What does that leave me?
There’s still Sabrina.
I take a deep breath and let it out slowly. Sabrina Jacobs isn’t interested in reconnecting either. She sped away from me as quick as her shitty car could take her.
I shouldn’t be thinking about her anyway. She’s not part of the plan.
But I can’t get those blue eyes out of my mind. The way they shine with their own inner light.
I remembered the way they looked at me on prom night over a decade ago. She’d been the most beautiful girl at the dance, and she’d been all mine. That night, I’d driven us two towns over to a little cottage on the beach. I’d gone there earlier and filled the place with roses and candles.
We popped a bottle of champagne I’d snagged from our wine cellar. She said the bubbles tickled her throat. It made her giggle. Then I’d asked if she was ticklish in other places, and one thing had led to another.
I knew she was a virgin, and so I took things slow. We kissed for what felt like hours until my hands were shaky when I pulled off her dress. I remember she was wearing white lace underwear and a matching strapless bra. I’ll never forget how her golden skin looked in the candlelight, a perfect contrast to the white lace.
She was so innocent, so pure, but so sinfully inquisitive. Sabrina wasn’t my first, I was a popular boy, after all, and we’d only become truly serious during senior year. Even though I’d wanted her since junior high, I knew she was different from other girls.
Something about her was special, something that said I wasn’t good enough for her. But by the time she’d grown, she’d become fucking irresistible. That toned body, those eyes, that cascade of hair.
No one would ever call me a shy boy, but for some reason with her, I was. It took me months to get up the balls to ask for her help in French class. Her tutoring got my foot in the door, and the more time I spent with her, the more she ruined me for other women.
That night in the beach cottage, with the sound of the waves creating a dramatic soundtrack, I finally explored the curves I’d been dreaming about for years. And she explored me too, at first with a blush staining her cheeks, but soon, with more confidence.
When she’d touched my cock, it took everything inside me not to explode. I gritted my teeth and held on for dear life as she traced my throbbing shaft with the tip of her finger. It bounced of its own accord, and I remember she laughed.
I pushed her back, letting out my own chuckle, and turned the attention back to her. Kissing my way down her neck, I paused to worship those perfect breasts. Pert and round, with high nipples like little cherries begging to be sucked.
I can still hear her whimpering beneath me, her little pants making me hard as I ride.
“Please, Ax,” she whispers.
“Please what?” I murmur, pausing to blow on her nipple.
Her head thrashes against the pillow. “Please—please don’t stop!”
I lick around her erect little nipple, a smile on my face. “Oh, don’t you worry about that, little witch. You’d have to cast one of your spells to get me off you now.”
A small smile creeps across her face. “You’re the one with magic. Oh, God, your tongue is fucking magical!”
I laugh. “Such language from the valedictorian. Tsk tsk.”
Sabrina rolls her eyes. “Less talking. More licking.”
I return to my duties, laving her breasts with my tongue, sucking those perky little nipples of hers. When her sighs are near constant, I kiss my way lower, across her stomach, stopping to dip into her belly button and to watch her shiver, until I reach the apex of her thighs.
“Open up for me,” I whisper.
She looks at me, and I can see the nervousness in her eyes, so I fill my gaze with as much acceptance and love as I can. She leans her head back and slowly opens her legs, allowing me to see heaven for the first time in my life.
I kiss her there and she balks a little, her hips shifting, so I stroke her thighs to calm her down. “You’re beautiful,” I remind her, kissing her softly again. When she relaxes, I gently spread her open, revealing her coral pink pussy, glistening in the candlelight. It’s the most perfect thing I’ve ever seen.
As a high school senior, I’m far from an expert in pleasing females, but that doesn’t matter to me now. All that matters is getting as much of that delectable taste into me as possible. I lick and lick, loving every drop of her.
I can feel her moving under me, can hear her moans, but they’re almost secondary to the quest for more of delicious Sabrina. I move up to circle her sensitive clit with my tongue, and she bucks off the bed. Realizing I’ve hit the right spot, I do it again, having to hold her still with my hands.
Sabrina cries out, so I suck her clit into my mouth, and something amazing happens. She starts to shake uncontrollably and lets out a high keening noise, followed by an intense moan. I realize that she’s reaching her climax and suck harder, making her release more of that delicious essence.
I try to lick up every drop but she’s shaking, saying it’s too sensitive, and pulling me up to kiss her. I do, and she can taste herself on my lips. Her eyes fill with wonder.
“You taste good, don’t you?” I whisper, and she blushes becomingly.
She wraps her legs around me, kissing me more deeply, and my cock twitches. I’m so close to coming already, I’m afraid I won’t even make it inside her. My eyes shoot to the condom on the bedside table, and I move to pull away.
Sabrina wraps her arms more tightly around me, not wanting to break the kiss. Soon I lose myself in her mouth, in the ecstasy of our bodies next to each other, skin to seductive skin.
My cock rubs against her entrance with a mind of its own, and before I realize it, I’m pushing in, slowly. I can see her wince with discomfort and promise to do as little damage as I can.
