Date: Wed, 23 Aug 2006 16:25:17 -0700
From: qwb <qwb@san.rr.com>
Subject: Stonegate Stables, chapter 14

     From the previous chapter.......
     Vincent kissed me, too, then Carlos tossed me onto
Donna, and I was off to the warm-up ring.  Donna was the 3rd
horse to go with Calvin 12th so I had plenty of time to
change horses.  I cantered Donna slowly around, took a
couple jumps and waited for my turn, trying to keep my
breakfast down and deciding if I needed to pee one more
time.  Then the horse before me blew through jump 6, a huge
triple bar spread, and withdrew.  Suddenly the announcer was
saying my name, the gate was opening in front of me, and I
was entering the arena for my first competitive event in
seven years.
   I nodded to the judges' stand, circled Donna once, and
                          galloped
through the starting cones.


Stonegate Stables

Chapter 14

It's a long and hard row to hoe
When seeds that you sow
Grow by the wicked moon.
Be sure your sins will find you out
The past will hunt you down
And return to tell on you.
Bones - Little Big Town


     This course consisted of 13 jumping efforts, all of them
big and imposing, but nothing Donna couldn't handle on a good
day.  We cleared the first four obstacles cleanly, powered over
the water with a couple inches to spare, then turned to the big
spread that had taken out the horse in front of me.  This was
the exact same jump that had caused my accident, and I knew a
sharp, quick spike of fear as I steadied Donna with my knees
and kept her reined in until three strides before the fence.
When I knew she was on stride, I loosened the reins slightly
and urged her forward.  She responded with a surge of power
that I didn't know she had in her, and we were over that big
fence with daylight under her belly.  The crowd ooo'd
appreciatively as we made it cleanly through the next three
efforts, then came to 8A/B/C, an oxer/oxer/vertical triple
combination designed to separate the men from the boys, so to
speak.

I gathered her up to get the striding perfect, then let her go
                             over
the first oxer, pulled her back for the three strides to the
2nd oxer, then really throttled her back for a stride, let her
go on the next one and lifted her over the vertical.  The rest
of the course was no problem; we were clean and under the time
allowed.  I trotted her back to Carlos, swapped the saddle, and
hopped onto Calvin.

     Vincent gripped my knee and I leaned down to kiss him,
feeling my oats now that I had a clean round under my belt.

     It was about 45 minutes 'til they called us and by then
Calvin and I were both wet with nervous sweat.  I hoped my
little tricks worked.  In addition to the blinders, I had
stuffed his ears with cotton to keep the noise of the crowd
from distracting him.

     He shifted sideways, dancing along as we entered the ring
and I checked him sharply, trying to get his attention on me.
As we went through the cones, I tuned out everything but the
big animal moving beneath me and took him over the first fence.
As we landed, he bolted ahead of my hands but I got him back
quickly, and we made it through the first four jumps with no
problem.  We galloped the water, sailing over it at full speed.
He fought me as I pulled him back for the huge spread jump
coming up five strides away and I'd barely got him under
control when I had to release him for the take-off.  We were
too close, but he made it over with only a light
rub on the near rail.

     By the time we came to the triple combination, he had
settled down a little and was listening to my hands.  We
finished with no jumping or time faults, qualifying us for the
jump-off.  Three other horses had clean rounds, including Adam,
and we all milled around the warm-up area while the ring crew
prepared the arena.  I was first and last since I had two
horses. Donna and I entered the ring and I quickly looked over
the course.  There were only seven jumps this time and I saw
two places where I could maybe shave some time off by cutting
things close, but not on Donna.  We went as quickly as I
thought she could handle; she took down the top rail of the
vertical, so we had four faults.

     The next horse bombed out by taking apart the 2nd half of
the double combination.  The 3rd horse was Adam who was clean
and beat Donna's time by a few ticks, so Donna was now in 2nd
place.  The 4th horse was a big mare ridden by a rookie whose
nerves took over part way around.  They ended with 12 faults,
blowing through the last three fences like a bull in a china
shop.

