Christmas Cowboy

by Claire Adams

  “What in the hell is going on with you?” I was astounded at the rapid shift in our conversation and could not understand why Brian was so angry at me for wanting to spare other service members the pain he’d experienced at his best friend’s funeral.

  “Just leave it alone,” he said as he exited the booth and headed for the door. “I’ll be outside waiting when you’re done.”

  I made no move to stop him as he stalked toward the door and shoved it open with a force that loudly rung the bells looped over the handle. I think if he could have slammed the door behind him, he would have done it.

  *****

  I finished my lunch, paid the bill, and then walked outside. Brian was leaning against the front of the restaurant looking at his phone and furiously typing out something on the screen. As soon as he saw me, he disconnected and shoved the phone in his pocket.

  “Oh, please don’t let me interrupt,” I said in a dry tone. I was mad at him for refusing to even try to see my point of view and for accusing me of being a spoiled rich girl simply because he didn’t agree with me.

  “You didn’t,” he said. “Back to the dorm?”

  “Yes, please,” I replied and began walking. Brian followed about 10 steps behind, and since I was mad, I set a fast pace.

  The whole walk back I silently cursed him for being so stubborn and pigheaded, and by the time we reached the room, I was ready to explode. Instead, I entered the room, leaving the door open, grabbed my Psych book, and flopped down on the bed with the book open to a random page as I continued to fume. Brian entered the room, quietly shut the door and then sat on the couch flipping through his phone in silence.

  “What are you studying?” he asked after a few minutes.

  “None of your damn business!” I snapped.

  “Really? Is that a lesson in psychology?” he asked with a serious expression. “I had no idea that there was a chapter on none of your damn business. What does it say?”

  “It says that it’s none of your damn business!” I shouted. “Now shut up and let me study!”

  “Oh now, that’s just obstinance,” he observed.

  “What are you even talking about?”

  “I’m sure that being educated and all, you know that the root of obstinance is not in achieving some aim in reality, but in establishing a subjective feeling of superiority, right?” he said casually as he continued poking at the screen of his phone.

  “Ha ha. Very funny,” I replied, not at all amused. “Yes, you’re smart. You know things. Now know this: I don’t want to talk to you anymore.”

  “Okay, your call,” he said with a shrug. “I was just trying to be helpful.”

  I sat on my bed trying hard to contain the rage that was building inside me, but watching him mess with his phone only made it worse, and after a few minutes, I blew.

  “If you really want to be helpful, then talk to me, darn it!” I shouted. “Don’t just criticize me and then walk away!”

  “What was I supposed to do, Ava?” he asked. “Your father hired me to protect you, so it’s not my place to engage in a political struggle with you about something you know nothing about.”

  “Oh, I see. You can’t engage in a conversation about something that you view as political, but you can have sex with me? That’s okay?” I grilled him, getting angrier by the minute.

  “Yes, actually, that is okay, because having sex with you doesn’t cause me the kind of headache that having a political discussion with you does!” He raised his voice to match mine.

  “Oh, really? Talking with me about something serious gives you a headache?” I hollered as I hopped up off of the bed and crossed the room so that I was standing over him.

  “Actually, it does!” he yelled back as he pushed himself up off the couch and stood glaring back at me.

  “Then why do you keep engaging in conversations with me?” I shouted back. I was trying to control my anger as well as the fact that this argument had aroused me in a way I didn’t know was possible. Brian’s strong will made him even more attractive, and the fact that he stood up to me without using force or violence aroused me.

  “Because…because…” he stuttered angrily as he held my gaze.

  “Because what?” I demanded as I closed the gap between us and stood only inches from him, looking up into his eyes. “C’mon, spit it out, sailor!”

  “Because I can’t stop!” he admitted as he roughly grabbed my waist and pulled me to him. “I can’t stop wanting you, Ava! You drive me crazy with your idealistic views and your academic approach to things, but that makes me want you even more!”

