“I do have a job interview with the clinic. I guess I’ll have to see how that goes.” Brad continued. “I’ll keep the thought of relocating in mind though.”
“Awesome. Since Rock won’t need it anymore, you could always stay at his cabin,” Synn offered.
“Shut up, Synn,” Rock barked out. “Brad is not relocating here so you can get your grimy hands on him.”
“Why, because you already have your grimy hands on him?” Synn shot back.
Under Rock’s hand, Brad’s leg trembled. The guy was so fragile inside it broke Rock’s heart. He and Synn fighting over the poor man wasn’t helping at all.
“Brad was nice enough to come up here to see my cabin and help me pack up the truck to take everything back to Granite County.” Rock gave Synn a look telling him he was serious. “We don’t need to be disrespecting him by arguing over him like he’s a piece of meat.”
Rock starred Synn down. After a moment Synn nodded and turned his full attention toward negotiating the slippery road to Rock’s cabin. Rock realized then that Synn had been testing to see how serious his feelings for Brad were. The man was a sneaky sucker.
Rubbing Brad’s leg, Rock said, “We’re almost there. Are you okay?”
“Yeah,” Brad replied.
By the dim light of the dashboard, Rock locked eyes with Brad. Never before had he felt such a connection so early in a potential relationship. If they’d been alone, he would have kissed the wounded man and shown him how locking lips and bodies with another man could feel so good.
Synn pulled up to Rock’s cabin and shut the truck off. The quiet was almost too loud in the vast wilderness surrounding them.
“Would you like to come in?’ Rock asked Synn.
“Let’s get Brad and Lily in the cabin, then I need to talk to you for a few minutes,” Synn replied.
“Hey, if you guys need some privacy, I can walk around for a while,” Brad offered.
Rock put a firm hand on Brad’s arm. “Brad, you can’t just walk around, especially unarmed, up here. Man isn’t at the top of the food chain, and you could be attacked.”
“I’m sorry. I didn’t know.” Brad looked so troubled Rock couldn’t stop from running his thumb over the man’s kissable bottom lip.
“It’s okay. Just always be aware of what’s around you. And if you don’t know something, ask.” Leaning forward, Rock took his thumb away and licked that tempting soft lip.
The truck shook, and Rock smiled at Brad. “Lily is getting restless. We’d better go in.”
Getting out of the truck, Rock stood there a moment and took in the clear dark blue-black sky dotted with bright pinpoints of light. Those stars made up beautiful constellations that entertained Rock on many nights. It was time to go, but a piece of him would always remain in Alaska.
“It’s really beautiful here,” Brad said, coming to stand next to him.
Rock looked up at the bigger man. “It really is. But the temperature is dropping fast. Let’s get Lily in the cabin.”
Brad smiled, those sweet dimples making an appearance. “Okay,” he replied.
Rock forced himself not to attack the man and turned toward the back of the truck. Unlocking Lily’s leash from one of the tie-downs attached to the truck bed, Rock let her jump to the ground before freeing her to do her business. After a few minutes, all three headed to the cabin, Lily passing them and waiting at the door, long tail wagging furiously.
Entering the chilly one-room cabin, Rock ignored Lily, who was checking the place for anything out of order, and went directly to the wood stove and struck a match to the preset fire. Soon a soft yellow glow filled the twenty-by-twenty cabin, slowly warming it.
Turning to Brad, he said, “Make yourself at home. I’ll be right back after I talk to Synn.”
Rock couldn’t resist kissing the man’s dimple before he led the way outside, Synn right behind him. He waited to hear the door close before he asked, “What did you need, my friend?”
“Are you sure this Rescue for Hire Company is what you want to do?” Synn asked.
“Yeah, it’s a class act all the way,” Rock replied.
“I wanted to let you know I have to leave again for a while,” Synn stated, looking off into dark woods.
Rock was surprised that Synn was telling him this. Usually he just took off with a quick call and turned up whenever.
“Do you need me to do something?” he asked, sensing something was different this time.
