Road Trip

Rating: NC-17
Category: Original Fiction
Summary: A road trip is taken

They drove along in silence, no sound save for the truck’s wipers dutifully scraping water off the windshield, and the quiet sound of tires on the road. It was late, and it was dark, and there were no lights at all on the rural road, making the long dark drive eerie. Occasionally animal eyes gleamed out of the long grass at the side of the road, and once a coyote darted out in front of them, avoiding the truck by a hair’s breadth. It was an unnerving event early into the drive, and there was another five hours to go. Inside the cab of the old pickup truck, the two friends sat in leaden silence.

Daniel could not for the life of him remember what had made him think this would be a great chance to tell Jack that he was in love with him.

True, it did prevent the older man from walking away from him, which had been an issue. Jack was not a man who liked discussing feelings. However Daniel had failed to recall Jack’s innate magical ability; his anger could lower the temperature in any given area, and worked twice as well in a small, contained space. Like, say, for instance, the inside of a truck cab. Emotionally it was about 40 degrees below absolute freezing, and Daniel was as far on the other side of the cab as he could get, lest one of Jack’s fists suddenly launch of its own volition and crack him in the nose. It had happened once before, when Jack found out Daniel was the one who left the paddock gate open, and Jack’s favorite horse had made it three miles down the road to Randy Croft’s house and broke into a barrel of apple cider that he had fermenting in his shed.

Getting the plastered Percheron loaded and home had not been fun. On the drive back, Jack’s fist had somehow jabbed out suddenly on its own and cracked him on the nose. Daniel was not taking chances on it happening again. Safely out of fist range, Daniel tried once more to express his feelings.

“Jack…”

Jack kept his eyes on the road, but showed him his fist. Daniel was not stupid, but, as his mother had pointed out often enough, he never did know when to quit.

“Look I don’t see…”

“Get glasses.”

“You are going to let me talk about this.”

“No I ain’t.” Jack kept his eyes on the flat, straight Alberta road.

“I love you.”

“That’s nice.”

Daniel stared at the older man. He was handsome, lean and strong, like something out of a movie: just a hair past his prime but still virile and oh so damned beautiful. Daniel wanted him so badly it made his heart break, and had wanted him since he came to work for him five years ago. For five whole years, Daniel had, cautiously, let him know that he would like to be a little more than friends, but Jack never seemed to pick up what Daniel was laying down. At first he thought Jack knew and was simply not interested, but, as time passed, Daniel realized that, no, Jack just couldn’t catch a hint unless you mashed it into his face. So, he made the hints bigger. Once he even flat out asked him if he would like to go to bed. He still recalled the way Jack stared at him, surprise in his brown eyes.

“Ain’t tired,” he said.

Daniel had fought a temptation to get down on his hands and knees and bash his head on the floor. Instead he just said “All right,” and left.

So, finally, Daniel decided that on the long drive back home from a trip into Edmonton, he would tell him he loved him. Daniel was not surprised in the least to find out that, after five years of hints, innuendo, and the occasional touch, the admission was news to Jack.

“Well what’s wrong with me loving you?”

“I’m a married man. And you’re just a man.”

“Jack, Lauren left you a year ago.”

The brown eyes stayed on the straight, narrow rural road. “She might come back.”

“Yeah and monkeys might fly out my ass.”

“That too.”

Daniel groaned. “You really are a pain in the ass, you know that. Look I love you, what’s wrong with me loving you?”

“I told you. I’m a man. So are you.”

Daniel sighed and sank back into his seat. Then he raised an eyebrow and gave Jack a sidelong look. He knew how to get the old crank to talk. He blinked a few times hard to make his eyes shine wetly, and then sniffed. Right on cue, Jack hit the brakes and pulled off the road.

“Aw don’t do that, CHRIST don’t do that!”

‘Bingo,’ thought Daniel. Defensively, tearfully, he said, “I ain’t doing nothing! Just drive!”

“I can’t drive if you’re crying!”

“I ain’t crying!”

“YOU’RE CRYING AND I CAN’T DEAL WITH IT!” Jack turned in his seat to face the younger man. “And what in the hell are you in love with me for?”

“How should I know? What were you in love with Lauren for?”

That was a good question, one that made Jack sit back in surprise. He had loved her, probably still did, and why not? She had been kind, pretty, funny, intelligent. There was a lot to love. But she had come out to look after Jack’s son in the last few years of his short life, and if she loved anyone, it was Nathan. She was his caretaker until the end of his days, and likely the reason she married Jack was to keep alive some connection to the young man. The marriage lasted a year. Then she moved back to the city, leaving Jack alone with memories of his deceased wife and son, and of the young woman who was kind and compassionate, but did not love him back. It was a lot for him to think about.

