Sunrise Fires

by LaBarge, Heather

  Chapter Eight

  Suddenly, I only had a week to go before my departure. I no longer had to go to work; the new guy had successfully taken the reins. He was ‘good enough’ but not quite living up to my sales records just yet. A secretly prideful side of me felt satisfaction in that. And Germany was ready for me as well. I had packed my entire dresser and most of my closet, though I did leave behind my sexy lingerie and a lavender sachet in Ryan’s underwear drawer. We’d need those when I came home.

  We went to see Kelsea and drop my car off with her, checking on the house that she now rented from me. Typically, we were a close mother and daughter pair, but now that she was married and trying to get her career off the ground, we talked much less than we used to and saw each other infrequently. I think she had gotten a recent case of the ‘catch-ups’ because her younger brother had already been hired as an opener for a fellow stand-up comic on tour around the United States.

  “I won’t stay, hun. I left Ryan out in his car waiting,” I said as I stood in the foyer.

  She kissed my cheek. “How rude, Mom. He can come in, you know.”

  “I know, doll, but if he comes in, the next thing you know, we’ve eaten up your entire evening. I just came by to drop off the Honda.”

  Her eyes brightened as I waved the key. “Remember the deal: start her at least once a week; drive her at least once per month.” She reached for the key, but I drew back, “Right?”

  “Yeah, Mom. Jesus Christ, I’m not sixteen anymore.” Even though Kelsea was shorter than me, she was a powerhouse of a young woman, shrewd and intelligent, determined and pragmatic; I had no reason to worry.

  “I know, hun. You’ve just been so preoccupied lately and…” I trailed off, having run out of excuses. I scanned around the foyer, formal living room, and as much of the rest of the house as I could see from the main entrance. “Place looks great, baby. Thanks for taking such good care of it. How’s the pool look?”

  “Looks great. Looks really great. And the solar heater made it swim-ready in late April.”

  “That’s cool. I’m so glad you guys can enjoy it. Please keep the service while I’m gone, too. The house will run fine if you just leave everything how I had it. If stuff is already running perfectly—”

  “Don’t change a thing.” She completed my sentence and rolled her eyes. “I know, Mom, I know. Your fear of change is hilarious, considering that you decided to go to Germany.” She looked at me with inquisitive golden hazel eyes, but there was no time nor need to reopen the mental trunk holding all my fears and concerns about Germany. She would understand and likely already suspected, but I really couldn’t revisit it again. She waited long enough to allow me to reply before shrugging and continuing awkwardly. “Well…okay, keep that one locked up for now, but eventually, I suspect we’ll be talking about it.” She twirled the key ring around her finger. “I’ll take her for a spin at least once a week, and I’ll keep the pool service and pay all the bills.” She paused, looking at me mischievously. “I’ll also buy groceries and feed myself. I might go to work, and I might do laundry sometimes, too, though I am considering both of those optional at the moment.”

  “Okay. Okay. I can take a hint.” I hugged her and kissed her forehead.

  She sighed. “You smell good, like always.”

  I didn’t want to let her go. “Thank you, baby. When your brother comes back from tour, you give him his piece of this hug, okay?”

  She was stroking my back. She sniffed. “I will.” Her voice cracked slightly.

  “It’s only a year, hun. I’ll be back before you know it.”

  She broke from the hug. “I know.” Her face was red from crying, and my own eyes stung, too. “Your man is waiting. Better not make him wait too long…” she said in mock warning.

  “Speaking of men, tell Blaine that I said he better take care of you while I’m gone.”

  She beamed at the thought of her husband. “I will.”

  “Okay, beautiful, I love you.” I kissed her again and gave her another hug. “Take care of the car, and be sure to give your brother that piece of my hug.”

  As we pulled away from the house, I finally allowed the tears to flow.

  * * *

  After breakfast the next morning, Ryan helped me with cleaning the kitchen. “How do you feel, babe?”

  “I dunno. Nervous I guess.” I rinsed another plate and put it in the dish drainer as Ryan’s hand chased up my back to my neck. He massaged gently.

