Staggered Cove Station

by Elle Brownlee

  Dan conceded. Karl wasn’t as powerful as Dan, but he kept up, and they made for the stern. They were almost to it when the boat wallowed in a trough and swung wide toward them. It moved like it had taken on water, each side-to-side heavier and stronger than the last. Dan watched it skid and bounce on the water as it bore down on them. The heave tossed it so the gunwale came perilously close to the water. Another like that, and it would roll.

  As the boat lifted out of the trough the stern cut toward them. Dan curled up, swam backward, and yelled for Karl, who looked up as the boat came arcing back down. Dan churned his arms and legs to turn around and grabbed for Karl. All he got was a slippery handful of jacket.

  Dan burst sideways as the boat struck the water. It sucked him briefly under, and he surfaced in near panic to see Axe towing Karl just clear of the wildly floundering boat. He put his head in and gave chase.

  “Let him go!” He spit water and kept swimming. “Let. Him. Go.”

  Axe kept swimming until well away from the boat. Then he turned, showing the gentle hold he had of Karl, and rolled his eyes. “Fine then, take him.” Axe shook his head and transferred Karl to Dan’s arms.

  The spark of the older brother who had taken such good care of Dan growing up choked Dan with momentary tears, but he knew better than to pin any hopes to it. He still asked for help again.

  “Axe, c’mon. Swim back to the boat with me.”

  “I can’t.”

  Dan pressed his lips together so they didn’t wobble. “Please. I don’t know what happened or why, and I’m not going to ask. You don’t have to explain anything, and I don’t need to understand. But just… please.”

  Axe smiled. It was crooked like always, but broken and sad. “I can’t because I can’t go anymore.”

  Dan wanted to argue, to say Axe didn’t have to keep running, that they’d figure something out. Axe shushed him, and for a moment, he was again simply the only authority figure and caretaker Dan had ever had in life.

  “I can’t because I can’t. I’m not up to it, to swimming over there and fighting to get on the boat myself, never mind haul his ass up there.” Axe’s smile turned derisive. “I was carrying a gun, and I held it on him. We got in a fight, and I shot myself in the leg. Deserved it, right?” His eyes faded and took on a faraway look. “I deserved it.”

  Dan knew Axe wasn’t talking to him—didn’t even see him. Then Axe shook his head, swam in, and cupped Dan’s face in a hand. His smile flattened.

  “I always knew you’d be the better swimmer than me in the end. Better in everything.” Axe squeezed and then let Dan go. “You just keep good hold of him, brother. Keep hold and don’t let each other go.” He looked at Karl and back to Dan. Then he nodded resolutely and pointed into the sky. “Besides, I think help is on the way.”

  Dan followed his aim and saw a searchlight in the dark storm clouds. He knew that movement and the sound of rotors barely audible above the sea and the storm, and he had to breathe through a sharp rise of giddy relief.

  When Dan turned back to check on Axe, his brother was gone.

  Dan didn’t search. He knew it was pointless. Axe had been lost to him well before then, but at the last trial, Axe had chosen noble sacrifice. Dan would honor his brother and accept it.

  He got Karl situated and ready to ride up to the helicopter, safe in his arms. Dan could signal and they’d send the line down without wasting time on a check or sending the basket. He could do it. He had Karl and Karl was safe. That gave Dan the strength of ten men.

  “Karl? Are you with me?”

  He was so cold it frightened Dan, but he didn’t let that show in his voice.

  “Hey, kid.” Karl smiled and covered Dan’s hand with his. “How’re you still so warm? Feel good.”

  Dan pulled Karl in his arms. “Let me get you warm too.” He kissed Karl’s cheeks and then held on.

  As they waited he kicked to keep them above the waves and told Karl about growing up with Axe. Dan let months of pent-up tears flow as he talked, but he didn’t really mourn. He had nothing left of that to give.

  The chopper spied the boat first, and Dan ripped out the signal light that he kept in the arm pocket of his suit and flashed it toward the big open door. He quickly got a signal back, and the helicopter hovered over them.

  Dan waved and hand-signaled, and Trask gave the thumbs-up and lowered the line.

  KARL prodded the stitches at his hairline and grunted. Dan batted his hand, and he grumped but put his hand down.

