Fandom:	NONE
Series:	Original stories
Rating:	NC-17
Pairing:	Jake McAllister/Jesse DeMira
Archive:	Starwinder's
Title:	Sunrise
Author:	Starwinder
e-mail:	starwinder2of7@gmail.com
Copyright Notice: All characters in this fiction are original and belong to the author.

Sunrise
By Starwinder

Jake awoke to the smell of coffee. Turning over he stared at the clock. Six fifteen. He'd overslept. Seriously over-slept. He dragged himself out of the bed and into the bathroom. It was the smell of the shampoo that reminded him that he had a houseguest, that it probably wasn't Iron Horse that was brewing coffee in his kitchen. Iron horse would have come and woke him up... rudely.

He usually worked shirtless but this morning, he picked out a shirt and put it on. He headed to the kitchen, wondering if, and hoping that, Jesse was there.

He wasn't disappointed.

Jesse was putting the breakfast on the table. He'd done it buffet style, not certain how much of anything to cook but figuring that a man as big as Jake would eat a lot. There was a big bowl of scrambled eggs, a platter of bacon, another of ham, a bowl of grits and a plate of toast. A coffee cup sat beside Jake's plate.

Iron horse was already eating, almost finished in fact. He grinned at Jake and draining the last of his coffee, rose to leave. "I start on the corral fence." He announced, leaving Jake alone with Jesse.

Jake almost called him back but didn't want to admit that he was afraid of being alone with Jesse... afraid of his own desires.

Jesse watched him, as he settled at the table and helped himself to eggs, bacon, grits and toast. He looked great. He was wearing a faded blue, long sleeved, western style shirt. The color was almost a perfect match for the blue of his eyes. His jeans were of course skin tight. That seemed to be a prerequisite for Texas cowboys.

Smiling, the younger man, brought the coffeepot over and leaned over Jake's shoulder to pour coffee into the older man's cup. It was a deliberate act. He could have easily filled the cup without getting anywhere near Jake.

He laid one hand on Jake's shoulder as he leaned forward and grinned to himself at the sharp intake of breath that the act elicited from the other man.

He poured himself a cup of coffee and sat down, in the seat directly across from Jake. "I've started the inventory. It looks like if we're going to have an adequate stock, that is two months of canned goods and staples, that it will take about five hundred dollars worth of groceries."

Jake gave him a shocked look.

"You're out of almost everything! There's no flour, no meal, almost no sugar, and just a little salt. You've got half a dozen cans of beans and about a million cans of Vienna sausage, but that's not real food. You need cooking oil, vegetables, cereals... you've got grits but that's all and there's not but about a pound of them left."

He held up a hand and began counting off items. "And that's without even mentioning non-food items. You need dish washing liquid, washing power, bleach, cleanser, fabric softener, soap, shampoo, conditioner." He stopped and reached in his pocket for a notebook, "I've got a list right here. This is just from the kitchen, laundry room and bathroom. I haven't checked the rest of the house yet."

"I don't have five hundred dollars. I don't even have one hundred dollars." Jake said bleakly.

"I do." Jesse said it deliberately, locking eyes with Jake. He took in Jake's stubborn look and sighed. "All right." He looked down at the table. "I want to stay. Even if you never get up the nerve to... touch me. I still want to stay, be part of your life, and help you keep the ranch. I have a little money and if it comes to it I can sell the Ferrari." He gave Jake a small self-depreciating smile. "I know about the balloon payment that's due on the mortgage next month."

"How'd you find out? Iron Horse?"

"No. There's a computer upstairs. Needed dusting, so I figured you hadn't been using it and... well I turned it on and took a look through the files."

"How'd you figure out the password? That bitch I was married to, passworded it and I couldn't ever get on."

Jesse laughed, "I hit cancel and signed on as a new user. Little glitch that version of windows has. Anyhow I found the ranch book work that she had on there. Lucky she didn't feel it was necessary to password each file. Would have taken me forever to crack every one of them."

"What are you suggesting?"

Jesse took a deep breath, not at all certain how Jake would take his proposal. "I'm suggesting a partnership. I'd provide operating money, take care of the house and do the shopping and cooking. I'll plant a kitchen garden and tend it to cut down on expenses, take care of the book work and do the maintenance on the ranch vehicles. You'd run everything else, make all the decisions about the day to day running of the ranch, buying and selling stock. In short you'd do pretty much what you do now... only you wouldn't have to worry so much about money and you'd have someone to take care of all the little things that get let go when you're busy trying to just survive."

