Chapter Four
The Reservation
Friday Afternoon
Same Time
The annoying hunt for his lover continued, and after the flight, which was mercifully fast with zero delays, Gene was ready to find his man and figure out how to fix this. Oh, and he knew it wasn’t going to be easy.
Nothing with Ethan was, but to him, that made it even better. If he wanted an easy relationship, he could have continued with the one-night stands.
Instead, he chose permeance.
He chose a commitment.
The heart chose who it chose for a reason. With his lover, his soulmate, he knew it was meant to be.
Now, he had to convince Ethan, who was likely up in his feels, big-time, that he had to return with him. That he had to face life and not hide from it.
Gene didn’t know if he’d be able to do it, or how far-gone Ethan was going to be. He’d be lying if he said he wasn’t scared stupid that Ethan would do something…reckless.
That rode him hard, as he’d been trapped on a plane with no way to contact him for six hours.
Only, Gene would fight.
As most people knew, with the joys of the relationship came the tribulations.
This was a bump in the road.
AN ANNOYING ONE.
The bottom line was that he’d taken a chance with someone so out of his league, who had a propensity to run, that he knew he would need to work for it.
And he did.
Was he still angry that Ethan ran away instead of to him?
Yes.
Was he going to chase his man down to find him and protect him during this storm?
Again, yes.
Ultimately, that was his job.
As his partner in the FBI, and in life, his one job that supersedes all other jobs was to be there when life got too hard for his man to handle.
It happened to the best of them.
While angry, Gene had to remember that this could be far worse.
After what happened to Ethan with David Neives, in the grand scheme of things, this was nothing. If he could pull him from the spiral, they’d fix it.
Or fight it to the end.
Gene wasn’t a quitter, and he refused to give up on the man he loved. You didn’t bail on love.
You dug in and kept doing battle.
To.
The.
End.
If Ethan would turn on his goddamn phone, he’d know that because he would have talked him down. Ethan would also know that he was coming to get him.
But then again, maybe that was for the best. He tended to be a runner, after all. The last thing he needed was for him to slip through his fingers, running somewhere else.
They had to get their asses back to Philadelphia on Monday, so they could go back to work.
Now, it was time to collect his man, oh, and there were going to be words.
Hell!
There might even be a fight at this point.
Who knew?
It was all going to depend on Ethan. If he put up a fight, Gene was more than willing to toss him over his shoulder and drive that rental across country twenty-four-seven until they got home.
He’d handcuff Ethan to the door handle if necessary. If his partner thought he wouldn’t whip out his badge, abscond him, and tell the local authorities that he was bringing in a prisoner…
He had another thing coming.
Bet.
On.
It.
Yeah, Gene was not playing around.
As he drove onto the reservation, he knew where Ethan’s grandfather lived. They’d been there to get the older man new tires for his truck, secretly. They’d been here to drop a motorcycle off for his brother.
So, this wasn’t exactly an unfamiliar place.
With that in mind, Timothy Blackhawk’s home was the first stop.
And goddamn it, he just wanted to get this shit handled because his arm hurt like a bitch.
The aspirin Elizabeth had given him wasn’t cutting it. The metal screws were making his wrist ache.
What he wanted was to pop a pain pill, fall into bed, and take a VERY long nap.
It felt like days since he’d gotten a decent sleep.
What he would do first was find his boyfriend and figure out how to fix all of this.
Because deep down, he didn’t believe that handing him his badge and gun would be enough.
Ethan was rattled, and that would take time. What he’d learned about the man was that during the storm, you didn’t run. You dug in, and you fought like hell for his soul. You let him be submissive as you lead the way out of the storm.
What Ethan needed was someone who could take control and let him regroup.
Because, deep down, he was worth it. There was no doubt there.
The secret to Ethan Blackhawk was to never betray him, and to hold him when he needed it. If he’d learned anything with their sex life, it was that the man who looked strong was absolutely not. What he needed was someone to make him feel safe.
It was a simple solution to a VERY complex problem.
But in order to fix this, he had to find him first.
That was the conundrum.
Parking in front of the simple cabin beside the beat-up truck, he got out and didn’t make it past the front of his vehicle before a man appeared on the porch.
He had company.
Well, holy shit.
Now, he knew what Ethan would look like when he was older. Oh, he’d still carry half of his Caucasian ethnicity, mixing it with the sharp cheekbones, and mysterious eyes, but he would be very similar to this man.