Quietly, he turned to face the steering wheel once more. He carefully put the truck in drive, and started forward. Daniel said nothing, and they drove on in silence. At least the emotional temperature in the cab had gone from icy to neutral.

They reached a small roadside café, and stopped to stretch their legs and grab a bite to eat. Jack was still quiet, and Daniel let him be with his thoughts. Jack was not what one might call a sensitive new age guy. He was a fairly basic individual, not stupid or foolish but not terribly introspective. Daniel had given him a lot to chew over, and as the young man watched him sip his coffee, he could tell the wheels were turning. He desperately wanted to ask what he was thinking, but a roadside diner in rural Alberta was not the place to continue their discussion. As Jack had once observed: “It ain’t 2006 everywhere in the world, y’know.”

Of course Jack had been referring to computers, not gay relationships. But he had a point.

They ate their dinner. It was a good meal, simple and filling, and Jack had three pieces of apple pie afterwards. How he could eat like that and stay as rangy as he was, Daniel had no idea. If he ate the way Jack did, he would be a thousand pounds inside of a year. But Jack always ate when he was confused.

Jack ate a lot.

They paid for their dinner and left the café, heading for the pickup truck. Jack paused to light a cigarette. Daniel grinned.

“C’mon Marlborough Man. Hey I heard he was gay.”

“Who?”

“The Marlborough Man.”

Jack snorted. “I heard he cacked off from lung cancer.”

“That too.”

Jack hrumphed, and got into the truck. Daniel hopped into the passenger’s side, and they were off once more. Three more hours to go, and the emotional temperature was up from neutral to pleasant. Jack turned on the cassette player, and they drove along through the rain, listening to The Mamas and The Papas. Daniel stared out the window at the rain, listening to the music. For over half an hour there was a pleasant silence between the two men. Then Jack cleared his throat.

“So… um… how long…” He cleared his throat again. “How long have you felt this way?”

“Since I first saw you,” said Daniel quietly.

Jack raised an eyebrow. “That long? Really?” He looked puzzled, as if thinking. Daniel grinned, hearing the wheels in Jack’s mind grind, and screech, and slooooooowly start to turn. Suddenly Jack’s brown eyes went large. “YOU ASKED ME TO GO TO BED WITH YOU!”

“Yeah I did,” admitted Daniel. “And you looked right at me with those big brown eyes and uttered the immortal phrase; ‘Ain’t tired.’ Never wanted to hit myself over the head so bad in my life.”

“You should have hit me over the head.”

Daniel gave him a puzzled look. “Why?”

“Because it was a stupid thing to say!”

“You say stupid shit all the time, if I hit you every time you said something stupid I’d be up for murder.”

Jack’s fist flew out and connected with Daniel’s shoulder. “Don’t be a smart ass.”

“OW! Look you hit me one more time you old fart and I’ll take you out back and beat you to death with your own stupidity.”

“Ain’t old.”

Daniel rubbed his shoulder. “No but you’re mean.”

Jack thought about that. “Sorry.” He glanced at Daniel. “You okay?”

“Yeah I’m fine, just watch the road.”

Jack did, but Daniel could tell the wheels were still turning in his mind. Slowly. Painfully. Grinding against one another with a scream of metal and leaving a cloud of rust.

Why in hell did he love this man?

Two hours to go, and Jack spoke again.

“Don’t seem fair.”

Daniel looked at him. “What doesn’t?”

“That you feel this way and I just ignored you.”

“You didn’t ignore me, you didn’t know.”

“I should have, though. I should have known.”

Daniel turned in his seat to look at him, studying his face in the faint light of the cab. It was a strong, handsome face, almost aristocratic. A face better suited to a warrior of old than a slightly broken down rancher. Daniel felt a pain in his heart. Jack deserved better, so much better than what he had.

“I wish you had,” he whispered.

Jack swallowed. “Maybe… maybe I don’t know what I want. Certainly never put a lot of thought into it.”

Daniel dared to move a bit closer. “You can think about it now.”

“Not so sure it’s a good idea. It ain’t 2006 everywhere in the world, y’know.”

Daniel grinned, raising an eyebrow in surprise. “Why Jack Powers, does that mean I have a chance here?”

“Don’t mean nothing!” he snapped, but Daniel knew if he was really upset by the remark he would have hit him. The road curved slightly, and Jack smoothly followed it. “Light me a cig, Danny.”

Daniel lit them each a cigarette, and passed one to Jack. Jack took it, and placed it between his lips. Things were silent again.

One hour from home, Jack said softly, as if in response to a question, “Yeah, I think I could.”

Daniel felt a strange rush through his body, and his heart lurched in his chest. Adrenaline coursed through him almost violently, and he felt his jeans tighten slightly.

“You could?” he asked hoarsely, half-afraid Jack was talking about getting a new riding mower or some such thing. That would be typical Jack to forget everything that had happened in the last few hours.

