Instead of waiting for a ride home, I text my mom and tell her I’m going to walk. It’s a beautiful day. The sun is shining brightly over my head, and the birds that stay hidden in the cold weather come out to play. The wind plays soft music as it dances through the leaves, and as I sway with the branches, the rustling of tires comes slowly upon me.
I pay the car no mind, probably some mom taking her child home from school. But as it comes closer, I listen to the crunching gravel grow louder. An eerie sensation ripples across my back, the kind that follows when you’re being watched.
About thirty feet away, a black Jeep Cherokee trails behind. I can’t see who’s behind the wheel due to the sun’s glare on the windshield, but whoever it is, they watch me through tinted Ray-Ban Caravans.
Fisting the pepper spray connected to my bag, I pick up the pace through the empty suburb. I may be small, but there’s no fucking way I’m going down without a fight.
I watch the car speed forward from the corner of my eye. Peering through every open window, I pray there are some nosey residents to witness me being followed.
The whirring sound of a window rolling down passes through the breeze. I’m ready to yell at this creep to back the fuck off, when I catch Mr. Ellis’s smiling face through the cracked opening.
“Get in the car,” he demands with a grin, glancing around the empty streets for wandering eyes. I do the same, spying around the neighborhood for those curious ears I was hoping for a moment ago.
With apparently none around, I spin back around. “I don’t get in the car with strangers.”
That charming grin stretches across his handsome face, making me weak. “Oh, no?” he questions, cocking his light brown brows. “You just get on your knees for them?”
“And for the good ones, I may even spread my legs.”
His low, rumbled growl reaches my ears through the slit window. Then, with another glance around the empty homes, he unlocks the doors and shoves the passenger side open. “Scarlett, get your pretty ass in the fucking car before I jump out and force you to.”
I’m tempted to make him do just that, needing to see just how rough he can be with me. But the last thing either of us needs is to be seen by some window-watcher and have the police called.
With a final look, I run across the road and hop into the open door. We speed off, breaking the twenty-five miles-per-hour speed limit, and race down the streets to the other side of town.
I text my mom some bullshit about me staying a bit after school for tutoring, letting her know I’ll be home before five. She responds instantly, her permission coming easily.
Shoving my phone back into my bag, I lie flat on the seat and close my eyes. I don’t question where we’re going. Instead, I simply lift my hands high through the sunroof and let the wind drift between my fingers.
As we drive farther away from the school, the homes begin to thin out. The dense forest fills the gaps until we’re surrounded by nothing but a single lane and vast nothingness.
Theodore parks just before the edge of a cliff, overlooking a roaring river that flows into the ocean. I step out of the vehicle, the crisp gust of air feeling like needles pricking my skin.
Pinecones and fresh water invade my senses, transporting me to a place far beyond Riverton, Rhode Island. And as I watch the clouds drift overhead with Mr. Ellis’s hands slowly folding around my waist, I know it’s here I want to stay, forever held in his arms.
“I used to come here all the time when I first moved here. It was my sacred place. Somewhere far enough from the noise to allow me to think clearly again.”
“So what happened? Why’d you stop coming?” I ask, picking up on the longing in his tone.
He sighs, dropping his head to rest on my shoulders. While peppering kisses on the sensitive spot under my ears, he says, “Beth said it was a waste of time, coming out here to find a silence that never truly existed.”
Your wife sounds like a cunt, I want to say. But I bite my tongue. I don’t need to come off like a jealous bitch, not when I’m the one cradled in his arms.
“It’s beautiful. Thank you for bringing me here,” I whisper instead, spinning around in his embrace to cross my wrists around his neck.
Each kiss feels like the very first time, full of urgency and vibrant need. It starts off slow, our lips grazing while our tongues explore and taste. I tremble under the heat of his touch. It penetrates through the fabric of my dress, singeing my skin until his prints are tattooed on my flesh.
We begin stumbling back, our feet tripping over each other until we collide with the hood of the car. Our puffs of laughter become one as we lean against the cool metal, but it isn’t long before our kisses turn feral, and those searing hands find their way under my dress.
With my panties still in Theodore’s possession, I gasp as he meets the slick opening of my center, massaging the delicate slit before spearing one long digit inside. I groan against his lips, squirming while his rough knuckle brushes against my core.
Dropping one hand onto the hood, I bring my leg to wrap around his hips, grinding my wet pussy into his open palm.
“That’s it, pretty girl. Ride my hand,” he growls, licking the column of my throat. Theodore wiggles his finger inside me, brushing the deepest parts of my cavity walls while his thumb rubs light circles on my throbbing clit.
Currents of electricity rush through me, making my nerves hyperaware and oversensitive to his scorching touch. As I roll and rotate in his hand, he gently slips another digit inside me, stretching me just enough to have me crying into his mouth.
“It’s okay, baby. You can cry. No one will hear you out here.”
