[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
games to whose turn it was to cook supper.
"I cooked yesterday, Bear."
"No, you didn't neither. I made that rabbit stew."
"Yeah, well ... I had to eat it."
Lordy, but the man could be irritating. And sweet. And
gentle. And sexy enough to put a tent in Bear's underwear
every damned time he looked at him.
The good thing about their frequent arguments was that
every time they locked horns, they kissed and made up right
after. Bear smiled to himself, silently admitting that
sometimes he picked a fight for just that reason. Although
he'd never said so and Bear had never asked, he was fairly
sure that Pride did the same.
"Wish this rain would let up," Pride said, as he stood up
and arched his back, stretching. "I'm getting cabin fever."
"Yeah, it's a wet one, ain't it? But it's still real early in the
season, Pride. It's bitter-cold up on the mountains. The snow
ain't melted up there yet, and when it does we could be in for
flash floods. Could be dangerous to go out too far now,
anyhow."
"Sure would be nice to get some fresh meat, though.
'Course, with the way it's been raining and all, we could just
chuck a line out of the window and catch us some fish."
108
In Bear Country
by Kiernan Kelly
Bear laughed, nodding. "Ain't that the truth? Well, I
suppose next time the rain stops we could go a-hunting, if we
don't wander too far and stick to the high ground."
Pride beamed a smile at him that warmed Bear's heart and
groin at the same time. He had a grin on him that tickled
Bear deep inside, and always made Bear want to smile back.
And then do other things things that involved the two of
them getting naked and sweaty.
Bear's first taste of Pride had come soon after that first
night they'd made love for good and real. His cock had been
hard, a red-hot poker that had scalded Bear's entire body
when it had touched his tongue. He liked the taste of Pride,
hungered for it like a drunkard yearned for whiskey. Couldn't
go long without it, before he was feeling knotted up and
needy inside. Luckily for Bear, Pride didn't seem to mind him
groping at him at all hours of the day and night.
He leaned in and cupped Pride's scruffy cheek in his palm,
kissing him again ... and again.
For the next long while, neither one of them gave a single
thought to the rain, to hunting, or to the map that lay
abandoned on the kitchen table. In short order, they were
well on their way to getting sweaty and spent.
* * * *
A shot rang out in the stillness of the forest, rolling across
the hills, echoing on and on. The elk dropped to its knees
and, with a mournful bellow, fell to its side and lay still.
"Whoo-hoo! A twelve-pointer, Bear! Look at that rack!"
Pride shouted as the two men ran across the mucky clearing,
109
In Bear Country
by Kiernan Kelly
mud sucking at the soles of their boots, to where the elk lay.
They hunkered down next to the carcass, examining the
beast. "Good clean kill, Bear. Nice thick pelt, too."
"Yeah. Still got its winter coat. Later on in the season they
get too scruffy-looking to bother with, unless you want to
make buckskin," Bear said, pulling his fingers through the soft
fur of the elk. "Well, we'd best get busy, unless you want to
drag this sumbitch all the way back to the cabin. Bastard
must weigh in at eight hundred pounds or so. Figure we
should butcher it here. Take the best cuts, and the hide,
maybe the rack. Bring them home, leave the rest."
Pride nodded, pulled out his knife and straddled the elk,
slitting its throat. He cut through the elk's tender underside,
from its throat to its anus, and Bear set about cleaning it out.
Pride made the necessary cuts to remove the hide once Bear
had the elk cleaned and the sweetmeats set aside.
They'd just removed the hide and had begun hacking out
the cuts of meat that they preferred, when a strange
rumbling sound reached them and tremors vibrated through
the ground beneath their feet. Pride looked to Bear in
confusion, but one glimpse at the fear frozen on Bear's face
made his gut wrench.
Bear's eyes were scanning the higher hills that sat flush
against the towering, jagged mountains, and he'd turned
pale. "Pride!" he cried, bolting to his feet.