Jack nodded. “Yeah I think I could.” He looked at the younger man, brown eyes soft. “I’m not getting any younger, Danny. My wife is dead, my son is dead, my second wife has left me. The ranch is not doing well, and let’s face it, the only reason it’s surviving at all is because of you. You and your… love… for an absolute fool.”

“I don’t love a fool,” said Daniel. “I love you.”

Jack shook his head. “If I had any sense, I’d pack things in and move instead of letting you spend money buying me new stock.”

“I wanted to do it. It’s not all altruism, you know. If it saves your ranch then it saves my job, and now that I’m a partner, if you do well, I do well.” He swallowed, watching the face of the man beside him, watching the worry in his eyes. “I did it because I care about you.”

Jack shook his head, but said nothing further. Daniel watched his face in the light of the cab. Jack was not the brightest bulb on the Christmas tree, but he was a good person. He deserved more that what he had in life. His first wife Nancy had been a good person, too. Daniel had known her in the final year of her life. She had been a quiet, uneducated woman, but intelligent and wise. Daniel liked her, and her son Nathan. They had all been horrified by her sudden and violent death, Jack especially. He walked around in a daze for the first year after she had been kicked to death by his best stallion. The loss had nearly killed him, and the news two months later that his son was terminally ill had drained away more of his will to live. In his typical quiet way, Jack did what needed to be done to care for him, including hiring an in-home caregiver when Nathan came home from the hospital to die.

A year after Nathan’s death, ‘Mad Cow’ claimed his stock, and Jack had to lay off his employees. Six months after that, Lauren left him to return to the city. What had once been a home and ranch full of life and people and animals was now a sad and silent little shack out in the middle of nowhere. Daniel stayed on as a renter, paying a small sum to live in the little house behind Jack’s that had once been the home of the ranch foreman. He had some money saved; money he had been planning to use to start a small farm where he could breed and raise horses, but when Jack began talking about giving up and selling his ranch, Daniel instead used the money to buy Jack some good beef cattle, and to get himself a Friesian stallion.

The horse had not been part of the plan but… well… Daniel really wanted it.

They drove the rest of the way back to the little house that Jack called home in silence. He parked the truck, and they got out, walking quietly side by side up to the porch. Normally Daniel would go to his own little place behind the house, but this time he knew he did not have to. Jack unlocked the door, and they walked into the darkened kitchen. The door closed, and the two stood facing each other in the near-perfect darkness.

For a long moment, neither moved. Then Jack stepped closer, reaching for the younger man, gently pulling him close. Daniel sighed and put his arms around him, resting his head on his shoulder. He closed his eyes, and breathed a single word.

“Finally.”

He felt Jack’s hands come to cautiously rest on his back, then slowly, uncertainly, explore him, touching him.

“Haven’t a clue what to do with you,” he admitted sheepishly.

Daniel smiled. “I will show you,” he said softly. He raised his head and looked into Jack’s eyes. “Or maybe you could just kiss me and see where it goes from there.”

“Just so you know, I’m lousy in bed.”

”Who told you that?”

“Two wives, several girlfriends, and a hooker.”

Daniel winced. “Well we’ll work something out, I’m sure.”

“Yeah,” said Jack quietly. “We will.”

They held each other, gazing into each other’s eyes. Finally Jack inclined his head forward, and at last they were kissing. Daniel felt his body go weak, and it was all he could do to stay on his feet. He had wanted this so badly, so long, and never thought he would ever have it. He wondered what Jack was thinking, and if in the morning he would regret what they had done. Daniel returned the kiss passionately, parting his lips, letting Jack take the upper hand. He was more than happy to submit if it was what Jack wanted.

They kissed, holding each other tightly, touching one another. Daniel let Jack’s hands wander on their own, allowing the older man to guide the pace of their first time together. He finally had him in his arms after all this time; he did not want to scare him off.

Jack broke off the kiss, and said softly; “Too old for messing around on the floor. Let’s go to my room.”

Daniel nodded, and the two walked towards the bedroom, arms around each other. They entered the small, neat room, and Jack closed the door behind them. Daniel removed his boots and lay down on the bed, feeling the bed creak as Jack came to lie beside him. He drew him into his arms, and closed his eyes, breathing out a sigh of pleasure as he felt him kiss his neck. Funny how Jack could set him on fire like this, how just feeling his hands reach for the buttons on his shirt was more erotic than anything he could think of. He relaxed, closing his eyes, offering himself up like a sacrifice, letting the one he loved caress and slowly explore his young, strong body. He hoped this moment never ended.

An hour later, Daniel was just about out of patience.