  “They itch,” he said, dangerously close to a whine.

  Dan’s response was to manacle Karl’s wrist with a hand and hold it in place against his thigh. Karl decided not to argue it.

  Gent told him he should be thanking every deity that the bullet gouged a furrow so short and shallow that it only required a few stitches. That and you know, that the bullet hadn’t been one inch lower. Karl agreed, but mostly he was irritated with the stitches.

  “You’ll live. Now leave them alone.”

  Karl huffed for show, and Dan managed a low laugh. It wasn’t much, but Karl could have danced in place when he heard it. He knew Dan was trying to keep things light, so he was too. Only hours after being rescued and fussed over by Gent, warmed, showered, and spit-shined to face their tell-all, they sat in Curtis’s office waiting to get blistered for everything that happened. Karl hadn’t asked how Dan was doing. He let it be.

  He was also the only person who knew Dan lost a brother that day. Carrying that was a precious burden, and he worked to respect it. But stayed close, kept physical contact, and wouldn’t let Dan out of his sight. Dan didn’t seem to mind.

  “I can’t believe you rescued me, you little jerk.”

  “Oh, was I supposed to let you drown?” Dan eyed Karl. “Guess I got the wrong idea from the situation.”

  “No. You were goddamn supposed to let me save you before you even got out there.”

  Dan squeezed Karl’s wrist. “You did.”

  “Oh.” Karl blinked and lost his breath.

  He couldn’t come up with a better response before Curtis entered, aggravated and glowering but, to Karl’s relief, not actually full-tilt pissed. On their side was a boatful of drugs and the fact that Grady had been busted along with the rest as a result of Dan’s tip. And they hadn’t died or broken the law, although he was sure Curtis would remind them of all the ways they’d skirted it.

  “Seems to me there’s a lot you weren’t telling me that you really should have.” Curtis stood, hands on hips, and stared at the view of the mountains out his window. He shook his head and slowly turned around. “Where do you two jokers even want to start in all this?”

  Karl shrugged at Dan, who shrugged at him.

  Curtis sighed and sat down. He pulled open the bottom drawer of his filing cabinet and tossed a bag of assorted chocolates on his desk. Then he raised an imperious eyebrow.

  “Farnsworth?”

  Dan chewed his lip, and Karl watched for him to fiddle with something. He was ready to yammer whatever it took to give Dan time or even to deflect the entire grilling until Dan was ready to talk. Karl was ready to stall for the rest of forever if that’s what Dan needed.

  But after a moment, Dan leaned forward, snagged some chocolates, and sat back. He handed a couple to Karl, and Karl’s heart skipped a relieved beat.

  He was filled with pride and worry and things deeper and more complex that he hadn’t defined yet.

  Dan seemed to see it all, and he smiled. “I got this.” He dragged his gaze from Karl and met Curtis’s expectant glare. “Yeah, I’ll start.”

  Chapter Twelve

  KARL scrunched his nose and buried his face in his pillow. His warm, solid, steadily rising and falling pillow. A warm, solid, steadily rising pillow was attached to Dan’s finger as it gently traced his mouth.

  “Stop that.” His voice came out croaky and pleased, effectively undermining his attempt to sound annoyed.

  He wasn’t the least annoyed. He was besotte
d and brimming over with contentment. Dan was safe, whole, and in his bed, in his cabin. Karl breathed in and savored Dan’s scent and the funk of their spent night and skin.

  Dan hummed a low laugh and pulled him into a kiss. In response Karl sighed and tangled his hands in Dan’s hair. He reveled in Dan’s warm taste, the midday sunlight as it spilled over the bed, and the heat of Dan’s body as he pressed every inch of it against him.

  Dan palmed his ass with one hand and flicked his nipple with the other. Tremors of pleasure rippled through him.

  “Fuck,” he muttered and pushed Dan down. He caught Dan’s chin and tilted Dan back to get a harder angle and deepen the kiss.

  Dan moaned as he yielded, and Karl liked that even more.

  He moved away and roamed to kiss here, there, everywhere, and finally he licked the fast-beating thump of Dan’s pulse in the cup of Dan’s collarbone.

