Unbroken Promises

by Dianne Stevens

  He shoved her shirt all the way up but not off. However, he did untie her top and threw it down by his shorts. Then he was all over her with his lips and tongue. He sucked and tugged on her nipples not as gently as he would have done on their wedding night but more roughly. She wasn’t making love to him but to Clay. His hand slid slowly down her smooth belly. His fingers circled the silky curls, gently parted her soft folds and slid one long roughened finger inside her wet center. She was hot and slick but very small. The sweet liquid that moistened his fingers and the way her hips arched and undulated against his hand angered him.

  He scooted all the way down and put his face where his hand had been. He knew he only had a small amount of time, but he wasn’t leaving until he tasted her essence. The ecstasy of her heat was so great he literally had to force himself to leave. With a final, savoring lick, he quickly made his way back up her body to her mouth where he began kissing her meticulously before moving on to her neck.

  He went back to her lips as he positioned himself over her, and pushed the wide head of his erection into her opening. He forced his way inside her tightness with a strong steady stroke, but he immediately butted up against her barrier. He felt it give a little, but he didn’t break through.

  Beth was whimpering under his mouth and twisting her body in an attempt to throw him off. For a split second, he thought about stopping.

  Then Beth turned her head from his kiss, “It won’t work Clay; you’re too big,” She panted out.

  After hearing her, Jesse reared back, flexed his hips, and drove it home. If he hadn’t driven as hard as he did, he would never have made it through the thickness of her hymen. He never had sex with a virgin before but her cherry seemed abnormally thick to him. He looked down at Beth and saw she had bit down on her bent index finger as she tried to subdue her scream. He immediately covered her mouth with his again. He didn’t relent but kept up strong piston-driving strokes. She was like a vice constricting around him, gripping him, so tight and searing.

  It was only after a few more steady drives that he exploded. He thought he would pass out, his climax was so powerful.

  Jesse just wanted to collapse and not move, but he only rested long enough to slow his breathing down. He reached down, found his shorts, and pulled them on. He was pulling Beth’s shirt back down her body when he reached between her legs with his hand. Then he turned over and rubbed the blood on the bottom of Clay’s stomach. It was enough blood to see the intended purpose. Then he jerked her shirt the rest of the way down and got up. As a last-minute thought, he felt around, grabbed her top, and stuffed it in his back pocket as a souvenir.

  When Jesse left he found Cody where he told him to stay. He told Cody to go into the tent and watch to make sure nothing happened if, for some reason, Clay woke up. He instructed him to let Beth sleep a little while and then take her home.

  Jesse sternly reiterated for Cody not to let Beth out of his sight and to keep him updated on what she was doing and where she was going. Cody was to make any excuse he needed to make sure he stayed with her at all times. If she left the house, he was to go with her, especially if she went with Clay.

  After talking to Cody, Jesse went back to Beaux’s jeep, climbed in the back seat and collapsed from both physical and emotional exhaustion.

  “Take me home, Beaux, and you may have to carry me in when we get there.”

  “Dat bad, huh?”

  “It was both torment and ecstasy at the same time.”

  Beth, fully awake now, was in agony. “Oh, geesh, Jesse, that hurt! I’m glad it didn’t last long because I couldn’t have taken another minute !” Beth thought as she went over what had just happened. Jesse had just raucously ripped her apart. She could still feel the agonizing burn from when he rammed deep inside her, ripping through her flesh. “He could have been a little more gentle,” Beth grimaced as she tried to move.

  She knew he acted out in anger because he was mad at her. All because he thought that she thought he was Clay. “Stupid man,” she mused, shaking her head slightly. He should have known, as soon as he was close enough for her to smell him, she would know immediately who he was. She had known his scent far too long to mistake him for someone else.

  Besides, if that wasn’t proof enough, Clay didn’t have a hair on his chest. It was slick and smooth and, although Jesse’s chest wasn’t bushy, he had quite a bit of hair. He was minus a few now because she ripped them out when he rammed into her. She knew she hurt him when she purposely called him “Clay,” but he deserved every bit of anguish he felt.

