Road Tripping

by Noelle Adams

  She was going to be reasonable. She wasn’t a slave to her lust. It just wasn’t all that easy to convince her body of this.

  She kept imagining various erotic scenes—some sweet, some quite dirty—but all of them involved having orgasms, and the succession of fantasies had turned her on.

  “What the hell is wrong with you?” Ethan demanded at last, shocking her by speaking out of the blue.

  “What do you mean?”

  “Are you mad at me?” he asked impatiently. “I’ve been racking my brain, and I can’t come up with a single thing I might have done to make you angry.”

  Startled into looking at him, she asked, “Why would you think I was mad at you?”

  “I know by now how you are when you’re angry. You’ve been acting all fidgety and restless, as if you’re dying to tell me off and barely holding it back. And your cheeks are red, you’re breathing unevenly, and you haven’t said a word in over thirty minutes.” Ethan raised his eyebrows and sneered at her. “If you have something to say, come out and say it. Don’t just sit there and stew.”

  Ashley choked a little bit. “I’m not mad.”

  “Like hell you’re not. If you want to rant and rave at me, just get it over with. If not, stop wiggling around and distracting me.”

  Gaping at him, Ashley felt a rush of anger sweep through her. She hadn’t been remotely mad before, but after hearing such arrogance and presumption...“I’m allowed to wiggle, without getting my head bit off. If I say I’m not angry, then I’m not angry. As a matter of fact, I was just thinking about sex, but fortunately you showed your true colors before I mentioned it.”

  He jerked his head to the side to peer at her. “You want to have sex?”

  “Kind of,” Ashley admitted. “Or I did a few minutes ago. But now I just want to wring your infuriating neck.”

  His eyes went hot, but his face twisted slightly. “I guess we could—”

  “No. Seriously. This is not a good time. I’m not a slave to lust, you know.”

  “You aren’t?” His green eyes gleamed with a teasing heat. “Not even a little?”

  “Maybe a little. But we can make it to Sioux Falls this morning, so we should probably just keep going until we do. Any sort of breaks don’t work out well for us.”

  “Yeah.”

  His face changed, and she knew he had thought about what would happen when they finally got to Sioux Falls. How much danger they might be in.

  It was a sobering thought, and it made her sober too. It was easy to get wrapped up in her new feelings and experiences, and the intimacy she felt with Ethan, but they wouldn’t be able to really enjoy it until they were genuinely safe again.

  They weren’t safe yet.

  “We’ll stop for gas, as soon as we find the right chain. Then it’s right to Sioux Falls.” Ethan’s eyes were focused on the road, and his body was tense.

  He was worried now. She could see it in his body. It worried her too, making her forget the desire she’d been feeling just minutes before.

  After a few minutes, Ethan evidently gave voice to what he’d been thinking because he said without warning, “When we get to Sioux Falls, you have to do what I say.”

  She twitched in surprise. “What do mean?”

  “I mean you have to do what I say. Our lives might depend on it.”

  She felt that inchoate worry again—that he still didn’t understand he was bulldozing, that he still didn’t understand why it was something she just couldn’t live with, no matter how much she loved him.

  She hated to bring it up again, though. He would think she was being unreasonable and demanding, and they really did have more important things to deal with first. She said carefully, “If our lives depend on it, I’m not going to start arguing with you.”

  “Okay. Good.”

  He was still tense, visibly working out a plan for how to deal with the impending crisis.

  After a while, she wondered if he knew she was still sitting beside him in the car.

  ***

  They stopped to get gas shortly after they reached I-29 north, when they found the right kind of gas station.

  Ethan pumped the gas while Ashley went to the bathroom, hauling her bag with her so she could comb her hair and reapply deodorant, since she was feeling hot and kind of icky from the humidity and all her worries.

  She killed some time in the quick shop until Ethan had gone to the restroom himself and then reemerged. He had paid for the gas at the pump, but they bought some bottles of water and a bag of pretzels. Paid for it with the credit card, of course.

