The One Place

by Laurel Curtis

  Still in a just coming out of sleep combined with being naked and being in Tuck’s bedroom fog, I was confused. “Time to have fun?”

  “When I enjoy your body for the first time, I plan to do it thoroughly. And I plan to have time to explore. You get me?”

  Oh yeah, I got him. My whole body shivered. So I just nodded and continued my questions. “You’ll drop me off?”

  “Yeah.”

  “How?”

  “Not following you, Babe.”

  “How will you drop me off? You walk everywhere.”

  “Have a truck.”

  “You have a truck?”

  “Yep.”

  “How did I not know this?”

  “Babe. I have a farm, gotta have a truck.” After a beat of silence he continued. “Have a motorcycle, too.”

  Oh yeah, I remembered that now, but I wasn’t sure I was ready for motorcycle rides.

  I was still confused, but Tuck obviously wanted to move on to the next topic. “You workin’ the dinner shift today?”

  “No.”

  “Good. I’ll pick you up, we’ll have dinner, and then come back here.”

  “We’ll come back here?”

  With an exasperated look on his face he said, “Yeah, Babe, here. Jesus, woman. You’re kinda annoyin’ me this mornin’.”

  Having a mildly childish fit, I snapped, “Oh yeah? Well if I’m annoying you so much why would I want to come back here tonight?”

  “Because as annoyin’ as you are right now, I still wanna share my bed with my woman and maybe finally get to do some pleasurable things with that woman. And trust me, Babe, way I’m gonna treat you, you’re gonna want it too.”

  Now I was shocked. “I’m your woman?”

  “Christ Talie. Stick with me. What do you think last night was?”

  “Well I know you’re interested in me-”

  “No, I ain’t interested in you. I knew you were it the moment I met you. I wanna build a life with you. I wanna go to sleep with you in my bed after fuckin’ you every night and wake up with you in my bed and hopefully fuck you again. I wanna spend time spendin’ time together and just gettin’ to know each other. I wanna put my ring on your finger, plan a future with you, and hopefully make babies with you someday. This is it Talie. You and me. We’re gonna fight ‘cause I’m me and you’re fiery than all hell, but ain’t nothin’ that’s gonna be big enough to make it so you and me aren’t together. You got that?”

  I couldn’t find the ability to speak, so I just nodded. I didn’t know that I agreed there wasn’t anything big enough to break us up because I had some pretty ugly monsters in my closet. But there wasn’t anything to do in that moment, after that speech, other than concur with him.

  ********

  On the way to work, I finally regained my speech capabilities and said, “I don’t know what to think about you saying all of these nice things to me. It’s not normal for us.”

  He just shrugged and said, “You’ll get used to it. And until you do, I’ll say all kinds of messed up shit to you in between if it’ll make ya feel better.”

  I couldn’t help it. I burst out laughing.

  My body still racking with peels of laughter, I felt Tuck reach over and grab my hand. He laced our fingers together and set our hands back down on my thigh. My laughter immediately faded to a smile, and I couldn’t help but think that was the sweetest touch anyone had ever given me.

  I thought he would just pull up and drop me off but he parked on the street in front of the diner instead. I opened my door to get out and he opened his too. I jumped down, shut my door and went to head for the diner when he rounded the hood and grabbed me by my forearm. He pushed me back against the truck, so that my back was to it and his body was full frontal against mine.

  He got close to my face with a smirk on his and murmured, “Where ya goin’ Talie?”

  I thought this was kind of a ridiculous question because it was pretty damn obvious where I was going.

  “To work.”

  He smiled and shook his head slightly. “That’s not how we say goodbye anymore, Babe.” Then he leaned the rest of the way in and pressed his mouth to mine.

  It started as a soft touch of our lips, but at the feel of his soft lips against mine I melted into him, a little moan escaped my throat, and my hands made their way from their place on his upper arms up to snaking around his neck and into his hair. At that, I felt his tongue swipe against the crack of my lips begging for entrance. I opened immediately for him. His tongue snaked inside quickly and caressed mine with expert finesse. Man he was a good kisser. I silently thanked all of the women he had probably been through for building his experience to the point where it was now.