  He bent down and kissed me hard as he crushed my body against his. In an instant, my arms were around his neck, and I was returning the kiss with a fierceness I had never felt before.

  “But you’re so stubborn,” I whispered into his lips as the savage kiss continued. His hands roamed my body, pushing my shirt up before yanking it off to give him access to my bare skin. He quickly pulled the tiny skirt I was wearing down to my knees, letting it pool around my feet, and in seconds, I was nearly naked.

  “It takes one to know one, you know?” he growled as he moved his lips to the base of my neck and not-so-gently nipped at the soft skin.

  “Hey!” I cried before reaching down and grabbing the hem of his T-shirt, pulling it up, and exposing his chest so that I could administer a few bites of my own. He cried out as my teeth sank into his smooth flesh, and he quickly grabbed a fistful of my long hair and pulled back, leaving me panting as I looked up at him with a dangerous gleam in my eyes.

  “Oh, so it’s like that, is it?” he grinned as he held tightly to the makeshift leash he’d created, then firmly pulled my head back, leaned down, and forced my lips apart with his tongue. I melted into his hungry kiss as I felt him firmly pulling at the flimsy fabric covering my breasts.

  “Wait,” I cried into his mouth, but before I could reach around and unhook my bra, Brian had let go of my hair and reached into his pocket, pulled out a switchblade, which he quickly flicked open and used to slice through the lace.

  “Oh, yes,” he breathed as he made quick work of the shoulder straps and watched it fall to the floor. “So much better.” He wrapped an arm around me and pulled me to him as his fingers found one of my nipples and began tugging and pinching as he watched my face. I struggled for a moment, but the jolt of electricity that ran from my nipple to my clit made me forget what I was struggling against. I grabbed the sides of his face and tried to pull him back to my lips, but he had other plans, and he smiled as he dipped his head and captured my other nipple between his lips and began sucking and licking.

  A low moan escaped from my lips as Brian bit down on the sensitive bud, and I gripped the back of his head and pulled him tightly to my breast. I could feel his fingers snaking down my body and slipping between my thighs, brushing the soaked fabric that barely covered my very wet pussy.

  “Mmmmmm,” he hummed as he sucked harder while caressing the hot, wet valley between my legs until I began pushing back as I urged him to go further.

  “Please? Please? Please?” I begged as he increased the pressure of his strokes while licking and biting my nipple. The combined sensations of pleasure and pain were making me wetter and wetter as he teased me, and he knew this. I looked down and gasped as he pinched one nipple painfully while he gently bathed the other with the flat side of his tongue. I could feel his hand between my legs, teasing as he slowly made his way past the fabric barrier.

  An instant later, I felt him pull his hand back and loop his fingers over the edge of my panties as he tugged them down to my ankles. He lifted his mouth from my breast and ordered, “Step out of them,” before returning his attention to the swollen tips. I stepped out of my panties and felt him tap his hand between my thighs as a signal for me to spread them.

  And I did.

  Brian’s hand lightly brushing up the insides of my thighs nearly made me pass out. It was too much; the pain, the soft pleasure, the want, the ne
ed. Unable to form any words, I moaned louder and willed his hand to move higher as I buried my fingers in his hair and held him at my breast. He took his time as he moved upward, teasing and torturing me with his touch; sliding his fingers between the silky folds of my nether lips, and slowly stroking a path from front to back.

  I whimpered as I spread my legs wider and thrust my hips forward as I tried to push his fingers up inside my needy pussy. Brian pulled back from my breast, smiled, and then sank to his knees in front of me. Keeping one hand on my hip, he pushed me backwards until my knees hit the edge of the couch, and then he shoved me just hard enough to force me to sit. In seconds, he’d pushed me back and grabbed my ankles so that he could drape my legs over his shoulders.

  “Brian!” I cried as I felt him trace a path of fiery wetness down my belly with his tongue.

