The Return of Jake Slater

by Zavo

  Lieutenant Alvarez looked down at Nathaniel with cold contempt.

  “You are not in the States, señor. Pablo, please gag the prisoners. Now, Luke, please bring me to the Brigadier General’s body.”

  It was several hours later when the soldiers left. Alejandro’s body was placed on a travois and tears filled my eyes as I watched the men ride away. The prisoners were fanned out behind the last two soldiers in line. A short time later, a priest arrived out of nowhere. We had a small service for Ignacio, Donato, Ernesto, and Joshua. We all regrouped for supper that night. It was equal parts joy and somberness. I held Ben’s hand as he sat beside me, still unable to believe he was alive. But we had all paid a high price to be here. Alejandro had given his life to save Ben from Seth Rawlins. Four of Luke’s men had been killed, and one had been slightly injured. Luke would most likely never have the full use of his right arm again.

  When we had finished eating, and the whiskey was flowing, Luke tapped on his glass to get everyone’s attention. He looked down at the end of the bar where Ezekiel, Ben, and I were sitting.

  “What are you three planning to do now?”

  Unbeknownst to Luke, we had already discussed and decided on a course of action. I stood up as our spokesman.

  “Luke and the men of La Casa de Los Hombres. Because you risked your lives to save ours, we feel the least we can do is stay here for as long as it takes to get this hacienda ready for business again!”

  Shouts went up from Luke’s workers, and there were tears in Luke’s eyes.

  “After that, Ben and I are going to join Ezekiel on his ranch to see if we can make a go of it. So we will remain in the area, and I’m sure you’ll soon be sick of all of us!”

  A chorus of “nos” filled the air, and the whiskey began flowing again.

  *

  It had taken us a month to rebuild and replace everything that had been damaged at La Casa de Los Hombres. The night Luke reopened the place was filled to the walls. We left the next morning for Ezekiel’s ranch. Michael was delighted at Ezekiel’s return, and we were quite taken with him. The four of us were soon good friends. Michael’s father was not pleased at our arrival, and packed up and left two days later. Three weeks had passed since then. Three weeks of backbreaking labor. We had mended fences, fixed the hole in the barn roof, fixed numerous holes in the house roof, and broken the hard soil for two large vegetable gardens. The ranch had been built near a large spring, so we had plenty of water to irrigate the crops. We rounded up a dozen wild horses, and began the painstaking process of breaking them. We increased our herd tenfold with money Michael’s father had given him specifically for that purpose.

  With three weeks behind us, it was beginning to look like a real ranch. Ben and I had taken the afternoon off to go on a ride and enjoy ourselves. We crested the last hill that stood between us and the ranch. The sun was just starting to sink below the horizon, and a slightly cool breeze was blowing in off the Rio Grande. We reined in and sat in silence. Our stirrups touched. Ben reached for my hand, and when I held it out to him, he clasped it firmly in his own.

  “Are you happy being a rancher, Ben?”

  “I’m happy being wherever you are, Jake. I’m also happy at this second chance we’ve been given.”

  He leaned over and kissed me.

  We rode down the hill together to our new home.

  The End

  About the Author

  Zavo was born and raised in the Adirondack mountains of upstate New York. He relocated to the Pacific Northwest almost 25 years ago, and has been penning tales of male lust and romance ever since. His short stories have appeared in Frat Sex 2, How the West Was Done, and Treasure Trail: Erotic Tales of Pirates on the High Seas. He is also the Lambda-nominated author of two Derrick Steele novels: The Case of the Hollywood Hustlers and The Case of the Rising Star, in addition to the novels Hot on His Trail and Two Bottoms in the Ninth. Formerly employed in the fields of market research and public relations, Zavo now splits his time between being a virtual assistant and a library page. He lives in Camas, Washington, with his husband. He is currently penning a tale of pirates, in addition to another exciting Derrick Steele mystery.

  Books Available from Bold Strokes Books

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