Spirited Ride

by Rebecca Avery

  After heating her to the boiling point with open mouthed kisses that made her as needy as his touch did, he released her briefly to judge her reaction to him and how turned on she was, before his mouth crashed down on hers yet again.

  He pushed her harder against the wall and ground himself against her so she could feel how much he wanted her in return. If they did this now… would she ever be able to get over him and move on?

  When he finally broke the kiss, he just stood there staring at her until she met his gaze. She gasped and then said, “If we do this… I will have to start trying to get over you all over again. Is that what you want? I thought this place would allow us to go our own ways with some good memories of each other. It was supposed to be a peace offering… closure. If that’s not enough then I’m sorry but making love with you isn’t the kind of closure I can endure.”

  Then her resolve was gone and tears flooded her eyes, making it hard to even see him. Backing up from her a step, he shed his t-shirt, kicked off his shoes and closed the door to her makeshift bedroom.

  Did he not understand what she was saying? Could he not understand that they had come full circle and forgiven each other for wrongs done, lies, distrust and other perceived slights? Making love wasn’t necessary to finish whatever was left between them. It could truly be over now… just by walking away.

  “I don’t want closure, Sherri. I want you. That divorce paper doesn’t mean shit and you know it. Do you honestly think some judge’s signature on a piece of paper can really end what’s between us? You were mine well before you became some name on a piece of paper that says that I no longer have the right to love you and to pleasure you the way I want to. You think by filing those papers with the courts that somehow it will make us not want each other anymore?” he asked angrily. “Do you?”

  “That’s just it… the papers don’t mean shit. It’s up to us to end this thing! Asking the courts was just a legality. For it to be truly over means that we are the ones that have to make it official… and I can’t do that when you tell me to stop coming around in one breath and then touch me with the next one. I can’t stop being yours… if you don’t let me. You signed those papers just as well as I did. If you want out, as your signature indicated that you do… then get out… but don’t play with my heart in the process. I can’t take it anymore,” she said through her tears.

  “Your heart belongs to me, your soul belongs to me and by God your body does too… divorced or not,” he said, stepping up close to her.

  Reaching out he raised her hands above her head and then slid her t-shirt up and over her head. He tossed it aside and reached behind her, undid her bra and threw it aside as well. “Now say that you want me… married or not. Tell me that you want my touch.”

  “You know I do, TJ. My question is do you really want me? Do I have your heart, soul and body in return? If not… this has to stop now. No more games…” she said. “We’re either divorced or we’re not.”

  “You’re obviously not listening to me, Sherri,” he said angrily. He slid his hands along her lower back, down into her pants to cup her bottom. Then he used his arms and wrists to drag her pants and panties down around her knees.

  Bending down he lifted her legs one at a time and pulled off the remainder of her clothes. Then he stood and stripped his own jeans off, leaving them both bared to each other.

  “You will always be mine… married or not… and I will always be yours. We both may have screwed up royally these past ten years but I for one meant it when I promised to love you forever. I still mean it. I was with other women while I was in Nashville, I won’t lie, but it was like eating tasteless food in order to survive. I kept thinking eventually I would find someone I would like just as much,” he said.

  “Then seeing you again in the auditorium that day I realized nothing and no one would ever replace you. Watching Chris Anderson of all people enjoying what was mine nearly made me crazy. I know that I will never find anything in this whole world that satisfies me like you do and I’ll be damned if I ever again let you think that you can replace me with some other man. This time I intend to mark you as my own and I won’t need some fucking piece of paper to tell the world you’re mine… your whimpers will do just fine,” he said with conviction shining in his eyes.

  Then he was kissing her, mating his tongue with hers as he lifted her up to wrap her legs around his waist.

  He carried her over to the bed and eased them both on to it. Then he unhinged her hands from around his neck and pulled them over her head.

  Kissing her again briefly he finally released her mouth and said, “Keep your hands right there and your eyes on me. Don’t close them even for a second. I want to see myself in their reflection.”

  His long hair tickled her neck and shoulders as he slid down to suck one of her pebbled nipples into his mouth, flicking and biting at it. Then he released it and slid lower to kiss her waist and hip bone until she was writhing. He rolled on to his side and used his fingers to trace every inch of her shoulders, breasts, stomach and waist. Always stopping just short of where she needed him to touch her most.

  “Please, TJ” she shuddered at his caresses.

  “Shh… Puppet. This is mine and I’ll have it just the way I want it… beautiful skin all glistening with sweat, eyes shining with need, and pink folds of perfection all wet from wanting its owner. Now stop talking… I mean it this time,” he whispered, leaning down to bite and suck at her rib cage and nipples making her entire lower body quiver.

  “I can’t take much more… TJ. I want you so bad already. How much more?” she begged, her body betraying just how much she enjoyed his touch as she flinched, twisted and cried out as his hands and mouth continued to enjoy her like a favorite treat.

  “How much more… until what? What is it that you want?” he asked against her belly button where he then dipped his tongue in before nipping at it with his teeth.

