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Beau Arlen started his truck, strapped on his seat belt and drove towards Austin, Texas, with the memories of a certain Texas Ranger still fresh on his mind.
“You stay safe, you understand?” Walker rasped, feeling the lump in his throat tighten.
“I promise,” Arlen replied, trying hard not to break down. He slowly pushed a small strand of hair trailing on Walker’s forehead behind his ear. There was so much to say, so much to explore, but they didn’t have time and he knew they couldn’t continue being together.
“Why…why can’t…”
“Shh…” He leaned down and placed a soft lingering kiss on Walker’s kiss swollen lips. “It’s dangerous and we both know the reason why.”
A single tear slipped past Walker’s eye and Arlen thumbed it away. “I..l…”
“I know.” Arlen leaned down and pressed their foreheads together. “Believe me, I know.” He slowly caressed Walker’s naked chest and stopped right on top of his heart where he could feel his heartbeats. “Can we please just have this one night?Just this one night together? Nothing to say and nothing to discuss. Just you and me together?”’
Walker gave him an uncertain smile. “Yeah. Just…go slow.”
“Yeah,” Arlen said, and kissed his lover deeply before throwing the sheets off their naked bodies. He felt the shiver run through Walker’s body at the coolness that hit their warm sweaty bodies.
****
Captain James was standing outside the office building, eagerly awaiting the arrival of his friend. They had met at a conference on illicit drug dealings, security and prevention that had been held in Austin when James was just promoted to Captain.They had crossed paths again when he worked on a special task force keeping surveillance on the Mexico Drug Cartel. It was during those meets that their friendship blossomed. James found him to be a charming, good ol’ Texan cop. He was funny, extremely sharp, quick-witted, and attached to his Texan roots. They had parted ways as good friends and now Larry James was excited to meet him again after almost one year later. He was informed that his friend was the new Sheriff of a county in Montana. So, James was doubly excited to welcome him to Austin.
Capt. James looked up when he heard a car stop, eagerly walking over as a man clad in black jeans and a blue shirt with a khaki vest stepped out. He put on his brown hat and grinned at James.
“Hey buddy…long time huh?” James greeted his friend with a hug.
“Almost a year,” he replied. He had a thick Texan accent.
“Beau Arlen - the new sheriff in town. How does that go?” James asked.
Beau Arlen ducked his head and took off his hat. “Well, it’s a temp job. Doin’a favor to a friend,” Beau replied.
James was struck by the brilliant, sharp green eyes which always had impressed him as assessing and clever. There was danger in that gaze, synonymous with the baggage that came with the job. “That’s fantastic. Maybe you’ll stick around for the time being.”
“Don’t know. As of now, it’s still new to me. The town I mean, not the job.”
“Of course. You’ve done pretty wild jobs before.”
Beau shrugged. “All part of life, man.”
James nodded and patted his back. “Come on, let's go inside. We’ll get some privacy to talk about the information you need.”
“Lead the way, Captain,” Arlen said and followed James inside the building.
They went up the elevator to the fourth floor. “How are the officers back there?”
“It’s a mixed breed. Got us a handful of idiots and a few smart boys. Interestingly I also have a bunch of strong headed women working as private detectives. So it’s a force to reckon with, I’d say.”
“Private detectives? Working with the Sheriff's office?” James questioned.
“Well, yeah, I mean there’s a reason I am here. I’ll get into more details later,” Arlen answered.
“Hmm..let’s get to work then,” James replied as they stepped out of the elevator and headed towards his office.
“Come on in. Welcome to the Captain of the Texas Ranger’s office. What can I do for you?” James said as he took his seat and waved Arlen to do the same.
“Quite a nice set up, I must say,” Arlen said, looking at the huge desk, the window curtains and the papers spilling here and there with files piled up on the desk.
“Don’t ask. It is one of the perks of the job,” James replied sarcastically.
Arlen laughed. “I can relate, man. So about the reason I’m here.”
“Yeah. You mentioned it’s related to the Sinaloa Cartel?” James questioned.
