Torrid Exposure

by Carla Coxwell

  “Should have looked for something on the beach.”

  “We are here for one night,” I remark as we walk into the lobby. “Surely you can ‘rough it’ until tomorrow morning.”

  He laughs and looks a little embarrassed. Even though I am learning a lot about Bennett, I know that he comes from the kind of money people only dream about. His snobbish nature isn’t going to fade away in a day.

  We check into our room and make our way to the second floor. The view is of downtown. In the distance, I swear I can see storm clouds but it is too dark to tell for certain. Bennett is going around the hotel room, inspecting it to see if it meets his standards.

  I keep looking out the window, lost in thought as Bennett walks around the small hotel room. My mind drifts to Emily. She is now a newlywed. The whole thing feels strange to me. I have a hard time imagining her married now.

  Bennett says something, mostly to himself. I barely hear it. My mind is going back to that old woman who knew Spencer. It has been in the back of my mind all night. How in the world does she know my sister? I can’t help but dwell on it.

  “April?”

  “What?” I ask.

  “I asked if you have a side of the bed you prefer.”

  “Oh. No. I don’t care.”

  Bennett comes over to me and wraps his arms around my waist, “You’re so distracted. Thinking about Emily?”

  “Yes. And that old lady who knew Spencer.”

  Bennett sighs a little, “Don’t worry about it. Maybe she comes here without anyone knowing or something.”

  “But why? There isn’t anything for her here.”

  “You’re thinking about it too much,” Bennett says. “Just let it go.”

  I want to snap at him that there is no such thing as thinking about this too much. But before I can, Bennett’s hands travel below my waist. The touch of his fingertips sliding down make me shiver.

  “Let me help you let it go,” he whispers in my ear.

  I close my eyes and relax as he kisses along my neck. His fingers play with the edge of my underwear and then slide down underneath the fabric. I am already growing wet from his touch. When he brushes his fingers against me, I let out a small gasp of pleasure.

  Bennett takes this as an invitation for more. He brushes his fingers against my pussy again and then slowly rubs my clit. My knees go weak at this sudden feeling. Bennett moves his hand away and leads me to the bed, gently pushing me down. I am still wearing the dress I picked up for Emily’s wedding and he raises it around my hips, tugging off my underwear.

  Bennett buries his face in between my legs and starts probing me with his tongue. I close my eyes and lose myself to how good it feels. Bennett flicks his tongue along my clit and then begins to work me over with his mouth. I shudder and let him, moving my hips a little when I want more.

  He slides a finger inside of me and moves it in and out quickly as he sucks on my clit. It is overwhelming. I let out a louder moan as he slides another finger in. The different sensations are all too much for me and before I can stop, I climax.

  I lay there, gasping for breath as Bennett moves away from me. Yet I want to give him pleasure too. Itching to suck him, I move toward him and pull off his pants. Bennett grins at me as he leans back on the bed. I pull off his underwear and waste no time in sliding my tongue up and down his thick hard cock.

  He sighs in delight as I suck the head and then slide my tongue down the shaft. I roll my tongue over his balls and back up the shaft before taking him in my mouth. Once again, I love how much he fills my mouth and how good he feels. I could do this all night.

  I suck him vigorously, moving my head up and down and taking as much of him as I can. His cock hits the back of my throat and he thrusts his hips a little, shoving it in deeper. My tongue slides around his dick, making it as wet as it can.

  Then I hike my dress up. To Bennett’s surprise, I climb on top of him and positon myself so his cock slides into me easily. I am soaking wet again. I moan as Bennett fills me up. I instantly begin rocking against him, grinding my hips against his dick so I can feel him as deep as he can go. Bennett moans and moves his hips against mine.

  Together we move like this, slowly and in perfect sync until finally it becomes too much for Bennett. Like the first time we slept together, he yanks me forward and grips my ass. Then he begins to jackhammer into me. He fucks me hard and fast, grunting in my ear.

