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Note: I owe a special thanks to Robb for doing the final proofreading and catching all those silly little errors that I missed.

If you like the story, I'd appreciate hearing from you.  Send your comments to Jeff Allen (jeff_allen15@hotmail.com).

THUNDER IN THE NIGHT
by Jeff Allen

CHAPTER 4

Juanita's lunch was as delicious as always. As soon as we had finished eating and she had cleaned up the kitchen she announced that she and Alton needed to go back into town.

I walked them out to the truck, and helped her into the passenger seat.

"You take care of that boy, Paul. He told me what happened. He's all alone, frightened, and he trusts you. You call us if you need us."

"I will. And thanks, Tia Juanita."

She playfully slapped my hand as she closed the door and Alton started the truck.

When they were gone, Luis and I sat on the porch and talked. I realized during our conversation that he had a quick mind. He'd never had the opportunity for any formal schooling past that offered by the mission school in his hometown, but he had a strong native intelligence. He was also stunningly beautiful. His smile was infectious. He had long eyelashes that framed his coal dark eyes. I found my self quite attracted to him, and wondered what was happening with my hormones? Here I'd hardly thought of sex at all since the bust up with Richard, and now I appeared to be in heat for two men at the same time!

After a while I remembered the printouts of the various uniforms. I took Luis into the computer room to show them to him. He was in awe of all of the equipment in the room.

I picked up the printouts of various uniforms that I'd found before. "Luis, I want you to look at these pictures and tell me if one of these shows the type of uniform you saw the other night."

"I don't need to look at them, Señor Paul. I saw the uniform again today on the big man who was here when Juanita and I came back."

"Deputy Campbell was the man!"

"No, no, Señor! The man today was not the same. The uniform was the same, but it was not the same man. The man I saw was not as muscular as the Deputy Campbell. I think also he was older. I would have been very afraid if it had been the same man, but I think I like this Deputy Campbell. He has kind eyes, and he made a joke about Juanita's driving."

I thought, 'I never thought of Deputy Campbell's eyes as kind. They're just sexy as all Hell.'

Luis was fascinated by the computers, and so we spent the rest of the day in a computer tutorial. For someone who had never worked with a computer before, he appeared to be a natural. He caught on quickly. After a couple of hours, he was fully involved in searching the Web. I don't think he even realized when I left the room.

I wandered into the kitchen and out to the courtyard. My mind was reeling. What was I going to do with Luis? Was it safe for the two of us to stay here? I decided that I could work on those questions while swimming some laps so I went into the bedroom, stripped naked, grabbed a towel, and headed back into the courtyard and the pool.

Even though I was thinking about Luis, I didn't think of the fact that I was swimming without a suit. It wouldn't have made a difference anyway since I was used to swimming naked in the pool. In fact, I didn't even have a swim suit at the rancho.

One thing I've always appreciated about swimming is that you fall into a natural rhythm and don't need to think about what your body is doing. The motions were automatic. Stroke, stroke, stroke, breathe, stroke, stroke, stroke, breathe. Kick turn at the end. Stroke, stroke, stroke, breathe...

I don't know how long I swam. Enough to be pretty tired, but not enough to have answered the questions running through my mind. Finally it dawned on me that Luis was sitting at the end of the pool watching me swim. I stopped lapping and shook the water out of my hair and eyes.

"Have you been there long?"

"Only a few minutes, Señor Paul. I have never seen any one swim like that. You look like the dolphin."

"Not a very graceful dolphin, but thank you. Why don't you get in the pool with me? It feels good on a hot day like today."

"I...I never learn how to swim."

"Would you like to learn?"

"Sí, Señor Paul. I am a little afraid of the water, but if you are teaching me, it will be okay." He smiled slightly and cast his eyes downward. I thought I saw a blush creep up his cheeks.

"All right. I'll teach you. But first you have to come into the pool."

He paused.

"It's okay, Luis. No one will see you. It's only you and me here."

He thought for a moment. I saw the decision flash across his face, and he began disrobing. I tried not to look, but I stole glances as his body was revealed with each piece of discarded clothing. He stripped down to his boxers and hesitated slightly before hooking his thumbs in the elastic band and pushing them down his thighs and stepping out of them. He stood naked and fully revealed in front of me. His nipples were dark brown and contrasted with the golden hue of the rest of his skin. His cock was a beautiful sight. It was nestled in the thick, black patch of pubic hair I'd glimpsed the other day when he'd taken his shower. His prick wasn't large, perhaps about four inches. The foreskin was slightly pulled back exposing the very tip of his penis. It had completely covered the head of his penis the other day. His hairless balls hung below his cock. Like the rest of him, they were not large, but they suited Luis perfectly. I felt my dick stir in the water at the sight of him.

