The Ties That Bind

by J. L. Langley, Jet Mykles, Jet Mykles

  "The guy who took you to the hospital?"

  Evan nodded, then set about gathering his clothes to take to the laundry mat.

  "Have you lost your mind? I told you there was something up with that guy from the beginning. Otherwise, why on earth would he keep running off? He could be a—"

  Shaking his head, Evan groaned. “Stalker? Do you know how silly that sounds? If he were a stalker, he wouldn't be disappearing."

  Mark sighed and got up from the bed. “Fine. But it's still suspicious. Maybe you're right, maybe he is in a relationship.” He, too, began gathering his clothes. “Wait.” Mark stood up from digging through his duffle bag. “Do you want to get to know this guy better?"

  Evan shrugged, trying to convince both he and Mark that it didn't matter. He wasn't upset, really, just a little disappointed. He should have asked questions first. It was his own fault. “Yeah kinda. It's weird, it's like we know each other. There's this strange comfort level."

  "Strange comfort level?” Mark gathered up his bag and went to stand by the door.

  "Yeah, strange cause it's not. I mean, we just seem to click really well.” Evan zipped his own bag. “We moving on after we ride tonight?"

  "Yeah.” Mark opened the door, holding it for Evan. “I don't know what to tell you. If you really like the guy ... try talking to him first next time."

  Evan heaved his strap of his bag onto his shoulder and headed out the door. “Thanks, smart ass.” Like he hadn't already realized that was what he needed to do.

  Evan was pretty pleased with their time. They were in fifth place going into the finals, not bad at all considering the concussion and Evan having to switch horses mid-season. But no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't get his mind off of Aaron. “I think he has someone else, Gus. Why else would he disappear all the damned time? I tell you, that man would put Houdini to shame."

  Gus snorted. That seemed to be his response to everything now days. Especially Evan's love life. Actually, come to think of it, that was pretty much Evan's opinion of his love life too.

  "That was a-awesome man. Ya'll done good."

  The stables were pretty much empty this time of night, but Evan recognized the voice. Smiling, he glanced up from unsaddling Gus as Tracy stepped into the stall, grinning ear to ear. “Thanks."

  "You meeting up with Mark and Doreen at the bar?” Tracy leaned against the stall. He wore blue jeans, boots and a tight black t-shirt with a tan hat. He didn't appear to be riding tonight.

  Gus stuck his neck out, trying to bite again.

  Tracy jumped back.

  Evan groaned and smacked Gus on the shoulder. “Yeah, headed there after I finish up here. Mark conned me into brushing down Miz Dotty—” he pointed to the next stall over, where Mark's mare was housed, “and Gus by myself.” That wasn't entirely true, Evan preferred to spend time with the horses. He'd actually volunteered. “When do you ride?” Evan worked the cinch free, then the girth. He tossed both straps over top of the saddle and pulled it off Gus.

  Tracy spit right outside the stall then reached forward, grabbing the saddle blanket and it canted sideways. “Tomorrow night. Ya'll gonna be around or are you headed on to the next stop?"

  After Evan threw the saddle over the stall wall and took the saddle pad from Tracy. “Thank you. We were planning on heading out tonight. You needing a ride to the next stop?"

  "Nah, I'm good. I was just w-wondering.” Tracy glanced at his watch. “Listen, I gotta go. I promised to meet some people at the Lone Star Bar before I catch up with Doreen, Mark and Gayla at the Wagon Wheel. I just wanted to drop by and tell you congrats.” He slapped Evan on the shoulder. “I'll see you l-later on, okay? I'll buy you a drink."

  Evan squeezed Tracy's shoulder. “Good deal, I'll take you up on that drink. And thanks again."

  Tracy left and Evan stepped up in front of Gus, unbuckling his bridle. “He's a nice guy, Gus. Stop trying to bite him."

  Gus shook his head. Ornery horse.

  "Yes, he is.” He patted his horse's neck before grabbing the halter off the peg on the wall. After fastening the halter, he grabbed Gus's brush out of his bag. Running the bristles over the sleek black coat, Evan hummed.