  Beth felt she had offered Jesse everything she had to give—her love, her body, her very being, only to have him throw it back in her face unwanted. She wasn’t a child anymore, so he couldn’t use that excuse any longer, especially since it didn’t bother him to take Becky, who was younger than she was.

  It was bad enough that he left her when she had physically begged him to stay and be with her, but it was too much when she walked outside and found him making love with another woman. It was more that she could take. She wanted revenge.

  She would never in this lifetime figure out how that happened so fast. He had only been gone a few minutes when she decided to throw out the trash before she went to bed.

  It was actually so painful she couldn’t believe it was real. She knew she must have stood there with her mouth open for five minute before she realized she wasn’t going to wake up from a bad dream. What she was seeing was reality.

  In anger, she promised Jesse he wasn’t going take her virginity or marry her. She didn’t mean it, but she was determined to make him feel a little of what she felt that night. She didn’t feel one bit guilty for hurting him. He had hurt her beyond belief.

  Suddenly she thought about what Jesse had said and it made her laugh a little. He promised he would do both those things. Beth had to give him credit where credit was due. Unlike her, he had yet to break a promise. Then a big smile crept across her face when she remembered the second promise he said he would keep. “Oh, dear Gussy, this had turned out to be a wonderful day.” Beth thought as she curled up to rest.

  She hadn’t been laying there long when she heard the tent whisk open again. Surely, Jesse wasn’t coming back for more; she hoped not. She was still stinging from the first time.

  Beth barely lifted her eyelids. The opened flap allowed more of the campfire light to filter in, so she was able to see that it was Cody standing there trying to get his bearings. What in the world was Cody doing in here? Then it came to her, this whole night’s events had been a conspiracy. The two of them and the good Lord only knew who else was involved in Jesse’s plan.

  She didn’t know if she should feel offended or flattered that he would go to so much trouble to be with her. She decided to be flattered because she couldn’t stop the giddy feeling if she tried.

  Jesse must feel something for her. She knew him well enough to know he would have never taken her virginity just for spite. She had dreamed a million times of how it would be when she was finally with Jesse, and the way things just happened tonight was certainly not one of them.

  She could have never in her most vivid imagination dreamed up this episode. The more she thought about the manner in which Jesse had just taken her the more she thought that it was romantic in a rough sort of way. She loved him so much she guessed that, most likely any way he would have done it, would have been romantic to her.

  She felt so much lighter of heart now. She only prayed she wasn’t setting herself up for another heartache. She knew she would never recover if he had sex with anyone else after tonight.

  “Beth, get up, I need you to ride home with me. I’m not feeling so well. If I get sick on the way home, I’ll need you to take over.”

  If Beth ever heard a crock of bull, she was hearing one now. She knew there wasn’t a thing wrong with Cody; first of all, he wouldn’t be driving if he were sick from drinking too much.

  Plus, neither he nor Jesse would allow her to drive because they b
oth knew she was not capable of driving. Last, but not least, she knew the way Cody sounded when he was truly drunk and sick. She tended to him enough times to know he was faking it now, but she decided to play along with him. This, too, had to, be a part of Jesse’s plan.

  “Okay, Cody, help me get up,” Beth said shakily because she really did feel lightheaded from the spiked punch. If fact, she felt a lot like she did when she had taken nausea medicine. The doctor had given her something so she could keep her food down and not feel nauseated, but it also wiped her out. She remembered all she wanted to do was sleep, just as she wanted to do now. But, as Cody lifted her slightly, she felt the blood and semen oozing between her legs.

  “Cody, give me a minute then come back in and help me.”

