Homebound

by Kata Čuić

  Even if I don’t get to see Jesse as often as I used to, I’ll always be happy he’s gonna make something of himself. I’d rather never see him again than see him waste his smarts in the mine the way my Daddy has because he was saddled with a family and responsibilities too soon.

  Hours go by, and we’ve all eaten dinner. Begrudgingly, I clean up the kitchen and store the leftovers in the fridge. I sit up waiting by the front window long after Mama and Daddy have retired for the night.

  Steady snow falls from a moonless sky. Judging by the white blanket that covers the hills, there’s a good foot out there. Even if Jesse made it to Martins Landing, he won’t be braving the weather to come over here. At least with the bad roads, he won’t be shuttled out of the trailer by one of his mama’s callers tonight.

  With a disappointed sigh and heavy heart, I rise up off the couch. Before turning to head to bed, I glance one last time out the frosty window. My eyes squint through the snowfall at the mirage on the horizon. A lone figure cloaked in darkness trudges through the drifts, heading this way.

  Forgetting myself, I tear open the door and rush out into the bitter night with no shoes, clothed only in my leggings and sweater. My hair is immediately dampened with the large flakes; icy wind cuts at my face and body, but my feet are light as air even as they struggle to work against the foot of snow. The cold burns my lungs, and my heart races the closer I get.

  He looks up—his eyelashes crusted with fine flakes—when he hears my approach. His handsome face is red and wind burnt, but he can’t hide the happiness in his expression. Instead he braces himself for the inevitable.

  I launch myself at him.

  He catches me easily in his arms and spins me in a full circle before wrapping me in a tight hug. “Have ya lost your mind? You’re gonna catch your death out here like this!”

  His frozen nose burrows into my hair. “Aww, but you’re a sight for sore eyes, girl.”

  “Jesse,” I breathe with a white cloud of steam.

  He holds me tightly to him, moving forward until he stumbles then sweeps me up into his arms. He carries me up the drive then veers to the left, bypassing the walkway and front porch.

  “Where we goin’? Come on inside. I made your favorite chicken ‘n biscuits. I know it’s late, but I can warm it up. Ya had a long drive, so ya must be hungry.”

  “Oh, I’m starvin’.” He grins at me then captures my mouth with his own.

  His kiss is hot and greedy, overwhelming in its strength and power. Our tongues work together furiously, trying to erase the months spent apart in only a few seconds.

  He nearly falls and drops me into the snow but quickly rights himself as he tears his mouth away from mine. “I need ya right now, Nora. I can’t wait. I been ready for ya since I left campus this afternoon.”

  His words immediately excite my body and calm my irrational fears. After months of only occasional phone calls and emails, I’ve spent countless sleepless nights wondering if someone else caught his eye after all.

  My thoughts are hurled into the now when Jesse places my feet on the bottom rung of the ladder to the treehouse. I only look once over my shoulder to find him watching me with hooded, lust-filled eyes.

  “Up ya go, darlin’.” He pats my bottom to send me climbing and follows closely behind.

  I push open the door to find the treehouse looks just as I remember. Not that I was expecting a huge difference in only four months, but the sameness of it all adds to my feeling of excitement. With so much change in so little time, it’s comforting to know that some things are still the same.

  As soon as Jesse hauls his body up through the doorway, he closes and latches the door then pulls off his snow-covered boots and coat. I laugh as he struggles with all the buttons and zippers, frantic in his haste. “Don’t you be laughin’ none girl. Git your clothes off.”

  His voice is all business, so I do as he demands. I wasn’t dressed for the snow anyway, and it takes me no time at all to peel off my soaked sweater and leggings. I crawl for the pile of blankets with my surprise for him still on, laying myself out just like the women in all the magazines.

  Jesse turns around and freezes in place like the winter weather just caught up with him.

  I offer him my best seductive smile, which I’ve been practicing for months. I’m sore tempted to beg, but instead I invite him closer with a single finger.

  He takes his time crawling to me, hopefully appreciating the view. His eyes look wider than the full moon. He gestures to the red lace bra and matching panties. “I’m shakin’ in my boots to ask where ya got those.”

