The Long Ride Home (Cowboys & Cowgirls) (8 page)

Holton shut the door and walked to his hotel room, getting the key card out of his wallet and inserting it into the door. It opened with a click and he went in, locked the door and picked up one of the little bottles of alcohol
from the mini bar. He picked a Southern Comfort and took a small swig.

“You still there?” she asked coyly.

“Oh, I’m still here,” he said and then walked over to his bed and got undressed.

“What are you doing?”

“Getting undressed.”

Elena bit her lip and leaned back on the bed, getting underneath the covers. She’d forgo the pajamas for the night. She closed her eyes and pictured Holton there with her, underneath the blankets, cozy and hot.

“You there?” he joked.

“Mmm,” she said, eliciting a groan from Holton at the sound of her voice.

“What are you doing now?” he asked as he slipped beneath the covers of his own bed, blessedly nude. Unlike Elena, he didn’t wear pajamas.

“I’m l
ying here with my eyes closed, picturing you here beside me.”

Holton took a deep breath and slowly let it out. He couldn’t believe he was talking to Elena this way. It wasn’t as weird as he thought it would be. “I wouldn’t be beside you if I were there,” he whispered.

“I was hoping you’d say that,” she replied. “What would you be doing?”

“Well, I would be getting an eyeful of that red lace right now.”

Elena laughed. “I picked them out just for you.”

“
Sure you did, you little tease.”

“No, I did. I bought them for our honeymoon.”

Holton looked up at the ceiling and took a deep breath. “I’m so sorry, Elena.”

“Don’t do that, not now,” she said.

“Okay.”

“What are you wearing?” Elena asked, laughing a bit. She felt silly doing this, but she wanted to know.

“Nothing.”

“Now you’
re killing me, Holton. I just knew you slept in the nude.”

Holton chuckled. “I don’t like any bindings when I’m in bed.”

“Oh, that’s too bad,” Elena whispered, disappointed.

Holton was shocked she actually said that. “You surprise me, Elena, he said softly.

“I hope that’s a good thing,” she said.

“It’s a good thing.”

“So, what would you do, Holton? If I were there in bed with you…”

Holton took a few seconds to respond, shocked at the line of questioning, but not shocked all the same. He supposed they were leading toward th
is since he called. “I would taste your skin right now, starting at your wrist…going slow.”

Elena gasped. “I can almost feel it.”

“Your skin is so soft. I love the way you feel on my tongue,” Holton said softly. I move my mouth up to your shoulder and then across your chest and up your neck. My hands are moving up your arms, tracing where my mouth just was. I’m itching to touch you, to feel you in lace.”

“Oh my God,” Elena moaned softly.

“Move your hands up your arms, Elena, feel where I’m touching you.”

Elena moved her hands up, keeping her eyes closed as his words penetrated her brain.

“My tongue is on your neck, licking up the side to your ear. You have a beautiful neck, Elena. Now I’m up to your ear, I suck on the lobe, as my hands move to the sides of your face. My mouth travels across your cheek to your sweet, sweet mouth. I have to have you.”

Elena moaned. She could feel him there with her, his hands at her
face and his tongue in her mouth, coaxing it open.

“As I kiss you deeply, my hands move down slowly. First
I touch your shoulders, then the top of your breasts. Mmm, Elena, you have the most beautiful breasts.”

Elena gasped as her hands moved down, feeling the full weight of her breasts in her hands.

“God, I want to feel the lace in my hands right now,” Holton moaned. “Are you touching yourself, Elena? Can you feel it?”

“Yes,” she said
softly. Her voice was strained.

Holton closed his eyes.
Just the thought of Elena pleasuring herself was driving him wild. “My mouth is moving down to where my hands are now, tracing the lace with my tongue, making your nipple hard, readying you for my mouth. Oh God, Elena, I want you so bad.”

“I want you, too, Holton,” she moaned. “I want you so badly.”

“Touch me, Elena; show me.”

Elena gasped at his words and then pictured his mouth on her as her hands moved down to his erection.

“I…I’m moving my hands down,” Elena said nervously. She had never had sex before, let alone phone sex. The whole thing was erotic as hell.

“Mmm, I can feel you, Elena.”

“My hands skim your skin, feeling you tighten up as they move down onto you. You’re so hard for me, Holton. So hard.”

Holton moved his hand down and moaned.
“Yes…it aches,” Holton said boldly. “I ache for you, Elena.”

“I move
my hand slowly up and then down—”

“Yes,” Holton interrupted. “I’m suckling on your nipples now, pulling them hard into my mouth, sucking and nibbling. Mmm, you taste so good. Pinch your nipples, Elena. Pinch them for me.”

