Lost in Flight

by Neeny Boucher

  Christina glared at him, hissing, “Masssssson Glenn?”

  Riley knew Mason’s name was like a red rag to Christina, but he pressed on. Nodding, Riley said, “Yes, Mason Glenn. He – agh – never mind, about Mason. The important bit is I wasn’t dating anyone else while you and I were hanging out.”

  ********************

  Christina

  Hanging out? thought Christina. Hanging out? This was what they were doing “hanging out.” Well, she didn’t think they were actually dating and now it had been confirmed. They were “hanging out.”

  ********************

  Riley

  Riley could tell she was uncomfortable, so he tried for clarity, but didn’t get there. “So, let’s make things clear. No more games. When we’re together, there’s no one else. Deal?”

  ********************

  Christina

  Deal? It was as clear as mud to Christina and she wasn’t making any “deals” unless she could read them on paper. She pulled back from Riley and stared at him. He was acting nervous and shifty. She watched him run his hands through his hair, and over his face, then stuff his hands in his pockets. Eyeing him curiously, she asked, “What do you mean?”

  ********************

  Riley

  In the interests of staying on point and to stop himself from groaning at her, he said, “I’m talking about being with other people and well, you know, sex, Christina.”

  He watched her blink a bit and she said, “I know that, Riley, but I’m not clear on the other stuff.”

  Riley kept saying in his head, “small steps” because if they were ever going to unravel the knots, then they had to work through them slowly and there were plenty. “I’m talking about you and me, Dina. If we’re together in the same place – there’ll be no one else. You won’t have to worry about me being that guy and I won’t have to worry about you being that girl. We can take small steps and work it out.”

  It took Christina awhile to respond and Riley could see her processing it through her mind. He didn’t say anything further because he wanted her to understand what he was saying and she could be flighty. Whenever he’d tried to be firm with her about reconciliation, she’d driven him off with a pitchfork.

  ********************

  Christina

  The problem was she didn’t understand. It sounded like he didn’t want to be that guy with other women, but he wanted to be that guy with her. Christina frowned and said, “So, let me clarify this, you just want ex-sex - if we’re in the same place? No strings attached?”

  ********************

  Riley

  Riley wondered how she could interpret what he’d just said and come up with that conclusion. He counted to ten, trying to calm himself. “No. I just think we should take things slowly. I’m not looking at you as some booty call and I’m not asking you to get serious – yet.”

  He glanced at her, trying to gauge her reaction, but the shutters had come down on her face. He wanted to get serious, or at least try, but he wanted to know if she did. He wasn’t going to put himself out there if all she wanted was a fling.

  Riley was about to say more, but was interrupted by Johnny and Andy James. Johnny waved at them and came over. He’d wiped most of the stuff off his face, but still looked like he needed a shower. Andy James had marks and smears of all sorts of crap over his jacket, but apart from that he looked relatively clean.

  Johnny looked at Christina and Riley saying, “Hey – me and Andy are heading back. My girlfriend’s at the hotel and I don’t want to leave her alone all night.”

  Tapping Andy on the arm, Johnny laughed, “And we seriously need to wash.” They all laughed and Johnny said, “Catch you tomorrow.” Christina gave Johnny’s jacket back to him and she started shivering, so Riley took his one off and placed it around her shoulders.

  Andy James grinned as he followed Johnny and said quietly to Christina, “Dry cleaning is on you, Martin, and I had no idea you could sing. Apart from the food fight at the end, it was an interesting evening. See you tomorrow.”

  They waved Johnny and Andy off in the town car, and Christina turned to Riley. “You know everyone is going to freak.”

  He looked at her and gave a tight smile. “Yep, but this is between you and me, and nobody else. I’m sick of people getting in the way, Dina. I want you and me to work this out on our own.”

  She looked up at him and smiled, making his heart lurch. “Okay,” she said, “Let’s go give this a try.”

  He took her hand in his saying, “Let’s go get your coat and tell everyone we’re going.”

  Riley shook his head and burst out laughing. “We’re going together because I don’t plan on leaving you alone by yourself again in Pax. The havoc you can cause, Dina. It’s unbelievable.”

  Chapter Twenty-two – Layovers

  Christina, Seattle, The Present, Saturday 13 October 2012

  “Look at me, Dina. Come on, baby, look at me,” Riley pleaded. “Please don’t shut me out.”

  Christina didn’t want to look at him. When she looked at him she felt emotionally drained and exposed. His “look at me” commands were one of his signature moves and she was worried enough about his “moves” as it was.

  And shut him out? She’d tried and it was impossible. Riley had always been able to see straight through her and he’d never allowed her to keep a secret from him. He would badger her until she caved in, then he would listen to her intently as she rambled and burbled, getting all her fears out.

  Why would now be any different? What was she doing? Her heart wasn’t strong enough to survive this – this “hanging out thing.” She thought she’d learned her lesson where Riley was concerned, but she figured he wasn’t the only slow learner in the room.

