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.

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."

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.

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.

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