Then, with a deep breath, I plunge inside her, past the barrier of her virginity, until I’m seated fully within her. Giving her a moment to adjust, I start to thrust slowly, kissing her neck, using every trick I know to keep from coming too soon.
Reaching between us, I put two fingers on her sensitive clit and start to rub in a circular motion. Before long, her hips are rising to meet mine, and her head falls back. Those beautiful eyes are filled with longing, a longing for the pleasure only I can give her.
I thrust harder, picking up speed, and she meets me, thrust for thrust. I can feel her start to shake again, and I know she’s close. I’m too close, almost there, so I slow down, but she pulls me closer and bites my shoulder, arousing me to a fever pitch. I slam into her, and she cries out in pleasure.
A few more rapid thrusts and I’m past the point of no return. I pick up the pace of my fingers, massaging her clit and praying for her to climax. Her eyes close and she shudders then moans like crazy. I can feel her walls squeezing me, and I can’t help myself, I come harder than I ever have in my life.
I pull Delilah into the parking lot of the town saloon. Cutting off the engines, I’m forced to adjust the erection in my pants before climbing off the bike.
“I need a drink,” I mumble to myself, making my way to the entrance. Pulling open the heavy wooden door, I make a beeline for the bar.
And almost trip and fall over when I see who’s sitting there on a barstool, looking no less lovely than that day over ten years ago.
Chapter 10
Sabrina
“You’re fired.”
Ms. Birch doesn’t hesitate to say those words in the frozen food aisle of Kaplan’s General Store.
“Are we still getting ice cream?” Lex asks as Birch walks away. I nod, and we fill up our arms with frozen treats. Then we high-tail it back home before everything melts out of its containers.
“I’m sorry, Momma,” Lex says as we walk, sounding more like a little girl than she had in ages. “I didn’t mean to get you fired.”
“It’s not your fault, honey,” I reply. “Ms. Birch has unreasonable expectations. I’ll find something else. Something better.
Don’t worry.”
Lex nods, but I can tell she’s worrying. And she has every right to. Cape Craven isn’t exactly full of boundless opportunities for a single mother with a high school education. Unless I want to work on the manufacturing floor of Craven Industries.
Long hours and the chance to come home covered in grease and grime and collapse exhausted into bed every night. I barely see Lex now. Imagine what working on the factory floor would do to our relationship.
Pushing those thoughts out of my head, I let us into the house, and we head for the freezer to store our treats. Mom’s in the kitchen, standing next to the stove, her walker conspicuously absent again. “Where’s my surprise?” she says with a smile on her face.
“Mom got fired,” Lex blurts out without pretense.
My mother’s mouth drops open. “Well, that’s not the surprise I was expecting.”
I hand her an ice cream bar that has started to melt. “Me neither. Birch was in the general store when we got there.”
“I thought you had vacation time.”
I shoot a look at my daughter. “Lex, how about you take your ice cream outside and eat it in the sunshine. That’s not something you get to do at school.”
“Okay,” she says mumbling, a knowing look on her face. I watch as she heads out the back door, then turn to my mother.
“I had a couple of sick days left. Told Birch I had the flu.”
Mom shakes her head and lets out a sigh. “Damn.”
I shrug. “It was bound to happen. I take too much time off for her liking, and she never really took a shine to me anyway.”
“Old Ms. Bitch doesn’t take a shine to anyone,” Mom grumbles in response, and I can’t help the smile that crosses my face at my former boss’s nickname.
“So what are you gonna do now?”
I frown. “I don’t know. It’s only been a half hour since it happened.”
Mom nods, unwrapping her ice cream and licking quickly at the drips. “You’re right, sorry. Take some time off, you deserve it.”
I let out a burst of disbelieving air. I might deserve the vacation, but my bank account doesn’t agree. Putting my face in my hands, I feel the weight of responsibility and anxiety on my shoulders.
Mom ruffles my hair with the hand that isn’t sticky with melted ice cream. “Just take the night off from worrying, honey,” she suggests.
“And how do you expect me to do that?”
“Get drunk,” she said, her face deadpan.
“Are you serious?” I ask. I’ve never been much of a drinker, and Mom knows that.
“Sure, I am. You deserve it. Head downtown tonight and have a few. I’ll keep an eye on Lil Devil. Call me to come get you when you’ve had enough, and I’ll pick you up.”
“Mom, you shouldn’t be driving with your hip. The doctor said—”
“What the doctor don’t know won’t hurt him. Now get your ass off your shoulders and do what I say.”
I let out a surprised laugh. “So you’re ordering me to get drunk?”
“That’s right. Now be a good girl and obey your mother.”
“And what about dinner?”
“I’ll feed Lex and me. You go tie one on.”
“Fine,” I say, at last, standing up from the table. “But at least let me change into something more appropriate.” Our town might not be big or fancy, but I think I’d prefer to do my drinking in something more fashionable than cutoff jean shorts and an old concert t-shirt from the thrift store.
I take a quick shower to wash off the sweat of the day, then head to my closet. A pair of unripped jeans sounds about right. I slide into them, then find a cute off-the-shoulder top hidden in the back. I haven’t worn it in years, haven’t had a reason to, but I figure, why not? It’s not every day a girl gets to celebrate losing her livelihood.