  “What?” He looked up at me questioningly. The desire in his eyes mirrored my own, so I shook my head and let it go. He nodded, “Uh huh,” and then returned to the path he was forging on my body. I had never been so heightened in my awareness of my own body, but somehow, he managed to draw out every sensation; every desire, as he kissed and stroked and caressed every inch of my naked skin with his tongue, his lips, and his hands.

  When he had licked his way to the wet heat between my legs, he stopped for a moment and looked up at me as he gently teased me with his fingers. I whimpered again as I nodded. I wanted to beg, but I knew better than to open my mouth and ask.

  Seconds later, he grabbed each of my thighs with his large hands and used his thumbs to splay my pussy lips wide open. The rush of cool air made me cry out just before Brian buried his face in the wetness. The moan that escaped my lips was an anguished cry as his tongue began teasing my exposed clit. He dragged his tongue over it lightly as he slid his thumbs up and down, stopping to coat his fingers in my wetness before sliding back up to spread me open again. The slow rhythm of his tongue and fingers soon took over and pushed my brain to the edge of pleasure as he licked and sucked and teased me into a frenzy.

  Since my legs were draped over his shoulders. I couldn’t push enough to lift my hips, but my hands were free and so I reached down, grabbed the back of his head, and pushed him down hard as I tried to find a way to push his tongue or his fingers inside me.

  “I need it! I need it! Oh God, I need it!” I pleaded as I pushed him down harder. “Brian, fuck me! Fuck me! I can’t take any more! Please!”

  Seconds later, he slid his long, thick fingers deep inside my aching pussy as his tongue continued to work its magic on my clit. Soon, I was bucking and writhing beneath him as he drove me to the edge of an orgasm that threatened to consume me. The flicking tongue, the knobby fingers, the long hard strokes followed by short thrusts as he licked and sucked and sucked and licked all pushed me over the edge, and I screamed as I came.

  “Brian! Brian! Brian!” I chanted as I flew off the edge of the cliff and fell into the orgasm below. He kept thrusting into me as I came, and while he lightened the pressure of his tongue, he didn’t stop licking my clit. Soon, we were building toward a second orgasm, and when we found it, he released me into the air and sat back to watch me fly. He gently continued sliding his fingers in and out as I returned to consciousness, and when I looked up at him with wild eyes, he smiled and cupped my cheek.

  “Welcome back, beautiful,” he whispered. “Have a good trip, did you?”

  I gave him a dazed nod and then promptly fell fast asleep.

  *****

  The next morning, I woke to a loud pounding on my door. At first I thought it was a fire alarm, and sat up frantically trying to think about what I needed to grab before running down the exit stairway.

  “It’s okay, Ava,” Brian called from the couch. “I’ll take care of it.”

  I nodded and lay back down as he went to the door and looked out the peephole to see who it was. He frowned as he stood at the door, then stepped back and put one hand inside his hoodie.

  “What is it?” I whispered as I sat up and grabbed my phone from the beside table, preparing to call security.

  “Quiet!” he ordered as he again looked through the peephole and frowned. He reached out and slowly turned the doorknob, then cracked the door open to get a better view of the hallway. When he saw nothing there, he opened the door a little wider and stuck his head out.

  “Brian, what is it?” I asked in a stage whisper.

  “It’s nothing,” he replied as he stepped into the hall and looked up and down for signs of an intruder. When he found nothing, he shrugged and stepped back in the room. As he did, I saw something on the floor flutter under his feet.

  “Hey, there’s something on the ground,” I called.

  “What the hell?” he said as he bent and picked up a large white envelope that had my name typed on the front, but no address. After he’d shut and locked the door, then double-checked to make sure it was secure, Brian brought the envelope to me and sat down on the edge of the bed. “You don’t have to open that, you know?”

  “Yes, I do,” I replied.

  “We can call the police and hand it over to them and let them work on this,” he reminded me.