Arlen nodded. “They are one of the nasty ones. Not my first encounter though. I’ve tangled with them before.”
“Wait…wasn’t that the same cartel you tried infiltrating a few years back?” James questioned, remembering their talk at the conference.
Arlen smirked. “You got a good memory. “
“Well, I’m the Captain of Rangers for a reason, right?”
Arlen smiled. “Score one. Anyway, I did try to infiltrate the Sinaloa Cartel…thrice actually, but it’s been a bust everytime.”
“Then how may I help you this time?” James asked.
Arlen looked at him for a while, trying to assess if this would be the right time to come clean. “Actually, I need you to lend me one of your Rangers for a day.”
“What?” James was taken aback a bit because as far as he knew there was no Ranger that he knew currently working on Sinaloa Cartel. “I don’t think I have anyone with credible information on…”
“Cordell Walker, ” Arlen said, gauging James’s mood. “We met when he was working undercover.”
James was now suspicious. “How do you know that?” When had these two met? Why hadn’t Walker said anything to him? What kind of conversation took place between these two? More importantly, how did Beau Arlen come to know about Walker being undercover? Had his cover been blown? But Walker was tracking Northside Nation, not the Sinaloa Cartel. So when exactly had this happened? It didn’t make any sense. “And for your information he’s never worked on the…”
Arlen interrupted. It was deeply satisfying to him that no one knew about him meeting Walker. Their secret was safe. “I know he worked on the Northside Nation front. What you don’t know is that…there was a nexus between Sinaloa and Northside. He had come close to busting that relationship.”
“Hold on. Are you trying to tell me that Northside and Sinaloa, who are famously rivals, were actually operating together?” James asked. This was quite a revelation to him.
“You didn’t know? Come on, Captain James…” Arlen teased. “I’m sure your Ranger must have informed you.”
“Yeah right,” James scoffed, getting a bit angry that the information that he should have was with Beau Arlen of all people, a temporary Sheriff for God’s sake. He pressed his intercom and asked the assistant to send Walker in.
“It’s no big deal…you’re acting like...” Beau didn’t get to complete his sentence though.
“No, it is a big deal. You don’t know what he was going through. Being undercover and working with Northside took a toll on him, and now you tell me he brushed off with those Sinaloa guys too? This is dangerous business and he has a family who needs him. This could have blown…”
“But it didn’t. Your anger is misplaced,” Arlen admonished him. “So stop getting pissed and help me instead. We can now focus on this with renewed focus. It’s good that he didn’t do the tango with Sinaloa. I was there to divert him. And it wasn’t even his assignment, so I understand why he didn’t give you this information, since Sinaloa wasn’t even his concern.”
Arlen was right and James knew it. He was just pissed because he considered Walker his friend, and he hadn’t even bothered giving James this information, even if it wasn’t of importance at that time. “What were you doing there?”
“I was doing my job,” Arlen shrugged. “Besides, there are many things that I know and you don’t, so don’t just go around bashing Walker because he failed to mention it to you before.”
James huffed, “You don’t ever mince words, do you?”
“What can I say…I’m pretty straightforward.”
“Yeah…”
“So, give me the update on what’s up with Ranger Walker?” Arlen asked.
It didn’t miss James’ attention that the Sheriff was interested in Walker. “Well, he did a good job of unearthing the big scam at the DA’s office.”
“I know. Read it in papers. Stan Morrison. He was one shady dude. Killed Walker’s wife, didn’t he?”
“You know what? I’m not comfortable with you anymore, my man.” James said, a bit amused and a bit confused. “You know way too much despite the fact that you’ve never worked in Austin as far as I know.”
“Well, that doesn't mean I don’t have my own sources. Especially when it comes to the Texas Rangers.”
Now that was weird. Arlen seemed to be more interested in Walker because it was obvious he had been keeping his tabs on him. “Texas Rangers or one Texas Ranger specifically?” James couldn’t help but ask. He didn’t miss that Arlen smiled a little when he mentioned that. He had a feeling there was more to this than met the eye.