Ethan was going to be very handsome as he became older. That was for sure.
“Mr. Blackhawk?” he asked, pretty sure he knew who it was.
The man nodded.
He had been expecting this visit. Timothy had gone back into the smoke to see what he could do, and pleasantly, he was shown a vision.
He need not do anything.
Help was coming.
“Yes. You are my grandson’s partner,” he asked.
Well, he had been until said grandson ran in the opposite direction. Only, Gene was pretty sure he meant in the FBI, since he didn’t think the man knew about him batting for the same team.
He’d have to handle this delicately.
Ethan’s sexuality was his to discuss, or not discuss, even if it wounded Gene’s heart to be hidden from the man’s family. God knew he’d tell his family about Ethan if they spoke to him.
They didn’t.
But that was neither here nor there. Dirty laundry was not getting hung out here.
“Yes,” he stated, leaving it at that.
Checking him out, Timothy took everything about the man in. He had a cast on his arm, as it peeked out from beneath his coat, but that wasn’t it.
In his eyes, he saw wisdom, patience, and love. With the stress lines etched around his mouth, there was no doubt that his grandson was giving this man a run for his money.
Luckily, the smoke said that Gene Cantrell could hold his own.
He was bulky, built bigger, the opposite of Ethan, and he imagined his grandson was attracted to that safety. He knew Ethan and how much he needed that protection.
Yeah, in that moment, he had confirmation.
Timothy liked the man.
A lot.
Along with that, he had the characteristics of the coming Raven. Had the Great Spirit not given him the gift of seeing what was coming in the smoke, and the necessity for both of his grandsons to have children, he would have been happy with this outcome.
Oh, and he was still overjoyed that Ethan found shelter in the storm, but there would need to be more Blackhawk children to fight what was coming in the future.
Timothy went there, showing the man most of his cards.
“So, you’re his lover.”
That hung there.
Gene was good at playing poker. God knew he had to do it all of the time when it came to questioning criminals, but he also knew what Ethan had told him.
Lying to the Shaman was problematic for a few reasons and just made the outcome worse.
So, he would keep that in mind.
Along with that knowledge, the words…
It hadn’t been a question, but a statement. It appeared that the jig was up.
Yeah, he wasn’t denying Ethan to his own family. That seemed like a horrible idea on a good day, and today was NOT a good day.
It was the opposite.
“I prefer partner and boyfriend, but yes, I’m his lover too,” he stated, marking his territory.
Now, he had to hope the man would help him. Tearing this place apart as he searched for Ethan would take a lot of time. His next stop would be the police station, since he knew Ethan’s brother was the Chief of Reservation Police.
It appeared the game began.
“He left abruptly, and I’ve come to get him and bring him home.”
That said everything but gave nothing away. Gene made sure to keep his voice neutral. Again, the woo-woo shit made him twitchy, and Ethan had assured him that Timothy was all woo-woo, all of the time.
The man said nothing.
Timothy watched him with dark eyes, and it made Gene feel like...prey.
It was unsettling.
It was also what he’d expected. Gene doubted they called him the Shaman because he looked good in all of his ceremonial robes.
Then again, maybe he did.
The Blackhawks were all attractive. There were none as pretty as Ethan, though.
Finally, Timothy spoke.
“It’s cold out. Come in, and we shall talk,” he said, leaving him standing there in his wake.
Well, why not?
It appeared he was going to be meeting the Shaman solo. Hopefully, this went well. This was NOT how he wanted to meet Ethan’s family, but then again, he hadn’t wanted to chase his ‘lover’ across the country either in some scavenger hunt.
Since he wanted to know where Ethan was, it appeared that all roads went through Timothy.
Here.
Went.
Everything.
Following the man inside, he was assaulted with the smell of something cooking in the crockpot on the counter. It reminded him that he was running on coffee and airport snacks.
He made a mental note to feed Ethan when he found him. There was no doubt he’d forgotten to eat, like usual. If he was hungry, he knew his man would be too.
“Sit,” Timothy said, going over to a coffee pot and pouring him a coffee. Then, he made it for him exactly how he liked.
As he handed it to him, Gene didn’t even flinch.
“So, the Shaman knows how I like my coffee. I’m not shocked. Ethan told me that you’re not one to be underestimated when it came to shock and awe.”
Timothy sat, and he was amused.