He walked to the edge of the pool, sat down, and slowly lowered his body into the waist-deep water. He involuntarily sucked in his stomach muscles and kept his arms above the level of the water. It was clear that he was not comfortable in this new medium.

I went over to him and had him hold on to the edge of the pool and practice kicking. From there we moved to ducking his head completely under water and holding his breath. Finally it was time to practice floating. I had him do the deadman float. He was a quick learner but still not comfortable in the water.

I had him stretch out in the water on his back while I supported his body with my hand in the middle of his back. That was a mistake because it brought his cock and balls up to the surface where I had to look at them. His penis had shrunk a little in the cool water so that none of the head was visible past the foreskin. As he tried to keep his head above water, his penis floated first from one side of his balls to the other. His thick pubic bush looked even thicker as the hair floated in the water. I had managed to avoid thinking much of his nakedness while we had been going over the earlier swimming moves, but now I felt myself growing hard in response to what was before my eyes.

Suddenly his head went under the water and he reflexively grabbed my arm and pulled himself toward me. The result of that move was that Luis and I were standing in the water locked in a tight embrace. I could feel my semi-hard dick pressed up against his belly. He had to know that I was aroused!

He looked at me, smiled, and gave a nervous laugh. "Pardón, Señor Paul. I used you as a life preserver, no?"

"Yes. It's okay."

"I think we should stop the lesson for today. I am tired, and I have water in the nose."

"Okay, Luis. You did very well."

"Gracias. I would like to do this again, if it is possible."

"Yes. We'll have another lesson tomorrow."

"Bueno!" He let go of our embrace and moved toward the side of the pool.

He pulled himself up onto the edge of the pool and sat down covering his crotch with his hands to hide a semi erection.

To ease his embarrassment and my own, I turned my back to him and called over my shoulder. "Luis, there are towels in my bathroom. Would you get one for both of us while I swim another couple of laps?"

When I finished the laps (and my hard-on had gone down) I pulled myself out of the water. Luis was standing there with a towel wrapped around his waist and another one for me in his hand.

I thanked him as I dried off with the towel. He sat in one of the chairs beside the pool and watched me dry off. Wrapping the towel around my waist I sat in the chair next to him.

"You are being most kind to me, Señor Paul. I want to do something to show how happy I am. Tia Juanita brought much food here, and I would like to make dinner for you. Okay?"

"That would be great. I didn't realize how late it was getting. We must have been in the pool for at least an hour. I'm starting to get hungry."

He started to get up from the chair.

"But, Luis, if you make the dinner, then you have to sit at the table with me and help me eat it."

He smiled broadly. "Sí, Señor Paul. I will eat with you until we are full like the pigs, no." He jumped up from the chair, grabbed his clothes, and hurried off into the kitchen.

I leaned back in the chair and sighed. I could get used to having him around. Suddenly Luis appeared from the kitchen (fully dressed now) and handed me an open can of beer before hurrying back into the kitchen to start the meal. I headed into my bedroom to get dressed.

*******

The meal was great. He did something really wonderful with chicken. It was served with rice, corn, warm flour tortillas, and salad. We laughed and talked through the meal, and then, despite his protestations, I helped clean the kitchen. Afterwards, we each took another beer out to the porch and watched the sunset and talked for another couple of hours before going to our separate bedrooms.

I drifted off to sleep that night thinking of the feel of Luis' body pressed against mine in the swimming pool.

********

I awoke the next morning to the smell of coffee brewing. I swung my legs over the side of the bed and stumbled into the bathroom to relieve my bladder. Once that task was accomplished, adjusted the water in the shower and then stepped into the comforting stream. I had just finished rinsing the shampoo out of my hair when I heard the clink of something being placed on the bathroom counter.

"Señor Paul, the coffee is by the sink."

"Gracias, Luis."

"De nada, Señor. Breakfast will be ready when you are done with your shower."

I finished the shower and shaved quickly because the smell of the chorizo cooking made me extremely hungry. After pulling on some clothes I joined Luis in the kitchen. He had another huge breakfast prepared. This time he sat down with me to eat without being asked.

After cleaning up the kitchen from breakfast, Luis helped me with the morning chores. I noticed that the feed supply for the horses was running low and decided that I'd need to go into town for some more. Luis was reluctant to go into the town, and I guess I couldn't blame him. He was concerned he would run into the coyotes or the sheriff's deputy who had been involved in the killings and so he asked to stay at the rancho.

I got him settled in front of one of the computers, grabbed my wallet and keys and headed out the door. The morning hadn't heated up much so I drove into Santa Teresa with the windows down still thinking of the mess that I'd walked into.

