Date: 9 Nov 2000 19:20:30 -0000
From: Mikey <mikey@maileditor.com>
Subject: Til Death Do Us Part

Author's note: Hey, you found this story in the Nifty gay archive site, so
you ought to know that it contains graphic adult male-male sex.  Hopefully,
it also has a story you will like.  If you aren't supposed to read this
stuff, please don't.  Otherwise, Enjoy.  Fantasies don't need protection,
real life does.  Play it safe.  Mikey

***

This is the winner of the Eroticstories.com Challenge 5 contest.  Hope you
enjoy it.

You know the site rules: <18 = close your eyes while you read.  You're not
old enough to be on this site yet.  Not supposed to be here for whatever
reason, then go away.  Made up this story all by my lonesome; it's fiction,
no facts included.

*****     *****     *****     *****     *****

Until Death Do Us Part:


'It won't be long now.  We will be together.  They cannot keep us apart.  I
won't allow that.  They think that what we have is wrong, that it is evil.
They're wrong.  I won't let them turn him against me.  Soon, he'll be away
from here, and then nothing will separate us, ever.

'There they go.  Off for the night.  They won't be back.  They never come
back here after they leave.  Calmly now.  Room 320, 322, 324.  This is it.
No nurses in sight, they're all at the desk or somewhere else.  They never
even notice me go by.

'He looks so young lying there asleep.  So pale.  The IV is still in his
arm.  No problem.  That's easy enough to take out.  Band-Aids are in the
cabinet.  So beautiful.  Dark lashes lying on his cheeks.  Lips relaxed,
not smiling.  His hair needs to be washed, but I'll take care of that when
we are safely away.  I'll always take care of him.  I exist only for him.'

"Lee, wake up sweetheart."  I run my knuckle down his rounded cheek, waking
him gently, the way I have dreamed about for too long now.  "Time to get
up."

His eyes open slowly, their brown depths masked with sleep and the drugs.
He focuses on my smiling face slowly, without understanding.

"Who, who are you?" he stammered out with a slight yawn.

That's okay.  I knew what to expect.  I had read his charts.  I listened to
the doctors and nurses when they did not notice me.  I just smiled gently.

"I'm Jordan, love.  I've come to take you home."

"I don't remember you."

"I know.  You have amnesia.  It's from the drugs and the accident you were
in.  I brought your clothes, and a picture, to help remind you."

I dropped the backpack on the bed and he watched with growing interest as I
pulled out his favorite shirt and jeans, some underwear, even his worn
sneakers.  I had enjoyed taking the clothes from his room even as his
mother slept, all unsuspecting, at the end of the hall.  Quietly, quietly,
close the drawers and back out the window.  They never knew I was even
there.  But I knew.

An envelope caught his eyes and he reached for it, watching me.  I just
smiled and handed it to him.  Inside was our picture.  Taken at the lake,
by a friend, it showed the two of us with our arms around each other's
waists, leaning forward, our love glowing openly.  He was giggling slightly
at me and the love and fun showed through into the photo.  Our left hands
rested on his knee, fingers interlaced, our matching rings showing clearly.
Behind us were the cliffs we had spent the morning diving off -- tall,
beautiful, and deadly to the wrong people.  Kind of like me.

He studied the picture carefully and then looked at me.

"If we are together, then why didn't they tell me?"

"They didn't like our marriage, Lee.  They said that our love was wrong.
Your accident gave them the excuse to separate us.  But I love you.  I need
you back.  Please come with me."

With any luck, he will never remember what happened that fateful night, of
the accident that injured him, or the truth about us, about our
relationship, why we were not together any more.

"I don't remember being with you.  I don't remember this picture."  He
paused and stared intently at me.  "But I don't remember them either and
they aren't very nice when they are here.  This picture shows that we had
something special.  I want that."

He was crying softly.  I sat on the bed.

"Love, please don't cry.  I can't stand it when you do that.  Please.
It'll be okay.  I promise.  The doctor said that your memory might just
return sometime.  We didn't Have something special -- we still do have it.
Our love.  I brought your ring - the one in the picture."

I tried to comfort him.  I held out his ring.  He picked it up and rolled
it in his hand, then lifted mine to see the mate.  He smiled slowly and
slid it on to his finger.

"I wish I could remember you giving it to me the first time," he said
wistfully.  "Are we really married?"

I pressed a quick kiss on his lips.  "We are promised forever, love.  I'll
tell you about it.  Later.  When we're home again."

He smiled tremulously through the tears and sniffled adorably.  I grinned
back and handed him a tissue, then held up his shirt.

"What cha' say about getting dressed and heading out of this prison,
sweetheart?"

"What about the IV?"

"Here, I can take it out.  I've had enough of them in my own arm to know
how.  There.  Now raise your arm and keep the pressure on the vein until I
get a Band-Aid."

He smiled happily as I dressed him.

"Oh god, it feels so good to have real clothes.  I hated my butt hanging
out all the time."

I just grinned and looked up from tying his shoes.  "I would've liked it,"
I offered wistfully.

"Lech," he said affectionately, just like he used to.  He may not remember
me consciously, but we were falling into our old patterns with ease.  After
all, we had known each other all of our lives.  Since kindergarten, we had
been inseparable.  Until they took him away from me.  Now, I was getting
him back.

"Now, all we need to do is calmly walk out and leave.  Don't look around,
just talk to me.  Don't worry about anything."

"Okay, Jordan."

We walked out the door and down the corridor.  Our luck was with us and the
nurse station was busy with some group trying to get in too many visitors
at the same time.  We just went down the elevator and then into the parking
garage.  He automatically tried to hop over the door into the jeep, but was
still a little shaky.  I chuckled and shook my head.

"Don't wear yourself out, babe.  We got a long drive to get back home.  You
had a bad time lately.  Just give it a while."

He looked at me in disbelief as we drove off.  "I can't believe it was that
easy, Jordan.  We just walked out and no one said a word."

"Of course.  People see what they expect to see.  No one expected a patient
to just leave, so they weren't looking for it.  We were just two guys
walking out, both in regular clothes, both acting normal.

"Now, why don't you take a nap?  It is a long drive.  There's a blanket in
the back, if you get cold."

He snuggled into the warm blanket and was soon sound asleep.  I drove
through the night, stealing glances at my love.  He was mine again.  So
easy.  People see what they want.  A lonely sick boy sees a picture of
love, and therefore, it is real.  Even without his memories.  A ring,
mention of a promise, and we are married.  At least, in his mind.  It's
better this way.  Nothing will interfere with us.  I won't allow him to be
taken from me again.  I'm the only one who really loves him.

The moon was nearly a full circle, gleaming whitely in the midnight blue
sky.  Without any clouds to darken them, the mountains seemed to glow.
There was still snow along the peaks.  A beautiful clean white, untouched
by human hands.  The air was cold enough to bite at my nose.  I paused for
a moment to pull on my down jacket, and to make sure that my love was
carefully wrapped, before starting on the final leg of our trip.  Soon we
would be home.

All alone, isolated in our mountain cabin, our secret retreat.  I had
prepared it carefully, waiting until they relaxed their vigilance enough
for me to take him back.  I knew that he would love the nest that I had
prepared for him, for us.  No one knew where we were -- three states away
from the hospital.  They would never interfere with us again.  I had made
certain of that.  He is mine.  Only mine.

