled to the back of the pickup. Trying to drop the gate and yank the T-shirt over my head, especially 103

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  when you can't stand or sit or nothing, weren't easy but I managed. As I slid out the back and hopped into my climbing pants, I hissed over my shoulder, "I'm supposed to wear them." Don't know if he could hear me over the whine of rip-stop sliding on my skin. "They're part of my covenant with my church."

  "Holy shit," Kabe clambered out behind me. "I thought that sacred underwear was a load of crap."

  Wasn't like he meant to be mean to me when he said it, but I'd heard the snide comments and do
wnright nastiness heaped on all my life. Sorta soured the warm glow from earlier. "Look, grab some gorp outta the pack." I'm certain my words got all muffled as I jerked on the lightweight climbing shirt, but I didn't much care at this point. "I think I threw in jerky or canned sausage or something that'd work for breakfast." I looked over at Kabe. He stared back, his face unreadable. Don't know if it was because I'd pushed a button or he'd realized he'd pushed mine. "I got to take care of business. If I ain't back in ten, I've gotten hurt."

  After I'd stalked off into the bushes to relieve myself, I managed to calm down a bit. Of course, my Pa always teased you couldn't even warm a flea on me when I got hot. They said Joe Peterson simmered, he never boiled over, and I'd darn sure keep it that way. Why did I ruin the moment by getting ornery? Not like I was about to back off though. That warn't me.

  A few degrees cooler, I met Kabe back at camp. Still, we downed the trail food in silence. Didn't say nothing since there didn't seem much of anything to say. Packing up the 104

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  truck was more a function of slamming the gate and climbing into the cab. I swung the pickup around and headed down.

  Both the failure from the previous day and my shortcomings of the morning stung me hard. "Look," I broke the tough silence filling the truck, "what you got going today?"

  "Nothing. Why?"

  "Wanna try from a different perspective?" It hit me as we bounced down the trail how it looked so different in the going than it had in the coming up. "See if we might find it that way?"

  "Looking up instead of down? Might work." Kabe's jaw was set hard and all the con had drifted back down over his eyes.

  "I got nothing better to do. Not like the ranch needs me. Get more in the way of everyone than actually get work done."

  "Well then, I'll use you. Certainly don't get in my way." I offered him a smile to show I meant it, 'cause I did.

  "If it's like the way you used me last night ... I don't think you'll find the camera up there." His tease shut me up quick.

  Down the trail and around the base of the cliffs Kabe searched for landmarks, trying to get us in the general vicinity of where we'd pulled the body of Anya Warner. A good deal of the trip meant back tracking and side tracking. You never went straight down and there weren't many trails.

  Somewhere along the way, I was pretty sure we'd cut into NPS territory. I had my annual parks pass and stayed on already cut roads. Worse-case scenario was I'd get busted for having my rifle in the window. The Feds frowned on firearms on government property.

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  I got us as close as I could manage ... going until there wasn't any more track to follow. My little DeLorne GPS, using the longitude and latitude coordinates I got from my notes on the body pull, would sight us into the target now that we'd narrowed our focus. The DeLorne was lighter than most, even if it didn't carry all the bells and whistles. Some of the hotter models might get us within a foot or two with full color topographical maps and pinpoint triangulation. My own eyes could manage as far as I needed once I had a decent bearing.

  After I parked the truck, I took another reading. The GPS

  told us what direction and how far we needed to go. 'Course that was all in miles as the crow flies not miles of up, down and detouring around slot canyons. Kabe and I shouldered our packs, including a fair bit of climbing gear, and started the hike in. Good thing about being the cautious type, I'd planned for a day's scouting and packed for three. Heck, you never knew when you might get caught by a sudden flash flood, rock slide across a road, or busted axle.

  My morning irritation slipped a notch with every foot I set in front of t'other. Moving through the woods, even a sparse one, brought me a little closer to understanding God's grand plan. Pine needles crunched beneath our steps and lacy branches created patchworks of sun and shade to wander through. The shek-shek of Steller's Jays scolded us. The occasional chatter of the ground squirrels added their complaints as well. Mostly it was the sound of the wind and a living, breathing conifer forest that accompanied us.

  I turned back to check on Kabe. Not that I thought he needed checking ... habit of many a trail hike and canyon 106

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  crawl. Sweat beaded around his hairline, gathering to run in little rivers down his cheek. Exertion raised up a slight flush on his dark skin. His face, his eyes, they were open and honest and I swear he seemed younger than I knew he was with all the defensive hiding gone. Stripped bare of pretense, living in the moment and smiling at the sky ... I think in that one instant I lost all reason for him.

