FIC: Western Lovers: Cowboys and Archaeologists 26/33

[sassywitch.livejournal.com]

Title: Western Lovers: Cowboys and Archaeologists 26/33
Author: sassywitch
Pairing: BB/DM with a smattering of VM/LT and DW/OB
Rating: NC-17, to be on the safe side.
Summary: Billy is a man to be reckoned with. Can Dom heal his wounded soul and his own into the bargain. Could Billy make him forget the bitter lessons of the past?
Feedback: Feedback is my writers crack, which is not to be confused at all with plumbers crack.
Disclaimer: Not at all true in reality. These men whilst adorable and perfectly happy to slash themselves, their actual relationship is something that they only know. This story is adapted from a series of books that I adored when I was younger written by Elizabeth Lowell.
Word Count: 2972
Header Art: Courtesy of the incredibly talented loki_girl
Previous Chapters: can be found Here
A/N: A huge thank you to dylan_dufresne for the inspiration, the prodding and the beta. She really deserves far more credit than just beta. This fic wouldn't be what it is without her labour of love. My grammar sucks really, really badly so she had to suffer it so nobody else would. Next Chapter on Monday. I'm not going to be able to post any more chapters until next Monday, I'm having a short hospital stay so I'm going to have limited to no internet access for 48 hours from wednesday morning, and it won't even be my computer. So, regretfully, I won't be able to post chapter 27 until next Monday. Forgive me?

~*~*~*~*~*~
Thunder cracked with a noise like rock shearing away from tall cliff faces, a naked violence of sound that made Arwen Canyon tremble in the night.

Easing out of the blankets he shared with Dom, Billy went to stand at the edge of the overhang. The chilly night air took the heat from his body, but he barely noticed the temperature, because the smell, taste and sound of the wind told him all that he needed to know. He and Dom would have to pack up and cross Aragorn Wash before dawn.

Unfortunately, Billy had counted on spending the hour before dawn quite differently.

"Sorry, Honey," Billy said, his voice gritty with hunger and regret. "We've got a lot of packing to do, and not much time to do it in."

Dom bit back his protest even as it formed. The storm didn't care if it were cutting short his last hours with Billy in Arwen Canyon. The storm didn't care if he had woken hard and longing for his gentle, tender lover as he had watched him silhouetted against the roiling steel grey sky, completely naked.

Silently, Dom kicked off the blankets and began pulling on clothes, shivering as the cold wind washed over his body. Working by the light of the gas lantern, Dom packed quickly, forcing himself not to think how this day was different from any day that had come before or would come after.

As soon as Dom's personal gear was packed, he began working on the artifacts that were to be taken back to the ranch. He packed slowly and carefully, saying goodbye with his fingertips to the ancient pots and stone axes, fiber sandals and bone implements that he had come to know as well as he knew the less textured camping equipment of his own time and culture. When each box was ready, Dom set it aside for Billy to carry to the truck. Periodic lightning shattered the black sky. Thunder rang out repeatedly, in a barrage that nearly deafened. Dom ignored it, working steadily, thinking only of the task at hand. As he reached for another empty box, he found Billy's hand instead. Startled, Dom looked up.

At first Dom thought what he heard was the wind, a low muttering kind of sound. Then he realized that he was hearing water. Aragorn Wash was filling. Fast.

"Is it still safe to cross?" Dom asked, unable to suppress the hope in his voice. If the wash wasn't safe, they would be forced to stay on this side until the water went down.

As though Dom had spoken his hope aloud, Billy shook his head. "This is a big storm. Liv will fret, and then Viggo will send men out in Hell's own rain to look for us. I don't want anyone getting hurt looking for people who could've, and should've gotten back to the ranch on their own."

Just then, the sky exploded into twisting, wildly writhing forks of lightning, and barely four seconds later, thunder hammered down.

"Time to go, Honey."

Dom closed his eyes against the pain that was lancing through him as surely as the lightning sliced through the clouds.

Thunder filled Arwen Canyon, followed by a gust of rain-scented wind that made the pinions moan. No rain was falling, but there was no doubt that it would. Soon.