I chuckled softly to myself as I remembered the old woman at the tiny store
telling me that the cabin was haunted.  What a lovely rumor.  So
convenient.  I would not need to haunt it myself to explain our
reclusiveness.  Anyone who lived in a haunted house was either crazy - or
dead.  Anyone from the small town we grew up in would tell you what I was.
I tried not to think about them.  They didn't matter anymore.  No one can
touch me again; no one can hurt me.  I have my love.  He is all I need.

He did not wake up, even as we left the pavement and began the slow,
tortuous climb up the streambed.  It's the only way to get there.  There's
no road.  The approach can be seen for miles once we're at the cabin.  No
one will sneak up on us in a vehicle.  I carried him into the cabin,
setting him gently on to the bed.  After I backed the jeep into the hidden
shelter and covered the entrance with a screen of camouflage netting, I
returned and undressed him slowly, as if unwrapping a gift.  He was a gift.
My gift from heaven.  My angel.  He snuggled into the warmth of my body
after we were both naked.  I pulled the comforter over us and tried not to
cry with my joy.  Finally, we were together.  After all that I had fought
through, after all the obstacles they put in our path.  We would never be
apart again.  I would see to that.

 ~~~~

I knew that they'd search for us.  I did not want my love to be disturbed
by their nonsense.  I hid the radio, listening to it secretly when he was
napping.  He was still weak from his ordeal.  He listened obediently when I
told him to rest and regain his strength.

I sneered as the excited newsperson babbled about a kidnapping.  I chuckled
over the tale of an unknown person, possibly armed and dangerous, spiriting
an injured boy from the hospital.  'Spiriting.  Really.'  The word made me
chuckle sarcastically.  'Like some ghost walked off with the missing boy.
Right.'  The family was desperate.  'Sure they were.'  Police were
searching vigilantly.  Luckily, the search was headed towards Vegas.  They
did not think to look here, so remote, so alone.  'Fools.  No, I'm not
dangerous, except to those who threaten my love.  I will protect him to the
death, though.  I will never let them take him away again.'

"Jordan?"

I hear him calling for me.  It is time for him to eat again.  Perhaps some
warm soup and the chocolate he loves so much, then, if he eats well, I will
take him out to sit on the porch swing for a while.  Wrapped in a blanket,
wrapped in my arms, he will be safe and warm.  We will be together.  Soon
he will be strong enough for me to claim him.  I will feel his tender body
beneath mine, taste his young lips, caress the silky skin that will never
know another.  I shiver with desire.  It will be hard to wait.  I want him
so badly.

 ~~~~

Only two days after he left the hospital and I find him sneaking out to
play in the snow.  I told him to rest, not to carry branches.  I would have
caught him sooner, but the sun was so bright today that I wasn't able to go
outside.  I simply can't tolerate full sunlight.  One of the quirks I have
since....  I used to love the sun, before....  Never mind.  Lee had no
business overexerting himself like that.

I sighed.  "Lee, I told you not to go out on your own.  You're still far
too weak."

He looks so guilty, halfway out of his parka, his nose flushed pink with
the cold.

"But, Jordan.  I just wanted to get some more pine branches for the fire.
They smelled so good last night.  I'm not tired, honest."

I shook my head gently and frowned at him.  "I told you no.  And you
disobeyed me.  You will have to be punished.  Now come here."

I sat on the bed and patted my lap invitingly.  He doesn't remember this
part of our relationship.  But he is worried.  As he should be.  His eyes
grew wide and his mouth opened soundlessly as he shook his head
frantically.  "No, please no.  I won't do it again, Jordan.  I promise."

I smiled gently at him.  "Hush now.  Take off your pants."

He whimpered slightly in anticipation, but I stayed firm.  I couldn't let
his pleading eyes sway me.  This was the best way to enforce my authority.
It was for his own good.  He didn't remember, but we had been through this
before.  I won then also.

I pulled him over my lap and bent to kiss his pale cheek softly.  As my
hand dropped to the back of his bare thighs, I whispered into his ear, "I'm
sorry, love.  You know that I wouldn't do this unless you made me."

Afterwards, I cuddled his quivering body to my chest.  With my thumb, I
wiped the solitary tear from his soft cheek and tipped up his chin to meet
his wide eyes.  A single sob for air, then he was silenced by my lips on
his.  He clung to me tightly as I rocked him until he was calm again.

"Now, love.  Please be good.  You bring it on yourself, you know."

He nodded, still burying his face in the junction of my neck and chest.
"I'm sorry, Jordan.  I won't do it again.  I'll be good, I promise."  His
voice caught as he tried to blurt out the apology.

His warm breath brushed across my collarbone and I shivered with delight.
He was so innocent, not knowing what he was doing to my body as I rocked
him in my arms.  I will change that.  I will enjoy turning his innocence
into knowledge, again.

