Chapter 11
Had he just agreed to stay? To give them a chance? Jack couldn’t help but smile. “All right then a month it is.”
Rebel looked up and smiled. “I can’t promise more than that but a month would be okay.” He stretched and winched. “So how is this going to work?”
Jack hadn’t thought that far. He’d surprised himself by asking Rebel to stay at all but it came to him quickly. “Well I’d like you to stay here at night. It would be easier and while I’m at work you can either stay here or you can go to your house and work on it or your bike whatever you need to do.”
“Am I going to have, I don’t know, rules or stuff? Are we going to just do this Dom stuff sometimes, or all the time…”
He started to shake his head then thought about it while he sat up and leaned back on the headboard. Rebel needed some structure and something he could count on every day. “Yes. As a matter of fact I think I should be strict with you. Give you daily chores, discipline. I tell you what I’ll think on it and we’ll talk in the morning.”
Rebel looked torn but Jack wasn’t worried. He was sure Rebel would take to it. “Okay.”
They went to sleep curled together and Jack woke twice during the night just to make sure Rebel was still there. He had a nagging fear that Rebel would book it out while he was sleeping after thinking of rules and structure but each time he found Rebel there in his arms, the sleeping man looking years younger and at peace.
When the morning came Rebel woke before him but hadn’t moved. Once Jack was awake he saw Rebel looking at him and smiled sleepily. “Good morning handsome.”
Rebel stretched his arms and pecked a kiss on Jack’s lips. “Very good morning. I don’t think I’ve slept that hard in years.”
The smile he got even felt victorious. “So you believe this could be good for you?”
Winching as he moved his ass on the mattress he said, “Surprisingly yeah. I don’t know what hurts worse, my ass from the flogger thing or from your dick.”
Jack laughed and reached over to stroke Rebel’s hair. “Either way it’s good. You look relaxed and that’s half of the point. Let’s get some things out of the way. I thought about it some and I decided that we need to be continuous with this. When I was Martin’s Dom we really only did scenes on weekends and when we had time off of work but he didn’t need this like you do.”
Rebel lost his smile. “You are saying I’m more fucked up than him right?”
Oh shit, he really needed to be careful of the ways he worded stuff sometimes. “No but he had a wonderful home life, great parents, never even had a pet die. You’ve had things that made you think you need to fight everything and everyone. So what we are going to do is that when we wake up we do your spankings. It’ll set you into the right mindset for the day. We shower and get ready for our day and you make breakfast. We eat together and then we go our separate ways for the day. I have work and so do you on the house. We set a time to be back here and barring a call for me from work we are home. We will reconnect somehow, make love or if you need to be settled we take a time in the basement. We feel it out. I don’t have all of the answers but we can figure this out together.”
His answer seemed to ease Rebel’s trepidation and the man shrugged. “Spanking again? My ass is fucking sore.”
Jack smiled and pinched his chin. “None today. Maybe we’ll go down tonight and try some other things.”
“Fuck,” Rebel said low, his eyes fluttering closed. There was no doubt he was interested in the lifestyle and Jack felt like clapping but instead kissed Rebel quickly.
“Let’s hop in the shower, make some breakfast and get ready for our day.” He thought about the break in and said, “I have some investigating to do today.”
“That thing last night?”
“Yeah, listen, stay close to your aunt’s house today I may want to stop in and see you.”
Mischief lit in Rebel’s eyes and he said, “Just see me?”
“Maybe lots more than see you.”
The shower was hot and not from the water then they made breakfast together. Jack had an idea but really didn’t know how good of an idea it was or if Rebel would even be okay with it but he asked anyway, “Come and have coffee with me at the diner?”
Rebel’s head shot up as he reached for his leather jacket from the back of the chair. “The diner? I don’t know…”
“Come on. Let people get to know you. Let people see what I see.” Jack took his hands and weaved their fingers together his voice beseeching, “Let me show you off.”
oooOooo
If there was one thing he really didn’t want to do was go to a diner full of people who already thought he had tried to practically rape one of their own in the men’s room of the local bar but Jack wanted him there and that was fucking huge. He wasn’t being hidden away and used like a guilty secret. Jack saw he was torn.
“Please baby. I can make you go but I want this to be your choice.”
Rebel looked down and nodded slightly earning him a squeezing hug from Jack and a warm kiss to his cheek.
“If they chase me out don’t be surprised.”
Jack chuckled and led him out to his bike. “I’ll meet you there so I can go talk to my deputy after. You may want to get the van fixed today it’s getting too cold to ride it.”