Elena moved both hands down to her nipples and pinched them hard. She could feel the excitement all the way through her body and down her toes. She wanted Holton so badly that she could barely stand it. She moaned and Holton echoed her response.

“Oh, God,” Holton said.
The sound of Elena moaning was driving him wild.

“I’m rolling over now,” she said, “and you are now on your back. I am using my tongue down your chest, over to your nipples, doing the same as you have done to me.”

Holton moaned and she could hear him moving on his bed through the phone. “Use your hand, Holton, move it down slowly. That’s my tongue on you. I want it all over you. I want to suck on you until you cum.”

“Oh God, Elena!”

“I put you in my mouth and move slowly down and then up. I can feel every ridge of your cock in my mouth.”

Holton moved his hand up slowly, mimicking Elena’s instructions.
“Shit,” Holton said; Elena was the hottest woman that he had ever known, and he couldn’t believe the words that were coming out of her mouth. “I am so wet right now,” he said and then slid his hand up to the tip of his penis and down to the base. He leaned his head back and moaned. “Are you wet, Elena? Put your hand between your legs. Insert one finger. Tell me, baby, are you wet?”

Elena did as he said and moaned in response. “Oh, Holton, I am so close.”

“Me, too, baby. Touch me.”

“Mmm,” she moaned. “I’m sucking on you, licking your tip, in and out. You taste so good.

“My fingers are inside of you, one at first—slowly moving against your clit. And then two, probing your sweetness. I want to be inside you so badly. I want to feel you wrap around my cock.”

“Oh, God, I want to feel that, too!” Elena moved her fingers faster and faster, in and out as Holton moved his hand up and down on his cock. They moved as one, both of them had their eyes closed. Their breathing quickened. They were both too far over the edge now to stop.

“I’m going to cum,” Holton said as he heard Elena’s moans of ecstasy.

And then it was like a blinding light in Elena’s eyes. She went over the edge as she heard Holton’s deep breaths.

It took several moments before either of them spoke.

Elena opened her eyes and looked up at her ceiling, not believing what she had just done with Holton.

Holton looked up at his ceiling with an odd look on his face and then he relaxed. “Dear God,” he said, breathing hard.

“That was…”

“Yeah,” Holton replied.

“Holton?”

“Yes?”

“You don’t think less of me, do you?” Elena asked, feeling a bit insecure.

“Oh, hell no, baby. Hell, no.”

Elena laughed and Holton joined her. A few minutes later they said their goodnights.

Chapter 8

T
he whole next week was torture. Neither of them spoke of what happened that night, and the silence was killing Elena. She felt stupid and didn’t know what to do about it.

“So, are you going to tell me what has you down this week?” Cheryl asked on Wednesday. They were sitting down at the table having a snack before Jeopardy started.

“Nope.”

“What happened last Friday? I mean, you looked pretty damn happy the entire weekend, and then since Monday, you’ve gotten progressively worse.”

Elena flinched. Cheryl was one of those really intuitive people. “Nothing. I really just don’t want to talk about it.”

“Oh my God!  You finally did it! And with Holton? Holy cow!
You finally took my advice! From the look of your face Saturday morning, I know that’s what you did! How was it? Great? Did it hurt? You know the whole first time thing—come on! Tell me!” Cheryl asked excitedly. She was practically hopping up and down at the table. Elena held on to her coffee cup with both hands, afraid that Cheryl would knock it over with her hysterics.

“Where’s Denny?”

“He left already. Come on, did you do it or what?”

“
No, we didn’t…Not really.”

“
What do you mean, not really?” Cheryl asked, confused. “Oh my gosh, Elena, I mean you do know if you did or not, right?”

Elena rolled her eyes. “Of course I do. It’s just…
well; does it count if you did it over the phone?” she asked, embarrassed.

“Oh my!  He popped your phone cherry?”

Elena reddened and felt like a moron. “Cheryl!”

“Well, that’s super hot, and you haven’t even done it in real life! Damn…did you feel stupid or what?”

“No, not really…but now that you are asking, maybe that’s why he hasn’t called me since.”

“Oh no, honey, I’m sorry. I mean, how did you know what to say?”

“I just sort of went with it. It’s not like I’ve never seen an r-rated movie, Cheryl!”

“Well, yeah, duh, sorry. So, what was it like?” Cheryl asked, now sitting on her one knee leaning against the table on the chair. She had a huge grin on her face and she was staring at Elena like she was afraid she may miss something.

