Not What You Think - 2. Chapter 2

CHAPTER 2

As I rushed in the room to see what was happening, I saw Jason staring at the floor laughing. When I saw the Roomba vacuum I couldn't help but start cracking up. Jason flipped the safety back on the gun while we watched the automated vacuum continue to slowly make its way around the furniture.

“Feel better, Mr. Bond?” I asked.

“Shut up, it's new,” Jason replied as he gave me the finger. “I guess the housekeeper decided to take it easy recently and forgot that we would be up here this week.”

“Well at least I know when the robot vacuums take over the world, I can count on you to keep me safe!”

Jason mumbled something under his breath as he bent over to turn the machine off. Rather than ask what he said, I took it as the perfect opportunity to get revenge from earlier. I snuck up behind him and started to tickle him until we both fell on the floor.

From that point the tickling turned into a flat out wrestling match with both of us attempting to pin the other. I was slightly stronger, but Jason would resort to cheating every now and then if he was close to losing. Usually, however, we wouldn't even get to the point of winning and would both end up losing our clothes instead. This time was no exception.

Jason almost had me pinned so I took a page out of his book and cheated. He was laying on top of me face-to-face with my arms above my head when I lifted my head enough to give him a quick kiss on the lips. He was momentarily distracted and loosened his grip on my arms. I smiled at him knowing it would give me the advantage I needed to flip the roles.

I pulled my arms out and twisted around my body enough to break free from his grip. As I flipped Jason to his back and pinned him with relative ease, I saw the grin on his face; the bastard knew what I was about to do and let me win.

“It's been a long day. How about we take this to the bedroom?” I asked.

“Only if you promise to keep calling me Mr. Bond,” he smiled.

“Deal!”

I got up and pulled Jason to his feet and let him lead the way to the master bedroom. Before we got to the bed we had both started undressing letting our clothes fall to the floor around the room. Down to just our boxers, Jason pushed me on the bed and jumped on top of me. It was unlike him to be this aggressive, but I guess the adrenaline rush from earlier gave him an assertive edge. He stayed on top of me while his hands roamed my body and our tongues had their own wrestling match.

Jason was hard and I could feel him grinding against me. I started to flip him over so I could take control, but he stopped me and pushed me back down on the bed. Since we had been dating I was always on top, but I could tell he was ready to switch it up. Jason was versatile, but I had never bottomed before. We had discussed it on several occasions, but we were both comfortable continuing our current roles.

“Is Mr. Bond ready to come out and play?” I asked.

“That depends, are you ready to become the first Bond-girl with a penis?”

“I don't have nearly the amount of cleavage they have, but I'll give it a try,” I laughed. “Just take it easy on me. I know how you like it, but if you shove that entire thing in me at once I'll kill you.”

Jason laughed and promised to take it slow. The pain wasn't as bad as I imagined it would be, and I actually ended up enjoying it near the end. Had he been able to last longer, I would have gotten off from it, but it had been a while since he topped and wasn't able to continue for more than 10 minutes. After we both finished, we relaxed and caught our breath. He snuggled up in my arms with his head on my chest. It was an exhausting day and didn't take long for both of us to drift off into a peaceful sleep.

---

I woke up the next morning and rolled over to find that Jason wasn't there. As I looked around the room, I saw the clock read 10:02. Being a morning person meant that I would usually wake up before 8 o'clock every morning even without an alarm, but sleeping through the night was a welcome relief from the restless nights I normally had.

Jason came in the room as I crawled out of bed and handed me a cup of coffee. “Breakfast is almost done.”

“Thanks babe,” I said and gave him a quick kiss.

“I think this is the first time I've ever seen you sleep in,” Jason said.

“I know, and you did all the work last night!” I leaned in for another kiss but Jason stopped me.

“You have morning breath and you still have mud on you from yesterday,” he said.

I rolled my eyes and downed the rest of my coffee. Though I would never say it to his face, Jason was definitely the more prissy one in our relationship. By no means was he flamboyant, he just had certain qualities that made him the more.... 'gentle' one in the relationship. He pointed to the bathroom door and made a shooing motion. As I passed by I gave Jason a quick kiss on the cheek and he responded with a slap on my ass.

