Road Tripping Read online

  “Well, where else are we supposed to have sex? There aren’t beds conveniently strewn about the highway. What’s wrong with the back of the pickup truck?”

  “Disabuse your mind of that idea immediately. There is no chance in hell that I’ll make love to you for the first time in the back of a truck.”

  Suddenly, she realized something she hadn’t realized before. It sent a warm wave of feeling through her as she looked at his grumpy face. “Ethan Moore—you know what your problem is? You’re too much of a romantic.”

  “I am not a romantic.” His voice was offended, as if she had blatantly insulted him.

  “Yes, you are. You try to hide it, but you’re a romantic at heart. I bet you have visions of our first time with soft music, candles, rose petals, silk sheets, me probably wearing some silly, lacy thing—in white, no doubt.”

  “I have no such visions. My fantasies are hardly so hackneyed and predictable.”

  She couldn’t help but giggle, half in affection and half in amusement. “I can see it all now. In your fantasies, do I practically swoon under your amorous caresses? And do you whisper your love to me in sweet, poetic phrases? And are you very gentle and tender when you take my virginity?”

  She stopped talking abruptly, realizing what she’d just said. Damn—she’d gotten too carried away.

  This was proven when Ethan’s eyes snapped back to her face. “Your virginity?” His voice was soft, but urgent. “Ashley, would this be your first time ever?”

  Damn, damn, damn. She’d just lost all the ground she’d gained earlier with her reasonable argument. “What has that got to do with it?”

  “Will this be your first time? Ashley, answer the question.”

  “No. I’m not going to answer the question. Because it’s irrelevant. It doesn’t change anything. We love each other, and we both want to make love this afternoon. I’m not going to let you change your mind because you think I’m too naïve and vulnerable to make decisions for myself. I’m an adult, and I know what I want.” She glared at him furiously. “And for some reason, I still want you. So, damn it, stop being an idiot.”

  Ethan sat and stewed for a minute. Finally, he murmured, “All right. I’ll trust you know what you want. But we’re not going to make love in the back of the truck.”

  Ashley sighed in frustration. She was never going to get Ethan into bed. “How much money do we have left?”

  “Less than forty dollars.”

  With another long sigh, she said, “I suppose we can just go on to Sioux Falls and see if we can find a cheap enough motel once we’re there. I guess that would make more sense.”

  Ethan shook his head. “Once we’re in Sioux Falls, we’ll be in considerably more danger. If we’re going to do this, we’ll need to stop soon.”

  “Maybe we can find a very cheap motel along the way somewhere.” She wasn’t feeling very optimistic anymore. They were really in the middle of nowhere.

  After a few minutes, however, they started to approach a small town. She was starting to peer at signs when Ethan abruptly veered the truck into a parking lot she hadn't noticed before.

  “This one might be cheap enough,” he said in a pleased voice.

  Ashley stared at the establishment in front of her. No wonder she had overlooked it. “You really want to have sex in a place called the Ho-Hum Motel?”

  Ethan leaned over to kiss her briefly on the lips. “Nothing but the name of the motel will be ho-hum, I assure you.”

  “Kind of cocky, aren’t you?” She tried to hide her smile. “Let’s hope we can afford it.”

  He left the truck running and went into the office. Shortly, he returned, looking victorious. “Twenty-eight dollars a night for a single. And since all we need is one bed...no problem.” He backed the truck up and drove down to the far end of the building. “Our room is down here.”

  Ashley wanted to hug herself. “Sex in a cheap motel. What more could we ask for? Maybe you could go and pick some dandelions, and then strew them over the bed instead of rose petals.”

  Ethan sneered at her again. “Dandelions would certainly be more appropriate.” He was really incredibly gorgeous when he was in a bad mood.

  “Can we please go have sex now?”

  “If you insist,” he grumbled.

