by Raquel Belle
“Okay.”
She pulls off, and I follow her down Willow Creek Road in my truck. I’m thinking about the fact that she only has one week left in town. She hasn’t said anything to suggest she’ll be staying longer…or what will happen after she leaves. But I’m not waiting for her say so—I’ll give her a reason to want to stay longer. Or to at least come back.
She parks the car outside her home, and I pull up alongside her and get out. “Are you coming in?”
“No,” I say and bear down on her until she has to push her head back to look into my eyes. Her chest is grazing the lower end of mine, and I smile down at her. “You’re getting in.”
“Huh?” She says and pulls her brows together.
I chin-nod at the truck. “You’re coming with me.”
“Trip, maybe…” she says and takes her eyes off of mine.
I touch her chin and tilt her head upwards again. “No maybes. You’re coming with me. I haven’t seen you all day. Besides, it’s Christmas, and I haven’t gotten my gift yet…”
She snickers and folds her arms. “Your gift? And what might that be?”
I lean in close to her ear. “You…in my arms…doing whatever…” I feel her shudder, and I hear when she swallows hard. “I know you want this too, Jazz.”
“I do, but…”
I don’t want to hear the negative words she’s fixing to say. I kiss them off of her lips, still unspoken, and when I pull back, her face is red. I step back and walk off, and half turn to look at her from the corner of my eye. “You coming?”
“Ugh!” She groans and covers her face, and I smile and turn around, knowing I’ve won this round. She’s in the truck before I get in. “What is it about you that has me acting like a fool?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I say. I smile and keep my head straight. “I think you want this just as much as I do…”
She growls low in her throat, fighting with herself like she always does. She can never just go with the flow, and she always has to be finding loopholes and making everything rational. This, right here, is unfamiliar territory for her, and it frightens her. I can see it, and I can feel it.
I reach across the divider and rub the back of her hand as it rests on her thigh. She pulls it away and slaps me playfully. “Don’t touch me.”
I laugh hard and turn the truck into the driveway of my home. I get out and meet her at her door. She hasn’t bothered to wait for me to get it for her. I take her hand. She winks and says, “I said, don’t touch me.” Her voice betrays that she’s playing hard to get.
As soon as we’re inside I grab her and pin her to the wall. “What was that about not touching you?” I say in a gravelly voice. I sniff her neck and flick my tongue out to taste her.
“I said…I don’t want…”
I start nipping her neck and kissing her earlobe. “Yeah? Go on…”
“I don’t want you to touch me,” she says, hurriedly before she loses the ability to speak.
“That’s going to be hard to do,” I say against her face. “How else am I going to do this?” I kiss her waiting lips. They part instantly, and I thrust my tongue inside. She catches it and pulls on it, and the groan escapes me and mingles with the soft moans coming from her.
“Or this…” I say, and reach between us. I squeeze her breasts, and the heat permeating through us gets trapped in the small gap between her body and mine.
She’s breathing harder now, and her grip on my arm tightens. Her leg begins to move, and I know she’s already primed and ready. But I want to take my time with her. I keep squeezing her breasts, and reluctantly leave her lips to kiss the soft spot at her throat.
My hands move down each of her sides, down over her ass, and back to her breasts. She’s panting now, and groping me. I shift, so she doesn’t get a hold on my cock. One touch, and she’ll push me swiftly to the edge. I’m more inclined to take a slow, steady climb to my—and her— peak.
She’s writhing under me, and I’m glad she’s wearing a dress again. I gently spread her legs apart and move my hand downwards, lifting her dress. The material flows over my hand like water, and her breath comes out in gasps when I find her wet center. I slip my finger inside her lace underwear.
She grips me by my collar and rises on her toes when I thumb her clit. I want to taste her, just like this, so I fall to my knees and lift the billowy dress over my head.
