Final Encore (15 page)

take a chance and push his finger al the way inside in

hopes of quickly finding his sweet spot. Ian began to

moan even louder, and within seconds he was shooting

his warm load down the back of Bily’s throat.

Right on target, Bily thought as he slid his finger

out of Ian’s ass. He continued to suck his dick until he

had drained every bit of come Ian had to offer.

Ian sat down, puled Bily close to him, and

covered Bily’s lips with his own. He parted Bily’s lips

with his tongue and tasted just a hint of himself in Bily’s

warm, inviting mouth. Ian stopped just long enough to

say, “Let me take care of you.”

Bily looked into Ian’s eyes and said, “Too late.”

He looked down, and Ian folowed his lead.

Without touching himself, Bily had shot his load on

Ian’s left foot.

Embarrassed, Bily said, “I’m sorry. That was just

so damn hot, I couldn’t control myself. That’s never

happened before, and to be honest, it felt incredible.

Being turned on so much that you don’t even need to

touch yourself to come, that’s a new experience for me,

and I damn wel liked it.”

Ian smiled sweetly with just a hint of satisfaction in

his grin as they finished showering. He continued to

tease Bily as he helped him dress.

While Bily was carrying Ian downstairs and

helping him into the Escalade, Ian said, “Don’t think

you’re going to carry me around the doctor’s office.”

“I understand,” Bily said. “But please promise me

you’l at least alow me to help you into the office.”

“I promise,” Ian agreed, and they were on their

way.

IAN’S estimate of twenty-five minutes was right on the

money, and they arrived at the doctor’s office with five

minutes to spare. An hour and forty-five minutes later,

they were leaving the office with Ian on crutches, his

ankle wrapped up tight and Bily carrying a set of X-

rays showing no broken bones. It was a pretty bad

sprain. Ian’s doctor had given him the set of X-rays in

the event he wanted to see an orthopedic specialist, but

Ian felt pretty confident that he didn’t need a second

opinion.

On the way home, Bily puled into a grocery

store and, while Ian waited in the SUV, bought al the

makings for a few nights’ dinners: some sandwich

meats, more breakfast food, a case of water, and

several bottles of wine. He knew Ian would be working

from home for a week or so, and he wanted to make

sure Ian would have everything he needed.

While Ian waited in the SUV, he took the time to

cal Josh to fil him in on the details of the accident and

let him know he would be working from home for a

week or so. Then he caled Jean and Jules as he had

promised. After waiting for Jules to pick up another

extension, he gave them both the ful doctor’s report.

With relief in his voice, Jules gave his wel wishes and

goodbyes and hung up the extension. Jean, however,

stayed on the phone asking about medications, healing

times, and if there was any chance of permanent

damage. Then, in the easy way she always had with

him, she asked about Bily.

There was a brief silence, and Ian took a deep

breath. “Jean, it’s the strangest thing. This man has

touched me in a way that no one has since, wel… you

know.”

“Todd, dear?” Jean replied.

“Yes, ma’am, but why do you always make me

say it?”

“I know you hate to hear his name, but I make

you say it because I want you to know how far you’ve

come and that Todd didn’t destroy you.”

“Okay, okay, but this scares the hel out of me

and I don’t know what to do about it. Right now he’s in

the supermarket making sure I have enough to eat. He’s

carried me around the house, dressed me, fed me,

taken me to the bathroom, alternated hot and cold

compresses on my ankle day and night, and damn it,

I’m enjoying the hel out of it.”

Ian could almost hear the smile on Jean’s face,

but al she said was, “That’s good, honey. He’s a good

man and he wants to take care of you. Don’t mess it

up.”

“Thanks a lot,” Ian said.

“Oh, you know what I mean, Ian. Just go with the

flow and see where it takes you.”

“I’ve already decided to take it one day at a time.

It may not last, so why should I be stressing out about

it?” Ian explained.

“That’s my Ian,” Jean said. “Always the positive

one.”

Ian saw Bily walking toward the SUV with a

shopping cart ful of food and told Jean he had to go

and would talk to her later. Bily put the groceries in the

back of the SUV and climbed in. Ian smiled at him and

said, “Jean sends her love and thanks you for taking

such good care of me.”

“She’s such a sweet lady,” Bily said.

“Yep, she’s a dol,” replied Ian.

They looked at each other and smiled as Bily

puled out of the parking lot. They made one more stop

at the CVS to pick up the prescription for pain

medicine that Ian’s doctor had caled in and buy a

heating pad, and then they headed back to Ian’s.

Bily helped Ian out of the SUV, but Ian was

determined to make it up the stairs on his crutches

alone, without Bily’s help.

“You can’t be here every minute of the day and

night,” Ian said. “I need to be able to do some things on

my own.”

“You’re right,” Bily said. “So take it slow and I’l

be right behind you.”

“Promise?” Ian choked out as he approached the

landing to the stairs.

“I promise, so don’t you worry.”