"I know you will, sweetheart.  I know you will."

 ~~~~

"Lee!  What are you doing?"

I could not believe my eyes as I stared at my young lover.  Less than a
week since his last punishment, and now, this.  He never learned, did he?
He licked his lips, hesitantly obliterating the evidence of his theft.  The
last candy bar.  I had been saving it for a special treat.  Oh, that was
very bad of him.  I frowned sternly.

"Lee..."

He stood there, face rapidly reddening.  Caught.  Guilty.  We both knew the
punishment for that.  I pointed at the couch.  He backed away from me, his
eyes big, his lips quivering.

"Noooo!!  Not that!  Please, Jordan.  I just forgot.  I, you, ummm..."

I shook my head and sat down.  "I don't think so.  Now, come here."

He whimpered in anticipation, then crept closer, knowing that I was going
to do it, no matter how hard he begged.  He had learned that the last time
I had to punish him like this.  This time I didn't bother with the backs of
his thighs or his ribs.  I went straight for the underarms.  His first
screaming lurch took him off my lap and I pinned his wriggling body beneath
me.

He thrashed frantically, howls of laughter reducing him to gasping sobs,
tears dripping down his cheeks as I tickled him unmercifully.  It was the
only punishment I could ever bring myself to inflict on him.  Luckily, he
loved it as much as I did.  Sometimes I swear he goes out of his way to be
bad just so that I would tickle him.  His mind may not remember, but his
body has never forgotten me, us.

Finally, he wrapped his arms around my neck and kissed me into distraction.
That's okay.  I am always willing to be distracted like that.  His mouth
tasted like the stolen chocolate.  I raised my head slowly and looked into
his gleeful eyes.

"Love me anyway, Jordan?" he pleaded.

I heaved an abused sigh.  "Yes, love.  I love you anyway.  You do know
that's the last of the candy bars, don't you?  No S'mores for you tonight.
Not until I can get to the grocery again."

"I'm sorry, Jordan.  I just couldn't resist them."

"I know, love.  I should have hidden them better.  I hope you aren't going
to be sick now."

"I won't.  There were only two left.  I ate the others earlier this week."

I glared at him in mock outrage and immediately began tickling again.  This
time, I did not let his kisses distract me.  I continued until he was
howling for mercy.  I lay on top of his lean hard body as it jerked beneath
me in residual movement.  Those months in the hospital had left him almost
thin, but he was slowly gaining back his weight with the exercise that we
got every day.  I caressed his stomach gently.  He raised his hips and
ground his erection against mine.  Our mood went from playful to aroused
instantly.

With a deep breath, I lowered my face to his neck and began to nibble.  Lee
moaned and pulled me closer.  Tracing the sturdy tendon along his throat,
down to the small hollow at the base of his throat, my lips and tongue
tasted him.  Urgently, I pulled open his shirt, baring his muscular chest.
Pinning his arms above his head, I lapped gently at one nipple, ignoring
the gasp of breath and sudden stillness of his body.  Across his smooth
chest to the other tight nubbin, rising and falling with the deep heaving
breaths of his chest.  Sliding my tongue across, then around, the eager
bead.  I traced his ribcage down to the taut indrawn abdomen.

He moaned and pulled his hands free of mine, burying his fingers in my
hair.  "Oh yes, Jordan.  Please."

I sat up and quickly pulled off his jeans, and then underwear.  His stomach
clenched as I ran my tongue in light circles around his navel, before
tracing the faint line of hair further south.

My hands grasped his muscular thighs, spreading them with no resistance.
He panted happily as I began to work on his tender scrotum.  Lee writhed
beneath my eager mouth as I rolled his balls along my tongue, sucking just
firmly enough to make him moan.  The smooth area just behind the now taut
organs caught my attention and I roamed down towards his puckered hole.
Teasing him, I licked all the way around it, never touching, just blowing
soft air across his entrance until it clenched and released, begging for
attention silently, as he begged aloud.

"Please, Jordan, don't stop.  Please.  I love you.  Oh god, I love you.
Don't tease, do it.  Come on, lover.  Take me.  NOW!"

The last words were a growl as his hands tightened in my hair and he arched
his back, thrusting his aching cock frantically at my face.  I groaned and
obliged.  I pulled up and swallowed him whole as he screamed.  His scent
filled my senses as I rubbed my tongue along the veined shaft, sliding up
and back down with a tight swirling sweep.  His entire body shook with the
force of his orgasm.

One last tiny kiss on the very tip of his subsiding cock, and I pulled
myself up to meet his lips.  Tiredly, he kissed me, hugging me close to his
body as if to pull me inside him.  I was inside him, around him, I will
always be there for him.  He needs only me.  My life is complete, fulfilled
in a way that no one else could match.  I stroked his hair gently until he
slept, replete and satisfied, safe in my arms as I watched him.  As his
body cooled, I pulled the thick down comforter up to keep him warm.  His
body heat filled the space between the sheets and the blanket, giving me
warmth, giving me life.  I slept the sleep of the dead - blank and
unmoving, deep and forever, free of the pain that I live with constantly.

 ~~~~

I guess he is well enough now to be on his own for a while.  He really
hates grocery shopping and I had to get some more supplies.  I still
couldn't believe that he had eaten the entire package of candy bars in only
a week.  They would have lasted me months.  Well, that's not really fair.
It's not as if I would eat them anyway.  I just get them for him.  I had
made him wait for another whole week before I replaced the ones that he
snuck.  I also wanted to go to the garage and work on the Jeep.

I waved back to Lee as he happily darted into the library.  That boy and
his books.  Oh well, I guess one of us should be well educated.  It
certainly wasn't going to be me.  I struggled through high school with his
help, keeping just above the requirements for the swimming program.  But
that was it.  Give me something mechanical, and I can keep it running
forever.  Give me a computer, and it's toast.

I parked the car and paid the fee to use the lift.  The dog in the office
growled anxiously at me, hair bristling along its shoulders.  Animals don't
seem to like me anymore.  I guess they sense something.  Some people say
that animals can sense it when you are disturbed or different.  I stared at
it until it hid behind the desk.

'Oil changed, fluids filled, tires rotated.  Groceries safely in the box in
the back.  Time to drag my love out of his books.  Now why is he already on
the steps?'

I knew that something was wrong when I picked him up.  Pale, with a look of
deep shock frozen on his face, he silently sat in the car, barely mumbling
a greeting to me.  I raised my eyebrow and studied him as he clutched his
book bag to his chest.  He played with his ring as he always did when
something was bothering him that he didn't know how to talk about.  Wide
eyes stared out the window until we reached the hidden garage.  Silently,
he helped me replace the camouflage, then trudged into the house.  I could
feel his eyes on me the entire time.

What had disturbed my love?  What was wrong?  I would find it and fix it.
I would do anything for him.  I pressed my fingers to my temples, as if I
could rub the pain away.  As the sparks in my vision faded, I followed him
into the living room.  He sat on the couch staring blindly at nothing.

"What is the matter, my love?" I asked as I pressed a gentle stroke down
his cheek with my forefinger.

I was shocked as he flinched slightly.  He reached up and touched my face
hesitantly, as if he had never seen me before.  I was beginning to worry.

"Jordan?" he choked out, twisting his ring around his finger.  "Tell me
about my past.  Tell me why I don't want to remember.  Why do I have
flashes of these nightmares?  Tell me what I've remembered is only a horrid
dream, that it isn't real."

Shit.  He was beginning to recall what had happened.  The doctor had warned
his mother that this might happen.  I had listened carefully out of sight
to all of their conversations that I could.

I swallowed and pulled him into my arms, wrapping us in the blanket.
Stroking his hair, I began to speak, leaving out parts of that terrible
night, parts that I wasn't ready to share with him yet.  Parts that I
deeply hoped he would never find out.  I automatically edited what I was
telling him, but vivid flashbacks of the past three months burned behind my
eyes as I spoke.

**** Then ****

I had already told him of our childhood.  Growing up in a tiny mountain
town.  Shared lunches, skinned knees, fights that never lasted beyond the
hour.  Learning to climb trees, and to fall out of them.  Going to school,
a united front against all others.  Learning to drive, then getting
grounded.  Our first kiss.  That his parents hated me.  I was big and loud
and rough.  From a broken home, a drunken, neglectful father, no money,
living in a rundown trailer park.  He was from a wealthy family, focused
and driven to over achieve.  He had never cared.  We were friends first,
then lovers -- to the absolute fury of his parents.

When they caught us kissing, undressed, they had me arrested for statutory
rape.  That backfired when they found out that I was actually six months
younger than Lee, not older.  They had never paid enough attention to
notice before.  Because I was bigger, because we were in the same class,
they had always thought that I was the elder.  They quickly dropped
charges.  But the damage was done.  We were marked as gay, as fags, and all
the other hateful words that people use to hurt and punish anyone who
doesn't fit their narrow little world.

That was when we moved my trailer to another town in the next county.  Dad
didn't care.  I don't even think he really noticed the difference as long
as there was a bar nearby.  When he came in to wake me up one morning, and
Lee was sleeping wrapped around me, he just mumbled something about pink
elephants and seeing double, then staggered out.  Whatever.  I stopped
worrying about him when I was still in grade school.  Lee was the only one
that mattered.

It was about a month after we moved that I found the rings.  I was on my
way home from work, taking a different route than usual.  I had stopped by
the outdoors store to pick up some supplies for the camping trip Lee and I
were going on tonight.  As I drove along the twisting mountain road, I saw
a tiny antique store in a brief clearing between the trees.

