by Noelle Adams
He gave her a drowsy half-smile. “We still have the guns if you ever feel the need to do something other than complain about me. I’ll even take the safety off for you.”
“Don’t tempt me. You get smugger and smugger each day of this horrible trip.”
“And you get more and more demanding. If we don’t kill each other before we get to Sioux Falls, it will be a miracle.” He was grinning unsteadily, and his features were almost too relaxed. His head was drooping back against the seat. “And I don’t believe in miracles. Or anything else for that matter.”
Ashley peered at him closely. “How many of those pain killers did you take?”
“A few,” came the vague, mumbled response. “I have a lot of pain. Have ever since you came back into my life.”
“Well, try to sleep them off. We’ve got a long way to go today. Maybe we’ll actually make it through another state.”
“I’ll drive if you need me to,” Ethan offered, smiling at her endearingly. “Perfectly alert. Don’t need a nap.”
Ashley chuckled. “I think maybe you do. Go to sleep and stop bugging me.”
“Okay. Haven’t gotten much sleep lately anyway.”
“You haven’t? We’ve only had one late night.”
“Went to bed but not to sleep.”
“You haven’t slept? You slept last night. You mean you didn’t sleep the nights before that? You didn’t sleep at all?”
“Nope,” Ethan responded, clearly quite out of it now. “Not any of the nights.”
“Why not?” Ashley was desperately thinking back. It seemed impossible that Ethan hadn’t slept. So he’d just lain awake all night? Even when they’d been in the same bed?
“Couldn’t sleep.”
“Hmmm,” Ashley murmured, turning again to study his handsome face, which was so uncharacteristically open.
“My responsibility,” he added obliquely.
She was pretty sure she knew what that meant. He had stayed awake in some sort of stupid, noble attempt to make sure they were safe. Because he had gotten her into this mess, and she was his responsibility.
Ashley drove in silence for a few minutes, and then asked a random question. “So why did you try to talk to me at the gas station?”
“What gas station?”
“Back home. We hadn’t talked in a year and a half. Why did you make a point of talking to me?”
“Couldn’t resist. There you were, looking so pretty.”
“I was?”
“Of course.”
She felt like squirming in pleasure. “Did you think I’d want to talk to you?”
“I didn’t know. I didn’t know you hated me. Although it was smart of you.” He sighed deeply. “Not good for you.”
He seemed to be getting a little off-track, so she prompted, ‘Why didn’t you know I hated you?”
“I thought you knew the truth.”
“What? What truth?”
“I thought Mark would have told you.”
“Told me what? About how you were trying to get out of the moonshine business?”
He didn’t answer
“Ethan? Was that what Mark was supposed to tell me?”
He didn’t answer again. When she checked his face, she saw he’d fallen asleep.
***
They had just crossed over into Illinois when Ethan finally woke up. She had stopped for gas and a snack, but managed not to wake him.
He clearly needed to catch up on an awful lot of sleep.
When he woke up, he peered over at her suspiciously. “What’s going on?”
“Nothing. You’ve just had a nice little nap.”
He snarled mildly. “No sign of...anyone?”
“No bad guys that I’ve spotted.” She was inching over into the other lane of the two-lane road to check for oncoming traffic before she tried to pass the tractor in front of her. “These back roads are mostly empty—except for the farm equipment.”
Ethan rubbed his face roughly and sort of shook himself off. “I should have just taken one pill.”
“I could have told you that.”
“What was I mumbling about before I fell asleep?” he asked with a frown. “I seem to recall babbling some sort of nonsense. I didn’t say anything stupid, did I?” He turned suddenly to analyze her expression.
Ashley hid her smile. “Nothing stupider than you normally say. I’ve learned to ignore most of your babbling.”
He didn’t look entirely convinced, but he said, “Good.” And then dropped into silence.
After a few minutes, Ashley said, “This is the bad guys’ car. Do you think it could have one of those tracking things in it that they use to find stolen cars?”
