by Ivy Jordan
I nodded, even though I wasn’t sure I was.
Both guys were gone, and I got a bite on my pole. I pulled up a good-sized trout. I unhooked him put him in the wicker basket Xander left by my side, and dropped it back into the water.
After about an hour sitting on that bank, I’d caught at least six fish, more than enough to feed us three for lunch. A loud yell echoed through the woods, and then another. I stood on the bank, searching through the trees until I made out Xander and Elijah walking side by side. “We got dinner!” Elijah yelled.
A large boar was between them, each having a hand at dragging it towards me. It was bloodied, and obviously stabbed in the heart. “That’s a big one,” I gasped, surprised the thing didn’t kill them first.
“Elijah proved he’s still a man,” Xander boasted, giving Elijah full credit for the kill.
“Holy shit, you caught lunch,” Elijah beamed, looking in my basket.
“I found some lemons and wild ginger,” I smiled. I could see the appeal of living out here off the grid, even though he was more on the grid than he realized with his running water, electricity, Internet, and satellite TV. It was still nice, catching your own food, growing your own plants. I could handle it, maybe not forever, but at least for a couple more days.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Elijah
“Thanks for letting us hang out all week,” I slapped Xander on the back.
“It was good to have some company,” he admitted. I knew he didn’t like staying up here alone all the damn time, but I could see the appeal of being so far away from the rest of the world.
Taylor leaned in and gave Xander a long hug. I could tell there was some real emotion there, and it warmed my heart to know she’d taken to him so easily.
“Come back anytime,” Xander offered.
“Yeah. I don’t think we’ll be making that hike again anytime soon,” I laughed.
Taylor took my hand, and we headed back down the mountain, back towards society, our homes, and our problems.
“Thanks for coming up here with me,” I smiled, pulling her close to my side.
Her sweet giggle in my ear was nice, comforting, and at that moment, was the best noise I’d ever heard.
The trip down wasn’t much easier than the trip up. My calves were burning, and I knew Taylor’s had to be as well. “You want to stop?” I asked.
She nodded, and immediately sat down on a fallen tree, catching her breath and trembling a little from what I assumed was exhaustion and pain. “How about we camp out here,” I suggested.
Her eyes widened, and her lips curled into a smile. “And sleep in what?” she laughed.
I grinned as I pulled the backpack from my shoulder and dropped it on the ground in front of me. “I have a tent.”
“Why did you bring a tent?” she questioned, her eyes filled with curiosity, but satisfaction.
“I didn’t think you’d make the trip up the mountain all in one day,” I admitted.
“Wow, ye of little faith,” she shook her head.
It was true. I hadn’t believed she could make the trip. But, hell, she did better than I did. She was a tough woman. She’d proved that time and time again.
I pulled the tent from the bag and started setting it up while she tossed her backpack in front of her. “Well, I guess we can have some wine and crackers,” she grinned, pulling the ingredients for a little make-shift picnic from her bag. “What else do you have in there?” I questioned.
Taylor smiled, her eyes narrowing on mine, and then pulled out a sexy nightie, scented massage oils, and a box of condoms. My eyes widened. What the fuck?
“How come this is the first time I’m seeing all this?” I gasped.
“It’s the first time we’ve actually been alone,” she groaned.
I had stayed up late talking with Xander every night while she fell asleep on the couch. In the mornings, he was always up before us, even when we woke up super early. I wasn’t sure the man even slept. “I’m sorry,” I apologized for neglecting her.
“Don’t be. I’m glad you got to talk to him about Bailey. I hope it helped you with your decision,” she smiled.
It had. I hadn’t told anyone what I was going to do yet, but I would, after I was certain it was the right choice for everyone involved.
“So, you coming in here, or what?” I asked, opening up the door to the tent I’d just erected.
Taylor climbed inside, gripping the items from her bag, and I closed the tent so we’d have some privacy; not that we needed it out in the middle of nowhere. “I feel like something’s been on your mind all week,” I questioned.