I pulled the jeep into the dirt lot of the old store.  I wasn't quite
certain why I had stopped here.  Something about the place called to me.
It looked like an antique store should, a long log cabin with a rustic
porch running the length of the building.  Rocking chairs swayed gently to
the wind and the small kegs beside them served as tables or checkerboard
holders for the imaginary old men that played out their lazy afternoons.

I walked past a sleepy old cat and stopped to pet it.  I like animals, and
usually, they like me.  It purred sleepily for a moment, opening its eyes
lazily, then went back to sleep without ever uncurling from its position in
the rocker.

A display of handcrafted silver and turquoise drew my eyes.  I ignored the
necklaces, earrings, and bracelets.  Nice, but not what I wanted.  A set of
silver rings caught my attention.  A set of hands clasped at the wrist,
over a turquoise stone.  The hand-carved engraving was delicate, beautiful
and detailed.  The rings were sturdy, looking as if they were made to last
forever.

"Those were made for two lovers when they first exchanged vows.  They lived
together for over thirty years before dying within a month of each other."

The warm voice of the old woman took me by surprise.  I looked up suddenly,
meeting an understanding smile and warm black eyes.  I smiled back slowly.
One ring fit me perfectly, the other slid easily onto my little finger that
was the same size as Lee's ring finger.

"They are perfect."

"I've always thought so.  Do you want them wrapped separately or together?"
She knew that I had to have them.

I just smiled at her.  "Together, of course."

Her chuckle was warm and infectious.  I laughed along with her.  When the
rings were wrapped in a soft piece of tan leather and tied with a piece of
rawhide, she looked up at me.

"Take care of your love, boy, and it will last forever."

"Thank you."  I couldn't say more, but I am sure that my eyes spoke for me.

As I walked out the door, the cat stood and stretched, merowing hoarsely in
an old voice demanding attention.  I chuckled and rubbed its nape for a
moment as it arched under my hand with a rusty purr.  It sat and washed its
paws when I left.

As I drove off down the road, I looked back.  But the fog had risen and I
could no longer see the old store.  I patted the package beside my thigh
nervously.  It was reassuringly solid.  I hoped Lee would like the ring.  I
hoped Lee would accept what I wanted so desperately to ask him.

 ~~~~

I chewed nervously on my lip as I studied his profile.  Lee concentrated on
the marshmallow he was trying to roast on a stick over our campfire.  The
graham crackers and chocolate were already open on the flat rock beside
him.  I loved him.  I knew it, and was fairly certain that he loved me
back.  At least, he said so frequently enough.  We were living together,
sleeping in the same bed, although we had not taken that final step yet.  I
had hesitated, wanting our first time to be special, not just sex.  He had
sighed and agreed.  We had done everything else, only that remained.

He yelped as he blew out the sudden flames glowing blue from his stick and
squished the hot mallow over the chocolate, before starting to nibble at
his gooey treat.  As I watched him try to clean the sticky white stuff off
of his fingers with an equally sticky tongue, I made up my mind.  Yes, I
would ask him -- now.  It was time.

I smiled and leaned forward capturing his hand.  "How many times do I need
to tell you not to lick your fingers?"  I teased.

He glanced up guiltily.  "But Jordan, part of my S'more is stuck to them.
You don't want me to waste it, do you?"

I grinned and raised his fingers to my mouth.  "No, love.  I want you to
share," I murmured softly as I began to suck on his fingers.

One at a time.  Slowly licking my way from the tip to the base, then
drawing my tongue across his palm.  His eyes drifted closed as I pulled his
first finger into my mouth, sliding it in and out, running my tongue around
it, sucking gently, then more firmly.  The tip of his tongue wiped his lips
in an unconscious gesture as he began to moan quietly.  I scooted closer to
him and he never even opened his eyes as he wrapped his other arm around me
and pressed his face against mine.  His tongue dueled with his fingers for
access to my mouth.  His tongue won.

I tasted chocolate and sugary charred marshmallow as he sucked my tongue
into his mouth in a deep, chest-tightening kiss.  I gasped as I came up for
air, then yanked him into my lap with a low growl.  Lee giggled and began
to squirm, our jeans rubbing into my groin, arousing me quickly.  Never
breaking the kiss, he swung his leg over mine and straddled me, sliding his
crotch against my cock aching in my suddenly too tight jeans.

"Lee," I said in a quick warning.  I was much too close for him to
continue.

"Jordan," he said in a gasping voice.  "Jordan, I want you tonight.
Please?  I know you've been waiting for the right time, but I love you.  I
need you."

I stopped and wrapped my arms tightly around his waist, holding him still
for a moment while I caught my breath.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes.  Please."

I pushed him back along my lap just enough to bend over and reach into my
backpack.  I think he expected me to come up with a condom, because he
looked adorably confused when I brought out the little leather package.

"First, love, I want to ask you something.  Something important."

I handed him the packet and watched him carefully open it.  His eyes
widened as he saw the matching rings and he caught his breath in a gasp.
His eyes flew up to meet mine in a sudden question.  I nodded.

"Lee, will you marry me?  I know that we can't have a fancy ceremony, with
lots of guests and all, but I love you and I want to spend the rest of time
with you.  We can exchange vows and our promises will mean more to me than
any words someone else speaks."

Tears began to slowly slide down his cheeks.  For a moment I was
frightened, scared that he would say no.  Then, he leaned forward and
closed his eyes.

"Yes," he whispered.  Then louder, in a firmer voice, "Yes, I will."  His
eyes gleamed with his joy and he pressed his lips to mine, searching my
mouth with his tongue as if he were trying to join us physically as firmly
as our love joined us in spirit.

I pulled back slowly and wiped his tears with my thumb.

"With this ring as a symbol of my enduring love, I promise to always be
there for you.  To have and to hold, to love and to cherish forever."  I
recited the words of a promise that he had once read to me in a magazine,
never knowing how I had taken those words so firmly to heart.  The ring
slipped on to his hand as if made for only him.

He whispered the same vow softly as he slid my ring on to my finger.  When
we finally came up for air, he smiled.  "You forgot the 'until death do us
part."

"No, love.  I left it out on purpose.  I said forever and I mean it."

He sighed and pulled me tighter against his warm young body.  "I love you
so much, Jordan."

"I love you too, Lee."

We made love that night, giving each other our virginity.  Not practiced,
not without awkwardness, fumbling, and giggles.  But with an overwhelming
desire to share ourselves fully, to please each other as husbands.  It was
one of the most precious memories of my life.

I slid my hands down his ribs, beneath the flannel shirt in his favorite
red and yellow plaid.  Closing my hands firmly around his lean ribs, I
pulled him tightly against me.  Lee moaned softly and cupped my head in his
hands, leaning forward to rest his forehead against mine.  I tilted up my
face and our lips met, moving gently at first, and then with a more urgent
hunger.

"Let's go lie down, love," he mumbled into my mouth.

Without breaking our kiss, I stood, easily holding him as he wrapped his
legs around my waist.  I gasped as his weight settled firmly against my
swollen cock.  I bounced him once and he giggled slightly.  I would
definitely remember this position.  It had some real possibilities.  But
for our first time, I wanted a bed.  Well, at least an air mattress, like
we had in the tent.

I carried him to the small tent.  I bent to crawl in and he giggled happily
as he wrapped arms and legs tightly around me, hanging beneath my body like
a little monkey.  I looked down into his face with amusement.

"You know, I feel like the mother gorilla we saw at the zoo, with her baby
holding on to her stomach."

He laughed and bucked his hips against my hard cock bulging out the front
of my fatigues.

"I never saw a mother with one of those before, but you can call me baby."

I grinned and collapsed on top of him.  "Oh, I have no intention of being
your mother, or your daddy, baby.  I promise, my intentions towards you are
anything but parental."

"Good!"

He yanked my face back into his and tried to find my tonsils.  My hands
roamed feverishly over his hard body, careful not to tickle.  Lee was very,
very ticklish and I didn't want to ruin this moment.

His hands pulled at my shirt, and I sat up just long enough to pull it over
my head, and then undress him.  When I started to lie back on top of him,
he pushed me away.  Hurt flashed across my face for an instant.  He
grinned.

"New rule.  Now that we're married, no clothes in bed.  Ever."

"Yes dear."

He smacked me and we both cracked up as I fumbled with my belt.  He just
laughed harder when my jeans got stuck on my boots.  In my hurry, I had
forgotten to take them off.  My hard cock smacked my stomach and drooled
across my chest as I leaned forward to get rid of my tangled jeans.  Lee
was no help.  He cupped my balls beneath my bent legs and pulled gently on
them.  It was really hard to remember what I was trying to do.  Finally, I
managed to get free of my clothing and rolled over, quickly pouncing on
him.

I sprawled over him, our hands and mouths rubbing, licking, biting, and
squeezing.  His stomach is very sensitive, especially along his hip bones.
My nipples are directly connected to my cock.  Touch one, and the other
responds.  His eyes were closed, his breathing shallow and rapid, his cock
leaking precum.

"Please, Jordan.  Make love to me now," he groaned.

I reached into the bag beside the mattress.  After I bought the rings, I
had stopped at a gas station and picked up some other supplies.  I had been
so embarrassed when the girl at the counter had looked me up and down with
a knowing expression as she rung up my purchases.

I tore open the plastic package with my teeth and then slid the condom on
my cock with shaking hands.  Lee leaned up on his elbows to watch me put it
on.  When I reached for the lube, he stopped me.  I looked at him
hesitantly.

"But you said you wanted..."  I trailed off as he squeezed the slick stuff
on to his fingers.

"Yeah, I do.  But I want to put it on you," he said with a sexy grin.  I
melted.  Well, most of me did.  Certain parts got harder than I thought
they could.

I moaned as his warm hand and the cold lube combined on my burning cock.
The slide of his hand up and down my shaft was almost unbearable,
especially as he smeared more around the head of my cock.

Lee lay back down and wiped his hand on the sheet.  "Now love."

I guided the head against his tightly puckered hole and pushed in slowly.
He gritted his teeth and choked back a gasp as the head popped in past the
tight muscle.  I stopped immediately.

"Lee!  Love, are you okay?  I'll stop if it hurts too much."

"No!  Don't stop.  Just give me a minute to get used to it.  You're kinda
bigger than anything else that's ever gone up that way."

I could feel his muscles clench around me, then slowly loosen.  As he
relaxed, I pushed gently and slid in further.  As I passed a small lump, he
jumped and gasped.  I stopped again, frantic at the thought that I was
hurting my love.

"NO!  Don't stop, oh god, don't stop," he moaned and wrapped his legs
around my butt, tightening them and pulling me deeper inside him.  "Oh man,
Jordan, whatever you just did feels great."

Reassured, I began to move.  In and out.  I reached down with one hand and
grasped his cock.  He yelled and arched his back, hot cum splashing between
our sweaty bodies.  The pulsing of his ass was too much for me to take.  I
could feel my own orgasm filling the rubber that separated our flesh.  Our
mouths slammed together in a rough frantic kiss as our bodies shuddered.

I collapsed on top of him, then rolled off to the side.  He snuggled in as
closely as he could and wrapped himself around me in our usual sleeping
position.  We slept briefly, tired out by our overwhelming new experience.

Being young, we woke after a very brief nap, hard and ready to explore this
wonderful new experience further.  Much further.  I don't think we slept
more than an hour or two all night.  Waking in the morning, we were sore,
but sated, for a little while.

