by R. R. Banks
Adrenaline coursed through me and I was suddenly aware of every inch of my body. My chest heaved and I felt like I could barely get any breath into my lungs. I flung myself forward, wrapping my arms around Roman’s neck and crushing my breasts against his chest as my mouth covered his. Roman turned me around, pressing me back against the door like he had in the elevator at the hotel, but this time the gesture felt more possessive than dominating, and I moaned into his mouth as our kiss deepened. My hands ran across Roman’s waist and I grabbed onto his shirts, tearing the layers off of him until I could see his bare chest and belly again.
Our mouths met again and we kissed passionately as we moved away from the door and into the living room, stumbling together toward the sofa. Roman’s hands came to the front of my pants and I felt him release the button. That movement brought sudden reality into my mind. I pulled back from him.
“I can’t,” I said breathlessly.
“What’s wrong?” Roman asked.
“I just can’t.”
He nodded, looking resigned, but understanding.
“I know,” he said.
I buttoned my pants and straightened my shirt, walking up to Roman to run my hands over his chest one more time. I sighed, letting my hands fall reluctantly away from his skin.
“Do you want to stay here tonight?” he asked. “At least until the sun comes up?”
The thought of trying to trust myself throughout the night with Roman was frightening, but the idea of having to walk out of the house and cross the dark property to Granddaddy’s house was paralyzing, so I nodded.
“Thanks,” I said.
“Of course,” Roman said. “I’d feel better knowing you were here with me anyway. There’s only a bed in one of the bedrooms, so you take it. I’ll sleep on the couch.”
I looked at him imploringly.
“Actually,” I said, “would you mind if we shared the bed. All clothes on, of course. Just sleeping.”
Roman smiled at the qualifications, but nodded.
“That works, too.”
We went into the bedroom and kicked off our shoes. It felt strange slipping beneath the covers in all of our clothing, but I knew if I removed so much as a sock, there would be no way that I would be able to control myself. I rested my head on the pillow and looked at Roman for a few long seconds, not really knowing what I was thinking. He leaned forward and kissed the tip of my nose, and I smiled, letting my eyes drift closed.
Chapter Thirty-Two
Bitsy
I woke up the next morning feeling invigorated and with a renewed sense of enthusiasm and excitement for the haunt. With the sun finally shining down, the farm didn’t seem terrifying and I was able to walk with Roman to Granddaddy’s house with only the slightest compulsion to run. We talked the entire way there and seemed to not stop talking throughout the day as we worked on the farm, ate our meals, and played with Lorelei. The ideas were finally flowing and I could envision the potential that the haunt had. My fears were starting to lessen and finally I was enjoying thoughts of the fall season arriving, rather than dreading that first turned leaf.
This pattern continued over the next several days, with as much of our time as possible devoted to finalizing details and sharing them with the crew so that they could start implementing them. I knew the time was coming soon when we would have to tell Granddaddy about it, but I still wasn’t looking forward to that conversation. Now it wasn’t just about not wanting to make him angry. After all that we had put into the haunt, I was proud of it and didn’t want him to destroy it for me.
It was the end of the week when Roman came into the kitchen, surprising me by being awake at a legitimately early time. He smiled at me as he confidently crossed to the coffeemaker and started brewing a pot without even a muttered word of profanity or a moment of concern on my part that he was going to start throwing mugs.
“You’re getting good at that,” I said.
“I looked up this model online and read the user manual,” he said, sounding infinitely proud of himself.
“That’s cheating,” I pointed out.
“Not cheating. Being resourceful. Speaking of being resourceful, I think that we have been working way too hard this week and we need a break. Why don’t you come over tonight? We’ll watch a movie and just take a little time and relax.”
“That sounds amazing,” I said.
The thought of just being able to take some time that evening to relax and not think about anything was incredible and I knew I would be looking forward to it all day.
“Good,” he said. “I’m probably going to spend most of the day out with the crew, but I’ll be by to get you before the sun sets.”
I smiled.
“I’ll see you then.”
Just as I thought I would, I thought about my evening with Roman all day. No matter what I was doing, my mind was on our time together and I found myself rushing through some of my late afternoon chores so that I could get back to the house and get ready. I showered and changed, spending far more time standing in front of the mirror trying to decide what to wear than I should have. I felt like I was back in high school, but the butterflies in my stomach were worth the embarrassment and awkwardness I was experiencing. Finally, I settled on an outfit and went downstairs with Lorelei on my hip to give her dinner.
“Are you sure you’re alright watching her for the evening?” I asked when I finished feeding her and took her out of her highchair.
“Why do you always ask me?” Granddaddy said from his chair. “You know I’m always going to say yes.”
“I know, but this way I’m prepared for that one time when you might not.”
He smiled at me and I took the baby upstairs for her bath. By the time that I had gotten her bathed and into her pajamas, Roman was waiting for me at the bottom of the stairs. He leaned in and kissed the baby as I brought her past, but didn’t follow us into the living room. I couldn’t really blame him. Things between him and Granddaddy hadn’t gotten any better and it seemed, at least for now, that it would be best for them to keep their distance.