     Then I was in the ring on Calvin.  Unfortunately, he knew
what a jumpoff meant and was ready to rock and roll.  I used up
every second of the time allotted before you had to get through
the start cones, then turned him loose and we rocketed over the
first two jumps.  As he landed on the far side of the oxer, I
pulled him sharply to the right between two fences and asked
him for a major effort over the vertical.

     He pulled it off, landing a little awkwardly, but suddenly
I felt him understand what I wanted.  He sharpened up and when
I cued him for a left lead in the air over jump six, he was
right there with me and leaned over hard to make the turn, his
feet gouging out swaths of turf.  The last jump was the big
spread again, my nemesis, and I gritted my teeth as we came to
it with only two strides to get ready.  I felt Cal lengthen his
last stride slightly, then he was in the air in what felt like
a leap big enough to get us over the moon.  The rails flashed
beneath him and we were thundering through the finishing cones,
his neck stretched out, ears pinned back, me leaned out over
his neck yelling in his ear.  What a rush!  I swear to God,
it's almost as good as sex.

     I glanced at the clock and saw that we'd done it - Calvin
had won his first GP.  I stood in the stirrups and pumped my
fist in the air, too jazzed to be dignified about it, and the
crowd went nuts.  As we left the arena, Amanda, Adam, Carlos,
and Vincent converged on us, grinning and whooping.  I slid off
into their arms; we all hugged each other and anyone else who
got close enough.  I managed to get my act together for the
presentation ceremony, smiling and shaking hands with the
promoters.  I remembered to thank all my sponsors, and I
dedicated the win to William.

The barn was a mob scene with media people wanting interviews,
more women with daughters, and lots of horse people.  Amanda,
bless her heart, had bought champagne that morning with high
hopes.  Amazingly, I had fulfilled them, and we drank to second
chances, pouring plastic flutes for everyone who stopped by.

I was pretty buzzed when I felt Vincent's eyes on me and turned
to him.  He wasn't smiling any longer and the expression on his
face gripped my heart with a tight fist.

     "Do you have any idea how proud I am of you?" he said
softly.  "I love you so much."

I smiled into those dark eyes that knew me so well and replied,
"I know you do."

We got home Monday afternoon and just stayed around the house,
me still floating along on the high of winning, which was only
slightly diminished by my wicked champagne hangover.  Tuesday
we went off to work as usual; I finally got away from the
stable at six and loped most of the way home.  The kitchen
light was on so at least I could look forward to a hug in a few
minutes, and hopefully a big glass of wine wasn't far behind.
I pushed into the kitchen with a smile starting, but the room
was empty and there weren't any signs of dinner.  I glanced
around and saw his chef's jacket on the back of a chair.

     "Vincent?"  My voice echoed back to me and I began to get
uneasy.  I walked into the hall and saw something lying on the
floor near the stairs. As I picked it up, I recognized the
shirt I had given Vincent for his birthday last year.  It had
been torn down the front and I stared stupidly at it for a
moment until panic grabbed me and I sprinted up the stairs two
at a time yelling his name.  His pants were crumpled in the
hall, loose change flung all over, as though they'd been ripped
from his body in a struggle.  I ran down the hall, freezing in
shock at the door to our room.

     Vincent was tied face down on the bed by his wrists with
thin yellow nylon rope.  His arms were stretched wide, pulling
his shoulder blades tight to the center of his back.  He had
tucked his legs up sideways, trying to curl into himself; a
thin trickle of blood ran from his ass down to a dark stain on
the pale yellow sheet, and several thick white ropes of cum
were splashed across his butt.  I heard a raw, animal howl come
from my throat as I ran to him, trying desperately to untie him
with hands that shook so badly I gave up and yanked my pocket
knife out, hacking at the ropes just above his wrists.  He had
fought hard; the twisted nylon cut deeply into his skin and was
red with his blood.  When his arms were free, he tucked them to
his chest and curled into a fetal position.