Billy opened the passenger door for Dom and as he helped the younger man up into the cab, Dom's chest pressed against the lean, male hand that wrapped around his upper arm, nipple brushing against his knuckles. Though the contact was accidental, it made every one of Dom's nerve endings shimmer, and when he tried to fasten his seat belt, his hands were clumsy with the sudden rush of his blood.

Billy climbed in, saw Dom's difficulty and said, "Let me. That belt mechanism is getting kind of cranky. First you have to slack off and let it retract all the way. Like this."

Taking the metal tongue from Dom's fingers, Billy's then followed the retreat of the harness across his lap. The sound of Dom's indrawn breath was as much an inadvertent caress as Billy's hand skimmed across his body in the wake of the buckle's metal tongue. Billy's fingers brushed lightly against Dom's arousal when he pulled the harness across Dom's lap once more, and his hand hesitated for a breathless instant before moving on. Inserting the metal tongue into the locking mechanism, Billy drew in a harsh breath as a subdued click broke the taut silence.

"See? Perfect fit." Billy's voice was low, gritty, his accent thick and guttural.

Touching Dom's mouth with his thumb and swearing softly, it was was clear that Billy wanted him. And Dom wanted Billy. It was in Billy's intense green eyes, the tightness of his body, and in the huskiness of the few words he had spoken. Billy gave Dom a quick, hard kiss and forced himself to concentrate on other things, while he still had the discipline to do it.

Driving to the wash and then bringing the truck to a full stop at the edge, Billy studied the water carefully and bit off a vicious curse. There was no doubt about it, no ignoring it. The wash was definitely still safe to cross.

Shifting the truck into gear, Billy drove into the water, and as soon as he reached the other side, he spoke without looking at Dom.

"Hang on. I'm going to drive hard to get ahead of the storm."

The road was dry and familiar, its occasional vagaries and hazards well-known to Billy. Holding the big truck to a punishing pace, boring through the predawn darkness, Billy concentrated on outrunning the storm outside the truck, ignoring the one within for as long as he could.

Finally, the truck climbed up a steep hill for the long run across Aragorn Mesa. For a time, the road snaked along the very edge of the highland, giving a breathtaking vista of predawn light locked in luminous embrace with a high, slowly seething lid of clouds. The tenuous light was eerie, astonishingly flawless, utterly without color, and Billy stopped the truck at a point where the road gave an uninterrupted view of the dark land below.

"We're an hour ahead of the rain now. I know how much the weather is a part of you, and I thought you might like to watch the storm," Billy said, releasing his seat belt. "Want some coffee?"

Dom made a murmurous sound of approval that could have meant the view, the idea of coffee, or both. By the dim illumination of the dashboard lights, Billy opened a thermos and poured coffee, and a clean, rich fragrance filled the cab. Billy handed the half full cup to Dom, who refused it with a shake of his head.

"You first," Billy insisted.

"Afraid of poison?" Dom asked huskily. He forced himself to smile, concealing the sadness that had grown greater with each mile that had flown beneath the trucks broad tires.

Billy's own smile flashed briefly. "No, but I've discovered that coffee tastes sweeter if you drink out of my cup before I do."

Murmuring Billy's name softly, Dom bent his head and sipped the hot liquid, his eyes fixed on Billy's as he trailed his tongue across the rim of the mug. Flicking off the lights, Billy killed the engine and rolled down his window. Cool air flowed across the cab, the air filled with the scent of the unfettered land. In silence, the lovers passed the cup of coffee between them while spectral light slowly filled the space between clouds and earth, transforming everything, infusing the air with radiance.

"Spirit light," Billy said finally.

Dom looked at him questioningly.

"That's what my grandmother called it. The kind of light that enables you to see right through to the soul of everything."

Thunder belled again, filling the canyon.

"How did you end up here?" Dom asked softly.

"When I got out of the warrior business, I was like David, hurting and not knowing what to do about it, needing a home and not knowing how to get one. Viggo's father was selling off chunks of the Double L to pay for his drinking. I bought in. The ranch has been my home ever since."

