Gone Away (8 page)

When Riece tried to twist around and face Mason, his grip on Riece tightened, holding him in place. The position they were in prevented Riece from making more than the slightest move. Mason had him, and that was what Riece wanted more than anything.

Easing his finger back and forth very slowly, Mason worked the lube into Riece. It was intoxicating the way he wanted to move back against Mason and his finger, and couldn’t. Shivers ran freely along Riece’s spine. He clenched his hand more tightly around Mason’s.

Mason had always had a possessive streak a mile wide and a dominant side that matched it. It was part of why Riece loved him. He wanted to feel all that possessive dominance in full force again. He suspected it was also what Mason used as a defense to protect himself from hurt. Hurt that Riece had caused.

Sucking in a deep breath, Riece did what he knew would drive Mason on: he sighed out a husky moan. Wiggling his hips as much as possible side to side, Riece reveled in Mason’s hard cock against the back of his thighs. His breath caught and his own cock jerked.

“Like that?” Mason murmured in Riece’s ear.

Riece nodded. “Hmm, I sure do.”

“Then you’ll love this.” Mason twisted his hand and pressed his finger against Riece’s balls, rubbing back and forth, pressing up and in with enough pressure Riece could only gasp from the sparks that formed there, filling his testicles before spreading through his groin.

Mason eased one leg over Riece’s hips. He pressed his cock between Riece’s slick cheeks. Pushing up against the tender spot behind Riece’s testicles, Mason rubbed his finger in small circles.

Riece’s hips twitched. He gasped, “Oh God, yes.”

Mason used a slow, steady movement to ease his cock into Riece. He moved his hips in a gentle rocking motion, all the while stimulating Riece’s prostate from the outside. Riece trembled, and his pelvis stuttered. Mason held him firmly in place and at the same time picked up the pace of his thrusts. Riece tried moving so he could get some friction against his cock, but Mason had him positioned so that was impossible. He gasped and panted, desperate to stroke his cock but unable to.

Mason licked and sucked on Riece’s neck. The rhythm of his thrusts increased, and he began shifting side to side, dragging in and moaning out deep breaths. In the next instant, he held his breath for a few beats, then blew out one long groan. He held Riece so they were pinned very tightly together. Riece felt Mason’s cock pulsing, and liquid warmth filled Riece.

Finally, Mason moved his hand and took hold of Riece’s cock. Riece had been on edge so long it didn’t take much more than a few squeezes for him to gulp down air before he shuddered and came.

Riece sighed. “That felt good,” he said after a few minutes of deep breathing.

“Yes, it did,” Mason said and chuckled. He moved back far enough to ease out of Riece, then wiped the washcloth over Riece’s soft cock. Riece felt him move one arm out of the bedroll and toss the washcloth to the ground.

It didn’t take long for Riece to drift off. He was happy and felt safe with Mason wrapped around him and holding him close.

Morning came all too soon. The air was crisp and clean. It smelled sweet, with the faint tang of maple and pine. Riece lay there for a few minutes simply taking in the sight spread out before him. Soft, golden rays from the sun were just breaking the horizon and brightening the sky. The leaves on some of the trees were changing from green to red and orange and were accentuated by the sunlight.

He eased the bedroll back and stretched, trying to reach his camera. Mason’s arms immediately tightened around Riece and he mumbled through a yawn, “Where you going?”

“I need to take photos of that.”

Mason pulled in a deep breath, yawned again, and sat up. Hovering over Riece he rubbed one hand over Riece’s arm and looked around. He pushed the bedroll back, reached across Riece, and grabbed the camera bag to drag it closer.

“Thanks,” Riece said over his shoulder. He sat up, extracted the camera, then shimmied out of the bedroll. Riece lumbered to his feet and wandered a few feet away so he could take some photos of the sunrise from a few different angles.

“I do like watching you work,” Mason said.

Riece turned to look at him. Mason was lying on his side again, but now he was propped on one elbow with his head resting in his hand. Riece felt a flush work its way up his neck to his ears. He looked down at himself and grinned at Mason.

“It’s the real me.”

“So I can see,” Mason said. He threw the bedroll off and began packing it up. “The place I told you about where we can go fishing is pretty secluded. If you want we can do a bit of swimming too and clean up.”