Rebel nodded and took the kiss Jack gave him then got on the bike.
oooOooo
Jack pulled in and watched Rebel pull in next to him. The man kept surprising him because he could have pulled off anytime on the way in but there he was sitting on the bike and looking at the diner like it was a mountain to climb. Well, Jack figured, it pretty much was for him. He got out and went to Rebel.
“No one bites except me and that won’t be until we’re in private.”
“Funnyman.”
Jack went in first and was greeting as usual. He shook a couple hands and stopped at a couple of tables but made his greetings fast because he could feel the tension in the man behind him. It was like sparks of electricity coming off Rebel so he made it over to the table. Once there he moved to the side and set his hand on the small of Rebel’s back, looked over the men at the table and said, “Guys, this is Rebel, Mrs. Perry’s nephew.”
The faces of the other men had knowing smiles or cautious grins but Lonnie wasn’t smiling. He was shocked and as Jack’s brows furrowed wondering what was wrong with Lonnie, Lonnie’s face changed to fury.
“Lon? What’s wrong?” Lonnie looked away and scooted his chair back right into Deb while she was heading over to pour coffee. She just saw it coming and lifted the pot so he wouldn’t collide and burn them both then watched with the others as Lonnie ran out of the door. Jack wanted to follow him and see what the hell could be wrong but he didn’t want to leave his jumpy lover alone with everyone staring at him.
“What the Sam Hill got into him?” Carl said as he watched.
The other’s shrugged and Jack looked at the door. “Guess he had somewhere to be.” He motioned to Lonnie’s empty seat and took the one next to it as Rebel sat. Rebel fidgeted a little and Jack turned both of their cups over as Deb leaned over to fill them.
“I’d talk to him sometime if I were you sheriff,” she said then looked into Jack’s eyes with a sure look before she turned to Rebel and smiled. “You are a sight for sore eyes. Not only someone new but someone easy on the eyes.”
Rebel smiled shyly and Jack chuckled as he agreed, “That’s true Deb.”
Carl took a long sip of coffee then asked Jack, “So what’d you think of the MacAbby place Sheriff?”
Getting serious Jack said, “Well I had Patsy call them first thing and they are coming up to assess the damage.”
“Any idea who it was?”
Jack sipped his coffee and said, “No I was kind of hoping you could give me a clue about that. What did you hear and how far away were you from the house when you heard the ruckus?”
Shrugging Carl said, “Well I was about two miles down the hill. On Orphan Pass.”
Jack didn’t question how he heard anything from that distance. The canyon echoed sound better than the Hollywood Bowl. “Voices or just the banging and smashing?”
“No voices at all.”
Jack nodded and sipped on his coffee while slipping a hand to Rebel’s thigh. Rebel jumped a bit but then blushed and drank his coffee down. He could tell his nervous lover was ready to go but he just kept his hand on his leg as a soft and firm reminder that he was safe.
“Well, it didn’t look like kids to me. It looked like someone pissed off at the family maybe or just pissed off in general. I’m going to head to Dennis’s after this, check it out and scrape his road.”
Carl leaned over and whispered loudly, “how’s he doin’? He hasn’t been into the station lately. Unless he’s getting his gas somewhere else?” He said this last already hurt without the answer. He owned the gas station and the gas company charged him nearly twice as much as the stations in St. Martin to ship the gas all the way up the mountain so he had to pass along the price. He counted on the townsfolk to keep him in business almost as much as the tourists.
Jack assured him, “No Carl, he’s not going anywhere else. He’s not doing too good but you know him, he’s not letting on.”
When they were finished talking Jack paid for his and Rebel’s coffee and walked him out to his bike which Rebel parked around the corner. Jack put his hands on Rebel’s waist tenderly and kissed him. Rebel was obviously nervous about the PDA and pulled away.
“Not here man.”
Jack smiled. “Sorry, it’s just hard to keep my hands off of you.” Rebel smirked and swung his leg over his bike, taking his sunglasses out of the inner pocket of his jacket.
“I’ll see you back at your place at 5 pm.”
Jack adjusted his hat and smiled as he confirmed, “five pm and not a minute after or their will be consequences.”
“You and your fucking consequences,” he said laughingly but Jack saw his breathing speed up and the way he squirmed on the seat. He watched him ride off before he got into his cruiser and headed south. Once he pulled in to Dennis’ place he saw Lonnie’s old Chevette parked there. He was glad to see it, hoping to kill two birds with one stone, wondering what the hell had been up Lonnie’s ass the last few days.