“Well, it was…awesome. He was so…”

“Descriptive?” Cheryl probed.

“Well yeah,” Elena said, embarrassed.

“Oh wow. Tel
l me what he said! I can’t get Denny to say anything remotely sexy. The sexiest thing he has ever done is shut the door when he uses the restroom. And before you laugh, it’s a big deal when he never does it.”

“Oh lord! That’s gross. My gosh it’s not like you guys are married or anything!”

“I know, right? Well we are just very comfortable together.”

“
Well, Holton and I aren’t there yet.”

“And to think you two were going to get married! You don’t even know each
other. Have you ever walked in on him in the bathroom?” Cheryl asked.

Elena looked horrified.

“No! Why would I do that?”

“Well, it’s going to happen sooner or later, you may as well get it over with.”

“Are you serious?”

“
Yeah, totally. It’s practically a couple thing. Every couple sees the other one do the deed in the bathroom.” Cheryl smiled as she picked up a cookie and took a bite. She was awfully calm for having such a personal conversation.

“
You aren’t kidding? So, you’ve walked in on Denny during all this?”

“Yeah, of course. Hell, we just leave the door open. We like to talk to each other.”

“You talk to him while he is taking a crap?!” Elena asked, laughing.

“Oh gosh! I don’t ever want to deal with that.

“I can’t believe you had phone sex with him!” Cheryl changed the subject. Elena smiled shyly and Cheryl caught it.  “You are surprising,” Cheryl said.

“
Holton said that. I was surprised, believe me. He called me a few minutes after I walked into the house.”

“To do the deed?”

“No, you moron! He was making sure I locked the doors.”

“W
ell how did you get into the phone sex thing. That had to be weird?”

“W
ell, I sounded muffled and he asked me why. I was getting undressed for bed. I thought I’d talk to him on the phone for a bit.”

“
You little hussy!”

“Hardly!
” Elena laughed. “He got all quiet and then asked me what I was wearing…I told him my red lace bra and panties.”

“Wow! Were you really wearing sweat pants?”

“Cheryl, you are ridiculous. No, I bought that underwear for him for the honeymoon.”

“Wow. I still can’t believe it. I mean, could you hear him?”

Elena was sure she was red now. “Yeah, duh. Listen, I don’t want to talk about this…or Holton this way. I feel very uncomfortable.”

“Okay, spoilsport! Just tell me one more thing.”

“What?” Elena begrudgingly asked.

“Are you two going to see each other again?”

Elena took a deep breath and looked down at her hands. “He said the 22
nd
, but I don’t know…we haven’t talked since Saturday.”

“Then
call him! You know, women can call men now. It’s allowed.”

“I know that,” Elena laughed. “
But what do I say?”

“Why don’t you ask him what he’s wearing?” Cheryl joked, but Elena thought that was a pretty good idea.

***

Joe Thomas was out at the ranch early that day, helping tag
cattle. Holton was more quiet than usual and Joe picked up on it right away.

“What’s up with you?” Joe asked, looking at
Holton oddly. Holton made eye contact and shook his head.

“Nothing.”

“You’re lying. Where were you last weekend?”

“Sunnybrook.”

“With Elena?” Joe asked with a smile on his face. “You dog.”

Ho
lton laughed. “I decided to date her.”

“Oh, look out. Ho
lton, you act like you’re one hundred years old.”

“Someone has
to act mature around here,” Holton grumbled.

“What did you do?” Joe ask
ed, noticing the color of Holton’s ears. They were a bright red.

“We went to the opera.”

“Yeah? And what else?”

Ho
lton stopped what he was doing and turned fast, taking Joe up by the collar. “Listen here, Joe, I don’t want you talking about Elena in any way. We went to the opera that’s it.”

Joe laughed. “It doesn’t look like it.”

“What doesn’t look like what?”

“You guys! You guys totally did it.”

“We did not.”

“Yes you did.”

“What are you, like five?” Holton asked. “We didn’t do it, but I will tell you this….Elena is surprising.”

“Meaning?”

“She’s different than what I expected.”

“Well hot damn!” Joe exclaimed. “You are finally seeing what everyone else has been.”

“Yeah.”

“So, you guys going out this weekend?”

“No, I have the Cattleman’s meeting, so I can’t go until next weekend.”

“I can go to that f
or ya,” Joe said, surprising Holton. “You don’t want to keep a girl like that waiting.” Joe thought about the way Elena looked the last time he saw her and decided that offering to go in Houlton’s place was a good thing.

Ho
lton smiled. “You’d do that?”

