by Claire Adams
“It’s like trying to get on a horse,” I said, shaking my head at him. Johnny laughed and closed the door behind me, making his way quickly around the front of the truck back to the driver’s side. “So; where are we going that I need to be able to walk?” Johnny turned the key in the ignition and gave me another quick grin.
“It’s a surprise,” he said, pulling away from the curb. He turned on the stereo and we drove away from campus, already starting to talk about our favorite bands and groups once more as we headed out on our way to the mystery location where Johnny had planned for our date to be. I was tingling with anticipation; I had never been a huge outdoors person, but I had been to summer camp several times, and I was not averse to anything that would get me some time alone with Johnny.
I figured maybe he would take me to a park or something; that would be romantic—but as we drove out, further and further away from the town where the campus was located, I started to feel a little bit worried. “You do know where we’re going, right?” I asked, trying to keep my voice as playful as possible. Johnny laughed.
“I know exactly where we’re going, no worries.” I pushed aside any misgivings that we’d be wandering around in the deepening dark, running out of gas, and that Johnny would just refuse to ask for directions until we were stranded.
He took a turnoff into a forest preserve area and started into the woods, and I felt myself getting worried again, but for a different reason. Stories about girls who were lulled into a sense of security by how nice a guy was only to find themselves murdered brutally filled my head. The question of who Claire White was flickered through my mind; had her death really been a suicide? As the woods thickened around us, I found myself looking around. If the worst happened and Johnny for some reason wanted to kill me, I hoped I could get away.
I finally looked over at Johnny and the sight of him made me relax. There was no fiendish glee on his face, only concentration as he wove his way through and around the barely-existing trail through the woods. There was no way that Johnny was the kind of person who could kill a girl in the middle of nowhere; he was just too sweet. He was too kind. I couldn’t believe he was even capable of hurting someone—unless it was in a brawl on the ice. The truck shuddered and shifted and Johnny turned onto an even-smaller trail, where I worried his truck wouldn’t even fit. I heard the branches around us scraping and whacking against the cab, along the sides. “You’re absolutely sure you know where you’re going?” I said, forcing myself to smile, even though I knew it was a nervous little grin.
“You’ll love it once we get there, I promise,” Johnny said. I pressed my lips together and tried to keep myself from yelping as the truck bounced along the rough, tiny trail. I had to have faith in Johnny. I had to believe that he had gone down this particular trail in his truck before, and knew how to avoid running right into a tree, or off of the trail itself. My heart was beating faster and I was totally at a loss—I couldn’t decide whether he was trying to kill me, or just foolish and daring, or that he’d had a great idea and I was just being a coward.
Johnny pulled into a little clearing in the woods and put the truck in park, and I looked around. It was pitch dark—wherever the headlights on the front of the huge, hyper-masculine truck didn’t illuminate was just a void, completely and totally black. How long had we been driving? The sun was barely going down when Johnny picked me up earlier. He grabbed a flashlight from behind the seat and grinned at me. “It’s not a long walk to where we’re going, but you’ll be glad you took my advice on the shoes.” I laughed, still a little nervous; where were we going?
Johnny opened his door and leaped out, and I cautiously followed suit, my eyes adjusting to the darkness that swallowed us up slowly. He had shut the headlights off, making a comment about not wanting to run down the battery, and grabbed a pack from the truck bed. I heard the leaves and brush crunching under his feet as he came around to my side of the truck, the flashlight already on, pointed carefully at the ground. “I won’t let anything grab you, don’t worry,” he said, wrapping one arm around my waist. I could feel the weight of his backpack, and forced myself to smile in spite of my worry.
Johnny led me a little way into the woods, to another clearing—this one with an opening in the tree canopy overhead. He set the flashlight on a rock and started to pull things out of the backpack and I was stunned; he must have really, really thought about this, in spite of how spur-of-the-moment he’d made the date appear. Blankets, a bag of marshmallows, a sleeve of graham crackers and a bar of chocolate, along with a big bottle of hard cider all appeared. He angled the flashlight to shine onto a circle of stones and I watched while he pulled up dead wood and other kindling, and started a fire there. “Want to spread the blanket for me?” he asked. I smiled and shook out the huge, thick blanket—it was so soft and fluffy in my hands that I thought as long as I didn’t settle it on a rock, it would practically be like lying on a mattress.