  “Ya ain’t wearin’ boots, Jess.”

  He doesn’t even smile.

  My laugh gives away my nerves. “At the store, silly. Where else would I get ‘em?”

  “Nora, in the last few months, I been to bigger stores than I ever knew existed, so I know them pretty underthings ain’t cheap. How’d ya afford ‘em?”

  My confidence takes another hit. My imagination runs wild with wondering why he would be in the women’s section and who with and what for. “How do ya know how expensive they are?”

  He traces the lace covering my breast carefully then pulls his hand away when the rough pad of his finger catches on the delicate material. “I, uh…joined a fraternity.” Jesse drags his gaze up to mine, his eyes still not their normal size. “The guys like to go to the mall, and they like to browse in the lingerie store. I looked at the tags on a few things, fixin’ to get ya real nice Christmas gift.” He blows out a breath. “I couldn’t afford nothin’ in there.”

  I’m pleased as pie, but he looks sourer than ever. I wrap my arms around him and pull him on top of me with a wide smile. “Well, this here can be a Christmas gift for us both then.”

  His eyes are so sad. He’s holding himself above me, resisting my pull.

  “Do ya not like it? Is it the wrong color? It reminded me of the red tennies ya bought me before.”

  “Who gifted this to ya, Nora?” His voice sounds scratchier than a broken record on an old phonograph. “I know right well ya couldn’t afford it on your own.”

  My face heats up, probably the same color as my fancy set. Jesse ain’t gonna like my answer. “I…I saved up for it.”

  “Ya don’t have a job, so how could ya save up? If ya done met a city boy who treats ya fine, ya can just tell me.”

  “Jesse…” I was worried it was pride holding him back, but I reckon this is worse. I wrap my arms and legs around him until he has no choice but to fit against me. I kiss his cheeks, his nose, the dimple in his chin, but he keeps his mouth out of reach. “I don’t want no city boy who spoils me when there’s a dumb hillbilly I love who I skipped lunch for a month to buy this here set for, so he’d know how much I wanna please him, so he wouldn’t go off and find a city girl to warm his bed while I ain’t around.”

  “Ya willful woman,” he whispers, burying his face into the hollow of my neck and finally kissing me back. “Still as crazy as the day I met ya if ya’d believe for a second there’s anythin’ warmin’ my bed at night except your love.”

  Moving his hot mouth and expert tongue to my neck, he knows just how to get me going for him. Nothing else matters but the feeling of his muscles moving beneath my hands, the damp suction at the base of my neck that rolls my eyes into my head, and his arms snaking beneath my back as if he can possibly pull me closer.

  “Jesse,” I pant, nearly forgetting myself in the pleasure he’s already giving me. “Sit up. I got somethin’ I wanna teach ya tonight.”

  He lifts his head and raises his eyebrow at me. “That right?”

  I bite my lip and nod. I ain’t sure I can do it, but I’m itching to try.

  He rolls off me and sits up as instructed. His manhood juts out from between his legs, hard and long and ready for me. Almost.

  “Ya got condoms?”

  He grins then crawls back to his coat, pulling out a sizeable box. “They’re a lot easier to get in the city than they are around he
re. We’re good and stocked up for the rest of break.”

  A thrill runs through me at the prospect of all the love making he’s got planned for us. He hasn’t forgotten me yet.

  I pat the blankets. “Cover up and lie down then.”

  An impressed expression crosses his face before he does as he’s told.

  I sore expected this to be a point of contention. Mountain man pride ain’t nothin’ the ladies at school have ever had to reckon with.

  When he’s lying flat on his back, his arms behind his head, I crawl up his prone body.

  “Darlin’,” he whispers, stilling me with his big hands on my arms.

  My chin drops to my chest. “I knew ya wouldn’t like it.”

  He raises my gaze. “How can ya know I won’t like it when I got no idea what you’re fixin’ to do? I was gonna ask ya to take this here pretty set off.” His gaze travels down my body as his eyes cloud over again.

  “Ya really that mad I skipped lunch for a few weeks? I didn’t mind! I’m so busy all the time; I forget to eat anyway!”

