Chapter 21
It hit him hard to hear it even if he already knew. He was pretty good at reading people and he’d read it in Jack’s eyes the day he told him about knowing who had tried to frame him. He got off Jack’s lap and Jack let him go. He wasn’t angry, not at all. In fact he was pretty sure he was happier than he’d ever been and he couldn’t figure out why at first but as he walked around the bed and grabbed his sweats up he looked over to Jack who was leaning over his knees, his head hanging low. he realized why. Jack had been honest with him. Jack hadn’t hidden it from him and Jack still wanted him here.
He went back over after getting the sweats pulled up and sat next to Jack on the bed and said, “So since we are going to be together all of the time now I guess I get more sex.”
Jack turned his head and looked into Rebel’s eyes, and what Rebel saw there made him sure he had done and said the right thing.
“You have no fucking idea how much more sex you are getting baby.” Jack’s arms were around him then, and what’s more, Jack’s smell was around him, his body heat warming through him. Everything was Jack, every feeling, smell, sound and taste. It was all him. He lived inside of the man.
They lay back on the bed together and Jack spent the next few hours kissing and touching him. They made love again and as he came he felt tears fall from his eyes just a second before Jack brought him back to lean against his strong chest, his heartbeat thrumming into his back and finally matching his own. As the beats echoed Rebel melted against his lover, closed his eyes and drifting on, feeling safe and warm and loved.
He should have known Jack wouldn’t just let it all go without talking more about it. Jack and his talks! He was going through his morning routines, getting breakfast together when Jack came into the kitchen. “Babe we really didn’t talk enough on what I told you yesterday.”
Rebel didn’t want to talk. That was never his thing. Even with Aunt Candace she had to pull it from him or tell him how he felt. Put words to his feelings that he never could manage and that is exactly what Jack was trying to do.
“I heard enough unless you are going to tell me you want to trade me for him.”
Jack grabbed his shoulders and turned him away from the counter just as the toast popped up. “That isn’t what I was going to say at all. It may have been different if I would have known and I hadn’t met you but I did meet you. I fell in love with you. I belong to you just like you belong to me I thought you knew that.”
“Then why do we need to talk about it anymore? I’m happy you told me, I really am, but I don’t want to talk about it anymore. If we do I am afraid I’ll take off and find him so I can’t beat the living fuck out of him.”
Jack lessened his grip but didn’t drop his hands. “No matter what he’s my best friend’s nephew and he will always be my friend. Please…if he ever comes back to Apishipa Creek…don’t hurt him.”
As much as he knew that request would be one of the toughest in his life he nodded. “Fine.”
They ate and Jack got ready for work. He was going to keep going until the town council hired a temporary sheriff to work with Dennis. Rebel was going to stay home and work on his bike again. Not that it needed much more work. He would just rather do that than work on the van. He even thought of just selling the van as he planned to the house. It was easier than not seeing her in either of them.
Yeah, sure he felt like he was betraying her memory, getting rid of the things she loved so much. The things she worked hard to make special but without her there, they both seemed so empty.
Jack buttoned up his uniform shirt as he walked into the kitchen. Rebel had just finished up with the dishes and was leaning against the sink watching him.
“What?”
“You’re hot. Please tell me you will still put the shirt on even when you are on your leave of absence.”
Jack chuckled and Rebel thought he caught a bit of color over his nose and cheeks. His big bad Dom was blushing and he thought it was fucking adorable. Jack grabbed his hand and yanked him into his chest laughing. “What the fuck is that smile about?”
“You. You are shy. My hot, shy Dom who can’t take a compliment!”
Jack’s brows lifted almost to his hairline and he let out a harsh laugh before he said, “My little sub wants his ass beat tonight doesn’t he?”
Rebel thought about it and it did sound fucking yummy. “Maybe I do.”
“Well, your morning spankings aren’t supposed to be as harsh as your punishments but I guess this morning can be an exception,” Jack growled as he pulled Rebel by the waistband of his pants over to the table, sat in one of the kitchen chairs and patted his lap. “Get on.”