  “I s’pose that’s to be expected, right?”

  “I guess. Still don’t like it.”

  He pushed my hair aside and kissed the back of my neck, sliding his hands down to my hips and pulling me close. “I know you aren’t comfortable at the moment, but how do you feel about the future?”

  “Mostly good, I guess.” I bent my head forward and offered him my neck. I loved when he nuzzled me there; I’d stand at the sink all day if that was my reward. He nibbled and nuzzled, and I leaned into him. “What will I do without these moments?”

  “We’ll have them—video calling and such.”

  “It’s not the same as your hand firmly at my hip and your luscious lips at my neck. No video can capture that.”

  “That’s when we buy plane tickets.”

  I turned around. “Where did you come from?” I cupped his face and kissed him lovingly. “Where the hell do men like you come from?”

  “Men? Men?! Bah,” he scoffed. “There is only one me.” I threw my head back and laughed, putting my hands up. He bit my neck. “What’s so funny?”

  I looked at him again. “Ahhh. Fuck, hun. Nothing. Nothing at all is funny.” I rested my upper arms on his shoulders, wrapping one around them and coiling the other atop his head. “It’s so true. You are unique and special. And I love you.” I melted into our kiss, savoring the taste of him in my mouth as his hands stroked down my back and cupped my ass. He lifted me and set me onto the counter, stepping between my now open legs. My mini-skirt rose up to my panty line, exposing my dusty rose thong. His right hand came away from my ass and traced the outside of my thigh, finding the hem of my skirt and following it around the top of my thigh and between my legs. I wrapped my heels behind his knees and opened my legs even farther. He teased the seam of my thong, following it from high on my thigh to the juncture of leg and pelvis. He tickled the tendon that was stretched taut. I inhaled and tilted my hips for him. He rubbed a thumb over the silky material, pushing it against my body and causing it to absorb the juices that were already flowing. We moaned simultaneously as his thumb reached my clit. “I want you…” I breathed.

  “I see that.” He slid my panties aside and teased my slit, coating his finger without pushing it inside me. I pulled his shirt over his head and stroked his chest. Hopping off the counter, I kissed and licked his nipples as I undid his pants. Sliding my thumbs into the sides of them, I pushed them down. I had barely gotten them below his ass when he pulled me back to standing and stepped into me, pinning me between him and the counter. His cock was a rod between us, pressing against my pelvis. He stripped my shirt off, yanked my skirt up to my waist, and hooked my panties with his thumb, sending them sliding down my legs. As he lifted me, I wrapped my legs around him, opening my pussy and adjusting our alignment. He eased into me so slowly. I twisted and tilted my hips, settling lower and lower onto his shaft. With me pinned against the counter, he drove into me, sucking my breasts as his ribbed cock scraped against my engorged clit.

  One centimeter at a time, he pressed into me, and then, just as slowly, he withdrew. He was intentionally teasing me, moving too slowly. I wanted him to drive into me with more speed and force than he was giving. I tried to hasten him, grinding faster, but he moved his hips in opposition. I unlocked my legs from behind his and stood up, his cock sliding out of me.

  “On the floor,” I rasped, tugging h
is arm as I knelt down. “Come here.” He got on his knees in front of me, kissing me, squeezing my breast with one hand and my ass with the other. I leaned toward him until he sat down. I pulled his legs out in front of him and straddled them. In the morning light, his muscular body was a racetrack of its own, and my mouth and hands wanted to experience every inch.