The rumbling was swiftly growing louder. Pride looked in
the direction Bear had been staring, and saw that something
was crashing down the mountainside and heading straight for
them. It cut through the trees of the dense forest that
110
In Bear Country
by Kiernan Kelly
carpeted the hills, moving faster than anything Pride had ever
seen before. It was as if some invisible giant were racing
toward them, snapping trees under its feet as if they were no
more than twigs.
"What in the hell is it, Bear?" Pride demanded, feeling his
heart begin to hammer in his chest.
"Flash flood! Run!" Bear cried. He dropped his knife,
reaching over and roughly pulling Pride up by the arm. "Got
to get to higher ground!"
Tearing through the brush, Bear and Pride raced through
the wood as the rumble behind them grew into a roar that
shook the very earth.
Ahead of them was an outcrop of rock that rose at least
fifteen feet high, and Bear headed straight for it. Scaling the
gray stones, they reached the top just as the leading edge of
a frothy wave of water crashed through the brush behind
them, the spray exploding over the rock, drenching them
both.
The stone shuddered as the wave of muddied water
battered it, parting around the outcrop, only momentarily
inconvenienced by the solid rock. The floodwaters flowed
together on the other side, never losing an ounce of their
devastating power. Ripping up brush and uprooting trees, the
mighty whitewaters swept along nearly everything that stood
in their path with a deafening roar.
The sound was loud enough to make them both cover their
ears as they knelt on the flat, cold stone of the top of the
outcrop, watching the waters crash by. In a swirling, foaming
river of mud, logs, and animal carcasses including their elk
111
In Bear Country
by Kiernan Kelly
the flood tumbled over itself as it raced downhill to the Snake
River that lay far below. Eventually it would bloat the river to
overflowing its banks, flooding the lowlands.
Pride had never seen anything like it before. The rivers
he'd crossed during his travels may have been wide and deep,
like the Mississippi, but they'd been lazy, keeping to their
banks peacefully. What flowed beneath his feet was a
monster, a force that a man couldn't fight, couldn't stand
against. He shuddered to think of what would have happened [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
zanotowane.pl doc.pisz.pl pdf.pisz.pl aikidobyd.xlx.pl
games to whose turn it was to cook supper.
"I cooked yesterday, Bear."
"No, you didn't neither. I made that rabbit stew."
"Yeah, well ... I had to eat it."
Lordy, but the man could be irritating. And sweet. And
gentle. And sexy enough to put a tent in Bear's underwear
every damned time he looked at him.
The good thing about their frequent arguments was that
every time they locked horns, they kissed and made up right
after. Bear smiled to himself, silently admitting that
sometimes he picked a fight for just that reason. Although
he'd never said so and Bear had never asked, he was fairly
sure that Pride did the same.
"Wish this rain would let up," Pride said, as he stood up
and arched his back, stretching. "I'm getting cabin fever."
"Yeah, it's a wet one, ain't it? But it's still real early in the
season, Pride. It's bitter-cold up on the mountains. The snow
ain't melted up there yet, and when it does we could be in for
flash floods. Could be dangerous to go out too far now,
anyhow."
"Sure would be nice to get some fresh meat, though.
'Course, with the way it's been raining and all, we could just
chuck a line out of the window and catch us some fish."
108
In Bear Country
by Kiernan Kelly
Bear laughed, nodding. "Ain't that the truth? Well, I
suppose next time the rain stops we could go a-hunting, if we
don't wander too far and stick to the high ground."
Pride beamed a smile at him that warmed Bear's heart and
groin at the same time. He had a grin on him that tickled
Bear deep inside, and always made Bear want to smile back.
And then do other things things that involved the two of
them getting naked and sweaty.
Bear's first taste of Pride had come soon after that first
night they'd made love for good and real. His cock had been
hard, a red-hot poker that had scalded Bear's entire body
when it had touched his tongue. He liked the taste of Pride,
hungered for it like a drunkard yearned for whiskey. Couldn't
go long without it, before he was feeling knotted up and
needy inside. Luckily for Bear, Pride didn't seem to mind him
groping at him at all hours of the day and night.