  I can feel another orgasm mount in me as he fucks me like this. I cling to him, gleefully taking the pounding. Then Bennett grunts and thrusts hard, climaxing. The sounds of his pleasure pushes me over again for the second time tonight and I feel myself climaxing.

  We shudder together, riding out our orgasms. After a couple of minutes, we fall together in a heap on the bed. My body is sore with pleasure. Bennett pulls me in closer. Before long, I fall asleep.

  ***

  When I wake up in the morning, it is pouring rain. I can hear it pounding on the roof of the hotel. Bennett is still asleep next to me. I slip out of bed and peer out the window. The rain is coming down in sheets. It is a heavy summer storm. My breath catches at the sight of all that rain.

  To get home, we will be driving on the same highway as the one I had my accident on. It was raining then as well. The thought of driving on that highway in this weather makes me feel as if the walls of our hotel room are closing in on me.

  I grab my phone and bring up my weather app, hoping it is a small storm. But one look at the weather makes my heart fall into my stomach. Heavy storms all day. I sit down on a nearby chair. Part of me wonders if I can cancel my job this afternoon. But the logical part of me knows I can’t. I can’t afford to. I am finally building up a solid client base. I can’t suddenly start canceling jobs because I am afraid of rain.

  I can’t believe I am feeling so stressed out about driving on the highway in the rain. I have driven in the rain on highways since my accident. It always made me nervous but I was always under control. Something about having to drive on the same highway as my accident is giving me major anxiety.

  Bennett’s alarm goes off on his phone. He stirs and reaches for me but realizes I am not there beside him. He sits up and sees me.

  “Hey, what’s wrong?”

  “It’s raining,” I reply glumly.

  He looks confused. “I’m sorry?” he says, raising his voice at the end to form a question.

  I sigh. “We just… we have to drive back on the highway in the rain.”

  The realization of what I’m saying dawns on him. He rubs his eyes, clearly trying to wake up to deal with how I am feeling.

  “Maybe we can find another way home. I can rent a helicopter or something.”

  I let out a dry laugh. “Bennett. I don’t want to fly around in a helicopter in this. Besides, I don’t think there’s any place for a helicopter to land here. Please. No helicopters.”

  “I can find out though,” Bennett says, reaching for his phone.

  I shake my head. “No, really. It’s okay.”

  The rain is coming down even harder now. I don’t want to be in a helicopter, bobbing around in the middle of this mess, trying to get home. The thought makes me feel queasy. It also feels wrong to have Bennett call down a helicopter just because I am afraid of a little water. Once again, I am reminded of the difference between the two of us.

  “It’s fine,” I say quickly. “I can’t be afraid of a highway the rest of my life.”

  Bennett looks unsure. “I can try to find another way home…”

  “No. It’s okay,” I say firmly and with a confidence I don’t feel.

  Bennett nods and gets out of bed. We shower and head out, stopping to grab breakfast at a fast food place before we head out of town. Before I am ready, we are heading out to go back home.

  The rain is lashing against the windshield as we turn onto the highway. I tell myself that it is crazy to feel as if my stomach is full of lead. It wasn’t raining nearly this badly on the night of my accident. Spencer sw
erved on a puddle, after all. However, that does nothing to calm me down. The puddles are going to be even bigger now, aren’t they?

  “Maybe you should close your eyes,” Bennett says at one point, “so you can’t see anything. You look so pale.”

  “Maybe,” I mumble and then close my eyes.

  I can hear the car engine and the way the rain is pounding on the roof of the car. I feel like a child for having such a strong reaction to being on this highway. I can almost feel myself back to that dreadful night. Spencer glancing at me and then hitting that puddle. The horrible swerve of the car.

  “Did you go to therapy after the accident?” Bennett asks suddenly.

  I open my eyes and my stomach does a flip at the sight of a car passing us quickly. How can the driver be okay going so quickly in this rain?

  “No,” I reply.

  “Why not?”

  “I don’t know. I just didn’t.”