  Last night’s kiss had been fabulous, but we had been in such a heightened state of emotion that I had missed a couple things. Like how good he tasted. Jesus, it was like nothing I had ever tasted before. All fresh and totally Tuck. And being this close to him, with all my senses opened up, I also noticed that he was the best thing I had ever smelled.

  Evidently as affected as I was, he pulled back and raggedly whispered, “Fuck, Babe. Lookin’ forward to more where that came from.”

  Looking over his shoulder I noticed that we had an audience. Toni and Anabelle, as well as all of the patrons of the diner. Embarrassed I ducked my head down and put my face in his chest. Tuck craned his neck and looked over his shoulder and then turned back to whisper in my ear. “Didn’t mean to put on a show. But thinkin’ it may be a good thing. Now it’s over with and guys’ll know better than to move on what’s mine.”

  Still feeling the effects of the kiss, I breathed, “Move on what’s yours?”

  “Yeah, Babe. Not big on men comin’ on to my woman. Or doin’ their best to get an eyeful. Which is what they’re usually doin’.” He paused a beat and then finished, “Especially after that performance at the Lizard with Ruthie.”

  I guess he heard about that.

  I didn’t understand so I shook my head. “What do you mean they’re usually trying to get an eyeful?”

  “Been watchin’ you since you got here. Guys are constantly starin’ at your tits or your ass, dependin’ on what direction you’re facin’.”

  I didn’t know guys checked me out like that. “Really?”

  “Uh, yeah. And I don’t like it when what they’re eye-fuckin’ is mine.”

  There was that ‘mine’ again. I still wasn’t completely sure I was comfortable with a possessive guy. “I’m not sure I like being your property, Tuck.”

  “Not property, Babe, just mine. Give it time, you’ll adjust.”

  “What if I don’t?”

  “You will.”

  I repeated, “What if I don’t, Tuck?”

  Obviously getting tired of my questions he said, “Talie, just go in and work.”

  Rolling my eyes, I pushed him back from me, stepped onto the sidewalk and huffed, “Fine. We’ll talk about this later.”

  Tuck grabbed my hand, pulled me back, and turned me to him once again. And he was laughing.

  Exasperated, I shouted, “What in the hell is so funny?”

  Tuck didn’t answer. He just stepped into me again and crushed his mouth to mine. This kiss was short with just a little touch of tongue, but it was almost as delicious. And with that he stepped back, rounded the hood, opened his door, called “Bye, Babe”, jumped in, started it up and pulled away.

  ********

  The day went by pretty uneventfully. At least, after everyone got their knowing looks and innuendo filled comments out of the way. Little did they know, we actually didn’t get to that part yet. I guess with the way I left there last night and Tuck’s normal elapsed time for getting into panties, it didn’t occur to anyone that it might not have happened.

  Tuck came to pick me up and after I climbed up into the passenger seat of the truck he leaned over and touched his mouth to mine.

  Man, that was awesome. I could really get used to his casual affection with me.
>
  Before he could start the truck, I reached over and laid my hand on his forearm. He turned to me and I schooled my features to look neutral or maybe even a little concerned. He read my mood and gave me his full attention. “What’s up Talie?”

  I gave my most sincere face and stated, “I have a really important question, Tuck.”

  Growing more concerned, Tuck said, “Ok, Babe. Go ahead.”

  “I’ve been thinking about it all day, and I just can’t come up with an answer.”

  When I didn’t speak for a few seconds, he did. “Jesus, Talie, spit it out.”

  “When I moved into the apartment...how did you know about the Coke?”

  A flicker of surprise crossed his face before he burst out laughing. I slowly let my smile fade back onto my face.

  Tuck reached out, tagged me around the neck with his arm, and pulled me into his body and then reached back to the ignition and started up the truck. Pulling the gear shift down into drive and pulling away from the curb, he talked through his laughter. “Not that hard, Babe. Ran into Steve over at the The Goods, and he told me both mornings you’d been here you’d been into his store first thing to buy yourself a Coke. From there I used my powers of deduction to realize you must have a Coke every mornin’.”