Slowly, Ian made his way to the top of the first

floor stairs with Bily on his heels. They climbed up

steadily, one step at a time. When Ian stepped onto the

top of the landing with his left foot, gained his balance,

and puled both crutches up behind him, he sighed with

a sense of accomplishment. “How was that?”

“Good job,” Bily said, reaching around Ian to

open the door .

Ian made his way to the couch and sat down

rather shakily. He leaned his crutches beside him and

took a deep breath. “These things are going to take

some getting used to,” he said, referring to the crutches.

“You’l adjust in no time,” Bily yeled as he was

running down to the garage, taking the steps two at a

time. He managed to get al the groceries up the stairs in

three trips and had them put away in no time.

Bily reached into his coat pocket and puled out

the little white bag containing the pain medication they’d

picked up from the CVS. He grabbed a bottle of water,

walked to the living room, and placed the pils and

water on the table in front of Ian, taking a long look

around the room.

It appeared to Ian that Bily was trying to make

sure he had everything he needed before he left. He

turned his head away, trying not to show any concern,

but was suddenly hit with a sense of loneliness at the

thought of Bily leaving.
What is happening to me?
I

barely know this man.

Bily, stil scanning the room, found the remote

control for the flat-panel television and retrieved the

cordless telephone out of its cradle.

He placed the other two items next to the water

and the pils and said, “Wel, handsome, this should

hold you until I get back.”

Ian relaxed and thought to himself,
He said “get

back.” He’s coming back!

With a sense of relief he hoped Bily hadn’t

sensed, Ian casualy said, “Sure, I’l be fine. Where are

you going?”

“If I’m going to stay here for a couple of days,

just until you can manage on your own, I’l need a few

things from the ranch. My toothbrush, for one thing, and

some clean underwear. Now,” Bily continued, “you

didn’t invite me, and if you’d rather I didn’t stay, I

totaly understand, and… if that’s the case, I’l just

prepare your meals for the week, and al you’l need to

do is warm them up in the microwave and you’l be set.

And of course, I’l stop by every day and make sure

you’re okay. I would prefer to stay and take care of

you, but I don’t want to crowd you. It’s totaly your

decision.”

It must have been the combination of the events

of the past two days coming together in an awful storm,

but tears started running down Ian’s cheeks, and no

matter how hard he tried to stop them, he couldn’t, so

he just stopped trying and let it al go.

Bily moved closer to Ian, concerned that he had

said something to upset him. But it didn’t matter;

instinctively, al he wanted to do was put his arms

around Ian and hold him.

Ian sobbed into Bily’s shoulder for a while as

Bily held him tight, finaly breaking the embrace to grab

a Kleenex off the table.

“You must think I’m a complete nutcase. Of

course I want you to stay, but even if I told you I didn’t,

you weren’t going anywhere without cooking my meals

and making sure I’d have everything I needed. You

can’t be real, Bily. Men like you don’t exist.”

Bily took Ian’s chin in his right hand, looked

intently into his eyes, and said, “I’m very real, Ian, and

there are plenty of men like me who want, no,
need
to

do the right thing. Trust me, I am far from perfect. I

wake up every morning and look at myself in the mirror,

and if I don’t like the man I see, I try to become a

better man. When it comes down to it, we al have to

love who we are before we can expect anyone else to

love us.”

Ian took Bily’s hand and said, “Thank you.”

“Anytime. We okay?” Bily asked.

“You bet,” Ian replied. “I’l be fine. Now get out

of here so you can get back before rush hour traffic.”

“One more thing,” Bily said. “I’l need to get up

about five o’clock so I can get back out to the ranch by

six. I have a ful load of tours the rest of the week, but I

can be back here by six or six thirty. And starting

tomorrow, for the next four nights, I’m back at Jean’s

opening for Jed. You think you’l be up for joining me?

You can sit at Jean’s table and not have to move until I

finish my set.”

“I think I would enjoy that. I’m quite sure I’l be

ready to get out of here by then,” Ian claimed.

“Then we have a plan,” Bily said. “If it’s okay to

use your SUV, I’l see you in a couple of hours.”

Ian heard the garage door opening as the engine

of his SUV came to life, and then the sound faded away

as the garage door closed again.

When the hum of the garage door stopped, the

house was suddenly silent. Ian took a pain pil and a sip

of water and lay there with his eyes closed. He couldn’t

ever remember his house being so quiet. He had bought

the place when he’d moved out of the saloon several

months after he’d resigned from the bar. His accountant

had convinced him that he needed a tax write-off and

assured him it was a great deal. It was much more

space than he needed, but he’d reluctantly agreed. He

had adjusted al right but remembered back to how

uncomplicated it had been when he’d lived over the

saloon. No stuff and no memories, just a roof over his

head and people who cared for him, the closest thing he

would ever have to a real family.

This was certainly a great house, but he’d never

felt like it would ever be his home, until yesterday. Ian

couldn’t control his thoughts. What was happening

here? He knew that since losing Todd, he had always