     There were several small dark holes on one side of his
lower back and it took my brain three endless, horrified
seconds to identify them as burns from the lit end of a
cigarette.  Beneath the dark ash of burnt skin, they oozed
clear fluid and blood.  I gagged a few times, then began to cry
in big heaving sobs.  Vincent's eyes were closed and his face
was bruised and scraped, with blood welling from a split in his
lip.  I climbed onto the bed next to him, desperate to touch
him but not sure how badly he was injured so I just pulled the
sheet up over him and lay down with my arm over his shoulder.
We were both shaking badly and my teeth chattered so hard that
I couldn't stop them.

     Vincent kept his eyes closed and didn't speak while I
dialed 911, having to repeat the address three times before she
could understand me. While we waited, I tried to calm down and
talk to him, but he lay there silently trembling and that
scared me almost as much as his physical injuries.

I was still holding him when the paramedics came into the room.
I moved out of the way while they checked him carefully for
broken bones and spinal damage, eventually loading him onto a
stretcher with an IV to help with shock.  Since his injuries
weren't life threatening, one of the medics took a quick look
at me.  After he made me sit down and drink a glass of water, I
quit shaking so badly, and he gave me the okay to drive.

I followed the ambulance to the hospital, calling Dylan on the
way.Adam was with him so they called Cody, TJ, and Vincent's
parents, and by the time I arrived, Cody, who had happened to
be three minutes from the hospital, was waiting for me.  Wade
was out of town.

     "What the hell happened?  Dylan said Vincent was
attacked!"  Cody was wild eyed and grabbed me when I came in
the door.  When he got a good look at my face, he folded me
into his arms and held on tight for a minute.  He kept his arm
around me as we headed for the desk to ask about Vincent.

     They told us he was being treated and the doctor would be
out to talk to us when he was finished.  As Cody led me to a
chair, Adam and Dylan burst through the door, spotted us and
came running over.  I told them what
I had found when I got home, crying again through the worst
parts.  As I was blowing my nose, a doctor in bloody green
scrubs came through the swinging doors and walked over to us.

     "Any of you related to Vincent D'Ambruzzo?"

     I spoke up.  "He's my partner.  How bad is he hurt?"

     The doctor looked at me closely, then relaxed a little.
"He's going to be fine.  He's pretty banged up, and there was
some anal tearing but nothing serious.  It will take a couple
weeks for him to heal but there won't be any permanent damage.
The burns on his back will require cosmetic surgery to prevent
scarring but after a year or so, you'll hardly be able to see
them.  His wrists will scar also, but not badly."

     He took another look at our frightened, angry faces.
"This was a brutal attack.  We report these types of victims to
the police, so someone will be here soon to get your
statements."  He paused again, and then put his hand on my arm,
squeezing lightly.  "We're going to keep him at least
overnight.  We've given him pain meds but you can see him if
you like."

     Vincent was in a curtained area lying on his side facing
away when I came in.  A sheet was pulled up to his waist, the
burns on his back were covered with white ointment.  He was
curled up again with his arms against his chest.

     "Vincent?"

     When he didn't reply, I walked slowly around the bed.

     "Vincent?"  His eyes were closed but he silently reached
out a trembling hand.  I started to cry again as I took it in
both of mine and pressed it to my mouth, leaning close to him.
"You're gonna be okay, sweetheart.  God, I love you so much."

     His fingers tightened on mine and his face slowly crumbled
as he began to cry, deep wrenching sobs that shook his whole
body.  I wrapped my arm around him above the burns and held him
until the worst of it passed.  Once he finally broke down, I
was able to pull myself together, to be strong for him.  I blew
my nose on the fistful of tissues I'd been clutching and wiped
Vincent's bruised face gently.  He had relaxed a little and
hugged my arm to his chest, burying his face in my hand.  He
drew several shuddering breaths and sighed deeply.  He still
had not looked at me.  I knelt down so our faces were level.