All my worries started to dissolve as we roasted marshmallows over the fire, made s’mores, and drank the still-cold cider Johnny had grabbed. He told me about how he’d rushed around after classes ended to get all of the things he needed, and I smiled, cuddling close to him on the blanket and looking into the fire, looking all around me at the orange-red glow seeping into the trees. I had been so wrong to doubt him or to even think for a minute that he was going to hurt me. “I really wanted to bring you here because you can see the stars just—it’s amazing,” Johnny said, pointing up at the clearing in the trees overhead. He was right; far away from campus, away from the lights of the town, deep in the woods, I could see more stars that I had ever known existed, spiraling in milky, glowing splendor across the sky.
We playfully tried to show off for each other, picking out constellations and inventing new ones, and as Johnny’s hands started to wander over my body, I felt the last bit of fear disappearing as I became more and more turned on. Here we were, alone, in the woods, next to a fire and under an amazing night sky, far away from anyone who might interrupt. I shifted closer to Johnny on the blanket and kissed him hungrily, feeling my body heat up all over. His hands slipped up underneath my shirt and I shivered, pulling closer to him on the blanket, feeling my nerves crackling with hot-and-cold electricity.
Johnny deepened the kiss, turning me onto my back while his hands crept up along my ribs, cupping my breasts through my bra. “You know, there’s no one to hear us,” he murmured against my lips. I could feel the hard ridge of his erection already starting to strain at his jeans. “We can make as much noise as we want and no one will ever know.” I laughed, reaching down and hauling his tee shirt up along his back, over his head. I suddenly had an absolute need to get him naked, to feel his body pressed against mine. Kissing him early in the morning had left me simmering with arousal all day, thinking about the possibility of being with him—I needed to feel Johnny inside of me, almost as much as I needed air. His lips tasted like the s’mores we’d eaten, like the crisp, tart cider, with an undercurrent of the sweet taste I was starting to associate with him.
My shirt somehow disappeared without me knowing how or even where it went; Johnny buried his face against my breasts, nuzzling against me, kissing the valley between my breasts and nipping at the sensitive tops. He tugged the cups of my bra down and I moaned as he brought one of my nipples to his mouth, kissing it lightly before he sucked it between his lips, his tongue flickering over the little nub until it started to harden. His hands moved down to my hips, along the fabric of my skirt until he found the hem; Johnny slid one hand up underneath, trailing along my inner thighs. I was already soaking wet—I had been just a little turned on, even while I was worried that Johnny was going to kill me, fear making me oddly aroused.
I moaned again and again as Johnny stroked me through the thin fabric of my drenched panties, his mouth switching from one breast to the other, sucking and licking my nipples and sending jolts of pleasure straight to my pussy. “I’ve been thinking about this for days,” Johnny murmure
d, slipping one finger around the fabric to stroke my bare skin. He found my clit by touch, pressing along the folds of my labia until he hit the little bundle of nerves and I cried out, pushing my hips down for better contact. He rubbed and stroked, swirling his finger in tight little circles around my pleasure center, and I writhed and twisted underneath him, running my fingers through his thick, soft hair and kissing him in desperation as my body went hotter and hotter. Johnny tugged my panties away from my body somehow, leaving my skirt on, bringing his fingers along my labia to rub me everywhere before focusing on my clit once more. I kissed along the column of his throat, muffling my moans against his skin as he slid one finger inside of me slowly, his thumb pressed against my clit all the while, rubbing me and sending jolts of cold and hot sensation through my body. He slid his finger in and out slowly, working me, pushing past the resistance of my body as my muscles tightened around him. “God, you’re so hot, so wet,” Johnny whispered, panting, as he added another finger, plunging them both deep inside of me.