He was currently on his stomach, naked, while Jack tried to figure out how to mount him. So much for letting Jack slowly figure this out on his own; the man couldn’t take direction if his life depended on it. His sexual catch phrase seemed to be “Give me a minute, I’ll get it.”

Jack shoved into him, and Daniel raised his head. “JACK!”

“What?! That’s where it goes, isn’t it?”

“Look, I’m not a mare, and you’re not trying to breed me. We’re supposed to be making love.”

“I thought we were!”

“Off!”

Jack moved off of him, and Daniel sat up to face him. “Jack, I love you, and I think you are easily the most attractive man I have ever seen. But I gotta say, the two wives, several girlfriends and the hooker were right.”

Jack looked hurt, but let Daniel push him gently down to the bed. “You’ve never been with a man before, have you?”

Jack shook his head. Daniel kissed him. “So let me show you, okay?” He grinned. “If you’re good I’ll take you out Saturday to see ‘Brokeback Mountain.’”

“Not interested. Why should I watch a film about two guys watching someone else’s stock when mine’s all dead?”

Daniel raised an eyebrow. “Well that’s one way of looking at it, yes. But it’s about two cowboys in love.”

“You mean sheepboys. And unless those sheep all die horribly I ain’t going.”

Daniel sighed. “In that case we’ll just stay home and watch ‘Blazing Saddles.’”

“Good, I like that one.” He stroked his hand down Daniel’s thigh, and said quietly: “Okay. So show me.”

Daniel lowered his head and kissed him. “First off, it’s okay to touch me.”

”I did touch you.”

Daniel lay down beside him and took one of Jack’s hands. “Well you started off good, but then you shied away.” He drew Jack close and kissed him, then placed the hand on his hip. “Touch me. Like this. Slowly.”

Jack did, stroking his hand over Daniel’s slim body, feeling the soft skin over the toned, lean muscle, allowing Daniel to guide where his hand went. He finally drew it down to his penis, and made a quiet sigh of pleasure as Jack’s hand softly closed around it. He released Jack’s hand and relaxed, feeling him touch and caress him. Jack leaned over to kiss him, and Daniel slid his arms around his neck, holding him close.

He felt Jack gently push him, and he complied, moving onto his back, letting the older man get on top of him.

“Easy,” he whispered. “I’ll show you.”

“Give me a minute, I’ll get it.”

“No way. JACK!”

“WHAT!?”

“Not so rough! Geez!”

Jack kissed him. “Sorry.”

Daniel rolled his eyes. Why the hell did he love this man? He closed his eyes. “If you finish in forty seconds, fall off and go to sleep, I’ll smother you with a pillow, I swear.”

“I’ll have you know I can go at least forty-five.”

Daniel laughed, and drew his legs up. He closed his eyes and wrapped his arms around Jack’s shoulders, feeling him move inside of him.

“I love you,” he said quietly, simply.

Jack didn’t say it back, but that was fine. Daniel knew he was not good with voicing his emotions. He didn’t have to be. There was so much more to him than his ability to communicate, or how much money he made…

Jack cried out, pushing in hard, spilling semen deep into Daniel’s young body. He groaned in pleasure, then rolled off of him, panting.

…. Or how good he was in bed.

“Fantastic,” Jack said emphatically.

Daniel looked at him. “Oh you HAVE to be kidding.”

“What?”

Daniel moved over top of him, gently pinning him down, grinning. “Okay, cowboy, you had your chance. Now it’s my turn. And I’ve got all night to show you how to do it right.”

Jack stared up into Daniel’s sea green eyes. “So, I take it that it wasn’t good for you.”

Daniel kissed his nose. “No. It wasn’t.” He reached out for his half-used tube of lubricant.

“Well give me time, I’ll get it.”

Daniel grinned evilly as he squeezed some of the slick substance into his hand. “You’re darn right you will, cowboy.”

Jack looked distinctly worried. “Well I hope you’re not as bad as I am.”

Daniel laughed. “Jack, I don’t know why I love you, but I do.”

Jack laughed quietly and shook his head. “I don’t know why you do either.” He closed his eyes and relaxed, letting Daniel take control. “But I’m glad you do.”

Outside the little house, the storm continued on, beating down on the roof, and onto the red truck, and the barns that would soon be full of cattle and horses again. All seemed peaceful, awaiting anxiously the arrival of the new day, and the new animals.

Suddenly Jack’s voice echoed across the yard.

“HEY!”

“And now you know why I keep telling you not to be so rough.”

“I knew partners were a pain in the ass, but…”

“Jack?”

“Yeah?”

“Shut up and kiss me.”

Disclaimer:

All original fiction and the characters, places and situations with them are copyright Alyx Shaw, and may not be published, copied, distributed or archived without the author's prior written consent.

The characters, places and situations described in these stories are fictional unless otherwise stated in the story headings.

(C) 2008 Alyx Shaw