  ***

  Ashley listened to the water run as Ethan took a shower, and she stared at herself in the mirror. She did not look the way she’d liked to have looked for her first time having sex. Her hair was combed, but slightly damp from the shower she’d just taken. Her face was scrubbed clean. And she was wearing one of the T-shirts she’d bought Ethan the night he was shot—it was the only one of the three he hadn’t worn yet. She looked better in the camp shirt, but it had started to smell.

  She wasn’t anything close to sexy. In fact, she barely looked presentable. Sighing deeply, she pulled the shirt farther down over her hips and watched as her nipples poked out of the thin material.

  The water in the bathroom shut off, so Ethan must be finished in there.

  Then nothing else would be left. Except the actual sex part.

  She sighed again and kept staring at herself in the mirror until Ethan reemerged. He had put his pants back on. She didn’t have to ask why. She figured he didn’t want to overwhelm her by appearing undressed without giving her any preparation.

  Which was very kind and perceptive of Ethan. Being overwhelmed was a strong possibility for her at this point.

  “What are you doing?” he asked, coming over to stand behind her and wrapping his arms around her waist.

  “Trying to figure out if I look just basically unattractive or downright scary.” She rested her hands on his arms, though, and pressed herself back into him more securely.

  “Neither,” he murmured, with his lips on her neck. “You look absolutely irresistible.”

  She tilted her head to the side to give his lips better access to her skin. “I think you might be lying.”

  His hands moved from her belly to her hips, and he stroked her through the fabric of the T-shirt. “I’m not lying. Believe me.”

  She was forced to believe him when she felt the hard proof of his desire pushed into her from behind. “Already?” she asked breathlessly, wiggling herself against his erection. “We haven’t even done anything yet.”

  Ethan’s face looked a little sheepish. “I was anticipating in the shower.” He met her eyes in the mirror. “Is this your first time, Ashley?”

  She nodded. “You know I’m kind of old-fashioned and have never been interested in casual sex. And I’ve never had a serious boyfriend. Why? I’m just nineteen, you know. Does it surprise you?”

  “Not really. But I wanted to know.”

  She turned around to face him, wrapping her arms around his neck and holding him as close as she could. Now his arousal was poking into her belly. Shifting against it, she pulled his head down and kissed him.

  The kiss immediately became steamy, and eventually Ashley realized she was grinding her whole body against Ethan’s. “Wow!” she gasped, when they finally parted for air. “That was a really good start.”

  “And it will only get better from here,” Ethan promised huskily, stroking her cheek gently. Then something strange passed over his face. “Give me a minute, will you?”

  Ashley pulled away and looked at him in confusion. “What are you doing?”

  “I’ll be right back,” he said obliquely, gave her a brief kiss, and then returned to the bathroom.

  She stared at the closed bathroom door. What the hell was he doing in there? They were supposed to be having sex.

  “Ethan?” she called through the door.

  Not hearing a response, she shook her head in irritation and went to inspect the bed. The room was quite dingy, but at least it appeared to be clean. Ashley didn’t, however, trust the bedspread to be sanitary, so she yanked it off completely. Then she pulled off the blanket as well. The sheets were probably laundered, so she was satisfied with using only those.r />
  Ethan still wasn’t out of the bathroom.

  “Ethan?” she tried again. Still no answer.

  Shamelessly, she put her ear to the door so that she could hear what he was doing. She heard something so strange that she turned the doorknob, opened the door a crack, and peeked in to see what was going on.

  As soon as she saw, she let out an outraged exclamation. “Ethan! Why are you doing that? We are supposed to be having sex.”

  Rather distracted at the moment, Ethan didn’t respond, just pushed the door forcefully closed with his free hand. The door almost caught Ashley in the nose as it slammed.

  “Ethan! Stop jerking off and get out here right now!”

  No answer.

  It was only a minute before Ethan came out to join her, evidently having accomplished his goal.

  She glared at him as he approached her—he was carrying the box of tissues from the bathroom. “I thought we were going to have sex. Are you trying to back out of it?”