When the baby was settled happily with Granddaddy and her favorite book, Roman and I headed for the house that I had begun to think of not as my mother’s, but as his. I could smell popcorn when I stepped inside and saw that he had created an abundant spread of movie snacks for us in the living room.
“I hope you didn’t eat dinner,” he said.
I laughed.
“I didn’t.”
“Good.”
I settled on the sofa and picked up a handful of chocolate-covered raisins, tossing a few of them in my mouth as I watched Roman set up the TV. He lowered the lights and came to sit on the sofa with me. I reached to the arm and pulled a blanket that was folded there over me. As soon as the movie started it wasn’t what I would have expected from him choosing a movie for us to watch, but I soon realized it was the one that he had mentioned to me when he was describing Coy.
Something tickled the back of my mind as I watched the movie, but I couldn’t place it. It wasn’t until nearly the end when I watched as the main character realized the entire haunted mansion experience that he had just been through was an elaborate hoax that it sank in. I turned to Roman and found him staring at me, smiling broadly.
“You,” I said. “You did this.”
“Yep,” he said, somehow sounding at once boyish and sultry.
“You did all of it. You wrote the letter. You got me to the house. You did everything.”
Roman nodded.
“I did,” he said.
I felt my heart pounding in my chest. He had gone through so much to create this experience for me, to put me in my own haunting so that I could get excited about the prospect of the haunt. I leaned forward and caught his lips. Roman kissed me back, his strong hands pushing away the blanket that covered me and settling on my hips to bring me up and over into his lap. I settled across his hips, allowing my thighs to part easily so that I sat as fully on him as I
could. I could feel his cock hardening beneath me and the hunger that I had been feeling for nearly two years surged within me. Our hands roved over each other as our mouths tangled, tearing off clothing and revealing skin to worshipful mouths and eager fingertips. I dipped my head down to run my tongue along his chest, revisiting the chiseled lines and muscles, relishing in the adoration of them after spending so long with it restricted only to my dreams and fantasies.
My hips were rocking against Roman’s, the movement causing his thick cock to glide against my belly and leave a slick trail where the crystalline fluids that formed at the tip slid out onto my skin. I cupped my hand around it to stimulate him more and grinded down against him, seeking release from the aching pressure building in my core and through my thighs.
“Wait,” Roman said.
No. Not now. Now is not your turn to stop us.
I reluctantly allowed Roman to lift me off of his lap and place me gently aside on the sofa before getting up and walking across the room. He opened a drawer and when he turned around he was holding a condom in his hand. He offered he to me and I hesitated.
“I’ve never…” I started.
Roman smiled at me. He lifted one of my hands and rested the condom in it.
“It’s not hard,” he said, then he smiled. “Actually, it’s very, very hard.” I watched as his hand wrapped around the thick shaft of his cock and give it a few long strokes. I bit into my bottom lip, wanting that cock inside me. “But that just makes it easier.”
I tore open the wrapper and followed the guidance of Roman’s hands to grasp the base of his cock and settle the condom onto the tip. He helped me unroll it, moving slowly so that putting the condom into place became a source of pleasure itself. When that was finished, Roman reached down for both of my hands and pulled me up so I was standing with him. He kissed me for several long, delicious moments, not rushing, but taking his time to taste me. Then I felt his hands run down my spine and cup around the backs of my thighs, lifting me off of the floor and tucking me against him so that I was wrapped around his hips. I pressed my breasts against his chest, gasping at the new sensation of my tightened nipples against his skin.
“Do you want to go into the bedroom?” he whispered huskily against my neck.
I shook my head.
“Here,” I said. “Right here.”
Roman lowered us to the floor and stretched me out against the soft carpet. He rested back on his thighs for a moment, gazing down at me as if he just wanted to look at me for as long as he could. Finally, he eased down and kissed me, one knee gently pushing my thighs apart. I felt myself trembling as the air from the room around me brushed over my hot, wet core and I arched upward toward the feeling searching for him. Roman stretched out over me, his hands resting on either side of my shoulders, and his hips came forward. I felt the tip of his cock nudge into my core and then glide up, parting my dripping petals and revealing my waiting opening.
He stared into my eyes as his erection settled at my opening and then he pressed forward, easing into me. My body was just as tight as our first time together and I felt the slight burn as my walls stretched to accommodate him, but there was such delirious pleasure in having him there with me again, filling me again, that I welcomed the pain. When Roman had sunken into me as deeply as he could, he paused, pressing forward to forcing my body to hold him, to know him, to memorize him. He was the only man I had ever cradled within me and in that moment, I knew that he was the only one I ever wanted to. I wanted my body to fit him and only him, to be a world that belonged only to him, and to luxuriate in our celebration of one another through our bodies as much as our minds and hearts.