  Gus closed his eyes and let out a heavy breath. It was one of the things Evan loved about Gus. He never seemed to mind Evan's off-key humming and singing. Buck had always started getting fussy when Evan decided to belt out a tune. Actually Buck wasn't the only one; when Evan was a kid he'd had a dog, Joe, that howled every time he tried to sing. Going Christmas caroling with Joe had seriously sucked.

  Gus snorted and pawed at the ground.

  "What the—?” Evan jumped back to keep his feet from getting stepped on. “Easy bo—"

  "I thought we told you we don't want faggots around."

  Evan snapped his attention toward the door.

  Benson, Craig and Lahr stood crowded around the stall door.

  Evan's stomach clenched up and his shoulder muscles tightened. Out of instinct, he glanced around seeing if anyone else was in the building. There wasn't that he could see. Great.

  "Why are you still around? Didn't you learn your lesson last time?” Craig asked.

  Evan sighed. Nothing he could say was going to keep him from getting his ass kicked. No way in hell was he promising to “be good” and leave. “Just do whatever the fuck you think it is you gotta do. I'm not going anywhere."

  Benson stepped closer to Gus.

  Gus shook his head, blowing out and getting spit on him. Benson scowled.

  If Evan hadn't been so nervous he'd have laughed, hell maybe he did, he didn't know. His gaze focused on the revolver Benson pulled out of his jacket and leveled on Gus.

  * * * *

  Un-fucking-believable. Evan huddled further into the corner of the horse trailer. He was scared shitless, cold, and getting a headache from trying to figure out how to get himself and Gus out of this in one piece. He looked up at Gus. “Any ideas, boy?"

  Gus continued studying their scenery outside the two tiny windows on each side of him. Great, he was enjoying the ride and Evan was having a nervous breakdown.

  Evan laughed, or tried to; it came out as a croak. He really was having a nervous breakdown. Of course Gus was acting normal, he had no idea how grave things were. Before now Evan would have said the likelihood of more trouble from these three assholes was slim. They were bigots, not crazy. Surely they had to know if something happened to Evan, they were going to be the first suspects. Didn't they? Evan may not have pressed charges on them for assault and battery, but everyone knew who'd beat Evan up and why. And what the fuck? Where they that stupid? Before now Evan wouldn't have thought so. Assault and battery was one thing, but murder ... Did they really have it in them?

  The truck came to a stop.

  Shit. What now? Evan jumped up and ran to try the door again, if he could get it open ... It was locked. Hell, he'd known it was, because he'd tried it after they first made him load Gus and shoved him in afterward, but he had to try. It wasn't in his nature to give up.

  A truck door opened and voices followed.

  Lahr, it sounded like, asked what they were going to do now.

  Someone—Dodger Craig, Evan thought—whined that horse theft was still a hanging offense in Texas.

  If Evan hadn't been sick with worry, wondering if they had a plan, he'd have laughed. Maybe they were that stupid. They obviously hadn't planned this out. Which could be a good thing, or a bad thing. If they suddenly came to their senses, things were looking up. Assuming they didn't panic. If they panicked then all bets were off. They could just as easily act first and think later.

  Evan patted Gus's rump. At this point he could only think of three options. Unfortunately, the trailer wasn't big enough for him to turn Gus around and haul ass when they opened the door. That left him with trying to reason with a group of obviously unreasonable men, or fighting like hell. Maybe he could even get a hold of the gun and turn the favor in his direction.

  The men con
tinued to talk, Benson telling the other two to shut up as they walked around the trailer. Evan couldn't see them but he could hear their voices moving. When the clank of the lock echoed through the trailer, Evan made his decision. He really had no choice but to fight. With any luck he could take them by surprise as soon as they opened the door. A small voice in his head said that might not be a great plan, they could shoot first and ask questions later, but Evan ignored it. If he was going to get shot, he was going to do so trying to defend himself and Gus.

  A small shiver ran down his spine and he was so close to heaving. Could he really do this? And what was taking them so long? They seemed to be taking forever getting the lock off the trailer. Come on, Evan, this is it. He crouched down a little, preparing to run at the door. His limbs felt shaky, like he was about to crawl out of his skin.

  The door handle creaked as it was turned and pulled out of the latch. Moonlight appeared through a tiny crack.

