by April, Dani
Her next stop was a bed and bath store where she purchased simple curtains for the vacant windows of her trailer. She had measured for the size the day before and found some that would just fit. She gave the sacks to Chip, and he once more diligently ran them out to his truck for her.
Inside a ladies’ shoe store, Raven took almost an hour picking out a pair of lady cowboy boots to wear on the ranch. She finally settled for utility over style but liked the design of them nonetheless, and though the feel took some getting used to, she thought she would definitely like to wear them as she walked across her land out in the great open.
Again Chip was there for her and ran the box out to place in his truck after she had made the purchase.
“Thanks for that,” she told him as he returned, “but we’re not through yet.”
“What else do you need?”
“Clothes and shoes and cheap jewelry.”
“You really want to buy all of that?”
“Well, maybe not buy it. I might not buy any of it because I don’t have very much money left on my card, but looking for it is the next best thing to buying it, so come on.”
Again she tugged him down the middle of the mall. It was like pulling a stubborn horse, a very big horse. She laughed at him. “I’ll buy you that computer game you like and let you play it on my PC whenever you want if you’ll shop for clothes with me now.”
“I’m all right. Don’t worry about me,” he told her, his hand beginning to feel more comfortable cradled over hers as they walked. “But please let me pay for something. I want to buy you something in here today.”
She looked around. No one was looking. She reached up and kissed him again, a quick brush of his lips. “You’re really sweet, Chip. I’ve finally found the perfect man, one who’ll shop with me and be patient.”
“I’d do anything for you, Raven.” He looked down at her. His eyes were so honest. However, right now she thought all he wanted to do was get inside her pants.
“I believe you would, but you still don’t have any money. Wait for the fall when we sell the herd and you get your big payday.”
“Okay, we can come back here and pick it out together, something you really like.” He looked a little hurt at her mention of money and him not having any at the moment.
“I tell you what,” she told him, walking ahead of him and taking both his hands in hers. “When we’re finished shopping you can buy me a banana split. I love ice cream after I’ve been shopping.” She looked up at him, and she realized her teasing smile had become positively wicked. “I also love ice cream after doing other things, but you might find that out later.”
He blushed so badly she thought he was going to melt, and he couldn’t look her in the eye or even speak clearly for the next hour.
So Chip got his computer game, and Raven spent the next three hours looking through every store inside the mall.
“Just one more hour and I promise you our shopping is finished for the day,” she said, giving him another playful kiss when they exited a ladies clothing store and headed for the next one.
Inside the intimate wear store at the mall Raven used the remainder of her card balance to purchase a string bikini, thong panties, lace bra, and an ultra-short, see-through, red satin nightie. The bikini was just two little pieces of cloth and she would have been too embarrassed to ever wear it at a public beach or swimming hole. The panties hugged her so tight they were uncomfortable but looked pretty good in the dressing room mirror. The bra was also uncomfortable, but it made her breasts stick up proudly beneath her shirt. The material of the red nightie felt really comfortable against her skin, but it was so short and also of a sheer fabric, and she knew she would be embarrassed to try it on even if she was alone.
She wore the lace bra and thong panties beneath her clothes when she left the store. She found herself ready to blush at the feel of the undergarments next to her body, and wondered about her sudden impulse to buy the sex clothes. She wondered if Chip would notice that her short T-shirt now stood up more on her chest and more of her stomach was revealed. Yes, he would definitely notice. He had been secretly eying her body all day, but he would be too uncertain to say anything.
He was waiting for her outside. He had been too sweet to complain all day long, but she realized that his feet must be killing him from all the walking and standing. After all hers were and she was the one who was the shopaholic.
“You’ve done great today,” she told him as she took his hand again and they started to walk with the crowd at the mall. “Mission accomplished. Now why don’t you buy me that banana split?”
“It’s a deal,” he told her. Was that a squeeze he gave her hand? Chip was getting more comfortable with her as the day progressed.
When they were at the ice cream counter of the food court, Chip ordered a banana split for both of them. Raven had to correct his order several times until they got her toppings just the way she liked them. The girl working behind the counter, who was making the banana split, laughed at her. Raven laughed with her.
“My boyfriend wanted to buy me a banana split,” she told the counter girl. The girl smiled at them. Raven took Chip’s hand. Chip looked very embarrassed.
The midday crowd at the food court had already cleared out and it was easy to get a table. They got one by the floor-to-ceiling windows that looked out at the mountains, and the mountains seemed to be just at the other end of the parking lot from that view. They were very beautiful.
“Didn’t I tell you one of these would taste good after a long day of shopping,” she told Chip, scooping a spoon of chocolate ice cream in her mouth.
Chip smiled at her. “I’m having a good time,” he told her.
She reached over the table and squeezed his hand. “Me, too.”
“Only…”
“Only what?” Raven said and frowned.
“You called me your boyfriend back there.”
She looked up at his adorable face. “That’s because you are like my boyfriend now, sweetheart.”
