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The Man Who Saved Me (Updated 30 Jan - Chapters 1 to THE END)


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I think it's time for a departure from all the anger and conflict which has set the tone for quite a while now. Here's something a bit lighter. 

Chapter 26

The house is empty. Jake is nowhere to be found. I close my eyes and listen, separating out the sounds of the birds and their heartbeats, the squirrels scrambling up trees, insects clicking and chirping and scampering, the pump of water through the veins of leaves. And once all the other sounds have faded to the background, I catch a stifled sob about a quarter of a mile away.

I find Jake curled up at the edge of the stream where the water is deepest, his shirt and trousers and shoes piled up behind him. His teeth are chattering. Small drops of water speckle his legs. I sit down behind him, pulling his little body into mine, letting my heat seep into him.

“I tried.” He whispers, pushing pebbles around with a finger.

“To swim? But you hate open water.”

“That’s why I tried.”

“Oh.” As he gradually stops shivering, I plant a gentle kiss on the top of his head. “How did it go?”

“Not well…” A tear slips down his cheek. “I’m such a coward.”

“Don’t say that!” I bark, before lifting him to his feet. “Why don’t we try again? Together?” Without waiting for an answer, I throw off my clothes so that all I’m wearing are boxer shorts. Jake’s reaction is instant and hilarious. His eyes go wide, running over my striated pecs and abs, my teardrop thighs, diamond calves, up to the rippling cords in my arms. I subtly flex each muscle as he looks at it, causing his mouth to drop open. I never really cared about being so big and shredded until I met Jake. But the way he looks at me is something I want to enjoy every day. “Baby, my eyes are up here.”

Jake clears his throat as a blush creeps up his neck. Fuck, he’s cute. He peers uncertainly into my face, then turns to watch the water bubble and churn. He swallows. Once. Twice. “Okay.”

I hold his hand from behind as he approaches the bank, tentatively dips his big toe, jumps back in fright, then goes to dip it again. While he can’t see me, I warm the water in one of the deep pools upstream with heat vision, so that it feels less like a bitter Canadian mountain river and more a Caribbean shore. Jake holds his breath, then plunges his whole foot under.

“You’re doing great!” I say, guiding him forward. “Now the other one.”

Jake follows through. Sure, he’s being looked after by an indestructible, unstoppable super human, and sure, the water only comes up to his ankles, but I’ve never been so proud. He shoots me an infectious smile. “This isn’t so bad. I think I want to go deeper.”

Before each step, he breathes deeply in and out, feeling his place, adjusting to it, then squeezes my fingers as hard as he can and moves one leg hesitantly forward. I congratulate and encourage him the whole time, tell him how proud I am, how well he’s doing. And gradually the water moves up over his knees, then his waist. He starts shaking as it reaches his chest from the adrenaline pumping through his system.

When he steps off a small ledge where the stream is deep enough that he can’t stand but I can, I grab him firmly by the waist and hold his head above the water, guiding him in how to kick with his legs and flap his arms to stay afloat. At first he looks so ridiculous that I can’t help laughing, but he soon nails the technique.

“I’m going to let go now, okay?”

“WHAT?” He shrieks, clinging onto my shoulders for dear life. He squeezes so hard that if I weren’t more dense than diamond, it might hurt.

Now I’m trying not to laugh again. “You’ll be fine. You know how to swim. If there are any problems, I’ll be right here. I won’t let anything happen to you.”

“Promise?”

“Promise.”

He nods and lets go of me. Slowly, so softly that I doubt he even feels it, I loosen my hold until it’s barely there at all. I keep my hands just an inch away from his waist, ready to lock on in a nanosecond if he needs me. Jake starts bobbing, splashing his arms, kicking hard with his legs. At first he nearly goes under a couple of times, but then he gets into a rhythm. “Dean! I’m doing it! I’m swimming!” He smiles so wide that he accidentally swallows some water and has to cough it up.

“You sure are!” I’m almost as excited about this as he is. “That’s a perfect doggy paddle.”

“I can’t believe- oh-“ As his technique falters, his mouth and nose submerge. I take hold of his hips again and bring him to my muscular chest for a deep, passionate kiss. My fingertips run down his back and feel him shiver in ecstasy. Jake clings to my neck, squeezing my hard traps, pulling at my hair. I love it when he does that, and growl in appreciation.

When Jake is forced to break away to take a breath, I ask “You ready to try diving?”

The confidence from earlier dissipates, and I begin to worry I pushed him too far. “I don’t know…”

“You don’t have to.”

“I want to.” He insists. “I just don’t know if I can… You keep me safe, right?”

I shrug my wide shoulders. “I’ve taken a bullet to the face to protect you, Jake. Many bullets, actually. I’m not going to let you drown in a mountain stream that barely comes up to my chest.”