  That was all Evan needed. He ran at the door, hitting it as hard as he could, making it burst open. There was a loud bang and the door flew back at him. Someone yelled, but he didn't stop. He just kept going, shoving through the door to the outside. His foot landed right smack dab in the middle of whoever he'd knocked over with the door when he ran out of the trailer, making the man huff out a breath and groan in pain.

  Turning around, Evan took in the location of the other two men and looked for the gun.

  Lahr and Craig stood on the other side of the trailer door, stunned. There was no sight of the gun.

  Gus was backing out of the trailer in a hurry. Good. Hurry, boy.

  Evan ran back toward the trailer, right at the two surprised cowboys. He reached Lahr first. Drawing back his fist, Evan belted him right in the nose. Blood spurted everywhere and Lahr let out a hellacious, gurgling yell.

  Shit, that hurt. Evan shook his hand.

  Craig tackled Evan from the side knocking him to the ground before Evan could do anything else. They rolled around the ground, wrestling for position, with Craig shouting out a stream of curses at Evan.

  Evan landed on a rock. It hit him in the middle of the back and pain flared up his spine. “Ah.” Using all his might, he flipped them over again and pinned Craig to the ground, straddling his hips to keep Craig from rolling them again.

  "You son of a bitch.” Craig popped Evan in the jaw.

  Evan jerked back out of reflex but the blow still caught him enough to hurt.

  Someone yelled behind them, then someone grabbed Evan under the arms and began hauling him off of Craig.

  Evan flailed his arms, nailing the assailant in the face, making him let go. Evan fell back to the ground, but Craig scrambled out from under him and caught him in the chin with his boot heel.

  Everything went white for a few seconds, long enough for the two men to jerk Evan to his feet.

  A shot ran out and everyone froze. A muted thud followed.

  Craig and Lahr let go of Evan. As one unit the three men whirled around in the direction of the shot.

  Benson held the revolver in one hand and rubbed his gun arm with the other.

  On the ground, a few feet in front of him, lay Gus.

  "No!” Evan ran forward, not even caring if Benson shot him too. Everything seemed to slow down, taking him forever to get to Gus. It was like he was running in quicksand. He hit the ground, his knees skidding to touch Gus's belly.

  The other men started yelling all at once, but Evan didn't hear a word that was said. Gus's chest rose and fell in a hard, heaving motion. He lifted his head, looking at Evan as Evan ran his hands over the short hair on Gus's neck and chest looking for a wound. “Hang on, boy."

  "Fuck man, we gotta get outta here."

  "We're going to jail."

  "Shut up. We aren't going to jail. Get your ass in the truck, both of you."

  Truck doors slammed and the truck started.

  No. They couldn't leave. Gus needed help. Evan jumped to his feet.

  The back tires threw dirt and debris and the trailer fishtailed as the truck sped away.

  "Wait!” Evan watched the tail lights fade away, feeling helpless. He had no idea where he was, it didn't matter anyway. Aaron had broken his phone when he'd tossed it the other night.

  His shoulders slumped and a knot formed in his stomach. Tears streamed down his face. Please don't let Gus be hurt badly.

  There was a flash of light and Evan saw his own shadow on the ground. A flashlight? Evan turned around and froze.

  "Son of a bitch, that hurt.” Aaron stood where Gus had lain, naked, rubbing his shoulder.

  "Wha—” Evan looked around. Where the hell had Aaron—Where was Gu— “Wha—"

  "Whoa. Evan, you okay?” Aaron grabbed Evan's arms and pulled him down to the ground, making him sit.

  Evan studied the ground behind Aaron. “What the hell is going on? And where is my horse? Why in the fuck are you naked?” Okay, yeah he was shouting, but damn it, he was scared. Something was way off.

  Aaron rubbed his right shoulder again, then pulled his hand away and looked at the spot. “That left a scar.” He shook his head and crouched down in front of Evan. “You okay? You look a little pale."

  Evan stood up. “Ya think? They shot my horse.” He walked past Aaron, looking around for Gus. Why was Aaron here? How'd he get here? Evan felt like a horse had kicked him in the head. Gus was hurt and ... gone. Aaron was here and...

  Naked? Oh God! They'd brought Aaron here to pay him back for helping Evan.

  Evan spun around and came nose-to-neck with Aaron. He grabbed Aaron's shoulders. “Are you okay? Did they bring you here? What happened? We've got to find Gus."