  They would definitely have to pay back poor Miss Horner at the end of this.

  Ashley was about to follow Ethan out of the store when he stopped suddenly in front of her. She almost ran into his back.

  She was about to ask politely what his problem was, but he grabbed her by the arm. “Police,” he whispered.

  She looked through the glass wall of the store and saw that, indeed, two police cars had pulled up behind the sex-mobile, and the officers had gotten out and were looking in the windows.

  “Little bastard must have reported the car as stolen,” Ethan muttered.

  Ashley didn’t have to ask whom he was talking about. She was only surprised that the sleazy little guy Ethan had won the car from had been smart enough to think of the idea.

  “We need to get away,” she hissed. “We’ll be arrested.”

  “I know.” He pulled her toward the back of the store. “I saw a back door down the hall with the restrooms.”

  She followed him silently, and they were able to slip out the back before the cashier even looked up from her magazine.

  They hurried through the grassy field behind the building until they were out of sight of the gas station. “What are we going to do?” Ashley was out of breath, and her mind was a whirl. “We have no car.”

  “I know.” Ethan’s face took on the intent look that showed he was coming up with a plan. “We’ll just have to find another car to steal.”

  Ashley looked around them. “Where? There’s nothing but farms around here.”

  After hesitating momentarily, Ethan sighed. “Are you okay to walk for a while? Surely we’ll come across a town or an available car to steal eventually. But we better not go back to the gas station. Not with the cops there.”

  “I can walk,” she replied glumly, already feeling the sun beating down hotly on the top of her head. “At least I’m not in those horrible sandals this time.”

  “We’ll go north. At least that way we’ll be making progress in the right direction.”

  So they walked. And they walked. And then they walked some more.

  They walked through fields. Down little gravel roads. Across farmland. They climbed over fences. Hopped over streams. Were chased by an enthusiastic sheep dog. Came across five farmhouses, eight barns, and six silos.

  But not a single car they could steal.

  The only car they saw was a pickup truck parked beside one of the farmhouses. They were desperate enough by that point to take the risk, but the family the truck belonged to was picnicking happily right beside it.

  They walked for about four hours. Then they took an hour’s break. Drank some of their water and ate half of their pretzels. Ashley sort of passed out in a daze as she sprawled on the grass with her head in Ethan’s lap.

  Finally, they got up and started walking some more. A few hours later, they still had found no available cars to steal.

  “This is like hell!” Ethan bellowed out of the blue, at about six o’clock. “Nothing but farms for the rest of eternity.”

  “It’s not hell,” Ashley said nastily. “It’s Iowa.”

  “Surely we’ll come across a town at some point,” Ethan groaned. She had rubbed sunblock on his face several times that afternoon, but, even so, his nose was starting to look a little pink.

  “Don’t count on it.” Ashley took a swig out of the third bottle of water. “I’m pretty hungry. Can we stop for so
me more pretzels?”

  Ethan relented, and they sat down in the dirt beside a cornfield and feasted on pretzels.

  The got up eventually and kept walking. When the sun started to go down, Ashley was almost ready to cry. She had been persevering all day, not complaining and managing to keep up with Ethan’s stride. But she was honestly about to collapse.

  They were walking along a gravel drive that led through one of the farms, and they saw a run-down barn in the distance. Ethan had been darting covert looks at Ashley’s face. “We’ll have to stop for the night,” he said resignedly. “You can’t go on much further.”

  “I can too.” She tried to keep the exhaustion from her face and voice. “Don’t stop on my account.”

  “Well, I’m about to fall over. So can we please stop on my account?”

  Ashley wasn’t about to argue with that.

  “Tomorrow morning, we'll stop at the first house we see and ask for help, even if it puts us at risk of being caught. But for tonight, let’s try that old barn over there. It doesn’t look like it’s being used for much anymore.” Ethan put his hand on the small of her back and propelled her forward once more.