Taylor had been quiet and acted distant a few times during our week together. I wasn’t sure if it was about Bailey, about me, or something else going on in her life. She never had told me what was on her mind when she’d come over that day, and there’d been plenty of opportunities. “Is it about Milton?” I asked, knowing he was someone she’d grown close to over the last few weeks.
“I have been worried about him,” she admitted. “I just get a strange feeling that he could take his own life,” she added, tears welling up in her eyes as she spoke. I knew this wasn’t just about Milton; it was deeper.
“Because of your dad?” I asked carefully.
She nodded, sniffling up her tears. “I should have been there for him. I knew how depressed he’d become after Tommy’s death. I thought he was strong, that if I could handle it, so could he,” she cried.
I pulled her in close, rubbing her back as she let out her sobs. “That wasn’t your fault. There’s no way you could’ve known,” I assured her.
“If I was here, I would’ve known,” she pulled back, looking into my eyes with a strong remorse and regret.
“Baby, you can’t blame yourself. I know how close you were with your father. I’m sure you talked to him all the time. If he wanted to cry out for help, he would have, and you would’ve seen it. He thought he could deal with it on his own, so you can’t blame yourself,” I asserted.
She nodded. “I know. It’s just, Milton, and I feel like I can at least help him,” she smiled faintly, her eyes still wet with tears, and her cheeks flushed with pain.
“Okay. So, you’ll help Milton. That’s not a bad thing,” I smiled, wiping a lone tear from her cheek.
I’d spent so much time talking about my problems; I’d neglected to see that Taylor had plenty of her own. I knew that being around me and Xander all week, hearing stories that included Tommy, had opened up a can of worms for her, but I thought it was doing more good than bad. I wasn’t sure right now. I felt like there was more, but in her fragile state of mind, I didn’t want to push. If there was more, she’d tell me when she was ready.
I unzipped the tent and pulled in the backpacks that we’d left behind, and quickly zipped back up. The sun was starting to go down, and the noises in the woods startled Taylor with each howl, hoot, or snort. I couldn’t help but laughing. Little Miss Betty Bad Ass was scared. She was human after all. “It’s not funny,” she squealed, slapping me gently on the shoulder as I teased her.
“I think you need some wine.” I pulled out the cork with the portable corkscrew she’d brought. “Glasses?” I asked, my eyebrows rising onto my head. She shook her head. “Really? And I thought you were prepared,” I teased.
After the first bottle was gone, and Taylor had relaxed, I was starting to feel frisky. “Why don’t you put on that nightie,” I suggested, biting down on my bottom lip as she reacted with a smile.
“Turn around,” she insisted as she dug through the bag.
I hated to do it, but I agreed. I could see the shadow of her silhouette in the tent as it shadowed from the small battery operated light. Fuck, she is sexy. How did I get so lucky?
“Okay, turn around,” she announced.
I turned. My eyes dropped to her chest; thin white lace curled around each breast, leaving plenty of cleavage to admire. They lowered to her bare belly as the red baby doll top opened to h
er tanned, smooth flesh. Past her navel, a pair of silky red panties covered the sweetest flesh of all, the flesh that made my dick jump just thinking about it. “Damn,” I gasped, bringing my eyes back to hers.
I didn’t wait for an invitation or permission. I grabbed her by the small of the waist and pulled her onto my lap. My mouth sucked on the sweet flesh of her neck, slowly moving to the open cleavage she’d made available. She moaned, her head falling back against her shoulders, and then a soft sigh of satisfaction rolled from her parted lips. Fuck, she makes my dick hard as a rock.
Her body arched back as her arm stretched out behind her. I watched as she reached for the box of condoms. She handed them to me, and then slid off my lap, sprawling out before me on the tent’s floor. Her flesh was so smooth, so silky in the dim light of the tent that my eyes filled with pleasure just looking at her.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Taylor
Elijah worked quickly, undoing his jeans and slipping them from his body. On his knees over me, his cock standing at attention, he rolled the condom over the hard, veiny flesh like a pro.
