Stranded: A Mountain Man Romance

by Piper Sullivan

  I looked into his eyes, a daring risk I might add, his presence had already stunted my ability to move around. Eye contact would surely paralyze me entirely. He was Gavin Miller alright. However, he wasn’t the Gavin Miller I had shared a pre-calculus class with twenty-five years ago, he was closer to the man I had probably spent a few classes day dreaming about growing up to meet. The irony, it seemed, was that he had been with me all along, waiting to bloom. Gavin had grown into the kind of man that you would focus all your mental energy on whenever you felt down and hopeless and just wanted to dream of a better life. He was the kind of man that you would find running through your mind on a white horse coming to save you from whatever torturous nightmares a maiden was experiencing. The years had been remarkable to him. His face posed no lines and his hair had just the right salt and pepper color that made you question his age, it felt like a mix of wisdom and energetic youth. He was dress to the nines and looked polished from head to toe, almost sparkling. I couldn’t believe it was him.

  “Gavin. It’s so nice to see you.” So nice, I sound so desperate! I thought to myself. It was all I could think to say. He was virtually making me birth butterflies in my womb which headed to my stomach and made me feel something I hadn’t felt for a long time. Here was someone that I had never given a second thought to, crippling me with his mere casual presence. I couldn’t believe what he was doing to me, and I immediately began to plot my sweet escape. I was sure that he would pick up on my dreadful composure, as I was beginning to think I wouldn’t be able to hold it much longer. If you could call this holding it together.

  “You look absolutely ravishing, Teresa. I knew I would have a treat in seeing you if I came back for the reunion.” His voice sounded like music, the gentle crystalizing of harmonies not often found together. He owned his voice with such measure that his perfectly broad shoulders and healthy physique made it seem like no one in the world could even hope to speak as eloquently as he was speaking to me right now. As if this wasn’t bad enough, he had just given me the most flattering compliment I had ever received.

  What was happening? I felt like I was whisked away to a fairytale, and this was happening just by the miracle of his voice and the words coming out of his mouth, his gorgeous chiseled mouth. I knew that I had to get myself together, or he would think that I was swooning over him, excuse me, he would know I was swooning over him, which I’m sure was what most females would do in his presence. I had to be different from all these other girls. I hadn’t been even remotely interested in a man’s looks for so long. Even with regards to Sam, I was aware of what Janet could see in him. He was a nice looking guy, very wholesome appeal. However, Sam just never was my cup of tea. He just never did it for me. I never got the feeling with Sam, and here I was drowning in that feeling with Gavin.

  I took my eyes away from him and focused on the people around us, hoping to regain some self-control.

  “Who did you come here with?” he asked, earnestly.

  “Oh, uh, I came here with Sam, but he’s sort of vanished with Janet for the time being.”

  “So that leaves you alone?” he teased, a little smile creeping over him.

  “I guess. You don’t look like you’re here with anyone either.” I pointed out.

  “I just arrived. I drove all the way here. I had a lot on my mind and figured a long drive would help me take the edge off.” Hmm, interesting. Gavin had things he needed to take his mind off. Even perfect looking people didn’t seem to have perfect lives, but his crisp looking suit suggested his problems weren’t all that terrible.

  “What’s been bothering you?” I asked. I figured if I could keep the attention on him, he wouldn’t have time to notice my nervous breakdown, and I feared I wouldn’t be able to talk about myself if he asked. Besides, what could I talk about? I spent my days at a diner, nothing happened there.

  “Well, since we are at a reunion and everything. I don’t feel like my life is where I imagined it would be at this time. So I’ve been reflecting on that a lot.” He had a hint of sadness in his voice, and I felt compelled to hug him and tell him everything would be alright, but of course I didn’t, I was still trying to regain control of my motor skills.

  I didn’t know what else to say so we stood there looking at everyone else for a few more breaths.

  “How about you?” he asked. “How’s life been treating you?” Great. I had to talk now, and I had to talk about myself.