Dom waited, but Billy said no more, and eventually, he followed Billy's gaze out the windshield, noticing that the land lay beneath the storm like a woman, waiting for her lover. Though no rain had fallen, the storm had brought an eerie glow to the air, a timeless gloaming that made all distances equal. There were no shadows to define near and far, no suns passage to mark hours across the sky, no waxing or waning moon to measure weeks, nothing but the eye and the mind of man to draw distinctions.

"Spirit light," Billy said, his voice harsh. "When you see everything too damn clearly."

Gazing at Dom and seeing far too much, Billy's hunger clawed at him, telling him that he would remember Dom too long, too well.

Looking away from the eerie clarity of the land, Dom saw Billy watching him with green eyes that burned.

"What are you thinking?" Dom asked before he could stop himself.

"I'm remembering."

"What?"

"How you look when your skin is flushed with heat and you're as hungry for me as I am for you," Billy whispered huskily. "How you look right now."

Knowing he shouldn't, yet unable to stop himself, Billy slid partway across the big seat, took the coffee cup from Dom's hand and set it on the dashboard. Dom's smoky blue gaze went from Billy's eyes to the clean, distinct shape of his perfect mouth, and even as Dom leaned toward him, Billy pulled Dom closer, turning him so that he was half laying across Billy's lap. Murmuring Dom's name, Billy's mouth came down over Dom's parted lips, filling him with his taste and his hunger, wordlessly telling Dom about the need that would make the coming days restless, and the nights endless.

Dom gave back the kiss without restraint, loving the taste of Billy, coffee and man and passion, and then the kiss deepened further, becoming an urgent mating of mouths. When Dom felt the hard warmth of Billy's palms sliding beneath his shirt, he twisted sinuously, bringing his nipples closer to Billy's questing hands, and Billy's fingers stroked, caressed, teased until exquisite sensations radiated from Dom's overly sensitive nipples to the hard ridge of his arousal, melting his nerves in a few shuddering moments.

With a soft whimper, Dom began to move against Billy's body, feeling rather than heard the rasping groan he gave when Billy's hand released the buttons on his shirt, allowing Billy the freedom of his
smooth chest. Pushing away the loose shirt, Billy looked down at Dom, and flushed by passion, Dom's golden chest was laid out beneath him covered in a thin sheen of perspiration small nipples pert and tight, begging for Billy's mouth.

"Honey?"

"Yes?" Dom whispered huskily, raising his arms and arching his back as he struggled to lose his shirt.

Billy didn't wait for Dom to finish, and instead he kissed one peaked nipple and licked it with catlike delicacy, then gave into the need driving him. Mouth opening over Dom's chest in a caress that sent sensual lightning glittering through him, Billy heard a ragged cry as Dom disentangled his arms and held his lovers' head against his chest, asking for and receiving a different, harder caress.

Even as Billy's mouth sent forerunners of ecstasy shimmering through Dom, Billy's hands closed on his narrow hips, shifting Dom until he was sitting astride Billy's lap. One hard palm slid between Dom's legs, cupping him, stroking him, making him burn, and sweet cries rippled from Dom, fanning the fire consuming Billy, cries that made Billy wild with need. Unfastening the front of Dom's jeans and pushing his hand into the loosened denim, Billy hungrily forced aside cloth until he found the hard arousal that he needed to touch more than he needed air to breathe.

And then Billy's fingers closed around what he sought. Billy took as much as he could of Dom's hardness and wanted more, much, much more, his body straining and his breath little more than a groan. The hoarse sound Dom made, and the feel of him struggling against Billy's tightly stroking hand brought Billy to his senses. Closing his eyes, Billy took a tearing breath, afraid to look at Dom, afraid to see fear and horror in his eyes as he remembered another out of control man, the front seat of another vehicle.

"God, Dommie. Honey, I'm so sorry," Billy said hoarsely. "I've never lost control like that."

Billy heard Dom take a broken breath, and then another, and felt Dom's incredible hardness pressing against the hand that was still tangled in Dom's jeans. Very carefully, Billy dragged his hand free, and the broken sound that tumbled from Dom's lips scored Billy to his core.