  Christina knew it was childish, but she grabbed a pillow and covered her face with it, so she didn’t have to look at him. She cried in relative privacy, or as private as someone could get when they were in bed with the person they were crying about. “Dina,” he pleaded, which just made her cry more.

  They’d left the nightclub and headed back to the hotel where Riley was staying because it was closer, and they didn’t know if anyone else was staying at the townhouse. The taxi driver was unimpressed with Christina’s appearance and worried about damage to his car from her filthy clothing. Riley had to pay him extra for cleaning and in the end, the driver relented and they headed away.

  Christina and Riley sneaked through the hotel in the hope they didn’t run into any other members of the band. They made it to his room without incident and as soon as they entered, Riley insisted Christina had a shower. As Christina went to remove her dress, Riley stopped her. “Allow me, I’ve been dying to do this all night.”

  He stood behind her, moved her hair over one shoulder and slowly unzipped her dress. Riley kissed the back of her neck and peeled her dress off, pulling her toward him, cupping her breasts in his hand. She sighed and leaned back against him and he ran his hand down her back to her butt. It was when she felt him cup her butt cheeks, giving them a firm squeeze that she began to get skittish.

  As Christina turned around to face Riley, he held her in place and every intricate detail of the conversation in the bathroom at the nightclub came into her mind. Christina pulled away from Riley with a nervous laugh and headed toward the shower. As she bent to take her shoes off, Riley said in a low voice, “Maybe we could put those back on later?”

  In the scheme of things, wearing shoes while having sex wasn’t really a big deal, but they were Mandy’s. When she looked at him and said, “Okay, but these are Mandy’s,” he pulled a face and shook his head.

  “No. We’ll just leave those off.”

  She peeled her panties off and got into the shower, washing her make-up off. As she started shampooing her hair, Riley joined her. He stood behind her and started rinsing her hair, and soaping her down. Under normal circumstances, Christina would have found this erotic. Now all she could think about was Riley st
anding behind her, and what was hard and close to her butt.

  ********************

  Riley

  Riley couldn’t understand why Christina was acting so nervous. He put it down to the weird evening they’d had and hoped to allay whatever fears were going through her mind with attention. He had fantasized about Christina wearing those hot shoes, but when she said they were Mandy’s, he remembered the dirty dancing in the nightclub and didn’t want the association. Mandy was beautiful, but she was like a sister and that was a bone killer.

  He joined Christina in the shower admiring her neck and back. Riley had always loved the nape of a woman’s neck and back. Christina had always been sensitive on the neck and he always focused there before moving further afield. He rinsed her hair, running the wet strands through his hand and enjoying the feeling.

  Riley put conditioner in her hair and soaped her body while he waited. He looked down at her ass and ran soap over her cheeks, stroking it with his hands. Christina was narrow in the hips and didn’t have much of an ass, but he liked it. Riley pulled her close to him, so she could feel how much he wanted her, but she jerked away.

  ********************

  Christina

  Christina spun around when Riley pressed himself against her ass. With water running into her eyes and a nervous smile, she turned to face him. She grabbed the soap off him and said a cheery, “My turn.” She knew there had been a misunderstanding by the girl about the relationship with Riley, but she couldn’t get the anal adventures conversation out of her head.

  What if he was into that? The ideas had to come from somewhere. Christina didn’t want to give any indication that she was interested in going there, and by his own admission, he hung out with Mason Glenn. Mason Glenn, Captain Debauched and Depraved. If half the stories about Mason were true and she had it from a credible source, Bonnie, that some of them were, she wanted to make it quite clear that she wasn’t ready for that.

  She ran the soap over his body and stared at him. Wow, she thought, he really is gorgeous from his head to his toes. Christina had always thought he was smoking hot, but he looked better now than he did when they were together. Riley had always been long and lean, broad shouldered, with narrow hips, but now, he had muscle definition.

  Christina had always preferred athletic slim men, like Riley, to hulking beasts. He looked like someone who worked with his hands and was physically fit, and strong. She knew from the cyber-stalking freaks that his major occupation was in business and with the band, but his hands told another story: of someone who enjoyed the graft.

  As she was soaping his chest and lingering on his abs, he pushed her head back under the shower, covered her eyes with his hands and rinsed the conditioner out of her hair. While her eyes were covered, Riley placed a kiss on Christina’s lips. She dropped the soap and they reached for each other, but they were so slippery, they almost had an accident.

  Both started laughing and Riley said into her ear. “Let’s go to bed, Dina.”

  They jumped out of the shower and as she reached for a towel, he smacked her on the ass. It actually made her jump and she decided it was best to keep her backside out of harm’s way. Christina wrapped herself in a towel and sat in front of the bathroom mirror combing the extra water out her hair, trying to dry it.

  ********************

  Riley

  Riley stood behind her stark naked, towel-drying his hair vigorously and when he’d finished he waited for her. He watched her running a comb through her hair and decided he didn’t want to wait any longer. He grabbed a towel and started rubbing it over her head to hurry her along. After he’d finished, she did look like a scarecrow and she gave him a smile before combing it straight.