 ~~~~

Our camping trip over, I had to go back to work.  The local bar and grill
where I was a cook/bouncer was closed on Mondays, so it was no problem
getting that night off, but weekends were our busy time.  There wasn't much
else to do in this part of the mountains.  Ironic isn't it.  I'm old enough
to be a cook and to throw out the drunks, but I'm too young to drink what
we serve.

Tonight was a typical Friday.  The bikers were out in full force.
Saturdays tended to be more cowboy types.  Lee grinned at me from behind
the stereo system.  He was playing DJ tonight.  Bret, the usual DJ, had the
flu.  Lee looked incredibly hot in his black leather vest and faded jeans.
I was doing my best not to drool over him, or even stare too long.  It was
really hard - and I do mean, It was really hard.  After all, we had only
been 'married' for two days.  A longer honeymoon would have been great --
except we had to eat, soooo, back to work.

'Damn, these jeans are tight.'

I squirmed for a second and thought about road kill and diesel fumes.  It
helped a little.

When he took a break for a while, relieved by one of the regulars who
sometimes filled in for Bret, I couldn't stand it any more.  I had to have
him now.  I jerked my head towards the back entrance.  He flushed slightly,
but his eyes were excited.

In the alley, I quickly glanced both ways.  There were a few bikes parked
against the wall, but no one was in sight.  The light at the beginning of
the alley was burned out and everyone knew it was a dead end, only the
dumpster back here, so we were unlikely to be interrupted.  I hoped.

"Jordan, no, we can't.  If we get caught out here with all those guys in
the bar, we're gonna get pounded into bloody smears," Lee protested as I
shoved him urgently against the wall and jerked open his pants.  I could
see the excitement in his eyes, fear turning to lust as he realized I fully
intended to take him here where we could be interrupted at any second.

"Then we better hurry," I growled as I yanked down his jeans and turned him
to lean against the wall.  I unzipped my jeans.  I wasn't wearing any
underwear, so my cock popped out, erect and ready.

He braced both hands against the bricks and arched his back slightly as I
crushed a butter packet in my hand and roughly shoved two fingers up into
his ass.  I pumped them into his hot body twice, then grabbed his hips,
lifting him slightly to aim my cock at his hole.  I pulled him down as I
pushed into him.

He choked back a yelp, then groaned, quickly getting into the mood of the
savage mating as I pounded into his hot body as hard as I could.  I wrapped
my arm around his face and felt him bite into my forearm as it muffled his
groans.  With my other hand, I grabbed his cock and pumped quickly.  That
was all it took.  His teeth clenched into my arm painfully and his cock
pulsed in my hand, spurting against the wall.  I slammed into him one more
time and felt my seed spurt into his hot ass.

As quickly as I had mounted him, I pulled free.  Using a rag I wiped the
tables with, I wiped his ass, and pulled his jeans back up, reaching around
him to fasten them.  He just leaned against the wall and panted.  I wiped
myself and threw the rag into the dumpster.  Then I turned him around and
ground my lips into his.  His eyes were wild, still aroused, his lips
flushed and swollen.  His straight blond hair rumpled.  He looked like he
just got out of bed.  'Damn, my boy's adorable,' I thought with a
possessive pride.