Her hands flatten against the wall, like she’s about to climb. She has a fruity smell that’s intoxicating, and my tongue flicks out and touches her erect clit. Her hands clamp down instantly onto the sides of my head, and I begin to lick her pussy.
“Oh, shit!” She moans above me, encouraging me to work my tongue faster…over and over and then inside her. I spread her pussy wider and slide my tongue down to her opening. She’s wet, and her sticky cum latches onto my taste buds.
She tastes so fucking good I can’t even stop if I want to. She’s trembling, spurring me on even faster. But I can’t get her like I want to. I pull on the waist of her panties and tug them to her ankles. She instantly steps out of them and opens her legs wider, thrusting her hips forward, so her pussy is right in my face.
I smile and suck on her lips, moments before she presses hard onto my temple and her body begins to shake and spasm. Her moans are ragged, as is her breathing, and I lap her juice as it flows from her like a river.
“Fuck!” She whispers and loosens her grip on my hair.
I lick her some more before I move her dress aside and stand. I like the thought of fucking her in clothes, and with nothing but the sheer fabric between us—it’s a turn on.
My thick, veined cock is waving as I stand. Her eyes bulge, and her lips water when she looks at it. I grip it and stare at her.
“It’s yours if you want it.”
“Damn right I do,” she says, like she’s in a hurry. She lifts her leg and places it at my side, and I take it, like we’re about to engage in a dance.
I guide my cock inside her, and she falls back against the wall. Her body slithers up and down the wall as I fuck her, and her eyes roll back in her head.
My entire being tenses when I feel her cum covering my cock. She’s hotter than a furnace, and she makes me want to melt too quickly. I pull back and guide her to the bedroom, where I direct her into a doggy-style position.
Her ass is exposed, and I lean over and kiss her cheeks, evoking more spasms from her. She turns her head to the side, and I reach out and touch her parted lips. She begins to suck on my finger, sparking even more electricity.
I sink my cock inside her once more, and she sways her ass from side to side as I fuck her hard and fast, until she can’t suck my finger and breathe at the same time. I pull back my hand and grip her hips as I pump, filling her with my cock.
“Yes!” She cries and grabs a fistful of sheet in both hands. She falls lower on the bed, her torso hitting the sheet below, and making her ass rise higher in the air.
I slap her ass and work her pussy until her moans become shrieks of pleasure. I clench my teeth when I feel her shuddering, and her juice flowing around my cock again. This time it’s too much for me, my balls were tight to begin with, and my toes curl when I feel the warm sensations traveling fast to the tip of my cock. I explode inside of her, digging hard into her hips for support as my body jerks, and I bite down hard.
I empty myself in her before sliding my cock out, watching as the glistening juice coats my length and drips gently from her cunt.
She rolls over onto her back, and I fall right next to her, a wide grin on my face, while she stares at the ceiling with a look of contentment in her eyes.
I slip my hand under her neck, and she turns onto her side, throwing her arm around me. I nestle her in my grasp, as we lay quietly for what feels like a very long time.
I lose track of time while I lay with her, tracing my finger over her arm. She throws her leg over mine, and I smile when she does.
“Have you thought abo
ut that FBI thing?” She asks and toys with the hair on my chest.
I sigh. “Not really. I might consider it in the future though.”
“I don’t know how you can just stay here, Trip,” she says and pulls back her leg. She raises up on her elbow and stares me in the eyes. “There’s nothing for you here.”
“You forgetting that I wasn’t here for about ten years either. I was in Iraq, and Afghanistan, and all over Africa…being back here…I like the slow pace—the quiet.”
I feel her sigh. “I get it, but what about five years from now?”
“I haven’t thought that far ahead. I’m just taking everything in stride. Besides, I didn’t know I’d see you again.”
She smiles and her head dips. She kisses my shoulder and lays down again. “I didn’t plan on this either.”
“What is this, anyway?” I say. I know what I want from her, but I need to know where her head is once and for all. “Is there a future for us?”