  Sex felt good. His body sure wasn't hard on the eyes. But that second showed me someone I could live beside and understand. I could imagine us walking this way for the rest of our lives. I could show him the giant Douglas Fir in the middle of Wall Street Canyon and he'd marvel. Kabe wouldn't laugh if I took him on a five-mile hike just because the stars were more brilliant when you laid on a certain rock at midnight.

  I died inside.

  Terrible thing to admit. I'd hoped I'd never find that one special person, 'cause then it didn't matter. My sin was my own; a rare, sometimes thing. Nothing had to change. I'd just go on day-to-day being Deputy Joe. Finding the right person meant you were a person—plus one. Heavy load of responsibility that, and I wasn't sure I could handle it.

  Sharing my life with someone ... I'd never manage it.

  Couldn't live that way with everyone knowing. I was ashamed, of me and what I might feel for him. I'd sinned with him, liked it, and I'd do it again if he asked.

  I couldn't look at him for the next few miles. Keeping my head low and plodding along, my thoughts ate at me. When 107

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  we hit the base of the cliff, I breathed a bit easier. I took a final reading that told me we were off by a few yards.

  "Okay," I pulled out my water, took a swig and tried to pretend it all was normal, "like yesterday. I'll go left, you go right and we search for anything unusual."

  Kabe downed his own water before answering. I tried like anything not to stare and failed miserably. His brilliant smile caught me hard as he spoke. "Sounds like a plan." He tucked the water away, pulled the small walkie-talkie out of his pocket, turned it on and checked the battery. Since I'd kept them charging on the truck's power all night, we should have had a good few hours of life. "Check in every fifteen?"

  "Yep." I smiled back and nodded. Kabe gave me a mock salute then started along the wall off toward my right. I watched him a bit, until he was almost out of my sight in the bends and turns, before heading left. Even that little bit of loss hit hard, and I knew it was only a temporary thing. How in the world would I manage tearing myself away from him? I shouldn't have done it. I shouldn't have given into my sin and taken us both down. Lord, forgive me for being a weak-willed man.

  Hiking along a cliff base while trying to scan the face isn't the easiest row to hoe when your mind's wrapped up in a good dose of self loathing. I tripped over my own feet a couple of times when I got too distracted by a bit of brush or outcrop of rock. At least the searching kept me from the thinking ... about him and what a miserable human being I was. Moving slow, making sure to look in every fissure from every angle I could manage, I searched. Like clockwork, 108

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  fifteen minutes would drift by and Kabe and I would compare the whole lot of nothing we'd discovered.

  Eventually I lost focus. Not really actually lost it, more of I dropped into a kinda tunnel vision. Walking, staring up the cliff face, I completely lost track of how far I'd gone.

  Whatever, 'cause it was a good thing. Up, couple hundred feet up, the strap of something hung off a tiny outcrop. For a moment it stunned me. Hadn't really thought I'd find it.

  Hoped, heck yeah. Thought there was a snowball's chance in hell of suc
cess, I hadn't really considered it possible. I shook it off and pulled out the binoculars. Took me a moment to sight it in, but yep, definitely a strap, most likely from a camera. I fished the walkie-talkie off my belt and hit transmit.

  "Hey, feeling like going up?"

  Static broke from the speaker, then, "What?" Even over a background of white noise, I could hear the tease in Kabe's voice. "Didn't get enough of going down last night?"

  For a bit, my breath caught. I didn't talk like that with anyone. Never ... ever. For all of two minutes I froze in absolute terror. I knew a thousand eyes stripped me bare and found me wanting. Then the weight shifted and I could breathe again ... heck, what was the harm. Nobody around for miles in the backcountry. Certainly there couldn't be anyone within range on my cheap climbing set of walkie-talkies. Relaxed, alone with Kabe, I could play some. "Not with what you got." And that was the truth. That pretty boy's dick sent me reeling. Tied up to a tie-down, legs spread wide so I could suck those furry balls and long, fine cock, I could 109

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  take another round of that. I'd fall and fall again anytime he offered.

  "Me neither." Lust is a terrible powerful thing and I could hear it in his voice. I couldn't fathom that I inspired it in him.

  "You have that whole desperate for a fuck vibe, makes it real fun."

  Knocked me a bit there. I ain't used to hard language. I plunked my butt on a boulder and fished out my water bottle.

  Took me a moment to compose myself before I answered.

  "You don't have to be crude about it, you know." I took a hefty swallow then wiped the sweat off my forehead with the back of my arm.

  "Suck my balls, rim me like a pro, then stick your prick up my ass, and you got a problem with the word 'fuck?' Man, you got issues." He kept the mike open so I could hear him laughing at me. Thank the Good Lord Kabe wasn't nowhere near or he'd have caught me blushing like a virgin on her wedding night. Okay, pretty boy, laugh at me, I'd figure a way to make him pay later. "Heading your way. How far are you?"