  Dan’s breath hitched, and he wrapped his arms around Karl and held him close. Karl slowed his pace and indulged Dan wanting to just hold on, and skimmed his hands up and down Dan’s sides as he bit a soft hickey on Dan’s neck. When he pulled back to admire his handwork, Dan smiled at him, gaze clear and untroubled.

  They rested facing each other.

  “I thought Curtis would do way worse.” Dan skated a fingertip this way and that across Karl’s skin. It was a new and different tactile need. Dan seemed unable to keep from touching Karl for long, and Karl certainly didn’t object.

  “Eh.” Karl shrugged like he knew all along that they’d be let off relatively easy. “Curtis is tough and expects the best, but he’s not a stickler to the point of abuse or irrationality. If we’d let it drag on any more—say Axe got away with the drugs or was doing anyone harm—I think we’d have been in for it. But as it stands, he understood.”

  “Yeah, understood and threatened our careers.” Dan drew a diminishing spiral on the rise of Karl’s hip. “But he only threatened so I’d take it—like we were totally caught speeding, but he let us off with a warning as long as we don’t do it again.”

  “And seeing as we will have no reason to? I’d say we’re good.” Karl’s voice squeaked when Dan’s light touch grazed his cock.

  Dan snickered. He pushed onto his palm and tenderly laid gentle kisses on Karl’s stitches.

  “How do they feel?”

  “Fine.” Karl resisted the urge to scratch them.

  Dan raised an eyebrow, and Karl let himself swipe the silky length of one with his thumb. He’d wanted to do that since they met. “That’s not just a stock answer—it really is fine. They’re a little tight and a little itchy but I’ve had some excellent distraction from it.”

  “Oh, yeah?”

  “Yeah. It’s basically medicinal.”

  Dan grinned. Then he leaned in and captured Karl’s mouth in another kiss.

  Karl laughed. He was horny and happy, and he couldn’t pretend he didn’t want Dan in every way.

  “I’ve been meaning to mention—Ridge invited us to his place.”

  “Who’s Ridge?”

  Dan dug a knuckle into him. “You know, my good friend who helped us. With his technogenius and all.”

  “Why do I need to meet Ridge?” Karl hated the insidious creep of jealousy that slithered into him, but it wormed its way there all the same.

  “Because I like him. And I haven’t had many good friends in life, so it seems like they should all know each other. If you two met, that’d take care of it.”

  Karl frowned.

  “And I want him to meet who I like better.” Dan rose onto his elbow. “Also, he’s in Hawaii.”

  The insidious creep of jealousy and every other uncomfortable thought evaporated. Karl would never distrust Dan, and he did want to meet Ridge. He just needed a moment to get over himself.

  “Hawaii, you say?” Karl dragged Dan down for a kiss. “I think I could be persuaded.”

  “I’m as excellent at persuading as I am at distracting.”

  “Well, then. Done deal.” Karl opened his arms, and Dan snuggled in.

  “So are we gonna tell anyone? About this—us, I mean?” Dan resumed his fingertip drawing, so Karl knew he wasn’t anxious about it.

  “Sure? I’m not going to hide it, but I don’t need a party. After we meet Ridge, you can meet my folks—ugh, Florida—but then there’s Katmai, which is great.”

  Dan caught his hand and squeezed, so Karl figured he was doing okay.

  “Way I see it, they’ll know because it’s not like I’ll be acting any different just because we’re at the station. I’m not gonna be able to not touch you or worry about you or whatever. And there’s no regs we’re sidestepping, so it’s all good.” Karl paused and wondered if that’s what Dan wanted or wanted to hear. “Right?”

  He felt Dan’s smile against his skin. “Very right. All good.”

  “Okay. Good.”

  Dan slowed his drawing and turned it into hesitant tapping. Karl took a deep breath and waited for Dan’s sudden worry to reveal itself. He was reassured when it didn’t take long.

  “How about when we’re not at the station?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Well, it’s just…. It’s really nice here, and I was just saying how I would get a place exactly like this, with a view of the ocean and all, if I didn’t live in at the station.”

  “Ah.” Karl caught Dan’s hand and lifted those busy, worried fingers to his lips. He kissed them, one at a time. “How about we stay here when we’re not at the station? You’ll have to pitch in with the chores, but I think I can put up with you.”