“I’ll call you when I get back.” Synn turned and faced Rock. In the moonlight, he could see Synn was as serious as a heartbeat. “If you don’t hear from me by the end of two months, see if you can get back here and pack up my stuff. Keep what you want and give the rest to someone who needs it.”
“Synn, what the hell?”
“Rock, my man, if you don’t know anything, you aren’t valuable enough to torture.” Rock wanted to roll his eyes. Synn always said that before he left.
Catching Rock by surprise, Synn pulled him into his arms and hugged him close. “Take care, my friend.”
The next moment Rock was watching his friend drive away. Silently he prayed that he would see him again and this wasn’t a permanent goodbye.
Chapter Five
A wet nose nuzzled up under his hand, and Brad automatically ran it over the big bloodhound’s head and body. As a veterinarian, his gaze skimmed over the animal, checking for any abnormalities. Seeing none, the animal lover in him enjoyed petting and cooing over the beautiful creature.
“Aren’t you a pretty girl, Lily?” he said. “I know Bud is going to think you are the best thing since the invention of peanut butter.”
A noise by the door had Brad watching Rock enter the cabin before he shut the door tight and took his shoes off. Immediately he slipped his red and green mismatched socks into stuffed bear paw slippers that sported long fake claws.
“Who’s Bud?” Rock asked, unzipping his heavy winter parka. Lean, muscled, tattooed arms were revealed as he slid the coat off and hung it on a hook by the door. Clad in just a camouflaged vest and purple-and-gray striped pants, Rock made his way over to the woodstove and Brad.
“Bud is Alex’s bloodhound. According to my brother, Brian, he’s one of the best tracking dogs around.” Brad chuckled. “Of course Bud and Brian have a mutual admiration society going on between them, so he might be biased.”
“You should smile more often.” Rock walked over to a straight-backed chair next to the rocking chair Brian was sitting in, and he sat down. Leaning over he picked a piece of wood out of a wooden box and opened the glass door of the wood stove and threw it in. Once the door was shut again, Rock leaned back in the chair and looked at Brad, his pretty brown gaze lazily traveling over him.
“What are you looking at?” Brad asked, starting to feel uncomfortable.
“You.” Rock smiled.
“Why?” Brad really wanted to know.
“You have no idea how attractive you are, do you?” Rock skimmed a finger down the side of Brad’s cheek and dipped it into the spot where his dimple was.
Brad was at a loss for words. He had felt like a loser for so long, struggling to keep his head above all the demands everyone made on him. And then the accident had taken the life he had built away. Suddenly he longed for the comfort of his only friends, whiskey, gin, and vodka.
“Brad, let’s go find something to eat and have an early night. Tomorrow I’ll show you around, and then the next day, we can get things packed up and start heading back to Granite County.” Rock stood up and pulled Brad to his feet. Lifting his head, he gave Brad another one of those quick kisses. “Everything’s going to be okay.”
Rock pulled Brad into the corner kitchen area, and they proceeded to fry up some fish Synn had left for them. From then on, things were easy between them, and Brad felt the constant tight knot in his chest ease a little. That was such a new feeling that Brad stopped eating in the middle of their meal and enjoyed breathing easier for the first time in year
s.
“You okay, honey?” Rock’s fish-filled fork stopped halfway to his mouth.
Brad smiled. “Yeah, this fish is delicious.”
“Thank you.” Rock smiled back and continued eating.
The rest of the evening went smoothly, and Brad felt so at home in the secluded cabin he started to wish he could stay there forever. But then Rock dropped the bombshell that they would have to walk outside in the dark woods for about fifty feet to use the outhouse. Brad’s first thought was, Hell no! He wasn’t afraid of the dark, but he did remember the warning about hungry predators.
That thought must have shown on Brad’s face because Rock immediately took a hold of both of his hands and reached up and kissed him. This time Brad returned the quick kiss, liking the pleasantly surprised look on Rock’s face.
“Come on, big guy, together we’ll brave the elements and deal with the poopsicle house.”
“Do you know how gross that sounds?” Brad pointed out.
“Yeah.” Rock laughed, taking a key out of a knothole in the log wall and unlocking a cabinet before pulling out a .44 Magnum handgun. “Hurry up and get your coat on, honey, so we can get back and snuggle in that warm bed.”