Just as he was about to dig more, someone knocked on his door. “Come in.” What took place in the next few seconds was something he never would have thought was possible.
Cordell Walker walked in with his usual confidence only to stop dead in his tracks when he saw Beau Arlen sitting in front of James and looking at him with a smirk on his face. Those piercing green eyes roamed over his body from head to toe. Walker suddenly felt warm, his heart beating so fast he could practically hear his blood pumping. They were never supposed to meet again. No one was supposed to know about them. And yet, here they were in the same room.
When Arlen stood up and slowly approached Walker, he couldn’t take his eyes off of the man. Beau Arlen’s hair had grown long since the last time they met and his scruffy beard looked just as sexy on him as it had back then. He remembered the night they spent together - eating, drinking and talking, and doing…other things. Walker felt his face heat up as he recognized the look of longing and desire on Arlen’s face. He felt l the same reflected back in his heart. It was the night that changed his life forever, and Walker would always remember it fondly for the rest of his life. There was passion, desperation, desire and something more that both were afraid of naming that had been shared between them that night. It was sacred to them alone, and no one needed to know. But the fact that Arlen was standing right in front of him made him fear that there was something sinister going on for him to visit Austin.
***
“You’re still open I see,” Arlen said in a coarse voice, his fingers toying with the loose hole of the man spread open under him on the bed . He was rubbing his hard dick against his lover’s, their breath mingling with each other as they shared the space, occasionally kissing each other, their tongues tangling with each other as if ready to devour the very essence. Every little sound that fell from Walker’s lips, every little moan, every whimper, every small groan - everything, everytime Arlen ensured that he heard them and stored it in his mind so he could remember forever.
“Please..” Walker said, voice pleading.
“I should open you up more…”
“No.” Walker gripped the arms of his bedmate tightly, as if afraid he would vanish the moment he let go. “Please, I wanna feel you…feel you even after…please.” He didn’t need to say anything further because Aren understood it very well. In the next moment, his leg was thrown over Arlen’s shoulder and the other he instinctively wrapped around Arlen’s waist and took a deep breath.
“Ready?” Arlen asked.
“Yeah.” Walker whispered.
Slowly, so very slowly, Arlen pressed inside, his thick cock sliding inside Walker. This was their third round and Walker was open enough for him to slide inside easily, but he didn’t wanna do it quickly. He wanted to draw out the moment. He slowly slid in and slid out, loving the noises coming from Walker’s lips.
“You’re beautiful. So very beautiful.”
Walker closed his eyes. “Don’t…if this is the last time…”
“Sh…none of that.” Arlen once again dipped down and took his lips in a bruising kiss. He mapped out the insides of Walker’s mouth with his tongue and then bit down on his lower lip. Walker hissed and in the very next second Arlen found himself being flipped on his back with Walker on top of him.
“Oohh…bossy, huh?”
“I’mma give you the ride of your life,” Walker said, stealing one kiss and then straightening up, slowly moving his hips, stimulating the cock inside him, clenching around it.
“Shit! Careful, baby.”
“I’m always careful, Mr. Arlen.”
Walker started slowly moving up and down, loving the small gasps coming from the man under him. He stared into the moss green eyes and slowed his pace. With every push, he could see the lust and desire shining in those eyes. He could see the need and want and the desperation for him that made him smile a bit smugly. He then proceeded to touch from Arlen’s chest down to his crotch to his heart’s content as he bounced slowly, drawing it out.
“Baby, you’re gonna be the death of me.”
“What a way to go, Mr. Arlen.”
“You know it turns me on when you say my name.”
“Why do you think I do it?” Walker winked, despite their emotional state. He cherished the little moment of teasing each other. He was lost in teasing when he felt hands gripping him tightly on his hips, sure to leave bruises behind, and then he was manhandled until he was on his knees with Arlen sitting and leaning against the headboard, devouring his mouth in a searing kiss.
“You know I’m gonna miss you.”
“Me too…ah…” Walker moaned as Arlen hit his prostate with the next thrust.