  He was tempted to throw her on the bathroom floor, but tonight wasn’t about being reckless like last weekend. It was about patience, exploration, and pleasure. Speaking of pleasure, he put his tongue piercing in. He grinned to himself: he had a little surprise for her. He knew she didn’t like surprises, but he hoped she’d make an exception for this one.

  For once, they had a place to themselves without fear of interruption or disapproval from anyone else and he planned to make use of it. When Christina stood up and smiled at him he almost shouted, “thank fuck,” but kept himself under control. She clutched her towel to her chest and motioned with her head to the other room.

  She leaned against the bedroom wall, with her back pressed to it and he stood in front of her, placing his hands on either side of her head. He moved into kiss her and felt her arms go around his neck. Riley went to pull her towel off, but she grabbed it and held on.

  He stepped back to look at her and frowned. Christina was nervous and he didn’t know why, but he smiled at her. “Are you okay?” he asked and when she said an unconvincing, “sure,” he nodded. “Do you want to do thith, Dina? Becauthe if you’re having thecond thoughth it’th okay.”

  ********************

  Christina

  Christina did want to do this. She wanted to do it a lot, but she couldn’t control her nerves and why was he lisping? “Why are you talking funny?”

  Riley grinned and poked his tongue out at her, “Pierthing.” She blinked. He had a silver stud in his tongue and he clasped it between his teeth with a click before letting it go.

  “Why would you have a…” and then she stopped herself.

  Riley’s grin turned into a full smile and he laughed. Christina felt herself blush. Well, duh, it was obvious what it was for and she wanted to face-palm for asking such a stupid question. Oh my god, she thought, he is a man-whore.

  This felt dirty and dangerous. Here she was in a hotel room with her ex-husband, aka Mr. Pierced Anal Adventures. Christina hadn’t felt this way last weekend, but that’s because she hadn’t heard the ‘conversation’.

  She had always felt safe with Riley sexually, but that’s before she found out his tastes now ran into the wild zone. Before last weekend, they hadn’t seen each other for a long time. Sometimes, ignorance really was bliss.

  When she looked up Riley was staring at her with a half-smile on his face and an eyebrow raised. He knew she’d disappeared for a minute and she smiled back. “You okay, Dina?”

  “I’m fine,” she lied, making Riley’s eyebrows draw together.

  “Then, why are you tho nervouth?”

  Christina shrugged and huffed. “I’m not.” She could tell he was unconvinced, but he leaned in towards her and kissed her on the neck. He ran the stud up her neck, making her skin tingle. Okay. This definitely had promise.

  “Yeth or no, Dina?” Riley asked. “Yeth or no?” Each question was punctuated with a kiss on her neck, collarbone or lips. She remembered this seduction technique well. She’d lost her virginity to him this way. Then, like now, she’d been nervous, but he’d kissed her fears away asking her the “yes or no” question, until she’d grabbed his head, groaned “yes” and kissed him passionately.

  History didn’t repeat itself. Christina said, “yes” straight away, but quickly learned they weren’t just passionate kids anymore. Somewhere in the last five years or so apart, he’d joined the super-league of sex-capades, while she’d remained somewhat of an amateur. The discrepancy in experience reinforced the gulf between them and she felt contradictorily satisfied, yet miserable.

  ********************

  Christina

  When Riley had started his slow torturous assault on her body, Christina gave herself over to the experience as she always did. There was an intense sensuality that heightened her senses, making her beg and plead. He used his talented tongue and deft fingers to bring her to the brink, and keep her there. She decided his tongue stud and what he did with it should be illegal.

  Before he rolled the stud over nearly every part of her, he’d told her exactly what he was going to do. The anticipation his words engendered had excited her in a way that was both surprising and shocking. Then his exploration began, which was leisurely and thorough.

  He made
her lay still and when she tried to grip him, pulling him closer and finding release he had continued his deliberate pace. Riley’s kisses were gentle, interspersed with light nips and touches that made her jerk. Each time she half sat up, he gently pushed her down and proceeded to tease her until she shook in response.

  Riley used everything to drive her wild: his voice, his breath, his hands, his fingers, his tongue... She felt intoxicated by the taste and feel of him, and his complete authority over her body. When he finally entered her, she hadn’t just exploded. She detonated and what was left of her was a gibbering idiot.

  To her acute embarrassment, she made noises that were inhuman. Even to her own ears, she sounded like a cross between a goat and a seal. She understood now why the French called it la petite mort (the little death) because for a moment, she could swear she’d seen the other side.

  He had made it all about her and it was the sexual experience of her lifetime. She felt exposed, laid bare and defenseless to him. In the aftershock of what happened, Christina felt as if he owned her body and soul. He’d often talked about them belonging to each other, but she felt like she’d just handed him her ownership certificate.

  Christina had never felt this way with him in the bedroom before. She’d always trusted him with her body and always would. She knew he would never hurt her, but he’d pushed her limits. In the past, she felt like an equal participant and recipient, but no longer.