I grinned.  "Lover, you better wait out here for a second.  I'll get some
ice for you to cool down with.  You go in there looking like that and
everyone will know what happened."

He nodded and sagged down with his back against the wall.  I slid into the
kitchen.  Bobby, the head cook, didn't look up from the Playboy he was
reading as I grabbed a cup of ice and filled it with water.  He jerked his
head at a couple of burgers.  "Take those out to table four as soon as you
get back."  I don't think he even noticed that I went out the back door
instead of the server's entrance.  I snickered, must be a good issue.

Lee gulped his drink and wiped a handful of icy water on his face.  He
smiled up at me.  "God, I love you, Jordan," he whispered hoarsely.

I rubbed a couple of the cubes on the teeth marks rapidly bruising my
forearm.  He looked concerned, but I just leered at him.  "It was worth it
to keep you quiet."  He flushed bright red.

I started to lean forward, but just grabbed the cup and stood up as I saw
movement towards the head of the alley.  "Yeah, Bobby says your break's
over.  Get your ass back on the tunes."  I spoke loudly enough for my voice
to carry.

He looked confused for a second, then noticed the two men walking up the
alley.  They glanced at us briefly, but ignored us, never seeing the wet
cum staining the bricks right beside the bikes.  Lee looked at me with wide
eyes and a shocked expression.  I shrugged.  Two minutes earlier, and they
would have caught an eyeful.  And we would have caught hell.  I'd do it
again in a heartbeat.

Lee blushed and darted into the bar.  I shoved my hands in my front pockets
and sauntered in after him, whistling.  By the time I delivered the
burgers, he was safely behind his equipment, playing with the stacks of
CDs, doing his best to ignore me.  I saw him fidgeting on the seat a few
times, and knew that he was still feeling my big cock thrusting up his ass.
He'd be tender for a while.  Good.  It would remind him of me all night
long.  I knew that by the time we got home, he'd be as horny as a billy
goat after thinking about that fucking for so many hours.  It was a good
thing we could sleep late in the morning.  I had this feeling my ass was
next.

Dad didn't come home that night and there was a message taped on the door
from the sheriff's office that he was sleeping it off in the drunk tank and
I could pick him up in the morning.  I just sighed and ripped it off the
door.  I crumbled it up and tossed it in the trash.  It wasn't the first
time, and wouldn't be the last.  He'd keep on drinking until his liver gave
up.  When I was younger, I had thought it was my fault, but later, I
realized that he barely remembered that I existed after my mother died.
That's when he quit caring and started drowning himself in alcohol.  Now, I
didn't care.  Well, I did, but I hid it really well.

As soon as we were inside, Lee pounced on me.  I had time to twist on to
the old couch before he had my zipper down, and my cock in his mouth.  I
pulled him over me and we sucked each other quickly into bliss.  I think we
staggered into bed a couple of hours later.

The sun glaring in the window woke me up.  Lee was still out.  Poor baby.
I think I exhausted him last night.  I slid out without waking him and
headed for the coffee pot, pulling on a pair of shorts just in case Dad
came home.  He didn't.  I had finished up the dishes, and a pot of coffee,
when Lee staggered in to the little kitchen.  I plopped some leftover pizza
in front of him, with a big cup of chocolate.  I shuddered as I watched him
tear into it.  I am Not a breakfast person.  A cup of coffee and I'm happy.
Lee would starve if he didn't have breakfast.

The phone rang.  I answered and rolled my eyes at the cold greeting.
"Here, it's your Mom."  I handed him the phone as he swallowed quickly.

"Hello Mother.  What do you want?  Uh huh.  Uh huh.  Yeah, I guess.
Shouldn't be a problem.  Yeah, bye."

He looked up at me with puppy eyes.  I crossed my arms and leaned against
the counter.  I narrowed my eyes at him.  I knew I wasn't gonna like
whatever he was about to say.

"Umm, Jordan?"

"That's me."  I wasn't going to help him with this at all.  He knew I was
deliberately being difficult, because he sighed and offered a hesitant
smile.

"That was my Mother."

"I guessed that when the ice started coming across the line.  I think
there's frostbite on my ear."

He ignored my sarcastic comment and plowed on determinedly.  "She wants me
to meet her and talk over dinner."

"We got to work tonight."

"I don't.  Bret's back."

"I don't like you going alone all the way over there."  I didn't trust her.
She had tried to break us up for years.  I didn't believe in a change of
heart for one second.

"I'll be fine.  I know she's not real fond of you," he paused as I snorted
at that understatement.  I had led her little boy into sin and damnation.
Never mind that he had kissed me first.  She hated my guts with a passion.
He continued stubbornly, "I want her to understand how much I love you.
I'll tell her that I'm not leaving you and that I don't want to fight about
it anymore."

I sighed, I didn't like this at all, but he was an adult.  I couldn't tell
him not to visit his mother.  I just made my displeasure really clear.  "Do
what you want."

I turned back to rinse his plate and cup in the tiny sink.  A pair of arms
wrapped around my waist, and he leaned his cheek against my bare back.  I
stiffened, then sighed, as he began to kiss my shoulder and the back of my
neck.  His breath tickled my ear as he whispered suggestively, "I'll be
fine, love.  I'll just talk to her and then I'll be home by the time you're
off work.  You'll see.  Trust me?"

How could I ignore that?  "Of course I trust you, lover.  I just don't
trust her.  Be careful, huh?"

"I will."  He hugged me quick and hard.  "Now, what do you say we go back
to bed and I'll show you just how much care I'm full of?"  His hand dropped
from my waist into my shorts and I sighed and leaned back against him.

"Oh yeah," I moaned happily.

Fourteen hours later, I wasn't nearly so happy.  'Where the hell is he?  He
should have been home by now.'  I paced angrily through the trailer until
Dad yelled at me.  Then I moved out into the front yard.  Well, the front
dirt patch.  I knew that I should have insisted that he not go.  And he had
our jeep.  Damn.

I tried to call, but I guess she had the caller id on, because I got the
damn answering machine all day.  Work was hell that night.  I was past mad
and getting worried.  At least today was Sunday, and I didn't have to work.
I caught the bus and fumed all the way to our old town.  Once I got there,
I started walking towards his parents' house.

I leaned on the doorbell.  The maid answered and shut the door in my face.
I just snarled and leaned on it again.  This time, Lee's dad opened the
door.

"Go away or I'll call the police," he snapped.

I snarled back, "Where's Lee?  Tell me where he is and I'll go."

"Oh, did your little toy leave you?  Maybe he wised up and realized what a
loser you are.  You're going to burn in hell for what you've done to him
and I just hope that I'm there to light the fires," he spat out at me.
Yep, my in-laws and me have a really good relationship.

"Look, all I want to know is where he is.  He's got my car."  I tried some
misdirection.

He shrugged, "Not my problem.  Now go away, I'm calling the police in two
minutes."

I spun around and stomped off.  I knew it was hopeless, but I had to try.

As I headed out, he yelled out to me, "Here, Lee doesn't want this trash
anymore."  I saw a brief flash of silver, and Lee's ring spun in the dirt.
I snarled out a few oaths in a couple of languages, and shoved it onto my
little finger.  I wonder how they got it away from Lee.  He didn't even
take it off when he swam.  Something was wrong.  But I had known that since
he hadn't come home.

