Sanctuary 02 - The Only Easy Day (CMS) (MM) (11 page)

"Why would it?"

"You might not be out."

"Why would you think I'm even gay?" Dale said that more for something to say than to actually accuse Joseph of barking up the wrong tree.

"Gay. Bi. I don't know. But you were staring."

Joseph's voice held a hypnotic tone, and Dale was mesmerized. What the hell had happened in twenty-four hours that he was standing with a guy in a bathroom wondering if the man would notice he was as hard as steel in his jeans. Damn Joseph for being so confident in his own skin that he could say someone was likely gay and not get beaten up.

"Is this a meeting?" Morgan said, interrupting the face-off. Joseph smiled and raised his eyebrows in an unspoken promise before turning.

"Just some last minute stuff," he explained.

"Can I get in the shower?" Morgan wasn't entirely awake, and Dale could see why Nik was so damn

protective of the younger man. He looked vulnerable and exhausted. Oscar was by his side, and for a second, Dale wondered if the black Lab shadow went into the shower with Morgan. 

He said nothing, just pushed past Joseph and

grabbed his kit from the floor by the front door before closing himself into the spare room.

Back to the door, he reached inside his jeans and rearranged his treacherous dick. First rule of service survival—you don't fuck on your own doorstep, especially when you should be focusing on getting a kid out of a bad situation and to safety. Way past angry at himself for letting lust push him off course, he expelled the tension by concentrating on pulling on the layers of waterproof clothing he needed to be wearing. Neither he nor Joseph would be wearing items that marked them as anything other than hikers to a casual observer, but once off the main trail, they had the black-of-night camouflage packed in their backpacks.

A knock on the door and a quiet "ready?" was Nik's way of breaking into the introspection. Before he even had time to think, they were in Nik's 4x4 and on their way to what the satellite navigation reliably informed them was Elka Park at the base of Plateau Mountain. 

They started the hike up the old Mink Hollow Road and onwards towards the pass. The statistics for the hike were clear in his head. They were looking at around four miles of climbing in rain that was nearly sideways in its force. Joseph forged ahead on what Dale assumed was the easy part of this climb. Part of him—the part that was tired and achy—wished he was in the car with Nik and Morgan.

They would gain over one and a half thousand feet from the road to near the three thousand eight hundred feet at the peak and there would be no rain letup according to the forecast.

"The chance of rattlesnakes and black bears is only moderate." Morgan had helpfully offered this nugget of information before they left. Dale hadn't answered, but Joseph had pulled his Sig from his belt and waved it dramatically. Putting on some kind of drawling Texas accent, he'd said, "I have a gun", then replacing it in the holster under his jacket, he had begun to walk.

Remembering the action, the gun and the joke, made Dale smile, despite the driving rain.

The old road was in poor shape, but at least it was an easy in to this whole thing. What was normally supposed to be a small stream was swollen and flowing fast, but with a few well-placed steps, both men managed to clear to the other side without sinking into the water. Every time there was a slight incline, they crossed rivulets of water, and it made for some interesting sliding action on slick mud despite their boots. Every so often, Joseph glanced back at Dale, but he couldn't make out the SEAL's expression and merely nodded each time. He guessed Joseph was just checking the rear. Good thing he was behind Joseph really, as Joseph's rear was exceptionally nice to focus on. Like a carrot served a donkey, it guided him onwards and upwards.

Dale wasn't a slouch; he wasn't a desk jockey. He kept his fitness levels high for his work with Sanctuary.

One assignment might have him sitting on his ass for a week, but another found him in an adrenaline-filled situation that meant he needed to be all action. Still, Joseph was keeping up one hell of a pace, and Dale's muscles had gone from tired to aching to screaming exhausted.

An hour in, according to his watch, they came to the first milepost, and Joseph actually deigned to pull over for a two-minute rest. Dale remembered reading the first mile should be more at the fifty-one minute mark so they weren't doing so bad even with the storm around them. 

Joseph leaned in to shout over the noise of the rain.

"You doing okay?"

"You don't need to worry about me," Dale snapped back quickly.