     "Vincent."  His eyes were swimming in tears when he opened
them to mine, his black lashes wet and spiky, and the despair
in them was horrible to see.  I brushed his hair back from his
face and kissed him softly.  "I love you.  I love you."

He nodded tiredly and whispered, "I know you do."  His voice
was hoarse and the dreadful thought came to me that it was
probably from screaming when they burned him.  He looked at me
for a few more seconds, then his eyes glazed over and he
drifted off into a drugged sleep.  I kissed his forehead, then
his palm, curling his fingers over the kiss, and left him
there.

A police officer and Vincent's parents were in the waiting room
talking to the doctor.  I hugged his folks and assured them
that he was okay but sleeping; they went in to stay with him
for a while.  The officer took my statement and I gave him an
access code to the house so that he could send a crime scene
team to collect whatever evidence they could find.

     The doctor took me aside after the cop left.  "Vincent
isn't talking except to answer our questions.  That's not
unusual after an attack like this so I'm recommending him for
psychiatric counseling, at least a couple sessions.  It can be
helpful for the partner of the victim to take part." I nodded
my understanding, wondering just how much damage Vincent had
incurred.  He told me Vincent would sleep through the night so
we all went to Cody's house; I couldn't face going home.

I told them about the marks I'd seen on Vincent's wrists years
ago. That was the only thing I could think of that made any
sense.  I didn't even know the guy's name but he must have
found out that Vincent was living with me and ambushed him in
the house.  I didn't know how big this guy was, but doubted he
could have overpowered Vincent by himself, so he must have
brought help.  Knowing that our home had been the scene of such
sick violence suddenly made me ill and I ran to the bathroom,
heaving my guts dry while Dylan kept a hand on my neck.

     When I sat back on my heels, shaky, pale, and sweating,
Cody turned on the shower while Dylan stripped me.  Cody got
naked and pulled me into the tub, washing me as if I was a kid
and hugging me when I started to cry.  I just felt like I would
never stop.  To see Vincent beaten and brutalized like that was
more than I could cope with.  When they got me out of the
shower and dried off, Dylan and Adam climbed into bed with me,
one on either side, rubbing my back, talking softly to me.  All
that body contact was comforting and I fell into an exhausted
sleep.  I woke around 3am to a quiet house.

     I still felt horrible, with a big knot in my stomach, and
red, scratchy eyes from crying so much but I was calmer.  I
slid out of bed, pulled on my shorts, and walked out into the
living room.  TJ was lying on the couch in just his jeans, with
one arm behind his head, studying the ceiling.  He glanced over
when I came into the room.

     "Hey.  Sorry I didn't get here 'til late.  You doing
okay?"

     "Yeah.  Just can't sleep anymore."

"Come here."  He sat up a little and leaned back against the
arm of the couch, holding out a hand to me.  I settled in
between his legs, snuggling up against his warm, bare chest,
and sighed heavily when he began to rub big slow circles on my
back.  "I'm so sorry this happened to you guys."

     "Me, too.  I still can't believe it.  They burned him.
What kind of sick fuck holds a lit cigarette to someone?"

     He hugged me tighter for a moment, shaking his head.  "I
don't know." We lay there dozing until it began to get light.

     Adam wandered in, kissed me, and sat at the other end of
the couch with TJ's feet in his lap.  Cody came in next, smiled
at the three of us on the couch, and went to make coffee,
ruffling my hair on his way by.  Dylan finally woke up when he
smelled the coffee, stumbling out of his room rumple headed,
scratching his crotch and yawning.

     "Jesus, you're a scary sight in the morning," TJ said with
a chuckle.

Dylan gave him the finger and collapsed into a chair.  "I love
you, too."

