Two Spirits

By Jory Strong

Pretending to be straight has defined Trey’s life for so long that the thought of giving up the pretense... Well that can wait until after the FBI catches his ex-girlfriend. Or so Trey tells himself before being placed into the protective custody of a lust-inspiring sheriff’s deputy.

One glance at Tenino is all it takes for Trey to know he’s just been delivered into a new kind of trouble. Because Tenino isn’t going to allow him to keep pretending or denying or avoiding the truth—he’s gay and it’s time to yield to desire.

Please note: A previous version of this novella was published by Ellora’s Cave. It has been extensively revised for this edition.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Jory Strong
• Release date: Jun 3, 2015
• ISBN: 9781310975868

Jory Strong

Jory Strong has been writing since childhood and has never outgrown being a daydreamer. When she's not hunched over her computer, lost in the muse and conjuring up new heroes and heroines, she can usually be found reading, riding horses, or walking dogs. Her stories have won numerous awards, as well as been national best sellers. She lives in California with her husband and a menagerie of pets. She loves hearing from readers. Visit her website at jorystrong.com or contact her at [e-mail].

Book preview

Two Spirits

Thunderbird Chosen

Jory Strong

2nd Edition

Copyright 2015 by Valerie Christenson

Smashwords Edition

A huge shout-out and thank you to Jennifer Kiziah for her help!

Thanks to James H. for reading this story and giving me feedback from a gay man's perspective.

Cover design by Syneca Featherstone

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Table of Contents

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Thank You!

About the Author

* * * * *

Chapter 1

The oppressive feeling of having his life completely out of control pressed in on Trey Masters like a heavy fog. Could it be any worse?

His stomach clenched. His skin chilled and the rush of his pulse said yes, yes, hell yeah it could be a lot worse, a whole lot worse.

He could be ostracized for a crime he didn't commit.

He could be in prison with a thousand inmates looking for a chance to jump and shank him.

He could be in some unmarked grave.

So yeah, it could be a hell of a lot worse. And that only scratched the surface of real horror, the things that had already happened to kids he didn't know—and what could have happened to his students or the kids he coached.

He shivered, goose bumps rising along his arms. He rested his forehead against the cold passenger-side window of the blue-and-white police cruiser.

No regrets. Even now, he didn't have any regrets.

He'd done what he needed to do. He was an elementary schoolteacher, for god's sake. But even if he hadn't been, what kind of a man would say no to the Feds when they showed up and asked for help bringing down a powerful family making and distributing child pornography?

Even if he'd known beforehand that Patricia Veron made a deadly, vengeful enemy, he would have kept sleeping with her and pretending everything was okay. The kids she and her family had already hurt deserved justice.

But that wasn't the only reason he'd have kept sleeping with her. If the Feds hadn't stepped in…

Bile rose in his throat at the possibility that he might eventually have asked her to marry him. He wanted to believe the answer was no. But…

Until this had gone down, he'd been desperately clinging to the illusion of heterosexuality.

Fisting his right hand, he struck his thigh once, twice, as if that could drive out the urge to run and keep running from the truth.

Pretending, yeah, he was good at that. Pretending and denial had been a part of his life since he was twelve and got an erection thinking about his best friend, Aaron.

He'd been convinced he was going straight to hell. He'd become certain when the fantasies became more detailed and erotic as he grew older.

Fag. Queer. Pervert. The names were knives with the power to eviscerate.

He'd seen what happened when other kids got labeled. He'd done everything in his power to avoid it. In high school he'd become a track star, a debate team captain, the boy who never lacked for a date or a girl willing to hook-up.

In college it was more of the same. He'd continued to run track though he'd traded the debate team for the school paper. There'd been fewer girls, but the ones he did go out with, he'd fucked, wanting to convince himself he was straight.

If only…

Old feelings of self-loathing threatened to return. He ruthlessly stomped them down.

Even if he hadn't already been steeped in years of denying his core self before Patricia, he wouldn't have acknowledged his sexuality. Not in his devoutly religious mother's house growing up or after, when she started exhibiting signs of the disease that would come to define both of their lives.

On the outside, he'd been the successful son his mother had wanted. But on the inside, he'd had to work harder and harder to suppress the truth of what he really was. Gay.

He grimaced. What a word. Gay. There was nothing about being homosexual that made him even remotely happy, much less lighthearted and carefree. Then again, when had he allowed himself to act on a same-sex attraction? Never.

Maybe it was time to stop pretending. Maybe when this was over and it was safe to involve someone else in his life…

No.

He was still a teacher. How could he ask a man he'd come to care about to pretend to the outside world that they were nothing but friends?

So that left him where? Going the rest of his life without gay sex when the thirteen years since getting an erection for Aaron had only gotten harder and harder?

Maybe when this was over he'd take a trip somewhere and…what…hit a gay bar, check out the personals? Yeah, right.

His virgin ass was so obvious it glowed. He'd attract every predator in town.

A flash of lightning was followed by a sharp crack of thunder. They passed a sign welcoming them to Hohoq.

The round-faced cop in the driver's seat grunted and said, They might as well have sent you to Alaska. Christ, who picked this place?

Trey didn't have an answer as he looked at what was supposed to be his refuge but seemed more like a dreary prison. He counted five buildings, all of them old, and prayed the rest of the town was being hidden by the mist pressing in on the cruiser.

The hope of there being a bookstore was instantly extinguished. They were hard enough to find in a big city. But maybe there'd be a library.

He'd probably end up grateful for a TV that picked up more than one or two channels.

The police car slowed to a halt in front of an old-fashioned sign swinging on heavy chains. Sheriff.

Grab your stuff, the cop said, cutting the engine and placing a hand on the door handle. As soon as I make the official handoff, I'm out of here.

Sure thing. I know you're in a hurry.

Bet your ass I am. My wife'll kill me if I'm not back and on the plane with her to Vegas.

Trey rubbed at the ache centered in his heart. He wanted what the cop had, a nice heterosexual lifestyle that included a wife.

He wanted it, but it wasn't going to happen unless he was willing to spend the rest of his life living a lie. Or until he stopped letting what others think define how he lived—and was willing to risk how that might impact him as a teacher.

Don't ask, don't tell didn't apply solely to the military. It applied to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender teachers.

Yeah there were legal protections, in some places, but discrimination didn't have to be overt to be a reality. And social media meant it was nearly impossible to keep private and professional lives separated, not when even elementary kids had cell phones with cameras and posted on Tumblr!

Snagging the single duffle bag he'd had time to pack in his mad rush to get out of the house and into an informal protective custody arrangement, he opened the cruiser's door. A blast of wet, icy wind hit him and it was enough to center him in the here and now. Survival. Until Patricia Veron stopped being a threat, he didn't need to deal with being gay.