Brad froze. “Um, Rock, um…”
Pausing while locking the clip into place, Rock looked over his shoulder at Brad. “Stop stressing. There’s only one bed. Nothing’s going to happen but sleeping.”
Brad relaxed and followed Rock to the door while zipping up his coat. Rock turned the doorknob and paused. “That is, unless you want it to.”
With that quip, Rock sailed through the door into the cold and darkness. Vowing to get back at the man for his teasing, Brad hurried after Rock.
* * * *
Doing his best to listen to the white-coat wearing, bespectacled man standing in front of him, Alex made sure he nodded at the appropriate spots. After what seemed like two hours of listening to a horror show on the radio, to Alex’s great relief, Dr. Kendy stopped talking.
“Do you have any questions, Alex?” Bill Kendy asked.
Before Alex could answer, Leo asked, “So you’re saying the operation alone could take at least eight hours?”
“That’s correct,” the doctor answered. “It depends on how much damage we have to repair from the bullet fragments.”
“There’s no doubt in your mind the hip has to be replaced?” Cade spoke up. All of Alex’s teammates were scattered around the room. They wouldn’t be anywhere else when one of their own was facing a life-changing event.
“From the tests I preformed, that hip is no longer viable. There is just too much damage from his prior injury and now the bullet.”
The doctor glanced down at the chart in his hand and then looked up, meeting Alex’s eyes. Goose bumps covered Alex’s arms at the serious look directed at him.
“In all honesty, Mr. Miller, it is going to take all my skills repairing the muscles of your thigh and getting that thigh bone in any kind of shape to hold the titanium rod to support your new hip joint.”
“And if it doesn’t go well? What’s going to happen then?” Alex whispered.
The doctor hesitated but then spoke. “Hopefully, if I can’t insert the rod tomorrow, I will at least be able to start the rebuilding process. After a series of operations, we might be able to complete the replacement. We’ve found that, by letting it heal for a few months in between, we can sometimes repair things to the point where you are able to walk again.”
“And if you’re not successful?” Alex pushed.
“Alex,” Leo warned.
“Then, Mr. Miller, you will be unable to walk again,” Kendy said.
Since the infection had invaded his hip joint from a rescue in an algae-covered pond, Alex had studied everything he could find on hip replacements. He knew they were one of the more dangerous surgeries because of blood loss and complications. He had been preparing himself for the surgery and recovery for months, but he never imagined he would have to deal with a bullet damaging everything almost to the point of being unrepairable on top of it all.
“If no one has any more questions, I need to get back to my office. Alex”—the man smiled at him—“I’ll see you tomorrow bright and early.”
“What about recovery?” Jack stopped the doctor from moving away from Alex’s bedside.
“We’ll get him up pretty fast. If all goes well, the very next day physical therapy will have him standing for a few minutes and sitting in a chair. A few days later, he could go home,” the doctor answered. He stood there a moment, waiting for any more questions.
Alex held out his hand. “Thank you, doctor. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
Dr. Kendy shook Alex’s hand and left the room, leaving silence in his wake. Leo took Alex’s hand and held it.
“Whatever happens, we’ll deal with it, pet,” he said and kissed the side of Alex’s head.
Alex looked at all his friends in the room and then at his partner in life. “Thanks for being here with me.” The knot in his throat stopped him from saying any more. Leo’s strong arms gathered him close, and he buried his face in the warm, muscled chest.
Alex didn’t hear the others leave the room. The stabbing pain in his leg and the soreness of his chest, combined with the drugs running through his system and the doctor’s frank conclusions, overwhelmed him. Before long the trickle of tears turned into a torrent of sobs.
He wept for the past and for the uncertain future. He wept for the burden he was to those around him. And before sleep from exhaustion and chemicals overtook him, Alex gave one last sob because he hadn’t told Leo what his father had shown him when he’d died for those few moments in the emergency room.
* * * *
Brad opened his eyes to dim light, revealing bare, unvarnished log walls and a plywood ceiling above his head. Soft, fuzzy hair tickled his chin, and there was a warm weight lying against his shoulder.