I even take a moment to put on a little eyeshadow and some lip gloss. I look in the mirror and decide I don’t look half bad. Mom agrees when I show up back in the kitchen.
“Well, you might find a new job looking that good,” she says, slapping me on the behind.
“Gross, Mom,” I say, then head out the back door.
Lex is sitting in one of the lawn chairs, swinging her legs back and forth and humming to herself. I sit down in the chair beside her. She eyes me up and down. “Where you going?”
“Your mother is going to go into town tonight, to the saloon.”
Lex’s eyes widen. “The saloon? You never go there.”
“Well, I think tonight I’ve earned a trip. Don’t you?”
Lex shrugs a shoulder. “All right.”
“Your grandma is going to watch you, so don’t give her any trouble, okay? And try to make sure she uses her walker.”
“She won’t,” Lex says.
“I know, but maybe if you ask her sweetly, she’ll do it for her only granddaughter.”
“Okay,” she replies unenthusiastically.
I stand, bending over to kiss her on the head. “Be good. I love you.”
“Love you too.”
I smile, then head out of the yard and back down the dirt road. The mile and a half passes quickly, and I let myself into the saloon.
It’s dim inside and smells like years of tobacco have been baked into the walls. North Carolina might be no smoking indoors now, but for centuries it wasn’t. Deep in tobacco country, most older buildings have walls tinted brown with the ghosts of cigarettes past.
I take a seat on one of the stools and wait for Ricky to spot me. Ricky’s been the bartender at the saloon for as long as I can remember. He blinks twice at seeing me there, then asks what I’ll have.
It’s been ages since I’ve had a cocktail, and I know the selection is limited here. “Something with rum in it? And a bit fruity?”
Ricky nods and pulls out a couple of bottles. Filling a glass with ice, he pours in some rum, then fruit juice, and tops it off with a wedge of pineapple.
“Classy,” I say when he slides it across to me.
Ricky gives me a wink, then asks if I’ll be starting a tab.
“Yes sir and keep them coming.” Ricky shakes his head and walks away.
I enjoy the sweetness of the drink and suck down the first one, watching the TV screen which, of course, is broadcasting sports. The second drink tastes as good as the first, so I order another.
On that third drink, the front door swings open. It’s still early in the night, although a few regulars are scattered here and there around the saloon. My eyes cut to the door and widen as in walks the best-looking man in ten counties. Hell, maybe even the state.
Ax Craven is sex incarnate. Or at least that’s how I think of him. Through the haze of alcohol, I remember the nights we spent together. Goddamn, were they fun.
And he looks as good as he did when we were kids. In fact, he looks better. His frame, lean in high school and bulging after his time in the military, has settled into a sturdy, muscular frame. His face has taken on a look of seriousness that hasn’t been present before.
Prison will do that to a man.
I put my head down on the bar at the reminder of his recent past. I feel unmoored, and it’s not only because of the cocktails. Although I’d known there was a chance I’d be seeing Ax again, it’s always been in some unknown future where anything could happen.
Instead, I’m seeing him at the saloon, back in Cape Craven, right after he’s been released from prison. Not exactly the reunion I would have imagined if I’d allowed myself to think about him.
I can feel him near me, even though he doesn’t speak. There’s something between us, some invisible energy that binds my body and his. Ricky comes up and asks him what he’s having, and I can hear his deep, resonant voice as he responds.
“Still got that bottle I brought you?”
Ricky doesn’t say anything, but I hear his footsteps heading away. I turn my head and move the hair from in front of my eyes to watch him walking back, a bottle of gold liquid in his hand.
�
��Found it,” the bartender replies. “You want some?”
I turn my head the other way and blow the hair out of my way to catch Ax’s nod. A glass appears in front of him on the bar and is filled halfway with the liquid.
He sees me watching him and gives me a crooked smile. “Last time I was in town, I’d foisted one of my dad’s bottles of single malt and gave it to Ricky to keep for me when I came in.”
I eye the bottle. Subdued label, the words “aged” emphasized. I’m sure it’s worth more than most of the other bottles of booze in this joint put together.
“You gonna stay down there or are you gonna cheers me?” Ax nudges me.
I consider not responding, but finally lift my head from the bar. “What are we toasting?”
“To bubbles tickling your throat.”
I purse my lips, confused for a moment, and then I remember. Prom night. A little cottage on the beach. And losing my virginity to the hottest boy in high school.
Lifting my half-empty glass, I touch his. “Aux bulles.”
His left eyebrow rises. “You know my French is horrible.”
I shrug. I remember teaching him the French word for “bubbles” one afternoon when we’d been studying under the big oak tree behind the school. I was chewing gum, and I blew a bubble to demonstrate.
He’d asked me what else I could do with my mouth, and things had fallen apart from there. Not that I minded spending the rest of the afternoon making out with Ax.
Suddenly spending the evening drinking away my troubles doesn’t seem like such a good idea. Not with him here. He’s too close, too real. And I’m too vulnerable.
Draining the remainder of my drink, I pull out my card and motion to Ricky. “I want to close out my tab.”
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