Ethan didn’t answer immediately. Then he said soberly, “Maybe we better get rid of this car.”
“Damn. I knew this was too good to be true. Brand new car. Comfortable. In good shape. Handed right to us. No way we’d be able to keep it for more than a day. Not with our luck.”
When Ethan didn’t say anything, she asked, “So where are we going to find another car?”
“I’m thinking.”
“Well, try not to wear yourself out. You haven’t gotten much sleep lately.”
Ethan turned quickly to stare at her. “What?”
“Oh,” she murmured. He must not have remembered babbling to her about that. No use in reminding him. “Never mind.”
“Ashley.” He said her name slowly, his voice edged with warning.
He was trying to intimidate her, but she was not going to be intimidated. But she thought it would be good strategy to direct them back to the essential issue. “Another car?”
She saw his mind working, putting pieces together. But then she noticed something when she glanced to her right.
She slammed on the brakes and made a sharp turn into a gravel drive.
“What the hell?” Ethan roared. “I knew I shouldn’t let you drive.”
She ignored this rudeness and pulled up beside an old, run-down barn. Beside it was a pickup truck.
“Would you like to share?” Ethan asked.
“You wanted another vehicle. I offer you this one. Look, it’s covered with dust and leaves. Must not have been driven in months. If we can get it to start, I bet it will be hours—even days—before anyone notices it’s gone.”
They wiped down the sedan as carefully as they could to get rid of fingerprints. Then they walked over to the blue pickup. It wasn’t as old as Gus’s truck, but it had clearly not been driven in a while. Ashley peered in the window. In the passenger seat was an old sleeping bag and a pile of folded blankets. “Look,” she said in delight. “Those will probably come in handy. Especially if we can’t afford a motel room tonight.”
Ethan had opened the door and gotten into the driver’s seat. He leaned forward and started fiddling with the wires under the dashboard. “We would have been able to afford a motel room had you not forced me to go to the doctor. I would have never thought you were so bossy and nervous about everything.”
“Well,” Ashley said, feeling a familiar annoyance start to grow. Being injured and drugged didn’t temper Ethan’s personality for long. “I wasn’t about to drag you around wounded and barely functional. I have my own well-being to look out for, you know. Much help you would be against the bad guys if you passed out from the blood loss or got an infection that gave you a fever.”
Ethan muttered a snide reply, but his face was under the steering wheel, so Ashley couldn’t really hear it.
Then the engine hummed to life, and Ashley let out a delighted little squeal. “I knew you were good for something.”
Pretty soon they were on their way again. This time in the blue pickup truck. They had left the sedan neatly parked in its place.
The pickup drove fine, and they made pretty good time for the next several hours. They stopped early on to fill up with gas and get something to eat.
In fact, things were going so smoothly that they were almost through Illinois by ev
ening. It had gotten dark, and Ashley was tired from a long day and very little sleep the night before. Ethan kept drifting off into dozes, saying very little even when he was awake.
Finally, at about 10:00, Ashley said, “I’ve got to stop somewhere, Ethan. Or I’m going to fall asleep at the wheel.”
“Any thoughts as to where?” he asked, shaking his head as if he were rousing himself.
“I saw a sign for a campground in a couple of miles. That will be cheaper than a motel. And we have those blankets and sleeping bag…”
Ethan nodded, although he didn’t look too happy. “Wonderful. Primitive camping in the middle of Illinois. And it looks like it might rain. Just what we need.”
“How’s your arm?” she asked, ignoring his sarcasm.
Ethan shifted in the passenger seat. “It’s fine. A little sore, but that’s all. My body is fully functional.”
Her mind interpreted that in one very particular way—a way Ethan had clearly not intended. Ashley felt herself blushing and hated herself for it.
For distraction, she turned and tried to see his face in the dim light. She thought he was probably telling the truth. He looked better after having slept for so much of the day, and his eyes were clear and sharp again.