“I don’t know,” she whispers. “We’re not the same anymore. We both want different things in different places.”
“But aren’t we the same in everything that matters?” I rub my hand down her arm faster than before. I move my other hand and tip her face upwards. “You know how much I love you. That has never changed, and seeing you…I didn’t even know how much I was still in love with you until I saw you.”
“But nothing’s changed since that day you left, Trip,” she says, and her eyes get glassy, like she’s on the verge of tears. “I loved you, but you had to leave back then. Nothing’s changed about that. It took a really long time to move past it. To heal…to not feel like a part of me was missing…I don’t know if I can—”
“Jazz, we were kids. Look, we’re here…now. Right now.” I shift and pull myself to a sitting position. I guide her between my legs and wrap my arms around her, burying my face in her hair as I do. “Jazz, let’s give this another try…”
She rocks her head back, and her curls tickle my cheek. “I don’t know.”
“It’s okay,” I say and hug her tighter. “You don’t have to say anything now. We can talk about this some other time.”
“Okay,” she says softy and stretches out further on me.
Not much is said between us for the rest of the evening. We leave some three hours later, and she’s pensive all the way back to her house.
She’s hugging herself and rubbing her arms, looking around like she’s afraid to look directly at me. I grip both arms and force her to look at me. “Hey, why that long face?”
She sighs. “Nothing. Just that…life sucks sometimes.”
I know what she means. So much has changed since we were eighteen. “I have a surprise for you tomorrow, if you’re up for it.”
Her eyes are wide, yet cautious, after I speak. “What?”
“It wouldn’t be a surprise if I told you, now would it?”
She squints at me and then points at my face. “I better like it.”
I laugh. “You will. Good night, Jazz.”
“Good night, Trip,” she says, and I give her a brief kiss before she disappears inside.
I know she’ll like the surprise, and it animates me, knowing that I’ll spend yet another day with her at a place where we made so many memories.
***
She’s still anxious when I pick her up the following morning. “Now will you tell me?” She says, and pulls her seatbelt on.
“Nope. You’ll find out soon enough,” I say. I wink at her and drive off. I find it funny how she keeps mapping the route until she realizes where we’re heading.
“Wait, are we going to the school?”
“Yep,” I say and pull up to the large, wire-mesh gates that are chained shut.
“How are we going to get in?” She asks, when I’m getting out of the car. “And why are we here?”
I don’t answer her. I pull the keys from my pocket that I’d collected from Dave, the custodian, and open the gates.
When I turn, she’s sticking her head out the window. “Is it okay to go in?”
I hold up the keys and smile. “I think so…”
She withdraws her head, but her hands are folded and she’s staring at me when I get back into the truck. I pat her leg. “What?”
“What are we doing here, Trip?”
I grin as the truck rolls through the gate. “Nothing, really…”
She’s overly suspicious when I take her hand and walk her through the front door of the building.
“Oh, my god,” she says, as she turns around in the lobby area. “It’s the same.”
I shove my hands into my pockets. “I know, right? That was my first thought when I came back here for the first time after getting back. Nothing’s changed.”
She covers her mouth and giggles before she half-jogs over to the glass case bearing championship trophies.
“Remember that one?” I say and point at the dance trophy.
“Sure do,” she says, dreamily. “My one and only trophy. Still can’t believe I won that. Geez, I can’t believe I forgot about that. Wow!”
I glance over at her, and it’s like she’s romancing the glass case. “You still dance?”
“Not really,” she says, as her eyes comb the other trophies. Then she glances to the side. “Hmm, I wonder…”
In seconds, she hurries off down the hall. She stops outside the senior locker hall. “The sticker is still on it,” she says and traces her finger over the faded and tattered butterfly sticker. It was supposed to be the tattoo she’d get, but she’d changed her mind at the last minute.
“I see you still ended up with that,” I say and reference the tattoo on her shoulder.