“Well, you know how small towns can be,” he said. “They hear you call me boyfriend, and then later if you come to town with one of the other guys…”
Raven laughed but had to frown again as well. “That would be kind of confusing for most people I guess.”
“But don’t misunderstand me; I love to hear you call me your boyfriend. That’s the best sound ever.”
“We’ll figure something out to tell the good folks of Masterson in case any of them are too inquisitive about our relationship.”
After the banana splits they were about to leave the mall when Raven spotted the multiplex movie theater at the end of the concourse. They were running a movie that she had been dying to see for weeks, but until now never had the time in her crazy life to take in. The next show was starting in fifteen minutes.
“I’ve got enough for a ticket and popcorn if you do,” Raven told him.
Chip counted his money. “Yeah, I’ve got enough,” he said. “I’ve even got enough leftover to buy us some drinks and candy.”
Raven thought the movie was actually pretty good. There was a name actor in it who Raven liked, and the story was tightly told, but she found she wasn’t able to concentrate on it at all. It was already late, and by the time they left the theater in two hours it would be later still. It would be time to go home to the ranch.
Raven felt a knot in her stomach. What was going to happen once they got back home? What were they going to do? She knew the answers of course. She knew what would happen and could imagine what they would end up doing. How would it be, how would it feel, and when it was over would things be the same? Would she like or even respect herself any longer, and would she still feel this gentle, warm tenderness for Chip, or would she hate him?
She looked over at Chip halfway through the movie. She picked up his hand in hers. She could tell he felt the tension building, too, just like she did. He had been scared all day and was probably even more scared now. She had c
aught up with him. She was now every bit as scared as he was.
She squeezed his hand. He squeezed back. The movie played on before them.
Chapter Eleven
When they walked out to the truck after the movie was over, Raven went to the driver’s side door, and Chip opened it for her. She crawled in that door so she could sit closer to him in the seat. Her hip was touching his as they drove.
They drove back to the ranch in near silence. The sky had grown dark, and Chip had to turn on his truck’s headlights. Raven counted the yellow highway markers as they raced past.
She leaned her head over and against his shoulder to rest on the long drive home. She could smell his cologne again. It had stayed strong with him throughout their long day together.
She could feel the pulse of his heart under his shirt, and it was quickening with each mile that brought them closer to home. Shifting on the seat, she brought her body in closer to his and rested a hand on his chest. His breathing picked up. He was scared.
Raven felt the tension and could do nothing to stop it from building. The inside of the truck had become uncomfortable all of a sudden. Even with the windows rolled all the way down there didn’t seem to be enough air in there.
She thought about saying something to him, making meaningless small talk, teasing him some more, but then thought better of it. She didn’t feel like talking any more than he did. All she wanted to do was listen to his heartbeat, and feel his shallow breathing above her. As she thought about it she realized her heart was probably beating just as fast and her breathing just as ragged.
When they turned off the state highway to head down the gravel road that would take them to the ranch, the tension increased tenfold. They were almost home.
The outside lights were on in the trailer yard when they pulled in. The other four ranch hands were sitting at the table in the middle of the yard playing poker. Roy was shouting because he had just won some money off of Bran, and both Connor and Tyler were laughing.
Chip helped Raven down from the cab of his truck. She thought he may have ran his hand down her back just a little longer than necessary as he helped her and let his hand run to the naked skin on her back that was revealed by the short T-shirt.
She stayed in his arms a moment and looked up at him. He looked so very uncertain. She tried to smile at him, an “everything’s going to be all right” smile, but she knew she wasn’t convincing.
The other guys waved over at them. Raven waved back, wondering at their apparent nonchalance. Chip didn’t even seem to notice them.
Raven led Chip by the hand up to her trailer door.
“Should I come inside?” he asked.
“Sure,” she told him, and tried a better smile this time. “I need you to help me hang these curtains we bought today.”
That seemed to make Chip feel better. He now had something to do. “I’ll go get the sacks and bring them in,” he told her, running back to his truck to unload.
Raven swatted a fly away and then opened her door to walk inside her trailer. She turned on the lights, set her bag over in the corner next to her bunk bed, and kicked out of her cowgirl boots that she had been wearing ever since she bought them that afternoon. In less than a minute Chip came inside with her, loaded down with the sacks and boxes from their shopping.
“Just put the box with the computer on top of my desk over there,” Raven told him. “I’ll have time to set it up tomorrow.”
Chip did as he was told and Raven scoped out her windows for the curtains. With the lights on inside it was a fish bowl in there. A good thing they had gotten those little curtains today or the night would have become even more awkward still, considering her other four guys were seated just outside.
Raven helped Chip work on hanging the curtains. Rods were already in place over each window so it was just a matter of taking them down and fitting the new curtains to them and then hanging them back up. She could have done it without his help. In fact, he was so nervous he kept dropping his end and slowing her down.