  "You better sit down.” Aaron touched his cheek like it was the most natural thing in the world to do. He acted like there was nothing wrong, like he had no concern for anything but Evan. It was tender and loving and Evan found himself leaning into the caress before he snapped out of it. They were in the middle of nowhere, out in the country somewhere away from civilization, with no phone, no truck, and Gus needed help.

  "Aaro—"

  "No really. Sit down, Evan, I've got to show you something.” He stepped away and pointed at the ground. “Sit, babe."

  "We've got to—"

  "Sit down."

  The stern voice had Evan obeying, even though he didn't want to. He sank to the ground, sitting in the cool grass.

  A flash of bright white light surrounded Aaron.

  Evan squinted and brought his hand up to shield his eyes. What the...?

  The light went out and, in the pale moonlight, Gus stood where Aaron had been seconds ago.

  He couldn't say anything. He wanted to, but he couldn't seem to get his mouth to work. This was unreal.

  There was another flash of light, then Aaron was coming forward, crouching down in front of Evan again. The moonlight caught his pale eyes, making them glow. They were ... uncertain, worried. “Come on, Tex, say something.” Aaron tipped Evan's chin up, staring into his eyes.

  It made sense, in a strange sort of way. The eye color, the fact that Aaron was never around when Gus was. The man Evan had thought he'd seen in Gus's stall ... “I ... you...” This was the strangest night of Evan's life. On the bright side. “There's no one else is there?"

  Aaron smiled. “No Evan. Just you."

  "Why?"

  "You looked so sad. I had this crazy urge to cheer you up.” He leaned forward, nipping Evan's lip before he kissed it. “I knew I had to have you."

  * * * *

  Epilogue

  Adam's rope hit the ground about a foot behind the calf's legs as his horse turned away. Evan could see his frustration from here. This was the third time the mount he was training had done that.

  Mark shook his head, but he had a smile on his face. His horse had gotten it right all day and his time heading was damned good.

  Cupping his hands around his mouth, Aaron shouted out at his twin. “You suck."

  Adam stopped pulling in his rope long enough to fl
ip Aaron off.

  Upon arrival at Two Spirits ranch a month ago, Evan'd learned quickly that the twins never missed an opportunity to rib the other. He was still somewhat amazed that he hadn't noticed Aaron's resemblance to Adam when he'd first seen Aaron at the bar. Actually, Evan hadn't realized they were twins until he seen Adam again. Adam's long hair and sunglasses had gone a long way in masking the resemblance.

  Evan chuckled. “They'll get it eventually, Mark just got lucky with that moun—Wait. Mark's not riding one of your family members is he?"

  Aaron groaned, but there was a grin just visible under the shadow his gray hat cast on his face. He jerked his head to the side, indicating he wanted Evan to follow, and turned his mount away from the practice arena. “Most Anasazi would never allow themselves to be saddled. It's why no one knows of our shapeshifting abilities. Hell, it's part of the reason historians believe we died out. My people are good at hiding. No way were they going to be captured and made into a white man's faithful mount."

  "You didn't seem to mind.” Evan pulled his hat down lower, shielding his eyes from the sun.

  "Only because I wanted to be bound to you, Tex.” Aaron reached out and tugged on Evan's reins, pulling them both to a stop. He leaned over, grabbing Evan behind the neck and drew Evan forward. His lips touched Evan's briefly, but it was enough for the familiar excitement to ignite.

  Evan groaned at the loss of those warm, sure lips.

  "What about you? You don't mind spending your off season here with me, training horses?” Aaron nudged his horse into motion again.

  What was to mind? Evan had the man he loved, a place to live with said man, and steady pay. “As long as you don't mind traveling with me during the season."

  Aaron stopped again, the sunlight caught him just right, showing off those pale blue eyes. “Nope, not now that those psycho ass bull riders are gone and I don't have to worry about them beating you to a bloody pulp and shooting me."

  It wasn't likely they'd shoot Aaron now, even if they were around. Benson, Lahr and Craig had disappeared from the rodeo after shooting “Gus". The best Evan could guess is they were afraid of him pressing charges. For all they knew, they'd killed Gus. After the shooting, Aaron had remained in human form and called home for another horse to be brought to Evan.