American Honey

by Heidi McLaughlin

  I open my mouth slightly and when her tongue slips into my mouth I bite down on her sweet goodness. I suck on it for a second before letting it go. A stifled groan escaping my lips, “Don’t tease me, Bee.”

  “Take me back inside.” Rhea begs.

  I lift Rhea off my lap and then place her on the chair I just got up from. Her eyebrows drawn in confusion, as I take the lollipop out of her mouth, “Do you trust me?”

  She reaches up and cups my face, “You know I do.”

  Slipping my hand around Rhea’s ankle I bring it to my mouth and place an open mouth kiss right on the top of her foot. Smiling, I put the lollipop in my mouth, circling it a few times with my tongue then place Rhea’s foot up on my shoulder and take the lollipop and run it from her leg to that sweet spot as the sheet falls from her body. And this is where things get interesting.

  She keeps her pussy bare for me, has for a long time now. I run that lollipop over her clit a few times then bring it back to my mouth. “Mmm,” I moan. “So fucking sweet.”

  “Fuck,” Rhea pants, her eyes wide but hooded.

  Yeah, we aren’t going to last long at this rate. Just watching her reaction to what I’m doing has me ready to take her right here, right now, on this balcony for the world to see.

  I remove the lollipop out of my mouth and run it back over Rhea’s clit again adding a little pressure this time. Rhea’s hips start to buck but I use my free hand to hold her down. I circle her opening and then push the pop inside. “You like that?” I ask, watching her reaction.

  “Tanner,” Rhea moans. “Please.”

  I don’t even think she knows what she is saying please for. “Be patient, Bee.”

  My phone beeps with a text message from my shorts pocket but I ignore it to focus on Rhea.

  I reach for Rhea’s foot, the one laying on my shoulder, and place another kiss on her foot. Then slow, so slow, run my tongue up the inside of her leg tracing the sticky sweet of the lollipop.

  Rhea’s legs are shaking and her eyes are rolled in the back of her head. Staying in the chair I have her in is taking all of her willpower and strength. Damn she looks amazing spread out before me like this, under the moonlight where I can see the path that the lollipop and my tongue has taken lapping up its sweet remnants as I make my way to the ultimate sweet spot. I flick my tongue over her clit and she jumps like I’ve shocked her. I do it over and over again until she’s screaming my name to stop. And even then, I don’t stop right away. I can’t. What I’m doing to her has me just as turned on, if not more, than I’ve ever been in my life with this woman.

  She runs her hand through her hair, sweat pouring from her forehead. “Babe, if you don’t fuck me soon I’m goin’ go insane.”

  My phone beeps again.

  “Shh,” I pull on the lollipop slow and gentle. “I’ve got you.” I pull on it again until it’s almost out but then she grips it pulling it back in.

  My phone rings, I reach into my pocket hitting any button I can to stop it not wanting to ruin the moment.

  This time when I pull the lollipop out I pull it all the way out. Getting it about halfway to my mouth Rhea grabs my arm taking it out of my fingers and throws it over the railing.

  I laugh lightly, standing and ready to take her to bed but she has other plans.

  She pulls my gym shorts down and grips me tightly in her hands. She makes work of running her hand up and down my length and cupping my balls at the same time. She licks the tip and looks up with those blue eyes and bats her eye lashes.

  “You’ve had your fun with that lollipop, babe, and now it’s my turn with my lollipop.” Rhea says so innocently.

  Fuck me.

  Every fantasy I’ve ever had of watching her suck on those goddamn lollipops over the years doesn’t compare to this. She’s literally twirling that magic tongue of hers around the tip, sucking, popping and deep throating me like it’s the best flavor, the only flavor, she wants in this moment. I’m about to come with this vision alone, not even factoring in the sensations she’s giving me.

  She glances up at me like she’s completely innocent here yet knowing what she’s doing to me. “You done with the teasin’?” Rhea asks.

  I can’t even get the words out to form a sentence. I grip her arms and pull her up, her legs and arms wrapping around me. I turn so her back is leaning against the balcony. She’s so wet. I shift my hips so I’m at her opening.