  His cock was still wet and glistening from having been inside me; my mouth watered. In one swift movement, I took his cock all the way into my throat, and then slowly withdrew it, sucking all my juices from him before moving up his chest, kissing, licking, and crawling my way to his neck. I nuzzled him and brought my knees up alongside his ribs and settled my plump wet pussy onto his belly, feeling his cock against my lips. “Mmmmm…”

  He grabbed my hips and held me still as he tilted his hips to push inside me. I raised just enough to align him and leaned forward to be sure he’d be able to stab into me with one movement. Together I seated myself, and he thrust, ramming into me. His hands moved to my sides, thumbs at my hips and fingers gripping my ass. I sat upright and bounced up and down on him, feeling his cock deep inside my body, faster and harder with each bounce as I came closer and closer to exploding. He moved a hand to my breast and his other to my clit. “Yes…oh…yes…” I loved fucking this man. My free breast was bouncing wildly while he pinched the nipple of the other. His thumb stroked my clit at a pace matching my rhythm, and each flick became its own mini orgasm. “Cum with me, baby. Cum inside my throbbing pussy. Fuckkk!”

  I screamed. He held me up above him and continued to relentlessly thrust in and out of my convulsing pussy. Again and again, he slammed into me, slapping against my fiery hot clit. I squeezed and sucked his cock with each intense wave of my orgasm, and finally, he groaned and slammed into me as deeply as he could, and then slowing the pace as he filled me with his cum.

  I collapsed onto his chest, knees sore, pussy still throbbing, as he began to go soft inside me. I drew my arms into my chest to capture some of our body heat and to feel safe again as I came back to reality. Lying there on his chest, gasping for air, I settled into him and rocked ever so slightly side to side, settling my hips onto his more fully. He dragged his hands softly up and down my back, too softly to feel my ribs, just the slightest touch of his fingertips delicately bringing me back. “Damn, babe. You needed that, eh?”

  I pinched him near his armpit. “I’m not the only one. Tell me you didn’t want that as badly as I did.”

  “You can need me that badly any time you’d like.”

  I pushed up from his chest. “It’s a tad chilly in here.” My nipples hardened at the exposure.

  “I see that, baby.” He reached up appreciatively and covered each breast with a meaty hand. “I love your breasts. You have the most amazing tits I’ve ever seen.”

  I sat more fully upright on top of him, a hand fisted on each of my hips, pulling my shoulders back and filling my lungs with air. “How about now, huh? Work of art?! I should be a Greek statue, right? Maybe you should sculpt me.”

  “I couldn’t keep my hands off you long enough to ever finish.”

  I slid my thumbs between his hands and my breasts as if peeling away suction cups. “Well, my dear, they must come off me for the moment while I go find some warm clothes. I’m freezing, and these little mitts are only saving the tits.” Still holding his hands, I leaned forward and kissed him. Then using his hands for leverage, I pressed against them to get up. “If you wait there, I’ll get a warm washcloth for you and some fresh boxers.”

  “Well, hurry up, then, because it’s really cold without my blanket of Jen to keep me warm.”

  I walked to the bedroom, turning on the sink as I found each of us some clothes. I washed myself and threw on some panties and a robe before rinsing the washcloth and squeezing it out for him. As I came back to the kitchen, he had drawn his knees up and was lying on his back with his arms wrapped around his torso. “Awww, baby. I’m so sorry. I was as fast as I could be. Here…” I settled down beside him and opened my hands, revealing the steaming rag. Slowly and carefully, I washed him of our sex—his belly, his cock, even between his legs has all gotten coated with our juices. “Damn, where’d all this come from?”

  “I know, I know. Now, gimme those boxers; it’s too damned cold.”

  I held the boxers above my head. “What? These boxers?”

  He scrambled to his knees, wrapped one arm around my waist, and grabbed the boxers with the other. “Yeppers. Precisely those ones.”

  I stayed on the floor as he stood. When he was fully standing, and before he could pull on his boxers, I knelt and took his soft dick into my mouth one last time, squeezing it with my lips and using my tongue to press it into the roof of my mouth. Slowly, I pulled away and let it slide out into my hand. “Damn, I love your dick!” He laughed in an embarrassed way and pulled on his boxers as I stood up. “I mean that, hun. I’ll miss that when I’m gone.”

  “Is that all? Just the dick? If I could package it up for you, would you take it with you?”

  “Now, there’s a thought. I could keep it in a box on a shelf in my flat. I’d write on the side of it ‘open in case of emergency.’ Would it be bad if I had an emergency every day?”