  I didn’t think I had needed it, to be honest. Even with Spencer’s secret and the confusion surrounding that night, my parents were the sort of people who believed that one should deal with one’s own issues by themselves. Although, on second thought, seeing how Mom is dealing with Dad’s death makes me wonder if they were wrong in that area.

  “I only bring it up because of the strong reaction you’re having right now.”

  “Well, I haven’t been on this highway in the rain since the accident,” I reply, feeling oddly defensive.

  “Right but maybe therapy would have helped out with that.”

  “Well, it’s too late for that now, isn’t it?” I snap. “We’re on the highway and it’s terrifying.”

  “Just saying,” Bennett replies hotly.

  “Well, stop.”

  Silence fills the car. Somehow we have started bickering and that is the last thing I want to happen right now. Still, talking about therapy wouldn’t fix my issues right now, unless a therapist magically appears in our car.

  I lean forward and turn on the radio, which barely works due to the rain.

  “Do you have an MP3 player or something?” I ask.

  “Yeah,” Bennett says and moves to open a small compartment that is closed underneath the radio.

  “No! I’ll do it!” I say, panicked about him taking his eyes off the road.

  Bennett drops his hand and I open it up, taking out the MP3 player and connecting it to the radio. Music fills the car, softening the noise of the rain against the car hood. I lean back in my seat and close my eyes again. Bennett doesn’t say anything. I tell myself if I make it through this car drive, I’ll apologize for snapping at him.

  I rest my head against the window and keep my eyes closed. Even with my best attempts, I can feel the car swerve and spin. I can feel the way it turned in the air, leaving me upside down. I can recall the sensation in my leg of the metal crushing it. I can hear the voices outside the car.

  “We have to fucking move her!” the man is yelling loudly over the rain.

  My head is lolling from side to side. The pain and heat in my leg is overwhelming, seemingly blotting out everything else around me.

  “I have to call an ambulance!” said one voice. “Someone will have called already!” says another voice.

  “We have to move her!” the man shrieks at Spencer, his voice warped and distorted.

  “How the fuck am I supposed to move her?!” she fires back.

  “You took those first aid classes! Move her! I’ll take care of the ambulance!”

  Someone is coming to the car. The water is pouring in now through the cracks in the carriage of the wrecked car, covering my legs. I feel as if I am going to drown. My vision is blurry and my mind is so slow to catch up that I can barely register what is going on. Spencer’s face suddenly pops by the broken passenger window, looking at me.

  “April,” she says to me, “I have to move you, okay?”

  I can’t reply. I feel as if I am fading quickly.

  “I can do this,” Spencer says, mostly to herself.

  The man’s voice rings out, this time incredibly close, “What the fuck are you waiting for? We have about two fucking minutes before this all comes crashing down.”

  “How are you stopping the ambulance?” she asks.

  “Don’t worry about it.”

  Spencer makes a disgusted noise and turns back to me, trying to unbuckle my crushed seatbelt. That is when the man leans down next to her.

  “Just get her moved!”

  My eyes flutter open. I am back in the present day. My chest tightens so hard that I feel as if I am going to faint right there in Bennett’s car.

  “Are you okay?” Bennett asks me.

  I grunt out a noise, unsure of how to reply. Because I am not okay. I saw the man who was with Spencer that night. It was Kevin.

  Chapter Nine

  I can’t tell if I am startled by the fact that Kevin was the one at my accident or that I finally recalled it. In any case, I don’t want to tell Bennett, at least not yet.

  “Seriously, what’s wrong?”

  “Nothing,” I manage to say. “Sorry. Just my stomach.”

  “Do you want to pull over?”

  “No. No. Let’s just see this through,” I tell him.

  Bennett nods and the car is silent again besides the music playing. My mind is swimming. The more I think about it, the more I think I shouldn’t be so surprised that it was Kevin there that night. He would have been mentoring her by that time.