I trudged back into town, what there was of it, and tried to figure out
what to do now.  It wasn't like I could go to the police and complain.
They didn't like me at all around the station.  I'd been there a few too
many times.  Lee's parents were rather influential.  Which was why I had
been there so often.  Have I mentioned yet that they don't like me too
much?

I was leaning against the bridge, pitching pebbles into the little stream
at the far end of town, when I saw something that made me catch my breath.
Lee's mother was riding with Reverend Jones.  Reverend Paul Jones was the
local preacher.  Hellfire and brimstone was mild compared to his sermons
about the evils of Sodom and Gomorrah.  I suddenly remembered something
that he had said to me after Lee and I had come out.

"Boy, you are doomed to burn forever.  But I can save you.  See the light,
renounce your evil ways, and your soul will be saved."  He had gone on for
a lot longer, but I hadn't listened.  Yeah, he'd save me -- by beating the
hell out of me.  I'd heard about how he 'saved' another boy from drugs and
sin.  Now I was really scared.  If he had Lee these past two days...  I'd
kill him if he touched my love.  I'd kill him.  I swear.

I started hiking out towards the estate that Jones owned.  By the time I
got there, it was dark.  I climbed over the fence, chain link with barbed
wire on top.  Now why would an honest religious leader need a ten-foot tall
barbed fence around his property?  Makes you wonder, huh?  Yeah.

I listened carefully for guard dogs.  I didn't remember him having any, but
that didn't mean much.  I'd avoided him whenever possible.  I had no urge
to be saved the way he had in mind.  There was a light on in the big fancy
house.  There were lights all around it.  I lurked in the bushes for a
while watching for anyone.  After about an hour, he drove up and parked his
Mercedes.

He went into the main building for a little while.  Apparently, he just
went in to change his clothes.  I waited until he went into this barn
building and then slipped up to it.  There were no windows on the first
floor, but there was a tree close enough to an attic window that I might be
able to get in that way.  I was always good at climbing trees.

I struggled quietly with the window for a moment, prying it open with a
flat piece of metal I had found.  I held my breath at the quiet squeak as
it suddenly opened, but apparently, no one heard it.  I squeezed into the
dusty attic and pulled my t-shirt over my nose so that I wouldn't sneeze at
a bad time.

There was a hole in the floor with a ladder sticking out.  I peered down
into the lower room and had to choke back a roar of anger.  Lee hung,
naked, bloody, and battered, from a crossbeam in the center of the barn.
Jones hit him one final time with a cane, then slapped him across the face
and left the barn, locking the door behind him.

 I slid down the ladder and dashed over to my lover.  He was barely
conscious.  Sobbing with frustration, I struggled with the knots that held
his arms above his chest.  Finally, they loosened and he collapsed
bonelessly against me.  I laid him gently to the ground and searched around
for his clothing.  I found his jeans and a torn t-shirt in a corner.  I
dressed him carefully, then carried him up the ladder and into the attic.
The only thought I had was to get him away.

It wasn't easy to get him out the small window and into the tree, but I
managed.  I had seen the crossbar and huge padlock on the door and knew
that I'd never be able to get that open.  This was the only way.  Scratched
and bruised, we made it down.  He wasn't able to help me at all.  I laid
him in the bushes along the drive and tried to think.  I had no idea where
our car was.  I couldn't take him on the bus like this.  We had to get away
from here.

I thought I could hotwire the Mercedes.  It's not that easy, but one of the
guys who had shared a cell with me, courtesy of the sheriff's department
one time when Lee's parents filed trespassing charges against me, had told
me how to do it.  It took me almost thirty minutes of sweating and swearing
before the big motor purred into life.  I almost cried in relief.

With Lee buckled into the passenger seat, I slowly drove out, with the
lights turned off.  I did not want to alert Jones before we were long gone.
No such luck.  The lights around the house flared to life and he ran out
wearing only a robe, screaming his head off.  I flipped on the lights and
peeled out.  We had to get away from town before he could call the sheriff.
There was a highway intersection just a mile the other side of town.  Maybe
they wouldn't expect me to go away from home.

Lee moaned softly, calling out my name.  I risked a quick glance at him as
I drove cautiously through town.

"It's alright, babe.  I'm here."

I reached out and brushed my hand gently across his bruised face.  His eyes
focused briefly.

"I knew you'd come for me," he said weakly.

"I came as fast as I could.  I'm sorry, love."

"Not your fault.  Didn't know she'd do that."

"I love you."

"I love you, too.  Where are we?"

"On the way home.  Go to sleep.  I'll wake you when we're there."

I didn't want to worry him when he was so weak.  He just sighed and sank
down in the seat, dozing uncomfortably.  I began to press harder on the
accelerator as we drew out of town.  Maybe we would make it after all.

Luck wasn't with us that night.  Just the other side of town, blue lights
flashed in the rearview mirror and sirens filled the night behind us.

I swore viciously and floored it.  I knew better than to stop.  They'd just
arrest me for car theft and contact Lee's parents.  The same parents that
had let him get into this condition in the first place.  Across the county
line, the police would not be so prejudiced against us.  Just ten more
miles.

I guess they had orders.  They definitely had the faster car and knew how
to drive it.  They pulled ahead of me, but could not force me to stop.
With two lanes, they could only stay in front of me.  As we swung around
the curve, I saw the guy on the passenger side lean out the window.  Sudden
agony flared in my side and my head.  I slammed on the brakes.  The rear
end started to slide.  The car headed sideways towards the guardrail.
There was a tearing screech of metal and I felt myself flying towards the
darkness.

**** Now ****

 "I wrecked the car.  They came up and I couldn't get you out.  I had to
leave or they'd get me too.  I'm sorry.  We were almost away."  I finished
up my very, very edited account with, "And so, love, that's why you were in
the hospital alone and I had to sneak you out."  I pressed a kiss into the
hair on his bowed head, hoping that I had banished some of his demons.

"There's something you aren't telling me, isn't there, Jordan?" he mumbled,
looking up at me with tears shining brightly in his eyes.

I shook my head, "Hey love, I've never lied to you.  Why do you think I'm
hiding something?"

He sniffled and his eyes never left my face as he pulled a folder from his
bookbag.  I recognized the copies of the newspaper clippings and my heart
began to sink.  I felt a sudden freezing chill spread through my body,
pinning me as if a bug to a corkboard under his tearful gaze.

"When I was in the library, I got curious.  They had copies of old
newspapers from all the local papers on microfiche.  I, I found these..."
he trailed off as he pulled out a stack of articles and shoved them at me.

I flinched and swallowed.  Oh god, I had forgotten that libraries had more
than just books.  I closed my eyes, but I could not banish his agonized
stare, or the pictures that floated up from the paper to haunt me.  My
face.  His face.  Our old graduation pictures from high school, and below
them, another picture.  One that neither of us could ever forget after we
saw it.

That fateful photo.  A totaled car, a smashed windshield, some dark
substance smeared across the huge hole.  The caption that had undoubtedly
caught his attention, even as it tore my heart to shreds, burned forever
into my memory.

