Jory Strong - Two Spirits

Trey told him and Tenino keyed in the number. Felt ridiculous at putting so much meaning into trusting Trey with access to the guns, but there was no avoiding it. The only other person who knew how to open the gun safe was Tekoa.

“Just in case I’m not here and you need protection, it’s keyed for your birthday,” Tenino said, managing to sound casual. “Just hit TM first so it’ll match the user with the code.”

Trey shivered visibly. “Hopefully that’s not information I’ll ever need to use.”

“Yeah, well, that’s the plan. Better grab your jacket. A storm is moving in. I think we can make it to the place I want to show you and back before it hits.”

Curiosity ate at Trey as he followed Tenino outside. He expected them to take the Jeep with the sheriff’s seal on the side but instead Tenino stopped only long enough to retrieve the shotgun from its rack before proceeding to a stand-alone garage.

The doors opened sideways rather than rolling up. “ATV’s on this side,” Tenino said, grabbing the handle on the left, pulling to create an opening just wide enough to get a four-wheeler out.

“Just one?” Trey asked, his cock reacting to the idea of riding with his arm around Tenino’s waist and his front pressed to Tenino’s back, even if the little kid in him wanted his own ATV.

“A guy can only ride one at time. But if you hang around, there’s room in the garage for two.”

“Sounds good,” he managed, his voice little more than a croak.

Tenino nodded, just enough to let Trey know he’d heard the admission that the thing between them extended beyond staying safe from Patricia Veron.

The shotgun went into a sheath secured to the ATV. Tenino rolled the four-wheeler through the open doorway.

Trey closed the door. The ATV engine rumbled to life. He slid onto the seat behind Tenino, felt aroused and excited, happy in a way he couldn’t ever remember feeling— like everything was falling into place and he was where he was supposed to be.

Within minutes Trey understood why they’d taken the ATV instead of the Jeep. They headed upward on a steep, narrow trail. It was dark in places, the path shaded by evergreen trees. He grunted when they hit a low spot, sending a shower of muddy water over their legs and making him wish he had jeans on instead of sweatpants.

“This is a shortcut,” Tenino said a while later, slowing at a curve. “It’d take a couple of hours over fire roads and then some walking if we used the Jeep.”

“I like it.” Trey couldn’t resist placing a kiss on the bare skin of Tenino’s neck. “But I still want my own wheels.”

Tenino laughed, gunned the engine. It felt like they were heading straight up the side of a mountain.

Trey’s breath caught when they cleared the trees. Below was a valley, its vast tracks of old-growth forest containing redwoods that had probably been alive for thousands of years.

In front and around them, snowcapped mountain ranges stretched out. Tenino wheeled the ATV around and cut the engine. Trey slid from the seat, Tenino followed. They stood on a small rocky plateau that felt like an ancient gateway.

In the distance the storm gathered. Dark clouds formed and reformed, served as a backdrop for splintered bolts of lightning as thunder rolled across the land. Power vibrated through the air, primal, unstoppable, uncontainable—destructive and yet also life-giving.

There were no the words to adequately describe what Trey saw, what he felt. He could only nod when Tenino said, “Thunderbirds fly in this place.”

The first drops of rain hit them, cold, gentle, though Trey guessed water would soon come down in violent, stinging sheets. In silent accord they both turned to the ATV. Tenino straddled the seat first. Trey slid on behind, wrapped his arm around Tenino’s waist again, heard the phantom drum beat and looked backward as the ATV kicked forward.

He saw an old man on horseback where no man or horse could be—feathers braided into hair and horse’s mane. Both man and beast otherworldly, the land personified. And then the image was lost to the darkness of the trail and wildness of the Tenino’s descent.

Trey was clinging to Tenino by the time they got to the smooth, wide trails leading into the small valley where the cabin was. His heart raced with the same exhilarating fear a roller-coaster ride gave him.

The adrenaline spiking his system needed an outlet and he knew just what form it should take. His arms loosened so his hands could go to the front of Tenino’s jeans.

“I take it you like living on the edge,” Trey said, exploring the bulge he found, deciding one wild ride deserved another.

“Shit,” Tenino said, voice catching, a groan escaping as Trey measured the length and hardness of the erection protected by denim, then found the snap, the zipper, and freed them.

The four-wheeler slowed, bucked with the unintentional application of brakes. Sped up when Trey’s hand slid underneath the waistband of Tenino’s Jockeys and wrapped his fingers around Tenino’s cock.

“Unfair,” Tenino panted.

Trey laughed. “Definitely fair. Any jury would rule in my favor considering what you just put me through.”

“You enjoyed it.”

“And you’re enjoying this,” Trey said, exploring the soft skin and wet tip of Tenino’s cock.

Tenino responded by hitting the gas, racing toward the cabin as if their lives depended on it. Trey laughed, decided to ease back because it would definitely ruin the day if one or both of them ended up in the hospital.

The rain was coming down with a little more determination by the time they reached the cabin. The flashes of lightning were closer, the thunder louder.

With a final stroke, Trey freed Tenino’s cock, slid his hand from the warmth of the Jockeys. Tenino stopped the ATV in front of the closed garage. Trey got off, grabbed the door handle, pulled.

There was the sound of a gun firing.

Tenino jerked, fell forward, blood soaking into his jacket.

Trey reacted without thinking. He grabbed Tenino and dragged him into the garage.

The rain began falling in earnest, beating on the roof. It was muted by the thunder of Trey’s heart, his frantic, harsh breathing.

Blood poured from a hole in Tenino’s chest, leaked from the corner of his mouth along with bubbles of air. No! Trey cried, stripping his jacket off, covering the wound, applying pressure though he feared that just as much blood might be pooling underneath Tenino.

Footsteps sounded. Too late he thought about the shotgun in its sheath on the ATV.

His hand shook as he found Tenino’s .45, took it from the shoulder holster. He needed to get to a phone, a car, to—

Patricia’s voice interrupted. “You betrayed me. You ruined my life and destroyed my family. Now you’re going to pay.”

Trey found the gun’s safety and pushed it into the disabled position. His hands were covered in blood. His mind became a white haze consumed with the will to survive, the absolute need to do whatever it took to save Tenino.

She never considered that he might have a gun and know how to use it. And even when she saw it in his hands, she didn’t think he was capable of taking a life.

Patricia laughed, a sound holding a deep well of hatred, a thirst for violent revenge whose origins were anchored in the abuse she’d suffered as a child at the hands of her father and uncles. She smiled savagely as she brought the hand holding the gun up.

Their eyes met. Held for a surreal instant—all veneer stripped away—ended when Trey pulled the trigger of Tenino’s on-duty piece.

A sob escaped, not for Patricia as she dropped to the ground and didn’t move, but for Tenino who was also motionless. “No!” Trey shouted, the gun slipping from his grip as he bent down, pressed his palms to Tenino’s torn and bloody chest as his mind scrambled for the right thing to do.