He curled his fingers, rubbing along my inner walls, and I moved instinctively, my hips rising and falling, bucking as he teased my clit and stroked me from the inside. “Oh—oh, god, Johnny—don’t stop—please…” I panted for breath, bringing his face back around to mine, kissing him hungrily as I writhed underneath him. I could feel the hot, heavy weight of his cock pressing against my leg, nothing between us but his boxers—somewhere along the line, one of us had gotten rid of his jeans. Johnny’s fingers curled and twisted inside of me, and when he brushed against my g-spot I gasped, shuddering, clinging to him as if for life itself. He brought me to the edge of climax over and over again, kissing and nipping at my skin playfully, dipping down to my breasts and then moving back up to my lips.
Johnny pulled back, panting almost as much as I was. “I can’t wait any more,” Johnny said, looking down at me, his eyes dark in the firelight. “Are you ready for me, Becky? You feel so ready.” I nodded, breathless, unable to speak. I was more than ready for him—I was eager, I absolutely needed him. Johnny pushed his boxers down over his hips and I wrapped my legs around his waist, pushing down against him. He rocked against me, and I moaned at the feeling of his hard cock rubbing along my soaking wet labia, the tip brushing just barely against my clit.
“If you don’t stop teasing me,” I said, digging my nails into the skin of his back, “I’m going to throw you in that fire.” Johnny laughed, and shifted against my body, his hand slipping down to guide his cock up against my throbbing, aching slit. He thrust into me slowly, letting me feel him push past the tightening of my muscles, sinking deeper and deeper inside of me. His cock was so hot, so hard inside of me, and I pushed my hips down, moaning against his shoulder, feeling the electric shiver that worked through me.
“God, you feel so good, Becky—better than anyone else I’ve ever…” Johnny’s words dissolved into a moan and I twisted my hips against his, kissing his lips, kissing along his jaw, anywhere my mouth could reach while I moved in counterpoint to his thrusts, trying to see if I could will my muscles to flex around him just the way I wanted to. But as I got more and more turned on, I heard the wet, sucking sounds of our bodies moving together, and any thought of trying to control anything dissolved. Johnny picked up his pace, thrusting harder and faster into me, and I struggled to keep up, tingling all over as he switched between worshipping my breasts and kissing my lips, his hands wandering all over me, one snaking down between our bodies to stroke and rub my clit in time with his thrusts.
I tried to hold back, wanting to savor the feeling of Johnny inside of me, wanting to hold onto the body-wide tingling, the hot and cold flashes that worked through me as the friction built up between us. But I couldn’t make myself stop; I tumbled head-first into climax, my whole body tensing up and then everything falling away from me but the waves of pleasure rocking my nervous system, the feeling of Johnny’s cock buried deep inside of me as he kept thrusting, harder and faster, brushing up against my g-spot every few moments and making me cry out and moan without a single thought in my head. I felt his cock twitching, felt his hips bucking against mine, and then felt the flood of sticky-slick heat rush through me as Johnny moaned out long and low, thrusting a few harder, fast moments as he followed me into orgasm.
Chapter Five
As my breathing slowed, I came back to myself gradually, feeling Johnny’s warm, strong arms wrapped around me, the blanket underneath us both. I heard the crackle of the fire and turned to look at it, my whole body still tingling with aftershocks of pleasure, muscles flexing and relaxing erratically inside of me. My lips were curved in what felt like a permanent smile; I couldn’t believe how incredibly good I felt, how happy I was. “You’re going to have mosquito bites in weird places tomorrow,” Johnny murmured jokingly in my ear.
“Totally worth it,” I replied. “Although next time you haul me into the deep dark woods to screw my brains out, maybe remember some bug spray.” Johnny turned me onto my back and buried his face against my breasts, kissing and nuzzling.
“Nah, I wouldn’t be able to kiss and lick you everywhere if you had bug spray on you,” he told me, bringing his lips back up to mine. “That shit tastes nasty.”
“Maybe some of those candle things then,” I suggested lazily. Johnny nodded.
“Done. Or maybe we’ll get a tent and just stay all night, and see how many times we can have sex before we’re completely exhausted.” I laughed, shaking my head.
“We can do that anywhere. We could do that in the dorms.”
“Yeah, but then you’d have to worry about who was listening, who was hearing me make you go ‘Oh, Johnny—oh, god, please, yes, yes Johnny, right there…’” He nibbled along my neck, and I gasped, the sound dissolving into a giggle at his teasing.