  “Alright, hurry though.” As soon as he stepped out of the tent Beth search for something to place between her thighs. She knew by the amount of blood still coming that simply cleaning up would not work. She needed something to work as a pad. Beth looked around the tent, trying to make out the different objects. She saw what looked like a roll of paper towels lying with some other supplies above her head. She grabbed the roll and hurriedly made a pad, placed it gently on her aching flesh, and tied her bathing suit bottom back on.

  “Okay, Cody, you can come back in,” Beth called softly. He ducked through the opening and crept back to her side. “Cody, give me your shirt.” He did, without protest, and she put it on over her shirt. Beth reached up, took his hand, and let him pull her up. She wished whoever made the punch had mixed a pain reducer in it because she still ached and burned badly between her thighs and deep within.

  When Cody opened the tent flap wide enough for them both to make it through, Beth thought to turn back and look at Clay. He lay on his side facing away from her, deep in sleep.

  Beth told Cody just to take her home to the ranch. Cody was relieved because he wouldn’t have to start his shadowing until tomorrow. After he helped her in through the back door and into her room, he went through the house to talk to Jesse.

  Cody knocked on the door and walked in. Jesse was in the shower so he sat on the bed to wait for him to finish.

  “Hey, Jesse, you got company,” Cody called out through the door.

  It was only a few minutes before Jesse came out with a towel wrapped around his waist.

  “What are you doing here, Cody? Where is Beth? You are supposed to be watching her!”

  “Calm down. She wanted to come home to her old room. She is taking a shower now.”

  “So that’s who took my hot water. How is she doing? Is she okay?”

  “Look, I don’t want to get into any of that. Beth is like my sister and there are just some things I’d rather not know about, if you know what I mean. This whole situation is a little embarrassin’ for me.” Cody’s face was turning red. “I promised I would watch her for you because I saw the desperation in your eyes. I don’t really know Clay well enough to decide if he is a good guy or bad, but I do know Beth has loved you far too long for me not to do whatever I can to help get things back on track the way they should be.”

  “That’s fair enough, Cody, and I thank you. I don’t know how I can repay you for this.”

  “Oh, I’m sure I can think of somethin’. I’ll see you in the mornin’ or rather afternoon. This has been one long night.”

  “That ain’t no lie. Good night, Bud.”

  After Cody left, Jesse leadenly collapsed on the bed, causing the frame to creak. He was so tired he could hardly think straight. He hoped he hadn’t hurt Beth too badly. He should have never allowed his temper to get the better of him. Not that he regretted what he did because he knew that, if the circumstances were the same, he would do it again. He only wished he hadn’t been so rough with her.

  Beth was his woman and he would do whatever it took to keep it that way. He didn’t believe it hurt him as bad as when he saw the two of them at the pond as it did now. Knowing that she thought he was Clay, and she let him make love to her, was a hard blow to take. He knew he would rather take a physical beating than the beating he was taking emotionally. Jesse laughed a bitter chuckle, when he remembered he had always said he would marry nothing but “A Virgin,” like some prehistoric male, was bullshit. Marrying a virgin wasn’t his obsession, it was the fact that he knew he could never cope with Beth being with another man. Who’d ever thought the tables would turn so that he was the one waiting for the long-ago promise to be fulfilled? As tired as he was, he knew he wasn’t going to get much sleep tonight.

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

  Beth slept like a baby. It was one o’clock when Susan lightly knocked on her door telling her she had company. Beth was still sore and uncomfortable from the sex and disoriented from the drink, but she managed to get dressed. When she walked in the hallway, Susan hugged her.

  “Honey, I didn’t even know you were here. When Clay knocked on the door and asked for you, I told him you weren’t here. He asked me to make sure because he had just come from your apartment and you weren’t there. So, needless to say, I was a little surprised but happy to see you in your room.”

  “I know, I kinda’ snuck in late last night. I might even decide to stay a while.”

  “That would be wonderful, baby. I wish you and Cody would both move back home, but I’m not going to push. You’re almost 20 now and old enough to make your own decisions.”

