“Fuck.” Ellis’ shout broke through my haze just as I felt hot, thick strands of his release fall onto my ass. I couldn't say how long I laid there afterward, but Ellis, ever the attentive man, wiped off his release with a shirt before helping me get better situated in bed so we could both turn in for the night.
This man was slowly worming his way past all my defenses, no matter what I did, and it scared the shit out of me.
In the morning, I awoke before Ellis and slipped into the bathroom to shower. While I was washing my hair, pain shot through my chest and had me gasping. Closing my eyes, I cursed my failing body. Once it passed, I quickly finished my shower and got out just as a sleepy Ellis walked in the room wearing nothing at all. His flaccid penis started to perk up as his eyes raked over me with just a towel in my hand, drying my hair.
“Good morning.” I smiled at him and attempted to ignore the hardening part of his body. Ellis walked behind me and took the towel from my hand before slowly wrapping it around my hair to help me dry it.
“Good morning. How’d you sleep?” He asked like he wasn’t poking me in the back.
“Pretty damn good. You?” I was watching his movements in the mirror. He was so tender and careful with my hair as he tried to dry it just like he’d seen me do. He wasn't doing a very good job, but I wasn’t going to say anything. It was the effort that mattered.
“I love sleeping with you in my arms.” Dropping the towel, he turned me around to sink his hands into my hair and lower his head to mine. I gave him a soft peck before pushing my head back against his hand. I slid my hand over his mouth before he could catch me again.
“You have morning breath, and no matter how sexy you are, it’s gross.” I laughed as his eyes bulged behind my hand in mock horror. Then I started to laugh as he started kissing my hand before using the hand at the back of my head to make me smash my lips to the other side of my hand like we could kiss with my hand between us. When he pulled back laughing, I wiped my hand on his chest from where he’d left spit on it. “Hurry up; we have a long ride to make if you want to go see the caverns."
“Fine. Fine.” He stepped into the shower still laughing softly. It was probably the sexiest sound I’d ever heard. His carefree, happy laugh.
Eventually, we were on the road again. It took us eight hours to make the trip in what should’ve taken us nine hours. What can I say - I like to go fast and so does Ellis. We checked into a normal hotel room, thankfully. Then I slipped behind Ellis, riding bitch the short distance to the caverns. As soon as we pulled up into the parking lot, it was obvious there was something wrong. There were barely any cars there. Ellis parked and we got off the bike, leaving our helmets behind.
“Ellis, did you check the hours?” I asked as we walked towards the entrance. He gave me an embarrassed half smile and shrug in response. I guess that’d be a no. Turns out that only the visitor's center was still open, and if we wanted to do anything in the caves at all, we’d have to come back the next day. Good thing we weren’t in a rush. As we walked back out to the bike, I elbowed Ellis. "With all the planning you did, you didn’t think to check when they’d be open? Rookie road tripping mistake.” I shook my head with fake disappointment, tsking at him.
“Watch it, little lady. We have a very private room tonight so I can and will paddle that ass.” Ellis elbowed me back. When we got to the bike, he pulled me into his arms and fisted his hand in my hair as he looked into my eyes. “You forget I’m just a big stupid biker. I’m surprised I was able to pull any of this trip together.”
Instantly pissed off, I reached up, fisting my hands into his leather cut, and pulled myself up into his face. “If you call yourself stupid again, I’ll have to beat your ass. You don’t have to have a stupid piece of paper from some college to be smart. It shows you did what you had to do to get by. Not everyone can afford to go to college, not everyone has the luxury to take the time to go to school. Be proud of what you accomplished. You are so smart; don’t you ever doubt it.”
Just like that we went from being playful to being in that time and place in the world that was just us. His fingers traced over my cheek tenderly as he gazed into my eyes, slowly closing the distance between our mouths. When his lips pressed against mine, they were soft but needy at the same time. The tip of his tongue brushed against my lips before I teased it with my own. His hands moved up my back to pull me firmly against his hard chest as he pressed a knee between my thighs. Using the grip in my hair, he tilted my head to the side, deepening the hungry kiss. My fingers dug into his thick arms as I groaned at the increased pressure from his thigh against the seam in my jeans, which was rubbing in just the right way, pushing me towards an orgasm.