The morning ritual was hot as it was but the threat of Jack’s hand coming down harder than normal made his skin tingle. He lay over Jack’s hard thighs and pressed his hands to the floor to steady him. Cock already filling he wished he had pulled down his pants first because Jack just pulled them down in back and he had no way to get the friction he already craved.
“Fifteen today I think should do it,” Jack said in the low gritty voice he got when doing something like this. It vibrated through Rebel better than his fucking Harley and he took a deep breath before he nodded.
The first smack on his bare right cheek told Rebel this one was definitely going to be different. It hurt and not just a little and not as much as the second that came down fast on his left cheek. The sting, the burn and the heat left after did something to him. As much as anyone had even threatened to hit him before would bring up just all-consuming rage he felt at ease with Jack’s hand coming down on him. It put him in a place he didn’t know exist before. Somewhere that was peaceful and warm but at the same time ignited passion in him he thought only existed in movies.
At the seventh swat, they got even harder. His ass was already a nice mix of numb and burning but Jack wasn’t finished yet. Eight more and he was ready for all of them. Seven more and he was squirming so hard he almost fell from Jack’s lap but Jack’s big steady hand was there to hold him, to steady and settle him. It amazed him that someone who could finally ground him could also make him soar so fucking high he felt like he would fly right off of the earth.
“Count down the last five Rebel.”
Fuck he loved Jack’s voice and never more so than when he was aroused and in the middle of his Dom shit. It was low and sexy and so hot he felt his cock swell more and threaten to shoot across the room, sweat pants or no sweat pants and when five hit he had to use all of his focus to keep his cum contained.
“Five Master!”
Four came down like the walls of Jericho, falling and letting him go. He was out of his self-made prison and ready to fly. Three had him screaming it, screaming the word three and two brought the tears. His cock pushed against his sweats and nothing else and he still wanted to come but he wouldn’t go against the wishes of his Dom. He wouldn’t.
“Please Master can I come, fuck please, please let me come!”
“No!”
It wasn’t right, it wasn’t normal but it was what it was. He loved the way Jack controlled him, he loved the way Jack hit him and he didn’t care if that made him a fucking freak. He didn’t care if he was becoming one of those leather boys he used to make fun of in KC. Even though he called out one he didn’t realize it was over until Jack was pulling him up to sit in his lap, his Master’s arms wrapped around him and he was being kissed and whispered to.
“That’s my good boy. That’s it baby, I’m here.”
Rebel’s tears felt icy on his heated skin and he could almost feel them evaporating before they made it halfway down his cheeks. Jack’s hand smoothed over him but his cock was pulsing with need of coming and he whimpered, yeah he whimpered and hated himself for it.
“Please Master…”
“What Rebel? What do you need?”
Rebel looked into Jack’s eyes but couldn’t say. He hoped his face showed it and it must have because Jack stuck his hand down the front of Rebel’s pants and grabbed onto the throbbing cock. The grip strong and sure and he pulled once, then twice and Rebel’s world exploded in color and sensation as his orgasm rolled over him like a thousand motorcycles, rumbling and pulsating. He would have slid to the floor if it wasn’t for Jack’s arm around him, holding him up in more ways than one.
“There you go baby. Now get yourself cleaned up and meet me in the bedroom so we can get your belt on.”
Rebel groaned and tried to whine but he got a smack on the ass for it as he got up and started for the bedroom on boneless legs. Once in there Jack went to the drawer and pulled out the thing that Rebel both hated and loved. It kept him from getting hard, that damn chastity belt, and kept him from even being able to touch his cock more than just to aim it to piss but he knew himself. If it were not for that damn belt, he would jerk off at least twice a day while Jack was gone either forcing him to lie about it or getting him in trouble with his lover.
The plug was the worst. It was just long enough to be a constant reminder that it was there but no matter how he moved or sat it wouldn’t give him the least bit of pleasure. As Jack put it in, though, he got chills and when he locked it in place Rebel groaned. The ritual of it as well as having Jack controlling him that way made his caged cock ache as it tried to fill.