  He kisses the tip of my nose. “I love it. Thank ya for the extravagant gift. I don’t wanna ruin it with my rough hands.”

  I can’t be mad with the promise of his hands on me. Their roughness is one of the things I love most about ‘em.

  He watches as I slowly, carefully remove the soft lace. A small smile stretches his lips I ain’t kissed enough yet. “We gotta make that set last ‘cause there ain’t no way I’m lettin’ ya skip any more meals for me.”

  “Ya know I ain’t keen on doin’ what I’m told.”

  “Then I reckon I don’t wanna learn what you’re fixin’ to teach me.”

  We grin at each other.

  “We’re gonna play pretend tonight, Jess,” I explain as I straddle his manhood. “You’re gonna be a horse, and I’m gonna be your cowgirl.”

  “I ain’t never gonna look at pretend the same,” he swears, swallowing thickly.

  He grips my hips as I slide along his hardness. “Darlin’, you’ll kill me.”

  I freeze. Might be I’m doing it all wrong. It ain’t supposed to hurt him.

  “Nora, please,” he begs. “I done been missin’ ya for months.”

  Oh. I understand his position. He’s got a whole box of condoms. We’ll have time for my slow seduction later.

  I lower myself onto his length and watch his face as he stares at the connection between our bodies. His eyes are focused and dark, his expression looking almost like he’s in pain.

  And then I can’t see no more. My eyelids slide closed as he fills me, and oh Lord, it ain’t never felt like this. It’s almost too much. He’s in me so deep that it pushes all the air from my chest.

  I move against him nice and slow, testing the waters. It makes me feel powerful, just like the girls said it would. His moans of pleasure spur me on.

  I’m working up a sweat the way Jess usually does, and his hips meet my every motion, thrust for thrust.

  “Nora,” he groans. “I’m gonna come for ya.”

  I gasp and stop moving, so close to my own release. “Not yet.”

  His head thumps back against the old pillows. “Whaddya mean not yet? It’s been months! Ain’t this pleasin’ ya the way it is me?”

  I kiss his mouth before lifting off him. “If I wasn’t so greedy for ya, I’d have started differently. As it is, I wanna teach ya one more thing before we fall asleep.”

  He whines like a little boy who’s just been told to put away his book and go to sleep. “How much have ya learned without me?”

  I grin over my shoulder as I lower myself on him again, facing away.

  He gasps as I seat him fully inside me. “Oh, God. Nora, I’m dyin’. You’re so tight, darlin’. Please.”

  Jesse never begs for nothing, and it’s a shame I can’t enjoy it more, but oh, they were right. It’s so good this way. With the different angle than I’m used to, I ride faster and faster, his length hitting every spot inside me that makes lightning course through my veins. If I tilt forward just a little, it’s so good I almost can’t stand it.

  Sure hands grip my hips the faster I go.

  The force of my orgasm tears through me, and I let out a silent scream. I ain’t even got the energy to give voice to it, everything in me is so focused on the pleasure.

  Jesse’s hands dig into my flesh as he thrusts up into me, grunting through his own release.

  The moment he stops jerking, my body falls forward only to be caught by strong arms wrapping around me. I don’t even know when he sat up, but I feel the warmth of him seeping into my back. “Easy there, my darlin’. I got ya. I got ya.”

  He holds me for a long while, whispering in my ear how much he’s missed me, how good the love making was tonight, how he don’t wanna let me go when break ends. His words float around in my brain, not really taking roost. I’m boneless, mindless, peaceful.

  My body is completely limp and satisfied with Jesse wrapped all around me. After a few minutes of catching our breath and racing hearts, I climb off of him, so he can take care of the condom. I curl up under the blankets, not really needing their protection from the night air against my hot, flushed skin.

  Jesse’s back in moments, climbing under the quilts with me and gathering me into his sweaty chest. He wraps his arms around me tightly and plants a kiss on my forehead.

  “I was sore afraid to ask about your pretty lingerie, but I’m downright terrified to ask where ya learned all that,” he whispers.