“Why don’t you go get us a couple of beers out of the fridge,” she finally told him to get rid of him. “I’ll finish up here and join you in a minute. A cold one sounds pretty good right about now.”
“Sorry, Raven,” he told her, handing her his end of the curtain and going off to the kitchenette. “I’m just real clumsy tonight I guess. I don’t know why I’m so nervous. This has been the best day of my life.”
She hung the last curtain over the window by her bed, and then crawled down off the bed and came out to join him at the mini table in the kitchenette. He was already seated and had set the beers on the table for them and had already pulled off the caps.
She sat down next to him and took a quick swig of her brew. She found herself touched by his words. “You thought shopping with me was the best day of your life?” she asked him, and suddenly the tension between them was starting to take a new direction, though she felt it just as heavy.
Chip nodded his acknowledgement and took his beer bottle up in his long fingers and swallowed half of it in one gulp.
“Don’t be nervous, Chip,” she told him in a whisper and, leaning over, took his mouth to hers for their first real kiss. They were alone now, it was night, it was humid inside the trailer, and everything in it was still and quiet.
All that could be heard inside was the wet noise of their lips meeting each other. She opened for him. After a second he did the same. Their tongues met. She could taste the beer. Her hand ran up the hard muscles of his chest and now she could feel his heart beating faster than ever, almost ready to quake outside of his chest.
“How many girlfriends have you had, Chip?” she asked, realizing he hadn’t even touched her yet.
Chip looked down at the table as if deciding on what he would say, and then looked back over at her to meet her eyes. “I’ve never had a girlfriend before, Raven.”
“You mean you’ve never…” The words caught in her throat. This was a surprise she had not counted on. “You’ve never been with a woman before?”
“No.”
“You’re a twenty-one-year-old virgin?”
“I guess I am.” Now he seemed to be blushing from embarrassment more than anything else. “Please don’t tell the guys. They would never let me live it down.”
“Don’t worry, honey,” she told him and put her hands back on his chest and shoulders again to try and reassure him. “I’m just surprised that in this day and age…and you’re a really goodlooking guy…that, well…you’ve never had sex before.”
“I hope you don’t think I’m a sissy or something.” He was looking back down at the table and could no longer meet her gaze.
“Hell no!” She ran her hands down his arms and tried to get him to look her in the eye. “Don’t feel bad about it or embarrassed.”
Her voice was loud and firm. He looked back down at her and placed his hands on her arms to hold her.
“I actually have a confession to make,” she told him in a conspiratorial tone. “I’ve never had a virgin before. My two boyfriends in college both had other girlfriends before me, and even though Connor won’t admit it I think he has more notches on his belt than he can count.”
“You don’t think less of me?” he asked her, shy but still holding her eyes with his own.
“I’m actually flattered that I am going to be your first.”
She kissed him again and opened her lips to him, demanding that he open to her as well. Her tongue went inside and ran over his tongue, caressing the inside of his mouth. His arms started to wrap her in a tight embrace, his long fingers caressing down her body and feeling her open skin at the small of her back.
He pushed away from her suddenly and held her at arm’s length. “You don’t have to do this, Raven,” he told her. “I care about you so much. I don’t ever want anything wrong between us. I could just sleep on the floor tonight and the other guys would never know. Please, I don’t want to force you to do anything you’re not rea
dy for.”
“I want you, Chip, otherwise I wouldn’t be here.” She looked down and saw the uncomfortable bulge in his jeans. “From the look of things you want me, too.”
She got up from the table and took both his hands in her own. She led him across the small space of the trailer between the kitchenette and her bed. Their eyes never left each other.
She positioned him in front of her bed and then pushed him down to a sitting position. Taking a step away from him, she reached down to her shirt and pulled it over her head. Beneath the lace bra her breasts looked firm and were standing proudly.
She reached down to her jeans and unsnapped them and slowly lowered the zipper. She kept looking at Chip as she stripped. His eyes never left her body and had grown as huge as the eight ball on a pool table. With a few wiggles of her slender hips, the tight jeans fell limply at her ankles and she was able to high-step out of them.
“Don’t move a muscle,” she whispered to him and, wearing only her newly purchased underwear, walked over to flip off the lights of the trailer.
When she came back to him he had done as instructed and not moved, but his eyes were following every movement of her nearly nude body, and it made him look like he was in a hypnotized daze. She knelt down on the floor in front of him and between his outstretched legs. They kissed again. His hands massaged her naked shoulders, but he seemed afraid to explore further.
Reaching down to his waist, she pulled his shirt up, and in a silent command got him to raise his arms over his head. She helped him take off the shirt. As soon as it was off his body, she leaned down to his chest and started to devour him with wet kisses all across his muscles. His face was buried in her hair, and he was planting kisses along the top of her head.
She took time to suck each of his nipples into her mouth and taste them. When she did this she heard a moan escape his throat, and she realized she was starting to torture him with her sexual attention, but he looked and felt and smelled so good. Her kisses even sounded good as her tongue licked his naked skin.