“There. Now you can get things done and not have to worry about a hard on getting in the way.”
Rebel let his words drip with sarcasm, “Oh goodie for me!”
For that he got another slap on the ass and he smiled at his lover brightly. Jack let out an exasperated sigh and kissed him hard before he turned and started for the door. “I’ll be by for lunch.”
Rolling his eyes Rebel called, “I know, sandwich, apple, coffee right?”
Jack stopped just as he got outside of the door and looked back in. “No! Actually I’m in the mood for chili. Do you know how to make good chili?”
Rebel was surprised. Since he’d known Jack he either took the same lunch with him every day or he had Rebel make it for him when he came home. “I make it hot.”
Jack winked and said, “The hotter the better for me.”
Rebel laughed as he watched his lover leave.
oooOooo
When Jack was finished with lunch he sat back in the chair and blew out a long breath. “That was great Reb.”
“Reb?”
Jack thought maybe Rebel didn’t like that nickname but he said, “Yeah hasn’t anyone ever called you that. For short?”
Rebel shook his head and took Jack’s bowl to the sink. Jack loved the way Rebel walked when he was belted. “No not really. The nicknames I got were loser, freak, fag and cocksucker.”
His heart hurt for his boy and he got up to take Rebel into his arms. “No one with dare call you those things around me baby.”
Rebel shrugged one shoulder. “It never bothered me really. Names don’t define a person right?”
The insight was great but Jack could tell Rebel really didn’t believe that. “Still, no one will do it around me or I will lay them out.”
The glint in Rebel’s eye told Jack his boy liked being protected. “Nobody ever stuck up for me before. My big hero. It is very nice.”
Jack kissed him and as the kiss deepened and became more heated he pulled away with an apologetic groan. “I need to get back as much as I would love to bend you over the counter right now.”
Rebel’s eyes widened and he asked, “Did they find you a replacement?”
Jack was happy to confirm it. The council had been great with jumping on it and they already had someone who would be there the next day. Jack would give him a tour of the town, show him around the office and introduce him at the diner.
“Yeah baby soon I’ll be all yours. How soon do you think you’ll be sick of me?”
Rebel laughed and shook his head. “I don’t think that’s possible.”
He got another kiss for that and then Jack decided he wanted yet another one just because he loved the way Rebel tasted. He could just have Rebel for lunch for the rest of his life and he’d be satisfied. “I have to get back. I have to scramble to get some stuff finished so I don’t leave the poor guy a ton of work to start out with.”
“Then you better get back to work.” Fuck the little smile on Rebel’s lips made his dick hard and his stomach flutter.
“I’d rather be here,” Jack said as he ran his thumbs over both of Rebel’s nipples, “driving my cock inside of you, making you scream.”
The flush that came over Rebel then didn’t help him motivate for leaving. “I’d like that too. Maybe when you get back?”
Finally he relented and kissed Rebel once more before dragging himself to the door. “Be ready for me. I’ve decided though, you are getting something special tonight.”
He glanced back only long enough to see Rebel flush even more and lick those full lips and he had to turn away or else he’d never get out of there.
Work went fast even though Patsy was switching back and forth between being a nervous wreck and throwing dirty looks at him for going and leaving her with a new boss. He frankly thought it was funny. Finally, she would have to do the work she was being paid for.
He left the office early and headed to Dennis’ house. He didn’t want to. They hadn’t spoken much since Dennis had told him Lonnie hadn’t gone to Utah. He struggled with himself the entire ride to his friend’s house. He was worried whether he should even ask about him. Fuck, Lonnie was never far from his thoughts but Dennis might not appreciate him asking about his nephew. A nephew who was pretty much going through all of this hell because Jack eyes weren’t opened able to see through the grief of losing Martin to see that Lonnie wanted him.
He still had a hard time wrapping his mind around that. Shit Lonnie came to Apishipa Creek as a teenager. Jack had watched him finish growing but he had grown. He’d grown into a beautiful man who was hard working, funny even though he was shy to a fault around most people. And above all he was someone Jack had truly liked being around even when he didn’t want to be around almost anyone. He thought back on the dark time in his life and, besides Dennis, no one had been there at his side like Lonnie had.