A car horn in the distance brought us out of our own private scene; both of us breathing hard and incredibly turned on. Ellis reached up to rub his thumb against my kiss swollen bottom lip, a smirk on his face. “I love this look on you.”
“What, the almost fucked in a parking lot look?” I smirked back.
“Get on the bike.” He shook his head at my smart ass comment and pinched my ass. Climbing on the bike, he reached out to help me slide behind him. We made the quick trip back to the hotel and returned to our room. I laid on the center of the bed with my arms out to either side.
“You know, I’m kind of glad they were closed. I’m tired from riding all day. I probably wouldn’t have been much fun.” I spoke with my eyes closed, listening to Ellis move about the bedroom as he got his stuff settled for the night.
“You are getting old. It’s only five and you are ready for bed.” Ellis laughed from what sounded like the bathroom.
“Whatever fucker,” I said with no heat behind it. I felt old. Lately, it was exhausting just to do normal everyday things.
“Can I at least convince you to go out to dinner? Does your old ass body have enough energy for that? Are you going to be a dead fish on me tonight? Just lay there and let me do all the work?” Ellis ducked when I threw one of the pillows from the bed at him, but his harassing got me up and moving again. I picked up my bag and set it on the bed, pulling out a pair of jeans and a clean shirt. “Oh, you know what. Go take a shower. I have to run downstairs for something.”
“What are you up to now?” I narrowed my eyes at him but he was already out the door. I got in the shower and let the hot water help relax my muscles that were tight from sitting on the bike all day. Quickly washing my hair, I toweled off and wrapped the towel around my arms and was just sitting down on the bed when Ellis finally returned. He had a bag in his hand, which had my curiosity piqued. “What’s in the bag?”
“Let me show you.” Ellis smiled proudly as he walked towards me. Once he got to the side of the bed, he pulled out a slinky pair of panties from the bag, to which I laughed at but grabbed and slid up my legs to disappear under the towel. Next, he pulled out a thigh length black dress that had cut outs on the side that were covered with lace, and I understood why the panties were so skimpy since they would be visible on either side under the lace. There was a deep scoop in the back that was also lined with lace. “This is your outfit for tonight. I figured you wouldn’t pack anything sexy, so I made sure to have one on hand for you.”
“But what are you going to wear? You can’t wear your normal clothes if I’m going out dressed like this.” I dropped my towel and quickly pulled the dress over my head before Ellis could get his hands on me. Although I wasn’t much for dresses, this one had enough attitude with the lace and the way it fit that I oddly didn’t mind it.
“You’ll see.” Ellis winked as he walked towards the bathroom with another bag that I hadn’t noticed. I used the vanity in the bedroom to pull my hair back into a twist at the nape, then slapped on some smoky eye shadow, eye liner, mascara and a dash of blush. Pulling out all the stops, I even put on some lip gloss and was giving myself a final inspection when the bathroom finally opened to reveal Ellis. Instantly I was glad that I had put on my rarely used makeup.
He looked breath taking in
a pair of black dress slacks and a polo shirt that had two of the three buttons undone. The sleeves hugged his shoulders and biceps, showing off how well defined and big his muscles were. His chest was pronounced from the fit of the shirt which then fell to cover his mouthwatering abs. It was like seeing a whole new side of Ellis, but as equally panty-meltingly sexy. He placed his hands on his hips and with a sexy tilt of his lips said, "This trip is going to be just you and me. Ryan and Ellis. No motorcycle club. No older brother. No bastard ex-boyfriend. Nothing hanging over us. I don’t do romance, but for you, and only you, I’m going to do my best to show you everything we could have together if you want it.”
I didn’t know what to say. I knew that he’d put a lot of time and energy into planning this trip for us. I knew that we were going to have lots of sex on our trip, but we had also said that it would be over when we got to DC. I opened my mouth and then closed it.
