Riding Red (12 page)

“
Y
ou're not going
,” he whispers in my ear before he nuzzles my neck, the morning light shining through the windows, giving it a little nip.

“Chris, my mom…” I try to reason with him, but my words cut off as he pulls himself from me. I instantly miss the warmth of his body.

The bedroom is bare, with only a king-size mattress on the floor. Chris paces the room like a caged lion wanting out. The tense lines of all his muscles show. Okay, maybe not a tiger, more like a bear.

“Come back to bed.” Sitting up, I let the sheet drop away, hoping it will entice him back into bed. I don't know how much longer I have until the movers show up, and I want to soak up every minute of alone time we can have together. These moments are rare, and I want every second I can get. A moment without having to worry about being caught, or what people will think. It’s just him and me in our safe bubble.

"Fuck!" he bellows, and then turns to look at me. His curse sounds angry, but his face doesn't show any trace of that. “I can't do this.”

A sudden panic hits me at his words, and I can feel the blood leave my face. Gripping the sheet, I pull it to cover myself.

“No, no, no, baby.” He's on me instantly, his big hands cupping my face. “I meant this hiding shit. I can't do it, and it’s driving me fucking crazy. I don’t know what’s wrong with me, but the thought of you going anywhere with that kid drives me nuts. I don’t think I’d make it through the night without losing it.”

"Chris, I would never do anything with him." I try to reassure him about the dance, running my hand up and down his back and pulling him closer. He just stares down at me. His face looks like he's in agony.

“No, you wouldn’t because I won’t let you near him.” His mouth takes mine in a punishing kiss. It’s hard, and it demands my surrender—something he already has. I can feel his need to mark me, and I should probably be scared by his intensity, but I’m not. I crave it, want it more than anything else in the whole world.

No one has ever made me feel the way he does. Like he can’t breathe without me. “I need you.” My legs drop open a little more at his words, giving him what he wants, letting him fully slide between them. His big body cages mine. He feels so good pressed against me. My heart pounds and desire rushes through me.

He doesn’t wait for permission, no build up or foreplay. He pushes inside my body with all the strength in his powerful thighs. His cock thrusts against the tight muscles of my pussy, and I feel a delicious ache as he bumps against my cervix.

“You feel that? I’m going to drain every drop of me into you, and your greedy pussy is going to soak it all up. Isn’t it?”

I moan at his words; it’s all I can get out as my pussy clenches around him, begging him to do it. My body jerks beneath him as he starts to thrust in and out of me. Each thrust is more forceful than the last. Using his hand, he holds me in place, thrusting deeper, like he can’t get far enough inside me.

Our moans fill the room as he begins to pound into me at a punishing pace. I know I’ll feel the aftermath of this love-making for days to come. Waves of pleasure so intense wash over me, I’m not sure how much I can take. He rides me hard, making me scream out his name. The climax strikes me without warning, ripping through my body like an explosion. My body locks up under his, every muscle tensing as the orgasm courses through me.

His cum shoots into my body, his warm jets filling me up. My pussy clamps down around him, trying to greedily suck up all of his cum.

“Who the fuck is she?” The shrill words jolt me from my lust-sodden mind, Chris’s body goes rigid against me.

“What the fuck are you doing here?” he bellows, getting up.

The woman standing in the door looks completely unfazed by Chris’s hard words. She’s well put-together, her short red hair falling to her shoulders. It’s completely straight, with not a strand out of place. Her dark lipstick is a dramatic contrast to her pale skin. She looks like she’s at least six feet tall, with killer heels helping her get there.

She stares at me with her nose scrunched in disgust, like I’m some kind of bug. It’s then I realize I’m completely naked and so is Chris, standing there next to the bed in all his glory.

“Turn around, don’t look at her naked,” he barks out, but the woman just stands there staring at me. If anyone should get dressed, it’s him.

“Megan, bathroom. Now,” he says, noticing the woman in the doorway isn’t moving. “Megan!” he snaps again, sending me into motion and scrambling for the bathroom. I see Chris sliding on a pair of boxers as I slam the bathroom door, and I’m somewhat relieved.

Dressing quickly, I’m thankful that my clothes are in here as I listen to the yelling on the other side of the door.

“What are you doing here, and how the fuck did you even get in, Delilah?”

“I’m sorry Chris, I shouldn’t have responded like that, I know we aren’t exclusive.”

The word ‘exclusive’ makes my stomach clench.

“You didn’t answer my question.” Chris’s words are sharp and angry. I’ve never heard him talk like this.

“Well, I just thought, you know, we could never be together before because you traveled so much, and now, well, you’re here, I’m here.”

“Go down to the kitchen and wait for me,” I hear Chris say, making a lump form in my throat. Why isn’t he kicking her out? Are they still in some kind of relationship?

It makes me wonder if how he acts with me during sex is how he acts with every woman. I’m new to this. Maybe he’s just always this intense. Maybe he likes talking dirty, and I’m just one in a long line of many.

I jump when I see the door handle wiggle. “Megan, unlock the door.”

I wipe the tears from my eyes, not sure what to say. I don’t want him to know I’m crying.

“I’ll be out in a minute. I’m just going to jump in the shower…” I pause for a second to steady my voice so it won’t crack. “Why don’t you go take care of your—” I stop because I don’t know what to call her.

“All right, baby. Don’t leave this room, you hear me?” His voice is stern and not to be questioned.

“Okay,” is all I can manage, thankful the one word is all I need. A minute later I hear his footsteps leave the room. Releasing a breath I didn’t realize I was holding, I seize the opportunity. Slipping from the bathroom, I peek out the window that overlooks the front yard.