Joseph shrugged, and with a quirked grin, he continued onwards to follow the old carriage road. They moved left then right; the path wasn't exactly linear. There was nothing much to see past the driving rain, and Dale's face had long since passed wet and moved dramatically on to fucking frozen. What he could see of the trailhead to the right looked easy enough, but when Joseph stopped and consulted the plastic-covered map, it didn't bode well. Dale walked closer until they stood side by side.

"This levels off," Joseph shouted over the noise of the rain, "then we'll need to be attacking the mountain more directly. There are some steep chutes." Dale leaned in and casually glanced at the map. He already had it in his head, and he knew Joseph did as well. It was a SEAL thing, and a skill Dale retained. Still, consulting it gave them a breather, and it helped to check they were going the right way at the end of it all.

"Time to use our hands then," Dale offered. He actually managed to raise a smile from the utterly focused and taciturn Joseph. Half of climbing was finding the right handhold or achieving the right grip. Dale wasn't totally concentrating on what lay ahead of them. Nope. He was focusing on one thing.

Damn, the frogman had a nice smile.

The trees beside the trail become more and more boreal, coniferous trees clinging tenaciously to the side of this mountain and forming a welcome barrier to some of the rain. Just past this they stopped under a large rock overhang. They had been walking for just short of two hours, and Dale wasn't embarrassed to admit his leg muscles burned with the exertion. Joseph didn't look at all uncomfortable, and Dale momentarily resented that Joseph had probably stopped to give Dale a rest.

Just outside the area of shelter, a stream ran down the mountainside at an acute angle. When the rain lessened for a few moments, it was stunningly beautiful to see the path of it carved from the softened rocks. He nodded when Joseph indicated they should continue, and as they climbed the trail became steeper until finally they reached the first chimney on the trail. This was nothing Dale hadn't seen before; this crack in the side of the mountain looked just as difficult to negotiate as any other he had climbed.

However, rain had never played a part in rock climbing before this. 

"I'll get hand and footholds," Joseph said loudly.

"You can follow."

Dale didn't argue, and he watched as Joseph began the climb. The whole damn chimney twisted ninety degrees on itself halfway up, and as soon as Joseph reached that part, Dale began his climb. He pulled on his climbing gloves securely and gripped the rock. It was icy cold to the touch, even through the material, but solid. Solid enough to hold an ex-SEAL with aching ribs and the need for speed.

The sharp turn in the chimney put him out of alignment with his footholds, and suddenly he wasn't as sure footed.

Sudden fear gripped him as he slid a few feet down, stopped only when his pack snagged the other side of the chimney. For a second or two, it was the only thing that held him, and his hands scrabbled uselessly to find a grip.

When his hands finally met rock, it had probably been nothing more than a heartbeat or two of no control, but it was enough to make his chest tighten. The rush of adrenaline that flooded his body was more than enough to have him finding a foothold and focusing on which foot to push forward on. Gauging the distance, he guessed there was another ten feet to climb. The small fall had him feeling far less secure, but sheer determination allowed him to grip the soil and grass over the top of the ledge. Joseph was there, holding out a hand, and with a final push of determination, Dale was up and over the edge and lying on his backpack in the pelting rain with a grin of satisfaction on his face.

Joseph loomed over him, bracketing his body and leaning down to press a hard kiss to Dale's lips. There was no warning and it was fire and passion and the joy of life, fuelled by adrenaline. It tasted like success. Joseph moved up and away and offered a hand. Together they stood, and Joseph made a show of brushing rain from Dale's jacket.

Why, Dale couldn't work out. His lips were still tingling from Joseph's touch, and his thoughts were scrambled.

"Not bad for an old guy." Joseph smirked then turned to continue along the tree line.

"Bring it on, kid," Dale called after him. "Bring it on."

He jogged a few steps, despite the pain in his knees and side, and caught up to Joseph. That kiss… had been…
shocking, soul consuming, hot… hell yes, he wanted a repeat of that and soon. Maybe that is what they both needed. When all this was over, they could fuck like rabbits, then Joseph could go back to his base and his perilous life and Dale could go back to Sanctuary. He stared as the younger man nimbly jumped fallen rocks and landed on the other side. Dale clambered over them a little more carefully, but he couldn't help but admire the physical prowess of his companion. He was damn fit and strong.