“That sounds nice, if it’s not too cold.” Riece continued taking pictures while carrying on his conversation with Mason.

It didn’t take them much more than an hour to take care of personal needs, dress, and prepare a breakfast. Once they’d eaten and packed up what they would take with them for the day, they set off. It was much easier for Riece to carry the pack without the weight of so many supplies. A lot of their food was left in the bear bag Mason had hung from the trees. They took one thin thermal blanket, but the bulkier bedroll and mattress were secured in their bag and hung with the stored food. Riece and Mason would take the water bottles and canteen to refill. They’d use their purification equipment before drinking it, but they’d have plenty stored for a few days.

The day passed quietly. Riece was delighted with the photographs he was able to take and loved spending the time with Mason. During their walk in the morning, there was very little conversation between them. Simply that contented silence and the companionship Riece found so comforting. It felt to Riece as if their relationship was reforming and solidifying.

While Riece scouted the area near what Mason called a stream but Riece would refer to as a slow-moving river, Mason settled on the ground and began preparing lunch. He stopped what he was doing and looked up at Riece, arching an eyebrow and snorting when Riece turned the camera on him.

“You’re not going to give up, are you?” Mason shook his head and held out a bag of trail mix and a sandwich before patting the ground beside him. “Break time.”

Riece settled on the ground and took the micro memory card from the camera, stored it in the little plastic case he used, and tucked it into his hip pocket. “I like taking your picture. With or without the uniform.” He put a new card in the camera.

“Hmm.” Mason stretched his legs out in front of him. He’d given up his uniform for jeans, T-shirt, and flannel shirt. Riece had seen him tuck his badge into his side pocket, and his wallet went into his back pocket. Today his radio was clipped to his belt. “You didn’t think I was going to wear it the whole time, did you?”

“I’d like to try to get some shots down there.” Riece pointed to a steep ridge that dropped to a narrow gully. Clumps of trees dotted both sides of the incline.

Mason lumbered to his feet and walked closer to the area. While Riece watched, Mason spent a few minutes moving along the edge, looking it over. Finally he returned to Riece and pulled his radio from his belt and set it beside his pack. He took some rope and another device out and handed that off to Riece.

“That’s a personal locator beacon. It has to have exposure to the sky when activated. So it won’t work in a cave or sometimes even in very thick tree cover. To trigger it you press this button here.” Mason pointed it out. “Put it in your pocket. My radio has the same function.” He held his radio in one hand and showed Riece how to operate it as well before clipping it to his belt. “If something happens to one of us, it could be as much as a day before we get help.”

Next Mason untied the rope he had coiled to the side of his pack. He took it to a tree forty or so feet from where Mason had looked over the edge. “This is a better spot, and we’ll use the rope as a guide,” he explained as he tied the end of the rope to the tree and tugged on it. Next he pulled gloves on and nodded at Riece’s pack.

Riece had a similar set of gloves, and he extracted his set and put them on. Mason handed their water purification equipment to Riece. “Put those in your camera bag, and I’ll carry the water and my pack. It’s heavier.”

Riece stood beside Mason, taking in everything he said, all the while nodding and doing as instructed. Mason patted his shoulder. “Don’t look so worried. I’ll get you down there and back up again safely. That’s what I’m here for.”

“I know you will,” Riece said. He leaned in and kissed Mason’s cheek. Mason responded by slipping one arm around Riece’s waist and pulling them together for a deeper, sexier kiss.

“Let’s go,” Mason said. He smiled and put his arm around Riece’s shoulders. “I’ll go down first.”

Getting to the bottom of the gully was arduous. Mason was patient and braced Riece when they stopped partway down for some more pictures. “These are awesome shots. Thank you for helping me.”

“Get them while we’re here. Remember those people I told you about that went missing? This is the general area some of them vanished from. Now you see why.”

“Yeah,” Riece said.

Once they reached the gully floor, it was much easier to move around. Mason followed along while Riece went one way, then the other, aiming his camera in all directions.

Mason was kicking the leaves with one foot. Riece watched as he picked up a stick, crouched down, and began moving something in the dirt around. He eased his pack off and set it on the ground, opening it.

Curious, Riece started to move closer to Mason. When his foot landed on something that felt more like wood than dirt, he stopped. He bounced on it a few times before turning back to Mason and said, “Hey, come look at this. Something is buried here.”