  “I want you to make love to me… please?” she choked out between whimpers. Her skin broke out in a flush from the pleasure of his mouth sucking relentlessly on her inner thighs, leaving the marks he’d spoken of earlier. “Can I at least touch you now?”

  “You can play with my hair but nothing else. As for making love, not until you’re ready for me,” he said as he shifted positions so that he was kneeling on the bed between her legs.

  Then without warning he slid his hands beneath her bottom and lifted her up. Leaning down his lips latched on to the very core of her. Sucking at her heated flesh while raising her entire bottom up off the bed to meet his hungry mouth.

  She tried to reach for any part of him that she could grasp and unable to find anything, instead had to hold on to the sheets beneath her raised bottom. Her legs began to shake as they were forced to help hold her up for his enjoyment. She could only watch helplessly as he made her body sing for him.

  When the first waves of orgasm hit she began to plead with him. By the time the last tremors faded and she could feel the build of a second one she was begging and pleading. Finally he lowered her bottom back down to the bed and reached for her hands, looping them around his neck. Then he helped her sit up and straddle his body.

  “Ride me, Sherri,” he ordered as she gently lowered herself onto his erection. Her breath caught at the fullness of him this way. He was almost too big, especially when she was already swollen from having been pleasured so thoroughly.

  “Wait… let me get used to you for a second,” she shivered against his mouth.

  “No more waiting… I want you now… I can’t wait anymore,” he insisted breathlessly. Then his hands grasped her roughly around the waist and she knew he had made yet another mark on her. Branding her for himself.

  Then he owned her body and she owned his in return… face to face… skin to skin… and mouth to mouth. Never would she love someone else like she loved this man… husband or not… he belonged right where he was. He was right… no piece of paper could deny them this.

  “Cum for m
e again,” he said as he slammed her down on him. “God, I love you, Puppet. No one else can handle all that spirit inside of you except me… you know that, right?”

  “Only you… I love you, TJ. I always have,” she said as her body came apart again, this time from the inside out. He followed her into oblivion.

  When they could finally breathe again, he captured her lips for a soft kiss and brushed her hair back from her face and said, “Where are your things?”

  “I put everything in storage for now until I can find an apartment,” she replied around his kisses.

  His fingers trailed up her spine but he held her firmly to him with one hand when she attempted to move off of him. Then his other hand found its way back into her hair as he again began to move within her. She wasn’t sure she could take much more but he was slow and gentle as he guided her on how he wanted her to move with his hand that moved from her hair to the back of her neck.

  “You belong to me… don’t you, Sherri?” he asked as his mouth found the delicate skin at the front of her neck.

  “Yeah” she sighed as her body again made a liar out of her… proving that she could indeed handle more of him.

  “Come home with me then. Where you belong. Let’s do things right this time… I’ll never take someone else’s word over yours again… nor will you. We’ll talk about stuff, plan stuff, and make our lives… together. You and me… master and puppet. Come on, baby… please? One more time… one more try,” he whispered into her mouth as his lips found hers again.

  “One more try,” she said around his kisses and her tears.

  Several hours later, a knocking on the door to the shop had them scrambling to get dressed as quickly as possible and worrying that someone had called the cops on account of the noise they were making. When they finally managed to make it to the front door they were surprised to find Carla Sanders’ boys outside. Unlocking the door Sherri held it open to them and said, “Is everything okay boys?”

  “Everything’s fine. We, uh… we wanted to talk to you about recording a song,” the older boy, Matt, said to TJ.

  “I didn’t know you did more than video and photography,” TJ said in surprise at the older boy’s serious tone.

  “It’s not for us,” Ben said. “We want you to record Gretchen’s song. We’ll pay you for it.”

  The following week was busy as they managed to open the music store with more help from Chuck and his two newest interns, who were now living in their old house.

  Sherri was as surprised as TJ on how well the grand opening went. People were coming from other counties and the calendar for the recording studio was filling up quickly, as was the schedule for lessons for everything from guitar to the flute.

  Long days at the shop and bar didn’t stop TJ from finding her wherever she happened to be and dragging her back to his apartment and into his bed. Sex had always been good between them but now it seemed to completely consume them both… not just her.

  He’d always been vocal about what he wanted from her and it had excited her to no end in her youth. Now that she was older, hearing him give in to her from time to time… calling out her name… made her spirit soar to all new heights.

  She couldn’t quite explain the difference between then and now, but it was beautiful and ensured that he had in fact left his mark on her very soul.

  Stopping by to pick up a few of her valuables from Lilly’s house, she’d finally taken some time to tell Lilly about patching things up with TJ. Sherri explained about Gina’s role in her having lost ten years with the man she loved and how Gina was now running scared.

  As expected, Lilly then told Dana as the two of them seemed to be thick as thieves most of the time. What she hadn’t planned for was for little Gretchen to overhear the conversation and decide to take matters into her own hands.

  TJ, being true to his word, had booked a slot for Gretchen and her sisters to come in and record her song. An hour before Dana was to bring them to the shop, though, she called and said they would be stopping by but wouldn’t be recording Gretchen’s song because, once again, the little girl was in trouble.