  “No, we can’t,” I reminded him. “If we do that, then they’ll leak the details to the press, and my father will be really pissed about the scandal and you’ll be fired.”

  “Would that be so bad?” he asked.

  “You have no idea what my father is capable of,” I replied. “He would shift the blame to you and ruin your career.”

  “What career?” Brian laughed. “I’m a glorified security guard, it’s not like I’ve got a future in high level espionage or something.”

  “Just don’t,” I said quietly. Brian stopped laughing and watched as I slid my finger under the flap and opened the envelope. I shook as I reached in and grasped the edge of the paper inside, and as tears welled up in my eyes, Brian reached over and took the envelope out of my hands.

  “Here, let me do that,” he offered. He quickly pulled out the sheet inside and read it. I couldn’t see what it said, but I could see that the entire thing was written in red ink that had bled through the page. The writer had pressed hard as they’d composed their message, and there were places on the paper that looked like they’d almost been torn. In those spots the ink had formed an ominously crimson pool. I shivered as I watched Brian read the note again.

  “What does it say?” I asked. When he didn’t respond, I asked again. “What does it say?”

  Brian shook his head and started to fold the note and put it back in the envelope.

  “Brian, what does the note say?” I was starting to feel panicked. I reached out and grabbed the note from his hand and read it.

  My Dearest Ava,

  For the longest time I loved you and tried to provide the best possible life for you – for us. I gave you everything a woman could possibly want, and I showered you with love and affection that many women would die for, but you rejected all of that for some unknown reason. I don’t know what I did to drive you away aside from loving you with every fiber of my being.

  Now I see that you have quickly replaced me with some substandard replica of what you think a man is. Does he love you the way I loved you? Does he cherish you and treat you like the jewel you are? Does he give you the life that I gave you?

  No, how could he? He is an imposter. Someone who does not know the demands of the kind of world we inhabit. He is a foreigner. An outsider. He can never give you the things that I could give you, and he will never win the approval of your demanding family. The best he can do is to act as a shield and attempt to protect you from the only man who has ever loved you.

  Why won’t you come back, Ava, my love? Why can’t you see how much I adore you? How much I worship you? Why can’t you accept that we are meant to be together and that no matter what stands in the way, I will never, ever give up on doing everything in my power to ensure that you are returned to me?

  You belong to me, Ava. You are mine.

&nb
sp; Please stop fighting what I know you know is the right thing. We are meant to be together. We are meant to shape a life that will be full and beautiful together. I want to marry you and raise a family with you.

  Only with you, Ava.

  Why are you being so stubborn and refusing to see that we are ordained by God to be together? Come back to me, Ava. Come back and I will fulfill you beyond your wildest dreams. I will give you the moon and the stars. I will move heaven and earth to ensure that you are happy. All the riches of the world will be at your disposal and I will make sure that no one ever disturbs you or makes you unhappy.

  Only I can do that for you, Ava. You know this to be true. I’m the one who loves you more than anyone else.

  Please come back to me, Ava. I need you. I need you to be with me.

  If you can’t come back to me, I promise that I will come and find you, Ava. I will come for you and rescue you from the clutches of those who would silence you and keep you from me.

  And I am telling you now that if that Neanderthal has in any way hurt you, I will do more than simply rescue you. If he has hurt you, I will end him.

  Why won’t you come back to me, Ava? Why are you staying with him? Why don’t you choose me?

  I am warning you, Ava. If you don’t return to me, I will find you. I will hunt you down and I will reclaim you as my own. And if you won’t come with me and be mine, as you should be, the consequences will be dire.

  If you refuse to welcome me back into your life, then you will have no life at all, and neither will the loser who thinks you love him.

  Loving you always,

  D.

  As I read the note, I felt sick. Dominic was obviously delusional, and reading his rambling thoughts on how our “relationship” needed to be rekindled made me simultaneously outraged and disgusted.

  “Ava, are you okay?” Brian asked as he watched me read the note for a third time.