Author's note: Hey, you found this story in the Nifty gay archive site, so you ought to know that it contains 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
Almost Home:
Pappy brushed the leaves off of the small white marker under the red-branched maple tree.
"Something's different about the pup now, Granny. There's a spark in his eyes that wasn't there before. Pup stayed out all night by the pond with Max. Something happened. I don't think it will be much longer before the boy's back.
"We'll see, my love. We'll see."
Pappy closed the gate behind him and headed towards the empty house. A large black wolf waited silently on the porch for him. He cupped the heavy head in his callused hands and stared into the intelligent golden eyes. The wolf stared back. A slow smile spread across the old man's face and he patted the huge black head. It would not be long now before his boy was home.
"Good boy."
A rough tongue swiped his hand and they went into the house, together again.
"Max. Max! Get the phone, would ya?" Ray called out as he laboriously typed the information on their latest arrest into the computer.
Max sighed and punched the buttons to pick up the line. "County Sheriff's Office, Deputy Maxwell speaking. How may I help you?"
"Hey Max. It's Butch. Listen, when you're done tonight, can you run that grill back up to Pappy's place? You know, the one we used for the BBQ last weekend. It's in my truck already. I'm not gonna be back in time tonight and I told him I'd bring it by this weekend."
"Sure boss. No problem." Max lied easily. He really did not want to go out to Pappy's. His loss was still too raw. And besides, the last time he went out there, he had gotten totally drunk out by the pond. He swallowed heavily, remembering the vivid dream he had. He had dreamed that Kelly had come walking naked out of the pond and they had made love all night. But he knew it was only a dream. No matter how much he longed to hold his lover again, he had seen him murdered before his eyes.
Max rubbed his eyes with the heels of his hands. He could not erase the memory. Kissing Kelly against his car, then, the attack by the druggies, blood running into his eyes as he watched the knife slide into Kelly's stomach, then the crushing pain of the blow that left him unconscious. Waking briefly to see only a puddle of blood and a stained knife as the ambulance took him away. Only him. They never found Kelly. Even Pappy, Kelly's grandfather whom he lived with, would only say that Kelly was gone.
"What's up, man?" Ray asked, concerned by the other deputy's actions.
"Nothing. That was just Butch asking me to run the grill out to Pappy's."
"Okay."
Ray had been Kelly's closest friend, and was one of Max's friends and a fellow deputy. But he did not know what Max and Kelly had meant to each other. Only Butch, Max's uncle, knew. And maybe Pappy, Max was pretty sure he knew, but wasn't completely certain. The old man was no one to fool around with.
"Well, I better be going, or it's gonna be real late by the time I'm done." Max stood and stretched.
Ray unobtrusively watched the strong muscles shift beneath the uniform. He had seen Max watching Kelly as his friend changed one day and had figured out rather quickly which way Max leaned. Kelly was closer to him than his own brother, and he didn't have the faintest clue who or what Kelly liked. He had never noticed the girls in school, but he never paid any attention to the boys either. Kelly had been so quiet and shy that you would never know he liked anyone unless you watched very closely.
Max was definitely hot. And if he was interested in guys... Ray had dropped a hint or two, but Max hadn't picked them up. Odd that Max had been so torn up about Kelly's murder. Ray had been furious and upset, but Max had really mourned the dark haired man's death, or disappearance. No body; but no Kelly either. And Kelly had only left the farm once since Pappy had brought him back as a six year old. That was to get his associates degree as a vet assistant. Why would Kelly run off with no notice? Ray figured his friend had died and Pappy had just buried him out at the farm without a lot of fuss.
Oh well, back to work. The ringing phone distracted him again. This time he had to answer it since Max was already out the door. Ray's thoughts turned back to his job and the latest in a series of never ending crises at the Sheriff's Office.
"Pappy? Pappy? Anyone home?" Max called as he pulled up at the neatly maintained farmhouse. No one came, so he just backed over to the shed and jumped out of the truck. He saw a note taped to the door and started over to read it.
A black shadow launched itself at him. He spun just in time to get slammed to the ground by a large brown wolf. Dancing yellow eyes met his as his assailant crouched on his chest and licked his chin in an enthusiastic greeting.