  Ashley made her legs move. Stared at the ground passing below her. Counted her steps. Prayed she wouldn’t trip on her own feet.

  “You okay, honey?” Ethan asked in a slightly anxious voice. He took her by the shoulders and turned her to face him.

  “Yes,” Ashley lied, trying to smile at him. His face was blurry and wavering. “Why wouldn’t I be?”

  “Because you almost ran into the barn.” Ethan nodded in the direction they’d been walking, and Ashley turned to see the barn directly in front of them.

  “Oh, good. Can we sleep now, please?”

  “Yes, we can sleep.”

  He pulled open a creaky door. It was dim inside, but there was still enough light to see that the barn was vacant except for empty stalls and old piles of hay.

  “Too bad I don’t have energy for a roll in the hay,” she mumbled.

  Ethan chuckled. “I don’t have energy either. Maybe tomorrow, unless we get attacked by a killer cow or something equally frightening tonight.” As he talked, he wandered around the empty barn, peering in corners and checking things out.

  Ashley had already dropped onto a pile of hay. Unfortunately, it was old and didn’t smell very good. “Hay is really scratchy.”

  Leaning over to pick something up, Ethan said, “These look like old horse blankets. I don’t know how clean they are, but they’ll be better than sleeping on scratchy hay.” He brought them over to her and spread a couple out on Ashley’s chosen pile of hay.

  She tried again, and the blankets helped a lot. Not with the smell, but at least with the scratchiness. Ethan lowered himself beside her, so she rolled over to curl up against him. “I’m going to sleep now,” she said, her voice muffled by his damp T-shirt.

  He always tried to take care of her, even if he was a bulldozer. She loved him like crazy.

  And it was the end of the ninth day.

  Day Ten

  about thirty miles outside of Sioux City, Iowa

  Ashley was vaguely conscious of Ethan getting up because the pile of hay shifted, and the side with which she’d been snuggling into him suddenly became chilled. But she was too dead-tired to even open her eyes, so instead she curled into a ball to warm herself and drifted back into uneasy sleep.

  Some time later—she had no impression of how long it was—she felt the hay pile shift again and Ethan’s hands uncurl her and pull her against him once more. Her body automatically adjusted to fit against his snugly, even in semi-consciousness.

  “Ashley,” Ethan murmured. “We need to get going soon.” His hand was stroking her hair.

  She grunted what was supposed to be a response and buried her face in his rather dirty shirt.

  “I’m sorry, honey,” he tried again. “But you need to wake up now.”

  This time her reply was more like a mumble, but it was still completely incoherent, even to her.

  Then she felt his lips on her forehead, on her temple, on her cheek, on her lips. “Wake up,” he whispered, between every kiss.

  She was finally able to construct real words. “I’m not Sleeping Beauty.”

  Ethan chuckled, “No argument here. This morning, a beauty you are not.”

  She pulled away from him abruptly at the sting of that remark, but the rapid movement was a mistake. Every part of her body was stiff or sore, so she hurt with every movement. “Thanks a lot.” It was the only response she could come up with in her groggy state.

  He grinned at her endearingly.

  She scowled even more as she watched him. “You did that on purpose. You wanted to make me mad enough to get up.”

  “Did it work? There’s a spigot outside the barn you can use to wash up a bit.”

  She gave him a dirty look—mostly on principle—and then tried to stand up, but all of her muscles protested. She stifled a groan of pain and stretched to loosen herself up.

  “You all right?” Ethan asked, watching her carefully.

  “Of course. Just stiff from our strange sleeping arrangements. I’ll be ready to go in a few minutes.”

  She wasn’t just stiff. Her body hurt with every move she made.

  Since it wouldn’t do any good to complain, she found the spigot, splashed water on her face, and tried to clean herself up as best she could. She applied some deodorant and then went behind a convenient tree to relieve herself.

  And that was all the getting ready there was for her to do this morning. They didn’t even have any more pretzels to eat.