“Yep.”

“Then maybe I’ll head out tonight. I’ll have the boys work solo for the rest of the week.”

“I bet tha
t would surprise her,” Joe said, knowing Elena would be pleased.

“I owe ya, man,” Ho
lton said as he patted him on the back.

“You just remember that.”

***

Holton drove all afternoon and most of the night until he got to Sunnybrook. The University was a mile from her apartment and was booming even on a Wednesday night. Holton rubbed his hand down his face. He didn’t quite think it through, driving all afternoon after working on the ranch all morning. He was tired and he didn’t make a hotel reservation.

A minute o
r so later, Holton pulled up to the drive and parked his car, making his way to the front door. He knocked once and Cheryl, Elena’s roommate, answered. “H-Holton…what are you doing here?” she stammered nervously.

“I came to see, Elena.
Can I come in?” he asked, tired.

“Well, uh, you see, she’s not here,” Cheryl stammered.

“Who is out there, Cheryl?” a man asked as he came face-to-face with Holton.

“Holton this is Denny, Denny—Holton, Elena’s boyfriend.”

Elena’s boyfriend. It was the first time he heard that out loud. He smiled and held his hand out. “Hi, nice to meet you.”

“You, too.”

Cheryl turned back to Holton and looked nervous. “She’s not here.”

Ho
lton looked down to his watch and noted the time. “It’s past midnight. Normally, I wouldn’t come to someone’s house this late, don’t get me wrong, but I had to see her. I didn’t even get a hotel reservation, and now I’m screwed. There wasn’t anything available. So, if you’ll just go get her…maybe I can crash on your couch?”

“Well, she’s not here, Ho
lton. When did you leave this afternoon?”

“I left just a little before two…I got my neighbor, Joe Thomas, to do the meeting for me this weekend. I wanted to surprise her.”

“Oh, she’ll be surprised all right.”

“What’s going on?” Ho
lton asked, not like the way the conversation was going with Cheryl.

Cheryl looked really uncomfortable as she shifted from foot to foot. “Why don’t you come in?” Denny moved into the living room and Cheryl followed with Holton just behind her. She gestured to the couch.
“Well, Elena talked to a…Beth Ann this afternoon.”

Ho
lton looked at her oddly and then nodded. “Okay, what’s that got to do with why she’s not here now?”

“She answered your phone.”

“Who answered my phone?”

“Beth Ann.”

“How could Beth Ann have answered my phone?”

“That’s what Elena wanted to know.”

Holton’s eyes widened. “What did she say to her?” he asked, irritated.

“She told Elena that you and she got engaged. She was…Elena was really upset.”

Holton stood and paced the tiny living room where he was now standing. “Where’s Elena?”

“Out,” Cheryl said quietly.

“With who?” Holton asked harshly.

“Jonathon…he’s been trying to date her for months.”

“Where did they go?”

“Please, Ho
lton, I don’t think it’s a good idea. Just let her finish her date and then when she gets here she can talk to you.”

“What if she…”

“She wouldn’t do that, Holton.”

“If she does, I’ll never forgive myself.”

“Think about it…it’s Elena. She’s not going to do anything stupid. She’s a smart girl. Listen, come upstairs and lay down in Elena’s bed. I know they just went to the movies, and they should be back soon. It was a ten o’clock show time.”

“Alright,” Ho
lton agreed and followed her up to the room, dialing his home on his way up.

“Hello?” came a feminine voice.

“What
are you doing in my house?” Holton roared. He could barely contain the venom in his voice.

“I…
I was waiting for you.”

“Get out of my house before I
call the police.”

“But, Holton,” Beth Ann pleaded.

“You may have ruined everything for me, and for that, I will never forgive you. Get out of my house.”

“I…I will,” she cried. “But you will regret this!”

“I don’t doubt that I will, but not like you think. If anything is missing or is broken the police will know who was in my house. And however you got in, don’t even think about getting in the same way.”

“Fine.”

Holton hung up the phone and shook his head. If he wasn’t so worried about Elena he would have passed out on the bed. He looked around Elena’s room, seeing nothing of the two of them anywhere. He remembered her childhood bedroom, picture after picture of him and her, cluttering the walls. She was grown up now, and maybe he wasn’t as important to her anymore.

He was sitting on her bed, looking at one of her photo albums when Cheryl walked in.

“Hey, how are you holding up?” she asked. It was now past 1 a.m.

“I’m alright. I’m pissed at Beth Ann. I don’t know what the hell she was doing there, but I didn’t invite her. I don’t know how she got in my place without a key either.”