His lips parted as his breathing grew rapid. My heart pounded against my chest in anticipation as he lowered himself against me.
The weight of his body against mine made me exhale with a satisfied pleasure, and the way he looked at me made my heart skip a beat. There was so much more to this man than I’d chipped away at, and I knew at that moment that I wanted to spend the rest of my life getting to know everything about him.
His hands pulled at my red thong, sliding it down my legs with a swift motion. His fingers immediately searched my pussy, spreading my plump lips, rubbing the hood of my clit back as he teased my sensitive pearl, and then plunged deep inside my already wet, ready cunt.
His cock settled at my entrance, my hips spreading wide as my legs parted. I wanted him inside of me so bad, so intensely, that I couldn’t wait any longer. I thrust my hips towards him, pushing his cock deep inside of me with the slick arousal forming between my swollen lips. A loud moan, one that probably scared the creatures that lurked outside our tent, escaped my mouth, and as Elijah began pumping into me, the friction of his cock against my vaginal wall, and his pelvis pulling at my swollen clit, brought me to orgasm within minutes.
He held me tight, his weight pressing into me, pushing into the hardness of the ground. My tail bone ground against the thin blanket we’d spread at the bottom of the tent as I worked my hips with the same rhythm as his. I wanted to whisper in his ear, tell him how much I loved him, but I knew better. Instead, I leaned in, biting the flesh of his shoulder to hush the urge to blurt out my emotions, and dug my nails into his back. He groaned and grunted with each thrust like an animal mounting its mate. It was so primal, so raw, that my body detached from my mind, my heart, and my soul, letting only my arousal take charge. I had to push the rest back, deep down inside of me, somewhere it couldn’t escape. I wasn’t sure exactly when it happened, but at some point, I’d fallen for Elijah, and my heart knew he’d leave, so our bodies fucked, hard and passionate to avoid the intimacy of making love.
He was so close to climax, I could feel his cock throbbing against the tight muscles contracting in my cunt. I wasn’t ready for it to end, not yet. “Fuck me from behind,” I whispered, hoping to escape the love in his eyes. It had to be my imagination, my hopeful heart that saw that emotion in him. It was just sex. We were fucking, not making love. I couldn’t bear to look into his eyes any longer. I knew that those three little words were edging off my tongue, and one more look from Elijah with emotion-filled eyes and those words were going to leap from my tongue to his ears, and probably break my heart in two.
I slid from Elijah’s cock, feeling the craving for him to be back inside of me as soon as he left. I turned to my stomach, lifting myself onto all fours and pushing my ass towards him as he rose to his knees.
His cock quickly entrapped itself back in my tight pussy, but his hands were free to roam my body. His fingers traced my spine to my tail bone and then rested just above his cock, guiding himself to a new angle and bringing me to new heights of my arousal. “You like that?” he whispered.
“Ye-Ye-Yes,” I gasped, pushing my body onto him, letting my weight guide him even deeper into my body.
His hands reached around my body, playfully teasing my clit with round, circular motions. I groaned, pushing my body down towards his teasing. Just as I was about to come again, he squeezed my clit between his finger and thumb, and slowed his thrusts, pulling back further, so the entire length of his cock was felt against my sensitive walls. “Nice and slow, and we’ll come together,” he instructed. His words turned me on; his orders nearly caused me to erupt right then. “Slow,” he whispered as my hips tried to push against him. “Let me make you come,” he insisted.
It was torture to hold my body still, to not push against him, to push him deeper into my cunt. His hands moved to my navel, then up my belly and to my breasts. He gripped them tightly in both hands, his cock still pushing in and out of me with slow, steady motions. My nipples pinched between his finger and thumb, tugging from my breast with a gentle pull.