  Rhea grips the hair on the back of my head, “Don’t stop, Babe.”

  I pant, “Never.” And then I’m pushing my way in.

  “Yes, Tan, that’s it, baby,” Rhea moans in my ear.

  I’m not going to last long, not when we’re both this worked up. When I look down at her, she’s breathless, her eyes squeezed shut and wanting, she’s wanting so fucking bad. Wanting me so fucking bad and I’m giving her everything she wants and needs at this moment.

  She’s tight, and I have no idea how but it makes it that much harder for me not to lose my shit the instant I’m inside her.

  I can see the ocean over her shoulder and I know she needs to see this. I pull out only long enough to turn her around so she’s bending over the railing, and then I’m entering her again.

  She says nothing audible, but moans the instant I’m inside her again. Rhea arches her back, her hair falling over her shoulders and against my chest, both her hands on the railing. My eyes fall to her hips, along with my hands as I frantically pump in and out of her wet pussy. She’s still so fucking tight, I’m ready to come already but I have to hold off, my girl’s not there yet but you can bet that sweet ass I’ll get her there, hopefully multiple times, before I’ll allow myself to finish.

  I don’t notice at first but Rhea puts one hand between her legs and moans. Nothing is sexier than a woman getting herself off. Damn, she isn’t going to make this easy on me, I can tell.

  This sight does nothing for my control and I’m thrusting even harder knowing she’s nearly there when I feel her muscles clench around my dick.

  “Jesus, Bee, that’s so fucking hot…” I moan in her ear, sucking and kissing down her neck until my teeth dig into the sensitive skin over her collarbone. That gets us both. I lean forward, trying like hell to last just a few more minutes, or fuck, even seconds when she starts to scream.

  "Oh God!”

  I’m done. I launch myself into my movements as her body goes slightly limp but curves to mine.

  It feels like it’s lasting forever, the pleasure coursing through me. Rhea seems to be the same as she leans back into my heaving chest wrapping her arms around my neck. Her lips are at my ear and I’m still shaking against her, barely able to stand when she says, “The perfect ending to a perfect day.”

  Fucking hell, my phone rings again, I reach for my shorts and pull it out. Knox.

  “Hello?” I say out of breath.

  “She’s not answering her phone, none of them are.” Knox tells me. I can hear the worry in his voice. “Savanna was texting me earlier, telling me what was going on. After about a half hour there was still no sign of the cops and my dad was getting impatient. She said that he was just going to speed past them and hope that whoever was driving didn’t cause a serious accident.”

  “Whoa, slow down.” I sit up so my back is leaning against the railing. “When did you last hear from her?”

  Knox curses, “Hours ago. When she didn’t answer my text after about an hour I called her, no answer. I called both of my parents. No one answered. Rex is at a graduation party and isn’t answering his phone either. I’m heading home.”

  “What?” I shook my head. Rhea leans back and cocks her head. “You can’t just drive home this late, Knox. What if all their phones died or somethin’?”

  He laughs sarcastically, “You can’t believe that bullshit.”

  “Just,” I took a deep breath. My head still spinning from the off the wall sex with Rhea, “Wait a little while longer.”

  “And what if they’re lying in a ditch somewhere?” Knox re
torts. “I’m leaving. I’ll come back and get you and Rhea. Have Jeremy or Cade drop you off back at the house in the morning.”

  My heart rate picks up; I can’t let him drive alone like this. “Come get us, we’ll leave now.”

  “No, just---” I hear the dinging in Knox’s car as he opens the door. “I’ll be back.”

  I toss my phone on the ground and pull Rhea in my arms. “What’s goin’ on?” Rhea asks.

  “Savanna never showed. No one is answering their phones either.” I say then kiss the side of her head. “There was a drunk driver they were following and cops never showed up to pull him over so his dad was just goin’ to go around him. He’s out of his mind with worry and is goin’ to try to find them.”

  “Oh my God,” Rhea whispers.

  I hold on to Rhea afraid she’ll disappear even though I know that’s not possible. “Let’s get inside.”