  I grin at him. “I joined a sorority. My new sisters taught me a lot about how to please a man. Just wait ‘til I show ya what I got in store for tomorrow night.”

  He chuckles. “Darlin’, if tomorrow is anythin’ like tonight, you’ll be the death of me for sure. I never reckoned I’d be so keen to die.”

  My smile feels like it’s splitting my face wide open. “Are ya pleased, Jess?”

  His own smile falters. “Are ya only doin’ this here new stuff to please me?”

  “Ya didn’t like it?”

  “Now that ain’t what I said, ya willful woman.” He holds my chin in a soft but firm grip to keep my gaze. “I enjoyed it fiercely ‘cause ya did, too. I only ever wanted to make ya feel as good as ya make me feel. Every time I’m inside ya, it’s like I’m dyin’ and bein’ reborn again.”

  “It felt that way for me, too,” I admit, lowering my eyes. All the heat that had so recently left my body returns in a swift rush.

  “Hey.” He nuzzles my face with his own. “Why ya seem so ashamed to admit that to me?”

  “I know how much pride matters to ya. I don’t wanna make ya feel like ya ain’t a man.”

  His laughter echoes through the treehouse. “Go on and own me. I’m all yours for the takin’.”

  “Really?” I breathe against his lips.

  “Lord, yes.” His deep kiss doesn’t feel the least bit slighted. He threads his hands through my hair and holds me to him, taking my breath away.

  “Jess,” I pant when we break for air.

  “Hmm?”

  “I like it when ya take the lead, too. I don’t want ya to stop doing that neither.”

  He chuckles again and wraps his arms around me for sleep. “Anythin’ ya want, my darlin’. Anythin’ at all.”

  Idle Hands Are the Devil’s Plaything

  As much as I appreciate what Jess is trying to do, the constant interruptions to class time are putting us even further behind schedule on learning the required yearly material.

  I use my finger as a bookmark to keep my place in my aloud reading when a timid knock sounds at my classroom door. “Come in!”

  A red-faced freshman, recently minted as a member of the secret Santa brigade, arrives with a handful of envelopes. “Miss Wheeler? These are for your class, ma’am.”

  I hold out my hand for the bundle. “Thank you, Chester.”

  The boy smiles, obviously proud I know his name even though he won’t have my class for another few years. He stands nearby, w
atching over me as I flip through the envelopes.

  “Can I help you with something else?”

  “Nope.” He grins.

  I nod toward the door. “Don’t you need to be getting back to class?”

  “I have study hall, so Mr. Yates said I could help distribute the action gifts.”

  Yep. That’s what he’s calling them. Knowing full well most of our student body can’t afford to buy physical presents for their friends and romantic interests, our wise wizard of a principal suggested during the holiday assembly at the beginning of the month that actions speak louder than words and doing a good deed for others lasts far beyond the use one can get out of a new shirt or a sparkly necklace. Empathizing all too well with the struggle of overcoming one’s pride, Jesse further upped the ante by decreeing the action gifts would remain anonymous.

  The first thing our students see when they trudge in the doors in the morning is a desk in the lobby with a large, extravagantly wrapped box to drop their letters into. Beside that are stacks of blank paper, envelopes, and a seemingly never-ending supply of pencils.

  I actually appreciate the beauty of that set up. It’s just another little way to make sure our students have the supplies they need even if they can’t afford to purchase the items for themselves.

  And being greeted by that sight upon arrival has made them more excited to get to school than I’ve seen so far the whole year. Idle hands are the devil’s plaything, so Jesse’s constantly thinking up new ways to occupy our students’ minds both in and out of the school.

  One of my more rambunctious students seated in the first row calls out, “Well? Who got a letter?”

  While I don’t begrudge Jesse his intentions to spread a little holiday cheer through our halls, I do mind him derailing my students’ focus multiple times a day. If he can trick them into better behavior, then so can I.

  I hold the letters in the air, fanning them for added drama. “Who wants their letter?”

  A cacophony of desire lifts the mood of the room.

  Like Ebenezer Scrooge, I snatch it away. “You’re going to have to work for them today.”