“Oh… right.” He says. It takes a little while to psych him up, but he eventually lowers his head under for a split second, then rises up again with deep, gasping breaths. “Fuck, that’s cold!”

Shit. I never noticed the warm water flowing away. I quickly heat it up again. Not only did Jake manage to swim, he did it in water cold enough to give him hypothermia within a few minutes. I push his wet hair out of his eyes and say “You did it, man!”

“Yep. Now let’s get the fuck out of here!” As he speaks, his arms tighten around my neck, and I take that as my cue. We lift out of the water, back toward the valley. I can feel Jake shivering and speed up. Within seconds, I have him wrapped in a towel and toasty warm, with some hot chocolate in front of him.

“How are you managing here?” I ask as he settles behind the screen of my computer. The first thing I did after bringing him home and fucking his brains out was set up all the amenities it was missing – proper plumbing, gas connections for the oven and heating (I never needed to use it), and most importantly to Jake, a stable internet connection. I had to find a cell tower, but that wasn’t a problem. There were loads of them just lying around in the American Midwest. Hopefully it wasn’t spotted flying north.

“I love this place.” Jake motions to the room around us. “It’s beautiful and weird in the best way. I’m going to enjoy living here until we find a more permanent solution.”

My head snaps to him. “What?”

“Well I can’t live here forever…” He says with a rise of his slender shoulders, as if it’s obvious. When he spots me scowl, he smiles sweetly. “Dean, I know this is your home, but it can’t be mine.”

“Why not?”

“Because the nearest supermarket is at least two hundred miles away.”

I cross my rippling arms and frown. “I can get whatever you need.”

“And what about a job?”

“You can get one of those anywhere on Earth. I’ll drop you off in the morning and pick you up after.”

“And friends? What about those?”

“We could…” I fall silent.

“Dean, I can’t rely on you for every little thing.” He sighs, rises from his chair, and hugs me. His little nose slots into the groove between my abs. “I need to be able to live my own life. We’ve been over this. I know that after everything that’s happened, it’s tempting to just lock me in a tower like a Disney princess, where no one but you can ever reach me. And honestly, for a little while, I might like that. The world has turned out to be a lot scarier than I thought. But it can’t be forever.”

He’s right. God damn it. I hate it when he’s right. Why does it have to happen so often?

“But we can be forever, right? You and me?” I’m not used to sounding nervous. But if Jake can swim, if he can put his faith in me, it's fitting that I take a dive of my own. And give all the power to him.  

He seems to pick up on it too. “Of course. Why would you…”

“Just checking.” I mutter, before plucking something from one of the shelves covered in mementos from my youth. As soon as Jake sees it, his eyes begin to brim with tears. I open the box and take out a little ring. It’s not gold or silver, and there are no diamonds. That all seemed so normal. So pedestrian. We’re not normal and we never will be, if I have anything to say about it. The ring is made up of three horizontal bands fused together, each a different colour. Grey, black, and red.

"I've never been good at speeches, so prepare your best fake swoon." I get down on one knee, which is a little awkward since I’m still taller than him. “I remember telling you about how I travelled through space. You never said it, but I could tell you were sad that you’d never see what I saw. I wanted to take you with me. I couldn’t figure out how…” I swallow. My throat is thick and it’s hard to speak. “So I made this. I used three stones. One from the surface of Mercury, one from Venus, and one from Mars.”

Now there are tears streaming down Jake’s cheeks. I can feel myself welling up too, but manage to keep a lid on it. “I love you so much, Jake. I never realised how much until I thought I’d lost you. And I never want to go another day like that. I don’t care if I’m selfish, I want to keep you all to myself for the rest of my life.” He nods along, mouthing the next words to me, aching for me to say them. I don’t plan to disappoint. “Jake Langley, marry me.”

He leaps into my arms, crying into my neck, almost causing me to drop the ring. He kisses me over and over, with more passion and fire than ever before. I give as good as I get, plucking him from the ground and squeezing him hard enough to hurt. I frame his delicate face in my big clumsy hands and look into those eyes, starstruck that I ever had a chance to find someone like this. Someone who loves me for who I am, my incredible strengths, my incredible weaknesses and everything in between. He accepts it all. He makes everything I do seem worth it. And I truly think he makes me a better man. The man I want to be.

“So… is that a yes or what? Don’t leave me hanging here.”

Jake laughs through the tears. He takes the ring and holds it up to admire it, before slipping it on his finger. A perfect fit.

“Jake Lawson…” An adorable smile lights up his face. “I could get used to that.”

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I'm a 48 year old man crying like a 14 year old girl 'cos the Spice Girls split up. I love how we got a mushy chapter after that tremendously tense chapter with the Home Sec. Speech500, at the risk of condemnation flung at me from your other adoring fans... pull this story now and get it published properly. It's too good to be given away for free. Err... I didn't really say that, did I? 