"Wolf! You 'bout gave me a heart attack, boy." Max chuckled as he rubbed the soft ears. "Now get off of me and let me get this grill put away."
One last lick and the big wolf hopped off to watch as Max pulled the note off the door and read it. "Well, Pappy says that he had to go up to the cabin and would Butch please feed you and there's some dinner for Butch in there also. Butch ain't here, but I can probably get you some dinner, what ya say, boy?"
He laughed as the wolf yipped once at him. The bright eyes were almost frighteningly intelligent as they watched him offload the grill. The big animal darted back and forth as he walked up to the house, bringing him sticks and an old, chewed up football. He threw it a few times, watching as the agile animal leapt into the air, catching it easily, trying not to remember throwing to another fast young playmate, Kelly.
Wolf rolled on to his back at Max's feet, offering up his stomach to the friendly hand. Max thumped his ribs a few times, then rubbed the furry belly while the big wolf wriggled in delight. Max frowned briefly as his fingers felt a raised welt across the lean stomach. He tried to see what it was, but the light from the setting sun was too dim. He shrugged it off. Probably just some scar. He snapped his fingers as he stood. The wolf bounded to his feet eagerly.
"Alright, boy. That's enough. Let's see about some dinner for us." Max scrapped his boots and went in the kitchen door. Wolf dashed into the back room as Max rummaged in the fridge. "Hey, boy. You want stew and bread? Looks like that's what's here."
"Sounds good."
At the soft reply behind him, Max spun around so quickly that he almost dropped the loaf of bread he was holding in his hands. His heart sped up and his throat tightened in anguish at the soft golden eyes wistfully watching him.
A ghost leaned against the door jam, his hands in the pockets of the loose overalls that were his only clothing, his feet bare and dusty. Dark hair fell into those eyes. Watching him. Waiting. White teeth nipping gently at the soft bottom lip that he had tasted so often that he knew it better than he did his own. A tanned ghost. With dirt on his nose.
Max took a step forward, and then another. Slowly, he reached out a shaking hand to touch, to feel. With every bit of his body, he knew that his hand would go right through to the doorway, would not feel the warm soft skin, the rapid pulse in the tanned neck, the dampness of the soft lip as a nervous tongue darted out briefly.
"Max?" the hard warm ghost whispered as his fingers rose to touch Max's face in a mirror of the fingers on his own mouth.
Max did not reply. If this was only another dream, he didn't care. Both hands slipped down strong arms to pull gently. His eyes drifted closed as his mouth lowered to taste that achingly familiar mouth. Lips parted eagerly beneath his, with a soft sigh. A hard slim body pressed against his. Why was his ghost crying? Ghosts weren't supposed to cry.
"Max. I'm sorry," Kelly whispered when his lover raised his head at last.
Max stared, his eyes sharpening, his hands running urgently over the supple body in his grasp. "You're not dead." Softly, then with more emotion. "You're alive!"
His mouth crushed down on Kelly's once more, not gentle any longer. Pushing Kelly against the wall, trying to touch every inch of his body. Devouring and hungry, not soft and wistful. Kelly moaned deep in his throat and ran his hands down hard ribs to taut buttocks, pulling himself closer into Max's body.
Max suddenly pushed Kelly back, anger surging. "Where the hell have you been? Everyone thought you were dead! You disappeared. I've been crying my eyes out, thinking of you in a puddle of blood when that bastard cut you, and you weren't dead. Where were you? Why didn't you call me?"
Kelly's eyes met his openly. "It hurt, Max. I was scared. I went away for a while. But I missed you, so I came back." He swallowed, then continued, "Please... I'm sorry you were worried. I love you. I do."
Max stared at him for a moment, his fear-driven anger giving way to his love for this gentle quiet man. He reached out and yanked him back against his body. "Don't ever leave me again, love. Please. I can't take it."
Kelly just nodded, his face pressed into the broad chest, his hair brushing Max's chin, his slender body in danger of being crushed by the strong arms of his lover. Kelly silently wiggled free and grabbed Max's hand, leading him into his bedroom. He unclipped the straps of his overalls and let them slide down his lithe frame. Then his hands moved to Max's uniform, going through the familiar motions of undressing his lover.