  Rhea nods and climbs off my lap and grabs the sheet to shield her naked body but holding one arm out for me to cover myself as well. We both slide into bed, holding each other close and praying that all is well.

  Little did we know what had already been put in motion. It was something none of us would ever be able to come back from. My family, once again, was going to be pushed to the brink without any guarantee we’d make it back in one piece.

  Chapter Seven

  ~ Age 18, hours after the accident ~

  Rhea

  The sky is splashed orange and pink, so alive and luminous, it’s going to be a beautiful day but in reality it’s an ugly, painful day. My best friend just lost everything in the blink of an eye. The sky should be grey and gloomy, not bright and cheery. I just can’t breathe, haven’t been able to get a breath and the weight on my chest feels like the equivalent of having an elephant sitting there.

  Tanner got a call a few hours ago from Rex, sobbing into the phone, telling him that his parents and Savanna passed away. We’re sitting in the airport waiting for our flight to board. An interminable wait only made worse by the fact that everyone around us is going about their lives with what seems not a care in the world. Damn you all, just damn you all to hell.

  I’ve been bawling like a baby all night. My eyes are red, swollen and they burn. Tanner has barely said two words to me since hanging up with Rex. He just watches my every move.

  Tanner had put the call on speaker phone when Rex started explaining, through his own choked sobs, what happened.

  “Nothing could have ever prepared me for what I saw.” Rex said through his tears.

  “Savanna’s face was unrecognizable. There were so many tubes and wires connected to her. When Knox stepped into the room, her father stood and placed a shaky hand on his shoulder. Savanna’s mom walked out of the room and into my arms for support while her dad explained what happened.”

  “Savanna is brain dead and the baby passed away too.” Rex sniffs. “Savanna’s mom breaks down in my arms when she hears her husband repeat the words the doctor told them. She just kept saying ‘no’ over and over again. They kept her alive until Knox was able to get there so that he could say goodbye.”

  My hand covered my mouth; a waterfall of tears forming and falling. This is like a horror story no one should ever have to live through.

  “Mom and dad died on impact.” Rex sobs. “Quick and painless, right?”

  “I’m so sorry, Rex.” I cried.

  Rex sniffs, “Can you guys get a ride up here? Knox and I are going to need you.”

  Tanner wipes his eyes with the back of his hands, “Of course, we’ll get the first flights out.”

  “Thanks, man.”

  When our plane lands at LaGuardia Airport in New York we get a taxi to Mitchell Enterprises where Knox and Rex are waiting for us.

  We take the elevator up to the top floor and the door is jarred open. It’s quiet and I’m not even sure anyone is here.

  “Hello?” Tanner calls out.

  “In here.” Rex answers.

  We drop our bags by the door and walk down the hall to the only door that’s opened. Rex is sitting on a sofa that is positioned against the far wall. Knox is sitting in an executive chair staring out the window. He hasn’t even acknowledged that we’re here.

  I walk over to Rex and he stands and wraps his arms around me. “I’m so sorry, Rex.” I cry. “I loved them like my own parents.”

  He doesn’t respond and I can tell from his stiff posture that he’s holding back, trying to be strong. Finally letting go I sit down on the sofa and Tanner hugs Rex.

  Rex looks over at Knox and shakes his head, “I’m going to go grab some lunch for all of you.. I’ll be back shortly.”

  Tanner and I nod.

  We all sit in quiet for a while, lost in our own thoughts. Your whole world can change in a blink of an eye. You don’t ever think about death until someone you know dies. You get caught up from one day to the next and before you know it years have passed. But suddenly when your world falls out from underneath you, you stop and think back about all the past times whether they are good or bad. You forget that you should live like it’s your last day on Earth. And dealing with the emotional fallout when not one, but four people, one of which was an unborn baby, is almost too much to bear for all of us. I cannot fathom the emotional wreckage that this accident has caused and the amount of time it will require to heal from it.

  “Savanna was twenty weeks pregnant.” Knox speaks, almost a whisper, for the first time since we arrived. “We had an ultrasound appointment set up to find out the sex of the baby at the end of the week. We talked for hours about whether or not we wanted to know what we were having.” Knox’s eyes glaze over. “I secretly wanted a boy but I never told her that because she wanted a girl.”