  “Well, I don’t really have much to say. You know I’m still at the diner and all, family tradition.” I moped. I didn’t feel bad about being still at the diner, but my mother’s dying wish started to make it a tad bit unfulfilling, especially when I had to acknowledge it out loud.

  “I love how you and your family stick together and support each other, my grandparents haven’t been very supportive of my choices since I left town. They think I’m turning into some sort of corporate cliché story. At first I didn’t mind them, but as the years passed it kind of started to bother me.”

  “Your grandparents are adorable”

  “They are. But their idea of me becoming a corporate cliché, or any kind of cliché for that matter is starting to ring true.” He took a sip from his cup after that. He looked as if he was letting all the time that had passed sink in. “I don’t really want to sour your mood with mine though. I think I’ll just step out for a bit.”

  “Oh, I can walk you out, I don’t really mind.” Stupid little me. If he hadn’t sensed my pheromones by now, I had just revealed them myself. My woman juices had to be jutting out of my pores onto him with every breath I was taking. What else could drive me to offer my company when he clearly wanted to be alone? I’m sure he was like most men, his first instinct would be to assume I was down for anything. The worst part about it was that I wasn’t sure I wasn’t down for anything, especially with a man of his stature.

  “That would be great actually, let’s get out of here.” He said, offering an inviting smile. I made a point to myself to not be that easy. We were going out to talk and that would be it. I didn’t have much of a reputation in high school, but I wasn’t about to start tonight. It may have been over a year since the last time I fooled around with someone, and I can’t even remember his name, as I had made sure it happened during an out-of-town adventure of mine, and only in the heat of the moment, which no one would ever find out about. Single life for a woman in her hometown at my age was grounds for discussion if anyone thought I had been getting lucky. I couldn’t go somewhere private with Gavin. Someone might see us leave together. I was the one that had to live in this small town after tomorrow, while everyone else could go back to their dream lives. The last thing I needed was the town gossip to include me losing my regrown cherry over a one night stand with an old classmate. Perhaps I was overthinking things, Gavin hadn’t made any clear advance yet, if anything, he seemed like he wanted to vent with words and not his body. Would that hurt my feelings? If he didn’t want to make a move, and just wanted someone to talk to? I started to get cold feet as soon as he took a step forward.

  “Wait, I don’t think I can leave, Gavin. Sam and Janet might be looking for me,” I said as I peered again over the groups of people standing around reminiscing. They were evidently nowhere to be seen, and I blushed a little as I realized how stupid I was making myself look. I came off as a shy teenage girl. I could have told him the real reason that I was afraid of anything happening between us, leaving me with a new whore label in the morning, but I spoke as safely as I could.

  He looked a little hurt by this, and strangely, that flattered me a little. “Come on. Just a quick stroll along the grounds. It’d be nice to get away from all this eighties music. High school was great, but the music of that era isn’t something I miss. Let’s go somewhere quiet. I promise not to bore you with my depression anymore,” he said, grabbing my arm and linking it with his. He led me out the side door next to the stage before I could even put up so much as a protest. I had gone from being paralyzed to being a p
uppet and he had the strings, my body moved automatically wherever he took me. The departure was much less noticeable than walking the entire length of the gym to the front doors. I had forgotten these doors were even here. The doors were perfect for our getaway out into the darkness.

  Chapter 5

  The tension between us had been slowly raising to a fever pitch, partly because our arms were still linked as we walked down the sidewalk by the playground, and partly because I was running out of things to contribute to our small talk, but mostly because every glance I stole of him overwhelmed me more than the last. Gavin’s biceps felt much larger than I remember seeing them as a kid, which was understandable. He had grown into a respectable looking man. I was still a little confused as to how we ended up here together, and what we were doing out there on that chilly October night. Gavin was walking and staring straight forward down the path. He seemed like he was out of small talk topics and was figuring out what to say too.