The shower in the master bathroom was massive. It had four shower heads each with the ability to change the water pressure. After the water warmed up, I turned fiddled with the shower knobs until the water on my back was a constant jet. Initially the high pressure was slightly painful, but after a few minutes the rhythmic motions made it more like a massage. I was so relaxed and lost in thought that I didn't hear the bathroom door open and Jason step in behind me.

Jason wrapped his arms around me from behind and nuzzled his face in my neck. We stayed that way for a while enjoying the warm water streaming down our bodies. Eventually we started washing each other while paying special attention to certain areas. Moments like this were the reason I regretted ever having to go back to work.

After rinsing the soap off, Jason wrapped his arms around me and kissed me deeply. “Come on, breakfast is probably getting cold.”

“What, you don't have a personal chef here?” I teased.

“I'm an excellent cook thank you very much!”

“We'll see about that!” I laughed.

Jason jumped out of the shower and started to dry off while I finished my daily shower routine. Taking a deep breath I flipped the hot water knob all the way off and was blasted with cold water. The sudden temperature change gave my body a tingling sensation. It was a good way to clear my head and wake up my body in the morning.

“You're fucking crazy you know that right?” Jason said.

The first time Jason and I showered together I told him he should get out and dry off, but he insisted on staying in. The moment the cold water hit him he screamed and shut the water off. Laughing probably wasn't the best response from me because he immediately punched me on the arm and got out of the shower. I stood under the icy water as long as possible before I turned it off and stepped out.

Jason shook his head and handed me a towel. “I still don't see the appeal in freezing your ass off every morning.”

“Force of habit,” I said. “If I don't do it then I feel... I guess awkward, for the rest of the day.”

“Whatever you say,” Jason said. “Put some clothes on before you come to eat. There are cameras in the public areas and I don't want my dad checking in to see your naked ass sitting at the kitchen counter eating waffles.”

I laughed at the thought. “It's not like he hasn't seen it before!”

Jason shuddered as we both remembered the time his dad walked in on us having sex when we first got together. Not a great first impression when meeting your boyfriend's father for the first time. Granted, had we not been in the laundry room at the time he probably never would have caught us.

“Speaking of clothes,” I said. “Where are they?”

When we came in we placed our duffel bags in the shack by the garage before we got on the ATVs. Though the thought of a naked ATV ride through the mountains was somewhat appealing, I knew Jason would never do it.

“They're down the hall,” Jason said. “The shack has a conveyor belt that brings the luggage down here. I'll go get them.”

I watched as Jason left and I continued to dry myself. When he returned he put our bags on the bed and started pulling clothes out. I was a couple inches taller than him, but our clothes would fit either of us so he didn't bother separating them.

“What do you wanna do after breakfast?” he asked.

“I'm up for anything,” I said. “What are the options?”

“Well, there's swimming, hiking, fishing, and hunting if you want to venture out. Or we could stay in and relax, maybe watch a movie.”

“Sounds good to me!” I said.

Jason glared at me. “Which one?”

“All of them,” I smiled and kissed him. “You pick.”

He sighed and threw a pair of jeans and a shirt at me. I knew it irritated him that I always made him decide on what we would do, but I also knew deep down he kind of liked being in control of things. We finished getting dressed and made our way to the kitchen to eat.

Jason opened the oven and pulled out the bacon and waffles he made earlier while I grabbed the orange juice from the fridge. There was a comfortable silence between us as we ate. Neither one of us was the type to make unnecessary smalltalk. From an outside perspective it may have seemed like we were an emotionally distant couple, but we were in fact quite close.

After we finished eating, I watched as Jason made some quick sandwiches while I cleaned up the mess from breakfast. It seemed as though he did have an idea, but wasn't sharing it with me. I guess it was payback for making him decide what to do, but I wasn't going to give him the satisfaction of asking him.

“Need help?” I asked.

“Nah, I'm about ready here,” he said.

Jason grabbed some hiking backpacks from a closet and started packing all the food into one of them. The other, I noticed, actually contained a bladder large enough to hold a few gallons of water. Putting two and two together, I assumed we were going hiking. Jason finished packing one of the bags and started filling the water bladder while checking the small first aid kit included in it.

Satisfied that everything was good, he handed me one of the packs.

“Ready?” he asked.

“Of course!”

Jason gave me a quick kiss and led me towards the door we first came in. We made our way back down the tunnel and Jason punched in another 8 digit code on the keypad. As we made our way upstairs and through the cabin, I had another bad feeling in the pit of my stomach. I tried to push it out of my mind, however, remembering last time it was just a vacuum.