When it seemed as though my walls had softened slightly around him, Roman began to move his hips, stroking deeply within me. Each thrust brought him a little deeper, encouraging my body to open more to him so we could discover new planes of pleasure. This wasn’t the rough, frantic energy of our first time. Instead, it was slower, gentler, and yet almost unbearably intense. Sweat beaded on Roman’s skin and rolled onto mine, joining my own droplets until both of us were slick and gliding against each other easily.
Roman groaned with each thrust, the sounds getting progressively louder as I felt my own arousal building, spiraling upward in a tight, almost aching coil until suddenly we both cried out, our bodies clenching tightly to one another before collapsing together in contractions that melded us more deeply and furthered my dizzying pleasure. When it was over, I lay on the floor, Roman resting over me with his head tucked into the curve of my neck and shoulder. He touched his lips to my neck and I felt his gradually relaxing cock still rocking slowly against my thigh.
It had been incredible and I felt that I had transcended, brought briefly into another existence purely by the power of the pleasure his body gave me, and the depth I could see within his heart.
Chapter Thirty-Three
The Holler Holler
September Volume Two
The month finally ends with “brrrrr”, so you know what that means. Chilly weather means comfort food and we’re here to make sure every belly in Whiskey Hollow is full and happy during these fall and winter nights. Everyone has heard of the Four Cs that matter to every bride. Well, these are the Three Cs that should matter to every wife. Chicken Corn Chowder. Courtesy of Sue Ellen Berry. Y’all remember to visit her after Thanksgiving for some of her butter
Chicken Corn Chowder
Serve it up in a big ol’ bowl or a bread bowl if you’re feeling fancy. For some extra personality, throw on some of the toppings listed at the bottom of the recipe. Don’t try them all, though, or you’re going to just end up with a mess
1 cup butter plus four tablespoons
Four tablespoons or so bacon fat plus another two tablespoons
2 carrots, diced
2 onions, diced
2 garlic cloves, minced
Cornstarch
½ cup flour
3 cups corn kernels (Talk to Cletus. He has some of the best corn in the Hollow and he says this year’s crop is just about too much for him to handle)
4 potatoes, peeled and diced
Couple of cups of chicken chopped up, however much you like
6 cups chicken stock
3 cups milk
1 cup cream
Little bit of nutmeg
Poultry seasoning
Salt and pepper
• Boil the potatoes in the chicken stock until about halfway cooked through, drain, and keep the stock
• Keep the potatoes aside
• Get out your biggest heavy-bottom pot and put it over medium-high heat until hot
• Lower to medium heat
• Add butter and bacon fat, stirring together until fully melted
• Throw in the carrots and onions, stir with a wooden spoon to coat with the fat
• Cook down for a few minutes until the vegetables start to soften, stirring occasionally
• Add the garlic and cook until you can smell it
• Sprinkle the flour over the vegetables and stir together to coat with fat. Cook until it smells a little toasty
• Add the stock to the vegetables, stirring to mix the flour into the stock
• Add poultry seasoning, nutmeg, and black pepper until it smells seasoned. Be careful with the nutmeg. You don’t want your chowder tasting like the pumpkin pie fell into it
• Add in milk and cream, stirring until everything is mixed up well
• Cook for a few minutes until the milk is warm and then taste for seasoning
• Add salt and pepper as needed
• Let the mixture cook for another ten minutes or so to blend the flavors together
• Put your favorite strainer over another big pot and pour the mixture through it to catch all of the vegetables. Reserve both the solids and the liquids
• Wipe out your soup pot. No need to do any real cleaning. You are just going to be cooking in it again
• Add the next two tablesp
oons of bacon fat into the pot
• Add your little chicken chunks and let them cook until nice and browned all around
• Dump the cooked vegetables from the strainer back into the pot and stir around with the chicken
• Pour half of the milk and stock mixture back into the pot. Reserve the other half in jars in the refrigerator to be used for chicken pot pie tomorrow
• Take one big ladle of the mix and put it in a bowl
• Turn the heat up to medium-high and stir to combine everything again
• Add the corn kernels
• Add the potatoes and allow them to cook for several minutes until they feel completely soft
• Add a couple tablespoons of cornstarch into the bowl of milk and stock mix and whisk until dissolved
• Drizzle the slurry into the chowder, stirring constantly
• Cook for five minutes to thicken slightly
• Scoop up two ladles of the mix, making sure that you get some potatoes and corn, and put it into the blender and whir it up until smooth
• Pour all this back into the chowder
• Repeat with another two ladles of the mix
• Now’s the time to taste for seasoning
• Add poultry seasoning, salt, and pepper to taste
• Stir in the remaining butter
• Cook until hot and thick
Make your chowder fancy:
• Serve in bread bowls. Talk to Bubba Ray about how he makes his cornbread bowls
• Top with crumbled bacon and a little drizzle of hot bacon fat
• Top with a sprinkle of cheese
• Roast more corn kernels in a hot pan with butter and onion until soft and browned, then put on top
Chapter Thirty-Four