  “What are we doing out here, Gavin?” I hated to put pressure on him with my question. I would have loved for the moment to be full of pure, unadulterated, romance and the things dreams are made of, but this was becoming a little too weird for me. As I looked up at his face, it was so fashioned for a profile, almost statuesque. Even though I had known him as long as I can remember, I felt I really didn’t know him now. He was a stranger that had just whisked me up within a few moments of meeting me, and already had me outside, in the dark without anyone else around. The music was blaring inside. If I had read this scenario incorrectly, no one would hear my calls for help. I wasn’t pinning him as a serial killer or anything, but the entire moment had made me paranoid somewhat. This could be a prank that I was paying for years later. Had I done anything to Gavin that I didn’t remember? This could play out a million ways. More years had passed that that lifetime we held, and mostly in the eyes of children for us. The last fifteen minutes I had experienced with Gavin were too odd not to question. His angelic presence had gone from bedazzling to unsettling, and his charms were starting to seem more devilish than anything. I had to get some sort of answers, I hoped they would give me some feeling of security.

  “I haven’t seen you in so long. We’ve both changed so much. We hardly talked much in high school. What is all of this? Why are we out here?” I pulled my arm out of his and turned towards him. I crossed them in front of my chest, which until this moment had almost been heaving in delight as this handsome man was paying attention to me out of everyone here.

  Gavin let out a little laugh, and it caught me off guard. “What’s so funny?” I asked.

  “Teresa, you really don’t remember much, do you?” This just confused me a whole lot more.

  “What are you talking about?” I pressed.

  “I know we hardly talked much in high school, but I did say something pretty significant after prom, didn’t I? But I don’t really blame you if you can’t remember, we were all a little drunk at the time. I know I wouldn’t have had the courage to say anything if I hadn’t had that much to drink.” He said, rubbing the back of his neck. It was the first sign of insecurity I had seen on him, and it felt so sincere it was heartwarming. And then it hit me, I did recall what he said.

  “You said, you had a giant crush on me since the third grade, and you had never had the confidence to tell me until that moment,” I didn’t want to finish what he said, the last part was far too ridiculous.

  “That’s not all I said. I said one day, when I had something to offer you. I would come back for you.” He said, and my heart froze. It was irrational to think that he had kept his crush on me going for all these years, and it was even more irrational to think that he thought it was worth bringing up right now.

  Gavin grabbed my hand and pulled me closer. “Teresa, I have kept up with you all of these years. I ask my grandparents about you all of the time. They told me that they are in your restaurant quite often. Didn’t they ever mention it?” He looked me right in the eyes. He sounded so sincere.

  He also looked very smooth, and I was falling into the grasp of a fast talker that somehow knew what I wanted to hear. I had never dreamed I would be the object of anyone’s crush, and for this length of time – it was borderline obsession. I was scared before, and this was supposed to make it worse, but it didn’t. How many women could say they had a deity of a man obsessed with them? I squinted my eyes and stared him up and down. He was smooth. He was oh so smooth. There wasn’t one flaw to him. I couldn’t fall into his trap without finding out more about where all of this was coming from.

  “Teresa, please don’t look at me like that,” he said, brushing some of my hair back to get a better view of my eyes. “I think about you often. I keep tabs on you by asking my family how you are doing. You’re right. We didn’t hang out much in high school, but trust me, it wasn’t because I didn’t want to. You were so intimidating back then. I had no self-esteem and definitely not enough balls to talk much to you, let alone ask you out. Now I have a bit more confidence, and I try not to let opportunities pass me by anymore these days.” He shifted his body towards mine, almost touching. I could feel his breath again, and my own started to match his. What this man could do just by breathing into me.