  “We’ll see, I guess I better go see what Clay wants. We had a little misunderstanding before he left here the last time, but we kinda’ made up last night.” Beth walked to the front door where Clay decided to wait for her. When she saw him, he had a look of anguish on his face. When she got closer, he grabbed both of her hands in his.

  “Beth, are you alright?” Clay said with sincere concern. “Can we go outside to talk?”

  “Yeah, sure, let me get my shoes.”

  While Beth went back to her room to get her shoes, Cody was banging on Jesse’s outside door.

  “Hey, Jesse, let me in!”

  Cody was cut off from saying anything else because Jesse, in his boxers, barefoot, and shirtless, suddenly jerked the door open. Jesse was silent as he waited for Cody to continue to say why he was there.

  “Clay is at the front door now waiting on Beth to get her shoes on to go outside. I don’t know if they’re going walking or getting into a vehicle.” Cody was talking to thin air because, after he got out the first sentence, Jesse ran and got his pants off the bed and jerked them on. Jesse passed Cody still standing at the door as he flew past him to get a view of the front door from the side of the house.

  “Okay, Clay, I’m ready,” Beth said as Clay took her by the hand and led her outside to the front porch swing. When they sat down, Clay put his arm around Beth before he spoke.

  “Beth, I am so sorry. I beg your forgiveness. I-I don’t even know what to say. I know you only wanted to cuddle last night and that was the only intention I planned. I don’t know what happened between you and Jesse, but I do know you were hurt. You have to believe me when I say I had no intention of taking advantage of your vulnerability.” Beth squeezed his hand that was lying on his lap. “Clay, I do believe you.”

  “Oh God, Beth, you don’t know how relieved I am to know you don’t hate me. I mean, I just got your friendship back. I sure didn’t want to do anything to jeopardize it again. You mean too much to me. I think of you as my best friend. You’ve got to know I felt horrible when I woke up and found you gone and blood on your side of the pallet. Then, when I looked down at my own self and saw the blood on my, my um, lower stomach area, I knew I had screwed up big time. But, Beth, I honestly can’t remember a thing. I guess it was that potent drink my cousin gave us.”

  Beth stopped hearing anything after Clay insinuated he found blood on his privates. Her world went black. She was so distraught she thought she was going to pass out. How could she have been wrong? Did the drink have a hallucinatory drug in it? She found herself in a robot state as she squeezed Clay on the hand again.

 
; “I don’t blame you for anything. What happened last night was something I allowed to happen.” Then Beth stood up to go. She was too numb to think, but she knew Clay was sincere in what he was saying.

  Clay stood up also and enfolded Beth in his arms. “Beth, can we continue from here? Will you start going out with me as my girlfriend?”

  “Clay, right now I need time to think, but I appreciate the offer. It means a lot to me.”

  “Okay, Beth, whatever you say, but I want you to know I’ll be here if you need me. Please call me. I want you but I won’t push. I’ll back off and give you the space you need.” Then he hugged her tight and kissed her on the lips before he walked away.

  Beth stood where she was in a daze. It was a few minutes after Clay drove away that she came to herself enough to walk inside.

  Jesse stood beside the house seeing everything. He couldn’t catch everything they were saying because they were talking too low but he caught an adequate amount of the conversation.

  His head fell back against the side of the house as he felt tears sting the back of his eyes. Sweat beaded on his forehead and dripped down his bare chest. He was too exhausted last night to face the reality of what happened, but he couldn’t ignore it any longer because he just faced it in broad daylight.

  His Beth had mentally allowed another man to make love to her. He knew it last night, but it was a powerful blow seeing them together again holding and kissing each other. He knew now that he was hoping Beth would beat on Clay as she did at the beach or that she, at least, would have regretted being with him once she came to her senses. But did she do that? No, she hugged and kissed the bastard.

  Jesse made it back to his room and told Cody he’d be back in a little while. Then he got in his truck, drove to the closest liquor place and loaded up. When Jesse got back home, he still had the mindset to tell Cody to keep a watch on Beth.