"Honey, I'm sorry," Billy whispered, looking at Dom's wide eyes, wanting to cradle him and yet, afraid to touch him. "I didn't mean to frighten you."

"You didn't."

The words were like Dom's breathing – ragged. Billy shook his head, slowly, not quite believing him.

"I heard you," Billy said flatly. Mentally chastising himself for taking Dom back to the worst experience of his life, Billy drew a deep breath, trying to find the words to explain himself to his sweet lover.

Dom's long fingers pressed against his lips stopped Billy's stammering explanation before it even started.

"I wanted you – so much – it hurt. I didn't know it could be like that," Dom murmured throatily. "We've got so little time left. Every single touch, each kiss, each glance makes me burn for you, makes me feel physical pain without you."

The last word was spoken against Billy's lips just before he brought Dom's mouth to his own, and the kiss that followed was deep and searchingly wild. Dom returned it with a hunger that made both of them shake.

"If you kiss me like that again," Billy said finally, breathing hard, "I'm going to start taking off those boots you're wearing."

"My boots?"

"And then your jeans," Billy said, sliding his hand inside denim once more, searching for Dom's hardness, finding it and drawing liquid fire with a rippling sound of pleasure from the younger man.

"I want you. Right here, right now. Do you want me like that?"

With fingers that trembled, Dom reached blindly for his bootlaces, and Billy made a low sound as his hand closed more tightly around Dom's hardness. Smiling almost savagely, Billy savored Dom's body and the ragged breaking of his breath, each movement Dom made as he worked over his laces increasing the pressure of his caresses.

Billy made no move to help Dom with the boots, for his other hand was too busy stroking the hard little peaks of Dom's nipples to be bothered with such unrewarding objects as boots and socks.

One boot and then the other fell to the floor of the truck, followed by the rustling whisper of socks before Dom slowly shifted his body to the side, not wanting to end the wild seduction of Billy's hand, but at the same time, aching to be free of the confinement of his jeans.

This time Billy helped, lifting Dom and peeling the rest of his clothes away, letting them fall to the floor. Shivering with heat rather than cold as he sat astride Billy once more, Dom looked down at his lap and the man whose body was flushed with the passion he had aroused. Long elegant fingers then reached for Billy's belt buckle.

"Honey, if you start there, that's where you'll finish, Billy warned, his voice ragged. "I want you like Hell burning."

Dom looked deep into the hot green of Billy's eyes and knew if he didn't take Billy's boots off first, they wouldn't get taken off at all, and he wanted to feel Billy naked against him. Frantically thrusting and leaning down, Dom struggled to push Billy's boots off while a desperate Billy wriggled out of the confining denim.
Kicking the unwanted fabric to the floor, immediately forgotten, Billy pressed himself against Dom hungrily, his mouth devouring
Dom's desperately, hips rocking against his lithe body wantonly.

Pressing his fingers against Dom's lips, Billy slid them into Dom's mouth as he suckled them wetly. Billy's hand slid up Dom's thigh before he reached behind him and touched, tested, stroked and prepared the scalding need that was Dom's body.

"Yes," Dom whispered. "Like Hell burning."

Dom's fingers wrapped around Billy's taut arousal as he moved closer, their bodies sliding together, and then Dom discovered that Billy was there before him. Small fingers wrapping around Dom's and guiding him, Billy's slippery arousal tenderly pushed inside Dom as he watched Dom's eyes carefully. Overcome by sensation, Dom's breath unraveled into a low moan as he struggled to stay still, his body adjusting to Billy's size.

When Dom nodded, indicating that he was ready, Billy's hips lifted and drove up into him, burying himself in the clinging, generous heat that had haunted his dreams, and then ecstasy consumed him.

Hands gripped Dom's hips hard as Billy thrust deep inside of his lover, mouth against Dom's hot skin and his cries of pleasure washing over their entwined bodies, echoing the sweet lightning of his own release.