  Even so, more questions have popped up. Spencer did move me. The highway wasn’t that busy that night so it was possible that there was a lag in someone noticing the crash and calling right away. Even so, what did Kevin do to stop the ambulance?

  Bribes, perhaps. It makes the most sense. Kevin has billions of dollars at his fingertips and connections all over the place. Was it that farfetched that he could have called the hospital and managed to bribe them into stalling? The highway wasn’t busy that night and someone would have seen the crash and called it in. Kevin has connections. He could have called the hospital and spoken to someone high up. It sounded crazy but that might be why it worked.

  How had Kevin appeared that quickly? That was another key piece I was missing. Everything that night happened so fast. Was Kevin nearby? Again, the idea of Kevin being the man Spencer had been fooling around with pops into my head and I wonder if it is Kevin. It seemed farfetched at first but…

  I have a raging headache now brought on from the anxiety of the car trip and the fact that I have remembered Kevin being at the accident. I am eager to get home. The rest of the car ride passes in silence and I am lost in my own thoughts.

  When we park in front of my apartment, I look over at Bennett.

  “You made it,” he says to me.

  “I did,” I say, exhaling slowly. “Worst is over, I suppose.”

  “Are you going to be okay by yourself?”

  “Yes. I have a job later today anyway. Get home safely, okay?”

  Bennett nods and leans forward for a kiss. Yet, with the knowledge that I am hiding the fact his father was there at my accident, I can only bring myself to peck him on the cheek before I dart out of the car.

  Once inside my apartment, I lie down on the couch and stare at the ceiling. My mind is spinning. I keep trying to fill in the gaps of the accident and the relationship my sister and Kevin have but I keep coming up with more holes.

  Frustrated, I get up and decide to risk getting wet in the rain and check the mail. Then I have to get ready to leave for my job. The rain has slowed down enough that I do not get too soaked getting the mail.

  I go through the mail in the kitchen. Most of it is for Emily. Magazines for her and a couple of late bill notices. There is one thing for me. It’s from Spencer. I recognize it instantly before I open it.

  It is an invitation for her birthday party. Every year she throws a party at Mom and Dad’s house. I have completely forgotten about her birthday. I am sure she has sent me an invitation because I just happen to be o
n her list. There is no way that she is expecting me to show up next week.

  I stare at the invitation, biting my bottom lip. I know I have to go. I have to watch more closely how she interacts with Kevin. I have to tell her that I know that Kevin was there that night. I want to get answers.

  The fact that she isn’t expecting me makes it even better.

  ***

  For some reason, Spencer has always made a big deal out of her birthdays. I never quite understood it. It doesn’t fit the rest of her personality, which was mostly serious, except for when we were kids. But every year, without fail, Spencer has to have the brightest and largest birthday party.

  I wonder how it is going to be this year. It is strange to think that our dad isn’t going to be there. Part of me doesn’t even want to go. Returning to the house still feels too raw for me. It is like picking at an open wound. I am still not remotely over the fact that Dad is gone.

  ***

  I am thinking of Dad when I head toward the front door. I can hear music playing from inside the house. Judging by how many cars are here, it seems that Spencer has doubled the number of invitations she normally sends out. It is probably due to the fact that she has to please people who work at the company now.

  I open the door and hand over my invitation to the man screening the access at the door. He lets me through. The first person I see is Bennett. He sees me and gives me a small wave. I realize that we haven’t discussed how to act around each other at the party. Do we make it known we are dating?

  Judging by the way Bennett then turns his back on me to talk to an older man, apparently he isn’t ready to let his father know that we are dating. In the week since the car trip back from Emily’s wedding, he has come over to my apartment most nights. Emily is still away with Adam, and has yet to move her things out since they are apparently still on their honeymoon. I wonder if Bennett and I are always going to be hiding our relationship from his social circle.

  I set out past him to find Spencer. The party is filled with a ton of corporate people I don’t know. Mom sees me and makes her way over. She is holding a glass of wine but appears to be sober. She is dangerously skinny though and I am concerned just looking at her.