The seventh afternoon stretched endlessly before her, and the strong California sun warmed the floorboards beneath her feet. Ida thoughtlessly traced patterns on the uninjured parts of his chest, gliding her fingers down his stomach and past his waist. Her mind wasn’t on anything specific; it fluttered around like a hummingbird, from memory to memory. The first time she found him in the clearing. The first time his lips brushed hers and he felt like the soft flesh of wild berries. When he watched her bathe, and she was mortified and excited by his heavy eyes. The morning he scrubbed her back and joined her in the tub. After he helped her out, he had settled on the floor in front of the fire and pulled her onto his lap. He brushed her hair with long, slow strokes and thrust into her with the same self-control. Ida had arched against him, wrapping her arms around his neck as he smoothed his hands down her hair, and then over her breasts and stomach.
Kelly had pushed her forward, until she was on her hands and knees and staring in the deep orange flames. She’d watched them dance within reach as he gripped her hips and pulled her back onto his cock. Ida remembered the way he dragged his fingernails down her back and curled his hands in her drying hair and pounded into her body. She had braced herself on one hand, and used the other hand to massage her clit the way Kelly had shown her.
The memory warmed her flesh and made her wet and uncomfortable. Ida shifted on the bed, crossed and uncrossed her legs, tried to think of his injuries, tried to think of anything that would help her cool down. Nothing worked. The memories of his mouth, of his hands, of his cock, so long denied to her, were too much to push aside. Her skin felt too tight, and her teeth were on edge. A dull headache started in the back of her head and flowed through her neck and shoulders.
Ida closed the curtains and locked the door. She pushed her pants down past her thighs, and the old, rough material felt like a caress against her sensitive, hungry skin. She kicked the pants off completely and stretched out next to Kelly on the bed. He didn’t move, but his sleeping frame was still comforting against her body, his skin hot against hers. She closed her eyes and her hand drifted down her stomach and in between her legs. She spread her lips and delicately touched the very tip of her clit.
Her body jumped in response, and she applied more pressure. A new memory snuck up on her, and she turned herself over to it. Her back on the hard top of the table, her head hanging over the edge, and Kelly alternately licking her and fingering her pussy until she was practically howling with frustration. She imagined he was touching her again, her hips jerked faster and faster, and the memory of his wicked, whispered words is what sent her over the edge…I love the way you taste, love. I could lick you all night.
“Where the hell is my tooth?” His words were slurred but his voice sounded strong. Almost normal.
Ida jumped high off the bed, her breath forced out of her body. “Oh my God…”
Kelly’s eyes were shut tight against the light, but he was clearly awake. “And where am I?”
Ida stumbled over to her pants and pulled them on quickly. She rushed to the side of the bed and took his hand. “Kelly…”
He opened his sensitive eyes slowly, blinking as they adjusted to the small amount of light in the room. Her name came from his lips in a breath, a supplication. “Ida?”
“Oh God, oh God…you’re…” She couldn’t speak anymore, her throat was shut tightly, her eyes blurred with tears. The lust and shallow relief she’d brought herself was forgotten now.
He reached for her with one hand, and cupped her face with the other. He sat up against his pillows slowly, not breaking contact with her. “Are you…?” His voice hitched. “You’re here.”
Ida nodded. “I told you…I told you I’d find you, didn’t I?”
“You told me…” His lips twitched. His hand was cool against her flushed face, and scalding tears fell down her face and onto the back of his hand.
“You got thrown from a horse, Kelly. You hit the back of your head pretty hard…we didn’t know…” She turned her face into his hand and kissed his palm gently. His fingers curled around her cheek, his long finger nails skimming her wet skin.
“I’m fine,” he said softly, unaware of the tears falling down his face. “Come ’ere.”
She crawled onto to the bed and he wrapped his arms around her tightly.
“I’m fine,” he repeated, as though the words tasted funny in his mouth. “I’m fine. Are you?”
Ida shook her head. She knew she should be fine, better than fine, fantastic even, but now all the despair and dread that she had been fighting off for the past week hit her in the stomach. She felt sick with relief.
“Hey…hey…” Kelly lifted her head so she was forced to look at him. “Hey. Don’t cry.”
She sniffed loudly. “I’m not.”
“You have to stop,” he insisted.
“Why?”
He wiped her tears away with the back of his hand. “I don’t like to see my girl crying like that.”
“You’re crying, too,” she said through a watery smile. She gently wiped his tears away, then held her wet finger up for his inspection. “See?”
“Am not…my eyes are just watering from the light.” He pushed her hand away. “How long have you been…?”
“I’ve been down here since March…”
“March? I didn’t expect you until…later…” His voice faded. Ida glanced up at him, and saw his eyes flutter shut. “I feel awful tired…”
Ida sat up. “I know…I know…you get some sleep and when you wake up again, I’ll have food for you.”
“Ida…”
“What?”
“Stay here, yeah?”
“I’m not going anywhere,” she promised him.
“I want to…”
“Shhh…” She leaned forward and kissed his cheek. “Shhh, just relax. I’ll be here when you wake up.”
He fell asleep again almost as soon as she finished speaking. She watched him closely and was relieved to note that it was a perfectly natural, normal, healthy deep sleep. He woke up several more times during the rest of the day, and each time he reached for her and held her as tightly as he could. He whispered her name and sighed with a slight smile, and drifted back to his dreams.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Ida and Kelly fell into a comfortable pattern over the next three days. She could afford to be comfortable—Ogden and Olivia agreed on her prognosis. He would be fine after a little more sleep and good food. Kelly slept soundly and woke only when he needed to eat and to relieve himself. His color returned to normal sometime during the second day, and on the third morning he wanted more than his allotted bowl of soup.