She was glad. She’d been happy to take over the reins today, but she didn’t really want to be responsible for both of them. It was hard enough looking out for just herself.
Well, Ethan was now fully functional. So they could go back to looking out for each other. Things worked much better that way.
***
A little while later, Ashley was waiting for Ethan to finish up at the office of the campground. It was late, she was tired, the campground was not of stellar quality, and she just wanted to curl up and go to sleep.
He seemed to be taking an excessively long time, and Ashley adjusted a bit as she leaned against the stolen pickup.
There weren’t very many people at the campground tonight, so Ashley was surprised to hear the sound of voices and engines approaching her. They were loud and unruly and rather obnoxious. She could tell even before she saw who it was.
It was some sort of motorcycle gang. Or maybe calling it a gang was an unfair stereotype. The ten or twelve men were wearing leather, weren’t well-shaven, and looked like they hadn’t had showers in a while. But perhaps they would prefer to be called a club or an association of motorcycle enthusiasts.
Whatever they were, they were approaching her, and Ashley really, really wished that Ethan would hurry up.
The particularly greasy one with blondish hair seemed to be the leader. As soon as he noticed her, he came over and stood a little bit too close.
Ashley was suddenly scared. She was alone here, in the middle of nowhere, and her only protection was a wounded Ethan and two guns under the passenger seat. Not a convenient location at the moment.
“Well, look what we have here,” the man said in a surprisingly tenor voice. “Beautiful thing all by herself. Just waiting for me to take care of her.”
Now Ashley had to fight rising panic. There were about twelve of them. All big. All somewhat menacing. Probably carrying weapons. Visions of various horrific possibilities flickered through her mind.
But she knew better than to actually act scared. They might not have any malicious motives—and there was no sense in antagonizing them unnecessarily.
“Not alone,” she said, the cheerfulness in her voice a little forced. “But I’m sure you’re very good at taking care of people.”
A couple of the guys hooted at this, and the greasy leader leered at her. “In more ways than one. I’m really good at taking care of a lady...if you catch my meaning.”
Only a doofus wouldn’t catch his meaning. Subtlety was clearly not his strong point. But Ashley smiled agreeably. “Good to know. Unfortunately, I already have plans for the night. My boyfriend is inside. And he can take care of a lady pretty well himself.”
Greasy Leader didn’t look angry or offended. He certainly didn't look like he was about to force her to let him “take care of her.” So Ashley figured she had handled the situation the right way.
With a dirty laugh, Greasy Leader said as he waggled his thick eyebrows, “Babe, you might reconsider your plans. I bet I can take care of you much longer, and many more times, than he can.”
Ashley almost choked at this, but she managed to keep her composure. “We’ll see.” Then whispered, as if in confidence, “I better at least give him a chance.”
Ethan finally came strolling back to the truck. She saw his stance and his walk change when he took in the situation and assessed the motley group of men.
Figuring she better clue him in right away, Ashley called out as he approached, “There you are, honey. I was just telling these gentlemen that you have big plans for me tonight.” She met his eyes, tried to signal to him the right response.
Whether he got it right by instinct or by reading her eyes, Ashley didn’t know. But Ethan definitely got the response correct. He came over and slipped an arm around her possessively. “Sorry, boys,” he said in a friendly but uncharacteristically crude voice. “I definitely have plans. She’s not going to sleep tonight until she comes at least three times.”
More hoots and guffaws at this. Ashley blushed deeply and looked embarrassed—and she didn’t have to pretend at all for that.
“All right,” Greasy Leader said. “But if he doesn’t do his job right, you know where to find me.”
Ashley gave him a flirtatious smile and a wave of her hand, and then she and Ethan got back in the truck.
“Whew!” she breathed softly as Ethan tried to surreptitiously hotwire the truck once again. Her heart was still pounding painfully.
