Safe in His Arms (25 page)

Was this love?

“I don’t know,” he said, answering Paul’s question. “Eternal hope, perhaps? A hope that someday he’ll love me?”

He made a mental note to ask Paul about his family tree one day, because Paul was giving him Mick’s you-are-being-dumb look, and Casey hadn’t realized they were related. “Casey. That man already loves you. I think he loved you from the start. I’ve never seen the guy so taken with anyone from the first. You’ve always been more than just a sexual conquest. I was worried about him when he first mentioned you, then really concerned the first night I met you. But then I saw something in Lon that I haven’t seen for a very long time. I’ve known Lon since high school, and for the last eight years, he’s just existed. He’s woken every morning and got on with life, but he hasn’t
lived
. He’s just waited. For what, I don’t know. But you woke something in him. I wasn’t sure about you—you seemed too flighty, too broken, too needy to be any good for him. But I think that’s what he’s been missing. He’s been missing being needed.”

“Eight years? As in when his parents died?”

The look Paul gave him was guarded. “What has he told you?”

“Nothing,” Casey replied honestly.

Paul nodded. “I know why, but it’s not my place to say. But I think he’s ready, man. Just a little nudge, and he’ll tell you. It’s ugly. So, be ready with sympathetic hugs. But let him tell you. It’s time for him to stop punishing himself for something that wasn’t his fault.”

Chapter 19

P
AUL
STAYED
with him until Lon arrived at nearly twenty minutes to midnight. It had been a long wait.

Soon after they finished dinner, a text came through from Lon.

Just about to pull into Geraldton. I’ve been sleeping since I rang you last. We’re stopping for some dinner and petrol, then on the road again. It’s my turn to drive. I should be home in 5 hours.

Casey was worried about that. The night driving was probably the most dangerous, and Lon was going to be doing it. But if it was him in that situation, he would drive through the night to get home to a loved one.

He messaged Lon back.

Be safe. Get some coffee. Paul and I are hanging out and playing PS3 while we wait for you. I don’t think your beer is safe from Paul.

The message from Lon came back almost immediately.

Hey. Just saw your previous message. Do you really love me?

Casey chuckled. There was only one thing to say to that.

Duh!

He could almost see Lon smiling on the other end.

I love you too, Casey-love. I’ll see you in 5 hours.

They played Playstation for a while, then decided on a
Terminator
marathon to pass the time. Paul argued over starting the third installment, claiming it was so crap it shouldn’t even be in Lon’s collection, but couldn’t name another movie he wanted to watch instead. So Barbie-Terminator was coming after John Connor for the first time when the zip on the annex opened.

“Lon!”

Casey flew to his side and engulfed him in a hug even before his bag hit the ground. Lon was filthy. Mud encrusted most of his clothing. There were grease stains on his shirt. His hair had grown out and was covered in mud as well. And he obviously hadn’t shaved since he left. But that didn’t bother Casey one iota. He clung to Lon and kissed him madly.

L
ON
PULLED
Casey against his body and just let it all go. All the stress, anxiety, and fear melted away. Thirty fucking hours of the worst decisions, bad luck, and piss-poor management he’d ever come across. And fear. For the first time in his life, he had something to fear. He had someone who was relying on him to get home safe and in one piece. He’d white-knuckled through some of the driving rain and gale-force winds, thinking of how Casey would react if he didn’t make it home. When they got bogged, it had been him in the muck, applying his muscles to the fucking piece-of-shit cars that were supposed to be able to make it through mud.

He’d been outvoted when they decided to run from Paraburdoo. He wanted to get home, that was true, but he didn’t want to chance dying. The news was showing a lot of rain and wind hitting the town, but only some damaged buildings. They would’ve been safe there. He was sure he would receive an arse-kicking from his boss for putting them all in danger—mostly because two of the cars they took for their dash were company cars.

He’d take his arse-kicking without a whimper of complaint. But he wasn’t the most senior person in the group, so most responsibility would fall to the three managers who’d taken the cars. They received the bigger salary. It was only fair they took a bigger share of the shit that was going to be flying around.

Casey felt just right in his arms. He was scrawny and beautiful, just the same as he’d left him. He kissed him for another moment before he finally had to pull back.

“Casey-love, I haven’t had a shower for three days. I have mud all over me, including in my arse crack, and I really need to use a toothbrush. I love you, but do you think I could get a little clean first?”

“No.” Casey burrowed in tighter to his neck, and Lon smiled as he enjoyed the cuddle. He made eye contact with Paul, who was struggling to keep the smile off his face.

“Hey, man,” he greeted his best friend. “Thanks for taking care of mine.” Paul nodded and smiled gently at Casey, who was still cuddling into Lon’s neck. Lon knew that Paul knew what he was talking about. It was near enough to midnight, and Paul was still hanging around with Casey, obviously making sure he was alright until Lon could come home and take over. Lon had asked Paul to keep an eye out for Casey while he was gone, and he’d gone above and beyond that duty.

Paul glanced at the empty beer cans stacked on the table ready for the recycle bin and shrugged apologetically. Then he gathered his wallet and phone. “I’ll catch up with you soon, okay? I’m glad you’re alive, but I’m on shift in six hours. I’d better go.” They shook hands, and Paul shuffled around the two hugging figures and disappeared into the night.

Lon breathed a sigh of relief, which Casey echoed. Then he froze. “Umm, Lon?”

“Yeah?”

“What is it I can smell? I can work out the mud smell, and the smell of grease, but there’s something else on you. Bad stuff, like dog shit or something.”

Lon bowed his head, took a whiff, and tried to work it out. He’d been sniffing his own stink for so long he’d grown used to it. “Dog shit?”