Dale could probably push past the black ops part if he got a taste of Joseph.

What the hell? Where had that thought come from?

Joseph stumbled ahead of him on the slippery rock strewn path, and instinctively, Dale moved forward. What he was going to do he didn't know; he just felt like Joseph might need him. The SEAL immediately righted himself and carried on at the blistering pace Dale was struggling to keep up with.

That was a lesson learned. Chief Petty Officer Kinnon didn't need anyone. Let alone him.

Plateau Peak was on them before they knew it, and then the fork that was really the point of no return. Straight on would take them to the summit, right would take them to private land and, ultimately, above the place that Robert was being held. They took the right and hiked fairly level ground until they reached the place above the Bullen Mansion.

"This is where we stay until dark," Joseph instructed. He made his way to a sheltering overhang of rock. Dale had never heard better words. Tiredly, he followed Joseph and pulled enough out of his backpack to be comfortable—an all-weather cover, some rations, and a bottle of water. In this crack in the mountain, it was warmer and dry and actually well away from the rain. Glancing at his watch, he saw it was still officially morning. They had at least five hours until dark.

What the hell were they going to do? 

They changed out of their climbing gear and into the regular black of infiltration. Dale tried not to look. He really did. But Joseph really had a body made for licking.

Finally dressed and harder than he had been for a long time, Dale settled back against the stone wall and thanked the heavens the shelter was out of the wind and the rain. Maybe he could get some rest now and get his head around some of the strange thoughts going through his mind.

"So," Joseph said conversationally. Dale groaned inwardly. That "so" was laden with the expectation of conversation.

"So?" Dale replied with enough impatience coating the word he hoped Joseph understood it was a hint to shut the fuck up.

"An ex-SEAL."

"That's right."

"I've only ever met exes that retired."

Dale grunted in response.

"You do know Harris lost it because he had PTSD, that he had seen some real squirrely shit," Joseph commented carefully. Dale looked sideways at him.

"I've heard this all before. Nothing you can say can defend what he did."

"I'm not," Joseph said with a shake of his head.

"Fuck. I wouldn't. I'm just starting a conversation—"

"He killed his ex-wife and her new husband point blank," Joseph said blankly.

"I know. And the baby."

"Not for a while." Dale said this before he had properly engaged his brain. What was it about Joseph's gray eyes that demanded honesty and offered compassion?

"Go on." If Joseph had demanded to know what Dale meant, or harassed Dale to tell him the full details, there would have been no more to say. But the quiet prompt and the empathy that dripped from it was a catalyst to opening up memories long since buried.

"She gave me the baby. He said—Harris said—that he didn't hurt kids. She was facing death, but she had this relief in her eyes that her baby was going to be okay. So I'm holding the baby in one arm, and I have my SIG in the other. How obscene is that?"

"Nothing new," Joseph said simply, "to hold innocence in one hand and death in the other." Dale sighed.

This rough and ready SEAL was worming his way under the defenses Dale had built around these memories.

"He lost it. He was mad—there was madness in his eyes—I didn't know he was on drugs. He wasn't rational. I should have taken the shot, but I thought I could talk him down. He was SEAL; he had ethics and a code he lived by.

Then he turned to me. He tilted his head, like he was considering what to do. I saw rational thought on his face. I had won his respect, reminded him of what he was."

"You don't have to tell me the rest—"

"I do. You started me on this. He shot me, but the baby was hit. Straight through and into my chest…like I said. Then when I reeled back, he finished the parents in the blink of an eye. The new husband first, then the ex-wife, then himself. I didn't even get to kill the bastard myself it was over so quick."

"What happened next?"

Joseph barked a laugh of self-derision. "I went back to my unit. SEALs can handle anything, right?"

"Sometimes."

"I fucking lost it. Had a meltdown getting on the freaking transport to ship out. Took two of the team to take me down. Woke up in hospital. My team was long gone, and I was left with a decision. Then Jake Callahan visited me. The rest is history."