  His touch was so soft as he held my hand. He reached for my other one. I looked at him deeply, feeling as though we had been in this eye lock for a while. The romantic version of a stare down. He was the real life version of my knight in shining armor. He stood there, looking into my eyes, oh so intensely. I didn’t know what to do. It had been so long since I had felt a man’s touch, other than the occasional handshake at the restaurant. The feeling I was getting was tingling in all of the right places. I wanted him to do things to me. I wanted him to do despicable, erotic and dirty things with me, and oh, the things I wanted to do to him. I decided that I’d take a chance. But I didn’t have to make the decision or take a chance. It was in that moment that in one movement Gavin wrapped one arm around me and put his other hand on my face, cupping my cheek. Just as I thought he was going in for a romantic kiss, he gently caressed my long hair back and pulled it playfully, but enough to show his dominance in the situation. He deeply kissed my exposed neckline, and then lingered up to my lips. What was happening? I still hadn’t gotten my answers, but the electric impulses coursing through the nerves on my neck down to my toes made me care no less. Way less. I needed this, even it wasn’t what I had on the agenda for the evening. I deserved to feel good, at least for tonight.

  Chapter 6

  During high school, the baseball dugout was the designated spot for clandestine make out sessions, and so it seemed natural to head there now. After all, it was our high school reunion, and we were kind of reliving the daring of our youth, or at least the daring we wish we had back then. As we walked across the baseball diamond hand in hand, we looked around to be sure that we were alone, and that nobody else was trying to recapture their youth, it was as deserted as ever, and bathed in darkness, ensuring our privacy.

  Gavin led me by the hand into the dugout and we sat next to each other in the darkness, suddenly shy and a little awkward, it really was almost like being a teenager again. A delicious sense of the elicit stole over me and made me bolder than I had even been before. I had not spent much time in the dugouts as a teenager and had always been a bit envious of those who had, it was time to make up for lost time, and dashed hopes.

  As Gavin leaned in for a kiss, I reached for his hand, and placed it on my breast. He seemed shocked at first, almost like he didn't know what to do, now that his fantasy was becoming reality. The cold night air and my excitement hardened my nipples under his hand, and seemed to break Gavin’s momentary paralysis.

  He leaned back in for a kiss as he began kneading my breast, and I wrapped my arms around his neck and drew him to me as I leaned back so that he ended up on top of me and between my legs. I could feel his erection pressing against the now hot and steamy petals of my sex, our clothes making a barrier between us that I couldn't wait to shed
.

  Gavin began working his hands up under my shirt to get at my bare skin. His hands cupping me and almost burned across my skin, hardening my nipples even more, and sharpening the need coursing through me. I wanted to feel his hot hardness in my hands, so I began fumbling with his belt, urgently trying to get into his slacks.

  Taking this as a sign of my willingness, Gavin began his own assault on the buttons of my pants, finally getting them open, he plunged his hand into my panties and found my hot, slippery center, causing me to momentarily forget about getting my hands on his rock hard shaft.

  He eased a thick finger into me, the heel of his hand pressing to my clit, and began to slowly pump it in and out of me, priming me for something more. I was so wet and hot that he was soon able to slide a second finger into me, stretching me slightly and making me want to feel him in me. I felt an overwhelming desire to be filled, and to feel his body pressed against me.

  I pushed him back to a sitting position and renewed my efforts to free his manhood from his pants. He stood to allow me better access, and I couldn't help but be surprised at the obvious size of the member straining his slacks. I worked his pants and boxers down over hips and his hard cock sprang into view. It was glorious, thick, and long, and his testicles were a heavy sack suspended beneath. He was fairly pulsing with arousal, and when I grasped the base of him and squeezed, he groaned and a pearl of arousal formed on the head. With my other hand, I tested the weight of his sack and leaned forward to taste him. It was such a turn on that he was so incredibly hard for me, but I wanted him dizzy with desire.

  I touched my tongue to his tip, tasting his excitement, and he strained forward toward me, allowing me to envelope his ridged head with my mouth. Gavin gasped and thrust his hands into my hair, holding me still until he could get the throbbing of his cock and impending orgasm under control. His breathing was ragged for a moment, and when it evened out, he relaxed his grip on my hair, allowing me to explore his hard length with my lips and tongue.