Clouds and Rain

panting and Gable soothing and cradling him. He was vaguely aware of Gable wiping them off, but Flynn felt so safe and warm he eventually fell asleep. When he woke again, bright sunlight was creeping around the drapes and he was looking into Gable‟s sparkling blue eyes.
    “Hey, sleepyhead.”
    “I‟m sorry,” Flynn apologized.
    “What for? We had the most amazing experience, then you fell asleep, and so did I, and now we‟re awake again.”
    “What time is it?” Flynn asked, dreading the answer, although it didn‟t really matter. They needed to get up either way and he didn‟t want to leave their safe cocoon just yet.
    “Oh, elevenish?” Gable answered casually.

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    “What?” Flynn called out, suddenly wide awake. He jumped out of bed and started sorting out his clothes. “Bloody hell, we need to get up and work!”
    Gable didn‟t budge. He sat in bed with a big smirk on his face, watching Flynn get all worked up. “Come back to bed, Flynn.”
    “There‟re horses that need taking care of and stables to muck out and leather to oil and fences to mend and… and….” Gable chuckled. “Horses can‟t tell time, honey. They don‟t care when you show up. And as long as they have water and juicy grass, they don‟t even care if you show up.” He leaned out of the bed and grabbed Flynn‟s hand to pull him closer. “Now I, on the other hand….” Flynn reluctantly let himself be pulled into bed again. Gable‟s merciless kiss made his resistance break.
    “I unleashed something in you, didn‟t I?” Flynn asked as soon as they broke for air.
    “Oh, I don‟t know,” Gable replied innocently. “I hoped that after your little rest you‟d be good to go again?” Flynn rolled his eyes and smiled before tossing aside the T-shirt he‟d hastily grabbed and crawling under the covers again.

    155

    Zahra Owens

    Chapter 20

    “IF I‟D known it was this easy, I would have called you weeks ago,” Gable chuckled as he stood on the porch, low crutches in both hands, looking down at Craig.
    “Don‟t boast yet. You‟re barely putting any weight on your prosthesis,” the therapist answered from his crouched position, aligning Gable‟s feet.
    “I… Fucking hell!”
    “Told ya.” Craig could barely contain a chuckle. “You‟re going to have to take it easy. Now, bend your knee slightly.”
    “How am I supposed to do that?” Gable asked gruffly.
    “You tell your leg to relax and then you slightly pull up your knee.”
    Gable wobbled a bit and had a tough time keeping his balance.
    “Come on, Gable,” Craig urged him on. “Concentrate. You‟ve been getting around on crutches for months now. This can‟t be that much harder.”
    At that moment Gable looked up, hearing a noise, and saw Flynn running toward the house.
    “Everything… okay?”
    Flynn whizzed by him, entering the house. Just moments later he exited, carrying Gable‟s shotgun.
    Before either of the porch dwellers could react, Flynn was running back toward the barn.
    “What the hell?” Gable murmured before setting out after him, hobbling along on his new crutches.

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    “Hey!” Craig yelled. “Be careful with that leg!” He soon became the third person to hastily make his way across the driveway.
    “Flynn?” Gable called out as soon as he arrived, panting, in the barn. “Flynn?”
    “Back here,” Flynn said in a subdued voice.
    Gable trotted behind the last stall, where the ladder to the hayloft was situated, and found Flynn pointing his gun at two rather familiar men, who were standing, western-movie style, with their hands raised.
    “Hunter,” Gable nodded. “Grant,” he said in a slightly different tone of voice. “Mind if I ask what you‟re doing here?”
    “Can you get him to lower that gun first?” Hunter asked, pointing at Flynn but speaking to Gable.
    “You‟re trespassing,” Gable replied, still sounding decidedly calm.
    “Listen, I can explain, just get him to—”
    “I can‟t command him to do anything,” Gable interrupted with a certain amusement in his voice.
    “He‟s your stable boy, of course you can,” Grant intervened.
    “Oh, he‟s a lot more than my stable boy, Grant. You of all people should understand that.”
    Gable could see Grant starting to fume, but he realized that it no longer fazed him.
    “Listen,” Hunter said, taking charge again by giving Grant a curt nod. “Flynn, we‟re unarmed, so please stop pointing that thing at