She peers over her back and tries to look at it, twisting her face in the process. “Yeah, the feeling returned in college. Easier to get away with that in New York than in Willow Creek.”
I laugh. “Right.”
I follow her as she visits room after room, the cafeteria, the gym, and the common room. “I didn’t expect today to be like this.”
“Thought you might like it,” I say. We sit on the metal chairs in the common room. There are several rows of chairs and desks, and along the wall to the left, there are several computers that students utilize either after school or on breaks.
“I really do. Thanks, Trip. But I have to ask…” She bites her bottom lip and starts to fidget. “Was there a point to this little trip?”
“A point?” I say and lean back against the table. “Nope.”
She laughs. “Whatever… I see what you’re up to.” She wiggles her finger at me, right at the moment my phone begins to ring.
My heart sinks when I see it’s Bubba calling. “Hold that thought,” I tell her. “Bubba, what’s up?”
“Trip, I didn’t wanna bother you or nothin’, but I have my hands full, and another car just stopped by.”
“It’s no bother,” I say. “I’ll be there soon.”
Jazz stands. “So, our walk down memory lane has concluded, eh?”
I get up too and put my arm around her shoulders as we walk off. “Duty calls.” I lean in and whisper in her ear, “Maybe we can visit the supply closet one more time.”
She nudges me in the side and starts to laugh hard. “We don’t have to hide from anyone, especially not today.”
“In that case,” I say and twirl her back into my arms and land a kiss on her lips. She pulls up her leg in a dancer’s move, and I fasten my hand under her ass.
She’s smiling when I open my eyes, and she takes my hand and swings it—like a teenager—as we exit the building.
Chapter Fifteen
Jasmine
I feel like my entire vacation has revolved around Trip.
He’s been with me almost every day since I’ve been in town. Not that I’m complaining, but it’s beginning to have a major effect on me.
I open my eyes every morning, and it’s his face I see. He haunts me throughout all of the day, and at night when I lie alone in bed. I h
ear the doorbell, and I hope it’s him. My phone buzzes, and I reach for it with lightning speed every time…and when it’s not him, I’m crushed.
This is getting ridiculous, and with only a few days left in town, I’m torn. I need a breather and something to clear my head.
Too bad there’s no decent bar in town—not one I want to be seen in anyway. Mom would hear about it before the first shot goes down my throat—and I don’t need her on me about that.
I know I’m old enough, but it still feels weird having my parents know certain things about me. I prefer if they still see me as the eighteen-year-old, innocent Jasmine who left ten years ago. Not some lovesick puppy downing a bottle of vodka because she’s depressed and confused.
“Penny for your thoughts.”
“Hmm?” I say and look up. “Dad? Did you say something?”
He laughs. “Looks like you’re miles away.”
I suck in a deep breath and shift uncomfortably in my chair. I look around and gather my bearings. I’m in the entertainment room with a cup of coffee resting in my hands. By the looks of it, it’s been cold for a while. I sigh and place it on the coffee table.
“Yeah,” I say, and press my fingers to my forehead before pushing my hair back. “There’s a lot on my mind.”
“Well, don’t think too much. Nothing good ever comes of that,” he says, and winks.
I smile at him. Dad is a man of few words, but when he does offer advice, it’s packed with wisdom. This time is no different. “I guess you’re right. I need to go do something today that doesn’t have Trip written all over it.”
He laughs again. “You can go to Nashville with me if you’d like. I’m heading out in a minute.”
I think about it for a second, and I’m not in the mood for the noise and excitement I’ll find in Nashville. “Nah,” I say. “I think I’ll go see Marcy. I haven’t seen her except for the one time since I came.”
“Okay,” he says. “Let me know if you change your mind.”
“Will do. And thanks, Dad,” I say and touch his hand when he passes me. He covers my hand with his for a second, and the wrinkles, at the corners of his eyes deepen when he smiles back at me.