Shit. We’re in the middle of nowhere. No way could I walk. I see Chris’s pants on the floor so I go over and pull out his keys.

Now I just have to get out of here without being noticed. As I sneak down the stairs, I pause when I hear the woman say, “We were going to get married. You said you wanted babies, and I’m ready for that.”

It takes everything in me to hold back the sob that wants to escape. I feel like I’m about to vomit. I can’t listen to any more of this. I sneak around to the garage, and it’s then I see how the woman got inside. Chris had left the garage door open. Sliding into his SUV, I text my mom.

Megan: Pick me up at the school

Mom: Be there in ten

I start the car and pull out of the driveway. I have to beat my mom to the school. I don’t want her to see me driving Chris’s car.

When I get there, I pull the car into the backlot, dropping the keys into the side panel of the door. Pulling my phone from my purse, I see a ton of missed calls and texts from Chris. Without reading them I type out a message as I head to the front of the school to wait for my mom.

Megan: Sorry I took your car but I left it at the school in the staff parking lot. Keys are in the side door. I need time to think. Please give it to me.

When my mom pulls up to the curb, I jump into her car. My distress is clearly showing.

“Baby?” she whispers, and the floodgates open. Tears stream down my face, and I no longer try to fight what I’m feeling.

“Home, Mom, please,” I beg, looking out the window. I know if I look at her, I’ll just cry harder.

“Megan, you have to tell me if someone hurt you. You’re scaring me. I’ve never seen you like this,” she pleads with me.

Looking over at her I reassure her. “Just my heart, Mom.”

Her eyes soften at my words. “Ice cream and shopping it is.”

We pull away from the school, and a silent breath leaves my lungs, thankful that Chris didn’t make it there before we left.

“I don’t think I’m up for it.” I stare out the window, wiping tears from my eyes.

“They opened a new vintage game shop in the shopping center by the lakes.” I look back over at her and see she has a soft smile on her face. “If he made you cry and isn’t chasing you down, he’s not worth it, baby. They should always chase.”

“I just have no idea what I’m doing, Mom. I’ve never been—”

“In love?” she finishes for me, and I just nod my head. I’m totally clueless. Part of me thinks I’m overreacting, that I should sit down with Chris and talk this out, but the other part of me is telling me to run scared. I don’t know if I can’t handle what he might have to say.

“Then we’ll talk it out,” she says, like it’s that simple.

“I don’t think I can with you, Mom. It’s, well, awkward.” The idea of talking to my mom about boys seems weird, but maybe because I’ve never done it before. There was never anyone else. Only him.

“Megan, you’re eighteen years old. I know what your father and I were doing when I was eighteen. You’re a woman, I’m a woman. It’s only awkward if you let it be.”

“Ice cream it is,” I say.

She smiles and nods, heading in the direction of the ice cream shop.

L
ying in bed
, I stare up at the ceiling. I told my mom as much as I could without giving away who I was crying over. We spent the day shopping and talking, I texted Croy to let him know I wasn’t going to the dance, and I felt a little better about everything.

My mom was right. If it’s meant to be, it’s meant to be. It just crushes me to think that Chris might have had what we shared with someone else at one time. That he considered having a baby with another woman eats me alive. I felt so special when I thought of this being something we only felt for each other. This need to be together clawing at both of us was special. Uncontrollable and unexplainable, it was just there. How things were supposed to be.

Chris came crashing in when I wasn't sure what I wanted from life. Feeling a little lost, like I didn't fit in anywhere. But with him, it felt like I fit perfectly. That I’d just been lost in my head, waiting for him to come find me and pull me out.

It’s why I can’t talk to him right now. I don’t want to hear what he has to say about everything. About who or what that woman was to him. I already feel like I could shatter into a million pieces.

Before he came along, I was so scared about the next chapter in my life and of what it was going to bring. College was the obvious next step. I had filled out the forms, made the grades, took the test, and had no problems getting early acceptance letters. Except the thing is, I don't want to go to college. I was driven to get in because I thought it was what I was supposed to do. Pushed from one world I didn’t fit into to another.

The dream of making a life with Chris and continuing to write was what I wanted. But part of that dream might be slipping through my fingers. When I told my mom today I wasn't sure I wanted to go to college, she told me she stood behind whatever I chose, that I’ve always been a smart girl and I would figure it out. I think she was so happy that I was showing interest in the opposite sex for once in my life. I can see dreams of grandbabies floating around in her head already.

It’s why I went so hard for Chris and didn't hold anything back. For the first time in my life, things seemed to line up. I pushed my insecurities away and went after him. Maybe this was all my doing. I pushed myself on him during a time he was vulnerable. Maybe he was still torn up about this woman, and I slid nicely into the role for him.

I’m so confused about where to go from here. I even talked to my mom about withdrawing from school. I have the credits to graduate. I don’t need to be there. I just need to decide what I want to do with my life, and a big portion of that involves Chris.

My mom was hell-bent on finding out who I was seeing. She tried incessantly to get it out of me. I was sure she would tell me that the feeling would pass and that I was in too deep too fast, she surprised me by telling me that from the first moment she saw my dad, she knew. They were inseparable from day one, so she made me feel better about heartache after such a short time.

In a perfect world I could get Chris. And I’d be okay with the fact that he wanted a family with someone else before me. It shouldn’t bother me, but it does. Maybe he still wants to be with her. She would probably fit him better. No sneaking around or having to deal with someone who has no idea what she’s doing when it comes to relationships. Someone like me.

The screech of brakes makes me sit up in bed. It’s followed closely by the sound of the front door slamming open.

“
Megan
!”