The forest surrounding the cabin was massive. There were no visible trails, but it wasn't dense enough that you couldn't make your own path. Jason took the lead and marched us in the direction of a large hill about a mile south of us. I grabbed his hand as we walked and leaned into him. We were both out as far as everyone knowing we were gay and in a relationship, but neither one of us were comfortable with public displays of affection.

We got to the hill in a relatively short amount of time. I looked up and noticed it looked a lot smaller and less steep from farther away. I involuntarily groaned at the thought of climbing it.

Jason smiled and squeezed my hand. “It'll be worth it babe, trust me!”

“It better,” I mumbled as we started our trek to the top.

Reluctantly I let go of his hand so we could use them to climb. It wasn't exactly rock climbing, but it wasn't a nice stroll in the park either. Twenty minutes later we reached the top exhausted. So much for a nice relaxing vacation. There wouldn't be mountain climbing on the beach.

After catching my breath I took a look around at the view. It was nice, but still not worth the climb in my book. Jason, however, loved views such as these and could sit there for hours on end. Usually when that happened I would take a nap and wait for him to finish whatever it is he thought about up there. I wrapped my arms around him from behind and kissed his neck.

As we looked around I took the time to really take in the surroundings. In the distance I could see a small lake nestled between the mountains. It was nice to be able to hear everything going on. It was like a whole new world out there completely cut off from civilization. There were no sounds from a highway, no planes flying overhead, no annoying pricks talking too loud on their cellphones; just complete serenity.

Something caught my attention back in the direction we came from. I saw a quick flash of light again and stiffened. The feeling in my stomach was back.

Jason felt me tense up and turned to face me. “What's wrong?”

“I saw something over there,” I said and pointed.

“Just like you heard something yesterday?” he joked.

“Hey, I actually did hear something. It's not my fault your robot vacuum is possessed!”

“True,” Jason said. “What'd you see?”

“I'm not sure. It was like a flash of light, but it didn't look like it came from a camera,” I said.

“It could have been a reflection off something,” he said.

“Off what though? I thought you said hunters don't come out here.”

“They don't, but some of the wildlife out here are tagged. The state tried to take some of the land to turn it into a national forest, but my dad fought them on it. They reached a compromise that let Rangers track wildlife and use our land for whatever it is they do, but it still remained private and closed to the general public,” Jason said. “You may have seen a reflection off one of the metal tags.”

I shrugged it off and sat down. Jason joined me on the ground and pulled some sandwiches out of the bag and handed one to me. As we ate we talked about what we wanted to do after we returned to the city. I needed to find a new job, and Jason was almost finished with his bachelor's degree in computer science. Though Southern California was a beautiful place to live, both of us agreed that we wanted to move elsewhere.

Jason wanted to stay in the state and move closer to Silicon Valley up north, but I was thinking more out of state. I wasn't comfortable staying in the same area as my previous employer. My boss was a vindictive prick. God forbid I ever had to see him again.

We finished eating and repacked our bags for the climb back down the hill.

“How about we do a little target practice?” Jason asked as we neared the cabin.

I grinned in excitement. “Hell yeah!”

We made our way back down the stairs and into the security room where the guns were. Jason selected two scoped Winchester Model 70 rifles from the case and a box of .30-06 ammunition. He double checked to make sure neither was loaded and handed them to me as he relocked the case.

I could tell Jason was just as excited as I was by the way he ran back up to the cabin. I watched as he pulled open a cabinet and pulled out several empty aluminum cans and tossed them in a bag. Content that we had everything, Jason grabbed my hand and pulled me outside. We walked through the forest until we reached a small clearing.

Jason told me to stay put while he set up some of the cans 100 yards away. As I waited I loaded both rifles.

“You ready?” Jason asked.

“Good to go!” I said.

I handed him one of the rifles and we double checked to make sure everything was working. Rather than have an unsteady shot by firing standing up, we both elected to take a prone position on the ground. I took several deep breaths to control my breathing and looked down my scope.

“Let's make this interesting,” I said.

Jason glanced over at me. “Okay, how so?”

“Loser has to be the bottom tonight,” I said.

“Liked it that much last night, did you?” Jason laughed.

I shrugged. “Is that a yes?”

“You're on!”