Of course he knew one thing it could be. Lonnie hoped to one day take his uncle’s place as deputy but Jack had been putting off talking to the town council about hiring him, waiting until he matured some more. Maybe he could try him out for a while. He got out of the cruiser and just as he closed the door Lonnie flew out of the door.
“I’m done uncle! Don’t try to stop me!”
He hadn’t even noticed Jack was there but Dennis did as he opened the front. He looked to be torn between his nephew and Jack, which was strange enough but as Jack watched he walked back into the house letting the screen door slam behind him. Jack walked over to Lonnie fast and grabbed his shoulder, furious at the younger man for upsetting his uncle.
“What the fuck is going on here Lon?”
Lonnie turned around with his dark eyes flashing. “What are you doing here!? Don’t you have anything better to do like your new boyfriend?” He wrenched away from Jack and got into his car while Jack was dumbstruck. Lonnie had never raised his voice to anyone let alone Jack and his own uncle. Jack watched him peel away from Dennis’ house and then looked to the porch to see Dennis watching out of the window. He went up to the house and didn’t knock, just opened the door and went in.
“What the hell was all that about?”
Dennis was just sitting in his chair and he was quiet for a minute before he waved at the chair and said, “Just family stuff.”
Jack wasn’t one to interfere with anyone’s family but Dennis and his nephew were like family to him. “Come on, it’s me Dennis. What’s been wrong with that boy?”
Dennis’ eyes were tired. “Maybe everyone still thinking he’s a boy is one of the problems. Now what have you come here to ask?”
Jack had forgotten all about needing the advice on the break in but he didn’t care about that at the moment, not when two of his best friend’s seemed to be in so much trouble. “Never mind that right now. What is going on with him? With the both of you? You know I’ll listen.”
As Dennis tried to smile his eyes got even sadder. “It’s nothing, just growing pains. All families have them. So what’s this I hear about the biker stud?”
Nice try at a change of subject but Jack wasn’t buying it. “You may be in touch with all the spirits you old bastard but you can’t push off on this.”
“He’s thinking of going back to New Mexico. His father is still there, drunk as always. His other uncles and such are all there. He doesn’t want to be here anymore. He’s…hurting and instead of facing the hurt he wants to run from it.”
Jack fell back against the back of the chair and closed his eyes.
To go back to his family was dangerous and he could see why Dennis would be so against it. Lonnie’s mother and father were bad alcoholics. His mother had died from it and his father was getting there as well. Lonnie had been brought to Apishipa Creek when he was sixteen after his mother’s death to live with his grandparents and Uncle Dennis to keep him from being hurt or traveling down the same road his family in New Mexico had taken.
“Damn. Why the hell would he go back there? He’s got friends here, family. I should have put him on as deputy.”
Dennis sighed and said, “No, it’s not your fault. Not mine. He is a shy thing, always was and doesn’t know how to get what he wants by asking. He hopes it will just happen.” Dennis sat up a little and patted Jack’s knee. “So what did you really come here for?”
Jack took the hint he didn’t want to talk anymore about his family troubles so he took out his phone to show Dennis the pictures. “The break in at the MacAbby place. I’m sure you heard of it like you hear of everything. It wasn’t kids. It was set up to look like Rebel.”
Dennis looked at the pictures and handed him back the phone. “I don’t know what to tell you. Looks like kids to me.”
There was no way Dennis thought that. It showed on his face. “Kids. You’re sure about that?”
“Yeah, yeah. Sure it was, some kids from St. Martin probably or looking to mess around the summer houses. Boredom with all of these gadgets they have now I suppose. Listen, I need to take my meds and lie down.”
Jack couldn’t remember the last time Dennis had brushed him off maybe because it had never happened before. He left Dennis’ and went back into town and to the station. Once there he walked in to see Patsy behind her book again. He stopped at her desk to look through mail and she put the book down on the desk, open side down and asked, “I meant to ask you the other day but does this mean Dennis is feeling good enough to come back?”
Jack looked at her, cocked her head searching her face for a clue as to what she mean and finding none asked, “Does what mean that?”
“Well when Lonnie came in to get something from your office for his uncle I just assumed he was getting caught up on things so he could come back and not be lost.”
Jack put the mail down and leaned over the desk. “You let someone in my office without me in there? What the hell were you thinking?”
Patsy pushed her chair back a bit. Jack had rarely scolded her and it was obvious she wasn’t used to it. “W-well, it was Lonnie! He said you had something in there for Dennis and Dennis sent him to pick it up. I never thought…-“
“How long was he in there?”