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1 hour ago, JP71 said:

I'm a 48 year old man crying like a 14 year old girl 'cos the Spice Girls split up. I love how we got a mushy chapter after that tremendously tense chapter with the Home Sec. Speech500, at the risk of condemnation flung at me from your other adoring fans... pull this story now and get it published properly. It's too good to be given away for free. Err... I didn't really say that, did I? 

You sure did and I'll second that. Speech 500, you have surpassed yourself with the last few chapters. Its like you have tapped into some form of energy which is creative, passionate and bubbling with brightly lucid imagery. From the dark plotting of Government, your feel for the undercurrents, machinations and counter arguments is like the scene from a good spy thriller novel. Then glossing over what must have been one almighty sex-fest between Dean and Jake, you bring us the wonderful trusting, soft, warming, gentle, caring and sharing scene of Jake learning to gain confidence in open water - finally learning to swim. You are an astonishing author, a talented imaginative artist and wordsmith. I feel very privileged to read your work. Many, many thanks.

 

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18 hours ago, Speech500 said:

“So I made this. I used three stones. One from the surface of Mercury, one from Venus, and one from Mars.”

SUch an adorable man capable of destroying the world. I guess Jake failing to tell Dean about the pills will put a stone in the relationship.

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Just a little one today, it's pretty lighthearted and fun. 

Chapter 27

JAKE

I wake up to see Dean staring at me. He has my hand between his, and his eyes are focussed on the little ring. He looks so happy. “Hey.” I whisper, my voice still rough.

“Hey.” He whispers back. “What’s a place you’ve always wanted to see?”

“Hmm? I don’t know if I could narrow it down.”

“Do it for me.”

I stretch my arms, running my fingertips along the soft linen, onto the smooth, hard skin of Dean’s chest. With my lips pursed, I look from the rock-hewn ceiling into his eyes. Eyes so blue, so much like the sea that I can’t imagine ever fearing the water again. “Italy. Some sleepy little town with ancient cracked churches and mountains in the distance, where you can hear groaning Vespers on every street corner, sip wine and eat fresh pasta by the water’s edge, and the buildings have those little crooked green shutters, you know the ones.” I sigh. “I’ve always wanted to go somewhere like that. But life always seems to get in the way.”

Dean pulls me close, planting a kiss on my forehead. “Then let’s go.”

“What? Now? Just like that?”

“Why not? I want to take you somewhere nice.” He says, massaging the slender muscles in my back. “I know just the place.”

“Okay. Sure, let’s do it.”

I sit up to start packing, but Dean tells me not to bother. He says that if I need anything while I’m there, he’ll come back for it. I sometimes forget how he lives in such a different world. Distance and time mean nothing to him. If he wants to go somewhere, he goes. If he wants to do something, he does it. So as soon as we’re dressed, he picks me up and off we go.

I want it on the record that I hate high-speed flying. Even when Dean does his best to shelter me, it’s cold and loud and unpleasant. Whenever we land I always need help standing because I’m so dizzy and my legs are shaking up a storm. This time is no different.

However, what I see takes my breath away.

“Welcome to Pitigliano.” Dean says.

It’s exactly like what I always imagined. Quiet, peaceful, beautiful yet understated, ancient and yet alive. The houses are carved from cream-coloured rock, and there are ruined aqueducts and churches and shrines, little cafes and grocery shops.It’s not a large town, but it would take me days to explore every winding alleyway, every hidden courtyard. It really is like stepping into a dream. “This is incredible...”

“It was nothing. But I’m glad you’re happy.” He says with a carefree smile.

“I am.” I twist the ring on my finger until the butterflies stop fluttering in my stomach. “I expected Italy to be so… touristy.”

He nods. “It is. I chose a place not many people visit. So what do you want to do first?”

I fight off the urge to drag Dean around, pointing at everything and going ‘ooo’. He wouldn’t let me drag him anywhere so there’s no point trying. Instead, we explore Pitigliano on foot. Dean keeps a firm arm around my shoulder and I tuck myself into his side and listen to the birds, the Italian grandmas nattering about their sons. I feel the wind on my skin, warm and dry.

We stop for pizza at a family-owned restaurant and the chef isn’t subtle in marvelling at Dean’s size. I don’t need to be Italian to figure out the word for ‘giant hulking fucker’. One thing that concerns me at first is how rural Italians feel about seeing two men together, hugging in public, passionately kissing up against the walls of old cathedrals. Maybe they’re really disgusted by it. But I suppose it doesn’t matter. If anyone has a problem with us, they keep quiet. One look at Dean is enough to ensure that – it doesn’t take much intelligence to figure out that annoying the seven-foot bodybuilder is a bad idea. But they wouldn’t worry if they knew him like I do. Even though I’ve witnessed what he’s capable of, it’s hard not to look at Dean and see a big harmless teddy bear who just wants to cuddle.