  “I’m not trying to back out of it,” Ethan said, lowering himself to his knees in front of her. He reached out to take her hands, and an uncharacteristic expression flickered across his features. Ashley thought it must be embarrassment. “It just occurred to me, that we've basically had a week of foreplay. I've been almost constantly aroused. And I wasn't sure that I would be able to last long enough if I didn’t get rid of some of the tension beforehand.”

  Ashley swallowed—never having even thought about that. “Oh. I guess that makes sense.”

  “I want to make this as good for you as possible, and I figured my losing control the minute we got started was not the best way to make it good for you.” His fingers were brushing up and down her bare thighs.

  “But why didn’t you just tell me to begin with?”

  Ethan leaned down to kiss her right knee. Then lifted up her leg and slid his tongue around to the sensitive skin at the back. Ashley heard herself moaning softly at the sensations.

  His mouth on her leg was very distracting, but she tried to retain her focus. “Ethan, why didn’t you just say so?”

  His mouth was now on her inner thigh and moving higher. “If you hadn’t barged in,” he murmured over her skin, “it never would have been an issue.” Ashley had unconsciously spread open her thighs to allow room for his head. His tongue fluttered along the inside of her thigh, and then he suddenly bit down gently. She let out a sharp cry of surprise and pleasure. “You never would have known if you hadn’t been so nosy.”

  That was manifestly true, Ashley thought, as she let Ethan’s mouth do its magic on her legs. He had shifted to her other thigh now and was giving it similar treatment. Before she realized what she was doing, she had fallen back to recline on the bed, her hips at the edge of the mattress and her legs dangling over the side. “Tell the truth. You just didn't want to admit you weren't some super-lover.”

  Both guilt and amusement were reflected on his face. “That’s it exactly. I admit it. I feel like this is my first time too, and I’m terrified that I’ll not be what you expect me to be. It’s particularly humiliating for me since I usually have no problems in the bedroom.” His voice was blunt and matter-of-fact; there was no way to doubt his sincerity.

  His honest answer helped to relieve a lot of Ashley’s own insecurities. She felt so relieved she almost giggled. “Why did you think I would have cared? I would have helped you if you’d asked me.”

  Chuckling, Ethan returned to his ministrations to her thighs. “I’ll remember that next time. Of course, I'm sure it won't be a problem next time. I'll return to my usual manly performance.” His tongue was again sliding over her skin.

  Ashley ignored his last pompous utterance and leaned back on her arms to enjoy the attention. But she started getting nervous as Ethan’s mouth got higher and higher up her thigh. Finally, when his tongue was flicking at the edge of her panties, she queried, “Ethan? What exactly are you doing?”

  “What does it look like?” he mumbled, since his mouth was otherwise occupied.

  She sucked in her breath and tried to close her thighs, even though his head was in between them. “I don’t know if that’s a good idea.”

  He raised his head. “What’s the matter, honey? I’m pretty sure you’ll like it.” He smiled. “I’m pretty sure I’ll like it too.”

  Her heart was pounding at a ridiculous speed. “Can’t we just have sex the old-fashioned way?”

  “We can. We will,” Ethan told her huskily, looking up at her with a tender expression she almost never saw on his face. “But, if it’s okay with you, I’d like to do this first. The old-fashioned way will probably hurt some for you, and I can’t promise that you’ll be able to come. At least this way, you’ll come once for sure, and it might make the rest of it easier.”

  She swallowed. He actually made a lot of sense. Maybe there wasn’t reason to be so self-conscious about it.

  He stroked her legs, his fingers coming to rest at the elastic of her panties.

  At his inquiring look, Ashley lifted her hips so he could pull them off. Then she relaxed back onto the bed again and breathed deeply to calm herself down.

  When Ethan had removed her panties, he returned his head to its previous location. Gently rubbed his head against her thighs and ended up at the juncture between her legs.

  At first, he just kissed her there, which was relatively unintimidating. He eased her legs up some until he could nudge them over his shoulders as he knelt on the floor beside the bed. “You all right?” he asked, when he had gotten himself in position.

  “Yep,” she said, in a voice that sounded only slightly nervous. “Go to it.”

