Arctic Absolution by Lynn Kelling

Author:Lynn Kelling [Kelling, Lynn]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Gay & Lesbian, Literature & Fiction, Fiction, Gay, Romance, Contemporary, Gay Romance, Genre Fiction
ISBN: 9781622341986
Amazon: B00PWN38ZO
Publisher: Fantastic Fiction Publishing
Published: 2014-12-15T14:00:00+00:00

Chapter 16

The Missing Hour

Being active, being busy was what drove Dixon since he picked Jaye up from the truck stop. He figured if he kept going, kept doing things, it would prevent him from remembering. If he didn’t remember, it would be like it had never happened. He wouldn’t have to deal with it. Not yet. It would stay pushed back behind action and the motion of living.

Luckily, it was so odd to have Jaye standing in his sister’s kitchen cooking a big batch of chili it kept Dixon in the present. The recent past became less of a threat.

Leaning in the doorway, he watched Jaye stir with a long wooden spoon. Spices filled the air, tickling Dixon’s nose. Jaye was wearing a plain white shirt, one he’d had on under his work shirt, and his workpants, but his feet were bare. It was hard not to be aware of how Jaye looked, and how people viewed him. It was the same way Dixon had viewed him when they first met. The tattoos were what you saw first. Then you saw how terribly young he was. Next you saw how pretty he was, under the ink. It was a string of observations full of different sorts of danger, for Jaye and those casually judging him.

Now, Dixon saw him for his vulnerability and strength, apart from physical attributes. The sight of the tattoo wrapping Jaye’s neck only made Dixon want to taste his skin, to feel the texture of his soft, curling hair against his lips, to touch and feel Jaye react to every touch.

Of course, Dixon knew he would need to defend himself to others for simply being with Jaye. Dixon had never liked defending his choice of partners. It was a task he avoided if at all possible. That responsibility was a weight, pulling him down, but at least it was something else to keep him busy, keep him active, and keep him from slipping back a few hours’ time and reliving what he’d endured on the side of that road.

From behind him, there was the sound of a key sliding into the lock in the front door, of the knob turning. Gaze fixed on Jaye, Dixon felt a wave of tension tighten his chest. Dread churned his stomach.

She can’t tell you who to be with. Even if she doesn’t approve, she can’t keep you from being with him. It’ll be fine.

Even as he thought it, he knew it was ridiculous. His whole life was ridiculous.

Dixon turned and went to the door as Brekken was still getting it opened and her keys free. Grant was watching the road as though devils with pitchforks in hand might come racing up it at any moment.

The stark concern on Grant’s face, more than anything else, was what brought the sense memories back. Suddenly, Dixon wasn’t there, in the entryway of his home, ready to defend Jaye’s presence to his sister, he was kneeling in the dirt, choking, retching, crying, and pleading with guttural sounds.

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