  When Gretchen came into the shop a little while later, looking angry and disappointed, Sherri couldn’t help but ask what was wrong.

  She was surprised when Gretchen hugged her around the waist and said, “I’d do it again, Aunt Sherri. What she did was wrong and someone needed to make her pay for it.”

  Looking to Dana for answers to Gretchen’s outburst, Dana sighed and said, “Someone was listening in to a conversation that was none of her business and overheard Lilly telling me about Gina’s part in you and TJ breaking up. Then that same little girl just happened to run into Gina at the store, when she rode her dirt bike up there without permission, and she punched her! In the face!”

  “Gretchen!” she said, pulling the little girl’s arms from around her waist to look her in the face. Then Sherri turned to TJ for help on how and what to say to the child.

  Of all the people in their group who were angry about what Gina had done, herself especially, she’d never expected any of them to physically go after the woman. For one of the youngest in the group to have done so was startling to say the least. She appreciated Gretchen’s loyalty to family but was shocked at how she’d decided to go about showing that allegiance.

  “The employee at the store didn’t call the police and so far… neither has Gina. From what I gathered talking to the clerk… she too had some issues with Gina over some things and felt Gina had it coming. So far any legal trouble has passed by but that recording she has been cooking up with Matt and Ben is going to have to wait for a while,” Dana explained, clearly frustrated.

  “Go to the practice studio, Gretchen, and wait for us there,” she said to the young girl.

  Gretchen looked to Dana for help but Dana only pointed at the studio door. Once the girl entered the small room where lessons were given and closed the door behind her, Sherri turned back to Dana. “We’ll talk to her about it too. I’m so sorry, Dana. We never meant for our problems to affect your family.”

  “We’re all family… what affects one of us… in many ways… affects us all,” Dana replied. “However, she needs to learn now that there are proper ways to deal with things… and punching a grownup is not one of them. She’s not even a teenager yet!”

  Following Dana’s gaze to look at the young girl who could be seen through the glass of the door, Sherri knew that Gretchen’s heart was in the right place. However, she also recognized the same stubbornness that resided in her, radiating out from every pore in the child’s body.

  Gretchen sat on the stool, her arms folded across her chest with an angry scowl on her face.

  Dana took Melody and Ginny around the store to look at all the instruments while she and TJ went in to talk to Gretchen.

  They had no more than entered the room and closed the door behind them when Gretchen said, “She had it coming so I’m not going to be sorry, no matter what you say. You have to tell me it was wrong because I’m a kid but that doesn’t change my mind any.”

  TJ brushed his hand across his mouth and Sherri could tell he was trying to hide a smile. Honestly she wasn’t sure what to say to the girl, since Gina did have it coming. She watched as TJ pulled another chair over and sat in it facing Gretchen. Then he leaned back, crossing his arms in an imitation of her.

  “I respect that, Gretchen. Some people do deserve what they get. However, let’s think about who’s really paying for you hitting her. She might be sporting a bruise or a black eye right about now but you… you’re missing out on the opportunity of a lifetime! All because you gave her a moment of your time when you hit her,” TJ said.

  “I of all people have given that woman enough control over my time… ten years in fact! So believe me I’m the last person to say that she didn’t deserve what you did to her… I’m just not so sure she deserved the time out of your day. Ten years of my life and ten years of your Aunt Sherri’s life was more time than she ever
deserved from any of us… understand? I think it’s time to leave that woman in the past where she belongs… but that’s just my opinion,” TJ finished.

  Gretchen never replied and her arms never uncrossed but she looked thoughtful for a brief moment. Sherri could only look at TJ in awe. He might not have ever wanted kids of his own but he had a lot to offer other people’s kids… aside from music lessons.

  When Gretchen finally went out to the other room to find Dana and her sisters, she approached where TJ stood watching the child walk away.

  “We did give Gina way more of our time than she deserved. Forsaking all others… we obviously misunderstood that part I guess,” she said, wrapping her arms around his waist.

  “This time around… things will be different. I swear it, Sherri,” he whispered before bending to kiss her mouth, his hair draping around them like a curtain blocking out anyone who dared to intrude.

  “Do you think that Becca can undo the divorce somehow?” she asked between kisses.

  “We’ll never know if we don’t ask,” he replied with a sexy grin.

  After the girls and Dana left they went and ate dinner at the bar and then drove across town to visit Dickie and Becca.

  The older couple were polar opposites but for the first time Sherri recognized the deep love and devotion they had for each other… because she felt that way for TJ.

  “We no longer want the divorce and wondered if there is a way to cancel it,” she said, sitting down on their couch.

  A look of frustration crossed Becca’s face and she said, “You two need to just stop!”

  Becca was the observant one in the group… the people watcher. She normally sat back and watched the group’s interactions with each other but rarely got involved in their mischief.

  Other than when Dickie would pick on her, she was also seldom confrontational with anyone. Sherri could see why she was such a force to be reckoned with in court. It was hard to tell what exactly she and TJ had done but somehow she felt like they weren’t going to like what they were about to hear.