Lonnie had brought him food and made him eat. He’d made sure Jack had things around the house when Jack was too depressed to get them for himself. Simple things like toilet paper, shampoo, detergent and he’d used the detergent to wash his clothes. He is the one who started to get Jack to leave the house for more than to just drag his ass to work. The first autumn he practically forced Jack to go hunting. He even cleaned his gun and packed his tent.
That trip should have been Jack’s first slap in the face that Lonnie was in love with him. After the first day out they made camp and Dennis went to bed early. He was just starting to feel the worst of his arthritis and was happy to hit his expensive air mattress after walking through the cold woods all day. Carl was drinking and fell asleep next to the fire, snoring loud so Jack had invited Lonnie into his tent so they could both get some amount of sleep with the canvas muffling the worst of the sound.
In the middle of the night Jack woke up with Lonnie curled up next to him, his arm over Jack’s chest and his breath warming Jack’s shoulder as Lonnie’s mouth was next to Jack’s bare shoulder. The breath and the touch lit things in Jack that he’d forgotten existed. His grief was gone for that little while in the dark tent and he had the first glimmer of hope that life would go on. If he’d been thinking clearly he never would have but he’d touched Lonnie’s face. His cheek was smooth, the Native in him leaving him without facial hair and his jaw was as soft as a baby’s. He turned his head to look over the sleeping man’s face and was struck with the intense beautiful of the rigid lines and gentle eyes. His long black hair framed his face leaving it nearly pale in the dim light and Jack found himself moving closer until his lips were on Lonnie’s and he kissed him tenderly. As he was about to pull away Lonnie kissed back in his sleep and he smiled.
The next day he could barely look at his friend. He’d felt like he had taken advantage of the much younger man. Even if Lonnie never knew about it, Jack did know and he spent the morning in the woods that day beating himself up. Thinking back on it though, Jack remembered Lonnie seemed happier that day than he ever had. He had a bounce to his step and he got his buck on the first shot. Never far from Jack’s side that entire day Lonnie talked more and even hummed a song as they made their way back to the camp that night. When it was time for sleep Jack didn’t go into the tent until long after Lonnie had and he zipped his bag up. Lonnie was in a lot worse mood the day after that.
“So fucking blind.” He would hate himself forever even though he had Rebel now. He had hurt someone and he had tried very hard in his life not to hurt anyone. Not only was Lonnie a good man but he had been there for Jack and now Jack felt he’d betrayed him somehow.
He pulled in front of the house and watched Dennis come to stand at the door of his home, looking out at him and he gave a halfhearted wave to the best friend he’d ever had, still feeling an inch tall. Dennis sat on the porch and it was no wonder. The day was beautiful and warm with the scent of rich soil caught on the light wind from the fallen leaves being welcomed onto the earth. It would have been a great day for them in years past to sit there on that rough porch on his two ancient chairs and drink a beer together wiling away the hours talking about nonsense.
Now it was uncomfortable and the elephant in the room took up the size of Wahatoya Peak.
“Hey Den,” he said as he neared the porch. He set his hand on the rail and his right foot on the first step but moved no further up.
“Jack. Come sit.”
Jack moved slowly, hoping to make the walk up the few stairs and down the porch would take long enough for him to figure out if he should apologize or something but it wasn’t that long and as he sat he sucked in a harsh breath of the suddenly cloying air and started, “Listen Den I…-“
“Don’t want to talk about Lonnie any more than I do. Let’s talk about your extended vacation.”
Jack smiled and relief poured over him like warm spring water. “Yeah well, working vacation. Working on the house, the truck needs tuning up…”
Dennis laughed and Jack had to smile had his friend. “What’s so funny?”
Dennis coughed his laugh away for the moment, “You can’t bullshit me. You want the time to do your boyfriend!”