I was aching between my legs, my pussy dripping with arousal that I could feel on my inner thigh. Elijah’s balls were heavy and tight as they swayed towards me. I knew he was close. I was so close I wasn’t sure I could wait for him. “Not yet,” he whispered, releasing my breasts and letting his hands slide back the path they’d come. He pinched my clit again, and then released, and then again, causing me to moan out with torturous pleasure. “Are you close?” he asked, his voice breathless and raspy.
“Ye-yes,” I gasped, wanting so bad to push him deep into my body. I knew with one thrust, I could, and I’d get my release. But, I waited, allowing him to control my pleasure, loving every second of the teasing.
His thumb pushed the hood of my clit back, and then his finger rolled around my pearl, just barely touching my flesh. The sensation was wildly erotic, and my pulsations sporadic, uncontrolled, at least by me.
“Come with me,” he breathed, his voice dripping like honey from his lips. I was ready, but I waited. His cock flinched inside of me, and then throbbed as his pace picked up. His finger rolled my clit like a marble on glass, and my body erupted around him as his erupted in mine. The spasms between us were synced perfectly as the words I’d been holding back fell out of my lips in a series of gasps. My ears rang as I thought what was only my voice was actually deeper, Elijah’s, saying the same forbidden phrase in sync with me. No. I was certain I’d imagined it. My body tensed at the fear he’d heard me. I didn’t want to ruin what we had, to scare him off before he actually left.
I’d daydreamed about him staying, deciding that he couldn’t leave me, but I knew he would. He’d never promised to stay.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Elijah
The house was coming along nicely. It was coming along so nicely that I barely recognized it. With the couch my dad passed out on gone and the pool sparkling and full in the backyard, it didn’t feel like the hellhole I’d ran from when I joined the service at eighteen any longer. I could still hear my dad’s voice though, his yelling, his insults. I saw his fist coming towards me, and sometimes, I could even feel it smash against my cheek.
All those thoughts about my dad made it tough to make the decision about Bailey, about being a father. I still didn’t know what kind of father I would be, that I could be. Xander’s words rang in my head, and I knew I needed to make a decision, even if it wasn’t the one he thought was right. I was the only one that could make the right decision.
I knew Taylor was eager to get back to work, and since it was Monday, she’d be talking to Milton, and then doing his shopping for the week after work. We’d spent an entire week together; with both weekends it was actually nine full days. I wouldn’t push her to see me, not tonight. I knew she’d be worn out after her first day back, and I had things to sort out in my head anyway.
I thought about that night
in the tent, where I heard her tell me she loved me. I’d said it too, but I was certain she hadn’t heard over her own moans. I hoped she hadn’t. I wasn’t sure what I was feeling. It had been a great week, and we’d grown really close. The time spent with Xander, talking about her dad, memories of Tommy, and the decision about Bailey, it all had me twisted.
I turned off the floor sander and picked up my phone. I at least had to see Kellie, to talk to her; maybe that would help me make the decision. “This is Kellie,” her voice was high-pitched and nasally.
“Hey, Kellie, it’s Elijah,” my voice cracked as I spoke.
I cleared my throat. “I was wondering if I could meet up with you and talk.”
“I’m at the beach right now, but Bailey is with me,” she explained.
“Would it be okay if I brought you lunch?” I asked, knowing that seeing Bailey was beneficial to me committing to a decision.
She hesitated with a long pause, and then agreed, giving me her location. “I’ll be there in thirty minutes,” I said.
My heart raced as the reality sunk in. I wasn’t ready to be a father, but that wasn’t fair to this little girl. She didn’t ask for any of this. “Man up,” Xander’s words sounded in my head.
I stopped at the burger joint by the beach and picked up three burgers, an order of chicken nuggets, and three fries. I wasn’t sure what kids ate, but the only happy memory I could think of as a child was when my dad stopped at the burger place on the way home.
I parked across from the beach and sat in my car while working up my nerve to go find them. I took a deep breath, stepped out of my car, and walked towards the sandy beach. It wasn’t crowded, it never was, but there were enough people spread out on the sand that I didn’t see Kellie or Bailey at first glance.