“Before you say anything, you don’t have to do anything. Nothing has to change. I just wanted to put it out there. At the end of the trip if you decide that you still want everything to be over, I won’t pressure you, I won’t beg you. I just want you to think about it.” Ellis crossed his arms over his chest when he was done. After drawing in a deep breath, he flung out his arms to each side and turned in a circle so I could fully inspect his outfit. "So, what do you think?”
After a few attempts, I managed to swallow and moisten my throat enough to speak. “That’s a good look for you.”
“Yeah? I figured I’d give it a try since it’s just us here. At home, there is always the club hanging over us, this trip I don’t want to think about them. I don’t want them to influence me or you in what happens or doesn’t.” Ellis smiled.
“Well, for future knowledge, while I think you look amazing like this. You are just as hot in your t-shirt and cut, maybe even more so...” I walked over to him and slid my finger down the V at the collar from the buttons left unbuttoned. “Although, you might cause a riot showing off this skin right here."
“Hmm, I’ll have to remember that you have a thing for showing skin. Now get whatever you need so we can go get some food.” His thick hand landed solidly against my ass, squeezing it as he pulled me close to tug on my bottom lip with his teeth before he released me. I grabbed my small wristlet I had found in the bag that the dress had been in. It already contained everything I needed for an evening out. Ellis wrapped an arm around my shoulder, tucking me into his chest and we walked out of the room.
Once outside the hotel, Ellis threw his leg over the bike and gave me a broad smile as he held out a hand to help me climb on behind him, knowing I was flashing him my little string panties as I did it. I copped a feel in return, which made him laugh as he started the bike. Waiting for traffic, he pulled out of the hotel once it was clear and drove us to a fancy steak house.
“Really? A steak house? You really are going all out, aren’t you?” I laughed as he curled his arm around my waist, keeping me snug against his side. I breathed in his familiar and comforting scent as we walked.
“Hey, I believe you were the one that said you wanted this trip to be the trip of a lifetime. One that no other trip will ever compare to. If I happen to be part of those memories, even better for me.” Pulling the door open, Ellis smiled down at me briefly before gesturing into the restaurant. The hostess’ mouth nearly fell open at the appearance of Ellis and his tight shirt. I couldn’t really blame her, but he didn’t even seem to notice. “Uh, we have reservations under Ellis."
I put my hand on the center of his chest to make it more obvious that he was with someone since she didn’t seem to note that he had a date as she babbled on about looking for the reservation and blah blah blah…fluttering her long, mascara caked eyelashes at him. A hair flip here and there as she looked through the book in front of her until finally she found the reservation.
“Right this way,” she calmly said with yet another hair flip before leading us away from the stand into the sectioned off dining area. Unable to hold back, I rolled my eyes at her exaggerated swing of her hips as she led us to a booth in the reserved section of the dining area that was more secluded and quieter than the rest of the restaurant had been. Ellis gestured for me to get in before he slid in next to me. The hostess dropped our menus in front of us before disappearing back to her post.
“Looks like you have a new fan.” I giggled to Ellis when she was far enough away to not hear.
“Who?” Ellis asked looking over his shoulder then around the room as if he hadn’t even seen the looks she was throwing his way.
“Oh like you missed the hostess who would have dropped right there to give you head, had you asked.” I rolled my eyes.
“Really? I missed the look. Maybe I should go ask her.” Ellis moved like he was going to stand up again. I grabbed his arm and laughed.
“Don’t you dare!” I quietly demanded. He sat down and smiled as his arm snaked around my shoulders, pulling me close.
“You know I was kidding. I don’t want any woman but the one I have right here.” Ellis tilted my chin up with his finger so he could gently kiss me. The waiter walked up and interrupted us though. I wanted to glare at him but he was just doing his job. I ordered a Tequila Sunrise and Ellis ordered a beer on tap. We decided to figure out what we wanted to eat once the waiter left. I knew almost immediately, just like always. I picked something and stuck with it even as I perused the rest of the menu; I kept coming back to the New York Strip Steak.