  He drove down Main street, took a left and then a right, and we headed up the road towards his house. He turned left into the driveway and then pulled up in front of the house and parked. He turned to grab his door handle to get out, but I stopped him with a hand on his thigh. I actually had thought of some real questions while I’d been at work and couldn’t wait any longer to get the answers.

  He turned toward me with a questioning look on his face so I proceeded.

  “I just had a few real questions for you.”

  When I didn’t continue, Tuck pushed, “Listenin’, Babe.”

  “I was curious about the apartment.”

  He just stared at me so I pressed on. “I mean, it’s really yours that you rent out?”

  He nodded. “Yeah, used to be mine, ‘til I moved here.”

  That must have been when his parents died. I guess he was expected to step up. That must have been tough to do all on his own.

  I figured that also explained about the security. “I guess that explains the alarm and everything then.”

  He smirked and told me, “Nope. Alarm was for you, Babe.”

  That must have cost a fortune! And he hadn’t even known me then! “Why would you spend all that money on me? You didn’t even know me.”

  He shrugged and explained, “Can’t really say why. Just know I wanted you to be safe.”

  Wow. He was definitely good at saying all the right things.

  “So the furniture was really yours?”

  “Most of it. Asked around for anythin’ I thought was missin’.”

  “You went through a lot of effort for me.” I leaned forward, hand still on his thigh, and put my mouth to his. I leaned back and whispered, “Thank you.”

  Warmth slid into his face as he reached down and slid his hand into mine. “Just proved it was worth it.”

  I was melting, and while it felt unbelievably good, it also felt scary, so I broke the moment. “Okay, enough sweet stuff. Say something messed up.”

  At that, Tuck erupted into laughter. He picked up our linked hands, turned them, and placed a kiss on the back of mine. God, I was in trouble.

  We both broke apart, jumped out of the truck, and rounded the hood. Tuck reached for my hand, which I had to admit, made my stomach drop. I half expected him to drag me into the house eager to get in my pants so I was surprised when he led us in the other direction.

  “Where are we going?”

  “Wanna show you around. Need to meet the other horses and get the lay of the land.”

  That sounded awesome. It also sealed another little hole in my chest, seeming to back the claim that he wanted more than just my body from me. I guess only time would really tell, but for now I was happy to just sit back and enjoy the ride.

  We walked hand in hand down the aisle between two paddocks that were between the house and the barn. As we approached the barn, I took it all in.

  The barn was painted a dark green, with a green tin roof.

  I loved tin roofs. I would have to sit out here sometime in the rain to listen.

  There were double sliding doors that opened up into the aisle down the center. It was pretty wide looking, maybe ten or twelve feet. There was an arbor on the front left side with beautiful, viney flowers growing up all four corners and up onto the top. It was one of the most gorgeous places I had ever seen, and I could tell that Tuck took care of everything painstakingly. He took pride in this place, and it showed.

  Unable to contain what I was feeling, I whispered, “It’s beautiful.”

  Tuck tugged me towards him by the hand, released it, and wrapped his arm around my shoulders. He leaned down, kissed the top of my head, and finished by saying, “Yeah.”

  As we entered the door to the barn I could see that there was a feed room on the left and a tack room on the right, each with doors cut in half so you could open the top without opening the bottom and vice versa. The doors closed by sliding levers and the handles were in the shape of horse shoes. I could see what looked to be five stalls on each side beyond the tack and feed rooms, ten stalls total. That made me think of another question.

  “So you have ten stalls, how many horses do you have?”

  “Fifteen.”

  Now I was no genius, but I was thinking that didn’t make any sense. I started to ask, but he cut me off. “But-”

  “Don’t keep ‘em in the barn all the time, Babe. Most of the time they stay out in the pastures. I got a couple run-ins out there, too, so I can shelter ‘em all if need be.”