“I’ll be ready to walk soon,” he told her over his second bowl.
“When you can stay awake for more than an hour at a time, we’ll talk about it.”
“Open the curtains,” Kelly requested.
“Are you sure? I don’t want to hurt your eyes.”
“I’m sure. I want to see.”
Ida opened them slowly to give his eyes time to adjust. From the bed, he had a good view of the yard, and could watch the workers and animals parade by the house in an endless procession. But he wasn’t looking outside, his eyes were trained on Ida’s face, and she realized that for the first time since he woke up, he could see her clearly.
“You’re beautiful,” he breathed.
Ida couldn’t help the pleased blush that spread across her face. “I’m not giving you more soup.”
He smiled. “Damn, you’re on to me.”
Ida took the bowl from him and wiped the bit of soup from his chin. He caught her hand and brought her fingers to his mouth and kissed them one by one. She didn’t try to pull away, and desire made her heady. He pulled her body down to him and kissed her softly.
“How’s your lip?” she asked.
“Better now,” he said against her mouth before kissing her again.
She ventured out of the room that afternoon while he slept. It was the first
time she’d left his room. She found his bags in the bunkhouse and brought them back to the room. To her delight, she found Flash in the barn. He neighed when he saw her, and stomped his foot. She patted his nose happily. She also sent a message to Olivia so they could make arrangements to transfer him to her house. She didn’t want to stay at the ranch longer than she had to.
Then, because she could, she went for a short stroll around the yard. It was good to stretch her legs and get a breath of fresh air. She never lost sight of the house, but she did wander and explore and let herself recharge before she turned around. When she returned late that evening, Kelly appeared to be sleeping.
“I thought you were gone,” he said softly, his words finding her in the dark.
“No…no, just went for a walk. I wouldn’t leave.”
“I know…I thought maybe I dreamed you…” His voice was slurred and tired. She wondered if he wasn’t still mostly asleep.
“No, Kelly, I’m here. Are you hungry?”
“No…I’m cold.”
Ida changed quickly into her nightshirt, and then climbed in bed and pulled the blankets over both of them. “Better?”
“Much.”
He rested his head on her chest with a delighted sigh and rubbed his face against her. She stroked his head, letting her fingers play in his soft curls.
“I love you.”
She kissed the top of his head. “I love you, too.”
“I can’t wait to get out of here.”
“Me neither. We’ll be leaving soon.”
“Tell me…”
“About what?”
“Tell me about Ida.”
“What do you want to know?”
“Everything…start at the very beginning. Even the parts I know.”
She smiled. “It’ll bore you right back to sleep.”
“No,” he denied. “And when you’re done telling me about your life, tell me about your future.”
“Oh, you already know that part.”
“Yeah?”
“My future is wherever you are, doing whatever you’re doing.”
“Good, because that’s what I planned on.” His hand cupped her breast and rubbed it gently. “God, I’ve missed you.”
Ida’s only response was a soft moan. Kelly pushed her shirt open and turned his head slightly to capture her nipple with his mouth. He licked and sucked it until her breath was coming in short gasps.
“Kelly…”
“Shh, I haven’t tasted anything this good in a long time.”
“Your head…” She said in what she hoped was an even voice. A few more seconds of that, and she wouldn’t be able to speak at all.
“Is fine…Really…” He traced her breast with his tongue and she melted beneath him like ice cream. While he worked on her with his mouth, his hands covered the rest of her body, and the blood rushed from her head, her skin burned.
“Just wanted to touch you…all I could think about since I woke up…just touch you, and lick you, and kiss you…” His words were muffled against her skin as he worked down her body, kissing her stomach, and then her thighs. She opened her legs for him, an invitation, begging him to continue, move farther and deeper and faster. His tongue snuck out and delicately licked her inner thigh. She bit her lip to keep from shouting at the contact. Her sensitive flesh jumped beneath his mouth as he moved closer and closer to her center.
Kelly’s fingers kneaded at her other leg, massaging the tense and sore muscles. Each movement sent a wave of lust through her body, radiating from the point of contact. She was amazed, and a little dismayed, to feel the orgasm building before he even really touched her.
“Like a drug,” he muttered before his tongue finally jesuschristhallelujah found her clit.
She brought her hand up to her mouth to muffle the scream that she couldn’t keep locked in her throat. “Oh…God…”
It barely took a minute of slow licking to send her headlong into a screaming orgasm that had her sobbing his name as he licked her faster and faster and pushed her into another and another and another until they were both sated.
“Kelly,” she whimpered.
“What love?”
“Oh, God…”
He crawled back up her body and kissed her directly on the mouth, catching her by surprise. She opened her lips for him without a second thought and he plunged his tongue deep into her mouth as finally he thrust into her aching body.
“You’re a miracle, Ida,” he sighed against her mouth as he buried his fingers in her hair, rocking against her body.
And you, she thought as he kissed her again, are mine.
The End
About the Author:
“New Frontier” is Pepper Espinoza’s first published novel, but she has published several poems and short stories previously. She is also working to complete several other novels, a screenplay, and a play. Writing is her passion, and she loves exploring new worlds, new characters, and new genres. She currently lives in Southern California with her husband and her two cats, Willow and Tara. She will be completing her B.A. in English in May and hopes to attend graduate school in the fall.
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New Frontier Page 20