“Yes. Or something dead.”

Lon blanched and shoved Casey away from him. “Fuck. It’s probably still on me. Yuck. You’d better change your clothes too. Now that you’ve been hugging me.”

Lon knew that didn’t sound too good, and Casey screwed up his face in an anticipatory grimace. “What is it?”

“Cow. Very dead, very stinky, and very fucked-up dead cow. We accidently drove over its carcass in the dead of the night. The thing got stuck up under two of the vehicles, and we had to pull it out by hand.”

“Oh.” They stared at each other for a moment before Casey began to gag. “That’s so gross. Now I’m going to have to have a shower to get it off me. Oh, totally gross. Oh, fucking gross.”

Lon laughed. “Yeah. I need a shower too. How about we have one together to save water? There’s a water shortage apparently.”

The grin that came to Casey’s face totally transformed his countenance. “Sounds like a good idea. To save water, that is.”

So they cleaned up together. Neither of them thought to bring a condom with them into the shower, so it was only hands and mouths. But that was nothing to complain about. After all, that’s where it all started.

Casey leaned back against the basins in the shower block and watched a naked Lon shave his face and buzz cut his hair down to its normal shortness. Seeing Casey watching him evoked memories of the first time for Lon, which then led to remembering what he’d done to Lon next. Casey’s erection started to grow again and he shifted uncomfortably. Lon noticed and laughed at him, then reached down to absently rub at his balls, cupping their weight and rolling them around.

Casey frowned, which made Lon lift his brow innocently and say, “What? They were itchy.”

“Sure, sure. You’re just teasing me, aren’t you?”

“It’s only teasing if I don’t plan to follow through,” Lon replied.

That thought caused Casey even more problems, which made Lon laugh even louder until Casey finally said, “Damn. Stop it. I’m going to take these dirty clothes and go back to the van. Don’t wake me when you come back.”

It was so obviously a lie that Lon laughed even harder while Casey scurried out of the shower block. Lon knew he had at least one more erection in him tonight. By the time he got back to the van, Casey had dumped the dirty clothes in the corner, slapped together a ham sandwich, poured a large glass of water, and left them for Lon on the table. The covers on the bed had been pulled back. A condom and tube of lubricant were placed suggestively on the bedside cabinet, and just in case Lon didn’t get the message, a blue towel was laid in the center of the bed, ready for loving.

Lon got the message.

They kissed frantically to try and make up for the time they’d been apart. They explored each other’s bodies and caressed their favorite erogenous zones. Finally Lon pushed inside Casey’s body and they both held their breath at the sheer pleasure.

“God, I love you,” Casey gasped as Lon moved even further inside him and halted, allowing Casey to adjust to the intrusion.

“Not as much as I love you,” Lon confessed. Then he snapped his hips back and thrust deeply again. They both lost the ability to speak for a while after that.

W
HAT
SEEMED
to be hours later, but couldn’t have been, Casey was snuggled on his side near the wall, watching Lon secure the place for the night. He reentered the van clutching the photo frame Casey had given him for Christmas and carefully set it up next to the bed.

“Lon?”

“Hmm?”

“Who’s that guy in the other photo?” Casey felt he could handle the truth now. He’d stared at that picture for hours while Lon was away and even covered it up with a cloth for a few days until he felt guilty for doing that to Lon. There was no way that Lon didn’t love that guy in the photo. But because Lon had admitted to loving Casey, and after being totally and thoroughly loved and fucked, Casey wanted to know. He could deal with it.

“My brother.”

Sleep disappeared rapidly, and Casey sat up in shock. “What?” He looked at the picture again and could see the man even in the dim light. He’d stared at his face for so long he was sure he could draw it. “You look nothing alike.”

“I know.”

Casey frowned and tried to remember everything Lon had said about a brother. All he could remember was some stuff about him being mentally ill and killing three people. Then he remembered when he’d first asked about the photo. Lon had said the man was in jail. The pieces clicked together as two seemingly unrelated elements lined up. Of course Lon loved the man in the picture. It was his brother.

Something was still nagging at Casey, though. Something that he felt he should’ve figured out. Killing three people? Like in a car accident?

Lon clicked the overhead light off, slid into bed, pulled Casey into the position he wanted, and rearranged his limbs like he was a ragdoll. Casey loved it.

“Will you tell me about your brother?”

For a moment Casey didn’t think Lon would reply. Then he said, “Yes. But tomorrow.”

T
HE
NEXT
day started with Casey’s alarm blaring at six o’clock. He groaned, rolled, and nearly fell off the bed. Somehow he’d ended up on the non-wall side during the night. He felt like shit—only four hours of sleep will do that to a person.

But he was determined to be a responsible adult, and a responsible adult dragged himself out of bed, poured coffee down their throat, and went to work regardless of how little sleep they’d gotten.

There was no way not to wake the other person while sharing a caravan, so he clicked on the kettle and made himself toast like he usually would in the morning. Lon rolled over and tried to sleep, but it was impossible.

“What time will you be home, do you think?” Lon asked.

Casey buttered toast and then pulled on his shirt. “I finish at three. If I get the first bus out, I should be home by three forty-five. Do you have to go to work too?”

That produced a groan from the bed. “Fuck. Yes. I expect some sort of reprimand from the bosses, so I’d better go into the city today and make sure I still have a job.”

“You reckon they’ll fire you?”

“Nah. An official statement in my file maybe. But it’s too much work for them to hire another guy for something so minor. I’m going to have to find out when I’m due back to the mines, though. We were only halfway through a cycle, so I may need to head back in a few days. The engineers and all will be on the ground first, assessing the damage. I work the machinery and trucks, which they won’t be able to drag out until the water clears and the shafts are checked.”