Patsy looked on the verge of tears. “About ten minutes.”
Jack went into his office and looked around. He hadn’t noticed anything different before but now that he was looking the only thing he saw was that the computer screen was moved. He usually had it pointed to the wall, not liking the reflection, like he had a mirror staring at him all day. He rarely had it on so pointed to the wall seemed like the best placement. He went over to it and turned it on then hit history. He was so bad at the computer sometimes he would hit the wrong key and lose the progress of what he was doing so Martin had installed a program for him to hit a key and bring up the last four things he had been doing. It had saved him time and time again.
What he saw perplexed him completely. It was Rebel’s criminal record. The date and time was the day of the break in at MacAbby’s. A few hours before it.
He scanned down Rebel’s record and what he saw made his stomach hurt with a huge stone that was suddenly inside of it. Breaking and Entering/Vandalism, Breaking and Entering/Vandalism, Assault, Assault, Breaking and Entering/Vandalism. He had been in and out of jail for years because of his temper and disregard for the law but Jack had already known that. These were the things Jack wanted to help with but why would Lonnie want to know?
He didn’t have long to think about it, a call came in soon after with the Clennons fighting with Mrs. Rodriguez over her mean dog who always got into their yard and he had to leave before the feud escalated.
After a long day in which, besides saving the dog from being shot with rock salt, he’d had to drive back up to the MacAbby home with them when they arrived in town and put in a few calls to their insurance carrier he finished up and headed home just after 4:30. The shit with Lonnie and Dennis bothered him all day and continued all the way home but every thought went away as soon as he got there. Rebel’s bike was parked and just the thought of walking through the door to a warm body, a smile on pouty lips and arms to embrace let all of the tension of the day go.
He went in, looked around and found Rebel on the couch once again asleep. It was better than he’d hoped. Rebel looked so fucking amazing Jack had to remind himself to breathe. He squatted next to the couch and moved that stubborn piece of hair away from Rebel’s eyes. Rebel startled awake but calmed at once at seeing Jack.
“Sleep well?”
Rebel sat up blushing and stammered out, “I don’t know what it is, I usually don’t sleep more than four or five hours a night but I come here and poof!”
Jack got up to sit next to him. “Maybe that’s because you feel safe. Comfortable.”
“I guess,” Rebel agreed shrugging.
“How was your day?”
Seeming like the first time he’d heard that particular question Rebel smirked, “Okay I guess. I got the wallpaper down in the guest room. I went to the library, well if you can call that little place a library.”
“Oh? What for if I’m not intruding?”
Rebel leaned over his knees and let his hair hide his face as he said quietly, “I needed a computer. I wanted to look some stuff up.”
Realization dawned for Jack and he asked, “About the lifestyle?”
“Yeah.”
“And what did you discover?” Jack was trying to push without seeming too pushy and Rebel seemed to be responding to it.
“Well it wasn’t easy. That lady is kinda noisy.”
Jack laughed knowing Mrs. Valdez well. “Yes, I can see how that could get dicey.”
“Yeah so I had to open a tab to hide it so it took me forever but I read some and…”
“And…?”
Jack was dying to know his thoughts but Rebel took a full minute to respond and Jack was ready to pounce on him by that time. He thought his patience was stronger than that but he was already discovering new things about himself.
“Well it fucking turned me on,” Rebel finally said, shifting in his seat and not meeting his eyes. Jack couldn’t have that.
He took Rebel’s face into his hands. “Look at me.” Rebel looked up, his eyes squinting as he couldn’t hold back his smile.
“It was hot, well most of it.”
“It’s not all about being hot,” Jack said, cringing inside. He wanted this with Rebel, wanted it for Rebel. But he couldn’t hide the fact that one of the reasons Rebel needed it was because he needed to break through the pain he’d been feeling and let it all go. That part wouldn’t be so hot.
Rebel looked away and Jack let him. “I know. I read a story about someone who completely got off of antidepressants because of it. I don’t think it’ll help me that way but that’s cool I guess.”
Jack chuckled and said, “Listen I think it can help you. Like I said, though, it is going to be work. I’m going to hurt you in a lot of ways but I will not leave you and I will not scar you.”
Rebel got up then, absently scratching his head over the scar. “I guess you are going to want to know things…that I don’t wanna talk about.”
Jack stayed put, not wanting to chase him. He was going to stick to his guns about Rebel coming to him. “You will though. I can make it safe for you to talk about. I can push you to get your demons out whether you want to or not.”