     Cody came in with coffee and the room fell silent as we
all blew and sipped.  He looked at me.

     "What do you want to do, Sean?  We need to get your car
from the hospital, and you probably want clean clothes.  Adam
and I'll help you with that."  He stopped for a moment.  "Where
do you want to take Vincent when he's released?"

     I shook my head.  "I don't know.  I'm not sure he'll want
to go back to the house."

     "You know you can stay here.  Wade doesn't get back 'til
Sunday so it'll be quiet.  The big guest room has its own bath
so you can have some privacy."

     "Thanks.  Let me talk to Vincent today and see if he's
even getting out.  It might be tomorrow."  We showered and ate,
and  then Adam and Cody drove me to the house.  A police van
was in the driveway so I went up to speak to them; the guy in
charge told me they'd be done in an hour or so. I spoke with
Maria and made a few phone calls.

     When we got to the hospital, Vincent was in a regular room
but I went up alone, not sure if he'd want to see anyone else
yet.  He was lying on his side, eating green Jello.  The
bruises on his face had darkened to purple and his lip was
puffy and raw, but he smiled when he saw me and I felt a
hundred times better.  I took his face carefully in my hands
and kissed his good cheek.  He nuzzled into me and laid a hand
over one of mine.  We stayed like that for a few minutes, just
soaking up the feel of each other.  We hadn't spent a night
apart since he'd moved in and I missed him desperately.

     Although he was doing fine, the doctor decided to keep him
another day, so I left after assuring him I'd be back in the
afternoon.  I spent the day shopping for all Vincent's favorite
foods - smoked oysters, sharp cheddar cheese, Cocoa Puffs - and
I fixed up one of the guest rooms in case we couldn't face our
room yet.

     When I went back at four, he was sleeping, so I sat and
watched him, studying the marks on his face and wishing a slow,
painful death on whoever did this to him.  He came awake
gradually, blinking a few times before he focused on me.  We
smiled a slow smile at each other as I leaned in and kissed
him.  He kissed me back this time and it was all I could do not
to climb into bed with him.  He sat up and swung his legs out
of the bed.

"Let's walk or something.  I need to get the fuck out of here."
We put another hospital gown on him backwards so his butt was
covered and walked slowly out into the hall.  He moved a little
stiffly, but loosened up as we went along.

     A nurse told us there was a solarium on the top floor, so
we took the elevator up.  It was a big sunlit room and we
settled down on one of the couches with Vincent facing me so we
could hug each other.  I was afraid of hurting his back but he
said, "I don't care.  I need you to hold me."  So I did.

     We just sat there for a while, cuddling, and kissing a
little, although his lip was pretty sore.  A few people came
and went, but no one bothered us.

     "When will they let you go home?"

     "They're waiting for me to take a crap," he said with a
snort.  "If I can shit with no problem, they'll turn me loose."
I raised an eyebrow at him and he blew out a breath, shaking
his head.  "I'm working on it, okay? It's not exactly something
I'm looking forward to right now."

     That was the first reference he'd made to the attack and I
wondered if he'd ever tell me exactly what happened, or if he
even remembered. Eventually, we got hungry and went back to his
room.  A detective was waiting to talk with him and Vincent
looked at me with an odd expression.
I took the hint and left after promising to be back at ten the
next morning.

     On the way home, I called Jesse, the guy who owned the
security company.  "Jesse, this is Sean.  You came to Wade's
birthday party at my place.  You said if I ever needed anything
.  .  .  "
     "Hey, Sean, how's it going?"

"Not so hot."  I told him what had happened and he was silent
for a long moment.

     "Son of a bitch.  I fuckin' hate it when the assholes
score one.  I'm so sorry.  I'll get a couple guys over there
today.  Call me back when you know he's coming home."

     Vincent managed to perform later that night, so he was
dressed and sitting on the edge of the bed when I arrived the
next morning.  I called Jesse while the nurse was getting a
wheelchair.