I pulled up in front of the Rancher's Supply and Feed store as they were opening the doors at 8:30. Just as I was getting out of the Tahoe, a dusty, older model Ford F150 4x4 pickup pulled in alongside my car.

I didn't pay much attention to the truck until I heard a voice say, "Good morning, Mr. Nichols."

I turned around and saw Deputy Campbell getting out of the truck. Instead of the sheriff's uniform, he was dressed in old jeans, plaid shirt, baseball cap, and work boots. He looked as sexy in those clothes as he had in the uniform. I was again struck by how much he looked like Ken Ryker, and my mouth refused to work.

He came around the side of the truck toward me and stuck out his hand. "I'm Mac Campbell...Deputy Campbell from the other day. A lot of folks don't recognize me without the uniform."

I took his hand. The grasp was firm and warm and lasted just a bit too long. My ability to speak returned after a big swallow. "Sorry, you surprised me. I just came into town to get some more food for the horses."

"Yeah, I'm here for the same thing. It's rough to have to spend your day off doing chores and errands."

He told me that he had an eight-year-old gelding.

"He's really just a big pet now. I don't get a chance to ride him very much and no place to ride when I do have the time."

We joked back and forth about the amount of food that horses could process. We both agreed that a lot more seemed to come out the rear end of the horse than went in the front.

We continued our light conversation while we paid for the feed and waited for the bags to be loaded into our vehicles. When the bags of feed were loaded, there was an awkward silence which he broke by sticking his hands in his jeans pockets, shrugging his broad shoulders and saying, "If you've got some time, come have a cup of coffee with me."

I quickly accepted the invitation, and was rewarded with a smile that spread across his face. We agreed to meet at Baker's Restaurant and Grille for the coffee. Actually, there wasn't a lot of choice since Baker's is the only place open before lunch except for the local McDonald's. Baker's was only a couple of blocks away so in just a few minutes we were sipping coffee and enjoying one of Dot Baker's sticky buns.

We chatted easily. I found out that his full name was Ian McDonald Campbell. "My folks have this thing about the Scottish heritage." He'd grown up in northern California, joined the Marines right after highschool and had been an MP for most of his six years in the Corps. After his discharge from the Marines, he'd gotten the job as a Santa Teresa County deputy. He'd only been on the force for eight months so he claimed that he was still learning all the back roads even though Santa Teresa County was one of the smaller counties in California. He smiled a lot when he talked, and those blue eyes twinkled. He finally removed his baseball cap during the second cup of coffee. His hair was close cropped, but I had been right before. It was the same color as the red blond mat the curled out of the top of his shirt. I felt myself melting faster than the frosting on Dot's sticky buns.

When it was my turn to talk, I told him about moving out to San Diego and starting the businesses. I left out the parts about the disastrous love affairs. I thought it kind of odd at the time that neither one of us mentioned any girlfriends (well, boyfriends for me).

After our third refill of coffee and another sticky bun, he looked at his watch and said that he had to get back to his errands. I looked at my watch and discovered that it was almost 11:00. We'd been talking for nearly two hours and it had seemed like only minutes.

He insisted on paying for both of us. "This way you'll feel guilty, and buy me a cup of coffee some other time."

I laughed and left the tip.

Back out in the parking lot, we paused next to our vehicles. He struck out his hand again, and I took it.

"You said that you don't have anyplace to ride your horse. Why don't you bring him out to my rancho on your next day off, and we can get in some riding together. That is, if you have a horse trailer."

"Gee, thanks. That would be great. It just so happens that I've got tomorrow off as well as today, and I do have a trailer. Will you still be here or are you going back to San Diego?"

I looked at him and laughed. "Seems to me that I've been told by the authorities to stay around town for a couple of days."

He blushed. "Oh, yeah. I'd forgotten about that. Napier can be such an ass sometimes."

"It's okay he was just doing his job, and tomorrow would be just fine. Come out mid morning or so."

"It's a date."

He moved his hand again, and I realized that we'd been holding hands all though that conversation. Interesting!

He turned and went around to his truck. I watched his well-formed ass disappear around the fender of the truck before I climbed into my Tahoe to head back out to the rancho.

As I drove out of town I hummed and tapped the wheel of the truck to some imaginary tune. I didn't know where this was going. I assumed he was straight, but yet he had held those handshakes a little too long. All I knew was that I was excited by the prospect of seeing him again.

Suddenly it occurred to me that Luis would be out at the rancho. Would this make him uncomfortable to have Mac, a police officer, there? What about the vibes I'd gotten from Luis in the pool the previous day?

I seemed to have a real talent for digging myself deeper and deeper into trouble.

(to be continued)