“Buried?” Mason stood up and strode closer.

Riece thumped his heel down again. He felt whatever was underfoot begin to flex farther. There was a crack and the sound of something splintering.

Mason paled and sprinted toward Riece, shouting, “No. Riece, don’t.
Stop
!”

Riece stared down at his feet and watched in horror as a hole opened up. Mason tackled him and tried to throw him clear, but it was too late.

The earth opened up, and they went tumbling into the gaping maw below.

MASON PRIED
his eyes open and slowly, painfully, pushed off the ground. He groaned, drew in a deep breath, and groaned again.

He stayed in that position, propped on his elbows, head dropped forward, and simply concentrated on his breathing. Splintered wood was scattered all around him, but he didn’t see any blood in the dirt. A general low ache thrummed through his body. Taking stock, Mason had feeling from head to foot. That was good. Next he examined how he hurt. No sharp pain stood out, nor was one body part in more pain than anywhere else. Also a plus, leading Mason to think he had no broken bones and wasn’t impaled on anything.

The next thing to rampage through his mind was Riece.

Mason got to his knees and looked around. Riece was sprawled on his back less than a foot away. None of his limbs were at odd angles, and Mason saw no large pools of blood. So far a number of pluses, and the only minus was the fact that they seemed to have dropped into some sort of pit.

Reaching out he took hold of Riece’s arm. Before he could say or do anything else, Riece jerked upright and gasped. He twisted in one direction, then the other, so fast Mason couldn’t stop him. Riece’s eyes were wide, and Mason wasn’t sure he was processing what had happened.

“Whoa, whoa, Riece. Sit still.” Mason scooted closer and grabbed ahold of both of Riece’s arms. Riece turned and stared at him, holding his breath. “Calm down. Take a few deep breaths and wiggle your toes for me.”

“
What
?”

“I need to know you don’t have a spinal injury. Now wiggle your fucking toes.” Mason used the firmest voice he could without snapping the words out.

Riece’s eyes got wider. He looked at his feet, bent his knees, moved each foot, then whispered, “My toes move okay.”

“Hold your arms above your head and then turn them in a circle,” Mason ordered, using a more gentle tone. He recognized immediately he’d have to keep Riece focused, otherwise he’d have too many thoughts to process at once. Giving Riece orders in a clear and logical sequence was the way Mason could keep him calm.

Riece immediately did as told without ever taking his eyes off Mason’s. “They move okay.”

“Turn around. Let me see if you’re cut or bleeding anywhere.” Mason used one hand to nudge Riece to one side, then the other. “Feel any bruising?”

“My back maybe a little.”

Mason turned Riece to face him and used two fingers to ease his shirt up. He breathed a huge sigh of relief when Riece’s skin tone was normal. “We’ll want to check each other for bruising, especially abdominal, which could mean internal bleeding,” Mason explained. Riece’s eyes widened more, and Mason thought they would pop straight out of their sockets like some bizarre cartoon character’s. “Do a sit-up for me.”

Again Riece complied. “Feels fine. Like a sit-up. I don’t like doing sit-ups.”

“I needed just the one,” Mason said and chuckled. “Now, you look me over—back, neck, head—for open wounds.” He turned around and smiled when he felt Riece’s fingertips start at the base of his skull and brush lightly down to his belt.

“You should wiggle your toes and pull up your shirt,” Riece said softly.

Mason mimicked Riece’s actions and bent his knees, turned his feet in a small circle, and told him, “My toes wiggle too.” He stood up and offered Riece his hand, pulling him to his feet. Then Mason lifted his shirt. “Anything.”

“Lots.” Riece took a deep breath and smirked. “But it’s all supposed to be there.” He looked up at Mason. The few seconds of normal, relaxed behavior vanished, and Riece’s face crumpled. He took two steps forward, slipped both arms around Mason’s waist, and pressed against him, shuddering. “My fault. I’m sorry. This is my fault.”

“Hey, hey, shh.” Mason held Riece close with one arm and used his other hand to cup the back of Riece’s head. He glanced up at the opening they’d dropped through. “It’s okay. Nothing is your fault, and it’s only ten or twelve feet to the top. Not that bad. We’ll get out. I’ll get you out. Don’t worry.”