We got through the paperwork, the wheelchair ride to the door,
into the car in under an hour, and were driving out of the
parking lot when I asked him what he wanted to do.

     "Are you okay with going back to the house?  Or Cody said
we can stay at their place for a few days."

He looked squarely at me.  "No, I want to go home."  I nodded
and that's what we did.

     Jesse's guys were there; we spotted one of them at the far
corner of the house, the other was out back somewhere.  The
house bore no traces of what had taken place and Vincent seemed
glad to be back.  Maria was there and had lunch ready for us in
the sunroom after she fussed over Vincent for a few minutes.

     After lunch, Vincent lay down in the den for a nap and I
ran over to the stable to make sure everything was copasetic.
Everyone wanted to hear what happened and how Vincent was
doing.  I gave them the Cliff Notes version and assured them
that Vincent was going to be fine but I kept the details to
myself.

I peeked into the den when I got back.  Vincent was curled into
the back of the couch, his shoulders shaking as he sobbed
quietly.  I watched him for a moment and just as I began to
step into the room, a hard hand gripped my shoulder and pulled
me back.  I turned to look up into Jesse's somber face.  He
shook his head at me, hugged me briefly, then walked to
Vincent, sitting down next to him and engulfing him in those
big solid arms.  Vincent just collapsed into him and began to
cry hard, his face buried into Jesse's broad chest.  I turned
away and slid my back down the wall to sit on the floor in the
hall, crying a little myself, aching for him.

Finally, I wandered away and let him find me a while later in
the kitchen where I was putting the finishing touches on our
dinner of scrambled eggs.  We ate slowly, making small talk and
I wondered how long it would take us to feel comfortable with
each other again.  I knew he needed time, but it was so hard to
see him like this, so different from his usual friendly, loving
self.  Jesse was nowhere to be seen, which I came to learn was
a specialty of his.

     We watched TV for a while, then slowly climbed the stairs
to our room, hand in hand.  He hesitated at the doorway with a
guarded expression on his face but I'd had the room painted a
mossy green, and Maria and I had rearranged all the furniture
except the bed, which now had a new mattress and new linens in
a dark stripe, very different from our usual pale yellow.  He
glanced around, then gave me a small smile, acknowledging my
efforts.

     I changed the dressings on his burns, planting a soft kiss
along side each one, and we climbed into bed.  He lay on his
good side and we looked at each other for a long time.  His
eyes were sad, but he smiled at me when
I cupped his cheek in my hand.  We kissed a little, then he
pushed me onto my back and put an arm and leg across me, his
face against my shoulder.  He fell asleep quickly and I lay
there listening to him breathe, feeling the rise and fall of
his chest against my arm, so thankful that he was home with me
again.

     Friday morning I surprised him with a childhood favorite
that his mother had told me about.  The expression on his face
when I set a plate of French toast with cream cheese and orange
marmalade in front of him, made it worth the effort.  He gave
me a real grin and got up to hug me, rocking me a little and
running his hand down my back to give my butt a squeeze.
He spent the day around the house, doing some paperwork and
napping when he got tired.  I worked most of the day, but came
home early so we could have a long evening together.  We took a
walk around the property, hand in hand, stopping to pay some
attention to Zena and Chex who were feeling neglected; I hadn't
ridden all week.

     After dinner, we wandered into the den, curling up on the
couch with Vincent between my legs leaning back against me.  I
put a hand under his shirt and savored the smooth warmth of his
skin as I traced the muscles of his stomach.  As I reached for
the TV remote, Vincent pulled my hand back and brought it to
his lips, kissing my palm, then folding my fingers over his and
kissing each knuckle before laying it on his chest.

     He took a deep breath.  "His name is Ray and I met him
when I was 17. He raped me."


- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Warm thanks to David of Hope for commas and suggestions.

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If you're enjoying this story, send me a quick email and let me
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It'll just take you a second and I'll really appreciate
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