They both gave into the passion after that. It was slow like a pendulum, rhythmically drawing out their climax, making memories and trying to remember each other. When their climaxes hit, they both were too gone to stay sane. Walker’s orgasm took him by surprise and he saw white spots as he came, making a mess of their bodies. When he came back he was spread on his back and his lover was thrusting inside him, chasing his orgasm. He held Arlen’s face in his palms on both sides.
“Hey, look at me.”
Arlen did.
“I’m right here, yeah?” Walker said and clenched his insides around Arlen’s dick and in that moment, Arlen’s control snapped and he orgasmed. By the time they were done, they were a tangled mess of sweat, come, and tired limbs. They traded slow kisses, refusing to think of their impending separation the next morning and fell asleep in each other’s arms.
***
“You’re here.” Walker said, voice strangely blank, unable to look away from Arlen even for a minute. He wanted to catalog each and every emotion so openly displayed on his face.
Arlen stood up and tipped his head down a bit, as if he was taking a bow. “I am. It’s nice to meet you, Ranger Walker.”
Walker didn’t know what to do. Should he reply to that or should he keep staring at the man standing in front of him? The last time they saw each other, Walker was pretty messed up. After Emily, it felt like he’d never fit in again, never find someone who he could trust again and who could understand him like she did.Then he met Beau Arlen, and for the first time after his wife’s tragic death, he felt like he could breathe again. They hit it off immediately. Those few months spent with Beau Arlen were some of the best of his life , even if it was a dangerous time. He had been just getting used to the fact that he was getting over Emily and finally finding someone, when it was all torn away from him in a second. It wasn’t anyone’s fault, but the circumstances were such that they had to part ways and not on good terms. And now, after he had just healed and moved on, Beau Arlen was back in his life, looking as if nothing had changed.
“What are you doing here?” Walker asked, feeling a bit angry with the man.
“Well, I have some work …” Arlen started but didn’t get a chance to finish speaking.
Walker scoffed, “Of course you do. It’s always work for you, isn’t it? Either that or it’s your ex-wife or your family or something else. For once, Mr. Arlen, do you ever try to think of the person you’re hurting everytime you swoop in like nothing has happened? ”
“Hey, I did think about that!” Arlen exclaimed. “That’s why I am here after so long. Had I never thought about you or hurt your feelings, I would have come back immediately after my assignment was complete. I knew you were hurting and you were trying to move on and I didn’t wanna jinx anything because…”
“Oh shut up,” Walker snapped. “Please, like you care about me.”
Arlen’s patience was wearing thin. How could Walker accuse him like that? “You son of a bitch. You have no idea how bad it hurt to walk away from you that day. You think it was easy for me to stay away from you? Especially after that night.”
Walker narrowed his eyes. “I don’t believe you.”
“Right back at ya, buddy. If it wasn’t absolutely necessary I wouldn’t even have…” He watched as Walker’s face went pale with every word he said. That’s when Beau Arlen realized what he was about to say. It horrified him for a second to admit that he was about to tell Walker that he’d never have been here to see him again. While half of it was true, the other half wasn’t. It hurt him that Walker was blatantly accusing him of walking away from them, and he wanted to spite the man back.
Arlen sighed, brushing his fingers through his hair and looking Walker straight in the eye. “This isn’t going anywhere. I’ll come straight to the point. There’s been a series of murders in Huston where I was stationed for four months and all of the victims have closely worked for Sinaloa cartel. I initially didn’t pay much attention to it because it wasn’t my job, I was assigned a different job back then. Flash forward six months, I'm currently stationed in Montana as Sheriff and…”
“I know,” Walker said softly. Just because he was miffed with Arlen didn’t mean he didn’t keep a track of where his ex had been working.
Beau Arlen was surprised. “You do?”
Walker rolled his eyes. “It's not just you who knows how to keep tabs on people.”