“Know what you want?” I closed my menu and looked at Ellis. I smiled as I took in his profile. He really was handsome, even with his rough edges and calloused hands; they only added to his extreme sex appeal. Then he had the most amazing heart and caring personality underneath it all. I was lucky to be with him, even though it was short term. The thought had pain striking my chest. At first, I thought it was just my emotions getting the best of me until I realized it was hard to draw in a breath and my vision was closing in on me.
“Hey.” Ellis shook me with a hand on either of my shoulders and I looked up at him and it was like I could breathe again. The pain dwindled and I was able to draw in a good breath again. “What the hell was that?”
“Huh?” I asked trying to play it off.
“You stopped breathing. Your face started to turn blue. What the fuck was that? I was trying to talk to you but it seemed like you didn’t hear me.” Ellis stared into my eyes, not giving me the chance to look away and think, so I said the first thing that came to mind.
“I was just thinking about what it’s going to be like when we get to DC and this thing with us is over.” As soon as I said it, I wished I hadn't because it was too close to the truth.
“You know, it doesn’t have to be.” Ellis pushed a stray hair off my forehead then soothed his hand over my slicked back hair. "That was what you wanted, not me.”
“I don’t want to talk about it right now.” I looked up to see the waiter approaching with our drinks. I placed my order then excused myself to the bathroom. I quickly made my way to the ladies room and locked a stall door before leaning back against it, breathing in short ragged breaths. This wasn’t supposed to be happening yet. I was supposed to have more time before this shit started to happen so often. That’s what the doctors had told me.
When I’d finally calmed myself down and mentally pushed it all back into the very well-constructed box in my head, I returned to the table to find our food was already being delivered. Ellis let me slide in the booth to my spot before he sat next to me again. Our meal was eaten in silence, only a few words being exchanged about how good the food was. My little episode had put a damper on the whole evening, just another reason why I hadn’t told anyone about them. When we were finished eating, Ellis paid the bill and escorted me out to the bike.
“Get on. I have something special planned.” Ellis spoke quietly as he helped me climb on behind him. The bike thundered loudly as he roared out of the parking lot. Driving until we were out in the middle of nowhere, Ell
is pulled over on the side of a gravel road. He forcefully kicked down the kickstand and held it balanced between his legs as he helped me off the bike. Stepping from the bike, he put his hands on his hips, staring straight at me with an almost frightening glint in his eye. “There is something going on with you, and now it is just us. We are in the middle of nowhere. You have no choice but to answer me or I’ll leave your ass out here.”
“Seriously, you are over reacting. Just cause I got lost in thought and didn’t breathe for a minute. It was nothing.” I sighed and put my hands on my hips, kicking them out to the side. "I thought you had something planned. I hate to tell you this but bringing a girl into the middle of the desert and threatening to leave her isn’t exactly sexy or special.”
“Ryan, I was there. I saw it happen. You are not going to brush this under the rug and forget it. Not with me. I won’t allow you to distract me. I want to know what you’re hiding.” Ellis crossed his arms over his chest, giving me the same determined look I was giving him. “I’d threaten to spank you for not telling me, but you’d enjoy it."
“Oh, like you don’t enjoy watching my ass turn all pretty and pink from your hand.” I switched feet and which hip I had cocked. "If you want to spank me, all you have to do is tell me.”
“Ryan… God damn it, Shannon... Just fucking tell me.” Ellis pleaded with me, dropping his arms to his side as he took a step closer to me.
“I don’t know. Okay? I don’t know what is wrong with me.” I sighed in defeat. I had to give him something. While I knew exactly what it was that was wrong with me, I wasn’t going to give him the real answer. I wanted to put it off if I could or even better, not tell him at all. It wasn’t his cross to bear; it was mine.
“How long has this been going on?” He pulled me into his chest as his hand rubbed up and down my back. I didn’t know who he was comforting me, or himself. I didn’t need comforting, I knew it was useless.