Max gasped as Kelly's warm hands slid along his bared ribs. His hands yanked his boots off, closely followed by his pants. The big blond man pushed Kelly down on the bed and started to fling himself down on top of his lover. Then he saw the scars. Max froze in shock, his fingers tracing the ridged lines slashing across Kelly's lean stomach. "Kelly?"
"I'm okay now, Max." Kelly's warm hands and urgent mouth drove away any coherent thoughts as they slid down his throat, chewing gently on his collarbone. Max moaned as the sharp teeth nipped at his sensitive nipples, soothed and excited at the same time by the rasping tongue sweeping across them.
Kelly tasted the salt of Max's body, inhaling the masculine scents of his lover. After so long apart, neither was willing to wait long to satisfy their desires. Max growled and rolled Kelly under his big body, going on the attack. Kelly squirmed and writhed beneath him, his hands busy, using Max's precum to lubricate the big shaft that would soon seek entrance to his body.
Max kneeled between the muscular thighs and stretched his lover with two large fingers, preparing him. Kelly arched his back and gasped as the thick head slid past his tight entrance. Then the rest of Max's thick cock slowly buried itself into his hot welcoming body. Max drew a deep breath as he slowly pulled out and then pushed in harder, faster, making certain he shoved as much of his length as possible against that small bump inside Kelly.
Their breath quickened as their bodies moved in timeless rhythm. As he reached that delightfully familiar pace, Max timed his thrusts with his breathing. Kelly rocked beneath him, reaching up to suck along the strong line of his throat, licking along the edge of his chin, stroking along the lines of muscles in taut arms and hard belly. Kelly wrapped his legs around Max's waist and squeezed, as he felt the warmth spread up his torso, the faint fluttering of muscles ready to explode.
"Oh god, I love you, Kelly. I love you," Max groaned as his head dipped with his efforts. Sweat slid along his ribs and upper lip. He licked his lips, then crushed Kelly's mouth with his own as he arched his back and felt the hot rush of semen spurting deep within his lover, filling him, claiming him.
As he drooped on to Kelly's lean body, he noticed that Kelly had already climaxed. The warm semen spread between their bodies. Max found the slide of their bodies erotic; the evidence that he had pleased his lover arousing him again. Kelly's bright golden eyes met his and silently he nodded, his face eager, his hips already nudging Max in an open invitation. His anxious curiosity about where his lover had disappeared for these long months faded. He would ask later. Much later.
In the darkness of the early morning, Kelly knelt beside the bed as he carefully washed his lover, then crawled in to bed, curling tightly against his warm body, strong arms wrapped around him, warm lips against the back of his neck. He was home.
The door opened quietly. Dark eyes saw the entwined bodies. At the faint sound, young golden eyes met the aged ones. Kelly slipped back down into Max's sleeping grasp as he saw the quiet approval in those eyes before the door was silently pulled closed. His world wasn't perfect, but it was as close as it had ever been before.
Pappy leaned on the white fence, just looking at the moonlight glance off the little red leaves that danced in the faint breeze. The flowing branches looked like a fall of red hair curling around the low mound and white marker. He remembered his love's hair curling around her body the same way. Her laughing eyes had caught the moonlight, then shared its softness and light with him.
"Well Granny, our boy's back. Max is with him now. I imagine that they have some talkin' to do yet, but it's a start. We'll see how it works. Maybe now they'll both stop moping around. Don't quite know what we'll tell Max, but time enough for that later.
"We got a new litter of pigs from the white sow. The trees are pruned and ready for the winter. Think it'll be a cold one this year. The horses are growing a mighty thick pelt. We'll manage. Maybe the boy'll settle down now that he's found a mate. We got the room. It'd be nice to have someone around more than just every now and then.
"I miss you, my love. I think about you. I can see you in the boy's eyes, in the fireplace at night, in the moonlight, and the wind. I know you're listening and watching over us as you always did. But I wish that you were still here. It's not so lonely now that the pup's back, but it's not the same as having you here."
The old man closed the gate carefully then walked into the house. Tonight, for the first time in months, no big furry shadow joined him. He smiled. Tonight his pup was somewhere more important.