“Right.” Arlen said. It did surprise him to know that Walker had kept an eye on him, given their history. It shouldn’t have because he knew what they felt was very real, and he couldn’t help but be pleased to know that behind the Ranger’s anger and the ferocity, there was a heart that was still beating for him. He smiled a little, loving the shy look on Walker’s face when he looked at him fondly. “Anyway, I was stationed at Montana where I came across a tip mentioning that the recent set of disappearances in Montana are linked with not only the Sinaloa cartel, but are being executed by the crew of Northside Nation. I believe one of the smugglers that you guys caught in Austin recently was a part of the same gang whose members are disappearing from Montana.”
Walker listened patiently to what Arlen had to say. “Hang on. Are you suggesting that these murders that happened in Huston and the disappearances in Montana are somehow connected?”
“Yes. There has to be some connection.”
“But the murders happened months ago and the disappearances are recent,” Walker observed.
“True.”
“Wait.” It struck Cordell Walker what his ex was implying. “Does this have anything to do with the operation you were conducting while I was undercover with you?”
“I’m afraid so.”
“Beau,” Walker’s eyes immediately went big as he went on alert. “Your life could be in danger.”
Arlen smiled at the slip of his name from Walker’s lips. “I know. That’s why I need your help to track down the person you identified that worked for both Northside and Sinaloa.”
“You promised me you would be careful.”
“I did. But we both know in our line of work it’s never gonna be as watertight as we want it to be.”
“This means, those people who are disappearing …are they from the group you saved under the witness protection scheme?”
Arlen’s eyebrows shot up. “I didn’t think that could be a possible connection.”
“Are you crazy? You jumped in without proper investigation?”
“Hey, I’m not crazy. It just slipped my mind…”
“That Sinaloa could actually be after you and not them?” Walker finished for Arlen.
“Yeah. Or they are both after me and them.”
“I’m coming with you.”
“Hey, no, you’re not. I just need your help to interrogate the smuggler you caught. I want you to give me all the details you know about the marriage of convenience between Sinaloa and Northside. That’s it. I’m not endangering your life.”
“But you’re ready to endanger yours?”
“What can I say?” Arlen shrugged. “Life’s a gamble after all.”
He said it with so much ease, as if he had accepted the fact that there was a possibility of something happening to him. Walker couldn’t breathe for a second. The possibility of something happening to Beau Arlen, no matter how tough the guy was, made his heart beat anxiously. He had lost the love of his life once and he couldn’t do that again. Not that he actually loved the man…it was too soon to jump to that conclusion, but he did have feelings which ran deeper …so deep he could feel the cold settling in his veins. He couldn’t lose Arlen. He refused to do it. He just couldn’t.
Meanwhile, Captain James kept looking at them with wide eyes, observing the tension between the two men. The way they were talking as if no one else was around. It felt a lot like a couple was fighting to save each other’s ass. He didn’t interrupt, he was so shocked to see the two guys he knew talk about everything that went down between them. Hell, had he known this would happen, he’d have brought popcorn. But he was far too surprised to hear everything to do anything about it. He moved the second he saw Walker hyperventilating and reached out to help him settle down in the chair with the help of Arlen.
“Hey hey, breathe.” Arlen immediately rushed to Walker’s aid when he saw him hyperventilating. “Look at me, repeat after me…come on… eighty nine.”
“Eight…eighty…nine..eighty nine…” Walker tried, his vision blurry, trying to clear the fog from his mind.
“Ninety Nine…”
“Ninety…nine”
“Good. sixty seven, seventy four, ninety three…..”
Walker kept repeating the numbers not understanding their order. But once the counting was finished, he could sense he was breathing normally and was somehow sitting in the chair with a concerned Arlen and Captain James looming over him. He didn’t remember how he came to be sitting on the chair with a glass of water in his hand, but he was here.
“Feeling ok?” James asked.
“Yeah,” Walker rasped. He took a sip of water and placed the glass on the table, looking at Arlen. Even if he didn’t remember the past few minutes, he did remember the fact that Arlen’s life was threatened. “I can’t lose you.”