  She and Ethan began walking in the same direction they’d been going the previous day. “We’ll stop at the first house we see and ask for help,” Ethan said, after they’d been walking for a few minutes. “We can’t do this another day.”

  “I’m trying to think of what we should do when we find a house.” She was walking slower today by necessity, although she was trying to hide her soreness from Ethan. “If we call the cops, we may end up in more trouble than we are now.”

  “I know. I’ll think of something.”

  She paused to rub one of her calves, which was hurting so much she wanted to wince at every step. “I guess we could—”

  “I said I’d think of something. Keep walking.”

  His words were curt, matter-of-fact, certainly not intentionally mean. But they caused a jolt of pain and fear to shoot through her chest anyway. “Don’t I get a say in what we do?” she asked slowly, stopping in her tracks and staring at him. “Doesn’t my opinion matter at all?”

  “Not in this,” he replied, looking at her impatiently. “Would you keep walking, Ashley? I need to get you to food and transportation as quickly as possible.”

  Her heart started beating again, but only to drum painfully. “Can’t we at least talk about our plans? I know you’re worried, but so am I. And these aren’t just your decisions to make.”

  Ethan gave her another exasperated look and put her hand on his back to move her along. “I’m making them anyway. You are in no shape to argue with me this morning. We’re hungry, dirty, and stranded in the middle of nowhere. We don’t know where we’re going or how far we are from the closest town. You didn’t have anything but pretzels to eat yesterday, which is why you feel weak and light-headed, although you refuse to admit it. And I know perfectly well that you’re in pain, although for some reason you’re trying to hide that from me too. This isn’t a negotiation. This isn’t a discussion. Now, start walking, or I’ll pick you up and carry you.”

  She stared at him in astonishment.

  His expression changed to resigned impatience. “Just trust me, Ashley, and start walking.”

  Trust him. He wanted her to trust him. When he refused to trust her. When he still refused to treat her like an equal partner.

  The farmland and vivid blue sky started to spin slowly around her, and her head throbbed with a recognition that threatened to knock
her out.

  Ethan thought he was the most capable of making good decisions. But, less than two years ago, he’d gotten involved with criminals. He’d gotten Mark involved too. He’d gotten both of them arrested, convicted, sentenced.

  And the criminals weren’t just harmless moonshiners. They were threatening to kill him now. They were threatening to kill her too.

  And he wanted her to trust him. Without argument. Without negotiation.

  Just trust him. As if he had always been trustworthy.

  As if she could just be bulldozed along into a life she might not want.

  And she could suddenly picture a life with him, and it wasn’t the life she’d always wanted.

  He would always protect her, always take care of her. But he would also always make the decisions. Until the person she might become was annihilated by his power and love and care.

  Ashley didn’t move. She literally couldn’t breathe, couldn’t swallow, couldn’t blink. Just stared at Ethan through blurry eyes.

  Perhaps it seemed an extreme and overly dramatic reaction to such a minor part of the morning. But Ashley knew it. Knew it. Like she knew the lines of Ethan’s face.

  She was hit by heavy waves of nausea, one right after the other. “Oh, God,” she groaned, putting a hand to her stomach as she felt her belly start to churn.

  Ethan had been watching her in bewilderment for the minute it had taken her to come to these realizations. “Baby, what’s wrong?” he asked in concern.

  Everything was wrong. And everything in her stomach was about to come up. “Oh no,” she mumbled, as the horrible situation got suddenly, horribly worse.

  But it was too late now to stop it. She stared at Ethan for another moment—his so loved face and body—and then she turned her back to him and sank to her knees on the ground.

  Her stomach heaved. And so it wasn’t just shock and heartbreak. It was abject humiliation—because now she was throwing up in front of Ethan. She gagged again, and this time the force of it knocked her onto her hands.

  She was on all fours as she vomited into the grass. Unfortunately, she had very little in her stomach, so they were mostly just ugly, painful dry heaves.