That is, until Dean talks me into trying an espresso. I very clearly state that I hate espressos in all their forms, but he insists the taste different in Italy. When I spit the thing out, washing my mouth out with water, he laughs so loud that half the town hear it.

We rent a room and decide to stay the night. I mention to Dean that he might have to fly home to pick up pyjamas. He tells me that everyone in Italy sleeps naked. I suspect that’s another lie but I like the sound of it too much to call his bluff.

The room is sparsely decorated, but comes with a large west-facing window and more importantly, a double bed. I’ll never forget the feeling of Dean sliding into me as he cradles my body in his super strong hands, filling me up until I gasp, while the sun sinks below the horizon in a flush of orange and red. I’ll never forget the way he holds me close, kisses the bruises his fingers left on my skin as he ravaged me. His deep, resonant growls and grunts. Utterly dominating and supremely confident. He touches me like he owns me, like I'm his. I suppose now I am. 

Afterward, I touch a certain spot on Dean’s side and he flinches back.

“What was that?” I ask.

“Nothing.”

A slow smile creeps into life across my face. “Are you ticklish?”

“…No!” Now he’s glaring at me.

“You’re ticklish!” I dive for him, eager to test my theory.

“Jake.” Dean instantly clamps his huge hands around mine and holds them up above my head. I let out a pained yelp. As quickly as he grabbed me, he lets go, apologising profusely, checking me over for injuries. I lean into his chest, the look of distress giving way to a devious grin as my fingers find his sides. Dean bursts into laughter, twisting and turning at the sensation. Within seconds, he has me pinned down again. His eyes are narrowed. “You tricked me! I thought I hurt you!”

“It worked, didn’t it? I can’t believe you’re ticklish!”

“Didn’t your parents ever warn you about messing around with super powered killing machines?”

“Oh, stop it.” I laugh. “What a drama queen.”

“You’re going to pay for that.” And true to his word, he starts vigorously tickling me, my feet, my sides, under my arms. I struggle to breathe through the laughter, and beg for him to stop. He only grins wider. I try to push him off me, but I might as well lift a truck. “Swear you’ll never do that again.” He says. I shake my head, and another round of tickling commences. “Swear it.” Now his fingers are moving faster than I can see. It’s overwhelming.

“Fine!”

Dean pauses. “Go on…”

“I swear I won’t tickle you…”

“Good.”

“…Until you least expect it.”

He sighs loudly, pulling me close while clamping my arms at my side. “I guess that’ll have to do. I’d keep tickling, but I have a feeling the owners of this place are going to call the cops if you keep screaming for me to stop.”

I close my eyes, snuggling into him, breathing in his musky scent. “As if they could do anything.”

"I guess not." Dean snorts. “They might kick us out... but the chances of them successfully taking you away from me are zero."

“So we've pissed off half the town by screaming, laughing, and fucking. Where are we going tomorrow?”   

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22 hours ago, Speech500 said:

“So we've pissed off half the town by screaming, laughing, and fucking. Where are we going tomorrow?”

I know what I'd be doing if I were Jake, but Catholic influences in the region might be a little annoyed perhaps. I just love how you have built such larger than life characters around 'our' Dean. Despite his God like powers, he's so vulnerable which makes me want to reach out and protect him too ( me being old enough to be his grandfather - he, he). 

Just fully read the whole story once more. Thank you Speech500. Its just superb!

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27 minutes ago, MrG2U said:

I know what I'd be doing if I were Jake, but Catholic influences in the region might be a little annoyed perhaps. I just love how you have built such larger than life characters around 'our' Dean. Despite his God like powers, he's so vulnerable which makes me want to reach out and protect him too ( me being old enough to be his grandfather - he, he). 

Just fully read the whole story once more. Thank you Speech500. Its just superb!

2

I agree. While I am openly gay I am also Catholic and I believe that while everyone should be free to love whomever he happens to be in love with, there must be a balance between the right to love and the right not to be obscene, or at least there must be some form of moderation, which does not depend upon being homosexuals or whatever. Some sorts of politeness are always necessary for my humble opinion. That said, I think Jake understands it very well. He is a proper gentleman. Dean too, while (as Mr. Bercrow would probably say) being overexcitable, I think he understands how to behave in social contexts expecially if he cares as much as he proclaims to our sweet Jake.

That is just to say that probably people would not be too unfriendly to Jake and Dean (and not just because of the incredible size of the latter), but due to an understanding of the context (young couple, deeply in love... I have even met some 80 years old ladies blessing gay couples) and the gradual acceptance of homosexuals in Italian society

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