Those four words were said with so much emotion that Arlen couldn’t stop the sting of tears behind his eyelids. He immediately rushed to grab Walker and embraced him tightly to his heart’s content. He felt Walker’s arms sliding on his back and he released the breath he didn’t know he was holding in. He pressed a kiss on Walker’s cheek and pressed his nose in the crook of his neck, scenting the man he loved after so long.
“You won’t lose me. I promise.” Arlen whispered in his ears.
Someone coughing from beside them had them jumping apart.
Captain James was flabbergasted for the lack of words. He had no clue that the two friends he was close to had a shared history like this, and they had never thought of mentioning it to him. He was a little pleased when they jumped apart and looked at him with wide eyes like a deer caught in headlights. “So, I take it you two know each other so well that you decided to team up without even getting my permission or informing me about it.”
Arlen scratched his head, a bit embarrassed. “Sorry you had to find out like that.”
“Are you kidding? It was like the moment your eyes met you forgot I even existed!” James exclaimed. “You two tangoed back when you both were undercover. It’s been a year and a half since then, and you both didn’t feel like I should know about this?” He was a bit jealous that Walker of all people didn’t find it fit to tell him something as important as this.
“It wasn’t like what we did actually affected our mission,” Walker pointed out.
“Yeah, but when you debriefed me, you didn’t ever mention getting info about the Sinaloa cartel.”
“Yeah because it wasn’t of concern at that point.” Walker reasoned.
“It’s Sinaloa for god’s sake!” James said.
“But they weren’t of concern to me. I was there to see if I could get some clues about…”
“I know why you agreed to go undercover, Walker, I was there, remember? But it wasn’t about Emily! Not everything was abou Emily. You should have informed me,” James yelled.
Walker stood up, rolling his shoulders. “How dare you?”
Beau Arlen could see James had hit a nerve, and he needed to stop whatever was about to go down between the two friends.
“Everybody calm down for heaven’s sake!” Arlen intervened. “The how and what of that undercover mission and the fact that it skipped both our minds to keep you in loop is not important right now. It happened. It’s done. We need to focus on the fact that these bastards are after me, and there is a possibility that they might hit again. We need to act fast and focus on bringing these sons of bitches down. Not give in to an ego fight.”
James sighed. The sheriff was right. “Alright. But you have to brief me before I green-light any of your plans.”
“Of course,” Arlen agreed. “My condition is that I want Walker in.”
Walker snapped his head towards Beau Arlen. “What do you mean, ‘your condition’? I’m going in with or without James’s permission. I’m not letting you go alone in this shit.”
“Alright.” James acquiesced. “All three of us are in. Friends stick together for better or worse, right?”
“Yeah,” Arlen said, grateful to have the Captain’s support.
“That includes friends with benefits,” James snarked, loving the blush that covered Walker’s cheeks.
“We’re not…friends with benefits…”
“Buddy, you’re more than that. You don’t fool me.” James cackled as he saw Walker blush an even darker shade of red.
“Shut up,” Walker mumbled.
“Alright. Sit down and tell me what went down a year ago,” James said.
Arlen and Walker looked at each other and smiled. It was time for a new adventure to begin.
***
The next morning when Walker woke up, he found himself alone on the bed. There was a sticky note posted on the pillow next to him. He touched the side of the bed where Beau Arlen had lept beside him. The sheets were cool, which meant he’d been gone for a long time. He plucked the note and read it.
‘Work Calls. Sorry I didn’t wake you. I can’t say goodbye to you. Although I’ll give your love to Pedro.
I’ll miss you, my love.
From Beau to my very own Beau.’
Walker smiled shakily, feeling touched. A rush of emotions grasped him tight within seconds. It was the first time that Beau had used the ‘L’ word. He didn't know if he was ready for that, but he did know he was in deep water and it was going to be hell to swim out without a scratch. He took his lover’s pillow that still smelled like him and clutched it to his chest, a small smile on his face hoping to see the mysterious green-eyed man once again someday. Someday far in future - hoping to find his happy ending.
He didn’t know what the future had in store for him.
The End