Last night after their trip to the rustic, to say the least, outhouse, they had ended up in the full-size bed in the corner, under a mound of blankets. At over six feet tall, Brad wasn’t the most comfortable in a bed that size, especially having to share it with a virtual stranger.
Okay, Brad had to correct that thought. The time-span since meeting Rock might not have been long, but he was no stranger. The guy had not only wormed his way past the numbing ice encasing Brad’s heart and soul, but burrowed against his body sometime during the night. Currently Rock was plastered against him, and Brad’s cock had taken notice.
A bare leg slid up his thigh, and a knee gently nestled against the hard flesh of Brad’s dick. Brad had to concentrate on not moving when that naughty knee began rocking against him.
“Rock, what are you doing?” he whispered.
“I’m giving you pleasure,” Rock answered.
Brad was astonished. No one in the past, not even his wife, had thought of him during sex. It was always about Brad’s skills at making his partner feel good, not what he may or may not be feeling. Fingers began exploring the length of his rigid prick, and if Brad’s eyes weren’t wide open, he would have sworn he was dreaming.
The bed shifted, and Rock ordered, “Turn on your side, honey.”
Brad obeyed so fast he was almost lightheaded. Body quivering, he waited for what Rock was going to do or say next.
Rock shifted, and skin brushed against skin. A firm, slim leg draped over the top of Brad’s leg, and Rock’s dick slid against Brad’s cock, making his hips jerk forward.
A strong hand wrapped around both their dicks, causing Brad’s back to arch. His hair stood on end when Rock started firmly stroking their cocks together. It had been so long since another had touched him so intimately.
“Rock,” he said, his breath exhaling in a rush.
“Let go,” Rock instructed.
He was helpless not to follow what his body wanted so desperately. Brad thrust his hips forward, sliding cock against cock through the tight tunnel of Rock’s hand. Pressure built and pre-cum welled up and dribble
d down, wetting the silky skin, making their dicks shiny. Brad closed his eyes and continued to work his dick against Rock’s until the telltale tingling at the base of his spine told him he was about to come.
The part of Brad that he had hidden from the world for so long wanted to fight the impending orgasm. Brad raised his hand to Rock’s colorful shoulder, intending to push him away. Instead, his fingers tangled in thick ropes of dreadlocks.
“Come,” Rock ordered.
The deep control Brad was forced to maintain in the past let loose, and cum erupted out of his cock. Body shaking, cock pulsating, Brad groaned, opened his eyes, and watched his spunk cover Rock’s hand.
Rock stilled, and streams of cum joined Brad’s until it dripped off and small drops dotted the dark green sheet under their bodies.
Their movements slowed and blazing brown eyes stared at Brad. Unsure he glanced down and then looked back up again.
“You were magnificent,” Rock said, not closing his eyes as he leaned down and gently kissed Brad’s frozen lips. “Don’t stress, honey, it’s okay. Stay here and take a minute while I clean this up.”
Brad couldn’t respond. Too many thoughts and images of the past were racing through his brain. Helplessly he watched Rock get out of bed and walk naked across the cabin toward the kitchen area. Frowning, he looked down and saw his underwear was pushed down, obscenely hooked under his balls.
Quickly, Brad pulled them up, covering himself. Reaching down, he tugged up the blankets that had fallen down during their activities. Feeling a bit more protected, Brad watched the erotic peep show of Rock adding wood to the black iron stove. The man was slim, yet firm muscles flexed as he moved, causing the colorful tattoos on his arms to ripple. On his back, right above his left hip, Brad noticed Rock had a sunburst tattoo. Rock turned, and Brad got his first good look at the man’s above-average-sized dick. Brad’s asshole clutched together at the image of taking that piece of flesh into his body.
Enjoying the view of the tight ass and smooth chest as Rock moved around, Brad never realized his eyes had drifted shut until he opened them to bright sunshine filling the cabin and the smell of bacon in the air.
Brad's Rock [Rescue for Hire 7] (Siren Publishing Everlasting Classic ManLove) Page 5