Jack tried to protest but it died on his lips. No one had ever known him like Dennis did. “So what if I do. He’s fucking amazing. I’m really happy.”
Dennis slapped his leg. “It shows. I’m really glad too. I was sick of Martin coming to me telling me how miserable you were.”
Staring at his friend Jack’s heart did a hard thump. “What?”
Dennis didn’t look at him and his eyes scanned over the yard as he said, “He says you think he’s in your head but he comes to you all of the time.”
Jack laughed nervously. “You are kidding right?”
Dennis just shrugged leaving Jack to wonder. Rebel was rubbing off on him as he had a horrible need to chew his lip. Dennis laughed and said, “Listen, take your time off and have fun. You need it.”
“I need it huh?”
Dennis laughed hard, “Oh fuck are you kidding me? You were in mourning even before Martin died and then drowning in it since. This guy…he’s good for you. I didn’t remember what you looked like with a real smile.”
Relaxing in the chair he watched the wind blow a lone leaf onto the porch. “I didn’t remember what one felt like either.”
“Well take as long as you need. From what I’ve heard about the new guy he’s pretty good.”
As Jack drove home he felt his smile. It was a strange feeling being so happy after being so sad and he had his Rebel to thank for it. In fact he thought he would start thanking him the minute he got home, He parked and felt his smile growing more. His boy was waiting by the garage and walked over to him as soon as Jack got out of the car. He was greeted with a hug and kiss that had him melting. Rebel’s mouth on his felt like all the promises life had to make.
“I missed you.”
Jack ran his hands down Rebel’s sides and said, “Good because I missed you too. In fact I plan to show you exactly how much.”
Rebel shuddered and he slowly nodded. “Okay.”
Jack growled. “Man, are you begging for more punishment aren’t you?”
“Oh shit! I mean Master! I…fuck I forgot!”
Taking Rebel’s ass in both hands and squeezing hard. “You’re going to take my fist tonight.”
Rebel face was priceless. His jaw fell and his eyes grew impossibly wide. “You…fist?”
Just nodding and walking them toward the house Jack smiled wickedly at his boy who was now trembling. “First I’m going to dole out the punishment you have coming and then I’m going to get you ready to take my fist inside of you.”
“But…I don’t know Jack I mean I’ve heard of it before and everything but I never did it. It scares the shit out of me.”
“I will take my time and you will fly so high you will never want to come down baby I promise.”
Rebel nodded but he didn’t seem reassured. Jack kept his smile back and led Rebel down to the basement, opening the door leisurely to keep the anticipation building. Well anticipation was the wrong word. Apprehension was a lot closer to the way his boy looked. The flogger would help ground him and ready him for what Jack was going to do to him for the rest of the night.
He led Rebel over to the table and pointed, “Get your clothes off and get up there, face down. You are going to take a flogging.”
Jack watched his lover shakily get undressed then climb on to the table. Once Rebel was in position, Jack ran his hands over him, from his stiff shoulders to his long legs. He carefully cuffed him as he spoke to him in quiet tones. “So beautiful. My boy is so beautiful when he’s ready to be punished.”
“Thank you Master.”
“You’re very welcome my love. Do you know what you’re being flogged for?”
It took Rebel almost a minute before he answered. “I didn’t come to you when I should have. I got pissed and ended up hurting myself.”
Jack’s heart swelled. “Yes baby. Let’s use this to instill it into your memory that if you ever feel that way again, that pain and anger, you will come to me and we’ll work it out together.”
“Yes Master. I deserve this I know. I’m so sorry I scared you like that.”
Jack leaned down and kissed him, smelling his hair and smiling. “I love you Rebel. I will always be here if you need me for anything. You know that right?”
“I do.”
“Good. Oh and a few of the licks are for forgetting to call me Master.”
He watched Rebel smile then and it made him smile too. “Sorry. Master! Sorry Master.”
“You are about to be sorry baby.” Jack watched him shiver before he walked to the cabinet and pulled out the flogger. He went back over to Rebel and ran the tails over his body, watching the muscles jumping and his skin break out in goose bumps. “Let’s start.”