He leaned in and cupped Pride's scruffy cheek in his palm,
kissing him again ... and again.
For the next long while, neither one of them gave a single
thought to the rain, to hunting, or to the map that lay
abandoned on the kitchen table. In short order, they were
well on their way to getting sweaty and spent.
* * * *
A shot rang out in the stillness of the forest, rolling across
the hills, echoing on and on. The elk dropped to its knees
and, with a mournful bellow, fell to its side and lay still.
"Whoo-hoo! A twelve-pointer, Bear! Look at that rack!"
Pride shouted as the two men ran across the mucky clearing,
109
In Bear Country
by Kiernan Kelly
mud sucking at the soles of their boots, to where the elk lay.
They hunkered down next to the carcass, examining the
beast. "Good clean kill, Bear. Nice thick pelt, too."
"Yeah. Still got its winter coat. Later on in the season they
get too scruffy-looking to bother with, unless you want to
make buckskin," Bear said, pulling his fingers through the soft
fur of the elk. "Well, we'd best get busy, unless you want to
drag this sumbitch all the way back to the cabin. Bastard
must weigh in at eight hundred pounds or so. Figure we
should butcher it here. Take the best cuts, and the hide,
maybe the rack. Bring them home, leave the rest."
Pride nodded, pulled out his knife and straddled the elk,
slitting its throat. He cut through the elk's tender underside,
from its throat to its anus, and Bear set about cleaning it out.
Pride made the necessary cuts to remove the hide once Bear
had the elk cleaned and the sweetmeats set aside.
They'd just removed the hide and had begun hacking out
the cuts of meat that they preferred, when a strange
rumbling sound reached them and tremors vibrated through
the ground beneath their feet. Pride looked to Bear in
confusion, but one glimpse at the fear frozen on Bear's face
made his gut wrench.
Bear's eyes were scanning the higher hills that sat flush
against the towering, jagged mountains, and he'd turned
pale. "Pride!" he cried, bolting to his feet.
The rumbling was swiftly growing louder. Pride looked in
the direction Bear had been staring, and saw that something
was crashing down the mountainside and heading straight for
them. It cut through the trees of the dense forest that
110
In Bear Country
by Kiernan Kelly
carpeted the hills, moving faster than anything Pride had ever
seen before. It was as if some invisible giant were racing
toward them, snapping trees under its feet as if they were no
more than twigs.
"What in the hell is it, Bear?" Pride demanded, feeling his
heart begin to hammer in his chest.
"Flash flood! Run!" Bear cried. He dropped his knife,
reaching over and roughly pulling Pride up by the arm. "Got
to get to higher ground!"
Tearing through the brush, Bear and Pride raced through
the wood as the rumble behind them grew into a roar that
shook the very earth.
Ahead of them was an outcrop of rock that rose at least
fifteen feet high, and Bear headed straight for it. Scaling the
gray stones, they reached the top just as the leading edge of
a frothy wave of water crashed through the brush behind
them, the spray exploding over the rock, drenching them
both.
The stone shuddered as the wave of muddied water
battered it, parting around the outcrop, only momentarily
inconvenienced by the solid rock. The floodwaters flowed
together on the other side, never losing an ounce of their
devastating power. Ripping up brush and uprooting trees, the
mighty whitewaters swept along nearly everything that stood
in their path with a deafening roar.
The sound was loud enough to make them both cover their
ears as they knelt on the flat, cold stone of the top of the
outcrop, watching the waters crash by. In a swirling, foaming
river of mud, logs, and animal carcasses including their elk
111
In Bear Country
by Kiernan Kelly
the flood tumbled over itself as it raced downhill to the Snake
River that lay far below. Eventually it would bloat the river to
overflowing its banks, flooding the lowlands.
Pride had never seen anything like it before. The rivers
he'd crossed during his travels may have been wide and deep,
like the Mississippi, but they'd been lazy, keeping to their
banks peacefully. What flowed beneath his feet was a
monster, a force that a man couldn't fight, couldn't stand
against. He shuddered to think of what would have happened [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]