Locked within ecstasy, surrounded by the cruel clarity of spirit light, Billy knew this was the way he would always remember his Honey, and the realization was a knife turning, teaching him more about pain than he thought he already knew, and certainly more than he wanted to know.

Chapter 27

Comments

[crsty1961.livejournal.com]

Oh God I wish he would break and change his mind about letting Dom go. Wow the calm before the storm when everything shimmers, now I know what to call it.

[-vanillashake.livejournal.com]

Omg, the angst in this ne is just...wow.
Everythings nearly too intense and the whole thing with the storm is just too great.
Wonderful.

[mystery-ink.livejournal.com]

hothotHOT!!!!! And a beautiful description of the sky and earth. Hmmm... 7 more chapters, yet this is apparently the "last day"... going to be interesting to see how long they remain separated.

[crsty1961.livejournal.com]

Hey there May I post some of your stories here with cridits to you!! http://p086.ezboard.com/bprojectboyd

[sassywitch.livejournal.com]

Sure.

[crsty1961.livejournal.com]

THANKS!!

[sassywitch.livejournal.com]

Just let me know what and when.

[loozy.livejournal.com]

Oh God, it's breaking both their hearts *whimper*

[sassywitch.livejournal.com]

Billy is very stubborn isn't he. I'm afraid the only thing he will break is their hearts.

I love spirit light.

Glad you're enjoying.

[sassywitch.livejournal.com]

There is so much angst in that truck isn't there, and just a tiny bit of steam as well.

Happy that you're enoying.

[sassywitch.livejournal.com]

Physical seperation maybe, but will they ever be emotionally seperate?

glad you're enjoying.

[sassywitch.livejournal.com]

Sometimes the only way to fix things is to break them and then put them back together. and sometimes it doesn't work at all.

[sourgreenapples.livejournal.com]

They will realize at sometime that they can't exist without each other. *looks confident*




...Right?

[sassywitch.livejournal.com]

Of course they can, but they'll be miserable.

Wrong answer? You'll just have to wait and see I think, and trust them to sort themselves out.

we can trust them to do that right.
Glad you're enjoying

[mystery-ink.livejournal.com]

Whew! Just read the intro and that explains why you haven't been posting. Hope your hospital experience went well!

[divinemadam.livejournal.com]

I've always loved the truck sex scene because it was hot, but also because it marked true healing of the past. However, this scene is even hotter than the original! Nicely done! I also have to say that even though I know how things progress next, for an instant, I was surprised that Billy was still going to let Dom go. I am so tempted to read another chapter, but it's late and I need to get some sleep. I am in meetings most of the day tomorrow and have to be my schmoosiest best.

BTW, I saw in your A/N that you were in the hospital. Is everything okay?

[sassywitch.livejournal.com]

*blushes*

It was the final healing for Dom I think wasn't it?


I have a bout with pneumonia every winter, this year it was compounded with High blood pressure, I was threatened with hospital daily and honestly thought I was going in that day but I managed to escape, so far.

[divinemadam.livejournal.com]

I wish that could help you, but the only remedy that I know of is my grandmother's old "fool-proof" medicine. If any of us were sick with a chest cold, we got a heaping helping of it. You get the cheapest, rock-gut whiskey you can find. Pour a mug full. Add a couple of tablespoons of honey, a good squeeze of lemon juice, and a splash of ginger ale. Heat it in the microwave and drink it down quickly. It's supposed to break up the crud in your chest. Does it work? Well, no one ever had pneumonia growing up. You'd think that with 6 grandchildren and 7 great grandchildren that someone would have it. There is some medicinal merit to this drink. Both honey and lemon juice are supposed to help with illness and the immune system. Heat helps to break up and loosen up the phlegm. The ginger ale helps to settle a stomach that is sour. And the whiskey makes you not care about the rest and can help you sleep. It doesn't taste bad, as long as you like whiskey, which I do. I would recommend leaving the ginger ale out until after heating it. Feel free to try it. The only other thing that I know of to do is to put cooked onions in a towel on your chest to break things up, but that's just gross. (My mother grew up EXTREMELY poor and that was the poor-man's version of mentholated chest rub.)

I do hope you feel better!