Page 2 of Dead Air
“I really like the way he…ahem!” Niall cleared his throat suggestively and fanned himself, passing the phone back. “That Thoren guy is exactly why I can’t have a smartphone. Nothing would get done and you’d find a dehydrated husk in my cabin.”
Kerry snickered as she returned from the back with his mail and his weekly order from the general store, neatly packed in a Budweiser box. “He’s theonlyreason I have one. And cat videos.”
DeeDee hummed in agreement. “I don’t even like men but bless that beautiful bearded beast. I could watch him chop wood all day.”
I’d let him split me like a log,Niall thought while rummaging through his groceries and removing an apple. He took a large bite, hooking his arm around the box. The apple was clamped between his teeth as he tucked his mail in next to a bag of granola, then waved.
“Later!” he called but it was muffled by the apple. Niall took it out, pausing as he backed through the door. “But if you do run into any tattooed lumberjacks and they happen to be bi or gay, send them my way. It gets a little lonely up there,” he added with a playful wink.
“What about Shelby? I bet he’d be happy to keep you company,” Kerry shouted after him but Niall stuffed the apple back into his mouth and made his escape.
Not touching that one,he said to himself, wincing at the ATV as he set the box on the rear rack.
His thoughts lingered on Officer Silas Shelby as he secured it with bungee straps. Niall liked the handsome, older federal agent and thought he looked like “the guy fromMad Men.” He hadn’t actually seen the show and didn’t know a lot about current culture but he definitely had a weakness for the dominant, fatherly type.
But Niall was afraid that Shelby would discover the truth. And Niall sensed that Shelby wanted something serious and a partner in future adventures. Shelby could have been a complication and possibly competition for Cenn, but Niall was too scared for romantic adventures and had no intentions of ever leaving “his mountain.”
A hot fling with a lost lumberjack would begreat, though. I’d ride his beard until I had blisters and let him stuff my hole like a beaver before I sent him on his way.
There was that charming inner monologue again, entertaining Cenn and showing him the way to Niall’s heart.
He wouldn’t even have to be fit or all that hot. Just decent and kind and capable of holding a conversation.
It wasn’t a very high bar, but Cenn was looking forward to sweeping Niall off his feet. The gentle forest ranger’s quiet, sheltered existence was due for a shakeup. Nothing too traumatic, given Niall’s past. Cenn had no idea what Hugh Dùbhghlas’s ultimate intentions were as far as Niall was concerned or if he was simply a pawn in the feud against Oglethorpe and the demigod. But Cenn didn’t have to bethatkind of monster and there was no rule or spiritual reason they couldn’t have a little fun in the meantime.
Why not make a few of Niall Gilpatrick’s fantasies and wildest wishes come true first? Who said bartering for souls couldn’t be fun or give a mortal some closure and satisfaction before getting down to the nitty gritty of eternal damnation? Where did it say a demon couldn’t enjoy himself or his mission?
Misery wasn’t mandatory so Cenn didn’t see any harm in showing Niall a good time while unburdening the naive young man of his precious little soul.
Let the games begin.
Two
Ziplock bags were terrible for the planet. Each one could take 1,000 years to decompose in a landfill and some humans went through hundreds in a year. That’s why Niall washed and reused any that entered his cabin until the plastic zippers fell off or they spouted holes. The general store sent his granola in bags that were the perfect size for freezing and defrosting individual servings of soups and casseroles.
Niall often spent his days off making a pot of stew or his Aunt Sheila’s ziti in the dutch oven. Those kinds of meals took half a day to prepare and cook with nothing but a pellet stove. Or the solar oven if he wasreallybored. He had various solar gadgets for cooking and powering devices, thanks to careless campers and the visitor center’s overflowing lost and found.
These were the boring details of Niall’s very boring existence and his life was especially dull when his part of the mountain was closed. The small chest freezer that doubled as a kitchen counter and dinner table was neatly stocked with dozens of dinners and cooked, spiced fruits for fast “cobblers.”
Niall sighed at the two bags of food thawing in his sink. “My nonexistent future husband is going to be such a lucky man.”
He had no idea if he was being sincere or sarcastic about the lucky part. Niall would probably make a great househusband. His cabin was only 16’ x 16’ but he kept it as neat as a pin. He didn’t mind that it was sparse, with just his bed, an armchair, a sink, the stove, some shelves, and half of an old barrel that served as a coffee table and a bathtub. Niall had hung a curtain in the corner behind the sink to hide his toilet, in case he got brave and finally invited someone in. He often wished he had someone to share a meal and a long, rambling conversation with. And ideally a long, hot night as well.
Feeding and caring for people were Niall’s passions, but more than a night? A weekend would be the absolute limit, he was sure. He recoiled at the thought of something long-term and Niall had an aversion to cohabitation that had nothing to do with Andy. Niall wouldn’t call himself an introvert because he did enjoy being in the company of other people. Nothing made him happier than knowing he had been useful to any purpose higher than himself and helping someone was always the highlight of Niall’s day.
He just felt more peaceful when he was alone in his own space and liked things a certain way. Niall could also be…strident about things like using and throwing away plastics and didn’t like clutter. He liked his simple, quiet life and hadn’t found anyone who appreciated living like a monk and didn’t feel like a possible threat when they entered Niall’s personal space.
Trust was still an issue andthatwas Andy’s fault. He had taken pleasure in disrupting Niall’s peace and relished any opportunity to invade his space when no one was looking. Niall was the first to admit that he had made some serious blunders due to being an insatiably horny idiot when it came to older, outdoorsy men. He had stepped away as a volunteer paramedic because he couldn’t trust himself around a man inanykind of uniform, but especially scrubs.
He was toast as soon as he laid eyes on the strapping young governor from Oregon. Niall had jumped at the chance to be on the up-and-coming politician’s team as an assistant and to advise on LGBTQ+ issues and outreach. It was his dream job until he lost his head and drank a few too many gin and tonics in an airport Chili’s. He was stranded with Andy due to the weather and they shared a ride to their comped hotel, “accidentally” ending up in the same room. The weather didn’t let up so they spent the weekend in bed and Niall had shared way too much.
Niall would have been happy to leave their fling in Iowa but Andy used the indiscretion against him. He threatened to blame it all on Niall and claim it was just once and that he might have even been drugged. He had also recorded Niall in the act, saying every lewd thing imaginable because he had zero inhibitions when he was drunk on gin and dick.
“Don’t stop! Use my hole and tell me I’m a nasty pig!”can sound really bad without proper context. Who would assume from a few seconds ofthatthat Niall had shared that he was on PrEP and had recently been tested or that Andy had sworn he always used condoms and had been tested just a few weeks earlier as well?
There were perfectly harmless texts that had been carefully screenshotted and clips of work-related voicemails that made Niall look and sound like an obsessed stalker and Andy the victim. Niall had played right into his hands and Andy reinforced every fear and phobia, making it nearly impossible to trust anyone ever again. The abuse and the stalking had gotten so bad, Niall had feared for his life before he escaped and he never let himself forget just how close he was to being a tragic statistic.
Despite all that had happened, Niall had moved on and was happy with his life and who he had become. Even with his faultsand past mistakes, Niall knew he was a good person and worthy of a peaceful, safe, and joyful life.
