Portal to Arandor Ch. 24

I woke up but knew it was Sunday and I didn't have to go anywhere. My body was a bit sore after the long trek I had made the day before. I really pushed myself and the group that I was leading, but it was a good soreness. Not unlike some really vigorous fucking, I thought, smiling.

I lay there for a while and looked out the window at the rising sun. In the distance, the mountains spread out before me and I saw the green tinge of the first foliage of the year. I loved spring and couldn't wait for flowers and birds and warmer weather.

"Awake already?" came a voice on the other side of the bed.

I was curled on my side and wasn't going to turn over just yet. The view never failed to mesmerize me.

"I just wanted to see the sun rise this morning. It makes me feel good to be alive."

"Aye, it does," said Dylan in his soft Welsh lilt.

I rolled over at last and regarded his body sprawled beside me. Long black hair was in disarray on the pillow and his beard needed some tidying up, but he still looked sexy as hell.

"And how do you feel today?" I asked, with one eyebrow raised.

"Oh I'm fine," he said with a grin. "I didn't find that hike at all strenuous."

I made a sound that told him I didn't believe him, but in reality, he was in incredible shape. He could master any trek through the Rockies.

We lay there for a while and said nothing as the sun rose and spread into the room. Then I heard a soft mewing sound from the hallway.

"Someone is hungry," I said as I pulled the sheets away.

"Brego, my boy, wait a few more minutes, will you?" he said, laughing.

I shook my head. "I still can't believe you named a cat, of all things, after Aragon's horse. Why?"

He shrugged. "It's a good name. It kinda stuck in my head for some reason. Always wanted to name something after it."

"Well then you can feed him," I said as I pulled the blanket over me.

"If I get up, I'm not coming back," he threatened. "I'm going to go for my run with Jake."

"Fine, I'm sleeping for a while longer."

I watched him climb out of bed and marveled at his naked body, yet again. I couldn't stop ogling him sometimes. He was so damn... Then I saw the scar on his side. Even though fully healed, it still looked angry.

I sighed and rolled over. Dylan had come so far since I had known him. While my road back was easier, his was long and painful. His run with Jake was actually followed by a therapy session between the two. I lucked out and found Jake by accident and he had really helped Dylan a lot.

Memory has a way of playing tricks on all of us. Although it was barely two years since they found us in Norway, neither one of us can remember how we got there. I like to say when they found us we did, but it after a few weeks, everything go hazy. Now it was like a period of six months had just vanished from my life.

As I heard Dylan talking to the cat, I thought about his road. It was far more difficult to account for six years, but he had no knowledge of it at all.

All we remember is finding each other in Norway, of all places. There was something to do with a death and I vaguely remember trying to defend myself against a mad man. Perhaps he was the one who had kidnapped me. At least that was the theory. I had been hiking the Rockies, got kidnapped and ended up in Norway. But it really didn't all fit. Sure, they say that severe trauma could block memory, but both Dylan and I underwent hypnosis and nothing came out.

Whatever the cause, I was able to get us safely to a house where I called my parents. I had no idea at the time how long I had been gone. It was like I woke up from a dream. We had a tearful call and they were going to fly to Oslo as soon as they could. All I had to do was get there.

Dylan tried to call his parents, but he had forgotten their number. The people that took us in graciously looked about on the Internet for it but when he tried to call, the number was disconnected.

But all of that happened after he was taken to a hospital and stitched up from the nasty wound he had on his side. Apparently the man after us had administered it, but Dylan was able to dispatch him over the side of cliff near the fjords before collapsing.

Again, I didn't remember hardly any of this. I was just glad it was over and when I finally returned to the States, I began to the task of putting my life together.

For Dylan, it was a lot harder. He went back to Wales with my phone number and email address. After a few days, he called me and told me his parents were both dead. He had been gone six years.

We both sobbed on the phone and it was then that I realized that I was really all he had. He said he was an only child and everyone else had thought him dead. I wasted no time and helped him book a flight to Denver. One way.

He was a wreck when I saw him but I took him in and he slowly made his way back. He had to go through many hours of therapy, much more than me. And he felt horrible that he was so dependant on me. I vaguely remember saying that he had saved my life and I owed it to him, but again, the circumstances were unclear.

Dylan had a hard time with living in the close confines of my place and even though we weren't in Denver, it was too much of a big city for him. So one day we drove up and over the Front Range and found a place in Frisco. He immediately changed for the better and I found a new job. He said the wide open spaces there were just what he needed.

Our relationship up to that point had been platonic. Although we had some type of bond that we weren't sure we knew how it happened, we were friends, ready to help each other. Once we relocated and Dylan was able to start therapy with Jake, things changed.

One magical night he came to my bedroom and without a word got into bed with me and made love to me. It was slow and cautious at first, but then built to shuddering climaxes for us both. And when it was over, I was left with this nagging feeling that we had done it before, but I couldn't place it.

After a while we stopped talking about Norway and misplaced time. We knew we were never going to figure it out so we decided to look ahead.

I got out of bed and slipped on my engagement ring. Yes, we were definitely looking ahead now. I smiled and looked out the window again and watched Dylan jog off into the bright rays.

* * *

And in a different realm, a horse that would not be tamed ran free and a society of men protected what they believed was theirs.