We both returned to our scopes and zeroed in on the cans. I heard Jason shoot first, but didn't take the time to see if he hit it. Slowly I pulled the trigger back and sent a round down range. I watched as the bullet barely missed and kicked up dirt next to the can.

“Fuck!”

I heard Jason laughing and saw he barely nicked his can, but he still hit it.

“Best two out of three,” I said.

I readjusted my scope and waited for the wind to calm down before pulling the trigger. Jason and I fired at the same time. My can went flying off the log while Jason's didn't move. The score was even.

Jason giggled next to me. “Just trying to make it interesting by giving you a chance.”

The competitive nature in me was pissed. I couldn't lose to him. I shook my head and took sight down the range. Rather than aim at my can, however, I set sights on Jason's. I pulled off two quick shots and nailed not only my can, but his as well. Jason fired less than a second after I removed his target.

“You cheater!” Jason screamed.

“You mean winner!” I corrected.

“You can't win by cheating! You shot my can!”

“Yes, but I shot mine too so therefore, I win,” I said.

“How the hell did you learn to shoot like that?” Jason asked.

“My dad taught me before he passed away when I was younger. We would go out to the mountains every weekend and fire off a few shots. After he died I kept it up,” I said.

Jason's face softened. I didn't talk about my father much, but for different reasons than Jason. When I was 15, my father was shot and killed after getting out of his car at work. Nothing was missing so robbery wasn't a motive. The police had no leads and the case went cold. They never found the killer.

“I'm sorry, Derek. I know how much he meant to you,” Jason said.

“It's alright,” I said. “Things like this remind me of him and the memories of us going off to do stuff with him, but the pain isn't as bad as it used to be.”

Jason smiled at me and asked if he should move the cans back more. I agreed and watched him place the cans back another 100 yards. As he was lining them up, I heard the crack of twigs breaking behind me. I scanned the area looking for whatever made the noise, but didn't see anything.

“Damn squirrels,” I mumbled to myself.

Jason returned and took his place next to me.

“Double or nothing?” he asked.

“How the hell do you do double or nothing on a bet involving sex?” I laughed.

“True,” he said. “How about loser cooks dinner?”

“Are there frozen pizzas?” I asked.

Jason laughed. “Maybe I should lose on purpose just so I can cook.”

We settled back into our places and took turns firing rounds. After the initial round, I was warmed up enough and hit every target. Jason appeared to do the same. We agreed it was a draw, but needed a way to determine a winner.

There was a No Trespassing sign on one of the trees about 150 yards down. We decided we would each take three rapid shots at the sign and whoever had a closer grouping would win the challenge. Jason went first and did fairly well. His first two shots were only two inches apart, but his third went wide and barely hit the sign.

When it was my turn I controlled my breathing and fired off three rounds into the sign all about an inch apart. Just like old times.

“God damn you're a good shot!” Jason said.

“Thanks,” I smiled and gave him a kiss. “Ready to head back? My shoulder is sore from the recoil and climbing earlier.”

“Sure, let's go,” Jason said.

We unloaded the rifles and grabbed what was left of the box of ammunition and headed back. After we got back in, Jason reset the alarm and stored the guns back in the security room. Both of us were covered in sweat and dirt and decided to take a shower right away.

“Are you hungry?” Jason asked after we got out of the shower.

“Not really,” I said. “Not for dinner at least. I could go for a movie and some popcorn though.”

“Sounds good to me!”

Jason led me to the media room and opened the door. Inside was a miniature theater. The floor had three levels, each with a comfortable couch on it. The screen was massive with a high definition projector hanging from the ceiling in the back of the room.

We sat on the middle couch and Jason showed me how to use the remote to search through the extensive list of movies.

“What movie do you want to watch?” I asked.

“Oh no you don't. You're not putting this on me again. You wanted to watch a movie so you have to pick it!” Jason said.

“Fine,” I grumbled. “Action movie?”

“Works for me. I'll go make popcorn while you pick,” Jason said.

Jason left and I continued my search through the movies. Sticking to the new releases, I found an action sci-fi that looked decent.

I heard the door open behind me. “How about In Time? It has Justin Timberlake in it, but besides that it looks pretty good.”

Jason didn't respond, so I turned to look, but before I could I felt the blade of a knife against my neck.

“Unfortunately, your time is up.”

My blood went cold. I recognized the voice as one I never thought I would hear again.