SWAT Ed: Fox & Bull (Nothing Special 8)

Fox looked as if he was blinking back his emotions as he leaned in and mouthed against Bull’s lips, “I love you too,” before he kissed him long and hard.

Bull showered and changed into a decent pair of denims and a dark blue button-up shirt. He slid his boots on and took his black hat from his bedpost and shoved it down onto his head. He was nervous as fuck to go after Newt Thompson with Fox… especially when so much had changed between them… evolved. Bull wasn’t sure how impartial or fair Fox would be once he was face-to-face with the man who’d been violating his property, and others around town as well. He didn’t want Fox to do anything that would be in conflict with his badge.

Bull leaned against Fox’s doorframe and watched as he finished getting ready, staring at the shiny gold reminder of his other responsibility suspended around his neck. He prayed every night that the Lord would guide his boyfriend to make the right decision for himself. And Bull could only hope that he’d be factored somewhere into Fox’s future plans.

But like his father used to always say, Hope was a snooty bitch he went to high school with. She had no place in his heart. He said a man needed to will what he wanted into his life.

“That badge has always looked sexy on you, I must admit.”

Fox fastened another ropelike necklace around his throat. “I’ll use it one last time to get you and your family justice and some peace of mind… before I turn it in.”

Bull moved towards Fox like a hummingbird to a flower’s sweet nectar. The pull was always instant, urgent, and stirred a hunger in him that he couldn’t explain. His body responded to Fox as if he was the one who held his virginity. He wasn’t… not even close. But he was the only man that’d ever truly held his heart.

Fox had a brown leather gun holster hooked around his shoulders, with the butt of a chrome handgun tucked against his right pec, packing real heat tonight. He had another weapon Bull couldn’t identify wedged into the waistband of his black jeans near the small of his back. A testosterone-fueled thrill of excitement shot through him at the idea of seeing Fox in action again, but he didn’t want things to get out of control like they had in the hospital. According to Bull’s gossiping ladies who ran his front office, no one had heard from the sheriff since his public disgrace, and his family was avoiding being seen around town, but there was a for sale sign on their house lawn. The council was already putting together a solid case for misconduct and embezzlement on Thompson.

All because of his boyfriend.

“Stop worrying,” Fox muttered, “I have a plan that won’t draw any attention this time, trust me.”

“I do trust you,” Bull answered quickly. “What happened before was unfortunate but necessary. I can’t believe the sheriff was a thief on top of everything else.”

“I hate crooked law enforcement officers. They should be prosecuted to the full extent of the law and then made to serve their time under the jail.” Fox put on his bomber jacket, covering his arsenal. “The people here deserve better. They deserve a sheriff that will police their town and protect them. The interim sheriff the council has in place now seems solid.”

Bull’s heart pounded.

Fox rested his hands on the dresser, keeping his back to Bull, staring out of the window at his ranch as if he was contemplating.

“What do you see when you look out there?” Bull whispered against the back of Fox’s head. His hair had gotten a bit thicker and longer, giving Bull more than enough to pull now.

“Honestly,” Fox answered, his eyes roaming over Bull’s land, “I see greatness… I see you… I see a future I’ve always wanted.”

“You don’t want to be a SWAT lieutenant anymore?” Bull tried to keep his tone neutral while he asked questions that would change the rest of his life.

“I never did. That was Hart and God’s doing. I was fine working a beat with my partner. I’ve always done what others wanted of me,” Fox said, barefaced. “My entire life, from junior ROTC up until I left the DIA, was all carefully planned by my father. Do you know that I didn’t even get into West Point on my own merits? I was smart but not that fucking smart.”

“Hey,” he whispered, hearing the pain in Fox’s voice as he talked about his family life in detail for the first time.

“But when you’re a five-star general who’s served in two administrations, it’s not hard to pull some strings and get your son placed where you want him.” Fox held up his badge and stared at it. “Leaving the military and joining the police department was my first act of defiance. Doing something other than what he’d intended.”