  “Tell me if you don’t like it,” he added, moving his face close to where she was already aroused.

  “I thought you promised I would like it,” Ashley teased, staring up at the ceiling, since watching Ethan would make her too embarrassed. “More performance anxiety?”

  He didn’t answer with words, just chuckled warmly. The breath from his laughter caused her to shudder.

  And then she felt his tongue.

  He didn’t force her to open for him, just used his tongue to prod and tease. Soon, Ashley spread her legs even wider, instinctively wanting to feel him deeper, beyond the surface.

  She was able to trace his movements, could feel him licking his way up to her...“God!” she cried, almost jumping off the bed as his tongue flickered across her most sensitive spot.

  He pulled his mouth away slightly. “Ethan,” he corrected.

  Ashley snorted and tried to think of an appropriate response, but lost track of her thoughts completely when Ethan’s tongue started to work again.

  It fluttered around, evoking deliciously pleasant feelings, but it never returned to the very best spot.

  “Ethan,” she whimpered, squirming a little on the sheets. “Go back.”

  He chuckled again, which was torturous delight. But he obediently licked his way up as she’d requested. Then he flicked his tongue, giving her tantalizing tastes of what she wanted.

  “God, Ethan,” she moaned, twitching her hips in response to the sensations. “Really like that. So good.”

  He flicked and fluttered some more, making her groan in both pleasure and frustration. And then he finally closed in and sucked.

  “Yes.” She tried to thrust her hips, but Ethan was holding them firmly. “Right there. Just like that.” She could feel an orgasm mounting, approaching rapidly from the suction of his warm mouth. “Ethan.”

  And then it went away.

  “Ethan!” she wailed, trembling from the loss of her release. “I was coming. Go back.”

  He laughed again and slid his tongue all the way inside her, deeply tasting her arousal. Since it felt incredibly good, she stopped complaining and waited to see what he would do next. His tongue darted in and out of her, so quickly it left Ashley breathless.

  She could feel a different rhythm start to mount from this motion, and she couldn’t help but move her hips again. But b
efore she could even get into it, he stopped the stimulation once more. She moaned hoarsely. “Ethan, this is cruel. Am I ever going to get to come?”

  “Of course,” Ethan promised, lifting his head toward her. “I just want it to be good. Is this not good for you?”

  The words themselves could have been sensitive and sweet, but the tone was more smug than anything else. Ethan was clearly quite proud of his talents in this area. Ashley wished she had the concentration to take him down a notch, but honestly she was pretty proud of his talents herself.

  Sighing deeply, she admitted, “It’s good. But I’ll reserve final judgment until I actually experience an orgasm.” He moved his mouth back into position. Then she added, not quite under her breath, “Assuming I ever do.”

  Once again, she felt his amusement blow exquisitely over her sensitive flesh, but he quickly returned to the task at hand, and now his mouth seemed to be more intentional. He quickly established a rhythm with his lips and tongue, and Ashley could feel her body intuitively moving into it.

  And then he slid a finger inside her. “Good,” she gasped. A second finger joined the first, fitting her tighter, fuller. “So good. Just like that.”

  The pumping of his fingers in and out of her combined with the fluttering and suction of his mouth. Ashley had completely forgotten her embarrassment and self-consciousness—had forgotten everything at all but the sensations cresting at her center—and she was panting and grunting in a whole series of silly sounds.

  “Ethan,” she cried, her voice growing louder. “I think I’m…I’m…oh God…coming.”

  Evidently encouraged by this piece of information, Ethan intensified his attentions. And Ashley’s world became merely fragments and pulses—mouth, heat, fingers, desire, tongue, friction...Ethan.

  She was almost there. “Oh God, yes,” she heard herself gasping, as if she were listening to someone else, “Coming…now…Ethan!”

  He kept pumping his fingers into her, extending the duration of her orgasm. She bucked her hips wildly and opened her mouth in a silent scream of pleasure as the sensations washed over her. Her legs clenched ruthlessly around Ethan’s neck.