“Okay, so maybe the woods are good for something,” I admitted. Johnny’s hands wandered all over me, touching and caressing, and I melted against him, letting him do whatever he liked, staring at the fire as the orange-yellow-red flames licked and arched out to meet the air. Johnny slipped a hand between my legs, stroking me and I felt my body heating up again, my pussy tightening as he rubbed my clit, almost more playful than meaningful.
He played with me for a few minutes, his fingers working me until I was on the edge—not quite fully aroused, but my heart beating a little faster, my nerves tingling. He backed off, kissing the side of my neck, and went back to just caressing me, cupping my breasts, exploring my body as if he had never had a toy so nice in his life. “I feel like I was away for way longer,” he mused, brushing a lock of my hair away from my neck and holding my body close to his while we both watched the fire. “How are things going for you this week? Finding your classes more easily?” I grinned, remembering the chance encounters that had brought me to Johnny’s attention.
I told him about my classes, about how I was having trouble focusing—jokingly telling him that all I could think about when we were busy discussing the early American writers was how much I would prefer to be in bed with him. Johnny told me more about the away game, about his teammates and the guys in his frat. As I lost the hazy glow of orgasm, I remembered what the girl in the dining hall had said, and what she had taunted me with again.
“Hey, there was this girl I saw flirting with you the other day,” I started, biting my bottom lip. Johnny tensed slightly against me.
“I hope you’re not jealous—I can’t even see anyone else now that I have you,” he told me, kissing my neck again.
“No, no it’s not that,” I said quickly. “I mean my first day orientation, the RA for my floor went on about how boys weren’t allowed during quiet hours, even if it was you.” I laughed. “I’m not going to yell at you because you’re hot and talented and girls want to be with you—that’s not something you can control.” Johnny relaxed against me and I fell silent for a moment, thinking of just how to go about saying what it was that was weighing on my mind.
“The thing is, a few days later, she came up to me in the d
ining hall.” I told Johnny about what the girl had said. “Who’s Claire White?” I finally asked, feeling my heart beating faster and faster in my chest. “All I could find out was that she committed suicide.” Johnny sat up on the blanket, staring into the fire, a chilled look coming over his face.
“She…” he sighed. “She was my girlfriend, the last year I was in high school.” He licked his lips and frowned. “I cared about her a lot—I loved her. She was my first.” Johnny blushed slightly in the firelight. “But she had a lot of problems.”
“That tends to go along with being suicidal, I guess,” I said quietly, knowing that I needed to say something. Johnny shrugged, the haunted look still on his face.
“She loved me, and I loved her, but there was just nothing I could do…” he swallowed. “A lot of people still blame me for her dying, and I kind of get that; but she was going through a lot of stuff. Bad shit, you know? She couldn’t handle it, and I couldn’t save her.” He turned towards me again, smiling slightly. “I don’t… can we not talk about it?” I hesitated, but nodded. It was obviously something that still hurt for him, obviously something that was still bothering him, in spite of the way that he acted in his normal life. I wished that he could tell me more about the situation, but I could understand why he wouldn’t want to think about it; if it was a girl he had loved, and he had lost her—felt guilty about not being able to save her—then he wouldn’t want to drag it all out again. I believed him; I didn’t think anyone could pretend to be that guilty that well.
Johnny checked the time on his phone and we put out the campfire, smothering it in sand. We loaded up the blankets and the leftovers and walked back to the truck together in the darkness. My body was still humming, my mind full of questions, but I was mostly happy, mostly content as Johnny boosted me into the seat and stepped around the front of the truck to the driver’s side. He carefully pulled out of the clearing and made his way up the trail onto the road once more, and I leaned against him, holding his free hand in the eerie blue-green light from the console, relieved that I had finally gotten the nerve to ask him about Claire, but wondering what else there was. I realized as we got closer to campus that I was actually, really falling for him—that I was well on my way to being fully in love. I told myself not to take things too seriously, but with Johnny’s arm around me, with the night of lovemaking we’d just shared and the way he had always been so incredibly sweet, I couldn’t help myself.