Ethan got the engine going and was about to put it in reverse, when someone tapped on the passenger window. Still nervous, Ashley jumped in her seat at the sound. She turned to see Greasy Leader’s head behind the glass.
She rolled down the window.
“Three times,” he said in a voice that brooked no objection. “Your spot is just down the hill, so we’ll have a good view. We’ll be watching and listening—and if he doesn’t get you off three times like he promised, then I’ll step up to the plate and finish the job for him.”
Ashley’s jaw dropped open. Ethan let out a short burst of a noise that could have been a fake laugh. “Won’t be necessary. Three’s easy. I have her going a dozen times some nights.”
Greasy Leader seemed to appreciate this, and he gave another obnoxious roar of vulgar laughter. “All we expect is three. Give us a good show, why don’t you? It’s been boring here tonight.”
Ethan backed the truck out of the spot, almost running over Greasy Leader’s toes as Ashley reached to roll back up the window.
“What do you think?” she asked, her voice a little bit quivery.
He shook his head. “I don’t know whether to take him seriously or not. If you want, we can just drive away now.”
Ashley thought for a moment. “I don’t think that’s a great idea. They’re in a good mood, but I’m pretty sure they could turn violent if they got mad. We don’t want a motorcycle gang coming after us.” She sighed. “It’s like a really bad movie from the seventies.”
“So what do you want to do?” Ethan asked quietly. “It’s your call.”
Ashley pressed her lips together. What she really wanted to do was just go to sleep in Ethan’s arms, but some options weren’t open to her at the moment. “I’d rather play it safe,” she said finally, her breath hitching a bit. “No use to ask for more trouble. You're injured, I'm exhausted, we have nowhere else to go, and I just want a good night's sleep. Maybe we should just give them what they want.”
Ethan’s expression was as peculiar as she’d ever seen it. She couldn’t even begin to understand how to read it. “Three orgasms for you,” he said in an unnaturally guttural voice. “That’s what they want.”
She nodded. “So we give it to them.” Her voice was casual and almost steady. But th
at was not at all how she felt inside.
She and Ethan. A sleeping bag. The back of a pickup truck. A clear night underneath the stars. Orgasms.
And an association of motorcycle enthusiasts waiting to make sure she came three times.
***
When they reached their spot, Ethan put the pickup truck in park and sat staring out the windshield in silence.
Ashley, who was now trembling a little, asked, “Well?”
“How do you want to do this?”
She managed to keep her voice light and airy. “I assume we’ll get in the sleeping bag in the back of the truck together. We’ll arrange ourselves in an appropriate position. You’ll get the truck rocking, and I would scream my head off about how incredible you are.” Despite everything, she almost giggled. “Three times.”
Ethan’s shoulders jerked with what looked like stifled laughter, but he turned in his seat until they had locked eyes. “You’re all right with this?”
Ashley raised her eyebrows.
“I don’t want you to be forced into an unwanted sexual situation because of our ridiculous circumstances. We won’t do this if you don’t want to.”
This piece of sensitivity made Ashley’s chest feel a little too full, but she made herself ignore the mushy feelings and instead waved his concern away casually. “I just want to go to sleep. If all I have to do is fake a few orgasms to get some rest, then I’m perfectly happy to do so. It’s not like it’s really a sexual situation. We should just think of it as a piece of theater.”
Ethan gave her a half-smile. “Theater it is. You ready?”
She wasn’t anywhere close to ready, but she got out of the truck anyway.
They laid out the blankets and sleeping bag in the truck bed. Then positioned themselves a little awkwardly—Ethan on top, in the appropriate misogynistic way. They had to please the motorcycle gang after all.
“Should we keep our clothes on?” Ashley whispered, although they were fairly isolated, and it was unlikely anyone could hear them unless they spoke very loudly. There were trees all around, and the bikers only had a view of the truck because of the vantage point the hill provided for them. “How much do you think they can see?”