**Car Chase ends in Shooting Tragedy.**

**A high-speed police chase along River Road ended in tragedy last night
for two local youths.  Lee Knight (19) and Jordan Michaelson (18) of
Greeneville were apparently joyriding in a car stolen from Reverend Paul
Jones when their prank turned into life-threatening situation.**

**Jordan, the driver, refused to stop for the police.  Officer Hendricks
fired a warning shot, then attempted to shoot out the tires with his
handgun.  Unfortunately, the driver of the police car ran over a curb just
as he fired.  The shots went high, through the windshield.**

**Jordan lost control of the car and it slammed into the guardrail on the
bridge over the Green River.  Although Lee was severely injured, his
seatbelt held him in a position that the police were able to pull him from
the car quickly before it burst into flames.  Jordan wasn't so lucky and
his body was flung out of the car and over the bridge railing.  Bloodstains
in the driver's seat indicate that he was hit by at least one bullet.  His
body has not been recovered yet, but police say that it is highly unlikely
that he survived the drop into the icy river..**

**Lee is in guarded condition at Mercy Hospital and has not regained
consciousness at the time of this printing.  Jordan Michaelson was a
troubled youth with a history of delinquency.  It is truly a shame that
....**

There was another article also.  Dated only a few weeks ago, it described
Lee's disappearance from the hospital with a mysterious stranger.

I did not bother to read further.  I had no time for the blathering of the
uninformed reporter babbling platitudes about a situation that he was
totally ignorant of.  I was reliving the fear of our flight, the hopeless
feeling of failure.  The sudden pressing agony of the bullets sliding along
my ribs creasing the skin, the sharp blinding blow to my temple, flying
through the air, the icy grip of the river pulling me along into the
choking darkness.  I had floated for what seemed like hours, struggling to
keep my head above the inky water, allowing the current to carry me away
from him.

Lee's open sobbing drew me back.  I hugged him tightly.  He squeezed me
until I thought I might bruise.  Then he jerked away and stared at me in
shock and fear; but, most of all, in denial.

"You're not dead, Jordan.  You can't be.  They made this up.  Why would
they do this?" he demanded between deep gasping sobs.

I just watched him as he stared at me and then at the photo in the paper.
It looked so real.  I could see the hole in the windshield, the dark smears
against the seat; the figures crouched in the background, working on
another limp body.

"Jordan?  Please say something.  You're scaring me.  Jordan?"  Wide,
stricken eyes stared at me, denial surging as disbelief faded.  There were
too many people in that picture for them all to hide something like that.

"You're dead, Jordan.  I love you, him, you.  And you're dead.  Or, maybe
you're not Jordan.  You're Not my Jordan.  Who are you?"  He flung himself
away from me, hysteria growing.  I sighed and stood.

"I am Jordan, love."

"You can't be.  Jordan's dead.  They shot him and he fell in the river," he
shouted at me in sudden anger.

"No love, I'm Jordan.  I promise.  I don't think I'm dead.  Except when you
aren't with me, then I'm dead, a ghost, just a phantom.  But when you are
here, I live," I whispered, watching him.  I could feel the tendrils of
unreality reaching for me again.  They lived in my brain, fogging my
thoughts.  They left only when I concentrate on him.  My head aches.

He swallowed and swayed, turning pale, then collapsing.  Leaping forward, I
caught him and eased him to the couch.  I would never let him fall.  I
existed only to take care of him, to make certain that he was protected.  I
understood this.  I would make him understand also.

I wrapped him in the blanket again, holding him close to me.  I waited
patiently for him to awake again so that we could talk.  He had to
understand how much I love him.  I only exist for him.  Without the bonds
between us, I would have left long ago, but I was not ready.  I love him.
Forever.  I had refused to say the 'until death do us part' line in our
vows.  That was for those who did not believe strongly enough.  I did.

When he wakes, I will remind him of our vows.  I will love him until he no
longer worries over a trivial little piece of history.  Then, we will go on
with our lives.  Together.  I will watch him carefully, so carefully.
Nothing, nobody, will ever touch him again.  Except me.  Only me.  I am
sorry I left him behind.  I will never do that again.  I promise, my love.
I promise.

 ~~~~

Lee dreamed.  He saw himself lying on the couch, head in Jordan's lap.
With a curious detachment, he saw what he was unable to see when awake.
Jordan was pale.  Yes, he was still as tan as ever, but beneath it wasn't
the healthy glow of a living being, but the pale frailness of some
otherworldly creature.  He wasn't the energetic, sometimes happy, other
times brooding, young man he used to be.  Rather, there was an air of
anxiety, of almost fear, surrounding him.

"It's not right," Lee murmured softly to himself as he watched his husband
press a kiss on his forehead and go back to stroking his hair.  His sharp
eyes studied his love.  There, just where Jordan's hair usually covered it,
was a scar, almost a dent in his temple.  He saw Jordan absently raise his
hand to the mark, but flinch and lower it again without touching.  It hurt
him.  At the slight movement, Lee woke.

"Jordan, you didn't die, did you?  You're a diver; you were on the swim
team at school.  I've seen you go off cliffs into the lake as high as that
bridge."

Jordan smiled gently, the empty look still in his dark eyes.  "I don't
know, Lee.  Sometimes, I think that I died, but then I see you and I
remember why I live.  It was very cold, but I knew I had to get back to
you.  I did not mean to abandon you.  I came back for you as soon as I
could.  I found the jeep; I got your clothes.  I watched until they left
you, then I rescued you."

Lee raised his hand gently to the dent in his husband's temple.  "What is
this?  Does it hurt?" he asked softly touching the spot.

Jordan winced.  "Yes, love.  Don't touch it.  I can't think when it is
hurting."

Lee sat up and cupped Jordan's face in his hands.  "Love, you need to see a
doctor.  He'll make the pain go away.  And then you'll feel better."

"I don't want to leave you.  They'll take me to jail."

"No, we'll go away somewhere.  No one will know who you are.  Please?"

I couldn't resist his pleading, the worry in his eyes.  I sighed.  "Okay.
Tomorrow."

As we lay asleep that night, our bodies cuddled into each other, I
wondered.  What would it feel like to be without this pain in my head?
Would I be able to think clearly again?  I would love to go outside without
the dark glasses, without the pain from the sunlight.  I was beginning to
feel like a ghost or a vampire.  Lee would make me better.  He's all I
need.  I love him.  More than life itself.

 ~~~~

Halfway across the country, a month later, the doctor spoke to the worried
young man twisting his ring on his finger.

"The operation was a success.  With the pressure from the bone fragment off
his brain, you should see a vast improvement, back to what you say he was
like before the car accident you were in.  He should be waking in a few
hours."

"Thanks, Doc."

Lee sat beside the bed and watched the pale form of his husband sleep.  The
bandage across his temple looked tiny.  The young man hoped desperately
that when the other woke, he would be his Jordan again.  The man he fell in
love with, the man he married.  Not the haunted, obsessed shadow he had
been.  Lee held his love's hand and prayed for a miracle.

*****     *****     *****     *****     *****

Enjoy,

Mike.

If you like it, write me.  If you don't, tell me why not.

My email address is: mikey@maileditor.com
My author page where my stories usually live is:
http://www.eroticstories.com/unreg/g/author.php?id=237
Or if you have an ES login: http://www.eroticstories.com/my/author.php?id=237

Other stories by Mikey:

Nifty:

Jordan's Story, Beginnings
     (Jordan's Story and Because)
Danny, Authoritarian
Come Home, Beginnings