When he finished and fell silent, it was several minutes before Jake spoke. He studied Jesse for most of that time, finally he asked, "Why?"

Jesse gave him a puzzled look so he clarified, "Why're you willin' to do this. Forgettin' about your wantin' to sleep with me, what other reason could a beautiful, young man like you have for wantin' to stay here, with a broken down old cowboy, who's old enough to be your father?"

Jesse's eyes dropped away from Jake's. For a long moment he stared down at the table then he raised his head and looking straight into Jake's eyes, said, "I lied to you. Not straight out. What I told you was the truth, it just wasn't the whole truth. I said 'I hadn't been with anyone in over a year. That's true. I haven't... but it's not the truth, if you understand what I mean. The truth is that I haven't been with anyone since the accident, nearly three years ago. The woman I was living with left me while I was in the hospital. The guy I had been seeing on the side, never even came to the hospital."

He looked away then, focusing on a point somewhere above and behind Jake. His voice turned bitter. "You think I'm beautiful and as long as I have my clothes on I can pretend that I still am. I told you that I'm claustrophobic and scared of fire. That's true. What I didn't tell you is..." He hesitated, swallowed hard before going on, "I was burned. First and second degree burns over most of the right side of my chest and shoulder and the upper back on that side, with a section of third degree burns on the back."

He paused, swallowed hard and went on, "I've got forty metal pins in my pelvis where they put it back together and seventeen in my left foot and ankle. Then there's the scars from where they took the skin to grow the grafts to cover the third degree burn area."

His eyes were starting to tear and his voice began to rise, taking on an edge of hysteria. "I spent the last three years, in and out of hospitals. Surgery, physical therapy. More surgery, more therapy. Ferrari did right by me. The best hospitals and doctors. The latest treatments. They paid for it all. Everything.... But you can't pay somebody to give a damn."

He blinked back tears then went on more calmly. "My dad died the month before the accident. When I woke up in the hospital I was alone... nobody but doctors and nurses and physical therapists. Ferrari assigned a full time representative to see to it that I got everything that I needed... but what I needed he couldn't give me. I needed someone who cared about me and he was just doing his job."

He looked down at his hands. "Three years. Be operated on. Heal. Go back for more surgery. Heal. Do it again. A month ago, I was at the hospital for a checkup and the doctor says, 'We need to schedule another skin graft.' And then he just went on and set it up. Like it was a foregone conclusion that I'd have it." He looked up a Jake. "The closer it got to time for it, the more I knew that I couldn't deal with it. I couldn't handle anymore surgery right then. I was still recuperating from the last surgery. I had to have a break. Get away. So I just got in my car one day, pulled all my money out of the bank and transferred it to another bank where I would be the only one that could get to it... and I left. I don't know if I'll ever be able to go back and face it. I know I can't face it alone. Not any more. It's not worth it. Why bother when nobody cares?"

He paused a moment then looking at Jake with pleading eyes said, "Please, let me stay."

Jake stared down at his plate for a long moment then pushing back his chair rose and walked around to where Jesse sat. "Stand up."

When Jesse obeyed he reached out and began to unbutton the shirt the younger man was wearing. Jesse stood in stunned silence as Jake opened the shirt and pushed it off Jesse's shoulders so that he could see the scars. After looking at them he carefully re-buttoned the shirt. He reached out and stroked Jesse's hair then pulled him into a light embrace, pressing a kiss to the top of his head. "You can stay as long as you want." He drew back to look into Jesse's eyes. "But don't you ever let me hear you say you're not beautiful. You're the most beautiful person I've ever seen." He continued stroking Jesse's hair for a moment the pulled away. "I've got work to do." His voice was husky with arousal. He had to get away before he lost control.

He turned and strode out of the room.

Jesse stared after him, then he reached up and touched his throat where Jake's hands had brushed against him as he unbuttoned the shirt. He closed his eyes and let the memory of yesterday's kiss wash over him... so passionate, so desperate and hungry. He could almost feel the big cowboy's arms around him, the hot surface of the car hood under him, the hardness of Jake's cock pressing into him. He moaned softly.

The End.