  “You do when you’re here, so why not in Germany, too?”

  I smiled and thought about what he said. “We do have sex almost every day, don’t we? I don’t really keep track.”

  “It’s one of the things I love about you, baby. You’re sexy in everything you do—the way you talk, the way you move, the way you cook. All of it is so sensual that you keep me hard for you. You think I don’t see the guys looking at you sometimes?”

  “What guys?”

  “When we ride. The guys I ride with. Mark especially. I know he’s jealous. I think he wants you so bad he can hardly stand it.”

  I sucked the back of my teeth as my mouth opened, scoffing, “Oh, my God, hun. I think you’re wrong.” Nobody has ever done anything that would imply…they’re your friends, babe. They’ve never done or said anything inappropriate.”

  “Hold your horses. I’m not accusing anybody of anything. Just commenting that I got the best woman out there, and they know it. I can see it in their faces.” He paused, looking at me appreciatively. “I love you, babe. And Germany won’t change that.

  “Now, come on, let’s figure out what you’re making for the ride tomorrow.”

  As we shopped that evening and cooked the next day, I took Ryan in. I watched him and took mental images to bring with me to Germany. We made macaroni and cheese and a bratwurst to take to the track. As we cooked, we laughed and joked and played with food, with each other. It was pure joy, and I wanted to capture it to carry with me on my trip. I wished I could videotape us in a way that included the feeling of his hands on me, his voice filling my ears, the smell of the food cooking, the taste of his mouth and body, the smell of our sex, the warmth of his embrace, the sound of his laugh, the smell as I opened the oven door and the heat that blasted me in the face while he aligned himself behind me, pretending there was no other way to get a look into the oven. These moments would be unavailable for a time, and it still petrified me to think of it.

  Chapter Nine

  I wept watching him ride at the track that day. He was a sight to see. Even with a helmet on, I could feel his smile beaming through the visor. The sun was shining, but it was a relatively mild day for Vegas—barely 90 degrees. The bleachers were ablaze from the sun. Whoever thought aluminum was a good choice must never have spent a summer in Vegas. The bikes added to the desert heat and mystique, filling the air with fumes that made the scene look like a mirage, blurry and gassy. I wore sunglasses and sun block and came armed with a blanket to put on the bleacher bench; I felt like an old pro at this.

  And today, Chris was next to me on the bleachers. It had been awhile since I’d seen him here, and even when I didn’t come,
Ryan said his appearances had become rare. He was still using crutches even though it had been more than two months since he came home. His hair was longer and a little more unkempt, and he’d grown what little facial hair was possible. He slouched, his elbows on his knees, head resting on his fisted hands. I playfully punched his arm, “What’s up, tiger?”

  He recoiled from my touch, cutting his eyes in my direction. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

  My eyes narrowed. “Nothing, hun…” I moved to place my hand on his back, but he waved me away. “It’s just that I haven’t seen you in a while, and I was wondering how you’ve been.” My hand found its way back to my lap.

  “You know, this,” he jerked his hand pointing at the bleachers and track, “isn’t the only place to find me. Strangely enough, guess where I can usually be found.” He paused as if I was actually supposed to answer. I eyed him, surprised at the apparent venom in my surrogate sibling’s attitude. When he didn’t continue, I shrugged. “Home! That’s where. Folks who can’t ride don’t generally hang out at a dirt bike track.”

  I stared open-faced at the man who used to be my fun-loving, light-hearted friend. Was this some form of grief phase? Maybe he was upset about his recuperation, and he was taking it out on friends and loved ones. “Chris, honey, I don’t….”

  “Save it. It’s fine. I don’t need excuses. I get enough of those from the guys. ‘Too busy, can’t make it. Maybe next week, catch ya later.’” He mocked. “It’s all bullshit. If I didn’t come to the track, they’d never see me. You don’t owe me anything, but I get more attention and conversation from you than my riding bros.”

  “What?! That’s not true, hun. Ryan loves hanging out with you. He talks about you all the—”