  He’s quiet for a while again. Tanner reaches for my hand and links our fingers together.

  “The baby had just started moving a few weeks ago and anytime that I put my hand on Savanna’s stomach I was hoping the baby would move or kick but nothing happened.” Knox shakes his head. “I felt nothing last night when I put my hand on her stomach. I waited and willed our precious baby to move. Just a little flick, nudge, something, but I got nothing.”

  How does anyone ever recover from something like this? He lost four of the most important people in his life.

  “I told our baby how much I loved both of them and that I was sorry I’d never been able to meet him or her, but at least they would get a chance to know their mother and to watch out for each other up in heaven.” The intensity of what he’s saying has become too much for him. The cracks in his resolve that he’s been barely holding together finally gives way. The floodgates open and he loses all sense of self right in front of us.

  I lost it, I tried being strong for Knox but that broke me. Life isn’t fair. Tanner pulled me to him and I buried my face in his chest soaking his shirt with my tears.

  He continues, how he’s speaking through his grief I have no idea. “I kissed her stomach and pulled the covers back up. Then I kissed Savanna on the lips and told her all my plans that I had for the night and how I wanted to spend the rest of my life with her. I even took the engagement ring that I bought her and placed it on her finger. I dropped to one knee and proposed to her right there in the hospital. I knew I would never get an answer but I was ok with that. It was something I needed to do for myself. I know she would have said yes, I just know it.” Knox’s breathing gets harder and his voice shakes. “I kissed her once more before telling her I loved her for the last and final time. I walked out of the hospital and went home.”

  His composure returns, albeit briefly, and he gets quiet again, lost in thought. Tanner runs his hand through my hair.

  “I couldn’t be there when they pulled the plug on my girlfriend and unborn child. It just seemed cruel in my eyes even though I knew it is what they had to do. When I got home I took a shower and sat in the chair in my bedroom trying to figure out what the hell I was going to do with my life now that everything was gone. The only thing right this seco
nd that is keeping me going is Rex. I have to be strong for him. We don’t have anyone else.”

  “You have us, Knox.” Tanner tells him. “You’ll always have us. Anything you need you let us know. You know we have always stuck together. Nothing will ever change that.”

  Knox nods and stares back at the window. We sat there for hours. Rex never came back with lunch, not that I was very hungry anyway but I’m worried about him.

  The sun had long set hours ago before Knox spoke again.

  “Tanner,” Tanner glanced over at Knox. “I’m going to need your help with Club Mango. I can’t go there and I don’t trust anyone else to run it.” Club Mango was Savanna’s club. She started it from the ground up, named it and helped Knox’s parents with it from day one.

  Tanner didn’t hesitate with his response, “Done.”

  “Is that going to cause a problem with you and Rhea?” Knox looks between the two of us.

  Managing Club Mango would mean that Tanner would have to move to South Carolina, two hours away.

  Tanner stares at me, his wheels are spinning. “No.” He answers Knox. “You’re eighteen, you can move out. There isn’t anything your father can do or say to stop this.”

  I manage to muster up a small smile, he’s right. “Not a damn thing.”

  “Find a place to live, close to the club and get me the information. I’ll get everything set up.” Knox tells us.

  “You don’t have to do that.” Tanner argues.

  “Yes, I do.”

  “Knox,” I warn.

  “Just let me do things my way. Just…I have to do this. It’s the way it has to be, the only way.” Knox scrubs his face with his hands. “Let’s go find Rex.”

  Three days later, Audrey and Austin Mitchell were laid to rest; two days after that Savanna and Knox’s unborn baby were buried. There’s always this surreal feeling enveloping everyone that seems to fall like a suffocating blanket over people when a tragedy like this happens. Once loved ones are buried though it’s almost like the blanket lifts and we are faced with the reality of this “new normal,” being forced to live our lives differently without each of them in it. There’s no step-by-step guidebook that tells you how to do that though.