  I nodded because that made more sense.

  “Do you have all geldings or some mares, too? I know some people only like one or the other.”

  “I have eight geldings, two stallions, and five mares. The mares I breed and after they drop their foal, I usually sell ‘em. Dependin’ on what she drops I’ll either keep the foal or sell it.”

  “Are any of your mares pregnant right now?”

  “All of ‘em.”

  “Wow, that’s awesome.” On the word awesome, his arm gave me a squeeze.

  “So, um, how pregnant are they?”

  He turned toward me and asked, “How pregnant can you be?”

  I speared him with a look and said, “You know what I mean. When are they gonna have the babies?”

  “Should be in the next couple’a months.”

  “Awesome.”

  He smiled warmly and said, “I’ll bring you out here for the first one if you want.”

  I just nodded.

  “Good. You wanna meet them all now or go in and have dinner?”

  Food. Oh yeah. Actually, I was starving. “I’m hungry.”

  I could swear I saw his eyes darken and he said, “Me too, Babe.”

  I didn’t think we were talking about the same thing.

  Chapter 13

  Better Than Anyone

  Back inside, showered and dressed in clean clothes (Tuck went to the apartment and picked them up for me earlier in the day), I stood in his kitchen watched as Tuck stirred his homemade spaghetti sauce. His kitchen was completely updated, and not what I had been expecting for one in a farm house. The cabinets were a dark cherry, stretched all the way to the ceiling, and were topped in a crown molding-looking top. The counters were a dark tan granite with gold and brown flakes spread throughout it. Top of the line stainless steel appliances filled all the empty holes and there was an island in the center with stools on one end.

  “You can cook.”

  “It’s just spaghetti, Talie. Not hard.”

  “But I always figured you came into the diner all the time to eat because you couldn’t cook.”

  “Nope.”

  “So you were there because-”

  “Yep.”

&n
bsp; Wow. That’s what Ruthie had said, but I hadn’t really believed her. Again, this pointed towards him actually liking me.

  “So you really like me, huh?”

  His face was a mask of disbelief. “Jesus. You’re slow sometimes.” He turned back to the sauce and gave it his attention again.

  “That’s what Ruthie said.”

  He turned back to me and asked, “She said that?”

  I nodded, took a sip of my Coke, and responded, “Well, yeah. But only when she was telling me I was an idiot for not figuring out that you were the one who had done everything for me.”

  “So, it’s her I have to thank for speeding up this process.”

  “Yep. Her and your not covering up your tracks as well with the cell phone. I thanked her for it and she had no idea what I was talking about it.”

  Tuck didn’t respond. He just dropped the pasta in the boiling water and walked over to me. He lifted me up onto the counter and pushed my legs apart, stepping in between them. My breathing sped up and my heart felt like it was going to beat out of my chest.

  Reaching his hands up, sliding them along my jaws, and settling them at the back of my head and in my hair, Tuck leaned forward, tilted his head to the side, and pressed his lips softly to mine.

  His lips moved over mine feather light, peppering kisses all over, first my top, and then my bottom lip. After he kissed both corners of my mouth, he worked his lips back over both of my lips and touched his tongue to the seam in between them. My mouth opened for him and he swept his tongue inside. He took the control of the kiss, methodically exploring every nook and corner of my mouth. He started by licking the tip and the sides of my tongue and branching out to make sure he covered the top and the bottom too. It was like an out of body experience. I was powerless to do anything but feel and let him continue his exploration.

  When he had explored all of the parts of my mouth with his tongue, he did it again, leisurely. He took his time. So much so, that if I had been anywhere near this world, I might have worried that the pasta was going to be overcooked.

  But it wasn’t. He finished his second tour of my mouth and pulled back slowly, peppering kisses from my mouth to my jaw and down my throat, before he backed away and turned to the stove. He pulled the pasta off, drained it, and mixed it with the sauce, all without saying a word. I was frozen. I was still in my imaginary world created by kissing when he pulled me down off the counter and led me to the table.