  Dan pushed up again to see his expression. “Really?”

  “Sure, really.” Karl frowned at Dan’s disbelief. “Why?”

  “I just didn’t expect it to be that easy. But I’m glad it was.”

  Dan beamed at him, and the light that danced in his eyes matched the light that burned in Karl. His heart was fit to burst. He cupped Dan’s cheek and pulled them together so their foreheads touched.

  “Why make it hard when it’s exactly what I want? Besides, I can keep a good eye on you this way. And have you chop firewood.”

  “I’m going to be a champ firewood chopper.”

  “I know.” Karl reveled in the lazy comfort of just being with Dan, but his last question bothered him. “Do you want to stay here?” He thought it was evident, but he had to be sure.

  “Duh—this sweet place, ocean view, huge fireplace? There’s a few other things here I like too.”

  Karl tightened his arms. “Not the cabin. Alaska. Big, forbidding, treacherous, isolated—”

  “Gorgeous, rewarding, challenging—you’re here, and that’d be enough, but ‘I also just love the thrill and scenery and everything, and the station and everybody is super great, so I want to be here too’ Alaska?” Dan raised his eyebrow again, and again Karl had to stroke it. “Yeah, I’m good to stay.”

  “Let’s see what you say after the sixth month of a mean winter.” Karl’s heart raced, but he got his tone bone dry.

  “I’ll say—throw another log on the fire and come back to bed.” Dan kissed Karl’s forehead, the tip of his nose, and too fleetingly, his lips.

  Karl laughed and gathered Dan to him. “You naturalized much faster than most. You’re practically native born.”

  “I had a good mentor—the best.”

  Dan stayed in his hold for a minute and then got back to kissing and tracing patterns on him, and the thorough, languid attention drugged Karl into a light doze. He woke again to Dan curled against his chest.

  Karl stretched his arms overhead and let out a satisfied sigh. “Nice of Curtis to give us a few days’ R & R. I guess he was relieved that we survived. Plus we busted the meth sale. Plus the tiny station kinda needs us around. That all worked in our favor.”

  “Yeah. Too bad we haven’t rested any.” Dan pinched him. “But your recovery isn’t half-bad for an old man.”

  Karl grumbled, shot up suddenly, and flipped Dan under him.

&
nbsp; “First, I’m not the one who kept us up all night begging to get fucked again. Second, recovery isn’t even one of the Rs.”

  Dan’s eyes drooped, and his legs widened suggestively. “Whatever.”

  “Whatever I’m right, you mean. This isn’t about relaxation anyway.”

  “Clearly,” Dan muttered and licked his lips as Karl pushed his hardening cock against Dan’s thigh.

  Before he got very far, their radios went off. Karl dropped his head to Dan’s chest, groaned, and rolled over to grab his.

  “Radin? Get yourself back to the station. We’ve got a tough rescue developing that’s gonna take all hands.” Jameson paused. “You know where Worth is?”

  Karl raised an eyebrow at Dan’s ridiculous pantomiming to be quiet and sneaking away.

  “Yes, I’ve got an idea. I’ll round him up. Copy and be there A-sap.”

  He put the radio down and rolled back to get a last kiss. But he only caught an eyeful of Dan’s bare ass going down the loft steps to where they’d left their clothes.

  “Well, Radin? C’mon—get a move on,” Dan called.

  Karl channeled arousal and annoyance into movement, and he could tell Dan did the same. Excitement and duty surged in him, and he was ready. He lived for this, and having Dan at his side just made it complete. They checked on each other and smiled, and then they dressed and gathered up in tandem with efficient purpose.

  Karl snagged the sandwiches they hadn’t eaten earlier—they’d used the counter for something else entirely—and Dan grabbed some water.

  His Jeep took the opportunity to be fussy, and he removed the key. “C’mon sweetheart,” he crooned and tried the starting sequence again. On the second try, the engine dutifully fired up, and he kissed the steering wheel, eased away from the cabin and down the drive. He hit the gas once they were on the road.

  “After this call, we can take a load of your stuff back.” Karl shifted and concentrated on driving. He wanted to see Dan’s reaction to that plan, but he wouldn’t be able to keep them on the road and do so at the same time.